The Woes and Wonders of Traveling

I’ve neglected for some time now a request from a friend to talk about managing certain aspects of studying abroad.  So here I go, but I’d like to preempt this by saying that I am by no means an expert (I mean my flight to London was my second flight ever). If you're not studying abroad in the near future or don't care for my opinion you've really no reason to read this post. Later this week I'm going to talk about some fun things I've been up to, like getting lost in the magical world of Harrods, so check back!

Mobile Phones, ah how we can’t leave without them.

There are basically two options when studying abroad. 

1)You can get a cheap basic phone and a pay-as-you-go plan that will give you a certain amount of minutes and text message and possibly data.  When your money runs out because you’ve exceeded your allotted amount you have to top up on your plan.  This is what I did, and since I had the phone my sister used when she was here it only costs £20 and I have yet to top up.  People who didn’t have a phone paid £2 for a phone and then £20 to get unlimited text and minutes are 5p a minute.  To be honest, I rarely use my phone here, it’s not like I have people to call or text, and so an elaborate phone plan isn’t really necessary. 

2)You can unlock the phone you have and then still get a pay-as-you-go plan but you’ll be able to put the sim card in your current phone.  To unlock a phone you need to contact your network provided and they tell you how to do it, but it can take a while.  Also, iPhone’s are the hardest to unlock so I’ve heard. 

It’s also really nice that in England at least they have phone stores that carry all the networks so you can compare and pick a network all in one place!

Travelling the World

Making travel plans is stressful. Period. My first piece of advice is not to make any travel plans until after you get to wherever you’re studying abroad. Unless there is somewhere you absolutely want to go at a specific time.  I know people who made plans before coming to London and then regretted it because they missed out on certain opportunities.  Next, figure out where you want to go and do some research.  Find out what it is you want to see and how much time you’d like to spend somewhere, the cheapest was to get there, etc.  EasyJet and RyanAir are inexpensive airlines. Just be careful because the airports they use are often about an hour outside the city, so it might be cheaper to fly a different airline and land closer to the city. Personally I think it best to plan just about the whole trip or at least have a general idea of what you want to do before you book anything. You don’t wan to be locked into anything.  Rick Steve’s guides are really nice for figuring out things to do in cities, and his website has a lot of information as well.  Look into guided tours as well, the Wales trip I did was an International Friends tour. Some are really good tours and others not so much.  It can be a little ambiguous too about what's included in the tour price.  For instance I assumed entrance to the castle and abbey I saw last weekend was included in the tour price, however it wasn't.  It was only a few pounds entrance, but still. Just do your research before making definite plans. 

Where to Sleep, where to sleep

HostelBookers and HostelWorld are two good sites for finding hostels. Hostels are cheap but some cities are just more expensive than others.  READ THE REVIEWS. And if the hostel doesn’t have a rating higher than 70% I would not stay there, personally.  Check what their check-in times are, if they provide linens, and have lockers to put your luggage in.  Also, check the location, you don’t want to end up in the ghetto or an hour away from the place you’re visiting.  Common products we take for grant it, like soap, may be missing.  I learned that this weekend, that in Wales they like bar soap, which personally I am not about to use in a public restroom or at a hostel.  But lucky for me my friend who I was travelling with studied abroad in Spain last year and knows the ropes so she brought a little thing of liquid hand soap.  My other friend brought Lysol and used it to spray the bedspread and sheets in the hostel.  The hostel was by no means dirty but it wasn’t a five star hotel either and it made us all feel better because everyone is terrified of getting bed bugs.

Once you figure out how you’re getting to a place and the general idea of what you want to do and where you are staying you can start to really look in to how you’re going to spend your days.  I recommend getting a map of wherever you’re going so you don’t end up extremely lost.  Also, learn some basic phrases in the native language. I have friends who went to Oktoberfest and didn’t bother to look up any German; it took them 30 minutes to find a bathroom (And it's also just rude not to try to communicate in the native language).  As well, some places you want to go might require you to reserve a ticket a month or more in advance so look into things like that and then enjoy your trip!

I hope this was somewhat helpful!

A Welsh Weekend

{Chepstow Castle}

This weekend was very fun; I got to experience a lot of natural beauty in the south of Wales. Now, I’m a city girl, I absolutely love going to school in Philadelphia and now London; cities have so much to offer and I’m glad I get to live in one while at university and young.  However, I love the country and am going to live in a more rural area probably for the majority of my life.  So, seeing the countryside this weekend was wonderful, I’ve definitely come to fall in love with the countryside in England and Wales.

{A wall that is a part of the castle}

 I was in the Wye valley of Wales this weekend, and our first stop was the castle of Chepstow.  It was so much fun running around the castle discovering little nooks and crannies and hidden doorways.  J.K.Rowling lived in a town very close to Chepstow as a teenager and had to walk through the town to get to her school. Two of the streets are said to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley. I love Harry Potter and loved this fun fact, and that I ate lunch on the street.  I had a traditional welsh meal for lunch, lamb cawl, which was kind of like a lamb stew and delicious. 

{Small portion of the castle}

{Diagon Alley inspiration!}

Next was Tintern, known for their ruined abbey.  The abbey was gorgeous and we also walked up a hill to a small deserted church where the builders of the abbey worshipped.  It’s known for black magic being performed there and there was a very pretty view of the valley form up there. 

{Tintern Abbey}

{Inside of the deserted Church}

Hay-on-Wye was a little town known as the “town of books” because of all their secondhand bookshops.  It was very cute, but not much to do there.  Or in the part of Wales we were in, in general, but it was gorgeous.

{Adorable decorations outside a bookshop}

Our hostel was actually very nice and I’m pleased to say I survived my first hostel experience.  The best part of the trip was horseback riding through the Brecon Beacons National Park. Unfortunately I couldn’t take pictures while horseback riding, because it would have been dangerous.  But believe me when I say it was breath-taking.  I rode a beautiful brown horse named Rain.  We rode for three hours thorugh the valley and then up one of the mountains and back down.  It was actually rather dangerous I thought, because we were going through mud, grass, streams with slippery rocks, tiny mud trails next to cliffs, cement, and cars at one point. Oh, and wild sheep.  If I had a pound for every sheep I saw this weekend, I would be rich.  It was a wonderful experience, albeit we are all very sore from it. 

{The end when we got back to the stables; we were both exhausted}

{The national park we rode through}

P.S. A friend asked me to write specifically about travelling while abroad and things like getting a phone and such.  Now that I’ve been to another country and have some experience I can give some advice. But I’ll write in depth about that later this week.

Change in Seasons

{Every girl wants to be a princess}

A week ago there was a heat wave in London and it was in the low 80s for five days and beautiful outside. Everyone said it was extremely unusual and they were making up for the summer they didn’t have. It was fortunate though because there was a Disney Princess Parade in Kensington Gardens to induct Rapunzel into the Disney Princesses.  Obviously, I put it at the top of my priority list to attend.  It was a lovely few days but alas, it has cool down considerably here to the point of whipping out gloves.  Walking around London as the leaves change and crunch under my feet and stores put out Halloween decorations and the winds blows by I’m reminded of all the things I love about Autumn and this month.  This change in season is much needed and I can’t wait to bundle up in wool coats, scarves and mittens for a British Fall. 

I’m off to the Welsh mountains this weekend to visit old castles, ruins and go horseback riding in a beautiful national park there; I’m beyond excited.  Happy weekend everyone!

{Fatherly love}

{Buzz lightyear to the rescue}

{Snow White}

{Cinderella}

{Ariel}

{Belle-I was furious I didn't get a better picture of my favorite Disney Princess}

{Jasmine}

{Mulan and Pocahantas}

{Anyone else think this a little racist of Disney?}

{Tiana}

{And finally.. Rapunzel}

{Little Princesses everywhere}

{The day was so full of youth and innocence, it made me wan to be seven again}

P.s. I just realized I had uploaded the wrong video of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. I fixed it, so have a look now!

Food, Society and Culture in Britain

{Sacks of rice at an Indian Food Store in Southall}

This is actually the name of one of my courses here in London.  I am so pleased that I took this class because I have learned so much about different kinds of food in general, and more specifically how they are related to Britain.  Contrary to popular belief, Britain does have a cuisine and it is actually quite good.  Britain is very multicultural, or as the response paper I just wrote for my class details, it has a new culture that has absorbed and adapted certain aspects from a wide variety or cultures.  Therein, it is not multicultural but has one newly developed culture (if you really want to read my 1500 word paper, you’re more than welcome to).  Anywho, last week we travelled to Southall and had a walking tour lead by Monisha Bharadwaj.  She’s a very successful cook, author, and she’s judged iron chef America.  Southall is comprised of people with North Indian origins, and makes you feel like you’re walking the streets of a town in India.  Apparently, it also has one of the highest populations of Porsche cars in London; the people of Southall have a very good work ethic.  I had my first Indian meal there, lamb curry with bread and lassi from a Punjabee restaurant. Delicious.

{Lentils at the Indian Food Store}

A few weeks ago we had Tom Badcock come in and we spent three hours learning about and tasting cheese.  I never realized how much there was to cheese; we should all be eating the rind actually.  Everyone should support local artisan cheese makers as well, because people in white lab coats (yes, I know that’s me sometimes) are restricting cheese production way too much and really ruining the art of cheese making.  The field is suffering and it’s shameful.  Cheese is the oldest food in this world and there’s no need to stop its production.  Did you know cheese made from unpasteurized milk is actually healthier?

Today we went on a walking tour around the South Bank of London learning foodie facts and we ended up at the Borough Market.  I went there my third day in London and posted pictures around that time. I love the Borough Market; I was a little disappointed today though because some of the stalls I wanted to go to weren’t there.  I think this is because it is a Thursday and not as busy as Saturdays. I did get some buffalo mozzarella though and a cornish pasty.

But yesterday was by far my favorite class.  We all split up into teams of two and went to different food stores.  Brianna and I got to go to the Whole Foods on Kensington High Street.  This is their flagship store in London, and I think the only one.  I kid you not when I say it was BEAUTIFUL to the point of tears.  They have a climate controlled cheese room and an escalator for your shopping cart.  I was so incredibly impressed by the store’s appearance, food, quality, and knowledgeable staff.  We had to answer about ten questions about the store for our assignment and we ended up talking to the people behind the fish, meat, and prepared food counters among other staff members.  How knowledgeable they all were on where the food comes from, why it comes from there, the standards Whole Foods has, and what they’re doing to make farms improve just blew me out of the water.  The fish counter has a rating of how sustainable each fish is and all of the products are labeled accordingly.  They only had one fish that was the worst sustainability, whole octopus, which is not sustainable because fishermen basically just use a big net to catch the fish.  They end up catching lots of fish in the nets that they don’t want and discarding it.  But instead of not buying from this distributor anymore and letting them continue fishing this way, Whole Foods buys from them, giving them business and told them that they have one year to change the way they fish or they will no longer work with them. How fantastic is Whole Foods? Not only are they providing people with good quality local food, but they are also promoting change and awareness throughout the world. And the guy working behind the counter told us all of this; the guy at the meat counter knew even more about the farms they were getting the meat from.  Brianna and I have absolutely no problem endorsing Whole Foods for as long as they stay like this, I could go on raving about the store, but I'll spare you.  We are going back and buying food regardless of how expensive it is, and we’re getting a shopping cart so we can use the shopping cart escalator.

Lastly, I would like to end this by saying how saddened I was to find that Steve Jobs had passed away last night.  He was an incredible visionary and I love the things he did for this world.  It makes me happy to think that I have read about his life and passing on a machine that he invented. May he rest in peace.

Tony Bennett and My Girls

I just stumbled upon this lovely version of "The Lady is a Tramp" while in the midst of writing four papers for class. I absolutely love Lady Gaga and I think this shows her in her best.

And if your poor soul has not seen Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse's amazing duet yet, then you must watch this video as well.

The Changing of the Guard

{Crazy tourists along part of the fence}

          Firstly, I’d like to apologize for my lack of posts recently.  Lots of schoolwork has been preventing me from going out and enjoying the city. However, I successfully did no work this weekend, which I am paying for now, but I did get to do some other fun stuff!

          I successfully saw the Changing of the Guard on Friday morning and it was very cool.  I met a sweet family from New York visiting for the week while we waited for the ceremony.  Just about all the tourists of London were gather outside Buckingham Palace calmly waiting and then they went crazy.  Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I know what it feels like to be molested now, because as soon as the band marched down the street and in front of where my friend I were standing everyone else ran up behind us and smushed us.  One man clearly doesn’t know about personal space because I’m pretty sure the last time I was that close to a boy was because I was kissing one.  He should have just got there at 10:30 like the rest of us smart people.  But I did get cool pictures and saw it up close. I just felt bad for the family next to me because the mom was freaking out and rightfully so that her two little kids were going to get lost among the crazy tourists.  So, if you’re going to see this ceremony get there by 10:30, stand by the fence or on the memorial and if you don’t get there that early, leave.  Please follow that one piece of advice if nothing else when visiting London.

{Band marching in. Note the crazy tourist.}

{Yay for marching bands}

{Click to listen to a snippet of the band}

I will relay the rest of my weekend adventures over the next few days, cheers!

The Faith Machine

{The Faith Machine at the Royal Court}

I love all my classes here in London, but I am really enjoying my theatre class.  Tonight we went to our third show and saw “The Faith Machine” by Alexi Kaye Campbell at the Royal Court Theatre and it was AMAZING, completely brilliant.  I literally just got back from the show and it was by far my favorite play that we have read/seen/talked about so far. The Royal Court Theatre opened in 1955 and has been called the most important theatre in Europe because they are dedicated to showing new work by innovative writers from all over the world.  “The Faith Machine” is no exception; this is its first run with its last performance on Saturday.  The play challenges so many controversial issues of faith, religion, rights, and love.  It was relatively long (2hr 40min) with two 15-minute intermissions, and at each one my friend Chanté and I could not stop talking about the show.  I left the theatre just wanting to sit down and discuss everything it addresses (hence probably why I immediately wrote this post).  The show really gets you to think about what it is you believe in it and why you do.  It uses gay rights, Christianity and capitalism all worked into love to challenge you into answering why do you feel the way you do and what are you going to do about it? Because that defines who you are, and that’s the fundamental question. It discusses the evolution of our ideas and ideals, how we live in this world, should we give a damn about others or just try to make a living for ourselves? Why believe in one thing over the other, what pushes us to choose one over the other?  That makes us answer the fundamental question which shapes and changes this world we have to live in,

Who are you?

On a side note, today I have been here a month. A MONTH. I have mixed feelings about that, but I’m loving everything.