already nostalgic.

I'm not in London any more. On Saturday I flew back to North Carolina, and I have spent the last few days sleeping, doing laundry, and craving a good cup of tea. I am happy to be home, though, as I get to sleep in my own room, spend time with my family, and spend money without having to do mental math for each price.

My last few days in London were really busy. I had final papers and tests that took up the majority of my time. It was not the most fun way to spend my last few days in London, as I wanted to be exploring, but it probably helped me emotionally prepare to come home, as I was just ready to stop doing school work.

My last day, however, was absolutely amazing. I went to the gallery for the last time, which was really sad, but it was a good day. After I left Hampstead I headed for Parliament, where I was meeting up with some friends at a bar there. One of my friends did an internship with an MP, so we were all spending time with her people. I had never been to Parliament and I felt really important having a connection to get inside. The picture below was taken from a...let's say UNIQUE view from the building. It was probably the coolest view of the city that I have ever gotten, and probably the best I will ever get. It was a great way to spend my last evening. And I was reminded of just how beautiful the city is.

Samuel Johnson once said "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." I find this to be absolutely accurate. I am by no means tired of London, and I doubt I ever will be. I love the city so much. It is definitely one of my favorite places in the world, and I hope to return to it again. Life seems so much slower back in this small town, which is fine, but I do miss the business and the excitement of London. The city will forever be a home for me.

printroom.

This semester I have done an internship at Printroom, a small gallery in Hampstead that sells contemporary fine art prints. I have learned a lot about through this placement and I have really enjoyed the opportunity. I have gotten to meet some of the artists, which has been really neat. One of them is actually from near Morganton, NC, which was a fun connection to make. The networking opportunities of this internship have taken me all over London. I even got to go to a function in a 30 story sky scraper down in Canary Warf.

I have gotten to see and handle hundreds of beautiful pieces of art. Life is very different when you look at art so often. I will miss the excitement of opening a new delivery that is from an artist. It is great fun to feel like I am one of the first people to see a new set of prints!

I have created a facebook page and a twitter account for the gallery (please follow @PrintroomLondon on twitter and like Printroom on facebook) and I have done some updates for the website. I have really enjoyed these marketing aspects of the intership, and I am glad I got the chance to help the gallery use some new forms of social media.

These are just a few of the awesome things I have gotten to do with my internship. I really love my weekly trips to Highgate and Hampstead. If you are ever in the area, you should definitely look up the gallery. I know it is somewhere I hope to return to, as it has been really great to me.

Oh, and last week when I was hanging the gallery window I saw Ricky Gervais. Pretty cool!

american nomad.

My friend Jenna listens to a band called the Apache Relay. She knows some of the members, and has told me about them multiple times. When she messaged me and told me that they were playing in London last week I decided to check them out. The show was free so I took a few friends and we had a really great time. Their latest album is titled "American Nomad," which we thought was fitting. Sometimes I feel like a nomad, with all of the suitcases and storage containers that are currently used in my life! I never really spend too much time in the same place. I also just realized that I won't be in the same place for more than two weeks straight again until I am in Chapel Hill in January. Crazy. But anyway. Their music is the kind of stuff I want to listen to while sitting on a porch in the mountains. They definitely got a few more fans that night! Yes, I went to see a band from Tennessee while in London, but it was a great show and it was nice to get a little taste of home. I felt like I should be wearing flannel. I am so looking forward to seeing the Blue Ridge Mountains again soon.

Over the weekend I went to multiple parks. I am planning to purchase a print from the gallery where I have my internship, and the print I want shows a scene from Primrose Hill. I decided that I should probably go to Primrose Hill before I buy the print, just so that I can say I've been there. I found it right as the sun was starting to set and it was really pretty! The hill provided a great view of London. I could see the eye, and St Pauls, as well as a few other noticeable landmarks!

Then, on Sunday I went to Hampstead for their Christmas Festival. I am in Hampstead at least once a week for my internship but I never really get to explore. It was fun to actually see the area where I have invested so much time. I went to Hampstead Heath, which is a massive park. Somehow, my friends and I found ourselves leaving the park in an entire separate part of London. But we managed to get back to Hampstead to enjoy the rest of the festival, and to see the lights turned on, on the high street. It was a beautiful day and a nice time to relax and explore the area. It was a nice weekend, and I enjoyed exploring the parks and areas outside in London! The weather has been absolutely incredible this semester; I don't know how long it has been since I have seen rain!

do you sell sour cream?

Two years ago I spent Thanksgiving in Ireland with my family. It was slightly odd, not being in the USA, but it wasn't too strange, because I was still with my family. Clearly, Hannah and I still enjoyed Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving, however, I was not only in London, but I was not with my family. It was my first Thanksgiving without them. Luckily, my program decided to have its own Thanksgiving dinner. Our UNC professors said that they would provide the turkey and the pumpkin pie as long as we all brought in a side dish. Great!

Wait...now not only was it my first Thanksgiving away from my family, but it was the first time I was responsible for REALLY contributing to the meal. Hm...

So I emailed my mom and got a recipe for broccoli casserole. It seemed manageable. I was in Sainsbury's on Thanksgiving grabbing a few last minute ingredients for the casserole and I was reminded that some things just aren't the same here. For example, I could not find Ritz crackers. Or any proper substitute for a super processed, buttery and salty cracker. As I was running around, attempting to figure out the conversions for ingredients and the proper substitutes for what I couldn't find I noticed a young man with a cart. In his cart were two entire turkeys, a wide range of vegetables, and a few other seemingly obscure items. He was going up to every employee in the store and asking them "Do you carry sour cream?"

I'm not sure what Thanksgiving dish involves sour cream, but his southern drawl was a give-away; he was an American student attempting to recreate Thanksgiving, just as I was. It was some what comforting to know that someone else was having a makeshift Thanksgiving. I was tempted to speak to him, and tell him I knew how he felt. Hopefully he figured out a good substitute for sour cream.

My flatmates and I all managed to pull off our dishes, and it was a successfully yummy Thanksgiving meal. We had turkey, pie, casseroles, sweet potatoes, rolls, and cranberry sauce, just to name a few. It was nice to be around people who had ties to UNC, and North Carolina just as I do. But, while I am not quite yet ready to leave London, I decided it would have been nice to return just for Thanksgiving. It's just not the same without family.

if harry potter shopped at harrods...

For those of you who didn't already know, I'm rather obsessed with Harry Potter. Surprise, I know. I heard that Harrods had a special display and shop of Harry Potter props and toys. I went on Saturday and completely nerded out. They had actual props from the movies, which was neat. Wands that were actually used by the actors, and dresses worn by various actresses.

These are ACTUAL WANDS. BAH. Okay, freak out is finished, for now...

They also had a small recreation of the great hall, with a great back drop. I would have been sorted for Gryffindor, obviously. It was really fun to see it all!

Saturday night I went to a Christmas market with a friend. It was on the southbank, which I have decided I really love. Waterloo bridge is probably my favorite one, because you can see everything from it. On one side is Parliament and Westminster, and on the other you can see Saint Pauls and the Gherkin. It's a really nice bridge, and it was fun to be on for the sunset.

I went to the Courtauld gallery on Sunday, but I didn't take any pictures there. Last night I went to see The Apache Relay, a band from Tennessee, and they were really good! And then tonight I saw the play One Man, Two Guvnors. It was absolutely hilarious. It was a great week.

is the lord mayor santa?

This Saturday was the Lord Mayor's Show in London. I don't understand all of the politics of having a Lord Mayor of London, and a Mayor of London, and the positions not being the same, but it meant there was a parade, which I understood completely. The parade was much longer than we expected, but it was really neat. There were bunches of marching bands and floats, all representing aspects of London. We kept joking about the parade, and comparing it to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We would laughingly look for Garfield balloons, and we discussed the thought of the parade ending with Santa. There was no Santa, but the parade ended with the Lord Mayor himself, riding up the street in the really elaborate carriage seen below.

There were fireworks on the Thames river in the evening, then I walked around down near Westminster. It's such a nice area lit up at night. It was quite crowded, though. I think many people had the same idea. But it was pretty to see it all, and it wasn't too cold, which was nice.

Today, some of us decided to have a tourist afternoon and explore some of the more touristy areas of the city. We went to Kings Cross station to attempt to get pictures at Platform 9 3/4. When I was in London a few years ago the display was not actually in between platforms 9 and 10, but it was inside of the station. The sign is now outside of the station in what appears to be a construction corner. Not the real thing. I'm sure I would have successfully gotten to Hogwarts if I had been able to get to the real platform...

We the wet to Abbey Road to see the recording studios. We had debated getting a picture at the cross walk, but we quickly realized how obnoxious it was for all of the drivers to be interrupted by the crowds of tourists. We may return in an evening to get a picture when traffic is down, but we did not want to cause any more annoyances on the road today. Instead we just took pictures in front of the studio.

It was a gorgeous day in London. It felt like mid-October. The leaves are changing colors and falling, and I wore a light sweater and was fine. I was glad to be able to explore some. It was a wonderful London weekend.

Parma, but not parmesan.

Parma is even smaller than Bologna, but it felt more livable. I really liked the city. Our hostel was on the outskirts of the city, so we saw a fair amount of it in our travels. It was fun to see the city center and the more industrial aspects of it. I really liked the feel of it all.

There is a big park in Parma called Ducal Park, which is really pretty. There is a palace, which was closed, and a lot of sculptures and pretty cutaways. The park was a nice place to eat lunch.

We went to the Baptistery which was really pretty. I didn't really know what to expect and I was absolutely blown away. There was a tour group there, which kind of took away from it, but it was really nice. I loved the different colored stones and each of the columns and sections inside were different. No two capitals were the same. No two columns were the same. It was so artistically interesting. I don't know why I haven't learned of it before.

Each of the triangles within the baptistery were painted differently. It was really impressive. I just sat and looked at it for a long time. I couldn't imagine anything being more impressive, though, until I walked into the cathedral.

I don't think I closed my jaw for the first ten minutes I was inside of the cathedral. I could not come up with words. The walls, columns, and ceiling were all covered completely with elaborate frescoes. I think this was the most impressive thing I saw in Italy. It looked like sculpture, it was so intricately painted. My neck started to hurt, I spent so much time looking up. I really don't think I can accurately describe it. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. Erin left before me, and she joked with me later that she had already decided to come find me if I hadn't appeared within twenty minutes. Like the baptistery, I have no idea why I haven't heard of this cathedral in art classes before. It deserves to be recognized.

 Parma was a great way to end the break. There was enough to do to keep us interested without stressing us out with the need to do too much. By the end, though, I was ready to get back to London. I've realized that I only have a few weeks left here, and there is still so much to do in this amazing city. Italy was great, but I was happy to get back to tea, and biscuits, and the English language.

And the city is already lit up for Christmas. London is beautiful.

my Bologna has a first name.

My next stop was Bologna, which is a nice town that we had heard has amazing food. Everything in Bologna was really accessible, and we were able to walk the entire city center in the first afternoon. We kept coming across churches and museums, and we would just enter them out of curiosity. It was fun to have enough time to just wander and take in the surroundings.

This square is in front of Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, which I knew I wanted to make sure I found. The church currently has Cimabue's Virgin and Child Enthroned, which I have learned about in my art history classes. It was absolutely awesome to see the piece, especially in a church. It is totally different seeing the pieces in an intended location. There was a woman praying in front of the particular chapel holding the piece. Seeing art is it was intended adds an entirely new level of understanding. Also, the piece is from the 13th century. SO OLD. So incredible.

The second day Erin and I decided to climb one of Bologna's towers. At one point there may have been over 150 towers in the city, but only a few still stand. The one that we went up in is the Asinelli Tower, and it was over 400 steps to the top. The above picture is supposed to give you a frame of reference. Remember the green roof.

This is the view from the top of the tower. I love that my camera has a panoramic setting. IT WAS SO PRETTY. And it was an amazingly clear day. We were really lucky. The picture below shows you the green roof. That's how high up we were. And we weren't even that out of breath.

Bologna was really pretty, and the food was amazing. We were ready to head on, though, and we were excited to see what Parma had to offer.

this tower, it leans.

After Rome and Pompei, I met someone else in Pisa. The train ride by myself was kind of lonely, and I was happy to find Erin in the train station. The city was small, and really touristy, but I liked it. I thought it was really pretty, and walking across the river was really nice. It was a beautiful day, which was good because we expected rain. It was great to just walk around and explore, without needing a map because everything was along the same road.

We quickly made it to the tower. Honestly, the lean was rather unsettling for me. I knew it was not going to fall over, but part of me was slightly wondering if it was going to keep sliding. I just can't quite understand why the thing falls like it does. Whoops.

We had thought that it might be fun to go up in the tower,  but it cost 15 euros. So we paid 6 euros to go into the Baptistery and the Cathedral instead. It was a good decision, because the Baptistery and the Cathedral were really beautiful. And the view from the upstairs of the Baptistery was really great. I also think it may have weirder me out even more to walk on the leaning platforms of the tower.

It was funny to look around and see all the people posing in front of the tower, leaning on it, and attempting to get good pictures. I know that I walked through peoples pictures constantly. It was impossible not to. There was not much to Pisa beyond the tower, but it was a nice relaxing day. I didn't feel super stressed, running around like I did in Rome. And I got some really silly pictures of me being super touristy. This is the least ridiculous of them all.

pompei.

I have wanted to go to Pompei since I first learned about it in TAG in 3rd or 4th grade. I have been fascinated by the history of the place. I was super excited to finally get to go, and it was really cool.

This is one of the streets in Pompei. The sidewalks are really high because there was a lot of rain drainage and the streets often flooded. The large rocks across the road were used to walk across when the streets were high and flooded. The audioguide taught me lots of cool facts like this one. I was totally amazed at the sheer size of the ruins. It was MASSIVE. If I hadn't gotten an audioguide I wouldn't have had a map, and I probably would have gotten lost wandering around the area.

Many of the homes and living areas had pieces of art displayed.  Most of them, however, were recreations, as the originals are kept in the history museum in Naples. Some of the frescoes were originals, because it can be difficult to move them, but most of the art was not original. I guess I understand the need to move and preserve the art, but it was kind of a let down to be repeatedly told by my audioguide that the work wasn't original.

 

This is the Colosseum in Pompei. It was one of the largest amphitheaters in the area. At one point it was closed, because riots broke out during the games, but it was reopened years later. The whole idea of gladiators is kind of strange to me. I guess it is good that I was not alive in ancient Roman times.

The ancient ruins were really impressive. I was quite amazed at the scale and level of preservation of the ruins. And it was neat to think of them as a current archeological site. Excavations are still being done, and pieces are still being discovered. The modern town of Pompei isn't so nice, but the ruins were really cool to see, and I'm glad I went. And I'm learning that audioguides aren't so bad after all.

roaming in rome.

Last week was my fall break and I spent the week exploring Italy. I took more pictures in the eight days in Italy than I have in two months in London. I will attempt to choose the best pictures and the main highlights for my blog so that the posts don't get incredibly long and monotonous. I hope you enjoy!

The first stop on my Italian adventure was Rome. I have wanted to go to Rome for an incredibly long time and ended up only have a day and a half their, so I was busy the entire time. I spent the first day walking around the city, exploring the monuments and buildings that were free. It was really awesome to see things that I have learned about in my art classes. It made my major real and relevant in a way that is sometimes missed when looking at pictures of art in text books.

The first big stop was the Pantheon. Not only is this structure free, but it is absolutely beautiful. It would have been worth paying a few euros to go into. I love the idea of a perfect structure being comprised of a circle inside of a square, and this building shows an attempt to obtain this perfection. [yes, my art history background is coming out here]. Also, it is one of the oldest buildings around, as it was built in about 126 AD. THAT IS SO OLD! I have a difficult time comprehending the pure age of the structure. It was a great introduction to Rome.

 The rest of the day was spent wandering around the city and seeing more churches and landmarks. This picture was taken above the Spanish steps, where I had a great view of the city. I did not have much time to purely take in the beauty of Rome, but it is a really nice place.

On the second day, we got up early to go to the Vatican. St. Peter's Basilica was closed in the morning for a private mass so we started in the Vatican Museums, which also include the Sistine Chapel. We were not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel but we could take pictures in the rest of the museums.

This is the School of Athens by Raphael. It is a gorgeous piece. I was surprised, however, at the little amount of lead up to the image. I had totally forgotten that this painting was in Vatican City, and I almost missed it. It is towards the end of the fresco galleries, and I was just ready to see the Sistine Chapel. Many people breezed right by it, not realizing what they were missing, and I almost did the same. I happened to glance back to try to located Liz, the girl I was with, and I noticed it on the wall behind me. I am really glad I did, as I would have been very disappointed to have missed it. I love learning who all is depicted in the painting, and although many of the figures identities have escaped me, it is still a very impressive piece.

 After we got through the Vatican Museums we got in line for St. Peter's Basilica. This basilica is the largest Catholic church, and no other catholic basilica is allowed to be bigger than this one. I was very impressed by its scale and grandeur. I remember first seeing this particular altar piece in an art history class and, while thinking it was pretty, not totally understanding the fascination with the object. I understood when I saw it. The piece is HUGE. I was immediately drawn to it, even though it is located towards the back of the basilica. I walked directly to it, ignoring the rest of the art around me, and I was still looking at it long after Liz had seen half of the entire church. I could have spent even more time staring up at the impressive piece in front of me. Hand carved and absolutely massive, the piece is very incredible.

After we finished in Vatican City, we went to the Colosseum. We knew we did not have much time left before it closed, and we were getting very tired. At this point I had been on my feet for at least 8 or 9 hours. We were in line for tickets and one of the staff made the announcement that anyone who was willing to pay 5 more euros for the audio guide could skip the line and enter immediately. That audio guide was a great purchase.

Not only did we get to enter far faster than we would have without the guides, I learned a great deal about the landmark. I knew generally what it was, but, honestly, I had no idea just how significant it was. All of the stories and facts were fascinating, and I think I would have been confused and rather disappointed without the guide. Yes, I would have gotten to see a really impressive old building, but I would not have understood the significance and history of what I was seeing. I have been skeptical of audio guides in the past, but this one made all of the difference.

And the Colosseum is a great place to watch the sun start to set.

hope you don't mind heights.

Despite the fact that I need to do some homework today, I decided that I wanted to do some thing fun this afternoon. It was too pretty of a day to just sit in my flat and read. One of the girls, Ivanna, and I had originally planned to climb the dome of St. Paul's today, but her supervisor [who is involved with politics and such] informed her that St. Paul's was going to be the meeting site for today's Occupy London protest. We decided that it was probably not a good idea to try to enter the Cathedral through all of the people. I had heard, though, that it the Tower Bridge museum was neat, so we decided to check it out.

This picture was taken from regular driving and walking level along the bridge. As you can see, there is a second level in between the towers that is somewhat higher. That level is where the museum is located. We took a lift up and then walked between the towers, looking at displays and information. The walkway is closed in, so it was quite secure. I barely even felt like I was that high up in the air.

The view from up top was really nice. It is glassed in, with big structures that make it hard to get a clear view of the city, but there were camera windows for taking pictures without glass in the way. It was fun playing around with pictures.

Along the walk, there were old pictures of the bridge, sketches and plans for its construction, images of the three considered bridge designs, information about other neat bridges around the world, and facts about events and stunts that have taken place on the bridge. If you think the heights alone would have made you nervous, there was a video playing that showed a guy jump the bridge on motorcycle. Seriously? That just seems like a bad plan from the start. Apparently a double-decker bus once had to jump it, and that was his inspiration. I want to know how the bus "had" to jump it.

It was a nice little outing, before I return to my homework. The whether is currently great, and I knew I would regret not taking advantage of the lovely day. The ticket also gets me access to the Great Fire Monument; I have seven days to go to that before my ticket expires. I'm not really sure what all it entails, but hopefully I will get a chance to go this week. I think it is basically a really tall column that you get to climb up in. Again, good thing I'm not afraid of heights.

it's raining in scotland?

This past weekend I went to Edinburgh with some friends. It made for a really long weekend, but it was nice to get out of London, and explore another city. Saturday was quite rainy - typical - but Sunday cleared up some, and it made for a really nice trip.

 We started off at St. Giles Cathedral, off of the Royal Mile. There was a big statue of John Knox inside! This is of the heart of the city. We all spit in it; supposedly that means we will some day return to Edinburgh. Hope so! Maybe in the summer next time, though.

We toured the castle the first day as well. It was really misty, though, so my pictures didn't turn out very nicely. It was neat to see the castle, and they were doing reenactments, because it was some kind of celebration or anniversary. There were people firing off canons and guns, dressed in old traditional uniforms. The complex was MASSIVE. It was like a little village all within the castle grounds. I can't lie, it kind of reminded me of Hogsmead.

I got up early on Sunday morning to go to Holyrood Palace. The other people I was there with had gone up the day before me and had already taken this tour, so I did it before most of them were awake. I wasn't aloud to take pictures inside the Palace, but this is a picture of the front. After doing Buckingham Palace, this one seemed quite small, but I kind of enjoyed that. It almost seemed more realistic and more livable. I can't really imagine life in Buckingham Palace, and, not that I can see myself living here, this was more understandable.

We were planning on going to the John Knox museum after I went to Holyrood, but it was closed on Sunday. Instead, we went to the Museum of Scotland. We went up to the terrace and had an INCREDIBLE view of the city. I played around with the panoramic setting on my camera and was able to get the picture below.

 The museum itself was massive. I particularly enjoyed the part on religion in the area, but the artwork and stylistic areas were also interesting. It was one of those museums that is impossible to do in one visit, though, so I'm sure I missed some awesome items.

We had lunch at The Elephant House, where JK Rowling started writing Harry Potter! How exciting! And we met up with Emily, a friend from UNC who is studying in Edinburgh for the semester. It was a nice relaxing lunch, and the cafe was quite enjoyable.

The rest of Sunday afternoon was relatively relaxed. We did pretty much everything that I had planned to do, which is always nice. I didn't feel so rushed that I was worried I would miss anything. We walked around in a big park, that I don't remember the name of. It was a fun and easy afternoon. Then we took the massively long train ride back, and fell quickly asleep for class the next morning.

I don't know if I will do many more big weekend trips, but I am currently planning my fall break trip, which I am quite excited about! In a few weeks you will get posts about ITALY! But, in the mean time, I will continue posting about life in London.

it's not our fault. all the good discoveries have been taken.

Last week I got to hang out with the Megan and Katie! It was nice having friends from home here. We explored the British Library, which is absolutely amazing. Shakespeare's notebooks, Jane Austen's writing table, some really old Bibles, original lyrics written by the Beatles, so much awesomeness in one room.

On Sunday we went to Cambridge, and my flatmate Kirsten came with us. It was neat to get out of London and see a British "college town." We took a guided tour through the University area and we gradually heard the stories of many famous discoveries. We saw the place that Watson and Crick announced the discovery of the double helix. We saw Trinity College, where Sir Isaac Newton clapped his hands and listened to the echoes to test the speed of sound. There were many moments where we thought "my life will never be this important." But we then decided that it wasn't our fault. All of the big inventions and discoveries had already been made. We can't help our birth year...

Genius aside, Cambridge was absolutely stunning. We went into the Chapel at Kings College, and I was blown away. The vaults on the ceiling are incredibly. They are fan vaults and they appear to be as delicate as lace. I can't imagine trying to construct that out of stone. Churches just aren't made the same anymore.

Chapel Hill is gorgeous, but the buildings seem to pale in comparison to Kings College, Cambridge. One thing UNC allows that Cambridge doesn't is the ability to walk on the grass. Apparently, only fellows are allowed to walk across the grass and lawns in Cambridge. That rule would never work at UNC. Thank goodness for the quads.

where are harry and william?

These past few days I  have continuously felt as if I should run into someone famous. I actually did a double take, thinking I had seen Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) getting onto the tube. Sadly, I was wrong; the guy was too short, and Rupert probably doesn't even use public transportation. But, this week I have done some cool exploration and have seen the fancier sides of London.

The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. It has actually been hot. I have not known what to even wear the past few days. I prepared for rain and wind, not 80 degrees. Tuesday, my room mate Beth and I decided to explore Hyde Park. It was fun to walk around on such a nice day. Some of it looked familiar; I kept recognizing things I had seen when I was there a few years ago. New or not, though, the park is really nice. We saw the Peter Pan statue and the Princess Diana memorial. It was a relaxing way to spend the afternoon, and a great way to enjoy the sun shine. I am sure it will be cold and rainy again soon.

Wednesday, our entire program went to Buckingham Palace. [Gasp, the royal wedding dress is currently on display]. We had audio guides, and in the first two minutes of the guide Prince William welcomed us to the palace. We were standing on a porch, hoping to see Harry and William walk across an opening and wave. We knew it wasn't going to happen, but one can hope, right? The palace was beautiful. There were so many old paintings, thrones, and crystallized objects. It was beautiful. And there was a three room display, completely dedicated to the Royal Wedding. Kate custom designed her lace, including pieces of work that represent all of the countries that make up the United Kingdom. If anyone wants to know more about the dress, just ask. I watched an entire video purely on the design process.

After the tour through the palace we walked through the gardens. They were nice, but it was a hot day and all of us had to run off and make it to our internships. We didn't get to see anyone royal. My count of famous people I have spotted is still zero, but, who knows, maybe I will see someone soon. Fingers crossed!

eh?

Arts Wisconsin uploaded this to their facebook page with the caption "share widely." I assume it is okay for me to re-post it. I thought it was clever.

british birthdays and chocolate assignments.

I didn't blog at all last week and I am currently attempting to play catch up. This post is going to be rather scatter brained, but I hope I get across some key points of things I have done over the past seven days.

We did a walking tour of British markets last week. Most of the markets were closed, which was rather disappointing, but I got a lot of really neat pictures. Again, this shows my interest in ironwork. Carolina blue iron work with the Tower Bridge in the background. Yeah, I love this picture.

Thursday was my 20th birthday! After watching all of my friends break away from being a teenager, I spent a fair amount of time wishing I was no longer 19. Then I slightly freaked out realizing I was 20, because that sounds like a real adult age. Considering everyone here has only known me for a few weeks, my birthday was awesome! Almost everyone on the program came out to dinner with me. We then came back to the flat and had cake and hung out for a little while. It was nice to get dressed up and have a good dinner out with everyone. Not going to lie, though, the first time I was asked my age and answered "20" was really strange. I liked it though. I finally sound like I am the age of a junior.

My homework for my food class this week was to go to a chocolate shop and observe the displays and presentations of the chocolates. I went to Paul A Young Fine Chocolates and it was absolutely amazing. They make the chocolates in the basement of the shop, so it smells completely incredible! The chocolates are made without preservatives, so they have to be eaten relatively immediately, but they experiment with flavors and ingredients more than I have seen in any chocolate shop before. I got two truffles: a salted caramel chocolate bite and a white chocolate truffle with a lavender, honey, rosemary filling. They were some of the best pieces of chocolate I have ever had.

 Tonight I went to another evensong, this time at Westminster abbey. It was so amazing to participate in worship there and to see the abbey without hundreds of tourists. It was so cool. One of the girls and I are planning to attend as many of these as possible. It's an easy way to see the churches without paying for them, and it lets us experience them in they way they were intended to be experienced: as a place of worship.

I can't believe this is the fourth week I have been here. It's flying by and not at the same time. Some days it feels like I have been here forever and some times I feel like I just arrived. I don't think the excitement and shock of being here will ever go away, and I am so thankful for that.