So starting with the second week of being in London. My roommate and the group we hang out with are awesome. we all have pretty similar interests and intensions of what we want to do while abroad in europe. i learned that one of my friends here is a phi, and another is a dg it was really exciting to find out lol. but so far, we have managed to go on a sortof crappy bus tour by ies, the top floor of the bus had a roof and kind of tinted windows. it was fairly bad, so we have decided to go on our own bus tour sometime this upcoming week so i can get some decent pictures of the city. but so far, i've seen the big clock, which is NOT called big ben. the bell inside the tower is called big ben. i have forgotten what the actual clock tower is called, its not important. i've seen from a distance, buckingham palace, the london eye (ferris wheel thing), tower of london, and the london bridge. so basically it has been the week of tourism. at night we have explored only 2 clubs of the 100's that i'm sure there are.
The main area we have explored has been our own area of Chelsea, Sloane square, a bit of Holburn, and a bit of Piccadilly Circus. Piccadilly is something i would imagine New York City to be. there are huge screens on buildings, and some decent restaurants here and there. its decked full of tourists. Sloane square has a Zara, and a ton of upper end fashion clothing stores of which none of us would even think of buying from. Chelsea, of course is expensive and boutique-y.
Classes have been alright. they are really long (2.5 hours), and some of the profs. just preach your ear off for the entirety of the lecture, in which case i have dozed off once or twice. but my british youth culture, british films, and history of london class are all very interesting, and the teachers make sure to make sure it is that way.
Last thursday, i went on a trip to Barcelona (yeahhh, barthelonaaaa), Spain. upon i endured many travel obstacles. my flight went into a town about 100km outside of Barcelona, upon which i had to verbally find my way to a bus that would take me to the city. this had to be done in spanish. luckily for me, i know a bit. then my phone decided to die after i got into the city and never to return until i got back to london, apparently it doesn't like being away from home. this caused much suffering because i had no way of calling lindsey after being picked up from the bus station. the first night was very sketchy. there were people on the streets trying to sell us beer and many offered mary j. it was sketch. we went down allies that lindsey claimed were safe to find a place to eat or grab a drink, yet, most were closed because i arrived on a national holiday. upon reaching my hostel, i realized that it would be better to travel in groups thus being able to have a better feeling of security. luckily i had a locker to store my things in. But all of this was made up for when we went out the next day with a full schedule of events that were totally made up off hand! we had breakfast that were what the english would call "pasties" , which were croissants that had meat or cheese in them. really really delicious. during the weekend we then went to many touristy, but fun, places around town such as the market, Las Ramblas, and some other crowded street, many allies that led into giant Squares with PALM trees, and we went to the tallest church in the world. this church along with many parks (such as parc de guell) were designed by 20th century (?) artist Gaudi. multiple buildings in the heart of barcelona were designed by Gaudi, all very beautiful and all of which incorporate some sort of nature. it was really really awesome. We also walked along a beach! which was gorgeous. the water i was told is very warm and salty so that it is easy to float. there are no sharks or jellyfish, so its perfectly safe. the clarity and color of the ocean reminded me something of Hawaii, it was beautiful. while we were on the beach, there were tons of cafes where you could have lunch. thus we had lunch on the beach, it felt like paradise. right on the beach i was eating some great food, and in some of the best company i could ask for. Lindsey had me try San Gria, which i believe is a red wine with fruit juice and fruit in it. it is probably the closest i will come to liking wine in a while. the food in Spain was glorious. Tapas cafes/restaurants/whatever you call it are now my favorite food. Tapas is a kind of small dish, like an appetizer i guess, but they have great variety and are basically midday snacks. how awesome is that? you get to go out for snacks! i think it's awesome, thus we went out for tapas a lot. overall, Barcelona was great! i had an awesome adventure.
As for this week, i've been 1. trying to not spend money 2. get my butt into shape 3. calling simon, my LTA contact to get into the academy 4. figuring out a gym and finally 5. i'm going to Harrods for tea and everything tomorrow! and will definitely be exploring around the Knightsbridge area that it is in. if i remember correctly, knightsbridge was also a nice shopping area that was full of places i wanted to visit.
hopefully i will figure out how to put up pictures on here soon.
until next time,
Cheers!
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