1 Day to Go: The Iconic Image

Wow. I can't believe it's here. Tomorrow I leave for London! I have my commencement tonight and my flight tomorrow. It's really all happening quite quickly even though it didn't feel like it would 17 days ago. It's only the beginning though!

When you think of Paris, you think of the Eiffel Tower. When you think of London, you think of the clock tower and Big Ben. It's just a fact of life. Okay so if you've actually been to these places I suspect you may think of something different, but most of us live off what's on the shirts and bags and other merchandise they sell this side of the pond. I saved this one for the last day because it's the "iconic image" of London.

18/18: Elizabeth Tower / Big Ben & The Palace of Westminster / Houses of Parliament

While Big Ben is the name of the Bell, it's sometimes used as a nick name for the tower as well.

(If you see the London Eye in the background and wonder why on earth it wasn't on the countdown, just remember I like free things...)

Really, I could go on and on about the history of Westminster in general, but I'm content thinking about seeing it on Saturday <3

So, with that, I leave you! See you in London! (Or possibly the airport...)

~Jamie

2 Days to Go: Run Forrest, Run!

That's right folks, 2 days until I leave for London and today is almost over! I feel so unprepared even though I know I'm as prepared as I can be at this point. Anyway, today's post came as near the end as I could put it so I could change my mind if I chickened out.

17/18: Fulham Palace Parkrun 5k

Ever since I was in High School, I thought it would be a good habit to get into running. I thought I would like it and be good at it. I've been pretty much wrong about that. I even bought some nice Nike shoes to encourage me to go running. That didn't work too well. I have pretty crappy endurance. So, last year I made a goal to run a 5k. I didn't give myself a date to finish it by, but to run an official 5k and work up to a half marathon in Disneyland. I don't know about half marathons, but I thought I could make 5ks my thing. I even bought an app to help motivate me. It's called Zombies, Run! and it combines your music playlist with a story and zombie sounds (to help you run faster obviously). I have used it a wimpy 3 times. I know, I know. (It's a great app though, and I recommend it!) So what in the world is possessing me to put this on my countdown if I'm not really good at running? Well, for one thing, it's free. All you have to do is register online and bring your paper with your barcode so you can get an official time!

It happens every Saturday at 9am in Bishop's Park with an average of 150 runners every weekend! (so, low stress) Some people are competitive and run it to break records. I will obviously not be doing that. I wanted to sign up for a Disney run this fall, but alas, I don't have the money. I have to spend it on London stuff. (I'm not mad about that ;)

~Jamie

3 Days to Go: What Have I Done...

Well, I messed it up this time folks. Remember that night when I was exhausted from work and decided to change my post to Trafalgar Square because I "forgot" to put it on the countdown? Well, I must have been delusional because that was what today's post was supposed to be about. Yes, that's right, I have nothing to write about today except places I've already written about.

16/18: What I missed in Trafalgar Square and Little Venice

One of the reasons I was going to write about Trafalgar Square wasn't necessarily just for the art museum. Another thing I meant to write about was Nelson's Column. A 170 foot tall monument to one eyes, one armed, Admiral Horatio Nelson who died defeating Napoleon in the battle of Trafalgar. 

And did I mention there are four lion statues you can climb on...

I'm not going to lie though, I got that column mixed up with THIS column-

THIS column is THE Monument. THE monument to THE Great Fire of London in 1666. This column is 202 feet tall AND you can climb to the 311 steps to the top and look out over the city.

As far as Little Venice goes, I left out a HUGE thing! I love how stupid I was when I posted that picture and said that was all. (I don't love it, I love that I got a second chance to highlight the main reason I put it on my countdown!) 

Canalway Cavalcade. 

Every year Little Venice is home to festival called Canalway Cavalcade. And the dates? May 3rd-5th. Our first weekend, THIS WEEKEND. The festival has a pageant of boats, bands, trade stalls, competitions, dancers, food, everything a good festival has! AND it's my favorite word. FREE.

Aren't you glad I fixed my mistake? I sure am!

~Jamie

4 Days to Go: Going North: Part 2

This is part 2 of my travels outside my program abroad. This one is less certain since we don't have tickets, but plan on paying for and taking a bus while there. Nevertheless, I will try my best and will be sad if it doesn't happen.

This little (probably day) trip will happen on our "long weekend". Basically, there is a Monday where we don't have class nor a show to see and the Friday event is in the morning so we get three and a half days instead of two for a weekend. It's like a vacation from school, so I knew we HAD to do something spectacular. This is my choice.

15/18: Cardiff, Wales

Cardiff claims to have the largest concentration of Castles in the world, so there are plenty of historical sites to see. 

Then there's beautiful Cardiff Bay,

 next to which is Roald Dohl Pass with the Wales Millennium Center, a center for theaters, restaurants, shops, and museums.

 The pictures could go on forever, but here is why I wanted to go in the first place (before I found out about the castles).

Okay, so, I like Doctor Who. The Doctor Who Experience is more than a museum of tons of sets, props, and costumes, it's actually an experience. You go through an actual story and "adventure" before they let you into the interactive museum and (eventually) shop. I haven't done any research on the story (I like surprises), but just going to the exhibition that may close in 2017 is on my life bucket list, not just my Study Abroad to do list.

I think Cardiff is an all around wonderful choice for a quick holiday ;)

~Jamie

5 Days to Go: Going North: Part 1

Today's post will be part one of a two part series on travels outside of England. 

Once upon a time, I bought my plane tickets six months in advance to get a good deal. I'll admit, it was probably a little early to do so, but I wanted to buy myself plane tickets for Christmas, so I did. What ended up happening was that I accidentally bought my ticket back for the 17th instead of the 14th, when the program really ends. Don't ask me why. I don't even know how I did it. I do remember it was late at night... When I told my friend about it, she said she did the same thing! (Maybe the tentative dates were different.) I was relieved because I bought my ticket through a booking company and couldn't change my travel dates without a huge fee. We decided to use the extra three days to travel. After considering Paris for quite a while, we finally decided that it would be best to stay in a county that   spoke English.

14/18: Edinburgh, Scotland

We chose Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, for a number of reasons. True, they don't have a Disney Park, but they also don't resent American tourists. I am super excited to visit Scotland, even though it will be the end of our trip, it will be the cherry on top!

I've been Pining pictures of Edinburgh since we decided and I can hardly stop. It's SO beautiful.

While I don't know much of what we're going to do there, I NEED to have a picnic on this grassy lawn next to Edinburgh Castle and the Sir Walter Scott Monument. I'm getting giddy just looking at these pictures. You know what makes it even better? We're taking the train from London to Edinburgh. Like, classic train across the green country with food and stuff. I can't think straight I'm so excited.

~Jamie

6 Days to Go: ...What Was I Doing?

It's days like today that make me so happy to be gone in less than a week. Again, I know I'm not going for vacation, but I know it's going to be therapeutic to not have to go to work and instead just focus on plays in London. I've already read my first four reading assignments and started my fifth. All that's left now that finals and work are over is Graduation and packing. If you can't tell, I worked a long, exhausting double shift today and I'm miserably tired so I apologize for the short scatterbrained post.

13/18: Little Venice, Trafalgar Square, and The National Gallery

I had planned for today's countdown to be about Little Venice and the boat rides you can take down the canal. It came to my attention, however, that I hadn't put Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery in my Countdown and Little Venice would basically take a sentence and a picture. So here it is, Little Venice.

I'm not claiming I'll take much more time on Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. I'll admit I know nothing about paintings. I never took art history, I don't know what the colors mean or the shapes. But I do like to look at paintings. Especially Monet, because, remember, I'm obsessed with flowers. I also REALLY love Vincent van Gogh's work. Both have artwork hanging in the National Gallery at the heart of Trafalgar Square.

And get this, the fountain has LED lights in it, so at night it looks like this-

If there's anything I love more than flowers, it's lights. (Or maybe sleep.)

~Jamie

7 Days to Go: Gardens

I am obsessed with flowers. Really, I should've been a florist. Flowers and gardens and all sorts of greenery. Did you know that 1/3 of London is garden? I wanted to do a post about Hyde Park since we'll be living so close to it as well as Kensington Gardens, but then I did research on most of the gardens and now I want to see them all! Instead, I'll highlight some that are particularly famous and or beautiful. (Mostly with pictures, since describing them would be almost pointless.)

12/18: Hyde, Kensington, St. James, Primrose Hill, and Hampstead Heath

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in London being 350 acres. It's even larger when you group it together with Kensington, totaling 625 acres.

Both parks have a handful of memorials and statues to see, including; The Princess Diana Fountain and Playground, memorials to the victims of 7/7 and the Holocaust, Marble Arch, the Peter Pan Statue, The Albert Memorial, and more. Not to mention the carousel in Kensington Gardens.

St. James, another Royal Park, is famous for being a good place to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace. It also holds the Queen Victoria Memorial.

Primrose Hill is located inside The Royal Regent's Park which also houses the Open Air Theatre and the Zoo (and tons of roses in Queen Mary's Gardens!). Your walk to the top of Primrose hill will earn you a magnificent view of the city.

Although not a "Royal Park", Hampstead Heath is a giant 790 acres.You can go swimming, bird watching, kite flying, see a concert, boating, look at statues, walk through woods and unusual fauna, fishing, and picnic near a small zoo or ornamental gardens.

And it's all free, my favorite word.

~Jamie