A day in Windsor

Today was a great day - Halli, Christy and I went to Windsor to see the Windsor Castle. This is where the Queen spends most of her weekends and it's about 50 minutes away from London. The town was quaint and cute and had the typical small town feel. There were lots of outdoor cafes and a really pretty river with a ferris wheel. We ate lunch as soon as we got off the train at this huge place called Brown's Pub. They have them all over. We sat on the 2nd floor overlooking the river, partly outside. I had a steak, mushroom and guinness pie - something I will miss very much in the states. It came with mashed potatoes and french beans. (green beans) and a cider, of course. Then we made our way to the castle.

The castle is ENORMOUS.. it's the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world. Google "Windsor Castle", click on the royal collection link and you can find pictures of it in it's entirety, something my camera was not capable of.. or maybe it's that we weren't in a helicopter taking the pics. We got our tickets after waiting in line on a very warm day in Windsor and started our tour. We got free audio guides which were great - Prince Charles was even on it! Felt like I was standing right next to him... k not really.

We walked around the outside, unfortunately did not get to go into St. George's Chapel - one of the finest examples of gothic architecture - but I got pictures of the outside. We took the classic picture with the guard who was moving, so he didn't live up to the "guard" reputation, but we still got pictures.

Then we got in line to go into Queen Mary's Dolls' Houses.. it's a collection of doll houses and miniature items that Queen Mary collected. The main doll house is HUGE, it put my doll house to shame. All of the miniatures in the doll house were hand made by people, even the paintings were painted as miniatures by people. This doll house was made to resemble the castle I believe. It had all of the correct rooms in the correct places. It was fascinating. There were two little girls looking at it when we walked past and they were so excited. I was too so I could only imagine what they were thinking. It made me want to be 7 again playing with my dolls. Then we went into a room of paintings and pictures. There were original paintings and drawings by Da Vinci and photos of the Queen's and King's and their children. There are pictures of Princess Diana with her sons and letters Prince Charles wrote his grandma from the air force/navy (whichever). So that was a cool room.

Next we went through the State Apartments. They were overly elaborate with paintings and gold and ridiculous furniture everywhere. We went to a room full of weapons and guns were hung in circles on the walls - hard to explain and even harder to envision because we were not allowed to take pics inside. Cool though. We saw the sword of Henry XIII. He is buried in St. George's Chapel too.. pretty cool!

After we got through the castle we came out and left... it was fun! Definitely worth the 13 pounds we paid to go. I have a bunch of pictures of the outside I'm posting as I'm writing this.

Tonight I have to edit my 5 page paper due tomorrow  - last one for GK's class though!

Since I only have two weeks left I've been thinking a lot about home. I can't wait to get back but I don't want to leave London and all my summer has had to offer. I love it here and I've had one of the best summers of my life and I don't want it to end! I have completely mixed emotions and I don't know what to think besides to make the absolute most out of the time I have left - which may be a bit difficult considering the amount of money in my bank account - but I'll do it somehow. I want to see as much as possible, do as much as possible and drink as much cider and black currant and pimms and lemonade as possible =)

Here are some things I'm looking forward to since on the subject:

Seeing HEATH

kissing Jasmine's cute face

Jack Stacks and OK Joe's BBQ

SLEEPING... all day maybe

laying out and getting tan

a pedicure/manicure and haircut - in desperate need of all three!

a starbucks or panera coffee

a panera cinnamon crunch bagel with hazelnut cream cheese

Brio's lobster bisque

Heath's corn and black bean salsa - I've had salsa twice all summer, that's just not right.

crab dip

real pillsbury biscuits, with apple butter

an American cheeseburger

North Dragon chicken fried rice

Driving my car - but not filling up my tank =(

watching American tv shows - I've missed so much

watching STEP UP 2

a shower with consistent temperature (not freezing cold to 3rd degree burns)

my cocoa butter lotion 

Mug rootbeer

ICED TEA

my friends

columbia

my house

forge and vine - food, terrace, even working

having my own bedroom and bathroom with lots of room

my new roommates!

piano bar

seniors on the quad for bid day 

being able to use my blackberry

not having to worry about a time difference before I make phone calls/send emails

football season

and my senior semester

A list of what I'll miss from London will come later!

pictures are up from today!

updated pictures...

In Barcelona and The Sites albums

The Sites pictures are from Kaylin's bday weekend and the British Museum

Barcelona

Thursday work went by quickly since I was only there for 2 hours. I wrote up a contract, editted another and headed home. I stopped by a really cute store on the way home to get a few things I've wanted for a while. (Thanks mom!)

We left for the airport at about 2:30 and got on a flight around 5:40. Our gate wasn't announced until 5:05 so we found a pub and had a drink.. what other way do you start off a vacation?

We got to Barcelona, gathered our stuff and got on a train then metro to our hotel. We met up with my dad and sean and had dinner at a restaurant off of La Rambla (the main street of Barcelona). We had tapas for dinner - potatoes with this spicy cream sauce, paella with chicken and shrimp (rice in a tomato sauce with veggies and meat that's REALLY good), garlic shrimp, a half rotissery chicken with fries, and olives for the two weird people at the table that like them. We also had 2 pitchers for the table of Sangria De Cava which is my new favorite drink but unfornatuely is only found in Spain. It consists of all of the normal fruit of Sangria but it's made with champagne instead of red wine and it is to die for! After that we walked around and eventually went back to our hotel for the night.

Friday we got up early and went straight to the beach. We spent a few hours in the sun and got hungry so we went to a restaurant right on the beach. Kay and I both had pizza - mine didn't have tomato sauce on it, just Gruyère cheese and prosciutto, it was great! Dad had chicken that was flattened so much it looked like a piece of pita bread and sean had an excellent lamb something or other. We had fresh mango sorbet and a bitter chocolate cake with some kind of cream on top for dessert. Great lunch! Then it was back to the beach but we sat under the shade of a palm tree since we were all pretty burnt already.

For dinner that night, I met up with my dad and sean for dinner at Citrus - pretty good place with even better prices. We split a bottle of Chablis wine that I really liked. After dinner Sean was tired so we took him back to the hotel, walked around to see a Gaudi building that was really cool - I think the guy was on drugs when he designed all of these places though, they are so different and complex but overwhelmingly beautiful. Then we went to the rooftop bar/pool area of dad's hotel that overlooked the city and sat and talked for a while about life.

Saturday we got up and went to the beach for a little but soon grew tired of that since we were all crammed under one small umbrella and we were burnt and wanted to be out of the sun. We went to the market, got lunch, and walked around La Rambla by my hotel and looked at some shops. Then we split up, took naps, showered and met up for dinner. We went to Can Majo, an incredible seafood recommended to me by several people located right on the beach. We split a bottle of the best wine I've ever had - Grano or something like that - I wrote it down. It's a Savignon Blanc and soooo good. Dad and I split a shellfish and grilled fish platter. We started with muscles and clams and a few shrimp. I tried both the muscles and the clams - they tasted like stronger seafood but I'm not sure I'd order them at a restaurant. Not bad, but not my fav. Then we got a huge plate of shrimp, two types of grilled fish that we think one might've been Monkfish and we had no idea what the other was and didn't care because it was so good. Then we had crawfish I think - cracked in half and grilled and grilled calamari rings.. SOO good! Sean got the seafood soup that was broth with while shrimps, calamari rings, muscles still in the shell and other things. I got to eat the calamari rings and they were great! Then we had desert - dad had tiramisu, Sean had wild strawberries with ice cream and they were warm which was very interesting. I tasted them and they slightly reminded me of cough syrup and after mentioning that none of us could eat any more of them.. oops! I had a crepe filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with warm chocolate sauce and white chocolate shavings. DELICIOUS MEAL!! I give Can Majo 5 stars - best seafood of my life!
After dinner we meandered our way back and dad and Sean went to sleep early since they had to wake up early for their flight =(.

Sunday we got up and went to the beach a little later in the day. We layed on the beach for most of the day, Kay and I broke for lunch and split the best Paella we had all weekend with seafood in it. It wasn't the traditional rice they use but more like a vermacelli. After going back to the beach for another couple hours the girls went back to the hotel while I went to the Sagrada Familia. It's a building the Gaudi designed and after 190 years is still in the process of being built. It has another 70-80 years to go but is very intricate and interesting. I didn't go inside, seeing the outside was enough for me but Kay and Megan said the inside was great too. After a short nap and shower Megan wasn't feeling well so Kay and I went out for our final dinner in Barcelona. We got off the tube in a good area but walked down some side streets to find a cafe with outside seating. I got calamari rings and grilled cuttlefish tapas dishes and we split french green beans fried with ham, it was all really good. We didn't end up eating until after 10, so after a 2 hour meal we were exhausted and ready for bed.

Monday we got up early and went to the Boqueria market right around the corner from our hotel. It's the oldest and best market in Barcelona and we got fresh fruit for breakfast and just walked around. Then we went back to our hotel, packed, checked out and left. It started raining just as we were leaving the hotel so I guess we picked a good day to leave! We had our last Paella at the airport and headed home.

It was a great trip to a great city and the best part was getting to see my fam! Sean had jet lag the whole time so he wasn't in the best mood which is understandable when you're exhausted but I think he had fun anyway.. I even managed to get a little bit of color! Now I just need to get to parks on the weekends and keep it up.

The next three weekends I'm spending in London. I'll be all alone this weekend in my flat since 4 of the girls are going to Paris and Kay is going to Sweden or somewhere odd with Stew and two other people from our program. I'll be spending time with flat 1 and a good book! It should be relaxing and quiet. The next thing to look forward to is the big trip at the end!!

I got a new camera card and for some reason when I plugged it in last night my computer wouldn't recognize it. So, minor problem I need to work out before I post pics but I'm a little behind so multiple albums will hopefully be going up soon!

Thanks again Dad and Sean for coming!!

I miss all of you! 1 more month of life in London and then my final semester of college life begins... exciting but very stressful!

<3

Kay's Birthday Weekend

Last week was pretty easy, Tuesday-Thursday I didn't do much, a few odds and ends, a meeting or two.. it was nice to have an easy week. Thursday I went to a pub over lunch with a few people I haven't been out with from work yet and we had a couple pints, bought by the team lead =).  Thursday we had a work party on a boat on the River Thames. We cruised up and down the river for a few hours with free food and bar and it was fantastic! We got the best views of Parliament and Big Ben and the London Eye and the riverbanks of the Thames. We will definitely be doing a cruise up and down the Thames again before we leave.

Friday was of course pointless. One of the women on our team left Bauer and friday was her last day. We had a going away lunch planned but her wisdom teeth were taken out the day before so she wasn't up for lunch.. we went anyway. We went to an Italian place where the owner thinks our team lead, Rob, is part of the mob and someone important so he always gets perfect service.. haha. Lunch lasted 3 hours, then I went back and Morgan and I stuffed some envelopes and left. Friday night I picked up some champagne, the girls got a cake, and we hung up a huge banner that Ally made at work in our flat for Kaylin's bday surprise. We all went to a pub and met her there late and came back for the surprise. Kay and I went downstairs to say hi to the guys in order to waste time so the girls could get the flat ready to surprise her.. So I eventually got a call from Emily that I figured would say - hey we're ready, come up - but instead I answer the phone to "Jen, seriously the house is about to burn down, get up here NOW" so I made up some random excuse for a reason to run upstairs. We surprised her, had cake and champagne and all went to bed.. it was great.

Saturday Stew and I met at 10 and went to the V&A museum that's full of art, artifacts, fashion and jewelry!! There were necklaces that had HUGE stones on them that were just gorgeous. Then we grabbed chinese food on the way to the British Museum. We walked around the British museum for a while and saw a lot - even a half decayed body from the Egyptian times - slightly gross but cool! I took a picture.

After all of that I came back, showered and got ready for dinner and a show with Kay and her parents. We went to the Wosley and had fantastic seafood.. I got the halibut and then this incredible baked cheesecake with fresh made hot chocolate sauce - it was sooooo good. Then we went to see Grease. Kaylin's mom equated it to a high school production, it didn't really go with the movie and parts were inserted that were definitely not in the movie.. I enjoyed it but it wasn't as good as it could've been.. better than a night at home though! After the show, we met up with the rest of the girls, and Catherine who was visiting this weekend, in Picadilly and went to On and On - a night club with 9 different bars. It was a BLAST, we had so much fun!  

Today was filled with rest and sleeping and lounging.. just what I needed! I still need to write my paper =( but class doesn't start until 7 tomorrow night though so I have enough time to get a rough draft started. This week consists of a load of laundry, possible a show wednesday night and the BARCELONA!!!!!!!

Guinness and Guinness

First I'll talk about last week since I haven't done that yet..

Thursday:

I spent the entire day in the splicing studio working on a showreel for the EA Games Day. I was there until about 7 and then got up friday  morning and went into work to get everything on a dvd and ready for the presentation.

Friday:

After our presentation went REALLY well, the EA Games marketing people there (17 of them) and a select few Bauer people got to go gokarting. I got to go! I've never done it before but it was SO much fun!  I got slammed into a few times, no big deal just spun in a few circles and got back into the race. I ended up 10th out of 22, and the top 10 went to the final race. I got 8th in the final race, so 8th over all.. not too shabby for a first timer. It made me miss driving though!

After the EA Games part of the day was over, we all went straight to a pub. We skipped dinner - no one really needs to eat and Bauer people made sure my drink stayed full, so much so that my body was HATING me the next morning when I woke up at 4am to pack and get ready to get on a bus to go to the airport for Dublin.

Saturday:

As previously stated - 4am came WAY too early. I ended up packing my toothpaste and two of Kaylin's and a body spray that is much larger than 3 oz.. I think I was still a bit drunk when I woke up.. haha oops! Thanks to Bauer of course!

We got to Dublin at 1030ish and got on a bus to our hostel. We dropped off our bags and headed to get food. We ate at a ridiculous restaurant. First bad sign was that no one else was there, 2nd bad sign was that our server didn't speak english. Halli and Caroline both wanted sandwiches. He wrote 1 sandwich first, then Caroline ordered hers so he says out loud, "okay 1 sandwich plus 1 equals 2". I tried SO hard not to laugh at him the whole time but then I just got incredibly frustrated. It took us 10 solid minutes to order and we were positive that our meals would be completely wrong.  Stew got the stew (no pun intended) and it was a MASSIVE bowl of food, he was eating it for about 20 minutes straight and the broth had gone down an inch in the bowl.  I got a sandwich with tuna, corn and peppers and it was actually really good.

After that we went to the Jameson distillery and went on a tour. After that we walked around, changed and headed to the Guinness Factory. There were 7 floors to the factory so it obviously took us a while to get through all of them. There were 2 floors completely devoted to advertising campaigns for Guinness - by FAR my favorite floors! One was the famous artist who did the toucan commercials and ads.. I really wish I could remember his name. The other floor was filled with ads from past to present. It was great!

We ate at the restaurant there, I got the guinness stew with steak and mushrooms and mashed potatoes, it was delicious. At the top floor at the end of the tour everyone gets a free pint - I just got soda since I hate beer, I tried the Guinness, but I can't drink a full pint of it. The 7th floor was all glass and had a view of the entire city, it was great.

Later that night we went to Temple Bar area. At our hostel in my and Kaylin's room we met this funny little man who had lived in Dublin for 27 years but not anymore and was itching to go out with someone, so I invited him along, especially since he'd just buried his dad in Dublin earlier that day. So we went to a pub and had a drink, chatted for a bit and parted ways. When we walked out we saw some guy get thrown to the ground jokingly by his friend but he landed on the curb in such a way that his shoulder dislocated. When he stood back up his hand was by his knee it was so gross! Then we went to another pub and hung out for a bit but it was really crowded. Next door was live music, so we got a table there and hung out for a while, it was a lot of fun and I LOVED the music.

Sunday:

We got up and ate breakfast at our hostel - cereal for free, then we found the Kilmainham Gaol - the famous jail in Dublin. We took a tour and got slightly creeped out but it was definitely fun. Then we stopped at a pub serving Italian food. Halli and I split a fabulous pizza with chicken and mushrooms.. it was GREAT.

After that we went walking and tried to find a man made beach by the Docklands.. it was supposed to be a really pretty area, but we walked around for a hour and a half and couldn't find it so we gave up. We walked around for a little while more then headed back to the hostel to get our bags and head to the airport.

All in all it was a good weekend, definitely worth the trip. But.... Dublin is not a pretty city and it wasn't what I expected it to be. I definitely had fun, but I wouldn't go back, and I think it's just because I had such high hopes since everyone said it was so awesome, but I guess I was a little let down. It was rainy and really cold on saturday afternoon and night and sunday morning. The rest of the time it was sunny and pretty.

 Our flight got delayed about 45 minutes on our way home and we had to take a midnight bus back to central London and didn't get home until after 2am, so I sent my coworkers an email asking for the day off and they gave it to me! So I spent the first part of today in bed, it was great.

We had class tonight and then I made some dinner. Tomorrow is back to work, but only 7 and a half working days until Barcelona!!!!! 

I'm SO excited to see my dad and Sean!!!!!!!!!