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!!)

New City, New Hair!

Hola! Last night, as you may have heard, I dyed my hair brown! It will only last a month and a half at the longest so it's NOT permanent! I like it, but I definitely prefer being blonde. I've always wanted to see what I'd look like so I thought I'd try it out.

Also, good news! I think I found a gym I can use through a school that is located right down the road from my school, and since my school is so small, we're closely connected with the other school, Imperial College. We can use their facilities and join their clubs and stuff. I'm planning on investigating later today after class.

:)

Jackie

A Day in the Life... of the Beatles!

Big weekend! Katy, Emily, Bess and I headed up to Liverpool and Manchester this weekend. We were so excited because, well, it's exciting to travel, but also because we planned it all by ourselves! And boy did we learn a few things...

We took a bus there through the National Express. It took 5 hours so we left at 8 AM on Friday morning (we woke up at 6 to shower and get there on time! Bleh). We stopped at Caribou for breakfast and hopped on the Tube. We found our way there easily enough, but of course it was raining. When we finally boarded the bus, we decided to sit near the back where there was plenty of room. Clearly, we weren't thinking and didn't think that the emptiness of the back of the bus might be a warning sign. One man used the bathroom right behind us at least 8 times (we counted but eventually lost track) and we smelled EVERYTHING. I never thought I'd be so happy to get off a bus (although, compared to the ride home, that ride was heavenly, but that'll come a bit later). Anyway, we ended up in Liverpool and took a taxi to the hostel. We were in a six-bed room with a bathroom. Our side of the room had two sets of bunk beds whereas the other room only had one set of bunks. We basically just sat our stuff down and headed right back outside to the taxi because we needed to get to Albert Dock, where our Magical Mystery Tour started! Yay Beatles! The tour was really great because not only did we learn about the Beatles and little tidbits of information about their history but we also got to see the city of Liverpool. Here are some highlights:

Ringo lived right down this alleyway.

George Harrison's house

John Lennon lived here with his aunt.

Me in front of Paul McCartney's house :)

Our bus

The bus dropped us off at the Cavern bar, which I can't quite remember its significance, but it was something like the Beatles' manager first saw them perform there or something. It had a display, which was cool. We didn't stay long, though. We ate at a restaurant around there and they had veggie burgers! I mean, I will eat real burgers, but I still prefer the taste of veggie burgers so that was exciting. We did a little shopping afterward and found our way back to the hostel--somehow we ended up right near there! Speaking of which, here are some pictures:

Our side of the room--we were pretty squished!

Gracie's side--she was a little, mid-aged Portuguese woman! So nice!

Anyway, we were in bed by 9 PM. It was pathetic. Gracie, our roommate, came back later than us! We did stay up talking for a while so I guess we didn't actually go to sleep just then, but it was still kind of funny. In our defense, we DID have to wake up at 6 again to catch a bus to Manchester.

That bus ride was much smoother (and shorter--only an hour) than was the first ride. We hopped off the bus in Manchester with no plan, no map, nothing. We asked the Information booth at the station but they had nothing to give us, so we headed out blindly. Apparently, the bus station is in Chinatown, Manchester--who knew that even existed?! Not me. We somehow wandered to the Manchester Art Museum, which opened at 10. Unfortunately for us, it was 8:45. There was a Cafe Nero (a coffee chain here) across the street so we set up camp there for about an hour until it opened. We killed about 2 hours there and found some really amusing pieces. I put some of those pictures up (with nice captions I might add) on Facebook so check them out!

After that, we asked someone to point us in the direction of the shopping district (as we still didn't have a map). We wandered around there for a while (if you haven't caught on, we did a lot of wandering!) and finally settled on the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. After a late lunch, we hopped on board the ferris wheel that was hanging out in the middle of the city. It was super high up and I tried not to look straight down, but it was really fun! Look:

Me in front of the ferris wheel... obviously

Bess and me about halfway up

View from the top

After that ride, we were all freezing and tired from walking all day with our backpacks so we decided to just find the coach station and wait. It ended up being five minutes away! No idea how we managed to do that! We waited there and looked at pictures from the trip, still freezing. Finally the bus showed up and it was a two-story bus! Naturally, we went up to the second level. We went to the back once again, only because the front was semi-full and there was no bathroom on the upper level! We settled in and were comfortably awaiting the ride home until a huge group of kids, probably about our age, galavanted back to the bus RIGHT behind us. Not too much of a problem until they started YELLING TO EACH OTHER even though they were sitting all together. I am not exaggerating at all. They were literally shouting. This went on for the entire ride. About 20 minutes into the ride, Katy got fed up and moved forward. Bess followed suit and headed downstairs, and I moved up next to Katy. Emily eventually came to sit by Katy and I, too. It was slightly better, though we could still hear their shouting--Bess said she could still hear them downstairs, too. At one point, the bus stopped, which was a bit scary considering it was dark out and no one knew where we were. The bus driver marched up the stairs and told the kids that there were cameras all over the bus so he could see everything they were doing and needed to stop. When I looked back at them, they had bottles everywhere, even the floor. THEY WERE DRINKING ON THE BUS. Alcoholic-drinking. I felt like I was breaking the rules when I smuggled my hot chocolate on the bus... apparently not. It was absolutely insane. FINALLY we got back to the station (during which they all screamed, "YEA! Wooooo hoooooo!!") and I have never been so happy to get off a bus. Oh my goodness. We made it back to the dorm just fine, unpacked quickly, and collapsed into bed. Thankfully no one was too loud that night because I think I would have snapped, which is saying something because if you know me, you know I'm extremely easy-going. On the upside, we have some great stories! Hopefully they'll keep on coming!

:)

Jackie

Notting Hill

This week has been pretty uneventful. Classes were fine, nothing too exciting. Today, since my classes are over at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I decided to take a long walk and explore my surroundings. I set off toward Hyde Park, which is just around the corner from my building. I wandered through the park, following The Serpentine, which is a long, curved body of water in the middle of the park. I was actually following signs for a Peter Pan sculpture and it happened to be right near the water. Convenient because the water was absolutely beautiful, whereas the sculpture was not so thrilling. It was quite small and anticlimactic and I almost got attacked by a flock or two of birds on the way, but worth it in the end as I got some great pictures.

St. Albert's Memorial--There are a ton of things dedicated to him around here!

Inside the park

The Serpentine, close to where it begins

The slightly disappointing Peter Pan sculpture

Fountains that seem to be where The Serpentine begins

When I got past the fountains, which were sooo pretty by the way, I wandered out into the city. I stuck close to Hyde Park because I wasn't 100% sure where I was, but I knew generally where I was headed. I'm still in awe that there can be such a massive, beautiful park in the middle of the city. It's as if there are two completely separate worlds here, though you can move from one to the other in a matter of minutes. So cool.

Anyway, I started wandering along the sidewalk until I came to a point where I could no longer see the park. This happens sometimes so I just continued walking until I decided I should probably turn and try to get back to the Park. I turned left because that's the side the park was on before, and I found myself faced with a long road of flats. I thought perhaps the park was at the end of the flats so I continued walking that way (no, I did not know what was at the end of the street because when I say long, I mean can't-see-the-end long). I only knew that I was in Notting Hill because I found a bookstore called Notting Hill Books (!!!) with, wait for it.... a blue door next to it!! Super exciting. Anyway, I meandered down further and further until finally I came to the end of the road and lo and behold, another road. I had no choice but to turn right (I couldn't turn back because I walked by some people outside and I couldn't walk by them again; at least night right away), so I turned headed down another street. It was much shorter and I decided to turn left when I came to an intersection. As I wandered farther down the road, I noticed a busy road up ahead and decided to see if I recognized the name. As I got closer, I realized it was Kensington High Street, which is right by me! We go there all the time to do grocery shopping and other errands. That was where I was trying to get to, but I had no idea that I was so close! It was quite the adventure.

The bookstore and...

...the blue door! OK, not QUITE the same as in the movie... but close!

I just thought this was cute.

The road on which I was semi-lost

When I got to High Street, I called Katy because she wanted to go get hair dye for herself, so I walked back toward our building and we met on the corner. We successfully found it in a Walgreens-like store called Boots. I bought some light brown hair dye that washes out after about a month... should I do it?? I'm super curious and somewhat willing to color my hair because it'll wash out soon... but I've NEVER colored it before so I'm not sure!

Better get to bed now, we're waking up at 6 AM tomorrow to head off to Liverpool! You'll hear all about that in a few days!

:)

Jackie

Adventures in Londontown

Today was quite an adventure. I went for a run this morning around the neighborhood and into Hyde Park a bit, which was nice. After showering and everything, Katy, Bess, and I headed to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. The paintings inside were AMAZING. We saw almost every room but there were so many artworks that I still feel like we barely touched them. I got to see the ones I really wanted to though, so that was great. Now we just have about 20 more museums to explore and that should do it! Anyway, the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square were really beautiful. I took loads of pictures, most of which are on Facebook. Here are a few:

National Gallery

Trafalgar Square

After that, we headed to Cafe Nero, which is a chain all over London. I had a Chicken Caesar sandwich, a blueberry muffin, and a hot chocolate. Super yummy! The three of us basically just hung out there for a long time until finally we decided to head back to campus. Not too exciting back in the room as we did homework for a few hours :(

Finally dinner time! Katy, Bess, Emily, and I ventured to Notting Hill because I found a postcard for a place called the Boo Bar, and it seemed like it would be a fun place to go. We had quite the time figuring out the tube line to get there, but we finally did and headed down the street in search of somewhere to eat dinner first. We came upon Pizza Express and decided to try it out. Emily and I split a pepperoni pizza with a glass of wine each :) I feel so old. Dinner was really good--may have to go there again--which was a plus because when we got to the bar, it was closed down! A man walked by and said it had been closed for a while! So weird. I even had looked it up online earlier today and it never mentioned that. We basically just headed home after that (with a dessert stop on the way--chocolate cake and gelato for 3 pounds! Yum).

We planned on watching The Hangover but got caught up in making travel plans and never got around to it. We planned out a trip for next weekend to Liverpool and Manchester for Friday and Saturday! We leave Friday morning for Liverpool and get in around 1:30 PM. The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour starts at 2:30 nearby so we'll go to that and then check into the hostel. We'll leave for Manchester the next morning at 7 or 8 AM and spend the day in Manchester until we leave Saturday evening t 6:30 PM. It was WAY cheaper to leave Saturday instead of Sunday so we did it. We have homework to do on Sunday anyway so it worked well. PLUS it only cost us 60 pounds each for everything (not including food). So awesome. I can't wait!!

:)

Jackie