Venezia

Wednesday, April 23

We woke up at 1am. Yes. 1am. We had to check out of the hostel, catch a city bus to the coach station, a coach to the airport and then a plane to Venice. After lots of travel and lots of naps in weird places, we were in Venice by 9:30. Then we had to take another bus to Mestre, the city next to Venice we were staying in. We walked to our Hotel and it turned out to be really nice! If you are going to Venice anytime soon, stay in Hotel Guidi. The staff speak English and its only a 10 minute bus ride to the center of Venice.

After finding food, we took a nap during Siesta time – pretty much everything in Venice closes from 1 – 3:30 so the workers can go home, eat and rest. I don’t know what in the world America is thinking, but I wouldn’t complain a bit if I was told to go home and nap!

We went into Venice in the afternoon and just wandered around exploring. It was so warm compared to England. The sun combined with 70 degree weather made me put on a skirt and a tshirt. It was a very welcome change. I really do prefer the warm weather.

 

We found strawberries, kiwi and paninis for dinner and it was such a good decision. The fruit here is so fresh and so sweet. We called it an early night and watched Eat, Pray, Love while eating dinner.

Thursday, April 24

The hotel had breakfast for us and that was a nice change. We had some pastries and yogurt before heading off for the day. We walked all the way across the city to San Marco Piazza so I could climb the Clock Tower. (After climbing St. Paul’s and Arthurs’ Seat, I have decided I want to climb as many things as I can on my travels!) When we got there we found out you can only take the elevator up. I was pretty disappointed, but I’m sure Erin was cheering on the inside. The view from the top was amazing. You could see the whole city! We happened to be up there when noon hit so we got to see the bells in action! It was really neat.

We went in search of Calzones once we made it to the bottom. That calzone was so good. Erin and I both agreed that we will never be able to eat an American Calzone again. We took a WaterBus back up the Grand Canal. As was the rest of the city, it was extremely beautiful. We got some more Strawberries, then went back to Mestre to rest.

Then we went out into Mestre to get pizza for dinner and to see how far away the train station was because we needed to go there the next morning to go south.

So far, Italy has been great. More people speak English than you would think, and it’s amazing how much you can understand from context clues. Currently it is Friday the 25^th and I am sitting on our train to Sabaudia. I am so glad we have almost a week left because I don’t want to leave just yet! (And I don’t want to have to go back to school to work on essays)

The Making of Harry Potter

Tuesday, April 22

The studios where the Harry Potter movies were filmed is right on the outskirts of London. And since all the movies have been made and they needed a reason to make even more money, they opened the studios so people could come and tour them. I must say, I was over the moon excited to see it all. It was such an AMAZING experience. Harry Potter has been such a huge part of my life and being able to see all the behind the scenes information was so interesting. We got to walk on sets, see the actual costumes and learn about how they did some of the special effects. So much thought and detail went into the making of the movies. The amount of people working behind the scenes was unreal. Going to the studios certainly is one of my highlights of Europe so far.

After the tour we went back into London and went to London Bridge and Tower Bridge to take pictures and find somewhere to eat. We ended up eating at a Japanese place called Wagamama before heading back to the hostel to pack up and get some rest before we started our journey to Venice.

Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath

Monday, April 21

Erin and I had bought tickets for a tour of Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath so we could see multiple places and not have to worry about transport to these places. Stonehenge is pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

Our Coach bus was double decker! I had never seen something like that before. It was a very nice bus. Our tour guide, Nigel, told us facts about London on our way out and I found that really interesting. When we made it to Windsor Castle (built 900+ years ago), he told us that somebody once asked him why they built the castle so close to Heathrow Airport…

We got an audio guide for Windsor and I found that really interesting. My favourite part was seeing the very intricate dollhouse they had on display. I finally saw some the British Soldiers in the red coats! But I didn’t see the Queen. Darn.

Stonehenge was amazing. I was so excited to see it. It intrigues me to no end. I want to know why it’s there and how in the world it got there!!! 

We ate lunch in a pub in a small village between Stonehenge and Bath. I had fish and chips and it was very good. I feel like almost all the food I have here in Europe is good. Ha.

Bath was a cute town, but Erin and I couldn’t figure out why it was a part of our tour because we didn’t get entry to the Roman Baths and since it was 5:00 when we arrived, the majorty of the shops were closing. We did find one crafts/antiques shop we could go into and I found something amazing! A piece of green Wedgewood pottery. I have always loved Wedgewood, the fact that Keele is so close to the Wedgewood factory makes me love it even more. It is really rare in the states so when you do find some, it costs the earth. I was very happy to see that this dish was a reasonable price!

All in all, the tour was nice, we got to see quite a bit in one day, however, as Erin said – it felt like a big field trip. I think that if there had been more college aged people on the trip we would have had a bit more fun.

Easter Weekend in London

Friday, April 18

We arrived in London really late on Good Friday and ended up having to take a taxi from the coach station to the Hostel since the tube had stopped running. This was the same hostel I stayed at in February, but we ended up getting a much nicer room! We went to sleep soon after arriving so we could rest up before a busy Saturday in the city.

Saturday, April 19

You can't go to London and not take a picture of the "Mind the Gap" signs!

Saturday morning we went to a discount ticket kiosk to see if we could get tickets for any of the shows going on that night. We ended up getting the five of the last 9 tickets for Wicked! We were very lucky. We went on to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace (Much prettier with all the tulips out front) and Big Ben to take pictures since it was Erin’s first time in London. Then we went to Oxford Circus and Covent Garden to go to the Apple Store and we also looked around in some shops before heading to Victoria to meet up with everybody for dinner before Wicked. We decided to meet at Nando’s, and Erin and I got there and sat and sat until Kat called saying we were late. We were at two different Nando’s only 5 minutes away from each other! What are the chances!

Big Ben!

Buckingham Palace with tons of tulips!

We went to Wicked and it was SO good. The actors were so talented. And the sets were so intricate! I would love to be able to see some more shows sometime!

Sunday, April 20

For Easter we went to Hillsong Church. Since we love their Worship music so much we were really looking forward to it. Even though it was grey and rainy. While the worship was really nice, they didn’t do a normal preach, they showed a play that was… different. It wasn’t what we expected, but we are still glad we went.

For lunch we went to Camden Market. It was raining pretty hard, but we found a mostly covered area and got some really delicious Turkish Wraps before looking around at all the stalls. I love Camden, its such huge market, I feel like you could go every day for a week and still find new treasures!

On the way back to the Hostel we got SOAKED. I must say it wasn’t very enjoyable.

We made it an early night because Erin and I were going to Stonehenge early the next morning.

Tower Bridge

 

Making a Negative Experience Postive - Broken Cell Phone

Imagine:

Day one in London.

Go to plug my iPhone in and nothing happens.

Switch chargers.

Nothing happens.

Realize that something is wrong with my phone.

Minor panic sets in.

Then I remembered Apples stores are in London.

Then I realized I can survive without my phone.

I did stop by the Apple store today for an official diagnosis, and yes, the charger port is broken. It’s still under warranty, but there is nothing they can do for me really because it’s an American phone, not a UK one. Apparently there is a difference. I could have paid a ton of money to have one shipped from America before I leave London on Wednesday, but I definitely didn’t see how that would be worth it. When I’m not on wifi the only thing I used it for was maps. I had some maps downloaded and even without service it would show my gps location. But hey, paper maps work just fine!

It is a little tough when we do go into coffee shops with wifi and my friends all have their phones out, but Erin is letting me use hers to let my parents now how I’m doing every time we connect. It is sad that I won’t be able to text people directly to their phones. But luckily I have my tablet and I can still connect with Facebook.

In the past I have been too reliant on my technology and I want to use this unfortunate occurrence not only to help me make a better effort on focusing on this experience and these memories, but also to help me find a better balance between my technological life and life that is happening all around me every second.

Belfast, Northern Ireland

On Saturday the 12^th, I went to Belfast, Northern Ireland with The University of Ulster where Erin is going to school. It was really nice of them to let me tag along on the trip even though I don’t go here. We started the day off at the Titanic Museum. Did you know the Titanic was built in Belfast? I didn’t! The Museum is built right on the shipyard where the Titanic was built! The museum was so neat and really interactive and modern! I really learned a lot. There was a short ride that told you about how the ship was built and really put the size of the ship into perspective! We also saw some footage of the ship wreck at the bottom of the ocean. Submarines really freak me out, but I would maybe, just maybe, go down in one if I had the chance to see the wreckage in person. It is so astounding to see how much of it is preserved!

View from the Museum

After the museum we went to lunch at the Ramada, which was also included in the price of the trip. I had a spinach and mushroom pasta which was super yummy. After lunch we got back on the bus for a tour of Belfast. I wish I could say it was really interesting… But… It wasn’t… The bus was warm. Our bellies were full. Quite a few of us dozed off here and there. Oops

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Then we got to explore the city center of Belfast. We didn’t have a ton of time, but we got cupcakes AND I found some Reese’s Cups! That was pretty exciting! I really liked Belfast and I hope I have more time to explore the next time I go! 

Londonderry! (and survey)

On Wednesday the 9^th, I got on a train, then a plane to come to Northern Ireland to visit Erin until we begin our big European excursion. I arrived in Londonderry around 11am Wednesday and my taxi driver didn’t know where the arts building was, so he just took me to campus and dropped me off in front of a big building. I figured I would just ask people in there where the arts building was. In my attempts to get into the building (you have to have a student card) I noticed a sign that said it was the arts building! That was very convenient! It was SO great to see Erin! I hadn’t seen her since we moved out of UNCG in December and we were really missing each other! We screamed and hugged and cried when we saw each other and really freaked out the other people in the stairwell. Ha!

The past few days have been so nice, catching up and spending time together. I love that I can cook real meals and them not go to waste because I am not the only person eating them!

I really like Londonderry. It has a similar vibe as the Pacific Northwest and if you know me at all, you know I love that area of America! I am going to be here until Friday the 18^th, and it has been really nice to relax and not have to go to class; even though I do have to do a little bit of school work. Speaking of school work, I am working on a paper for British Cultural Studies and I need people to do a survey for me. Here is the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2T7873T It should take less that 5 minutes and I really would appreciate any answers! 

Bournville and Birmingham

On March 27 my friend Sam from UNCG came to visit me at Keele. She is currently studying abroad in Toledo, Spain. She arrived late that night, then on Friday I just showed her around Keele and Stoke-on-Trent. She got to experience Primark for the first time! I think she agrees that it is a pretty amazing place.

On Saturday we took a train to Birmingham to explore, but more importantly, to go to Cadbury World. Yes, Cadbury Chocolate has its own World! The factory where the majority of their chocolate is made is just on the outskirts of Birmingham in a village called Bournville.

We took the train from the center of Birmingham to Bournville and it was the smallest train station ever! There was no building, just two platforms for the trains coming from either direction. As we left the train station we were a little confused about what direction we needed to go, but we noticed smallish purple signs with arrows pointing us in the right direction. We came up on the back of the factory and became really confused, but with enough wandering we found our way.

The factory was really neat! It was mostly self-guided and we got some free chocolate! It was need to see the packaging area. Shows like “How It’s Made” really intrigue me, so seeing it first hand was even better! They told us a lot of the local history and history of the company as well. I didn’t know all that about the chocolate company! I’m going to miss Cadbury being so cheap when I come home! It is much better than any Hershey’s bar.

 After Cadbury World, we went back into the city center of Birmingham. This is where the real adventure begins. Sam had a bus back to London from Birmingham for her flight back to Spain. We weren’t sure where the bus stop was, so we figured we would find that first before going exploring. We couldn’t find it. We wandered so far looking for it and for places to ask. And everybody kept pointing us back to Hill Street where we started. We decided to go to the big bus station to ask about that bus stop and again they pointed us back to where we were. But we hadn’t seen it, so we didn’t have much hope. But we figured we would head back that way and explore on the way.

There was a Starbucks in the bus station and since it was a really warm day (read: 65 degrees F) I decided I wanted an Iced Coffee. I don’t think that is a big thing here because it wasn’t on the menu and when I asked how much it was the man looked at me funny and was like, “We will give you ice free of charge if you really want it.” It was a really funny encounter, and I did eventually get my iced coffee! And it tasted wonderful.

Across the street were quite a few different Vintage Clothing stores. I could have spent a lot of money and time in them but we just wandered and I avoided spending any money. Well until I saw some shoes I couldn’t pass up that is. I LOVE my L.L. Bean duck boots and I really wanted some short ones as well. And can you believe it, there was a pair of short, vintage, L.L. Bean duck moccasins in my size and in almost perfect condition for cheaper than a brand new pair! You bet I bought those as quick as I could!

We continued exploring until we needed to try and find the bus stop again for the sake of time. We make it back to Hill Street and once again, we cannot find the stop! We go into a small store on Hill Street and asked the man at the till. And he told us to go up the hill of Hill street and PASS the intersection and the stop was just past that. Yeah, we didn’t pass the intersection. Oops.

 Not our brightest moment, but it was one of my favorite adventures I’ve had in England so far! If we hadn’t went to the big bus station we wouldn’t have ended up in those vintage shops and I wouldn’t have found my shoes and Sam wouldn’t have found her scarf.

It was really fun to have a friend come visit me! We had a great time and I can’t wait to see Sam again when we get back to Greensboro.