Eurotrip

Why am I posting a journal entry when I'm supposed to be in midair? Funny story.

Well, not that funny, but still. After I went and saw 'King Lear' I checked my balance and let's just say it wasn't very happy with me. I didn't have enough to make the next week (I have a credit card, but honestly, to go home in a bit of debt and be unable to start working for two weeks isn't that smart or responsible an idea). However, by some stroke of luck, I remembered that I'd forgotten to cancel my original flight home on the 7th. And that I could cancel my new flight and get the money back. So that's what I did. The friend whose flat I was going to stay at loves the Manics too, so I sold him the ticket and he went instead. The Lord of the Rings ticket I couldnt get money back on, but to have things go my way on two flights and a concert ticket didn't leave me room to complain about losing whatever small amount of money that was.

So Monday I flew back to Boston. We had no headwind (thats a lie, but it was like ..3 miles an hour, so really, it barely even counts) so the flight was about six and a half hours, which was so much better than when I had to fly home earlier this semester and it took me about eight hours.

First thing I had? PB and J. Silly, but you miss the funniest things when you go abroad. I miss London, but it is nice to be home. I can see my dogs again (one of whom cried and refused to come up out of the basement the past three weeks becausse she was so upset I was away for so long). And I can drive again, though I am looking right then left as opposed to left then right. It's discombobulating. But as nice as it is to drive, I do miss the Tube. I went out MOther's Day shopping last night with my younger sister, and there was no one at the mall nearby. Where are those millions of people?! The quiet and space is nice, its just taking some getting used to after being in the city. I will miss all the things you can do in the city though, I've got a mall and a movie theatre (oh, the endless possibilities).

I do have my family though, and my friends -and my own bed. So coming home, as much as I miss London and my friends there already, it's not a terrible thing. Something you get from an abroad experience is, (cliche, I'm sure you've heard it) is a different perspective on the world. It changes your life. Not because you've had some huge epiphany or you met your British husband or wife (which, really, I wouldn't have minded meeting my British husband. I'm not sure why he was so lax with getting in touch with me), but because you change yourself. You go to Italy or France or the Czech Republic. You book the tickets and the hostel, you pack your bag and when you land, you dont know where you are, you don't speak the language, usually it's late at night, and you have to get to your hostel. You glean a lot of self confidence from that. You found your hostel. You got around the city, you saw what you wanted to see, you figured out their transportation system, sort of, and you had alot of fun. And you didn't even speak the language. That is a huge boost of self confidence. If you can do that in Prague or Amsterdam or Paris or Rome, places you don't speak the language and with cultures you've no previous experience with, imagine what you can do for yourself now back home. That's a language you speak, a culture you grew up in. Your life changes because you become so much more sure of what you can and can't do. Youre able to put yourself out there more, because really, You figured out the Paris bus system, you didn't get horribly lost in Rome; what could really happen at home now that you couldn't manage? I'm not saying you feel invincible, but you become so much more confident in your abilities and who you are (you learn so much about yourself when you travel!).

So really, go. Go to London or Dublin or Paris or Rome -go someplace, and travel. You'll meet new friends, find a second home in the city, fall in love with parts of the world you've never seen before, and you'll do so much for yourself.

I hope this journal has been somewhat informative, interesting, and has made you want to go to London -or at least, made you want to go abroad. Drop by the London and Cambridge Program Office in Ham Smith next semester and say hi and pick up an information packet, or go to a program meeting, you won't regret it. (And you'll get to say hi to me, which really, best part. -Kidding).

Londonwithlove (Trish) wishing you all the best, and a happy, safe summer.

What a busy week!

Exams are all finished, so from here on out, it's enjoying my last week or so in lovely London.

The Keith Urban concert was fantastic; I wasnt close or anything, but I had a great view from where I was. It was much more rock concert than anything, and he had such a clear, polished sound that you don't always get cause of equipment/feedback/acoustics/etc. But you could tell he was excessively practiced and whatnot, so ..really just spot on. And you could tell he was having so much fun, so that just made the audience that much more into it. What a great time.

The Hard Rock Cafe end of the semester party was such a blast, too. We got full run of the lower ground level from ten thirty pm to three am, and som free nachos! I love free food. They had a really fun DJ too; he'd play some early nineties fun stuff (Return of the Mack and C&C Music Factory, anyone?) as well as some eighties and plenty of current club stuff. I ended up staying until about two thirty (when I could barely stand anymore I'd been dancing so much). The bus never came, so myself and a friend ended up walking back to campus, which was only like ..a half hour walk, and it was gorgeous out.

I spent the weekend walking around parks and doing some last-minute shopping (and a little more today, possibly. I'm such a bad person to my bank account). With any luck, everything will fit in my suitcases (it's going to be very tight, I can tell, I've got but suitcases mostly full -I have a bit left, but I'm slightly worried it won't fit. Or well, I'm more worried about weight restrictions. I could fit everything, but will it be too heavy? Who knows. We shall see. And Saturday I went to see a friend of a friends band (the friends I'm staying with after this, actually, I met them in a class I had) play a gig at a local pub out at London Bridge. They were really quite good, they do covers mostly of really obscure seventies bands and like ..Lynard Skynard and Styx. They had a great sound though, better than half the opening bands -or even some of the headlining bands- I've seen at venues with much better acoustics. So much fun.

I'm also so tired right now. I managed a ticket to see Ian MacKellan perform as King Lear in 'King Lear'. It was outstanding. I was in the very back row, but the theatre was so small, being in the back row was like being in the first row of the dress circle at any other theatre. He gave such a great performance. He and Ben Meyjes, who played Edgar completely ruled the show, I thought. All the actors were just fantastic, but those two, to me, were the stand out, no questions best of the cast. It was difficult getting back, I almost got stuck in Stratford for the night. The last train that left Stratford was at eleven, and the last one that left the station I needed to change for London (Leamington Spa), left at 11 30, which wouldnt have been a problem, except it takes a bit over a half hour to get to Leamington from Stratford via train. So I got a cab (which only ran me like ..twenty quid), and I made it to the station with time to spare. But London Paddington wasn't on the Destinations list (which was only three destinations long anyway), a train for Oxford was in the time slot I should've seen London. I found the National Rail number thanks to a very kind man at the station and I got on a train to Banbury, which I could then change at Banbury for London. Slightly complex, no? -But! I made it to Banbury with a half hour to spare, got on the train to London Paddington, and at about one thirty, two am, I was home! It was a little tense, but totally worth it. That's not an experience you get the oppertunity to have everyday.

Today's for resting, going to Camden, finishing my packing, and moving over to my friend's flat who I'll be staying with til I leave on the 11th. So busy! Monday's move out, Tuesday's my Manic Street Preachers concert, Wednesday's the Lord of the Rings production, Thursday's free and Friday morning -I head for Boston.

Where did the time go?

I promise I've been doing stuff that's kept me really busy.

For one, I've finished all my final papers and such, so I've no more of those to worry about! For another, I went to see a show called 'The Wonderful World of Dissocia' last week. It was quite good. I liked the second act better (first act is set in this Alice in Wonderland meets Wizard of Oz kind of place, second act is in a mental hospital). I never really liked Alice in Wonderland though, nothing connected and was too nonsensical for me. Regardless of the fact that I am, most of the time, nonsensical. I dont think I've spelled that correctly either time. Sorry.

Also, I went to Paris over the weekend. It was so much fun. We were a ten minute walk from Gare du Nord, which was nice, because we got two-day tour bus passes, which worked out so awesome. It had four routes through the city, and they had a stop at Gare du Nord itself, so we got to see everything we wanted to the first day (and I got a sunburn) and managed to take the bus to Gare du Nord at the end when we were exhausted. Despite the bus, we did tons of walking. There is a reason the people in Paris are all thin: there are a million stairs to *everything*. From our hostel, Sacre Coeur was the closest thing we wanted to see, so we walked. And then up the hundreds of stairs. It was really beautiful, and its a nice view of the city once you're up the top there. After that, we found the bus tour and got on just cause everything else was pretty much completely across town and we only had Friday and Saturday to see the city. We went to Notre Dame after that (which was gorgeous -entry's free). We got to Opera and then the Pantheon and Cleopatra's Needle (which is the spot in the city where most of the beheadings took place). Arc de Triomphe was next (you can climb all the way to the top for 5 euros -I suggest it, it's impressive, and it's where all those views of the Eiffel Tower and the city come from). It was so fun, the bus took us around it first (seven lanes of rotary traffic!). Then, we went to the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing. There's a bunch of park space behind it and a little cafe place so we got crepes and stuff and sat out (well, I sat in the shade) right by it for a while. After that, we headed to the Louvre (after six pm every Friday, it's free entry for students with a valid ID). I saw the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Mona Lisa as well as the Ancient Egyptian exhibit and Medieval Louvre exhibit. It was so cool. Make sure to grab a map, even with it it's difficult to get around. The place is half a mile long, so yeah. Don't lose that map. We were exhausted after that, so we went back to our hostel. Which, not an hour later, thousands of rollerbladers skated by. In Paris, rollerblading is huge. Every Friday night at 10, Parisians gather at one part of the city and skate ..I forget how long the route is, a couple kilometers or something I think. They went by our hostel, it was crazy. They had a police escort and everything, I've never seen anything like it. So, try to be in Paris on a Friday, a lot goes on.

Saturday, my roommate and I got up early as we could manage (which was, surprisingly, about seven in the morning) and went to Versailles. Oh. My. God. If you are in Paris, give a day over to Versailles. You will not regret it. From Gare Saint-Lazare it's a half hour (and seven euros round trip) and you can walk to the palace from there. Get there early. We got there at nine and when we were leaving at three to get back to Paris so we could meet up with our friends and go to the Eiffel Tower at night, we still hadn't seen everything. I suggest getting a ticket for the Grand Apartments, Gardens and the Queen's Hamlet. It's twenty five euros, but I've never had money more well spent. The Apartments are enough to leave you stunned for a couple days, and if you manage to get through them by eleven or so, get to the Gardens asap. They turn the fountains (and music written for ..Louis XIV, I think) on for the visitors to enjoy for an hour and a half. They turn them on again about three, but try to see them in the morning, once you get to about one the palace is just too busy. The fountains are incredible --the whole place, really, is just beyond belief. It's so huge, part of the gardens are open to public access as a park (it has it's own forest about the size of the UNH woods --actually, probably larger). After the Gardens, walk down towards the Grand and Petite Trinions -see them, definately, but do not miss the Queen's Hamlet. It's a tiny little village of about five cottages, and there's nothing around it. You feel like you've been transported back, its amazing. And so beautiful. It's got its own little imitation lighthouse, mill, house where she lived, mini-farm --and all of its original buildings and done in the style of peasant's houses. It's the bit of Versailles you never really hear about, but that everyone should see.

Once we got back (and burned a bit worse) from that, we met up with the friends we went with and got to the Eiffel Tower. It's lit up at night (so gorgeous!) and every hour on the hour after dark, it sparkles. It was just ..-it was surreal. -I'm twenty, under the Eiffel Tower, looking up at it sparkle at night in April. I don't know many adults at least twice my age who have seen that. There isnt much wrong with life when youre in that position. We stayed to see it sparkle twice and then took the bus back to our hotel; we'd wanted to stay longer but we were just plain exhausted. We slept in as late as we could and then headed back home to Regent's. What a weekend.

This week, I'm going to see Keith Urban (tomorrow night actually, yay!), Thursday the college is throwing a party at Hard Rock Cafe with a DJ til three am, and I'm trying to get tickets to go to Stratford-Upon-Avon to see Ian McKellan perform as King Lear. Let's cross our fingers on that one.

I have to leave in 18 days. It's funny how fast it's gone. I don't really want to leave. I mean, I miss my family and my friends (and my dogs! My oldest one wont sit with my family anymore, she just stays downstairs and cries, it's so sad!), but I will miss London a lot. And the people. You meet some of the most amazing people here. That's going to be what --who--I end up missing most.

I had a fight with PhotoBucket. I won. And as a result, there are now more Italy pictures, some from Dover and some from around London for you to take a peek at. Enjoy!

Cheers!

Long time, no type! Haha sorry, things have been getting pretty busy with finals coming up, so many papers due around the same time!

I have been keeping up with all kinds of extracirricular things though, dont think I havent been enjoying myself. I went to Dover over the Easter Break and saw the White Chalk Cliffs and Dover Castle (again, and yes, I know I said I was gonna go to Liverpool, but I couldnt manage an afforable price that was attached to a reasonable travel time --that just means I have to come back. What a shame, haha). I loved it, again. We walked up on the cliffs and picked up pieces of the chalk that had broken off. I felt like I was six again, collecting rocks on the beach and disregarding all the shells. They were just amazing: go, climb, bring back chalk for your favourite professor. No wait, they all use dry erase boards now dont they? (Crap, I feel old now) Still. Do it for nostalgic purposes.

The Castle is fantastic as well. It dates to the Norman era, just after the Battle of Hastings, its incredible to walk around. Also, the first time I went, I was in a coach, so we got off in the car park and walked up a small set of stairs and we were there. Not so this time. I swear to you, this place must never have gotten attacked. By the time you get up the hill, you need a nap! I wouldve been the worst soldier ever. 'Scuse me, I signed up for pillaging and burning and fighting. Not mountain climbing.' I think you have to be part mountain goat (or you know, in really good shape) to climb up on the paths they provide and not be winded. (Perhaps I'm in slight denial as to my exercise routine, or lack thereof). Anyway, its a long walk/climb up, but it's worth it.

We also went down into the Secret Wartime Tunnels from WWII that the military used. Dover was called Hellfire Corner for all the fighting and bombing that went on in the sea and skies over Dover, and with your admission to the Castle (seven quid for students) you get to go into the tunnels. They were renovating part of them, but its so cool. You get to see the Map Room, Switchboard rooms, mess hall, barracks, OR, etc. Your tour though it follows the story of a pilot who went down just outside of the bay and you follow him through to surgery and then on out to the barracks and such. Its really neat. You hear the sound of the planes overhead and the bombing, the lights flicker when the bombs are heard --its just really awesome, you feel very submerged in the time period. Definately check it out.

After all that we went and spent a little time on Dover beach. It'd not really a place to lay out all afternoon comfortably as the sand is more ..stones, but you can find some really neat shells and stones if you look. The water was freezing though. (Granted, its probably still snowing in New Hampshire, but the weathers been so mild here --we had seventy degree, sunny weather all Easter weekend!).

The rest of the long weekend I spent wandering around London and lying around on the lawn (picnic lunches, yay!) and walking through the park. I went to Camden briefly and, despite knowing I shouldnt have, went into a shoe store and found the best hot pink and orange Golas that I'm probably going to end up buying. (Golas are basically a big brand-name sneaker in the UK, I love them).

And to round off the week, I went and saw the History Boys last night. It was originally put on at the National Theatre, but it did so well it went into the West End and was made into a movie (with the original cast, which is awesome). It was quite good, my only qualm with it was the characters had a somewhat nonchalant attitude towards a huge issue in the play that ..the audience, I think, is left unsure as to how to view and understand the weight of whats happened. You can't tell if they actually are laughing it off, or if its a thin mask of denial of the large effect that's been had on them. Its really quite funny though, so see it/rent it if you can.

It is, unfortunately, time for me to do some laundry (and some homework) but I'm going to resize some more Italy photos and try to do some Dover ones as well.

Cheers!

So. I sold my soul for a few hours (and almost jumped out my window) -but! I have uploaded a small number of photos from my Italy trip if you'd like to check them out. They're on photobucket. I'll be uploading more of those and photos from other places as well over the next few days, I just have to resize them all and then get them up (provided photobucket decides to cooperate, which is a total tossup).

londonwithlove Spring Break in Italy subfolder

hopefully, I did the html for that correctly. I'm not to sure though, as my html class was nearly a year ago. so, if not, heres the link that ..should take you to it:

http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w225/londonwithlove/Spring%20Break%20In%20Italy/

If that still doesnt work (I have so little faith in technology, can you tell?) Just search 'londonwithlove' on photobucket and click on the 'Spring Break In Italy' subfolder that should be ..somewhere on the page.

And now, I go in hopes of getting more pictures sized properly and uploaded. And get some homework done. And hope I can actually multitask that well.

Cheers!

Another week gone already, this is going by way too fast. This week was about as busy as last week, really. I went to see 'Man of Mode' at the National Theatre with a bunch of friends, and seats ..pretty much anywhere in the theatre were ten pounds (for students and in general, look for the Travelex 10 pound season, though even if not, regular student discounts are really quite good). It was awesome; it's from the Restoration, but it's been modernized. Tom Hardy (from Marie Antoinette and Black Hawk Down) played the lead. It was basically about this man, Dorimant who's *the* charmer, any woman he wants, he can get. He's currently going between two women who will only have him if he gives up the other, so he tries to manage that without actually giving either of them up, while also trying to connive this new girl in town, Harriet, but she's too smart for the tricks he pulls. It's hilarious, probably one of the best shows I've seen all semester.

Also this week I went to Portobello Markets. Holy crap. The place is huge, you can spend hours on end there without losing interest, and you can find just about anything there, too. They open about 5 30 in the morning and start packing up about 3 in the afternoon, so you have all morning and most of the day to browse all you like. I didn't get up early to go, but when I go again, I'm probably gonna get there about ten in the morning so I can see everything, by the time I finished a bunch of places were shutting down, so I didnt see everything just ..most everything, haha. And everythings affordable. I got a great two-tone messenger bag for eight pounds. They even have a couple fake bag stalls but there's far more intersting, hand-made stuff around -jewelry, clothes, bags, hats, music, food (so good!), shoes, antiques, leatherbound journals, books, watches/pocketwatches -so much stuff. Camden's great fun, but I think thus far Portobello's been my favourite market. I am going to Spittlefield's next weekend though, so I can't say for certain yet if Portobello wins out (though I'm pretty sure it does, haha).

Also, I saw Avenue Q. It was so good! (And we were front row, yay!) It's amazing and probably the funniest thing I've seen in a while. It's sort of like Sesame Street, but for adults (what with songs like 'Everyone's A Little Bit Racist', 'What Do You Do With A BA In English' and 'Schadenfreude'). If you have a chance to see it in the States or here, definately don't miss out, you'll love it. It follows this guy -well, puppet --half the cast is comprised of puppets, by the way- Princeton who's graduated and moved into an apartment in Avenue Q and about how he tries to manage and the people he meets. Some of the puppets are people and others are monsters (Trekkie Monster's my favourite), and --oh just go see it, haha. You'll love it.

I've got to run to class now, but you'll hear from me soon -I've gotten a photobucket account for pictures, so look for that link later today or tomorrow!

Cheers!

So I was more exhausted from the travels home (and absolute piles of laundry) than I thought, as I woke up late on Sunday and missed the start of the parade. Though that's not all bad, I was gonna go out to try to catch some of it and it started pouring. So I sort of changed my mind. From what I gather from those who went and got soaked (it was gorgeous and sunny and clouded over instantly -another tip: sunglasses and an umbrella/zip-up with a hood will have you prepared for any day in London).

I went to 'Faust' on Tuesday. Based on the version by Goethe and 'Dr Faustus' by Marlowe (yes, that is all I'm saying about it! Go read it!), the Punchdrunk Company put the show on, and it was fantastic. You didnt go and sit and watch them perform on a stage. They took over an old warehouse and remodeled it so there were a bunch of scenes on every floor and you were free to walk around as you pleased (in the half-light, most of the time) and explore the sets, or follow the actors as they ran around from scene to scene acting it out. It was amazing; no one saw the same play, because you'd go and watch one scene and then a set would catch your eye and you'd go look at it and when you turned around the actors were gone to another part of the building. They run through the play twice in the three hours you're there, so you do get a chance to see everything, but there's hardly any speaking (loud enough, or in english) for you to really bother with hearing, which is just as well, you dont need it, and it was, vastly, physical theatre; exceptional physical theatre. The audience was even involved. We all had to wear masks the entire time we were in the warehouse; not colourful masks, just plain white plastic ones. It took away the whole looking around at other people to see what kind of people showed up, and made you focus on the actors -it singled them out because they were the only ones *without* masks. They also served to involve us in the play itself. You could get as close as you wanted so long as it wouldnt interrupt the scene, and because no one knew who you were, people got bolder, stood close; and when a particularly devilish thing happened in the play and the scene ended, the actor(s) who had committed the sin/crime/what have you, would look around and see you, you know? 'you all have seen this horrible thing i've done'; and it made us look like little hellions, which was great because of the whole ..selling your soul, Mephistophiles thing. The actors would also act with you. Plenty of people got pulled into dancing with them in a couple barroom scenes, and sometimes some of the actors would just start playing with your hair or sneak up on you. So neat. I loved it. If you go and have a chance to see them put on this play, grab a ticket as soon as you can, the entire run of it this semester/season sold out so fast.

I also did a tour of the London Dungeons on ..Thursday was it? Maybe Friday. I don't recall. But it was fun. You learn a bunch -its recreations of scenes of the life in different periods in London's history, and the best bit is you scare yourself. They do some to frighten you, but the majority of the fear you feel is the fear you created being all anxious. It's so much fun. After that we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Which was fun, I've never been to one. But the best part? We sat under Billy Idol's guitar. Which may not seem like a huge deal. Except for the part where I'm in love with him. It's a little sad, but it's true, I'm reduced to a level resembling a giggling schoolgirl. So that was just so fun. And there was a shirt of his from 87 that he'd signed. So that just upped the awesome right there. *Sigh* I love Billy. -Sorry.

Today was a lazy day -did some work, went for a walk around Regent's Park (ladies, Sunday is the day that just about every field in the park is used for football practice, and while all the age groups rotate from week to week, you will definately find some practices to take a gander at while you walk through the park). Guys ..there's a few girls teams and some cafes..? (try the Honest Sausage, they have the best chocolate cake).

This week I'm going to see Avenue Q, get that ticket for Lord of the Rings (finally, and then I'll shut up about it til I actually *see* it), book a hostel for Paris, try to find a way to Ireland (my funds are serious depleted, though having Irish friends I can crash with helps in that department), and go to Portobello on Saturday, and also, possibly, Spamalot on Saturday. Yay! Then all I've left to book is Dover for a day (though if I dont get there, I have been before, I wouldnt be totally heartbroken) and Liverpool (which would come before Dover, as it's a place I've not been). Wow. That's quite the list.

I think I need some sleep so I can tackle said list this week ontop of schoolwork.

Cheers!

Ciao Bella!

I'm back from Italy! It was a fantastic spring break, I tell you what. I felt like I'd been away from England for about a month. I also never knew vacations could be so tiring, yet I suspect that's because I've never spent one jet-setting across Europe and sightseeing (okay, okay, flying two hours to Italy and spending half a week in both Venice and Rome, same difference), as usually I'm on a beach or sleeping in praying my dogs dont burst into my room and wake me up at an ungodly (read: pre-10 am) hour. But it was so fun .

We flew into Venice first. To get there, we flew over the Alps, which was one of the most breathtaking sights, all you see for as far as you can see are snow covered mountains about as high as you are. Try to get a flight in the afternoon so you can see them, the bird's eye view is one you won't get anywhere else. Small bit of advice right off [note, this post will be littered with advice for travelling], don't buy a return ticket on an express (like Stansted) unless you know you will be out of the airport by 11 30 pm, including an hour in case you get delayed, as Ryanair seems to do that. But! Venice is amazing. I've lived half my life in a cottage on Nantucket Sound and there is nothing like Venice. It's one of my favourite cities in the world. Most of the roads on the island, if theyre not actual waterways, are about as wide as our alleys. But there are shops and hotels and apartments on them. Granted, there are several wide, somewhat normal sized streets, but those are sort of the main roads. We took the bus from Treviso (the airport/town on the mainland) onto Venice, and from there we had to take a watertaxi -well, waterbus (which was so awesome, they don't have a metro or a tube or T or El or whatever you call it, they have boats), across the Grand Canal to the part of the city we were in. Our hotel was really nice. We were going to stay in a hostel but we found really decently priced hotels and thought 'it's break, lets indulge a little' and so we did. The people are so nice, and even if you've never spoken a word of Italian before and you run into someone who doesnt speak English, you'd be amazed how easily charades comes to you. Or, how easily you start to pick the language up. I've never spoken Italian before, and I have a couple small phrases. Granted, the necessary ones, but still. I was proud of myself for picking up a couple phrases in a few days.

Venice has so many little shops, it's staggering. Masks are in abundance because there's a carnival there every year. They're beautiful; they're their own art form. I think if you go to Venice, you end up leaving with ..something with a mask on it or a mask itself, some of which have scenes of the city on them which is even better. And the glasswork is outstanding. Jewelry, plates, wine stoppers, figurines (statues), etc. And get gelato. I think I had gelato about ..twice, everyday. Italy is a place you leave having gained weight. All the food is so good, all you want to do is find another place to eat.

The first day we had in Venice we walked around, it's not huge, so you can see just about everything in two days, but it was nice to have three and a half to relax and sit out in the sun (seventies and sunny the whole time we were in Italy!) on a bridge and watch life go by. We went to San Marco the next day; it's on the Grand Canal (and there's a million pigeons, they get nice and friendly and sit on you, unforutnately; I'm not a big pigeon fan so that wasn't so fun, but some people loved it, it was hysterical, and the square/Church/docks were quite beautiful. We also took a gondola ride. Another big word of advice: never take them at their asking price, you can talk them down. There were six of us and we got the guy we eventually took the tour of the waterways with down to seventy, which ..twelve euros for a gondola ride? Yes please! We passed Casanova's house and Marco Polo's. Also, I didn't realize the extent of it til the gondola ride but -Venice is sinking, that's not news, but the rate at which it is actually is alot more quickly than I'd imagined. Between global warming and just ..sinking on its own most of the first floors of buildings aren't lived in because when the tide comes in, the first floors are flooded. It's really sad because the city is stunning and it won't be around generations from now unless they figure out a way to stop the sinking.

Rome was an adventure. We got stuck in Treviso (tiniest airport ever) for about three hours. I could be exaggerating slightly, but I don't think by much. But we got to Rome eventually. All I'd ever heard from Rome were pickpocket/theft horror stories, so I had nothing else to expect aside from having to be completely on edge all the time and go anticipating having something stolen from me. This never happened. They gypsies/pickpockets are noticable if you're looking for them. People who look at you a little too long, some are even dressed in the stereotypical fashion, and so long as you travel in a group and keep your eyes open/hand on your bag in crowded places (like the Metro, if you think the Tube is close quarters, you won't believe the Rome Metro system). But as a city, I wasn't a fan of Rome. And I'm not saying this as someone who grew up in smalltown, USA; I've lived about fifteen minutes outside of Boston my whole life so I was in the city plenty, and I love London like crazy, but ..I don't know. I was somewhat disappointed with Rome as a city. It was really dirty, I felt like, and I didn't feel very safe (though admittedly, we were staying near Termini, which just about every tour book will tell you is considered the sketchy part of town/pickpocket central). But you do get bolder. I now have deplorable pedestrian skills. Because despite what the books say, they don't run you over in Rome, they slow down, or simply go around you, as very few roads have actual markings on them. So it's confusing to watch them drive even though they (as all of mainland Europe) drive on the same side of the road that you do in the States.

The sights were amazing, don't get me wrong, go to Rome and see everything you can -Collisseum and the Roman Forum and Trevi Fountain (one coin over your shoulder means you'll return to Rome, two ensures you'll fall in love with an Italian [and really, why not, we're awesome people], three ensures good health and luck throughout your life), the Spanish Steps, the Vatican --which was fantastic. I'm not religious, I was raised Catholic but I don't affiliate myself with anything anymore for my own reasons, but regardless of your affiliation, if any, you have to go. The Sistine Chapel is gorgeous, everything looks three dimensional, and its not. Paintings of statues in alcoves look like actual statues in alcoves near the ceiling. And we went on a Wednesday which, unbeknownst to myself, is the day that every week, the Pope comes out into the center of the square and does a Mass. In about eight languages. Again, not religious, but it's something to stay and listen to. A different Cardinal would get up to read part of the service in one language, and then another would get up and read the same bit in a different language. From what I remember, there was English, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Polish, and a couple others, I think, I don't remember. But the Pope gets driven through the crowd in this open top car and he waves to everyone, and then he sits up at the front with the Cardinals. The strangest bit was, it felt like a concert: people had signs and banners and there was a part of the service where in each language, different groups or places would be recognized as having come to give their respect and love to the Pope, and when they were mentioned, they yelled. The Pope is sort of his own rock star in a very respectful, religious, older-gentleman sort of way. I don't mean to sound like I'm mocking, because I'm certainly not, it was just strange, I wasn't expecting that from the service, I think I was expecting something more ..quiet.

Also, there are more fake bags in Italy than you can shake a stick at. Not that you would, but even if you wanted to, you couldn't. There are the really fake ones they sell on carts (the LV symbol is actually an LX if you look closely), but then there are the actual fakes with the real LV symbols and appropriate names everywhere that are the 'good' fakes. I really wanted a fake Louis messenger bag, but it didn't happen. Which, really, is just as well. I don't need one, and it just lets me pine away til I manage to 'logically' decide that getting a real one is a better idea. I kid. But if you're looking for one, they are in Italy. They almost chase you down. They also have fake sunglasses, wallets and belts. So really, you could completely accessorize yourself if you so chose.

One day a bunch of people went up to Florence. I was going to go, but I was exhausted and they had to leave at seven in the morning to get there, so I counted myself out. I shouldn't have, I know, but I would have driven myself into the ground. Just means I have to go back to Italy again some time in my life. Darn. I totally have it real tough. Instead myself and a couple other girls I was travelling with went to the park in the city and sat out and read and relaxed. It was so beautiful and a nice break. Running around seeing sight after sight really wears you out. Again, I just realized how tough my life sounds at this juncture. However I do attribute all our sleepiness to the Tower of Terror-meets-Titanic elevator that was in the hotel we stayed in while in Rome. Covered in dust, only two people at a time, and it hitched at every floor. I had a rolling suitcase because ..that's jus the type of luggage I brought with me to London and I didn't need a big travel backpack, so I took the elevator both up to our fifth floor room, and back down at the end of the trip. I thought I was going to die. You'll be glad to know that I didn't. But for some reason, it would make noise all night. I couldn't decide between drunk people or it being haunted. I went with drunk people because I don't like horror movies and from what I was told, it reminded my roommate of Silent Hill (the noise the elevator made, that is) and the hotel itself reminded her of Hostel. I mean, once we were in our room and the door was locked, we were fine, and obviously not all of Rome is like that, but that's what you get for 25 euro a night.

My biggest piece of advice: go to Rome, see the sights, enjoy them, they are amazing. But I would suggest doing Rome first and then Venice. Rome is a city you run around, and Venice is a gorgeous place perfect for relaxing, so that makes it ideal for the end of a vacation, but no matter what order you do things in, go to Italy; have the pizza, the pasta, the gelato and the tirimisu. You won't regret it.

Also, why am I writing this on St. Patty's evening and not out celebrating my (albeit tiny amount of) Irishness? I got back to Regent's at about 3 30 in the morning and didn't manage to get to bed til 5 am. Ryanair delayed us and then we had to take three buses to get to Baker Street. It wasn't complex just ..long. And I woke up at 9 to my stomach begging me for food and I couldn't fall back asleep, so I'm kind of exhausted. However there's a parade tomorrow that I fully plan on attending. I also plan on booking a hostel in Paris for when I'm there at the end of April, finding a cheap weekend in Dublin, arranging to stay at Regent's til the 11th of May, and getting a ticket to the Lord of the Rings stage production. Busy, busy, busy. But so much fun.

It was nice to come back to London too. It felt like coming home, which you don't really get doing weekend trips. It was so nice to get into bed at Regent's and relax and feel home.

But Italy is so gorgeous. My freckles came out of hiding, the sun bleached my hair out a little bit, and I, Miss Translucent, am a little darker than when I left. So, you know, now you can't see *all* my veins quite as well. You have to squint a little.

But have a good -Safe- St. Patty's. Take care of each other, and you'll be hearing from me soon!

Cheers!

Went and did some shopping today, and I feel all successful. I found some fantastic stuff in Marks and Spencer; two kind of dressy shirts, some t-shirts, a scarf and some sunglasses (I havent had a pair since I was about fourteen when my dog broke them), and I managed to find a pair of flip-flops. I forgot mine at home (aside from a pair for shower use, that is), so its nice to have a pair for wearing out.

I'm also all packed up for Italy. I'm quite excited. Not so excited about getting up at about seven in the morning to catch the flight, but still. Italy's a fair trade-off for having to get up early, I think.

I won't have any internet access while I'm there (I dont think, though we found amazing deals on hotels in both Rome and Venice, so who knows!) but I don't expect there to be an update here until I get back on the 16th (after a nap, of course).

Enjoy your spring breaks wherever they take you, be safe, and expect an Italy update by St. Patty's!

Ciao!

Just got back from the Placebo concert. It's the second time I've seen them live, and they just get better and better. (They'll be heading up a show in Boston at the Roxy, but the way, the 6th of April. Not that I'm plugging for them or anything ;) ). They encored twice, and not only did plenty (Infra-Red, Drag, Space Monkey, Meds, Blind, One of a Kind, Follow the Cops Back Home, Song to Say Goodbye) off of their most recent album, 'Meds' but plenty of their old stuff (I Know, Special Needs, Sleeping With Ghosts, Every Me Every You [which you may know from the movie Cruel Intentions], Twenty Years, Running Up That Hill, Taste in Men, The Bitter End, Bionic, Special K). I was gonna by a(nother) shirt from this concert when I got there, but I decided to wait and by the time I left, they were selling for five pounds a piece. Nice!

I wasnt especially close, having been balcony, but I was front row (as I find I usually am, haha), when I saw them in Boston this past November, so I wasnt upset about not being super-close. Oh Placebo, I heart you.

Also need to get ready, for spring break, I'm going to Italy! We're doing Venice for a few days (and probably taking a day trip to Florence) and then heading to Rome (where I hope I dont get all my stuff stolen) for four days before coming back to London for St. Patty's. The past week or so has been a little hectic in terms of getting stuff done for midterms (that being why it's been a week since I last updated -sorry!) but now theyre over with and I can look forward to Italy! I need to book at least one trip to Ireland, but aside from that, I'm going to Paris for a weekend in April and doing a 'World War II weekend' over Easter break: Dover, ferry to Normandy, possibly do Dunkirk as well. I wanted to do more travelling than that, but my accounts didnt really allow it, especially after the family emergency early in the semester, but I dont really mind. Alot of people forget that England and London are hugely interesting places too, so I've really been quite content to hang around the city and see everything. Theres too much to do, a semester really doesnt cover it, but it comes closer than I'd ever get on my own. Note to self: book tickets to the stage production of Lord of the Rings asap. Kthnxbye.

Alright, it's bedtime for me. I'm exhausted but I had a wicked fun time. Concerts are my favourite thing, I think my sophomore year my roommate (who I'm rooming with here in London, actually) and I averaged about two a month. Slowed down a little last semester (only ..three? maybe four). And seeing a concert in London was just awesome. Yeah. I'll shut up now. Night!

Cheers!

Who just changed her flight?

-Thats right!

I get to see my concert and (hopefully) see the Lord of the Rings preview before I go. And go punting on the River Cam in Cambridge, as that's where the concert is, and really, why not spend the day in early summer in Cambridge? It's one of the best places to be.

Though I could be slightly biased.

I went to Paris for the day today with my family before they fly home tomorrow night. It was gorgeous. We had lunch at the Eiffel Tower and did a river tour and even went into the Louvre for an hour or two. That place is crazy, its nearly impossible to find your way around. We managed to see the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Psyche and Cupid and some Egyptian artifacts before we had to go (we went on this whole ..guided Paris-in-a-day thing). I'm going back in April for a weekend, but it was so nice to see some of it ahead of time and get a feel for the city. And kind of brush up on my really rusty french, haha.

The architechture (leave me alone about spelling! I've been up for about twenty hours right now! ..Even though I'm pretty sure that's correct. I'm basically the worst English major ever. Or worst human spell check; take your pick) is incredible. It's the same it's been for centuries. London's fire in the 1600s destroyed alot of the city so most of it's relatively new (in that its older than most everything in the States but newer than most of Europe), but France, despite World War Two, still has the same buildings and streets and whatnot since even before the Great Fire in London. I saw the Notre Dame as well, on the River Seine tour. But Paris is stunning. I wouldnt worry about the lines at the Louvre (though we went about four, so maybe earlier in the day it's busier) but the lines at the Eiffel Tower were ridiculous. We were a pre-arranged group, so we got right in, but there was a line to get into the line to buy tickets to walk/take a lift up the Tower. And it was long, I suspect some people stood for a couple hours. So I suggest getting there earlier in the morning and expecting to lose half a day, or just going, taking pictures from the ground and not bothering with going up.

A bunch of us want to see Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's, but we're slightly unwilling to pay the entrance fees. (8.50 for St Pauls and I think about 7 for Westminster), so we decided that we'd all get real religious and go to services (Evensong, probably, because the singing is supposed to be absolutely beautiful), because if youre going to a service and not touring it, it's free. With luck, this will not land me a first-class ticket to Hell.

..What else have I been doing? --Oh! I saw Wicked the other night. You have to see it, its phenominal. I always forget if its an i or an e in phenominal. Oops. Anyway, it was amazing, and so sweet. And I'm not a girly-chick-flick sort of person and I felt all fuzzy inside, so if you've not seen it, go! And I saw Equus again with my sister and mum. Most plays in London, you can go around to the stage door and meet the actors as they leave there to go home, so I ran Annie (my sister) around to the stage door and she got some good pictures of Dan Radcliffe as well as his autograph, so she's basically been on cloud nine since lol.

It's almost mid semester which is..crazy. In about two weeks I go to Italy for a week and a half (Venice and Rome, possibly Florence for a day), and then a few weeks later its back to Paris and then a couple weeks after, it's back to the States. I mean, I'm fitting Ireland in at least once somewhere between those trips but the times flown. I'm also trying to change my ticket home cause there's a concert I want to stay for and to (hopefully) see a stage performace of Lord of the Rings when it opens a couple days after the concert (May 8th). So at the latest I think I'll be in the States again on the 20th. Unless I meet an outrageously gorgeous, actually British, man and he sweeps me off my feet with flowers and sparkly things. Then I may be staying longer lol. Also, I think I talk about the plane ticket every time. I'm sorry. I think I'm slightly more obsessed with making sure its possible than I thought I was. I'll shut up about it. Til I figure out what happens. Then you may never hear the end of 'I'm going to see the Manic Street Preachers and then a preview of a stage production of Lord of the Rings'. Maybe doing a trip journal was a bad idea. Once I get going it can be hard to shut me up.

Also went to the Globe Theatre for my theatre class this past Friday. It was great to see it, and we almost went to the Tate Modern, which is right next to it (and it has a slide exhibit; from the fifth floor you can slide all the way down to the ground floor on these massive slides; you bet I'm going as soon as I get the chance), but we didnt have the time. It was fantastic to see the Globe, but the tour...I dont know how I felt about it. It was great to see the inside of it; the ceiling and all (its a reconstruction of the original but they did everything save for lighting and extra fire exits the same), and getting to look at the way the seating and such is set up was nice, but the tour wasnt excessively informative. Though it could have been our guide; it's always a toss-up as to how things like that will go. You either get the awesome, passionate person or the one who ..doesnt dislike it cause some of those things are volunteer; but maybe are more shy or less personable or something like that. But it was nice to see the inside of the theatre.

Alright, I'm off to bed, I've been up for about twenty hours now, and I need to get up so I can help the family get ready to go in the morning and then see them off to the airport.

Cheers!

The family's here! They've never been out of the States (aside from Canada, that is) so I was excited to have them here. They really love it. I took them to Camden Market, and within about an hour my sister had a new coat, shoes, hat and scarf. They're all quite nice, and she looks..--she looks like London, you know? You see her and you go 'Oh, she's from London, she must be." She just belongs, you know? Which is good, she's been in love with the country and wanting to visit since she knew where it was.

I took them to Cambridge yesterday. I was there the summer of 2005 on the Cambridge Summer Program. I'd been interested in visiting England before, but that was the trip that made me fall in love with the country. It was like going home, I was so excited to show them the Market Square and walk them around Gonville and Caius (the college I stayed at), and show them the Backs and the River Cam. We could even go punting, but it was a bit too cold to do that. We had a brunch (read: cake and tea) at Auntie's Tea Shop, and we headed back to London about three in the afternoon. And we went to dinner at this Italian place pretty much next door to where they were staying. It was really good. I'm Italian (though I look right off the boat Irish), and the food was just like my grandmother would make.

I also went and saw "Equus" last night with a friend of mine from class. It was quite good. If you dont know the story, I'll give it to you in brief. A seventeen year old blinds six horses one night and he's caught, put on trial, and they want to lock him up, but is attorney gets him instead into a psych ward, where he's evaluated (by Richard Griffiths, otherwise known as Uncle Vernon, who is a fantastic actor, I must say). During this process, the psychiatrist realizes that it wasn't just some obsession with horses (albeit, a somewhat sexual one), it was his religion of sorts. His mother was a very zealous Christian, and his dad was an atheist, and the two clashed often on that point in terms of how much or how little it should be a part of his life. As a result, he makes horses into his object of worship when he's left adrift in terms of a point of worship from which to place himself in the world. What the psychiatrist also discovers is that despite it being disturbing, the boy has more passion for his 'religion' than anyone he's ever met has had for anything: family, friends, etc. and he wonders is it so wrong that hes so passionate, when he himself has never felt that much for his own wife -a question of who's really the crazy one, is it wrong to be so passionate, and though he can 'fix' the boy, he can never know the origin of what happened, why certain moments stuck together and created the base of the problem to begin with. It was a really interesting look at religion and obsession/passion and insanity. The set was amazing, too. Very minimal: four or six black boxes, horse maskes and platform hooves for the people playing the horses, and six stall doors. It allowed you to focus mostly on the emotions, the huge, complex issues floating around and the words themselves. It was really phenominal. Sexual for sure, but a really different angle on the issues I mentioned before.

And me and the friend I went with walked around to the stage door after the show (as a bunch of people did) and we got to see Daniel Radcliffe, he signed a bunch of autographs and I got a couple okay pictures of him. When I go with my sister (she got tickets long ago, she loves him; which is okay, cause she's actually his age, unlike a bunch of his fans, haha), I'm gonna see if I cant get a couple better ones/get her an autograph.

Todays laundry day, and I have to go change mine.

Cheers!

It's been a fun past few days! My roommate Carin and I went into Covent Garden on Sunday and unbeknownst to us, the British Film Awards were going on, so we grabbed a spot by the barriers and watched people arrive for a bit. I saw Andy Serkis! Which was awesome, as I love Lord of the Rings. We left early though, it was freezing out. However, from what I understand had we stayed a few minutes longer we'd have seen Kate Winslet and Jake Gylenhaal. I don't know if I spelled his last name properly. Oh well.

Carin, myself and our friend Sarah went out to Leicester Square Saturday evening (that's the best place to go for clubs and such for people our age, there's so many to choose from!). It was really fun, and I actually met a really nice guy. We hung out yesterday and I think we're going to again later this week, so we'll see what ends up happening!

Tonight I went with my theatre class to see a play at the Tricycle Theatre called "The War Next Door". It was sort of general admission, you sat wherever you wanted. The play was about this couple who are sure their neighbour (Ali) abuses his wife and it's about how they deal with their conflict over intervening or not. It was quite good, I thought -the acting, the premise, but it fell apart at the end, as the Ali leaves the house after beating up his wife again and the couple next door get in a fight when the husband leaves to stay with the woman who was abused for the night to keep her safe, and then the apartment building catches fire. I wasnt impressed; I feel as though if you're going to have the guts to open the can of worms domestic abuse and who should get involved and who should be contacted and how to go about it is going to be tackled, then it shouldnt have a cop-out ending of 'and then everyone caught fire and died, the end'. It felt like the writer got tired. I feel as though if we all solved our problems by setting each other ablaze flame retardant clothing would be the sexiest thing out there since Brad Pitt. So the ending kind of ruined it for me, though I do give the actors credit for doing quite well with the material until that point.

Class tomorrow, then possibly over to one of my friends flats for tv (sex and the city, perhaps, or maybe friends) and some ice cream. Woot!

My family's coming to visit for the week while my sister's on February break from high school. They've never been so Friday I'm taking them around the city and then Saturday we're going to go to Cambridge for the day (I went on the Cambridge Program the summer of 05 after my freshman year at UNH) so I'm really excited to show them the city that made me fall in love with England. And London, obviously. So I have to go get tickets for the train to Cambridge tomorrow too, I almost forgot. I'm quite glad I updated now, I'd never have remembered otherwise.

One of my favourite bands, Placebo, is playing a really intimate and sort of hush-hush show in town March 7th and tickets go on sale Friday morning, so I'm going to try to get a couple. I saw them back in November, but it was at the Roxy in Boston, which is quite a large venue (larger than the Paradise Rock Club, the Avalon, the Middle East or TT and the Bears, which are the clubs I tend to frequent for concerts back home), so seeing them in a small space will be amazing. If you dont hear from me after March 7th its because I died of happiness seeing them in such a close space. So I'm a bit of a fangirl about these guys. Sue me.

And I got a ticket to go see the Manic Street Preachers. I have to see if I can change my flight home if I want to see them, as they start touring the day after I'm supposed to be leaving England. But if I can change my flight and stay an extra week, I can go see the premiere of Lord of the Rings on stage as well. *crosses fingers* That would be fantastic.

And now, it's bedtime, as it's one in the morning and I have class at nine. Crap. Mayhap I've stayed up a wee bit past my bedtime. Ah well.

Cheers!

If you have not heard of Cirque du Soleil, look it up. If you've never seen it, go. It's one thing to watch the DVDs of their performances, but it's quite another to actually be in a theatre watching them. I thought I'd be in the dress circle (the first section of overhanging seats), but it turns out, I was in the stalls (the floor seats), and fourteen rows from the stage. Holy crap. In some of the acts (like the Flying Man and Solo Trapeze) the performers come out at you -granted, about fifty to seventy feet in the air, but still. At you. To keep the audience entertained between acts, as once in a while it took a couple minutes between them, they had three clowns who were hysterical. They'd go into the audience and pull people up on stage --it was very interactive. Its ..exponentially more entertaining and more thrilling than watching a DVD. And made me wish, like the true five year old I am, that I could do all kinds of flips and contortion and stuff like that.

The football match turned out to be sold out. Which I had a feeling it would be, I did only go on Thursday to try to get tickets for today. Ah well, the next match. Besides, it's raining and stuff today so that wouldnt be a particularly fun time. And I'll buy those in advance. West Ham v. Tottenham, should be good (and sold out) pretty quick, so I best get myself down to the stadium to buy them. I'd order them online but cause I have a dorm address, which they dont mail to, I have to go to the stadium itself to buy the tickets. Which is a little annoying. Yeah, I'm in London for the semester and I'm whining about having to take the Tube to get tickets to see a match. My life's real tough, haha.

Tomorrow I'm going to Covent Garden, yay! So I like to shop. Sue me. Also, I think I'm going to book a weekend in Paris today. I keep forgetting to do it, so I should before things get too close to the dates I wanna go and they go up a bit before dropping like ..the night before the flights. Either book really early or two days before or you might not get super good deals. Also, as far as the National Rail is concerned, the earlier you book, the cheaper it is, those prices dont drop. So any trips around England or Scotland, if you cant find a cheap flight to Edinburgh, plan them towards the end of your semester so the rail's nice and cheap.

I need to get Oyster Cards for my family, they're coming to visit this Thursday and staying all of my little sister's February Break, which ...is til the 25th? I'm not sure. As soon as I got out of high school I kind of completely forgot how their breaks went. But I figure they'll be here for ten or so days, so they'll need them, and I also decided if they were gonna spend the money to come see me, the least I could do was get them each an Oyster card with like ..twenty pounds on it and show them around town some. Oh! And my sister is obsessed with Harry Potter, so we're gonna go see that Equus play, and I'm gonna take her on this Harry Potter Walk around London. It sounds real neat. Go to www.walks.com and type in Harry Potter, and it's the first in the list of results. I'm not a fan myself (but I am partial to the twins, I think its cause theyve got red hair too, and Oliver Wood, because really, who doesnt like Scottish accents?), but it really sounds like a bunch of fun. There's all kinds of other walks on the site, so definately check it out yourself. The Jack the Ripper walks will be there for sure, so dig around, you could find something really interesting thats under the radar.

Alright, I've gone on and on for a bit too long. I've got a bit of homework to do, and I have postcards that need sending. Have since ...Tuesday? Something like that. Too long. If you dont hear from me again it's because everyone waiting for a postcard up and bought a ticket here to beat me up for not sending them a message hello soon enough.

Cheers!

Things are back to normal (read: I'm back on British time after the brief trip home). Classes have been good, I booked my spring break in Italy (Venice and Rome, here I come!) and last night myself, my roommate and a friend went to see a play called "Love Song". Cillian Murphy, Lenny (as in, Lenny and Squiggy from 'Laverne and Shirley', Neve Campbell and Kristen Johnston from 3rd Rock from the Sun were in it. It was really sweet -sad and funny --somewhat of a dark comedy. Cillian was Kristen Johnston's brother, who's married to Lenny's character. They've been married for a while, but they've sort of lost the spark. Cillian is very quiet, somewhat antisocial, really just ..someone you dont notice, and works in a tollbooth; doesnt really talk much. He goes back to his apartment after visiting his sister and there's a theif there (Neve Campbell). She takes everything he has (a mug, a spoon, jacket, change of clothes and ..thats it, I think). He's not poor he just ..doesnt keep anything, because, as he says 'objects are deceiveing, and I dont want to be lied to by a fork.' They end up falling in love, but a the audience and his sister and brother in law come to find out, the theif, Molly, isnt real. It's really an endearing story and mixes humour with sad/touching moments really well. We got to the theatre twenty minutes before the show started and hadn't bought tickets yet, so we went to the box office there and for the student rate there of fifteen pounds, we ended up about twelve, fifteen rows back from the stage. It was so cool.

Today, it snowed. My fellow New Englanders: The English are an amazing people. They've figured out fantastic public transportation systems, have half a million ways to entertain yourself, and are, I believe, the only empire not to have fallen completely. But throw six inches of snow at them, and the city starts to shut down. I'm not deriding them for this, I'm just not used to it. (see facebook group 'UNH would rather see the streets of Durham littered with the bodies of students than cancel classes). At UNH or otherwise. We tramp through feet of snow without a second thought. Most of the Tube lines are at least minorly delayed, a number of professors and students arent in (they dont have snow plows, and why would they? It barely snows here), and a number of businesses are shut down. Its surreal. It's when we get three or four feet things start to shut down like that, but it's quite strange to have a dusting and have a city as large and busy as London start to grind to a halt. Its like being in Florida or Texas when it snows, but with British accents.

Tomorrow I'm going to see Cirque du Soleil's 'Alegria' at the Royal Albert Hall. I'm so excited, as I'm mildly obsessed with Cirque. I got quite the good seat, too. Even with student discount it was a bit pricey, but I dont know if I'll get to see a show like Cirque in London again, so really, why not? I worked hard to get myself the oppertunity to be here, why not treat myself? Also, Saturday is the West Ham v. Watford match. I was supposed to go and get tickets today, but because of the snow I dont know if I can get out to Zone Three til tomorrow. Hopefully there will be tickets still. And I think Sunday a bunch of us are going to go into Covent Garden and do some shopping.

Also, one of my favourite bands, the Manic Street Preachers, just posted tour dates. I'm supposed to fly back to the States May 7th. They dont start touring til May 8th, and they dont tour the U.S. ..ever. They did once, didnt like it, and havent gone back. I may be marginally crazy, but I'm thinking I may call and change my flight (if I can) or if not ..just cancel it and ..book one for a few days later. I must see them, as I dont know when I'll get to see them otherwise. And I'd book to see them in Cambridge, which is one of the best cities in Englad (I may be biased, I did spend six weeks there two summers ago), and I'd get the chance to see the stage production of Lord of the Rings if I stayed a bit longer as well. Hmm. I must consider this seriously, but only til ten tomorrow morning. Thats when tickets go on sale, and I'll be damned if I dont get one as soon as possible. I can always sell it, if worse comes to worse.

Alright, off to do a bit of work and hope that the Tube will pick up speed and more lines start working again.

Cheers!

Hello All!

Sorry it's been so long, it's been a hectic past half a week or so. I went and saw Guys and Dolls, and it was fantastic. The only American in the cast was Don Johnson, and it was strange, because being from the Northeast, I could tell sometimes that the American accents that the British actors put on weren't quite spot-on (but then, how many Americans do you know that pass as British in England?) But it was strange because I could only think, how do the Brits in the audience feel? Can they even tell the difference I can, or do they not notice? It was quite the fun angle. We watch Americans play Brits alot and think they do a great job with the aceent, but how realistic does it seem to them? It was pretty fun to be on the other end of it.

I was supposed to go to Ireland this past weekend with a large group of people. So, where's the Ireland update, you ask? I actually didnt end up going. I had a family emergency I had to fly home for the weekend for (I'm actually in my house as I type), so I missed out on Ireland this time around, but I'll get there another time during the semester, and it was more important for me to be at home. If you dont take care of your family and friends, what do you really have, anyway? Things have settled down now and my fligth back to London leaves at eight in the morning (I'm getting up at four -yikes!) But rumour has it (read: my roommate and I chatting, haha) that there's interest in Cork. And I have some friends from Galway I met waitressing this past summer, so I think I'll take a trip there too, if I can, it'd be great so see them, I havent since August.

But, I'm off to bed, I need to be up quite early, and this weekends been taxing.

Goodnight, take care of each other, and I'll be reporting back all kinds of exciting things from England soon enough!

Cheers!

Its been a busy past few days!

The first week of classes went well -I really like all of them, and my professors seem quite nice. Despite having five classes its more in-class demanding than demanding in terms of outside class work. Which is nice.

I'm midway through Hamlet in my Shakespeare class. I've read many of his other plays and sonnets, but Hamlet was never one that came up for some reason. I really like it so far.

We dont have classes on Friday, so myself and about half a dozen people slept in some and then went out to Camden Market again. I got a fantastic hot pink peacoat. Doesnt sound as good as it looks, I promise. I adore it. As if having bright red hair naturally didnt make stand out enough, I now have a peacoat that helps, haha. After that we went down to Oxford Street for a little while before heading back for dinner.

There's a free Cabaret show tonight a few tube stops away, so I think a ton of us are going to check it out.

Tomorrow most everyone's going to Canterbury and Leeds, but I've been to Canterbury so myself and another girl are going to go into the West End and see a matinee of ..something, for a relatively cheap price, I'm sure.

Also, I bought a CD the other day. The Stone Roses broke up back in '96 but the lead singer, Ian Brown, has been solo since, I think. I finally got a hold of one of his albums (difficult to find in the States), and its fantastic. He really is a musical genius. Check he/The Stone Roses out if you can, you'll be glad. I recommend 'I Wanna Be Adored' 'Waterfalls' 'Love Spreads' and 'Breaking Into Heaven' from the Stone Roses as a start for them, and 'Stardust' 'Northern Lights' and 'The Gravy Train' by Ian Brown.

So you may be getting alot of music updates here too, based on what I find in HMV/Virgin Megastore, and it'll probably be a huge range of stuff, I like a bit of everything. Music, places to go and all about the awesome things to do in this city.

And! Dublin next weekend, yay! I'm excited. Possible trips to Paris, Italy (Rome? Venice? Who knows!) and Greece pending. We'll see what else gets added to the list, depending on what my bank account ends up allowing me.

Alright, I'm off, some reading to finish up and then, its out to the Cabaret for me!

Cheers!

Classes started today! Yeah, yeah, look at the dork excited about classes. But these arent UNH classes. I have Contemporary British Fiction on Monday and Wednesdays as well as a class on Shakespeare's Histories and Tragedies. They seem like they'll be really good classes, and alot of the books are in the library, so that cuts book costs quite well. My Shakespeare professor resembles Sir Ian Mckellen, and he seems like he's got a really decent sense of humour.

I do, however, have a little bit of homework, so I should probably get on that. Start off on the right foot and all. Possible venture out to a castle this weekend.

Oh! And tomorrow a bunch of us are going to the International Students Cafe which is ..about a half mile from the school. There's a bunch of TV's all over the place and they'll be airing the Arsenal v. Tottenham match. It gets kind of packed from what I hear with fans from both sides, but its always friendly and whatnot. So I'm excited. I'm a West Ham fan myself, but of the two, I think I'll be rooting for Arsenal, they are quite good.

Tomorrow should be so fun.

Off to read me some Hamlet !

Cheers!