Breaking Up With London

I have had my heart broken plenty of times before, but London..this is the true stinger. I never thought that I could fall in love with another skyline beside Chicago, but you did win my heart over for the past four months. I would never have thought I wouldn't want to leave. My family, my friends, my life is all back in Illinois and all I want to do is walk around Hyde Park, go to the pub at 5pm, and basically stay here forever. If I could have everyone I loved move to London or at least be guaranteed I could see them in person every few months, I wouldn't leave..that is how hard I fell for this.

First night in London

Last night in London

To be honest, the past four months have flown by in the blink of an eye. I didn't know time could travel that fast. At the beginning things got a little bit rocky with being homesick and finding a good group of friends, but now I am leaving, already homesick from London and saying good bye to some of the most amazing people. I have made wonderful and life long friendships here in London, I will never forget any of them. Distance will not keep me from talking to the people I have met here. I am the type of person that holds on until the last string is cut, so don't expect me to leave your life once I leave here.

The past four months has done wonders for me. I left home with a broken heart and in a rut with life. I was sort of "over" life and looking for something new. Sometimes I would walk around with this heavy weight on my shoulders and not even know what was wrong with me, I just wasn't happy. If it weren't for London, I wouldn't have been able to pick myself up again. But I flew myself the 4,000 miles to London for a life changing experience. I am sad to leave London but besides the good bye tears, I am going home happy with a smile on my face and a smile in my soul. I haven't been this emotionally and mentally happy in a while. I hope I carry this home with me because I don't want this feeling to go away. London has shown me how to be independent and to believe in myself. I have learned that it is okay to push myself to see my strengths. Not everyone can go to another country and study abroad. Before January, I have never flown without a member of my family and two of my trips here from Barcelona and to/from Sweden I flew all by myself and to be honest, I am really proud.

I can't wait to get back to the states. I know seeing my parents at the airport will make me so happy and I can't wait to see all my friends and hug them with great happiness. I can't wait for everyone to pick at my brain to see much I have grown, how much I have learned, and how much I have experienced. The stories are endless and I am willing to share all of those. I have over 700 pictures to show to my family tomorrow night at dinner. It means so much to me that I have had such loving and supportive friends through this wonderful time in my life, I want to share everything with those people that mean a lot to me. Being here has made me realize who my true friends are and who aren't. I know people have envied me and my adventures and it isn't always easy hearing how happy I am here, but those who love me know how much this experience has helped me and they are happy for me. All your happiness, love, and support mean more than you know and I can't thank you enough.

My plane takes off in 5 hours and good byes will be horrible. As cheesy as it goes, but I firmly believe in the saying, "It is not good bye, it is I see you later." This goes for my friends and for London. London, I PROMISE I will be back as soon as I can. I have fallen in love with you and everything you have given me, I would be silly not to come back. My friends that I have made here in London, thank you for everything. You have given me more than you know. I will never forget all our pub visits, the nights that ended by the toilettes, the family dinners, sharing moments over horrible cafeteria food, and our days in Hyde Park soaking up the sun. You all mean so much to me and are in my heart forever. I have so many friends in all parts of the US and I am planning on visiting you all one day! I can't wait to travel out to "buttfuck" New York and to see the joys of Boston. I can't wait to be at the premier of Trista's tv show in LA. You all have a warm welcome in Chicago, I wouldn't reject a visit for anything!

It isn't good bye, it is I'll see you later. I will see you later my wonderful new friends. I will see you later gorgeous London. Thank you for the best 4 months of my life. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. As for those in Burr Ridge, Chicago, Darien, Peoria...I'M COMING HOME!!

-Cheerio!

The Royal Wedding

For those of you who stayed up or recorded the wedding, you could only imagine what I went through being there! Thursday night we went at 9pm and camped out in front of Buckingham Palace and it was so worth it! We had a great spot and very close to the procession, we got to see everything. There were a lot of people, rumors said there were supposed to be 1.5 million tourists visiting for the wedding and 2 billion people watching it from their homes. There were screens set up in Hyde Park to watch the actual wedding ceremony, however we are in London so we couldn't pass up to opportunity to be there in person!!

Matt and Meridith from the Today Show

Kate driving to the wedding

There were about 15 of us girls who tried to keep ourselves awake but we all crashed around 3am. It was freezing and none of us got a lot of sleep. Needless to say, for 18 hours I was on a pretzels and cream cheese diet and 30 minutes of sleep. Around 6am, you didn't want to talk to me! People started pouring into the area officially around 8am but we still kept our spot. People of royalty and ambassadors of different countries started to leave their hotels and the Palace around 10 and the Queen left at 10:45. She was ADORABLE in her cute little yellow dress and hat. We were all so excited to see the Queen! People of royalty are actually real! Right after the Queen and Prince Philip drove by, Kate and her father drove by. As you all have seen, she was absolutely stunning!  We then listened to the ceremony on large speakers and about 12:30 they drove back to the Palace in their carriages. The couple looked so happy and everyone was cheering and singing their national anthem. After they drove by we quickly made our way closer to the side of the palace to get a good view of the balcony where they were coming out to kiss. About 10 minutes before they were supposed to come out, they opened the barricades and it was every man for themselves. Luckily my roommate Jenn and I were able to stay together and we got really close to the Palace!

The couple first came out on the balcony and then the whole royal family followed. Yes, I will admit that I am now obsessed with Prince Harry! It was so surreal seeing the whole royal family out there and they all looked so happy. We joined along with all of the crazy Brits and sang "God Save the Queen" and cheered hip hip hooray! Needless to say, I will always remember April 29, 2011. One of the best days of my life. I came home from the wedding happier than ever! I called my mom and I couldn't even put in to words how I felt and what I just saw.

More stories to come once I am home. I can't wait to see the recording of the wedding!

-Cheerio!

When Living on the Edge Isn't Enough

Easter weekend was my last trip while being abroad. I spent that trip in Wales. I left the US saying, "Why would I go to Wales? There is nothing special there." and I left Wales saying, "This was my favorite trip of them all." Who would have thought?? There really wasn't much to Wales, so I was right in saying there was nothing special there. The trip was put together through the school and about 25 of us went. The weekend included a 7 mile hike, coasteering (cliff diving), and kayaking.

Friday we left for Wales and took a 5 hour train..it was horrible. We got to the lodge and had dinner. All our meals were homemade and delicious! I haven't had an actual meal like that since I left home! We had lasagna and salad which was followed up by apple pie and ice cream. After dinner we took the 20 minute walk to the beach. It was wonderful to see a beach however we had to walk through a field of cows to get to it!

Saturday morning was a 7:45am wake up for breakfast and coasteering at 9. We suited up in our wet suits (which took forever to get on) and headed to the beach. The sun wasn't out yet and the water was freezing! Thankfully we had the wet suits and we swam a lot to keep warm. Coasteering was a lot of fun and so exhilarating. We jumped off 20ft. cliffs, after climbing them. We also went into a cave which was a natural wave pool with waves on both sides that lifted you up about a foot away from the top! It was scary but fun at the same time. I loved coasteering because it made me push myself passed my fears. I just went with it, didn't look down, and jumped. Something I barely could do in Hawaii last summer! After this adventure we went back to the lodge for lunch. An hour later we went kayaking. The waves were very rough and we didn't stay out as long as the morning group. I am glad we had big waves for kayaking because the afternoon coasteering group got really banged up and couldn't do everything we did. Saturday night we had dinner and hung out in the lodge. There was a bachelor party from London there and we talked to them out by the bonfire. The bachelor's fiancées name was Jo King, it brought a lot of laughs to us all. That night I left the fire to go to bed but before I went in I sat on a table outside and looked at the stars. For those who really know me, I am obsessed with stars. While looking up I saw a shooting star! It made me so happy and I made a wish. 

Sunday morning was Easter and I had a hard boiled egg for breakfast! Not many people can say they did a 7 mile hike on Easter morning in Wales, but I can! The hike was long but I made it! It was a good work out and had BEAUTIFUL views! The ocean was on the left of us the whole time. On the right was green and farms with cows and a lot of sheep. That evening we headed home and I had McDonalds for Easter dinner. Not exactly the Drury Lane buffet my family went to! haha. 

Wales was amazing and made me realize how far I have come these past 4 months. I can't believe it will be ending so soon. I feel blessed every day.

-Cheerio!

Whiskey In The Jar!

Ireland, Ireland. How I loved it so much! I truly fell back in love with Europe and this whole experience all over again this past weekend. Lauren and I both had very stressful weeks and Dublin and Cork took all of our troubles away. We actually heard "Yesterday" by the Beatles in the pub and Lauren said, "This will be our theme song come Monday." Sadly, it was very true. We got home Monday around 5pm and we both had 3,000 word papers due Tuesday. Procrastination?...Oops.

First night at the pub

On to Ireland. We left Friday around 3pm (after my LAST creative writing class! YIPEE!!) and we got to our hostel in Dublin around 6:30. We took the walk out to the Temple Bar area, a tourist trap with a lot of pubs. We went to one pub for dinner. We had corned beef and cabbage, of course. It was delicious to say the least. After we finished our dinner, we had a pint and listened to live music. Let me tell you, the live music was my favorite part of the whole weekend. It just made the experience that much better. We decided to go to another pub and see more of Dublin, however we only made it right next door. There was a guy playing the guitar singing Irish songs as well as American songs. He sand "Puff the Magic Dragon" and a few Bob Marley songs. What a guy. It was funny because the bar tenders in this pub were wearing uniforms that were what we called, "Dwight Schrute influenced"(they wore short sleeved button up shirts and ties). There were a lot of bachelor and bachelorette parties out that night. WE met a few guys who lived in Holland. They were funny. It is always interesting to hear what people have to ask us because we are American! After the second pub we headed back to our hostel because we had to be up at 5:30am in order to make our train to Cork at 7. The guy in the bunk next to me snored SOO loud, I was not very happy!

Blarney Castle's Park

UCC's campus

Saturday we took the train and headed to Cork. Our hostel was a bar as well, so needless to say a group of guys were there at 10am to great us at the door and kissed our cheeks. What a great welcoming! We headed to Blarney Castle which was beyond gorgeous. The country side of Ireland is breathtaking. If anyone wants to rent a house in a secluded area in Ireland's country side, I will gladly take the trip with you! =) Anyways, the castle was surrounded green lands and it was very pretty. We climbed the steps to kiss the Blarney Stone and good luck is now on my side! After the castle we headed back to Cork and we talked to UCC, University College Cork, where Lauren's older sister went to school when she studies abroad. Wow was I jealous!! It was a campus that looked like a park, not fair! We had a chill night and just went to a restaurant and shared a pizza. In our hostel room was a couple from Australia. They are backpacking across Europe for 8 months. Think about that. Backpacking across EUROPE for EIGHT months. How fascinating! It takes a lot to be able to do that, I'm not to sure I would be able to.

Luck of the Irish!

Lovely day for a Guinness!

Sunday morning we took a train at 8am and headed back to Dublin. That day we went to the Guinness Storehouse. It was kind of boring, not as exciting as Heineken was, however the view from the top was very pretty. We got to see all of Dublin while drinking our lunches..that is what I think of when I drink a Guinness...It is like eating a meal because it is thick and it tastes like coffee and bacon. After Guinness we walked around Dublin and made our way to St. Stephen's Greens. I can't thank Kristyn enough for suggesting it! It was another large park that took my breath away. Everything was so green and colorful, I couldn't believe it. We sat on a park bench for about an hour just watching people in the park. After we bought souvenirs and had dinner at Eddie Rockets...Johnny's brother ; ). That night we met up with Lauren's friend who was studying in Dublin. We went to a few pubs then called it an early night for our flight home on Monday.

Lauren with all the pretty flowers

And now I am here, wishing I could go back. It was a great, must needed weekend. The Irish have such a laid-back, easy going lifestyle. They can be hard to understand at times, but that makes it even more fun and interesting. One more trip and it's to Wales. It will be a lot of fun!

-Cheerio!   

Going With The Flow

Ah. Classes are officially over! First final is tonight from 7-9, shouldn't be too bad. Heading to the pub after to celebrate! The topic for one of my essays on the test is on Taoism and their belief of "wu wei" which I am IN LOVE with! Taoists remind me of hippies in a way. Wu wei means "without action" meaning to think things through before acting upon it. They feel that it is important to go with the flow of nature rather than constantly trying to fight situations and having the need to control everything. I love this just because it is so true and London has taught me that! It taught me to just go with the flow of things and not have great expectations for everything. Life isn't perfect and we don't get everything we want, if you don't make high expectations, you won't be let down all the time. You also have to life with everything thrown with you, prove your strength to yourself.

Just a little piece of my mind and a way to use what I have learned in my class all semester. I can't believe I am 3 finals, a trip to Wales, the Royal Wedding, and 15 days in between me and home. My feelings are so up and down, just like they were the few weeks before I came here. Every day here confirms how happy I am that I took this opportunity and it is having a wonderful effect on me. I love London! But I love you all to. Bittersweet...Bittersweet.

Oh, it is another beautiful 70 degree day in London. I officially have a tan and it keeps getting darker, how amazing? Who would of thought that would have happened in London. Where is the rain? Oh ya, it's back home with all of you =)

-Cheerio!

Keep Calm and Carry On

I just got home a few hours ago from Ireland and I absolutely LOVED it! People in Ireland have such a laid back lifestyle it amazes me. More stories to come, obviously. The weekend was must needed because both Lauren and I had a very stressful week. There is so much school work there is not enough time! I don't think I have been out in London since my parents left!

This is for you, Dana. I was nothing but happy this weekend. It feels good to just let the wind blow through my hair and to not have problems or emotions way me down anymore. Out of anyone,  you are the one who supports my happiness the most. You said that knowing that I am truly happy and that I changed my attitude around while being here makes you happy. It means so much to me to always have you by my side. I can't wait to see you in 19 days!

Time to work on my 3,000 word paper due tomorrow! I have another one due Wednesday. LAST WEEK OF CLASSES! Time is flying by and I must quote Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."


-Cheerio

Sweden: The Land of Lazy Kings and Boring Castles

Me & Josefine back in Junior year of high school

This weekend I traveled to Stockholm, Sweden. It was very different from every other weekend I have traveled. My friend Josefine was an exchange student at Hinsdale South my Junior year. This time I was the one visiting her and she got to show me her home! It was a nice and easy going weekend. All the people I met this weekend were so interesting and brilliant to me. They all had their own story and outtake on life, it really opened my eyes to some new things. It was really nice that everyone knew how to speak English (they start learning at the age 6).

look how mature we are now :)

Friday I went to classes with Josefine. The education is different in Sweden. They go to a mandatory school for 9 years and then high school and university are optional. All of the schooling in Sweden is free, very different than the states! Josefine is studying dance, so I went to her jazz and ballet classes. These were very interesting and fun to watch. I miss dancing myself, the art is just so beautiful and it amazes me. I always loved dancing and you can see the passion in all of the dancer's. After classes we met up with Josefine's boyfriend and he took me around Stockholm (aka babysat me =) ) while Josefine was at work. The city was so pretty in its own way. It was full of shades of orange and it was very authentic. There weren't skyscrapers built in the middle of it or anything. Robin and I went to a pub and hung around until Josefine got off of work. Friday night we went to Cornelia's apartment for sort of a "girls night in". We had wine and made dessert and just hung out.

Stockholm

Saturday Josefine had to go to a conference for work (she works at Curves) so I had even more babysitters, Cornelia, Olivia, and Sara. We walked around Stockholm and we saw the castle...where the title of the blog came from. It was funny because since they lived there, they didn't know much about the touristy sites so they guessed what the statues were and they weren't very impressed by their "boring" colored castle. Needless to say, the girls showed me a lot of the city and I had a fun day. They are very sweet girls. We had dinner with Josefine's family. Her sisters Julia and Jessica were so adorable, I just loved them! Saturday night we went out to the club with Sophia. We got there early and we had our own little VIP room. It was a really fun night! Swedish boys are SO cute! =)

Cornelia and I with the Swedish guard

Sunday morning before I left, Josefine had to go to her conference so her mom took me to the Vasa museum. The Vasa was, in the words of Wikipedia, "Swedish warship that was built from 1626 to 1628. The ship floundered and sank after sailing less than anautical mile (ca 2 km) into her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628." In  the 1950's the ship was found and recovered and now there is a museum for it in Stockholm. It was a very interesting museum and it was mind blowing that they found so much of boat and were able to put it back together.

My weekend in Sweden was a lot of fun. It was unfortunate the time I had with Josefine was limited, however I loved every minute we were together! We talked about so many things, it was interesting how even though we live in two different cultures and countries, we can still relate to each other in many ways. All of Josefine's family and friends were wonderful and interesting people. I would love to go back and visit again some day!


Next stop, Ireland! Home in 23 days!


-Cheerio