Cheers! The semester of a lifetime!

Princess Diana Memorial in Harrods

Crossing Abbey Road like the Beatles

After the Royal Wedding was over it was time for finals.  Finals week is even worse when studying abroad because in the last couple weeks of school and the last couple weeks abroad, all I wanted to do was finish exploring and seeing all of the things I hadn't yet seen.  I had so many test and papers it was ridiculous.

I did get to do a lot of the things I wanted to do in my final weeks.  I went to Harrod's which is a famous and super expensive department store.  It is ridiculously expensive and I could barely afford anything in the gift shop.  It was amazing to see.  Apparently they close it down for the royal family to shop so when I marry Harry, I might be able to afford the place.  I went to Regent's park which is gigantic and really pretty.  The parks in London are amazing and so much better than any parks we have in the states. 

Thursday we had our end of the year party at Faraday House.  It was kind of depressing.  There was an amazing chocolate fountain and crazy karoke going on.  I sang Wannabe by the Spice Girls, I'll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan and Don't Stop Believing with my friends.  It was a lot of fun.  After we went to the Roadhouse which is a bar/club and where we spent one of our first nights in London.  We were celebrating our last night together as well as my 21st birthday and my friends 21st birthday.  It was a really amazing night but I got really sad when I had to start saying goodbye to my friends.  The day of my birthday I spent shopping and buying all my last minute things. 

This semester was amazing and by far the best 4 months of my life.  I got to see so many awesome places, met some of the most amazing people, and fell in love with London.  I feel so blessed that I got this chance and am SUPER THANKFUL TO MY PARENTS for letting me go and spend so much money.  I highly recommmend everybody spend time in London because it gives you a new perspective of the world and of the US.  I am happy to be home now but will always remember my AMAZING semerster in London <3

Royal Wedding Madness

Camping

So we decided to camp out. It was worth it in the end. but seemed like a bad idea at 3 am when we were freezing. I got to our campsite around 7 pm on Thursday after I got out of class. Luckily 2 of my friends were there at 4 and got a front row spot across from Horse Guard's Parade. There ended up being a group of 8 of us which was good since we needed each other for warmth. The groups on either side of us were Americans who came the whole way to London just for the wedding... now that is crazy. We got interviewed by a British tv station at one point which was awkward but we went with it. We talked and then tried to sleep but the ground was hard and did I mention it was freezing. We had blankets, coats, sweatshirts, and everything, but it was probably the coldest night of the month so far. We woke up around 5 am, looking super rough, as anyone would after the night we had. More people started showing up and invading our space around 6. People were extremly pushy but we pushed right back. We did not camp out for the night to have newcomers take our spots.

Harry and Wills



Kate and her daddy



The Queen

 We had to wait for another 3 and 1/2 hours before anything happened and were kinda cranky at this point but the closer the time got the more excited we got, even if it was still really cold. The marching band came throught a little after 9 which cheered everyone up and got things moving. It was packed. There were thousands of people everywhere, all decked out in their British gear, it was incredible. At 10:10 prince William and my future husband prince Harry came through. They were waving, William looking nervous and Harry looking as happy as could be. I tried to get as many pictures as possible, but given the circumstances, that was easier said then done. Then there were buses and cars of lesser royals, VIPs, other family members, and important foreign leaders. Kate's mom and brother came next but they were hard to see. Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice and Eugenia came next but they were hard to differentiate from the group. Camilla and Prince Charles followed them but they were also hard to see but also unimportant because honestly, no one likes them anyway. The Queen and Prince Phillip followed. The Queen looked adorable in her yellow dress and hat. I adore her. Finally came Kate and her father. She looked beautiful as she passed but also really nervous. The crowds cheered hard for her and cameras went crazy.

Wills and Kate

HARRY

The Queen and Phil

Parents of the Bride, father of the groom, and Camy

P

 We couldn't see the wedding because there were no screens along the parade route but we were able to hear it on loud speakers. Not being able to see it was worth it because we saw them in person in a way few others did. We listened to the ceremony and sang along, cheering at some parts. Once the ceremony was over we patiently waited for their returns in the carriage. A large procession of horses came first and then Wills and Kate came next looking like a beautiful newly wed couple. This moment made everything up to this point worth it. Harry was in the second carriage with all of the little kids that were in the wedding party. It was soooo cute. Another carriage with more of the wedding party and then more horses and next came the Queen and Phil came next, looking adorable again and Camilla and Chuck followed with the Middletons and rest of the royals. Once they passed we tried to go to Buckingham to see the kiss on the balcony but it was insane and we could not even get close so after 1 we finally were able to make it home. A lot of people could care less about the royal wedding and think it doesn't matter, but that experience today was amazing and it is amazing to know I was a part of history. I got to be there for the wedding of the future King and Queen of the UK and that is sooo cool.

London in the Spring

London has been beautiful so far in April.  I love sitting in the park and people watching.  It has been so amazing.

The past few weeks have flown by, actually the whole semester has flown by and now I am down to less than 2 weeks and I have very mixed feelings.  I am happy to be going home.  I know it sounds crazy, but I need a break from all the craziness that this semester has brought.  I am also sad to be going home and leaving London because who knows when I will be back.  I really do love this city.

Legally Blonde Cocktails

FDR and Churchill

Peter Pan

Fish eating my feet

My weeks have been pretty busy with class and papers, but my weekends have been a lot of fun.  Now I am cramming them with all the things I want to do before I leave.  I saw Legally Blonde the musical which was amazing.  It was probably one of the best shows I have ever seen.  Afterwards we got Legally Blonde cocktails from the bar across the street and they were delicious.  The next day I went with a friend to Hyde Park and Kennsington Gardens and found the Peter Pan statue I have been looking for and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain which was cool except people were letting their kids swim in it, which is rude.  I also found the "Allies" statue which is FDR and Churchill on a bench with room for me in between.  We talked about this in my history class so I was glad I found it.  We finished the day by going to Camden market and getting a fish pedicure.  We stuck our feet into a tank of water with lots of little toothless fish which sucked and ate the dead skin off.  It tickeled, but was a unique experience.  I probably would not do it again, but am glad I tried it. 

Hampton Court Palace

I went to Hampton Court Palace which belonged to the Tudors.  It was a neat palace but at this point all the palaces are starting to look the same.  The only unique things was there were a lot of deer antlers on the walls which made me think of Pennsylvania.  The gardens at Hampton Court were absolutly beautiful however and I could have sat in them and read forever.  We took a 3 hour boat ride back to London which was cool, but also very relaxing. 

I spent more time at the park this weekend which was nice like always although I did get kicked in the head with a soccer ball.  Friday I had Easter tea at Kennsington with some of my friends.  (Kennsington will be where Kate and Prince William live after the wedding).  The tea sandwiches and desserts were good but the scones were amazing.  I love having tea; I really should do it more often.



Saw Ride




Samurai

 Today I went to Thorpe Park which is a thrill ride amusement park outside of London.  They had a Saw (like the movie) rollercoaster.  It was amazing.  They also usually have a live action Saw maze, but it was closed and I was bummed about that.  Thorpe had lots of really cool rollarcoasters and spinny, upside-down rides.  I had a lot of fun, although when we were on the log flume ride, it broke and we had to get evacuated off.  Never had that happen before.  It really was a great day and I finally got some color on my skin, although right now I am more burnt than tan, but it will get there.





This week is another busy one with papers and then finals are next week.  I hate trying to balance school work with final London exploration, but gotta do what I gotta do.

Paris the Second Time Around

Monet's Gardens

Paris the second time around was pretty fun. We took a 7 hour bus ride there that was rough, but the weather once we got to Paris was worth it. Friday we went to Vernon to Monet's house. I am not into art all that much, but his gardens were absolutly gorgeous. Once we were back in Paris, we went to check in which is easier said then done since the manager only spoke French and we didn't speak any French. We had amazing crepes for dinner by the Eiffel Tower and walked around to look at the beautiful lights. The Eiffel Tower at night might be my favorite thing to do in Paris.

Space Mountain

Saturday we went to Disneyland Paris. It was no Disney World, but it was still a lot of fun. A lot of the main rides like Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and the Rockin Rollercoaster were pretty similar and there were some other new rides as well. It was a really long day, trying to cram both parks into the time we had, but totally worth it. My only issue is that they call Chip and Dale, Tic and Tac which I think is a little wierd. Overall it was a really cool experience.

Sunday we did a lot of shopping and explored new parts of Paris. We didn't do anything real touristy, just wondered around. The weather again was warm and sunny which makes Paris beautiful with all of the many flowers. Paris is an amazing city and I would love to make it back someday.

Paris the first time

The Grand Arch

Versaille

Paris is beautiful! I honestly was not so sure that I would like it at first because I heard bad things about the city and the French in general, but I loved it. This trip was with the school, so it was a little bit different than all of my other trips because we had a planned schedule for a lot of the time. Friday we went to see the Grand Arch which is a giganitc building that was built in honor of the bicentennial of the French Revolution. It was very impressive. We also went to see the church that houses Napleon's tomb, also very impressive. The chuch is there almost solely for the purpose of housing Napoleon and a handful of other famous French dead people. The tomb was the inspiration to Grant's tomb in the US. We saw other various places during the day and ended in a museum before we got free time. The museum we finished at was near the Eiffel Tower so after taking 100 pictures of it, we went up in it. I was slightly scared of the height and the elevator made me a little nervous. First you stop at the second level, which gives you a nice view and has a cafe and stores on it, then you go up to the top. There are signs around the top that tell you in what directions different countries are and how far. I thought that was kinda cool. It was really windy at the top. I was hoping to see a couple get engaged, but that did not happen. Regardless, it was a really beautiful view and a really neat experience. Once we got back to the ground we went for dinner, which was good except my steak ended up being so raw it was practically still mooing. After dinner we went back over and sat on the stairs by the Eiffel Tower. It was beautiful, but really cold.

Saturday we went to the Latin Quarter of the city where many of the universities and college students are found. We walked over to Notre Dame which was really pretty and cool to see, even if there was no hunchback. The trip guides took us for ice cream, which is supposedly the best ice cream in Paris and it just might be. The sun was shining this day and it was so nice out. After walking through Notre Dame we walked over to the Louvre which was also pretty cool. The museum is gigantic and we spent an hour and a half in it and only saw a few of the painting and sculptures, one of them being of course the Mona Lisa. Maybe I just don't understand art, but I don't see what the big deal about that painting is. We walked around and did some shopping and then again went to the Eiffel Tower once it got dark. It's so beautiful, I just couldn't get enough of it. We sat there for hours and talked.

Pompidiu Center

Jim Morrison's Grave

Sunday we got to see a few more random places as well as the the Pere Lachaise which is a big cemetary with a lot of famous dead people it it. It was huge and slightly creepy. We also saw the pompidiu center which is a very interesting modern building and a big tourist attraction. Paris was amazing and I am looking forward to going again this weekend to go to Euro Disney!

Remember the Time Spring Break was Epic

Me with a guard in front of parilament

Me and Jenn in front of the Parthenon

Group pic on the ferry

Church in Aegina

Spring Break was incredible and extremly exhausting all at the same time. Friday we got up early to fly to Athens, Greece. Greece was amazing, it took about 5 seconds for me to fall in love with it. We stayed in Greece for about 3 days and tried to do and see as much as we could. We saw a lot of the ancient Greek ruins and climbed to the top of the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. This was absolutly beautiful and incredible given that the ruins are thousands of years old. We also saw the 1884 and the 2004 Olympic Stadiums. I am sure both were grand in their time but now they were kind of empty and sad, especially the 2004 complex. One day while we were there, we took a ferry to the island Aegina, it wasn't as magnificent as I am sure Santorini is, but it was pretty and we had a relaxing day. It was nice to see the beach again. The food in Greece was amazing as well. I had gyros, mousaka, greek yogurt, and other various dishes that I am unsure of the contents, but it was all really really good. I also tried Ouzu which is a greek alcohol that had 38% alcohol, it was nasty. We were busy, but still made time for shopping. I got lots of souveniers and one of the shop keepers told me I looked Greek so he gave me a luck Greek penny. Greece is incredible and I recommend that everyone get there at some point.

In front of the Trevi

At the Coloseum

At the mouth of truth, it was supposed to bite my hand off if I was lying

Next we flew to Rome, also an amazing city. Rome was the scene for most of our stories, although interestingly it was the only city that I did not fall in. We ate gelato on the Spanish steps and made wishes in the Trevi fountain and of course saw the famous Coloseum. It was raining the day we went to the Coloseum, but it was still really cool. There are also tons of ruins all over the city, the Forum which is the old center of Rome, old temples, tombs, and building remains. It was crazy to think about how old a lot of the things were and how important a lot of it was to one of the greatest empires of all time. The food here was also fantastic, the pasta amazing, the pizza fabulous and incredible gelato. Me and one of my friends actually ordered gelato in a bar and it was the most amazing thing ever, unfortunately little did we know that our gelato, a diet soda, and an iced tea would cost us 30 euros which converts to about $42. It was served on a silver platter, as it should have been. We were so shocked that we only found it funny. Here I tried lemoncello which is one of Italy's famous alcohols. Most of the time there the weather was nice, but the one day it rained, it poured. We were soaked. I kept wringing out my shirt and my shoes were soaked through so much that my skin was soggy. What made it worse was this was the evening we were taking a train to Venice so we couldn't change. The train was supercheap, super dirty and super sketchy. It was freezing all night and the bathroom was one of the nastiest things I have ever seen. I guess that is what it is like for college students backpacking through Europe, but never again!

Venice



Venice



Juliet Statue

We ended up getting into Venice a little after 5 am, the issue being we couldn't get into our hostel and nothing was open til 7. We walked around until we could put our luggage in the luggage room and then had breakfast. We explored Venice until we could check into our rooms and shower our nap. It was one of the best naps of my life. Venice was beautiful. We went to a gondala and explored the city and did A LOT of shopping. The canals were so pretty. We also again had amazing food. The Tiramisu and chicken parm were fabulous. The one day we were there we took a train to Verona to see the Romeo and Juliet balcony. Verona was also beautiful. We toured the Juliet house and emailed her letters. Again like every other city we ate and shopped. It was a perfect day. Our final day back in Venice was more exploring and more shopping. It was a great end to an amazing spring break. Italy is a place everyone should visit.

Operation MK2H

St. Paul's Cathedral

This week was crazy busy.  It seems that everyone is under the impression that my semester is all play and no work, but this week proves that my time here is no such thing.  Even though, I technicaly am only in class three days a week, this week felt like it was never going to end.  Multiple papers, a 20 minute presentation, and lots and lots of reading kept me from doing much sleeping.  And yes I did procrastinate on the papers, but I can't help it, after 20 years its hard to kick the old habits.  To make things more fun, the wifi in our apartment is horrible and we lost it the night I had to write my forensic paper.  Thats okay, I'm young, I don't need sleep. Tuesday we went on a tour of the area around St. Paul's Cathedral for my architecture class.  We didn't go in because it was expensive, so hopefully I will get to go in sometime.  It was such an impressive building and the design is so beautiful.  The other churches in the area are pretty impressive as well, 58 churches besides the Cathedral were rebuilt after the great fire of London in 1666 destroyed the whole city.  The area of St. Paul's Cathedral is part of the actual city of London which is only 1 square mile.  Finally Thursday, the week got better.  For my Soc of sports class we toured Arsenal's stadium.  It was huge and really fancy.  I guess its comparable to pro football stadiums in the states.  Just like at Wimbledon, they spend so much effort and money on their grass, keeping it perfect.  The cool thing about the stadium is that it is a working stadium and so they hold tons of functions during the week, including weddings.  Imagine getting married at a soccer stadium, can't quite imagine why anybody would want to.  After that tour, I took the underground across London to where the Tower of London is for the Jack the Ripper walking tour.  It was really cold and I was exhausted from sleeping for two hours the night before, but it was still neat.  We were shown the areas where the bodies were found and important locations where some of the events took place.  Jack the Ripper only killed prostitutes so we were shown where the prostitutes hung out and the places they stayed.  Clearly there was not much to see now since things have changed in the more than 100 years since the murders, but me being me still enjoyed it. 

Oldest Tower



Queen Mary's Doll house



Friday was the school trip to Windsor Castle.  Windsor castle is the Queen's weekend home, where she usually spends her Fridays through Mondays.  This trip finally happened on a nice sunny day which was a nice change of pace.  The operation I planned out with my friends was to find prince Harry to marry him so I can be a princess, which I titled operation MK2H (marry Kari to Harry).  The plan didn't work out the way I wanted it too. We went on a tour of the grounds, first seeing the changing of the guards.  Then we got to go on a tour of the state rooms.  We started in the room where the Queen's doll house was from when she was a little girl.  The doll house is multiple stories, has scaled detailed furniture, electricity, running cold and hot water and flushing toilets.  It was incredible.  We then walked through the different state rooms, some of which are used now for tourists, the drawing room, ballrooms, bedrooms, etc.  The artwork, decorations, and paintings were magnificent.  We also got to walk through some of the rooms that are still used today to entertain important visitors such as a dining room, ballroom, and sitting rooms.  I wish we were able to take pictures, but we were not allowed.  Once we finished the tour of the castle we walked over to the cathedral where King Henry viii and various other kings and queens are buried.  This building was also extravagent.  To finish up our Windor tour we took a group picture with the guard, it was kind of awkward but well worth it.  There is a little town around the castle where we went for lunch.  The cafe we ate at was really good.  We wondered around the town and ended up in various candy and chocolate stores.  I bought chocolate pasta in the one which should be interesting to try. 

Saturday we went to Camden Market again.  I bought a bejeweled British flag iphone case which I am really upset to find out doesn't actually fit my phone.  I also bought a painting of Big Ben that I am really excited about.  The markets always have great food and really intersting stuff to look at.  It was another nice day which made the whole day a lot more fun.

This week is midterm week which will make it rough, but this time next week I will be in Athens! So excited!!!