My (hopefully) final post abroad

I'm laying in bed and can't sleep so I felt I should have some type of last post to wrap up what has been a crazy semester! Even though these last few days have been pretty depressing being stuck in London instead of at home with my family, I thought I'd reflect on the highlights of the trip before I head out.

Favorite City: Rome

I could talk about Rome all day long. The three days I spent in Rome were definitely the highlight of the last three months. The combination of the amazing weather (after a month and a half of constant rain), the unbelievable sights (St. Peter's and the view from the top of it were absolutely incredible), and the delicious food (pasta, pizza, gelato, yummm) made for a fabulous three days. Florence was a close second, but the history of the Ancient Roman ruins, the majesty of Vatican City, and the overall beauty of Rome put it at the top of my list.

Least Favorite City: Barcelona

Don't feel the need to explain.

Favorite Church: St. Peter's

I saw many, many churches in Europe but none came anywhere close to St. Peter's (and it's free to get in!). Enormous, majestic, beautiful, overwhelming, there are not enough adjectives to describe this church. No picture will ever do it justice. The size, the art, the feeling you get inside, it can't be matched.

Favorite Museum: The Louvre

Another obvious choice but hey, it didn't get its reputation for no reason. Spending a few hours in there only made me realize how little of it I could actually see in that time. The Mona Lisa isn't much to see, but the hallway next to it of Renaissance painting blows your mind. There is really a masterpiece around every corner. The building is an architectural masterpiece, a castle of gigantic proportions. And they filled the whole thing up!

Most Fun Experience: Oktoberfest

Yet again, obvious, but I feel like my experience was extra special. I would never take back staying at that campground. The friends I made at Oktoberfest were the most interesting and fun group of people I have ever met. I stayed with them in Dublin, Cork, and Budapest and had lunch with one yesterday to say goodbye. Even though we only spent two days together, I really feel like I will stay in touch with them for a very long time. I know they will be giving me a call when they are in the United States.

Favorite part of the UK: Cambridge

Absolutely gorgeous. Oxford was nice, but Cambridge totally has it beat. I walked along the River Cam for hours and never wanted it to end. It is way better than Cambridge, Mass (just don't tell all my friends at home that).

Favorite London site: Tower of London

I used to love studying history, and this place was full of it. It made me understand the monarchy a lot better as well. The crown jewels were spectacular! You can really get a sense of the history and tradition behind the monarchy being there. I spent hours there and didn't even notice. It was great. Westminster Abbey was really cool as well, but the overcrowded rooms of deceased royalty was a little uncomfortable (and I definitely wouldn't want to get married there if I could get married at St. Paul's, no offense William and Kate).

Favorite Nationality: Australians and Irish

The Brits were not terribly friendly the last few months, but the Australians and Irish totally made up for it. I mean, how many people would let three American college students stay with them after meeting them for two days? (Thanks Michael and Lynne!) When we went to Ireland, the people we had met from Oktoberfest were so helpful in getting us around and showing us their favorite parts of Ireland the stuff we were dying to see (BLARNEY STONE). The Australians in my dorm were extremely friendly and always ready for a good time (they would even get up at 5 am on Saturdays to watch Aussie rules football games). I just saw Cara, who I met at Oktoberfest and is originally from Australia, for one last lunch before I leave.

Favorite Food: THE CANOLI

I really can't even explain how good this canoli was. Wow. Imagine the best thing you have ever eaten and multiply by it by like, a million.

Things I will miss about London:
1. Indian food
2. the music at bars/clubs
3. sitting at a table and realizing everyone at it is from a different continent
4. seeing things I recognize from Harry Potter/Spice World
5. Kate Middleton
6. Cheryl Cole
7. being a train ride away from multiple countries
8. free museums/galleries
9. the parks
10. the people I have met

Things I am looking forward to in America
1. 5$ footlongs at Subway
2. normal class schedule
3. not sharing a bathroom with 30 people
4. gossip magazines with people I've actually heard of
5. larger portions
6. peanut butter
7. the dollar
8. a couch and a television
9. airports that know how to clear snow
10. my family and friends

Well I fell that that wraps things up! I will be back in Philadelphia some time around the 8th or 9th and will see everyone some time around then! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

-Lucas

Frustration

As some of you may have heard on the news, London is going through a "freak snowstorm." Don't believe everything you read. There couldn't be more than a few inches of snow on the ground and as of right now, it hasn't snowed AT ALL in TWO FULL DAYS. Heathrow has absolutely no idea how to handle snow and it's really driving all of us crazy. My flight today was completely cancelled and after a few hours of frantic searching, I have a new flight on Thursday out of Gatwick (which has been much more efficient). It may snow more in the coming days, but hopefully it will hold off and I will get home for Christmas. All the flights were cancelled on Saturday and Sunday out of Gatwick so at this point it is nearly impossible to get another flight in the near future. Hopefully tomorrow a few more will start taking off. In the meantime, I'm living in a weird packed/done with school/want to be home/trying to take advantage of having an extra few days limbo and can't wait to be out of it. Thankfully, I am done with school and can at least start relaxing, even if it is in this jail cell/closet dorm room I have. Hoping for the best, expecting the worst. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Being a London tourist!

  Soooo..I am finally done with my papers! Well, sort of. Karen is currently editing my last one and then I am done for the semester! I have been terrible about keeping up with blogging while trying to get through this work but here's to catching up. The last couple weeks I have been busy doing things all around London, trying to get in everything before I go. So here goes nothing!
   Here is one of the few shots I managed to save from the London Eye. It truly was spectacular, one of my favorite things that I have done while in London. The view of the city was so pretty, especially at night. I wish it wasn't so expensive, or I would do it again!

London!

   A couple days later I finally went to Harrod's! I'm not really even sure why they say that is a store - it's really more of a tourist attraction. You can tell that most people there don't plan on buying anything (especially three college students). The window displays were some of the weirdest things I have ever seen. There were blonde guys with mullets and mustaches, mermaids, and a whole slew of Peter Pan themed ones. Here is my best impression of one of the lovely ladies in the window...

twins

Our main focus was to find the Christmas floor - which was fun but ridiculously overpriced. Needless to say I did not purchase anything while I was in there, but I got a few photos in!

Me + teddy bears = adorable

Finally onto some legit London sightseeing! Next stop was the Tower of London with my friends Gaia and Thomas. This was one of the most interesting things I have seen in London. There is so much history there! So many kings and queens lived there, so many traitors were executed there, just generally a lot of stuff has happened there! Also, this is where the crown jewels are and they are SO SPARKLY. My friends and I were amazed that the crown jewels are actually just jewels. I know that sounds stupid - but I always assumed the crown has some value too, but it really doesn't. It is just a placeholder for the jewels. They have used crowns in the back because they are pretty much useless now. We took a tour of White Tower, which is the biggest tower in the center, and then wandered around for hours. We spent almost four hours there! Everything was so interesting that I didn't even notice how the time was flying. 

She never made an appearance...

Traitor's gate...not too much fun

Jewel House!! Home of the CROWN JEWELS

little chapel at the top of white tower 

toilet where the king used to sit (I sort of fell in)

super sneaky picture of the crown jewels (you're not allowed to take pictures of them)

   One tower was where they used to lock the prisoners (including William Penn), and inside there are all sorts of drawings that these prisoners made. You would not believe how intricate they are. It's pretty clear that they had a LOT of time on their hands.

I'm not even sure what they had to used to make these...fingernails?

In our explorations we found the coolest part - the part where we got to pretend to be guards of the fortress. The helmets fit so perfectly, I think I've found my calling in life.

Gaia and I working the helmets

   A few days later (don't worry, I didn't do this all in one day), Katie and I did a little tour of Westminster. We started with the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. The War Rooms are where Winston Churchill and his task force stayed during WWII as London was being bombed. Again, a lot of place with a ton of history, which was even more relevant to me this time. The best part of the whole place was the Churchill Museum. You would not believe how much of an overachiever that guy was! Not only did he have a huge part in ending WWII, he won a Noble Prize in Literature and has a collection of paintings on display! When did he have time!? This museum was super high tech and really cool to see. They had so many exhibits that were touch screen. One had blocks that represented countries, and if you moved them together information would appear on a screen telling you about how those countries interacted during WWII. There was also a HUGE touch screen calendar of every month from when Winston Churchill was born until he died (I actually think it even went a little past he died). It was probably the most high-tech museum I have ever been in.

Winston! major overachiever

me + one of Churchill's old pals

stylish Winston Churchill jumpsuit! (I think I saw one at Harrod's!!!!)

   We then moved onto Westminster Abbey (where William and Kate are getting married on April 29, 2011, not that I am obsessed with their wedding or anything), but you can't take any pictures in there so unfortunately I have none to show! Not going to lie though, I definitely would not want to get married there. St. Paul's was gorgeous (that's where Charles and Diana got married), but Westminster Abbey is full of mostly dead people. I mean, don't get me wrong, they are very important dead people, but dead nonetheless. Pretty much every king or queen (or any royalty for that matter) is buried here from the time of William the Conqueror (who took over in 1066!). I'd say the best part was the Poet's Corner, though. Geoffrey Chaucer, Dickens, the Brontes, all of them are buried there! Some also have memorials (like Shakespeare) but are buried in other places. Also, Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton are buried there! There are definitely a huge amount of important people there, it's hard to remember them all. As we were about to leave, I turned to Katie and said "I wonder why Winston Churchill isn't buried here)." Naturally, as we were about to exit the door, there was a huge sign on the floor that said "WINSTON CHURCHILL." Go figure.

    One more thing we had to do that day - the lion picture. This is the super touristy picture of me sitting on top of one of the lions in Trafalgar Square. Even though everyone does it, it is REALLY HARD. I think most of the time little kids have their parents put them up there. There was literally nothing to hold onto. It was also about 32 degrees and the lion was freezing. I thought my hand was going to fall off while I was trying to get on it. Nonetheless, I persevered and got my picture!

I did it!

    Next, it was onto the Natural History Museum with Gaia. She is an earth sciences major so this is right up her alley. The museum is mostly targeted towards a younger crowd, but hey, it's free, why not? The coolest thing was the model of a blue whale which was GIANT. The building itself was also stunning, I think that it used to be a castle. 

Me and the blue whale!

Natural History Museum!

   A couple nights later I went off to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park with some friends from GW. It was so cute! It was filled with rides and vendors and lots of food. I really wanted to go on a ride but they were way too expensive (money is definitely running a little low). We also wanted to go ice skating but you have to book something like two weeks in advance to get it. It definitely got me in the Christmas spirit though! (I mean, I've been in that for about a month now because these people start so early, but now even more so)

Winter Wonderland!

Me chillin with Santa

   Only a couple more stops on this crazy London sightseeing tour! For me, being a huge tennis fan, one of the most important things to see was Wimbledon. I finally decided that I just needed to go see it by myself because no one really wanted to pay 30 bucks to see the tour (which I totally understand). I definitely think it was worth it though. I have been watching Wimbledon on tv for years and finally was there on Centre Court! The tour was really interesting (thought I felt like I could have given parts of it myself). I even got to sit in the chair that the players sit in when they are in the press room! The grounds themselves were a lot smaller than they appear on tv. Centre Court and Court One aren't that big either. That is what is so much nicer about Wimbledon though, it is much more intimate than the US Open. I definitely think that the grounds for the US Open are too big for tennis, but it is still fun to go to. There was also a museum at Wimbledon which I could've stayed at for hours. They had old highlights, old equipment, old trophies, they had everything I have read about from Wimbledon from the past 120 years. I even got to see the actual trophies! They give the champions miniature copies of the ones you see them holding on tv. I was so close to Centre Court too. If only they had actually been playing!

Almost there!

Me on Court One (it looks weird with snow on it)

Wimbledon sign made of grass!

<3

Me at my post-match interview

Me on Centre Court!

ACTUAL WIMBLEDON TROPHIES

    After a long week of crazy sightseeing, I needed a much slower, relaxing weekend. Where better to relax than Cambridge?! I finally got to see Donnie! We both had a lot of work, but I made my way up to Cambridge to check it out for myself. Donnie is busy with work but still enjoying herself! We worked on our respective work for a while, and then I went for a look around Cambridge myself. I can't even describe how gorgeous it is. I would put up all my pictures, but I think just a few shots gives the general idea. I started at one end of the River Cam and walked until I was stuck in the mud and had to turn around (even though I really didn't want to). There are so many green spaces where the respective colleges have their own "backyards." There are also so many important people who have gone there, I won't even attempt to name them all. I think Cambridge was the most beautiful place I have seen in all my time in the UK!

the River Cam

Jesus Green I believe

so so so so pretty

   If only I could've gone punting along the River Cam! It probably wouldn't have been that enjoyable considering how cold it was though. This week I have been finishing up my essays (I'm about to submit the last one tonight) and am greatly looking forward to coming home in four days! I can't believe it's finally here! Hope everything is going well at home and that everyone has a nice holiday break if you don't hear from me! (I'll probably post one more time when I get home though)

Budapest and more!

I tried to publish this on Thursday but it didn't work so I had to redo parts of it. I'm just going to pick up at the end of what did save!

      So much to update on! Here it goes! First and foremost, it's Britney Spears' birthday!! 29 and still going strong. Just had to put that out there, we (and by we, I mean I) have been celebrating all day. But there is so much more to celebrate than that. I handed in my first three psychology essays today! 4 turned in, and 4 to go! I've written one of the final four, though it needs some work. 7,000 words and I'm done for the semester! That sounds like a lot but once you've written 10,000 it doesn't seem that bad. I am a paper writing machine now. Hopefully I can bust one out this weekend.

     Onto Budapest! We left Thursday night for Hungary and everything went smoothly (this is the week before snow closed down Gatwick airport for a couple days). Of all the countries I have been to so far, I was the most confused by Hungary. I couldn't even sound out the words. Dontea, Emily and I tried to pronounce the street we were staying on and failed miserably. At the airport, we met a guy from Bulgaria who was going to the city center as well so we all split it together. We finally made it to Veres Palne Utca (not pronounced as it spelled) and met up with the girls from UNH that I met at Oktoberfest! They had such a big apartment I couldn't believe it. I think my room here could've fit into their apartment, like, 20 times. It was ridiculous. We headed straight to bed that night so that we could up early and get exploring!
      Budapest was the first (and will be the only) Eastern European city I have visited while abroad, and I really did get a different feeling. I can't really explain it, but there was a definite difference from the Western European cities I visited. Maybe it's because it was also near freezing the whole time, but it just felt different. It was nice to see something new though! A lot of the cities we had seen were very similar and this one stood out. We started out in the Pest district (Budapest is made up of two districts, Buda and Pest, which are on opposite sides of the Danube River).  I knew that there was a giant synagogue in Budapest (second biggest in the world!) and I had to see it! I mean I've seen around 15 churches, so it was about time to go to a synagogue. It was very pretty on the outside! It was a little expensive so we just walked around but it was nice to see nonetheless.

This one's for Karen

Holocaust memorial

    We continued our trek through Pest towards some of the sights farther down the river. We came upon another beautiful church (naturally), St. Peter's and went up to the top (naturally). This time we didn't have to walk! Elevators are so much nicer means of transporation. 

St. Peter's!

beautiful church # ?

me + Pest!

Budapest!

Pest!!

For those of you not obsessed with pop music, Katy Perry's music video for her song"Firework" was shot in Budapest so naturally I had to find the spot where she filmed it. It was at Buda Castle, across the river, and this was when I got my first sighting of the building. I was so excited!!

Firework video location!

After coming down from the freezing cold top of St. Peter's we made our way to Parliament. It was designed like the British Parliament building and even had a British flag  on it (didn't really understand that one). We were going to take a tour but we were running a little low on forint (Hungarian money) and just walked back along the river instead. 

being Hungarian outside of Parliament

Me being a firework

us + the Danube!

so close to the firework video spot!

On the way back to Veres Palne Utca, we ran into a really cute Christmas market! There were old lady Hungarian carolers it was great!

old lady Hungarian carolers

      That night we went out for Thai (we weren't exactly looking for any Hungarian food) and hung out with some of the friends of the people we were staying with. I was glad we didn't do anything crazy because we had a long day ahead the next day!

     The next day we were going to the Buda side, which is across the river and less city-ish. There are more hills and it is really pretty. We started with a walk up Gellert Hill to the Citadell on the top. Only problem: it had snowed the night before. Not easy to climb up a mountain in snow. We made it though and the view was amazing!

the beginning of our trek

Budapest!

looking for Katy Perry

always imitating statues

Budapest!!

Me + Budapest

    At the top there were also people selling traditional Hungarian scarves for pretty cheap. They were very friendly, they walked right up to Emily and put the scarves on her!

stylin'

   At one point the citadel was actually used to defend the city so there were lots of different weapons scattered around. We took advantage!

taking over Budapest

    We headed back down Gellert Hill and now the time had finally come. We were going to Buda Castle to see where Katy Perry shot the video! We got really confused when we got to the bottom of the hill but we managed to find our way (it is on a hill after all). After determining the exact location of where she was standing, we completely re-enacted the video (with about 300 less back up dancers). So exciting!

Buda Castle!

Me being a firework

us being fireworks

    On top of the hill where Buda Castle there is a quaint town with lots of different coffee shops. We stopped for a while and rested our feet because we were very tired! I got a Hungarian funnelcake along the way. It was cinnamon and absolutely delicious! Our last stop was at the Labyrinths, a set of underground passages inside the hill and underneath Buda Castle. There were all kinds of strange things down there - from ancient cave drawings to a wine fountain. It was really dark and spooky and definitely one of the coolest things I have seen in Europe!

Hungarian funnelcake mmm

ancient cave drawings?

we couldn't even see this until we had the flash of the camera

getting directions

    After a long day, it was finally time to head back to Pest and to where we were staying. Only problem, it was now dark outside and a layer of ice was completely covering the path down from Buda Castle. It took us forever to get down, probably at least an hour (this is not a big hill). We were crouching down trying to not slip and fall while the Hungarians were strolling right by us. It was like there was no ice! We couldn't stop laughing because we looked so ridiculous. I managed to sneak in a few shots along the way. 

attempting to get down

struggles

Budapest at night!

     After a very, very long journey home, we finally made it back to my friend's place. Emily and Dontea stayed in while I headed out with the girls from UNH for a little bit. The next day it was back to London! I've had a pretty busy week this week too and will be sure to tell about it soon, but for now I must get back to papers!!