Friday, March 30, 2012

Day 84: Update

Here's my last post for a couple weeks folks! I'm off on midterm break! With the exchange course I'm doing here in the UK, the regular semester break dates that coincide with the North American schedule didn't work out. It was decided that we'd go along with the other university's break, which works out even better!

I'm off to Italy and Spain until the 11th of April!

first stop, Venice!

Too excited about this, and there's so much stuff I'm going to see. I've been to most of the cities we're going to, with the exception of Barcelona, but I'm just as happy to be going back again. I'm going to eat as much gelato as I can stuff into my face.

So, on that note, I hope you all have a happy Easter break or spring break or whatever reason you have to get a couple of days off! More posts on everything I've seen during these two weeks when I return, and the countdown to returning back to NL will begin!

Til next time!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Day 75 & 80: London

Of course since Boyfriend only had a short time here in the UK, we had to take a couple of trips into London to see the sights. I'm putting two days together, not in order even! It's just easier this way.

Day 75, Wednesday, we left after my class to go and see a few things. We started at Camden Market, near the Camden Lock, which was super cool but so overwhelming. Around every corner, there was more shops and little stores selling jewelry or purses or so much food. I found a little vintage store and dug out two gorgeous silk scarves. Literally looked through scarves for about 20 minutes while the Boy sat. It paid off though! I kept seeing things that looked so cool but I'm reminding myself that midterm is approaching at a rapid pace. He managed to find new sneakers at an actual store on the Camden High, so it was a win-win situation.


inside one of the sections of the market

From the Market, we headed down on the Tube and towards the Thames. One of the top sights on the Boys list was the London Eye. I don't mind heights, really, but the big giant wheel that seems suspended kind of freaked me out. The boy was enjoying it, he seemed quite amused by my fear. I didn't get really bad until we got about half way up, then looked down. Not a good idea if you are afraid of heights or squeamish at being in a giant egg that's suspended on a giant wheel. The view was worth it, but I will not be doing it again! Definitely something you have to do though. Pictures from the Eye below, no captions necessary!















where I spent my Thursday night :)
Click through for Monday's adventure!


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Day 77-79: Liverpool

Weekend number 2 of Boyfriend's stay was a trip to Liverpool to see his favourite soccer team, of the same name. The train ride to Liverpool started the on the Friday after my alumni dinner. We stayed in London the night before, just because of the ease of moving from the hotel to train station as opposed to having to get back to London from Harlow. I managed to kick us both out of bed to make it on the 11 AM train heading out.

on the train, first time taking a long ride for the boy!

the hotel lobby

welcome sign.
So naturally, since we arrived in Liverpool, the first thing to do was a tour of Anfield. We arrived about 2 and headed to check in at the hotel. Once I managed to laze for a little bit, we hopped in a taxi and headed for the field of dreams.

I have never seen my boyfriend so happy as I have once I saw him standing on the sidelines. I know he would have loved to get a ball and go for a kick on the pitch, but they had very specific signs telling us to not do that. He didn't stop smiling til we left, and I think he was still ridiculously happy just being that close to the home of the LFC.



in the LFC store, where the giddy smile starts

neither bit happy.

tour guide sitting explaining the press room


second tour guide, showing us the away team dressing room

 posing with jerseys, L, and touching the infamous sign, R

After the tour of the interior of the stadium, and seeing the infamous sign proclaiming Anfield, we headed out to the pitch. Tried to figure out where our seats were and we managed to narrow it down pretty well.


sitting in the manager, King Kennys, seat

genuine smiles. sigh.

rules.

one in front of the pitch

supper at the "Boot Room" after the tour

tasty tasty carbonara
We had supper after the tour then headed back to the hotel. A quiet night, just had a drink in the bar of the hotel. It was pretty nice, I even managed to get decent wifi. A pre-requisite for all lodging now. The room was nice, close to the train station so we heard the announcements which was annoying but not terrible, but the lack of air-conditioning nearly killed me. We left the fan on the second night so I didn't sweat to death, but night 1 was rough.

Saturday morning was up early for breakfast and then game day! There wasn't much else to do besides get ready and head to the field, so we walked around aimlessly for a while before finally finding the bus station. Lots of sign with no real information in Liverpool. Nice enough as a city though. We got dropped off next to the stadium and found a bar to go in a get the first drink of the day. I think we would have drank more had we been in a group, but it was a nice experience anyways. I even had a beer! (big deal for me). The game was better than I thought it would be, even though they lost 2-1.

liverpool threw up on us and this is what came out lol

"lots of room in the outside bar"...should have seen the inside!

pre-game snacks

the match day lounge our tickets gave us access too. surreal.

view from the seats, while sitting.

happiness?

being stupid, but still happy lol

theme song... you'll never walk alone!

after the one goal.

post-game sadness.
Click through for Sunday's sights!


124. Dress up, look pretty, sound smart?

The title of this post was the story of my Thursday night, the 22nd. So last Thursday. I had studying to do earlier this week, so this is as close to on time as we're going to get in this month people.

So, why did I get all dressed up and try to impress people? An alumni dinner, held by my university for alumni living in the UK. We've got a private campus over here, and a board directing the operations of MUN UK. Pretty cool actually. There was a lot of important people and many related to the coordination of the Harlow campus. The coolest part about said dinner, where we got a 3 course meal of yummy free food? The location! We were in the Houses of Parliament in central London for this dinner. Now, I don't know about you, but I didn't know that you could have function there.

Driving to central London in a coach was a daunting task, since I was seated near the front and got to see the massive amounts of traffic. It took a long time but it was a good ride anyways. The driver even pointed out a few tourist points along the way, before we hit the most brutal traffic.

First part of the dinner, once we got in through security and had our name tags and such, was pre-dinner drinks along the terrace. On the Thames. With a view of the London Eye. Oh surreal life, please don't end. The next coolest part of the dinner? My roommate and I were seated at the President's table. The students were scattered around and we just happened to be placed there. It was interesting talking to the more important members of MUN, those who are from NL and those who weren't.

view from the Terrace
the girls
No pictures from the dinner, or of the food, since we weren't allowed to take any in certain areas. Those two were stolen from Harlow friends lol. The dress code said "lounge suit", so we all Googled and tried to dress accordingly. I took the opportunity to wear my skirt as I hadn't before. Love the color of this still. Definitely going to be back in rotation for this summer's workterm. 

sheer top - Ross? / tank underneath - Bluenotes / skirt - H&M / booties - Naturalizer

I didn't know what shirt to wear, so I tried tucking the sheer one I've shown before on the blog. I really like how it turned out. If I hadn't had to adjust it so much, due to long tank and shirt I would have liked it even more haha. A black cardigan, as shown in second picture, was kept on just for modesty's sake. Overall a win of an outfit.

That's all for today! I'll try to update on my weekend past soon, before I leave for midterm. More on that later!

Til next time!