London Eye and Victoria Beckham

So much has happened since I last wrote. Well...not exactly, just our level of excitement was higher than usual. Elizabeth's friend Shannon is in town so a group of us went up in the London Eye last night. It was really really pretty, and I got about a million shots of my boyfriend, Big Ben. We were all proud of Ingrid who has an intense phobia of heights. She didn't even freak out!

After our 30 minute ride we decided to head home. On the way Elizabeth received a text from this girl she works with saying that Victoria Beckham was staying at the Metropolitan Hotel. Elizabeth literally spends hours each day trying to figure out where her idol lives so she naturally started hyperventilating. Shannon, Elizabeth and I stopped in McDonalds for dinner and to plan out a strategy. We decided to stake out the hotel. Since Elizabeth had a paper due at 9 a.m. and it was already 10:30 p.m. we rushed back to our flat so she could get her computer. We hopped on the tube amidst Elizabeth's panic attacks. We discussed everything from how to ask for a picture to what sort of smiles are appropriate for Victoria Beckham. We saw signs everywhere. First there was the bus that said VICTORIA. Then there was the sign right outside the hotel that said BECK. After scaling several hills and fences, and incorrectly crossing several streets, we found the hotel. Elizabeth went straight up to the doorman and said:

"Is is worth waiting?"-E

"For what?"- DM

"Victoria"- E

He informed us that it was hopeless cause that night. He did say that she is normally more willing to take pictures when she's on her way out in the morning. He also informed us that two guys had been standing outside this hotel for two days waiting for her. We met one of them....a slightly overweight Indian man who couldn't even fully say Victoria. He said he had gotten several pictures of her and that she normally leaves the hotel at half past seven.

Rejoicing over this news, we went home to rest before getting up at 6:00 a.m. to go back to the hotel before work and class. Today we rushed to the hotel again, looking rather sketchy, and stood outside the door. I was positioned on the corner and Elizabeth in the front just to make sure we didn't miss her. Unfortunately we waited for an hour and she never appeared. We took it as a bad sign that there were no paparazzi or Indian men. However, we won't give up the search. We will find that woman in the little Gucci dress.

My Intellectual Weekend

This weekend began Friday morning when I traveled with a small group to Greenwich. We set out on a boat ride along the Thames with a group of about 100 small children...joy. Our boat conductor thought he was a real comedian. He wasn't. However, the ride was gorgeous and we saw many beautiful riverside apartments. Upon first arriving in Greenwich the group headed to a market to get a delicious and cheap meal. Tessa and I met this really interesting hat maker who had worked with the Harry Potter films and knew many famous people like Paul McCartney and members of The Who.

After a brief pit stop in the Painted Hall (a joke compared to Versailles), I rushed to the Royal Observatory to stand on either side of the Prime Meridian. Therefore, I had one foot in the Western Hemisphere and one in the Eastern.

After quickly taking the photo, I rushed from the top of the observatory down to the overground station and then to the underground to get home and grab my bags. The heat was incredible, but I didn't have time to focus on it as I rushed to the Victoria Coach Station to get on my bus to Cambridge.

I arrived in the early evening to the picturesque town of Cambridge. The Williams met me at the station and quickly steered me toward Emmanuel College where I stayed for the weekend. The University of Cambridge is made up of many different colleges. I found that in order to attend the university, a high school student had to be accepted to both the university and a specific college. The college is where they take their meals and live. Emmanuel was very pretty and my dorm was quite spacious.

After settling in, I cleaned up and we all went out to eat at a fantastic

Indian restaurant.

I normally don't enjoy Indian food as much as other Asian foods, but this meal was delicious! After dinner we found a place to get some ice-cream and coffee. Our cafe was right next to a night club called SoulTree, get it, "Sul-try." We just sat and talked and people watched for a long time. It was so nice to be taken out to a proper restaurant and not have to worry about the cost or where to go. That theme continued throughout the weekend.

The next morning we arose early and had Chelsea Buns (cinnamon buns with raisins) at a nice cafe. Then we went on a walking tour of Cambridge. Normally, I don't enjoy tours, but Cambridge is such an interesting place, so full of history. I saw the laboratory where Watson and Crick discovered DNA and the site where Sir Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity. Cambridge was started in 1210 by a group of Oxford University students who ran away after having affairs with a prostitute. For hundreds of years it was a men's college and not until 1988 did all college admit women.

We ended our tour at King's College Chapel. It was gorgeous with fan ceilings which required no columns. The stain glass windows are supposedly the most impressive in Europe.

After the tour

we went "punting" in the Cam River. Punting is similar to a gondola ride. We had a punter named Ben and got to see many Hen Parties (Europe's form of Bachelorette parties). We rode down the river bumping into many other boats, but according to Ben that day was not busy. He said on a busy day there were more than 200 boats on this narrow river.

After punting we had a great British meal at The Eagle Pub. That too was rich with history. It has been around since the 1500's and during WWII U.S. and British soldiers took lodging there. The ceiling is covered with charred marks where the soldiers burnt their names and the names of their girls in. I even found one that spelled out "Rach"! I had delicious steak and ale pie, one of the first truly "British" meals I've had.

Mrs. Williams and I then set out on a short bike ride to an old Apple Orchard where Virginia Woolf and many other famous writers and poets used to take their tea. It was very peaceful and pretty. We then headed back so we could get cleaned up for the play we went to go see. It was called Quartet and was about four aging Opera singers. I've seen such great theatre since I'

ve been in London. What more could one ask for?

Sunday was a great day. I was pretty down about being away from home on the 4th of July, but it turned out to be one of the best one's I've had. Mrs. Williams and I went to church at King's College Chapel which was beautiful and had communion. We then took a taxi out to the Cambridge American Military Cemetery created to remember those who gave their lives in WWII. It was given to American by the British and considered American soil. I started tearing up when I first saw the American flag. Something about being over here has made me more patriotic and appreciative of America.

With a heavy heart I got back on the bus to London. I had a wonderful weekend. It was so relaxing and comforting to see such familiar faces like those of the Williams. I headed back pretty upset and depressed. When I got back to Madison House, I checked with those who were home to see if there were any July 4th plans.

We all ended up going to a Blues Club which was great, but a little overpriced. I got some delicious gumbo (in London!) and my first Long Island Iced Tea to celebrate all that is America! Macki took it a step further. She joined a hot dog eating competition where the buns were literally like extra thick baguettes. Though she placed third out of three, we were proud none the less.

We headed home soon after, and I crashed early exhausted from such a great weekend. Luckily the Amsterdam crew all got in safely though some were moving a little slow today. Well, until something noteworthy happens....adieu adieu parting is such sweet sorrow (I had to read Romeo and Juliet for Theatre).

Shimps and Mooftards

This weekend I went to Paris with Caleb. We had a fantastic time, but here is what I learned:

1) It really does smell bad, that's not a stereotype

2) I'm really bad at trying to pronounce French

3) When I don't feel like pronouncing French, I make up words (ex. dog in French is chien...but pronounced weird so I just decided to call dogs shimps (like shrimp without the r)

4) Though it may seem easy, the Arc de Triomphe isn't always the easiest thing to say

5) I like London way better

Now, having said all that, Paris was a blast. Though the temperature about about 15 degrees warmer than in London, we walked all over the city. Everything was much more spread out and harder to get to, but that just made the walks along the Seine River that much more beautiful. We stayed less than five minutes from Notre Dame and it was gorgeous, though I did want to yell "SANCTUARY!" when I went inside. Our first day we wandered around and walked from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower which took close to two hours. We had dinner at the great Asian restaurant that Caleb was obsessed with because the food was cheap and delicious.

I was really overwhelmed by the size of the Eiffel Tower. I had assumed it was big, but I just had no idea how impressive it would be. I think I like really tall man-made structures. The Washington Monument, Big Ben, and now the Eiffel Tower. Underneath the tower were dozens of vendors selling replicas and souvenirs. Caleb and I made the haggling dream team when we convince this one guy to sell us the largest statue of the Eiffel Tower for 6 pounds (his original asking price was 20). Being really proud of my purchase, I held on to it for a while. This one lady in line overheard us talking about it and was upset because she had paid a lot more. We ended up going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and watched the sunset. It was a gorgeous view, and we were even in the tower when it lit up (which is does every hour after dark). We started around 8:45 p.m. and by the time we got down it was around 12:30 a.m. We haggled some more with the guys down below and got light up Eiffel Towers and key chains (I really think that bargaining is our calling).

The next day we set out to see the city. We went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Caleb's back was starting to hurt so we set out to get some lunch and relax. We ate at the great cafe on the top of a department store overlooking the city. After that we crossed the street and went to this free photography exhibit called Paris in Love.

We then made the trek to the Moulin Rouge, which was much too expensive to go into, but really cool to see outside. You literally walk right out of the metro and you're there.

At night we headed back down to the Eiffel Tower area and stood by the river watching it light up. There was a big football game going on at the large outdoor field with a giant screen near us. When the game ended, we decided it was time to head out. For dinner we ate overpriced ice-cream next to the Eiffel Tower. Mine was Citron (lemon), which I thought was Vanilla at the time. Not a good feeling when you take that first bite.

The last day in Paris we traveled to Versailles. It was probably the hottest day of the trip, and we had to wait in line for tickets forever. We actually ran into two girls who went to our high school while in line....that's how long it took. It was definitely worth the wait though. The palace was so ornate and immaculate that I felt like a peasant inside it. We got to see the Hall of Mirrors, Louis XIV's bed chambers and Marie Antoinette's as well. My favorite part of Versailles, however, were the gardens. They were huge and some of the side mazes reminded me of the 4th Harry Potter book. In defiance of the hotel charging us for breakfast, we stole sandwiches to bring to Versailles. It was great to sit in the shade and eat them looking out over the impressive gardens. They really made you feel insignificant. After walking around for a bit, the fountains came on and that really made the gardens spectacular. There were fountains everywhere, each more decorated than the last. We ended up parking ourselves by a big fountain and putting our feet in to relax.

Soon we headed back to get ready for my departure. We treated ourselves to the first sit-down meal we'd really had (besides the awesome Asian), and were forced to listen to some horrible trumpet players looking for money. Sadly, the weekend came to a close, and I headed back on my overnight bus exhausted. I got in at 5:30 a.m. yesterday and proceeded to go to work and class.

Last night we had the fantastic opportunity to go to Wimbledon! I was really excited because I'd always watched Wimbledon on TV with my parents. Rachael, Katie T, Sam and I sat in on a mixed doubles game for a few hours. Andy Roddick and Roger Federer were both playing, but we didn't have the tickets necessary to see those games.

That's pretty much all I have for the weekend. It was amazing, and I know it will be a hard one to top.

Weekdays in the Dulldrums

Let me start off this post by saying that I really love it here. This is a fantastic trip that I would recommend to anyone interested in travel. However, recently the stress of my classes, my internship, our mandatory outings, and our booked weekends has really been getting to me. I feel exhausted all the time probably because I get five to six hours of sleep every night. This is not because I'm out at the pub enjoying the night life. This is because I'm in my common room doing homework for hours after the required outings.

For example: we returned from Scotland around 9 p.m. Sunday night. I blogged and put up pictures for about two or three hours because our internet is so slow. The next morning I got up, went to my internship, came home and made myself a quick sandwich before going to Theatre class, after class went on a tour of the National Theatre, after that went straight to see Avenue Q grabbing dinner on the way, once I got home I had to watch Pride and Prejudice for my film class (which I couldn't do until after I'd read the book), then I had to journal about it, then I had to do my morning homework, and only THEN did I attempt to go to bed. We have a planned meeting or outing every night this week, and I'm leaving for Paris Thursday night during a Tube strike which will make getting to the bus stop interesting.

Our outing tonight is going to a film as a group. Now people who know me understand that I love movies, but after two classes back to back, the last of which is my film class, I'd really like to come back home and relax a bit or even go out and spend sometime by the Thames. My food consists of Mars bars, pasta, and eggs all of which I'm running low on but can't afford to buy any more if my addiction to the theatre keeps rearing its ugly head.

Sorry for the list of complaints. I have no photos to leave you with since I haven't done anything picture worthy in the last two days.

Scottish Pride

This weekend we went to Edinburgh, Scotland. In my opinion, it's been the best weekend of the trip. I love Edinburgh (pronounced: Ed-In-Bur-Oh not Ed-In-Burg) probably more than I love London. The people were very friendly, the scenery was gorgeous and I sort of met Sean Connery!

What was great was the fact that I came into the trip not expecting anything. We left early Friday morning and took the train from Kings Cross. The ride was about four hours and relatively uneventful until we started getting closer. We rode past the first waterfront I've seen since I've been here and it was beautiful. Slightly delirious, Elizabeth mixed up the words defecation and desecration and, surprisingly, that changed her sentence significantly. However, I think our crazed state cleared up instantly when we arrived in this gorgeous town. I know this sounds stupid, but they actually play the bagpipes here! I always thought it was a big stereotype that they liked to include at Busch Gardens and Epcot, but it's definitely real. After we settled into our hotel, we had a group outing to Scottish Parliament.

The tour was pretty boring and worthless (kind of like Scottish government), but our tour guide lived in my hometown of Richmond, VA for two summers and worked at Kings Dominion! Also, I have now gone to the bathroom in both the Scottish and British Parliament buildings for those of you who were wondering.

Shortly after this I purchased my first cup of Starbucks coffee since I've been overseas. Now, this may sound like a small event, but it was probably what made my day so fantastic. You see, I drink an average of three cups of coffee per day when I'm home, and I haven't had ANY coffee since being here. Basically, coffee makes me the dazzling creature I am, so here I've been a little lack luster. While in the Starbucks line getting that delicious cup of coffee, I began talking to a Scottish native who was in line with me. He asked me to visit his shop across the street. I promised too, but I'll get to that later. After getting coffee, the group went on a freezing yet fun bus tour. We sat on the top of an open air, double decker and got to see some really interesting sites. I'm not sure if we liked this tour more because we didn't want to walk or because Scotland is so beautiful, but it was a good time. We saw the home of Robert Lewis Stevenson and Alexander Graham Bell.

That night I attempted to go out and do some more exploring, but everything closes down around 6 p.m. so I headed back to the pub where some friends were watching the World Cup. England tied the game and it kicked them out of the running so that was a bit of a downer. Outside these two women, who were very dressed up, seemed to be having an intense cat fight so being the obnoxious Americans we were we watched intently. I considered taking a photo of it, but I thought that would be a bit much. I occasionally have class. We moved to this bar called The Outhouse which was just around the corner from our hotel, and it was a pretty good time. There's only about four hours of darkness in Edinburgh during the summer so it didn't even get dark until around eleven.

The next day (yesterday) was without a doubt the best day of the trip thus far. We got up early for breakfast and then went as a group to Edinburgh Castle. It was located at one end of the Royal Mile, high up on a hill. The view was very picturesque and we took tons of pictures. After the castle we stopped for lunch then proceeded to hike up to King Arthur's Seat. It was definitely the best thing I've done since I've been here. The view was breathtaking. I took a ton of pictures, but there's no way to capture it. I love the fact that Edinburgh has gorgeous architecture AND a beautiful landscape. The green rolling hills that you see in commercials are REAL! I was really impressed that almost everyone in our group of 28 hiked to the top and back. It was nice to see everyone in the group want to take part in something to physically taxing.

We climbed back down and rewarded ourselves with ice-cream cones and flake. Then a group of us went to buy Scottish rugby shirts and other gifts at the shop of the man I met at Starbucks. He was really excited to have us all in the shop and gave us free key chains. He and I exchanged e-mail addresses, and then he gave me some free shortbread cookies.

After that I rushed back to the hotel to shower and met up with Judson and Mary for the Edinburgh Film Festival. On the way to the theater I discovered that Judson went to my high school, Godwin, and was in the class above mine! It's crazy how often stuff like that happens. We went to see Toy Story 3, which was fantastic (to read my blog visit: http://racheldozier.blogspot.com/).

When we arrived at the theater there was a red carpet, and we were informed that Sean Connery would be pulling up any minute. We waited and he got out of his car right next to us! However, no amount of obnoxious American screaming (from me) could bring him over to take a picture with us. He ended up being in our theatre, which was the first group of people in the UK to view the film!

Two of the men who worked on the animation for the movie came down and talked to the audience in advance and told us about some other projects they're working on. After the movie let out, I rushed to get close to Sean Connery. While exiting the theater our hands brushed. For you environmental-friendly folks out there, you'll be happy to know that he recycled his 3D glasses. I then followed him and the people with him into the hallway.

I tried to act discrete and to build up the courage to ask for his photograph. I ended up failing. However, here is my reasoning: 1) No one was asking for his autograph or photograph or acting like it was a big deal. 2) I didn't want to be the American tourist. 3) He was surrounded by some of "his people" talking about the movie (his accent is real!). 4) The thought of rejection was too much to handle.

Still reeling from my failure, I left the theater a broken woman. I quickly perked up when the three of us went to Illegal Jacks for dinner. It was this fantastic Mexican place (like Chipotle but better) where I attempted to consume a burrito which was about half my body wait. Once again I failed, but this time it was probably for the best. We called it an early night, exhausted from hiking and from being in the presence of Sean.

Today a group of us went on a whiskey tour where they show you how whiskey is made and have a tasting at the end. It was actually really interesting, but the whiskey was disgusting. Whiskey is a big part of Scottish culture here. I've heard it mentioned on every single tour I took. Our tour guide at the whiskey place said she wouldn't be drinking any because she was still pretty rough from the night before. I guess I'm just not woman enough to drink it.

After the tour, we went to the Elephant House Cafe where JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books. I liked the fact that it was an actual cafe and not a Harry Potter tourist trap. It made the feel more authentic. Then in my last hour I went on my own and visited Mary King's Close, which are a serious of secret streets located under the Royal Mile. This was recommended by my mom (who has been to Edinburgh several times), and was a great tour! Our guide was dressed up in period clothes and was very funny. It was probably the most interesting tour I've taken thus far. Directly after I rushed to the hotel, grabbed my bags and headed to the train station. Our train was cancelled so now I'm sitting in first class of a different train. First class equals WiFi so here we are. If you got through this entire thing, I'm either impressed or feel a little sorry for you, but thanks for reading!

Paddleboats and Peter Pan

Sunday we had a group outing to the Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. Basically anyone can get up and say whatever they want to Brother Micah style. I'm not a big fan of these events, so Caleb and I went exploring in Hyde Park. We came across the Serpentine Lake and decided to rent a paddleboat for half an hour. It was a really pretty day, and we had a fun time. Afterward, we met up with Sarah and Jackson and hiked to the Peter Pan statue and back. These two cute little girls were climbing the statue, and it took a long time for us to get the picture.

We booked it back singing "We're Following the Leader" from Peter Pan. Caleb somehow walked ahead at double the speed of our group. We met up with the rest of the group and then took a canal ride to Camden Market. The canal ride was not very exciting or pretty. The market however, was really cool. They had a bunch of delicious food and cheap jewellery. I bought a necklace, and we wandered around the market for a few hours. The group met at Dietrich's house for a yummy catered meal. We sat out on the grass and Gretchen tricked Rachael B. with some magic tricks. The afternoon was beautiful, and everyone seemed to have a really good time.

After dinner, Caleb and I headed back to the flat to make sure he had all of his stuff ready to go. I saw him off at the coach station later that night. We had an amazing weekend!

Since I didn't take too many pictures today I'll go ahead and talk about it here. For our Media and Society outing, we went to SOHO and visited a Hare Krishna temple. Our professor also showed us a bunch of concert halls and jazz clubs. I think the content is very interesting, but I'm really struggling to make the connection between what we discuss in class and actual media.

On my way to my next class I was reading Atonement and walking with my head down. Suddenly, someone says, "Hey!" I looked up and it was my history professor from freshman year, Prof. Gubser! It was wild to see someone from home not associated with the trip in London. He was carrying his baby, and it was adorable.

In film class we ended up going to a cinema. Movie theaters have always made me feel at home and comfortable, so it was like a treat to go see a movie. The film we saw: The Killer Inside Me, was horrible, but our group enjoyed complaining about it afterward. I blogged about the movie in my film blog (http://racheldozier.blogspot.com/2010/06/killer-inside-me.html).

We then headed for another group outing to Parliament. It was so cool to see how they debate the different issues. Rachael B. and I imitated some of our favorite members of Parliament and marveled at the detailed structure of the building.

Now I must get ready for a full day of work tomorrow. Cheerio !

What Do They Do for the Fourth of July Here?

Saturday was the celebration of the Queen's Birthday! Though her actual birthday is in April, she considers June to be a nicer month. Being someone with my own birthday month (July), I respect that decision. We waited outside Buckingham Palace and saw Prince William, Camilla (second photo), Princess Anne, the Queen (top photo) and more! Luckily we stood with some British natives and they made sure we knew everything that was happening.

After that Caleb and I split off from the group and walked across the bridge to this cool vintage shop: Radio Days. We looked around for a bit then took a coach to the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street. The museum wasn't that exciting, but Caleb really enjoyed seeing the flat. Before we went to the museum, we took a pit stop at Platform 9 3/4!

I was surprised at how un-touristy it was.

We then walked back to Covent Garden. We browsed in SOHO, moved to Leicester Square, then to Trifalgar Square, and then went shopping in Oxford and Picadilly Circus. Basically, we walked all over the entire city. That being said, I definitely wore the wrong shoes. By the end of the day my feet were hurting so badly that I stopped in Topshop to buy some new shoes.

The excitement of the USA v. England game was going on and we heard some crazy chanting in the streets. Unfortunately the game tied 1 to 1 so everyone was really upset. Too tired to head out to the overflowing pubs, we headed back early to get ready for more group outings the next day!

I'll leave you with the National Pride Photo of the Day! We saw this car on Regent Street.