PS

I won an award for writing- check it out and read my entry on the Syracuse website: http://www.syracuse-u.ac.uk/

if you hate tottenham. STAND UP.

As the end of the semester drew near, I frantically began ticking things off my "London Bucket list". I had to make it to a football match (soccer game to all Americans reading). So I bought the cheapest tickets I could find and headed to Stamford Bridge stadium, home to the Chelsea Football Club. They were playing against Apoel FC. I have to say it was one of the most lively sporting events I have ever been to. Our view of the game was slightly obstructed by the overhang of the level of seats above us, but that didn't matter. In fact, it was kind of helpful as the overhang kept us dry when it started to rain! But to be honest, the real action I was paying attention to was in my section! Being the cheap seats, it was rather rowdy. Everyone stood up the whole time, and there were constant chants and cheers. Cheers about Chelsea, chants about certain players, drinking songs, even cheers bashing Tottenham, Chelsea's biggest rival- who they weren't even playing! The whole atmosphere was fun, and even though Chelsea and Apoel tied, I still had a great time! Below are some pictures from the game- in case you didn't know, Chelsea is the blue team!

There are Places I Remember

The Sunday after Thanksgiving Madelyn, Liz and I ventured on a Pilgrimage to the land of the Beatles, Liverpool. Though a hefty 3 hour train ride is required to get there, it was one of the highlights of my semester. True, it was pouring down rain and we spent more time on the train than in the city, but the museum was so interesting it didn't even matter. Basically, it took you on the journey of the Beatles from when they met to Beatlemania to their careers after the band broke up all the while playing music from their concerts and tv appearances.

In Liverpool they have decorated penguins everywhere (similar to the guitars in Nashville or the cows in Chicago). I'm not quite sure what significance penguins have to Western England, but they were still fun!

Headed into the museum!

The Beatles in the children's interactive room- We tried to play All You Need is Love on the piano you jump on (like in Big) but we failed miserably.

Apple Studios sign

Recreation of the Yellow Submarine
Apparently this was actually broadcast over the radio- 32 Beatle degrees! haha! At the end, they dedicated a room to each Beatle and decorated it according to their personality showing footage of just that Beatle. The above picture was taken in George's (my favorite) room

Overall, I'm so happy I went even though Liverpool is quite a treck from London :)

Turkey Day!

Even though I wasn't home for Thanksgiving and British people don't even celebrate it, we managed to make a pretty darn good feast for a bunch of college kids with limited kitchen supplies and cooking skills :)

Slaving away at the hot stove

Liz's apple crumble

CA slicing somethingPoppers!Our contributionThe table

Saying grace :)

Happy late Turkey Day everyone! Hopefully I can get this blog up to day pronto- I leave London on Thursday! eek!

A weekend of solo adventures

By the time I got back to London, I was feeling 100% better. My roommates were planning on going to Paris the next weekend, but I was staying in London so I started making my final checklist of things I wanted to before I left to go back to the states. Fortunately, my Shakespeare class took care of one of my "to dos." We took a field trip to the Globe theater and went on an educational tour where we got to go on and behind the stage!Here's a view of the Globe stage from close upI started out my weekend with a trip to Covent Garden- an area of town known for its markets and street performers. They werHere's one of the performers from Covent Garden- he danced around with a ladder on his head to Michael Jackson. I also went to visit Charles Dickens' house which is only a few blocks away from where my apartment is! It's a really small building- I walked past it three times before I went in! There really isn't all that much to see inside- just his library and a few rooms set up how they would have been when he lived there. It was fun to see the Christmas room though which they only have set up from the end of November until January!

Friday night, I went to the Royal Ballet to see The Sleeping Beauty. I bought my ticket earlier that day- a standing ticket for 10 pounds. I don't really recommend buying a standing ticket for a 3+ hour show, but I had a great view of the stage, and in the end, even though my calves were sore, it was worth it. I was standing behind people whose seats were easily over 100 pounds! Above is a picture of the atrium in the Royal Opera House.
Above is a picture of my arm restMy view of the stage! The show was absolutely beautiful- costumes were stunning, and it was nice to be able to actually see the dancers- quite a different experience than when I saw the Mayerling. Saturday was my biggest adventure of all. I was headed to Bath. by myself! It was a pretty simple trip- a 2ish hour train ride and I was in the center of the city. First stop: The Jane Austen Centre. Set up in a Georgian style house on the same street as one of Austen's residences in Bath, the centre houses exhibits about Jane's life, book, time in Bath and an excellent tea room!

After exploring the exhibits and reading up on the history behind my favorite Austen novel, Persuassion, I hit up the tea room for a quick lunch.

The house where Jane Austen lived! Now it's a dentist's office :(

A street in BathAfter I'd had my fill of Mr. Darcy's afternoon tea, I ventured to the Fashion Museum of Brittain which I really enjoyed. Above is a picture of a display of hats. I tried on an old fashioned corsett and crinoline, but I was too embarassed to ask anyone to take my picture haha!

The coolest exhibit they had was a collection of dresses. A selection committee picks one dress each year that is symbolic of the fashion of that time period. Really interesting. The black dress above was my favorite!

Finally I made my way to the Roman Baths for which the city is named.

Created by a hot spring, the (gross sulfur) water is said to have healing powers. I tasted it after, and really it just tasted like bubly water with a hint of rotten egg. Who knows though, maybe it cured me of some mysterious illness!

Me in front of the bath!

Back at the trainstation ready to go home to London :) While I'm sure I worried my parents, traveling by myself was really enjoyable. It's nice every once in a while to do things at your own pace without having to wait on other people or do things you don't want to just for the sake of compromise. It's nice to do exactly what you want to do every so often.

Speaker's Corner

Named after the area in Hyde Park infamous for public speeches and debates, the literary magazine for SU London came out a few weeks ago and some of my work was in it! I just thought you all might want to check it out- click here and then select download the latest under Speaker's Corner! Happy reading!

Edinburgh

It was only one day after Prague that disaster struck. I had the worst stomach bug I think I've ever had in my life I'll spare you the gory details, but thank heavens it only lasted 24 hours. Once I was on the mend, I made the executive decision that I would be alright to go on the Edinburgh trip with my school. I had signed up to go at the beginning of the semester and it was already paid for, so I figured, why not? I couldn't be more happy that I did. Scotland, quite simply is beautiful. As the trip was organized through the school, we were accompanied by a teacher who was essentially our tour guide 24/7. I'm so glad I went on at least one trip through the school, because I learned so much more and visited so many more place than I would have been able to find on my own. The relationship between England and their northern neighbors is complicated. See Braveheart for evidence. Over my three days there I learned a great deal about the Scots struggle to keep their cultural heritage while belonging to a larger (greater) Britain. Also- Scots could not be more friendly. I thought Italians were helpful and kind, Scots were even more so. Here are a few pictures from my trip:

Our first view of the Edinburgh castle

One of many graveyards- we actually ventured into the underground vaults to do a ghost tour on Friday the 13th! We didn't see anything too scary, but we got to take around those machines you see on tv shows that click when paranormal activity occurs and mine started clicking like crazy!

Adam Smith's (the father of economics and author of The Wealth of Nations)

Edinburgh Castle (home to St. Margaret's Chapel, the Old Royal Palace, and the Stone of Scone)

Really pretty ceiling in the Royal Bank of Scotland

On the second day we were there, we traveled to Dunfermline where we visited the abbey

Cemetery outside of Dunfermline abbey

Tunnel to visit the cave of St. Margaret- they built a parking lot over it so you had to go down through this strange tube-like tunnel in order to see

We saw the shore!

This was the pub we ate lunch at- Great fish and chips!

On the course at St. Andrews- we went to the British Golf Museum, walked around the course (only the 16th 17th and 18th holes) and even his a few balls on the driving range! Sorry there was no documentation of me hitting balls, it would have been a good laugh! haha!

The next day we stayed in the city. Pretty much the highlight of my trip was visiting the Elephant House where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter!

I had a cup of hot chocolate!

Doesn't it just look magical?

View of Edinburgh Castle and the woods from the window- this inspired Hogwarts!

Me in front of the Coffee Shop!

I just thought this card was so funny!

Overall, I had a great time, even though I still wasn't feeling 100%. I made a ton of new friends and learned so much about Scotland's history and culture. I didn't take pictures (probably because they weren't allowed) but we also visited Scotland's national gallery, had Christmas tea, tried Haggis and viewed Arthur's Seat (which is super important to Geology).