Just an update on Florence before I talk all about London: It's currently 95 degrees, no wind, and my fan is still broken. Holy crap.
Since my last post, nothing new has happened around Firenze. I started my new classes, which are Italian II and History of Medieval and Renaissance Florence. I took two semesters of Italian before coming to Florence, so I thought this class would be relatively easy... whoops!
On the first day, our professor didn't say a word in English. I guess that's a good thing though, since I do want to get a much better understanding of it, even though I only have
three weeks left (oh my gosh!). I hope my Italian really does improve! That's the only thing I'm kind of bummed about, I don't think I've learned much just by being here. It's hard to really pick it up though when none of your friends speak it and half the time people in stores and on the street can automatically tell you're American.
My other class seems like it'll be a lot of fun. The professor is great and I think we'll be doing some stuff outside of the classroom as well. Probably not as much as my last class, but as long as we're out doing things sometimes I'll be happy.
And speaking of my classes, I had to miss both of them today because of some serious airline issues when I was trying to leave London. But regardless of my departure, my weekend in London was one of the best I've had this summer!
I left on Thursday without any trouble, with the exception of
lots of traffic on my way into the city while I was on the bus. But let me tell you, landing somewhere where you can understand what everyone is saying and you don't have to guess whether you're reading the sign correctly or not is
so unbelievably nice, it was almost a shock. I made it to the designated bus stop by about two in the afternoon and met up with my friend, Cara, with only two phone calls and one circle around Starbucks. It was off to a good start! We took the Undergroud, or Tube, everywhere. It was also nice to have public transportation... oh, and I also needed a jacket. The weather felt amazing!
On my first night, we walked around and saw a few landmarks, and headed to the West End. Some of her friends had bought tickets for a show and we were meeting them there. Cara told me it was supposed to be a scary show, but I figured a "scary" theater show would hardly be scary at all. Again... whoops! It was
terrifying! The show was called Women in Black and we had front row seats, literally. Within 25 minutes I had screamed at least twice and both Cara and I were watching through the slits of our fingers. By the end I was sitting in the fetal position and looking down as soon as I knew something was going to happen. It was an amazing performance, and aside from being really scary, it was only a two-man act (well, three, if you could the woman who popped up in black from time to tim) and their acting was amazing! So even though it kept me awake for an extra 30 minutes (I was exhausted and I don't even think Paranormal Activity could have disrupted my sleep), it was a really great show.
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| First Big Ben sighting! |
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The Fortune Theatre - where we saw
The Woman in Black |
Also on Thursday the Harry Potter premiere was going on in Trafalgar Square. It was
crazy! It was seriously so packed we had a hard time getting through, but we got in as close as we could. We were able to see the red carpet and the big screen, and we came across a pathway that people were walking down, but the only people we saw were some band called The Wanted. Neither one of us had ever heard of them, but we took pictures and called it good.
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| So many people! |
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| Our celebrity sighting- The Wanted |
On Friday, Cara and I took our time getting up and ventured out to do some ultimate sight-seeing! It was so much fun! We saw almost everything! Then we met up with one of Cara's friends at Borough Market. They had the
bed baklava and it was like Sam's Club heaven with all of the samples the vendors had.
For day three we planned on going to Notting Hill to check out another market, do some shopping, and eating!
Our first stop was to Diana's Cafe, which was a favorite of Princess Diana's and it's decorated with letters from her and pictures of her at the cafe. Cara and I got a free dessert because one of the workers made Cara bring a table their coffee... haha it was so funny/weird.
We navigated the bus system once more and made our way to Portobello Market. It was so great! All of the houses that lined the street were pastel and covered in flowers. There were street bands at every corner and fresh fruit, boutiques and handmade clothes everywhere. I think both of us did some serious spending at this market. But don't worry, not all for myself :). It's always a good feeling when you can't wait to give someone something you bought for them. My family better be excited! We also went into one of the stores from the movie Notthing Hill. It was a bookstore in the movie, but now it's a shoe store. They have a poster hanging up inside but they ask for a donation if you want to take a picture. Lame. I got one from outside though!
After Portobello, we went to Top Shop and finally onto Harrod's. I bought the best chocolate caramel cake squares, and more presents!
Once the shopping was done we were in search of some proper fish and chips... with some Pimms. It was a wonderful day, but it was not over yet! After dinner we headed out for a bar or two. More specifically, a gay bar, that just so happened to have a drag show! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures and the video I took won't upload. Sorry. Just know that it was great, but really bad at the same time.
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| THE store |
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| Fancy hats! |
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| So unique and really cool! |
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| The only picture I got of the night... |
And so my weekend in London was over. I was supposed to leave for Florence at 11:20 Sunday morning. However, there was apparently a fatality on the train and nothing was going to be moving for hours. So I took a bus, but it wouldn't get me to the airport until after my flight at departed. I gave in and assumed I would miss my flight, but I was glad it was early so I figured there would be a later flight I could get on with no problem.
Well, there was a later flight, but there were definitely problems. The airline I was flying with was called RyanAir, and their carry-on limit was 10 kg. Nobody weight my bag or said anything about it. My suitcase was carry-on size, so I didn't see how there would be an issue. But on my way to the gate I was stopped to weigh my bag. It came to 14 kg and the only way I could board my flight was if I paid 40 pounds to check it or if I got rid of 4 kg. I ran to the ATM but my card is a little more than temperamental with the machines over here, so it didn't work. I had no more than 20 pounds on me, so I started layering up. I weighed my bag again and it was 11 kg. I thought I'd be good, but no, still no getting through. I didn't know what to do so I started throwing things out. I had 10 minutes before my gate closed and the women there were of no help. In tears, I threw out my toothbrush, deodorant, those delicious chocolate caramel squares, and was about to throw out a pair of shoes and a sweatshirt when the overhead made an announcement that my flight was closing. Still no help for the women at the gate, I really started crying. Eventually they threw my boarding pass at me and told me to run. Thanks! Needless to say, I missed my flight, again. And not only did I miss my flight, but my phone was out of credit so I could not get ahold of my mom or Cara, or anyone else.
I was escorted out of security and right back to the same waiting area I had been sitting in all day long waiting for the second flight at 6. I tried a payphone to call my mom, but as soon as she picked up it needed more coins, and when I didn't get them in quick enough it disconnected. But as soon as I put the phone down it rang, so I picked up and it was my mom! I felt like I was a hit man or something waiting by the payphone, but it was a lifesaver. So she was able to connect with Cara and I headed back to London, completely exhausted.
This morning I woke up and headed to a different airport for a flight my parents booked for my last minute. Everything went as planned, and I arrived in Pisa with no problems. I had also checked my bags. My train got into Florence around 4 this afternoon, and since then I went to get groceries, put credit on my phone, and laid in bed. I think I deserve to be lazy right now.
Thanks for reading that entire mess, if you did. I really try not to just write about my daily schedule, so I hope this wasn't too boring. London is definitely a place I need to revisit for more than just a weekend. I'm thinking maybe a year or two... if I can come close to affording it :).
It was seriously one of the best places I've ever been to and I enjoyed it so much. Cara was such a great hostess, and I hope she uses her gifts wisely! I'm so thankful that she was there and willing to take me around to see everything, and pick me up, drop me off, and pick me up again at the train station. This was definitely a weekend I will always remember.
And as for the title, I thought it was funny. Mostly because it's true!
Cheers!
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