It has been half a year since my experience in Europe and I miss it every day. I think about how much I want to go back and peruse the fields of Ireland, streets of London, and waterways of Venice. In my experience I wrote down a list of things that I wanted to educate or just entertain people with. In this post I will include fun phrases, facts, and traveling tips that will be helpful in general but most importantly informative for those that may come across these countries.
-Pack a sewing kit for your travel. You will need to use the scissors for cutting off tags after you've been shopping, opposed to trying to tear them apart with your teeth.
-Soda does not mean pop in Ireland. We are all familiar with ordering sodas with our dinner, but when you are dining in Ireland you will get a slice of bread opposed to a fizzy drink. Soda bread is popular in Ireland, it is quite tasteless to some but good with butter!
-Italians eat first course, pasta, and then the meat during a dinner.
-If you are in Italy, be familiar with the following phrases: Bonjourno (Hello), Miscuzi (Excuse me), Prego (What would you like)
-Gelato is a delectable dessert or snack to have in Italy. It is made with eggs.
-In Ireland and England, chips are called "crisps"
-In Ireland and England, fries are called "chips"
-Bullocks in England means "nonsense"
- In Ireland we learned that "Have some crack" meant to have fun.
-Another phrase that is used to say have fun is, "Have class".
-In England you will hear "Cheers" used a lot. It isn't a drinking phrase, but their way of saying thanks.
-When you are in Europe order tap water or they will bring out bottles of water instead, and that is more expensive.
-Bring ID out all times
-Carry around address just in case you get lost or need to tell your taxi driver where you are headed
-When buying tickets for shows in London buy them online or go to box office early
-All theaters in London are good seating. Even if you are sitting in the back, you will have a good seat. All the theaters are quite small so you will be a short enough range from the stage to see everything.
-People in streets of England do not say excuse me
-Be Careful in Dublin- there are kids called "happy slappers" that will assault a stranger and their friends record it on their phones or cameras.
-Wear an over the shoulder bag. This makes it more difficult for someone to snatch your purse. If you have a shoulder bag you can also hold it in the front to avoid pick-pocketers.
-Pack solids for your trip. If it is cold you want to be able to layer your clothing whilst matching. If you carry a ton of patterns with you then it will make it harder to make multiple outfits.
-Bring foot deodorizer and Dr. Scholls. After a long day of walking and sight-seeing your feet will smell awful. Buy some foot deodorizer to minimize the stench. Also, if you are wearing heels you will want to carry Dr. Scholl's pads to accompany your pumps. Especially if you are going out in London you will be walking all over the place.
-See countryside in Ireland. Dublin is nice and metropolitan but you have not experienced Ireland until you see their vast hills and pastures of emerald green. The simplicity of the country is what I found the most beautiful.
-Go to Temple Bar Dublin, the prison is also a good tourist spot, and Phoenix Park.
London
-Supermacs is comparable to McDonald's in Dublin/Ireland. If you buy their garlic fries, don't expect garlic salt. They douse the chips in a creamy garlic sauce.
-Big easy in London was a restaurant I did not get to try. Being American, my cab driver told me that I should try it out because it had outstanding classic American food.
-Dutch Pancake House in London sells humongous sized pancakes. They are thin like crepes and you can top it with a number of different toppings that you would not expect to be good. One time I got sauteed apples with smoked bacon. It was delicious!
-Don’t act American. When I say that I mean, don't be loud and obnoxious. Try to keep to yourself and blend in.
-If you want top dollar clothing at very reasonable prices go to Penney’s in Ireland and Primark in London. They are the same shop with different names. They have very affordable trendy clothing
-Top shop is very expensive, but a popular shopping place.
-There is a lot of butter in Ireland and England, but no butter in Italy.
-Pack flats and boots. And remember your Band-Aids. Pad your heels or any blisters on your feet with the bandages so that it makes walking more comfortable.
-Bring a hard drive to save your pictures on. If you have a laptop that you are bringing, save all of your pictures on both. Just in case you have a hard drive crash!
-"Slainte", pronounced "Slawn-chuh". This phrase is used when cheers-ing drinks.
-If you visit Venice, Italy make sure to climb the clock tower. It's views are amazing and you get a 360 degree view of the city. Murano was also very nice, it had cute cafes, a ton of glass blown souvenir shops, and a great view of the water.
-When in London, climb St. Paul's to get a spectacular view of the city.
I hope my tips helped for future travels!
Pip Pip,
Leah
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
This trip has been unreal. I can't believe this month has flown by so fast and it is time for us to go back home. I'm excited to see everyone back home and start my internship, yet very very sad to part with my new best friends that I've made on this trip. Today was a very dull day. Went to a market off of Liverpool Street, stayed briefy. Attempted to go to a few boutiques with Lauren, then heading back to the dorms to read my book. 
We met the whole group tonight at Temple pier and we had our own private boat that cruised down the Thames River all night. The weather was perfect. The sun was setting as we were passing the London Eye and the bridge and we danced the whole night away. Our teachers even joined in on our dance circles and it was hilarious. There wasn't a moment we weren't on our feet, the DJ did a great job at keeping us busy on the dance floor. We were also graced with a buffet dinner which was good to soak up all the liquids we were consuming. There was another party boat next to ours and they were playing "Don't Stop Believing" on our boat so we were singing it to them through the windows but then all of us ran out on the deck and sang it to them out on the deck. It was the best moment of the night. It was nice to see the whole study abroad group get together and have fun. I just got back from sitting in Courtney's kitchen with the few of the crew. It is crazy that we will never be around eachother for this amount of time, ever again. Yes, we will go to school together and be in Gainesville, but we won't all be together or see eachother or be able to do fun things like the experiences we had here. I am going to miss everything so much and it almost seems as if this whole trip were a dream. I am so lucky to have met the people I had met on this trip and I truly made new best friends.
Pip Pip, (for the last time in Europe)
Leah
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Day Trip Days
These days have been flying by! Yesterday was our Stonehenge and Bath trip. It was really short but a good day overall. We went to Stonehenge first, where it was freezing. You can’t walk through the stones anymore because it is roped off. We took our photos around it and hung out on the bus to hide from the cold wind.
We all slept on the bus until we reached Bath. It was a really cute town and a lot of shops. For those of you who haven’t heard of Bath, it was where the Romans would bath themselves. There was a little museum and there were the original entrances, paths, and baths to look at.
We grabbed lunch at this place called Market. There was a lot of seating outside and considering it was a beautiful day we decided to dine there. We got lots of yummy food, most of us bought hamburgers (typical) and we lounged outside for awhile and enjoyed the good weather.
We went to the Olde Candy Shoppe and grabbed sweets for the ride home. Me and Brittany shared our chocolates, mine a cookie crumble and hers an assorted bag of truffles that had champagne, caramel, mocha, and all kinds of goody goodness inside. We slept the rest of the way home, which was a 3 and ½ hour ride home.
That night we ventured off to Notting Hill and went to this place my old roommate recommended to me. It is called Churchill Arms off of Kensington Church Street. When you walk in it looks like your standard English pub. There were a lot of people crowded indoor and outdoors and when you walked to the back there was a Thai restaurant decorated with vines and butterflies. It was such a great atmosphere and the food was amazing! I had pad thai and it was moist, spicy, and had delicious peanut sauce. We sat at our table for a long while after dinner to chat and then finally headed home to go to bed.
This morning we left for our Oxford daytrip. There were 96 of us, but not all from the same schools. Only a few of us from UF had signed up to go. We got off at Gloucester and hopped on our charter bus. When we got to Oxford it was pouring rain and I had forgotten my umbrella. Good thing we were on walking tour! You know I ran into the nearest store to buy an umbrella. It made me feel less miserable. We walked around and learned about the school, but we ditched the tour half way through to go to Turf Tavern for lunch which is the oldest pub at Oxford.
I finally had my serving of bangers and mash and it was tasty! Me and Lily split an apple pie with custard after. We decided to hit up the library after because that is where they filmed two different scenes from Harry Potter, one of them being the infirmary. We pretended to time travel as well, like in Harry Potter of course. Then we headed to a souvenir shop and grabbed our Uni tees for ourselves and friends.
We met at Carfax tower to meet our group at 2:00 and went to the church, which is where the Great Hall in Harry Potter is filmed. Most of our trip consisted of us getting more excited of Harry Potter than the actual school. We took our pictures, went and saw the chalk board Albert Einstein had written on, then looked at more of the colleges and then we went to the book store to buy some books to read. I grabbed The Last Song. That is the book that has the movie with Miley Cirus in it. I am already on chapter nine and I can’t wait to finish it on the plane. I also bought an interesting book called The Good, the Bad, and the Dumped, so I will have plenty of reading to keep me occupied.
When we got home we all went back to our rooms to sleep and pack. Me and Patricia blasted music in our room while we packed away our things in our air tight bags reminiscing on the trip and wondering where the days went.
Tonight we grabbed some pizza from a nearby pizza place and ate it in Courtney’s kitchen. It was very low-key and chill but also relaxing. I needed a night to just take a breather and recap our trip.
Now I am back in my room, going to read my book. Tomorrow is my last day in London and of the trip. I am very sad to be leaving. We have our dinner cruise tomorrow night on the Thames and I know it will be a cry-fest the whole time.
We are hitting up Old Dutch (the big pancake house) for breakfast, a market by Liverpool Street, and then me and Lauren are going to gander at some shops by Sloane Square and then come back to get ready for our buffet dinner and boat cruise!
I’ll try to update tomorrow night if I can. But if not, my next post will be from America!
Pip Pip,
Leah
Thursday, May 27, 2010
John Mayer Concert
Today was a short day! We had our last day of class. Our plan was to go to the Towers of London when Brittany got out of class. Instead some girls told us that John Mayer was playing in concert that night and that we could still get tickets! We rushed across the street to Dilke House to buy tickets online. We found really cheap ones in the A section which are the first two sections in front of the stage. There was a huge group of girls in the room using the Internet to book their seats. We decided we would meet early and grab dinner so we immediately headed out to start out our day! 
We headed to the British Museum so that we could see the Rosetta Stone. It dates back to 196 B.C. It was just so amazing that they had a piece like that just sitting out on display in a glass case. No big deal. It was cool to read all the different languages, even if I couldn't decipher anything. We also saw the crystal skull and cool Egyptian statues. We headed to Covent Gardens are after to grab lunch. We ate at an Italian cafe outside and shared a pollo pizza and margherita pizza. I have had so much Italian food in the past week. We then headed back to the dorms to nap and get ready for the concert. We met up and picked the tickets up from Picadilly Square and then felt like an American meal so we went to TGIF's and shared appetizers. We caught the tube after and headed to the Wembley Arena. (The Olympics will be held here in 2011)It was a long tube ride but we finally made it in time to catch a few songs of the opening act. 
We had amazing seats. The whole arena was filled and we had the 12th row from the stage! We could see he so clearly from our seats. He came out and graced us with his beautiful voice and wonderful talent. He did a few new songs that I didn't know because I haven't bought his newest CD. But when he played songs from his older albums like, "Your body is a wonderland", "Slow dancing in a burning room", and other goodies.. that is when I freaked out. He would do a lot of improv on the guitar and rip it. He is an amazing guitarist. At the end of the show he played "Gravity" after being called out for an encore. His fingers were just going crazy hitting all kinds of notes and he threw his guitar on the ground and started playing it on the ground, almost like a piano. It was a wonderful finale. 
I can now say I have watched four musicals and a concert since I have been here. I love it! Tomorrow is our day trip to stone henge and Bathe so I am very excited! Must go to bed so I can wake up early!
Pip pip,
Leah
Since Gravity was his last song of the concert, I will end my post with it... so beautiful!
We headed to the British Museum so that we could see the Rosetta Stone. It dates back to 196 B.C. It was just so amazing that they had a piece like that just sitting out on display in a glass case. No big deal. It was cool to read all the different languages, even if I couldn't decipher anything. We also saw the crystal skull and cool Egyptian statues. We headed to Covent Gardens are after to grab lunch. We ate at an Italian cafe outside and shared a pollo pizza and margherita pizza. I have had so much Italian food in the past week. We then headed back to the dorms to nap and get ready for the concert. We met up and picked the tickets up from Picadilly Square and then felt like an American meal so we went to TGIF's and shared appetizers. We caught the tube after and headed to the Wembley Arena. (The Olympics will be held here in 2011)It was a long tube ride but we finally made it in time to catch a few songs of the opening act. 
We had amazing seats. The whole arena was filled and we had the 12th row from the stage! We could see he so clearly from our seats. He came out and graced us with his beautiful voice and wonderful talent. He did a few new songs that I didn't know because I haven't bought his newest CD. But when he played songs from his older albums like, "Your body is a wonderland", "Slow dancing in a burning room", and other goodies.. that is when I freaked out. He would do a lot of improv on the guitar and rip it. He is an amazing guitarist. At the end of the show he played "Gravity" after being called out for an encore. His fingers were just going crazy hitting all kinds of notes and he threw his guitar on the ground and started playing it on the ground, almost like a piano. It was a wonderful finale. 
I can now say I have watched four musicals and a concert since I have been here. I love it! Tomorrow is our day trip to stone henge and Bathe so I am very excited! Must go to bed so I can wake up early!
Pip pip,
Leah
Since Gravity was his last song of the concert, I will end my post with it... so beautiful!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Platform 9 3/4
Today went by so fast! I don't even know how all the hours of the day and days of the week are flying past me. I felt like Galway and Dublin where a year ago and that I've been in London for almost a year already. The time feels slow but goes by fast, if that makes any sense!
Today I awoke to make it to class. We waited for a long time for the bus to show up to bring us to the metro, but luckily I made it to class at 9:30 on the dot! After class I had my usual shrimp crackers from the lobby with a coke and we chit chatted while we waited for others to get out of class.
[Info about the shoot]
Apparently they were filming the Harry Potter epilogues this week. We heard that they would be at King's Cross (which is where platform 9 3/4 is located if you are HP fans) so of course we ZOOMED there after class. We found the display they have of a wall that says 9 3/4 with the shopping cart going through the wall.
One of the men that works at the metro overheard us talking about HP and told us which platform they were filming the scene at because at that moment they were recording! We walked over and we could hear the director, we saw the lights, and saw a lot of extras walking around the station. Unfortunately, the extras covered all of the main characters so we were unable to make any celebrity encounters. It was still a cool experience though.
We ate at a pub right above the train station and I enjoyed some cream of tomato soup with some crusty bread. Afterward I headed out by myself to walk through Hyde Park and do some last minute souvenir shopping and clothing shopping on Oxford Street. The tube entrance for Oxford Circus was blocked off so I grabbed a bus that took me to far past the tube station I wanted to get off on. So I got off, walked around, got tired of all the traffic and being lost-ness and got a cab. My driver was very friendly and guessed that I was Filipino on the spot! He knew a lot about the surroundings and would point out the wealthy parts we passed.
Immediately after I was dropped off I had to get ready to meet my friends for dinner. We ate at this really awesome Italian restaurant called the Jam. I walked in and it looked empty, I told the hostess I was meeting a group of friends and she just pointed up. I looked around and then up and realized that there were tables below, but also booths at the top, above the booths! It was so neat and my gnocchi was delicious!
We then headed to see Les Miserables! I was so excited to see it because I've heard so many people rave about it. We got there at 7:32. The show started two minutes earlier and we were late. We had to wait in the lobby and watch it on a TV until they could usher us in. I was so embarrassed because all the seats were taken in my row and someone had stolen my seat so I had to walk past everyone to get to the other side. The usher then just gave me an empty seat that was on the side, perched over the first floor and really close to the stage. A lot of the girls were bawling by the end of the show, which was hilarious to witness. I thought the singing was impeccable. It was really nice to see another good show!
Tomorrow is our last day of classes then we have a free day! I don't want this trip to end!
Pip pip,
Leah
Today I awoke to make it to class. We waited for a long time for the bus to show up to bring us to the metro, but luckily I made it to class at 9:30 on the dot! After class I had my usual shrimp crackers from the lobby with a coke and we chit chatted while we waited for others to get out of class.
[Info about the shoot]
Apparently they were filming the Harry Potter epilogues this week. We heard that they would be at King's Cross (which is where platform 9 3/4 is located if you are HP fans) so of course we ZOOMED there after class. We found the display they have of a wall that says 9 3/4 with the shopping cart going through the wall.
One of the men that works at the metro overheard us talking about HP and told us which platform they were filming the scene at because at that moment they were recording! We walked over and we could hear the director, we saw the lights, and saw a lot of extras walking around the station. Unfortunately, the extras covered all of the main characters so we were unable to make any celebrity encounters. It was still a cool experience though.
We ate at a pub right above the train station and I enjoyed some cream of tomato soup with some crusty bread. Afterward I headed out by myself to walk through Hyde Park and do some last minute souvenir shopping and clothing shopping on Oxford Street. The tube entrance for Oxford Circus was blocked off so I grabbed a bus that took me to far past the tube station I wanted to get off on. So I got off, walked around, got tired of all the traffic and being lost-ness and got a cab. My driver was very friendly and guessed that I was Filipino on the spot! He knew a lot about the surroundings and would point out the wealthy parts we passed.
Immediately after I was dropped off I had to get ready to meet my friends for dinner. We ate at this really awesome Italian restaurant called the Jam. I walked in and it looked empty, I told the hostess I was meeting a group of friends and she just pointed up. I looked around and then up and realized that there were tables below, but also booths at the top, above the booths! It was so neat and my gnocchi was delicious!
We then headed to see Les Miserables! I was so excited to see it because I've heard so many people rave about it. We got there at 7:32. The show started two minutes earlier and we were late. We had to wait in the lobby and watch it on a TV until they could usher us in. I was so embarrassed because all the seats were taken in my row and someone had stolen my seat so I had to walk past everyone to get to the other side. The usher then just gave me an empty seat that was on the side, perched over the first floor and really close to the stage. A lot of the girls were bawling by the end of the show, which was hilarious to witness. I thought the singing was impeccable. It was really nice to see another good show!
Tomorrow is our last day of classes then we have a free day! I don't want this trip to end!
Pip pip,
Leah
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
God Save the Queen!
I have been so busy these past two days that I haven’t gotten the chance to blog about my adventures! I am enjoying my last few days that I have in London and trying to get the whole experience. I’m really starting to feel comfortable here and acting like a local! 
Yesterday I met the girls in Hyde Park to eat hotdogs in the grass and exchange friendship bracelets me and Lily had bought from Venice. We sat and exchanged stories of our weekends in Venice, Paris, and London and trotted into Kensington Gardens to find the Peter Pan statue. It was a gorgeous day outside with no cloud in sight and it was nice to enjoy the warm weather. My body has needed the rays of sun to keep my skin a golden bronze. 
Me and Brittany ate Yo Sushi where different rolls travel around the tables on a conveyor belt. I have not touched sushi in three weeks so it felt good to get in touch with my raw side again. We shared salmon sashimi, wakame salad, a spicy roll, tuna sashimi, and some really awesome chicken fire cracker rice. Afterwards me and Brittany had to meet our class at CNN to have a meeting with Richard Quest who hosts his own business show on CNN. He was a very frank man, but very knowledgeable about the business and honest. We got a tour of the newsroom so I was definitely excited to actually see people at work. We were in the control room watching them record a sports feature program and it was cool to see the interaction between the talent and the production crew.
We took the metro to Portabello Road after CNN and Britt and I walked into some really cool vintage stores, antique shops, and cutesie boutiques. I wanted to buy things but I refrained from doing so, considering I need the last bit of money I have to last me until the end of this week. We walked down the whole road and found ourselves in a very sketchy area so we hustled to find the closest tube. We had to make a lot of transfers, and by this time we were sweating as if we were in the sauna. We finally got back to South Kensington and met Courtney and Daniella for some Indian food at a place called Bombay Bicycle. We ordered sides and appetizers to share and I finally got my craving for naan!
This morning we had to get up early so that we could see the Queen! She was opening parliament today so there was a procession from Buckingham Palace all the way down to Parliament. I grabbed a sandwich from Pret Manger, hopped on the metro, and found my way to St. James Park all by myself! I followed the crowd and ran into some girls from the study abroad. We perched ourselves along the barracks they had up and there was a band playing and soldiers everywhere. When they began to play God Save the Queen we knew she was coming, and sure enough her carriage passed right by us. I got a clear shot of the Queen and she waved at us! It was such a surreal experience and I got to catch a glimpse of her again when she was returning back to the palace. Such an amazing experience.
We gave into our American habits and grabbed McDonald’s. We sat at Trifalger’s Square which was really pretty. There was a big fountain, lion statues, and a lot of pretty sights and we settled down on a few steps and ate our lunch. We then had to meet our group across the Thames to catch our tickets to London Eye. Before we could grab our tickets we had some free time so we laid in the grass and watched the London Eye go around and around. We finally got to board and fell into the fast track line. All of my friends ended up in the same pod and we just enjoyed the views of London from our bubble on the Ferris wheel. I grabbed a twin ice cream cone from a vender nearby when we got out and then we all relaxed in the grass again. We then decided to hit up Abbey Road where my friends and I strolled across the street to get the classic Beatles shot. I was excited I finally got to see it since I didn’t get to go last time I was in London.
I rushed home after to grab dinner with Jenn at an Italian restaurant and we got a black cab to Victoria Theatre. I finally got to see Wicked and it was a fabulous show! The singers where incredible and the whole show itself was outstanding. I finally get to check that musical off my list. Tomorrow I think I’m doing a lot of by-myself things. I am going to go find souvenirs, tour some cool spots, and maybe grab some tea somewhere! I signed up to watch Les Miserable tomorrow night so I am excited to finally get to cross that show off my list too! I’m very tired so I will be heading to bed soon!
Pip pip, Leah
Video of the Queen:
Yesterday I met the girls in Hyde Park to eat hotdogs in the grass and exchange friendship bracelets me and Lily had bought from Venice. We sat and exchanged stories of our weekends in Venice, Paris, and London and trotted into Kensington Gardens to find the Peter Pan statue. It was a gorgeous day outside with no cloud in sight and it was nice to enjoy the warm weather. My body has needed the rays of sun to keep my skin a golden bronze. 
Me and Brittany ate Yo Sushi where different rolls travel around the tables on a conveyor belt. I have not touched sushi in three weeks so it felt good to get in touch with my raw side again. We shared salmon sashimi, wakame salad, a spicy roll, tuna sashimi, and some really awesome chicken fire cracker rice. Afterwards me and Brittany had to meet our class at CNN to have a meeting with Richard Quest who hosts his own business show on CNN. He was a very frank man, but very knowledgeable about the business and honest. We got a tour of the newsroom so I was definitely excited to actually see people at work. We were in the control room watching them record a sports feature program and it was cool to see the interaction between the talent and the production crew.
We took the metro to Portabello Road after CNN and Britt and I walked into some really cool vintage stores, antique shops, and cutesie boutiques. I wanted to buy things but I refrained from doing so, considering I need the last bit of money I have to last me until the end of this week. We walked down the whole road and found ourselves in a very sketchy area so we hustled to find the closest tube. We had to make a lot of transfers, and by this time we were sweating as if we were in the sauna. We finally got back to South Kensington and met Courtney and Daniella for some Indian food at a place called Bombay Bicycle. We ordered sides and appetizers to share and I finally got my craving for naan!
This morning we had to get up early so that we could see the Queen! She was opening parliament today so there was a procession from Buckingham Palace all the way down to Parliament. I grabbed a sandwich from Pret Manger, hopped on the metro, and found my way to St. James Park all by myself! I followed the crowd and ran into some girls from the study abroad. We perched ourselves along the barracks they had up and there was a band playing and soldiers everywhere. When they began to play God Save the Queen we knew she was coming, and sure enough her carriage passed right by us. I got a clear shot of the Queen and she waved at us! It was such a surreal experience and I got to catch a glimpse of her again when she was returning back to the palace. Such an amazing experience. 
We gave into our American habits and grabbed McDonald’s. We sat at Trifalger’s Square which was really pretty. There was a big fountain, lion statues, and a lot of pretty sights and we settled down on a few steps and ate our lunch. We then had to meet our group across the Thames to catch our tickets to London Eye. Before we could grab our tickets we had some free time so we laid in the grass and watched the London Eye go around and around. We finally got to board and fell into the fast track line. All of my friends ended up in the same pod and we just enjoyed the views of London from our bubble on the Ferris wheel. I grabbed a twin ice cream cone from a vender nearby when we got out and then we all relaxed in the grass again. We then decided to hit up Abbey Road where my friends and I strolled across the street to get the classic Beatles shot. I was excited I finally got to see it since I didn’t get to go last time I was in London.
I rushed home after to grab dinner with Jenn at an Italian restaurant and we got a black cab to Victoria Theatre. I finally got to see Wicked and it was a fabulous show! The singers where incredible and the whole show itself was outstanding. I finally get to check that musical off my list. Tomorrow I think I’m doing a lot of by-myself things. I am going to go find souvenirs, tour some cool spots, and maybe grab some tea somewhere! I signed up to watch Les Miserable tomorrow night so I am excited to finally get to cross that show off my list too! I’m very tired so I will be heading to bed soon!
Pip pip, Leah
Video of the Queen:
Sunday, May 23, 2010
When in Venice...
What a wonderful weekend! It was nice to get away from the busy city for awhile and get to see Venice. I felt like the whole time I was there it was a dream because it is everything you see in the movies but even better because you are there obviously!
Friday we met at 4:30 am to find a double decker charter bus there to pick us up. We all sat on the top of course, and the bus took us to the Gatwick airport. We boarded the plane and headed off to Venice. We met our AIFS leader, Phillipa, who is fluent in Italian so that was useful for us later.
Before our check in time we got to walk around and grab lunch. We immediately roamed around taking perfect photo opps in every direction. We ate at a place called Gino’s where we all split pizza. We also had to grab gelato every chance we got, so I ordered tiramisu gelato from a nearby shop that had a bunch of different flavors. After our check in we went to Doge’s Palace and San Marco’s Cathedral. Both were very beautiful. The buildings are very different from all the cathedrals and castles we see in England. The church was a lot of gold, a lot of gothic architecture. The Doge’s Palace had a lot of gold too, and a lot of realist murals on the walls and ceilings.
We had a group dinner that night in a café next to San Marco’s square next to the water. In Italy, they do pasta before carne and then dessert. So we basically ate two dinners because we had penne, then turkey and potatoes. We had tiramisu for dessert and it was amazing. After dinner a group of us decided to walk back with Phillipa and try and find our way back. It took just as long as it would have to ride in a water taxi, but it was even better because we got to view all the side streets, canals, and little bridges along the way. The sun was setting right as we were leaving and everything was picture perfect! We finally found our way back and that night me and Lily watched Braveheart in Italian. I love that I have finally got the chance to be in another city where they speak a different language!
The next day we got up, enjoyed our continental Italian breakfast that consisted of a lot of meat slices, cheese, and other yummy treats! We headed out to enjoy our free day. We went to Murano which is the glass making island in Venice. We watched a man make a horse out of a heated clump. It was amazing how fast he crafted it with a pair of pliers. We walked around and did a lot of glass shopping and then stopped for lunch at a café outdoors on Murano. We took the water bus to Lido afterward, which is where the beach is. The town walking up to the beach almost felt like a nice beach town in Florida, and the beach was surrounded by people. The sand is a lot darker and there are definitely a topless woman sunbathing. Of course, we grabbed gelato again while we were there and I enjoyed a cookie flavored cone that time.
After Lido we went to San Marc’s square to climb the bell tower. There is one elevator that takes you up and it takes 45 seconds to reach the top. Right as we reached the top we caught the last strike of the bells. The view was amazing. The city seemed big when we walked around the night before, but that day it felt so much smaller from up there. It was cool to see all the rooftops and canals from bird’s eye view and to see all the water surrounding the city.
We took a gondola nearby and our gondolier was very nice! His family actually lives in Lido and not in Venice. He told us facts as we rode in the boat (all 7 of us, the boat only allows 6) and we passed by the back of the opera house where we could hear someone practicing, we passed Mozart’s house, and we passed another gondola who had a man serenading a couple accompanied by an accordion player. The whole experience was unreal.
We grabbed dinner in a cute restaurant where I had a delicious pan of pizza with artichoke hearts, salami, ham, olives, and mushrooms. We all shared high school stories because the group we were hanging out with consisted of people we don’t usually get to spend time with during the trip, so it was nice to get to know some knew people. After dinner we found our way back to our hotel by ourselves, and this night Lily and I watched Matilda in Italian. I woke up in the middle of the night not being able to go back to sleep because I felt like I was still on the boats.
Today was just a very calm, relaxing, sunny day. There was an international boat race that all kinds of people, all kinds of boats, participated in. They row around Venice and we sat along the water canal to watch all the racers pass by. There was a young orchestra right next to us playing songs so it added to the intensity of the race.
We spent the rest of the day roaming around, buying last minute souvenirs and eating the last bit of gelato we could get.
We got to the air port a lot earlier than our departure so we played card games before it was time to check in. Now I am back in good ole’ London and I need to get to bed soon! Tomorrow I am spending the day in Hyde Park so I am looking forward to enjoying a day in the park!
Pip pip,
Leah
Friday we met at 4:30 am to find a double decker charter bus there to pick us up. We all sat on the top of course, and the bus took us to the Gatwick airport. We boarded the plane and headed off to Venice. We met our AIFS leader, Phillipa, who is fluent in Italian so that was useful for us later.
Before our check in time we got to walk around and grab lunch. We immediately roamed around taking perfect photo opps in every direction. We ate at a place called Gino’s where we all split pizza. We also had to grab gelato every chance we got, so I ordered tiramisu gelato from a nearby shop that had a bunch of different flavors. After our check in we went to Doge’s Palace and San Marco’s Cathedral. Both were very beautiful. The buildings are very different from all the cathedrals and castles we see in England. The church was a lot of gold, a lot of gothic architecture. The Doge’s Palace had a lot of gold too, and a lot of realist murals on the walls and ceilings.
We had a group dinner that night in a café next to San Marco’s square next to the water. In Italy, they do pasta before carne and then dessert. So we basically ate two dinners because we had penne, then turkey and potatoes. We had tiramisu for dessert and it was amazing. After dinner a group of us decided to walk back with Phillipa and try and find our way back. It took just as long as it would have to ride in a water taxi, but it was even better because we got to view all the side streets, canals, and little bridges along the way. The sun was setting right as we were leaving and everything was picture perfect! We finally found our way back and that night me and Lily watched Braveheart in Italian. I love that I have finally got the chance to be in another city where they speak a different language!
The next day we got up, enjoyed our continental Italian breakfast that consisted of a lot of meat slices, cheese, and other yummy treats! We headed out to enjoy our free day. We went to Murano which is the glass making island in Venice. We watched a man make a horse out of a heated clump. It was amazing how fast he crafted it with a pair of pliers. We walked around and did a lot of glass shopping and then stopped for lunch at a café outdoors on Murano. We took the water bus to Lido afterward, which is where the beach is. The town walking up to the beach almost felt like a nice beach town in Florida, and the beach was surrounded by people. The sand is a lot darker and there are definitely a topless woman sunbathing. Of course, we grabbed gelato again while we were there and I enjoyed a cookie flavored cone that time.
After Lido we went to San Marc’s square to climb the bell tower. There is one elevator that takes you up and it takes 45 seconds to reach the top. Right as we reached the top we caught the last strike of the bells. The view was amazing. The city seemed big when we walked around the night before, but that day it felt so much smaller from up there. It was cool to see all the rooftops and canals from bird’s eye view and to see all the water surrounding the city.
We took a gondola nearby and our gondolier was very nice! His family actually lives in Lido and not in Venice. He told us facts as we rode in the boat (all 7 of us, the boat only allows 6) and we passed by the back of the opera house where we could hear someone practicing, we passed Mozart’s house, and we passed another gondola who had a man serenading a couple accompanied by an accordion player. The whole experience was unreal.
We grabbed dinner in a cute restaurant where I had a delicious pan of pizza with artichoke hearts, salami, ham, olives, and mushrooms. We all shared high school stories because the group we were hanging out with consisted of people we don’t usually get to spend time with during the trip, so it was nice to get to know some knew people. After dinner we found our way back to our hotel by ourselves, and this night Lily and I watched Matilda in Italian. I woke up in the middle of the night not being able to go back to sleep because I felt like I was still on the boats.
Today was just a very calm, relaxing, sunny day. There was an international boat race that all kinds of people, all kinds of boats, participated in. They row around Venice and we sat along the water canal to watch all the racers pass by. There was a young orchestra right next to us playing songs so it added to the intensity of the race.
We spent the rest of the day roaming around, buying last minute souvenirs and eating the last bit of gelato we could get.
We got to the air port a lot earlier than our departure so we played card games before it was time to check in. Now I am back in good ole’ London and I need to get to bed soon! Tomorrow I am spending the day in Hyde Park so I am looking forward to enjoying a day in the park!
Pip pip,
Leah
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