Adieu London!

If you've been doing the math along the way, I have been often posting around the midnight/1am time frame, which certainly messes with some of the writing essentials (i.e. grammar). So please excuse any spelling errors, even though I shouldn't be making any all.

Can't really believe it; today was my final full day in London. Packed things in like crazy. Headed first to a couple grocery stores for our class ethnography, where I interviewed some workers about their experiences with beer (Google: Unlocking the Beer Code for that blog), which was funny. As I was leaving the "interview," the man started making fun of my American accent, which can only mean I am cool enough to get to know, right?

We had a bunch of free time in the afternoon, so I took a quick break at this wonderful little cafe and had a handmade sandwich--it is so nice here, everything is made fresh in the morning with real ingredients, and nothing is fried or toasted or crispy, so I kind of feel like I am eating healthy (especially when I get dessert afterwards). Then I took a walk around the British Museum just for fun, which is just huge and holds a lot of random artifacts, most notably is probably the Rosetta Stone. Which got me to thinking about how many people my age don't really know what it is, and instead think of a CD-Rom program for learning languages... Many of the museum's sculptures were beautiful, especially the Greek and Egyptian ones.

After a really quick stop at the site of the August Olympic games (it looked really cool, but they don't let you very close at all. From my experience on the Tube and the normal busy here, London is going to be a crazy place in the next few months, so I'm glad I got here when I did...), we spent the evening in our professor's flat, talking about our progress with our class projects. And sweating our butts off. In coming to London, I pictured overcast skies, rainy nights and misty mornings. Not at all the case this last week...instead, highs in the 80s and bright sunshine all the time! Unfortunately, I've been trying to dress somewhat modestly in a new country, but my arms at least are pretty tan.

Then we headed back to our flat. The rest of the night has been filled with updates, packing and laundry...and hopefully soon that will include sleep. More exciting adventures tomorrow! :)

Also, I promise there will be more entertaining posts to come, but lately I have been multitasking while typing, so my humor has been compromised. Will attempt to keep things fresh and interesting, but frankly, I am exhausted and need to refresh my sarcasm-palette with at least one full (7+ hours) night of sleep. Probably won't be tonight...

Cheers!

Markets & Comedy & Taxis, oh my!

Sunday =  Fun Day, at least in London...

And even though I had all of today completely OFF from school-related, agency-tour, regimented day schedules, of course I wanted to get as much in as possible to explore one of our last real days in London. Whilst the city is absolutely stunning and filled with history, it might be a little too fashion-y, concrete-y and big for me, but I still wanted to have a good time.

We began the day back at Portobello Market, where we were yesterday, because I really enjoyed the first time around. Picture a farmers market on steroids with "hand made and authentic" jewels for Americans (and other tourists) to feast upon like vultures. Naturally, this pulled me right in. One path filled with strawberry/nutella/whipped cream crepes, dresses, souvenirs galore and other nick-knacks later, and we were headed toward Covent Garden (another market, matter-of-fact).

Covent Garden is beautiful and very cool. I stopped for lunch at Paul's Cafe, the first fully French cafe I had attended in London, and ordered a Sandwich Mistral (Sahnd-weetch Mee-strahl)--I am working on my French skills whenever possible, okay? Let me tell you: most delicious food I have eaten thus far. The baguette sandwich included spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella, and this truly delightful buttery, tangy spread and filled me right up. Afterwards, I had to get a pastry, and after debating for an hour, decided on a strawberry tart with custard. YUMMY. The cafe was relaxing, breezy and just what I needed after such a long morning of walking. And although I haven't yet noted it, the temperatures here have been in the high 80s all week, which is apparently extremely unusual for London, but I am not complaining-expect for that small bit right there... The market also housed a lot of private marketers, who sold anything from candle wax to homemade soap to footballs (soccer balls). What a blast I had walking from shop to shop, bartering and discovering great finds.

For the record, the natives' accents are getting to me and I occasionally bust out in spontaneous British accents, blustering the "aaaa"s and "ahhh"s sometimes, but it sounds okay. We had a delightful mass at Westminster Abbey--a wonderful way to get inside without doing a tour. Aside from the fiscal benefits, it is such a beautiful place. When I was in Washington, D.C. with the MU Choir my sophomore year, we had the privilege to sing at the National Cathedral, which was also a beautiful specimen. Westminster Abbey is more so; soaring ceilings, balustrades like crazy, beautiful carvings of important saints, cupids and tombstones, gilded with gold and brass and glass. I truly love cathedrals, and hope I get to see a large many more. The mass, also, was fantastic, and the priest asked us afterwards if 1) We were from the states (I found this funny, because more and more people make fun of us and pretend we're from France or somewhere obscure just to be sarcastic and "funny") and 2) We new of the National Cathedral conference, which he had just spent three weeks at for the abbey. Either way, he was very nice and the mass was great.

Following that, we attended a very interesting comedy tour, which included a lot of off-color sex jokes (that just weren't really doing it for me, no pun intended) and two random men who did, like, four-minute sketches each, and then left. The main guy "joked" for about an hour and then it was time to leave. Naturally, the Tube shuts down early on Sundays (which, blond moment, didn't even occur to me) so we were forced to take a bus or a cab. Normally, my cheap ass would vote for a bus, which we have a car for, but the cab seemed the more direct, simplistic way (plus, I am SURE that I paid for that stupid bus card at least three times over in my MU tuition dollars.....).

What a wonderful day--I think it has been my best one yet; relaxing, formulative, enjoyable and new. Which, if you really think about it, describes all of London in a nutshell. Also, as a last-minute note, I found this car in the Portobello Market today and just fell in love. Things are not just bigger in Texas, but in this case, probably in all of the world...

Portobello Market & Thames River

Today was another fabulous day in the smallest capitol city in the world...historical bit: the actual city of London measures only one mile by one mile, in a square. The rest of the surrounding area is just smaller cities, like Westminster or Chelsea. Way cool.

Two Tube stops and a finger-nail-clippers stop later and we began the day at Portobello Market, a huge outdoor market where I knew I was going to spend too many pounds. The market lies on one long street, probably a mile long (or more...we have a time limit for everything so I'm not even sure how far down we got) of everything you can possibly imagine to purchase: door handles, necklaces, brown leather footballs, purple purses, chiffon dresses, crepes, keys, scarves, and on and on. Naturally, my money did not last me long. At the first shop I stopped in, which carried mainly scarves and purses, I put my chief bartering skills to work and made out with two beautiful new scarves, which made me look totally European (no big deal, I already fit anyways). My next haggle occurred at a nearby station which carried six dresses--total. 

Sign reads: 1 for $20, 2 for $35 (and by $ I mean the L with the ~ in the middle)

Sarah: Hmm, this is really nice. Two for $35 huh?

Seller: Yep, these are great dresses, premier London style.

Sarah: (Looks deeply contemplating at the colors and styles). Hmm. Will you take two for $28.

Seller: (Scoffs) Oh no, no. My boss would kill me. These dresses sell for $48 normally-it's a great deal really.

Sarah: Oh, right, of course. (Steps away for a moment, frowns). Hmm, yeah, they are really nice. A pretty color.

Seller: Ah yes, definitely London style, very nice. 

-pause-

Seller: Do you like it?

Sarah: (Pauses). I don't know. I mean, they are beautiful, but.... (sigh). What about...will you take two for $32?

Seller: (Long sigh). Well I don't know, I mean, they are worth more, a great deal. But, well. 

Sarah: (Silence).

Seller: ...But I guess. Since you are my first customer today, yes.

Sarah: (Gushes like it is so amazing). Oh my god, thank you so much.

So that was a fun adventure. And then I ran out of cash. Although I scoured enough change to score a huge cup of honey delicious and "real" Italian cookies and cream gelato that I couldn't eat fast enough as we headed back to the Tube.

We next headed to Borough Market, an outdoor food market with lots of cheese, pies, Primm's and kangaroo (no joke). After dining on some wonderful Heidi pie (basically a pot pie with sweet potatoes, cheese, asparagus, garlic and mostly deliciousness) we headed to a beautiful boat cruise! 

If you haven't noticed, the trip has included a lot of free time where I enjoy walking off an enjoying the streets, sights and sounds of beautiful London. The boat cruise was down the Thames River, where we floated under the London Bridge, passed the Tower of London and up to Big Ben. Bloody awesome! The river itself quite resembles the stinky river back home, but the sights were cool either way. We then finished off the trip at the Anchor Pub--get this--the oldest pub in all of London! It has been called The Anchor for over 400 years or something insane. I had a fish finger sandwich, which was delicious, but am now hungry again. 

Only three more days in this vunderful place. Seeing some greatttt things tomorrow, although I think I have to pump the breaks in the shopping area...Cheerio!

A La Canteen

Alas, London: Day 3!

If you have any kind of fashion sense at all, London is definitely a treasure trove of flowing skirts of any length, layers like a cake (or an onion...), mis-matched accessories (think pink scarf, blue skull earrings and neon yellow ankle socks, with a lace cuff) and 4"+ platforms circa Spice Girls for every fashionista. Unfortunately, that is not exactly my scene, so during our tour of the high end shopping tour portion of the day, I chose instead to admire the architecture and cobblestone (real cobblestone, on every sidewalk and street)--which is beautiful, by the way. Post-tour, we headed to a local agency, where we heard lots and lots and lots of advice from British professionals about how to survive the AD/PR industry in the big leagues. We were served delicious hand sandwiches and fruit, and then to keep us cool, ice cream bars!

We finished the night out at dinner on Liverpool Street at the Canteen, where I enjoyed pork roast with carrots and potatoes like a true Brit. It seems so weird--and let's be honest--a lot surreal, that I have strolled the streets of London, surfed the Tube like a local and ordered a serviette in place of a napkin. It is truly beautiful here, with all the old history in every nook and cranny.

There will be lots of shopping in store for tomorrow! I discovered a fancy little shop with sparkly London stickers but am still on the lookout for some exciting souvenirs that are not of the British-flag, shot glass or Big Ben variety. A demain!

I've Got the London Look

I have arrived in London, and boy is it spectacular! The streets are bustling, the architecture is phenomenal and on top of everything, my midwestern accent is in the minority! Unfortunately, my trip here was not so amazing…

After waiting anxiously in line at O’Hare–as well as countless calls to Jeff (my travel agent…yes I have a travel agent) and making everyone behind the airline front desk feel about this |  | big, we were rescheduled for the next 6am flight to DC, to then make the trek to London. We did get two $10 vouchers for food, but naturally my five star dinner of pizza and one chilled glass of pinot grigio would cost $25, but who’s complaining? Finally, nearly 12 hours after our initially scheduled flight, we were on our way!

I cannot even put into words how jet-lagged I felt on Wednesday. Getting hit by a bus + the world’s worst hangover + the tilt-a-whirl might get close. Regardless, we spent a blissful day touring the streets of London, where we saw all the fancy sites like Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey (which I absolutely must go back to), as well as some of the most expensive homes in all of Great Britain. The streets here are beautiful and authentic, although they definitely make navigation a challenge. We finished off the night with dinner at the Crown Tavern…which sounds fancy but wasn’t nearly all that I’d hoped for. After waiting over an hour for our entrees, my fillets of Gurnardo with riscotti were simply medicre. I’m holding out for the next few dinners (Asian tonight) but I’m even more excited to try some food that isn’t so similar to AJ Bombers. Kidding-I love AJ’s.

Anyway-today has been thrilling as well. We had a quiz this morning (that I prepared for like a champ and probably got 200% on it, especially after getting eight hours of sleep in the last three days) and listened to a lecturer from a local marketing agency. While he was quite interesting, we then ventured out to Oxford Circle for a lunch rendezvous and shopping! I’ve been trying my best to not scream ”I’m a tourist, please take my bag!” by looking confident and not stopping in the middle of the road with a map, today was an exception. Toting my souvenir bag and ‘I <3 London’ sweatshirt like nobody’s business, I did some serious work in all the London shops (picture New York city on roids…and yes, every shop was the same). Regardless, I’m quite happy with some of my findings, although feel like I can’t quite leave until I’ve bought a purse that, when others ask where on earth I got that gorgeous bag, I can humbly reply, “Oh, this? Yeah, I got it in London at this store that doesn’t exist here. Maybe you can find a similar one at the mall.”

But enough about the shopping. I’m seeing a show tonight that I will gush about later (when my internet finally gets attached) and continue to update with details of my awesome travel experience. One thing I’ve noticed (of the many, I suppose) is that Londonites are not the most polite people…I wouldn’t call them rude by any means, but they seem very surprised when I say “Excuse me” in a store and often do that weird shoulder-ramming thing on the sidewalk. Alas, learning something new everyday. Off to another agency!

Cheers :)

Hello & Bienvenue

Hello! I am a Communication Studies graduate from Marquette University, with an emphasis in Public Relations and Writing-Intensive English. I am excited to begin my first global experience studying international beer codes in London and Barcelona.

As someone who has never before been outside of the United States, I am especially excited to learn and experience the cultures of another country (let alone two other countries!) as we trek across Europe tasting, researching and discovering what international beer has to offer.

I recently ended my final internship with Marquette’s Career Services Center as a Marketing and Communications intern, and hope to pursue a career in public relations, special events, writing and communications in the future. I also love singing and reading, and have a secret obsession (well, not any more) with Criminal Minds. Upon graduation, I plan on staying in the Milwaukee area and hope to get a small dog that I will name Charlie.

Fun Fact: I learned to drive on a car with a manual transition.