A REAL St. Patrick's Day

That's right... this year I actually got to go to Ireland for March 17th! We basically landed in the evening, dropped off our luggage, and headed downtown to the pub area in Dublin. This area is called Temple Bar. There are rows of pubs and thousands of people were out. Whoever claimed that St. Patrick's Day is not celebrated in Ireland has never spent one in Temple Bar! Of course there were a lot of tourists, but when striking up conversations in pubs with people we ended up talking to a lot of people that were actually Irish. Some of the pubs were amazing - there were multiple rooms with multiple bars and indoor beer gardens! Needless to say, it was a great night. In the morning we walked back into town... which took about 25 minutes (bad planning on a friend's part but at least or hotel was super cheap!)... and attempted to start sightseeing. We went to a few places but a lot of stuff seemed overpriced. We went to the Dublin Castle, which looked more like a 19th century government building with some castle-esque features and also to the Cathedral, which was nice. We tried going on a tour at the Old Jameson Distillery, but when we were getting in line an employee said that by the time we got to the front they would be closed. So much for that! We ended up walking along the River Liffey and crossing over the Ha'penny Bridge and just relaxing the rest of the day.

Temple Bar streets

March 19th - We took the train up the Belfast. Part way through we had to take the bus to the next station and get back on the train because of a bomb threat. The weird thing is that no one really seemed to mind. At night we decided to go to Botanic... a big street with a lot of restaurants and pubs. We decided to go to an Italian restaurant because we hadn't actually sat down and ate in a long time. My stomach had been a little upset before we went out but I thought it was because I hadn't eaten in a long time. Towards the end of the meal I wasn't feeling too great so I decided to go outside to get some air. I wanted to sit down, but it was dirty outside so I sat on a little ledge inside the foyer that was still cold. I was getting kind of nauseated and got up to go outside when BAM, it just all came out... in the restaurant. It was so much fun as I'm sure you can imagine! I spent the rest of the evening throwing up multiple times at the hostel... quite possibly one of the worst things ever. There was only one bathroom on the first floor and our room was on the top floor so every time I threw up into the trash can I had to walk down 4 floors to the bathroom. (I'm sure you are all loving this detail haha).

March 20th - I got up to do our day-long bus tour that we had pre-booked. I paid to see Northern Ireland and I wasn't about to miss it. I spent most of the bus ride pretty miserable and had a barf bag handy just in case. Luckily I didn't have to use it. We stopped at Giant's Causeway, Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, Bushmill's Distillery, Dunluce Castle, and a couple other smaller places throughout the day. The whole coast was beautiful. Our tour guide/bus driver had a funny Irish sense of humor... but he drove with one hand holding a microphone the entire time we were on these small coastal roads! It was a bit scary. I went back to sleep for the rest of the day.

on top of Giant's Causeway (I didn't get a lot of great pics b/c I was feeling so bad)

March 21st - In the morning we went on a "Black Taxi" Tour which brought us to both the Protestant and Catholic sides of Belfast. We saw a ton of murals, broken glass, Crumlin Road Prison, and the "Peace Wall." It was a pretty intense morning. Everywhere we went we could feel the tension that the conflict has brought upon the communities. Homes next to the Peace Wall had to have cages around the back so anything that was thrown over would hit the house. The road to enter each area is locked at night in hopes of preventing violence. It was so horrible to hear our driver tell use that the people want the wall there; they want the divide so they don't have to interact. They don't care if it limits where they have access to... their hatred is just so deep for each other. It is completely different than the feelings towards the Berlin Wall. It is just so unbelievable to see this intolerance and violence... especially in such a modern country as the United Kingdom. It really was an eye-opening experience.

Loyalist Mural
Republican mural of Bobby Sands

My Love Visits!

The day I got back from spring break my friend Diana (who is in the marching band at USC with me and is also going to be my roommate next year) flew in to visit London for her spring break. Her visit was jammed packed. On the 14th we went to the South Bank to ride the London Eye. We walked around that area, browsed a small outdoor used book market (which also sold old maps... something I collect so I'll have to go back!), and had pasties for dinner (a British food which is kind of like a chicken pot pie in to-go form).

Diana and I on the London Eye

March 15th - We went on a tour of the remake of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (the original burned down). It is a lot bigger from the inside than you would think. They still offer shows that have tickets for the "groundlings," or audience the stands in front of the stage. It would definitely be a fun experience. Next we headed to Tate Modern, which is in a massive, scary, dungeon-like building that does not scream "liberal art!" at all. The museum was great though... there were Warhol, Picasso, Monet, and many other superb works. There were also video rooms of self-mutilation videos from the 70s and 80s that were really disturbing... but something you can't really NOT see. We walked across the Millenium Bridge (or Wibbly Wobbly Bridge... nicknamed because when it was first built it would sway when it was windy... they closed it almost immediately after it was opened to reinforce it) and headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. Inside the cathedral is just breathtakingly beautiful. We did the 584 step climb to the Golden Gallery, which is a small level above the dome. The steps are steep, skinny, and exhausting... just thinking back on it is almost making me break a sweat haha. The viewing gallery is terrifying because there is only a metal railing and it gets really windy! Such a great view of all of London though. That night we went to see Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. It was so good! The girl who played Eponine was really endearing and, of course, the music was just extraordinary. It is probably my favorite show I have seen in London so far.

inside the Globe Theatre
walking across the Millenium Bridge
on top of St. Paul's
view from St. Paul's

March 16th - I had class in the morning but afterwards I took her to Buckingham Palace and briefly to Hyde Park. Our next stop was afternoon tea at Harrods! I have been wanting to go to high tea the entire semester so I was really excited. We got unlimited food and pots of tea. Everything was impeccable and we felt so proper haha... and also slightly out of place of some other the delicate ladies there. Very fun though! I took her shopping at some stores that are only in the UK and out to a great fish n chips place for dinner. I left for Dublin the next day so we just relaxed and got food in the morning until I left. She met up with another friend in London for the rest of the week.

Spring Break! Athens & Barcelona

Athens

While in Athens, I stayed with my friend Kasey who is studying abroad there that I know from USC.
March 5th - we went to Syntagma Square (which is the town center in front of Parliament) to see the riots. Right before I arrived, the Greek government implemented a bunch of budget cuts in response to the horrible economy... hence the riots. There were a ton of police with gas masks and riot gear. People were tearing pieces of the sidewalk off and throwing them and the police were shooting tear gas into the center of the crowds. Kasey and I definitely could feel the tear gas... which got progressively worse over time. It felt like you had rubbed you nose, eyes, and throat in spicy food. We walked around the area, looking at all of the knockoff items that the Africans were selling. We ended up buying baller men's watches haha. When we were headed back to her place we took pictures with the Special Forces cops (the ones who had the tear gas)...

Athenian Special Forces

Georges, our new Special Forces friend

One thing that was refreshing about the Greeks was their absolute adoration for Americans! Especially since the last place I traveled to (Berlin) was not so welcoming, it was great! One night we were going to a club and arrived to see a really long line out the door. We were with a friend who spoke English and Greek so he was talking to the bouncer at the front of the line. He told them that we were American and they let us cut the entire line (which we later found out that you had to have reservations for!) Then... and this is the most incredible part... we found out that the world famous DJ Paul van Dyk was headlining at the club that night!! We were in heaven haha. People in Greece party til the wee hours of the morning. Every time I went out we stayed out until at least 5 am (more often later haha).

I did most of the touring to sites on my own. Kasey had class and it was her midterm week... but luckily everything was pretty easy to find. She lives really close the the old Olympic Stadium from 1896 so I walked by it almost everyday. The Acropolis was absolutely incredible. I saw the Temple of Athena Nike, Herodeion Theatre, the Parthenon Theatre, and of course the Parthenon! It so beautiful at night because it is all lit up and you can see it from most parts of the city. I also visited the National Archeological Museum. It wasn't too big... which is nice compared to the massive museums in London. I was able to complete it in about an hour and half. I also went to the famous poet/sandalmaker... who has made Roman sandals for the Beatles, Jackie O, Sophia Loren, etc. I chose out of about 30 styles and he fits the sandal exactly to your foot. I also got a really cool leather bag (which I've been wanting for a very long time) so it was a very exciting stop! I also went inside the small Byzantine churches that randomly pop up in the middle of shopping streets, and made my way through the Monastiraki Flea Market. The night before I left we went out to a traditional taverna dinner where you get served multiple plates of food and mugs of wine. Very delicious!

The Parthenon

Melissinos, the poet sandalmaker!

Old Olympic Stadium

Barcelona

I absolutely LOVED this city! Their fashion sense seemed like it was almost a decade behind the times... they wore really grungy clothes and had their hair shaved or partially shaved with long sideburns. Definitely not a flattering look. They seem to think it makes them look independent.

The first morning we were strolling down Las Ramblas and found La Boqueria, the amazing fresh market that sold delicious fruit drinks for only one euro! I tried several different flavors, but my favorite was papaya coconut. We adored this place. We went back every day we were in Barcelona! We basically just oriented ourselves with the city the first day... and had delicious tapas of baked goat cheese and pine nuts and fresh bread. Delicious! We walked along the beach area... which looked a lot like southern California and made me miss the warm weather! We went out at night and my friends and I shared several jugs of sangria. So good! We made friends with some of the bartenders and they gave us discounts. By the end of the night we had just ordered more sangria and decided it was time to leave... so we had the bartenders put it into a plastic bottle for us as take away. So silly.

March 11th - Of course we started our morning off with our daily juices! We headed to Park Guell... our first impression of Gaudi's work. It was like a fairytale. We toured through his last home (which is is Park Guell) and it was surprisingly simplistic for a man of such imagination. We had lunch at a vegetarian organic restaurant (one of the girls is both) whose slogan was "Organic is orgasmic." The food was really good and I felt so healthy! We headed to the Cathedral, which was a dark, drastic contrast to Park Guell's colorful lively vibe. We drank from the communal fountain (don't worry, it's clean!) and admired the dramatic architecture. We also stopped at Santa Maria del Mar and stumbled upon a Gothic market filled with antiques and neat postcards from the 1920s. I love that kind of stuff! I could've bought a ton of stuff but settled on a few Barcelona postcards, and one from London that had been sent to Barcelona. If only I knew how to read Catalunyan!

Olivia, Juliana, Victoria, and I at Park Guell

drinking water at the Cathedral

March 12th - Our busiest day because we had to fit everything in before leaving in the morning. We got up early to go to the Picasso Museum. While some of his biggest works were not there, I really enjoyed looking at the collection. My favorites were his variations off of Las Meninas. We then set out to cover all of Gaudi's buildings. Our first stop was Palau Guell... not too interesting because the terrace was closed. We were only able to see the basement... which in a normal house would have been incredible, but when you are expecting something great it is a bit of a disappointment. Moving north we headed to Casa Batllo. This is a house the supposedly has no straight lines in it. Gaudi's work is inspired by nature, and this house specifically by the ocean, the movement of waves, the ribs of a whale, etc. It is remarkable. My friends and I were discussing what it would have been like to have grown up in a house like that. Every dream would be imaginable and every goal attainable! The next stop was Casa Mila, formerly known as La Pedrera. It wasn't quite as cool as Casa Batllo, but the look from the outside, the indoor courtyard, and the rooftop were still pretty amazing. It also had some exhibits depicting how Gaudi figured out tension points in his buildings. He never drew up plans for his buildings... instead he would hang sandbags in the shape of the structure and use mirrors to make adjustments. So insane! Our last stop was at Sagrada Familia. Our guide book told is it was open until 8 pm... but when we got there around 6:20 they told us they were closing in 10 minutes! We knew we couldn't leave Barcelona without seeing it so we paid the entry fee for the short time anyway. Luckily we didn't get completely kicked out for about 25 minutes. It gave us enough time to walk through quickly and go through the museum downstairs. But oh my god... it was incredible. I knew it was under construction, but I didn't realize it was completely unfinished on the inside. The pillars on the inside resemble the stems of flowers and the roof at the top looks like flower blossoms... and there is stadium seating halfway up the sides of the walls. It is just unbelievable. I could sit inside for an entire day and still have my breath taken away by the end of the day. From the outside the structure just looks so heavy, and also like it is melting into the ground. There are little fruit blossoms on the roof (which is pretty interesting for a religious building). We could've spent so much more time there, but we were so glad we made it at all! At night we went to the National Palace in Montjuic and watched the Magic Fountain show. It was pretty, but kinda resembled Las Vegas haha.

on the roof of Casa Batllo

Sagrada Familia

Annie and I in front of the National Palace

It's been so long since I've seen your face...

It's been around 3 weeks since I have posted... sorry I am so far behind! Life has been crazy (as usual) and won't be calming down anytime soon. We just finished midterms this week, which were even more compact than finals usually are so life hasn't been a bowl of ice cream. Our program also stupidly scheduled meetings with our program director this week, as well as a show (War Horse @ the New London Theatre) one of the evenings. But now everything that is school related is complete and I'm just finishing up packing before I leave this afternoon. I wanted to update everything before I left because I know when I get back there is going to be a TON of stuff to write about that all of this will seem petty. And you didn't want to miss the small, unimportant details of my life, right? Let's see... where to begin?

We just finished our Wednesday tours, which are technically a lab for my Rhetoric of London class. Our trip on Feb. 9^th was to the East End. This is London’s poorest area, where immigrants first make their home after arriving at the docklands. Remnants from the Protestant French Huguenots, Irish Catholics, and Eastern European Jews can be seen amongst today’s mosques and restaurants on Brick Lane, now a Muslim Bangladeshi community. The East End is also where Jack the Ripper murdered and mutilated his 6 known victims. We also stopped at the late Dennis Severs’ restored Victorian home. Dennis Severs was born in California, grew up with this romantic ideal of England, moved to London, and purchased a home with the plan of restoring it to its original state. When I mean original, I mean EVERYTHING was the same… no plumbing, no heating, and all original furniture. When he was alive he would dress in the clothing of the Victorian era, ride around in a coach, and offer tours of his home (which would include him excusing himself to pee in the chamber pot behind the screen in the same room as his guests… hey he want the experience to be legitimate!) Although no one lives in the home anymore, his friends still provide tours. And don’t worry, fruit and vegetables are cut up and the chamber pots are filled so all of your senses get the real experience! Our program also treated us to coffee at an adorable shop called Carluccio's. I ordered bicerin... which came with little cups of espresso, chocolate sauce, and cream for us to mix!

Dennis Severs' kitchen

So I'm gonna do a whirlwind tour of the rest of my month! On February 12th, we had our second excursion to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. Both were amazing! I loved the ornate interior decoration and architecture. On the 14th (Chinese New Year) we headed to Chinatown for dim sum and Chinese pastries. 16th - We saw 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre in Leicester Square. It was hilarious... really dry, quirky, physical British humor... and only 4 cast members! 17th - Our class was sponsored by one of the Lords in Parliament to take a tour! It was pretty cool... we had our pictures taken and printed on lanyards and everything. Hella legit! 21st - London's celebration of Chinese New Year in Chinatown, Leicester Square, and Trafalgar Square. We had pork buns, played with the little bags that snap, and watched a bunch of Chinese performances of dance, singing, etc... SO crowded. It is the biggest gathering I have seen in London so far. 24th - Imperial War Museum. It had a ton of stuff but we were kinda pressed for time. Some features included "the Blitz Experience" (narrated walk-through display with moving benches from bombs and stuff) , a walk-through trench exhibit, and a really moving Holocaust display. 26th - Our last excursion to Oxford and Blenheim Palace. The uni had unbelievable buildings. We saw the Great Hall and staircase from the Harry Potter films and the shop where the real Alice from Alice in Wonderland bought her sweets. (Lewis Carroll taught at Oxford and Alice's father was a dean at one of the colleges) Blenheim Palace is where Sir Winston Churchill was born. (his uncle inherited it) We saw the room he was born in as well as the place he proposed to his wife Clementine. The land outside of the house... if you can call a palace a house... was absolutely breathtaking. There is a private lake with a path around it and so many intimate areas to wander off and get lost in... Not to mention it was BEAUTIFUL day... (in London that means it was sunny despite still being cold haha)

Windsor Castle

inside a maze at Hampton Court Palace

me, Kristy, Michelle @ the Chinese New Year Celebration

Annie, me, Michelle, Kristy inside Parliament holding our passes

Imperial War Museum

Oxford Uni - Christ Church (one of the colleges)

Hogwarts staircase

Hogwarts Great Hall

shop where Alice bought her sweets

Blenheim Palace

gardens of Blenheim

where Churchill proposed to his wife

overlooking the lake

in the trees

my attempt at being artsy

As you may have noticed I really enjoyed my time in the countryside sun! Well that covered all the big events of the past few weeks. I have to get back to packing cuz I'm headed to the airport in an hour! Greece and Spain, here I come! Cheers!

Berlin Bitte!

February 5th - We decided not to sleep in the airport this time... instead I was up until 10:30 packing and woke up at 1:15 am to finish packing and get to the bus stop by 2:15 am. Unfortunately the bus stop was not where we thought it was and just barely made it onto the bus that we thought was the correct one. Wrong direction. Woops! We had to hail a cab to take us to the airport bus stop. Security was extra intense. They took all of my clothes out of my bag and swabbed the lining. I swear I'm not a terrorist! As soon as we arrived in Berlin we went on a walking tour of all the main sights. We hit up Brandenburger Tor, the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berliner Dom, the Holocaust Memorial, etc. It has been such a harsh winter in Germany that the government hasn't been able to salt all of the roads... and the snow and ice made my socks wet. It is horribly uncomfortable to have wet socks in below-freezing weather for 4 hours. We went to dinner at a place called the Tiergarten Quelle, which served traditional German food. I had a schnitzel with Lemke original beer - SO delicious! For dessert we split a kaiserschmarren - kind of like a drier bread pudding with cherries and whipped cream. We sat at a community table with 3 other locals. We just sat around talking for several hours... like everyone else in the restaurant. It was cool feeling submerged in the culture.

The Holocaust Memorial
The Berliner Dom
Kaiserschmarren

February 6th - We took the train to Oranienburg, the location of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. After a 20 minute walk from the station, the same walk that prisoners took through town during WWII, we arrived at the camp. We saw the Commandant's House, 2 of the remaining Small Camp (Jewish Camp) barracks [they were partially rebuilt due to arson in the early 1990s after the visit of the Israeli Prime Minister], the Gestapo prison, the prisoner's kitchen, guard towers, an execution trench, Station Z (named Zed because it is the last place a prisoner would go before dying), and the pathology room (where autopsies and experiments were done)... among other buildings. It was really astounding. Standing in front of the main roll call area gave you the ability to scan most of the camp. It is overwhelming to picture the condition of the camp back during the Holocaust. I could've spent several more hours at the camp, but we were forced to leave because it closes early during the winter. That night we went to a restaurant called the Altberliner Wirtshaus. This time I ordered knuckled pork, which is a favorite German dish. It sounds kind of gross, but it was actually pretty good (despite being a little dry). We had Bitburger beer as well. I've decided that I should be very grateful for not growing up in Germany... I would be so overweight with all of the starchy carbs, meat, beer, and pastries. It was fabulous for the weekend though! After dinner we met up with a German friend that was a foreign exchange student at my high school. We went to this wine bar called Winerie, where you pay 1 euro for as much wine as you want. We couldn't really stay though because it was so crowded and there was no where to sit. When we were walking around we ran into a group of girls at a bachelorette party. The rules of their night was that the bride had to do whatever her friends to her to do. Part of their game was to ask every guy if she could cut the tags of their shirts. The boys complied. I think it is really fun and interesting to interact with locals. Later we went out to a club called Berghain Panorama Club, which is inside an abandoned warehouse. We waited outside in the coldest weather I've been in since I arrived in Europe for about an hour. We kept seeing people getting rejected in front of us, but because we had put in the effort to get there and wait in line we wanted to try to get in anyway. There were several people in front of us that had been talking in English the entire time. When we got near the front I heard one of the girls say "We should probably start talking in German now." Of course, they were let in. The bouncer waved us forward and starting talking in German... obviously we did not understand. When he realized we could not communicate with him he said "We don't want it here." Ouch... our first experience with people disliking us simply because we are American. We were pretty bummed after waiting in the cold, but realized we still had more fun stuff to do in Berlin so we picked up our heads and headed back to our hostel, the Meininger Hotel (which was really nice by the way!)

Prisoner's Gate at Sachsenhausen
my German friend Kobi and I in front of Alex

February 7th - This morning we headed to the Topography of Terror - an outdoor exhibition on events relating to Hitler, the GDR, WWII, and the Berlin Wall. Hundreds of photographs and explanations provided a lot of insight to the history of the area we were in. We went to the Ritter Sport Chocolate store after - where we got to choose things to put in our own chocolate! One of mine had strawberry bits, orange bits, and yogurt crisps and the other had peppermint crisps. It was a lot of fun watching them mix it up, refrigerate it, then break it out of the molding and wrap it. The end products are delicious (I'm trying to savor them. I'm so proud, I'm less than half way done on each of them!) Ritter Sport also served drinks... we got hot chocolate with our choice of chocolate pieces melted into them. I chose praline... which was more than satisfactory :) For dinner we went to a famous curry stand (kind of like the Pink's of Berlin!) called Curry 36. I got the currywurst with fries (and ketchup, not mayo... gross!). Alas, our trip had come to an end. We got on the S Bahn (German public transportation is pretty confusing by the way) and made our way back to Schonefeld Airport.

Brandenburger Tor
Berlin Wall
Ritter Sport store
Curry 36

A little countryside, a little more city...

January 27th - Our Wednesday trip was to Westminster Abbey. Despite not being that religious, I absolutely love seeing grand old cathedrals. This one was no different. At the time it was built, 1066, the architecture and design was simply incredible. I can understand how individuals became fearful of church... their buildings are still incredible today and I'm sure it would've been mind-blowing at the time is was created. I mentioned in a previous post that our tour guide Angie is an architect who works on conservation of historical buildings. She is an expert on the Saxon era and last year did research on what is decidedly the oldest door in Britain... which is a big wooden door that is on the side of one of the cloisters at Westminster Abbey. She took us behind the ropes and explained how some of the marks occurred. For example, she found remnants of animal skin and paint and figured out that the door was once covered in animal skin for warmth and painted with a red and gold pattern for decoration. They also found slashings on the door from when the Puritans tried to destroy it. Through new technology they were able to find the specific area the tree was from and that it had been used at the monastery that was torn down before the Abbey was built. They are still trying to figure out what was so special about the specific door that made them save it. Angie's theory is that it may have been the door that shut off the holiest part of the monastery... so it would have been thought to possess some holy power. It's all pretty amazing. After our tour I went to ULU (student union for University of London) with 2 other girls and took a live model art class. They both have some experience drawing, so I was the only first time. It was interesting to say the least. I really enjoyed going though and the teacher was very helpful at setting me in the right direction. The 3 of us were in the only Americans so it was also good to get some exposure to British people outside of restaurants and tours, etc. We had a conversation with some girls about American TV shows (which are played all the time here). It was funny because they didn't really like shows that portray city or rural life (like Gossip Girl or Glee) but were enamored by shows that portrayed the beach or Hollywood (like The OC and 90210). I don't think they realize those shows just glamorize the southern California lifestyle.

inside a cloister at Westminster Abbey

January 28th - I went back to Borough Market briefly in the afternoon. It is definitely much better on Fridays and Saturdays... only half the stalls were there. On the edge of the market we stopped at a fruit juice stand ran by an Irishman named Dermot. He told us all kinds of stories of traveling on the California coast and walking into a Southern Carolina home because he admired the architecture. He made it a point that he was not British, he was Irish. He was the sweetest man. I'll definitely have to stop by next time I head to Borough Market.

January 29th - Our first excursion to Bath and Stonehenge! We took a coach (charter bus) out to Stonehenge. It wasn't too overwhelming. I mean... it was cool, don't get me wrong, but it was not the most amazing thing I've seen so far. However, I thought Bath was extraordinary. The structures have been added to so people can tour the Roman baths easily... but the ruins themselves are still amazing. There are still people doing excavations as you walk through the site. The springs are still running through the ancient plumbing and the baths are still hot with bubbles coming to the surface. We sat by the main bathing pool for a little while. It was so peaceful. I tried imagining it back in the Roman times... huge arcs stretched across the pool. Parts of the sacrificial altar and temple steps are still intact. The town that was developed by John Wood... he pictured a town where all of the buildings, doors, and windows resembled each other. The result is more than picturesque. As you may have noticed, I was enamored!

Annie, me, Kristy, Michelle, and Victoria @ Stonehenge

standing above the Roman bath with The Abbey (of Bath) behind me
the main Roman bath
in the middle of one of John Wood's circle of townhouses

January 30th - Our program gave us tickets for the Fulham v. Aston Villa football match! We were originally going to root for Fulham (they were the home team) but ended up talking to the guys next to us who were huge Villa fans (we were in the neutral section). We decided to go with Villa... the fans were more spirited (despite having fewer people as the away team) and the match resulted in a Villa victory of 2-nil! On the tube ride home we were in a car with a bunch of Villa fans. They spent the ENTIRE ride back singing different cheers for their team. It was quite entertaining!

me and Michelle