Sights and Sounds

Three weeks and.....still bed bugs. My room has been treated twice to no avail, and they refuse to remove me from it. I'm glad they're so concerned with my health and well-being. Ugh.

Guinness Storehouse

So as not to bore you with my woes, I'll tell you about my trip to Ireland! I went with my friend Grace, just the two of us, which was awesome because we could go do whatever we wanted without having to convince an entire group of people that it was a good idea. We arrived on Thursday morning and left Monday morning - a nice, long weekend. We did Dublin, Cork, and Blarney. We saw three really cheap movies. We dressed up as Vikings and drank a lot of Guinness. We kissed the Blarney Stone! And climbed all over several castles. There was a lot of bangers and mash, a lot of sheep, and a lot of very friendly people. And yes, it was quite green. Surprisingly, there is also a lot of good shopping to be done in Dublin, so, needless to say, I spent a lot of money on absolutely indispensable items. It was an amazing trip, and we successfully traveled between the two countries without mishap. I feel so...old.

Bath Abbey

Two weeks ago, I re-visited Bath to see Deirdre! I went for the first time the weekend before Ireland with the IFSA program. We saw the Baths, wandered around the Abbey, and ate a few pasties. I saw a lot more of the city with Dee the second time around. We got Ben's cookies and tea, laughed at the silliness of the Occupy Bath movement, and passed by the very creepy Jane Austen statue. It was a gorgeous weekend - sunny, and not too cold. Dee's flatmates are also lovely. They were fun and friendly and wonderful. Just like my Dee! It was good to see a familiar face.

I was SUPPOSED to go down to Dover this weekend to see the castle and tour a brewery, I believe. I woke up yesterday morning with a killer headache (no, not a hangover). I got up and started to get ready and everything, but it quickly turned into a migraine and I was instantly incapacitated. The lights in my room were too much, the sirens outside sounded like they were in my head, and I felt all nauseous and migrainey. Not fun. I went back to bed and missed the trip, which sucked, but I feel much better now. Conveniently enough, a few of the people I was supposed to go with also didn't end up going for a variety of reasons including sickness, loud flatmates keeping them up all night, and a trauma involving stolen mustard.

Sometime within the last three weeks, I woke up one morning and realized that I'm running out of time! There's so much of London I haven't done yet, and probably tons I haven't thought to get done. I made a list, as a result, of all the things I need to accomplish before December 18th. I love lists. I've been chopping away at this one slowly.

I'm a witch.

I've been through Hyde Park to see the Peter Pan statue and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. We're going back soon for the Winter Wonderland carnival/festival they do there. I've been through Harrod's, which was huge and overwhelming and had the coolest stuff, including a TON of Harry Potter memorabilia. So obviously, I nerded out. Everything was outrageously expensive and all that, but it was fun to pretend I could ever ever afford any of it. We went to King's Cross and found Platform 9 3/4 to pose with the trolley they've welded onto the wall. Very cute. The Victoria and Albert museum is like...all over the place. There isn't really a theme, they have a bit of everything, but it's like a giant maze of pretty things sort of like the Met. Last time I went, I didn't nearly have enough time to see everything I wanted to, so I'll have to go back. Woo! Still lots to go, but I'm working on it.

Believe it or not, I've also been doing a good amount of homework recently. Four of my papers aren't even due until mid-January and they can be submitted online, but I really don't want to think about them over break. So I'm gonna try to get them done before I head back to the States. I'm halfway through one, doing research for two and...contemplating the other. And then I have a portfolio and a presentation due for my internship class before I leave, but it's pretty silly and straightforward, so that shouldn't be a problem. Sigh. The scary thing is that I have four weeks left, knowing myself, if I don't get stuff done now, my last week in London will be hell. Nobody wants that!

It's scary to think that everything's flying by the way it is. Sometimes I feel like I've barely been here, and sometimes I can't believe I'm not home yet. That's how these things are, I suppose. At any rate, I miss everyone back home unbelievable amounts!

Hyde Park

LOVE LOVE LOVE!
xox