There's no time for internet in London.

Thursday night, after my last post, Andrea and I met up with Meghan, Karina, Lacey, Jaime, Rob, Ben and Johnny at O'neills, which is always a good time. After leaving Andrea and I decided a doner would be delicious so we got a lamb one from kebab king up the street and made the walk down the hill to the homestay. Friday morning we woke up extra early to go to the Tower of London which was THE COOLEST THING EVER. We had a quick tour from a beefeater who was quite hilarious. We looked around solo for a bit and saw the Crown Jewels, the Star of Africa which is the biggest diamond in the world, torture devices and huge ravens that are like 30 or 40 years old. After the Tower we decided to get some lunch so we stopped into a pub and I had some delicious fish&chips, but they did not have HP sauce... WHAT? After returning to the homestay to relax for a bit I met up with everyone at ULU (University of London Union) for a few drinks because they are cheap... After a few strongbows we met some colorful characters and then left to get dinner, which for some godforsaken reason we ended up at KFC. After that we walked to Leiceister Square where a really nice girl on the street gave us stamps to get into a club for free. It was really fun, we danced and drank delicious mojitos. After a while we decided to go home so we took the 134 from Tottenham Court Road back to muswell hill.

Saturday we woke up, packed and met up with Rob and Ben at Kings Cross to catch the train to the Airport. On the train Ben decided to name his fish furniture and we laughed about dogs for some reason, Those boys are hilarious! The flight was short but good. My internship company was featured in the onflight magazine, how funny! When we got to Amsterdam we met up with everyone at Bob's Youth Hostel and got some wok to walk and just walked around. I ended up going to bed early because we were beat from the past few nights.

Sunday was fun. Meredith and Susie had met a few people in the hostel, which we hungout with the whole time we were there. My favorite was a guy named Stuart, from Birmingham. We got some food from the grocery store and headed to Vondelpark via walking. We sat at the park for a few hours and it was really cool... there were so many people! Stuart was telling us random facts, and we came up with the name Wikipedia for him because he knows a lot but only half of it is believable. On the way back from the park we stopped in Leidseplein to look at random jewelry vendors, and I got a pair of earrings. When it got dark, we just hungout in the hostel with some canadians and drank a bit of wine. I decided that I want to try potato chips from everywhere, because the flavors are so different! In London I want to try roast ox and chili with chocolate but I haven't been feeling that gutsy.

Monday we went to Waterlooplein market after stopping at a place called bluebird. It was pretty much a bunch of junk but I got a new shemai scarf in royal blue, I can't stop buying them! For lunch Andrea and I got Turkish Pizzas, which are too delicious. It's a thin pita with spices on it, toasted and then doner meat, salad and tzatziki is put on it then rolled up like a burrito. It was huge but I ate the whole thing!!! Andrea and I seperated from the group because they wanted to go to museumplein but having two huge blisters on the bottom of my feet prevented me from walking there. We decided to get something for dinner from Albert Hjien, which has the most delicious juice selection, I wish there was one in America!!! I randomly saw Dr. Waite on the steps of the grocery, I didn't think it was him and then I looked and it was!!! I should have said something to him!! We met back up with everyone and went to a shop called Abraxas and just hungout for the rest of the night, had to go to sleep early because our flight was at 8:30 am Tuesday morning!!

Note to self: NOTHING IN EUROPE IS FREE. No free refills, ketchup, etc. Another thing people, just because a table is outside doesn't mean you can sit there. It's part of the restaurant or cafe, and you must be a patron to sit there.

Tuesday was cool, but HELL. We got off the plane/train and immediately had to go to class... where Bob Craig (the greatest tour guide EVER) lectured on the history of London. After the lecture we got lunch and then headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which was a short tour but I learned a lot from our guide, Karen. I need to go back and check out the fashion section of the museum... I caught a glimpse of a Vivienne Westwood Gown which was absolutely beautiful. My favorite part of the museum was the Cast Courts... replicas of different random statues/columns/funeries that were made from the original casts. After the museum we ran home to drop our stuff off and change to go see Comedy of Errors at the Globe Theatre, which was a great play. Afterward we made the trek back to Muswell for a good night sleep for the day ahead.

Wednesday we got up soooo early to take a trip to Stonehenge and Bath. I have to say, I was quite disappointed with stonehenge because it was raining cats and dogs, and freezing! Everyone just wanted to get back on the bus and leave. Bath was amazing though. The Roman Baths were beautiful and I got some very good pictures and some footage as well. Apparently the only natural hot spring in the UK is in Bath, I touched it and it felt real nice. After the baths a few of us went on a walking tour with Bob Craig, I swear that man knows EVERYTHING! He showed us a few spots around town, The Circus, The Crescent (Johnny Depp lives there!) and an assembly room which I forget the name... Overall Bath was a beautiful town and I would definately go back there. If only the hotspring was swimable...
After we returned to town a few of us decided to get dinner and watch the Manchester/Barcelona futbol game. We went to a pub called Goose which had really good food for cheap, I'm definately going back there. I got a steak with mash and salad with a strongbow for 6 quid. Susie, Meredith, Sam and I met up with my British friend Ian who I met last year in Crouch End for a few drinks, and then we headed home.

Today I finally got to sleep in!!! Took a shower then got some soup from Pret a Manger, chicken leek and potato which was delish. Headed with everyone to the Kew Gardens... such a long commute! The District line is a huge pain in the ass too, but we managed to get there early. The gardens were very beautiful but we definately did'nt need a guide... a few of us just branched off and walked where we wanted to go. They had a treetop walk which was really cool, and there was a huge peacock just hangin out. My favorite part was smelling all of the flowers, I didn't realize that violets smelled so good!!! We left around 5 pm and Susie, Andrea, Meredith, Sam and I headed to PRIMARCK!!!! That place is a madhouse but I love it... I bought a dress, a top, shoes, socks, and a clutch all for 30 pounds! talk about some deals...
After shopping we hopped on the tube and headed home, where I am now. Paris in the morning, I'll probably update on Monday!!!

Hope everything is well in the US!

Cheers,
Alison

These past three days....

I've only been in London for three days now and it feels like I never left. Suprisingly, I remember my way around quite well, which is a benefit to me and everyone else!! The flight was good except there was a crying baby in front of me, and we all know how I feel about that. We got to London around 7:30 AM (2:30 Eastern Time) and took the bus into central London to the Dilke House. After being issued our oyster cards (transportation) I went to Pret a Manger with Andrea and Jaime to grab some food. After we ate, we decided to browse Primarck... but we were so beat we hardly even looked. Sinead got us a taxi to our homestay where we hungout for the rest of the day, but of course I had to go back to our favorite haunt, O'neills, which by now is pretty much a Radford Media/School of Comm legend. After it closed, no one wanted to go home so we went to cafe loco and chatted with some locals. The night ended with a 2:30 AM chicken sandwich and then finally SLEEP.

Wednesday we had orientation at ULU which was boring but informative. Andrea, Jaime, Rob, Ben and I went to the Italian Coffee Co. for lunch, you can't beat 4.50 (pounds) for a whole pizza!! After that I grabbed some raspberries on the street and the group went for a tour of London with my favorite tour guide, Bob Craig. He knows pretty much everything and adds humor to the most boring information. We took a tour of St. Paul's Cathedral which was interesting... I liked the Mosaics on the ceiling and the American Chapel. I wish we could have gone to the top but everyone was really tired and the bus was leaving. Andrea and I stopped at a Chinese restaurant on the way home and I had the most delicious Wonton Soup, and her Hot and Sour soup was soooo good, it had shrimp in it! After we ate, we went home and I fell asleep at 9:30.

This morning I had an interview with my Internship company, Shoot Experience. It was reletively easy to get to, except AIFS gave me the wrong directions!!! I had to ask a few people how to get there because of several roundabouts/forks in the road. I finally got there a few minutes early and met with the CEO. It is a very small company but I am really excited to start working with them, apparently I will be helping them market their treasure hunts. I was given the treasure hunt to actually go out and do, which I am very excited about because it gives you a different perspective of London. After my interview, I took the journey back to Muswell and made a sandwich, then took the journey to central London to tour the British Museum and British Library. I've already seen everything we peeped at the British Museum, but the Library was very cool, and exceeded my expectations. The room we went to in the library had the Gutenberg Bible, the Magna Carta, the original written copy of Alice in Wonderland, several Beatles songs which most were scribbled on something random, and more really old original maps, manuscripts, etc. Got my favorite pizza again for dinner, and now i'm here. I believe we are going to Oneill's tonight for we must be at the Tower of London tomorrow morning at 9:45, and it takes over an hour to get there.

I will update tomorrow, but it might not be until Tuesday because Andrea, Rob, Ben and I are going to AMSTERDAM on saturday!!!!!!

Cheers,
Alison

Two days

Two Days until I depart for the United Kingdom, and it still hasn't hit me yet. Maybe I should start packing.