Countdown

😪 That was some hiatus.  I really should have posted more often, but it's been so busy with work lately!  Yesterday and today were honestly the first time I've had time to breathe during the work day.  Phew!

In the month and a half that's elapsed, we've gone to Barcelona, had my best friend stay with us for a week, had a nice ex-pat Thanksgiving, and been to Canterbury.  Tomorrow, we're going to Nice, France for the weekend and then in a couple short weeks, we're off to Prague, Munich, Vienna, and then...New York City babes!

Sad to think that our time in London is winding down.  I'm already thinking about packing all our things back and the remainder of my "bucket list" before we go.  Bittersweet!

I'm Back Baby!

Arm Update

It's been about two weeks since my running-slow-but-still-manage-to-get-injured injury and I'm almost 100% better.  Not gonna lie, those first few days were pretty brutal - I couldn't really lift my arm, needed help putting on a bookbag or a jacket, needed to prop it up while doing mundane things like shampooing my hair.  I also found out that laughing really hard and sneezing were both very painful, not only in my shoulder but even in my shoulder blades and the whole left part of my upper back.  Yeesh!

Lots has happened since I last posted, which is why it's been so long since I last posted :)

Dover

The day after my boo-boo, Alex and I hopped on a train east to the town of Dover, famous for its white chalk cliffs.  I was not a fan of the weather (it was rainy and my shoes where soaked through in just a few minutes of leaving the train station), and we took the most indirect, arduous hike up to the cliffs (involving hiking up an inhuman incline to Dover Castle, only to find it was really expensive, and then walking basically around the entire hill to get back to the other side).  I was also dubious because...like...how do you see the cliffs if you're standing on the cliffs?

However, once we got to the main area, you indeed can see the cliffs rising up above you and a little bit around the bend, and it was so majestic and made the whole trek (almost) worth it.  A few things we discovered: the cliffs of Dover are populated with lots and lots of snails, beware of crumbling bits of chalk, and standing at the edge of England and the closest point to France was really breathtaking.

Chilling with Wills & Kate & George & Charlotte & Uncle Harry

The next day, we continued our exploring at the Tower of London, where we'd both been, but we figured we live literally 10 minutes away, so why not.  We saw the usual bits: the Crown Jewels, the ravens, the Beefeaters.  Then, we hopped across town to Kensington Palace.  One thing I had kind of known in the back of my brain somewhere but didn't immediately register was that THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE ACTUALLY LIVE HERE.  Okay, so when we were there, I think they were in Canada, but how cool is that?!

One of the best things we stumbled upon in the palace was a tour guide (who looked a bit like Leslie Odom, Jr.!!!) telling a brilliant story of British history to an enraptured audience.  He went through like 600 years of history in minutes, not only reciting speeches and formal recorded prose but also throwing in jokes and impressions.  I would invite this guy over for a dinner party and just let him talk for ages.

Oh, Also Paris

Last Friday, we went to Paris - nbd, right?  ;)

We booked everything fairly late so Eurostar was expensive and the only other choice we had was to take the earliest flight.  That involved waking up at 3:45am, walking over to Blackfriars Station, taking the train to Gatwick, waiting 2 hours in the airport...just to take a 40 minute flight to Paris.  The flight time was literally shorter than my commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

Also along the lines of booking late, we hadn't really planned anything except to a) meet up with Alex's aunt and great-aunt, both of whom were going to be there that weekend and b) meet up with Alex's old coworkers when he was an intern in the Paris office way back when.  We got off the plane with kind of no idea what to do or where to go (#firstworldproblems #beentoparisbeforeanddidallthetouristthingsproblems) so we wound up wandering, which honestly is most of the fun of travel anyway.  We found our way to Le Marais and had some of the most delicious falafel at that famous place that's always got a line down the street (I was afraid it would be overrated, but no it is bomb).  The unfortunate part was that it started pouring later in the day, and again my shoes had soaked through so badly that I thought I had two sponges strapped to my feet.  Sadly, I've since had to say goodbye to my beloved Keds (well, they're sitting in a garbage bag in the apartment - I haven't had the heart to throw them out out, but they've got to go).  I traipsed through all of Paris on these wonky wet shoes.  In the evening, we met Alex's former colleagues for drinks, who were so sweet and welcoming, and I had a great time.  We left the bar pretty late, realizing we hadn't had dinner, so we hopped on the metro back to our hotel to try this place that my best friend Jackie had recommended when we were all here together last year (em, the Engagement trip hehe) but never got a chance to try: L'Office.  Turns out it was the best meal of the trip, the best meal I'd had in a long time.

~Veritasty Crossover~

Luckily for us, L'Office was literally two doors down from our hotel.  We ordered with some difficulty (entirely French menu + minimal understanding of romance languages + slow-Internet stop-and-go Google Translate) and finally wound up sharing two entrees of fish and veal risotto.

The fish turned out to be line-caught whiting with a lemony spinach puree, thinly shaved almonds, and a fine crumble of crunchy potatoes.  I could have done with a little less lemon in the sauce, but let's talk about this FISH!  It was so succulent and plump, flaky and white - my tongue felt like it was, in the words of Liz Lemon, high-fiving a million angels.  It was glorious.

Alex had a similar foodgasm with his dish: he proclaimed, "How do they make meat taste like this?!?!?!", but it was unexpected for me, for...it was not veal risotto but veal sweetbread risotto.  As in, baby cow thymus glands.  Regardless, still delish.  I had never had sweetbreads until now, and the best way I can describe them is as fluffy pillows of meat, lightly seared on the outside and really tender on the inside.

We cleaned our plates so well that night that I joked to the waiter that they didn't need a dishwasher.

The next morning, we tried to find some wonderful farmer's markets around town, but all my attempts turned out fruitless (pun intended).  We had to ditch the attempts in order to meet the aunts-in-law for brunch at a cute place near Bastille.  We had a whole load of delicious, non-pretentious brunch food for a really good deal - puts New York City brunch to shame.  I had a glass of fresh-squeezed lots-of-pulp orange juice, espresso, fresh baked brioche with French butter and raspberry jam, salmon with scrambled eggs, potato, salad, and finally an amazing banana-chantilly cream parfait.  IT.  WAS.  HEAVEN.

And then all of a sudden, I was left in a state of alone-ness.  See, Alex had to leave for two weeks of training in Florida, so he was only able to spend about 24 hours in Paris before flying back to London, packing, and then flying out to Florida.  If Alex had his own blog, you could read all about his 8-hour flight delay and overall horrendous trip from London Gatwick to Florida!  Thanks British Airways!

Anyway, I used my newfound independence to run amok across Paris.  And by 'amok', I really just mean hitting up the fancy shopping areas where Alex would get bored in about 3 seconds.  Now I realize why he resisted the department stores and high fashion boutiques: he has no phone data plan out here, so what's a guy to do while the girl shops?!?!  Actually, my first stop was the Musee Marmottan Monet (say that three times fast) out west past the Arc de Triomphe.  I considered this the last stop in the trinity of Monet sights in Paris, after Musee d'Orsay and L'Orangerie (where I had dragged Alex, Jackie, and Harry last year).  I was so excited to finally get to see THE Monet museum.  Like, Monet is in the name of the museum.  There were some great bits, like the art obvi, but...

I was really disappointed that they didn't allow photography, and the guards were really mean about it.  There was one exhibit that explicitly said no photography, but once I left that exhibit, no where else indicated the camera with the slashy line through it so I thought, fair game.  All the guards there seemed to be pretty miserable creatures, with a vendetta against mainly me.  Loads of other people were taking photos, but for some reason they only noticed me.

I sat in the main room of Monet works (there are decorative arts and other things in the museum too, but for some reason decorative arts is a snoozefest for me) and took it all in with my eyes, since I couldn't take it all in with my lens.  I saw a beautiful Monet painting of roses that I had never seen before, among some of his famous and iconic water lilies.  I just sat and sat and journaled and stared around for a good while.

When I left, I decided to walk halfway across Paris to the Galeries Lafayette.  It took more than an hour of pounding the pavement in my "cute chic Parisienne" outfit (dress and tights and pointy black suede flats).  I passed through some upscale residential areas, by the Trocadero and the Eiffel Tower, and then across the Champs Elysees.  Even though it was a pleasure to be in Paris, I could have killed someone on the Champs Elysees.  It's like the worst of Times Square, Rockefeller Center at Christmastime, and the Dominique Ansel Cronut line rolled into one.  So.  Many.  People.  Not walking, just stopping and milling around outside stores.  The sidewalk is so wide you'd think it wouldn't be a problem but I was getting so much sidewalk-rage.  Afternoon Champs Elysees is definitely not for me.

Galeries Lafayette was not as bad, but still fairly crowded.  And, a funny revelation, it was crowded full of people who looked like me.  Asians!  The upswing of wealth in China probably leads to a whole lot of brand name shopping in major cities, and Paris was no exception.  Everyone from middle-age men with dad bods (or...maybe the Beijing bikini) to fashionista young women were snapping up the latest handbags, makeup, accessories, whatever.  All the different designers had Mandarin-speaking salespeople.  This was my favorite: L'Occitane not only had a Chinese saleswoman, but they also staffed a Caucasian young woman who spoke almost fluent Mandarin.  I was so flabbergasted when I heard the two staff chatting amongst themselves that I actually asked her, "wait, you speak Chinese?!"  (Hello, I must have been the only Chinese person there who didn't actually speak Mandarin)  She said she studied Chinese in school.  That is probably a brilliant move for anyone who wants to get into the retail/service industry nowadays.

After my session of window shopping, I headed to the neighborhood near the hotel that Alex, Jackie, Harry, and I previously stayed, a little north of the Galeries Lafayette.  I wanted so badly to have dinner at Le Petit Canard, a tiny restaurant that served delicious dishes featuring duck, but they were fully booked for the night, as were several other restaurants on that street.  Eventually, I had to settle for a...burger joint.  And not only that, I had a chicken sandwich at a burger restaurant.  It was a pretty lame end to my evening.

The night was still young, though.  I spent the rest of the night walking around the vicinity of my current hotel, which turned out to be in the theater district and right down the block from the Folie Bergere (which I only know about from the movie Anastasia, when she's frolicking in Paris for the first time).  I wandered aimlessly and was content to get lost in the little backstreets.  There were lots of people around since it was a Saturday night so I wasn't too worried.  It was really cool to hover around the nightlife (albeit tame nightlife because we all know I can't do untz untz clubbing) and see the locals in their natural habitat.

The next morning, I woke up early and raced to Champs Elysees for a bit of window shopping before it got cray cray crowded.  It was a good move, because there were hardly any people out on the streets and I got to go inside the flagship Sephora store relatively unhindered and not needing to elbow people out of my way.  I again wandered my way back to Le Marais, where it was getting super packed with the Sunday afternoon revelers, but the big problem now was that my feet were absolutely killing me.  At this point, I had walked two days of over ten miles in d'orsay cut suede flats that sometimes hurt me when I wear them just around the office, not to mention hobbling over the cobblestones of Paris.  I even bought a cheap pair of flats at H&M which did the trick in calming my aching puppies for a couple of hours, but I was suffering bad.  I wound up sitting in a Starbucks for a while to recaffeinate and soothe my feet, which kind of helped because I was able to make it all the way back to the hotel on foot, where I picked up my stuff and headed off to the airport.  And that was it, my whirlwind weekend in Paris!

Hell Week

This work week and the previous one were pretty rough.  I've been trying to sign on a little earlier than usual to get work done (my 12:30pm, which is 7:30am EST) and still wind up working until my 11:30pm or 12:00am.  I know the upcoming weeks won't be any easier with the holidays coming up.

Hella Weekend

Today, I treated myself (one might say) to a beautiful day out walking.  I logged more than 16 miles (and 39,700 or so steps...you have no idea how upset I am that I didn't hit 40k) from walking to Greenwich, and then around the West End area afterwards.

Greenwich was much more beautiful than I remember.  My first time here was in a nasty downpour for my architecture class.  The second time here was possibly during a hangover before I knew what a hangover was (Ivy, I'm looking at you girl <3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">


<3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">*Yo, I just re-read my post and I have no idea what happened here.  Sorry, I really want to fix it but it's almost 1am and I'm supes tired.*
<3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">
<3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">I took the 188 bus all the way back to Russell Square, just so I could see the return trip in a different way.  When I got off, I wandered around the old British Museum area, a bit around Chinatown and Soho, before having a quick dinner at Herman ze German for currywurst and pommes frites.  Healthy day, no?  After, I hit up Piccadilly Circus (also a mistake, I wanted to trample people) and Regent's Street for a bit of upscale window shopping.  Sorry, Alex, I may or may not have spent all your money buying a perfume at Jo Malone that makes me smell like a strong cup of chai tea.  Sorry, not sorry.  And then I walked all the way home!

Tomorrow, planning on just relaxing (probably more walking involved) and visiting my coworker's place in Hampstead to play some board games and hang out with his bunny rabbits.  And then we do this shiz all over again next week.

Cheerio loves!

Wham

I did such a stupid thing.

Just after I posted about my morning runs, I go and mess it all up today.

I was jogging along the north bank, slow as ever, y'know, trying to conserve my energy to go all the way to Trafalgar Square.  I was listening to Serial season 2, which is super interesting, but I realized I prefer upbeat music when I run so I changed to Hamilton, track 2, "Aaron Burr, Sir".  The first few bars play and WHAM-O, I trip on a bit of pavement and instead of falling to the ground, I am obstructed by a piece of wood put up around a construction site and slam my left shoulder right into it.

It's like those scenes on cop shows when they need to open a locked door so someone with massive deltoids backs up and then smashes into the door and it always works.

I am alright.  No scratches, it didn't even really hurt at the moment, but what's scaring me now is that my upper arm hurts depending on how I move it.  I feel like John McCain; can't really lift my arm high or move it behind me.  Before I sneezed while my arm was on the table and the sharp movement from my sneeze resulted in intense pain.

So I guess here's my excuse to go easy on exercise (i.e. be a bum) for the next few days.

Running, or fast walking

In the mornings, I run.  My running speed and endurance level leave much to be desired - what would I call it?  Jogging?  Walking fast with my arms pumping and my legs slightly kicking?  I'm trying to get as much running in before it gets cold, and as a way for me to get exercise because otherwise I spend about 10 hours a day parked in front of my desk.  This activity level is an improvement over my activity level in New York; though I was a member at a gym, often my 2+ hour commute and/or busy projects at work limited the amount of time I could go to the gym.  Now with a 30 second commute from bed to desk, I have quite a lot more leisure time, from about 9:30am to 1:30pm GMT.

My preferred "running" path so far is along the Thames, on the south bank, from Millennium Bridge west to almost Westminster Bridge.  It get a little crowded around the London Eye so I usually turn around then.  I've also gone that direction north of the river, but the buildings and construction sometimes obstruct the path.

One of my favorite things, one thing that will never get old, is looking up and seeing Christopher Wren's great dome atop St. Paul's Cathedral.  It's especially eerie at night because the dome is not lit by floodlights or anything, just a faint dark ghostly shadow towering above.  In the morning, though, I love coming to the street at the south wing, then turning left and walking across the Millennium Bridge, sometimes peeking behind me to see the beautiful symmetry and geometry of the dome.  When you're on the Millennium Bridge in the morning, you can see just how low the tide is in the Thames below.  Sometimes you see people combing the gravely river bed for broken bits of pottery or sunken re-surfaced treasures.  Along the south bank, there's actually a beach that winds up being revealed at low tide, and yesterday I saw some very talented artists making sand sculptures.

Friday, 30 September

I ran along the north bank all the way to Westminster/Big Ben, and then wandered into Belgravia for the grand opening of Dominique Ansel London.  I skipped the crazy long Cronut line to get some pastries to bring back home.  I got a DKA (chef's version of the kouign amann, basically a pop-over croissant hybrid), a chorizo croissant, a chocolate cream puff in the shape of a very cute owl, a jasmine mousse, and an Earl Grey/blackberry/lemon doughnut.  It rained on my hour-long walk back home, so you bet I was guarding that bag with my life and shielding it with whatever I could.

Saturday, 1 October

I can't believe it's October!  This morning, Alex and I popped over to the south bank again for a bit of wandering.  We found the Hays Galleria, a cute covered market/mall and had a really good breakfast at Cafe Rouge.  Then, in the drizzly weather, we walked in the area just south of Tower Bridge called Shad Thames, looking at rustic-industrial-chic neighborhoods.  When we crossed Tower Bridge back to the north side of the Thames, the weather miraculously cleared up, though it did rain again on and off all day.  We headed to Spitalfields Market and wandered amongs the independent craftsmen and shopkeepers.  Finally, we had reservations at a pub in the West End for afternoon tea.  I won't name the pub, because tea was pretty awful.  After that, we walked around the crazy shopping areas of Tottenham Court Road, the art shops in Soho, and finally had Indian for dinner.

Sunday, 2 October

I overslept.  Feeling super guilty, because I didn't come here to sleep in on the weekends, I urged Alex to rush to the Columbia Road Flower Market in Shoreditch, about 40 minutes away and which was slated to close in an hour from when we left.  We walked so fast that we made it in like 25 minutes, but it was insanity when we arrived.  The flower market is just a narrow street lined with flower vendors, and the crowd to just walk through was almost a standstill.  Mind, this was a pretty polite crowd; I heard quiet mumblings around me of "oh, this is quite stressful, isn't it?" but I imagined if this happened in New York, there'd be so much more heated feelings.  My inner New Yorker started walking more aggressively just to be able to get through.  After, we found a mini-Smorgasburg-like food market in Shoreditch and had one of the most fantastic meals in London yet!  I spotted a stall called Makimayo and they displayed paper cones filled with bits of fried chicken covered in various sauces.  Yep, count me in!  We got a sweet/sour/spicy sauce and a spicy mayo sauce with popcorn chicken over rice and salad.  Wowwwwwwww, so good!

After Shoreditch, we took a super long walk west towards our old stomping grounds of Nido (now called something else), St. Pancras/King's Cross, and the British Library.  It was quite emotional for me to return to where it all started - where I met Alex.

Let's jump in the Way Back Machine to January 15, 2010, a few days after we arrived in London for the semester.  It was a really rainy day and we had planned to hit up the British Library and the British Museum.  My group of friends ran into some other friends who had trailed behind in the lobby of the British Museum.  In that second group was the man I'm going to marry.

Present day, almost: I was cooing like a crazy person.  "Oooh, this is where we first met!  Can you believe it honey?!  Did you ever expect we'd be back here again, engaged?!"  We had a late afternoon beer at a pub behind the library, and then wandered around the back of St. Pancras/King's Cross stations, which is a revitalized neighborhood now, very hipster, kind of High Line-ish.

Finally, we hit up another old haunt: Angel, specifically the restaurant Le Mercury on Upper Street.  This place holds such dear memories for me, as it was the place where our group of friends had our last dinner in London.  One big table, about 10 or 12 of us sitting around, enjoying delicious food, pretending it was Melissa's birthday to get a free dessert....  This time was more subdued, just me and Alex sharing calamari and a huge melted Camembert wheel, duck, and their epic dark chocolate tart.  Alex asked me if it was as good as I remember.  At first, I was like, nah nothing is as good as a memory, but then I realized it was actually even better.

Monday, 3 October

Discovered my favorite, favorite, favorite graffiti ever:



Tuesday, 4 October

Wasn't feeling all too great this morning, so I just took a long stroll up Holborn to Covent Garden and back.

Wednesday, 5 October

To make up for my lazy day yesterday, I took a nice long "run" along the south side of the Thames.

Thursday, 6 October

Another cheat day for me.  I walked about an hour towards Selfridge's department store.  All the salesfolks were asking me repeatedly if I needed help.  I'm like, I have earbuds in!  First, I can't hear you.  Second, I am trying to not have to hear you.  Please let me browse in peace!  Does that irritate you ever?

Alrighty time for the final push of this week.  Monday is actually a holiday (Columbus Day), but because I'm taking off next Friday, I may do some work to keep up.  What's happening next Friday, you ask?

Paris!

Recap, Again

Work the last few days has been more of me sitting around, waiting for things to upload or download (I'm looking at you, Google and Bing Ads Editors and Kenshoo...😒) so I have time for a little post.

Wednesday, 28 September

Today, I took a nice long walk to Canary Wharf, where Alex's office is located.  I walked around the Tower of London, which was looking very majestic and brilliant against the sunny cloudless blue sky.  Then, I wove through the north part of St. Katharine's Docks and along the Thames until I hit the distant Financial District about an hour's walk outside of London.  Canary Wharf has got major companies like Citi and Credit Suisse, but what interested me more was the shopping mall, of course.  I had a quick lunch at Nando's, a coffee to go from Caffe Nero, and then hopped on the Tube back home to get to work.

Thursday, 29 September

This was the first rainy day since we arrived, almost exactly a week ago!  We were very lucky to arrive at the end of an Indian summer-like period, though now it's just about the same autumnal temperature as New York.  It was just barely misting when I left the apartment, but when I got to Embankment, it was full-on pouring big rain drops, so I ducked for cover under a bridge and then under some building overhangs.  Turns out that 20% chance of rain wound up happening!

I headed to The British Museum, armed with a Rick Steves audio guide podcast.  I had it on at 1.5x speed, and walked quickly through the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek wings.  It was kind of cute to have Rick Steves babbling in the background while I meandered through the oft-visited British Museum again, sort of just drying off and waiting for the rain outside to stop.  Finally, I popped over to the Brunswick Center, taking the same route I used to use when we walked to and from NIDO, and did some grocery shopping at Waitrose.

-----

Saturday's weather is supposed to be dreadful, so we're looking for a cute day trip for Sunday...thinking about Brighton?  I'll let you guys know how it goes!  Have a great end of the week, everyone!

Recap!

I have been wanting to blog for a few days now, but haven't found the time.  I'm working right now, but an Excel file is taking quite a long time to open, so I finally found a few minutes free!

It has been a blissful few days here in London.  The weather has been blessedly sunny and relatively warm.  I caught a little cold, likely from the stress of moving and air travel, but I'm on the mend now, and luckily even though sniffly and congested I had a great weekend.

Thursday, 22 September

We've arrived!  After a long time in the customs line, waiting for the Uber, and a trafficky drive from Heathrow, we arrived in our flat in the City of London.  Our flat is comfortable, and though a bit small, perfect for our temporary needs.  It's so close to everything, although the shops immediately in our vicinity close very early (some don't even open on the weekends) since it's a business district and they're banking on people being in the neighborhood just for work.  After we put down our bags, we were starving and took a 10 minute walk to Leadenhall Market (right next to The Leaky Cauldron in movie 1) and had our first back-in-London dinner at none other but Pizza Express.  I had a Middle-Eastern-inspired pizza with lamb meatballs and arugula; Alex had a calzone stuffed to the gills with Italian cold cuts.  We promptly crashed that night.

Friday, 23 September

First work day.  Since I didn't have to start until about 2pm, we took a wee walk around the neighborhood in the morning, hitting up our old favorite Twinings, weaving up through Soho/Covent Garden, and grabbing a quick lunch at Dishoom ("Bombay bistro" - really amazing curries and daal, would so go back in a heartbeat).  Sadly, as we were coming home I started feeling icky, and it did not abate as the day went on.  I actually signed off in the evening, went to Sainsbury for a quick grocery shopping, and we cooked our first meal in the apartment, a very simple spaghetti, chicken with Nando's marinade, and arugula.  We promptly crashed again.

Saturday, 24 September

Weekend!  We crossed over the Thames into Southwark and into one of my favorite places in all of London: Borough Market.  Borough Market is a gastronomical feast for all the senses.  There are plenty of stalls for cheesemongers, bread bakers, sweets makers, and a ton of international street foods.  This is also where Alex and I had...kangaroo burgers six years ago!  I think I'll try to come on weekday mornings to buy some fresh produce, which seems kind of hard to come by in the supermarkets.

Then, we had planned to meet my coworker at his home in Hampstead Heath.  We took a nice ~3 hour stroll from Southwark through Soho and Covent Garden, our old stomping grounds of Bloomsbury, the very "alt" neighborhood of Camden, and finally the prim and proper neighborhoods of Primrose Hill and Hampstead Heath.  It was great fun for us to see all the enclaves along the way, especially the very chic and sophisticated areas up north.

Sunday, 25 September

More weekend!  First, we had a glutinous full English breakfast at a greasy spoon in Southwark.  To walk it off, we wove through Southwark and across the river again at Westminster, then through the gorgeous rows of embassies in Belgravia.  I hadn't walked through this area much, and I loved wandering through the rich marble facades.  Our destination was Harrods, which did not disappoint.  We meandered back towards Soho/Chinatown and had dinner at Belgo; I had a big ol' pot of herb & garlic mussels and fries and a raspberry beer.  Yum!

Monday, 26 September

Real work week.  I started off the morning with a run by the Thames, down to Tower of London and through St. Katharine's Docks.  We had visited this area with my architecture class in 2010, and it was fun to reacquaint myself.  I also walked around the Spitalfields Market area, until coming back to the apartment at about noon to shower, eat, and start work.

Tuesday, 27 September

How is it the 27th of September already?  I started this morning with a run in the opposite direction, also along the Thames but towards Charring Cross.  My ankle was a little sore, so I kind of gave up running and just went for a nice long walk along Regent Street, Oxford Street, and across the British Museum and back for work.

Can't wait for more exploring time in the mornings and this weekend.  In the meantime, signing off so I can sign on to work.  Cheers, friends!  :)

My Future Mother-in-Law Can't Pronounce...

Portugal.  (She says it "Portugo" for some reason)

Hello from Portugal!  The land of Cristiano Ronaldo - I felt like I had to call that out for you, Christie.  Just a quick update while I'm waiting to board my next flight to London.

The flight over here was uneventful, too short for a decent amount of rest so I'll have to find the best coffee shop the City of London has to offer.  I was hoping to get the two seats next to me empty in a row of four, but alas a woman who spoke only Spanish and Portuguese climbed over me and proceeded to spread all the way out in the middle two seats.  She fully lay down across the seats with her head in my armpit and her feet in the girl on the other end's lap.  I was pretty pissed and trying to make my presence known (like, kind of nudging her with my side to remind her that she crossed over into my bubble and could she please back the eff up) but my anger melted away when I woke up from my nap and found her sitting upright, with something CRAZY going on with her hair; she must have smushed it into a terrible shape after sleeping on my arm rest.  That scene from There's Something About Mary comes to mind.  The schadenfreude in me was like, "I'm not even mad anymore."

It looks like a beautiful day in Lisbon, Portugal...from what I can see from the airport terminal.  Boarding in 15 minutes!  I'll be greeting you all from London next!

Ciao!

When A Man Is Tired Of London, He Is Tired Of Life

Here I am, on the precipice of one of life’s great adventures.  I think about the differences between this trip and the previous one, a study abroad experience in 2010, and although it seems like only six years have passed, in reality so much has changed.  I’m about to join my fiancé to work in London for three months – a city where we met while studying abroad in 2010.  That semester abroad brought me so many happy memories, lifelong friendships, and most importantly, my future husband!

Six years ago, I didn’t have a texting plan and I used a blocky slide phone; no one I knew had a smartphone.  Now, I’m charging my iPhone at an airport bar and every single person here is staring at a glowing laptop or mobile phone screen.  I was a college student, living on a very tight budget that semester.  Now, I am a real adult in the working world.  I had barely been away from home, having commuted to NYU.  Since then, I’ve traveled – not too extensively, but enough to have broadened my horizons and to have witnessed the beauty of parts of the world – and moved out of the comfort of home.  I hope I’ve grown into a more level-headed, well-rounded person in the last six years, and I hope London will welcome us back with open arms.

As we were driving to JFK this evening, we were greeted by one of the most stunning sunsets; the sky was first wispy with cotton candy-like pink clouds, then turned fiery and orange red.  I like to think New York wanted to show us a nice last view.

Enough ruminating!

I’m very proud of Alex for all he’s accomplished in his brief career so far, so much so that his company is basically funding this entire stint abroad.  Alex arrived in London in 2010 as an NYU Stern student studying accounting and he wound up in a Big Four firm after graduation.  (Very different story from me, who arrived in NYU London thinking I’d be deep in medical school now.)

We will be staying in an apartment/studio/hotel kind of set up in The City of London, like the OG square mile city of Londoninium.  I’ve been telling people we’re between St. Paul’s Cathedral and The Monument (as in, the monument commemorating the 1666 Great Fire).  The apartment is just over the river from the Borough Market/Southwark scene.

While Alex goes off to work every day in Canary Wharf, I’ll be making myself nice and cozy and working in the apartment.  I am so blessed and grateful to my company for allowing me to work remotely for such a long time.  (Wouldn’t have this opportunity if I were in med school!)  I’ll be working East Coast hours, so I have to get used to something like a 2pm to 11pm schedule…that’ll probably be a little rough at first since I’m not a night person.  Come to think of it, I’m also not a morning person, and I don’t like the afternoon slump, so…what kind of a person am I???  I’m going to push myself to go out and exercise and run errands in the morning, and just get to unwind and enjoy the bustling life surrounding me.

The Move

Packing for this trip was extra hard.  I had just moved in with Alex this past July, but he had been in that same apartment for four years, and had accumulated a lot of…things.  When we come back from London, the goal is to move into Manhattan shortly after, so we also had to move all our things out of the apartment, on top of packing for London.  Let me tell you, I never want to relive those last few days of sweaty schlepping and running up and down stars.  When we move into our next place, I’ll hire movers.

Another big change was that when we studied abroad, for the most part we were able to check two pieces of baggage for free.  I didn’t even pack that many items with me, basically the minimum for living, but I did have a second bag to check, for which I just had to fork over $100.  The business of air travel is a racket.

The Next 103 Days

Yeah, we already calculated the number of days until we have to come home, but this is the case where the countdown is wistful, something that I'm not terribly looking forward to.  I remember the elation when my countdown to departure hit 0 days...imagine my sadness come January 3, 2017.

Before I get too sad thinking about the end, though, I really should just live the next 3 months to the fullest - visit new places, revisit old haunts, meet some new people, find old friends still in London, eat great food, travel around Europe as much as we can....  It's going to be a good 103 days.

Well, peace out America, it's been real.

Things I Miss About London

- British people

- British accents

- sweet Thai chilli crisps

- Tesco

- Waitrose

- onion and garlic dip

- 6 Bedford Square

- Dr. David Urch

- Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

- NIDO bathroom mirror

- Room 3.85

- fish and chips

- eat-in Earl Grey at Costa

- Humaira Tandoori

- naan

- samosas

- chicken tikka masala

- Muller Corners yoghurt

- the Underground

- double decker buses

- Brunswick Center

- British currency

- being overage

- Pizza Express

- hot waiter at Pizza Express, Euston Road

- the British Library

- the British Museum

- Primark

- Harrod's

- saying "Cheers"

- the Gherkin

- Greenwich

- Royal Festival Hall

- Westminster

- red telephone booths

- sunset from 12.30

- photo wall

- Burlington Arcade

- Oyster Card

- tapping in

- cooking

- potlucks

- my roommate

- Twinings collection

- Trafalgar Square

- London markets

- afternoon tea

- Victoria & Albert Museum

- Notting Hill/Portobello Road Market

- Le Mercury

- Chilango

- Tortilla

- instant oatmeal

- texting

- hair dryer

- Boots

- taramasalata

- cream crackers

- Nivea products

- Q Chicken

- SHINE kids
- electric kettle
- microwave dinners
- pita bread
- caramelized onion hoummus
- Moroccan hoummus
- driving on the wrong side of the road

- walking on the wrong side of hallways/stairs

- standing on the right of escalators

- minding the gap

- ground floors

- bold and mighty architecture

- NIDO showerhead

- NYU in London organic chemistry exams

- Georgian architecture

- Senate House
- freedom
- independence

Hello Goodbye

Well, I'm home.  It's like...waking up from a really, really, really, REALLY good dream.

It's great to see my family again and be in my own home again; to have a bathroom in which I can actually stretch my arms and not bruise myself; to have a regular-sized refrigerator and not a cold locker; to have my piano; to sleep in my own bed...

...but I miss so much about London and what my life was like there!  I miss my London family, the free museums, 6 Bedford Square, Room Awesome, Tesco/Waitrose...  I want to walk to campus again.  I want to buy £1 microwave meals and crisps at Tesco.  I want to get lost in The British Museum or National Gallery.  I want to stay out really late and lose my voice screaming the lyrics to "Don't Stop Believing" at The Rocket.  I want Indian food!

-----

It's related, I promise: yesterday, I caught up on the final episodes of Ugly Betty.

I didn't think I could be so affected by, my life so invested in, a television show.  I remember the first few episodes years back, there was all this uproar about a show with an ugly girl as the protagonist: people thought it was groundbreaking, people thought it was stereotyping.  Whatever, I watched all four seasons dutifully.  These last few episodes got me thinking how much the life of Betty Suarez mirrors the life of Sandra Moy.  

It's eerie, in fact, how similar we are.  Betty gets her braces off (check), Betty writes a blog (check), Betty loses some weight (check), Betty meets boys (well...I need to work on that), Betty goes to London (CHECK), Betty blogs about London (check and check, obviously).

I cried when Betty leaves her life and her job in New York to move to bigger, better things in London.  When she says goodbye to her family...that scene got me.  That was what I was like, leaving home earlier this year.  Honestly, when I was watching that episode, it was like looking back into my own life.  Then, I rejoiced when she was frolicking around London with her new successful career, and I still can't believe they made Trafalgar Square such an integral part of her life.  Seriously, Silvio Horta, way to jack my story!!  Just kidding, I really enjoyed every minute of it.

One day, one day.  When I am a successful cardiologist (or something), I will move to London and do a Betty Suarez.

Le Ciel Bleu

Good morning from London, from my last full day in London!!

This week flew by so fast, unfairly so.  I mean it's great to be done with finals and classes.  BUT I MISS LONDON ALREADY.  I'm dreading leaving, and I don't know what I'm going to do with myself...

Last night we had dinner at Le Mercury again.  It was a beautiful scene to behold, all my friends sitting around a table, candlelights and romantic French music, laughter, delicious food...

And afterwards, I joined the NYU Global Medical Brigades fundraiser at The Rocket, a nearby pub.  Yes, that was rather fun.  It was a good time to let loose and see all my friends (and me, most likely) act like idiots.

Oh what an amazing four months it has been.

Today is the bye-bye barbecue in Bedford Square.  I wonder what British BBQ tastes like...?

Seven. More. Days

Oh, no.  The dreaded time has come.  We're nearing the end of Spring 2010!

I've been in denial ever since we passed the half-way point of this semester.  Let's face it, I'm not ready to go home yet!  I've had a super-productive semester - lived by myself, gone all around Europe, and still managed to do well in school - but I am greedy for more.

This coming week, I have an orgo final, cognition final, and social psychology final, and then I'm done.  This past week was absolutely awful: cognition paper, architecture term project, and social psychology group project.  I think two out of those three went alright.  I spent the entire day doing orgo today and I'm quite ready to burst.  Plus, I have another entire day to look forward to carboxyl groups and amides and whatnot.  FUN!

Seven more days and I'll be home, but London will always have a special place in my heart, as will all the people I've met here and the experiences I've had.  <3

I'm just a girl / Standing in front of a boy / Asking that boy to love her

Today I went to Notting Hill!  Yes, like the movie.

I feared it would rain today, but the weather was fantastic while we were there.  It is pouring right now, though.  We took the Tube out to Notting Hill Gate and walked around the extremely crowded Portobello Road Market.  There are lots of antique/junk shops and fruits and veggies and things you'd expect of a market.  We had lunch at a greasy spoon diner and then smoothies and just meandered around the neighborhood.

Notting Hill is really beautiful.  The houses come in two flavors, Italianate or...regular row houses.  The Italianate houses are based on palazzos in Italia.  The row houses are all uniquely painted and colourful!  I adored the architecture even more than the market itself.  Here, have a taste:

And yes, I visited the Travel Bookshop, but it wasn't exactly like Hugh Grant's.  It was really nice, though, and I flipped through some nice travel books with fantastic photos.

Cheeeerio!

I Survived Volcano 2010

Yeah...the whole volcano business was funny until we got our makeup class for the last day of classes, 6:30 - 9:30 pm.  See, what had happened was...my professor got stuck in Spain, so he missed class, so now we have to sacrifice three hours that night to learn about cognitive psychology.  Oh, just the thought of it pains me.

What a busy, busy few weeks ahead!  Orgo Lab final next Tuesday; Cognition paper and Architecture paper due on the same day, next Wednesday; Social presentation next Thursday; Orgo final next next Monday; Orgo written assignment next next Tuesday; Cognition final next next Wednesday; Social final next next Thursday; NYUL FAREWELL BARBECUE NEXT NEXT FRIDAY.

An American in Paris

I'm about a week late in writing about this, but it's been a busy week back (as every week is busy).

I went to Paris last weekend!  It was stunning, and I likely would have fallen in love had I had more time there.  My friends and I took the really really really Eurostar out of St. Pancras International at about 5:25 am, to arrive in Paris by about 9 am.  The first day, we went out to Versailles.  I felt exceedingly special because we got to skip the ridiculously long line because we have student visas.  The inside of the palace was undoubtedly grand...but to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed with it.  I've seen other palaces here in the UK and in Italy, and I am a bit sick of seeing a royal bedchamber and the funny-shaped short beds that royals used to sleep in.  I did like the Hall of Mirrors, though.  I am a big fan of chandeliers and mirrored surfaces, so I was in heaven.  It was beautiful and shiny and bright and grand.  Finally, we wandered around the gardens.  The gardens were extremely impressive, as far as the eye could see!  ACRES of green and dusty paths, statues, fountains, trelises, trees....

By the time we rushed back to Paris, we JUST missed the last ticket sale at Musee d'Orsay, so we headed down the Seine to Notre Dame.  The church seems a bit smaller than what I expected, after having seen St. Peter's and Italy's Duomos, but the inside was gorgeous.  The stained glass windows and rose windows were huge and beautiful, and there was a service going on so the whole place was lit with a heavenly glow.

After Notre Dame, we had dinner in St. Michael, a neighborhood known for cheap eats and souvenirs; it kind of reminds me of little places in downtown Manhattan/Chinatown/Lower East Side.  I had a super-salty French onion soup, chicken, and delicious creme brulee.

We headed back to our hostel, St. Christopher's, which was one of the better hostel experiences we've had so far.  Our room was an 8-person bunk room, but very spacious.  Each bunk had a curtain and a little reading lamp inside, so it was good for privacy.  We even had a sink and a kitchen table in the room.  My friends and I were a group of four, and there were some other people in our room who didn't bug us...but made the room smell less than desirable. 

The next morning, after a free breakfast provided by the hostel consisting of unlimited baguettes, Nutella, jam, cereal, coffee, and orange juice, we headed to Musee du Louvre!  We got there pretty early so there were no lines.  We made a beeline towards Winged Nike of Samothrace, and behind her, the Mona Lisa.  Everyone complains when they see her, "She's so small!" but I still thought she was pretty awesome.  After that, I wandered around the museum on my own, proud to say that I saw everything I wanted to see.  After Mona Lisa, I went for the Greco-Roman statues, including Venus de Milo, another beauty.  Then, I saw the Code of Hammurabi and a bunch of huge paintings.  My favorite is David's Liberty Leading the People.  After the museum, we headed to the Jardin de Tuileries and walked all the way down towards the Arc de Triomphe.  What a long but nice walk it was!  We spotted that funny obelisk thing, and window shopped down the Champs Elysees.  We even went inside the flagship Louis Vuitton store...!  Along the way, my friends and I stopped for silhouette souvenirs.  It was so cool, just like in Ragtime, when the guy just cut out our silhouettes with just paper and a pair of scissors, freehand!

When we reached the Arc, there was a ceremony going on to honor the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  We climbed up to see a great 360 view of Paris, and then observed the ceremony going on below.  It was so touching to see war veterans carrying flags and wearing medallions representing their devotion to France. 

After, we had dinner at a nice restaurant and then headed towards the Eiffel Tower.  Along the way, we stopped for banana chocolate crepes (to-die-for), and when we reached the Tower, it was exactly the top of the hour, so we saw it sparkle!  After lots of struggling to get night-time photos of the Eiffel Tower, and seeing it sparkle a second time, my friends rode a carousel and had some cotton candy...and then we headed back.

The next morning, we went to Sacre Coeur Basilica high on the hill of Montmartre.  The church is...interesting-looking.  I'm picky about my buildings, so I don't really like how it looks, but it is indeed very grand and majestic.  In fact, my favorite part was sitting inside and watching the sunlight filter through the stained glass.  I think in all my time visiting churches, I've never seen such beautiful light from stained glass windows.  It is probably never sunny enough when I visit churches typically.  After Sacre Coeur, we walked around the quaint Montmartre, and then to the Moulin Rouge, bypassing the red light district...that was awkward and interesting.

Finally, our last stop was Musee d'Orsay.  We first had a picnic in the Jardin de Tuileries, and the weather was so gorgeous and sunny that I got a nice tan.  Finally, we had 40 minutes to run through the museum since we had our Eurostar to catch.  The museum is a converted railway station, and the inside is enormous, bright, and beautiful.  This museum is possibly my favorite when it comes to collection, because they had loads of impressionism and Monet!!  I could easily spend hours in d'Orsay the next time I go to Paris...

Finally, it was time to bid adieu to Paris!  We departed the busy Gare du Nord and headed back to London.

What an amazing city Paris is.  It is everything I expected and wanted it to be.  People were surprisingly friendly, and everything was absolutely beautiful!  We went at a good time of year too, not toooo hot and crowded, but just warm enough and sunny.  I can't wait to go back!!

Buenos dias, buon giorno, kalimera

Twelve days, seven cities, three countries, ten friends, infinite memories.

MADRID

Madrid was beautiful, small, comfortable, and relaxing.  Our hostel was actually more like a really nice hotel.  We were within walking distance of everything.  We took our time meandering around.  We saw some of the big sites like the Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Espana, and the Museo del Prado (speed-walked to all the masterpieces in 40 minutes).  We spent nearly an entire day walking through the Parque del Buen Retiro, enjoying the spring weather and sunshine.  Madrid food, unfortunately, was not remarkable.  We tried paella and churros con chocolate, but the cuisine wasn't really special or amazing.  We had heard that Madrilenos might be racist against Asians...but since we knew some Spanish, we got along with everyone and were able to communicate well.  Madrid actually seemed kind of quiet; perhaps it is not peak tourist season yet, but everything was very relaxed and mellow.

MILANO

Milan was even more beautiful!  Il Duomo exceeded my expectations, and was by far my favorite part.  While the church itself was dark and not very interesting, the rooftop was spectacular.  The day we were up there was dominated by a sunny blue sky.  I just sat up amongst the spires and mused for a good hour.  One of the tour groups up there started singing.  I sketched a couple of the Gothic spires.  Then, we visited the neighboring Galleria for some bull-testicle-spinning and window shopping.  For dinner that night, we had an all-you-can-eat buffet of antipasti, provided we buy a drink at the bar.  Let's just say, Europeans are hardcore about their alcohol, and mojitos do not taste good.  We capped off the night with gelati and a leisurely walk back to our hotels.  Milan was very beautiful for the one day we saw it.  I reckon one day is just enough, unless you want to see The Last Supper at Santa Maria della Grazie, but that requires reservations months in advance.  The bits of Milan that we saw were clean and neat.  The only thing I rue about the city is that the view from the Duomo isn't great; the Duomo's spires itself are a sight to behold, but the city is a mishmash of modern buildings that sort of mar the skyline.  One thing I adore about Florence's cityscape is its uniformity of rustic terracotta roofs.  Overall, Milan was lovely, and the next morning, we were together as a group of ten, about to travel to my favorite city in the world...

FIRENZE

Florence, Florence, Florence!  The day we arrived happened to be my birthday.  After dropping our things off, I rushed everyone off to il Duomo.  I was the designated tour guide for Florence, and I relished my role.  First, we toured the inside of the Duomo, but found the cupola was closed due to Holy Week.  Instead, we climbed the campanile.  Incidentally, it started hailing as we stood in line!  When we got to the top, we had a gorgeous view of Brunelleschi's dome and heard the campanile's bells thunder.  Then, we did a quick walk down towards the Arno, hitting il Mercato del Porcellino, Piazza della Repubblica, Piazza della Signorina, and the Uffizi courtyard.  Finally, we walked all the way up Lungarno to Trattoria Pizzaria Vecchio Carlino for my favorite tagliatelli con crema di tartufo e funghi.  I had a little surprise after dinner: the waiter shut the lights and brought out a tiramisu cake, courtesy of my friends!  I'm not gonna lie, I teared up a little.  It was the first time anyone had surprised me with anything for my birthday.  It was delicious, and everyone took turns feeding me cake.  I didn't like so much being the center of attention, but it was just so thoughtful of them to make me feel so happy on my 20th birthday in Florence.  After, we had good rollicking laughs in ...Slurp next door.  The next day, some of us waited on a ridiculously long line for the Uffizi.  It was around 2 hours long...and a preview of how long lines in Europe can be.  The Uffizi was so worth it, though!  We saw the old favorites like Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera and Titian's Venus of Urbino...yeah.  We Florence alumni also took turns telling stories about pieces of art.  It was a lovely morning.  Afterwards, we had a quick lunch at Cantinetta dei Verrazzano, where I've been waiting to have foccaccia for two years (last year, I heard about the place and found it...but couldn't brave the language barrier to order a foccaccia sandwich).  Then, we had a delicious lunch-dessert at Perche no? across the street.  I had my favorite pistacchio gelato.  It was rainy by this point, so we went inside...a church!  Orsanmichele, to be specific, another place that was closed last year and I intended to return to.  After a few minutes in the church and some praying, we went back outside and discovered that the weather was beautiful!  Grey clouds had shifted and it was sunny and warm.  To Piazzale Michelangelo!  We hiked up the hill to the point across the Arno where you can see all of bella Firenze.  It was perfect: you could see the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and all the adorable, beautiful rooftops of the old city.  When I got up to Piazzale Michelangelo, I was reminded why I love Florence.  We sat up near the church of San Miniato.  My neighbor here at Nido studied abroad in Florence last year and told us the story of San Miniato: apparently he was beheaded, picked up his head, and walked up this hill...and is now buried where the church stands.  GREAT STORY, so I had to go see it.  When we got there, it was just in time for Gregorian chants, which were very beautiful and resounding.  We sat outside the church and observed the golden hour just before sunset.  Bellisima.

ROMA

Rome was definitely a crazy experience.  We arrived on Holy Saturday and immediately went to the Vatican.  After waiting on line for a good two hours, we were herded inside the Vatican Museums.  It was very grand and filled with all sorts of art.  We made a beeline for the main exhibit: the Sistine Chapel!  It was interesting and breathtaking to be under the magnificent chapel ceiling.  It was also odd because it has turned into such a tourist attraction; people crowd inside and turn their cameras skyward, pushing and shoving one another.  Ehh.  Afterwards, I really wanted to go inside St. Peter's Basilica but it was closed early to prepare for Easter mass!  We decided to go up to Gianicolo hill to watch the sunset...but it was badly situated so the sun actually set out of sight.  We just watched the sky get darker.  But, it was great, being in the company of nine friends, just sitting at the base of a column and enjoying the atmosphere.  That night, we visited Trevi Fountain and tossed in our coins.  Hopefully one day we will return to Rome.  The next morning, Easter Sunday, poured.  We tried visiting the secular sites like Coliseum and Roman Forum because they would be open...but they also happened to be outdoors, which sucked for my sneakers.  I think they still haven't properly dried.  Anyway...the rain sort of ruined the entire day.  We saw the Coliseum, Forum, the municipal buildings, Trajan's Column, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Castel Sant' Angelo, and the outside of the Vatican (so...we can say we were at the Vatican on Easter!  woot).  Essentially, we walked across Rome in the rain.  Finally, the third morning, we visited Santa Maria della Vittoria to see none other than Bernini's The Ecstacy of St. Teresa.  My friends couldn't help but giggle and smirk at the innuendo once they read about the statue, but I still appreciated the amazing sculpture-work of Bernini.  I've always admired the marble drapery and golden beams of light from photos, but it was awesome to see it in person.  I wanted to touch it and feel the smooth marble under my fingers!  Then, we walked to the Spanish Steps and wandered around until it was time to depart for...

BARI

We parted ways with the large group to head to Greece.  The plan was to take a train from Rome to Bari and catch an overnight ferry to Patras, Greece.  When we settled down in the train, the ticket-punch lady told us...the train could not make the journey from Benevento to Foggia, right in the middle of the journey from Rome to Bari.  Instead, we would have to take a bus from Benevento to Foggia, which would take an hour.  Unfortunately, we only had one hour and fifteen minutes to spare to begin with.  After a lot of running and panicking, we got on a bus to Foggia, which took one hour and twenty minutes.  Then, we got back on a train that looked like the Hogwarts Express on the inside, which took us to Bari.  When we got out of the station, we got into a taxi whose driver was absolutely insane.  He took us from the station to the port in 6 minutes.  We were about to rejoice when we got to the port...but security told us we had to have tickets.  FML.  Two of my friends, brave souls, ran to the ticket office about half a mile away.  Mind you, this is about 7:40 pm and the boat is set to depart at 8:00 pm.  Departure times in Europe are no joke.  My other friend and I were left to pace around the security area, flipping out and hyperventilating.  Eventually, we see two figures running towards us in the dark, waving tickets!  YES.  We got on the ferry at 7:55 pm, five minutes to spare. 

The ferry journey itself was...uneventful.  We didn't have cabins because that would cost more, so we resorted to sleeping in chairs.  It was a painful.  Fifteen hours later, we were in Greece!

PATRAS

Patras is a small port town, but we absolutely fell in love with it because we stayed in a full-on hotel that was beautiful and comfortable and relaxing.  The view from our window/balcony was gorgeous, of the mainland (we were on the Peloponnese peninsula).  We meandered around the beach, though it was a bit cold.  Then we went into our hotel to have a delicious late lunch.  Food was cheap and amazingly good.  We had a bit of fun in the free sauna, just us four girls, and then sitting by the empty pool to watch dusk settle.  Finally, we had a delicious and affordable dinner and relaxed all night.  The next morning, we had an amazing free breakfast buffet...and then we were out the door and headed to Athens!

ATHINA

Again, we had travel difficulties.  The train from Patras to Athens couldn't make the leg from Diakonto to Kiato, so we had to take a coach bus.  I kind of don't remember these bits because I was getting so exhausted by now....  Eventually, we arrived in Athens, and had to take a bus to our hotel about 17 miles away.  When we checked in, we realized we were staying in a bungalow behind the hotel.  It was kind of cute, but seemed a little sketchy and...too nature-y for my taste, in that there were lots of bugs in close proximity (we found this out the hard way one night).  That afternoon, we wandered around the area of our hotel, Glyfada.  We had a late lunch at a cute restaurant, where they gave us free pita bread, yoghurt dip, water, and...limoncello shots!  This was totally surprising, since in Italy we were so used to begging for free tap water.  Their gyro was a bit dry, but still tasty.  The next day, we went to Athens and the Acropolis Museum.  It was fascinating to see all the history revolving around the Acropolis, but a bit disheartening to know that most of the real stuff from the Acropolis is lost or in the British Museum.  Finally, we hiked up the Acropolis, only to find that it was to close soon, so we only had about ten minutes atop it!  Not to worry, that afternoon, we wandered around Syntagma Square and the National Gardens.  Finally, we went back to Glyfada for a great dinner at a souvlaki place.  The next and last morning, we went back to the Acropolis earlier so we could enjoy the place fully (or, so I could enjoy the place fully).  Oh, it was amazing to be in the shadows of the Parthenon.  It felt great to achieve something that I've planned to do since sixth grade.  One thing finally off my bucket list!

One interesting and unrelated thing about Athens/Glyfada: we met a Cypriot family at the hotel and we just ran into them over and over during our stay.  The dad first spoke to us, and then introduced his British-born wife and two teenage sons.  They were all sweet and nice to talk to...or, rather, listen to!  The dad loved hearing the sound of his own voice, and I loved hearing the sound of the mum's voice.  The kids didn't speak perfect English, having been raised in Cypress.  Some interesting things struck me.  First, the older son is expected to join the Cypress army soon, as it is compulsory for boys.  Second, we discussed everything from America to London to Cypress to China and communism.  It was funny to have met someone so talkative in a land completely new to us, and though we laughed about it, it made me feel more comfortable too.  I kind of miss them now, and I hope that the son joining the army will be safe.

The trip back home was...also riddled with problems.  Our flight was originally 7:00 pm out of Athens, due to arrive in London Gatwick around 8:45 pm.  When we checked in, they told us the flight would be delayed about an hour.  So, we sat by the gate for a while, waiting.  In total, it took us three hours and ten minutes of waiting until we took off.  Crazy, crazy night.  We were back at NIDO at around 3 in the morning.  After a bit of unpacking and laundry, I was finally in my own bed at 5:00 am.  What a trip!

Overall, everything in my spring break trip went flawlessly.  I wish I could include every thought I had during it, but that would take thousands and thousands of more words.  See, it even took me...two weeks just to post this!

EUROTRIP TIME

Good evening!  This will be my last Internet blog post for twelve days.  I will chronicle the next twelve days in writing, hopefully, but no computer for a while.  Must learn constraint, and will not schlep a heavy laptop around Europe.

YES I AM GOING ON SPRING BREAK THROUGH EUROPE TOMORROW!!!  Our destinations are: Madrid, Milan, Florence, Rome, Bari, Patras, and Athens!

We will spend 2 days in Madrid, 1 day in Milan, my birthday in Florence, Easter Sunday in Rome, and coast the rest of the way across the Aegean Sea.

I am so excited for this, but also so anxious.  I guess I get anxious before any big change in my life.  This is a huge change, in fact; we are foreign students in London to being with, and we have to plan this enormous trip around so many people and differing schedules and itineraries.  Plus, we've had massive headaches with booking plane tickets, hotels, hostels, all with credit and debit cards online.  We are only allowed one carry on and must live out of it for twelve days.  Urgh.  I've mostly packed already, just the last few things in the dryer right now.  Speaking of which...gotta go collect laundry in 10 minutes or so....

My dream vacation would see me at a cafe somewhere with the sun high in the sky, me sipping a cappuccino (I've given up coffee for all of London, but...London is not Europe!) and writing in my journal or sketching in my sketchbook.  I could even go without seeing all the museums.  We're sacrificing Santa Maria della Grazie (The Last Supper) in Milan, the Uffizi and the Accademia in Florence, and probably we will miss a lot in Rome due to the hectic Holy Week.  But I'm willing to absorb Europe in other ways, like living la dolce vita rather than la vida loca (don't know how to speak Greek just yet).  I mean, when else can I spend Easter in the biggest Roman Catholic site in the world, spend my birthday in one of my favorite cities in the world, see the Acropolis ruins that I've longed to see since I was in 6th grade...!!!

Hopefully when I come back and recover from jetlag and heartache, I will transcribe my doodles in my journal and sketchbook for you guys.  But for now, ciao ciao, Europe awaits.

Kangaroos and Rhinos and Europeans, oh my!

Wow, what a weird, eventful couple of days it's been!

First, sad news to report: yesterday, a man was found "expired" in Bedford Square Gardens, which is literally across the street for 6 Bedford Square (hence the name).  It is a key garden, so you'd think only the residents have a key to the gates.  It's all quite mysterious and spooky...I hope they resolve it soon, but meanwhile, it feels quite safe because there are constables at every corner of the park.  We saw them there even patrolling last night around 10:30pm.  Mom, if you're reading this, don't worry, I'm safe and everything!  People have died in worse ways back in New York...

Then, way better news: I went to see my first West End show last night!  LOVE NEVER DIES, and oh gosh, my love for Phantom-related stuff will never die.  I have a feeling that only fans of Phantom of the Opera will actually understand and enjoy this play, but boy am I a PHAN!  The music is beaaaaaautiful, as are the props and effects.  I won't give anything away; you'll have to see it in November on Broadway!  The only thing: I was still a bit sick and I was sniffling the whole time through my stuffy nose, but the end does have something to sniffle/cry about.  !!!  Overall, it was an amazing experience and I am listening to my newly-bought soundtrack.  Over and over again.

Today, we did some London sightseeing before leaving for holiday.  Our first destination was St. Paul's Cathedral, just to peek around the front for a photo opportunity.  Then, we walked across the Millennium Bridge towards the Tate Modern.  The Tate Modern is honestly not so impressive.  The only things that were cool, I suppose, were the building itself and the one Monet Water Lilies painting, Roudin sculpture, and Andy Warhol prints.  Otherwise, meh.  Then, we walked to the nearby Borough Market.  It's basically like the Union Square farmers' market, but bigger and badder.  London has several famous markets, and I still have to visit Portobello and Camden Markets.  Borough is really cool.  I actually had a mindblowing experience here: I ATE A KANGAROO BURGER.  YOU READ RIGHT.  There was a stall that sold exotic meats like ostrich, kangaroo, zebra, antelope...!?  I think it's quite unethical to kill these sorts of animals for their meat, but my friend bought a burger and offered me a bite.  It didn't taste like anything in particular, just meaty and gamey.  I couldn't get over the fact that I was eating kangaroo, and the thought still makes me kind of queasy...

Then, we made a long trek up the Strand to Chinatown.  Meanwhile, we stopped at Twinings (love) and Covent Garden.  I busted my foot a little and lost a shoe on the street, but it's all good.  At Chinatown, my friends ate at a strange Malaysian place while I planned the next leg of my journey.

I have been planning to meet one of my mom's colleagues who lives here in London and goes to New York City every so often.  She was a consultant at the place my mom used to work, and she offered to be a contact for me here in London.  I figure it's about time to meet up with her, so we decided 7pm tonight.  Incidentally, my roommie and I got to South Kensington by 6:50pm, but my mom's friend arrived at 7:40pm.  In her defense, there was traffic, and her husband drove.  We piled into their car (my first time in a UK car!  BACKWARDS STEERING WHEEL, SO ODD) and they took us to Fulham for dinner.  We ate at a nice burger place with several of their other adult friends.  It was a great dinner overall, a fantastic new experience for my roommate and me.

First of all, my mom's friend is an amazing and admirable woman.  She was born in France/near Germany; she is Arabic/Moroccan by ethnicity; she was raised in Paris; she lives in London now.  Her husband is Iraqi.  Her friends who dined with us were: a German, an Iraqi woman who looked absolutely German but spoke fluent French, a British-Italian, a Frenchwoman, and a British-Lebanese.  What an absolutely diverse dinner table (plus these two Oriental Yankees - not the baseball team, as we learned the hard way)!  My mom's friend warned us beforehand that her friends were definitely very rowdy, but I found them hilarious and fun.  I mean, undoubtedly, it was a bit awkward because we were the two outliers eating dinner with them.  Still, they were totally nice when we met, giving us both multiple European-double-cheek kisses.  They even (jokingly) invited us to Spearmint Rhino with them for the afterparty.  I think Spearmint Rhino is a gentleman's club/strip club.  It was fun for me to just watch their conversation, and hope that in 20 years or so, I'd have such great friends with whom to share such a dinner.  Finally, dinner wrapped up around 11:40pm, and they drove us back to the Tube.  We were a bit frightened since the Tube closes down at 12:30am (no 24-hour trains, can you believe?!) but we got home really quickly and safely.

What a night!

Hell Week, Pt. II

Good morning, kiddies.  I have some bad news to report.  I think I'm getting sick.

I mean, it's kind of inevitable.  Everyone catches a cold sometime.  It just sucks that this week is going to be really, really, really busy.  First off, we have our orgo exam tomorrow.  Then, we have to work on a social psych research survey: basically we have to compile an online survey and send it out to Facebook groups and we want Brits to fill it out and we have to analyze the data.  Finally, we have a paper for the same class due on Thursday.  I'm not doing too hotly on written papers this semester, probably because I'm a bit rusty at paper-writing, but I really need to do well on this one...!

Then, on Thursday night at 5:00 pm, SPRING BREAK OFFICIALLY BEGINS!!  At 7:30 pm, I am going to see Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theater.  It is the sequel to Phantom of the Opera.  So excited!  Then, Friday I am planning to visit the Tate Modern, Borough Market, and meet up with my mom's former colleague in South Kensington for a quick tea/coffee break.  On Saturday, I want to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, the [free] chocolate fair at the Royal Festival Hall, and then do some shopping at Primark before spring break.  Then, we have to pack pack pack that weekend and get ready to jet!

Suppose I should get back to orgo studying now...

You are college-bound!

I'm in the computer lab in 6 Bedford Square, with 15 minutes to go before my class...organic chemistry recitation and lab, fantastic.

It's about time for college acceptance letters back home for my sister and her classmates.  The class of 2010 has not had an easy year, especially at Stuyvesant.  I really wish I could be home to cheer her on, or lend a shoulder to cry on, or give out hugs in general.  Although, I highly doubt my sister will need a shoulder on which to cry, since she is massively smart and bright and will probably get accepted to all the schools to which she applied.  Still, I wish I could be home to share in this milestone in her life.  I remember the time of my college acceptance and rejection letters was one of the worst times, since it came the day before my birthday.  Yes, I was rejected from a lot of colleges just before my 18th birthday.  It's a big time in a high school student's life, and I really really really wish I were with my sister right now!  K, I know you're like the only person who reads this blog anyway, so: SHOUT OUT.  I miss you, and it's probably too late to wish you luck, so now I offer you congratulations.  <3<3<3