Brighton!

Pretty carousel 

Front of the Pier

When it comes to staying on top of my blog, I am negligent to say the least! But, I guess the statement better late than never applies here.  Last Saturday two of my friends and I took a trip down to the coast to visit Brighton.  We were super lucky in the fact that the sun came out and it was fairly warm!  The beach itself isn't like a sand beach, it was covered with pebbles/rocks and no one was swimming (it was too cold).  People were mostly kayaking/canoeing and later in the day we saw jet skies.  The pier was probably my favorite part though.  They had a whole bunch of restaurants and shops and at the end they had carnival rides.  I was tempted to go on a couple if it didn't cost 5 pounds to do so!  They also had lounge chairs to set up along the pier so we just sat in the sun for about 2 hours doing nothing (if you haven't realized this yet, sun is a commodity here in England)!  Before we left, we also ate dinner on the pier and I officially ordered my first fish and chips!  While the fish was excellent (especially for being fried) it was super super greasy!  

Spring Break!

Hi friends!
Sorry it has taken me so long to get this post up.  I have been one busy lady! (well, not since I have got back. My friends and I have been taken it easy these past couple days!) In this post I will go over a little of what I did over spring break and then I will put the pictures in another post.  So April 7th was the start of the coolest spring break ever!  We flew to the Greek Island, Zakynthos, that night and got a taxi to our hostel. We got to stay on the Island 2 days and that was not enough time!!! I loved the island because everyone is extremely friendly and we could rent a car and drive around the whole thing in just one day! Our hostel was also wonderful (Kavos Psarou, if you ever go to this island STAY HERE). The owners went out of their way to give us breakfast, lower our nightly rate, and set up a car rental. After our stay was over we took a ferry and bus to Athens, where we stayed for the next three days.  For people like me who really like Greek history, seeing all the ancient buildings was a dream come true.  However, three days was enough for Athens. Its dirty and less friendly but we still had a great time.

Next it was off to Roma! Our hostel there was literally two blocks away from the colosseum and it was culture week in Italy so all the public museums were free! There are also a lot of other cool ruins in the area which was so fun to see. The next day we went to the Vatican and guess who was giving mass that day?! The Pope! We also went in the vatican and saw the Sistine Chapel and tons of art.  Did I mention that while here our diet has consisted of pizza and gelato? The next day we did some shopping and I got the cutest pair of Italian leather pumps, so worth it! Florence was next for three days.  Here we saw the David up close.  We also toured a former Medici castle (they had a section on dress and I loved it!). By this time we were pretty worn out so we took a lot of naps here. The last day we spent in Pisa, and I wish we could have stayed longer.  There is really only the leaning tower here (which is pretty leany if I do say so myself) but the town is very charming and felt less touristy.  We left on the 19th and came back to some lovely Hatfield weather!

London, Oxford, and a little Harry Potter

This weekend was a busy one!  On Friday, my friends and I took a little trip into London for the first time in a month!  We have been so busy traveling to other countries that we haven't got the chance to go back until this weekend.  While I was there my fellow Theta, Madeline, was visiting from Italy! So, we went on this free tour (its called Sandeman's New Europe and you just tip at the end based on how good you think the tour guide did) and learned some history behind all the buildings we have been marveling at.  We also took her to Camden Market and introduced her to the best donuts in the world!  I think it is safe to say she would agree with that statement. :)

Madeline and I at Trafalgar Square in London

On Saturday, we took a trip to Oxford through the school for study abroad students.  Best part about Oxford is the fact the Harry Potter was filmed there!!!! The college buildings are super old which makes them perfect for certain scenes that involve the Hogwarts Castle.  After they took us around to see all the buildings that make up Oxford University (which are a lot by the way) they then took us to this really ritzy shopping center.  Why? I have no idea because there was not many things I could even think about buying.  However, I did fall in love with a store called Cath Kidston which I like to think is very similar to Vera Bradley (which I also love).

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Since I have not really touched on the education system a lot yet, I thought I would dedicate this post to the University of Hertfordshire's education system!  This whole semester up until now I have felt like I really haven't been attending any form of schooling (although all my friends do, they are in different courses).  I am in the Health course and the Fashion course and since I am not in a design studio for fashion, I have yet to have any homework like I would typically receive in the States.  My grade for all three of my classes rests on a  paper for each of them and a test for only one.  So you can imagine the multitude of time I now have on a day to day basis.  I also only have class on Mondays from 9-4 and Wednesdays from 11-1 which leaves my schedule pretty open as well.  Not only that but this week is the second to last week I have classes!  Its crazy! I basically have the whole month of April off and then I have to stick around in May so that I can take one test that only last one hour.  I would like to add that not everyone has this easy schedule like I do but it is a nice break from last semester.  So since I have these papers due at the end of April, I thought I would get a head start so I don't have to worry about them when I am galavanting across Greece and Italy.  I have one done so far and the other two started and I am hoping I can get at least one more completely finished before I leave on April 7th (which I am currently counting down the days too :)).  I feel like I owe it to myself to be slightly productive since I don't have the "I am so swamped I couldn't find the time" excuse to procrastinate.

Pretty Spanish Pictures!

Just a cool little sign in Puerta del Sol, but look how blue that sky is!

First experience with tapas, not too bad.

Hot chocolate and churros!  The hot chocolate is much thicker than
what we would consider hot chocolate but it makes it perfect for dipping
your churros into!

The Royal Palace, which is the largest palace in Western Europe
based on the number of rooms, which is 2,000.  I guess that means the King
can have a lot of guest over!

Templo de Debod, a gift from Egypt to Spain.  There were
parks surrounding it so we had a lovely picnic and then
headed over to take pictures of this.  I'm afraid this might be the
closest I ever get to Egypt.

Just some Madrid skyline.  It was so beautiful and sunny that day!
I am hoping I regained some color that I have lost while living in England.

Plaza Mayor!  Fun fact: this plaza has been home to numerous bullfights
and executions during the Spanish Inquisition and was built in the 1600s

Oldest restaurant in Europe. Seriously, they have the Guinness
certificate in the window and have been serving food since
the 1700s 

For some reason this picture is on its side buuttt this is the Almundena
Cathedral and on the other side of this is the palace!

All of the street signs had pictures of what they described, which
was very helpful for those of us with limited Spanish skills.

Venus and Mars in Museo del Prado.  They had tons
of sculptures and I wish we could have spent more time there.
They also had two time periods that were free of charge for everyone
which was really nice as well.

Quiero España mucho

Hello friends!
I am back from a wonderful weekend in Spain! Well, actually I came back on Sunday but as the british say, "I can't be bothered" to post things in a timely manner!  Our trip took us to Madrid which is that capital city for those of you who didn't know.  My friends and I are getting quite good a navigating aeropuertos y trenes (this blog is going to be sprinkled with some Spanish words :)) so getting from one place to another is getting much smoother.  We had the good fortune to also get some amazing hostels for good prices in great locations, definite plus!  Since our flight came in at 11 am Thursday and we left early Sunday morning we had three full days to sight see.  The weather was also 60s the whole time which was a great break from England.  However, since I have been back it has been oddly sunny (must have brought the sun  back with me!) I am trying to upload pictures buuutttt it is not letting me so as soon as I can there will be pictures of my trip!

What a beautiful English day!

The pretty tree outside my window!

This post is simply dedicated to how happy I am that England is finally starting to warm up!  I didn't have classes today, but I did have errands to run which I was more than happy to do since it is not to windy, rainy, gloomy, etc.  The tree right outside my window is also blossoming and has the most beautiful pink flowers on it! I am hoping this weather will become an everyday thing because I am ready to see some sun on a regular basis.  That's all for today.  The count down to Espana es dos dias!!!!