Anyways, hello my little blogchildren. Sorry that it has been a WEEK since I've updated - it has been extremely busy and I want to make sure my posts are worth reading, so they deserve some time and dedication. This entry will be a mind dump - as much as I can remember in from the past week, in sort of chronological order. Oh, and I took pictures! No more Google Image searches!
Class has started! Yes, sadly, I have academic obligations this semester and won't just be adventuring and traveling throughout Europe. I like them so far. One class, Understanding the European Union, will definitely be my hardest. It's an honors class and most of the other students in there are politics majors, so I definitely have my work cut out for me. Professor is great though, and I feel like it will stretch me academically, so I think that'll be fine. Plus, it's balanced by my Wednesday class, Abnormal Psychology, where the professor actually told us "Don't do any of the readings unless you're still not sure about something after the lecture". There is also no homework in that class. AWESOME. The professor is actually a Hogwarts professor, she's so British and probably magical. Her first sentence to us: "Hello! I'm Professor Loewenthal! I'm 68, I'm an Orthodox Jew, and I LOVE psychology!" She and I are probably gonna end up dating, NBD. My final class is a communications class - it's going to be easy, a bit dry but hopefully it will get better. It's just ... my professor likes to say the same things. Again. And again. And again. I actually do a decent impression of him, so next time we skype (if you're reading this, please add me on skype - alex_heald), I will do it for you. Global globe media. Context globe globe.
Beyond class, we have been doing a LOT in London. Tuesday of last week was my first time to The Rocket after we ate dinner - The Rocket is basically the Still of London, except it doesn't suck. It's just a typical bar with a jukebox (and yes, they have Tik Tok, Miley, and Gaga) and some really cheap beers Tuesday night, so it may become a new regular Tuesday tradition.
After class Wednesday, I walked to Oxford Street to find a sporting goods store. See, in Nido, you can drink in your rooms AND the communal kitchens, which sport two tables that BEG to be turned into beer pong tables. Beer pong needs ping pong balls though (or, as they are also known here, whiff whaff balls), so I went off in search of those. I probably got some disease at this store, it was closing down and absolutely disgusting, but 12 whiff whaff balls for a pound-ninety eight is pretty damn good. Then I walked down Oxford Street, almost bought every single thing at Topman but resisted, and then walked home - it was nice to familiarize myself with our area a bit more.
Beer pong (or cider whaff, as we now call it) was a mess. Solo cups are impossible to find, so we tried using styrofoam cups, but the balls were heavier than the cups by a ratio of 2-1 or so, and we spilled enough cups in about 5 minutes that we decided to stop and wait until we found sturdier cups. We played Kings and Up the River, Down the River instead, and had quite a nice time as we prepared for ... KARAOKE WEDNESDAY!
I won't say much about the night, just let these pictures speak for themselves.
Needless to say, we didn't stop believin'. We lived on a prayer. And some old man got his Celine Dion wings on, and knew that he was alive.
Thursday night we took it easy, as we had a day trip to Greenwich coming up - I enjoyed a nice glass of red wine as I watched Lost in bed. When did I become Justine Bylo?
Anyways, Friday we woke up early and headed to Westminster Pier for the boat to Greenwich. Brief history: Greenwich is where the Prime Meridian is located, aka the boundary between Eastern and Western Hemispheres. There is some other historical stuff there too. This is the end of Alex's History Lesson. The boat to Greenwich was awesome, we went up the Thames and got to do a lot of sight-seeing. Greenwich itself was rainy and cold (as it often seems to be here in London), but we had fun looking at an old military hospital, seeing the Queen's House, and climbing a mountain to the Royal Observatory to see the Prime Meridian and stand in both hemispheres. Here are some photos of said Meridian as well as the boat ride to Greenwich:
That night, we had our first visitors: TAYLOR AND LIZ!!! As we all know, Taylor is my baby boy for life, and Liz doesn't even go here. Tay was coming in from France and Liz was in transit from Tampa to Orlando to New York to London to Florence. We surprised Tay at the train station, then went out that night to this awesome cheap bar called Montagu Pyke's. It was one of our more wild nights in London, but in a good way - we were out til 3, bar/club-hopped, and had such an incredible time. Kelly romanced Marc with a "c", drank 4 R2D2s, we climbed the Trafalgar Square lions, and maybe fell out of a bus seat. Pics from that night:
The next day we did a TON of sightseeing after a ... disappointing lunch at McDonald's. McDonald's here doesn't taste the same. Not even sort of. The fries are kind of sweet, the mayonnaise is just weird on my McChicken sandwiches, and it's just ... it's just wrong. Damn them for being open 24 hours and being my only option on my way home from going out.
Anywho, we saw the Tower Bridge all the way to Big Ben - if you want to enjoy this wonderful tour with my always witty commentary, please come visit me. Here are pictures:
Following these adventures, we went out and did a pub crawl in Camden Town, which is a really cool area about 20 minutes walk from us - Tay and Liz introduced us to some British friends, we found some awesome new spots, chased tequila with raspberries, and enjoyed being somewhere new. Definitely going back, apparently during the day they have the most AWESOME flea market you've ever seen - I'm all about flea markets.
Sunday was a lazy day - Morgan and I woke up late, did some reading, and sat around until dinner with Taylor and Liz at Nando's, this amazing chicken place in a place called Angel. (PS. They have Chili's here. We are going. So. Soon. And. I. Can't. Wait. Because. I. LOVE. CHILI'S.) After that, we went to The Rocket for a few pints, and then came back here and booked STOCKHOLM! Last weekend in Feb, me Morgan Kelly and Emily are headed to Scandinavia to freeze our asses off, see the Northern Lights, and meet beautiful blond people! Our hostel is in a boat haha - YES.
Yesterday, Monday, I did some homework and then met up with Liz to see the Tate Modern. AWESOME modern art museum. It was like MoMA on crack, but there was some truly crazy art there - weird sexual stuff that made me very uncomfortable. Remember the tall tower from the past set of pictures? That's the Tate, and that tower is, I believe, where the weird sexual art takes place and scares me. Come visit me - I'll take you there!
Last night was Evan's birthday, so we went to an amazing pasta place for dinner (after being hopelessly lost forever in SoHo). Dinner was amazing, we had a really good meal and some kick-ass risotto - I inhaled it. Afterwards, we had an amusing walk/tube ride home that involved Hannah and Evan stopping at the scariest pub I've ever seen to use the bathroom and Evan saying that Ke$ha was probably the downfall of our society. So true, Miss Rome.
Anyways, that's it so far. Paris is this weekend, we leave in about 48 hours, and I'm so excited for my first trip! We are gonna see the Eiffel Tower, drink lots of amazing wine and eat cheese and baguettes, and hopefully have an epic run along the Seine River. Apparently, that's all the rage. Remy did it in Ratatouille. Liam Neeson did it in Taken. I'm gonna do it in REAL LIFE, bitches. Heck yes.
I have lots of random thoughts when I'm out and about. I'm gonna start writing them down and letting you know them, and I promise to update more often. I dunno if I'll have internet in Paris, so expect a big post next Monday. Love you all! Happy Tuesday!
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