Well first with regard to many of your thoughts of disbelief, yes I am actually backpacking for two weeks across Europe, taking trains or walking everywhere,and staying in hostels.
Day 1-2 Amsterdam
We left London bright and early at around 6am to get to the train station for the ferry to Amsterdam. If you are at all unfamiliar, from London there is about a 45 minute train ride to the port where the ferry docks. The boats are so nice! They are basically the equivalent to a small cruise ship in the US. We all took spots in the dining area with tables for the 7 hour ride to Holland. It was a nice time for me to get a great chunk of my paper done. (Yes I am still working on it but I do have 11.5 pages done) I also fell asleep for a few hours on my backpack, which has been such a fantastic pillow. I am already relishing the thought of having to giving it back to Alex when I get back to London. I may beg him to let me keep it haha. Once we arrived in Holland it took two trains for us to get into the city. It was quite a trek that added another 2 hours to get into the heart of Amsterdam. Once we arrived we went to our hostel, checked in, then ventured around the city. One thing that everyone recommends are the sex shows, and I can tell you that i did not enjoy it. It was very creepy, but other than that we had a wonderful breakfast overlooking one of the canals and also I went on an adventure to see the Anne Frank House. It had a 2 hour wait, but it was definitely worth it for me, especially with the amount that I have read about her and the Holocaust. It was a very moving museum and the annex was just as I had pictured it.
Day 3-4 Berlin
We arrived in Berlin by train around 4pm and headed to our hostel and it was so much nicer than the one in Amsterdam thank goodness. I befriended an Australian man in the hostel with Dan who definitely thought we were lame because we couldn't stay out as long as him. Overall, Berlin was not my favorite city. I don't care if I ever go back to be honest. We do a tour in many of the cities called Free Europe and that was interesting to see the Holocaust memorial, the Berlin Wall,the Brandenburg gate, and the area where Hitler's bunker used to be, but overall the city itself does not have much to offer. The history of course is interesting, but being so recently developed it just doesn't have that European beauty. Plus, it is very spread out with terrible public transportation systems. One cool area we found was actually near our hostel and great cafes and bars. On our last night we had a lovely dinner at a little sidewalk cafe where we sat outside and just enjoyed. It was the highlight of Berlin in terms of outings and neat neighborhoods. The actual highlight for me was the bratwurst and pretzel we had for lunch before our walking tour. They were fantastic!!!
Day 5 Prague
Today we arrived in Prague around 4pm which came after a bit of delay because of train cancellations. We hoped to take an 8:30am train today, but it was canceled. Lucky for us we arrived at 7am for the train and then did not get on a train until 10:30. Lucky for me I just laid down on my beloved bag on the platform and slept. On the train it was so crowded, which was completely unexpected. I was lucky to get a seat for the first 2 hours, but many people reserve seats and I lost mine to someone who had reserved it. Lucky me... I then got to sit on the floor in the aisle for the next 3 hours. The only highlight is that I got through a large amount of Lord Mandelson's memoirs. Once we arrived in Prague, we came to our hostel, also where I am currently writing from and it is fantastic. It is so nice, brand new, and resembles a very nice hotel. I love the Mosaic House. We then showered and went to dinner at a great restaurant called U Ceskych Panu (The Czech Lords Restaurant) for a traditional Czech dinner. It was awesome! Then Cait and I wandered around the city a bit, got lost, and attempted to ask for directions. Neither of us know a word of Czech which made it interesting, but it was light out and early so eventually we got home and met some cool California kids and hung out around the hostel which was fun. Tomorrow we are getting up early for breakfast then to the Free Europe tour for Prague. I cannot wait to see the city's sites!!
Saturday 24 July 2010
Sunday 18 July 2010
Well, I had my last day of work on Thursday and I was very sad to go. My MP Louise took the office out for a wonderful lunch at the Adjournment Dining Room, which is actually for members only so it was a treat. After work we had drinks on the Terrace then headed to karaoke in the Sports and Social. It was such a fun night. Chris and Alex even bought a bottle of champagne, which they know is my favorite drink. It was so incredibly nice of them!
On Friday I had my last day of class with Sue. Then I headed to Covent Garden to meetin Samantha for drinks and dinner before she headed to Amsterdam. It was so great to see her and catch up, especially since I hadn't seen her in over a year. I then went home and lounged around with the guys in the flat and had a fairly early night.
Today, I actually went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see their fashion exhibit and especially the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibit which was absolutely fantastic! I think I spent about 3 hours in the museum and I felt like I didn't even get through half of it. After, I walked to the Natural History Museum and roamed around it for an hour as well. I am so sad to leave because it feels like I still have so much to see and do here!! Basically, I will just have to come back very soon and live here for a time so I can do and see everything that London has to offer. Tomorrow is our farewell party and we are all going out for a nice dinner in Shoreditch which should be a lot of fun! Then on Tuesday morning at about 5:00am I embark on my 2 week Euro adventure with Cait, Marty, Dan, and Kuntz! Cannot wait for the experience. It should be a once in a lifetime trip for me traveling completely by train and moving from hostel to hostel. We all feel so lucky to be doing thing and cannot wait to cram as much as we can into the days. The one thing i better invest in are good pair of cute walking shoes! haha
On Friday I had my last day of class with Sue. Then I headed to Covent Garden to meetin Samantha for drinks and dinner before she headed to Amsterdam. It was so great to see her and catch up, especially since I hadn't seen her in over a year. I then went home and lounged around with the guys in the flat and had a fairly early night.
Today, I actually went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see their fashion exhibit and especially the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibit which was absolutely fantastic! I think I spent about 3 hours in the museum and I felt like I didn't even get through half of it. After, I walked to the Natural History Museum and roamed around it for an hour as well. I am so sad to leave because it feels like I still have so much to see and do here!! Basically, I will just have to come back very soon and live here for a time so I can do and see everything that London has to offer. Tomorrow is our farewell party and we are all going out for a nice dinner in Shoreditch which should be a lot of fun! Then on Tuesday morning at about 5:00am I embark on my 2 week Euro adventure with Cait, Marty, Dan, and Kuntz! Cannot wait for the experience. It should be a once in a lifetime trip for me traveling completely by train and moving from hostel to hostel. We all feel so lucky to be doing thing and cannot wait to cram as much as we can into the days. The one thing i better invest in are good pair of cute walking shoes! haha
Wednesday 14 July 2010
I have once again been slacking off on the blogging because of how busy I've been. This past weekend I went to Dublin,Ireland and explored with Dan, Marty, and Cait. We stayed in a hostel with a great location to many of the tourist things. We flew on Ryanair on Friday afternoon and got into Dublin around 7pm. The first thing we did was attempt to find an Irish bar with music and the guys wanted Irish beer. We then headed out for the night to a place called Temple Bar which is filled with pubs and the main area of nightlife in Dublin. The bars we were at also served Irish coffee with whiskey and cream which were so tasty. It was so cool all around and I had the highlight of my weekend when an Irish band played the Pogues songs that are in two of my favorite shows and movies. It was so great!!! On Saturday we woke up and headed to the Guinness Storehouse to tour it and get the best views in Dublin. It has a 360 degree room at the top of the factory, which is shaped like a pint glass ironic enough. I also had my first fresh Guinness, which I must say tasted quite good! After the tour, we decided to get a tour of the main sights of Dublin with a guide. We went to Christ Church, Trinity College, Temple Bar area, and a few places that U2 and other famous musicians congregated. The cool story that stuck out in my mind was regarding the Clarence Hotel. It was close to the studio where U2 used to record and when they received their first record deal they attempted to go get celebratory pints and the Clarence. The manager turned them away and Bono said that one day he would own that hotel and never turn people away. Now he does own it! I really got a kick out of that. After the tour we decided to roam around and look for some souvenirs. I got a really cute and cheap necklace with an Irish celtic knot on it.
Saturday night we went on a tour pub crawl with the same tour group to get a better feel for some of the pubs that Ireland is so famous for. It was very fun and we met some really great people from all over the world. I even was chatting with a guy from Liverpool who lives in my MP's constituency! I was of course way too excited about that. On Sunday we woke up to fly back to London and I went to bed at about 8pm that night. I was so exhausted from the weekend. Also, I forgot to mention that the entire time I was in Dublin it was raining really hard... I mean the entire time. I have decided that I will need to invest in a comfy pair of cute tennies before I leave for two weeks, because sandals in the rain are not so great for your feet. I am in desperate need of a pedicure now.
This week at work has been great once again. We have had some young 15 year old kids for their work experience program which has been fun. Also, its my last week which is so sad. I absolutely love it here so much. I would stay if I wouldnt get deported. I would love to come back, live, and work in London. The people are great. The fashion in phenomenal, and the accents never get old. Plus I have met some great people through work who I will really miss. Overall, I still love everything here and tomorrow we celebrate my last day with drinks overlooking the Thames and then a night of karaoke. The only decision now is to decided what Malin and I will sing. Last time we sung Milkshake, which I added a dance for. This time it must be better. Tiny Dancer, Billie Jean, or You Shook Me All Night Long.
Cannot wait to see all of you!!!!!
Saturday night we went on a tour pub crawl with the same tour group to get a better feel for some of the pubs that Ireland is so famous for. It was very fun and we met some really great people from all over the world. I even was chatting with a guy from Liverpool who lives in my MP's constituency! I was of course way too excited about that. On Sunday we woke up to fly back to London and I went to bed at about 8pm that night. I was so exhausted from the weekend. Also, I forgot to mention that the entire time I was in Dublin it was raining really hard... I mean the entire time. I have decided that I will need to invest in a comfy pair of cute tennies before I leave for two weeks, because sandals in the rain are not so great for your feet. I am in desperate need of a pedicure now.
This week at work has been great once again. We have had some young 15 year old kids for their work experience program which has been fun. Also, its my last week which is so sad. I absolutely love it here so much. I would stay if I wouldnt get deported. I would love to come back, live, and work in London. The people are great. The fashion in phenomenal, and the accents never get old. Plus I have met some great people through work who I will really miss. Overall, I still love everything here and tomorrow we celebrate my last day with drinks overlooking the Thames and then a night of karaoke. The only decision now is to decided what Malin and I will sing. Last time we sung Milkshake, which I added a dance for. This time it must be better. Tiny Dancer, Billie Jean, or You Shook Me All Night Long.
Cannot wait to see all of you!!!!!
Tuesday 6 July 2010
I cannot even believe it has been a full week since I have blogged. So much has happened! The first of which is that I got to go to Prime Minister's Questions last Wednesday, which quite possibly may have been the coolest thing I have done so far. Having the opportunity to sit in the House of Commons while it was full of MPs and the entire cabinet was something I will never forget. After PMQs, I was heading back from the chamber to portcullis and walked right next to David Cameron's Jag. In case you are unfamiliar, every Prime minister has had a jag for as long as I can remember for security reasons. All I could think about was that I would never have been able to get that close to any of Obama's cars ever! The best part is that this was not all for that day! While waiting for my coworkers to come to lunch I waited by the escalator and Nick Clegg walked right by me. I mean right next to me!! It is so crazy that the Deputy Prime Minister just strolls around.
After that, I did not think it was possible for things to get any cooler, but yesterday definitely gained an advantage. I was heading down the escalator in Portcullis and I look to my right and on the opposing escalator from me, not even 4 feet away, and was David Cameron and his entourage of security along with George Osborne the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I was so giddy in a way that only a complete political nerd could be after the weeks and sightings I have experienced.
Now on to my weekend in Edinburgh. By the way, it is officially pronounced Ed-in-bra (one of the many cool things I learned this weekend).I had the opportunity on the first day to really explore the city with its beautiful old town and massive amounts of green and hills before dinner. Our hostel was very nice, but it was a bit of a walk from the city center. On the second day, Friday, we woke up to have a tour of the Scottish Parliament. If you did not know, it was reinstated in the mid 90s and commissioned an entire new complex, which is very modern. Look at my pictures on facebook, or papa and mimi have tesser show you! After that, we decided to climb Arthur's seat to see above the entire city. It was quite a hike but so worth it with the amazing views. I took so many pictures highlighting the landscape, the water, and the height we were at. After we climbed the first hill which took about an hour we decided to be very adventurous and climb the much bigger mountain behind it. Did I mention I was wearing Sperrys, a dress, and luckily, spandex shorts because Edinburgh is very windy. It took about 3.5 hours and was straight up. At one point, we actually had to climb a rock, but the views were amazing. Once again, see my facebook pictures. It was such an amazing day, but after I was so exhausted. I decided to venture from the group once we got back to old town so I could buy an ornament for our Christmas tree. My goal is to get one from every city I visit. On my way home, I was a bit turned around, actually about 2.5 hours of walking to get home turned around, and ended up near the water. I was then officially exhausted but I could say I really explored the entire city. One of the guys started laughing when I walked in the hostel because I looked so dead and he knew I must have been lost. We had a good laugh before I went up and passed out.
On Saturday, we toured Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the queen’s official residence in Scotland. Both were very cool and well worth the cost and crowds. After, each of us decided we had to try a local favorite called haggis. It is actually Sheep heart liver and lungs minced and served with spices in a sheep’s stomach. It sounds lovely I know... but actually, it was quite good. I decided I would just take a bite of Adams and order a grilled chicken sandwich for myself. I got a bite of his haggis and he got my fries. On Saturday night, we all went to dinner at Elephant House, which for those who do not know is where JK Rowling started writing Harry Potter. The coolest thing this that out the back window you can see Edinburgh castle and the grandstand with flags for when the queen visits and it actually looks like Hogwarts with its quiddich field. It was the inspiration, but seeing it was so incredibly cool. In addition, another interesting fact is that the ceiling of Westminster Hall , the oldest part of the Palace at Westminster where I work actually inspired the ceiling for the Great Hall at Hogwarts in the movies.
It was such a great weekend overall and the train was not bad at all. We took it both there and back for 4 hours each way, but the train went along the coast, which was completely breathtaking to see such uninhabited coastline with beautiful fields, cliffs, and waterfront beaches.
After that, I did not think it was possible for things to get any cooler, but yesterday definitely gained an advantage. I was heading down the escalator in Portcullis and I look to my right and on the opposing escalator from me, not even 4 feet away, and was David Cameron and his entourage of security along with George Osborne the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I was so giddy in a way that only a complete political nerd could be after the weeks and sightings I have experienced.
Now on to my weekend in Edinburgh. By the way, it is officially pronounced Ed-in-bra (one of the many cool things I learned this weekend).I had the opportunity on the first day to really explore the city with its beautiful old town and massive amounts of green and hills before dinner. Our hostel was very nice, but it was a bit of a walk from the city center. On the second day, Friday, we woke up to have a tour of the Scottish Parliament. If you did not know, it was reinstated in the mid 90s and commissioned an entire new complex, which is very modern. Look at my pictures on facebook, or papa and mimi have tesser show you! After that, we decided to climb Arthur's seat to see above the entire city. It was quite a hike but so worth it with the amazing views. I took so many pictures highlighting the landscape, the water, and the height we were at. After we climbed the first hill which took about an hour we decided to be very adventurous and climb the much bigger mountain behind it. Did I mention I was wearing Sperrys, a dress, and luckily, spandex shorts because Edinburgh is very windy. It took about 3.5 hours and was straight up. At one point, we actually had to climb a rock, but the views were amazing. Once again, see my facebook pictures. It was such an amazing day, but after I was so exhausted. I decided to venture from the group once we got back to old town so I could buy an ornament for our Christmas tree. My goal is to get one from every city I visit. On my way home, I was a bit turned around, actually about 2.5 hours of walking to get home turned around, and ended up near the water. I was then officially exhausted but I could say I really explored the entire city. One of the guys started laughing when I walked in the hostel because I looked so dead and he knew I must have been lost. We had a good laugh before I went up and passed out.
On Saturday, we toured Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the queen’s official residence in Scotland. Both were very cool and well worth the cost and crowds. After, each of us decided we had to try a local favorite called haggis. It is actually Sheep heart liver and lungs minced and served with spices in a sheep’s stomach. It sounds lovely I know... but actually, it was quite good. I decided I would just take a bite of Adams and order a grilled chicken sandwich for myself. I got a bite of his haggis and he got my fries. On Saturday night, we all went to dinner at Elephant House, which for those who do not know is where JK Rowling started writing Harry Potter. The coolest thing this that out the back window you can see Edinburgh castle and the grandstand with flags for when the queen visits and it actually looks like Hogwarts with its quiddich field. It was the inspiration, but seeing it was so incredibly cool. In addition, another interesting fact is that the ceiling of Westminster Hall , the oldest part of the Palace at Westminster where I work actually inspired the ceiling for the Great Hall at Hogwarts in the movies.
It was such a great weekend overall and the train was not bad at all. We took it both there and back for 4 hours each way, but the train went along the coast, which was completely breathtaking to see such uninhabited coastline with beautiful fields, cliffs, and waterfront beaches.
Tuesday 29 June 2010
Well I have to blog even if it is just for a moment because I SAW PRINCE WILLIAM! Literally he was getting in a car across the street from me on my way to dinner with some roommates. Cait and I nearly freaked out with the level of excitement we felt. It was so wonderful because he was my first royal in London and we just stumbled upon him. Sadly, he was balding but stil very good looking.
This week has been very similar to the last few in terms of work, although I do get to go to PMQs tomorrow. Also i was invited to my MPs victory party in Liverpool and I attended a reception for the union of the Labor party where I met Harriet Harmen's husband, who is also a fellow MP.
Sadly after this weekend two of my top three teams have been knocked out of the world cup, but luckily tonight we are going to watch the Spain Portugal game so I can stare at Cristiano Ronaldo for a whole 90 minutes. My day is complete. This weekend we are going to Edinburgh to tour the Scottish Parliament and see Scotland. A few of us are hoping to make it to St. Andrew's to see where the British Open is being held, but it is a two hour trip. Other than that these next few weeks will be very exciting. After Edinburgh, we go to Dublin then only have two more weekends in London before traveling. I am trying to make the most out of every opportunity which has been going well so far.
This week has been very similar to the last few in terms of work, although I do get to go to PMQs tomorrow. Also i was invited to my MPs victory party in Liverpool and I attended a reception for the union of the Labor party where I met Harriet Harmen's husband, who is also a fellow MP.
Sadly after this weekend two of my top three teams have been knocked out of the world cup, but luckily tonight we are going to watch the Spain Portugal game so I can stare at Cristiano Ronaldo for a whole 90 minutes. My day is complete. This weekend we are going to Edinburgh to tour the Scottish Parliament and see Scotland. A few of us are hoping to make it to St. Andrew's to see where the British Open is being held, but it is a two hour trip. Other than that these next few weeks will be very exciting. After Edinburgh, we go to Dublin then only have two more weekends in London before traveling. I am trying to make the most out of every opportunity which has been going well so far.
Sunday 20 June 2010
I finally added some more pictures to facebook last week and more are coming soon! This week has been another fabulous week at work, but a bit stressful outside of the office because I had a large paper due on Friday. That is the main reason why I have not blogged. Work is still going great as I said. This week my boss was sick on Thursday so I had the chance to take on so extra responsibilities which was neat. I answered phones, wrote letters directly for my mp, and scheduled more appointments completely on my own! I love it!! It is also neat because we have football games on all day so I am becoming more enthralled with the World Cup and the various teams. I even bought a US jersey. Apparently, according to my office I must come in on Wednesday with an England shirt as well
Other than work, this week was very exciting in terms of touristy things in England. On Thursday night we got tickets to go see MacBeth at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. We had the standing tickets, which was not the greatest part since it is a 3 hour play, but overall it was a neat experience with great actors. On Friday we spent the majority of the day after class at local pubs watching the US and England games. Both were very exciting to watch, but neither ended pleasantly.After the games everyone came home to our flats and hung out listening to music and drinking tea. I have developed quite the infatuation with tea. In my office Alex insists that I drink it with milk and now thanks to him it is my favorite drink here!
Saturday was my favorite full weekend day in the past few weeks. I woke up early to hop a train to Liverpool and explore. It was a neat town and even cooler, it is where my boss has her constituency. I spent the morning there and then came back and decided to go get tea and shop around at Harrods. Harrods is having their yearly sale and all I can say is when I walked in I saw a sign that said GUCCI, BURBERRY,BOTTEGA VENETA, and FERRAGAMO 50% off. I shed tears of excitement. The Harrods experience is like nothing I have ever seen. I wandered around for hours. I have also never been more motivated in my entire life to be successful then at the very moment I stepped into that store. haha. The tea was also quite exquisite. I really want to go to another afternoon tea while I am here, but one that is very authentic. Saturday night we all watched more world cup games at our favorite pub, The Court. After that, we met up with some of our friends and ventured around the city quite a bit. A large group went to see Feddy DJ and a huge techno club called Ministry of Sound. I think every person that went out that night came home as the sun was coming up. I must say that was a first, but I think each one of us had a great night no matter what we did.
You have no idea how much I missed the fish fry today. I was slightly heartbroken as it is one of my favorite holidays.Obviously getting home so late last night, I had a lazy day today. The one thing I did that is exciting is we booked hostels for my trip after the internship ends! I will post the rough itinerary below so you can see where I am going and for how long! Each date with a city beside it is our arrival date in that location. I cannot wait for it!
7/20 Amsterdam
7/21
7/22Berlin
7/23
7/24 Prague
7/25
7/26Vienna
7/27
7/28Munich
7/29Paris
7/30
7/31Brussels
8/1
8/2Amsterdam ferry to London overnight
8/3London then home to the US!
Also, Val and Kourt-- it took all of my restraint not to buy the most adorable outfits for the kids in Zara baby. They have little Euro jeans for infants and boys and the cutest dresses and scarves I have ever seen.
Papa, Daddy,Uncle Lon and Joe Happy Fathers Day!!
Luke-- I hope your first Fathers day was the best ever!!
Love and miss you all!!
Other than work, this week was very exciting in terms of touristy things in England. On Thursday night we got tickets to go see MacBeth at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. We had the standing tickets, which was not the greatest part since it is a 3 hour play, but overall it was a neat experience with great actors. On Friday we spent the majority of the day after class at local pubs watching the US and England games. Both were very exciting to watch, but neither ended pleasantly.After the games everyone came home to our flats and hung out listening to music and drinking tea. I have developed quite the infatuation with tea. In my office Alex insists that I drink it with milk and now thanks to him it is my favorite drink here!
Saturday was my favorite full weekend day in the past few weeks. I woke up early to hop a train to Liverpool and explore. It was a neat town and even cooler, it is where my boss has her constituency. I spent the morning there and then came back and decided to go get tea and shop around at Harrods. Harrods is having their yearly sale and all I can say is when I walked in I saw a sign that said GUCCI, BURBERRY,BOTTEGA VENETA, and FERRAGAMO 50% off. I shed tears of excitement. The Harrods experience is like nothing I have ever seen. I wandered around for hours. I have also never been more motivated in my entire life to be successful then at the very moment I stepped into that store. haha. The tea was also quite exquisite. I really want to go to another afternoon tea while I am here, but one that is very authentic. Saturday night we all watched more world cup games at our favorite pub, The Court. After that, we met up with some of our friends and ventured around the city quite a bit. A large group went to see Feddy DJ and a huge techno club called Ministry of Sound. I think every person that went out that night came home as the sun was coming up. I must say that was a first, but I think each one of us had a great night no matter what we did.
You have no idea how much I missed the fish fry today. I was slightly heartbroken as it is one of my favorite holidays.Obviously getting home so late last night, I had a lazy day today. The one thing I did that is exciting is we booked hostels for my trip after the internship ends! I will post the rough itinerary below so you can see where I am going and for how long! Each date with a city beside it is our arrival date in that location. I cannot wait for it!
7/20 Amsterdam
7/21
7/22Berlin
7/23
7/24 Prague
7/25
7/26Vienna
7/27
7/28Munich
7/29Paris
7/30
7/31Brussels
8/1
8/2Amsterdam ferry to London overnight
8/3London then home to the US!
Also, Val and Kourt-- it took all of my restraint not to buy the most adorable outfits for the kids in Zara baby. They have little Euro jeans for infants and boys and the cutest dresses and scarves I have ever seen.
Papa, Daddy,Uncle Lon and Joe Happy Fathers Day!!
Luke-- I hope your first Fathers day was the best ever!!
Love and miss you all!!
Monday 14 June 2010
I have been so incredibly busy with everything going on here in London. From work to the world cup to class assignments, I never realized how much I was cramming in to one day! I started my second week today at work. My boss mentioned that he thinks I am doing a great job and my MP noticed as well. That is feedback I never received in DC, so I was so overjoyed. I have really adjusted well to the office routine. I write a lot of letters and do quite a lot with scheduling. It is so neat, especially because I contact people like David Miliband, who will most likely be the next Labour leader and leader of the opposition. I hope he does win because that will make Prime Minister's Questions so much more entertaining with heated responses and jabs at Cameron. If you haven't seen PMQs, you should try to watch one week on BBC and CSPAN or youtube the old PMQS. The best are when Tony Blair took on former Prime Minister John Major. Sometimes I wish the US had these!
Now to be less political, I have my first paper due this Friday (yuck), but I have found myself enjoying foreign policy much more than I used to. My DC professor Sunil would be so proud of what I've picked up regarding the EU and British foreign policy on a more broad scale. My paper topic is going to have something to do with the EU by comparing the advantages and disadvantages of Britain's Atlantic alliance with the US on its EU membership. I know, it seems like a bore, but it is shocking how much this question affects every aspect of British domestic policy.
I almost forgot, on Friday I went on a Shakespeare walk around London. We walked across the London Bridge and saw the original location of Shakespeare's Globe theatre and where the current one stands. We also saw Catherine of Aragon's home prior to her marriage to Henry VIII. I am not a huge Shakespeare buff, but the walk around London and on the River Thames was such a pleasant way to spend my Friday afternoon. On Friday night everyone went to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant called Sofra. It wasn't my favorite, but I did order a really neat sampler meal with a bite of each of their 12 most popular dishes. "It was an experience," as my mom likes to say.
Now onto Saturday...
The world cup games here have been so exciting! Watching the US v England game on Saturday night was a once in a lifetime experience. We all decided to head to one of our favorite local pubs called The Court. We were surprisingly not the only Americans! The pub was packed, along with nearly every other pub in London. I have never seen so many businesses close early nor have I seen a metropolitan hub shut down like London did. Everyone was in a pub and not a single person was on the street. Football is so big here and you would be shocked how many guys are so surprised when American girls love it. I was slightly offended haha. A group of englishmen even quizzed me on the English and US rosters and they bet me dinner that I couldn't answer their questions. Of course I had studied up so I could name the defensive players for both teams and I got a free subway sandwich out of it. You all should be so proud! I also placed my first sports bet on the game. Given it was only 10 quid, but the odds on a US victory were nearly 10:1 and a draw at 2-2 would have given me nearly 450 quid, so I could have made quite a bit of money. One of my roommates told me he would go shopping at Burberry with me if I won. That of course made me laugh. Sadly, the score was 1-1 so I didn't get to go to Burberry, but I did have the most amazing day watching sports which I wouldn't trade for anything.
Now to be less political, I have my first paper due this Friday (yuck), but I have found myself enjoying foreign policy much more than I used to. My DC professor Sunil would be so proud of what I've picked up regarding the EU and British foreign policy on a more broad scale. My paper topic is going to have something to do with the EU by comparing the advantages and disadvantages of Britain's Atlantic alliance with the US on its EU membership. I know, it seems like a bore, but it is shocking how much this question affects every aspect of British domestic policy.
I almost forgot, on Friday I went on a Shakespeare walk around London. We walked across the London Bridge and saw the original location of Shakespeare's Globe theatre and where the current one stands. We also saw Catherine of Aragon's home prior to her marriage to Henry VIII. I am not a huge Shakespeare buff, but the walk around London and on the River Thames was such a pleasant way to spend my Friday afternoon. On Friday night everyone went to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant called Sofra. It wasn't my favorite, but I did order a really neat sampler meal with a bite of each of their 12 most popular dishes. "It was an experience," as my mom likes to say.
Now onto Saturday...
The world cup games here have been so exciting! Watching the US v England game on Saturday night was a once in a lifetime experience. We all decided to head to one of our favorite local pubs called The Court. We were surprisingly not the only Americans! The pub was packed, along with nearly every other pub in London. I have never seen so many businesses close early nor have I seen a metropolitan hub shut down like London did. Everyone was in a pub and not a single person was on the street. Football is so big here and you would be shocked how many guys are so surprised when American girls love it. I was slightly offended haha. A group of englishmen even quizzed me on the English and US rosters and they bet me dinner that I couldn't answer their questions. Of course I had studied up so I could name the defensive players for both teams and I got a free subway sandwich out of it. You all should be so proud! I also placed my first sports bet on the game. Given it was only 10 quid, but the odds on a US victory were nearly 10:1 and a draw at 2-2 would have given me nearly 450 quid, so I could have made quite a bit of money. One of my roommates told me he would go shopping at Burberry with me if I won. That of course made me laugh. Sadly, the score was 1-1 so I didn't get to go to Burberry, but I did have the most amazing day watching sports which I wouldn't trade for anything.
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