London is approachable.

London is just not that exciting to me. It's a great city, it has a lot of history, a lot of fashion, and a lot of personality. However, it's just not nearly as thrilling and awe-inspiring to me as Rome. But honestly, that's one of my favorite things about it. It's approachable. It's comfortable. Heck, it's almost livable.

Instead of walking around with my jaw on the floor like I constantly did in Rome, I look at flats, their location, and their proximity to stuff I might need. I look for things someone who would potentially live there looks for. It's just cool. I don't know, I could see myself in the UK one day. It's homey to me.

My family went out today and saw the Tower of London, and we went shopping on Portobello Road. Last time I was on Portobello Road was what...7 years ago? I remembered it being MUCH busier than it was today, but it was still fun. I bought a hat, tights, socks, and a beret for Steve (a guy I work with). I keep looking for something to get for CJ, but he's so picky :). I'm sure he'd love anything I bought for him, but still, I don't want him to have to pretend.

So tomorrow it looks like it's going to be cold and cloudy...again. So we're off to the British Museum, and we'll be seeing that and perhaps the Tate Modern if I can muster up the energy to go through 2 museums in a day.

I'll post again tomorrow!

Oh wait! Before I part, I wanted to talk about the AMAZING dinner we had tonight. It was at a restaurant that's very close to our flat, called Tas. It's a Mediterranean restaurant, and it was WONDERFUL. I had red lentil soup, lamb shish, and a chocolate cake. Everything we had was wonderful, and I have posted pictures of all of the courses on my facebook. Be sure to check it out!

A demain!

Ned's Noodle Bar=rediscovered and conquered.

Woo! Successful day of tourism in London. We took the tube this morning to the "main area" where all of the tourists hang out. We saw Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. More importantly, however, I revisited my most favoritest place in London: Ned's Noodle Bar.

It's not that fantastic. In fact, it's pretty standard mixed-Asian cuisine that comes in a cardboard box. It's the memory that makes it so special. It's one of my most vivid memories from when I first was in London with Sarah. I'm so lucky that I got to go with them last time, and Ned's is just a cool reminder that I've been here before.

So anyway, the fam is back at our sweet flat..and we've discovered that we can actually WALK to all of the touristy spots, instead of taking the tube. If any of you are interested in seeing exactly where we are located, look up either Waterloo station or Greet Street in London and you'll see how close we are to everything. It's pretty neat.

Anyway, I looked up all of the different things my bites on my legs could be, and I'm pretty terrified. I saw Lyme disease, and honestly that's the closest looking thing to what's going on with my leg. However, they could also be bed-bug bites. I'm not really sure. I'm just going to keep putting the antihistamine gel on them and hope that they clear up. Either way, I'm going to the clinic tomorrow to make sure that no funky disease-thing is going to ravage my muscular system.

I'll update later!

Tortellini and red sauce.

Yay! We finally made it to London!

The flight was relatively short, lasting only 2 hours and 20 minutes. However, it was a little too turbulent for my taste. So after we made it to the city, we had a fun time trying to figure out how we were going to get to our flat. It's near Waterloo, and we flew in at Heathrow. The tube ride itself took us about 45 minutes. That's better than the 1.5 hours the rental agency guestimated in a taxi.

The best part of our trip, however, was being stuck in an overly-crowded tube with a bunch of disappointed, yet still friendly soccer fans. We fell into conversation with one gentleman who invited the whole family out to drinks tonight, suitcases and all, and then to Sunday dinner tomorrow where he promised us a roast. I was really tempted to take him up on it. I can't even imagine the night we would have had if we had followed him down the rabbit hole that is local London pubs.

Instead of doing that, we came back to the flat, got set up, and then mom, dad, and I started wandering the streets looking for a pub. It seemed that everything was closed, so we went to the grocery where I got tortellini with red sauce, a bottle of cheap Shiraz, and we also stocked up on stuff for breakfast. And I ate it. And it was great.

And now I'm exhausted. Jeremy is sleeping on the couch in the living room, so I'm going to do him a courtesy and turn off Criminal Minds (I AM HOPELESSLY AMERICAN, I ACCEPT THIS) and go to bed. I'm going to test out the wi-fi connection in my room too...we'll see how it goes! I'll be posting more pictures tomorrow, so be sure to check out my facebook page!

Last blog in Rome!

So we’re here, at the breakfast table in Rome, for the last time. I’m drinking coffee, and eating bread and a banana (I’m still trying to lose weight here people!). My mom is complaining of stomach pain, my brother’s in the shower, and my dad is trying to figure out where we’re going to store our baggage until our flight to London at 7 PM. I’m just going to do what I’m told at this point. I packed up all of my stuff last night, and have been ready to go since then.

Today we’re going to somehow get to the Coliseum, take a tour and that will most likely be the last thing that we do. My dad was depending on the apartment having Wi-Fi so that he could get some work done, and since it DOESN’T, we’re all going to go to the airport like 2 hours early so he can purchase it for himself and work while the rest of the family goes around to the shops. (I hope the shopping is as good as my mom is insisting that it is.)

So yesterday, I woke up with these HUGE itchy welts on my legs. They look a lot like bug bites, so we went to the “Farmacia” and picked up some anti-histamine gel. Today they’re slightly smaller, but now they don’t look like bug bites at all. They look like concentrated poison ivy spots. I’m probably going to die. I keep checking my vitals (or at least how I’m feeling compared to how I was feeling before I got them) and I’m doing fine…for now. I’ll post about it later…unless I die.


Here's an Anthony Bourdain quote that I am currently in love with.
“Vegetarians in a pub? For their own good, vegetarians should never be allowed near fine beers and ales. It will only make them loud and belligerent, and they lack the physical strength and aggressive nature to back up any drunken assertions.”

Aujourd'hui

WOAH what a cool day!
So this morning my family and I FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE COFFEE. I'm pretty excited about that. Making coffee in Europe is difficult. You have to boil the liquid in the bottom of this metal contraption enough to make it spout out the top into ANOTHER container...to fill it with coffee? Trust me. It's difficult.

After we ate breakfast and hung out, we went to visit the Sistine Chapel. We saw all of the stuff in Vatican City that you really NEED to see, including the cool sculptures, paintings, and metalwork. It was super neat, but honestly, by the end of all of it, I was beat all to hell. I just wanted to eat and sleep.

First came the eating, which was at this mediocre place inside the walls of Vatican City. We got the usual...something with potatoes, and lasagna with pomodoro, and nothing was good enough to even mention. After that we came back to the apartment and I tried to upload pictures, which was unsuccessful because the internet connection was stupid/slow. Then I slept for about 30 minutes.

After I slept, we went out. We took the bus to the Spanish steps, which are infested with tourists and Romans alike, along with freaking Gypsies who try to assault you with roses. That wasn't great, but we stopped for dinner at this cute little place off of a backroad that ended up being quite tasty. Jeremy started with a plate of spaghetti, and ended with pizza; my dad had ravioli, beef stuffed with orange, and buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes. My mom and I split a bottle of Chianti Classico and ate mixed salads (WAY too much arugula) and I had the seabass with (again) roasted potatoes, and my mom had crepes stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese served in a tomato sauce. Everything was really great.

Now I'm back at home, stealing wi-fi from some poor Roman soul. I've had my nightly limoncello and I'm about to head to bed. I'm sleeping as LATE as possible tomorrow. My parents/brother are going to the top of the dome of St. Peter's basilica, and I have such a phobia of heights that it's not even worth it for me to make the climb. I will have to crawl, which is humiliating. Instead, I'm going to sleep and make more Italian coffee and eat my Coco Crispies. After the dome my mother and I will be headed to the ritzy shops that neither of us can afford. We're going to look around, and I'm going to try to find CJ some sort of fancy wallet that doesn't spend the rest of my euros.

I hope everyone has a great night, I'm sure I'll be posting tomorrow about how AWESOME everything is. :) Ciao!

LASAGNA

LASAGNA LASAGNA LASAGNA LASAGNA LASAGNA LASAGNA LASAGNA LASAGNA LASAGNA LASAGNA

So last night, my whole family went to dinner. Instead of planning out where we wanted to go (well, we tried to do that, but it turns out none of us can successfully navigate these streets) we just walked around the back streets of our neighborhood and stumbled upon a place called "Papa Rex". It was obviously a really nice place, and we were seated in the bottom dining room because we were not dressed nicely enough. At first we started out with like...3 servers, but we ended the night with one extremely excitable man, Vincenzo. He was by far the nicest person we've met so far. He helped us through a magnificent dinner of salads, spaghetti al pomodoro, veal steaks, roasted potatoes, saltimboccas, tiramissou, and limoncella. One thing I did not mention was the LASAGNA. Before every main course in Italy, you're supposed to eat a pasta dish first. My dad was just interested in seeing what Vincenzo suggested, so he asked him to surprise him. And that's exactly what Vincenzo did. He brought out a little slice of heaven from that kitchen. Literally, it was the best thing I have EVER put in my mouth. And honestly, I don't think I will ever encounter something better than that slice of lasagna. It was MAGNIFICENT.

Anyway, after dinner, Vincenzo wanted to hang out with us. So he took us around the restaurant and showed us where, if you pay for a themed dinner, the fake Roman soldiers battle to the "death" for your entertainment. That part of the restaurant definitely makes it sound a lot cheesier and kitschier than it actually was. It was marvelous.

Alright, I'm sharing internet and computers right now, and father has requested mine so he can find information about our Vatican tour that we're taking later today. I'll post again later!

5/25 part 2

Back again. Sitting in my room, sipping a (semi) limoncella martini, listening to the Antlers, and reflecting on the day. Everything here seems like it goes so slow, it’s like each day is never-ending. My family and I FINALLY found wi-fi, so pretty soon these entries will be transcribed from a notepad to the actual internet-blog. This afternoon, we bought tickets for a bus tour and rode it the whole way. We have now officially seen every monument that my tour guide says is worth seeing. Seriously though, everything is just majestic. I just have a hard time, being from a country with little historical depth, comprehending how freaking OLD this stuff is! Even going back through my photos is astounding. I feel like Rome and Paris will be the most historically-interesting parts of the trip…and I guess we’ll just have to see what London has to offer besides Ned’s Noodle Box!

5/25 part 1

What a perfect morning. I’m sitting here, eating my European-version of Coco Crispies, drinking “Skipper” orange juice, and staring out the window of my apartment at St. Peter’s cathedral. Also, it’s about 68 degrees, and there’s not a cloud in the sky. You can start hating me at any time. Last night was sortof like that one day I stumbled upon Paris by myself, except we’re in Rome…and there’s a “we”. After we ate an awesome dinner of gnocchi, penne al’arribica (unsure of spelling), bruschetta, pork loin, a mixed salad, and “Tripa” (my dad’s idea, but it was delicious) at the Peroni beer restaurant/bar, we started walking. We ended up making it to the Coliseum, the Forum, and like…everything else you would want/need to see in Rome. So NEAT. Today we’re hoping to do the same thing, except we’re going to take a bus that will intentionally take us to all the places like that. We just feel like we don’t have enough time to stumble upon all of the cool stuff in this city. I’m interested to see what kind of stuff the tour will show us! Ciao!

5/24 Bloggo

To me, there is a level of contentment that immediately comes along with being in Europe. Nevermind the day-long panic attack that preceded our departure; nevermind the fact that my entire family (myself included) is RIDICULOUSLY grumpy from the lack of sleep and the effects of being in a different time zone. After tromping around Rome for a few hours while waiting for the housekeepers to finish cleaning the floors, the entire clan is resting in our designated bedrooms. There’s something peaceful about all the traffic I hear outside, the feel of new sheets, and the awesome Chocolat Billy coming in through my headphones. The only thing I wish was different would be in CJ was here. I can’t wait for us to be able to take trips like this together. Anyway, to conclude shortly, I’m going to continue to listen to my “Zleepingz” playlist, read Anthony Bourdain’s “Nasty Bits”, and revel in the fact that I have NOTHING better to be doing right now.

Got the travel bug again!

Hi everyone! It's been awhile, but I just wanted to let you all know that I'm headed out again! This time the family (Mom, Dad, Jeremy, and myself) are all headed to Paris, Rome, and London...and then my Mom will leave, and my Dad, Jeremy and I are headed to Zurich for a few days!

As I did last time I was out of the country, I'll be posting as often as possible on here to keep everyone updated! I'll be posting pictures to my facebook this time, instead of to photobucket, so if you want to look at pictures to help follow along, you can find them there!

Wish me luck! I'll see you all when I get back!

<3