"Paris is Always a Good Idea." -Audrey Hepburn

The day after the Harry Potter Red Carpet (aka friday), I headed to Paris with my friends Iris Park and Brian Schantz. It was amazing! We took the train from London St. Pancras to Paris Nord at 9am, and arrived at about 12:30pm (because of the time difference, it is technically a 2 1/2 hour train). We were starving when we first got there, so we headed right out for food. Best. Meal. Ever. We got bread + beer + salad + steak + fries + gravy + creme brulee, all for €11! It was amazing! We then headed to the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise, which is the cemetery where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried. It was so amazing and beautiful. We got really lucky because the sun was setting when we were leaving, so we got some amazing photos (as seen below).

From the cemetery, we walked, and walked, and walked. First, we found the River Seine, and then just followed it. Along the way we saw the Bastille, Notre Dame, St. Michel, Institut de France, then we go to the Louvre, where we got to go in for free! So we obviously took advantage of that! We saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo..etc. After that we got dinner, I had salad, croque monsieur, and red wine! It was delish! From there we headed over to the Eiffel Tower, which is definitely most beautiful at night! The lights were amazing, especially when it began to flash, like it does every hour, on the hour. We took pictures, but they didn't really come out, so we decided to go back on Sunday during the day. Since we had been walking for over 4 hours and were 8 km from our hostel, we decided to get a cab.

        

The next day we went to Versailles. Despite the crappy weather, it was amazing!! We went to the Hall of Mirrors, and all the basic things at the castle, then we headed to Marie Antoinette's home. It was sooo cool! There was a farm, and gardens, and a Temple of Love, and all of these amazing things that made me fell like I was part of a Jane Austen novel. For dinner we went to a random restaurant near us. I got steak, but I tried duck and LOVED it!

Sunday, our last day there, we had A LOT left to do. We woke up early, had a solid breakfast, and started our journey. Here are the things we accomplished:
1. Opera House where Phantom of the Opera is based
2. Arc de Triomphe (which we climbed for great views of the city!)
3. went down Avenue des Champes Elyseees
4. Winston Churchill Statue
5. Musee d'Orsay, but it was realllyyy busy so we didn't go in :(
6. Lunch at a small cafe! (I had french fries and cider)
7. bought baguettes
8. Eiffel Tower (with baguette fight)
9. Statue of Liberty in Paris (much smaller)
10. Headed back to our hostel to get our things and get to Paris Nord for our train at 6:30pm.

It was such a busy, but successful and fun day! Here are just some (of the 600) pictures I took:

View from Arc de Triomphe

Tiny Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower (black & white)

Me, my baguette, and the Eiffel Tower

Brian, Iris, and I with our baguettes in front of the Eiffel Tower

Baguette Fight!! 

I absolutely loved Paris!! It was great!! 

We'll always have Paris...

The Best Week of London Abroad.

After fall break, the next 11 days went by so fast, but were AMAZING!!

On November 2nd I finally did something I had been meaning to do all semester. I had dinner with the one and only Ellie Grabski. I was so excited to finally see her I practically head butted her when we hugged! hahah! We went to Los Locos and grubbed down on amazing nachos, fajitas, and happy hour drinks! The conversation obviously never stopped and it was so good seeing my twin! :)

On Wednesday we went to the Court (big surprise) where I got to see El-Dogg again because I told her how amazing it is. She lives within walking distance, you lucky dog you.

The weekend came, and a lot of my friends were going to Paris with the school. But since it was one of my roommates birthday weekend, we went out Thursday to celebrate. It pretty much turned into a bust. Friday I went to fireworks, Los Locos (again), and then headed to the Court (typical). Saturday we went to this new place called Waxy O'Connors. It was great, but it closed semi-early, and by semi-early I mean 12am haha!

On Monday, it was her official birthday. We went to O'Neils (aka the birthday spot. it was the 3rd birthday i'd celebrated there..ridiculous). Since it was a Monday, it was a small, but very fun, group! Iris (bday girl), Emily, Megan, Keith, Will, and myself.

Single Ladies, oh and Will..

Birthday girl, Emily, Me, and Megan.

The week was pretty uneventful, that is, until Thursday! I arrived at Leicester Square at 8am to stand in line with my friend Iris, who had been there since 5am. Why you may ask? Well obviously for the Harry Potter Red Carpet Premiere! I survived in over 12 hours of vicious rain, nasty wind, wet pants, and the overall cold to catch a glimpse of these stars I felt like I grew up with. I LOVE Harry Potter and those 12 hours were 100% worth it! I got to see Rupert Grint (Ron), Emma Watson (Hermione), Daniel Ratcliffe (Harry), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Timothy Spall (Wormtail), Oliver & James Phelps (George & Fred Weasley), Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley), Natalia Tena (Tonks), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge), Jamie Bower (Grindlewald/Caius from Twilight), Warwick Davis (Griphook), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Alfie Enoch (Dean Thomas), and the woman behind it all...J K ROWLING!!

 

So I brought my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that I bought in Edinburgh, Scotland (aka where JK Rowling wrote a lot of the stories and/or got her inspiration). My life is now complete. Not only did I get JK Rowlings autograph (which made me and my friend Iris Park cry), I got Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), and Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) to sign my book as well. True story. My life will not get that happy again for a while. I was in Harry Potter Heaven. J K Rowling is seriously the most amazing individual I have ever met. She was signing so many books, but made a point to look at all of my friends and acknowledge us. She even had conversations with me, my friend Emily, and my friend Iris. It just makes me love and admire her more. THANKS JK ROWLING!! FOR EVERYTHING!!! 

The next day I was leaving for Paris, but that was the farthest thing from my mind...

fall break in a nut shell.

For fall break 7 girls, yes SEVEN, traveled to Prague, Vienna, Munich, and Verona.

First, Prague:

This is the John Lennon Wall in Prague. It is pretty much a huge wall with a peace sign and lyrics like; "all you need is love" and "you may say i'm a dreamer but i'm not the only one." it was really awesome! Probably my favorite thing in Prague.

This is Prague from the top of Old Town Square Tower (really creative name...). The city didn't really live up to the hype. People kept telling me how awesome Prague was and blah blah blah, but it was my least favorite place.

Things I did in Prague: Went to the Jewish quarter, went to the John Lennon Wall, went to the Old Town Square, went to the Toy Museum that had a Barbie exhibit, crossed Charles Bridge, saw the Astronomical clock, and went to Prague Castle. 

Next we traveled to Vienna by train. I LOVED the train rides. They were probably my favorite aspect of fall break. I loved seeing the country side and such. 

I tried Schnitzel in Vienna, I actually really liked it!

This is a lot of what we saw in Vienna, the inside of our hostel bar, and a lot of Jagerbombs. They were 4 for 10 euros. BAD NEWS BEARS.

I took this at Hundertwasserhaus, which is this really cool building designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser who didn't use any straight lines in his architecture. 

Things I did in Vienna: Albertina (I now love the painter Brandl), Stephansdom, Hofburn Palace, Schloss Belvedere, Spanish Riding School, Hundertwasserhaus, and Museum Moderner Kunst. I also had Nutella and strawberry gelato (delishhh!!)

We then took a train to Munich. Here are some views:

Mountains that we eventually climbed...

FALL FOLIAGE! 

SNOW!!!! and cows!!

I LOVED MUNICH! It was my 2nd favorite place. We spent the longest here, and I'm so glad we did. The first day we go there, we napped because we were all a bit beat from Vienna and Jagerbombs. The next 2 days, we definitely accomplished a lot! 

So day one we took a guided walking tour from our hostel, which I STRONGLY recommend! We learned so much and saw so much. It was amazing! 

Did you know that it is in Bavarian law that employees can drink a liter of beer a day and not get fired from work? Awesome!

On our second day in Munich, we climbed a mountain. I'm not even kidding. I was wearing my sperries, leather jacket, jeans, and had my good camera.

This is the amazing view we got. It is Neuschwanstein Castle. It was build by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who was known as a romantic, in the late 1800s. Sleeping Beauty's castle is modeled after this. 

We then traveled to the country side, to a small cheese farm on a hill. They produce their own cheese with all of their own ingredients. It was amazing! We took a lot home! haha!

I obviously felt at home. :)

What I did in Munich: Marienplatz, Neues Rathaus, Glockenspiel, St. Peterskirche, Frauenkirche, Michaelskirche, Dachau (a concentration camp..I don't even have words...), walked the Beer Hall Putsch, Hofbrauhaus (where Hitler gave speeches), visited the Beer Gardens, and went to a Augustiner beer hall. There was probably more, but there was so much I don't even remember it all. Oh, and cant forget Neuchwanstein Castle and the cheese farm! I loved Munich. 

Last, but certainly not least, we went to my favorite place, Verona. Verona is the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. My romantic self was in heaven. We took a 6 hour train there, but it was a beautiful journey. So much better than taking planes! I think everyone should travel via train. 

Yup, I climbed those mountains. The clouds were so low, it was beautiful.

Vineyards with the Mountains in the background. Gorgeous!!

Green Vineyards!! 

Verona was everything I wanted it to be. It was relaxed and was great for my first Italy experience. 

We climbed to the top of Torre Lamberti for a great view of the city! 

Yes, that is Juliet's wall. 

Me sitting at the Roman Ampitheatre/Castell San Pietro

Juliet's grave right there.

Oh hey Shakespeare! 

Things I did in Verona: Went to the Arena, Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's house), Roman Ampitheatre, Piazza delle Erbe, Torre Lamberti, Verona Cathedral, San'Anastasia, Castell San Pietro, Roman theatre, and Juliet's tomb. We also went around the schwanky shopping area, had amazing pasta, wine, gelato, panini (I obviously had the Giulietta), pizza, and tiramisu for food. It was amazing. By far my favorite place. It was just so relaxed and I got to send my letter to Juliet!! :) 

Fall break was great overall! There were definitely a lot of ups and downs, but on the plane trip back, I realized all the amazing stuff I did. I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas..

In case you couldn't tell by my blog, I'm in the Christmas spirit!! London is buzzing with excitement for this holiday, since as you know, there is no Thanksgiving -- aka my favorite holiday, I refuse to admit there is a 2010 Thanksgiving, well that is until I get home, where I expect my mother to go all out and make a full turkey + mashed potatoes + salad + mashed potatoes + gravy + mashed potatoes + corn + apple pie...yummm, oh, and did I mention mashed potatoes? haha, but seriously. There is no 2010 Thanksgiving. It didn't happen, don't ruin my dream -- but London at Christmas time is magical. Regents Street is lit up in a Narnia theme, Marylebone High Street is all decorated, and all the stores (like M&S and Hamleys) have Christmas lights and displays. Its amazing!

So seeing as I haven't posted since before fall break, I'm going to do a bunch of posts right now. Enjoy!