polo

Today Danielle and I attended a polo match at Ham Polo Club just outside of Richmond. Neither of us had ever been to a match so it was new to both of us. We packed a lunch, took a blanket, and spent the afternoon watching several matches of polo.

Check out my pictures on the right! Pictures > Polo

we all live on the london underground

Today (June 1) marks the beginning of a first ever drinking ban on all london public transport. In response to the new ban last minute drinking parties were organized to take place last night on the circle line tube route. The event was suppose to be fun and everyone was to dress in "ball gowns and tux's" according to facebook but the evenings festivities ended up in a violet outrage and the closing of many tube stations.

Danielle and I decided we too wanted to ride the circle line for a bit to see what all the excitement was about. The event did start out fun with people popping champagne bottles and drinking out of wine glasses but after only 30-40 minutes on the tube the underground party turned negative and people began shouting, "borris is a wanker,"(mayor in charge of ban). Danielle and I couldn't believe how some people were acting on the tube and we eventually left basically in tears because the situation had turned violent and we were scared for ourselves.

Check out a few of the pictures I took before things got to out of control. Pictures>Tube Chaos.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1317732,00.html

i'm a senior

I am officially a senior in college. I had my last final at Westminster on Friday.

This seems kinda scary.

to greece we go

With my second final being May 19 and my third May 30 I had time to fit in one last minute trip...very last minute! My friend Danielle and I decided on May 18 that we would like to go to Greece. We were able to find extremely discounted British holiday packages for 7 days and on May 20 we left for a one week holiday in Greece with Olympic Holidays!

We stayed on the Ionian Island of Kefelonia. We rented a scooter for a few days and spent time exploring the island with our two wheels. We explored the capital city of Argostoli, the famous beach of Myrtos, the red beach XI, saw nude beaches, and too many other things to name! One day we took an escourted boat tour past the neighboring island of Ithaca, to the Onassis island of Skorpios- where we jumped off the boat and swam to shore!, and then we went on to the islands of Meganisi and Lefkas.

We had wonderful food that we were able to afford everyday! Our favorite meal was cabbage rolls stuffed with minced meat and rice and covered in a lemon and basil sauce. We had this twice because it was so delicious! We also loved the baklava.

We could not have asked for a better trip, especially since we booked it two days before we left! I really didn't know much about Greek culture before I left but I couldn't have asked for a better way to learn about such an amazing place and group of people.

Check out my pictures! Pictures>Kefelonia Greece.

take me to the beach

The week my mom came and the following week were two of the hottest weeks in London May history. Many days easily reached the 85 degree mark. The weather was a lovely change following a chilly wet winter in London (all that I've ever known) and a great inspiration to get out to the parks and explore.

Wednesday following my final my friend Danielle and I headed to Brighton to soak up some rays on the pebble beach. Just an hour train ride south of London, Brighton is a quick getaway from the city.

We walked around and the city, layed on the beach, walked down the Brighton Pier (very similar to santa monica), and saw the Royal Pavilion.

As we were leaving to head back to London the rain returned and the heat wave ended :(

i am still in school

I am sure you have read parts of this blog by now and you are wondering, "is she actually taking classes?" Yes! I am still in school, Westminster just happens to put a 1 1/2 month holiday in between teaching and exam periods and the exam period is spaced out over a one month period too.

So I have actually completed work and studied, just not at an American pace.

The Monday after my mom left I had my first exam. The minute everyone walked into the "exam room" the lady controlling the exam told us we were under exam regulations. We couldn't smile, look at each other, or telepathicaly convey thoughts. She was a little too intense for the tourism policy level 5 end of the year exam.

Nearly three hours and three essay questions later I finished my first UWM exam. If only I didn't have two more to go.

a few very special visitors

Three days after returning from my 26 day tour of the med my mom, friend Chelsea and her mom Tami came to London for a week long visit. I enjoyed showing them the touristy sights of the city despite being sore and tired from my month long trip. I had no idea how tiring traveling could be!

Mom and company spent three days in London before we set off to Bath, England for an out of town day trip. In Bath we were able to meet up with Uncle Steve who was just transfered to Bristol, a short drive away from Bath. After a day in Bath we returned to London to spend a day browsing around and shopping on Oxford Street and enjoyed high tea at The Orangery in Kensington Gardens.



Thursday morning we jumped on the Eurostar and arrived in Paris two hours later. We enjoyed two days of Parisian culture and sights before returning to London late Friday night. Saturday was spent in Kew Gardens and Richmond on the outskirts of SW London along the River Thames.

We all had a wonderful time together and I had such a fun time showing a few of my favorite people where I've been living for the past 4 months.