Last night we arrived in Paris around 9:30 and we were informed that a shuttle from our hotel would come to pick us up. But it took us a while to actually find the terminal where we would be picked up- the language barrier immediately became a struggle for us lol but we eventually found it, got on the bus and checked into our hotel (which turned out to be right by the airport, and not right by the city like I hoped! lol) Since we didn't get to our hotel til after 1030, it was a little too late to do much of anything, so we just found a little random pub to eat down the street since we were starving.
Today we woke semi-early to get a headstart on the day, since we wanted to see everything! We took the shuttle back to the airport and got on the metro (Paris's version of the tube) which cost 30 euros for a 2-day pass (about $50 U.S. dollars). Then, we finally made it to the Eiffel Tower! It was soooo surreal to actually see it for the first time and be right next to it! It was a lot wider than I was expecting it to be, it stretched out pretty far on both sides, leaving a large open walking space underneath. Unfortunately the wait to go up to the top was 3 hours! So we decided to wait and come back to it. Side story to that was when we went up to some of the workers to ask them how long the wait would be, and they snickered something in French, laughed at us, and then yelled at us telling us that it was polite to say "Hello" first before shouting at someone (meanwhile we weren't shouting, and we asked politely)- that was definitely a wakeup call for us about the culture and how French people really are.
After that we got some French crepes (which was our breakfast at 1pm!) and they were DELICIOUS! Ah! That's definitely one thing that the French are good at. I got one with strawberries, chocolate and ice cream on top! It was amazing!
We decided to go on this boat cruise tour that took you to all the main attractions of Paris (Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre etc.) and it only cost us 9 euros since we were students! It turned out to be such a great idea, and we made our way around to all the things we wanted to see! Notre Dame was absolutely beautiful! It was breath-taking almost. We shopped and ate a little cafe near Notre Dame afterwards where I tried my first French Ham 'n Cheese sandwich! (I was recommended to try it since it was a traditional dish) It definitely was different because the cheese was on the outside of the sandwich, melted on top. But it was still very good.
Another thing we reeeeally wanted to do was find this one restaurant a friend referred to me that served wine in baby bottles and had cheese fondue! Its located in Montmarte, a cute little area just outside Paris. We actually managed to find the place pretty easily after figuring how which metro stops to get off/transfer at. We were the happiest/most relieved people ever once we found it! It was truly the best ending to our day, and the highlight of our trip! It was just a cute little mom and pop restaurant and the people were very friendly! The fondue was delicious and we got a kick out of drinking from baby bottles. We also signed the wall/ceiling after we finished because the place was covered in signatures from people all over the world (there was actually even another "PITT" signature written) but we wrote "Hail To Pitt" and our initials, and then I signed it separately. The whole experience was sooo much fun and so neat! However, the experience home was not so fun!
We wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night, so we made it back all the way there and then were very disappointed when we saw it wasn't lit up, and that it was pouring down rain! In addition, the metro stops at midnight so we had to catch a cab back to our hotel which cost us 50 euros and our taxi driver was of course not very friendly as usual.
Although we had some ups and downs today, it was still pretty successful and fun since we got to see and do so many things! (not to mention we were pretty proud of ourselves that we could manage everything on our own, without guided help from planned tours n such!)
:)
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Days 16 & 17: Work & Prep for Paris
Nothing too much going, just working and getting ready for my trip to Paris this weekend! Friday some of my coworkers invited me out to lunch with them to a local pub. It was a really quant little spot and we ate outside in a little grassy courtyard area. It was really pretty and the food was pretty good too! Although it was weird when everyone went up to the bar to order drinks before we sat down. They asked if I wanted anything but I said I'll just have water, and then they asked me about 3 times after that if I was sure I only wanted water lol. I explained to them how its not really in our culture to drink at lunch during work, so I wasn't really used to it (especially since i'm technically not even allowed to drink yet!). We discussed some other differences in the workplace and they were also in shock when they found out that Americans only get 2 weeks vacation, while here they get at least 5-6 weeks. They also couldn't believe that I work from 7:30-4 everyday, because they don't start until 9:15 here, and go until 5:30 (which is hard for me to get used to as well)
This weekend we leave for Paris Friday night at 7, right after work! Paris is an hour ahead of London so that'll be another adjustment i'll have to get used to quickly (shouldn't be too bad)
This weekend we leave for Paris Friday night at 7, right after work! Paris is an hour ahead of London so that'll be another adjustment i'll have to get used to quickly (shouldn't be too bad)
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Days 14 &15: Start of Work!
The last couple days haven't been too eventful, but I did finally start my new internship! (And no, mom, its not paid lol unfortunately). But its still really great! The office is so large and open and nice, it reminds me of the type of office you would see in a movie, where they usually have a typical office/workplace scene. I really like it though and the coworkers are pretty friendly as well. What I like most about the job is that everything I'm learning about how to do and the things I'm seeing as I shadow different people are all things I know about and have learned through my studies, and now I'm actually able to apply all of those things to a real life experience. This may all sound corny but I've never had a job or anything that actually deals with my major directly, which is accounting. So its just neat to be able to relate and apply what I've learned to real life situations. Its also good experience to get a taste of what I'll be doing in my future career choice, and so far I like what I see which is good! (don't want to have to change my major this late!)
Wednesday was my first rather full/packed day. I worked from 9-1 and then I went straight to class (ate lunch on the tube) then had class from 2-5 and 6:30-7:30. It wasn't too bad but I was pretty tired by the day's end, which was good because I'm trying to get on a regular sleep schedule to go to bed earlier so I can wake up earlier and be awake enough for work! (and not nodding off at my desk)
I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but on Sunday night, Allison, Chrissy, Ashley and I all planned a trip to Paris THIS weekend!! We leave Friday at 7 and I am super excited! I hope the language barrier isn't too bad and we have a good trip!
Wednesday was my first rather full/packed day. I worked from 9-1 and then I went straight to class (ate lunch on the tube) then had class from 2-5 and 6:30-7:30. It wasn't too bad but I was pretty tired by the day's end, which was good because I'm trying to get on a regular sleep schedule to go to bed earlier so I can wake up earlier and be awake enough for work! (and not nodding off at my desk)
I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but on Sunday night, Allison, Chrissy, Ashley and I all planned a trip to Paris THIS weekend!! We leave Friday at 7 and I am super excited! I hope the language barrier isn't too bad and we have a good trip!
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Day 13: A night at the Opera
Today we started off the day by frantically ripping apart the aparment looking for our one roommate, Melda's wallet.We were trying to get out the door to go down and wait in line at the Royal Opera House in an attempt to get cheap tickets to see Macbeth. We ended up not finding her wallet, but we did find out that we didn't have to go down to the Royal Opera House until 3:30 to get tickets. I had class at 2 but my roommates were still able to get me a ticket later on.
For class today, we took a trip to Greenwhich (pronounced Grenich!) which was another part of town outside London where we got to visit things like the University of Greenwhich campus, the Maritime Museum (which was actually very pretty, and old!- built in the 1600s!) and we also were able to see the great Prime Meridian Line! The line that separates the two hemispheres, West Longitute from East Longitude. We all took a picture standing on the line, one foot in the west hemisphere and one foot in the east hemisphere, which was kind of cool.
After class I was able to meet up with my friends in Covent Gardens (where most of the theatres and the Royal Opera House are located). From there we all got dinner at a small Italian restaurant, got a little dessert, and then headed over to the Opera House. Once we were there we checked out the place, including the fancy bar, where I decided to "live in the moment" and get a martini at the bar (which cost me 5 pounds and wasn't even in a fancy martini glass!-totally defeated my purpose). Then we found our seats, which weren't too bad, just pretty high up. Macbeth was an entire Opera sung completely in Italian (which I guess I should have expected lol) so there were subtitles throughout the entire 3 hour show, but I was actually able to follow along quite easily! Since I read the play in high school, the story started coming back to me piece by piece as the Opera progressed.
I must say, we have been doing a pretty good job of finding something different and unique to do each day we've been here in London! Which is good, especially since tomorrow starts my internship where I will be working every day, and not have as much free time to do activities all the time. But I am excited for my internship, it sounds really interesting and right up my ally as far as accounting goes. It is a bummer though that I'll be working over 30 hours a week and not getting paid! I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes tomorrow!
For class today, we took a trip to Greenwhich (pronounced Grenich!) which was another part of town outside London where we got to visit things like the University of Greenwhich campus, the Maritime Museum (which was actually very pretty, and old!- built in the 1600s!) and we also were able to see the great Prime Meridian Line! The line that separates the two hemispheres, West Longitute from East Longitude. We all took a picture standing on the line, one foot in the west hemisphere and one foot in the east hemisphere, which was kind of cool.
After class I was able to meet up with my friends in Covent Gardens (where most of the theatres and the Royal Opera House are located). From there we all got dinner at a small Italian restaurant, got a little dessert, and then headed over to the Opera House. Once we were there we checked out the place, including the fancy bar, where I decided to "live in the moment" and get a martini at the bar (which cost me 5 pounds and wasn't even in a fancy martini glass!-totally defeated my purpose). Then we found our seats, which weren't too bad, just pretty high up. Macbeth was an entire Opera sung completely in Italian (which I guess I should have expected lol) so there were subtitles throughout the entire 3 hour show, but I was actually able to follow along quite easily! Since I read the play in high school, the story started coming back to me piece by piece as the Opera progressed.
I must say, we have been doing a pretty good job of finding something different and unique to do each day we've been here in London! Which is good, especially since tomorrow starts my internship where I will be working every day, and not have as much free time to do activities all the time. But I am excited for my internship, it sounds really interesting and right up my ally as far as accounting goes. It is a bummer though that I'll be working over 30 hours a week and not getting paid! I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes tomorrow!
Day 12: Church at Westminster Abbey!
Today we woke up a little late, since we had such a long day yesterday, but a couple of us managed to put on our "Sunday best" and head out to attend a church service at Westminster Abbey. We first stopped at Tower of London and Tower Bridge because we wanted to take a tour around and see the crown jewels. However, we were unpleastantly surprised when we found out that it cost almost 20 pounds to enter! (which is a little over $30 u.s. dollars!) We also showed up an hour and a half before the tower closed and the woman informed us that we wouldn't have enough time to make our way around the whole place. So we decided to wait and see if we want to do towards the end of our stay (and to make sure we have enough money!) Then we grabbed a bite to eat and wandered into a couple tourist shops before heading over to Westminster Abbey.
Church was quite an experience! They actually had people outside of the church directing people who only wanted to take pictures away because Sundays are for church services only, no tourist visits. So unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures inside, but I'll definitely be back to do that and to explore the church a little more, including the special William & Kate exhibit! Speaking of which, I realized during the service that we were attending the church on the one month anniversary of the wedding! I thought it was a pretty cool coincidence that we were at the church exactly one month after. We actually sat right near the alter in which the Royal couple stood at during the service!
I normally don't do this since I'm Lutheran and we don't have this at my church, but I lit a candle in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey in remembrance of my Grandma, Bernadette King Magnus (BKM) who was born on May 31st, 1934 and died on May 26th, 2005 because her birthday was a couple days later and I thought it was a very special and meaningful way of remembering her.
After church, Allison, Ashley, Chrissy and myself walked around a bit, took a couple touristy pictures and actually ran into a group of girls who asked us to take a picture of them in front of Big Ben, which led us to find out that one of the girls goes to Pitt! Talk about a small world!
Church was quite an experience! They actually had people outside of the church directing people who only wanted to take pictures away because Sundays are for church services only, no tourist visits. So unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures inside, but I'll definitely be back to do that and to explore the church a little more, including the special William & Kate exhibit! Speaking of which, I realized during the service that we were attending the church on the one month anniversary of the wedding! I thought it was a pretty cool coincidence that we were at the church exactly one month after. We actually sat right near the alter in which the Royal couple stood at during the service!
I normally don't do this since I'm Lutheran and we don't have this at my church, but I lit a candle in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey in remembrance of my Grandma, Bernadette King Magnus (BKM) who was born on May 31st, 1934 and died on May 26th, 2005 because her birthday was a couple days later and I thought it was a very special and meaningful way of remembering her.
After church, Allison, Ashley, Chrissy and myself walked around a bit, took a couple touristy pictures and actually ran into a group of girls who asked us to take a picture of them in front of Big Ben, which led us to find out that one of the girls goes to Pitt! Talk about a small world!
Day 11: Stonhenge, Bath, & Wembley Park Stadium!
Today was packed with so many different things! First we started off at getting up 6am so that we could get to our school CAPA, where our tour bus was picking us up, in order to catch the bus at 8am. They told us Stonehenge was only 45 minutes away but it ended up taking about 2 hours to get there! It wasn't that bad though because we just slept most of the way there. Stonhenge was really cool, expecially because my travel buddy Chrissy and I took an astronomy class called Stonhenge to Hubble (which is where we met actually) so it was almost like our anniversary friendship haha I also felt like I appreciated the whole experience a little more since I knew so much about it. We stayed at Stonhenge for about an hour (the weather was pretty cold and windy) and then we moved onto Bath which was an hour away from Stonehenge. The whole trip was nice because we were able to escape the city for a while and experience the countryside of the UK.
Bath was really cool, even the xurrounding town of Bath was nice, the architecture and landscaping was so pretty! And we of course got to take a tour inside the Roman Baths, which started many many years ago with the Celtics and then the Romans who built an entire complex around this "Sacred Hot Spring." It was really pretty and the water was actually hot! (we got to reach out and touch it at one point)
After Bath we headed back to CAPA and from there we ended up going to Wembley Park Stadium to catch a glimpse of the UEFA league championship game! It was Manchester United vs. Barcelona and we went becase our one roommate Melda is a huge Barcelona fan and she wanted to go down so badly to check the stadium out and everything around it. Even though I'm not a big soccer fan I'm still glad I went because it was pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity, considering it was like their superbowl.
Barcelona ended up winning 3-1 and Melda was very happy. Overall it was an extremely eventful and diverse day!... and I am exhausted!
Bath was really cool, even the xurrounding town of Bath was nice, the architecture and landscaping was so pretty! And we of course got to take a tour inside the Roman Baths, which started many many years ago with the Celtics and then the Romans who built an entire complex around this "Sacred Hot Spring." It was really pretty and the water was actually hot! (we got to reach out and touch it at one point)
After Bath we headed back to CAPA and from there we ended up going to Wembley Park Stadium to catch a glimpse of the UEFA league championship game! It was Manchester United vs. Barcelona and we went becase our one roommate Melda is a huge Barcelona fan and she wanted to go down so badly to check the stadium out and everything around it. Even though I'm not a big soccer fan I'm still glad I went because it was pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity, considering it was like their superbowl.
Barcelona ended up winning 3-1 and Melda was very happy. Overall it was an extremely eventful and diverse day!... and I am exhausted!
Day 10: Camden Market trip!
Today Christian, Ashley, and I took a day trip to Camden Market, (sort of like a flea market) which has EVERYTHING! Everything from purses, dresses, t-shirts, accessories, and a bunch of little touristy london souvenirs! It also had a bunch of really cool and unique food shops to eat at. I unfortunately spent a lot of money, but the good thing was that I was able to scratch off a bunch of people off my "people to get things for" list. I got a lot of really nice things, mostly toursity things, but some other nice items for my self. I'm most definitely going to go back again towards the end of the trip, but I'm trying to save as much money as I can now!
Later on we went back down to O'neill's in Ealing for a couple drinks then came home early because we have to get up super early tomorrow for our trip to Stonhenge & Bath!
Night!
Later on we went back down to O'neill's in Ealing for a couple drinks then came home early because we have to get up super early tomorrow for our trip to Stonhenge & Bath!
Night!
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