This weekend Katy, Brittany, and I went to London to visit our friends who are studying abroad at West Minster University. We had a great time hanging out with the girls and the whole thing felt like a homecoming of sorts...
Friday
IES organized a lunch for the students at Atelier Guy Martin, a restaurant that also has cooking classes for the public. It was really cool because we had a cooking lesson from a French chef and prepared our entire lunch together and then ate what we made. He explained the different tools and techniques to make the food and of course I loved every minute of it. The lunch combined two of my favorite things- Paris and cooking. How perfect!
After lunch, we went right to the train station to take the Eurostar to London. Of course we went through the chunnel, and after two hours we were in England. Caitlin, Molly, and Wren met us at the station and took us on the tube (="L"= Metro = public transportation) to their dorms. They all have individual dorm rooms at West Minster and it reminded us of freshman year when we all lived in the dorms at DePaul. We made dinner in the kitchen and got ready to go out. They took us to a popular London club and we danced for hours. The club was fun because the music was great and it was HUGE- there were three different levels for dancing and at least 60 people on each floor. Unfortunately, the tube stops running at midnight so we had to spend 40 pounds and take a taxi home (yikes!).
Saturday
Wren made sure we were all up early so we could have breakfast together and get moving to go sightseeing. We went to Buckingham Palace first and saw one of the queen's many homes. It was really pretty and there were people everywhere so it was great for people watching too! Looking around you could see that people were there from all over the world and I liked being at such an international travel destination.
Our next stop was the "Times Square" of London. I couldn't believe how Americanized the city was once we got into the center. There were KFCs and Pizza Huts everywhere (even a T.G.I. Fridays) and posters for American movies plastered the sides of buildings. To remind ourselves that we were actually in London we had to stop and take pictures in the classic red phone booths. We also walked through Chinatown and then eventually made our way to a real British pub. For lunch we enjoyed a traditional meal of fish n' chips and pints of hard cider. Katy and Wren decided to order a "chip sandwich" which turned out to be exactly that- two pieces of bread with fries as the filling. It was hilarious.
That night the girls wanted to take us to get curry. Apparently London is known for its curry and the dish is more popular than fish and chips. Who knew?! We got a little lost trying to find a place to eat but ended up meeting two fabulous Britsh women who were extremely entertaining. They looked like they were straight out of the 80s- big hair, bright pink lipstick, tight tube dresses and fur coats. They made getting lost totally worth it and helped to make our long tube ride enjoyable. Eventually we found an Indian restaurant and had really authentic Indian food. It was sooo good and reminded me of how I love to order Indian take-out in Chicago. After dinner Molly, Wren, and Caitlin wanted to take us to one of their regular spots to hang out on the weekends. It was a bar near their dorm with a young crowd and live music. We ended up talking with a few really nice British people and liked having a more low-key night.
Sunday
In the morning we heard about a great place to get breakfast called The Diner. It is supposed to represent a true American diner, so we jumped at the chance to connect with home. It was a nice guilty pleasure to be able to feel like we were back in the U.S. by eating omlettes, burgers, fries, and milkshakes. I definitely haven't had that kind of meal since I left and enjoyed it very much! The Diner was in a very... interesting... part of the city known for its counter-culture (lots of tattoo and piercing places, people in crazy outfits, huge record stores, etc.) so we walked around for a couple of hours and ended up in another British pub. There was a very important rugby game going on and when we got to the pub it was bustling with people. It was really fun to be in such a charged atmosphere. The way they feel about rugby is like the way most men feel about football in America. We watched rugby on the big screen and hung out for awhile until it was time to catch the train home.
Surprises
Overall the trip to London was cool. The girls love living there and it was nice to see what their lives are like over there. I was surprised that it turned out to be more like home than a foreign city, but it was nice to return to the comforts of the U.S. (friends from home, staying in dorms, seeing the same stores and restaurants, eating American food, etc.). For me, London felt like New York City with a palace thrown in the middle. I was also surprised, however, that it was hard to understand the British people when they spoke. I thought a weekend speaking English would be a nice break from French, but I could barely understand the people in London! I realized that I felt more comfortable listening to French people speaking French than British people speaking English. Ha! The third big surprise of the weekend was that on the train ride back to Paris I was really looking forward to going "home". London was fun but I couldn't wait to get back to Paris. It was the first time that I realized how comfortable I am here. I feel like my life here is really starting to get going and I have adopted this city as a home away from home.
Friday
IES organized a lunch for the students at Atelier Guy Martin, a restaurant that also has cooking classes for the public. It was really cool because we had a cooking lesson from a French chef and prepared our entire lunch together and then ate what we made. He explained the different tools and techniques to make the food and of course I loved every minute of it. The lunch combined two of my favorite things- Paris and cooking. How perfect!
After lunch, we went right to the train station to take the Eurostar to London. Of course we went through the chunnel, and after two hours we were in England. Caitlin, Molly, and Wren met us at the station and took us on the tube (="L"= Metro = public transportation) to their dorms. They all have individual dorm rooms at West Minster and it reminded us of freshman year when we all lived in the dorms at DePaul. We made dinner in the kitchen and got ready to go out. They took us to a popular London club and we danced for hours. The club was fun because the music was great and it was HUGE- there were three different levels for dancing and at least 60 people on each floor. Unfortunately, the tube stops running at midnight so we had to spend 40 pounds and take a taxi home (yikes!).
Saturday
Wren made sure we were all up early so we could have breakfast together and get moving to go sightseeing. We went to Buckingham Palace first and saw one of the queen's many homes. It was really pretty and there were people everywhere so it was great for people watching too! Looking around you could see that people were there from all over the world and I liked being at such an international travel destination.
Our next stop was the "Times Square" of London. I couldn't believe how Americanized the city was once we got into the center. There were KFCs and Pizza Huts everywhere (even a T.G.I. Fridays) and posters for American movies plastered the sides of buildings. To remind ourselves that we were actually in London we had to stop and take pictures in the classic red phone booths. We also walked through Chinatown and then eventually made our way to a real British pub. For lunch we enjoyed a traditional meal of fish n' chips and pints of hard cider. Katy and Wren decided to order a "chip sandwich" which turned out to be exactly that- two pieces of bread with fries as the filling. It was hilarious.
That night the girls wanted to take us to get curry. Apparently London is known for its curry and the dish is more popular than fish and chips. Who knew?! We got a little lost trying to find a place to eat but ended up meeting two fabulous Britsh women who were extremely entertaining. They looked like they were straight out of the 80s- big hair, bright pink lipstick, tight tube dresses and fur coats. They made getting lost totally worth it and helped to make our long tube ride enjoyable. Eventually we found an Indian restaurant and had really authentic Indian food. It was sooo good and reminded me of how I love to order Indian take-out in Chicago. After dinner Molly, Wren, and Caitlin wanted to take us to one of their regular spots to hang out on the weekends. It was a bar near their dorm with a young crowd and live music. We ended up talking with a few really nice British people and liked having a more low-key night.
Sunday
In the morning we heard about a great place to get breakfast called The Diner. It is supposed to represent a true American diner, so we jumped at the chance to connect with home. It was a nice guilty pleasure to be able to feel like we were back in the U.S. by eating omlettes, burgers, fries, and milkshakes. I definitely haven't had that kind of meal since I left and enjoyed it very much! The Diner was in a very... interesting... part of the city known for its counter-culture (lots of tattoo and piercing places, people in crazy outfits, huge record stores, etc.) so we walked around for a couple of hours and ended up in another British pub. There was a very important rugby game going on and when we got to the pub it was bustling with people. It was really fun to be in such a charged atmosphere. The way they feel about rugby is like the way most men feel about football in America. We watched rugby on the big screen and hung out for awhile until it was time to catch the train home.
Surprises
Overall the trip to London was cool. The girls love living there and it was nice to see what their lives are like over there. I was surprised that it turned out to be more like home than a foreign city, but it was nice to return to the comforts of the U.S. (friends from home, staying in dorms, seeing the same stores and restaurants, eating American food, etc.). For me, London felt like New York City with a palace thrown in the middle. I was also surprised, however, that it was hard to understand the British people when they spoke. I thought a weekend speaking English would be a nice break from French, but I could barely understand the people in London! I realized that I felt more comfortable listening to French people speaking French than British people speaking English. Ha! The third big surprise of the weekend was that on the train ride back to Paris I was really looking forward to going "home". London was fun but I couldn't wait to get back to Paris. It was the first time that I realized how comfortable I am here. I feel like my life here is really starting to get going and I have adopted this city as a home away from home.
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