Spring break is long over. Kenya was incredible. I could write a book about it. I came back to school so excited to blog about my experience, until I discovered all of the blogging sites are blocked!
Alas, I am sitting in Starbucks sipping a chai tea latte and remembered I have this thing.
So, that's my excuse for not blogging.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Italy update!
The past two days have been fun!
Yesterday we went to Nico's church in Milan. We know the pastor because he lectured with his wife at school, so it was nice seeing them! The entire service was in Italian, so I sat next to Maddie and we tried to pick up words we knew. I could actually sing along with a couple of the songs since I knew some of the words from choir or voice lessons. After church we went to Ikea and go lunch there. After that we came home and had pizza for dinner and watched a movie, since it is their tradition.
This morning we slept in pretty late, and then we had a breakfast of yogurt and briosche and helped his mom with some of the garden. This afternoon we picked up Ela from dance and we got gelato, which was delicious. For dinner we had pasta and bread, and now we are waiting for another person to join us, but just for the night.
Tomorrow we're going to walk around the little town and enjoy Italy!
Yesterday we went to Nico's church in Milan. We know the pastor because he lectured with his wife at school, so it was nice seeing them! The entire service was in Italian, so I sat next to Maddie and we tried to pick up words we knew. I could actually sing along with a couple of the songs since I knew some of the words from choir or voice lessons. After church we went to Ikea and go lunch there. After that we came home and had pizza for dinner and watched a movie, since it is their tradition.
This morning we slept in pretty late, and then we had a breakfast of yogurt and briosche and helped his mom with some of the garden. This afternoon we picked up Ela from dance and we got gelato, which was delicious. For dinner we had pasta and bread, and now we are waiting for another person to join us, but just for the night.
Tomorrow we're going to walk around the little town and enjoy Italy!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Italy.
The rest of our time in London was very good. We spent a lot of time hanging around the penthouse and we saw Les Mis and Wicked. After Wicked we had to go back and pack and clean up, and by the time we went to bed (after 1) we only had a couple hours of sleep. We woke up at 4:45 yesterday and then went to Heathrow and then after many many hours made it to our friend Nico's house in Italy. I have had a wonderful time so far. The home we are in is beautiful, and walking outside looks like something out of National Geographic.
After sleeping in this morning, we had breakfast which consisted of brioche (like a croissant filled with jam), juice and some really delicious cereal. Then we helped Nico out on the vineyard, which was so cool. At one point we decided to lay down on the grass and just soak up the hot sun (according to Nico's sister I've gotten some color already). After a small lunch of bread with oil we went to pick up Ela (nico's sister) from her ballet class. It was very cool sitting in on that since it was all Italian. Then we got our first gelato in Italy. I had chocolate chip, and it was delicious!! Now we are back at home hanging around until dinner which will be pasta and wine.
Tomorrow we're going to a church in Milan, and we actually know the pastor from school since he and his wife lectured!
After sleeping in this morning, we had breakfast which consisted of brioche (like a croissant filled with jam), juice and some really delicious cereal. Then we helped Nico out on the vineyard, which was so cool. At one point we decided to lay down on the grass and just soak up the hot sun (according to Nico's sister I've gotten some color already). After a small lunch of bread with oil we went to pick up Ela (nico's sister) from her ballet class. It was very cool sitting in on that since it was all Italian. Then we got our first gelato in Italy. I had chocolate chip, and it was delicious!! Now we are back at home hanging around until dinner which will be pasta and wine.
Tomorrow we're going to a church in Milan, and we actually know the pastor from school since he and his wife lectured!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Spring break!
Blogging at school just doesn't happen, apparently. But now winter school is over and I have four weeks of spring break. At the moment I am in London staying in Canary Wharf. We drove down here Thursday night and arrived at 4:30 in the morning, and then spent some time homeless in Victoria Train Station. That was an adventure in itself. So I went 40 hours without sleep, and we didn't do much yesterday except for hang out in the penthouse and take pictures of the beautiful sunset. Today we went to the Natural History Museum and ate breakfast outside in the warm sunshine, and then we walked around central London taking pictures and just enjoying the day. We also had a lovely stroll through Hyde Park, which we will be doing again tomorrow!
I will definitely be blogging more on this trip, except for when I go to Kenya in two weeks..but for the next two weeks there will hopefully be nightly posts!
=]
I will definitely be blogging more on this trip, except for when I go to Kenya in two weeks..but for the next two weeks there will hopefully be nightly posts!
=]
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
this weekend
I got my schedule for the 'meet the team' weekend which is coming up this Friday.
I will be at a Baptist church about four hours away from school.
Here is just a little schedule for the weekend:
Friday
16:30 arrive at the church
17.30-18.45 I'm working with four other team members doing a Bible club for 6-11 year olds. This time around we don't need to plan anything...
19.00-21.00 buffet supper with people from the church. For this I have the opportunity to lead some icebreaker games for 40 minutes. My team leader knows me from camp and knows how many icebreakers we do there, so it shouldn't be hard to lead. At the end of the evening we are leading a short 20 minute devotional time. We are planning on doing a couple songs and short message. I don't have a part in this at the moment since I'll be doing the icebreaker.
21.30 going to our host families houses (and most likely passing out)
Saturday
10.00 whole team meet for devotional time with the pastor
and the rest of the day we are just getting information about our ten day outreach, having lunch and then going to an informal evening with teenagers...I'm excited for that since I'm interested in working with youth.
Sunday
9.00 preparation time
11.00 morning service..we are supposed to prepare an imaginative (and preferably interactive) way of introducing ourselves, followed by a simple gospel 'thought' based on a verse of scripture...with a children's song (we've learned a couple here at school). This will last about 20 minutes until we all go to Junior Church, which meets during the later part of the service for about 50 minutes. There are three age groups: 4-6 years, 6-11, and 12+. Our team will be splitting up and going to the different age groups. Wherever we go this sunday is where we will be going for our ten day outreach. I'm not sure what I want to do yet.
After service we are going to different homes and having lunch.
15.00 Team meet back at church to prep
18.00 prayer meeting
18.30 evening service. This is where we have the most to do. We are going to be leading the entire night
20.00 back to school
and then that Monday we have lectures in the morning, and we have our practical week preparing for the 10 day outreach.
busy busy busy
Today I have three different papers I need to be working on, and I need to think of some good icebreakers..
I will be at a Baptist church about four hours away from school.
Here is just a little schedule for the weekend:
Friday
16:30 arrive at the church
17.30-18.45 I'm working with four other team members doing a Bible club for 6-11 year olds. This time around we don't need to plan anything...
19.00-21.00 buffet supper with people from the church. For this I have the opportunity to lead some icebreaker games for 40 minutes. My team leader knows me from camp and knows how many icebreakers we do there, so it shouldn't be hard to lead. At the end of the evening we are leading a short 20 minute devotional time. We are planning on doing a couple songs and short message. I don't have a part in this at the moment since I'll be doing the icebreaker.
21.30 going to our host families houses (and most likely passing out)
Saturday
10.00 whole team meet for devotional time with the pastor
and the rest of the day we are just getting information about our ten day outreach, having lunch and then going to an informal evening with teenagers...I'm excited for that since I'm interested in working with youth.
Sunday
9.00 preparation time
11.00 morning service..we are supposed to prepare an imaginative (and preferably interactive) way of introducing ourselves, followed by a simple gospel 'thought' based on a verse of scripture...with a children's song (we've learned a couple here at school). This will last about 20 minutes until we all go to Junior Church, which meets during the later part of the service for about 50 minutes. There are three age groups: 4-6 years, 6-11, and 12+. Our team will be splitting up and going to the different age groups. Wherever we go this sunday is where we will be going for our ten day outreach. I'm not sure what I want to do yet.
After service we are going to different homes and having lunch.
15.00 Team meet back at church to prep
18.00 prayer meeting
18.30 evening service. This is where we have the most to do. We are going to be leading the entire night
20.00 back to school
and then that Monday we have lectures in the morning, and we have our practical week preparing for the 10 day outreach.
busy busy busy
Today I have three different papers I need to be working on, and I need to think of some good icebreakers..
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Just another update
It has been too long since I have updated this blog. I’ve been back at school for awhile now, and I’ve been enjoying my time here. There has been a bad virus going around, which I of course contracted along with three out of five roommates. Yesterday one of my roommates, Cait, and I were both too sick to go to lectures so we stayed in bed watching movies together and finishing an essay that was due last night (I don’t procrastinate as much as I used too…but it still happens). Last night I took some NyQuil and quickly passed out. But I woke myself up too early this morning coughing and ended up going to lectures...but not before my roommates informed me I spent the entire night coughing and talking in my sleep. So NyQuil probably isn’t for me.
Today we mostly had lectures from our principal on the life of Abraham. Lately we have been focusing on relational problems and how to address them, so it’s been very interesting and practical. Our guest speaker for the week is talking about Luke, but I have only heard him once so far.
This weekend is an important weekend. For some background, to receive our certificate at the end of winter school we have to attend a ten day outreach. So we have all been put into teams, and this weekend we are driving all around England and Wales going to meet the people we are working with. I am in a large group and apparently the place we are going to is the most intense outreach our school sends students to. So that should be fun…I can’t say where I’ll be going, because I’m actually not sure where it is. They never really told us anything about our outreach except for the fact we are being picked up at 11:30 Friday and returning 11:30pm Sunday night.
So there is a lot to do this week: 2 essays, memorize 16 verses, I have to lead a discussion group Thursday, and getting ready for this weekend. I guess I haven’t really explained what a normal day is like here. So here we go:
We have breakfast at 7:30. It is supposed to be mandatory, but a lot of people sleep through it. I try and wake up at 6:30 every morning to read and get ready. After breakfast it is time to do daily duties (wash up, cleaning, etc). I don’t have a duty this time around, and since the middle of last term I go to the lounge every morning and talk with two friends, Nico (from Italy) and Maddie (from California). Lectures start at 8:55 (random..i know) and then we have two lectures with short breaks in between. At 10:40 there is tea break where we all rush up to the castle to check the mail and then chug a cup of tea before the final two morning lectures which start at 11. Lunch is at 1, and then the afternoon is free until dinner at 5:15. There is often work and reading to be done, but we also have the opportunity to go into nearby towns, go for walks around the loop, work out, and a lot of other fun activities. Dinner (called tea, not sure why), is buffet style, so it’s supposed to run until 5:45, but if you turn up any later than 5:20 there isn’t any food left for you. At 6 o’clock I often have a jam session with some musical people here. So two boys play guitar/sing and then it’s me and usually 3 other ‘regulars’ and then other people come in and out throughout the jam session. Lectures start at 7, so that’s when we head down to the conference hall and sit through two evening lectures which end at 8:40/9. By this time we are all tired and ready for bed, but we have something called supper, which is basically just hot chocolate and occasional biscuits.
On Wednesdays the first lecture period in the morning is family group. That is when all of the students go to either a staff members house or meet somewhere in the castle with at least one staff member and just talk and drink tea. My family group is very close, so we also meet on Tuesday nights and have toast and tea. It is amazing how excited we get about toast here. They have it at breakfast every morning but it’s always cold and not ‘toast like’.
During the week we also have New Testament discussion groups, Interactive groups (a small group with people who live by you), and Worship/Bible reading. The week is always very full, but it becomes routine very quickly.
Saturday mornings we have the entire day off, which everybody takes to their full advantage. Brunch is at 11, but the internet turns on at 9 which gets people up early. There are also Saturday trips to nearby towns, cities, football matches, or hikes. This past weekend I went to a cute little town called Skipton. There was a castle, cute shops, cafes and a little market.
Today we mostly had lectures from our principal on the life of Abraham. Lately we have been focusing on relational problems and how to address them, so it’s been very interesting and practical. Our guest speaker for the week is talking about Luke, but I have only heard him once so far.
This weekend is an important weekend. For some background, to receive our certificate at the end of winter school we have to attend a ten day outreach. So we have all been put into teams, and this weekend we are driving all around England and Wales going to meet the people we are working with. I am in a large group and apparently the place we are going to is the most intense outreach our school sends students to. So that should be fun…I can’t say where I’ll be going, because I’m actually not sure where it is. They never really told us anything about our outreach except for the fact we are being picked up at 11:30 Friday and returning 11:30pm Sunday night.
So there is a lot to do this week: 2 essays, memorize 16 verses, I have to lead a discussion group Thursday, and getting ready for this weekend. I guess I haven’t really explained what a normal day is like here. So here we go:
We have breakfast at 7:30. It is supposed to be mandatory, but a lot of people sleep through it. I try and wake up at 6:30 every morning to read and get ready. After breakfast it is time to do daily duties (wash up, cleaning, etc). I don’t have a duty this time around, and since the middle of last term I go to the lounge every morning and talk with two friends, Nico (from Italy) and Maddie (from California). Lectures start at 8:55 (random..i know) and then we have two lectures with short breaks in between. At 10:40 there is tea break where we all rush up to the castle to check the mail and then chug a cup of tea before the final two morning lectures which start at 11. Lunch is at 1, and then the afternoon is free until dinner at 5:15. There is often work and reading to be done, but we also have the opportunity to go into nearby towns, go for walks around the loop, work out, and a lot of other fun activities. Dinner (called tea, not sure why), is buffet style, so it’s supposed to run until 5:45, but if you turn up any later than 5:20 there isn’t any food left for you. At 6 o’clock I often have a jam session with some musical people here. So two boys play guitar/sing and then it’s me and usually 3 other ‘regulars’ and then other people come in and out throughout the jam session. Lectures start at 7, so that’s when we head down to the conference hall and sit through two evening lectures which end at 8:40/9. By this time we are all tired and ready for bed, but we have something called supper, which is basically just hot chocolate and occasional biscuits.
On Wednesdays the first lecture period in the morning is family group. That is when all of the students go to either a staff members house or meet somewhere in the castle with at least one staff member and just talk and drink tea. My family group is very close, so we also meet on Tuesday nights and have toast and tea. It is amazing how excited we get about toast here. They have it at breakfast every morning but it’s always cold and not ‘toast like’.
During the week we also have New Testament discussion groups, Interactive groups (a small group with people who live by you), and Worship/Bible reading. The week is always very full, but it becomes routine very quickly.
Saturday mornings we have the entire day off, which everybody takes to their full advantage. Brunch is at 11, but the internet turns on at 9 which gets people up early. There are also Saturday trips to nearby towns, cities, football matches, or hikes. This past weekend I went to a cute little town called Skipton. There was a castle, cute shops, cafes and a little market.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Second term
Saturday night most of us arrived back at school. There are still some people who haven't arrived, but classes started today. I'm really enjoying the start of second term. We have new roommates, new seats, and a kind of new start. I'm living in the conference hall for the term with five roommates. I'm happy with the room I was put it, and I have Stacey right next door to me!
Yesterday we had church in the morning and had our regular Sunday schedule. I'm happy to be back in the routine! In the afternoon I watched Enchanted with a lot of the girls in the conference hall and then I had my daily walk with my friend (and now roommate!!) Alaina! We have evening service on Sundays, and last night we just had a time to journal or draw and then we did communion at the tables we were at. It was nice to be back with everyone and sit and talk and hear stories.
This morning my roommates and I woke up at 6:30 so we could journal and read and then we had breakfast and I sat in the lounge like I normally do in the mornings. I played piano for a bit and then talked with Maddie and Nico, which I did almost every day last term. Our lectures for this week are 1&2 Corinthians and 1 Samuel, which is being taught by a great guest lecturer. I know this week will be a good week listening to him!
This afternoon I've been hanging out with my old roommates and new ones...and there are more lectures tonight!!
I will hopefully be blogging again soon!
Yesterday we had church in the morning and had our regular Sunday schedule. I'm happy to be back in the routine! In the afternoon I watched Enchanted with a lot of the girls in the conference hall and then I had my daily walk with my friend (and now roommate!!) Alaina! We have evening service on Sundays, and last night we just had a time to journal or draw and then we did communion at the tables we were at. It was nice to be back with everyone and sit and talk and hear stories.
This morning my roommates and I woke up at 6:30 so we could journal and read and then we had breakfast and I sat in the lounge like I normally do in the mornings. I played piano for a bit and then talked with Maddie and Nico, which I did almost every day last term. Our lectures for this week are 1&2 Corinthians and 1 Samuel, which is being taught by a great guest lecturer. I know this week will be a good week listening to him!
This afternoon I've been hanging out with my old roommates and new ones...and there are more lectures tonight!!
I will hopefully be blogging again soon!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Last full day in London..
London has been very fun. I wish I had been able to blog more, but having no internet at the hostel made it tricky. But now Maddie, Kaitlyn, Matt and I are sitting in Starbucks eating breakfast and reading/checking facebook/blogging.
On Wednesday Matt, Maddie and I walked around Hyde Park and looked for the Peter Pan statue. We eventually found it! After taking pictures of it we walked back to our hostel and did some window shopping on the way. After that we got some food from Tesco and Maddie and I got ready to see Wicked!! We both enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't my favorite cast but they were all very talented and did a great job. My favorite part would have to be the guy who played Boq because he was scottish. After the show was over our fourth travel buddy Kaitlyn had arrived in London. We met up with her and Matt underneath Big Ben and did some sightseeing around that part of London. We then took the tube back to our hostel and stayed there the rest of the evening.
Yesterday we went to the science museum and to Harrods. After that the other three watched a movie and I went to Starbucks to do some reading and have some internet time. Shortly after that Maddie and I went to a play called Deathtrap which we both really enjoyed. I made Maddie stage door with me because I really wanted to meet the cast.
Today we are going to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge and walking around London.
Tomorrow at noon we are heading back on the coach to school. Finally!!! We found another person from school at the museum yesterday and we all discussed how ready we are to be back at school.
I will be blogging from school shortly!
On Wednesday Matt, Maddie and I walked around Hyde Park and looked for the Peter Pan statue. We eventually found it! After taking pictures of it we walked back to our hostel and did some window shopping on the way. After that we got some food from Tesco and Maddie and I got ready to see Wicked!! We both enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't my favorite cast but they were all very talented and did a great job. My favorite part would have to be the guy who played Boq because he was scottish. After the show was over our fourth travel buddy Kaitlyn had arrived in London. We met up with her and Matt underneath Big Ben and did some sightseeing around that part of London. We then took the tube back to our hostel and stayed there the rest of the evening.
Yesterday we went to the science museum and to Harrods. After that the other three watched a movie and I went to Starbucks to do some reading and have some internet time. Shortly after that Maddie and I went to a play called Deathtrap which we both really enjoyed. I made Maddie stage door with me because I really wanted to meet the cast.
Today we are going to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge and walking around London.
Tomorrow at noon we are heading back on the coach to school. Finally!!! We found another person from school at the museum yesterday and we all discussed how ready we are to be back at school.
I will be blogging from school shortly!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
LONDON BABY!
Post from yesterday:
I am currently blogging from a train somewhere by the coast of England. We left Paris early this morning and took the metro to the train station. Then we took a nice ferry to England, and now we’re headed to London. The ferry was as nice as cruise ships I have seen pictures of. There was a nice coffee shop, bar, shops and other lounges, and a nice deck which we spent some time on.
I spent most of the time in the coffee shop since we don’t get to do that at school. I had a great time in Paris, but I am excited to be back in London. We don’t have any big plans except for Maddie and I seeing Wicked and Deathtrap. We are here until Saturday when we get picked up by the coach to go back to school.
Today:
We made it to our hostel last night and we were all exhausted from traveling all day. We ate a dinner at an italian restaurant and then we went to bed pretty shortly after that.
I woke up early this morning, but Maddie and Matt slept in later. I finished a 13 Little Blue Envelopes, which is a great book I've been reading while traveling across Europe. It is the perfect traveling book.
We eventually made it out of our hostel for a brunch at Starbucks. Then we bought some Oyster cards for using the tube, and we went to Parliament and Big Ben and the normal tourist spots in that area. We then met another person from school at Westminster Cathedral, and we then walked to Buckingham Palace and then walked through Hyde Park back to our hostel and to get some food. Now we are sitting in Starbucks using the internet since our hostel doesn't have any. So I will not be blogging as much this week, but I go back to school on Saturday (we are all excitedly counting down) and then I will definitely get on and blog if I'm not able to get on this week.
Tomorrow Maddie and I are seeing Wicked in the afternoon and then we are meeting another person from school.
Cheers!
I am currently blogging from a train somewhere by the coast of England. We left Paris early this morning and took the metro to the train station. Then we took a nice ferry to England, and now we’re headed to London. The ferry was as nice as cruise ships I have seen pictures of. There was a nice coffee shop, bar, shops and other lounges, and a nice deck which we spent some time on.
I spent most of the time in the coffee shop since we don’t get to do that at school. I had a great time in Paris, but I am excited to be back in London. We don’t have any big plans except for Maddie and I seeing Wicked and Deathtrap. We are here until Saturday when we get picked up by the coach to go back to school.
Today:
We made it to our hostel last night and we were all exhausted from traveling all day. We ate a dinner at an italian restaurant and then we went to bed pretty shortly after that.
I woke up early this morning, but Maddie and Matt slept in later. I finished a 13 Little Blue Envelopes, which is a great book I've been reading while traveling across Europe. It is the perfect traveling book.
We eventually made it out of our hostel for a brunch at Starbucks. Then we bought some Oyster cards for using the tube, and we went to Parliament and Big Ben and the normal tourist spots in that area. We then met another person from school at Westminster Cathedral, and we then walked to Buckingham Palace and then walked through Hyde Park back to our hostel and to get some food. Now we are sitting in Starbucks using the internet since our hostel doesn't have any. So I will not be blogging as much this week, but I go back to school on Saturday (we are all excitedly counting down) and then I will definitely get on and blog if I'm not able to get on this week.
Tomorrow Maddie and I are seeing Wicked in the afternoon and then we are meeting another person from school.
Cheers!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Disneyland Paris!!!!
Today Maddie and I went to Disneyland Paris, and we had a lot of fun! We early this morning, grabbed pain au chocolat and took the metro and a train to the park. We only had to wait a bit before the gates were open and we got into the park. The first thing we did was go on Space Mountain, and then we immediately got fast pass tickets to go back on later. Then we went on basically every ride at Disney except for Thunder Mountain because the line was always just too long.
We ate. a lot. Throughout the day we had a churro, chicken nuggets, crepes, an actual dinner of cheeseburgers and fries, and a cotton candy which was basically as big as me...so now we have both completely crashed back at our apartment while we are trying to get packed and ready to go to London tomorrow.
Paris has been great, and I'm sad we're leaving...but we have some great plans in London!
I'm having problems trying to get Disney pictures on the blog today, so I will have to try tomorrow or in the next couple days.
We'll be staying in a hostel in London, so we won't have as much internet time, but I'm still hoping I will have time to blog!
We ate. a lot. Throughout the day we had a churro, chicken nuggets, crepes, an actual dinner of cheeseburgers and fries, and a cotton candy which was basically as big as me...so now we have both completely crashed back at our apartment while we are trying to get packed and ready to go to London tomorrow.
Paris has been great, and I'm sad we're leaving...but we have some great plans in London!
I'm having problems trying to get Disney pictures on the blog today, so I will have to try tomorrow or in the next couple days.
We'll be staying in a hostel in London, so we won't have as much internet time, but I'm still hoping I will have time to blog!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Yet another post about Paris
First of all, here is where we were standing for the new year last night:
We didn't sleep in very much this morning. I woke up around 9 and checked facebook--only to see I had a message from Josh and Gabe, whom were with us last night. They weren't able to get back to their hostel last night, so they had been walking around Paris all night until I got on facebook and directed them to our apartment, where they were able to crash for awhile. This morning we walked to Sacre-Coeur which is a cathedral at one of the highest points in Paris. It was foggy today, so that's why we didn't climb the Eiffel Tower, but we could still see a bit from the top of the hill! It's midnight here, and everyone wants to sleep so I won't be able to post a picture of that tonight either, but the rest of the day was spent eating food and going on a boat cruise down the Seine. It was pretty fun!
Tomorrow Maddie and I are going to Disneyland Paris, which will definitely be a ton of fun!!
Tomorrow Maddie and I are going to Disneyland Paris, which will definitely be a ton of fun!!
Bonne Année!
This will be a short blog with no pictures of tonight because it is nearly 2am and we are waking up early to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Today we slept in a little bit, got lunch from our favorite place on the street and then we walked to Musee D'Orsay. The line to get inside was relatively short, and I think it was worth the money and the short wait. I am not a fan of museums, but it was very awesome seeing Van Gogh and Monet after hearing about them for years (and Doctor Who....)
After we were done in the museum, we stopped and ate crepes. I will post some pictures tomorrow...I was more interested in the man sitting at the table near us who looked freakishly like Orlando Bloom. We then relaxed in our apartment until we walked to the Louvre to finally meet up with some friends from school!! There were a total of nine people plus someone brought a friend who was traveling with them. We weren't able to meet up with everyone who is here, but those of us who got together had a really great night. We went to a restaurant we found while we were walking, and the manager sat us outside. When we first sat down a homeless man asked us for our coffee. We told him we didn't order any and he walked away. After we had gotten our food (I got a panini)..Gigi had gotten a pizza, and while we were sitting and eating a girl walked up to our table, looked at all of our food, stole a slice of Gigi's pizza and then swiftly ran away. None of us really knew what to do...so we kind of just laughed it off. We then got our bill and were trying to put in all of our share, when the waiter came, just took Gigi's fifty and a couple other bills and said goodnight. So that was also a great moment.
When we had finished eating we walked down Champs-Elysee and then spent the rest of our night in a park on a couple benches next to the Eiffel Tower. It was a perfect and more quiet spot than the rest of Paris. We had fun bonding over the drunk Parisians, the freezing weather, and some cheap champagne.
I will post more tomorrow, but it is now time for bed!
Bonne Année!
Today we slept in a little bit, got lunch from our favorite place on the street and then we walked to Musee D'Orsay. The line to get inside was relatively short, and I think it was worth the money and the short wait. I am not a fan of museums, but it was very awesome seeing Van Gogh and Monet after hearing about them for years (and Doctor Who....)
After we were done in the museum, we stopped and ate crepes. I will post some pictures tomorrow...I was more interested in the man sitting at the table near us who looked freakishly like Orlando Bloom. We then relaxed in our apartment until we walked to the Louvre to finally meet up with some friends from school!! There were a total of nine people plus someone brought a friend who was traveling with them. We weren't able to meet up with everyone who is here, but those of us who got together had a really great night. We went to a restaurant we found while we were walking, and the manager sat us outside. When we first sat down a homeless man asked us for our coffee. We told him we didn't order any and he walked away. After we had gotten our food (I got a panini)..Gigi had gotten a pizza, and while we were sitting and eating a girl walked up to our table, looked at all of our food, stole a slice of Gigi's pizza and then swiftly ran away. None of us really knew what to do...so we kind of just laughed it off. We then got our bill and were trying to put in all of our share, when the waiter came, just took Gigi's fifty and a couple other bills and said goodnight. So that was also a great moment.
When we had finished eating we walked down Champs-Elysee and then spent the rest of our night in a park on a couple benches next to the Eiffel Tower. It was a perfect and more quiet spot than the rest of Paris. We had fun bonding over the drunk Parisians, the freezing weather, and some cheap champagne.
I will post more tomorrow, but it is now time for bed!
Bonne Année!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
J'adore Paris
Today was my favorite day in Paris so far. We woke up rather early and went to the same bakery for breakfast. This morning the three of us got Pain au Chocolat. Matt and I then walked around trying to find Maddie who went to top up her phone. After some confusion and finally finding each other, we made our way to Notre Dame! We had a beautiful walk from our apartment and down the Seine.
When we got to Notre Dame there was a very, very long line. We decided that we are going to try to go inside another day, but we still walked around outside and took pictures. We also stayed to listen to the bells ring, which was a very cool experience.
We ate lunch at a little cafe near Notre Dame. I had a sandwich which was basically toast with ham and cheese melted on top. We didn't have any problems with muggers today, but I was charged 5 euros for my cup of diet coke. That was a surprise, but now I have learned just to order water whenever I go inside a restaurant here.
After looking around in some shops and buying something for my mom and dad, we decided to go and do some shopping in some stores we've been walking past throughout our trip here. Most of the stores here are way too expensive--but it was fun trying on clothes and looking at jewelry and purses. After standing in a line with Maddie for what seemed like half an hour, Matt told us he was feeling sick, so we walked back to our apartment as quickly as we could. He decided to stay behind while Maddie and I did some more shopping. After we were done shopping we went to Starbucks and I tried a drink I had not tried before! It was a tea frappucino, which according to the menu was 'an iced drink and hit flavors raspberry, cassis, white grape and cassis.'
We sat in Starbucks for awhile and talked while Maddie drew.
After awhile we decided to go exploring some some streets we had not yet traveled down. We found a lot more clothing stores, but we also came across a photography gallery! There were pictures of city landscapes, people, the ocean, and others. After some more exploring we decided to walk back to the apartment to see how Matt was doing. We ended up buying him a baguette and then leaving him for the evening. Maddie and I had a wonderful night! We began with crepes at the restaurant right next to our apartment. I had a sugar crepe, which I had at Disney World this time last year.....I think I liked the one from Disney better, but I'm not complaining! We then planned on going to the ferris wheel and just walk around. To get to the ferris wheel we had to walk through the Louvre which was absolutely beautiful. It may have been one of the most beautiful things I have seen since I have moved to this side of the world. My camera doesn't like taking pictures when it's dark outside, so I couldn't fully capture the beauty. But here's a snapshot:
As we began to walk towards the pyramids we heard some beautiful music coming from the archway. There was a man playing a cello...and he was very good. He was also in a spot which created the perfect photo opportunity.
By this point I had fallen in love with Paris...and I realized why Paris is known as the city of lights. We took some more pictures, went inside of the big pyramid and then moved on towards the ferris wheel.
We didn't have to wait in any sort of line once we arrived, which was a surprise to both Maddie and myself. Sadly, there was too much fog so the Eiffel Tower wasn't visible tonight. I'm hoping we will be able to see it for New Years tomorrow or over the next couple days we are here. But we saw the Arc De Triomph clearly, which was breathtaking. When we were done on the ferris wheel we watched a dance group from Texas who were perfoming next to the wheel, and then we began our walk back to our flat.
We stopped in a couple shops and we went to McDonalds after we promised each other we wouldn't go to it at all while we were in Paris (we spent too much time hanging out in McDonalds in Edinburgh). But Maddie and I were both hungry and it sounded really great at that moment. We made it back to our apartment, told Matt all about our adventures and have now been uploading pictures, skyping and watching the Van Gogh Doctor Who episodes...since we may be going to Musee D'Orsay tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
"Do you KNOW what the Louvre IS?"
Today was our first full day in Paris, and it was full of food, adventure and fun.
We slept in until ten so Maddie could try and fight off her jet lag, but once we were all awake we got ready and walked down our street deciding what we wanted for brunch. We ended up doing some grocery shopping and then we got baguettes and pain au chocolat from a patisserie. Once we had finished eating our delicious pastries, we spent the day walking around sightseeing. We decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower and see what we would run into on the way. Because I didn't pay a lot of attention in French class, I didn't know a lot about the buildings and statues we saw. If a building or statue looked pretty or important, I took a picture..
There are carousels scattered throughout Paris, but the first one we saw was here by the ice rink.
While we were walking we walked into some interesting little shops, and even found Harry Potter in french (surprise..)
After exploring for awhile we ended up at the Louvre. I had a rather embarrassing moment, not knowing what the Louvre looked like. oops.
As we kept walking, there was an incident in which two men kind of...I guess you could say 'legally mugged' us. As was taking the above picture, one of the guys went up to Matt and told him to hold some string for him. Matt said no, but the guy went up to him anyways and grabbed his wrist. He then proceeded to make a bracelet, tie it around his wrist and then told him to give him ten euros. Maddie and I walked over, and another guy did the same thing to us, except the entire time he was saying, "you are sexy. Do you have boyfriend?" and some other things he clearly memorized from a phrase book. Because "we were sexy" he only made us give him eight euro each. So that was a rather exciting experience.
We just kept walking after that, complaining--but the same thing happened later, and Maddie screamed no and we kept walking. We also had some gypsies ask us if we spoke english, but we said no...Maddie and I were rather excited when we found the fountain from The Devil Wears Prada (which we are watching right now).
Before we walked to the Eiffel Tower we decided to walk to the Arc de Triomphe. It was so much bigger than I expected it to be! We walked through the tunnel and went inside it to take some pictures and be tourists.
We then walked to the Eiffel Tower, which was inspiring and magnifique. Maddie and I bought some delicious crepes and ate them in front of the Eiffel Tower. They were pretty messy, but delicious! We both had banana and chocolate crepes, with a lot of whipped creme and nutella...it was kind of messy to eat, but so worth it! We then took lots and lots of pictures of the Eiffel Tower. The line was very long today so we didn't go inside, but we will be going back in the next few days to go up it.
It started to get cold after walking for awhile, so we decided to walk down the river seine to get back to our flat. It was picturesque, and we saw all of the monuments we saw this morning, except it had gotten quite dark outside so everything was lit up and beautiful. For dinner we bought a fresh baguette and got some brie cheese, and I had some leftover pasta from dinner last night. So far one of my favorite things about Paris is the food. After dinner we walked around for awhile and went window shopping until everything began to close. Thankfully, things don't close here as early as Edinburgh. There is also so much more to do at night here. We are hopefully going to be taking a night cruise while we are here...and of course New Years Eve!!
Tomorrow the plan is to go to Notre Dame and maybe take a bus tour...and shopping =]
We slept in until ten so Maddie could try and fight off her jet lag, but once we were all awake we got ready and walked down our street deciding what we wanted for brunch. We ended up doing some grocery shopping and then we got baguettes and pain au chocolat from a patisserie. Once we had finished eating our delicious pastries, we spent the day walking around sightseeing. We decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower and see what we would run into on the way. Because I didn't pay a lot of attention in French class, I didn't know a lot about the buildings and statues we saw. If a building or statue looked pretty or important, I took a picture..
While we were walking we walked into some interesting little shops, and even found Harry Potter in french (surprise..)
As we kept walking, there was an incident in which two men kind of...I guess you could say 'legally mugged' us. As was taking the above picture, one of the guys went up to Matt and told him to hold some string for him. Matt said no, but the guy went up to him anyways and grabbed his wrist. He then proceeded to make a bracelet, tie it around his wrist and then told him to give him ten euros. Maddie and I walked over, and another guy did the same thing to us, except the entire time he was saying, "you are sexy. Do you have boyfriend?" and some other things he clearly memorized from a phrase book. Because "we were sexy" he only made us give him eight euro each. So that was a rather exciting experience.
We just kept walking after that, complaining--but the same thing happened later, and Maddie screamed no and we kept walking. We also had some gypsies ask us if we spoke english, but we said no...Maddie and I were rather excited when we found the fountain from The Devil Wears Prada (which we are watching right now).
It started to get cold after walking for awhile, so we decided to walk down the river seine to get back to our flat. It was picturesque, and we saw all of the monuments we saw this morning, except it had gotten quite dark outside so everything was lit up and beautiful. For dinner we bought a fresh baguette and got some brie cheese, and I had some leftover pasta from dinner last night. So far one of my favorite things about Paris is the food. After dinner we walked around for awhile and went window shopping until everything began to close. Thankfully, things don't close here as early as Edinburgh. There is also so much more to do at night here. We are hopefully going to be taking a night cruise while we are here...and of course New Years Eve!!
Tomorrow the plan is to go to Notre Dame and maybe take a bus tour...and shopping =]
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Day one
I am currently sitting in our very small, one room flat in Paris.
Today has been such an adventure! I woke up early this morning and went to the airport. This was my first time ever flying by myself, and I really liked it! I also had my first ever pat down at airport security today. That was fun. While waiting for my flight to board, I sat in Costa Coffee and wrote. The flight to Paris was uneventful, except for the power going out before we took off..woops. The flight was quite short, and I think I spent longer sitting in the airport figuring out how to get to my flat than I did on the plane.
I eventually figured out that I would need to take a bus from CDG airport to L'Opera de Paris. Once I was off that bus, I realized I was completely lost. I wandered around for over an hour trying to figure out a way to the flat, to no avail. I had fun looking at shops and people and buildings, but it started to rain and I had my luggage with me. I then took a taxi to the flat, and I'm glad I did. I was pretty far away from where I was supposed to be. But I saw some of the famous buildings and bridges while I was in the taxi. And thankfully, I made it safely to the flat. I will definitely be posting pictures sometime soon.
We are still waiting for Maddie to get here. Her flight got in awhile ago but we haven't been able to reach her..
Today has been such an adventure! I woke up early this morning and went to the airport. This was my first time ever flying by myself, and I really liked it! I also had my first ever pat down at airport security today. That was fun. While waiting for my flight to board, I sat in Costa Coffee and wrote. The flight to Paris was uneventful, except for the power going out before we took off..woops. The flight was quite short, and I think I spent longer sitting in the airport figuring out how to get to my flat than I did on the plane.
I eventually figured out that I would need to take a bus from CDG airport to L'Opera de Paris. Once I was off that bus, I realized I was completely lost. I wandered around for over an hour trying to figure out a way to the flat, to no avail. I had fun looking at shops and people and buildings, but it started to rain and I had my luggage with me. I then took a taxi to the flat, and I'm glad I did. I was pretty far away from where I was supposed to be. But I saw some of the famous buildings and bridges while I was in the taxi. And thankfully, I made it safely to the flat. I will definitely be posting pictures sometime soon.
We are still waiting for Maddie to get here. Her flight got in awhile ago but we haven't been able to reach her..
Monday, December 27, 2010
tomorrow.
is Paris.
I've had a great time at Stacey's house these past two weeks. Tonight I've been packing for PARIS TOMORROW. I have an early flight tomorrow, and I'm not yet sure what I'm doing when I get to Paris. I'm going with the same people I traveled around Edinburgh with, and we've never been good at planning. We are all arriving in the country at different times, and the keys for the apartment we're renting have to be picked up at a certain time, so basically we're all going to be separately bumming alone around Paris. I know. Really safe. I think I'm going to end up hanging around the airport for a few hours until I can meet one of my travel buddies.
Yesterday I completely forgot to blog. But I went to Stacey's church, and was sucked into leading worship.
The man we're renting the apartment from hasn't given us any information about the place we're staying in...except for the fact it's on the fifth floor with no elevator, a big screen tv, and two balconies. So, tomorrow will be a big surprise! I'm really hoping there is wi-fi so I can blog, but I will hopefully be able to find a place with wi-fi if we don't have it in our apartment.
Pray for safe travels and a safe/fun time in Paris!
If I don't blog while I'm there, I'm traveling to London on the 3rd and will make sure I find internet.
Cheers.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Happy Christmas, Harry
This will be a Christmas I will always remember. I have never been away from home for Christmas, but I had such a great time today. This morning it was just me, Aryn and Stacey's family, minus one brother. We woke up rather early and opened up stockings and presents. Stacey's family bought Aryn and me stockings and a couple small gifts, which was so kind of them. I also had some presents from my family and from Stacey and Aryn. After we all had given and received our gifts, we enjoyed a breakfast of scones, bacon, juice and eggs (none for me..but everyone else enjoyed it!). This afternoon we watched Santa Clause and just enjoyed Christmas.
For Christmas dinner one other person joined us, and it was an excellent meal. There was turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, parsnips and carrots, bread, and pie.
This evening we are going to watch the Doctor Who Christmas special. I'm excited for that.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas eve.
Today was an amazing day. Stacey, Aryn and I woke up early and walked over to a cafe called The Hungry Hobbit, where we ate elevenses. On the way to the cafe I had 'the road goes ever on and on' going through my head. In the cafe, there were pictures from Lord of the Rings on the walls and there was a Gollum statue wearing a santa outfit. It was very cute.
On the way to the Hungry Hobbit we stopped by Sarehole Mill, which used to be a childhood playground of the one and only J.R.R. Tolkien. The mill closed in November, so we won't able to go inside to the museum, but here's a picture!
Next to the mill, there is a little park called The Shire. After our morning adventures we spent some time in the park while we waited for Stacey's parents to pick us up.
Our next stop was Moseley Bog, which was stunningly beautiful. Stacey says it looks straight out of Lord of the Rings in the summer, but with the snow on the ground it was still quite beautiful. Here's just a few pictures. There is a little creek running through the bog with a boardwalk, and a lot of little paths and steps. There were some dogs running around through the trees, and we even helped find a lost dalmatian.
After wandering through the bog and park, Stacey's parents picked us up and we went almost directly to a little town called Stratford-Upon-Avon. This is the town where Shakespeare was born and also where he is now buried.
This is the home he was born in. Around his home there are a bunch of little touristy shops. We only went into a little Christmas shop, and then we walked to the church where he is buried, and where we also attended a candlelight carol service.
The service we attended was wonderful. The choir sang two of my all time favorite choral pieces: Lux Aurumque by Eric Whitacre and O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen. Both of the pieces I knew from being in concert choir in high school, and they were two of my favorites to sing. This was my first time hearing O Magnum live by a choir that wasn't my own. I loved it, even though I wanted to sing along the entire time. We did sing some traditional Christmas carols, but it still took me by surprise when the carols I know from back home were different in this country.
After the service had ended we went to the back of the church to find Shakespeare's grave. There wasn't anything that said where he was buried, so we asked someone. They pointed us to a very worn down looking part of the floor. There used to be writing on the tomb, but so many people have touched it and put down flowers and other items the writing has worn off.
There it is! It was interesting to see it after hearing and reading all about Shakespeare in high school.
The rest of this evening we have been enjoying good food and Elf.
It has been a very good Christmas eve. I couldn't think of a better way to spend it here.
On the way to the Hungry Hobbit we stopped by Sarehole Mill, which used to be a childhood playground of the one and only J.R.R. Tolkien. The mill closed in November, so we won't able to go inside to the museum, but here's a picture!
Lord of the Rings fan? (Ents rule)
A pretty impressive tree
After the service had ended we went to the back of the church to find Shakespeare's grave. There wasn't anything that said where he was buried, so we asked someone. They pointed us to a very worn down looking part of the floor. There used to be writing on the tomb, but so many people have touched it and put down flowers and other items the writing has worn off.
The rest of this evening we have been enjoying good food and Elf.
It has been a very good Christmas eve. I couldn't think of a better way to spend it here.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Happy Christmas Eve, Eve!
Today began to feel a lot more like Christmas as we have been watching a couple Christmas movies, and some more of Stacey's family came today. Stacey, Aryn and I were supposed to have our Tolkien day today, but we didn't get out of bed until noon (woops). So we have postponed our adventure for tomorrow, and I am pretty excited!
Nothing much happened today except for movie watching, skyping, cookie making and lots of food.
That's really it for today....but TOMORROW will be exciting. I can guarantee it.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
"Bow ties are cool"
Today we went to yet another mall, where I bought some socks and a hot water bottle. Livin' large.
Christmas is getting closer so Stacey, Aryn and I wrapped our Christmas presents for each other. The process of buying presents for each other was to basically take something off the shelf and give it to each other. We've been getting into the Christmas cheer listening to Christmas carols and we've watched The Holiday.
We've had some more snow, so I'm starting to get nervous about traveling to Paris. I've been going onto the Eurostar website and they have been canceling some of the trains or they have been pretty delayed. I'm crossing my fingers!
Janelle is leaving for Germany tomorrow with two girls named Jenny and Britlynn, so they are spending the night here so they can catch their flight in the morning. They took the bus to Stacey's except they got off about three miles too early, so we drove out to find them. After a wonderful dinner of chili and crisps, we are now watching Hot Fuzz and lounging around the house.
Tomorrow is the much anticipated Lord of the Rings day. So, expect a very nerdfighter post tomorrow.
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