My Adventures in London

Ashley

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 110 and after

Day 110

My last day in London. It's sad to even say that. Conner had an earlier flight than Alyssa and I, so we got up when she did so we could say goodbye and that's when everything really started to set in. Alyssa and I headed back to bed for a few hours, but we had to be out of our dorm room at 10am, so we didn't get much sleep. We got up and grabbed all our luggage and made way down to the reception area where they were going to hold our luggage for the day. We then headed to breakfast and met up with the last few people that were left. We then decided to head over to the Parent Trap house that was a little ways from us. It was an amazing way to end the trip because I was obsessed with that movie when I was little. I used to fake sick so I could stay home from school and watch it (sorry mom, but you definitely had an inkling). PS I don't think I've ever said inkling in my life, but hey why not. Anyway, it was surreal to be where they were supposed to be living. I found it interesting that in the movie they live on 7 Pembroke Lane, but in real like the address is 23 Egerton Terrace. But anyway, I literally could not stop staring at the house. Very weird indeed.

After the house, we headed back to campus to mental prepare ourselves for taking the Tube to the airport. Generally it's about an hour trip, but it took us a little over two hours because of all the luggage we had. It took us 45 minutes alone to get from campus to Baker Street Station. It must have been a sight to see Alyssa and I trudging down the street with all our stuff. I would have loved to see a video of that. Once we got to the tube station we had to take a little break because we were so tried and we were both sweating profusely. We grabbed the tube and took it two stops before we had to switch. This was the worst part. We had to take the roundabout way because there was only one elevator and there was not a chance that we were going to carry our luggage up the stairs. I think I would have died. So we finally got to the elevator and when we got off there were loads of people everywhere. I ran over so many people with my luggage, but no one was moving and I didn't really have another option. It was so busy so we had to wait for four trains to go by before we could fit on one. We were grateful that we had left ourselves extra time to get to the airport otherwise we definitely would have missed our flights. When we finally got on the train, we were on that one for about 45 minutes, so we sat and caught our breathe.

When we got to the airport we got a buggie so we didn't have to carry our luggage any more. I basically never wanted to see that stupid giant suitcase again so I basically threw it at the check in place and was out of there. We got through security with no problem and then we waited around for our flight.

We had about a six and a half hour flight so I watched three movies - The Wolf of Wall Street, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Frozen. We also had a meal on the plane and it was a delicious asparagus risotto. I even asked for seconds, but they refused to give me any. I was not a fan of that. Alyssa and I each had some wine as well because it was free and we were trying to stay awake so why not!

When we landed in Boston I teared up a bit because it was sad to be leaving London and also I was excited to be in Boston. We were the last people in line to get through customs and same with our luggage. We finally got through everything and we saw our families! My mom screamed so loud and ran at me. Nick, my dad, and Zoe were there too with signs and some flowers. It was really nice to see everyone, but I was absolutely exhausted so I was excited to get home.

When we got back to Londonderry, I gave everyone their gifts and then headed up to bed. I was completely exhausted, but I could not fall asleep for some reason. I finally did and it's still strange to not be in London

After

Fact of the matter is jetlag sucks. I keep waking up at 6am and then am getting exhausted at like 5:30pm. I know getting up at 6am is normal for a lot of people, but if you know me at all you'll know that 6am and I are not friends. So I'm ready for that to stop happening.

I don't think it's fully hit me that I'm not in London. It's definitely sad to think that I can't just walk over to Big Ben anymore. I will miss London until I get to go back. Studying abroad has been the best experience of my life. I don't think I'll ever be able to describe what this experience has done for me. I've learned so much about myself that I don't think I would have ever known if I didn't do this. I would highly recommend that people study abroad because it really is worth it. If you can afford it, do it. It's strange to be back in America and to be back in the real world where you don't travel to a different country every weekend. You really realize how different we have it here in America and that's really eye opening.

I wouldn't change anything about my trip. I went to places that I didn't necessarily love and I didn't get to go to places that I would have liked but I really wouldn't change a thing. Each experience I had was for a reason and I genuinely believe that. I learned more from my mistakes than I did from having everything go exactly as planned. Sometimes you need to get lost to find what you're really looking for.

London, you are the most amazing city I have ever been to. It is a place that is so full of diversity, love, and acceptance. You can be anyone you want to be in London and that's just not the case here. I never felt like I was being judged for being who I want to be. Except one time at a pub some guy came up to me and said that he could tell I was American before he even spoke to me because of my glasses, my nose ring, and the fact that I couldn't dance. But hey, sometimes you gotta just roll with the punches and laugh that stuff off. I then continued to dance the night away with my rhythm less moves, glasses, and nose ring. I will never forget the fun I had while I was away and I'm sorry to everyone who has to hear stories about it for the next year or so. Basically everything that is going to come out of my mouth is going to be, "Oh my god, this one time in London..." I'm sorry, but it's going to happen so just embrace it now.

I will go back to London one day and I will go back to Europe one day. Everything I didn't get to do is just more of an excuse for me to get back over that. Believe me I would go back tomorrow if I could. London will always have a special place in my heart. I will be back London, and that's a promise.

Writing in this blog has been one of the hardest things I've done. Not because it was too much, but because there were so many things I've done and I have trouble putting my thoughts into words. I will have this for the rest of my life now. And I can always remember the experiences that I had.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to experience my study abroad trips with me and I hope I didn't bore you too much.

Cheers to London for the best four months of my life and really cheers to all of you. I owe you all a nice drink.

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109

Day 102

We didn't really do anything in the morning, but around 3pm we headed over to the Thames because we were having tea on a river cruise that was put together by Judy, our campus coordinator. The cruise lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes where we went from Big Ben all the way down the river passed Tower Bridge. We had tea, sandwiches, and desserts. It was actually really cool. Everyone from UNH went and everyone was dressed so nice and it was really fun. Definitely a good way to send off everyone even though we have a week left.

We came back after the tea and were basically just really nostalgic for the rest of the night.

Day 103

Conner and I got up early because we headed on a trip to Stonehenge and Bath. We were up around 7:30am and then made our way to be picked up. We were a tad bit late, but to our benefit so was the bus. Conner and I got a very warm welcome when we got on to the bus because our tour guide went on the microphone and said, "CONNER AND ASHLEY WELCOME TO THE TOUR TO STONEHENGE AND BATH!" Conner and I were so confused as to why this was happening, but we went with it.

Our first stop was Bath. We got there and made an immediate stop at the Roman Baths and did the tour of them. It was really really cool because of the history that is invested in the city. There are multiple baths that are within the area of the Roman Baths and there is so much structural history involved. All the buildings are made out of limestone, so they all look alike. I think the only city prettier than Bath that I've seen is Edinburgh.

After the tour of the Roman Baths, we joined our tour guide for a walking tour, but it wasn't really that cool of tour cause it was raining a lot and I didn't have an umbrella. I just had my rain jacket and my lace Toms. I, unfortunately, had to throw them out when I got back and it really made me sad because those were my favorite shoes.

After the walking tour, Conner and I needed shelter so we went to get lunch. After lunch we went back towards the Baths and we did a little souvenir shopping and headed back to the bus.

Once we got back on the bus, it was about an hour and a half drive to Stonehenge. And I was happy about that cause we needed time to dry off and warm up. Only it didn't matter when we got there because it started hailing when we got out to the rocks. Conner is going to deny the fact that it was hailing and say that it was just raining really hard, but trust me it was hailing. But anyway, we got out to the rocks right when it started to drizzle so we ran over and got some pictures before it got to bad and just when we finished taking pictures it came down like crazy. We ran back to the shuttle to the visitors center and did some more souvenir shopping and got back on the bus to warm up again.

The bus ride back to campus was about two hours, so I fell asleep because I was tired. By the time we got back, the refectory on campus was closed so we got some food out and then ate it back at the room.

Not much else happened for the rest of the night.

Day 104

We all pretty much worked on our finals today. Except my musical theatre teacher decided that even though it was against the rules to have class during finals week, he was going to have class. So we went to class at 2 expecting to get out early, but we didn't. He kept us there until 5. We were so annoyed.

After class, I finished up one of my papers and then went to bed for the night.

Day 105

More finals work. I had a paper due at midnight, but around 3pm we got an email saying that the system was down and all papers that were due at midnight were now due the next day at midnight, so we decided to not do our papers anymore and we just hung out and chilled. It was probably not the best tactic, but we went with it.

Later on in the night, we all started back up on our papers. Around 1am people who went out that night were coming back and there was a huge fight in the hallway a little ways down from our door. It was so loud and there were people screaming everywhere. The three of us were obviously peeking our heads out the door trying to get a look at what was going on. After about an hour of them fighting and our RA coming out like three times, she called security and they broke up the fight. It was really eventful though. Quite the show.

Day 106

Today I did my paper that I put off from the day before. I finished around 5pm and then we had a goodbye BBQ that the school set up for us. It was really cool. Our favorite professor, Nick, came and sat with Conner, Alyssa and I and we had a lovely chat for a while. After the BBQ, a bunch of us headed over to Primrose Hill to see the sunset. It was really pretty. I wish we could have seen it set over the skyline, but it set in the other direction, but it was still really cool to see the skyline at night. A few of the girls had a bottle of champagne that they shared and we took some pictures it stuff. It was a good time.

We headed back to campus after and I studied a little bit for a final that I had the next morning. It was for my sociology class and we had to write two essays on topics that we weren't given the questions for and we couldn't use our notes. You tell me how one can write a proper paper on something they can't study for. Exactly.

Day 107

I had my test this morning. It didn't go as well as I would have liked, but I was very happy to be done with Sociology for the rest of my life. There is a reason I am a business major and it's cause I can't write... I suck at it. As you all probably know from reading this blog.

Anyway, after class I took a little walk around Baker Street because I was getting a little nostalgic about leaving. It's definitely going to be hard to say goodbye to this place. Definitely.

Later that night, Anya, Alyssa, Kathleen, Jackie and I headed over to Walkabout for the last time! It was a really fun night. It was Jackie's last night so she got really sad at the end of the night because she was leaving in the morning. After we left Walkabout we headed over towards the Eye and Big Ben so that we all could see it again for one of the last times. After that we headed back to campus and got some pizza, said our goodbyes to Jackie, and headed to bed for the night.

Day 108

Today we decided to do all our souvenir shopping! First we headed over to Piccadilly Circus so we could hit some of the best souvenir shops in town. We walked around to all the shops there for a while. It was really fun. We then headed back over to Baker Street and did some more shopping there. I got loads of presents for all you people so you better appreciate it! For the rest of the night, we hung in and chatted about leaving. Anya and Kathleen were leaving the next morning, so I headed up to say goodbye and then I came down and went to bed.

Day 109

Today we did a last trip to Camden Market. I didn't get anything, but I love walking around that place. It's always so busy and exciting. It's definitely one of my favorite places in London, for sure. After that, Alyssa and I headed over to Primark for a little. I literally cannot go into that store without buying anything, so we all know I bought a shirt. Then I did a little more souvenir shopping. We then headed back to campus and started the dreaded packing process.

After we had been packing for a few hours, we headed out to Pizza Express for dinner. Our last dinner together as three. Conner's flight is tomorrow early in the morning, so Alyssa and I have the day to do things around London for the last time.

I'm getting really emotional about leaving London because this has honestly been on of the best experiences of my life. I've never been able to be fully independent and I can know officially say that I am. London is always, always, always going to have a special place in my heart and I know that I'll be back here one day. I know I have a few hours tomorrow to see everything for the last time, but I feel like I'm being rushed out. I feel like this day has come too fast for me to even feel like I've been here for almost four months.

I'll always love you London. I'll see you soon! Cheers!

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 95 - Auschwitz

It's difficult for me to put into words my experience at Auschwitz. I have wanted to go to Auschwitz since I first started learning about it in grade school. The Holocaust is a time in history that absolutely fascinates me because I cannot understand it. The entire thing does not make sense to me. I wanted to go to Auschwitz because I wanted to understand why it happened, what people went through, and how they did it. I can't say that all my questions were answered, or that any of them were really answered, but this experience was eye opening, to say the least. I only took one picture at Auschwitz because it didn't seem appropriate for me to take pictures because I personally think the experience is something that you need to engulf your entire being into and I didn't feel like I could do that if I kept taking my camera out.

The day began with a bus ride from Katowice to Auschwitz I. Once I got there, the first thing I saw was the "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign. A sign that means "Work Makes You Free" or "Work Gives You Freedom." A very cynical sign to put on the entrance to a death camp. The Nazi's wanted the people coming in to feel like they had nothing to fear and it honestly tore my heart out that people would walk into this camp and think that they weren't about to endure the worst thing they'd ever go through.

Once we walked through the gate we saw the building that used to be the old kitchen for the camp and we saw all the old buildings that people lived in surrounding it. I was surprised to see that the buildings were still upright because I had heard that Auschwitz was entirely ruins, but I later learned that Auschwitz II-Birkenau is the one that is mostly ruins.

We walked down the path and our tour guide told us about how men and women were kept in separate chambers in the camp, but she told us how they still had relationships. This was striking to me because you'd think that because of the condition the people were in, falling in love would be the last thing they would be concerned with, but I guess if you think about it, falling in love is the only thing they really had to hold on to. The company of someone can really change someone's outlook on life and I'd imagine having someone there to lean on was almost essential to surviving.

We then went into one of the old living chambers which had been turned into a bit of a museum. It began with us learning about the different cities that had people sent to Auschwitz. A total of 1.1 million people living in this camp all stemming from different places around Europe and all unaware that this would most likely be the place they would die. We then worked our way upstairs where we saw some of the cans of the gas that was used in the gas chambers. These cans were found on site after the liberation of the camp and I'd imagine what we saw isn't even close to the actual amount of cans that were used throughout the camp being open. The next room was the only room that I began to get emotional in. We walked up the stairs and into the next room where there were just piles and piles of hair. This hair was cut off the prisoners when they arrived to the camp. This hair was then sent to factories and made into fabric that was sold. It was honestly too hard to even look at the hair because it made everything so real. Almost too real to be able to handle all at once. We then went into a room full of shoes of the victims, another one with eyeglasses, and another with the suitcases that the victims showed up with to "start their new life." Lining the walls of this area were pictures of all the victims right after their hair had been cut. You could see in their eyes that they were broken, torn, disheveled, and defeated. It was hard to look into their eyes, but I couldn't stop looking at them. I wanted to know what they were feeling. I wanted to put myself in their shoes so that I could understand, but I knew I could never understand what they were feeling. There were many that had tears in their eyes and that was heartbreaking. 

We then moved on to the buildings that were still set up like it was when the prisoners lived there. We were told that the conditions at this camp were significantly better than the conditions at Auschwitz II-Birkenau. This had bunks lined up in some rooms and other rooms that just had straw on the ground that people slept on. Those who had bunks were forced to have three or four people in the bunks with them. This left no space for anyone. The bathroom sections of this camp were better too. There were 12 toilets and 12 shower areas so that people could wash and use the bathroom when they needed too. This was royalty compared to the other camp.

After we left this part, we walked into the part where people were taken to be killed. There were poles that people in handcuffs were hung from and this often dislocated their shoulders and left them in excruciating pain. We then saw what was called the "Death Wall." This is where executions took place. There were flowers places at the bottom to commemorate those who had the unfortunate fate of dying here. This was located directly next to where the medical bunker was. This is where Mengele did most of his work. He was also known at the "Angel of Death" or the "Angel of Auschwitz" because of his role in Auschwitz.

Next we walked into the bunker that was used for those who were being punished. This part took a toll on me because of the conditions of this place. There were multiple rooms that people were placed into. There were starvation cells and standing cells. The starvation cells were rooms that were just a square box with a small bed. They received no food or anything while they were in here. There was a small peep hole where you could look into the room. I looked into one and saw a man that was walking past the whole. I jumped back and then went to look back and there was no one in there. I am convinced that it was a ghost and the man's face that I saw was one I will not forget. The standing cells were little areas that were the size of a small closet and four people would be crammed into this area and forced to stay there until they were let out. There looked like there was barely enough room for two people and I don't understand how four people would fit in there. I was really shaken up after leaving this area.

After this we walked over to the area where the old gas chamber stood. This was the only one not destroyed by the Nazi's after the war and that is because it was transformed into living quarters for some people. Before we walked in, we saw the house of Rudolf Hoss. He had lived on the site of Auschwitz with his wife and children and his house was located only a few yards from the gas chamber. Between his house and the chamber was the noose that he was later hung with after the liberation of the camp. When we walked into the gas chamber I felt like I had walked into a wall. You could really feel all the souls of people who had passed surrounding you. I was chilling almost. I felt very uncomfortable being in this area and walked pretty quickly through, but not before seeing what looked like fingernail scratches on the walls.

After leaving this, we had finished seeing Auschwitz I and took a quick shuttle bus over to Auschwitz II - Birkenau. I got a chill down my spine at my first sight of the camp. This is the camp we learn about at school. I recognized it immediately. It was not as "friendly" looking as Auschwitz I. The first thing we saw were the train tracks that ran right through the watch tower and straight into the camp. We first walked up to the top of the watch tower and looked at how large the camp was. It seemed to go on for miles. It really looked like there was no way out. Barbed wire surrounded the vast area and it was not a place you wanted to be.

After coming down from the tower we walked along the tracks to the location that the prisoners came off the cable cars. There was a real cable car located at the site and I tried to imagine what it must have felt like coming off that car and thinking you were going to start a new life and all you saw were miles and miles of nothing except barbed wire and shacks. I really can't put my mind around it. Our tour guide showed us one way, which was called the "Jew Way" because Jewish people were sent this way and went right to the gas chambers, while others went the other way and went through hard labor.

After this we walked the opposite way of the "Jew Way" and went to see some living quarters. This was so much worse than the first one. There were three levels of concrete, one level being the ground, and two above that. They weren't even separated enough where you could sit up in the "bed." We were told that up to ten people could be put into one of these levels and they were only a little bigger than the size of a twin bed.

After seeing these, we walked over to sight of Crematorium 2. Like I said before, all the gas chambers at this camp were destroyed by the Nazi's in attempts to cover up their crimes, but it's easy to see what these areas were. The part that gets me the most about this is the fact that all these people were tricked into the gas chambers. They were told they were going to take a shower and then they had hooks were they hung up their clothes and they were told to remember their hook number because they were going to come back for their clothes. I just can't understand the kind of person that could knowingly lie to people like this and watch them walk to their death. I really just can't fathom it. Next to the site of the ruins there is a memorial to the victims with a passage that is written in, I think, 22 different languages. The passage reads, "For ever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe. Auschwitz - Birkenau 1940-1945."

After seeing this we walked over to the "Jew Way" and saw the living chambers there. The sleeping area was set up with three levels of actual bunks, but a twin size with just straw. The bathroom area was just rows of holes where people were meant to go to the bathroom and then two or three spouts where they could wash off. However, the people of this camp were only allowed 30-40 seconds, twice a day, to use the bathroom/shower. This caused so much disease to spread throughout the camp and if people were killed by the chambers or starvation, they died because of the immense amount of disease. The people of this camp had no way out except for death and some people would run into the barbed wire to kill themselves because they saw that as their only way out and that is so sad to me.

Going to Auschwitz is something that was hard to do and difficult to understand, but I'm glad I did it. I think it's something that everyone should do in their lifetime because it's so important that there isn't a repeat of history.

Not all my questions were answered. I still don't understand the Holocaust, but I know more about the horrendous acts that occurred during this time. The events of my experience replay in my head every single day and for about a week I couldn't sleep through the night because every time I closed my eyes I had nightmares about being at Auschwitz. Like I said before, I find it difficult to put my emotions into words because I'm in complete shock at what I saw. One thing I know for sure is that innocent people were tortured, tricked, betrayed, and murdered at both sites and that is something that doesn't sit well with me. I don't think I'll ever understand why this happened and how people got away with it, but I know for a fact that I don't want anything like this to happen again and I will do anything in my power to make sure of that.

I sincerely hope that every single victim of this unthinkable act has found peace whether they be dead or alive.

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101

Sorry again for taking forever to post. The reason I haven't is because I'm in denial about leaving and when I write in here that means days are passing. I don't know if that makes sense, but just go with it.

Day 91

Today I had three classes today. Nothing happened in my first two classes, but in my last class we had a field trip to a museum called the Geffrye Museum. This museum takes you through time in living rooms and shows the differences between the years and the evolution of technology. I didn't necessarily like this field trip, but it was definitely interesting to see when different things started being integrated into normal life.

After class, I came back to my room and had to finish a project for one of my classes. It was due on Thursday, but I was leaving Wednesday for Germany, so I had to finish it early. For the project, I had to take an old play and change it how ever I liked. I took Romeo and Juliet and made changed it to coincide with the massacre at Glen Coe. I had a lot of fun doing the project, to be honest. I got it done around 2am and then I went to bed for the night.

Day 92

I had one class today and I don't think anything cool happened in class. After class, I started packing for Germany/Poland. I had to take an earlier bus because the one everyone else was taking was sold out, so I got to the airport about 40 minutes before the others. When everyone got there, we grabbed some food and went on our way to the terminal. We all got on the plane and were getting ready to take off. We were going down the runway and all of a sudden the plane stops and turns around. We were all wicked confused as to why. All of a sudden the pilot comes on the intercom and tells us they forgot something and we had to turn around and pick it up... what. I didn't even know that was allowed. So anyway, we picked up what we needed to and we had to listen to the safety thing again and then we FINALLY took off.

We landed late and then took a bus and the underground to our hostel. Our hostel was really cool. It was a room for 8, but only the six of us were in the room. The wall had basically two rows of three bunk beds. But they weren't normal bunk beds, they were like cubby's in the wall. It's a little hard to explain, but it was so cool. And it was so comfortable. I wanted to ask the hostel what kind of mattresses they had because I wanted to buy one, but I got to nervous to ask.

We didn't do anything the first day because we got there so late, so we just headed to bed for the night.

Day 93

Kathleen had signed us up for a walking tour for the day, so we got up early and headed down to the lobby because someone was going to pick us up and bring us to the start of the tour. The tour started at the Brandenburg Gate and then went around and ended at the school that Einstein taught at. I had never realized how much history was in Berlin, although I probably should have known. We saw and learned a lot about Hitler, the Holocaust, and the Nazi's.\

When we saw the Brandenburg Gate, we learned about how Napoleon was in rule in France, he stole the statue at the top of the gate. When the Germans finally got this back, they altered the way she stood so that her head is now facing the French Embassy so that they can keep an eye on the French. I thought this was hilarious. 

We saw where Hitler's bunker used to be, although, we couldn't go inside because it's not allowed at the moment. Our tour guide said that the country thought it was too soon for the bunker to be open, but that he thought it would be open in 200 years. The site of his bunker was made into a parking lot and this was because they didn't want the places that he lived and died to become a shire/meeting place for people who are still Nazi supporters. Also, for this reason, his ashes were dumped into a river because they didn't want him to have a grave site. I found this to be really interesting because I had never even thought that there would still be people that supported the Nazi's, but there are people who think the Holocaust never happened, so I guess people will believe in anything.

We also saw an old Nazi building that is still used today. The reason it is still used is because it was one of the only buildings that wasn't bombed down during the war, so it was the only option for the new government. It's now one of the only Nazi buildings left.

After the tour, we went to Dunks and got a little snack. I got a bagel, but they didn't really know what I was saying and I couldn't speak German so I didn't really get exactly what I wanted, but it was okay. It definitely made me want US Dunks more.

After we ate, we took the underground to the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is a part of the Berlin Wall that wasn't destroyed when the wall was taken down. This section of the Berlin Wall is now a place for street artists to paint there. Some of the parts of it were absolutely beautiful. The parts that were left were a lot longer than I was expecting. It really made me think about what life would have been like living with that wall around the city. It's crazy to me that the wall existed until 1989.

After we had walked around the wall for a little, we headed back to the hostel for a while and then grabbed some dinner. We were to a cool Mexican restaurant that was near the hostel. I know we probably should have gotten German food in Germany, but oops. The food was delicious and that's all that really matters. After dinner we headed back to the room and went to bed for the night.

Day 94

Today we got up and went over to the Holocaust Museum and then did some souvenir shopping. The Holocaust Museum is underneath the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. The museum was really interesting because it was set up in different rooms. Each room had something different. The first room had a timeline of events. The next room had letters that were sent by people; these letters were very sad to read because there was one from a mother to her children and she wrote about how she knew she was never going to see them again, but that she wanted them to know that she loved them. The next room was a room that you sat in a stories of victims were played for you to listen to. This room was hard to sit in because the longer you stayed in the younger and younger the victims got. The last one I could listen to was the story of a three year old that was killed and after that I couldn't listen anymore. The next room had something similar where you would listen to stories from one person from each of the big camps. These stories were also incredibly hard to listen to. There was one about a girl that faked dead in a mass grave while dead bodies were being piled on top of her and another of a man that worked in the gas chamber who had to get the bodies after they died and how he would find them will blood coming from every hole in the body. After we had gone through, I bought a few books about the Nazi's and the Holocaust to read later on.

After the museum we did some souvenir shopping. I got some post cards and a shot class for one of my friends. After we did some shopping, Conner and I headed over to Checkpoint Charlie to see it. Checkpoint Charlie was the third checkpoint that people went through to get in side the Berlin Wall. There were people there that you could pay to take a picture with but we didn't take any. There was also someone there that would stamp your passport if you wanted them to, but I'm pretty sure that's illegal so we didn't end up doing that either. We just walked around and then headed back to the hostel.

Once we got back, we grabbed our bags and headed to the airport to get the bus to Poland. We got there with some time to spare, so we converted our money into Polish money and got some food and waited for the bus. Conner, Alyssa and I grabbed our seats and we left. About four hours into the trip, we realized that the other three never got on the bus because the bus driver was a dick and said that Anya's reference number was fake, so they were trapped in Berlin and we didn't know what to do. They ended up buying a plane ticket back to London and we got to Poland around 3am. We found our hostel, which was in the middle of the ghetto, and then headed to bed for the night because we had an early bus to Auschwitz in the morning.

Day 95

Today, we went to Auschwitz. I'm going to do a separate post for Auschwitz to better explain everything that was there.

After Auschwitz, we went to a corner store and got some pasta and cooked it back at the hostel because our room had a small kitchen. We didn't really do much else for the rest of the night, so we just hung at the hostel and chilled.

Day 96

We got up early and headed over to the place to catch the bus for the airport. We were at, what we thought, was the right place when we started to get nervous that we weren't at the right place. A bus stopped and I got on and asked him where the bus to the airport was. He didn't speak English, but he must have understood what I said because he started talking to me in Polish and pointing and making grand hand gestures. We figured that meant we weren't at the right spot, so we went into the train station near by and asked how to get to the bus. Turns out the bus station is under the train station and we got to the right spot with about ten minutes to spare. The bus ride was about 40 minutes so we got to the airport about an hour and a half before our plane took off. The flight went fine and we got back to London safely. I had never been so happy to be back in London. 

We didn't do much for the day because we were exhausted, so we just hung out and did some homework. It was Easter, but we didn't do anything cool to celebrate.

Day 97

We had the day off school because it was Easter Monday/Bank Holiday. Conner and Alyssa went on a hike, but I didn't go, so I hung back on campus and did some homework. It was a laid back day because I was still exhausted from the weekend.

Day 98

I had two classes today, but I only went to my first class. We got our projects back and I got an A- on mine. My professor said he really liked the way I turned Romeo and Juliet into the story of the Scottish. I was really proud of myself, haha. 

After classes, Alyssa and I went to Billy Elliot for our musical theatre class. I didn't really know what to expect when I went to it because I had no idea what the musical was about. I was pleasantly surprised by the show. It was incredible. The lead was a 13 year old boy from Florida and I honestly didn't know he was American until someone told me. He had a fake Scottish accent that was incredible. Even my professor had no idea that it wasn't real. I would highly recommend the show. I absolutely loved it.

After the show, I went back to the room and did some homework and hung in for the rest of the night.

Day 99

I had one class today, but I didn't go. Instead, my plan was to do some homework, but I ended up not doing as much as I wanted to. I have a really bad habit of procrastinating.

After dinner, I had to go to Hamlet for one of my classes. It was a touring production that was going to be at Shakespeare's Globe because it was his birthday. The tickets we had were for the standing area and Hamlet is over three hours long. When we got there, it started raining and there was no ceiling to the theatre, so we were basically standing in the rain. I could only last for 30 minutes before I had to leave. I would have loved to stay and watch it, but we weren't allowed to use umbrellas and I was getting soaked.

I headed back to campus and hung in for the rest of the night.

Day 100

I can't even believe I'm writing day 100. It's not fair that it's almost time to go home. I'm not ready.

Today, I didn't have any classes for some reason, so I slept in for the day. After I woke up I did some homework and then went out with Anya, Kathleen and Jackie. We went to Walkabout for the first time in a while. It wasn't very busy, but we had a good time. It was a really eventful night. We didn't end up getting back to campus until around 4am, but once I got back to my room I fell right asleep,

Day 101

Alyssa and I got up early and headed over the Apollo Victoria Theatre because that's where Wicked is playing. If you get there right when the box office opens they offer regular seats for student price. So, we got some tickets to Wicked for that night and our seats were not bad at all. We went back to campus and hung out until it was time to go to the show.

We got to our seats and they were even better than we expected. We had really good seats in the stalls of the theatre. I know I say this every time I see a play that I like, but I have honestly never seen anything like Wicked. It was the most incredible play I have ever seen. It was also way funnier than I had imagined it would be. The woman that played Elphaba had also played the role in Germany and America and I can see why. I have NEVER heard anyone sing the way she could. I was genuinely blown away by her singing ability. I don't know what it's like to see Wicked in America, but I bet it's better here in London. I can't even put it into words properly.

After the play, we headed back to campus and hung in for the night.

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while!

Cheers!

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 83, Day 84, Day 85, Day 86, Day 87, Day 88, Day 89, Day 90

Day 83

I had two classes today. They both were a little boring. In my second class I had a presentation and it went pretty well actually, so that was rather nice. Hopefully I get a good grade on that.

After classes I went to see a play called We Are Proud To Present A Presentation About The Herero of Namibia, Formally Known As Southwest Africa From The German Sudwestafrika, Between The Years 1884-1915. Yes. That was actually the title of the play. It was as weird and confusing as the title conveys. Also, when we got there we found out that one of the actors couldn't do the performance and they had a stand in that read all his lines from the script on stage... yeah. It seems like we always have bad luck when we go see plays with that class. I was very confused at the end and I dunno maybe I have to see it again to properly understand the meaning of it. It was a very abstract play. I'm still a little uneasy after seeing it.

Day 84

I had three classes today. No exciting news to say about any of them to be honest. Although the homework load is starting to pile up because of the fact that it's nearing the end of the semester. I am not happy about that. I told myself I was going to go back after my classes and start homework, but instead I watched loads of episodes of Law & Order... oops.

Day 85

I only had one class today! I love Wednesdays for that reason. I did a little bit of homework after class and then Anya and I headed to the London Zoo. We weren't expecting it to be as big as it was! It was a lot of fun. I really liked the monkeys, giraffes, and the hippos. There were loads of different kinds of monkeys and they were all so cute. There was also a section where you walked through a butterfly farm. I thought originally that this would be really cool, but it was actually really hot inside and there were a lot of bugs and it kind of took away from the butterflies. There were three giraffes and I never realized how much of a beautiful creature they are. They were just kind of walking around and being majestic. I loved it. Now, you may not know this about me, but hippos are my favorite animal. While I was expecting/hoping for these giant hippos, what I actually saw were baby hippos. NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING BECAUSE THEY WERE SO CUTE. There were two different ones and the kind of hippo they were made their skin look really wet and slimy but I loved it.

After the zoo, I went back to campus and told myself I was going to do my homework, but we all know I procrastinated.

Day 86

I had two classes today and then I came back to my room and took a quick nap. Alyssa and I decided we were going to go down to Leicester Square because the Spider-Man 2 premiere was happening. It didn't start until 5:30, but we got there around 3pm. And good thing we did because it was absolutely packed! We eventually made our way to the front, but we were still stuck behind some really tall people so that sucked. After standing around for 2 and a half hours the premiere officially started. There was a DJ that was meant to pump up the crowd before the celebrities showed up. It was kind of weird, but finally Andrew Garfield showed up around 6:30pm in a double decker bus with kids from an organization. It was so cute to watch them all walk down the red carpet. The kids' faces were so adorable when they saw their faces on the big screen. After a little while Emma Stone showed up and everyone went absolutely crazy. We also saw loads of YouTubers that we like. We saw Joe Sugg, Alfie Deyes, Jim Chapman, Marcus Butler, Tanya Burr, Dan Howell and many others. The only ones we wanted to see that we didn't were Zoe Sugg and Jack and Finn Harries. We must see them before we leave! After the premiere, my legs were absolutely killing me. I thought that I was going to collapse. I had never stood on my tippy toes for so long before. Essentially I was on my tippy toes for 3-4 hours straight. It's a lot more grueling than it sounds.

After the premiere we grabbed the tube back to campus and then Alyssa and I went to Chipotle for dinner because the refectory was closed by the time we got back. We then picked Taylor up from the bus station because she was visiting for the weekend. We didn't do much for the rest of the night because we were all exhausted.

Day 87

Taylor and I got up around 10:30am and headed out for a jam packed day. We got on the tube and headed over to Trafalger Sqaure. And that was the last time we used the tube that day.  We walked from Trafalger Square to Buckingham Palace to the House Calvery Museum to Big Ben to Westminster Abbey to the London Eye to Covent Gardens to Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus to Oxford Circus to Primark and back to campus. It was over 10 miles! My legs were dying by the end of the day. I loved showing her around though. I love sightseeing in London. It's something that I don't think I'll ever get sick of. I got a few things as Primark too. I got some nail polish, a jean jacket, and some new sandals. I'm really pumped about them.

After coming back to campus, we rested for a little bit and then went to Nando's for dinner. I got the usual veggie burger and mash. This time I decided to get a glass of wine with dinner and the guy working tried to tell me that the drinking age in the UK was 22 and I was like um no it's not and I had to convince him to serve me the wine. It was so weird because I was just telling Taylor about how I had never been ID'd in the UK.

After dinner, we headed to the student bar because I wanted Taylor to try some Strongbow and she agreed that it was delicious because it literally tastes like apple juice with a little kick. It's heavenly. We then headed back to the room and went to bed for the night.

Day 88

We woke up around 9am and we got some breakfast at the refectory. After breakfast we headed over to Borough Market. I absolutely love that place and so did Taylor. She was in heaven with all the olive shops that there were. She even bought some chutney for her family!

After Borough Market we headed over to Camden Market. We spent most of our day there. I got a new jacket and something for my grandpa and my brother while I was there. Taylor bought a new jacket and a scarf. We also got some delicious mac and cheese from the food part of the market and it was so good. Definitely some of the best food I've had since being in the UK. I need to get back there and go again. Camden Market is very dangerous though because I want to buy everything while I'm there.

After Camden Market we headed over to the British Museum. The museum was humongous! We walked in and bee lined for the Rosetta Stone. It was SO cool. I would have liked to see how big the stone was as a whole because the stone in the museum is just a piece of it. After we saw the stone we went around the different sections of the museum. We went through the sections we decided to go through were the parts on Roman and Greek history, the Americas, Mexico, and Europe and Britain. There was so much history in all the sections it was almost too much to take in. I actually really loved the Green and Roman part because there were actual pieces of structures in the museum. However, it did genuinely confuse me as to why they were at a museum called the British Museum because I thought the entire museum was going to be only about Great Britain. I also don't understand why the British Museum has the Rosetta Stone and some other museum doesn't. Strange.

After the British Museum we went over to Harrods. Now I definitely have to go back there because I was to exhausted to fully appreciate the whole place, but it was massive and there were so many people everywhere. It was crazy. We went to the food section of Harrods (obviously) and got some Red Velvet cake/cupcakes. It was so delicious. There was no where for us to sit and eat it in the store, so we headed back to campus to rest for a little while and eat our cake.

After we got back to campus we chilled for a little bit and then headed to dinner at the Volunteer on Baker Street. I went there when my mom was here and had a delicious Caesar salad, so I got the same thing and Taylor got some fish and chips which she loved. After dinner we headed over to Piccadily to meet up with Anya, Kathleen, and Jackie at Friday's. We hung out there for a little and I had a strawberry daiquiri. It was delicious!

After we were done with our drinks, we headed back to campus for the night. Taylor was leaving the next morning, so we got back around 1 and went to bed. I unfortunately woke up about two hours later really sick and I was up most of the night with food poisoning. So that was a real bummer.

Day 89

Taylor and I got up around 10am and got some breakfast and I brought her to the bus so she could get to the airport on time. It was sad saying goodbye, but we had an awesome time and some good laughs. She was headed to Prague for a few days, so I'm sure she'll have a blast.

After Taylor left I headed back to campus and I seriously started my homework. I am leaving for Germany on Wednesday and I have something due Thursday and Friday, so I have to finish it before I leave. One of the assignments is so boring so it's taking forever to do. I think the other one will be fun to do, so I'm trying to get the boring one done first. I didn't really do anything else today besides homework. I also watched one episode of Law & Order. ONLY ONE. It took a lot of willpower.

Day 90 

DAY 90?! I'M ONLY HERE FOR 110 DAYS THIS ISN'T FAIR I DON'T WANNA GO HOME YET.

I had two classes today, but I only went to my second one. I told myself I was going to get up early and do some of my assignments, but I ended up sleeping in late by accident. And I awesomely woke up with an incredibly sore throat and no voice. I loved it.

After I finally got up, I did some laundry and some homework and then headed to my second class where eight of the twenty people showed up... My teacher was not happy. And one of the people that were supposed to present today had no idea he was presenting and that made the teacher even more mad because that was supposed to take up the second half of the class. It seemed like he had to improvise the rest of the class and ended up letting us out 15 minutes early.

After I got back from class I finished one of my assignments and decided to reward myself with writing this blog cause I haven't written in a while. I'm off to start my next assignment, but I'll write soon.

Cheers!

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 78, Day 79, Day 80, Day 81, Day 82

Day 78

I stayed at my mom's hotel the night before and we got up early and I brought her to catch her train to the airport. We had to get there about 7:30 so we left around 7:00am to make sure we got there on time. I didn't want to say bye to my mom, but I had to. When we got to the train station, the train was leaving in like two minutes so we basically ran to the platform and said a really quick goodbye. I was not very happy about that. Good news is she made it to her flight on time and made it home safe back to America!

I went back to campus and fell asleep and did homework for the rest of the day. Nothing too cool happened.

Day 79

I had two classes today. I had a presentation in my second class which didn't go too bad, but I hate presentations so much so I was very happy to get it over with. After class we grabbed some lunch and hung around until dinner time. For dinner we went to the student bar on campus and stayed there for most of the night. It was karaoke night, so we thought it would be nice to hang out on campus instead of going out to Walkabout where it would basically be the same experience.

We got some dinner (I had nachos) and then we hung out and Jackie and I got some Strongbow. The night was interesting to say the least. There were these two girls that basically took turns singing songs and they were absolutely dreadful. It literally hurt my ears to listen to them and this one girl that was working was visibly distressed by their singing and that was kind of funny. Anyway, this went on for a few hours until other people started getting more drunk and decided to sign up for songs. The night got better as it went on and those girls stopped singing. I think the people working were pretty happy as well.

Day 80

First of all, how is it already day 80... I feel like I got here like two days ago.

Anyway, today... I did nothing. Oops.

Day 81

We decided to walk around a bit today so we did a quick walk in the park and then headed over to Trafalger Square where I saw online that there was going to be a giant pillow fight. There was so many people; it was hilarious. It literally was a mob of people having a pillow fight in front of the National Gallery. It was so funny to watch. There were feathers everywhere though. Literally the second we got off the tube there were feathers in the underground. It was crazy. It only got worse as we got close to the actual pillow fight. The streets were filled with feathers and they were all over the air and in people's hair and there were cops everywhere. It was quite the sight. It reminded me of the giant pillow fight I went to in Boston when I was in high school expect feather pillows were banned from that one because they're so messy. I wish I had a pillow because I definitely would have joined.

After we watched the pillow fight for a while we walked over to Covent Gardens because we had wanted to see around there since we had first seen it when we did the scavenger hunt in the beginning. It was so pretty. It reminded me a lot of Faneuil Hall in Boston. There are loads of food places and stores in a little square. We walked around there for a few hours and watch a few street performers. It was really fun. We even got some of the infamous Ben's Cookies. To be honest, I was expecting them to be spectacular with the way everyone describes them, but they were just normal cookies. Maybe I didn't get a good one.

After we had walked around there for a while, we headed back to campus. Alyssa and I decided to go to Nando's for dinner because the refectory is closed on Saturday nights. The meal was delicious, per usual. After dinner we headed back to campus and I did a little homework and we hung in for the night.

Day 82

We got up around noon, got some lunch, and headed over to Kensington Palace. I wasn't expecting it to be as pretty as it was. It was a bit overcast, so I'd imagine it's even more beautiful when it's nice out... but the palace is in the middle of a garden! It's beautiful. I can see why Will and Kate want to live there.

There are four exhibits that people are allowed to go into but one of them was closed so we did the other three. The first one we went into was called Fashion This! and it was filled with different dresses that Princess Diana, Princess Margret and Queen Elizabeth II wore in the past. Some of them were absolutely beautiful. I would almost be afraid to wear some of them because of how pretty they were. After that section we went to a part called the Queen's Apartments where we learned all about Queen Anne and her 17 pregnancies (one of which she was pregnant with twins). It was basically about her struggle to get an heir to the throne and how she was the last of the Stuart Dynasty. It was really interesting to learn about all this stuff because I really don't have any idea about how the whole monarchy thing works. I can't even imagine how traumatic it was for her to have 18 of her children die. The longest any of them survived was until the age of 11 when he died a few days after his 11th birthday. Queen Anne then went on to die of Lupus where she was bloated, shaved her head, and was advised to walk around with garlic attached to her feet to help cure her. This obviously didn't work. So she wen through a lot in her life. After the section we went to a part called Victoria Revealed where we learned about Queen Victoria and her life. This was by far the largest part of the museum that we could see. There was so much in all the rooms. Queen Victoria grew up and lived in the Palace so we got to see where she lived and where her family lived. Not to mention she was in power for such a long time, so there was a lot of history between her and the Palace as a whole. We got to see everything from her clothes to the toys her children used to play with. I actually think this section was my favorite because there was so much to see and so much to do. It took us about two hours to go through the whole Palace. I was really hoping we would accidentally bump into Will and Kate but no such luck.

After the Palace, we got some Ben's Cookies from the tube station and headed back to campus. I went to Chipotle with Anya, Jackie, and Kathleen and we ended up staying for a few hours and just chatting. It was nice to finally catch up with them. I feel like I haven't seen them in so long.

I'm about to do some more homework for now and then head to bed.

Cheers!

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 76, Day 77

Day 76

I had two classes today, but I didn't go to my second class so that I could hang out with my mom more! After my first class, my mom came by and we grabbed some lunch on campus. After that we walked around and bit and then headed over to the London Eye. We had tickets for 3pm, so we went and walked around down there for a bit and then got in line to get our tickets. Good thing we ordered them in advance because the line to buy tickets was so long! We got our tickets quickly and then went to the 4D Experience that came with the ticket. After that had ended we got in line for the Eye. The line moved pretty quick so that was good. While we were in line I found out that I got picked to be a Peer Advisor for next year! That means that I work with Freshman and talk to them about adapting to the college life and all the things that UNH has to offer them. I'm so excited to do that next year. But anyway, we got on the Eye and it was so cool to go around during the day. Since the last time that we had gone it was night time. I felt like I could see everything from up there. Although, it was a little less cool than the Shard and Eiffel Tower to be honest. It was fun to just be up there and chatting about everything with my mom. I had such a good time.

After we got to the bottom of the Eye, my mom and I went over to Oxford Street so I could show her what Primark was. I warned her that it was going to be busy and that she probably wouldn't like it, but she said she wanted to go anyway. And I was right. As soon as we walked in the door she wanted to leave, haha. She bought a few souvenirs and then we walked back to the hotel.

For dinner, I brought my mom to Chipotle because she had never been before and she said she really liked it! What a surprise. After dinner, we went over to Piccadilly Circus because we had heard there was a movie premiere going on that night for the movie Noah. Although I had never heard of the movie, we knew that a few famous people were going to be in the area so we decided to go. Because why not get the chance to meet someone famous. We got there a little late, but just in time to see Emma Watson go right by us by about two-three feet! It was insane. There were people everywhere screaming and yelling and trying to get her attention. I snapped a few good pics. After Emma had walked away from us, some of the security guards started handing out extra tickets to the premiere they had. I was trying to get us some, but I had no such luck unfortunately.

After the excitement died down, we went to Friday's and grabbed some drinks. We got a little drunk for a Monday night, but it was really fun. I hadn't been to the Friday's in London yet, so it was a cool experience. Everything was very similar to home except they don't have Spinach and Artichoke dip here. What a bummer! We had two rounds and then headed back to the hotel cause we were tired. We talked for a bit and then headed to bed.

Day 77

I got up early because I had class. I went to my two classes and then my mom met me on campus for lunch. After lunch, since it was such a nice day out, we went into the park and sat on a bench for a little while. It was really nice and pretty. At 1:30ish we left because I had a field trip for one of my classes to go to and my mom tagged along. We went to Dennis Severs' house and then to the Spitalfields area of London. Dennis Severs' house is a preserved 1700's house that looks as if the family still lives there and has just gone out for a bit. It was actually a little weird because on the top floor there was a pot by the bed that had actual pee in it. I wanna know whose job it is to pee in that thing every day. So disgusting. Anyway, after that we went over to this place where an old burial ground was. The building itself was preserved and it was underneath all these new modern day buildings. It was kind of strange. We went underground and into this building where our professor and one of his colleagues told us about what they found inside there. There were over 10,000 bodies found in that building and the surrounding area. I think that freaked my mom out a bit. They told us that all the body parts are now in museums because of how crazy a find it was to find that many bodies in one area. After that we went over to an area that has all 1700 houses that are currently lived in and there is a current mosque at the end of the road. In the past, the building was used for Jewish people who need to check in because of how they weren't welcome in the London area. It's cool how a building can be used for so many different religions over the years.

After the field trip, we went back to my mom's hotel to drop some stuff off and then headed over to Oxford Circus for dinner. We went to Spaghetti House and had a delicious meal. We were both so surprised with how delicious it was. I can't even accurately describe how good it was.

After dinner we headed over to Piccadilly because we were seeing Les Mis! Oh my gosh, I was so overly excited. I had heard that seeing Les Mis in London is one of the best places to see it so I had some high expectations. It was better than I expected. The actors that played Jean Valjean, Javert, and Little Cosette were absolutely incredible. They completely stole the show for me. I would have watched them sing over and over because it was so beautiful to listen to. I was also very pleased with how they used the stage because it was a rotating stage and they used it so properly. It was incredible. I can't even fully describe it because it was just so fascinating. I usually have a hard time focusing on what is happening in the spotlight when there are things happening in background because I get distracted, but I was so engulfed in the story that I didn't notice it at all. I absolutely loved it.

After the play, we made our way back to the hotel and hung out for our last night together. I was really sad because I didn't want my mom to leave. We just talking and hung out in the hotel and headed to bed because she had a really early flight in the morning.

I'll write more about my week later.

Cheers!

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 70, Day 71, Day 72, Day 73, Day 74, Day 75

Day 70

I had three classes today. They were actually really boring this week. What a bummer. I just think everything was so boring cause I was so excited about my mom coming. After my classes I went to see a play called From Here to Eternity. It was a musical about people from Hawaii! Another show with people using American accents. A few of the people in the show had some decent ones, but there were a few that were really bad. It's a pretty decent show though. I would recommend it. It does have stroooooonngg adult content though... just saying.

Day 71

I had one class today and it was really lame. After class I bunkered down and did my paper that was due Thursday night. I had to get everything done because my mom was flying in the next morning!!!!! I accidentally stayed up until 3am finishing all my homework. That wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to get up early to pick my mom up from the airport, but I'm definitely not complaining because I was so excited that she was almost here!

Day 72

MY MOM IS IN LONDON, PEOPLE! The day started off great when I woke up a half hour after I needed to in order to pick up my mom on time... so I rushed and got ready so I could make my way to Heathrow. I knew I was going to be late if I took the Tube so I made an in the moment decision and took the Heathrow Express so that I would get there on time. I made it there and got a text from my mom saying she had just made it through customs, so I headed over to the terminal. I couldn't find her anywhere and I texted her asking where she was and she said terminal 3... I was in terminal 5. She forgot to tell me what airline she was flying and I thought it was British Airways, but apparently she was flying Virgin Atlantic. Anyway, I finally made my way over to the correct terminal and I picked her, and Alyssa's mom, up and took them to their hotel. We made it to the hotel around 10:15am and I dropped them off and booked it to class. I got there with two minutes to spare.

After class, we went to Pizza Express for lunch and it was so good. We then took them back to campus and showed them our room and then headed out to do some sight seeing. We did the usual route of Trafalger Square, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London Eye. It was a lot of walking and a lot of fun. We then headed back to Baker Street and got some Nando's for dinner. Man, I love that place.

After dinner, we headed over to Walkabout so we could show them our favorite bar. It was a weird night at Walkabout and there was a girl that basically thought that Karaoke night was her album debut and was singing loads of lame songs. We were not having it. My mom and I split a pitcher of Strongbow and then we headed back because we had an early train to Paris in the morning!

Day 73

We got up early and headed to St. Pancras Station to catch the train to Paris! We got there early so we could grab some breakfast and then we got on the train. It was a two and a half hour train ride, but we were so excited that it didn't seem that bad. We got there and took a taxi to the hotel. It was right by the Louvre and everything else so it was really nice that we could walk everywhere... I don't think my mom liked that a lot because her feet hurt. When we first got there, we found out that our room had been upgraded by the hotel! A great start to the trip. My mom and I got onto the elevator to take it up to our floor, but for some reason it decided to go down to the basement instead where there was a woman with a walker that needed to get onto the elevator. But, since the elevator was so small there was no room. So, awkwardly my mom and I started laughing and said sorry. However, the doors didn't close and we had an awkward standoff with this old woman trying to get onto the elevator. After what seemed like five minutes of staring at this lady, we could not stand the awkwardness anymore and we got off and let her on. Within a second of her getting on the elevator the doors closed and she went up... it was really weird. But anyway, the elevator came back down after a while and picked us up and we made it to our hotel room finally.

Once we dropped our stuff off at the hotel, we walked over to the Louvre. It was so beautiful! We decided to go inside and walk around. We ended up being there for about three hours and we didn't even see close to everything. The Louvre is absolutely massive! But it was really cool. We saw the Mona Lisa, some paintings by Da Vinci, the statue of Venus, statues by Michelangelo, the Pyramid, and loads of other things. I really liked walking around in there and we both agreed that we were pleasantly surprised by how cool it was! Definitely would recommend it if you're going to be in Paris. We had a bit of difficultly figuring out the handheld audio guides at first and that created for some hilarious awkward moments. Awkward should just be the quote of the trip... along with Parle vous (insert any English word) because that's all my mom said the entire trip.

After we left the Louvre, we went back to the hotel and took some showers to get ready for dinner. The shower in the room was really weird because there was no curtain or glass panel that separated the shower from the rest of the bathroom. It was just an open area and taking a shower in it was very very strange. We decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower because we heard that seeing it all lit up is a must when you're in Paris. But just before we left the hotel, my mom was in the bathroom brushing her teeth and all of a sudden she starts screaming and I hear her running into things. I was really confused until I heard her yell THERE'S A BUG IN HERE! I was laughing so hard that I could not physically get up to try and help her. The people next door to us probably thought someone was trying to kill her. She opened the bathroom door and came running out and tried to close the door to lock the bug in, but the bug flew out into the room and she was screaming about how we needed to switch rooms because we couldn't sleep with the bug in there. I was literally crying I was laughing so hard. Finally after about ten minutes of her screaming and running around, she killed the bug. But let me tell you that was one of the highlights of the trip.

On our way to the Eiffel Tower, we stopped in this really cute restaurant we stumbled upon along the way. While we were eating Onion Soup (not called French Onion Soup when you're in France), a couple at a table near by asked where we were from. Assuming they were French we said that we were from Boston, because many people don't know what New Hampshire is. They replied and said they lived in Pennsylvania, but had a house at Lake Winnipesaukee, so we replied and told them we actually live in New Hampshire. They asked where and we said that we lived just outside Manchester and they replied saying that they used to live in Londonderry in Century Village. Flabbergasted, we replied and said we actually live in Londonderry! So after essentially lying about where we lived twice, we told them where we actually lived. Small world though isn't it! We chatted with them a bit and found out that they were in France for 31 days! How I wish!

After a delicious meal, we finished the walk to the Eiffel Tower. The tower is absolutely breathtaking. It was around 11:30pm when we got there and the tower sparkles at the top of every hour so we decided we would wait until midnight so we could see the building all lit up. It was definitely worth the wait! It was absolutely beautiful to see all the lights flashing. I absolutely loved it.

We were both exhausted after, so we headed back to the hotel. On our way back we walked by a few kiosks that sold Paris stuff. Looking quickly I saw a scarf and I couldn't figure out what it said. I then proceeded to say outloud, "What does SIRAP mean?" As soon as the words came out of my mouth I realized what I said. SIRAP is Paris backwards and I was just being an idiot. We laughed about that for the entire trip back to the hotel. Once we got there we went to bed. It was a very long and exciting day. 

Day 74

Day two in Paris! We got up early and went down to the front desk to book skip the line tickets for the Eiffel Tower and grab some breakfast because it was free. Bad news is all the skip the line tickets were sold out! And since it was a Saturday morning we knew we were going to have to wait in line for quite a while. So after we got breakfast we headed out to the Eiffel Tower. On our way there, we stopped at the Lock Bridge and put a lock on to commemorate our trip. The bridge was so full of locks! I can't even imagine how many locks have been placed on there over the years. We found a place on the side that didn't have as many because we figured it had a better chance of not being cut off then other parts of the bridge. Hopefully we were right. We then continued to walk to the Eiffel Tower. When we got there the line was so long. We waited in it for nearly an hour when two people tried to cut us in line. I'm not even lying when I say that my mom boxed them out so they couldn't cut us. I guess all those years of watching Mike and Nick play basketball really paid off. Props Mom. After another hour and a half we made it to the top! The elevator ride was actually way scarier than I'd like to admit. The elevator took you up half way and then you had to get on another one that took you to the summit. After we got off the first elevator I thought for sure that my mom wasn't going to get on the second one. She could barely get off the elevator all together. It was a little funny, but I was also shaking a little too! We were so high up that it was insane. After taking a few pictures, we got into the second elevator and made it to the summit. There were two floors up there. One was entirely inside and the one above that was outside. We started on the inside one to calm our nerves and then made it to the outside one. The view was absolutely incredible. It was completely worth waiting in the line for so long. It was like as soon as we stepped out of the elevator we forgot that we had waited in line for so long. It was absolutely amazing. I couldn't stop looking down because I was shocked at how high we were! I can't even accurately convey how beautiful it was. I'll post some pictures later. We got some popcorn, pretzels, and wine at the top and it was really cool to drink wine at the top of the Eiffel Tower!

After we took the elevator down, we took a few more pictures and then I got a crepe. LET ME TELL YOU HOW GOOD THIS CREPE WAS. Philly, get your crap together because this was the best thing I've ever eaten ever and I literally would take the train to Paris simply to eat one of these crepes again. I got one with Nutella and strawberries in it and I think I inhaled it because once I had one bite I could not stop. It was incredible. I never wanted it to end.

After that amazing experience we took a cab back to the hotel and hung out for a bit before we had to leave to catch our train back to London. Once we got onto the train, I fell asleep. I actually think I fell asleep before the train even departed, but anyway, I was abruptly woken up by an Asian baby sitting in front of me that decided it would be fun to continuously bang his toy car on the window. It was fantastic. Especially because his mom decided to let to go on for five minutes before she took it out of his hand. And when she took it out of his hand he screamed so loud. It was FANTASTIC. I loved every second of it. Not only did that happen, but the train decided to just stop mid trip and then not move again for an hour because there was a backup. SO we got back to London an hour after we were supposed to. I was so happy to get off that train.

We took the Tube back to my mom's hotel and we dropped out stuff off and went to get a drink at The Globe which is right down the road from the hotel and campus. It was pretty dead for a Saturday night but I wasn't mad because I was just really thirsty so I got a Coke and we just hung out and talked for a bit. After we finished our drinks we headed back to the hotel and then I went back to campus for the night.

I absolutely loved Paris though. Everyone said the people were mean, but we didn't encounter any mean people at all! I was very happy about that. Everyone was really willing to help us and that was really awesome. The people at our hotel were awesome too. We also never really had trouble with pickpocketers which I was warned about extensively. Overall, though, Paris was fantastic. Definitely something everyone should see in their life time.

Day 74

Our first day back in London and it's Mum's Day! Apparently Mother's Day in the United Kingdom is way before it happens in the United States! What are the chances that my mom would be here for it! I decided it would be a cool thing if we went to the top of the Shard because it is supposed to be a really amazing view. 

We got up around 11:30am and my mom, Conner, and I grabbed some lunch at Pizza Express. It was really good! After lunch, my mom and I headed over the London Bridge because the Shard is just next to it. We thought we could walk around Borough Market for a while before we went to the Shard cause our tickets were for 3:30pm. Unfortunately, Borough Market was closed! So we stopped in a cute shop and my mom got some tea and I got some hot chocolate. It was really really good!

After we had finished we headed over to the Shard. We got to the top and the view was spectacular. You could see everything from up there. We could see the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Wembley Stadium, the Olympic Stadium, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's, the Monument, Tower of London, blah blah blah. Literally every cool thing in London, you could see it from up there. There were two floors you could view from. Floor 69 which was entirely inside and they had telescopes you could look through to see different areas and Floor 72 which was open air. I really liked that floor. I bought my mom and I a glass of champagne and some chocolates and we walked around up there for about two hours! It was so cool. Even in the bathrooms the walls were all windows so I got a cool picture when I was sitting on the toilet! I know all of you wanted to know that. Anyway, it was so cool up there. I really enjoyed it. It was something cool and different to do for the day. I guess my mom and I really like going off the ground to see things! The Eiffel Tower and the Shard... how weird! Especially since my mom is afraid of heights!

After we went back down to the bottom we got in line to look at some of the pictures the people took for us up there. While we were in line I was looking at the people's pictures before us. THE GUY PROPOSED TO HIS GIRLFRIEND UP THERE AND HAD SOMEONE SNAP PICTURES THE WHOLE TIME SO THEY GOT EVERY SECOND OF IT ON CAMERA AND THE PICTURES WERE SO CUTE I WAS DYING. I whispered to my mom and we both were looking at the pictures tearing up. It was so incredible. What an amazing place to do something like that. Props, bro. No one's proposal will ever be cooler than that. You're the best.

After that we headed back to campus and hung out a bit and then we went to The Volunteer for dinner and some drinks. Conner came along with us and then Alyssa and her mom joined us after. I had a wicked good Caesar salad. I know it sounds lame, but it was the best one I've had since being over here. I would go back there every single day and eat one of those. It was awesome.

After we finished, we headed back to go to bed for the night. It was a great Mother's Day!

Off do to some homework for now, but I'll add pictures soon.

Cheers

[mindthegapadventures]

My mom and I are in Paris for the weekend!

[mindthegapadventures]

Quick Sidenote

I added a little but to Day 56. It's quite funny if you'd like to go down and have a read. I just remembered it happened and needed to add it in. Sorry, lads.

Cheers

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 64, Day 65, Day 66, Day 67, Day 68, Day 69

Day 64

Today I had one class. I told myself that after the class I would start on my loads of homework, but realistically I just watched TV on my computer and basically was a waste of space. I gotta stop doing that.

Day 65

I had two classes today. I had a midterm exam in my first class where we had to write an essay. I studied a little the night before for it and then when I got there I found out what I studied wasn't one of the questions (they were random questions) so that was exciting. I picked one that I thought I could answer and I went with it. Hoping for the best on the outcome. In my next class we talked more about Modernity in the 20th Century and then we listened to some music that was post modern. I offered up Pentatonix and she put it on! Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Love those guys.

Conner, Alyssa and I grabbed lunch and then I went back to the room to finish packing for Madrid! I had about an hour before I needed to leave to get to the airport. I left campus around 1pm to catch the tube to the bus stop. I got to the stop about 20 minutes early so I waited around, but it was so windy that I kept getting blown around. The bus finally came and the guy almost didn't let me on because I only had a 20 pound note and the price for the bus was 10 pounds and he didn't have any change. Lucky for me, a woman that needed to get on had two 10 pound notes and she broke my 20 for me. I was off to the airport! The woman behind me decided that she needed to listen to her music at full blast and everyone on the bus was giving her wicked dirty looks. One woman even asked her to turn it down, but she didn't speak English so she didn't understand what was being asked of her. I really loved listening to that music the whole hour and ten minute ride to Gatwick (sarcasm). I got through security with no troubles and then sat around for two hours waiting for my flight to take off. I hate that you have to be at the airport two hours before flights. Seems a bit excessive.

Finally, I made my way to my gate. Right when I got there a man was being escorted onto the plane, by police officers, in handcuffs so immediately I began thinking the worst, obviously. Luckily there isn't any more to add about that because nothing happened. The plane finally took off on time, but not before I had a panic attack about not remembering any Spanish. Senora Dutton would not have been proud. Lo siento, Senora.

The flight went by relatively quickly. I fell asleep for a good duration of it. Right before we were to land the plane did a really scare nose dive type thing and that was so scary, but luckily the pilot saved us. Although in the moment I was sure it was going to be the end.

I landed and made it through customs with no issues. I made my way to find Taylor! She told me to follow the Metro signs in the airport and I started to panic because I was walking really far, but no worries because I found her with no problems. And good thing I didn't have any problems because I think the only thing I know how to say in Spanish is "Can I go to the bathroom?" and I don't think that would have helped me much.

Taylor and I took the Metro back to her apartment (which was so adorable) and I dropped all my stuff off. We then headed out to dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant. I know Indian food in Spain seems a little weird, but whatever! I had never had it before and it was so good. I told myself that I needed to try it in London because according to the rumors it's really good. Taylor had to order for me because I didn't know how to speak Spanish. She's like fluent in the language. I was fascinated in watching/listening to her speak to other people in Spanish because it was just so cool! After dinner we headed back to her apartment because we were both really tired. Although we wound up staying up until 3:30am just talking and catching up!

Day 66

Taylor woke me up around 10:30am to get started for the day, but I ended up falling back asleep and we didn't end up leaving until 11:30ish. We took the Metro to the west side of the city and saw the Royal Palace and the Palace grounds. It was absolutely beautiful.

This is a picture from the little park beside the Palace. After that we went and saw another park that had an Egyptian Temple in the middle. There was also a really pretty view of the Palace from this park. It was breathtaking. It honestly put Buckingham Palace to shame. 

After this we walked along Gran Via and saw loads of restaurants and really pretty buildings. Then we grabbed some lunch at a really cute restaurant called Gabriel's. I had mushroom risotto and some noodles and veggies. I, surprisingly, LOVED the risotto. I could have eaten six more plates of it. It was so delicious.

After this we walked around more and went to Sol which is essentially the exact center of Madrid. It was really cool. They had a plaque that marked the exact center. I found that to be kind of funny. We then made our way to another park called the Retiro. It was massive. There were loads of museums and buildings in the park. There was even a pond that you could rent row boats and go on the pond with. The sun was beginning to set to it was really pretty. We sat and talked for a little while.

It was a really beautiful sight.

We headed back to her apartment after this and hung out for a bit before heading out to dinner. One thing I found really weird is that they don't eat lunch here until 2:30pm. This means that dinner isn't eaten until around 9:30pm. Definitely a different culture then the eating at home. For dinner we headed to a vegetarian burrito place. The burrito was so delicious! They can make a hefty burrito in Spain!

After we ate we headed over to a Cider Bar where we had some wicked good cider and we hung out and talked. I'd like to quickly add that it's hard to hang out with someone that works at the SeaKetch and not talk about the SeaKetch. I actually think it's impossible. Anyway, we got a few drinks there and then headed back for the night around 2am.

Day 67

I got up late today (around noon). We got ready and then headed out for more sight seeing! First we went to print out my boarding pass for my flight on Sunday morning because it wouldn't let me check in for it when I was in London. After that we walked back to Sol and went to this store that had a terrace at the top that you could stand on and see a really pretty view of Gran Via and other pretty scenic things. It was essentially a food court at the top of this building. It was really interesting. We got a cookie and then headed out. I needed to get more euros so we found a currency converter and I changed some of my pound notes over to euros.

After this we walked around and I did a bit of touristy shopping. I bought some postcards and a few other things! We then headed to lunch. We went to this really small restaurant that looked a little like a hole in the wall but it was really busy! We had to wait to get a table! The food was delicious though. We got some wine and shared a Caprese salad. For my meal I had some ravioli with spinach and cheese in a pesto sauce. It was delicious. The Spaniards can cook that's for sure.

After lunch we did some more walking around because we were waiting for the free hours to start at a couple museums I wanted to see. The first one we went to was the Prado. The Prado had loads of famous paintings in it. Goya was one of the most prominent. He must of had at least twenty rooms dedicated to just his work. The work in there was absolutely beautiful. It was so surreal to be so close to all these paintings that we had learned about in History and other classes at school. We walked around for about an hour and then headed to another museum called the Reina Sofia. This museum, notably, had the work of Pablo Picasso. I really wanted to see the painting called Guernica. Taylor told me a cool fact that when this painting was touring the world, Spain was going through a lot of political issues. Because of this, Picasso said that the painting was not allowed to return to Spain until the country turned democratic and that was held true. She also told me that during wars the painting is covered because it is an anti-war painting. The painting was away bigger than I was expecting it to be! It was massive and the workers were so serious about how close you could get. Even though it was roped off by about three feet, you got yelled at if you went within a foot of the rope. It was kind of weird. The museum also had these really cool glass elevators that I obviously rode up and down. I'm a child.

After the elevator fun, we headed back to Taylor's apartment and got ready for dinner. We decided we would head to the area called La Latina and get Tapas! We went to a few different restaurants. The first one we went to we got some beers and some bravas. It was potatoes with a sauce on top called salsa brava. The taste is hard to describe, but it was really good. I now know why Mike brought home three bottles when he came home. The next restaurant we went to we got some cheese. It had a cool Spanish name, but I can't remember what it was. It was really good. We got a few beers too. I was absolutely appalled at how cheap everything in Spain was. I really understood how expensive London was after going here. Around 1am we headed back to her apartment because my flight was out of the airport at 7:50am. I think I fell asleep around 2:30am.

Day 68

We got up at 5am so I could catch the bus to airport because the Metro wasn't open yet. Taylor and I took at cab to the bus stop where we said our goodbyes! The bus to the airport came around 5:30am and I got on and took the 40 minute ride to the airport. I found my way through pretty easily and went to my gate and hung out until it was time to board the plane. I absolutely passed out as soon as I sat in my seat. I was abrubtly woken up when the plane was about to land. The flight attendant was talking very quickly in Spanish and I couldn't understand her, but I assumed she was telling me to put up my tray table because she was pointing at it and looking at me. Putting it up seemed to please her so I guess you could say I'm fluent in Spanish now.

I landed and caught the train back to campus because I didn't care about spending the extra money; I just wanted to pass out in my bed. I got back to campus around 11:30am and I literally just fell onto my bed and fell into a deep sleep. I woke up around 4pm and started my Sociology paper that I was supposed to start on Wednesday. I took a break and grabbed some dinner and then I blocked myself from social media and I banged out the paper. 1,500 words on the shift from mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity... exciting stuff for sure! I finished the paper around 8pm and then I was up late doing the work for a presentation for my Social History class.

I finally got to bed around 3am.

Day 69

I had two classes today. Well, I had one because I could not bring myself to actually go to my first class. Instead I decided to take a shower (much needed after all the traveling) and do my laundry. When we got back from Spring Break all the washing machines were broken so we couldn't do laundry. Basically I had like one outfit left and I wore it today. So I brought all my stuff up to do laundry only to find out all the machines were still broken. I furiously went down to the front desk and asked if they were planning on fixing them at all and they informed me that the engineer was on his way.

I went back to my room and changed my sheets and got some lunch with Conner, Alyssa, and Jackie. When I got back from lunch I went up to see if the laundry machines were fixed and luckily the engineer was just finishing up on the last machine. He paid for my load of laundry too! Cheers, mate! I then went back to my room and did more for my presentation before I had to go to my second class.

When in my second class I learned that my presentation for next Monday got pushed back! Very exciting news! Other than that, the class was pretty uneventful.

I got back from class and Conner had gotten my laundry out of the dryer for me! What a saint. I put that away and then did more of my presentation. We then all went and grabbed some dinner. They had mac & cheese and it was heaven, as always. I then left for a play for my theatre class. I saw a show called Good People. It was SO good. It was actually based in Southie so I was expecting the Boston accents to be terrible, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how good they were. I would highly recommend this show for people! It was absolutely hilarious. The show was entirely sold out and I can tell why. I texted Anya to tell her about the show cause she's from Southie and I think she's gunna go see it. I really really liked it.

I came back from the show and finished up my presentation. Hopefully everything goes well with that tomorrow!

Not much up for the rest of the night, but I'll leave you with a picture of Taylor and I from Madrid.

Cheers!

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 61, Day 62, Day 63

Day 61

Today was Kelly and Mallory's last day. Kelly had a hard time saying goodbye and she almost made me cry. I'm gunna miss her loads. Besides saying goodbye Conner, Helena, and I went to the Hard Rock Cafe: London cause Helena wanted to get something for her mom. I may or may not have bought something as well. :) Conner, Helena and I went to Nando's for dinner and it was delicious. It was the first time I could actually finish my entire meal! I absolutely love that place. Not much happened after dinner. I had to come to the sad conclusion that classes were going to start the next day and I headed to bed early. Pretty lame if you ask me.

Day 62

I had two classes today, per usual. In my first class, we finished up discussing Charles Dickens' novel The Bleak House. While for some people that book may be incredible, I didn't like it at all and I am very happy that it is over.

Alyssa and I grabbed some lunch and I headed back to my room to upload all the pictures from Italy. I tried to post some of my favorites on here, but I was having trouble picking from the bunch. I'll try again later.

For dinner they had mac and cheese in the dining hall! Last month they had everyone fill out a form where they wrote what they wanted to have in the dining hall and I guess so many people wrote mac and cheese that they decided to dedicate one night a week to mac and cheese. Dreams to come true, people, you just have to believe!

After dinner Conner and Helena wanted to go to Bargain Booze but they didn't know how to get there so I offered to escort them over. We made it there with no problems however the trip back wasn't so great. We had to walk through Queen Mary's Gardens to get back to campus so we went through the gate and started walking through. We got to the gate we had to leave out of and it was closed and locked... cool. So we started to awkwardly giggle but also slightly panic because we were locked inside of the park. So we started to make our way back to the other gate in hopes that it would be open. While we were walking, Conner saw flashing lights of the cars that lock the gates so we all started running and yelling, "WAIT WE'RE IN THE PARK! WE'RE STILL IN THE PARK!" I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe and I thought I was going to pee my pants so I stopped to contain myself while Conner continued to run and scream for the guy to unlock the gate. He actually heard us, surprisingly, and he was cracking up by the time we got to the gate. He asked Conner what we would have done if he didn't hear us and we were locked in the park and she just said, "I DON'T KNOW PANIC! CALL SECURITY! PANIC!" We laughed for the duration of the walk back to campus. Helena then said that we could have just climbed the fence and Conner and I simultaneously said, "NO!" We learned the first day of being here that if you climb the fence you could be impaled and die. The police officer that told us this went on to tell us that numerous people have lost their testicles and their breasts from trying to climb the fence and lost their footing. He then went on to say that if you were impaled, you would bleed out in three minutes which is less time than it would take for him to get there. Needless to say, we would not have climbed over the fence. Moral of this story is 1. Don't walk in the park at night because you will get locked in and 2. Don't climb the fence if you are locked in the park cause you will die. Cheers.

Day 63

Today my first class was cancelled so I got to sleep in a bit. Helena left to go back to Hawaii today, but I didn't get to say bye because she left really early.

I got up for my second class, Sociology, and it was really boring... per usual.

In my third class we had a field trip to the National Maritime Museum, the Queen's House and the Cutty Sark ship. They were actually way cooler than I thought they were going to be. The ship was my favorite part because it was so beautiful and it was cool to see all the different rooms and aspects of the ships. My teacher is really passionate about what he teaches so I think that makes it a bit more interesting to learn about.

After we got back from the field trip we grabbed a quick dinner and headed out to see Matilda! We had seats that were really high up - we were in the third to last row of the theatre! But the show was absolutely incredible. At the beginning a man came out and let us know that the cast was entirely new and this was their first show. I thought they were saying this because the kids didn't know their parts well because last time this happened was when I saw Fortune's Fool and I wrote about how that went. BUT this time it was entirely different. The kids were incredible. The had more talent in their pinky finger than I'll probably ever have in my entire life. The girl that played Matilda was so good. She definitely has a serious future. The girl that played the one that puts the newt in the water was also really good. She could dance like I've never seen anyone dance before. I would seriously recommend it. I've had the songs stuck in my head since we left the play!

Not much is up for the rest of tonight. I have loads of homework in the next few weeks so I've got to get a start on that.

I'll write again soon.

Cheers!

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 49, Day 50, Day 51, Day 52, Day 53, Day 54, Day 55, Day 56, Day 57, Day 58, Day 59, Day 60

I just wanna put a quick disclaimer that I'm sorry I didn't post anything in two weeks. I suck wicked bad.

Day 49

TODAY WAS MY DAD'S 50TH BIRTHDAY. I know I posted a pic and stuff, but I secretly sent him an edible arrangement as well. Sneaky sneaky stuff. Other than classes today, I went to see Urinetown with my musical theatre class. It was such a good musical! If you haven't seen it yet, you should go see it. It's basically a musical that makes fun of other musicals. I was laughing the entire time. And the lead male was very good looking so that made it a lot more enjoyable! Nothing else really happened today.

Day 50

I only had one class today - Literary London. So, I wrote that I was called on about two weeks before today, so I thought I was in the clear for not being called on for about a month. I got called on in class. PERFECT. I hadn't read so that was annoying. Luckily, I got a really really easy question and I was able to answer it really nicely. Nailed it.

After class, Alyssa and I made appointments to get pedicures and went to Primark while we waited for our appointments. I had two pairs of jeans that ripped, so I needed to buy new ones. I really only bought new ones because Conner would yell at me every time I wore the ripped ones and I wanted to get her off my back. Haha, love ya Con. For some reason, we didn't think the store would be busy and I would be able to find jeans, try them on, and get back to the nail salon in time but it was packed and I only had a chance to pick out some and hide them around the store.

We ran back to the nail salon and got there about ten minutes late, but it was okay cause they still took us. I got a pretty light pink and the pedicure felt amazing. It was definitely long overdue.

After the pedicure we headed to Camden because we're trying to book train tickets online for our trip from Germany to Poland, but they won't let us book in online for some reason. The offices are so creepy. They are definitely in a not so great part of London. So we went there and found out we couldn't book them because it's too far in advance... dumb. So we'll have to keep looking into that so we can get our trip all sorted.

We then made our way back to Primark so I could try on and buy my new jeans. Bad news is that where I hid them had been cleaned while we were gone, so I had to go back to the crazy jean section and try and find all the pairs that I had before. After finding them again, I tried them on and ended up buying two pairs. Conner was very pleased.

Nothing else really happened for the rest of the night. We laid low and tried to get some rest because we had a long week coming up.

Day 51

My first class was unexpectedly cancelled! It was even better because I was supposed to have a midterm in that class, but now it's moved until after spring break. I was so pumped. I unfortunately still had to go to Sociology, but it wasn't bad because I knew I only had one class separating me and the weekend!

After class I took a nap because I knew I wouldn't be getting much sleep with Mallory and Kelly coming. After the nap, I had an interview (wish me luck). Then after dinner, Jackie, Kathleen, Alyssa and I headed to, no other than, the Walkabout! We all decided that we weren't going to drink much because we had to get up early to pick people up from the airport, so we just went to have fun with all the people. It was packed! I literally don't think I'll ever get sick of that place. Dear Walkabout, please open one in Durham, NH. You'll make loads of money I promise.

Day 52

WE GOT UP EARLY AND PICK KELLY AND MALLORY UP FROM THE AIRPORT!!!!! I was so happy to see them. We brought them back to campus and got all settled. Then we headed out to lunch and came back to campus cause they were tired and wanted to take a nap. Alyssa and I ended up falling asleep too. While we were sleeping Conner came back with Helena and we finally met! She's really nice.

We then took them around to see some of the big touristy things around London. We started at Buckingham Palace and went around from there. Obviously going to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and loads of places in between. It was a blast! I will never get sick of walking around this city. We grabbed dinner at Pizza Express and headed back to campus to get ready for the night.

We were having trouble trying to figure out where to go. Kathleen, Anya, and Jackie came over and we all decided that everyone needed to experience Walkabout, so we went over. It was so fun, per usual. Everyone seemed to love the bar. It was overall a great night. We got back around 3am and we were all exhausted, but we had a huge day of sightseeing to do the next day so there was no time to be tired.

Day 53

We got up and all headed in separate directions. Helena and Conner did their own thing, Alyssa and Mallory headed to Primark, and I took Kelly to see the Tower of London since I hadn't been there yet either. It was so cool and way bigger than I was expecting. We walked around the walls of the building, went to the White Tower, saw the Crown Jewels, and saw Anne Bolyen's grave. Kelly cried when she saw Anne's grave. It was really funny. My favorite thing that we saw was the Crown Jewels. I think I could have looked at them for hours. They were just so elaborate and beautiful. My breath was genuinely taken away when I was looking at them. There were no pictures allowed inside, but two women didn't feel like following the rules and they got yelled at a ton and they had to deleted all the pictures they took on their cameras while the guard watched them. I had so much secondhand embarrassment.

After we saw the Tower of London, we met up with Alyssa and Mallory and walked to Tower Bridge and saw the amazing view from there. After that we went to Nando's for dinner cause I was craving it so much. I got a delicious veggie burger and some mashed potatoes. I was so full about half way through, but I didn't wanna stop eating. After dinner we came back and packed and got ready for ITALY!!!!!! We had a really early flight so we went to bed early because we had to catch the bus at 6am.

Day 54

We got up around 5am and went out to catch the bus. We were in the wrong spot at first, but then someone helped us get to the right area. We got a direct bus to the airport and we were on our way! We grabbed some breakfast at the airport and then went to the terminal. We were at the end of the line and we all had to have our bags gate checked, but they were rushing Kelly and her bag wouldn't fit in the size thing, so they made her check it. She said she's going to complain and get her money back though because it was absolute crap. There were people with bigger bags on the plane. Anyway, the plane took off and we were on our way.

Upon landing we got out luggage and made our way to find the bus. We bought a bus ticket and then Conner, Helena and I went to go find an ATM. The bus came while we were gone, but we assumed the next one would be on the way. BOY WERE WE WRONG. The next bus didn't come for another two hours so we were sat there in the heat with all our luggage. Welcome to Rome?

We finally got on the bus and it took about 40 minutes to get into the city center. From there we had to take a city bus to our hostel. But we couldn't find where to buy the bus tickets and while we were running around looking, I stepped in a whopping pile of poop. Welcome to Rome? Everyone thought it was hilarious, but it was so nasty. Oh well. We finally found the place to buy bus tickets and we got on the bus. We got off on the stop we were told to, but we had no idea how to get to the hostel from here, so eventually Kelly turned on her roaming so we could pull up Maps and figure out how to get there. It was about a 5 minute walk.

The hostel was actually really really nice, but it was in the ghetto of Rome. They were not clear about that on the website. It wasn't bad, but it was just annoying trying to get into the city. The guy working the desk was really nice and told us all the ways to get to the city center. He was talking about taking the bus and we asked how to buy tickets and he started cracking up wicked loud. We had no idea what was going on and he told us that no one pays for the busses in Rome and you can tell a tourist because they have bus tickets. I felt dumb. Luckily the one we bought was only 1.50 Euros. We didn't make that mistake again.

We got all settled and went to ask for a good place to get dinner. He directed us to a restaurant close by. We walked in and the guy directed us to our table and just started rambling in Italian. We had absolutely no idea what he was saying because the only words we knew in Italian were Thank you, Yes, No, and I'm a vegetarian. Helpful. We all started cracking up and they hated us from that moment on. We all ordered/attempted to order in Italian and we ended up getting a giant antipasti, a meal, and a dessert for 16 Euros. Not a bad deal if you ask me. The antipasti was MASSIVE. He just started bringing out plates and plates of things that were so delicious. My favorite was the buffalo mozzarella balls. It put the ones in America to serious shame. My meal was really good too and the dessert was not bad. We could tell that all of the people were talking about us in Italian because we kept hearing them say America and pointing as us and rolling their eyes.

Dear every single French Canadian I've ever been mean to cause they can't speak English, being in a country that speaks another language is really hard. I'm sorry I'm such a jerk. I won't do it anymore.

After dinner we went back to our room and went to bed cause we were all so exhausted from the travels of getting to Rome.

Day 55

We got up early and headed out for the day. We didn't have a set plan, but we decided that today would be the day that we did some shopping and general sight seeing. So, we took the metro to the top of the city and walked our way down towards the Colosseum.

We walked down a really long road that is supposed to be known for shopping. There were loads of really expensive shops which is not exactly what we were looking for, but we found some good souvenir shops so we obviously went in there. We ended up seeing everything from the Spanish Steps all the way down to the City Hall. I think Helena said we walked a total of 10 miles.

I bought just a few souvenirs and we got some Gelato to start off our Italy experience. All of us got small ones in cones and Conner ordered last. All of a sudden she turns around with a cone of Gelato that is literally bigger than her head. We all are staring at her and she is laughing uncontrollably. I asked her what she got and she just looked at me laughing and said she had no idea what she ordered. We were all laughing so hard. Turns out what she ordered cost 16 Euros... when in Rome, I guess.

We got a late lunch/dinner in the city and wow the food is good. I had a pizza for the first time since we had been in Italy and it put every pizza I've ever eaten to shame.

My favorite part of the day was definitely seeing the Trevi Fountain. We were walking around trying to find it and we accidentally found it around a random corner. We literally stumbled upon it. The fountain was so beautiful. We all threw loads of coins in and we got some really good pictures. I already posted one of all of us throwing the money in. I think that picture is sooooooo cool!

Day 56

We got up early because we had a tour of the Colosseum to do! I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting the Colosseum to be so large. The tour was pretty short and basic, but we learned loads about the history. I found it really interesting that the Colosseum was abandoned years ago and that's the reason it fell apart. People would go in and steal the expensive parts of the building and sell it to help their families survive. We also learned that loads of animals were killed in the Colosseum. I kept wondering how many animals became extinct during this time and what animals we don't know about that could be around if these "games" didn't exist.

After the Colosseum, we went over the the Roman Forum and walked around there for a while. There was so much to see and not enough time. Plus, half way through the Forum we all got really really hungry so we went through kind of quickly so that we could get some food. We went to a random restaurant that we stumbled upon when we were walking and the food was so good. I had spinach and ricotta raviolis in Gorgonzola sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. It was definitely one of the best things I've ever eaten.Then for dessert I got a cannoli. It put Mike's Pastry to shame. This restaurant was also so much nicer to us then any of the other restaurants we had been to. They definitely aren't too fond of American's in Rome.

After we ate we went back to the hostel to take a quick nap and plan out things to do that night. We decided to head over to the Trevi Fountain again so we could see how pretty it was at night. We grabbed some dinner in the area. We randomly stumbled upon this really cute restaurant with a singer so we decided to grab some dinner there. We were hanging out minding our own business when the woman singing asked us if any of us wanted to sing. Immediately knowing what was coming next I made an oh em gee face. While I was mid face, everyone pointed at me and said that I would sing. I didn't want to at all. One because this woman was absolutely fantastic and two because I was embarrassed. Knowing my friends though, they were going to get me to sing no matter what. So they picked a song and told the singer who wouldn't quit until I was up there singing. I reluctantly went up and sang a song. And I mean very reluctantly. Sometime you love 'em... sometimes you wanna hit 'em. Ya know?

Anyway, after dinner we went to the Trevi Fountain. It was so beautiful when it was all lit up. We threw a few more coins in, cause why not, and took loads more pictures.

Day 57

We had reservations for the Vatican today! We got there around 11 thinking that we could go in and walk around before our tour at 1:15, but we weren't allowed in. So we went and grabbed some lunch first and waited until it was time for us to go in. I had pasta with four cheeses and it was really good - I'm assuming you know that basically all of the food we ate was really good. We made our way into the Vatican and did the tour. The ceilings were the coolest part of the tour. All of them were so elaborate and perfect. The tour ended in the Sistine Chapel which was really pretty. Although to be perfectly honest, I was expecting it to be a lot larger. Also, there were so many people talking inside even though you aren't allowed that it kind of took away from the experience. And there were people blatantly ignoring the rules about not taking pictures. The guards were like running around to tell people to stop taking pictures. It was really disheartening to see everyone being so disrespectful, but what are you gunna do.

Our tour ended up going about a half hour/hour over so we unfortunately didn't have enough time to go inside of St. Peter's, but I really wanted to. We had to catch a train to Florence, so we didn't have enough time to wait in the security line and go inside. All the more reason to go back!

We went back to the hostel, only after getting more Gelato, and got our bags and headed to the train station. The train station made absolutely zero sense. Our tickets didn't tell us where to go at all - actually it might have but it was in Italian. Anyway, we kept having to ask people where we were supposed to go because the train was leaving in 5 minutes so we were RUNNING through the train station and Helena's suitcase broke and I couldn't breathe cause we were running so it must have been quite the sight to see all of us. When we finally got to the train... it didn't leave for another hour. We just ran through the train station for absolutely no reason at all. Just our luck.

The train ride was about 3 and a half hours because it was cheaper to take the one with stops. We got to Florence around 12:30am and we were starving. We found a 24 hour McDonald's right outside the train station and we literally ran to it cause we were so hungry. We ate and walked to our hostel and passed out for the night.

Overall, I was very underwhelmed with Rome. In the movies, people really talk up how amazing it is to be in Rome and how the atmosphere is so amazing, but I didn't find it to be anything special. Yes, seeing all the old buildings and learning about the history was really cool, but I don't think I would want to go back to Rome again. I don't know if we just didn't get the right feel because our hostel was so far from everything that we spent a lot of our time on the metro and on buses, but I also found the people to be mean and the guys to be really really creepy. I'm not really about that life, you know?

Day 58

Our first full day in Florence! We got up early because the hotel was having a free walking tour that started at 10am. The tour was really cool and we learned a lot about the history of Florence. My favorite thing we saw was the Duomo because of how immaculate it was. If you don't know, the Duomo is a cathedral that is made entirely out of marble. It is so incredibly beautiful that I actually don't have words.

After the tour, we grabbed lunch and did a little shopping. I already loved Florence more than Rome because the atmosphere was entirely different. Florence was so laid back and people weren't mean to us. Not to mention how beautiful the city is as a whole. Lunch was delicious, as usual and shopping was so fun! I got loads and loads of souvenirs for people back at home! I almost didn't have enough room in my suitcase for it all! I hope everyone likes them, but if you don't.. Lie to me cause I can't return them.

After we finished shopping, we brought all our stuff back to the hostel and headed back out so we could go over to the river. Which was so so so so so pretty. I could sit there and do homework or just relax any day of the week. After that we went back to the hostel and had some dinner and then headed back out to walk around at night. We were all really tired though, so we didn't do much. We went to a little pub near our hostel and got some drinks and then went back for the night.

Day 59

We had a flight out of Rome at 10pm, so we figured we could do a little in Florence before we had to make our way back to Rome. We went back to the Duomo because we heard that you can climb to the top. Unfortunately the line was too long and we didn't wanna chance not having enough time to get to the train station on time. So, we went inside to just look instead. It was entirely made out of the marble inside too. I have never seen anything like it before. It was so beautiful.

After looking around there for a while we headed to the train station. We got lunch there and then tried to find the line our train was on. This was a struggle again, although it involved no running this time. It took us a little to find the line, again, because the signs we so hard to read and no one really knew where to point us, but we eventually found it. When talking to someone, we learned that the train might not even show up though because Rome Termini station was on strike and all the trains were either coming late or not showing up. So.. that was great. Luckily, ours came though. But there were loads of random stops because all the trains were delayed because of the strike so it took us about 4 and a half hours to get back to Rome. We then ran around the train station trying to find where to catch the bus to the airport. We literally went to every inch of that station only to find out that where we got off the train was where we were supposed to be all along. Just our luck, right?

Anyway, we finally got on the bus and we were on our way to the airport. It was about a 40 minute bus ride, but we were at the airport really early. So we grabbed some dinner and waited at the terminal. We just hung out and chatted for the whole of the three hours, it wasn't too bad. Kelly got on the plane with her bag this time so that was really lucky. I can't believe she had to pay last time. So annoying.

For some reason the flight seemed to take absolutely forever. It was only two and a half hours, but I felt like I was on the plane for six hours. Also, a man passed out on the plane so that was fun to watch.

When we FINALLY landed in London, it took forever for us to go through customs. But after we were all through, we got out bus tickets and we were on our way back to campus. The bus ride was about an hour and a half long, so everyone fell asleep but me. I was afraid we would miss our stop, but I was absolutely exhausted. Jackie and I literally ran back to campus once we got off the bus. I've never been so happy to be back in London. It was 3am by the time we all got into bed and I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. It was a long day of traveling.

Day 60

I was so happy to be back in London. We got up around 10am and grabbed lunch and went to Westminster Abbey. It was so cool inside. It was a lot bigger than I was expecting it to be, but there are so many famous people buried inside. Loads of kings and queens, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, and so many more. My favorite one to see was Queen Mary of Scots. I don't know why, but I like her for some reason. I bet she was a cool lady.

After Westminster Abbey we went to Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. I don't know anything about Harry Potter, so it wasn't that cool to me, but Alyssa and Kelly loved it. I got my picture taken and it looked like I was going through the wall to Hogwarts. Pretttttyyyy cooooooooool.

After that we went to Primark and I ended up buying two new shirts, a dress, and a headband. That store is so dangerous because it's so cheap. We then headed to dinner in Piccadilly. We went to Chiquito - where we went for Alyssa's 21st birthday. It was fun. The food was pretty good, but definitely not the best I've ever had. Mallory and I had a plate spilled on us. I only got a little on me, but basically an entire plate of salsa went on Mallory. I felt so bad for the waitress though because she got yelled at right in front of us even though it was clearly an accident. Hopefully she doesn't get fired.

We went back to campus and got ready to go out. We went to O'Neils, an Irish pub. Not only is it St. Patrick's Day weekend, but Ireland won the 6 Nations, so the place was absolutely packed. It was a lot of fun, but about half way through the night it started to get really really packed inside. I had an asthma attack and had to run outside to get some fresh air. I couldn't really catch my breath back, so I ended up going back to campus cause I didn't really feel well.

Again, I'm really sorry I didn't write. I forgot to do it before Kelly and Mallory came and then I couldn't cause we were in Italy, but I promise it wont happen again.

I'll add loads of pictures either later tonight or tomorrow. Also, I'm sure there are a lot of typos in this, so I'm sorry but this was a really long post, haha.

Cheers!

[mindthegapadventures]

I can't write in my blog cause I don’t have my computer but here’s us at the Trevi Fountain!

[mindthegapadventures]

For Daddy:

Daddy! I can't believe you're 50!!! Well in America you aren't yet, but you are here so I guess I'm the first one to say it which means I win and I'm your favorite. I'm sorry I can't be home to celebrate your birthday with you, but I'll have a few drinks to celebrate here (but only if I don't have homework cause I'm responsible and studying abroad isn't a joke). For this day only I'll pretend I'm not mad that you don't want to come visit me, but tomorrow I get to be mad again.

I chose this picture because of how funny the memory was of taking it. For those of you who don't know, I asked my mom to take a picture of us and the beautiful tree in the background. Oh, you can't see the tree? My mom couldn't either and she took it with us covering the entire thing. You can see a little bit of it at the top of my dad's head. Classic.

But anyway, I'm sure you're having everyone at home celebrate your birthday month cause that's what you do. We'll have a replacement birthday month when I get back. But I get to pick the restaurant. MIMMO'S!!!!!!!!!! Aw man I can't wait I love that place.

Anyway, thanks for always being there for me and always helping me out when I need it. And thanks for always stealing my phone charger. I love when you do that. In all seriousness Dad, I wouldn't be who I am today without all that you've given me and let me experience. You're me hero. I bet you Nonny is the most proud of you cause you da coolest. RIGHT NONNY!?! Enjoy your birthday, Dad. Cause now you're oooooolllllddddddddd. ♥ I love you and miss you like crazy!

And now you can't say I haven't written about you in my blog. :)

Love you always!

Ash <3

[mindthegapadventures]

Day 48

Day 48

Nothing too exciting happened today. I went on a field trip in my first class. We went to Piccadilly and learned about Cholera in London back in the day... yeah. It was about as interesting as it sounds but I didn't have to read Dickens so I'm not about to complain about it. The man that met up with us was a doctor who specialized diseases. He knew all about Cholera and the different parts of London that were severely effected. We were in one of the most effected parts. We learned about a man named John Snow, who is now attributed with finding the cause of Cholera, but during his time people didn't believe/want to hear what he had to say. Talk about bad timing. We didn't get back to campus until around 1pm, so we grabbed lunch and hung out in the room until our class at 2pm. I DIDN'T NAP JUST LIKE I SAID I WOULDN'T.

My second class was theatre and we just talked about old guys that wrote musicals... I mean obviously it was more in depth than that, but I don't think you'd be interested if I went further into it. 

After our classes we hung out, grabbed dinner (they had mac and cheese) and now I'm just hanging out for the night.

Like I said yesterday, nothing cool really happened today. No good stories unfortunately. I'm going to see a play tomorrow so hopefully I have something good to write about that.

Off for now. Cheers!

[mindthegapadventures]

Here's a picture from Camden Market today. So beautiful