A Weekend in London

What a wonderful extended weekend this was! Maddie was very generous in inviting me to go with her to spend the weekend with her parents in London. Her dad had business meetings all week and her mom tagged along so they wanted us to come stay with them for the weekend!

Maddie and I started our trip on Thursday afternoon after our last class of the day. Our 8:30am class was cancelled the next day and our other professor was okay with our leaving. So we caught the train around 3:45pm to Milan, which is about an hour and 50 minute trip. Once we got to Milan we weren't sure where the bus to the airport was because there weren't any clear directions, so Maddie offered to just pay for a taxi. We found the taxi and had him take us to Milan Malpensa Airport. The fare ended up being $125!! And at first we didn't have enough money between the two of us, and he wouldn't take a credit card, so Maddie had to run inside and find an ATM while I stayed in the taxi with our stuff, waiting for her to come back and praying that he wouldn't just drive away with me still in the car! After we finally paid the man, checked in, and got through security, we realized we were flying into Luton Airport in London, not Gatwick. So Maddie had to call her mom and figure out how we were supposed to get to the hotel because she had figured out directions from Gatwick. Luckily they just called for a car to pick us up at the airport.

After the fiasco that is traveling occurred, we made it to the hotel safe and sound. We stayed at the Sheraton Park Tower, which was absolutely gorgeous, and her parents got us our own room.

Our beds were very comfy!

The view from our room was like a fairy tale.

Our hotel.

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast buffet down in the hotel's restaurant. Maddie and I were SO happy that we got to have breakfast because we never get anything more than cereal at school because we have to get our own breakfast. We munched on eggs, pancakes, pastries, fruit, yogurt, cereal, and so much more! Mmmm mmm mmm :) After breakfast we headed to the Tower of London, which was so incredible. It has been around since something like 1080 and it is where all the prisoners were held and executions took place, and now it's where the crown jewels are held and where the beefeaters live.

The Yeoman Warder...aka Beefeater...aka Tour Guide

We got the guard to smile! Success :)

And he even moved from his post so that he could be closer in a picture with Maddie and I.

After the Tower of London we took a drive through the financial district back to the hotel. Barry, Maddie's dad, wanted to show us the insurance company Lloyd's, which he works with, because some executives want to take Maddie and I to lunch and on a tour of the facilities when we go back to London at the end of our term! How exciting. We went back to the hotel to rest for a short while then Maddie, Kim (Maddie's mom), and I headed out to do some shopping. We went to Harrod's which was so amazing and overwhelming. The store is enormous and has just about everything. It's crazy to think that there is only one in the world!

That night we went out to this restaurant called Fifteen. It is actually owned by the chef Jamie Oliver and profits go towards helping young adults in bad life situations with year long apprenticeships learn to become a chef. We actually got to sit at table 15, which appropriately is Jamie's favorite table! The dinner was fantastic and our waiter was really entertaining. After dinner we went to Barry's favorite pub called the Grenadier and had a pint.

Menus from Fifteen that we got to take home with us.

Barry, Kim, myself, and Maddie at Grenadier.

Maddie and I posing in the lobby of our hotel after our night out.

The next day consisted of another delicious breakfast buffet. So much great food! Then we headed out to Westminster Abbey. It is always unfortunate when I'm not allowed to take pictures inside of the buildings, but I think I would've take 100 pictures just in the inside of the Abbey! It was gorgeous, and crazy how many members of the royal family and famous people in British history are buried there.

Maddie and I outside of Westminster Abbey.

In Parliament Square, just outside the Abbey, policemen were setting up barricades because there was going to be a demonstration about the current situation in Egypt. So we made our way over to Big Ben and the House of Parliament to take some pictures before the demonstration started so we weren't stuck in the middle of it.

From Parliament Square we took a taxi to King's Cross Station to go take pictures at Platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter movies! Even though I've only seen one of the movies, it was still really cool to go to! The platform wasn't the real one, but the station that they go to in the movie is King's Cross Station.

They made it look as though you are pushing a luggage cart through the wall!

From there we headed out to do a little more shopping. It's fun to see all of the shops and the styles. Some are similar to what we'd find in the States, but there are some things that I don't think I know anyone who would actually where it! The best part was high tea at Harrod's. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

Remembrance of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, the son of the owner of Harrod's.

That night we went to have drinks at the King's Arms Pub with some family friends of the Colliers. They were in town for the week and wanted to catch up! Then we went out to Barry's favorite restaurant called Motcomb's and we had some fabulous food, once again.

The next morning we had to wake up around 6:30am and get ready to leave. It basically takes an entire day of traveling to get from London to Brig. Taxi ride to Victoria Station, train from Victoria Station to Gatwick Airport, wait at Gatwick for awhile, plane from Gatwick to Milan Linate Airport, bus from Linate to Milano Centrale train station, wait an hour and a half for the next train to Brig, train ride to Brig, and then walk from train station to our dorms. We got back at 7:15pm.

While at the train station in Milan we went to buy our tickets and these people left their bags in front of the self-service ticket machine and went to another one, so we waited for them to grab the bags because we didn't want to be rude, then all of a sudden this guy comes swooping in and starts working the machine for us and getting our tickets ready. This frustrated Maddie and I because we knew what were doing but didn't know how to ask him to stop since he was so insistent on helping us, then after he was done expected money when we didn't even ask for his help in the first place. So we didn't pay him. He wasn't very happy but oh well! Then on the train ride, so many random things happened. This girl sitting across the aisle from us was playing her music so loud that Maddie and I were singing along. We could clearly understand every word coming out of her earbuds! And then she proceeded to pluck the little eyebrows she had left for about a half an hour. They got off at Domodossola, Italy and these two VERY loud Italian men took their seats. These guys were seriously SO LOUD. The whole time! Then the conductor got into an argument with this lady about her tickets, and someone else started talking really loud on their cellphone...Maddie and I were just like, "what the heck is going on right now?!" I think we were just very tired.

But all around it was a great trip! I'm glad I got invited, and thank you again Collier family for having me out there with you :)

And again, I have a ton more pictures on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=322449&id=672975663&l=f5ef9e53ac

Three Day Weekend

Maddie and I are leaving for London tomorrow after our last class of the day. Her parents have been there since Monday and they invited us to stay with them for the weekend. I'm excited, it should be pretty relaxing and fun! Plus her dad has been to London a ton, so he's going to take us to all of his favorite places! I'm not bringing my laptop, so no new updates until next Monday.

Today was my day off so I really didn't do too much. Watched some TV on my laptop, read my book, worked on my group presentation for tomorrow, applied for the WSU HBM scholarship, and emailed the recruiter from Marriott about setting up a Skype interview since I'm clearly not available at WSU when she will be there. I need to apply to more jobs. That will be my number one priority as soon as I get back from London. Job hunt is officially on.

-Love-

This Isn't Easy

Studying abroad is not as easy as it may seem. Don't get me wrong, I would never give back this experience for anything in the world. I've been given the opportunity of a lifetime to be studying at a world renowned international hospitality school, not many people can say they had that opportunity. Plus I get to travel to so many beautiful places I might not get to travel to again in my life. I'm a strong believer in "everything happens for a reason" and I know I've been directed on this path for a greater purpose.

That being said, it is still difficult. Being in a foreign country, with only a couple people that I know, not surrounded by the people I love and care for the most is the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. It's hard to go from routinely seeing these people to not even being able to communicate on a daily basis via text.

I like my people. I need my people. But it's these people that give me strength to keep pushing through each day. They help me to know that I'm in an incredible predicament and I shouldn't take it for granted. My people will be there when I get back. Knowing this makes me so thankful for my amazing family and friends in my life. I couldn't be the strong young woman that I am becoming with out their continued guidance and support, and I don't think I will ever be able to express my gratitude to the fullest.

I'm also extremely thankful for the rock in my life, Josh. He's helped me through my weakest points so far while I'm gone, but he is always there to remind me that I'm doing an incredible thing by studying abroad. He reminds me daily that distance will never be an issue between us, which comforts me knowing I have such an amazing man to come back to. I love you Josh.

Thank you to everyone in my life that is continually by my side. I am truly grateful for each and every one of you, and I love and miss you all very much. Know that I really am enjoying my time here, and it will be over faster than I think. I'm taking in so much, meeting so many wonderful people, traveling to beautiful countries, and taking advantage of all opportunities I am being provided with.

Lesson 6: Everyone needs their people. Life may seem hard when it is unfamiliar, but always know that the people in your life will be by your side every step of the way - through every hardship and sad time, every exciting new lesson and experience.

-Love-

Channeling My German Roots

I LOVE GERMANY.

Seriously. This weekend was one of the best experiences of my life. Where to even begin? The train rides would probably be appropriate!

Tyler, Colby, and I left Brig around 7:30pm and took our first train to Zurich, Switzerland. To pass the time we played some Go Fish and Phase 10. I'm glad I can keep introducing this game to people :) We got off in Zurich around 10pm and walked around the train station because we had about a 40min wait until our next train. Train two took us to Salzburg, Austria and that was a six hour ride.

I liked how the seats were set up because it reminded me of the movie "Anastasia".

I was clearly excited to be going to Germany in this picture!

The train ride was long, and I never felt asleep for a long period of time. I think I was scared that we were all going to sleep through our stop and end up in Budapest, Hungary! Plus the guy that sat next to me had the worst body odor in the world, and then he decided to take his shoes off. Ugh, so disgusting. I think it's rather sad when others don't realize how badly they smell. After the long and smelly train ride to Salzburg, we caught our last train to Munich, Germany! Luckily it was only about a 10 minute wait between the two trains. We all slept for a good amount of time and then finally arrived at our finally destination: Munich, Germany!! And it was about 6:30am by this time.

We headed on our way to the hostel...that Tyler wasn't 100% sure of where it was at. He was fairly certain of where it was, but when we got there, it wasn't there to greet us. I had seen a picture of the outside of the hostel and was searching for it when finally I spotted it out of the corner of my eye down a smaller street! Thank goodness we headed in the right direction! We weren't able to check into the hostel until 1pm, but they let us leave our bags there, which was very fortunate. We decided to head back to the train station to head out around 8am to Fussen, Germany which is where the Neuschwanstein Castle is located!

I've been dying to go to this castle for years. The castle was built for King Ludwig II in 1884 and is the castle that Walt Disney modeled the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland after. So naturally, being the Disney fanatic that I am, I HAD to go see this in person. I felt bad because I drug the two boys along with me, but they loved it in the end. It was extremely unfortunate because we couldn't take pictures inside. It was breathtaking. The attention to detail in all of the architecture and finishing is out of this world.

People can take a horse drawn carriage to the castle if they don't want to walk.

Me in front of the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Colby, myself, and Tyler outside the entrance to the castle.

This is probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life.

After the amazingness that was the Neuschwanstein Castle, we headed back to Munich to check into the hostel. We got back to Munich around 5pm, bought some pre-dinner beers at the train station and went to the hostel to check in and relax for a little bit before heading to dinner. After a short break we set out to find the much talked about Hofbrauhaus.

On the way to dinner we saw all of these police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks blocking off all lanes that went into a large intersection by our hostel. Obviously we were curious what was going on because there were no cars or people involved, and no visible accidents. WHAT COULD BE GOING ON?! Then all of a sudden this helicopter lands in the middle of the intersection and out comes these paramedics, doctors in lab coats, and a kid on a stretcher. They start walking towards the hospital that was right on the corner. It was crazy to see such a busy intersection get shut down like that!

We finally made it to the Hofbrauhaus after an adventure through a shopping district, and the place was PACKED. I mean wall to wall full of people. And there were no hostesses to seat people so we had no idea what was going on. Finally we asked someone what we were supposed to do and she said stand by the wall and wait for someone to leave. So that is what we did. This place was amazing. It was filled with, I swear, around a thousand people! And the majority of them were there celebrating a 5-1 Bayern Munich home game win!

After about 15 minutes of waiting we swooped in on a tiny section of a table! First thing we did was order a round of beer. And these weren't wimpy little pints either. They serve beer by the liter at this place. It was really fun to see everyone just sipping away at these HUGE mugs of beer have a fantastic time. The people that we sat at a table with were so nice, and one guy had lived in Seattle for a year! We also ordered dinner there, and that too was superb. The boys both got half a chicken which was amazing and I got veal ragout with spaetzle. MMMMMMM :) After we finished our food we got another round of beers and just chatted away with each other and the people around us. The energy in the place was unreal, I honestly don't think anyone could go there and NOT have a fantastic time!

Round One!

We had to get a picture with the men in lederhosen!

I really don't know why but I absolutely love this picture. The beginning of round two of our monster beers, and clearly in the middle of story time.

After what was most definitely a wonderfully fun night we headed back to the hostel to crash. We had three other people we didn't know staying in the same room as us, but we actually never met them. They weren't there when we checked in or when we came back to go to sleep, and when we had to check out at 10am, they were still sleeping. Oh well, I guess that's the beauty of staying at hostels, you're really just there to sleep.

Since we had to check out at 10am, and our train didn't leave until 4pm, we had a long day ahead of us. And we trekked it with our backpacks the entire time. Typical tourists. We didn't really have an agenda for the day, so we just started walking. I feel like we found something new at every turn we made. Munich is absolutely beauty, I fell in love.

The Glockenspiel in Marienplatz is so beautiful.

We went back to the Hofbrauhaus to take a picture of the inside. Imagine it just filled with people having a great time. And it being super loud.

The outside of the Hofbrauhaus.

After a very tiring adventure around Munich is was time to leave :( I wish I could've stayed longer but we had to go back to classes. One day I really hope I can go with my family. Since my Fah-Jah, Aunt Barb, and Oma used to live there I want to be able to experience it with them. I know the trip would be phenomenal, which is saying a lot since this trip was seriously amazing. I'm still so pumped about this trip, it was one of the coolest things I've done in my life.

For A LOT more pictures check out my Facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=320443&id=672975663&l=8b031a948b

I have to add these because they crack me up. Tyler was testing the shutter speed on his camera while we were waiting to go in the castle.

-Love-

A Nonstop Day

Before I write a little bit I promised pictures from Lugano! These pictures are courtesy of Maddie!

The city is on Lake Lugano. Lugano is a city in Switzerland but is super close to the Italian border. We traveled through Milan, Italy to get here.

All of the walking streets are really narrow like this and made of bricks! I love it.

Myself, Maddie, and Maddie's friend Claudia that goes to school in Lugano.

We went out to an Irish pub in town, I had a really good Hefeweizen, I don't remember the name though...I want to say Hoegaarden?

Today was very nonstop for me. I woke up early to take a shower and then headed out for my 8:30am class. Freaking OB (Organizational Behavior) again. This class is focused on HR management, but he went off on an hour and fifteen minute tangent about accounting. Sorry, wrong class. That was slightly annoying, especially because I was actually interested in what he was going to lecture about from the readings for the week...for once in my life.

A break, lunch, and then another class. After the last class Tyler and I headed to the train station to buy a pass for me to go through Austria since my Eurail Pass doesn't cover transportation through Austria. On our way back to the residence halls we stopped at the little market in the train station for some sweets. I had a hefty slice of plum cake that reminded me of home. I gotta say though Momma, ours is better :) Then it was homework until dinner. And after dinner I had a group meeting.

I really enjoy the other students in my group. They're all from different parts of Europe, so it makes it really fun to interact with them. Alexandros is the only guy in our group and he is from Greece. If he agrees with something I say he always says "bravo" and I love it! I love hearing new terms like that. Knesia is Russian but she pretty much lived in Zurich, Switzerland her whole life. And Anna is from either Russia or Kazakhstan, I don't remember. There are actually quite a few people from Kazakhstan here!

I had a nice like Skype session with Josh, which was rudely interrupted by a fire drill that sent us outside in the negative degrees Celcius weather. Luckily it wasn't long and I got to go back to talking with Josh. It always makes my day even better when I get to talk to him :) Then I got to talk to my Momma for over an hour! That made me really happy. I wish my Fah-Jah would've been home to talk though :( I miss my parents a lot and really wish they could be here with me, but it was nice to finally get to Skype with one of them!

Tomorrow we're leaving for Munich so I've been researching like crazy! I'm happy I did though because I found out that the castle I'm dying to go to isn't in the town I thought it was in! Crisis averted, thank the Lord. But I'm seriously so excited to finally get to go to Germany! It's unfortunate that we only get to be there for like a day and a half, but we'll pack it all it. Lesson 5: ALWAYS double check where you're planning on going/visiting, especially if you aren't 100% sure of the location.

Also today I got a really sweet card from Grandpa and Grandma Mallory, thank you so much for it :) And FINALLY my adapter came in the mail. I don't have to keep pestering people with my borrowing anymore!

-Love-