June 2010 Archives

Farewell London-- you will be missed

By zeli0030 on June 24, 2010 12:18 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
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 :) 

Paris---- June 3rd-5th

By zeli0030 on June 10, 2010 1:25 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
On June 3rd we woke up EXTREMELY early and took the Eurostar train to Paris for the weekend! 

The train was awesome and only took 2 hours to get to Paris! We got off the train and went straight to our hotel to drop off our stuff. When we arrived to our room we noticed that there was only one bed (for 4 people). The hotel had given us the wrong room! So we went back down to the lobby to sort that all out. They manager said that they were booked but would figure out somewhere to put us later on that evening. 
We left the hotel and went and saw the Eiffel Tower and a ton more sights in Paris that I couldn't even begin to pronounce, let alone spell. My moms friend Nancy suggested I get a nutella and banana crepe, so next to the eiffel tower we went to "Crepes King" and got some delicious crepes!!!  That night after getting back to the hotel and getting some bread and cheese from the local shop we checked into our new hotel room that would fit all 4 of us. 
Not only did it fit all 4 of us, but we were on the top floor, with 2 master bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a wrap around balcony overlooking the city! It was AMAZING! We spent both nights in Paris sitting on the balcony with wine and bread and cheese! We were actually living the life! :) 
In Paris, we also saw the bridge from the series finale of Sex and the City, walked to Notre Dame Cathedral,  and we walked to the highest point in Paris to get a view!! We also went shopping for a little while on Saturday before we had to catch our train back! We had so much fun on our last mini-vacation! 
Every building in Paris was beautiful and detailed. The food was amazing, and luckily, the people were so NICE to us! (We were warned that the french don't like Americans!) Everything went so well on our trip!

Lots of love from London,

Jill :) 

May in London

By zeli0030 on June 10, 2010 11:49 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
May has been a crazy month in London! 
The first week of May I went to Rochester, England for a May Day festival. It took about an hour to get there on the bus, and we arrived around 10 am! The town was very English and  very small! The main road was full of people dancing in crazy costumes on the street and there were so many vendors selling all sorts of food and beer. 
There was a large castle in the town as well, and the festival set up a carnival inside the castle grounds! We spent the day walking through the shops and eating a ton of food! There was a stage next to the castle where we saw Irish dancers, and the strangest group of old me called "the fez heads." I'm still not sure what they were trying to do on stage, but everyone loved them.   The weather was actually really nice for the most part, so we spent a lot of the day relaxing on the grass watching the shows. 

On May 3rd we threw Lauren a 21st birthday party! We got all dressed up and made her a nice dinner... (ok well Libby made the dinner).  We got Lauren a dress that she was dyyyiinnggg to have and surprised her with it! She was so excited! We ended staying on campus and everyone came to the flat to celebrate! It was such a fun night! After Lauren went to bed we covered her door in newspaper so that she couldn't get out the next morning! I would have given anything to see her face when she opened her door!

After celebrating Lauren's birthday I had a TON of homework and studying to do (although Leanne did not help the studying..she is more distracting than I am :).... but we had so much fun "studying"!!!.
 I had to write 2 papers, 1 speech, and 2 exams. Exams here are done  A LOT differently than they are done back in the U.S. 
First, they are all essay tests. The average exam is 2 hours long and you have to write 2 essays in that time. It is extremely stressful because you are assessed on the whole year but you don't know which section is going to come up on the test. Pretty much you study til' your brain is dead and pray to god the questions you know pop up. I think both of my exams went well so I am happy! :) I finished my exams on May 25th and officially graduated college with my business degree (exciting!!!)

On May 26th, Ashley and I went to see the John Mayer concert, which was amazing! It was cool to see a concert in London since we all know how obsessed with them I am in America! 
That night we went out after and met everyone for some bowling in central London! 

On May 27th my friend from Crookston, Brittany, came to visit! I went and picked her up from the airport in the morning (luckily the plane wasn't disrupted because of the volcano) and we came back to campus. We had a quick dinner with Libby and Jo (after Jo slept through her exam... oops!) and went to see Big Ben and the other London touristy spots. We rode the London eye and got to see the city from the worlds tallest ferris wheel! 
The next day we went and toured Wimbledon stadium! It was amazing to see the actual courts where all of the worlds biggest tennis players play, and the championships are coming up in the next few weeks so we got to see them preparing for that! Britt and I also had a shopping day at Oxford and went to Brick Lane, which is an area in east end with a huge market and tons of amazing food and boutiques. We had so much fun on her visit and I am so happy she came!  :)

Although May was full of school work and tests it was one of the best months that I have spent in London! 


Lots of love from London

Jill :)

April 19th-27th- ITALIA

By zeli0030 on June 10, 2010 10:48 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks 
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
« May 2010 | Main Index | Archives

Search

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from June 2010 listed from newest to oldest.

May 2010 is the previous archive.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.