Paris

This weekend, a group of 10 of us students from Western New England planned our own overnight trip to Paris, France.  We were anxious and excited to make our way there, especially after spending Thanksgiving away from our families. The tube ride into the train station took us an hour in itself, and we waited for our train to depart at around 2pm.

Pretty much everyone was separated throughout the train because we bought our tickets on our own, so I made my way to one of the last carriages and had to find my seat.  I sat near the window next to a French guy who had his wife and little girl across the aisle from him.  I never realized that a train that you take to travel a long distance like that is set up like a plane.  There are overhead areas for bags, and between each carriage there is more space for bigger suitcases. The seats weren't super uncomfortable for a little over two-hour train ride. I had to change the clock on my phone to Paris time, as it is one hour later than that of London (which is five hours later than home).

We met up outside the train until we counted all 10 heads, then we were on our way. Us girls had planned on taking the metro to our hostel, but we decided to follow the guys to find theirs first and ask the people working at their hostel for directions. I found that especially at night near the train station, there were many creepy guys standing around in groups as we passed. We were talked at in French, whistled at, and one girl in the group even had her arm grabbed. It was intimidating but we just kept walking. It was so cool to see all of the street signs and store signs in different languages. I found it extremely difficult to pronounce some of the words, as I studied Spanish in high school and not French.

After some arguing and turning around a few times, they finally made it to their hostel. We asked for directions to our hostel, which was only a 10-15 minute walk from where we were. It was called the Plug-Inn (ploog een is how it is pronounced in French), and was on a cute little street with lots of restaurants and small shops. We felt a little more at ease as we walked through here. The lady at the front desk was very helpful, and she made sure we had everything we needed. I had paid for the hostel for the four of us girls beforehand, and they just paid me back. It worked out well and I was glad we were able to find it and that we were all satisfied.

We went out to dinner that night at a little restaurant we walked past where the wait staff was eager to have us. They spoke good English but did try to have us saying things like "Merci" or pronouncing the order in French. I was glad they had the English translations and descriptions underneath everything; because otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to eat! I got a grilled chicken with French fries which was very good. It was a little pricey, 13 Euros, but it was still delicious. We were all able to pay separately which was helpful.

A group of 5 of us decided to venture out to see where we would be heading the next morning. It took us about an hour to get from the restaurant to the Arc de Triomphe, and from there we were able to see the Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance. On the way back, Brooke and I shared a Crepe with Nutella, and that was warm and delicious as well. I really enjoyed all of the food I tried in France, much more so than the food I am used to here at Richmond.  It was pouring rain out, and we knew we were getting up at a decent time to head out in the morning, so we went back to our hostel to sleep.

Our hostel provided us with breakfast in the morning, which was a baguette, a croissant, cereal, milk, and orange juice. It was served in the basement of the hostel by 2 Indian women. It was cute and simple, and their bread was just unbelievable. We turned in our key cards and checked out, and headed off to meet everyone for a long day of walking.

Once at the Arc de Triomphe again, Brooke and I separated from the group for a bit, because we had bought a Big Bus Tour that would take us to all of the main attractions instead of walking all of it.  It was freezing on the bus, as we had to keep taking a few fingers out of our gloves to take lots of pictures.  We saw the Grand Palais, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and a few other places. I was glad the bus took us on both sides of the Eiffel Tower so that we could get pictures from different angles.

My absolute favorite part of the trip to Paris was lock bridge. I am curious to know as to how this started, but it is a bridge on which people can place a lock that they've written on. They then throw the key of that lock into the river to signify a forever love that can never be unlocked or broken. As shown by the pictures, this bridge is absolutely stuffed with locks. Before I left in September, Danny and I wrote on our own lock together in preparation for me visiting this famous bridge. On my birthday here, I received a giant bouquet of flowers from him, with a purple bow around them. I took a part of the bow off, and tied it around the lock to make it stand out. I threw the key in, wishing that Danny could be there with me for that moment.

Brooke and I had lunch at a cafe where the waiters all said "Bonjour" to us when we walked in. I noticed that everywhere we ate, the wait staff always consisted of men and no women. I wonder why that was the case. I had a cheeseburger and French fries, and I have to say, it was by far the best cheeseburger I've ever had. Again, I tried to say things like "Merci," but since they were located in such a tourist area, they spoke fluent English.  We did some shopping at little stores around the restaurant, and I noticed that the store owners were just as persistent as they are here in London, asking if you need any help every 10 seconds and following you around. I have gotten quite used to this though, and although it once bothered me, I no longer pay attention to it.

We hopped back on the bus, and somehow at one of our stops we saw the rest of the group walking by so we joined them. They went back to Lock Bridge and Notre Dame, and this time we actually went inside the church. It was incredible with the stained glass and a choir was singing in the front. I don't know if I've been in a church this big before, and it was very humbling.

Next we visited the Lourve, which I thought was simply going to be a pointy structure out in the open. It turns out it is inside a giant structure where you have to walk through a courtyard to get to it. We took the classic pictures of us trying to put our finger directly on top of the point, and it was funny watching other people try to direct their partner's finger. It was free admission inside the Lourve with our student ID which was nice. I had to keep my bag close to me with my hand on the zipper at all times, as they are notorious for pickpocketing at the Lourve specifically.  It was filled with paintings and sculptures, and we saw the painting of the last supper as well as the Mona Lisa, which is way smaller than I pictured it would be. By this point though, everyone was exhausted and tired, so we started our hour-long trek back to the train station at this point. We were able to once again barely see the Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance while we walked.

We stopped at a restaurant right near the train station, and by then my feet and legs were throbbing, and everyone was getting on each other's nerves. I ordered what I thought was going to be a ham and cheese sandwich, but it turned out to be ham and cheese between two pieces of bread, with layers and layers of cheese on top of it all. When it came out it looked like a giant pizza. It was actually really good! The wait staff kept giving us more and more bread baskets too, which I wasn't complaining about. I can't get over how good their baguettes were, and I must have had at least 20 pieces while I was there. When we all paid our share, most of us were expecting some change back from the waiter, but he claimed that we paid for everything. He even took out his own personal wallet to show us the money, so we knew that he had pocketed everything. It was very disappointing, but we had to get to the train station so we left.

We returned through customs and had to show them our letter of acceptance from Richmond University. I went through all of my pictures for most of the train ride home, and it was nice because the time change was in our favor this time. It was interesting to hear how when at the station in France, the announcements would be in French then translated into English. When we were arriving back in London, the announcements were in English and then translated into French. It was nice to see all of the signs back to being written in English, and to hear everyone speaking our language. I've never felt more comfortable with being on the tube, especially after being somewhere I was unfamiliar with.

Overall, I am so glad I took this trip to Paris. It certainly was not easy to coordinate with 10 people, and there was plenty of arguing and getting lost. In the end though, I was happy that Brooke and I were able to take the Big Bus tour for part of it, and I was able to do, see, and eat everything I was hoping to before going there. I would love to go back to the Eiffel Tower and to Lock Bridge to find our lock again someday. Although I would never want to live there, Paris was still an incredible trip and I would recommend it to anyone.

Weekend with Mom

My mom came to visit me this past weekend and she stayed from Wednesday until Monday.  She stayed at the hotel called Richmond Gate that is a three minute walk from my campus.  I was able to stay with her every night she was here, and experienced the luxuriously large shower compared to what I've had in my dorm.

The first afternoon and night we went into town so she could retrieve some money from the ATM, and she tried Cadbury chocolate for the first time from our grocery store, Tesco.  I took her for a walk through Richmond park as well, which was full of deer.  I had classes on Thursday, Halloween, and then we headed into London to see the show Wicked.  We stopped at a restaurant near the theater beforehand.  The show was amazing and at the end, the cast had three cheers for Halloween!

On Friday we went to see the Tower of London, as we had a tour booked in addition to a boat tour along the Thames afterward.  Although it was rainy, we were still able to see everything we wanted to. We saw the Crown Jewels, and went inside various torture chambers.  After the tour we hopped onto the boat that took us down the Thames toward Big Ben and the London Eye.  We made our way to Buckingham Palace from there.  Most days we ended with a night at the hotel gym to workout together. We went to The Lass across the street from my university so my mom could try her first London fish and chips meal!

 On Saturday we went shopping on Regent Street and Oxford Street.  I surprised my mom with a gift card to the 4-floor Niketown store, so she picked out some athletic clothes that she liked there.  We went in and out of tourist shops and other stores on these streets.  We took the tube to Trafalgar Square and did the National Museum tour which was free.  It had lots of paintings and history, but it was getting late so we headed back to the hotel.  We couldn't seem to find anywhere to eat, so we ended up ordering room service, which was fine because we were both tired and cold from walking.

  

On Sunday, we took a spur of the moment trip to Hampton Court Palace for a tour.  We took the bus, which I was more unfamiliar with than the tube.  I was glad my mom got to see a palace of some sort, as there were various gardens and parts of the palace that were open to those with a ticket for a tour.  This palace also had a world-famous maze that we found our way out of in about 10 minutes.  We had pizza at a place that I really like on our way back to campus as a late lunch.  We grabbed sandwiches for dinner and then had a Belgian waffle with Oreos and chocolate sauce, and frozen yogurt for dessert.  We had to wake up early Monday morning for her to catch the cab back to the airport. The time seemed like it flew by, but only one month and seven days from now and I'll be on my way home too!

Windsor Castle

As expected, the pictures don't do this gorgeous castle justice.  Even though it was under overcast skies, it was still incredible.  I had bought this trip to Windsor through my school over the summer online, so I've been excited to go here!  I've heard that most weekends, the Queen enjoys spending her free time here.  We were able to walk around the outside as shown in my pictures, but there was also a part where we were able to see the apartments on the inside.  These were just breathtaking.  The dining halls and bedrooms and ballrooms that we got to see were all so huge and extravagant.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I wish I could have!  There was just so much to see from the chandeliers to the chairs and carpets, to the detailed architecture of the ceilings.  I can't even imagine living in a place this big.

We were able to see a few different places where the guards were posted, and every so often they would march back and forth, swinging their arm that wasn't holding a rifle, with a stern look that never left their face.  It's amazing to me how someone can do this job every single day and not get bored by it.  Shown clearly by the picture I took with the guard, they do not move, do not have facial expressions, and I'm not sure how often these guards are able to go to the bathroom and eat!  I'm assuming it is a very prideful job for them, but I would like to know more about this peculiar-seeming job!

There were various gift shops throughout the castle, just like in any other place we've toured here.  Everything was quite expensive, also as expected.  There were post cards with the royal family's pictures on them, various towels and bath soaps with Windsor Castle written on them, and even stuffed animal dogs to resemble the Queen's dog.  Overall, the pictures just speak for themselves.  It's amazing to me that this castle can be just ONE of a person's many homes.  The royal life here still amazes me.

Camden Market

This Friday I went to Camden Market!! It was such an experience, and although I was quite intimidated at first, it became so much fun to shop like this.  I've never been to a market like this, so upon walking up to it, there were huge crowds of people and tons of vendors selling various items along the streets.  Some were yelling at me to come over and check theirs out, others were focusing on a customer who seemed interested in one of their items.  There was a point where I just happened to look inside a store, and the vendor yelled "You see somesing you like?? Oh, come come!" I politely told him "No thank you" and kept moving along with Brooke and Amanda.

You can barely see it on the top picture, but there was a giant green sign which was a tent with loads of vendors underneath.  That's where we went next.  There was a very distinct smell of foreign cuisines, as it was lunch time for the vendors.  There were vendors in almost every aisle of clothing, ready to assist you as soon as you had a question or inquiry.  Inside the tent there was mostly jewelry and clothing.  The clothing consisted of anything from dresses and tank tops, to lingerie and pants.  They also had many iPhone cases for sale, as well as purses.  When we came upon a vendor who was selling sweatshirts that I liked, I stopped and had a look around.  I found a bright pink one that says "London, England" across the front.  When I asked the man how much it cost, he said "How much do you want it to cost?" The question took me by surprise in a sense, but I had also tried preparing myself for this, as I knew it was to be expected at such a market.  I said "10 pounds" just instinctively, not really having any reason behind it.  He said it was worth 15 pounds, and he wasn't so sure about my offer.  He walked away to grab a plastic bag, as if I had already agreed on a price.  He said 14 pounds.  I said "11 pounds or I don't want it."  I got the sweatshirt for 11 pounds.

I was proud of the way I was able to handle such a sale.  I never would have thought I would be good at a bargaining situation, but it made me feel accomplished because I was able to get a good deal that I worked for.  I was also checking out some small luggage, and the man said it was 30 pounds.  I realized I wouldn't have space for it on my travels back home, so I said "No thank you" and began to walk away.  He started shouting prices at me as I walked.  "25 pounds!  How about 20!!"  I just smiled and kept walking, as I knew it was all part of the game of shopping at a market.

I was able to get a few other things as gifts, so I won't share what they were here as they are surprises for certain people. :) But overall, I was extremely happy with what I paid for everything that day, and hopefully we can go to another market very soon to do some more bargain shopping.  It just made me think of my Grammy and how I know she would HATE being bothered by vendors while trying to shop.  Hopefully she reads this and if not, I can't wait to tell her how it went!

Trafalgar Square

I haven't posted much in the past few weeks, as I haven't really been traveling or doing too many exciting things where I've taken lots of pictures. It's really amazing how quickly your money goes, especially with the rising exchange rate. Just simply taking the tube so many times forces you to "top up" or add money to your card.

This weekend Brooke and I went to Regent Street to shop again, with less of a crowd than when the NFL had their events on the street. We visited the 4-floor Niketown, and simply looked in awe at everything they had to offer. We wandered in and out of a few other souvenir shops searching for gifts for friends and family, and then we headed to Trafalgar Square. While we were waiting for the tube, a woman with an accent that I couldn't distinguish came up to me panicked and asked me for directions. She wanted to know if she was getting on the correct train for where she wanted to go. When I have time to figure out where I need to go based on where I am, I can figure out which tube I need to take where, when I need to get off, and if I need to change to a different platform. As I tried deciphering first what she said, and then the tube map she had in her hand with five different stops circled on it, she was yelling at me for help. She was so panicked that as I started explaining how she could get there, she said "Nevermind!!" and ran off. It was very rude, and I didn't really understand why she would be so upset when the trains run every few minutes. I think she just needed to take a minute and figure out the map on her own. I ended up seeing her on the train that we got on, and she still looked just as frazzled and confused.

Walking from the station to Trafalgar Square, we noticed Benjamin Franklin's house, so we took pictures of it and moved on. It's so interesting that we can be walking down a random street and see something like that, which we may not have even noticed if there wasn't a huge sign explaining to us what is was. Trafalgar Square was packed with people, so we took a few pictures of that and then left.  We made it back to Richmond fine, unlike a few weeks ago when we had to retrieve my broken laptop from Brent Cross shopping centre....We completely missed the stop to Richmond and had to wait another 20 minutes for a train to go back. It was a nightmare and freezing, but this time we both paid attention and made it back in time for dinner. Today I start studying for my Psychology midterm which is on Tuesday. It will be 50 multiple choice questions in an hour. My professor told us that if we are even a minute late arriving to the exam, he will shut and lock the door on us and we will not be allowed into the room, resulting in a failing grade. I also found something interesting that he told us about the exam. He said that after the first half hour I believe, we are not allowed to ask any more questions. Maybe that is to minimize the distraction of people walking around the room. I've just never heard of such a thing. Next week we have the day trip to Windsor Castle and Eton Riverside. Pictures to come!

Weekend with Dad

This weekend my dad came to visit me from Friday until midday Sunday, and it was great to get a small taste of home.  He stayed at a hotel within a 5-minute walk from my campus, so it was very easy meeting up with him.  I first took him for a walk around Richmond Park, and I realized how I was already accustomed to seeing 100's of deer in a field at once, when it was amazing to him.  We went into downtown Richmond so he could withdraw some money and we stopped at a small pub to get appetizers to hold us over until dinner.  We decided to head into Central London later in the day, and ended up buying a 24-hour package for The Big Bus double decker tour of London.

It was a fast and convenient way to see as much of London as he could, since he was only here for a few days.  The weather was perfect to sit on the open top, and we saw things like Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and various cathedrals and significant government buildings.  I kept the itinerary of the bus route as a souvenir.  With this tour, you could get off the bus and walk around at any time, so we did that for Buckingham Palace so he could get a closer view of the guards and the front of the palace.  We didn't get to see a changing of the guards, but it was cool to see people touring the palace, as it is open for this during a short period of time in September when the Queen is away.  We came back to campus later in the evening and I took him across the street to the Lass to try the infamous England's fish & chips.  I enjoyed some cheese croquets, which are like giant mozzerella sticks with onion flavoring in them. 

On Saturday I had a full day planned for us, so we took the train to where Madame Tussaud's museum was.  We had an appointment between 12 and 12:30, so we ate at a Panera-like cafe called Nero Cafe (it looks like the sign says 'Nerd Cafe' every time I read it.)  We got in line shortly after for the museum, and I noticed there was a high population of Indians who did not like giving strangers their personal space in a crowd.  

The wax museum was only the first part of Madame Tussaud's.  We were able to see various celebrities in these wax sculptures such as Lady Gaga, Adele, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, David and Victoria Beckham, the Royal Family, Shakespeare and even Barack Obama.  There was a walk-through haunted mansion afterwards, a short ride that described Britain's history, and finally a really cool 4-D movie.  The place was a lot bigger and involved much more than I had expected I paid for, so I was glad.

Since the double decker bus tour was valid for 24 hours, we were able to hop on that right at Madame Tussaud's and take it to the remaining parts of the tour we hadn't had the chance to see on Friday.  It worked out perfectly.  We saw a lot of shopping plazas, and even drove past Harrod's that I would definitely want to go back to when it's lit up at Christmastime.  We saw a park that has a Peter Pan statue in it, and the street where the creator of Peter Pan lived.  We also saw Drury Lane, where the Muffin Man lives!

We got off on the stop for the London Eye, as that was the next thing on our to-do list for the day. I had bought the two attractions in a package to save money.  We waited in line for that for around an hour, and the ride itself took around 35 minutes.  It wasn't a sunny day, so the pictures had no glare, but it was difficult to see too far into the distance with the clouds.  There was a wedding happening on the London Eye while we were on it, which is apparently a frequent occurrence.  They are married at the top and then come down to have their friends and family on a boat cruise with them.  It was pretty sweet to see.

When we headed back into Richmond, I took him to the Pizzeria Rustica that I had loved right outside of the train station.  We split a pizza and he said he loved it just as much as I did!

We went for a walk Sunday morning before he had to leave at noon.  Dad helped me sign up and pay for a gym membership at his hotel for 2 months, as a chance to get away from campus for a while and use a decent gym.  I've figured out the size of the gym at this school is just about 10 lunges lengthwise, and maybe 6 lunges wide.  It's not big.  It consists of 2 ellipticals, 2 bikes, 2 treadmills, 2 rowing machines, and a few other weights.  A bigger gym will definitely help me de-stress a bit better here, so I'm excited that that starts up this Monday, the 30th.

It was weird seeing my dad pack up, as it was comforting knowing a family member was just around the corner if I needed anything.  He drove off in the bus to catch his flight, and I returned to studying for my week of quizzes, a final, and a presentation to finish off this first 3-week class.  I wouldn't say it's flying by, but my somewhat busy schedule is certainly making it seem faster. 

The Three Rules

Our professor who organized this trip and was our main source of information coming here left us after our first week and will return again in December to take us home. Before she left, she said there are three rules we must follow:

1. Don't die

2. Don't go to jail

3. Don't get kicked out of school

A smaller group of us from Richmond met with a larger group at Kensington campus to take buses to see to world heritage sites today: Stonehenge and Bath. The tour guide we had was great, and I learned a ton about them, especially the history behind Stonehenge. We don't know who built Stonehenge and why. It goes back 5,000 years to about 3,000 BC. The stones arrived in 2,500BC and the building was finished in 2,000BC which was the beginning of the Bronze Age. Britain was heavily forested with lots of deer in in 2,500BC  during the Neolothic age (the New Stone Age). Stones back then were bashed into shape using other stones. Stonehenge is a circle of stones that are shaped in this manner. There are stones going horizontal atop the stone circles as well. It would've taken about 200 people to drag these stones into place. There is a strong likelihood that there were wooden pieces forming a circle before the stones, but they are not there anymore. 2 types of stones make up this structure: smaller (blue stones) which came from 180 miles away in Wales and larger stones ( between 25 to 50 tons) which came from a quarry about 20 miles away from Stonehenge. It would be a 1 week journey on foot from 180 miles away. Stones may have been put on wooden rafts on a river to be brought to the site, then put on wooden platforms, which were put on wooden rollers which were tree trunks. They would have taken the tree trunks out from back and put in front again. It was believed that blue stones had healing or curative properties. 2 full stone circles with 2 semi circles within. What I saw is 50% of what it used to be. Many stones have fallen or been taken for building as it was a source of stone for people. 1/3 of the stone is in the ground to hold it in position. They used antlers of deer to pick into the ground, or the shoulder blade bones of cattle. The bones help us date Stonehenge. It is on a northeast to southwest axis, and it is in line with the summer and winter solstice. The hele stone stands by itself, it is believed it was once one of a pair, as an entrance that lead into Stonehenge. On mid summers day, if you face the sun it rises directly above the hele stone if you are standing in the middle of the stones. 

Bath was also very beautiful with amazing architecture. I think it was a very romantic city with lots of birds, street music and performers, and flowers everywhere. The Roman Baths that we received a tour of are one of the best remaining Roman relics in the country. They were natural springs that were used as communal baths for the Romans inside this temple which we toured. We weren't allowed to touch the water in the bath where most of the pictures were taken, but at the end we had the opportunity to touch and even drink some filtered water from the baths coming out of a fountain. 

All of the souvenir shops around here gave me lots of options for gift purchases for family and friends, and we stopped at a pub for lunch. At a pub, you seat yourself, look at a menu, and go up to the bar, order and pay separately when you are ready. They see where you sit and bring the food to you when it's done. Many of the pubs I've been to so far have the kitchen where they cook the food downstairs and they send it up to the bartender using a dumbwaiter.

On the way back to Kensington, we were able to see Windsor castle in the distance. The royal family resides there on occasion, and it is said that the Queen enjoys spending her weekends there. I have a trip planned through the school here and to Eton later on in my study abroad, but there's no chance that I will see the royal family unfortunately.

A few more things today that I noticed and thought was different about this country are as follows:

Apartments are called flats.

There are 365 pubs in the London area that sell Fuller beer, one for every day of the year. 

"To Let" means "for sale"

Traffic lights go yellow to red to slow down, then yellow to green to warn the driver that it's almost time to go again. 

Our tour guide seemed to call exits off the highway "slip roads"

Public schools require you to pay a tuition per trimester, where private schools do not. The public school where the princes attended costs around 9,000 pounds per trimester, so almost 30,000 pounds for one school year. That is the equivalent of $47,634.