Our European Tour (Part 1)

Thursday (May 5th): Our last real day in London....really sad. The morning was quintessential British weather with rain and overcast. We had breakfast at the Serpentine with Sue. I then met up with Zoe at the British Museum and had lunch at Wagamama. Afterwards met at Westminster Abbey for Eve and Song and saw all the wedding decorations still up! There were the trees lining the aisle, flowers in nooks and crannies and her bouquet on the tomb of the unknown solider. Finally went to a final hot chocolate at the Lanesborough's Library bar (also with Lena!) and then onto the Horgan's to sleep.

Vienna (May 6th): Arrived in Vienna where we met up with cousin Sarah, walked around a lot and saw all the major buildings and a really big church...In the evening we went to a film connected with Sarah's internship and then to a coffee house with piano music and a lovely ambiance.

Vienna (May 7th): Started the day with a visit to the Spanish Riding School of Vienna's performance. The fancy horses pranced around as if they were in a ballet. For lunch we round our way around a farmer's market before heading to Sissi's palace for a walk and a nap on the grass. In the evening we went to a food festival with lots of samples and then sat at a cafe. We got to the train station insanely early and then set off the stressful and scary "adventure" that was our overnight train experience....basically it was very confusing as to were we needed to be, very busy and very hectic (lots of jostling and running up and down platform). We finally found our way to our sleeping car and turned in for the night. Our cramped little room had three beds stacked right on top of each other like a submarine.

Krakow Day 1 (May 8th): The conductor woke us up as we approached Krakow and we entered the city to a gray morning. We arrived at our Hotel (Copernicus) and took a swim, sauna break and showers. Next we toured the concentration camps, Auschwitz and Birkenau. I have been to lots of museums about the Holocaust so it was very moving to actually see the camps. It makes me really appreciate all of my blessings and want to stop such atrocities that still occur in the world! Our tour bus dropped us off in the Old City, where we had lunch on the main square and walked around. In the evening we walked up to this old castle and there was a man dressed as a knight at its base. Daddy started goofing of with him and they started a "sword" fight. Little did Daddy know but as he continued to step backwards he reached a step and fell completely on his back! It was really really funny. We then rounded off our day with ice cream for dinner and a classical music concert in a grand old church!

I rather Kate day

So my day was rather creepily Kate Middleton themed....First, I got my hair cut today by James Pryce (her hairdresser) at a salon off Sloane Square. My Mom met me at the salon and we meandered around the King's Road before going to a KCWC Fashion Fayre and then to Jak's for lunch with Sue. After lunch we went back to the Fayre for a comedic routine about the history of "Knickers" aka pants aka drawers aka panties aka underwear....so that was strange....anyhow then she and I began walking around town and 1) went into the Phillip Tracey milliner shop (think the crazy British hats at the Royal Wedding) and tried them on, 2) walked past the Goring Hotel and 3) went into the Buckingham Palace shop in pursuit of commemorative tea towels.

I then proceeded to continue packing our ludicrously big new suitcase (it could fit probably three of me....) and hung out with Lena. This evening we went for coco at a restaurant in Maida Vaie over the canal with Mrs. Honey.

The Land of Harry Potter

Went to Oxford to visit Maria where I attended a lecture on something classical and Greek...Afterwards met up with the madre and (it's a small small world) Zoe Kaslow (from Girl Scouts and who just happened to run into my mom). Next Gregory showed us around and then took us to his college, Lincoln. There we had a cup of tea in the fellows room, very English and very fun. Last but definitely not least (in fact the best!) we went to "formal" dinner at Oriel aka The Great Hall from Harry Potter. The dining room was all dark oak, portraits and history. The students had to wear their academic robes and food magically appeared a la the house elves. Dinner was three courses and a very cool experience.

May Day

Happy May Day!

Church and then to Jaks with the Moe's and the Honey's for a delicious brunch. Plein air painting in Hyde Park followed (I did a pointillism poppy where Georgia O'Keefe and Seurat kind of met..) Rounded off the day with a healthy helping of ice cream. YUM!


Yesterday we met up with these really really sweet elderly couple who we met on Mothering Sunday at the club. They took the train all the way to London to visit with us-so nice! Joan and Peter Newey.

Royal Wedding Fever

THE BIG DAY!!! aka the Royal Wedding Day!

We walked down to Buckingham Palace and the crowds were insane-they had created big barricades at the edge of Green Park to prevent more people from entering. There was an intense carnival atmosphere and excitement in the air. We then took the bus to Chelsea for a viewing/brunch party at the Johnston's. Watched the ceremony/procession on tv and then ate the most delicious meal ever. Favorite parts of the wedding: when the ring would not fit over the knuckle and Beatrice and Eugenia's hats!

After that we went to another street party in South Kensington (thrown by the Horgans)- all the ladies were dressed up in the blue Issa dress Kate wore for the press conference which added a fun twist to the proceedings!

Finally we went to ANOTHER party at the Honey's. Mrs. Honey made a very impressive crown shaped pavlova.

We had a competition before the wedding to see who could most accurately predict by drawing the dress. My sketch was really close to the real thing! I had envisioned something a la Grace Kelly and Sarah Burton's dress was along the same lines. I think Kate looked gorgeous!

Court-eous Activities

Started off the day with a behind the scenes tour of the Old Bailey with Janet. We were shown around by a police officer and taken all over the court house and into the historic areas. The highlights for me included going to the basements, seeing Deadman's Walk (an outdoor corridor where a series of archways getting increasingly narrower to make the condemned feel even more uncomfortable), a dark tunnel leading from the court to a church across the street, a hatch leading down to the Fleet River, the roof and court room #1.

After the tour Mom and I went to Notting Hill for lunch at Nandos and to walk around the neighborhood. In the evening we went to a lecture at the Tower, followed by a stop at a pub with Tricia, Katherine and Andrew. We decided to walk back to the flat via Westminster, the Mall and Buckingham Palace--It was really surreal with tons of people milling about and camping on the side of the road...all in union jack attire. Very excited for tomorrow!

Easter Outings

Thursday the 21st: KCWC Palace and Prisons tour in Temple. It ended at St. Bartholomew's church and then we went out to pizza and for a walk.

Friday: Walked through Hyde Park and visited various statues (notably that of Peter Pan). Went to Notting Hill for the fish spa experience. It is like a pedicure but small toothless fish eat the dead skin off your feet...very strange. The Honeys came over for games (Charades, Liebrary, Boulderdash, Celebrities) and we ate lots of delicious varieties of ice cream!

Saturday: Visited a cool exhibition of past royal wedding cakes ("Eat Cake") at the Wellington Arch. There were lots of really ornately decorated cakes as well as models of the Queen's and Princess Diana/Prince Charles' wedding cakes. The Queens was 9 feet tall! Afterwards we made out way to the Seftel's for the weekend. In Winchester we toured St. Cross and the gardens and then walked to a big swimming hole where Dad and Paul swam.

Sunday: Attended the Easter service at Saint Cross where to the biggest surprise ever Gabriella Hills joined us! In the afternoon went on a delightful walk in a blue bell forest and then painted in the back yard.

Monday: Set off early for Highclere Castle otherwise known as the house in Downton Abbey! After touring the house and grounds we returned to London.

Tuesday: Went painting with the Honeys at a ceramic cafe (I made a plate on which I painted a red British bus and English phrases). In the evening attended an event at Banqueting Hall where an actor impersonated King James I (for the anniversary of the King James Bible).

Today: Woke up at 4am to see the dress rehearsal for the royal wedding procession. The bitter cold was worth it to see up close the impressive team of calvary, soldiers and carriages. There were several press crews present and the Entertainment Tonight reps and anchors were kind of embarrassing for the US...royally obsessed. At the reasonable hour of 9 am met the Honeys for Emilia's 9th birthday breakfast at the Serpentine restaurant and shared fun camaraderie. Parting ways I returned to the apartment to collapse in exhaustion until the afternoon when I stopped by Browns, went to Whole Foods and walked the length of the park. This evening took us to see Les Mis (I saw it 4 years ago). It was truly spectacular, better than I remember. The actors voices were some of the best I have ever heard in a musical production-phenominal!

Where Wills met Kate

Sunday: Went to a London Marathon watching party at Katherine and Gordon's. Then went to a Dartmouth BBQ at Imperial College with Sophia.

Monday: York with the Honeys. Visited Yurvik (a Viking museum with a fossilized human poop...hehe), the Minster, the railway museum, a National Trust site, the Roman wall, Betty's, the Shambles, etc.

Tuesday: Visited St. Andrews and met up with Emily Dunn. Our tour took us to the expected places: the Links Golf course, the castle, the cathedral and then school. Had drinks at the Jigger Inn then dinner at "The UKs Best Thai Restaurant".

Wednesday: Took the train to Aberdeen and set out to follow "our roots" to the Birnie Inn/Church and then MacDuff (where my Mom's grandfather was born). After looking around MacDuff we went to a really windy town perched on the edge of the sea. A narrow road skirted the coast and had a sharp drop to the beach. Thinking there was a turnoff road we drove quite a ways down only to discover there was no road and no good way of turning around...luckily a nice local man was there to back out our car for us! It was quite a pretty pickle. At the mans suggestion we then visited the super isolated and very quaint town of Covie. It too was nestled at the base of steep hills right on the seaside. It consisted of a row of small beach cottages, weathered with time and puffing smoke from their chimneys. Lastly there were lots and lots and lots of fields full of baby sheep-THE CUTEST!

Drowning in the Cotswolds

Went to the Cotswolds today to go Aqua sphereing. Had brilliant memories of doing it in 2007 but this time was rather upsetting in a "I am going to die!" kind of way. Being mid-April it was a semi-overcast day and not warm enough to warrant submerging one's self in frigid water. That was the main problem-the sphere was so full of water that as my Mom and I tumbled down the hill my head was periodically under and I feared drowning. Sounds all very dramatic and overblown but during the 20 second experience I was rather traumatized.

Anyhow...after sphereing we continued our day in much pleasanter pursuits driving and walking through numerous quaint villages. In one we stopped at an ice cream factory and talked with the dairy farmer who ran it. He showed us all the cute baby cows and I also saw numerous lambs. LOVE! Another vivid memory is that of the Rape seed fields blooming vibrant yellow.

This evening Sophia Johnston and her family came over for dinner and we all played Liebrary.

Not to Shabby

Went to the country side (north of London) for a house tour with the KCWC.

Then had dinner with a past student of Ralph Potter.

Bee-ing active

Had a bee keeping class at the Chelsea Physic Garden..realized bee keeping isn't for me-too complicated!

Then went to a spa day and got my nail painted sparky pink!

Finally the highlight of the day: Going to Roddy's 30 years on the force party at-duh na na na- THE TOWER OF LONDON!!! In the Yeoman Warder's Club. Very cool and very fun. Watched the Changing of the Keys and had a really neat tour of the Tower. Muy divertido!

Walking, Walking and more Walking

The 8th: Visited Disraeli's house in High Wiccombe with our Culture classmates, Katherine, Kathy, Vicky, Sue, Eva, etc. It was stupendous weather and we walked through the grounds. On our way there the rest of the group stuck to the road but the fam picked our way across a pond via some broken up pieces of a concrete dam. Once back in London mommy and I made our way to Whole Foods...on one bike.

The 9th: Rosie arrived at Victoria coach station and we set off for a country walk starting at Hever with members of the group from the day's previous outing. The walk took us so scenic meadows and paths. We passed a castle, large manor house, several historic churches and numerous picturesque houses. After a stop for dinner at a local pub, daylight began to wane and our hike continued into the night and darkness. It was very surreal, very funny and quite intrepid of us. We were not on clearly designated paths but crossing wide fields. At one point we saw some looming white shapes, wondering what they could be we were greeted with a herd of cows. One was ridiculously huge (seriously the size of a pick up truck!) and looked ominously over at us..seriously scary...I was through that squeeze gate as fast as possible. After ages, we found our way to the train station (Leigh) and were on our way back to the city. On the train these ridiculously overdone girls (think no clothing, orange skin and big white hair) kept laughing and obsessing over the poodle who was on the walk with us. It was so so funny.

Slept like a rock after our 10+ mile walk!

The 10th: Sunday saw Rosie and I covering a lot of ground as we made our way all around the city. Lots and lots of walking. Our journey took us to Green Park, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Westminster, Big Ben/Houses of Parliament, by the London Eye, back to 10 Downing St., up to Trafalgar Square, into the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, to Covent Garden, to Pain for a Pavlova, to Spitalfield's Market, Brick Lane, South Kensington and Jak's, Hummingbird Bakery, Tower Hill, The Jack the Ripper tour, Oxford Circus, Regents St. and finally Piccadilly. We were absolutely zonked.

The 11th: More sightseeing with Rosie took us to: Burlington Arcade, Bond St, South Moulton St, Oxford Circus, Notting Hill, by Kensington Palace, onto Whole Foods, a little more walking in the park and then on an old 40's #9 bus back to our flat. In Notting Hill we round our way through cute streets and window shopped. The weather was absolutely tremendous and we had to change into cooler clothes!

Set of again this time to the Old Bailey (only to be turned away...) We proceeded to the Bank of England where we quickly perused the exhibit. After walking around the old city a bit more we were very weary and made our way to Westminster Abbey for Eve and Song.

After the service Rosie and I went to the Lanesborough for tea and coco. We sat in the Library bar by a warm fire and had an absolutely charming time. I love the ambience of the hotel-it is my absolute favorite!

Finally Giles (the barrister) came over for dinner and we played Liebrary.

The 12th: Rosie and I attempted to go to the old Bailey and sat in on a very unclear trial....something to do with a dark nightclub, a handbag and a gun...Afterwards we walked to Tower Bridge, along the Thames and to the Millennium Bridge. The sad time when Rosie had to depart was drawing near and we returned to the flat for the Culture class potluck. I escorted Rosie to the coach station and she was off. That night we went to a Pub Quiz at the Flask in Hampstead with Gareth and two of his friends.

Today: Another tremendously busy day! Started off the day at the Wellcome collection to see the permanent exhibitions and one on dirt. The highlights were a shrunken head, a Peruvian mummy and some of the King George's hair which was examined to see why he was "mad". Then it was onto Hampstead to visit the Fenton House, a museum on Hampstead's History, a delicious lunch and the architect Goldfinger's House. At about 3:30 we got back on the tube bound for Chelsea to visit the historian Carlisle's house. After touring our third National Trust sight for the day we went to Jak's for dinner. Next we went to Harrods and then finally onto the Haymarket Theatre to see Flare Path, a play set around WWII RAF pilots (staring Sienna Miller). I throughly enjoyed the play!!!!

Glorious Sunshine

Started off the day at the East India Club on St James Square for a lecture on the history of interior design and architecture in the 17th century. Later went to Baker and Spice in South Ken for a delicious lunch and to soak up the continuing glorious sunshine. Hot footed it to the BBC for a very dull lecture on 'The Art of the Interview' with Libby P..something (used to edit Tattler and hosts a radio show on BBC 4). Next stop St. Johns Wood to meet up with Maria and walk to Primrose Hill for a cupcake and camaraderie. Spent the rest of the evening chatting.

Interesting tidbit I took away from the lecture. Madam Pompadour had her sights set on Louis 14th and arranged for him to come upon her in his hunting park. Scantily clad, she "fell" off her horse just as he past. When he came to her aid she took off her frilly garter and put it on her head (at the time woman wore hats when addressing the king). Upon becoming his mistress Madam Pompadour popularized larger and more elaborate hats or pompadours. This then was reflected in interior design as chair backs became higher to aid in supporting the head and hat.

"The History Girls"

Started off the day to a museum about England during WWII and the Blitz. Since it was a lovely sunny day we then walked about for a little before heading to the train station for a jaunt to Windsor. Once there we walked around the town and window shopped in Eton. Inspired by the glorious weather we rented a row boat and set out down the river Thames and explored some very jungly offshoots that made me feel like we were in the Danube and would be subject to an imminent crocodile attack.

The next order of business was nourishment and selected a restaurant called The Tower. Within 30 seconds of sitting down the waitress knocked two glasses of water straight into my lap!-thankfully they had a hand dryer in the bathroom which I used to dry myself up.

Our final stop (and reason for the day-trip) was a lecture by three female writers and historians (Allison Weir, Kate Williams and Sarah Gristwood) about the last thousand years of royal weddings and their new book The Ring and the Crown.

Happy Days and Birthdays

Had Tricia's class (focusing on post-war Britain) and lunch at the UWC. Always enjoyable! By the time we got home it was already quite late and we needed to leave to surprise Andrew Honey with a birthday celebration!

Piecing together the last week

Wednesday went to a Taylor Swift concert at the O2 with Liz Lowey. We got front row for three of the songs and I met Mrs. Swift. I gave her a lace headband and she gave me a hug. Then at one point she did the heart sign at me....We however were not invited to the T-party which was such a bummer.

Then on Thursday we went to Windsor and had a "behind the ropes" tour of the castle with a fascinating tour guide. Following our look-around we went to lunch with Sue at Wagamama. Back at Waterloo we quickly turned around and got on a train to Hampton Court for a talk by the writer and producer of the Tudors.

Spent Friday with Liz around the city. Started off shopping Oxford, South Moulton and St. Christopher's Place, then went to a museum adjacent to Sommerset House (lots of Impressionist works, Seurat, Manet and moderns..), ran into Alex White!, had tea and a look-see around Liberty, and stopped by the fancy-schmany gold cave for macaroons. That evening saw the murder mystery, 8 Woman, with Katherine and Gordon.


Saturday I went to Liberty to pitch my headbands, said goodbye to Anita, went on a long walk through Hyde Park and met up with Sophia and Nick in Chelsea.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and we went to church, the Evolving English exhibition, brunch at the club (where we talked with a lady whose house/legends were the inspiration for Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre) and had dinner with the padres, Sue, her husband and Roddy.

Today we went to Becensfield again to visit with the Moe's and then saw The Children's Hour (starring Keira Knightley and the woman from Mad Men). It was extremely good and thought provoking-a really powerful play! Frustrating and emotional it is one of the better dramas I've seen.

Hola

Tricia's class, lunch, visited amigos at Browns, Evolving English exhibition (met a nice girl from California) and then a talk at Mayfair Library by author Cyrus Moore on his book City of Thieves. Liz Lowey arrived today.


Yesterday: Went to a preview of a clothing line, Carlisle, at Lady Tessa Balfour's house in Chelsea, biked through Hyde Park and went to a talk at the British Library, "Writer's on Writing".

Also I have been nursing a basil plant back to life and it's thriving. YAY!

Scholarly Sunday

Took the train to Cambridge to watch "So You Think You Can Dance Science?" in which scientists danced/choreographed their phDs. Afterwards we rented a boat and punted along the river through the mighty picturesque colleges. At one point we had a collision with another boat and out bow drove atop theirs...This evening took us to the BBC studios to watch the filming of a pilot radio program called 49 Cedar St. It was quite entertaining and comical (especially when the whole audience chanted "Ampersand, Ampersand, Lovely Lovely, Amepersand" like Druids.

Sun at Last

The last few days the weather was glorious. We went to the Seftels and pretty much just relaxed...taking lots of walks, visiting an Old Mill, having tea in Jane Austen's old town, listening to a big band concert and watching Shakespeare's Measure by Measure (so not funny...) at Winchester College.

Today took us to the British Library for a talk by Anders and to look at all the historical documents housed there. Afterwards I met up with Maria and her friends to go watch the Oxford Cambridge boat race. Unfortunately it was quite overcast and the river bank VERY crowded. Oxford proved victorious, a happy ending considering I was with all Oxford students.

FERRAGGGGGAAAAMMMOOOOO

So Emily came to visit. We had a mucho fun time...boating in the Serpentine, having lunch and cupcakes with Hillary Udow, seeing the world's worst play ever Shoes, playing Library, going to Borough Market and visiting the Moe's house in the country.

On Monday we took a day trip to Lyme Park otherwise known as Pemberly aka Mr. Darcy's house. Nice pastoral walks and multiple pictures next to the lake (where the famous diving scene occurred....)

Tuesday consisted of Tricia's class, lunch, Borris Bikes and Betty Blue Eyes the musical.

Today Was A Fairytale

Today was an AH-mazing day. Had a hilarious and supremely awkward photoshoot with Maria (put your face together and touch palms....) and then went to a private Taylor Swift concert at Abbey Road Studios with Lena. The concert was for only 200 people and we got right in the front row center. The acoustics were really fab, she sang really well and it was very civilized (no shoving or jostling for space). Literally stood 2 feet from her for the 12 song set. Truly magical and fun! Afterwards I tried to get some headbands that I made to her...Gave one to her drummer and he said he would pass it along, so fingers crossed (its a purple Impressionista! so if you see her in it....)

Happenings.

Monday: Imperial War museum and riding the Borris Bikes through Hyde Park
Tuesday: Tricia's class, British Library, Janet and Roddy's for dessert.
Wednesday: Went to Dulwich for lunch and then went to a talk by the past editor-in-chief of Time Out.
Today: Duchess of Windsor and Kate Middleton see-through dress auction. Bid on some fab lace jackets owned by Wallis Simpson but was majorly outbid...

A jaunt to Devon

Got back from a weekend in Devon. Went to the Teignmouth Science Festival which kicked off with the recording of "Any Questions?" a BBC radio show. The following day we drove across the moor to visit the Honey grandparents. This was no small feat as the car was a stick shift and the roads were very very very narrow. It was actually rather frightening as we stalled out numerous times on hills and just barely scraped through the country lanes...but we made it! On the way we saw some wild ponies. My favorite was a brown and white one that had an unfortunate wound on its back and bites out of his ears. He was really friendly and I dubbed him "Rusty"....wish he was mine. So cute, short and shaggy. When we finally found are way to the Honey's house (an adapted historic church) we had a DELICIOUS roast chicken meal with all the trimmings. Yum Yum Yum. In the field next to their house were a bunch of darling lambs.

After lunch we visited an Elizabethan estate, a very grand place.

Then it was on our way to return for David Haines singing production. The choir was made up of members of the community and school children-a very sweet group!

The following day we went to Agatha Christie's house which was in a lovely location overlooking the vividly blue Dart river. The day was gloriously bright with flowers blooming and a warm sun!

Today Mommy and I went out to lunch, did some errands, visited the Imperial War museum, went to Whole Foods, took a walk and rented Borris bikes for a pedal through Hyde Park!

Cool Double Banana!

Free Time is Fun Time

Yesterday I went to my first culture class at the UWC. Sofie met us for lunch afterwards and then she and I walked by the Serpentine and had a cup of tea at the Lanesborough. Then in the evening madre y you went back to the UWC for a "Library talk" given by a vivacious old woman (who was straight out of a Miss Marple movie).

On Monday I went to the History of London class at the Carlton Club, a musical concert, the Royal Wedding walking tour and a potluck at church.

Sunday visited the Tower Bridge exhibition, the design museum, St. Catherine's docks and some other places.

Inside Job

Saw the movie Inside Job with the Horgans. Made me mad and really question what our country is doing. I am truly aghast and want to instigate change

The Queen's Favorite?

Yesterday I swung by Browns to say goodbye to Romilly on her last day. I gave her a tweed headband and I hope she likes it/wears it. Next I met up with Sofie, Lena and my Mom at the Savoy for a cup of tea. We sat in the palm court and chit chatted while sipping our beverages and listening to the piano music. Our waiter, Matthew, was quite the character expounding on numerous subjects for quite a long duration! I choose the 'Queen's Favorite' tea...it was good.

After tea Sofie, mommy and I toured the Jewel Tour museum by Westminster Abbey, walked across the Tower Bridge, visited Zandra Rhodes' London studio and sampled our way through Burrow Market. Zandra was not in her studio but all the other employees were really nice and quirky. Multiple sported technicolor hairstyles!

That evening my mom and I met up with Janet and Roddy in Trafalgar Square for World Book Night. Despite being freezing the event was extremely enjoyable. The program consisted of a range of famous authors reading excerpts from novels, my favorite was hearing Phillip Pullman read from The Golden Compass. We finished the evening testing our own literary abilities playing the game LIEbrary. I won! ;)


Today we went to Richmond to have lunch with some acquaintances. Post-meal we toured Kew Gardens and saw lots of tropical flowers!

I am really bad at this...

So, I am keeping this blog as a way to remember everything I have done over my gap year but it's kind of failing as I always forget to actually record my happenings....

I have been ridiculously busy and will try to piece together everything at a later time...but major things that spring to mind.

I finished my classes at Blake and received a 'distinction' in photography (hahah so exciting, I know!).

We went to Belgium on the train. We packed super light so we could go touristing without stopping to drop off our stuff at the hotel. On Friday we toured Bruges and ate lots of delicious food including CHEESE! and a banana milk shake. The town was really cute with picturesque canals and a big guild tower.

My Mom and I returned to Brussels where we met up with the lovely Rosie Bichell. That night we walked around the Grand Place, saw Manneken Pis (so not exciting..), and ate.

The next morning we ate a delish breakfast (blood orange juice!) and attempted to sneak away with lots of little personal jams. We had a whirlwind tour of sightseeing stopping at a garden called the Petite Sablon (I think...), visiting a church, drinking hot chocolate, going to the musical instrument museum (you see an instrument and hear its sound), walking about, eating lunch and going to the big Atom building/monument.

We unfortunately had to say goodbye to Rosie which was terribly sad. That evening mis padres y yo went on a walk and then mommy and I had more hot chocolate on the Grand Place.

The next day we did more strolling, visited the Museum of Brussels where we saw all of Manneken Pis's outfits....., and had lunch at Pain (I love Pain)...


Got back to London and visited with the Hinkleys. We did lots and lots of stuff with them....walking around, museuming (Portrait Gallery, Museum of London, Wallace Collection, etc...), sat in on some cases at the Old Bailey, went to Eve and Song at Westminster Abbey, saw the play a Flea in her Ear, had dinner with the Honey's, played Library...

( I am using a lot of ....s)

Then it was my last week at Browns which was very sad. On my very last day I assisted with a photo shoot which was very fun. The theme was kind of a coquettish Parisian chic. We had a model, hair stylist, make-up, and an entire mansion in Belgravia to shoot in. Plus the clothes were AH-mazing! We shot six looks over basically the entire day. When we finally got back to Browns I saw some of Simone's shoot and then we had to hurriedly return all the stock. Jof made me a card with my face photoshopped as Hermione.

Since then I can't even remember all I've done....

Yesterday I visited with Lena at Blake, went to the British museum, walked around Hampstead and the Heath and then we had dinner with Giles (the barrister) at a Tapas bar.

Today we went to Richmond and out to lunch with Tricia and Katherine at a French restaurant. We walked a little in the park but the majority of the day (4.5 hours!) was spent chit chatting at the restaurant.

Spoiler Alert!!!!

Love Never Dies...


But Christine did...



Saw the play Love Never dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera tonight. It was really strange but the people had good voices. We were in the front row in the center so I got a big kick out of watching the conductor.

A Blitz of activities

Saw the black swan then attempted to go to a Blitz party but failed and then went out and just had fun with Lena and Sofie.

Then went to Chinese New Year with Daddy, Sofie and Lena. Waited forever through some mighty boring speeches and a dragon dance and a lion dance. Then tried to maneuver our way through Chinatown (no easy feat). We gave up on trying to eat Chinese food as all of London also wanted too. We found an Asian fusion restaurant with really intense decorations/ambience. The menu was all done on the sort of touch screenish table top. After lunch we went onto dinner at the Honeys!

Then tonight after Blake classes I went to Blake pizza night! I sat with Lena, Sofie Elonna, Kasha and a russian girl.

Charles I Commemoration

Construction...

There is construction being done right below our apartment, jack-hammering construction.....ekkkk I have a headache.

On a brighter not today I went to the British museum and a vintage fair in a bowling ally with Sophia Johnston. it was really fun and I got some gloves, a scarf and my lovely best find ever I am so excited "Sheperd's" notebooks!

Then my dad and I went to a kinetic art fair where we look at lots of cool moving art.

Next Sofie and Lena are coming over to eat and then go see the Black Swan. I really hope I don't get to scared.

GORGEOUS Christmas Decorations at Fortnum and Mason

Honoring our Heroes

So British

It was really cold...

I love Pavlova, and the Honeys

Ducks are pretty

Tea time at Perry Cabin

HERE BEGINS A PHOTO BLITZ

Alanna and I trick-or-treated together

I miss mi madre!

26th: Dinner with the MacAllister family (BEST NAME!)

27th: Went to a talk of a Countess who is the face of the clothing line Carlisle.

28th: My birthday! Went to work and everyone was really nice and sang to me. Lewis gave me a chocolate bar, Simone gave me some delicious cookies and my lovely intern friends gave me a pretty headband! Then we had a birthday celebratory dinner with the Honeys, Roddy, Lena and Sofie. We ate a delicious vegetarian dinner of salads, roast vegetables and Whole Foods bread. Then a delicious apple crumble for dessert. After eating we played charades!

29th: Went out to lunch and then saw Apasionata. A man rode standing up with one leg on two horses while leading two others and then jumped over a flaming jump! Also there was a TINY horse and a HUGE Clydesdale. Also these horses rode around with sparklers on their legs.

30th: Went to a commemoration of Charles I execution with the Honeys and then out to lunch with the Honeys.

31st: Lunch with Sofie and Lena at a weird Turkish restaurant where they took forever but gave us lots of free food!

Happenings

Tuesday the 18th: Leighton House museum tour

Wednesday the 19th: Royal Institution Music and the Brain lecture

Thursday the 20th: "The Making of The King's Speech" with the director and Colin Firth then to Green Notes to hear Jaime's music

Friday the 21st: Lunch with Trish Moe and then dinner at the Honeys

Saturday the 22nd: Tower of London with Lena, REALLY late lunch at Pain, Mike Fortier for dinner

Sunday the 23rd: 2nd concert by Jaime and a walk. Meet the new baby Isla

Tuesday the 24th: Dinner with Will McNamara

I love my sister

Wednesday: Went to lunch at Pain with Mommy and spent the day at Blake. In the evening sat through one half of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Thursday: Ate lunch at Cocorino with the fam. Quickly went to a Christies gathering after Browns and then went to see the movie "The King's Speech".

Friday: A swan bit me and I had to say goodbye to Quincy! So triste. After Browns the Seftels came over for more Mexican, the tacos this time were beyond delicious.

Saturday: Made our way to Portobello Road and Notting Hill to have some lunch and a delicious Hummingbird Red Velvet cupcake! Then strolled to Kensington Palace to see the Princess Exhibit. Ate a delicious dinner and then made our way to a Murder themed London walk.

Sunday: Watched Downton Abbey. Love it! Went on a walk with mi padre. Then the family went on the Westminster in War London walk then made Alo Gobi from scratch (so delicious and so proud of us!)

Busy Busy

Friday: Taco Night with Hobdens, Gareth and Sophia Johnston
Saturday: "Meet the Meerkat experience", hung out at Paradise Park and dinner at the Cook's house
Sunday: Cotswalds (Lacock...and some other towns), dinner at the Bell, Downton Abbey at home. First zip car outing, car ran out of battery, zip car called to tell us while we were eating dinner, they called AAA and comped the car!
Monday: War Horse the play
Tuesday: More tacos! Then pub quiz with Tom Hobden + flatmates and Quincy

Dark Dinner

Walked around Notting Hill and of course had to buy a Hummingbird slice of cake!, went to Topshop, visited Eaton Square in search of 165 from Upstairs Downstairs. Then for the finale of the night our "Dark DInner". Went to a restaurant where you are served in complete pitch black darkness. Our waiter kept creepily hovering behind me without me knowing until he would suddenly speak!

Brighton and Cooking Class

Visited Brighton where we ate lunch, walked through the shopping lanes and strolled out on the pier where we played this silly 2p coin arcade game. In the evening we had tea at the Grand and saw Cinderella the Musical.

This morning it was out early for our Indian cookery class (a Christmas present!). We learned all about Indian spices and how to make a chicken curry, alo gobi, lentil soup and special rice. Then it was a visit to a scale-model of the city of London.

New Years

Saw Chronicles of Narnia in 3-D! Then saw a massive fireworks of display by Big Ben and the London Eye.

Yesterday almost froze to death at the New Years Parade and on a walk of the new Olympic Park. Finally ate Indian food an watched tons and tons of episodes of Glee.

Today was Taco day Numero Uno with the Honeys and John's aunt.

Christmas Time!

Quick catch up:

Celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve then made our way down to Winchester and the Seftel's house. Ate lots and lots of delicious food, went to a service at the Cathedral, went to a Jane Austen exhibition, went on a nice walk up this big hill and played on a fun tree swing, played lots of games, watched Enchanted and Titanic 2 (worst movie ever!) and ate more!

Once back in London we went to the Geoffrey Museum (all different time period living rooms) and the Honey's house for dinner (we had pavlova!!!) We watched Upstairs Downstairs. Its really really good!

The following day we went ice skating at the Tower with Emilia, Mrs. Honey and Elisa Naini. Afterwards we went to lunch at our local pizza place and then to the National Gallery for a short art talk. Finally in the evening we went to see the Oscar Wilde play An Ideal Husband. The funniest parts were when one actor got droll stuck in his beard and when in the final romantic/dramatic scene someone backstage did bunny ears behind a frosted glass window. We saw it and started giggling. We were in the front row and when the cast came out to bow the main actress gave us a chastising mean look.

Christmas Celebrations

Enjoying Christmas celebrations and decorations. Went shopping with Mommy and then to the Horgan's Christmas party.

Science and Singing (and SNOW!!!!)

So today it snowed SO much. There is a white blanket all over the city and Green Park and Hyde Park look lovely and Narnia-like. This morning we went on a tour of the Royal Institution for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Christmas Lectures. We then walked to Knightsbridge, popped into Harrods, had some lunch and proceeded to the Royal Albert Hall for a Christmas Carol sing-along. It was very festive and cheery. Some of the highlights included multiple "Mexican waves", very enthusiastic audience members and the large number of paper airplanes soaring across the theater.

I love food

Went out to love with Anita today at a really cute cafe on Marleybone High St area called Cocorino (or something like that....) I had delicious salad caprese and pumpkin soup.

After work the Horgan parents came over for dinner.

Back to December

Christmas is so close! Today it snowed and it was so lovely and scenic. Huge flurries of large flakes, real snowflakes! Today my family was given a "behind-the-scenes-tour" of Houses of Parliament by the Seftel's nephew. We sat and watch both the House of Commons and the House of Lords breifly...we even saw some snoozing MPs and Lords!

Candlelight Carols

Raced away from work today to get on the Tube headed for Westminster, where I was supposed to me mommy and the Honeys--lo and behold they were in the carriage of the train I so happened to get on! It was such an amazing coincidence!!! Of all trains and all carriages we met in the same one with no prior plan. We then proceeded to Westminster Abbey where we attended a carol service...very magical and very English.

Oh! also had a lovely lunch at the "Natural Kitchen" in Marleybone with Anita.

Tired...

So yesterday I was sleepy and tired at 4:30--it gets dark so early that I always think it is way later than it is! We went to Whole Foods and got our Christmas tree. We then went to the Chocolate Festival and ate a lot of free samples. Next, we headed over to Sommerset House to see the Dior Illustrated exhibition and watch people ice skate. Following this we went to London's oldest cheese shop and bought some cheese. Then onto Covent Garden stopping on the way at a really merry store called Aubin Wills and window shopping. Once at the market we browsed, listened to a string sextet, and took in the decorations. Along the way we saw tons and tons of Santa Clauses around the city. Our final stop of the day was for some caroling around the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree. Once back at the apartment we struggled with making our tree stand up, watched Poroit and Transformers.

"Hail, Chime on, Merry Merry Christmas Bells ''

Went to a caroling show in Camden Town after work...it was quite entertaining

Happy Christmas and Happy Birthday!

So yesterday was the Brown's Christmas party at Number 5 Cavendish Square. The building had beautiful lights and decorations including a giant red bow tied around the 2nd-3rd floors. The party was very nice and festive. It had a long cocktail mingle period and then a seated dinner where they served a Christmas turkey dinner. Prior to eating there was a secret santa and Christmas crackers with poppers and ballon rockets in them....it was actually quite wild with people hitting each other with ballon swords and shooting off their rockets...

Tonight I went to Anita's 25th birthday party. She is an intern in Bridal and really really nice. The party was at an amazing venue called Teas Me in Landbroke Grove. It was extremely intimate, just a single room with a square table which 8 of us sat around. The decor was really nice with brocade wall paper, lots of candles, flowers, etc. The food was also really tasty, extremely natural and wholesome tasting. My favorite dish was a plate full of DELICIOUS sweet potatoes/yams. All of the people we also really nice. Rushina, Stacey and Lydia from studio were there. Rushina's friend Zoya, Anita and her flat mate and another friend of Anita's. All the girls were extremely nice and all in all it was a very lovely evening. At the end Anita gave a little speech in which she thanked each of us for coming in an extremely personal and touching way. She is really nice and I had a lovely evening.

Tata for Now!

Lots and Lots of Sludge

Went on a London walk to the town of Rochester for "Dickensian Christmas"--essentially a Christmas festival celebrating Charles Dickens (he lived there). It was quite snowy and the snow turned into giant pools of slushie sludge--very cold, very messy. The majority of the celebration was centered around the high street of the town and branched out to the Cathedral and local castle. There were lots of Dickens characters waking around and locations from his books were in the town. We ate lunch at a really cute restaurant and later had a warm and cozy cream tea in a tiny tea room on the "first" or as we know it the second floor of an old building. The highlight was the nighttime town caroling in which they projected Christmas carol lyrics onto the castle and everyone sang along to a choir and band while fake snow was blown onto us. This was also enhanced by the fact that all around us were Dickens characters in period dress/costumes carrying lanterns and candles.

Tata for Now!

Better Late than Never

This was my first ever attempt at pumpkin carving! I don't know how I had never done it before....it was much more difficult than I expected. We had no special tools so I just used a kitchen knife. It looked pretty wonky in the day-light but all lit up on Halloween I thought it looked pretty cool!

Tata for Now!

Also!

Today we got a microwave in the office and everyone was so excited they went out and bought meals at the supermarket so they could microwave them. So..yeah!

Tata for Now!

So....

I haven't really been an active "blogger" recently as we have had no wifi and thus I depended on Apple store visits and dongle usage. However, we now have internet. Three cheers--Hip, Hip, Hooray! I finally feel settled with my schedule..classes and work. I can't remember if I said what my classes are so I shall now: Digital Photography, Digital Imaging, Painting and Drawing, Fashion Drawing and then after Christmas...Illustration and Graphic Communication.

Recently at work I have started writing a lot of copy for the website. Here is an example of a bag I wrote about:

I'm not an ambi-turner

Zoolander is on! YAY! also I just ate delicious Thanksgiving dinner leftovers AGAIN--YUM.

Went to an ASL alumni event at the Lord's Cricket Ground.

IT'S SNOWING!

Time Flies

Had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner on Friday with the family, Emilia and Mrs. Honey, Annie & Tom Hobden and his flat mates, Kaspar, and Mr. Fortier. I have had left overs everyday since then...and it has also been very delicious. Oh on Thursday we went to see the Michael Jackson "play" Thriller--it was quite comical.

Saturday brought us to Canary Warf. It was freezing

Sunday I slept a lot of the day because it was freezing. Padre y yo did go to check out Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park...essentially the Del Mar Fair Christmas style. We saw some pretty swans and I stepped in one of their poops. Grosss. In the evening mom and I went to a special Christmas-singy church service. It was quite nice. BUT FREEZING...in fact it snowed a little.

I have my eye on this beautiful cashmere blanket that I thought I could get 80% off of. Its really expensive and thus I would only buy it if I did get the discount. I keep being given false hope and then it is ripped away from me again...quite sad really...oh well.

On another triste note...my favorite socks EVER!--hand knitted for me by my grandmother were shrunk in the wash today. I am so sad! Also my white tshirt and my stripped Splendid shirt were also dyed blue in another load. Not my day for laundry...

Mas

Saw Classical Spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall with the Nicols--really famous musical numbers accompanied by lasers, fireworks and cannon fire!

Also saw Harry Potter 7 with the Nicols--not one of my favorite movies thus far.

Saturday we tromped around town notably Chelsea and Kensington. Went to some outdoor markets, saw a photographic exhibition of Mary McCartney (daughter of Paul & sister of Stella) and a really really cool photographer called Tim Walker. I am now kind of obsessed with his work--check out his website. In the evening we went to an Agatha Christie event at the BFI. We walked through a train car from the Orient Express and then watched one of the silliest/stupidest movies of all time!

Last but not least on Sunday we had lunch with the Honeys and a bird pooped on my head.


Oh!--the highlight of work thus far for me was assisting with a photo shoot.

Highlights

Thus far some of my favourite parts of London have been....seeing the Honeys, having lunch with the Hobdens and eating at Wagamamas.

Finally some free time!

Today was my first day not having to go to Blake. It's Remembrance Day (Veterans Day) so we went to Trafalgar Square for a show and a two minute silence. Afterwards we went to the apple store (wifi) and other random stuff. But most notably mommy and I went to Leicester Square to watch the spectacle that was the Harry Potter World Premiere!!!

Urggg

We don't really have any internet access at our apartment to keeping up-to-date will be rather difficult. I will have to check my email from Blake, which will only be twice a week....staying current with TV...not going to happen.

"Cut Up"

In class today we were given two pages of text one from a book of short stories and one from a screen play and we had to select random fragments of sentences and mash them together to make a "Cut Up" piece of poetry. Next I have to display it in some graphic way but this is what I have thus far....

London Calling

Yesterday madre y yo arrived on a red-eye to Heathrow airport (but I slept most of the flight quite well!) and took a taxi to the Honey's flat in St. John's Wood. There flat faces onto the street and when we pulled up I could see Emilia's face presses against the window six floors up. Spotting us she waved and was soon joined by the rest of their family and mi padre. We had the most delicious dinner including a home made Pavlova (literally heaven!!).

The following morning we got up bright and early to take me to my first day of classes at Blake. This first week is a sort of shopping period where I can attend all the classes and pick out which four I want to take for the term. Today I tried Graphic Communication and Illustration. Our project in Illustration was to create a poster for an upcoming concert for obscure bands, my assigned band was the Dead Sea Squirrels. After class mommy met we and we walked to our new apartment together--on the way we ran into some big event going on called Pride of Britain. There was a red carpet, tons of paparazzi and loads of screaming girls.

Next was my first time to see our flat! Its in a really nice building and is really nice itself, very pretty. Two things though.....One: We have no kitchen utensils at all, no bowls, spoons, plates, pots, etc. thus we have been collecting whatever stuff we can find. We currently have three plastic Starbuck's cups with our names written in Sharpie on them and a whole load of plastic spoons we got for free from the MS Market. Two: Our apartment has no light switches....its kind of modern and hightech and it has these touch sensitive like little round things that are very difficult to get used to.....

My room is pretty small. I have a very skinny single bed and no closet! My parents kindly gave me half theirs.

I LOVE CAROLINE!!

Went to La Jolla, ate a burrito on Wheeler Bailey and watched the sunset over ocean with the lovely Caroline Healey.

Lovely Leaves

Halloween

I was a skeleton and trick or treated with Alanna Woods on Balboa Island. Prior to the festivities we visited both Kim Hebert and Lisa Maxwell who are recuperating from breast cancer.

Home Sweet Home

So, after the festival we had a sponsor party...one of the highlights was when everyone sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" to my Dad. On Tuesday we headed to the airport and after a ridiculously long time in transit (14 hours no joke) we are home! Now I am just relaxing and preparing to leave for London on the 6th.

The Festival = A Success

My title basically sums it up. The Science Festival went off with a smashing horrah horrah perfecto success! The weather was perfect, the exhibits cool, the turnout AMAZING, and all in all a blast! Attendance estimates are not yet in but were guessing somewhere around 600,000!

Opps I should have posted this earlier!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDxTw1sUKvk&feature=youtu.be

President Obama on the festival!

Indecisiveness

Slept at the Sam's house, woke up really late, went to the Phillips museum, found our delicious Trickling Springs ice cream, went on walk, visited Supreme Court building, oh btw Quincy and John are here!, checked out our hotel-ish, went to the Academy of Science's Communication Awards, left the building only to find our car was gone!!!!....it had been towed--i cried. Returned to hotel, tried to decide what to do next...to go Contra Dancing or not to go? Decided to go, got in the car and then didn't.

Vacay Day 2

Woke up, lounged around forever looking at flats to rent in London, then headed to breakfast. In the dining room, despite my hunger, decided to have just an english muffin after seeing the $8 cereal and $8.50 yogurt.....After our nourishment we went on a bike ride all around St. Michaels. We ended up in town were we bought ourselves some yogurt at the local grocery store for the much more reasonable price of $2.50 for four containers. Once back at the hotel we ate our yogurt in adirondack chairs by the bay! Then onto painting on the patio. While we painted a wedding started on the grass of a couple who eloped and we lucked into getting to listen to their violinist play as we painted!

Hey Hey, Good Day!

I got my Visa!, well it was issued to me...I don't yet have it in my possession as they are sending it to our house in San Diego not Washington DC but still! The hard part is done.

Meanwhile, Madre y Yo are on a mini vacation in St. Michaels, Maryland, a quaint waterside town. Yesterday we walked around the town looking in shop windows. We passed a church rummage sale and I bought a pair of Ferragamo shoes for 1 dollar! Instead of eating a traditional dinner I had high tea in a really sweetly decorated room in our hotel. The scones were absolutely scrumptious and the lemon curd some of the best I have ever had!

I can't upload any photos because I don't have my camera cable but this is our lovely hotel The Inn at Perry Cabin.

...

Went to the Museum of American History as a guest of Hilary's aunt to see a new collection on Celluloid Plastics. The curator talked to us about the exhibition as did the owner of the plastic items. The coolest part was when we got to go into one of the store rooms in the museum and see all the random items they have in their off-show collections in storage. After the program a group of ladies and mommy and I went out to lunch at the Willard Hotel.

Following lunch Madre y yo went to the British Embassy to beg assistance in my deathly visa troubles but they would not let us through the gate, would only talk to us through a little intercom box and we of absolutely no assistance.

And that was my day..

Tragical

So the process of getting my visa for England has been one of the most painful processes of my entire life!....last Thursday we finally finished the application and sent it to the consulate. We paid the $150 expedite fee for a two day turn around which should have brought the visa to our doorstep today. Hmmmm no visa and no confirmation that it was ever even initially processed.

Here begins the saga of the stinking visa Part II: The code marking it as a priority application was on the outside of the manilla envelope we took to UPS. Here is the important deathly part. UPS put our envelope into a UPS envelope for mailing thus covering the code and thus resulting in the placement of my application in the pile with all standard processes visa applications...which take 2 months to return. So what's the big deal, why not just call the consulate?...because apparently the consulate has no telephone, somehow I do not believe this...and thus are entirely unreachable.

Why not reapply you might ask? I can not reapply because they have my passport. Thus making it impossible for me to even leave the country as a tourist. Death

You know, just sitting here in the White House

Modesty

My sister just reminded me something that I am quite pleased with. My family attended a Federation of American Scientist dinner in which two people were being honored. There was a video that one of the winners wished to show but the staff couldn't get it to play...They scrambled about forever while the woman continued to talk on and on and on, waiting for the video to play...it was SO painful, like literally she talked for like 45 minutes. The event was attended by all high profile scientists (including Obama's science advisor) and through out the woman's speech various scientists would saunter smugly up to the television to join the struggle of playing the DVD. Soon enough though their confidence turned to failure and a new tide would come up for an attempt to prove themselves. Needless to say they all failed and eventually gave up. When the girl originally in charge of playing the video returned to her seat (next to me) I asked her "is this a dvd your playing...?" (I recognized the format of the main menu page--and just wanted to confirm). When she responded in the affirmative I said, "You need to press play."

All these scientists who had rewired the television/audio system because "there was no sound!!" had no sound because they never pressed play! DUH. We she scurried up to the laptop plugged into the television, pressed play and volia it worked!

My Dad even jestingly shouted "all these famous scientist and it took my teenage daughter to fix it!"

The Mall

What's up in the White House?

Today I went to the White House Science Fair as a representative of the USA Science Festival. My moments of glory were when I located the press holding area and gave an impromptu speech on the festival encouraging the press to spread the word and then secondly when I shook president Obama's hand, gave him a brochure about the festival and said "Hello Mr. President. I hope you and your family will come to the USA Science and Engineering Festival in your very own backyard, the National Mall, this coming weekend."

I also got to wander the White House and I set up my camera on continuous self-timer mode and had a mini photo shoot!

I also chatted with the Myth Busters and Bill Nye!

Afterwards I met my Mom at the National Archives and we then proceeded to the Holocaust Museum.

Behind, again...

Thursday: Worked at CSI

Friday: Visited Gettysburg and went on a horseback riding trail ride through the battlefield.

Saturday: White House Garden Tour, Washington Monument, Building Museum, met up with the Nobles at Teaism, FDR memorial, then home.

Sunday: Eastern Market, USASEF Volunteer Training, lunch at Founding Farmers, went to St. Albans Church, dessert with the Rambeau family (Lockheed Martin connection).

Let's See..

Monday: I worked at CSI and then went downtown with Ruth and Mommy to walk the monuments at night.


Tuesday: Helped at a Nifty Fifty. One of Quincy's professors, an evolutionary biologist, named Andrew Berry did a presentation at a high school in Baltimore. His talk was absolutely fascinating but I was appalled by the behavior of the students. At Bishop's there is a baseline level of respect I just presumed was standard--not at all at this school! I literally was embarrassed to call these kids my fellow Americans (the speaker was British--I can't imagine what he know thinks of our schools and greater culture!) I am being very harsh--the majority of the kids were well behaved but a few poorly behaved ones can completely alter the tone. One example I feel sums up the mediocrity--a girl smack in front of Mr. Berry (second row) sprawled herself out for a nap and proceeded to sleep. About 15 minutes into the presentation Mr. Berry light heartedly woke her up. She opened her eyes, looked at him, and promptly closed her eyes to sleep again (all while he was watching)! Later when she finally roused herself she took out her cell phone and began to blatantly text during the talk. UHHGGGGG! This is a Harvard professor who flew at his own expense to Baltimore, solely to give this presentation and she can't even muster the respect to at least maintain a vertical position. I really wanted to go up to her after the presentation and give her a piece of my mind but I whimped out. Anyway after the Nifty Fifty we had a late lunch with Faraz and then went home to relax.


Wednesday: Had my biometric appointment for the never-ending visa process. We finally sent off the application to the consulate and as we left UPS we were walking by this store front that had a promotional sign for $48 dollars massages and as we read it this asian woman came out of the shop and handed us a brochure and offered us a 5 minute sample massage--we liked it so much we stayed for a real one! It was a very appropriate end to a very stressful processes! After that we made our way to the National Geographic Museum where we met up with Ms. Trainor, Ms. Svendson, Erik and Monique. We saw a Gecko exhibit and a photographic exhibit named "Simply Beautiful". Next we drove to the Jefferson Memorial and then walked to the Holocaust museum. Thus far we have only finished the very first room of the exhibit and we have gone twice! Following the museum we headed to Dupont Circle to meet up with Jenny Dean, we sat and chit chatted briefly at a Starbucks. Afterward madre y yo went to a restaurant called Teaism for a light dinner. The day was rounded off with watching Glee.

Pretty Field in Virginia

Fall Foliage

View from our hike!

Where's the Trail?

So my Mom and I went on a field trip to Virginia to visit a lot of country towns. We went on a hike on the Appalachian trail except we kind of missed the trail and just went down this forest bank--when we caught on that this was probably not the right way to go we turned back--this was the "trail" we had accidentally taken. We did eventually find the correct path!

Patterns in the Sky

Crazy Cat--look at that jump!

A Jaunt Home = Art Time

Blog Blitz

I have not kept up-to-date at all! I have been so busy and allowed time to elapse so I shall have to represent the past 10 days in pictures!

Happy Birthday Baba!

We celebrated my grandma's 82nd birthday yesterday. We went out to lunch in downtown LA at Bottega Louie-a trendy all white Italian restaurant-and ate delicious caprese and pizza margarita. Back at the house we brought old stuff out of the attic and got thoroughly dusty going through old clothes and papers. I found some cute old blouses and we read some funny essays my grandmother had written in high school. It was an amazing snapshot into the social changes that have transpired from her childhood to mine...

In celebration of the big day we went to Marie Calendars and then to the Downey theatre to see No No Nanette. I liked the production...well what I saw of it. Being on East Coast time and having had a wearing two days I fell asleep about half way through the first act and continued my doze through the second. I can say though that the singing was really top notch and I saw one very impressive tap dance number!

In Transit

Had my photo class today--not really feeling like I am learning a lot so I am dropping the class. Afterwards bought a tasty lemon bar, went back to the house, finished packing and proceeded to Dulles to fly back to California.

The highlights of the plane ride were:

1. Spilling a glass of water on my lap.
2. Waking up to the screams of an obnoxious child which then prompted another child to start screaming (this continued off and on for the duration of the 6 hour flight)
3. Spilling a soda down the length of my pants...

I am now thankfully bathed and pajamaed at my grandparents' house in LA.

2nd Day

Went to work again...my Mom picked me up and we drove to Alexandria for our dancing class. We arrived with 2 hours to spare so we window shopped in town and then ate at Gadsby's for dinner with Shawn Walters. We sampled the peanut soup (ummm gross...who wants to eat liquified peanut butter by itself?) and split the chicken dinner.

The dance class was bigger this time with 20 people--about half were the same people from last week and then lots of new people (new to me, old to dancing). The dances we did were a lot more complicated and difficult to remember. The other attendees are quite colorful personalities.

1st Day of Internship

Yesterday was the first day of my internship at the event planning/management company Capitol Services Inc. Nothing really exciting to report other than it rained a lot and I love rain!

For dinner my mom and I made a delicious dinner. Matzo ball soup with whole wheat noodles, carrots, celery, and chicken broth, a huge salad, fresh baked bread with butter, cheese and apples and asparagus! Yum Yum!

Shift

Today was a change in that it was rainy and cold for part of the day, in contrast to the sweltering heat that has persisted since we arrived. Basic synopsis of the day...

1. Toured the Renwick Museum (the highlight was the "Ghost Clock")

2. Walked around Washington Monument but sadly did not have a ticket to go up it.

3. Ate lunch at the Native American Museum where they serve "authentic" American Indian food

4. Scratched the surface of the Holocaust Museum (ran out of time--we must go back)

5. Went to 5pm service at Christ Church in Alexandria (this was George Washington's and Robert E Lee's church). We sat in George's pew (most other American presidents as well as Winston Churchill have also sat in this pew on visits) The pew itself is unique in that the Washington's bought it to be exclusively for their family when they attended church and it has a small latch door to step into it and it is a square so people can sit facing either the alter OR the back of the church!

6. Caught up with Carly Silverwood at Georgetown and had Thai food at Bangkok Joe's.

TaTa for Now!

Saturday

Got out of the house early to go to the National Book Festival on the Mall (same location the Science Festival will be). Spent multiple hours there listening to various authors speak.

My favorite talks were:
-Laura Bush (she read an excerpt from her memoir about her experience on 9/11 and it was very moving)
-Suzanne Collins (author of the Hunger Games Trilogy--notable fact: she is also a Make It or Break It fan!)
-Julia Glass (had never heard of her but she was amazingly articulate/a great speaker)
-Elizabeth Kostova (I have one of her books at home and now very much look forward to reading it, as well as, her other book The Historian)

We met up with Trevor Cleary, a family friend, and he showed us around Annapolis (where he is attending the Naval Academy) and we went out to dinner.

TaTa for Now!