day trip to oxford

Feb 23 we took a quick day trip to Oxford. We were able to take a coach straight from London and the ride was just a little over 1 1/2 hours. We spent the day walking around the town and exploring different colleges.

One of the highlights of the day was walking up to the top of St. Mary's Cathedral where we were able to see inside the different colleges and beyond the streets of Oxford. The walkup the steps of the tower was a big challenge and pretty scary as we had to basically pull ourselves up with ropes!

Someone had recommended we punt down the river, but the day ended up being kind of rainy so we decided to opt out of that. We had a great day though and were even able to come home with some Oxford shirts!

barcelona and sitges

The weekend of Feb 15 I went to visit my good friend Brittany from IU in Barcelona. She was a wonderful host and we had a full four days of sight seeing and enjoying spanish culture!

Her apartment was right beside Gaudi's famous Sagrada Familia and near Gaudi's Park Guell. Both places were unbelievable and Park Guell had gorgeous views of the city and sea. In Barcelona we also visited Barceloneta beach where we ate a menu del dias.A menu del dias is where you pick 3 or 4 courses of a meal and a drink all for a set price. We ate outside over looking a harbor. I wasn't really sure what I was ordering and ended up getting chicken and french fries for one of my courses haha! After visiting Barceloneta we walked down to Port Olimpica (another beach in Barcelona). These two areas reminded me a lot of Venice Beach in CA with huge sidewalks, runners, rollerbladers, and lots of people just enjoying the sunshine.

On Saturday Brittany took me to the street Las Ramblas. The street was full of street performers, markets, people, and countless flower stands. We visited a wonderful fresh food markets that had delicious banana, chocolate, coconut smooties. For one euro these drinks were heavenly! After the market we spent the rest of the day exploring the city and visiting Raval, the Gothic Quarter, and a few parks. Oh and I can't forget the great tapas lunch we had too! We ate a tapas bar/buffet. Each tapa had a toothpick in it and the length of the toothpick was the price tag. At the end of lunch the waiter counted up your toothpicks and that was the price of your bill.

Sunday we went to the beach town of Sitges, a short train ride outside of Barcelona. The weather was pretty chilly and windy but the views were still breathtaking! We walked up and down the promenade and explored the small streets of the city. The town looked like it would be a lot of fun in the summer!

a trip to the swiss alps

a week ago now stef and i returned from our adventure to the alps. we both decided we really wanted to go to switzerland to ski so we booked tickets, found a hostel, and left all within a few days! we had an amazing time and made tons of memories i'm sure we will never forget!

we stayed in Gryon, a small village about 1 1/2 hours outside geneva. we had to take three trains to get their including one that winded up and up the mountain. we stayed in a hostel called chalet martin. it was a really cool place. it was very cozy, welcoming, and had breathtaking views.

one day we took the train farther up the mountain to a huge ski resort. we spent the day skiing, falling, and sliding down the side of the mountain. I came home with many big bruises.

all in all our trip was relaxing (a side from tumbling down the ski slopes) and everything one would hope for in a visit to switzerland!

paris

Over the weekend of Feb 8 we went to Paris! We had a great time and were lucky to have amazing weather too! Stefanie has quite a bit of family in France and one of her cousins lives in Paris so we were able to stay in their apartment for the weekend.

During our visit we saw the Latin Quarter, Arc de Triomphe, Louve, Champs-Elysees, Notre-Dame, Sacre-Couer, and even made a night trip up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We spent lots of time strolling around the city and sitting in cafes drinking lattes and eating croissants.

switzerland

i added a link on the right to pictures from a short trip to the alps!

portobello market

saturday we went back to the portobello market in notting hill. we had a great time and saw lots of interesting food/clothing/gadgets..etc. luckily i only had 5 pounds in my wallet or i would've bought tons of stuff. i did have a great falafel with egg plant, hummus, and lots of veggies though and it was delicious. i can't wait to get another one!

the bucket list

wednesday night stef and i decided to brave the crowds at leicester square in an attempt to get a glimpse of jack nicholson or morgan freeman at the uk premier of the bucket list. we arrived at the theatre in the square around 5:30 pm as gates were being set up to keep the crowds away from the doors of the theatre. with nothing else to do we decided we would stand along the gates just to see what was happening. eventually a huge red carpet was laid down and tons of reporters arrived at the scene. soon after that many more people started to arrive. we asked a guard what time the stars were going to arrive and he said sometime between 6:30 and 7 so we decided our spots were too precious to give up so we continued to brave the cold and wait for the action.

around 6:45 several mercedes pulled up and morgan freeman got out of the car right infront of us! ok, maybe like 15 ft away, but still really close. he made a bee line for the door and the was all the crowds saw of him. more cars pulled up with the producer and other actors from the film but you could tell the crowds really wanted to see jack! about 30 mins later a few more cars pulled up and jack stepped out of the car right in front of us, sunglasses and all. everyone began screaming his name and cameras began flashing like crazy. with nearly 10 bodyguards by his sides he walked around the gates and signed autographs and shook hands. we never thought he would come over to us but he did and because we didn't think he was going to walk in our direction we didn't have anything prepared for him to sign..ahhh.