Alright Folks, 12 days of Paris, Dublin, and London means this is going to be a long blog. Disconnect your phones, grab your hot cocoa and the snuggie you bought as a joke, but actually use, and get ready to be (hopefully) entertained!
Paris:
Thursday 2/18:
Justine, MaryPat, Kelly, and I met at our usual meeting spot—Burger King and hopped in a cab to the bus station. We met with the rest of our travel group (Katherine, Devin, and Kevin) and away we went on the five hour drive to Madrid.
MaryPat ending up feeling ill on the bus ride, so I stayed up with her. We were a bit tired in the morning! On our taxi ride to the airport from the bus station, we had a cab driver that took advantage of the lack of male presence. He charged us about 10 euros more when he saw that we had a bigger bill. A lesson for next time, I guess.
Friday 2/19:
At the airport we met another person studying in Granada, Chris. He was also going to Paris to visit his girlfriend. So he traveled a bit of the way with us. The flight on RyanAir was good. I was scolded less, so that was a step up.
We flew into the BVA airport which is about an hour outside of the city. We paid 14€ (!!) for a bus ride to the city. Everything was going fine until we got off of the bus. We’re walking to the main information area to get our bearings, when I looked down to find my phone was MISSING! And apparently our bus driver was in a hurry because I don’t even think he put the bus in park. We got off and he sped out of there. Of course, I immediately resigned myself to the fact that I had just lost 100€ in minutes (if you lose your phone, you’re out of luck) and my phone. But we talked with one of the workers at the bus station and he was extremely helpful. (Thank God people speak English in France. I don’t think my gracias worked so well there.) He spent a half hour making phone calls and describing my phone. It’s blue with a pink flower painted on it… I felt bad as everyone had to wait for me to rectify my mistake. But they found it!! Once the bus made its next trip back two hours later, they would have it for me. I left Maggie Stremel’s number. (Maggie is studying abroad in Paris and showed us around the city.) We headed out for a bit to eat. Not wanting to go to McDonald’s while in Paris (obviously) we went for authentic French cuisine—Quick Burger aka the French McDonald’s.
With my phone back in my position, (thank you St. Anthony) we headed out to meet up with Arianna under the Arc de Triomphe. Arianna was running a little late so we waited in the underground passage to get out of the cold. After a bit I went with Devin to find her, we walked around the Arc looking and looking. Then suddenly I saw her. I ran at her (and left Devin to awkwardly run after me as he had never met Arianna). It was a very dramatic moment as she saw me and we did the whole run at each other and hug. The drama was, of course, magnified by happening in Paris!
Once the whole gang was together, and more running and hugging happened, we split up. Katherine, Justine, Devin, and Kevin headed for their hostel, which apparently was only a couple steps up from sleeping on the streets, in the Latin Quarters. This is when my love affair with the Paris transportation system began. I love the Metro. Life is so much easier. Let’s completely redo the infrastructure of most of America and get some major underground transportation going. With our metro tickets in hand, Maggie, MaryPat, Kelly, and I went to Maggie’s apartment to hang out (or for Kelly and MP, sleep) and wait for when Kelly, Arianna, and I could meet up our friend, Eva.
Sleeping Beauties
I met Eva last semester in a Philosophy class I was in for a day. She was visiting her Uncle, a teacher at U of I, for a month and observing classes. Before I dropped that class, I introduced myself and offered to show Eva around Champaign. And let’s be honest, Champaign is so much cooler than Paris. Cough, cough. Anyway, we became fast friends and that is how we had a real Parisian to stay with!
Eva and Me
Once we met up at Eva’s the three of us were able to shower and get ready for Arianna’s 21st Birthday dinner celebration! We met up with Maggie and MaryPat and walked around until we found a restaurant with real French food and enough seats. The place was beautiful and the food sounded good. We even felt special when this drunk French guy at the table next to us asked where we were from. “The United States! Amazing! Ammmmazing!” Then he asked where in the US. “CHICAGO! AMAAAAZING. Amazing!” Yes, Chicagoans, pretty much the World’s 8th Wonder.
The Big 2. 1. !
After all the amazing excitement, I was optimistic for a great meal. I ordered a salmon, avocado and lemon dish. Sounds great, right? FALSE. Everyone else had these great salads with brie cheese…yum. I was served green goop! I’m pretty sure it something mama birds regurgitate to feed their babies.
Even Eva, our resident French friend, didn’t want to try it! So that was a HUGE waste of 10 Euros. But before you start feeling too bad for me, we went and had crepes after. Mine was full of Nutella and completely made up for the horrid avocado disaster.
When I'm older my cabinet may look identical to this.
After the crepes to continue our mission to really experience Paris, we went to an Irish Pub. The Pub was pretty nice. We danced a bit. Had a guy come up to us and scold us for being there. According to him we should have gone to a discoteca, called, I think, Showplace. He said the boys at the pub were ugly and the guys there were better looking. [Complete with Lady Gaga Poker Face like hand gesture over his face.] Basically this guy was really great at hitting on girls. “You need to go. Now. Get out of here. Don’t be so stupid.” Don’t worry, he wasn’t French. After that guy, I think the highlight of the night was when Arianna’s new scarf got puked on…Still being together makes any night a good night. We hopped in a taxi and headed to Eva’s place.
Saturday, 2/20:
Saturday we woke up bright and early—10 am IS early in Europe—and headed to the Musee de Louvre. It was magnificent! I have wanted to see the Louvre for years, but I never pictured it correctly. Not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t to be a palace converted museum.
We spent the morning looking around at such beautiful pieces of art.
I've never heard you can't play with art...
Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. No big deal.
But I’m pretty sure I discovered a Robert Langdon (Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons) mystery.
Though I was tempted, I didn’t start my own thrilling journey because we were on a schedule.
Taking a break, we met up with MaryPat and Maggie and headed to the Latin Quarters for a cheap lunch. This time I had a “salty” crepe (they classify their crepes as salty or sweet). Feta cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce in a crisp crepe? Perfection. After this delicious meal, we headed back to the Louvre. After talking with MP, we discovered we had been unfairly charged an entrance fee. France has free entrance for students and people aged 19-26 in the EU. But, we have Student Visas which should have gotten us free entrance. When I had showed my Visa when we first got to the Louvre, he told me we didn’t count!
So putting my Chi O President voice on, I talked with information and tried to get our money back. Though they were nice, they did absolutely nothing for us and said they could not help. We were offered free entrance for the next time we come…well, duh, that is not a compensation that is just what should have happened from the BEGINNING! Accepting the loss of money, we figured what we were seeing was phenomenal and not worth being resentful. We looked through Napoleon’s Apartments and the Ancient Egyptian relics before the museum closed.
Napoleon's Apartment: "It's Good to be King."
Egyptian Barbie dolls?
From the Louvre, we got on a metro to see the Eiffel Tower at night. Every hour, on the hour, for ten minutes, the Eiffel Tower has beautiful flashing lights that go off. We saw the Tower at a great time. It was so crazy to be so close to it. I think the whole trip I kept repeating, “We’re in Paris. We’re in PARIS. That’s the EIFFEL TOWER.”
After a photo shoot, we split up again to our respective places. Arianna, Kelly, and I were on our own to find Eva’s apartment. We decided to ask some policemen at the Eiffel Tower for directions to a McDonald’s because we can free WiFi there. These three policemen did NOT speak English much, however. We were not communicating at all. When I asked for McDonald’s they didn’t even know what I was saying. So instead I said, “Hamburgers, French Fries, American?” With a collective, “OHHHH,” they understood what I meant. Quite funny. Of course they didn’t know where one was. But we found our way home on our own. I felt French immediately. We stopped at a market and I got some apples, wine, and made Arianna try a Kinder Bueno. Now she is forever indebted to me. Yes, they’re that good.
That night Eva made us a lovely little dinner and we had some wine to celebrate friendship, birthdays, and interviews for internships! After the dinner, we met up with everyone and went to this small pub. I don’t know why Europeans insist on having only enough room for groups of 2 or 3. It was so crowded that we got a deal on drinks and eventually were able to grab a table. It was a really fun night.
Kelly and I had a “joke off.” She said all Mitch Hedburg and I said all Demetri Martin. And then some Australians showed up. We talked with them for a while. One boy, Yoshi, yes Yoshi, bought a rose and then gave it to me. “What’s your name? Kaye? Happy Valentine’s Day, Kaye.” So I was able to check “Be Given a Rose by a Stranger in Paris” off of my bucket list. As we left, we ran into Chris, the boy from the airport. What are the odds? Paris is a BIG place. After the surprise encounter, Eva, Arianna, Kelly and I got another crepe. When in France….eat crepes?
Sunday, 2/21:
After a delicious breakfast of toast and homemade plum jam (sooo good!), Kelly, Arianna, and I hopped on a metro to Versailles at 11:30am. This time we knew we deserved to get in for free. With our Visa’s we save 15-19 Euros! I was so excited to go to Versailles. The history nerd inside of me was freaking out! Seriously, words cannot even express how thrilled I am that I got to be there. We as we walk up toward the enormous palace, we see the front covered in gold and a statue of Louis XIV, “The Sun King.”
"L'État c'est Moi" ~ "I am the State."
Arianna, Kelly and I walked around took lots of pictures of the beautiful artwork and room furnishings. We only got a little ways in when Arianna had to leave to make her plane back to Nottingham. Kelly and I went back to the beginning to wait for Katherine, MaryPat, Justine, Devin, and Kevin to show up and grab some audio guides. Then we went back through the rooms learning about their history. Seeing all the portraits of Marie Antoinette, King Louis XVI, I wanted to go back to my AP History classes. I can’t believe I was there! After we walked through the main building, we walked through some of the gardens. The gardens were huge and must be breathtaking in the spring time.
We weren’t able to see Marie Antoinette’s house, but had a great day walking through history. At 6:40, we headed back to Paris. On the train, a boy walked on and I turned to Kelly and MaryPat, “I know him. He’s from home. I swear.” I was told no he was just someone from France that looked similar. But I swore I knew him from U of I. So MaryPat decided to say “ILL” and the others responded with “INI.” We watched for a reaction, nothing at first, and then he turned around and asked if we were from University of Illinois. Lesson learned? Don’t doubt my memory, friends! He was a friend of my roommate, Claire, from freshman year studying abroad in the same program as Korey White (my friend in Chi O). He gave us some advice for places to go while in London and I gave him a little love note for Korey.
That night Kelly and I made Eva a salad of chicken breast, tomatoes, avocados, and bacon, along with this tomato & olive toast thing. Needless to say, it was delicious. Probably the best meal we had abroad! After dinner the three of us cuddled into the fold out bed and watch Marie Antoinette. Not a good movie, but very cool to look at Versailles in the movie right after we had been there. It was pretty much the perfect end to the perfect day.
Monday, 2/22:
Monday morning, Eva walked Kelly and me to Notre Dame where we were meeting everyone else. We were late, but got a nice, quick tour of Paris on the way. Notre Dame was beautiful. But I saw no hunchbacks or talking gargoyles. I guess Disney movies have led me astray yet again.
I walked around a bit, then lit a candle for Grandma and prayed in a small chapel. There was some sort of ceremony going on in one of the smaller chapels. A couple men were singing church chants. It was perfect for setting the mood.
After taking in more of Notre Dame, we grabbed some 90 euro cent baguettes & brie cheese for our lunch and made our way over to another church, the Sacre Coeur. It was lovely. It was up a hill, so we walked up quite a bit of stairs. But the view was phenomenal.
We weren’t able to take pictures once inside the church, but it was gorgeous. There was a giant mural of Jesus near the altar. Katherine and I prayed a little more and just soaked in the beauty of the moment. On our way out of the church, I gave half of my baguette to a poor woman asking for money outside of the church.
We shopped a little bit on the streets near the Church and split up again. Kelly, MaryPat, Maggie, and I wanted to see the Arc de Triomphe and didn’t want to pay to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, while the others headed over there. Unfortunately, it was too windy for them to go up! We made it to the top of the Arc after a couple hundred steps, (MaryPat counted the exact number) for an incredible view of the city. Paris is such a big city. In 4 days, I only got a taste for the city. I would love to go back some day and see it all.
That night, MaryPat, Kelly, and I went over to Eva’s mom’s house for some homemade crepes. I think we ate about 5 each. It was a delicious last meal in Paris with wonderful people! Here is a special shout out to Eva and her mom: Thank you so so so much for making our time in Paris wonderful, beyond what I could have asked for.
Paris: 8 crepes, 6 historical places, 9 great friends = 2 Thumbs Up!
Dublin:
Tuesday, 2/23:
“May the Road Rise up to Meet You”
Ireland, finally returning to my homeland! Well, I should say finally going to my homeland. We woke up in Paris super early and about 5 hours later we were in Dublin!
My goal for Dublin (and basically this whole trip) find a Claddagh ring to replace the gorgeous one I lost sophomore year of High School. I have been waiting SINCE then to get a Claddagh from Ireland.
The Dubliners are such friendly people. Immediately we came across that Irish charm. When we arrived at the airport and went through customs, the man that took my passport started to tease me. “Ohh a Foley. Are all Foleys the same? I’m related to some Foleys on my mother’s side. Foleys are mad. You know why? They’re simpletons.” Of course, I just stood there like oh, I didn’t know. I’m not. Really confused. But of course he was just teasing. Obviously, Foleys are awesome. Then he told me to “Have fun, drink a beer. But not too many. And meet people! Don’t wait for them to say hi, say hi first.” Which is great advice. Then he threw in a, “Don’t break too many hearts.” But I told him that I’m a Foley. We can’t help it.
With a quick bus ride to the center, we tried to find our way around. Three people helped us and one even walked us to where we needed to go. It is ridiculous how kind the Irish are. The hostel, Barnacles Temple Bar House, was cheap and in an incredible location. It was in this beautiful little area with cobblestone paths. It was cold, it even snowed ever so slightly. But nothing could dampen being in Dublin! There were so many pubs right around that area. Plus the receptionist, Tony, was quite the hunk. Started Dublin off on the right foot. We left our bags until we could check in and went to get some lunch. Gourmet Burger Kitchen had been suggested by Maggie. It was right down the street so we checked it out. Katherine was as happy as a clam to finally be eating food with SPICE and got some spicy wings. And I ordered a delicious avocado, bacon burger. I needed something with avocado done right! It was great.
We headed back to our quaint hostel. We had a great room with our own bathroom! Exhausted from the traveling, we took a nap for a couple of hours, showered, and got ready to go out.
We went to the Porterhouse Microbrewery. It was a really cool pub. Katherine, Kelly, and I all ordered the Brain Blaster beer, brewed there. It was very good. After our first beer, we moved upstairs so we could watch the live music playing. So fun! Then Kelly and I went to get our second beer, Hop Head, also brewed there. And we ended up talking with the bartender, Will, and this other guy Dave. Dave was an interesting character…I make notes for myself so I can blog later. And in my notebook I referred to him as “Dirty Dave.” So that should give everyone an idea about this guy. Not exactly that Irish gentleman every girl wants to meet. (How many of those exist?) But it was still really funny to talk with them. Will told me that my name was more Irish than his or Dave’s. In Gaelic my name is pronounced Kite. That was kind of cool.
After Porterhouse we went in search for another place to go. We came across this guy that looked just like James Franco. But his Irish accent was more that of a pirate’s! It was so funny. Especially because he was really drunk and kept scrunching up one eye when he talked. “Are you a gambler?” In a really strong Pirate accent, and then he pointed to this guy, “ayy, he’s my lucky charm.” I was in disbelief that this guy was for real. He asked us if we were Irish and got really excited when he heard my name and MaryPat’s name. “Ahh, a Flanagan and a Foley!” It made for a nice running joke: The night we met James Franco, the Irish pirate. After that we went to Temple Bar and listened to authentic Irish music. Very cool! They had banjos and everything! MaryPat and I went home after a little bit and Justine and Kelly continued their Dublin adventure.
Wednesday, 2/24:
This day we went to Trinity College. Trinity College is the oldest university in Ireland as it was built in 1592. We looked around a little bit. It was had very beautiful buildings. And the Book of Kels is stored in the library. But we didn’t want to pay the 8 euro to get in to see it so we just looked around. And then went shopping. Me, on the hunt for a Claddagh. There were a lot of cool stores, but everything was pretty expensive. It started to rain, cold rain, thus we decided it was time for a lunch break.
We went to eat at this cute pub and warmed up with soup and pasta. Still raining when we finished, we went back to our hostel to warm up a bit and decide where to go next. We woke up couple hours later after we had all accidentally fallen asleep (clearly not our goal as MaryPat, Kelly, and I were all squeezed on the top Kelly and Justine’s bunk bed.) Unfortunately everything site seeing worthy shuts down at 5pm in Ireland. So we missed the chance to go to the Guinness Factory on Wednesday. We organized our next day so we could see more. Take the 2 hour bus ride to Kilkenny to see the castle, and then come back in time to go to the Guinness Factory, and then go on the Literary Pub Crawl. It was planned, so of course nothing would go wrong, right?
After our planning, MaryPat and I ran out to buy some cans of beer to enter the hostel’s raffle. Basically you put in however many beers you wanted and you got a raffle ticket for each. Then later that day they picked a ticket and whoever had it won all the beers that had been submitted. Turns out the other people that submitted beers had already checked out, so we just won by default. That was a nice surprise. That night Katherine also offered to make us pasta for dinner. It was delicious as she is quite the Italian Chef. We really lucked out having someone who wants to make great meals for cheap on our trip. THANKS, KATHERINE!!!!!!!! After I ruined my serving by accidentally pouring a TON of red pepper spice mix, Katherine switched with me because she can handle the spiciest sauce at Buffalo Wild Wings. I don’t even know if my brother Matt can handle that level.
After the delicious pasta dinner, we went back to Temple Bar and listened to some more great music. After a while we searched for a club suggested by a worker at the hostel. We found it, or so we thought. It had a club sign and everything, but it looked abandoned. Instead of going out we found food. Being extremely hungry I guess, I split chili fries with Katherine, bought myself Twix, chips (my absolute new flavor, Dorito’s Chilli Heatwave), and finished both of Justine and Kelly’s stir fry type of food they bought. So for me it was a very good night.
Thursday, 2/25:
Thursday was our busy, lots of plans day. We woke up at 8am and hurried to the bus station to get tickets for the 9am bus to Kilkenny at 8:57am. We rode the two hour bus ride there. And saw the Kilkenny Castle. It was not as impressive and I had thought a full-fledged castle would be, but it was still quite lovely. There was a lot of cool history that went along with the castle. It was built in 1195. So long ago!
After we looked around the castle for a while, we walked around the adorable town. Still on a search for the perfect claddagh, Katherine found a beautiful one! I was getting worried now, time was running out for me! We went to lunch and then Katherine and I looked around the town for claddaghs for a wee bit more. We had a 2:30 bus to catch. Without any luck, we went to station only to find out that the teller earlier that morning was absolutely wrong when he sold us tickets to come back at 14:30. Apparently the only bus going back to Dublin was at 4:15. We were stranded in Kilkenny. And this meant no Guinness Factory. Slightly dejected, we listened as Kelly regaled us all with her own version of how Guinness was made. I’m sure it was even better than a tour of the factory.
With our extra time we walked around some more shops. I even found a nice Claddagh in an antique store. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but it is simple. And I like that it has history. The traditional meaning of the claddagh is so beautiful. The hands signify friendship and togetherness, the heart represents love and the crown stands for loyalty. Now I can pretend that there is some lovely romantic story behind the ring I bought. I also bought a Celtic ring at the antique shop. After that we headed over to this souvenir shop where the shop keeper talked to me and MaryPat about our Irish origins, but then tried to tell stories of how the Gustafson’s and the BaMaung’s were also originally in Ireland. It was pretty funny and had a lot to do with sheep stealing.
After we shopped a bit, we went to get some tea. At the tea shop I sat down and made friends with a two year old girl. She was a strong willed little girl too. We were looking at the newspaper and she pointed at the color pink and said it was purple. I corrected her, but she told me “no, it’s purple.” It was so convincing, I almost believed her.
After we finally got on the 4:15 bus, we arrived home tired and needing to pack because we had another early flight. We ended up having to miss the Literary Pub Crawl as well. Our day of planning turned into achieving one goal. But it was still a great day. We got back to our Hostel and discovered the 6th open bed in our room was occupied. We never met our other roommate, only saw her sleeping as we went to bed late and woke up very early to leave. But that is the nature of hostels.
Thursday night we went to FitzSimon’s Pub. The girls split this amazing platter of potato skins, potato wedges, fries, and onion rings (onion rings not for me, of course.) It was delicious and paired with a Guinness made the meal excellent. At the pub, they had live music and they played all sorts of hits.
Though when Kelly and Justine suggested, “Sweet Caroline” the singer made a shooting himself in the head gesture…it didn’t get played. (Katy, you would have liked this guy.) But he did take my suggestion (delivered by Kevin) for The Cure. After FitzSimon’s we went back to Temple Bar for some more Irish music. An Irish classic that we had heard almost every night there, Dirty Old Town. And then that other Irish classic, Bye Bye Ms. American Pie…hmm.
We met some people from Rochester, Minnesota there. I tried to make a friend for John! Then during an Irish jig song, this man tried to get me to dance with him. But I do NOT know how to dance like they do. He told me I was a “terrible dancer!” I responded with, “only in Ireland.”
Despite leaving a complete misconception about my dancing with those Irish men, it was a great last night. The next morning we had to get up at 5 to make our flight and say goodbye to Dublin. Kelly and I had such a good time that we want to go again. Kelly and I are staying later to go to Rome, but we think we might add Ireland onto that as well. It was my favorite place we visited.
DUBLIN: Hats off to you.
London:
Friday, 2/26:
We had a short flight from Dublin to London. Got to the airport, took out money in POUNDS (so expensive.) And looked for the bus we needed to take. Immediately we could tell Londoners are not the same as Dubliners. The bus driver snapped at each of us for not paying four of our 14£ in change because he was already late. I was the first one on the bus and as each of us came to sit down everyone commented on Mr. Grumpy Bus Driver. Definitely not in Ireland anymore.
After the bus, we got a little turned around trying to find our way to Astor Kensington, our hostel. But you know what we found? A nice IRISH man that helped us and gave us his map! Seriously, I love Ireland. We walked a lot, but were finding our way to where we needed to be and stopped for lunch at a Mediterranean café/ hookah bar it seemed. Katherine and I split a Greek salad and a falafel pita. It was my first falafel and it was very delicious!
We finally got to the hostel and it was a fun place. It had pictures all over the walls like a Sorority during Recruitment. But it was still a hostel…so like if a Fraternity did Recruitment…
Once in our room we took a nap for a couple of hours (of course) and then bought some food. Katherine made more pasta and a beautiful salad. Then we went out and took the tube. (Or as Kelly mistakenly called it, the Lube. Yes, many, many jokes ensued.) Funny thing about London: unlike the rest of Europe, you need ID’s! So we weren’t able to go out anywhere. So instead we thought, well we’re out let’s go see a movie. We saw Leap Year. I was hoping Mathew Goode could make up for his terrible acting in Watchmen. Nope. Though it wasn’t great, it was entertaining and something to do. After the movie we took a night bus back home. No, it was not as cool as the Knight Bus in Harry Potter.
Saturday, 2/27:
Saturday we woke up early and decided we didn’t want to miss seeing things in London because of getting lost or transportation time, so we bought tickets for the Sightseeing Bus Tour. After we took the bus to a plaza, we got out to try the Indian food. Some people had heard that the Indian food in London is really good. We thought we would give it a go. But we went early enough that we weren’t starving. Everyone ordered a small meal or a side dish. When the waiter was taking our order, he was so rude though! He was angry with us and told us that it was customary that everyone spend at least 10£ there. He said he would make an exception for us, but did not hide the fact that he was annoyed. Of course it is ridiculous for a small restaurant with little business at the time to tell customers that. We stayed, though offended. Kind of made the experience a bitter one. Still, I liked my fried rice.
After the Indian food we went and bought tickets for musicals for Monday night. Katherine, MaryPat, and I bought tickets for LES MISERABLES. Justine and Kelly bought tickets for WICKED. We were all very excited to see musicals in LONDON! After that we walked around the area a bit, saw some weird street performer type people covered entirely in silver and making dolphin noises. Oh and then there was the guy that had a ferret on a leash…?? Pretty interesting.
We headed for the bus tour and just went around the whole city. We saw lots. It was a really great way to see monuments like Big Ben.
You don’t need to stand next to it to fully appreciate it. It was chilly, but we sat on the upper deck on the Double Decker bus, until it was too much for us. Especially MaryPat and her weird blood flow to her fingers…
After our day of touring, we stopped at the grocery store, showered, and got ready for the Pub Crawl we saw flyers for in our hostel. It was a really fun night. Kelly, Justine, MaryPat, and I went around to the bars. It was basically a chance for us to pay only 12 euro to see five bars, not pay cover, and not wait in lines. There are a lot of cool clubs in London. We definitely were able to work off all the pent up need to dance! We met these cool people from France, Jeoffrey and Claire and hung out with them for most of the night. Other highlights, Kelly seems to be the German cup of tea. If there was a German boy, he was hitting on Kelly. Also, there was an over abundance of techno music. (But, Elaine, they played Teenage Dirtbag!!! I was so excited.) After a long night of pub crawling and dancing, our feet killed and we headed home.
Sunday, 2/28:
This day we slept in because not a whole lot is open on Sundays! With our Tour Bus tickets we were eligible for a free River Boat ride on the Thames. We went on that, but it really wasn’t that impressive of a tour. I liked the alternative way for getting around though! We got off of the riverboat and walked around the Tower of London. Then we headed for some shopping. There was one store in particular I really wanted to go to because I thought it would be great for souvenir shopping for my brothers, but it didn’t really pan out. Sorry guys, no gifts from London. At the end of the day Katherine made a salad and pasta again. And once again it was amazing. I think that night I ate about 4 servings of the pasta.
Then it was time for our reservation at the Absolut Ice Bar! From what we were told, there are only four Ice Bars in the world, one being in London. You have to make a reservation for this one and can only be in there for 45 minutes. They give you this sort of parka thing to wear along with gloves and once inside basically everything is made of ice. It was a lot of fun. And of course Kelly and Justine kept making puns. “This is a really cool place to hang out.” “It’s really chill.” “It’s so ice to be here.” All I contributed was asking if they wanted to “ice out.” With your reservation you get a drink. They had a variety of absolut drinks so we each got a different one and tried each others. Even the cups were made of ice!
I felt like a LOTR character...
Afterwards we warmed up by the heat lamps outside and went for some “wedding cake.” OR what was actually just cake at a bakery, but they had these delicious looking wedding cakes in the window.
It was the CAKE to the ICE-ing. Does that work? You know like, icing on the cake…ah, well.
Oh and Mom, we used the temporary tattoo's you sent me. This is for you:
Monday, 3/1:
March! January and February went by so fast. I can’t believe we’ve already been abroad about fifty days.
On Monday Katherine, MaryPat, and I woke up early and walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We were sooo happy because it was the most gorgeous day yet. The Cathedral is beautiful and we got some lovely pictures of it. Though we didn’t look around inside because it was 9£ and they were having a fire drill in a half hour.
Interesting...
...I never picture the "gate of Heaven" to be a revolving door.
After that we walked across Millennium Bridge before taking the underground to get to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards.
This was an interesting thing to see. I guess I expected it to be more solemn. But it was actually quite theatrical for “changing of guards.” There was a band that came through and played songs Sinatra songs such as, “New York, New York.” That sort of threw me off of the whole “British traditional ceremony.” On the plus side? I have millions of pictures of British men in funny hats marching. Who was the person to okay the design for those hats? Because, really?
For lunch, Katherine, MaryPat, and I split fish and chips. It was pretty good, but I think I still prefer chicken nuggets. We then headed over to Kensington Palace.
So lucky again that it was so beautiful out. The park near the palace is just beautiful. There was a pond covered in all sorts of birds including huge swans! Once there MaryPat, Justine, and Kelly had Afternoon Tea in the Orangery (part of the palace). Katherine and I went on a tour of the palace. We saw pictures of the royal family and a section on Princess Diana with some of her dresses on display. It was really weird to look at those dresses and think she just wore them only thirteen years ago.
As we continued through the palace they also had a whole section on Debutants. (When single upper class young ladies would be presented before the Queen.) That was really interesting to see how that custom used to be. They also had some of the dresses worn during the event on display.
So lucky again that it was so beautiful out. The park near the palace is just beautiful. There was a pond covered in all sorts of birds including huge swans! Once there MaryPat, Justine, and Kelly had Afternoon Tea in the Orangery (part of the palace). Katherine and I went on a tour of the palace. We saw pictures of the royal family and a section on Princess Diana with some of her dresses on display. It was really weird to look at those dresses and think she just wore them only thirteen years ago.
As we continued through the palace they also had a whole section on Debutants. (When single upper class young ladies would be presented before the Queen.) That was really interesting to see how that custom used to be. They also had some of the dresses worn during the event on display.
Katherine and I finished our tour of the palace and waited for the girls to finish their tea. While waiting in front of the Orangery, we were literally stalked by these crazy squirrels. I swear one of them made eye contact with me as if challenging me. At one point we were cornered, every direction we turned there was a squirrel staring at us, and slowing approaching. Youtube “Ninja Cat” to get a feel for the movement of these squirrels if you’re curious. They were way more bold than the ones at U of I.
We hurried home for a quick dinner and then left for our musicals.
In London they charge you for programs, three pounds! Our seats were all the way in the back of the theater, the very last row. A woman was taking a seat in the row ahead of us and said, “these are the worst seats I’ve ever had.” Then looked back at us, and we though, “not quite the worst.” BUT I actually don’t mind nose bleed seats. I liked to be able to see all of the stage and the aerial view. Only problem with this view was we could see the actor playing, Marius, the young, romantic lead, was balding! Took us out of the fantasy a bit. Another weird aspect of London Theater: they sold Haagen Daz Ice Cream IN the theater during the intermission.
In London they charge you for programs, three pounds! Our seats were all the way in the back of the theater, the very last row. A woman was taking a seat in the row ahead of us and said, “these are the worst seats I’ve ever had.” Then looked back at us, and we though, “not quite the worst.” BUT I actually don’t mind nose bleed seats. I liked to be able to see all of the stage and the aerial view. Only problem with this view was we could see the actor playing, Marius, the young, romantic lead, was balding! Took us out of the fantasy a bit. Another weird aspect of London Theater: they sold Haagen Daz Ice Cream IN the theater during the intermission.
Overall, Les Mis was fantastic. The actor who played Jean Valjean was phenomenal. His voice gave me chills. We headed back to our hostel to shower and pack for our final flight!
London: I’ll be back, next time I’m doing the Harry Potter Fan tour.
Tuesday, 3/2:
We saved money and took the metro to Gatwick airport. We made it in a half an hour. Since Gatwick is HUGE and basically an airport, mall, and a bar (there was an Absolut tropical flavored shot counter with people drinking at 7am!). We shopped and looked around for a bit. I found the movie, Anastasia, for only 2.81£. I was so excited, but it turns out it doesn’t work on my computer because the formats are different. How is that possible from London to the US? C’mon!
The flight went well, and then we landed in Madrid and took the metro to the bus station. This cost only 2 euro and we’re used to taking taxi’s that cost 40€! Huge money saver. After the five hour bus ride, we were all just so anxious to get home and get to our beds! I had a fantastic trip, but I am so glad to be back home in Granada.
The rest of my week has been pretty normal. I went to class, did my volunteer hours, etc. On Thursday night my Literature class went to see a play, Bodas de Sangre. I understood the action of the scenes and very little else. So at times I was confused as to the extreme melodrama, anger, and blood. But I think I understood the point of it. I’m glad I was able to see some theater while here though. Basically the rest of my weekend included Kelly coming over to watch Ghostbusters and going out for tapas with Justine. A successful weekend after a fantastic trip.
I am so blessed.
