Tuesday was the first official day of rotation and also meant it was Ashlyn's and my first attempt at being a true London commuter. We left at the crack of dawn as we were meeting Professor Cairns at Kingston University to go to class with the third years. The problem with Kingston University is that it is located in Zone 6, in the charming town of Kingston-Upon-Thames. It takes FOREVER to get all the way out to zone six and there is no direct route from Zone 2. So you basically have to go into Central London to turn around to go to the southwest corner of the city and beyond. This involved us walking to the Brockley station to the take the Southern train line to London Bridge station, where we took the Southeastern train to Waterloo East station, where we then walked a million miles underground to the Waterloo station (including getting stuck in a human traffic jam because ticket inspectors were stopping everyone to scan tickets) and then taking the Southwestern train to the Kingston station. From there we then take a bus for a few minutes out to Kingston University. It's about an hour and fifteen minute commute during London rush hour. But we actually arrived without making a SINGLE mistake. This is where we first met Professor Cairns, who is a super nice Scottish man and we went over a basic schedule of life while on rotation. When we finished getting the low down we headed to class, just like the olden times.
Pharmacy school in the U.K. doesn't have as much of a clinical focus as we have in the States (even though they are moving in that direction.) Because of this there is a pharmacy practice elective which is the class we would be attending. When we arrived they had already been given their first case and had worked up their patients. We were given the worksheet to look over and Ashlyn and I were proud to say even though we only had about five minutes to look it over, we came to all the same conclusions the professor was looking for from the class. For the next case we were actually put into a group and were told to be the patient. This was really fun because after we went through the role play (and impressed the students with our clinical knowledge) our group started asking us all sorts of questions about school in the States. They loved everything we said and were ready to move back with us until the heard the cost of tuition. Education is much cheaper here and they had no desire to get bogged down in six figure student loans. I can't blame them. When they found out we were from Atlanta one of the girls said, "Where all the rappers are from!" in which another student said, "she's knows everything about America." In general though no one here knows about Atlanta and rappers.
When class was over Professor Cairns took us to lunch at Jamie Oliver's. He's the celebrity chef who had the American tv show about changing the food children eat for school lunches. It was an Italian restaurant and it was delicious. We also had the nicety of having the most adorable waiter on the planet serve us. After leaving lunch we were given a mini tour of Kingston-Upon-Thames (sorry, no pics. I promise I'll get some on another journey down there). We walked along the Thames and the tons of swans who make their home in this little town. Apparently they are protected swans and can only be removed on the Queen's orders. After Professor Cairns left us we stopped into John Lewis (a huge department store), Primark and the famous TopShop. At this point it was getting near London rush hour again and knowing we had an hour and fifteen minute commute home we hoped on the train lines bound for Brockley. We came home to our leftover Pizza Express, which we weren't thrilled about, but damn it we aren't paying for food if we already have some.
Wednesday saw us taking the bus for our first day at Lewisham Hospital. We arrived, were given a short tour and then off to get name badges from security. Of course our names are in all caps and the lady who typed mine in put a capital "I" instead of "L" in my last name, so my name badge is inaccurate and looks stupid, but whatever. We now have name badges on a National Health Services lanyard, making us look legitly British. We were able to go onto the floor with the pre reg pharmacists for a bit to get a basic idea of what goes on there, but as we won't be back until the week after next so we didn't see much. More importantly, today was Match Day. For those who don't know, this was when I found out if I was going to get a residency from one of the hospitals I interviewed with. I was pleased to find out that I have a position with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. I'm already nervous about starting, but I'm also super excited. I'm finally going to get a paycheck and start the next phase of my life. It's crazy! And no one over here understands what a residency is, so I've just given up trying to explain.
I shall end this day with the email I received:
This message provides you with your Match result for the
ASHP Resident Matching Program for residency positions
beginning in 2012.
Congratulations! You have been matched to:
Residency: CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA
Program: PGY1
:)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
From A Levels to O.W.L.S: A Brief History of School in the U.K. (March 19)
I should have added Sunday was "Mothering Sunday" here in the U.K. or Mother's Day as we know it. Ashlyn and I both sent our mom cards, simply because they all say "mum" on them. Oh, it's the little things.
Today was our first day of rotation, but it was a pretty simple day as it involved Peggy picking us up to give us a bit of an orientation to life in London (Brockley in particular) and how the education system works in the U.K. Of course Peggy was extra prepared and had packets ready for us. She had a packet about being in London, things you need to know when living in Brockley and a really good breakdown of school here. So the first few things you must know are some basic terms. While in the U.S. we say "school" to mean any kind, here it only means early grades or primary school. College only refers to technical schools or associate type programs, while a traditional degree program is referred to as "University" or "Uni." I thought there was no way people actually use the term Uni, but they do and I've heard it used often. What we call a "degree" they call a "course" and what we call a "course" they call a "module." Confused yet? Good. Now we can move onto how school actually works.
While in the U.S. 11 and 12 year olds are skateboarding and drawing hearts over the "i's" (British kids probably do this too), but they are also applying to "secondary school," which would be the equivalent of our early high school. They actually apply to school and rank their top 5. I've recently read in the paper (yes, I'm reading the paper here) that due to the population increase in London many children aren't getting any of the schools they rank. A lot to deal with as a 12 year old. While we are in the 11th grade they are doing "GCSEs" which are essentially classes they have to take in order to be competitive if they want to go to Uni. If you don't take a GCSE test then you aren't going to get into University. You just aren't. It's becoming less and less common for students to not take the GCSEs, but it still happens. If you're planning on applying for pharmacy then you MUST take a GCSE in math and English. Then we move on to 12th grade while they move on to A levels which last two years (essentially year 12 and 13). For the first year of A levels you take 4 subjects. The three that you are best at you continue on to your second year of A levels. In order to get into a pharmacy program you usually need to get at least one A and two Bs in your courses (usually English, math and a science). Back in America we'd be in our first year of pre-pharmacy. Once we start our second year or pre-pharmacy they have started their pharmacy program, which last for four years. So to add things up in case you're lost, in the U.S. you are required to take at least 2 years of pre-pharmacy classes and then 4 years of pharmacy. They take just the four pharmacy years. After the four years they then do their "pre-reg" year, which is just like our fourth year except they get paid. And they can not believe that we don't. After all this they then can join the STEP program to work towards getting a "post grad diploma" in a specialty. Which is like our residency programs. It's all very convoluted. The funny part is I feel like they have it a lot harder. I mean at 12 you're ranking schools and at 16 you have to start deciding what you want to do for the rest of you life. In America, we get a lot more time to soul search, if you will. It basically sounds like you're going to Hogwarts to me.
Of course we constantly got off topic because I had some burning questions about London. My most important question was related to men's fashion (which I love over here). They dress sharp and wear super bright colored dress socks (pink, teal, you name it). So I asked what's up with the socks. Men in America do not wear exciting socks. Peggy says this is something I will notice with rich guys. Of course, my favorite part about London fashion is a status symbol. Whatever, it looks amazing. I guess I should continue on my men's fashion topic while I'm on it. They get the tailored suit. In fact no man (bright socks or not) wears a suit that isn't perfectly tailored for them. There is even a whole street in London (Savile Row) dedicated to men's tailoring. They're known for "bespoke" tailoring. I'm not sure what that means, but I know I like it. If you remember, in "American Boy" Kanye West says, "Dressed smart like a London bloke / Before he speaks his suit bespoke," clever Kanye, clever. Casual dress involves this awesome late 50s throwback. We're talking good hair, jeans that actually fit and are sometimes rolled up at the ankle and jackets that hit that the waist. It's James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause all day, every day. It's so amazing. The white Converse All-Star low top sneaker also seems to be a favorite.
After Peggy taught us about school and boys she took us to lunch at a small little sandwich shop. Upon arriving we realized it must have been Mommy and Me day or something as Ashlyn, Peggy and I were the only three people there who did not have a baby with us. Then Peggy confirmed her amazingness by driving us to Sainsbury's (like a Kroger or Publix without the bells and whistles, but you can buy electronics there). We were able to stock up on some groceries to keep us from starving when we need a snack and are to lazy to walk and find some.
The weather was just too fabulous for us to end the day here so we headed to Central London to take a ride on the London Eye. I had been on the Eye in 2008, but the day had been dreary and was not ideal for viewing. This day was perfect. You could see for miles and miles. The Eye gives you a nice 30 minute ride where you can really take it all in. I think it's way overpriced, but at the same time something that's hard to justify ignoring. Apparently they did Valentine's Day Specials this year. I hate Valentine's Day, but it might be kinda cool to have a special date on the Eye.
As we left the Eye we walked along the Jubilee Bridge towards the Pizza Express. It's a large chain restaurant here and nicer than the name suggests. Unfortunately they are too fancy and Italian to do thick crust, which Ashlyn and I both prefer more than the actual pizza part. So that was a let down. Another successful use of our time in London, complete with leftovers for the next day.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Chim Chimney (March 17-18)
Saturday:
Saturday's weather was a drizzly and glum which quite fit the mood I was in that day. Aimee and Megan were both leaving me (Aimee for Manchester and Megan back to Atlanta) and it was hard since at this point I had seen Barcelona and London with them. And experiencing a city you've never been to (Barcelona), with others who have never been there is sometimes the very best way to do it. Unfortunately, them leaving now meant I couldn't say "stag do" whenever I wanted and it make sense to someone, but if you read my Barcelona section it'll make sense. Saturday was also frustrating as it was the day REGIONS MASTERCARD shut off my credit card without telling me over a disputed $8.86. Yep, that total is correct. Eight dollars and eighty six cents. So, while I should have been giving Megan a proper goodbye as she headed to Heathrow I was crying on the phone with a credit card lady who didn't care and making multiple phone calls to the States so someone, anyone could help me. By the time all this was said and done I'd paid more money in phone calls then the stupid $8.86. About the time all this was straightened out I walked Aimee out to the bus that was taking her to Euston Station. I was kind of emotional about it. It seemed like I was sending my kid away or something. I always romanticize things in my head a bit and something about being left alone in the huge city of London (and home of the my favorite lady, Mary Poppins) on such a gloomy day had me feeling very adult and very sad. I walked down to the McDonalds on the corner to get a fountain drink and realized for the first time since arriving, at that moment I might not have looked like a tourist. The city wasn't fun for those few hours I was alone. It's was a just a big, beautiful place full of big red buses and two trips full of memories.
Luckily, and to end the doom and gloom of this post Ashlyn and Peggy came to pick me up from the hotel around 2:00. Peggy is a phenomenal American lady (New Yorker to be exact) who married the famous Brit Ted and moved to London. She has been a life saver for us. An absolute life saver. She helped arrange our London housing and has just added a sense of normalcy to this trip as well as the feeling that someone out there is looking out for us. Peggy drove us all through Central London to get to our new home of Brockley (a neighborhood in London). The first time you ride in a car driving on the side of the road you have been taught to believe is "wrong" is quite the experience. Peggy is a great driver though, so I knew I was in safe hands. It's just so hard to make yourself not want to shut your eyes. When we arrived in Brockley I was finally able to see the life of a Londoner from eyes not overwhelmed by a stunning metropolis. Brockley is in south London and sits only a surprising five miles from the bustling Charring Cross, but you feel a world away. The streets are lined with big, brick Victorian style homes from the 1900s when Brockley was an up and coming neighboorhood for those with money to burn. But as with many things in London the scars of war have not left little Brockley unscathed. This neighborhood was on the flight path for V-2 bombs during the Blitz in WWII and now every so often you may pass a place where the building is noticeably not Victorian. These are where homes were rebuilt after being bombed. After the war, many of the homes were divided into flats and town homes (as most of them remain today). Brockley is also the home of Goldsmith's College, famous with the artsy group. So this adds a nice little flair to the area. It is here at the guest house where we will be staying for the next 5 weeks that Peggy drops us off with the promise of returning to collect us in time for dinner.
Our guest house is such a nice place and far better than anything we could have found without the help of Peggy. The home is ran by a super nice Malaysian man named Elan, his wife Claire and their two precious daughters and one pup. Ashlyn and I have our own hallway, which means we have our own toilet and after two weeks we will also have our own shower (currently being remodeled). We each have our own bedroom, with sink/mirror, big tv and plenty of space to store clothes. We have use of a refrigerator, the shower is just up the steps and we have breakfast provided for us every morning. It was far more than I could have expected. After unpacking Ashlyn and I relaxed a bit and I began to let the idea sink in that this was my new home away from home. A little spot for me hidden in the big city, just the way I'd hoped. Sweet Elan even hooked me up with a U.K. phone so I wouldn't have to drop 9.99 (in pounds no less) on a phone I could never use again. Just as planned, Peggy picked us up for dinner right as Ashlyn and I were getting hungry and I could not have imagined how much I would have enjoyed this night.
I first have to describe Ted and Peggy's home. It's also located in Brockley on a street than I can not believe people are able to fit their cars down (it's amazing!). The first thing you notice is that there literally seems to be warmth oozing out of her front door. And when you consider that English homes are often brick with no real color, seeing that sunny orange cutting through the misty haze of a London night is the absolute best welcome gift. In addition to a hallway of orange, the rest of the house is dotted with fabulous colors and decorations you just want to reach out and touch (including a glittery toilet seat). Had I not already decided I loved it there, the deal would have been sealed when I walked into a room with French doors, blue walls the color of a Monet painting, whitewashed floors and shelves full of books. And so many of the books were biographies. I just didn't even know what to think other than being overtly pleased. She had a great dinner ready for us, including appetizers and dessert and we were able to spend dinner chatting with Peggy, Ted and Natasha (a delightful lady, formerly of the Ukraine who is studying to be a nurse here). We discussed everything and one of my favorite parts of the night was when Ted showed us a book of words used in the U.K. and not in the States and vice versa. When the night finally came to an end Peggy invited us back for another dinner when the boys from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville arrive. We wouldn't have to wait that long to see her though as she would be giving us our orientation to rotation on Monday.
Sunday:
Ashlyn and I decided to start our morning off right, by sleeping in. It was our last day before the rotation started so we figure we deserved it. Anyways, I normally sleep in on Sunday mornings so this was no different. After we finally got ourselves together and on the move we headed back to Harrods. Even though I had been Ashlyn hadn't and I knew she would be quite amused. We started off by grabbing a map (yes, it needs a map) and ventured to the jewelry section. While perusing the Tiffany room we met (and by met I mean stared at) a young guy picking out an engagement ring. He seemed amused and we gave him our seal of approval, which I'm sure he'd been waiting all day to receive. We then headed to the toys as the "Toy Palace" as it has been deemed by the Harrod's map. It was even able to find a Thomas the Tank character (Hiro) that Jonathan and Kelly had been searching to no avail for in the States, so I felt pretty productive. We also took a look at the pet section, because I thought it might be cute to pick out a little Union Jack patterned dog collar for Ringo. What.was.I.thinking? The collars there were averaging around 200 pounds. So no. Won't be doing that. We also took a look at the Harrod's gift shop, yes the mall has it's own gift shop. Everything there is priced 30 pounds more than it should be and idiots are gathering it up like they can't just order it online if they really need it. Which then brings me to the point that nothing says tourist like buying a souvenir commemorating the department store it was purchased. After doing this we had a quick Pret lunch (as usual) and headed off to be a bit more intellectual at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The V&A had come with high recommendations from both my Rick Steve's book and Megan. It's a short walk from Harrod's and you get to walk through the fabulous Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea giving you the opportunity to feel like you are on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous for the duration of the stroll. The V&A is another free museum and it's known for its large collection of decretive pieces. We started the visit off by taking a one hour tour of the British section of the museum. It was quite wise to do this or we probably would have had no clue what we were looking at. I was slightly disappointed as I was hyped to see the bed built for seven, only to see it had been moved temporarily to another museum. After finishing this portion we had to walk through the ironworks section which we found overwhelmingly dull and I quite imagine it was placed in route to the jewels as no one would go see it otherwise. The jewels were obviously a crowd favorite as it was the most crowded place in the entire joint. We also saw original plaster molds of some of the most famous statues in the world (think Michaelangelo's David), but as I have had the grand opportunity to see many of these in their home city of Florence I wasn't too taken with the exhibit. I was also excited for the fashion exhibit only to find out that was currently closed as it was being redone. To make me feel better I was told they had recently gained an Alexander McQueen collection. I was disappointed to discover they only had one dress from his final collection. Total. One dress was all the Alexander McQueen they owned. Anyways, even though my exhibits were gone, we saw some amazing things. Including rooms that had been removed from homes to be demolished or changed and so they were made into rooms at the V&A. Crazy. If there is one thing the British people sure are doing right it's this preservation business.
After leaving the V&A and yet another day of information overload we hopped on the Tube and headed towards Westminster. I never get tired of taking a quick peek at Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and The London Eye. We walked along the Thames, up Northumberland Avenue, crossed over Great Scotland Yard and on to Whitehall to eat at one of the many pubs dotting the street that looks north to Tralfagar Square. Why did I just give you the Google Maps version of where I walked? Because I know it by heart. And nothing makes me feel better than knowing a place (even a small section of a place) by heart. We ate at The Silver Cross pub (once again, love pubs).
Again. A good end to a British week.
Saturday's weather was a drizzly and glum which quite fit the mood I was in that day. Aimee and Megan were both leaving me (Aimee for Manchester and Megan back to Atlanta) and it was hard since at this point I had seen Barcelona and London with them. And experiencing a city you've never been to (Barcelona), with others who have never been there is sometimes the very best way to do it. Unfortunately, them leaving now meant I couldn't say "stag do" whenever I wanted and it make sense to someone, but if you read my Barcelona section it'll make sense. Saturday was also frustrating as it was the day REGIONS MASTERCARD shut off my credit card without telling me over a disputed $8.86. Yep, that total is correct. Eight dollars and eighty six cents. So, while I should have been giving Megan a proper goodbye as she headed to Heathrow I was crying on the phone with a credit card lady who didn't care and making multiple phone calls to the States so someone, anyone could help me. By the time all this was said and done I'd paid more money in phone calls then the stupid $8.86. About the time all this was straightened out I walked Aimee out to the bus that was taking her to Euston Station. I was kind of emotional about it. It seemed like I was sending my kid away or something. I always romanticize things in my head a bit and something about being left alone in the huge city of London (and home of the my favorite lady, Mary Poppins) on such a gloomy day had me feeling very adult and very sad. I walked down to the McDonalds on the corner to get a fountain drink and realized for the first time since arriving, at that moment I might not have looked like a tourist. The city wasn't fun for those few hours I was alone. It's was a just a big, beautiful place full of big red buses and two trips full of memories.
Luckily, and to end the doom and gloom of this post Ashlyn and Peggy came to pick me up from the hotel around 2:00. Peggy is a phenomenal American lady (New Yorker to be exact) who married the famous Brit Ted and moved to London. She has been a life saver for us. An absolute life saver. She helped arrange our London housing and has just added a sense of normalcy to this trip as well as the feeling that someone out there is looking out for us. Peggy drove us all through Central London to get to our new home of Brockley (a neighborhood in London). The first time you ride in a car driving on the side of the road you have been taught to believe is "wrong" is quite the experience. Peggy is a great driver though, so I knew I was in safe hands. It's just so hard to make yourself not want to shut your eyes. When we arrived in Brockley I was finally able to see the life of a Londoner from eyes not overwhelmed by a stunning metropolis. Brockley is in south London and sits only a surprising five miles from the bustling Charring Cross, but you feel a world away. The streets are lined with big, brick Victorian style homes from the 1900s when Brockley was an up and coming neighboorhood for those with money to burn. But as with many things in London the scars of war have not left little Brockley unscathed. This neighborhood was on the flight path for V-2 bombs during the Blitz in WWII and now every so often you may pass a place where the building is noticeably not Victorian. These are where homes were rebuilt after being bombed. After the war, many of the homes were divided into flats and town homes (as most of them remain today). Brockley is also the home of Goldsmith's College, famous with the artsy group. So this adds a nice little flair to the area. It is here at the guest house where we will be staying for the next 5 weeks that Peggy drops us off with the promise of returning to collect us in time for dinner.
Our guest house is such a nice place and far better than anything we could have found without the help of Peggy. The home is ran by a super nice Malaysian man named Elan, his wife Claire and their two precious daughters and one pup. Ashlyn and I have our own hallway, which means we have our own toilet and after two weeks we will also have our own shower (currently being remodeled). We each have our own bedroom, with sink/mirror, big tv and plenty of space to store clothes. We have use of a refrigerator, the shower is just up the steps and we have breakfast provided for us every morning. It was far more than I could have expected. After unpacking Ashlyn and I relaxed a bit and I began to let the idea sink in that this was my new home away from home. A little spot for me hidden in the big city, just the way I'd hoped. Sweet Elan even hooked me up with a U.K. phone so I wouldn't have to drop 9.99 (in pounds no less) on a phone I could never use again. Just as planned, Peggy picked us up for dinner right as Ashlyn and I were getting hungry and I could not have imagined how much I would have enjoyed this night.
I first have to describe Ted and Peggy's home. It's also located in Brockley on a street than I can not believe people are able to fit their cars down (it's amazing!). The first thing you notice is that there literally seems to be warmth oozing out of her front door. And when you consider that English homes are often brick with no real color, seeing that sunny orange cutting through the misty haze of a London night is the absolute best welcome gift. In addition to a hallway of orange, the rest of the house is dotted with fabulous colors and decorations you just want to reach out and touch (including a glittery toilet seat). Had I not already decided I loved it there, the deal would have been sealed when I walked into a room with French doors, blue walls the color of a Monet painting, whitewashed floors and shelves full of books. And so many of the books were biographies. I just didn't even know what to think other than being overtly pleased. She had a great dinner ready for us, including appetizers and dessert and we were able to spend dinner chatting with Peggy, Ted and Natasha (a delightful lady, formerly of the Ukraine who is studying to be a nurse here). We discussed everything and one of my favorite parts of the night was when Ted showed us a book of words used in the U.K. and not in the States and vice versa. When the night finally came to an end Peggy invited us back for another dinner when the boys from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville arrive. We wouldn't have to wait that long to see her though as she would be giving us our orientation to rotation on Monday.
Sunday:
Ashlyn and I decided to start our morning off right, by sleeping in. It was our last day before the rotation started so we figure we deserved it. Anyways, I normally sleep in on Sunday mornings so this was no different. After we finally got ourselves together and on the move we headed back to Harrods. Even though I had been Ashlyn hadn't and I knew she would be quite amused. We started off by grabbing a map (yes, it needs a map) and ventured to the jewelry section. While perusing the Tiffany room we met (and by met I mean stared at) a young guy picking out an engagement ring. He seemed amused and we gave him our seal of approval, which I'm sure he'd been waiting all day to receive. We then headed to the toys as the "Toy Palace" as it has been deemed by the Harrod's map. It was even able to find a Thomas the Tank character (Hiro) that Jonathan and Kelly had been searching to no avail for in the States, so I felt pretty productive. We also took a look at the pet section, because I thought it might be cute to pick out a little Union Jack patterned dog collar for Ringo. What.was.I.thinking? The collars there were averaging around 200 pounds. So no. Won't be doing that. We also took a look at the Harrod's gift shop, yes the mall has it's own gift shop. Everything there is priced 30 pounds more than it should be and idiots are gathering it up like they can't just order it online if they really need it. Which then brings me to the point that nothing says tourist like buying a souvenir commemorating the department store it was purchased. After doing this we had a quick Pret lunch (as usual) and headed off to be a bit more intellectual at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The V&A had come with high recommendations from both my Rick Steve's book and Megan. It's a short walk from Harrod's and you get to walk through the fabulous Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea giving you the opportunity to feel like you are on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous for the duration of the stroll. The V&A is another free museum and it's known for its large collection of decretive pieces. We started the visit off by taking a one hour tour of the British section of the museum. It was quite wise to do this or we probably would have had no clue what we were looking at. I was slightly disappointed as I was hyped to see the bed built for seven, only to see it had been moved temporarily to another museum. After finishing this portion we had to walk through the ironworks section which we found overwhelmingly dull and I quite imagine it was placed in route to the jewels as no one would go see it otherwise. The jewels were obviously a crowd favorite as it was the most crowded place in the entire joint. We also saw original plaster molds of some of the most famous statues in the world (think Michaelangelo's David), but as I have had the grand opportunity to see many of these in their home city of Florence I wasn't too taken with the exhibit. I was also excited for the fashion exhibit only to find out that was currently closed as it was being redone. To make me feel better I was told they had recently gained an Alexander McQueen collection. I was disappointed to discover they only had one dress from his final collection. Total. One dress was all the Alexander McQueen they owned. Anyways, even though my exhibits were gone, we saw some amazing things. Including rooms that had been removed from homes to be demolished or changed and so they were made into rooms at the V&A. Crazy. If there is one thing the British people sure are doing right it's this preservation business.
After leaving the V&A and yet another day of information overload we hopped on the Tube and headed towards Westminster. I never get tired of taking a quick peek at Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and The London Eye. We walked along the Thames, up Northumberland Avenue, crossed over Great Scotland Yard and on to Whitehall to eat at one of the many pubs dotting the street that looks north to Tralfagar Square. Why did I just give you the Google Maps version of where I walked? Because I know it by heart. And nothing makes me feel better than knowing a place (even a small section of a place) by heart. We ate at The Silver Cross pub (once again, love pubs).
Again. A good end to a British week.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Just Touched Down In London Town (March 12 - 16)
Sorry! I'm still about a week behind, but I plan to be a week behind in a fews days. This is going to be a very long post as it shall cover the week I spent in London as a tourist. I've attached links for sites of interest. Hope you enjoy!
Monday:
Today was our arrival to London day. OF COURSE our flight out of Barcelona was delayed due to heavy amounts of fog in London. The good part about this journey was British Airways didn't screw us like last time and a super amazing British man with a fancy British Airways sky miles card asked for an upgrade so Megan and I could sit together (he was supposed to be sitting next to me). At one point he made a comment about bringing us up to first class with him, but that didn't happen. My first London fail if you will. Arriving at Heathrow is always a pleasure. And when I say pleasure I mean torture. Luckily, the two dudes behind us in the immigration line were from NYC and worked for a record label and were sharing stories about things that happened backstage at the Grammys so that was enjoyable listening. After security was sure we weren't a national threat we were able to promptly buy a ticket for the Heathrow Connect and load up our Oyster card (the card you use to travel on public transportation) for a 7 day pass. The city of London is divided into zones (1-6) for the purpose of travel. The average tourist will never leave zones 1 and 2 and travel to each additional zone costs more money as it is farther out. The cool part is buses (yes, the fun double decker, red ones) cost the same per trip no matter what zone you're in. London has the world's oldest and most expensive public transportation. But it works and it's almost always on time. Any who, we make it to our final stop (Marble Arch on the Central Line) in order to get to our hotel. This station has a lot of steps. My suitcase weighs 50 pounds and I have no upper body strength. Cue British man to the rescue. This awesome guy offers to help me carry my luggage. I then ramble about how I normally don't pack this much, but I'm here for 6 weeks. He just smiles and nods. We part ways and Aimee, Megan and myself arrive at the Thistle Marble Arch. A nice hotel EXCEPT they charge you a fortune for internet. Also, it costs to make local phone calls here, but you don't get charged for incoming calls or texts, so I suppose it balances out.
Our hotel is located one block off Oxford Street which is the major retail shopping area in Central London. It intersects with Reagent Street which is the major high end shopping area in Central London. It's crazy crowded all.the.time. The hotel is directly across the street from The Marble Arch, which is an entry way into Hyde Park. Once we regrouped we headed down Oxford Street to find some food. After much walking and deliberating we discover The Slug and Lettuce which is a terrible name, but was full of young businessy people, which is London is a phenomenal way of knowing if a pub or restaurant is worth your time. The food was great, the service was great and I was able to order a Strongbow and try a strawberry lime cider. Oh, also it was 50% off Monday. So you can't really beat that. It was all fabulous. Also, here in the U.K. you only tip your waiter 10%. It's so hard to get used to since I often tip double that in America. We then headed to the Apple Store (yes, love for Apple seems to be universal) to get an adapter for Aimee's computer. While checking out we were discussing rap music with the guy helping us (shocker, theme of the trip) when an Apple employee comes running at us yelling "Yay America!" Turns out she's originally from L.A. and heard our accents and wanted to come meet us. I love being a novelty.
We headed back to the hotel to get some rest, but Megan got me hooked on a TV show on the BBC Two called simply, The Tube and it's basically a documentary/reality show about The Tube. This weeks episode focused on Tottenham Court Road station and the major construction overhaul it's getting to allow 200,000 more passengers a day to pass through. The underground transports a total of 4 million people a day. That's insane. After watching this show I now have a brand new appreciation for the work it takes to keep a subway functioning. Also, they don't really have commercials here on the local stations. Apparently you pay an annual fee to have local television channels and this fee eliminates commercials with the exception a few between shows. They also aren't allowed to advertise prescription medications so overall tv viewing is much more pleasurable.
Tuesday:
All three of us have been to London before (Aimee with Alex for his work, Megan for study abroad and me for a few days) so this helped us direct what we wanted to do while we were here. Our first stop this morning was for Leicester Square (pronounced Lester) to visit the tkts booth to buy half price theater tickets. Megan and I decided to see "Dreamboats and Petticoats" and are given 8th row seats for 31 pounds, which after conversion to U.S. dollars is half of what we would pay for tickets for a show at the Fox in Atlanta. London's West End is known for having tons of theaters showing wonderful shows every night of the week. At some point in this day we eat lunch at Pret. Pret is amazing. Bascially Pret sells SUPER reasonably priced sandwiches made the day you purchase them. They are good like Panera, but SOOOO much cheaper. It's basically healthy fast food and it's something I'm really going to miss when we head home. They also carry the BEST salt and vinegar chips. We walk to Trafalgar Square (which was built to commemorate naval heroes) and look around. They've added a new statue since I was here in 2008. It's a little boy on a rocking horse. It seems weird until you read it's purpose. It's there to commemorate the heroes of the future. The children who have yet to be given the chance to prove themselves. I thought that was pretty cool. They also have the official Olympic countdown located here.
After walking around we take a trip to the British Museum which is an amazing place because it is free. We were able to see so much, but we still weren't able to see anywhere near everything they have. London has so much history wrapped into it and while you're here you see that America has no clue what being old is all about. It's simply amazing the things the museums have acquired and preserved. I just can't get over it. Highlights included the Rosetta Stone, pieces of the Parthenon, Cleopatra's mummy (so thrilling as I had never seen a mummy before) and the 2012 Olympic medals. They even have a watch and clock room and they've already saved and displayed a Swatch watch from the 80s. Crazy. Makes me feel old.
By the time we finished looking at everything our brain could take in it was time to head back to the hotel to change for our show. We decided to eat dinner at a pub called The Lord of the Moon and the Mall on Whitehall road, in sight of Tralfargar Square. Eating at pubs is so different from bars or restaurants in America. With pubs you typically walk to the bar order your food and drink and pay up front. They then bring you your food and you don't have to tip. We got the idea to go to this pub from the fabulous Rick Steve's London book. You can order a meal with an alcohol drink or soda for 5.95 pounds, which is pretty cheap for this city. After eating Aimee headed on her own way while Megan and I headed for the Playhouse Theatre to see our show. It is a small, intimate theatre so sitting in row eight made us feel like we were right up close. The show was great and the music was phenomenal. They sold ice cream during intermission so of course Megan and I had to partake. We also had a colorful group of people sitting around us. And I'm not saying that because they were wearing bright colors. We also didn't realize how close the theatre was to the Thames River and the Jubliee Bridge. So when the show got out we walked onto the bridge at were able to see the beautiful London Eye at night.
After this we headed over to the Westminster Tube station (they have SO much security there as it sits right next to the Houses of Parliament). We were able to get a a wonderful view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament before heading over to a place I was very excited about, The Churchill War Rooms. These are basically the bunkers used during World War II for the Prime Minister and his staff for safety during the Blitz. In addition, they also have a museum dedicated to Winston Churchill. This is the most comprehensive museum I have ever seen. They have an interactive, digital table top where you can click on any day in Churchill's lifetime and see what was going on (from personal to war related topics) They have everything! We were able to see his Nobel Prize (cool because I had no clue what those looked like) and my favorite the ACTUAL National Geographic map used to divide up Europe after the war. It's so amazing. The bunkers were closed towards the end of the war with everything left as it was in case it needed to be used again. It's so amazing to see it, since it's exactly like it was. They still have the maps on the wall with pin marks showing where submarines had been sank and chalkboards with the count of ships attacked. This whole thing is a national treasure that does not get enough promotion. I would recommend this to anyone who has any love for history.
After this we could not longer think straight so we headed back to the hotel to meet Jill (as she had arrived in London earlier in the day). After resting our feet for about 5 seconds we headed to dinner at another pub, The Counting House. Many of the pubs in London are old banks and this one is no different. I did not particularly like the food, but I think it would be a great place to come grab a drink after work. It was big and open. In other words, it would be a great place to meet your next British boyfriend. Because we'd only walked about 10 miles this day we headed for the Jack the Ripper walking tour. It was pretty interesting, but not as scary as I had hoped. It's very hard to imagine how London would have looked during this time, since everything in the areas around the killings was a slum way back when and has now been demolished. In fact there is only one little remaining part of the old city wall. Interestingly, on this tour we met two other girls from Atlanta. Small world. It should be noted that we got a student discount at everything we did this day. You can't beat that!
Thursday:
We started today off with another trip to Leicester Square to buy theatre tickets, we choose We Will Rock You, which is a musical based on the music of Queen. Aimee and Jill decided to join Megan and me for this one. We split up after buying tickets and Megan and I headed for our Beatles walking tour. I was really excited about this one. We were able to see a lot of interesting sites and get a good view of areas of the city we would not have seen before. This was when we realized the royals have stores they endorse. The tour took us down Seville Road where all the expensive tailors are located. It was here that we saw the symbol of royal family posted on the window of one of the shops. Pretty cool to know that's the location that tailors all the clothes for the royal men (including Princes William and Harry). Interesting we were on this street because it's where the Beatles performed their last concert on the roof of Apple Studios. Our tour guide was probably the best tour guide I've ever had. He was so passionate about what he was doing and it turns out he owns the Beatles shop I bought my little Abbey Road signs from in 2008. He has all these pictures of himself with Paul McCartney (who still lives in the St. John's Wood area of London). He says they often see Sir McCartney while on these tours (but we didn't). George Lucas has even listened to one of his tours, so he's pretty good. I just loved how enthused he was for the Beatles!
After this walk Megan and I just kind of strolled around and ended up at the famous London hole in the wall, Pizza Hut. And I must add a Pizza Hut here is much nicer than one in America. It's almost fancy. After eating I discovered Primark. Oh.my.gosh. Primark is a huge clothing store that basically has everything (similar in layout to an H&M), but everything is insanely cheap. Because of this everyone and their brother is inside and being obnoxious. The cashier was telling me this wasn't even a busy day and that we should just avoid coming on a weekend. I was able to get a pair of turquoise flats and a purse for 12 pounds. Cray! After this Megan and I didn't want to see another crowd so we headed back to the hotel to wait for dinner. We had dinner at a little Italian restaurant and then headed to We Will Rock You. I love Queen songs and the actors singing them did such a great job. Bohemian Rhapsody is not included in the show and at the end the actors come back out and sing it and everyone sings along and it's just so enjoyable. Another fabulous London night!
Friday:
Our last final day we visited Harrod's Department Store, which is this huge overwhelming place that sells everything. When I say everything I mean a giant stuffed gorilla to bullet proof clothing. We also went to the Liberty department store which is famous for its Liberty print fabric. Both of these stores are full of pretty things that are far out of my price range. Kinda depressing. What I did for the rest of this day is a bit of a blur to me, but I do know we had dinner with Ashlyn at The Slug and the Lettuce. Except instead of it being the awesome place we went earlier in the week it was playing terribly loud and just plain terrible techno music. No mas. We ended up at the Glenn Miller bar at our hotel. They were not playing Glenn Miller. In fact they seemed to be playing the tv over the speakers. We spent well over an hour people watching and trying to guess what brought people to town and their relationships with the people they were with. It was a fitting end to our last night of London vacation.
Monday:
Today was our arrival to London day. OF COURSE our flight out of Barcelona was delayed due to heavy amounts of fog in London. The good part about this journey was British Airways didn't screw us like last time and a super amazing British man with a fancy British Airways sky miles card asked for an upgrade so Megan and I could sit together (he was supposed to be sitting next to me). At one point he made a comment about bringing us up to first class with him, but that didn't happen. My first London fail if you will. Arriving at Heathrow is always a pleasure. And when I say pleasure I mean torture. Luckily, the two dudes behind us in the immigration line were from NYC and worked for a record label and were sharing stories about things that happened backstage at the Grammys so that was enjoyable listening. After security was sure we weren't a national threat we were able to promptly buy a ticket for the Heathrow Connect and load up our Oyster card (the card you use to travel on public transportation) for a 7 day pass. The city of London is divided into zones (1-6) for the purpose of travel. The average tourist will never leave zones 1 and 2 and travel to each additional zone costs more money as it is farther out. The cool part is buses (yes, the fun double decker, red ones) cost the same per trip no matter what zone you're in. London has the world's oldest and most expensive public transportation. But it works and it's almost always on time. Any who, we make it to our final stop (Marble Arch on the Central Line) in order to get to our hotel. This station has a lot of steps. My suitcase weighs 50 pounds and I have no upper body strength. Cue British man to the rescue. This awesome guy offers to help me carry my luggage. I then ramble about how I normally don't pack this much, but I'm here for 6 weeks. He just smiles and nods. We part ways and Aimee, Megan and myself arrive at the Thistle Marble Arch. A nice hotel EXCEPT they charge you a fortune for internet. Also, it costs to make local phone calls here, but you don't get charged for incoming calls or texts, so I suppose it balances out.
Our hotel is located one block off Oxford Street which is the major retail shopping area in Central London. It intersects with Reagent Street which is the major high end shopping area in Central London. It's crazy crowded all.the.time. The hotel is directly across the street from The Marble Arch, which is an entry way into Hyde Park. Once we regrouped we headed down Oxford Street to find some food. After much walking and deliberating we discover The Slug and Lettuce which is a terrible name, but was full of young businessy people, which is London is a phenomenal way of knowing if a pub or restaurant is worth your time. The food was great, the service was great and I was able to order a Strongbow and try a strawberry lime cider. Oh, also it was 50% off Monday. So you can't really beat that. It was all fabulous. Also, here in the U.K. you only tip your waiter 10%. It's so hard to get used to since I often tip double that in America. We then headed to the Apple Store (yes, love for Apple seems to be universal) to get an adapter for Aimee's computer. While checking out we were discussing rap music with the guy helping us (shocker, theme of the trip) when an Apple employee comes running at us yelling "Yay America!" Turns out she's originally from L.A. and heard our accents and wanted to come meet us. I love being a novelty.
We headed back to the hotel to get some rest, but Megan got me hooked on a TV show on the BBC Two called simply, The Tube and it's basically a documentary/reality show about The Tube. This weeks episode focused on Tottenham Court Road station and the major construction overhaul it's getting to allow 200,000 more passengers a day to pass through. The underground transports a total of 4 million people a day. That's insane. After watching this show I now have a brand new appreciation for the work it takes to keep a subway functioning. Also, they don't really have commercials here on the local stations. Apparently you pay an annual fee to have local television channels and this fee eliminates commercials with the exception a few between shows. They also aren't allowed to advertise prescription medications so overall tv viewing is much more pleasurable.
Tuesday:
All three of us have been to London before (Aimee with Alex for his work, Megan for study abroad and me for a few days) so this helped us direct what we wanted to do while we were here. Our first stop this morning was for Leicester Square (pronounced Lester) to visit the tkts booth to buy half price theater tickets. Megan and I decided to see "Dreamboats and Petticoats" and are given 8th row seats for 31 pounds, which after conversion to U.S. dollars is half of what we would pay for tickets for a show at the Fox in Atlanta. London's West End is known for having tons of theaters showing wonderful shows every night of the week. At some point in this day we eat lunch at Pret. Pret is amazing. Bascially Pret sells SUPER reasonably priced sandwiches made the day you purchase them. They are good like Panera, but SOOOO much cheaper. It's basically healthy fast food and it's something I'm really going to miss when we head home. They also carry the BEST salt and vinegar chips. We walk to Trafalgar Square (which was built to commemorate naval heroes) and look around. They've added a new statue since I was here in 2008. It's a little boy on a rocking horse. It seems weird until you read it's purpose. It's there to commemorate the heroes of the future. The children who have yet to be given the chance to prove themselves. I thought that was pretty cool. They also have the official Olympic countdown located here.
After walking around we take a trip to the British Museum which is an amazing place because it is free. We were able to see so much, but we still weren't able to see anywhere near everything they have. London has so much history wrapped into it and while you're here you see that America has no clue what being old is all about. It's simply amazing the things the museums have acquired and preserved. I just can't get over it. Highlights included the Rosetta Stone, pieces of the Parthenon, Cleopatra's mummy (so thrilling as I had never seen a mummy before) and the 2012 Olympic medals. They even have a watch and clock room and they've already saved and displayed a Swatch watch from the 80s. Crazy. Makes me feel old.
By the time we finished looking at everything our brain could take in it was time to head back to the hotel to change for our show. We decided to eat dinner at a pub called The Lord of the Moon and the Mall on Whitehall road, in sight of Tralfargar Square. Eating at pubs is so different from bars or restaurants in America. With pubs you typically walk to the bar order your food and drink and pay up front. They then bring you your food and you don't have to tip. We got the idea to go to this pub from the fabulous Rick Steve's London book. You can order a meal with an alcohol drink or soda for 5.95 pounds, which is pretty cheap for this city. After eating Aimee headed on her own way while Megan and I headed for the Playhouse Theatre to see our show. It is a small, intimate theatre so sitting in row eight made us feel like we were right up close. The show was great and the music was phenomenal. They sold ice cream during intermission so of course Megan and I had to partake. We also had a colorful group of people sitting around us. And I'm not saying that because they were wearing bright colors. We also didn't realize how close the theatre was to the Thames River and the Jubliee Bridge. So when the show got out we walked onto the bridge at were able to see the beautiful London Eye at night.
A perfect end to an awesome night!
Wednesday:
I shall deem Wednesday the day we learned so much that my brain nearly exploded. This day was honestly like watching a full 24 hours of The History Channel in the amount of information we were presented with. We started the day buy taking the Tube down to Tower Hill for a visit to the Tower of London. All Megan and I had been here before, but it turns out we had basically gone in walked around and ran out. Or something. Because we basically missed all the amazing things here. The sightseeing started off wonderfully as we received a student discount. It seems like every historical place here offers a student discount, which is really awesome and America should take note. Once entering the Tower we did what any self respecting person would do, headed for the Crown Jewels, as this is where they are stored. They are beautiful! Frustratingly, they have taken down a lot of the information about the jewels to replace them with multi language ones for the Olympics, so if we didn't have the Rick Steve's book we wouldn't know what we were looking at. After seeing the amazing crowns and such we went on a tour with a Beefeater (or their proper name Yeoman Warder). We got lucky and were able to tour with an awesome one. In fact he's the one who's picture is on all of the adverts (that's what they call advertisements around here). We were able to see the ravens who live here. It's crazy, they have their own caretaker and everything. They've also recently added this really creepy animal statues all over the place to show the kinds of animals who have lived in the Tower through out time. Apparently they we often given to kings as gifts from other nations. But the statues are just plain scary. Especially the monkeys. They have ones showing their teeth and occasionally you'll look up and just see one of those damn primates and it's just uncalled for. I should add they are made out of chicken wire. It's just weird. From there we climbed all over the Towers, getting a great view of the Tower Bridge, seeing words and symbols carved into the walls by prisoners in the 1600s and the unfortunate run in with historical reenactors. I am frightened of these people. I do not like that they have them posted up in towers where you don't know they are around until you stumble upon them and have no where to hide. I would appreciate if my entry fee had not included these guys. They also have an amazing museum here were we saw armor, weapons and so many other cool things.
After this we headed over to the Westminster Tube station (they have SO much security there as it sits right next to the Houses of Parliament). We were able to get a a wonderful view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament before heading over to a place I was very excited about, The Churchill War Rooms. These are basically the bunkers used during World War II for the Prime Minister and his staff for safety during the Blitz. In addition, they also have a museum dedicated to Winston Churchill. This is the most comprehensive museum I have ever seen. They have an interactive, digital table top where you can click on any day in Churchill's lifetime and see what was going on (from personal to war related topics) They have everything! We were able to see his Nobel Prize (cool because I had no clue what those looked like) and my favorite the ACTUAL National Geographic map used to divide up Europe after the war. It's so amazing. The bunkers were closed towards the end of the war with everything left as it was in case it needed to be used again. It's so amazing to see it, since it's exactly like it was. They still have the maps on the wall with pin marks showing where submarines had been sank and chalkboards with the count of ships attacked. This whole thing is a national treasure that does not get enough promotion. I would recommend this to anyone who has any love for history.
Thursday:
We started today off with another trip to Leicester Square to buy theatre tickets, we choose We Will Rock You, which is a musical based on the music of Queen. Aimee and Jill decided to join Megan and me for this one. We split up after buying tickets and Megan and I headed for our Beatles walking tour. I was really excited about this one. We were able to see a lot of interesting sites and get a good view of areas of the city we would not have seen before. This was when we realized the royals have stores they endorse. The tour took us down Seville Road where all the expensive tailors are located. It was here that we saw the symbol of royal family posted on the window of one of the shops. Pretty cool to know that's the location that tailors all the clothes for the royal men (including Princes William and Harry). Interesting we were on this street because it's where the Beatles performed their last concert on the roof of Apple Studios. Our tour guide was probably the best tour guide I've ever had. He was so passionate about what he was doing and it turns out he owns the Beatles shop I bought my little Abbey Road signs from in 2008. He has all these pictures of himself with Paul McCartney (who still lives in the St. John's Wood area of London). He says they often see Sir McCartney while on these tours (but we didn't). George Lucas has even listened to one of his tours, so he's pretty good. I just loved how enthused he was for the Beatles!
After this walk Megan and I just kind of strolled around and ended up at the famous London hole in the wall, Pizza Hut. And I must add a Pizza Hut here is much nicer than one in America. It's almost fancy. After eating I discovered Primark. Oh.my.gosh. Primark is a huge clothing store that basically has everything (similar in layout to an H&M), but everything is insanely cheap. Because of this everyone and their brother is inside and being obnoxious. The cashier was telling me this wasn't even a busy day and that we should just avoid coming on a weekend. I was able to get a pair of turquoise flats and a purse for 12 pounds. Cray! After this Megan and I didn't want to see another crowd so we headed back to the hotel to wait for dinner. We had dinner at a little Italian restaurant and then headed to We Will Rock You. I love Queen songs and the actors singing them did such a great job. Bohemian Rhapsody is not included in the show and at the end the actors come back out and sing it and everyone sings along and it's just so enjoyable. Another fabulous London night!
Friday:
Our last final day we visited Harrod's Department Store, which is this huge overwhelming place that sells everything. When I say everything I mean a giant stuffed gorilla to bullet proof clothing. We also went to the Liberty department store which is famous for its Liberty print fabric. Both of these stores are full of pretty things that are far out of my price range. Kinda depressing. What I did for the rest of this day is a bit of a blur to me, but I do know we had dinner with Ashlyn at The Slug and the Lettuce. Except instead of it being the awesome place we went earlier in the week it was playing terribly loud and just plain terrible techno music. No mas. We ended up at the Glenn Miller bar at our hotel. They were not playing Glenn Miller. In fact they seemed to be playing the tv over the speakers. We spent well over an hour people watching and trying to guess what brought people to town and their relationships with the people they were with. It was a fitting end to our last night of London vacation.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Aimee Carmen Megan Robert Barcelona (March 7-11)
So, let's begin at the beginning. After an overnight to flight to London Heathrow Airport Aimee, Megan and myself were so tired and stressed that we missed our flight to Barcelona. Long story short British Airways was terrible to us and I'll be writing them a strongly worded letter, but any who we arrived to Barcelona a few hours behind schedule, caught a cab and met Robert at our hotel (The TRYP Apolo if you ever need a recommendation). So Barcelona is amazing. They have an excellent metro system that is super easy to navigate and they have the most amazing landscape. You can see the mountains and the Mediterranean at the exact same time. It's amazing. The people here speak Spanish and Catalan, but many of them speak enough English to to get you by. It's interesting because restaurants are so different in terms of service. Service is slow and you have to flag down the waiter/waitress to get anything done. It's been hard for us to do because we have to be what seems rude to get service. We're getting used to it and everyone seems to like us for the most part, so no complaints.
Day 1 (Wednesday):
It was dark when we arrived on Wednesday, so basically we walked across the street to an outdoor restaurant to eat (most places here have outdoor seating, but many times you have to pay extra to sit outside, but I'd say it's usually worth it here). We were at a little joint called Pepe's 2. Yeah, so that should have been our first warning. Any who we order two pizzas and after waiting for a significant amount of time Megan notices a man walking down the street with our pizzas. YEP, that's right. Pepe's 2 was outsourcing from the pizzeria down the street. No comment. Then we basically went to bed. I should probably also explain that in Barcelona no one eats dinner until after 10 p.m. and bars close at 2-3 a.m. while clubs stay open until 6 a.m. In-freaking-sane.
Day 2 (Thursday):
No one had slept the day before. Flying overnight and missing a flight and not eating dinner until 10 made us all exhausted. So we slept until 1 p.m., even though alarms were set. Sue us. We needed sleep. So then we decided to use the rest of the afternoon to just walk around and explore the fabulous city. We were able to go to the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) and walk down the Las Ramblas (a famous street that mostly just has shops and other things attracting tourists and pickpockets). We stopped at a little cafe because it was crowded (the universal sign for not being a part of the Pepe's 2 conglomerate) and grabbed some late lunch to eat and walk. This is where the fun begins. We fond a fountain in the town square and sat down to eat when we noticed a loud commotion not to far ahead of us at a restaurant and we saw about 25 grown men in black tshirts who were all completely plastered. Let's remember this is 4 pm on a THURSDAY. We turns out they were a group of British's guys on a Stag Party trip (Bachelor Party) for Les. Why do we know the bachelor in question was Les? Because each male had on a shirt with the face of the groom to be (complete with a twinkle in his eye) "Stag Do" written on the front and "Barco 2012" with their names on the back. So apparently we call Barcelona Barco now. We met various members of the group, including, but not limited to, Les, Jason, hot Peter (I added the hot) and Nobby. Yes, Nobby. Debauchery on their end followed and Aimee almost got pushed into a fountain. I wish I had asked if anyone needed a date to the impending nuptials. Either way. We have now coined a phrase. If something is amazing it's a "stag do." If it isn't it's a "stag don't." We then went to have a looksie at the Sagrada Familia and realized we were going to need to come back in the morning so we could go inside. More on that visit later. We then walked to the Parc Guell. This place is amazing. Just Google it. We walked forever before we realized that we had literally gone up the side of a mountain and had the most amazing views in the entire city. I've never been anywhere like this place. To be able to see both the ocean and the mountains at the same time is just beyond belief. On our walk back we found an adorable, little restaurant and the manager was basically a pixie who spoke all languages. We got a bottle of cheap champagne and congratulated ourselves on a day well done. A stag do, if you will.
Day 3 (Friday):
Today was a sight seeing, hard core day. We actually decided to fork over the Euro to go inside the Sagrada Familia. Best. Decision. Ever. Amazing. Rainbows and happiness abounded. We were in there forever and even hoards of school children could not throw us off course. From this point we basically walked all over the entire city and we also learned that stopping into a bar mid day and knocking back a glass of champagne is totally normal, at least from what we observed. From this point we basically walked the entire city of Barcelona. Don't say we didn't because we absolutely did. We made it down to the beach, which was ranked by National Geographic as the best urban beach in the world, but it was too damn cold to tell. I did see a man straight up changing from his wet suit into his pants in what was to be considered a not so hidden corner. Disturbed. Skipping to dinner we had the most amazing goat cheese, honey and walnut pizza. Don't even turn your nose up until you've had it. We ended the night at a bar where a strange Russian high fived me and a drag queen translated her show for us in English. So yeah. Top that America!
Day 4 (Saturday):
I don't have the foggiest idea what happened on Saturday except for that we met a guy at a clothing store who's name was Alejandro, but he hates Lady GaGa (obsessed with Beyonce though). I had the most amazing dinner of my entire life, we got made fun of by some French guys in Abercrombie clothes (yeah, they made fun of us) and Bartenders gave us shots, we were able to get Ke$ha played, no one could tell us anything about rap and when we asked for hip hop the answer we received, was "like Sean Paul?" Um no, not like that. We had people tell us they were from Miami, but had never heard of Atlanta (hence you are not from Miami - liars) and danced with randoms. Got home at 5 a.m. Typical Barco Saturday night. :) Oh wait, I just remembered! We went up to the amusement park on Tibidabo this day. Amazing views. What isn't amazing is that they advertised a Ferris Wheel, but they don't have one anymore. Also, Spanish people had no clue what we were talking about when we said Ferris Wheel. Ummm, "Ferris" is the last name of the man who invented the ride, so is it really called something different in Spanish? Also, you must go to the Placa De John F Kennedy to get there. So Spanish.
Day 5 (Sunday):
Everyone was exhausted so we slept until lunch. We went to the Picasso museum, FREE after 3 p.m. on Sundays. Clever! Watched some street youths get kicked out for misbehaving. We were super low key this day. By this point Barcelona had completely worn us down.
Day 6 (Monday):
London Bound! Dets to follow.
Adios!
Day 2 (Thursday):
No one had slept the day before. Flying overnight and missing a flight and not eating dinner until 10 made us all exhausted. So we slept until 1 p.m., even though alarms were set. Sue us. We needed sleep. So then we decided to use the rest of the afternoon to just walk around and explore the fabulous city. We were able to go to the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) and walk down the Las Ramblas (a famous street that mostly just has shops and other things attracting tourists and pickpockets). We stopped at a little cafe because it was crowded (the universal sign for not being a part of the Pepe's 2 conglomerate) and grabbed some late lunch to eat and walk. This is where the fun begins. We fond a fountain in the town square and sat down to eat when we noticed a loud commotion not to far ahead of us at a restaurant and we saw about 25 grown men in black tshirts who were all completely plastered. Let's remember this is 4 pm on a THURSDAY. We turns out they were a group of British's guys on a Stag Party trip (Bachelor Party) for Les. Why do we know the bachelor in question was Les? Because each male had on a shirt with the face of the groom to be (complete with a twinkle in his eye) "Stag Do" written on the front and "Barco 2012" with their names on the back. So apparently we call Barcelona Barco now. We met various members of the group, including, but not limited to, Les, Jason, hot Peter (I added the hot) and Nobby. Yes, Nobby. Debauchery on their end followed and Aimee almost got pushed into a fountain. I wish I had asked if anyone needed a date to the impending nuptials. Either way. We have now coined a phrase. If something is amazing it's a "stag do." If it isn't it's a "stag don't." We then went to have a looksie at the Sagrada Familia and realized we were going to need to come back in the morning so we could go inside. More on that visit later. We then walked to the Parc Guell. This place is amazing. Just Google it. We walked forever before we realized that we had literally gone up the side of a mountain and had the most amazing views in the entire city. I've never been anywhere like this place. To be able to see both the ocean and the mountains at the same time is just beyond belief. On our walk back we found an adorable, little restaurant and the manager was basically a pixie who spoke all languages. We got a bottle of cheap champagne and congratulated ourselves on a day well done. A stag do, if you will.
Day 3 (Friday):
Today was a sight seeing, hard core day. We actually decided to fork over the Euro to go inside the Sagrada Familia. Best. Decision. Ever. Amazing. Rainbows and happiness abounded. We were in there forever and even hoards of school children could not throw us off course. From this point we basically walked all over the entire city and we also learned that stopping into a bar mid day and knocking back a glass of champagne is totally normal, at least from what we observed. From this point we basically walked the entire city of Barcelona. Don't say we didn't because we absolutely did. We made it down to the beach, which was ranked by National Geographic as the best urban beach in the world, but it was too damn cold to tell. I did see a man straight up changing from his wet suit into his pants in what was to be considered a not so hidden corner. Disturbed. Skipping to dinner we had the most amazing goat cheese, honey and walnut pizza. Don't even turn your nose up until you've had it. We ended the night at a bar where a strange Russian high fived me and a drag queen translated her show for us in English. So yeah. Top that America!
Day 4 (Saturday):
I don't have the foggiest idea what happened on Saturday except for that we met a guy at a clothing store who's name was Alejandro, but he hates Lady GaGa (obsessed with Beyonce though). I had the most amazing dinner of my entire life, we got made fun of by some French guys in Abercrombie clothes (yeah, they made fun of us) and Bartenders gave us shots, we were able to get Ke$ha played, no one could tell us anything about rap and when we asked for hip hop the answer we received, was "like Sean Paul?" Um no, not like that. We had people tell us they were from Miami, but had never heard of Atlanta (hence you are not from Miami - liars) and danced with randoms. Got home at 5 a.m. Typical Barco Saturday night. :) Oh wait, I just remembered! We went up to the amusement park on Tibidabo this day. Amazing views. What isn't amazing is that they advertised a Ferris Wheel, but they don't have one anymore. Also, Spanish people had no clue what we were talking about when we said Ferris Wheel. Ummm, "Ferris" is the last name of the man who invented the ride, so is it really called something different in Spanish? Also, you must go to the Placa De John F Kennedy to get there. So Spanish.
Day 5 (Sunday):
Everyone was exhausted so we slept until lunch. We went to the Picasso museum, FREE after 3 p.m. on Sundays. Clever! Watched some street youths get kicked out for misbehaving. We were super low key this day. By this point Barcelona had completely worn us down.
Day 6 (Monday):
London Bound! Dets to follow.
Adios!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
New Directions
For those of you who normally read this blog, you'll probably think this one sucks. Mostly because this one is not going to be very funny. I could always write about the Grammys or the strange people I've met since I got a dog, but y'all know me and I'm pretty sure you can imagine exactly my reactions and what I would say. So I think this blog is more about the things I thought about while I sat by myself on Valentine's Day.
I've been thinking about all the friends I've made over these past 8 years since I graduated from high school. And how many I never see anymore. And this is mostly my fault, I know. Now I'm a more concerned than ever. For these past four years I've been surrounded by people who are going in the same direction as me and it has made life easier. It's allowed for me to basically pretend I'm still not an adult. Even while my other friends are living these married with children adult lives I have been allowed to continue living like a kid. And thankfully, this is because of my friends here at school. Now I know my real life is coming faster than a speeding train. After a week spent traveling the southeast for residency interviews my mother was asking me about where all my friends are going next year. This was when I really realized how quickly everyone I've come to trust and be close to will be dispersing. And I'll possibly be leaving too.
So how does this relate to Valentine's Day? Nothing really, but it got a thought process started about my life and it just happened to happen on VDay. Essentially, I'm always alone of Valentine's Day. I'm always so jealous of the fact that other people have someone on that day. I've always prided myself to be adaptable to other personalities and I've always felt like relationships should be easy for me because I adapt. But they never have been. I think being adaptable has been my code word for doormat. Which is such crap since I'm not a doormat on a lot of other things. I don't even like the term doormat. I consciously let other people make decisions in relationships; they don't walk over me. But for the first time I think things maybe make sense. Everyone knows I fall in love with everything. I think this makes me me, but it makes decision making hard. So I think life is helping me learn to make decisions. I think Ringo showed up on my doorstep to teach me to love something that lets me make all the decisions. I think I'm living in Europe for 7 weeks so I can have the chance to love a city. A city where I don't have to focus on daily life interrupting my love. I can just love unconditionally. I think I've been given the chance to interview for all the positions I applied for so I can learn to love a job and be happy to go to work in the morning or night or weekend. My whole life I've had big, unrealistic dreams. But lately many of them don't seem as unrealistic as they once were. I know what I'm being told. If my perfect Valentine's person had already been presented to me I would have given up chances in order to be adaptable. I think I'm being given the unique opportunity to live my life with no restraints. To fall in and out of love with anyone and everything I want to. One day someone is going to come along and I'm going to know how to live life. And I'll be ready, because at that point I will have done everything I have wanted to do alone and I'll be ready to do things as a pair. I'll be able to stand on my own two feet and know the difference between real love and my infatuation with love. In the next few years I will have accomplished things I never thought I would do. I'm not discrediting those who are already married or anything like that at all and I never would. Everyone has to make the decisions that are right for them. But if my life had gone a different way and I had given into jerks I would never know all the things I could do with my life because that's how my personality works.
So I'm just gonna let people keep asking me if I'm single or seem confused as to why I'm still not the pharmacist at the local grocery store. Meanwhile I'll be out falling in love with everything I come across and learning to be me as an adult. And one day Valentine's Day might not suck, but if it does I can always just go back to London and fall in love all over again.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Hold On To Sixteen As Long As You Can
So every three days Johnathan makes me feel totally insufferable by telling me that I'm not going to get a book deal if I don't write a damn blog. So to get him off my back I thought I'd come back to it. Also, I cried for the entire last 30 minutes of Glee and this is a pretty good indication that I have some intense emotions going on that we all know can only be handled when I write meaningless rambles. I don't have a single topic. So stream of consciousness will start now. If at any point this sounds like I've gotten distracted I'm watching these idiots on House Hunters move to Singapore and then seem confused that their teenage daughter is acting like a "diva." Is this a dumbass convention? You moved her from the UNITED STATES to SINGAPORE. I shouldn't even have to be explaining this.
I'd say the biggest thing that has happened to me since my last post was that I turned 25. But that moved me to a new age bracket when I take online surveys and I don't want to talk about it ever again. So the next biggest thing was I got a Twitter. So if you have a Twitter and you don't currently follow me I'm going to need you to do that. It's simple. @Carm_illionaire Word of warning. I haven't figured out how to be clever with so few characters at my disposal. Apologies in advance. I also got a Foursqaure. You should probably hit me up on that so I can beat you and confirm my superiority. Oh and I got bangs.
I have a lot of simple things to bitch about, but my growing war with the post office and everyone that answers the phone at Medicare is of no interest to anyone else and causes my blood pressure to rise at such a velocity that I can actually feel my heart spazing out. And I'm not sure velocity is the correct word you use here, but I only passed physics because my professor just made up everyone's grade. Also, please don't get me started on how physics is not a science. It's an APPLIED MATH. The fact that is been masquerading as a science just infuriates me. In terms of minute things that are currently pissing me off? My candycane colored lights in my kitchen keep falling down regardless of where I place the hook AND I can not for the life of my figure out with button to press on my Keurig first. The brew light is always flashing so I press it and then it's like the whole world falls apart. So obviously I can't use a simple machine that has TWO buttons. Literally, two. I'm embarrassing.
This next paragraph is probably going to offend Drew Brees and Ellen DeGeneres, neither of who I want to upset. But I just have some major issues with New Orleans. I am also fully aware that I was only exposed to the touristy areas and therefore my thoughts on the matter are mostly baseless, but never the less. Also, when I have a cared if people thought my thoughts were baseless? You are correct if you said, never. It's dirty and lawless. These are my biggest problems with the place. I also despise that fact that tourists don't understand that Mardi Gras is an actual thing and not just a year round party. Also, please stop wearing the beads. You can buy them at the local CVS. So nothing about you is screaming you fit in in N'awlins. Go order a Po Boy so you can keep yourself busy and not be an embarrassment to everyone. Also, since the police let you do whatever you want the rich, white boys on vacation seem to think it's okay to catcall girls. And not construction worker style. Like disgusting, "my body's nobody's body, but mine type thing." Apparently they feel that being in the Crescent City gives them the right to express their inner potential molester. Well I got news for you pervs. First this is Rhett Butler's city. So shut your mouth, cause he's a better man than you'll ever be and he's not even real. In addition it just brings out my right to take a golf club to your Range Rover. I can assure you I've dreamed of clubbing the headlights of a college kids Mercedes since the day I returned to Atlanta. Then you factor in all the devastation still lingering from Hurricane Katrina and the whole place just becomes a sad version of Charleston. I suggest you check out these pictures of the abandoned Six Flags (former Jazzland). It's just terrifying. Also, if you know anything about me you know I'm still up because I got to thinking and had to read the entire New Orleans wikipedia in order to get some of my questions answered.
I have more I'd like to write, but I'm also about to pass out and I need to get some pleasure reading on. As always, thanks for taking a bit of your day to read this crap I write.
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