cheers darlin'

dublin trip:

this was my first “open weekend”, traveling only with my new friends, free from the itineraries and guidelines of our group. all twelve of us made it from france to ireland with little hassle. it seems like air travelers are more friendly in europe. in america, i almost never talk to the person next to me. but i had substantial conversations with strangers on both flights this time. on the way to dublin, i sat next to a guy headed to ireland for his sister’s wedding. his name was naill (pronounced “nile”), and he had the greatest accent i’ve ever heard. it was nice to have someone who is able to point out interesting things from the sky. for instance, he informed me when we were flying over the english channel, and bono’s house. or at least the posh island where bono lives.

sunset from the airplane

speaking of bono, i was glad i had my ipod to provide an appropriate soundtrack to the weekend. lots of u2 and damien rice. i didn’t think far enough in advance to load on some “oh danny boy” action. thankfully.

new damien rice album yeah!

shared a hostel room with all eleven others. this was my first time staying in a hostel, but i don’t think i got the full experience. our room had twelve bunked beds lining the walls. it must be crazy to be sharing a room with strangers, but then again strangers might have been preferable to a few of the people i was traveling with. actually, the hostel ended up being lots of fun. cozy, really. maybe a little too much information shared with my new friends, but whatever.

the group in the hostel room

i would describe dublin as london’s slightly scruffy, drunk cousin. a little rough around the edges, perhaps, but dublin still manages to make you feel welcome. it was nice to be able to communicate with other people when out in the city, instead of dumb faces and hand gestures. then again, driving back into france where i don’t understand anything was slightly disheartening.

dublin’s public transportation system is… ridiculous. there are plenty of buses going around, but i never once saw a map that outlined the system. “system” is a generous term in this case. more like total randomness that possibly was decided while under the influence of one to many pints of the black gold. i’m glad i wasn’t the one in charge of figuring out which bus we needed to take.

friday we woke up early-ish to start our sightseeing. first up, dublin castle, which might be compared to the white house in the united states. it was interesting, but not quite what you’d expect out of an irish castle. the gift shop (and all other souvenir shops i visited) had a healthy amount of merchandise featuring family coats-of-arms. particularly interesting were all the malone items i saw. i didn’t buy any, but pointed it out to any and all travel companions who happened to be in speaking distance to said merchandise.

dublin castle

after the tour, karissa and i split from the group in order to escape the bureaucracy of doing things in a large group. on the way to the castle, we spotted a quizno’s, so that’s where we wanted to have lunch. sidenote: i’ve yet to have mcdonalds and only had starbucks once while in europe. ok, thrice. generally i’m against eating at american chains abroad, but that sandwich was delicious.

after lunch, we somehow managed to get on the right bus, and rode out to kilmainham gaol. i learned a lot at this particular attraction. first of all, “gaol” means “jail”. this particular jail was built in 1796 and operated until 1924. during this time, it was host to thousands of inmates, each of whom told part of the history of ireland. during the potato famine, many people were incarcerated. however, it soon became clear that spending time in jail was preferable to being homeless on the streets. leaders of irish rebellions were held here, including the leaders of the 1916 rebellion who were also executed in this complex. in addition to the fascinating information about the history, the jail is a unique example of victorian architecture. this was the second coolest place we visited.

at the gaol

inside the jail

my very own cell!

no explaination for this weird nest thing inside the cell...

taking the prize for the best attraction, of course, is the guiness storehouse. it really is disneyland for alcoholics, without the rides. i learned everything you could ever want to know about guiness: how it is made and the history of the beer and the past advertisements and my goodness my guiness and the impact it has had on irish life. the tour ended at the top of the gravity bar on top of the storehouse, overlooking dublin city. we got our complimentary pints and enjoyed the view. i can honestly say it’s the best guiness i’ve ever had. unlike my father, i am not burdened with many many years of drinking weak american beer. i’m sold.

yes there is.

yes they are.

resting. . . waiting

my goodness

friday evening we headed out to the pubs around temple bar. the area reminded me of bourbon street in new orleans, but without the skankiness. we made our way through several pubs, but i was pretty much exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before (you get what you pay for at a hostel… uncomfortable mattresses). i headed back to the hostel a bit earlier than the rest of the group (runs in the family), but still had lots of fun.

saturday was more sightseeing. half of the group trekked out to malahide castle, a medieval-looking castle with a surprising rococo interior. the tour was mildly interesting, but looked cooler from the outside. after lunch, we headed back to the city center.

strange forest of elephant ears en route to the castle

malahide castle

apparently i’ve started a bit of a tradition of wandering around with only a vague idea of direction and purpose, through areas of town hardly visited by tourists. (see london entry for search for hindu temple). saturday afternoon, post-nap, we divided according to what we wanted to do. i wasn’t feeling another museum, but i did want to see the st. patrick’s cathedral and walk around. so eric and james and i set off walking. well, it ended up that st. pat’s was closed to the public because there was some sort of graduation thing going on. anywho, james wanted to find a particular pub because of it’s name. something having to do with his girlfriend; i never got the full story. without much thought and only a vague idea of the location, we figured out a bus to board and set off on our way. the bus driver asked if we needed directions, but we couldn’t really tell him where we wanted to go. an hour later, after walking the wrong way for a solid mile, we finally found the pub. james got his picture, and we returned to the city center.

all we saw of st. patrick's cathedral

and the outside

we went out again saturday night, this time with a vengeance. truly a pub “crawl”. back to some of the same places as the night before, but this time with a larger group. we had tons of fun and managed to all make it home in one piece. someone got the idea to buy ridiculous shamrock hats, so of course we looked like tourist idiots. i’ll admit, i wore the hat. i’ve got the green glitter in my hair to prove it.

not my hat.

but those are my antenna

that's not me either. the one on the right is my roommate.

silly james.

sunday morning we woke up early and headed to the airport. a bus ride, a plane flight, then another bus, and we were back at the chateau, home sweet home.

that's it for the trip. i added a link to additional facebook pictures, if you're interested. also, the 13th marked exactly one month until i am home. it's gone by so fast...

paris on thursday!

cheers
-katie.


p.s. happy birthday dan!!

bop bop bop bop

not too much has been going on lately, but i really wanted to get the bullshit picture off the front of my blog. my online class is ending tomorrow, so technically i’m in the middle of “finals”. i guess. mostly i am writing this entry because i don’t want to finish my final essay for sociology. my other midterms went very well, with a’s in both perspective and french culture and civilization. easy peasy.

slow weekend; only one excursion. friday we woke up way too early and took the bus to frankfurt, germany. overall, i did not care for frankfurt. part of it seemed nice, and i’m sure it would have been really cool during the world cup last summer, but overall it seemed unwelcoming. it was exciting to see skyscrapers as we approached the city from the highway; skyscrapers reminded me of chicago.

the first thing we did was visit an advertising/marketing firm for a tour and presentation. i really enjoyed hearing their approach to their marketing and how they applied these broader ideas to their individual clients. this was a trip especially for the graphic designers in the group, who have suffered through numerous museums which mainly interest the interior designers of the group. my friend karissa got some contact information, and now wants to return for an internship.

however, the visit was a little disappointing. for past groups, they’ve visited a different firm which has the students do a little on-the-spot creative exercise. they told us to be prepared for such a surprise. so when we went to this different firm that only gave us a powerpoint presentation, it was a little disappointing. oh well.

after the firm visit, we had free time in the city. first, we went to a lookout point on top of a tall building, which happened to be a mall. some people went off to shop, but karissa and i decided to visit the contemporary art museum. it was okay, but i had more fun browsing through the shelves of the nearby architecture bookstore. after four hours of killing time, it was time to leave.

karissa and i above frankfurt

dinner was at some remote restaurant in the mountains of baden-baden. we drove for a couple hours, then drove through a huge tunnel (which always reminds me of the perks of being a wallflower), then turned on to a tiny road which led us through the forest. then we got out of the bus and walked down a steep hill to a tiny restaurant tucked away in the darkness. apparently there is some sort of hairy cow, or yak, that lives in the field by the restaurant. so says petra.

enjoyed, or at least consumed, a typical german “appetizer”. as always, a basket of bread awaited us at the table. doreen, our resident german, spread something on her bread then sprinkled it with salt. funny, i didn’t think butter needed salt. after doing the same thing and taking a big bite, we realized the spread was actually meat grease/drippings. what we pour off the bacon pan and let solidify in a pepsi can before disposing of, the germans spread on bread. after a quick heart attack, i was ready for my next course.

i also had some of the best apfelstrudel i’ve ever tasted anywhere. and we’ve had a lot of apfelstrudel.

the rest of the weekend was relaxed. a group of us did archery on saturday. i wasn’t half bad. forget pepper spray, when i get back to chicago, i think i’ll just carry around a bow and arrow for self-defense. or do you think that would make people think that i was the crazy one?

after archery, we played some tennis. sort of. first of all, i have honestly not picked up a racquet since retiring from teaching the summer after graduating. however, i was the only one in the group who had ever played “for real”. their lack of experience made me look comparatively impressive, especially when i gave them professional pointers such as “low to high”. our equipment options were pretty dismal. i actually got to play with an old wooden racquet. i felt like johnny mac, ripping all sorts of killer backhands. then i smashed the racquet into pieces and left in a fit of rage. you know.

i guess that’s pretty much it for now. today i went shopping and finally bought a winter coat. thursday i fly to dublin for the weekend. man oh man, i am looking forward to dublin.

signing out.
-katie

random picture from frankfurt. really, did someone steal the front wheel of some poor child's bicycle? this picture is amusing.

don't walk away

halloween!!!!

hands down, i'd say the best halloween i've ever had. we had a fantastic party. it is not hard to transform the chateau into a very scary place.

here's my costume:

get it? i'm bullshit!! hilarious.

i feel that i can best describe the evening through pictures. i stole half of these pictures from karissa. thanks, karissa!

eric and i on cooking duty, dipping cookies into white chocolate in order to make "ghosts".

looking creepy with the knife.


the cake i made. enhanced by creepy mood lighting.

jessica, dressed as jessie from toy story. and bullshit.

karissa, dressed as a mermaid. and bullshit.

at the party. me, jeff (my perspective teacher, dressed as a manic-depressive clown), shruti (dressed as a mummy), and roderica (as a bunny).

petra, dressed as some sort of zombie-spiderweb thing. and me.

my teachers. scary even without the costumes.

alex dressed as jesus. hands down, best costume of the evening.

arianna's friend serge, dressed as a pirate.

zombie eric.


antione, serge's friend. wearing a funny hat.

bang, the dead flight attendant. gross.

that's about it, i guess. happy halloween!

-k.

p.s. i changed some settings, and now i think it's possible for everyone to leave comments, not just people who have a blogger account. so you know what that means...

a random smattering of photos

from the past few days... all captioned and everything!

autumnal chateau. please refer to my posting about how much i love autumn.

chateau, outlined by the sunset.

heelclick in the forest. that's shruti on the right. look at the air!

creepy face, yes. on the grounds of the chateau, there are random sculpture installations. including many giant ears leaning against a group of trees. odd, perhaps.

took this at our latest bonfire. b+w captures the mood, no?

and finally, a picture from the amazing sunset last week. taken from my window. i have at least fifty pictures of this, all gorgeous.

anywho, just clearing out some miscellaneous business.

cheerio.

-katie

rock paper scissors...

short week because of london. it was hard to get back to the routine of online classes. thankfully, i only have one and a half more weeks. we will have quite the celebration when those are through.

the class schedule was messed up because of london. we had class on friday, which sort of confused my understanding of the week. friday was also my roommate’s 21st birthday, so i made her a cake to celebrate. i think she appreciated it, but i couldn’t tell how she was feeling otherwise. i don’t think i would like spending my birthday away from my friends and family. especially my 21st, which is such a big deal in the states. here, since there is no age restriction on drinking, number vingt-et-un becomes quite blasé.

friday night we went to a concert. i would like to first point out that under no circumstances would i ever go see this band if i were in the states. i was more interested in seeing what it is like to go to a concert abroad. but, since this band is not really my scene, i would sort of be comparing apples to oranges. second, i was not impressed with their music. do i look like an asymmetrical haircut emo chick to you? didn’t think so.

now i feel like there’s an unnecessary buildup to the name of the band, which i did not intend to do. we saw “panic! at the disco”. which is a pretty silly name for a band, if you ask me. pale faced boys in supertight pants wearing more makeup than i have owned my entire life. that’s not entirely true, but you get the picture. the music wasn’t too excruciating, just your typical emo-punk with a cello and xylophone thrown into the mix. their lyrics were rather nauseating, but luckily the sound system was pretty sub-par, and i was not subjected to the whine fest. “the only difference between suicide and martyrdom is press coverage” was one of their songs. ugh, that’s some pretty deep stuff, but only if you forget that they took it directly from chuck palihnuik.

the crowd was actually just what you would expect for this type of show. average age: probably 17. youngest was probably 13, with a handful of obvious parents there to chaperone. and a few out of place looking thirty-somethings. emo haircuts, boldly printed shirts, lots of eyeliner. i had no idea the fad had spread across the atlantic. i spent a solid chunk of the show wondering what it must be like for your favorite band to not speak your language. sure, french student especially might understand a healthy bit of english, but there are crucial parts of the experience that i’m sure are lost in the translation. then again, music can cross barriers. i’m sure the teens at this show wanted to have the babies of emo-frontman mc panic as much as the fourteen year olds in america. sidenote: it is possible that this was the first concert i’ve attended where there was an actual bra thrown onstage. it’s also possible that i am not normally very observant of such activities. nevertheless, a bra was thrown onstage. honestly, who does that? what is this, a poison concert?

after the show, we headed back to the chateau. actually, first we talked to one of the roadies, who seemed surprised to see americans in the crowd. strasbourg isn’t exactly a well-known city. we chatted for a moment, got the lowdown on touring europe-style. this guy was not a fan. he also hopped onstage to grab a drumstick for my roommate and one other girl. guess we get preferential treatment because they understood what we were asking.

anywho, we made it back to the chateau on the last bus, then went to bed. i can make a lot of fun about the music, but the girls i went with really enjoyed the show. that’s sort of their scene, though. and i guess i did have fun.

saturday morning we woke up early for more excursions. first up, struthof concentration camp. not quite a cheery way to start your morning. when i was in austria, we visited the maulthausen concentration camp. maybe i forgot what it felt like to stand in such a place, or maybe a few year’s age has given me a deeper understanding of humanity. but saturday, i felt emotionally blown away. the whole camp is carved into the side of a mountain. it was physically challenging to walk up the steep, stone paved hill; incomprehensible to think of how one would manage even the trip from barracks to other parts of the camp, being so malnourished. barbed wire fences enclose the site, with guard towers every few hundred feet or so. at the top of the hill, a memorial to the thousands that perished at this site, as well as to the efforts of the french resistance movement. moving down the hill, the gallows stand out starkly; a lone noose against the vastness of the sky. most of the buildings have been taken down. only an outline of stone, marking the footprint of each of the barracks. the emptiness creates an eerie, sobering atmosphere.

at the bottom of the hill, two buildings still remain. one was the “prison”, where the most violent or dangerous prisoners were kept for disciplinary reasons, or simply as a holding point before execution. the other building was the crematorium. i have a picture of the exact same piece of machinery from my visit to malthausen. outside the crematorium, a deep pit sinks into the ground, with a stone cross rising from the top. this was where the remains of the dead were disposed. standing at the top of that pit, looking into the grave of thousands of innocent people, my eyes filled with tears. how could so many live be taken by such a madman? what sort of evil can be harbored in humanity?

before the nazis invaded france, this area was a very popular ski resort. at one point, as we were arriving, i though to myself how beautiful this location is. magnificent vista, fall colors, tiny town with half-timbered houses in the valley. then, of course, the gallows come into view.

after our time at the camp, we all got back onto the bus for the ride to our next excursion. after an hour or so, we arrived at the haute koenigsburg castle. i am not one who is easily impressed by castles. i think they’re cool, and all, but i have always somehow been disappointed when finally at the doorstep (exception: the alhambra in granada). not so at this place. this thing was freaking sweet. imagine a giant, red sandstone medieval castle, built right on the top of the highest mountain in the area. looking outwards from the top of le grand bastion, you saw fields of grapes (we were still in alsatian wine country), their leaves changed into bright yellows and oranges. tiny villages dotted the landscape. in the distance, the black forest of germany. beyond that, on a clear day, you could see the swiss alps rising above with their jagged peaks. we took a tour through the castle, seeing all sorts of cool stuff. sorry i don’t have any pictures, but my camera battery died after the concentration camp.

when we got back, the bus driver dropped us off in town. on tuesday, we’re hosting a halloween party, so we worked on getting costumes. i have a vague idea of what i’m going to be, but i’ll wait for pictures from the evening to fully explain myself.

suday we went on at hike to mt. ste. odelie. there’s a monastary at the top of a hill, and we’re hiking there. after a bus ride, of course. anywho, we weren't supposed to know what exactly it is, so we are “inspired”. now we have a corresponding assignment for french culture and civilization. it was a really gorgeous location, and i took tons of pictures. i think for my project i'll do some creative writing. short story, or something. if it's good, i'll post it here with some pictures. but i still have to write it.

well then, that’s the weekend's recap. tomorrow evening is our halloween party, so i've been helping with the food preparation. yeah, cookies!

goodnight.
-katie

insert british accent here

expanded london edition.

what a trip. london was everything i was hoping. can't swing a dead cat without hitting something historical or famous. the rain held off for two days, so we might not have had a typical london experience. unfortunately, this trip was scheduled at about the one-month mark for time away from home. that, coupled with the anti-culture shock of english speakers and starbucks, messed with peoples heads a bit. tensions were high, and "some stuff went down". unfortunately, a bitter taste was left on a couple of the days. but, everyone made it out okay, and we are all still speaking to one another. more or less. anywho, back to my trip.

we left thursday afternoon for the hour bus ride to karlsrue-baden airport. uneventful flight, which i guess is what you hope for. and my luggage arrived at the same time i did, so that was a nice change. when we left the airport in london, it was a little weird boarding the charter bus on the opposite side, but that quickly subsided.

if not for these reminders, i would probably be dead.

our hotel was by kensington gardens. pretty nice area, actually. when we got in, we hadn't had any dinner, so the first thing we did was hunt for some food. stopped into one pub and actually got carded. eventually we found some food and went to bed.

friday morning we woke up early for a bus tour of the city. led by our guide, john harrison, we got an overview of the city. i always enjoy this approach so i feel like i see the whole city and can get my bearings.

after the tour, we had free time until dinner. i decided to help out the struggling british economy and go shopping. basically i got screwed with my pants on because the exchange rate is something like two dollars to one pound. i bought a dress that i would wear later to dinner.

in the evening, we went to see "the producers". i don't know, i've never been one to really get into musicals. i sort of enjoyed myself, but probably wouldn't see it again. the theater was on drury lane. you know, where the muffin man lives. hehe.

saturday we went as a group to the tate modern museum. we were scheduled to have a guided tour, but he didn't show up. instead, we got a free admission to the fleichel and weiss exhibit. i had never heard of these artists, but i ended up really enjoying their humourous approach to art. also at the tate, an installation of slides. yes, giant four story slides. which were awesome. the artist was exploring the idea of making slides part of everyday life, somehow including them in architecture. the description of the slides was really poetic, talking about the anxious buildup, the fear of heights, the thrill of the descent. funny, he didn't mention the bumpy ride. i wish i could have gone down a few times. it was really fun.

after the tate, we had free time until dinner. my friend shruti wanted to visit a temple outside central london. saturday happened to be the second-to-last day of the hindu new year celebration. so shruti, karissa and i set off for this temple with a vague set of directions and optomistic spirit. two hours, two tube lines, a bus, and about a mile of walking, we made it to the swaminarayan temple. since it took much longer to get there than we had expected, we only spent fifteen minutes or so inside. we took off our shoes to go into the temple. filled with ornate carvings in white marble, the temple was really quite something. shruti did her thing, then we were on our way.

funny, i couldn't help but think how many thousands of people visit christian cathedrals while in europe. nearly every city seems to have a major church built over thousands of years that are visited hundreds of times daily. but then here i was, in london, at a temple that i had never heard of, taking a moment of silence as i sat among the different altars. and to think of how much effort it took to get out there, but how beautiful it was, and how few people would ever go. i'm glad shruti asked me to go with her, because it was something that i know i would have never done otherwise.

actually, it also reminded me of the 8th grade washington d.c. trip. father bauer tried so hard to expose us to the different houses of worship for world religions. this felt more personal; less academic.

walking to the temple, we walked through the soccer field where they filmed "bend it like beckham". and we also walked by ikea, which tells you how far out of the city we were (you know, because ikea likes to build out in the middle of nowhere, in a place you would normally have no reason to visit. like schaumburg.)

anywho, we made it to trafalgar square with an hour to spare before our rendezvous. got caught in a sudden rainstorm, and remembered that we were in london.

saturday evening we went to the london eye. you may remember this famous ferris wheel from the bbmak video. yes, i just referenced bbmak in my blog. anywho, i did not enjoy the london eye. funny, i didn't quite realize i was afraid of heights until i was held captive for thirty minutes in a glass orb as it flew 434 feet above london. i spent pretty much the entire trip sitting indian-style on the bench they have in the middle. clutching the wooden bench with a death grip that should not have been possible, considering how much my hands were sweating. i think i might have had a bit of a panic attack. depending on where you look, the eye moves so slow that you don't necessarily know you are moving. so i would look toward the center, see us going higher, and freak out. but i couldn't look the other way, because it didn't feel like we were moving at all, then i panicked because i thought we might get stuck. then i started having a bit of vertigo. ugh. exiting that thing was the highlight of my day.

after the eye, a group decided to go out to a club. not being one for clubbin', some others decided to go pubbin'. we walked around for a long time, but ultimately ended up in the exact same pub by our hotel that we had been to on thursday. we are creatures of habit.

the pub was fun. i don't know. somehow we got on the topic of religion, which is always the best thing to discuss after a couple pints. kinda wish we had stayed away from that particular discussion, but whatever. i went to bed earlier than the rest of the group (like 2ish) because i also had to finish a bit of online homework. ugh, i am sick of that class. apparently the rest of the group stayed out, but then ended up at the bar in the lobby of the hotel, drinking with some old welsh guy. i guess at the end of the night, he got up to leave, but tripped by the bathroom or something. they had to call an ambulance. glad i went to bed.

sunday morning i woke up surprisingly early with the goal of attending mass. i like to see how catholic mass is different in various parts of the world. and since i knew it was going to be one of the only times i would have the opportunity to go to mass in english, i was even more interested. i ended up walking to the brompton oratory, which i guess is famous. or so says the random old guy who was in the lobby and gave me directions. mass was interesting. first of all, the pews were torturous, but i figured if the old ladies could manage sitting through mass, than so could i. they did not sing, but organ music was played. of course all the words were the same, but the priest spoke very measured and deliberately. it's like american priests are trying to get through the standard stuff as quickly as possible so they have more time for their homily. this priest took his time. and he had a british accent. i found myself saying the repsonses in a british accent as well. i guess it felt more natural to fit in. for communion, they still used the rail at front where you kneel. that was my first experience with such a method. very intersting. i'm glad i went.

after mass, not a whole lot of people were around. i decided i wanted to explore the city on my own. there were several things i wanted to see, and didn't want to mess with a lot of different people. i'm thankful that i have such a natural sense of direction, or else i wouldn't have been able to explore the way i wanted to.

first, i headed to buckingham palace. i got about halfway there before i realized i had to meet the group at the british museum across town. so i changed my plan and headed towards the museum. i got a little lost on the way, but eventually made it. by this time, it was raining pretty steadily. my map lost most of its physical properties, but i made it to the museum. inside this museum we saw many grecian artifacts, as well as the rosetta stone. and some mummies, which were pretty sweet. gross, but sweet.

after the museum, i headed to a nearby restaurant for fish and chips. you know, when in rome. they were pretty good, but left a lot to be desired. oh well, still crossed it off the list.

next, my big excitement. i hopped on the tube in search of abbey road. when i took a wrong turn walking out of the underground station, a nice man pointed me in the right direction. some kid had set up a table and was charging one pound to take a picture as you walked across the street. of course i did it.

i don't want to claim to be someone who knows tons about the beatles, or is a diehard fan. i thought it would be cool to do when in london. plus, i am not really that interested in attractions such as the changing of the guard.

after abbey road, i headed back to buckingham palace. had tea with the queen, then stuck around to take some pictures.

kidding. i didn't really take any pictures.

in keeping with my tradition of being incredibly easy to please, i had so much fun riding around on the tube. living in a big city, i've developed quite an appreciation for public transportation. the london tube system is amazing. fast, clean, easy to navigate, clear and relevant communications regarding interruptions in service, not to mention the amusing way they remind you to "mind the gap" when entering and exiting the train. busking in the stations is an art form. if i remember correctly, performers actually have to audition before given a permit to play in an underground station. the talent certainly surpasses anything played at the washington stop on the red line.

sunday evening we went back to the same pub... again. honestly, can we not expand our horizons even a little bit? still, it was fun.

monday morning we woke up early to go to st paul's cathedral. we climbed the stairs to the insided of the dome. i forget the technical term. i think the london eye really messed with my head, because i was all afraid again. that doesn't normally happen. thankfully i won't be living in presidential towers when i return to chicago, because i'm afraid i wouldn't be able to handle it.

we heard announcements on the underground all sunday saying that westminster station was closed for filming. fine, it didn't interfere with anywhere we wanted to go. then monday morning, as i read the paper on the way to st paul's cathedral, a short article caught my attention. apparently, they had been filming for the fifth harry potter on sunday at this station. "harry must navigate commuters", or something like that. to sum up, i almost met harry potter when in london. jen, i though of you.

anywho, after the cathedral we packed up our bags, checked out of the hotel, and flew back to france. overall, a great trip. i really enjoyed london. the business, the people, the attitude, even the rain. i wouldn't mind getting a job here after school is over. i can see myself living in london.

that's about it i guess. i'm pretty tired, and have class at 9 tomorrow. tonight was another barbeque. which means delicious food and a full belly. mmmm.

goodnight.
-katie


p.s. today is the one month anniversary of me being in europe. really, only one month? somehow it seems like much longer and no time at all at the same time. less than two to go.