Volcanoes, Sunshine, and Going Home

I am in the last few days of my stay in London. I cannot believe it is almost over. The time went so fast. This weekend I was walking in Kensington Gardens the sun was out and people were everywhere. It seems like not too long ago I was walking around there with snow on the ground!

I am sure you have heard about the Iceland volcano which erupted, causing the closure of European airspace. I began to wonder how long I would be stuck here and whether I would need to find a boat home. Thankfully the airspace has opened and Heathrow is returning to normal service. Which means I should be home this Sunday!

I have finished up all of my classes. Will be strange next fall to be back at SNC. Now I have two days left at my internship.

This past week has had wonderful weather. Bright blue sunshine skies and warm temps. I have enjoyed walking around soaking up the sun in Hyde Park.

Off to my last few days here and See you soon!

Easter in Edinburgh

Hello!

I have returned from my Easter weekend in Edinburgh, it was a fantastic weekend.

The city is beautiful and I was treated with great weather, a bit windy but a bit of sun each day.

I did see some snow however. Thankfully it was off in the nearby mountains! I enjoyed sightseeing around the city via a bus tour.

Main sights of the city included the Royal Yacht Britannica and the Queen's Official residence in Scotland, Hollyrood Palace.

My hotel was right off the Royal Mile, a road which connects Hollyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle. It is of course about a mile long and is a very busy place with many shops and tourists.

The architecture of the city is magnificent! The buildings reflect many time periods with amazing decoration and detail.

I toured around Edinburgh Castle taking in the Medieval Castle and views of the city. The castle is situated on top of a tall hill and looks very much like a fortress. In side the castle there are many exhibitions, including the Scottish Royal Jewels and Scottish Military History.

Just walking down the street in Edinburgh is an experience, there are bagpipers everywhere so your journey has a very Scottish soundtrack!

On Easter Sunday I decided to do some thing active and climb to the top of Aurthur's Seat. It is the stump of an ancient volcano in the middle of the city. I saw it on my first day and it looked very majestic. There was a path leading up to the top so no heavy duty rock climbing for me! The views at the top were breathtaking. I could see the whole city, the sea, the mountains, and the far off countryside. I could also see an approaching rain storm.

As I began my way down the clouds opened up. With rain and wind the path became very slippery. Not wanting to fall off the side I took my time one rock step at a time!

Overall it was a great trip! Pictures to come soon!!!

Springtime?!?!

Well I had some great weather here! Sunny warm days that really felt like spring. However it would appear that the joke is on me as Wisconsin is enjoying 70s this week and I am stuck with rainy and cold!

And naturally I have chosen to go north for my Easter break to Scotland where there is the promise of snow!!!

I though I left behind this temperamental weather at home!

To antidote the cold I am posting some pictures I took this weekend when it was beautiful spring weather. They are all in the Notting Hill area, I think as I got quite lost while taking them!

Pictures!

London Eye

View of Parliament From the London Eye

Hampton Court
It is Spring time!!!!

In the maze at Hampton Court

Internship

Hello Again!

I started my internship a few weeks ago and it has been crazy!

I am working at Wealth Briefing a news service for wealth managers. It is a great place to work. I am writing articles which is really great! While I don't know much about the industry I am learning a lot!

It is definitely different working in a British office. My office is very relaxed. At the end of the day we sometimes go across the street to the pub. It is a great way to get to know my co workers better!

Otherwise I still have a few classes going on, British Life and Cultures, Creative Writing, Internship Seminar. A bit of work but will keep me in practice for next semester back in De Pere.

Yesterday I went to Hampton court. Most famously one of the palaces of Henry the VIII. Very interesting to see the castle and the history behind it! The gardens were beautiful as the flowers are blooming!

Coming up for Easter weekend I will be traveling to Edinburgh Scotland. It will be fun to see a new part of the UK!

Parents and Paris

Ok catching up with my blog!

Guards at Tower of London

Over my spring break my parents came to London to visit me. It was great to see them again and to show them my new home away from home! We enjoyed taking in the sights and seeing a couple shows. We even stumbled upon the world premiere of Alice in Wonderland. I am convinced that we were there as Johnny Depp was walking the red carpet due to the loud cheers!

Notre Dame

We also took the chunnel to Paris. I was excited to go back to France and see the sights I saw my first time there. Our hotel was right across from the Louvre. My favorite spots of the city reminded the same; Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and Versailles. We had a mix of weather but overall it was good enough to enjoy our time in the city!

It was great to have my parents in town, a little taste of home!

End of classes

This week has been busy! It is the last week of classes before spring break and the start of my internship!. Last week I had my interview. I am very excited to start. I will be interning at Wealth Briefing, an online magazine that writes articles for wealth managers. I will actually get the chance to write for the website. I am looking forward to finishing my papers and exams so I can enjoy for break! My parents are coming in tomorrow and I will show them London before we head to Paris!. I especially cannot wait to get back to Paris see if I can find the spots I was at the last time! Otherwise I am enjoying my time in England making new friends and exploring the city.

Pictures of Turkey

First Night in Turkey

Ottoman Palace

Blue Mosque

Haggia Sophia

Turkey

Hello!

This week has been crazy as my classes are coming to an end and there are projects due every day! But I will update on my trip to Istanbul Turkey!

I arrived last Thursday night the buildings are amazing some are very old. While in Turkey I tried many different foods like chicken shish Turkish coffee (strong!!) and Apple Tea. We saw many of the main sights in Istanbul including the Blue Mosque and Haggia Sophia. We also tours the palaces of the ottoman empire. The buildings are very ornate with amazing tile work. it was an intense experience with vendors and shop keepers shouting out in English to get you to come into their store. The bazaar was even more crazy with people everywhere. It was an amazing experience, but in the end I was happy to return to subdued England.

Bath and Stonehenge

On Saturday I took a day trip to Bath and Stonehenge. It was amazing to get out of the city and see more of the country! Bath was amazing, the buildings were beautiful and there was so much to see. All the buildings in Bath are made of the same stone, Bath stone. It creates a unity in the city but yet each building has it own unique style. I was able to visit the Roman baths. Very interesting to see the ruins. The water for the baths comes from a underground spring where the water is under pressure and forced through many minerals. So the water comes up very hot and full of minerals. It the history of the city the waters were always thought to have healing powers. In ancient times it was believed that that spot was the place of the Roman god Minerva. The baths were a holy spot as well as a social place. Bath was also the home of Jane Austen for a period of her life. Many of her novels take place or have a reference to the city. There is a small museum to her in Bath, it was interesting to hear the details of her life as well as what life was like at that time.

Here are some pictures from that day!

Busy Week!

By Monday morning my cold was pretty much gone so I was able to get back on my feet and see some more of London. On Tuesday I had a tour of parliament for one of my classes. It is a very remarkable building. I was also interesting to learn how parliament is run. There is a lot of tradition in how things are done. We have been enjoying some great weather 40s with a combination of rain and sunshine. Wednesday I went on a tour of a mosque. It was the London Central Mosque, near Regents Park. I went with my Islam class, it was interesting to experience this different type of worship. While we were there we were able to observe one of their daily prayers. Thursday did not have any field trips, however after class I went to London's largest mall. It is huge! There is every store you can think of there from top designers (Prada, Tiffany) to general stores (H&M, Zara, and Marks&Spencers) I was only able to cover a small portion of the mall and will have to return soon! Today I have class and laundry on my to do list. Tomorrow I am going on a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Look out for pictures coming soon!!!

Lazy Saturday

After a very busy and exciting week I have come down with a cold and have lost my voice for three days. Though I am feeling better and after resting this weekend I should be over my cold completely. My classes continue to be good though we will have to see when the really work starts coming in! This past Thursday I went to Red Bee Media with my British Broadcasting class. What they do there is the coordination, post production, and direction of many UK TV channels including BBC and iTV. The class was given the tour by a former co-worker of our teacher. It was exciting to see all the behind the scenes of how broadcast TV comes together. I would love to have an internship there..still waiting on my internship assignment though. This past week we have had some typical London weather mid 40s and rain. though I am happy to have rain over snow and cold temps!

Update

It has been a while since I last updated, sorry about that. Between classes and the weekend I lost track of time. We are finally getting some good London weather here, currently it is raining and about 40 degrees F. this weekend we had good weather in the mid 40s and sunshine. On Sunday afternoon I went to the Camden Market. It is a large area comprised of many markets and shops and is very busy on the weekends. Pretty much anything you can imagine is for sale clothing, accessories, shoes, purses, and other trinkets. There are many ethnic food stalls from nearly every country. Above anything it is a wonderful place to people watch as it is an area where anything goes. From tourists like me to the pierced people advertising the many piercing and tattoo shops. Now I am off to class and some grocery shopping!

Classes and Exploring

This week classes started. On Monday I had Creative Writing and British Broadcasting. I am looking forward to these classes a lot! Both teachers are very enthusiastic about their subjects and I am actually looking forward to the course work. On Tuesday I had British Life and Cultures. In this class we will take the experiences we encounter in life in London and learn the background or the "why". Today I will have Understanding Civilizations; Islam and the West. I am interested to see what the class will be like. Yesterday I went out to explore South Kensington a bit more. I walked to High Street which is a major shopping district in the area. I stopped in a few stores to look around including Marks & Spencer (department store), Zara, Topshop (clothing stores), and TkMaxx (like Tj Maxx). After shopping I went out with one of my suite mates to walk around and take pictures of Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gardens, and Kensington Palace.

Pictures from London

Life in London

So far London has been amazing! On Saturday I had a couple tours of the city. First was a walking tour of the Kensington area. Sights there included Kensington gardens, Kensington palace, Royal Albert Hall, the memorial of Prince Albert, High Street (a shopping district), and various houses where famous people lived. Then in the afternoon I had a bus tour of the city, London and Westminster. In this tour we saw all the famous sights such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, the West End, and Piccadilly Circus. It was amazing to finally see these sights in person! On Sunday I explored South Kensington a bit more with my roommates and saw the Museum of Natural History. It was very interesting and very big. No way to see the whole thing in one day, luckily it is free and very close! Today classes start I am looking forward to see what interesting things I will learn this semester.

In London

Hello! I have made it safely to London. It is pretty cold here and since I am living in an older building my room the heat has not started up yet. The area is very nice with many old buildings. So far I have been going through orientation. Tomorrow we have a tour of the area and the city. I do not have much time to write now but now that I have my computer and internet sorted out I will share more later!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

It is now 2010 and I am preparing for semester in London. I am leaving the US on January 6th. I will be studying at Foundation of International Education (FIE). The first seven weeks of the program I will be taking four courses: Creative Writing, Contemporary British Broadcasting, British Life and Cultures, and Understanding Civilizations; Islam and the West. After a week long break I will start an internship in London, I will know where and what closer to the internship section of the semester. Over my time in London I hope to travel and to experience life in another country.

In this blog I hope to keep you up do date to my adventures in Europe.