I love Paris

Paris was beautiful, but boy am I exhausted! Heather and I packed everything into 3 days that most people would probably do in 5 or 6 but it was absolutely worth it; the Arc de Triamphe, Champs-Elysees,Concorde, Pantheon, Bastille, The Paris Opera (really neat even though it took 2 hours in line to get tickets), Versailles, Notre Dame, Lourve, Moulin Rouge, La Maison de Victor Hugo, Sacre-Coeur, Eiffel Tower, a little shopping, and many many many stairs. We stayed in Montmartre and booked a hotel online but when we got there realized we had no bathroom in our room, the sheets were stained and the tv didnt work. We were just so happy to be in Paris that we didnt care, but the next day we asked if we could have a bathroom (a girls gotta shower sometime!). Luckily, for only 10 more euro a night they switched us to another hotel (albeit on the 6th floor) we had our very own bathroom, clean sheets and a balcony. Not too shabby! We practically cried when we got there the next day at 11pm because we were SO happy!

I love Paris. The food was absolutely wonderful! We tried our share of crepes, baguettes, pan au chocolate, quiche, omelettes... I would feel bad for eating so much, but we walked and walked and walked and our hotel room was a 6 floor walk up.No wonder the French don't get fat!

I'm not exactly sure why, but the French love the color black. Everyone wears black from head to toe, but amazingly it never looks morbid, only chic. I've seen my share of men in my travels, and I have to say that by far Paris is no. 1 for best dressed and most handsome men. They look dapper in their black wool coats and scarves (they ALL wear scarves without looking too femmy, how they pull it off I don't know...must be a Parisian thing).

Anyway, it was the best Christmas present I could have received. A dream fulfilled. I have always wanted to see Paris and it was so neat to see a lot of the art work in person that I have learned about.

Paris...good food, beautiful art work, beautiful people, beautiful buildings.

My next goal: learn French!

Gingerbread Men

Yesterday was a rough one. Nilla, Heather and I spent the whole day studying, so we decided to take a little break that night for some creativite therapy ie decorating gingerbread men. Last week we found some inexpensive gingerbread men decorating kits at ASDA, and decided it was time we used them. We had a lot of fun, and it a nice reminder that life is about so much more than just studying and school work!

Thanksgiving

A group of us went to the Tobey Carvery for a Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious, and nice not to have to worry about cooking. Not quite the same as a good 'ol American Thanksgiving with family and pumpkin pie, but still a nice evening.

We <3 ASDA!

Heather, Nilla and I found out that for only 3 pounds we can order groceries online from ASDA (which is the UK's equivalent to Walmart) and have them delivered! So, we ordered our groceries and had them delivered today, which was absolutely exciting and so much cheaper than Sainsburys or going to the shops on campus. It felt like Christmas! Now we have enough food to last for the next while.

Afternoon Walk

Nilla, Heather and I went for a walk today. Here are some pictures!

Halloween

Tartans, Bagpipes and Ghosts! Oh My!

My travels most recently took me to Edinburgh, Scotland. My awesome flatmate Heather and her parents (who were visiting England) invited me to tag along on their trip to Edinburgh. I was a bit skeptical, but this Scottish city on a hill was absolutely enchanting! We visited the castle, ate Haggis and went on ghost tour which took us to the most haunted location in all of the UK. I didn't see anything suspicious, but it was awfully entertaining.

I have a new fascination with tartan after perusing a number of gift shops and finding all varieties of these ancient fabrics. Who knew there were so many? Each clan has its own family tartan, and it was really neat to find my ancestors, the Stewarts, famous tartan and history everywhere.

Highlights of the trip- hearing Coldplay's song "Clocks" played from bagpipes, getting a sweater made of Scottish wool (it even smells like Scotland!), finding the family tartan, eating Haggis in the cutest old world pub, learning all about a man who got hanged twice, how people used to be accidentally buried alive and the little ghost named Jack.... and all with some pretty awesome people. Heather's mom was hilarious and really nice, and her dad was kind also. And obviously whenever Heather and I hang out there is fun to be had, so overall it was a blast. It made me wish that my family could experience Edinburgh also...that Dad would have been there to eat Haggis with me and Mom get a tartan scarf, but maybe someday. Anyway, Edinburgh was precisely the sort of city with old world charm I've always wanted to visit so I am very grateful I had the opportunity to go!

England

here are some pictures of the latest adventures to Liverpool, our Cartmel big night out and such. Enjoy!

I'm back and in England!

My adventures have taken me to jolly old England and more specifically the University of Lancaster.

My flatmates and I decided to venture to Lancaster Castle yesterday. It was absolutely cold, rainy and windy but we figured it would be better to spend the day out adventuring than inside moping. My flatmates here are great. Nilla from Norway, Heather from Colorado and David from Liverpool and I often hang out together.

Sundays always make me extremely homesick, but after going to General Conference Heather, Nilla and I decided to make chocolate cupcakes from a Ghirardelli mix that a friend bought for me as a welcoming present. It was a total flatmate effort. Nilla made the frosting, Johnny got then out of the oven and Heather and I frosted them. Then we all sat down and ate them together. I feel so blessed and lucky to have found some great friends here. I'd write more, but classes start tomorrow and there's still a lot to do! Cheers!

You've Got Mail and I've got the Upper West Side

Ladies and Gentleman- I found my niche in the world yesterday!You know how people always say that corny line of "I found myself in"...Paris, London, while sunbathing on the isle of Santorini, or while hiking up Mt. Kilimanjaro? Well, if "finding yourself" means a complete sense of peace and contented and well-being...as though the universe aligned just for you for a moment in time, then yesterday I found myself on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

I was walking around the Upper West Side and somewhere between the pre-war apartments, the unpretentious atmosphere, Levain's Bakery, Riverside Park, and the view of the Hudson I experienced that feeling. More specifically while sitting in Riverside Park, listening to Clair de Lune and watching the river (btw, everyone should do that sometime in your life, its pretty much amazing). For the sake of time, so that Im not blabbering on and on, let it suffice to say that I am now completely in love with the Upper West side. I re-visited it today just to make sure it wasn't a one time thing, and again amazingness! I think there must be some geographic, or numerous geographic locations that just fit each of us yknow? As though our interests/likes/taste preferences/emotions are embodied in a location. Even the grocery store played blaring classical music, and I found the cutest little used book store. I know this whole thing probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but I don't care. All I have to say, is someday I am going to come back and live on the Upper West Side.

Anyway...so today I visited some of the sites from You've Got Mail, which is one of my favorite chick flicks of all time. Something about the modern Pride and Prejudice tale just pulls at the heart-strings, and the fact that it involves two book stores and is set on location in NYC doesn't hurt either.

Today was absolutely lovely. I know this has more to do with me than where I am perhaps (although I think location does contribute quite a bit), but I can actually say that I feel happy. I'm not in a position to live in NYC permanently at this stage in my life and I know that. I know that to some this is a sort of 'vacation', but I've discovered a lot about myself through this adventure. So for now, I'm just going to enjoy my time here and relish the moments.

To be continued.....