I'm Back

This blog is going to be short and sweet:

I'm back from London safe and sound. The flight went well and was only a tiny bit late landing. I am a bit congested, but I'm happy to be back on American ground. I already miss London, Flat D, and everything related to this semester abroad. However, it's been amazing seeing my suite and it will be great seeing my family, too. What an amazing semester! 

This officially is the end of the "Natalie in London" blog. I hope you've enjoyed my blog - I know I've enjoyed writing it! Please enjoy your summers and have safe adventures!

And We're Packing =(

Oh man, today's been kind of a sad day. We've been packing and cleaning up Flat D all day. It's finally hitting us that we're leaving tomorrow. It's absolutely crazy!

In the morning, I slept in pretty late and then spent the morning packing and cleaning. I think everything will fit, which I am proud of. It's been very, very sad, though. In the afternoon, I went to take a walk down the canal and take some last pictures of the neighborhood. It's beautiful out, so the walk was nice.

For tonight, we plan to go to Warwick Castle Pub for dinner, visit Tim the Tube Man, and then stay up all night(ish). We are going to watch all three High School Musical movies starting at 11:30 pm so we will be ready to sleep on the plane.

Ok, so I'm off to do a bunch of little things before dinner. I'm ready to come home, but I'm not ready to leave London. I guess the next time I blog, it'll be to tell you all that I am back in the States. Absolutely crazy!!

Oh! And, of course, Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Time is Flying

Hello, hello! I had a pretty good day today. Story time:

All three of us in our room had a hard time sleeping this morning. Amanda had to wake up early to meet her family, but Kinsey and I had no excuse. However, we were up early and that was that. In the morning, I headed to Lillywhite's to see if I could exchange a jersey. Sadly, no, but I then continued around Piccadilly. I headed back to Hamley's and found one final gift at the toy store. Then, I came back to the flats and ate a bit of lunch. Next, Jordan had the brilliant idea of going to Hummingbird Bakery to get delicious cupcakes. The guy was nice - he said it looked like I wanted to get lots of cupcakes (which, of course, I did). I chose a vanilla with chocolate icing and sprinkles. Yum!

After that, I came back to the flat and packed up a storm. That wasn't so much fun. I think everything will fit, but packing is a bit stressful. After that, Kinsey, Chelsey, and I headed out to a Greek restaurant for dinner. It made me think of the Georginas so much! The food was delicious and we had fun being cultured. After that, we got ice cream and ate it along the Thames River at sunset. So pretty!

After dinner, we headed back to the flats on the tube and chatted with our favorite tube man, Tim. We are going to make him a card tomorrow and present it to him on our last night. We love him! I'm back at the flats now, getting ready for a late night adventure. A few of us are going to catch a bus, head to Trafalgar Square, see Big Ben and Westminster, and reminisce along the Thames. It should be fun! I can't believe I'm leaving so soon. Absolutely crazy!!!

Natalie 500: Playing the Market

I have to thank Michael for this super creative blog title. He helped me make a joke with "markets." Please appreciate it - he was very proud of his creativity.

Today was an exhausting day! Sam, Kinsey, and I went out and did a lot of shopping. We started off at Petticoat Lane Market. It was kind of empty and vendors were still setting up when we got there. We didn't find anything of interest, so we moved on to Spitalfields Market. I like Spitalfields a lot and was able to find one good purchase. I was finishing up souvenir shopping, so I had to get stuff done! Next, we headed back to Covent Garden. We got lunch (I got a jacket potato with cheese) and relaxed a bit before doing more shopping. The weather was really weird and it rained, sunned, and all in between. Anyways, after eating we went to a good many stores. I enjoyed going into Lush, which was a place that sold handmade cosmetics. They like to test products on you that make your skin feel really soft. I had a very nice salesman try to sell me some really cool products. I didn't buy any, but it was fun nonetheless. I got quite a few things in Covent Garden, which was great! After that market, we headed to Piccadilly to do some more shopping.

Finally, after 7 hours of shopping, we headed back to the flats. I am just about done with shopping for souvenirs for people and stuff - phew! Tonight is going to be a relaxing night and I hope to get some good sleep tonight and tomorrow.

What a Day!

Hello, hello! I had such a great, touristy day today. I crossed lots of things off my London lists, which was so cool. I started the day by riding the London Eye which is the largest ferris wheel in the world. I went with Chelsey, Kinsey, Sam, and Megan and it was my first ferris wheel!! The Eye goes really slowly and you ride in these cool pods. You get awesome views of the London skyline. It was so nice!

After the Eye, we headed in the direction of Chinatown. We passed through Trafalgar Square where we went and climbed on the huge lions. It was great! We eventually made it to Chinatown and ate lunch at a Chinese food restaurant. I got fried noodles with chicken. Yum! Chinatown was pretty cool in itself. After lunch, we all kind of split up. I went with Kinsey and Megan to St. Paul's Cathedral, which is absolutely beautiful! It is the church where Princess Diana got married (fun fact). The dome is gorgeous and all the mosaic work is crazily detailed and cool. We walked up bunches of stairs to the Whispering Gallery where you get good views of the interior of the cathedral. Then, we walked even further up to the Stone Gallery where you can walk outside along the cathedral and see great views of the city. It was lovely! After climbing up, we climbed all the way down into the crypt. It is a really pretty crypt and people like Florence Nightingale and Sir Christopher Wren are bured there. We didn't see those graves (private event..boo), but they were there! All in all, St. Paul's was so gorgeous and we had a great time touring it.

We eventually headed back to the flats, where we rested for a bit and did some packing (ew!!). I made quesadillas with Chelsey for dinner and we made Big Dessert for the flat for dessert. Big Dessert is simply vanilla ice cream in hot chocolate, which was so tasty! After dessert, a few of us headed out to this cool key ceremony at the Tower of London. It is a ceremony that has taken place for hundreds of years and it has to do with the locking of the gates at the tower. It was super cool and our guide was so funny. It was really a special thing because you have to apply for tickets for the event months in advance. Thanks to Jordan for applying for us! It was so cool and it was a great way to spend an evening.

Overall, a very touristy and very cool day! Tomorrow is a market day - shopping! I hope to have fun adventures to write about.

Done with Classes..Summertime!

Wahoo! I am officially done with classes today! It's weird that it's technically summertime and that I'm now a Junior (weird!). Today was a great last day of classes though. Let me tell you about it!

In the morning, Amanda, Kinsey, Jordan, and I woke up and headed to Regent's Park. We had decided that we really wanted to go paddle boating (or pedal boating as they call it here) on the lake/pond in the park. After waiting for a little while and watching the birds for a bit, we got into two boats and paddled around the water. I was with Jordan and we had fun finding baby birds, avoiding geese, and paddling through trees. It was a blast and a good workout, too! We laughed a lot and had a good time. 

After paddle boating, we came back, made lunch, and headed off to art class. Today we presented our final projects and fantasy exhibitions. Everyone did really, really well and came up with some incredibly creative stuff! I was so impressed and really enjoyed seeing everyone's work. Lisa was proud of us and she brought us some cookies and champagne to celebrate. 

I just finished eating dinner and I may head out for some fries later. I'm not sure yet, but I do know I want to have a relaxing evening. I'm ready to veg out! 

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Hey all! I had a pretty good day today, so I shall recap it for you!

In the morning, I woke up really early to do art. Amanda was wonderful and let me use her computer, so I worked really hard and got it all done. Yeah! I did a couple errands after that, heated up lunch, and headed off to classes.

Theatre class started today with a really cool rap. Some of our classmates got together, wrote a rap, and performed it for both theatre classes. They did such a good job and we laughed a lot! Then, in theatre, we discussed Tusk Tusk and did some little awards ceremony for the plays we've seen. It was a good way to end class. After theatre, I had a break and, so, I went and made my last visit to Paperchase. I also got Starbucks (much needed sugar). After that, we had Sociology. Class started with an exam that I think went well. Then, our teacher was really cute and had a little multiethnic picnic for us. We ate hummus, cheese, pitas, pastries, and a bunch of other stuff from different countries. We ate out in the park by school and we attacked by a storm of pollen. My eyes are a bit scratchy, but it was a nice picnic.

After that, Flat D plus three others went to eat at Texas Embassy, which is a Tex-Mex restuarant. We celebrated Cinco de Mayo and the end of most of our classes. Hooray! I ate an enchilada for the first time and it was quite tasty. It was a nice dinner! After that, I went souvenir shopping with Kinsey and Sam. I got a couple fun things.

When I came back to the flat, I printed off some stuff for art and then my parents called! Yay! I got to talk to them for a while and, apparently, the conversation was really funny because people kept laughing at me. I'm glad it was entertaining. Now, I am sitting here blogging, getting ready to officially end classes tomorrow. Hooray!

Art.

Hello all! I apologize for my lack of a blog entry yesterday. All I've been doing for all of yesterday and today was art. Yesterday I worked on my art piece entitled "A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words." I definitely like the idea of constructing a picture using 1000 words (I double counted them to make sure) more than the end result. I did the London skyline and I was only decently happy with it afterwards. I had a lot of help and good ideas, though, so it was very much a joint project! Thanks Flat D and visitors! I did have to leave the flat though so I wouldn't go crazy and Chelsey and I headed out to get some Thai food for dinner. It was so tasty! Good choice.

Today, my day was very similar to yesterday. When people were out and about, I used their computers (after asking, of course) to do art work. I got a bit frustrated since I am not on my computer and keep messing up aspects of the project. I feel bad that I have to keep asking everyone for their help and stuff - I feel so bad! However, it will all work out and I will stop complaining. Sorry about that! I took a break out of my day of art today to do some shopping. I got a few fun souvenirs for people which I am really excited about. Eventually, I headed home, made dinner, and organized all my thoughts for when I do work tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is my second to last day of classes - crazy! It should be a good day.

I hope to have more fun things to write about later!

What a Nice Day!

I am absolutely exhausted from today, but I wanted to re-cap the day before I forget all the fun details. In the morning, I woke up and headed out to Kew Gardens with a big old group of people. It was a bit of a hike, but extremely worth it! We traveled through Chiswick, which is such a nice area! It was recommended to me by a friend from Elon, so I'm glad I at least saw it. We started out and got sidetracked by a cute little kiddie carnival in a nice park. Lots of cute kids and cute rides - so fun! We brought lunches and ate them in the park. It was so nice! We were close to Kew at this point, so we waited in line to pay and then entered the gardens.

Oh my goodness! The gardens were probably the prettiest place I've seen in London. It was a beautiful day to go out and peruse all the trees and flowers. We got to walk on a treetop bridge and see the gardens from high up. We also saw baby goslings and little birds. We got to see a peacock and it opened up its feathers for us. It was so beautiful! What a cocky bird, though. It was great. After that, we walked around, seeing flowers (azaleas, daisies, etc.) and sporatically just stopping to lie in the grass. We also saw a Japanese pagoda, zen garden, and fields of bluebells. We also got to see glasshouse plants and water lilies. I can't even remember all the cool stuff we got to see. As soon as I can get my computer working, I'll have to post pictures so you all can see.

After spending hours in the gardens, we headed back to the flats. We made dinner, relaxed for a few minutes, and headed out to Wapping. We went there intending to see a cool art exhibition. Unfortunately, we got there and the curator/owner of the gallery told us it had closed (for good) four hours earlier. Darn it! She gave us a personal invitation, though, to the opening of the next exhibition on Friday, which was nice. We decided then to head to a really old pub across the street called The Prospect of Whitby. It was a really old pub - I think it opened around 1540 or something? Crazy! It was nice to just hang out and talk for a bit. After that, we headed back to the flats and here I sit now, writing this blog. It has been a great day, though I am extremely tired now. I'm off to bed. I'll try to write something fun tomorrow, too!

Greenwich (the W is Silent)

Hey, hey! Since I am on a friend's computer, I will make this blog entry brief. I spent the day with Chelsey and Zane in Greenwich, which was so nice! It's a beautiful area with lots of fun, sciency museums to see. Here's what we did:

1) We traveled via tube and DLR to Greenwich. It was my first time on the DLR - kinda cool.

2) We went to a market and got lunch. I got some sweet and sour chicken from a nice Chinese man. Yum!

3) We went to the Royal Observatory to see clocks and things. Most importantly, though, we saw the Prime Meridian and stood in two hemispheres at once. So cool!

4) Next we traveled through the park, got ice cream, and visited an awesome astronomical museum. I touched a meteorite that was 4.5 billion years old and learned that Earth could fit inside of Saturn 755 times (and Saturn could float in water). It was such a fun museum!

5) We then went to the Queen's House. It's a very pretty museum and it housed fine arts. We went in a room that was a perfect cube and, also, saw people heading to a wedding. Unfortunately, we didn't see the bride.

6) After that, we went to the Maritime Museum. We learned a lot about boats, especially passenger ships. We learned some fun stuff about a certain cruise ship (can't remember the name) that was as tall as the Eiffel Tower. It was so fun to look at the model.

7) Next, we saw the Painted Hall and Chapel. Both were very beautiful.

8) On the way back, we decided to take a river cruise. We sat on the top and, since it was such a nice day, it was a nice ride. We got to see the sites from the boat. It was so nice! (Oh! and we also saw the Cutty Sark ship, though most of it was hidden by walls and rennovation things)

9) We took a bus back home from the river cruise and witnessed a huge fight. This guy ended up screaming at these girls to be quiet and it ended in an even louder yelling match. It was nice to get off the bus.

10) After eating dinner, I started work on my art journal. I'm almost done! I can't believe classes are almost done - it's crazy.

That's it for me! More adventures will ensue tomorrow. I hope my computer works then so I can write about them!