Long Day Ahead

This has been an absolutely incredible week in Paris. I’m so happy I stayed for the week and got to spend it with three great friends. Unfortunately though, all holidays must come to an end, and mine has.  Tomorrow I’m going to wake up in Paris, eat lunch in London, and go to bed in Pennsylvania. It’s going to be one long day.  As sad as I am to be leaving my European adventures behind, I’m excited to go home, see my family, and eat a turkey sandwich.  Next time I update you all I’ll be stateside! 

And I just happened to call my mom and find out that my absolute favorite ice cream place, Dairy Delite, is still open. That is rare, it usually closes a few weeks ago. I AM SO EXCITED FOR SOME CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM. I am obsessed with ice cream, especially from Dairy Delite, and that after a turkey sandwich from Thanksgiving leftovers could not be a better homecoming.  As delicious as the food is in Europe, I'm excited for some of my American favorites :)

Giving Thanks

I have been have so much fun abroad but one thing I do love about the states is Thanksgiving, not only for the amazing food my family makes, but also what the holiday represents.  This is the first time I’ll ever miss thanksgiving with my family and it’s quite sad.  Luckily I’ll be home in time for leftover turkey sandwiches.  Before I get home for that though, I’ll be spending this Thursday with my two best friends in Paris, who also happen to be missing the holiday this year.  Although we’re away from home it’ll still be nice to be together.  This year I’m am extremely grateful for being fortunate enough to have the wonderful experiences I am having abroad.  As always, I’m thankful for my wonderful friends and family.

{The two lovely ladies I get to spend Thanksgiving and the weekend with}

Dutch and Flemish

{Amsterdam}

At the end of my fall break I came back to London for a night, which was absolutely fantastic. I advise no one to ever travel for ten straights days hostel style, you miss comforts and home too much.  Although I meet a bunch of Australian boys in Florence who had been traveling for four months that way and they were doing alright.  But I came back for the night and then got up before the sun came up the next morning and caught a bus on a guided tour to Amsterdam. After something like eleven hours on a bus we made it to Amsterdam where they speak Dutch and English.

{Windmills outside of the city}

{Traditional wooden clogs}

 I had no idea that Amsterdam was built on so much water with canals running through the whole city.  We took a canal cruise of the city, and it is a gorgeous city. Later that night we walked through the red light district.  It was both very strange and at the same time not.  We then ventured to a bar where everyone was smoking cannabis, everyone.  The streets literally just smelled of it. It was amazing and unsettling how readily available lots of drugs are there.  The next day we went about twenty minutes outside the city to see windmills, Dutch clogs, and cheese. 

{My favorite little clogs}

{Just clogging in wooden shoes}

{Almond Blossom}

 The rest of the day was spent getting lost in the city, going to the Van Gogh Museum. My favorite Van Gogh piece, Almond Blossom, is there and it is absolutely beautiful in person. The colors are just gorgeous; I could have stared at it all day.  We then walked through Anne Frank’s house, a chilling experience, but one that left an impression.

{Traditional Dutch Pancake-yum}

{Brugge}

The next day on our drive back to London we stopped in Brugge, Belgium, where they speak Flemish and English.  Unfortunately we hit lots of traffic and did not have much time in the city.  The little bit that I saw was pretty.  We got lunch and had delicious moules-frites and I tried to get Belgian beer but our waiter was a jerk that was serving way too many tables and never brought me the menu.

{Moules-frites and no belgian beer :( }

To make up for it we went and got Belgian waffles after dinner and they were scrumptious. I love waffles and have been craving them so these hit the spot. We then proceed to drive home and I could not have been happier to get home.

{Waffels!}

{Delicious, no?}

I am so over guided tours, entry fees and things that seem like they should be included in the price aren’t.  Half the time you’re not with the tour so you have to figure things out for yourself even though you paid for a guided tour. Personally, I’m never doing one again and I advise others to carefully look into them before booking one. 

Bittersweet Farewells

{First night in London}

Today was my last day in London and I am extremely sad about it. Watching my flatmates pack and slowly remove things from our rooms was breaking my heart.  I have been extremely fortunate to have lived in South Kensington these past three months in a house with twelve lovely girls and a British RLS who's been more than helpful.  I have really enjoyed my time here and getting to know the city, it has been so fun running around exploring and being able to so easily go to other countries in between.  I will definitely miss the accessibility and diversity that Europe offers.  Although I am super sad to be leaving, I am excited to go home and enjoy some of the comforts that come with it.  I will be running into my friends' arms when I see them.  Before I leave though I am taking the Eurostar tomorrow with a friend to Paris.  I'll be staying for a week and will be shown the city by my two best friends who are studying there.  I will return to London for a little bit on the 28th as I am flying out of the city; I'm just glad that I'll get to see London one last time before I leave.  

{Running around those first days was the most fun}

{Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace}

{Buckingham Palace}

{Stonehenge with everyone}

{Love these girls}

{Fountain of Four Rives in Rome}

{Overlooking this magnificent city at St. Paul's}

London, I will miss you and I will be back someday soon.

Tourist Thursdays

{Westminster Abbey}

As we have limited time left in the brilliant city of London, we have been trying to do the last minute things and take full advantage of our days. Today my friend Katie and I were complete tourists and went to Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral.  Both were absolutely gorgeous. Westminster Abbey had a lot of chapels inside the church and tombs of past Kings, Queens, and influential people.  The audio guide was excellent and we got to see Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin’s tombs there.  The ceiling had these beautiful arches and it was magnificent.  

{Cloister in Westminster Abbey}

{Westminster Abbey}

However, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral afterwards and I personally liked it better.  The audio guide was an iPod so that was cool, except all the excerpts were too long and made me not want to listen to them.  Regardless the cathedral is classy and elegant adorned with beautiful chandeliers and magnificent mosaic ceiling pieces.  Also, in case you don’t know, the church is known for it’s central dome. Christopher Wren designed the church and it’s a dome and above that in a cone structure, another dome is formed.  The inside of the dome is painted in different shades of one color giving it the appearance of sculptures. 

{St. Paul's Cathedral}

 You can walk up to the dome, so Katie and I decided that we would absolutely do that, especially since we heard the view is amazing.  We climbed up about 200 spiraling never-ending stone steps to the Whispering Gallery, which gets its name from the fact that if two people are standing on opposite sides and whisper they can hear across the dome. After that we walked up about 100 more spiraling steps to the stone gallery, which leads outside. And let me just tell you I forgot how terrified I was of heights until I was at the top of this dome. When I got to the Whispering Gallery I was like alright, this is high but there’s a high railing so it’s okay.

{View from Stone Gallery}

But when we got up to the Stone Gallery I realized I might be peeing my pants if I went any higher, especially with Katie how might be more scared of heights. 

{Me on the Golden Gallery}

So we continued, and the steps turned into a tiny metal spiral ladder in a barren cone of a structure that lead to the Golden Gallery. That staircase I was not okay with. And then it turns into a tiny little passageway that no fat or tall person is fitting through, and then you get outside to the top.  In total we climbed 528 spiraling steps up to a terrifyingly high dome with a magnificent view.

{Views from the Golden Gallery}

  We were literally holding on to each other and the railing. When the wind picked up, it was not fun, but I am so happy we did it especially towards the end of the trip because we could pick out all of the building and stadiums. 

After our fun filled tourist afternoon climbing over 1000 steps we ventured downstairs to the crypt and then figured we earned our lunch so we came back and stuffed our faces.

That evening we proceeded to the Tower of London (I went there previously with Ali) for the Ceremony of the Keys.  Tickets are free but you need to write in for them 2-3 months in advance because it’s so popular. It takes place a little before 22:00 and it’s a tradition that has been performed every night for over 700 years to lock the gates of the tower.  The Royal Regiment and a few of the beefeaters at the tower were in the ceremony.  It lasted close to ten minutes but was very cool and slightly eerie since it was so late at night.  It was cool to be involved in a ceremony that has been going on for so long.  That’s one thing that Europe has over America, a long history and cool tradtitions that have stemmed from it.