British St. Patty's Day and Visitors!

So I was about to sit down and attempt to completely update my blog on the past month..BUT I reconsidered rather quickly as writing for hours and hours sounds extremely unappealing to me at the moment. The past 5 weeks have been epic to say the least. To view pictures of my trips to Paris, Amsterdam, and Rome, check out my Facebook for now. Eventually, I promise to have blog posts about all those adventures and much more information about London, of course.

Meanwhile, I thought I would give an update about recent happenings in my hometown, London!! Before leaving for Rome, Keetin, Alexa and I decided to be a bit touristy in our own city by going to climb the tigers at Trafalgar Square. Built in the 1800s, Trafalgar Square is seen as a center of democracy and protest- rallies, promotions, demonstrations, and various other activities take place here each day. The square has two beautiful fountains and has stairs leading up to the National Gallery, a beautiful art museum in the heart of London. It's somewhat of a tradition to go and climb on and take pictures with the lions that surround the center monument in the square. Little did I know that climbing up to the statues was much more difficult than anticipated...after nearly straining all the muscles in my legs and getting hoisted up by Alexa, we had a random lady take a gazillion pictures of us. Since the National Gallery was open for about 45 more minutes and we had extra time on our hands, we went in and wandered around for awhile. I had no idea that the National Gallery had SO many famous paintings- Van Gogh's yellow sunflowers and Mozart's bridge over the waterlilies just to name a few. I will definitely be making a few more trips back there since I barely had time to cover 1/3 of the museum.

This past weekend was a HIGHLY successful one. Luckily, my best friend in the entire world Michelle Anne Weisz was able to come visit from Brussels. Her entire Journalism program came along with her, so basically the entire weekend was a huge Missouri School of Journalism reunion. On Friday night, all of the Mizzou London and Brussels kids had a dinner at O'Neils with their professors, which I so kindly invited myself to. It ended pretty early so a huge group of us decided to go out to the O'Neils in Picadilly Circus, aka the huge one with three floors. Alexa, Jason, Nick, and some of Jason's U of I friends met us there, and it was an absolute blast! We danced for about five hours...only stopping when we were completely starving and needed to find some sketchy street food (one of Alexa and I's expertise after our Amsterdam excursions).
The next morning, Maggie (whom I discovered was my long lost soul mate after our amazing time in Rome together) and I decided to take Michelle sightseeing around London, hitting all the main tourist spots. Unfortunately, about HALF of the tube lines weren't running due to construction, so we ended up taking the most roundabout way possible. It ended up working okay decently, as we were able to wander through Hyde Park and finally see the famous Peter Pan statue. Michelle insisted on taking cheesy pictures with her umbrella in order to recreate scenes from Winning London- I pretended I didn't know her (though secretly I was somewhat jealous). We finally made it to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Parliament, which Michelle was really excited to see. We took a nice stroll along the Thames up past the Tate Modern museum for Michelle to see Millennium and Tower Bridges. I'm pretty sure she was most thrilled about Millennium Bridge since its guest appearance in the latest Harry Potter movie.

Sunday morning, Michelle and everyone else sadly had to leave pretty early to head back to Brussels. Strangely enough, London celebrates St. Patrick's day a few days before the actual holiday, and there was a huge festival and parade happening near Trafalgar Square. Of course, I grabbed my favorite adventurous friend, Matt, and headed to the area with all the action. We walked around the square for awhile where a bunch of booths were set-up selling Irish themed food and booze. There was a stage set-up where a variety of different musical artists were to perform from 11 am to 6 pm, entertaining the throngs of people that stopped by to celebrate. Keetin and her parents (who are both in town visiting) joined us to watch the parade. It was really fun to see authentic Irish dancers, bands, and bagpipers walking through the streets of London.
Even better, it was an absolutely GORGEOUS day in London- I am starting to get my hopes up that the weather is going to finally change to actual springtime weather...

Anyway, I have a few pretty exciting weeks ahead- including a visit from my favorite person in the world- KEVIN in just 10 days!! I'll also be making a visit to Brighton, as well as attending my first ever English football match! But as usual, I will try and blog again as soon as possible in continued attempts to make up for lost time and fill you all in on my life. Cheers!

Blogging Fail...

I am quite aware that I have not blogged in almost 4 weeks now. My completely failure at keeping this blog really hit me when I realized that my time here in London is half way over. What a completely and utterly depressing thought... In the past 4 weeks I have gallivanted around the city of London, visited Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam, as well as had a visit from my parents and my little brother. So as you can tell, I have been quite busy. I have tried to keep my Facebook updated with all of my pictures from my travels, but hopefully I will have time somewhat soon to write a few short blog entries about the trips I have taken and my life as a Londoner.

Each day I feel luckier and luckier that I have the privilege of spending an entire semester in Europe. It's truly an incredible experience, and I wouldn't have ever picked another city to actually live in, while studying abroad, besides London. The beauty and history behind all of the other cities I have visited always fascinates me and draws me in, but each Sunday night I am thrilled to return back to the city I love and I call home for a few short months of my life. Sometimes I even regret not going to college in a large city. The bustling commute to class each day is always full of excitement and I am surrounded by so much action at all times of the day. There are limitless opportunities around me and I have learned so much about the city of London- history, architecture, theater, etc.

Though this wasn't very informative, just know that I am having the time of my life and appreciating every second of it. I am the luckiest person in the world.

European Premiere: Valentine's Day!

Attending the European premiere of the Warner Bros. movie Valentine's Day was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. On Thursday, since I do not have any classes, I went with Jason to Camden to meet Alexa for lunch. On my way home, I decided to stop by Leicester Square, as I knew that the premier was to be held there later that day. I got to the theater around 3:00, to see that a small crowd had already started to gather around where the red carpet would be rolled out about 3 hours later. So...I stood, and thought...do I want to stand here, in the freezing cold for 3-4 hours to possibly catch a glimpse of some of the most famous stars in the world, or do I want to go home and relax? If you know me at all, you know that I of course chose to stay. Luckily, I was able to get a spot only about one person back from the red carpet. Since I was stuck standing there for hours, by myself, I made friends with several people standing around me. There were a few photographers, and even some men who went to all the movie premieres in London as a hobby. They had stacks upon stacks of celebrity photos, many of which they were in alongside the celebrity. They talked abut the stars like they were best friends since they had met them on many occasions before.
Around 5:15, they shut off the gates to the corrals that we stood in on the sides of the street, and they began to roll out the red carpet. It was so cool being right next to, behind the scenes, of something I had witnessed on television for years and years for awards shows, premieres, etc. They began to play music over the loud speakers, famous and current love songs to go along with the movie's theme. There were also lights shining down hearts all over the red carpet and flashing around the square.
One by one, the stars began arriving in cars at the end of the red carpet. I was near the middle of the carpet, closer to the entrance of the theater, but I was aware of the arrival of the stars by the screams that erupted from fans towards the end of the carpet. An announcer came over the speaker to introduce each of the stars as they stepped out of their cars. The first actor to make his way towards us was Topher Grace, from "That 70's Show," and several other movies. When he approached us, the absolute amazing-ness of what I was experiencing finally hit me. Topher Grace was standing three inches away from my face!! All of the stars passed right by me, signing autographs and allowing people to snap pictures of them while they walked by. Directly across from me there was a section for all of the press to stand in, so the celebrities would walk over there for short interviews. Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore looked incredible as usual- and people of course went WILD over Ashton. He looks even better in person than he does in all of his movies. The other stars I saw and captured great pictures of were Jessica Alba, Emma Roberts, and Hector Elizondo.
I was pretty pumped to see Hector since Princess Diaries is one of my favorite movies of all time, sadly enough. Jessica Alba, obviously, drew a great deal of male fans- the two guys standing behind me, who were probably about 25, screamed like little girls when she accidentally grazed their hands while signing autographs. She is beyond stunning...

Finally, it was extremely thrilling to see the director, Garyy Marshall, up close. The director and producer on 30+ movies, including the world-renowned "Pretty Women," seemed like one of the friendliest celebrities on the red carpet.



Needless to say, I went to go see the film "Valentine's Day," with my roommate Keetin yesterday. For such a star-studded cast, it definitely lived up to my expectations of a perfect romantic comedy to see on the holiday. I definitely think it was even more of a special experience for me because of my recent encounter with the stars I now saw on the screen in front of me.

Exploring my City

In a desperate attempt to catch up with my blog, I am going to try and highlight the best moments of the last 2 weeks in London- and then move on to tell everyone about my incredible trip to Paris! Then I will have you all caught up :)

One of the greatest days in London I have had so far started off as an attempt by Keetin, Matt, and I to make an organized visit to Westminster Abbey and the area close by. Our first task was definitely completed- as we spent about two hours walking around the inside of Westminster Abbey, audio tour in tote. (Note to everyone who is reading this- I am a huge sucker for audio tours. I love getting all of the random facts and taking my time as I explore new places).
Westminster Abbey is such a cool place because of all the history it represents and the history that is embedded within it. It is the final resting place of seventeen different monarchs, and even is the resting place for famous people such as Darwin and Newton, along with well-known composers, poets, statesmen, bishops, etc. One of the most interesting parts of the Abbey for me was seeing the tombs of Elizabeth I and the coronation chair. Westminster Abbey has been the official coronation church since 1066 and is still in use today for this purpose. It was one of the most gorgeous interiors of a building I have ever seen- all of the sculptures are magnificent and exceptionally original. It's such a surreal experience walking on the same ground that the current Queen of England (as well as many monarchs before her) glided across during her coronation.

After drooling over the beauty of Westminster for a little longer, we had lunch with Keetin's dad who was in town for the weekend. Matt and I then decided to head over to the Tate Modern Museum- which was quite a hike away, but walking and wandering is definitely the forte of Sarah and Matt adventures. We began by walking by Big Ben and Parliament- which are breathtaking and very well-known structures in London. We also passed by the London Eye. I'm waiting for a really bright and sunny day or until Kevin comes to visit to go on it since it's a relatively long ride and having a perfectly clear day is a necessity. Matt and I walked along the Seine past the Eye and ran into a huge crowd of street performers. Of course, we stopped and watched a bunch of dancers, creepy mimes, and even a random group of junior high aged boys jumping and doing flips off of a ledge onto a mattress they had placed on the beach below them. We also came across a man doing artwork with the sand on the banks of the river- which truly was amazing. It was fun seeing the more local and hidden parts of London that you can really only find if you wander around with no destination. We found a miniature skateboarding and biking park, full of bright graffiti and young boys showing off their tricks...surprisingly enough there were a lot of talented kids there. We stopped at a little coffee shop to take a break from the cold weather and even got some street food- sugar covered almonds, my favorite snack in the entire world!
After lots and lots of walking (all of which was really enjoyable) we made it to the Tate Modern Museum just as it was getting dark. Not that I am bashing modern art in any shape or form, but it really isn't my cup of tea. It is a little bit difficult for me to appreciate a giant red painting with a black line down the side as an impressive form of art. Matt and I had fun time making up over-exaggerated interpretations about each painting or piece of art we came across. Having seen some of Andy Warhol's artwork before and learning more about it in class here, I really liked a few of his pieces. Yet, I knew that I had reached my time limit within the museum when we came across the entire exhibit that looked like pokemon characters. I couldn't help but crack up...
To get home we crossed Millennium Bridge towards St. Paul's Cathedral, both of which are amazing feats of architecture.
Keetin was at home waiting for me to go out with her and her dad for dinner. We met one her dad's business partners and his wife at an AWESOME restaurant that was located by Drury Lane Theater. The entire place was made up of old theater and opera props. The table that we actually sat at had to be reached by a flight of stairs, and was an old opera box with a table placed inside of it. We had a great view of the entire restaurant and could look down on everything around the restaurant.
Keetin's dad's friends are both from Brazil, and are good friends with one of the owners of a Brazilian club in London which was not too far away, so we decided to go! Since they knew one of the managers, we didn't have to wait in the long line outside and we were immediately ushered in and given a great table on the outskirts of the dance floor. There was a live Brazilian band playing authentic music and people dancing all over the tables and dance floor. They had completely different drinks than what we were used to having, but they were absolutely delicious. Keetin and I danced pretty much the entire time- it was an awesome night!

Paris blogs and picture to come soon! Loving my life here in London :)

Tower of London and Harrod's!

On Thursday, since I did not have class and Alexa's internship doesn't start until next week, we made a trip to the Tower of London! When we arrived, I instantly had deja vu of my family's trip there several years ago- it's obviously a very memorable place. The Tower of London has been used for centuries as a fortress, a royal palace, and a prison (particularly for higher status prisoners). Throughout the years, the Kings and Queens of England have added onto and changed the structure and uses of the tower, but at any time, even now, it is absolutely magnificent.
Alexa and I started by hopping onto a free hour tour lead by a "beefeater," or a yeoman warder, which is an iconic figure in London- they were originally Royal Bodyguards. The tour was really entertaining. Our tour guide's name was Bill Callahan (which obviously made me excited) and as we walked throughout the fortress he told us the most gruesome stories of torture and execution, while also including historic facts about the tower. We got to go into the main church that King Henry the VIII had built in a Spanish style for his wife Catherine of aragon. Also, several important people were buried here.
After the tour, Alexa and I wandered around the fortress ourselves. We first went into the tower where the most famous prisoners were kept. This tower is well known for the intricate carvings and markings on all of the walls that prisoners contributed throughout the years. The tower was cold and rather creepy actually- it was pretty surreal standing in the same place where people like Anne Boleyn had walked and been kept prisoner.
My favorite part of the Tower was probably the Crown Jewels. The crowns, rings, goblets, silverware, etc. that have been used in coronations and at banquets for centuries (and still today) are kept here. Up close, we got to see the biggest cut diamond in the world, which is part of one of the coronation crowns. Alexa and I walked back and forth in front of the jewels several times, admiring how amazingly beautiful they all were. It is so cool to see that the same crown that has been used for hundreds of years is still worn by the current Queen each year on the opening of Parliament. Alexa and I also went to see the famous White Tower, which was actually only partially open as it was under construction and restoration when we visited. In here, we saw the quarters where the royalty used to reside, and also tons of weaponry and armor used by Kings for years.
On our way out, Alexa and I stopped and took a ton of pictures in front of Tower Bridge, which is so pretty up close. It's funny that songs are written about London Bridge, as Tower Bridge is much more famous and attractive to look at. I will definitely be making more trips back to Tower Bridge before I leave London.

On Friday- Keetin, Madison, Summers, and I decided to hit up Harrod's- since their sale was ending the next day! Harrod's is the world's most famous luxury department store- and it is MASSIVE. On our way to Harrod's, we got a little bit sidetracked and ended up stopping at several stores, including an hour long detour at H & M's sale. Finally, Keetin and I made our way through the rain to Harrod's. I could have spent hours and hours inside. I'm pretty sure the most memorable part of Harrod's for me is the food, candy, and chocolate section. I have never seen so many delicious looking foods in my entire life. Keetin and I also spent a great deal of time admiring the designer dresses and purses, none of which we could afford of course. Places like Harrod's make you wish that you had an unlimited supply of money. I'm pretty sure we only covered about 1/3 of the store in the hours that we spent there, and since Harrod's is only one tube stop away from me, I will be making many more trips back to drool over things that I cannot really buy.

I will update you on more amazing sightseeing adventures very soon! I am loving London (in case you couldn't already tell :) )

First Days of School, a Bar Made of ICE, and Sister Act!!

I have successfully completed my first week of school in London! And by week, I mean three days of school, seeing that I only have classes Monday through Wednesday. I think that I am really going to enjoy my classes here. On Monday I had Passions and Repressions: British Cinema, as well as International Marketing. The film class seems really cool- each week we watch a British film from a different decade and study British culture through the movies. We have film screenings every Tuesday night, and then discuss what we've seen in class. My teacher seems really fun, so I think it should be a pretty entertaining semester. My marketing class is a bit more intense, but interesting all the same. We are going to be doing case studies on different brands and marketing strategies used throughout the world. I really like marketing and may want to do something with it in my future, so I'm sure this class will be really beneficial and helpful.

On Monday night, our British student ambassadors took us out for a night on the town to celebrate our first day of class! They surprised us by taking us to the Absolut Vodka Ice Bar. I had heard about the Ice Bar from a TON of people- but it was even cooler (and colder) than expected. When you walk in, they hand you a warm parka jacket and a pair of thick gloves to shield you from the freezing cold temperatures within the bar. Everything is made of ice- even the chairs you sit on and the cups that you drink from. They only allow you to stay in the bar for 45 mins to an hour because of the icy temperature. We took a ton of pictures because there is probably a pretty good chance I will never go to a bar completely made of ice again in my lifetime. It was definitely a great way to welcome in the new school year in London!

My classes on Tuesday didn't start until 1:30, which was nice compared to my 10 a.m. classes the rest of the week. It is about a 40 minute commute by walking and taking the tube to the IES building for class. My first class on Tuesday was The History of London. I'm still not quite used to sitting through a 2 1/2 hour long lecture on history, but I think the class will get more exciting and interesting as it goes on and I adjust to that period of time. We basically just talked about the very early history of London- the Saxons vs. the Normans. I also had a film screening on Tuesday night, where we watched "A Brief Encounter." The film, set in 1945, is about a man and a woman, who are both married, but fall in love for each other. Alexa and I both agreed that it was slightly depressing and left us feeling quite sad afterward.

Wednesday I started my day with British Youth Culture, which I can already tell will be an extremely amazing and different class. In this class, we will be examining the role of youth culture on society, and how youth culture has changed over time, in both Britain and America. In this first class, we watched clips from the movie Bruno, listened to some Beatles music, and watched a talk show clip of The Who- awesome, right? All of these things were used as sources to further explore youth culture...which means this class will be a blast. My other Wednesday class was the Architecture of London. For this class, we only have two class periods that will be taking place in an actual classroom. During the rest of the time, we will be traveling to different sites all across London to examine the architecture, while keeping a diary of our findings and observations throughout the semester. On this first day, we walked around the Bloomsbury area, looking at the houses and squares. We also went to the British Museum to observe the Great Court, which is a relatively new area of the museum with a more modern designed ceiling.

Later that day, I had a movie screening for my British Youth Culture class. But, since we are able to watch the movies later on our own, Keetin, Alexa, Madison, Christine, and I got last minute tickets to go see Sister Act the musical!! We got a special student, day-of-show discount, so the tickets were only about 18 pounds each! The show ended up being fabulous!! Based on the movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, the musical was filled with so much life and color- all of us loved it!
My favorite character was definitely the old woman nun- the acting was brilliant! It was such a great experience going with my friends to the theater- we all got dressed up and had such a fun time together. There are SO many musicals that I hope to see while in London. I'm so happy to be living a real city experience :)

My weekend starts here...I'll update you as soon as I can!

Windsor Castle Beauty

I've always had a fascination with history- stories from ancient times, the smallest details of the past, and the toils and triumphs of monarchs. Some of the greatest historical places I have seen in my life include Versailles of Paris, The Forbidden City in China, and now, after the second visit of my lifetime, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. Though I recall greatly enjoying this amazing fortress when I visited with my parents, I could not have nearly appreciated it as much as I do now. It is absolutely incredible that this enormous castle has housed the royal families of England for hundreds of years, and even TODAY, is one of the homes of the Queen of England.

Our journey to Windsor began with a tour of Eton College, which is right on the outskirts of the town and castle of Windsor. Eton College is a private boys school which provides an education for the most well-off English boys. Many of the prime ministers of England have attended Eton, as well as Prince Harry and Prince William. The town was very quiet and peaceful when we visited because the boys were still away on holiday, but we were able to look around and see the chapel, where the boys were housed, and other parts of the school.

Immediately following, we walked back up through Eton to the town of Windsor, which surrounds the castle. When I was younger, we spent almost all of our time within the fortress and did not get to explore the town much, so it was a completely new experience for me. There were a ton of outdoor restaurants, cafes, shops, and the streets were all cobblestoned and beautiful. Luckily, my family friends the Reids were able to meet up with me and have lunch, since they only live about 20 minutes away from Windsor. We had lunch at a nice little Italian restaurant and I had some great pizza. It was really nice to see some familiar faces since I am so far from home!

Finally, we made it inside the actual castle. It was definitely a lot bigger than I remembered. Almost everything about the inside of Windsor was amazing. The architecture was stunning- everything seemed to be in such great condition, seeing that the castle has been used for hundreds of years and was used as a fortress as well. The original slots in the walls where defenders would shoot bow and arrows out of were still intact. Unfortunately, the Queen was away at a different palace when we were there so we didn't get to spot her, and some of the other buildings like the State Apartments were closed for renovation. Either way, it was a blast. We also got to go look at Queen Victoria's dollhouse. It reminded me of the dollhouse at the Science and Industry Museum in Chicago, but with even more detail. It looked like a tiny replication of Buckingham Palace. Even the miniature books that were the size of my fingernails had actual novels written inside of them.

We were also lucky enough to catch a few of the guards as they marched through the castle. We took a few pictures with them, until we got yelled at for distracting the guard. Sorry we can't help that we are so funny and entertaining!
The views from Windsor were gorgeous! There was so much to see there that I may have to make another trip there on my own to take everything else in. On an even more exciting note- we drove past Elton John's house on the way- pretty cool, right? We truly did have a perfect day to explore Windsor as it was the first time since I've been here that it has been BEAUTIFUL and sunny outside! There literally was not one cloud in the sky.

My fascination with history and love for London increases every day! Our trip to Windsor is probably my favorite thing we have done thus far!