Despite my efforts to keep this up to date, mostly so that I don't feel obligated to write a weeks worth of stuff in one post, I have failed yet again. That being said nothing much really happened last week. Lots of class, lots of reading, lots of frustrated time at the library. 6 hour check outs are seriously the worst idea ever. I don't think there was really anything eventful.. The dinners were pretty awful Monday/Tuesday. I've been working on catching up with as many of my tv shows as I can, it's not going all that well except for Top Model and How I Met Your Mother.
This was the first weekend here where we haven't had any ISA events planned so that was rather nice. The majority of the group spread themselves out across the world; I know of people who went to Scotland, Ireland, Sweden and Florence, Italy this weekend. I stayed here haha. Saturday was a bit of a lazy day. Slept in way too late and then read before going to the library to work on scholarship app stuff. But the library closed in 30 minutes so that was basically a failed attempt.
Sunday Nathan, Breezy and I went in to London to meet Mandy and explore a bit. We went to Carnaby Street for a little while but most things were closed and it was a bit dull, not quite what I had hoped. Then after getting a bit lost we made it to the British Mueseum, which aside from Bath is by far my favorite thing here. We spent about 3 hours there I think but I could have stayed there the whole day. The architecture of the building itself was phenomenal, which only added to the awesomeness of everything it housed. There was just so much to see that there's no way we even saw everything in the areas we did explore.
We started out in one of the Egyptian rooms, then moved on to Greece and Rome. After that Nathan and I had lunch before moving upstairs. While attempting to figure out where we were going we stumbled across some more Greek stuff, Mesopotamia, as well as the Egyptian Life and Death exhibit, which had a lot of mummies and sarcophagi as well as other things. Then we went and checked out the Japanese section which was absolutely beautiful. After that we quickly went through the early European rooms and then downstairs to the Islamic World section. The art/glass work in that section was phenomenal but it was considerably smaller than any of the other rooms. After that we went to find Mandy and Breezy.
After leaving the Museum we walked back to the tube station to head to Parliament/the Thames/The Eye of London. We got a few good pictures of Parliament as we walked to the Eye. The queue for tickets was rather long and the asshole worker lied to us and told us the 2 for 1 deal was expired so we all had to shell out 18 quid, which pissed me off. After that we headed back out to the freezing cold to get in line, which was monstrous. It took us about 45 minutes before we finally got on, partly due to the insanity of the line system. It started out as one line but was split in half further down to create more space. We were stuck in the outside lane and it moved muuuuch slower than the other. To the point that the people who had been next to us got on a good 20 minutes before us and countless people behind us who had been put in the inside line ended up ahead of us as well.
After that nasty bit we finally boarded the Eye. For those of you that don't know, it's a lot like a gigantic ferris wheel, only you're in an enclosed egg-shaped capsule and it goes very slow. The ride takes half an hour and hte views of the city are amazing. We were fortunate that by the time we got on we were able to enjoy the last bits of sunshine, as well as the sunset and a bit of the nighttime lights. After the Eye we were pretty hungry and for lack of much knowledge of the area/desire for cheap and quick, we ended up going to McDonald's lol. The restaurant itself was much classier than the ones back home, but the food was exactly the same in my opinion.
We got home around 8:30 and relaxed. Today's classes were alright, somewhat interesting. Still trying to get used to the lecture style here. Tomorrow I've only got 1 class so hopefully I will be a bit more productive than usual. But who knows haha.
Monday 25 October 2010
Monday 18 October 2010
Canterbury, Dover, and the Tower of London
On Saturday we had to get up early and leave campus at 7:30 for our trip to Canterbury and Dover. We drove an hour into downtown London to pick up the ISA London students and then from there it was about an hour and a half to Canterbury. I felt super sick on the bus so that was pretty miserable. Never having Nutella toast as my only thing for breakfast before riding on a bus for 2 hours evver again.
When we got to Canterbury we walked through town and got on a cruise of the river that runs through the town. It started raining once we got on the boat, as is typical of every tour we go on. Our guide was Irish so he had an amazing accent and was really funny. Some of the houses in Canterbury are insanely old and it was really pretty but rather touristy. In my opinion Bath is still the best city haha.
After the cruise we were given an hour of free time. We went and got sandwiches at Pret A Manger. No idea what it means or how to say it but it's a chain that I've seen everywhere. They have a wide selection of sandwiches and "toasties" to choose from as well as soup and coffee. I got a pesto and mozarella toastie and it was delicious. We sat in there a bit because it was so cozy and warm and it was freezing and windy outside. Then Nathan and I hit up the ATM and walked through town a bit more before meeting the group.
After the free time we went into Canterbury Cathedral which was absolutely gorgeous. We were given roughly an hour to explore inside before meeting back with the group to go home. Religious people in Europe have got it so much better than people in America; all of their churches are absolutely gorgeous. We saw the place where Saint Thomas died when one of the King Henry's had him killed for being too Catholic.
Once we left Canterbury it was a little less than an hour drive to Dover. Dover was a really pretty town situated right on the coast looking across the English Channel to France. It's apparently the closest town to mainland Europe and is also situated at the closest crossing to France, about 18 miles. The Chunnel goes by right next to Dover. We stopped at the beach to take pictures of the cliffs and then we were off to Dover Castle.
At the castle we stopped in the gift shop and then went through the Castle, where we saw the kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms. Then we split up and half the group continued the tour and the rest of us climbed to the top to get the view of Dover from the ramparts of the castle. It was a gorgeous view albeit cold and windy. We saw a rainbow over the town and then it started to pour down rain. While we were there it rained, snowed a bit, was extremely windy, as well as having sunbreaks. Typical English weather apparently.
After the castle we headed to the Secret Underground War Tunnels, some of which were originally created hundreds of years ago and then updated for use in WWII. They wouldn't let us take any pictures even though it's long since been out of use. They set up everything the way it would have looked back when it was in use and took us through the hospital area, operation room, barracks, phone room, map room, and a couple others. They also rigged the lights to flicker and black out as well as the sounds of bombs dropping. It wasn't so fun when the lights went out haha. I think I would have gone crazy if I had to live down there for any period of time.
After the tunnels we got back on the bus and drove back into London where the traffic was awful to drop off the London students before returning to Reading. When we got back it was already 8ish and we hadn't eaten since lunch so me, Nathan and Breezy ordered some good old fashioned Dominoes pizza. It was actually really really good. Then we hung out and attempted to be productive but it didn't go all that well.
Sunday we got to sleep in a bit since we didn't have to be in London til 1:30. Eventhough we left 20 minutes after Maria suggested we still got to the tube station in London 30 minutes early. Once the London students arrived we met up with our guide and started our tour of the Tower of London, which was originally a royal palace but is most famous for the royal imprisonments and executions that took place there. It's where Queen Elizabeth I was imprisoned and King Henry VIII had his wives beheaded.
After a guided tour we were given around an hour to explore. We saw the crown jewels which we weren't allowed to photograph and then we went into the tower itself which had all of the armor and weapons and such. Then we were out of time and had to meet the group.
After the tour the guide led us around the seedier parts of London on a recreated trail of the Jack the Ripper murders, which was super creepy. The tour ended at Spitalfield Markets otherwise I probably would have passed on it. Unfortunately we got to the markets at 5:30 and everything closes super early here so some of the vendors were already packing their stuff up. We got Souvlaki at this fancy looking but affordable Greek place. Not quite as good as Gyro but the same basic principle. Then after some confusion we found the tube station and the right tube and were on our way home.
When we got to Canterbury we walked through town and got on a cruise of the river that runs through the town. It started raining once we got on the boat, as is typical of every tour we go on. Our guide was Irish so he had an amazing accent and was really funny. Some of the houses in Canterbury are insanely old and it was really pretty but rather touristy. In my opinion Bath is still the best city haha.
After the cruise we were given an hour of free time. We went and got sandwiches at Pret A Manger. No idea what it means or how to say it but it's a chain that I've seen everywhere. They have a wide selection of sandwiches and "toasties" to choose from as well as soup and coffee. I got a pesto and mozarella toastie and it was delicious. We sat in there a bit because it was so cozy and warm and it was freezing and windy outside. Then Nathan and I hit up the ATM and walked through town a bit more before meeting the group.
After the free time we went into Canterbury Cathedral which was absolutely gorgeous. We were given roughly an hour to explore inside before meeting back with the group to go home. Religious people in Europe have got it so much better than people in America; all of their churches are absolutely gorgeous. We saw the place where Saint Thomas died when one of the King Henry's had him killed for being too Catholic.
Once we left Canterbury it was a little less than an hour drive to Dover. Dover was a really pretty town situated right on the coast looking across the English Channel to France. It's apparently the closest town to mainland Europe and is also situated at the closest crossing to France, about 18 miles. The Chunnel goes by right next to Dover. We stopped at the beach to take pictures of the cliffs and then we were off to Dover Castle.
At the castle we stopped in the gift shop and then went through the Castle, where we saw the kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms. Then we split up and half the group continued the tour and the rest of us climbed to the top to get the view of Dover from the ramparts of the castle. It was a gorgeous view albeit cold and windy. We saw a rainbow over the town and then it started to pour down rain. While we were there it rained, snowed a bit, was extremely windy, as well as having sunbreaks. Typical English weather apparently.
After the castle we headed to the Secret Underground War Tunnels, some of which were originally created hundreds of years ago and then updated for use in WWII. They wouldn't let us take any pictures even though it's long since been out of use. They set up everything the way it would have looked back when it was in use and took us through the hospital area, operation room, barracks, phone room, map room, and a couple others. They also rigged the lights to flicker and black out as well as the sounds of bombs dropping. It wasn't so fun when the lights went out haha. I think I would have gone crazy if I had to live down there for any period of time.
After the tunnels we got back on the bus and drove back into London where the traffic was awful to drop off the London students before returning to Reading. When we got back it was already 8ish and we hadn't eaten since lunch so me, Nathan and Breezy ordered some good old fashioned Dominoes pizza. It was actually really really good. Then we hung out and attempted to be productive but it didn't go all that well.
Sunday we got to sleep in a bit since we didn't have to be in London til 1:30. Eventhough we left 20 minutes after Maria suggested we still got to the tube station in London 30 minutes early. Once the London students arrived we met up with our guide and started our tour of the Tower of London, which was originally a royal palace but is most famous for the royal imprisonments and executions that took place there. It's where Queen Elizabeth I was imprisoned and King Henry VIII had his wives beheaded.
After a guided tour we were given around an hour to explore. We saw the crown jewels which we weren't allowed to photograph and then we went into the tower itself which had all of the armor and weapons and such. Then we were out of time and had to meet the group.
After the tour the guide led us around the seedier parts of London on a recreated trail of the Jack the Ripper murders, which was super creepy. The tour ended at Spitalfield Markets otherwise I probably would have passed on it. Unfortunately we got to the markets at 5:30 and everything closes super early here so some of the vendors were already packing their stuff up. We got Souvlaki at this fancy looking but affordable Greek place. Not quite as good as Gyro but the same basic principle. Then after some confusion we found the tube station and the right tube and were on our way home.
Sunday 17 October 2010
First Week of Classes
Rapid succession posts to try and catch up with where I actually am.
Classes started last Monday. I had two with a two hour gap between them. After arriving late to breakfast I hastily ate before heading to the student union store to buy some notebooks. Overestimating how long it would take to buy the notebooks, find the building and find the classroom, I arrived 30 minutes early. Luckily I was not the only one and James, Mimi, and Jess entertained me for the 30 minutes.
The first class was my Civ. of 5th Century Athens course. The class takes place in a large lecture hall where each row is one large bench with table tops per every 3 or 4 students that fold out from the back of the row in front. It reminded me a lot of church pews. The class seemed like it would be pretty good. Then I headed back to my hall to grab some lunch before going to my next class.
This one was my Egypt and Greece class. The room didn't have enough seats/tables for everyone so we had to steal chairs from other rooms. We were assigned the task of copying a text of Hieroglyphics before next class. The lecturer is a grad student and seems like a really nice guy. This class looks like it'll be pretty interesting as well.
Tuesday I didn't have any class because the one class I normally have on Tuesdays wasn't starting until next week. So I went to the library and got one of my books and figured out which classes I would be taking at home in the Spring. After Nathan finished class we went into town with some other people from the program and bought some groceries and other necessities before coming home.
Wednesday I had my Environmental Science class at 9am. I stupidly decided to skip breakfast and ended up regretting it. Lucky for me we got out an hour early and I was able to snag a bite to eat. This is the only class I'm really not looking forward to. We spent the 2nd hour of lecture going over the components of a paper and how to do parenthetical citations. That only made the hunger worse since it was a huge waste of my time. The prof is super nice at least and so were the people. After lunch I had the 2nd meeting of my Athens class where we went over the actual information about the course.
Thursday I had the other lecture of my Egypt class and the first lecture of my British Society class, which is offered exclusively to foreign students and includes a lot of people from my program. Due to technical difficulties the class was a very very brief overview of what we're going to discuss throughout the term. After dinner that night me and Jamie, a girl from my program, went to the Reading U's Tennis Club Social Tennis night. It was freeeezing but a lot of fun to play some games with locals. Afterwards Nathan and I hung out with Breezy in my room for awhile.
Friday I didn't have any class again. I went to the library again and got another book that I needed. I got a bunch of reading done Thursday/Friday but still not nearly enough. I did my laundry for the first time here and it cost a freaking fortune. We hung out with Breezy again some more. The dinners in the dorm have been pretty crappy lately.
Anyway that basically concludes my first week here. I've got tons of reading and tons of papers to do this semester so it should be pretty interesting. That being said I only have one short multiple choice quiz at the end so no major cramming for finals. It's all just a matter of getting my papers done!
Classes started last Monday. I had two with a two hour gap between them. After arriving late to breakfast I hastily ate before heading to the student union store to buy some notebooks. Overestimating how long it would take to buy the notebooks, find the building and find the classroom, I arrived 30 minutes early. Luckily I was not the only one and James, Mimi, and Jess entertained me for the 30 minutes.
The first class was my Civ. of 5th Century Athens course. The class takes place in a large lecture hall where each row is one large bench with table tops per every 3 or 4 students that fold out from the back of the row in front. It reminded me a lot of church pews. The class seemed like it would be pretty good. Then I headed back to my hall to grab some lunch before going to my next class.
This one was my Egypt and Greece class. The room didn't have enough seats/tables for everyone so we had to steal chairs from other rooms. We were assigned the task of copying a text of Hieroglyphics before next class. The lecturer is a grad student and seems like a really nice guy. This class looks like it'll be pretty interesting as well.
Tuesday I didn't have any class because the one class I normally have on Tuesdays wasn't starting until next week. So I went to the library and got one of my books and figured out which classes I would be taking at home in the Spring. After Nathan finished class we went into town with some other people from the program and bought some groceries and other necessities before coming home.
Wednesday I had my Environmental Science class at 9am. I stupidly decided to skip breakfast and ended up regretting it. Lucky for me we got out an hour early and I was able to snag a bite to eat. This is the only class I'm really not looking forward to. We spent the 2nd hour of lecture going over the components of a paper and how to do parenthetical citations. That only made the hunger worse since it was a huge waste of my time. The prof is super nice at least and so were the people. After lunch I had the 2nd meeting of my Athens class where we went over the actual information about the course.
Thursday I had the other lecture of my Egypt class and the first lecture of my British Society class, which is offered exclusively to foreign students and includes a lot of people from my program. Due to technical difficulties the class was a very very brief overview of what we're going to discuss throughout the term. After dinner that night me and Jamie, a girl from my program, went to the Reading U's Tennis Club Social Tennis night. It was freeeezing but a lot of fun to play some games with locals. Afterwards Nathan and I hung out with Breezy in my room for awhile.
Friday I didn't have any class again. I went to the library again and got another book that I needed. I got a bunch of reading done Thursday/Friday but still not nearly enough. I did my laundry for the first time here and it cost a freaking fortune. We hung out with Breezy again some more. The dinners in the dorm have been pretty crappy lately.
Anyway that basically concludes my first week here. I've got tons of reading and tons of papers to do this semester so it should be pretty interesting. That being said I only have one short multiple choice quiz at the end so no major cramming for finals. It's all just a matter of getting my papers done!
Brighton, Bath, and Stonehenge
So as I anticipated, I'm a little crap at updating this in a timely manner. So now I'm stuck once again trying to recount a week's worth of adventures. So I guess I'll just start with last weekend and hope I can remember the main points.
Saturday started off pretty early. We took the bus into town, caught a train heading to London Gatwick Airport, where we had to change trains for one that went from Gatwick to Brighton. In total it was probably around 3 hours of train riding chopped in half by a long wait for the ISA London students to arrive at the Brighton station.
While we waited everyone got pretty hungry so we decided to try out the British Doritios, which all had bizarre names. Turns out Cool Ranch is just the Original flavor here. Anyway the ISA London folks eventually showed up and we finally got to see Brighton.
The weather first of all was amazing; sunny, upper 60s to low 70s. Basically the perfect day to see the coast. We walked through town until we reached the Royal Pavilion, which had been used as a palace for one of the Kings.. I think it was George but I honestly can't remember. The outside of it was amazing; it had a very Middle Eastern architectural style. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside on the tour. They had the entire palace decorated as it would have looked at the time when it was used, in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It was insanely lavish and extremely beautiful. They gave us a free audio tour which led us through the main entry way, dining hall, kitchen, sitting rooms, music room, and bedrooms.
After the tour we walked down to the pier where we were finally given some free time. Nathan and I walked to the end and bought some Indian food and then walked back to the beach which was entirely made up of large pebbles. We were only given about an hour of free time and then it was time to walk back to the train station. Thank goodness the train situation went off without a hitch this time and we all had seats back to Reading, where we grabbed the bus and came home.
The next day was another early day. This time it was so early the busses weren't even running yet. We didn't know this at the time and walked all the way to the bus stop before realizing we needed to walk to the train station across town. It took around 30 minutes and luckily we made it in just enough time to catch our train to Bath.
Bath was a gorgeous town, so far it's been my favorite. The architecture was absolutely stunning and it's the site of the most expansive Roman Bath House built in the UK. When we got into Bath we sorted out the Stonehenge tour bus situation and then grabbed lunch at another little pizza place. This time they at least gave us steak knives to cut it with. After lunch Nathan, Breezy and I went on the tour of the Roman Baths. This has definitely been one of the highlights of my trip so far. After taking my Roman History class last semester it was amazing to get to see some of the things I learned about and see statues of the leaders that I learned about.
The Bath tour took a little over an hour, again with a free audio guided tour that gave a ton of really amazing historical background and facts as well as explanations of what things were and how things would have looked then. Unfortunately you can't go in the baths, as they used lead pipes to bring in the water and they lined the bottom of the pools with sheets of lead to prevent groundwater from leaking in and cooling the water. However they did let us touch it as long as we washed our hands before eating or touching anything. It was incredibly hot, a bit hotter than the average hot tub. After the tour we visited the shop and each entry ticket came with a free sample of the drinking water, which tasted awful.
After the Bath tour we had to run and catch the bus to Stonehenge where everyone else was meeting us. The bus driver was also our guide and he was really great. The countryside around Bath was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately a large part of it is used/owned by the military. There were tank crossings along the way haha.
Stonehenge was pretty awesome but a little disappointing at the same time. It was simultaneously larger and smaller than I thought. Not sure how that works but yeah haha. You also had to stay on a little path that at some points got very very far away from the actual stones. It would have been a lot cooler to have been alive and there when you were still allowed to walk between the stones and get a closer look. We couldn't even see the stones in the inner rings at all really.
After the tour we got some ice cream and then it was back on the bus. When we got back to Bath we took a different route back to the train station to see a bit more of the architecture. By then it was already getting fairly late so a group of us opted to head back straight away.
When we got back to Reading we grabbed some Subway in the train station because we were starving. Everyone over here orders the 6 inch instead of the footlong and you can buy cheesy bread as well as just a bowl of meatballs. Pretty awesome haha. Then we discovered the bus wouldn't be arriving for another hour and a few of us caught a cab back to the dorm. And that concludes the weekend of insane traveling.
Saturday started off pretty early. We took the bus into town, caught a train heading to London Gatwick Airport, where we had to change trains for one that went from Gatwick to Brighton. In total it was probably around 3 hours of train riding chopped in half by a long wait for the ISA London students to arrive at the Brighton station.
While we waited everyone got pretty hungry so we decided to try out the British Doritios, which all had bizarre names. Turns out Cool Ranch is just the Original flavor here. Anyway the ISA London folks eventually showed up and we finally got to see Brighton.
The weather first of all was amazing; sunny, upper 60s to low 70s. Basically the perfect day to see the coast. We walked through town until we reached the Royal Pavilion, which had been used as a palace for one of the Kings.. I think it was George but I honestly can't remember. The outside of it was amazing; it had a very Middle Eastern architectural style. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside on the tour. They had the entire palace decorated as it would have looked at the time when it was used, in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It was insanely lavish and extremely beautiful. They gave us a free audio tour which led us through the main entry way, dining hall, kitchen, sitting rooms, music room, and bedrooms.
After the tour we walked down to the pier where we were finally given some free time. Nathan and I walked to the end and bought some Indian food and then walked back to the beach which was entirely made up of large pebbles. We were only given about an hour of free time and then it was time to walk back to the train station. Thank goodness the train situation went off without a hitch this time and we all had seats back to Reading, where we grabbed the bus and came home.
The next day was another early day. This time it was so early the busses weren't even running yet. We didn't know this at the time and walked all the way to the bus stop before realizing we needed to walk to the train station across town. It took around 30 minutes and luckily we made it in just enough time to catch our train to Bath.
Bath was a gorgeous town, so far it's been my favorite. The architecture was absolutely stunning and it's the site of the most expansive Roman Bath House built in the UK. When we got into Bath we sorted out the Stonehenge tour bus situation and then grabbed lunch at another little pizza place. This time they at least gave us steak knives to cut it with. After lunch Nathan, Breezy and I went on the tour of the Roman Baths. This has definitely been one of the highlights of my trip so far. After taking my Roman History class last semester it was amazing to get to see some of the things I learned about and see statues of the leaders that I learned about.
The Bath tour took a little over an hour, again with a free audio guided tour that gave a ton of really amazing historical background and facts as well as explanations of what things were and how things would have looked then. Unfortunately you can't go in the baths, as they used lead pipes to bring in the water and they lined the bottom of the pools with sheets of lead to prevent groundwater from leaking in and cooling the water. However they did let us touch it as long as we washed our hands before eating or touching anything. It was incredibly hot, a bit hotter than the average hot tub. After the tour we visited the shop and each entry ticket came with a free sample of the drinking water, which tasted awful.
After the Bath tour we had to run and catch the bus to Stonehenge where everyone else was meeting us. The bus driver was also our guide and he was really great. The countryside around Bath was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately a large part of it is used/owned by the military. There were tank crossings along the way haha.
Stonehenge was pretty awesome but a little disappointing at the same time. It was simultaneously larger and smaller than I thought. Not sure how that works but yeah haha. You also had to stay on a little path that at some points got very very far away from the actual stones. It would have been a lot cooler to have been alive and there when you were still allowed to walk between the stones and get a closer look. We couldn't even see the stones in the inner rings at all really.
After the tour we got some ice cream and then it was back on the bus. When we got back to Bath we took a different route back to the train station to see a bit more of the architecture. By then it was already getting fairly late so a group of us opted to head back straight away.
When we got back to Reading we grabbed some Subway in the train station because we were starving. Everyone over here orders the 6 inch instead of the footlong and you can buy cheesy bread as well as just a bowl of meatballs. Pretty awesome haha. Then we discovered the bus wouldn't be arriving for another hour and a few of us caught a cab back to the dorm. And that concludes the weekend of insane traveling.
Monday 11 October 2010
First Week
The first week and a half here has been a whirlwind adventure. I'm going to try and start at the beginning and not leave anything out so we'll see how I do.
We got to the airport with plenty of time and found our gate. The seats on the plane all had little pillows with a lullaby in Icelandic and its translation and each of the head rests told you a different word in Icelandic and its meaning. The first lag of the journey was long, about 7 hours. I watched Little Miss Sunshine, Date Night, and 2 episodes of Family Guy and still had tons of time. They didn't serve us a free meal which sucked, so we ate granola bars. We landed in Iceland at 6 am their time and it was still dark. After going through security again we had a 15 minute wait to board our next flight. The landing into London was really rough, and the weather was pretty stormy. After finally finding Mandy we grabbed a taxi and headed to our hotel, once we figured out where it was at. The taxi ride was a bit terrifying but nothing compared to the one I had in Reading. Drivers are crazy over here and the roads are very narrow.
Once we got to the hotel we checked in and just hung out in the room. The bed was extremely uncomfortable and the room was so small we could barely fit our luggage in. We watched some tv and just relaxed until Mandy had to leave. We had dinner down in the hotel restaurant and Nathan enjoyed his first beer. After dinner we decided to head to bed early. Nathan slept like a baby and I was up 7/8 of the night. In the morning we just caught the shuttle back to the airport where we met the group and waited for an hour or two for everyone to arrive. I was feeling pretty faint at this point from lack of food or sleep so I just relaxed on the bus ride to Reading.
Once we got here there was a huge que to check in and get our access cards. All together it took a little over 2 hours for everyone to get their keys and get their luggage upstairs. Then they took us for a quick walk to hte center of campus and got us taxi's into town for lunch. By now the rain had started to move in. We ate at a traditional pie place called Sweeney and Todd. The pies were really good but I still wasn't feeling well from the flight. Then we went into town and bought cell phones before heading back to the dorms to relax. Despite being exhausted all day, I was unable to fall asleep until 4am from the combination of jet lag and noisey flatmates.
The next morning we had to be up early to head to London. The train from Reading to London was about 45 minutes and then we rode the tube into downtown London. At the ISA office they gave us amazing sandwiches and snacks and a little welcome orientation/presentation. They also surprised me and Kayleigh with birthday cakes. Then we walked into town to catch an open top bus tour of the city, in the pouring rain. Luckily it stopped raining after a bit and the bus tour was amazing. We decided to bail on high tea at Harrod's in favor of seeing more of the city. It was definitely the right decision. Unfortunately I forgot my camera that day so will have to go back to all the sites we saw to take some pictures. The tour bus dropped us off at the train station and we were on our way home.
Monday was finally our first day to relax a bit. We had a study abroad orientation with the university in the afternoon where they explained how to register for our classes. We went into town that day to buy some essentials and then came back. Nothing too exciting. We went out to the bar in our dining center and hung out for awhile.
Tuesday was my birthday. I went to go and register for a history course which I have since decided not to take. Nathan took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in town and we came back to campus for my 21 run with Laura, Chanel and Breezy. It was a really fun night. We met a group of British guys and hung out with them until 3 in the morning when we finally headed up to our rooms to sleep. The next morning the cleaning lady scared the crap out of everyone when she came in to pick up our trash.
Wednesday we went in to town again with a group and checked out the pound and 99 pence stores. Then we went to eat at a pizzeria. They don't eat pizza with their hands here so it was quite the experience to cut an entire personal pizza with a fork and knife.
Thursday I had to register for the last 2 of my classes. We checked out the sports/club fairs on Wednesday and Thursday. Then we went in to town and I bought a skirt, boots and tights.
Friday we got up early to head into London for a tour of City Hall with our program. The tour was really more of an information session but they gave us free drinks and let us go up to the top floor called London's Living Room and it had an amazing view of the River Thames. Then we had lunch at a pub and walked along the Thames to the Millenium Bridge. We had originally planned to go on the London Eye but the weather had turned crummy so we decided to head back. We got to the train station and learned it would be an hour before we could use our off peak rail passes, so we went to Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, which were both amazing. We headed back to the station to discover that 3 trains to Reading had been canceled and the next one delayed. After waiting for awhile we managed to squeeze onto the first train to leave the station. We finally got home around 10 pm.
Since I have to go to class now I'll leave this as it is and make a separate post for Brighton, Bath and Stonehenge.
We got to the airport with plenty of time and found our gate. The seats on the plane all had little pillows with a lullaby in Icelandic and its translation and each of the head rests told you a different word in Icelandic and its meaning. The first lag of the journey was long, about 7 hours. I watched Little Miss Sunshine, Date Night, and 2 episodes of Family Guy and still had tons of time. They didn't serve us a free meal which sucked, so we ate granola bars. We landed in Iceland at 6 am their time and it was still dark. After going through security again we had a 15 minute wait to board our next flight. The landing into London was really rough, and the weather was pretty stormy. After finally finding Mandy we grabbed a taxi and headed to our hotel, once we figured out where it was at. The taxi ride was a bit terrifying but nothing compared to the one I had in Reading. Drivers are crazy over here and the roads are very narrow.
Once we got to the hotel we checked in and just hung out in the room. The bed was extremely uncomfortable and the room was so small we could barely fit our luggage in. We watched some tv and just relaxed until Mandy had to leave. We had dinner down in the hotel restaurant and Nathan enjoyed his first beer. After dinner we decided to head to bed early. Nathan slept like a baby and I was up 7/8 of the night. In the morning we just caught the shuttle back to the airport where we met the group and waited for an hour or two for everyone to arrive. I was feeling pretty faint at this point from lack of food or sleep so I just relaxed on the bus ride to Reading.
Once we got here there was a huge que to check in and get our access cards. All together it took a little over 2 hours for everyone to get their keys and get their luggage upstairs. Then they took us for a quick walk to hte center of campus and got us taxi's into town for lunch. By now the rain had started to move in. We ate at a traditional pie place called Sweeney and Todd. The pies were really good but I still wasn't feeling well from the flight. Then we went into town and bought cell phones before heading back to the dorms to relax. Despite being exhausted all day, I was unable to fall asleep until 4am from the combination of jet lag and noisey flatmates.
The next morning we had to be up early to head to London. The train from Reading to London was about 45 minutes and then we rode the tube into downtown London. At the ISA office they gave us amazing sandwiches and snacks and a little welcome orientation/presentation. They also surprised me and Kayleigh with birthday cakes. Then we walked into town to catch an open top bus tour of the city, in the pouring rain. Luckily it stopped raining after a bit and the bus tour was amazing. We decided to bail on high tea at Harrod's in favor of seeing more of the city. It was definitely the right decision. Unfortunately I forgot my camera that day so will have to go back to all the sites we saw to take some pictures. The tour bus dropped us off at the train station and we were on our way home.
Monday was finally our first day to relax a bit. We had a study abroad orientation with the university in the afternoon where they explained how to register for our classes. We went into town that day to buy some essentials and then came back. Nothing too exciting. We went out to the bar in our dining center and hung out for awhile.
Tuesday was my birthday. I went to go and register for a history course which I have since decided not to take. Nathan took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in town and we came back to campus for my 21 run with Laura, Chanel and Breezy. It was a really fun night. We met a group of British guys and hung out with them until 3 in the morning when we finally headed up to our rooms to sleep. The next morning the cleaning lady scared the crap out of everyone when she came in to pick up our trash.
Wednesday we went in to town again with a group and checked out the pound and 99 pence stores. Then we went to eat at a pizzeria. They don't eat pizza with their hands here so it was quite the experience to cut an entire personal pizza with a fork and knife.
Thursday I had to register for the last 2 of my classes. We checked out the sports/club fairs on Wednesday and Thursday. Then we went in to town and I bought a skirt, boots and tights.
Friday we got up early to head into London for a tour of City Hall with our program. The tour was really more of an information session but they gave us free drinks and let us go up to the top floor called London's Living Room and it had an amazing view of the River Thames. Then we had lunch at a pub and walked along the Thames to the Millenium Bridge. We had originally planned to go on the London Eye but the weather had turned crummy so we decided to head back. We got to the train station and learned it would be an hour before we could use our off peak rail passes, so we went to Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, which were both amazing. We headed back to the station to discover that 3 trains to Reading had been canceled and the next one delayed. After waiting for awhile we managed to squeeze onto the first train to leave the station. We finally got home around 10 pm.
Since I have to go to class now I'll leave this as it is and make a separate post for Brighton, Bath and Stonehenge.
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