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. 

Amsterdam & Brugge

Let's see, where to begin...

This weekend was jam-packed with adventure! Believe it or not, I was in four different countries in a matter of only 3 days. When I signed up Sam and I to go to Amsterdam, I knew we would be taking a coach bus, but I had no idea what our route would be. 

We started by driving to the port of Dover. Sam and I were amazed by how cute the city was and the gigantic white cliffs that Dover is so famously known for. Apparently, the people who live in Dover do not agree with us though, because it ranks number three in the top most boring cities in the UK. But, compared to rural Illinois, I don't think this place looked very boring at all!

At the port, our coach was led onto a gigantic ferry. When we got off the bus and walked up the stairs I was amazed by how nice the ship was. They had food courts, coffee shops, lounges, arcades and even duty free shops :). The 90-minute cruise to France was a mini vacation in itself! 

Katie, Colleen, Sam and Maddy eating breakfast on the Ferry

The group on the deck 

The port of Calais (coast of Northern France)

From Calais we headed on a 3 hour bus ride through France and Belgium to get to our final destination of Amsterdam. All in all it was a long day of travel, but it was fun, relaxing, and hassle free! When we arrived in Amsterdam we took a brief walking tour around the Red Light District (where all the prostitutes are) and then headed to the hotel. Having been my first time in a hostel, I was thoroughly impressed. Lucky for us, Sam and I got our own room and Maddy, Colleen, and Katie were just across the hall.

The city of Amsterdam was beautiful. It was exactly how I pictured it, but with a lot more bikes. Literally EVERYONE rides bikes there. The streets even have a lane designated to bikers. Unfortunately for us, we arrived on one of the coldest weeks they have ever had! Our Canal tour got cancelled because the water was frozen. Apparently, the canals haven't froze since 1997, so this was a pretty big deal. 

Rather than giving you every detail of my trip, here are some pictures I accumulated:

Houses on the canal

In the city's main square

The same church bells Anne Frank would hear every morning

Learning how wooden shoes are made– a Holland tradition!

Sam and I outside the shoe shop

Holland windmills

Entrance to Anne Frank's secret Annex. My favorite part of Amsterdam! 

Infront of the Windmills

Lovin' Dutch-land!

People ice skating on the frozen canal

The girls and I had a blast going out on pub crawls and soaking up the night life culture Amsterdam has to offer. It was such a fun city with so much to do and I couldn't have had better time. On our way back our tour stopped in Brugge, Belgium:

I could go on and on about Brugge and the rest of the trip, but I know this post has gone on way too long.

Missing all of you at home!

<3 Katie 

Sam Arrives

Today my friend, Sam, arrived in London after a long flight from Milwaukee. Sam and I first met at the beginning of freshman year. We had both tried out for the club volleyball team at Marquette, and just a few weeks after making it, we both quit too. Ever since then, Sam and I have been best friends!

To my surprise, Sam was bursting with energy when I met her back at my dorm. Having been her first time out of the country, I could see why the jet-lag had not set in yet. After dropping off her bags we headed right for the tube station to visit some popular sights. Katie and I decided to get off at a different stop than we normally do and we ended up in a entirely new part of the city we had never been to. It was exciting for both us and Sam!

Sam and I infront of Piccadilly Circus square

A must!

Katie, me & Sam

Infront of Big Ben

Strange man dressed as Queen Elizabeth II

Proud to call her my best friend :)

Infront of Westminster Abbey

Front of Westminster Abbey

The day was perfect. We got around to all the big sites, treated ourselves to a nutella crepe, and ended our walk around the city with a pint of Strongbow cider. After a much needed "catching-up" session we made our way back to the dorm to make ourselves some dinner and tune into the most recent "One tree hill" episode.

Tomorrow we leave for a three-day trip to Amsterdam. Rather than flying, we are going on the trip through "International Friends," which is a travel company for students. The trip includes transportation to Amsterdam (via coach bus & ferry), housing, free breakfast, and admission into Ann Frank's house.

It should be an amazing trip, so stay tuned :)

<3 Katie