We were off in space... I mean at the Ice Bar

So last night was our last full night in London :( I can honestly say, I am sad to be leaving now. I met some really great people and wish I could spend some more time getting to know them.

For our last night, we went to a place called the Ice Bar. This is a bar made completely out of ice and is basically in a freezer. It was really cool (literally :P). Check out the picture of us in it below :)

After the Ice Bar, we went to Cheers. It is basically an American bar in London. It was really fun! However, 3.50 pounds for a beer was a little steep :( We stayed there for about an hour and a half I think. Not too sure cause I wasn't keeping track of the time.

Overall, very good last night! I will be back in the States tomorrow afternoon at about 4 PM EST! Call me or maybe I will call you :) I can't wait to have my cell phone back and drive my car...

This weekend until tonight... lotsa stuff going on!

Hey guys,
I am down to my last couple days in London. A lot has happened this past weekend and the last couple days. All I can say is this is the best couple days of the trip! I am kind of sad to be leaving right now at times because I am just starting to really get to know some of the friends I have made here. I really enjoy everyone I have gotten to know and hope we stay in contact over Facebook or whatever. Enough of that, on to my eventful couple days.

Friday: This was our trip to Stonehenge, Bath and the Tower of London. We left at like 4 AM and got to Stonehenge first at about 7 AM. The coolest thing about it was the fact that we got to go onto the rocks and inside them and take pictures on them. We actually got there before they even let anyone else in. Another group that went later from USAC didn't get to go up to the rocks. It was awesome! Take a look at the picture to see how close we were. Bath was pretty cool too. Basically it was just the museum of where the Baths from the Romans took place. The last stop was the Tower of London which was boring. There wasn't much to it and I couldn't see paying the like 10 pounds they would have asked for it normally. Overall, pretty cool day.

Saturday: We got up with the whole USAC group and took a trip to Brighton. The day was ok. It rained the one and only day we would be able to go to the beach. The whole day was wet and we didn't really get to do much more then look at a museum in the city and go shopping at some of the local stores. It was nice to hang out with the group for the whole day but it wasn't really too special given the day that we went.

Sunday: THE BEST DAY OF THE WHOLE TRIP! Brandon and I went to the British Open. We left on the bus at about 11:30 PM on Saturday night and got to Hoylake at about 6:30 or so. It was a long bus ride and we had some problems on the bus. There was one lady who was taking up like 3 seats cause she was pregnant and the bus driver has to be called up. She got kicked off the bus at the second stop after putting up a huge fuss and the police eventually came. It delayed the trip like an hour. We still made it to the Open just as the gates pretty much opened. Like my dad was saying, they definately don't water that course. IT WAS DRY AS HELL ALL DAY! I have never seen any patches of grass that dead before. We stayed the whole day and it was well worth the small trouble and the amount of money we put into the trip. We were like 5 feet away from Phil on one hole and could hear him talking to his caddy. We got to see Tiger tee off from the first hole and followed him around as much as we could at the end of the day. We also caught the trophy presentation at the end and Brandon's mom said she saw me on TV at this time!!! If you watched the whole thing, I was near the boy with the Tiger sign and apparently that part was on the tube. The ride back was horrible cause the bus was packed but still couldn't distract from the fun of the day. We were both dead at the end.

Monday: we got up late for class to turn in our final paper. It was all good cause our professor Clark didn't even care :)

Tuesday: Didn't do a whole lot. Went to class and then went to the War Museum and Churchill Museum for class. I really liked the Churchill Museum and the history of his ups and downs becoming the PM of the UK. It was my favorite museum so far!

Wednesday: Last day of Film and Lit class. Brandon and I then went to the British Auto Show after class. It was pretty cool! Got to see some very sweet foreign cars. Even got to see some of the domestic stuff from the US which is hella expensive over here (59,000 pounds for a Corvette Z06 which comes out to almost 120000 dollars!!). It was only 5 pounds to get in and I got some good pics of some of the new cars and even a new Aston Martin concept car :)

The next couple days are going to be hanging with the people I have met and doing some finishing shopping before I head off. Hope all is well at home! I miss you guys too!

Internet is back down...

My internet is back down. I am in the Library right now. I may type up an update tonight and post it here tomorrow afternoon when I get done with class. Everyone get your hopes up!

Perhaps the best weekend ever? Very close!

I am still recovering from the weekend and I will go into detail soon. But to hold you all over till then, check out these :)

Internet is down... but I will be gone...

Hey guys,
My internet is down on my computer for some strange reason. But it doesn't really matter for the weekend since I have a packed one. We leave for Stonehenge tomorrow at 4 AM, will get back about 5PM or so. Saturday is Brighton and then Sunday is the British Open (and my birthday...).

It has been an interesting week so far... Happy Birthday to me :(

Problems with Pictures

I keep telling all you guys to check out the updated pictures, but Brandon just told me that he can't see it. Looking in to it right now. I will let you know when it should work. Huge update then of 12 Albums.

****PROBLEM SHOULD BE FIXED!!!! That is all...****

Some Paris for you!

One Weekend in Paris (France... not Hilton :) )

Well I am back! I must say tho, this was perhaps the best part of the entire trip so far. It is pending on the British Open next weekend. I loved Paris! The only thing that would have turned me off from the country is the language barrier. It is hard to get around there if you don't know French very well. Granted, alot of people do speak English but it is still rough. I was surprised since I thought France hated Americans that everyone seemed so nice and very patient with us and our English-only. Well, now for the breakdown of the trip!

We left at about 6 AM on Friday morning. We took a coach to Waterloo station and got on the Eurostar to go all the way to France. The only thing everyone was looking for during the trip was the Chunnel (the underwater tunnel between France and the UK). We saw it on the way back, nothing special. I slept thru it on the way there (go figure, me sleep in a vehicle :)). The trip went smoothly and the train was just like an airplane on the ground pretty much (the station was similar to an airport). Once we got to France, we went to the hotel. It was the Villa St. Martin (3 star hotel) and it was very nice! Once again, everyone there was so helpful. The people at the desk would draw us out directions and let us use a laptop they had behind the desk.

After we checked into the hotel and everything, we took off to see the city! First, we needed a way to get around. We found the station and eventually got underground passes. This is another area in which Paris seriously lacks compared to London. The underground seems fairly rundown and most people just jump the ticket turnstyles. Nobody seems to care there about the UG, but it worked just fine for the weekend. Our first stop on the journey was the Louvre. It was AMAZING! We got to see the giant glass pyrmaid when we entered (CHECK OUT THE PICTURES!). After getting inside, we walked pretty much straight to the Mona Lisa (no pictures, couldn't take em in there). We walked around there for a good hour or more. After that we walked all the way to the Eiffel Tower. It was a long walk but it gave us a chance to see more of the city on foot. We didn't go up to it on this day but just kinda walked around the area. Finally, we worked our way back to the hotel on the UG. When we got back, we relaxed for a few minutes and then left again to go watch the fireworks for Bastile day! We went up on a hill and saw a nice skyline view of Paris (CHECK OUT THE PICTURES). Awesome view, the pictures won't do it justice at all! We didn't really stay for many more fireworks then the individual ones people were lighting off because we had to get back on the UG since it closed at 12:30 or so. That was day one.

Day two was the best day of the entire trip. I was on my feet literally from 9 AM to about 2AM Sunday morning. We started out the day by going the day with a bus trip around the city of Paris. It was a guided tour of sorts from a coach bus. The tour lasted about 3 hours and we stopped back at the Eiffel tower. From there, we went to Notre Dame and walked around inside. Once again, check out the pictures even tho they don't do it justice at all. After Notre Dame, we went and saw a memorial for the 200000 that were deported from France during WWII to the concentration camps (sorry no photos out of respect for the monument). After the walk around Notre Dame, we headed off to the market. This market was pretty cool. People were selling all over the place. I didn't buy much of anything but the girls went crazy with all the stuff. After the market, it was about 8 PM or so, so we went back to the hotel to meet up with the group that had split off at the market. We then headed back to the Eiffel Tower but this time we went up to the TOP! This was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen (if not the most). PICTURES! I even took a video or two of it going up to the top. The line to get in was like 3 hours to the bottom floor and then about another 1 to the top... lines everywhere! We got a night view of the city! STUNNING! We eventually made it back down and had a heck of a time finding a way back. Paris night transportation is pretty much Taxi only. We got a taxi and got in at about 2AM. LONG FREAKIN DAY!

Today, we went back to the market for the couple hours that we had left. I bought a Rolex (yes Mom and Dad, I put it on the credit card, don't worry! ;)) We got on the train at about 6 PM and now, here I am! Back to London.

I am working on putting the pictures up. Make sure you find the link that says SEE ALL ALBUMS. I have more that might not show up on the main page when you log in so you may have to click that!

Paris weekend

Not too much new as of the last post.

Today we went to the Docklands museum. No new pictures again because i couldn't bring my camera and I couldn't take pictures. Not really worth sneaking any pictures anyhow. Another unfortuate occurance took place on our street again today when we got back. The police had a huge area of the roads taped off and we had to go around the tape. I guess someone was hit by a car or semi and killed! So there goes even more luck in the area...

I will be gone all weekend due to going to Paris, so I won't be updating most likely till Monday. It should be a huge update when I make it back too! We have like a four hour train ride or something along those lines leaving at 6 AM or so. Should be a fun weekend and hopefully I can find some nice stuff!

New occurances...

Not too much new stuff happened since the fire the other night. Things changed a bit around the flats. After everything that has been happening, they aren't coming into our individual rooms. We have to option now to let them know if we are in the room and they can come in or we can put our sheets in the hall. It sounds good to me I guess since I have been lucky with everything so far.

Today we went to the National Portrait Museum. Sorry, no pictures! It was alright. The coolest thing was the Beetles exhibit with all kinds of albums and pictures. Other than that, nothing too extremely interesting.

Last but not least, Brandon and I got tickets to go to the British Open on July 23rd. My Birthday! I am pretty pumped to go and see that! I wasn't sure in the beginning but when would be the next chance that I get to see something like that? Oh yeah!

So our building was on fire...

Never an uneventful night in London. Tonights event: fire... again... except on the building! It was outside below our window on the ground. I am not sure what woke me up. I think it was the smell that came up to our window but I looked out and saw bright light and smoke coming out like crazy. I tried to wake up Brandon but then I heard someone yell in the hallway so I called out and woke everyone up in our flat. I had just gotten to sleep for about 5 mins or so probably. Not sure. But everyone is fine, nobody got hurt and everyone got out.

So eventful! (Mom, I tried calling home but nobody picked up)

Not too much to say today

Yesterday morning, we got up early and headed to Portabello Market. It was really cool. They basically have shops all along the street with everything you can think of to buy. They have fresh fruit, cooked food, clothes, etc. I bought a few things but I can't say what they are (still deciding what I am going to give who :)). No new pictures since I didn't bring my camera with me. I finished up most of my homework for the week last night so I was happy about that!

Today, we might be going to a service at St. Paul's at around 3 PM. It is an all singing service according to Lindsey. It will be interesting. After that, Krystal (another girl in our flat) invited us to go with her to meet up with her Aunt (I think) at the Hardrock Cafe. So that is my day today!

I miss all you guys back in the States! Hope all is well back there!

Sad yet happy day...

As you may or may not know, today is the 1 year anniversary of the July 7th attacks on London. For anyone who doesn't remember that day last year, two tubes and one bus were blown up by terrorists. One of the stops, King's Cross, is actually on the Piccadilly tube line which is the one that we use each and every day and the stop is about 2 from here, so it hit close to home last year. It was a day of mourning the people lost in the blasts.

Today, unfortuately for Lindsey, was also her birthday. She turned 20 today! A group of us went to see Pirates today! I was the only one who didn't like it (sorry baby, Depp just didn't do it for me). It seemed way too out there and random for me and considering that most people with us liked the first one better, there was really no chance that I would like this one since I disliked the first also. After the movie, we went to Pizza Hut. The waitress we had seemed so lost, like it was her first day. The only thing is, this is Pizza Hut! Taking Pizza orders isn't really that hard! Like Brandon said, "It would have been easier to order in Spanish" since she didn't seem to understand our English. You had to be there... you would have been amazed. The funny thing is, it takes alot to get me to say something bad about someone but I just didn't understand why it was so freakin hard since she did speak English!

Tomorrow, we are going to a market in the morning. Hopefully I can get some nice stuff!

Back to St. Paul's

We went back to St. Paul's Cathedral today. This time we got a guided tour of the place and I must say, I was in awe! I put up as many pictures as I could get since I kind of had to take them from the hip (no pictures were allowed to be taken ;) ). They are up in the album and a few of them give you a good idea of the beauty of the church. They even have a monument in there for all the Americans who gave their lives in WWII and a crypt area where a few select people are actually buried.

After that, we took a trip to Herrod's. It is basically a fancy shopping area. We left quick since everything was damn expensive and it wasn't really the kind of stuff I was looking for.

We came back to the dorms after that and have just been chillin out here. It is Lindsey's birthday tomorrow so don't forget to wish her a happy b-day when you get a chance (on facebook, e-mail or on here blog at http://www.xanga.com/yooperglow). We may be going to Pirates and out to eat for it tomorrow. Should be a good time!

Well that is it! Check the pictures!

Quick update before class

Just a quick one before class. Glad to see you all got a kick out of the photos haha ;)

Not too much happened last night. It was one of the girl's birthdays so we went out to a pub. I had a drink called Pimm's. It was really good! Not sure what kind of stuff was in it but it had mixed fruit and stuff dropped into the drink. Lindsey, Dana and I split a pitcher of it since it was cheaper than getting 3 glasses and we each got 2 out of it. Good stuff!

Lindsey's b-day is coming up here pretty quick and so is mine. We have alot of July birthdays in the group!

Since you love seeing me... here I am!

More stuff! You may see me sweating in some pictures... it is really hot here and I sweat... so back off! Haha just kiddin! Hope you enjoy :)

Oh and all the new pictures are up from the last post :)

Cars exploding and more tours

Last night was probably one of the most interesting things I have ever seen. I was laying down in my bed, ready to go to sleep and I heard an explosion. Yes, an explosion! I looked out my window from the 5th floor up and there was a car on fire. Another car that was parked on the street behind it also caught on fire. I woke up Brandon and Lindsey to watch. Brandon has some pictures and a video. The cars burned for a while but the only other explosion was another tire when they were putting it out. It was like our 4th of July in London :)

Today for class, we visited St. Paul's Cathedral. It was alright. We couldn't go in so we just got a walk outside and around. I will get those pictures up soon but they aren't that interesting. I will work harder on getting the car on fire pictures :)

That is about it. Till tomorrow :)

Wimbledon

Good news today! While all of you were watching Wimbledon on TV back in the States, I was watching it LIVE! Ok, we only paid 11 pounds and we didn't get in till after 5PM this time but still, it was sweet to be there. I will be putting the pictures up shortly but the internet is slow right now, so it may be a little while. A little cool thing that happened was Martina Navratilova walked right by us when we were watching a match on Court 7. We didn't see any other big names since we basically had the budget tickets, but we got to watch some good matches between the juniors and possibly see some future stars in a couple years!

I bought a few things at the store there to bring back. Other than class today, that took up the rest of the afternoon and night here. We had a hell of a time getting back on the tube tonight because of delays. It was very crowded and hot on the trains but I would say, it was worth it to go see Wimbledon. Definately worth the 20 bucks or so American to see it live :)

England is out!

Before I go on the my event of the day, I have just a quick note. If you leave a comment, please leave your name! I have no idea who is commenting and I would like to know who all is keeping up with this! That is my rant...

Well my big event of the day is going to a pub to watch England lose a close game in the World Cup. I don't think I have ever seen more energy of excitement and disappointment during an event that I wasn't actually at in person. It was amazing! There were people everywhere since the pub was basically a church converted into a bar. I will put the pictures up here since I only took two. I really didn't want to look like a tourist in there.

England played a good game but blew alot of shots and lost thier two key players during the game which hurt them quite a bit. They looked tired at the end and so were we. We stood the whole time since the place was packed.

Overall, it was a fun afternoon even tho the team lost. The streets were bare when we left the pub because everyone was watching the game.

And that is all.

Picture to make you people happy!

From left to right: Me, Jamie, Trish, Brandon

To make you people happy since you don't believe that I am actually here...