WINNING LONDON

oh, london. you will always been one of my favorite cities, and one that i just can't get enough of.
we, a group of five girls from michigan, left belfast at 8am, and couldn't be more excited to leave. our flight was an hour, and our train trip around london was another hour, so by the time we got to our hostel in paddington, we were exhausted. and starving. (see, a theme!) so, we raced back out to get lunch at a hole-in-the-wall pub, which was perfect. then, we all went our separate ways. i had thought that i'd try to make it to cambridge to see emerald, but then found out that she had rehearsal all day, so i went to the national gallery instead. they had a great exhibit on about modifications and restorations, which was incredible. i got to see van eyck's "the arnolfini portrait," which i've strangely studied in more than one class. i also got to see van gogh's "sunflowers," which was literally a dream come true. i love that painting with a passion, so it was an incredible experience.
after the gallery, bianca and i met back up with marah, laura, and maura to go to the london eye. i had already been, but i decided to go again just to check it out. it was still so much fun! from there, we headed back to the hostel for a bit of a rest.
after checking in to our six-bed room at the hostel, we had noticed a bunch of stuff left by our roommate, so we spent the day quite curious about her. when we returned from the eye, she was just getting back as well, and we clicked immediately. she's an aussie named hannah who is traveling for the next four months, having just graduated with a degree in communications from college in newcastle. over the weekend, we got to know her quite well. she's a great girl and we all had a lot of fun together. she's actually coming to dublin in a couple of weeks, too, so hopefully we'll be able to meet up and go out again together.
friday night, we were exhausted, so we found some dinner and then went to bed. well, we TRIED to find food, but it turns out that most pubs stop serving food after 10, so we ended up at mcdonald's. oh, well. sometimes, food is food.
on saturday, we woke up pretty refreshed. the girls had all made other plans to do touristy things, and i went to cambridge to spend the day with emerald. we had so much fun, catching up, walking around cambridge shooting pictures, et cetera. she even took me punting on the river cam! we realized that we've been writing to each other for about 10 years now, which is insane to think about. but, i value her friendship so much and was so glad to be able to spend the entire day with her!
saturday night, we went to dinner and to a club. it was just marah, maura, hannah and i, so we made a great little group. we danced the night away with some guys in the british air force, finally making it back to the hostel around 4. but, the late night was well worth it. the club we went to, the roadhouse, played a great mix of music and, at one point, even had a live cover band. too much fun was had that night, that's for sure.
on sunday, we went to see the changing of the guard together, but got bored before the change actually happened, so we found a coffee shop to sit around in. then, we went our separate ways once again, the girls going to see the peter pan statue in kensington gardens, and i decided to go to the tate modern, which is a place i've wanted to go for ages. i walked along the south bank for about an hour, just taking it all in and realizing how much i do love london, huge city or not. i made it to the tate to see a great exhibit called "poetry and dreams," which i absolutely adored. (mom, look it up. now.) then, i hopped on the tube (which, by this point, i had navigated to near perfection. i realize that, the more confident i become with myself, the easier public transport is! yay!) i made it to the tower of london to meet elise and goli (a friend from home) for lunch at the hang, drawn, and quartered, a pub i ate at during eurochorale. after a bit of time with them, it was time for me to head back to the hostel to pick up my bags and meet up with the girls. we made it to heathrow with an hour or so to spare, the perfect amount of time to get through security (where they took my hair cream AND sunscreen, much to my dismay) and get to our gate. the flight was easy and we made it back to trinity by 11. i crashed after unpacking, so happy to have made it "home."
i realized today after class how much i truly love this city. i feel completely at home here and i really don't want to leave. having two weeks left is very bittersweet. i am looking forward to august in traverse city. for now, though, i'm focused on what time i have left here, trying to make the most of it!
now, i'm off to plan a weekend trip to cork and the blarney castle. more on thursday!
london calling
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