There's no place like home

There may be no place like home but there is the great land of Oz..well at least there is on Broadway. Tonight was a magical night, unlike any night in London. I had the experience of seeing the Wizard of Oz on London's Broadway.

Since I was a little girl I have been OBSESSED with the Wizard of Oz. Something about the Wizard of Oz, was always so magical to me. When I say OBSESSED..I mean OBSESSED. From being Dorothy for numerous Halloweens, to having a Wizard of Oz themed Sweet 16..I would say that I'm a pretty big fan.

I have watched the movie a million times, but I never actually seen the play of The Wizard of Oz. I actually was in the play when I was 5 years old as one of the members of the Lullaby League. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I didn't have high expectations for the play seeing that the last time I attended the theatre for a showing of Footloose, I was very disappointed.

Boy oh boy was I pleasantly surprised. The play tonight was out of this world and completely exceeded all of my expectations. I could now say that I have truly experienced the London theatre. Footloose smootloose..Wizard od Oz took the cake..hands down.

Coming from NY it is hard to compare New York's Broadway to London's Broadway. Since I was a kid I went to Broadway with my parents. I've probably seen around 20 Broadway shows, some more than once. Since my cousins were on Broadway in Mama Mia and 42nd Street, I always had an interest in the theatre. I guess I could now say that I can add London Broadway to the top of my list. Wizard of Oz really made and impression and I can NOT wait to see Singing in the Rain tomorrow night! I truly am experiencing the London life!

Cheerio!

Team USA!

Today, of course was another amazing day in London. I attended two Olympic games of Men’s volley ball.. Argentina vs. Australia and Serbia vs. USA. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I’d attend the Olympics.  My experience today was more amazing than expected. The energy of the stadium was blasting. Seeing spectators cheer passionately and wave their countries flag was kind of emotional for me. I think it is so amazing to see people showing so much pride and respect for their country. Watching Team USA play and go on to win today’s game was something I will never forget. Every time they scored a point my heart fluttered and I became more invested in the game. I also never thought I’d be at the edge of my seat, so excited for any sports game but some how this game had a meaning for me.

The smiles on the player’s faces were priceless after each point they scored. The whole team also came together for a team hug sort of thing after each point they scored,  which I think is so cute. Even when the other team scored, they slapped each other’s hands in reassurance that they still had a chance and to not give up. 

The second set of the USA vs. Serbia game was the most exciting. USA was dominating Serbia and then mid game Serbia started catching up and started to beat USA. I was so worried that USA would end up losing. It was a very close call USA 19..Serbia 21. Within minutes USA got back on track and wound up on top!

 I saw true team spirit and true talent today. I was more than impressed by the whole event and can not wait for the gold  medal soccer game!! 

Oh What a Night

Everyone and anyone who knows me would tell you that I am the farthest thing from a sports fan. I could care less about the Super Bowl, World Series or any sports game for that matter. When I found out that I would be coming to London during the Olympics, it honestly didn't phase me. My friends and family were super excited and jealous that I would be experiencing one of the greatest events in history.

To be honest, I was more excited for the shopping, food and museums that I would be exposed to in London BUT when I got here everything changed. As soon as I stepped out of the airport advertisements for the Olympics were all over the place There was no escaping it. Living in Earl's Court is extra special because the Olympic Volley Ball stadium is right around the corner. The area is buzzing and it is very exciting to be here.

So much excitement and anticipation was leading up to the Opening Ceremony which took place last night. A bunch of us went to O'Neills to watch the ceremony. There was a big projector set up and locals flocked to watch at 8:12 PM sharp! I didn't think that I would be moved by the ceremony but boy was I wrong. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and really captured a sense of unity and respect between the countries.The performances were amazing, from the building up of London, to the music through the years and London film and literature, I have to say that I was stunned.
 It was so amazing to see athletes, royals and diplomats from around the world in one arena, together in harmony. Although affliction may be between them in other areas, that was all left behind last night. I found that to be incredible.

When team USA entered the stadium, I felt so proud to be an American. I was so proud of the team to have worked to hard to get to the Olympics. I also thought of my sister. She is an amazing soccer player and I hope that one day she will be on the Women's Olympic Soccer Team. After watching the Opening Ceremony I can now say that I am so excited for the Olympics, especially that I will be attending Men's Volleyball tomorrow and the Women's Soccer Gold Medal Game.

GO TEAM USA!!!!!

High Class to Hard Rock

I would have to say that yesterday was one of the best days here in London so far. I started the day at the museum of London which was so interesting. My group won the scavenger hunt within five minutes-yea we're that good. I loved the museum because there was a wide range of things to look at. When a museum is too concentrated on one area or time period I tend to get bored. The Museum of London was nothing of the sort and I was so happy to have visited.

Next on the agenda was High Tea at Harrods. I was unbelievably excited to be in Harrods for the first time and to experience High Tea for the first time. Harrods was everything I imagined. My heart literally skipped a beat when I walked passed the Louis Vuitton bags. I was dressed up for tea so I felt a little better about myself that I couldn't buy anything..at least I looked like I could afford something. High Tea was so cute and classy..right out of Alice and Wonderland. I had Earl Grey tea and literally ate more than I thought I would. My new obsession is scones so I was pretty happy that they gave us a lot of scones to eat. I will for sure be going back to Harrods to spend the day. There are many departments I have to check out. I also have to go back to visit the Puppy Parlor,..all of the puppies were too cute!

Later that right I totally switched gears and was getting ready for a rock and roll show and a pub. I went from a a pretty dress and a bow in my hair to a tank, high waisted shorts and my ruby woo lips. The show was at Catch and we all went to support our fellow group mates documentary. The band that played was called the Damn Vans and they were awesome. Merrie and I wound up buying Cds thats how much we loved them.

My night ended at one of the best Mexican restaurants I ever ate at, El Paso. It was an amazing way to end an amazing day/ night. I can't believe that half of my trip is over, but I know there will be plenty of amazing experiences to come

Cheers      

                   

I could be your Queen

Windsor castle is a rather amazing site. I couldn’t believe that today I was in the place where the Queen currently spends her weekends but today she wasn’t there seeing that her royal flag wasn’t waving from the post. The grounds of the palace were gorgeous and were filled with green grass and flowers. I couldn’t even imagine owning a castle that big.

One of the best parts of the castle for me was the dollhouse and the photo gallery. The dollhouse was so cute and detailed. I wish I could have taken photos of it. The photo gallery was amazing because I was able to see the progression of the Queen’s reign. She has to be one of the cutest women I have ever seen! She is so well dressed and always looks so proper but so happy! My absolute favorite part of the photo gallery was the photo of the Queen and Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga is my queen so i was more than happy to see two inspirational women in one photo!

Another part of the palace that I found to be interesting was St. George’s Chapel. Firstly, George is a very popular name in my family so i felt a connection right from the start. The chapel was quaint but so moving. Valentine and I just sat down for a bit and of course made our three wishes because we entered a new church. I always wish for the same things, the most important things. Love, Health and Success. These are all broad things to wish for but I definitely elaborate in prayer.

The day went rather quickly but the heat wore me out. I can’t believe how hot it got so quickly but i cant complain. It’s a British SUMMMER!!!

Hot Child in the City

This morning I made myself get out of bed to go for a run. I was expecting to be a bit chilly, but when I opened the door the sun was shining and I was rather warm. I was so excited since we have had such rainy weather! Turns out that it is going to be high 70s for the rest of the week! Yay-one week of SUMMER!

Today was a production day so we had a meeting at 1130 and then had an interview at 230. The interview went well. The professor we interviewed was very insightful and knowledgeable on our topic, so our group was pretty pleased. We had a public opinion interview yesterday but it didn't go as well as we hoped it would. The guy we interviewed had mostly scattered answered and wasn't as prepared as our other interviewees. The guy we interviewed was also being interviewed by another group so the pressure was on! I don't blame him though. If I was being interviewed I definitely would freeze up and not know what to say. Even though his interview wasn't what we wanted we still have plenty of other option which I am exited about. Our plan is to be done by the weekend and then we can get to work editing! I can't wait to see the final product!

The rest of the night I will be logging and finishing up my paper-I'm more than half way done! Writing papers is a bit tough for me at the moment seeing that I haven't done school work since December. I was on CO-OP before that trip but this is a good transition. I need to whip myself into shape for the fall!

Off to work..Cheers to another busy week!!

All around the world

Whenever I step into a new city I can’t help but compare that city to New York City. New York is so big, so loud, always moving, no matter the time or area. I associate cities with fast paced living, flashing lights and thousands of people moving quickly to get where they want to go. I know that I am describing New York, but I can’t help it..I’m so used to it!

When I first got to Boston my freshman year of college I felt as if I wasn’t even in a city. Compared to New York, Boston is much smaller, less busy and has less of the fast paced energy that New York embodies. It took me a while to get used to a calmer city but I find that it has helped me to relax in high stress situations. I complain about Boston all of the time but there is nowhere I’d rather be for college. Boston is a great city but Boston lacks many things that I love about NY.

Boston lacks the demand for fashion. In NY fashion is a way of life, overriding comfort in every which way. In my opinion, Boston residents are more inclined to dress for comfort due to the high colligate population..totally fine but not my style. Although I am a student in Boston, I continue to dress like my New York self. My fashion sense is the one thing that I will NOT change. 

On the other hand, London has proved to be the most similar city that I have visited to New York.  The fashion is amazing! I love London fashion !(one of my blog posts will be dedicated to this) London is a very busy city with a diverse population, much like New York. I feel that London is constantly moving, leaving me with so many options and areas to explore, also similar to New York.  I just can’t explain it but I feel at home here. In Boston, most places close so early but in London and New York I feel that I can experience the city even after the lights are out (even though New York never sleeps!) 

Call me crazy but I am all about the excitement that a city has to offer. New York and London have not let me down and I’m sure these places won’t disappoint anytime soon! 

                                                

Take One!!

Today was another great day in the beautiful and charming London. I don’t think I could have a bad day here. Rain and all, London is perfect to me and I’m in loveee! We had a fairly early morning with a 10:00 tour at the Tower of London. I went there on my first trip to London, and I all could remember is the Crown Jewels. They were absolutely to die for and today there were more beautiful than I remembered. Even if I had the money for these precious gems, I wouldn’t trust myself with them. I either lose or break everything so something that beautiful should NOT be left in my hands. I couldn’t imagine having a 530.2 carat diamond. I kiddingly told Valentine that if I guy couldn’t buy me the crown jewels he’s out! Haha. I wonder what it would be like to be a Queen. Beautiful clothes, shoes, power, anything you want at your fingertips…I think I could get used to that. On the other hand, it’s too much pressure especially after what the tour guide was telling us. Almost every Queen was beheaded for every which reason, mostly adultery but you get my drift!

The Tower of London was awesome but I was most excited for our first interview with Charlie from CAPA. She was more than excited to help us with our documentary, so I was very excited to hear her responses. As expected, the interview went so well. Charlie was very animated and gave amazing responses. It was so interesting to hear her opinion of the Royal Family as a British citizen. To sum things up, she had a positive opinion of the Royal Family. She described her feeling towards them as “warm”. Charlie touched on many of the positives of the Royal Family such as the holidays they create, tourism and “identity” or “face” of Britain. One down and many more to go! I was getting stressed out about our documentary but now I feel like everything is falling into place. It is so exciting to see hard work pay off! We have another interview set up for Friday, maybe one for Sunday and a couple for next week! So exciting!

Off to bed!

Bye bye!

And the beat goes on

Right now I am sitting in a pub, drinking some cider and writing my blog. This really is the life. I'm sure I have said this a million times already but I am having the time of my life and it is going by too too quickly. Like I said in my last post we had an early morning full of excursions today. We went to Stonehenge and Bath, both places which I've been to in my first visit to London when I was 13. I actually saw a Student Ambassador group in the Tube-probably on the same program I was on so many years ago. The kids looked so young but I guess I looked young at 13, even though I never thought so.

Both Stonehenge and Bath were both interesting but I out of the two I would have to say Bath was my favorite. To me, Bath had a more in depth culture with so much more to explore. My favorite part about going to a rather new place is getting lost. Getting lost is never a bad thing in a foreign place because you find hidden gems by accident. We found some pretty cool shops today on our "lost" adventure. I especially didn't mind wandering for so long because the weather was absolutely beautiful! It was such a treat after the rainy days that we have been having. Besides roaming around, I took so pretty awesome pictures and brushed up on my history about these places.

All in all I have to say it was a great day. My day just got even better! While sitting at a pub an English guy started to chat with Merrie and I and has now agreed to be a part of our documentary! How exciting!! That puts the cherry on top!

Cheers!

Oh what a day

Today began at 8:30 AM when I struggled to get out of bed. My room is so dark which makes it harder to get out of bed in the morning. We had a 9:45 production meeting this morning. We made progress from our last meeting which was very exciting! Our plan for the day was to go to the meeting and then continue to go out and film all day. We ambitiously made a shot list of: Buckingham Palace, Kensington Gardens, Tower of London,Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. With the best intentions, we went to CAPA to schedule an interview with Charlie from the front deskmand then would go out to film. This is where we ran into problems with the avid download on Hannah's computer. Our great plan of getting out to film at 10:30 was annoyingly pushed back to 1 pm. We sadly left Hannah with the computer and went out to film. Of course it was raining but we were determined to get everything we needed to done. We were back on track and we wound up having a very prouductive day. It was my first time filming today...EVER!!!I really enjoyed it. I felt so cool to be filming these amazing sights in London! I'm so lucky to have this experience. On the flip side, I never thought that my arm would hurt as much as it did from trying to keep the camera steady. I got better as the day went on. Who knows maybe by the end of the trip I'll be a pro! After Buckingham Palace we decided to split up to provide moral support for Hannah who was miserable at McDonald's. The download was still not working and she was so frustrated after trying to get this to work all day. I felt so bad for her! Her brain was probably grape slushy flavored at this point (code for extremely exhausted,overly frustrated and just about hating life status) Valentine and I met up with her as Michelle was trying to help her with the download. It was a huge FAIL so we decided to call it quits for the day. It is now 8:40 pm and I feels great to sit down and relax. I love how busy and productive today was but nothing beats putting your feet up after a long day! I think I'm going to hit the hay soon because we have a very long day of excursions ahead of us! So long!

Busy bee

I can't believe that it's already July 14th! 5 days have already passed and it feels like I just got here. This trip is flying by! So much to do so little time. The main reason the trip is flying by is because we are super busy. The past couple of days we have been walking around London, sight seeing and just enjoying this beautiful city. My legs are KILLING me from all of this walking. I literally think that we walk around 5 miles a day! What a work out!

Today my group and I went location scouting and went around to make some contacts for our documentary. We left our flats at 10:30 am (keep in mind we got in after 3AM that morning) and we got back at 6:00 pm!! We are completely dead! This long day did pay off though because we found some places to film and made a contact with a tour guide from the Victoria and Albert Museum. That museum was amazing. I really enjoyed it and I cant wait to go back. I love that most museums in London are free. I will be visiting all of the museums while I'm here! So exciting!

Okay, thats all for now

Cheers

Earl's Court, London

The first time I was in London was seven years ago. I was thirteen years old on a student ambassador program which traveled to London, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. I was fascinated by all of these places and the culture that was embedded in them. London was the first place I visited and I was completely stunned by this charming city. I thought of London as a "funky" New York. I fell in love with London as a little thirteen year old girl and I knew without a doubt in my mind that I would be back.

I studied abroad in Greece for my first semester at Northeastern, continuing my thirst for travel. I find comfort in traveling and discovering new things so this trip was perfect for me. During my study abroad  we had the opportunity to take a ten day trip. Without a question I decided to go to London and Paris. I could not believe that I was going to be able to return to one of my favorite cities in the world! Returning to London was even better than I imagined. I was so young the first time that I visited London so I sort of forgot why I loved it so much but within 2 minutes of being there I remembered. I felt great that I was able to show my friends around the city and be back in the city where my travels began.

So here I am again back in London two years later. I can't believe that this is my third time in London within 7 years. I sort of think of London as my third home. First-New York Second-Boston Third-London. I'm also so excited that each time that I am in London I have a completely different experience and see things in a new perspective. So far this time in London has been the best and its only been 4 days. I feel the most comfortable this time around. I'm excited for the adventures that will come my way on this trip. Earl's Court will be my home for the next 5 weeks and I will love every minute of it. Who knows maybe I will live here permanently one day but for now I will enjoy this journey. From Buckingham Palace to making my documentary, I'm sure that this trip will NOT disappoint me!

New beginnings

My highly anticipated London trip was finally here and I could not wait to embark on this new journey. I was so stressed out due to the conclusion of my CO-OP and the hours upon end of packing that i had to do in so little time-of course nothing was fitting in my bag. My parents were on vacation so I was on my own to pack for this 5 week trip. My mom is the best packer in the world and also my go to woman when I am stressed so it was hard to not have her around in my time of need. My best friend Matt was my savior and he seemed to squeeze everything into my bag...after 5 hours. I live in New York so I had to travel to Boston for the flight. I left NY on July 8, 2012.The beginning to a very long journey to London.

 The trip to Boston wasn't bad at all but I was still so nervous for the next day. I would be leaving a summer of tanning and catching up with friends behind to jump into this city with my fellow classmates. I wasn't ready for the adventure but I had no choice. July 9, 2012, The day was finally here- I could not believe it. My stomach hurt the whole day from nerves but once I got to the airport all of my worries faded away. Everyone on the trip was super welcoming and friendly. I couldn't wait to get to know everyone and experience london in a new way. The wait was finally over and we boarded the plane, excitement rushing through us. I looked out the window as the plane took off and couldn't be happier. Bye bye Boston! Next stop London!