Kiss me! I'm (not) Irish!

    When studying abroad in the UK, what else would we do but spend St. Patrick's day in Ireland?! Since the land of the leprechauns is only a hop and a skip away from England, traveling there was quite easy. It seemed as soon as the plane had leveled from our take off, the captain announced preparation for our descent! The flight was approximately 45 minutes, the shortest I had ever been on, I wish all travel was this simple! There was not much of a change in scenery, we left cold, rainy, gray Guildford to arrive in cold, rainy, gray Dublin! Dublin was decked out in St. Patrick's day decor, from the moment we stepped off the plane into the airport, there were orange, green, and white balloon arches, shamrock decorations, and Irish flags wallpapered the airport. Our hotel was spruced up for the holiday as well. We stayed at a Hilton, the usual, but this hotel was quite a trek from the city center of Dublin, in fact, there was really nothing nearby the hotel aside from a bus stop and a Tesco supermarket. The employees of Tesco became very familiar with our group, as we were in the shop every day. It was there that we purchased our St. Patty's accessories, our snacks, medicine,(we needed aspirin for the uh...elevation change of course...) and whatever else we needed, Tesco was the place to go.
     Until our Irish adventure, I was not very familiar with public bus systems, but I had become a pro at hailing taxis, as well as traveling via train and underground tube. I learned very quickly that no one in all of Dublin knows how to give proper directions. At the beginning of our study abroad experience, I would have blamed myself and my travel companions for our lack of directional skills. However, we are now expert navigators, and the directions given to us were simply rubbish. We spent half of our four day trip walking in large circles around the city, and going down incorrect roads on the buses.
    A public bus in Dublin is the last place you want to get stuck on for an extended period of time, there are quite a few characters inhabiting the city. Safety in numbers is all I have to say about that one. There was also a language barrier issue, you would think that since we all speak English we could communicate effectively. Not so much. I could not understand half the things that were said to me with those Irish accents! I thought the British accents were confusing, but this was like a whole new language!
    The most ironic part of the trip was that we met more American and other various nationalities than we did Irish folk. Apparently, all of the locals flee the city during St. Patrick's day because they don't want to deal with all of the rukus of the celebrations. The tourists then replace them. I don't blame the locals leaving, the town was one massive sea of green, drunken fools. If I was not one of those fools I probably would've hated the experience. We adopted the "if you can't beat em, join em mentality" of the weekend's debauchery.
     The entire weekend was filled with holiday themed events, with St. Patrick's day being the main event. We watched the St. Patty's day parade down the main street, drank green beer, watched the Ireland vs. England rugby match on T.V. in a pub, and had Irish car bomb drinks. Funny thing about those drinks, apparently it is very politically incorrect to order those in Ireland, although it is perfectly acceptable to order them back in the states. Luckily, our bartender was not insulted, he just advised us to not use that name while ordering, oops! You learn something new every day...I was lucky that I did not get thrown out of the pub from yelling at the top of my lungs and rooting for England during the rugby match along with my other exchange friends. We had to be faithful and cheer for our adopted home!
    At the end of our last night, I met a girl who also went to Bloomingdale High School! She graduated 4 years before me and now works in the hospitality industry, now I have a great new contact! It really is such a small world. We also took a tour of the Guinness factory, which really is the only thing that Dublin takes pride in. It was an interesting experience to see how the beer is brewed, we learned the history of Arthur Guinness and how the "black stuff" came about.  I'm not usually a fan of beer, more of a wine or cider gal, but Guinness isn't half bad! We even got to enjoy a complimentary pint after our tour, the was everyone's favorite part.
     I hiked yet another mountain! It is becoming my tradition of traveling to a new country. We grew tired of the dirty city of Dublin, and went in search of the picturesque countryside. Our main goal was to see "the rolling green hills and sheep," as we envisioned Ireland to look in our minds. We took the train about two hours outside of the city and came across a beautiful shoreline and mountainous coast. This mountain was a bit more rugged than the one in Barcelona. It was about a 50 degree incline, not even exaggerating. We had to grasp the roots peeping through the ground to haul ourselves up, there were no nice stairs or cleared paths. At one point I dropped my scarf in some shrubbery and when I attempted to put it back on, found that there were sticker thorns all over, and lord knows what else. Once we reached the top, I could feel every inch of my legs burning, mouth dry and in desperate need of water, and my heart was beating faster than a hummingbird. But the view was once again worth it. We finally got to see sheep! And horses too, and gorgeous hills, there was green everywhere you looked.
   On our last day, we decided we should be cultural and see the important architecture in the city. We toured Trinity College, the oldest college in Ireland, which was absolutely gorgeous. We viewed the Maggie Malone statue, and General Post Office building on O'Connell. We became very familiar with the Temple Bar district, as well as the famous Temple Bar in the Temple Bar district.
   Unfortunately, the luck of the irish was not with me. On this trip, my black eyeshadow shattered and pigmented dust covered my entire makeup bag and some of my suitcase, my curling iron broke, and I was carrying a bag of shot glass souvenirs in the rain and the paper bag ripped sending my glasses catapulting to the ground, of course they shattered. The funniest part was, on my first day I bought a key chain with a real four leaf clover in it to give me good luck, and that broke too! Even with the minor setbacks, Ireland was yet another successful adventure!

At the fountain of the Guinness Factory

Yay for pints!

Shamrock face paint is always fun

O'Connell St. for the parade

Irish Car Bombs!

Green beer is a must on St. Patty's

The coat of Dalkey, Ireland

All beach towns must have a carnival

Not the ideal beach to go barefoot on, look closely at the pebbles instead of sand

View from the top!

I'm the Queen of the worlddddddd!

Dalkey Sunset

General Post Office of Dublin

Trinity College

Maggie Malone

Public Park 

The famous Temple Bar, serves the best green beer in town!

My Surrey family line, Grandma Kait, Momma Aly, and Baby Dessi <3

    

Donde Esta El Disco- Barcelona

I absolutely fell in love with Spain! Such a beautiful country(especially the weather.) Locales son muy amables y la comida es delicioso!(Very nice locals and great food!) I had finally just gotten over my nasty chest infection before our trip to Barcelona...so I was ready to have some fun! My travel companions consisted of my best friends in our exchange student group. We planned this trip rather spontaneously, we saw an ad for very inexpensive flights, and decided to just go for it!  We stayed in a Hilton as usual, compliments of Aly's discount.
        The start of our voyage was not exactly according to our plan...we did not really think our "cheap flights" through and we realized that in order to catch our 6am flight, we had to arrive to the airport at 4am, meaning we had to leave campus at 3am. The trains don't run that early/late(however you would like to view it) so we had to order a taxi van. The taxi driver could not find his way around campus so he was 30 minutes late to pick us up. We were late getting to the airport and slightly stressing out. Then, everyone in my group passed through security perfectly fine, but of course I was stopped. Normally, when someone sets off the alarm in security, TSA agents just use the little wand and wave it over them to make sure they don't have any weapons. However, at Gatwick airport, you get frisked. A female agent had to pat me down(for a good 5 minutes) including checking the inner lining of my pants(so awkward) while the rest of the people waiting in line were staring and my friends were laughing at me. To this day  I will never know what set off the alarm, but I was just happy to make it on the flight alright!  Our group decided it would be easier to just not sleep the night before our flight, rather than trying to wake up in the middle of the night. Once our flight landed in Barcelona, it was 8am and no one had slept a wink. I had the honor of a wonderful duo behind me, a crying newborn and an unruly 5 year old who thought it was a great idea to kick my seat for the entirety of the flight. But none of that mattered, we were in BARCE! The taxi ride from the airport to the hotel felt just like I was in California. The topography and the weather were very similar, so beautiful. After our pleasant ride down the coastline, we finally arrived at the hotel.

       I have to preface this next paragraph by emphasizing that we are all college students, and therefore, very poor. We thought it would be an intelligent idea to cram 4 people into a room. That way, we would only need to pay for 2 rooms for 8 people rather than 4 rooms. Sounds great on paper, but not so much in practice. We all know now that none of us would make it as a spy or an agent in the secret service, we are about as inconspicuous as fireworks in a church. But what do you expect from a group of Americans and Aussies in the middle of Spain? The front desk not only told us that we would have to purchase more rooms, but then proceeded to lecture us about how we did not know the value of the euro(of course not, we know the value of the dollar) and how we should be more respectful towards hospitality companies(um, what is my course of study?)  Needless to say, we were not well-liked at the front desk, but we did stay and ended up buying extra rooms. We managed to win over the staff by the end of our stay, though! The hotel was a stunning property, very modern with a breathtaking view of the shoreline from our room. There was also a luxe pool on the roof, unfortunately it was still slightly too chilly to enjoy some swimming.

         I was thrilled that I was able to practice my spanish with the locals. I was amazed by how much I actually remembered, I haven't taken a language class since high school. It made me motivated to try to become fluent....Rosetta Stone soon? There is this idea: "everyone speaks English in Europe." This is definitely NOT the case in Spain. Only one other girl in my group and myself had any spanish speaking training, and thank goodness that we did. We had to translate for the rest of the group when getting directions, on taxi cab rides, and ordering food. It was so strange to see a McDonald's menu in Spanish! Some places had employees that spoke English, but I actually preferred being fully immersed in the culture and being forced to speak the language to get by. The time our linguistic skills was the most helpful was when we got lost. We went into the country side(the middle of nowhere) to go to the Highlands Park for a stunning view of the city. Halfway through our journey, we found out that to get to this high point, we would have to hike up the side of a mountain. Apparently there are no outdoor elevators in the countryside of Spain, go figure? You did read that correctly, I did go hiking, outside, amongst the nature. I think my body didn't know what to do with all the fresh air that I breathed in that day! I obviously wore my designer boots whilst shuffling through mud and rocks on this epic hike. The trip was well worth the view, it was amazing! Once I stopped wheezing and regained my normal breathing patterns, I took in the sites. Mis amigas and myself had a picnic lunch, how is it that food always tastes better at the top of a mountain? The hike back down was much easier, but the sun had begun to set, and we had no clue how to get back to the tourist area and to our hotel. In the countryside, NO ONE speaks any English. There was not one bus, taxi, or even a horse to ride back to our hotel. Luckily we came across a very sweet elderly gentleman that was very helpful. My friend and I explained our situation(in spanish) and he called a taxi for us on his cellphone and waited with us until the taxi arrived. He told us that we reminded him of his granddaughters and that he hoped someone would do the same for them if they were lost in a foreign country. We called him our abuelo de vaccaciones, our "vacation grandpa," such a saint that man was! 

    We ate tapas and drank sangria every day, it was quite the good life. In the spanish culture, people do not eat dinner until around 10pm, and do not go out to the clubs, know as discos, until 1am. Our first night out we were sightseeing all day long and then were out at a disco until 5am the next morning! Somehow sleep is irrelevant when on vacation in a foreign country. I danced with some of the locals and I felt like I was in the movie "Dirty Dancing, Havana Nights." Wrong country, but right story line.

    We could not visit Spain without seeing some Gaudi artwork. We were amazed by the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, incredible architecture! We also visited the Picasso museum, and the Museo de la Xocolata(Museum of Chocolate, my personal favorite.) We had to take advantage of the scenery and spent one of our days at the beach and visited a few local parks. It was a very successful trip! As corny as it is, when I left, I knew I left a bit of my heart in Spain, mi corazon es en Espana...I know this won't be the last time I see this gorgeous country!

Tapas y sangria!: Everything has the face on it still...

El Disco

Our hotel and transportacion

Amor= <3

Probably written by the front desk staff...

La playa

Yum?

Our view from the Highlands Park after hiking

Sagrada Familia: Gaudi

Coming home after a night out...watching the sunrise, then going to sleep

Arc de Triumph....not in France

      

London Bridge is Falling Down, Nope Just The Rain Falling

Since we have 4 day weekends here, it has been very convenient for us to go on mini trips. Last weekend, we decided to go into London for an adventure. During the day, we saw the sights, mostly the touristy areas, but we found some less mainstream and exciting areas to explore as well. I have come to find out that if there is a 20% chance of rain or greater, that means it will DEFINITELY rain in England. I need to invest in a better umbrella, the one I have is now blown inside out from the wind. On our adventures, we walked across London Bridge, and saw the Tower of London. You know something is truly breathtaking when it is still beautiful when it is surrounded by freezing rain and glooming gray clouds. We wanted to take the tour of the London Tower, but by the time we found it, tickets were no longer on sale for the day. I plan on coming back again soon!
   I have become an avid tea drinker since my arrival and my acculturation process to the UK. However, drinking lots of tea is never a good thing when there are no free public restrooms in sight. I think that my group visited every Starbucks in London to use their facilities. I can't waste 20 precious pence on the loo! After our daytime adventures, a group of us decided we were going to spend the night in a hotel and go explore the London nightlife. We went to the largest night club of the city. It is called The Ministry of Sound and is known worldwide. It was the biggest club I had ever been to! We danced the night away...and danced til the sun came up, literally. The club didn't close until 6AM and we left at 5:30AM.        The best part of the adventure is that we were unaware that the underground is closed until 6:30AM, so upon leaving the club, we didn't know how to get back to our hotel. We were told by staff at the club that there was a night bus that would take us to our hotel, so we waited at the stop. And waited. And waited. But the bus never came. After waiting outside in the cold in our clubbing outfits and high heels(not warm or practical) we finally hailed a taxi to take us to the hotel. Ten minutes and ten pounds later, we were back in our rooms. We had a 4 hour nap and then it was time to check out and take the train back to Guildford.  The rest of the weekend was spent reading for my modules and recovering from our night out. Who knows what next weekend will have in store!!

I finally have my own castle! ;)

In front of London Tower

The Olympic count down clock in Trafalgar Square

The fountain in Trafalgar Square

My Surrey Family getting ready at the hotel

So much fun on our photoshoot in the rain!

We are becoming pros on the Undergound

Oxford

   The student's union here is so great. Not only do they let us have crazy parties, but they also sponsor inexpensive day trips for students. Today I went to Oxford via bus with a large group from school. It was a 2 hour ride by bus from my campus. The town is absolutely beautiful. So posh(and so expensive.) I would give my right arm to be able to attend grad school, or even re-do my undergrad experience, at Oxford University. It is the prettiest campus I have ever seen. It blows away Harvard or any other Ivy League school. We spent the day in the town and on Oxford's various campuses. I had no idea that parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed on this campus. As I was walking through the various libraries and courtyards, I could almost hear the Hogwarts theme music running through my head, I felt quite witchlike ;) It is such a historic town, there is an epic story behind every building and statue. We were too cheap to pay for the guided tours(overpriced,) so we did some research on our own and learned quite a few fun facts. Our group ate at a pub for lunch, and of course I had to order fish and chips! I could live off that meal forever...good thing I did quite a bit of walking today so I won't end up looking like a cellulite- filled fried fish! No gym membership necessary when one is touring and jet setting about Europe.

Glasswork in a cathedral in Oxford

I think I fit in quite well on campus....

Even the gates are beautiful( to keep out the undergrad folk)

The hospital scene from Harry Potter was filmed in this library entrance

Coat of Arms

One of the academic halls on campus

The clock tower in the courtyard of Oxford

A fountain that looks like it came to life out of The Secret Garden

The Oxford Christ Church campus cathedral

The dorms on campus...I want to live here

More sets of Harry Potter filming, I <3 Oxford!

  
There is a small group of us planning a trip to Ireland for St. Patricks Day, I'm sure that will be an amazing experience! I need to start searching for some posh green accessories to be prepared for the holiday. Tonight is my first evening that I've spent in my room relaxing since I left America, it was much needed. I am finally getting over my nasty cold, but I'm trying to avoid a relapse. My body hates me when I don't let it sleep. There just aren't enough hours in the day to explore, study, and sleep, so unfortunately I always seem to sacrifice sleep. The days are even shorter here than back home because the sun sets around 5:00pm, or 17:00 as we say here. All of the stores also close around sun down, so forget running any errands at night time. This is probably a good thing, since it is even colder after dark, no one should be running around in the chilly night air. Planning on running some errands tomorrow, but I will be sure to post any new exciting adventures soon!

Uni Life

Having fun playing in the snow in front of my dorm before a night out

My next door neighbor and good friend Zara

The courtyard in front of my dorm

My view from my window

Picnic tables on the campus square

SNOW SNOW SNOW

This school is absolutely amazing! As much as I have loved my time at UCF, I wish that I could've spent more time here at the University of Surrey! Everything is so different here. The professors have a completely different mindset. I love how their teaching is focused on hands-on experience as opposed to text book learning. My favorite class is Event Management. In a class that I took at UCF with a very similar syllabus, my class planned the Rosen College of Hospitality Career Fair. This is the most dull and non-glamorous event possible. Here at Surrey, my group mates and I have the creative license to plan any event we like as long as we use one of the on campus venues. This is very easy to do, on campus we have one full-service restaurant/ball room, one pub, one club, one lounge, and numerous outdoor locations(once the weather is more pleasant, of course.) My group has decided to plan a big party! The team that makes the highest profit on their event will receive the highest marks. Back home at UCF, the campus is so conservative, basically we aren't allowed to attach anything risky or risque to the schools name. Here, the school sponsors crazy events! Some of the past events that the student's union has hosted included mud wrestling, fireworks, and entertainment provided by strippers. Basically, as long as the proceeds go to charity, anything goes. I think that is why my group got a little carried away...we have so much freedom we want to do the extreme of everything! Our event won't occur until until April or May. Our top theme choice is an ABC(anything but clothes) party. Attendees would be required to wear anything except conventional clothing( beer cans, tape, toilet paper, balloons...etc) the more creative, the better! We want to rent out the biggest club on campus, which holds 1,500 students. The party will be complete with a DJ and educational themed decor and a huge raffle. A big endeavor! The title would be ABC Party for Education and we want to donate all the proceeds to a children's education fund here in Guildford. So excited! My other classes are Sustainable Tourism, Operations Analysis, and Consumer Behaviour( notice the British spelling of "behavior"...I'm adjusting!) For the most part I am interested in all of my courses and am looking forward to learning the European ways of my industry. Classes are only on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so I am free to travel the rest of the week(and study some, I guess...) The weather has dropped this week and we are experiencing record lows in the city, of course that would happen my first week here. Today was a whopping high of 32...yes a high of 32 degrees FARENHEIT...thank goodness for fleece-lined tights, they are my godsend here! More to come about more travels!

Settling in!

   I am finally settled in to my dorm in Guildford! It definitely is a tight space...but isn't nearly as tiny as I was expecting. Luckily, I have an ensuite toilet and shower, so I don't have to go down the hall to shower or use the restroom. I hate the faucets that they have here, they make no sense. Instead of one knob that you turn to the hot or cold side, there are 2 knobs, one that is scalding hot and one that is freezing cold. So when washing my hands or face, I have to choose whether I wasn't third degree burns or frostbite, not logical at all. 
   On the plus side, it is snowing!! Light flurries began last evening and got heavier overnight. When I woke up this morning to look out my window, I had a beautiful view of the campus covered in a blanket of snow! I have seen snow on the ground before, but I have never seen snowflakes fall from the sky before, it is an incredible sight! We had our orientation at the school 2 days ago. There are close to 200 international students in the exchange program, I had no idea that there would be so many of us! It was so much fun to chat with everyone about their different cultural backgrounds and to swap stories about our schools. Everyone here is so nice! All of the other exchange students are in the same boat that I am, we are all trying to make friends since no one knows anyone here. After our orientation, one of the local girls threw a housewarming party for all the exchange students in her flat nearby campus in town. There, I met even more people! I feel like I have made hundreds of new friends in the past few days. The school has an activities programme that organizes trips for the students. I will surely be taking advantage of this. Some of the upcoming trips are to Amsterdam and Paris Disneyland! It is so reasonable to travel here on the trains, so traveling won't have to break my bank. 
   I went into town yesterday with a group of students to purchase groceries and other necessities. What an experience that was! I will appreciate my car so much when I return back to the states! In the grocery stores here, there are no push carts, only little hand baskets. Locals don't do large amounts of shopping at once. Unfortunately, I had NO food to my name and had to buy many groceries. By the time I left the grocery store, I had 4 bags in each of my hands. Heavy bags filled with milk, and glass jars, and heavy produce. Keep in mind, town is about a 2 mile walk to the edge of campus. It's a lovely little stroll when your hands are free and it isn't 26 degrees out and about to rain/snow. My friends and I had to carry our bags allllll the way to campus, and then once to the edge of campus, my dorm is the complete opposite side of campus, so that's an additional 15 minute walk for me. To make matters worse, the plastic bags here are very very thin, and while walking across campus my bag ripped, spilling all of the contents(including a glass jar of mayonnaise and honey) only the cobblestone road. Of course, the jars shattered and my food was ruined. Then I had to stuff my pockets of my jacket and my purse with the remaining items from the broken bag to carry them to my room. 
    When I woke up this morning, my body felt like I had been training for a triathlon. Everyone knows that I am not the most athletic person on this earth, and I have been nonstop moving this whole week. The hardest part about moving around is that the town is located on so many hills, my poor legs are used to flat Florida and my calves are beginning to hate me for making them work to go up all these hills. No wonder Europeans are so skinny! I feel like I should reward myself with a whole cake and ice-cream or something equally high in calories for all the working out I have been doing. 
    I have been pretty sick with a nasty cold this week so I plan on taking it easy today, although it is very tempting to run around outside in the snow and have a snowball fight like a child... The Superbowl is actually really big here, a lot of the British love American football, and the bar on campus is hosting a party tonight to watch it. I will be sure to make an appearance for the good food that will be offered, but due to the time change, the game will be beginning at midnight here. I just really don't care about sports enough to stay up all night just to watch the game, especially when I should be resting to get rid of this cold! Cheers for now! <3

Gotta Be The Good Life

PURLOINING

I even found Disney in London!

London Bridge is falling down...nope it's not, good thing!

There is sunshine here!

Beautiful cathedral

Big Ben!

   Today was our first official day in London. We got a chance to explore the city finally! Yesterday was a whirlwind spent checking into the hotel, napping, and getting our phones set up. Our hotel is absolutely beautiful (props to Hilton and to Ali for getting us the hookup) My only problem is that our internet has been somewhat sketchy which is why I haven't had the chance to write sooner. Our arrival was nearly flawless, with just a few minor hiccups. Upon entering the European Union customs check point at the airport, I was almost not let in because I did not have a visa. I had to explain to the customs officer that for my business in England, a visa is not mandatory since I am a student. After about 15 minutes of more questioning, the officer seemed content with my reasoning and my extensive paperwork that I had shown him. Phew! Since our flight was a red eye overnight, we were exhausted as soon as we checked into the hotel, and our jet lag didn't help with our sleep deprival. All 3 of us American girls decided to save money and stay in a room with 2 double beds instead of getting 2 rooms. Based on our experience in the USA, this would not be a problem...2 queen beds, one of us would sleep alone and the other 2 would share a large bed. However, here in the UK, they only have twin beds in double rooms. Dessi came up with the ingenious idea of pushing the 2 twin beds next to each other so that all 3 of us could fit horizontally on our newly Macgyvered bed. Surprisingly, it was quite a comfortable sleeping arrangement. By the time we finished napping and went to the local mall to get our sim cards for our phones,  whole day was gone, thanks to the time difference. We fit a plane ride, bus ride, and train ride all into 24 hours, it was quite the day for traveling! 
   We also had to exchange our American dollars for pounds, that was an extremely depressing experience...We got so excited when we first made the exchange because the conversion booth gave us 540 pounds in exchange for our combined 600 dollars(they don't charge a commission if you exchange a certain minimum of money.)We were jumping for joy, we weren't going to be as poor as we thought we would be! Nope, wrong. The conversion bank teller chased us down and told us she had exchanged euros for pounds instead of dollars for pounds. She then processed the new transaction and we ended up with 340 pounds. Again, very very sad. We didn't even buy anything but, poof, our money was gone. Guess we will have to really start living like poor college students now. Ramen noodles will be our new gourmet meals! 
   Today was the coldest day I have experienced in all my life!!! We woke up to a very nice full hot breakfast at the hotel, which of course we gobbled up our share and then purloined half of the buffet that remained. Food is so expensive here, we are learning to take every chance we get to have free food and drinks. Our hotel room is currently filled with yogurt, about 10 mini jars of jam, rolls, whole fruit, Babybell cheese wheels, and sandwiches made from bagels and the breakfast meats and cheeses from the buffet. All of our leftover food really came in handy during lunch when we were able to have a lovely free meal! Guess there really is such a thing as a "free lunch!" 
   We are slowly but surely learning our way around the train and tube system. I never in all my life thought that I would have so many transportation options. When traveling, one can choose to take any of the following transportation methods: tube(underground or overground rail), taxi cab, public bus, train, private car, or tour bus. It is wonderful! We have found that the most inexpensive methods are tube, public bus, and train. We finally found a map(and made many friends today) to help us with our train and rail navigation...the whole process can be very tricky for someone who isn't used to public transportation, but luckily the entire system is color coordinated, which helps. If worst comes to worst and you go the wrong way, you can always  hop back on the next train and go the other way! No biggie.
   I don't think I will ever get used to the road system. I am so thankful I will never have to sit behind a wheel of a car over here. Even when crossing the street, we never knew which way the cars were coming, or which lanes were able to turn left and which ones turned right. Some intersections don't even have cross walks so jay walking is inevitable and it is a free for all battle between the vehicles and the pedestrians. We unfortunately do not have the home field advantage...Something else to get accustomed to! 
   I am also quickly learning that I will get looked at like I have 3 eye balls if I say certain American words across the pond. So far my old English lessons have taught me trash=rubbish, bathrooms/restrooms=toilets, thank you= cheers, and don't even think about uttering a "y'all" if you would like to be socially accepted in the UK. This is exactly what I came here for, to learn and try new things! 
   My biggest hangup is the weather. Contrary to popular belief, England does have a sun, and it does shine on occasion, but it is always cold. Not like Florida's idea of cold(anything below 70 degrees.) It is like the arctic tundra here. No amount of clothing can keep you warm when the wind starts to blow. Today was a high of 32. That's right, it was 32 degrees at the WARMEST point of the day. Hopefully my blood will thicken just in time for my to move to the mountainous, and also freezing, Colorado. While out today, we did most of the touristy things. We visited Big Ben and the houses of Parliament(not to be confused with Parliament House in Orlando. ;))  We also took our fair share of photos in front of double decker buses, telephone booths, and pretty cathedrals and monuments that we had no knowledge of. All in all I would say it was a great day. As the song goes "Woke up in London yesterday, found myself in the city near Piccadilly....Oh, this has gotta be the good life, this has gotta be the good life, this could really be a good life, good good life....yes it is ♥ Can't wait for tomorrow...