Paris and Pints

So, just returned from further adventures in Paris. It was an interesting trip, to say in the least. Now, that's not to say that it was a bad trip, or a fantastic trip. It kind of held a middle ground- one really good night, one "ehhhh" night, and heinous style of travel. However, the group was good (when they weren't hung over and sleeping in until 2 while I ran around the city after waking up at 9) or when they were horribly angry and tired and bitching about the travel style. They wanted cheap- you need to understand you'll be treated like cattle if you're paying the least amount possible. Oh well. The city is an amazing place and no less beautiful each time I visit, so that in and of itself made it well worth it. Mostly... I do have to say that my first excursion to Paris with people my own age (excluding the other times with my family- those have all been great trips) back in October was, well... yeah, it was better. Oh well. We win some and lose some.

Anyhow, with that grand introduction (kind of a downer) there were some amazing moments! The start of the trip was a bit rocky, what with a 3.5 hour bus ride to the port, then the ferry, then another ridiculously long bus right into Paris (this all started at 9:30pm and we travelled all the way through the night, arriving in Paris at around 6:30am). However, once we got there, we chilled in a cafe until we were able to check into our apartment (Vivian did a fantastic job picking this place out and getting a brilliant deal- seriously, it was quite awesome). Once dropping off our bags, we walked around the Champs Elysees (we literally were staying a two minute walk from it), hit the Arc, and then found another cafe for lunch in which I indulged in a croque monsieur. Had to- I was in France. Following this, we found a supermarket, grabbed some champagne and orange juice, and finally were able to settle into our apartment and grab a few well-earned napping hours. After such, we popped the champagne, had a little pre-dinner festivities, then found a delicious little place where we got amazing pizza. Seriously... this stuff was... wow. And I don't think the obsession with it was champagne-induced. It was really that good.

Following dinner, we met up with the other group from the London house that were traveling in Paris, saw their hotel (our apartment won) an then trekked off to the Eiffel Tower for some nighttime hanging out, pictures, and overall fun. This was definitely my favorite of the two nights of the trip. We got some fantastic pictures of all of us, had a great time hanging out in a different city, and then utilized the metro to return to our apartment's area, where we were rudely declined from many clubs due to being American, and finally settled on going back to the place we all had dinner, cause apparently it worked as a club as well. So, we basically made up half their crowd (kind of a silly place, but we had fun cause we were together), danced, hung out, socialized, the like. It was a good time. Once completing our shenanigans there, we wandered around for a bit more, then decided on heading back home due to the ridiculously late hour (and we were all still pretty exhausted from our earlier journey into France). Some of the girls went out again and apparently ran around aimlessly- I opted for getting some amount of sleep.

The following morning I woke up at 9:30 and ended up playing mom for a couple of hungover people. Apparently not everyone handles champagne as well... Oh well. I got up, ran to a cafe and got some baguettes for the girls when they finally decided to crawl out of bed, and then proceeded to get a little reading done at another cafe after dropping off the food. I returned around noon, showered up, and finally saw some liveliness, although we didn't get out of the house 'til about 2pm. Ah, so much for our 1 full day in Paris. After getting out of the house, we walked all the way to the Notre Dame (a hefty feat considering out distance from it, but we got to pass the Musee d'Orsay, Louvre, and walk along the river). We grabbed lunch in another cafe, went into the Notre Dame, walked around the Latin Quarter, found the Shakespeare bookstore that's featured in a movie- Julie and Julia, I believe? After such, we actually walked around the Louvre, then back to the house, where we rested up just a bit to give our hurting feet relief, and then headed out to a nice dinner on the Champs Elysees. It was nice not worrying about prices so much as just sitting down and having a delightful time.

After dinner, we grabbed some more drinks at the market, headed back to the apartment for a quieter house party evening, where the other group joined us for a bit, and then peaced out (all but one). Regardless, we enjoyed an evening of party tricks, truth or dare, and other such silly games that were very reminiscent of sleepovers from years ago. It was fun. Another late night, but we all managed to get up at a far more decent hour the following morning. We hit the Tower in the daytime, went back to the Latin Quarter for further exploring (where I had to get a gyro, no matter how unhealthy), and then headed back to our apartment to check out. Following such, we found another cafe for a final dinner in france (I got poulet frites) and then we prepared ourselves for the evil journey home.

It was once again, a very, very long bus ride, followed by the ferry, and then a slightly less evil bus ride into London, although we got in before the tube opened, so we then had to run around with copious amounts of luggage looking for one of the few buses that was running and would get us home- we failed. So, we founds cabs, got home around 5am, and then crashed the heck out after barely managing to wash my face. I was so exhausted. I "napped" until noon, then got up, unpacked, ran to the gym, and then decided to grab my computer and go back to my favorite pub - the Hoop & Toy - and get a little writing done. One of my friends from the house ended up finding me there, so we hung over and chatted over a pint before I met up with some other people for dinner. Trying to stay awake, I headed back to the house with Vivian, bought some baking stuff, and proceeded to blog this while she created some ridiculously awesome brownies. Now? Well, now I'm helping in the process of consuming and waiting to skype my family before I go to sleep and prepare for the awfulness of tomorrow's schedule:

Class 8-10am, convo from 12-1pm, class 1-3pm, class 3-6pm, play @ 7:30. Ugh. Too much to do.

Oh well, it looks like I'll be meeting up with some friends from America soon, so I'm really excited to see some faces that I haven't seen since September. It's been far too long!

Various Updates on Summer Shenanigans

So, I obviously have failed at this whole blogging thing, keeping everyone update, yadda yadda yadda. Don't worry, I have been properly chastised by my mother, who, ironically, didn't even read my last update. I had to tell her that I updated. Love you, Mom. Anyhow, once again I have failed to surprise even myself in that I am actually updating at a recent pace, regardless of the fact that I should be reading for class or working out. Yet here I am, hopefully not boring you with the details of my London life- that is, the basically endless summer of fun I've had since September. Yeah, there were those things called classes, I've still got one every morning from 8am-10am (can't tell you how much that one sucks, considering we never get in earlier than midnight), but for the most part, this place has just been endless fun, exploring, making friends, barhopping, and immersing myself in a culture and city that I will NEVER fall out-of-love with- seriously. This place is, to be British- brilliant.

So, what's been going on since I re-arrived for my summer session? Well, I acted as tour guide for some of the new students during the whole orientation days, and then we jumped right into daily classes. I actually don't mind my morning one- it's way better than the other one that goes from 3-6 every day. No thank you. I absolutely love having my afternoons free, filling them with further exploring around London, writing in pubs (nothing better than setting up my laptop at a table with a pint to one side and a pen to the other), going to the gym, finding new and delicious places to have lunch with friends (or by myself once in a while), and all such great things. The other day the house was completely dead and so I just decided to take a 3 hour walk all around Soho. It was fantastic! I found all these great younger-crowd pubs, a lovely park with a kind of smallish market going on, and a legitimate mexican food place so satisfy any later cravings. And then I returned home, stopped by my favorite Chinese place for some amazingly delicious spring rolls and a bowl of wonton soup, and then back to the house. Such an amazing day!

And let me get started on the people in the house- I absolutely adore them. Seriously, we have such a fantastic group, we've got our Wednesday nights "hump nights" (aptly named after hump day- we're a mature bunch) where we get a decent amount of people in the house to go out and go clubbing (something I never thought I'd enjoy... and now I'm obsessed. Dance on!). Seriously, it is such an amazingly fun group and I can't think of a single day where I haven't done something with someone that wasn't, well, amazing! Each day has been full of surprises and fun and wonderful, new friends that I know I'll keep in touch with after this fantastic summer concludes. My roommate, too, is absolutely lovely and it's been such a great living arrangement. And, she's staying for the year, so it's great knowing that she'll get to experience what I did, albeit in reverse. I'm already jealous- I want to come back here!! Visiting? Hopefully.

So, in the past few weeks (can't believe how fast time is flying!) I've gone to 2 obscure plays for my english class that was actually decent, gone out almost every single night (our group is fantastic- it is so much fun), managed to not lose anything (yet! - although I did make a "friend" within the house. Whoops), perfected my club dancing skills (get low, get low), eaten some amazing Indian food, made friends with the gym people (haha), been creeped on my construction workers every day I walk to the gym (eww), been to Windsor Castle, further explored my amazing city, found far too many new, awesome bars that I want to return to, among so many other things. I can't name them all- this blog would never end. But, in essence, I kind of love this place, still. Who wouldn't? And now, tonight, i'm leaving for Paris with some of the people I'm closest with in the house. I can't wait!

Summer- London, Round 2

Well, apparently I should be writing this more often, so here goes! The summer edition of my blog. But first, a little recap on the end of the year program- sorry to have no updated on that bit. Turkey was amazing! We went to Ephesus and Istanbul and it was absolutely amazing. From the random markets, to the sites, to seeing celebrities (yes we did run into Ben Affleck), it was just an altogether fun trip. Granted, it was weird not being in London our final week, but I'm happy to say that I've been to that site now. It'll be a memory I never forget.




Anyhow, London now! Well, it's great being back (although I absolutely loved coming home for a little break and seeing everyone and spending time with my family). The new group is fantastic and we have learned how to have a good time.  I have a feeling that it's because we only have 2 months, and the second month we'll all be working ridiculously hard with our internships, and won't have half as much time or inclination to go out. So, we're getting it out of our systems now, I guess. And, heck, its' quite fun. We've been to an art "club" turned nightclub, a ridiculously rave club, many many university bars, pubs, walked around looking for new places at ungodly hours, a science club/bar that served drinks in teapots and beakers, among many other things. Seriously, it's been a blast. I can't explain how happy I am to be back here and with this new group. Anyhow, more pictures to come with the next update!