University Students Strike

University students are striking against the "more american" propsals for the university system. This is right outside of my school

This makes me never want to leave...

Alps

Sunday Funday in Londy

We had a pod to ourselves on the London Eye. 450 pound discount. DEAL.

Saturday in London

Big Ben. Before the houses of Parliament tour.

Friday night in London

LONDON

Thanksgiving in Italy

getting ready to make the stuffing

stuffing completed!

finished!

bomb turkey

I had a great thankgiving in Milan!

Milano siamo noi. FORZA INTER!

I have had ZERO comments on these cool pics. I mean, I think they're pretty cool. I'm sure you agree. So send them some love, or me some love.


I finally went to a soccer game here. Woah, craziness. Here is a quick picture (or 3) and then I am off to bed. Ciao! Go Inter!

Christmas is here!

I was on the metro home tonight when I realized I didnt have a photo of the day that I was totally thrilled with. Instead of getting off at my normal stop I got off at the Duomo to see how the christmas decorations were going...This is what I found! The lights arent up yet but the tree is completed.


I love Milano.

Picture for Monday

I saw this on the way home from my friends house last night. Really?! Good luck getting out of this one! ( You might not be able to tell but the middle car has approx. 1/2 an inch on either side.)

Alicante- Some other picutres

Here are a few more for you to enjoy!

The Marina

 Sunset from the castle

Downtown Alicante at night

Alicante- Picture of the Weekend

I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Alicante with some of my favorite people. There is a clear winner for the picture of the weekend. It doesnt need any explanation. I'm glad to be reunited with some of my best friends!

Picture of the Day-Day 2

Ciao! Obviously one picture a day is not going to work out. I can't pick one good thing each day because so much happens! I guess thats better for all of you. And by all of you I'm pretty sure thats no one since no one reads this.

 On thursday's I have lacrosse practice. The picture on the left is of some of the girls on the team. Fra on the left was a little tired so she is sitting. That would definitely never fly on my teams at home! They are so much fun and I love going to practice. So the picture on the right was also taken at practice. We practice in the gym of a local church and one of the balls bounced right into the bathroom and into the toilet. I was surprised to hear this but upon investigation I realized why it was so easy for the ball just to "roll in". Yes, that toilet is part of the ground. Because the girls dont have many lacrosse balls to begin with we couldnt leave it in there. One of the girls had to fish it out with a bag. Imagine one of those doggy poop bags. Thats how it was done. Gross. But either way, it was a great story and a new experience!

 Yay! The tree is going up at the duomo. They are putting it up very oddly though. They brought the trunk of the tree in and then they attach the branches on one by one. Very weird but I dont know any other way they would do it.

After class today I didnt want to go home so I decided to go do some cultural things. I heard about this church that is near the duomo so I decided to go check it out. All of the walls are made of skulls and bones. I'm not sure if you can tell in the pictures but it's super creepy. I'm glad I saw it. It's unlike any church I've ever seen. I stumbled upon it while I was searching for something online and I knew I had to see it in person.

I recently created a Milano bucket list. I only have one month left in Milano and I want to see as much as I can. I will be broke pretty soon so I will be staying home the next few weekends. I'm off to Alicante, Spain tomorrow to visit some friends. My friend Erin is studying there and Sarah from Santa Clara is meeting us there! I can't wait to see them!

Since I wont be here the next few days I will update my picture(s) of the day on Sunday night or Monday!

Dopo!

A Picture a Day- Day 1

So I'm really terrible about updating this blog (obviously). Don't fret. I have been keeping a journal since I got here. I write in it everyday and have over 150 pages of wonderful stories to share. I am really bad at doing both the blog and the journal.

So today (November 17th) means that there is only one month more of IES and then I have another 3 weeks with my family. I can't believe it has gone by so fast. I was talking with my friend today and she met a nice Italian who takes a picture a day and posts it. I loved the idea and I have decided to start doing that. I don't have the time to write a lot each day but, as you have heard a million times, pictures say a thousand words. So, for the next month or so, I will post one picture a day here (except for when I am traveling). When I have time I will try to write a little bit but I'm hoping the pictures will be enough. For those of you who actually read this (which is probably no one) feel free to ask me about how it's been so far. I love to talk about it!

 I couldnt pick just one picture today. This will probably be the case most days.

 I've told a few of you about the parking issues in Italy. This is just one small example of the chaos. Yes, those cars have been parked outside of my house all day. Yes, this is the sidewalk. No, no one is in the car. Yes, it's illegal. No, they dont have tickets.

 Usually they are touching. I am not sure how they manage to get out of these "tight" situations. Basically, I dont think they count on their cars staying scratch-less for too long.

I just couldnt resist this one. Christmas has finally arrived! They are starting to put up lights and trees all around the city. I cant wait for the big tree at the Duomo. There is nothing prettier.


Get excited for day 2!

Arrival to London

Hey everyone!

This is the message I wrote 2 weeks ago and sent out over email. I will post it here for you to enjoy. Check back for more updates on my adventure!
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Cheers from London!

           I just completed the longest leg of my journey to Milan! According to my watch it’s been about 18 hours since I took off from Seattle... but, because of the time difference it’s actually been about 10 hours since take off. Before I left my parents kept reminding me that it wouldn’t be too bad of a flight since it's actually not that long.... Well, it’s the longest flight I have ever been on and they know how fidgety I get on car trips.  I guess it’s easy for them to say it’s an easy flight because when they come to visit me in 3 months they will be sitting in business class. I guess I will find out how they feel later on.

          Taking long flights with considerable time changes is much more disorienting than I thought. I closed my little window to fall asleep about 2 hours into the flight. I wasn't tired but it was already dark  and I knew I needed to get some sleep so I can keep up with European time. I was flying over the great state of North Dakota when I finally fell asleep. According to my IPod it was around 9:00pm Seattle time. That was the earliest I've gone to bed in a longggg time.  I was in and out of sleep over the next few hours. To my astonishment when I decided to wake up it was 8:30am…London time. For those of you know don't know better that correlates to about midnight Seattle time. Initially, I was so proud of myself for sleeping through the night but I soon came to realize that was definitely not the case. So, all in all, I maybe slept 2 and a half hours.

          My lovely smelly seatmates were fast asleep just as I needed to get up to stretch out and begin some much needed work. Needless to say, neither of those things happened. I may or may not have bedsores from not standing up for 10 hours. Also, it was about 120 degrees in my cabin (obviously super conducive to a good night sleep). British Air was nice enough to provide me with a pillow, blanket, eye mask and toothbrush/toothpaste combo pack. One thing that they forgot was to provide some air. In that kind of heat I expect to get a tan. That didn’t happen either.

           Now, no more complaining. How could I complain when I am about to start an incredible adventure? I can’t! That’s why even the long and smelly parts of this travel so far have been tolerable. Also, my mom assures me that I will smell much worse on my first metro ride when I have a large smelly Milanese man standing next to me with his armpit in my face. She loves to keep things in perspective.

           I was hoping for an internet connection here in London but, I have had no such luck. I have a mini Italian dictionary with me so I am planning out all of my dialogue for the next 24 hours. There is  no way I will be able to sting sentences together but I am hoping to get by with a few random words. I pray that they meet me halfway with this whole conversation thing. I am not sure what to expect in terms of conversing with the Italians when the extent of my Italian knowledge is what I have learned from Gilly sketches on Saturday Night Live. (http://www.hulu.com/watch/101509/saturday-night-live-gilly---art-class).  At least you can laugh from home when I post about these lovely first encounters. I hope you will find it extremely entertaining and considerably less frustrating than I will. I hope a smile and a simple “Ciao” will win over the Italians I meet the first few days. If not, I will have to stick to what I know. Spaghetti, vino, and gelato.

           As for London, I am enjoying the accents. This whole metric system is a little confusing but all I am learning is that Americans are obnoxious because we have to do everything different. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of that. 

           This airport is like a shopping mall. Imagine your gate in the middle of a very upscale shopping center. People are buying their purses, clothes and electronics right at their gate. I am currently sitting across from a Prada and a Chanel. Guess what I saw as soon as I stepped off the plane?....Starbucks. I am not really surprised. 

           Unlike what I was hoping for, not all the men in London are as handsome as I thought they would be. I was expecting David Beckham to walk by every few seconds but at this point I have realized this is wishful thinking. I should have realized this would be the case when one of the British Airlines flight attendants (who is British) was considerably less good looking and humorous than his American twin, Dwight Schrute…and we all know that Dwight is no hottie in America.( http://www.google.it/images?rlz=1C1GGGE_enIT396IT396&q=dwight%20schrute&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=it&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=656) 

           Here is a preview of what’s ahead. After my 4 hour layover in London, I  board my 3 hour flight to Milano. As soon as I land, per my friend Chad’s request, I will eat a Milano cookie in Milano. I will post the picture as soon as possible for your enjoyment. When I land it will be about 6:45pm local time in Milan on Sunday August 29^th. That will conclude my 24 hour voyage. (It was actually about 18 hours of travel but because of the time change it is 24 hours from the time I left.) When I arrive in Milan I go through customs then find the Malpensa express train. Malpensa airport is about 50km from downtown Milan. For those of you who struggle as I do with the metric system, that’s about 30 miles. The train will drop me off at the main train station in Milan. From there, I am taking a taxi to a hotel for the night. The hotel is located just a few minutes’ walk from my university and the apartment I move into tomorrow. If all goes well I should be settled in my hotel by 9pm. If I feel safe and I plan what I will say, I plan to venture out to find Spaghetti, vino and gelato. Congrats to me for my first real alcohol purchase. I feel like I cheated the system since I don’t turn 21 until October.

           Lastly, feel free to email me and ask me about my time abroad! I will me more than willing to tell you all about it and I know my parents will be happy with me if I keep in touch with family the next few months. I will post pictures on facebook as much as possible. I don’t have all of the aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents emails to please pass this along to whoever cares enough to listen. I hope all is well! Send me your address if you want a postcard!

Toodaloo,

Lauren

29/08/2010

12:30pm

London, England