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

Bad Dinners and a Movie Premiere

We've had quite an exciting week in Londontown! Monday and Tuesday went by as usual, but Wednesday started off the excitement, though not necessarily in a good way. After class, we headed to the dining hall for dinner. It's usually not a wonderful experience, but Wednesday was even worse than usual. Most days, I can pick out at least one thing that looks appetizing (and no, this is not me being closed-minded to English food; I'm talking about the lack of variety of food (vegetarian mush and mystery meat every day) and the quality of the food (fried everything--oh so healthy!). Anyway, on Wednesday, not even the French fries looked edible. It was a disaster. Katy and I decided to grab something quick at Gloucester Arms (our favorite/closest pub) on the corner of our street. We got in and the sign said that the Soup of the Day was Tomato and Basil. Yummm! Katy ordered that and I ordered that with a ham and cheddar sandwich. We kept seeing people with chips (fries) and started craving them so we ordered a small side of those as well. When our food came, the waitress (?) told us the soup of the day was actually pea and ham, which neither of us could imagine actually eating. She told us we could order something else because it had just been changed apparently and we hadn't known (although, she seemed iffy about whether or not I could switch because I hadn't asked her specifically what the Soup of the Day was). Katy ordered the same sandwich I had ordered and because I couldn't get a refund, I ordered a piece of chocolate fudge cake, which is really yummy. My sandwich came with our soups before they took the soups back, so I had my food while Katy waited for hers, which came eventually. Our fries came when we had finished (and were full), and then my cake after that, which I didn't need to eat and wasn't even hungry for. It was hectic for them and much too time-consuming for us and it was just a bad idea. I think next time I'll stick to basic fish and chips. Much simpler.

Today was much better! Well, dinner was decent, but the afternoon was very well-spent. We decided to venture to Leicester Square in the West End, the theatre district, because the movie Valentine's Day was premiering tonight. We planned to go and take pictures of the stars who planned to show up, unless it looked too crowded when we arrived at 3. It didn't look like too many people were crowding around the gates yet so we camped out (only one row of people back from the gate) and began the wait. The stars that were coming would start arriving at 6 so we had a bit of time! We befriended two other American girls from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania who are also study abroad students at a college near us AND two British girls from Windsor, about a half hour out of London. They were all really cool! We apparently picked a good place to stand! Although, the guy next to/in front of me was a little creepy. It was a really fun experience though. I'd never been to anything like this before!! Anyway, we figured out who was still coming since most of the airports on the East Coast of the U. S. are closed: Ashton Kutcher (and Demi Moore), Jessica Alba, Emma Roberts (Julia Roberts' niece, though Julia couldn't make it), Topher Grace (from That 70s Show), Hector Elizondo (the driver from The Princess Diaries), and of course, the director, Garry Marshall. It was awesome. We were pretty bummed that the rest of the stars (most notably Taylor Lautner, Bradley Cooper, McDreamy, and McSteamy [Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane for all you non-Grey's Anatomy watchers]) weren't there. It's Taylor Lautner's 18th birthday today so the plan was to lure him back to our pub and celebrate with him, which unfortunately didn't quite work out. Anyway, it was freezing out but totally worth it, and I stole Katy's pictures because her camera is way better than mine (as in it never seems to take blurry pictures whereas mine never seems to take clear pictures). Enjoy!

Odeon Theatre

Katy and I

So crowded!

Demi Moore

Ashton Kutcher

Garry Marshall (Director)

Someone took a picture of him and he said, "Well, make sure it's a good one! Make sure it's not blurry!" It was so cute!

Emma Roberts

Ashton and Jessica were taking a picture -- she must have been freezing!

Hector Elizondo

Jessica Alba

Topher Grace

All lit up

:)

Jackie

The Monk Pictures!!

Paris, je t'aime

This trip to Paris was included in our program fee for this semester abroad so I didn't have to worry about planning it out or getting there or anything. Our Eurostar train tickets were paid for, as were the other activities like the boat tour at night, the bus tour around Paris, tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower, and tickets to the Louvre. It was really nice.

On to the good stuff. We left Friday afternoon and arrived around 6:30 in Paris. The boat ride was that night at 8 so we pretty much just got to the hotel, unpacked, grabbed a sandwich for dinner and headed out. Bess and I were assigned to stay in a room together. We have no idea how that happened because it would have made more sense for Katy and I to be together since we're normally roommates, but we weren't complaining! We were much better off than Katy, who was listed with a random guy! She talked to the staff about it and they said they'd change it because it was a mistake (obviously) but when we got to the hotel, it hadn't been changed! They found a different room for the guy thankfully, so Katy was able to be in the room next to mine and Bess' and across from Emily's and Kristin's room. Our hotel room was pretty cool. The beds moved around really easily though. If you sat down too quickly, your bed would scoot towards the other one!

After unpacking quickly, we had our first experience trying to order food! We headed down to the train/metro station, which is right next to/underneath our hotel, and found a sandwich shop inside. Thankfully almost everyone speaks English so with the help of some pointing and smiling, I successfully got a chicken sandwich!

Our Hotel

We met in the lobby and headed over to an RER station, which is similar to the metro but it's not the same. I'm not sure what the difference is. Anyway, they gave us our tickets and we took that train over to the river, right next to the Eiffel Tower, and got on the boat! We got to see all of the buildings lit up at night which was really pretty. There was some explanation of what we were seeing but for the most part we just talked and took pictures. It was really cold though, even though I had gloves and a sweatshirt and a jacket! (I was prepared, Mom!) It was definitely an experience.

The Eiffel Tower was especially beautiful at night.

After the boat, we somehow found our way home on the RER, and basically just went to bed. We were all exhausted and we were getting up early the next day for the bus tour so we decided to call it a night.

The next morning, Bess and I woke up to my phone ringing. Katy was calling asking if we were up yet because we had to leave in 45 minutes. I had set my alarm but the time zone didn't automatically change so we didn't wake up on time! We got ready and and ate breakfast super quickly and then headed to the lobby to meet for the bus tour. We made it just in time and hopped on the bus to start the drive around Paris! Our first stop was Notre Dame Cathedral--it's HUGE and SO beautiful, even though it was a rather rainy, gloomy day. It also helped that I had been there before so the places we visited weren't ruined by the rain. We got to stay at Notre Dame for 40 minutes so we had plenty of time to take pictures and walk around inside.

We hopped back on the bus after wandering around Notre Dame and headed off to see the rest of the city. It was really cool to just be able to see the city of Paris along with the monuments and buildings we were focusing on. Here are a couple places we drove by:

Pantheon (obviously not the one in Rome) where some notable figures are buried

Hotel de Ville -- City Hall

Luxembourg Gardens

Katy and I in front of Les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried

Our final destination was the Eiffel Tower! It began to pour as soon as we got off the bus, but it's tough to make the Eiffel Tower NOT look stunning so all was well. Cold and wet, but fine. We got in line to go up, which took a while, but it was definitely worth the wait. The very top was closed so we couldn't go up all the way, but that was probably for the best because I was freaking out on the way up to just the second story! Heights are not my strong point. Anyway, here are some pictures:

After the Eiffel Tower experience, Katy, Bess, Emily, and I headed to the Louvre. We were given our tickets on the bus, so we found our way to the metro and headed over. I had been to the Louvre before but all I could really remember about it was the Mona Lisa. Kyra and I got separated from our moms and, speaking no French and having no way of contacting them, we freaked out and searched for them the whole time! This time, we went to all three wings (though not every floor or room!) and saw a ton of cool stuff. My favorite was Napoleon's Apartments. It was on the exact opposite side from where the Mona Lisa was, but the trek was definitely worth it. Plus, we got to see rooms on the way! The apartments were absolutely stunning, though. It was like being transported back and walking around where he lived! Everything was so overdone and insane, but it was amazing! It looked so posh and high class. Wow. I can't imagine actually living there!

The Louvre

Mona Lisa!

Venus di Milo

So after the Louvre, we were pretty exhausted, but we wanted to head to the Champs-Elysees, which is a huge, crazy-expensive shopping street leading from the Louvre area to the Arc de Triomphe. It's a mile and a half walk to the Arc from the Louvre so we set off, feet aching and stomachs rumbling. We had eaten lunch, but we'd basically been standing all day so we were getting hungry again. We wandered through the garden area and found a crepe stand so of course, we got crepes. Mmmmm I love Nutella! The crepes were hot and fresh and kept us warm because it was so cold outside! We laughed a lot because we were all so tired and basically just delusional and it was just a great time in general. We eventually made it to the Champs-Elysees and did some window shopping. We found a Gap so upon Katy's request (she works there... in Des Moines of course), we went inside. Emily got a sweatshirt but we all just sort of wandered around. We made it to the Arc shortly after and took a few pictures of it lit up at night. We decided we'd come back in the morning, though, so we left for dinner quickly.

We hopped on the metro and got off in the Latin Quarter to find a restaurant. We were looking for Italian food and wandered down some cute little streets. However, we found that restaurant owners pester you and yell at you to come into THEIR restaurant. We generally just bypassed them all but had to stop when we found Italian restaurants. We basically just ran inside before anyone else could accost us! We each got a free drink (sangria) and the food was really tasty. I had penne with some sort of tomato sauce. Yummm! We moseyed into a few shops here and there until we came to a Starbucks. Bess really wanted a latte and we were all up for dessert (and bathrooms!!) so we stopped in there. I know, I know, totally not French, but we drank A LOT of water at dinner! We had no choice!

After that, we headed back to plan the next day and go to bed. Bess needed to take a shower, too. She couldn't figure out how to make the water come from the shower head instead of the bathtub faucet, so I went in to try and figure it out. I DID figure it out, but unfortunately, the shower head was pointing right at us when we got it to work. The water went everywhere! The shower "door" sort of blocks the water from getting on the floor but stops where the counter next to the tub begins, so it's pretty worthless. We tried to turn the shower head away only to have it slide down the pole (it was a removable one) and hit us even more! We finally got it to turn off, but not before we were pretty soaked! I wiped off my face before heading to Katy's room to look at what to do on Sunday, because we had until 4 PM to do whatever we wanted. After we figured that out, we went to bed and set the alarm an hour earlier so we'd wake up on time! It worked quite well.

Sunday, we woke up, got ready, checked out, and ate breakfast. We kept our bags at the hotel and headed to the area of Montmartre, where Sacre Coeur is located. I'd never been there (though I guess that's where we stayed last time I was in Paris) so it was really fun. We found a little market to look around in and had a good time. We were accosted by people selling things on the road but we never made eye contact and power walked through. I felt so rude but it's the only way to get by! We made it safely into a cafe for lunch and had some good sandwiches. We had to save room for crepes later, too!

Sacre-Coeur -- we didn't go inside but it was pretty from the outside! We wandered around the area a bit and found a cute park that we took fun pictures in... and used the nasty bathroom. I held my breath the whole time and used a TON of sanitizer afterward!!

From there, we got on the metro again and headed back to the Arc to get some good daylight pictures. We saw quite a few funny-looking tourists, too! Good people watching. We really had our eyes on some monks because they were just such cute little men! Lo and behold, they came over and wanted a picture with us! They were from Tibet and they seemed like they were so overjoyed to get a picture with the four of us! It was so bizarre and funny. Bess has pictures so I'll try to get them from her!

The monks before they talked to us!

GO DRAKE!

These two pictures (above and below) have probably the best story of the whole trip. After we had taken pictures of the Arc, we crossed back to the other side of the road. As we were looking around, a pigeon (depicted in the background of the above picture) flew out of NOWHERE and flew right into the back of my head!!! IT WAS INSANE! I screamed and then started laughing so hard I cried! It was hilarious. Traumatizing, but so worth it.

Not a good choice by this lady

After the killer-pigeon incident, we got back on the metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower. It wasn't raining and we wanted to get some good pictures in of the four of us in front of it, not just on top of it! Plus, there is a cool peace monument on the other side that Katy was dying to see. It was really cool--there was a glass wall with "peace" written all over in tons of languages. We definitely got some good pictures in AND had another helping of Nutella Crepes :) mmmm!

Me in the peace monument

Emily, Katy, Me, and Bess in front of the Eiffel Tower

After that, we hurried back to the hotel because we had to get on the bus to the train station. We were taking the Eurostar back (which is a train that goes through the Chunnel--the tunnel under the English Channel!) so we didn't have to worry about flying or anything. It was smooth sailing (or should I say driving?) from there and we got back around 8 PM. It was such a great weekend and I had SO much fun, but I was definitely ready to go back "home" to London.

:)

Jackie

(Hope you enjoyed this because it took forever to make!!)