London Tower, Tower Bridge, Wembley

This week was loads of fun.
On Wednesday, we all went to the Tower of London. The Tower of London is basically a fortress that protected London when it was still functioning - today, it's a tourist attraction and it also contains the royal crown jewels. The crown jewels were absolutely breathtaking and I couldn't believe the huge stones that I was looking at. They were incredibly huge, and the amount of history that the Tower contains is insane. Everything from William and Mary's crowns to goblets from the 1800s and earlier on. There is so much history in that one place. The one thing that I loved about the area the most, was Tower Bridge. I hadn't seen Tower Bridge yet and it's absolutely beautiful! I'm slightly obsessed with it. The blue accents and the detail in the carving on the bridge... ugh. It's perfect. I love it.
Chloe and I were walking back to the tube station when we found a Cafe Nero... We sat and enjoyed our coffees and talked for hours. We eventually looked at the time to see that we'd been sitting in the middle of central London, all the business people bustling around us while we were chatting away for over 2 hours. We had such a wonderful time and it was so nice to be in the middle of the hustle but tucked away in a little coffee shop.
Today, we went to Wembley Stadium for a pre-world cup game between England and Peru. It was so exhilarating and so much fun. First of all, Wembley is huge! At this specific game, there were 83,578 people. We walked in and were all so excited. I bought an England soccer team hat and thought I'd be spirited for the day. Our seats were absolutely amazing - 15 rows back from the center of the field. We all had so much fun cheering during the game and England won 3-0. It was such a wonderful time, one of the best nights I've had so far.

I'm beginning to realize that my posts are becoming shorter and shorter and I'm becoming more tired by the day. There's a lot to do here and our classes are moving fast. 100 pages of reading a night and an exam every week is catching up to me. But this is an adventure that is absolutely incredible and I'm having the greatest time. It's incredibly strange to me to think that we're half way done and we'll be leaving in just a month. I think I'll stay here... I quite fancy London.

A wonderful weekend

This weekend was definitely a memorable one. An extremely busy, fun weekend that has left me beyond exhausted.
On Saturday, I went to Cambridge and it was so beautiful. The town itself was extremely small and quaint and the weather was actually terrible and pretty all at once. It was raining, at times just drizzles, and at others complete downpours. We walked around the town, stopped into a museum that contained a vast amount of collectibles and artworks by Renoir, Degas, and Picasso. It was slightly boring because I'm not extremely interested in collectibles as much as I am in animal exhibits or science museums- but the prestigious artist part was wonderful. After the museum, we found this farmer's market that I literally speed walked to. I saw the white tents and all the vendors and I bolted for it. FARMER'S MARKETS ARE MY FAVORITE. Some people in our group wanted to have lunch and found a posh little tea cafe that was really cute. The rest of us thought we'd explore the farmer's market and I found this quaint little thai tent run by a little old lady. I paid 3 pounds for a heaping plate of noodles with chicken and it was delicious! We continued to walk around the town after lunch and found the river that runs right through Cambridge. We saw these boats going up and down the river that looked very similar to the canal boats in Venice- except, the huge wooden stick is really just a stick that you use to push off the river floor, not an oar. This is called punting. We started talking to one of the guys who worked at the punting business at the riverside and he told us that we could rent a boat for 18 pounds for an hour and take it out ourselves. He warned us that it was really difficult, but we're crazy college students and so we, a) always go the cheaper route and b) aren't afraid of adventure. We got on the boat and I can genuinely say that it's been a long time since I have laughed so hard. Everything from Matt accidentally letting go of the wooden stick and it standing up straight in the water, stuck at the bottom of the river and us trying to get it back but accidentally riding directly over it to Gao yelling about his difficulty with paddling at the front made the experience such a fun one. We raced with some drunk British men and laughed the entire way. Not only was the experience so much fun - it was so beautiful. I can honestly say that after walking the town of Cambridge, there's no better way to see the city than to take out one of these boats. We were able to see all the main landmarks and the colors of the green grass, blue water, and historic building were so beautiful all together. I said previously that it was raining all day but miraculously, it was extremely sunny and bright when we took the boat out. It was almost as if the skies cleared just for us and our trip on the river. After our punting experience we headed back to the train station to catch the next train. It was 4:20 and the train left at 4:30. Ryan and I were determined to catch the train and so we speed walked the entire way to the station, making it onto the train and in our seats with about 5 minutes to spare but without any of our friends. We watched Matt and Katie run across the platform from the train window. A few minutes later... now 4:29, we saw Gao. Gao looked confused. He didn't exactly know what platform the train was on but he quickly figured it out and he started bolting for the train. We were all watching in suspense/hysteria from laughing so hard and thank goodness Gao barely made it on the train - completely winded and sweaty from running the whole way. We got back to London after a wonderful day and I actually would put it down as one of the best trips I've had so far :)
That night, we went to this incredibly posh night club complete with a red carpet, bouncers, white leather couches and beautiful people of London. It was so much fun to dance the entire night but unfortunately, by the end of it all - all the girls were completely crippled and our feet were killing us from spending over 8 hours in heels. We stumbled back to South Kensington on the bus, all laughing at the wonderful moments of the night but Chloe and I were really concerned with the fact that we had to be up in 3 hours to go to Oxford the next morning. Oh boy.
So needless to say, Chloe and I knocked out at a whopping 4 am and woke up at 7 to catch our train to Oxford. We spent the entire day in Oxford and it also, was extremely beautiful. Oxford geographically, is smaller than Cambridge but it seemed slighter bigger. The streets weren't as narrow and cute but they were old and had beautiful stoned paths. The churches and buildings were gorgeous and I couldn't take enough pictures. One of the churches actually let you climb to the top of the tower to see a 360 view of the city. Panoramic pictures for days. It was so beautiful. I was a little worried about the stairwell being cramped and long because I very easily get panic attacks from claustrophobia and fears. We started walking and it wasn't bad but we did get to a part where my mind started to shake and my heart pace quickened. I could feel it coming on but tried really hard to fight it and was successful! I was really happy that the beautiful experience wasn't ruined by my panic. We had lunch at a very authentic Thai restaurant afterwards and it was quite delicious! After lunch we headed back to the train station and departed for South Ken. It was a really nice day... calm and quiet but we were able to see all the wonderful places of Oxford. The minute we got back to the house, Chloe and I literally collapsed in our beds and I didn't wake up until 8 am today. A whopping 15 hours of sleep. So beautiful. And on that note, I've just finished reading for class tomorrow and I'm going to retire for another wonderful 8 hours of sleep :)

Here's to a great weekend and many more to come with wonderful people in a wonderful city!

Museums, Masalas, and Movies

Oops... here I am again. Haven't written in days. It's always go, go, go here! Summer classes are easy, but it's a lot to do all in one month. These classes are usually 4 months long! Reading 100 pages for class every night is getting tiring, and blogging has taken the back burner. But no fret, because I'm still writing and haven't given up!
So Monday... after class, Allen and I went to Thai Square down the street for lunch. It was wonderful! Their lunch special comes in a bento box with little portions of soup, vegetables, curry, rice, a little egg roll and a corn cake. It was super cute and delicious as well! Chelsea met us half way and the three of us went to the National History Museum. It was actually really cool. They had loads of information about the earth, planets, solar systems, stones, fossils, animals, and human biology. It was really interesting and the facilities are beautiful. After the museum we were off to mystery dinner. Mystery dinner is something that Pepperdine does every now and then where there's a list of 6 different cuisines on the board in the lobby and you get to chose which one you'd like to go to. You aren't told where you're going, but just what kind of food. I signed up for Indian... wooo! Big surprise there. So Chelsea, Allen and I all went to an Indian restaurant with about 7 other of our classmates. Jenny, the program's assistant director was taking us all. When we got to the restaurant, my first reaction was, "okay... not a real Indian restaurant. This is definitely modern-posh-Indian." We sat down and I took a look at the menu. First of all, this place only had 3 curries! What?! What Indian restaurant only has three curries? Okay so we're all staring at this menu and then our waiter recommends the calamari. What... calamari? At an Indian restaurant? No. Everyone's looking as if they're trying to read a foreign language, which kind of, they are. All of a sudden, Jenny looks at me and says, "Nina, why don't you just order for the whole table." What... Me!? I'm the whitest, Indian person I know! I'm like an Indian impostor! I'm not a real Indian! Okay. Well. I ended up ordering for the whole table - 3 chicken tikka masalas, 2 daals, 3 chicken tikka kebabs, 2 seekh kebabs, 5 garlic naans, 5 plain naans, 2 rumali rotis, etc. etc. etc. The food came and my immediate reaction was, "What the heck are these portions right now?!" The naans we're square, not even round and puffy and buttery. They were delicious, but not your typical naan experience. The food ended up being delicious, although I was worried at first. It was a fun time and everyone thanked me for ordering afterwards. Phew. Crisis averted. Thank goodness everyone liked everything.

On Wednesday, we went to The Making of Harry Potter. This place was pretty awesome. Every set, costume, prop, and creature from the movies are all in one place in this wonderful Warner Brother's Studio. We got to walk through everything, seeing the great hall where the Hogwarts students sat and ate and were put into houses by the sorting hat, Snape's potion room and Dumbledore's wig and costume was super cool. I almost wish I was more of a fan because I felt that I would have appreciate it more - however, as a non-Harry Potter fan, I was really impressed by how captivating it truly was. I didn't expect it to be that great or fascinating but it really was! I don't have much to say about it other than that I really appreciate film work much more now. The sets, the props, and the amount of detail that goes into each and every piece of the film is so incredible. There was a room of the sketches of the set of Harry Potter and what it was envisioned as by the book. These sketches were so detailed and so beautiful that in themselves, they were pieces of art. And to see them be recreated on such huge scales and to be used for actual filming in this studio was incredible. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I'm really glad I went.

We don't have class tomorrow, Friday, or Monday - so this is a 4 day weekend! Woo! I'm really excited to truly experience London night life and visit both Oxford and Cambridge on Saturday and Sunday.

The weeks are flying... it's pretty insane that I just took my second midterm today. I never want to leave this place!

Edinburgh - The Adventure

So after we arrived in Edinburgh, we walked to lunch and had a meal together. Tensions rose a little bit when we realized that we all had different plans and some of us had suitcases, other backpacks, meaning some of us needed to go to the hostel before seeing the city to drop off our bags. We parted our own ways, half of us going to the hostel, half venturing straight into sight seeing. I unfortunately, did not think to bring a backpack to Europe with me. Let's be real... I'm a Palm Springs girl, I go to college in Malibu... I don't think to bring a backpack with me anywhere. I'm not the best at roughing it. And that's quite the understatement. So my lovely suitcase decided it wanted to stop rolling smoothly and what was once my favorite suitcase became an annoying little red caboose that I dragged along the streets of Scotland. The walk to the hostel was much farther than expected. Only a mile... but a mile with tourists flooded in the streets and dragging a defective suitcase after a 5 hour train ride and in the cold was not pleasant. Not in the slightest. And at this point this was the 2nd time during the day when I was missing my mom, and becoming extremely thankful for her planning our trips in such detail. When my family travels together, my mom arranges for every last detail. What time we're leaving for the airport, how we're getting there, what we're packing, what time we'll check in, what time we'll arrive, how we'll get to the hotel we're staying at (which will have been booked weeks in advance), where we'll be eating every meal, and what sights we're seeing and at what times. Thanks mom. Love you. So I drudged through the streets with this stupid suitcase thinking to myself how ridiculous this was and all I wanted was to be in our hostel and just to sit down in a bed with fluffy pillows and crisp white sheets. Thankful moment for mom number 3... This hostel was not a Four Seasons, not a DoubleTree, not a Marriott... more akin to a Motel 6? No fluffy pillows... no crisp sheets... no marbled bathroom floors. Well, thanks again mom. You rock. I obviously don't know how to plan trips like you yet and I'M THE WORST AT ROUGHING IT. I DON'T ROUGH IT. Alright, hostel sucks, bathrooms are gross, but you know what, whatever. I'm in Europe, this is awesome - I'll make the best of this. I have nothing to complain about. So we walked to the National Museum of Scotland after settling our bags in and choosing our beds in the 14 person room (ew.) The museum was absolutely incredible! My favorite part was the animal exhibit that held pretty much every animal you could ever think of, all stuffed and placed in lifelike poses that made it seem like you were in nature. Afterwards, we ventured to the 7th floor of the museum where there is a terrace where you can see a 360 degree view of Edinubrgh. It was absolutely gorgeous! We took our typical panorama pictures and tried climbing the rails until we were scolded not to (hey, you've got to try.) We walked around the town after leaving the museum, walking past the Edinburgh castle and down the famous road called The Royal Mile. Gao, Aston, and Chloe told us to meet them for dinner at Number One Restaurant. We obviously had no clue where this was so we asked around and were told it was in the Balmoral hotel, which my first reaction was, "Does that mean this restaurant is super expensive?" *deer in head lights look* the man I was talking to laughed at me and said yes, extremely expensive. I said okay... So we started walking towards this hotel and I obviously forget the name of the hotel because hello, the man had the thickest Scottish accent and I got nothing out of our conversation except that this place was super pricy. Okay. Walking to the hotel... which we don't know the name of. Perfect. 
We saw a huge building with fancy script and assumed it was that hotel. We walked in, asked, and they said no. Not this hotel, but the one across the street. PERFECT. Let's go. So we found the Balmoral and we found Number One restaurant... but this place was super fancy. White table clothes, wine glasses on the tables, about four different forks and spoons on each table setting and I had a slight feeling this was wrong.... We stuck out like sore thumbs, looking in with wide eyes and maps in hand. I texted Gao and he said we were at the wrong place. Thanks Gao, I figured that much. So he sent us the address of where they were and we mapped our way there... So this restaurant was ALSO called Number One restaurant... both within half a mile of each other. First of all, this should be completely not allowed because it's super confusing. And second of all, my feet at this point were so sore and tired I just wanted to sit. Thank goodness we found them. We had a delicious dinner and I had authentic fish and chips - DELICIOUS. These were the real fish and chips I've been looking for. Perfectly crispy, flaky and so so so yummy. 
After dinner, we were going to walk back to our hostel except my legs were really not having it. I can't even imagine how many miles we had already walked that day. I saw all these cabs whizzing by and I just flagged one down ASAP. Let me just add - that cab ride was the best 7 pounds and 10 pence I've ever spent. It usually took us about 30 minutes to walk to our hostel and we were there in I swear, what seemed less than 30 seconds. SO MUCH JOY. 
I practically collapsed on my terrible spring bed at the hostel. Goodnight world. Also, might I add that it was 9:30 at this time and still light outside? Europe rocks. 

Day 2: 
In the morning, we ventured to a little cafe for breakfast that was so cute and so yummy! After a little bit of lounging and planning the day, we walked to Arthur's Seat. I'd been waiting to go to Arthur's Seat all weekend - it was the one thing I was most excited to do in Edinburgh. When we first got there, I was completely blown away. In Edinburgh, all we had seen was the little streets, the beautiful gothic architecture, cobble stoned roads, and castles. The town was so beautiful in it's own unique way - it seemed older than London, much smaller, and much more quaint. On the train to Edinburgh we saw green fields, but once we got to the old town, all of that seemed to disappear and the architecture and history was at the forefront. But Arthur's Seat was like the pictures of the rolling hills and mountains of Scotland and Ireland you see in travel magazines. It was mind blowing, absolutely stunning and put me in a state of awe. Also, it was incredibly high and a super long hike. Okay, this is going to be awesome - let's go. We started hiking, all of us kind of splitting up, walking at our own paces. I really enjoyed being on my own. I really enjoyed walking in silence, taking in the beautiful surroundings and taking an hour or so just to reflect on this time. For those of you who know me... I'm a big thinker. I'm a big wonderer and I like people. I always love watching people and wondering what their stories are. I kept climbing this seemingly never-ending mountain, every couple minutes, turning around to see more and more of the city of Edinburgh. It was absolutely beautiful. Eventually I got to the top, it was incredibly windy- I've actually never experienced such cold wind before, and at such speed. Arthur's Seat is the highest point and Edinburgh and I was pretty proud that I made it to the top. I took my pictures and stared for a while. I looked down to this grassy area and saw that there was a flatter trail that led to the bottom. PERFECT. YES. I hate climbing down, it scares me and I'm no bighorn sheep with incredible traction and braveness. I started walking down and all around me I saw so many wonderful things that filled my heart. Initially, when I was walking on my own, I saw couples, families, friends - happy people who were enjoying each other's company. And I became sad. I really started to miss my parents, my brother, Gaby, and Vishnu. This trip has been such an incredible one and there are so many moments that I wish I had the people I'm closest to to share them with. But about half way down, I started to become really happy. I started to think about how wonderful it is that I have all these people to miss! What a blessing. Everything from the couple having a picnic together in the middle of this beautiful grassy hill, to the young boy licking an ice cream cone with a half-toothed, huge smile and the baby girl riding her bike faster than her mom could keep up, mom screaming "Wait!" and the beautiful black labrador running through the hills, tail wagging faster than ever. Everything was so happy. Everything all at once just seemed so light-filled to me and I was able to be on my own and take in everything around me and realize what an incredible adventure this is. 
Edinburgh, you were wonderful to me - thank you so very much. 
In about 20 minutes, I'll be back on London and this 5 hour train ride will finally come to end. Phew. 

Life is good. 

EDINBURGH DAY 1

Our train was scheduled to depart at 7:30, but we had to take the tube to that station where our train to Edinburgh would leave. We were scheduled to leave the house in South Ken at 6:30. So I woke up at 5 to FaceTime my parents, shower, etc. Chelsea woke up a little bit later, around 5:30. But when I was blow drying my hair in the bathroom at around 5:45, I didn’t hear any commotion from the room next door, and 4 of them in that room were in our group for Edinburgh. So I thought they’d maybe wake up at 6. I was still in the bathroom at 6, trying to tame the mane on my head when I realized that they were not up. I opened their door with Chelsea and sure enough, the lights were off, and every single one of them was sleeping. So we woke them up and they scurried around trying to be ready in time to leave. The clock was approaching 6:45 and the timely girl in me started to freak out a little. I told everyone that we were going to be late, potentially missing our train and that I was going to start walking to the tube station. They said to go ahead and so Chelsea and I did. We had suitcases, and most everyone else had backpacks. So we started walking and I think everyone realized how late we actually were, so they ran out of the house and caught up to us. We got on the tube and then realized that it was going to be a close call. We may not make it. So when the tube finally got to the station, we grabbed our bags and we ran. And I mean RAN. Amazing-race running. Going-to-miss-your-plane-movie running. There’s-a-huge-monster-in-a-movie-chasing-you running. I grabbed my suitcase and bolted along with everyone else. We made it to the train on time. Thank goodness. But I’m sorry, I like to be timely and it was way too much of an adrenaline rush that early in the morning. 

But, I’m currently writing from the train in the middle of the Scottish countryside, surrounded by sheep and huge fields of green and trees. What is my life. It is so beautiful here. Absolutely breathtaking. I’m constantly taken aback and realize what an amazing opportunity this is. I’m an 18 year old traveling Europe with a huge group of friends. This is so wonderful on so many levels. 

On the train, we’ve met some interesting people. Currently, I’m sitting in between a family on my left and two chatty English/Scottish women on my right. The family on my left is actually from Texas. I immediately noticed the American English accent and asked where they were from. They’re both professors and anthropologists who are teaching at Durham University and are visiting from Rice University in Texas. They’ve asked me what I’m studying and I told them I’m pre-dental. Immediately, the mom of the family starts talking to me about her daughter’s teeth. Okay… I’m actually only 18 years old, not a dentist by any means, and have a very long way to go. I do not know the ramifications or what treatment your daughter needs. (Although she is missing both her laterals which is really interesting because I’ve only ever seen cases where a patient is missing one specific tooth and the laterals are extremely important teeth… moving on- sorry. Nerd moment.) 

Anyways! Very nice people, very smart people and it’s nice to talk to some Americans again. And so on my right, the two chatty women have been going at it for over 3 hours now. Wow my ears hurt. They’ve been sharing a bottle of wine for the ride but it’s only 11 in the morning so I’m extremely confused. Also, the woman next to me is putting on her makeup now. It’s a glitter fest over here! It’s interesting to listen to their accents and they’ve told me they’re from Newcastle. There are so many parts of the UK that are incredibly beautiful and I know there’s no way I’ll be able to see them all. 

The mustard fields are so so so yellow and so beautiful. The green fields and trees are absolutely breathtaking and the clouds are big and puffy against the blue sky. It truly reminds me of the windows xp set background from literally 10 years ago. It’s so beautiful it doesn’t even look real. Looking forward to this weekend and hopefully doing a better job keeping up with blogging. 

Well this is delayed...

This week was incredibly busy and I didn't write at all! I told myself I was going to blog every day and stick to it. In this beginning, I was loving writing about my days. I still do... but it's hard to when I get home late and finish reading for class around 2 am. I can’t even remember where I stopped blogging and what exactly was next… Oops. 

I know that at the beginning of this week, many of us were hungry at around 10:30 and decided we wanted the one and only, Wafflemeister. Okay… Wafflemeister has become my life. (Not really, that’s quite an exaggeration, I’ve only been about 3 times now. Wait, that’s still too many times.) So we all walked down the street to get some delicious waffles and after we all ordered and were about to dig in at our table outside, there was a woman who walked past and was looking into the shop trying to decide if she wanted to get a waffle. Me, being the loud, outspoken, and probably obnoxious American that I am, I blurted out to her, “Do it. I promise you it will be the best decision of your entire life.” She looked at me and smiled and said really?! And I nodded my head vigorously while devouring my waffle. She said that she would get the waffle under one condition. I asked her what that was and she said only if I can eat it with all of you! We were delighted to have her and she ordered and joined us outside. She began talking to us about how her phone was stolen and she was really upset about it. We made small talk and then eventually I asked her how long she’d been in London, because she did not have a British accent. She told us that she was from Greece but had been working in London for years and that her company was just taking off and doing really well. She told us that she was a lawyer, but after getting multiple offers from firms, she felt that she could do better. She said that she thought her job offers from men were not given for her career potential, but because they wanted to take advantage of her. (She expressed this in a much more vulgar way but that’s the gist of what she said…) This lady’s name was Theo and she was so wonderful. She told us that you have to work hard to succeed, and you have to have connections in this world. Theo said that more than anything, connections matter most. She said that she had the best grades possible all throughout college and law school but without connections, you are nothing. Theo asked us why we were in London and for how long after she realized that we weren’t locals. I asked her how old she thought I was… her first guess was 25. Okay… 25!? What?! No… noooo. I look nothing even close to 25. My mother was 25 when she got married. I am NOT anywhere near old enough looking for anyone to think I could be married. So she continued to lower her guess, and when she got to 20 she thought I was lying. I told her 18 and she looked like she’d just been told the world was flat. I laughed and she said that being in London at 18 is an incredible experience to have. Theo said that when she was 18, her father gave her 15 euro a week and that she could barely afford the waffle she was eating. She said that now, after years of hard work, she could buy us all waffles and go buy a Valentino bag if she cared to. She said that none of the material things matter, success is for yourself and no one else will give you chances and opportunities. She said that you have to seek opportunities and create chances for yourself and that if you don’t try to reach your dreams, someone else will hire you to help them reach theirs. I loved talking to her. I think everyone else at the table was sketched out by her, wondering why this random Londoner was talking to us and giving us her life story. But I loved it. I loved every second of it and I really didn’t want to leave - I could tell Theo was a lonely woman. 30, single, no children, no family in London, she’s alone, and she just wanted to enjoy some company for a little while. I thought she was very inspiring, incredibly kind, and just a good person. We said bye to Theo and walked back to the house. I was so inspired and wanted to blog about our conversation so badly but at that time it was so late and I was way too exhausted to even try. And so here I am, a week later, writing about our time together. 

On Saturday, 5/10/14, we went to Windsor Castle. Wow. Windsor Castle is gigantic. I don’t have much to say about it because it was absolutely breathtaking. It was the typical castle with ornate bedrooms, dining rooms, and every last detail was carved in some intricate pattern or covered in gold. 

On Tuesday, my literature class went to see a play at the National Theater. The play was called A Small Family Business. It portrayed exactly that… a small family business that goes far south, very quickly. Certain members of the family are corrupt; they sell the company’s products to other foreign companies who then place their own logos on it and sell the goods under their name. At the end of the play, the father of the family is being blackmailed by a man and the daughter in the play accidentally kills him when fighting him. The play ends with the daughter in the bathroom, crying. Okay. What. What kind of ending is that… It was so terrible! We’re seeing another one on Tuesday and hopefully that one’s better… The best part of my Tuesday was seeing Big Ben and the London Eye for the first time near the theater. I never realized how big London was until I got here. It’s huge! It occurred to me on Tuesday that I really need to get out of South Kensington and see more of the other parts of London. So… 

On Wednesday, I did exactly just that an explored London on my own. I really wanted to go to Oxford Street to go shopping and wanted to go to this specific store called Primark. Primark is supposed to be incredibly cheap but have incredibly cute things. With everything in London being so expensive, my initial reaction to hearing about it was yeah… Count me in. I’m all about bargains. So I set off for Oxford Street on my  own and ventured onto the tube. The London tube is incredibly easy to navigate. But, I didn’t want to switch lines on the tube because I didn’t have enough faith in myself to not get lost. So I decided it would be smart to get off the tube at a stop that was a about four stops away from Oxford Circus. So I got off the tube at Covent Garden and I just started walking. I saw the markets in Covent Garden and walked… and walked… and walked… All of a sudden I found signs that directed me towards Trafalgar Square. I thought OH! I haven’t seen the square yet, I should go. So I walked to Trafalgar Square (approx. 1.5 miles) THEN I saw Big Ben. I ADORE BIG BEN. Big Ben is by far my favorite building in all of London. But maybe that’s not really fair to say considering that I haven’t seen a lot of London yet- but, regardless, I love Big Ben. So I started walking. I got closer and closer, kind of just following the big clock tower in the sky. I turned a corner and then all of a sudden Big Ben was gone. I was really confused. BUT, then I looked straight up, and there he was! Right above me! I stared for a little bit and then decided I’d go to Oxford Street… the real destination. So I popped my head into a little cafe and asked the lady behind the counter how to get there. She said that I was really far, and that I’d have to take a bus. I was confused as to how I was really far from Oxford Street, after all, I’d only been walking towards it since I got off the tube at Covent Garden. No. Wrong. I had actually only been walking away from it since I got off the tube at Covent Garden. Oops. 

Alright, no biggie. I’ll take the bus. So I took the bus to Oxford Circus that dropped me off right onto Oxford Street. Perfect! Yay I’m there! But I expected Oxford Street to be this quaint little shopping street. No… Wrong again Nina. It was quite large.. so many stores and I was a bit lost… again. So I popped my head into a little cafe and asked where Primark was. (You know, I’ve gotten really good at doing this.) I was told to walk down the street and it would be on the left. So I walked down the street, and I kept walking, and walking and walking. But it was not on the left. So I did the same thing again and popped my head into a cafe, and asked. I was told to walk down the street, about 10-15 minutes and it’d be on the right across from the tube station. So I walked, again. But it was not there, again. After about an hour, and a mile later, I found it. I walked in, but at this point I was exhausted. I had walked a lot and I walked into this store and it was like a whole other world. The store was 4 stories, each story containing massive amounts of clothing. I started off on the ground floor and over a couple hours, made my way to the top. I bought a couple things, a dress, a top, a skirt, and a wallet all for 34 pounds. For how expensive everything is in London - this was cheap. Like dirt cheap. I happily handed over my credit card, when most of the time I cringe before swiping. After I was done shopping, I hoped back onto the tube, and rode it all the way home, literally collapsing on my bed when I walked into my room. 

On Friday, we went to the London Eye. Okay. The London Eye is huge. I have a huge fear of heights. I was not looking forward to this trip and I was really scared. So we all went, and were standing in line to get on the Eye. I was starting to calm down, I kept telling myself it’d be fine, it’d be fun. So it was our turn to get in the wheel and I was doing just aright. But, when we stepped in, my stomach totally took a turn. I freaked out the minute we walked in and I started saying that I didn’t like it, I didn’t want to do it, and I was going to get off. So I start backing up and I turn around towards the doors… as they are closing. Cue panic attack. I completely lost it, my mind started moving a thousand miles a minute and I felt completely out of control. Allen, wow Allen is the best. So Allen sat down with my on the bench in the capsule and he calmed me down, telling me I’d be just fine and that we’d talk about something to get my mind off of it. I was on the verge of tears and still panicking but as it started moving, I began to calm down a little bit. Eventually, after a couple minutes, I was alright. Don’t know what I would have done without Allen but it was an experience that I’m glad I had. I didn’t come to London to not go on the Eye. 

Anyways, that’s an extremely long post describing my week and now I’m off to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend. This adventure is way too cool and I’m way too blessed. 

I haven't written in so long! More posts coming soon :) 

Windsor

Yesterday night I was far too tired to write about the day and immediately fell into my bed into a deep sleep when I got back to the room.
We went to Windsor Castle in the morning. It was incredible! The castle is huge, I don't even know how to explain the gigantism of the place. St. George's chapel was so beautiful, it sits on the property right next to the castle itself. We weren't permitted to photograph in the chapel but the ornate stone work and stained glass windows were amazing. I am always incredibly perplexed as to how people from hundreds of years ago achieved such detail and intricacy in their work. Huge buildings that have incredibly ornate patterns in them seem so hard to accomplish with even machines, that it only seems impossible to accomplish by hand! Not only is each pattern extremely detailed- they're all exactly the same and all symmetrical. Not one piece in the whole picture stands out as off or not the same as the others. It puts me in a complete state of awe.
We toured Windsor Castle and afterwards went to lunch; we all had fish and chips! They were good... not superb and not what I expected but they were yummy. I thought they were similar and comparable to American fish and chips and I really was expecting some incredible London fish (we're still searching for an amazing place to have them.) We walked around the town of Windsor and it really is so cute. There are shops and restaurants everywhere but I really don't like how the Castle has become such a tourist attraction and such an area of commercialization instead of the estate itself. There are stores like Zara and SuperDry that are huge chain stores, not small Windsor boutiques. I believe these large stores don't belong. After finishing touring Windsor, we walked over to Eton College - the college that 18 prime ministers have attended and the royal family boys attend. It's known as the 'famous family' college. On the tour it was interesting to hear how much Eton College costs to attend and the reactions of all the non-Pepperdine tourists... Everyone was shocked at how expensive it was whereas we Pepp students shrugged our shoulders and said, hmm.. pretty cheap actually! It's interesting to see that education is not expensive here, but other things are and in the U.S. it's the opposite. Maybe it shows what we place highest on our lists and what we value.
We all fell asleep on the bus ride back to South Ken and stumbled from the bus into our beds the minute we got back home. We napped for a few hours and then had a night out on the town in Leicester Square. The pub we went to was a lot of fun and what was most fun for me was to see the difference in the alcohol culture here versus the alcohol culture in the U.S. Here, drinking is a social thing where you enjoy one or two drinks and sip them slowly while dancing, talking to people, and having a good time responsibly. In America, the drinking scene is quite the opposite. Many drink for the only purpose of getting drunk to escape reality for a night. Parties consist of taking shot after shot or taking swigs from random bottles of alcohol passed around. And people drink fast - really fast with the intent of getting extremely drunk, extremely quickly. It's quite disgusting if you ask me and makes me incredibly uncomfortable to be in that environment. It's why I try to completely avoid going to parties in the states but why I love the party scene here in Europe. It's healthy, it's happy, it's fun, and it's just a plain old good time.

I'm looking forward to dancing with my friends every weekend in the coolest places in London :) 

Wander

Today, after class. Chloe and I ventured to the post office to send our moms Mother's Day cards... (shh, we're cutting it a little close but we hope they'll forgive us for being late.) I was informed that the closest post office is just down Exhibition Road next to South Kensington tube station. So, Chloe and I grabbed our coats and we were on our way. We walked over to what I thought was the post office... and on the door there was a sign that read, "We have relocated to Fulham Road." Okay... Fulham Road. Seems easy enough... for Londoners- not for two California girls who just arrived in England 4 days ago and have no idea where they are. So we asked a local and she directed us towards Fulham Road. Okay, cool. Except Fulham Road was a wee bit of a walk... a couple miles. We thought there's no such thing as a bad trip in London so why not try. We walked and walked and walked until we found this quaint little book store that sold unique greeting cards. The cards I bought were watercolor paintings of actual places in London- they were really neat! Chloe and I took our cards, ventured into a coffee shop and wrote our mothers some words of gratitude and affirmation. :) 

We hoped on over to the post office and sent them off over to the states! 

After wandering out of Chelsea, we worked our way back into South Ken and stopped for dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant called Bella Italia. After dinner we got the famous Ben's Cookies and fell for their ever-so-smart marketing trick of buy 3 get 1 free. We only planned to buy 2 cookies and walked out with 4... Oops. (I may or may not be eating my second cookie while typing this... just maybe.) My goodness they're so delicious. I've noticed on multiple occasions now, that the chocolate in London is far less sweet than the chocolate in America. It's still sweet of course, because it's chocolate... duh. But! The sugar is much less overpowering here. The same goes for the sweetened specialty coffee drinks like white chocolate mochas and vanilla lattés. The American palette is so used to such processed, unhealthy foods that in order for there to be a large consumer base, things have got to be packed with sugar, salt, and preservatives. *Shaking my head now* Ahh things are just so much better in Europe - except prices and the value of the dollar. Everything else is just delightful! I am growing quite fond of this place... Another superb day in London down. 

London- I love you, I love you and all of your pieces

TODAY WAS ONE OF THE BEST DAYS EVERRR. (Okay I know I will probably say that every day but really- today was incredible.) Also, the title of this post is an allusion to an Andrew Belle song, my favorite one in fact, which is fitting for today's happenings! Another side note, these posts get longer and longer with every day and I suggest you stop reading now unless you want to hear me rant about what most would find to be unnecessary details and descriptions of my day.
Moving on -
We started with class, the first day! 5 hours of modern drama lecture was dry, no doubt. But- our professor has a British accent, so listening wasn't a problem... until the jet lag hit. All of us were slowly dozing off and struggling to keep our eyelids open and minds alert. For lunch, we walked to Pret a Manger, a take-out place featuring flavorful coffees, and completely hand-made and natural foods. Also, I can't forget to add that when we walked to Pret, it was pouring rain... also, I can't forget to add that this curly haired girl spent 30 minutes straightening her mane that same morning. Needless to say, I returned to class with a slight wave in my previously perfectly straight hair. (Don't be fooled by the euphemistic language of 'slight wave' - it wasn't pretty.) After class, I booked by ticket to visit Edinburgh, Scotland next weekend! That should be exciting, as well as my ticket for Dublin, Ireland in June.
So Andrew Belle happens to be one of the most underrated musicians of all time, in my opinion. I have to give the credit to Erin Ting - she did expose me to his work just this past year and needless to say, I became obsessed. His mixture of unique vocals and pitches with the keyboard and other wonderful sounds that I am far too ignorant to even begin to describe is just magnificent. His work brings happiness, calmness, brightness and simultaneously soothes. AH I'm a big fan- I'll leave it at that and stop rambling. Anywho! Chloe and I found out a couple weeks ago that he was playing at a pub tonight in Notting Hill (yes, just like the movie) and it was free! Yes! Completely free! College students have a close connection and ardor for free things. Count us in.
So, we ventured to Notting Hill via the tube. This was my first time riding the tube! It's incredibly complicated and if anyone ever wants to see how big London truly is, looking at a tube map is all you need. There's a total of 15 different lines, all of which have various stops. One would think that such an intricate system would be hard to navigate... however, props to the designers and engineers that worked on London's public transportation system. It is incredibly simple and easy to get around. Signs are placed in the most logical places, and it is simplified by the ubiquitous maps and vocal readings that inform you of what line you're on and what direction you're going in. So after exiting the tube at the Notting Hill station, we settled for dinner at a place called Eat. I'm so impressed with the 'fast-food' options in London. Tangent- for people who really know me... you know that I am in love with real food. Real vegetables, real fruits, real wholesome foods that have fresh flavors and burst with color. At Eat, all the options were healthy, wholesome, colorful, true foods. I chose a glass noodle salad with thinly shredded carrots, red bell peppers, edamame, cabbage, seared beef, with a soy-chile dressing. DELICIOUS. OH MY GOODNESS SO DELICIOUS. Even more delicious... for those of you who know me even more, you know that I love citrus and I love cheesecake. What did Eat offer as a dessert option?! - Little cups of lemon cheesecake. Sorry I need to take a break from writing to wipe up the drool that's running down my face from remembering how out-of-this-world tasty this meal was. The lemon cheesecake was beyond perfection- the soft part of the cheesecake was not an overpowering lemon flavor, not artificial lemon at all, but just had a perfect freshness and light creaminess. The graham cracker crust at the bottom of the cup was light, not overly sweet, and perfectly crumbly.
After this life-altering meal, we walked to The Elgin, the pub where Andrew Belle was playing. First of all, the neighborhood of Notting Hill is absolutely beautiful. It's quaint, cute, and still holds elegant and tall buildings with my favorite iron railings and pillars. We walked into the pub and found out that Andrew wasn't playing until 10 pm... It was around 7:15. At first, we were discouraged and disappointed but we soon realized that there's no such thing as a waste of time or bad time in London. We settled into Caffé Nero which has now become by far my favorite coffee shop in London. I have always really loved hot drinks but I find straight coffee to be too strong and the sugar-filled coffee specialty drinks too sugary... Caffé Nero's menu stated at the bottom, "If you like a milder cup of coffee, ask for 1 espresso shot instead of our standard, 2." AH MEANT FOR ME. I ordered a vanilla latté with 1 shot of espresso and it was the best cup of coffee I've ever had. Perfectly sweet from the vanilla accents, slightly bitter from the espresso, and creamy from the foamed milk at the surface. We sat in this cute little coffee shop for a while and then ventured back to the pub to watch the opening act for Andrew Belle.
Chloe and I were standing at the bar when I said to her after looking at a man, "I keep seeing this guy and thinking he looks exactly like Andrew Belle!" Sure enough... it was Andrew Belle. Andrew freaking Belle! Just casually standing at the bar talking to people and making friends. We asked him for a picture and he was so kind and asked us where we were from and made small talk. My heart was so filled! A delicious dinner and wonderful cup of coffee, and Andrew Belle agreed to take a picture with us!? Could this day get any better?! Andrew played after the opening act and while we were mingling in the pub, we met a Londoner named Claire. Claire was the cutest thing ever! She's an apprentince and works in a specialty chocolate shop in SoHo. SoHo is the young, eclectic part of town that is filled with exciting happenings and great night life. She talked to us about the U.S., music, things to do in London, and even helped us navigate the tube afterwards!
It was such a wonderful day. Also, I am realizing more and more every day that my posts are becoming more like journal entries and less like brief-travel blog posts. So, on that note, my most sincere apologies to anyone who even reads these anymore. I sure wouldn't! 

The first REAL day

Wow. Today was such a whirlwind of excitement! We started the day off with orientation and all of us got dressed in our London apparel - sporting sweaters, blazers, statement necklaces and boots. Strange for me being used to slipping into running shoes and leggings everyday but simultaneously exciting. The culture is so very different here from everything to the way people walk in the streets to what they wear. Boy oh boy do British men know how to dress. Wow. And I've yet to see a pair of basketball shorts on a guy here (all us California girls are weak in the knees seeing men with style who aren't sporting t-shirts and shorts.) First of all, the classrooms in the Pepperdine house are a dream. Floor to ceiling, 12 foot curtains with balconies extending from the french doors complete with crown molding. Expansive white boards and deep-buttoned leather chairs fill the room and give a since of traditional, English education. We walked around the South Kensington area, familiarizing ourselves with our new neighborhood and strolled into quaint little shops and bakeries. We settled for lunch at a delicious cafe and oh how my body has missed fresh vegetables for the last 24 hours that we've been stuck in planes and airports! An interesting difference between the U.S. and the U.K. - instead of asking to see your ID when you swipe a credit card, they compare your signature on the receipt to the signature on the back of your card. We continued walking, and I couldn't help myself but to peep my head into one of the grocery stores to check out the produce and fresh foods! Everything here is far more expensive than in the U.S... Chelsea and I stumbled our way into Harrod's - oh what a mistake that was. The price tags read numbers bigger than my SAT score. Harrod's truly is a wonderland though... a money devouring wonderland but a wonderland nonetheless! As we got back to our lovely abode we bought our books for the next month... that ate up 50 pounds from our wallets. Also they're going to eat up hours of my time tonight considering we need to read 200 pages by tomorrow (I should probably finish that up soon. Oops.) BUT, I started reading the plays and they're just so interesting - my appreciation for the arts is definitely being brought out again after not dancing for a couple years now. I'm certain 200 pages will fly pretty quickly considering they're enjoyable - more enjoyable than the chemistry textbooks I'm used to at least. We ventured to dinner and passed the home of Prince William and the ever so perfect Duchess of Cambridge. Dinner was great and we strolled in the Kensington park afterwards. Chloe, Alenni and I wandered into a small bakery for lattés afterwards. We found ourselves walking in the streets of London with hot coffees in our hands, warming us from the brisk breeze - such a dream! Something out of a movie I SWEAR. Who are we?! 18 year olds walking the streets of London with lattés?! Oh these next 2 months are going to be blissful.
Also... I'm beginning to realize that my posts are becoming longer and longer. For those of you who read all of this- wow, props to you! Also, to those of you who read all of this- my most sincere apologies for rambling like the London-obsessed teenager I am. On that note, I'm going to sit in the confines of my warm bed and begin diving into the literature that I will be learning about for the next month! 

Just the beginning

Well! We're officially here! I'm writing from the comforts of my cozy bed in the most beautiful part of London - South Kensington. The airplane journey was much better than I expected. 10 hours 20 minutes flew faster than I could count. Granted, I was extremely worried about everyone sitting next to other Pepperdine students and I was placed next to a stranger. What I thought was an unfortunate event turned to be a very fortunate one. First of all, this woman was absolutely beautiful! Everything from her perfectly manicured fingernails to crisp British accent and high heels was perfect. She spoke to me about being from California, asking what it was like while to grow up in the golden state while explaining how much she loved L.A. She thought it was a clean city... wait.. what? Yeah you read that right - she thought LOS ANGELES was CLEAN. The desert rat in me cringed and I explained that I was from a smaller part of Southern California and a Palm Springs native and Pepperdine student most definitely does not find L.A. to be a clean and pristine city. She told me about all the wonderful things to do in London - everything from afternoon tea to visiting pubs and bars in Clapham.
The bus ride from Heathrow airport to South Kensington was beautiful - a verdant setting with lush trees and blue skies (supposedly something rare in London! Maybe us Californians brought the sunshine with us..) But more than anything, the Pepperdine house in London is beyond belief. Something akin to a Four Seasons in the most posh part of town. Spacious rooms that overlook magnificent parks and the Imperial College of London and grand staircases that remind one of Mary Poppins sliding down the railing. Tomorrow we start orientation and get to explore a little. I also heard there's a quaint little farmer's market... Fresh fruits and vegetables are what I'm all about - can't wait to start cooking the in beautiful Pepperdine kitchen!
I can already tell it's going to be a wonderful two months! Here we go! 

I made it under 50 pounds... I mean barely. But I made it!

The day before...

The big journey is almost here! As I try to cram my entire life into one suitcase that weighs under 50 pounds, I'm starting to realize that there may be a bigger problem at hand; shoe addiction. How is one supposed to fit an entire wardrobe for two months in ONE suitcase under 50 pounds?! Beyond me.

I'm extremely excited to start this new adventure and can't wait to see what the UK holds. Tomorrow, I'll board a flight at LAX late at night and after 12 hours, find myself in a place I've always wanted to visit. London, get ready.