London!!

Mmm, so it's a perfect day to update this - it's been raining cats & dogs outside all day. Two of the girls from the program and I were standing under the bus stop waiting to take the bus back (because really who wants to walk 1.5 miles in the rain?), and the drainage system could use some work here - so there was a ton of water in the gutter by the curb. So this taxi drives by, right through the water of course and we get completely drenched! It was like a wall of water splashed in our faces. It was quite the enjoyable experience ;o) It's probably one of the worst weather days since I've been in Valencia! Which isn't saying much because I've been here 2 months & it's been gorgeous most of the time! That has got to be one of my favorite things about living here - the sun always makes you feel better about the day!

Well last week, I made it through midterms. They are so much more intense than St. Norbert and definitely different from all my education classes. It's been awhile since I've had so many tests & papers. And the first time that I'm taking more than one Spanish class at a time. I knew it was going to be challenging, but it is proving to be much more difficult than I anticipated. I really have to push myself to work and study harder in order to get through my classes. I'm sure in the end, it will be worthwhile - the experience, knowledge & hard work will be beneficial in my future!

Last weekend, I went to visit London - or Londres in spanish. The city was INCREDIBLE. There was just something about it - so lively & animated. I don't know to explain it, but it is by far one of my favorite cities in the world. That may change, as I have a lot of traveling left to do, but thus far! I was nervous leaving because I was traveling by myself and meeting a friend from home there. Everything went well though - I took the metro to the airport & flew to Madrid, where I proceeded to waste my day sitting in the airport. Then I flew into London & took the tube to the city. When I was looking at the tube maps - it was pretty intimidating because it's a huge system, but I have to say it was really easy to use.

On Friday night, Lauren & I saw Avenue Q. The actors did a great job & the play itself was interesting. It was well as Lauren put it, "Sesame Street for adults." Hah. There were actors & puppets and definitely adult content. But it was really cool to be able to see a musical in London! Almost as good as seeing Wicked in New York ;o).

We checked into our hostel that night & things got mixed up, so I was placed in a random room without my friends. So it was a room for 8 people & the beds were like boxes. Let me tell you - if you are claustrophobic it would have been a long night. The hostel was safe & clean, but not as nice as the previous ones I stayed in. The funny thing about the showers was you had to push a button to get the hot water, and it would stop every 30 seconds - so you had to continually hit the button. That would get annoying if it was on a daily basis thing.

On Saturday we attempted to get in all the tourist attractions because it was my only full day there. We saw Buckingham palace, where they didn't do the changing of the guards like the hostel told us! Also the guards are way behind the gates, not close up so you can take pictures like the movies show you! AND they weren't wearing their red coats. They were in gray, for their winter uniform. It's funny the little things you learn traveling that Hollywood has mislead you to believe.

From there we saw Westminister Abbey where most of the Kings & Queens of England have been buried since 1065. It was really cool to see the history, and all the popular people that we have studied in history classes. Then we saw Big Ben & Parliament - well we saw the outside & took pictures. It would have been cool to go inside, but we didn't have time & I don't know if Parliament was even open. Then we took a ride on the London Eye - which is similar to a giant ferris wheel with glass cabins attached, so you can see London from a birds eye view! It was great!

Then we had lunch and went over to see the Tower Bridge - which we learned is NOT the same as the London Bridge. I've always heard the song about the London Bridge and thought it was the big, impressive looking one. Apparently not. Then we went onto the Tower of London where the crown jewels are held. Unfortunately, it was closed by the time we got there! I was disappointed because that was something I was excited to see. O well - I guess it just means I'll have an excuse to go back someday!

Then we walked on to see St. Paul's Cathedral - which was incredible in itself. It was SO huge & the architecture was simply amazing. We walked over the Millennium bridge and saw the outside of the Globe Theater. I expected that to be more impressive, but I suppose if it's been conserved all this time, it's pretty cool. We stopped by Trafalgar Square, where they were shining some artwork on a big white building & then went to Piccadilly Circus - which is like London's version of New York's Time Square. By then we were completely exhausted and decided it was time to be done sight seeing. So we had dinner and called it a night.

Overall, it was a fabulous trip & I am SO glad I got the opportunity to go!! If you would like to see my pictures, I uploaded them - just click on the link to the right!

Ciao. Kristin