Danielle Sees the World.

So the past two weekends have been great for exploring London! I have seen so much. Last Saturday, I went to Portobello market and the science museum with Kyli, who was visiting from studying in Spain. It was a great trip and the absolute most beautiful day out. We walked around, had an amazing apple strudel pastry at the market, then went to the museum. It was really cool how interactive it was! Of course we played with all of the games that were made for like 8-10 year olds learning about their place in the world, but it was still a fun time. After, we joined Erin and Ande for dinner at GBK. AKA heaven on a bun (burger place). It was great, and we got free sides galore. What more could a girl ask for? The next day, I went to The Church with some of the roomies. Basically, think a Sunday Day Club where everyone pretends in halloween and a comedian and stripper preform. We had no idea what we were getting into though of course. But it was crazy and definitely something that had to be done before leaving.

This weekend was, in some ways, much more relaxed. Saw my cousins and some of their friends for dinner, finally felt like a real londoner at a dinner party. Was pretty neat. Learned about some amazingly cool places around the city. Had one of the weirdest walks home - thanks weird guys on the street at 1:30am. The next morning, Ande, Erin (different one), Erin’s friend Molly, and I went and camped out for tickets to Matilda at about 6am. We were up before the sun! Ande slept on the street for a solid half an hour, and we kept hiding in Cafe Nero to pass the time. It was definitely a morning to remember. But we got tickets! So it was all worth it. After a much needed 4 hour nap and a nice gym sesh, Ande and I saw the show (the other girls went to the matinée). It was sooooo good! And I love Matilda. It was amazing how adapted to British culture is. Can’t wait to find out how it changes when it goes on broadway. Today, Erin, Molly, and I went to high tea (sort of) at the Orangery, which is at Kensington Palace. It was gorgeous and everything we had was sooo good. I had this really interesting tea that was earl grey tea with blue flower…whatever that means! Oh and some delicious carrot cake. It was another beautiful - although slightly colder than this past week - day. I wouldn’t change it at all!

On March 11th, I went to Oxford for the day with Ande! 

First, we went to Blenheim Palace. Ande and I naturally lost the group of the other 50 Americans, first touring the palace rooms themselves, then walking through the gardens (secret gardens included) and finally going through this really cool holographic story of the Blenheim Palace and the whole history of it. Quick recap/take away from about two weeks later: There is this dude with the last name of Churchill, he won the war, was given a gift of the castle from the queen, awesome. Had a son, some lady cheated on him, the king cause them cheating, it was awkward. The Churchills didn’t have any more boys, the blood line was still there but the name was gone. A few generations later, they got the name back, then Winston Churchill came out, there is a lock of hair on a bed in the room he was given birth to in the palace (I thought that was weird, but apparently its not), and he lived there. But before all that when some dude played with electricity and was some genius in that sense lived there, he decided to sell all the major family heirlooms, so it has taken a while to get them all back. And then Winston Churchill came about and yeah thats basically where it ended. So then we got back on the bus and went to Oxford.

Oxford is the cutest little university town. The whole town revolves around the University. Kinda like BU, the whole place is split up into different colleges with their own names. They are way more spread out throughout the city though. We took a tour of Christ Church, which is one of the major schools where a lot of really really smart people who run the country go to school. It is also where they filmed the great hall scene of harry potter with all the giant tables and stuff. It was really cool to see and walk around and was just the perfect most gorgeous day out. So of course Ande and I ended the day by going to the pub and getting a drink where a bunch of famous writer (JK Rowling, Lewis Carol, Charles Dickens, etc.) used to go and hang out to get some writing done. So we felt extremely important. It was fantastic. 

The picture is of the back of the palace from the gardens!

SOOOOO this post should have been written weeks ago. I suck. Anyhow, I went to Stockholm a while back. It was probably the most gorgeous place I have ever visited. That means city and people included. I got to hang out with my cousin all week and it was fantastic. Could not have asked for a better mini vacation!

Friday night, after rushing from work, we made it to Stockholm! (Taylor, my roommate, came with). There were a few scares of missing the busses/trains/plane…but we pulled it off. Awesome. For some reason my phone didn’t connect to Brian’s, and his wouldn’t connect to mine either, but we found each other at the bus and it was perfect. After dropping our stuff off at his African themed apartment (ask if you want to know more, its complicated), we packed a picnic basket full of wine (boxed - don’t get too excited) and wafers and set out to the most amazing lookout spot in the entire city (world, arguably). It was awesome. I was sooo tired, but it was completely worth it. After about an hour, we went back and crashed. 

On Saturday, we went to all you could eat brunch where they had the most amazing panacakes (also known as crepes) and literally the best juice I have ever had in my life. This is where I also realized I have become a tea drinker. Shocking I know, but we had some really delish tea too. After exploring the city and shopping all day, we stopped for an afternoon rest at Sturkatten, this five story old grandma’s home looking place (not mine and Brian’s grandmother though..) and had desserts and more tea. It was adorable! Words cannot explain. There, we ran into some of his friends from his law master’s program thing and then went through Gurdgarden (as we like to pronounce it Jew-garden), strolled through the trees down by the water, then took a boat back to his apartment. There, we rested for about an hour before dinner at a Chinese restaurant - of course. After dinner, we watched Sweden’s battle of the bands to go on EuroVision. If you want to know what we did for a solid two hours while pre-gaming and getting ready for Cafe Opera then look up “Youngblood” by Youngblood or Sean Banan - his song will come on like king of banan something. Anyhow, they are fantastic songs, so you really should check it out. Then, we went to Cafe Opera, a club in an old opera house. Brian, Taylor, and I TORE IT UP. Ok, so mostly just Brian and his great dance moves (not kidding), he is really good, but Taylor and I tried as well. There are many cultural differences with the Swedes that really became apparent that night. Too many to explain, but let’s just say it is all about equality folks. 

Sunday, we were all too hung over to move and go to brunch, so we went to this local sandwich and salad place. It was so tasty. I just want to move to Sweden for their deliciousness everything. We also got really good at getting three people through the metro in one go. I am proud of us. And then it was just the forever adventure back to London. SO WORTH IT. Such a fun weekend! 

Here is a picture of me and Brian in Sturkatten! Check out my other pics of fb if you want to see more of the excursion :)

BERLIN!

So it has taken me a while to write this post, BUT here we go:

Copenhagen was lots of fun. I forgot my camera everywhere I went, so that kind of sucked, but it was really interesting and a great time. On Wednesday, right after I got there, Brett and I made dinner, then went to a bar to watch the soccer game. Bar hopped a little, and then had a great shwarma snack (see pattern of trip). The next day, I went into the city and explored/got lost a little, until I turned up in this square, looked up, and there was Brett. So then he showed me around a tiny bit, we tried to go to the carlsberg factory, but unfortunately it was closed, so we went and grabbed dinner, then it was off to a club. Now this club, one of the most interesting clubs I have ever been to, was really not a club. It was an awkward bar. Very awkward. With some dancing downstairs. There were just dicks and vaginas, yes, private parts, as decorations. It was super uncomfortable. Could not even think about it. Even the bathroom toilet/sink/hand dryer was spray painted with these decorations. Just trying to mental block that out now. The end.

The next day, Brett and I flew in to Berlin, meeting up with Ande, Erin, and Kate. We got in to the hostel, I was separated by rooms from the group, so we all got ready independently (in my mind - really they got ready together and I just was downstairs) and then it was off to grab a bite to eat before the pub crawl. Now the pub crawl, very interesting. Ask me about it, cause the details are just silly when it comes to learning that we can take drinks with us out on the street, and lets be real, the night is going to be nuts when the first (really second) drink we had was a jager bomb. So fast forward to the end of the pub crawl, after making friends with a shit ton of americans/most of the group/everyone that was in our hostel, we ended up at this club. It was kinda indie with a separate downstairs dance floor playing (good) music, and the upstairs floor playing weird/top 40 mixed stuff. It was a lot of fun dancing around. There was lots of space downstairs so I loved it. Ended up making friends there and going to an American diner with this group of German guys. Was absolutely hilarious. Then we slept for a few hours, and we were up and at it again! Woke up just in time for a four hour walking tour! It was probably a little longer than four hours, but it went by relatively quickly - other than being the second most cold in my life - wales is first. We got to see so many awesome sites! Really made me understand what Berlin and Germany is all about today. So much history. See attached pictures of the group of us outside some large pretty building (um yeah i forgot the name), the music square, and the Berlin wall. After the walking tour, we took a quick beer break to warm up, then went to dinner at this nice German restaurant. IT WAS AMAZING. By far the best meal I ate all vacation. Then we got ready, and it was off to another night on the town. We tried to get into Watergate, it didn’t really work, so we randomly found our walking tour friends in line as well, and decided to all go to a bar next door. Hung out there a bit, some of the girls went back to the club, but I ended up just going back. It had been a long few days. I wish I summed up the energy to hit the club, but at 4am it just was not happening. The next day, we went to the Jewish Museum. It was really cool, super interactive, and told a lot of personal stories. After feeling dead from a crazy weekend, we headed back, grabbed our things, headed off to the airport. Vacation over. One of the craziest weekends ever, but definitely worthwhile. Now on to Sweden next…

(photos will actually be posted in a new post…this is too complicated) 

This last week was super intense. Lots of studying, felt like I actually went to school for a while there. A really sucky school with constant paper writing and studying. Don’t remember the last time I said that. But now it is over, all is well, and back to real life. PSYCH! Its vacation time. Heading up to Copenhagen to spend some time with Brett, see what Denmark’s all about, etc etc. Then we go to Berlin to meet up with the gal pals and rock the city. I am not sure what kind of 5 day break it will be, but it will definitely be an adventure. Have my list of goals that I want to accomplish in each city (German beer tour, german chocolate, danish pastry…you can see where my head is at). All in all, should be a great time and a much needed break from the past 5 or so days of intense work. Kidding…but not really. It was super intense. Time to live it up! Only studying in London once… :)

I went to Wales last weekend to go on the adventure weekend. It was a fantastic weekend! One of the best by far. It was really fun being in the middle of nowhere in the countryside. Definitely different than home!

We got there late fri night, had a quick snack, then went to bed in a crazy 9 person room. Ande and I slept in a nice little loft. It was adorable. Then we woke up early saturday, ate bfast, went kayaking (full on wet suits, layers, the whole shibang), went through caves and explored around in the sea there. then went back for lunch, went coasteering (where you just off rocks into the water and climb and stuff) - but i couldnt really do all that cause of my messed up knees, so i had to stop part way through (so sad) but i met a nice guy on the beach who ended up being the owner of the program although he didnt tell me that. then we went back for dinner, started drinking, , sat around campfire, etc. next morning, breakfast, then 7 mile hike along the coast going up and down hills all around the water. like basically the most gorgeous thing ever. was all muddy and ended up raining about half the hike, but was still very fun. would not change it for anything.

This week has been crazy. Lots of work and catching up on sleep from the weekend. We had a few papers/projects due, and now its time to get cracking for finals on Monday and Tuesday, oh and another paper. CANT WAIT. jokes. but it will all be done soon and then its off to Copenhagen and Berlin!! Now that will be exciting! More to come soon! XX (look I am British now)…

I think I will make this a weekly post type thing. If I can. This week has been lots of fun. I went out for my first night of drinks with a friend. It is nice to be legal - whether here or in America now..but I am glad I feel like I am growing up again. It was a great start to the weekend with a gorgeous view from the OXO Tower. It was SUPERRRR cold though. The next night, we went to the Ice Bar. IT WAS SO COOL! Literally. Cold! But they had great drinks, was a fun experience with the roommates, and I got to lick the wall of ice. All in all, a great night. Saturday, we went to a birthday party at Proud Camden. It is an awesome bar made out of old horse stables. Every stable is different, some with a bar, some with a lounge area. Bad news - it was snowing. So cold. And slippery. The city basically shuts down when it snows, so that was sad. But Sunday was a nice recovery and relaxing day, then back to the school grind. This weekend is the Presseli Adventure Weekend in Wales. Hopefully it will be warm enough to surf and kayak. Not sure how that will turn out, but my fingers are crossed! It is nice to still be getting into a routine. Feels like home I guess. Cant believe there is only a week and a half left of these classes, but its kinda nice. Everything stays in your head so much easier. Back to the study grind!

This past week was crazy. I am finally starting to feel settled in here. And I love it. It is nice having good friends and a little bit of family around. Makes the settling much easier. So if you havent heard of it, Made in Chelsea is a TV show…and its amazing. Watched the two seasons that are currently out in the past week and a half or so. Maybe week cause I finished a few days ago. It was great. Since that’s all I was doing I didnt really get to see London this weekend. PSYCH! I still went out and left the socialites every now and then. This weekend was by far the most fun yet, from exploring new clubs and bars (that I dont really fit in to all the time) to dancing all night long, I am looking forward to many more like that. I had my interview for my internship on Friday, it went well, and I cant wait for that section of the semester to begin. Classes have been long, but I am getting the hang of concentrating for four straight hours. UGH. We have our first (only) field trip tomorrow, so I am excited for that! We are going to the Brand Museum and Whole Foods. Should be a good time. Last Sunday a few of my roommates and I went to the Chinese New Year festivities in Trafalgar Square. These are just a couple of pictures (below) that you can check out. I really do like it here, but also cant wait for the vacation/exploring time to really begin!

Me and Ande at Chinese New Year! And the fire works!