London and Venice

So yet again another 2 weeks have passed and I have neglected to write. This time I think I actually have a legitimate excuse though; midterms. I'll save that topic for later on in the post though. So two weeks ago I went to London to visit Rebecca and Hannah. Having gone to London only a few months ago with my family, I knew what to expect but liked it so much that I couldn't wait to go back. I went with Allie and Heather and we decided that there was a lot to do and see in London so we mine as well go for as long as we can. We got there Wednesday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. Our flight there was at 7 P.M. so by the time we had our connecting flight and got to Heathrow it was after 11 P.M. We had to take a tube to get to Rebecca and Hannah's apartment, and luckily we met a nice American girl from our flight who helped us. We weren't getting off the tube until about 15 stops in, and after 10 stops the conductor came on the radio and said that we were stopped because there was a "trespasser". We weren't exactly sure what that meant, but after the conductor came running through our car to tell us that someone was under the tube in front of us, we were aware. We had to sit there for a long time until the tube was finally able to move again, aka after they moved the dead body. It was already 2 A.M. at this point so we had to get off at the next stop and just cab it the rest of the way. When we woke up Thursday morning we went to Westminster Abbey and took a tour and saw Big Ben. For lunch we made our way to the only Chipotle in Europe. It was a little different than the one's from home, and obviously much more expensive. We walked over to Covent Garden's after and walked around and what else would we do but eat more? I got my first frozen yogurt since I've been abroad, and it was amazing. Heather and Gilbert went to change before our next activity and Allie and I decided to stay and walk around Covent Gardens. For those of you who don't know, one of my only talents is having an extremely good memory, like creepily good. I remember things about people that they don't even remember about themselves, and if I go somewhere once I know my way around. With that being said, I led Allie and I around and was able to find the nearest Top Shop. We spent an hour drooling over all the clothes there, and then we went to go meet the rest of the group at Ice Bar. Ice Bar is exactly what it sounds like, a bar made out of ice. You put on these huge parkas and gloves and go into a room filled with ice and you are given one drink that is in an ice cup and you have 45 minutes to basically stand around and drink. It was fun and something I'm glad I can say I did, but it's definitely one of those touristy rip off types of things. After Ice Bar we ventured to M&M world and then into China Town for dinner. I'm not really a fan of Chinese food, and I still couldn't breathe from Chipotle so I refrained from dinner, which ended up working against me in the end. We were about to go out when we realized we missed the last bus to where we wanted to go so instead we decided to go to Burger King (100 percent my idea). This is so typical of my friends to choose food over going out. Let's just say I got an obscene amount of food, so I most likely won't be eating Burger King ever again in my life. After waking up with a food hangover, we went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards, but were surprised to see that it was canceled for whatever reason. I've seen it before so I wasn't disappointed. Our next stop was Burrough Market. This place is basically any food lovers dream. There are stands after stands of different foods, and you can sample almost anything. We made a first round and tried every food that we passed. There were so many cheeses, olive oils, salami, and spreads. The most talked about food there is their grilled cheese, and it did not disappoint. The bread was so buttered and it was fresh shredded cheese with a little bit of onions in it. Just writing about it is making my mouth water. The market is near tower bridge so after we ate we started to walk that way. On our way we saw what looked like a movie being filmed. We decided to sit down and watch for a few minutes. The next thing we knew someone came up to us and asked if we would be willing to be in the movie. The movie is called "Luck" and they basically asked us what we think luck is and if we believe in it, and the movie is going to be at Cannes Film Festival. Basically, I'm now a movie star. We went to an American restaurant for dinner and it was refreshing to have a salad for dinner that had dressing other than balsamic. We went out Friday night and ended up at a jazz club with some live music and it was a nice chill night. Saturday we went to high tea at a hotel. Lucky for me, the only part of high tea that I actually liked was the tea and the scones. It came with all these finger sandwiches that either had cream cheese or fish, so I was not into that. It was a cool experience and I felt very proper and London-esque. We decided we wanted to see a musical that night so we checked out what was playing and decided on Shrek. We bought tickets and then headed to Abbey Road. It's amazing how many people go there to literally just take a picture. They are cool pictures to have, but it's one of those places you only need to go once. The area where Abbey Road is was really nice and different than the rest of London. On the walk back to the tube we saw a temple and went to take a picture of it but some security guard yelled at us. Rebecca though it would make a difference that we were Jewish, so we screamed, "but we're Jewish!". Yeah, didn't help... Next stop was Harrods. This place is basically any girls dream. I could absolutely live inside of Harrods. They have a huge food area, endless amount of purses, shoes, clothes, they even have a doggie area. One day I hope to have unlimited money so I can buy everything in the store. Before Shrek we got dinner at a restaurant that I had eaten at with my family. We all got tomato soup, and it was probably the best that I've ever had. We went to Shrek afterwards, and it was extremely cute. I have a problem staying awake during movies, plays, or basically anywhere that I am sitting down. I slept through parts of the musicals Rent, Love Never Dies, Hairspray, the movies Inception, The Help, on the top of a double decker bus through London, on the top of Masada... you get it. So I fell asleep for part of the first half of the play, but I really enjoyed the parts I was awake for. Sunday we had until about 2 P.M. before we had to leave so we went to Brick Lane, which is another type of market. I was expecting something completely different from what it was. It was basically all Asian and middle eastern food. I was hoping it would be more like Borrough Market, but it was still good. It was pouring rain on us so we ended up looking like wet dogs for the rest of the day. It was a fun weekend in London and good to be with Rebecca and Hannah for the 3rd weekend practically in a row.

Last weekend we went to Venice for two days through our program in Florence. I figured it was a free trip and I eventually wanted to see Venice anyways so it would be stupid not to go. I thought since it was a free trip (and by free I mean our parents paid a large amount for our tuition that most definitely went towards this trip) that we would be staying in some gross hostel. Surprisingly, I was wrong. We stayed at a five-star hotel, a Hilton, and had a three course meal at the hotel. Milva and Luca, our advisors, were the ones who went on the trip with us. They are two of the nicest and cutest people that I know, and they happen to be married. Milva told us her and Luca almost got fired for having us stay at this hotel that was far too nice for us, but that they only wanted the best for us. This was my kind of trip. It's crazy that you can't get around by car in Venice. Our bus had to take us to a port where we got on a boat that took us into Venice. We started the day by seeing a church and a palace. At this point in the semester, each church looks exactly the same and I would be happy if I never had to step foot in one again. We had a tour guide that took us through both places and I could barely understand her so I really couldn't tell you anything about the church or the palace. We were given some time after to have lunch and walk around. Afterwards we went to a glass factory and saw someone doing glass blowing. It was so cool to see him make a vase in front of us in less than 5 minutes and add his own designs just using a pair of pliers. We went on a gondola ride after the glass factory, and it was the highlight of my trip. The views were unbelievable and it was so relaxing. Venice is such a pretty city and the whole concept is very cool. That night we just had dinner and went to bed early. On Sunday we went to San Marco, another part of Venice, and took a walking tour and saw the Jewish Ghetto. We had the same tour guide as the day before, which was not ideal. We ended up walking for almost 3 hours, and by the middle of the tour not one person was listening to her. It was crazy to see the Jewish ghetto and hear about how the Jews had to stay in there every night past a certain time. Seeing things like this and the Anne Frank House make me realize how lucky I am to have so much freedom. I can't even imagine what life was like back then. It was a short weekend in Venice, but more than enough time to see everything.

We had midterms this week, so I have spent the last week studying non stop. Those of you who know how I am with school know that I never spend much time studying, so it was a change for me. I guess when your teachers barely speak English and you never have any homework or do the readings, studying is necessary. I think I made an indent on my couch over the last week because I could sit there for at least 12 hours each day while I studied. Three of my four tests went really well. My food and culture midterm was pretty much a nightmare. It was four essay questions and you had to answer all of them with about 2 pages of writing. I have never felt that unprepared for a test before. It's sad that I think school is harder here than at U of I, but it's also because we don't spend much time on school here so no one is prepared when it comes to the midterms. Now that my midterms are over I finally feel relaxed for the first time in a week. Tomorrow (at 4:45 A.M.) I am off the Barcelona. It is my spring break and I am traveling to multiple places. I am going to Barcelona, Canary Islands, Seville, and then meeting my parents and my brother in Rome. I can't wait for the next week! I've heard amazing things about Barcelona, I can't wait to get in my beach vacation in Canary Islands, Seville is supposed to be awesome and I get to see some of my friends, and I will finally get to actually see Rome when it is not a blizzard. My family will be here for 8 days and we are going to Rome, Florence, and the Italian Riviera. This means that it will probably be another two weeks or so before I update again, but I'll be sure to write all about all of my travels. Ciao for now!