DISCLAIMER:
The following entries were written so late because I have been in a state of nonstop activity and hosting. Also, I know I can write better and in more descriptive detail, but this is the best I can do for now just to get everything down chronologically before it's too late and I forget. Pictures and video are still to come. Thanks for your patience.
Hey Everybody,
SO MUCH has happened since my last post. Everyday I've been saying how I NEED to blog because I've been out seeing so much art and theater and having so many adventures. It's time to share.
LIZA AND MARTIN'S VISIT -
Two weekends ago my friends from school Liza and Martin came to stay with me in London at the flat. Martin got in late thursday evening after a hiccup of a tube signal failure that took me two hours to meet him at the airport. UGH. We got home to find my roomates at a dinner party so we grabbed some cider and a bottle of wine to relax.
The next morning I had work so Martin went to the British Museum to walk around and explore. Afterward, I met Liza at the train station and we headed back to the flat. I felt bad, but that night I really needed to plan my trip to Greece with the guys upstairs so while I did that they went out to get some british fish and chips down the road.
SO it's booked! I am officially going to Greece April 9th-13th. It's a three day CRUISE through the islands. The first day we fly into Athens, spend the night and the next morning we catch the cruise and head to Mykonos, Rhodes, Patmos, and then Kusadasi, Turkey!! It really is a trip of a lifetime. The weather here had been so warm lately, I can't imagine what it'll be like in Greece in April. I'm very happy I decided to book even though it is a bit expensive when compared to other weekend trip destinations.
After finally booking we went out to celebrate with Martin and headed to Picadilly Circus to Sports Cafe. It was meh, danced a bit and got to hang out.
The next day we walked all over London. Started at the Burough Market which is my new favorite spot. I've been going there Saturday mornings because it is HUGE and has all these vendors with everything from fresh fish, cheese, bread, jams, etc. And many stands have free samples. When we went it was mobbed with people. Afterward we had the opportunity to see St. Paul's Cathedral, and walk down the wobbly bridge to the Tate Modern and Globe Theater. From there we walked down the river (got a vanilla softserve) to London Bridge. I kinda wanted to see if we could go inside the Gurkin (spelling?) - it's the egg shaped building London is famous for. It was closed when we got up to it but we were still able to take some pics close up. From there we walked down Tower Bride to the state house building.
It's free to explore the walkway at the top, and it has beautiful views of the river and the bridge. We asked a nice old spanish man to take a photo of us but he must have never used a camera before because he held it backwards and then upside down.
By this point my feet were killing me and I was about to crash from staying up late and then walking around all day so I headed back to the flat to nap and cook some dinner while Martin, Liza, and Jon went out shopping. We had a nice meal of greek chicken - my new favorite dish to make from the cookbook mom wrote down for me for xmas. I've made it at least three times now!
That night Martin read off the list of options for going out and we decided on a place called Village Soho. Martin described it as a chill place to go before heading out to the real party. Turns out this place was pretty crazy - good experience for my first gay bar. The makeup on some of those boys...wow.
On Sunday I had already been signed up for a social program trip to Oxford and Blenheim Palace for the day. Both Liza and Martin went off into the city to explore and do their own things.
Blenheim Palace was unbelievable. It is the only privately owned palace and is where Winston Churchill was born. It is home to the Duke of Marlborough who actually lives there even though the other half the the palace is used for tours. It is where the movie Young Victoria (just released here starring Emma Blunt) was filmed instead of Buckingham Palace. On wednesday I saw the movie with Martin and recognized everything! I was just there! The palace gardens are probably my favorite part, but it was raining when me and Katie were out there exploring. We still got some good pictures out of it though! I'll post them.
Oxford is half an hour away from the palace so that's where we headed next on the coach bus. Our tour guide explained to us the history as we drove. So many prime ministers have attended university there...
It is absolutely beautiful. The whole town looks like a castle. It's like Harry Potter. And speaking of, Katie and I decided it was worth it to spend a couple pounds to enter Christ Church to see the courtyard and great hall where the HP movies were filmed. Walking around it was amazing because the sun came out and we even saw a rainbow. On the way back we stopped at the Eagle and Child for a pint. It's the pub where CS Lewis and Toilken met to discuss their books together. I loved it!
On the bus ride home I read through the Greece travel books I took out from the library. It was a very good day.
That night we went out to Tiger Tiger because it is free on sundays. It was probably the most fun I've had out at a club in a very long time. Tons of ridiculous dancing and Britney music, it really doesn't get much better than that.
Monday Liza and I work up early to walk around Hyde Park in the sunshine. We got a chance to talk and relax before her trip home on the train and before I had class.
Tuesday - work...can't remember what else...
Wednesday - went shopping with Martin at High Street Kensington and saw Young Victoria. Then I packed at met mom at the airport!
<3 A
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
More Video from Alex's Visit
Sorry, I never posted this - but it makes me laugh every time. I'll add more videos to this post later.
Here's Alex feeding the birds at Hyde Park.
Here's Alex feeding the birds at Hyde Park.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
I love my job.
Hey Kiddos!This is like a first day of school day of school pic - me this morning in my work clothes. Mom, I wanted to show you how nice the blazer you gave me looks even though you can't really see in the photo.
I was thinking today at work (Three's a Crowd - small online magazine) about how I should post about what I do during the week.
I work in a small office overlooking Bloomsbury Square (it'll be beautiful once it starts getting nice out). The people I work with are fabulous - my supervisor is very sweet and is fun to talk to. Plus, she has given me the option to write or work from home or a cafe if I wish. When the office is full, it's around 5 people, mostly twenty-somethings.
There is a lot of freedom with the job. My supervisor will forward me emails about potential story ideas and I also scan the work email inbox for stuff from PR people that I can use. One example is the brief I did about a Glenn Close podcast.
Basically, I can choose whatever I want to write about! It's great! Thus far I've started a few projects. I got in contact with the PR person for Jason Mraz and gave her some interview questions for a Q&A to post. (For those my parents age - he is a popular pop singer, my friends are very jealous).
Today I posted a movie review on the site for He's Just Not That Into You! Go check it out here! :)
I saw it this weekend with a few girlfriends and then got to write about it. Awesome!
The atmosphere is very laid back. I usually go in around 10am although I have been the first there a few times and had to wait for someone to come and unlock the office. I usually stay till 3 - normally longer than my boss. Pretty much I choose my own hours. I really really enjoy being there so I like to stay longer.
They play music in the office and today a girl brought in her black pomeranian dog named Merlin. LOVE IT. I am very dog deprived, Merlin is too cute for words and sat on my lap a few times. He even fell asleep on the desk.
I love getting up in the morning, putting on nice work clothes, doing my makeup, going on the tube with the other commuters, and doing real work for a real company. It's like I'm a real person :p and sure beats a regular school day!
I'm very glad it's working out. I am pretty much the only person working the website right now. I get to edit and review posted stories and decide placement.
www.threesacrowdonline.com
Check it regularly and look for the posts by me (annaweb) mine is the icon with the monarch butterfly - obvi.
Much love,
A
Monday, March 2, 2009
A Word from Alex
So, Alex decided he would write a blog post to contribute his thoughts and feelings about when he hopped across the pond to visit. Here it is! Ask me about the unabridged version if you'd like to read more:
Prologue
So I’m supposed to write my own account of the events of the now infamous London vacation for Anna’s blog and I’m at a loss. There is no way that I can describe all of the awesomeness of our experiences in writing, especially since I am not the journalist in the relationship. It’s cliché but you really had to be there to understand. However, reading both of our blogs along with looking at the pictures on Facebook and watching the videos on Anna’s blog (she needs to put up the rest of them b-t-dubs) can give you a pretty good idea of what went down and how much I love this girl.
So this vacation started long before my February 11th flight. I had bought 1000 dollars worth of Red Sox tickets to resell in order to make the money for my flight and expenses (also, I just wanted to go to some games this summer). I guess people don’t like to scalp tickets during an economic recession, lame. I still have some tickets to Sox vs. Yanks if you want to go and throw rocks at A-Roid or hold up signs that say something like “GOT BOLI?”. Let me know, I’m broke. I ended up buying my plane ticket in mid-January despite going into debt because there was no way I could go four months without seeing Anna. I didn’t tell her I was coming because I like to give her surprises so I mailed a copy of my itinerary to London so she would just open it one day and freak that I was coming. Wah wah, the letter got lost in the mail and I ended up telling her a few weeks later so she wouldn’t plan another trip or something that weekend. Anyways, the trip was set, Anna was planning an amazing itinerary which she wouldn’t share with me (apparently someone likes surprises too), and I was going through the motions of stupid SED methods courses and counting down the days.
Chapter 1: February 11th 2009, a day that will live in infamy
So the big day finally arrived. I had scheduled all of my final presentation for the previous Monday so I had two full days to run errands, pack, and mentally prepare myself for going to a country that can somehow take over the entire world but doesn’t know how to cook a decent meal. I got up early to get ready (early is a relative term. That day 10 am was early. Haha. How much I would give to not have to get up at 6:15 every morning now to go student teach). I first went to Shaw’s to buy Anna some American food like she requested. Does it get any more American than Mac ‘n Cheese, PastaRoni, Triscuits, and Milano cookies? I also went to the bank to pick up my pounds (damn money is too wide to fit in regular American wallets, stupid English). That day it was an unseasonably 60 degrees in Boston (which I would later explain to my students was because the jet stream had shifted northward allowing warm air from the tropics to extend into New England) so I decided to go for a run on the esplanade. This was immediately followed by a trip to fit rec. You see, I wanted to get so exhausted that I would be able to sleep the entire time on the plane. Because I am such a perfect specimen of muscle, it took me a few hours at the gym to get sufficiently tired, I guess that’s what happens when you take primobolin, right A-Rod? At this point I went back home to get my luggage and headed to the airport. Logan’s international terminal is way nicer than the rest of the place, I think they are trying to make people think we are classier than we really are when they first get to the country. My flight left Boston at 6pm EST. I sat next to a British couple who were visiting their daughter in Maine. They asked me if I was “on holiday”. What? Don’t British people know how to speak English? I took some Tylenol PM to hasten my sleep and plugged into the plane’s armrest radio (Some British Akon wannabe was on named Lemar. He was pretty good. Check it out on YouTube. Weight of the World and If She Knew are pretty sweet songs). When I woke up the couple next to me had grabbed me a dinner. Which reminds me, British Airways makes every American company look like shit. They are friendly, everyone has their own TV, and the food is great. Sadly I think the airplane food was better than a lot of the food I ate in London. The meal consisted of chicken with pasta, salad, bread and butter, pie and custard, water, and all the free wine you could drink. Before falling back asleep I noticed on the TV map that we were over the mid-Atlantic ridge and got excited about Earth Science. When I woke up from this second nap there was a breakfast in front of me. Did this couple go to Hogwarts or something? Food just seemed to materialize in front of me. Because of the 5 hour time difference it was now 4 am on Thursday February 12th GMT so they were serving breakfast 2 hours after they served dinner (surprisingly wine was still available). We touched down in London half an hour earlier than scheduled at 5 am. Anna was supposed to meet me at 6am…time for a nap.
Chapter 2: February 12th 2009, ‘ello ‘ello
Turns out Anna’s train was running late so she didn’t show up until 7. In the meantime I read an issue of Ski Magazine and got pissed off that I don’t get spring break because of student teaching so I can’t go visit Aaron in Denver and go skiing this winter. Anna arrived looking all flustered but still as beautiful as ever. She didn’t see me so I called her over and gave her the best and biggest huggums ever! Talk about warm fuzzies! Anna bought me my Oyster Card for the week (lame version of a Charlie Card that you have to scan when you get on AND off the train). London is so ridiculously expensive! The card for 6 days cost 30 something pounds which is over 45 dollars. My monthly Charlie Card cost 50 bucks. Boston 1, London 0. Read carefully here, the following is the first thing that happened when I got to London: Anna’s Oyster card didn’t work so she had to talk to the attendant. I had already gone through the gate so I was watching this scene unfold from afar. The tube worker tried to get Anna’s phone number and get her to go on a date with him. Stupid London men. First 5 minutes with Anna in London and I see her get hit on. Going to be a long two more months…
We hop on the tube to Cockfosters (heh. It sounds really funny when the PA lady with a polite British accent says it) to head to her Aunt Glenna and Uncle Robin’s house. Thank God she has relatives there or we would have had to sleep in her bunk bed. At Glenna’s we unpacked and immediately took a nap. Remember that for my body it was 4 am at this point. Anna had no excuse. When we woke up a few hours later we hopped on one of those cool double decker busses (I insisted on sitting on the top) and rode it in to the Buckingham Palace area. Along the way we passed the Chelsea Football Club stadium. It was kind of cool. I took pictures to show Tim. Traveling by bus was much better than riding the tube because we were able to see more of London. It is a very beautiful city (not as beautiful as Boston though). Every street looks like Bay State and there are parks and gardens everywhere.
We got off the bus and walked over to Buckingham Palace. It was kind of cool, not really impressive for a palace (for a sweet ass palace keep reading about the Tower of London in Chapter 4). After the required tourist photo of the guards with the big fuzzy hats and the front gate we walked through St. James’ park heading towards Parliament. The park was really cool. There were many types of birds all over the place and people feeding huge flocks of pigeons. It reminded me of the scene in Mary Poppins when Mary is showing the children the snow globe where the old women in feeding the birds for tuppins a bag.
Side Notes about Marry Poppins:
1) I immediately started singing the song. “feed the birds, tuppins a bag. Tuppins, tuppins, tuppins a bag”
2) Anna questioned my singing skills which I ignored
3) Anna has never seen Mary Poppins. That’s almost grounds for a break up.
4) I wondered what stairs the woman was on in the movie during that song and if we could go see them. Should ask Mom about that one.
5) What is a tuppins
6) Saw some sidewalk paintings later and made a reference about jumping into them and having a horse race. Anna really needs to see that movie so I don’t sound so stupid.
Also in this park were the coolest squirrels ever. They must have learned over the generations to beg for some of the food that people were feeding to the birds. They would run up to you, stand on their back legs, and hold up their arms for food. I could imagine them with their little British accents saying “please sir, may I have some more”. It became my goal to feed one while I was there. Stay tuned. We then continued to walk around to Parliament and Big Ben (more like medium Ben, Cornell’s clock tower isn’t much smaller). Meanwhile, Anna had her nose suck in her London travel guide book trying to find out how to get to Leicester Square (Anna fix my spelling) because she had a surprise for me. We took the tube and turns out we were going to see We Will Rock You! THE F&*ING QUEEN MUSICAL!! WAAAAAAAAHH *holds up rock devil horns and screams like 80’s hair metal lead singer*!!!!! Before the show (concert) started we decided to go to a pub for dinner and drinks. I was excited. Fish n chips and awesome English ales right? Wrong. The food sucked, I would much rather have a fish fry in Boston. The beer was gross and tasted like natty light mmmm. Went to another pub for some cider and then headed to the show.
So the show… I can see why critics panned the thing. There really was no set, little dialogue, and a ridiculous plot. Apparently some company took over the world hundreds of years in the future (i.e. Wall-E) and has homogenized culture. All instruments were destroyed because they encouraged kids to rebel. So our protagonists (who all had names from Queen songs) had to study the ancient religion of Queen music and find Brian May’s lost guitar and save the world. Far fetched but AWESOME. All the actors could sing like Freddy Mercury and the band has bitchin’. By the end, everyone in the audience was singing along, waving their arms, stomping the beat to We Will Rock You and holding up cell phone lights. They sang Bohemian Rhapsody after the curtain call and I realized that Queen is the best band ever. Between the draining excitement of the show and jet lag, we went back to Glenna’s and went to bed early.
Chapter 3: February 13th 2009, Let’s do touristy things!
We got a late start that day but it was worth it for the most amazing and comfortable sleep we both had in a long time. We had “breakfast” if you can call English food that (needless to say I bought a box of Cheerios that night to eat the rest of the trip) and then took the bus down to Westminster Abbey. That place was pretty sweet. Very cool to see so many monuments and graves of monarchs and famous people. I especially enjoyed seeing Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin because science turns me on. We spent a few hours there. The architecture was really inspiring too. We also managed to sneak into some courtyard that was closed for the day and took some illegal photographs. I am going to model my backyard after that place.
By the time we left the abbey the sun was starting to break through the clouds so we thought then would be a good time to go on the London Eye. The thing is freaking expensive for a ferris wheel. It was worth it though because in the 35 minutes it took to go around we got amazing views, awesome pictures, and I managed to freak Anna out by talking about bungee jumping (which I still really want to do). After the Eye we were both super hungry so we went to find some food. Subway seemed appetizing because it was American but apparently the Subway’s in London don’t make bread. How the hell are you supposed to make a sandwich without bread?! We went to a little Italian café instead and although it was 3 or so in the afternoon we both got breakfast foods. Delicious. Then it was time for a nap back at Glenna’s and dinner with Anna’s aunt and uncle. (Glenna's food was great!) That night we went out to a club nearby. It was a salsa themed place with Spanish music, Coronas galore, and Hispanic people dancing up a storm. I obviously fit in but Anna felt too white so we had to leave. We proceeded down the street to a more traditional pub. They were playing Abba and Queen music and everyone was singing along and drinking straight out of pitchers. My kind of place. Unfortunately London pubs close at midnight (who would have thought that Boston night life actually goes late compared to some places) so we met up with some of her abroad friends and went to a club. This place looked like one of the vampire clubs from the first Blade movie where it is in the basement of a building, all dark inside, with a few red lights providing an eerie glow. They had a DJ playing contemporary music but with a jazz band accompanying it. Weird but pretty fun. The place was packed though because it was the only place left open that late. We danced it up none the less.
Chapter 4: February 14th 2009, BEST VALENTINE’S DAY EVER!!
Anna had a whole day of activities planned for us on Valentine’s Day so she wanted to get an early start. We had a delicious breakfast of Cheerios, got dressed up all fancy (she looked soooooooo beautiful) then managed to catch a ride with Glenna and Robin to the Tate Modern art museum. Modern art is not my thing. I would take the MFA or Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum any day. Classical art tells stories, actually looks like real things, and requires artistic talent. Most modern art looks like something I could have painted in kindergarten. Oh well. Still pretty cool to see some original Picasso’s, Dali’s, Miro’s and Monet’s. Just being with my baby on Valentine’s Day makes anyplace the perfect place to be. After leaving the museum we walked down the pier a bit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater (theatre if you are from England and don’t know how to spell). The place was so small that it must be really intimate to see a show there. I told Anna that she should go back in the spring when they start putting on productions. We then walked across a pedestrian bridge heading towards St. Paul’s Cathedral where we managed to get an amateur photographer to take a bunch of pictures of us looking all cute together. On the other side of the bridge I bought some candied nuts from a street vendor because I was starving and kept hoping that I would see a squirrel I could feed some too. We went into St. Paul’s but couldn’t go up to the galleries at the top because as mass was about to start. Still, the place was really amazing. I wondered if the steps out front were the ones from Mary Poppins. Anna thought I was crazy that I was always thinking about feeding squirrels and Mary Poppins scenes while on vacation. We had a few hours to kill before our 9:30pm mystery activity so we walked around the area for a bit, got coffee at a café, ate some Subway (this one had bread), and I stole a rose from a restaurant window for Anna. She loved it.
We then walked a few blocks over to the Tower of London. Screw Buckingham Palace, this is where I would live if I were King. This castle kicked so much ass. The place was huge! I wanted to take a tour but they were closed for the night. That is one activity we didn’t get to do that I regret. Right next to the castle was Tower Bridge. We got some really great postcard worthy pictures of it all lit up. I wanted to go up and look at it but Anna wouldn’t let me. Meany. From there we stopped in a nearby grocery store and picked up wine for later that night. The restaurant we were going to had a 45 minute wait so we went down and sat by the river and drank our bottle of wine together. Very romantic. Dinner was nice. We both got gnocchi which was delicious but not as good as Massamino’s. Anna was pretty buzzed by this point haha. After dinner we walked over to the bridge and she finally let me go up on it! Turns out she had got tickets to a jazz and champagne reception on the observations walkways that span the two towers of the bridge! She is such a good girlfriend. We hiked up all the steps to the top and were greeted by soft red and pink lighting, a waiter with champagne glasses, and smooth live jazz music. We had an hour to enjoy the view, take photos, drink champagne, dance, and talk about how much better our Valentine’s Day was than all of our friends’. Needless to say we stole the glasses. They are currently sitting on my desk in my room waiting for the day we can celebrate Anna’s return home. On the train ride home Anna was hit on by a lesbian who apparently is dating Miss Belize but thought that Anna was gorgeous (like Ithaca) and smart. Why is everyone in London hitting on my girlfriend? Ugh!
Chapter 5: February 15th 2009, Museum Hopping
We started the day by going to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington near Anna’s flat. I was excited because I love rocks, it was Darwin’s bicentennial, and Anna told me they had a great mineral collection. The place was mobbed though because it was the first day of school vacation so everyone was there with their families. Stupid kids trying to learn. Anna was right, the mineral collection was awesome, I must have looked at it for an hour while Anna kept asking if we could leave. Sorry babe, you’re dating an Earth Science teacher. If you don’t like it there are plenty of people in London who have been trying to pick you up. After the museum we stopped at a café to eat lunch. By this point in the vacation we were both so broke that we packed our own lunches. PB and J hell yeah! Next we were off to the Victoria and Albert Museum which had more classical art including a whole room filled with huge murals done by Zach’s favorite ninja turtle, Raphael.
From the museum we walked up into Hyde Park which was awesome. More to come on that next chapter. We saw a tiny pile of snow that was the remains of the giant snowman Anna made during the blizzard two weeks before. Anna then took me back to her flat. It is a really nice neighborhood and would be a beautiful place if two or three people lived in it instead of five. I won’t go into details here but you can imagine. After a snack at the flat Anna wanted to go home but I insisted on dragging her across town to Kings Cross station to see platform 9 ¾ of Harry Potter fame. Anna was not happy, maybe if she had finished reading the books she would have been more excited to go. I was glad that we went because it was so super cool! There was luggage cart that was cut in half and placed against the wall so it looked like it was half way through the magic entrance with a platform sign above it (everyone knows that there is not supposed to be a sign there otherwise Muggles will find it, duh) where you could pose. We went back home to bed early that night because Anna had a final the next day.
Chapter 6: February 16th 2009, My Last Day ☹
Because the BU abroad program is dumb they decided to give Anna an all day take home final on my last day in London. She was up at 8 working on her essays, while I slept in. When I woke up we had to go back to Kensington because the BU abroad program is stupid and scheduled a mandatory internship meeting during a time when people were supposed to be working on their finals. While Anna was in her meeting I explored Hyde Park to kill the time. Even though it was the middle of February the grass was green, flowers were blooming, and many animals were out and about (it’s going to suck for the English when global warming stops the Gulf Stream). I took a lot of pictures of the birds in this big central pond and even got a sweet video of this one swan grooming (Anna gets it). I met up with Anna after her meeting and we went back to Hyde Park for the two hours before her other stupid BU abroad program meeting. On the way we stopped to get some snacks and some seeds so I could attempt to feed a squirrel!! I bought an English candy bar called a Yorkie which has the tag line “it’s not for girls” and the O on the label is one of those circles with the line through it symbolizing no with a girl stick figure in the middle. Hilarious. I don’t know how you can market something that says not for girls but it worked because I bought one. Anna said I was acting like a 7 year old because I was eating a not for girls candy bar, drinking an apple juice, and asked her to tie my shoe when it came undone. Heh.
Hyde Park was beautiful at sunset. We walked along this one central river which was very relaxing and a nice therapeutic way to end an amazing vacation. We fed all of the seeds to this cool swan which I named Swantinio and watched as some dog tried to get a stick out of the water for 10 minutes. Good times. On the way out of the park I saw a squirrel and luckily had a few seeds left in my pocket! OMG what a great bookend for my trip! Anna was in a rush to get to her meeting so she wouldn’t wait and watch as I fed the squirrel. She missed a great, defining moment of the vacation. After her meeting we headed back to her aunt’s place for the night. We stopped and got Pizza Hut on the way for dinner which might have been the best meal I had all week. I have a new respect for American food now. We spent the night packing, relaxing, and enjoying our last few hours together.
Epilogue
The next morning we were up at 8 and on the train heading towards Heathrow. Saying goodbye was so hard knowing that it would be another two months until I got to see my baby again. The flight left London at 11 and got back to Boston at 1 because of the time difference. I was so jet lagged but had to go to class from 4-7 (aka 9-12 my body time) which was rough. I walked in a few minutes late and was freaked out because we had a guest speaker who was from the UK and talking with a British accent. I thought I had left London already!
In retrospect my London vacation was the best $700 I ever spent. I am so glad that I was able to go visit my wonderful girlfriend and she where she is living and what she is experiencing this semester. It was also my first time out of the country excluding Canada. I love Anna so much and cannot imagine going a whole semester without seeing her. The trip reemphasized to me just how much I love her and how much she means to me. I would go across the world to spend time with her. I will never forget the time we shared during those five insanely fast days; they will become another chapter to the continually lengthening book of adventures together. I cannot wait until she comes home.
Alex
Prologue
So I’m supposed to write my own account of the events of the now infamous London vacation for Anna’s blog and I’m at a loss. There is no way that I can describe all of the awesomeness of our experiences in writing, especially since I am not the journalist in the relationship. It’s cliché but you really had to be there to understand. However, reading both of our blogs along with looking at the pictures on Facebook and watching the videos on Anna’s blog (she needs to put up the rest of them b-t-dubs) can give you a pretty good idea of what went down and how much I love this girl.
So this vacation started long before my February 11th flight. I had bought 1000 dollars worth of Red Sox tickets to resell in order to make the money for my flight and expenses (also, I just wanted to go to some games this summer). I guess people don’t like to scalp tickets during an economic recession, lame. I still have some tickets to Sox vs. Yanks if you want to go and throw rocks at A-Roid or hold up signs that say something like “GOT BOLI?”. Let me know, I’m broke. I ended up buying my plane ticket in mid-January despite going into debt because there was no way I could go four months without seeing Anna. I didn’t tell her I was coming because I like to give her surprises so I mailed a copy of my itinerary to London so she would just open it one day and freak that I was coming. Wah wah, the letter got lost in the mail and I ended up telling her a few weeks later so she wouldn’t plan another trip or something that weekend. Anyways, the trip was set, Anna was planning an amazing itinerary which she wouldn’t share with me (apparently someone likes surprises too), and I was going through the motions of stupid SED methods courses and counting down the days.
Chapter 1: February 11th 2009, a day that will live in infamy
So the big day finally arrived. I had scheduled all of my final presentation for the previous Monday so I had two full days to run errands, pack, and mentally prepare myself for going to a country that can somehow take over the entire world but doesn’t know how to cook a decent meal. I got up early to get ready (early is a relative term. That day 10 am was early. Haha. How much I would give to not have to get up at 6:15 every morning now to go student teach). I first went to Shaw’s to buy Anna some American food like she requested. Does it get any more American than Mac ‘n Cheese, PastaRoni, Triscuits, and Milano cookies? I also went to the bank to pick up my pounds (damn money is too wide to fit in regular American wallets, stupid English). That day it was an unseasonably 60 degrees in Boston (which I would later explain to my students was because the jet stream had shifted northward allowing warm air from the tropics to extend into New England) so I decided to go for a run on the esplanade. This was immediately followed by a trip to fit rec. You see, I wanted to get so exhausted that I would be able to sleep the entire time on the plane. Because I am such a perfect specimen of muscle, it took me a few hours at the gym to get sufficiently tired, I guess that’s what happens when you take primobolin, right A-Rod? At this point I went back home to get my luggage and headed to the airport. Logan’s international terminal is way nicer than the rest of the place, I think they are trying to make people think we are classier than we really are when they first get to the country. My flight left Boston at 6pm EST. I sat next to a British couple who were visiting their daughter in Maine. They asked me if I was “on holiday”. What? Don’t British people know how to speak English? I took some Tylenol PM to hasten my sleep and plugged into the plane’s armrest radio (Some British Akon wannabe was on named Lemar. He was pretty good. Check it out on YouTube. Weight of the World and If She Knew are pretty sweet songs). When I woke up the couple next to me had grabbed me a dinner. Which reminds me, British Airways makes every American company look like shit. They are friendly, everyone has their own TV, and the food is great. Sadly I think the airplane food was better than a lot of the food I ate in London. The meal consisted of chicken with pasta, salad, bread and butter, pie and custard, water, and all the free wine you could drink. Before falling back asleep I noticed on the TV map that we were over the mid-Atlantic ridge and got excited about Earth Science. When I woke up from this second nap there was a breakfast in front of me. Did this couple go to Hogwarts or something? Food just seemed to materialize in front of me. Because of the 5 hour time difference it was now 4 am on Thursday February 12th GMT so they were serving breakfast 2 hours after they served dinner (surprisingly wine was still available). We touched down in London half an hour earlier than scheduled at 5 am. Anna was supposed to meet me at 6am…time for a nap.
Chapter 2: February 12th 2009, ‘ello ‘ello
Turns out Anna’s train was running late so she didn’t show up until 7. In the meantime I read an issue of Ski Magazine and got pissed off that I don’t get spring break because of student teaching so I can’t go visit Aaron in Denver and go skiing this winter. Anna arrived looking all flustered but still as beautiful as ever. She didn’t see me so I called her over and gave her the best and biggest huggums ever! Talk about warm fuzzies! Anna bought me my Oyster Card for the week (lame version of a Charlie Card that you have to scan when you get on AND off the train). London is so ridiculously expensive! The card for 6 days cost 30 something pounds which is over 45 dollars. My monthly Charlie Card cost 50 bucks. Boston 1, London 0. Read carefully here, the following is the first thing that happened when I got to London: Anna’s Oyster card didn’t work so she had to talk to the attendant. I had already gone through the gate so I was watching this scene unfold from afar. The tube worker tried to get Anna’s phone number and get her to go on a date with him. Stupid London men. First 5 minutes with Anna in London and I see her get hit on. Going to be a long two more months…
We hop on the tube to Cockfosters (heh. It sounds really funny when the PA lady with a polite British accent says it) to head to her Aunt Glenna and Uncle Robin’s house. Thank God she has relatives there or we would have had to sleep in her bunk bed. At Glenna’s we unpacked and immediately took a nap. Remember that for my body it was 4 am at this point. Anna had no excuse. When we woke up a few hours later we hopped on one of those cool double decker busses (I insisted on sitting on the top) and rode it in to the Buckingham Palace area. Along the way we passed the Chelsea Football Club stadium. It was kind of cool. I took pictures to show Tim. Traveling by bus was much better than riding the tube because we were able to see more of London. It is a very beautiful city (not as beautiful as Boston though). Every street looks like Bay State and there are parks and gardens everywhere.
We got off the bus and walked over to Buckingham Palace. It was kind of cool, not really impressive for a palace (for a sweet ass palace keep reading about the Tower of London in Chapter 4). After the required tourist photo of the guards with the big fuzzy hats and the front gate we walked through St. James’ park heading towards Parliament. The park was really cool. There were many types of birds all over the place and people feeding huge flocks of pigeons. It reminded me of the scene in Mary Poppins when Mary is showing the children the snow globe where the old women in feeding the birds for tuppins a bag.
Side Notes about Marry Poppins:
1) I immediately started singing the song. “feed the birds, tuppins a bag. Tuppins, tuppins, tuppins a bag”
2) Anna questioned my singing skills which I ignored
3) Anna has never seen Mary Poppins. That’s almost grounds for a break up.
4) I wondered what stairs the woman was on in the movie during that song and if we could go see them. Should ask Mom about that one.
5) What is a tuppins
6) Saw some sidewalk paintings later and made a reference about jumping into them and having a horse race. Anna really needs to see that movie so I don’t sound so stupid.
Also in this park were the coolest squirrels ever. They must have learned over the generations to beg for some of the food that people were feeding to the birds. They would run up to you, stand on their back legs, and hold up their arms for food. I could imagine them with their little British accents saying “please sir, may I have some more”. It became my goal to feed one while I was there. Stay tuned. We then continued to walk around to Parliament and Big Ben (more like medium Ben, Cornell’s clock tower isn’t much smaller). Meanwhile, Anna had her nose suck in her London travel guide book trying to find out how to get to Leicester Square (Anna fix my spelling) because she had a surprise for me. We took the tube and turns out we were going to see We Will Rock You! THE F&*ING QUEEN MUSICAL!! WAAAAAAAAHH *holds up rock devil horns and screams like 80’s hair metal lead singer*!!!!! Before the show (concert) started we decided to go to a pub for dinner and drinks. I was excited. Fish n chips and awesome English ales right? Wrong. The food sucked, I would much rather have a fish fry in Boston. The beer was gross and tasted like natty light mmmm. Went to another pub for some cider and then headed to the show.
So the show… I can see why critics panned the thing. There really was no set, little dialogue, and a ridiculous plot. Apparently some company took over the world hundreds of years in the future (i.e. Wall-E) and has homogenized culture. All instruments were destroyed because they encouraged kids to rebel. So our protagonists (who all had names from Queen songs) had to study the ancient religion of Queen music and find Brian May’s lost guitar and save the world. Far fetched but AWESOME. All the actors could sing like Freddy Mercury and the band has bitchin’. By the end, everyone in the audience was singing along, waving their arms, stomping the beat to We Will Rock You and holding up cell phone lights. They sang Bohemian Rhapsody after the curtain call and I realized that Queen is the best band ever. Between the draining excitement of the show and jet lag, we went back to Glenna’s and went to bed early.
Chapter 3: February 13th 2009, Let’s do touristy things!
We got a late start that day but it was worth it for the most amazing and comfortable sleep we both had in a long time. We had “breakfast” if you can call English food that (needless to say I bought a box of Cheerios that night to eat the rest of the trip) and then took the bus down to Westminster Abbey. That place was pretty sweet. Very cool to see so many monuments and graves of monarchs and famous people. I especially enjoyed seeing Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin because science turns me on. We spent a few hours there. The architecture was really inspiring too. We also managed to sneak into some courtyard that was closed for the day and took some illegal photographs. I am going to model my backyard after that place.
By the time we left the abbey the sun was starting to break through the clouds so we thought then would be a good time to go on the London Eye. The thing is freaking expensive for a ferris wheel. It was worth it though because in the 35 minutes it took to go around we got amazing views, awesome pictures, and I managed to freak Anna out by talking about bungee jumping (which I still really want to do). After the Eye we were both super hungry so we went to find some food. Subway seemed appetizing because it was American but apparently the Subway’s in London don’t make bread. How the hell are you supposed to make a sandwich without bread?! We went to a little Italian café instead and although it was 3 or so in the afternoon we both got breakfast foods. Delicious. Then it was time for a nap back at Glenna’s and dinner with Anna’s aunt and uncle. (Glenna's food was great!) That night we went out to a club nearby. It was a salsa themed place with Spanish music, Coronas galore, and Hispanic people dancing up a storm. I obviously fit in but Anna felt too white so we had to leave. We proceeded down the street to a more traditional pub. They were playing Abba and Queen music and everyone was singing along and drinking straight out of pitchers. My kind of place. Unfortunately London pubs close at midnight (who would have thought that Boston night life actually goes late compared to some places) so we met up with some of her abroad friends and went to a club. This place looked like one of the vampire clubs from the first Blade movie where it is in the basement of a building, all dark inside, with a few red lights providing an eerie glow. They had a DJ playing contemporary music but with a jazz band accompanying it. Weird but pretty fun. The place was packed though because it was the only place left open that late. We danced it up none the less.
Chapter 4: February 14th 2009, BEST VALENTINE’S DAY EVER!!
Anna had a whole day of activities planned for us on Valentine’s Day so she wanted to get an early start. We had a delicious breakfast of Cheerios, got dressed up all fancy (she looked soooooooo beautiful) then managed to catch a ride with Glenna and Robin to the Tate Modern art museum. Modern art is not my thing. I would take the MFA or Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum any day. Classical art tells stories, actually looks like real things, and requires artistic talent. Most modern art looks like something I could have painted in kindergarten. Oh well. Still pretty cool to see some original Picasso’s, Dali’s, Miro’s and Monet’s. Just being with my baby on Valentine’s Day makes anyplace the perfect place to be. After leaving the museum we walked down the pier a bit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater (theatre if you are from England and don’t know how to spell). The place was so small that it must be really intimate to see a show there. I told Anna that she should go back in the spring when they start putting on productions. We then walked across a pedestrian bridge heading towards St. Paul’s Cathedral where we managed to get an amateur photographer to take a bunch of pictures of us looking all cute together. On the other side of the bridge I bought some candied nuts from a street vendor because I was starving and kept hoping that I would see a squirrel I could feed some too. We went into St. Paul’s but couldn’t go up to the galleries at the top because as mass was about to start. Still, the place was really amazing. I wondered if the steps out front were the ones from Mary Poppins. Anna thought I was crazy that I was always thinking about feeding squirrels and Mary Poppins scenes while on vacation. We had a few hours to kill before our 9:30pm mystery activity so we walked around the area for a bit, got coffee at a café, ate some Subway (this one had bread), and I stole a rose from a restaurant window for Anna. She loved it.
We then walked a few blocks over to the Tower of London. Screw Buckingham Palace, this is where I would live if I were King. This castle kicked so much ass. The place was huge! I wanted to take a tour but they were closed for the night. That is one activity we didn’t get to do that I regret. Right next to the castle was Tower Bridge. We got some really great postcard worthy pictures of it all lit up. I wanted to go up and look at it but Anna wouldn’t let me. Meany. From there we stopped in a nearby grocery store and picked up wine for later that night. The restaurant we were going to had a 45 minute wait so we went down and sat by the river and drank our bottle of wine together. Very romantic. Dinner was nice. We both got gnocchi which was delicious but not as good as Massamino’s. Anna was pretty buzzed by this point haha. After dinner we walked over to the bridge and she finally let me go up on it! Turns out she had got tickets to a jazz and champagne reception on the observations walkways that span the two towers of the bridge! She is such a good girlfriend. We hiked up all the steps to the top and were greeted by soft red and pink lighting, a waiter with champagne glasses, and smooth live jazz music. We had an hour to enjoy the view, take photos, drink champagne, dance, and talk about how much better our Valentine’s Day was than all of our friends’. Needless to say we stole the glasses. They are currently sitting on my desk in my room waiting for the day we can celebrate Anna’s return home. On the train ride home Anna was hit on by a lesbian who apparently is dating Miss Belize but thought that Anna was gorgeous (like Ithaca) and smart. Why is everyone in London hitting on my girlfriend? Ugh!
Chapter 5: February 15th 2009, Museum Hopping
We started the day by going to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington near Anna’s flat. I was excited because I love rocks, it was Darwin’s bicentennial, and Anna told me they had a great mineral collection. The place was mobbed though because it was the first day of school vacation so everyone was there with their families. Stupid kids trying to learn. Anna was right, the mineral collection was awesome, I must have looked at it for an hour while Anna kept asking if we could leave. Sorry babe, you’re dating an Earth Science teacher. If you don’t like it there are plenty of people in London who have been trying to pick you up. After the museum we stopped at a café to eat lunch. By this point in the vacation we were both so broke that we packed our own lunches. PB and J hell yeah! Next we were off to the Victoria and Albert Museum which had more classical art including a whole room filled with huge murals done by Zach’s favorite ninja turtle, Raphael.
From the museum we walked up into Hyde Park which was awesome. More to come on that next chapter. We saw a tiny pile of snow that was the remains of the giant snowman Anna made during the blizzard two weeks before. Anna then took me back to her flat. It is a really nice neighborhood and would be a beautiful place if two or three people lived in it instead of five. I won’t go into details here but you can imagine. After a snack at the flat Anna wanted to go home but I insisted on dragging her across town to Kings Cross station to see platform 9 ¾ of Harry Potter fame. Anna was not happy, maybe if she had finished reading the books she would have been more excited to go. I was glad that we went because it was so super cool! There was luggage cart that was cut in half and placed against the wall so it looked like it was half way through the magic entrance with a platform sign above it (everyone knows that there is not supposed to be a sign there otherwise Muggles will find it, duh) where you could pose. We went back home to bed early that night because Anna had a final the next day.
Chapter 6: February 16th 2009, My Last Day ☹
Because the BU abroad program is dumb they decided to give Anna an all day take home final on my last day in London. She was up at 8 working on her essays, while I slept in. When I woke up we had to go back to Kensington because the BU abroad program is stupid and scheduled a mandatory internship meeting during a time when people were supposed to be working on their finals. While Anna was in her meeting I explored Hyde Park to kill the time. Even though it was the middle of February the grass was green, flowers were blooming, and many animals were out and about (it’s going to suck for the English when global warming stops the Gulf Stream). I took a lot of pictures of the birds in this big central pond and even got a sweet video of this one swan grooming (Anna gets it). I met up with Anna after her meeting and we went back to Hyde Park for the two hours before her other stupid BU abroad program meeting. On the way we stopped to get some snacks and some seeds so I could attempt to feed a squirrel!! I bought an English candy bar called a Yorkie which has the tag line “it’s not for girls” and the O on the label is one of those circles with the line through it symbolizing no with a girl stick figure in the middle. Hilarious. I don’t know how you can market something that says not for girls but it worked because I bought one. Anna said I was acting like a 7 year old because I was eating a not for girls candy bar, drinking an apple juice, and asked her to tie my shoe when it came undone. Heh.
Hyde Park was beautiful at sunset. We walked along this one central river which was very relaxing and a nice therapeutic way to end an amazing vacation. We fed all of the seeds to this cool swan which I named Swantinio and watched as some dog tried to get a stick out of the water for 10 minutes. Good times. On the way out of the park I saw a squirrel and luckily had a few seeds left in my pocket! OMG what a great bookend for my trip! Anna was in a rush to get to her meeting so she wouldn’t wait and watch as I fed the squirrel. She missed a great, defining moment of the vacation. After her meeting we headed back to her aunt’s place for the night. We stopped and got Pizza Hut on the way for dinner which might have been the best meal I had all week. I have a new respect for American food now. We spent the night packing, relaxing, and enjoying our last few hours together.
Epilogue
The next morning we were up at 8 and on the train heading towards Heathrow. Saying goodbye was so hard knowing that it would be another two months until I got to see my baby again. The flight left London at 11 and got back to Boston at 1 because of the time difference. I was so jet lagged but had to go to class from 4-7 (aka 9-12 my body time) which was rough. I walked in a few minutes late and was freaked out because we had a guest speaker who was from the UK and talking with a British accent. I thought I had left London already!
In retrospect my London vacation was the best $700 I ever spent. I am so glad that I was able to go visit my wonderful girlfriend and she where she is living and what she is experiencing this semester. It was also my first time out of the country excluding Canada. I love Anna so much and cannot imagine going a whole semester without seeing her. The trip reemphasized to me just how much I love her and how much she means to me. I would go across the world to spend time with her. I will never forget the time we shared during those five insanely fast days; they will become another chapter to the continually lengthening book of adventures together. I cannot wait until she comes home.
Alex
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
PARIS!
Hey Everybody,I just drank a coffee and had dinner, so I am feeling energized and ready to write about my weekend in Paris with Kaitlin (my next door neighbor in Marblehead)! I'll do my best to explain what it was like, but really it is very difficult because Paris is such a sensory experience. You have to be there. Us Marbleheaders traveled so far to be able to walk the streets of Paris next to the river and seeing the Eiffel Tower, compared to walking Preston or seeing the lighthouse. It made me so happy to see familiar faces. Turns out one of my best buddies from BU, Liza Katz lives RIGHT down the street from Kaitlin!! :) After seeing them two, I've had a boost of energy to go out and conquer Europe.
My first day I arrived in the evening after taking the train. The trip was only about 2.5 hours and was very comfortable, I liked it. Upon arriving, I immediately felt the culture shock of being essentially illiterate in a foreign country. I kinda felt helpless not being able to read any signs or ask people for directions. I'm told if people hear you are American, you tend to get ripped off. I have never really been around the french language at all!
To get dinner, Kaitlin and I went to Monoprix, the supermarket and picked out supplies. I am still in awe of how good french food is. They can get meat from the butcher, fish from the fish guy, cheese from the cheese guy, bread from the bread guy, and veg from the farmers market. The way they shop is completely different from how we shop in America. There are no preservatives in the food and almost everything is fresh. So, instead of stocking up like we do at home, they buy everything day of. It tastes so much better, it's incredible.Walking down the streets you can catch a whiff of everything from fresh baked bread to cheese and the smell of flowers on the corner. Also, there are many musicians who plan on the street so you can hear the sounds of accordions. If you look up at night, you can see the searchlight of the Eiffel Tower. This is what I mean by a "sensory experience."
That night we met up with some of Kaitlin's buddies and it was great. We drank wine and got a chance to chat! It was very relaxing, I was happy to be there. We also went out to mix club and danced the night away!The next morning Kaitlin took me to go see Notre Dame. :) The church had a creepy aspect to it - very dimly lit and had beautiful Gothic architecture. Loved it. The gargoyles on the outside were very cool. Afterward, we walked along the river and got to see the Louvre. GAHHH. It kept hitting me that I was in PARIS.
That night we got together with Liza for dinner at Kaitlin's apartment. We talked of all things french and the things each of us have had to adapt to while studying abroad. Did you know that wine is cheaper than bottled water in Paris? Haha
After dinner, Kaitlin and I headed to Louvre to get a closer look. I appreciate Kaitlin for being so patient with me because I think I snapped about 100 photos. The architecture and lighting at night put me in awe. Plus it was a clear, fresh night perfect for walking around. We did go inside to try to see the Mona Lisa, but they were closing so we were kicked out! So close! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back :)
Because our plans to see some art were foiled, we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower because it was such a perfect night. It was about an hour away and we got a chance to catch the light show that happens on the hour on the way over. Took some lovely pics.
When we got there, we walked right underneath, I found a keychain. Then we walked across the bridge to some giant stone steps and got to chat a bit until the next light show started. I have to admit, it was kinda like watching fireworks. Very romantic, haha. We could hear the Americans further on behind us going "wwwwhhhoooaaa soo cool." We are so amused. Little Parisian kids played on their scooters in front of us even though it was 11pm.
That night when we got back was also really cute. Kaitlin treated me to a really ornate Paris pastry which we ate with tea back at the apartment.
Day three also involved much walking. (Kaitlin lives on the 8th floor with no elevator.) Oyyyy! Liza and I went to the Monet museum which is pretty close to where I was staying. We walked through a little park and the museum is essentially in a house. You can walk through the rooms and look at the paintings by Renior, Monet, Manet, and other impressionists like you lived there. I felt sooo inspired and bought three postcards. I'm realizing I really love the impressionists. Every painting is unique and can be looked at a different way.
Afterward we did a bunch of window shopping and got to see Victor Hugo's house. And after a quick bite to eat, Liza and I went out to Polyglot club. It's where people go to meet and learn and practice new languages. It's pretty informal and was held at a bar. Lots of folks were there who wanted to talk to English speakers, so I was in luck. It was awesome! I tried my first french beer and chatted with some women who were looking to better their English. Got to swap a bunch of stories and actually get the chance to talk. Loved it. I think I might look up Polyglot clubs in London...
My last day Kaitlin took me to Momatre after the three of us went to the farmer's market. I got some compte cheese which is SOOO GOOD. I actually just had some on my pasta. Anyways, Momatre was amazing.
Got to see panoramic views of the city and see where they filmed Amelie! GAAAHHH, I was so excited. We walked around Sacre Coure and got a banana nutella crepe from a street vendor. On a cold day, it tasted unbelievable. Also....there is an artist's market where there are just lines of artists in the square doing charcoal portraits or selling paintings. I decided that I would LOVE to get a painting as a souvenir just because I saw so much art while I was there. So, Kaitlin helped me haggle and I ended up getting a painting of Sacre Coure for 35 euro! I cannot wait to frame it. I think I am gonna have mom bring it home to M'head when she comes to visit.
Because we had some time before I had to get ready to catch my train, we also stopped in the Salvador Dali museum. I tell ya, that guy had some weird stuff. I have to admit though, he was really really creative and used a lot of artistic mediums. I thought he did just drawings, but there was furniture, sculpture, and lots of other stuff. I'll have to put up some pics to have you see for yourself.
Overall, I had such a relaxing trip and got to see sooo much for such a short period of time. I love the community feel of Paris as well as the good food and company! I am seriously considering going back once it starts to get warmer out. I cannot believe what a fabulous time I had!!! :)
<3 A
Monday, February 23, 2009
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