"I can smell the calories" - My Adventures in Belguim (and the week before)

Sorry this post is super delayed but I am officially the busiest person in the world. I think I am about 2 weeks behind so I will try to cover everything, at least briefly. Last week (October 9-16) my family came to London! It was so much fun even though it did make me more homesick. But the week was awesome, it consisted of toursity attractions and the most delicious food I have had in awhile. While they were here we went to the Tower of London. Here's us outside the tour across from the bridge.

 

The day they left (Saturday morning) I headed out on my second IES sponsored weekend trip, this one to Iepers Belgium.  We left much to early in the morning and spent way to many hours on a coach bus and then on a ferry the size of your average cruise ship. The ferry had multiple restaurants and coach buses were parked on the bottom level. But around 3 in the afternoon we finally got to Ieper. It was beautiful town full of really cute architecture. All of the buildings looked like these ones.

We got there and spent the afternoon in a really interesting museum about World War I. We went to the Menin Gate that evening and attended a poignant memorial ceremony that occurs every night there. I definitely learned more about the war than I ever knew. Poppy's are an important symbol of remembrance and these beautiful wreaths were all over the town and the gate.

 

After all the tours and depressing (but interesting) history lessons we went to a bar.This bar is famous for its political incorrectness. It is called the 12 Apostles and features religious symbols in a tacky and ridiculous way. But this is where I had my first taste of Belgian beer (and probably my last, much too strong for me, I couldn't even finish it.

Rachel and I with our beers

After beer we made at mad dash for waffles after finding out the entire town closes on Sunday morning and none of the waffle places would be open until after we left for the day. We weren't going to leave Belgium without waffles so we ran to a restaurant at around 930 at night and made it minutes before they closed. The waffles were totally worth the running, they are covered with powdered sugar and smothered in chocolate.

The girls and our waffles

We also managed to find some time to buy entirely too much Belgian chocolate. I am obsessed with this picture of me and all of chocolate.

 

The next morning the girls and I explored the town before embarking on more depressing tours. All of the buildings looked like this, in fact this amazing building housed a simple museum. 

We spent the day touring cemeteries and war sights (trenches etc.) I know beautiful is a strange world to describe a cemetery but that is exactly what they are. It was a bright sunny day and there was something incredible about all these gravesites that were covered in flowers (like the one below). 

Our cheerful stop of the day, between the cemeteries and the executioners pole was the Talbot house. It was a place were men went for relation and fun during the war. I loved the signs/rules of the house...this was one of my favorite signs.

All in all the trip was a success, full of friends, delicious food and some actual learning. I was unsure about the trip at first, Belgium wasn't exactly on my travel list but I am very, very glad I went. 
This week (post-Belgium) has been extremely chaotic. I went to 3 shows this week, a real forum theatre performance at a homeless shelter. For Beloit people, it was essentially real theatre of the oppressed and it definitely reinforced my interest in pursuing that type of theatre. I also saw a new musical (done by theatre students about my age) called Parade and I am not usually a musical person but I was truly moved by this show.  And finally I saw Hamlet at the National Theatre, 4 hours of Hamlet is a bit much for me but it was definitely a well done production. I also went to Stratford yesterday (Shakespeare's home) and was extremely disappointed. First of all it felt like an amusement park/tourist trap and it proved that no one has any real knowledge of Shakespeare's life. We were shown many corny videos and told everything was possibly Shakespeare's. But as part of my theatre education I am glad I went anyway.
And next week is midterms so this blog entry was essentially a study break. After midterms we leave for our midterm break trip to Scotland on Thurs.
The adventures continue!

Let the Traveling Begin

This past weekend I embarked on what is to be the first of many, many weekend trips. This one was a good way to start because IES (my study abroad program) sponsored it meaning I didn't have to worry about planning or travel details. And it meant all of my friends, or at least the vast majority of them, were going as well.The trip began at 5:50 am on Friday when we embarked on a tube adventure in which I rode the tube for over a hour to get to Heathrow airport. I will spare you all the details but needless to say exhaustion was a definite theme of this adventure. That day we arrived at the Hostel in which 10 girls were in one room, which was probably one of the most fun sleepovers I have had since I left elementary school. But the first day was spent on a unfortunately boring tour of Ireland. It was supposed to be a 2 hour walking tour but it was really a 2 1/2 hour standing tour, were we would stop at one building and then get a history of Ireland for about 20 mins. Basically it was not enough seeing at too much listening on too little sleep. But the city was pretty beautiful......
That night we had a group dinner at a Italian restaurant and then explored the Irish nightlife.Rachel, Anne, Jenna and I found this really fun bar with a super cool bartender, met real Irishmen and listened to Irish musicans cover American music. Once the band stopped we quickly became the only ones dancing to the not particularly good music playing over the sound system. We then continued exploring and found....A 80s bar...that advertised free jello shots with drinks and no cover charge (my new favorite place.) And played only 80s music...needless to say the dancing continued but we quickly realized how exhausted we were and planned to come back the next day with all the girls.

View of Dublin, I love cities on the water.

Anne, Jenna and Rachel at the Irish bar (with the fun band).

Day 2 began much too early with the strangest breakfast experience I have ever had. Apparently at hostels breakfast is coffee and tea and toast. And when I say toast I mean they literally provide loafs and loafs and loafs of bread and many toasters. Watching everyone line up and freakout about bread was one of the strangest, most entertaining experiences of my life. But not a very satisfying breakfast but whatever.. We went to the writers museum that morning, I don't feel like I know enough about Irish Lit to fully appreciate it but I'm glad I went. And then that afternoon, after pub lunch 2 (of 3), we went to the countryside. I was sort of ambivalent on Ireland until that point (lame I know but besides the night life Dublin is a bit under-whelming...at least the parts I saw). But Sandycove, the area of the countryside where James Joyce's tower was, is the beautiful place I have ever been in my life. It was exactly the way I imagined it, neither photos nor descriptions can do it justice. But it was a beachfront town, complete with rocky cliffs. And then the girls and I went to another bakery, so good, I swear I'm going to gain the study abroad 15, the food is so good (so much pastry). The girls and I are planning a bakery-crawl, like a bar-crawl but for deliciousness. But anyway that night we went to another Italian restaurant for dinner and then we went out. The 80s bar was even more fun, so much dancing and Rachel did my hair and make-up, something that needs to happen everytime we go out..so much fun.

All of us at Sandy Cove.

  

Jumping Picture! Surprisingly successful!

But needless to say the going out and lack of sleep made Sunday morning rough. But all we did was go to the Guinness Factory, on Sunday morning (so much drinking so early, the bar was crowded). It was cool to see but I am lame and not really a beer person so I tried my free sample sip but cashed my free drink in for a diet coke (fail I know.) But after a final pub lunch we headed back. It's funny how quickly a place can feel like home, after only a month this has become my home.

Sorry there aren't more pictures, I am exhausted and they take way too long to load (our internet sucks). But they are all on facebook, so check them out there.

So this week is super busy, realizing I finally have to do school work...ugh. But my family is coming on Saturday, so excited and Becky's birthday was tonight so some more going out will have to happen between now and then. Also going to see 2 more shows this week (already saw one dance performance). Really even on the worst days, tube stop canceled, broken purse, rain, broken umbrella and more, I can't help but be amazed that this is my life.  

Theatrical Adventures

This week I am trying to be preemptive and post before I leave for Dublin (at 5:50 am tomorrow morning - god help me) because I know when I get back I will have thousands of pictures to post. But this is just a quick internship update. But first the play of the week, I saw "All My Sons" this week. Honestly, probably my least favorite play I have seen thus far. But the theatre was beautiful and the set was incredible. But I had two big problems, both seemingly silly. First of all our seats, this was the first big production (central London, musical type of theatre) we have seen through IES and our seats were awful. I don't mind sitting on the balcony but we were in the balcony, so far back that we could only see leaned over and basically were only able to see the tops of actors heads. When you are that far away from a performance it is just distracting, there is no way around it. And everyone is uncomfortable and straining to see which just takes you out of the moment. Secondly I'm just not a huge Arthur Miller fan. Though the acting was great, I just didn't get that into the show, not because of the performance, just personal preference. I'll spare you the repetition that is my week of classes and move directly onto my....
FIRST INTERNSHIP DAY!
I started my internship and The New Diorama Theatre, and I love it. First of all being considered almost a equal in a professional theatre environment is incredible within itself and I love everyone I am working with/for. My first day was particularly exciting because it was press night for a show that is currently running. Since the New Diorama just opened in this month reviews and press for the theatre are very important publicity and last night the big-wigs were there. I mean there were reviewers from the London Times and lots of other people who are probably really important. I also love that I get to do everything, the theatre basically consists of a staff of six, and then me, so get to help in all arenas. I did everything from making buttons (to advertise the theatre and show) to helping bartend/sell snack to box office and everything in between. I didn't get to work with Quicksilver (the children's theatre) this week because of the excitement of press night but I will begin working with them on Monday. Although there will definitely be some busy work, I don't feel like its being pushed on me because I am the intern, the theatre is so small that I am doing the same things as the theatre's manager. I also get to see New Diorama shows for free, which is awesome!
Oh lets see...this week I also booked tickets to Paris (in Nov) and Rome (in Dec), so excited for traveling. Also the tube workers are going on strike this weekend meaning my Monday morning internship commute will definitely be an adventure in the bus system.
Well I am off to Ireland in the morning, updates upon my return.

The Week of Epic Adventures!

I have done so so much since I last wrote that I honestly don't even know where to start. The only other notable thing from last weekend was the market tour. Last Sunday our lovely student assistants took us on a market tour, to a few of the Sunday markets in London, and they were incredible. First we went to Brick Lane, probably the most famous and had delicious crepes while surrounded by Indian, Thai, Chinese and Mexican food all in a area that also sold dresses and jewelry. We then walked through a flower market, so beautiful I don't even know how to explain it and then went to our final destination, the market with cheap clothes and scarfs. Since going to Beloit I have developed a new found love for scarfs, thank you Beth, Kate and Sarah and now cant stop buying them. And they were one pound each (probably the cheapest thing I have bought here thus far!)
Then Monday I had a lazy morning, and then went to meet up with Rachel after her internship interview at Parliament which is conveniently located next to many HUGE London landmarks, such as Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We also took a quick walk through the National Gallery (I must go back soon), have I mentioned that I love that museums here are free so you can do that.

 We passed both these things on our walk. Then on Monday night the adventures continued. First we went to my new favorite place, a restaurant literally across the street from our res hall, called My Old Dutch. Basically it's if a pancake and crepe and a pizza had a baby, they would be these pancakes. And on Monday they all cost 5 pounds. Which sounds like alot for a pancake but this is like the Chipotle Burrito sized pancake. So good. And then on Monday night we went to the ICE BAR. For those of you who haven't heard about this yet London is known for it's Absolut Vodka Ice Bar, which is literally a bar in room kept at -4 degrees Celsius and everything from your glass to the floor to the bar itself is made of ice. So strange but yet sort of amazing in its absurdity, also you wear ridiculous parkas and gloves so that makes it even more epic. But since it's so cold you can only be in there for forty minutes so afterward Rachel and I headed to Tiger Tiger and danced for a awhile.

PARKA, PARKA, PARKA!

Even my drink was served in ICE

The walls of the room, literally we were surrounded by ice!

 Tuesday is my long day, 3 classes and of course I woke up on Tuesday morning with a cold so that day is sort of a long blur. Though I do love all of my classes, alot. In my Women In London class, my first class that morning, we went to the Museum of London which is a really cool social history museum, I highly recommend it. In my theatre industry class that afternoon we also met a casting director who casts for big British tv shows and productions.
Wednesday I fell in love with Notting Hill, a place I have wanted to go ever since I saw the movie. And let me tell you it definitely lived up to my expectation. I went on this epic adventure with Jenna who loved the movie as much as I did. We also both share a love for chocolate and baking meaning this had to be a great adventure. First of all the houses in the Notting Hill are all super-duper cute, pastel colors with bright colored doors. I want to live in one of those houses! After wandering around admiring the houses and cute little (semi-affordable) shops for awhile we found the best street of all time. Our first stop on this street was the travel book shop, the one from Notting Hill (the movie). Though the movie was filmed in Hollywood the set was based off this actual shop and looks super similar. Julia Roberts etc... have visited this actual shop. On this street there is also a spice shop, it smells delicious and is basically a tiny, hole in the wall just filled floor to ceiling with spices and now I can make much more yummy food.  We then went to my new favorite store, it is a cook book store, with a entire section devoted to desserts and sub-section for our favorite thing chocolate. We then found a awesome coffee shop where I want to go hangout, people watch and eat delicious brownies. I want to live in Notting Hill, Chelsea is very fancy and a bit pretentious but Notting Hill has much more character. Then that night we went to my new favorite pub, Trafalgar, and it's in waking distance. I had strawberry beer for the first time. So fantastically girly!

The real one, from the movie!

I love these houses and shops!

Books for Cooks, the store of only cookbooks

My new favorite coffee shop!

Strawberry Beer!

Thursday was another super-long day of epic adventures. After my first class I had my internship interview at the New Diorama Theatre. After the panic of getting super lost, as we all know I have no sense of direction and once I got off the tube I did way to much wandering around in the wrong direction (probably about 40 minutes or so) in the pouring rain but apparently everyone gets lost going to the theatre. And since I left a ton of extra time I still got there early. So the New Diorama is the actual theatre which produces shows by many theatre companies but the Quicksilver theatre is the children's theatre, that is the resident company. Working there I would be working for Sophie, who manages the New Diorama theatre. For my internship I will be able to work with Quicksilver, (usually in the morning) but also work for the New Diorama meaning I get to do everything from educational children's theatre work to running front of house during an adult show. The theatre also just opened meaning it is the newest fringe theatre in London, how cool is that!
I went to a show that night, one of the best shows I have seen in a long time. We saw Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris which was well written and incredibly acted (the guy from Love Actually was in it!) I have never been this blown away by a show before! We then went out that night to a really fun pub, its 3 stories with a tradition pub on the first floor, music on the second floor and then a really awesome cover band on the third floor!

Friday...what did I do on Friday? It's sad that I have done so much I can barely remember. Friday I basically took the day off, slept and bought groceries. Though the girls and I did bake a delicious cake last night, I love girl bonding that involves baking and eating chocolate.
And then today I went shopping, I love Primark so much, 40 pounds for 2 purses and really cute boots, not bad. One of these purses was bigger than any bag I have ever had and it's purple :)
That's all for now, I start my internship this Wednesday and then next weekend its off to Dublin!  

An Endless Adventure in Public Transportation

My goal was to write weekly and here I am a week later, writing again, so I am doing pretty good. At the same time I feel like I have had millions of adventures since I last wrote. Lets see, last Saturday I went on a bus tour and saw all the typical tourist stuff, like Big Ben and Buckingham Palace but we saw it all from the window of a bus so I still have more exploring to do in central London. All of my pictures from that are on facebook and mostly out of a bus window so I will resist posting them. Then on Saturday we went out, to my first pub :) which was rather exciting, more because I could legally order a drink than anything else. This blog apparently doesn't like me putting pictures in the middle so I will just put a bunch of everything at the end. On Sunday we went to Windsor Castle which was so beautiful it rendered me speechless (which you all know is no easy task). Then Sunday night we went to the Thames festival, where they have fireworks and other fun things.
Monday Rachel and I had touristy adventure day, where we basically got of on every stop of the Piccadilly Line (on the tube) and saw everything. We went to Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter (kinda a tourist trap but still cute), explored Piccadilly Circus and Covenant Garden and ended our day with window shopping. I went in Harrods and fell in love, bought a cupcake from the food hall. For those of you who have never experienced this great wonder the food hall is like a supermarket, a farmers market and a super upscale food court had a baby. Basically, all I could afford on my college student wanting to travel alot in Europe budget was a cupcake, it was so delicious though!  Then Monday night I had my first real "clubbing" experience, IES people took us to "Tiger Tiger" a super trendy club, where you would usually have to wait for hours but we got to be "VIPs" probably because it was Monday but I'm not complaining.
Tuesday classes began, it's amazing I actually have to do work while here, crazy right. But Tues is my super busy day, 3 two hour classes in a row. Then my acting/theatre teacher took us to RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) to see a staged reading. It was such a long day but so worth it.
Wednesday was errand and reading day, nothing to report but internship class which is pointless at the moment given my interview isn't until next Thurs.
Thursday was another theatre-full day, had theatre class and saw a play called "Pieces of Vincent." You guys all know I have seen alot of theatre, but this was one of the most incredible shows I have ever seen. We sat on cushions on the floor with the "stage" on 4 sides around us. The show used lots of film however, the designer designs music videos/tours for people like Lady Gaga and because of the transition use of film, the action took place behind transparent movie screens, that were on all sides of us. Besides the amazing staging and technical elements the show was also poignant and extremely well acted. The theatre was in a weird, kind of funky neighborhood, which was also cool to see.
And this brings us to today, which I spent shopping, I love Primark (super cheap, super cute megastore) and I got a adorable little red fall coat at H&M, pictures soon to come. We also explored Hyde Park and then hungout at the dorms and planned our travel adventures. We are hoping to go to Paris and Rome before the semester is over, as well as on IES sponsored trips to Dublin, Belguim and Scotland. Basically, I am the luckiest girl in the world..

But before I sign off here's some photographic highlights of my adventures.

Jenna, Anne, Becky and Emily at the pub!

     

Windsor Castle!

Platform 9 3/4

I was way to excited about that delicious Harrods cupcake!

Rachel, me, Emily and Anne at a bar before my clubbing adventure.

Rachel and I, post clubbing. The whole walking, dancing and public transportation thing gets exhausting.

I'm really here!

I have been in London since Wednesday morning (it's now Saturday) and I already feel like I have been here forever (but not in a bad way). Since we have been here I have mostly just been attending orientation, and desperately trying to figure out where I am (and how the public transportation system works). My goal is to stop looking like a dumb tourist on the tube (the subway in London), have my card ready and know how to get on and off and most importantly how to get from my dorm in Chelsea to my classes in Bloomsbury (its about a 40 minute commute). 

But I made it, I am here and just to prove it this is my touristy London phone both picture. Lets see I feel like I don't have that much to report yet because of all my time has been spent at orientation, and all the pictures I took and put on facebook are just mostly of pretty buildings. We are in Chelsea which is a super posh area (when you tell Lodoners you live in Chelsea they sort of look at you like how?/why?). The houses around here cost millions of pounds and therefore I can't really afford to shop around here. I'm definitely still in the adjustment phase in regards to friends and stuff but in general I'm optimistic about the experience. Also have an internship interview next week, and will be spending 2 (and a half every other week) days a week interning, only 2 days at class and still have every Friday free!

The only other exciting news thus far is for my fellow theatre geeks, though I think almost everyone will appreciate this..
Last night I went to a show the Globe Theatre (where Shakespeare wrote/acted), they have recently re-done it in exact replica of what the theatre looked like then. We went to "The Merry Wife's of Windsor" as groundlings  meaning we stood for the entire show. Which was exhausting and I probably should have worn real shoes  but definitely worth it. So I'll end this 1st London post with some Globe pictures...

The top of the stage

The outside of the Globe

 The seating area for the "upper class" but us groundlings had to stand below them

This last one is mostly to show how awesome the design of the set/stage area was

And with that I will you leave you, as this post took entirely too long to write and I already have much, much more to report, so I will write again soon

And the Panic Begins

I am leaving for London in about a month, on September 7th to be exact, and I have officially begun to panic, not pack, just panic. I am overwhelmed with emotions, excitement, anticipation and fear. Which leads me to my first question, my first fear...how the hell do you get everything you need for a semester  (especially when you are me...a girl with a lot of clothes) into essentially 2 suitcases. Do you just wear the same thing over and over again? What happens to all the stuff you buy when you are there? What do I need?
Granted I have done nothing about it thus far, but by writing this blog, making this upcoming voyage seem real, I have begun to rise from the denial and the planning shall begin. But first on a lighter note I will write about my plans and address the excitement portion of the panic. For those of you who dont know about my program, I am doing the IES London Theatre Program. Basically I will live in a huge dorm (comparatively to Beloit anyway) in Chelsea, take theatre classes and a few electives in a academic center in Central London and.....***fingers crossed** get an internship at a children's theatre. This is the theatre's website, http://www.quicksilvertheatre.org/ it looks perfect for me with my education and theatre double (triple?) majors. Soo keep your fingers crossed for me.
More soon, maybe documentation of actual packing.