this weekend we went to Scotland. it was awesome. we took the train to Edinborough. when we got there we went on a quick half-ass walking tour in which our tour guide(who wore a kilt) told us things to do. it was really hard to remeber all of what he said so brie and I just wandered for a little bit and had dinner, i had haggis. we went back to the hostel to drop some stuff off when we did I saw something for a comedy club and i decided we should go. on our way we ran into Nick and Whiney and got them to come with us. it was a really funny show even though we had to stand for two hours cuz there were no more seats. it was a good show so it wasnt bad to stand. at the comedy club the toilets are down a bunch of stairs which is really funny when everyone there is intoxicated. people were grabbing the handrail like there was no tomorrow. the people in ireland and scotland are also on a completely different level of cursing to let me tell you.
the next day we began to drive up to north scotland(the highlands) on our way we stopped and saw william wallace's memorial. then we stopped at a place that had a highland cow....random i know, i had a haggis roll there. then we stopped for lunch at the "green wellie store." it was good and in the store they sold some pretty extravagant tea pots.(shaped like telephones and houses and stuff). we then went to Loch ness where i did not see nessie but i beleive she is there. we went to Inverness after that which is where we stayed. not much to do there but our tour guide told us of cheap eats and a sweet place for music. so we went to witherspoons to eat which was way cheap. it was liek 5 pounds for a burger and a pint. sinc hte drinks were so cheap there brie and i tried a bunch cuz we had time to kill before we went to the pub for music. i think i got like 3 drinks for a lil over the price of one back in london. afterwards we went to Hootanany's. it is a three story pub where the first floor is traditional scottish music and the second floor is more rock stuff. so we saw some music on the first floor, then went up to the second floor. i got two more drinks there. and we watched a band from london play. it was really cool . brie and i both can hold our alchohol well and so cna nick and whitney...so we were all good for the walk back home. when we got there we ran into some girls who definatly could not. they couldnt even stand. i began telling the stories that they would beleive.
One girl feel into the bushes or something on their way back to the hostel and got a white mark on their jeans...i proceeded to tell her that it was blood, she licked it to see if it tasted like blood(of course it didnt) but i told her it was because it hadnt seeped all the way through her pants. the next morning was awesome talking ot them cuz they couldnt remeber.
on sunday we began our drive back. first we stopped at a battle field. it was pretty cool. then we stopped at a place for lunch where we met a bunch of the kids who were on our trip. they are from royal holloway. they were all cool and invited us to eat with them. after lunch we continued to drive through the highlands back to endinburgh. where we took teh train back home. i played random games with the kids from royal holloway. it was fun and i liked them all. we got back to kings cross station and we parted ways but they will be going on some of the other trips we are going on and they also come into the city pretty often (their school isnt in the middle of london)..it was a really fun trip.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
dublin
so this weekend brie wayne and I went to Dublin. It was a lot of fun. The first day(friday) we landed in the morning and we went to phoenix park. it is this huge park in the middle of the city. then we went to the guiness storehouse. that was really interesting. they take you through all the steps of making Guinness and different aspects like their advertising through the years. each floor is something different. then when you reach the top they give you a complimentary pint of guiness(awesome at the gravity bar which gives you a 360 view of the city. then we went to see the book of Kells in trinity college. that was pretty cool seeing such an old intricate book of the gospels preserved for so long. after that we went back to the hostel to drop off some stuff that we had. then we went out to dinner at the thunder road cafe. they had music videos going hte whole time and they were all from when we were kids so that was fun. that was a fun day. our hostel was really cool. the room that we were in was a ten person room so there were 6 beds on the bottom then there was a spiral staircase that took you to 4 more beds in a loft kind of area.
On saturday, we took a free three hour walking tour that the hostel provides. it was really interesting. we learned the history of dublin and ireland. our tour guide was only a little bit older than us and really energetic so it made it fun. he took us to dublin castle, christ's church, a walk around where the viking stuff was still there. then to an outdoor food market, then to trinity college, the temple bar area, and st stephens park. after that we walked around the park some, then went back to the hostel. we tried going into christ's church but it was closed for some event(fail). So we decided to go out and eat after that, we went to the porterhouse brewery. that place was really cool, its a three story pub. with cut outs on each floor so that everyone could see and hear the live band that played on the second floor. traditional irish music, it was cool. wayne and i each had one of the hosue beers that they brewed there, mine was made with a hint of oysters, it was a lil gross just cuz it tasted like it was burnt, waynes was alright though, we felt like we had to try one of the house brews cuz you cant get it anywhere else. after that we went back to the hostel and hung out. our flight was at 9am this morning so we had to get up pretty early. it was a fun trip
On saturday, we took a free three hour walking tour that the hostel provides. it was really interesting. we learned the history of dublin and ireland. our tour guide was only a little bit older than us and really energetic so it made it fun. he took us to dublin castle, christ's church, a walk around where the viking stuff was still there. then to an outdoor food market, then to trinity college, the temple bar area, and st stephens park. after that we walked around the park some, then went back to the hostel. we tried going into christ's church but it was closed for some event(fail). So we decided to go out and eat after that, we went to the porterhouse brewery. that place was really cool, its a three story pub. with cut outs on each floor so that everyone could see and hear the live band that played on the second floor. traditional irish music, it was cool. wayne and i each had one of the hosue beers that they brewed there, mine was made with a hint of oysters, it was a lil gross just cuz it tasted like it was burnt, waynes was alright though, we felt like we had to try one of the house brews cuz you cant get it anywhere else. after that we went back to the hostel and hung out. our flight was at 9am this morning so we had to get up pretty early. it was a fun trip
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Feb 4th
today is my birthday. i went to class in the morning. then Brie and I went out to Camden town. that is always fun. then at night we were gonna go to dinner and the Comedy Store(its an improve show like national comedy theater). as we were leaving we ran into wayne and invited him to come along. we got our tickets then went and ate at st james tavern(which we had discovered the day before) which is my favorite pub. i had steak&ale pie and a pint of guiness. it was sooooo good. then went to comedy club and we sat down with our pints of cider and watched an awesome show. it was so funny. mark you woulda loved it. then afterwards we went to Rendevous and Brie got me cake for my birthday. it was a good day and i was glad that we ran into wayne so i got to hang out with more than just one person even though wayne had no idea it was birthday till we got to the club. i think they were the only two who knew here. its all good. it was good to get happy birthdays from everyone back home. :)
Sunday FEB 1st and monday feb 2nd
so today was just awesome in all. in the morning Brie and I went to celebrate the chinese new year in trafalgar square and china town area. on our way there it was lightly snowing for a little bit but nothing stuck. the whole city was just a festive place. after Lunch We came back home until it was time for the fireworks at 6. The chinese absolutely destroy at fireworks. they were in the middle of Leicester square and it was just glorious. then i dropped brie off at a comedy club she had to go to for a class. on my way back it started to snow a little harder. by teh time i got home it was snowing pretty hard. after 2-3 hours i looked outside and low and behold it was a winter wonderland. Brie burst into my room and 10:30 pm and dragged me outside to go on a walk with her in the snow because she's never really been in it. so we went down by the Thames river and walked to westminster bridge. it was nice and the snow just kept coming. when we got back we saw wayne and saby making a snowman, so of course we joined in along with a guy named derek who came out. this is where the fun really happened.
while we were making our snowman, about 6 neighborhood kids about our age ambushed us with snowballs. we werent gonna have any of that. so we fought back. we easily pushed them back. so we got back to our snowman. then they came back 300 style. that was it, it was on. we had an hour snowball fight. we pushed them all the way back to their territory and took some of their land. this was an all out battle. they tried sneaking behind us to get us surrounded but derek and i destroyed who ever dared try to get behind us. this was soo big, cars had to had to stop because they didnt want to get hit. and we needed the street for battle. so it was 6 on like...6ish..we had me wayne derek and brie plus amanda and 2 other girls. but the girls didnt do to much. in all we won. we shook hands wiht our neighbors at the end. it was a good night for everyone in London. people were all outside being merry with complete strangers.
the next day brie burst into my room telling me that we had a snowday. i was asleep and therefore thought i was dreaming. turns out 7 inches of snow had fallen. the city literally shut down. the buses had been stopped which hasnt happened since the blitz in WWII. all teh tube lines were shut down but one which had major delays. there were no snowplows. it was insane. brie and i just walked around the city to see everything like parliment and westminster abbey covered in snow. this was the most snow since 91. so this was a historic event.
while we were making our snowman, about 6 neighborhood kids about our age ambushed us with snowballs. we werent gonna have any of that. so we fought back. we easily pushed them back. so we got back to our snowman. then they came back 300 style. that was it, it was on. we had an hour snowball fight. we pushed them all the way back to their territory and took some of their land. this was an all out battle. they tried sneaking behind us to get us surrounded but derek and i destroyed who ever dared try to get behind us. this was soo big, cars had to had to stop because they didnt want to get hit. and we needed the street for battle. so it was 6 on like...6ish..we had me wayne derek and brie plus amanda and 2 other girls. but the girls didnt do to much. in all we won. we shook hands wiht our neighbors at the end. it was a good night for everyone in London. people were all outside being merry with complete strangers.
the next day brie burst into my room telling me that we had a snowday. i was asleep and therefore thought i was dreaming. turns out 7 inches of snow had fallen. the city literally shut down. the buses had been stopped which hasnt happened since the blitz in WWII. all teh tube lines were shut down but one which had major delays. there were no snowplows. it was insane. brie and i just walked around the city to see everything like parliment and westminster abbey covered in snow. this was the most snow since 91. so this was a historic event.
Jan 28th.
today my class went to St Paul's cathedral. we got to go inside and got up to the top of it where you could see over all of london. that was cool. I met this kid wayne from maryland. we walked back to the dorm from there whihc is about a 45 minute walk. he's a cool kid. then at night brie and I went to see Phantom of the Opera which was just awesome.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
tuesday jan 27
today brie and i went and ate at the spaghetti house in leicester square then had ice cream or gelato at some place in leicester square also, it was a great place, sooooo many desserts to choose from. tuesday is like a date night from now on i guess.
Friday, January 23, 2009
london so far
Ok so i've been in london now for almost exactly two weeks. It has been amazing. I came here with brie and we have been having a great time just exploring this city. Im gonna try to post on here what i've been doing as they come but this one will be a bit longer just so i can kinda some up what i've been doing the past few weeks. (remember when i say we walked it seems like not that much but really walking is a long ways sometimes but in this it may seem like a hop skip and a jump.)
the first week we got here we explored the city a lot. we didn't have any guide or anything, we were just put in the middle of the city and had to figure it out on our own. Luckily i remembered a lot from the Europe Trip.
The first two days we were kinda sick and jet lagged so we laid low for those two days.
then on Monday we had our first orientation meeting. It just told us how school works here. That night Brie and I took a 3 hour adventure around the city. We walked to the south bank(London Eye area) and along the River Thames. we crossed the millennium bridge which lead right to St Paul's cathedral. Then we walked down Fleet street which then turns into the strand which a small shopping street. that leads to trafalgar square. from there we walked to picadilly circus. after that we walked to parliment and westminster abbey. we crossed the bridge and went home. it was fun. we then went to the three stags pub right next to where we live. i had my first beer. but it was terrible.
Then on tuesday we had our registration meetings. then i got together with my orientation group they put us in(mine was all girls) and we did our little challenge game thing to win a trip to amsterdam, which we did not win. Brie and I then walked around the city a little more. I think Leicester square.
wednesday. Brie and i walked to Buckingham palace then to hyde park and around knightsbridge(Harrod's area) then we ended up a picadilly again and we ate at Pret a Manager which is very prevalant here...more here than starbucks at home.
Thursday Brie and i went to the british museum for a few hours. its nice when you live by it cause you can do bits at a time. we then took the bus to the london bridge then walked to the tower bridge. we walked across it to the tower of london. we then went home.
friday there was a boat party for international students. brie and i couldnt find it but we didnt really care cause we didnt really want to go cause it seemed to be more partying. (it was). we then ate in picadilly. After we ate we ran into a gaza protest. it was huge and crazy..even the police were peacing out of there. so we decided itd be best if we just left. which was good cuz it starting turning into a riot afterwards(newspapers showed a starbucks we were right by that got trashed)
saturday we went out to hampton court. we then ate at the place adam tyler and mark and i had found that had excellent fish and chips. it is much colder in the country compared to the city.
sunday. we went to the national gallery. its alright. a lot of the same kinda pictures. either a landscape, a portrait, or a picture of jesus or the virgin mary. we saw a cool street performer get out of a straight jacket in 3 minutes, that was fun. we ate at a cafe where i ordered something i couldnt pronounce, turned out ot be halibut, very thin and rubbery covered in sweet chili. eh. we then went to tesco(grocery store) in elephant and castle. it was closed and that is a bad place at night...mental note*
monday 19. classes started so that was cool.
tuesday. another day of classes. i met my first guy. his name is matt. cool kid to hang out with in class.
wednesday. class again. matt was in that class too. along with some of his other friends. i found out they were pretty big party kids. awesome. brie and i then went down to Harrods and then went ot trafalgar square. we made dinner on bries floor and met some cool girls there.
thursday. i walked around oxford circus(shopping district) with two kids from my class, alex(girl) and teddy. teddy went to his next class so i continued to walk with alex and get to know her. she seems pretty cool. Then brie and i went grocery shopping and made dinner on her floor again. i had a Guiness foreign extra. it was alright.
friday. brie and i met up with kelly pfiel and her friend. we went out to camden town, which is an awesome place to hang out. it was fun. we had lunch after her friend went back home. then us three walked around picadilly and china town. it was fun. nice to talk to someone rather than just brie. its weird how a third person to a conversation changes everything.
Saturday jan 24. we are signed up for this programme that takes us on different trips and stuff. today we went to blenheim palace and oxford university. we met this couple from minnesota, Nick and Whitney. they are pretty awesome kids and they are going on all teh trips to so im pretty stoked. after that we went to picadilly so i could get bigger earrings (3mm) we then found that saturday is a bad day for picadilly. lots of people and lots of police and more gaza protests. i had cider with my dinner that we made. it was pretty good.
sunday. our lazy day. i had to get a textbook. and i had wychwood hobgoblin beer. it was pretty good.
monday. jan 26. i had class. then had dinner at home. spaghetti and well's bombadier ale. it was eh.
so that catches up to today. whew. i will now be only posting eventful days. or so. i dont really know.
the first week we got here we explored the city a lot. we didn't have any guide or anything, we were just put in the middle of the city and had to figure it out on our own. Luckily i remembered a lot from the Europe Trip.
The first two days we were kinda sick and jet lagged so we laid low for those two days.
then on Monday we had our first orientation meeting. It just told us how school works here. That night Brie and I took a 3 hour adventure around the city. We walked to the south bank(London Eye area) and along the River Thames. we crossed the millennium bridge which lead right to St Paul's cathedral. Then we walked down Fleet street which then turns into the strand which a small shopping street. that leads to trafalgar square. from there we walked to picadilly circus. after that we walked to parliment and westminster abbey. we crossed the bridge and went home. it was fun. we then went to the three stags pub right next to where we live. i had my first beer. but it was terrible.
Then on tuesday we had our registration meetings. then i got together with my orientation group they put us in(mine was all girls) and we did our little challenge game thing to win a trip to amsterdam, which we did not win. Brie and I then walked around the city a little more. I think Leicester square.
wednesday. Brie and i walked to Buckingham palace then to hyde park and around knightsbridge(Harrod's area) then we ended up a picadilly again and we ate at Pret a Manager which is very prevalant here...more here than starbucks at home.
Thursday Brie and i went to the british museum for a few hours. its nice when you live by it cause you can do bits at a time. we then took the bus to the london bridge then walked to the tower bridge. we walked across it to the tower of london. we then went home.
friday there was a boat party for international students. brie and i couldnt find it but we didnt really care cause we didnt really want to go cause it seemed to be more partying. (it was). we then ate in picadilly. After we ate we ran into a gaza protest. it was huge and crazy..even the police were peacing out of there. so we decided itd be best if we just left. which was good cuz it starting turning into a riot afterwards(newspapers showed a starbucks we were right by that got trashed)
saturday we went out to hampton court. we then ate at the place adam tyler and mark and i had found that had excellent fish and chips. it is much colder in the country compared to the city.
sunday. we went to the national gallery. its alright. a lot of the same kinda pictures. either a landscape, a portrait, or a picture of jesus or the virgin mary. we saw a cool street performer get out of a straight jacket in 3 minutes, that was fun. we ate at a cafe where i ordered something i couldnt pronounce, turned out ot be halibut, very thin and rubbery covered in sweet chili. eh. we then went to tesco(grocery store) in elephant and castle. it was closed and that is a bad place at night...mental note*
monday 19. classes started so that was cool.
tuesday. another day of classes. i met my first guy. his name is matt. cool kid to hang out with in class.
wednesday. class again. matt was in that class too. along with some of his other friends. i found out they were pretty big party kids. awesome. brie and i then went down to Harrods and then went ot trafalgar square. we made dinner on bries floor and met some cool girls there.
thursday. i walked around oxford circus(shopping district) with two kids from my class, alex(girl) and teddy. teddy went to his next class so i continued to walk with alex and get to know her. she seems pretty cool. Then brie and i went grocery shopping and made dinner on her floor again. i had a Guiness foreign extra. it was alright.
friday. brie and i met up with kelly pfiel and her friend. we went out to camden town, which is an awesome place to hang out. it was fun. we had lunch after her friend went back home. then us three walked around picadilly and china town. it was fun. nice to talk to someone rather than just brie. its weird how a third person to a conversation changes everything.
Saturday jan 24. we are signed up for this programme that takes us on different trips and stuff. today we went to blenheim palace and oxford university. we met this couple from minnesota, Nick and Whitney. they are pretty awesome kids and they are going on all teh trips to so im pretty stoked. after that we went to picadilly so i could get bigger earrings (3mm) we then found that saturday is a bad day for picadilly. lots of people and lots of police and more gaza protests. i had cider with my dinner that we made. it was pretty good.
sunday. our lazy day. i had to get a textbook. and i had wychwood hobgoblin beer. it was pretty good.
monday. jan 26. i had class. then had dinner at home. spaghetti and well's bombadier ale. it was eh.
so that catches up to today. whew. i will now be only posting eventful days. or so. i dont really know.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)