Windsor Castle and London Trip

Justin and I took our first trip out of Winchester this past weekend ( 23 - 25 Feb ). On Saturday we went to the Windsor Castle (in Windsor - about a 2 hour train ride). It was absolutely beautiful! We couldn't take any pictures of the State Apartments tour but I can post a link at the bottom of this if anyone is interested! The Queen stays at Windsor castle on certain occassions...that's why it is open for tours. To give you an idea of how big the Windsor castle is....it's equal to an area of about 268 tennis courts. Just unbelievable. The picture above is in front of a part of the castle and the second photo is from a bar in London (in the Notting Hill area). On Saturday afternoon, after our tour of Windsor castle, we went to London since Justin didn't get an opportunity to see any of it when he flew in. We stayed at a hostel on Saturday night because Jay was hosting his friend Jack. Justin and I met up with Jay, Jack, and his roommate Nick for one of Jay's friends birthday parties. Had a great time as always :). Earlier, we went out to this awesome Mexican place in Soho called Wahaca. I had been there with Jay before and I knew Justin would really enjoy it. You can get many different, smaller portioned plates to share. It's nice to get a small bit of all different kinds of food. On Sunday we went to Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square, Westiminster Abbey, saw Big Ben, and the Eye of London. All things that I have already seen but I didn't mind showing Justin around. We enjoyed a Greek dinner with Jay in an area very close to his flat and then watched a terrible movie and called it a night. Monday was a little more relaxed - headed to Queens Way to grab some lunch at a local pub and then made it back to Winchester in time to hit the gym/grab some dinner. Back to school for me today...Sending Justin off to Bath tomorrow so that I can work on my essays due for next week. London this coming Friday and then Paris from Saturday to Monday!

Valentine's Day Arrival!

FINALLY! After 24+ hours of travel....Justin arrived! He didn't make it into the London Heathrow airport until 2 hours after I expected him due to a delay in Iceland. I was getting anxious as the arrivals screen kept telling me he'd be landing later and later and later and later!! But I was pretty patient...only threw around a few cuss words :). We made it back to Winchester on Sunday afternoon and got him all settled in. Monday we toured the Winchester cathedral and I showed him around town a little bit so that he could find his way to get some food while I was in class. I did of course bring him to his first pub - burgers, chips (french fries), and cider/beer. Tuesday he joined me in my intro to sport and society module and then Wednesday night we attended 'BOP' - a social event at the club/bar on campus (the picture above). This weekend we will be heading to Windsor to see the Windsor castle (where the Queen stays) and then on to London to hopefully meet up with Jay. Just glad that Justin made it here in one piece. We will have many stories to post after our travels to London and Paris in a couple of weeks! Cheers

Amsterdam 9 Feb - 11 Feb

AMMSTERRDAMMM! My first trip out of England! Becca and I (the girl in the middle) met with our friend Roxanne from UWEC who is currently studying abroad in Sweden. We had a mess of a morning getting to the Schipol airport in Amsterdam. Friday night Becca and I took the train to Paddington - the station by my brother Jay's flat. We spent the night at Jay's so that we could get up early in the morning and take the train from Paddington to Southend (about an hour train ride to the airport from Liverpool street to Southend airport). Mistakingly we thought that a train would take us to Liverpool Street from Paddington... that was WRONG! The tube was closed and the bus wouldn't have made it to Liverpool Street in time for us to catch our train...so a 22 pound taxi ride later, some sprinting through the airport, and we made it to our flight. Roxanne didn't come out of her terminal and it just so happened that I ran into her when I was wandering around - thank goodness because my phone doesn't work outside of the UK. After our early morning disasters and travels we safely made it into Amsterdam and took the tram-for our first time-to our hostel located next to Vondel Park. The hostel was an old school house which was quite interesting. We stayed in a 20 female suit and it surprisingly wasn't as terrible as you might think. They had a lot to offer - usually discounted tickets to museums and other attractions, laundry services, free breakfast, and lockers to store our bags when we were out traveling. After checking in to our hostel on Saturday morning the three of us were determined to find a pancake place! We ran into a local pancake house and slammed down some delicious, large, thin pancakes. Our next stop was the Rijks Museum...It was OK. I'm not a huge fan of museums... especially museums that only display paintings, but it was well worth it. That night we enjoyed a nice chicken dinner (Becca got pizza!) at an Italian restaurant in Ledseplein [the area our hostel was located]. That night we did this really stupid pub crawl that I don't even want to go into. Pretty much a huge tourist scam but whatever - you live and you learn. It was still a good night though. We listened to some live music at this place called The Waterhole and enjoyed a few Strongbows (the cheapest cider - us Americans love it) Sunday morning we accidentally slept through our free breakfast - whoops...I guess I was the one in charge of waking every one else up. My bad! Sunday consisted of touring around the Red Light District, Anne Frank House, and the largest library in Europe! Dinner was at this chinese place on the water outside of the library - how I've been craving Chinese food!! So wonderful! That night Becca and I passed out around 8:30...we were just exhausted! Monday was a very nice final day in Amsterdam. Our hostel offered a free 3 hour walking tour. Besides it being absolutely freezing (It was snowing the day before!) it was a really beneficial and interesting tour. Definitely worth it. Our tour guide was a young Austrailian guy that had moved to Amsterdam because of a Dutch girl that he met in Austrailia. Our final touristy thing of the day was a 75 minute boat canal cruise which was very relaxing. A great way to end our trip. We survived...made it back to Winchester safe and sound. Overall it was an awesome experience. I learned some do's and dont's for future trips and created some memories that I will never forget! I hope to return to Amsterdam when the weather is nicer because I think it would be absolutely gorgeous. I would also love to rent a bike and venture around the entire city instead of freezing my butt off. In other news...I need to actually start doing my assignments.. I'm trying to be productive this week since Justin comes in 4 DAYS! I'm overly excited for his arrival. Cheers for now (Sorry, I don't remember the Dutch that I learned!)

Brother and sisterly fun in London!

This past Saturday (2 Feb) I took the train into London to spend some time with Jay! We got in a good sweat at the gym as soon as I got there and did a little shopping around for some filtered water bottles. In the afternoon we went to the "Rose Lounge" for high tea. It started out with a glass of delicious champgne...followed by different types of sandwich cuts and 3 kinds of scones with our choice of spread (lemon, jam, or butter). Of course a pot of tea followed with a tray of desserts! Clumsy me (they really shouldn't serve the champagne first!) I ended the meal by spilling tea all over my leg and the floor. Whoops...I should probably remember to hold the top of the pot while trying to pour out the last bit of tea. We met with Jay's roommate, Nick, for a 'pub-crawl' around Soho, an area of London (not quite sure if we went any where else :/). I had a great time out and about and our night ended with some singing, dancing, and slamming food in their apartment. On Sunday Jay and I did my favorite kind of shopping.....workout clothes shopping!!! Went to an AMAZING Mexican place for lunch. We got a bunch of different, smaller plates to share and we obviously ate it all. That night the superbowl game was on...We met up with two of Jay's friends/co-workers to watch the game at a Canadian pub. I was pretty exhausted from the night before so I kept dozing off in a booth at the pub...I missed most of the game ha! Monday morning I left London to head back to Winchester. It's about an hour train ride but I have to make a connection in Reading after a half hour ride from Paddington. Being tired and slightly hung over from the night before I mistakingly got on the wrong train at Reading and headed ALL the way back to London. I was at square one and I had to do it ALL over again. I realized that I was on the wrong train as it was slowly leaving from the Reading station. Took me about an hour and a half longer to get back to Winchester than it should have. Let's hope I never make that mistake again! I will be heading back to London tomorrow to spend the night at Jay's place in order to catch an early flight to Amsterdam on Saturday morning with my friend Becca. We will be meeting another girl from UWEC that is studying abroad in Sweden. I'm sure I will have plenty to post after the weekend! Cheeeeeers