Well, I finally have a few minutes (sort of) to sit down and catch up on the blog. I don't really, as I am writing in similar circumstances as my last entry - I have to get up in about 6 hours to head to Ireland. It's been an eventful 9 days, so I'll jump right in.
Our travels to Copenhagen two Saturdays ago were relatively easy and uneventful. We were first on board on EasyJet (a Southwest-type airline with no assigned seats, but instead of seating positions like B15 as on Southwest, EasyJet just has everyone board in one big, chaotic group). So we strategically positioned ourselves at the gate, and got on first. We managed to be first on the return trip as well, and on both flights we used some of our psychological expertise to ensure a row of three seats to ourselves (I would tell you how, but I can't risk our methods getting out). We arrived to rainy Copenhagen around noon, and were happily surprised when we were allowed to check into our hotel early. It was a cheap hotel, with tiny rooms reminiscent of cruise ship cabins. The rooms were small, but clean, and exactly what we needed. Plus, the hotel was perfectly located near many of the main attractions. Exhausted from our early start, we ate lunches we had packed from London and then both took a nap. We headed out in late afternoon for our first sightseeing of the trip. We walked by Trivoli Gardens (VERY close to our hotel), and peered in through the gates - it's closed for a few more weeks until the weather warms up (we were visiting at the end of the off-season, but that was fine with us since everything was less crowded, and in some instances, less expensive). After that, we continued onto to the main town square, which was nice, but paled in comparison to the Old Town Square in Prague. We walked through the Square and checked out the Stroget, which is the longest pedestrian street in the world. It was very cool, with tons of restaurants and shops. We strolled through for over an hour, scouting out potential restaurants for lunch and dinner on the trip. Around dinner time we returned to the hotel to relax for a bit more.
We were still a bit tired around dinner time, so we didn't feel like wandering too far for food - we caved and got Big Macs and fries (first mention of fries... to be continued) from the McDonald's in the nearby train station. Although there was other motivation for the decision - the city is absurdly expensive, and restaurants can be a fortune (we saw burgers at one point at the Hard Rock Cafe for about the equivalent of $35). So McDonald's was a way of saving a bit of cash. After dinner we just played some cards and watched some Danish TV (interesting...) before bed.
On Sunday we walked across town to see the Little Mermaid Statue, which is based on the myth that inspired the movie. It was very pretty, and Jillian reenacted the pose while I snapped a picture. After that, we toured one of the buildings of the Amalienborg Palace, where the Royal Family often has lived. It was simple on the outside, and had some very pretty rooms on the inside. However, the Prince and Princess who are going to move in soon commissioned several murals that were absolutely dreadful and ruined several of the rooms. We walked back towards central city through the Stroget, and got falafel and fries (second mention of fries...) for lunch. We had plans to tour the Carlsburg Brewery (the local beer owned by a famous family in the area), but we couldn't figure out the bus system in time (the brewery closed at 4... commercial hours in general were very strange throughout the city) so we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner instead. We had a late dinner at a Chinese restaurant (Big Macs, falafel, and Chinese for our first three meals in Copenhagen... nice) which was decent - I thought it was alright, but Jillian was a big fan. We hadn't really had Chinese in quite some time, so it was a good change of pace at least.
On Monday, our last day in Copenhagen, we walked through the Stroget to the Round Tower to check out the church (simple but pretty) inside and to go to the top for an aerial view of the city. It was a nice day out, but the city wasn't particularly impressive from up top - much prettier on street level. We had plenty of time to kill before out 9 PM flight, so we decided to walk east across the river to a part of town we hadn't been to yet. There, we went to Christiania, a self-governed area commonly thought to have legalized marijuana (it hasn't). We were told it was sort of Amsterdam-esque, but when we arrived, we found it to just be a run down part of town with lots of graffiti. We spent no more than 10 minutes walking around before heading back. We picked up our Danish meal of the trip on the walk back - savory crepes, with chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and avocados (quite Danish), which were good. We still had about 3 hours before we had to leave for the airport, but we had seen just about everything there was to see, so we sat in the lobby of our hotel and passed the time with cards and watching TV. On our way to the airport, we stopped at a bakery picked up a couple of Danish danishes (a more authentic meal for Copenhagen, I suppose), which were DELICIOUS.
So overall, I really enjoyed Copenhagen. The city at times looked like Amsterdam, with several nice streets with canals and similar looking buildings lining either side. But it was different than any of the other cities we've seen thus far. Unlike Prague, which has certain small areas that are really beautiful, Copenhagen's beauty is more dispersed in individual buildings all across the city. It was incredibly expensive, so once again a big thank you to Mom and Dad for helping us, as we would not have been able to do it on our own. It was a great city and a great trip, and I'm very happy we made it there.
We came back and immediately had to dive into our last week of class. It was relatively uneventful, although surreal to be finishing despite having spent so much less time in class than we're used to. I am very glad to be done with Developmental Psych, though, and I'm glad I took it here rather than at Penn. We'll see if I feel that way after the exam, though. On Thursday we both wrote our final papers for International Security, which were due today. We did them early in anticipation of being busy once Jillian's mom, Sheri, arrived. Good thing, because we were even busier than we thought. We also did a bit of cooking during the week (our last for quite some time with all of our travels coming up), and on Thursday had chicken fingers and fries (third time...)
Sheri arrived in London early Friday morning. She wore a similar tired expression as Mama Sommers when she arrived a few weeks ago (although Sheri napped in Jillian's bed instead of mine). After class, we checked her into her hotel and grabbed some lunch at Pret (we hadn't been back since our very first day, but it was just as good as we remembered). We walked over to the British Library first, which had an impressive collection of historical artifacts: manuscripts from Jane Austen, an original hand-written copy of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, handwritten lyrics from the Beatles scribbled on scraps of paper, and old copies of the Magna Carta. Very cool. After that we walked down to the British Museum, which Jilli and I hadn't been to since our first day of art history. It has an impressive collection, highlighted by the Rosetta Stone. There are also a ton of artifacts from the Parthenon in Athens, but that seemed odd to me (why is it in London?). After the museum, we headed to Russell Square for dinner at a cafe type place called Giraffe. The food was good, and I had a cheeseburger and fries (number four...) When we got back to Schafer, we hung out with George and Rosie for a bit before our long day came to an end.
On Saturday we woke up early for a trip to the Abba Museum, which was a very thorough look at the history of Abba, with all sorts of displays and interactive features. I'm not a huge Abba fan, but they did a good job presenting everything so it was interesting enough. Jillian was singing their stuff for the rest of the day.
Like any other tourists at the Abba Museum, our next stop was the Tower of London. But that transition obviously wouldn't have made sense without lunch at KFC in between. I fittingly had a "Boneless Banquet for One" box, which was boneless strips, popcorn chicken, and you guessed it... fries (make that five). Feeling light and fluffy after a delicate lunch, we toured the Tower. I remembered enjoying it back in '97 with Mom and Dad, and I did again 13 years later. Pretty impressive sense of history, although I must admit I find it hard to top the Colosseum in that regard. We then returned to our respective rooms for some brief downtime before dinner at Prezzo (the first of multiple repeats of dinners out that we had with Mom and Dad), which was good again.
Which brings us to yesterday. We set out for the Imperial War Museum, with plans to see the Tate Modern afterwards. But the Imperial War Museum had so much to see and was so interesting that we ended up spending four hours there and skipping the Tate. We had dinner at an interesting French place called Relaise de Venise - the original is in Paris, but they opened one here too. We heard about it from my friend Ibby who is studying abroad in Paris. They don't take reservations, so they suggest arriving right when they open. We were a bit late, so we waited for a few minutes - but it moved quickly and we were positioned under a heat lamp outside. Once you sit down, there is no menu - they simply ask you how you want your steak done. Then they bring salad and bread, and eventually steak and pommes frites (fancy way of saying number SIX! french fries six times in about a week! I'm french fried out.) in their "secret sauce." Once you finish your plate, they offer the second half of your steak and fries, which is served separately to ensure it is hot. It was very good, and good to have steak for the first time in a while. And given the food, it is reasonably priced as well. After dinner we capped off our French cuisine night by walking across the street to a creperie, which was actually closing down today. So we got there for the grand finale, and had fruit crepes for dessert. I had a banana crepe with Belgian white chocolate that was unbelievable. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. After dinner Jillian and I put the final touches on our papers, and then hung out with George and Rosie for the last time in quite a while. She left for home today, leaving the two of us alone in the flat. Soon, it will be empty for a couple of days.
So, finally. Today. We've made it. Today was the standard London tourist's day: we started with Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard - there was a HUGE number of people on hand to see it, which made it tough on the shortest member of our trio. But it was interesting enough. The Palace itself is pretty ordinary on the outside, I have to admit. Next up was Westminster Abbey, with the help of the free audio tour guide. Pretty impressive building, and pretty impressive collection of tombs/memorials. We spent a good deal of time there, and afterwards found a nearby Pret (there's always one nearby) for a late lunch. We then tried unsuccessfully to get into Parliament, but settled for pictures on the outside, and then pictures of Big Ben. Big Ben, Parliament. Big Ben, Parliament.
We regrouped and met up later to try and find the necessary goods for a Passover Seder, but our local Sainsbury had a limited selection, so Jillian and Sheri headed up to Camden Town to a bigger one. They got all sorts of kosher-for-Passover stuff (although none of us plan on keeping it this year), while I napped back at Schafer. We all cooked the food for the (very late) Seder, which was abbreviated and a bit surreal - but at least we had one. No french fries, I might add.
Now it's time to get ready for Dublin tomorrow. We get back on Thursday, and only have a couple of days before we leave "Monday" morning (around 2 AM Sunday night, really) for our big three week trip. It's going to be an action-packed next month or so.
Well, I should get moving. Lots to do, and not much time to do it.
Cultural Difference: Far too many people here seem to think it's socially acceptable to dye their hair a maroon-like red. And also to wear glasses with ENORMOUS black frames.
Monday, 29 March 2010
Friday, 19 March 2010
5 Hours Now I'll Be on My Way to Denmark
Well, just a quick entry here before our travels begin early tomorrow. I figured with the trip, our last week of class, and Sheri coming to London on Friday, I should write a short post before bed. I am waking up around 4:45 tomorrow morning to get ready for the trip - we're hoping to catch the first Underground train at 5:40 to begin our journey. It's supposed to be rainy in Copenhagen unfortunately, but maybe we'll get lucky. Thankfully the temperatures shouldn't be too frigid though - high 30's or low 40's.
We had a quiet week here in London. Only one more week of class (pretty crazy), but Art History has pretty much wrapped up. We found out our exam schedule, and were annoyed to find out we'll be here later than pretty much every other American student we've asked - our last exam is May 24th. So we'll have almost exactly a month upon our return from our big spring break trip with very little to do. Oh well - now that we know the dates, we were able to choose a time for our trip to Paris. Very exciting.
Other than that, we've continued cooking. This week's meals included: falafel (not homemade, but still freshly prepared) and penne pesto (more homemade than usual in that it wasn't just a precooked mix... we added some fresh veggies and chicken). We took our day trip to Oxford on Monday, and were lucky to be able to enjoy a beautiful and sunny day. The town was nice, but seven hours (certain trains were much cheaper than others, so our time-frame wasn't really optional) was a bit much. They make you pay to enter everything too, so we didn't go inside many buildings. But we went in one college's old church, walked around a cool indoor market, and had a picnic on a park bench (packed our own lunch to save money, of course). The train was quick and easy, and overall it was a nice outing. I remembered the card game 500 Rummy, which we hadn't played in a while, and retaught Jillian - a useful idea when we had to kill some time before our train.
We watched some of the NCAA Tournament yesterday. My bracket is pathetic. Enough said. I was surprised to see Cornell handle Temple so easily though. They seem to be pretty good for an Ivy. Watch out, Jared/Wisconsin. But my favorite players were undoubtedly Jimmer Fredette (yes, Jimmer) and Michael Loyd Jr. (yes, one L) on BYU. Very exciting double-overtime win.
Today I followed a few games online, but we spent much of the evening getting ready for the trip tomorrow. We also met up with Lauren and Michael in the afternoon and checked out Camden market again (they hadn't been yet). It has a much different feel than Borough Market, but it's interesting and fun in its own way.
I'm a lot less nervous for this trip than I was for our last one (as in, not at all). I suppose the fact that it's so short and only one city makes a difference, but also just having had the initial experience of navigating our way through travel in a foreign country makes the prospect of this trip much less nerve-wracking. Not that I was terribly stressed about the last one, but still, I feel very comfortable going to Denmark (I'm going to Denmark... still seems odd).
Well, that about wraps this entry up. I told you it would be short, but I guess it makes up for the length of the last one. No sarcastic jokes or witty (at least to me) humor, nothin. Hard to believe this is our last week of classes coming up. I'll have a five month break before my next classes start up (not counting exams).
Well, cultural difference time. By the way, does anyone else still find it hard to believe the Colts lost that game? I mean seriously. The Saints? Give me a break. They won't even win the division again this year.
Anyway, at one point I noticed in my psych classes that there seemed to be a lot of girls, and relatively few guys. So at various points of boredom in each, I counted up. The results were pretty amazing. In one class, the girl:guy ratio was 49:6, and in the other it was 53:7. Combine that with living with all girls, and there seems to be a lack of testosterone in my life here. I guess I made up for that by living with 35 other guys back in Philly.
We had a quiet week here in London. Only one more week of class (pretty crazy), but Art History has pretty much wrapped up. We found out our exam schedule, and were annoyed to find out we'll be here later than pretty much every other American student we've asked - our last exam is May 24th. So we'll have almost exactly a month upon our return from our big spring break trip with very little to do. Oh well - now that we know the dates, we were able to choose a time for our trip to Paris. Very exciting.
Other than that, we've continued cooking. This week's meals included: falafel (not homemade, but still freshly prepared) and penne pesto (more homemade than usual in that it wasn't just a precooked mix... we added some fresh veggies and chicken). We took our day trip to Oxford on Monday, and were lucky to be able to enjoy a beautiful and sunny day. The town was nice, but seven hours (certain trains were much cheaper than others, so our time-frame wasn't really optional) was a bit much. They make you pay to enter everything too, so we didn't go inside many buildings. But we went in one college's old church, walked around a cool indoor market, and had a picnic on a park bench (packed our own lunch to save money, of course). The train was quick and easy, and overall it was a nice outing. I remembered the card game 500 Rummy, which we hadn't played in a while, and retaught Jillian - a useful idea when we had to kill some time before our train.
We watched some of the NCAA Tournament yesterday. My bracket is pathetic. Enough said. I was surprised to see Cornell handle Temple so easily though. They seem to be pretty good for an Ivy. Watch out, Jared/Wisconsin. But my favorite players were undoubtedly Jimmer Fredette (yes, Jimmer) and Michael Loyd Jr. (yes, one L) on BYU. Very exciting double-overtime win.
Today I followed a few games online, but we spent much of the evening getting ready for the trip tomorrow. We also met up with Lauren and Michael in the afternoon and checked out Camden market again (they hadn't been yet). It has a much different feel than Borough Market, but it's interesting and fun in its own way.
I'm a lot less nervous for this trip than I was for our last one (as in, not at all). I suppose the fact that it's so short and only one city makes a difference, but also just having had the initial experience of navigating our way through travel in a foreign country makes the prospect of this trip much less nerve-wracking. Not that I was terribly stressed about the last one, but still, I feel very comfortable going to Denmark (I'm going to Denmark... still seems odd).
Well, that about wraps this entry up. I told you it would be short, but I guess it makes up for the length of the last one. No sarcastic jokes or witty (at least to me) humor, nothin. Hard to believe this is our last week of classes coming up. I'll have a five month break before my next classes start up (not counting exams).
Well, cultural difference time. By the way, does anyone else still find it hard to believe the Colts lost that game? I mean seriously. The Saints? Give me a break. They won't even win the division again this year.
Anyway, at one point I noticed in my psych classes that there seemed to be a lot of girls, and relatively few guys. So at various points of boredom in each, I counted up. The results were pretty amazing. In one class, the girl:guy ratio was 49:6, and in the other it was 53:7. Combine that with living with all girls, and there seems to be a lack of testosterone in my life here. I guess I made up for that by living with 35 other guys back in Philly.
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Rounding Second and Heading for... Western Europe
Well we've passed the halfway point of our semester here in London. Pretty hard to believe. With so much travel coming up in the next month and a half, time promises to move even more quickly. It's been a while since my last post, and much has happened - so I am warning you ahead of time that this will likely be a very long entry.
Last week was another normal week of class. Jillian and I had to turn in a ~5 page write-up of our presentations for Art History, but besides that, it was pretty much business as usual. Ashley arrived in London on Friday and stayed with a friend - her night was apparently highlighted by her meeting of P Diddy (Diddy, Puff Daddy, Sean Combs, whatever he likes to call himself these days) at a club. On Saturday she headed over to our part of town in the afternoon, and even though we weren't able to introduce her to any celebrities (or even flatmates for that matter, since they were all out of town), we had a good time. We planned to meet up with some friends at a pub, and even though it ended up just being the three of us, it was a good night. We capped it off with our first trip to McDonald's in hopes of McFlurries, but we (mostly the other two) were devastated to find that they were not being made when we got there. Jillian suggested we walk to the "other" McDonald's to check to see if they had them, but when I realized she meant Oxford Street (and a solid 20 minute walk each way), I politely nixed that idea. Two of us settled for double cheeseburgers, while one went for the Big Mac AND fries (not the breakdown you'd expect - I'll just say I had a double cheeseburger while the smallest person present did not).
The next morning, Ashley left for her train back to Manchester as Mom and Dad arrived from their hotel after stowing their luggage, but before their room was ready. Jillian, Mom, Dad, Ashley, and I talked briefly in the Schafer Lobby in a combination of people not ever likely to take place again. After Ashley took off, Jillian and I showed bleary-eyed Mom and Dad our flat and hung out for a bit before they could check into their hotel (well, Jillian, Dad, and I talked while Mom sprawled out on my bed and passed out). After an unsuccessful venture for lunch at Pret (closed on weekends... never crossed my mind to check), we got sandwiches from Sainsbury's and sent them on their way back to their hotel for a nap: it sounded as if they got about 3 hours of sleep on the plane between them. We met up around dinner time and headed over to Russell Square for an Italian dinner at a restaurant called Ciao Bella. Joining our group was one of Mom's coworker's son, another Zach. He's studying abroad in London as well, although much closer to Parliament/the Thames. The food was decent, but nothing special, and afterwards we (minus Zach #2) headed back to Mom and Dad's hotel to figure out our plan for the next day. After brief deliberation, Mom and Dad decided against staying up to watch the Oscars (running from 2-5 AM here). We settled our plans for the next day, and headed back around 11 or so.
When Jillian and I headed over to meet them at their hotel on Monday, M & D came downstairs with bloodshot eyes and tired looks on their faces. Turns out they had changed their minds and watched the ENTIRE awards show. Surely that helped with their jet lag. Mom had expressed interest in a day trip to Bath, but Dad wasn't interested, so as a compromise we all headed out to Greenwich. We grabbed some lunch at a small cafe/sandwich shop in town before visiting all of the historical buildings. We first checked out the Maritime Museum, which had a cool room with Admiral Nelson (yes, I know who he is now! That one-armed dude at the top of the statue in Trafalgar) stuff, including the actual uniform he was wearing when he was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar. He appeared to be quite the little man. Next we hiked up an enormous hill to look at astronomy stuff and the Prime Meridian deal, but I was unimpressed. It's the division between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres because we say it is. It's completely arbitrary, and just a big line. Big deal. Mom and Dad enjoyed all of the stuff about the longitude problem, and although I wasn't particularly interested in the scientific details of how it was solved, it was interesting to see the history of how sailors struggled before the solution. Anyway, we got some good pictures, and Dad seemed very excited to get a machine-printed certificate of some sort ("Dad do you want a picture?" "Why would I need a picture? I have a certificate.") Two certificates, in fact. We headed back to our respective rooms to relax a bit before dinner, which we had at our nearby Indian restaurant, which was again reasonable and delicious. After dinner the tired duo headed back for an easy night of relaxation.
On Tuesday, Mom and Dad caught up on sleep while Jillian and I had our big day of class. They both slept 12 hours, I believe, which as Dad said, is usually about 2-3 nights' worth for him. We met up for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Prezzo near their hotel (we had heard about it from Rosie) and had our best Italian meal of the trip. Plus, it's very reasonably priced and has loads of coupons online, so I'm sure Jillian and I will be returning. After dinner the four of us headed into Leicester Square and saw Sherlock Holmes, which was OK. Robert Downey Jr. was great, and he and Jude Law played off each other well, but the storyline was mediocre at best. The theater was interesting; it probably had only ten rows of seats. But that didn't stop the prices from being outrageously expensive (even the Bridge in Philly pales in comparison). That wrapped up a long day on Tuesday, which had started more than 12 hours before with our early class.
On Wednesday the four of us met up after our two hours of class (the second of which was the make-up for our professor simply not showing up a few weeks ago) and went down to Harrods for the afternoon. We walked around the food halls and got some lunch - Mom, Dad, and I settled on rotisserie chicken that thoroughly disgusted Jillian. Steinberg/Slate family, you're missing out on a whole world of deliciousness of meat with bones. Jillian instead had a turkey sandwich which she said was good. That turkey once had bones and skin, though. After lunch we walked around the store a bit, although with different goals. Mom wanted to peruse the items in the store, while I looked for the most expensive price tag I could find. The early leader was a crystal statue of a dolphin (a hefty £39,000), until Dad upped the ante with some sort of weird statue weighing in at a cool £59,000. We both agreed that if I knocked over one of the statues I would probably just sit down and start to cry. We also checked out the Princess Diana and Lover memorial (I can't remember his name, but apparently his family owns Harrods?), which Jillian and Mom agreed to be tacky. It seemed fine to me. We stopped by the food halls again on our way out, and each got some delicious gelato for the road. We also got a few other goodies to bring back to the hotel/dorm for later - one of the cheese/sesame/onion baguettes that we got last time for Jillian, Dad, and myself, some cheese and bread for Mom, and a fruit tart for Jillian and me. We headed out from Harrods and walked to the nearby Victoria and Albert Museum. We had about 45 minutes before it closed, so we walked around a bit to check out some cool sculptures. Mom wanted to see some paintings, but we didn't have a map and never found our way to the paintings section - she was happy just to have made it in the museum for a bit, though. After it closed, we trekked a little further and walked about 35 minutes to Notting Hill. It was cold and we were a bit tired, but most of the walk was spent crossing Hyde Park, which we had never seen before, so that was nice. Dad hung out in a warm hotel lobby while the rest of us walked along Notting Hill Gate Road and checked out the neighborhood. It was a nice area, but there was nothing noteworthy about it. We headed back to campus after a good but tiring day to meet up with my friend Travis and get some dinner. We had more touristy plans for the next day, and a tentative plan to go to Bath for the three of us on Friday. It was hard to believe their trip was winding down already.
We met up on Thursday after our pointless Psych seminar, and took the tube (we probably took it more this week than the entire semester combined leading up to it) to see St. Paul's Cathedral. It was MASSIVE, and very pretty. I didn't know how big it truly was, and it made even St. Vitus in Prague seem small. We hiked up a dizzying spiral staircase (it really did make me dizzy) to the "Whispering Gallery" high above the ground floor, and then Jillian, Mom, and I continued even further up for two great outdoor views of the city. Lastly, we walked through the crypt in the basement and saw, you guessed it, Admiral Nelson's tomb. After St. Paul closed, we took the tube into Leicester Square to get theater tickets for that night. It worked out perfectly, and we got half-priced tickets (good seats, too) to see The Little Dog Laughed, a satiric comedy about Hollywood. We had some time to kill before dinner, so we took Mom and Dad into nearby Trafalgar Square (we needed one more glimpse of some form of Admiral Nelson). In similar V & A fashion, we went into the National Gallery with about 30 minutes before closing time. We saw a different part of the museum than we had been to for class, and saw some Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir, and others. We then hurriedly headed to the Renaissance section and showed them the two paintings we had presented to our class. Next up was dinner at Wagamama's, which was again delicious. A noteworthy dessert - ginger and white chocolate cheesecake. I thought it was great, but Jillian was not a huge fan. But apparently a big enough one to eat half of it. Our schedule for the day worked perfectly, and we headed over to the theater, about two minutes away from the restaurant, for the show. It was pretty amusing, and all of us had favorable reviews after.
Which brings us to yesterday, our final day. We had, as I said, planned on going to Bath, but when we looked into train tickets, they were a fortune. And considering how rushed the trip was going to be (squeezed between class and trying to get back for dinner with Dad), we decided to postpone the trip. Mom is returning in September, so she will probably go then, and Jillian and I will go later in the semester. Instead, after class, we had lunch at and walked around Borough Market. It was MUCH less crowded this time on a cloudy Friday as compared to the sunny Saturday when we went last time. There were TONS of free samples, and we snacked on a variety of cheeses and such. I had a couple delicious chicken empanadas for lunch, and Jillian had a grilled cheese that smelled and tasted like feet (seriously - she threw away the rest of it because I didn't want to eat it... a rarity). We got some homemade chips and salsa (hard to find here except for Doritos brand) to bring back, and also some white chocolate covered cashews and bananas, and cheese covered cashews. Those snacks, combined with the goodies Mom and Dad brought over from the US (gummy bears, jelly beans, Lipton's soup (!), Kraft mac and cheese, etc.) has the shelf above my desk looking like I'm preparing for a nuclear attack. Mom and Dad seemed to particularly enjoy the market, and I'm sure we will return with Sheri when she visits. The market is close to the river, so we walked a few minutes so we could cross London Bridge. Mom took a few (a lot) of pictures, before we headed back to campus. We met up again for a late dinner since we were still full from lunch, and, in truly American style, dined at TGI Friday's. This was our first chance to eat a restaurant we had previously been to in America, and it was amazing how much smaller every portion was. I still maintain that Friday's mozzarella sticks are hard to beat. It was a good meal, and nice way to wrap up the trip. On the way home, we spotted the location for the future Chipote (!!!). Hopefully it stays on track to open before we leave. Mom and Dad also graciously stocked us up on some groceries for the week. We parted ways, until this morning, when Jillian and I woke up early to meet them at Euston Station for a goodbye. Mom said her computer had crashed, so hopefully she can get it fixed. They are probably somewhere over the Atlantic right now, but are safely on their way home.
It was really good to see them, and it's a bit odd getting back into our normal routine without them here. The visit flew by, and although it was definitely a busy week, I think we all had a great time. Mom and Dad were incredibly generous throughout, and have even decided to help us fund a trip to Copenhagen, which we likely would not have been able to take otherwise. But I think the visit was a good balance between seeing new stuff in London that they hadn't seen before, and not doing anything too ambitious or rushed. I realized partway through the trip that this was the first time I had really ever hosted them somewhere, since I haven't had the traditional visit-from-the-parents at college. But the trip went smoothly, and it was fun to be able to show off our London expertise. Thanks for everything, Mom and Dad, I had a great time!
Well, I know that was a lengthy recap, but I wanted to be detailed for my own sake, if nothing else. As Grandpa Ed wisely advised me, it will be nice to be able to reread these entries in the future and reminisce. So if you made it this far, congratulations!
In other news, both Michigan and UC basketball were on the wrong end of lucky buzzer beaters this week, likely ending their shots at NCAA Tournament bids. Oh well, I've been disconnected from the college basketball season the entire time anyway. We have another busy week coming up - our second-to-last of classes, included our last trip to the National Gallery. On Monday we are taking a train to Oxford for a day trip, which should be fun, and on Saturday we take our recently planned trip to Copenhagen. We'll be there until Monday, so we will get almost a full three days in. It should be a good (but very cold) trip. Other than that, it's just time to settle back into a routine (sort of... with all of this traveling) before Sheri comes to visit. Hard to believe she'll be here so soon! Jared has also decided to come visit at the end of April, he just doesn't know it yet.
Back to cooking, classes, and the rest of the routine. If anyone would like to Skype tomorrow or this week, just email me.
Well, I'm all blogged out. It's time:
Cultural Difference: When we took a bus in from the airport after our trip to Eastern Europe, I couldn't figure out how the people on the bus in front of me were getting off. I could see that there were fewer people, but the door hadn't opened. Then I realized that here, people get off buses on the left. Very strange to see, even if it makes sense.
Last week was another normal week of class. Jillian and I had to turn in a ~5 page write-up of our presentations for Art History, but besides that, it was pretty much business as usual. Ashley arrived in London on Friday and stayed with a friend - her night was apparently highlighted by her meeting of P Diddy (Diddy, Puff Daddy, Sean Combs, whatever he likes to call himself these days) at a club. On Saturday she headed over to our part of town in the afternoon, and even though we weren't able to introduce her to any celebrities (or even flatmates for that matter, since they were all out of town), we had a good time. We planned to meet up with some friends at a pub, and even though it ended up just being the three of us, it was a good night. We capped it off with our first trip to McDonald's in hopes of McFlurries, but we (mostly the other two) were devastated to find that they were not being made when we got there. Jillian suggested we walk to the "other" McDonald's to check to see if they had them, but when I realized she meant Oxford Street (and a solid 20 minute walk each way), I politely nixed that idea. Two of us settled for double cheeseburgers, while one went for the Big Mac AND fries (not the breakdown you'd expect - I'll just say I had a double cheeseburger while the smallest person present did not).
The next morning, Ashley left for her train back to Manchester as Mom and Dad arrived from their hotel after stowing their luggage, but before their room was ready. Jillian, Mom, Dad, Ashley, and I talked briefly in the Schafer Lobby in a combination of people not ever likely to take place again. After Ashley took off, Jillian and I showed bleary-eyed Mom and Dad our flat and hung out for a bit before they could check into their hotel (well, Jillian, Dad, and I talked while Mom sprawled out on my bed and passed out). After an unsuccessful venture for lunch at Pret (closed on weekends... never crossed my mind to check), we got sandwiches from Sainsbury's and sent them on their way back to their hotel for a nap: it sounded as if they got about 3 hours of sleep on the plane between them. We met up around dinner time and headed over to Russell Square for an Italian dinner at a restaurant called Ciao Bella. Joining our group was one of Mom's coworker's son, another Zach. He's studying abroad in London as well, although much closer to Parliament/the Thames. The food was decent, but nothing special, and afterwards we (minus Zach #2) headed back to Mom and Dad's hotel to figure out our plan for the next day. After brief deliberation, Mom and Dad decided against staying up to watch the Oscars (running from 2-5 AM here). We settled our plans for the next day, and headed back around 11 or so.
When Jillian and I headed over to meet them at their hotel on Monday, M & D came downstairs with bloodshot eyes and tired looks on their faces. Turns out they had changed their minds and watched the ENTIRE awards show. Surely that helped with their jet lag. Mom had expressed interest in a day trip to Bath, but Dad wasn't interested, so as a compromise we all headed out to Greenwich. We grabbed some lunch at a small cafe/sandwich shop in town before visiting all of the historical buildings. We first checked out the Maritime Museum, which had a cool room with Admiral Nelson (yes, I know who he is now! That one-armed dude at the top of the statue in Trafalgar) stuff, including the actual uniform he was wearing when he was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar. He appeared to be quite the little man. Next we hiked up an enormous hill to look at astronomy stuff and the Prime Meridian deal, but I was unimpressed. It's the division between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres because we say it is. It's completely arbitrary, and just a big line. Big deal. Mom and Dad enjoyed all of the stuff about the longitude problem, and although I wasn't particularly interested in the scientific details of how it was solved, it was interesting to see the history of how sailors struggled before the solution. Anyway, we got some good pictures, and Dad seemed very excited to get a machine-printed certificate of some sort ("Dad do you want a picture?" "Why would I need a picture? I have a certificate.") Two certificates, in fact. We headed back to our respective rooms to relax a bit before dinner, which we had at our nearby Indian restaurant, which was again reasonable and delicious. After dinner the tired duo headed back for an easy night of relaxation.
On Tuesday, Mom and Dad caught up on sleep while Jillian and I had our big day of class. They both slept 12 hours, I believe, which as Dad said, is usually about 2-3 nights' worth for him. We met up for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Prezzo near their hotel (we had heard about it from Rosie) and had our best Italian meal of the trip. Plus, it's very reasonably priced and has loads of coupons online, so I'm sure Jillian and I will be returning. After dinner the four of us headed into Leicester Square and saw Sherlock Holmes, which was OK. Robert Downey Jr. was great, and he and Jude Law played off each other well, but the storyline was mediocre at best. The theater was interesting; it probably had only ten rows of seats. But that didn't stop the prices from being outrageously expensive (even the Bridge in Philly pales in comparison). That wrapped up a long day on Tuesday, which had started more than 12 hours before with our early class.
On Wednesday the four of us met up after our two hours of class (the second of which was the make-up for our professor simply not showing up a few weeks ago) and went down to Harrods for the afternoon. We walked around the food halls and got some lunch - Mom, Dad, and I settled on rotisserie chicken that thoroughly disgusted Jillian. Steinberg/Slate family, you're missing out on a whole world of deliciousness of meat with bones. Jillian instead had a turkey sandwich which she said was good. That turkey once had bones and skin, though. After lunch we walked around the store a bit, although with different goals. Mom wanted to peruse the items in the store, while I looked for the most expensive price tag I could find. The early leader was a crystal statue of a dolphin (a hefty £39,000), until Dad upped the ante with some sort of weird statue weighing in at a cool £59,000. We both agreed that if I knocked over one of the statues I would probably just sit down and start to cry. We also checked out the Princess Diana and Lover memorial (I can't remember his name, but apparently his family owns Harrods?), which Jillian and Mom agreed to be tacky. It seemed fine to me. We stopped by the food halls again on our way out, and each got some delicious gelato for the road. We also got a few other goodies to bring back to the hotel/dorm for later - one of the cheese/sesame/onion baguettes that we got last time for Jillian, Dad, and myself, some cheese and bread for Mom, and a fruit tart for Jillian and me. We headed out from Harrods and walked to the nearby Victoria and Albert Museum. We had about 45 minutes before it closed, so we walked around a bit to check out some cool sculptures. Mom wanted to see some paintings, but we didn't have a map and never found our way to the paintings section - she was happy just to have made it in the museum for a bit, though. After it closed, we trekked a little further and walked about 35 minutes to Notting Hill. It was cold and we were a bit tired, but most of the walk was spent crossing Hyde Park, which we had never seen before, so that was nice. Dad hung out in a warm hotel lobby while the rest of us walked along Notting Hill Gate Road and checked out the neighborhood. It was a nice area, but there was nothing noteworthy about it. We headed back to campus after a good but tiring day to meet up with my friend Travis and get some dinner. We had more touristy plans for the next day, and a tentative plan to go to Bath for the three of us on Friday. It was hard to believe their trip was winding down already.
We met up on Thursday after our pointless Psych seminar, and took the tube (we probably took it more this week than the entire semester combined leading up to it) to see St. Paul's Cathedral. It was MASSIVE, and very pretty. I didn't know how big it truly was, and it made even St. Vitus in Prague seem small. We hiked up a dizzying spiral staircase (it really did make me dizzy) to the "Whispering Gallery" high above the ground floor, and then Jillian, Mom, and I continued even further up for two great outdoor views of the city. Lastly, we walked through the crypt in the basement and saw, you guessed it, Admiral Nelson's tomb. After St. Paul closed, we took the tube into Leicester Square to get theater tickets for that night. It worked out perfectly, and we got half-priced tickets (good seats, too) to see The Little Dog Laughed, a satiric comedy about Hollywood. We had some time to kill before dinner, so we took Mom and Dad into nearby Trafalgar Square (we needed one more glimpse of some form of Admiral Nelson). In similar V & A fashion, we went into the National Gallery with about 30 minutes before closing time. We saw a different part of the museum than we had been to for class, and saw some Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir, and others. We then hurriedly headed to the Renaissance section and showed them the two paintings we had presented to our class. Next up was dinner at Wagamama's, which was again delicious. A noteworthy dessert - ginger and white chocolate cheesecake. I thought it was great, but Jillian was not a huge fan. But apparently a big enough one to eat half of it. Our schedule for the day worked perfectly, and we headed over to the theater, about two minutes away from the restaurant, for the show. It was pretty amusing, and all of us had favorable reviews after.
Which brings us to yesterday, our final day. We had, as I said, planned on going to Bath, but when we looked into train tickets, they were a fortune. And considering how rushed the trip was going to be (squeezed between class and trying to get back for dinner with Dad), we decided to postpone the trip. Mom is returning in September, so she will probably go then, and Jillian and I will go later in the semester. Instead, after class, we had lunch at and walked around Borough Market. It was MUCH less crowded this time on a cloudy Friday as compared to the sunny Saturday when we went last time. There were TONS of free samples, and we snacked on a variety of cheeses and such. I had a couple delicious chicken empanadas for lunch, and Jillian had a grilled cheese that smelled and tasted like feet (seriously - she threw away the rest of it because I didn't want to eat it... a rarity). We got some homemade chips and salsa (hard to find here except for Doritos brand) to bring back, and also some white chocolate covered cashews and bananas, and cheese covered cashews. Those snacks, combined with the goodies Mom and Dad brought over from the US (gummy bears, jelly beans, Lipton's soup (!), Kraft mac and cheese, etc.) has the shelf above my desk looking like I'm preparing for a nuclear attack. Mom and Dad seemed to particularly enjoy the market, and I'm sure we will return with Sheri when she visits. The market is close to the river, so we walked a few minutes so we could cross London Bridge. Mom took a few (a lot) of pictures, before we headed back to campus. We met up again for a late dinner since we were still full from lunch, and, in truly American style, dined at TGI Friday's. This was our first chance to eat a restaurant we had previously been to in America, and it was amazing how much smaller every portion was. I still maintain that Friday's mozzarella sticks are hard to beat. It was a good meal, and nice way to wrap up the trip. On the way home, we spotted the location for the future Chipote (!!!). Hopefully it stays on track to open before we leave. Mom and Dad also graciously stocked us up on some groceries for the week. We parted ways, until this morning, when Jillian and I woke up early to meet them at Euston Station for a goodbye. Mom said her computer had crashed, so hopefully she can get it fixed. They are probably somewhere over the Atlantic right now, but are safely on their way home.
It was really good to see them, and it's a bit odd getting back into our normal routine without them here. The visit flew by, and although it was definitely a busy week, I think we all had a great time. Mom and Dad were incredibly generous throughout, and have even decided to help us fund a trip to Copenhagen, which we likely would not have been able to take otherwise. But I think the visit was a good balance between seeing new stuff in London that they hadn't seen before, and not doing anything too ambitious or rushed. I realized partway through the trip that this was the first time I had really ever hosted them somewhere, since I haven't had the traditional visit-from-the-parents at college. But the trip went smoothly, and it was fun to be able to show off our London expertise. Thanks for everything, Mom and Dad, I had a great time!
Well, I know that was a lengthy recap, but I wanted to be detailed for my own sake, if nothing else. As Grandpa Ed wisely advised me, it will be nice to be able to reread these entries in the future and reminisce. So if you made it this far, congratulations!
In other news, both Michigan and UC basketball were on the wrong end of lucky buzzer beaters this week, likely ending their shots at NCAA Tournament bids. Oh well, I've been disconnected from the college basketball season the entire time anyway. We have another busy week coming up - our second-to-last of classes, included our last trip to the National Gallery. On Monday we are taking a train to Oxford for a day trip, which should be fun, and on Saturday we take our recently planned trip to Copenhagen. We'll be there until Monday, so we will get almost a full three days in. It should be a good (but very cold) trip. Other than that, it's just time to settle back into a routine (sort of... with all of this traveling) before Sheri comes to visit. Hard to believe she'll be here so soon! Jared has also decided to come visit at the end of April, he just doesn't know it yet.
Back to cooking, classes, and the rest of the routine. If anyone would like to Skype tomorrow or this week, just email me.
Well, I'm all blogged out. It's time:
Cultural Difference: When we took a bus in from the airport after our trip to Eastern Europe, I couldn't figure out how the people on the bus in front of me were getting off. I could see that there were fewer people, but the door hadn't opened. Then I realized that here, people get off buses on the left. Very strange to see, even if it makes sense.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Spring Time
Hello, March. The new month brought a rare day of 45 degree temperatures and, shockingly, sun. The weather report actually looks somewhat promising for the next week, so hopefully we'll start seeing more of that elusive sunlight.
It's been a quiet week and a half since our return to London, as we've actually had to do some work. We turned in our first papers for International Security, and both have presentations for Art History tomorrow. So if anyone ever needs some help with Mantegna's The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome, I'm your man. Since last week was our first week of class since reading week, our psych classes all added a new, one hour lecture on different days. But, neither of my new classes went as planned. On Tuesday, my developmental professor forgot the new hour of lecture was that day, so for the first 25 minutes of class everyone sat and chatted. Finally, someone who knew where her office was went and got her, and we held a shortened class. Fair enough.
BUT, on Friday, I had to wake up an hour earlier than usual (and Jillian actually had to go to class) for our 10 AM Psych and Education lecture. It became clear that that professor too had forgotten, and some administrative-type came in at 10:20 to tell us that the professor thought the lecture was at 11 and wouldn't be able to make it. So the psych department emailed us later that day telling us the lecture had been rescheduled for Wednesday the 10th as an additional hour after our normal meeting period. Jillian and I both think it's ridiculous to make us come in for a second hour when the professor simply forgot - especially since we had to sit there for the hour on Friday anyway. Not to mention that Mom and Dad will be visiting then, so it's another hour spent sitting in class during their visit. UCL seems to have a major problem with organization, which is surprising for a university held in such high esteem. To top it off, we got another email today telling us our International Security lecture for tomorrow morning was canceled because the guest lecturer couldn't make it. At least that instructor is simply rescheduling the lecture for the last day of class - I guess it will replace the conclusion and "toward the future" lecture that had been scheduled then. But even so, considering we only have ten hours of lecture in the entire semester for that subject, it seems a bit odd.
Anyway, last week Jillian and I took the tube down to Borough Market, a very old and well-known outdoor market, per the advice of Lauren and Michael. We decided to break our cost-saving ways a little and bought some good (but expensive) stuff there: fresh brownies, two big hunks of fresh mozzarella from Italy, fresh pesto also from Italy, and a cantaloupe. The brownies were HUGE, and pretty good, and the cantaloupe was delicious as well. But the highlight was definitely the cheese and pesto, which we used to make two meals. The first was my brainchild - a fresh chicken panini. I grilled some chicken on the George Foreman, and then put it on some fresh ciabatta bread along with the cheese, pesto, and tomatoes (for me, not Jillian) before putting it back on the grill briefly to create a melted sandwich of deliciousness. This began a recent trend of more actual cooking for the two of us, instead of just preparing a lot of frozen/precooked dishes. Later in the week, we decided to use the rest of the mozzarella and some more of the pesto to recreate the Caprese crepe I had had in Amsterdam. We got crepe mix from Sainsbury's, and added the pesto, cheese, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms - it was a lot of work, but they were absolutely delicious. Jillian took pictures of both dinners, so I assume she'll post them whenever she writes her new post (tomorrow, I'd assume?). Later in the week we caved and finally went to an American restaurant - none other than the fabulous KFC. Nothing like some fried goodness to remind us of the US. This week we're planning on cooking loaded baked potatoes with a side of bruschetta (interesting combination, right?), cream of mushroom chicken with asparagus, and loaded nachos. But enough about food (which seems to be a significant portion of these blogs).
Last week we went over to Lauren and Michael's to celebrate his birthday with some of their friends, and then went back a couple nights later to cook enchiladas together for dinner (more food...) They left bright and early on Friday morning for Portugal, but our flatmate Rosie's boyfriend George came in for the weekend. The four of us decided to head to a bowling alley near our psych building on Saturday night for a change of pace, but did not get what we expected. We knew it was also a bar/restaurant in addition to the bowling alley, but we were pretty surprised when they told us there was a 10 Pound cover. We turned to walk away when one of the guys working the door said he could get us in for free. So he walked us around to a staircase on the side leading to an entrance, and we headed in. This place was STRANGE. It was much more of a bar/place to play pool that just happened to have 5 bowling lanes. They told us it was £36 for an hour on a lane. That, combined with the hour+ long wait and the interesting assortment of people made the decision easy for us, and we left to head back to Schafer. We all agreed that had we paid £10 to get in for that we would've been pretty upset. But we made the best of the night and had a good time back at our flat.
This coming week is the last before the craziness really begins - Ashley comes this weekend, and Mom and Dad get here Sunday morning. We have a list of restaurants to go to with them and some places to see, but because they've been here before their visit will likely be much different than when Jillian's mom comes. We've saved most of the big tourist sites here for that visit, since we knew Sheri would want to see them.
Other than that we don't really have any big plans for the week. I got my first British haircut today (much to the delight of my girlfriend, who, rightfully, lamented the craziness of my hair in recent weeks). A nice Greek man named Michael cut it, and seemed to be even more nervous than I. But I think in the end both of us were happy with the result, and, perhaps most importantly, so was Jillian. Tomorrow after Art History we're going to try a fast food Chinese-type place called Wok in a Box that we hope brings back memories of Wok to Walk from Amsterdam. I know, I know, more food talk, but I can't help it. George also introduced us to a great British snack food called Quavers that are Funion-esque, but so much better. He'll be returning in a few weeks, so we're excited to hang out with the two of them again - perhaps they will finally meet Lauren and Michael.
Well I've stretched an entry about nothing on for long enough, so here's my cultural difference:
Dachshunds, while known as wiener dogs at home, are apparently called sausage dogs here.
It's been a quiet week and a half since our return to London, as we've actually had to do some work. We turned in our first papers for International Security, and both have presentations for Art History tomorrow. So if anyone ever needs some help with Mantegna's The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome, I'm your man. Since last week was our first week of class since reading week, our psych classes all added a new, one hour lecture on different days. But, neither of my new classes went as planned. On Tuesday, my developmental professor forgot the new hour of lecture was that day, so for the first 25 minutes of class everyone sat and chatted. Finally, someone who knew where her office was went and got her, and we held a shortened class. Fair enough.
BUT, on Friday, I had to wake up an hour earlier than usual (and Jillian actually had to go to class) for our 10 AM Psych and Education lecture. It became clear that that professor too had forgotten, and some administrative-type came in at 10:20 to tell us that the professor thought the lecture was at 11 and wouldn't be able to make it. So the psych department emailed us later that day telling us the lecture had been rescheduled for Wednesday the 10th as an additional hour after our normal meeting period. Jillian and I both think it's ridiculous to make us come in for a second hour when the professor simply forgot - especially since we had to sit there for the hour on Friday anyway. Not to mention that Mom and Dad will be visiting then, so it's another hour spent sitting in class during their visit. UCL seems to have a major problem with organization, which is surprising for a university held in such high esteem. To top it off, we got another email today telling us our International Security lecture for tomorrow morning was canceled because the guest lecturer couldn't make it. At least that instructor is simply rescheduling the lecture for the last day of class - I guess it will replace the conclusion and "toward the future" lecture that had been scheduled then. But even so, considering we only have ten hours of lecture in the entire semester for that subject, it seems a bit odd.
Anyway, last week Jillian and I took the tube down to Borough Market, a very old and well-known outdoor market, per the advice of Lauren and Michael. We decided to break our cost-saving ways a little and bought some good (but expensive) stuff there: fresh brownies, two big hunks of fresh mozzarella from Italy, fresh pesto also from Italy, and a cantaloupe. The brownies were HUGE, and pretty good, and the cantaloupe was delicious as well. But the highlight was definitely the cheese and pesto, which we used to make two meals. The first was my brainchild - a fresh chicken panini. I grilled some chicken on the George Foreman, and then put it on some fresh ciabatta bread along with the cheese, pesto, and tomatoes (for me, not Jillian) before putting it back on the grill briefly to create a melted sandwich of deliciousness. This began a recent trend of more actual cooking for the two of us, instead of just preparing a lot of frozen/precooked dishes. Later in the week, we decided to use the rest of the mozzarella and some more of the pesto to recreate the Caprese crepe I had had in Amsterdam. We got crepe mix from Sainsbury's, and added the pesto, cheese, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms - it was a lot of work, but they were absolutely delicious. Jillian took pictures of both dinners, so I assume she'll post them whenever she writes her new post (tomorrow, I'd assume?). Later in the week we caved and finally went to an American restaurant - none other than the fabulous KFC. Nothing like some fried goodness to remind us of the US. This week we're planning on cooking loaded baked potatoes with a side of bruschetta (interesting combination, right?), cream of mushroom chicken with asparagus, and loaded nachos. But enough about food (which seems to be a significant portion of these blogs).
Last week we went over to Lauren and Michael's to celebrate his birthday with some of their friends, and then went back a couple nights later to cook enchiladas together for dinner (more food...) They left bright and early on Friday morning for Portugal, but our flatmate Rosie's boyfriend George came in for the weekend. The four of us decided to head to a bowling alley near our psych building on Saturday night for a change of pace, but did not get what we expected. We knew it was also a bar/restaurant in addition to the bowling alley, but we were pretty surprised when they told us there was a 10 Pound cover. We turned to walk away when one of the guys working the door said he could get us in for free. So he walked us around to a staircase on the side leading to an entrance, and we headed in. This place was STRANGE. It was much more of a bar/place to play pool that just happened to have 5 bowling lanes. They told us it was £36 for an hour on a lane. That, combined with the hour+ long wait and the interesting assortment of people made the decision easy for us, and we left to head back to Schafer. We all agreed that had we paid £10 to get in for that we would've been pretty upset. But we made the best of the night and had a good time back at our flat.
This coming week is the last before the craziness really begins - Ashley comes this weekend, and Mom and Dad get here Sunday morning. We have a list of restaurants to go to with them and some places to see, but because they've been here before their visit will likely be much different than when Jillian's mom comes. We've saved most of the big tourist sites here for that visit, since we knew Sheri would want to see them.
Other than that we don't really have any big plans for the week. I got my first British haircut today (much to the delight of my girlfriend, who, rightfully, lamented the craziness of my hair in recent weeks). A nice Greek man named Michael cut it, and seemed to be even more nervous than I. But I think in the end both of us were happy with the result, and, perhaps most importantly, so was Jillian. Tomorrow after Art History we're going to try a fast food Chinese-type place called Wok in a Box that we hope brings back memories of Wok to Walk from Amsterdam. I know, I know, more food talk, but I can't help it. George also introduced us to a great British snack food called Quavers that are Funion-esque, but so much better. He'll be returning in a few weeks, so we're excited to hang out with the two of them again - perhaps they will finally meet Lauren and Michael.
Well I've stretched an entry about nothing on for long enough, so here's my cultural difference:
Dachshunds, while known as wiener dogs at home, are apparently called sausage dogs here.
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