Study Abroad Queen Mary

Preparing to leave London went a lot better than I had expected... thanks to Elizabeth Griffin. I was pretty much freaking out, and we all know when that happens, I get nothing accomplished. But Libby packed my things nicely into the suitcases, and somehow (magic) she fit them in only 2! Getting the suitcases on the plane was a different story. One of the suitcases was 72 pounds (not ok) and I had to transfer items between the 2 until they both were ok to get on the plane! How embarrassing! I had one nice little lunch with Libby, headed to security with tears streaming, and left my home away from home,  London town.
Saying goodbye to all the amazing people I met in these last 6 months was the hardest part. If only I could pack them up and bring them all home with me to Minnesota! :)   I can't even begin to sum up all the friendships and memories that I have made here in London, so I have made a list of some of the things I will never forget....

of course.. in no particular order...

1. The wonderful accents (yes, even the Welsh one)
2. Pooley House Beer Pong.... where legends were created.
3. the "Shm" language.. along with the excessive use of "your mom" jokes.
4. Tea, crumpits, and scones of course ;)... oh and the FULL English Breakfast!
5. Mondays calling....enough said
6. Sunny days "studying" at the canal, boat trips across the canal, and starring in rap videos... and although I didn't witness it first hand.. Danny Schufreider falling into the canal.
7. Redbeer
8. Lizard..Lizard Love.. Lizard Dances.. Lizard Anger.. Lizard Magic
9. Joanna Wakeling... using the Dixie bathroom... and later denied to use the Dixie bathroom.
10. The "epic" wipe out by "the table"... (and the 5 others that night) well done Elizabeth Griffin
11. The night the boys ruined our study session... drew inappropriate things on our notes.. balanced pineapples on their heads, hog-piled in the hallway, ignored half-naked girls outside to jump in the bushes, and woke up EVERY resident on Queen Mary campus.
12. Shmashley.
13. Fist pumping
14. Romanian tattoos and white track jumpsuits.
15. The amazing trips made to Wales, Scotland, Italy, Spain, Greece, and France.... day trips around London, and England.


the list can go on and on and on and on...
thank you Libby, Jo, Leanne, Ashley, Kristen, Lauren, Meredith, Sam, Mike, Jack, Danny, Jake, Chris, Corey, Mark, Robin, Tasha, Michelle, Liza, Christina, Jennie, Naomi, Pippa, Sadie... and a million more... for making my 6 months, Pooley House, and London the most unforgettable trip of a lifetime. I can't wait to see you all again... now the hard part.. getting Jo, Libby, and Leanne to book their flights to Minnestroni ;)  DO IT GIRLS.

LOTS AND LOTS OF LOVE FROM AMERICA

Jill

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (I must end this with kisses :) 

On June 3rd we woke up EXTREMELY early and took the Eurostar train to Paris for the weekend! 

May has been a crazy month in London! 

April 19th-20th

On April 19th we (luckily) flew into Rome, Italy! Our hostel was on the
outskirts of the city, so we had to take a taxi to get there. When we got there we checked into our... campsite? YES. A CAMPSITE. The best way I have heard it described (by Lauren) is as being a "Glorified Trailer Park!!" I have never been so shocked in my life. I shared a room with Robin and we literally just stared at each other in complete shock!
After we got showered and ready we decided to head into the city and take a
tour of the Colosseum! It was so cool and looked just how you would imagine it! We started our tour, and then it began to DOWN POUR. It rained so hard our
(very attractive Italian) tour guide wouldn't even go outside in it! So our
tour was kept indoors. Luckily, the rain stopped after about half an hour so we went out and explored the Colosseum on our own! It really was the coolest thing ever! After that we were wet and cold so we got some Italian food and went back to the hostel. When we made it off to the train station and were waiting for our shuttle back to the hostel, the group of french kids waiting to also go back figured out we were American and decided to harass us! They were yelling all sorts of things at us and even called Kristen, Shakira! Looking back on it, it was pretty funny but at the time we were pretty mad, so when we got back we decided to go to the local bar and hang out there for the night! The next morning we got off to a late start and made it into the city around 1 pm. The first thing we did was head to Vatican City! The Vatican was so cool and we went inside and saw the Basilica! It was huge and took a big chunk out of our day so we decided to take a bus tour to see the rest of Rome. This was such a good idea and we learned so much about the city! We got off the bus and walked over to see the Spanish Steps (in the Lizzie McGuire Movie) and then went over to see the Trevi Fountain (also in the Lizzie McGuire Movie)! The Trevi Fountain was SO SO SO COOL! It was amazing to be there and OF COURSE we through in coins and made wishes! After that it was pretty late, so we made the 45 minute trek back to the hostel and went to sleep! The next morning we had a train to Florence at 10 so we got up early to go to the train station.

April 21st - 22nd

Our train to Florence was delayed over three hours (probably because of the
Volcano). That was a pain in the butt but we made it ok. We got to our hostel
in the later evening, got ready and decided to go get some food. I had the BEST cheese Ravioli in the whole world! It was amazing! We went to the grocery store after that and got some stuff to drink and snack on for in our hostel. An old man came up to me and put a penny in my hand and smiled. I was obviously confused but his daughter translated and said "find a penny pick it up,give it to someone and pass the luck!" It was so cute!
The next morning we got up, got some DELICIOUS GILATTO (Ice cream) and went to a really pretty cathedral. We had so much fun just running around Florence and seeing the pretty sites! That night Lauren and I made the girls a big dinner, homeade Bruschetta and Pasta! I was very impressed with our cooking skills on such a budget! 

April 22nd - 25th

The next three nights we spent in VENICE. Venice is exactly what the pictures look like! Canals everywhere, markets everywhere, and best of all, gondolas everywhere! We had to meet the manager of the hostel on some strange side road to bring us to our "apartment." We walked for a while and once we found her she brought us to the cutest studio style apartment. It had a nice kitchen, a big bathroom, a king size bed, and a futon. It was perfect for the four of us! The only part of the apartment I wasn't a fan of was the "watch for rats" sign outside. Gross.

In Venice we did a lot of walking, just taking in the sights and seeing the buildings and canals was awesome. The highlight of our trip definitely came the second day when we decided to fork out (probably too much money) for a Gondola ride through the canals! Our Gondola rower was very nice and said he has only tipped the boat 4 times...awesome. The ride took about an hour and it was well worth the money! We saw most the sights we wanted to see and got to see Venice in a different perspective!! It would be a very romantic thing to do, but the 4 of us girls had a blast on it together!

That night we also made a nice dinner (another one of Lauren's creations)! It actually was one of the best meals we had on the trip!

The next day it was HOT outside so we took a ferry over to the beach. Of course, we got lost, so we wandered around some island looking for the beach for almost an hour! Finally, we found it! We soaked up the sun for a while and played in the ocean (until a crab almost ate me and Robin) and decided to head back! Venice was one of the prettiest places in the world!

April 26th - 27th

On Monday morning we took our final train to Madrid, Italy. We were all EXHAUSTED at this point and about ready to head back to London. Lauren left early because she had a final on tuesday, so Robin, Kristen and I explored the city! We went over to the duomo in Madrid first. It was really great when they wouldn't allow Kristen in because her dress was too short! I thought that was so funny because she actually was covered and had tights on! After that we went over to the fashion district! AMAZING! I was in fashion heaven. Every designer you could imagine had a store there and I even found Michael Kors' office!!!!! I really wanted to buzz it and try to get up there. It took all my self control not to!

After we wandered around, got our final cone of gilatto and headed back to the hotel before we got caught in the thunderstorm that was on it's way.

The flight back to London went really well and we made it back safely, but exhausted after 16 days of backpacking. The whole trip was amazing, and I learned that I need to pack a little lighter. My back is probably completely messed up after that trip but it was all worth it!

Lots of love from London :)

Jill

For some reason or another, I thought it would be a really great idea to backpack through Spain and Italy for 16 days!! Although it was not the luxury I would have hoped for, it was absolutely the time of my life.

On April 12th I packed up my backpack which weighed almost more than me (that may be an exaggeration.... but regardless, was so heavy.) We set off to the tube station that would take us to the train station, that would take us to our airport! When we got to the train station, Kristen realized she forgot her glasses, so she had to run back and get those, which set us back about 45 minutes (luckily we left REALLY early.) Finally, we made it to the train station and realized that we had about 50 minutes to get to our flight. The problem is, it took 50 minutes to get to the airport on the train, which wasn't set to leave for another half hour. Thank GOD the nice train station man found us some weird train that took us to a different station, but would get us to the airport in half hour. So, with our HUGE backpacks we RAN (literally) through the train station. We BARELY (literally the door closed in on Robin's backpack) made the this train but made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare!!

April 12th-13th
Once we got onto the plane we were off to BARCELONA!

We made it to Barcelona at about 10 pm, which is kind of scary because Barcelona doesn't have the best reputation at night.... or at all. We were warned A LOT to keep our bags close and eyes open!  Because it was so late, we decided to just split a cab to our hostel just to be safe. We made it to the hostel pretty quickly and got checked into our room, which we shared with 2 very strange Australian boys, who were 17 and very drunk most of the day. They were very entertaining though! That night we went to bed and woke up really early the next morning to go explore.
That morning, we went and saw a HUGE market, got some stuff to make lunch, and went to see Gaudi's Parc Guell, which was beautiful! There were so many pretty trees and flowers and stones, there were also places to sit and eat and enjoy the most amazing view of the city! After that we headed back down to see Guadi's church! Which was also absolutely amazing! (I will add captions to my facebook photos so everyone knows what these things look like). That night we went and found some food and sangria at a cheap little place. Everyone was pretty exhausted from running around all day so we went back to bed and woke up early to go to the beach! Unfortunately, when we woke up the next morning it was cloudy, so a tan was out of the question. The beach was still fun to go see and when it started raining we went shopping! That night we had to take an over night train to Granada so we just found ways to keep ourselves busy until then.

14th-16th
The over night train went surprisingly well and we made it to Granada on Thursday morning really early. We found our hostel and got some breakfast at the coffee shop down the road. One thing I liked about was that every building and store was SO PRETTY! The town was one of the coolest places ever! My pictures don't do it justice. After breakfast we made the trek up a mountain (yes, a real mountain... I think, maybe I'm just being dramatic but it looked like a mountain) to the Alhambra! The Alhambra is famous for the different types of architecture and the gardens it has. Unfortunately it was sold out. So, we decided to go to this place (I can't remember the name) but it is on top of a DIFFERENT mountain that gives you the best view of the Alhambra and the city. That was definitely worth the hike because the view was breathtaking! We relaxed on that mountain for a while and then headed down to get ready for dinner. We decided to go to a Tapas bar. In Spain... and ESPECIALLY Granada Tapas was very popular. Tapas is like a mini appetizer type thing. You are meant to get a few of them and have them as your meal. I love appetizers, so I loved Tapas!
The next morning, Kristen, Lauren and I (Robin didn't feel well) headed back up the huge mountain to see if we could get tickets to the Alhambra. Yet again, they were sold out. We decided to take a tour of the gardens, which was so worth it, and buy tickets to see the night tour of the Alhambra. The night tour was great! Everything was lit up and it was very fun to see all of the cool architecture!
After the night tour we went and got some Tapas for dinner and went to a club called "Granada 10) It was fun, except nobody goes out until 2 am so it turned out to be a long night!
The morning we had an 10 am train to Madrid we had to catch, on 2 hours of sleep.

April 17th - 18th
We made it to Madrid with no issues, but were exhausted! Our hostel was pretty nice but since it was pretty late in the evening we decided to go to Hard Rock- Madrid for dinner! YUM! We went to bed pretty early that night but the next morning we saw the city and many museums, including the Praudo (I may have spelled that wrong but it was cool)!
We went and saw a really cool market (apparantly the biggest market in Spain) and found lots of cool local shops to see!

Overall, Spain was awesome! It was a culture that I have never experienced before and I am so glad that I have! The food, the people and the cities were amazing!  After Madrid, we flew out to ROMA... (which will be discussed in the next blog). We got extremely lucky and the Volcano in Iceland didn't affect any of our flights!

Lots of Love from London!

Jill

I was most looking forward to this week all semester! Jamie and Rachael came to visit!!!!!
On Saturday morning I took the hour long trip over to Heathrow to pick them up. There flight landed, but they didn't get service on there cell phones so we couldn't get a hold of each other! So, I was waiting and waiting, and all of a sudden on the loud speaker a woman goes... "Jill Zelinsky, please come to the info desk, Rachael Rausch is looking for you!"
That was seriously one of the funniest things I have ever heard! So typical of her :)
After that we went straight back to the dorm after lots and lots of walking with ALL of their suitcases! That night we just relaxed and went to bed early.
Sunday morning we got up early and went out to see all the sights in London!! We saw Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abby, London Bridge and took a tour of London Tower! We had dinner at a restaurant called Garfunkels and then headed back to my place for the night! Monday morning we woke up early again and went to Buckinham Palace!! We got to see the Changing of the Guards! It was so cool! We then took a little walk through St. James's park! Next we went to Oxford for the day to do some shopping! I think the girls really like Oxford! It is HUGE and so pretty! People are always running around everywhere in crazy outfits and double decker buses are flying by!
That night we went to my campus bar for a little while but we had to wake up really early the next day for Scotland!!!

Tuesday morning we woke up at at 5 in the morning and made it to the airport to fly to Scotland! We were crunched for time so, of course, RAN through the airport! Halfway there Jamie's bag came open and all her stuff fell out. SO FUNNY! Some British man goes " Good thing it wasn't your knickers, as he helped her pick up her stuff!!!"
We made it to Scotland around 10 am! Our Hostel wasn't open so we went to a little cafe for breakfast! We then went to Edinburgh Castle and took a tour! The view from the top was amazing! We also went into the Cashmere Factory next to the castle and got ourselves some cashmere scarves and Jamie got a sweatshirt!
We then checked into our hotel and ate dinner at The Hardrock Scotland! We had so much fun here and the food was delicious!
The next day we woke up and went to St. Andrews Golf Course! Where golf originated! The town was so cute and EVERYTHING had to do with Golf! We had lunch at the club house, went shopping in the pro shop and saw all of the courses!
After that we went back to Edinburgh and decided to go out for St. Patricks Day! We ate at a place called Bella Italia and ended up eating dinner next to a group from Anoka, Minnesota! Very random. and then found out our server was from Ireland, but hates St. Patricks Day. He told us to go to a fun bar down the road, so after we headed over there. It was so fun! People were yelling and singing and dancing to Irish music! We had so much fun! I would love to go back! The next morning we had to pack up and leave to go back to London.

We relaxed most of that day, and went to a bar called O'Neils at night!
Friday came and I had class all day! So, the girls went off in London by themselves (scary!) After my long day of classes and presentations, we went and got pizza and cheese bread and just hung out in the dorms and had a girls night!
Saturday morning we woke up early and decided to go to Harrods, the nicest department store in the world!!! Unfortunately, we got extremely lost. Surprise, surprise. We ended up not being able to go to Harrods but we went to Platform 9 and 3/4's from the Harry Potter movies! This was Jamie's favorite thing I think!!! It was really cool to see it!
After that we went back to the dorm and got ready to go see HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL!
We went to Garfunkels again for dinner. It was the only place that had space for us! The musical was so good! It followed the movie pretty closely and had the same songs!!! I loved it!

The next morning the girls had to leave for the States. We woke up early and after a long and complicated trip to the airport we had breakfast at Cafe Rouge to kill time. FInally, the girls had to go through security and leave me. I only cried a little which is pretty good for me!!!
I wish they would come back but we had SO much fun that week!!!!!

Lots of Love from London!!!

Jill 

Not a whole lot has happened these few weeks. I had a lot of homework to do before Jamie and Rach came to visit and we spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and going out!
We did decide to book tickets to Ireland for the weekend of March 6th! This went very badly.
First, we had to get up and leave at about 2:30 am to catch our bus. We started off on one of the Night buses that always are running and needed to be at Marble Arch to catch our express bus to the airport at 3:30. We thought we gave ourselves plenty of time, but the bus runs a little slower when every drunk in London is trying to get home!
We got to Marble Arch at 3:29 and RAN down Oxford Street with all of our stuff! We even had people cheering us on yelling "GO GO GO GO!!!" As we turned the corner and could literally see our bus stop, the big orange express bus was driving away! We had to wait nearly 40 minutes for the next bus. Finally, we made it to the airport, which was the MOST CONFUSING AIRPORT EVER. We asked a guy who worked at the airport where to find the Ryanair desk to check in, he looked at our tickets and said, "oh, you did online check-in, head straight to security." So we trusted this man, and went to security. Then we went straight to our terminal because we were already late. We got all the way up and ready to board and apparantly couldn't board the flight because Ryanair didn't put a little stamp (that has nothing to do with anything) on our boarding pass!!! No other airline in the world does this. Just Ryanair. I am still very mad. Long story short, we didn't go to Ireland.

The next week, I spent getting stuff ready for Jamie and Rachael's trip out here and catching up on a lot of homework!!

Lots of Love From London!!!

Jill

On February 20th, myself and 5 other girls from America decided to go to GREECE for 3 days! It turned out to be quite the experience. Our flight was extremely early in the morning on Saturday the 20th and it took us about an hour to get to the airport. We made it to the airport on the tube and caught our flight. We flew through Easy Jet which is a very cheap airline. I figured out the reason it's so cheap is they advertise EVERYTHING on the flight! There were always announcements trying to sell us food, coffee, perfume, necklaces, etc. It was so funny!
When we landed we made it through the airport pretty easily and found our bus. That's where things went really, very, bad! As we were boarding the bus, a creepy man, stole Kristen's (girl traveling in our groups) wallet!!! It took us about 2 hours to find a security place, place a claim, and get her cards canceled. Luckily, not too much damage was done!
We finally got on the bus and went straight to our hotel, which happened to be on the BEACH! It was gorgeous! The water was the perfect blue and the beach was nice and clean with palm trees everywhere!
That night we got settled into our hotel and went to a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. I had the most amazing cheese ravioli with hazelnut sauce. YUM! Everyone else had pasta as well, but Lauren and Robin's shrimp pasta came with the FULL BODY of the shrimp... legs and all. That was a surprise!
After dinner we walked down the beach and put our feet in the water and went to bed!

The next day, we went into the city of Athens! I loved this city! So much was going on, people were very friendly, and it was beautiful! We headed straight for the Parthenon and Acropolis. Once we got there, we started to walk up the mountain that these beautiful historic sights were! There was so much to see! Unfortunately, the higher we got, the windier it got. We were in dresses. Not a good idea. I had my camera in one hand snapping pictures, and my other hand holding down my dress! It was so funny! Only one girl in our group was smart enough to wear pants! We made it to the top and the Acropolis and Parthenon was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life. It was crazy to be there. We got to stand right next to it all! The view was also amazing. You could see all of Athens and the ocean! I was so happy I got to see all of this! I will NEVER forget it!
After some sight seeing, we went to lunch and got traditional Greek Salads! I loved Greek Salad! Later that night we went into a part of town that had all the bars and restaurants. The man at our hotels front desk suggested it to us! It was a bit of a walk through a sketchy area, but once we got there it was fun! We went to a place called Club Flow! We didn't stay too long, but it was cool to experience Greek nightlife.
The next morning, we took a ferry over to Aegina.  We bought our tickets at the port and had about 5 minutes to run catch our ferry! So, the 6 of us American girls ran for about half a mile, again in dresses, to catch it! We barely made it! We got to the small island and wondered around the shops and pier. It was the cutest place ever! We then were hungry so stopped at a local restaurant and ate outside next to the port. We made a lot of friends here! One woman LOVED us and helped us find Baklava (I think that's how you spell it). Baklava is a traditional Greek dessert that is more than amazing! We each got to try a piece!
It was sad to leave Greece. We had some amazing experiences there and learned a lot about traveling! The trip home was much more successful!
Someday I want to go back and visit the island of Santarini!

Lots of Love from London!!!

Jill

I'm a little bit behind on my blog here (sorry mom!!) so I have lots to catch everyone up on!

I have had many interesting things happen to me these last few weeks!
First, last week, I went to class, got into the elevator, the doors closed, and I was STUCK. ALONE. IN AN ELEVATOR!!!  Scary! I could hear the maids outside so I was pounding and yelling and hitting the alarm button, but not one person came to my rescue. After about 10 minutes of that the doors miraculously opened! Lets just say, I've been taking the stairs! It was so scary!

Last week we also went to a really cool club called Ministry of Sound. I guess it is famous and it has three different rooms with huge dance floors. Each room plays a different type of music! It was a really fun time! Definitely worth checking out again!

Last week I also had to walk to find the post office to pick up a package my Grandma sent me. I started walking in the direction I thought was correct, but as most of you know, I am directionally challenged and ended up getting lost! We walked for about 2 hours to find the post office, which was FAR away, and once we found it I had to carry the box back!! My arms were so tired after but it was worth it when I got COOLER RANCH DORITOS AND PEANUT BUTTER and HOMEMADE COOKIES! I have definitely been eating good this week!

On Sunday, Valentines Day, Lauren and I decided to get all of the girls together and make a huge taco dinner! We made vegetarian, chicken, and beef options. About 12 girls came and it was one of the funnest nights! We ate so much food and Lauren made us chocolate covered strawberries! After dinner, some of the girls made a "Twister" Game set and we played Twister for hours! I think we were all EXTREMELY sore the next morning! I know I was!

Classes are going really well so far! I am in my 4th year (which means senior here) so most of my stuff is group projects and it's been fun getting to know people!

On Saturday, we are going GREECE for four days! I absolutely can not wait. Our plan is to go to Athens and then to the islands the next day and if the weather allows, the BEACH! Rumor has it that it could get up to the 70's but I won't believe that until I see it! This week we are also planning a trip to Italy and Spain in April, and I want to take my sister and Rachael to Scotland when they come! Hopefully it all works out!

I'll update you all on tuesday after I get back from Greece!!

Lots of Love from London

Jill

Wow, wow, wow.... One month in London!!!! It feels good to be getting settled in and into a schedule! This last week was very eventful!
On Thursday of last week a few friends and I went to a small bar near campus that was having an event called Where's Your Father (or Who's Your Father... I can't remember which), either way, it was so much fun! I met so many people and had a really good time!
Friday morning came and I woke up early to go to class, went to my second one and about twenty minutes into it I realized I was in an engineering class! Pretty embarrassing that I was in the wrong one, but I am thankful to not be an engineer!!!  I found out the time was listed wrong on our website so I had to wait a few hours for my next class!
Friday night, we left for our homestay visit in WALES! The bus ride took way longer than anticipated but was so worth it! 4 of us girls stayed in a little "bungalo" as they call it with a Grandma and a Grandpa named Julie and Andy! The first night Julie made us homemade hot chocolate and got us all settled into our bunk beds! I think all of us girls were a little too excited to be on a little vacation because we stayed up all night chatting! Oops!
Saturday morning Andy brought us into the city so that we could go on a day tour of Swansea and Julie made us bagged lunches! It was so nice of them to take such good care of us!
The first stop on the tour was Mumbles. There was a beautiful little beach with a pier and a LIGHTHOUSE! We had fun running around there taking pictures of the water and got some hot chocolate in the cafe! Next the bus took us to Rhossili which was SOOOO BEAUTIFUL! There was a huge beach and cliffs over looking the Irish Sea. We ran around the cliffs getting great pictures and chasing heards of sheep! It was so much fun, but very chilly so we only stayed there for about 45 minutes. That would be one great place to visit in the summer time!
After that we were brought back into town and did a little shopping! The stores were really fun to go into and the market was great! We tried Welsh Cakes (which is like a thicker pancake with sugar on it) and Crackles (which is some type of seafood... I don't like seafood so I stayed far away from that thing!) That night we went back and had some Lasagna and played with Julie and Andy's 18 month old grandaughter! We were all pretty tired so we went to bed early! The next day we had a long drive back to London!
We have a friend from Wales that taught us some Welsh, but all I can remember is;
Schwmai= Hello
Nos Da = Goodnight

Lots of Love From London!!!!!!!!

Jill