Bath and Borough

Yesterday all of the CAPA students loaded up into the coaches and headed out to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge was cool but once you've seen one rock you've seen them all. Plus no one really knows what Stonehenge is for or why it was built so it really just confused me more than anything. But we got some great pictures!




















Then we headed to Bath to see the Roman Baths among other things. We went on a walking tour which was very informative about the towns history. Jane Seymour and Jane Austin are among its famous residents, then we got to go into the baths which was really cool to see, it reminded me of ancient Rome...I wounder why, but we also got some great pictures!




Me and Callie at the Roman Baths!
















But today was the best day of the weekend, the trip and possibly the summer (so far)! Callie and I have been told that we must go and check out the Borough Markets, so we got up early grabbed some coffee and hopped on the tube headed for the markets. We arrived early and beat the crowd. We were welcomed by every type of gourmet food, drink and produce you could want. It was AMAZING and that is an understatement. After sampling for about 45 minuets we had worked up quite an appetite and ventured for to look for some thing to eat for lunch, which wouldn't be hard to find. I decided on a toasted cheese sandwich (amazing!) and Callie got a ostrich steak sandwich (YUM!) We spotted some sangria on our way to sit down to eat grabbed a cup and headed to the courtyard to eat. Needless to say Callie and I have decided to make this trip to Borough a weekly event. After our morning there, we headed over to Kensington Gardens where they are showing a production of Peter Pan set around a stage in the round in an outdoor pavilion, it was so magical, took me right back to being a kid again! They actors were flying around the pavilion and the English accent didn't hurt. It was such a great day!

Borough Market and the Peter Pan play!

Some fun facts about Britian

Here are some facts that I have acquired over the last week or so that I thought would be interesting to share!

1. It is estimated that in London there are 300-500 languages spoken
2. The man/boyfriend of Princess Diana who died in the car accident with her, was the son of the Egyptian man who owns Harrods, a true shock-horror as they say in England
3. Nicholas Cage recently bought a home in Bath which I just happened to get a picture of today!


















it's a bit blurry but it is number 7 the white door on the left!
4. Johnny Depp also owns a home right outside of Bath
5. Big Ben is the most accurate clock in the world in order to keep it that way they use an old system of adding or removing pennies from the hands of the clock
6. Not so much a fact as a funny thing I remembered about work, in the bathroom, there was a roll of toilet paper that had bin Ladin's face on it and said "wipe out terrorism", nasty yet hilarious.

More to follow about our recent trip to Bath, Stonehenge and the adventures of tomorrow!

Cheers

Well after my first office day at the "office" I can say with confidence that my job is crazy! But lucky for you that makes for better blogging!
I arrived today 30 minuets early, which was not a problem but slightly awkward as my boss answered the door in his drawstring, what appeared to be juicy couture pants for men (which he preceded to wear the rest of the day). Among other things my tasks for the day were to call a 90 year-old plus man whom I had to get addresses from (easier said than done, the think English accent still catches me off guard). I also had to read and give a summary of a book proposal sent to him, which was not as hard as it sounds, or at least sounded to me. As well as do some database work.
My co-worker whom I share my 4 foot x 4 foot, gave me the great advice of telling our boss when you are leaving instead of waiting for him to tell you when you were to leave, she said that one day she ended up staying till 8! No thank you.
But our boss seems to value my opinion which makes me feel good, and has given me a lot of freedom with what he has assigned me.
It has to be said that the tube is the best way to travel. upon enter or leaving you will be forcefully handed a free news paper (which Mr. Robert Pattinson himself graced the cover with today!!) which is really just a free gossip newspaper peppered with some news. So I head to "pret"(best chain cafe ever, kicks Starbucks butt) grab my tea and yogurt and side onto the car just in time to sit have some breakfast on the go and read my free news. Let me not fail to mention the fact that every time I ride the tube home from work I fall in love! The English men are a notch above the rest of the world, they dress well, their hair is always perfectly messy, they know how to dress, oh and there is one other thing...THE ACCENT!! I catch myself staring in the tube, and then quickly looking away blushing I'm sure. So even on the worst of days, I can look forward to riding the tube home.
One last side note, I forgot to post some pictures from our time last weekend, so better late than never! Here they are:
















































The first is Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana lived, second is the bank they used for the outside of Gringotts in the first Harry Potter Movie, third is Callie attempting to feed ducks in Hyde Park, fourth is some beautiful flowers from Hyde Park (yes Chelsea this is a theme of my life taking pictures of flowers, Callie already made fun of me from when I did it like when we were at Disney) And last but certainly not least is this awesome looking bird Callie and I found in the Natural History Museum (Jill obviously this is for you)

Rainy days at the "office"

I have done a lot since the last post! I've been to all of my classes, which are pretty much like you would expect, class like. I went on my job interview which was interesting...
I got there early in order to find the place and have some time to get settled. I ended up walking around, after finding the place within 10 minutes of getting there, looking for somewhere to get a coffee or something. The company I'm working for operates out of the directors house, or what I think is his house, so it is in a residential part of town which doesn't have a lot of chain cafes or anything for that matter. After much walking (in heels!) I founds a place and they didn't take credit cards to I was off again to look for a cash machine, after pacing up and down the road for about 10 minutes looking for one, I got some money and headed back to the cafe. I sat and gathered my self for about 45 minutes and then headed off to my interview. I got there about 15 minutes early which didn't seem to be a problem. I was welcomed by the assistant who works with my boss. As I walked in to this mans house I was a little confused, they had changed the dinning room into an office that sat 3 desks, one of which I assume will be mine. I met my boss who is painfully English, pipe and all! He was very nice and very talkative which I didn't mind because it took the pressure off of me. He gave me general overview of what I would be doing in my short time there, one of which is attending a black tie event with ambassadors and members of Parliament! I have my first office day of doing things at the "office" tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to working there, but in truth I'm already a little bit homesick! I guess everything is just overwhelming and new. But it will all be worth it in the end so I will just push through! So if you think about it say a little prayer for me, I'm trying my hardest to make the most out of this experience!

Dreary Day in London

Looking out across the cloudy sky seems appropriate as today marked two sad events

1. First day of classes
2. Callie had her wallet stolen

Keep her in your thoughts and prayers, but we are both sure it will work out for the best! on a lighter note, classes went as well as class can go, they seem like they won't be too challenging so that is good.
Yesterday Callie and I went to check out a church that was recommended to me before I left, it was called All Souls, it was really nice, it is still crazy to me how much diversity this city has. We would never see the amount of cultures represented in one room at home like we did yesterday.
Tomorrow I'm off to my interview for my internship, super nervous mainly about getting there, loads of tube stops are closed for renovation and refurbishing. So wish me luck as I venture out to find this place!
I'm off to treat Callie to some wonderfully unhealthy food in china town. Until next time

From V&A to Gringotts

Where to begin, last update I was off to orientation. Now that I am feeling quite a bit more orientated, I can safely say London is amazing. Callie and I have explored the city quite extensively and, although my feet are hating me right now, I feel much more at home. I can now tell you which tube to take to get where and which bus to take to get to our flat (no small task, there has got to be at least 200 bus routes).
Thursday was our general CAPA orientation,
Friday Callie and I woke up early and went to the Natural History Museum as well as the V&A(Victoria and Albert Museum) both of which were awesome. Then we stopped in to have some Thai food which was amazing, and then we were off to our internship orientation, where we learned more about our internship sites and how to go about making the most out of our experience. After that we had a welcome reception at a pub called Doggett's which overlooked the Thames River (the river that runs through the center of London). After grabbing a quick gelato (which does not even compare to Italy's) we were back to the house exhausted.
Today we woke up and went to Hyde Park and Kensington Park both of which are former royal hunting grounds, but now are more of a central park type thing in London. They were beautiful, loads of people and great for getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city, needless to say we plan on going back.
After that we barely made it to the tour bus CAPA had schedualed for us to get on for a 3 hour bus tour, which was a much needed break from walking. It was great we got to see all of London and got some really cool facts like, there are over 300 languages spoken in London and where the only building that survived the great fire of 1666 was in London. Not to mention all of the really cool Harry Potter facts our tour guide gave us, like the building they used for Gringotts Bank and we also were shown the bridge that the night bus Harry gets on goes over and has to squees really small to get through some cars.
After our tour we went to see a movie to rest and relax from the crazy past couple of days, we saw Night at the Musem 2, which made me a little homesick, but it was really funny! After that we went and explored the city, hopping on and off buses and subways like it was our job (mainly because we were confused as to where we were going, but not to worry we have that all figured out!)
One weird thing about London, and I guess England as a whole, it stays light here until like 930 or 945! It's totally crazy, and it really throws me off.
Tomorrow we are off to try out a church, go to the Tate Modern Art Musem and look for a good place for Sunday Roast (served at most every pub on sundays)

So until next time,
Hotty Toddy from the UK

Our London home

As promised the pictures from out flat. It's small but adorable, coming from the salvation army hostel in Italy last summer it feels like a palace!

First is our front door to our flat, and next is our kitchen which during the day has a great view of a church and the tops of some buildings. Third is our living room with a TV, a couch, chair and on the very right of that picture you can see the corner of our dinning table, and fourth is the unbelievably small room that callie and I have been given to share for 6 long weeks, there is a lot of clothes and little closet space, and last is the view from 21 Tottenham, I knows it's small but its great! That little lighted semi-circle looking thing in the very middle of the picture is the London eye!

Flat 15

Good afternoon from London, well it's good morning for those of you reading this back home. I have just about settled into our flat, me and Callie are sharing what is possibly the smallest room imaginable (pictures to follow). London is great so far, all 24 hours we've been here. We are living with three other girls are living with us, they are; Raya from Minnesota, Sara from Pittsburgh, and Lisa from New York. Needless to say the south is under-represented in our flat.
I titled this blog "The View from 21 Tottenham" because a) that is our address in the UK and b) We have wonderful views of the city from our flat, in fact I'm looking out my window right now and can see the London eye (which is lit up at night!)
In my short time here I have already done so much, Callie and her mom met me at the airport and helped me get my luggage to the flat, then we went out for some fish and chips (which are french fries not potato chips for those who don't know), I came back and lost the fight with sleep and took a much needed nap. Then Callie and mom and I went to dinner and to see the musical Sister Act, which was arugablely the best musical I've seen! We went and lounged in Callies Moms hotel room, stole some toilet paper (we were not given any at the flat!) and took a taxi with Callies luggage to our flat. It was all very parent trap riding in the cab.
Today we slept in, which was wonderful and then went grocery shopping, callie found a great little whole foods like store, which I'm sure we will frequent. We also have a great fresh fruit stand right around the corner from our flat, super cheap and super good!
Now we are off to orientation at the CAPA center. More to come, hopefully pictures too!

As they say in England
Cheers!