"get into it!"

i haven't written in quite a while. i've been a busy, busy bee. my time in the UK is rapidly coming to an end--on saturday i'll be off to italy for a week! this past week was really fantastic. 

 

on thursday morning, i, and four other classmates, went to the donmar west end theatre at 5 am to wait in line to buy hamlet tickets. this wasn't just any performance of hamlet though...jude law was starring in it! after 4 hours of waiting in line, we purchased our £10 tickets...under the condition that we would stand in the back during the entire show. we showed up later that evening for the performance, already exhausted from the early morning, and then proceeded to stand for 3 and half hours. but it was definitely, definitely worth it. an incredible performance! 

 

on friday morning, myself and the above ladies, took a train to the town of canterbury, about an hour and a half ride outside of london. 

 

inside canterbury cathedral. stunning. 

 

having taken chaucer's "canterbury tales" last quarter, it was sooo cool to visit the site of the holy pilgrimage and walk up the pilgrims steps. absolutely the most ornate, gigantic and breathtaking cathedral i've ever seen. highly recommended! 

on saturday we attempted to go to greenwich (aka the location of the prime meridian of the world!!) to check out the national observatory. major fail. we purchased the wrong boat tickets and ended up on a thames river cruise. definitely a bummer that we didn't make it to greenwich, but it wasn't a complete waste of money. the cruise was pretty neat and afterwards we discovered the borough market, where i bought the best granola everrrrr!

on sunday morning, sam and i flew to edinburgh, scotland for a quick 27 hour adventure. we were absolutely stunned when we arrived and saw how gorgeous it was. undoubtedly the best city i've visted so far. i was so sad that we had so little time there. 

our 12 person dorm in the awesome, funky hostel in which we spent our 1 night in edinburgh

sam and i at the first pub on our "pub crawl", which the manager of the hostel brought us on. first to this small pub, then to a heavy metal bar, finally concluding with a techno club that played the same song over and over again the entire night. needless to say, i'm not yet hooked on the euro-club scene. but i'm also not giving up yet! maybe by the time i get to prague i'll be about it...

at the top of the edinburgh castle, edinburgh and the sea behind me. 

Week 2 done!

hello! life in london continues to be lovely. I'm getting used to the random rainstorms, and have finally figured out that even when the forecast says "sunny" my umbrella should be close by. we haven't really had any beautiful sunny days, but i guess that's why they call this "foggy london town"...

my trip to the british museum was awesome. there is so much neat stuff there. it was way too big for us to see everything all at once, so i'll definitely be going back (especially because its free!). when we first arrived, my professor had arranged a private viewing of the original william blake texts we are studying. there were only about 30 copies of each created, and so to have surviving ones right in front of us was quite the treat. afterwards i wandered around the museum until about 3 hours later when it became overwhelming. these are the famous "elgin marbles" from long, long ago. stunning in real life. 

 

later that night i went to see HARRY POTTER! it was really fun to see it in london. the theatre was gorgeous and the crowd was a good, enthusiastic bunch. 

 

on friday i went with my roommate and friend derek to the tower of london, where the monarchs lived until 1837. it was built in the 11th century and lots and lots of people were executed here. anne boleyn included. also, it houses the crown jewels which was tight. lots of gigantic diamonds and gems. really pretty. i now know what i want for my next birthday....ha. this is a picture of london bridge over the thames from the tower of london's outer wall. 

 

today i explored the quaint neighborhood of notting hill (yes, where the movie took place) and fell in love. it's such a wonderful area. i went to the portabello road market, a gigantic flea market/farmers market that occurs every saturday. i had awesome falafel and an excellent smoothie, but resisted the temptation to buy other (less useful) stuff, such as these little glass trinkets: 

 

cheers! 

je ne parle pas français!!!

 went to paris this past weekend with my lovely roommate belet. luckily we both had friends staying at the same hotel in the bastille district, and so we were able to stay for free! what a lovely way to see paris :) i got to enjoy all the famous touristy sights and soak in the french culture. i found the parisians to be rude and smelly (true to their reputation...) it probably didn't help that neither belet nor i speak any french. 

my favorite part of paris was a day (night) trip we took to vaux le vicomte, a chateau about an hour outside of paris. the group our friends were studying with had room on their bus and so belet and i pounced on the opportunity to enjoy it with them. the chataeu supposedly rivals versailles in  its grandeur. it was certainly a grand and excessive home. at night the "home" and gardens are lit up beautifully with candles. it was gorgeous. 

i am certainly happy to be back in london though. it has quickly become my home away from home. i'm so comfortable and confident in this city. it's really awesome. tomorrow i am going to the british museum with my class to enjoy original william blake works...horray! 

cheers! 

cheesy, but obligatory, eiffel tower pic

 

the bustling and gilded champs elysees 

 

view of paris from the top of the eiffel tower

gardens at vaux le vicomte 

wow!

london. is. incredible. 

i cannot begin to describe how wonderful this city is. there is so much life and so much excitement around every corner. i don't think i'll ever run out of things to explore. the metro is ridiculously convenient (there's a stop right outside of my apartment!)  and has already taken me on exciting and unexpected adventures. last night a few of my classmates and i galavanted about the city, stopping every once in a while to take a photo or change directions. eventually we ended up with a £5 bottle of wine at the river bank across from parliament and big ben. the perfect ending to my first night. 

today a group of us went to st james place to see the oh-so-famous abbey road and take the quintessential crosswalk picture-- which we dangerously risked our lives to achieve (who knew abbey road was such a busy street!?). after lurking around abbey road music studio for some time, we ventured further to find regent park and 

a terrific thunderstorm. we took shelter in a little cafe on the boat pond, snacking on sandwiches and watching the ducks play in the rain. once the storm had subsided we continued further and stumbled upon the sherlock holmes museum, and a strange elvis memorabilia store.  

i'm currently sitting in my room relaxing with my roommate, drinking tea and listening to the thunder outside. ah, what a life! 

trafalgar square 

in front of abbey road records

the perfect shot!

so close!

in approximately 48 hours i will be leaving my cozy life in LA to take europe by storm for the next 6 months! hip hip horray!