Bath time!

because somehow for the place that is forever engrained in my mind and spurred emotions i didn't know i had, i have hardly any photos.
to try and explain some more of the magic i will present some photos taken my dear friend Laurie, stolen from her facebook ;)


















this last one is from Jenny's facebook, I just had to have one of that glorious park by the river


(i've also posted about it here and here)

travel dream #1

I've always considered myself more of a country girl, but after this summer, I have a new found love for big cities. I've had an intense desire to visit New York lately, especially during autumn with lovely colored leaves.
I suppose my love for outdoors comes out with my urge to get lost wandering through central park.
I want to see a play on broadway.
To stare up at skyscrapers in awe and amazement, at the sheer vastness of height and how I will be designing them one day.
to ice skate at rockefeller center
to be cold
to shop and admire the shops I cannot afford
to try delicious new food
to experience people so different from californians


photo by champy1013 via flickr


photo by Kate Anne via flickr


photo by Magical Places via flickr


photo by Storm Crypt via flickr

economical

apologies for my absence, school really does get the best of me.

real quick: both the euro and the pound have dropped significantly, which is awesome for american money! the pound is now down to about $1.69 and the euro at $1.29. too bad i won't be visiting any time soon...

P is for Pembroke

i miss waking up and discovering this outside my window:




Dorm AA39
Pembroke College,
Cambridge University
Cambridge, England

for 5 weeks of my life, this was my home, and it felt just exactly that. we had only been at cambridge for 3 days before we left for scotland for 5 days. by the end of our trip we couldn't wait to get back to our cambridge "home". It was quaint and cozy and beautiful beyond description.

just a taste

so i don't stray too far from my studies, this will be quick.
The most peculiar experience was to walk through the city of Bath (England) and feel my heart wanting to explode out of joy. I don't understand it. It was so quiet, cozy, and seemingly empty, then again it was a sunday. but every single thought in my head told me that i LOVED that place. Jane Austen i'm sure it was mere cicumstances that caused you to not like that place, because there is no excuse to hate it. there is still SO much to explore, so many quaint little shops and restaurants. No matter how many times i'd walk across that covered bridge, i'd forget there was water underneath. it's a street with shops on each side...that happens to be a bridge. I'd like to go inside Bath abbey, and the pump room, where in the Georgian times the rich used to promenade around to make sure everyone saw their outfits. I'd like to inspect the various architecture more closely, to visit the university, to discover little churches. and i'm not gonna lie, i wouldn't mind spending some time at that lovely thermae spa...

here is my original post about it.

and a few more pictures.

i've caught the wanderlust...

i've decided to take this up again.
this isn't a europe blog, it's a travel blog.
i've always loved to travel, but it took an 11 hour flight across the atlantic to realize how much awe traveling really does put me in.
The Lord has placed an immense burning desire to see this wonderful world He has created.
Unfortunately He has not yet provided the means for me to see everything I would like to...
so it is here where i will continue to share untold stories and unrevealed photos from my 50 days in europe, divulge past travels from my nearly 20 years of existence and dream of future journeys.

frankly i miss england with every fiber of my being. every single day.
dublin was nice.
paris was wonderful, we saw so much.
italy is fabulous, and it was a perfect vacation spot.
but i found myself in england. it was the most indescribable. and i could live there. NOW.
oh glorious england. so proper yet strangely liberal.
cold crisp days, with insane clouds that were too perfect to even be real.
let me share some pictures:

That rainy afternoon in Trafalgar Square. I could spend hours here just people-watching, with some hot english breakfast tea...


oh how i miss those grand brick homes with their bright flowerboxes


even the pubs are pretty, wandering around westminster


Approaching Buckingham


The gardens outside the Palace


Those silly hat-ted police men


Regent's Park must be the most wonderful place to live



England has the most precious uniformed school children. we almost died watching
little girls in straw hats and little boys in blazers


some of the Queen's favorite shopping places




oh those lovely black iron gates


our walking tour of london was to meet at the big black lamppost


view from the common room at Palmer's Lodge in the swiss cottage area


The bay window in the landing of the stairs at Palmer's


The Hog and the Pound, one of many pubs in London where people were spilling out into the street to try and catch a glimpse of the euro cup finals


the entrance to a church across from the great portland street tube station


(none of these have been edited)

finallyyyyyyy PICTURES!

Dublin, Ireland

Paris, France

Venice, Firenze and Rome, Italy

i miss

i'm back in the states
it's nice to be back in familiarity
but it's weird

i miss british accents
i miss eating pasta and pizza twice a day
i miss eating gelato every day
i miss eating crepes under the eiffel tower
i miss walking through the gardens at Versailles
i miss hiking through 200 year old graves to find jim morrison and oscar wilde
i miss realizing that we took the long way with the most stairs to the sacre cour
i miss whining all the up the 700 steps to the top of the eiffel
i miss the view of paris at night
i miss the champs elysees
i miss scoffing at the fact that mcdonald's has managed to take over europe
i miss wondering what is missing/what isn't working in every public restroom
i miss the joys of A/C in a bed and breakfast in rome
i miss watching the sun rise over rome from a roof top terrace
i miss the rocking sensation long after i've stepped off the metro
i miss watching italian men read newspapers in their boats on the canals in venice
i miss sydney's inability to lock or unlock any door in europe
i miss the piazzas in florence
i miss riding the train in italy
i miss the 2 am thunderstorm that shut off the power and made me pray for my life
i miss dublin's quaint little pubs
i miss Bath and the inexplicable awe it brought to me
i miss scotland's green hills and perfect cloudy skies
i miss the london underground
i miss the wonderful people of london
i miss london

and i miss every single thing about cambridge. all of it.
my friends
our TAs
Gregg
formal dinners
the cafe
auntie tea's
the river cam
punting
dojo's noodle house
grocery shopping for dinner because everything closes at 6
wetherspoon's
casey reading the declaration of independence on the 4th of july
faisel falling asleep in every single film studies class
consistent disappointment with the food choices in the servery
the outdoor market booths
my giant dorm room
rain
my creative writing professor
the floral archway to the headmaster's lodge
the gardens at school
walking the streets of town

i could probably continue this list for 3 days and not be finished.
i'll probably add to it.

i'm not as jetlagged as i was when i got to england, i actually slept last night
i don't think it's really hit me yet that i'm not in europe anymore
it's going to be rough

pictures coming soon i promise.

mmmm spaghetti...

we're in florence now!
let's see...
in paris we basically did everything in like 2 1/2 days. arc de triomphe, eiffel tower at night (climbed 700 steps, saw the light show), versailles gardens (freeeeee), champs de elysees, place de la concorde, visited the louvre and saw mona lisa, sacre cour, notre dame and cemeterie pere lachaise where oscar wilde and jim morrison are buried. ate lots of crepes. sometimes that was lunch. yum.
then venice. BEAUTIFUL. we stayed in a place right off the grand canal. went to piazza de san marco, but there were hardly any birds. decided against the gondola, the cheapest one we found was 80 euro for 35 minutes. instead we rode the public ferry boat (like a public bus but on water) for a while. hehe.
then we stayed at a farm in solimbergo (northern italy) near trieste. recommended by Monique and Aron. super cute. delicious homemade dinner: pasta, salad, prosciutto, bread, and homemade red wine and pie. sydney and stacy swam in their pool. i didn't bring my suit :( so i just put my feet in. there was a crazy thunderstorm last night at the farm. like at least 30 flashes of lightning and tons of really loud thunder. lots and lots of rain. by this morning you couldn't tell it had rained and no one even mentioned it. must be normal. i wish we could have spent more time at the farm, Sasso D'Oro Agriturismo.
then we took the train to florence, or firenze as they call it in italy. very pretty. unfortunatly italy does not compare to america when it comes to bathrooms. sometimes it's just a hole in the ground. or a toilet with no seat. and it seems that it either has toilet paper OR running water in the faucet. never both. and finding the flusher is always an adventure.
tomorrow we're off to rome for 3 days.

overall it's been amazing, though i wish we had more time in each place. and that everything was planned out in more detail as far as our itinerary goes. lessons learned for next time. :) it's way hotter than i expected. and HUMID. we gave up trying to feel clean. the minute you step out of the shower you're sticky again. air conditioning is a luxury and a privilege. thank goodness our hostel in rome has it. i'm loving europe but i'm ready to go home. i want to lay around and not move for awhile. we've been doing a lot of traveling and lugging around heavy backpacks and sweating in this heat. there's a lot of things in america that we take advantage of. like ice cubes and toilet seat covers. but i've learned i can eat italian food every day of my life and never get sick of it. and the gelato over here is to die for. and i'll probably never be able to eat american pizza objectively again. one nice thing, they have diet coke everywhere here, or they call it coca cola light. so i can continue my addiction.

it looks like i won't be able to post more pictures until i get home. sorry guys. but there will be plenty to look at. i've accumulated about 500 photos in the past week, at least. well i only have a minute and a half left at this internet cafe. so until next time, arrividerci! ciao!