Leaving London!

So today is my last day in London. I've been keeping so busy trying to see and do as much as I can before I leave so that's why I haven't really written on here at all.

Since I last posted, I've been to the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Design Museum, the Tate Britain, and The Bank of England Museum. We also had our "closing ceremonies" on Tuesday, where we got parting gifts and were together as a group for the last time, and last night we had a going away dessert party with cake and ice cream and home made chocolate chip cookies.

I had my last day of work on Wednesday, and as I was leaving my co-workers gave me a card... that had 250 pounds in it. As well as a pack of Happy Hippos, this amazing cookie/candy thing that I love. I can't believe they paid me. More important than the money, obviously, is that I know how much they appreciated everything I did this summer, and it's a really good feeling. I obviously need to follow up with a thank you note, in which I will ask for a letter of recommendation. YAY!

Today I'm going to go walk down by the Thames one last time, and later this afternoon we're all going to have tea at the same place we went the first weekend. I'm almost finished packing, but it doesn't feel like I'm leaving. I'm really going to miss it here.

See you all in a couple days!

This Week

Last night was our dinner/dancing cruise on the Thames, which was so nice. It was perfect weather (minus a little rain) and seeing London all lit up from the river was beautiful. I took a bunch of pictures so I'll post them later.

Wednesday night I went to a screening of Tropic Thunder with another girl on the program (my roomate got us tickets). It was pretty funny, mostly stupid humor, but I'm glad it was free... I don't think I would've paid to see it.

Tuesday night I went to see Wicked with two friends. It wasn't my favorite out of all the plays I've seen here but I still enjoyed it.

Tonight we're going to the Tate Britain, and this weekend I'm going to try to finish up all the things I want to do in London but haven't had time to yet: go to Little Venice, Hyde Park, the V&A Museum, and the Design Museum, as well as ride the London Eye. I can't believe I'll be home in like a week.

Another Wonderful Day in London...

Today we did Madame Tussauds (which was fun except for the lines), The British Museum (the most exciting parts for me were the Egyptian exhibit and the Rosetta Stone), and The London Dungeon (super cheesy but still fun). Andddd I had wonderful fettucine alfredo for dinner, I'd missed it. Overall another great day in London.

Pictures from today!

Brighton

So today we spent the whole day in Brighton. It's on the south coast of England and by far my favorite place that I've visited so far since I've been here. The weather was perfect, sunny and around 80, and it was the best day I've had all summer.

We went straight to the beach from the train station... I think I prefer sand beaches to pebble beaches (yes, even with how much I hate sand) because the rocks hurt my feet. We lay in the sun for a couple hours, which was fabulous because I am finally not incredibly pale. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the beach (I had macaroni and cheese, random but amazing) and then walked to Brighton Pier. We rode several rides (a couple roller coasters, a log flume, a haunted house... yes I kept my eyes closed... and a really incredibly tall one you can see in my pictures called the Booster.) The Booster was SO tall-- I've never been scared on a ride before... until that. We had to sit at the top while they were loading the rest of the passengers and it was ridiculously scary. Once the ride started going, though, it was a huge rush and a beautiful view of all of Brighton. After getting ice cream (wonderful) we went back to the beach for a couple hours before coming home. Overall it was an amazingly relaxing and fun day... I want to go back. It was definitely the boost I needed to make it through these last two weeks in busy, crowded, dirty London (even though I love it).

Tomorrow we're going to Madame Tussauds, The British Museum, and The London Dungeon. Best weekend so far? I think so.

Here's the link to my album from Brighton: pictures.

I promise I will get around to posting pictures from Dublin sometime soon!

Nothing in Particular

So today after work I went to some London Harry Potter filming locations (Gringotts, Kings Cross Station, 12 Grimmauld Place, etc.) and it was awesome.

Today I really miss Madam, mexican food, and home in general. It's nice to know that I'll be home soon.

I had the afternoon of yesterday and I went to the Tower of London. I got to see where Ann Boleyn was jailed, executed, and buried, along with a lot of other important people (Catherine Howard, Sir Walter Raleigh, etc.). I took one of the free guided Yeoman Warder tours, which was really historically informative and entertaining. It's probably been one of my favorite sightseeing places in London.

Afterward I went by Westminster Cathedral, a lot less well-known than Westminster Abbey but still gorgeous.

This weekend is going to be great. Saturday we're spending the day in Brighton Beach (there's a pier and restaurants and I don't know what else) and Sunday we're having a whole day packed of London sightseeing: The British Museum, Madame Tussauds, and The London Dungeon (an amusement park with attractions like Sweeney Todd, Jack the Ripper, and the Great London Fire). super exciting.

Paris Pictures

SO here are my Paris pictures, finally!

PARIS.

Paris

Paris was AMAZING. We took a Eurostar train through the tunnel and it was only like 2 hours from London. We had a bus tour of all the important sites and had lunch in a traditional French restaurant (I had quiche) then checked into our hotel, which was super nice. We even had a view of the Eiffel Tower from our window. Right after we got settled we went straight to the Eiffel Tower. It was 12 Euro to take the lift (elevator) to the top, and the view was absolutely as breathtaking as you could imagine. We also saw the Arc de Triomphe that afternoon. That night, we went to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up (it was blue!) and it sparkles for ten minutes every hour on the hour, and it was so so pretty.

The next morning we took a boat down the Seine that drops you off at the main monuments and places. We went to Notre Dame, and the inside was the most amazing thing I've seen so far on this trip. For lunch I had the best cheese pizza I've ever had in my entire life, ever, then we got back on the boat and got off at the Louvre. We saw all the big works (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Sphinx, Winged Victory) and the building itself was gorgeous. We had to rush, but it was totally worth it. We took the train home (and I read Harry Potter the whole way) and I went right to sleep. Overall it was a great weekend, even though Paris isn't my favorite city in the world, but I'm definitely glad to be back in London.

I'll be posting pictures from this weekend in the next few days!
And, I'm going to Dublin this weekend, yay.