This past weekend I took my first trip and went to London! It was amazing! I can see why my froomie (friend and roommate), Lubna. is obsessed with it! There is just so much history there and, even though I am not a history buff, it was so interesting to learn London’s history. I am currently taking an Irish history course, so I found myself being able to relate the content I was learning in class about English Lordships in Ireland to history I learned on the tours we took while in London. Okay, sorry for the geek-out. Now to the actual trip details.

My sisters, Mary and Hill, and my sister’s boss, Lynda, strapped on our walking shoes for the weekend and became tourists. If you didn’t know, the Anderson’s are not tourists, so this was an interesting experience for all. We started our girls trip by doing the “hop on, hop off bus tour” through London. Honestly, this was the best thing ever! It takes you to all the big tourist attractions and you can hop on at anytime you want. Also, the busses either have live commentary or recorded commentary, so you are able to learn about the things you are passing and the places you are going. If you are in London, I would highly recommend it! On Saturday we visited Kensington Palace, home to Prince William and his family. Unfortunately, we did not see them nor did we get to see where they lived. (Tip: don’t ask the employees where they lived because then they give you a lecture about how there are other people that live there too). We then jumped back onto the bus and headed to Big Ben and the London Eye. On our way, we got to drive over the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, and got to see the Towers as well. Then we took some tourist pics of Big Ben and walked over to the London Eye. Some tips if you are going to do the London Eye (do it! it is a spectacular view!): buy the fast track ticket or you will wait in line for 2+ hours and go at sunset! After the London Eye we walked to Westminster Abbey. This is where Prince William and Kate got married! It was spectacular. We got to hear an organ concert in it the next day and Mary, Hillary, and Lynda toured it yesterday. Unfortunately only royals can get married there , so I guess I will just have to marry Prince Harry.

Just tourist things!

Kensington Palace!

View from the London Eye

Snap or it didn’t happen

Big Ben!

Many of you know that Brown Football follows me everywhere, even abroad! Coincidentally, my brother’s Brown Football buddies were in London this weekend, so on Saturday night we met up with them! It was really fun to catch up with all of them! Here we are at the pub we went to:

We continued our tourist activities on Sunday by seeing the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. I would recommend seeing this, but make sure to get there 15-20 minutes before to get a good spot (not 1 minute like us haha) or go to different part of the parade because it gets super crowded, so it is hard to see it. After the Changing of the Guards we walked to Liberty, which is a shopping center. I would recommend going to this over Harrods. I loved the design of Liberty and the furniture. It also seemed less commercial than Harrods. After Liberty we went to Gordon’s, the oldest wine bar in London. If you are in London, GO! It was so cool! It is underground and feels like you are in a cave. We got red wine and a cheese platter. Both were delicious! However, if you are claustrophobic I wouldn’t go.

This past weekend was awesome! I got to see one of my best friends from Brown, Lubna, who is studying in London for the semester and I got to spend some time with my sisters! I really missed all of them!

The only downside to the weekend was that I got back really late on Sunday, so I didn’t go to a pub to watch the Superbowl (Sorry family!). I thought I would be able to get it on my computer. NOPE! If you ask my friends they would tell you that I was having a minor panic attack, but quickly disappeared when the Pats started to fall behind. When the Pats were down 28-3, I thought I should stop trying to get the game online and go to bed. The next morning I woke up to multiple texts and missed FaceTimes telling me that the Pats had won! In honor of the win, I wore my Pats shirt to class but it did not mean that much to anyone here, but that’s okay because the PATS WON and that’s all that matters!

On Thursday, I am traveling to Paris for the weekend with my best friend from Barrington, Ginny! If you know Ginny and I  you can bet that my next blog will be about all the different restaurants we tried in Paris, so make sure to look out for that next!!

Cheers,

Heidi

Irish Slang of the Week: Gas= Funny

To no surprise I am writing this blog post from a Starbucks. I tried really hard not to go to Starbucks for the first couple of weeks here, but with the gift cards from  Christmas and the sense of home it brings me I couldn’t help myself. So as I sip my nonfat venti latte, I am going to fill you in on the past couple of weeks here.

About two weeks ago my Aunt Nancy and three cousins, Billy, Brennan, and Teddy, came to Dublin! It was so great to have family here! They treated me to delicious meals and got to meet some of their wonderful friends they have here in Ireland. They also introduced me to a girl that attends Trinity full time and is originally from New York. We found out we have two classes together, which is great!

This past week I turned 21 and even though it’s not a big birthday here, as some irishman pointed out to me, it was some good craic, which is Irish slang for fun. Although, I am counting down the days till I can officially celebrate in the states!

This week, my first real “oh ya I’m an international student here” hit me in my small discussion group for my American history class. We had to go around in a circle and each student had to say what they thought about the reading. After I presented in class, my teaching assistant asked me where I was from because of my accent. That is when it hit me. I haven’t really gotten many comments about my accent here, so I didn’t really think much of it. I went on to tell my class that I live near Massachusetts, because saying I am from Rhode Island just leads to confusion and  I am kind of tired of explaining that it’s not apart of New York. My professor then told me that I could “put people in their place” when discussing American history, which will be interesting.

This weekend I will be traveling to London to visit my best friend and roommate from Brown, Lubna. She is studying abroad in London and I thought it would be a great time to see her since I will already be there to see my two sisters, Mary and Hill! I can’t wait to see them!!! Sadly, we will miss watching the Pats play in the super bowl because of the time difference, but I am sure our sisters weekend is going to be great! We will definitely be missing the rest of the Anderson clan though!

So my Starbucks is almost done and with that I am ending this blog post!

Cheers, Heidi

Irish Slang of the Day: Craic=fun