Scotland

Well it has been a long time since my last blog post.  I think that I wrote about Wednesday, so Thursday I mostly just finished packing and cleaning.  Friday morning I woke up early and met my tour group at King’s Cross Station.  I got on the train and sat next to Katie who was also from CAPA.  We had a nice chat about everything nerdy, and she really reminds me of Sarah from high school.  After four and a half hours, we arrived in Edinburgh.  We met our Scottish guide, Richard, at the train platform.  We walked to the hostel and dumped our bags so we could go walk around town.  We went to the Royal Mile, basically the really old stuff of Edinburgh.  We saw Edinburgh Castle, and then we walked down to the Giles Cathedral.  We saw some more stuff that I took pictures of, but don’t remember the names exactly.  After our walk, we went back to the hostel and checked into our rooms.  I went out and got some fish and chips take away for dinner.  The hostel was very modern and like a hotel mostly, just eight beds crammed into one room. 

            We had to be on the bus by nine on Saturday, so I got ready and went down to breakfast early.  I had porridge, mandarin yogurt, ham, and bread with apricot jam.  So we managed to get on the bus, and went to Stirling Castle.  The castle was small, but it was pretty cool, because the inside was decorated with tapestries and such.  There was also a museum, and you could walk out on the walls for an amazing view.  Apparently, both Stirling, and Edinburgh Castles were built on what used to be volcanoes, so they would have good defensive positions above the surrounding lands.  So, we all got on the bus to leave, but we didn’t get very far before the bus air bag broke and we had to wait for that to be fixed.  We went back into town to eat lunch and shop or whatever.  After a few hours, another bus showed up and we took it and continued our trip. 

            Now we actually got to the highland region of Scotland.  The mountains were pretty cool and the clouds hid the tops from view.  It rained a lot while we were driving, but stopped before we stopped at Glencoe.  Glencoe is a very pretty place with rivers and mountains and such.  We got out and Richard wanted to take a “wee walk.”  I didn’t know that this walk would include me risking my life about every second just to look at a river at the base of the mountain.  First we had to jump over little streams across the path, and then we had to make it down a hill walking on slippery jagged rocks.  Next we climbed on over and around these giant rocks and such, while trying not to fall thirty or more feet into a river.  There was a set of steps, which basically included boards stuck on the rocks every foot or so.  There was actually a bridge in the bottom to cross the river.  I went and saw the river took some pictures, and got out of there.  The trip back up was a lot easier, but I think my legs didn’t enjoy it, because they still hurt really badly. 

            After Glencoe, we got on the bus and headed for the hostel.  It was nice and right on the Locke Ness.  The rooms had cool names like Braveheart, Locke Ness, William Wallace, and Robert the Bruce.  It was such a nice homey, authentic place.  They offered to cook us food, and it was chicken and haggis.  I bought my food, and a bunch of us sat down to eat together and chat about royalty and the titanic.  So the food actually consisted of a piece of chicken stuffed with haggis.  I am not going to spell out what exactly haggis is, but it is a very authentic Scottish dish.  I tried it, and it was actually pretty good.  I ate most of it.  It mostly just tasted peppery and was very wet like the consistency of oatmeal.  I also had to try the Irn Bru.  It is soda that tastes a bit like melted gummy bears and cream soda.  After dinner, I went to the bar in the hostel and got some cranberry and vodka.  Then they brought out the karaoke and we all sang and watched.  It was fun. 

            Sunday started late, since we set our clocks back for daylight savings time ending.  We had a quick breakfast of cereal, and then hit the bus again.  Before we left, we went for a walk to see the Locke Ness.  It was huge, and our tour guide told us all how Nessie must be real, but we didn’t get to see her, except for two plastic ones outside shops.  After a few hours on the bus, we made it to Culloden to see the last battlefield in Europe, and the museum.  They had a movie thing that was sort of like IMAX.  It was like we were right in the middle of the battle with soldiers running and shooting at us from all sides.  It was pretty cool to see all of the swords, shields, and guns that they used then. 

After Culloden we went to the Birnam Wood.  This was supposedly where parts of Macbeth took place.  Basically it is a really old forest with a river and waterfalls.  It was pretty and nice to just walk around with the trees all changing colour.  Then we made it back to Edinburgh in time to do some shopping then catch the train back to London.  That train ride was the longest one ever.  I was so bored since it was dark and I couldn’t just look out the window.  Finally we made it back, and I got back to the flat.  I talked to mom and dad on skype for a little while, and then I still stayed awake way too long.  I am extremely tired today, and my legs protest any movement I make.  I guess I got used to not having any hills anywhere. 

Today I went to class and stayed after to use the internet.  I also did some grocery shopping, and ordered pizza.  The pizza was good, and now I want to sleep, but I have to do my homework first, so goodnight all. 

Midterm break!

Well this week is my midterm break.  It started with my trip to Rome.  I came back from Rome yesterday afternoon.  I managed to make it on the bus, then on the plane, then on the other bus, and back to the flat.  I was so glad to be back.  Since all four of us were here last night, we decided to order pizza from domino's.  We even had it delivered.  It was really good pizza, and only cost us 5 pounds each.  We watched a movie called, "An Education."  It was decent, better than I thought it would be.  It was nice to just relax after running around for four days in Rome.  

Today I didn't do much.  I slept late, and played a computer game some.  Now we are watching X-Men on TV, what a great day.  Now I just have to put my stuff away and then pack again for my trip to Scotland on Friday. 

Well, I am getting sort of annoyed at the fire alarm.  It went off, because he "lit a piece of bread on fire in the microwave."  Stupid boys. 

Goodbye cruel Rome, it was...fun!

Nah, not really, it wasn't that bad. I am sorry to say goodbye tomorrow though. At first I was disappointed, but I got over it, and now I want a few more days to see more stuff. Who doesn't like walking around all day looking for really old stuff? Anyhow, Today I started off with a nice breakfast at the BAR downstairs. Then I managed to get myself to the coliseum.

It was amazing. I walked around the whole think like twice just to make sure I didn't miss anything. I took a lot of pictures, and I hope they turned out good. I bought a book guide to archeological sites in Rome.

I think it will be cool to read. I then decided to go to the Vatican Museum. It was pretty cool looking at the different paintings and statues. Basically the whole place is just painted, the halls, the ceilings, and stuff. I saw the Sistine Chapel, and it was cool. I took some pictures there too. When I first got there I didn't take any pictures, but then I saw a staff person holding a sign that said no flash, so like everybody else, I took some pictures. Then this woman, who apparently thought she was the camera police, told me I wasn't supposed to take pictures. She was just a tourist as well. I was like, "they had a sign that said just no flash." She then begins to argue with me and so I walk away and resume my picture taking. Whatever. So after that, I went and did something, but it is a surprise.

I finished looking at the museum, and then I went to the Spanish Steps. It wasn't hard to find. Supposedly, the largest staircase in Europe. I don't remember how many steps, but I climbed half way up then took a break to sit and eat my pizza that I bought on the way. I will miss the pizza here. Well I did make it all the way to the tippy top, then I took a picture, and then I went back down, yay.
I looked at some souvenir shops and stuff, and then I went back to my hostel. I actually decided to stop downstairs and actually have a nice meal. I had a glass of red wine with my fettuccini alla Bolognese. I also got some still water and the bread stuff again. The pasta was really good. It was sort of like beef pasta hamburger helper, but about one hundred times better. The wine was weird. It was the first time I have actually drunk a glass of wine, and I think I figured out how to drink it without wincing. Well since it was my last night here, I decided to have desert. I got tiramisu. I liked it, but it did taste a little like coconut. It was really nice, especially since I sat outside, and the waiter was really nice to me. He reduced my wine price since I only had one glass, and technically they sell it by the half liter. Anyhow, I didn't feel quite as foolish as the last time I went there.

I guess I am headed back to London tomorrow morning. Maybe I will get some breakfast at McDonald's before I go. There are at least two in the train station.

Rome is full of stuff.

This morning's breakfast was nice. I got a cappuccino and lemon poppy seed bread this time. I sat with Haddie and we chatted for a while. I finally looked over my guide book, and made my plans for today, well, I at least had an idea of some things I could do.

Well today I went to St. Peter's and looked around and took a lot of pictures. I got there early, and saw part of the Sunday morning service, or whatever they call it. I think I might have seen the pope, not sure since he was quite a ways away. Well I got a little book at the shop, and some postcards. It was very hot in the sun, and super cold in the shade. The guard guys there were very silly looking in their striped uniforms and such. On another note, I saw a gun for the first time in two months. The actual Italian police carry guns. The Vatican Museum was closed today, but I think I might go tomorrow morning.

After that I went to the Piazza del Popolo. I took some pictures there, and then headed for the Parthenon. On the way I picked up a piece of pizza from a pizzeria/gelateria. It was amazingly fresh, and dripping with grease. All I can say is yum. They even fold your slab of pizza in half and wrap it in paper so it is easy to hold and eat, since they don't have tables. So I sat and ate my pizza on the front steps of the Parthenon. Now who can say that? Well the Parthenon was really cool, I went inside and took some pictures and almost left without taking pictures from the outside. By the way, there are tons and tons of fountains in Rome, once I even saw a guy drink out of one.

Next I went to the Piazza Navona. It was pretty cool. There were outside dining areas all around, and three fountains. I saw some performers that were supposed to look like statues, one was a cowboy, and the other was the statue of liberty. I walked around there for a bit, and then I decided to get some gelato and walk to the Tiber River. The gelato was excellent, but the Themes makes the Tiber look like a creek. Sorry Tiber, but I wasn't impressed.

I think I am cursed and should probably not be allowed outside after dark. The past three days, every time it starts to get dark I manage to get lost. I don't know what the deal is, but I have made it back to the hostel every time. I tried to get some money from the ATM, but it wouldn't work, I really need to get some cash, because I think I have like 7 Euros left.

Well now I am back in my bed and don't intend to leave for a very long time. 6 or more hours of almost continuous walking for three days makes me want to cut off my legs. I basically limped back to the hostel tonight, and I'm not sure if my little toe made it or not. On another note, I seriously almost got run over by a car while walking on the sidewalk. Beware Romans with cars, or vespas, because they just go wherever they want whenever they want. I guess I am getting braver, and crossing when I probably shouldn't, but I still almost run across the road instead of shuffle like the others.

I just want to say thanks for reading my stuff and leaving comments. Ta for now.

When in Rome...

Today was my second day in Rome. Even though I am on holiday, I got up at 8:30 and got ready to leave for a long day of sightseeing. That and I didn't want to miss my free breakfast. I went to the corner BAR for my free cappuccino and croissant. It was a very nice breakfast, and a good start to my day. Well after breakfast I went to Circe Maximums station and headed for the Roman Forum. I waited in line for over an hour, but when I finally got in it was amazing. I went on this outer path first and it was so cool because there were not a lot of other people, just me and the old Roman stuff. Later it got really crowded, but I climbed up on all the tall things and took some pretty cool pictures of the city.

Trevi fountain, as we would say

After the Roman Forum and Palatine, I went and got some Gelato from a cart. I had strawberry and it was amazing. It had real strawberries and tasted more like yogurt or something than ice cream. I must get some more before I leave. I then headed for the Trevi Fountain. I found it finally, but also found the Triton Fontana and took a picture or two. So the Trevi fountain had so many people, I'm surprised that I actually got the pictures I did. It was way crowded. Well after that I was going to go to the pantheon, but got lost and ended up somewhere else. I ended up at the Piazza del Popolo, almost where I was last night when I got lost. Anyhow I saw the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II as well. I saw a lot of other random ruins as well.

Eventually I decided to head back since it was getting dark, so on the way back, I took some pictures of the Coliseum. I also browsed through some souvenir shops. I finally made it back to my street and found this little cafe downstairs was open, so I went in and ordered a pizza. It was really good, and I might have to get some more of that before I leave. They also gave me some bread stuff with butter on it, and some little cookie things with my bill. It was nice to sit and eat pizza with a fork and a napkin in my lap, not to mention the coke in the wine glass. It has been a pretty good day; I wish I knew what to do tomorrow, maybe the Vatican.

I have learned so much about Rome and Romans lately that it is impossible to remember it all.  One thing that stands out is all the honking, but its more like beeping.  They do it all the time, and ti is starting to get on my nerves.  Oh, I ended up with a top bunk, and I just kicked my camera off the bed. 

Rome

Well today has been a very long day already. I woke up at 1:30a.m. UK time. I managed to get my stuff together and then got the call from the taxi service. I think it was called ComCab or something. It is so weird to actually sit in a car that is driving on the left side of the road. So I got to the bus stop almost 30 minutes early. I waited and finally this little van thing shows up, and I get on. Well I think I might have fallen asleep for a few minutes on the bus before it was time to get off. Stanstead airport is crazy. I didn't know what to do and I couldn't find anybody to ask, so eventually I just waited in the RyanAir bag check line, even though I didn't have any bags. Turns out that that’s what I was supposed to do to get my passport stamped. So I made it through security alright, and after almost freaking out because I didn't see my flight on the list, I finally saw it. I headed for gate 48 and after a while I got on the plane.

I was pretty close to the front of the line, so I picked myself a window seat. RyanAir is crazy. It really felt like a roller coaster when it took off. The other planes I had been on were not so bad. One kid even screamed or something. Well it was dark when I got on the plane, and the runway lights were really cool. I saw part of the sunrise before I took a little nap. It was really really orange. My flight ended up lasting about 2 hours; we arrived 20 minutes early. When I got off the airplane I went through the boarder thing and got my passport stamped. Then I managed to get a bus ticket and on the bus to Termini. I think I dozed on that bus ride too, and I'm still tired.

Well, it is kind of sad, but the first thing I noticed about Rome, is that it isn't as awesome as London. Well it is kind of strange to see people on the right side of the road again, but they drive like crazy people. I probably have almost got run over about a hundred times just today. I think the locals are used to dodging cars, so I just follow them now mostly. I feel like I am playing a very serious froger game. Another thing about the roads is that there may be clearly two lanes, but there can be three rows of cars in the two lanes. They all have tiny cars or vespas, so they just go where they want and don't care. There are very few stop lights, and no buttons to push to cross the few actual crosswalks.

After getting off the bus I wandered around until I found my hostel. It was very hard to find, I walked past it probably 6 times or more, then finally I saw this little sign and so I went up the two flights of stairs to check in. I got my free breakfast coupons, a map, keys, instructions, and got a towel. Then I unloaded my crap and headed back to the metro. I intended to go to the Coliseum, but missed the stop twice and finally realized it wasn't open. Good job Rome Metro at keeping people informed. Another thing, I hate the metro system here. There are entrances and exits, and they are not even close to being in the same spot. Oh, and if you accidentally go too far, and need to go back you have to leave the station and come back through the entrance. This is stupid. I miss the tube. Basically the Metro is the dirtiest place I have ever been in. There is trash everywhere, and it smells horrible. The seats don't have cushions, but that’s probably a good thing.

So, after I got done being lost on the metro, I decided to go to the Capitoline Museums. I saw a lot of statues. There were pieces from this colossal statue of Constantine, and they were huge. I also saw the famous wolf statue with Remus and Romulus. There were a lot of other cool things too, although the staff there was not very nice, and there are literally no directions as to what to do, then they yell at you for not checking your bag. Oh well, it was cool, tomorrow morning I hope to go back to that area and see the Coliseum and the Roman Forum and Palatine. I got some pretty cool pictures of the city from the third floor of the museum. I also saw the place where they used to race chariots. Now it just mostly looks like two gravel roads between two hills.

Getting back to my hostel was another story, I couldn't find the metro stop, so I had to get on a bus to termini and go from there. At least I did get back, and found it with little trouble, well after I got going in the right direction. Now I am going to figure out what I am going to do with the rest of my trip, well at least tomorrow.

So Ready for Midterm Break

Today was fun.  I went to my Child Development class, pretended to learn stuff about attachment theory, managed not to fall asleep, booked it like a crazy lady to London bridge station just to realize I had 30 minutes before I actually had to be at the glass galery.  Silly me, oh well.   We got to watch a guy making a blown glass thing.  The process is pretty cool, and the other guy explained it as it was happening.  much better than as SDC.  Here we were like right there where they were working.  We also got to look around at the stuff they had already made, and had displayed.  It was really nice.  Then of course we went to the White Cube gallery to see some art.  There were several cool pieces and they had a real flute rigged to play by itself with some pipes and such.  Our new professor joined us today, and after the White Cube place, we went to a pub and chatted a bit. 

Now I am finishing my laundry and tomorrow I have to pack my stuff.  I am glad it is going to be warmer in Rome than it is here.  It was way to cold today. 

I just got cleared to register for my classes, when registration opens next Friday.  I also checked my prospective professors on rate my professor, and they all had really good ratings.  Also, if I get the classes I want, I won't have class on Monday or Friday again. 

Getting Ready for Rome

Today I had my Understanding Modern Britain class.  It was cool, we talked about news, homeless people and politics.  We are supposed to have some homeless lady come talk to our class in two weeks.  I have to finish up my paper tonight or tomorrow so I can turn it in before Friday. 

After class I went to use the work computers at CAPA to print off my travel information.  I printed my bus tickets to stanstead airport, my boarding pass for the flight, and my hostel reservation.  I also got instructions on how to get to the hostel from the airport, and how to get to baker street to meet my bus to the airport.  Why must everything be so confusing.  Somehow I convinced myself that it would be ok to make my flight for 6:10 a.m.  What was I thinking?  Now I have to either take the night bus to baker street, walk, or take a cab.  I"m not sure what to do yet.  No mater what I have to leave the flat before 2:00 a.m. 

Yesterday I started reading my travel guide for Rome.  I am getting pretty excited. 

While I was at CAPA I printed the other information for my Paris, Wales, Scotland, and Switzerland trips.  It is going to be amazing.  Apparently I also get a free trip to Cambridge for my UMB class.  We are supposed to go to Wimbleton on Thursday for my philosophy of Sports class.  

Sunday

Yesterday I managed to finish my paper for my Understanding Modern Britain class.  I wrote about how money and customer service are different here.  I wrote it all in just a few hours.  I also wrote my blog post for the honors college, I will upload it to my blog page sometime. 

This morning I woke up and went to Selfridges to visit the Museum of Everything.  I had to go look at the art for extra credit in my Aesthetics class.  Now I just have to write the paper.  After Selfridges, I looked around the stores and went on to Queensway.  I went to the Oriental store and bought Meiji Hello Panda Chocolate Biscuits and a fizzy drink with the marble.  I also got the stuff I went there for: spring rolls and dumplings.  I also went to Sainsbury and used my nectar card. 

While I was walking around this guy asked me if they had men's scarves because I was looking at some women's scarves.  He then asked the storekeeper and he said no.  So this guy comes back to talk to me and asks me where I am from, I tell him as I start walking again.  He then asks if he can walk with me.  I said he could, he didn't seem especially creepy, just silly.  So I walked a bit further along the street then crossed the street and walked back down the other side, the whole time he talked to me about London and such.  He said that most people are not very friendly and talkative, but some are.  I laughed and said yeah.  Eventually we came to the Oriental store and I told him I was going to go in here.  He asked if he should wait for me, I told him no it might be a while.  So yes dad, I did have a British guy following me around today. 

Now we are getting ready to cook dinner.  I am very excited, it is gonna be awesome.

Update:  Our dinner was amazing, and the dumplings were surprisingly good.  I ate tofu as well.  It was pretty good, I can see how some people could be vegetarians if they eat like that. 

Curry Night

Yesterday's Philosophy of Sport class wasn't too bad.  We watched a documentary about a football game(s).  The guy who directed it came in to talk about the making of these documentaries.  Basically only one full week before midterm break. 
Last night we went to the Sheraz Bangla Lounge in Brick Lane.  When we first got there, it looked like a very nice place, with wine glasses and fancy napkins, but the 2 litters of coke on the tables was funny.  We drank coke from our wine glasses.  Then after a while we got a starter dish with some fried vegetable stuffs, a piece of chicken, and some salad.  I had chicken with korma for the main course along with rice and bombay aloo.  It was interesting.  This was the first official curry that I have had, and I was a little surprised.  The Korma was very sweet, but it was good.  The texture is a little weird, and it was hard to eat very much of it.  The potatoes, or bombay aloo, were really spicy and amazing.  The rice was good too.  They gave everybody a huge plate and then brought each item out in a separate dish.  I had a plate, rice plate, bowl with chicken korma, and bowl with the bombay aloo.  The table was so crowded with plates and such we couldn't hardly move.  I think I ate too much, and still didn't eat all that I got.  It was nice of CAPA to buy us dinner. 
Today I decided to go do something while the maid was here, so I went to the bookstores near tottenham court road.  First I went to Forbidden Planet, and bought some Dr. Who toys.  Then I went to the Foyles book store and bought two travel guides for Rome and Paris, a map of Rome, and a Europe phrase book.   I am starting to get nervous and excited about my trip to Rome in exactly a week.  I got some take away from Chipotle since it was just across the street. 

Honors College Blog

About a month ago, I agreed to help write a blog for the honors college.  I just now received my first assignment and I don't quite know what to do.  I am supposed to write a few paragraphs about either preparing for study away or adjusting to a different culture.  I think I will write about the adjusting because I think it is a bit late to write about preparing.  I am still thinking about what to do.  I could use some feedback about how good, bad, or boring my writing has been so far.  Any suggestions or comments would be helpful.  Thanks in advance. 

The Tower of London

Today I went to the Tower of London.  I won two free tickets from the travel fair and I decided to go today and took Debbie along since we both have free Wednesdays.  First we decided to go find the TARDIS at Earl's Court.  It was so cool to just see a police box sitting there like it almost belonged.  We took our pictures with it and felt like touristy nerds.  It was funny because it wasn't a very touristy area. 
After the TARDIS, we wen to CAPA to print the voucher.  It took a while to get there on the tube, but I got really excited when we first saw the castle.   They call it the Tower of London, but mostly it is just the castle that was built for ancient kings and queens to live in.  There are two walls and 13 towers, and I don't think that includes the White tower which is like the residence of the monarchs.  We went on a guided tour and learned a bit about the history and how the place was built and why.  Our tour guide was very funny, and it was a great tour. 
After that we ended up in the White Tower palace area, so we decided to go on another tour of that since it started reasonably soon.  It was a great tour, we sat in the Chapel that is in the White Tower.  We got a history lesson of many things that happened right there in that very chapel.  It was almost unreal, realizing that this chapel was built before 1100AD.  Our guide was great, she showed us the fireplace and loo that would have been part of the royal apartments.  I really enjoyed the tour, and after that we walked through the rest of the palace and looked at the swords, armour, shields, guns, cannons, and other such things.  It was pretty cool, I felt like I could have been in LOTR. 
After the White Tower, we went and walked around on the inner wall through the towers and up and down winding staircases.  The outer wall and path between were also cool.  There were so many winding stairs, some were normal enough, but others were very tricky, and one in particular was not much wider than my shoulders, and it had very small steps.  I really wanted to grab a bow or sword, run to the top of the wall and shoot some Orcs or push some ladders away from the walls. 
After the Tower of London, we went and walked across the Tower Bridge and back.  We saw the crack where it opens, but we didn't get to see it open.  I think I have walked across most of the bridges now.  We also took some pretty cool pictures of almost everything. 

Newspaper Cricket

Well it has been an uneventful week so far.  On Sunday, I just hung around the flat recovering from the trip to Brighton.  Monday, I went to my Understanding Modern Britain Class and we actually went to the classroom.  We talked about how polite the British people are supposedly.  We also talked about difference in sports between the UK and the US.  We played a game of cricket with newspaper equipment.  I supplied the newspaper for the ball.  Apparently the person who throws the ball is called the bowler, and the batter should not drop the bat.  It was rather funny to watch.  We are supposed to write a paper for the midterm that is due on Oct 21.  After class I went to Sainsbury's to get some cheese and I ended up getting a lot of stuff including rice, fish, chips, and a strawberry Swiss role.  Oh, I got all of the weird kinds of crisps, otherwise known in America as chips.  I got smoky bacon, roast chicken, and prawn cocktail. 

Today I watched the movie "Angela's Ashes," in my Child Dev. class.  It was a pretty sad movie but it was very interesting.  Now that I have seen the movie I want to read the book.  After that class I had to renew my travel card on my Oyster card.  I was a little late for my Aesthetics class, but found them easily in the Tate Modern.  We looked at lots of modern art and took a guided tour of some art just made out of stuff from the 1960s.  We say a picture of Andy Warhol, and some more sculpture stuff.  After class I came back to the flat, and fixed some fish and chips.  I guess it wasn't such a terrible Tuesday. 

I think I may be going to the Tower of London tomorrow.  I will have to see if it works out. 

Brighton

Yesterday was a very long and cold day.  I woke up at 5 and we got on the train at 7:42.  It took a little over an hour to get there.  Once we got there, we headed straight for the water.  We could see it from quite a distance.  The water is so cool.  It was pretty windy and there were a lot of waves.  We decided to take off our shoes and wade in the water.  It might have been nice if it was warm, but at this point it was only about 55 degrees.  The water was cold, and by the time they took my picture, I got pretty wet.  My toes were so red; the water was so cold.  We walked along the beach for a while, and I figured out that it is really hard to walk on a rock beach.  There were a lot of sea gulls around everywhere.  We walked by the pier and decided to go see what was in the shopping center area since it was indoors, and we were wet and cold. 

The mall was cool; it had three floors and not a bad size.  It was nice to sit in the Costa for a while and warm up.  We walked around a bit in the cultural center which was kind of like a market.  We went to a pub for lunch and I had ham, eggs, and chips with a cranberry and vodka.  It was pretty good,  After sitting for a bit, we went to find the museum.  It was a rather small one, but it had some cool stuff.  I really liked the Indian and Egyptian areas.  After looking around the museum for a while, we went to see the movie, "Midnight in Paris."  It was pretty good and I want to watch it again sometime when I have Google available.  I got to use my rewards card. 

It was starting to get dark when the movie got out, so we headed to the pier.  It was like a carnival on the water.  It wasn't very big or anything, but had a lot of lights.  We sat down and had a pint, or well a half, and enjoyed the sunset.  We went down and took pictures by the pier and more of the water and sunset. 

After it got dark, we had two and a half hours left before we got on the train to leave.  We were going to go back to the shopping center but it was closed, so we found a McDonald's and ate some fries while we were waiting.  We ended up being at the train station like really early so we set outside the barriers and froze.  It was so cold, by the time we got back we were all pretty much frozen.  That was the latest I had ever been on the tube.  When we got back, I pretty much went straight to sleep.  I was so tired I didn't set an alarm and woke up this morning at 11:30 after going to sleep at like 12:15.  

Hyde Park

Today I went to Hyde park on the bus.  I went and walked around a bit, mostly in an unintentional circle.  Then I saw a rent a cycle station and so I tried to rent a cycle, but it wouldn't take my card.  I gave up and just continued my walk.  I saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.  Then I walked along the Serpentine for a while until I saw another Barclay's rent a cycle station.  I tried it again and it worked that time.  So I got my code to unlock a bike, and I go to the bike.  I had to read the instructions on how to put in the code, I didn't see any buttons on there anywhere, then I figured out that the thee spots that looked like stickers were buttons, so I got my bike unlocked and pushed it out to the road part.  The seat was a little high, but I didn't want to mess with it unless I had too.  I managed to get on the bike but when I went to pedal it veered to the side really fast and I sort of ran into the fence.  I couldn't stop because I couldn't touch the ground and the brakes didn't work all that great.  I think the reason was because it was on speed 3 and took a lot of effort on my part to pedal it so I got kind of off balanced.  Well I did lower the seat, and fix the speed.  I was able to ride around the park for about thirty minutes before my legs felt so much like jelly that I almost fell down.  It was fun and a nice change.  I took a picture of the bike, It is the worst excuse fro a bicycle  that I have ever seen, lots of bulky plastic.  Oh well, it was a cheap source of entertainment and exercise. 

The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre

Today was good and bad, but mostly good.  I watched a documentary about cricket in my Philosophy of sport class.  I think I know a little about the sport now, but still not enough to completely understand it.  We got out of class an hour early, but between the tube being delayed, and locking myself out, I didn't have a lot of time before I had to leave for the theatre. 

I must say spoiler alert here for those who have not seen the Lion King Musical.  You have been warned. 

I got out of the tube stop and finally found where I was supposed to be just in time for the show to start.  I watched The Lion King at the Lyceum theatre.  it was amazing and would recommend it to everyone.  At first there are all of these people singing the African songs and such and it is pretty much awesome.  Rafiki was a woman, but it was good and she had a very good voice for the part.  All the animals came out to dance including the Giraffe, zebra, birds, and elephant.  I loved every second of it.  They even added some extra scenes and changed a few phrases, for example Timon says "dress in drag and do the Charleston."  They added a bit more modern music for the extra songs.  There was a part where Timon gets washed down the river and waterfall, and another where scar tries to get Nala to be his queen.  I rally liked all of the actors, except adult simba who sounded funny sometimes.  One of my favorite parts was the Hyenas.  They were so funny and the 'be prepared" song was really good too.  I was really happy that the song "Can you Feel The Love Tonight" had some extra lyrics from Elton John's own version where he sings it.  The sets were amazing as well.  Pride Rock was a spiral type staircase that slowly rose from under the stage.  They even made it part of the elephants grave yard by adding rib bones.  The tree that Rafiki draws Simba on is cool too.  It was just 2d byt it came down from the top.  They did an amazing job with the lighting and the sun parts during the circle of life song and just the rest of the time as well.  I could talk about it forever, but I will stop here and say that I wish they sold it on DVD.   I am really glad I went, even if it was expensive but I got a seat in the front row of the grand circle.  I bought the program too. 

Westminster Abbey

Yesterday I had to give a presentation of a research proposal to my Child Development class.  I think I did horribly, I kept having to say things twice because I messed it up the first time.  Well after that, my Aesthetics class was a "walk in the park," literally and figuratively.  We went to Kensington gardens and walked around and looked at the Albert memorial.  After class I came back and did basically nothing productive.  I did get to talk to Elizabeth on skype for a while though.   I have heard that several people got their post cards, I just hope the rest get them as well. 

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

Today I went to Westminster Abbey.  I was a little worried about finding it, but once I got out onto the street I realized I was being stupid.  I walked along big Ben and the houses of Parliament on the way and took some pictures.  I then went and took pictures of the abbey and stuff before I went inside.  I got a student discount at the abbey.  I then picked up my trip and audio guide and started the tour.  I walked around and saw a lot of tombs and monuments.  There were a lot of kings and queens and such.  Basically I walked over a lot of dead people and around them.  The floor was mostly made out of stone that had the names of who was buried there.  Some of the names of the people buried there, that I recognized include:  Newton, Dickens, Kipling, Handel, Chaucer, and Tennyson.  Shakespeare, Churchill, Bronte, Austin, Lewis Carrol, and T. S. Eliot were not buried there, but they were mentioned by monuments and such.  I was surprised to see so many women buried there.  I did the whole tour.  I saw the gardens, museum, and lots of tombs, in addition to the rest of the abbey.  At the end of the audio tour, they have some tea candles set up so that visitors can light a candle and say a prayer before they leave.  I of course had to take part in this activity, but my candle wouldn't light.  I almost burned my hand, but I got it lit, said my prayer and turned in my audio guide.  Next I went to the shop.  I bought like a booklet that has some history and pics of the inside of the abbey.  I also got a deck of cards with the kings and queens on it.  I got two more post cards, and a little gargoyle that is amazing. 



McDs nuggets and milk for the tea

After that, I went to figure out the train tickets deal for Saturday at London bridge station.  I was going to get the tickets, but i needed the confirmation number and didn't write it down.  Then I went to bayswater to get something to eat.  I went to McDonald's and got some chicken nuggets.  Here the nuggets are more crispy and the meal only comes with nine of them.  The fries are not as good, and neither is the BBQ "dip" that I got.  Since I don't drink soda, I got tea.  I guess I thought that they would have ice tea but they don't so I got hot tea.  They gave me a few tubes of sugar, and some tubes of milk, it was weird.  By the way, I had to go downstairs to sit and eat, and I saw nothing related to monopoly there. 

After eating, I went to the Sainsbury's to get some groceries and then came back to the flat, realized I didn't get milk so I went to tesco to get milk and ended up getting some more stuff too. 

Tonight I booked my ticket for The Lion King musical.  I am going tomorrow night and I am very excited.  I have heard it is good, and I got a seat on the front row on the top tier.  Now I just have to make it to the theatre by 7:30 tomorrow night. 

I am getting really excited about our trip to Brighton this Saturday, and our flat is planning an oriental food night for next Sunday.  Our curry brick lane night is next Friday.  Then on the 21st I leave for Rome.  The 28th I go to Scotland, and Nov 12 I go to wales.  I need to figure out when I am going to Paris and decide where I want to go on the 16th of Dec. 

Imperial War Museum

Today for my Understanding Modern Britain class, we went to the Imperial War Museum.  The Museum was pretty cool.  It basically included exhibits from all the wars involving Britain and maybe some that didn't.  We spent most of the time, almost two hours, in the Holocaust exhibit.  It was very informative.  I read almost everything that was there.  They had stories, and factual event type things.  It slowly made you realize how horrible it was.  In the rest of the museum, we saw planes from WWII, tanks, big guns (not exactly sure what they are called), and we walked through some of the WWI stuff.  There was a trench exhibit.  It was all dark with lamps, and it looked very real except for the fact that it was plastic.  They even added smell to it, I didn't think it was too bad, but it did smell horrible.  I took my time looking at the stuff inside.  Debbie was a wimp and ran through it to avoid the smell.  After that, she wanted to find a loo, so we walked into this bathroom, I was just standing by the sinks waiting when I realized that it was a men's room.   I started laughing and waited outside.  Debbie gets done and comes out of the loo as two guys are walking in there looking at her like she was crazy.  I almost died laughing.  The Museum was good, but I want to go back and look at the rest of the stuff. 

I came back to the flat after class, but then left for CAPA so I could sign up for this Brick Lane curry dinner thing.  I took my computer and watched an episode of Dr. Who.  I stopped to get a sandwich and some cheese and onion crisps for lunch.  I was leaving CAPA but it was still only like 5:45 so I decided to see if I could figure out how to get to the flat on the buses.  I had to take two buses, and I ended up at Kilburn Park.  I decided to look at the poundland store and see what it was like.  Basically it is like the dollar store or dollar tree at home.  I got some gummy snacks, a cookie sheet, and storage boxes for three pounds.  By the way, every store already has Christmas stuff and they have had it since i got here in early September.  Getting back to the flat was interesting, I ended up going to Maida Vale and walking from there.  it was fun, and now I think I know how to use the buses successfully.  Now I need to figure out the night buses, shouldn't be too different. 

So sometime, I think we are going to Oxford.  We might go see the Blessthefalls concert there. 

Super Sunday

Well we stayed up late last night so I slept late this morning.  When I did get up, I worked out my graduation plan.  I should be able to graduate in Dec. 2013.  I fixed my schedule for next semester, then I worked on my paper for Tuesday.  I also registered for rewards cards to the two grocery stores I go to.   Then Debbie was like I found train tickets to Brighton for 19.80 pounds, and so I ordered them so we are going on Saturday.  Happy Birthday Amanda!  I signed up for a walking tour about the blitz on Friday.  I am pretty excited about the weeks coming up.  I sent an email about Tower of London tickets, so maybe next week or the week after I will go.  Tomorrow we are going to the Imperial War Museum, I heard it was pretty amazing. 

Football game.

Just saying, I might be slightly tipsy while writing this, so you have been warned. 

Today I went to see a football game.  Millwall lost, but I learned a lot about the game.  I looked up football on Wikipedia before I left, but I still really didn't know what was going on when I got there.  I kept asking Debbie and Amanda what was  happening and what the rules are.  I know more about the game now, but still don't think I completely understand.  Technically I think that they tied, but they didn't count the Millwall goal.  The fans are pretty crazy and they all chant and it sounds pretty cool.  I took some pictures, but my camera is downstairs and I am not sure I can make it back in one piece.  We had to take the national rail there. 

We came back after stopping at superdrug.  We all managed to make dinner, then we became frustrated with MSU trial schedule, registration sequence, and the Tesco rewards card.  We decided to go to tesco and get some alcohol.  Amaretto and Dr. Pepper is amazing.  Basically it just tastes like Dr. Pepper.  Now I keep talking to myself outloud, and I have been working on this single post for about two hours.