An Example of Wedding Madness

A friend (hey Kels) sent me this link. I think it perfectly describes the madness surrounding the Royal Wedding.

Please Enjoy:

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/man_gets_prince_william_and_kate_middleton_tattooed_on_his_teeth/

Will & Kate

Today is finally the day the UK (and really the whole world) has been waiting for- The Royal Wedding! I had no idea how seriously people would take this. I mean, I knew there would be celebrations and it would be all over the news, etc, but this was probably a bigger deal for these people than the inauguration was in the US. And trust me, the inauguration was a big deal. London was empty this morning except for a few key places such as Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and all along the parade route (obviously) and Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square (where public streamings were going on). It was almost eerie. Besides the random royal wedding decorations adourning the street, all I saw was empty roads and dark buildings as I made my way to the festivities.

People started camping out towards Buckingham 4 days ago! I can't even imagine waiting in one spot for four days! Don't get me wrong, I love a good royal romance story just as much as the next person but heading out at 6 this morning was about as early as I could do. A few friends and I headed to Trafalgar Square where they put up big screens and threw a little wedding party of its own. There were souvenir booths, food booths media tents, and yes even people selling champagne so noone would have to miss out on toasting to the young couple. I stayed in Trafalgar from the first live broadcasting of the events leading up to the wedding until the couple's procession arrived at Buckingham Palace. Then I headed back to my room and watched the infamous kiss on the balcony on live youtube streaming.

My thoughts on the wedding:

(1) Kate Middleton looked beautiful! I loved her dress (yay Sarah Burton) and her hair and her make-up (which she did by herself I may add). I thought it was the perfect combination of more understated while still fitting for a grand cathedral and a wedding that estimated 2 billion people were watching throughout the world.

(2) The service was a bit long and boring at times but lovely nonetheless. I guess with that much hype around an event you have to drag it out for longer than 30 minutes.

(3) The couple is adorable together.

(4) That was the most interesting guest list to watch enter.

(5) Prince Harry absolutely must be my future boyfriend.

(6) The kiss from the balcony was a little bland (especially the first one but they kind of redeemed themselves on the second one)

and finally...

(7) I really really wish I was invited.

Why the British School System is Inefficient

So, I have been increasingly bitter about how inefficient UCL (and I suspect the British University System in general) is. I mean, I am trying to write my paper/ study for finals, etc and they are really not making it easy for me. I vow right now to never complain about Gelman or GW again. Of course, I will complain but much less than I would have before coming to UCL I promise.

First of all, by the time of my last final I will not have had class for 2 months. How am I supposed to remember everything I learned 2 months ago in order to take a final. Oh, I know why because we didn't learn anything to remember.

This brings me to point number 2: lectures are pointless. You have to go because they take attendance but I leave each lecture with no more knowledge than I came in with. My infectious diseases class is an exception because I felt like I actually learned a lot and I might have learned a little in Art History, but the other two? Definitely not. Especially not in archaeology. I may even know less about Egyptian Archaeology than I did in January.

Point #3: They have so much red tape with everything. Each paper you have to turn in like 3 ways and each one is graded by 3 people. This really doesn't help with integrity or fairness or anything. All it does is make everything take longer.

Point #4: The library is never open. The hours are short and it closes all of the time. The library is currently closed for 7 days for "easter holiday." Yes 7 days for Easter holiday. If Gelman did this, people would revolt.

Point #5: they don't put any resources online, meaning you have to get everything from the library, which is made increasingly annoying by the previous point.

Point #6: University offices and dorms just closed for 7 days. Our internet broke the day before so I will not have internet in my building for over a week. I also will not get my mail for over a week. This is especially annoying since my debit card stopped working and the new one was supposed to be sent to me yesterday.

Luckily London is great so it makes up for the fact that UCL is inefficient. And one good thing about this weird system of learning is that we never have class. We get 6 weeks off throughout the semester. Since I am only here for one semester I really appreciate this because it gives me time to travel and explore London and all of that. But how do full time British students learn anything? Maybe I just don't know how to take advantage of this type of school?

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM

As some of you know and some of you don't my friend Fernando came into London last week to visit for 2 weeks. Although we could spend two weeks in London without even being able to do everything, we thought it might also be fun to go to Amsterdam and Brussels. So technically I have been to both of these cities before but I never made it out of the airports.

First off: Brussels. This is the quirkiest little city I have ever been to and I love it! For instance, their most famous statue is about a foot tall and they dress it up in various costumes on a regular basis. But not just anyone can dress it up. There is only one guy who is allowed to. He is the official Mannequin Pis costume designer. Despite their apparent insanity, people are friendly and laid back and the city is pretty small but still a lot to do. The food is great and I ate falafel for pretty much every other meal. Going out in Brussels is pretty fun too. There was a bar next door to one of the hostels that had a secret alleyway door and screamo music and then we went to another bar with over 2500 types of beer. For the record, I really hate beer. It makes me want to gag. But they had some flavored beer (aka raspberry) that was actually pretty good. For all my GW friends, do you think that McFaddens has Floris Raspberry during happy hour? Yeah I didn't think so either.

The Atomium

Mannequin Pis

Grand Place

Next: Amsterdam. Amsterdam is pretty no doubt but I honestly wasn't a huge fan. I think it was partly because of where we were staying though. The street we were on was 2 streets down from the red light district and had probably 20 "coffee shops" within 2 blocks. For the record, we all know I love coffee so if you don't now what I mean by Amsterdam coffee shops then you should search google. I realize for a lot of people my age who are staying in cheap hostels that's what they are looking for, which is why all the cheap places to stay are right here, but it's not really my style. I did find a market and a beautiful park though. My last day in Amsterdam before catching the train to the airport, I spent about 4 hours in my new favorite park reading. This probably makes me a 70 yr old woman but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Beautiful Canals

Tulips from Vondelpark

Classic I amsterdam Sign

Remembering Why I Love London

Lately I have been feeling a little homesick. Well, not really homesick, just kind of ready to go home. I feel like I have had my study abroad experience and now its about time to head back to where I've known people for longer than 2 months and I have my normal routine, etc. Don't get me wrong I love my study abroad experiences thus far and honestly I am sure that as soon as I get home I will probably want to hop on a plane and head back to London. But let's just say I was hitting a bit of a slump.

But then my mom came to visit and my friend Fernando just came in to visit and something about showing people around my life in London makes me realize how much I really do love this city. All of the options I have. From West End Musicals to Museums to Great Coffee to Happy Hours with Passion Fruit Cocktails.

Its good to have a reminder every once in awhile about how luck I am.

With all of this being said, Fernando and I are heading off to Brussels early tomorrow morning and then on to Amsterdam before heading back to London. Always on the road.

I'M BACK

I am back in London and think it is about time for another blog post!

My two weeks of vacation were amazing but I have to say it is also good to be back here in London with my own room and free time etc. What I am not looking forward to however is starting my final papers and studying. They have to wait for a little bit though. Tomorrow my friend Fernando is coming to visit and we are heading to Brussels then Amsterdam. I promise that when we get back to London I will start working though so don't worry :)

I guess I could get started with my work today but today is my day of TV watching, sleeping, laundry, errand running, picture posting, and blog updating and I must say I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I already gave you a brief update about my travels with my mom and there is no way to describe 6 days of packed travel throughout italy in something short and readable so I'll just show you some of my favorite pictures from both my trip with my mom and when I met up with friends in Italy.

Borough Market in London

Tea Time in London

Waterfront in Cannes

Monte Carlo Casino

Montpellier, France

Flamenco Show in Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia by Gaudi

Barceloneta

Just Pushing Over the Leaning Tower

View of Florence from the Duomo

Beautiful Florence!

I Love Venice

An Absolutely Beautiful City

Swanky Mall in Milan

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Update from the road

So I am currently in our hotel room in Montpellier typing on my moms iPhone so this post won't be long but I thought I'd give you a quick update on our mother daughter travels. Well first off my mom came in to London on Wednesday. After being so far away from home for a few months, it was really great to see family. It was just what I needed after the end of classes and the beginning of my two months of travel. For two days we hung around London and I got to show her my life for this semester. We went to borough market, we ate fish and chips, we shopped on Oxford street, we went to afternoon tea, and we even saw two musicals in the west end, les miserables and Chicago. On Friday morning, however, we left for the French riviera! We flew into nice but stayed in Cannes at the most beautiful hotel right across from the beach. The sun was shining And the weather was beautiful which was much needed. Seriously, London weather really does live up to it's reputation. Anyway, while in Cannes we rented a car so we could also drive up to Monte Carlo and some of the other surrounding villages which to me were the most beautiful of all. The drive to all of these places was possibly the prettiest thing I have ever seen. We drove along the beach with the ocean on one side and village dotted mountains on the other. Ok, so I am about to run out of wifi minutes so I have to wrap this up, but after Cannes we took a train to Montpellier where we are staying for the night tonight and tomorrow we head off to Barcelona! I will continue to keep updating as we go along. Much love as always!