Carpe Diem

This is the London Eye with a statue for the Dahlia exhibit in the foreground.

So the last 24 hours have been intense. I need to go back from my last post.

Wednesday was very exciting at Parliament. Tony Blair stepped down as Prime Minister. We watched his final Prime Ministers Questions on the "tube" in our office. The member I work for was on the screen for a bit when the member next to him asked a question. There was a standing ovation at the end which is unheard of in the House of Commons. The entire day was crazy at Parliament with people rushing in and out. It was amazing to be there and be a part of it. Gordon Brown took over and there is a lot of interest in what he will do because most people don't know much about him.

Yesterday I went on an exclusive Big Ben tour. It is called the exclusive Big Ben tour because only researchers and staff can go on it. We walked all 350 steps to the top. The clock is still run on the same system from the 1850's. It is incredible to see the interworkings of the clock and how they keep it accurate at all times. We then walked up to the bells. They were massive. You can only imagine. For some reason they don't allow photography so I'm not able to put anything up here. We were there for the hour chime right next to the bells. We had earplugs, but it was still intense. The view from up there was beautiful. We then got to walk between the lights and the clock faces. It reminded me of Back to the Future with Doc swinging from the clock tower. Did they ever save the clock tower in that movie? I'm all of a sudden very concerned...


If you look just to the right of Big Ben you can see Westminster Abbey. Right next to that is my office building. We get to the "Palace" by walking under the street between Big Ben and my office building.

After the Big Ben tour I got off work and walked by the River. It was fun seeing all of the street performers. They were really creative and funny. One thing was disturbing though, I all of a sudden saw a figure on the top of a building across the River. I got really worried. It looked like a man, actually it clearly was a person about to jump. I looked around wondering what I could do. I started walking towards the building, looked back and saw other figures on other buildings... evidently, it is an art exhibit of figures on the edge of buildings...not cool...sort of freaky...see for yourself... I walked all the way back to my flat and then around the British Museum area. Good stuff.

My flatmate, Gino from Italy, left today so last night was his last night in London. He used his chef skills to pressure me to go out with him and the others in the flat. He cooked a very tasty Italian dinner and then we ventured out to meet some friends that work at the auction house Sotheby's. I'm showing off my amazing washing abilities. Everyone was impressed.
We had a great time at the club and at around 1:50 AM we headed out...finally... to go home.

I don't know if you have read or seen the news today, but there was an attempted terrorist attack on London early this morning, at 2 AM. A Mercedes Benz was carrying 60 litres of petrolium, gas cylinders and tons of nails. The bomb was to be set off by a cell phone, but the trigger didn't work.

We walked by right about the time the reports say the bomb was supposed to go off. It put everything in perspective. There are sick people in the world.

I walked to work today, but a lot of the streets were blocked off. Police were flying by everywhere. I walked into Parliament and even with my security pass I got thoroughly "patted down" and frisked. I can only imagine what the visitors went through. It is a good thing they check so thoroughly. Work was somewhat tense, but it went well.

Of course there is no reason to worry and I feel very safe. I am very thankful for a lot of things right now. Hope everyone is being safe and live it up.

Mind the Gap

Here is a picture of Sergio and my favorite place to take people when they visit us for lunch. It is the best view you can get of Big Ben. It's fun finding interesting places in the Palace (the building you think of as Parliament, it is still a working palace). Sergio is on the left and my friend Jacob from UT is on the right.

My desk in the office.

from the door of the office.

View from the office window

So Friday was pretty crazy at the office and I didn't get out until around 6 PM. This is not normal at Parliament. Most of the offices are barely even there. I walked out and the place was empty. Sort of a weird feeling.

Sergio, and another flatmate of mine Esma went to Chinatown and enjoyed some good food before coming back to the flat and meeting up with a lot of other people and having some wine. My friend from Tejas Jason was in town and he met up with us before we went out. We went to a place called the Walkabout again. It is a fun place in an old church or some sort of domed building. We had a great time and it was really good to see Jason again. He is biking through Europe...intense.

On Saturday we got up and ate breakfast at a place right next to our flat. There is a great group of people here. After that I went and got a haircut at, yes they have them here, Supercuts. Nothing too special about it. They are pretty consistent across the pond except well over double the price.

We went to a fancy dinner that night to celebrate Kendra's Birthday. We went to the Mirabelle. It was very nice. Some of the food was very new to me. I was pushed to try just a bite of foie gras. They wouldn't tell me what it is until after I took a bite. I would suggest finding out first. Evidently, foie gras is the fat liver of a duck or goose. The horrible part is how they make it big enough to eat. When you get angry or distressed your liver swells. Basically these poor ducks and geese are fed nonstop. Food is basically shoved down their throats and they are supposedly beaten at the same time to make the liver extra big. Then they kill it and they have a big foie gras. It is banned in many places and from what I understand it will soon be banned in the UK. I'm not happy that I ate it.

From there two members of the group wanted to go to a club that costs 20 pounds just to get into...that is $40...just to get in! I said that sounds good, but I need to get back and don't really know if I can spend money like that. Luckily, I said what the majority of the group was feeling and so we went to a cheaper place, but still somewhat expensive. It was a fun night.

Sunday everyone took it easy and I slept in for the first time the whole trip. It felt wonderful! We went and ate a Ed's for dinner. Ed's is basically Johnny Rockets. It was good and the music was great. I came back home and finished a book and turned in early.

Today I was hard at work researching whale hunting. 1000 whales are killed by a certain nation for scientific purposes a year...why they have to kill them I still don't understand after researching a lot today. We have a VIP meeting tomorrow in our office and I hope my research will help. I will tell more later, but this blog is searchable for some reason and I don't want to get anyone in trouble. Gordon Brown takes over for Tony Blair on Wednesday. Parliament is a very exciting place right now. Overall the media and newspapers are not very good to Tony Blair. To be honest, I haven't spoken with anyone that is all that complimentary. It is very interesting to watch.

Today I was watching the news after work and they interviewed the cast of Harry Potter right across the street from my office window. I could actually see the window in the background of the frame. They are lucky I didn't know they were filming right there today. I might have made a scene. My local book store has a countdown to the release of the book...28 days... If you are rolling your eyes right now, you obviously haven't read them...gut it up and read them.

After dinner tonight we were so excited, and I mean I was so excited, about the US beating Mexico in the championship soccer game last night that we had an impromptu soccer game in the apt. Really bad idea. It wasn't my idea for the record, but I must tell you the IKEA paintings on our walls are very sturdy. Since we had three Americans, an Italian, a Mexican, and a French all playing soccer there were bicycle kicks, diving headers, and plenty of close calls. It is a miracle the flat is still in one piece.
Ouch is the same in Italian as it is in English...

Thanks for all those who have commented and sent me e-mails! It is great to hear from you! It should be a tough week of work, but I am very happy with the challenge.

Wow

I don't really have any pictures for this post, but I thought this is a good one from Paris that Ajay sent me...


So on Sunday Sergio, my Mexican flatmate and I went to Hyde Park to play soccer. It was a lot of fun. I kicked a ball that made a 90 degree turn off the side of a tree and almost hit a little kid. Luckily it missed, but it was scary for a second.

Sunday night we went to see Oceans 13. In London you have to actually reserve the exact seats you want for the movie. The movie theater's are also very small. We found a cheaper theater and paid around 9.5 pounds for the movie ($19!!!!). As we walked in Sergio said really loudly, "Wow! My TV at home is bigger than this." It was funny. In the US you know there will be about 20 minutes of previews and then the main feature. In London we watched 20 minutes of commercials for various products followed by 20 minutes of previews then the movie. I was very excited to see the Harry Potter trailer. There are some great clips of Harry flying through London. I made a scene when he flew by Westminster. I could see my office window for a second. I now occasionally find myself looking outside the window for Harry to fly by on a broomstick. Hasn't happened yet, but I'll let you know when it does. The movie was great, but I did feel guilty for spending that much for a movie. I feel guilty just about every time I eat or do anything here, but I'm going to have to get over that. Come on US economy!!!

I have really enjoyed the office this week. I feel much more comfortable and I believe my MP is feeling more confident in my abilities. I work on the upwards of 5-10 different issues a day. I've put together a report on hearing aid waiting times (they have universal health care here, but are still working out a couple of problems with it), done accounting for a human rights group, and written up numerous press releases. It is very challenging, but in a great way. This is Tony Blair's final week in office. We watched questions to the Prime Minister on TV. In a few weeks I have tickets to watch in person. I went to lunch afterwards and saw Tony Blair in person and then 5 minutes later David Cameron (the head of the Conservative party). It was an exciting day. As I left work yesterday tons of photographers were standing there ready to take pictures. One accidentally took one of me and the others started laughing at him. It was very strange, but funny thinking back.

One or two days a week high school students from the district have come up to the office to get some work experience. It has been fun talking with them. I invite them to lunch with me. Sergio and I take them to fun places to eat in Parliament. Evidently the rumors have gotten around about our lunches. The girl yesterday told me the past students have said that I am "really safe" and that I have a "really crazy Mexican friend." From extensive research I have found that safe means cool. Or at least I hope so.

My MP asked me to make him a cup of tea (though he showed real remorse asking me to and he was very busy before a meeting) so I started going through the motions, but finally just stopped and said "Sir, well I'm an American and honestly don't want to mess up a British gentleman's tea. Will you tell me the steps so that I don't scar our friendship?" He laughed and enjoyed showing me how to make it. Evidently there is a larger population than I knew that put milk in their tea. This is completely new to me. So now I know how to make British tea. It isn't that hard, but I really didn't want to mess that up.

Jacob Guerra from Tejas came through London and he came out with some London people to get dinner and some drinks. We all had a good time. I also got to have him to lunch in Parliament. Gave him a bit of a tour, though both the Houses were in session so there wasn't much to see.

Last night some friends and I met up after work and went to the Texas Embassy. It was great to have a margarita and eat nachos. I can't tell you how much I miss Texas food. Food with some spice. It was great. On the walk back to the flat is the pub where we saw Miss Crystal. Someone had to say "Wouldn't it be funny if we saw Miss Crystal outside." Yeah, you guessed it. She was outside having a smoke. I was laughing so hard. We of course said hi and she just stared us down and kissed her lips over and over. She def. enjoys making us feel uncomfortable. I stared her down and she finally winked and waved and we continued on. Absolutely hilarious.
I got the day off today and I've enjoyed walking around town. I got a lot of laundry done and then went in search of a dry cleaners. The first place I went to asked for 3.50 pounds= $7 a shirt!?! I laughed at the guy and left. The next place asked for 4.75 pounds=$9.5?!?! I was very disheartened. Then I walked right past Tim Burton...yes I said Tim Burton. He was walking a block away from my flat. CRAZY. I'm a big fan and should have invited him up for tea. How rude of me. Walking past him made me feel a lot better about the day. I finally found a dry cleaners that only cost $5 US dollars a shirt. What a deal?!

I came back to the apt. and ate a very skimpy ham sandwich to make up for the $10 I was about to throw down for two pressed shirts. Finished up some laundry and put the IPOD earphones in for a serious walk. Total distance 6 miles. I walked from my flat past Buckingham Palace to get ticket to Billy Elliot the Musical for my parents and me. They are coming in less than 1.5 weeks. It will be great to have them here. I feel like I have a pretty good sense of this place and can show them some great spots and maybe they'll take me out to dinner. I will be able to share in the misery of the prices here. But in all seriousness it will be great to see them!

The US soccer team is playing Canada tonight and I'm very sad I can't watch it. If we win this game we will play Mexico in the finals. Sergio and I will be fighting for that one. If only I had US TV here...though it is probably better I don't.

Another Tejas guy is supposed to come into town tomorrow. It will be great to see him. Then Sunday is my friend Kendra's Birthday. Should be another fun weekend here.

British Term Check Up:
Don't say pants- It means underwear here. Trousers is the correct term.
The word "sweet" meaning cool does not apply here. They think you are talking about a baby.
The word "Smashing" is actually used often. Crazy stuff.

So Much to Catch Up On

I thought this is pretty funny. Ajay has a computer program that can make a 360 degree picture out of however many smaller ones. We took this one in Vienna. TR and I ran around Ajay as he took the pictures. It was like the panoramic picture in middle school where there are those couple of kids that run from one end of the bleachers to the other. Except here we made sure we were it it a lot.

So I have made it through the first week in London and it has been amazing. I apologize for not updating this before now, but I've been having a lot of fun.

Last Wednesday night we went out with the interns. We had a drink at the pub right next door to our flat. It was great and I tried yet another beer, Strongbow. It is actually a cider, but very good. We then walked by the pub where we met Miss Crystal and peer pressure took over and we went in. Miss Crystal remembered the Americans and interviewed us in front of the entire pub. Somehow everything that was said was twisted into a sick, but funny joke. I have been raised correctly and say yes ma'am and yes sir in conversation everyday. Well I was asked if I would like a drink on the house. I of course said "Yes Ma'am." Well this drove Miss Crystal crazy and the entire bar erupted in laughter. We had the free drink and left soon after that. It was an experience and really funny. The entire bar sang songs along with the "diva?"

The next day I got to go to an event for work and see the Secretary of State for Britain. A report was released from a Commission on community coming together. It was very interesting to see. There is a great influx of immigrants to Britain and the government is working to ensure there are not racial tensions and community conflicts. Included in the report is a recommendation to stop printing translated official materials and instead use to the money to pay for English classes for immigrants. We'll see the reactions in the next few weeks.

On Thursday I met up with a Tejas Alumnus at his Gentlemens Club. In America when we think Gentlemens Club most think of some sort of strip club. That is not the case here. Gentlemens Club go way back and are more like eating and drinking clubs. Men smoke cigars, sip brandy and talk. The clubs are absolutely amazing with long running histories and incredible member lists. We enjoyed a glass of Pimms and then went upstairs for a steak dinner. It was just like the English men clubs you might see in movies. My host told me they have a wine committee that is the best there is. There is a massive wine cellar under the three story club that stretches underground across the street. If heaven forbid any wine shortage should ever occur in the world. All of the members of the club could survive the shortage for 15 years...That is a lot of wine. The wine at dinner was excellent. After dinner we went across the street to an unmarked door. There was a camera looking over the porch. My host said hi and we were in. We walked down a flight of stairs to an old fashioned two room club. The dining room was only lit by candlelight and the other room was full of antiques and paintings. We got a glass of vintage port (dessert wine) and sat down next to two men. The older one began telling me stories of the club. He said that the first time he came when he was my age he sat down in the exact chair he was in and right next to him, in the chair between us sat Winston Churchill. I soon figured out the men in the club were the best of London. The man that told me the story is a retired Grenadier General. The next man I met is a Lord in the House of Lords. We talked for quite some time and he urged me to contact him since we are working very close to each other at Parliament. He was very kind and it is so interesting to see a government where part of it is not elected. The night was amazing and I truly enjoyed myself. My host was beyond hospitable and we enjoyed talking about Texas, Tejas, and world events. It is so great to see a Tejas Brave on the other side of the globe.

One of my friends here has Friday off and she volunteered to go to Leicester Square and get discount tickets for a musical for us to go to that night. We gave her the choice of what we saw with some exceptions. She waited in line for an hour. She made an executive decision and got tickets to Cabaret. Now I have seen the movie of Cabaret, but not the "new" version or even the old stage version. I tried to warn the group that parts of it are racy. Let's just say I didn't warn myself enough. At one part a man with nothing but a sailor hat on (I should also say the sailor hat was not covering anything it should have) runs on stage. So there was nudity throughout the musical. At the same time I the musical was great very though provoking, not due to the nudity, but the subject nature and after just touring Munich it was very interesting and powerful.

Saturday I felt like I needed to see multiple sights in London, but decided I needed to rest and pace myself. So I did laundry, read, and enjoyed chatting with my flatmates. One of the girls moved out and a girl from Paris moved in. The rooms currently consist of a male Italian, a male Mexican, a French female, a female from Los Angeles, and a female from Japan. It is quite an interesting mix. When I requested the group flat it was only after seeing "L'auberge Espagnole." It is an excellent foreign film I highly suggest everyone see. Basically it is a bunch of students that live in a flat, but they are from all different countries. Go rent it now.

So I had the "L'auberge Espagnole" moment last night. Sergio, my Mexican friend who also works in Parliament, and Matt who is from the states and works for the Travel Channel, and I went and got pizza and some wine and brought it back to the flat. Before we knew it, the flat was having a mandatory fun drill in the kitchen. We had 3 different laptops out playing music and seeing what people knew and what people didn't know. It was a great time though I am very upset Journey is not big in the rest of the world. I am very thankful that Bryan Adams is big though. haha...

So today we are going to the park to play soccer or something. I slept in the latest I have slept in since coming here. 10AM! Well I'm off to get ready for the day.

Happy Fathers Day Dad and Happy Birthday Anna!

First Day of Work

The first day of work was great. I won't go into too much detail, but basically my window overlooks the river and the London Eye. I get to walk all around the Palace and the many Parliament buildings.

My Member of Parliament (MP) is very kind and it looks like he will be letting me do quite a bit. I am finding many similarities between working for a Congressman in DC and working for an MP here.

Today I am supposed to take a tour of the Palace so that I don't get lost. It is a massive maze.

I'm looking forward to the various research projects the MP has said I will be doing.

I rode the underground to work yesterday and walked back home. I think I'm going to walk both ways though. The walk is really nice. I got stopped again yesterday and asked directions. Pretty funny stuff.

Tonight the interns are getting together. We are going to get caught up with each other on how the first two days went.

Well I'm off to work. I hope everyone is well!

British words of the day:
Uni: University
Diary: Calendar

I moved into my place shortly after 2 PM yesterday. It is very nice. The room is about the size of my old room in Austin. I have somewhere between 3 and 6 flatmates. I met two of them yesterday and they are nice. I haven't seen much of them since though. Both of the flatmates I met were female. I took a shower yesterday and saw multiple razors on the side of the shower so I'm guessing there are more females here. We share a kitchen, living room, and bathroom. Everything is very clean and there are plenty of security cameras in the halls. The noise from Oxford Street is intense at times, but I was able to get to sleep last night.

After moving in I went to the grocery store and got the essentials, stuff for turkey sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They did have Dr. Pepper which certainly made my day. I am an avid Dr. Pepper drinker and it was nice to be able to have one.

I attempted to do laundry, but the machine is broken and won't be fixed until Wednesday...not good considering I have, well all the clothes I have are dirty. I'm about to search for a laundromat.

I met up with TR and Ajay at Piccadilly Circus and we ate at Pizza Hut due to cost saving measures. The bill was still around 8 pounds= $16 and we didn't have all that much. I will be forever amazed at the finances here.

We then went by the supermarket and bought some wine and brought it back to my flat. We invited Kendra who we met the night before and we hung out for a while. We then went in search of a pub. Last night was TR's last night. We walked through Soho and Kendra asked some people hanging out outside a bar where an open pub might be. Somehow we got into hilarious conversations with the group and soon discovered that we were talking to none other than Miss Crystal him/herself. Miss Crystal was not in drag at this time and was just dressed in normal guy clothes. The entire group was hilarious. They starting hitting on Ajay without being the least bit subtle about it. They told him they liked his chest. Ajay def. got really uncomfortable which triggered TR and I to encourage the comments. Miss Crystal brought the English wit to a new level. Every time we said anything he/she would twist our words into a very suggestive and hilarious line. The group of guys and one or two older women kept insisting that Kendra show more leg and basically commented on each of our appearances and what we could do to better ourselves. We were invited to one of their birthday parties at the pub on Wednesday night when Miss Crystal will be performing. Evidently her favorite ballads are those sung by Diana Ross. Kendra is really pushing for us to go, but I think I might be busy...or sick...or well magically disappear. Overall it was a very funny evening.

I woke up at 7:15 AM this morning and couldn't go back to sleep due to the noise and being so used to getting up early. So much for enjoying the last day to sleep in before work.

Golly!

Last night we met a friend of TR who is studying in London and some of her friends in Piccadilly Circus and walked to a pub called Walkabout. This is considered a "cheap" student friendly bar. It is in this grand hall with a huge domed roof. Pretty amazing structure. Her friends told us we had to try a "Snakebite." Using the logic that has gotten us into trouble in every country we have been in we said "when in rome..." and ordered Snakebites. I'm not completely clear on what is in it, but from what I can tell half of it is cider, half Fosters, and then on top some grape liquor is poured in the shape of an "S." It tastes like grape beer. Quite tasty actually. Rugby and cricket were playing on multiple TV's all around the room. It was a really fun atmosphere. I ate fish and chips just to get the trip started off right. The group then insisted that we try an English beer so we are prepared in the future or something. I tried a John Smith. It was thick like Guinness and tasted great. From there we hurried to the theater to see The Lion King. My Aunt Kimberly is right, the show was fantastic. We really enjoyed it. The costumes and puppets are unbelievable. I can't wait to see more plays and musicals here. Hopefully in the future they will be at more of a discount. The only problem with the musical was that the theater was in the upper 80's. It was so hot! I don't know how the actors performed in those conditions.

After the musical we walked through Trafalgar Square to the Texas Embassy. We are told it is owned by the same person that owns Three Forks in Texas. We felt at home there, but were dismayed when the bar tender told us our Texas Drivers License's didn't entitle us to a discount. The menu is full of Texas stuff we hadn't seen in almost three weeks. Doesn't sound like long, but believe me, when it comes to Texas food and drinks it is. I quickly found Dos Equis on the menu and ordered one. It wasn't cheap, but really neat to be in London in a restaraunt that seemed like Chuys. In the middle of the drink I got a call from one of the girls in the program I'm doing that e-mailed me the day before. We met up with her and some American students she met that are working in the US Embassy in London.

The girl was very nice and funny. I think the best way to describe her is gregarious. We walked around with them for a bit and then said farewell and made it to the Underground just in time to catch it back to our hostel. Evidently the girl is living in the floor directly above my room. She has reported that the rooms are very nice. I hope so.

I took the underground to Oxford Street just an hour ago and I was approached by a British woman asking me about how to get to Tottenham Court Station on the Underground. She thought I was British and knew what I was doing. I laughed a little when she asked and then told her where to go. I have studied London so much thanks to the notebook Anna gave me and Google Earth I gave her good directions and she thanked me. I could tell she was surprised I was speaking in an American accent.

I am now sitting in the two story Starbucks on Oxford Street having a cold Mocha Frap in honor of one of my favorite high school teachers, Mr. Shulman. He went to grad school in London and as I said before was a major factor in me wanting to intern here. While in grad school and interning in Parliament, Mr. Shulman was part of the crew that opened this Starbucks. Pretty cool stuff.

Ajay and TR have been pointing out my Texas accent at various points on the trip. I have a habit of saying "Golly" evidently in a very Texas way and they make fun of me constantly for it. We have seen so many amazing things and whenever I see something really great the first thing I say is "Golly!" They have decided this will not fly in Parliament, but whatever, hopefully it comes off as a nice Southern charm thing and not a redneck thing.

Well I move into my flat in about two hours. I got to walk by the flat last night and it looked very nice and safe. I will say that this area on a Saturday night is nothing short of insane. I am in the heart of the Club/Party/Pub/Young people area. For those of you from Austin, imagine living right above the Aquarium or the Library on 6th Street except this 6th Street is much bigger. I am living right across the street from the real Soho, not the bar in downtown Austin. I know my parents will love knowing this. So basically I think this summer will be nice, quiet, and full of learning.

A quick side note for all of you in the US. Make the dollar stronger. I just paid 3 pounds for a frap here. Yes, a frap in the US is around 3 american dollars, but here 3 pounds comes out to 6 american dollars!?!? Basically everything here is priced the same or a bit more than in the US, but with the conversion rate it comes out to double! Fish and Chips last night 6 pounds plus two drinks for 3 pounds each comes out to 12 pounds aka 24 american dollars!?!?!

Somehow I will get over this, but for now Yikes! I'm looking forward to going to the grocery store and getting bread and sandwich meat. Over the next month please make sure the American economy gets better. I have 3 months here and I don't believe I will make it otherwise. Hope everyone is having a great Sunday! More to come once I get moved in!

London!

Yesterday morning we got up early and got on a train for Naples and then took a smaller train to Pompeii or Pompei as they spell it in Italy. As we were walking to the ruins we passed a small restaurant. The big Italian man called out, " Pizza, Spaghetti, Lasagna!" TR told the man he didn't speak Italian and kept walking. Ajay and I cracked up. Evidently TR was so focused on Pompeii he zoned out.
I attempted a J Crew look...didn't work.
I have watched documentaries on Pompeii and read about it quite a bit, but I had no idea how massive the ruins are. There is a complete town. We walked for over 3 hours all over the place. The stadium there is complete and to add to the short film series, here is one of Ajay and
TR reenacting a scene from Gladiator:

We then caught the trains back to Rome. TR and I budgeted the last two days down to the last .10 euro. It was very interesting. I had a cold slice of pizza for dinner and then went right to sleep. We woke up at 3:45 AM this morning and caught a cab to the airport. The cab driver tried to scam us saying the cab ride cost double what the law said. I went head on with him and argued over and over again. He started to negotiate and I stayed firm. Due to how early it was I think TR and Ajay thought our time could be better spent actually getting on the flight so we gave him 55 euro and got on the plane. The next catch was that your bag has to be under 16 kilograms. Ajay and my bags were over. For each kilogram over you have to pay 8 euro. Now our flight from Rome to London cost $20 with $28 in taxes coming out to $48 US dollars. An amazing deal. I knew there was going to be a catch. The lady only charged my for 4 of the 6 kilograms I was over and Ajay 1 kilogram for the 2 or 3 he was over. Oh well...we still saved money.

The flight was quick because we all slept the entire time. Evidently the airline also makes money off selling you stuff the entire flight, even water. These tricks didn't work on us due to how tired we were.

The next adventure was going through immigration in London. TR and Ajay went through quick and I took forever. The officer didn't understand why I was working for a member of parliament. He asked what I was studying and I told him I'm in grad school for Public Affairs and Law. He then asked what I wanted to do with that "work in a warehouse or something?" I was completely confused and told him I wanted to get a job in government service. I thought he would show some empathy since, he is in fact in government service. He went on to ask what I wanted to do with my life. At this point I got very confused. I told him I didn't know, but I am looking forward to interning for a member of parliament for free this summer. Evidently I was supposed to give him a straight answer such as work in a warehouse, be a bus driver, or a professional bowler or something he could grasp. He went upstairs and made some phone calls. He came back and told me to warn the others that this type of thing won't work in the future.

Why can't a student for another country work for almost free in another country for 3 months? Anyway, I understand he meant well, but the questions were off topic and didn't make sense. If you ever want to come here to do this program you better know exactly what your hopes and dreams for the future are.

We then took a bus to the city and dropped our bags off at the hostel. Anna gave me this really cool Moleskine notebook for London. It has all the metro stops, maps, and plenty of places to write different stuff etc. I have to admit at first I was skeptical because I am not very good at journaling, sketching, or doing that stuff...I hope this blog isn't showing my weaknesses in those areas too much. Today I have used it almost every second and we have been very precise and accurate in our touring. I have been able to write down notes and things to remember. Anna was right and we are very thankful for this small fountain of knowledge. Thank you so much Anna! I should mention that TR got his hands on it and enjoyed reading the inscription Anna wrote aloud. The guys enjoyed it immensely. I highly suggest getting a moleskine notebook for any city you might be heading to.

We went on the underground to Piccadilly Circus and looked at the theater tickets. We took a picture of the huge banner of Equis, the play where Harry Potter is as we kept saying today, "Buck Naked." The final show is tonight.

We went on to a discount theater ticket place and after hearing all the prices for different shows bought three tickets for The Lion King tonight! We are very excited. In our long hikes we have relied on Disney movies greatly for singing material. We got tickets for 30 pounds. Not bad for a Saturday night in London!

After that we walked down through Trafalgar Square and down Whitehall. We saw 10 Downing Street, Big Ben, Parliament, and toured Westminster Abby. It was excellent. At Trafalgar Square we saw the fountain of the mermaid kids with water shooting out of their mouths so we couldn't resist, but take video and dub in some throw up sounds in the background. Enjoy:


I am now back in the hostel about to shower and get ready for my first big night on the town in London. We are going to meet a friend of TR's for food and drinks, see The Lion King, and then hit up the Texas Embassy which is a Bar next to Trafalgar Square and see if we can meet any Texans there.

I move into my group flat tomorrow at 2 PM. I can't wait! Thanks for the comments! Keep them coming! Just so you know the videos take some time to upload so I am having to put them up a day or two after the rest of the posts go up. Scroll down the other posts and more might be there.

That's Amore

We slept in this morning and went straight to the Catacombs. On the way to the catacombs, Ajay and I somehow walked through dog poop. Ajay has deep grooves in his shoes and the dog poop was there to stay. It was gross. We walked down to the bottom of the Catacombs with a huge group and in the middle of it I just looked around innocently and said "Wow! It smells like dog poop down here." Ajay looked really embarrassed and we all started laughing really hard. I think the other people def. smelled it.

Ajay was completely freaked out by the whole thing. He didn't really want to go. We talked him into it though. As we walked down the stairs TR and I whispered things like "Aaaaaaajay" and "Coooooome play with us Aaaaaajay." He kept yelling at us to quit. Deep down Ajay loves us picking on him.

The catacombs were really interesting. They are in excellent shape. We saw the tomb of Saint Sebastian. The church above the catacombs was spectacular. We really enjoyed the trip even though it took some time to get to.

We then had Sangrias in the Campo de Fiori and people watched. Finally we ate at a little Italian restaurant. Then we walked across Rome to the Trevi Fountain again and ate gelato by it. I threw another coin in the fountain. It was a great night.

Tomorrow we are heading to Naples and then to Pompeii for a day trip. President George W. Bush will be in Rome tomorrow and the taxi drivers are not happy. Should be interesting...

When In Rome...

So we woke up this morning after staying up really late watching the Republican Debates last night on CNN World to jack hammers and really loud banging right outside our Rome hotel window. Now this would be okay in a hostel or in a hotel where we are paying under $50 each, but we were paying almost $100 a night for this place. We decided we need to change hotels. I went to the receptionist and told her that the arrangement was unacceptable and we would need to change hotels and she can't charge us for canceling the rest of our nights. Luckily she agreed and we booked a hotel farther from the city, much cheaper, and from all we can tell much quieter. The Hotel Sisto V is quite nice with wireless internet access and half the price of our inner city Rome hotel. We do have to take taxis to the city, but still save quite a bit of money every night. Plus we get a free breakfast in the morning.

After figuring out the hotel situation we went to the Colosseum.
We took a guided tour. The tour guide wasn't so great at English, but we got the main points. Then we stayed there for another hour or so taking goofy pictures around the place. TR and Ajay sang the Gladiator soundtrack theme song throughout the entire time. It was really funny and we got numerous strange looks. The Colosseum is right behind them in the video...

While we waited for our tour of the Colosseum, we toured Palatine Hill. It was amazing to see all of the ruins and to think to what all had happened in that space.
We then walked to Circus Maximus and to the place where Brutus hid after stabbing Cesar.
We then went to get pizza and had a great dinner joking around. Walking around Rome at night is beautiful and we really enjoyed ourselves. We took a taxi back to the hotel and let me tell you, it was kind of likc Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World. We almost crashed 3 times and we didn't know for sure if the driver knew which hotel we were talking about. In the end he got us there in one piece, but people here drive like maniacs.

TR and Ajay were supposed to get to use the computer, but they were asleep within five minutes...

Oh well. If they owe you an e-mail they will send it tomorrow morning. We are going to take it easy tomorrow and relax. We will see a couple more sites and plan for a day trip the next day. If anyone knows of any beaches near Rome we would love to hear about them!

I was hoping to put up pictures from Ajay and TR's cameras, but they are asleep so that will have to wait until tomorrow. Hope everyone is well!

Milan and Now Rome

Milan was great. I met up with Anna and she showed me around the Duomo, Galleria, and LaScala Museum.

It was great to see Anna and get to see where she is living in Milan and where she goes to class etc. I'm a lucky guy huh? Milan is a great city with tons of shopping. There is also graffiti everywhere which is sad. We went on top of the Duomo before I left Milan. We had to walk behind some Spanish or Mexican rockers the whole time. It was crazy. It was about 80 degrees and they were wearing this stuff:

I really enjoyed my time there and was sad to leave. It was tough leaving.

I took the train to Rome yesterday evening and got to the hotel a little after TR and Ajay. Our hotel room is pretty amazing. We are spending a bit more money, but our location can't be beat. We have a laptop in our room, but it is really weird. This post is not very good due to this being the third time I have tried to post this entry. I will put up my pictures and everything when we get to London. Last night we went to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. It was beautiful at sunset. We got pizza at a nice little cafe and headed home.

We woke up early this morning and went to the Vatican passing the Castel San Angelo on the way. We saw various sights from the book Angels and Demons along the way. We toured the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. There were some serious lines, but we got through most of them pretty quickly. La Pieta is still one of my favorite statues there.

After the Vatican we were really hungry and headed towards the Piazza Navona. Food is really expensive here. We are talking around $10-20 for a cheap meal. I had a cheap hamburger and Ajay and TR went for a pizza. We then walked to the Campo de Fiori where they were taking down the market.

I should also add that we have taken a water bottle everywhere we go and have enjoyed filling them at every fountain we see. The water is clean, cold, and straight from the ancient aquaducts. Great stuff.

From the Campo de Fiori we walked to the Area Sacra and saw two old temples. From there we walked to the Pantheon. Ajay continually called it the Parthanon and we had to remind him which country we were in. Easy mistake to make though. There was an American band playing outside the Pantheon. We enjoyed singing American songs and at the end of the Star Spangled Banner I yelled "GO AMERICA." It was weird hearing those songs in front of the Pantheon. As we were listening to the music, we ran into Anne from the hostel in Munich. What a small world!

We walked with Anne to the Italian Parliament and decided to meet back up for dinner. Ajay and TR saw protesters and decided they wanted to protest the Catholic Church taking the marble from the Pantheon and Colloseum for the Vatican. I told them I think I will stay out of that.

We went back to the hotel and I read for a bit a took a nap. We are trying to take good care of our feet due to all of this walking. So rest time is crucial. I finished Boomsday by Christopher Buckley- the same guy that wrote Thank You For Not Smoking. The book is hilarious and was a great read for this trip. Now I am almost finished with The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It is a dark book, but very good. I highly suggest both. Oprah also suggests The Road if that suits your fancy. Anyway...

We got up at 8 and met up with Anne at the Spanish Steps. We then ate a full Italian meal. It was excellent. From here on out we will be eating cheap though. The meal did us in. We then walked to the Trevi Fountain and enjoyed it at night. This place is beautiful with so much history. If anyone likes history, the movie the Gladiator, and Rome, then you should check out the HBO show ROME. I have appreciated different aspects of it being here.

Well we are now watching the Republican Debate on CNN World in our hotel room and it is late. I better turn in. I'm sorry I couldn't put up the pictures, but I will when I can.

By the way, TR and Ajay are promising a battle in the Colloseum tomorrow. This should be interseting...