"hey, is that big ben?"

alex and i decided to be tourists for the day - go downtown, whip out the cameras, and see the sights. but when it started raining, we thought we'd go to covent garden instead. ended up walking around, stumbled upon trafalgar square with fun statues and fountains just as the sun came out. then all of a sudden alex turns around and goes, "hey, is that big ben?" sure enough, there it was. naturally, we took pictures and walked towards it! ...and found out it was a lot further than it looked. but we made it there, saw the thames river, the london eye, the houses of parliament, westminster abbey, and a ton of random statues. we'll be back plenty of times. still need to see the tower of london and the london bridge and oh, only hundreds of other things around london before i go. i definitely needed this day to feel like i really am in london, living here for the next few months. so cool. but i swear it seems like such a short amount of time now that i'm here and seeing everything there is to be done! i'm starting a checklist for things to do around london. horseback riding in hyde park, classic picture in a telephone booth, find church on sundays (SU students and only SU students should understand). but here are my bigger plans so far for the rest of the semester:

coming soon
this weekend:
friday: stonehenge and salisbury
saturday: thames festival
sunday: east end markets and soho


next weekend (SU love london weekend):
thursday: billy elliot the musical
friday: backstage the royal opera house
saturday: london bike tour
sunday: inside buckingham palace then the turning point festival for jenna's birthday




weekend trips
sept 24-26 AMSTERDAM. nuff said.
with most the flatmates and other cool people we like


nov 5-7 the mandarins do paris!
mara and i are meeting deanna for a marvelous weekend with the girls


nov 26-28 backpacking through england (?)
further planning is in store.




fall break
oct 21-31 spain, italy, greece.
specifically barcelona, florence, tuscany, venice, greek isles, athens.
as of now, tara and jenna are in. plans may change and people may be added, but its a definite tentative plan that i am more than excited about!




also. wait for it... wait for it...
sept 22-29 my boyfriend matt is coming to visit!!
he wanted to surprise me, but obviously had to say something after i booked my flight/hostel for amsterdam haha. so he's coming there too! i never thought in a million years he would fly here to see me with his deathly fear of heights and flying. boy you crazy. and i love you for it! seriously cannot wait.




with the family
dec 16-24 germany, prague, portugal (?)
yep, mom dad and brother are headed overseas at the end of my semester! details to be worked out at a later date. but not too much later... just need to really decide exactly where we're going.




time for bed peeps. night!

new neighborhood(s)?

The flatmates and I walked around a little yesterday before grocery shopping to see what's nearby. edgeware street (aka 'little beirut') is a very arabic area where we stopped in one of the billion lebanese restaurants for lunch. today, our first day of classes, alex and i took the longer of two ways to take the tube to faraday. very nice walk with some little shops and markets and such in between the tall buildings. then in the afternoon a few of us ventured in another direction only to find more shops and restaurants, but much more city-like. phone store, pharmacy, school supplies, starbucks, mcdonalds, kfc, pizza hut, pizza express, sushi, gourmet burger, italian, etc. etc. also walked by a library that says its 24hrs with free wifi so we'll definitely have to check that out. no way am i getting anything done in a flat of 6 or at faraday with everyone around. although i did get started on some reading already! mom & dad - hope you're proud. i did, however, forget to take a 'first day of school' picture on the front stoop, oh well.
so moral of the story, we have everything we could ever need within walking distance, just depends which direction you walk for whatever you want at the moment :)

all moved in!

we're finally in our own flat and it feels so good! took a while and a lot of strength to get 6 people's bags from the hotel and up 2 flights of stairs then up again to our rooms, but its all over now and im pretty much all unpacked in my room. we just made a first night celebration dinner of pasta and garlic bread with cheap and have been relaxing all day with wireless internet finally. classes start tomorrow... so not excited. but im sure it wont be too too bad. i only have classes mondays and wednesdays so im happy.

fish&chips at the rock and sole

ive realized that i have been so adventurous with food here so far. ive tried various grilled veggies on a panini, mushrooms on sandwiches/pasta, tomatoes on sandwiches/salad/pizza, spinach in pasta, lamb shawarma, and the classic fish & chips. none of which i thought i liked, but all of which i can tolerate! im so proud of myself.