Week of November 3-9

Ok...so I know I said I was going to get better at this...and I also know it's been kindof a while, that being said, I'm typing now aren't I?

So where were we...ah yes, I already blogged all about Halloween so we're at the next week! But before I get started on Monday, what did I do that weekend?

Saturday I slept. And it was lovely. Apart from that I got dinner with Ryan Amante and his girlfriend Britney and her friend. We went to this really yummy pasta place by La Scala where you could make you're own pasta...and I had a salad haha...oops. But, it was a delicious salad. (I kept the business card from this place actually, and I've gotten into the habit of picking up business cards of cool places, not a bad idea really.) Afterwards we went to Chocolat and got gelato...which was divine. It was so yummy...it is over by the Cadorna stop and was the most delicious gelato I've had to date (little did I know PECK gelato would soon wow my pants off) After this I went over to Marcela's and we watched Big Fish and I ended up staying over because it got too late and im too cheap to take a cab.

Sunday was the Brazilian GP!!! aaaand HAMILTON WON!!! Eat that Ferrari...mind you it was a bit close. Hamilton literally won the race seconds after Massa crossed the line in first. He passed Glock at the last second and secured his place as 5th to win the overall championship...well played. Lets leave a little more breathing room next time shall we? I watched it with the Italians at my collegio and they were not amused...ha but I was!! Then, like typical Ferrari fans, they whined...and said Hamilton is a cheater...are you kidding me? Ferrari...Ferrari who I'm convinced is bribing the FIA with intimate favors and Ferrari who is home to Michael Schumacher accusing people of cheating? Are you kidding me? Whatever...get over it Ferrari. YOU LOST! But they didn't really get over it did they? In fact, I had made a bet with Luca (one of the IES RA's) that Hamilton would win and he was not pleased about the results whatsoever...I remain amused.

Apparently, according to my trusted planner, I went to the gym today! Brilliant!

Ok, so now we start the next week...This week was really fun! Here's why...

Monday I had no business class again! Yippie! Sleep in! Then I had work until around 6pm...After work I met Alison and her Mom for Aperitivo at the IES place (we call it as such because IES took us there during the first week of classes...and we still don't know the name)

Tuesday I remember it POURED with rain...why do I remember this? Because I was wearing Uggs...and they got massacred. Ooh I also remember today is the day we went to La Scala and got to watch a rehearsal session for an orchestra. That was really neat actually. La Scala is beautiful and we got to sit in the cute little boxes. Afterwards, Katie, Marcella, and I went and got gelato at PECK (which I had heard about from Emelie at work) and hands down it wins best gelato of all time...it's not even a gelato place actually. It's like a fresh goods market. It has meats, fish, cheese, bread, chocolate, gelato...I think I'm going to get some items from there before I make my trip back home. Delicious.

So by this point I can literally feel the water squelching between my toes in my poor Ugg boots. They are completely drenched and I've had enough..."Ok, that's it. I'm buying boots...NOW" and I did! I checked out Mango but they didn't have exactly what I wanted so I moved onto Zara and decided I wasn't coming out until I got myself some decent shoes to wear...and success!! So now I finally have boots, and lets see...I bought them this Tuesday, which was the 4th and it's been three weeks and I have worn them EVERYDAY since...so they're actually a bit bashed up now. But well loved.

Additionally, today was US election day! And, I had found 0ut about a election party at Le Banque nightclub for all the Americans. So, Rachel, Jocelyn, Katie and I decided to check it out. I also met up with Ashley (from work) and her boyfriend there too. It was so fun! First of all it was free=awesome, second there was free food=unbelievable, and finally free wine and champagne...open bar style=what?! And if this couldn't get any better...free massages!!! It was one of the best nights out in Milan! There was rolling election coverage and tons of people. It actully went until like 6am, which after 3 or 4 glasses of wine I was totally up for. But, my friends convinced me this was a bad idea considering we all had class at 9am and it was only Tuesday...so I gave in. But, I did end up sleeping at their apt and splitting a cab which saved me even more money! Brilliant evening.

Wednesday I was tired...surprise. I had work until 5pm when I had to leave for class. We had a guest speaker in class today who was pretty interesting. She talked about her internship experiences in Milan from a few years back and it sounded strikingly similar to my own. That night I had to figure out some SCU classes with Mom and then study for a midterm...I think Gossip Girl slipped itself in there somewhere too...

You know what I jus realized, this week was not supposed to be fun...it was midterms week! Ha...well I had a great time.

Thursday we had our cooking class at the cooking school again, yessss. We made broccoli torts and some kind of meat. I really like these lessons, and we get to keep the recipes! I had to leave before I got to try the meat, but that's ok...Italians cook with a lot of oil which I'm not really a fan of...but moving on...I had to head off to my Busn class midterm, which actually went pretty well! Then I headed off to work...

After work I helped Alison move into the Collegio!!! Yippie! She finally got to switch out of her apartment and is much happier now. I'm really glad she moved in. Now we can have fun dorm parties...and such. This was actually a crazy couple of days because we were heading for London and Paris on Friday and Alison had only just moved in! Plus we had a midterm...keep forgetting about those.

Friday was LONDON PARIS DAY YAY! After our Italian midterm we headed promptly to the airport to catch our train to London-Town...

Side note.:Italians really piss me off while traveling. I mean honestly, get it together. How hard is it to wait in line? For God's sake...it really was time for me to go to England.

We got into the UK around 4pm and made our way to Bromley! Grandma and Granddad picked us up and it was soo good to see them! I love going to my Grandparents because they are so lovely and make me so happy and they also overfeed me haha.

Grandma made us some tea and brought us some cookies (see what I mean? This is brilliant...Grandma still loves to quote the time when I was little and I mentioned to Auntie Vic that "If you go to Grandma's house you get a cup of tea and a biscuit!" haha...its only because it's true! I love Grandma's) Afterwards we had a delicious dinner involving all sorts of bits (oh I love bitty dinners at Grandma's) We had lettuce, tomatoes, mini sausages, chicken, chips, cheese, crackers, grapes, apples...and more! Then afterwards we had some ice cream...I was literally in bliss. Then we watched some TV shows with my grandparents and as usual, called it a night long before they did.

Oh! This I must mention...Grandma tried to give Alison my room! No way! Haha...she suggested in her very polite and Grandma way that maybe I should let Alison have the nice pink room...Sorry Alison, I couldn't let that happen. It's my room! I'm also a bit stubborn...and bossy. Bossy Briches I used to get called...not much has changed I suppose ha.

Saturday we headed off to London! The moment we arrived I spotted Starbucks...YES...and they had their Christmas Cups!! I was so excited, I order a double-tall-nf-peppermint-latte without delay and threw a hazelnut choc chunk muffin in for good measure. Then we went to get our bus. Now, this bus tour is an excellent bus tour. I have done it before and its great because it takes you all over the city on various routes and you can get on and off whenever you please. Oh, did I mention it was pouring rain today? Right...Also, Granddad had warned us about "The Lord Mayor's Procession" What's that you ask? Well, quite frankly it's a pain in the neck. Apparently, we chose the one day out of the year where the Lord Mayor gets inaugurated into his position, which isn't even a real position mind you, he's a figurehead. Anyway, whatever he is, his procession shut down half of London...the interesting bit too. I might be a bit bitter...basically I had planned for us to hop on the bus, take it up to Trafalgar Square, take some pictures and then walk over to Lester Square to buy our Spamalot tickets (for cheap). Well, Mr. Lord Mayor, you foiled my plans. Instead of pursuing said route, our bus went AWOL and took us off in a completely different direction..."that's odd" I thought, "must be because of that procession. We'll probably just making a quick detour." By the time I'd seen the same street three times with not much of an explanation I was a bit fed up. So, as soon as it stopped raining we got off and walked about. We made our way to Lester Square and got some Spamalot tickets for 15pounds!

We sat down for lunch and plotted out the rest of our day...we decided to find the Absolut Ice Bar and then head to the London Eye before the show. This was a great idea. We walked down pretty Regents Street and found the Ice Bar! It was so much fun, I'd never been before. When you walk in, the garb you in a big fuzzy blanket-coat thingy and shove you into a giant ice room...where you get one drink with your entry fee. They let you stay in for 40 minutes and it was awesome! Additionally, we got to watch drunk old ladies break down the ice bench which was unbelievable since I'm quite sure that bench was welded together...Did I mention it was 5pm?

So, as soon as we got out we bolted to the London Eye which was really good. I've never been up it at night before and everything looked really pretty. Then it was back to the other side of London for Spamalot! Hmm...Spamalot...a bit weird really. I liked it, it was definitely funny and entertaining just a bit off the wall but not as cleverly off the wall as the real deal Monty Python. It's like they were off the wall, but then the slipped and fell or something. I don't know. It was fun either way! Then it was back to Grandmas for more tea and bliss...and soaps and murder mysteries (on TV that is).

Oh! I almost forgot to mention! They FIXED the shower! It's unbelievable! I mean, not the shower, it's still not exactly brilliant, but the fact that it can be classified as a shower v. a leaky faucet is phenomenal.

Sunday we were up early to catch our train to Paris. Again, we were foiled by the Lord's Mayor because the Victoria metro line was closed...so instead of battle time and confusion, we opted for a cab...which turns out we didn't have enough money for...oops...
"Um, is it going to be much longer? We only have about 13pounds.." I say sweetly as I watch the meter clock in 12.50.
"You've got about 5 more minutes love, but there's not much I can do about that." as the cab driver puts his foot down and we go flying off at a slightly faster speed than we'd been previously maintaining.
At this point Alison and I are freaking out and grabbing for whatever loose change we can find in our pockets. Aaand it hits on 15pounds...I had him the pile of change and apologize profusely, completely embarrassed. "It's alright love!" he says, "take care." I couldn't believe how nice he was! Good thing too...I saw that going badly.

When we got to Paris we had a battle with the metro card machines but finally got our passes and headed to our Hostel at "sdfererErfe" yeah I know...thats what the French man sounded like on the phone..."Sorry, um what was that? I asked" "sderegvfd" he repeated, a little agitated. "Oh right..." After the third try I managed to grasp "Saa...Paa" and searched the red line for anything resembling these words...St. Paul...obviously...right...my bad? (note to self sa-pa=St. Paul in French). So we got there and it was gorgeous! Really nice hostel. We were sharing a room with two other girls, but they actually never showed up...or they were invisible...which would have been wierd...but anyway.

We went straight to the Eiffel Tower and got crepes! Yum Yum Yum. I suggested we go up the stairs to the Eiffel Tower (verses the elevators) since the line was much shorter...what Alison neglected to mention to me was her intense fear of heights. Actually, she did mention it...half way up the stairs. Haha...so I coaxed her up step by step and we made it to the second level before surrendering to the freezing cold and coming back down.

Once we got down we tried to figure out how to get back to the right metro. This sounds simple enough but part of the metro was shutdown and we got a bit confused...however...French people are so nice! Well, to us they were. We were standing there looking totally lost and this nice French couple came up to us, asked us if we needed help, and then pointed us in the right direction! Turns out we had to take a bus...after getting off the bus we were yet again confused and another nice French person points us where to go! I was a bit suprised to be honest! I've heard so much about the French being so rude...and actually experienced it first hand as well, but everyone was exceedingly pleasant for the most part!

Eventually we made it back to the hostel and decided to go out to dinner at the top of the Pompidou museum which was a great idea...except that there wasn't much under 30euro a person...however, it was super nice and the view was gorgeous so we both found the cheapest things we thought we could find and had a lovely dinner ha. Then we decided to call it a night and to be honest I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Monday we decided to just get up and walk around. We headed to Notre Dame and then made our way to The Louvre. I have never been to The Louvre before and it is massive...it's gigantic...and we got lost on more than one occasion. It is also gorgeous...we spent a lot of time in the Napoleonic rooms and breezed through a lot of Renaissance art. We saw a lot of statues and of course hit up the hot spots...as in Mona and her friends. However, my favorite piece in the museum by far was this statue of a little boy squeezing the neck of a duck, because I thought it was so cute and silly and clever...haha. I have a perverse sense of humor, I'm aware. Apparently so did this sculptor which is why I like it.

After the Louvre we moved on to Montmarte and checked out the shopping and The Sacre Coeur church, got some lunch and met up with Rose!! We walked around the Notre Dame area and then got a drink at a cool piano bar. It was really good to catch up with Rose and hang out for a bit. Then we went to dinner in the Bastille area and met up with Erika whom I met in New York this summer! That was really fun since I haven't seen her in ages and it was cool to see what she was upto.

After dinner Rose took Alison and I to meet her new beau Sammy. He works at a cinema on Champs Elysee and then owns(?) the bar next door. So, we hung out at that bar for a little while and then Alison and I had to decide if we wanted to go to a French birthday party in the suburbs and stay out until 5am when we could get a train back to catch our morning flight or go home to bed...like reasonable, normal, logical people. So we went to the suburbs.

This was so funny, I really enjoyed our suburban Parisian experience.

Rose’s boyfriend and his friends were hilarious but by 4:30am Alison and I were both passed out on the coach when Rose woke up us to go the train station. So then, (it now being Tuesday) the journey home…car to train station, train to metro, metro to hostel, slept for 30minutes, metro to airport, plane to Milan airport, bus back to the city, metro to Collegio…and we made it! Got back around 2ish to Collegio and slept until my class at 5:30...yikes what a day!

I loved our trip to London/Paris…I wish I could have taken Alison to see more stuff in London but I’m glad we got to do what we could! An extremely fun and exhausting weekend!!