Hired a Bike for the Day!

Yesterday in London, UK: High of 57 and SUNNY! We had to take advantage of this. So what did we do? We rented a couple bikes through the Barclay's Cycle Hire (only £1 for 24 hours!) and took a ride through Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, and St. James' Park. It was absolutely beautiful. Since we were riding the bikes, though, I wasn't able to take any pictures or bring my camera at all. I really wish I could have taken a video of the whole thing. It was so gorgeous by St. James' Park. I think it's my new favorite place. Don't worry, I will be sure to go there again so you can see the views too. 


This day just gave a glimpse into Springtime in London. The flowers are bloomin' people! And it's another sunny day today! But I will be a good girl and stay in to study for my midterms next week...

Welcome To London, Jungle...we got fun and games

Well ladies and gentlemen, Jungle Jim McGarry finally made it to London Town!! He came this past Thursday, and just left this morning for Paris. It was absolutely fantastic being able to see someone from home. We got to see so much and I loved being able to show someone else around!

The first day, we took it easy. We walked around Kensington (where I live) and ended up at Gloucester Arms for dinner, the pub by my dorm. Friday morning, we woke up early, went to the British Museum, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, a pub for lunch, and saw Piccadilly Circus for a little bit. We ended the day at Harrods, and I'm surprised I hadn't been there sooner!! Didn't get much, just a fashionable finger painted for free in the toy section :-)

We ended up going to a different pub Friday night which was unforgettable. It was called the Grandier and it was in the middle of nowhere! Even the locals couldn't find it! But it was well worth the search. It was supposedly haunted by the old soldiers who used to go there because apparently one of them was killed out front for cheating on a hand of cards...Anyways, a couple pints and a bottle of wine later, we were on to another pub to meet my friend, Becca, and have another pint....then it was definitely time for bed.

Saturday, we attempted to get to Buckingham Palace early for the changing of the guards, but after waiting 1.5 hours in the rain, they told us it was cancelled. Bummer. So Saturday ended fast with the rain, the getting up early, and the hangover...

Sunday we went on a hop-on/hop-off bus tour which was awesome! I saw even more of London that i still hadn't seen yet including the steps from Mary Poppins, the Marble Arch, and the Tower of London. We got off at the Tower of London and walked around in there. It was really interesting and quite amazing to see the crown jewels. But, again, it would have been better without the rain...but that's London for ya!

We took a boat back down the River Thames which was nice, and then had dinner at Wildwood, a delicious Italian place. Nothing compared to Rome, but it will definitely suffice :-)

Until next time <3

on an evening in Roma...

It's Tuesday night now, so I have finally decided to sit back and reflect on this past weekend. Nothing special happened except for the fact that I WAS IN ROME!!! It was one of the best weekends I've had here. So spectacular. We left Friday Feb. 11 and came back Saturday Feb. 13. I was so worried that we wouldn't have enough time to hit all the main attractions since we got there late Friday night and only had time to get to the airport on Sunday. This meant we had to squeeze in the Vatican, St. Peter's, the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and the Colosseum all on Saturday. This was quite the task, but we successfully managed it all with a little Gladiator pictures, Michael Jackson dancing, and gelato thrown in the mix :-)

We arrived Friday night and got tickets for the bus and metro to get to where our bed and breakfast was. Little did we know that the metro closed at 9pm. Lame. So we managed the night bus and got there about an hour later. Once we finally found our place, the lovely Franco was waiting outside. He was your typical little Italian man who waited outside in the cold for us for nearly 2 hours. Thanks to him, we had nice, cozy beds to sleep in that night. We ended it all with a delicious Italian dinner. The waiters were great, they even bought us all roses! 3 liters of wine later, we passed out in our room and were up and out by 8:30 the next morning!! Very impressive.

Despite my worries in hitting all that I wanted to see, we did it all and I couldn't be happier!! I miss it already...

Kristen and I, eating gelato!!

Closest I got to a McDonald's on this trip...

jumping picture of course! walking to the colosseum

Gladiators <3 

Trevi Fountain

Colloseum

Spanish Steps

Michael's alive!

Colloseum

Arch of Constantine

Bavaria Bed & Breakfast

Roses

je ne parle pas du français

On Friday morning, I left for my first trip out of England! We began our trip to Paris, France at 11:45am.This one was organized by AIFS (my study abroad program) so it was nice not having to plan everything out, and we even got the trip for free! We took a bus to the train station and took the chunnel over. My Dad kept telling me about how cool the chunnel was and how you go under water and all of a sudden you're in France. Well, although it was a quick trip (just two hours) my ears were popping like CRAZY the whole time...worse than an airplane! Time went by so fast by being with my friends, that I didn't even realize we were underwater! It just looks like a normal tunnel, so I guess I wouldn't have noticed, but it's still really weird to think about...that we were underwater...and it could collapse on us at any second....oy

We got to Paris around 5:00pm and that night around 6:30, we left to take the metro to the Seine River near the Eiffel Tower to go on a boat cruise to tour the major attractions all lit up at night. The metro is a little confusing, and I definitely like the tube here in London better, but we got there okay and walked up the steps to the street and right away we saw the Eiffel Tower lighting up the sky. It was truly unbelievable. What's amazing about my trip to Europe is how many things I get to see that I have only seen in pictures. I could have never imagined that I would actually get to see them in person, and yet that day has come and gone already. You could honestly never feel the way I felt unless you go to see it for yourself. It was an experience I will never forget when I saw it for the first time.

As we went down the river, we got to see the Eiffel Tower (when the lights flicker at night too!), Notre Dame, chapels, bridges, etc. It was great that we were able to do this on our first night, while letting it all soak in that we were actually in Paris. It was only a 45 min. boat ride, but by the end of it we were so exhausted. We grabbed a bite to eat (consisting of a ham & cheese sandwich where the cheese was on top of the bread, ham in the middle, and it was only toasted on one side...and a crepe for dessert) but then went right to bed.

Saturday morning we got up and out by 8:45am for a bus tour around the city which was great! Our tour guide was really good.We got to see everything and even got to get out at some points to take better pictures.  I've really found that bus tours are perfect for short trips like this where you get to see a lot in just a few hours. It ended at the Eiffel Tour, where we got tickets  to go up to the second floor without having to wait in the mile long line! Another amazing experience. We could see everything from up there, even though we didn't get to go all the way to the top. After that, we walked to the Louvre, which was HUGE! It was mind-boggling how big it was.They said that if you were to walk around the whole thing, looking at each piece for just 30 seconds, it would take 3 months! So clearly, we weren't able to see everything, and we even got lost finding an exit, but it was so beautiful and interesting to see the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, etc. that I didn't even care being lost among such amazing art.

Sunday,  we got up early again to go to Versailles.To be honest, I didn't even know what Versailles was before going. I just decided to go there because my friends wanted to go and I didn't know what else to go see. I don't know if it was because I didn't google-image it, or because it was this amazing for everyone, but seeing Versailles was the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I can't even put it into words. My pictures don't even suffice. My advice: Go to Versailles the first chance you get!! I loved it so much that I think I might head back in April. It was one thing going through the actual Palace, but to go out back and see the gardens. Oh my goodness, it was so gorgeous that it looked fake, even in person! Sorry, I just can't get over how beautiful it was...but I think you get the picture. The gardens are so big that we didn't get to see Marie Antoinette's château so...all the more reason to go back!

By the end of that trip, it was time to grab some food and head back to the hotel for our bus back to the station. If we didn't go to Versailles, I would have said Paris was kind of a let down for me. It was nice seeing the sites, but I have to say that the people were very rude, it smelled really bad, and I was terrified of being pick pocketed the whole time with all the warnings! Maybe I was just over tired, but it was slightly disappointing and I was very happy to be back in London last night! All-in-all though, it was a great trip, and a very memorable experience. I guess I must have had a great time if I want to go back despite the sketchy area with homeless people everywhere....so I'd recommend it, but please. Go to Versailles!!

Me in front of the Notre Dame

Me, Becca, and Mary in the Eiffel Tower

Me and the Eiffel Tower

The Louvre

Me and Mona

Versailles

Versailles - Canal

Versailles - Orangery

Me at Versailles

Notre Dame in the sun