Wrapping Things Up Around Here

Wow, what a day! It's 3 am, Thursday night/Friday morning, and we just got back from a night of dancing- we're done with classes!!

Last night (Wednesday) we had our Write Night and did the Spice Girls dance- we had so much fun! The dance went really well, and then Linley House sang "For Good" from "Wicked." Some people started crying. Our house members have really bonded over these last weeks. We even made shirts that said "Linley Girls" and we have a chant that goes "Linley Love! Woo!" haha. I'm really going to miss those girls.

Today was GREAT. Both of my classes were really fun- in Jane Austen, we just sat around and played old 1800s games that our tutor taught us. For one of the games, we had to write a poem using a particular set of words. My poem won, and I got one of the "I <3 Mr. Darcy" keychains I referenced in my earlier post about visiting the local Jane Austen museum. I was excited to win haha. Then, my friend Palmer and I went to lunch in the Pump Room, one of the oldest social places in Bath. Jane Austen went there and she even wrote about it in novels like Northanger Abbey. I got tomato basil soup. Also, I tried the famous "Bath Springs water" that they have there. It comes out of a fountain, and the hostess puts your cup underneath and gives you a glass of the water. It tastes warm and awful, but apparently it's really great for you medicinally. I figured- when in Bath, do what the Bathians do! haha :)While we were in the Pump Room, we sat under a chandelier and were serenaded by a pianist- it's like their version of a country club. The pianist played the main song from the soundtrack of Somewhere in Time- my grandma's and my favorite movie to watch together- so exciting!!! I got chills :)Then, in my Foreign Bodies class, instead of staying in the classroom and having discussion, Dr. Singer took us to a pub- the Crystal Palace! I had tea and lemon tartlet. So good. After that,I went inside Bath Abbey for the FIRST time since I've been here. It's amazing how much I had to catch up on doing in Bath, even though that was the city I was staying in for the past month. Being away every weekend made it hard to get everything done on my to-do list for Bath. Next, we went to the Roman Baths- an old museum with natural hot springs and ruins. It was really cool!! To top off the night, we did karaoke at the Met and went to some other pub (I can't remember the name).

I just got off the phone with Dad! He went to a play tonight :) I can't wait to see him on Saturday!!

Hope you're all doing well- 2 days until I'm back in the USA!!!! Let's make plans!

Love,

Kelly :)

Only 3 More Days...

Wow! Only 3 more full days in Bath. That's crazy.
It's 2 am and I'm still awake. That's no good, b/c I stayed up really late last night too. I turned in my 2 essays and my portfolio today- it's good to have all of that done!

Tonight we celebrated being done with essays and Katie's birthday (a girl in the program). We went to a tapas bar called La Flamenca and to a club called Vodka Revolution (haha). Some of us ended the night playing pool. It feels so good to relax after doing all of that typing!

I really need to hit the sack, but I'll write more tomorrow!!

Sweet dreams to all,

Kelly :)

P.S. tomorrow is Write Night- Spice Girls time!

Oxford & London

Wow- definitely the best weekend yet! There's too much to write about, so I'll just list everything we did this weekend:

FRIDAY

-went to Oxford
-walked around the city
-went "punting" - cross between canoeing and riding a gondola. I steered for a bit; it was harder than it looked!

-went in Christ Church and did the Harry Potter self tour- we saw the stairs and dining hall that are in "Hogwarts"
-got a tourist-y "Oxford University" shirt...even though we learned that there is no such thing as Oxford University. Rather, it's a cluster of colleges. Oh well.
-caught the train to Paddington Station

FRIDAY NIGHT

-1.5 hour train ride from Oxford to London
-went to our hotel room. Chelsea and I stayed by ourselves 2 nights in the Grosvenor Kensington Hotel in South Kensington. It was really cute & it reminded me of our Clifden Inn Guest House in Dublin.
-rushed via taxi to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to see "Wicked"
-AMAZING show
-we met & got pictures with a few of the leading cast members after the show (we stalked them by the stage door haha)
-went to the Absolut Ice Bar (a bar literally made of ice, that's freezing cold). They gave us parkas to wear to keep warm. We drank beverages out of giant ice cubes with their middles scooped out...I had the Absolut Reactor.
-had a professional photographer take our picture at the Ice Bar...he said it's on their website, but I haven't looked yet
-walked around Pickadilly Circus until 1 a.m.
-couldn't hail a taxi so we had to take one of those bike taxis, where a guy bicycles you around, for 7 miles or so back to our hotel...expensive decision, but seemed like our only option at the time.

SATURDAY

-morning- remembered Uncle Tommy's oyster cards and figured out how to use them (saved us TONS of money)...this is for the Tube, their Subway system
-ate a HUGE complimentary breakfast at our hotel (there was a full-on buffet!)
-went to Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Everyone got sunburned (luckily, mine's not too bad) The ceremony was cool- we saw guards and bobbies. Also, they played "Yesterday."
-got tickets for the hop-on hop-off bus (like the one we did in Dublin)- best decision of the day- we saw almost EVERYTHING -->
-went to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, and St. Margaret's Church

-saw St. Paul's Cathedral (where Lady Diana and Prince Charles were married)
-went to the Tower of London (saw the crown jewels and old artifacts)
-took a river cruise down the Thames (included in the hop-on hop-off bus tour tickets)
-ate at a noodles kiosk
-went on the London Eye (giant Ferris Wheel that lets you look out on all of London)

-heard a bagpiper play "God Bless America" (4th of July) :)
-went back to our hotel, wiped out
-sad about the prospect of not seeing fireworks on the 4th of July
-laid down on my bed
-heard something, going to look out the window, and saw fireworks for the 4th of July in London!! :)

SUNDAY

-partook again in the huge breakfast buffet
-toured the Globe Theatre (Shakespeare)
-took pictures at the Millennium Bridge (the pedestrian bridge)
-looked around in a store called "Joy" (Chelsea bought 2 dresses)
-went to Marks and Spencer (the same cheap, but healthy grocery store we have in Bath) and bought a cheap lunch
-figured out how to get to Paddington Station again
-went back to Bath
-went to Mass (my last one here)

-snacking, uploading pictures, doing homework, sitting here & editing my blog!

WHEW! What a weekend!!!!

Miss you all- have a great night :)

Love,

Kelly
-

Back Sunday

I'm off to London for the weekend- I'll post again Sunday! Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Love,

Kelly

Ladies N' Gents, it's Wednesday Night!

Ello there! Kelly here. I'm sitting in the computer lab, working on my final essay for Foreign Bodies, my creative writing class. I decided to write it about you and me, Dad, and all of our funny adventures from you packing raisins in my lunch box and me bringing them back every night to "jumping jacks" ;) haha

Since I wanted to take a break from writing, I figured- hey, why not make the break a productive one and post in the blog! So, here I am.

This morning, my Jane Austen class went to the Jane Austen Museum in Bath. It was so cool! The whole place was decorated in 1800s decorations, there were movies about Jane Austen, and there was even a gift shop with kooky memorabilia like I <3 Mr. Darcy magnets. I also got my picture taken with the stately gentleman outside the museum, who was posing as an 1800s reinactor.

For lunch, I went to a new pasty shop called "West Cornwall" or "West of Cornwall" or something like that. I got a cheese, tomato, and basil pasty for £2.40- not too shabby! It was the best one I've had, too! On my walk back home, I stumbled upon a graduation reception taking place in Bath Abbey. Seniors were scurrying around in their caps and gowns, taking pictures with their families, and reveling in general merriment! I had to stop a moment just to absorb the BEAUTIFUL abbey, cobblestone streets, pigeons and seagulls on the square, and gorgeous architecture, and I couldn't help but think- what a graduation reception! Those students were so lucky to go to school in such a gorgeous city. I'm lucky just to study here for five weeks. I LOVE this place.

Lately, walking down the streets, I've felt like I'm on a movie set. Everything is so picturesque- people walk their dogs and talk with their cute British accents, street musicians plant themselves on every corner to serenade the passersby and to pick up a pound or two in their open guitar cases, the beautiful buildings situate themselves in the coziest sections of town, the bells ring in Bath Abbey to move along the people vegging out on its benches, and then there's ME, and I'M a part of it all! I walk down the cobblestone streets in a new dress, humming a song, eating an ice cream cone, smiling at the children who scurry past me in their school uniforms, and I really feel like the luckiest person alive. :)

I hope all of you at home are having great days, too! I think of you all so so often, and I really wish I could share all of this with everyone reading my blog. I hope I'm doing this city justice in my writing, because it really is so special.

Dad, I miss you so much. You're the main reason I'll be ready to come home in just 10 days :)

Better get back to this paper, and then to Spice Girls rehearsal- haha!

Dream Sweet Dreams For You.
Dream Sweet Dreams For Me.

Love,

Kelly