Blackouts and Barca!

Between spring break and our Northern Italy trip, not too much happened. Within the first week, we experienced a wonderful blackout in our apartment. Not fun...not fun at all. Amy, Maureen, and I had been cooking dinner and the power went out. As usual, we went to the circuit breaker, turned the power back on, and continued to cook. Halfway through our meal, the power went out again - with a loud pop. When Amy went to turn it back on, the switch wouldn't stay up and we could smell some suspicious scent. Confused and worried because we didn't really know what to do, I called Dave who wasn't in Rome at the time. He gave us the number to the person on call for the company that we rent from, but they did little to help us. After a few minutes, I decided to check and see where our electrical stove plugs in - and low and behold, the outlet was completely burnt and we found our problem. We were waiting for our landlord to come when I snapped these pictures. The only light that we had was coming from our small piazza at the foot of our apartment building.



About a week and a half later, we were graced with the presence of the Barcelona kids. I was excited to see Megs, Tom, and Bob along with everyone else. The first night that they were here, Adam and I took Meghan, Tom, Bob, Brian, Rob, Sean, and Victoria to L'Insalata Rica (one of my favorite places) for dinner before wandering through the city and heading to the Toga party that was being held that evening in the Campo Apartments.

This is a picture of Meghan and me outside of the Pantheon at night - so pretty! We headed over to the Campo Apartments with the intention of not actually taking part in the Toga aspect of the party. However, we realized that you can't have fun unless you take part in the activities. So here are a few pictures from the night.

Tom and I

Megan, Maureen, me, and Amy

Me and Megan

Will and his rather interesting version of a Toga...

The next day, we got to take a tour of the Renzo Piano Auditoriums and Zaha Hadid's MAXXI. It was a pretty cool morning. I love theater and it was awesome to see the three buildings and how Piano made it work.

Because I was so inspired, I made Maureen be in a
picture with me outside of one of the auditoriums.

From the auditoriums, we went to MAXXI (Museum of Art of the 21st Century). It is still under construction, so we had to wait a few minutes before we could go in. Duffy and John look so sad...

"LET US IN!"

'This is pretty sweet guys!'

That night, we had a group dinner with the Rome kids and the Barcelona kids. We went to Bafetto again - which seems to be one of our favorite places to go. The pizza there really is incredibly delicious. Afterwards, we went to the Abbey for a quick drink before rounding the evening down. Walking back to the apartment, I had Maureen and Meghan get in this picture with me at the fountain in Piazza Navona. It was awesome to see the Barca kids! I was very happy!

LONDON! (day 3, 4, & 5)

At the end of my second full day in London, Megan came and picked me up from Frank's flat. We went back to Waterloo Station to get Connie and spent a good long while talking and reminiscing about home. Good times. Once Connie got into the city, we went back to Megan's house where we were staying for the remainder of our trip.

Unfortunately, day 3 does not have any pictures from the actual DAY. Connie and I went to see Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and to buy tickets for WICKED! The day itself was absolutely beautiful - the weather couldn't have been better. It didn't rain...not even once! Wicked was AMAZING! Another show I wasn't expecting to be as good as it was. I've fallen in love with the soundtrack and listen to it for the better part of my time here in Rome. The picture above is from right after I had switched my media cards in my camera. Its one of the only one's I have from that night. That is the stage right before the performance. After the show, we waited and met the main actors and a few chorus members. I got to see Professor Sprout because she was in the play. It was quite humorous. We also met Adam Garcia but didn't get to talk to him much. He didn't seem to want much to do with us. We tried to get him to sing Megan happy birthday, but he wasn't interested. Go figure. Oh well - his loss!

The next day, after realizing I had lost my media card, we ventured back to the theater, but no luck. We decided that for lunch we would go to the Hard Rock Cafe - the ORIGINAL that is! We sat by the Rolling Stones memorabilia and I was excited! I took this picture of a Mick Jagger puppet for my dad!

After a Hard Rock lunch of NACHOS and french fries, we ventured to see Buckingham Palace for the millionth time (well, not really but it was definitely the third or the fourth). I had to get my pictures in front of all of those places I had lost.

The above picture is of me in front of the Queen Victoria statue in front of the palace. I was excited - VICTORIA stuff was all over London...it doesn't happen all that often, so I took advantage and decided that my picture with Queen Victoria was VITAL to my photograph collection.

We headed up to Trafalgar's Square at this point to check out the National Museum. When we got there, Megan told us about the center of the plaza and the giant lions. Apparently, its a big thing to try to climb up onto them and get your picture taken. I of course decided to be bold an make sure that I got on top of one of them. Here are the stages:

How to I get around his big hind leg without falling?!?!

Ok...ok...wait, I just have to get my leg up. Hold on Connie, in case I need you to stop me from falling!

Right, almost there...just a little bit more!

TRIUMPH! I HAVE COMPLETED THE TASK AT HAND!

Look at me Megan! I made it! Aren't you proud?

National Museum was cool - we saw some awesome artwork...but again, museums still weren't my thing. On our way back to Megan's house, we decided that a trip to Kings Cross would help put an awesome end to the afternoon. We wanted to see PLATFORM 9 3/4...and we DID!

We even pushed carts through the wall - JUST LIKE HARRY POTTER!

Okay, not really...the cart was attached to the wall. But it was fun to pretend, you don't do that much anymore when you are 21...

Connie, Megan, and I at Platform 9 3/4

That night, we ventured to an infamous English Pub. I started off the night with a cider (Strongbow...but NOT Strongbow) before discovering that they have the most amazing beer I've ever had called Frujli. Frank had told us how important it was to experience this one...and it was like drinking a strawberry drink! SO GOOD! I had to take a picture of just the glass of beer...wonderful!


The next day was Megan's 21st birthday. We walked around Portobello Road which was kinda cool. Its an outdoor market and it was fun just to see it. For some extra fun, we went to the roller disco that night! Quite humorous. My pictures came out slightly dark because I didn't want to use to obnoxious flash in the dark place. Everyone was looking at us. However, I did manage to take a picture of one of my roller skates. I was excited to be there.

On our way back to Meg's place, I saw this poster of McDreamy. Grey's Anatomy is one of my favorite shows of all time...and Patrick Dempsey certainly is "worth getting sick for"...so I decided to take a picture just for fun. We also went through Victoria Station. I had to take a picture - Victoria and all...

SO! That is the documentation of my wonderful spring break all caught up! Hope you enjoyed reading about it and looking at the pictures. I sure had a great time LIVING it. :-D Especially meeting Adam Garcia and bowling and roller skating! Maybe we'll start up our roller skating kick at home again sometime soon? Probably not but its worth a shot...hehe

LONDON! (day 2)

The next day, we decided to venture out without Frank. Mainly because he didn't want to visit all of the places he has already been to again. That was fine - we went to the British Museum where they have the Rosetta Stone and other wonders of the world. It was cool to see that stuff, but I've never been much of a museum person. They are all nice and good, but at the same time, they can be quite boring.

From there, we went to the London Tower. THAT was cool. We saw a lot of interesting stuff - and the crowned jewels. We even talked to "the King" and his servant? I don't know but Amy wanted for us to have our pictures taken with him. So we did - Adam photographed our conversations.

We could also see Tower Bridge from the London Tower - so, that's me and the Tower Bridge.
We went to Harrods where we met up with Frank. Pretty big store with a lot of over priced merchandise. Though they had relatively inexpensive sweets. I couldn't believe how expensive everything was there! IT WAS INSANE!
Then we had lunch...fish and chips again for me. Very good - and Amy and Maureen and Adam all had the Steak and Ale Pie. EVERYTHING was AMAZING! So good...I wish I was in London simply for the food!

And that's me in one of the infamous telephone booths trying to get in touch with Megan. Luckily I did and it was easy. Too bad our phones decided not to work...but at least I actually USED the phone.

LONDON! (Day 1)

I finally got it! MY TRIP TO LONDON! :-D Angie and Jacquie both got to go in high school...and when it came to be my year, I couldn't go. They had stopped running the trip! SO SAD! But, alas - spring break this year, I made sure that since I'm quite a bit closer to the city that I would make my own adventure! And I sure did! :-D

Day one was Monday. We didn't spend a LOT of time in London, but it was our train ride the took up most of the day. The EuroStar train wasn't as cool as everyone had made it seem. Though I enjoyed the quite and ability to just sit and listen to my music for a few hours. One in London, Connie and I found my friend Megan who was meeting us at the station to make our further travels slightly easier. Once Connie was on her train to visit her friend Jason, Megan did her best to help me find Frank's "flat" where I got to see Maureen, Amy, and Adam after three days of separation. It was a lovely reunion. We had bangers and mash which Frank and Maureen made for dinner before heading out to one of the close London Pubs.

My first experience with Strongbow Cider - and that was absolutely delicious! Even Maureen and Amy liked it! After having a drink or two, we went back to Frank's to get settled in for bed and ready for our early morning to come!

It was fun! We started off the day by going to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Which, I must say, wasn't as impressive as I was expecting it to me. Buckingham Palace that is.

That's Buckingham Palace behind the gates that seemed to serve little to no purpose. Oh well, they were pretty. We got there early, by an hour, but we still weren't able to get right up to the gates that surround the palace.

Amy, Maureen, Adam, and I waiting for the event to start. It was a long wait and it was cold and rainy BUT, we made the best of the situation and put on our happy faces!

THE GUARDS! We were closer than I was expecting to be. I didn't really know how the whole thing would work but it wound up being okay. They must walk quite a ways before getting to the circle which is in front of the palace. It was exciting! And they played music from some classical musicals! It was cool!

Afterwards, Amy, Maureen, Adam, and I had posed by the gates, but unfortunately, that picture was taken with my camera - meaning we no longer have it. Instead, I have one of Amy, Maureen, and Frank that I took from Adam. OH! By the way! These are all Adam's pictures. :-D THANKS ADAM!

From the Buckingham Palace, we wandered up the main strip. Amy insisted that we have our picture taken with the British flags hanging from the lamp posts.

I was amused and knew that at that very moment, we were the biggest possible tourists EVER! But it was done none-the-less with enthusiasm!

Adam, Maureen, me, and AmyMaureen, me, and Amy

We continued up the main boulevard that we seemed to be walking on and managed to make it to Trafalgar's Square. The National Museum of Art was there, but we didn't go in. However, we did decide to take pictures inside of the red telephone booths that we all fell in love with...or rather, were in love with before arriving to London. Whatever, there isn't much difference. This is the picture that Adam took of me. If you can't tell from my expression how much fun we were having, then that's a shame.

At this point however, we were all INCREDIBLY hungry. We managed to walk for quite a while looking for an inexpensive place to have fish and chips for lunch. Let me tell you - inexpensive isn't a term to use while you are in London. Everything is basically expensive, and there isn't much you can really do about it. "8 pounds for fish and chips? That's not bad...oh...right...you have to double it. Shit..." But we finally found a place that had delicious fish and chips for about 6 pounds and they also had Strongbow, so I was quite happy. Once our empty stomachs were full, we had Adam take our picture before heading on to the TATE Modern Museum.
We passed what remains of London Bridge. Kinda cool...and in the museum, there were massive slides like the one below. Adam, Amy, Maureen, and I all decided that we were going to go down the biggest one. AND WE DID! It was fun, like being a kid again, accept I got a headache from it which wasn't very pleasant.
When we finished at the TATE, we decided that we might as well go on the London Eye. The weather wasn't so wonderful for it, but we didn't know if we would have a chance to do it again before Amy, Adam, and Maureen left for Paris. None-the-less, it was still fun and we got to be in the capsule with fewer people than if we had gone on a better day. At least, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.


That's Frank and me. If you couldn't tell, he secretly loves me even though he tries to act like he doesn't like me...not even as a friend. Okay, well, maybe he doesn't secretly LOVE me, but he DOES like me...no matter how many times he tries to fight it!


Adam snapped this shot when we weren't looking. From left to right, its me, Maureen, Frank, and Amy is in front of Frank. It was raining and I was anxious to get back to Frank's flat and have dinner because we were running short on time. I didn't want to miss PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! And of course, we didn't. We made it to the show with time to spare and I must say, I was slightly skeptical. I had seen the movie and didn't really like it. Maybe that's because Patrick Slattery kept trying to scare me during it, but that shouldn't have really made a difference. But the show was amazing. I think its funny that I enjoyed it so much - usually I like the comical shows...or the super classic ones like Guys and Dolls, or Crazy for You. To commemorate our experience, we took our picture in front of the advertisement outside of the theater.

And the end of day one went down with our underground ride back to Frank's flat. I like to be silly and it was fun.