Felling a Bit Guilty

I woke up this morning…. At 10:20. Yup. I skipped class. Yup. I felt guilty. But this was a good reason for playing hooky. I had received an email of the upmost importance yesterday… the Olympic Football tickets were going on sale. They were up for grabs at 11am this morning. I have class until 11:45 and didn’t think that any tickets would be left by the time I got out of class, so I stayed home to attempt to get a little bit of history. The morning lecture that I was missing was on Degas, so I knew I would be ok. I still felt guilty the entire time though!

I got up and planned my attack of what tickets I was going to go for. I had my attack ready and at 11am I jumped in!! It was just as stressful as signing up for classes in undergrad! Everything went through really quickly and then when the site was processing my payment, I got an error. Oh crappers! I had to start all over and by this point I was basically sweating. All is well that ends well! I had a ticket for the USA women’s team vs Korea AND two tickets for the Quarter-Final match. Dear womans team.. I am basically betting on the fact you are going to be in that game. Don’t let me down!

After that stressful morning, I ate lunch, did some little things and then left to go to my afternoon museum visit. Todays was to the Courtauld, which I have never been to before! I actually loved it! We looked at Impressionist art which I am a huge fan of!! I really liked looking around! They have a great collection or Renior, Monet, Manet, and Van Gogh! It was a great visit!

It was a BEAUTIFUL day out. I wore a skirt and a three-quarter sleeve shirt with NO. COAT!!! LOVE! It was sunny and warm… perfect! It was a perfect day for walking around London. It was such a pretty day! I slowly came home, did some work around the flat, and finally washed my dishes! (There was a mountain of them!)

Im off to shower and get ready for tomorrow. Its getting late!

P.S The picture is of me of Wembley holding the fake FA cup!!

Busy Busy Sunday

Today I slept in… which made me in a frenzy. I finally got up, got dressed and ran out to Sainsburys. I got my weeks of shopping (and was sad to see that the sales were nowhere as good as they were last week. I did find a jar of Indian Korma sauce (which was the dish that I had had when my parents and I went to Indian). I think next week I am going to buy some chicken and attempt to make Indian food. Wow what crazy adventures I have! Anyways… by the time I got home and unpacked, I had to run back out! (Oh I forgot.. it POURED while I walked home with my groceries. It was the first time that I really wished that I had a car here.

I headed to the Royal Academy to meet Isabel and Freya at the Zoffany exhibit. It was a good exhibit!!! I like him and his work. I wasn’t a fan of the works that he did in India, but I really likes his portraits and royal commissions. Overall it was a good exhibit with just the right amount of images because as soon as I was starting to get restless, it was over! Perfect!

After the exhibit we all parted ways and I came home to tidy up and ended up taking a nap (I had stayed up too late!) After my nap I was headed out again.. this time to Isabel’s flat for dinner. She had been nice enough to invite me to dinner for my birthday. I felt so horrible and rude, I had not planned enough time for my journey and didn’t arrive at her flat until 7:25. I was supposed to have been there at 7. Sigh.

Dinner was really good! We had paella with shrimps, and veggies, a salad with awesome dressing, and wine. It was really yummy! Her flat mate Beth was there too and we all hung out and talked. It was really nice! After dinner Isabel brought out a birthday cake which was so nice of her! It was one tasty cake with pieces of candied ginger on top. YUM! I stayed until 10:30ish and then had to head back home in order to make sure that I could get to Willesden Green before the tube stopped running. It was a busy but FUN day!!



P.S the picture is me having tea at the NAtional Cafe!

Another Year Down

So today I completed year 22 and moved on to year 23… Im getting closer to the quarter of a century mark!! This birthday was an odd one. The whole living on the other side of the pond thing kinda did it! The last few bdays have been weird ones for me. Two years ago I had just started to be able to keep food down so I wasn’t going to risk the cake. Last year I was freaking out about my Honor’s oral exam and spent the day frazzled and stressed! This year I was across the pond and had to go to class all day!! Maybe next year will be a little more “normal”!

I woke up this morning and didn’t want to go to school! I was a good bday girl though and did get out of bed. The morning routine was the same, and I got to school with no problems or note-worthy occurrences! Class was ok… not horrible but not awesome either. It was on 19th century sculpture which I have never looked at before (I am pretty sure that I was the only one in the room who had never heard of Rodin!) It was interesting but it wasn’t my favorite art in the world!

After that was lunch because I actually had a full day of school today. People told me happy birthday and I couldn’t figure out how they knew and then I remembered…. Facebook! After our brief lunch (our afternoon class started at 1pm thankfully!) We all headed back into the lecture room to hear about catalogs for exhibitions.

It was an interesting session, but I felt like I was back in high school. I don’t think that the woman was used to giving talks and “teaching” so it was a bit odd. It was interesting though because we got to see what went into creating the exhibition catalogs, but it didn’t really help with our thesis.

Something that I have noticed… some British people say schhheddd- jule. It drives me crazy! Oh and I can no longer spell catalog, theater, and color without really thinking. (over here they are catalogue, theatre, colour) GAH! These Brits are killing me!

Anyways after school I took the tube to pick up my package that I had missed on Thursday (it was from my sister!) and came back to plop it in my flat. Then I was off to Sainsburys to buy bday dinner (garlic bread, a roast chicken, coleslaw and some tiramisu)

I had a good bday night, feasting and skyping everyone (So I could open presents!) I went to be (kinda late!) and slept in!!! I love birthdays!!

I forgot to mention… on Thursday I came home to a package with my name on it (well kinda y name. it said Anna Roda) I was pumped (it was my birthday after all!) I went upstairs, tore it open and it was… an ipad cover. I do not own an ipad, nor did I order a cover. I look in the package and see that there is an invoice saying that this cover costed 8 pounds. Hmmm. I get worried and check my credit cards, debit, paypal and bill me later accounts and there are no transactions. I email Ebay.co.uk and they email me back telling me to email Ebay.com (the USA site) Sigh… so that will be fun to sort out!

Today (Saturday) I didn’t do anything blog worthy. I hung out here, did little stuff around the flat, and slept in!! Woo! Tomorrow Ill have more to blog about!

Until then…..

P.S The photo is of me chilling with my bday cake (a little early but it was good!)

Too Good To Be True

Today was ANOTHER half day! Groups 1 and 2 had a ceramics handling session this afternoon but 3 and 4 don’t have it until next Thursday! I have had THREE half-days in a ROW! I love it!!! I woke up better than I had been and left my flat on time! Plus when I stepped outside I was awake enough that I didn’t have to check to see if I had pant on, AND it was sunny. I didn’t even need my jacket on! Awesome.

The commute was uneventful. Although there is a strike, the tube is running normally. (thank goodness!) I did have a bit of a shock getting on my second train. I was engrossed in my foggy morning thoughts while stepping on the train, and after I second I realized that someone was saying my name. It was a girl from school. How crazy is that? We were both on the same train, in the same carriage. That never happens! So I chatted with her. She is really nice. Im bad at small talk, but asked the appropriate non-important questions and got through it. We chatted until the next stop, up the stairs, down the road, and into the building. Then I ate my cheerios, read some and headed in the lecture room.

As I was signing in I once again, like EVERY morning before, thought about how nice a big mug of coffee would be. I sighed and headed to me seat to wait for lecture to start. I was happy to see that it was on 19th century dress and not only was it a great topic, but also Jacqui is a GREAT lecturer that has a point to her talks, any actually dives into the topic more than just skimming the surface! I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture, and then waited after to receive the once again updated timetable for the term. I guess its not all done, but most of the blocks have been filled in! They went over it for us and finally at 12:20 we were free!

I came home and found a slip saying that I had missed a package. I think it is Katie’s! I have to wait until tomorrow after lecture to go and get it. I spent the afternoon doing little things that needed done, and after this I am off to look at thesis stuff. Sigh. Here is a random list of random thoughts I had on the tube today after class:

Things I have fallen in love with lately:
1. Pencil skirts. I have bought two within the last week
2. Nude Pumps… cant find a cheap pair anywhere. Sigh
3. Tea cups (even more than before)
4. Fabric. I LOVE IT!
5. Tea. Anything to do with tea. The tea, the pots, cups, plates, cakes stands, little cakes.. basically everything
6. Sundresses. Best thing next to sweatpants
7. This island and the crazy people that live here
8. Everything English (cider, pubs, tea, fascinators, coats of arms, country houses, country clubs, horses, and Burberry)
9. Cadbury Crunchie bars (they are basically a big candy bar of sponge candy!)

I am off to do work (hopefully) and clean my flat that has somehow exploded. (it always seems to do that!)

P.S If you have been faithfully reading, you have read 150 pages of my life and 95,183 words! I cant believe that I have written THAT much. I wish I could turn this in for my thesis!

P.S.S A dysfunctional picture of mom and I on the prime meridian (Dad took it too soon!)but i like it anyways

I Wish The Whole Term Could Be Like This

I was late again. This isn’t good. Usually this is how my term goes…

1. Day one: Im extremely early. Embarrassingly early. Usually the class before me hasn’t finished yet.
2. Mid-term: Im on time. I am there comfortably early. I am one of the first to arrive, but not the first and the class before has long disappeared.
3. Last 3 weeks or so: Im running late. I hit my alarm for ages, finally get up and throw on clothing, slap on makeup, pull my hair into some sort of ponytail and sprint out of the door with half of my belongings in my hand.
I am already on step 3 of this cycle and it is the third day. The worst thing about this… My belonging that are falling out of my arms as I am sprinting out of the door no longer includes a travel mug of coffee. Sigh. I would do anything for coffee. And a desk to write on.

Today I wasn’t late late, just late enough to have to hurry this morning. I hurried so much that I got outside and looked down to make sure that I didn’t have pajama pants on (or worse case no pants at all!) To make the morning even more delightful, it was pouring and WINDY. I wonder how many umbrellas Londoners go through a year. I bet it is quite a few considering my parents experienced a umbrella fatality, and many looked somewhat worse for wear by the time I got to the tube station. I now am understanding the whole “it always rains in London” thing. I think it has rained for a week now (it never rains for the entire day, but lately it has been for the majority of it!).

Something I have learned while living here that I thought only existed in movies. You can get drenched walking along the sidewalk when a car hits a puddle near you. I thought that was only a cute little meeting for star-crossed lovers in movies. Girl gets drenched, guy swoops in with large trench coat, girl falls for guy, guy falls for girl, something happens that causes them to break up, then something happens to cause them to realize how stupid they have been, someone chases another through an airport, stops said someone from flying away and lives happily ever after. None of that happens… just the part about getting drenched by a passing car who hits a puddle with force, causing the water to hit your leg and run down into your shoe.

Another random thought today… it is fortunate that Londoners are clam and polite people because otherwise I feel like the rain could be dangerous. While carrying my umbrella from the Jubilee train to the Hammersmith train I had strong urges to take my umbrella and WHACK people. They were all tourists standing on the left side of the escalator, walking down the up side of the stairs, and altogether stopping suddenly right in the middle of the traffic flow with 125 people behind them. It took everything in me to not whack people on the head, rib, or shins. When a person cut me off to get onto the tube first (tourist) dragging his wife with him I then came to the conclusion that it was a good thing that Londoners are chill and polite people because otherwise every tourist would be black and blue by the time they flew back home! On the other hand, it would keep those tourists in line…. :)

Today was a HALF day! I wish the entire term was like this! I LOVE half days!Class today was about William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. I am a fan of William Morris, but not so much the arts and crafts crap. This term is new territory for me. All my previous art history classes have stopped around the Rococo era. (that was for a reason btw!) So this semester I have to put up with modern stuff. Thankfully I wont have to go into the contemporary “art”! The Impressionists will be fun to look at. I do like their work, but get past that era and Im just not a fan!

Well I am home for the day since it is POURING outside. I am NOT complaining though because the weather is nowhere as bad as it is in WNY right now. (Where is it ever worse than it is in WNY??) I am attempting to work on the blog posts that I am behind on. They will come soon enough! No worries!

Random thought… blogspot now keeps track of the views that each post gets and how many times my blog is viewed everyday. I knew that there were more people reading than I thought from all of the email and facebook messages that I have received about my blog. I had NO idea, however, HOW many people were reading this! I don’t know why you would want to, but thanks for checking in and reading my posts!!

Off to try to be constructive!

P.S the picture is random.. its of the coolest bird I have ever seen. Well... until it stood up. Then it was kinda ugly and no longer very cool.....

Day 2: A Half Day

Today went much MUCH better than yesterday. It was short, fast and mostly painless! Getting out of bed was rough (I stayed up past my bedtime last night and really felt that this morning!) The only way I was on time for school was that I didn’t have to pack a lunch. I left the house 5 minutes late as it was… Oops.

This morning’s lecture was on realism and honestly I still have no idea what that REALLY means. We looked at all sorts of stuff today and it was in no particular order. It is lectures like that which make me miss HWS more than I already do. I miss scribbling furiously as Im trying to keep up with the information that is spewing from my professors, the awesome comparisons, and the insightful insights. None of that today. I was just trying to figure out her point when the lights came back on.

After an uneventful morning I headed home and thankfully the tube liked me today. Im a little worried about tomorrow… apparently the tube workers are striking on my line. According to TFL the line will be running just like every other day, but Im somewhat doubtful. Hopefully I wont have to take the bus to school tomorrow. Sigh.

If anyone is looking for a funny book I (once again) recommend Bill Bryson’s Notes From the Small Island. SO funny… like “snort out loud while on the tube pressed up against strangers” funny. His experiences and confusions in 1973 were the same as mine in 2011. I felt a lot better when I was also thought that a counterpane was a part of the window…. Good thing the Dragon pointed to it and told me not to sit on it! (it is a bedspread!) Also his very first rooming experience was in a boarding house run by a very Dragon like lady who also had a ton of rules. Lets just say he didn’t last long either!

This country is starting to rub off on me a bit. I a developing a love for all things British… Pubs, Cider, Tea, Tea Pots, Milk in my Tea, Little Biscuits, Funny Words and Phrases and I think that driving on the right side of the road is weird! One thing that is losing its charm… the English Accent. I would love to hear some American once and awhile! I am addicted to tea though. I have two-three cups a day and it always has milk in it. I don’t think Ill ever go back to un-milky tea!

Well Im off to write some of the posts that I have been ignoring. Katie I think you are right… Im still alive and typing so I think that the Cheerios were safe! :)

P.S Do you remember my Brighton photos.. the one of the Royal Pavilion? DO you remember the 4th Harry Potter movie? Well this is the punch thing for the Yule ball and it was based on the Royal Pavilion! Crazy huh??

First Day: Term 3

Ahhh the first day of class. It is always the same… sleepless night, up before the alarm and super early to all of my classes. Not today. I slept like a rock (what does that even mean? What a silly saying….) anyways I was OUT when my head hit the pillow. Actually I don’t even remember it hitting. My alarm scared the crap out of me this morning and I smashed the snooze button about 15 times. I got out of bed late, threw on some clothes, slapped on some makeup, grabbed food for lunch and was out of the door 7 minutes later than usual. Not my usual start to new semesters/terms. I was still there at 9:50 and I CHATTED while I ate my cheerios (yup back to those.) Oh speaking of Cheerios… I really hope my dad opened the new box of cheerios without telling me and put the box back in the “box in waiting” spot instead of the I am open” spot. Otherwise I may have eaten store-opened Cheerios that have been spiked with a crazy drug. (If you saw where I live you would realize how big of a possibility that actually is!)

I walked into the lecture room and was depressed. There are two things that BUG the crap out of me. 1. There are no desks in the place. Do you know how lame it is to hold your notebook and write for an hour and a half. 2. We cant have coffee in the lecture room. Actually we cant have any food or drink besides water in the room. If you know how I was in undergrad, I lived off of coffee for my morning classes. I walked to class every morning with my travel mug filled with hazelnut coffee. I miss coffee.

Class was boring. Victorian painting was the topic this morning. Talk about a snoozer. Gah. I drank water out of my Sigg just to stay awake. Then it was an hour and a freaking half of lunch break which I actually chatted through. I did so much chatting! :) Then Isabel and I headed to the V&A for an hour and a half of pure torture. We talked about gothic revivals and I wanted to run away. Far Far Away.

Finally we were set free and I practically ran to the tube. I hopped on the Piccadilly line to Green Park and headed over to the Jubilee line and the train was pulling in right when I got there. Sweet! I hopped on, sat down, and the entire line gets suspended. Gah. There was a “smell of smoke” in the tunnel at St John’s Wood so the service got shut down as soon as I got on the train. The driver said that we were going to sit for a long time and to take other methods of transportation. Gah.

So I get off the train, exit the maze that is Green Park station, walked across the park, around the palace and wandered to find the 52 bus stop. Oh did I mention that it was POURING and I didn’t have an umbrella. FINALLY I found the stop and waited for the bus. I got on at 4:20 and was getting off the bus at my flat at 5:35. That was a bit ridiculous. By the time I was home my wet feet were cold, I am a grumpter, and HUNGRY.

I was lazy all night and ate dinner late. Eventually I showered and this is getting written way later than I thought. Sorry for the condensed versions of my day and sorry that I didn’t get caught up more on past posts!

P.S This is me outside of Christies

My Last Day of Freedom

Today was my last day on this crazy, fun, and wild ride that was the last month! This break was the best I have ever had! Probably because I was in Europe for a month with nothing to do but show friends and loved ones around my temporary home. This time I was on my turf… not pulling out my hair while sitting at home with Coop. (I do miss Coop but life was pretty boring during those breaks!) I wasn’t back to rules, curfews and a town in the middle of nowhere. Instead I made rules (for my parents at least!) and everyday was packed full of events. This time it was my “house” that was filled with my parents stuff thrown all over, and my rules were being broken! Actually my parents did really well except for rule number 2 and 3.

Rules:
1. Get on the bus at the front, leave the bus through the back.
2. Don’t step on the threshold from my living room to the kitchen. The carpet staples puncture your skin. (you would think that one would be followed!)
3. Close the toilet lid so when the towels fall off the rack (that is RIGHT above the toilet) they wont fall in the toilet. This one was never followed…
4. On escalators there are strict rules that were not put in place by me! If you want to stand and ride the escalator, stand on the right.

People wanting to walk up/down do that on the left. (people are NOT happy if they cant rush by you. Believe me I know) Today though was just me in my flat, sitting on the couch. I loved every second. I watched tv, caught up on emails, chatted with people, read, and put away my laundry all while rocking out to some tunes. Of course the day flew by because I am dreading tomorrow. I really don’t want to go back.

I think I have figured out my problem with Christies and why I don’t like it…. Im not inspired there. At HWS I was… I did an Honors project even! I was inspired and therefore motivated and excited to learn. Here I go through the motions and sit through uninspiring lectures and talking to tutors that I am not close to. I miss KNOWING my professors, meeting them to talk about things in a café and knowing that they were always there to help. I do better when I have to manage my time and here we have two things due a term and no reading to do for class. I know that since I am in a masters course it is assumed that I am reading on my own to learn the material. Im sorry but I can read and learn by myself for free… not pay a unbelievable amount and be in debt over my head so I can teach myself art history. Sigh.

Today while feeling sorry for myself that I have to go back to real life tomorrow, I read A Street Cat Named Bob. I have followed this guys story in the Standard so when I saw it on the shelf at Waterstones I picked it up. The basic story.. a guy living in charity housing is a recovering heroin addict who is cleaning himself up and is a street musician in Covent Garden to support himself. He finds a cat on his door step, patches him up, spends his day wages on a trip to the vet for Bob, and the cat wont leave. Basically its an awesome story about how a cat saved this guy (he becomes completely clean and gets a job selling the Big Issue magazine)because he wants to be clean in order to take care of Bob. Then I got to thinking after all of this… this guy is living hand to mouth and standing outside all day long hoping to make enough money to feed himself and pay his bills and I am complaining about going to GRAD school. Talk about perspective. So Im going to be better about going complaining about Christies. (I know I just did in my last paragraph!)

Anyways…. I had a good day! Back to reality tomorrow which will be nice to be back on a schedule. Knowing when your next meal is, when it is, and when you will see the next toilet is always nice. I wont do much walking tomorrow! Just sitting in class. Weird! Off to bed early to be ready for, perhaps, the last first day of a school term ever. That is SCARY. I promise that I am back on a schedule for my blog and that it is officially back up and running. Ill keep working on catching up on Phases 1-3!

P.S the picture is of me in front of the scale model of Hogwarts!

Coming Home

March 25, 2011

Im writing this almost a month after (which I cant believe!) I have been so busy that the days just flew by. I don’t remember too many details about the journey home. It was an easy trip which was so nice! I remember waking up pretty early and having lots of time in the morning. I headed down to eat at 9:15 and the woman (who didn’t speak English) kept pointing to her watch and then the food. What? She was clearing stuff so I just grabbed a croissant and headed back my room where I watch CNN and munched my croissant.

At 9:55 I decided to go check out. I had until 11 before I had to be out of my room, but I didn’t want to just sit here. I could walk over slowly and find the buses, then walk around the train station to look at the shops. Check out was easy. I had booked on Expedia so I had already paid, and I wasn’t stupid enough to touch the mini bar! I walked out of the door and looked at my watch.. 9:59. What was I going to do until 12-12:30? My flight wasn’t until 4 and check in at easyjet didn’t start until 2 and here I was an hour away from the airport at 10am. Gah. I found a bench in the station and started to… deconstruct the architecture. Yup Im a nerd. The train station was built by Mussolini and I gotta admit… that man had STYLE. SO I sat there with wandering thoughts, watched the Nivea ads play over and over on the screens and people watched.

At 10:45 I couldn’t take sitting there any more so I window shopped. That didn’t take very long, and by 11:30 I was looking at the train boards just to imagine where I would want to go if I could take a train anywhere. It was then that I noticed it…. The clock that read 12:30. What?? I looked at my watch. It was only 11:30. Then it hit me like a train… Italy and London (with the rest of Europe) changed their clocks today. It was an hour later than I thought it was. It all made sense… breakfast had been closed for 15 minutes when I went down at 10:15 (instead of 9:15) and I checked out a MINUTE before I had to (and they charged me). Ohhh. Then I felt like the biggest idiot in Italy. I stood there staring at the board with my jaw dropped and the “light bulb has just gone off” look on my face. At least I had had plenty of time!! After the shock wore off I was really happy that I had just killed an hour of endless waiting in about 30 seconds! I could go find the bus! It was parked right outside the door and I paid my 8 euro and hopped on, elated! An hour later I was standing inside the airport terminal looking for my check in zone. I sat down and watched the world go by for a bit. I am way too nice of a person and watched guys bag while he went for a smoke. (I know… someday Ill pay for that by being blown up or arrested.) He talked to me for a little bit and seemed really nice. He was from Africa so I couldn’t understand much (it was noisy and Im not good with accents when its noisy). He told me I need to visit where ever he lived and I politely nodded and excused myself.

I went to check and stood in line at the easyjet counter. I always feel like a part of a cattle herd when flying with easyjet. You are always standing in roped off areas for long periods of time with blank looks on your face. Very cattle like. Anyways I was reading signs out of boredom and I read the carry-on policy and for the second time today I felt like an idiot. On the way to Venice we flew British Airways. Since they are a legit airline, everyone can take a carry-on and a piece of personal luggage. Not on easyjet. You can only have on carry-on and no personal stuff. Grr… I spent 30 euro to check my carry on so I could carry-on my shoulder bag.

After that I found my gate, and waited. The flight was easy and nothing special. I got off the plane, walked out of the door of Luton airport and practically ran into the easybus bus. Awesome. I had an hour ride in Finchley Road and then took to the tube home. I unpacked, skyped the parents, got caught up on life and hit the sack early! Overall a good trip! One thing I did forget to mention in Milan… I almost died. Im not used to the whole driving on the other side of the road thing. England has corrupted me. I forgot the Italy is normal and in Venice that didn’t matter because there were boats and one crossed over the rivers with a bridge. Not really concerned about the traffic in that case. Milan, however, drive correctly and I almost died. I was such a tourist standing on the street corners until the little man turned green. I didn’t budge from the curb until it did. Im being corrupted!

P.S the picture is Varenna

Lake Como (finally!)

I woke up today and even though I was excited to see Lake Como, I struggled getting out of bed. I stood up and instantly was sore. Taking a step was a lot of fun too! I got ready and headed down to breakfast. It was the same pathetic spread… I stole some rolls, stuffed food down my throat and headed for my train to paradise!


I got to the station and the train was already on its platform waiting for me! I read in Rick Steves that the back of the train didn’t reach the platform when the train stopped at Varenna, so I walked far down the platform to be in the front of the train. It was still early (half an hour before the train was leaving) so I snagged a good window seat and waited for the train to fill up. By 10:15 it had, and a friendly looking guy with dreadlocks sat across from me and opened a book. I stared out the window as the train pulled out of the station.


About a half of an hour later I look up and my jaw dropped… we came out of a tunnel into a mountain landscape. It was beautiful. I stared out the window until we went under another mountain. I hoped for scenery as beautiful as the last, and I wasn’t disappointed. We shot out of the tunnel and there in front of me was my very first view of Lake Como. It was just as stunning as everyone says. I drooled for another 15 minutes and then started getting ready to hop off the train at my stop. I was nervous about getting off at the right place! I saw the sign for Varenna and got ready to disembark!


I was stunned. It was beautiful! The kind of beautiful that pictures cant capture. It was a SUNNY day and in the distance a perfect silver mist covered the mountains and their snow-covered peaks. I think I stood outside of the station looking like an idiot, drooling everywhere, just taking in it. When I decided to move I headed the only direction that any sane person would head… the Lido (or beach).


I took a million pictures throughout the day! Everywhere I turned was a perfect picture! After gaping at the mountians and taking 100 pictures of the same on, I decided to head up the hill to see the castle that Rick Steve suggested. He said it was an intense 20 minute hike… yeah. Intense was a good word. I freaking climbed a mountain with a shoulder bag, wearing flats. I kept thinking that I had reached the top, and then I realized that I had indeed NOT reached the top or was anywhere close. I finally get up there and what do I do??? Trespass. In my defense I did not realize I was doing so. Finally when I saw all the ropes and realized I couldn’t get to the other side of the castle wall I thought that maybe something was wrong. I re-traced my steps and found a little booth thing that was…. Charging admission. Oops-seys. I handed over my 3 pounds and walked (uphill) along the path. I get to the clearing and the view makes the climb worthwhile. Again… I drooled and stared with my mouth open. ( I did a lot of this throughout the day) I explored the castle ruins (found a cool tower to climb that was even COOLER in the view dept), came back down and sat on the steps, basking in the sun, and ate my stolen lunch. (who says there is no free lunch! Take that Mr. Armstrong!)


Eventually I meandered back down the cliff and needed to pee. (This is the most inconvenient sensation. God perhaps needs to work on this… it always happens in the most tricky moments.) I knew I had saw a bathroom at the train station so I headed that way. I opened the door and went in. I closed it, turned around and my mouth dropped. This time in horror. Let me paint you a picture…. In front of me was a stand up shower, minus the shower head and the enclosing walls. Basically just the floor was there. On this floor, under the 5 inches of dirt and God only knows what else (seriously… God is the only one that could ever know) were two painted footprints facing my way. Instead of a drain was a hole the size of a softball. I just stared and then said (out loud) “oh HELL no”. I got out of that tiny little cubicle SO fast. I had found one thing in Lake Como that was far from beautiful. I went on a mission to relieve my stressed bladder (it was even more stressed after seeing that sight!) and looked at my guide book in desperation. Apparently Rick Steves is also aware of the inconvenience of having a bladder and he so helpfully pointed out some pottys on the beach. I really do love this man… he has saved my life many a time! SO I head that way and find said toilet. This time Im prepared… I walk in and see a toilet. Grungy and gross, but a toilet nonetheless. After seeing whatever that was in the first bathroom, as long as it was a toilet I was going to use it! Thankfully I checked for toilet paper before I sat down (I was LUCKY!) and there wasn’t any. I went out and raided the men’s and found a roll. I stole it (they had another one) and noticed that they had the half of a shower toilet thing. Haha that sucks! I did my business and walked out to wash my hands and there was this big. Tough looking guy standing by the sink staring into the men’s bathroom with a white face… I totally understood. I washed my hands SO fast, ran out and BURST out laughing. Not every nook and cranny in this paradise was beautiful!!!


After having that awesome experience I decide to take Ricks advice (he did after all just save my life) and I took a ferry across the lake to Bellagio. The ferry ride was epic (I drooled and took to many pictures) and I arrived at the most posh place I have ever been in my short life. I really felt out of place! Before shopping I decided to head out to the point and look up the lake. The walk was beautiful (no Georgie though I am afraid although there were some nice villas!) and when I reached the tip I could see all the way to Switzerland. (Im not kidding… I saw the Swiss Alps!)


After hanging out there I headed back to go shopping for my most expensive souvenir ever… silk. Lake Como is known for it so I was on the prowl. The shopping was an experience in its self. I was shopping on a posh boardwalk for silk in Lake Como. I think I pinched myself 30 times. I found the perfect store and headed in. Bad idea by the way… I wanted EVERYTHING. Literally. Eventually I picked out a square piece (for a table someday) and a cute scarf. I got a keychain or half price and chatted with the owner. (ALL in Italian I might add. BooYah!) I had paid and she was wrapping them all up when she says to me (in Italian) “Your man will love this scarf!” Wtf?? I had picked out a MAN’s scarf. How am I that dumb?? Gah. I couldn’t do anything about it now. I thanked her and headed back to the ferry. (When I got back I talked to mom and she suggested that I use it as a table runner. Im going to do that!)


I caught the ferry back after sitting on a bench for a bit. Then I wandered once last time around the area and headed to the train station. The ride home was easy and uneventful (thankfully!!) I grabbed McDonalds from the train station, ate it in bed while watching CNN, showered and fell into bed. Exhausted but happy!!!

P.S the picture is of Varenna from the ferry!