After ice skating, we went to Bodean's for BBQ. Let me just say that it was one of the best chopped beef sandwiches ever!! It was like a little slice of home. Speaking of home, 10 days and counting!!
Cheers!
Birthdays are fun!
Last Thursday we went ice skating at the Tower of London to celebrate Hilary and Melissa's birthdays (which are exactly a week apart). Ice skating is so popular here that you have to buy tickets in advance and come at a specific time and you only get an hour to skate. BOO! So when Jessica, Jeremy and I were about 40 minutes late (Thanks Hammersmith and City Underground line!)I thought we had missed our chance to ice skate under the white lights of the Tower of London. Luckily, for me, Jessica married a man that doesn't really take no for an answer. The manager of rink gave us a voucher (raincheck) so we actually went ice skating on Friday. Check out the pictures from the party and our ice-skating redo on Friday!
After ice skating, we went to Bodean's for BBQ. Let me just say that it was one of the best chopped beef sandwiches ever!! It was like a little slice of home. Speaking of home, 10 days and counting!!
Cheers!
After ice skating, we went to Bodean's for BBQ. Let me just say that it was one of the best chopped beef sandwiches ever!! It was like a little slice of home. Speaking of home, 10 days and counting!!
Cheers!
Eastern Europe is Cold!!
I have already added pictures to Shutterfly from Iman and I's trip to Berlin and Krakow but I thought I should give details of the trip.
We flew from London to Berlin on Friday. We actually missed our original flight due to the incompetence of Alitalia.(Never fly them!) But we eventually arrived in Berlin Friday night just in time to have a late night dinner and go to bed. Saturday morning we got up and decided to take a tour around Berlin. Now this is when our normally good reasoning skills failed us. It was relatively warm Saturday morning but neither of us checked the weather before we set out on our ill-fated bike tour. The tour and our guide were wonderful but it was wayyyyyyyyyyy to cold to bicycle around Berlin especially for two Texas girls. At one point I considered falling off my bike just so that I could justifiably take a taxi home. Despite the mild case of frostbite, Berlin is a beautiful city full of historical significance and interesting personalities. It is definitely on the list of cities I would like to visit again.
Sunday we flew to Krakow Poland. Our hostel in Poland was super homey. We actually had our own twin beds as opposed to the usual bunk beds. We got free Internet and access to a huge flat screen TV complete with over 100 movies of which we took full advantage.. I finally saw Deja Vu. It was very cold in Krakow, it snowed the entire time we were there.
Monday we travelled the 70km from Krakow to Auschwitz. Auschwitz was very intense. A lot of the structures were still intact so we got to see a gas chamber as well as the cabins where victims lived. The most disturbing part was a room filled with like 8 tons of human hair from women whose heads were shaved on arrival and then a display of a roll of fabric made from that hair which was used for clothing for the Nazi army and the general German population. It really hit home the reality of the attempted extermination of people who where different. I also learned that while 6 million Jews where killed the total number of victims reached 11 million which included large numbers of Poles, Russians, political dissidents, Gypsies and homosexuals. I will never understand how you could treat people especially children with such brutality.
Overall, I had enjoyed my trip to Eastern Europe. It's cool how in the span of less than 20 years the countries have modernized themselves and malls in Krakow resemble malls in the US.
We flew from London to Berlin on Friday. We actually missed our original flight due to the incompetence of Alitalia.(Never fly them!) But we eventually arrived in Berlin Friday night just in time to have a late night dinner and go to bed. Saturday morning we got up and decided to take a tour around Berlin. Now this is when our normally good reasoning skills failed us. It was relatively warm Saturday morning but neither of us checked the weather before we set out on our ill-fated bike tour. The tour and our guide were wonderful but it was wayyyyyyyyyyy to cold to bicycle around Berlin especially for two Texas girls. At one point I considered falling off my bike just so that I could justifiably take a taxi home. Despite the mild case of frostbite, Berlin is a beautiful city full of historical significance and interesting personalities. It is definitely on the list of cities I would like to visit again.
Sunday we flew to Krakow Poland. Our hostel in Poland was super homey. We actually had our own twin beds as opposed to the usual bunk beds. We got free Internet and access to a huge flat screen TV complete with over 100 movies of which we took full advantage.. I finally saw Deja Vu. It was very cold in Krakow, it snowed the entire time we were there.
Monday we travelled the 70km from Krakow to Auschwitz. Auschwitz was very intense. A lot of the structures were still intact so we got to see a gas chamber as well as the cabins where victims lived. The most disturbing part was a room filled with like 8 tons of human hair from women whose heads were shaved on arrival and then a display of a roll of fabric made from that hair which was used for clothing for the Nazi army and the general German population. It really hit home the reality of the attempted extermination of people who where different. I also learned that while 6 million Jews where killed the total number of victims reached 11 million which included large numbers of Poles, Russians, political dissidents, Gypsies and homosexuals. I will never understand how you could treat people especially children with such brutality.
Overall, I had enjoyed my trip to Eastern Europe. It's cool how in the span of less than 20 years the countries have modernized themselves and malls in Krakow resemble malls in the US.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Yesterday, I spent my first Thanksgiving ever away from my family. It was sad to be so far away but luckily I got to spend the day with my extended family (Iman, Jeremy, Jess, Jenny and Janetta) We all prepared a dish we usually have with our families on Thanksgiving. My contribution was green bean casserole. Jess and I both missed our mom's broccoli and rice casserole but all in all it was an excellent meal.
After dinner we went to see Kanye West!! We had wonderful seats thanks to a friend of Jessica's. The concert was awesome. He is a really good performer and unlike most rappers who just run back and forth across the stage with a tall T and a gold chain, Kanye had multiple costume changes, a live band and cool lighting effects. It was really hard to watch him perform "Hey Mama", he started to cry we started to cry. I am sure his mom was very proud of him and his performance would have made her proud. Iman and I are off on a four day trip to Berlin and then Krakow. For more Thanksgiving and concert pictures click the link!
Happy Thanksgiving!! I am thankful all of you!!
Cheers!
J'adore Paris
On Tuesday, Jess, her sisters (who were visiting from the US) and I took a girls trip to Paris for the day. We went on the Eurostar which travels from London to Paris in two hours and 15 minutes! Even neater than traveling at 150 mph under the English channel is traveling 150 mph under the English channel in first class!! That's right our tour company gave me a free upgrade to first class. Unfortunately, Jess and her sister were unable to join me. ( I think the tour company felt bad that everyone else on our tour had booked their tickets with others and I looked to be all alone). I got to enjoy a free breakfast and dinner on the way back.
Once in Paris we went straight to the main event...the Eiffel tower. Our tour guide warned us to be careful because around the tower gypsies ask if you speak English and then hand you a piece of paper and refuse to leave unless you give the money. It was interesting to watch them though because they seemed unable to speak English other than to ask if you speak English. We took the elevator to the observation deck from which you can see all of Paris. I walked around relatively quickly because besides that it was cold and rainy, I am terrified of heights. After the Eiffel Tower, we took a boat cruise up the Seine and then we took a tour of the famous Notre Dame. (Sanctuary!) I totally want stained glass windows in my house one day.
We had a little time to shop since our tour guide decided to give us an extended tour. We found Janetta (jessica's youngest sister) an "artist hat" (beret). LOL!
We returned to London around 11pm. Paris was nicer than I remember from my last trip there but Prague and Barcelona are still my favorite!! Click the link to the rest of the pictures!
Once in Paris we went straight to the main event...the Eiffel tower. Our tour guide warned us to be careful because around the tower gypsies ask if you speak English and then hand you a piece of paper and refuse to leave unless you give the money. It was interesting to watch them though because they seemed unable to speak English other than to ask if you speak English. We took the elevator to the observation deck from which you can see all of Paris. I walked around relatively quickly because besides that it was cold and rainy, I am terrified of heights. After the Eiffel Tower, we took a boat cruise up the Seine and then we took a tour of the famous Notre Dame. (Sanctuary!) I totally want stained glass windows in my house one day.
We had a little time to shop since our tour guide decided to give us an extended tour. We found Janetta (jessica's youngest sister) an "artist hat" (beret). LOL!
We returned to London around 11pm. Paris was nicer than I remember from my last trip there but Prague and Barcelona are still my favorite!! Click the link to the rest of the pictures!
Girls About Town
My mom came to visit me in London. So we had four fabulous days of fun!!
I got to see a bunch of stuff I hadn't already seen and it was cool to do it with my mom who had never travelled overseas (and of course she paid!) We had a wonderful time click the picture link to see all of our "Wicked" fun around town including our celebrity run-ins!!
Photo disclaimer: My mom never has her eyes open in pictures. She can't help it.
Cheers!
I got to see a bunch of stuff I hadn't already seen and it was cool to do it with my mom who had never travelled overseas (and of course she paid!) We had a wonderful time click the picture link to see all of our "Wicked" fun around town including our celebrity run-ins!!
Photo disclaimer: My mom never has her eyes open in pictures. She can't help it.
Cheers!
An Enchanted Christmas
Since our friends across the pond don't celebrate Thanksgiving. The city and its shops have begun gearing up for Christmas. Last night, Jess and I went to the celebration of the Christmas lights being lighted on Oxford Street (the main shopping area in London) Thousands of people turned out and the winner of the X-Factor (American Idol) Leona Lewis performed although from where Jessica and I were standing we weren't really able to see her. The theme of the lights is from a new Disney movie called Enchanted.
Enchanted follows the beautiful princess Giselle as she is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid-- even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home-- she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world. From IMDB
More Pictures on ShutterFly
Enchanted follows the beautiful princess Giselle as she is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid-- even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home-- she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world. From IMDB
More Pictures on ShutterFly
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