Parisian Adventure

Wow, so.. it's been a couple weeks since I last blogged and there's been a slight, ok more than slight change of plans: I am no longer going to Ireland. More about that in a bit. First, Paris! Paris was a very interesting place. The language was a major barrier, although we lucked out when it came to most people speaking English, or at least partly able to. Friday night we saw the AMAZING Eiffel Tower. This is something that EVERYONE needs to see, especially at night. It lights up and glimmers. I took an elevator ride to the second floor, but was way to chicken to go up any further due to a deathly fear of heights...



At least the view from where I stood was pretty cool...



The view at night is a different story...





Saturday was filled with sightseeing. It rained all day though so that definetly hindered things a little bit. We saw the Louvre, the Arch de Triomphe,Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge and a bunch of other places with french names that I can't remember!





Sunday was a much better day, and we got to go inside the Louvre Museum and see Mona Lisa. Not as amazing as I'd hoped but still cool to say I've seen her. Back to the Ireland issue.. I realized a few things while I was in Paris. I'm pretty sure I have an issue with anxiety and being nervous alot. About little things, about things I can't control, about things that shouldn't even be worried about in the first place. Thus, I decided that in my own personl best interest, that instead of going to Ireland for a week, I would feel much more comfortable going home earlier than planned. So, seeing as this is the last week of school anyway, I have decided to come home on Saturday. As in 2 days. I'm still very anxious- about flying, about finding my way and the airport alone, etc. BUT, at least I am able to relax a little bit knowing that I'm going home. I realized that I wouldn't have been able to enjoy Ireland as much as I wanted to. I miss home to much!

Although, reflecting on the past month in London, I have realized a few things: I hate the city, I don't like lots of people, and I must be close to my family at all times. I also realized I'm not to sure about this fashion design thing, I don't know if I have it in me....

More to come on what I miss most about Wisconsin while I was away...

Aye Scotland!

So, the weekend in Scotland was a success. It was gorgeous!

We arrived quite late in Edinburugh Thursday night. The hostel there was alright, weird though for being our first time in a hostel. There were already strangers sleepinf in our room when we got there, akward city thats for sure. It was cheap.

Friday morning we met up with the tour company, Haggis Tours. If anyone out there ever wants to travel around Europe and stay in legit hostels, and have all their transportation included, book a tour with these guys. They were awesome! The hostel was in Ft Augustus; which also happens to be where the Loch Ness is located. Sadly, no Nessie sightings- even with a boat cruise on the loch...





Saturday was another touring day. We went to some of the most beautiful places in Scotland- in my opinion. The highlands are amazing. Huge huge huge rolling valleys and mountains that literally go on forever. We stopped in a few little towns for bathrooms and snack breaks in between about a 5 hour bus ride into the highlands. But it was definetly worth it...

The first scenic stop was at a place called Kilt Rock. The pictures definetly do not do justice, not even close.







The next place we went didn't really have a name. It was just pretty. I wish the pictures could show exactly how high we really were from sea level..





For this one, see the guy in the orange in the doorway of the brick structure? That shows about how far down he was from where I stood at the top...



Not that I'm counting or anything, but 2 1/5 weeks till I come home. So excited to be with my family and friends and back to my normal everyday life. I definetly miss Wisconsin. But until then, this weekend is a trip to Paris. Hopefully a good time. More to come!

Comin' Out Your Mouth like Blah, Blah

So today was somewhat of a random, take care of errands day. This morning I had to print a bunch of papers off for one of my classes, browse a few fabric stores, hit up a few favorite stores, and get a quick bite to eat. The World Cup mania is still sweeping the nation; England is still in the running. We went to Planet Hollywood to try and watch the game, but there was so many people there it was standing room only so we only stayed for half of the game. People are crazy for soccer here! It's riciulous! It must be kind of like the superbowl in the states except instead of staying in to watch the game, everyone goes out to watch the game.

Very excited for the next couple of weekends: leaving for Scotland tomorrow evening, staying at a converted church to hostel- Belford Hostel. This will be my first time staying in a hostel so it should be interesting. Friday morning starts the tour! We'll be gone until Sunday, but I have a feeling the weekend will fly by.

Im starting to feel..almost bored with the city. Strange concept I know, but I'm just getting very anxious to go home. It's going to be so weird coming home and trying to readajust to American living. The time change, at least for the first night, is going to kill me..

So the past two days haven't been very exciting. Although yesterday me and 2 of my flatmates went and saw some of London's tourist traps that we saw our first few days here. We got a closer look at Westminster Abbey-which is abosolutely GORGEOUS, Big Ben & Parliment, and the London Eye- in which we will hopefully be taking a ride in later next week...









Today we did some browsing at Covent Garden, Monday's they have a pretty decent antique market. I didn't buy anything though- I'm trying to decide if I want to splurge on a Louis bag..

BUT, I do have a few things to look forward to: the next 3 weekends are booked with traveling! This coming weekend, me and Caitlin will be traveling to Scottland; leaving Thursday night and coming back Sunday. We're taking a train from London to Edinburgh and staying in the Belford Hostel that night. Then Friday morning we're joing a tour to take us to Loch Ness and the Isle of White. The weekend of July 4th we will be in Paris! Not for sure yet, but I think we're taking the chunnel. Three days there should be amazing. The weekend after that, which is technically then weekend we check out of our flats and school ends, we will be heading to Ireland for a week. We're still trying to work out some of the details for that, but its exciting either way!

She's Country

Today was an amazing day! The group went on a hike in the countryside of Surrey. Completely at home here, definetly reminded me of Wisconsin.. finally! It was a really nice hike, through some fields and woods, with some great scenery stops...



It was beautiful! Surrey, if anyone remembers, was where part of the movie "The Holiday" with Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Kate Winslet took place. I love being in the country, and walking doesn't bother me at all. But clearly some people were definetly out of place.. the dirt and the bugs and the walking did not settle with some people...Weird?

But besides that, the view from the top of the hill at the end of the hike was GORGEOUS. You could see for miles. It was a trek up there, let me tell you, but it was definetly worth it!

Everyday America

As lame and boring as Elk Mound and the surrounding areas are, I would give almost anything to be able to go home. I know I know, what am I thinking, blah blah, but really.. I've never appreciated my life more than being out of place of it. This is an opportunity of a lifetime I know, and not many people get to ever have the same experience, but I miss my life! I miss sunshine every day, and hanging out with my dog. The only even remotely close things that remind me of home here is the American music thats played in every club, the Subway a few blocks down, and the cows that live next door at the vet school-at least they still smell like cows!

Me and the flatmates spent the day wondering the fabric stores of Shepherd's Bush, and the luxuriousness of Oxford Street. Lots of good things at both places. In Shepherd's Bush I got some knit fabric, possibly will turn into a dress? TopShop of course.. got some cute jewelry. I have come to the conclusion that you can get away with wearing literrally ANYTHING here in London. I mean ANYTHING. Some of the strangest things have walked by, worn by some rather strange looking people. It's quite inspiring and somewhat admirable but something tells me that high waisted chiffon palazo pants, and a half shaved mohalk wouldn't fly on the campus of Menomonie, especially in the winter. I have also come to the conclusion that there is to much money flying around London. Jeez. Designer, designer, designer.

Apparently, soccer ("futboll") is HUGE here. The world cup is currently being kicked in South Africa and England is in their.. second round? I havent figured out who wins, or what the point system for each game is, but England is still in a pretty good running. We went to a local pub called World's End in hopes of catching the game, but there was so many people that we left before the first half even ended. I'm not much of a soccer fan anyway...

Always Late, Worth the Wait

So clearly, I'm not very good at keeping up with this blog thing. I've been here for 2 weeks already, time is flying to incredibly fast! I've had completely full days everyday since I got here. But here's a mini recap:

The first like, 4 days were absolutely horrible. I hated it here. Everything was COMPLETELY different from back home. I hated how the city smelled, I hated the food,I hated all the people, I hated all the walking,I hated the time change, I hated trying to figure out the transporation system,I hated being away from everything that was familiar. I cried every night for those first 4 days. BUT, thankfully things got better after we had more activities to do...

I've gotten into my classes: Fashion Styling and Journalism for Fashion. Both are fun and interesting, I'm learning new things. But they are different. There aren't really any due dates which with all the exciting things in the city I want to see, make its very hard to sit down and actually concentrate on homework...Classes are 6 hours long at a time, with lots of little coffee and lunch breaks in between. And our professors like to take field trips to strange places: art galleries and exhibitions that don't make any sense to me...?

The first weekend was basically an orientation to... everything. The school, although helpful with suggestions and many maps, basically threw us into the city. It was up to us to figure out transporation, in finding where the best places to eat where, etc. We had some walking tours,but even those made us lost! A brightside of that weekend though was shopping on the renonwed Oxford Street. Two words: retail heaven. Topshop, Urban Outfitters, H & M,Zara, Selfridges,Anthropologie just to name a few. Not to mention the Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton & D & G boutiques a few blocks over on Bond Street. On Sunday, we took a boat tour down Shakespeare's Thames river to the town of Greenwich. It was an hour boat ride, guided by a man with quite the personality. Now, London is a city of 7 million people, kind of like New York City with "bouroughs"; Greenwich being one of the older ones. In Greenwich, Greenwich College and the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory where the highlights.



Greenwich is also known for it's incredible vintage and antique markets. I was able to find a vintage bracelet, and an "Indian Motorcycle Parking Only" sign for my dad, pretty cool actually! It was a quiet area, with a somewhat small town feel...

On Wednesday, we participated in a "Hidden Pubs of London" tour. Basically, bar hopping. The pubs are different here than they are back home: instead of individual drinks, a round of drinks is ordered. We had "cider", basically a sweeter tasting beer. I don't like beer at all, so.. this was even to much of a beer taste for me to like. The pubs are all in old buldings with nocks and crannies, and super high ceilings. One of the pubs- "Old Bank of England", actually housed the barber shop of the notorious Sweeney Todd and his meat pie mistress (check out the movie with Johnny Depp for the gory story!)

Friday was another day of touring. We went to Stonehenge and the small town of Salisbury, about 3 hours out of London. Stonehenge wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be- it's definelty hyped. But it was cool to say I've been there in person. Theres only so many times you can walk around and only so many pictures you can take before it really does look like a bunch of rocks.



In Salisbury, we went to the Salisbury Cathedral. That was something. It has the tallest "spire" (steeple) and is the tallest Midevil structure in Europe. It's really cool inside. The best part was that the cathedral housed the "Magna Carta", basically England's version of the Constitution, but drafted in 1215. There's only 4surviving copies left in the world, so that was pretty cool.

I think Saturday has probably been the best day of my trip so far. Me and my flatmates went to "Trooping of the Color"; the Queen basically says hello to the country, and "inspects" her troops-they just line up and put on a fancy show for everyone. We got there super early and managed to get a pretty good view of the queen.



The second week has definetly gone better. I'm getting used to traveling around by both the "tube" and the bus, as well as walking almost everywhere. This place is definetly a retail queen's dream: literally every brand name I've ever heard of is gettable in London. I can't tell you how many times I've been tempted by Chanel, Louis, and Dolce.. besides TopShop, Anthro, and this amazing store called All Saints. Have definetly done some damage...

My flatmates are AMAZING.. love them to death. Kelsey and Tiffany are both from New York and Danielle is from Michigan. Me, Caitlin, Kelsey and Tiff have been going out and exploring the town together, and thats been a great time.

That prettty much sums up the past 2 weeks, and this time, I PROMISE theres more to come!