Paris

Ah, Paris. It could not have been a more incredible weekend. It began a bit rough, as traveling tends to go. Reyn, Gwen and I had a 5:25 a.m. train to catch, and we had to take a night bus to get to the train station because the tube doesn't run that early. I set my alarm that morning for 2:30 so I could shower. I was surprisingly chipper when I woke up to some of the guys below us talking loudly outside at 2:15. We all left the flat feeling good and ready for a weekend away. Halfway to the bus stop, and it's still dark at this point, Gwen realizes she forgot her camera. She knew she wouldn't enjoy herself without it, so she decides to sprint back to our flat to get it. She ends up making it back to the stop just in time for the bus and we make it to the station smoothly for our insanely early train. I slept most of it.

We arrive in Paris at around ten feeling like it's about 5:00 at night and stumble upon our hostel using the trusty old compass I managed to remember to pack last minute. This side of town is not the most picturesque, so our expectations for the hostel were not exceptionally high. We had to wait to find out, though, because check-in wasn't until 3. To kill time, we decide to dart off to the Louvre. The few hours we spent wandering around this massive "zoo of a museum," as Gwen so eloquently phrased it, barely made a dent. We got through two of the portions, including Italian paintings, which were absolutely marvelous to see in person. The Mona Lisa was neat, but I was far more impressed with many of the other pieces, most of which were significantly larger in size. It was funny how the Mona Lisa attracted such a crowd, though. I couldn't even get all the way up to it because of how many people were clustered around it, taking pictures of this tiny painting that has an entire wall all to itself, making it appear even tinier. Having taken a handful of art history classes over time, it was really remarkable to recognize so many of the paintings from textbooks and class Powerpoints. To see them in real life was an entirely moving experience. I could have spent all day there, but having had very little sleep and food, the three of us began to get a bit delirious. We left at one point in search of lunch and came across a little bakery where we ordered pieces of vegetable quiche from an adorable lady who only spoke French. Feeling more energized with the food intake, we made one more round through a different exhibit in the Louvre before heading back to the hostel.

The room on the seventh floor was laughably lousy. We jokingly referred to it as the "prison room" all weekend. I can't imagine prison being much different. We walk in and are greeted by one window, one sink and three metal beds with stiffly folded scratchy white sheets that we have to make the beds with. At that point, I would have curled up on the floor I was so tired. We made up our beds and passed out for a few hours before making our way to the grocery store to piece together a dinner.

A few weeks earlier, we all went out to celebrate Gwen's 21st birthday and ended up meeting a couple guys who lived and worked in London for Warner Music, but one of which had grown up in Paris. His dad still lives there, and after talking we figured out that we were going to be in Paris the same weekend and made tentative plans to meet up. David found me on Facebook and we confirmed plans to meet up on Saturday night. After our nap and dinner in a nearby park where we got kicked off the grass and had to eat on a bench instead, we made our way to the metro and met up with David at his flat. Posh isn't even close to the word to describe this place. He greets us near the station and walks us through the front door where we enter this huge airy lobby with intricately tiled floor and ascend a couple flights of carpeted stairs. His flat is on the second floor and it is amazing. Multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, a huge kitchen and living room, long hallways. Framed paintings and tables with decorative objects collected from around the world, classical music playing. David introduces us to his group of friends who are seated on three couches in the main living room, eating snacks and sipping wine, and gets us each a glass. Everyone was from a different part of Europe and spoke at least two languages. It was a blast to talk to such an eclectic group of people in such an incredible setting, it felt unreal. And I felt so old and sophisticated holding conversations with these people, who were all so warm and friendly and fascinating to watch as they switched between languages, trading stories and using wildly expressive hand gestures. Gwen and I spent a lot of the night out on the balcony talking. It overlooked the busy street below.

Sunday we got a good amount of sleep in and decided to shower before setting off. Gwen and I realized we didn't bring towels. And this hostel never seemed to have a supply of towels, so we were forced to use one of the sheets from our bed to dry off in the communal bathroom. We were laughing the entire time at how gross it was, but it still felt cleaner than not showering.

We packed a ton of sights into Sunday. We started at Montemartre, which is basically a large hill that you climb to get an incredible view of the city. There were lots of people and performers on the street with sterotypical accordions and marionettes. We picked up a sandwich at a streetside cafe and continued onward to Sainte-Chapelle cathedral. Words can't describe the beauty of the interior. Large walls completely covered in colorful stained glass depicting over a thousand biblical scenes. On our way to Notre Dame, we found an outdoor pet market on the way and stopped to pet bunnies and look at caged birds. Notre Dame was breathtaking as well, and we went inside as mass was being held, which was really cool to witness. Masses of people filled the pues and tourists shuffled in along the sides where tea candles were lit. While stopping for a latte in a cafe with outdoor seating, we received a call from David inviting us to a picnic by the Eiffel Tower later that night. We agreed, as that was our plan anyway, and found a supermarket nearby to pick up some snacks and fruit. I had to ask someone for directions to the closest metro, but he spoke English and directed us across the Seine River. It was a bit of a commute to the Tower, but we were able to arrive as the sun was setting. David met us underneath the Eiffel Tower itself, which is so much bigger than you would ever imagine. He led us to a grassy area with a perfect view of the Tower where his friends, some the same from the night before, had a blanket set up with food. We sat there as the sun went down, talking and eating. Gwen and I got crepes from a stand nearby and had a really hilarious encounter with the Italian crepe vendors. They were very friendly and laughed a lot at us and our inability to speak French. They dumped a mountain of whipped cream on Gwen's chocolate crepe, which caused it to turn into a soupy mess on the walk back and even more so once we sat back down with everyone. Her hands were drenched in gooey chocolate and cream and I was laughing so hard that my stomach started to hurt.

At around 11:30 we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower to see if we could go up to the top. We ended up catching the last elevator up at midnight for only six euro. They light it up with sparkly lights every hour once it gets dark out, and it went off once more while we were up on the second level. The view was absolutely gorgeous at night, the city lights twinkling all around us and the cool night wind hitting us as we leaned against the rail.

Almost missing the train this morning, thinking it was at 8:30 instead of 8:07, we arrived safely back in London. There was something sort of comforting about being in London again, like it was something I had missed without even realizing it. Walking down Hogarth and into our relatively clean flat and hearing English on the tube with the overly repeated "Mind the gap!" was surprisingly refreshing.

Got to listen to one of the online editors from the BBC talk today for class. The building itself was less impressive than the Guardian's beautiful glass walls and modern furniture and huge-screened Macs, but the editor who spoke with us was really informative and had a very positive outlook on new journalists and the field in general.

Stonehenge and Independence

Sunset on the train to Salisbury



It's been awhile since I've posted anything, so I'll try my best to remember the big things that happened.

Gwen had two friends come in from France two weekends ago. Well, one friend and then his buddy from the program. A bunch of us went to the Stonehenge Summer Solstice Festival that weekend- Owen and Brian, Gwen, Reyn, Sarah, Hannah and myself. It was the first time we'd all really hung out as a flat. Getting to the train station is a story all by itself. Hannah and Reyn had to take money out on our way to the tube so I figured I'd have enough time to run into a convenience store nearby and buy a few granola bars for the long night ahead. After making the purchase, I went to the station in search of everyone else and didn't see them anywhere. I saw that I had a few missed calls from Reyn and I got ahold of Gwen who told me that they had all gotten onto the tube because they couldn't find me. It was a rushed end to the conversation before her phone cut out, but I got some quick directions from her: take the District line to Westminster and change to the Jubilee for one stop to get to Waterloo. Seemed simple enough. It was 7:00 and our train was taking off at 7:20 from Waterloo. Plenty of time. Being alone, I was still more tense than necessary. I kept watching the minutes tick by on my phone. It takes roughly two minutes to get to the next stop on the tube. I got to Westminster and as the doors to the tube closed behind me an announcement sounded that the Jubilee was closed down. I dashed to the closest attendant I could find and asked him the quickest way to get to Waterloo. He gently told me that it's a ten minute tube ride if I get on the Northern line verses a seven minute walk. Thanking him, I ran up the steps out of the station, hustling past slow-moving people who seemed to be moving even more slowly than usual. I remember emerging from the dark, still heat of the station and a breeze hit my face. And before me was Big Ben, glowing gold in the dusk. I turned to cross the bridge over the Thames and the Eye was in full view to my left beside the purply-blue waves of the river. I was surrounded by such beautiful sights and I could only take them in in the smallest of doses as I sprinted onward, not even fully knowing where Waterloo Train Station was. 7:18. I'm damp and my back is hurting with the weight of my backpack. Finally, Waterloo Station is visible in the distance. As soon as I find my way inside, I get another call from Gwen saying that the train just left but Reyn waited behind for me. Her phone had died, so I wouldn't be able to call her. Great. In a determined daze, I slowed down my pace and tried to see where the proper platform was located for Salisbury. I hear my name, muffled, but I turn my head to see Reyn clambering up an escalator running towards me. Somehow we found each other, and both of us just started laughing, out of breath. We found the platform and explained that we had just missed our train to an attendant who kindly let us through to get on the next train which was leaving twenty minutes later.

It was all sort of dream-like. Sitting across from Reyn on the train, I was so energized and drained at the same time. It had to be a sign of a good night ahead. I looked out the window as the train began moving to see the sun sinking, gorgeous rays of reds and oranges and pinks filling the sky and bouncing off the buildings. We were on our way. Three people from Spain sat beside us at our table. The woman was fascinating to watch. Her hair was pulled back into a bundle of tiny braids and she had the most bizarre places on her face pierced, including that piece of gum that sits right above your two front teeth. Every time she smiled it glistened silver. After a game of cards, she pulled out a set of face paint from her bag and began painting a giant red and black star over one of the guy's left eye. In broken English she kept asking Reyn and I if it looked okay. We would respond with enthusiastic yes's. We were next in line but the ride wasn't long enough to get our faces made up.

We pulled into Salisbury and found the rest of our friends waiting on the other side of the tracks. We hopped on a bus for a half hour ride to Stonehenge. It was dark at this point and we were at the back of the top of the bus. There was a guy sitting a few seats in front of us playing the djembe. Brian and Owen were really easy to get along with. Owen had me share head phones with him to listen to a Feist/Postal Service remix. I remember laughing a lot. We were let off in this huge field. It was hard to see anything but I could feel the tall grass brushing up on my ankles. We seemed to walk awhile- long enough for the guys to run off to pee somewhere in the field. Finally we could see lights and hear cheers coming from a seemingly large crowd of people. After checking in at a gate lined with cops, we could see the rocks ahead of us, illuminated by hundreds of camera's flashes, creating a strobe effect. It got more crowded the closer we got to the rocks. We tentatively walked through the center of the rocks, which was much harder than one would think. It was packed. People were crazy already and it wasn't even 11. Drum circles, glow sticks, costumes and wigs, loud cheering and dancing. Gwen and I got separated for a few minutes from everyone and right then decided to pick out a spot to lay out our blanket and hang out away from the rocks. So that's what we did until the sun rose. We drank cheap wine out of plastic cups and talked and began huddling closer and closer together as the night grew colder. It got really, really cold. Sarah and the guys all managed to sleep a bit through the cold, but I didn't even want to try. I needed to keep moving. Reyn, Hannah and I made several trips to get hot tea and I had an amazing veggie burger. It was weird how crazy people were the entire night. It was like an actual festival without the live music. A couple guys manged to scale their way to the top of one of the rocks. 4:30 came and the sky started to show signs of light. We packed up our stuff and using the lucky compass given to me by Aunt Dianne, we situated ourselves to see the sun rise perfectly from behind the rocks. People were so impressed that I had a compass at my first summer solstice, it was really funny. Suddenly everyone was awake and on their feet, encircling the rocks, waiting for the sun. It never really came. The sky just kept changing into a more and more faded gray. Once 5:30 came and it was clearly light out we decided to head out, a bit disappointed by the unimpressive sunrise. There was something incredible about standing with so many people as the seasons changed, though. It was a long trek back to the bus with all the other festival-goers. Everything looked different in the light. Stonehenge was trashed. We took the bus back to Salisbury and went to a pub to get my first English breakfast. At that point we all were zombies and our meals and coffees took forever to come from a sluggish restaurant staff. I remember the guy in front of us in line to order asked if he could get a bloody Mary and the lady told him that they don't start serving alcohol until eight o'clock. In the morning. After eating a breakfast as impressive as the sunrise, we found a patch of grass and slept for an hour until our bus ride home. I don't even remember making the conscious decision to lay down and sleep, but we all did. And I slept uncomfortably the whole bus ride back, feeling more groggy than I can ever recall. When we got back to the flat at around noon, there was this huge street fair going on right outside on Hogarth. As much as I wanted to, I could not fall asleep with the loud music blaring out the window. I made some tea and sat out on the front steps of my flat and watched the festival. I talked to one of the street vendors who had this table of gorgeous African jewelry and scarves and figurines. We talked about the weather in the States and she told me she studied at a university in Illinois ten years ago. Ricky came out and joined me on the steps. He told me about how his flat got broken into while we all were at Stonehenge. Apparently one of the guys had been missing his iPhone for the past few weeks and his laptop got stolen this time, so they figured it was probably taken from the same guy. It was scary to think about something like that happening in the flat right beneath mine. I feel nothing but safe every time I come home to my flat, but it just makes you think about having to be careful no matter where you are.

Jolene visited for a few days. It was so great to see her. I took her to see Big Ben one day and we walked by the Globe and Tate Museum and crossed Tower & Millennium Bridges over the Thames. We took her out to Cargo, one of our favorite clubs on Wednesday night. It was sort of a strange time to have Jolene visit, though, because Reyn and I both had work and class during most of the day. Friday we had a bit of free time to hang out at Hyde Park, but then we had to pack and get ready for Barcelona.

So, last weekend was Barcelona. Our flight there got delayed three hours, so we ended up getting to our hostel really late Friday night. We still managed to get out of bed at a decent time and spent the day in the blinding sun walking around the city and eventually finding a very touristy beach. On the way, we walked through Las Ramblas, Barcelona's famous street with lots of vendors and open-air markets and art and street performers. That night we ended up going to this multi-level, multi-room club called Razzmatazz which was a lot of fun until we were leaving and I noticed that my wallet was missing from my purse. One of the guys Reyn and I met back at the hostel who had come out with us was so nice and paid for the cab home. But it sucked a lot on Sunday when I had to deal with not having any money. Reyn was great and spotted me for food and transportation. We tried to enjoy the day as much as we could and took a short train ride out to this incredible tourist-free beach. Barcelona wasn't what I imagined it to be, but I think I would have had a different frame of mind if my wallet hadn't been stolen.

It's been more or less a quiet week after Barcelona. I did a lot of catching up on sleep. It was Gwen's 21st birthday on Wednesday, so we went out to celebrate. Found a great little club in the basement of this building in Notting Hill that had live music. I talked to a guy for awhile who lives in London but has family in Paris and he's going there the same weekend we are, so he wants to meet up and show us the sights. Yesterday Reyn and I spent the afternoon at South Bank. It was beautiful out and perfect for walking around enjoying the London riverfront. I enjoyed a delicious falafel and we then headed towards Covent Garden. We passed by Trafalgar Square and there was a huge swarm of people outside of the National Gallery. It was some kind of a massive gay pride celebration, so the square was packed with people and a band was playing and beer was being served. We got back and found a bunch of people from our flat barbecuing outside on the back patio. We joined the festivities in celebration of Independence Day. It was strange being in England for such an American holiday, but everyone from the flat was really into celebrating. One of the girl's moms even sent her 4th of July decorations and flags and one of those Old Navy 2009 flag shirts. I sort of got mocked for wearing earth tones instead of any patriotic colors, but the 4th here didn't mean anything to me even though a lot of Europeans seemed to think it was a big deal. At work on Thursday, there was even this Independence Day-themed lunch, which was just bizarre. They decorated the entire cafeteria with red, white and blue streamers and flags and served four different types of burgers and cole slaw and corn on the cob. We all walked in to eat and were just like, "Wow, what's going on!" I stayed in with Reyn that night and we watched Independence Day. Today I went to markets around Brick Lane with Reyn and Hannah including Petticoat Lane Market and Sunday Upmarket, which had this selection of every type of food possible. I had an amazing Spanish omelette and a corn and pepper salad. There was so much to look at, I couldn't possibly have decided on anything to buy. Then we went to the theatre that Hannah interns at to see a play called "Naked Boys Singing!" She was able to get two free tickets and one for ten pounds, so we each paid three pounds which was great. The play was literally just as it sounds... naked... boys... singing. We all agreed that it wasn't nearly as awkward as we thought it would be to see a bunch of naked men dancing around on stage.

I've started to come to terms with the fact that I don't have much time here left. We leave five weeks from today. Hannah and I were talking over lunch today about how cool it was that we were in London eating in a market like this. It's weird, because I've gotten so used to being here. I feel so comfortable and I often forget that I'm in London. Days pass by and it feels like it's just become my home.