Day 1:
Let's just say that London is a rediculous city. I loved it. We took the train down at, basically, the crack of dawn and got to our flats. It was like being on the Real World. We had the entire building for our group with 5 in each apartment. There were three bathrooms and a full kitchen and living room! How fantastic. We went down to Lester Square and bought theatre tickets.....Spamalot all the way!!
I hung out with the Spamalot kids and went to the British Museum for a bit and then we all napped before the show for an hour.The show was EXCELLENT and I loved it. It was so hot in the theatre though since there has been such unexpected warm weather but it was worth it. We wandered around for a bit after that and then got some pizza in the boys' apartment. Pizza Hut is the same in England. Thank God.
Day 2:
We slept in a little bit which was really nice and then I went off with Ben, Mitch, Jena, Anna, and Jessie to explore all of the touristy spots. We saw Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the London Eye. We didn't actually go on the London Eye though because we were all tired and we had gone up in the Tower Bridge so we felt we had seen enough. We saw some crazy street performers too. You know those human statues? Creepy as hell. We saw pretty much a million of them I feel. Everytime I turned around there were more creepy people just standing around. It was an experience.
We ended up spending the night in the flats dancing and singing along to Spice Girls songs which was a lot of fun. It was a great night.
Day 3:
I woke up early for my day excursion with Ben and we headed out to a bakery for breakfast before a stop at the National Gallery and watching marching practice for the National Guard. After our small detours we headed to the Winston Churchill war rooms museum which was AMAZING. Not to be missed. I could have spent days in there. It was just opened a few years ago and they have left it almost completely the same as they found it. Being in an actual bomb shelter and being able to stand in Winston Churchill's bedroom? Dream come true for a nerd like me.
After a few hours there Ben and I hopped on the tube which was way way nicer than the ones in the States. The seats were cushioned and it didn't reek of urine; that's enough for me. We headed out to Abbey Road to try and see some Beatles landmarks and while we did see the crosswalk there was not really anything to see. Sadly we couldn't get into the recording studio and there wasn't really any sort of sign or anything. Oh well, still cool.
Then we went back on the tube and, in a Sarah Williams inspired moment, headed down to King's Cross Station where we took nerdy Harry Potter pictures :) It was lovely. We headed back to the flats and picked up some Subway (we were way excited for American food but the mayo tasted unsuprisingly like butter.....dodgy) We got back on the train where some slight drama occured and then went out as a group to the Carvery. I passed out in my room for the night because I was dead tired soon after. It also could have been the turkey. Your call. :)
And that was London.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Cavern Club
Yesterday was a ton of fun. We went to the city center as a secondary group and toured two of the biggest and prettiest cathedrals I have ever seen in my life. We went to this beautiful beautiful store called Primark and bought more clothes than you could imagine. SO CHEAP. Even the boys bought matching man-pris. (capris for men) Too cute. We went to the Liverpool footy store and I bought an authentic football scarf. Very English. I love it. I also took my first English taxi....crazy drivers and crazy expensive as well....but worth it.We had dinner around campus and then all 19 of us went down to Matthews Street where the Cavern Club is.
The Cavern Club is not the orignal club that the Beatles played in. It was torn down in 1973 but they rebuilt it soon after and it is really cool. It's 2 flights of stairs underground and is literally a cavern. It was SO HOT down there and packed but we managed to get a spot next to the stage. The cover band had on wigs and costumes so it was pretty spectacular. A lot of people decided to head home but I stayed with Joanie, Scott, and Ben until a little after midnight. We had a great time dancing and singing through the second set and I think we will probably go back next week. It was really cool :)
The Cavern Club is not the orignal club that the Beatles played in. It was torn down in 1973 but they rebuilt it soon after and it is really cool. It's 2 flights of stairs underground and is literally a cavern. It was SO HOT down there and packed but we managed to get a spot next to the stage. The cover band had on wigs and costumes so it was pretty spectacular. A lot of people decided to head home but I stayed with Joanie, Scott, and Ben until a little after midnight. We had a great time dancing and singing through the second set and I think we will probably go back next week. It was really cool :)
Friday, 9 May 2008
So far it has been quite an amazing trip. I am horrible at blogging and am way behind schedule so here is what I have so far.
Liverpool is such a gorgeous city. I love it.We flew into Machester yesterday and took a sketchy looking bus (box shaped) to Hope's campus. Our bus driver let us know off the bat that he was hungover and therefore not in the mood to chat. It was interesting. :)
The flight was long and most of us didn't sleep although the ones who did might have had a little too much of the complimentary wine ;) I watched the Golden Compass movie which was....lacking in Daniel Craig-ness and Martian Child which was cute mainly for the reason that it had John Cusack in it. While people were sleeping they decided to play the Office which was a horrible idea because I couldn't stop laughing. It is impossible to watch that show without laughter. I dare you to try. They even played Monk and Psych on the plane which was AWESOME!!! But yeah, I just digressed.Anyway.
We got to the University at last after a few close calls traffic accident wise. I was super excited because I saw an IKEA on the way!! (Best store ever) Julie had gotten really sick on the airplane and they had to call the paramedics but she is ok now and we are living in the same dorm that is on the opposite side of campus from everyone else. We live in Austin Hall which is old as old can be. There are spiral staircases and the ground floor is 0. We are on 3. That is a long way to haul luggage.
The room is pretty nice but the windows don't have screens and since the heat is perpetually on the window remains opened. There is a sink in my room so that is nice but also sketchy since there is a glow in the dark sign on it that says 'NOT SAFE TO DRINK.' Therefore I am terrified to even touch it. The sinks also have two spouts, one for hot water and one for cold so that is taking some getting used to.Apparantly our bathrooms are not as sketchy as other dorms but there are two toilets each in, essentially, a box. The light flickers when you turn it on and to flush you have to pull on a chain hanging from the ceiling. I'm not joking, I will prove it with pictures at a later date. (Side note: Unfortunately I won't be able to upload pictures until I get back....sorry) There are seperate rooms for the showers, well, bathtubs. That's right, there are only bathtubs. There is however a metal circle thing you can attach that has holes in it so that the water can slowly and creepily drip out. It is an experience that is not necessarily recommended.
This is getting random but my mind is scattered so forgive me. Blogs are hard.I woke up one morning to a hornet in my room at 6 am...no more open window no matter how warm it gets. Julie and I go for walks after breakfast and it is GORGEOUS!!! Such a clean city.
Beth Gleason is finally going to join us!!!
The weather here is so gorgeous and sunny. Tons of crazy people laying in the grass and playing 'footy.' It's great. We walked to Calderstone school which is the high school other people are going to be teaching at and it is so large and in charge. It's beautiful and surrounded by brick walls and stained glass windows, cute little British cars parked on the sidewalk, houses that look like castles, and a large, colorful park across the street.
The food here is actually not as bad as everyone made it out to be. Everything is carbs and plain but I'm fine with that. It's slightly odd because there are no sauces for anything. Salad dressing is mayonaisse which is, uh, kinda gross. Or vinegar. Everything has vinegar. We are eating tons upon tons of chips (french fries), jacket potatoes (baked potatoes), and chicken wraps. I'm full up just thinking about it.
More to come about the Cavern Club and London this weekend :)
Liverpool is such a gorgeous city. I love it.We flew into Machester yesterday and took a sketchy looking bus (box shaped) to Hope's campus. Our bus driver let us know off the bat that he was hungover and therefore not in the mood to chat. It was interesting. :)
The flight was long and most of us didn't sleep although the ones who did might have had a little too much of the complimentary wine ;) I watched the Golden Compass movie which was....lacking in Daniel Craig-ness and Martian Child which was cute mainly for the reason that it had John Cusack in it. While people were sleeping they decided to play the Office which was a horrible idea because I couldn't stop laughing. It is impossible to watch that show without laughter. I dare you to try. They even played Monk and Psych on the plane which was AWESOME!!! But yeah, I just digressed.Anyway.
We got to the University at last after a few close calls traffic accident wise. I was super excited because I saw an IKEA on the way!! (Best store ever) Julie had gotten really sick on the airplane and they had to call the paramedics but she is ok now and we are living in the same dorm that is on the opposite side of campus from everyone else. We live in Austin Hall which is old as old can be. There are spiral staircases and the ground floor is 0. We are on 3. That is a long way to haul luggage.
The room is pretty nice but the windows don't have screens and since the heat is perpetually on the window remains opened. There is a sink in my room so that is nice but also sketchy since there is a glow in the dark sign on it that says 'NOT SAFE TO DRINK.' Therefore I am terrified to even touch it. The sinks also have two spouts, one for hot water and one for cold so that is taking some getting used to.Apparantly our bathrooms are not as sketchy as other dorms but there are two toilets each in, essentially, a box. The light flickers when you turn it on and to flush you have to pull on a chain hanging from the ceiling. I'm not joking, I will prove it with pictures at a later date. (Side note: Unfortunately I won't be able to upload pictures until I get back....sorry) There are seperate rooms for the showers, well, bathtubs. That's right, there are only bathtubs. There is however a metal circle thing you can attach that has holes in it so that the water can slowly and creepily drip out. It is an experience that is not necessarily recommended.
This is getting random but my mind is scattered so forgive me. Blogs are hard.I woke up one morning to a hornet in my room at 6 am...no more open window no matter how warm it gets. Julie and I go for walks after breakfast and it is GORGEOUS!!! Such a clean city.
Beth Gleason is finally going to join us!!!
The weather here is so gorgeous and sunny. Tons of crazy people laying in the grass and playing 'footy.' It's great. We walked to Calderstone school which is the high school other people are going to be teaching at and it is so large and in charge. It's beautiful and surrounded by brick walls and stained glass windows, cute little British cars parked on the sidewalk, houses that look like castles, and a large, colorful park across the street.
The food here is actually not as bad as everyone made it out to be. Everything is carbs and plain but I'm fine with that. It's slightly odd because there are no sauces for anything. Salad dressing is mayonaisse which is, uh, kinda gross. Or vinegar. Everything has vinegar. We are eating tons upon tons of chips (french fries), jacket potatoes (baked potatoes), and chicken wraps. I'm full up just thinking about it.
More to come about the Cavern Club and London this weekend :)
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