It all comes to an end.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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! =)

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.

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.

"Where my people at?"

I was just about the only person in Dublin who had red hair & freckles. I was disappointed that my people weren't surrounding me. At one of the bars the man actually did a double take when I didn't have an Irish accent. Other than the fact that the ginger status was minimum, Dublin was absolutely amazing! We got there on friday and settled into our hostel "Barnacles" and then headed for appetizers and drinks at a touristy American type restaurant, mostly because we were craving nachos. Later that night we set off on a Pub Crawl. We hit five different pubs throughout the night, all of them being completely different. The first pub was celebrating Oktoberfest so the waitresses were all dressed up while we sipped our beers, Matt got an oyster flavored one...I almost vommed. The second pub was the best considering they served up a huuuge plate of chips & sausages. NOM. We devoured the chips in two seconds. I'm pretty sure Kim and I ate the whole plate while the boys were complaining they weren't getting any of it...woooops. The third bar was great! There was the cutest guy singing with his guitar, best part was he sang Kings of Leon. I was dying. The next bar was more swanky or as Katie would call it, "plosh." We had baby guinness shots that were delicious. At the fifth pub we attempted to learn gaellic, which was a fail since nobody could remember it the next morning.
The next day was filled with touristy activities. We signed up for a bus tour that took us all around the city and you could hop on and hop off whenever you wanted to go to one of the sights. We went to the Jameson Whiskey Factory first.





Kim and Matt were chosen to be the whiskey tasters and I was so jealous!



After Jameson we went to the Dublin Castle, which was probably my favorite sight. From the looks of the outside of the castle I never expected it to be so amazing inside. It was huge and lavish and it made me wish I lived back then so I could attend the balls in the grand ballroom.





After the tour of the castle it started down pouring and we had to run back to the hostel & when we got back we all were absolutely soaked. We had to blow dry our socks and boots. Later that night we went to a local pub that was super cute. In the summer time this would definitely be the place to be. Once the roof came off it would be covered with vines and flowers with stone walls...so pretty. Best part of the night though would definitely have to be the nutella gelato. DELISH.
Sunday morning came way too fast, but we had a bunch planned out so I rolled out of bed. We started the day off at St. Patricks Cathedral. Me at a church on sunday is a weird thought I know...so of course I found the most unchurch-like thing in the whole place...a pretty pretty princess tower.



I did actually take pictures of the cathedral too...



From there we headed to the Guinness Factory. This place was huge! With seven floors there was plenty to see. From how the beer is actually made, to all the advertising they've used over the years.



The coolest part was at the very top of the building there was the Gravity Bar. This bar had 360 degree panoramic views of Dublin. We got served our complimentary Guinness' and took in the sights.





After the Guinness Factory we went to an old jail that they spell gaol and I couldn't even pronounce the name. Besides that, it was the coolest thing...creepy, but cool. It was crazy to hear about the people who were in jail for years for such miniscule crimes such as stealing a loaf of bread. But in the same "gaol" there were murderers. So bizarre.



We even got to go inside the jail cells!



After eating dinner at an underground pub & watching the Patriots game on a huge projector screen, we wandered back to the hostel...to find a man lying in Kim's bed. I don't think I've laughed harder in my life. I may or may not have peed my pants a little. We could not contain ourselves, we had to go outside in the hallway to burst out laughing. This man must've been given the wrong bunk bed assignment because he was definitely in Kim's bed. We could not handle the situation it was too hilarious.
The next morning we checked out and ventured to Trinity College, only to find out that it costs 10 euros to go on a tour. The school is beautiful but not worth 10 euros, sorry. So instead we went shopping at all the touristy shops and bought presents for our families and friends. After that we went to Dublina, a museum all about the early vikings and settlers that came to Dublin. It was actually super interesting and really fun...probably because a ten year old would also enjoy it with all the things we could dress up in and play around in.



After the museum we went to Christ Church where we got to have tea in a crypt! I thought this was the coolest and most ironic thing ever. We were literally underground where important people of the church were buried just having some afternoon tea. Hilarious.



We ended our stay in Dublin in the perfect way...at a pub. We listened to Irish music while enjoying our bar food & pints.

London Ladies

London this weekend was an absolute blast. With minor setbacks, I still managed to laugh more in one weekend than ever before. As soon as we got there, we found a pub with fish and chips, since we still hadn't tried the famous dish. We all ordered it, but I of course will be the only one not ordering it again. The chips of course were delicious buuut we all know how much I love fish...



From there, we headed straight for Oxford Street, which is a huge strip of massive amounts of shopping, and as we found out, a massive amount of people. I have never seen so many people in one location in my life. If you think NYC is bad, try going into Primark (kind of like Forever 21) on a Saturday. We have a Primark here in Oxford, which I love, but I was just not ready for Londons version. With three floors and thousands of people shopping inside, we were the most overwhelmed! We continued down the street after buying things without trying them on due to the excessive line for the dressing room. We could barely shuffle through the crowd, but we popped into a few more stores before giving up. The street would definitely be amazing if it wasn't on a Saturday afternoon. From there we attempted to find somewhere for dinner...struggle number two for the day. Thank god we ended up finding a restaurant called Prezzo, because it was absolutely delicious! I ate everything on my plate and then some.
After our food comas, we headed to meet AshleyAnne and her friends to go to ZooBar!



ZooBar was a blast! By the end of the night though, creepers started coming out so thats when we needed to leave haha. Katie, Kim, and I were the only ones who stayed at the club late because the other girls had rehearsal in the morning. We thought hailing a cab afterwards to head back to the hotel would be easy & boy were we wrong. Two hours later after standing in the rain for an open cab we got back to our hotel. At the time we wanted to die, and now we are hilariously laughing over the ridiculous situation.

The next morning I woke up early to meet AshleyAnne for breakfast. We ate at a delish little cafe where we ate outside & seemed like real London-ers. I loved it. After saying goodbye I took the tube back to the hotel where I met with Katie and Kim and headed to Camden Market! Camden Market was my favorite place. It was a flea market style set up with loads of different little sections with the cutest cheapest clothes, jewelry, hats, and anything else you could want! I bought one too many things of course but I love them all and I cannot wait to go back!