Sick Days with the BBC

Today I woke up with a terrible migraine and went back to sleep until two. Of course once I woke up I felt a little better but half the day was already gone so doesn't that mean that legally I'm not allowed to be productive? For the remainder of the day I watched Downton Abbey! This show is like crack to me! I just love the whole dynamic of this show. I especially love the three sisters.

I'd like to think that those are me and my two sisters.

Don't you see the resemblance? Clearly the only difference is we have class and they don't.

Canals, Cannolis, and Carneval: My Weekend in Venice

One of my favorite things about living in London is its proximity to everywhere else in Europe. Where else in the world are there so many different cultures, all with their own unique history, sandwiched into such a small geographical space? I flew here on January 4^th with the full intent of seeing as many of the world’s greatest cities as possible, and blowing every last cent in the process. I quickly had booked trips to Italy, Scotland, Paris, Greece, and Ireland. I didn’t except the start of my travels to come so quickly, but sure enough Venice has come and gone.

           

I packed four days of stuff into a severely tiny Vera Bradley backpack. (After this trip I invested in a “backpacker’s backpack”.) My fellow travelers and I were definitely thrown some curveballs throughout our trip but they only added to our entire experience. Five of our group’s of seven woke up at 3:00 a.m. to catch a 6:30 flight Milan. After landing at Malpensa Airport we took a train to the city’s center. Once we got off the train and stepped out into Milan I was in disbelief. “Oh my gosh, we’re in Italy! I can’t believe we are in Italy!” I repeated over and over again. I’m pretty sure my friends were getting annoyed with my obnoxious excitement.

            

The next few hours were spent walking about Milan and within the first two hours I was able to cross “eat pizza in Italy” off my bucket list. The restaurant was a huge tourist trap. There was even a boy who looked as if he’d just stepped out of Mary Kate and Ashley’s “When In Rome” standing outside trying to sell the restaurant to us; but the food was out of this world non-the-less. After spending the day exploring the Fashion Capital of the world we headed for the train to Venice, but not without stopping for what would be the first of many gelatos.

Eat pizza in Italy - check!

Upon arrival in Venice I was purely running on adrenaline. My back hurt from carrying my bag all day and I was exhausted from going non-stop since 3:00 a.m.; but none of that mattered because I was in Venice! We bought our transportation passes for the weekend and tried to find the right bus that would take us off the island of Venice and to the restaurant where we planned to meet with the last two girls of our group. Before I continue, let me say that Venice possibly has the most unorganized bus system of anywhere in the world. They don’t tell you where the bus is stopping or what stop is what and they never check for tickets. Hearing from many people that the Italians are some of the friendliest people ever, I asked a local girl if she knew where our stop is. Of course she told us that we were on the wrong bus. We got off at the next stop only to find out we were on the right bus all along. But now we were off of the island in Venice on a fairly dark and uninhabited street at 9:30pm in a foreign country. Did I mention I had the only internationally working phone? We had no way of reaching our friends to let them know we were lost. After two hours of getting on and off three different buses, walking over two miles, and getting pizza from the only open place we could find we were able to get a hold of Maurizio, the landlord of the apartment we rented. Maurizio had met our friends at the restaurant as planned and brought them back to our temporary Italian villa. He was kind enough to make a second trip to find us and drive us back to safety. Once the door opened to the apartment there was a series of running hugs as we were reunited with our friends. Our journey was scary in the moment but I now look back at it as one of those funny travel movies filled with a bunch of obstacles. On day two we rose early to begin our time in Venice. Maurizio kindly offered to give us a lift to the bust stop but made a detour to the main house on his property where he showed us his huge screened in porch, where he likes to host parties with his guests in the summer, and a liter of week old puppies. Us being the girls we are we went crazy over the puppies. Staying in a local’s apartment may not have been the most traditional way of traveling to another country but it added something to our trip that a hotel or hostel would not have been able to. We got to see first-hand what real Italian country life is like and we received the amazing hospitality that Italy is known for.

Emily and my room

Our dining/living room

Our kitchen!

Our kitchen!

The remainder of the day was spent walking around and exploring the city on water. We were so immersed in the island’s beauty that every time we walked over a bridge we all stopped to take pictures. I probably even took multiple photos of the same place without realizing. For breakfast we found an adorable Italian bakery with the most delicious pastries. The weekend we visited coincidentally happened to be Carneval di Venezia. People everywhere were wearing masks and others were dressed in elaborate costumes. Most were elegant gowns and attire from the 16^th and 17^th centuries, but every now and then I saw a herd of cows or the Simpsons. Of course I had to join the bandwagon and buy a carneval mask.

All of us in our Carneval masks!

One of my many pictures from a bridge.

            

Our next day was a little more structured. We started our morning at the same bakery as the first day and then we were off on the Vaporetto del Arte, a boat tour up the Grand Canal. The view of Venice’s colorful buildings from the canal was amazing! I have never seen a more vibrant and gorgeous city. After, we went inside the famous Saint Mark’s Basilica. The walls of the basilica were completely covered in the most breathtaking paintings. The next up on our itinerary was a gondola ride. How could I possibly go to Venice and miss out on the gondolas? Our gondolier, Christian, was another quintessential friendly and outgoing Italian. He sang to us a bit but mainly answered our questions about his life in Italy. We learned that he has been a gondolier for 20 years and would love to visit the states. New York is his number one place to visit so he was very excited when my sister and I could tell him all about it.

Christian, our gondolier!

            

That night we ate our last dinner in Italy and savored every last bite. Before we headed back we stopped for cannolis and wine to take back to the apartment. As soon as we tried to head back to the bus station it began to rain, thunder, and lightening. We were all in a panic because we had no shelter and couldn’t find our way back to the bus. A little elderly man saw us looking lost and in generous Italian fashion he asked us if we needed directions. By the time we reached the bus it was snowing too. I will forever remember Venice as the place that had thunder, lightening, and snow all within the same hour.

Last dinner in Italia! Spaghetti with seafood!

            

The next morning we only had a few hours before our flight home so we said our goodbyes to our guardian angel and new friend Maurizio and our Italian villa. We decided to spend the last of our time in Venice bidding adieu to the food. Within two hours we had an entire day’s worth of food: Italian pastries, an entire pizza with wine, and gelato. These foods summed up our time in Italy so we felt it was only right to end our trip with them.

Carneval di Venezia!

            

Before I knew it we were on the plane and heading back to London. I am so grateful to have been able to experience Italy’s culture, people, and food. I hope to make it back there soon but until then, arrivederci Italia!

I'd Rather...

Well hello there! Long time no write.

I know it seems as if I've abandoned you but I just been so in love with London I'm so behind in everything, school work, blogging, sending post card and keeping in touch with everyone back home. Everything in England is amazing and I have so much to fill you in on but that's for another post!

For one of my classes (in England they're called modules) I had to see the play version of Woman in Black. That's right, the girl who's afraid of The Wizard of Oz had to sit and watch the staged version of Daniel Radcliffe's horror movie for 2 hours!

When were purchased our tickets we made the box office manager aware that we are terrified to see this show and are only doing so because our modules requires it of us. And what did this considerate man do? He put us in the third row. THE THIRD FRICKEN ROW!

While watching this play I was thinking of everything I'd rather be doing that watching the play. Here is what I came up with:

1. Stand naked in the freezing cold New York temperature.
2. Be Rex Ryan.
3. Watch paint dry.
4. Spend a night in the desert, without a camel.
5. Talk about the laws of physics for hours.
6. Shave my head.
8. Eat everything on Fear Factor.
9. Walk the plank.
10. Be under the Cruciatus Curse.

10 on Tuesday!

Its about a week and a half into my time here in the ole' UK. I decided that doing 10 on Tuesdays would be a good way to keep y'all involved in my journey abroad!

1. I'm in love! With London that is! What an amazing city this is. I just love exploring and seeing all there is to see.

2. I'm saw Phantom of the Opera tonight! It was an amazing experience to see this amazing production in the theatre where it all started 26 years ago.

3. I started my classes this week! I've only had one so far. It is about London during the Victorian times. So far I'm loving it! Tomorrow I have a class that's all about photography and London.

4. My sister gets here Thursday! I cannot wait until she gets here and I can show her around!

5. We found this great bar called O'Neills last weekend. We call it a plub because it's kind of a mix of a pub and a club. The had a live band and great music!

6. Bokwa Have anyone you heard of bokwa before? It's a fitness dance, similar to Zumba, except its like African Tribal Dancing. I took a class at my school yesterday and it was tons of fun and a good workout!

7. I'm also in love with cider. I have found a new favorite drink. It's so good. 

8. I'm going to Bath & Stonehenge this weekend! Should be good fun :)

9. I may or may not have bought a spinning plate at Camden Market the other day. Yeah I'm talking about those plates from the Circus Unit in elementary P.E.

10. I started watching Girls! I don't know why I never watched it before, its so good! Did you know that Marnie is Brian Williams daughter? Crazy, right?

Cheers!

London Calling!

Cheers everyone!

"Cheers" that seems to be a popular word here in the ole' UK. Definitely gonna take sometime getting used to that one.

Well I've finally arrived here in London! After a miserable red eye here (my flight actually wasn't miserable, I just think all red eyes are miserable). I arrived at my dorm, met my roommate, and about a million other people who all happen to be from Chicago - well maybe not all one million of them, but most.

On the first day we had to go out and buy bedding. Have any of you heard of Primark before? It's like Target with an H&M style with even cheaper prices! Cray cray, I know! I will most definitely be heading back there to check out the clothes.

The first night our entire dorm went on one huge pub crawl! I was able to meet so many people and get to see where the best bars in London are. Oh, did I mention that I am legal drinking age here? So crazy and weird and exciting all at the same time!

The next two days were spent at orientation. The first day we got a walking tour of central/west London and ended the tour at a pub we're we had our first taste of British food: Sunday Roast. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it. It's is pretty much a pot roast with potatoes, vegetables, and some kind of pastry.

I've been using every spare chance I've gotten to just explore the city that is my new home for the next five months. Today we went to the National Gallery. Some of the paintings were just breathtaking. It was unreal to stand a foot away from Van gogh's Sunflowers. We walked to there so it was a blast just seeing the city and getting lost.

Afterwards we walked around Covent Gardens which is such a cute place to shop. There's markets, little boutiques, restaurants, and performers. We came across this really funny magician. All of the street performers in London are extremely different than the ones in the U.S. They're all actual acts and people with talent. They really entice their audience and in return the people here are much more generous with throwing a little something their way.

Here are some photos from my recent explorations, enjoy!

Me in Trafalgar Square!

Carnaby Street

The National Gallery

Trafalgar Square

Linking to:

2012 in Photos

Hey y'all! Long time, no see!

The holidays have been great but bussseeey! I've gotten some great gifts from my family and friends. Unfortunately my healthy lifestyle has been thrown out the window temporarily. There's been so much eating out and celebrating with family. It doesn't help that I'm leaving on Friday for London and everyone in my family wants to take me out to eat before I leave. But don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining!

My blog will also be changing a lot in the near future. Since in leave in three days to move across the pond to London for five months, the focus of my blog will change to my experience with the royals. I'll make sure you will all be the first to know when Prince Harry proposes to me and of course I'll have all the inside info on my new royal niece or nephew.

Haha! Obviously the above is just in my mind, but wouldn't that be nice?

Well onto my post and my pictures to reflect back on this past year.

January The girls club at dinner in the city before seeing Sister Act.

February My friends and I at the newspaper launch party.

March My sisters, dad, Emily's roommate, Tony Danza, and I at HeartShare's annual gala at the Marriott Marquee.

April Easter!

May The team after loosing to Wellesley College at the NCAA's at Middlebury College. What an amazing experience!

June First camping trip of the summer!

July My birthday dinner! Can you tell I was a happy camper?!

August Back to school!

September Me and some friends!

October Annie and Emily came to watch my match!

November Thanksgiving Jets game with Dad and Emily!

December Christmas morning with the Girl's Club!

I hope you all have a Happy New Year and may all your resolutions come true!

I Commend You

I know that there are bloggers who blog for a living but I also know that there are a lot who work their 9-5 jobs and maintain a blog. 

This past week I worked at my Dad's office helping on some projects to make a little extra $ before I head to London in 13 days. All I have to say is I don't know you y'all do it. After working all day and sitting in traffic to get home blogging was the last thing on my mind. It seemed all I had time for was work and sleep. Forget blogging or exercising. 

I'm obviously going to have to figure this balance out when I graduate and start working. 

And forget about it when I have kids. You working mom bloggers out there get extra brownie points. 

To all of you out there that juggle all of this, I commend you.