A Look into my Life

The smell of Christmas is in the air! It seems that the Christmas season kicks in a bit early when you don’t have Thanksgiving to mark the start of the Holiday season. I took a nice walk down Oxford Street in the brisk autumn air and I was astonished at the number of shops that have their Christmas window displays set up and lights have been strung on the buildings. There are massive stars also strung between the buildings on Regent Street. I’m very anxious to see what else develops over the next few weeks. I’ll be sure to make an album for all the Christmas lights in the next few weeks, don’t worry!

Amsterdam!

The final leg of break was an exciting trip to Amsterdam. I’ll pick of the story very early Thursday morning. Now when I say early I mean 2:30am early. We were ready early and then caught a cab to Victoria train station. We caught a train to Gatwick Airport and had a 7am flight to Amsterdam. When we arrived we made our way to our hotel, checked in, and we both were completely exhausted. There was no time for sleep though! We had to keep moving. We walked into town stopping at a small pub for lunch. I assume it was traditional Dutch cuisine, but I’m not 100% what it really was.

The city is on the small side. One side to the other was about 45 minutes at normal walking pace. Thankfully they do drive on the right side of the road and I could default to normal walking habits, which have become not so default over the past few weeks. In reality you did have to worry about cars. The residents relied mainly on bikes for transportation. There were thousands of them running around and chained to anything that wouldn’t move. They had stretched ones with spots in the front for their children and all!

Our first goal for the day was to take a canal cruise through the many canals that make up the city. The sights along the canals were fantastic and actually made my day. Many of the pictures we took came from the cruise. We also did some shopping around. For a touristy place they certainly do hide a lot of the touristy stuff and the tourists!

Did I mention there were a lot of tulips? We walked through the flower market. There were huge amounts of tulips, tulip bulbs, wooden tulips, wooden shoes (who knew they were real?), and various other things (junk).

That evening we had a walk through the famous red light district. I only dared to take my camera out for one picture and that’s all you guys are going to see! At this point I’ve forgotten a lot of details about that trip. I’m sure Jamie can comment on a few things as well.

We finished things up the next morning with a stop at the Heineken brewery and then headed back for a rest and then catching our flight out. At this point we were exhausted, it was raining, and the beds at the hotel were calling our name!!

Status Update

There are 25 days until my mom and dad come over for the week of Thanksgiving. I’m looking forward to that. My mom has already scoped out the largest shopping mall, which just opened up in West London recently. I believe they will also be going to Paris and doing the Windsor/Stonehenge/Bath tour. I believe we will also take a day trip to Hampton Court Palace (they don’t know this!). Henry VIII turned this into a royal palace in 1514. It is thought that his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, haunts the palace.

I have 45 days remaining in London. I can’t believe how fast time is passing! I’m going to be home before I know it. I’m trying to pack my weekends full of all I can to make sure that I accomplish everything that I want to.

Before I get into anything else there have been several changes in the UK over the past week or so. The most import is the dollar to pound ratio. Its now $1.50:£1. Things are becoming affordable! Fall has also moved into the area. The temperature has fallen over the past week (ask Jamie!) and the days are becoming much shorter. The island has also left British Summer Time after last Saturday. For this week we are only 4 hours ahead of Eastern Time. With the time change the evenings end very early. This hit hard today while sitting in class. The sun had set by 4:30pm!! By the time I got back to my tube stop it was dark. Plus I had to go food shopping. What a depressing place! We have been warned that it will begin to get dark as soon as 3:30pm while we are here.

Without further distraction, back to break week! Wednesday was a London day. We went around to all the important attractions in the city. First off was Buckingham Palace. We were there EARLY and were the only tourists in the area. Made for some excellent pictures and stress free enjoyment of the royal residence. Sadly the queen wasn’t at home this morning.

Next we headed to Tower Hill for a walk across Tower Bridge and spent a few hours within Tower of London. Look back for details on the tower. Not much changed since my last entry, other than a much lamer tour guide. Pictures will be posted however!

We swung back to check out St. Paul’s Cathedral. The size still amazes me. We had lunch next to it at a Pizza Express. We then headed to Harrod’s for some shopping. This is a department store spread out into a building that could house a medium size mall. It is owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi Al Fayed. On the bottom floor is a memorial dedicated to Diana and Dodi. 

After that we walked down Oxford Street and picked up a few nick knacks a long the way. Of course stopping by the Apple Store!! We then snagged some dinner and proceeded to relocate our luggage to my flat for storage and preparation for our early departure for Amsterdam. It will take me some time to type that up. Look for it tomorrow since it’s my day off!

Until then, enjoy the snow Western Pennsylvania!!

As you can tell, we did see the Mona Lisa. More about that later though! Monday, 20th of October we awoke very early in the morning to catch a shuttle to St. Pancras station just north of London. It’s very close to where I’m currently living. There we caught a very early Eurostar train to Paris. We rode in first class baby!! We arrived in Paris about 10am local time. where we had a coach tour of the city. We got to see the location of Moulin Rouge, the Champs E’lysee (I had to restrain SOMEONE from jumping out the coach and running to the Louis Vuitton store!), the Arc D’triomphe, and most notably the Eiffel Tower!

We were provided with an express entrance into the tower with a lift taking us to the first level. We were then given some free time to explore it and the chance to go up to the second level. You could either pay to take the lift up or take the stairs for free. We took the stairs! The view from there was absolutely amazing. The city is relatively flat so you can see for miles. We then ate lunch at the tower and rejoined the group for a boat tour on the Seine River. Most notably along the river was Notre Dame. There are quite a few pictures of it. Unfortunately we did get to see it up close.

After the river cruise we set off for the Louvre. We had a few minutes at the inverted glass pyramid. It’s an amazing sight! I of course did my part to hold it up for a bit. It’s quite heavy! HA HA! There are legendary pieces of work throughout the entire museum and I’m still stunned that I have seen them in person. Of course seeing the Mona Lisa was legendary! Surprisingly you are able to take pictures of her. She is roped off and behind glass for protection. She’s amazingly smaller than what you would expect.

The day ended with a train ride back to London and a shuttle to our hotel. We both were very, very tired and had another big adventure from tomorrow; Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. I will hopefully get that up later tonight or tomorrow morning. Until then I’ll be uploading Paris pictures so be sure to check those out!

Today marked the end of my break. I still have tomorrow but Jamie went on her way at the airport today. I went with her this morning, making sure she safely arrived. Her flight doesn’t leave for about another hour.

I do apologize for the lack of coverage this week. I didn’t always have my computer with me and when I did I didn’t have internet so updating was near impossible. The week has absolutely flown by with unimaginable speed. We covered huge amounts of territory in such a short period. I have many pictures to post and lots to write about! But first I need a little rest.

I’m going to break everything down in separate posts so it’s easier to keep track of. So stay tuned for the rest of the today and tomorrow and check back often!

Oh my what a day! Where to start? I suppose the beginning will do. We awoke today to the gray drizzle that I have found to be the norm for Fall in London. We departed from our hotel in hopes to take in a few sights regardless of the weather. First off was checking out Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Then crossing the street to see the magnificent Westminster Abbey. Its amazing the amount of history and architecture in just those few squares.

At that point time was running a little short, we had a 12pm reservation for a flight on the Eye, so we crossed the Westminster Bridge. Taking pictures of course! And headed up to the Eye. We boarded and were whisked away. Riding this for the second time I was still amazed by the view. There simply isn’t anything like it around. Well, until I climb the Eifel Tower tomorrow!!

After we ‘landed’ we took off towards the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Then was somewhere I have wanted to go to for quite some time, Greenwich! It’s located just outside of the city. It’s a nice little section and I may revisit it again in the coming weekends. We ascended the large hill to the Royal Observatory and had a photo taken on the Prime Meridian.

After grabbing some grub at a pub we headed back to the hotel and have called it a night. We have to be up around 4am to catch a 6am EuroStar train to Paris. I’ll get pictures up of that when I can. To hold you over though, I have posted today’s pictures. Sorry there aren’t any comments for them. I’ll work on that when I get some free time.

I feel like I have spent the last two days on a train! Yesterday, Friday, I board a Southeastern train to Dover. Dover was one of the musts that I had on my list to do. It is a small, unattractive town on the east coast of England. It is just across the English Channel from France. In fact you could see parts of France from the lookouts (check out the pictures). It is also famous for its white cliffs. The ground there is white and very chalky. And it is also known for Dover Castle. The complex was magnificent. I received a tour through the underground tunnels there used during World War II and spent the rest of the time meandering around the castle. There are many pictures so be sure to check them out! After that it was a train ride back to London where I later met up with a friend that was in town for the night.

This morning I hoped back on the Underground and journeyed to Heathrow Airport, ironically most of the journey is above ground. On the return trip I had some extra baggage. JAMIE CAME!! I was so excited to see her and can’t believe she is actually here. We have spent the rest of the afternoon getting settled and checking out my flat. She is absolutely exhausted right now and is sound asleep in our hotel room. Later this evening we’ll grab a bite to eat and after that it’s a night out on the town! Can’t wait!

Tomorrow we’re going to check out Tower Bridge and that section of town they at noon we will be taking a flight on the Eye and after that a trip to Greenwich to the Prime Meridian. Stay tuned for more updates!

Well, actually I’m sitting in my living room, but WELCOME TO WEEK 6! I’ve nearly made it halfway through and without totally loosing my mind. I feel at this point that I’ve fully got the hang of this British thing. For the most part at least. The weather here has be absolutely amazing but today it seems very British, gray and gloomy. I do miss the simple life of home though. Friday starts my mid-semester break and boy do we (my sister and I) have quite a week planned! More about that later though.

This week I’m playing catch up and get ahead. I want to ensure a work free week next week. That includes getting a jump on two papers that are due just after break as well as an exam this week. Great fun!

So what do we have planned for this magnificent week? Well Friday I plan to travel to Dover by train to check out the white cliffs and the castle located there. I just can’t sit around on the first day of break. Friday evening I will be meeting up with a friend if the planets align correctly. Saturday morning there is a great big package arriving at the airport!! Jamie is coming!! We will be traveling to Paris, Amsterdam, a few stops in eastern England and a few things planned around the city itself. So stay tuned for all of that.

I’ll be quite busy the rest of the week so there may not be another update until Friday evening/Saturday morning.