Berlin!

Hello friends! I had the most amazing weekend! As I said in my last post, me, Liz, Alex, and Leslie went to Berlin from Thursday until Saturday. We were asked to see a ton of historic sights, but also to get a sense for the "vibe" of the city, and to try and understand the character and culture of Berlin. Y'all ready for this????

So, we struggled a lot on Thursday night trying to get to our Hostel. First, when we got off the plane, the money exchange counter was closed. This was a problem because none of us had any Euro's. This meant we didn't have any money to buy train tickets to get to Berlin. Luckily, I had 10 Euro's that Sammy gave me before coming to London, which was just enough to buy the tickets. We hopped on the train, and realized that our hostel stops checking people in at Midnight. It takes an hour to get there by train, and it was already 11:15, so we all started freaking out. We were so fortunate that the lady working the front desk waited for us, because she knew we were coming! We then settled into our room, and immediately went to find a place to eat. We were all starving. But, we had no money, so we spent another 30 minutes looking for an ATM. Thank god we found one, to which we gorged ourselves on burgers and fries. We went back to our hostel, and passed out.

Yummy!

Leslie and her beer!

Museum Island

Me at Brandenburg Gate

Holocaust Memorial at the Jewish Museum

My favourite destination, Checkpoint Charlie!

Friday was so eventful! We woke up and went to Alexanderplatz, which is a popular area just outside the city centre. We went there and were greeted by a huge open plaza, filled with authentic German food. We all got Brotwurst ("When your day is the worst, have a brotwurst" said the nice man who served us), which was unbelievable. Then, we went to an area where they had a "mini Oktoberfest" set up. Here are some pictures. Then, we bought tickets for the hop-on-hop-off city bus tour, which took us to the most important places, such as Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Jewish Museum. We saw all of this in one day! Here is a picture from all of these places! The Jewish museum was very interesting, but looking through the area that is dedicated to the Holocaust was really hard. They have a beautiful memorial outside, called the Garden of Exile, but they also have something called the Holocaust Tower, which is a massive concrete room, that is dark and empty. It is supposed to symbolize the horror and death that occurred during the Holocaust. I went into this room alone, and I started to cry. I can't describe it, but all I know is that I felt 6 million souls just pushing on me, and I have never felt more connected to those people in my life. Alex, Liz, and I talked about the museum afterwards, and we all agreed that our generation will never be able to comprehend anything that happened. It was a very difficult part of the day for me. But, afterwards, we went into the gift shop, and I bought a bracelet with a Jewish prayer on it. It's Shema Yisrael, which means: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one". That whole museum gave me a new perspective on life, and that is that I am probably one of the luckiest people on the face of the Earth.

After the Jewish museum, we went to Checkpoint Charlie, which is the surviving checkpoint for entrance into the former East Berlin. It was controlled by the American's until 1989, when the Berlin wall was taken down. We went into the museum, and it was filled with everything you could want to know about the Cold war and what it was like to live in East Berlin, which was controlled by the Soviets. It was amazing, and the whole time I was thinking about how cool my Dad would think it was. Trust me Dad, Berlin is one of the coolest cities ever! After this, we were exhausted and hungry, so we went back towards our hostel, and found an authentic German restaurant. I got Schnitzel, and Liz, Leslie, and Alex got sweet and sour beef, but I forget the German name for it hahah. After dinner, we went out around our neighborhood, but there weren't very many places, and we got a little lost, so after a while we just gave up and went to bed.

Me at the Berlin Wall

The Holocaust Memorial

The group at the Memorial

Me, Liz, and Leslie planking lol!

My little piece of the wall!

We woke up on Saturday, and had until about 6 PM before we had to go to the airport, so we went back to Checkpoint Charlie to buy some souvenirs. I got my passport stamped 6 times with authentic stamps from the actual checkpoint area, and I also bought a few pebbles from the wall. After this, we went to the see what is left of a big portion of the Berlin wall. Here are some pictures. After the memorial, we went back to Alexanderplatz, where we just hung out until we hopped on our train to take us to the airport. We didn't get home until about 1:30 last night! It was an amazing trip, and one that I will not forget. Today, I'm doing homework, and relaxing. I'm getting family dinner tonight, and the Bills-Pats game is on! LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is a quote to finish:

Elie Wiesel: For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.

I hope I didn't make you all too depressed with all of this! Enjoy life!

Yay! Berlin!

Hey everyone! So, today I got some very exciting news! Me and my Study Tour Group (Liz, Leslie, and Alex) got our travel info and itinerary for our weekend trip to Berlin. We leave on Thursday and come back to London on Saturday, and we are going to see some amazing things, like the Berlin Wall, The Jewish Museum, and the Holocaust Memorial. Alex, who has been to Berlin twice and speaks some German, which will definitely come in handy, told me that the Holocaust memorial is breathtaking, so I am really excited. This week hasn't been too busy so far, but I've got a few assignments piling up because mid-terms are coming up (can you believe it?) I have a History mid-term quiz next Tuesday, and a journal for Art class due on Friday, as well as a 5 page film analysis. So, things are starting to add up! But, once it's all over, I get to go on an amazing fall break!

Later in the week, I'm going to buy theatre tickets to see Les Miserables. I've always wanted to see this show, so hopefully I'll be able to buy tickets. Also, Mumford and Son's (a folk/indie/soft rock band) is playing at the O2 in December, and tickets go on sale on Friday, so I want to check that out also.

Tomorrow is Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish holiday in which we fast for one day in remembrance of those who suffered. So, I will be cranky all day haha. But, when it comes time to break the fast, it will be a ton of fun, because Naeem will be coming with me to a pub called Five Bells, which is literally 100 feet from my house. At this pub, they have what is called the "Flaming Food Challenge". I will not be attempting this, but Naeem will. Here is what it entails:

• Two 12 oz. beef burgers
• Two breaded chicken breasts
• Melted cheddar cheese
• Bacon
• Onions
• Onion rings
• Spicy beef chili
• Chips (what you American's/Canadians call french fries)

Crazy right? If you eat it all, you get your picture taken and get placed on the wall of fame. I think I'm just going to get a steak or something, but I think it will be fun to watch Naeem try to take this down. Anyways, I'll blog again later this week about Berlin!

Here is a quote from the book I just started reading, On The Road by Jack Kerouac:

Sal Paradise: "The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream."

Keep in touch! Stay classy!

Hooray for the weekend!

Hello all! This week has been pretty uneventful. I was busy doing schoolwork, working out (yay!) and booking hostels for my mid term break. We are good to go! We are spending 3 days in Paris, then 3 days in Berlin, and then 3 days in Stockholm, where we are meeting Liz and Leslie. I'm going on my trip with Julia, Hannah, Audrey, and Mike. The hostels are all really close to the center of each city, and are highly recommended, particularly for their safety. So, don't worry. The one we are staying at in Stockholm is actually an old ship that was used for (what else) shipping! It looks unbelievable! This weekend is going to be pretty relaxed, and I don't have a lot of homework to do, which is awesome. Next weekend is our study tours, where we all get split up into groups of four and explore different cities. Me, Liz, Leslie, and Alex are going to Berlin, and Julia is going to Rouen. I'm really looking forward to it. Later this week, I'm going to look into flights for other weekends, and potentially theatre tickets! I really want to see Les Miserables and Matilda, so I'll look into it. Other than that, there isn't much to report. 

As Julia and I are getting ready to go out, we are listening to some good music. I was inspired to put a quote from one of my favourite shows, Parks and Recreation:

Leslie: Nothing gets me more amped than Sarah Machlachlan.

Enjoy your weekend!

Sorry, sorry, sorry!

Hey, all! I'm so sorry I haven't blogged in almost a week! But, not to fear, I am here. That rhymed haha. Anyways, the reason I've been M.I.A for most of the week is because nothing really exciting happened until Art class on Thursday. We went to the British Museum first, and we got to go to a very special room called the Print Room, which is only open to the people who work there, and students. We saw some of the original drawings done by famous painters! We saw some of Da Vinci's early sketches for his David statue, and some pretty cool other ones that I can't remember right now. From there, we went to the Coliseum theatre, which is the oldest opera house in London. We had a tour guide take us around and show us backstage. We also got to go sit in the royal box, and I was even allowed to sit in the Queen's chair! That was pretty cool!

On Friday, the whole group got on the bus to go on our weekend trip to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath. We drove about 2 hours southwest, and went to Stonehenge first.

Me saying, "Wad up with that?"

Leslie and I jumping for joy. Alex (left) looks amused

To say that I don't understand Stonehenge is an understatement. Don't get me wrong, it is truly spectacular (stealing a line from my mom), but I still can't get how they got those rocks there. Me and Mike kept saying that it was aliens, but nobody wanted to seem to jump on that bandwagon. Here are some pics!

Next to Stonehenge, there is a lot of farm land. I mean, a lot. So, when we were done looking at the rocks, me and Liz hopped a fence and started walking around. There were thousands of sheep everywhere, and Liz and I were trying to get close to them, but every time we did, they ran away. Oh well, I hope it wasn't something I said.

View from the top of the castle!

"The pit of despair"-Name the reference!

Following that, we got on the bus and drove another 30 minutes to see a castle called Old Serum. This was so amazing! The castle sits on a hilltop, and was built to prevent enemies from reaching it. The views were absolutely amazing! We walked around the castle grounds for a while, and took it all in. So far, I am loving the English countryside. It's one of those things that if you go, you'll get it. Trust me. Here are a few pictures.

Salisbury Cathedral

Welcome to Hogwarts!

From there, we drove to Salisbury. This town is so quaint and gorgeous. I've been there before with my family, but I totally forgot how cool it is. A bunch of us went to an amazing fish n' chips spot. It's a good thing I joined a gym earlier this week, or else I would be in big trouble. We walked around for a little while, and then we were given a tour of the Cathedral. This place is amazing. When you are walking through the courtyard, it feels like you are walking through Hogwarts, which is an added bonus for me. Anyways, this cathedral has the Magna Carta, and tons of beautiful stain-glass windows. Here is a snippet.

From there, we drove further into the city of Bath. Talk about gorgeous. There are not enough pictures to show you all how incredibly beautiful this city is. I can't describe it. Well, we arrived, and we stayed at a YMCA, which was my first experience at a hostel. It was perfectly fine, as we were in the room for less than 12 hours total. As soon as we dropped our stuff off, me Julia and Naeem went to explore the town. We found some great places to eat and go out that night. We got ready, and then a bunch of us took Bath by storm.

On Saturday, we were given a walking tour of the city. While we were on this tour, we discovered that there were a lot of people dressed very strangely, as if they were right out of the Victorian era. Well, wouldn't you know it, there was a Jane Austen festival in town. She wrote some of her novels there, so every year, the city has a festival. It was so cool to see these people walking around everywhere we went. After the walking tour, we were given the afternoon to continue to explore the city, and obviously, go see the Roman Bathes. Me, Julia and Naeem went for lunch, and then went to the Bathes.

Bath Abbey in the background, Bathes down below

I'm quite the rebel. The sign said no!

This place is an amazing site. You can't believe how well preserved these bathes are. The whole place is breathtaking. We walked around and saw the different bathes, one cold and one hot spring. It was awesome! I can't tell you in words, so again, pictures. After the bathes, we went to the Fashion museum, which was pretty cool. They had an area where you could dress up Victorian style, so I helped Julia put a corset and dress on, and Naeem got all decked out. It was pretty funny.

After all that in two days, we took our four hour bus ride home. This was good, because I had a lot of time to read my book. It's called Unbroken, and its written by the author who wrote Seabiscuit. It's an amazing story, I recommend it to anyone. Anyways, today, I slept, and did some homework, and we have family dinner soon, so I'm signing off.

Here is a quote from my favourite movie, the Lion King:

Timon: Hakuna Matata. It means, "no worries!"

Loving life

Hey Everyone! Sorry that it's been a few days since my last post, I've been really busy with schoolwork. But, here is a little recap of the last few days.

On Thursday, I had to give a presentation to my History class. My presentation was about David Lloyd George, who was the British Prime Minister during WWI. It went pretty well, and I got a 3.5 (85% for all the Canadians), which I was happy about. Then, my afternoon class was Art. Our class met at the National Portrait Gallery, which is directly behind the National Gallery right by Trafalgar Square. This gallery was really cool. They had tons of different portraits dating back to the Tudor era. We looked at portraits of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. After this section, we moved on to the Victorian era, and saw a tons of portraits of Victoria and Prince Albert. This was so amazing, partially because I love the movie that was made about these two, called The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's great. Anyways, the actual Victoria was nowhere near as pretty as Emily Blunt, but it was cool because our art teacher pointed out that this royal couple was the first to marry for love, rather than for reasons of wealth, or power. After this, we moved on to 20th and 21st century portraits. We even saw J.K Rowling's portrait, which obviously made me happy. There is even a portrait of David Beckham (hottie) and Kate Middleton (my nemesis. She stole my boyfriend, remember?). This was one of the coolest exhibits I've seen.

Olympic Stadium

After the gallery, a bunch of us went to Stratford, which is where the Olympic Park is. It sucks because you can't really get anywhere near the stadiums, but I took a beautiful picture of the Track and Field Stadium. It was cool to be there, and after we figured out we couldn't get in, we went to the mall they built right outside. It was really fun. They literally have every store you could think of, and we saw some athletes walking around there also.

Naeem, Mike, and Peter at Buckingham Palace

St. Paul's Cathedral

Mike, Richie, Peter, Audrey, and Leslie at the Tube

On Friday, our whole group was given a bus tour around the city of London. One of the best things about this was that our tour guide was constantly pointing out significant places that have to do with Harry Potter. Leslie and I were really only excited when the guide said, "this is the street where you can get to the Ministry of Magic" hahahahah. Anyways, we've been making a list of all these places so that we can do one big trip! We went back to Buckingham palace, and to a lot of the places that Julia, Mike, and I went to. But, I still am not bored of it. The tour was very long, and we went from one side of the city to the other. We also saw St. Paul's Cathedral, which was so beautiful. Then, Julia and I came home, and got ready to go out. We had another fun night out, with the tube ride being particularly interesting. We got a little lost, but we found our way.

Princess Diana memorial.

The Palace!

Today, Julia and a bunch of the group took the opportunity to go on a weekend Homestay with an ethnic family. I wasn't interested, so Audrey and I went to Kensington Palace, and hung out there for the day. They have a beautiful gate area, where people have left notes and flower in memory of Princess Diana. This is the palace where William and I... I mean Kate (sorry, we get mixed up a lot), will be moving in a few weeks. It is so beautiful there. We sat in the garden and read all day. Tonight, we are going to see a movie. We are both way too tired to go out again. I need to catch up on sleep.

Anyways, in honor of Harry Potter, here is one of my favourite quotes from the books:

Dumbledore (to Harry): Do not pity the dead. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love.

Peace out.

So much sightseeing!!!!!!!!!!

Hey again! I've had an awesome few days here. First, on Monday, the one class that I was supposed to have was cancelled!!!! Every kids dream! In the morning, I went to the British Museum to take some pictures of the art we looked at for my Art History class so that I wouldn't forget what we saw. Then, I went down to Green Park to meet Jen Etkin for lunch. Jen is my brother Adam's best friend from Colgate, and she lives in London. It was really nice to catch up with her. She was so nice and gave me lots of advice on stuff to do and see. She invited me over to her new apartment for dinner next week, which was so nice. Anyways, after that, I went and did some homework, and then got an email from Bob, our program director, asking if anyone could babysit for his two kids that night. So, I volunteered, and hung out with his 11 year old Jackson and his 7 year old Mason. Jackson is very quiet, but really smart and funny once you get him talking. Mason is quite the firecracker. That kid is so energetic and so funny. We had a good time, the boys taught me how to play Xbox Kinect, which was pretty cool. After I put them to bed, I did some more homework, and went home when Bob and his wife Candace came back from the theatre.

Today, I had history class in the morning. 9:30, yuck. I was up at 7:45, which is the earliest I've been awake since I've been here. But, I love the class. Keith is so funny and knows so much about the most random things. It's also nice that Liz, Michael, and Naeem are in the class also. Otherwise, it would be me and all the freshman haha. After class, the four of us grabbed lunch, and then me, Michael and Julia went on a sightseeing extravaganza. Here we go...

It's hard to see, but Prince William is in the window winking at me. Kate was not amused haha.

The square/fountain outside the palace

We took the tube to Green Park, and walked through the park to Buckingham palace. To anyone who hasn't been there, you have to find your way there. It truly is spectacular. When you get there, you can't stop staring. We missed the changing of the guard, but we still caught a glimpse of a few of them. We stood there for about 15 minutes just gawking at the palace. Michael, Julia, and I kept saying, "I can't believe I'm looking at this right now". Amazing!

After the palace, we walked through St. James's Park, which is also beautiful. We then made our way towards the big leagues, and by this, I mean Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben.

While we were doing all of these things, I kept thinking to myself that people who live and work in this area walk past these amazing monuments everyday, and don't even notice it. This idea baffled my mind. I feel like I would get lost in gawking at all this stuff. Maybe it's because I'm a huge dork, but oh well. I don't care.

Downton... whoops, I mean Westminster Abbey.

As you can imagine, Big Ben and the Abbey are crazy beautiful. Here are some pics. After these amazing things, we kept piling it on. We walked along the Thames, and looked at the London Eye!   We also found a hidden gem. We found this beautiful monument to soldiers from WWII. I found this particularly touching, as my grandfather was a pilot for the U.S Air Force during the war. It was so beautiful, and while I was looking at it, all I could think about was Gramps, and remember how lucky I am that I am there because of him.

This one is for you, Gramps.

Big Ben!

London Eye!

After all of that really heavy stuff, we kept on walking and saw the royal guards. Julia and Michael made silly faces at them, which did not break there concentration. While we were there, we saw the Chinese Paralympic team. I still think that those athletes are incredibly talented and motivated, it really is cool to watch them compete. After that, we checked out Trafalgar Square, which is being used for coverage of the Paralympics. We also happened to bump into the Canadian Embassy. I felt very at home looking at all those flags!

A guard that was much taller than me. Who isn't?

Trafalgar Square!

Oh Canada....!!!

Then, we made our way through the National Gallery. We didn't stay very long, as we were all very tired. I really can't believe we did all of this in one afternoon. I really want to go back to the area all the time. I don't think I will ever get bored of looking at all of that cool stuff. We came home, and our host dad Mark made us dinner. He is a really good cook! We had grilled salmon fillets, sauteed veggies, and potatoes. Now, I'm working on a presentation for class on thursday and relaxing. Hope you have all enjoyed being jealous of what I get to do everyday! Oh, and you will also find a long awaited photo of our host dog (lol) Coco. Be jealous. She is really posing for you all.

Today's quote comes from Oscar Wilde. He once said:

Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.

The National Gallery!

Werk it, Coco!

Exhaustion

Hello faithful. This weekend was crazy! Friday night, a big group of us went to O'Neil's (remember the old church?) to start the night off. Here is a nice picture of me and Liz at the pub! After O'Neil's, we made our way back to Piccadilly Circus, where we went to a nightclub. It's called Grace, and it was really nice. The top floor is this casual, laid back bar, and the bottom floor is a massive dance floor. It was packed with people! Me, Liz, and the rest of the group were dancing our butts off all night! We were making fools of ourselves a little bit because of how well we knew every word to every song that came on! Especially single ladies. If you didn't know, I get mistaken for Beyonce all the time.

This doesn't do the fish justice haha.

Julia, myself, and our friend Audrey had planned on going to the Tower of London on Saturday, but we "accidentally" slept until 1 PM. We were out pretty late the night before, and were all really tired. So, Julia and I sat in our room and did homework. I know, that's a bit of a bore, but yah know, I'm not just here to stay out all night and sight see. I'm trying to be responsible about my work so that I don't fall behind and get stressed. The last thing I want to be in London is stressed about school work. So, Saturday night, Julia, Audrey, and I met at this fish restaurant in East Finchley called Posedon. Our host family said they have some of the best fish n' chips in London, and they were right. It was also the biggest piece of fish ever put on my plate. Take a look!

After dinner, we hung out at our house for a while, and then met a bunch of people at a different club called East Village. This place was bigger than the last place. And, we basically made fools of ourselves again. I'm the worst dancer, but one thing I am good at is Tebowing. So, me and Leslie pulled that move quite a bit. Anyways, today, we had brunch at this cool place called Barracuda in town. They make great omelets. Then, it was more homework, and family dinner! Now, I'm relaxing and getting ready for school tomorrow. I'm meeting my brothers friend from Colgate, Jen Etkin, for lunch tomorrow. It's been 3 years since I've seen her, and I'm looking forward to it. Also , if you all get the chance, read about what my parents are doing on the West Coast. I'm so proud of my Mom for doing what she is doing! It's really amazing. Here is the link: http://duchessweisbarth.blogspot.ca/

And now, to quote the cartoon cat Garfield:

I hate Mondays.

Until next time, thanks!