Ireland: Land of a Thousand Welcomes, and then some....

So this past week I spent in Ireland.  We arrived in Dublin on Tuesday and I just got back yesterday morning.  It was probably one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been to.  It kinda caught me off guard how beautiful it was, I wasnt really expecting it to be so amazing.  I will also say that Ireland has the friendliest people I ever met.  We were lost one day in Dublin, didnt even have a map out, and some man came over to us out of nowhere and asked if we were lost and needed directions, unbelievable.  People will also randomly say hi to you as you are walking down the street, it was great.  Dublin itself as a city was kinda lame.  It was a lot smaller then London, and didnt really feel like a "city".  It reminded me a lot like Philadelphia when compared to New York City-it just doesnt come close.  But we still had some fun in Dublin.  Temple Bar was a lot of fun.  It is the district where most of the night life happened in Dublin.  I will say this, Pubs in Ireland are a lot better then Pubs in London.  Most of them had live music, we went to this one pub that had traditional Irish music and it was so cool.  It reminded me a lot like the pub scenes in P.S. I love You, everyone was getting into it and singing along, some people started dancing-it was a great time.

Outside of Dublin we visited Howth, which is a seaside village and we did a day trip to Wicklow and Kilkenny.  Howth was unbelievable, it was probably our best day spent in Ireland.  The town had a really cool port, we walked along the docks and we saw a crowd of people looking down into the water.  When we got there and looked at what they were looking at we were speechless.  There were about 4 huge seals and the people were throwing fish to them.  The seals came right up to the dock and were jumping for the fish, I never seen anything like it.  After the seals we kept walking to the end of the docks and where we stopped and took pictures because it was really pretty.  After the docks we went and got some food.  I will say this, the one thing the Irish got on the British is definitely food.  Irish food is unbelievable good.  Its very homey and I felt like I was eating something that my nanny made.  I had Shepherd's Pie and Soda Bread.  After Lunch we decided to do a cliff side hike, that the guy at the tourist office reccommended.  It was the best decision we made in Ireland.  The hike itself was about two miles, but the scenery throughout the walk was breathtaking.  We got to certain points where it felt like we were the only people left on the planet.  There wasnt another soul to be seen, and no buildings, or noise to be heard.  That being said we had an unbelieveable time in Howth, I would go back to Ireland just to visit this town again, it was that great.  Later that night we went out to this club and I got to see my old friend from elementary school Dylan, which was nice, I think the last time I saw him was about ten or so years ago.  He seemed good, and told me that he may be studying in the states next year, so I told him if he does to let me know and we'll plan
something.

Anyways the following day we had our day tour through Paddywagon Tours.  It was a very awesome day once again.  The tour started in Dublin and took us to Glendalough, which is this really pretty area in Wicklow National Park.  I felt like I stepped into a Thomas Kincaid painting, there were cottages everywhere and the mountains and lake were the backdrop of the scene, it was very pretty.  Wicklow is also the area where they filmed a lot of movies, like P.S. I love You and Braveheart.  After Glendalough we went to the site where they shot some scenes of Braveheart.  It was the gorgeous plateau surrounded by mountains.  After taking a ton of pictures it was off to Kilkenny,  Kilkenny was a very pretty city, though kinda touristy.  We walked around where the food stalls were and got lunch.  I had a falafal which was delcious, and then after lunch we stopped at a stall and go chocolates, I had two truffles a Chai Mocha and a Dark Chocolate which were both unbelievabley good.  After walking around the grounds of Kilkenny Castle it was time to go back.  The tour was great and the overall stay at the hostel was great, I would definitely recommend that hostel to anyone who plans on visiting Dublin, you cant beat the deal we paid (25 Euros for 3 nights, plus the tour itself which was 25 Euros but we got it free since we were staying at the hostel).

AMSTERDAM: BEYOND WINDMILLS, WOODEN SHOES and WEED

So this post is way overdue.  About two weeks ago I did a trip to Amsterdam  which was unbelievable.  It was the first trip I had made outside of the UK and I have to say the culture in Amsterdam is unlike anything I have ever seen.  For one thing -though the country speaks Dutch, everyone knows English, so their wasn't any language barrier at all, which caught me off guard.  The Netherlands is also very flat, which I was not aware of.  There werent really any mountains or even hills, and I noticed a lot of farmland during our scenic drive through the dutch countryside into Amsterdam.

As a city Amsterdam was also very unique.  There were no tall skyscrappers or buildings at all, and the city was very small and easy to navigate, which made it great for exploration.  One of the unique things about Amsterdam is how much the city contradicts the conservative values held by many countries, including the United States.  Within the city one can find prostitution, drugs, and sex shops-all within walking distance from a church or cathedral, it was mindblowing.  The Red Light District is the area of the city that contains the most elements of sin.  Prostitution, drugs and sex shops all lined the picturesque canal, which was ironically littered with Swans and waterfowl.  While walking down the Grand Canal through the Red Light District I noticed people from all walks of life, including an elderly couple and children.  It was also very interesting to see the brothels themselves.  Each building had a number of floors, each floor with a set of windows.  Within the windows stood the prostitutes, in little to no clothing with a glaring red light behind them.  Many seemed to be extremely young, and then to the other extreme were the prostitutes who where older.  I found it to be quite surreal knowing that the economy of Amsterdam relys heavily on this industry.  

Drugs in Amsterdam were also very prevelent, to the point where the novelty was gone.  Throughout the city on almost every street corner were "Coffeeshops", which was code-name for "yes we have weed".  It was interesting to notice how this subculture for us, is very much apart of the actual culture of the city.  I found the experience of just seeing the Red Light District and the "coffeeshops", as mindopening-that one culture's "taboo" can be another culture's "norm".  

On a lighther note the other thing I did while in Amsterdam was visit the Van Gogh Museum.  The Van Gogh Museum was probably the best museum I ever been in.  It was a very non-conventional museum which I did not expect.  The way the art was laid out and viewed was done so in a way that allowed the viewer to read each discription and actually see how Van Gogh's work progressed through his various stages.  Because of this lines formed around each piece of art, and it was like a carousel of people going from one piece to the next, carefully taking it all in.  Very unlike the conventional art museums, where people see only what interests them.  My favorite part of the museum was the part devoted to Van Gogh's contemporaries, particularly the art movement that erupted in Marmont, Paris during the late 1800s.  It was interesting to see how these artists, all from the same period interacted amoungst each other, from Toulouse Lautrec, to Claude Monet.  Overall I found the museum to be fascinating and it inspired me as an artist to visit Paris, a place I always deemed as an overrated bed for tourism.  

I also had the opportunity to visit Belgium while on the same trip.  We made a stop in Bruge.  If you ever seen the movie In Bruges, its exactly how it is portrayed in the movie, absolutely beautiful like a fucking Fairytale.  We were only there for two hours but while we were there I got to have waffles which were unbelievable.  They were covered in Ice Cream and had sugar crystals cooked into them.  I also had some Belgium chocolates which were amazing as well.  

Wicked was bloody WICKED!

So I just wanted to do a quick post about my outing last night to my first musical on the West End.  It was Wicked, which was a show that I have always wanted to see because I hear from everyone that it is amazing....and it was.

The show is about the life of Elphaba, who is better known as the Wicked Witch of the West and her best friend Galinda, the Good Witch of the North.  As the story unfolds it becomes clear that Elphaba was never actually Wicked, and was only thought to be so from the rumors that spread through Oz, and also because whenever she did any good deed it would always backfire on her.  It was an awesome storyline that is far too complicated to explain in a post, but is very easy to understand if you see the show.

I thought the music was awesome.  Both leads were able to carry their roles and sounded amazing.  All in all it was probably one of the best shows I have ever seen.  I cant wait to see it on Broadway when I get back to the States.  Everyone has been telling me that it is 10 x better in New York, so it should amaze me once again.

Long time no post

So a week has gone by since I last posted.  Ive been so busy that I just forget to update my blog, but I figured it is Sunday night, the end of the week, so here is the latest on me.


This past Monday I visited one of the most beautiful chuches that I have ever been in Westminster Abbey.  Now I been in a number of European chuches, so that were probably even more beautiful in oppulence, but what made Westminster Abbey so interesting was the fact that it felt larger then life.  It was massive.  The minute you walk in the Cathedral seems like it can go on forever.  It has a kinda ominous vibe to it as well since many people are burried within the walls of the Abbey.  What was nice about the tour was that it came with an audio guide, so you can listen in as you wonder from room to room.  My favorite part of the abbey was probably the Poet's Corner, just because so many of the greatest authors, scientists and philosphers were burried there.  Some of the names include, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carrol, Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, Rudyard Kipling, Tennyson, Issac Newton and Charles Darwin.  Other parts of the Abbey that I found interesting were the older sections that date back to the 5th century, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, which marks the burial site of a fallen soilder from the first world war who remains unknown in indentity, "THEY BURIED HIM AMONG THE KINGS BECAUSE HE HAD DONE GOOD TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD HIS HOUSE".

Westminster Abbey cloisters 

The London Eye

Westminster Abbey 

This week I also saw my first London theatre production.  It was a play called Greenland, held at the National Theatre.  Kristina managed to arrange for me to get a pair of free tickets from her internship.  The play was kinda interesting, though we both agreed that they could have done a lot more with it.  It was about global warming, and how many people on this planet aren't taking the issue seriously.  It seemed kinda far fetched, some of it was over the top-but it was in the safe zone between being realistic and being over the top-I think it would have worked better if it went one way and ran with it.   But overall it was a good night out.  Im so excited for tomorrow night because I am seeing Wicked for the first time, and I know that show will be amazing.


Anyways this past weekend was pretty awesome.  Friday night we went to Zoobar.  It was me, Sarika, Genesis and Sarika's friend Hitasha.  Zoobar is located in Leicester Square, so it is kinda out of the way.  It was a fun night though, a lot of crazy memories, from me almost punching a woman in the face on the subway, to Sarika walking around Russell Square barefoot at three in the morning.  When we finally made it home-it was 4AM and we had to get up at around 8 AM to get ready for Oxford.  


Oxford was so much fun.  We had planned to make it our first international couch surfing experience as well.  During the day we did mostly the touristy stuff.  When we first got into the city we went to the oldest building in Oxford, dating back to the Saxons.  It was this really old church with a bell tower.  We climbed to the top of the tower and saw the most beautiful views of Oxford, we also took a ton of pictures.  After our impromptu photoshoot we went to get a quick snack at Burger King and continued to walk around the city.  I decided to do a Harry Potter walking tour, just because I had to.  The tour wasnt too pricey (7 pounds), and I got to see a lot from it, which was good.  We went to many of the different colleges at Oxford, including Jesus College, Exerter College , Trinity College, Worcester College and New College.  New College was probably my favorite, just because it is where most of the Harry Potter sites were.  I got to see where they shot the banquet hall scenes in the Goblet of Fire, as well as the cloisters and corridors used in all the movies as the hallways of Hogwarts, and the tree where Draco was turned into a weasel by Mad Eye Moody (aka Barty Crouch Jr.).  After the tour I met back up with Sarika and Genesis and we continued to walk around the city.  We decided to get something to eat, and went to this italian restaurant called Bella Italia.  It was probably one of the best meals I have had thus far.  I had a panini with roasted Chicken, peppers and mozzorella.  After dinner we went and met up with Olivier and Tom who were hosting us for the night.  We went to this pub and did alittle bit of wine drinking before we left for their house.  They lived in Abingdon, which is a suburb of Oxford.  It was quit nice, and reminded me a lot like the U.S.  They lived in a house a few other girls.  Most of them were from France, aside from Reca who was Bulgarian.  But they were all very nice, and it was a cool experience to be talking with people from a different part of the world.  I had a second dinner with them later that evening that was very good, and then we decided to go clubbing later that night, to see the Oxford night scene.  Oxford at night is a completely different place, I like to say it goes from a Medieval Beauty to a Hot Mess Express.  Since its mainly a college town, there are a ton of college students who go out to clubs almost every night.  We went to this club called Lava.  It was really cool.  There were three floors and each floor had a different style of music.  It was like if you got tired of one floor you can just relocate and its like your in another completely differrent club, more or less.  So we danced for a few hours, and then decided to head back because the last bus left at 3 and we didnt want to miss it.  As we were walking back to the bus station we saw trash everywhere.  The streets were dirtier then the streets in London and New York City, put together.  This place that was once so beautiful, now looked like a city slum.  There were also people everywhere passed out drunk on the streets, it seemed like every direction you turned someone was screaming-even in the club there were moments of craziness.  It was a very entertaining night.  The highlight of the night had to of happened on the bus, when this guy that peed himself tried to sit on Sarika's lap-it was pure insanity, a great ending to the night.

Where Draco was turned into a Weasel.

The Hogwarts Banquet Room

Quidditch Fields!

Christ Church Coat of Arms

Today (Sunday) after getting back from Oxford I decided to meet up with Kristina.  They were heading into Trafalgar square to see the Chinese New Year Celebratioin.  It was really cool.  Their had to have been at least 20,000 people there.  They had some shows going on and vendors everywhere.  After walking around for a while we went into Chinatown to get dinner.  We decided to get Chinese food at this restaurant that seemed to be the least crowded.  There were still masses of people eating there it was a good night to be Chinese.  The food at the restaurant was also really good (and cheap).  I had Spring Rolls and Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice.  For an appetizer and a main dish it only came out to be around 7 pounds.  I know I will definitely try to get to that place again.  

Overall this weekend was awesome.  Even though I probably spent more money then I should have, I had an amazing time and have no regrets.  I figure I am only going to get to see these places once in my lifetime.  I might as well live it up while I can.  

A home away from home

So this weekend I had my homestay.  It was quite a nice change from city life.  Our group's homestay was in the small town of Tunbridge Wells, in the region of Kent.  Tunbridge Wells is a very cute little town, it reminded me a lot like either Mainstreet USA from Disney World or Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls.  There were many little shops throughout the town, and a main streety area called High Street, however it wasn't the most exciting place aside from the shopping.

My homestay mother was Lucy Stevens.  Lucy was awesome, I really lucked out with getting her.  There was kinda some drama before we left with our families because me and Alex's family never showd up to pick us up.  Apparently they had not realize they were having two homestay students for the weekend.  To make matters worst they already had two German female students staying with them, so they couldnt mix two male students into the situation.  So after making a few phone calls, we ended up switching with two girls-so we went with their homestay family which was Lucy's family, and they ended up going with our original intended family.

Lucy's family consisted of a daughter named Jess who was studying at Uni at the moment, a son named Ben who was just starting to apply to Uni's and a German exchange student named Freddie, who was living with the family for the year.  She was such a wonderful host.   She told us that we didnt have to wake up early to go to do the walking tour of the town if we didnt want to, and that she would gladly show us around the town later....YES!  So me and Alex got to sleep in, which was so nice.

Later that day she basically showd us the highlights of the town, and took us down to the Pantiles.  The Pantiles were part of the historical section of town.  They were these Victorian style shops and cafes, that were around since the 1800s.  There was also a well with old rust water, that she told us people back in the day used to come to the town to drink the water, thinking it had some therapeutic qualities-hmmmmm rusty water.....not so much in my book.  But nonetheless it was all quite interesting.  After Lucy gave us a tour of the town she dropped us off by the mall and we did alittle shopping.  The mall was very Americanized, and was no different from the shopping malls in the state.  After the mall, we went and had a bite to eat at a local pub, and then walked back up to Lucy's home, for supper.

On Sunday we again slept in, and then went back into town for a bit.  It was such a beautiful sunny day out we also stopped at a park which was quite nice.  Overall the weekend was a very nice city break.  Life in England is not so vastly different from life in the states after all.

My Homestay bedroom

The Fireplace

Tubridge Wells 

My homestay mother, Lucy

A park in Tunbridge Wells 

It was very English 

The Pantiles

in the Park, it was so sunny out

Greenwich, not just in Connecticut

in Greenwich Park 

So on Monday I got to experience Greenwich for the first time with Genesis.  It was probably my favorite place that I visited so far in London, besides Portobello Road.  It was just so picturesque, and had an essence of the Victorian Age.

We started off our day in Greenwich with a walk to the docks.  Most of the dockyard was under construction-they are building a new museum around one of the schooners.  Anyways we continued on into the Royal Naval College of London.  The campus was gorgeous, there were so many old buildings, we first stopped into the Painted Hall.  The Painted Hall was this cathedral-like space (though not a church) it was massive and the entire space was covered in murals.  It reminded me of what I would imagine the Sistine Chapel to look like.  The murals were beautifully done and depicted the King and Queen as sort of God-like beings.  After the Painted Hall we then crossed over the university and went to the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul.  The Chapel was very intimate but exquisit in detail.  There was also a beautiful painted mural that covered the ceiling.

After the Royal Naval College we walked over to the Museuam area, where the National Maritime Museum was as well as Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory.  The National Maritime Museum was a pretty interesting museum, they had an exhibition being held of toy sailboats.  It kinda was a museum geared more toward children.  Anyways after the Maritime Museum we went for a walk in the park, following the path up the hill to the Royal Obsevatory.

Greenwich park was absolutely beautiful.  It reminded me a lot of the park that Mary Poppins, Bert and the children go to in the movie, Mary Poppins.  There were a lot of rolling hills, but the largest hill was the one that we had to climb to get to the Royal Observatory.  When we got to the top the views of the city were brilliant.  You can basially see everything from the Gerkin to the London Eye to St Pauls.  So after taking loads of pictures we went in search of the prime meridian.  The Royal Observatory was pretty cool.  There was a planetarium on one end and on the other end was the Prime Meridian.  We first went into the Planetarium but only spent about 20 mintues there because it was really boring.  After the Planetarium we walked over to the area that housed the Prime Meridian.  The Prime Meridian was actually really cool.  There was a laser that pointed in the distance-creating the boundry line that separates the East from the West.  There was also a sculpture that im guessing represented the Prime Meridian as well.  After taking loads of pictures we went on our way.  On the way out we stopped to look at the 24 hour clock.  It was basically a clock with every hour represented on it.  It was pretty neat.

The Royal Naval College, it was gorgeous 

at the top of the hill in Greenwich Park, beautiful views of the London Skyline

the Prime Meridian

the 24 hour clock, there were a lot of clocks in Greenwich

After visiting the touristy stuff in Greenwich we decided to get some food.  We stopped and had a traditional british meal at the Green Village Restaurant.  Genesis opted for the fish and chips, while I had the english roast, which was Turkey with baked potatoes, cabbage and yorkshire pudding.  It was pretty good.  After dinner we headed back to Goldsmiths-it was a nice day. :)

Weekend at Krissy's

Hogwarts here I come!

at Portobello Road in Notting Hill 

In front of Buckingham Palace

Portbello Road

the Delicious Italian Restaurant, though the service was awful

So I know I havn't posted anything lately on here.  This past week was just really tough because I have honestly been feeling homesick, and didnt want my posts to be depressing and sad because thats never fun.  I am feeling better since my last post.  I realized that at Goldsmiths there are two terms a spring term and a summer term, so I think I am going to change my stay here to only the Spring term rather then the Spring and Summer terms-hopefully Arcadia will be accomodating to that-if not oh well, I will still be leaving once I finish my Spring term classes on my own accord. :)

Anyways this past weekend was exceptionally good.  First off the weather was great.  It hasnt rained in days which just makes me feel 100 times better.  Second off I got to spend the weekend in center city with Krissy and Lara.  It was a great time, heres a play by play of what I did.

On Friday I got to Krissy's at around 3.  We hung out for alittle in her flat, and then went and got Lara and headed out for Kings Cross Station.  Sadly when we got to the station is was under heavy construction-Kristina was very sad because she said the station is usually exceptionally beautiful when it isnt heavily scaffolded.  Anyways we stopped at one of the stands in the station and got Pasties.  A Cornish Pasty is a savory pastry-meaing it is usually filled with cheeses, meats and vegatables.  The one that we all got was the Chicken and Vegatable Pasty.  It kinda reminded me of a Chicken Pot Pie without the pot that you ate with your hands.  Anyways it was really good-after we got Pasties we went to find Platform 9 and 3/4.  Again because of the construction, disappointment continued.  The brickwall that was once Platform 9 and 3/4 was gone-and instead of having actually bricks it was more like a mural of bricks with a luggage cart going through it.  It was kinda pathetic but we still all posed for pictures by it (sadly I didnt get transported to the actual platform).

Anyways after Kings Cross we went for a short walk to the Britsh Library.  The British Library was really cool.  It was massive for one thing, but what made it great was the museum that was inside it.  They had original manuscripts for many of the great novels, from writers like Jane Austin, The Bronte Sisters, Lewis Carrol and even Shakespeare.  The library also housed the Magna Carta-which was under heavy guard in its own little section.  My favorite part of the museum was probably the section devoted to the Beatles.  They had original hand written lyrics by John, Paul, Ringo and George.  For example A Hard Days Night was written on the back of a birthday card for John's son.  It was a really interesting museum that I will probably go back to sometime to explore.

After the Britsh Library we caught the next train to Russel Square and went to the Britsh Museum.  The British Museum was also tremendous and probably had one of the most beautiful atriums I have ever seen in a museum.  The achitecture was beautiful-and I would say it would be worth seeing just to see the main atrium.  Anyway we saw many of the artifacts that are housed in the museum, such as the Rosetta Stone, Cleopatra's mummy, and an original drawing by Michaelangelo.  The museum also had beautiful sculptures made by the Greeks and Romans.

After the British Museum we decided to head back to Nido (the building where Krissy and Lara reside in while in London).  When we got back we videochatted for alittle bit with Jess-informing her about THE WEDDING, and we werent refering to the wedding of Prince Charles and Kate Middleton.  After an hour of laughs we all unanimously decided to try to find Black Swan on the internet to watch.  Amazingly Lara found it on this site-and it was a supurb copy of it.  Halfway through the movie I fell asleep-but having seeing it once before I didnt mind.  Krissy and Lara like me, loved the movie-and we talked about it, and decided Natalie Portman should win every award offered to her.

Saturday proved to be just as awesome as Friday.  The day started with a journey to one of the places I always wanted to visit ever since I was a child, Portobello Road.  Being a Disney Brat I grew up watching almost every Disney film and one of my favorites was the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks.  In the movie there is a song called Portobello Road, and it is about this road where all the riches of ages are stowed.  Anyways it was one of those places that I knew I had to visit while in Lonodn.

Portobello Road Market is a series of stalls and shops that are all open to the public on this endless road in Notting Hill.  Most of the shops were antique shops, but I did see a lot of cool stuff.  They had everything from Vintage jewlery, to old books, antique china sets, and even handmade footballs (yes from pig skin).  While on Portobello Road I also had my first Crepe experience while being abroad.  I decided to get a Banana and Nutella Crepe.  It was delicious, next time I think I am going to try a strawberry and Cream Crepe.  Anyways we spent a good portion of the day on Portobello Road, taking pictures and having fun.  I know for sure I will be visiting it again soon.

Anyways after Portobello Road we decided to head off to Green Park and see the Queen at Buckingham Palace.  When we got to the gate it was pretty dark-but still light enough to take pictures.  The pictures actually came out very apocolyptic looking on my camera for some reason-but it definitely had a nice moody feeling to it.  Anyways the Palace was beautfiul-there were a ton of people looking at it.  It reminded me of the White House in Washington DC-just because there was a gate that everyone crowded around and the street leading up to the palace looked like the National Mall.

After we had our impromptu photoshoot we decided to go eat.  We all wanted Italian, and we found this great place near Russel Square.  I decided to go for Gnocchi, while Lara got the Lasagna and Krissy got the Bruschetto.  The food was supurb, the only downside was the service was crappy-after waiting for a half hour for our bill we decided to not tip for obvious reasons :).  Though the French Rasta Waiter didnt seem to care.

Anyways after our scenes from an Italian Restaurant we decided to head back to Nido.  Originally we were going to go to a club, but then we decided to try this place called Shake Rattle and Bowl.  It was a 50s theme bowling alley, diner and club all in one.  The place seemed really cool-but we decided to leave early just because it was kinda lame with only the three of us-we definitely want to go back to it someday and go bowling.

Overally my weekend was a lot of fun.  I am so glad that Kristina and Lara are both in London with me.  We will definitely have more adventures in the near future.