Spray Paint on London

Forget Sean Kelly, today I was the only one. My morning started out AMAZINGGG! I got to meet up with my friend Summer who I haven't seen since I graduated high school more than two years ago. She's studying at Imperial College in Oxfordshire. Basically, she's a physics genius and going to take over the world some day....soon. We got lunch and talked for a couple of hours and then sadly had to part.

I rushed home to meet up with my homies, unfortunately, it was destined to be my big day out...when I wanted it to be big group day out. Everyone was spazzing and busy with end of the week packing, shopping, and panicking. So I set out on my journey friendless and poor, hoping to see and do everything I'd wanted to. And I did.

I first borrowed Lawler's left over spray paint and headed to the graffiti gallery place near Waterloo where it's legal to spray paint whatever you want on the tunnel walls. I decided to leave my mark by commemorating my love for Big Ben. He's been such a great summer romance, sorry Caleb.

I then traveled to Tate Modern, the modern art gallery by the Thames. It wasn't very interesting, mostly because I didn't spend the extra money on the two good exhibits. After that let down, I walked across Elizabeth's least favourite bridge, the Millenium Bridge (or Dementor Bridge) to St. Paul's. I thought it would be possible to go inside without paying, but not so.

By that point the sugars were setting in pretty hard. I tried to stop on the steps of St. Paul's to see if they'd pass. They didn't. So I started walking toward the amazing gelato place we tried yesterday, Scoop. It didn't disappoint.

After my sugars were revived, I headed back to the flat and met up with everyone to go to the football match with the Tottenham Spurs. It was pretty uneventful as you can see. Tomorrow's my big day! More to come.

The Last Week

Tensions are running high, toilet paper is running low, and we still have two days. After everything: the homesickness, the drama, the friendship, the fun, the big days out, it's almost over. And I hate to say it, but in the words of the famous Rustin Greene, I really feel as if I have Lived London, Loved London, and Learned London.

I know the Tube like the back of my hand and can get you to all the major landmarks in the city. I've been able to legally order drinks and not feel shady. I've met Sean Connery and Nick Jonas. I've stalked Victoria Beckham. I've started putting U's in my words. I've pub crawled. I've danced. I've visited four different countries, two of which I haven't ever been to and the other two of which I haven't been to since age 2. I've tried on Jimmy Choos. And I've made a new boyfriend, Big Ben. I've done every single thing I've wanted to do.

Today I took a walk down my favourite route: Tottenham Court Road, to Charing Cross, to Leicester Square, to Trifalgar Square, to BEN BEN. I did some souvenir shopping and then visited the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. I really liked the second. There were portraits of Princess Diana, Prince William, Prince Harry, Paul McCartney, and many other famous Brits.

After that I met back at the house with Elizabeth, SBP, Ingrid, and Lawler to FINALLY go to Abbey Road, a trip I've been wanting to take since we got here. Little did we know that in the Tube station on the way there, we would see the actual Harry Potter. Not Daniel Radcliffe, but Harry Potter. I tried to take a secret photo of him, but it didn't work and he saw me so we had to walk away quickly. We then decided that Harry Potter is totally real and that JK Rowling exposed the wizarding world so all wizards hate her.

After recovering from our shock, we got back in the right frame of mind and headed toward the road which is also the title of my favourite Beatles' album. We did the traditional walking pose, and I signed the wall to the Abbey Road studio with my parents' names: the true Beatles' fans.

After this tourist moment we headed back for our meeting followed by free pizza. I will not comment on the state of this event except to say that I shared.

Then Bennett, SBP, Elizabeth, Ingrid, Lawler, and I went to this gelato place in SOHO we'd heard so much about called Scoop. It was pretty amazing. I am glad, however, that we didn't know about it sooner or I would have been poorer and fatter. I decided to remain friends with Bennett because he lives in New York City. Just kidding. Kinda.

After we got back, I packed almost everything! I can't believe 1) it all fit, and 2) that I leave in two days. This really has become my home. We've had so many great memories together. For those of you who may stalk my blog to see if I write anything mean about specific people (or entire groups in general), don't worry! This isn't my last post. Two London-filled days remain :)

The Brightside of Dublin

Let me start this post by stating that RyanAir has a lawsuit coming its way. I've never had so much trouble traveling in my whole life, and I've been on a train in Myanmar that had mice and giant cockroaches crawling all over the floor. I attempted to print out my boarding pass in the morning, and for some reason it would only print off my return flight. When I tried to call in, there was no one available to talk with me.

So I went in to my last day of work, unable to deal with the situation anymore. My last day was pretty uneventful. My boss wrote me a very nice letter of recommendation and then gave me a bunch of presents including an owl necklace, rings, a red high-heel charm, and Kate Moss perfume. She also wrapped my presents in an article I had written, which was really sweet.

When I returned home, with less than an hour before I had to leave, that's when I started to panic. The system was still not working. So I had to print off my confirmation number and rush out the door to the Victoria station where we took the Gatwick Express to the worst airport in the world. Once we arrived Elizabeth and I were informed that since we didn't have a printed boarding pass we would have to pay 40 pounds...which is what our roundtrip flight cost. So basically, we were charged double our plane ticket to use the boarding pass.

When we finally bought this new boarding pass we had to check-in. I'm going to go ahead and give this guy the benefit of the doubt and say it was his first day because homeboy could not type. As I watched this man spend about ten minutes to type my first name into the computer, I started to melt down. Finally after he checked both of us in, we booked it to security. Both of us only had our backpacks because RyanAir is psycho about luggage. Of course, they decided to search my bag. I was forced to empty out every single item. The hilarity of the situation and the fact that I WOULD be the person to get searched, kicked in and we just lost it. I laughed for a bit, and when I couldn't take that anymore, I began to cry. Finally, after confiscating my highly dangerous water bottle, I turned to find Elizabeth. She had been chosen for a random passport inspection and immigration check. Basically, we hit the jackpot of unnecessary searches.

We finally ran to the gate and made it just in time. The plane ride was uneventful, though we did decide to throw our trash on the ground like the rebels we are in defiance of RyanAir. After a short flight we arrived in Dublin and took a bus to our hostel. We stayed at Jacobs Inn Hostel, and the room was actually really nice. It felt like a hotel that had been converted into a hostel.

We then went out to O'Doyle's pub. The song "Mr. Brightside" came on and forever became the song of the trip. We all decided to sing it really loudly, but no one else in the pub joined in....their loss. Then we discovered something that changed some lives and altered the course of events for the rest of the trip. Butterscotch schnapps that tasted exactly like cake. This was the first shot I'd ever taken. I only took two, but others didn't quite use the same method.

So the next morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we set out for a free "three-hour tour" (sing in Gulligan's Island voice). Our tour guide's name was Fiona and she was kind of like an Irish Student Ambassador. This was not exactly a positive. So instead of paying full attention, Elizabeth, SBP, Ingrid, and I sang songs from Les Mis. If we had started at the beginning of the tour, I could have gone through the entire show. I also purchased a 2 liter bottle of Coke Zero and proceeded to drink the whole thing.

The problem with this walking tour lay less with the fact that she was super "city-spirited" and more with the fact that Dublin's not a very interesting city. I don't know how to phrase this properly, but it's just not as Irish as I thought it would be. For example, Edinburgh was EXACTLY what I imagined. There were bagpipes, kilts, and clans. But Dublin was just a dirty old city with ugly architecture. I was surprised to see how expensive the alcohol was after hearing about the Irish being big drinkers. Everything was very pricey.

After the walking tour, I went out in search of a Barclays or BNP Bank. I spent over an hour walking across the entire city only to fail. Tired and frustrated I returned home and got pizza.

The entire group then went out on a pub crawl that our morning tour guide had recommended. The first three pubs were boring, and I didn't drink. The last two were really cool though. One had live music and movie and music posters all over the wall. The last one had live IRISH music playing. We convinced them to play a reel, and Elizabeth FINALLY graced us with her Irish dance. We all loved it, but she was disappointed with her performance. Sean Kelly was having a really good time, as it was his big night out. Being in Ireland made his hair redder and his smile wider.

FINALLY we went to the "club." I'm not a big drinker, but I AM a big dancer. I haven't gotten the chance to bust a move in quite a while, so let me just say that things got a little crazy. After a few intense songs, we headed home. Unfortunately, Sean was the only one. We had accidentally left him and halfway home received a text from Sean saying: I don't know what is up. I am the only one. So we headed back, saved Sean, and bought candy and bananas for our sore joints. Even though we saved Sean, he decided to walk on the opposite side of the street from us. Then he tried to bargain with the pizza men from our store to get them to lower the price. Then he found 10 pounds on the street. It really was Sean Kelly's big night out. You go Sean Kelly.

The next morning, Elizabeth, Ingrid, SBP, and I went to the Guiness Factory. I tried my first Guiness and as you can see, was not a big fan. The view from the top was really nice though. It looked out all over Dublin.

We were running very late so we split a cab back to our hostel across town. We met up with the rest of the group and then took a train to the coast of Bray (the beach in Atonement). The water was a tad chilly, but for some reason, I insisted on taking pictures standing in it. This was a practice that Elizabeth didn't enjoy.

Then the smartest guy at the table, Dylan, decided it would be a great idea to hike up a mountain. What he didn't consider was the fact that I was wearing a white dress and flip flops. Regardless, I climbed that mountain and made it to the cross at the top. Dylan was right, the view was beautiful.

After spending some time up there, I daintily climbed back down and my dress didn't have a single spot on it. We had some Beef and Porter House Pie followed by ice-cream. We ran into a mascot of a cow...mascots being my number one phobia. I was startled by it, and then proceeded to cry while every member of our group laughed at me.

After this humiliating incident we headed back to Dublin in the hopes of seeing some Irish dance at the Arlington Hotel. I had some Bailey's Irish Cream in honor of being in Ireland and then sat back to try and enjoy it. Unfortunately, even Dublin's dancers aren't very good. Basically the city was a big let down, but we had a great time just being together.

Les Miserables

A little over two years ago, at Mills E. Godwin High School, I was in a production of Les Miserables. Not only was it one of the best experiences I had in high school, but it was one of the best in my life (not to be confused with "In My Life"). Tonight I got to see it performed (for the first time!) in London's West End! It was a great performance and many of the actors were really impressive, especially Javert!

Now I know what you're all wondering, how was Nick Jonas? Well, here's the thing. He's a 17-year-old Disney Channel star and a Jonas Brother. That just doesn't quite fit in with a cast of die-hard Brits who have been doing this forever. While some songs were really good ("Empty Chairs") others were somewhat painful to endure ("A Heart Full of Love"). His acting was pretty good overall, but his voice stuck out like a sore thumb. Gavroche was precious unlike the one at my high school that everyone cheered for when he died. Yes, I cried like a baby but so did everyone else around me so I think it's justified.

After the show of course we went out to meet Nick Jonas. While I've met several celebs in my theatre days....it's never been like this. Young girls, middle-aged women, and middle-aged men seem to love him. People FREAKED out when he walked out the back door. He walked past me and I said, "Come back!" He responded by turning back. Ingrid held up the camera. Out of memory. I grabbed it as she got Elizabeth's for a back-up. I quickly deleted a picture while Nick waited patiently, all the while psychotic fans were shoving and trying to take pictures with him. Finally we got our shot. Granted, it's not very flattering, but I'll take it after what I just experienced. Well, off to listen to some Jo Bros.

Red, Red Wine...Ga-Ga

What a weekend. After worrying and stressing ever since I returned from Paris with Caleb, this weekend really turned out the best it ever could. Getting around wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be. We took the train to Gard du Nord train station. The trip only took about two and a half hours which was seven hours less than the couch ride I took a few weeks ago. We arrived and the ten of us staying in the Aloha Hostel headed there.

When we walked up the sign was 'all tore up' and I was a little nervous about it, but Aloha became our home away from home. It was about a 15 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower and had a Heineken machine that served a special form of Heineken that was different from that in the bar....not really, but some people seemed to be under that impression.

We had no time to get settled in. We grabbed lunch (mine was a box of strawberries) and headed over to the Musee D'Orsay which houses some of the best Impressionist art I've ever seen. We had to wait an hour for everyone to meet up because we were all staying in different hostels. The museum was an old train station that had pieces by Renoir (my fav) and Van Gogh. After that we headed to Notre Dame. Having stayed near there the last time, it made me kind of sad to go around that area. The church was as impressive and beautiful as ever. Dylan and I split a chocolate crepe after, my first!

We then headed to the Louvre. Even though it's a huge and magnificent museum, it's definitely not my favorite. It's much too large, and I preferred the Musee D'Orsay. The best part of the Louvre was taking pictures outside it. Team Aloha bonded. See picture.

We then headed to the Champs de Elysee to find a McDonalds. For some reason, I'm still not quite sure why, but we found it necessary to eat Big Macs. We took our Big Macs to the front of the Eiffel Tower and took some classy photos. Then we met up with the group to travel to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was a lot shorter of a stay than when Caleb and I went up. The wind was a lot stronger, and it was very cold.

We then headed back to crash. The next morning Team Aloha went on the optional walking trip with the two professors, Jay and Rachel, who came with us to Paris. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. We stopped first at a large industrial building which was very interesting and housed modern art, but JMU "thought our funds would be better used somewhere else" so we didn't go inside. Afterward we took a long and very complicated metro ride that took more time than any informational lecture they provided. We finally got out at the Eiffel Tower and then stopped at this museum that held artifacts from ancient cultures.

The time after this was a dark time in Team Aloha's history. Tired, hot, hungry and a tad cranky we began to slowly turn on each other. After several wrong turns and grumblings from the group, we found a place to get food and sat in the park and everything was automatically better. Elizabeth, Sean and I took an adventure out to Jim Morrison's grave. The grave yard was really cool, and we tried to see Oscar Wilde and Marcel Proust's graves but the cemetery closed before we could find them.

We headed back to change and then went to a fancy dinner. We had a fixed menu of salad, steak, and fries. I was perfectly content with the meal and then the waitress brought out REFILLS! Excuse me what? They don't even refill food in America. I didn't think they knew the word refill in Europe, much less France.

After that amazing dinner we headed out to the Eiffel Tower and had the best evening of the trip thus far. Team Aloha got some wine and sat out on the lawn. We got to see the Eiffel Tower light up three times which means we stayed there more than three hours. Though I hadn't had a drop to drink, I felt drunk off the night. I loved the company and conversation. We all had so much fun. Elizabeth and I had a moment when the Eiffel Tower first lit up when we were just really grateful to be on this trip. It's truly been a life changing experience for me. Then SBP was so excited she dropped her camera, broke it, tripped backwards over some girl's ankle and then fell on the ground, so that kind of broke the mood. The very last time the Eiffel Tower lit up (at 1 a.m.) the inner lights turned off and when the twinkling ended, the tower went dark.

Sadly we went back home to Aloha. The next day was my big day out. Elizabeth, Sean and Lawler went to Versailles and Dylan and Ryan went on a walking tour. SBP, Ingrid, Vikki, Chris and I went on Mom's Big Day Out. I was really proud of myself for being able to navigate everyone around the metro and the city in general. We first went to Notre Dame and got crepes for breakfast. Then we walked around the area with the vendors, and I bought some souvenirs.

We then took the Batobus (boat cruise) down along the Seine River. We stopped at the Champs de Elysee and walked to the Royal Opera House. This was where Phantom of the Opera was supposed to be set. I got to go inside, but to see the entire thing I had to pay for a tour so I remained satisfied with just seeing the entrance.

We stopped at Starbucks to rest and strategize. Then we took the metro to Sacre Coeur, which was this gorgeous church overlooking the entire city. These guys came up and hassled us in the most annoying way, but we moved past it to head up. The view was beautiful and the interior of the church was very spacious and ornate. After that we headed back and stopped for dinner near our hostel. Everything was good except Ingrid accidentally ordered two meals and the waiter wasn't very nice about it. Brushing it off, we went back collected our bags and headed to the train station. We arrived somewhat late and rushed through customs. However, we made it on time and were back home in London in no time.

Today was uneventful except for the play we saw tonight. It was called the Beauty Queen of Leenane, and I really enjoyed it. It was an Irish play and it really reminded me of my Scotch-Irish Grandma. We all had a nice discussion afterward, and I'm definitely going to miss that class. We've seen some great productions.

Well, I must end here. Big day tomorrow. Only 12 days left! I can't believe it. It's going to be so sad to leave, but none of that now!

Whole Grain Cheddar Cheese Crackers

This weekend was long and exhausting so sorry for not posting this blog sooner as I have been in recovery and catch up mode. Thursday afternoon we took a bus to Stratford Upon Avon. By the time we arrived we had less than an hour to unpack, get dinner and arrive at the theatre.

Needless to say, we were a tad rushed. We found this pub that sold two meals for £5 so Ingrid and I decided to split the deal. Of course, of the six people at our table, we were the only ones whose meal got lost. By the time we got our food, we had less than five minutes to eat and get to the theatre. I shovelled down my salad as Ingrid gnawed on her fish and chips. Stomachs full and nausea setting in, we ran, yes ran, to the Courtyard Theatre where the Royal Shakespeare Company was performing that night’s performance of Romeo and Juliet.

The theatre and production were incredible. What stood

out to me the most was the lighting and the actors ability to really ACT out the lines as opposed to simply delivering them. The only problem I had with the show was its adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic. The adaptation had Romeo and Juliet dressed in modern clothes while everyone else was in period clothes…though what period, I’m not quite sure. After the show I was very excited because we had the opportunity to talk with the actor who played Mercuito.

His name was Jonjo, and he was a crack head. This is not a figure of speech, everyone is the group is pretty sure of it. He was crazy and animated and talked in circles, just like his character. I was disappointed with his response to the director’s thought process behind the modern clothing.

“Well um….Juliet came in wearing a hoodie one day and Rupert [the director] was just like, ‘I like that’ and that’s how it came about.”

I was really looking for some deeper meaning. He later went on to say that it was Romeo and Juliet against the world, which I understood but still thought more planning should have gone into the idea. I think there’s two ways of interpreting R&J, 1) Romeo and Juliet were madly in love and their death was terribly tragic or 2) Romeo and Juliet were two hormone-driven teens who were silly and killed themselves over nothing, but their deaths woke up their angry families. This play took the second interpretation, which I think put off a lot of people in the audience.

Unfortunately, that play was the best part of Stratford. The next morning we got up and took a bus tour with a horrible guide. He cracked awful jokes and treated us as if we were in elementary school. We passed all of the interesting stuff on the bus like Shakespeare’s statue and the statue of the angel who was flicking off the world and stopped at places with little historical value. The first being Anne Hathaway’s cottage. Yes, she was the wife of Shakespeare, but there was nothing really to where she lived, and he may not have even lived there. The gardens were nice but not worth this tourist trap waste of time.

We then travelled to Shakespeare’s grave. It was nice to see where he was buried, but the guides jokes about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and other pointless topics were not enjoyable. Our final stop in Stratford was Shakespeare’s birthplace. My problem with the town was that it was based off of a place where Shakespeare may or may not have be born, lived, or died. There was nothing concrete enough to validate my time there. For example, the ring with the initials W.S. which they think MAY have belonged to Shakespeare…or it could have belonged to Walter Scott, or Wesley Smith, or ANYONE with those initials.

After Stratford we travelled to Oxford, the oldest university. I can’t comment much on this because after last weekend, I became far too bias toward Cambridge. There were some cool sites such as where the Hogwarts library and infermiry were filmed, but we weren’t allowed to see them from the inside so that was a big downer. After the tour and some souvenier shopping, a group of us stopped in for a drink at the Eagle and Child Pub where JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis used to hang out.

When we returned to London, thirteen of us decided to take on a daunting feat, the Westminster to Picadilly Ale Trail. This five-pub pub crawl cove

red an intense track of land and hit some of London’s most famous pubs. Though it was a race to the finish, most of us made it in time and got free t-shirts!

The next day the Williams who I visited in Cambridge came to visit London. I met them for lunch at the British Museum and they surprised me with tickets to go see Oliver, the show I’d been trying to see for over a month! We spent the day studying the different cultures of shopping. In the early afternoon I took them to Camdentown Market and then they took me to Harrods. Having studied fashion magazines from an early age, Harrod’s was my earthly version of heaven. Around every corner was a new designer, each more glamorous than that last. I tried on a pair of Jimmy Choos and vowed to make an appointment with the wedding dress section just to try on designer gowns! I even saw the gown that Vera Fermiga wore to the Oscars this year!

Horror of horrors, in the china section Mr. Williams picked up a piece, its top feel off and it broke. I was mortified and slowly backed away from the scene. The salesman was really nice though and didn’t charge them for it thank goodness.

After that incident we promptly left Harrods and headed toward Covent Garden to get dinner before Oliver. We found this great restaurant called Maxwell’s and each had a delicious meal. Oliver was wonderful! Though the accents were great, each performer had a great voice and presence on the stage. I was really excited to see Kerry Ellis as Nancy because she played Elphaba the first time I saw Wicked on Broadway. After the show we said goodbye and the Williams took a train back to Cambridge.

I went out to a pub with my friends because it was Elizabeth’s friend Shannon’s last night in London. We were really excited that Sam came out with us because she rarely does. The next morning Elizabeth, Vikki and I visited Camdentown again so Elizabeth could pick up some stuff and then we went to the Spitalfields Market. I was less impressed with Spitafields, but I'm glad I went because it's only open on Sunday and that was our last Sunday in London!

Monday night we went to see Enron the musical for theatre class. Everyone who knew the background really liked it, but for some reason I found it really offensive toward America. Maybe that's why it only lasted one week on Broadway.

Last night we went to one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. It was called Four Lions and it was about Islamic jihad. Doesn't

sound like a funny topic, but trust me it was great: http://racheldozier.blogspot.com/2010/07/four-lions.html.

The past few days in London the weather's been my favourite. It's been breezy and damp from occasional rain showers, which I love! When I walked downstairs today, I went through my usual ritual of checking my always empty mailbox. This time I found a surprise, two postcards from both of my parents! Then when I came home my whole mailbox drawer was sticking out with a giant package from my parents again! Twice in one day. Inside the package were Whole Grain Cheddar Cheese crackers, my favourite! Precious parents :)

Well, that's all for now. If you got through that, you're a champ. Titanic's on for the Leonardo DiCaprio marathon.