Barthelonaaaaa

November 21st-24th...

 

It began with spit, continued to vomit, and ended with a lot of snot.  Weekend Barcelone.

 

In order to get to Barcelona the cheapest way possible, it was necessary to take a train to Paris, spend a whopping 8 hours there, and then fly to Barcelona… geographically stupid, economically smart.  After feasting on a delicious meal of quiche and Coca light, we arrived in Paris at 10pm.  Pulling an all-nighter is called “avoir une nuit blanche,” literally translated as “to have a white night,” but the expression is akin to “sleepless night.”  Here is the chronology of our nuit blanche.

 

22h00: arrival at Gare Montparnasse.  In the midst of our wandering out of the train station, Lindsay discovers an Uno piece on the ground (the McDo game equivalent to playing Monopoly with your soda cups and large fries)…. It turns out to be a free cheeseburger (!)

22h15: hocked loogies upon poor unsuspecting smokers below… then ran away fast.

22h20: We exit the train station (in the rain) and begin our walking tour of Paris.  Destination: Eiffel Tower.  Which turns out to be in the exact opposite direction that we were headed.

22h21: reversed directions.

 23h45: McDo trip to claim said free cheeseburger

01h30, Saturday November 22: found Eiffel Tower. Note: it turns off at 0100.

01h35: said “bon soir” to police with large machine guns… our hope was that being polite would make them less likely to shoot us.

01h45: found vomit on metro

01h46: changed metro cars

01h51: descend metro to find man passed out on floor. Dead (?)

01h53: arrival at Porte Maillot… we now have approximately four hours until the bus will whisk us off to the airport… our goal was to find some place warm to hang out that “homeless people weren’t already sleeping in.”

02h30:stumbled upon concierge bored and unfortunate enough to offer us shelter from the cold… Lindsay made her “pathetic” face, which greatly upped our odds of being welcomed in.  We obliged and spent the rest of the night making awkward small talk in this tiny hotel lobby, all in French, and declining several propositions to join drunken Frenchies up to their rooms. We also enjoyed a game of “find this united state” and “find this French city” on two badly drawn maps, which we succeeded at tremendously. We redeemed all of America in these three French people’s eyes… the Germans, however, were decidedly unconcerned with our geography skills and were very insistent on giving us a tour of “ROOM 19! NUMBER 19!”  Needless to say, we did not oblige. 

04h45: breakfast pastries arrive at the hotel… ingest croissant.

05h30: left the hotel (after exchanging emails and phone numbers) and ventured out into the (freezing) cold

06h00: nuit blanche ends, as it is definitely the morning and we are en route to the airport…

 

The weekend continues…

 

Upon arrival at the airport, we check in, fly to Girona, and take another bus to Barceona.  After this, we all took naps in our hostel room, which overlooked the lovely Plaça Reial and was only steps away from Las Ramblas.  After waking up and taking a shower in the most disgusting shower I’ve ever seen (I brought shower shoes, don’t worry), it was time to explore the city and do some souvenir shopping.  Post-money spending, we returned to the hostel to enjoy happy hour and make some Brazilian, Canadian, French, and Romanian friends… and take advantage of the 2-for-1 happy hour deal at the bar.  We got in the dinner line just in time (dinner is included in the hostel price, but they don’t cook for everyone, so once they’re out, they’re out), and were the last three people to get food… which was then shared with our newfound friends, who were all in line behind us.

 

Being such kind and considerate people left us rather hungry, so Erin and I took advantage of the vending machines in the bar/common room… and then we proceeded to ask the clerk at the front desk directions to the nearest churro con chocolate store… the proceeded to leave the hostel, have a conversation about Barcelonian attractions with two Frenchmen, walk to Las Ramblas, run into our Canadian friends, and finally make it to the Café de l’Opera, where we ordered a pitcher of Sangria and three servings of churros con chocolate, which was basically a platter of churros (just the fried dough, not rolled in sugar) and a coffee cup full of hot, melted chocolate for each of us.  We then ate all of it.  Tasty.

 

Sunday morning rolls around, and we are determined to be touristy.  Following our free breakfast and the purchase of futbol tickets, we headed out to the Parc Gueil (aka the Gaudi Park).  For those who don’t know (I had no idea before I came here, don’t feel bad) this mosaic artist named Gaudi had a huge influence on Barcelona… architecture, style, art, everything.  Barcelona even calls itself the “City of Gaudi.”  If you’ve ever seen a movie set in Barcelona, then you’ve probably seen this park… it offers panoramic views of the city (forest and beach) and is absolutely gorgeous… Gaudi’s old house is partially converted into a school and partially into a museum… there are mosaic’s everywhere up this steep hill, which offers those of us not-stair-inclined escalators to pull us to the top.

 

After Gaudi, it was lunchtime… cheap kabobs, anyone?  Post-Pita Inn, it was off to the Picasso Museum, which chronicled his life through his paintings… very interesting, and very cool… Picasso did a lot of other stuff besides paint, which I had no idea about (lithography, pottery), plus it turns out he was kind of a perv and kind of a pimp.

 

Art appreciation led us to gelato consumption and then a metro ride to the futbol game, in the largest stadium in all of Europe… Barcelona tied 1-1, and the security guys even let us move up a couple rows! (Not like it made a huge difference, we were in the nosebleed section anyway).

 

The night concluded with some more common time in the common room, then packing and off to bed… which had a sheet hanging across the bottom bunk when I woke up… guess we all know what the Australian dude did last night!

 

Monday was another day of traveling… metro, bus, airplane, bus, train, tram... home in time for dinner!  Overall, a very successful and slightly ridiculous weekend.  And I can now speak one Portuguese phrase and do some very silly impressions of Romanians, Canadians, and Brazilians.

 

PS: If you’re wondering where the aforementioned “snot” came in, I seem to have developed a slight cold and spent a lot of time sneezing…

Les Grèves de 20 novembre

“Aucun tram et bus ne circule.”

 

This means “no trams or buses today.”  Why, you ask?  Well, according to the TBC website, there was a strike/demonstration today (a grève), planned to coincide with the strike by the national teacher’s association… meaning that in addition to me having no way to get to school, which I actually needed to go to, my homestay brother, Balam, got to sleep in and didn’t have to go to school.  Evidently, they passed out fliers announcing the planned absence of all staff that day.

 

My story begins with me standing in the freezing cold waiting for the bus at 7:45am… after getting up at 6:30am.  The bus is late, but I suspect that if it’s already 5 minutes late, then its not going to show up (this has happened before) and I’ll have to wait for the 8:01 bus and deal with the tram being very crowded. There is one other guy standing at the bus stop waiting with me… he’s also waiting for the 34; I recognize him from prior days at the bus stop.  Then, a series of rather strange and certainly unusual events occurs.

 

First, the guy waiting next to me gets a phone call.  He mumbles something in unintelligible French and hangs up.  30 seconds later, he gets another phone call, mumbles again, and walks away. 

 

Event Two: There is a middle-school aged girl who lives in the house directly across from the bus stop.  Every morning, she meets her friend outside and they jaywalk across the street to the bus stop.  Today, she meets her friend outside and they head to the crosswalk.  Weird, I think, but I guess they’ve decided to be safe this morning... except that instead of turning back towards the bus stop when they cross the street, they keep going, meaning that they’re not talking the bus this morning and they’re walking wherever they need to go.

 

Event Three/Realization #1: The people waiting for the 34 on the other side of the street (as in the bus going in the opposite direction as the one I’m waiting for) walk away.  I realize that I haven’t seen any bus at all in any direction… and I should have seen about four by this point in time.

 

Event Four:  The French guy waiting for the bus next to me (a new French guy) looks at the bus schedule and says “Je crois qu’il n y a pas de bus aujourd’hui.” (Translation: I don’t think that there are any buses today.)  Greaaaaaaat. 

 

I walk home and my homestay mom says “there’s no bus?!” Me: “Nope.”  I check the website, which informs me that “Aucun tram et bus ne circule” due to a strike.  Meaning that I have no way to get to school, save walking or biking or driving… and no one else in the city of Bordeaux has the ability to get anywhere either.  Thankfully, my homestay mom has a lunch date in Talence (where campus is) at around 11:30, so she drives me and Lauren to school… and then comes back and picks us up at 3:30, since we were basically stranded once she dropped us off.  I missed my first class and my second class, but I did indeed make it to my third and final class… then returned home to check the times for the SNCF (railway) strikes to make sure that we wouldn’t have any problems the next day with our TGV train to Barcelona… thankfully, the email from SNCF that informed me of the strike (with precise hours) reassured me that this voyage would be sans problèmes.

 

Ah, la France.

Oversized, Overpriced, Overcaffinated Beverages (11/14-11/16)

This past weekend I took a trip to the lovely Swiss town of Geneva (or Genève, as the French and French-speaking Swiss would say).  It was approximately 50 degrees all weekend, but miracle of miracles, the sun was actually shining and not hidden behind clouds!

 

Our flight left Friday night, thankfully from Bordeaux… after arriving at the airport (thanks to my wonderful homestay mom Guadalupe, who dropped me and Lauren off) and browsing through a cheesy souvenir shop, Lauren and I headed to the gate, where we found five of our fellow EAP-ers sitting around.  After a half an hour delay, we finally made it on to the white and bright orange EasyJet plane, all seven of us sitting together, and proceeded to be loud, obnoxious, American girls.

 

We landed at around 10:30, grabbed our baggage, and went our separate ways… some to the train, one to Interlocken, and me and Lauren to the taxi… yeah, the train was probably cheaper and just as adequate, but the ride in the heated Mercedes was quite lovely.  That was basically the end of the night, since it was nearly midnight at this point and “tired” was an accurate statement of how I felt.

 

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early, headed to the free hostel breakfast, and then headed out to Old Town… not that this was extraordinarily older than any other part of town… it was fully equipped with several supermarkets, an H&M, and a McDonalds.  We browsed the streets for a while, taking full advantage of the lovely walking path around the lake, then eventually worked our way to the cathedral… not before stopping at Starbucks, however!  It was the most expensive Starbucks I’ve ever ordered… and you better believe I got the venti Dark Cherry Mocha in celebration of red cup season.  And you also better believe that I took pictures with it… and asked someone else to take pictures of me with it in front of Starbucks.  “Professional tourist” is one new thing I’ll be able to add to my résumé when I get back, that’s for sure!  Back to the cathedral…  Lauren and I climbed all the way up the tower, which permits those who survive the extremely small and tight spiral staircase to partake in the breathtakingly fantastic panoramic view of the city.  And, as our luck would have it, it just happened to be turning noon right as we got up to the top, so we were serenaded by the church bells ringing the hour, and then were able to hear other bells ringing all throughout the city.  Quite lovely, if I do say so myself.

 

Post-tower adventure, I grabbed a hot dog from a street vendor (the fact that it was indeed a street vendor advertising “American style” hot dogs, which were definitely not what I would call American style, made me feel like I was in New York, but still… fondue is expensive!), then headed back to the hostel to drop off the morning’s haul of loot… basically, I was lazy and didn’t want to carry it around all day.  Lauren and I headed back out to the wild and crazy Genevan streets, directly towards MANOR.

 

Yes, MANOR does need to be in all capital letters.  It is a huge mega store “where you can find everything,” as the woman at the Office of Tourism so eloquently put it.  Seven floors of anything and everything, and my guess is that you could indeed purchase a kitchen sink as well.  Luckily for me, I was not in need of plumbing equipment but of souvenirs, and that is exactly what I found, as the bright red “Switzerland!” display basically attacks you from the moment that you walk in the door.  After fighting small children and angry old ladies in the chocolate department, I successfully paid and headed out, walking past the fully stocked grocery store and its sushi bar.

 

From MANOR it was back to Old Town, where my shopping was completed… I got a Swatch and probably spent way too much money on various Swiss paraphernalia and a gourmet meal from McDonalds.  Pre-McDonalds I made a short stop at another large and very well stocked supermarket in search of Swiss sausage (saucisse Suisse seche), basically Swiss salami, which is incredibly hard to find and everyone at the meat counter gives you a funny look when you ask for it… nonetheless, mission accomplished.

 

Lauren and I found a paper for a free concert at the cathedral, so we headed back there to enjoy the free choir concert… until walking in and realizing that 1) everyone had tickets, 2) the concert was not free but 60 francs for the good seats and 30 for the cheapos, and 3) there were no good seats left, so our choir experience would have consisted of staring at a large stone pillar about four feet in diameter for an hour and a half.  Needless to say, we passed on that experience and headed to (where else?) Starbucks!

 

After sufficiently caffiinating ourselves, we realized that there was basically nothing to do in Geneva after dark (unless we wanted to spend far too much money on fondue), so we stayed at Starbucks and continued our strict regiment of overpriced caffination.  Eventually, we meandered our way back to the hostel and called it a night.

 

Sunday morning marked our final day in la Suisse, and a short one at that, since EasyJet only flies one or two flights a day on the Bordeaux-Geneva route, and our choices were either 7:30 am or 3:30pm… we opted for the latter.

 

Free breakfast and check-out (during which I had a mild panic attack… one of the other people in our room locked her key in the bathroom and borrowed mine… unbeknownst to me, until I tried to open my locker and went to the front desk, she accidentally switched our keys… I ran through the hostel and almost started screaming “Lauren! We need to find the Italians!” because I was extraordinarily worried that they had already checked out and my stuff was going to be locked in the locker forever, luckily they had yet to depart)… then we went back to Old Town and back to Starbucks!  The barista didn’t quite understand “one White Mocha” so Lauren ended up with two grande White Mochas and one venti Cappuccino… I had no qualms finishing them both, to say the least.

 

We made a quick pit stop at McDo for some Chicken McNuggets (I think chicken nuggets are a universal fast food item… very reliable) and then to the hostel, to the train station (free train ride since we stood for the five minute trip!), and to the airport, where our flight was delayed for half an hour.

 

The seven of us snagged seats together again and repeated our obnoxiousness; upon arrival in Bordeaux, we all went our separate ways, as my homestay family was waiting for me and Lauren to emerge from the black hole called baggage claim.  We made it home in time for dinner, but I think I’m having Starbucks withdrawals…  this will soon be remedied, as the Starbucks Store Locater informs me that my next destination, Barcelona, is home to 20 stores… ahh, the joy of knowing I’m getting ripped off for the pleasure of holding that red cup and having someone take a picture of me…

Semester Break- Homeward Bound

Day 8- 11/1

 

The final day on the trip, and what a very long day it was.  I got up at 6:15, packed (thank god the suitcase expands), and took a taxi back to Waverly Bridge, because I was not interested in stumbling the half-hour walk there in the freezing cold.  Shuttle-d it back to the airport, where I repeated the same procedure as before (without the bagel store)… arrived in London and it was train, tube, train… and that’s where things got fun and interesting.  I made it to the train station without a problem, although I was fairly hungry at that point.  It’s a good thing that I didn’t stop to eat anything, because when I got there my train wasn’t on the board.  I was not exactly thrilled about this fact, since I didn’t really want to have to find an alternative way to get to Paris by 6pm.  The somewhat rude lady at the check-in desk informed me that the timetable had been moved up by half an hour… better early than late, I guess. 

 

I got in to Paris and took a taxi to the next train station (this was the first time that I felt like I wasn’t a tourist anymore… the taxi driver had me explain the US election system and pointed out where President Chirac lives, but driving by the Louvre was unmentioned).  I finally got some food, and then sat around and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  The platform number is supposed to come up on the board 20 minutes before the train leaves.  Well, my train was supposed to leave at 6:50pm.  Nothing on the board at 6:30, or 6:35, or 6:40.  Then I realized that the trains that were supposed to leave at 6:15 were still on the board.  Meaning delays… and then, the board changed… and the train that was supposed to leave at 5:15 came up on the board.  Meaning that my train was going to be at least an hour and a half late. NOOOOOOOOO.  I ran down to the platform and tried to get on every train that was going to Bordeaux… of course, because of seat reservations and because it’s a TGV (meaning nice, high-speed bullet train), I couldn’t just convince them that it was totally fine for me to stand in the corridor for three hours.

 

Finally, I hear a muffled announcement in French that I don’t totally comprehend… but I heard the key words “Bordeaux” and “Voie Une”… this was after hearing the muffled announcement involving the words “3-4 hours,” which I assumed meant “3-4 hours late.”  Following the crowd of people to platform 1, I asked if the train would take me to Bordeaux, was told “oui” and “montez-là,” meaning “get on the train.”  I do as instructed, then look around and stop.  After asking the SNCF train-mistress if I could sit anywhere, she told me “just take whatever empty seat you find,” and I wasn’t about to argue, because I had walked right into first class.  I spent the next 5 and a half hours in my nice cushy first-class seats, with about five other people in the entire car.  Personal table, personal light, personal window… aside from the fact that I was on a TGV train on a normal-speed track (hence the 5.5 hour ride), I managed to read the first three books in the Twilight series (I need Breaking Dawn in English NOW).   I took a taxi home from the train station (I didn’t exactly want to walk past the prostitutes on the corner by the tram stop, and I might have already missed the last tram) and basically knocked out, back in Bordeaux at 12:30am.  Ah, vacations.

Onward to Edinburgh!

Day 4- 10/28

 

Another day spent travelling!  My alarm went off far too early, but I managed to convince myself to get up, get ready, and pack up.  Vanessa walked me out (very nice of her) and then went back to sleep (very smart idea).  I navigated the tube, boarded the Heathrow Express, and found my way to Rapid Check-In in Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport.  The place is quite massive… if your flight leaves from gate numbers staring in  B or C, you have to take a bus… and that’s just one terminal!

 

I made it though security without any issues, aside from the fact that the guy had to run all over the terminal to find a trash can to dump my water bottle in (the 45 year old guy next to me informed me that only the pretty girls could get them to do that… I think he was bitter about a previous liquid experience) and I almost left my passport in the security bins.  After a short visit to an airport gift store and a place called Bagel Street (where they had run out of cream cheese), it was time to board my flight to Edinburgh!

 

First of all, the country and the city is absolutely gorgeous… everything is lush and green!  I took a shuttle from the airport to Waverly Bridge, then started walking.  For a really long time.  Erin had given me directions, very good directions, I might add, but I neglected to write anything down but  “when you get to Blockbuster, its like 3 more blocks.”  Therefore, after 20 minutes of walking and seeing the street name change four times, I was slightly worried that I had gone in the wrong direction, and would have to turn around and walk all the way back… luckily, about 6 minutes later the blue-and-yellow sign appeared, and I continued my journey up the hill, quite relieved.  After illegally entering the dorm building (not my fault the services button doesn’t work!), I stood there for approximately 30 seconds when I heard Erin and Anjali approaching behind me.  We had quite a joyous reunion, and then  it was off to lunch, my second hamburger (chilli burger this time) in two days.  Erin and I bid Anjali farewell (she was off to class) and then we climbed Arthur’s Seat, this mountain/hill thingy in the middle of the city that has spectacular views from the top.  Dinner was tacos (Mexican food!!!!) courtesy of Anjali, then we did a little pre-partying and headed to the Cascada concert.

 

This concert was an event unlike any that I had ever been to before, to say the least.  Cascada is techno, basically dance music, and I basically went to a rave.  Everyone there (except for the four of us, who were obviously out of the loop) was wearing spandex, tutus, and had glow sticks.  I took a ton of pictures and some video, and she closed with a Rascal Flatts song… overall, wonderful night!  You should ask me for more details if you want to hear the full story… it’s hard to give a brief overview to something that ridiculous.

 

Day 5- 10/29

 

Today was the day that I returned to the life of a student.  I went to class with Erin (Art History… the teacher was American, and it was the first lecture in a very long time that I actually understood everything the professor was saying!), worked on my French homework, and wrote a few postcards.  We then headed to lunch with Nick, who is in the EAP program and is from Berkeley, where the two of them talked about a chem lab and I read 007 articles in the newspaper.  Back to Erin’s dorm, where I stayed behind to be productive and she went to lab… after her return, we went grocery shopping at Tesco and cooked ourselves (and Anj) a lovely dinner.  Erin headed to swim practice, and Anj and I headed to the Frisbee team’s social night.  It was lots of fun (I got carded!) and I even learned a couple new drinking games!

 

Day 6- 10/30

 

I slept in while Erin went to class (my productivity quota had been filled for awhile), and Anj picked me up for some more touristy sightseeing.  I hit up a souvenir store and we proceeded to go to Chocolate Soup, which is exactly what it sounds like.  Aside from soups and sandwiches, they have a massive list of various types of hot chocolate, which is served to you in a huge soup bowl, overflowing with chocolatey goodness and whipped cream frothiness.  We shared one of those and headed out to face the windy Scottish weather, hopping on a free tour of the city.  After we made it to the castle, we split off from the group (Erin had another lab anyway) and did some more touristy shopping and sightseeing.  Then to class again (sheesh, that’s all the Scots do!), and then shopping for non-touristy items… it was Halloween costume time!  We hit up H&M for some cheap neon-colored articles (80’s themed costumes) and then proceeded home with all our goodies.  A short stop at Tesco, then dinner and “fancy dress” time.  Erin, Charlotte (one of Erin’s flatmates), and I headed to Frankenstein’s, a pub that was having a Freshers Party… free shot with your first drink!  Mine was blue and tasted exactly like Capri Sun, so I doubt that there was much of anything in there.  I was pretty much falling asleep on my feet, so we headed home shortly before midnight, and then proceeded to sing to Erin in the dorm hallway.  Early to bed=energy conservation for Halloween night.

 

Day 7- 10/31

 

Got up, went to class (this time about the kidney system- basically it was a 50 minute lecture on pee), and went back to the dorms to be (sigh) productive.  I actually completed my homework (one of the first few legitimate assignments I’ve done since the semester started), and we prepared for the night’s festivities.  We donned fancy dress outfit #1- Bond girl outfits- and headed to the theatre to see the new flim on opening day!  Quite a few people were dressed in Bond-ish outfits, and one guy was dressed in a full-on cow costume… interesting contrast, to say the least.  I grabbed some self-serve popcorn and enjoyed the show (you should all go see it, by the way, but it might be helpful to watch Casino Royale first).

 

It had then started to rain, of course, but that just motivated us to walk faster, if anything.  We arrived back at the dorms, consumed some pasta (carbo-loading=energy), and donned fancy dress outfit #2- 80’s.  It’s too bad that my hair wasn’t long enough to put in a side ponytail, but the green tights with black fishnets, turquoise leg warmers, black skirt, and burnt orange cardigan (with ridiculous multi-colored necklace) did a pretty good job of getting the message across.  Erin, Anj, and I headed to a friend’s flat to be merry (and eat some cake!), then our very very merry selves headed to Tiviot, the on-campus Halloween party.  I had a conversation with the ID checker about how you’re not allowed to smile in your driver’s licence picture there, and then it was off to coat check and to the dance floor!  (It was an on-campus bar, but the only thing that I ordered was a glass of water… it seemed like a  good idea at that point.)  We stayed there for awhile, ran into some friends (and Anj’s flatmates), and I even got a picture with “Michael Phelps.”  We headed home (freezing, but the rain had stopped) and fell asleep somewhere around 2:30am.  Not that late, but all of us had to be up at very early hours in the morning (me at 6:15, them at 6:45-7ish to get to the meeting point for a weekend race trip at 8am) and we were all sufficiently… enjoying our Halloween, to say the least.  Too bad that the leg-warmers I wore were Anj’s (she went as buried treasure that night)… I could use them here in Bordeaux!

Semester Break- The London Days

Day 1- 10/25

First Stop?  Definitely Not La Rochelle... 

The train to La Rochelle ( where the airport was) left Bordeaux at 12:11.  The train left Bordeaux, I did not.  I left my house in what I thought was plenty of time to walk to the tram, take the tram, and get on the train.  Evidently the clock at Gare St. Jean is slightly faster than every other clock in the world, so despite me running madly through the train station, the train was off the board and therefore gone when I arrived at 12:13.  After a slight panic attack (omg, if I can’t get to La Rochelle then I’m missing my flight and there is no other flight and I'M NOT GOING ON SEMESTER BREAK!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAH!!!!!), I talked to the lady at the ticket window, who wrote the time of the next train on my ticket (2pm), and then I returned home to wait out my two hours.  My homestay mom had returned from work when I got back, and she was rather surprised to see me but guessed what happened, bombarded me with questions about when my train left, and told me that she would take me to the train station, after offering me lunch and a glass of wine.

 

I made it to the train this time, got on the train, and then stood in the space between cars for the entire two and a half hour ride.  In France, they have these things called seat reservations, and because I didn’t book my ticket three months in advance, I didn’t have one… therefore, standing…. At least it was near the bathroom J.  I arrived in La Rochelle and didn’t have many difficulties from then on… shared a cab to the airport, checked in, and the magical visa in my passport got me through security without problems.  Aside from the fact that RyanAir charges for EVERYTHING on the plane (including tap water), I made it to London sans problèmes. 

 

Customs, train, tube.  Vanessa was waiting for me at the tube station (thank God, because I never would have found my way to her dorm otherwise), and then we headed to her building, which is huge and has 15 stories.  After I dropped off my stuff, we hopped back on the tube and headed to our rendez-vous with some friends, in a place called Camden, which is evidently the hotspot for nightlife.  We left in time to catch the tube before our day passes would expire (with a slight detour at King’s Cross to take very touristy pictures at Platform 9 ¾) and then played a round of Ring of Fire (aka King’s Cup) with some of Vanessa’s floormates.  I’d rather not think about what was in that cup, since I have doubts that it was washed recently….

 

Day 2- 10/26

 

Tourist day!  I met up with Lina for some normal-sized coffee and breakfast, and then we proceeded to take a free walking tour of London (after borrowing poundage from Vanessa because my ATM card didn’t work).  It was raining and a Sunday morning, and we were the only two that showed up.  Private tour!  We hit up Mr. Wu’s all-you-can-eat Chinese food buffet (for only five pounds), and then proeeded to hop on the afternoon free tour of a different part of the city.  Once again, we were the only two that showed up.  Free, private tour!  Definetly a trip highlight… we ended the tour completely freezing and headed back to Vanessa’s, where we then walked around the corner to a delicious Indian food place and proceeded to order four things and share and eat them all.  After bidding Lina farewell, the night was mellow and uneventful, aside from me trying to figure out how to make the toilet in Vanessa’s dorm flush.

 

Day 3- 10/27

 

Tourist day #2!  After sleeping in, I hit up the ATM (successful this time) and then we headed to Hard Rock Café, the original!  I enjoyed a deliciously large hamburger and some kind of mixed beverage (it was pink, since it’s breast cancer awareness month), and they even had ranch dressing!  Quite a lovely lunch, particularly because we arrived at the perfect time and took the last outside table (also the last free table in the restaurant) and therefore didn’t have to wait at all.  Following the rapid consumption of all of our food, we headed to the store, where I proceeded to buy copious amounts of souvenirs.  Being a tourist is wonderful because it means I have an excuse to go shopping!  We then headed to the Imperial War Museum, where there was a James Bond/Ian Fleming exhibit… those of you that know me well know my obsession with 007… sadly, we couldn’t take pciitures inside the exhibit, although that was probably a good thing in the long run because otherwise I would have spent all day in there!  After a short detour back to Hard Rock (the guy gave us the same two souvenir glasses and our drinks came in different ones), we headed to the dorm to drop off all our stuff, then to Starbucks, where I ordered yet another normal-sized coffee (in a real mug!) and actually was slightly productive.  Yes, I did some homework.  A visit to McDonald’s resulted in a Happy Meal and a toy that I couldn’t figure out how to use for the life of me (even after I read the directions like 8 times), then it was to bed fairly early, since I had to get up at an ungodly hour of the morning to get to Edinburgh.