Last day in London!

It's funny how you always want what you can't have. When I found out the Volcano erupted and I might be stuck in London I wanted nothing more than to go home right at that instant, however, now that *hopefully* the flights are running as scheduled and I should be getting home tomorrow I'm really sad to leave London and feel like I could stay here forever. I spent my last day in London taking pictures of my everyday route, from my flat on Praed Street to the tube at Edgware Road Station, on the Circle Line to Gloucester Road Station, the walk from Gloucester Road to Cromwell Road to go to my classes at Capa, down the street past Sainsbury's (where I go grocery shopping) to Collingham. I went to my favorite market, Borough Market, for Lunch and then finished up my packing at my flat. At night, Tara, Jordan, Carrie and I went to see the Lion King which was amazing. I really can't believe that this is my last day, it's weird. Even if I come back to London it will never be the same. I'll never be in this flat again, I'll never have my own room here, my own kitchen, my own place to call "home". I'll never have a job here, or take classes. If I come back I'll just be another tourist, but right now London feels like my home. It's a really strange feeling and I'm really sad to leave but ofcourse I'm really excited to go home and see everyone again, it's just strange to think about the life I'm leaving behind here. I really couldn't have asked for a better semester, I've loved everything about London and about my internship.

Last Day at Collingham

Thursday was my last day at my internship, and also the best day. I'm really sad to be leaving Collingham, I loved working with the teaching staff there and I loved the kids! I was nervous working there at first because they had made it seem like the kids were going to be really out of control and crazy, and believe me, they were sometimes. But what they didnt tell me was how sweet the kids were and how much you really grow to care about them and how close you'll get to them. Unfortunately, because of confidentiality I couldn't take pictures of my kids but they were all the sweetest kids I've ever met. They presented me with a card during the last session we all had together and went around in a circle saying things they would miss about me. They said really cute things. Some of it was just "I'll really miss you", one kid said "Wait, if you're leaving you wont be able to be in my advert when we film it and you've been wearing the glasses I like everyday just incase we do it", another said "I like that you like Eminem as much as me, and you're the only one at Collingham who likes him and I like when you rap with me". They kept trying to find out my last name so they could friend me on facebook and we decided I would skype with the class once I get home. One of the kids as he was saying goodbye asked "When are you coming back?" and I told him I wasn't and he was like "Well what about in a few years?" and I said maybe but he wouldnt be there then and he was really upset. After saying goodbye to the kids Clem, one of the teaching assistants invited me to go to the park with the teachers later for a goodbye party for me (they always invite me to go out for drinks with them but its always on a day when I'm leaving for a trip). When I went upstairs Caroline (the teacher in my classroom) presented me with a card that all the teachers had wrote really nice personal messages in it and a gift of different British candies and a note pad and pens. When I was saying goodbye to Miranda (one of the teachers who couldnt make it to my goodbye party because she had dinner plans) she told me that I put all the other interns they had to shame and said a lot of nice things to me about it. Jo (another teacher who couldnt go to the party) gave me a hug and thanked me for all my hard work. It was really nice to have such a big goodbye and it made me really sad to leave. Then Caroline, Fred, Clem, Anthony, Chris and I went to Tesco to buy wine and crisps and went to Kensington Gardens for a few hours and drank wine and sat in the park and talked. It was a lot of fun and made me feel like a colleague not just an intern and also just like I was hanging out with my friends. It was really nice and made me really sad to leave! When I left they all hugged me goodbye and I went to the CAPA departing dinner which was also really nice. I sat with all the girls in my flat and we had a nice dinner. It was a great end to a great semester. I'll be really sad to leave!

Week off from Internship

My students at Collingham had a 2 week break, the first week I worked with nursing staff and the 2nd week I've been able to take the week off and finish up my final papers and final sightseeing in London! Monday, I went to the Freud Museum with my Psych Class, which was disappointing because although it's in Freud's house which should be really cool there wasnt really anything there except for his house. Tuesday, Danielle and I went to Harrods and split an ice cream sundae. Wednesday, I finished my papers and went to a bar called The Chapel with some of the girls and went to a shwarma and felafel restuarant on Edgware Road. Thursday, Danielle Jordan and I went to Borough Market for lunch, then we went to the Tate Modern art museum, then at night Danielle and I went to see Wicked! which was incredible! Friday, I went to Harrods with Carrie and then to Covent Garden with Danielle and Jordan for fish and chips at Rock and Sole Plaice and a drink at a pub. Saturday, I went to Trafalgar Square where they were having a Holland festival and a free concert, then I walked around Piccadilly Circus and Leister Square for awhile. I went to the Italian restaurant that we went to on our first night here with Danielle, Jordan and Tara and then to O'neills pub. Sunday, I went to Covent Garden market which is like a craft show. It was a really nice week off but I'm excited to start work again for my last week!

Greenwich- the Prime Meridian of the World

Sunday, Danielle Tara and I went to Greenwich to see the Prime Meridian (where you can stand in both the east and west hemisphere at the same time). It was a really pretty area and a beautiful day. We went for Mexican food afterwards at this place called Cafe Sol which is really famous around there.

Brighton

Danielle and I decided to go to Brighton on Saturday on a whim. I'd heard from one of my colleagues that there's a beach there and you could catch a train from Victoria station for 20 pounds. The sound of a beach after 3 months of rain in London sounded pretty good to me. So Danielle and I went to the train station at 11 Saturday morning and hopped on a train to Brighton (with no plans or any clue where to go from there). A 2 hour train/bus ride later, we arrived in Brighton, which is pretty much my new favorite place in the world. The weather was perfect, the sun was out and it was warm but not too hot. The beach was beautiful and it was a rock beach which was cool. We rented chairs on the beach and bought sandwhiches for lunch and sat in the sun reading for a few hours. Then we walked around on the board walk and to a carnival they have on the pier. We split fish and chips and a burger for dinner and then around 6 headed back on the train. It was a perfect relaxing day, definitely one of the highlights of my trip!

Passover

Chabad in London hosted 2 seders right near my school. Danielle and I went to the first seder which was at Imperial College. The second seder was at Ithaca College and Danielle Michelle and I went.The seders were really nice but not the same as home at all and it made me really miss my family seder. Keeping kosher for passover here has been hard because there is a very limited kosher for passover section but I've been keeping kosher for passover anyways. It's been nice to observe the holiday even though its not the same as being home.

Ireland

Cliff Walk in Howth

Us and our new friend Dave at the Pub

At St. Stephens Green

In Howth



Us at St. Patrick's Cathedral

Ireland was our last trip and my favorite trip of all! The people in Ireland were so nice and friendly, and I know everyone says that but you can't even imagine how nice they are. For example, one night we went to a pub for dinner and we asked the guy sitting next to us to take our picture, and he then started talking us and by the end of our meal we had joined tables with him and his friends (they were all teachers in Dublin in their late 20s) and were hanging out with them!

Our trip couldn't have began any better. When we got to our hostel the guy at the front desk told us the hostel had been overbooked so they no longer had a room for us, fortunately the hostel was joined to a hotel and they were upgrading us to the hotel! Our hostel was supposed to be a quad dorm room with no bathroom (we'd have to use a communal one) but our hotel room was beautiful and came with a full irish breakfast every morning!

Our first day in Dublin we went on a self-guided walking tour of the city and saw all the touristy sites such as Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathederal and St. Stephen's Green. We went to the Guinness Storehouse where we attempted to drink our free pint of Guinness but it was really gross. We went shopping and I bought an authentic clauddaugh ring at a jeweler, and a Bailey's chocolate bar- the best thing in the world it was filled with baileys cream! We had lunch at pub and I got a Irish Stew Pie which was delicious and for dinner we went to the pub where we met our Irish teacher friends. Then we went to Temple Bar- a popular bar area in Dublin- and went pub hopping for a few hours and drank Whiskey Reds (cherry 7 up and whiskey) which were surprisingly good.

The next day we went on the Dart Train (similar to the commuter rail) and traveled up the coast of Ireland. We stopped in Howth which had a beautiful view of the ocean and walked along a cliff walk for a few hours. We went to lunch at a restaurant there and had delicious seafood. Then we continued on the Dart Train to Dun Laoghaire and sat along the edge of a board walk by the ocean. At night we went to a pub in Temple Bar where we heard live music, at first we went into the wrong place which was a weird 80s club but quickly left and found 2 men playing guitar and one singing songs such as Wonderwall, The Joker, Your Sex is on Fire and a few Irish classics. It was a really fun and relaxing night and then we went back to the hotel to wake up at 4 am to catch our early flight (and it was day light savings time!) Needless to say the next day was miserable because we were incredibly jetlagged and exhausted.

Steve comes to Visit

Steve came to visit from Friday, March 19 to Monday March 22. It was really nice seeing him and it was just a few days after our 7 month anniversary so we were able to celebrate by going out to eat a really fancy restaurant near my flat. We went to the Museum of Natural History and the British Museum where we saw the Rosetta Stone and to Westminster to see Big Ben, the parliament building and Westminster Abbey. We went out to dinner to Rock and Sole Plaice - the oldest fish and chips shop in London (and the best I've had so far)! It was really nice to be able to show him around London and have him meet all my flatmates, and one night we went out to the Sports Cafe in Picaddily Circus (the Time Square of London). It was great having him in London even though it was only for a few days.

Amsterdam and Bruges trip

On Friday we left for Amsterdam at 5:15 am, we got on the bus around 6:20 to Dover to take a ferry from Dover to Calais. From Calais we drove through Belgium to the Netherlands. Finally after about 12 hours we arrived in Amsterdam. First we went on a boat cruise of the canal which was really nice and Amsterdam is really a beautiful city. I was shocked to see how many people were out riding bikes, literally EVERYONE there rides bikes, they even have bike parking garages instead of car parking garages. After the tour we went to our hostel, which ended up being upstairs from a bar. Our hostel was decent, but ofcourse I still slept over the covers with a hood on and a towel on my pillow just incase of lice or bed bugs. Then we went on a tour of the Red Light district, which was definitely an experience and slightly disturbing. After that we went out for chinese food for dinner and had a waffle with fruit and whipped cream for dessert. Then we went to the bar in our hostel and went to bed.

On Saturday we woke up early to go to a clog making factory and a cheese making factory. They were both really cool. Then we went to the Anne Frank house which was really sad but it was really interesting to see what the annex actually looked like because I read her diary so it was unreal to see what her life was actually like. For lunch we went to a pancake place where they had savory and sweet pancakes, I had a ham and cheese pancake that was really good (they were more like crepes). Then we went back to the hotel and went souvenir shopping and got ready for dinner. We went to a traditional dutch restaurant for dinner where I had pea soup (but ofcourse it didn't compare to Mammy's). Then we went on a Pub Crawl (where you go with a group to many different bars during the night) we only went to 4 of the bars and then decided to go back to the hostel because the bars were so crowded because there were 100+ people on the pub crawl with us.

On Sunday we left in the morning for Bruges. We only spent a few hours there but it was really beautiful and quaint. We had lunch there and all got belgian waffles which were supeior to dutch waffles. Then we went to a beglian chocolate factory on the way home and prepared for a long journey back to London. It was a really fun trip!

Venice

Our gondolier
Danielle and I on the gondola

From Florence we took a train to Venice. Getting off the train in Venice we were in for a surpise, expecting to take a taxi to our hotel as we had in the other two cities we were shocked to find out that there were no taxis in Venice--- only water taxis. There are absolutely NO cars or mopeds in Venice. There aren't even any streets. Just tiny windy roads surrounded by water because the city is sinking. Public transportation is by boat, as are taxis, police, and ambulences. We took the public transportation boat to the port closest to our hotel and walked to our hotel from there. Our hotel was even nicer than the first two! We went to San Marco Square and looked at all the Venetian glass shops and I had incredible Sicilian pizza! Then we went on a Gondola ride which was really fun! After we went back to the hotel for a bit and then went to dinner where I had spaghetti in a cream sauce with clams. For dessert I had a hot chocolate which was really thick like pudding and absolutely delicious! The next morning we ate our complementary breakfast complete with blood orange juice (which is a million times better than orange juice) and italian pasteries. We then walked to the train station just outside of Venice and took a bus to the Marco Polo airport. From the airport we flew back to Gatwick concluding our wonderful Italian trip!

Florence

Me at Piazzale Michaelangelo

Canoli!

Gnocchi!

Bridge with jewelry shops

From Rome we took a train to Florence. In Florence we had a beautiful hotel right in the center of the city. Florence was much more manageable than Rome and was absolutely beautiful. We were able to easily walk everywhere. On our first day we went shopping in a market place and I bought a scarf. Then we went out for lunch and I had ravioli. From there we went to a bridge with lots of jewelry shops. After shopping we went to the city center and had dinner at this restaurant called Donnini. It was the best food I've ever had. I ordered gnocchi with pesto, and they gave us free bread and a free glass of wine. I had Cianti and surprisingly I liked it! The waiter told us that the restaurant owned a bar called Amadaeus near by and if we went there and told them we ate dinner there we'd get a free drink. We went for canoli's at this cute little pastery shop in the center and then went to the bar and they had live music, a guy around our age who was American playing piano and singing. He was pretty good and it was a lot of fun. We got a lot of free drinks from the bar and we made friends with the singer. It was a really fun night.

The next morning we slept in and then went shopping again the market place. We stopped by a sandwhich shop for lunch and I had a fresh mozzerella and spinach sandwhich. Then we went for a bus tour of Florence where we stopped at Piazzale Michalangelo which has a beautiful view of all of Florence. After the tour we decided to relive the night before and went to Donnini again for dinner, this time I had eggplant parmasean which was incredible, another canoli, and drinks at Amadeaus. Florence was absolutely incredible and by far my favorite part of the trip!

When in Rome...

Enjoying Roman Water
In front of the Colosseum with Jordan

In front of Trevi Fountain

The Colosseum

The girls in front of the Roman Forum

Me and Tara at the Vatican

The Vatican

The Campground

Our Bungalo

We spent our first two days of our tour of Italy in Rome. We flew from Gatwick Airport in London to Rome Fiumicino and from there took a taxi to our hostel. When we showed the taxi driver the address to our hostel Plus Roma he said "Oh camping." We didn't know exactly what he meant by this, but we were soon to find out. When we arrived at our hostel which was on the outskirts of Rome we found out that it was not quite a hostel but instead a camp ground where we would be staying in a bungalo (basically a trailer with 2 beds and a bathroom that would shake if someone took a shower or flushed or a toilet or just randomly throughout the night). It was definitely an experience. The staff was really helpful though and gave us a map and directions to where we wanted to go. We went to a cute typical italian restaurant where I had a rice ball (with mozzerella, tomato and beef) and a ham, mozzerella and ricotta calzone. The food was delicious and we couldn't help ourselves from stopping for gelato on the way back, I got chocolate- it was so rich and tasted almost like fudge it was amazing. Then we got a taxi back (because the buses were way to confusing at night and the metro in Rome isn't very extensive because of all the ancient ruins). We went the bar at the camp ground and got a drink and then went to bed (with towels on our pillows ofcourse in case there was lice and unfortuantley without heat).

The next morning we woke up lice free (I hope), and went to Vatican City. It was absolutely beautiful inside. We went to the Sistine Chapel and walked around for a little bit. Unfortunately, we didn't have too much time to spend there because we had a tour at 2 that day. We took the metro from the Vatican to Colosseus and when we got out of the metro station right in front of us was the Colosseum. It was HUGE (hence the name). We went to a near by outdoor restaurant for pizza and then sat outside by the Colosseum until our tour began. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Our tour was of Ancient Rome and was 3 hours long- it was the best tour I've ever been on. Our tour guide was an archeologist and was really knowledgeable and interesting. We went to the Colosseum, the Roman Forums, the Pantheon and Treviy Fountain. They were all really cool and the ancient aspects of the city were so striking. One cool thing about Rome that I learned is the tap water there tastes like bottled water- they have bubblers that are constantly running throughout Rome and the water tastes amazing. After the tour we went to Trastevere (a place with a lot of restaurants) and went to a wine bar and split a bottle of Italian white wine- I never liked white wine before but now i really like it- at the wine bar we ran into a group of CAPA students who were on Spring break there. Then we went to dinner where i had lasagna and garlic and olive oil brushetta and met up with my friend Cara who is studying abroad in Rome. Then we went to Sloppy Sam's at Campo Di Fiori (a place with a lot of bars) which was an American style bar with outdoor seating and we had a drink there and then headed back to the campground for our final night in Rome. The next morning we headed to the train station on our way to Florence...

Borough Market

Today, I went to Borough Market, a really nice food market by London Bridge, to meet my friend Alisa from camp who I hadn't seen in years and I just found out she is spending the semester in London at UCL! We walked around the market and tried free samples and then I got an ostrich burger- yes ostrich! It kind of tasted like sausage and had a mustard sauce, mayonaisse, cranberry sauce and carmelized onions with it- and was surprisingly delicious! Then we had some mulled wine- which is hot wine that kind of tastes like hot sangria and walked around London Bridge. Then I took the tube back and met up with Tara, Danielle and Jordan on Oxford Street (a street with a lot of shopping) and went to a few stores. I also picked up my new glasses- I got 2 new pairs of glasses because I needed a new pair and there was a 2 for 1 deal! At night, we went out to dinner at Wagamama- a restaurant that has chinese style noodle dishes and had plum wine to drink- in Camden. Then we went to a bar called "The Worlds End" which was huge and was tons of fun!

Chinese New Year

This weekend was the Chinese New Year celebration! We went to Leicester Square and had dinner at a Chinese Restaurant in China Town on Saturday and then went to this place called the Zoo Bar where we reserved a table and were on a guest list it was a lot of fun. Then today we went to see fireworks for the new year which were really cool and a lot different than fireworks at home. They were shot from right next to us and didn't go as high in the sky and a lot of them went downwards, it was really cool and a lot of fun.

Fish and Chips and Vinegar...

This week at my internship the kids had half term break but because it's an inpatient facility many of the kids were there for the week. Since the teachers were on break, I worked with teh nursing staff. The nursing staff focuses a lot more on how the children are managing in their daily life (making sure they eat enough, getting enough sleep, medication etc.) so it was a really different experience than working with the teachers. I definitely prefer working with the teachers but it was a nice change to understand how the whole facility works. The nurses also have to eat with the kids, which kind of stinks because they dont get the hour break that I get during the day but they do get the food that the kids eat which is really good! The day that Iwas there for lunch we had chicken curry, rice, peas, salad, naan bread and fruit- which is bigger than any dinner i've had since i've been here and definitely better than my standard turkey sandwhich, but even so my hour break is necessary. The nurses don't get any breaks throughout the day, they are constantly with the kids or in meetings, where as the teachers get an hour and a half break (including lunch break) and have much better hours (9-4 instead of 8-5 or 5-9:30). The kids get frustrated a lot during school hours because it's hard for them to concentrate on school work so it was nice to see them in a more relaxed environment. We baked cupcakes, made playdough, played countless games and even went to the cinema to see "Percy Johnson and the Thunderbolt theif"- which was the worst movie ever but it was still nice for the kids to get out of Collingham and they all loved it. It was a fun week of doing different things but I'm excited for school to start up and to get back to working with the teachers. On Friday, all my flatmates went out to dinner for Fish and Chips. They were really good and surprisingly the vinegar made them even better!

Hyde Park

Today I went to Hyde Park to just walk around for a few hours. It was so beautiful. It's only a few streets away from my flat and I'd never been there before. I walked throughout the park and across a bridge over the lake the runs through the park and then walked to the Princess Diana memorial fountain and then back across another bridge and to my flat. It was such a huge park and I was so amazed that something like that existed in the middle of the busy London city. It was really nice to just take a relaxing walk and escape the busy city for a few hours.

London Eye

On Fridays I have the day off from classes and my internship. Jordan, Danielle and I went on the London Eye. It’s a huge ferris wheel that over looks all of London located in Westminster right near Big Ben. We went on the London Eye and luckily the sky cleared up just as we went on it so the view was beautiful and it was a lot of fun. Then we walked around Westminster for a little bit and took pictures by Big Ben. Then we went to Leicester Square to try to buy ½ price play tickets but they didn’t have anything for the plays we wanted to see. We had lunch in the park in Leicester Square and then went to Oxford Street to buy movie tickets to see Valentine’s Day. Tara, Danielle, Jordan and I all went to see Valentines Day that night and it was sooo good!