Now that my time at Oxford Brookes is over, i can't help but constantly be thinking about how much I loved it. Honestly the best time of my life & I will never ever forget it. This video pretty much sums up my past three months of amazing adventures.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Ciao Bella!
Literally obsessed with Florence. I knew this from my previous trip to Italy in high school, but this past weekend i remembered just how much i love it. one of my favorite cities in the world. before i could even drop my bags at lauryns apartment, her friend rocco is asking/making sure i get ready to come out. i immediately get changed and off we go. we hit up a bar called shot cafe & then head to a club called full up, which jersey shore went to when they were in florence hehe. after a little bit of shmoozing, we found ourselves in the vip room, with plenty of grey goose bottles around to snag.
At six a.m. we were finally going to sleep...only to be woken up four hours later by a much too awake kim haha.
After dragging myself and lauryn out of bed, we attempted to make moves to go eat & go to the markets. we were "sunglasses drunk" as laur likes to call it & walked i dont even know where to find markets that ended up being closed hahaha struggle city. we hit up a different market on the way back & then went to the ponte vecchio!
on the way back to the apartment, we stopped and saw where the jersey shore worked when they were there! stupid, but exciting to me haha
for dinner, lauryn recommended a place called zaza's. me, katie, kim, emily & matt went and had an absolutely delicious dinner! possibly the best restaurant in florence ? me, k&k split a bottle of wine and we all ate so much pasta and bread...but of course saved room somehow for gelato on the walk home. literally haven't laughed so hard at a dinner in so long. so much fun.
the next day, after a few setbacks, we all got on a bus to take a three city tour around italy! the first stop was siena. it was a beautiful little town! it reminded me exactly of the scene in new moon where bella is running to find edward in the streets. with all the hills and the town square, it looked just like it.
from there we headed to our wine tasting lunch in san giagmano. we ate at a vineyard in a room with sliding doors that overlooked the rolling hills and vineyards. it was an absolutely unreal sight. i turned to kim and even said "is this real? is this really our lives?"
the meal was amazing. everything was grown right there at the vineyard. there were four courses and with each one we had a different wine. by the end of the meal, we were all full & tispy. we went outside into the sunshine on a perfect day and took in the beautiful vineyard sights.
after lunch, we went into the town of san giagmano. it was the cutest medieval town with absolutely amazing views. we all sat on the wall and just soaked in the sun & then did a little shopping.
our last stop of the day was pisa. of course we took the cliche pictures holding up the tower, or pushing it down.
the next day i met everyone at the ponte vecchio again...literally obsessed with it. we took more pictures, ate lunch at a delicious cafe & then ate the most delicious gelato right on the wall on the al forno. amazing.
the rest of the weekend mostly consisted of extreme amounts of shopping & eating! haha i didn't have much to complain about!
At six a.m. we were finally going to sleep...only to be woken up four hours later by a much too awake kim haha.
After dragging myself and lauryn out of bed, we attempted to make moves to go eat & go to the markets. we were "sunglasses drunk" as laur likes to call it & walked i dont even know where to find markets that ended up being closed hahaha struggle city. we hit up a different market on the way back & then went to the ponte vecchio!
on the way back to the apartment, we stopped and saw where the jersey shore worked when they were there! stupid, but exciting to me haha
for dinner, lauryn recommended a place called zaza's. me, katie, kim, emily & matt went and had an absolutely delicious dinner! possibly the best restaurant in florence ? me, k&k split a bottle of wine and we all ate so much pasta and bread...but of course saved room somehow for gelato on the walk home. literally haven't laughed so hard at a dinner in so long. so much fun.
the next day, after a few setbacks, we all got on a bus to take a three city tour around italy! the first stop was siena. it was a beautiful little town! it reminded me exactly of the scene in new moon where bella is running to find edward in the streets. with all the hills and the town square, it looked just like it.
from there we headed to our wine tasting lunch in san giagmano. we ate at a vineyard in a room with sliding doors that overlooked the rolling hills and vineyards. it was an absolutely unreal sight. i turned to kim and even said "is this real? is this really our lives?"
the meal was amazing. everything was grown right there at the vineyard. there were four courses and with each one we had a different wine. by the end of the meal, we were all full & tispy. we went outside into the sunshine on a perfect day and took in the beautiful vineyard sights.
after lunch, we went into the town of san giagmano. it was the cutest medieval town with absolutely amazing views. we all sat on the wall and just soaked in the sun & then did a little shopping.
our last stop of the day was pisa. of course we took the cliche pictures holding up the tower, or pushing it down.
the next day i met everyone at the ponte vecchio again...literally obsessed with it. we took more pictures, ate lunch at a delicious cafe & then ate the most delicious gelato right on the wall on the al forno. amazing.
the rest of the weekend mostly consisted of extreme amounts of shopping & eating! haha i didn't have much to complain about!
j'aime Paris
Paris, what an absolutely amazing city. To be honest, I always thought Paris was somewhere I just needed to go, not somewhere I necessarily wanted to go. Now that I have been though, my mind has completely changed. I absolutely loved it & cannot wait to go back someday! I stayed with Jill & her parents which was so much fun! My best friend and I in Paris together? Amazing. We all met at the airport & then headed off to the hotel which was amazingly located right across from the lourve! After settling in and eating a delicious lunch, we went to the eiffel tower. It was incredible to see such an iconic and worldly known structure right in front of my eyes. I was being a total American and freaking out as we got closer and closer. Not five minutes after we got there, the light show started going off. It was so beautiful!
The next morning we headed off to Versaille! I have never seen something like this in my life. Absolutely beautiful & HUGE! It was so gorgeous me and jill kept saying it looked more like a movie set than an actual real life place.
After walking all through the castle and seeing where Marie Antoinette used to sleep and eat and live, which was amazing, we headed out to the gardens. The gardens went on for what seemed like miles and miles. They were absolutely beautiful and there weren't even any flowers bloomed. I cannot even imagine what it would look like in the spring or summer time.
The next day we went to the lourve. It is definitely one of those places that you know you have to go to even if you aren't really interested...which is exactly what the case was for me. We saw the most famous paintings and sculptures including the mona lisa. i found this to be extremely overrated. it was amazing how so many people were pushing and shoving to get to the front to take a picture, as if brad pitt was coming into the building or something. however, when you turn around from the overrated mona lisa, there is an absolutely amazing painting. absolutely humongous and detailed, it was amazing that everyone was so interested in the tiny mona lisa when this painting was much much more amazing and detailed. it was my favorite piece we saw in the whole museum.
After eating the most delicious bread and drinking amazing wine all weekend I never wanted to leave this beautiful city.
The next morning we headed off to Versaille! I have never seen something like this in my life. Absolutely beautiful & HUGE! It was so gorgeous me and jill kept saying it looked more like a movie set than an actual real life place.
After walking all through the castle and seeing where Marie Antoinette used to sleep and eat and live, which was amazing, we headed out to the gardens. The gardens went on for what seemed like miles and miles. They were absolutely beautiful and there weren't even any flowers bloomed. I cannot even imagine what it would look like in the spring or summer time.
The next day we went to the lourve. It is definitely one of those places that you know you have to go to even if you aren't really interested...which is exactly what the case was for me. We saw the most famous paintings and sculptures including the mona lisa. i found this to be extremely overrated. it was amazing how so many people were pushing and shoving to get to the front to take a picture, as if brad pitt was coming into the building or something. however, when you turn around from the overrated mona lisa, there is an absolutely amazing painting. absolutely humongous and detailed, it was amazing that everyone was so interested in the tiny mona lisa when this painting was much much more amazing and detailed. it was my favorite piece we saw in the whole museum.
After eating the most delicious bread and drinking amazing wine all weekend I never wanted to leave this beautiful city.
Birthday Celebrations!
20th birthday? ugh dreadful to think about...never going to be a teenager again! 20th birthday in england? ...ok a little better to cope with. Everyone came out for my birthday dinner at the living room which was great! we got our own little section of the restaurant since there was about ten of us. we got drinks and delicious food and i of course had to have ice cream so i could blow out a candle.
After dinner we all headed back to ublock to get ready for the night. we went over to the su bar where we played kings for one of the first times since being here. i miss american pregaming. of course we started making absolutely ridiculous "rules" which will go unnamed. lets just say the rules did not end at the su...
After many rounds of the game we all went to wahoo. me, katie and kim danced the whole time, as always. when run the world came on shit got serious bahahaha. so dumb. we stayed until we were actually getting kicked out because it was closing.
when we got home, we had a nice surprise of olly sleeping outside the bathroom with his whole mattress in the hallway...
we then lit another candle for me to blow out in my adorable cake that kim & katie bought for me!
such a fun birthday!
After dinner we all headed back to ublock to get ready for the night. we went over to the su bar where we played kings for one of the first times since being here. i miss american pregaming. of course we started making absolutely ridiculous "rules" which will go unnamed. lets just say the rules did not end at the su...
After many rounds of the game we all went to wahoo. me, katie and kim danced the whole time, as always. when run the world came on shit got serious bahahaha. so dumb. we stayed until we were actually getting kicked out because it was closing.
when we got home, we had a nice surprise of olly sleeping outside the bathroom with his whole mattress in the hallway...
we then lit another candle for me to blow out in my adorable cake that kim & katie bought for me!
such a fun birthday!
Halloween!
Halloween...interesting times to say the least. Somehow I was convinced to paint my face green? Thanks Katie & Kim. Also I probably should just never celebrate this holiday again. Every year seems to be a struggle for me haha. Everyone went to Lava for the night. Katie & Kim were devils & angels and I was a witch...with a green face.
And all the boys dressed up like zombies or something ridiculous like that.
I lost everyone in the club & walked to the bus stop where I found all my flatmates? Weird night. From what I hear, it was a fun time! =)
And all the boys dressed up like zombies or something ridiculous like that.
I lost everyone in the club & walked to the bus stop where I found all my flatmates? Weird night. From what I hear, it was a fun time! =)
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Amsterdam!
Amsterdam for Halloweekend...craziness. This place was like nothing I've ever seen before & as of next year no other study abroad student will probably experience because of the newly instated law that bans tourists from smoking the legal weed. Not that I'm saying that's the only reason a study abroad student would go buuuuut, well let's be serious, it is. In reality though Amsterdam was an absolutely beautiful city. The canals that lined the whole city made if feel like we were in Venice.
It was so beautiful during the day that when you stepped outside of a coffee shop you would kind of forget where you were...I guess for many reasons ;) It was insane how many coffee shops there were. It was like the equivalent of a Starbucks in NYC...which is a completely different type of coffee shop. It literally felt like at every street corner you could walk in and smoke up. It was crazy how you could just walk in and go up to the bar and order weed off of a menu. Hysterical.
On Friday we went on a canal boat ride which we were all super excited about. After about ten minutes we were over it haha. Obviously it was really pretty but for people who were hungover and running on close to no sleep, we were struggling. AshleyAnne practically died...
Friday night we went to dinner at the most delicious Italian restaurant & then ventured to the red light district...talk about crazy. Literally the craziest thing ever. So bizarre walking down the street and turning to your left and seeing practically naked girls just waiting for a guy to walk up to their door and ask to be let in. SO BIZARRE.
On Saturday we rented bikes and went biking through the city and Vondelpark. Vondelpark was so pretty! Especially this time of year while all the leaves are changing colors, so beautiful.
Saturday night me and AshleyAnne went out to a club with her friend from school and a bunch of her friends that she is studying abroad with. Took us awhile to actually get into the club but once we did I was sooo happy we went! Literally so much fun, the best music & lights. Techno music with pop music mixed in...my favorite. We literally did not stop dancing the whole night, or should I say morning. We didn't get back to the room until 530 in the morning. When we walked out of the club at 515 you would have thought it was 12 midnight by the amounts of people hanging around the square and people were even still just going into the clubs. Literally everyone is just constantly messed up. Loved it.
It was so beautiful during the day that when you stepped outside of a coffee shop you would kind of forget where you were...I guess for many reasons ;) It was insane how many coffee shops there were. It was like the equivalent of a Starbucks in NYC...which is a completely different type of coffee shop. It literally felt like at every street corner you could walk in and smoke up. It was crazy how you could just walk in and go up to the bar and order weed off of a menu. Hysterical.
On Friday we went on a canal boat ride which we were all super excited about. After about ten minutes we were over it haha. Obviously it was really pretty but for people who were hungover and running on close to no sleep, we were struggling. AshleyAnne practically died...
Friday night we went to dinner at the most delicious Italian restaurant & then ventured to the red light district...talk about crazy. Literally the craziest thing ever. So bizarre walking down the street and turning to your left and seeing practically naked girls just waiting for a guy to walk up to their door and ask to be let in. SO BIZARRE.
On Saturday we rented bikes and went biking through the city and Vondelpark. Vondelpark was so pretty! Especially this time of year while all the leaves are changing colors, so beautiful.
Saturday night me and AshleyAnne went out to a club with her friend from school and a bunch of her friends that she is studying abroad with. Took us awhile to actually get into the club but once we did I was sooo happy we went! Literally so much fun, the best music & lights. Techno music with pop music mixed in...my favorite. We literally did not stop dancing the whole night, or should I say morning. We didn't get back to the room until 530 in the morning. When we walked out of the club at 515 you would have thought it was 12 midnight by the amounts of people hanging around the square and people were even still just going into the clubs. Literally everyone is just constantly messed up. Loved it.
Being Tourists
On Friday we went to the Oxford Castle, which we've been wanting to do since we got here but of course just got around to. It was pretty interesting stuff. We went through the jail and the tower and the crypt. The tower was filled with the scariest stairs in the world, so skinny and claustrophobic, we were freaking out. The crypt is supposedly super haunted so we tried to get the ghost to touch us or something but it obviously didn't work. It was definitely way colder in the corner that the ghost was supposedly in though so I believe it was down there. We walked around in the jail and got to see where all the inmates stayed after they built it themselves. Of course we found the things to play with and dress up in like everywhere else we go. We all took mug shots that were absolutely beautiful. Kim's was extra scary...
On Sunday we went into London to go to the wax museum and the ice bar. The wax museum was crazy crowded & when I thought about it, it was the most bizarre concept ever that we were all standing around waiting to take pictures with these fake wax celebrities. Whatever I loved it. I especially loved my boyfriend JT...
It was a lot different from the NYC museum. They had it set up in specific sections and even had a "tour through London history" where we hopped on this little ride in fake taxis that brought us through time and showed us London's history, but everything was of course made out of wax figures.
After the wax museum we went to the ice bar which was super cool. The concept for this is also super weird when you think about it but for some reason is a must see in London. The whole entire bar was completely made out of ice...the tables, the seats, the walls, the bar, even the glasses we got our drinks in.
It is so cold in there that we were only allowed in for forty minute intervals and we were given big parkas and gloves. It was actually super fun and we were just running around taking pictures like fools. Everyone looked exactly the same in their parkas so Kim thought she lost us and started saying, "Where are my friends?!" when I was literally standing right in front of her hahaha so much fun.
On Sunday we went into London to go to the wax museum and the ice bar. The wax museum was crazy crowded & when I thought about it, it was the most bizarre concept ever that we were all standing around waiting to take pictures with these fake wax celebrities. Whatever I loved it. I especially loved my boyfriend JT...
It was a lot different from the NYC museum. They had it set up in specific sections and even had a "tour through London history" where we hopped on this little ride in fake taxis that brought us through time and showed us London's history, but everything was of course made out of wax figures.
After the wax museum we went to the ice bar which was super cool. The concept for this is also super weird when you think about it but for some reason is a must see in London. The whole entire bar was completely made out of ice...the tables, the seats, the walls, the bar, even the glasses we got our drinks in.
It is so cold in there that we were only allowed in for forty minute intervals and we were given big parkas and gloves. It was actually super fun and we were just running around taking pictures like fools. Everyone looked exactly the same in their parkas so Kim thought she lost us and started saying, "Where are my friends?!" when I was literally standing right in front of her hahaha so much fun.
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