Experiencing Barcelona.

Tube. Bus. Plane. Train.  And I finally got there.  It was quite the process, especially when your as excited as I was!  Traveling alone wasn't scary at all, in fact I kind of liked it.  But it was nice when I got in line for my plane and spotted someone I knew who happened to also be meeting friends coming from Seville.  So upon arrival to the Barcelona airport, I had someone there to wait with and distract me from my excitement!

I spotted Meagan and Alex coming from the baggage claim and screamed and ran over to hug them!  It was so amazing to see them both!  New familiar faces :)  We made our way to the train to go to our hostel talking 100 miles a minute.  We got to our hostel which was way more like a hotel, really nice for the price and right on Passage de Gracia.  After we dropped our stuff off, we asked the hostel for a suggestion of a nearby bar we could grab a drink at and talk.  We ended up at a cute Mojito bar where we chatted and shared stories.  I also got to see my friends Spanish speaking skills at work when some people approached us and conversed with them in Spanish.  I was shocked how fluent they were!  I was also surprised that I could get little bits and pieces of the conversation, considering I haven't had Spanish in over 4 years.  

The next day we got up and headed to Las Rambas and the market.  We walked down the famous street past several Gaudi structures that were incredibly impressive, and made our way through the crowds to the market.  The market was the most colorful array of foods I've ever seen.  And the best was the bright, fresh fruit and juices!  After wandering through the colors and fresh (as in live!) fish, we bought some juice and fruit salads for lunch and made our way over to a sunny plaza to sit and eat in the Barcelona sunshine.  We enjoyed our fruit and listening to some outdoor piano music, it kind of reminded me of the plaza in Venice only much smaller.

Next we made our way down to the water, first the dock and boardwalk then the beach!  Both were absolutely beautiful and the water was bright blue.  We sat and watched the waves and boats until our appointment for the Arabic Bath Spa... yes the spa... thanks to Meagan's work at the company in Seville, we got two hours in the baths for free!  So we soaked in a jet pool, sea salt pool, hot pool, and an ice cold pool.  They had the best tea there I think I've ever had also!

After we finished, we went for a meal back by the beach.  We got the 3 course daily special.  So we got 3 appetizers to share and our main dish.  They brought out our appetizers, all looking delicious except the fried fish... which was full mini fish... you had to eat the whole thing... I did it though!  Then they brought out our payaya... which was good but I'm not really sure how I feel about so much sea food.  After our meal we went to see some of the boys from IU who were also in town.  We chilled with them for the evening and went to a little bar with really cool drinks, it was almost more of a entertaining show than just ordering drinks.

The next morning we woke up and did a little shopping until we got a hold of the boys so we could meet up and tour together.  We meet up at Gaudi's Park Guell.  This park is probably the coolest park I've ever been too.  It over looks the city, which is cool, but the best is the mosaic, marble design structures.  It also helped that the sun was bright and warm, I got a little sun burnt from it.  I don't think I can even attempt to describe this park so check out the pictures instead:

After the park we went for Tapas for some much needed food.  The owner was so excited that Americans were coming in, probably because they were trying to cheat the 10 of us, but luckily we had people who knew what they were doing while ordering and guided us through it.  After lunch we all walked down Las Rambas again to grab more juices!  And it was great, because there were more craft markets open on the street.

Next we all headed to Sagrada Familia, which is a church, also part of Gaudi's work, that was never completed.  It was a very interesting structure to see because the new part of the building (they were finishing it) was not like the old.  But the structure as a whole as incredible carvings that you stare and wonder how anyone completed it.

By now it was the later afternoon, so we walked to the beach and sat for a few minutes until we got far to cold since the sun was setting.  So we made the trip back to our hostel to pack and get ready for the evening.  We meet up with the other guys for (a late) dinner at a local sandwich place that is very popular among those living in Barcelona.  It was actually really good, kind of a Chipotle style but on bread instead of tortilla.  

After our filling dinner we went to a beer hall to hang out and wait until 1 am when the clubs open.  Yes 1 am.  I cannot handle that lifestyle: eating so late, staying up until the morning, and napping... not me at all!  But it was fun for one night!  The clubs are right on the beach, so after dancing all night we walked along the beach before heading back the the hostel.

Unfortunately, the Spanish lifestyle left me with exactly one and a half hours asleep for my travels back on Sunday, but the train plane bus tube cycle took me back to London :)

On my trip back to London, the bus passed a lot of famous areas in London, and I was suddenly struck with the fact that I am only here for another month.  What!  When did that happen?  I feel like there is so much of Europe that I still want to see on this trip and haven't; even a lot of London I still want to see and haven't.  So today I spent some time planning out the rest of my time- including traveling, homework, and sight seeing- making sure I'm making the most of every minute I have left in this fast pace place!

Hanging in Wales.

Lucy and I arrived at Cardiff, Wales Saturday around noon to stay the weekend. Why Wales? Well why not. I will never go to Wales if I don't go now. After all there is not too much to do there. Which we did discovered.

However, it was a great little get away.  Relaxing and chill, my roommate swears my face got tan... though I dont know how.  We lucked out with the weather though, it only rained a little Sunday morning.  Anyways, we arrived and had some great English pancakes (aka crepes) at a pancake house. Then walked through city center seeing the st David cathedral which was cool since Thursday was st Davids day (I saw it because Google changed it's homepage for it!). We also went into a little market place with lots of goodies.

It was about 1:30 so we set off to find our hostel across town. And yes it was all the way across town like 20 minutes, what a joke compared to London! We checked in and it was a nice and clean hostel.

Now that we had a place to store our bags, we walked to the bay to see the ocean, a main reason why we came! It was a good 40 minute walk but it was nice and warm and sunny. However of course as soon as we got there the clouds turned dark and rainy... Which lasted a whole five minutes.

We stood on the dock then walked pretty far down the bay until we found the park where we could sit right next to the water. Obviously I was happy even though it wasn't much, it was ocean :)

Once the extreme wind and cold got to us we walked back to warm up with a cappuccino at a cafe. Followed by a little shop with welsh cakes... If you don't know what welsh cakes are, they are basically fluffy cookies made on a flat top stove. They are amazing. I am totally finding the recipe and making them!

Since it was still light out we walked on back to City Center to check out the castle and park briefly before dinner.  The Castle was closed, but we heard it was a tourist trap anyway. Across from the Castle was a cute little Italian restaurant that we had dinner at with amazing pizza!  We took our time a dinner then headed back to the hostel.  We were back around 8:30 and decided to continue our relaxing with a night in, reading and writing.  I hadn't brought any homework so for 3  hours I sat, wrote, and read my sisterhood of the traveling pants book, guilt free until I fell asleep.

It was nice because no one was in our 12 person room until 5 dorm mates came in at 2... but they were quite entertaining to listen to so I didn't mind as much as I could have.  However, at 8 am another one who apparently never came home the night before came in and woke the whole room up telling everyone her story of the night...

That was actually good though because it got us up and moving... we left by 9:30, carrying our packs (looking like real backpackers!), we went to the national museum since it was raining.  It was cool, pretty similar to most... I'm getting quite tired of museums now a days, but it was a good way to spend the rainy morning.  By the time we left the sun was peaking out and it was lunch time.  We stopped an a little eatery that had a fantastic apple and walnut grilled cheese!  We ate so well in Wales, not necessarily Welsh food but we just did a great job picking restaurants!

After lunch we still had 3 hours so since the sun and blue skies reappeared we went back to the park by the castle and explored for a long time.  Watching the dogs run free and the birds fly around.  We had nothing else to do.  The castle is really neat, its just this massive structure in the middle of the city so its a pretty unique site, I really enjoyed starring at it for a while.

Once we were cold from being outside, we still had an hour so we went to a mall... yes a mall... but lets be real here what relaxing weekend does not include a trip to a mall.  It was weird walking into one, since I haven't been in a real mall since home.

The bus ride back was smooth, I stayed up to watch the scenery go by. Overall it was a very nice trip and I had a great time.  It was a nice change after over three straight great weekends in London.  Wales was a great start to my next weekends of travels, next weekend Barcelona and the following Brussels! For that reason I've been a little stressed with school and time. It's just a big push to perfect my time management skills! But last weekend I did do a little homework to get ahead.

Besides homework, last weekend I wondered around alone fora day... walking through Covent Garden where I saw a street performer and went to some markets.  It reminded me of one of my days in Boston where I say a street performer at the main market there.  They are always so entertaining to watch.  This one put himself through a tennis racket, while riding a 7 foot tall unicycle!  I also went to m&m world which reminded me so much of an over rated Disney store.

Last weekend I also had lunch with my dad's friend, Dag and his family at their house.  It was nice to be around some Americans that have lived in London for so long!  And then I walked around Hyde park because the weather was so nice!  I really hope that sticks around!

The past 3 weekends have honestly blended together because the weeks have been going so fast.  Between school and work it just flies!  Work has been much better, I've been getting actual client work and started to understand the agency as a whole better now; it makes the work day go much quicker. 

Anyways I have a short week ahead of me but boy is it full!  Its already March, and at this rate it will be April in no time at all.

Living in London.

Well if you read my last post you know this is the second of the two I'm posting today... the last one was a catch up of my trip to Ireland... so this one starts nearly 2 weeks ago...

... Which was a week of visits and birthdays!  It was a pretty exciting week that started with getting to see Lissa for dinner on  Monday!  She, Dean, Caitlin and I had dinner in the Piccadilly area for Lissa's last evening in London.  It was wonderful catching up and sharing stories from our study abroad experiences.  

The next night was Megan's Birthday, she was turning 21 so we went to a nice dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant followed by cute cocktail bar called Adventure.

It also was Lucy's 20th birthday that weekend, so the first thing we did in celebration was go to Singing in the Rain at Palace Theater.  It was a cute play!  The theater was neat too but terrifying because the balcony was a really steep angle.  But I loved the play anyways!  Especially when it actually rained on stage, wasn't expecting that!

The next night we continued Lucy's celebration by going on the Camden pub crawl!  It was really nice having a map of different pubs and bars all planned out, we got to see 5 in 5 hours!  But some of them I wish we could have stayed at longer.  I would definitely do something like that again!

The pub crawl was just part of my weekend of touring!  That weekend I was all over London, since it was my first weekend in London for the past few weeks.  I went to the Tate Modern Art museum, which was decent and worth going since its free, but compared to the one in Paris it was nothing.  But it also had a bit different of modern art, less abstract objects and a lot more abstract paintings/drawing/photographs, or 2D works.  

After the museum a few of us went for afternoon tea at that adorable tea shop I found by tower bridge.  Afternoon tea is absolutely amazing, with my sweet tooth it is the perfect early dinner! I got my favorite vanilla black tea and the afternoon tea included a scone, biscuit like cookie, brownies, lemon bars, homemade strawberry jam, this cream butter stuff, and finger sandwiches with salmon and cucumber... I bet your hungry now!

That weekend I also did some touring by myself in Kensington.  It was refreshing doing something completely on my own, deciding what I wanted to do, how long I would stay, and taking my own time.  Kind of reminded me of my touring time in Boston. When I first got off the tube I saw 3 museums all next to each other, the natural history one was the reason I came but the line was so long I decided to check out the Victoria and Albert first.  And I was so glad I did!  Its a fabulous museum, and not one that you think of right away and I don' understand why. It has a little bit of everything from clothing to sculptures to books to modern things... like an apple computer... that made me feel old, because I used the color one in school in 4th grade and thought they were the coolest things ever! 

I also checked out Harrods, which is definitely over rated but at the same time very impressive.  And looped back around to the natural history, which no longer had a line.  I walk in and thought I was in the Smithsonian at first.  Unfortunately that raised my expectations and this museum didn't even come close!  Don't get me wrong its a very good museum with nice exhibits, one was particular neat it was the development of the earth and how it changes form.  But overall it does not match up to the DC Smithsonian. 

I was kind of done with museums for awhile so I went home and ran into some people going to see Iron Lady at the movie theater to see if it would help learn about British politics for our class, so I figured why not it has Meryl Streep in it so it will be good.  It was actually really good, I don't know if it helped much with our class but did give some understanding to the parliamentary system.

Speaking of class... they're going well.  I obviously don't like my UK political science one since I don't like politics in the US but I'm getting through it.  I really like my two marketing classes though.  Its nice because one of my marketing courses is more about strategy and brand management while the other is more about consumer insights and segmentation so it is a good combination.  Its funny that we've already had 4 full weeks of classes, sometimes it feels like we just started.  But now we have papers and projects starting up.  One thing I'm really missing is my study places from IU.  I tried to study at a Starbucks here but is was a big fail... primarily because the internet didn't work.  But there really isn't any great and convenient places to do work that I've found yet.  

Work is also going alright.  While often I run out of work to do, the stuff I am working on is interesting.  I've gotten to do a lot of client research.  Both for target segments and digital media.  I've also gotten to work on some branding for Aqueduct.

But I often look forward to the weekends!  This weekend I was particularly looking forward to the day trip to Oxford.  It was sponsored by Arcadia so it was convenient and easy.  I boarded a bus at 9am and arrived in Oxford before 11.  The bus ride was really nice because I got to see the landscape.  It's always nice to leave the city and see grass and trees and country side.  

When we got to Oxford we had a tour guide who took us on a walking tour through the schools.  We learned what a bunch of the building are and some of the history.  And of course saw another Bridge of Sighs... I've decided there's one everywhere here... even though that's not true I have now seen three!  Which is actually kind of neat!

After the tour, a group of us went to Truff Tavern, which is where Bill Clinton used to go when he was at Oxford apparently.  It was an absolutely delicious lunch!  Following lunch we checked out the Historic Science Museum on the way to Christ Church College.

Christ Church College is where part of Harry Potter was filmed.  So when you walk into the coridor you actually feel like your in Howgrads... its crazy!  Part of the outside was made there as well.  And the great dinning hall inspired the great hall in Harry Potter also!  Check out these pics... you'll feel like your there:

On a side note, the college is also where Alice in Wonderland was started as well.  So there are several contribution to the book in the college as well. 

When we left the college is started to downpour so we took shelter in a bookstore.  I haven't just looked around a bookstore in so long!  It was really nice.  I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before or is just different in the UK, but books are published with neat covers.  I thought maybe that was because of the new competition of e readers.  Trying to change the packaging.  But who knows!  It was just really cool.

That was the end of our trip, so we headed back to the coach and to London and were back in an hour!

 

Other than Oxford it was just a really relaxing weekend.  I did some shopping and bought a few things at a totally American place... Forever 21 but I needed some clothing that was not sweaters since that's all I packed and believe it or not it is getting warmer! While I was shopping I found a delicious cookie shop called Ben's cookies, its a chain but I got an orange chocolate cookie that was awesome. 

And I did some homework this weekend, getting into the school work. Since the semester is now half through.  I cannot believe its exactly halfway now.  But I feel as though I have done a lot in these 7 weeks though, excited for the next 7 as well!

Meeting the Irish.

Well I'm sorry I've been so slow with the posts, so to catch up this is post 1 of 2.

Two weekends ago I went to Dublin Ireland. It was an interesting experience. Six of us boarded my first Ryanair flight from Gatwick to Dublin. I felt like cattle being heard into seats of a massive 'room'.

We arrived and after waiting in customs, meet up with a seventh member of our group. We were greeted by kind Irish people who actually help you when you ask for directions. For example, the bus we took into the city was directed in a different direction because of a house fire and the bus driver dropped us off at a stop closest to where we were going.

At our hostel we checked in and dropped our stuff off in a 10 person room.  It was a nice hostel, but the 10 person room was quite the experience.  Then we went out to find classic Irish food, since everyone was getting hungry.  We found a hotel pub serving classic Irish/English food, so we loaded up with potatoes and sausages.

The next thing on our agenda was the Guinness Storehouse tour.  Even though it was on the other side of the city, we were able to walk, which was really refreshing... the concept of walking across the city and not having to use public transportation.  We got a little lost but again people were helpful and pointed us in the right direction.

We walk into the storehouse and its a massive museum kind of building.  First we went to the top... the 360 degree view of Dublin.  It was pretty incredible to see everything at once and nearing sundown.




Then we went back down to the first floor to start the tour.  The self guided tour takes you through the process of how Guinness is made, transported, and marketed.  And at the end of the museum part you get to pour your own pint of Guinness.  At first I was like why do you need to learn to pour it, but it actually is a process.  I was also surprised that I actually liked Guinness... I would never have thought I would like a dark beer but its not like regular beer, its much smoother, and the fact that I got to pour it probably made me like it even more!  What a good strategy on their part!

While we were in Dublin, it happened to be the weekend of the Wales and Ireland Game so it was crazy packed... everything was booked and people were everywhere.  So of course when we decided to explore the pub scene that evening, people were everywhere!  It was pretty funny actually, because the first pub we went to was the Welsh supporters... they were singing and so excited.  Then we went across the street and that pub was the Irish supporters who played and sang the exact same (3) songs that were played in the other pub!  We also checked out Temple Bar because its the famous one but it was kind of over rated and just busy.

The next morning we woke up and got our free pancake breakfast at the hostel and began our day.  The first stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was a neat med-evil style church (just like the whole town).  We didn't go in but explored the outside.  After that we saw Christs Church which was the same kind of thing.

But we did get to go in the Dublin Castle.  We did a tour there; it was really helpful because the tour gave us a sense for the Irish and more specifically Dublin history.  Only part of the original castle actually still stands because of a fire in the 1500's, the current castle was rebuilt after that.

After our morning of history we went to a pub for some lunch.  We finally got everyone to agree on a place, that is the difficult part of traveling with a lot of people.  But this was a nice little place where I tried Irish coffee which was actually really good... just tasted like creamy coffee, as long as you don't take the last 2 sips! 

Following lunch we saw Trinity College, which I've decided every town has a college named Trinity.  But the college wasn't nearly as impressive as I expected, it was just average compared to all the other structures and colleges I've been visiting.

That was all the tourist stuff on our agenda, and it was only 3pm so we went to a park and walked around.  It was amazing how green the park was, and that there was even some color... it was actually really pretty, even if it rained!

The rest of the day consisted of tourist shopping, trying to find a cheap place to eat, and hanging out in a chill pub.  It was a fairly relaxing end to the trip.

The following morning we got in a taxi at 8am and the taxi driver asks where were headed, we tell him the airport to go back to London.  Then he explains that they got snow and many flights are delayed or canceled!  Luckily someone pulled out their internet phone and checked, not change in our flight :)  We got to the airport and coasted through check in and security and waited for our flight.

After boarding our flight the captain announces that flights were be directed to Dublin and Gatwick because Heathrow was too back up and parts were closed, and we would have to wait on the plane for an hour.  But luckily again our captain moved up or take off time and we were off to London.

We were all ready to be back.  I was ready to be in London for a few weeks.  But when we boarded our train back into London from Gatwick we saw inches of snow... we weren't expecting that much snow!  At that point I missed Dublin!

Waking up in Paris.

Quite literally... last weekend on Thursday night at 11 pm I boarded a bus in London, made it through border control around 1 am, sat on a bus on a train underwater, fell asleep, and woke up at 5 am in what I really hoped was Paris.



Caitlin and I, slightly delusional from lack of sleep, some how bought tube (I mean Metro!) passes and found our hotel... no problem!  Well except that it was 7am Paris time, and we obviously couldn't check in yet.  With no sleep and no where to rest, what do we do... go to explore Paris of course!  So we wander over to the Arc de Triomphe and watch the sun rise over the city!

We then walked down Champs Elysees looking at all the fancy shops that are of course not open yet. But as we walk, were confused once again which direction to look before crossing the street... oh London you've messed up our sense of direction!  We ended up on our way to Les Invalides.  The day was beautiful and with the sun at a fresh angle the scene was gorgeous and the day was warming. After admiring the detailed structures we look to our right and see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

Walking toward it, we lost sight of the tallest structure, which would seem to be impossible but after turning a corner on a Parisian street... bam... it was there! So we take the classic tourist pictures and walk toward it.  On the other side we find a crepe stand, time for a snack! We sat on the stairs in the sun eating our crepes and staring at the Eiffel Tower for a long time before deciding that it was noon and we could likely check into our hotel.



Arriving back at the hotel, in daylight this time, I noticed that it was a very charming little hotel for the inexpensive price.  The room was nothing special but still cute, and sadly the bed was more comfortable than my own in London!

After a rest we headed back out to explore Notre Dame and the Louvre.  Both of which were amazing!  Though the Louvre was far too overwhelming and we were far too exhausted.

Finishing a complete day of touring we found a restaurant near our hotel for a late dinner and prepared to start another day. 

On Saturday, we woke up leisurely and went to a garden, which of course was not too exciting considering its the middle of winter.  Then went to montmartre where we grabbed a delicious lunch (sandwiches and a raspberry tart), ordering the lunch was the first time we had encountered a real problem with not knowing any French at all but we managed with a lot of pointing.  At the top of the hill is a beautiful church and an even more beautiful view of all of Paris!

Then we wandered over to moulin rouge, which is in a very interesting part of town.  Quite the contrast from the classy church of montmartre less than 5 minutes away.

Next on our list for the day was the Modern art museum, an interesting building made to look like it is inside out. It had cool art inside and the best view out of the see-through escalator walls. 

Finished with museums for the day, we walked around and saw Place de Concorde as the sun was setting.  Then headed back to our hotel to bundle up in warmer clothes and grab our groceries for dinner.

Since we had to see the Eiffel Tower at night, and we loved our spot so much with crepes, we decided it was a great idea to go back with wine, bread, and cheese for a late dinner.  So with baguettes, brie cheese, and red wine we found our spot just in time to see the tower twinkle!

The next day for our last few hours we did the last big tourist attraction, went to Musee D'Orsay.  Which was my favorite art museum I've ever been too!  I loved all the impressionist works!  They are really inspiring and have such vivid colors!

After the museum we rushed off to end our trip with another bus ride home.  Unfortunately I did not just wake up in London, but the bus wasn't too bad.  The border control to get into the UK was though... such a process!  But I made it home safely... And now I'm packed and headed to Dublin tomorrow!  All the traveling is wonderful but is making my weeks fly too fast!

Life Really is in the Fast Lane.

Time is flying... this is day 20.

Since it has now been 12 days since my last post I figure if you are reading you may want an update.

So here's some highlights from the past couple weeks:
Before my internship started I had a week of non-stop London touring because I only had two commitments on my calender- 1 class and 1 meeting with my internship.

Class was dreary but my meeting with Aqueduct went really well!  Jon took us (the interns) to an 'American' restaurant which was so funny! Dinner style with milk shakes, fries (not chips), burgers, Caesar salad, and Cajun chicken (what!? that one though me off).

The rest of the week was filled with some shopping, viewing changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, and going to the Portobello market.  This market was amazing!  I cannot wait to go again!  So much artistic jewelry, clothing, art work, and food! I had an amazing strawberry and Nutella crepe and bought some really fun rings.

Then Saturday afternoon a couple people and I decided why not go on a day trip to Cambridge... so we booked a train for 9 am Sunday.

So the next day I woke up, walked the whole 5 minutes to the train station, stood on platform 8 at Kings Cross (so close to platform 9 and 10 Harry Potter fans!), and boarded my first train since I was about 10.

It was so nice to get out of the city, as I looked out my train window seeing the rolling greenish blue fields roll by... it could not have been more beautiful! Once we arrived at the Cambridge train station we hopped off and tried to find a map... failed.  So proceed to wander.  We needed food so we found a cafe to get coffee and breakfast and compose a plan.

First we found our way to the Cambridge Botanic Gardens and spent a good 2 hours walking around and exploring the massive garden.  Even in the middle of winter it was absolutely gorgeous.

After the Gardens we ventured to the heart of Cambridge... so we wandered to what we hoped was town... turns out we have a good sense of direction!  Because we stumbled upon the St Peters college which we later learned was the original Cambridge College, but now the university is made up of 13 colleges in Cambridge.


While we were walking more and more toward town we were approached by a company offering a deal on punt river boat rides... so we decided why not!  And it was a great decision!  We say 9 of the 13 colleges and several of the main famous bridges (including the bridge of sighs... which is famous because students would walk across it to their exams... similar to the Venice bridge of sighs were prisoners would walk across to their deaths... I suppose). 


The tour left us freezing and hungry so we stopped for some lunch.  This is when I had my first authentic fish & chips... and I am now obsessed!  It is actually a wonderful dish and I love everything about it! 

The next week it was time to start 'real' life in London.  Tuesday I started my internship!  It is great, I love the people, there's free coffee, and the workspace is awesome... so modern and open for collaboration.  The people are so creative and fun.  It's a different dynamic than the ad agencies I've seen in the US because Aqueduct is almost all men. But it's great because the first day of work the interns were given real work for the client making a compile book of digital works for a major client.  It was awesome to show this book to the team and see them bounce ideas around!


Following a long week of work, Thursday, a bunch of us went to a club to celebrate Dean's birthday!  It was really fun, bottles were lite on fire and brought out to him to celebrate!

The majority of the rest of the weekend was relaxing, while I booked my weekend in Paris for next weekend and for Dublin the following weekend.  I am getting really excited for Paris... and will gladly take any suggestions for what to do in either of these places :)

But for since I was in London, of course I needed to explore a little more... its such a big city there is so much to see!  So I went to the Borough market for some delicious food... where I had a wonderful chai tea and veggie burger sandwich with sweet onion sauce, yum!

 
After the market we headed to London bridge, then realized we actually wanted to see tower bridge because the London bridge burnt down in the London fire so it was just a road.  But the Tower bridge was the classic landmark and very cool.  We then walked around some more and found an adorable, kind of modern, tea shop... so we stopped for afternoon tea... and I loved it!  The British are on to something with this tea thing!

That evening we ventured to the area of London known for Indian food.  The restaurant workers literally stand outside and offer you deals to get you to work there... delicious Indian food, free round of drinks, and 20% off... I'd say yes please!

After dinner we left that area pretty quickly... didn't feel like the safest... so we headed to central area in the West End where China Town is.  It was crazy busy with people going out and well decorated for the Chinese New Year!

Well that's it for now!  I have a busy week ahead of me of classes, work, and traveling to Paris (first full week since I arrived)!  Life in London is just buzzing by!