A Flurrying of Moments

So much has happened since Stratford Upon Avon that I can't believe how behind I am. So behind that I actually leave to go to the airport in eight short hours.  Let me catch you up though really quickly!

Nekol and I attended the International House Christmas Party and it was an absolute blast. We went as "Naughty & Nice." She was dressed all in black with some cool makeup and I had on bright glittery blue/white makeup. We were pretty awesome but not as awesome as the people who had planned the party and came in looking abfab (absolutely fabulous.) It was such a wonderful time and we were all able to get together one last time before everyone went on their separate ways.

Then, Nekol and I -tried- to go to Scotland. And by try I mean we actually got to the coach station only to find out that our flight had been canceled and so we were able to change it...which we did after a lot of stress, nearly tearing each other's throat out, and calling our parents in the wee hours of the morning in the States to try and help us. It was all quite stressful and it didn't have to be but I really wanted to go to Scotland so I became a little tetchy.

Snow was falling on Luton Airport and so flights kept getting delayed and disrupted. Not a good sign. This was Friday and we couldn't leave until Saturday morning (well Nekol got a flight for Friday night and I got a flight for Saturday morning) and we had papers due on Monday and then we were leaving for the States Wednesday. It was also forecasted to snow in Edinburgh as well so Nekol and I got a -not so good- feeling about all of this.

Nekol's Friday night flight was disrupted and so she decided not to go. I finished editing my papers and would send them to Nekol if I left to go to Scotland Saturday morning, still bound and determined to go and see the beautiful country that was second on my "I MUST GO" list. I woke up early Saturday morning, ungodly early, and was fully dressed and out the door when I was stopped by a horrible flipping sensation in my stomach. I stayed still to assess the situation as to why I might be feeling unwell until I realized it was my gut telling me not to go. Normally, this is dumb and I just do what I want anyways and nothing really come s of it, but this time I listened and went back to bed.

Turns out, Luton was completely covered in snow all this weekend, leaving people stranded, and several of our friends couldn't fly out of Edinburgh due to snow coverage...good thing I decided to listen to my gut instinct.

So instead Nekol and I made the most of London that weekend and these last few days.

We went to Seven Dials and enjoyed the stores:

Candy Cakes

We went to the Imperial War Museum (several times):

Secret Agents and Special Operations 

We delighted in the REAL Emerald City, Harrods: 

Harrods celebrating the anniversary of The Wizard of Oz

We went to Platform 9 3/4's

Empty buggy, must be a 7th year 

We hit up the British Museum:

Ice melting on the steps of the British Museum

It snowed in London and we were able to play in the snow:

Siamese Snow Angels

We went to the cinema in Piccadilly Circus and saw St Trinian's 2: 

It was completely vacant at 9:15 am.

Nekol and I had a dance party not too long ago but now we're both in our respective rooms, trying to finish packing and kind of thinking about our time here. 

I landed in London 10 weeks ago. That isn't that long and yet it seems like a lifetime ago. I have learned so much about myself and about life while I have been here. I know that may seem like a rather pompous thing to say but I honestly believe I have grown mentally, emotionally, and spiritually while here in London and traveling about Europe. I could not express to you how much I am truly thankful that I was able to come and study abroad in London. It has been the experience of a lifetime.

I plan on coming back here. Not I might come back or maybe or some wishy washy word that holds no concrete bearing. I will be back and I will live in London or in Stratford Upon Avon or something as equally as beautiful and theatre inclined. It will happen, my heart is set on it. 

I wish to continue this post but my travels in London are not quite finished yet. We still have to get to the airport tomorrow and Nekol and I will be taking two suitcases and a bag with us through the Bakerloo line and then Piccadilly Line to get to Heathrow for our flight...and we have to leave super early. Also we are donating our bedding to the church next door because there is no reason in bringing it back to the States. 

So until tomorrow, I say good night, and once I am back in the States and have internet connection for a long enough time, I will write how it all went! 

<3,

Dre

Exited Pursued by Shakesbear

Just this past Friday, Nekol and I went to Stratford Upon Avon and had an absolute blast.


The trip started out rather rocky as Nekol and I missed our train on two accounts: we left our house late and my reference number didn't work AGAIN. I really don't like this whole reference number deciding to be mean thing. Anyways, so I go and queue up to talk to the ticket office and see if they can print out my tickets by swiping my card just like they did at Paddington Station...Marleybone Station apparently doesn't work that way. So they told me to go to Information and they would let me look up my reference number on their computer....


Really? They'll let me check my email on their computer? ... huh...


So I go over to the Information Desk and ask this charming lady and she tells me to come inside and look up my email. I hurry inside and am gently teased by another worker, "Who didn't remember to print off their email?" And I told them I apparently had the wrong number written down and the two ladies comiserated about how it was a little confusing. I find my number though, thank the ladies, and go to print out my tickets. With tickets in hand, Nekol and I step back to look at the departure board.


Absolutely nothing. 


We're a little confused and look at our clocks to see it's about thirty minutes to the next hour so we'll wait around for the next round of trains to go on the board for departures. We walk around a bit, go to Burger King and are disappointed to see that there are no french toast sticks for sale before going to sit down on a bench. I decide to go to the bathroom and find out it's 30p...seriously, it's like UrineTown sometimes. 


Anyways, Nekol goes to look at the board and realizes we won't be able to catch a train until almost eleven. Resigning ourselves for an even longer wait than initially planned for plan b...we go to a coffee shop inside the station so we're not directly in cold air and flight paths of pigeons, some which nearly took off my head with their wings. We order two hot chocolates and decide to just wait around leisurely. I end up messing with my camera because my computer refuses to recognize it and Nekol dozes off in the chair in front of me.


Finally our train comes and we go to catch it. Sitting down in our seats, we get cozy and pull out books and begin doing research for our essays that are due on Wednesday...yes, we're -that- dedicated. Anyways, it's a nice enough trip...it's two hours so we entertain ourselves by iPods and books...until Mr. Conductor comes.


So we're on a different train...not all that bad really right? I mean, the car was not full at all by any means.


Wrong.


Mr. Conductor says we are on the completely wrong train and are forced to by two new tickets to get there...Nekol and I look at each other and I just hand him my card...he tries to insert it after I've told him it doesn't have a chip and asks me if I have another way to pay. I hand him all the cash I have so I cover Nekol and my ticket since it was my blunder in the first place. We get two new tickets and I go to sulk in my own little corner for a few moments and get over my self-hating, why did we leave so late and why am I such a failure mood. 


That all evaporates when we get to Stratford Upon Avon....a place I think I would love to live/work. We walk from the station to our bed and breakfast and walk straight through the center of town and cross the bridge. It's absolutely fantastic little town. I giggle at every shakespeare related shop name/residence I see. It's like a dream come true. 


Nekol and I walk down to our Bed & Breakfast which is called Sunnydale, yes all my Buffy friends, Sunnydale, and we are such nerds because we have our own bathroom, shower, towels, comfortable bed, t.v., blowdryer, and closet....this is the nicest place we have stayed on our travels yet. 


We quickly set all of our things down and head out to town to try and get to see all of Shakespeare's houses in town. We aren't going to fool ourselves, it's already 1400 and there are three houses in town and two outside of town that you kind of need a bus to get to. So, in all reality...how many are we actually going to be able to see? Nekol and I go to the information center and get our tickets and decide to go to Shakespeare's birth place first before going to the other two. I am awed and amazed and love every moment of it. I seriously can hardly breathe at some points it's just that amazing. 


Nekol and I make haste to the other two houses while trying to give each one their due. We really lost out by not getting there four hours earlier but we did what we could. At the last house, I bought Shakesbear and he has become my new sleeping buddy, however, I pose this question: What is with the English and their fascination of the stage direction from Winter's Tale, exited pursued by bear? It was -all- over the place at The Globe's gift shop. 


Nekol and I then look around at all the shops, ducking out of this one here and there before heading over to the oldest pub in all of Stratford where we both get a cider. We end up talking to this lovely couple who recently moved to Stratford and have one of the most interesting conversations with them. Soon they leave though and Nekol and I decide we will head back to the Bed and Breakfast before going out on our nightly haunt...literally. 


Around 9:40 Nekol and I head over to Tudor World/Falstaff Experience...how sketchily cool does this sound? Very much so. 


Nekol and I participated in a ghost vigil/medium workshop that spanned two hours. It was one of the most coolest/weirdest/creepiest things I have ever done. For those of you who don't believe in spirits or are rather skeptical, take everything I am about to tell you with a grain a salt as you always should.


The so called Falstaff Experience begins out creepily enough as we are waiting outside the oldest, most haunted house in Stratford Upon Avon. Tall wooden doors bar our entry, eerie music plays, and fog starts flowing out from the cracks. Soon the doors open and the growing group is admitted and, after being all accounted for, take a short walk down an unlit cobblestone path to a small back room. Here in this small room we are introduced to our medium for the night, Penny, and her friendly assistant, Sensitive Dave. 


A poll is taken of our group: about five or so believe in spirits, one is a complete and total skeptic (a older man who oddly enough was with a group of believers), and the rest want to believe but desire a bit more proof.  Without further ado, the group is led back down the dark cobblestone path and into the gift shop of the establishment which doubles as a museum during the day. The gift shop is -very- narrow and it's hard to see anything, mainly because the only lights we have are two lanterns, and Nekol and I are at the very back of the group. Two sets of dowsing rods are given to people at the front of the group and Penny begins speaking with spirits that seemingly have accompanied people on their trip to this ghost vigil. Nekol and I are in the back of the group and experience nothing but our legs from mid-calf down beginning to absolutely freeze. To entertain ourselves we make up a song to dedicate to Spirit Cat in the form of Smelly Cat from Friends.

Soon after, the group is lead through the rest of the house. Temperatures change slightly here and there, the building remains almost pitch black save the two lanterns trying vainly to light the oppressive darkness. The second place the group stops is on the main stairwell where one woman is anxious to use the dowsing rods because of 'what happened to her last time.' Penny warns the group that there is a spirit present named John Davis, who killed several women in the building and that there was someone in the group who fit his type but she won't say what the type is so as to not sway our opinions. I think, my type? No, that's too cliche, there's no way it'd be that way. The lady begins to whimper and say that John is right next to her. Penny says it's not her that the ghost is looking at. The air around my face, suddenly, is filled with a choking smell of alcohol, as if someone was breathing in my face. I say loudly that the air smells like alcohol and the eager lady across from me with the dowsing rods is all to eager to agree. Quicker than anything, than the smell appeared, I feel as if someone placed cold hands on my cheeks. I cried out and began crying, having been caught completely off guard by whatever had just happened to me. Sensitive Dave ascended the stair after Penny told him to bring the light to me and stand next to me. We tour the rest of the building without much of any other issue.

The group is then brought back to the first room we were in for refreshments of tea, coffee, mince pies, and biscuits. Then we were broken into two groups of ten. Nekol and I are placed in the medium workshop group first. The workshop begins with glass divination. The workshop leader takes a wine glass and sets it upside down on a small circular table with yes written at one end and no on another. All of us place our fingers on the bottom of the glass and ask the spirit to move it on the table. The glass is reluctant to move and does nothing but nudge slightly or tremble. The glass seemingly wants to move but doesn't have enough energy or will power to do so. Soon, it slides to the edge of the table. Eventually, we get it to move quickly around the table. We ask it to go the other direction, and it slows down and stops before slowly going the other direction, slowly at first and picking up speed. After a time, our guide suggests we move on to the scrying crystal, and the glass goes even faster  and then falls over. We pass around two scrying crystals, and prepare to ask the spirit yes or no questions. Nekol and I end up with the same crystal which is actually one we preferred to the other...mainly because it looks cooler. We ask "can you show me my yes, please?" (the crystal swings backwards and forwards) and "can you show me my no, please" (the crystal goes in a circle). Then we asked it personal questions, and the spirit gave answers. Finally, we did some automatic writing, which was kind of cool but not all that impressive. Mostly the planchette created circles and one heart.

Then we switched groups, and the smaller group toured the building. The already small group of ten split into smaller groups, and I insisted that we stay with Penny rather than going with Sensitive Dave. She's been doing this a lot longer than Dave and not that I'm thinking anything is going to happen, if I have a serious scare I want someone who is well trained to be with me. We begin in the gift shop again, and Nekol says she's getting extremely cold. Shivering. Then she began to warm up, right when the woman next to her declared that she's gotten colder. The dowsing rods are moving to Penny's requests, and it is rather creepy. We move to a storage type room, that I don't like the feeling of. Honestly, we walk in and whether you're a sensitive or not, you would want to walk right through and just leave that room behind you. We stand in a small cluster and turn out all the lights. Penny speaks to the spirits a bit, and we hear a stomach growling. We all laugh. I comment, "Way to go, Nekol." Nekol's stomach had been growling throughout the medium workshop, but she declared "For once that wasn't me!" And Penny says, "Really?" No one is laughing anymore... Throughout our time in the room, we kept hearing stomach growling from different points in the room. Penny requests the sound to make another noise, and Nekol and I both beg it not to in our minds. We move to another room. Someone declares that they smell something but not going to lie, totally don't. We enter another room, and I get really cold. Penny announces that she feels warm, thanks to William, the noble gentleman ghost, and I personally wish this William would come warm me up. Enter another room. One of the women in our group doesn't like it, and several others voice feelings of oppressed anger, and the air feels as if someone is smiling. This sounds a bit nutty but you know when someone is smiling just because of the air the room takes on.  Nekol is holding the dowsing rods and feels none of this, just excitement for holding the dowsing rods and having them move. They cross and point to me and the woman who is not happy about the room. Penny asks if anyone else has 'girly pains'. No one else admits to that...

In a last room, we meet the spirit of Lucy, a young pickpocket who worked in taverns. We use the scrying crystals again, and she moves them how we ask her to. Then we loop an engagement ring onto the chain and watch as she twists and moves it, trying to pull the shiny piece of jewelry off of the chain. It was quite impressive.


After this we head back to the starting room where we get a short debriefing, are able to pet the dog that lives on the premise, and head back to the Bed and Breakfast.


Nekol and I are now wired and talk to each other for a while till about two a.m before drifting to sleep. We wake up shortly there after to head down for breakfast where we enjoy a small charming breakfast and then driven to the train station by one of the owners of the B&B (it was owned by a cute asian couple). Nekol and I both found seats and settled down and napped the entire rest of the way to London. 

Where Alice and Arwen Came to Play

This last Friday, yes I know Friday I am again remiss in updating on time, Nekol and I went to Oxford and has a wonderful time!

It started rather early in the morning. Nekol and I made our way to Paddington Rail Station where we caught a 7:58 to Oxford. Now, this didn't occur without some slight issues. My reference number wasn't exactly readable because one of the letters looked like an "e" or an incomplete cursive "8." Well, it couldn't have been either because I used both of them several times and still failed to get my tickets from the ticket machine. Fantastic, I know. So I walked across the station to queue up and get my tickets from a man behind a glass. Yay for wasting time.

Of course, we had connecting trains so Nekol and I ended up with about six tickets each. It was quite lovely sitting on our train, before it left, discussing which tickets could possibly be the ones we needed. Then the conductor's voice came over the PA system and we heard the train was going to Slough, Reading and Oxford. Nekol and I looked at each other...

Nekol: "Is it cheaper because we have to get off the train just to get back on again?"
Dre: "Yeah, we saved money by making people feel warmer while we stand out in the cold..."

We decided we would try and stay on, I mean, there is no stop between Reading and Oxford so the worst they could do was kick us off at Oxford since that was our end destination anyways. The conductor came by to check our tickets though before our stop at Reading and said our tickets were fine to Oxford before continuing on. The conductor was cute, tall with dark hair, pale skin, and a nice outfit.

Dre: "Cute conductor says we can stay."
Nekol: "Then we stay."

Soon we reached our destination to Oxford at 9:30 where it is absolutely freezing cold. Honestly, I'm not being a pansy about this, it was down in the 30's when we stepped off the train. A feeling neither of us had been expecting. So we rushed into the terminal to check out where we needed to go before walking to our first location: Christ Church College.

Oxford is a relatively small town that is centered around the various buildings of Oxford University. Don't fool yourselves into thinking Oxford University is one or four buildings...it's about 50. So we made sure we picked Christ Church College before heading down.

Whenever we get there, it's about 9:45. We step onto the campus of Christ Church and are stopped dead in our tracks. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Our breathes are taken away from us and I feel as if I'm about to cry. I'm standing on the same ground that Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgeson (Lewis Carroll) lived. It was a dream come true.

Christ Church College

Unfortunately, the Dining Hall wasn't open to the public until 10:30. It was apparently closed for Breakfast for the campus. Nekol and I decided we would grab a coffee then so as to wait for the town to officially wake up.

Right across the road from Christ Church is a cafe called Cafe Loco. Sounds like a neat name yeah? They have artwork of the Mad Hatter , March Hair, and the Mad Tea Party on the walls. It was absolutely fantastic. What was even better was the menu. Nekol and I squealed in delight over hot chocolate and a slice of chocolate cake. We were technically traveling so we decided we could do whatever we wanted. I had a deluxe hot chocolate which meant I had whipped cream and marshmallows while Nekol got a regular hot chocolate and the slice of chocolate cake...which I ate some of.

Some of the artwork on the walls

Mad Hatter tea party for afternoon tea? Fantastic!

Nekol and I decided that, once finished, we would actually go to Alice's Shop two stores down first and then to Christ Church, because door busting on the Chapel just didn't seem like a very nice thing to do. So we headed towards Alice's Shop...where I was in Heaven. As soon as we walked in I was regaled with so much Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass memorabilia from stationary to clocks to jewelry to clothing. I was looking for my Christmas present that Nekol would buy for me (we had decided we would pick something whilst abroad and the other would buy it for us) and I was looking at the jewelry, quite liking what I saw but not really loving any of it enough to pay near 60 dollars. I told Nekol I'd think about it and as I was walking towards the front of the store, I stopped and saw her. Sitting on a shelf with curly blonde hair and in a beautiful blue dress, white apron, and holding a stuffed white bunny rabbit was a musical Alice. I asked to hold her and was soon listening to an enchanting melody while Alice moved her head to the song, as if she were singing it to herself...I was in love and told Nekol I had found my present. She now sits within arm reach of me and sings to me to make me feel happy.

Alice's Shop (the Sheep Shop, like the one in Through the Looking Glass)

After Alice's Shop, we headed over to Christ Church College and began our tour. There really is no better way to explain than to show. Begin picture montage.

Small garden on pathway to to the College's visitor entrance

The College has many open fields surrounding it

 

Fountain in first courtyard

View from the first courtyard

Beautiful ceilings of staircase

The Dining Hall a.k.a. Where they shot the Great Hall for Harry Potter

Where Professor McGonegal stops the first years to tell them about sorting

Main Courtyard of Christ Church College

Christ Church Chapel

Creepy organ music played when we walked in

Amazing stained glass window

From one of the gardens

After we walked through Christ Church College, Nekol and I headed off to just walk through Oxford and enjoy our stay there. We really only had one last destination we truly wanted to see but we didn't want to rush that, it was early still, and we had so many places we could walk to.

We walked up and down Cornmarket and High Street where we saw cute street vendors and fun shops to step into and peruse wares.

We walked through Blackwell which is five different stores that seemed to be nothing but labyrinths of hidden treasure.

Visited Oxford's Science Museum where their current exhibit was over Steampunk

Radcliffe Camera

Oxford University Press: This is where all your "Oxford Dictionary" and "Oxford Outside Sources" come from.

The "Quarter Boys." These guys ring the bells at every quarter of an hour.

Soon enough, after our walking around, the sun began to set and we decided we'd head to our last place. This place was really important to Nekol. Whereas I had my place with Christ College, Nekol loved this place for a different author. The Eagle and Child is a pub in Oxford that J.R.R. Tolkein used to go to and sit and write and discuss and do whatever else he really wanted to do for that matter. So we went and ate dinner and had dessert there. It was the most perfect English dinner we have had in our time here.

The Eagle and Child a.k.a. The Bird and Baby

After dinner Nekol and I made our trek back to the train station where we headed home. Completely stuffed and absolutely exhausted and yet...so much happier than when we had left.

<3,

Dre

This is what we call...Tex Mex.

So today I made dinner for my floor-mates. It was rather interesting feeding Tex Mex to none Americans.

I have four legit floor-mates. And by legit, I mean they commune with the rest of us and aren't snobbish staying in their rooms the entire time. There is a couple who stays catty-corner to me and all that happens is I hear them, I never see them. So they exist...I think. Anyways, I have four legit roommates and none of them are American. Three English and one Australian. I decided that I hadn't really cooked enough for the floor so I was going to give them a taste of home.

Now, I love Tex Mex like crazy. I grew up on this kind of food and will always feel the slight need for refried beans, fried rice, and fajitas/quesadillas/enchiladas/chimichanga or anything of the sort. I decided I'd do the easiest of the four above that would be the most filling, in my own opinion: enchiladas. And not just any enchiladas, but chicken enchiladas!

I decided to cook today because most everyone is in on Wednesday nights. No one really goes out until Thursday and everyone is in doing homework or visiting with friends. Also, I don't have Uni on Wednesdays so I can afford to go shopping way before dinnertime so I'm not rushing myself. I hate being rushed, I think it makes the quality of the food go down.

I headed over to my favorite street and did some shopping. Lower Marsh has got to be one of the neatest little roads in London. I know there are a ton like it but this is my street in London. It's full of instrument shops, second hand stores, caffe's, restaurants, pubs, bookstores, a library, and food shops. Today I headed over to Iceland, where everything is basically a pound, and got the basics: chicken, tomatoes, onions, cheese, and tortillas. After that, I headed towards the local butcher's which sells a more varied selection of natural foods and picked up the not so common ingredients: green peppers, limes, tortilla chips, and sour cream.

Of course I needed help looking for some of the items. I turned to a store clerk and thus the conversation unfolded:

Me: "Excuse me, where are the limes?"
SC: "Down on the left."
Me: "Oh, thank you! And limes?"
SC: "Here, over on the right."
Me: "Fantastic, and finally, do y'all sell tortilla chips."
SC: "Straight down and on the right over there...what are you making?"

A very strange face the Store Clerk gave me. I just smiled and said, "Enchiladas and salsa!" And he just blinked at me and checked out my items. I took them happily and headed home. Not a moment too soon either because when I was loading things into the fridge and cabinets, the sky broke and rain began to beat down on London as if it would never stop. It had to be one of the most ugly weather days in a while. I shrugged and happily went on my way, eager to start dinner at 4.

So you want to know why Hispanics and Mexicans have large families? Why any other decent nationality has large families: to do all the chores so dinner gets finished in a proper manner and on time. It took me two hours to make dinner. I'm not complaining, I loved talking to people and listening to Juanes while I chopped vegetables but it irritated me that I told people dinner would be ready around five and I was definitely not ready until six. Everyone was very understanding about it but still... irritates the perfectionist in me.

When it was all said and done though, my floor-mates loved the food. Nekol even ate an enchilada and she dislikes Tex Mex strongly. We all enjoyed the food, I figured out ways I could improve upon the recipe, and we laughed and enjoyed each other's company. I got some interesting questions too...

"So what's this?"
"Enchiladas."
"Different than fajitas?"
"Much..."
"So you call this Tex Mex?"
"Yeah."
"Is it different than Mexican food?"
"Most definitely."
"How so?"
"Well...it just is."

But I'm glad I could share a bit of my culture with my floor-mates. I think it brought us closer together.


<3,
Dre

Americaines en Paris

Warning: Long Post

So Nekol and I spent two and a half wonderful days in Paris, France. It was everything we hoped it would be and more! However, it being the two of us together...it was no less than interesting for sure.

Our trip started at eight pm last Thursday night. Nekol and I had booked a coach to take us to Paris because it was only 40 pounds return. Fantastic deal. Unfortunately, we had booked it so that we had to check in at 9:30 and were leaving at 10:30. Nekol and I had to sign up for classes Thursday night at 9:30 and 9 respectively. So we decided to leave early to get to Victoria Coach Station way ahead of time. Of course it takes us forever to leave (forgetting stuff, getting stopped by people we know) and so we get to the Coach Station around 8:40, after much walking around senselessly.

I pull out my laptop and see if I can catch any wireless. I manage to pick up some slow internet and close my laptop so it'd be easier to move and go to sit down. When I opened my laptop again, the internet did not pop up nor did it pop up when I moved to stand where I had stood before. I go to ask a lady in a food shop to see if VCS had any wireless internet or internet hubs. She stared at me blankly and so I asked for a Starbucks or a Pret A Manger. She said there was one if we left the station and took a left but she believed they were closed. Starbucks closed at 8:45 at night? Ridiculous.

Nekol and I grab our stuff, I break a nail in the process, and we hurry off to find this Starbucks. We walk the city block and cross two streets before getting to this Starbucks. I'm walking a brisk pace because I have to sign up for classes in ten minutes time. I see the lights are on at Starbucks but there is no one inside. I look at the times and they closed at 8:30 pm... What Starbucks, in London, closes at 8:30 pm on a Thursday Night?! I see a Pret a Manger right next to it and, remembering they have free wifi, go to see if they are open. They are closed as well, having closed at 8 pm. I stand in front of Pret a Manger a tad desolate, not really knowing what to do. I slowly look around me before Nekol calls my name.

I yell to her that Starbucks closed at 8:30 and she says to pull out our laptops to try and grab bleed off wifi. I nod and we go around the corner of Starbucks, sit down on a ledge of a building, and pull out our laptops. I nervously sit on the ledge as Nekol and I realize there are several "unlocked" wifis but that doesn't mean anything. As we go through the list quickly, I find that a lot of them aren't working. I start to freak out a little but Nekol moves to sit on the ground right infront of Starbucks' side window and tells me to sit down next to her. I move all of our stuff over to her and I see that she has signed into the Starbucks Reward Cards. I am so amazed that we actually have working internet. Little did I know that it had been a gift from God that Nekol had such a sign in.

`Nekol will tell you a bit of her story and how we were so lucky to attain internet`

I gear up my My.TCU and let the cursor hover over the "continue" button to sign up for classes. 8:59 had never been such a long minute in my life. I just stared at the clock, my vision blurring from not blinking, until it turned to 9:00 and Nekol said loudly, "Go!" I clicked on the screen and she quickly gave me numbers I needed for classes. I quickly signed up for my classes, having a small hiccup with a business and a theatre class that are all straightened out now, and pumped my hands into the air triumphantly.

Next I handed Nekol's laptop back to her and she began to sign up for classes. She quickly got into the ones she was most worried about, as students are want to do, before signing up for the rest of her classes. Again, small hiccups that have mostly been sorted out now. It was an hour of furious emailing and button clicking for the both of us. We didn't realize how hard it would be to sign up for the classes we wanted. It wasn't like we could drop into an office and say hello to the people we needed things from. Nor was it as easy as running across campus to get signatures or approvals.

While sitting on the pavement, looking at Nekol's computer, an older man walked by and asked us if we were lost. We looked at each other and said no, we knew what we were doing. We felt bad that we were kind of awkward to the man, for we knew it must've looked strange with two young females sitting on the pavement, luggage all around them, on a laptop. He walked off after a bit and Nekol and I quickly finished up our time on the internet and hurried back to VCS to get checked in to our coach.

It didn't take long to get back to VCS nor did standing in line take forever either. Normally English people know how to queue properly but maybe because there were other nationalities thrown in, there was a mob to get onto the coach. Nekol and I dealt with it cooly enough and got on the bus in good time, managing to grab rather good seats. We hunkered down for our long trip to Paris.

Everything was fine and dandy until the border patrol. The coach stopped on the other side of the Channel and the French BP came on to take our passports, go away to stamp them, then bring them back. Then we had to get off the bus, with all our belongings, and wait in a massive queue outside a small building to get our bags checked and to have our passports looked at once more. It all seemed very convoluted and I was not ready to stand outside in the cold at one am in the morning. I was shivering, freezing, while Nekol made small talk with the older man who sat behind us.

We eventually made it through, which took a long while, and were able to get back on the bus. However, we had to wait longer still because there had been an unclaimed bag...never have an unclaimed bag, it creates a long waiting period for EVERYONE. So really, pay attention to what's yours and don't leave anything behind unclaimed.

Finally, our bus headed off and we drove inside a crate of some sort, which was attached to a train which took us through the Chunnel...it was kind of really neat. It didn't take long at all to get through and was quite peaceful. The next thing I knew, we were driving through Callais and were in France. Nekol and I slept for the rest of the ride until we were in Paris. We found out where to get Cartes from and found the Metro stop we needed to get to our hostel.

Well, it all seemed easy enough. When Nekol and I got off the Metro, I was rather turned around and so we walked around a bit, trying to find our hostel. We went West and then North, not knowing that's the directions we were heading at the time. Finally, we found a city map that told us where we were and I realized we needed to go East and South. So heading back to the Metro, we headed South East and soon enough found our hostel which was rather cool looking. Hostel d'Artagnan had a cool sign of the musketeer d'Artagnan hanging outside its front door and we went inside. We got our keys but told our rooms would not be ready until three pm and so we put our stuff away in a locker, had breakfast, and planned out what we wanted to do for the first days events.

Nekol and I are actually really proud of ourselves because we sat down with a map, circled the areas on the map where we wanted to go, and plotted our course via Metro. Here are the places we went to!

Cimetiere du Pére Lachaise where we saw the graves of Moliere, Chopin, and Oscar Wilde.

Sacre Coeur which is one of the tallest points in Paris

The view from Sacre Coeur

Moulin Rouge, celebrating 120 ans just like the Eiffel Tower

Cimetiere Montmartre, which has the grave Alexander Dumas' son

l'Arc de Triomphe

Pantheon, erected to Saint Genevieve, the Patron Saint of France

After the Pantheon, Nekol and I went to the Louvre but we found out admission was cheaper after 6pm, so we decided to wait a bit and went off to a restaurant. We both had water and sandwiches before sharing a hot slice of chocolate cake. After this fantastic meal, we headed back to the Louvre.

The Louvre, where we found out it was free to those under the age of 26 no matter what nationality. The man at the information desk, "As long as you smile and are nice!"

Where else was there to go after the Louvre but the Eiffel Tower? Nekol and I went to the very top where we took many fabulous photos and video. The wind was at full force but it didn't deter us from staying up as long as possible.

After the Eiffel Tower, it was late, and so Nekol and I dragged our weary selves back home and curled up into our beds and fell sound asleep. It seemed like I had just closed my eyes when I heard Nekol from the other side of the room and we had this short conversation:

Nekol: "Dre, do you want to sleep for another thirty minutes? It's only eight o'clock."

Dre: "Sure, we do what we want..."

-Time Passes-

Nekol: "Dre...it's 9 o'clock."

Dre: "Uuhhhh...ok."

We both dragged ourselves out of bed, Nekol being way more honorable and having been up and moving around before me. Moving slowly, we dressed ourselves for a lovely day of strolling. We were hoping to take it easy that day because our bodies were sore from the going and going we did the day before. Having been walking around Paris from 9:30 am-11:30 pm, we felt as if we had been hit by huge lorries. Eventually we made it to breakfast then to the Metro to get to Versailles via the RER.

By and by, the Paris Metro is absolutely ridiculous. There are no real stops right near anything, you've basically gotta get off to one that's "nearest" and take a hike. Pretty sure they meant to do well but I feel as if it's all a bit too jumbled for my tastes. That and it didn't seem really easy to learn, even Parisians seemed to have to always check where they were going on maps before heading off. I've been in London two months and had the tube map down pat in three weeks.

Anyways, we eventually make it out to Versailles where we don't know exactly where to go but just keep walking North since it's where the general group is head, but break away from the group to take a different street North so we aren't walking with the big tourist crowd. A couple dozen steps in front and to the side is an older Asian man, holding a small camera, and with a colorful backpack on his back. Nekol and I begin our conversation on how we believe Asians, not English Asians or American Asians but Asian Asians, are Professional Tourists.

There are some things that certain nationalities are very good at. English know how to Queue and the Asians know how to be proper Tourists. They know in "general" where their next stop is so they're never really lost. They always have their cameras out and ready to take shots. They can wear their backpacks on their frontside and not look dumb, just smart about not being pick pocketed. Also, they travel in groups which makes it harder to lose somebody because you always know where your people are. Oddly, our man was by himself, but we followed him and not long after we were heading up to Versailles and followed him all the way to the ticket queue. It was like magic.

When Nekol and I were almost inside the ticket office, two American girls (22 maybe?) came out of the building. I wouldn't have known they were American except when one said, "Can we get Starbucks now? No, really." A Spaniard three behind me heard this and laughed, when questioned by his gf/wife/significant other as to what he was laughing about, he told her and repeated the girls words in what I guess he thought they sounded like. The woman laughed and said, "The next thing you know they'll be asking about McDonalds." Nekol and I joked about how King Louis XIV wanted nothing more than Starbucks and McDonalds in his palace but we also talked about how it's horrible that is how some nationalities perceive Americans.

Soon we had our tickets in hand and our audioguides around our necks. We headed off through the palace where we saw so much grandeur and excellence that our breathes were taken away multiple times only to be given back to whisper exclamations of wonder. The architecture and gardens were gorgeous. We were able to walk where so many women and men of great height had walked before us. Of course I'm just blathering and you'd prefer to see photos!

The Golden Gates of Versailles

One of the many ceiling masterpieces

A cool and scary water feature

Pathways in one of the many gardens

Nekol and I bought snacks for ourselves, a nutella crepe and a nutella waffle respectively. We munched away as we strolled through the gardens, admiring their beauty in the fall. We saw many happy puppies, families, and all just leisurely walking through the grounds. After a while, Nekol and I made our way back to the RER to go take pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower (across the bridge).

Going to the where the magnificent fountains are across the bridge of the Eiffel Tower, I snuck in amongst the fountains to take photos...little did I know they increase in water pressure every so often and was quite drenched. I was a tad cold but decided to ignore it and continue taking photos. Nekol and I were waiting on a friend of mine to arrive so that we could have dinner. While waiting, Nekol and I were able to watch the Eiffel Tower's light show.

The Eiffel Tower light show

After a while we met up with our friend who we grabbed pizza with and took it to the Seine and sat down to eat. We caught up and just watched as tour boats passed by, waved to them, and caught up with each other. It was a beautiful night to behold.

The Seine River

After a while, we parted ways and Nekol and I headed back to our hostel where we found some new items in our room. Now, Nekol and I had been bunked in a three person room but had been the only ones in our room the night before. Now there was a backpack, a toiletry case, and a book in the room. I said the stuff looked rather manly, the patterns of both backpack and toiletry case being male oriented. So I shamelessly unzipped his backpack, pulled out his datebook, and opened it to the first page to confirm that it was male. I quickly placed the book back to its original spot, zipped up the backpack, and Nekol and I went down to request for a new room. Stuart could have the room to himself.

After being assigned a new room, Nekol and I went to bed to be ready for Mass at Notre Dame the net morning...only to wake up at 5:45. Nekol sat up and said, "If we want to go to Mass we should probably leave now." She flashed her phone at me, blinding me temporarily, for me to see the time. I blinked at it wearily as we sat there for what seemed forever before I sighed, replying, "We should get up now." We both began our routine to get ready for Mass. Soon we were heading out the door and onto the Metro in the wee early hours of the morning. We got to Notre Dame around 7:30, only to realize Mass was not at 8 but at 8:30 so the doors were not yet open. Nekol and I took photos and video before taking a small walk around the block, amazed at the sun not being up yet, before heading back to the cathedral to see the doors finally opened a little before 8 am. 

We rushed inside to get warm and picked our seats out towards the front of the church. We sat down and  talked about the church in great detail. Mass was in French and Nekol picked up bits and pieces while I knew the routine well enough to know what was being said when. Funny thing about Notre Dame, tourists can walk through while there is Mass still going on and it's ok...I was a little dumb struck by this because it kind of seemed irreverent but the church has to make money somehow to keep itself up and running. 

Notre Dame before sunrise

Inside Notre Dame

]

Where we had Mass

After Mass, Nekol and I walked around the church before heading out to go to Notre Dame's Quasimodo, a cute little cafe where we had a cappuccino and hot chocolate, sandwiches, and water. The water was given to us free by the waiter who thought it was cool that we were Texans, which he found out when he asked us point blank where we were from. It was a fantastic luncheon, followed by a quick shopping excursion, before heading back to the hostel to change and check out. We left our hostel feeling absolutely happy about our trip and glad that we had stayed at that hostel.

Hotel d'Artagnan

We checked in to get our boarding pass and got on the coach and had an easy ride back home to London. It wasn't long, it seemed, before we were pulling into Victoria Coach Station and Nekol and I were able to grab our stuff and get onto the Tube and head home to International House...it was a most fantastic trip and I believe our favorite side trip so far.

<3,

Dre

Filled Up

This week has been full...and yes it's ONLY Wednesday night!

Monday should have been slow with me only having two classes but I had my morning class at ten for Renaissance Literature and Culture...I had to RUSH there because the train was delayed at Charring Cross. So climbing up four flights of stairs I manage to make it to class just before the teacher starts and have a happy hour while we talk about Sex and Gender during the Renaissance in England. Fantastic.

After that I rush home to try and finish homework that has been needing to be done for a while. I get really tired and decide to lay down...only to realize that I am really sick. I am pretty much bedridden for the rest of the day which makes for no fun at all but for a lot of catching up on homework.

Oh! And an interview for an internship at Circle Theatre in Fort Worth for general administration...guess who might just be getting an internship there? MOI! Yes, fantastic, I know!

And yes I know that doesn't sound busy but me being sick kind of filled up my entire schedule.


Tuesday I am feeling a little better and Nekol and I head over to the library to try and print off papers for a presentation for me and to get books checked out for her. Her books take forever and it turns out that apparently you have to format your documents on your usb a certain before being able to print them off of the copier printer the library in our borough has.

Nekol and I then head to Little Titchfield to go to our school's library there. We head to the Basement and wait forever for a computer to become free and when one does I have to figure out Vista Microsoft Word and how to print things out. Then the printer wouldn't recognize any of the documents I sent to it, kept telling me it missed several jobs and I was like, "Yes, you have." So I find out that there is a computer room on the fifth floor so we head up there and find an empty computer and instantly I can print off anything I need. Nekol and I then head over to Sainsbury's for snacks, eat, and head up to class in Wells Street. I give a bamf presentation and am happy for the rest of class.

After class is over, Nekol and I head back home and go grocery shopping. By the time we're actually home, we don't have much time before we head out to see Hairspray. This is another trip sponsored by the Study Abroad and Foreign Exchange office to give us a taste of London, i.e. it's free. I have enough time to make a tiny frozen pizza before I head out to the musical.

Hairspray is absolutely fantastic! We laughed so hard especially during "Timeless to Me," because the two broke character and yet didn't break character...there were a lot of lines I felt were thrown in that aren't normally said that worked so well with them that the entire audience was laughing harder than they had through the rest of the show. Anyways, at the end the cast invites you to get on your feet and dance, which we all do. It's beautiful.

The musical ends a little after ten and Nekol and I have to run back home. I have a phone interview with Housing and Residential Life for TCU to possibly be an AHD or RA next semester so I have to get home to do it in the privacy of my own room. We get on the Northern Line heading south easily enough but when we go to make the jump at Charring Cross to get on the Bakerloo Line heading south...there are some issues.

First off, Charring Cross has long long hallways that takes you ages to walk down. Also, these are not wide hallways so people tend to fill them up quite nicely and only walk two abreast. Nekol and I had to weave our way around people artfully before running up the escalators to get to our line.

Secondly, I head down the stairs to get to the Bakerloo line and a train is there. As soon as I get to the train, the doors close. I, being frustrated, shout an obscenity and slam my hand against the train. The doors open. I am beyond ecstatic that I hop on. I hear Nekol behind me, "Dre! That's the northbound train! We need the southband!" I curse again, hop off the train before it closes its doors again, and run across the platform to the other train. Its doors close right infront of me, yet again, and I just turn away this time...deflated and ready to just give up. Nekol shouts at me again, "GET ON!" and I turn around to spy that the doors are open. We get on at opposite ends of the car, meet in the middle, and both sit down.  I put my head in her lap and just laugh/cry. So much adrenaline in such a little time left me shaking.

We rush home and I head for the lift, it's on floor four going up, I say screw it and awkwardly push past Nekol to run up the stairs. HRL calls right as I'm about to go up the stairs, I apologize for the echoing nature about to happen, go up to my room, and close the door. I have to put all my energy into not speaking really fast and sounding very calm because they hop right into the interview once I'm in my room. It takes me about fifteen minutes before I can even think of sitting down, I am shaking so much. Overall though, I believe I had a really good interview.

However, children, don't try what I did that night because I was very lucky. Someone above was looking out for me : )

Today has been much slower, actually.

I bought tickets to go see Endgame with Nekol for the evening performance. Did homework. Stayed inside because the weather was gross. Then went to see Endgame with Nekol.

Endgame is...a Beckett play...that's really all I can say.

After the play was over, nearly two hours and our bums hurting from bad seats, we start walking towards Charring Cross. We pass a street and hear chanting and just accredit it to a pub. We then talk about how we'd love to see some pub behavior that is connected to American bars just to see if it is just Americans but our conversation is cut short as we near Trafalgar Square. There is a loud den, a chanting noise of sorts, that's filling the air. I look to Nekol and tell her that we should go check it out and we do.

Crossing the street and getting to Trafalgar Square, the west side towards the Canadian Embassy is filled with people. Nekol and I try and figure out what's going on. We see this massive crowd, waving flags, and the police walking around. We think it is one of three things: riot, protest, victorious game. No one is being violent so not a riot...and the protest doesn't really seem to match the current protest, Tropics to Trafalgar, so we thought it was a victorious game except we hadn't heard anything about matches. I took a few photos and wanted to ask a police what was happening but then a firework was set off into the sky. Nekol and I promptly turned around and went into the Subway. Survival of the fittest.

Turns out Algeria beat their big rivals in football Egypt to make it to the World Cup for the first time in 24 years. They're such big rivals that they had to play in a neutral area...Sudan. Go figure. Anyways, it was pretty epic...just to see how epic, here's a photo:

Tomorrow will be epic too because we leave for Paris and sign up for classes...will the fun never cease?

<3,

Dre