Blogging
From Abroad

On Thursday (19th) I went and saw Wicked.

I absolutely loved it. We were in the “nosebleed” section, but I still loved it. The soundtrack is amazing and the performance gave me chills. I think anyone who love The Wizard of Oz needs to see Wicked. It puts all the pieces together.
Then on Friday a group of us left from Waterloo, on the Eurostar train, (at 6) to go to Paris. The train ride was about 3 hours (perfect time to sleep). I’m not sure how we did it, but we packed about all the main highlights of Paris into about 10 hours. We started out at the Louvre.

I saw the Mona Lisa, Greek and Italian sculpture (I saw part of the frieze from the Parthenon), and Venus. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower.

It was about a 2 hour deal to go from the bottom to the top and back down again. Well worth it though. Then we took the metro to the Arch de Triumph.

We seriously walked off the metro, took a picture and got right back on the metro. (It was a little rushed) Then we went to Notre Dame.

We took our time there, and watched some of the service that was going on. I honestly prefer London to Paris. It was very dirty there, I didn’t really feel safe and people were very rude. I just didn’t feel any of the ambience of “Paris.” This is my personal opinion so everyone should check it out for themselves, but I wouldn’t be heartbroken if I never went back to Paris again. I do love there crepes though.
On Saturday I spent the whole day reading Harry Potter 7. I finished it in about 12 hours (not too bad). I will not spoil it for anyone, but I found the whole process of reading it emotionally draining so that was about all I did yesterday. I am a hardcore fan so I am a little attached to the characters.
And finally, today I went to church at Westminster Abbey. It was beatiful and the all boys choir was probably my favorite part. Then three of us took a boat tour/ride on the Thames to Greenwich.

This is the Millenium Bridge..view from the boat.
Then,of course, we did a little shopping.

Greenwich was a lovely little spot, and I had a very relaxing day there. Seeing all the old warships on the Thames was also very interesting. Something I won’t have time to do, but would have liked to is go visit the Maritime Museums they have on these old warships.
I have much more I am fitting in during my final week here so don’t think I’m done with interesting blogs :-)

Today I did not go to work and it was fabulous! Instead I got a tour of the Houses of Parliament??..so amazing!!!!! We were shown just about everything except for the Prime Minister?s office. Everything is so proper and organized and traditionalized. I really enjoyed the tour; I learned a lot from it. I didn?t really know a lot about how the British system worked. I have a better grasp now of what goes on between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. (Don?t ask me about it b/c I probably won?t be able to explain it). Haha! I do think I?ve learned something about it though.
After the tour I took a little excursion out to the Eastern edge of the tube system, to a place called Barking. It was sooo different from London. It seemed very just small townish, but it was also dirty. I immediately wanted to go back to the city. We had some train problems getting out of there, but eventually we made it back to the city.
After that little excursion, I went to Abbey Road (you know The Beatle?s Abbey Road).

It was about 5:30 so traffic was insane! There was this mom and her (probably) 15 year old son. She was seriously standing in the middle of the road, with drivers getting soo pissed at her, yelling at her mortified son to ?go! go! do the pose!!!? He was so embarrassed and finally just conceded and let his mom take the picture. I got quite the kick out of that??.silly mom?s! I got some pretty good pictures of myself.

It was a fun little thing to do. I would have liked to have gone there at 6 in the morning or something when no cars were around and just have a blast doing crazy poses on the ?zebra.? (what they call a cross-walk)
Following Abbey Road, I went to Notting Hill and found the Traveling Book Store where Hugh Grant ?worked? in the movie Notting Hill.

It was fun except it started raining and was very cold. I was wearing flip-flops so of course I fell into the largest puddle in the world. It was pretty funny??later. After we got out of Notting Hill, my friend, Jess, and I at dinner at Henry J. Beans. It is an ?American? pub across the street from where I am living. I had a bacon cheeseburger and have never tasted something so wonderful. All the food here is either in a pie or a pudding (unless it?s fish and chips). I missed the burger!! Well that brings you up to speed. I still have more to do!!

Ok so here is my unbelievable story…............

Last night we had a dinner in Covent Garden. After dinner, as we were walking to the tube, we passed the Duke of York’s Theatre. Right now “In Celebration” is showing, starring Orlando Bloom. So we waited by the back door with a crowd of people (we were in the second row) and I totally got his autograph!!!! He came out and I handed him 2 programs and he signed them both and then I touched his arm…...some of you readers may not think this is a big deal, but trust me…...it is. I am a huge Pirates fan so basically last night was the best night of my life :-) lol. Oh and I also took a program from a lady behind me and got him to sign that one as well. I definitely have some good karma coming my way for doing that. I’m going to go back next Tuesday and get some more autographs and pictures…no I am not obsessive….just dedicated. haha! Ok that was probably the most I’ll reveal of my weirdness throughout all of these blogs….back to normalcy.

This picture is not zoomed at all….that is how close I was.

Then today after work some of us met up in Westminster and took a ride on The Eye. It was about a 25 minute ride and you really can see the whole of London. It was well worth the time. It is very similar to the wheel at Navy Pier in Chicago except much bigger and completely enclosed. We were there right when the sun was at the beginning stages of setting so it was really good lighting. At one point in the ride they take your picture (like on a rollercoaster). Ours turned out really well so we all got a copy of it. It was 2 for 10 pounds (about $10 per person) so it wasn’t too expensive.




That is all the excitement for the last two days.

On Sunday we went to Stratford-upon-Avon…....a.k.a. Land of Shakespeare. First stop was Mary Arden’s home.

This was the mother of William Shakespeare. I personally could have spent all day at this place. It was in the middle of the countryside and they were running it like it was back in the days of Mary Arden’s life. There were men training the cattle to pull carts and plows. Chickens and a rooster in the backyard and a bonified haystack! (That was probably what I got the biggest kick out of..I’m a loser I know) :-)
Next stop was the home of Anne Hathaway (the wife of ol’ Billy).

The house has actually been added onto quite a bit by her brother of two years. There was an actual thatch roof made out of the same material that it would have been made out of when Anne lived there. Also you could see where they had carved their initials into the wood on certain doors and beams.
Next stop was the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

This place is surrounded by loads of little shops and isn’t in the country like the other two homes. I really didn’t like his home as much because it seemed really done up for the tour. It didn’t seem very authentic to me and I didn’t get a feeling like I was really in his home while I was there. The one cool thing in the birthing room (in his home) was a large window that had tons of peoples’ names etched into it. These are people who had just visited the house (ex. Tennyson, Emerson,
Thoreau….I wish I could remember more. Basically every classic writer who existed).
After that tour we made the 10 minute (briskly walking) walk to the Holy Trinity Church. Entrance was only 50 pence and inside are the graves of William Shakespeare, his wife, Anne Hathaway, and one of their children (maybe more I can’t remember). It was a beautiful church, but when walking up the path to the front entrance you are surrounded on either side by old, old graves.

It was very eery.
Overall, I really enjoyed the day! I would recommend a driving trip to Stratford because the countryside on the way is beautiful.

So this week went pretty fast. Working at the zoo has been really fun. On Tuesday night me and my roommate went out to Soho and Picadilly. It was a very happening place. Then on Thursday at the zoo I was working with terrestrials, and I had to clean out a locust enclosure. It was awful; they were jumping all over me! After lunch was better, however, because I got to watch a 2 week old gentle lemur get bottle fed. It was sooo cute. That evening we went and saw the musical, Billy Elliot.

I had seen the movie a couple years ago, but I liked this much better. The dancing was fantastic! I?m so glad I got to see it.
Part of my internship at the zoo entails observing the Malayan tapirs.

In the past 100 years of the London zoo, there has only been one tapir birth. So right now they are introducing a female and male to see if they will be compatible for breeding. They are pretty picky when it comes to selecting a mate. It was only the third day they had been put together (this was Thursday) and they mated! It was probably the coolest thing to see and it was such a historical event for the zoo. I was elated to be there for it. Anyways, later that night we all went to the Harry Potter 5 movie. I am a huge Harry Potter fan so I loved the movie! I can not wait until the 7th book comes out. I?m preparing myself to read it in one day so the papers don?t ruin it for me. I already have a copy reserved at a book store here.
Ok, enough Harry Potter. So on Friday the 13th (oohhhh…nothing bad happened), we all went to Hampton Court.

This was a project for King Henry VIII. Most people think he lived there, but actually it was mostly just his court and guests that stayed there. Eventually Mary and Elizabeth did live there. The gardens are gorgeous and there is actually a labyrinth. We made it in and out (including to the exact center) in about 10 minutes.

My internal compass must be more accurate than I thought it was. lol
Today I went to the Chelsea Football Stadium.

I have been to Real Madrid?s Stadium, but I enjoyed this tour as much as that one. There is so much history and our tour guide has been a Chelsea fan since she was 4 years old. I?m astounded that I have been convinced to be a Chelsea fan now. We?ll see what people at home think about that J. So that?s about all I?ve done this past week.
Oh! I almost forgot. I finally had my first mug of English tea and I really liked it. I am now a convert tea drinker!

Today we drove to Oxford to get a tour. I can’t even begin to explain how much history is at Oxford. I saw most of the 38 colleges that make up Oxford including the ones that President Hardesty, Bill Clinton, Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis and Tolkein attended. It was very cool. The main college I saw was Christ Church which was double exciting because that is where the first 4 Harry Potter movies have been filmed. There is the quad with the halls right off of it, the staircase, the dining hall. Also there are so many things that influenced Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland….the fireplace in the dining hall (when Alice drinks a potion and her neck elongates and her head gets big), the door the president would pop in and out of for meals (the rabbit hole) and the flowers with the cottages (just the setting for it) . Then I went to the pub where C.S. and Tolkein would mull over literary works and discuss ideas they had. It is called the Eagle & Child. It was very cool!

I start work tomorrow so today I went to West Minster Abbey and actually got to tour the entire thing. It was sooo amazing and extremely ornate. I saw Mary I’s tomb. Then I went to the London Aquarium. It was so much fun! I learned a lot about the different conditions the many species live in. Then I went back to Covent Garden to do some shopping (always a good time). Tonight I went to the Globe Theatre and saw Love’s Labour’s Lost by Shakespeare. It was freezing (needed a winter coat), but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. That’s all for today! I get to start work tomorrow so until then…..

I?m finally settled in a little bit. Our dorms are very, very small. It will be quite a challenge to stay here for a month J. We spent all day Sunday touring parts of London. We walked for about 5-7 hours I think, and we saw: James?s Park, Buckingham Palace, Trafalagar Square (which is like Times Square and is where all the pigeons are like in Mary Poppins), Big Ben , Nelson?s Column, The Eye (like the ferris wheel at Navy Pier , built for the millennium and they have just kept it running since then because it was such a success), Piccadilly Square on the West End (like N.Y.?s theatre area), Covent Garden and finally everything in the West Minster area. We were able to go into the Abbey and listen to an organ concert. It was amazing! The performer is the assistant organist and he is probably in his early twenties. He is very accomplished. Ok before I go a fun fact!!!
Did you know:
The United Kingdom?s flag is comprised of three flags: The English, Scottish and Welsh flag.

~Rach

Packing. It?s amazing how 50 lbs. Can seem like so little when you are packing. Luckily I can take 2 suitcases, but where did that extra 50 lbs. go??? I was told to pack everything I thought I needed (for an entire MONTH overseas), and then the next day take out half of what was packed. There is no way I can do that! I need work outfits for my internship, weekend outfits, and hitting the town outfits. Plus all my bathroom stuff has to fit somewhere. I am on the brink of a panic attack over this. I?ve already warned my present roommate that she will be spending a lot of money shipping me stuff that I couldn?t fit in my suitcases. She?s very excited about this (as you can imagine). Well I better get back to ?taking half out,? yeah right!