TravelStream™ news feed for member dianeinlondon on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dianeinlondon en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:20:45 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1208202960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1208202960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1208202960/tpod.html Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:20:45 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

So my next trip was to Scotland with my school. This meant that Becky would be joining trip this trip and Angela and I where overjoyed to have another travel partner. So we arrived by train from London and this time there where no real issues. I have to say this was probably one of our most successful long distance train rides. When we first arrived we waltzed into the hostel only to find that the entire group had to put down and deposit. Feeling a bit angry that I was not informed of this earlier and the simple fact that I only had 5 pounds on me at the time I snuck out without paying. I figured with such a big group as long as I don't ask for money back and steal someone else's no one will notice. It worked by the by. We then proceeded to just scope out the area and get a sense of things we wanted to see. We found a free tour and decided to take it. I didn't know very much about Scotland or Edinburgh so this seemed like our best bet for learning more. We woke up early and headed out for our tour. We walked around Scottish Parliament and St. Giles Cathedral. Edinburgh felt a lot like a giant hill and once we reached the top there was a great view of the rest of the city. Edinburgh Castle itself looked pretty impressive but due to money concerns we did not make it inside. We got to see the building off of which J.K. Rowling based Harry Potter and the Elephant House where Harry Potter was written. During the tour we stopped at a pub for some lunch where, at around 12:30PM, we saw a guy dressed as a pregnant man and someone dressed as Ozzy Osborne (sadly I do not have a picture]. We walked through the Greyfriars Cemetery which is supposably haunted and saw Grayfrars Bobby the famous Scottish dog that watched over his masters grave years after his death. After our tour we did some shopping and walking around the city. We came across three phone booths with three men in kilts. It was so funny and so Scottish that we just had to stop and take a picture of these unsuspecting men. It was off to the pub afterward for some food and a little to drink and then to the hostel for a good night sleep. The next day we headed of to the Scotch Whiskey Factory for there 11:00am tour cause it was less expensive. We learned how scotch is made and went on a silly looking ride about it. We then went to the National Museum Scotland where we saw a bunch on interesting Scottish artifacts and Dolly the sheep, yes she apparently was also from Scotland. We continued to walk around and shop till it was time to catch the train back to London. I do have to go back there and study you know, even though traveling is much more fun. Love to my friends and family <3                      
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1208804220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1208804220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1208804220/tpod.html Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:58:27 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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Berlin, Germany

The next day Angela and I decided to take some pictures in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Then I dragged Angela over to see German Parliament with me. I for some reason find Parliaments to be really interesting. Maybe it's because I'm thinking of working for the government at some point. Who knows. We stood in line for a long time, Angela was about to bail on me, but it really was a beautiful day so I got her to stick with me through it. We finally made it inside and if you ask me it was totally worth it. We took an elevator to the top, did I mention Angela does not like heights. Getting into Parliament is free and the views from the top and the inside of the dome are so cool looking I would say it is totally worth waiting for. After we where done we wandered through a park and back over to the Holocaust Memorial; we went into the Holocaust Museum which is part of it. It was a well done museum but not as good as the one in DC. There was one room where you could listen to Holocaust survivors and those who passed on during that time stories. You did not find out until the last line if they survived or died and most where recorded in their own or family members voices. We sat for a while and listened and learned. There are so many recordings that if you sat there for a year you would not hear one repeat, and they are still recording more. We headed outside in search of something more uplifting to do. We walked through a park and headed toward a war memorial when we got there we realized there was some sort of festival going on. It was KINDERFEST and we were psyched, not only do we love kids but we pretty much are big kids! We proceeded to walk around the festival taking it all in. The funny rides and performances by German children. We were in Germany so we had to go the Brezel Stand and get some brezels, yes it is the same thing as a pretzel just German. It was then goodbye to Germany as well as Angela and my last trip together. We have had such fun and there are sure to be more adventures to come. I was now looking toward finals and the end of school along with exciting trips I had planed with Mike. You'll have to just keep reading along to hear more about them. Love to my friends and family <3
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1208791920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1208791920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1208791920/tpod.html Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:34:31 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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Berlin, Germany

The next trip was just Angela and I and it was off to Berlin, Germany. This trip was Angela's choice because she is German and wanted to get more in touch with her roots. I love the history that Germany has especially related to World War II, which I have taken a class on, so I was more than happy to tag along. We arrived in Germany late and caught a taxi to our hostel. The taxi driver was so nice and even ran up to the hostel to make sure we were in the right place. We went in and got settled in our room and where off to sleep. Originally we were supposed to be in two separate rooms but the hostel was nice enough to change things around so we could be together. The next morning we woke up somewhat early and headed out to explore the city. The subway system in Germany was not very hard to figure out and luckily all ticket machines could switch to an English translation, not so in every country. The city of Berlin itself looked very modern due to the fact that almost everything was destroyed during World War II. We really wanted to take a tour in order to understand the significance of what we where seeing. It was easy to find one so we happily joined the group. The tour started at the Brandenburg Gate . It was stunning to see in person and you can still see all the patches from the many bullet holes made in it. It was amazing to me that it even survived the war and stands tall and strong among an acropolis of new buildings including the US Embassy. We then walked through the gate and over to the Holocaust Memorial. The memorial truely looks as if it could be for almost anything it is a bunch of cement blocks. The symbolism of the blocks has never been disclosed the artist would like the individual to interpret it as they like. We walked among the cement slabs wandering alone and hearing random voices from many sides it was eerie, there even seemed to be a slight temperature changed inside the memorial and it felt colder. I wandered through thinking about what I had learned in class and the many lives that where lost and my heart ached. Next we headed to a very different memorial one for the German people. This memorial showed the reality of Germany and the oppression they felt after World War II with few job opportunities the people of Germany struggled and felt the need for change. There was a second picture showing the "German Dream" which was what the country projected to the world and what the government said they were working toward for the people. We then went to see some pieces of the Berlin Wall which separated East and West Berlin for 28 years separating both friends and families. It was shocking to me how thin the wall really was and how much it affected the past and future of Germany. Right down the street from the wall was Check-point Charlie allowing individuals in and out of the city during World War II. We stopped for some Haagen Daz ice cream which we found out later is not really German but the name sure is. Strangely enough we also saw the balcony that Michael Jackson dangled his baby from. We headed back to the hostel and found a really great restaurant along the way. They had some of the best colslaw I have ever eaten. Then we got back chatted with some people in the hostel and went to bed.  Love to my friends and family <3 Diane                         
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1207575840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1207575840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1207575840/tpod.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:11:08 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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Galway, Western Ireland, Ireland

Now it was time to explore the city of Galway. Adam, and two of his Irish roommates Adrian and Amy, took us around the city looking around and stopping in quant little shops. It was a really nice and relaxing day. We spent a good chunk of time playing in a toy store that we could hardly pull Adam out of. We had an excellent lunch of soup and sandwiches. Probably the best lunch I've had so far on my travels at a place called the Queys. We then walked toward the coast where you can pass through the Spanish Arch. It was very pretty there and we just admired the scenery. In the distance you could see the Cliffs of Mor where they filmed the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride. We ran across some sort of rally for charity with all sorts of people dressed in costume and watched for a little while. All in all it was a fun day and it was great to get to know Adam's roommates better. The next day we where off to the Aaron Islands, and we woke up early in order to catch the bus to get to the ferry. We got some breakfast sandwiches to go and headed out. The ride to the Island was very cold and a bite rocky. Angela even felt sick at one point. And even through the water was freezing we saw some dolphins while on the ride. The views from the boat where really stunning, Ireland really is a beautiful place! We arrived at the Island of Inis Mor our destination and went right over to the bike rental place so the we would be able to ride around the Island and get to see everything we wanted to. There was no bike tour so we happily headed out on our own to explore the island and what it had to offer. The first place we stopped was a very odd looking pub. We were not hungry yet felt a need to pause for it was the strangest pub I had ever seen. It was painted bright yellow and had chickens roaming around in front of it. I of course took a picture and we then moved on. Our next stop on our bike ride was "the smallest church in the world". I was not sure if it really was the smallest but it was pretty tiny. The old stone building was quite something to look at and with the stunning background that Inis Mor had to offer we just had to take the time to walk around it. Inis Mor itself was a very rocky island which made for a very unique and beautiful backdrop for our ride. After viewing the church we then climbed up a hill and toward the lighthouse located on the island so that we could get a better view of the landscape as a whole. We continued wandering and found some interesting abandoned houses. We parked our bikes and explored. We decided that moving here would be nice but that these houses where definitely big time fixer uppers. We kept riding until we hit the beach then stopped to take a break and once again admire the scenery. We had lunch on the island at a little pub and rushed back on our bikes to pick up the gorgeous sweaters we had bought earlier and make sure we caught our ferry back. We got back and order some Chinese food and let Adrian and Amy go out to pick the movie we would watch. They came back and said we picked a movie about sheep cause there are few things more Irish than sheep and, "We thought it would be funny and fun for our American guests". It ended up being a movie about killer sheep, it was really strange, Angela was a little freaked out but I thought it was funny.The next day we got up early to go home. We got a taxi to the train station and hopped on the train. We had hoped to sleep on the train but the train was freezing. We ended up having to take turns going to the bathroom to put more layers of clothing on. We did not sleep at all the whole way there because when it finally got a little warmer a group of school children came on and where so noise that was couldn't. Finally we got the airport only to get all the way to our gate and 15 minutes before we were supposed to take off find out that it had been canceled. All flights to London had because it had snowed there. Luckily we only had carry on luggage. So we ran past the huge amounts of people who where lining up in an attempt to find alternative ways home. Angela and I were able to get the last two seats on the last flight to London going out that night. We patiently waited doing some airport shopping and taking little naps till it was time to head out. We did not get back to Regents till very early in the morning and I was very tired for class the next day. Though we had trouble getting home I would not have traded this for any other trip. I had a great time visiting Adam and Ireland was a beautiful and welcoming country. Love to my friends and family <3
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1207233000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1207233000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1207233000/tpod.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:53:13 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

So of course after having a Great Spring Break in Spain Angela and I felt the need to travel the very next weekend to Ireland to visit my friend Adam who was studying there. We skipped school on Thursday to jump on the plane and take our cheaper flight to Ireland. We arrived in Dublin City Airport where a homeless man helped us to find the right bus to get to the city center. Of course we gave him money he was really helpful and polite, I would even say he was my favorite homeless person I have ever meet. We were starving and so we stopped at the first place we saw with food. It was a somewhat sleazy looking pub with some interesting characters inside. These too men made a b-line for us as soon as we sat down. They were very drunk and very strange but nice enough and seemed just want to chat about things. They asked us about life in America and where they should go if they ever came to visit. One guy gave me his address telling me to send him a post card (this will not actually happen). After spilling a massive amount of grease on my pants from the burger I was eating and having to change we headed out. We proceeded to explore the city. We walked around Trinity College, which has a very pretty campus. The over to St. Stevens Green where we meet a friend of Angela's and explored the park with her for a little while. St. Stevens Green was nice but I have to say it looked like a sadder and not as cool version of Regents Park. But that may be a bias opinion seeing as I had been living in Regents Park. We then grabbed some ice cream and headed over to Dublin Castle. The castle was nice from the outside and we walked around and decided not to pay the money to go in. At this point we where feeling a little castled out and it was a little expensive as well. We then proceeded to get lost while trying to find the Guinness Factory so we just walked around it and took a few pics instead of going inside. Sadly we took to long and had missed the last tour. We then hopped on over to the train station to catch our train to Galway. On the train we once again meet some interesting characters, Ireland seemed to be full of them. These men had apparently had a very bad day in the city, I think they had lost there jobs, and had somewhere found many bottles of the airport sized wine and had stolen wine glasses so they could "Drink in style". They where very proud of being from Galway and told us a bunch of places where we should go. They told us that since we where such nice girls we should be careful but that Galway was a much safer city than Dublin. We chatted with them about the history of Galway and the Gaelic language for most of the ride there. By chatted I mean they taught us things and asked for comments once and a while. We arrived in Galway and Adam was there waiting for us. It was a somewhat long walk back to his apartment but we were determined not to pay for a cab. We arrived and meet some of his nice roommates and headed out for one of their birthdays that night. The pub we went to was very alive with singing and dancing it was a lot of fun. But we did not stay out late because we were tired from traveling and walking around all day so to bed it was to get ready for another fun filled day the next morning. Love to my friends and family <3Diane                  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206819060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206819060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206819060/tpod.html Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:36:34 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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Alicante, Valencian Country, Spain and Canary Islands

We got back to Alicante and were happy to be back. We enjoyed a little more time on the beach relaxing and soaking in the sun. One of our last days in Alicante we wandered into the city itself and climbed up to the castle. Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante had beautiful views yet it would have been nice if we had found this illusive elevator that took you to the top. Instead we climbed many steps and hills to reach the top and look out over the city. We had not eaten much or planed for the hike so needless to say we where less then thrilled. Yet the views made us feel better, and we got some beautiful photos. After we walked back down and along the harbor admiring its beauty and saying goodbye to Spain. We took an early flight back to London the next morning.  Love to my friends and family <3
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206642240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206642240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206642240/tpod.html Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:56:12 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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Valencia, Valencian Country, Spain and Canary Islands

After a few days in Alicante we took a train over to Valencia. Expecting that taking the train would not be to hard to catch we arrived at the station in the morning only to find that we had missed the morning train and the next one was not coming until much later in the afternoon. After a few hours of waiting in the train station and watching a man get arrested for trying to take someone's luggage the train finally arrives and we are off! The hostel we stayed in that night was horrendous. It was like a dungeon room and the only light it had was tinted red, really strange. We walked around the city streets for a while and noticing that Valencia has a very distinct and unpleasant smell. We headed to bed earlier for we had plans of an exciting day the next day. Angela and I woke up decently early and took the bus the Aquarium; Valencia has the largest Aquarium in all of Europe. They claim that Flipper lives at this Aquarium and I did see him! While viewing a bird exhibit within the Aquarium I was also attacked by a bunch of pink flamingo looking birds. It was awful and I have the pics to prove it. I was just taking a picture of them when they attacked. I proceeded to run, bear hug Angela, and be the laughing stock of the bird exhibit while all the Spanish people pointed rolling in laughter. Though I would have laughed at me too if I had not been terrified. We wandered around the Aquarium for a few hours and then headed to the Science Museum that was also part of it. We went back to our hostel and found some delicious dinner at a traditional Spanish restaurant. The next day we did a little more wandering around the city and headed back to Alicante. All in all Valencia is not on my top list of places for me. Maybe it was where we stayed or what we did but I just did not find it very fun. Ohh well.Love to my friends and family <3
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1205688540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1205688540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1205688540/tpod.html Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:23:32 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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Alicante, Valencian Country, Spain and Canary Islands

Sorry that this has taken so long to update. But as you may have guessed a lot has happened since my last entry and I plan to start writing more about it now.We will start with my Spring Break in SPAIN!!! Angela and I headed out to the Costa Del Sol together to Alicante to spend some quality time on the beach. Alicante itself was beautiful and our hotel was only a short walking distance form the beach. It was hot and windy and we spent our days trying to find comfortable ways to sunbath. We even went in the water just so we could say that we went in the ocean in March because it was so hot. Wow that water was cold!!! The beach where we stayed in Alicante had it's own boardwalk. There we're nice restaurants all along the shore and we dined in many of them. Our favorite place was called Burger Beach which sold questionable burgers and fries, we were not sure what kind of meat the burgers were made of but they were delicious and we didn't get sick. We also loved the ice cream man who would always try and get us matching colored spoons for our ice cream. One night in Alicante we even witnessed a Dirty Dancing like moment as teens form various High schools flocked to the beach for a dance! It was fun to watch.Love to my friends and family
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206406320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206406320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206406320/tpod.html Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:53:21 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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London, United Kingdom

This blog has been temporarily seized by "THE PARENTS"; be warned the following words are not Diane's!Thursday we met with Diane's class and toured the Bevis Marks Synagogue, Britain's oldest synagogue, it was built in the same period as St Paul's and has many of the same details used by Christopher Wren. Then we made our way to Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery. Once again surrounded by history and art; truly mind boggling. That night we went to a performance of Avenue Q in Leicester Square (hmmm... fly from Boston to London to watch a show based in a NYC "muppet world"???)Friday, while waiting for sleepy head Diane, we took a walk around the Regents' Garden area next to her school. A very lovely area but we were too early in the season to experience all the roses and other flowers. Snuck in a quick visit to the Covent Garden before heading out toward Elaine and Ray's for a family meal at the pub just 'round the corner. Realized that Ian had caught my cold, apologized profusely and suggested he try LemSip. We all stayed the night with family and on Saturday headed back in to Diane's school since she needed to get ready for her trip to Spain. Rachelle and I went back to the National Gallery then as we walked around the city we stumbled upon a huge pillow fight in Leicester Square (check out the video, we later found out it was World Pillow Fight day).Sunday was a wonderful Easter meal with family; Elaine had a fantastic feast with lamb. After dinner Ray found out why you should never fall asleep with your granddaughters nearby, nice job with the makeup kids! By this time Diane had arrived in Spain and was starting a well deserved "beach relaxation" vacation.And one last thing.... Easter in London, it SNOWED!! So before dinner snow bunnies were made and a snowball fight even occurred, oh those silly Brits!We now relinquish control of this blog and allow Diane to continue.Love to all, R&FPS. Diane, you have made us very proud!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206233160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206233160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianeinlondon/1/1206233160/tpod.html Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:51:20 -0400 My Semester Abroad in London

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London, United Kingdom

This blog has been temporarily seized by "THE PARENTS"; be warned the following words are not Diane's!Well, as you read that last entry it sure sounded like we didn't do too much... not quite as bad as "Mom and Dad were here, then left (not soon enough); oh yeah and here's one picture"... but still it does leave a little to be desired from our viewpoint.We arrived on Friday and were greeted by Elaine and Steven at the airport. Fausto had left Boston with a head cold and was in wonderful shape and couldn't hear a thing. Saturday was a quiet day (truly for Fausto) with family and with great pleasure we found out Georgia was spending the weekend. She is wonderful and a real pleasure to be with. Fausto also discovered the wonders of LemSip, a british concoction of cold medicine brewed like tea that worked marvelously.Sunday was our first trek into London for the afternoon classical performance at Royal Albert Hall; stunning, moving, and BRITISH!! The cannon shots during the performance finally cleared Fausto's ears. A quick stop at a pub after the show, then back to Elaine and Ray's place. Monday Diane was in class until the afternoon so we headed over to Westminster Abbey. An incredible amount of history but we did find it a bit rushed because of the crowds, can't really linger in the abbey itself but at least they do not rush you through the gardens and smaller chapels. Then a few blocks over to the war rooms and the Churchill museum. Obviously much more recent history and an amazing glimpse of how London persevered through WW2. Then off to meet our daughter at her school and spend a few hours at the British Library... OK, Diane wrote about the Beatle's, but they also had notebooks from DaVinci and Newton; and the hand written music sheets of Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart.... WOW!! Oh and a copy of the Magna Carta.... Yikes... and we just saw a little bit of the library!Tuesday we had the pleasure of going to St. Paul's Cathedral with Diane's "Civ of London" class, her teacher was the personal tour guide for the group. Yes, there are many, maNY, MANY steps to the very top of St Paul's. After lunch we made our way to the Sherlock Holmes's museum (more steps!). On Wednesday Diane was again in class until the afternoon, so we headed over to the Tower of London, a must do! Parts of the tower complex were built on walls from the Roman Empire and there is so much history. The original tower dates back to 1066. Across the street from the tower is a stunning memorial to the merchant marine sailors of WW2. We met up with Diane and made our way to Portobello Road.Love to all, R&F
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