Showing posts with label uktrip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uktrip. Show all posts

25 March 2007

by the way

i uploaded all my pictures from my trip.

you can find the abridged version in facebook.

a few more in flickr, where i've added ge0-tags and such: http://flickr.com/photos/florajasmine

and a full set is up on my picasa albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/florarj/UKSpringBreak2007

i spend too much time on the internet. yes.

also, music i found over there due to store soundtracks, museum lists and magazine reviews: klaxons, little man tate, and paolo nutini. recently discovered they're playing paolo on us mtv cos i just saw him the other morning before work. i downloaded all those guys and b/c i couldnt find my new teenyboppermusic, gym class heroes, anywhere i went out and bought a cd at the store! after a first listen, i decided, me gusta.

19 March 2007

blip blip blip boom

so, my uk trip was totally awesome up until about 1130a this morning.

edinburgh was fun with anna/ wandering on my own. i saw all the highlights from the castle to the palace and everything in between. i took pics of ppl and graffiti (there wasn't much) and a pub called 'white horse'. aww.

then at and i made our way on the train down to london. it was a sleepy but pretty trip. our days in london were sunny and relatively warm. it was great. we saw buckingham palace, trafalgar square, westminster abbey, and big ben. more than a few times we had to 'step in to the map' just like joey did on their friends trip to london. we also got to catch 'wicked' in the west end though tix to history boys were way out of my vacay price range. the wicked witch had an amazing voice and the cute boy from coyote ugly was in it. so yeah, anna and i had a good time and have tons of pictures with our big heads and tiny landmarks in the background. i'll put them up when i get back to the states.

anna left me on saturday night but it wasn't as lonely as i'd expected it to be. after wandering around leicester sq, catching a movie (good german- eh) and watching the drunks in covent garden i went back to the good old london bridge tube station. i made friends with my new hostel roomates and we got drinks at the hostel bar which is constantly smoky and filled with cricket fans. so yeah, a good time. on sunday i went to mass in st. paul's and then caught a bit of the st. patty's parade along hyde park. i did more touristy wandering and then eventually made it back to the hostel to crash. after a chat w/ the roomates we all passed out into afternoon naps. one of my roomates said she always took them (v. cool obvs, like me) and called them 'granny naps'. thought that was funny. back to the bar again and had a sunday roast that was pretty ick (bar food, what did i expect) but still a good time and lots of magners.

i got up this morning with big plans to stow my luggage, hit london and tower bridges and then make my way back to the hostel to pick up luggage and run to the airport. only after walking past london bridge and across the tower bridge i got lost looking for a tube station. i shouldve gotten on at tower bridge station but i didnt. anyways, finally made it back to the hostel and then no one could find the key to where my luggage was locked up. great. that took up more time. i got my luggage down the tube escalators and ran to catch a waiting train on the platform. only this train ended up having some sort of 'medical emergency'- i think someone was having a heart attack, and the ambulance took more than 15 min to get there. by this time i had 2.5 hrs before my plane left so i went up the escalators to take a different train/route to the airport. of course 10 million other ppl had the same idea so that platform was crammed with people and i didn't get on til a second train came through. eventually i got on the right train headed to the airport but by that point i knew it was a lost cause, there was no way i could make it as there was less than 2 hrs before my plane left. i got to the virgin queue about 45 min before my plane actually took off which was at least 15 min too late. poop.

no other boston flights avail so i had to choose between flying to nyc and figuring something out there or waiting a day and taking the tues morning flight out. i went for tuesday. tres annoying but less annoying then trying to find a way out of nyc it seems.

when i left heathrow to return to the city it was snowing. i had to find an internet cafe to book a room so i did that and then wandered around oxford street for a while. then when i was ready to get a tube out to my hostel the entire station was blocked up for some reason. and it was snowing/raining. so i wandered around more shops, drank tea and read a book, and then made it out to the edge of london to this new hostel. its cheaper/older than the other one we stayed in. this one reminds me of the old wing of tams dorms. funny.

i was going to try and upload pictures now but my camera wont connect so instead i've done this long long post. i'm pooped and probably heading to bed soon. flight is tomorrow at 3p but i'll definitely leave SUPER early this time. no more close calls, unfortunate events, etc. i AM flying back to boston tomorrow. cos london's been great, up until today, but now it's just really really gross and cold and i want to sleep in my own bed. yes.

13 March 2007

from the 'burgh

... edinburgh.

got in yesterday. after a overnight flight from boston to heathrow. then customs and a treck through heathrow. then a flight to edinburgh's airport. then a busride to at's place. a very long trip, but not the worst.

now i'm here. safely w/ all my baggage. good.

anna picked me up and we rode a double decker bus w/ plaid seats to her place in the city. after lunch at a little coffeeshop nearby we went up a little bluff to see some landmarks, climb walls, and almost get blown off the hill by the wind. scotland sure is windy! then we came to her place and i passed out to nap while she did a little school work.

last night we met anna's boy for dinner. then some of her friends for coffee a little later. one of her friends is from the same town as a one of my friends from tams. funny. everyone's been nice. :) anna knows cool kids. (obvs, she does like me, right.) walking around edinburgh is totally useful. the stuff is all pretty near and though street names change frequently its easy to tell direction by landmarks and such.

last night i passed out dead asleep (i was pooped) but this morning i was able to wander along the royal mile w/o getting lost or mugged and saw lots of cool/old/new things. and took pictures. anna worked on her paper. grad school, pshh. having to write papers again might be a bit annoying...

now anna's in class and i'm going to take another nap. just a short one! maybe wander around a bit... we'll see.