Reconnecting and Reflecting

In exactly one week I will have been here in London for an entire month! I can't believe how fast the time has gone so far, and while I have done and seen a lot of things, I feel like there is still so much to do. This past weekend and week I was able to reconnect with family (my dad happened to be in town for business) and I started to reflect on what I want to accomplish in the next three months. So here's a little recap of what I've been up to lately...

Last Thursday, Nicole found a Groupon deal for a London Underground scavenger hunt. A company runs these scavenger hunts that send you all over London by tube using tricky clues and riddles to find certain landmarks at different stations (you had to take pictures of everything in order to get points). Bonus points were awarded for snapping a pic of an old couple dancing or a group of people smiling on the train. Out of the 23 teams that were playing that night we got 4th place!! Not too shabby for a bunch of Americans. We got a bunch of cute London Underground themed prizes - and bragging rights, of course! 

A group selfie to commemorate our win...we were "Team USA"

On Friday morning, I met my dad at his office in Canary Wharf to meet his team. After class we met up again for dinner  and got to chat about everything I've been doing so far. It was great not to have to cook - and since it was on his tab I even ordered dessert ;) The next morning, we toured the Houses of Parliament, which was SO amazing. Our tour guide was great and I learned a lot about British history and politics - especially all of their quirky traditions that are still around today. You weren't allowed to take pictures inside but the artwork and architecture was unreal. We got to see the queens actual throne (!!!) where she goes to open Parliament each year. 

Ran into this stranger outside of Big Ben!

Huge stained glass window at the end of the Great Hall 

Afterwards, we headed to the Tower of London to take a guided tour led by a Yeoman Warder. These guards actually live in and guard the tower - you have to have 22 years of service in the military and reach a certain rank to become one! The warder who lead our tour was hilarious (you can check out his twitter @billybeefeater). It was so cool to see a fortress from such a long time ago - it's hard to comprehend how something is that old and still exists today. One of the main attractions at the tower of London is the collection of Crown Jewels. Some of the crowns they had on display dated back to the 1600s and some of the gems were so huge that they didn't even look real! 

Heading in to see the Crown Jewels

The memorial which marks the place where many famous beheadings occurred - including Anne Boleyn's!

The walls of the tower - that cage in the back houses six ravens which, according to tradition, guard the fort

We got a great view of Tower Bridge (on my bucket list: climb to the top)

Peeked over the wall to see this cute (and very British!) sight

Had to snap a selfie with our tour guide

Later that night we got dinner at a pub and saw Kinky Boots the musical! It was an awesome show - very high energy and exciting. Overall it was just a really great day spent with my dad and I'm so glad he stayed for the weekend to hang out with me!

On Sunday a few of us headed out of the city to Windsor Castle. The area around the castle is so quintessentially British - there were so many cute shops and homes. Since it was a Sunday, the main gallery at the castle was closed but we got a free year of admission with our ticket so I will probably go back to see it at some point. It was still really cool to see a part of England that was more in the countryside, as opposed to the city that we're used to. 

So British!!

A peek inside the castle gates 

Standing guard...

A beautiful chapel on the grounds of the castle

In town we found this crooked house - it was built in 1718!

This Monday was MaryP's birthday (she's one of my friends here on the trip!). Our macro professor took us out for a round of drinks at a pub near our school - definitely a first for all of us! Later we celebrated by getting £5 crepes from the crepe place across the street for dinner. They're huge and SO delicious, plus we like the price :) On Tuesday, Nicole and I took the Santander bikes for a spin and biked to Victoria Street to get her phone fixed (there was a bit of an incident last week which resulted in a shattered screen...). It was super fun to bike along the river although it was a little rainy towards the end. We want to bike through one of the parks around us this weekend. On Wednesday we headed to the Saatchi Gallery, a modern art gallery just down the road from where I'm staying. It was pretty small but there were some really interesting (and some very odd) pieces. 

Since we didn't have class today, a few of us did a bus tour that we got a free ticket for during orientation. It really put into perspective where everything is in relation to each other which was extremely helpful! Then we headed to the Imperial War Museum. We only had an hour before they closed and we spent the entire time in just one exhibit on the Holocaust. We all agreed that we definitely had to go back again since there was so much more to see! Before heading back to our flat for the night we stopped at Hamley's, a ginormous toy store on Regent Street - it reminded me a lot of FAO Shawarz in New York. We had such a fun time trying out the different toys and games. My favorite part was probably the life size Lego statues of the royal family at Will and Kate's Wedding :)

Had to ride on the top deck

Huge real war aircraft and missiles hanging from the ceiling in the War Museum 

Just like the real thing!

I have a few exciting things already planned going into the weekend that I can't wait to share with you! As I'm realizing how fast this trip is flying by I've made it a goal to completely maximize my time here. I sat down the other day and made a master bucket list of all the things I want to see and do  before I leave (it includes everything from going to afternoon tea to visiting the Olympic Park). I can't wait to start checking things off!

Oh and my next trip is booked! Heading off to the land of kilts and bagpipes next weekend...Scotland!! Stay tuned...

Adventures in Paris - Part 3

This is Part Three of my Paris adventure...you can read Part One here and Part Two here!

Our third day in Paris began with a visit to Musée d'Orsay, an art museum that is housed in an old train station. Funnily enough, we ran into another American student who goes to Marist and was studying in Paris while we were walking into the museum and we ended up spending half the day with her! The amount of Americans we have met here in the UK and while travelling has been kind of funny - we keep joking that the US seems to have followed us here when all we want to do is make European friends :)  Anyway, the museum was very cool - a lot different (more manageable) than the Louvre and had a ton of iconic artwork! We got to see lots of paintings from Van Gogh, Degas, and Monet.

The museum definitely had the feel of an old station - especially with the huge, ornate clock at the entrance 

The ceiling in one of the rooms was incredible

This huge clock reminded me of the Invention of Hugo Cabret 

Just a selection of the hundreds of amazing paintings 

A replica of Degas' dancer statue 

After the museum we walked along the River Seine to Notre Dame Cathedral. It was a beautiful day and the square was bustling with activity - there were people who would give you birdseed that the pigeons would eat out of your hands and artists offering to do charcoal caricatures of you (both of which you can see in the picture below). 

The River Seine

Stylin' part two

Notre Dame - had to show some Nova pride even though it wasn't St. Thomas Church

Andrew feeding the birds featuring Nicole in the background getting drawn by an Italian man who said her sunglasses "made her look like a movie star"

After grabbing crepes for lunch we headed to see the famous Pont de l'Archeveche, also known as one of the "Love Lock Bridges." Couples hook a lock onto the bridge and throw the key into the Seine to symbolize unbreakable love. Recently, one side of the bridge was removed because the locks became too heavy and were causing damage to it. 

Locks as far as the eye could see

It was fun to read all of the different inscriptions on the locks - all different languages and messages

Where there weren't any locks there was graffiti...

Afterwards, we met up with a friend of one of the girls on my program, whom she had stayed with during an exchange program in high school. We got to talk to her about culture and life in France which was super cool. Where we met her was right by a huge memorial for the recent violence in Paris. We asked her about what it was like to be living in the city after the theater attacks a few months ago and it was chilling to hear her talk about what happened. We weren't too far from the site of the attacks so we walked to the area to see the memorial. There were still candles lit and fresh flowers everywhere - it was all very surreal. 

Pray for Paris

Later that night we met up with Susie's friend that she met when she studied in Paris last summer. It was really fun to meet people in Paris who were our own age and hear what it was like to be a teenager in Europe. Our lives are very different but we actually had a surprising amount in common. 

On our last day in Paris we did one final bakery run (pretty sure the lady who owned the bakery was expecting us at the same time every day at this point) before packing up and heading to the airport. Traveling to another country - especially one where I didn't know the language at all - was a huge learning experience, but I'm so lucky to have been able to do so. I can't wait to see where my travels take me next...let the planning begin! 

Adventures in Paris - Part 2

This is Part Two of my Paris adventure...you can read Part One here!

Our first stop on our second day in Paris was to visit the Eiffel Tower up close! We got some baguettes for lunch (of course) and sat admiring this incredible landmark before having a literal photo shoot in front of it in the freezing cold for half an hour. Also pretty sure my selfie stick made an appearance in the back of some couple's wedding photos...oops.

All smiles 

The Froomie (Flat Roomie/Future Roomie), Nicole 

Stylin'

I don't think it gets more touristy than this (not pictured: obnoxious blue selfie stick)

Next up we headed to the Louvre! The building itself was beautiful, especially the iconic glass pyramid entrance. We made our way through some exhibits of classic Greek sculptures before heading to see the main event: the Mona Lisa. Luckily, since we were there on a weekday, it wasn't too crowded and we actually got a really good look at the painting! I decided that she is, in fact, smiling. 

Despite the beautiful blue skies, it was actually freezing this day...

Another #JustTouristThings

Even the ceilings of the Louvre were beautiful

Mona!

She draws a pretty big crowd

Sent this one to the family group chat

We walked through a few more galleries (including a very bizarre modern art installation of deck chairs, ceiling fans, and purple mood lighting ??) and then Susie took us to Angelina's, a bakery she discovered while studying in Paris last summer, for hot chocolate and pastries. It was by far the BEST hot chocolate I have ever had...I'm actually pretty sure it was straight up melted chocolate but nevertheless it was absolutely delicious!! 

French bakeries are actually my favorite

Kind of regret not buying some hot chocolate mix to bring back

Later that evening, we walked back to the Eiffel Tower so we could take a ride to the top. Unfortunately, the top level of the tower was actually closed, but we still got some incredible views of the city from the middle level. One of my favorite parts of the trip was how every hour on the hour, the Eiffel Tower illuminates the park area with a glittering light show display. We were actually on the tower when the first light show started, but we stayed until the next hour to see the entire tower from afar. It was magical! 

Iconic 

We got such an amazing view just as the sun was setting 

Pictures really don't do it justice...

Afterwards, we headed back to our flat and enjoyed another French-inspired feast of baguettes, cheese, grapes, and wine. It was a great ending to an even better day.

Stay tuned for Part 3...coming soon! 

Adventures in Paris - Part 1

More than a dozen baguettes, a few macarons, and at least six pain au chocolats later I have returned from amazing long weekend in Paris! For everyone in my study abroad program, this past weekend marked our first opportunity to travel outside of the UK during our stay (the other part of the group went to Rome - we'll definitely be comparing notes for future excursions!). We saw so many incredible sights over such a short period of time and I all I can say is that the City of Love will always have a special place in my heart...Because I took so many pictures I'll have to break this up into a few posts!

A 7 am flight out of Heathrow meant that we had to order a MiniCab to pick us up from our flats at 4 in the morning on Thursday. I have to admit that Nicole and I didn't actually go to sleep at all because we were up late writing an essay for macro - yes, I am actually doing school work here :) - packing, and just because of our pure excitement. Luckily I was able to get some sleep on the flight, although I missed out on the free chocolate croissant they were serving for breakfast on the plane. After arriving in Paris we took our bags and dropped them off at the Airbnb apartment we had rented for the weekend and celebrated our arrival in France with croque monsieurs for lunch! And then we set off for a full day of sightseeing - the first stop was, of course, to see the Eiffel Tower. 

After that, we walked down the Champs-Élysées, a road lined with glamorous, high-end retail stores, including the original Louis Vuitton! It was a beautiful day, but just as we were crossing the road in front of the Arc de Triomphe it started to downpour and hail out of nowhere! We all just started laughing and ran across the street - not even painful icy rain was going to kill our happiness that we were in Paris! As quickly as it had started the storm passed and we headed to Ladurée for some delicious macarons. 

Not even rain or hail could bring me down

As cute as they are delicious!

Didn't last much longer after this...

As we were walking down the street we came across a set of ornate black and gold gates in front of a beautiful garden...it turned out to be Abercrombie!! Of course we had to go inside, which was just as incredible as the outside - although I have to say that the classically painted murals and statues of shirtless guys were a bit much for me. 

Reminded me of Buckingham Palace

Only in Paris would A&F look this nice

We continued our walking tour of Paris (led by my friend Susie who studied there two summers ago) by visiting La Madeleine, a huge, beautiful Catholic church filled with amazing artwork. All of the old churches I have seen in Europe have been so incredible...they're starting to be some of my favorite places to visit.

Sat for a while in awe of this church (and my life right now) 

View from the steps of the church 

After the church, we walked over to the Paris Opera House, also known as the Palais Garnier. The architecture of this building, like pretty much all of the architecture in this area of France was stunning and decorated with beautiful gold accents. 

Andrew was brave enough to travel with just us girls for the weekend...

Our last stop for the day was the flagship location of the French department store called Galeries Lafayette. For me, walking into that store was like walking into a dream - everywhere you looked were designer clothes, bags, shoes, and jewelry as far as the eye could see. The ceiling featured stained glass domes that illuminated the entire (huge!!!) building in a glowing light. Susie told us that she had been there over the summer and that if we wanted to see the best part we had to follow her. So we took about seven escalators and arrived at the top floor of the store. Usually you can go out onto the rooftop terrace but it was closed because of the rain, which we didn't know until we got up there. Although we were a little disappointed the view from the windows was still so amazing. We were getting ready to go back downstairs when the man attending the door told us we had ten minutes and sneakily let us go out! The view of the city was INSANE. We were on the roof just as the sun was setting and it was just so incredibly beautiful to see almost all of Paris from above. 

The ceiling of the store...unreal

This is what going to Paris on zero hours of sleep looks like :)

V for Villanova!

City of Love

After an incredibly long day of sightseeing we headed back to the flat for the night. We found a bakery right down the road - which we quickly became regulars to - and had a dinner of just baguettes (It was hands down the best bread I have ever eaten). We were all asleep by 9pm...

Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon...Au revoir for now!