Lack of an update

Well hello there everyone/ myself, since I'm sure not a lot of people read this thing. Anywho, just wanted to make a quick apology for the lack of any sort of update. England kind of took over my life and I absolutely loved it. For those of you who have not spoken to me since I got back, it was absolutely amazing!! I stayed in a little town west of London in the East Midlands called Grantham, well technically Harlaxton but Grantham was 3 miles away and alot bigger. I studied British Studies (what a shocker!), Norse Mythology (which was pretty awesome actually, got to see where JRR Tolkein and JK Rowling got a lot of inspiration for quite a bit of their stories), Contemporary British Theatre (wonderful! went to see lots of plays including Equus with Lily Allen's little brother), and choir (not quite your typical choir, we learned songs in Swahili, French, Middle English, Latin, Japanese, and much much more!). Our school week only lasted until Thursday so we had Friday or Thursday afternoon to travel across Europe. Oh my goodness, people, it was spectacular. I went to Paris, London, Nottingham, Germany, Amsterdam, Ireland, Liverpool, and plenty of places in between.

Man, I miss it. I think alot of what I miss is just the freedom I had over there. I was free to travel wherever I wanted, within monetary boundaries, and do whatever I wanted, which was not the best thing all the time . . .but anyways. For instance, I drank in the oldest pub in England. It was underground next to Nottingham castle and it was probably the coolest place I have ever been. This pub had endless amounts of rooms. You turn a corner and there's another room with people just drinking and having a good time. Plus there was a really cute bartender there ;-)
Let's see, some other favorite times would be going to Camden market with my friend Kat who came to visit for her spring break. Camden market is in the top ten of coolest places I've been (racked up a lot of those while I was over there. go figure!). This place was a maze of spectacular little shops and booths that sold everything from doorstops to jewelry to delicious caribbean food to rave gear. I really wanted to buy everything I saw. If only the pound to dollar rate weren't so hideously disgusting I just might have. Parts of camden market were pretty punk too. I saw the only honest punks I have ever seen there wearing Doc Martens, leather vest with safety pins all over it and huge mohawks died bright colors. Kat got a picture of them. It was too funny. It was really an epicenter for counterculture and I just loved it!

Ah yes, Paris. Je t'aime Paris tres beacoup. I have wanted to go to Paris since I started taking the language in 8th grade and it really was everything I had hoped for. The coolest part is that I traveled there by myself. I got to visit one of my friends, Cassie, who was staying there, but I was on my own for the first day and I loved it! I got to just wander around Paris and do whatever I wanted to do, see whatever I wanted to see. I have to admit that when I met up with Cassie I was thrilled to be able to speak English to someone, but other than that it was tres fantastique! I saw Le Tour Eiffel, L'Arc de Triomphe, le Musee de Louvre, et Versaille. I was so excited to see Versaille and it was so amazing! I loved it ! It was just beautiful. The gardens. Oh! They were gorgeous and that was when they weren't even in bloom. I can't even imagine what they look like later in the spring and summer.

Amsterdam. What more can I say? Amsterdam and Paris were my two favorites. Amsterdam is so unique with its canals and little side streets, I loved wandering around there. And it really does have such a free feel to it, like there really are no holds barred and I love that! Oh, and sitting in the Red Light District people watching became quite a favorite past time of ours (me, Matt, and Steven). It really is funny to see how the ladies interact with all of the passersby.

Like I said before: I miss it. It's crazy because when I was over there, towards the end of the semester I was ready to come home (and get back to some warm weather), and now I would just love to go back and explore some more. And I will! I never got to see Italy and Greece and Austria and Spain. One day I will go back. But, until then, it is back to life in the good ole U S of A.

I hope that was a fairly sufficient summary of my travels. I might write more if I am feeling nostalgic again. And if anyone wants to see some pictures, leave me a comment and I can send you the link to my snapfish account. Tons of pictures from everything I did over there!

Have a lovely day, everyone!