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