Spring Break in Italy

It’s a very cold and rainy evening in London. I’m finally getting around to updating. Last week was really hectic with finals looming and excitement about spring break mounting. Once we got our exams and papers out of the way we were all set to go.

The week started in Venice. It was beautiful and I’m really glad I got to see it but I was happy that we only spent one day there. It’s a pretty inefficient city considering well, the streets are water. But it was really amazing. We explored the palace, the basillica, Piazza de San Marco and took a gondala ride. Unfortunately, we missed Carnivale by one day. It’s the big celebration before Lent. The city was really quiet when we visited and I have a feeling that has to do with some Italian sized hangovers.

Next was Florence. We had a great train ride down and after some passport-losing, McDonalds-stopping nonsense we were off. Our hostel turned out to be great. They had free breakfast and dinner, the room was clean, had a computer and nice bathroom. The first day we saw the Duomo, obviously had pizza and gelato, we saw the David which was incredible and shopped around at the leather market. That night we went to a cool place for dinner and drinks and then got some bottles of wine for our walk by the river. Florence was by far my favorite city. The next morning, we headed out in the pouring rain to Pontevecchio which is a really cool bridge with a ton of luxury shops built in. We did some shopping, headed over to the Palace and finally climbed the Duomo. It was a trek but the views from the top were unbelievable.

In the morning we took a train to Rome. Our first day was spent going to Vatican City. The Vatican Museum was really cool but we just wanted to get to the Sistine Chapel. Then we got to St. Peter’s Basillica and hung out in St. Peter’s Square. Sunday we did The Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and the Colleseum. Everything was amazing. We obviously punctuated all of our sightseeing with canolis, gelato and delicious pizzas, pasta and cappucino. It was a perfect week, except for Megan getting sick. But she was awesome and did everything in Rome. We’re trying to plan Berlin and Prague for Easter. We had a great time and am looking forward to doing more traveling.

This week I had class Monday and Tuesday. I’m taking London Urbanism and Architecture. We take field trips every class and I’m going to see a lot of really great things in London that I probably wouldn’t get to see on my own. It was really cold yesterday being outside but it was so worth it. Today, I had to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum for class and fill out some questions. Allie came with me and we ran through everything pretty quickly but I really want to go back there. Then we went down to meet one of her friends by Victoria and took a quick trip by Buckingham Palace. Then we got tea and scones which were so delicious and so perfect.

Tomorrow is the first day of my internship. I’m pretty nervous about getting started. But I am also excited. I’ll have to update more once that gets started. Talk to everyone soon.

Weekend in London

I just caught up on all of my friend's blogs about Madrid and let's just say it ... they kicked my ass. Now I have to try and redeem myself. Last week I feel like I was catching up on sleep from Madrid most of the time. We didn't have class Friday and it actually felt like a Saturday (bonus!) So we decided to do some actual tourist-y things. I guess we could get around to it about a month after we got here. Just wanted to check some stuff off the list. But like the terrible tourists we are, Westminster Abbey was closed and Oxford Circus was mobbed. This equals no fun. So since it was only 5:30 we decided to make our way down to Brick Lane for some authentic Indian food. We got a little lost but in the end we got a huge delicious meal and two free bottles of wine for a little more than ten pounds each. Mission accomplished. We decided to meet up with people to go to the Rocket which turned out to not be as much fun as last time and then we got dragged to a "house party" which was people hanging out on a rooftop. It was kind of a cool view but it was just too cold out.

Saturday, once we woke up and got ourselves together and headed to Borough Market. After some crazy lady in face paint tried to get us to the London Tombs we made it to the market. It was absolutely amazing. We did a lap to get an idea of everything that was there and were delighted by all of the free samples we could find. We've heard legendary tales about the grilled cheese sandwiches you have to get at Borough Market, so we switched our cheese radars on and located those bad boys. And legendary they were. Then we headed over to warm up with some delicious apple and pear cider and then finished the day with huge chocolate brownies. Ugh, heaven. We will be going back.

Later that afternoon we wanted to get tea at Kensington Palace but it closed at 5 and I was in a solid food coma until 8. So we got ready and headed out to do some clubbing but the night was pretty much a disaster. After getting ripped off and then touched by dirty foreign guys we had had enough. I don't think we'll be going out on Saturday nights too much anymore.

Having fun...

Not having fun ...

Sunday we were off to meet Allie and Reggie's friend John who goes to Cambridge. Well, actually he goes to MIT but he's studying for the year in Cambridge. You're right, he's really smart. Moving on, we should have known it wasn't going to be an awesome day when we found out you can't even get a train directly. So we had to get a train which had odd pressure changes - your ears pop every time you go under a tunnel - so painful. Then we had to get a bus. And a cab. He walked us through some of campus which was really pretty but it was freezing cold and raining so we weren't having too much fun. The grasses there are amazing, no one is allowed to walk on them. Ever. Evidently "pucking" is a famous thing they do there, it's basically taking a gondala that's a little flatter and rowing down a little river. It looked fun but again, it was so cold and rainy. We got lunch and hung out but there really wasn't much to do. It was a Sunday and things were closed. We didn't plan the day well so after watching a couple games of pool we were ready to go.

We got home a couple hours later. After refueling with some delicious guacamole and brie (we got five avocados at borough market for a pound - score!) We felt a little bit better. Some people stayed up to watch the superbowl but I passed out really early. Today I had class and then wrote some of my paper due Friday and had a marketing meeting. It's actually the most schoolwork I've done all semester so it felt like a lot. Everyone has papers and presentations this week, then finals Monday and Tuesday so we won't be doing much. Hope everyone at home is well, I miss you all.

Weekend In Spain

We just got back from Madrid at three in the morning! Our flight was delayed which was miserable but overall, I had a fantastic weekend. We saw Puerto Del Sol, had lunch and sangria in Plaza Mayor, saw Picasso and Dali masterpieces, ate authentic tapas and paella and talked to actual Spanish people. Madrid was great and I am happy to be back in London. As I walked to class this morning, I actually had missed my little city here. Here are some pictures of the highlights!