I left you on Friday afternoon. I was about to go get dinner, right? Yes. Stephanie and I went into town and ate at that great Mexican Restaurant, Tacos Locos. Good food. But still expensive. I got a glass of Sangria and a cheese quesadilla.
Afterwards we went back up to campus and got ready for an evening out. We ended up going to the Venue with Cathrin and Lauren, meeting Sarah and the other Brits there. It was a wonderful/late night of dancing and drinking with friends. Fun fun fun!
Saturday, I slept in late and lounged around my house until late morning- catching up on Gossip Girl and relaxation. It was rainy outside, so I had very little desire to leave my cozy room. But I did. I went into town with Lauren and Steph and shopped. I allowed myself to buy a cute pair of black wedge boots for 32P. I do realize I’m broke but… Whatever, I’ve been looking for a pair for FOREVER.
I went over to Lauren and Cat’s for an absolutely fabulous dinner that night. Stuffed green peppers with rice and homemade apple pie. DELICIOUS. And because we all need to save money, we decided to spend a quiet night IN.
Sunday I woke up early to go to London. Steph and I walked to Canterbury and got on the bus around 10. We were there by noon and went shopping off Oxford Street. This was absolute torture. I went into H&M and tried on 10 things that looked perfect on…. But was unable to buy them. Money makes the world go round. After shopping, we ate lunch at Subway and took the underground to Westminster. Stephanie had never seen Big Ben, so we went there and Parliament, and walked past the Westminster Abbey.
Afterwards, we went to King’s Cross and took a picture by platform 9 and ¾. Haha! But we were disappointed when we weren’t pulled through the wall… Boo.
We made our bus back at 5:30, arriving back into Canterbury around 7:00. We ate a quick, cheap meal at McDonalds then headed to the Penny Theatre for Quiz Night. I love that place. And we actually had a chance with this quiz. But the STUPID BARTENDERS WOULDN’T SERVE ANYONE WHO DIDN’T HAVE A BRITISTH DRIVERS LISCENSE OR A PASSPORT. Once again, I don’t want to carry my passport around and neither do my friends. So no one was served. We still had a good time though. We went home around 11:00 for an early night in.
Monday was a day full of laziness. Slept in, relaxed until around noon, did some HW then went to French with Didier. Afterwards I went to the library and studied some more.
Stephanie came over for dinner. We had AMAZING omelets with mozzarella and cheddar cheese, sautéed peppers, onions, and mushrooms, and tomatoes. But the best part of our meal was our surprise to its success. Seriously, you won’t find worse cooks than Steph and I, but it was somehow edible. More than edible… Delicious! After dinner I relaxed some more and watched Gossip Girl.
Tuesday I slept in late… again. When I woke up, I relaxed SOME MORE and did a bit more HW. I went into town around 2 and got coffee with Cathrin and Lauren and did a bit of shopping. Went home around 6, made a delicious meal of Mac&Cheese, then headed to Alex’s for a birthday celebration. Only stayed there til around 10, came home and packed for Italy. LEAVING TOMORROW AND CAN’T WAIT!!! I’ll update when I get home!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Days 35-38: Some time here must be devoted to work... PSH.
After a fabulous weekend, I knew I would have to take a break from fun and start on my homework. Ugh. So this week has pretty much been essay-writing and textbook-reading, with some highlights sprinkled in here and there.
Monday- woke up and went to class, and decided to do a load of laundry. Now being the frugal person that I am (HA HA- more like broke person), I somehow thought that I would be able to fill 2 and a half weeks worth of laundry in one load. Yeah right… So when I got all my stuff out of the drier, not only was it still completely wet, it had the smell of an old wet towel. Greattttt. I’m just so domestic you guys.
Afterwards I went into town with Amy and ran errands (and bought a bunch of Fabreeze). We ordered her cake for her b-day party and then I headed to the Penny Theatre for dinner with Lauren and Cat. Their grille was broken, so I ordered chili. Not too bad…. Just more money than I had hoped to spend. After dinner, I grocery shopped and went home and skyped with Mom and Marty.
Tuesday was pretty much devoted to work. Woke up, went to library, had class from 10-11, did HW, went back to class from 3-5, then had French with Didier. But Cat and Steph came over for dinner and we made a wonderful meal of pasta, salad, and sautéed veggies. YUMMMMM. Then we booked our hostels for Italy and I did MORE HW.
I had class on Wednesday from 10-11 then I headed to the library for a little bit. Went home and started working on my essays; then headed into town with Stephanie. We looked for a birthday present for Amy and got High-School-Musical Themed cups and plates for her party. HAHA. Then we took our class fieldtrip to St. Augustine’s Abbey, which would have been enjoyable if it hadn’t been pouring down rain.
Then we met up with Amy in town to buy drinks for her party. So we’re leaving Tesco with 2 24-packs of Carlsberg and 2 10-packs of Fosters (REALLY HEAVY), Amy and Steph are in one line buying this stuff and I’m in A COMPLETLEY different line buying Sprite, when THEIR cashier, asks me for MY ID. Because I don’t feel comfortable carrying my passport with me everywhere, I only had my KentCard. And apparently that’s not acceptable, so we couldn’t even buy it. It was pretty ridiculous and the argument got pretty heated. We might be banned from Tesco from now on… haha. But the stupid thing is, I CAN DRINK ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD LEGALLY and their dumb cashier said, “Oh, I know you’re buying it for that underage girl.” She was a witch with a capital B.
So we went to off-license liquor store and bought stuff for double the price. And lugged it back in the rain all the way to campus. When we got back, we booked our trips for the rest of the year. Dublin and Barcelona, here we come!!
After I left Amy’s, I went home, ate a pot-pie, and showered. Michael was having people over for ice cream, so I joined them for a few minutes, and got ready to go out. We went to the Venue and it turned out to be a really good night!
Thursday I woke up at 7:30 and worked on my essays. Worked straight until 11:30, then went to class from 12-1. Came back and continued my writing and research (what great fun, eh?), then went BACK to class from 4-5. After class, I went home and changed, then headed over to Amy’s to blow up balloons and get ready for her PARTAY. We ordered pizza and played American drinking games all night, it was so much fun!!! Afterwards, some of us went to the Venue, saw that it was dead, ate food from The Kitchen and called it a night. WOOHOO beer pong and Circle of Death!
Today, I woke up, finished my essays and turned them in, and have been lounging around catching up on my network TV. Heading into town for dinner in a few minutes and hope to have a good night out.
Even though this week was all work, it was still great. I love Canterbury!
Monday- woke up and went to class, and decided to do a load of laundry. Now being the frugal person that I am (HA HA- more like broke person), I somehow thought that I would be able to fill 2 and a half weeks worth of laundry in one load. Yeah right… So when I got all my stuff out of the drier, not only was it still completely wet, it had the smell of an old wet towel. Greattttt. I’m just so domestic you guys.
Afterwards I went into town with Amy and ran errands (and bought a bunch of Fabreeze). We ordered her cake for her b-day party and then I headed to the Penny Theatre for dinner with Lauren and Cat. Their grille was broken, so I ordered chili. Not too bad…. Just more money than I had hoped to spend. After dinner, I grocery shopped and went home and skyped with Mom and Marty.
Tuesday was pretty much devoted to work. Woke up, went to library, had class from 10-11, did HW, went back to class from 3-5, then had French with Didier. But Cat and Steph came over for dinner and we made a wonderful meal of pasta, salad, and sautéed veggies. YUMMMMM. Then we booked our hostels for Italy and I did MORE HW.
I had class on Wednesday from 10-11 then I headed to the library for a little bit. Went home and started working on my essays; then headed into town with Stephanie. We looked for a birthday present for Amy and got High-School-Musical Themed cups and plates for her party. HAHA. Then we took our class fieldtrip to St. Augustine’s Abbey, which would have been enjoyable if it hadn’t been pouring down rain.
Then we met up with Amy in town to buy drinks for her party. So we’re leaving Tesco with 2 24-packs of Carlsberg and 2 10-packs of Fosters (REALLY HEAVY), Amy and Steph are in one line buying this stuff and I’m in A COMPLETLEY different line buying Sprite, when THEIR cashier, asks me for MY ID. Because I don’t feel comfortable carrying my passport with me everywhere, I only had my KentCard. And apparently that’s not acceptable, so we couldn’t even buy it. It was pretty ridiculous and the argument got pretty heated. We might be banned from Tesco from now on… haha. But the stupid thing is, I CAN DRINK ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD LEGALLY and their dumb cashier said, “Oh, I know you’re buying it for that underage girl.” She was a witch with a capital B.
So we went to off-license liquor store and bought stuff for double the price. And lugged it back in the rain all the way to campus. When we got back, we booked our trips for the rest of the year. Dublin and Barcelona, here we come!!
After I left Amy’s, I went home, ate a pot-pie, and showered. Michael was having people over for ice cream, so I joined them for a few minutes, and got ready to go out. We went to the Venue and it turned out to be a really good night!
Thursday I woke up at 7:30 and worked on my essays. Worked straight until 11:30, then went to class from 12-1. Came back and continued my writing and research (what great fun, eh?), then went BACK to class from 4-5. After class, I went home and changed, then headed over to Amy’s to blow up balloons and get ready for her PARTAY. We ordered pizza and played American drinking games all night, it was so much fun!!! Afterwards, some of us went to the Venue, saw that it was dead, ate food from The Kitchen and called it a night. WOOHOO beer pong and Circle of Death!
Today, I woke up, finished my essays and turned them in, and have been lounging around catching up on my network TV. Heading into town for dinner in a few minutes and hope to have a good night out.
Even though this week was all work, it was still great. I love Canterbury!
Monday, October 19, 2009
CARDIFF, WALES!!! Days 32-34
Another fabulous weekend. But I’ve come to realize that what makes these trips so great are the people I’m going with. We get along so well together. We have so much fun and laugh so hard. Sure, Cardiff is a great city, but the true credit to my happiness goes to my travel companions.
I got up at 4:30AM on Friday and met everyone at Amy’s flat to catch a taxi into town. We got on the bus to London, (AND YAY! WE EACH HAD A SEAT TO OURSELVES!), and arrived around 7:30AM. Grabbed a small breakfast then got back on a bus to Cardiff. Once again, the bus was empty, so we were all able to sleep for the four-hour trip.
Once we arrived (around 12:30), we wanted to find our hostel to check in and drop off our stuff. We wandered through the city and made our way to a starbucks to ask for directions. Just imagine, you’re sitting in starbucks and 7 people come strolling through the store with their rolly suitcases, asking the cashier for information. Haha, we got some looks.
So after a ten minute walk, we made it to brightly colored building. Now this was the first time I’d ever actually stayed in a hostel, and to be honest, I was a bit apprehensive of the cleanliness and safety that it would provide. But I loved it. The staff was great; the rooms were clean; and most importantly, it was cheap!
So we settled in and then headed back to the front desk to ask about local attractions. We bought this great package from our hostel directly for 23 Pounds. It included: entry to the castle, a Cardiff Double-Decker Bus tour, a tour of the monstrous rugby stadium, a hostel T-shirt, and a drink in the hostel’s bar. So we pretty much scored.
We were starving, so we went to this great tapas bar for dinner. We all shared a meal-deal where we could each pick out three different items from the menu. I got fried brie, mozzarella and tomato salad, and some potato thing. SO GOOD.
After our fabulous meal, we took the tour of the huge rugby stadium. It’s the biggest in the world and it was pretty darn cool. Venues like that are really intriguing to me. After our tour, we went shopping then headed back to the hostel to take a quick nap.
We rested for about an hour and a half, and then decided to begin our epic evening. We played drinking games upstairs in our room to pregame and save money. So much fun. Then we headed to the sister hostel’s bar and used our free drink coupon and met some other travelers.
Then we walked in the freezing cold to the first nightclub of the evening. Only stayed for about 25 minutes but had a great time. Then we went to Oceana, a beautiful club with five different dance areas, each playing different music. We danced for hours. It was the perfect night.
We finished it by grabbing some cheesy chips (FF) and jumping into a taxi back to the hostel. No really, our night could not have been better.
Saturday, we didn’t actually wake up until 11ish. Ate our free breakfast, then headed out to the castle. (We made a detour to subway on the way.) The castle was really nice, but pretty small. The fortress was the best part of it. The stairs were so steep; I have no idea how people don’t slip and fall to their death there every day. But we survived. And jumped on the bus to Cardiff Bay.
We sat on the top and attempted to listen to the bus tour guide speak about Cardiff and the sights we were going by. But his thick Welsh accent and his old-man mumbling made it virtually impossible. Not to mention the rushing wind distracting us, by threatening to give us frost bite. I’m not kidding; it was so stinking cold, my upper-body was completely numb. But it was still worth it, as Cardiff Bay was lovely. Tons of restaurants, unfortunately not as much shopping; but we walked around outside for about an hour then caught the bus back.
We shopped in Cardiff instead and then headed to an Irish restaurant for dinner. I got a Rump Steak and half a rack of BBQ ribs for only 5.99! My steak was awful, but the ribs were delicious. And the atmosphere there was a lot of fun.
After dinner, we went back to the hostel for another nap. We rested for about an hour or so, then went down to our hostel bar for a few drinks. Our bartender, Huw, was wonderful. He played the guitar and sang old 90’s songs for us while we met our fellow hostel travelers. We met this crazy, hilarious guy named Brad from Australia. I loved Brad, but he was probably on something… While having a nice conversation with Amy, he suddenly asked, “Hey… umm, will you still be here if I take a 5 minute walk real quick?” Haha… then he darted away. Whatever he was on, they were definitely uppers.
So Brad, Alex, Amy, Stephanie, Laura, Lucy, and I went out to this really fancy bar and Demi headed up to bed. And this bar was awesome. Sure the cover was 5P, but it was worth it. We shared a bottle of wine, danced a bit, then, because of our exhaustion, we headed home.
Sunday, we went to a great pebble-stone beach about 20 minutes outside of Cardiff. It was in a town called Panerth(sp?). We walked around on the pier and ate a delicious meal of cheesy chips and cheesy pizza. And ice cream for dessert of course. It was the perfect day.
When we got back, we were really tired of walking, so we went and saw the movie, Couples Retreat. The movie itself wasn’t all that great, but the movie theatre was awesome. It was a five-story, sky-scraper movie theatre. Cool huh?
Afterwards, we got our luggage, said bye to Huw, then caught our 6:30 bus back to London. We had an hour lay-over and grabbed food at the rail station right by our bus. I had a three-course meal from McDonalds for 3Pounds. Woo! Then we got back on the bus to Canterbury and got home around 1:30AM. What a wonderful weekend!
I got up at 4:30AM on Friday and met everyone at Amy’s flat to catch a taxi into town. We got on the bus to London, (AND YAY! WE EACH HAD A SEAT TO OURSELVES!), and arrived around 7:30AM. Grabbed a small breakfast then got back on a bus to Cardiff. Once again, the bus was empty, so we were all able to sleep for the four-hour trip.
Once we arrived (around 12:30), we wanted to find our hostel to check in and drop off our stuff. We wandered through the city and made our way to a starbucks to ask for directions. Just imagine, you’re sitting in starbucks and 7 people come strolling through the store with their rolly suitcases, asking the cashier for information. Haha, we got some looks.
So after a ten minute walk, we made it to brightly colored building. Now this was the first time I’d ever actually stayed in a hostel, and to be honest, I was a bit apprehensive of the cleanliness and safety that it would provide. But I loved it. The staff was great; the rooms were clean; and most importantly, it was cheap!
So we settled in and then headed back to the front desk to ask about local attractions. We bought this great package from our hostel directly for 23 Pounds. It included: entry to the castle, a Cardiff Double-Decker Bus tour, a tour of the monstrous rugby stadium, a hostel T-shirt, and a drink in the hostel’s bar. So we pretty much scored.
We were starving, so we went to this great tapas bar for dinner. We all shared a meal-deal where we could each pick out three different items from the menu. I got fried brie, mozzarella and tomato salad, and some potato thing. SO GOOD.
After our fabulous meal, we took the tour of the huge rugby stadium. It’s the biggest in the world and it was pretty darn cool. Venues like that are really intriguing to me. After our tour, we went shopping then headed back to the hostel to take a quick nap.
We rested for about an hour and a half, and then decided to begin our epic evening. We played drinking games upstairs in our room to pregame and save money. So much fun. Then we headed to the sister hostel’s bar and used our free drink coupon and met some other travelers.
Then we walked in the freezing cold to the first nightclub of the evening. Only stayed for about 25 minutes but had a great time. Then we went to Oceana, a beautiful club with five different dance areas, each playing different music. We danced for hours. It was the perfect night.
We finished it by grabbing some cheesy chips (FF) and jumping into a taxi back to the hostel. No really, our night could not have been better.
Saturday, we didn’t actually wake up until 11ish. Ate our free breakfast, then headed out to the castle. (We made a detour to subway on the way.) The castle was really nice, but pretty small. The fortress was the best part of it. The stairs were so steep; I have no idea how people don’t slip and fall to their death there every day. But we survived. And jumped on the bus to Cardiff Bay.
We sat on the top and attempted to listen to the bus tour guide speak about Cardiff and the sights we were going by. But his thick Welsh accent and his old-man mumbling made it virtually impossible. Not to mention the rushing wind distracting us, by threatening to give us frost bite. I’m not kidding; it was so stinking cold, my upper-body was completely numb. But it was still worth it, as Cardiff Bay was lovely. Tons of restaurants, unfortunately not as much shopping; but we walked around outside for about an hour then caught the bus back.
We shopped in Cardiff instead and then headed to an Irish restaurant for dinner. I got a Rump Steak and half a rack of BBQ ribs for only 5.99! My steak was awful, but the ribs were delicious. And the atmosphere there was a lot of fun.
After dinner, we went back to the hostel for another nap. We rested for about an hour or so, then went down to our hostel bar for a few drinks. Our bartender, Huw, was wonderful. He played the guitar and sang old 90’s songs for us while we met our fellow hostel travelers. We met this crazy, hilarious guy named Brad from Australia. I loved Brad, but he was probably on something… While having a nice conversation with Amy, he suddenly asked, “Hey… umm, will you still be here if I take a 5 minute walk real quick?” Haha… then he darted away. Whatever he was on, they were definitely uppers.
So Brad, Alex, Amy, Stephanie, Laura, Lucy, and I went out to this really fancy bar and Demi headed up to bed. And this bar was awesome. Sure the cover was 5P, but it was worth it. We shared a bottle of wine, danced a bit, then, because of our exhaustion, we headed home.
Sunday, we went to a great pebble-stone beach about 20 minutes outside of Cardiff. It was in a town called Panerth(sp?). We walked around on the pier and ate a delicious meal of cheesy chips and cheesy pizza. And ice cream for dessert of course. It was the perfect day.
When we got back, we were really tired of walking, so we went and saw the movie, Couples Retreat. The movie itself wasn’t all that great, but the movie theatre was awesome. It was a five-story, sky-scraper movie theatre. Cool huh?
Afterwards, we got our luggage, said bye to Huw, then caught our 6:30 bus back to London. We had an hour lay-over and grabbed food at the rail station right by our bus. I had a three-course meal from McDonalds for 3Pounds. Woo! Then we got back on the bus to Canterbury and got home around 1:30AM. What a wonderful weekend!
The rest of 27 and days 28-31
The rest of Sunday was really good. Stephanie and I met Lauren and Cat in town for dinner at this really cute pub. I got the cheapest thing on the menu, a jacket potato for 1.95 with cheese. Guess how much cheese costs here? APPARENTLY 2 FREAKING POUNDS, because I ended up paying double for my cheap little meal. Boo. That was my tip money- sorry bad waitress.
After dinner, we met up with Amy, Sonja, and Alex for Quiz Night at the Unicorn. It was really fun, but once again, we received the fail prize. Sorry I know don’t “football” stuff!!! And this time the other bar-goers didn’t laugh with us about our lack of knowledge. Much worse, they pitied us. WE WILL DO BETTER BEFORE THE TERM IS UP. But hey, we got M&M’s as the fail prize. Beat that second-placers. What’d YOU get?!
Monday was a decent day. I had my IR seminar from 11-12 then I walked into town with Cathrin. It was a beautiful day, so we sat out in this adorable park in town, reading and doing HW. Well she was. I had to catch up on Harry Potter of course. It was freezing out though, so were only there about an hour.
We decided to do Pasta for dinner. Chloe, Lauren, Cat, Sarah, and I had spaghetti, bread and butter, and strawberry shortcake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. And then Sarah made her famous British tea afterwards. Haha, we’re so English. After dinner, Sarah came over and we had girl talk for a while. It ended up being a very good/cheap night!
Tuesday’s are my long days. I had Spanish Lang from 11-1, then came home and did HW, then went back to Span Culture from 3-5. Afterwards I had my one-on-one French lessons with Didier. Once again, pretty embarrassing. But this time it was a little better. I’m making progress, just at an extremely slow pace!!! When I get my debit card back, I’m going to buy a cheap French computer program that should help…
I went home around 7 and had a delicious dinner of cereal and crackers. Then around 9, Steph and I got drinks at K-Bar. Good times, but the DUMB bar shut down at 11PM. Why?!?!?! We were too lazy to walk anywhere else, so we just headed home for an early night.
Wednesday, I had Medieval History(FAVORITE CLASS!) from 10-12.
After class, I went to Dolce Vita, a cute little café on campus, for lunch with Stephanie, Lauren, Chloe, and Cathrin. I had a Spanish Fritatta (sp?), which is an omlet filled with broccoli and potatoes. Now any form of potato normally wins me over… but not this. ALL OMLETS SHOULD HAVE CHEESE IN THEM. NO EXCEPTIONS.
After lunch, we went into town and shopped at my favorite stores on earth. Man, I wish I had money!!! Then we headed to this ADORABLE boutique restaurant for dessert and coffee. I had cheesecake and a cappuccino. SO GOOD!
Shopped some more and headed back to campus. Steph and I were determined to have a cheap dinner, so she came over with a can opener and peppers, we opened my ravioli (GROSS), and sautéed the veggies (YUM). Somewhat of a decent meal…
That night we went out to The Venue, which was jammed pack of the school’s Sports Society Members. We were having a great time, but after a while we decided to head into town. Took the bus to Canterbury, walked around, went to a few pubs, but realized we’d still have more fun at the Venue, so we took a cab back.
Now keep in mind, we’ve already BEEN in the venue. Our hands are stamped and everything. But when we walked up, the bouncers wanted to charge us each 5 Pounds for re-entry. WHAT?! Amy didn’t like this. So she got into a very intense, 20-minute long, argument with the security guard, (during which the whole time Stephanie and I are trying not to giggle). We finally made a run for it when a cop started heading our way. Its one of those “you had to be there” moments… but it was hilarious.
So we gave up and walked home. But as we all were completely starving, we ordered a monster pizza and garlic bread from “Pizza Time”(haha) and ate the entire thing. No really, that’s disguisting! 4 slices and a piece of garlic bread each… gross. We have the most unhealthy lifestyle ever.
Thursday, I had class at what I thought was 11AM; walked all the way there, only to remember… it was at 12. Oh well. Walked back and watched some of The Office, went BACK to class, then had lunch with Steph at the Gulbenkian.
Went home and hung out; Hw, TVshack.net, ate some cereal (dinner), then went to the Penny Theatre with Lauren and Cathrin. It was packed inside and drinks were only 1.25! We humiliated ourselves playing a game of pool then hid at a table with our cider. I had to be up at 4:30 the next morning so we made it an early evening.
I'm just having so much fun.
After dinner, we met up with Amy, Sonja, and Alex for Quiz Night at the Unicorn. It was really fun, but once again, we received the fail prize. Sorry I know don’t “football” stuff!!! And this time the other bar-goers didn’t laugh with us about our lack of knowledge. Much worse, they pitied us. WE WILL DO BETTER BEFORE THE TERM IS UP. But hey, we got M&M’s as the fail prize. Beat that second-placers. What’d YOU get?!
Monday was a decent day. I had my IR seminar from 11-12 then I walked into town with Cathrin. It was a beautiful day, so we sat out in this adorable park in town, reading and doing HW. Well she was. I had to catch up on Harry Potter of course. It was freezing out though, so were only there about an hour.
We decided to do Pasta for dinner. Chloe, Lauren, Cat, Sarah, and I had spaghetti, bread and butter, and strawberry shortcake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. And then Sarah made her famous British tea afterwards. Haha, we’re so English. After dinner, Sarah came over and we had girl talk for a while. It ended up being a very good/cheap night!
Tuesday’s are my long days. I had Spanish Lang from 11-1, then came home and did HW, then went back to Span Culture from 3-5. Afterwards I had my one-on-one French lessons with Didier. Once again, pretty embarrassing. But this time it was a little better. I’m making progress, just at an extremely slow pace!!! When I get my debit card back, I’m going to buy a cheap French computer program that should help…
I went home around 7 and had a delicious dinner of cereal and crackers. Then around 9, Steph and I got drinks at K-Bar. Good times, but the DUMB bar shut down at 11PM. Why?!?!?! We were too lazy to walk anywhere else, so we just headed home for an early night.
Wednesday, I had Medieval History(FAVORITE CLASS!) from 10-12.
After class, I went to Dolce Vita, a cute little café on campus, for lunch with Stephanie, Lauren, Chloe, and Cathrin. I had a Spanish Fritatta (sp?), which is an omlet filled with broccoli and potatoes. Now any form of potato normally wins me over… but not this. ALL OMLETS SHOULD HAVE CHEESE IN THEM. NO EXCEPTIONS.
After lunch, we went into town and shopped at my favorite stores on earth. Man, I wish I had money!!! Then we headed to this ADORABLE boutique restaurant for dessert and coffee. I had cheesecake and a cappuccino. SO GOOD!
Shopped some more and headed back to campus. Steph and I were determined to have a cheap dinner, so she came over with a can opener and peppers, we opened my ravioli (GROSS), and sautéed the veggies (YUM). Somewhat of a decent meal…
That night we went out to The Venue, which was jammed pack of the school’s Sports Society Members. We were having a great time, but after a while we decided to head into town. Took the bus to Canterbury, walked around, went to a few pubs, but realized we’d still have more fun at the Venue, so we took a cab back.
Now keep in mind, we’ve already BEEN in the venue. Our hands are stamped and everything. But when we walked up, the bouncers wanted to charge us each 5 Pounds for re-entry. WHAT?! Amy didn’t like this. So she got into a very intense, 20-minute long, argument with the security guard, (during which the whole time Stephanie and I are trying not to giggle). We finally made a run for it when a cop started heading our way. Its one of those “you had to be there” moments… but it was hilarious.
So we gave up and walked home. But as we all were completely starving, we ordered a monster pizza and garlic bread from “Pizza Time”(haha) and ate the entire thing. No really, that’s disguisting! 4 slices and a piece of garlic bread each… gross. We have the most unhealthy lifestyle ever.
Thursday, I had class at what I thought was 11AM; walked all the way there, only to remember… it was at 12. Oh well. Walked back and watched some of The Office, went BACK to class, then had lunch with Steph at the Gulbenkian.
Went home and hung out; Hw, TVshack.net, ate some cereal (dinner), then went to the Penny Theatre with Lauren and Cathrin. It was packed inside and drinks were only 1.25! We humiliated ourselves playing a game of pool then hid at a table with our cider. I had to be up at 4:30 the next morning so we made it an early evening.
I'm just having so much fun.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Days 25, 26, and 27.5
I woke up on Friday with every intention of studying all day long. But after sitting at my desk and watching old episodes of desperate housewives and grey’s anatomy for two hours I realized I wasn’t making much progress. Then came the rationale, why should I be studying on a FRIDAY? Hmm…
So I called up Stephanie, (who was also supposed to be studying but had a similar rationale), and we decided to go shopping in town. (FYI- this kind of shopping includes trying on clothes and shoes, desperately wishing you could purchase them, and realizing you’re absolutely broke.) We went to all of the amazing stores in town and I could have easily bought have of the items that I tried on. But I’m a strong person, despite what my father believes, and resisted my Shopaholic urges.
Afterwards we went to Pizza Hut for an amazing Happy Hour Deal Lunch. One personal pan pizza, (which is HUGE), garlic bread, and a soda for only 4Pounds. Score! BTW, the fast food restaurants here have much more class than those in the states… Even McDonalds has fancy furniture.
After more torturous shopping, we went back to campus, where I consumed my usual meal of Ramen Noodles, and got ready for the evening.
We went over to Amy’s flat and pre-gamed with her roommates. I love all of them! They’re all so much fun; I wish my roommates and I got along as well as they did. Amy’s neighbors were having a party, which looked somewhat unsuccessful, so we took pity on them and took the fun to their flat. We politely stayed for about 20 minutes, then hurried to the Venue to get in before 10PM (free entry before 10… WooHoo!)
The Venue was a blast. We met up with Sarah and her friends, so we had quite the party going. We stayed until close and then hurried up to get drunk food before the Kitchen closed. Greasy burgers for 2Pounds… Yummmm.
Saturday, I woke up feeling like crap. (No, not hung over. Ill.) But we had plans to go to Dover, so I stuck it out. After a frustrating wait for the bus, we finally got our start to the seaside town. Once we got there, we walked up to the beautiful castle, hoping to wander the insides. 12 Pounds? No thanks.
So we walked over to the White Cliffs. And geez louise, were they gorgeous. It was quite a hike, we probably walked over 5 miles, but it was well worth it. And the best part? There were wild horses roaming in certain areas of our walk. And they came right up to us! So pretty.
Oh yeah, another aspect of nature. The seagulls there are AT LEAST three times bigger than the ones at home. When I first saw one, I thought it was an owl. Not cool big. CREEPY BIG.
After our perfect day in Dover, we took the bus back to campus. I stopped at the Parkwood grocery store on the way back to pick up something OTHER than ramen noodles for dinner. I was thrilled to see they had Ravioli for only 58pence!!!! I went home, ready to heat it up, so excited. No can opener. Ramen again. I can’t take much more of it.
That night, because I wasn’t feeling good, I decided to stay in. Stephanie and Cathrin came over around 8:30 and we made a cheap little frozen pie and ate it with vanilla ice cream. MMM MMM MMMMMMM. We then went up and booked ITALY! Yay! We’re officially going to Rome on Thursday, October 29th, and flying back from Milan on Sunday, November 1st.
After the girls left, I talked to my fam and Marty, read Harry Potter, and drifted off to sleep.
Today, (Sunday), I woke up and MADE myself go to the stinking library to study. I had 3 different books to read JUST for my IR class. All of them, (and each had about 5 different copies), were checked out. Great. So I did other HW and got the rest of the books I needed for my other classes.
And as I was leaving, I checked one more time for my IR books. Yay, one was in! I hurried to grab it, took it upstairs in a quiet area to read, and….. almost killed myself while trying to do so. This is the most boring crap I have ever tried to read in my ENTIRE life. No seriously. I just couldn’t do it. I tried my hardest, but if I had seen one more aspect of the “Neo-Realism Theory” in war, it would’ve pushed me over the edge.
So after staring blankly at that stupid document for 30 minutes, I retired from the library. Went home. Ate a really crappy, microwavable Mac N’ Cheese lunch, and here I am. Writing to you. Now I’m going to read Harry Potter and get dinner with the girls around 6. Quiz night at the Unicorn tonight- Can’t wait!
So I called up Stephanie, (who was also supposed to be studying but had a similar rationale), and we decided to go shopping in town. (FYI- this kind of shopping includes trying on clothes and shoes, desperately wishing you could purchase them, and realizing you’re absolutely broke.) We went to all of the amazing stores in town and I could have easily bought have of the items that I tried on. But I’m a strong person, despite what my father believes, and resisted my Shopaholic urges.
Afterwards we went to Pizza Hut for an amazing Happy Hour Deal Lunch. One personal pan pizza, (which is HUGE), garlic bread, and a soda for only 4Pounds. Score! BTW, the fast food restaurants here have much more class than those in the states… Even McDonalds has fancy furniture.
After more torturous shopping, we went back to campus, where I consumed my usual meal of Ramen Noodles, and got ready for the evening.
We went over to Amy’s flat and pre-gamed with her roommates. I love all of them! They’re all so much fun; I wish my roommates and I got along as well as they did. Amy’s neighbors were having a party, which looked somewhat unsuccessful, so we took pity on them and took the fun to their flat. We politely stayed for about 20 minutes, then hurried to the Venue to get in before 10PM (free entry before 10… WooHoo!)
The Venue was a blast. We met up with Sarah and her friends, so we had quite the party going. We stayed until close and then hurried up to get drunk food before the Kitchen closed. Greasy burgers for 2Pounds… Yummmm.
Saturday, I woke up feeling like crap. (No, not hung over. Ill.) But we had plans to go to Dover, so I stuck it out. After a frustrating wait for the bus, we finally got our start to the seaside town. Once we got there, we walked up to the beautiful castle, hoping to wander the insides. 12 Pounds? No thanks.
So we walked over to the White Cliffs. And geez louise, were they gorgeous. It was quite a hike, we probably walked over 5 miles, but it was well worth it. And the best part? There were wild horses roaming in certain areas of our walk. And they came right up to us! So pretty.
Oh yeah, another aspect of nature. The seagulls there are AT LEAST three times bigger than the ones at home. When I first saw one, I thought it was an owl. Not cool big. CREEPY BIG.
After our perfect day in Dover, we took the bus back to campus. I stopped at the Parkwood grocery store on the way back to pick up something OTHER than ramen noodles for dinner. I was thrilled to see they had Ravioli for only 58pence!!!! I went home, ready to heat it up, so excited. No can opener. Ramen again. I can’t take much more of it.
That night, because I wasn’t feeling good, I decided to stay in. Stephanie and Cathrin came over around 8:30 and we made a cheap little frozen pie and ate it with vanilla ice cream. MMM MMM MMMMMMM. We then went up and booked ITALY! Yay! We’re officially going to Rome on Thursday, October 29th, and flying back from Milan on Sunday, November 1st.
After the girls left, I talked to my fam and Marty, read Harry Potter, and drifted off to sleep.
Today, (Sunday), I woke up and MADE myself go to the stinking library to study. I had 3 different books to read JUST for my IR class. All of them, (and each had about 5 different copies), were checked out. Great. So I did other HW and got the rest of the books I needed for my other classes.
And as I was leaving, I checked one more time for my IR books. Yay, one was in! I hurried to grab it, took it upstairs in a quiet area to read, and….. almost killed myself while trying to do so. This is the most boring crap I have ever tried to read in my ENTIRE life. No seriously. I just couldn’t do it. I tried my hardest, but if I had seen one more aspect of the “Neo-Realism Theory” in war, it would’ve pushed me over the edge.
So after staring blankly at that stupid document for 30 minutes, I retired from the library. Went home. Ate a really crappy, microwavable Mac N’ Cheese lunch, and here I am. Writing to you. Now I’m going to read Harry Potter and get dinner with the girls around 6. Quiz night at the Unicorn tonight- Can’t wait!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Day 24: Happy Birthday Linda!
Linda, I wish I could’ve been home for your birthday today. Birthdays at home are some of my favorite days of the year. You’re sending me left-overs from Bonefish right?
But I had a pretty decent day in Canterbury as well. I had class from 12-1- International History with International Relations. We discussed causes of wars and how the causes can be classified into different levels. Now this could be interesting… That is, if my professor didn’t talk as though he was speaking right out of an English Textbook. Like using words such as, Denazification. Instead of just saying, The removal of the Nazis.
After class, I met Cathrin and Steph for lunch at Origins, a tex-mex restaurant on campus. We continued our discussion of travel plans for the semester and went to the library and booked our trip to Cardiff!
Then I went to Spanish again from 4-5. My teacher claimed that Spanish adjectives go BEFORE the noun. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the usually go after… That’s what it says on our handout anyways. If I want to learn any Spanish at all this semester, it’ll be by teaching myself.
Right after Spanish, I met my new friend Didier for my first French lesson. And how incredibly embarrassing. The pronunciation is just so much more difficult than English and Spanish. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the R sound down. So we worked on the basics for about an hour, (which I did NOT get down.), then I headed home.
At home, I had a wonderful dinner of cereal and bread, and got ready to go out. Stephanie and I headed to the Penny Theatre in town for a Pound for Pint night. See Mom, I am on a money diet. We were supposed to meet Sarah there, but for the first time since I’ve been to the UK, I was actually CARDED to get in. Of course this would happen after my wallet was stolen. The bouncer took no pity on me, so Stephanie and I went to a quaint little pub with live music and hung out there instead.
We only stayed for about an hour, making sure we got back to the bus station for the last run of the evening. I guess we read the sign wrong because we were about 15 minutes late. Walk or taxi? Stephanie voted on taxi, so we paid 6 pounds each, just to get home.
So not a bad night. Not a great night. A few setbacks, but we still had fun. Today, I’m studying in the library until 2ish, and then probably heading into town. Cheers!
But I had a pretty decent day in Canterbury as well. I had class from 12-1- International History with International Relations. We discussed causes of wars and how the causes can be classified into different levels. Now this could be interesting… That is, if my professor didn’t talk as though he was speaking right out of an English Textbook. Like using words such as, Denazification. Instead of just saying, The removal of the Nazis.
After class, I met Cathrin and Steph for lunch at Origins, a tex-mex restaurant on campus. We continued our discussion of travel plans for the semester and went to the library and booked our trip to Cardiff!
Then I went to Spanish again from 4-5. My teacher claimed that Spanish adjectives go BEFORE the noun. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the usually go after… That’s what it says on our handout anyways. If I want to learn any Spanish at all this semester, it’ll be by teaching myself.
Right after Spanish, I met my new friend Didier for my first French lesson. And how incredibly embarrassing. The pronunciation is just so much more difficult than English and Spanish. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the R sound down. So we worked on the basics for about an hour, (which I did NOT get down.), then I headed home.
At home, I had a wonderful dinner of cereal and bread, and got ready to go out. Stephanie and I headed to the Penny Theatre in town for a Pound for Pint night. See Mom, I am on a money diet. We were supposed to meet Sarah there, but for the first time since I’ve been to the UK, I was actually CARDED to get in. Of course this would happen after my wallet was stolen. The bouncer took no pity on me, so Stephanie and I went to a quaint little pub with live music and hung out there instead.
We only stayed for about an hour, making sure we got back to the bus station for the last run of the evening. I guess we read the sign wrong because we were about 15 minutes late. Walk or taxi? Stephanie voted on taxi, so we paid 6 pounds each, just to get home.
So not a bad night. Not a great night. A few setbacks, but we still had fun. Today, I’m studying in the library until 2ish, and then probably heading into town. Cheers!
Days 20-23: Life with no Money
When I got home from Paris (at 5:30AM), I had to cancel all of my credit/debit cards. 10 minute phone conversation? Ohhhhhnooooo. I didn’t go to bed until 7:15AM and I had an 11AM class. And here’s all the junk that I lost:
Driver’s License- $25 replacement fee
Carolina Card- some ridiculous replacement fee
KentOne Card- 10Pound replacement fee
Debit Card- no money for 2 weeks
Credit card- see above
STAtravel Card- 9Pound replacement fee
Bus Pass- 25Pounds for a new one
Check Book- closure of bank account
Rail Pass to London- value=25Pounds
Wallet itself- 10Pounds
Money in my wallet- 10Euros
AND ALL OF MY STUFF THAT I HAD COLLECTED EVER SINCE I STARTED CARRYING A WALLET TO BEGIN WITH. Including a free beezers sub and a free ice cream cone from marble slab for my unwavering loyalty.
I hate thieves so much. Anyways…. Monday was not a good day.
I went to my 11AM seminar. Ran errands. Did HW. Cleaned. Unpacked. Ate 2 servings of Ramen Noodles. Yep.
Tuesday was much better. I had my 11-1 Spanish Language Class. Sorry, but this is the worst teacher ever. I’ll probably write that every time I mention her on here. Because she JUST STINKS AS A TEACHER. Went home and ate lunch. Then went back to my Spanish Culture class from 3-5.
After class, I went home, got organized, and got READY TO GO TO LONDON!!!!
We were supposed to all meet at Woody’s for a dinner before we left, but the Woody’s chef didn’t show up. So they referred us to Rutherford. Rutherford wasn’t serving food. They referred us to Mungos. MUNGOS WASN’T SERVING FOOD EITHER so THEY REFERRED US TO ORIGINS. Are you kidding me? People really shut everything down so early to start drinking here.
So we ended up going to the campus grocery store to stock up on junk food. Healthy and nutritious meal of course.
We were supposed to meet to take the bus at Mungos at 8PM. While waiting to get on the bus, we were reminded that we should have some form of ID to get in the club in London. That’s a bit difficult WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE A WALLET. So we were told that we’d better go get our passports. Now keep in mind, the bus should be leaving any minute, its pouring rain outside, we’re in high heels, and our houses are about a mile away. So we ask, "Can we have 30 minutes?" And we’re told, "You can have 10." AHHH!!!
So we sprint back. Barefoot. In the rain. In puddles. And make it back, just in time. Really 2 minutes later, and the bus would’ve left us. Not a great start to our night. But we started drinking quickly, (maybe a little too quickly), and finally got to the nightclub in London.
This place is called Pacha and its by far the classiest nightclub I’ve ever been in. We all had so much fun dancing all night. And the whole trip was only 18Pounds. Whatta deal! But the bus didn’t leave until 3:30AM, meaning I didn’t get home until 5:30AM. And I had a class at 10AM.
And get this…. I lost my cell phone on the bus. First wallet, now cell phone!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! So I had no way of setting my alarm clock to wake up.
But miraculously I woke up at 8:30. VERY VERY HUNGOVER. But at least I got up.
Went to class from 10-12, went back home and ate lunch, went to Steph’s looking for my phone. She didn’t have it. CRAP!
But we called it, and this really nice guy answered and said we could come get it in town (he found it on the bus). So Steph and I went into town in the pouring rain, (without rain coats and umbrellas), got my phone, went to H&M and tortured myself by not shopping, and ate a Big Mac and McFlurry at McDonalds. Yum yum yum. AND I HAD MY PHONE!! YAY!!!
After town, I went home and took a solid nap for two hours. Woke up and went to Stephanie’s and ate dinner with she and Cat. We also mapped out our travel plans for the rest of the semester. We’re booking stuff tomorrow. Can’t wait!
Well I’m bored writing. And I’m sure you’re bored reading. BYE! Update soooonnnn.
Driver’s License- $25 replacement fee
Carolina Card- some ridiculous replacement fee
KentOne Card- 10Pound replacement fee
Debit Card- no money for 2 weeks
Credit card- see above
STAtravel Card- 9Pound replacement fee
Bus Pass- 25Pounds for a new one
Check Book- closure of bank account
Rail Pass to London- value=25Pounds
Wallet itself- 10Pounds
Money in my wallet- 10Euros
AND ALL OF MY STUFF THAT I HAD COLLECTED EVER SINCE I STARTED CARRYING A WALLET TO BEGIN WITH. Including a free beezers sub and a free ice cream cone from marble slab for my unwavering loyalty.
I hate thieves so much. Anyways…. Monday was not a good day.
I went to my 11AM seminar. Ran errands. Did HW. Cleaned. Unpacked. Ate 2 servings of Ramen Noodles. Yep.
Tuesday was much better. I had my 11-1 Spanish Language Class. Sorry, but this is the worst teacher ever. I’ll probably write that every time I mention her on here. Because she JUST STINKS AS A TEACHER. Went home and ate lunch. Then went back to my Spanish Culture class from 3-5.
After class, I went home, got organized, and got READY TO GO TO LONDON!!!!
We were supposed to all meet at Woody’s for a dinner before we left, but the Woody’s chef didn’t show up. So they referred us to Rutherford. Rutherford wasn’t serving food. They referred us to Mungos. MUNGOS WASN’T SERVING FOOD EITHER so THEY REFERRED US TO ORIGINS. Are you kidding me? People really shut everything down so early to start drinking here.
So we ended up going to the campus grocery store to stock up on junk food. Healthy and nutritious meal of course.
We were supposed to meet to take the bus at Mungos at 8PM. While waiting to get on the bus, we were reminded that we should have some form of ID to get in the club in London. That’s a bit difficult WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE A WALLET. So we were told that we’d better go get our passports. Now keep in mind, the bus should be leaving any minute, its pouring rain outside, we’re in high heels, and our houses are about a mile away. So we ask, "Can we have 30 minutes?" And we’re told, "You can have 10." AHHH!!!
So we sprint back. Barefoot. In the rain. In puddles. And make it back, just in time. Really 2 minutes later, and the bus would’ve left us. Not a great start to our night. But we started drinking quickly, (maybe a little too quickly), and finally got to the nightclub in London.
This place is called Pacha and its by far the classiest nightclub I’ve ever been in. We all had so much fun dancing all night. And the whole trip was only 18Pounds. Whatta deal! But the bus didn’t leave until 3:30AM, meaning I didn’t get home until 5:30AM. And I had a class at 10AM.
And get this…. I lost my cell phone on the bus. First wallet, now cell phone!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! So I had no way of setting my alarm clock to wake up.
But miraculously I woke up at 8:30. VERY VERY HUNGOVER. But at least I got up.
Went to class from 10-12, went back home and ate lunch, went to Steph’s looking for my phone. She didn’t have it. CRAP!
But we called it, and this really nice guy answered and said we could come get it in town (he found it on the bus). So Steph and I went into town in the pouring rain, (without rain coats and umbrellas), got my phone, went to H&M and tortured myself by not shopping, and ate a Big Mac and McFlurry at McDonalds. Yum yum yum. AND I HAD MY PHONE!! YAY!!!
After town, I went home and took a solid nap for two hours. Woke up and went to Stephanie’s and ate dinner with she and Cat. We also mapped out our travel plans for the rest of the semester. We’re booking stuff tomorrow. Can’t wait!
Well I’m bored writing. And I’m sure you’re bored reading. BYE! Update soooonnnn.
Days 17-19: Paris!
Paris has exceeded my expectations immensely. I’ve heard that it’s a dirty city and that the French are rude. While the latter may be true, Paris is absolutely beautiful. It is so comparable to Washington DC, except its better. And older. My trip was wonderful.
Amy (Maryland), Stephanie (Vermont, Upstate NY), Cathrin (Indiana), Sonja (Finland), and I took the overnight bus from Canterbury to Paris on Thursday night, arriving Friday morning around 6:30 AM. Instead of travelling through the Chunnel, as I thought we would, we took the ferry across from Dover. Side note- the white cliffs of Dover are breath-taking. Planning a day-trip there ASAP. And the ferry was really cool too. I expected some big plain boat, maybe with a couple of bathrooms. But we’re talking a mini-cruise-ship. Dining halls, duty-free liquor stores, the works. The bad part about the ferry: we got very little sleep for a full-day of sight-seeing.
When we finally got into the city, we bought 3-day subway passes and headed in the direction of our hotel. Low point- its freezing cold out, its 6:30 AM, and no one’s around to point us into the direction of the hotel. But after about 15 minutes of groggy wandering, we found it. High point- we were able to check in, (even though check-in wasn’t until 4ish), and go to sleep for a few hours.
Around 11:30 we met my good friend Anthony, a true Parisian, who graciously showed us around the city. We walked to the Eiffel Tower and took the elevator up to the middle area. What an amazing view! Afterwards, we wandered the streets and took the metro to a wonderful area called St Michel. There, we found a café with 3 course meals for 8.80 Euros. Holy cow, whatta deal. I got (and I wish I could remember this in French), a cheese crepe for an appetizer, roast chicken with salad and chips (that’s FF for all of Europe), and a chocolate crepe for desert. And it was DELICIOUS.
After our late lunch, Anthony went home to study and Sonja went back to the hotel to nap. The rest of us walked over to the Notre Dame, went inside awestruck, and then walked over towards the Pantheon. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go inside… but we did discover a gorgeous cathedral right next to it, (and I should know the name of it), that was even more amazing than the Notre Dame. The inside of the church was absolutely stunning.
We then wandered around back towards the subway, passing a beautiful park, and some great candy shops, (and yes, we did stop), bought 3 bottles of wine, and headed back to the hotel. We all showered and freshened up then started playing drinking games and chugging are extremely cheap wine. After we all obtained a good buzz, we went back to St Michel and met Anthony again for a night out in Paris.
The Subway ride was so much fun. Some guy got off the subway, turned and stood towards the window, flicking all of us off as the train pulled away. When we asked Anthony about it later, he said, “Well you are all pretty girls. That’s why he did that.” Ummm?????
When we got there, we bar-hopped for a few solid hours- dancing salsa, drinking extravagantly, having a blast. When we were done drinking, we got some Drunk French Food, (some delicious crepes and baguettes), and almost stole a monster container of Nutella. Fun times!!!
Problem: Subway closed. 35 minutes from hotel. 30 Euros of taxi ride. Solution: Follow Anthony to train and hope to God it goes in our direction. Depart from our tour guide. Somehow jump on a completely random bus that ended up dropping us off RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR HOTEL. Without paying one dime. Highlight of bus ride: Amy talking to some random guy. I text her, “Taken”. (Movie reference). The guy somehow sees and says, “Oh no reason to fear.” HAHA. Amy replies, “Oh I know. My huge football player boyfriend would brutally kill anyone that touched me.” You really had to be there.
Saturday morning we woke up, and Amy, Stephanie, and I headed for Versailles. (Cathrin wanted extra time at the Louvre and Sonja wanted to sleep later.) With Amy’s aggressive attitude, we were able to get in for absolutely free and skip the 45 minute line. (We just showed our Kent Cards and she said, “Everyone’s letting us in with that. Come on, you should too!” But, Versailles was amazing. The gold woven into the architecture was so pretty and each room’s design had such intricate detail- truly stunning. I could’ve easily spent the entire day there.
But we had so much to see! So we took the train back and met Cat and Sonja at The Louvre. We only stayed in there for about 30 minutes. We saw the Mona Lisa and da Vinci’s other artwork and headed for the exit. Once again, could’ve spent the entire day there. The Louvre is HUGE. But we were starving so we had to find lunch ASAP.
So we went back to St Michel and got some quick lunch. I had this monstrous gyro filled with chicken and the usual stuff and…. French Fries. HAHA weird. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to shower, and get ready for the evening.
We met Anthony again that night at my favorite spot in Paris, La Basilique de Sacre Couer, a beautiful white church that sits up on this huge hill. The view from the top is breath-taking. If you look one way, you can see the landscape of Paris and if you turn around, you look up at this amazing church. I love it there so much.
We then walked down to the Moulin Rouge, which I was not a fan of. This is probably the dirtiest part of Paris that we saw. Sex stores everywhere, strip clubs, not a classy place. But we found a nice Irish Pub and sat down to dinner and drinks. I had a club sandwich and a couple pints of Strongbow.
Afterwards, Amy and Sonja headed back to the hotel cause they weren’t feeling well, and the rest of us walked down to this ridiculous karaoke bar. It was entertaining but somewhat painful to listen. And drinks were really pricy, so after a little while, we went to another bar with a great atmosphere. There was live indie music and good drink prices. We ended the night there.
Sunday, we packed up our stuff, checked out, and headed to the Notre Dame for an international church service. This was so cool. I love going to church in huge cathedrals, especially THE NOTRE DAME! But it was a bit annoying, having all the parishioners taking pictures during the service. Manners, please….
After church, we went to the Arc de Triomphe to see how the rich people live. (This is the great, but super expensive shopping area of Paris.) I wish I could shop there. But I can’t. So we went to where the poor people shop on the other side of town (H&M and stores like it). But for some weird reason, these stores are closed on Sundays. And this area is also where the homeless people like to gather their mattresses. Uncomfortable….
So we went to this cemetery instead, where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried. And that place was MASSIVE. We walked around forever and never found their tombs. But as weird as this sounds, I actually really liked it there… There was such great grandeur; now that’s how you pay respect to the dead!
Afterwards, we went back to the area where the La Basilique de Sacre Couer is, and shopped in touristy stores. I got a really cute hat and a pair of kick-butt sunglasses for 10 Euros… I had to do at least SOME shopping in Paris. And we got dinner at another wonderful restaurant. I got vegetable potage and roast chicken pasta for only 10Euros. And I really thought Parisian food would be outrageously expensive!
After dinner, we shopped a bit more and headed back to the hotel to get our luggage. Got it. Took our last subway ride to the bus station. Got on. Got my wallet stolen. Had a panic attack. Living nightmare. Don’t take Eurolines ever. Don’t sleep on sketchy buses. Don’t keep all your important stuff together in one place. Just don’t do it.
Really though, besides my ridiculously stressful end to the trip, Paris couldn’t have been better. I loved every single minute of it and I think I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.
Amy (Maryland), Stephanie (Vermont, Upstate NY), Cathrin (Indiana), Sonja (Finland), and I took the overnight bus from Canterbury to Paris on Thursday night, arriving Friday morning around 6:30 AM. Instead of travelling through the Chunnel, as I thought we would, we took the ferry across from Dover. Side note- the white cliffs of Dover are breath-taking. Planning a day-trip there ASAP. And the ferry was really cool too. I expected some big plain boat, maybe with a couple of bathrooms. But we’re talking a mini-cruise-ship. Dining halls, duty-free liquor stores, the works. The bad part about the ferry: we got very little sleep for a full-day of sight-seeing.
When we finally got into the city, we bought 3-day subway passes and headed in the direction of our hotel. Low point- its freezing cold out, its 6:30 AM, and no one’s around to point us into the direction of the hotel. But after about 15 minutes of groggy wandering, we found it. High point- we were able to check in, (even though check-in wasn’t until 4ish), and go to sleep for a few hours.
Around 11:30 we met my good friend Anthony, a true Parisian, who graciously showed us around the city. We walked to the Eiffel Tower and took the elevator up to the middle area. What an amazing view! Afterwards, we wandered the streets and took the metro to a wonderful area called St Michel. There, we found a café with 3 course meals for 8.80 Euros. Holy cow, whatta deal. I got (and I wish I could remember this in French), a cheese crepe for an appetizer, roast chicken with salad and chips (that’s FF for all of Europe), and a chocolate crepe for desert. And it was DELICIOUS.
After our late lunch, Anthony went home to study and Sonja went back to the hotel to nap. The rest of us walked over to the Notre Dame, went inside awestruck, and then walked over towards the Pantheon. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go inside… but we did discover a gorgeous cathedral right next to it, (and I should know the name of it), that was even more amazing than the Notre Dame. The inside of the church was absolutely stunning.
We then wandered around back towards the subway, passing a beautiful park, and some great candy shops, (and yes, we did stop), bought 3 bottles of wine, and headed back to the hotel. We all showered and freshened up then started playing drinking games and chugging are extremely cheap wine. After we all obtained a good buzz, we went back to St Michel and met Anthony again for a night out in Paris.
The Subway ride was so much fun. Some guy got off the subway, turned and stood towards the window, flicking all of us off as the train pulled away. When we asked Anthony about it later, he said, “Well you are all pretty girls. That’s why he did that.” Ummm?????
When we got there, we bar-hopped for a few solid hours- dancing salsa, drinking extravagantly, having a blast. When we were done drinking, we got some Drunk French Food, (some delicious crepes and baguettes), and almost stole a monster container of Nutella. Fun times!!!
Problem: Subway closed. 35 minutes from hotel. 30 Euros of taxi ride. Solution: Follow Anthony to train and hope to God it goes in our direction. Depart from our tour guide. Somehow jump on a completely random bus that ended up dropping us off RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR HOTEL. Without paying one dime. Highlight of bus ride: Amy talking to some random guy. I text her, “Taken”. (Movie reference). The guy somehow sees and says, “Oh no reason to fear.” HAHA. Amy replies, “Oh I know. My huge football player boyfriend would brutally kill anyone that touched me.” You really had to be there.
Saturday morning we woke up, and Amy, Stephanie, and I headed for Versailles. (Cathrin wanted extra time at the Louvre and Sonja wanted to sleep later.) With Amy’s aggressive attitude, we were able to get in for absolutely free and skip the 45 minute line. (We just showed our Kent Cards and she said, “Everyone’s letting us in with that. Come on, you should too!” But, Versailles was amazing. The gold woven into the architecture was so pretty and each room’s design had such intricate detail- truly stunning. I could’ve easily spent the entire day there.
But we had so much to see! So we took the train back and met Cat and Sonja at The Louvre. We only stayed in there for about 30 minutes. We saw the Mona Lisa and da Vinci’s other artwork and headed for the exit. Once again, could’ve spent the entire day there. The Louvre is HUGE. But we were starving so we had to find lunch ASAP.
So we went back to St Michel and got some quick lunch. I had this monstrous gyro filled with chicken and the usual stuff and…. French Fries. HAHA weird. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to shower, and get ready for the evening.
We met Anthony again that night at my favorite spot in Paris, La Basilique de Sacre Couer, a beautiful white church that sits up on this huge hill. The view from the top is breath-taking. If you look one way, you can see the landscape of Paris and if you turn around, you look up at this amazing church. I love it there so much.
We then walked down to the Moulin Rouge, which I was not a fan of. This is probably the dirtiest part of Paris that we saw. Sex stores everywhere, strip clubs, not a classy place. But we found a nice Irish Pub and sat down to dinner and drinks. I had a club sandwich and a couple pints of Strongbow.
Afterwards, Amy and Sonja headed back to the hotel cause they weren’t feeling well, and the rest of us walked down to this ridiculous karaoke bar. It was entertaining but somewhat painful to listen. And drinks were really pricy, so after a little while, we went to another bar with a great atmosphere. There was live indie music and good drink prices. We ended the night there.
Sunday, we packed up our stuff, checked out, and headed to the Notre Dame for an international church service. This was so cool. I love going to church in huge cathedrals, especially THE NOTRE DAME! But it was a bit annoying, having all the parishioners taking pictures during the service. Manners, please….
After church, we went to the Arc de Triomphe to see how the rich people live. (This is the great, but super expensive shopping area of Paris.) I wish I could shop there. But I can’t. So we went to where the poor people shop on the other side of town (H&M and stores like it). But for some weird reason, these stores are closed on Sundays. And this area is also where the homeless people like to gather their mattresses. Uncomfortable….
So we went to this cemetery instead, where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried. And that place was MASSIVE. We walked around forever and never found their tombs. But as weird as this sounds, I actually really liked it there… There was such great grandeur; now that’s how you pay respect to the dead!
Afterwards, we went back to the area where the La Basilique de Sacre Couer is, and shopped in touristy stores. I got a really cute hat and a pair of kick-butt sunglasses for 10 Euros… I had to do at least SOME shopping in Paris. And we got dinner at another wonderful restaurant. I got vegetable potage and roast chicken pasta for only 10Euros. And I really thought Parisian food would be outrageously expensive!
After dinner, we shopped a bit more and headed back to the hotel to get our luggage. Got it. Took our last subway ride to the bus station. Got on. Got my wallet stolen. Had a panic attack. Living nightmare. Don’t take Eurolines ever. Don’t sleep on sketchy buses. Don’t keep all your important stuff together in one place. Just don’t do it.
Really though, besides my ridiculously stressful end to the trip, Paris couldn’t have been better. I loved every single minute of it and I think I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Days 13-16
I’ve been doing a bad job updating… I’m forgetting things I did, OH NO!
I’ll do my best to remember…
Monday was supposed to be my first day of class, however I wanted to switch out of French and change my Spanish class, (so I wouldn’t have class on Fridays). This seems relatively simple right? I mean, at home it’s a 2 second computer process. Here…. Living nightmare. I began these tasks at 9AM and finished around Noon. Sounds like fun right?
Afterwards I took a nap…. I think… Grocery shopped, and went over to the girls for a wonderful Lasagna dinner. Red wine, tons of cheese, and bread and butter. MMMMM MMMMM MMMMMMM. We then took the bus to The Works, waited in line for an eternity, and finally got inside. Once we got drinking, it was pretty fun. The Works has 4 levels. Bottom is bathrooms and coat-checks, ground level plays rock music, 1st level plays beachy music, top level plays rap and techno. Whatever you’re in the mood for, they got it! Except for cold air. I guess they’re going for a sauna type feel… Geez is it hot in there!
Tuesday ended up being my first real day of classes. I had Spanish language from 11-1. This class was so easy, despite my awful teacher that speaks very little English. Then I had my Spanish culture class from 3-5. Once again, easy. But interesting too… My teacher’s really passionate about the history of Spain.
Afterwards I went back home for a breather then went and ate pizza with the girls at KBAR and headed to Salsa Night at Mungos. Drinks were cheap. I tried a delicious Cuban… kind of like rum and coke, but with a ton of lime juice. Highlight of the night: The Macarena.. (sp?). Had an early class in the morning, so I got home around 11. Only to hear incredibly awful news. Don’t want to talk/think about it.
Also, on Tuesday in the laundry room, I met a very nice French Teacher that offered to give me free weekly French lessons in exchange with me helping him with English. FREE!
Wednesday I went to History of Medieval Europe at 10 AM. And I must say, the professor that teaches it, is the best professor I’ve had thus far in college. She really makes the material interesting. This is the class I’m looking most forward to.
After class, I went into town with Cat to cash in our free subs. We ate, read, studied in starbucks, grocery shopped, ya know… Fun Fun Fun. When we got back, I went over to her place and ate a wonderful pasta/sautéed vegetables dinner with her, Chloe, and Lauren. Then later, we went to see 500 days of summer in town with a girl named Stephanie (Upstate NY/Vermont). For the movie, we had the choice of buying premium or standard seats… weird huh?!
On Thursday, I had my first International History and International Relations class. Now this one’s gonna be hard. EIGHT required text books, boring lectures, individual presentations that don’t even count for a grade. I wish I could drop out of it! After class, I went home for a quick lunch and then headed back to my espanol class. This teacher is just awful. Really. So I think I’m going to switch into a different seminar. I feel so bad for all of the students that have no Spanish background. They won’t learn a thing in this class!
After Spanish, I went to a Mountaineering meeting with Chloe. This looks like so much fun! And weekend trips are only 20-25PP for the whole trip. That’s gas, accommodation, food, everything. I’d probably spend less money if I join, than if I just stayed in Canterbury! After the meeting, I ran home, packed, and LEFT FOR PARIS!!!!!!! While waiting for our bus, we decided to get a quick bite to eat at McDonalds. There I met another guy from USC. I had no idea that there was anyone else from my school here. And of all the places for Americans to meet, McDonalds. That’s a tad bit embarrassing.
I’ll update on Paris later tonight. WONDERFUL weekend. TERRIBLE ending.
I’ll do my best to remember…
Monday was supposed to be my first day of class, however I wanted to switch out of French and change my Spanish class, (so I wouldn’t have class on Fridays). This seems relatively simple right? I mean, at home it’s a 2 second computer process. Here…. Living nightmare. I began these tasks at 9AM and finished around Noon. Sounds like fun right?
Afterwards I took a nap…. I think… Grocery shopped, and went over to the girls for a wonderful Lasagna dinner. Red wine, tons of cheese, and bread and butter. MMMMM MMMMM MMMMMMM. We then took the bus to The Works, waited in line for an eternity, and finally got inside. Once we got drinking, it was pretty fun. The Works has 4 levels. Bottom is bathrooms and coat-checks, ground level plays rock music, 1st level plays beachy music, top level plays rap and techno. Whatever you’re in the mood for, they got it! Except for cold air. I guess they’re going for a sauna type feel… Geez is it hot in there!
Tuesday ended up being my first real day of classes. I had Spanish language from 11-1. This class was so easy, despite my awful teacher that speaks very little English. Then I had my Spanish culture class from 3-5. Once again, easy. But interesting too… My teacher’s really passionate about the history of Spain.
Afterwards I went back home for a breather then went and ate pizza with the girls at KBAR and headed to Salsa Night at Mungos. Drinks were cheap. I tried a delicious Cuban… kind of like rum and coke, but with a ton of lime juice. Highlight of the night: The Macarena.. (sp?). Had an early class in the morning, so I got home around 11. Only to hear incredibly awful news. Don’t want to talk/think about it.
Also, on Tuesday in the laundry room, I met a very nice French Teacher that offered to give me free weekly French lessons in exchange with me helping him with English. FREE!
Wednesday I went to History of Medieval Europe at 10 AM. And I must say, the professor that teaches it, is the best professor I’ve had thus far in college. She really makes the material interesting. This is the class I’m looking most forward to.
After class, I went into town with Cat to cash in our free subs. We ate, read, studied in starbucks, grocery shopped, ya know… Fun Fun Fun. When we got back, I went over to her place and ate a wonderful pasta/sautéed vegetables dinner with her, Chloe, and Lauren. Then later, we went to see 500 days of summer in town with a girl named Stephanie (Upstate NY/Vermont). For the movie, we had the choice of buying premium or standard seats… weird huh?!
On Thursday, I had my first International History and International Relations class. Now this one’s gonna be hard. EIGHT required text books, boring lectures, individual presentations that don’t even count for a grade. I wish I could drop out of it! After class, I went home for a quick lunch and then headed back to my espanol class. This teacher is just awful. Really. So I think I’m going to switch into a different seminar. I feel so bad for all of the students that have no Spanish background. They won’t learn a thing in this class!
After Spanish, I went to a Mountaineering meeting with Chloe. This looks like so much fun! And weekend trips are only 20-25PP for the whole trip. That’s gas, accommodation, food, everything. I’d probably spend less money if I join, than if I just stayed in Canterbury! After the meeting, I ran home, packed, and LEFT FOR PARIS!!!!!!! While waiting for our bus, we decided to get a quick bite to eat at McDonalds. There I met another guy from USC. I had no idea that there was anyone else from my school here. And of all the places for Americans to meet, McDonalds. That’s a tad bit embarrassing.
I’ll update on Paris later tonight. WONDERFUL weekend. TERRIBLE ending.
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