Day trip to Brighton

Before my Mom had come to visit me, we had talked about planning a day trip somewhere outside of London. She was thinking a trip to some chateau or castle, but I was looking for something I hadn't seen in quite a long time – a beach!

I had a friend tell me about a cute town called Brighton. It is on the southern coastline of England, and is only a one-and-a-half hour train ride from central London. So, last Monday, my mom and I woke up and decided to go! 

Picture of the coast from the Brighton Pier

The Pier

Mom dippin' her toes in the English Channel 

We had the most amazing day exploring the little treasured city we new nothing about. It happened to be a beautiful day, so we relaxed on the rock beach, and had lunch outside at a restaurant called "The Terrace"... big contrast from having lunch two days prior in a ski lodge at the top of the Swiss Alps! 

Early on we walked along the pier, where I stopped to get my first fish pedicure. It was the craziest feeling and I have to admit, I was a bit nervous, but my feet came out super soft :)

The highlight of the trip had to be our visit to The Royal Pavilion. My mom, the royal family expert, didn't even know it existed! It was built for King George IV starting in 1787 and was finished in 1823. The castle, as I would call it, was decorated head to toe in oriental detail. Definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I think I was even more impressed with it then I was Versaille! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I think the outside is a pretty remarkable representation. 

The Royal Pavilion 

After a delicious italian dinner at the Marina, my mom and I headed back to London to ensure we got a good nights rest for her last day. When I nestled back in bed, I realized just how surreal this whole experience has been for me – I have seen more in two and a half months than most people have seen in their entire lifetime. And best of all, I have gotten to share many of my experiences with the people I love, which makes it all the more better. I truly am the luckiest girl alive! 

Two Blondes do Switzerland

At this time last week I was laying in bed – unable to get a wink of sleep – with anticipation of my mom's arrival into London. It had been exactly two months since I had left home, which is probably the longest I have ever gone without seeing her. I managed to get two or three hours before I left for the airport to pick her up, but ended up arriving an hour and a half early because I just couldn't wait any longer!

She may not have noticed, but I couldn't hold back tears when I saw her come out of the terminal at London's Heathrow airport. I had kept in contact with her almost every day over the phone and email, but for some reason seeing her brought out a whole new container of emotions. 

When we arrived back at my dorm, I took my mom on a little walking tour of my area. At first I couldn't tell what she thought about it, but by the end of the trip I knew she was very impressed and excited for me. We didn't do much sight-seeing the first day because we had a long day of travel ahead of us. We woke up at 3:10 a.m. the next morning in order to get to the airport for our 6:45 flight to Zurich, Switzerland out of London's Gatwick airport (about a half hour farther than Heathrow). It was BRUTAL. 

Zurich was absolutely beautiful though. We did a trolly tour the first day to get our grips of the city, and then walked around to different shops before indulging in an expensive cheese fondue dinner. Actually, the fondue dinner wasn't even that expensive compared to other things. Everything was expensive in switzerland. A cheese sandwich cost me 18 swiss franks! 

Lake Zurich

My beautiful mother in front of the lake

Me in front of one of the rivers

Mother with her SWISS hot chocolate 

Cheese Fondue with bread, potatoes, onions and pickles. Strange combination

Zurich at night

On Saturday we woke up and ate a complimentary breakfast at the hotel before we made our way to the alps. I have always had this weird fascination with mountains, so this was probably my favorite part of the trip :)

The Sleeping Lion Memorial for fallen soldiers 

Mom and I in front of the Lion

Lucern, Switzerland

On our bus to the mountains!

View from the first lift

Rotating gondola that took us up to the highest point. Around 15,000 feet in elevation

On the very top of the snowy alps!

Me and mom sittin' in a glacier

Only my fourth time seeing snow this winter :)

Mom having successfully making it back down to sea level

We ended the night in the mountains with a great dinner and some drinks from the hotel bar. The stay in Switzerland went perfectly, and I could not have imagined going anywhere more beautiful. I would say the only problem we ran into was the intense language barrier. Unbeknown to us, Swiss people speak German– only German! We had a very hard time communicating, but luckily our hotel had a good English speaking staff who helped get us around. It was truly a trip of a lifetime and I felt so blessed that I was able to share the experience with my mom,  because she made every experience that much better :)

Discovering the beauty of London

Before I came to London I had read the book "One Day" by David Nicholls. You may have heard the name when the film adaptation came out this fall, staring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. The story follows two people from England who had always been more than just friends, for over 20 years. A bit predictable, but I ended up really enjoying the book. The movie didn't do much for me. But that's beside the point.

The reason I am mentioning it is because an important part of the book features Dexter (one of the main characters) bringing his daughter up to Hampstead Heath. By the description in the book, this huge mountain looking over the city of London sounded like something I had to see...so that is what I did!

Trails in Hampstead Heath

Pretty flowers

Canopy made of twigs

Tree of life?

Look out from Parliament Hill

Katie, Maddy, and on top of Parliament Hill

I didn't find the hill to be as breathtaking as I thought it would be, however I found myself really enjoying the actual park surrounding the hill. It felt so good to be among so many trees and hills when lately all I have been seeing are street lights and side walks! The pictures don't show it, but it was actually a beautiful day in London before we finally made it to the top of the hill. I felt like I really took advantage of the day by getting outside and hiking around the park.

The rest of this weekend was left for writing term papers and working on my editorial production project. That class seems to be the most challenging for me because it requires a lot of work on computer programs I have never used before. However, I think my online blog is turning out quite well. Let me know what you think!

www.thelondonskinny.com

Hope everyone is enjoying that warm heat wave I hear is hitting the midwest! 

Missing you all! 

Pessimistic in Paris

Two weeks later and I am back at it...

Apologies to those of you that have been waiting with anticipation from my latest travel adventures– as I know you all are– but I have been surprisingly busy with school work and catching up on some rest due to my latest illness these past few weeks. 

Picking up from the last blog post, a lot has happened. After Sam left I was lucky enough to have my boyfriend, Anthony, come visit me for a long weekend. The four days flew by, but we were able to hit all the major sites and had some incredible weather...probably the warmest it has been since I have been here. To celebrate a belated valentines day, we went to covent garden to see the Broadway production of The Lion King and on the last day of our trip we took a Rock and Roll tour around the city. It was so good to see him and made me feel so much more at home. I wish he could be here with me every day. 

Me and Anthony in front of the London Eye 

Anth steppin' out of a telephone booth!

By Big Ben 

Anthony walking on Abbey Road

Finally made it !!!

Thankfully Anthony left just in time, because I ended up getting sick as soon as I sent him off on the airplane. Knowing that I was leaving for Paris in four days, I decided to go to the walk-in clinic to see what was wrong with me. I had high expectations for the health care here in London, because I had always thought universal health care was a good thing...but I was mistaken. 

I went to the clinic at 10:30 a.m. and they said they couldn't get me an appointment until 2:00 pm– not a big deal, to me it was another opportunity to go shopping. When I got back at 2 I had to wait another 15 to 20 minutes before my name showed up on an electronic sign indicating:"Miss. Kathryn Cutinello to room 8." I got to the room and the Nurse Practitioner was dressed in high heels and a nice skirt. She wore no lab coat and no stethoscope around her neck. I was in there for maybe 2 minutes before she sent me out with a prescription. There was no waisting her time. I was not impressed with the health care, to say the least. I was furious! Those two minutes cost me 50 pounds!

I won't go into the details of what I had (and am still recovering from) but it was horrible! I believe it was some type of virus that turned into a bacterial infection in my mouth. Not fun, and very painful. My entire trip to Paris was ruined because I felt so horrible and looked so horrible...and nobody wants to be walking around Paris looking ugly and sick! But Maddy, Colleen, Katie and I still had a great time. Thank goodness it was not my first time there, or else I really would have been devastated. I took a ton of pictures from the trip, but tried to keep myself out of them for the sake of my dignity: 

Le tour eiffel 

Katie, Collen, and Maddy infront of the Eiffel Tower

My dad leaving me little reminders of himself...even in Paris!

le louvre

The Mona Lisa

My Mother's favorite!

greatest shopping in the world!

the Arc de Triumph

Same restaurant I ate at four years ago with my cousin Jackie and my mom!

The Eiffel Tower at night

 Click "play" to watch the Eiffel Tower Sparkle (sorry it's sideways):

Le chateau Versaille 

Moulin Rouge- great movie. 

Maddy, Me and Collen infront of le Sacre Coeur 

My delicious "petit dejeuner." A few minutes after I took this picture a 13 year old gypsy stole my croissant right out of the bucket! I was appalled.