Natalie's Europe Blog

I'm Back :-)

2008-05-05T20:19:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone!
I am safely back in the good USA. Hopefully, if I haven't seen you yet, I will see you again really soon.
I apologize for being so late with my posts. I still have more to share from Greece and Turkey and will hopefully put those up in the near future.
Can't wait to see those I haven't yet!
Love you all,
Natalie

Delphi

2008-03-22T09:46:00.003Z

On Saturday of our first weekend in Greece, they took us to another city called Delphi. In ancient times, the temple of Apollo was located in Delphi, and was its founding fame. We visited the site of the old temple which also had the old track from the Pythian games (Delphi's version of the Olympics) above it. A beautiful theater was also still at the temple's site. Afterwards, we went into a Byzantine monastery that is still in use for the Greek Orthodox church. It was located in the beautiful hills of Delphi. There are so many cool stories I learned from this place, especially regarding Apollo and some of the cool myths associated with him and his temple. Can't wait to share!
As of yesterday I only have 3 weeks left! Can you believe it??
Love you all!!!

Clock tower at the monastery
Lit candles in the church
The inside of the church located inside the monastery
The beautiful hills of Delphi

If I remember correctly, this is one of the roofs inside the front part of the church, what we would call the lobby area. We all laughed because Jesus looks like He is using the "Rock on" symbol.
Simply gorgeous
A treasure house at the site of Apollo's temple. It was used to house the lavish gifts people would bring to Apollo
The view from the site...auh-mazing
Looking down on the site. You can see the theater and the pillars where the large temple would have been located

The track used for the games
Entrance to the site. In ancient times this would have been swarmed with shops and people
Corner pillars of Apollo's temple
Better view of the temple

Kalimera!

2008-03-22T09:28:00.004Z

That means "Good Morning" in Greek!
So we are now stationed in Athens. Such a cool city, but I must say I could not live here permanently like I felt I could in London. It has so much history and ruins, you can't see them all. I love how the people here have so much pride in their country and pride themselves for staying a stable place of the world for around 7000 years (or maybe more!).
This post will highlight just some of the major things we did in Athens the first couple of days. We went to the Acropolis, with the world famous Parthenon. We also went to Mars Hill, where the Bible says Paul preached to the Athenians about the Unknown God (Acts 17). I think it is so cool I can say I have walked where Jesus (Egypt) & Paul (Greece) have walked! What a connection I can make with my faith!
Our first weekend it was right before the Greek Orthodox's Lent season, so they had a carnival throughout the town. We participated by going into what is called the Plaka and enjoying the festivities. We especially got tuned in with these plastic bats that alot of the people carry around and just hit others with. It was so funny because we would have battles with other big groups like us, mainly little boys. It was a great way to let off some steam after such a stressful move from London to Athens. :-)
Love you all!!! So much more to come, mainly Delphi, Santorini & Corinth (yes, the Corinth as in 1 & 2 Corinthians!!).

The carnival & those crazy kids!
Getting pumped
The carnival by day...so much more peaceful
The park
The Plaka
The Temple of Nike on the Acropolis (1 of the 3 temples on top)

The view!
A shot of the Temple of Zeus from the Acropolis
A bunch of us girls. The background almost looks fake...but it's not!!
Beautiful city of Athens

Me in front of the Parthenon!!!
An ancient theater. We were informed that if we call a half circle theater like this an ampitheater we are not correct. Ampi=circle, so a true ampitheater would be the Colosseum or for those Southern CofC-ers, Moody at ACU ;-)
The Greek Flag!

Goodbye London & Hello Athens!

2008-03-20T13:00:00.005Z

In case you have not figured it out yet, I am no longer in London, UK. Because the house we were living in needed a remodel before the next academic year program, we were relocated to Athens.
I definitely miss London. That city is amazing; I plan to get back one day. However, in Athens, I can see the sun!!! It is exciting :-) I am wearing flip flops, shorts, and no coat again! Truly Texas/California weather.
We've been here for exactly 2 weeks now, and I think I'm just now understanding I'm not going to see London again for a while. I still feel like we are on a long vacation or field trip and that we will return soon. However, that is not the case. I'm trying to see it as a transition period. My body would not be able to take going straight from cold London to blazing Texas/Cali. It's difficult though, leaving a place you have become accustomed to. I guess it is also a slow transition for me in means of appreciating what I am coming back to. I think going back straight from London would have given me an intense reverse culutre shock where I hate all the bad things about the US intensely and always think about how good it was in London. But with being in Athens, I am really appreciating even some of the negative things about the US just because I know how it works. Familiarity will be welcomed upon return to the states.
But my time isn't over yet. I still have 3 weeks to enjoy this wonderful place! I am so blessed to have been able to experience everything I have and seen all the wonderful places I've been.
See you later London!
Bring it on Athens!

The South Ken Tube...my stop!
My street!
Prince's Gate....that's it!
Royal Albert Hall. Holds many a concerts. & just down the street from the house.
Hyde Park.
Picadilly Circus, the most happenin' street at night and on weekends.

I can see Ben!
There he is!
Houses of Parlament on the River Thames.
Westminster Abbey.

Inside the South Ken. tube.....ah, home!

Trafalgar Square in front of the National Gallery
And here is the National Gallery. Arguably one of the best museums in the world!
The orangery in Hyde Park. A superb location for high tea.
Tower Bridge at night. Simply stunning...

Auf Wiedersehen

2008-03-19T17:40:00.004Z

The beautiful town of Heidelberg, Germany!
Pepperdine also has a house in this wonderful location, so we went and visited. It was so cute, and just as you would imagine Germany to be. We even saw cute old men in those little overall looking things. We ate schnitzel & pretzels. Yummy.

Trying to catch back up...

2008-03-17T12:45:00.004Z

Hey everyone!
I apologize for not having updated this in a LONG while. I have been so rushed and moved this past month I have not been able to get around to this.
Hopefully I can make up for that in this next week. I hope to atleast do one post or so a day to catch back up. Since I don't have the pictures from some of my previous trips ready yet I will give you a little taste of what is to come:

Heidelberg, Germany

Goodbye London♥ Welcome to Athens
Delphi, Greece
Santorini

Hopefully that can get you excited of what is to come! I miss and love you all!! Have a great rest of this Easter week.

Dover & Canterbury!

2008-02-08T16:20:00.000Z

Hello everyone.
One week ago I went with our group to Dover and Cantebury. It was so beautiful, needless to say. Dover is sight of the Whitecliffs, Dover castle, and Dover underground tunnels. Cantebury has its famous cathedral and its name--from the famous Cantebury tales. I have not read them, so I will not try to explain the importance of Cantebury in them.
Enjoy the pictures! I miss you all! ♥

Dover Castle

The English Channel. Dover is where the Channel is closest to France. On a clear day you can see France from this point.

These were so amazing. The tunnels had been cut out centuries before but were used most importantly during WWII. We were able to walk around them, see the hospital, planning rooms, and kitchen inside where thousands would have passed, lived, and worked during the war.

The Whitecliffs!

Cantebury Cathedral

A cute stream that passes through Cantebury.

The town was so cute. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your opinion, there were American landmarks through out town...can you spot them?

--Subway
--Starbucks

Tower of London Pictures

2008-01-28T08:53:00.000Z

If you can't quite tell, these are carvings in the walls of the towers from various prisoners it housed there. Most are prayers to God, Jesus and Mary. Us girls in front of Tower Bridge, which can be spotted from the Tower of London.

The crown jewels of England are housed in this white building on the left. Needless to say they were extravagent and beautiful!
These are two very special pieces of armor. The large one on the left is the biggest set ever found and the one on the right is the smallest ever found.

Cambridge Photos

2008-01-27T17:14:00.001Z

The Cam river (hence the name of the town, Cambridge--bridge over the Cam)

The round church that lies on a road established by the Romans

This is a math bridge! It was originally a project for Cambridge students. Their assignment was to build a bridge not needing any nuts or bolts. This is what they came up with. Pretty cool, huh! (In recent years, for it to survive, hardware was used to sturdy it up after all those years)

Wales Pictures

2008-01-26T11:49:00.000Z

The bay:
The castle:

Inside the castle:

Pictures from the Tower of London and Cambridge to come!

I'm Back--Greetings from Wales, the Tower of London, & Cambridge!

2008-01-26T11:14:00.000Z

Hey guys!
Sorry it has taken me this long to update since coming back. I have been here for two-and-a-half weeks and it has been marvelous! I am so grateful I have been given this 2nd opportunity to come to London; I'm so blessed!
Well, I came back and met all of the new ones who came this semester, and I immediately adjusted back into the swing of things. Classes started on the 14th and it is intense since we have to pack some of them into 2 months. When we go to Greece I will have finished two classes, continue two classes, and then pick up an additional one in Greece. It sounds alot easier than it is going to be. I apologize, then, in advance because this won't be as detailed as last semester. Also, I'm not taking as many trips. I'm doing day trips to places in England, but I will only travel to Germany while in London. You guys will just have to wait until the unbelievable posts from Greece--coming in March!
Since I've been back, I have mostly been enjoying London, but I have made a couple of day trips to magnificent places. The first was to Wales where we toured the castle, went to the bay, and enjoyed the cute city Caldiff, the capital of Wales.
A couple of days later we traveled cross-town to the Tower of London, which was so cool. This is where the crown jewels of England are kept, one includes the biggest diamond in the world! It was massive to say the least. It was cool because we took a tour with one of the Beefeaters (guards of the Tower) and he was so interesting. The stories and people were extraordinary. At one point he asked who the Americans were, and quite a few of us raised our hands and he replied, "this could have been your history too if you had only paid your taxes." haha.
And just yesterday I went to the town of Cambridgeshire, home of the world famous Cambridge University. So many great minds went there including Isaac Newton, John Harvard, Charles Darwin (ironically he went to Christ's College, ha), Oliver Cromwell, poet Tennyson, Emma Thompson (of Harry Potter), Prince Charles, and Sir Francis Bacon, just to name a few! It was such a cute city, quite different from Malibu! We also walked along a road that has been there since Roman times. So much history!
That has been my travels, thus far. I will put the pictures from these trips in another post.
I love and miss you all! ♥♥♥

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

2007-12-10T19:43:00.000Z

Happy Holidays everyone!! I am back in Texas for the break and hopefully I get to see each and every one of you! If not, Happy Christmas (as the Brits say) and expect this to be updated sometime in mid-January with more adventures from Europe. Love you all!! ♥♥♥

Hopefully the ideal Texas winter will happen...snow and bluebonnets!

Girls Just Want to Have FUN!

2007-12-01T22:30:00.000Z

So with less than a week to go for the semester, I'm truly counting the blessings the Lord has given me. It is unbelievable to think about everything that has happened! Just a warning but I'm just not the same anymore. God is molding me with every moment and I am so grateful!
Below are some pictures since Thanksgiving. I've just been having a blast spending every moment possible with the wonderful people in our house. We are definitely a crazy bunch!!
At the end of the pictures you will see the 2nd greatest thing that happened all semester (Egypt being the first). Miss you and will see you soon everyone!!! ♥♥♥

Me and some of the girls at our Thanksgiving dinner. Don't worry, we had lots of food and lots of yummy pumpkin and apple pie!!! MmmMmmm...

So in science class we talked about the space race, and somehow we got on the subject of aliens and UFOs. So we decided for the next class to wear our alien hats we made out of foil to class and we made one for our teacher. It was hilarious.

That's our professor in the back. We put a big M on the top for his last name.

On Thursday we went and saw Mamma Mia which was amazing! Yay for Abba!! Afterwards they were raising money for charity so we were able to take a picture with three of the leading ladies. They were hilarious!

So here is where the excitement begins. Ewan McGregor (aka Obi-Won Kenobi & Christian from Moulin Rouge) is staring in Othello. Well the play opened the public last night and they sell 10 tickets for the day of. Needless to say we wanted them BADLY! So badly we may have camped out all night...maybe Mom, I'm not saying I did for sure ;-) Anyways, the production was amazing. It was Shakespeare's Othello which on its own is a great play but with a great cast (Othello played by someone in Love Actually, not sure of his name) that includes Ewan it was unbelievable! So we waited for him after the show and he wasn't suppose to come down but all of the workers and even some of the cast had heard how we camped out so he came down and took pictures and signed autographs!! Let's just say I was so overwhelmed and my heart was racing so much I didn't need to wear a coat home in the cold London weather. (For those of you who don't understand my obsession, go to ITunes and search for My Song by Ewan from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Listen to him sing and then you will understand.)

This isn't Ewan, obviously. This is the guy who played Rodirigo. The whole cast was so talented!

Here's Ewan!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!

And again with yours truly! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My life is complete. :-D

For Mr. Carter...

2007-11-28T11:43:00.000Z

So I went to Abbey Road for you Mr. Carter! For those of you who are not big Beatles fans, Abbey Road is the famous road where the 4 bandmembers walked across for an album cover. It was very cool...here are some pictures.

Their recording studio:

Everyone who visits signs this wall:

Says "Texas loves the Beatles!!" inside a heart. I didn't write this, just found it

Says "Natalie ♥'s the Beatles." I did write this

I wrote something for you Mr. Carter. I wrote "Phil Carter is here in Spirit" but you can't really make that out here.

About to walk across...

That's me, walking across Abbey Road.

Windsor

2007-11-17T22:39:00.000Z

Hey Guys!
First, in case I don't update this before then...HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Don't worry, we are still going to celebrate this wonderful American holiday over here across the pond with lots of food. Mmmm...
Second, I took a day trip with many people to Windsor which is home to a beautiful castle that many kings and queens of England have lived in. The current Queen even resides there sometimes! It was so beautiful!! This is also the castle associated with King Arthur and the Round Table. We saw the changing of the guard (accompanied by the parade with band that played "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, haha) and a beautiful dollhouse given to one of the queens by her grandchildren, which was amazing! We also walked across the river to Edon where both of the princes went to high school.
It was a wonderful, relaxing day.
Love and miss you all!! See you in less than 3 weeks! ♥♥♥

The beautiful chapel inside the castle--

Eton College--

He's Here, the Phantom of the Opera....

2007-11-14T14:33:00.001Z

So as I said, we may have seen the Phantom at the Opera House...

Long Weekend

2007-11-14T11:05:00.001Z

Hey Everyone!
So this past weekend was what is called Long Weekend because instead of only having Friday to Sunday to travel we get Wednesday and Thursday too! 5 others and I chose to go to Paris and Barcelona. Obviously, it was AMAZING!
The first day we were in Paris 2 others and myself went to Versailles, which was unbelievably beautiful. We saw the Chateau of King Louis XVI (I think) and Marie Antoinette. Let's just say the French have never heard that phrase "Less is More." Everything was extravagantly decorated with lush fabrics, statues, and beautiful chandeliers. After the chateau we had some lunch, went to a museum of French art, and shopped at a local market. We then headed back into central Paris and met the other 3 at the Eiffel Tower!! It was so beautiful at night. We went to the very top which was definitely an experience! It was so beautiful to see everything lighted up.
The next day we went to the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, and Notre Dame. I could spend a day at everyone of these places! At the Louvre I saw the Mona Lisa, which really isn't all that impressive in person; it's very small. In the Musee d'Orsay I saw tons of wonderful impressionist art, which is my favorite style. Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, etc. So cool to see what you talk about in class! Notre Dame was also equally as impressive.
That same day we also went to the Opera Garnier which is where the Phantom of the Opera was based!! I cannot even began to explain how gorgeous this place was! So so cool! We found box 5 and may have even seen the Phantom ;-) That night we also passed by the Moulin Rouge just for kicks. Let's just say, don't go at night!! It's a little dodgy (as the Brits would say).
The next half of the group headed off to Barcelona, while 2 others and I stayed in Paris for one more day. We went to the Picasso and Rodin ("the Thinker") Museums and walked along the main fashion street. We also searched for a market but never found one.
The next day we were all in Barcelona together. Barcelona is so different from Paris. Very artsy and unique. No one thing we saw was like the others. We went to the Gaudi park, which honored the most beloved architect in Spain, Gaudi. Next we were off to the Sagrada Familia, which is the amazing church that is built only on donations, so it is an ongoing process. So all of the styles are intermixed. So cool to see! We next went to the beach and I have now been in the Mediterranean!! While there we met some people from America who are studying across the street from us at Imperial College in London. It was so random! Also, one of the girls is from not too far from Pepperdine, and knows a friend of mine! Small, crazy world!
We came back on Sunday, ready to be back in London. We definitely had a wonderful time.
Love and miss you all!! Can't wait to see some of you in less than a month!
♥♥♥

Versailles--

Paris--

At the top--

The Louvre--

The Mona Lisa, it's not yellow in real life, don't worry....

Venus de Milo--

Musee d'Orsay--
Van Goghs--

The OPERA!!

Notre Dame--

The famous "Thinker"--

Barcelona--

Like Paris, Barcelona has an Arc de Triomf--

Dominica prepared me well for the walk up to the park--

A mix between Dr. Seuss & a Gingerbread House--

The Sagrada Familia--

The beach...we got water in our shoes--

Her Royal Majesty the Queen

2007-11-12T10:33:00.001Z

On Tuesday, November the 6th, Her Royal Majesty the Queen opened Parliament for the year, which means she actually goes out in public! So we went out in front of Buckingham Palace and caught her as she was on her way to Westminster. Here are some pictures from that day. Soon to come are pictures from Paris & Barcelona!
Love and miss you all!

They do wear funny hats! They would usually have on their red coats but it was cold that day so they had on their winter gray coats instead.

Buckingham Palace!

The start of the parade.

Their are no guns in London, not even for the Police. The only people who can carry them are the ones protecting the Queen, like this guy.

This is the Queen's carriage! She's inside with her husband of almost 60 years, the Duke of Edinburgh. (If I find someone with a better picture of her, I'll post it later)

What a beautiful autumn day!

When in Rome...

2007-11-06T12:17:00.000Z

This past weekend I found myself in Rome, Italy. Needless to say, it was gorgeous and so full of history. We only had a weekend, so I feel like I could still go back again and not see one thing I saw before but still have an overwhelming amount to see.
We arrived Friday morning, found where we were staying, and then headed off to the Vatican. We went into the Vatican museum where we saw so many amazing works, including Raphael and Michaelangelo! At the end of the line is the Sistine Chapel where the famous Creation of Man painting is on the ceiling. It was so beautiful; everything was so detailed and extravagant. We then made our way to St. Peter's Basilica but were turned away. So the next morning we headed back to the Vatican early to enter the church, and then we made our way around the city. We saw the Medici Villa, the Republic Plaza, the Colosseum, Arch of Titus, Trajan's Column, the Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. I also made sure to try my share of Italian coffee and gelato! The gelato was actually not as good as I would have hoped (I heard Florence's gelato is so much better) but the coffee definitely made up for it.
Here are some pictures. Coming soon--the Queen and my extended travel weekend adventures!
Love you all!! ♥♥♥

Trevi Fountain--
St. Peter's--
Inside St. Peter's--

A typical street in Rome--
Arch of Titus or Arch of Constantine...not sure--

Inside the Colosseum--
Rome at night--
Inside the Pantheon--
Trevi Fountain--

The outside of the Colosseum--

Trajan's Column on the right--
The plaza in front of St. Peter's--

The Pieta by Michaelangelo inside St. Peter's--
Inside St. Peter's--

Inside the Vatican Museum--

Egypt - Day 4 & 5

2007-10-27T18:00:00.000+01:00

So now we're in Cairo! Home of the PYRAMIDS!! The only surviving ancient wonder of the world, the pyramids are unbelievable! We started by going up to a panoramic photo site and took a group picture.

We then took a camel ride down to the pyramids!! It was so fun!! I rode with the beautiful Jillian and we thought we were going to die. Our guide Abraham looked about 12 and he informed us our camel's name was Michael Jackson.

We were then allowed to explore the pyramids, and since I'm cheap and didn't want to be so constrained in space, we went into one of the queen's pyramids which was pretty cool. We also went and saw the largest boat from ancient times that was discovered not too long ago in one of the pyramids. After that we went and saw the Sphinx at the bottom of the hill. He was so big! All the girls made sure to get a picture kissing him.

Here's one of the camels with the security guard behind him in his suit. See Mom, we were well protected.

Way into the queen's tomb. Just a little scary...

The rest of the day we were able to rest around the hotel. In the evening there was an Egyptian wedding we were able to watch for a little bit. The bride was so beautiful!
The next day was spent visiting the religious sites of Cairo. We began by going to a fortress of Salah al-Din which had the mosque of Muhammed Ali (the ruler, not the boxer) inside. It was so beautiful and it had a wonderful view of the city.

In Egypt, Muslims and Christians live (for the most part) peacefully. Also, it was so amazing to think that I may be walking where Joseph, Mary, and Jesus (once he grew and learned) once walked when they were fleeing from Herod. In fact, we visited a site that most believe to be a place the family stayed at while fleeing.

The Coptic Christian church is quite different from the denominations we are familiar with. They have 7 sacraments and comprise about 10% of the Egyptian population.

We then went to the market which was insane! All of the men were quite upfront about wanting to marry you, especially with my friend Sarah. She has dark features so they were all convinced she was Egyptian.
We then had lunch in this beautiful garden. Only a year or so ago this site was a garbage field, basically, but the new mayor had a major initiative to clean it up and now it is so clean and beautiful!

The tan building in the distance is where we had lunch.

The mosque in the shadows is the mosque we visited earlier in the day.

Afterwards we headed over to the Egyptian museum which had King Tut's tomb and head mask displayed. It was so amazing we went back twice! It was so weird to see the picture that is in every textbook in person!

For dinner at our hotel, they had a roast type thing outside. It was fun until these crazy skirt dancers came out. They insisted on 9 of us girls helping them with their show. Needless to say it was awkward.

The next day we headed back to London with some major fiascos in the airport. But no worries, we are safe and sound. I hope you have enjoyed my adventures and I apologize for not being able to record it better. I promise you will hear all about it when I come home!

After this week I have learned so much that I can now speak Arabic. This sign below reads: "Ya'll come back, ya hear!"

Egypt -- Day 2 & 3

2007-10-27T17:08:00.000+01:00

So on Wednesday we had a relaxing day. We had a "city tour" on our coach, which basically meant taking a longer route to the market. We did stop once at a papyrus making factory and learned about how the ancient people made papyrus, what they used as paper. We then arrived to the tourist market where we could shop for a hour or so. Any price is negotiable there and the exchange route with the Egyptian pound is amazing so shopping was fun, to say the least.

We then went back to the hotel where we had an afternoon free to swim and relax. Some of us went into what they called the Infinity Pool which looked to go on forever because it "met up" with the Nile. So beautiful! Then some of us went on a carriage ride around the town of Luxor which was very eye opening. They live much more rustic lives than what I'm use to, yet the people look so happy and thankful. The children are so adorable! It reminds me to count my very many blessings.

The two beautiful girls I shared the ride with. Rachel--
& Elizabeth--

We then went to Luxor Temple. It was so beautiful because it was at night and all of the lights were on. The temple was on the East bank, in the land of the living. So it would have been a joyous place to go and worship one of their many gods. It also had beautiful decorations of religious and military stories all over the walls.

This is a similar statue to the one built by Hatshesput in Karnak Temple.

I believe these are statues of Ramses II.

The next day, Thursday, we visited the Temple of Hathor (their main female goddess) in Dendara. This particular temple was built during the time that the Greeks and Romans controlled Egypt. It was interesting to see some of the touches of Greek and Roman influences, but how it still was mainly Egyptian. The Greek and Roman emperors would depict themselves as an Egyptian god to gain respect by the people, which began with Alexander the Great. This temple also had a picture of Cleopatra VII (or Elizabeth Taylor) on the back wall. Historians know it is her because her name is written close by in hieroglyphics since she looks like all of the other pharaohs.

If you can make it out, this is showing 6 of the signs of the zodiac. The calendar system we use today was based on the ancient system the Egyptians used.

The lotus and papyrus planets standing for the two kingdoms that formed to make Egypt.

This is the key of life. It was an ancient symbol for long life and happiness.

Hathor. If you can tell, she has the ears of a cow because cows were seen as beautiful animals fo many different reasons.

Cleopatra VII-

We then had some free time and 5 of us took a beautiful boat ride down the Nile. The driver was so great he let everyone drive the boat for a little while. When it was my turn we basically went in a circle because I was confused. Oh well.

We were then off to Cairo to see the Great Pyramids!!

Egypt - Day 1

2007-10-25T10:36:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone!
I apologize for not posting this earlier but as soon as we were back home in London (that's weird to say London is home!) we learned about the Malibu fires and then had a regular week of class on top of being sleep deprived and sick. So please forgive me.
Okay, so in case you haven't heard, I went to EGYPT this past week!! It was absolutely amazing!! I know I'm not going to be able to cover all of the amazing sites we were able to see in as great of details as I would like to, but I'll do my best.
So we arrived in Luxor (also known as Thebes) Monday evening and headed straight to our hotel...I mean, resort. Pepperdine paid for us to stay in the Jolly Ville Movenpick resorts of Luxor and later on Cairo. Let's just say it was beautiful! Buffets of breakfast, lunch, and dinner were always available, along with a couple of pools, lounge areas, gift shops, gardens, and the one in Luxor had a zoo! How crazy. Not too shabby for Natalie :-) Here are some pictures:

The next day our adventure began!

We started by going to the Valley of the Kings were all of the New Kingdom pharaohs were buried. We were able to go inside 3 of the tombs. It was so neat because all of the paintings and hieroglyphics were still on the walls of the tomb. Sorry, but no pictures were allowed inside the tomb. Fortunately we were able to buy professional photos from inside, so if you would like to see ask me when I come home.

Next we headed off to the Valley of the Nobles. Nobles were able to fund a pretty elaborate tomb as well. Commoners would just cut holes out of the hills on the West Bank as seen in the second picture below.

Next we able to ride donkeys! It was quite uncomfortable but super fun! I named mine Alex Dwight (Alex after my brother and Dwight after the Office character). He was a sweet donkey. It was very similar to riding a horse so he was easy to control.

After the Donkey Rides, we headed over to the Temple of Hatshepsut (hat-ship-suit). She was a lady pharaoh who always represented herself as a man in statues and drawings. Her temple can be seen from the other side of the Nile (all of the tombs are on the West bank towards the rest of northern Africa and the ancients lived on the East bank in the direction of the Red Sea--this is because they saw the sun rose in the east and sets in the west). Hatshepsut's architect and lover had his own tomb built not to far away with a tunnel connecting from his tomb to hers underground. There was also an amazing view from her temple. It's so funny but there really is a line that splits the green around the nile with the sand of the desert.

We next had a brief photo opp. stop at the Colossi of Memnon. I honestly don't remember the significance of them, just that they are really big statues. Sorry.

We finally were able to have lunch (yes, this is all on one day before lunch!!) and then we were off to Karnak Temple, the largest religious site of the ancient world. All of the pharaohs contributed to the temple so some of the architecture is different at points. The columns you will see below are huge! Each takes 10 people in a circle to go around it. There was also a well that if you circled it 7 times clockwise and had a wish it would come true (I'll let you know when mine does). One of the statues built during Hatshepsut only took 7 months to build and carve. Some engineers have calculated that it should have taken, I think, 3 or 4 years with it's given weight and height and the available technology of the time. Crazy!

Can you see me? This helps you imagine scale.

The 10 people trick.
The sacred pool where the priests would purify themselves before rituals.

Next we went to the Luxor Museum were we saw more ancient artifacts, including two mummies!! Sorry, but again no pictures. We then headed back to Crocodile Island (that is where the resort was), had dinner, and crashed!
Remember, this is only day 1. More to come!

Malibu Fires

2007-10-21T23:07:00.000+01:00

So I am back from Egypt and pictures will soon come.
I do have a prayer request. Malibu and the Pepperdine Campus there are being attacked by fires, if you have not heard already. So far 23 homes and businesses around the campus have been destroyed along with Malibu Pres., a church many on campus attend.
Many of my friends and some people here in London's family members are on campus, as of now safe and sound. Please continue to pray that God will continue to deliver the people and the campus from the fires. The administrators and firemen are well prepared and are doing every possible to protect the students.
Two of my closest friends among many many others are still in that area. Please pray for God's deliverance.
I know I don't say it enough but I love you all! Each of you are truly a blessing from God that I definitely don't deserve. I truly miss you all so much and pray that you know how much you are loved. ♥♥♥
Natalie
-Psalm 20-
May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests. Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. O LORD, save the king! Answer us when we call!

Oxford

2007-10-14T23:24:00.000+01:00

On Friday we went to Oxford on Friday, and it was beautiful! The school was built anywhere between the 1400s and 1700s so the architecture was amazing. Great minds like CS Lewis (the Narnia series author) & JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings author) lived and taught here. It was so fun to walk around the town and have history everywhere.
Sorry I'm not sharing much information. If you want to ask me more questions I'll be more than happy to answer, but I just wanted to update this before I left for my week-long field trip. Be prepared for some amazing photographs when I get back! (If you don't know where I'm going yet, ask my mom or me...it's going to be so amazing!!)
Love and miss you all! ♥♥♥

The Eagle and Child, where CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien would meet and discuss their writing and other ideas.

Beautiful stain glass from the Chapel at Magdalen College (which is where CS Lewis taught)

One of the Quads from Magdalen College
The Hall at Magdalen College.
The "New" Building at Magdalen College. New as in built in 1733. Funny that their new building is older than our country! This is the exact building where CS Lewis' office would have been located.

Oxford's version of the Bridge of Sighs, which looks exactly like the Venetian original.

I like taking jumping pictures, if you haven't figured that out yet...
The adorable path we ate lunch at. How beautiful this will be once the leaves change colors!
The active library of Oxford.
A rugby field
The botanical gardens entrance. We didn't go inside because it was going to cost us money.

The 11th-century tower of St. Michael's Church. It is the oldest structure in Oxford, dating from Saxon times.

So cute!
The group. If you can spot me I'll give you a hug when I get home :-)

Point of No Return

2007-10-14T23:13:00.001+01:00

So on Thursday night a big group of us went to see The Phantom of the Opera!! It was absolutely amazing!! It's times like these that I want to drop out of college and start doing musicals (but I won't Mom, don't worry).
If you have never seen the play live, the movie won't do it justice, no matter what any one tells you. Go see as soon as you can!
Love and miss you all!! ♥♥♥

Meg--
Christine--
& the Phantom!!!!!!

Praise Report!

2007-10-13T00:54:00.000+01:00

Praise God! He is awesome! Some financial issues have come up lately but He has provided, as always! Praise the Lord because of His wonderful love and grace!

Psalm 34--
I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

Psalm 100--
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

"To be or not to be..."

2007-10-07T11:52:00.000+01:00

Hello! This week and weekend have been relaxing, yet busy! Tomorrow and Wednesday I have "mid-terms" (they are a little earlier than mid-terms, hence the quotations) so there were no big excursions to far off lands. However, Thursday evening 5 of my friends and I went to Shakespeare's Globe to see Love's Labour's Lost. Shakespeare's Globe today is an exact replica of what the original theatre would have been like back in Shakespeare's time. It was so cool to be able to watch a play by Shakespeare in his theatre! Love's Labour's Lost was a cute comedy that was in a way a battle of the sexes where couples are in love and try to test the others affection for them while trying to prove their own.
Shakespeare's Globe is so realistic of the real thing, they only change's made have been from candlelight to electic light. One thing unchanged is the open roof. Because of this plays are not played during the winter and cold months. We were very lucky to grab one of the last shows of this year. They are closing down either this weekend or next.
Below are some pictures of the stage. No pictures were allowed during the play so there are no scenes from the play below. Sorry.
Love and miss you all!
Natalie
PS~My next post may not be for a while because we will be on our field trip. Ask my mom or me through e-mail for details!

Obviously this isn't Shakespeare's Globe. This is in a part of town called Picadilly. I wanted to include it because I think it is so characteristic of London. On the left you'll see the big advertisments of the modern age but on the right it's a beautiful building from centuries ago with a beautiful fountain statue in the middle. London is just this, a perfect blend of the old and new tied together by wonderful art and culture.

I now go by Jedi Master Natalie...

2007-10-05T01:00:00.000+01:00

So one of the most exciting days of my life happened on Tuesday. I went to a Star Wars exhibit was some other fans and saw some amazing things!! I won't go into labeling all of these for the lack of time, energy, and knowledge of all of the names. Besides, the true fans (shout out to my Uncle Zip!) will know what the pictures are of.
Love and miss you all! ♥♥♥

"Do you know what we've been through?" (Amsterdam)

2007-10-01T10:08:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone!
So I'm back, safe and sound (miraculously) from Amsterdam. This trip definitely rivals the Dominica 2005 trip where my best friend Laura is seperated from the group and the house we are staying in is broken in to.
So sit back and get ready for a very amusing, "can this get any worse," kind of stories.
Well, we left Thursday evening and took an overnight coach bus to Amsterdam. Arrived around 8 local time. We decided to find our hostel and leave some of our stuff there. So we buy tram tickets and find our way around Amsterdam. Unlike Scotland, this was a breeze. Around 9 we are standing in the lobby and unloading our backpacks into lockers. We then began our sightseeing. First we go to Anne Frank's House which was so wonderful. It was sad to think about what this family and many others like it had to go through during the Holocaust, but again so amazing to be in such a historical site. We then travelled onwards to the Rijksmuseum, which is basically the big museum for Amsterdam. I was able to see many Rembrandts, Vermers, and a couple very detailed and beautiful doll houses. One Rembrandt had just previously been restored so an entire room was dedicated to how it was done and the finished product. Very cool. Next we went and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Our waiter was great--he was from Greece so we got some pointers on which islands to visit. We then walked around, picked up some souveniers, and made our way back to the hostel.
This is where the trouble begins...
So we get to our hostel and give them our confirmation/reservation information and they preceed to tell us how they are overbooked. So basically, there are no rooms for us. Hmm...okay. So what are you going to do about that? Well, they reply, we have a couple other hotels around town so we'll transfer you to another one, which is actually more expensive per night, and you can stay there for the same price. GREAT! No worries there. We can go with the flow...
So then (I apologize for my weak recalling and telling of the story. In person it is quite hilarious because it is accompanied by many gestures and faces to really give you the full affect.) we are off to the new hostel and arrive there only to hear that we will be split up and not given a private 6 person room like we had purchased. Problem! Major problem! This is Amsterdam! The drug capital of Europe! There is no way we are going to be split up and possibly stuck in a room with four large guys who come back having lived the crazy party and night life Amsterdam offers. This is just not safe! So our party is comprised of 5 ladies and 1 gentlemen so the guy and one of the girls decides that they feel safe enough splitting into that pair so they take a room. Okay, great. 2 down, 4 to go. So, how about a room for 4 ? Uh, no. How about moving some other people around? Uh no. How about a closet next to the mops? Uh no.
So now we are at the point where we are calling around trying to find another place for us 4 to stay. Problem--there is a conference in town and all hostels and hotels are booked solid. So we call our Program Assistant, the lovely Thomasina, who we hope can help us maybe find something online. Well, she didn't take it that way. She took it as get this hotel to suit our needs. This was the comical relief we had been needing all night. It got to the point where she was saying it was against our religion to be in a co-ed room (which really wasn't the issue, just another factor to consider). Poor receptionist guy. He suffered the wrath of Thomasina.
Okay, so now we are basically thinking of going to a train station to sleep if need be, but then we are like, this hostel has a eating area, maybe we could just stay up in there all night. We all would feel more comfortable being in a group and together even if that means no where to comfortable rest. And finally, we have found our solution. So, we are each refunded our money and start to settle in the eating area. We play a game of Phase 10 and settle in and one of the workers comes in and tells us we can still have the free breakfast in the morning. "We'll be here" was the response. How could we miss breakfast when our beds are on the tables we'll eat it on!
So we hang out for a couple of hours and around 2 another man comes in to tells us they have found a private room we can stay in. WAIT! There are no rooms in the hostel we thought...Oh well, we won't argue any more. So we get up to our room, with its own bathroom, mind you, and push a couple of beds together and have one on the floor and we are happy.
So then we are woken up to the sound of someone knocking on our door. Its Brian, the guy from our group. Breakfast is over in 10 minutes. Hurry! Ironic isn't it that after this entire fiasco we are going to miss breakfast! Ah, this is the cause of many laughs throughout the day. "We'll be here." Haha. So we rush down to breakfast and then check out of the hostel. Oh man, never again. (Again, reading back over this, the story isn't nearly as funny and accurate as it would be if I was talking to you. So sorry)
So now we are off for another exciting day of sightseeing. We took a two hour city bus tour where we saw a windmill, all the canals, and toured a diamond factory! This was so cool. So things are starting to look up. We then go into a department stores so one of the girls can buy the 1st Harry Potter book in Dutch (she's a little obsessed with HP, which is an understatement...) and have lunch in their cafe. We then decide to split up because two of the six spend forever in museums (lets just say they were in one for two hours and only got through one floor!). So they started off to the Van Gogh museum while the other 4 of us shopped around a little before heading over. Of course, we got lost on the way and ended up only having a hour in the Van Gogh museum. It was marvelous though! I could spend so much time in there because Van Gogh was just amazing!
We then moved on to have a canal cruise and see Amsterdam from that point of view. It was very nice but by that time we were all just so tired and the boat ride was so relaxing, a couple of us may have nodded off multiple times. Then we ate at McDonalds (yummm) and headed off to the bus station for another overnight trip home.
So we are on the bus thanking the Lord to be going back to beautiful, clean London thinking how hilarious the whole weekend was, and yes, you guessed, something else went wrong! (Isn't getting just pathetic now) So we are at the passport check station write on the border of France and we only have a couple of minutes to go through the line so we can make that Eurotunnel in the next couple of minutes. So we all make it through with not much hassel and we are just sitting on the bus. Waiting...waiting...and eventually one of those on the bus with us is coming out of the building followed by a government worker and this poor man is being denied entrance into the UK. So they take his luggage off and out of the bus and he goes back inside. So we pull around to the entrance to the Eurotunnel to get back to the lovely island of Britain but the bus driver stops the bus and says, "We have missed the 6:30 Eurotunnel and will now have to wait until 8." AH! All we want is to be home in our beds, but instead an additional hour and a half is given to be spent on the coach.
But finally we get back to London and to our house. Unfortunately, all of us are greeted by our computers who need to be used to write a Science paper! All in all a wonderful weekend, don't you think?
In all honesty, this weekend was so great just because of the museums and places we were able to see. Truly, art and history are my passions now since they are on my doorstep here in Europe and it is so amazing to see the real things and really be able to tell what an artist is conveying. With all the things that went wrong it was a great weekend! It just may all be worth it for the story! Again, it's so much better in person...I'll make sure each and everyone of you get that chance to hear me tell! No worries! ;-)
Love and miss you all! ♥♥♥

A typical street in Amsterdam:

Sarah and me on the bus for our city tour: The ring I want from the diamond factory:
One of the canals of Amsterdam:
Where we thought we were going to sleep:

Where we actually got to sleep (and our excited faces): The wonderful hostel we will never go to again:

The largest windmill in Amsterdam:
The Rijksmuseum we went to on Friday (Rembrandt):

The other side of the Rijksmuseum:
YAY!!

Everyone rides bicycles in Amsterdam, so much so that they always have the right of way on streets, over both pedestrians and vehicles:

Rocks + Water + Gold = One Fun Weekend in England!

2007-09-24T15:57:00.000+01:00

Hello! And greetings from London, yet again! This weekend I stayed in the London area but it was still very busy and eventful! As I've already shared, I saw Wicked the Musical on Thursday evening and it was amazing! Then on Friday we took a day journey to Stonehenge, Bath, and another small village.
Stonehenge was so neat! It's really just a pile of rocks in the middle of nowhere! Three others and I decided we didn't want to pay to go on the "inner ring" so we took pictures on the side of the row outside of a fence.
We then went on to the city of Bath where some baths built by the Romans still stand! It was such a cute town and the baths were so advanced and carefully built. The water was green as you'll see so don't worry, no one wanted or attempted to do a cannon ball in ;-)
We then stopped at a little village on the way back that reminded me of where my Aunt Sherri and her family lives because it had one road and shop that some had tea in. Very cute!
On Saturday my room mates and I went shopping in the morning but then a big group of us went to a football match (or soccer) in the early evening. It was so fun but intense! We were sitting in the neutral or away section so some of the fans were quite load and hilarious. I would compare it to a Texas A&M game, but one level or so down.
Then yesterday we went to Buckingham Palace! I apologize for the lack of pictures but we couldn't take any inside! It was so beautiful though. Everything was so rich and detailed in gold and jewels. There was actually a special exhibit going on in honor of the Queens 60-year anniversary with her husband. Her wedding gown, jewels, and wedding gifts were on display! Quite Elaborate to say the least, but still very classy and sophisticated.
Well, I'm off to class, but I hope you enjoy the pictures (again, taken by others in the group, I'm so lazy). This upcoming weekend me and 5 others are off to Amsterdam! Will let you know how it goes!
Love and miss you all! ♥♥♥

Here's a picture of the match between Manchester and Fulham--

Here is the Bath Abbey. If you can see the people in the picture, that is md and 6 of my friends. I'm on the far right--

Roman Baths--

These are just some of the carvings that would have been on the top arch on the outside to greet visitors to the baths--

The small village we stopped in for a short while--
Inside the Bath Abbey--

The gorgeous organ--

Stonehenge!

The outside of the Bath Abbey--

This is where we had lunch. It's the oldest house in bath complete with a museum of the oldest kitchen--

Buckingham--
Too bad I'm not a queen and have my own pond in my backyard. I should get on that--
Not Buckingham...Stonehenge, again--

Wicked!

2007-09-20T23:29:00.001+01:00

So I went to my first London play tonight! It was WICKED!! SO AMAZING! Afterwards we went and took pictures with the actors and actresses! YAY!!! It was so good. I'm still in shock....AH! Okay, enough screaming. There are plans under way to go see Mary Poppins and The Phantom of the Opera soon. I'll let you know...
Cheers ♥♥♥

My ticket after being signed by Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, & Boq.

She plays Glinda-

He plays Fiyero-

And Boq-
And the ever amazing Elphaba...or Wicked Witch of the West. She was so good! Her voice was so amazing!!!

Me and Sarah excited before the show:

The stage....
And some of the girls afterwards!

More Pictures of Scotland

2007-09-16T17:42:00.000+01:00

Hey guys.
Here are some more pictures of Scotland. Just so that credit lies where credit is due, these pictures below have been taken by the talented Rachel and the ones in the first post about Scotland were taken by the wonderful Sarah. Thanks girls! ♥♥♥

Kilts, Castles, and Monsters...Oh My!

2007-09-16T15:35:00.000+01:00

Hey Everyone!
Well, I am back safe from my weekend trip to Scotland! It was so beautiful and a blast. I traveled with 14 other people from my house, which I think was a good choice for the first weekend so I could feel safe and such, but I don't see it happening again in the future. It was difficult making sure everyone was always there and got to do everything they wanted.
So we began our journey Thursday night when we took an overnight coach/bus to Edinburgh, Scotland. We left around 11 and arrived the next morning at 7. The first thing we tried to do was find our hostel, which proved more work than it sounds. We printed off the directions the hostel gave us but they weren't very helpful. We took the bus basically to the other side of town and got off with no hostel in sight. The bus driver told us two options of getting there either down this road or through a path/shortcut. Of course we chose the shortcut which ended up not speeding things up whatsoever. We didn't find the correct one and some how ended up on a golf course! (Dad, you would have loved it!) So we back-tracked and went the other way which went on forever. Finally we called the hostel to find we were going to correct way, which no one believed was true. Five or so minutes later we were inside the lobby and thankful to have made it.
We next bused back into town to find breakfast and begin touring the city! We stopped finally at a cute little place named "Deacon Brodie's." Turns out, this man was the inspiration for the Jekyll and Hyde character! He was a wonderful locksmith with a wife and two kids by day but by night he would break into people's homes we had the spare keys to and take all of their possesions. Ironically, when the people of Edinburgh had enough they formed a committee to hunt down the theif and named who else but Deacon Brodie as the chairman. Needless to say he slowed everything down so he could get continue stealing. He finally was caught after he tried breaking into a house too big and prepared for him. Armed guards waiting captured one of his men who eventually sold Brodie out.
We then went up to Edinburgh castle which sat on 11 acres of land! It was so beautiful! We toured the castle and saw the royal jewels of Scotland--a scepter, sword, crown and a stone that all the kings/queens of Scotland must be crowned on.
Afterwards we went on a 3 hour walking tour of the city and saw lots of neat places, including where JK Rowling wrote most of the first Harry Potter book, the Hogwarts inspiration, a "haunted" cemetery complete with "watchdog" Bobby, where Sir William Scott probably lived, etc. Very informative and interesting.
We closed out the day with dinner and then lots and lots of sleep!
On Saturday we took a 12 hour bus tour of the highlands. It was gorgeous to say the least! We saw lochness and the "monster" (see below!), beautiful mountains and rivers, and much more I can't recall right now. In spite of it being super cold and other set backs by yours truly, we saw what Scotland was all about, the highlands.
We came back by night bus again last night and rolled back into bed this morning around 7. I slept until noon, and then got up to complete some homework and tell all of you about this weekend.
Just so you know, next weekend should be just as exciting! On Thursday night I'm going to see Wicked the Musical! Then on Friday I'll be traveling with almost everyone here to see Stonehenge and the Baths. On Saturday we are going to see a football (or American soccer) match. And finally on Sunday I think we are going to try to go worship at Hillsong!
I hope everyone is doing well. I love and miss you all! ♥♥♥

Oh...when I'm uploading the photos I'm not able to see them, just a long url or file address so I'm not able to put captions on them. If you would like to know what a certain building or photo is about, leave me a comment and your e-mail and I'll let you know!

A couple of Firsts....

2007-09-09T23:22:00.000+01:00

Hey guys.
Couple of first time things have been happening--
1) I went to Greenwich, where the East meets the West at the Prime Meridian! Below are a couple of pictures of our ferry ride over and then views from the top of the hill where the Observatory was located.
2) My first coat! Living in Texas and then California have not prepared me for the winter that is to come. So I had to buy my first coat over here and can I just say it is gorgeous?! It is a trench, double breasted, waterproof (KEY), khaki, knee-length beauty.
3) Harrods! This place is crazy! 7 levels of anything you can ever imagine that you would need to buy. They have already started decorating for Christmas. There is no way to explain how amazing it is going to be. I guess the best way to put it is (if you know her) like hundreds of my Aunt Theresa's beautiful Christmas trees and decorations over 7 stories of shops! Can't wait!
4) I went to my first church service in London! It was so wonderful! I was so worried if I would feel comfortable, know any of the songs, and be able to relate to the preacher, but of course the Lord is always there if you are searching to find Him. I went to HTB and I know I'm going to find another wonderful church community. They have a mainly student service on Sunday evenings which is great for traveling. I'm so excited!
5) My first Hyde Park nap! I layed out on the grass today in the beautiful weather and slept! It was so relaxing, well, minus the city noise in the background, mainly cars honking.

So that's whats been going on lately! I would love to hear from each and every one of you!
Cheers! ♥♥♥

The second day...

2007-09-07T00:09:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone!
Today has been exhausting but fantastic!
We woke up and had breakfast in our student lounge which is decked out in London and Underground decorations. We then went on upstairs into our large classroom to have two orientation meetings where we met a lady from the embassy, our IT guy, and received more rules and procedures for travel, house life, and more. We then had pizza from Dominos in our student lounge. Next came the most amazing part....a tour around London!
We saw almost everything from Harrods to Buckingham Palace to London Bridge to St. Pauls to etc etc etc. Pictures should be uploaded at the bottom to give you an idea.
Next we came back to the house where we had a Student Workers meeting. I'm going to help watch after and clean the house on weekends I don't travel, and I'm going to be given the wonderful oppurtunity to tutor a boy in math if it can be arranged.
Next we went around town for a bit getting Tube passes, cell phones (if wanted, I for now have chose not to get one), and seeing local coffee shops and stores. The main street we were on was the one Harrod's lies on. It is the world famous, huge department store who's motto is "Everything for Everyone" or something along those lines.
Next we ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant called "My Old Dutch." It was good! It reminded me of Freebirds or any type of build your own sandwich or burrito shop. Mainly you could get all different types of "pancakes" which appear to me like a tortilla, but someone else used the term crepe.
We then walked around for a bit and eventually ended up at the house where we had our Community Living meeting with the RA. Again, a bunch of rules. But no worries.
So that was the day! As I promised the pictures are below (I am forever grateful to my good friend Sarah for taking all the shots you see below). I love you all and hope to talk with you soon! ♥♥♥

A regular street in London, complete with cars zooming by:

Yes, the red busses are everywhere!

The signature 4 lions:

House of Parliament:

Westminster Abbey:

The skyline of London is never without a crane because of all of the construction. This is also the River Thames that runs through London:

The House of Parliament (Big Ben sits on the far right of this beautiful one):
And here he is. However if you ever asked if you can see Big Ben say "No" because Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside this tower, so you can only hear Big Ben:
Another skyline shot. The Far right building has a funny name I can't remember but you can always recognize it because it is in the shape of a "pickle":

The Tower of London:
The Tower of London again:

I believe this is the Tower Bridge:
and again at a different angle:

St. Paul's. I love this building. It can be seen from anywhere in London so the story goes.

St. Paul's
St. Paul's:
This is where Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) attended school. Both my roommates were sure to get a photo, they love love love Harry:

This is a beautiful museum, not sure of it's name:

Here is Queen Elizabeth the 1st (I think, I'm probably wrong). But it is the oldest statue in the outdoors today:

Yes! They do have red telephone booths everywhere!

This is a beautiful Concert Hall across the street from Hyde Park (which turns into Kensington Gardens):
This is a beautiful statue in Kensington Gardens:

And yes, I am here! This is your wonderful photographer and me. Thanks Sarah!

I'm Here!

2007-09-06T23:24:00.000+01:00

Greetings from London!
I have arrived and already settled into the house.
My trip began at 5:30 am on Tuesday morning (Texas time) after I missed my alarm. Not a good start. Mom, Dad, and I arrived at the airport with lots of time to spare, and there were no problems with checking in and security. I met up with my friend Sarah at DFW and we then flew to Chicago and finally on to London together. The flights were okay. I had a personal TV for the last two flights so that was nice, and of course Sarah being there was great so that we could catch up on each others summers and, best of all, use each other as a pillow. At London Heathrow Airport we waited for close to a hour to get our passports approved. Picking up our luggage was no problem and the carts were free (the US should learn from this!). However, once we were in the passenger pick up area we waited for the group to arrive for around 3 hours so we could ride on the bus with them to the house.
Then the real journey began!
Riding through London for the first time was unbelivably breathtaking and amazing! All styles of architecture border the streets. A beautiful Victorian building could be right next to a modern building that was just as beautiful and wonderful!
We then arrived at the house where all the luggage had to be loaded in. Us students have 3 floors for our rooms--the basement, 2nd floor & 3rd floor (the 2nd and 3rd floor are really the 3rd and 4th floors though because street level is "ground floor" and not the 1st floor). Trying to get 4o students with 4 pieces of luggage a piece into their respected rooms was no easy task. Luckily I live in the basement and it was only one fligh of stairs down for me.
I live with Roxanne and Sarah as you can see in the pictures below and this is our room:

Roxanne--

Sarah's back
We then went out to eat as a group (which we will do 3 times a week) at a place called Wagamama which was a Noodles Bar. It was okay; I just couldn't enjoy it because I was so tired. I still hadn't slept for longer than 30 minutes of uncomfortable plane naps, so I was literally falling asleep between picking up my food and putting it in my mouth. No lie. Many choices to choose from, so maybe next time I will enjoy it more.
Finding my way around London is going to be quite difficult! There is no pattern to the streets whatsoever. The Tube (Subway system) will help alot because it is mapped out very methodically.
All and all, my first day was full and tiring but so fun. I miss all of you and wish everyone could be here to experience it with me. I will post more soon, with pictures of London (the real reason your are reading this!). ♥♥♥