Best of all, of course, was the price and the seating. For 35 pounds, we bought tickets on orchestra level, row 11, dead center. Original price: 65 pounds. Thank you magical half price ticket booth of Leicester Square!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
We Interrupt This Travelogue for an Arts Announcement
Thursday night meant it was time for my new favorite past time: visiting the West End and taking in a show. Tonight was Sunset Boulevard, an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the 1950 movie of the same name. It was an uneven show. The first act left me a bit underwhelmed, as much of the music was the lead doing a singing monologue as he wandered through the plot. The second act contained much more of the heart pounding confrontations that Webber did so well in Phantom of the Opera, and left me satisfied overall. The staging was quite abstract, as the cast was its own orchestra, nearly every member playing an instrument, from trombone to cello to flute to xylophone. Which really made me wonder: did they go find musicians who could sing, or actors they could teach to play an instrument?
Best of all, of course, was the price and the seating. For 35 pounds, we bought tickets on orchestra level, row 11, dead center. Original price: 65 pounds. Thank you magical half price ticket booth of Leicester Square!
Best of all, of course, was the price and the seating. For 35 pounds, we bought tickets on orchestra level, row 11, dead center. Original price: 65 pounds. Thank you magical half price ticket booth of Leicester Square!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Venizia: Days 1 and 2 and 3
Sunday morning Hilary and I boarded a train from Rome to Venice and met up with the rest of our gang: Kevin, Emily, Haider and Vanessa. The train ride lasted several hours and put us into Venice around 3 PM. Let me note now that train travel is now possibly my favorite way to get about. Beautiful scenery, plenty of space, no pressure problems on the ears, just plenty of time to relax and get some reading done. I think we need more trains in the U.S. Or at least more trains that work.
But I digress. Having met up with the crew and depositing our luggage at the hostel (located 20 minutes by bus outside of Venice) we came back to town. We found a nice cheap gelato shop and indulged in the first of many, many scoops of gelato that we were to eat in Venice. With so many flavors to try and so little time, stopping 5 or 6 times in one day to eat gelato seemed like quite an amazing idea. With gelato in hand, we literally wandered the streets. Although we had a map, the streets were utterly maze-like, due to the height of the buildings and the narrowness of the walkways:
Short story: Any time somebody says "Amazing!" I have this habit of bursting into a song from the stage musical Little Women which goes like this:
"Amazing, there we were in Venice,
In a gondola, in Venice,
When he suddenly stood up and shouted,
"Will you marry me?""
So when someone in our group uttered the fateful word, I immediately began singing without a second thought. Until it clicked in my head that I was actually in Venice singing that song. I literally stopped in my tracks in disbelief.
And of course, what wandering would be complete without stumbling across a stunning building? No idea what it is beyond a church, but it reinforced just how wonderful life was at the moment.
While we were wandering, we also discovered that quite by chance we had arrived in Venice during Carnaval!
The masks they had to sell were simply stunning in their beauty....and ranged from 8 to nearly 200 euros! That's close to 300 dollars these days.
The next day we made breakfast in the kitchen of our hostel rooms, then took the bus to Venice. Our day started out with a gondola ride that started out along the Great Canal, then diverted into one of the many side channels. It was quite a bit of fun and I got some really great pictures which you can see at the links at the bottom of the post. As a side note, Hilary and Vanessa both reside just outside of Las Vegas, and couldn't help uttering "Woah...the Venetian Hotel did a really good job!" Apparently there were multiple spots where they both had a sensation of being back at home in the hotel's recreated Venice.
After the Gondola trip, it was time for mask shopping! Everyone in our group bought one, with the rule being once you bought a mask, you had to wear it for the rest of the day. Below is my selection, and the selection of everyone else (click to enlarge):
Somehow, everything is better in masks!
We made our windy twisty way through the streets, stopping every now and then for gelato, until we reached San Marco's Plaza, where the big festivities were. One of the most beautiful sights was that of the dozens of people who dressed up in elaborate costumes and did nothing but stand in the plaza and take pictures with people. I can imagine this easily be an annual tradition of the locals, and the results were quite stunning. Below is just one of many I took pictures of:
We also toured St. Mark's Basilica, which is amazing to go into solely to look at the mosaic pictures that cover the entire ceiling. However, there is no photography allowed inside the building, so I have no pictures to share.
We then went to the Rialto Bridge and took some amazing photos of the city at sunset, before heading to find a restaurant along the canal to have dinner. It was an absolutely delicious meal on outside tables literally next to the canal.
And this lasagna is just the first course!
Our day was fairly over after all that excitement, so we went back to the hostel. The next day we had all morning to see the city until our afternoon train to Luzern, so we headed back to San Marco's to the Campanile, a giant tower whose sole purpose, at the moment, is to entice tourist to pay overpriced fees to take an elevator to the top to take photos of the city. Having skipped a similar spot in Rome, I decided to fork over the cash this time, with some nice results, if slightly hampered by the annoying cloud cover that had moved in over night:
Then it was on the train to Luzern, where we ran across a surprising experience......
Albums are: Viva Venizia! Hide Your Face so the World Can Never Find You, and There are Buildings in Venice?
But I digress. Having met up with the crew and depositing our luggage at the hostel (located 20 minutes by bus outside of Venice) we came back to town. We found a nice cheap gelato shop and indulged in the first of many, many scoops of gelato that we were to eat in Venice. With so many flavors to try and so little time, stopping 5 or 6 times in one day to eat gelato seemed like quite an amazing idea. With gelato in hand, we literally wandered the streets. Although we had a map, the streets were utterly maze-like, due to the height of the buildings and the narrowness of the walkways:
Short story: Any time somebody says "Amazing!" I have this habit of bursting into a song from the stage musical Little Women which goes like this:
"Amazing, there we were in Venice,
In a gondola, in Venice,
When he suddenly stood up and shouted,
"Will you marry me?""
So when someone in our group uttered the fateful word, I immediately began singing without a second thought. Until it clicked in my head that I was actually in Venice singing that song. I literally stopped in my tracks in disbelief.
And of course, what wandering would be complete without stumbling across a stunning building? No idea what it is beyond a church, but it reinforced just how wonderful life was at the moment.
While we were wandering, we also discovered that quite by chance we had arrived in Venice during Carnaval!
The masks they had to sell were simply stunning in their beauty....and ranged from 8 to nearly 200 euros! That's close to 300 dollars these days.
The next day we made breakfast in the kitchen of our hostel rooms, then took the bus to Venice. Our day started out with a gondola ride that started out along the Great Canal, then diverted into one of the many side channels. It was quite a bit of fun and I got some really great pictures which you can see at the links at the bottom of the post. As a side note, Hilary and Vanessa both reside just outside of Las Vegas, and couldn't help uttering "Woah...the Venetian Hotel did a really good job!" Apparently there were multiple spots where they both had a sensation of being back at home in the hotel's recreated Venice.
After the Gondola trip, it was time for mask shopping! Everyone in our group bought one, with the rule being once you bought a mask, you had to wear it for the rest of the day. Below is my selection, and the selection of everyone else (click to enlarge):
Somehow, everything is better in masks!
We made our windy twisty way through the streets, stopping every now and then for gelato, until we reached San Marco's Plaza, where the big festivities were. One of the most beautiful sights was that of the dozens of people who dressed up in elaborate costumes and did nothing but stand in the plaza and take pictures with people. I can imagine this easily be an annual tradition of the locals, and the results were quite stunning. Below is just one of many I took pictures of:
We also toured St. Mark's Basilica, which is amazing to go into solely to look at the mosaic pictures that cover the entire ceiling. However, there is no photography allowed inside the building, so I have no pictures to share.
We then went to the Rialto Bridge and took some amazing photos of the city at sunset, before heading to find a restaurant along the canal to have dinner. It was an absolutely delicious meal on outside tables literally next to the canal.
And this lasagna is just the first course!
Our day was fairly over after all that excitement, so we went back to the hostel. The next day we had all morning to see the city until our afternoon train to Luzern, so we headed back to San Marco's to the Campanile, a giant tower whose sole purpose, at the moment, is to entice tourist to pay overpriced fees to take an elevator to the top to take photos of the city. Having skipped a similar spot in Rome, I decided to fork over the cash this time, with some nice results, if slightly hampered by the annoying cloud cover that had moved in over night:
Then it was on the train to Luzern, where we ran across a surprising experience......Albums are: Viva Venizia! Hide Your Face so the World Can Never Find You, and There are Buildings in Venice?
Monday, February 23, 2009
Roma: Day Two
Our second day in Rome was spent primarily visiting the Vatican City. You really need a day to do it properly, but we had to cut ourselves a bit short to pick up on one or two other monuments in the city. There are fewer stories for this day, as it was mostly staring at the awesomeness surrounding us.
If you enlarge this photo by clicking on it, you can see the line running along the edge of this wall that we waited in to get inside. It actually went rather fast taking fifteen minutes or less. Each of the statues on the top of the wall is a different saint; I believe there are around 100 or more of these statues.
The obelisk in this picture I believe was ransacked from the ancient Basilica of Maxentius, which is among the ruins in the Palatine Hill that I visited the first day. St. Peter's Basilica lies behind it.
Like so many tourist spots in Europe, audio tours were available for a small fee to explain the many monuments and paintings inside the Basilica, which was very handy for exploring the true significance of what I was looking at.
Immediately inside the Basilica is Michelangelo's famed Pieta, a statue of Mary holding the crucified Jesus Christ. Note: I've decided that after fountains, statues are my favorite form of artwork. I love the three-dimensionality of them.
Despite my love of statues, these wall-piece was quite mind-boggling. Why? Take a look. It appears to be yet another painting, but it is actually a giant mosaic replica of a painting. The amount of effort it must have taken to create such a seamless tiled picture is just breath-taking. The second picture may help reveal the tiles that are in the mosaic; click to enlarge.
After touring St. Peter's Basilica, Hilary and I had a quick bite before hopping over to the Vatican Museum. I had one of the most interesting hot dogs I've ever had in my life. It was sliced down the middle from end to end and laid open like a book on very flat sourdough bread. Let me assure you that hot dogs are much messier to eat this way.
At the Vatican Museum, we saw quite a plethora of art, including Raphael's "School of Athens" and the Sistine Chapel. It was kind of funny to walk into a room where everybody was craning their necks to see the ceiling. As you can imagine, looking at the Sistine Chapel for myself was quite amazing. Photos from areas in the museum we were allowed to photograph will be in the album at the end of the post.
After the Vatican, we dropped by Circus Maximus, the ruins of the great chariot-racing stadium of Rome. All that's really left of the structure is a dirt track that somehow has managed to survive the centuries, and a few odd piles of brick, like the tower structure behind me in this photo.
Only in Rome can you randomly turn a corner and stumble across such amazing ruins.
As it was Valentine's Day, and our last night in Rome, Hilary and I decided to find a nice restaurant for dinner. We found a small place tucked away near Trevi Fountain where we enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Afterwards we went to our second gelatto shop of the trip, where I had a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of After-Eight flavoreed gelato--sooo good! (For those who don't know, After-Eights are thin pieces of dark chocolate with a minty interior.) The employee who served us was quite taken with Hilary and flirted with her, and she proceeded to flirt back, the result being that her portion of ice cream was much bigger than mine, much to our amusement (and my jealousy). It was quite a nice way to end our stay in Rome.
Full Photos can be found in my Rome Album.
Next up, Venice!
If you enlarge this photo by clicking on it, you can see the line running along the edge of this wall that we waited in to get inside. It actually went rather fast taking fifteen minutes or less. Each of the statues on the top of the wall is a different saint; I believe there are around 100 or more of these statues.
The obelisk in this picture I believe was ransacked from the ancient Basilica of Maxentius, which is among the ruins in the Palatine Hill that I visited the first day. St. Peter's Basilica lies behind it.
Like so many tourist spots in Europe, audio tours were available for a small fee to explain the many monuments and paintings inside the Basilica, which was very handy for exploring the true significance of what I was looking at.Immediately inside the Basilica is Michelangelo's famed Pieta, a statue of Mary holding the crucified Jesus Christ. Note: I've decided that after fountains, statues are my favorite form of artwork. I love the three-dimensionality of them.
Despite my love of statues, these wall-piece was quite mind-boggling. Why? Take a look. It appears to be yet another painting, but it is actually a giant mosaic replica of a painting. The amount of effort it must have taken to create such a seamless tiled picture is just breath-taking. The second picture may help reveal the tiles that are in the mosaic; click to enlarge.
After touring St. Peter's Basilica, Hilary and I had a quick bite before hopping over to the Vatican Museum. I had one of the most interesting hot dogs I've ever had in my life. It was sliced down the middle from end to end and laid open like a book on very flat sourdough bread. Let me assure you that hot dogs are much messier to eat this way.At the Vatican Museum, we saw quite a plethora of art, including Raphael's "School of Athens" and the Sistine Chapel. It was kind of funny to walk into a room where everybody was craning their necks to see the ceiling. As you can imagine, looking at the Sistine Chapel for myself was quite amazing. Photos from areas in the museum we were allowed to photograph will be in the album at the end of the post.
After the Vatican, we dropped by Circus Maximus, the ruins of the great chariot-racing stadium of Rome. All that's really left of the structure is a dirt track that somehow has managed to survive the centuries, and a few odd piles of brick, like the tower structure behind me in this photo.
Only in Rome can you randomly turn a corner and stumble across such amazing ruins.
As it was Valentine's Day, and our last night in Rome, Hilary and I decided to find a nice restaurant for dinner. We found a small place tucked away near Trevi Fountain where we enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Afterwards we went to our second gelatto shop of the trip, where I had a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of After-Eight flavoreed gelato--sooo good! (For those who don't know, After-Eights are thin pieces of dark chocolate with a minty interior.) The employee who served us was quite taken with Hilary and flirted with her, and she proceeded to flirt back, the result being that her portion of ice cream was much bigger than mine, much to our amusement (and my jealousy). It was quite a nice way to end our stay in Rome.
Full Photos can be found in my Rome Album.
Next up, Venice!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Roma: Day One
After a whirlwind 9 days of craziness, I am currently crashing in my London flat. Just about everything about my adventure in Europe was an absolute blast, and I can't wait to tell you in the States all about it! My suitcase is emptied, my laundry is drying, and it's time to start posting those pictures and telling those stories!
Hilary and I, having no Friday class, left Thursday afternoon out of Gatwick Airport for Rome, the plan being to stay there a few nights before meeting the rest of the crew in Venice on Sunday. No sooner had we touched down in Rome then the adventure started: after taking a train from the airport to the city, we accidentally exited the station, not at the front, where the main bus terminal was, but on a side street. The next hour was filled with asking for directions in a language we didn't speak, wandering about looking for a bus stop; at one point, Hilary resorted to drawing a bus on her hand to communicate what we were looking for. We finally found the correct bus route, and by a stroke of luck, when we got off the bus, we found two Italian girls who a) spoke English and b) lived on the street where our hotel was and were heading in that direction. Stumbling into the small little hotel at close to midnight, we found a very friendly staff who helped us drag our luggage up the stairs to our room and helped us plan sights to see over the next few days, drawing on a map where the bus stops were and showing us the easiest way to get from place to place.
The next morning started off much better, complete with sweet croissants, bread and juice for breakfast, and a lovely view from our window:
We began our tour of Rome at the Coliseum, where we did a tour of the outside of the building and the Ruins of the Palatine Hill directly across from it. We couldn't go inside the Coliseum due to protests that were occuring in the city; these same protests nearly involved the transportation workers going on strike, but they changed their minds at the last minute and decided to drive the buses after all, much to our happiness. We weren't really quite sure what all the ruckus was actually about, but it made for some interesting sights while in Rome.
Archeology work ongoing at the Coliseum:
One of two protest marches we laid eyes on:
We spent the afternoon working our way through the major piazzas and fountains of Rome, starting at the Piazza del Populo (Plaza of the People) and working our way south to the Triton Fountain, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Piazza Novarro.
Piazza del Populo:
Triton Fountain:
Preparing to toss in some money a la the film Three Coins in the Fountain, which is partially set around Trevi.
My favorite of the fountains was the Trevi Fountain, which I thought was simply stunning. Add a little gelato to the mix, and I was a very happy camper.
A fountain in the Piazza Novarro:
We spent the night wandering around looking at some monuments by night, before heading in the direction of our hotel. We stopped for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Domini's, where I had a Magherita (cheese) pizza.
More photos from Day 1 in Rome: Album One Album Two
Stay tuned for adventures from our second day in Rome!
Hilary and I, having no Friday class, left Thursday afternoon out of Gatwick Airport for Rome, the plan being to stay there a few nights before meeting the rest of the crew in Venice on Sunday. No sooner had we touched down in Rome then the adventure started: after taking a train from the airport to the city, we accidentally exited the station, not at the front, where the main bus terminal was, but on a side street. The next hour was filled with asking for directions in a language we didn't speak, wandering about looking for a bus stop; at one point, Hilary resorted to drawing a bus on her hand to communicate what we were looking for. We finally found the correct bus route, and by a stroke of luck, when we got off the bus, we found two Italian girls who a) spoke English and b) lived on the street where our hotel was and were heading in that direction. Stumbling into the small little hotel at close to midnight, we found a very friendly staff who helped us drag our luggage up the stairs to our room and helped us plan sights to see over the next few days, drawing on a map where the bus stops were and showing us the easiest way to get from place to place.
The next morning started off much better, complete with sweet croissants, bread and juice for breakfast, and a lovely view from our window:
We began our tour of Rome at the Coliseum, where we did a tour of the outside of the building and the Ruins of the Palatine Hill directly across from it. We couldn't go inside the Coliseum due to protests that were occuring in the city; these same protests nearly involved the transportation workers going on strike, but they changed their minds at the last minute and decided to drive the buses after all, much to our happiness. We weren't really quite sure what all the ruckus was actually about, but it made for some interesting sights while in Rome.
Archeology work ongoing at the Coliseum:
One of two protest marches we laid eyes on:
We spent the afternoon working our way through the major piazzas and fountains of Rome, starting at the Piazza del Populo (Plaza of the People) and working our way south to the Triton Fountain, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Piazza Novarro.Piazza del Populo:
Triton Fountain:
Preparing to toss in some money a la the film Three Coins in the Fountain, which is partially set around Trevi.
My favorite of the fountains was the Trevi Fountain, which I thought was simply stunning. Add a little gelato to the mix, and I was a very happy camper.
A fountain in the Piazza Novarro:
We spent the night wandering around looking at some monuments by night, before heading in the direction of our hotel. We stopped for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Domini's, where I had a Magherita (cheese) pizza.
More photos from Day 1 in Rome: Album One Album Two
Stay tuned for adventures from our second day in Rome!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Back in London!
Just a quick post for now letting you all know that I am back in my flat in one piece (though a little bruised--more on that later!) and safe and sound. I'll hopefully start posting my adventures in the next 24 hours, once I've sorted out my nearly 700 photos. Posts should go chronologically and roughly be divided by city.
Suffice it to say for now that it was a completely amazing experience worth every penny!
Caitlin
Suffice it to say for now that it was a completely amazing experience worth every penny!
Caitlin
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Snow Day Madness
Turns out I have material for one more post, dear friends. My friend Hilary finally had time to post her pictures from our Snow Day last week, so here we go!
Caitlin trying to get revenge on Haider.
Caitlin, Vanessa, and Hilary using a deflated air mattress as a toboggan.
It actually works quite well!
Using a tray is a bit riskier; this is a split second before I come to a rolling halt.
Alright, I leave for the airport in a few hours, so I'll have plenty to post about when I get back!
Caitlin
Caitlin trying to get revenge on Haider.
Caitlin, Vanessa, and Hilary using a deflated air mattress as a toboggan.
It actually works quite well!
Using a tray is a bit riskier; this is a split second before I come to a rolling halt.
Alright, I leave for the airport in a few hours, so I'll have plenty to post about when I get back!
Caitlin
Monday, February 9, 2009
St. Paul's + Celebrity Watch + Harrod's=A Weekend Well Spent
Hello all!
It's been a whole five days since I last posted here! I've had a busy weekend, as you'll soon see, and any spare moments I've had have been frantically spent writing papers in anticipation of the study week that I will be...well...not studying. But as they are almost done, I have a bit more breathing room and time to share my weekend adventures.
This weekend's touristy adventure started off at the House of Parliament yet again. This time we were aiming for Westminster Abbey, but our timing was a bit off, as we arrived right as mass was starting. Pressed for time (Kevin and Vanessa had friends visiting who wanted to cram in as much as possible in one weekend) we opted to snap a few exterior pictures and move on.
We stopped by Number 10, Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister for a few minutes:
While we were continuing down the street, we saw people staring across the street at a rather expensive looking car with body guards. Curious we stuck around for a few minutes and were soon able to catch a glimpse of Simon Cowell! In the picture below, he's the fellow towards the left of the picture, right above the trunk of the car in the white shirt. For those who don't know, Cowell is a judge and exec for the show American Idol, and was here to be a judge on the show Britain's Got Talent (which has a sister show in America, America's Got Talent).
We made our way down the River Thames to St. Paul's. As it was late in the afternoon, we weren't in time to go up the steps to the top of the dome (another trip!) but the sun set did make for some wonderful photographs.
We wrapped up with a trip to Byron, a restaurant whose slogan is "Proper Hamburgers." Located near High Street Kensington Tube Station, we had originally spotted it on an architecture field trip and decided that it required some investigating. Our results were absolutely superb. Delicious hamburgers, fries and milkshakes, albeit at a bit of a cost. Definitely a wonderful end to the trip.
The evening did go on with a trip to the local cinema to see Revolutionary Road. Heart-breaking, but man what a performance by Kate Winslet. She should have gotten an Oscar nod for it (but will have to make due with a nomination for The Reader instead).
The next day we went to Harrod's to explore and fantasize about our future lives as millionaires. We looked at dresses that cost more than I make in a year and an electric toy humvee big enough for two children to drive around in, at a price greater than my yearly college loan. To console ourselves, we went to the Chocolate Bar on the second floor and bought milkshakes for the hefty, but relatively affordable price of 5 pounds. After drowning our sorrows, we proceeded to leave the store. On our way out, we stopped at the one place where photography is allowed (hence the dearth of pictures): the Princess Diana memorial. Her love interest at the time of her death was the son of the man who currently owns Harrods, so he built this in their honor.
You know the drill, link to photos of my excursion here.
Today I had a busy schedule of Hitchcock lecture (screening: North by Northwest), research at the library, figuring out electronically filing taxes (refund, yay!) and working on an application for a paid summer internship at Warner Brothers (fingers crossed). Later, I'm going with friends to check out the local student-frequented pub. Over the next few days I'll be worrying about details for my trip to Italy and Switzerland, so this may be my last post for the week. I will be leaving Thursday afternoon and returning a week from Saturday.
Until I post again!
Caitlin
It's been a whole five days since I last posted here! I've had a busy weekend, as you'll soon see, and any spare moments I've had have been frantically spent writing papers in anticipation of the study week that I will be...well...not studying. But as they are almost done, I have a bit more breathing room and time to share my weekend adventures.
This weekend's touristy adventure started off at the House of Parliament yet again. This time we were aiming for Westminster Abbey, but our timing was a bit off, as we arrived right as mass was starting. Pressed for time (Kevin and Vanessa had friends visiting who wanted to cram in as much as possible in one weekend) we opted to snap a few exterior pictures and move on.
We stopped by Number 10, Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister for a few minutes:
While we were continuing down the street, we saw people staring across the street at a rather expensive looking car with body guards. Curious we stuck around for a few minutes and were soon able to catch a glimpse of Simon Cowell! In the picture below, he's the fellow towards the left of the picture, right above the trunk of the car in the white shirt. For those who don't know, Cowell is a judge and exec for the show American Idol, and was here to be a judge on the show Britain's Got Talent (which has a sister show in America, America's Got Talent).
We made our way down the River Thames to St. Paul's. As it was late in the afternoon, we weren't in time to go up the steps to the top of the dome (another trip!) but the sun set did make for some wonderful photographs.
We wrapped up with a trip to Byron, a restaurant whose slogan is "Proper Hamburgers." Located near High Street Kensington Tube Station, we had originally spotted it on an architecture field trip and decided that it required some investigating. Our results were absolutely superb. Delicious hamburgers, fries and milkshakes, albeit at a bit of a cost. Definitely a wonderful end to the trip.
The evening did go on with a trip to the local cinema to see Revolutionary Road. Heart-breaking, but man what a performance by Kate Winslet. She should have gotten an Oscar nod for it (but will have to make due with a nomination for The Reader instead).
The next day we went to Harrod's to explore and fantasize about our future lives as millionaires. We looked at dresses that cost more than I make in a year and an electric toy humvee big enough for two children to drive around in, at a price greater than my yearly college loan. To console ourselves, we went to the Chocolate Bar on the second floor and bought milkshakes for the hefty, but relatively affordable price of 5 pounds. After drowning our sorrows, we proceeded to leave the store. On our way out, we stopped at the one place where photography is allowed (hence the dearth of pictures): the Princess Diana memorial. Her love interest at the time of her death was the son of the man who currently owns Harrods, so he built this in their honor.
You know the drill, link to photos of my excursion here.
Today I had a busy schedule of Hitchcock lecture (screening: North by Northwest), research at the library, figuring out electronically filing taxes (refund, yay!) and working on an application for a paid summer internship at Warner Brothers (fingers crossed). Later, I'm going with friends to check out the local student-frequented pub. Over the next few days I'll be worrying about details for my trip to Italy and Switzerland, so this may be my last post for the week. I will be leaving Thursday afternoon and returning a week from Saturday.
Until I post again!
Caitlin
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Snow Day!
Monday morning, I ended my post rather abruptly with the news that classes were cancelled and we were to have a snow day. I don't know what it is about those two words, but they somehow manage to create a desperate need to jump up and down like a little kid and dance up and down the hallways. Apparently I've been missing out on a defining experience of life in the more temperate climes of Southern California.
The next day, my mother asked me in an email if I manged to get any work done since there was no class to attend. My response:
"Well....I MEANT to get a lot done yesterday....but then there was the snowball fight....and then the second snowball fight....and then the sledding on the hill across the canal....and then the hot coco/waffle/ice cream/brownie party at Emily's....and then the decision to take reading material on the tube and weather through the severe delays to take pictures of Parliament with snow on them....and then the tube kicking us off at Aldgate East on the way back and the bus system being down so we had to walk the rest of the way home....and the picking up of pizza on the way home....and then the being so thoroughly wet and cold that I took a hot shower and climbed into bed with an X-men movie...and then the west wing episode afterwards...and then the sleeping....I didn't actually get as much done as I anticipated."
Now I know what your next thoughts are: where are the pictures of all this gloriousness? Some are below, and I do have a link to my album below, but I'm still waiting to steal some of my friends pictures that actually have me in action shots. These will have to hold you over in the meantime.
The view from my window is much different than the one I posted earlier this month.
Wow...deep snow! Such a new and unfamiliar concept!
Snowball fight! The gentleman in the brown on the left is my friend Kevin, the gentleman in the brown in the middle is our new British friend Haider, and the woman on the right is Hilary.
Parliament has snow on it! Pretty!
There have been requests for a picture of my motley crew, so here is one for your perusal. From left to right, they are: Hilary, Caitlin, Kevin, Vanessa, and Emily. (If you click on the picture, you can enlarge it.)
There were snowmen everywhere, and this one was particularly cool.
Caitlin the tourist! It even has snow on it.
Snow falls on Big Ben clock tower at night.
More pictures are, as always, here.
Tuesday was less exciting, though classes were again canceled. As the snow had pretty much turned to mush, however, I actually did school work and spent the day grocery shopping and sloughing through a dense book about the marriage negotiations of Elizabeth I for a paper I have to write before I dash off to Italy and Switzerland. Classes have now resumed, though there are rumors of more snow on the way........
The next day, my mother asked me in an email if I manged to get any work done since there was no class to attend. My response:
"Well....I MEANT to get a lot done yesterday....but then there was the snowball fight....and then the second snowball fight....and then the sledding on the hill across the canal....and then the hot coco/waffle/ice cream/brownie party at Emily's....and then the decision to take reading material on the tube and weather through the severe delays to take pictures of Parliament with snow on them....and then the tube kicking us off at Aldgate East on the way back and the bus system being down so we had to walk the rest of the way home....and the picking up of pizza on the way home....and then the being so thoroughly wet and cold that I took a hot shower and climbed into bed with an X-men movie...and then the west wing episode afterwards...and then the sleeping....I didn't actually get as much done as I anticipated."
Now I know what your next thoughts are: where are the pictures of all this gloriousness? Some are below, and I do have a link to my album below, but I'm still waiting to steal some of my friends pictures that actually have me in action shots. These will have to hold you over in the meantime.
The view from my window is much different than the one I posted earlier this month.
Wow...deep snow! Such a new and unfamiliar concept!
Snowball fight! The gentleman in the brown on the left is my friend Kevin, the gentleman in the brown in the middle is our new British friend Haider, and the woman on the right is Hilary.
Parliament has snow on it! Pretty!
There have been requests for a picture of my motley crew, so here is one for your perusal. From left to right, they are: Hilary, Caitlin, Kevin, Vanessa, and Emily. (If you click on the picture, you can enlarge it.)
There were snowmen everywhere, and this one was particularly cool.
Caitlin the tourist! It even has snow on it.
Snow falls on Big Ben clock tower at night.
More pictures are, as always, here.
Tuesday was less exciting, though classes were again canceled. As the snow had pretty much turned to mush, however, I actually did school work and spent the day grocery shopping and sloughing through a dense book about the marriage negotiations of Elizabeth I for a paper I have to write before I dash off to Italy and Switzerland. Classes have now resumed, though there are rumors of more snow on the way........
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