An American Girl in Paris: SB Day 1

I am in Paris!

After the shortest plan ride in the history of the world, we landed in Paris!  However, after the short plane ride, it wasn't so peachy-keen.

There was a fire on the train, so we had to take a bus.  However, after waiting for about an hour and a half, and after paying for our bus ticket, we decided to just take a taxi instead.  It was only a few euros more, and we can use the bus ticket on our way back to the airport on Wednesday.

We checked into the hostel, and all five of us pile into the room, and we're whispering as to not disturb anybody in there, and one of our roomies pops out from his bed and says, "No need to whisper, this is a hostel!"  At first I didn't know what to make of this, but then I realized, as some of us were trying to take a nap, he's jabbering on his phone to various friends about his dinner plans.  Ahh, I get it.  We don't have to whisper when he naps, so he doesn't have to whisper when we nap.  (And if you know me, you know that I don't like to be disturbed when sleeping.)  His name is Carl, and he is from LA but is working here, and has been for about two months, and he lives in a hostel....  Not sure if he is creepy, or just a generally friendly guy.

So we went to get some food, and ended up in a cute little Middle Eastern shop, where everyone got shwarma!  It was delicious.  The woman working spoke hardly any English, so it was quite the challenge.  But, she was very sweet and gave us free chips (aka french fries)!  Then Cory and I got some sweets at a local patisserie, where, surprise surprise, they didn't speak English.  This is going to be quite the culture shock.

The we headed back to the hostel to take a nap.  Some of us want to go to a bar/club tonight, but Carl (dear, sweet Carl) informed us that Sunday is a very chill day here, and most people just drink in the common rooms of the hostel.  He knows best, so we'll probably just end up doing that.

More to come later...

Au revoir!
B

Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'!

This is the third day in a row that the weather has be absolutely gorgeous!

On Thursday, I didn't need to be at my internship until 4pm, so I decided to walk around the park a bit with Jenn.  We walked around for about an hour or so, and we found the Peter Pan statue!  Both of us were excited to see that.  Then we happened upon the Princess Diana Memorial, which was water flowing in a circle, almost like the lazy water tube ride at a water park.

That night, my internship had a company come in and do a performance of Two Noble Kinsmen.  Though not the best show I've ever seen, I enjoyed it.  Shakespeare is tough, and I didn't understand the beginning, but the rest of the play was very clear.  I loved the use of music throughout the show and thought that the actors did a great job, especially since some of them had only rehearsed it for three weeks.

Friday I had to be at work at noon, but for some reason I thought I wasn't leaving for work until then.  I was about 20 minutes late, but luckily they understood.  #Oops.

Julie's two friends from home are visiting this weekend, so the three of them plus three of us went to Arch Angel, the local bar/club.  It's a bit of a sleezy/sketchy place, but we had fun nonetheless.

Now I am ready to get some sleep, for I'm heading to Paris in the morning!  Which is only about 4 hours from now...  I should probably get some sleep....

Goodnight!
B

Jenn and I in the park.  What a sunny day!

The Peter Pan statue.  (P.S. I am very aware that my outfit 

looks a bit crazy, but I promise it looked fine in person!)

Greenwich

On Saturday I took a mini day trip to Greenwich with some of the FIE students.

Before the trip even started, I met a Deepher, Katie, from Wisconsin, whose Membership Manager from IHQ (headquarters) is a graduate from my chapter at Temple!  It was really great to meet her, and we talked non-stop about DPhiE related things.  We were even "shush'd" on the boat tour because we were talking to much. #sorryimnotsorry

So we took a boat tour along the Thames River, but as I said I wasn't paying that much attention.  Then we hiked a small mountain (ok, not really a mountain, but it felt like it!) to visit an observatory/planetarium, which was pretty cool.  Then we had the day to ourselves.  A group of us got lunch, then headed back up the mountain to go to the Prime Meridian line.  It cost us 5 pounds to get in!  I can't believe that they would charge, but we decided to pay.  When where we going to have this opportunity again?  So we paid, got our pictures in two hemispheres, then checked out the surrounding area, which included a house-turned-museum about this guy and the progress he made with the telescope and time.  Or maybe that's not what it was about?  Not too sure.

Just as we were leaving, it started to down pour and hail.  My boots got soaked, but there was nothing we could do.  It let up about a few minutes later, and we headed into a market.  It was a cutesy little market, a bunch of nicknacks and food.  I got a churro (so good!) and a pistachio, lemon, and poppy seed vegan cupcake that was tasty and filling.

Then we headed back to our flats, and even thought it was someone's 21st the next day, instead of going out, we spent the night in.

Despite the rain, it was a pretty cool day!

-B

12. Go to Ireland

What happens in Ireland, doesn't stay in Ireland.  It ends up on my blog...

11 of us went to Ireland this past weekend.  Here's a day by day breakdown:

Saturday:  Our flight was at 9:40 in the morning, so I had to wake up at 5:45 in order to get to the airport on time.  The plus side of waking up so early: I could sleep on the plane.

After landing and heading to the hostel, we went out for lunch.  Though the hostel itself was nice, the surrounding area was not.  We asked a local where a good place to get some food is, and he told us to cross the river, s we were probably going to get mugged here (nobody did, but that didn't mean the Jewish mother in me was worried al weekend about it).

So we ate, and then Francisco and I explored the city.  We found a cute little market in a part of the city called Temple Bar (I know, how fitting!), and then met up with the others at the Guinness Brewery.  The price of admission gets you one free pint, so of course we were going to take advantage of that!  I'm not a fan of darker beers, stouts, etc... I enjoyed the pint (but let's be honest, I probably enjoyed it because it was free!).  The 7th floor, the top floor of the building, was the Gravity Bar, and it over looked the entire city.  What a view!

The view from the Gravity Bar

After leaving the brewery and getting dinner, we headed out for a night on the town!  Not sure where to go, but knowing we wanted to hit up the Temple Bar area, we stumbled upon The Porterhouse Bar.  Kelly said that her friend recommended this place, so we headed inside.  The place was packed and by some miracle we were able to find seats at the bar.  This place had over 300 ales, lagers, beers, stouts, everything from all over the world.  Except the ginger beer that I wanted.  No matter, because the beers that they have on tap they make (no Guinness or bands like that).

At the hostel that night, there was a person who was snoring like a truck driver.  Needless to say I was not happy, but I survived.

Kelly and I at the Porterhouse Bar

Sunday: We woke up at the crack of dawn to take a day trip to Glendalough, Wicklow, and Kilkenny.  I couldn't have asked for a better day trip.  The only thing that would have been better was if I didn't fall alseep everytime we were on the bus, since there was a tour guide detailing the history of the country.  Glendalough, meaning Valley between Two Lakes, was one of the locations where P.S. I Love You was shot.  It included two lakes (duh) and a bunch of walking trails. I've never loved nature more.  The view, the smell, and the quiet was something only a city girl could appreciate.  Then we went to Wicklow.  I'm not too sure what this was, or even if it was Wicklow that we went to, but it was just a bunch of rocks.  We weren't sure what it marked, but I think it was for a burial ground.  After that we headed to Kilkenny, which is a city.  However, it is more of a large town, and is only considered a city because it has a city charter from years and years ago.  A lot of the stores were closed, I guess because it was Sunday, but we still enjoyed walking around and getting candy from the candy shop!

The lake and mountains of Glendalough

On the trials at Glendalough

When we got back from the day trip we headed out for dinner and drinks.  We had to settle for a Johnny Rocket's type restaurant, since by the time we decided to eat, the pubs had closed their kitchens.  I was less than impressed with the food and the service.

After dinner, while the others went to a pub, Kelly, Francisco, and I went to The George, a gay bar.  Best night.  There was a drag show, and the talent that the three drag queens had was amazing.  The one had better legs than me!  They performed songs from The Little Mermaid, Cabaret, Kelly Clarkson, and Whitney Housten, to name a few.  Easily the highlight of the trip.  Because the bar closed at 11:30pm, we headed over to The Temple Bar (an actual bar in the Temple Bar area) to meet up with the others.  It was a chill place with live music.  I asked the bartender what were some good things on tap.  He pointed to Guinness, but not in the mood for it and excited to see Smithwick's (pronounced Smittick's), I decided to listen to my Dad's advice and try that.  It was pretty good; nothing special, but worth a half pint.

At The Temple Bar

Francisco and I, who roomed together at the hostel, didn't have any roommate's this night!  No snoring!

Monday:  Kelly, Fransico, Liam, Nicole and I decided to take a free walking tour today while the others ventured out into the city.  Our tour was with Sandeman's, a company that is all over Europe, and our tour guide was Robby, who was fan-frickin-tastic!  He was the #1 tour guide with his company a few months ago.  What was supposed to be a 3 1/2 hour tour turned into a 4 1/2 hour tour, but it didn't feel that long.  During the tour, Robby told us that hundreds of years ago Christchurch Cathedral used to have a bar and a brothel in the building.  An employee of the church just happened to be walking by, and stopped Robby to say that he needs to be respectful because this is still a working church and people use it for worship.  He was just spiting out facts and was not responsible for the actions of the church 400 years ago!  We all got a chuckle out of this.

We also learned that in 1916 (maybe it was 1919? not too sure) Ireland planned a rebellion, and they asked Germany to send them weaponry.  The Germans showed up on time, but the Irish showed up a day late!  They were late to their own rebellion!  So, they staged the attack the next day; 19 people showed up- 10 men and 9 women.  They're equal opportunity rebels.  They lost, but, at least they tried!

Another interesting fact was when they decided to commemorate the Easter Rising (the rebellion that they showed up late for), the IRA, a terrorist organization, successfully blew up Nelson's Pillar.  The government then asked the army to blow up the remaining part of the statue.  The army's explosion caused all the windows the area to shatter.  A terrorist organization was able to blow up exactly what they wanted to, but the army couldn't control the explosion!  That is crazy!

The tour was wonderful, and I'm glad I did it.

After that we walked around a bit, ate lunch, then headed for the airport.

The weekend went by too fast, but I enjoyed every minute of it!

-B

Checked off Two More Shows and Ireland!

1. See at least two shows a month (for a total of seven shows)

       The 39 Steps, The Wizard of Oz, Travelling Light, The Importance of Being EarnestThe Trial, and Lansbury, The Panto Girls
2. Portobello Market
3. Make friends with a Londoner
4. Take the Jack-the-Ripper tour
5. Eat fish and chips
6. Visit the British countryside

        Bath

7. Go to a lecture at Gresham College
8. East End Thrift Store
9. Celebrate the Chinese New Year

10. See the changing of the Guards

11. Volunteer with the Green Gym
12. Go to Ireland
13. Join a club at Imperial College
14. Go to Camdentown

A London Snowpocolypse

I'm sitting in a Kensington Starbucks and I'm about to write a blog; I feel like a posh hipster.

Saturday night I went with Julie Z. to see The Panto Girls at my internship.  We both loved it!  It set backstage and was about these two men who are the Ugly Stepsisters in the panto Cinderella.  An English pantomime is not the same as an American pantomime.  A panto here is a comedy, and though I don't really understand what it is, that's the basic gist of it.  The ending could have been a little clearer/definitive, but it was still good.

Before we left, it started snowing!  Just tiny, little flurries.  But, when we left it had started sticking and the city was becoming a winter wonderland.  They do not handle snow well, and though we only got about  four inches, we were told that the city sometimes shuts down because of it.  (Which is funny, because Temple experiences one of the worst blizzards in the history of ever, and we still have class.  Go figure.)

Luckily, we were still able to get home OK, and instead of going out for the rest of the night, we all stayed in and enjoyed being "snowed in."

-B

The Snow from Saturday.  So pretty!

How the Other Half Gets Their Education

This past Saturday we toured the oh-so-posh Oxford University, which is made up of about 30 or so different colleges.

Aside from having to be ready by 8am (yes, 8 IN THE MORNING ON A SATURDAY), and the weather being bone chillingly cold, I enjoyed the outside tour and the city that is part of the area.

We learned about some of the history of the buildings, the school, and who went there.  The graduation ceremony is conducted entirely in Latin.  There was a grassy area with a tree which was the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland.  Bill Clinton, as well as numerous Prime Ministers, have attended the school.

We had to end the tour a tad bit early because the cold was too much.  But, we did get to see the Great Hall, which was the inspiration for the dining hall in the Harry Potter movies.  It was much smaller than expected, and the more I stood in there, the more I realized that in its basic form, it was just a cafeteria!  A nice one, but a cafeteria nonetheless.

There was a market that few of us walked around in.  I got a "hot" milkshake at an ice cream shop called Shakespeare's, and it turned out to be just a regular, cold milkshake.

-B

The grassy part that inspired Alice in Wonderland

The Great Hall, aka a cafeteria

Chabad: London Style

Good morning! (Or afternoon if you're on my time)

Last Friday I celebrated Shabbat with the South Kensington Chabad.  There are five Jewish students in my study abroad, but nobody else wanted to go, so I decided to go by myself.

I was coming from work, so I missed the pre-dinner presentation, but made it just in time for the service.

(Note: This was a Unity Shabbat event, so it was not at the Rabbi's house.  It was in a mini hall at Imperial College)

Like I said, I didn't know anybody there, so when I sat down I started talking to the girl next to me, who was from Montana.  Across from me was a guy from Belgium.  There were a lot of people from Paris, a lot of students from the U.S., as well as a sprinkling of people from different countries.

The Rabbi's parents were there, and they both gave a mini lecture/speech.

Tonight is Tu B'Shvat, and I was invited over for the seder.  I have plans at 7, so I'm going to go over a bit earlier to help set up, then head out to East London.

More blogs to come later!

Spring Break is Booked!

I will be traveling to Paris and Barcelona during spring break at the end of February!

I am also going to Ireland on the 11th!  But for the record, RyanAir was extremely difficult to book with.  There was much frustration on my end.

And what I think is funny is my tickets to Dublin and back were over double what I paid to get to Paris, Barcelona, and back.  Maybe it won't be so funny when I actually get the bill...

Night,
B