Hello everyone!
I thought it might be time for another update on my adventures throughout Europe....I've been trying to skirt the issue for the past two weeks because at some point very soon, I'm going to have to start reflecting on my time here rather than experiencing it!
Two weekends ago we took our last trip out of the country, to Paris, with London as "home base". Paris was amazing, and a place I could visit over and over again. We were so fortunate to have perfect weather the first day there...so we wandered, visited the Musee d'Orsay, and took a boat tour down the Seine.
I traveled with a few girls from my program, and then they (and I) met friends in Paris. Katherine flew to Paris from her vacation in Malaga, Spain (that's why she's so ridiculously tan in the pictures), and Christine took the train down from Caen, in the Normandy region, where she is studying this semester. It was a great reunion, and felt like the little bit of home we missed, whether or not we wanted to admit it.
Although Katherine and my French were...well....a little more than rusty, Christine saved the day on numerous occasions. She even charmed the security guard at the Eiffel Tower into letting us take up a bottle of 2 euro champagne that she had stashed in her purse. We agreed not to open it until we were back on the ground...but Katherine's extra large chocolate bar, and my little basket of strawberries were the perfect 'accent' to our trip to the top of Paris.
The rest of the weekend was filled with sites like the Louvre, the Moulin Rouge, Sacre Couer Basilique, Notre Dame, and Arc d'Triomphe.
http://picasaweb.google.com/arolain21/ParisFrance
This past weekend we went to Bath on a day trip. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful town.
Today my roommate Katie and I walked the entirety of London, and then met up with our theatre class for our theatre walk to the East End at 6pm. We said farewell to Buckingham Palace, took pictures in front of Clarence House (Princes' residence), took pictures with the royal horseguards, walked by 10 Downing Street, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey. We walked through Trafalger Square, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, and Covent Gardens. Then, we visited the Royal Courts of Justice (where Diana's inquest and Paul McCartney and Heather Mills' divorce proceedings took place), we also visited Temple Church (famous for the Da Vinci Code), and the Inns of Court (where the Knights Templar used to reside). With our theatre class we walked through the financial district, saw a few Jack the Ripper sites of interest, and then had amazing Indian food on Brick Lane.
Tomorrow is a full day of class where we will be receiving our final exam preparations.
Thursday evening is reserved for our "surprise" farewell event, which consists of a group picture at school and then a coach ride to Embankment Pier where we will board a boat with all our professors and group coordinators and party the night away. Surprise.
No large plans for the weekend besides partaking in every final indulgence of London.
Next week will be bittersweet---and bitter more than sweet, as we take our final exams and say goodbye to our home here in Kensington, London. I have been snapping pictures absolutely everywhere in the past few days, documenting common signs or familiarities that I will miss or forget more and more as the weeks pass.
Katherine and I will be taking one last little hiatus to Athens and Santorini to drown our London sorrows in the sand and surf of Perissia Beach. After 5 days of relaxation we will turn right around and head back to London where less than 24 hours later, we will board our Virgin Atlantic plane and head back to the United States.
I don't know that I'll be able to stay away from this place for too long. So, if anyone would like to join me next summer for a week of Wimbledon tennis, a tour of Buckingham Palace, and Jude Law in Hamlet....those are pretty much the only things I haven't accomplished here in London.
I miss you all and love you....I hope you are all looking forward to "Annette calling..." on your cells when I return. The "London calling...." ship is sailing quickly out to the Atlantic, and I'll be the last to willingly board. But the good thing is.....London's 2000 years of history isn't ending anytime soon....so this ship will return again!
Cheers! XOXO
Annette
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