MADRID! plus some side trips

Helllo,
yup, just got back from a looong weekend in Madrid! We had Monday and Tuesday off from school for Carneval, so Sam and I got some cheap plane tickets and headed over to check out the city. We left Thursday night, and got into Madrid around 11pm or so. The metro ran from the airport, very convenient, so we go in to our hostel at about midnight. It was a nice hostel, cheap but clean; we were in a girl's dorm with ten total people (and only one bathroom...the one downside), but as I say it was a nice place and we got some sweet Frosted Flakes-ish cereal included for morning breakfast :). As it was late Sam and I just went to bed, having grabbed some food at the airport. Friday, we woke up pretty early for a day trip to San Lorenzo de El Escorial. By the way, we picked these side trips based off the sweet Spain book Uncle Alex/Aunt Sandy found for me, thanks guys, those books are serving me very well :). In any case, we walked over to the train station not too far from our hostel, seeing some of the backroads of Madrid on the way. It was funny, right in the heart of the train station there was this little garden/forest thing set up, with turtles and stuff hanging out in a fake little pond, in the building! Very bizarre. But anyways, we acquired our tickets for the trip after a bit of confusion, and ended up sprinting to the train station as the ticket vender yelded to us to "hurry up" and that we were going to miss our train (in Spanish of course). It was pretty silly, we got there and stood for like ten more minutes waiting for the train, my theory is the train station workers take perverse pleasure in watching stupid tourists running around frantically, but we made it. The train ride was only about a half hour, and we arrived in El Escorial. On our way to the Royal Monastary, we came across one of the gypsies Mar (our program director) warned us about. What they do us approach tourists/stupid looking people with a little sprig of Jasmine (or something) and try to hand it to you. They then proceed to take your hand and read it for your future. That will cost you about 50$, or just all the money you have on you, and they apparently have men that run the whole thing and enforce said payment. In any case, Mar pretty much terrfied us, so as soon as we saw her approaching sam and I stuffed our hands in our pockets and hurried on our way; phew, haha. Anyways, we made our way over to the Royal Monastery, where there are a whole bunch of paintings and tapestries, and were the Spanish kings are buried. It was really amazing, such a cool experience; it belonged to Philip II. After that, we were ready to go on our little excursion to "El Valle de los Caidos" (The Valley of the Fallen), so we grabbed a couple of sandwiches to go and hopped on a bus. After a 20 minute or so long bus ride, we arrived. It was absolutely amazing; so gorgeous, up in the mountains, with a stellar view. The memorial consists mainly of a gigantic cross rising up from the mountain, with an impressive cathedral and such below it. Unfortunately, we couldn't go up to the base of the cross as the transportation thing was closed, but we had a good time walking around by the cathedral in the woods a bit (Although it was freezing up there, and we had to jog around a bit just to warm up). After a long time there, we caught the bus back to El Escorial, and shortly after the bus back to Madrid. We had seen in our "Guido de Ocio" for Madrid that there was supposed to be some sort of celebration for Carneval, so upon arrival we hurried over to see if it was still going on. (Carneval is basically a week-long party or so, the last chance to sin before lent according to my professor, basically like Mardi Gras except everyone dresses up in costumes). Unfortunately, the little celebration was pretty much over when we got there, but we were able to see some amusing costumes, including someone dressed as a toilet. By this time Sam and I were really hungry, so we headed off to grab some dinner, and stumbled into a Mexican restaurant. Sam was really excited, she has been really missing Mexican food, so we went in and split some Quesadillas, yum yum, and I tasted a bit of her Rice Water, which she loves (not bad). After dinner, we decided to walk around the city, and check out some of the major areas at night. It was really nice, I like the city a lot, and the Plaza Mayor was beautiful. We stopped in for some tapas and to rest our feet for a bit, and then headed home, tired and ready for bed. Saturday we had another excursion planned, this time to Segovia, so we got up and headed out, catching the train from another station. Unfortunately, a bit flustered, we got on the wrong train to Segovia. We had bought the direct ride, but accidently got on the train that winds around, picking up people in various cities. Sadly, this added an extra two hours to our ride, whoops, but on the bright side we got to see a lot of the countryside, and the train itself was nice so I really didn't mind it. When we arrived, we caught a bus into town, and started to explore. First we headed to the cathedral, the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain; such a gorgeous cathedral, inside and out. After that Sam and I headed over to the Alcazar, a little castle, complete with a cool little tower that gave a great view of Segovia. After grabbing a quick lunch (Calamari Bocadillos) we walked down through town a ways, and checked out the Roman Aqueduct, built nearly 2,000 years ago! Pretty cool. After that we went and caught the bus to La Granja for a little side trip. It's this beautiful Royal Palace, with a really nice big garden in back littered with little fountains/sculptures. After spending a long time there it was time to catch the bus back. Unfortunately, a whole lot of people were waiting to catch our bus back to Segovia as well, and after lots of pushing and overall chaos, several of us were left behind (sam and I included). The next bus wasn't supposed to come for another hour and a half, so it was not looking good. However, there was an American girl that looked about our age with her father who had missed the bus as well, so I went over and asked them if they wanted to split a taxi with us back to Segovia. They were very nice, and said yes, so we headed off together to try and find a taxi. Turns out the girl is studying abroad in Malaga, Spain; her dad was visiting for a few days so they headed to Madrid for the weekend. We all went back to the train station together, and then went our separate ways. After waiting around for our train for a while (we got there too late to catch the earlier one), it was back to Madrid. Unfortunately we got back later than we had hoped, so we missed a Carneval parade we had been hoping to go to. Instead, we went and got some dinner and tapas, trying some 6euro paella that ended up being pretty awful. Guess that's what you get for six euro paella, it's unfortunately very expensive here, but one day i will have to suck it up and try some of the better kind. Again, we had seen in our "Guido de Ocio" that there was something going on for carneval late that night, some kind of party with lots of costumes and such. Unfortunately, we couldn't figure out where exactly the place was based on the address, so after some searching for a bit we gave up and decided to just walk around for a bit. After some wandering through one of the richer parts of the city, we noticed a bunch of people standing around some kind of concert hall. We had found it! Turns out the party was very exclusive and fancy, invite-only, but there were a fair amount of people standing outside and just watching the people arrive, so Sam and I joined them for a bit. It was fun, we saw some really great costumes, people really went all out, and it was funny to see all these wealthy adults dressed up and acting silly. After awhile we decided it was time to make the trek back to the hostel; by this time we were also pretty cold, so we quickly made our way back and headed to bed. The next morning, Sunday, we slept in a bit. We spent the day in Madrid, heading over to this huge market in the morning, and walking around that for a while. I found this great shirt with a picture of the Little Prince on it, with a quote from the book in Spanish, and left happy. After that we found a metro to take us to the outskirts of Madrid to visit a little church, whose ceiling was painted by Goya (kind of his Sistine Chapel); it was really beautiful, very cool to see. Then it was over to the Cathedral by the Royal palace. On the way over we went thorough the royal gardens, a really pretty walk; we even saw a peacock wandering around, and spent a while coaxing it out so it would let us get some pictures. The cathedral was beautiful, and afterwards we started out back arcoss the city to visit the Prado. Really hungry at this point, we stopped at a Chinese place and got some food, and then continued on our way. Luckily, the Prado is free on Sundays starting at 5 pm, so we found a bench to sit on oustide and rested for a while while we waited a bit for to get in free. Unfortunately, about a billion other people decided had the same plan, and the line to get in got bigger and bigger. Eventually, after waiting past 5 in the hopes that it would die down, Sam and I gave in and joined the line. Not too long after we got in, free!, and then began to explore the Prado. Such an amazing museum, and so big! It was a bit overwelming, but I saw as much as I could, and saw so many great paintings, some of the highlights being those of Bosch, El Greco, Velazquez, and Goya. We stayed until they kicked us out at 8, and then it was time to head to the metro. I had bought tickets to see in indie concert, Islands, so we made our way over there to see the show. We were running low on time, so just grabbed some sandwiches and snacks at a grocery store by the place. It was kind of out of the way, a bit hard to find, but ended up being a good concert. The place was called "Moby Dick", a cool little bar with a small stage, that had seen the likes of James Taylor, The Long Winters, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, etc. I really enjoyed the concert, Islands are a pop/rock/indie band from Canada, with Brian Hunt as an opener (who I had never heard of, but was pretty good). After the concert it was time to head back, so we got back on the metro and headed to the hostel. Monday, we headed to Toledo for they day, catching a train for the hour-ish ride. The morning was stressful, especially because the guide book had the wrong train station listed to go to Toledo, although fortunately the right one wasn't too far away. We made it though, and caught a bus from the station into the center. Toledo is such a great city, surrounded by an old wall, and just really well preserved and gorgeous. First, we stopped in at a former hospice as well as a former monastery, both beautiful buildings and interesting museums with artwork and such. We then walked around for a bit, stopping in at little shops on the way. Toledo is famous for its jewelry, made with gold, and another black stone. Really beautiful stuff, incredibly ornate. We spent along time admiring it all, and I got myself a cheap necklace that I really like. After a quick lunch, including a desert of Marzapan (very popular in Toledo) we headed over to the Cathedral of Toledo, which was absolutely AMAZING. Definitely on my list of the top most beautiful things I have ever seen, seriously gorgeous, again on the inside and outside. It even had a little "treasury" with all sorts of incredible pieces, plus a room full of painting by the likes of El Greco and Goya. Sam and I spent a long time wandering around, trying to take it all in, and then we did some more wandering around the town, stopping in at some more shops to admire, and just enjoying exploring such an old city. Our last visit was to a little church, where some of El Greco's work was displayed, and another where his masterpiece "The Burial of the Count of Organ" was on display. Very cool, so many amazing artworks! By this time it was getting late, so we headed back towards the train station and caught our train home. Upon arrival, we decided that we wanted to see some Flamenco, one of the must-dos in Madrid, that I had been dying to do. After calling around, we found a slightly less expensive place, but that the guidbook had described as being less tourist-y and more authentic. We made a reservation, and headed over, hurrying as there wasn't a whole lot of time before the peformance started. We were starving, and desperately needed a quick bite to eat...something cheap; and we chose none other than McDonald's, which according to a sign was actually the first McDonald's in Spain, hahaha. It was very satsifying, good old McDonald's, and we ate while practically joggin to try and find the flamenco place. Of course, it was somewhere on this huge square with major roads running through it, so this proved to be pretty tricky. After some panicked searching, we did find it, and ended up being very early (turns out it started at 10:30, not 10...). We sat back and relaxed, sipping on sangria, and admiring the nice little flamenco club and feeling sophisticated. We were the first people there, so we got the table closest to the stage, SO COOL! The show was sooooo great, and it was great to see real flamenco, not the toursity crap that is advertised everywhere. It consisted of these four older guys, who sat on stools towards the back of the stage, two of them singing, and the other two playing guitar. They were all amazing, the music was absolutely beautiful, and there were two dancers, a man and a woman, who danced solos and together. A really, really great experience. I love watching Flamenco; it was so intense, must be exhausting to do...really great. It lasted pretty late, so afterwards Sam and I caught the metro and headed home to sleep. Tuesday was our last day in Madrid, so we got up and ready as soon as we could, checking out but leaving our stuff in storage so we wouldn't have to carry it around all day. First, we headed over to the Royal Palace, towards the west of the city. Man, I'm running out of adjectives to describe everything, haha, this is getting a bit repetitive, but anyways the palace was simply mahvelous! The rooms are all beautifully decorated, the richness of it all is really unbelievable, and there was a whole bunch of old armor/weaponry that was very cool to see. After the palace, we headed over to the other side of the city to se the Reina Sofia, where "Guernica" is on display. After a loooong walk, we arrived only to find that it is closed all day Tuesday!!! After much cursing, we decided to go to the nearby Art Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza, which my guide book rates as being up with the Prado. It really was a great museum, also very big, and with many amazing paintings from many great artists, including Monet, Matisse, Georgia O'Keefe, etc. Wow, I can't believe how many amazing paintings I saw this weekend! Makes me want to study more Art History...Anyways, after a long time at the museum, which I snuck off to Starbucks for part of, Sam and I had to get going. We grabbed a quick snack, and then picked up our stuff from the hostel and made our way to the airport (about an hour on the metro). We arrived with plenty of time, and I went through security with no problems. It was about an hour, after having explored the airport and had some dinner, that I realized I had left my big backpack at security!!! I still can't believe i did that, I was so out of it I guess from all the traveling, but in any case I practically ran back to security, freaking out, and approached the security guards and tried to explain in Spanish what I had done. They looked at me like I was an idiot (fair enough), and tried to get me to describe my bag, but my limited vocabulary only allowed me to say that it was blue, and was a bit bigger than a bag someone else was carrying nearby, haha. In any case, the security guard must of believed me, i mean i was pretty panicked, and he want into a little room and came back with my bag...phew! It was a close call, nothing was missing though, and all the important stuff had been in my purse anyway, but still...In the airport we ran into six other kids from our program heading back to Santiago as well, so we all sat together and caught up, which was nice. We made it back with no further slip-ups, it was nice to be back. The city has some lights up for Carneval, and lots of people were walking around in costumes last night which was very amusing. So yes, phew, that was my trip...man, hard to believe we did all that. Unfortunately, I don't really get time to catch my breath, as tomorrow Sam, Florette, Laura, Sam (a guy on our program), and Biaggio (my former rommate) are heading to Cadiz, where Lloyd will be meeting up with us as well. It should be really fun, Cadiz is known for having one of the best Carneval celebrations, and after a couple days there we are going to head for Granada for a couple days as well. We are then going to meet up with the our program in Ronda (also in Southern Spain), as next week there is a group trip in Andalucia. So basically I've got a week of some amazing travel ahead of me, it's going to be kind of insane, but really really great at the same time. In any case, i have already spent way too much time on this blog and need to get some work done and all my stuff unpacked and repacked, haha. Love you all, and will post when I get back from my travels! I don't know if i will have internet access, so it may be about a week, but don't worry it just means i'm living it up in the beautiful south of Spain. ;)
Much love for all, Brit

It was all going so well...

Hello all, well I am writing this post from Sam's laptop...as alas my laptop has gotten suicidal on me. It's very bizarre, last night I noticed that the screen was darker than usual, and tried to adjust the brightness, which didn't help. I figured my eyes were just being weird and it was probably nothing, but then later when I went to turn it on...nothing. Well, not nothing, actually, it makes all the normal noises it makes when turning on, little lights flashing and whirring happily, but the screen remains completely blank! Sigh. So yeah, had a minor freak out last night, as of course this happened the night before my big exam. I was being good and made a whole bunch of flashcards online, and looked up maps and stuff to memorize, online...see the problem? Oh technology. Fortunately, Sam doesn't have internet at her place anyway, so she graciously let me borrow her laptop to use at my place for the night, so i was able to get all my studying in. After many, many tries, I still have not however managed to bring my laptop back to life. I'm planning on calling the support service after I finish making dinner, and we'll see what they say. The good thing is that it is still under warranty, but I have a feeling that dealing with this from abroad is going to be a big pain in the ass. Oh well, I'm sure it will all work out...stupid computers.
On another note, I had a really good weekend, yay! Thursday night Laura invited decided to invite everyone over to her place for drinks and some hors d'oeuvres. It was Paul's birthday, so most of the group went out to dinner beforehand, while Sam, Laura, and I got the apartment ready. I made sangria, dad should be very proud, it was quite the hit :). It was really fun, a bit crowded, as so many of us were in there small-ish apartment, but we ended up hanging out there for a long time and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Afterwards, we all headed over to Momo's, which we frequent pretty often, and hung around there for a while talking, drinking, etc. After about an hour over there, about half of us headed over to a nearby Discoteca, where we danced for a while, fun! After dancing for a while we all headed out, it was really late at this point, and we were all pretty tired. Friday, I slept in, and spent the rest of the day relaxing and studying for the exam I had today in my Transatlantic Spanish culture class. Not a very exciting day, but the studying was very necessary. Saturday, we had a group excursion to Oursense, about two hours south of Santiago. We went to Allariz, a pretty little town known for its textile industry. It was also where the film "La lengua de las mariposas" (roughly translated as "The tongue of the butterflies") was filmed, which I thought was pretty cool as we watched the film for class last year. After a little free time to get a snack and go to the bathroom, the group headed over to check out some museums. The first one showed the old way of making leather and other types of fabric, followed by another dealing with wool/weaving and such, and then another that I honestly don't know what was about, haha. The museums weren't particularly exciting, but our visits there were short and sweet and we were able to see some of the old machinery and such, which was cool. After the museums we had a couple hours of free time, so Florette,Sam, Laura, Marnie and I headed out to explore. We walked along a path by the river; it was so gorgeous, perfect weather, really great. After that we were getting hungry, and decided to head into town to find a place for lunch. After wandering around a bit with no luck, we came across a cool looking place advertising tapas and such. Although the place was pretty crowded, we mananged to find a table in the corner, and proceeded to order several plates for all of us to share. It was a delicious, delicious lunch! All my favorite spanish foods: squid, tortilla espanola (eggs/potatoes/onions), chorizo (a somewhat spicy sausage), and some chopped potatoes with a couple sauces. Yum! After a long lunch (lots of food, plus the place was pretty packed so service was slow), we went and wandered around a little bit before it was time to meet at the bus. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but we admired the old town and a pretty church, and then sat and sunbathed for a bit. Then it was off to the forest! A famous artist from the Basque country had painted a bunch of big rocks, as well as trees, so we went and checked that out, walking along the trails and enjoying the outdoors. I must say walking around out there made me feel a bit homesick, I miss living out in the woods! But it was a really fun time, and nice to get of Santiago for a bit. A couple hours bus ride later and we were back in Santiago. After stopping in at the grocery store and a candy shop, Florette, Laura, Sam and I all headed back to Sam and Laura's place to hang out. We ended up having a really fun time, just us girls, and we played some intense games of Ucher late into the night; a really fun Valentine's Day :). Sunday, I caught up on sleep, and then spent the rest of the day studying for my exam, so much I had to memorize! In the evening I finally got out to walk around the city and take a break, returning to find my computer in it's angry state. Today (Monday), I had my exam, which went really well! Oh, and I now have a roommate, which is exciting. His name is Leo, and he's from Brazil. Seems like a nice guy, although I haven't gotten to know him very well yet, and tomorrow he is going to Portugal for several days to stay with his Uncle. Alas, I have to go back to sharing the heater soon, but it will be nice to have someone else around the place...I miss Samuel! Other than that today I have just been studying a bit, and reading the final book of the Twilight series. It's going to be sad without Twilight in my life, but fortunately I got a little Valentine's Day package from Kristin in the mail today. She sent me "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and some candy, yay! Well, I am now going to try and skype the Microsoft people and figure out what is going on with my laptop. Wish me luck...
Love,
Brit

Santiago, you have outdone yourself

Hey all! The last couple days in Santiago have been so crazy weather-wise, that I couldn't help but dedicate a post to them. Sunday night, as I prepared to settle in for some serious stuyding, I received a text message from Mar, our program director: "Local authorities cancelled classes for tomorrow due to very strong winds and heavy rain..." YES! That is how crappy the weather is here...school was canceled. I didn't sign up for this! But a day off is a day off, and I happily put off my homework and studying another day, opting for some Twilight reading instead (I LOVE this series, you can blame Samantha (Smith) for that one). In any case, I got in another day of lazing about, as the weather was scary and leaving the house wasn't looking like such a good idea. In the evening, however, I did venture over to Laura and Sam's, so I could do the reading for class (i hadn't gone out to get the book yet, weather was too crappy). I ended up staying for dinner, and then we watched "She's the Man", an oh so horribly good movie starring none other than Amanda Bynes...haha. It was a nice time, and I made it home without getting blown away, by that time it had calmed down quite a bit. Despite the weather on Monday, today (tuesday) was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Seriously, the best weather we've had since I've been here. I must have looked like such an idiot walking to class, practically bouncing with happiness and a doofy grin on my face, but it was so nice!!! Apparently, the good weather is supposed to last over the weekend (except tomorrow, which is supposed to be a bit rainy); it was soooo nice to see the sun. It was funny, walking to class, I kept getting the feeling that something was different. After looking around and thinking about it, I realized what it was...It was like the first time I had walked around the city without it being wet! Seriously, I am so used to have to walk slowly, carefully so that my boots wont slip on the wet ground, or so that I wont step in the puddle. But today, I could walk as fast as I wanted, it was actually dry! So yes, I had to share my glorious day in the sun with you all. It was funny, after class I went to a bookshop to look for the book we needed for class (which everyone has been having trouble finding), and as I was browsing the Italy travel books Florette and Laura came in without me noticing, and got the last copy of the two books I needed! I of course came over and we had a good laugh over it, and then we all went to another bookstore close by so I could get the books as well. Afterwards, we went to Burger King for a snack, our own little American Embassy, and hung out for a bit eating and talking. Laura invited me over for dinner again (yes!), so after stopping at a cafe for a bit we went to the grocery store and picked up all the necessary ingredients. Another great night having dinner Sam and Laura's, along with Florette; we had a really fun time. As Laura said, it felt like we're a little family :), Laura being the mom, haha. So yes, I had a really great day today in Santiago, and just thought I would share! Lets hope this good weather lasts, Laura and I are planning to go on our first run together tomorrow so it better!

Another week in Santiago

Hey all,
So yes, another week has passed in Santiago, still rainy and icky here but some friends told me the weather is supposed to be really nice starting this week,yes! I had a good week, mainly spending school days going to class, doing some school work, doing a bit of cooking, etc. Thursday I had my first essay due, 3-4 pages for my class about gender roles in Spain...it turned out okay, but took up much of Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday night was fun, Fattin and Katie had another potluck dinner at there place, so I brought mom's famous artichoke dip, which was a hit as always. We had a late, long dinner, and spent a lot of time just hanging around talking in there apartment. One of their roommates had recently moved out, so his former room was the party/hangout room, and a good 15 people were probably there. Like I said it was really fun, and the Kenyon girls and I headed home together late that night. Friday I slept in and spent the day lazily, while also working some more on travel plans. Since none of my friends here have internet in their homes like I do, a lot of the planning has kind of fallen to me, which I don't mind but can be quite time consuming! In any case, I'm really excited about traveling; Laura invited me along to Greece, where we will stay with our mutual friend Anna Kephart (from Kenyon, I know her from my brief stint in rugby as well as Ice Hockey). It should be really great, in late April. Friday night Sam and I went to a concert in Santiago; it was this rock/pop/punk Spanish band I had seen some advertisements for around the city, and it ended up being a really fun show. A lot of people showed up, and the band seemed to have some pretty hard core fans. The opener was fun too, another Spanish band, who also did a fun cover of "Come Together" by the Beatles, which was nice as I could actually understand what they were saying! haha. Saturday I spent the morning hanging at home getting some work done, messing around on the internet, etc., and then Sam and I met up and went to a great cafe not far from our house to try and do some more travel planning (we want to go to Italy for a week for our break, which is going to involve quite a bit of planning). We stayed there for a while before heading back to her place, as Laura invited us back for dinner with her and Florette. We helped with cooking and hung out talking for a while, and had a really yummy dinner; it's so nice having someone who knows how to cook :). After dinner we watched "Mean Girls", which Laura had brought to Spain, and then went out to do a bit of bar hopping. It was nice, we checked out a few places in the old zone that we hand't explored yet, Sam and Florette heading home a bit earlier than me and Laura. The two of us headed home around 3, when most Spaniards are still getting warmed up, I don't know how they do it! Today, I woke up really late, and spent the day finally getting around to the homework I'd been procrastinating on. Wednesday I have my first exam, in my "Transatlantic Spanish cultures" class, so I've started studying for that one, it shouldn't be too hard-just lots of memorization of facts and such. So yes, a somewhat lazy weekend in Santiago, but a good one. I figured I would make the most of this weekend to just kind of relax, as the next month or so is going to be crazy packed of traveling...hopefully it wont be too overwhelming! Alright, gotta get back to studying, I woke up way too late today and need to make up for it! Will try to post more often, I've been slacking lately, but love you all and miss you,
Brit

LONDON

Cheerio!
Just got back from a brilliant weekend in my homeland; I must say I had a grand time presenting my British passport, although the curt nod didn’t live up to the bear bug I was hoping for. But in any case, I had a really nice time in London, which I visited for the first time in middle school via girl scouts. Since I had already seen all the major sites, we kind of just did some random fun things around the city. Sam and I left for London Friday morning, getting up before eight, to find the bus that would take us to the airport. The walk to the bus was beautiful, the sun was still coming up a bit and the sky was a gorgeous shade of purple, walking through the old town with the bell tolling and no rain! was refreshing. After asking directions from several friendly spaniards we found the bus station for the aiport shuttle, making it just in time. We got in to London around noon, and caught the hour bus ride that would take us into the city. Riding in was really exciting, the ride took us through some beautiful parts of London, giving us a glimpse of St. Paul’s cathedral and other impressive buildings. When we got in Lloyd was still in class for another half hour or so, so we walked and grabbed some lunch nearby his class. As we were in LSE territory, we got to see a lot of students and got a feel for the atmosphere. It seemed like a really cool place; just looking around I could tell that most people were international students (which Ryan confirmed, apparently something like 70% of LSE students are not from England). Afterwards we headed over and met up with Ryan after his class, hugs all around, and then went back to the café we had just been to-turns out it’s where he works! After he checked his schedule real quick, he led us on a walk around the city. I had forgotten how great London is; so many beautiful buildings, statues, etc. Plus, the accents are just so damn cute! We walked for a long time, and eventually made our way to his apartment, stopping at a market on the way for some veal burgers (which Ryan loves), and at a huge video game/entertainment place for some Bumper Car action, very fun. It was dark by the time we got to his place; we dropped off our stuff and just hung out at his place for awhile, drinking some of the booze we had picked up on the way home. We talked and played a bit of cards in the kitchen, and three of Ryan’s friends came in to talk and hang for a bit. Ryan had bought some tickets to a concert he had seen advertised online, so the three of us headed out to catch it. After a ride in the tube we arrived by the place, walking down a ways to find it. After presenting ID’s (Sam had forgotten hers and used one of mine…they weren’t looking to closely luckily:), we headed in, and were assaulted by really, really loud metal music (via a DJ). It was this little building, looking like more of a house than a concert hall, with a bar and some assorted bars stools and couches. Once we got in, we realized that the show had ended, turns out it ended at 10pm, when Lloyd thought it had started…whoops. After yelling into each others ears in an attempt to hear each other over the loud, loud music, we decided we had paid to be here, so we would stay for a bit goddammit! We found a table in the corner and got a couple beers, laughing at the rediculousness of the situation as teens with piercings and black clothes headbanged around the room. It was quite an experience, but we ended up having a pretty good time despite it all. I think the highlight would have to be when a heavy metal version of “Baby Got Back” came on…pretty hilarious. In any case, ears ringing and throats hoarse from yelling to be heard, we headed back out. At this point we were all pretty tired, so we decided to call it a night.
Saturday morning we all got up early so we could go check out Westminster Abbey, which was gorgeous! After an hour or two of exploring the Abbey, we stopped off at a bagel place on the way to the train station. We then caught a train to Hampton Court Palace, the palace of Henry VIII. It was also really neat, it was interesting to learn all about his life, and to see various parts of his castle via a free tour. We spent a long time there, heading back in the evening to Ryan’s apartment. After resting for a little bit we headed back out to a pub, where we watched a little bit of a “football” game, Manchester United vs. someone…I forget, haha. It was fun though, I really enjoy watching soccer games, and the pub was pretty full of people watching the game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend a whole lot of time there because we had to get to a play, “The Twelfth Night” (Shakespeare). We were running a bit late, too much time watching football, which wasn’t helped by the fact that the tube was rediculously crowded. We arrived about ten minutes late, which meant we weren’t allowed in until the intermission. We settled down in the main room to watch the play from a small tv they had set up, but it was really hard to hear and I had missed the beginning, so despite Sam and Ryan’s efforts to explain I couldn’t really tell what was going on. Instead, I rested my feet and closed my eyes, awakening at intermission to get in. We had bought cheap tickets, standing only, which were also the only ones left. The play was actually really good, and I was able to follow what was going on because of Sam and Ryan’s earlier explainations. Afterwards, we decided to walk around a bit to see some more of the city, and ended up in Chinatown, where we stopped for a late dinner. We ended up at this three or four floor restaurant; it was really good, more authentic than what I would normally have. It was getting pretty late, so we headed back to Ryan’s place. Sam and I had to catch a 3:50am bus that night, so we planned to just stay up that late. Alas, sam conked out when we got back, but Ryan and I headed up to his friend Rob’s room (as you may remember, I met Rob in Amsterdam, cool guy). We hung there for a while, talking and then sharing various youtube videos until ryan started falling asleep sitting up. We headed back down to his room, and put on “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, which we watched half-asleep until it was time for Sam and I to head out. So yes, we left early, early Sunday morning (the later flight must have been a LOT more expensive, otherwise I never would have picked such a flight), and commenced the voyage back to Santiago. I finally got back to my house at around noon, and I promptly went to bed, not waking up until Monday at 9am for class…I guess I was pretty tired! So yes, I am back in Santiago, which is nice. Currently I’m alone in my apartment, as Biaggio moved out and Samuel is gone for a month, but it’s actually pretty nice having the place to myself. Also, last Thursday I went out with my friend Marnie, who is on the program and is from the University of Scranton (in Pennsylvania). We hadn’t hung out in a while, so she called and asked me if I wanted to have dinner together. We ended up just going and getting drinks and tapas, which are basically small dishes of appetizers, basically. Very popular here in Spain. It was a fun night, we had a good time getting to know each other a little better and judging the various tapas that came our way. So there we go, I think I’ve caught you up on everything. Now I really have to get some work done, the problem with travelling is that it’s not so conducive to schoolwork…Love,
Brit