London!!!

Well I'm feeling pretty lame about how infrequently I've blogged lately. Sorry! The routine of the semester, along with being pretty busy in the last couple of weeks between my parents being here, planning for this past weekend, and doing a bit of homework has definitely cut down on my free time for blogging... also, I admit, I just don't carry my camera around like I used to!

Anyway! Back to this weekend... I just returned this morning from a weekend trip with some other girls in the BCA program to London and Paris. It was a lot to pack into one weekend... and I definitely can't imagine trying to pack it all into one blog post! So, I'll tackle London first.

I just need to say... I fell in LOVE with London. I felt so sad when it came time to leave because I felt like I hadn't even scratched the surface of that city (and of course, in 24 hours, I didn't!)  I think part of why I loved it so much was simply because the language barrier was gone. I could easily communicate with (even talk with!) everyone around, not just the other students,  and Christmas Decorations were up! I could read every sign posted anywhere. I also loved having things like peanut butter on the breakfast bar and McDonalds coffee. We even saw a Subway!

To put it simply... London was so much more familiar and comfortable that it sort of felt like a preview of going home.... Something I admit I'm getting excited to do! (11 days 10 hours!)

Anyway... the rundown of what we did! Friday afternoon we arrived at 4 o'clock... in the dark!  (We were totally surprised the sun had set!) We checked into our hostel, Astor Quest, and had dinner at a pub just bordering Hyde Park.

What fun! The pub had a great atmosphere and I was happy to see soup on a menu! Mushroom soup's not my favorite but I ordered it and didn't care because I was just so happy to see SOUP! I also had a side of "chips" (friend fries.) Yum!

Here's a picture of my friend, Jacquieta's fish and chips! With smashed peas and tartar sauce!

The pub the next morning... My camera wouldn't take a good picture at night... especially because we ran home in rain!

My soup, baguette and ketchup (Heinz was a treat!) and my chips!

The next morning we woke up, had breakfast at the hostel, then walked through Hyde Park to the famous Harrod's department store. It is huge, beautiful, and contains some of the most expensive, bags, gowns, and pastries I have ever seen. It was BEAUTIFULLY decorated for Christmas though!

A red telephone booth with a Subway behind it! Loved the 3£ meal!

 

Me, a telephone booth and a McDonalds coffee! Whaaawhoo!

The outside of Harrod's.

Chanel No. 5 sitting out for use in the bathroom.

Finally we met up with a free walking tour! Our cute little guide Rachel did a great job, and kept us entertained for the whole 2.5 hours! She told great stories, and gave awesome historical background but didn't chatter on and on... which was great, given almost everyone on our tour was a young backpacker, like us.

The tour was the perfect way for us to do Saturday morning, we saw everything quickly without having to figure out a map or decide where to go on our own.... AND we had someone to ask at the end of the day how to get to the station to catch our Eurostar train to Paris! 

Buckingham Palace (all the people because it was in the middle of the Changing of the Guards!

TAXI!

Trafalgar Square (I took this picture from the very center of London!)

House Guards Parade... also incidentally where beach volleyball events will be held in the 2012 Olympics!

Me and Big Ben.

Westminster Abbey

What a great day! Now I just have to figure out how to go back!

Family Visit!

I'm telling you, I have a GREAT reason for having been absent from blogging for a little while! My family was here!

My dad, mom and my younger (although, no longer littler) brother Topher came to Greece for the week! They arrived on Sunday morning and for the whole week we had a blast discovering (and re-discovering) Greece together! We were lucky to have a much warmer, and sunnier week than the past few have been so it was the perfect week for touring around!

It was SO fun to share all my favorite places with them! We saw just about everything there is to see in Athens and we were also able to travel (thanks to Dad's awesome driving) to Meteora and Kalambaka together. I feel so blessed to have been able to have them here to visit me and to be able to say that I really love to spend time with my family. I had such a blast with them and really and truly enjoyed every single day. I admit, I was a little stressed under the pressure of having to plan activities each day, but it wasn't a stressful visit at all because they were so relaxed and easy-going about everything!

OOPS! I didn't take any pictures on my own camera of them here! My dad has a much nicer camera, so I admit I let myself relax on the picture taking. He has all the pictures at home- so I promise to post them after I go home... but trust me... we had a great time!

Love you Mom, Dad, and Toph. Thanks for coming!

(See you in three weeks! Crazy to think I'll be home three weeks from today!)

Looking forward to a GREAT week!

I'm finding myself heaving a huge sigh of relief this Thursday morning at 11:30. Thursdays are usually my toughest day.  I usually spend the whole day at school since my classes are sort of packed in back to back. I have Greek Language from 9:30am-11:00am, Professional Communication from 2:00pm-5:00pm and Advertising from 6:00pm-9:00pm. Today, however, is the day of annual student protests, so because of demonstrations that are all throughout the "center" today (Syntagma, marching to the US Embassy) our evening classes are cancelled. I just finished a Greek quiz (yikes!) and finished booking hostels for a trip I am taking to London and Paris in a couple of weeks. 

In London we're staying at the Astor Quest Hostel.

In Paris we're staying at the 3Ducks Hostel. (Pretty goofy name, I think!)

Anyway... Personally, I'm really glad to have that booking over with. I always worry that we will miss out on the hostels we have in mind if we don't get our names in the book... so it's a relief to have those done! I'll let you know how these hostels turn out, of course, as soon as I'm back from the trip!

The OTHER reason I'm so excited to have these bookings done is because it means I won't have to think about them when my FAMILY ARRIVES on Sunday!!! Whaaawhoo!!! I am so excited to share Athens with them (and Meteora and Corinth!) and to be able to simply spend time with them. I always think about how blessed I am to have a family that I love to be around and spend time with! I know not everyone can say that and I can say it boldly! (I'm also looking forward to the treats mom is bringing with her from home! Crunchy peanut butter included!... we pay about 7 dollars (5 euro) for an 8 or 12 oz jar of peanut butter in Athens... so it's quite a luxury!

Also.. a little side note and something that I'm really pretty proud of! Yesterday I made English Muffins from scratch! English muffins cannot be found in Greece and I LOVE them, so I decided to try out a recipe I found from BudgetBytes. They had nooks and crannies and everything!

Have a great weekend, everyone!