Oh The Places You'll Go

Gosh it's been so long, for that I apologize! I've done a lot over these past few weeks, here's the highlights:

I went to Stonehenge! No aliens found, yet.

I went to Oxford! Fun fact: this is where Harry Potter was filmed, inside this building is the "Great Hall" unfortunately I didn't get to see it :(

I went to Hampton Court Palace, the Palace of Henry the 8th, I live only a short 15 minute bus ride from here.

I went to Bath, this is where the Romans built baths from natural springs, they thought the springs possessed healing powers, I don't disagree.

Rachel and I turned 21(on the same day)! Our first beer as 21 year olds in England was a Brooklyn Lager, go figure. The highlight of the night was that we were sung "Happy Birthday" in Swedish, Finnish, Turkish, Arabic, English, and Dutch! Overall it was a pretty mild night, not your typical "get drunk it's my 21st birthday" ordeal. We're pretty lame.

In addition to these big events I did a few small but meaningful activities. I saw two plays, the first was "Frankenstein" directed by Danny Boyle, it was great and you could see elements of Boyle throughout the entire production. It was very provocative as well, theater here is a bit racier than in the US, more nudity. The second play I saw was a production called "Woody Sez" it was an incredible four person play about the life and music of Woody Guthrie, to say I loved this play is an understatement, it was absolutely incredible. Each character played several different instruments and Woody's life was told through both narrative and his own music. I hope it comes to New York, I would see it again.

I saw some great movies as well, "The Fighter" I'm sure you saw it too so I won't say much more about it. "Submarine" which is a British film, do yourself a favor and SEE THIS MOVIE it was so cute and funny and clever, and there's just no love like indie love. I also saw "Never Let Me Go" it was a very well done tear-jerker, see it with a lady friend.

I visited the very cute neighborhood of Notting Hill, it's absolutely lovely, lots of antique markets, and the book store from the movie, "Notting Hill" which I have yet to see.

I saw some incredible works of art from Dali, Van gogh, Monet, Da Vinci, and some other great classics. One thing (among many) that I truly love about England is that the government funds the arts so that museums are free. The collection throughout this country is admirable, and it has helped me to appreciate art far more than I did before.

Anywho tomorrow I leave for my big European vacation! I'm very excited, but at the same time very scared. Tomorrow morning I leave London by train, have a quick stop in Belgium, then continue on to Amsterdam where I'll be staying with a friend for the weekend. Sunday Rachel (my travel buddy and arch nemesis) fly into Barcelona where we will stay for two nights. After our stay in Barcelona we will hop on a train to Madrid where we will meet the lovely and loving Morgan Smith. We'll spend one night in Madrid and hop on a plane to Bologna, Italy. In Bologna we'll stay for two nights, eat lots of cheese and drink wine before making our way by train to Florence. Florence will host us for three nights until the train takes us to Rome. We will spend three nights in Rome as well and then make our way by train to the beautiful city of Paris. In Paris we will stay with some friends of Ms. Smith or possibly stay in some hostels. I'm not sure how to get back home to London yet but I'm sure it will fall into place.

It's a 16 day trip, I've packed all of my supplies in my backpack, I've printed all of my maps, boarding passes, and tickets, and I think I'm ready to go!

I want to stress to everyone how affordable it is to travel Europe. We're staying in hostels that we've booked ahead of time, using a rail pass, and we sought out the cheapest flights. If anyone would like any advice on planning such a trip please let me know, I'm happy to help.

I'll be sure to write when I return. Into the great wide open I go!