The Last Day of May?

Whoa… where did May go to? Not that I am complaining at all! Just curious! I am beyond excited that classes are almost over.

This morning was like EVERY other morning. Except I ate breakfast before I left again. Its so much easier, but eating milk with my cereal is STRESSFUL! I have to eat really really fast so my cereal doenst get soggy! Eating fast is hard to do when one is all groggy and is still debating on what day of the week it is! Maybe this is why I don’t like cereal for breakfast….

After I choked down my cheerios (I did so before ANY of them got soggy btw!) I was out the door and loving the no jacket policy that the weather has been having for a week now! I strolled to school (I already have that end of year mentality!) I never know what month it is because it is so nice out! I haven’t been in class during the end of may-june since high school so it is all very confusing. I am convinced that it is almost finals week so that it is the beginning of May!

I got to school and went straight into the lecture hall. I continued reading and also chatted with Jen some. Then they told us that our tutor was stuck on a train and would be 40 minutes or so late. Cool…. SO they had Paddi give some random lecture about the ballet russes until Jacqui came in at 10:50. Then we had the dress lecture until noon. It was a long morning. The dress was cool though so I was disappointed that she flew through some of it. I feel like everyone loves the 20’s flappers look… I wasn’t a fan. I really like the 50’s but we don’t go up that far. Gah!

After our normal lecture we FINALLY got briefing about our review article that is due in 2 weeks. It didn’t help at all. I still have no idea what they want. They are so unclear about everything! GAH! I need to be done with them! Some of the girls and I decided that our slogan for this entire year is “I don’t know”. Woo!

I ate lunch after our pointless briefing and then decided to hit up the library. I know… im so studious! I don’t think that my second thesis idea is going to work. I found his auto-biography (that is when they write it themselves right?) and its in GERMAN! Woo!! I KNEW it. Sigh. And I have found 15 million connections with Expressionist artists and his Holocaust work. Gah. I wish they would just let me do the Holocaust. I think I may have to stick to carriages and do this research idea as my PhD dissertation. There is nothing done on it, and by then I will know German. (Dear readers, please don’t steal my idea and run off to get a PhD with this topic! Thanks!)

At 1:30 I met Isabel in the foyer and we walked over to Dover for our painting handling. The session was a gallery and it wasn’t really a handling session considering that we didn’t touch a thing. BUT it was really interesting! The guy concentrated on connoisseurship which was really cool. He had two copies of VanDyck’s work and a REAL. ONE. I nailed which were the copies and which one was real, except I almost fell over when I saw it. It’s a famous self-portrait (probably his last). If anyone would like to purchase it for me please do. It’s on sale to the public for 12 million! He seemed shocked when he learned that we hadn’t been to see a conservator in action, and that we haven’t worked in an auction house. Yeah…. That’s what we were supposed to be doing but we ARENT. The session was only 45 minutes long which was awesome because it was a focused talk, not a rambling one! I was engaged for the entire thing (which usually doesn’t happen!)

On the way home I stopped and exchanged my euros for pounds considering the euro is TANKING. I was pleasantly surprised… I got 10.55 back from 15 euro. I excepted worse! I came home, decorated some more, and then…. Fell asleep. Yes again. I don’t know whats going on! I got up and made pasta for dinner (I have more chicken wing dip but Im trying to spread out the goodness!) Next it is a shower and bed! Im excited that tomorrow is Friday and the Queens Jubilee is this weekend!

I forgot… when I was at the post office the guy was chatting and asked me where I went. I told him Paris and he asked why I wasn’t going this weekend (a lot of people are leaving London this weekend) and I said that I was American so pumped to partake in the festivities. He then asked where my accent was from… America. Australia?? NO. AMERICA we don’t have a monarch so its cool that I can go this weekend. Ohh he says. I thought your accent was Australian. Really?? Dude I wish… I thought everyone makes fun of the American accent but no one here can ever pin down my accent. Weird.

Oh I also forgot that my Jubilee line train had giant sticker like things all over it for the Queens Diamond Jubliee. I didn’t have my phone out fast enough so Ill try to take a pic of it tomorrow!

P.S my complete decorations!

Another Half Day!

Today was an easy day. I LOVE easy days!!! I set my alarm for 9:25, but got up at 10! Oops! I got my dishes done before I had to leave for class! That was SOMETHING at least! I went to class and got there 10 minutes early so I got read more of my current book (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. It’s a movie, but I wanted to read the book first which probably will movie for me. Oh well! I am sticking to my guns about reading the book BEFORE seeing the movie!)

Class was a cataloging revision day for decorative arts. Of course the entry format isn’t the same as paintings. That would be too easy. Silver, ceramics, and furniture even have differences among them. Gah. I have studying to do! I managed to not get called on until the LAST chair that we looked at. I HATE being put on the spot. I bs-ed my way through it and somehow managed to guess the right date for it. I was lucky! The session confused me more than helped me. That is Andrew for you though!

After class I went to the Sainsburys at Finchley Road because ALL I wanted in my life was a tea-strainer. I have a ton of lose tea and was using my French press to make my tea! I nearly jumped with joy when I found a tea strainer for 2 pounds. Who knew that something so little was SO exciting!

My night was also exciting because I had chicken wing dip for dinner for the SECOND night in a row! It was so yummy. I forgot how much I missed it! It was well worth the sacrifice of the ranch dressing. I didn’t put as much ranch in as I should have so I still have a wee bit left over. Im hoarding it to be honest!!

The last few days have been boring so you really haven’t missed anything! Just class, a cold, and taking unplanned naps that kill my schedule that I lay out for the night! Oops! I am getting excited about the Queens Jubilee. There are mixed reactions about it (the whole anti-monarch thing) but I think most people see it as a time to come together with neighbors and have street party to celebrate being British. Although I am NOT British I am still pumped. I am going to go to the river parade, and then Tuesday the royal family is going to way from the balcony of the palace. It will be a zoo but when am I ever going to do that again?? And I really want to see Kate and Will in person, no matter how far away I will be!!

I am also pumped for the Olympics! I got the womens soccer gold medal match ticket today. Im hoping that the USA pulls through. I am BEYOND pumped! I am going to sell back my quarter-final tickets. That game is in Manchester, and the gold medal match is right here in Wembley!

Ok well that is pretty much it! Im off to shower and go to bed early!

P.S the picture is me a wembley!

A Horrible Morning!

So you would think that the person who lives in the city and knows it pretty well would be able to get a guest to the airport in time for him to catch his plane to Switzerland. That is false. It wasn’t TOTALLY my fault that Alex missed his plane, but I was kinda instrumental. Oops. Lets start at the beginning…

We woke up at 3:45am… I was running on 4 hours of sleep and was tired from the crazy week in Paris. We went towards the bus station and I realized that I had forgotten the extra oyster card for Alex because we didn’t know how much money was left on his. I literally ran back to the flat, up the stairs, dug through my drawer, ran back downstairs and to the bus stop. The bus pulls up as Im catching my breath and we hop on. We are riding along and about 2 stops into the route I start paying attention to my surroundings. The bus is going to Hammersmith. Its going the wrong way. I got on the wrong bus. I tell Alex to get off and we walk across the street to the other bus stop. The next 266 doesn’t come for 25 minutes. Things are going to be close. (this is missed opportunity #1. We are going to keep track!) I suggested a taxi, but he chose the bus. (chance #2)

The bus comes and the driver floors it to the end of the line. Just what we needed! We can def still make it! We start walking to the next bus stop. This is snag number 3… we get lost. It was a system of flyovers and pedestrian walkways without signs. It was horrible. We figure it out, and see the road we need to get to. We are just crossing underneath when we see the 113 bus leave the stop. Yay we are going the right way! We get to the stop and I check the timetable. At this point we need to get Al to the 5:52am bus to the airport… his last hope. My stomach dropped when I saw the bus was coming at 5:50 and it was a ten minute ride. We were going to miss the easybus. I did NOT want to tell Al! I did though and he decided on a taxi. At that VERY moment a taxi comes over the hill. Alex flags it down and it doenst stop. (missed opportunity #4). Are you kidding me? I think it was because we were at a bus stop and he thought we were flagging a bus behind him?? I don’t know. All I know is that it didn’t stop.

I suggest going to the taxi center at the shopping centre to see if there is a number to call a taxi. I call for Al while he gets money out. The guy says 15 minutes. Ok… still cutting it close but he should make it to the airport on time. The taxi shows up 25-30 minutes later. (chance #5). It is now 6:25 and it’s a 30-40 minute trip to the Luton from where we were. The gate closes at 6:55. I knew at this point that wasn’t a point in him taking the taxi, but he did. I hopped on the bus and headed home.

At 7:15 I get the call that he missed his flight. Also his bag broke and his sunglasses were under my couch. Talk about an epic fail of a morning. I message his friend who was going to pick him up in Switzerland (Alex didn’t have his number…. No idea why he didn’t). I figure that out and I was planning to sleep but I was wide awake. I ended up getting ink ALL over my sweatpants (my good HWS ones) so I go in the kitchen to start a load of laundry and my overhead lightbulb explodes. Ok… cool. I make some tea while I wait and end up spilling a 1/4th of the boiling hot tea down my front. It kinda hurt. At this point (9:30am) I decided to go back to bed and start the day over!

My alarm went off at noon and I dragged myself out of bed so I could go grocery shopping before I skyped my parents. It was 78 out and I got to wear a sundress and sandals to Sainsbury’s! Such a treat! (minus the blisters I got…) I spent too much money but I was craving chicken wing dip and cant stand it anymore! Im excited for dinners this week. No expired tv dinners for me! I got home JUST in time to skype mom. (I forgot to mention in my Paris post… I bought ONE thing in Paris!! ONE magnet! I did SO well not shopping. Im so incredibly proud of myself!)

After I decided to relax and watch Glee (I cried through the end. Ill admit) and then did something truly awesome… read for fun! It was so nice to relax with a good book and not realize how much time is going by. I read all afternoon and loved every second!

I am getting Alex’s cold. My throat is sore. Grrr! I did find candy I forgot I had and that completely made my day. A year ago finding candy wouldn’t mean anything, but now that I am here I don’t buy it and eat a lot healthier. It the whole living in Europe thing! So candy is a treat now!!

Nothing else is really new. Oh I did paint my nails! They are dark pink (not that anyone probably cares!) Im off to write yesterdays post then it time for dinner and a shower!

P.S i picked the picture since I had so much fun reading today!

Day with Al

I set my alarm this morning for 10 so I wouldn’t waste all of Al’s last day in London. We didn’t walk out the door until 11 or so. It was beautiful out!!! 80 degrees which meant a sundress and sunglasses. Perfect! I wanted to go to Borough Market to get some asparagus so Alex came with me. We got there and I don’t think he was a fan… I think it was too crowded. We did run into two guys from school though in the crowd! Crazy!

After Borough we walked to the Tower of London. It isn’t a crazy distance away, but it’s a hike. Alex decided he wanted to go inside the buildings so we explored things that I haven’t seen before. And I learned that the last person executed there was right before WWII!! WHOA! That was fun! It still isn’t worth 20 pounds apiece though! He decided against the Crown Jewels even though there wasn’t a line. He is crazy! That is the best part! After wandering some we started walking back towards downtown London. We ended up walking to St Pauls! Gah! It was so hot out and I was so SO tired from Paris! We made it though and found the Cheshire Cheese pub (its really old) on Fleet Street. The food was so good. I had Cottage Pie an Alex had a Steak and Ale pie. YUM!!

After lunch (at like 3) Alex decided he still wanted to walk around. We saw that Starbucks was having a happy hour ½ price frappies everyday from 3-5 until June 5th so we both got one. It was yummy and refreshing! My feel still hurt though! To make a long story a little shorter we ended up walking to Trafalgar Square, around the National Gallery, and then all the way to Green Park tube stop. I basically walked across London the day I got back from walking across Paris everyday. I survived but I was happy to be heading home!

The night was chill. We got food from the grocery store for dinner and just hung out. It was awesome to have him here in London. It was weird colliding my high school world with London! The best thing about it though was that we were actually in Europe together. EVERY summer (since proably Junior year of high school since last summer) the first thing we would do was to go to Timmy Hortons, sit with an Ice Capp and complain that we were stuck in Chautauqua County again and working at the Institution AGAIN. We would always said that we would get out of there and go to Europe and see all of these things. Then here we were, sitting in London this summer drinking a Starbucks relieved that we weren’t in WNY. (I have to admit… I miss the crew that I worked with at CHQ already!! Just not the customers!) It was pretty cool. It took us 7 or so years but we got there!

P.S Picture is of Al in the Cheshire Cheese

Paris: Day 4

Guess who didn’t want to get up this morning?? It was just so depressing that I woke up with my feet hurting. Really? Arent they supposed to feel better after a night’s rest? Maybe they didn’t because I didn’t sleep at ALL… that could be. Anyways I love how I couldn’t sleep all night but then when my alarm goes off Im actually asleep and now sleepy. It happens every time!

Somehow I got up, dressed, and packed on time. Isabel and I ate breakfast in a window seat overlooking the train station. So nice! Then we checked out and waited in the lobby for the rest of our group. Andrew arrived and RAN us to the train station to catch our train…. We just made it! The train was really modern inside with cool multi-colored everything and A/C. That would come in handy later!

It was only a 20 minute train ride to the Chateau and before we knew it we were deep in the woods. I LOVED it. It smelled so good and it was quiet. Lovely. People couldn’t believe that woods were normal for me! It was nice to be surrounded by nature instead of concrete and cars! The walk wasn’t long enough (although we were all sweating. It was at least 75 degrees!). In a nutshell…. The Chateau was a Renaissance museum and was decent. We walked around and discussed the things inside. Not much to write about really…

We headed back the way we came and went through the woods again. By 12:40 we were on the train headed back into Paris! We all took the metro together to the spot that we had to be after lunch. Eliza, Isabel, Mariel and I went to the grocery store and they bought lunch. I had my subway sub left over from dinner so I munched on that! We sat on benches outside and chatted while we ate. Then we hit up a Starbucks for the loo and headed to the last museum.

There isn’t much to say about this visit either! We looked mainly at chairs to get the timeline of their development down but we did check out other pieces of furniture. I was so overheated and I had checked my bag, so I was without water. I kept hoping that I wasn’t going to pass out. I fanned myself with my brochure and hoped. I didn’t which was very very nice!

After the visit Eliza, Isabel and I decided that since it was such a beautiful day that we would walk to the train station. I found a magnet on the way (it’s the Eiffel Tower) so I was extremely happy! By the time we got to the hotel my feet were shot, as were my calves. I sat for a minute before heading across the street to the train station. We were a bit confused where to go, but we figured it out and got through security without a problem. The UK border guy only asked me what I was studying and didn’t interrogate me which was a nice change! As soon as we walked into the lounge our platform was announced! Talk about perfect timing!! We boarded the train and it felt so amazing to sit down. I didn’t want to move!

2 hours later (at 9pm) our train pulled into St. Pancras. I didn’t want to walk, but at the same time I just wanted to get home. It was a smooth trip and I was home quickly. I unlocked my door and found my flat intact, and Alex hanging out (with a cold…) I posted some pictures, my posts, showered and interrogated Alex about his time in London. Then I was off to bed! PHEW! I was so SO glad to be home. I was talking to other people in our group and they also felt like the days in Paris were too hectic and long. Everyone liked the pace in Venice much better! I wasn’t the only one! I think I was the only one who didn’t like Paris though…. Oh well!

P.S the picture is of me in a sotre that was transferred to the museum!

Today was long but it was a good day. It started with my alarm going off at 7:30 again. Man I hate alarms! I didn’t get up right away. I laid there until Isabel was out of the bathroom. Then I dragged myself out of bed! We got ready and headed down to breakfast. I did a daring thing… wore shorts today! I could feel eyes upon my bright white legs, but I thought “just wait.. its going to be hot!” and others had dresses on which was the same thing as a pair of shorts!

I wasn’t too hungry this morning but I told myself I needed to eat a lot. I managed to shove a lot of food down my throat! We ate breakfast quickly again so we headed down to the lounge to chill before heading out. We chatted with a girl from another group and then at 9 headed to the Louvre. It was decided that we should take the metro so we got there pretty quickly and had quite a bit of extra time before class. I LOVE the pyramid in front of the Louvre. It works so well. I snapped some photos and we headed down to the inverted pyramid to wait for our group.

Everyone in our group showed up eventually and we headed into the craziness that is the Louvre. Here is where Im going to some crazy…. I hate the Louvre. Yes it is an amazing institution with top of the line works. Every painting is a masterpiece BUT it doesn’t work as a museum. Its too big, and because of its reputation it is too crowded. It is PACKED with groups who aren’t really even looking at the art. Instead they are snapping photos, or even better RECORDING their every step with their dumb camcorders. They aren’t even looking at the paintings because they are engrossed by their tiny little screens. Seriously people? Why come? And honestly no one ever wants to watch those shaky videos of your trip anyways!

Ok enough ranting… we battled our way through the crowds to look at most Neo-Classical and Romantic works. I impressed Rebecca by spotting the Raphael print in a painting by Ingres and then knowing that it was the Madonna of the Chair (I KNOW my Renaissance) but then I said it was in Rome (stupid me) when I meant Florence! But I discovered that I need to study to Romantic paintings! We didn’t stay at the Louvre long. It was too crowded and there were other things that we needed to see. We did go through the room with the Mona Lisa for the people who hadn’t been to the Louvre before. All of us who had looked at Rebecca in shock that we had to go into that jungle! I took a picture of the room for you all. Check out facebook! (if I remember when I actually post this, Ill insert it below but no promises!)

Somehow we got out of the Louvre alive. Rebecca wanted to make sure that we got to go to the loo and she didn’t want to wait 45 minutes for the crap, nasty toilets. She brought us to a “boutique loo” (not kidding) and paid for it for us. It was right on our way out of the museum but no one was there! It was the BEST toilet I have ever been to. A man escorts you to a stall that is more like a room that a stall. It smelled SO good in there. Then I was washing my hands and the man went over to my “stall” and sanitized everything before bringing the next person to it. That is a bathroom and that is service!

After that we were off to the Pantheon of Paris. We got on the dreaded Metro and headed over. We got there and I didn’t recognize it, but when we walked in I kinda remembered it, but I didn’t know. I will have to go home and look at my Paris pictures from last trip and see if I had gone there with Uncle Billy! We wandered around that.. it was ok. My feet were tired at this point and the art wasn’t all that interesting. Im not a fan of 19th century stuff! We did get to go down to the crypt after though which was awesome! I saw Emile Zola, Voltarie, and Victor Hugo’s tomb!! Saaaaa-Weet!

Finally it was time for lunch. Rebecca walked us in the general direction that we needed to go it, and then gave us directions to our next location. Then we all broke off to do our own thing and Isabel and I got a crepe. I got a ham and cheese one and the guy accidently broke an egg in it so I got a free egg too! After we had the crepes in our hand we went to the Luxemburg gardens and…. SAT IN GRASS and ate. Then I laid on my back and fell asleep in the shade until a policeman kicked everyone off the grass so they could mow! It was perfect timing because we needed to start walking to St. Sulpice.

St Sulpice was used in the Dan Brown movie (I think the DaVinci code and I think it was when the one priest gets burned to death. Not too sure though!) That is NOT why we went though! We went to look at a side chapel that had some paintings in it by a guy whose name I cant spell. Sorry. (something like Delacroix) It was pretty boring, but then we walked over and saw his studio which was also pretty boring except that his palette, brushes and paint box were there!

We then were on our way to our last stop and I was very glad because we were ROASTING (which was a nice change!) and my feet were shot. Rebecca managed to get us in to the Beaux-Arts which is an art school that everyone who is someone studied academic French painting at. (seriously name a famous French academic painter and they went here!) it is still a school so it isn’t opened to the public, but Rebecca managed to have them open it one day, and it was OUR day! We went into the auditorium (where the awards were given out) to look at a mural painting. It was pretty epic. We sat and went through who all the painters were and talked. The nicest thing was that it was really cool in there and we got to sit!

After that was a quick loo break (free but not nearly as nice!) and I filled up the water bottle. We were DONE for the day, but a group of us decided to head to the Musee d’Orsay because it was a must see and we weren’t going there as a group. We arrived and the line was barely existent (unlike the other day that Isabel and I tried to go!) I was a dummy and didn’t have my student card (6 euro entry) or my passport with my visa in it (free entry) so I had to pay 9 euro to get in. Im such a dummy.

It was worth it though. The group decided to reconvene in an hour and 15 minutes. The museum is PACKED with stellar things. I was so happy to be able to name the painting or at least the artist (without looking at the label) on 80% of the paintings in the museum. I felt extremely smart, but then again the are blockbuster works so I don’t know how smart I actually am! I didn’t do the museum justice. You really need to arrive with fresh feet and an afternoon. I just walked through the galleries and went to the meeting spot 15 minutes early to rest my weary feet.

The group decided to go out for drinks, but some of us were too hungry and tired. Ishvara, Isabel and I decided to head back to the hotel together. We had to take…. The metro. It was rush hour and everyone was sweating. We didn’t make it on the first train, but pushed our way onto the second. It was the worse underground/metro/tube/subway experience of my life. I have never been so squished and hot in my life. The pole to hang on to was slimy, sweating people were all up against each other and we had to go 9 stops. NEVER. AGAIN. Ill walk tomorrow if I have to at the end of the day. Im not doing that again! Im so thankful I don’t live in Paris. I am appreciating London more and more. It has cleaner streets, cleaner underground and a much more efficient system.

We got back to the hotel and decided that if we went to our room we would never come back down for dinner! We spotted a Subway and grabbed a sub for take-away. I got a 30cm sub (a “footlong”!) so I could have it for lunch tomorrow. Isabel and I brought it back to our room and vegged out on the bed eating Subway. Then I showered, looked through my pictures and have written this. I think it is time for bed soon! Tomorrow is going to be a LONG day. All of the days have been long, but they have been interesting. I have a feeling that tomorrow wont be. And Rebecca warned us to bring comfy shoes because we are going to do a ton of walking and standing… it made us all worried some! My feet are pretty shot already. I hope they heal for tomorrow! I am ready to go home tomorrow. I have been in Paris long enough! I haven’t gotten a magnet yet though and I don’t know if I will have time/be in a touristy place tomorrow! GAH!

I just wrote this post in 45 minutes and it is 1652 word long… I wish I could write papers like that!

P.S picture = eating my crepe!

Paris: Day 2

Today was a long day. Im so tired lounging here in my bed. Gah! We left at 9am this morning and got back at 9:15pm. That is a 12 hour day!!! I woke up at 7:30 and managed to drag myself out of bed by 7:45. It was rough! I got dressed and ready and then Isabel and I headed to breakfast. It was a decent breakfast! I ate two croissants, a huge helping of bacon and lots of other things. We then hung out in the lounge and headed out the door to meet our group.

Im not a fan of the Paris Metro. NOT a fan. The cool thing is that the doors can be opened while the train is still moving! Its so cool. We rode to our stop and somehow beat everyone there! Eventually everyone showed up and we took a walking tour of a section of Paris to look at the architecture. It was a residential area, which was nice, and it was green with trees and grass! I liked the green!

After our architecture tour we headed to a museum that was packed full of Impressionist work. Many Monet! There was also a great Berthe Morisot exhibit that was going on. It was amazing! Almost worth it to come to Paris just for that! We stayed there for two hours and by the end I was really tired and it was only 1pm!

We followed Jacqui back to where we were supposed to meet at 2pm and then all split up to find lunch. I had three rolls with me and while Isabel was searching for a sandwich I found a cute fruit store and bought two apples. I HATE not being able to speak French or understand them. I just smile and give them money. I feel like such a tourist AND I told some thank you in Italian. Awesome Anna. Awesome. Everything that they say just sounds like one big jumble of nothing!

After we sat on the bench and ate, it was time to find our group again. In the afternoon we were all headed to a 1930’s museum which sounded cool! It ended up not being all that interesting and quickly the group started to crash. She let us be free at 3:30 and we were all glad to be done. By this point it was HOT out and SUNNY! It was so SO nice to feel the sun! Isabel, Eliza and I decided to head to the Tuilleries which is the garden in front of the Louvre. We got there at about 4 and the three of us sat and talked until Eliza had to go meet a friend that is in Paris. Isabel and I ended up sitting there until 6:40 or so… I was ansty. It felt like forever once Eliza left! FINALLY we moved and walked up towards the Louvre.

We wandered around and I made Isabel take a photo of me in front of the Louvre. I had been there before but I have NO photos of me from the trip at all! I am trying to make up for it! After that I scouted out the hotel Uncle Billy and I had stayed at. I found it without a problem! YES! And the restaurant was still across the street. I wanted to go but the duck was 19 euro. Gah!

We wandered towards the hotel and ended up near where we had been the night before. We went down the passageway and the restaurant that we had tried to go to last night was actually opened tonight! It was so YUMMY! I had… duck again :) It was a lot better than the night before with an amazing red wine sauce. I wish that it was a never ending plate! We did the formula menu so we got a desert too. I got raspberry rhubarb pie… YUM! It was very good! The set menu was 21 euro and we each had a glass of wine so I ended up paying 25 euro for dinner. Yikes! It will be the only time that I spend that much! It was frustrating though because I could have spent that at the other place that I wanted to go to….

After dinner we made the long trek home. Even after sitting so long in the park, I was beat. Basking in the sun probably didn’t help! Somehow we made it back and I crashed and looked through the days pictures while Isabel showered. Then it was my turn, and now Im writing this! I am so tired though so I am off to bed to prepare for another long day tomorrow. These trips are exhausting!


P.S me and the Louvre!

Ahhh.. Pear-eeee

France is not my country. I don’t love it, let alone really like it. But allow me to digress (or is it regress? I don’t know. Im not a writer and my high school failed to educate me in English so Im not sure) Anywho… I got up at 5am this morning. Correction… my alarm went off at 5am. I got up at 5:10 or so. Probably a wee bit before. I threw on some clothes, slapped on makeup and tried really hard not to wake Alex. I think I did… or he moves a lot when he sleeps. One or the other! I was out the door at 5:25 or so and headed to the tube.

It was an easy and quick journey. There were more people than I thought on the train at 5:30am though! I was awake (surprisingly) and found St Pancras Station (I have to admit.. it is quite easy considering all you need to do is follow signs!) I went through security and sat in the lounge to wait for the platform. Soon enough Benedicte joined me and then some of the others. Soon our platform was called (number 10) and I followed the crowd to Coach 15 and found seat 62. Apparently someone somewhere loves me because I was one of the few people without a seat buddy. Phew! I was too tired to make small talk all the way to Paris! Instead I popped my headphones in and fell FAST asleep.

I woke as we were pulling into the station! We all headed to our hotel (literally a stones throw from the train station. I could stand at the door of the hotel and chuck a stone at the façade of the train station and it would hit the front!) It was nice to see a train station that wasn’t in Italy… it wasn’t Mussolini-sce. Instead it is a pretty, classical building. I like it! And the train station area isn’t sketchy. Phew!

We dropped our bags at the hotel and Isabel and I started walking. We had 5 hours to kill! We first found the Opera house (we needed to meet there at 3pm) and decided to keep walking. We found the prettiest garden and at lunch there. It wasn’t until after lunch that I realized that I was staring at a large glass pyramid… anyone who has read Dan Brown will know… it was the Louvre. Duh me. Then we headed to the Museum d’Orsay but the line was ridiculously long. We saw the tip top of the Eiffel Tower ahead and decided to walk there. Ummm…. It was QUITE a walk. When we finally did get there we sat in the park and people watched for 45 minutes. We still had time to kill and we were pooped already!

Eventually we moved and took some photos. Then it was time to start heading to the Opera house again. We decided to take the Metro… ew. Its like NYC’s. Dirty, sketchy and old looking. Not at all like the tube (the entire city is dirty btw!) We made it just fine to our stop (I almost fell asleep on the train. Im just not fazed by traveling anymore!) We saw some of our group there already and sat on the steps and waiting for Paddi.

We walked around the city with Paddi which was a lot of fun. My favorite part were the passage ways that were filled with cute little stores. (Like an arcade!) I wanted to browse in there for hours! He also walked us through the Gallery de Layaffte… we weren’t allowed to stop, which was good! I wanted every hat there! The gallery is a famous shopping place because of the ceiling. The best way to describe it… its like looking up into a Tiffany glass lamp shade. Pretty awesome.

After walking around with Paddi for an hour and a half, he ended the talk at a auction house. He had us go in… it was WAY better than Christies. You walk into Christies and its so stuffy and rigid. Here it was like a flea market, but better organized. There was a charm to it. I loved it! If I spoke French and liked Paris I would work there!

We were free after that so we all headed back to the hotel so we could get into our rooms. On the way back Isabel and I stopped at a grocery store and bought some snacks which included… a bottle of wine (1.31 euro), a wheel of brie (2 euro) and a bunch of fluffy, and sweet rolls (1.50 euro) Yum! Then we headed back, got our room and crashed for a bit.

Paddi had recommended a restaurant in one of the arcades that we had been in. Isabel and I decided to try that for dinner. We walked for 15 minutes back down there and it was CLOSED! Gah! We picked another one in the arcade and I think we made a good choice! For 12.50 we got a main, desert, bread and water! Sweet! I picked the… duck! It was what I came for after all. Im going to get it as much as I can here! For desert I had a HUGE helping (HUGE!) of tiramisu. I was one happy American in Paris! I will give Paris that… the food is top notch!!

After dinner we waddled back home, stuffed to the brim with French food! We crashed, showered and Isabel has gone to bed so I feel bad typing! I think that is all for tonight! The weather was good today (just cloudy!) but it is supposed to get better and better!

P.S me hugging a tree :)

Phase Four: My Last Visitor (Potencially)

My alarm went off too early again this morning. It always seems too! This morning I decided to switch it up some… I was craving milk with my cereal. For those of you who know me, this is weird. I don’t “do” cereal and milk. I grew up with cookies for breakfast and as I have grown up some I have moved on to cheerios but… without milk. Today was different. Today I wanted milk. SO I got ready like I normally do, but instead of throwing my cheerios in a ziplock bag, I poured them into a bowl and added milk. It was tasty, but I ate so fast to avoid the getting all soggy. Soggy cereal is GROSS! But I managed to eat all of the tiny circles before they got soggy. Phew!

I was off to school a little later this morning because I didn’t need to save time to eat breakfast at school. I arrived at 10 or so, handed in my report and a library book and then sat in the lecture hall and read until class started. Today’s lecture was on Cezanne and it was by the lady who had done the two Impressionist lectures. Therefore it was a decent lecture. Decent lectures are so rare here so I appreciate them when they come!!

After lecture I was off to Heathrow to get… Alex!! Woo! It was a long ride out there but when I did finally get there I found him pretty quickly. Then I got us lost finding the tube again, and it turns out it was right in front of our face. What an awesome tour guide am I?? Gah! We made it back though and Al crashed and skyped friends while I packed for Paris. It is supposed to be high 70s everyday and EIGHTY on Friday! I packed shorts and short sleeved shirts. EPIC!

We hung around for a long time and decided it was time for dinner. I showed him where the grocery store was. I got some snacks and he got the weirdest list of items ever. (trust me!) We were walking back from the store and there was a police barricade and police cars all over on one of the side streets. One of the officers was interviewing a girl and we just walked by. I said that I wondered what the was and Alex just stared at me and asked “did you see the body?” I flipped out and wanted to see it. Apparently it was in the middle of the road! Alex kept trying to make me go back but I thought that would be awkward that I wanted to see a body. I was so disappointed that I missed it until Alex started laughing…. He was joking and I completely fell
for it. Grrr… I believed every word he said. Im so gullible.

Anyways… we got Chinese food and ate it at home. It was fun! Then it was a shower time and Alex is currently trying to find a movie to watch. He is actually staying awake pretty well. Im impressed. Im off to Paris bright and early tomorrow and I wont have blog capabilities until Friday night, so check back Saturday!!

P.S my picture is me being silly

Last Lazy Day Before A Crazy Week

I didn’t do much this weekend. That was my reward for finishing my report so early!! I did clean everything in sight today. My entire flat is sparkling including the stove (which is my least favorite. Give me a toilet any day. At least you aren’t touching anything!) I did enjoy reading for FUN this weekend. I haven’t had a chance to do that in a very long time. I usually only have time to read on the way to class and while Im waiting for class to start. This weekend I actually had a chance to curl up with my kindle and read until I wanted to stop!

Something I forgot to mention a while back (Thursday I think it was). While I was sitting in my Art Nouveau lecture bored out of my mind, I started thinking…. Rivendell elves love the Art Nouveau style! Seriously! Go watch The Fellowship of the Rings and tell me that their world is NOT Art Nouveau! All of the nature inspired designs and curving and fluid lines…. Totally Art Nouveau!! We saw a picture of a bust that looked JUST like a Middle Earth Elf! Not kidding. I will try to find it on google images and show it to you sometime. Once I noticed it, that was all I could think of!

Besides cleaning and reading nothing else is new. Mr. Alex Reynolds arrives tomorrow so that will be fun. After class Im heading to the airport to meet him. We only have the afternoon though because then Im home to pack and Tuesday morning (bright and early) Im off to Pear-ee (Paris) until Friday. Honestly… Im just going for the food. The duck in particular!! Other than that Im not too pumped. Im not a fan of the French. I love Italy and the Italians! Actually I am beginning to love the English too!!

Well Im off to bed before I gnaw off my hand in hunger. I had soup for dinner and then was still hungry so I made pasta at 9pm and Im STILL hungry. GAH! Until Tomorrow…

P.S the picture... obviously I need to go to Paris because Im running out. Todays is me in prague with the best potato chips (or crisps) EVER. Im hungry so I picked the picture with food...

Friday!

Why do mornings come so FAST? I close my eyes all happy to be cozy in bed and BAM! Your alarm clock is screeching at you to get out of bed. Its just mean. The only good thing… today was a Friday! I love Fridays!!! Somehow I got myself out of the door in one piece and fully clothed. I was running late though, but for some reason I strolled to the tube station. I really cared this morning…

The commute was boring… I read about a Amish man who decided to leave the community. Its actually super interesting! I am only a third of the way through it though so he hasn’t left yet. Anyways I got to school late (a whole 10 minutes late. This is why I have a cushion of time!) and remembered that it was prospective student day. Crap. There was no way that I was going in the common room. What happened if one of the prospective asked me how I liked the course? I have heard that Im not a good liar… my face tends to give me away so what was I supposed to stammer if someone asked. I was proactive and didn’t let myself get into the situation! I headed into the lecture theatre instead and snuck my wheaties from my bag into my mouth. I started reading but then Jen came and we chatted until class started. It was nice, she is really sweet!

Christies really isn’t all that bright… as I have told you, today was prospective students day. You would think for this course you would have a lecture that was art/object/art history related. This was not the case. The lecture “Paris 1900” was an overview of Paris/the 1900 exhibition. Not the smartest idea. I thought Paddi was going over the hour and a half, and I turned around to look at the clock… it was only 11:10. We had only been in there for 55 mins, and had 35 left to go. Torture. They need some marketing skills… but then again at least the students got a realistic impression.

After class I ate lunch and then went to the library to print my report! It just wasn’t my day with printing… the printing gods were determined not to let me succeed. First I didn’t have any more credit so I had to take a walk down to the HSBC and get money out because the minimum top-up is 5 pounds… in cash. I really do love that place. Sigh. So I came back, paid five-pounds, pushed print and the printer was jammed. Jen and I spent 10 minutes pulling paper out of crevices that we didn’t know that printers had. Eventually we gave up and went to find help, and the tech guy comes over and pulls out the ONLY piece of paper left in the stupid thing which was in a crevice that we never would have found. My paper finally came out… but really. That required too much effort!

After that debacle, I headed on my adventure. I have to warn you… it wasn’t as cool as I was hoping, nor as extensive. I headed to the Wellcome Collection to see the exhibit on……. Wait for it…. You will never guess…. Keep trying though…. Given up????.... Brains!!! I went to see a million brains, but there were only a few. It was pretty epic though! It didn’t bother me at all until I was dumb enough to watch a video of a post-death examine and they were removing the brain. I was fine until the brain was out and I was looking at the empty bowl of the person’s head. I think the room spinned.. so I walked away really fast and looked at something else! Do you know that there was a crazy guy at Cornell who collected brains and studied them? Half the brains there were from his Cornell Collection. Who knew! Weird stuff you learn on the other side of the world. Oh and the Auburn prison supplied him with the “criminal” brains to compare them to respectable gentlemen. Fascinating.

Next I was off to Dunhill to get Dad’s pipe that they had repaired. That store is so intimating. First I would love to open my own door thanks. Second, there is no one in the store but 6 guys standing there in suits (Yes I really did count). One is getting the pipe, so there are 5 guys staring at me and I am trying hard not to stare at them. I made the mistake today of looking at the watches in the case while I waited, and instantly was sprung upon by one of the men in black. Gah! The guy with the pipe finally came out and asked me what was wrong with the pipe so he could make sure everything was ok. I said “I don’t know but when we brought it in it was only half there, and now the entire thing is there so that must be a sign of improvement.” And smiled. I got a stare in return. Note to self… they must not be used to humor in this store. Ok… awkward. I attempted to repair the damage but didn’t really succeed. Then he asked if I would like a bag. Honestly I said yes JUST because I wanted to walk out of there swinging a bag! (in all practicality I needed one because my bag was full of books and dad would kill me if I broke his newly fixed pipe) I booked it out of there and was free of the stuffy, but yet extremely classy Alfred Dunhill store. Ill admit, if I was a guy and had enough money to feed everyone in the world and had money left over I would buy my clothes there. They are SPIFFY! One of the guys was hand hemming a pant leg for a gentleman when I was there yesterday. That is service.

After I was going to go check out Abbey Road, but it was raining and who wants to go look at a crosswalk in the rain? So I came home and chilled. I am so glad my report is done so I can relax before my busy week next week!! Wooo!!!

P.S SInce I couldnt take pictures of the brain... here is a random picture again. This time of me drinking butterbeer! So my mother doesnt yell at me I need to insert this disclaimer... No alcohol was consumed while taking this photo... it was a family friendly non-alcoholic drink!

Back to Normal

Today was a normal, boring day at school. I went to bed last night at 11:15 all ready for the next day and… I laid there for 2 hours WIDE awake. Awesome. So this morning when my alarm went off I was not a happy camper. I laid in bed telling myself that I needed to move, but not actually doing so. Let’s just say I ended up running late! Gah.

The commute was boring EXCEPT I was thrown off when I got to my platform at Baker Street. The re-painted the white line along the edge of the platform which means that the marks that I always looked for because a door stopped RIGHT there was GONE. I had to GUESS. What is up with that?? (I did guess correctly btw) The tube people are ruining my morning routine and making me think. I don’t like it…. The platform did look nice though.

I got to school only 5 minutes later than usual, and I still could snag my seat, eat my wheaties (im a fan!) and chat with some of the girls. Im such a chatter. :) My loan check came into today. Holla!

The morning lecture was long, and I was tired and the guy puts me to sleep on a good day. I kept drinking water to keep me awake! I like the Art Nouveau style though! The guy just has that way of talking that kills me. Somehow I survived and then they asked us to stay so they could film us for a promotional movie about the course. A lot of people left, but I felt bad for them so I sat there while we had a “fake” lecture. I was in the back so I don’t think I starred in it!

After my film debut, I ate lunch and hit up the library. I needed a museum theory book considering we need to talk about it in our report but have never talked about in our lectures. Awesome. Then I went to HSBC to put the money in the bank! I love doing that. It was my last check though.. so that was sad. And it is sad that its not free money like it feels like it is. I have to pay it back?? Crap!

At 1:30 we had a print handling session and to be honest.. I was dreading it. That was until I walked into the room and the man (David) was wearing bright yellow corduroy pants and a royal blue/white striped shirt. He was instantly my favorite guy and he was incredibly nice. We started looking at prints and the film crew came back. I was DEF in those shots. Im going to be a star… : ) Anyways the session was really good and he was super duper helpful!

At 2 I was free and I headed to Dunhill to pick up Dads pipe. Long story short, it was at the warehouse today not their store so I have to go back tomorrow. MAN did I feel out of place. After I popped into Fortnum and Masons (I know I know. Im addicted) and I was looking around at their new stuff and I saw… the cupcakes. I haven’t a cupcake since… I don’t even remember. I got a walnut and coffee on AND a champagne one that has a champagne truffle on the top. They weren’t too bad.. 2 pounds apiece. I decided it was ok for a tiny treat. And where else can you get cupcakes handed to you by a man in a full tuxedo? That, my friends, is CLASSY. I walnut one was exceptionally tasty and when Im done writing my blog Im going to eat the other one! :)

When I got home I read parts of the book and finished my crap report. Then I made Indian Korma Chicken and rice. It actually turned out which was really exciting!!! By the time I made dinner (it took 40 minutes!) and ate it, it was 8pm and I showered and here I am writing my blog while being distracted by youtube!

To reward myself for getting my report done before the weekend I am going on an ADVENTURE tomorrow so check back in for a crazy post! (I hope anyways.. if my adventure is a success!) Wow nothing like advertising my blog! Sorry!

P.S Sorry for not writing yesterday but ALL i did was write my report!
P.S.S todays picture is random once again. Me in Ollivanders Wand store!

Back To Class

Today turned out to be a crazy and busy day. I think I ran around more than I was actually at the places though! I left my flat at noon and headed to the middle of nowhere, London. It was actually pretty easy to get to there. I hopped on my line and rode to London Bridge. Then I switched and caught a train (an overground one.. a legit one!) When I got off the train I was a bit worried, because I realized that I had looked at the google map once and my piece o’ crap phone doenst have google maps on it, so I had to go with my gut. Not always the best plan. Thankfully the gallery realized this and had the route marked with brown signs. Phew!

I got to the gallery right on time and our group looked around for an hour. I don’t know why we had to go with a tutor considering that we didn’t really talk about anything that wasn’t on the labels already. Whatever. It was a cute gallery though and it has a LOT of great things without the crowd! I recommend it!

On the way back to the train station, I strolled because there was this weird bright ball of light in the sky that I haven’t seen in a month or so! I decided to enjoy its appearance and I had a TON of free time. I LOVED the area. The houses look so nice, and they each had a yard. There were moms everywhere pushing, dragging, and chasing children. There were trees and grass and flowers. It was lovely. If I had to live in this country that is where I would live. AND it was a 10 minute train ride to London. It really doesn’t get ANY better than that.

I slowly made my way to the 4:30 handling session at Christies. I arrived at a reasonable earliness and chatted with some of the people there. A gentleman asked if we were students and we explained we were from Christies. He gets all excited because he took our course in the 90’s. He took it to learn about how and what he should collect. Seriously? We all politely smiled.

The handling session was helpful but the girl was a B*TCH!! Man she had some serious “tude and thought she was awesome. She had taken the course the few years ago, so it was nice that she knew what our test was going ot be like and helped us prepare for it. It was a long hour and a half though with that personality! I survived…

I got home at 6:45ish, made a taco for dinner (delicious!) Oh on the way home I stopped for a treat at Sainsburys. For 2 pounds I got the best desert ever. A container of strawberries, and some double cream. I was so excited. It was AWESOME! Do we have that cream at home? If not Im going to start drinking it now so MAYBE in 3 months I will be sick of it! (highly doubt it!)

After dinner I googled real estate in N. Dulwich. I found a house I really liked. 4,598,000 pounds. Yeah… the cheapest house I could find was 759,000 or something like that. No wonder it looked so nice and all the little humans had uniforms on. Gah. There goes that plan!

Im off to bed so I can be motivated tomorrow to WRITE ALL of my report. I have a good outline going so it hopefully wont be too bad! My layout rocks! It took me 45 minutes just to carefully write everything in so I better get top marks on that section! Off to bed!

P.S THis car is so cool and so dumb at the same time....

I slept in today because I had another day off!!! The other half of the group was off to Waddeston today so the Woburn group has a day off! I love 3 day weekends! I wish it was the standard! Anyways I slept in an slowly got ready for the day. I have been extremely lazy lately. I am in some need of motivation. Gah. Last night I realized that I had really EALLY messed up my awesome layout that I was making for my curatorial report. So… I had to go back to the stolen collection of the British Collection.

I decided to take the bus and look at the window and people watch. It was fun and I got to do nothing while kinda doing something (I was after all on a bus headed somewhere!) After an hour ride, I hopped off into a very wet environment (it really does always rain in London. Its not a lie) I headed the gallery and pused through annoying school groups full of teenagers and re-did my layout. Then I wandered around the gallery, trying to think of intelligent things to say about it. I hit up the bookstore for kicks and giggles and found a pamphlet on the gallery. It was originally 2 pounds but it was on sale for .70p! I snatched it up! On the bus ride home I read it all and learned a lot! It was a great investment! On the way to the bus I was in Bloomsbury and saw all the places that the Duke and Duchess own…. It was CRAZY!

I forgot to tell you all… at Woburn we were surrounded by the family’s coat of arms. Their motto is awesome and is going to be my motto for the next year/step of my life! Its Che Sara Sara. I did not realize that this was a song so I spent the better part of the tour trying to translate it from its Italian. I couldn’t decide if it was past tense or present tense form of essere, but I figured it out (and then they told us in the afternoon talk) that it means “what will be, will be” I wanted it tattooed on me. (Ok I really wish I was a fly on my parents wall right now. HAHAH!) No worries Mom and Dad… Ill never go through with it considering I have no idea where I would put it, or how I would survive a needle putting ink on me! If it was painless and temporary I would be ALL over it though!

One thing I have to get going on… stalking premieres. EVERY major film has had a premiere in London and I read about it the NEXT day in the papers. Do you need a ticket to such events or can you show up and stand in a crowd screaming your head off for free? I don’t want to watch the movie! Just see the famous people. Especially when Will and Kate go! I need to figure them out.

I feel like I am more boring than usual today, but I really just did some cleaning, emailing and procrastinating! My report is coming along, its just not where I want it to be! Tomorrow Im off to the Dulwich Gallery and then a silver handling session. Boo to silver.

P.S todays picture is a bit random... its me with a giant london easter egg!

Meh

Today has been a lazy day. I got up and did some reading for my thesis, ate lunch while watching some tv, and it has taken me forever to write my blog. I don’t really know why! I am hoping to get a lot done on my report that is due next Monday. I cant believe that Paris is coming up so fast. GAH! But Im not in the best of moods so this post is lame! Hopefully you enjoy the other ones!!

Woburn: Day 2

The morning was earlier than I would have liked, but somehow I made it out of my comfy bed. Isabel and I headed to breakfast and sat with Eliza and Yedong. It was fun to chat and I actually learned that Eliza’s (who lives in Britain) dad was born and grew up in Rochester. Crazy! What a tiny tiny world! I just thought that was so cool!

After breakfast we grabbed our stuff, hopped in the taxi and went back to Woburn. Today was way better than Thursday!! First my group looked at ceramics! I LOVE ceramics! There was a Wedgwood Cane service that was really plain, but awesome at the same time! It was a picnicking set. Yeah Wedgwod for a picnic… everyone does that! Then we looked at the Japanese pieces, and moved on to the Sevres services. Amazing. We got to handle some of the things after we looked in the cases and that was amazing. I got to see (not touch though) a Sevres wine cooler. It was two inches from my face with no glass in between! It was awesome. I would have loved to hold it, but we weren’t allowed because it was worth so much.

After ceramics it was time for paintings. We got assigned a painting (Isabel and I) And we had to catalog it and present to the group. The first group did a horrible job. It was painful. We had a painting of Lady Jane Gray and I think it went well! The painting session flew by and before I knew it we were out in the garden looking at the Chinese inspired dairy. It was ok… just an empty pavilion now. Then it was lunch time and I tried to keep it cheap by just getting a baked potato (with cheese!) and some coleslaw. It was tasty and the weather was nice enough that we got to eat outside.

We had an hour break before our afternoon talks so two girls and I walked around the gardens. They were EXTENSIVE and very pretty. We didn’t see much of the property in an hour! Our first afternoon talk was from the archivist. I feel horrible for her… it sounded like torture to me! She seems to LOVE her job though, so that’s good I guess! The second lecture was much more interesting. It was from the General Manager and he talked about the business side of the estate. It was crazy. We learned that the family OWNS parts of London (Russell Square, Bloomsbury Square etc) and in 1918 they sold Covent Garden. How can someone parts of London?? That property basically allows the abbey to run, upkeep and staff everything. There is also a safari, golf course and hotel. It was just crazy. AND since it’s a private home there is a line between privacy and wanting to drawn attention to the collection. It’s a FINE line. It was awesome to learn everything. I wouldn’t want to be the duke and run that enterprise!

We had time for one last walk through of the house. It was nice to go through without tutors and without having to think! I bought a guidebook because it had really good pictures of the house in it, and we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside since it was a private home. After that we climbed back into taxis to the train station, got on the train and pulled into London at about 6.

All and all it was a nice trip. It was long, but I liked the house and learning about how it was run. I got home and realized that my “fountain of life” sign above the store downstairs was GONE. Instead there is a ugly white sign that says “Household Gods, Towelling, and Clothing” on it. That would explain the refurbishment! I miss my blue sign. :(

Random things:
1. I want to be a Duchess. I would have to marry a Duke however. That is the only way a woman can be a duchess. I have a problem with that…
2. I was in a car for the first time in 4 months. I felt carsick every time. That will be fun when I go back to the States!
3. I want to live in a country house….

P.S the picture is of the Chinese Dairy and little pond

Woburn: Day 1

Our meeting point was at Euston Square at 7:50 under the main timetables. I got up at 6am, and was out the door by 7 to get some cash and make it to the train on time! I got there easily and on time! We caught the 8:17 train to Milton Keyes. It was a quick train ride… about 45 minutes. We all climbed into taxis and made it to the house around 9:30am.

First impression… I didn’t really have one! Unlike Burghley (where you come up to the house and can see the entire structure) we entered a side door and walked into the ticketing room and dropped our stuff. There wasn’t a real wow factor right away. I was put in the furniture group first. Sigh. I wanted to learn the house history!! We don’t always get what we want I guess! I was stuck with Andrew and crew doing furniture. The problem is that I was too distracted to really concentrate. I should have been in the history group first so I could gape at the rooms without having to pretend to be looking at a table. Basically I stood there completely immersed in looking that everything that I didn’t pay much attention…. Ill admit it!

The house was BEAUTIFUL. It is my favorite that we have seen. I think the big difference was that the house is lived in and certain rooms are actually used in the winter. There was just a feeling about it. There wasn’t a museum feeling. You felt like a guest. There were family snapshots on tables and shelves, which really added to the overall homey feeling! There weren’t plaques around either, just room guides (people) so that was nice too.

After I suffered through furniture it was time for lunch! I packed mine to save some money, but I bought a pot of tea for 2 pounds so I didn’t feel badly eating my own food in the cafeteria. After our lunch break we headed over to the old stables and listened to a talk from the curator. Basically country house jobs never open up because those who get the job never let go of them. ( I don’t blame them!!) It sounds awesome but at the same time he is basically a one man show so he has to do a LOT of stuff and not all of it sounded fun. He gets a lot of the tedious stuff also because he doesn’t have a team under him. The next talk was from the head of cleaning… I kinda want that job. When the house is closed to the public (during the winter) they clean EVERYTHING which sounded tedious, but also awesome because they get to touch EVERYTHING in the house. That would be epic!

After the lectures we had one more session. Somehow I got the worst one again, and I was off to the vault to look at silver with Andrew. I like silver, but not in an academic sense. I like to look at it, not study it. It felt like the longest hour of my life! When we were finally free at 5, we grabbed our bags and half of us got a taxi to our hotel which was in the town nearby.

Our hotel was just a Best Western, but it was a cute brick one with a little pond outside. Isabel and I shared a room, and it was just a Best Western room! We crashed for a bit and then went out to get food. I was SO hungry so I was ready for a hamburger as big as my head. We picked a pub (when I say picked I mean that we went to the only one around). It was really cute! I picked the burger, got a pint of cider and eagerly awaited my delicious hamburger! Then… a lady came out from the kitchen and said that they had run out of hamburger meat and that we needed to pick something else. NOOO!! GAH! I picked the steak and ale pie with chips, and it was amazing. I could have eaten 5 of them! It was really really good! I recommend it if anyone ever goes to The Anchor in Apsley Guise! We headed back to our room after dinner, watched some tv and headed to bed around 10:30!! I love early to bed nights!

P.S the picture is the house

One of Those Days

It was one of those days… the kind that you just want to pull the covers back over your head when the alarm goes off, and as the day goes on you realize that you should have done just that. This morning was normal and got to school on time. The thing that was crazy… I didn’t have cheerios. I had mini chocolate Wheaties for the first time in my life. CRAZY! They were good! I have another coupon so I think Im going to get them again!

The lecture this morning was on Symbolism (yup the Symbolism with a capital S). I still know nothing about it. We basically just saw a lot of different works and artists, but we didn’t really get told the features of the style. The one thing I did learn is that there isn’t a common denominator, in terms of style, through the Symbolist paintings. Ok…. Thanks. It was a fun lecture because Paddi told a lot of jokes but I still don’t really know what the essence of Symbolism is. We did get the timetable for Woburn at the end of the lecture which was nice!

Lunch was nothing amazing to speak of. I did take a walk to get an envelope to mail my parents a cd of picture. It was a nice walk on the way there, but on the way back it rained. Should have brought the umbrella…

I was in the lecture room early, and chatted with the really nice girl who sits next me and felt better that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t get anything from the morning lecture! Our afternoon lecture was the best we have all year (yup not term, all year!) He actually works at Christies Edu. He is in charge of the short courses that they do, and I want to sign up for everyone if he is the lecturer! He was amazing. He could actually lecture (which is new here) and I wanted to run up and hug him and tell him that he needs to teach the other tutors how to give one. I learned a lot about and Gogh and Gauguin and I actually thought during the lecture. That hasn’t happened since HWS. It was refreshing. I scribbled notes and was engaged. I loved that guy!

On the way home I had to stop off and mail my package to my parents. The third thing that I am going to do when I get home (after eating wings and driving Lucy) is I am going to the post office in Ashville and mailing something to somewhere. I HATE the post office here. I was in line for 37 minutes and then my teller guy wanted to make it so mom and dad would have to sign for the package. Ummm no. Finally I told him it was worth about a pound and he shut up. I was too grumpy to handle him after standing in line for 37 minutes.

While I was in line I stared two little girls down. They were there to add minutes to their CELL PHONES. The 11 year old (im guessing but she was really young) had a iphone and her little sister (im guessing) was probably 9 or so and had a smart phone of some kind. They were in line texting and the older sister was telling the little one that she had just met this boy but she was hopeful. WHAT?? You are 11! Who gives an eleven year old a cell phone, let alone a iphone! I was blown away.

I came home and didn’t do all that much thanks to taking an unplanned nap. I changed my nail color (from highlighter yellow to pink) in case I meet a duchess tomorrow at Woburn. I burned my hand from grabbing my garlic from the oven with my bare hand (yup. Im a genius), I spilled 100 of my 500 q-tips when I knocked the box off, and finally stepped on two magazines (they were in a pile to put in the garbage) and went flying across the living room, smashing into the table and sending an avalanche of my birthday cards which ended up raining around me. It would have been funny if that was the 1st thing that had happened, not the last! Its funny now when I picture it, but not at the moment!

Well I need to go shower and more importantly pack. Im in denial that I have to go on this overnight trip so I have avoided packing. I need to get on that though. If I don’t have means to post tomorrow Ill post everything Friday!

P.S The picture is of me at the queens stables!

Back To Real Life

Today was one of those days that you know happened, but it is just one big blur. I barely got out of bed this morning… and when I did I moved like molasses. I somehow put clothes on, slapped on some makeup and made my lunch. I did leave enough tie to scribble a note to the handyman (that story will be coming in a minute). I got out the door, sat down on the train (which came just as I arrived at my embarking spot) and cracked open my book. I read to Baker St, fought some tourists who insist on being touristy, and read to Great Portland St. I plopped my bag in my seat (remember Im fighting a battle every day for my OWN turf that I had claimed WAY back in term 2 when I actually had people to talk to) and I ran down to the library to print off a kick butt layout of the Enlightenment Galleries (congrats Prez.. instead of knowing anything about English and great American Classics, I can work a computer) and returned my library book. Oh and I ate my cheerios. I don’t know what it is this week… but I am really eating a lot of stale food lately. My cheerios were so SO stale. Add that to two expired tv dinners and I am on a roll…. Sigh. Phew! Busy busy morning I had.

Class was a waste of time. Honestly I am now more confused about what the stupid Aesthetic movement is now than I was last night at this time (and let me tell you… I was pretty lost then!) I understand that the 1830’s and on is one big mess of styles and that they all intertwine. Fine. But we had an hour of half of flipping through images and having the lady tell us that she liked them, and then how she would call it aesthetic, or maybe art noveau. Whatever. Seriously? I wanted to bang my head against the wall. The only highlight was a small victory on my part. She throws a up peacock feather vase on the screen and I instantly tell myself its Tiffany… it was. BAM! Freaking Genius.

During lunch I ate (shocker) and hit up the computer lab and the library. I had an inkling of motivation so I went with it! At 1pm we had a curatorial class… yeah. Umm… I looked at brochures that the lady passed around and that is all I really got from it. Oh I lied… I did learn that everyone (basically) reads the first 10 words of a label and that only 20% of people read the rest. That’s what I learned in an hour and a half. She was a raelly nice lady who wanted to help, but she kept going off on tangents. She would ask someone what their thesis topic was and then go off in an unrelated soliloquy for 10 minutes. Glad I went to that…

Today we (we as in all of the people who are going to Woburn on Thursday) were hoping to get some information about our overnight field trip… basic information such as leaving time, returning estimate, food.. stuff like nope. We got nothing. So now we are hoping to hear tomorrow but we aren’t holding our breaths.

Back to why I wrote a note to the handyman…. Last night (and I think it was Sunday also) my lights went out. All of them minus my kitchen overhead light. Ok… well my landlord and Jack had been here last week sometime messing around with the electric and had blown the fuse. They came in and flipped a switch in the box near the ceiling in my hall and it all came back on. Problem solved. Well not quite.. Sunday it happened again and I flipped the switch just like they had done. The lights came back on and I sat down on the couch and Poof… they went back off. They wouldn’t stay on for more than a minute or so. Then around 11 they stayed on and I didn’t have a problem the next night so I forgot about it. Stupid me. Last night it happened again, but they would stay on for literally 15 seconds. This time I texted Jack and he said that a handyman would come today. So I wrote a note telling mystery man what was going on. I came home and the note was gone, the white fuse switch was now black, and I could smell that someone had been in my flat. (I know that it weird and freaky but I totally could. I think Im growing a super nose!) Apparently it is fixed and the lights are on right now, but Ill keep you posted!!

I finished my book today. The one about Harold. If you want a really cute book that is really depressing but uplifting at the same time (yeah I don’t really get how that works either…) I recommend it!! It was so good and an easy read (considering I started it last night and finished it today!)

Random thoughts…. A confession. I admit. I stalk on facebook. If you are friends with me I have perused your wall to see what’s happening in an attempt to pass time that I should be doing something else. (it is quite effective!) What is odd is what I notice. First an important note, I haven’t seen vey many people from high school since the best day of my life (ok second best. HWS beats the PCS graduation by a long shot) in June as I skipped out of the auditorium to On My Way, happy to never look back. So it is intriguing that while I stalk I learn things such as… who is exactly how they were in high school. Like haven’t changed at ALL. Or the ones who have changed, but not necessarily for the better, or the more boring ones who have grown up, matured and moved on. Its just odd. What is even MORE odd is seeing the pages of the kids who were little when I was a senior. (ok not little. But Freshman/8th graders) What are some of them thinking?? Its just weird to see the sweet little awkward kids who barely have any clothes on, are still awkward but think they are the coolest thing that is on this planet. And I love seeing what people choose to post. Like having a red solo cup in your hand…. We aren’t stupid. Facebook is just a weird thing… Amusing but weird.

Ok well Im off to shower after that weird rant! Im hoping to go to bed early so I can face the day tomorrow. June 22 NEEDS to come. I haven’t been this pumped for school to be over since senior year of high school…

P.S The picture... Im going down memory lane this week. I miss my crew and HWS

Bank Holiday!

I have no idea what a Bank Holiday is, or what they are for but I do know that I don’t have to go to school so I’m a fan of the mysterious holiday. I slept until I couldn’t sleep anymore, had a quick skype date and then I was in a cleaning mood. I don’t know where these come from, but I usually just go with it when they crop up. I put away my laundry (well the stuff that was dry!), went through drawers and re-organized them (all of my clothes now live in the same room. I don’t have to walk around partially clothed, searching for clothes!), I did the dishes and straighten up the living room. Then I ate lunch and decided that I needed to do some thesis planning which ended in me saying mean things at the Christies website…

I am the kind of girl who needs a deadline when it comes to projects, papers, and readings. I also crash and burn when I have too much free time. I need to be busy enough to NEED to employ my time management skills. (which are impeccable if I have enough to do!) Today I had school motivation which hasn’t happened to me since I was writing my honors thesis! (Yup that was a year ago). I think I have figured out my lack of motivation and sense of caring problem. I am used to having midterms, finals, required readings, and papers galore in undergrad. I liked all that work because it kept me focused. I loved going to the Warren Hunting Smith library and bunker down at a window with a pile of junk food and spend my day there, working away and getting things done early. Yup I was that type of student. I thrived with a busy schedule. In high school my grades were better during sports seasons. Christies is a problem for me… I have a project during the term, and two papers due at the very end of each term. Yup that’s it. While some of you may be jealous, I cant do it. I lounge around until I start to feel the pressure. Then for the week that my two papers are due, I manage my time and crank them out. Basically I miss the American way of doing things. My test in this term is worth a HUGE chunk of my overall grade… gotta love basing ones grade on a performance on one test… gah!

Anyways I decided to be a good little student today and make a calendar with my little due dates for each step of my thesis writing process. I had it all mapped out, highlighted each due date with a green marker in my plan and then thought “Oh I better check and make sure that the 18th of Sept is the due date”. In class our program director said that he thought it was the 18th or 19th. I went on the website, scrolled down to due and it read “Thesis Deadline. Set 12th. To Be Confirmed.” WHAT??? Its MAY 7th! How do they not have a deadline date for our thesis? I knew when my Honor’s Project deadline was before I committed to even doing an Honor’s thesis!! See what Im working with here?? Ridiculous.

On top of finding out that we apparently don’t have a deadline yet for our thesis, I saw that the entire thing should be 12,000-17,000 words. Really?? This may not be that bad. My Honors thesis was 12,989 words excluding footnotes and such. If I can do it once, I can do it again!

Other random updates… Im starting a new book today! The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and its really cute so far! Im hoping that it is as god as everyone says. Has anyone read Fifty Shades of Grey?? That may be my next one… everyone is reading it over here!

I love the styles over here… they are way better than the clothes one finds at home! There is ONE style that I am hoping doesn’t spread. The “wear tights under shorts” trend. It is like the “wear leggings as if they are pants trend”. You are covering your body with fabric, yet people can still see everything. The shorts girls wear with tights are non-existent, like the tights aren’t see through or something. Its just so strange… I hope it doenst catch on anywhere else!!

Ok well Im going to end this boring post and go eat dinner. Tonight is another tv dinner (they were on sale last week!) and this one is only one day older than the expiration date instead of too. (somehow y meals that I had planned lasted longer than I thought they would last week). Gotta love eating expired food…. Hopefully I wouldn’t mess up my dinner schedule this badly ever again!!

Picture: since this post was all about me ranting about my upcoming thesis... the picture is of the President giving me my Honors thesis all bound! (actually we re-staged the picture but you get the point)

A Slightly Boring Sunday

I was elated to wake up without having a heart attack this morning. It is so peaceful to wake up naturally and not jerked awake by an alarm clock, or very real fears of your building crumbling with you inside it. It was a pleasant morning. After a shower and some skyping I headed out to do my weekly shopping. There wasn’t any good deals which is always a bummer for a student. I don’t understand how one can feed a family. I walked by carts BRIMMING with food and I had a tiny basket that cost me 14 pounds. How do people do it? Probably a job helps, but still. I don’t want to find out anytime soon. Im quite happy feeding myself and me alone. That costs me enough!

Speaking of feeding myself… this is the longest amount of time (consecutively) that I have been outside of the 14710 zipcode. Im not complaining!! I think it is a mile-stone though! I getting old and have moved out of the nest!!!! (except for the time that I live with the parents after London. No offense mom and dad, but Im hoping that it isn’t very long…) Anyways I am excited! Rome was Jan 16th or so until April 20th, so I have officially bypassed my previous record today! It is the 4 month mark as of today!!! There are some downfalls to this. Wings for one. I haven’t seen a chicken wing that has been deep fried and covered in hot sauce in about… well FOUR months. I haven’t been in a car let alone driven one. As soon as I throw my suitcases in the house, get slobbered on by my buddy Coopie, I am hoping in Lucy and driving her somewhere! (for those of you who are lost, Lucy is my cherry red Toyota Yaris. Basically the best car ever and she better last forever consider she has missed two WNY winters!)

I actually got a lot of work done today, which I was pleasantly surprised by! (I LOVE impressing myself!) I cleaned the bathroom, did never ending loads of laundry (and then realized I didn’t have room to hang it all. I miss dryers), did some school work, and for fun read back issues of all the magazines that I (sorry to interrupt but “I” was my 100,000th word in my blog!!! Woo!) fallen behind on. I ended up tearing every yummy looking recipe out of the Sainsbury magazines and by the end I was craving a legit meal. Instead I had a tv-like dinner planned. I pulled out my beef lasagna and noticed that instead of the “best Before” date being May 7th (which I thought it was) it was May 4th. So not only did I have a tv dinner, I had an expired one. Gotta love being a student. I wish I had cooking implements in my flat. Im sick of pasta, tv dinners, pizza, meatballs, rice and chicken. When I go home Im going to learn to cook for realeezes! Thanks to my sister I have Julia Childs cookbook waiting for me at home!! Hopefully that will help! I do not recommend looking through food magazines if you have a tv dinner lined up for the evening. It really is a letdown, especially when it is 2 days old. Just saying.

I think I learned today than I do most days sitting through class. The first thing I only half-learned and actually I need to look into it more. (OK OK… So maybe I didn’t actually LEARN it) While reading my home/food magazine I kept coming across this word “bunting”. All I could think of is softball and I was pretty sure people don’t bunt softballs during Jubilee street parties. Then I thought of bunt cakes but didn’t see on in the picture. Gah what was this “bunting” and if it was so important for the perfect street party why wont they tell me what it is!! Well…. I think I figured it out. I THINK (that is the key word) that it is those strings of triangle flags. Like the ones in the pool that when you swim under them you start counting your backstroke strokes so you wont bash your head into the end of the pool. I would love to know why they are called bunting and if we have a name for them in the States. We probably call them a string of flags which I think is very sensible and doesn’t cause confusion for foreigners who are attempting to plan a street party (or at least read about how to throw the perfect one just in case that they will need to someday!)

The second thing I learned today I actually learned, and it is more useful than identifying some flags. My magazine taught me how to keep flowers alive longer. (if you are rolling your eyes and could care less about flowers feel free to skip to the next paragraph) Basically all you do is stick a penny in the bottom of the vase (apparently copper is a fungicide) and crush up an aspirin (which kills bacteria) and put that in too! Oh an instead of flower food you can put in 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of vinegar and that will keep the flowers full and the water clear! Im sorry if you veteran housekeepers knew that already… just remember Im young and a newbie at such things like keeping living things (including myself) alive. So my pound splurge today from my food money taught me more practical things than the course that I am going to have to sell a kidney to afford. (no worries. I wont be able to do that. Im going to make it through life without surgery or an iv in my veins and removing a kidney would cause both of those things to occur)

Well I think that it all that is new for the day. Exciting life I lead huh? Tomorrow is a Bank Holiday (about time that I get a federal holiday Britain… about time) Im off to bed without setting my alarm. What a life!

P.S my picture today is extremely random, but I was searching through my pictures and this one just stuck out at me! Im knocking at Privet Drive #4. No one answered...

Homework on a Saturday

I love sleeping in. I love the feeling of waking up and not needing to get up anytime soon, so I bury my head under the comfy covers. Love it. This ritual is the main reason that I love Saturdays. This morning was a classic Saturday morning except the construction noises and the building vibrating. I woke up with a start and a “Holy Crap what is Happening!!!” as I was convincing the building was falling down. It turns out that someone is renovating the “Fountain of Life Christian Bookstore” that has been out of business since I have moved in. Well SOMETHING is happening down there and it started at 8:30 this morning.

After I recovered from my morning heart attack and spent an ample amount of time with my head under the covers, I got up and actually had to clothe myself in street appropriate clothing because I was headed out to the British Museum. This sounds like a fun afternoon activity BUT… I was going there to scout of the Enlightenment Gallery for my Curatorial Report.

I get off the bus and head towards the museum in a drizzle of London rain, walk into the museum and instantly regret it. Who is dumb enough to go to a museum on a rainy Saturday afternoon?? Apparently I am. I headed towards the Enlightenment Gallery and started to look around. The problem with this project is that it to too blaring obvious what the Enlightenment Gallery is trying to do. (and succeeding). I don’t understand what I am supposed to say about it. Everyone’s report is going to be exactly the same… Its too easy. This sounds like a good thing, but its hard to write 3000 words on something so obvious, and it makes you feel that you are missing something and need to come up with a new layer of meaning. Grrr… The Gallery is actually remarkable. One of the best I have seen. It conveys the themes extraordinary well and shows off it strange collection in a concise and cohesive way. There. That is my paper!

After I had mapped out the layout, looked at the objects, identified the themes, and picked what I wanted to focus on, I headed to find the Olympic Medals. I spent quite a bit of time wandering trying to find Room 37. One thing that I hate about the BM (British Museum) is that they charge 2 pounds for their stupid map. I know that it is free to visit, and I understand that they have to raise funds and I am extremely grateful that it is free to see some great stuff. BUT…. 2 pounds for a piece of paper?? No way. So my stubbornness causes me to wander through the BM labyrinth of artifacts for ages until I find where I want to be.

Every time I go into the BM I just have this feeling that everything in that place is stolen. At least at the Met, National Gallery, etc the painting were BOUGHT not taken from their home country/culture by an imperialistic culture. I realize that you cant demand that all the stolen cultural heritage at the BM should go back to their native country (if you do that where do you stop??) But still. Everything in the museum was taken. Don’t even get me started on the Elgin marbles. I see both sides of the argument except when the BM insists that Elgin was a cavaliering hero who SAVED the marbles from destruction. PLEASE. One of his boats sank… thanks for losing those marble Elgin. Im sure that they would have been destroyed if you left them in Greece (NOT) so Im so glad you put them on the bottom of the ocean. And thank you BM for scrubbing the marbles with WIRE brushes. I bet that really helped them too. Oh and they were lucky that the Germans waited for the Brits to put sand bags around the marbles before they were bombed, but they waited for the most of the war before they decided that the marbles should have some protection. (the gallery got hit right after the marble were moved out.) Anyways… don’t get me started on the Elgin Marbles :)
Anyways… I found the Olympic medals. They were cool! They are really THICK! I thought they were thin, but nope! They are definitely a HUNK of medal. Impressive! I want one! If I am ever a Paralympic candidate Im totally going. I have no shot at an Olympic medal…

After the Museum I decided to take the bus back down Oxford Street and hit up Primark. ( A cheap clothing store). I took a new bus route down Oxford Street. I had never been on the 73 before and MAN are the buses NICE. It was the first electric hybrid bus that I have been on and it was sweet. The seats were new so they were all squishy.. it was luxury public bus riding. Pure luxury. I got off at Primark and as soon as I walked in I regretted coming. I HATE going in there. It was PACKED with people. I headed to the tight section because I needed a ….. slip. Sigh. Yup I think I am 23 going on 85. I bought a dress at H and M and it is slight see through if I stand in light (if I wore it at night id be ALL set) So I needed to invest in a slip. I cringe just saying that. I wandering into the undergarment section and I was shocked. There were things in that section that I didn’t even know what they were for and Im a GIRL. There is something to hold in everything. There were stretchy things that held in anything from stomach, butt, boobs, ankles, necks, wrists… anything that had potential for a fat roll. I was overwhelmed… all I wanted was a slip. I would like to mention that I was the youngest person in this section by a good 27 years. Not. Joking. I finally found a simple slip that didn’t suction to me and make me a sausage. I grabbed it and was on my way out when I saw…

The shoes. I want to make this clear before I get a transatlantic phone call from my mom, yelling at me for buying a pair of shoes… I did NOT purchase ANY footwear. I did though have blast trying on crazy heels. (Hey Im a student. I need free entertainment) Imagine a pair of heels that you literally have to be on your tip toes to walk in, and them paint them the brightest hot pink that you can imagine. Those are the shoes that I put back on the shelf. I cant believe I had the will power to put them back, and I cant believe I wanted them. It was so weird… I think I get why girls wear them. I felt like I could take on the world with those crazy things on. I also resembled the Sears Tower, but still… I loved them but didn’t purchase them (Mom this is where I get brownie points.)

After standing in line for ages (which caused me to pick up a package of gummies for a pound. They know what they are doing when they place food in the line) I hopped back on the bus and headed home. I finished my Bill Bryson book and was all happy that I was getting down on my list of things to read. That is until I got home and found my Vanity Fair magazine waiting for me.

Tonight Im going to attempt to make an outline for this report that I could have written as a freshman in undergrad, and then maybe watch a movie. I love weekends. Especially when I have done enough work that I can reward myself with being lazy instead of me just being lazy. I have nothing else to say, but I wish I did. I am having so much fun typing. My nails are currently a bright hue of Highlighter yellow. It is fun to watch my fingers type when they are this bright. Maybe I should do this when I have a paper due, or when Im writing my thesis. It really is fun and it makes me type….

P.S this picture was taken by mom when we all went to see the marbles at the BM. I love this horse. It would probably look stunning in GREECE too.....