There Is Nothing More Expense Than Regret...

The quote that is the title of this entry (thank you Ari Cohen) seems to have become my new motto. I’m beginning to learn that I am addicted to experience. I knew 10 minutes into my road trip out west this summer that my free time would begin to revolve around traveling and new experiences. I love going to new places, meeting new people, and even more sharing experiences with the people I love the most. This weekend was easily one of the best weekends of my life, but let’s start with the build up to it…

Monday started off with a good GRA 345 class then off to the farmers market with one of my roommates, we made a yummy eggplant dish for all of our roommates and even had a surprise visit from our good friend Andy! I have gotten very into cooking since being here, it’s relaxing and much cheaper than trying to find food in our neighborhood. Feel free to email any recipes (Kelli.Bracken@gmail.com), I would love to try anything. Tuesday started off with a run in Hyde Park with my roommate James, booking a trip to Wales in the middle, and ended with a great night at the Sports Café. Wednesday was filled with a trip to Notting Hill, getting lost on Tottenham Court Road and ending with a screening of Billy Elliot at school.

As one of my friends put it, homesickness comes in waves. Everything can be perfectly fine but then one thing will set off a feeling and, in my case, its all downhill from there. I don’t even know what it was on Thursday morning that set me off but I got my first big wave of homesickness. It’s weird the things that you start to miss while far away from your loved ones and I am finding that I miss the little things the most. I hate not knowing the stupid little details of Mindy and Kelly’s days and am missing my beloved ski team rituals. To make it all that much worse when I got to the club where my Fine Arts class was attending a performance that night, this sign was overhead.

But what can cure a case of homesickness better than a visit from your very best friend?! Needless to say Kelsey and I’s meeting with Ari and Kristen was epic. And then just a few hours later I met Rachel. I honestly didn’t realize how much I had missed her until we were sprinting towards each other on Edgware road. After we “collected” our friends we all headed out to O’Neil’s. After introducing the now Spaniards to Strongbow we danced the night away. Kelsey and I kept pinching each other, not being able to believe that our best friends were actually with us.

Friday started off as a lazy morning. After waking up the kids with pancakes in bed (you taught me well Dad), we headed out to see the sights. We walked from our flat in Marble Arch through Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace. It was one of the most gorgeous days we have had since we have been here.

From there we ventured to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and all the way to Harrods. My parents had told me that Harrods was an experience but I was not expecting what was in store for us. Literally you can book a vacation, buy a hamster, get a pedicure, redecorate your entire house, get a haircut, have high tea AND spend every penny you have ever earned in this one monstrosity of a store. Thankfully we were too exhausted to even think about buying anything.

We left Harrods with the highest intentions of finding an authentic British pub for fish and chips. We absolutely found what we were looking for. We had a great meal and even better conversation. The five of us get along phenomenally and the best part is that a mere 24 hours before I had never met Kristen and Kelsey and Rachel had never met.

From there we headed home and got ready for our night out. A few memorable moments of the evening would be Ari & I’s ski team-ness, family portrait, the lovely woman on the tube, getting refused a cab ride because we were literally too close to our destination yet couldn’t find it, taking 45 minutes to find Waxy O’Connor’s just to be told it was closing, taking another 20 to try and find our friend Andy, ZOO BAR, Congo lining, going to the golden arches, and the late night Piccadilly Circus people watching. All and all a very memorable night.

Saturday morning I woke up and realized that if they left that morning the “Madrid Invasion” weekend would have already been one of the best weekends in London. But we still had more than a day left with them!

After our “Christmas morning” breakfast from Chef Ari we made our way towards the Absolute Icebar. Icebar is a bar where the walls, bar, tables and even the glasses are made from ice. Obviously the skiers in all of us were in heaven. The bar is kept at -5 degrees Celsius (so 23 F for all you Americans) and they give you a “thermal cape” with gloves to keep you warm, though we still got quite chilly by the end. It was definitely one of those “I went there” experiences.

But poor Icebar was quite overshadowed by what we did next…

We then ventured to a few stores on Regent and Oxford streets, picked up lunch from Pret and made our way towards Wembley arena. Now at this point Kristen and I did not have tickets to the Jay-Z and Coldplay concert, we were just going for the ride with them and hoping (well really really hoping) that we could find cheap tickets. On the tube we made a plan of action saying that we wouldn’t go over 55 pounds for tickets. Oops. We ended up buying standing room tickets (right by James, Ari & Kels) for 60 pounds.

Best 60 pounds I have spent.

The concert was one of the best concert I had ever been to before we even stepped foot in the door. The experience of scalping tickets (ps it is much more accepted in London, no shady dealings like in the states) was exciting and quite a bonding moment for Kristen and I. Once we were inside we headed down to our standing room seats to prepare for Jay-Z. I have never been a Jay-Z fan but absolutely am one now. Not only was he an awesome rapper but also an amazing performer. I felt like I was experiencing the concert through my whole body. The vibrations in my feet seemed to explode all the way through the top of my head.

And then came Coldplay. I cant even put into words how amazing of an experience their performance was. Sorry Rusted Root and The Clarks, Coldplay just knocked you out of the best concert ever spot.

To set the scene as soon as they started their set it started raining. Let me rephrase that, as soon as they started playing it started raining in the only way London knows how, torrential downpour. We were soaked through and through but yet couldn’t stop smiling. I really don’t know how I can put the concert into words other than to say that we have already started talking about how we will literally be talking about it for years to come.

Sunday morning started with teary goodbyes to Ari and Kristen, a perfect trip to Notting Hill with Rae and ended with more teary goodbyes as I put Rae on her train to Gatwick.

It is probably unnecessary to repeat but this weekend was fantastic, though it will probably end up being the most expensive weekend I spend in London, I don’t regret a single pence.

Now as I sit in my beautiful flat writing this I realize how much I am starting to fall in love with this city. I love getting lost in Hyde Park on my daily runs, commuting to school on the tube, and coming home for a cup of tea with my roommates. I am excited for what tomorrow, my day free of classes, will bring. Possibly the Charles Dickens or Princes Diana walks, an exploration of the paths along the Thames, or a number of the other “must see” areas of this magical city.

I will end with wishing my sister Heather a very very Happy Birthday!! I miss you very much and hope that you have some time in your hectic grad school life to celebrate!

Cheers,

Kelli

The Week in Review:

Sunday:

We went on a sightseeing bus tour of London and ended in Greenwich. Greenwich is such a cool spot. We saw the painted halls, the queen’s house and wandered up to the prime meridian.

I thought of Kristy when we were walking towards the open market and passed the coolest color me mine like place. This one served ice cream as well, what could be better?!

Monday:

Monday was our first day of classes. As nerdy as it sounds I was so excited to finally have a set schedule. I only had one class in the morning then went for a run from school to Buckingham Palace. Though it was awesome once we got there we learned the hard way that “running” during rush hour is actually just trying to push your way through crowds commuting on Oxford street. After our run we started plotting lots and lots of trips. I want to go everywhere and anywhere!

Tuesday:

Moving day! We FINALLY moved into our permanent flat! It is amazing! I am in a triple with my roommates Suzanne and Annie. We spent all night trying to get our stuff organized and amazingly mine all fit!

Wednesday:

Wednesday was quite an early morning, I woke up at 6 to catch the tube to go babysit in Victoria for the morning. I am so happy that I have the opportunity to babysit, and Emma (my neighbor on Timber Ridge’s sisters daughter…) is the cutest 8-month baby! It is nice to be able to get completely away from school and the few extra pounds I earn are pretty clutch! Victoria is such a cool and beautiful area, I will for sure be exploring it much more! It is also nice that I don’t have any classes on Wednesday so I have all day to do some exploring!

Thursday:

Thursday was the first day I finally felt settled in our flat! We had our first “family dinner”! I am really excited about all my new roommates, we are all getting along really well! We also played host for the first time, it is so exciting to show all our friends our flat.

Friday:

Stonehenge & Salisbury: We woke up early to catch the bus to Stonehenge from Faraday House (Syracuse’s building in London). On the ride out of the city we were all silently hoping for the tour guide to stop talking and just let us sleep during the 2-hour drive out. Though most of his talk wasn’t the most interesting one story was quite memorable.

Post-war London, like most places, needed lots of housing quickly. As a result lots of housing developments popped up right outside of the city. Some were attractive some, not so much. One particularly interesting building was designed by Erno Goldfinger.

Name sound familiar? Ian Fleming would commute pass this building and hated it so much that he used the name of the architect as a villain in his James Bond series. Talk about revenge.

Stonehenge was really cool! Sure it may just be a circle of rocks in a field but learning about how it took 1,500 years to complete and how much went into the process was pretty awesome. And apparently it was the first time in a few years that it didn’t rain on the SU trip there, we have had perfect weather pretty much the whole time we have been here! Knock on wood that it lasts!

From Stonehenge we went on a roller coaster of a bus ride to the beautiful town of Salisbury! Our first stop was the cathedral, it is huge and gorgeous. Can’t wait to develop my pictures from this one, the way the light was streaming in through the stained glass windows was pretty spectacular.

We then wandered through the French market, had lunch outside a local pub, and had some amazing ice cream. Then knowing we still had a few more hours till our train to Bath, we started wandering pretty much aimlessly. We found a park where we sat for a while watching the sheep gaze just across the river, and enjoying the show the ducks were putting on for us. From there we wandered up the windy road to the train station. The short hour or so train to Bath was filled with picturesque images of the English countryside. Ignorantly I didn’t think you could get views like that in England, always thought they were only found in places like Ireland and Scotland.

We got off the train in Bath and easily found our hostel, Bath Backpackers.

We could not have asked for a better first hostel experience. The 6 of us were the only ones in a 10 bed girls only dorms, called Divas of course. We dropped our bags and went out to explore the town. We watched the sun set while we got lost in the center of town. My favorite thing about Europe is the architecture. I just keep saying how we don’t have anything like this back home. Even the oldest town in America doesn’t have close to as much history as these towns. We got take-away (take-out in America) and ate in a park before exploring more and attempting to socialize with the Bathians at a local watering hole.

Saturday:

The next morning we woke up, enjoyed the breakfast that was provided, loving the fact that it was better than the breakfast at the hotel we stayed at for the first week even though it cost a fraction of the cost. We then went on a free walking tour of Bath. We saw all of the sights, the Roman baths, the Abbey (pictured below) the circus (a perfect circle of houses, one of which is Nicholas Cage’s 6.8 million pound residence), the crescent (a half football shape of houses), and all the historical architecture that our guide was quite enthusiastic to tell us about. After the walking tour we had an amazing lunch at a café called The Walrus and the Carpenter, named after characters in Alice in Wonderland.

After lunch we wandered back to the center of town where we took a bus up the hill to Prior Park, where we lucked out that the National Trust was having a special event and it was free admission! It was a beautiful park where you could look out and see all of Bath. It honestly looked fake it was so beautiful! This picture doesn’t do it justice, but is better than nothing…

From there we took the bus back down and explored more of the city until our 7:41 train back to London. After we got back into the city it seemed like we went straight from Paddington station (named after Paddington Bear right Dad?!) to Leicester Square to meet up with a bunch of other ‘cusers. It was a really fun night and perfect end to our whirlwind of a trip.

Sunday:

So now it’s Sunday and the first day we don’t have a million things to do. It was nice to be able to skype with my parents for a while this morning and now it is time to stock our fridge and get ready for school tomorrow. That of course will be interrupted in a bit when we venture to Piccadilly Circus to see if they are playing the Eagles game (I am obviously going simply to please my Philadelphian roommate) and visit the Thames River festival where there are rumored to be fireworks tonight!

Sorry this is a long one again, but hopefully now that we are settled I will be able to blog more often ergo have them not be novels every time!

Cheerio for now (p.s. we learned in Bath that cheerio came from people calling for their chairs at the end of the night, Chair Ho, morphed into cheerio!)

Keep Calm and Carry On...

Well it has been an interesting couple of days….

Thursday started off great! My roommates and I started the day off with a meeting with our landlord followed by our first “family meal”. As the eight of us sat down to lunch I realized how excited I was to move in with these people who had been total strangers only a day before. The eight of us get along really well and because of how it worked out (4 groups of 2 combining) everyone seems to have a place and feel comfortable!

After our meeting Kelsey and I met up with Sam, Julie, Jen and Emily and went to the zoo for the day! Though we got there only two hours before it closed we managed to see it all!! A high point was the tigers. Julie kept saying that all the animals were just as polite as the English, always greeting their visitors and giving us a show!

After the zoo we wandered into nearby Regents park. It was straight out of a movie, the weather was perfect and there was a light breeze blowing through the trees.

After our adventure we got back on the tube…During rush hour… I knew there was a reason I avoided the subway at 5ish all summer. Needless to say, it was quite tight.

The night ended with a causal gathering at our local pub, Shakespeare’s Head. Before we left I was trying to downsize the items in my purse but got frustrated when I couldn’t find my smaller wallet and decided to just go and deal with it tomorrow. Big mistake, after literally only a ¼ of my first pint my purse was stolen.

Though this was quite a horrendous experience, I have learned so much from it and met a lot of amazing people through the ordeal. Also if I had to get my purse stolen any night Thursday was the night for it to happen as a group of our student guides, and even one of our professors, were at the table next to us. Our one professor, Brian, was unbelievable, I don’t think I could have gotten through the night without him, he called the police for me, talked to the pub owner, found how to get a hold of American Express, and more importantly gave me a hug when that was all I really needed.

I wont go through all the steps that were post-purse stealing but lets just say there were a lot. I am so grateful to my parents for being so helpful and supportive. Everyone kept saying that I was handling the situation well and I slowly realized that it was because my parents were supporting me so much every step of the way.

Friday started off with a call from the Holburn Police Station getting more details about “the incident”, it was then followed by our registration seminar and fun filled trip to the US embassy for me. As I got off the tube it finally sunk in that the night before was not a dream and had actually happened.

As I walked down North Audley Road towards the embassy (which I conveniently discovered is in my neighbor of Marble Arch) I passed a coffee shop with a huge sign in the window that simply said “Keep Calm and Carry On”.

It instantly became my new motto. I realized that in a few years the pounds that I lost would not be soo important to me and that through this experience I had learned that you definitely cannot trust everyone but that some people care so much and will literally do anything to help. It amazes me that people I have only known for a few days can already feel like family.

Now on to the fun stuff…

Friday afternoon Emily and I went on a run in my (soon to be) new neighborhood of Hyde Park. We didn’t really know where we were going but just figured we would start at Marble Arch and go from there. We ended up going on the most amazing run, we passed the beautiful fountain gardens, the Peter Pan statue (which I was ecstatic about), and crossed over the river. We couldn’t get over how beautiful it was and how picturesque the picnickers were. We vowed to return frequently and to fully explore the park.

After the park we went home to prepare for our club night, we (along with a few dozen of our other SU Abroad classmates) went to the club Sway free of cover thanks to our savvy student guides. It was soo fun! It was my first true experience with British nightlife and it was awesome!

This morning we had another touristy day. It was perfect weather and we decided to go see the Queen’s Gardens in Regents Park. I had seen pictures of the gardens from when my parents were here a few years ago but still didn’t really know what to expect. They were gorgeous! The roses were so beautiful and vibrant and the landscaping was fantastic (I’m running out of adjectives). We walked through all of the gardens but then had some time to kill before the festival that we had planned to go to. We then decided to make like the locals and just lounge in the grass, that turned into a quick power nap for all of us.

It was so quiet and calm you would never know that you were in the middle of a major metropolitan area, it was honestly just as quiet as our back deck at Hidden Valley in the summer. Truly a perfect sunny day and my face is a little tanner as a result!

From the gardens we hopped back on the tube to go to a festival in Trafalgar Square. The festival was to raise money and awareness for all disabilities. We walked around then got sandwiches from a local coffee shop and sat on the steps of the National Gallery.

This is when one of us looked up and realized Big Ben was right in front of us. For all of you that know how much I enjoy puzzles know how hard this is for me to say, but it was honestly straight out of a puzzle it looked so fake!

We then went to meet our landlord who informed us that even though when we were originally looking at our flat we were told we could move in on Sunday we now cant move in until Tuesday. Which means we will have to continue our “gyspy lifestyle”, as Kelsey so perfectly coined it, for a few more days.

Sorry this post is quite long but a lot has happened! One thing I am very happy about is that through the whole purse fiasco I never once just wished I was home (though I did wish that my parents could be teleported across the pond to work through it with me). This has been an amazing experience already and we are only a few days in, I love London and can’t wait for tomorrow to explore even more!

Cheers and good wishes,

Kelli

Mission Accomplished

Great Success! Today was more than a little stressful but it all worked out in the end.

After an a few interesting encounters with landlords, we were able to secure an amazing flat in the Marble Arch area of the city. It is only a 10 minute tube ride to our school and in a very lively part of town. We somehow managed to find a flat that is below our per diem (allotted amount per week from SU), but yet has marble floors, chandeliers, two full and one half baths, 4 double rooms, a dishwasher, washer/dryer and huge living room with a flat screen TV!

It is nothing I ever expected or even wished for, I can't wait to move in Sunday morning!

Just Touched Down...

I'm in London!

Landed at Gatwick around 7 (2 east coast time) this morning, lugged my rather heavy (you were right Dad) bags to the Victoria station express. From there I had an awesome cab ride to our hotel. My cab driver was nice enough to show me some sites along the way.

I waved to the Queen in her palace (I learned that the flag at full mast meant she was actually currently in the residence), saw Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, and even the Jersey Boys theatre (thought of Matt of course!). I can't get over how beautiful all of the buildings are, I love the architecture!

I was then the first to arrive at the hotel, the SU staff had not even finished setting up! I was even able to take a power nap before I went to greet the buses of the group flight.

Still haven't secured a phone or a flat, but that's the mission for tomorrow! We are about to go explore the neighborhood pub for a relaxed first night!

Hasn't set in that this beautiful and old world city will be my home for the next 3 or so months, but I so excited to explore it and make it my own!