My blog title refers to an occurrence of the week and a quote from the week. I will be sure to explain and then you will know what I mean. Always keeping you guys guessing ;)
Also, this blog is really long. Sorry.
I have not blogged since last Friday so I must being with last Friday Night and sadly; no, me and my girl Katy Perry were not on the same wave length.
Last Friday Night: Everything started out fine. Marisa, Laura, and I were just relaxing in our room knowing we needed to be up early the next morning to go to Stonehedge. Suddenly Laura left the room and came back some time later to tell us she was sick. So we told her to go to bed straight away and drink some water and she should feel better in the morning. Unfortunately Laura did not feel better but continued to feel worse and was sick through out the evening and I can assure you it was not from too many shots. Laura was hit with the stomach bug that had been slowly circulating up each floor of our house last week. I was very worried about Laura and did everything I could to help her - future mom mode totally took over. It was evident Laura would not be going to Stonehedge the next day and when she said she thought she'd be able to sleep I went to bed as well.
Saturday: I woke up Saturday morning to Laura telling me she was feeling a little better but would be going to Boots (the local Pharmacy) later on in the morning. Assuring her she'd be able to reach us on our cell phones Marisa, Beth, the rest of 21 Pembridge Gardens, and MOST OF the entirety of the IFSA Butler students studying in England and Wales headed for Stonehedge. Total student count was 250.
After loading four huge coach buses we were on our way to Stonehedge.
Now, I will tell you all I'm not sure what I expecting from Stonehedge. I knew I'd see an ancient group of stones purposely situated to reflect the change of the sun and seasons and a point of worship to ancient peoples of those who inhabited England in the years before Christ. I thought the stones would be huge and take up a vast space.
After a two hour bus ride and jamming out to my loves, BSB, my high expectations were met with stones still of great size but stones that hardly took up the area I though they would. Note to all (as I'm you all knew before) pictures of places are deceiving. I don't mean to sound disappointed. I certainly was not. Visiting Stonehedge is something, if you have the opportunity, you are told to go and see in your life time. I was just surprised at how small, in reality, the stones were. Now the size, space, and grandness of the stones we see today are not the same as when they were originally built - not even close - and after taking this into consideration I tried to picture the area as it originally looked and then began to see how truly magnificent it was and still is.
Perhaps it was the freezing cold temperatures and realizing there was nothing - no buildings, no people (expect for tourists visiting the stones) - in the vicinity of Stonehedge - that made us all quick to get around them and get back to buses. We were appreciative for having seen them and walked around for about a half hour. We took pictures from every angle and listened to the commentary on the radio devices we were given and learned some history, but for those of you who know me, mother nature was proving to be totally unreasonable with her sudden kisses of frigid temperatures and wind. All of my friends were feeling the same way as me and 45 minutes after we had pulled into the parking lot we were all back on the buses ready to go Winchester.
On the whole, I am very happy I got to see Stonehedge and it really was magnificent. Honestly, we couldn't have asked for a sunnier day - the sun made it all more beautiful. If only it had been a little warmer I would have been more adventurous and taken more entertaining pictures. Until next time Stonehedge......
Stonehedge :)
SJU girls at Stonehedge. :)
What Stonehedge originally looked like.
The next and final stop on the trip was Winchester, a perfect English town/city, where the oldest Cathedral in Europe is located along with King Arthur's Road Table.
My friends and I walked around Winchester for about 3 hours. We got lunch at a pub called "The Anchor" and walked along the Ancient River. We had time to see the Cathedral but it was three pounds to enter and none of us wanted to pay money to go in. It was ashame because it is where Jane Austen's tomb is located. Next we walked through the downtown shopping district and up the hill to see King Arthur's round table. The table is huge and I was able to get a picture of it before my camera died :(. It was also very cold in Winchester and before we knew it we were on the bus headed back to London. We thought the bus ride would provide the perfect opportunity to relax and sleep after a long day and it did....to everyone else on the bus. I, on the other hand, experienced my first true panic attack. Sparing TMI details it had to due with lack of a restroom but everything was find in the end. I will say I have a new found respect for those that experience panic attacks on a regular basis.
King Arthur's Round Table in Winchester.
By the time we got home it had started to snow! First snow fall in Notting Hill this year. Marisa, Laura, and I set out to get soup and "warm" foods to help escape from the cold. We got back home and I watched a movie and decided I go to bed after. Beth was starting to feel sick Saturday night. She seemed to have caught a little of the stomach bug so after we made sure she was okay I went straight to sleep.
First snow in Notting Hill.
Sunday: Sunday day proved to be not that eventual. Everyone in the house was either sick, recovering from being sick, or starting to feel sick. Somehow Marisa and I managed to avoid the stomach bug. I attribute the reason I didn't get it to I had my flu-bronchitis-once-every-five-years-episode back in November. I should be good for another five years. My theory is probably ridiculous and not plausible but oh well I'm sticking to it. Fortunately Laura was feeling much better by Sunday. Marisa, Laura, and I went to Cafe Nero and got a semi-good amount of homework done. After that we went to the local video story and rented the first two seasons of Modern Family. We decided to have our own Superbowl party that night. Laura, Marisa and my Superbowl party was as followed: pizza, nachos, and Boy Meets World (the Superbowl wasn't actually playing in our room or in our house at all). We thought it a successful Superbowl Party. We found out the Giants won. Okay.
Monday: Monday was another relaxing day full of homework. With most the people in the house being sick we needed a weekend where we basically did nothing. Audra and I spent most of the day in the common room working on our essays. Monday night, Marisa, Laura, and I were able to watch the first five or six episodes of Modern Family before loosing our control of the TV to two of the guys (who watch TV all the time) because a football game was on --- rude --- godforbid a football game --- were still bitter about it. haha. Happier note - I got KFC for dinner - I had been craving it. It was good but wasn't the same as my KFC meals on City Ave. After doing some reading for my class the next day I went to bed.
Tuesday: I slept in a little before getting dressed in an outfit too dressy for school but I had to because I was going right from class to dinner and the Opera for my theater class :). I headed to campus a little early to work a little bit on homework. I ate lunch with Kali and Marisa, per usual, and went to my class a little early to talk to my professor about my poetry. He said he enjoyed them and gave me a book of poems to read (which he was featured in - though he said that's not why he chose the collection). All the poems were really good. He told me to keep writing and to submit my work.
After class I met up with Marisa and Beth for dinner near Covenant Garden (where the Royal Opera House is located). We got dinner at this really nice Parisian Restaurant - we're trying to make ourselves more cultured while we London. We ate semi-quickly before heading to the theater a few blocks after. We showed up the the theater and realized no one from our class nor our professor was there yet; we were way early. Marisa and Beth decide to get some tea and I ate the cookie I had in my purse from Starbucks - shhh. The Opera we had come to see was "Cosi Fan Tutte." I was not sure what to expect from this Opera though we were told the set and costumes were very modern.
"Cosi Fan Tutte" - particularly the way this version was preformed on stage - was the best opera to see for my first opera experience, in my opinion. Yes the whole thing was sung, in Italian, but there was a screen for translations in English - "real life" subtitles. But the screen was above the stage, at the top of curtain line. So wouldn't you considered that above titles? Too far? I apologize. The literal translation of "Cosi Fan Tutte" is "thus do all (women)" more common to 21st century understanding - "women are like that." The basic preemies is two sisters are engaged to two guys who are friends. The men want to test their finances' loyalty and faithfulness to them. And the rest is what happens during the Opera. It is a story we can still relate to and the modern parts of the play (costumes, set, dance moves, Starbucks and laptops) helped the Opera to be more understandable.
It did take me a little while to get into the play. It was a little slow in the beginning but picked up at the end of the first Act and was great during the second Act. Unfortunately Beth had to leave at intermission because she was in too much back pain and understandably so. Our seats were very high and there were no armrests - awkward and uncomfortable, especially during Acts that 90 and 95 minutes long - and yes - that is considered a short Opera. While I enjoyed the Opera I'm not sure when the next I will go to will be - unless of course Liz Folger is in it - then I'm there :)
Wednesday: Marisa, Beth, and I had our theater class then had lunch and went to the library to finish our paper due for our Society class Thursday. This turned into an all day affair. Literally my Thursday was spent finishing and revising my paper. I finally went to bed at midnight. That was my Wednesday.
Thursday: For my London: Growth of a Modern City class we met at the Monument of the Great Fire of London. If you climb the 311 steps to the top you can see the best views of the city. So we climbed. I did not know we would be climbing these steps so I did not plan accordingly. As a result I went up the steps with a heavy backpack and was in slight distress as far as my breathing was concerned - even though I took breaks on the way up. After taking my inhaler and seeing the beautiful sights we headed back down. (Side note: I need to stop forgetting my camera on the days I know I will be taking a walking tour). I will still uncomfortable as we continued to walk. My professor felt really bad and apologized several times even though I told him I would be fine. But he was nice enough to carry my backpack for me - what a gem.
After the monument we walked around London's banking and financial district and learned about Llyod's. Next we got to see the oldest synagogue in London. It was in the East End. The synagogue is Orthodox and have guards that stand outside the doors. When we went in all the boys took yamaks and I, knowing I should probably keep my head covered, kept my wool hat on. But the guards confused me. They stopped me before I went in, one motioned to me to take my hat off while the other said, "no go ahead." I was so confused and ultimately took my hat off in a frazzled state and went in....then put it back on....I was praying I didn't offend them as a result of the confusion. The synagogue was beautiful. We entered during a talk was being given to visitors about the history of the synagogue. I looked around and paid attention knowing it would probably the only time I will ever be in an Orthodox synagogue. We were told about Moses Montefiore, a prominent Jew of the synagogue, and his great works in London and across Europe and the Holy Land while he was alive.
We walked around a little more before we were dismissed to go back to Birkbeck.
Once back at Birkbeck we printed out our papers and ate lunch.
In our Modern Society class we learned about society and manufacturing throughout London's history focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries. We handed in our papers and had to fill out a grade sheet and this is where the Mickey Mouse part of my blog title becomes relevant. For the instructor line our professor said, "yes you can put my name....Mickey....Mouse" and cracked us all up including himself. What made it funnier was it was all accidental....he didn't do it on purpose. His name is Michael J. Fox which is cool enough. My guess was his friends call him Mickey/Micky and he started to say that and, of course, the last name of Mouse made sense. It was all too funny!
During our break a great revelation was made to us thanks to Liz P's room mate, Melly, from RWU who is also studying in London. Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, would be at the apple store one tube stop away at 5 to take part in a podcast promoting his new film, "The Woman in Black."
After getting out of class at 4:30 instead of 4 like every other week we walk-ran from Birkbeck to the tube at Tottenham Court Road to the next stop at Oxford circus and walk-ran half a block to said apple store, getting there at 4:56 pm. I managed to maneuver my way into a stop behind the microphone and had a perfect view with Marisa, Beth, and Liz right behind me. But my great spot turned into me becoming designated paparazzi for all those around me.....cool....not. As previously stated I forgot my camera - of course. Daniel, the director, and the script writer got there about 15 mins late and talked for about a half hour. Marisa has some great pics of Dan - the short man. In the flesh he is reallly short. AND WE TOTALLY MADE EYE CONTACT for .39485 seconds AND HE TOTALLY SMILED at ME.
When all was said and done it was 6 pm.
Marisa and I called up Laura to see if she wanted to get a drink. We didn't realize Oxford Circus was at a standstill - literally the gates were closed and no one could get underground. "For your safety we are holding you all hear to avoid overcrowding on the platform" is what the announcement said. Thankfully this wasn't that long. Laura met up with us and we walked around a little bit before deciding to head back to Notting Hill to go to a place called "Geales" to get some good fish and chips. It wound up being just Laura and I because Marisa went home to skype her boyfriend and family.
Laura and I did indeed got good fish and chips and a fish pie - at an incredibly overpriced value - never again. But we did talk to a nice couple from Boston here on Holiday. (The husband has business over Europe next week and brought his wife ahead of time to London for Valentine's day - I now have unrealistic expectations for my future husband - oh well). We asked him to relive a painful memory, one he is still in denial about, and explain what happened during the Superbowl because we didn't see it. I think he did more so because I said, as an Eagles fan, I was automatically against the Giants. He actually fist pumped me for that. A true missing America moment.
After dinner Laura and I headed home and got everything in order for our buses to the airport for Ireland. Marisa, Laura, I hung out before going to bed. It snowed last night as well!
Friday: Today finally. After finishing this longer then long blog we will be heading home and getting ready to go to a meet and greet thing to meet to EMMA WATSON! Yep that's right - found that one out yesterday too!
Dan yesterday, Emma today, Rupert - where are you?!?!?!
My camera is all charged and I am ready.
Late than never but this is what my house in Notting Hill looks like :)
Thank you for really reading this, if you really did haha.
So excited for the family to get here next week :)
CHEERS,
MK
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