Londontown Two

My flight into London was Wednesday night at 8:45. I ended class at 6, and had a bus to the airport at 6:45 (it takes an hour to the airport by bus). I was cutting it close, but it was doable, the airport's small and easy to get through. I got to the bus station no problem. 6:30, no bus, no worries. 6:40, no bus, some worries. 6:55 and the bus hasn't shown up and I'm starting to panic. 7:05 the bus finally leaves and I'm having a heart attack about making my flight. I arrive at the airport at 8:20, my ticket says the gate closes at 8:25. The bus driver saw that I was in a tizzy (oh and I was the only person on the bus) and pulls up right to the departures area, and I go flying through security (no line whatsoever) through boarder control (again no line) to find that the flight hadn't even started boarding, and I burst into tears. At least I got into London fine by 10:30 to find Sam waiting for me at the airport.

Thursday we began the day with an at-home brunch and then spent the better part of the day at the

Sam at the British Museum

British Museum looking at the ancient artifacts housed there. It was a change from the frescoes and paintings of Italy to explore the mummies and Greek and Roman marbles and bog men full preserved from the 17th century. It was very cool. Sam had to stop at Faraday House, the SU London campus to drop off some paperwork for Friday's events, and I ran into Jessica Kutcher, a fellow DG, and a friend of Courtney's! Sam said he wasn't surprised I'd find someone I knew. We then made our way to Covent Market to explore the rock n roll area of London where the Beatles used to play and Elton John used to work at a record shop. It was a completely different vibe! Sam took me to a mussels place for dinner where the time on the clock was the price of your meal--so we feasted on a giant bowl of mussels for 5 pounds, which was

A pretty red double decker bus with a Harry Potter ad

awesome. As we made our way back to his flat, we walked through Leichester Square, the "Broadway" district if you will, only to walk through a throng of people behind gates. Of course, me being the little weasel I am in crowds made my way to the front to see what was up with Sam right behind me. We were walking right through the Harry Potter 7 world premier!!!!!!!!!!!! We literally caught the last MINUTE of the red carpet for the premier when the main cast posed for a final group photo and then entered the theater. TOTALLY stumbled upon it, I thought the premiers were NEXT weekend (with the release date--yeah I'm still hip all the way here in Europe) and a bunch of Florence kids are going to London for the premier, but no no, I saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, and JK Rowling herself pose for their final group photo right before the entered the theater.

What a lovely city!

Friday Sam signed us up for an all-school field trip to Oxford and Belheim Palace in the English countryside. We made our way to the Faraday House for our departure at 9:15 (waaaay later a departure time than any SUF field trip I've ever been on!) only to run into the one and only Jed Greenwald! Though he didn't seem as surprised to see me as I was to see him--he was still reeling from his night at the HP7 premier (apparently he stood outside all day and then missed JK Rowling down the red carpet cuz he had to use the restroom. He vowed he's never going to the bathroom again because he misses cool stuff when he does...). Also on the field trip were Tara Fothergill and Molly Tarsel from freshman year, and we took a couple minutes to catch up and chat! But anyway, we headed off to the Palace first, where many films are apparently shot, including the new Gulliver's Travel coming out this Xmas, and the Harry Potter forest scenes. We were given a guided tour of the castle where the 11th duke lives with his second (or third...) wife (you never know with those Lords and Ladies) as it was being decorated for Christmas. It was gaudy and decorative and the perfect example

Blenheim Palace

of 18th century art and architecture (good thing I'm taking a class on that stuff next semester...) though after the tour we were quickly rounded up and sent off to Oxford about 15 minutes away, and Sam and I were equally bummed that we didn't have time on our own to explore the grounds (which included a rose garden, a haunted tower, a garden maze, an Italian garden, and an English garden). In Oxford, however, we were given the freedom to explore the college town and university on our own. Sam and I went to a pub off the beaten track for the BEST fish and chips I've ever eaten (he had a burger and onion rings which were just as good). We then found a way to sneak onto the Oxford campus (I mean we're technically students, right?) and had fun in the great Oxford dining hall (which was filmed as the Great Hall in Harry Potter...I know, it was a very Harry 24 hours) and the many many gardens despite the chilly weather (not much rain though!). We got home from the field study trip in the early evening and headed to his flat where we made sweet and sour chicken and stir fry and spent the rainy night watching movies and drinking tea and eating apple crumble.

What a treat!

Saturday we headed to the Portabello Market in West London, which was like the Venice Beach of London if you will. Very hippie, yet filled with antiques and vendors selling such things as antique

Cupcakes for two!

china and toy soldiers. After walking through the market we headed to the opposite end of town where we got off at the tube stop right in front of Harrods. I just wanted a picture of the Harrod's sign, but Sam took me in to see the toy floor and the Christmas decorations. I was not ashamed of my touristiness and took pictures of the Egyptian elevator and the extravagance of the place. But I'll admit, the toy floor was really really really cool with demonstrations for the kids and toys to test and play

Hello Harrod's

with. But, of course, we got lost (its HUGE) and left a little more frazzled than when we began. Down the street we went to a Japanese restaurant called Wagamama where Sam had won a raffle at SUL for a gift card, so we grabbed a late (3:30pm) lunch of noodles and miso soup and it was delightful! Our next plan of attack was to catch the Lord Mayor fireworks by the Themes, but because of work being done on the tube and the crowds for the fireworks, we were unable to grab a train and started the walk towards the river. We missed the fireworks right by the river, but were able to see them through the trees on our way, and it felt like a movie. I really enjoyed it! After getting to the Themes 5 minutes too late (in our defense, the fireworks were supposed to start at 5 and the began at 4:40 instead), we decided to make our way to the Natural History Museum to go ice skating. I shouldn't have been so surprised that Sam was so graceful on the ice as he excels at all physical activities, but for a boy who grew up on a tropical island I had no idea where he'd practiced his backwards skating technique! I had a lot of fun and held my own as well (no wipe outs for us)! We headed back to his flat afterward to warm up with tea and cookies, and made a late meal of sausage peppers and onions for dinner.

Big Ben post-fireworks

Sam sent me off at the airport this morning and as usual I cried (I'm such a silly fool but I can't help it) and I got into Florence around 6pm after a long day of traveling. I got home and I wasn't feeling in top shape, perhaps because all I had to eat was a big coffee that morning, or from lack of sleep, or jetlag, or saying goodbye to Sam, who knows. But I was on the bus en route to Anna's and I was glad to be back in Florence, but I got the overwhelming need to go home home. That's where the homesickness kicked in. And so as I was unpacking and talking about the weekend with Hannah, I told her what I was feeling, and she threw me a guidebook and told me that she felt the same way Friday but looking through the book help a lot. Anna called us to dinner with Antionetta our other unofficial host mom and Anna's best friend, and I still couldn't shake my funk. But I thought maybe I just wasn't feeling well because I didn't have anything in my stomach, so I started to dig in to our delicious dinner, but I started feeling physically sick. Then Antioneta asked what was going on in California, in terms of weather and seasons and family and when I mentioned my family I started to tear up and couldn't stop, and Anna and Antionetta did the grandmotherly thing and reassured me, and I totally knew I was being silly!!!! Especially when Antionetta had just pointed out how time's flown and we're leaving soon! But I told them I was being silly and they said I was just tired (I am) and not feeling well (I wasn't) and that it was natural. Anna gave me a warm glass of water with sugar to help my stomach (much better now) and I'm headed to bed now that I've finished a quick essay.