It Comes in Pints? I'm Getting One!

Ok, I know it’s been a while. Fall break plus a stressful week after midterms lead to a delayed blog post. But I’m here now!

Texas Embassy

So I guess we’ll start with what happened after ReyRey! We got back on Monday night and absolutely crashed. Tuesday was a pretty chill day; didn’t actually do much during the day but we had big plans for the night! We started out with dinner at the Texas Embassy where we enjoyed overpriced fajitas and margaritas. The second floor of the building is completely devoted to Texas schools and they have literally every college’s flag hanging from the ceiling…except SU’s. Not surprising. But it still felt the most like home since we’ve been here. From there we headed straight to the theater for a showing of Wicked! It was amazing, as usual. Eighth time’s a charm! After the show, Isaac and I headed back to our respective flats and got ready for our trip to Paris the next day.

Paris, France

Because we had booked the first train from London (the 5am train) we had to take night buses to King’s Cross which is a long and tricky task. We left our flats at 3am and made it to the station and through security just in time to stop and get our metro day passes and board the train. Two hours later, we arrived sleepy but excited in an overcast and gloomy Paris, France. Since I had already been, this day was Isaac’s and I was just along for the ride. First things first, we needed food. We headed in the direction (or what we thought was the direction) of the Louvre in search of a cheap but delicious breakfast. We enjoyed our croissants and wandered around the city. That’s basically all we did that day; we wandered from major site to major site, taking pictures and enjoying the day. We got lost a few times on the metro system just because neither of us spoke a word of French so reading their signs is just a nightmare. But we made it. We must have walked more miles that I want to think about that day but we gratefully collapsed in our train seats that night and arrived back in London around eleven, just in time for me to wish my wonderful man a very happy birthday!

I spent the rest of the week doing absolutely nothing productive and enjoying having the flat to myself (Bree was in Ireland).  It was great to have time to myself to just read and do whatever I wanted. SOO relaxing.  The next week brought about the second half of the semester’s classes. We got our grades back for all of our midterms which stirred up some intense turmoil with professor Hylton’s classes. We had two meetings with CAPA faculty and a meeting with Dr. Futamura who is our SU liaison while we’re here. At one point, we actually broke out the SU Student Bill of Rights to create an argument for getting our grades changed. At the conclusion of everything, I think we’ll be alright but this semester isn’t what any of us wanted or were even expecting as far as classes go. It wasn’t what we were promised by the SU study abroad people and we’re definitely a group of confrontational students so both CAPA and SU know exactly how frustrated and disappointed we are. But we only have 6 more weeks of classes left. Sigh.

Oxford

Christ Church College Dining Hall

But today was our last excursion from London. We headed out at 8am for Oxford. It was really cool in its own way. Oxford is mostly a college town but Oxford University is a combination of something like 30 different colleges. And not like colleges like we have where they’re different departments of education, more like houses…kinda like the Ivy League houses but on steroids. The city is gorgeous and we even got to take a tour of the Christ Church’s dining hall which was used as the model for the Great Hall in Harry Potter. There were four long tables, and another long table at the head and the room was lined with long, beautiful windows that lead to a high, vaulted ceiling. The staircase that leads to the dining hall was used in the first and third movies as part of the entrance to Hogwarts. I WALKED WHERE DANIELLE RADCLIFFE WALKED. It was awesome. After that, we made our way to Shakespeare’s Milkshakes and downed some yummy deliciousness before heading off to The Eagle and Child, the pub that C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tolken frequented together. And that was pretty much the end of our tour. 

Yummy Milkshake!

The Eagle and Child

We just got back and Bree and I are relaxing before gearing up for the week ahead. My parents get here on Tuesday so it looks like I have some cleaning to do before they get here! As always, more pictures are on Facebook!

Go Big or Go Home!!....Or Go Home Big....

Hey E'rebody! Sorry it's been so long-midterms got kinda crazy and before I knew it, Fall Break was here! This is probably going to be another novel so just buckle up, cross check, and verify!

So on Friday six other SU students and I left for Reykjavik, Iceland. To be honest, I was so worn out from midterms, I wasn't the most enthusiastic about this trip. I kinda just wanted to stay home and sleep but I knew it would be an experience that I couldn't just back out of. So Friday morning we headed out to the airport. We flew Icelandair which was nice except that they all speak Icelandic and no one could understand the pilot except for the Icelanders...Luckily we didn't die in flight or anything. But the Icelandic didn't stop once we landed. It was EVERYWHERE. I think that's the first time that I've truly felt like an independent adult-walking off the plane into a city where everything is in a different language, with no phone, no computer, and no parents. It was weird. But we made it to our bus and got taken to our hotel. On the way, we passed through the lava fields. That had to be the most unusual thing I've ever seen. On one side of the bus was the Atlantic Ocean with snow-topped mountains from Greenland in the distance and on the other side was this black volcanic rock that created hills and mountains with bits of green moss and grass pocking out. It was such a strange contrast and it was absolutely beautiful. We got to our hotel, checked in, and quickly headed out for dinner. We spent the rest of the night eating, relaxing, and watching Icelandic cartoons. (Don't judge-we took this trip to RELAX).

In the middle of the night, a terrible storm came through and when we woke up, it still looked like a hurricane outside. We ate breakfast and by the time we were done with lunch, it looked like it had cleared up a bit which was nice because we had a horseback riding tour of the lava fields in the early afternoon. One of the best parts of this trip was that we had already paid for everything so little things like the taxi that picked us up to go to the stables, had already been paid for. We got a REALLY nice taxi driver who taught us a little about the 900-year-old glaciers that make the water so fresh and so blue. We were a little sad to get to the stables but that sadness quickly faded. We were given rain gear (just in case) which actually proved useful during the ride and then we were assigned our horses. I was given Solei, a tiny little horse with a personality. All the horses in Iceland are purebred, Iceland horses. They're both shorter and thinner than any horses I've seen so that when you ride, you're not straddling the saddle so much as sitting on it. It made the two hour horse ride much more comfortable to say the least. We rode through the lava fields for a long time and eventually it did, in fact, start pouring again but none of us minded. About half way through the ride, I realized that if I squeezed my knees, I wouldn't bounce so much when we trotted which was nice then but I definitely didn't think ahead to how sore I would be...But the ride was nice and we ended up seeing two full, complete rainbows along the way. It was the very definition of a Double Rainbow! Unfortunately, by this time my hands were so cold from being wet, I was afraid to pull out my camera but apparently some of the others got those pictures so maybe I can find it and put it up later. But it was really beautiful. 

When we got back from riding, we showered and headed out for dinner. There weren't a lot of restaurants near by but we asked the front desk what they recommended. They pointed us to a burger place that was about a ten minute walk away. Coming from London we are all officially great walkers. That is definitely a benefit of staying here. So we made our way over there. It was BY FAR the BEST burger I've ever had. In my entire life. Seriously. The name of the restaurant, when translated from Icelandic, is Burger Factory. Look it up. And then go to Iceland just to eat there. Over the course of the four day trip, the seven of us ate there three times. That's right. Three days in a row. IT WAS THAT GOOD. We had different burgers each time and even varied our desserts. The first visit I had a chocolate milkshake, the second a strawberry Skyre cake (like cheesecake but SO much better), and the last visit, a coffee milkshake. DELICIOUS. Seriously, I'd go back so many more times. Ok, I'm done Steen-ing out about food.

After dinner, we walked around by the bay across the street from the hotel and then headed to our bus to take us on our Northern Lights tour. This was honestly the most disappointing part of the trip. We got picked up at 9:30 and headed out about an hour away from the city to get away from all the lights. And then the rain came back. But our tour guide was determined. We waited and waited and waited and finally it "cleared up" so that in between clouds, you could see what looked like more clouds in thin lines. Our tour guide called these thin, white lines the Northern Lights and forced everyone off the bus to see them. By this time it was 1:30 in the morning and none of us wanted to get off. So we didn't. It was dumb. We got back to the hotel between 2 and 3am and completely crashed. 

After sleeping in, we headed out for lunch (at the burger place, of course) and then went shopping around the town. They had some really cute little stores but EVERYTHING was so expensive. I've yet to find a city that is cheap. It's quite annoying. But eventually we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap. The best part of the trip was yet to come. 

Our bus to the Blue Lagoon picked us up at 4:30. It was about an hour's drive out there but it was SO worth it. The lagoon is a natural hot spring set in a bowl of hardened lava basically. So you're swimming in a natural pool built by cooled lava and filled with a natural, sulfuric spring. The water is this milky, baby blue color and it ranges in temperatures from Luke-warm to scalding hot. We did everything. We got drinks/smoothies from the swim-up bar, we applied the natural facial masks that they provide, we stood near the geyser to get the warmth of the foul-egg-smelling steam on our faces, we hit up the waterfall and the sauna. We got our money's worth. And it was all worth it. The best part was that we were outside the whole time so while we soaked, we got to see the full moon come up and the stars pop out. It was absolutely gorgeous and the perfect way to end our trip. Little did we know that although we were leaving the lagoon, our perfect night had yet to end....

 

Like I said, the Lagoon was out in the middle of nowhere. When we got on the bus (the last one to leave the lagoon and head for the city) we noticed everything around us turn green. The Northern Lights had finally come out to play! Once everyone got on the bus, our driver took us away from the lights of the lagoon and let us take pictures for a while. I must say, I LOVE MY CAMERA. Although they would have turned out better with a tripod, I was one of the few people with a camera able to capture the lights. So enjoy what I got even though they're blurry and grainy. It was absolutely wonderful-definitely the perfect way to end our trip. Everyone was having all these reflective, retrospective life moments and I could only thank God that He created this world with things like the Lights to keep us constantly in awe of His splendor. Honestly, it was mind-boggling to see His artistry in watching these lights dance above us and I'm honored that He chose to share them with us. 

Monday was our last day so naturally, we headed to the burger place for lunch and then to the airport. As wonderful as Iceland was, I was ready for London. I missed my computer and thus my contact with all of you. I will say, however, that the silence of Reykjavik will be missed GREATLY. It was so quiet and peaceful compared to London. 

I'm back for the day and am going to see Wicked for the 8th time tonight! It really never gets old! But tomorrow, Isaac and I are headed to Paris for the day. He'd never been so I offered to go and show him around...what I remember, at least. We're leaving at 3am and we get back between 10 and 11pm. It'll be a long day but it'll definitely be fun. And tomorrow is a special day for another reason! Steven Jones turns 21 tomorrow! Happy Birthday, Honey Bear!!!!!!! (Don't hate me for advertising your birthday, I'm allowed to celebrate your life. So just hush.)

I'll probably post again later this week. After Paris, I don't have anything planned so I'll probably just be relaxing around London and doing some things I haven't gotten to do yet. So ya. Hope you enjoyed and you're doing well!!!

(For More Pictures, as always SEE FACEBOOK)