Days 66-80: Amsterdam and Marty Invades England :)

So I’m not going to lie. I’m really, really down right now. I only have a few weeks left. And I can’t imagine leaving. If I had the chance to redo this experience, I’d sign up for the year. Or all of college. I can’t imagine its coming to an end. I can’t say goodbye to England or my newfound friends. I just can’t.

The last few weeks have really been great. I know I haven’t updated in forever, but I’ll do my best to summarize each day.

Wednesday- Class from 10-11; did HW and wrote my essay all day long.. boo. And skyped with the fam.

Thursday- Class 12-1; Library; Class 4-5; Came home and FINISHED MY ESSAY… whew. Turned it in then packed for Amsterdam.

Friday- We walked to the bus station around 6:30 and left by 7. It was a really long ride, but I was with Stephanie, Sonja, Amy, Cathrin and the rest of Kent Uni… so it was actually fun. We stopped a few times along the way to get food and watched Little Miss Sunshine and a cheesy British Movie.

We got to Amsterdam around 6, settled into our hostel then headed out. Amsterdam is stunning. It really is like a town directly out of a Christmas snow globe. There are canals everywhere and the architecture is just so cute. We walked around town for a while and then headed over to the Red Light District. I always pictured this to be a disgusting area with nasty hookers and drug pushers everywhere… but its not. Sure there are prostitutes in a few windows.. but the rest of it is actually really nice.

We then went to a coffee shop and smoked a few joints :) Then we grabbed dinner at a nice restaurant to fulfill our munchies.

By the time we got home it was really late, so we all just kind of passed out.

Saturday- We woke up around 10 and went to breakfast downstairs. Then we walked over to Mike’s Bikes Tours for our countryside “Cheese, Clog, and Windmill” bike-ride tour. Amy had been super excited about this and had talked of nothing for weeks beforehand… lol. And she was right- it was so much fun. We rode to a cool windmill then we went to a farm that makes cheese and clogs. I love Dutch people. We also got to see the hotel where John Lennon and Yoko stayed at on their honeymoon. “The Ballard of John and Yoko” was apparently written there.

When we got back we walked over to the side of town where the Anne Frank House was and ate some lunch. I got a sandwich with goat cheese, honey and walnuts…delicious! Then we went to the Anne Frank House.. which was really, really moving.

Afterwards we went to another coffee shop and smoked some hash… Sonja got high! LOL :) Then we went back and napped for a bit.

We went out that night to a couple great bars in the main part of town. We went to a place called Bourbon Street that had live Hispanic music. The lead singer was a Hispanic Orlando Bloom…no joke.

Sunday- We woke up and thought we had the whole day in Amsterdam. But surprise- the group leaders decided to go to Bruges instead. Before we got on the bus, Stephanie and I decided to each eat a Space Cake. Worst decision of my life. I have never felt that way and I never want to again. I was out of my mind and I remember nothing of Belgium.

The bits that I do remember include: trying to order lunch but stumbling my words around a whole bit, walking in the pouring rain, and then Cathrin freaking out about a rainbow.

But seriously this is what happened: the bus pulled over on the highway; the leaders said “Okay, we’re here. Be back at half five.” Seriously?! LOL.. we were all waiting to be on America’s funniest home videos.

When we got back to Canterbury, I was still high. Great. So I went home, pigged out, then passed out.

Monday- I woke up, still feeling lousy. And pretty much took the whole day to recover from losing my mind. I skyped for a while with my parents and Marty and did some HW. And that’s about it!

Tuesday- I had the day off of classes for Reading Week, so I went to the library with Cathrin to catch up on school work and had coffee with my French friend, Didier :)

Wednesday- I had class from 10-12, went to an Economic Experiment where I got paid 14 Pounds… WOOWOO!! And that night I went to see New Moon with Amy in town. Such a great movie. I love the twilight series so much. I’ll admit it! After the movie- Karina, Amy, and I went out. We first went to Thomas Ingleberry’s (I think that’s the name of it…) and then we went to the nightclub, Chill. We had so much fun dancing and hanging out. I love going out here.

Thursday- THANKSGIVING! I woke up and was actually really sad that I wasn’t home for the holiday. But I definitely made the most of my day :) I went to my lecture from 12-1 then came home and skyped with my family for a while. It was also a beautiful day outside, so I decided to go on a short hike. There’s a path right my house that leads all the way to Whitsable. It goes through some great farmland… it’s a beautiful walk. I walked about 2 miles into it then turned around. When I got home, I watched Christmas movies and got ready for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Dinner was actually great. I went with all of my best friends and ate the delicious food that they had prepared for us. My only problem with it: the stuffing. They definitely screwed the stuffing up. But everything else was good :) After dinner, we walked to Woody’s and watched some American football… tradition! Then I headed home and packed for London. Cathrin came over for a bit and we hung out with Theo’s friends for his birthday. Then I hit the sack.

Friday- I woke up early and walked into town. Caught my bus to Victoria then got on a subway to Heathrow. I met Marty there.. YAY! It was so wonderful to see him. We jumped on the tube back to central London and dropped off our stuff at the hostel.

We then walked to Buckingham Palace then to Westminster Abbey then to Big Ben and Parliament, then across the river to the London Eye. We ate hot dogs and ice cream then went on our ride overlooking London. The Eye really is such a cool thing.

Afterwards we walked along the river, through some great Christmas markets then made our way to Shakespeare’s Globe. We crossed the Millennium Bridge then went to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Afterwards we jumped on the tube and headed to Oxford Street. We shopped for a bit and ate dinner at a great English restaurant. The Christmas lights are up on Oxford… it looks beautiful and really got us in the Christmas spirit!

We then headed back to our hostel, showered and rested for a few minutes, then headed back out to Somerset House for ice skating. I loved it there! Somerset House is so pretty and it was such a great atmosphere but ice skating was sold out :( boo! So we had some hot chocolate and watched the skaters from the warm café.

We then left and walked around Trafalgar’s Square then had some dinner at the Texas Embassy which was a lot of fun. Then we walked to Piccadilly Circus and Leister Square. This is such a great area of London!

Saturday- we woke up and ate a small breakfast (or I did anyways) then we took the tube to Victoria. BUT the main underground lines were closed for reparations so WE MISSED OUR BUS TO CAMBRIDGE. Boo! But we just bought more tickets and took a later one. It was so cold and grey outside and Marty and I were NOT dressed warm- so we spent most of Cambridge inside the Arcade and at this great pub called the Eagle. But from what we did see, we loved! It’s very comparable to Canterbury, but bigger and newer.

We ate lunch at pizza hut, walked around for a few hours then got drinks and food at the Eagle. :)

Afterwards we headed back to London, showered and hung out at the hostel for a bit. We played a game of pool.. and I almost won!!! Almost. Haha. Then we headed out in London. Once again, it was cold and rainy so it wasn’t good “going out” weather. But we still had a great time. We stopped at KFC on the way and I got the worst heartburn ever though… so that put a damper on the night. Then we got home around 2 and hit the sack.

Sunday- We woke up and ate another light breakfast then took the tube to the Tower of London. We also made a few stops along the way, looking for Jack the Ripper’s killing spots but unfortunately we couldn’t find them. The tower of London was really, really cool. You could easily spend the whole day there… but we only had about an hour. There’s just so much history to it- I can’t wait for my Dad to see it.

Afterwards we went to Harrod’s… but we were running low on time and we didn’t want to miss another bus… so we only spent a few minutes there. But it was so cool! Once again, you could EASILY spend the whole day there. Afterwards we got a really quick lunch at McDonald’s then headed back to our hostel to get our stuff.

We barely made our bus back to Canterbury, whew… but we did! And when we got back, we headed right up to campus for Marty to unpack his things. After we got settled, we walked around campus and then took the UNIbus into town. We ate dinner and played quiz night at the Penny. I think Marty really liked it! YAY! :) We had a lot of fun.

Monday- I had class from 11-12 and then we headed to Whitsable! I love this seaside town so much but it was rainy, windy, and cold so we didn’t stay long. We ate lunch along the water and then headed into Canterbury. We shopped for a while and walked around so Marty could get a feel for the town. Then we went to an Eveningsong service at the Cathedral. It was amazing. I’ve never heard a choir so good!

After the service we got dinner at the Buttermarket, a WONDERFUL pub across from the Cathedral. We both got British meals and hung out for a while.

Then we headed back to campus, showered, and got ready for the evening. We went to Mungos and Rutherford Bar on campus and then we met everyone at the Works. We had so much fun, drinking and dancing. I’m so glad Marty was there for it. :) But I got way to drunk that night, threw up all my guts and ruined my Tuesday as a result. Lol, oh well! Still a great day.

Tuesday- As I said, I was super hungover. So I woke up, went to class then came back and had spaghetti with Marty Mar. Then he went into town and I went back to class. After class I met him in town for dinner. We went to Café Des Amis, one of my favorites. It was really nice- we had a table right by the canal. And of course, the food was delicious.

After dinner we went home, and I laid down for a while. I was so tired and hungover still! I now feel bad, cause I know it was Marty’s last night. Marty, I’m sorry if I was tired and cranky… I wish I could have a redo! We then went to Woody’s, drank a bit, then went to Amy’s flat for her December Party.

It was a fun night, but I wish I was in a better mood for it. We went to bed around 2 cause Marty’s taxi was getting here at 4:40.

He left this morning and now I’m so sad. I didn’t want to say goodbye. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to two huge things in my life… Canterbury and Marty. I don’t want either to leave.

You know, I really wish life had a rewind button. There are so many experiences I wish I could relive. I know I can always come back, but it won’t be the same. It’s so scary to me that this experience is coming to an end. And then I graduate college in May. These are the best years of my life- and these months in Canterbury have been the best months of my life… God, please can I have a remote control?