Final Days!

Tuesday, 4 May

Grandpa and Grandma got here and I planned to meet them at 6 PM, after my final. My final actually ended at 6 so I literally ran across Hyde Park to their hotel to meet them. I got there a half hour late, though. The man at the front desk told me they were upstairs on the second floor, so I headed upstairs. When I knocked, no one answered and I thought that they must have already left for dinner. I didn’t know what to do, so I wandered around the block, checking inside every restaurant to see if they were inside. After about 20 minutes, I wandered back to the hotel to check with the man at the front desk to find out if he had seen them come back at all. He then checked the rooms and realized that he had given me the wrong number. They were actually in the basement. Great. I finally found them down there, waiting for me while I searched for them! We were starving so we headed to a pub down the road and had fish and chips. I’m going to miss that at home!!

Wednesday, 5 May

I had two finals on Wednesday, my last two, so I didn’t see G&G until dinner that night. We went to a pub across from the one we ate at previously, which was good!

Thursday, 6 May

G&G hopped on the tube over to Gloucester Road to see where I lived. I showed them my room in the dorm, and then we walked around the general area where I lived. We stopped at Buttercup to get cupcakes but decided to eat them after lunch at Le Pain. Yum! After a lunch of scones and berries, we walked through Hyde Park. After that, they went back to the hotel and I went back to the room to finish up packing before going out with Katy, Emily, and Bess! We decided to go out to dinner and see Jersey Boys for our last night together. Dinner was awful as it took us an hour to get our appetizer, and by that time, we had to leave for the show. It was not a good experience at all. The show completely made up for it, though; I think Jersey Boys is my favorite show. I LOVE IT! I’ve seen it twice now and both times I was blown away. Absolutely amazing. Also, after the show, the four of us split the two cupcakes Grandma and I had bought before, because she decided she didn’t want hers because she was too full. Chocolate red velvet and chocolate purist—no doubt the best two choices!! All in all, a good night!

Friday, 7 May

The next morning was sad because we had to say goodbye to everyone!! I mean, Katy and I will see each other in a week, and Emily will be at Drake, but Bess will be all the way in Pennsylvania!! That was really depressing. Thank God for Facebook! Anyway, I took a cab to G&G’s new hotel (they decided that the three of us would stay at a hotel across the street from their original hotel when we got back from Scotland) to store my luggage with theirs, and we got dropped off at Paddington station. We took a train to the airport and made it in plenty of time for our flight to Scotland! When we arrived, we took a taxi to our hotel and after settling in a bit, we headed to the bus stop to get on a Hop on/Hop off bus tour of Edinburgh. It wasn’t the greatest bus tour I’ve been on but it was interesting and helped us get our bearings and sort of figure out the layout of the city. For dinner after that we wandered around to pubs until we found one that had a table for us to sit at. Fish and chips was my meal of choice, of course, and I was not disappointed.

Saturday, 8 May

We woke up at had breakfast at the hotel before hopping in a taxi to the castle in the middle of the city. There was a parade going on, though, so we watched that first. The whole city welcomes home the troops from Afghanistan with a parade; it was quite moving. People had “Welcome Home” signs and there was a lot of cheering! It was a great sight to see. After the parade, we walked up to the castle and took a guided tour. It was really great. I love seeing castles and palaces so I enjoyed it. It was really beautiful and the views from the top were breathtaking. After quite a long time in the castles (and the gift shops), we walked to the Elephant House coffee shop for lunch. Significance? The Elephant House coffee shop was J. K. Rowling’s café of choice while writing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. SO COOL! Plus, the food was really tasty! We took the bus to Holyrood Palace next, which is the royal palace in Edinburgh. Queen Elizabeth and family generally come up here in the summer and stay at the palace. It was really beautiful inside and the audio tours were quite helpful in explaining each room. Both buildings were definitely worth the visits. Dinner that night was at the pub down the road from our hotel, and it was a really fun place—very homey. I just love pubs.

Sunday, 9 May

After a hotel breakfast, G&G and I took a taxi to the train station, where we quickly bought tickets to Leuchars, which would get us to St. Andrews Golf Course. When we asked a ticket man which platform we needed to get to, he pointed us in the right direction and told us to get off at Haymarket because there was construction on the rails, so we’d need to take a bus for a bit of the trip. We jumped on the train and settled in, only to arrive at Haymarket three minutes later! We jumped right off the train and followed a Canadian couple as they were going to St. Andrews as well and knew where to go. When we finally reached the bus stop, we rode that for an hour until stopping at a train station, at which we jumped on another train. The train ride was an hour long and brought us to Leuchars, which was our final destination since it’s the closest train station to the town of St. Andrews. Our taxi ride was short and we were at the golf museum in about ten minutes. We walked through the museum, which was very interesting, but the highlight was definitely walking on the course. Apparently, visitors are only allowed on the field on Sundays because there is no play on Sundays. The course is right next to the North Sea, which was beautiful, and I really enjoyed myself! I’m not a huge golf fanatic but I can appreciate how big of a deal the course is. It was exciting to be there. We ate a quick lunch and headed back to the shops to pick up a few things. We took a cab back to the station, where we missed a train by minutes! The next one came in an hour, so Grandma and I worked on a few crossword puzzles. We had the same long, drawn-out journey on the way back, but we finally made it! We grabbed dinner at a pub nearby before wandering back to the hotel. We printed off our boarding passes, too, so we were all set for Monday!

Monday, 10 May

Grandma and I went shopping in the morning quick before we left for the airport. We hadn’t bought anything yet so we headed to the cashmere shops. I ended up with one cashmere scarf as well as a lambswool scarf. I’m already excited for the winter (sort of)! After that, we took a cab back to the hotel to pick up Gramps and go to the airport. The flight back to London was much smoother than the ride to Edinburgh, which was definitely good! We went to the pancake house for dinner, which was a huge hit with Grandpa and Grandma because they LOVE pancakes… and breakfast in general! It was a good end to the day.

Tuesday, 11 May

After breakfast, we headed to the train station to get on our train to Bath! I’d been there earlier with a school trip but I loved it there so I was glad to go back. We took two bus tours of the city and the surrounding areas, which was cool. After lunch at the oldest pub in Bath, we went to the abbey and Grandpa and Grandma went inside the baths while I wandered around. I met them afterwards and we grabbed an ice cream before walking back to the train station to go home. It was a really fun day.

Wednesday, 12 May

Our last day! In the morning, I met Katy at St. Paul’s Cathedral while Grandpa and Grandma checked out Wimbledon. Katy and I climbed all the way to the top—500 stairs!!! It was worth it though—the view was spectacular!! It was like being on the Eiffel Tower in Paris! Plus, we were able to plan our walk to Covent Garden as we could see all the streets. When we finally made it down, we began our walk. It was actually quite easy and close by! We stopped at a Starbucks so Katy could get a Mango-Passion Fruit smoothie, but when she got it, it was a different color than it usually was at the Starbucks down the road from our dorm. It tasted really strange, too. We both tried to gag it down but no luck. It ended up in the trash :/ oops. Katy and I were on the lookout for a store called Cath Kidston because she wanted to buy her friends gifts, so we found that, and I ended up with a little wallet sort of thing for myself. Anyway, we parted ways after that because she was meeting her parents at the British Museum and I was meeting my grandparents at the National Gallery, both of which were within walking distance. Grandpa and Grandma and I had lunch at Café Nero, which was excellent as always. They went to the National Gallery after and I went to the National Portrait Gallery, since I’d already seen the Gallery. We met after and had drinks at a pub. Then we wandered around Leicester Square because I think it’s such a fun place to see. We ate in a different pub nearby before getting back on the Tube to go back to the hotel. We packed up and got totally ready for the next day before promptly getting sucked into a murder mystery on TV! It was quite the drama. By the end, we all thought we knew who the murderer was and everything! Exciting!

Thursday, 13 May

I woke up at 3:50 that morning to catch my taxi to the train station. I met Katy and her parents at the station where we got on the Heathrow Connect train to the airport. When we finally arrived, checked our bags (SO HEAVY!), and made it through security, we had plenty of time to kill and a few pounds to spend. We bought stuff from Starbucks (including two more gross Mango-Passion Fruit smoothies!), bagels, and multiple bottles of water. Somewhat pointless BUT we got rid of our money! We got on the plane soon after and began our longest leg of the journey home. The flight was really smooth, but very long and both the movies I watched were not ones I’d recommend. I watched “When in Rome” with Kristen Bell and “Did you hear about the Morgans?” with Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant. They were just uninteresting and a little too cheesy even for me. Oh well—they passed the time! When we finally landed in Chicago, we discovered that my flight had been cancelled, so I went to the American Airlines counter and they put me on the next flight to Minneapolis, only an hour later. It ended up being delayed a few times, but I finally made it on the plane! The ride was quick, and I became one of THOSE people who talks the WHOLE WAY. I felt terrible! The guy sitting next to me must have been so glad to get off the plane. I mean, he was talking back but I suppose he had no choice. I didn’t mean to do it, but once I started, I just couldn’t stop! What a disaster. I practically ran away when I got off the plane. I found my mom at the baggage claim and we grabbed my checked bag and found the car. Never have I been so glad to be home! I didn’t even know I missed Minnesota this much until I got here! I’m definitely sad to be away from London but there’s no place like Minnesota.

:)

Jackie

Last weekend in London

So this past week/weekend, we've mostly been studying for finals (yuck), but we squeezed in a few fun activities. Thursday night, Alex, Hailey, and I went out to Builder's Arms for a few drinks. I'm going to miss the pubs when I go home! They're so casual and they're such a good place to just hang out. Anyway, that was a fun start to the weekend. Friday was another heavy study day, until that night, when we made the music video (in the post below). Definitely a good study break.

Saturday, Katy and I woke up and went to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre for a tour, which was really cool! I wanted to see a play there but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to understand the accents! We wandered around the South Bank and found Borough Market, which is a huge food market. It was PACKED! I would have enjoyed shopping for fruits and veggies if I lived here, though. I liked the vibe there. Anyway, we wandered back to the Millennium Bridge and ate lunch at a pub near there before crossing the Thames and finding Leadenhall Market, where the Diagon Alley scenes were filmed in Harry Potter! It was awesome. That night we ate dinner at Da Mario, the Italian restaurant on the corner of our street, and then Katy and I met Alex at Builder's Arms for a drink. All in all, a good last weekend.

Next weekend I'll be in Scotland so I'm pretty excited!! Wish me luck on my finals this week and I'll be home soon!

:)

Jackie

STUDY BREAK!

Eyjafjallajökull

Ohhh Iceland. What a place. What a volcano! I've officially had the best excuse to miss school though--"Sorry, I'm trapped in Germany because of the volcanic eruption so I won't be in class this week!" When I have kids, it won't be, "Well when I was your age, I had to walk uphill both ways to school through snow and rain!" It'll turn into, "When I was your age, I had to fight through volcanic ash to get to school!" BEAT THAT!

What started off as a quick trip to visit Betsy again in Neuss, Germany turned into a week-long vacation! I'm not complaining; I love Germany!! I decided to go visit her again because I had so much fun there over spring break earlier this semester and it was her birthday last Thursday so she wanted me to come for her Hawaiian party on Saturday. I flew into Dusseldorf Weeze Airport Thursday morning at 9 AM (which meant that the night before, I didn't sleep seeing as I had to leave my dorm room at 3 AM in order to get to the airport and check in on time) and hopped on a bus that left at 9:30. I got into the Dusseldorf main station an hour and a half later and then hopped on a train to Neuss, where Betsy lives 10 minutes away. Betsy's neighbor let me into her apartment and after quickly unpacking and showering, I slept until she got home from work! I was exhausted!! That night we went out for a birthday dinner with her friends Meghan and Dave and afterwards, Dave left but we had drinks with Sven and D. It was really fun just sitting around talking because I really like all of them.

The next morning, Friday, I slept in while Besty (unfortunately) had to work. I ended up going to visit her at school, which was pretty cool. We watched Sven's gym class for a while and then it was time to get ready for Betsy's class: 7th grade English. She gave them free time so we go to just sort of hang out. They are crazy!! They were running around and yelling... one little boy started telling me about the loudest noises in history, the first of which was the Big Bang. Really?? He was a little weirdo... Anyway, Friday night we went to the Skihalle, where we went last time I visited, with Meghan, D, Sven, Dave and two random guys I hadn’t met before. It was crazy as usual—packed with people and German techno music blaring!

Saturday, Betsy and I went to D’s barbeque on the Rhine, which was really fun. The weather was absolutely beautiful and I learned how to throw a rugby ball! Always a good skill to have, right? We left after about two hours because we had to start getting ready for the big night: Betsy’s birthday party, Hawaiian-themed! By the time we both finally showered and figured out what we were going to wear, it was time to leave. We headed into Dusseldorf and met everyone at the bar she chose, and let me tell you, we were NOT easy to miss! We looked like a rainbow exploded. We all had bright, tropical colors on and we were all wearing leis! D was rocking a shell bra and a grass skirt and another friend, Fabrice, got to wear the flower bra. It was so much fun!! Especially the karaoke at the end of the night/beginning of the morning… Haha J

Sunday, we slept in and met Meghan for lunch. The three of us wandered through a really nice park in Neuss and ended up discovering a little restaurant where we met some flight attendants who were also stranded because of the volcano. We found out on Saturday that my flight was cancelled until at least Tuesday, but when we were talking to them, they said they were stuck until Friday which naturally sent us into a little bit of a panic. We decided to go to Betsy’s friend Andre’s house that night for a barbeque (apparently that’s the thing to do in Germany). It was a lot of fun! We scrounged up some steaks to bring and when we got there, we learned how to make some lime drinks! It ended up being the three of us, Andre, Iwan (the Dutchman who was planning to go to South Africa with Andre for work but they couldn’t fly out thanks to Iceland…), D, Clare and Harmon (two of Betsy’s friends), a girl named B, and Andre’s brother at the BBQ. His brother was nice… but talked about very random things. Out of nowhere he turned to Meghan and asked when her birthday way and what her zodiac sign was… a slightly bizarre conversation but a conversation nonetheless. We stayed for a long time but eventually had to leave because Betsy had some grading to do for her classes on Monday. Andre pawned off the rest of his box of limes on Betsy so we acquired about 20 limes!

Monday began my extended vacation in Neuss. I slept in while Betsy headed to work, and I tried to get my life in order—I spent a lot of the next few days emailing and checking planes, trains, and automobiles (haha) to get myself home! I didn’t really want to leave, to be perfectly honest, but I did miss my friends and finals were coming up… plus, I was missing my last week of classes (bummer! …not). After work, Betsy and I met Meghan and Dave and Sven’s apartment and we headed to a restaurant for dinner—it ended up being closed, though, so we decided on a Chinese buffet down the road. It was HUGE and completely decked out in Chinese everything. We decided it must have been owned by the Chinese mafia because there were barely any people in the restaurant (how were they making money??), the workers had to wear photo ID badges, and the stairs going downstairs to the bathrooms had a barred door. It was a little bizarre!! Definitely an adventure night…

Tuesday was similar to Monday, except that I had to go to the key place and get a copy of Betsy’s keys, and I had to go grocery shopping. The only German I know is “danke.” Great. The key place involved a lot of miming and smiling, but eventually I got the keys copied successfully! Grocery shopping was a little crazier because I know nothing about food to begin with and I know nothing about German food either. I looked up a recipe with chicken and limes (we needed to start getting rid of them somehow!) so I wrote down the English AND German words for the ingredients and headed to Penny Mart. I actually came back pretty successfully, although I wasn’t able to find tortillas for our chicken tacos… it ended up being chicken taco filling on rice. It was good, though! Betsy whipped it up and it was tasty! Probably better with tortillas but at least we had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Wednesday was the panic day. The volcano erupted again and we started to really get in gear to find a way home. I went to the train station to find out how much trains to French coastal cities would cost so I could take a ferry across the channel. It was not a pleasant price so we were reallllly hoping that I’d be able to fly. Although, by Wednesday night, we hadn’t heard anything about my flight being cancelled, and since last time it was cancelled they gave me at least a full day of warning, we started to feel better. We went to dinner with Meghan and their teacher friends who were from Texas and were really nice. That was a lot of fun, and after dinner we went to a bar for one last time! We hung out for a while and then headed back to the apartment for what we hoped would be my last night!

Thursday, I woke up and immediately checked RyanAir to see if anything was cancelled and it looked clear so I packed up, cleaned the apartment, and headed to Betsy’s school to visit! In one of her classes, the kids took a test on the Aztecs and I did a worksheet on long division—apparently I need to brush up on my skills… oops! After school we walked home and I made sure I had everything packed before we left for the station. We took the train into Dusseldorf and walked to the bus stop and waited. And waited. And waited. It was 10 minutes late, which was no big deal except that it was the last bus of the day going to the airport and we were worried that it wasn’t coming! It was a huge relief getting on the bus and getting to the airport. Now I’m home in London for a couple more weeks until Grandpa and Grandma come and we’re off to Scotland. Should be fun!!

:)

Jackie

Not much going on!

I don't really have anything exciting to update about but I felt bad because I haven't written for a while! Anyway, the past two weeks have been fine, pretty basic. After the familia left, I had a nice short week because we had the Monday after Easter off! :) Excellent. I spent the whole day doing homework that I neglected while I hung out with the fam, but it was most definitely worth it. The weekend consisted of pretty much the same work ethic--I busted out four papers that I have due this week and next week! It was super productive! Now I'm pretty much all done with homework until I start studying for finals in a week or so.

Matt was in London on Saturday so I hung out with him for the day, which was really fun! We wandered through Hyde Park because he didn't get there when he was here with friends before. It's sooo pretty at this time of the year (although I suppose it's only the second season I've experienced) so that was definitely a good choice. Plus, I just had to bring him to Buttercup, the amazing cupcake place down the road. Yummmm :) We made it to the Victoria & Albert Museum too, which I had already been to, but it's so massive that we didn't see anything I'd seen before! Then we met Katy and Emily at DaMario, the Italian restaurant on our street corner, for dinner before Matt headed back to Manchester. He's in Italy right now I believe which is awesome BUT I'm going to Dusseldorf (again) on Thursday, so I'm not complaining!

:)

Jackie

Familia!

Mom, Dad, Alex and Kylie flew into London on Friday morning and I took the Tube out to Heathrow to meet them! That first day we really just went to their place and while Alex and Dad napped, Kylie, Mom and I wandered around the Tower Hill area, where they were staying. It's really industrial and business-y and way different than Kensington, which is mostly residential. It was a cool area, though I must say I prefer the quietness of Kensington. Anyway, after they woke up and were all ready to go, we headed over to Kensington to see where I live! I showed them around the area and we ended up going to a pub in Notting Hill for dinner. We love pubs :)

Saturday was a day we were looking forward to. Alex and Dad went to the Westham football (soccer) match while Kylie, Mom and I went to Regent Street to do some window shopping. We headed to the Charles Dickens house afterward, which was so cool! I really didn't know much about him before, but now I really want to read his books! After the house, we went to Sir John Soane's house and museum, which was even cooler than the Dickens house. It was unbelievable! The man had a museum in his home, which together took up three house spaces. It was packed full of artifacts and sculptures, even an Egyptian tomb! I loved it! I would highly recommend both of the houses to anyone who visits London. From there, we walked to Leicester Square and Covent Garden to meet Dad and Alex for dinner. We ended up going to the oldest pub in London (or something like that) for drinks, which was really cool. We had Italian for dinner in Leicester Square after the pub and then we all headed back.

Sunday, our plan was to go to Portobello Market, but we found out that it's closed on Sundays so instead we wandered around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. We ended up in Kensington Palace and it was a little bizarre. I was really looking forward to seeing the inside of the palace and it was all about the seven princesses that lived there so each room was dedicated to one of them. It was a little disappointing. Mom and I ended up wandering around where a lot of embassies are located, which was really cool. Dad, Alex and Kylie tried to go to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, but the wait was huge so they gave up. We ended up going to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, which was tasty as always!

I had class all day on Monday so I didn't get to meet up with my family until dinner. We ate at Indian Diner, which is an Indian restaurant across the street from the hotel that my dad and I stayed at when we were here five years ago (and that he stays at when he's here for business). It's so good! It's sort of hidden off of a main road so not many people are there.

On Tuesday, Mom, Kylie and I did a little shopping. We ate cupcakes at Buttercup, the cupcake shop near me, and they were SO GOOD! I had chocolate peanut butter :) yum! We decided to meet Alex at the Cabinet War Rooms/Winston Churchill Museum later, so we headed over to the Westminster area. We got a bit lost and got there 20 minutes late. We couldn't find Alex and eventually paid for our tickets and went inside. It was awesome!! We got to see exactly where they stayed during WWII and there was a museum about Churchill, too. Of course, we somehow ended up in the museum right away and didn't know there was more to see of the war rooms so we sort of hurried through the rest of the rooms. Still cool, though. We called Dad when we were leaving and said we'd meet him and Alex at the pub near me. We met them there and apparently Alex had arrived at the museum 10 minutes before we had! He went through super fast so he could catch up to us, but we were waiting behind because we thought he wasn't there yet! Bummer. Anyway, dinner was wonderful, as usual. I just love pub food.

On Wednesday, the five of us met at the British Library, which was absolutely amazing. I LOVE books and reading so I was super excited to go. We got to see a display of a bunch of historical documents (such as the Magna Carta) and that was really interesting. Since the Tube station was King's Cross/St. Pancras, we went to the King's Cross train station and got to see Platform 9 3/4! Super cool, even though I saw it a few months ago. We hopped back on the Tube and went to Abbey Road to see the crosswalk on the Beatles album. Even though we basically just walked across the crosswalk, it was still pretty exciting! We ate lunch at a cafe there and then Kylie and Mom headed to Madame Tussaud's, while Alex, Dad and I went back to their apartment so Alex could shower. When Mom and Kylie got back, we walked across the Tower Bridge, which was a cool view, and ended up going to a Dutch pancake house for dinner in Kensington. Alex, Dad and I went to hear some live music in Camden afterwards, which was fun. I really liked the area of Camden! It seems like a cool place to hang out. I definitely want to go to the market up there.

Thursday was a big driving day. We left around 11 to go to Heathrow to pick up our rental car. We planned to stay in a B&B called Wishay Farm in Collumpton, which is near Exeter, in the southwestern region of England. Needless to say, the drive was an adventure. Dad was driving (on the wrong side of the road of course, not to mention the car was a stick shift!) and I was navigating the roundabouts in the front seat! Quite scary! We went to the Winchester Cathedral on the way, which was really beautiful, and we planned to stop at a few other places, but got lost on the way before finally getting back on track. By that time we just wanted to get to the B&B so we drove there and settled into the house. It was so cute! The woman who owned it, Sylvia, was really sweet, and aside from her, we were the only ones there! Although, I think there were only two rooms, both of which we were occupying. Anyway, it was a great place. We took her recommendation on a pub to go to for dinner, and it was a really cool place! There was a massive fireplace which made it extra cozy inside. Plus, there was a little dog trotting around! So cute. When we finished dinner, Dad had gone to pay at the bar so we wandered out to the main area in front and as we turned the corner, we all started laughing. Dad was standing in a circle with a group of 25-year-old guys chatting away and laughing. For anyone who knows my dad, it's so typically him. He talks to anyone anywhere and just fits right in. It's so great. Later on he told us that while he was paying, the woman behind the bar asked where we were staying and upon telling her that we were at Wishay Farm, she exclaimed that her boyfriend's mom is Sylvia! She pointed out Paul, her boyfriend/Sylvia's son, and my dad started talking to him and his friends about what to do while we were down there. It was hilarious.

Friday and Saturday were filled with driving, too. Friday, after a really tasty English breakfast, we headed up to the northern side of the peninsula, which was beautiful. The hills were stunning, even though Alex, Kylie and I were having motion-induced stomachaches. We went to Lynton and Lynmouth, two towns on the coast. One was up on a cliff right above the other and there was a little lift going up and down the massive hill. It was really fun there! Plus, we had cream tea (which consists of tea, scones, and thick cream for the scones) which is delicious! After a long day of exploring, we headed back to Wishay Farm to drop Kylie off (she didn't feel like going to dinner) and go to dinner. We went to a restaurant nearby, which was not as cool as the pub the previous night, but it was just fine.

Saturday, after another wonderful breakfast, we drove some more. Motion sickness was still a bit of an issue because there are so many winding roads up and down massive hills, but it was enjoyable all the same. We ended up getting a bit lost in a little town called Bronscombe, but it was lucky that we ended up there--there was a beautiful beach that we got to see and it was really just a nice town. After that, we successfully navigated (though a bit slowly) our way to Sidmouth, which is a big coastal town. We first stopped at a viewpoint on a cliff, which was gorgeous, and then drove down to the town. It was much more touristy than the others so I didn't like it quite as much, but it was fun. We had cream tea again and wandered around in hopes of finding gifts for Kylie's friends. She finally decided upon fudge (when we insisted that it was a great gift and not "cheap" to give to her friends.). We came up with the brilliant plan to tell her friends that it came from Fudgemouth, the place where fudge was invented (though really I have no idea--Wikipedia it if you're so inclined). Hopefully they won't read this blog so her secret isn't revealed :) Anyway, we drove back to Collumpton and packed our stuff for the next day. We went back to the pub from the first night and ate there--once again, super good! Dad's "friends" from the first night were there again so we chatted with them a bit and got them to take a family picture of us. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday we basically just woke up and drove to Heathrow so they could return the car and hop on the plane, while I jumped on the Tube and rode back to good old Gloucester Road. I had so much fun with them!! I love my family so I was bummed to see them go, but I'm going to be home in five weeks anyway so it's not too long away! Plus, I have a bunch of fun little trips left here, which I can't wait for! It should be a great last month.

:)

Jackie

Stonehenge and Bath

Saturday was the Stonehenge and Bath trip with our school. It was cool! Rainy and windy but fun! It was cool to see Stonehenge in person, but we really didn't need to spend a whole hour there. We were practically being blown over by the wind so we snapped a few pictures and that was all we could do! I figure I can always just Google it if I need to!

After Stonehenge we went to Bath and I absolutely LOVED it! It was so beautiful! I had no idea it was so big! We first went to the roman bath house and that was cool. We had audio tours which was helpful. After that, we wandered around the city and ate lunch for the remaining 2 hours. It flew by and before we knew it, we were back on the bus with Sean, our obscenely annoying tour guide. He was really nice and he was actually funny, but he honestly wouldn't stop talking! I like hearing about the history of what we're seeing but that was only half of what he was talking about--he'd just point out random people on the street or start talking about cars and we all really just wanted to sleep or zone out on the bus! The Cotswolds are so beautiful and all I wanted to do was stare out the window and listen to Coldplay. The trip was really fun though; I'd highly recommend it to anyone who comes to England.

:)

Jackie

E&E

Emily and Elizabeth, my roommates from Drake, came to visit last week!!! It was SO much fun! They left way too soon and I already miss them. We did a lot of fun stuff though and it was sort of like a second spring break :)

They arrived on Sunday morning and Katy and I picked them up from the airport. They got in fine and everything so it was pretty smooth! After bringing the back to our room--they were going to stay with us until Wednesday, when they'd go to their hostel--we headed out to a Harry Potter tour! It was pretty cool because we got to see places that inspired the books.

The entrance to the Ministry of Magic--dial 6-2-4-4-2 to get in :)

This pub has an entrance to the alleyway on the right side... sound like anything from Harry Potter?? (HINT: The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley)

The inspiration for Diagon Alley

Monday morning Emily, Elizabeth, Katy, and I went to the Dutch Pancake House for breakfast--yummmmm! I got banana and chocolate on mine. Good choice. Anyway, Katy and I were stuck in class all day so they went off on their own and we went to class and ate in the dining hall for dinner. Exciting.

Tuesday, I had class only in the morning, so Emily and Elizabeth went to the V&A Museum until 1 and then I met them for lunch. We met Katy for cupcakes after her afternoon class and then we headed to Hyde Park to show E&E around! I LOVE it there so it was definitely fun.

Kensington Palace

Elizabeth and I

Emily, Elizabeth, and I in front of one of the ponds

For dinner, Katy ate in the dining hall but I just couldn't handle another school meal so I went to Tequila Tex Mex with E&E. It was soooo good!! I'll definitely be back there again.

Wednesday, Katy and I decided to skip our classes :) We went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace which was super cool! We met this old man named Albert who explained the whole ceremony to us, which was nice because we had no clue what was going on. He made sure we could see everything so we got some good pictures.

Buckingham Palace--it was PACKED!

The band--they played "La Vida Loca" and "With A Little Help From My Friends" and some other random songs--it was really funny!

The band from a better angle

Elizabeth and I in front of the Palace

Afterwards, Katy headed to the Remember Me premiere with Emily Boyd (Rob Pattinson starred in the movie so they got to meet him). E&E and I met up with Emily's friend, Pam, who was also spending spring break in London. We went to Regents Park and had lunch which was fun and really pretty!! We had to check into the hostel that day so the three of us headed back to Katy's and my room to get their stuff and then we hopped on the Tube. We arrived at Edgeware Road and were on the lookout for The Green Man. Finally we found it--in the form of a pub! We were immensely confused for about 10 minutes until we ventured inside the pub and found that the hostel was above and check-in was at the pub bar. It was quite the adventure! We laughed pretty hard about the whole situation. After settling in there, we got on the Tube again and went to Leicester Square, where Katy and Emily were. The premiere hadn't started yet, but it was so crowded that E&E and I decided to just wander around because we didn't really care about seeing Rob enough to stand around and wait in massive crowds. We grabbed dinner quick and headed back to meet Katy's and my friend, Alex, for drinks at the pubs nearby (it was St. Patrick's Day, after all). We came back around 11 (pubs close at 11) and pretty much just went to bed.

Thursday we woke up and headed out to the Tower of London. Katy had class so she didn't come, but I went. I'd been there with my Grandma and Dad 6 years ago and loved it so I was super excited to go again. I just love British history and I love learning about royalty and things like that so the Tower is one of my favorite places to go. Plus, the tour guides are hilarious.

Emily and I in front of the Tower

A gift to Queen Anne Boleyn... too bad it was finished after she was executed. Nice.

The White Tower--we made the mistake of venturing inside without knowing what we were getting into. We decided that the one thing we didn't really care about seeing (well, didn't want to see at all) was the armory... so naturally we went inside the White Tower, where the armor is kept. We couldn't escape without going all the way through!

A random guard change (we think)

Elizabeth, Emily, and I in front of the Tower Bridge

After the Tower, we went back to the room, picked up Katy, and headed to Gloucester Arms for dinner. We all got carded when we went in, which I guess is probably good, but then the next time we went up to order (food, not even drinks) we got carded again! And then Eliz got carded a THIRD time. By the same woman. Overkill, don't you think? Anyway, we all ordered fish and chips, and Katy had to wait about a half hour longer than the three of us! They just apparently forgot about her! It was not good. THEN we ordered 3 chocolate fudge cake slices (E&E shared but Katy and, knowing how amazing it is, had our own) and after paying for them, they informed us that there were only 2 slices left, and we can't get our money back after paying. Great. So we got 2 slices of cake and some brownie thing. Katy and I split one piece of cake and the brownie and had half of each. ALSO the cake comes with vanilla ice cream (I know it's only vanilla because I asked for chocolate once and they wouldn't give it to me) but this time it came with strawberry, which I can't stand even the smell of. So I kept that super far away from my cake and semi-enjoyed dessert. Katy left after dessert and E&E and I stayed until about 10:30. They were being pretty rude to us though so we left and just hung out in the room for a little bit. It was a rather bad experience (plus, we've had previous bad experiences there) so I'm not planning on going back. Builder's Arms is close too, so that's going to have to be my new regular pub. Oh well.

The next morning, Friday, we went to Porobello Market in Notting Hill! I was on the lookout for Hugh Grant and the travel bookshop and the blue door but no luck. Maybe next time. The market was super cute!! I loved it! I'm definitely taking my family there when they come! :)

Love the colors

A view of the market

After the market, we ate lunch in a cute little cafe and headed to the British Museum. We didn't stay long... it wasn't that cool. I mean, it was very informative and had lots of artifacts from cultures all over the world... but we just weren't that into it. I'd rather go to the V&A Museum and be surrounded by things instead of stare at them through a glass box. We ate in Covent Garden after the museum, at Pizza Express. After that we went back to the room for a little bit and then went to Alice in Wonderland with Emily and Bess. It was really good and now I really want to read the book! I'm determined to find it in the library somewhere. Anyway, they left after that and I'm so sad!! I already can't wait to see them this summer!

:)

Jackie

Spring Break

Spring break!!! The best part of the spring! J Katy, Bess and I (Emily was touring around London and Paris with her mom for the week) decided to go to Germany, Amsterdam, and Brussels for the week.

Mine, Katy's, and Bess' Backpacks

My friend, Betsy Miller, is teaching and living in Neuss, Germany, near Dusseldorf so we stayed with her from Friday until Monday morning. We flew RyanAir from London Stansted to Dusseldorf Weeze and it was probably the weirdest flight I’ve ever been on! It only cost five pounds so no complaining, but it was bizarre—advertisements were played randomly and there were no assigned seats. Anyway, we got into Dusseldorf around 5:30 and Betsy met us at the stop. We took the train back to Neuss and headed to the grocery store to pick up dinner—tacos! The most natural thing to eat in Germany of course! Her apartment was the CUTEST! It was fully furnished by IKEA and it was wonderful! The only downside was the fact that the heat had been turned off... but with multiple layers and heaps of blankets we kept warm enough!

Our room in Betsy's apartment

Taco night!

Betsy in her taco attire

After the taco experience, her friend, Meg, came over before we headed out for the night. Meg was so cool! She's from Iowa, so we had another American to bond with. We ended up heading to the Skihalle nearby, which is a huge, indoor ski hall, with Meg and their friend, Sven. We didn't go skiing--we went to the bar/massive dance party inside. It was so much fun! I mean, I'm no good at dancing but I love it anyway.

The next day we woke up and had a really yummy breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. MUCH better than our usual school dining hall breakfasts with cardboard-flavored "eggs" and fried beans. We showered and got ready when we were done so we could head to Cologne. Cologne is the next city over from Neuss. Betsy gave us a sweet fountain tour and we got to go to the chocolate museum!!! It was awesome. There were chocolate machines and rooms with random chocolate information and a rainforest room with tropical plants! AND we had the best hot chocolate ever afterwards. We headed back after that and decided to order pizza for dinner. We were planning to go to Betsy's friends' apartment for drinks in Dusseldorf and then head out to bars in Dusseldorf. We met up with Meg and Sven again and some other friends of theirs. Eventually we went into Dusseldorf and met up with Sven's roommate, Dave, and their rugby friends. We met D, who was our age, so that was fun, and Mark, who is from Australia. They were all really awesome and fun to be with. It was definitely a fun night!

Sunday we all slept in and just sort of hung around the house. It was freezing outside so we didn't have a huge desire to wander around. We went into Dusseldorf for German food for dinner, though! I had schnitzel! I usually don't like pork, but it was good. When we got back, we packed up and sadly got ready to go :(

We left Monday morning at 11:00--we took the train!! Well, trains is more accurate--we had a few changes which all went smoothly! We finally arrived in Amsterdam around 3 and took the tram directly to our hotel. It was cool because the tram was above ground so we could see the city on our way. The language is BIZARRE. The hotel lady kept saying, "Okey Dokey!" It was pretty funny. Anyway, Amsterdam is awesome!!! Bikes are everywhere and you definitely have to wait at crosswalks until the lights say to walk because otherwise there's a good chance you'll get hit by a bike, car, or tram. Crazy! It's absolutely beautiful though. The canals are everywhere. I couldn't stop taking pictures and usually I never take out my camera!

We went to the Anne Frank House after we checked into the hotel and it was totally worth the entrance fee. It was very sombering and I learned so much. I didn't know that the family was staying in Anne's father's work building--I guess I always though that they lived with a family. It was definitely a good choice to see the house. We wandered around the streets for a while and found a restaurant for dinner. Bess, Katy, and I each got grilled cheese, tomato soup, and apple pie. HELLO, WE ARE FROM AMERICA. It was really good though! From there, we walked back to the hotel and went to sleep as we were exhausted.

The next day, Tuesday, we woke up and headed out to the Van Gogh museum, conveniently located about 10 minutes away! We walked there and found Vondelpark on the way! Vondelpark is a huge park in the city--so pretty. The museum was really interesting because it had a lot of background information. I didn't know much about Van Gogh before so I loved it. We walked around afterwards and found the I AMsterdam sign/sculpture/whatever and took loads of pictures in front of/in the letters. We hit up the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and wandered some more. We pretty much spent the afternoon wandering through the city or the park. It was a day well spent. For dinner we went to Wok to Walk, recommended by Betsy and Meg. It was really good!! Again, we wandered back, got some ice cream, and went to bed. We had to waked up early the next morning to catch our train to Brussels.

We got to Brussels smoothly and stored our backpacks in lockers for the day. We somehow messed up the directions to the Grand Place and started walking the wrong way, but eventually found our way to the area. It was pretty cold outside so we ran into the first waffle house we saw (since waffles and chocolate were the only reasons I wanted to visit Belgium in the first place). It was pretty good! A chocolate shop was right across the street so we headed there next. We didn't buy much, but we went into PLENTY of chocolate shops around the city so it was just fine. We found Mannekin Pis, a statue of a little boy peeing, and it was dressed up in Tibetan Monk clothes!! Clearly, we were meant to be there that day... first our real monks in Paris, now Mannekin. After that, we really had nothing to do. It was a LONG day of wandering. We couldn't find much to do, mostly because it was so cold that we just wanted to be inside, so we went a cathedral and took a lot of pointless pictures. We ate dinner at 3:30 and sat there until probably 5 when we finally just walked back to the train station. We took the Eurostar back which is always a nice way to travel, and got back to London around 9:30! It was a super fun trip, even if Brussels wasn't well thought out. I'd definitely recommend it. If you want to see more pictures, you can look at my album online here! Enjoy!

:)

Jackie

Two Decades is a Long Time!

This weekend was fun! We missed Emily because she signed up to go on a trip to Edinburgh with the school, but we made it through! This coming week is mid-terms so we all had a ton of homework and studying to do, but we did have fun. During the days we basically just worked (well, tried to work... but ended up procrastinating most of the time!). Friday night we had dinner at the dining hall (so high-class) and then hung out at the pub on the corner, Gloucester Arms. On Fridays from 5-7 PM you can get a bottle of Peroni for 2.50 so we timed dinner right at 5 and headed there afterwards! We looked at a travel book and planned a little for spring break, but mostly just hung out and relaxed. We then attempted to watch Shutter Island but it wouldn't load so we only got to see the first half... I was freaking out! I don't do well with scary movies!

Saturday night we loaded Shutter Island during the day so it'd be ready for us at night. We took the tube to Piccadilly Circus and wandered until we found a pub/restaurant called Long Acre. We're not quite sure what it was--it was pub-like but there were waiters. Hm. Oh well, it was really yummy! I had fish and chips and it was wrapped in paper! I was so excited. We had ice cream afterwards in Leicester Square (where all the movie premieres are) before heading back home. We dove into Shutter Island again, but it ended up not being all that scary--mostly just suspenseful, disturbing and confusing! It was really good, though; definitely go see it! Plus, Leo is in it and who can resist him?! Nevertheless, Katy and I watched an episode of The Office afterwards to calm us down. It was part one of Kelly's Birthday episode (appropriate seeing as it was 12:30 AM on February 28) so we decided to watch part two after we woke up.

So today was my BIRTHDAY! Ahhh I'm TWENTY! I'm so excited to be "in my twenties" instead of a teenager! It just sounds so much older :) OK now that that's out of the way, it was a great day. I mean, we spent most of it trying to finish the homework we barely started this weekend (with little success) but we went to the Italian restaurant (Da Mario) on the corner of our street and it was sooo good! I got a glass of red wine with my pasta--yum! Only one more year until I can do that at home! We walked back home to wait for Emily to get back and then the plan was to go to the pub and get chocolate fudge cake (because it's the best chocolate fudge cake I've ever tasted!!!). While we waited, Katy and I decided to record a lovely video for Bess, dancing to "Don't Rain on my Parade" from Glee (I know, I know, not originally, but it's the version we have). It was wonderful--I've decided that I should definitely pursue dancing as a career if psychology doesn't work out. I'm very good at bopping around in the background. Needless to say, we had a laugh over that one and naturally attempted (with Bess this time) to make another video for Emily! We did a super awesome dance (well, it may have been more of a chaotic mess) to "Jump" (also from Glee!) and then when we tried to send the video, it didn't work. We recorded it again (though a bit less enthusiastically) and found it only recorded 1 minute and 30 seconds of it!! We were bummed but showed it to her anyway when she got here. But the BEST part of the whole day was when Emily got here and she and Bess filed into Katy's and my room singing "Happy Birthday" with a chocolate cake in hand!! It was from Whole Foods, our most favorite place, and it said "Happy Birthday Jackie!" It was absolutely spectacular!! We ate most of it but saved some for tomorrow! :) Emily also gave me body butter (which is like lotion but thicker so it's makes your skin really soft!) and lip balm that smells like citrus! Mmmmm I can't WAIT to use it!! They were so awesome; it was such a great birthday. I'm quite easy to please apparently because all I need is chocolate! :) And friends, too--that never hurts!

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!! :) I feel so loved! And thank you Katy, Bess, and Emily!!! :) :) You're the best!!!! Also, it was so much fun to Skype with the whole family today, even though my Internet connection was bad. I loved seeing you all! It made my day! :) I love you all!

:)

Jackie

Oh the weekend...

This weekend seemed to fly by! Granted, it's only Sunday morning right now, but as I have no exciting plans for today, I figured I'd update you all on this weekend. Friday, Bess, Katy, Emily, Emily's friend, and I ventured to the Victoria & Albert museum, which is just down the road. On our way, we passed the Natural History Museum and the line was HUGE. It was out the door, curved throughout the massive courtyard, and through the gates in the front. We somehow made it through the crowd and patted ourselves on the back for not choosing today to go to that particular museum. Although, we really had no idea what we were in for at the V&A. Emily and her friend from class had to write about a room at a museum, and we definitely chose the right museum for that task. I still am not sure for what it is a museum, but it was really cool. The rooms were PACKED with artifacts and just... things. I am not sure if there was any rhyme or reason to any of the rooms. They were somehow organized by geographical location and time period... but it was very hard to navigate. The British rooms were next to the China rooms were next to the Korean rooms which were down the hall from a huge fashion room. It was insane. REALLY awesome but a bit overwhelming. We might have to go back and explore the higher levels as we only made it to the ground floor and one area of the second floor. Here are some pictures so you can see for yourselves--it's quite difficult to explain!

Victoria & Albert Museum

Inside the front hall

One of the British rooms... I think...

A choir book! It's HUGE!

Some pillars in one random room

Effigies of some dead people I believe...

See how everything is just crammed inside the rooms?? It was really cool because it felt like I was immersed in the artwork, but I had no idea what was going on.

Juicy Couture--I wanted one of these so badly in eight grade! Although, now I'm glad I never got one so I don't have to look at painfully awful photos of myself in this outfit... I only took a picture of this to show Kylie because when she got a Juicy purse for Christmas, I told her I wanted this outfit and she said, "They had Juicy when YOU were my age?!" I'M NOT THAT OLD!!!

They always went for practicality, obviously.

THE HUGEST BED I'VE EVER SEEN.

Saturday, we headed to Harrods! I'd been there before but didn't remember much except that I was afraid to touch anything... that didn't change this time! I was afraid to BREATHE on anything! It's all so expensive and beautiful and high-class! I felt SO out of my element. I don't love shopping to begin with, and to be in a massive, crowded department store with room after room of different designers was unbelievably uncomfortable. It was really cool but I do not plan on going back anytime soon! After that, we took the Tube to Piccadilly Circus, which is basically all shopping. Most of the stores are really nice but not as nice as Harrods! We went into Anthropologie, which I'd never been in, but it might just be my new favorite store. I just wanted everything there! Plus, the actual store was designed really well. Don't worry Mom, I didn't buy anything! It would have hugely dented my money supply so I held off! Anyway, after walking from Piccadilly to Oxford Circus, we took to the Tube back to Notting Hill for Mexican food! We went to Tequila Tex Mex. It was really good! I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food, but it really hit the spot. That's pretty much all! I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from Piccadilly Circus--enjoy!

Piccadilly Circus--it looks like New York!

A statue in Piccadilly Circus

:)

Jackie

Best Valentine's Day in Years!

It's a littttttle late but I thought I'd update you all on last weekend! Friday we decided to check out Westminster Abbey. Katy, Bess, and I took the Tube there (Emily had already been there for a class) and paid the entrance fee, somewhere around 10 pounds, but it was definitely worth it. We started off by wandering around the entrance until we finally decided to get personal audio tours, which was definitely a good choice. There were about 25 stations, and when we got to each one, we typed the number in the little keypad and we got to hear all about the area. It was really interesting to hear facts and stories about the different burial places and memorials and everything--Bess and I were especially excited about anything to do with the Tudors :) My favorite area was the Poet's Corner, which either held the graves of prominent poets/writers or memorials dedicated to them. I can't remember all of the people there but I'm sure you could find it on Google :) After the audio tour, we decided to head back, but not before we made a quick photo stop in front of Parliament and Big Ben. Here are a few pictures:

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben

Parliament Building--to the right of Big Ben

Friday night, we ate in the dining hall (:/ bleh... at least it's free) and then went to see Valentine's Day! We figured after going to the premiere, we definitely had to see the movie! It was good--nothing too deep or meaningful but it was cute! Definitely entertaining. Taylor Swift was definitely not at her best while acting but other than that, it was a good movie. It was especially exciting to see Ashton Kutcher on screen the day after seeing him in person!! Anyway, that concludes our night on Friday.

Saturday, the only plans we made revolved around lunch. We decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, which is just on the corner of Hyde Park--about two miles away. We walked, which didn't take TOO long, but once we got to the edge of the park, we couldn't quite find our way. I had directions, and we were going the right way, but the road we needed to turn on was apparently non-existent! I finally asked someone where the Hard Rock was and we were only a few blocks off target. We headed back and found the missing road--in my defense, there was construction going on and the sign was only visible if you were standing right next to it! Anyway, we finally arrived and found the wait to be 40 minutes. We had no where else to be so we sat it out. There was some random soup outside for the people waiting to snack on, and we still have no idea what it was, but it was hot and it was decent tasting so we ate it! Once we finally sat down, I ordered a veggie burger :) mmmmm! It was wonderful.

After the Hard Rock, we headed back and did some homework. It was rather chilly outside so we didn't waste a beautiful day, no worries! We planned to go out to a club that night, but when dinner time rolled around, none of us were hungry OR had the energy to go out. We decided to have a low-key movie night and ventured down the block to Starbucks for dinner. I had a sandwich so it was a legit dinner! Sort of. Anyway, we watched Stepbrothers because I had never seen it--definitely a good choice!

Sunday was Valentine's Day. I am most definitely not a fan of V-Day, whether I'm in a relationship or not. It just fees fakey and commercialized. I always end up stressed, not "lovey-dovey" because I have no idea what to get for them (which I don't think should even matter!!) and I feel so pressured to be so happy all the time, and what if I happen to wake up on the wrong side of the bed that day?? I'm not anti-love or anything, but I just feel like there is no need to create a holiday for love when really, almost every day could (and maybe should) be celebrated! Anyway, this year was the best Valentine's Day I've had in years because I didn't have to worry about a thing! I just got to hang out with friends. It was great. We had breakfast at the Old Dutch Pancake House which was AMAZING!!! Anyone who comes to visit me is most definitely going there. SO yummy. The pancakes were super thin and HUGE! See my apple and cinnamon pancake below:

After the most amazing breakfast ever, I did some more homework (I had a presentation this week--it went really well!) before wandering to Le Pain Quotidien--a really good bakery/restaurant/coffee shop nearby. I got a scone and munched on that for a while back in the room. For dinner, we ordered Chinese food from a nearby restaurant and watched Bridget Jones' Diary! I'd never seen it and I loved it! So good. Clearly, the best Valentine's Day so far!

:)

Jackie