Sleeping through New Years… Lame

Today the plan was to go on a Seine River Cruise; see the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and Saint-Chapelle, explore the Latin Quarter; and to top it all off, celebrate New Year's on Champ-Elysses.  After the long traveling day yesterday, however, I felt even worse than I did before.  I was in no shape for sightseeing.  My brother and I agreed that it would be best if we took the day off and recovered so we could make the most out of the three other days we would have in Paris.  We walked around the surrounding area (see photo), bought some groceries, and returned to the room and rested.  I was running a fever and was really out of it - I managed to wake up in time to see the New Year's countdown on TV, but that was about it.  It was a cold night and it would have been a nightmare getting from Champ Elysses back to our hotel after the celebration, so it was probably a good thing we didn't go, but I still feel like I missed out...  

Traveling Day - Florence, Verona, Paris

Goodbye, Florence!

The plan was to spend half the day sightseeing in Florence, but I couldn't muster enough strength this morning to do so (getting out of bed took a lot of effort).  So my brother and I decided to leave Florence early and go to Verona, and then a few hours later catch a flight to Paris.  Usually it doesn't make sense to travel to another city to catch a flight at a different airport because trains can be fairly expensive (the high speed train from Florence to Verona costs around 30 euros when purchasing it the day of), but due to high seasonal demand for flights from many of the major Italian airports to Paris, it turned out to be cheaper this way.

When we arrived at Verona, we looked throughout the train station, the surrounding area, and the airport for a printing facility so I can print a boarding pass for today's flight (I had printed out all the boarding passes for the Easyjet flights, but had forgot to print this one because it was with Ryanair).  We had no luck finding a printing facility, which turned out to be a huge problem - we found out that Ryanair charges 40 euros per person for printing boarding passes at the airport!  No other airline does this!  We had no choice but to have Ryanair print them off and pay 80 euros.  To add insult to injury, we nearly missed our flight because we had to go to a different part of the airport to get the boarding tickets printed!  Nearly a disaster...

I was still upset about it on the plane, and was hoping the Paris would be kinder.  We arrived at Paris Orly airport at night, took a bus to the city, and then a taxi from the bus' end destination to our hotel.  Our hotel is located in the 19th arrondissement, near Parc de la Villette.  We were both exhausted from our day of traveling and because of our late arrival time, settled for some baguettes for dinner.   

Florence!

After eating breakfast at the B&B, we checked out and went to the train station.  Due to high seasonal demand, most of the trains from Rome to Florence had sold out; we were fortunate enough to grab a couple tickets on the last train to Florence that day (at a little past 11:00 AM).  After we arrived, we checked in at the Hotel and started off on another day of sightseeing.  Although the Vatican is a hard act to follow, Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, surely did not disappoint. Overall, I would say Florence is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen.  My brother and I climbed to the top of the Bell Tower -  the view from there was magnificent (the photo above was taken at the top of the Bell Tower and the building in the center is the Duomo, perhaps the most famous site in Florence).

Florence is a great walking city - my brother and I managed to see many places of interest walking on foot (this would be impossible in Rome, which is far too big for that).    We also had some amazing cake at Gilli, very good hot chocolate at a Gelato shop (it was cold so we were in no mood for ice cream) and another good Italian dinner.

The Vatican

I really wanted to see a doctor here in Italy to make sure I was fit for sightseeing; however, I was informed by the hotel receptionist that I would either have to waste an entire day waiting at a public hospital or spend over 70 euros to see a private doctor.  Neither of those options seemed very appealing, so once again, my brother and I trudged forward.  We checked out of our hotel and checked into a Bed and Breakfast closer to the Vatican - when I got there I found out that I had accidently booked the wrong night!  The owner was very angry but I did my best to diffuse the situation by apologizing repeatedly.  Luckily, he was kind enough to not charge us for the extra night.

After that experience, we walked towards the Vatican, which was about a five minute walk from where we were staying (we actually saw it from the balcony!)  The Apostolic Palace is truly a magnificent sight to behold - it is surreal standing in the courtyard being surrounded by the marble columns, statues, and, fountains and also having St Peter's Basilica in the background.  We were also fortunate that the Nativity Scene and the Christmas tree were still up on the day we visited.

I do have to say though, that the Vatican museum was more awe-inspiring than I could have imagined.  There are so many important paintings and sculptures within the museum that you almost overlook some fascinating things.  To me, the most impressive sights of all were the ceiling of the map room (pictured above) and, of course the Sistine Chapel.  I am quite disappointed in a way because I could not appreciate them fully in my state (I thought I was going to collapse), but they were truly mesmerizing.  The Sistine Chapel in particular is something I am glad I experienced.    

Ancient Rome

I feel absolutely terrible today - I am starting to think that I might have a case of the stomach flu.  But, this is potentially a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I can't let my brother (or myself) down - so I have to keep marching on.  Many of the Ancient Roman sites are located within close proximity of each other - so we decided to see those today.  We saw the Colosseum first, which was a surreal experience.  It must have been really something to experience an event here back in its heyday - when you are here, it is not hard to imagine the deafening roar of the crowd while gladiators and exotic beasts fight to the death (all with the emperor in attendance of course).

We also got a chance to see the Temple of Jupiter, the Arc of Constantine, and Palatine Hill, which are all nearby.  In addition, we managed to walk to some very famous places in Rome - the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and of course the Parthenon to wrap up Ancient Rome.  To cap everything off, we had some amazing coffee at Tazza d'Oro and some very good gelato at Gelateria Della Palma.  All in all, a great day of sightseeing!

Euro-trip Memorable Already!

And so it begins!  I woke up at 3:00 AM (I felt horrible - I only had 3 hours of sleep and I feel like I am getting sick) and took a taxi to a bus station.  As stupid as that sounds, the Underground wasn't running at that time, there was a Tube strike scheduled for today, and today was Boxing Day (the day after Christmas is a holiday in the UK as well), so I had really had no choice.  The bus was supposed to take us from West Brompton Bus Station to Gatwick Airport with plenty of time to spare before the flight, but the unthinkable happened - the bus broke down about 2/3 of the way there!  We were stuck in the middle of nowhere and couldn't get any reception with our phones, so we waited for over an hour in the bitter cold for another bus to arrive.  I managed to get to the airport but had to rush through check-in and security; I barely managed to make it through the gate before it closed.

Once I arrived at the gate, however, there were delays and I ended up having to stand in line for about an hour.  After we boarded, there were additional delays, but once we got into the air, it was smooth sailing and we arrived in Rome only about a half an hour late.  I thought I was having a really crappy day, but it turns out that a fellow LSE student I met on the bus (small world, I guess) had it even worse - in addition to all the drama I experienced, he had to deal with the airline losing his luggage!  I wish him the best of luck...

I met my brother at the airport and we took a train to Central Rome.  Once we got off, we had a hard time finding our hotel, but managed to do so after walking around for quite some time and asking locals for directions in very bad Italian.  We were both very exhausted (I had never been so exhausted in my life!) and although we had planned to do some sightseeing on the first day, we passed on that and just rested.  Since it was the 26th (also a national holiday in Italy) many restaurants were closed, but we were able to find a decent restaurant that was open and have our first taste of authentic Italian food.

A Passfield Christmas

Some residents of Passfield got together and cooked a Christmas meal for students staying at the residence hall.  For that, I am thankful!  Because my flight is very early tomorrow morning (I have to wake up at 3:00 AM), my only plans for the day were to make final preparations for the trip and rest; I had regretfully passed on the opportunity to go to an international student Christmas celebration.  (The International Student House and Cumberland Lodge are a couple of the places I was interested in initially).  This, of course came with the risk of not being able to find a good place to eat dinner because almost all grocery stores and restaurants had closed for Christmas Day.

Packing

My Christmas Eve has been fairly uneventful.  I've been really focusing on getting the Euro-trip right so I didn't have the foresight to sign up for a Christmas Eve meal at a local restaurant.  I spent part of the day packing my clothes in the Blue duffel bag in the photo and making sure I had all the documents I needed (confirmations, tickets, etc.)  I'm a little nervous and excited for this Euro-trip - I hope it doesn't snow the day I am scheduled to leave.

Fish and Chips

Today, I decided to have one of England's trademark meals, fish and chips.  It is exactly what is sound like: deep fried fish (usually cod or haddock) served with fries.  In England, they sprinkle salt and vinegar over the chips, which I found a little different.  The seasoning is rather plain, but hey, that's what traditional British food is like!  It is usually a fairly inexpensive meal, even though you often times get a whole filet of fish!  I was fortunate enough to have a good fish and chips shop nearby that offers several kinds of fish; my favorite types of fish so far for fish and chips have been plaice, a type of flat fish, and cod.  Nobody tells you that you will feel like crap after eating it though...

The British Library

The British Library is about a five minute walk from my residence hall.  With over 14 million books, it is the second largest library in the world behind only the Library of Congress and houses some historically significant documents such as the Magna Carta and Shakespeare's First Folio.  Pretty neat!

Revision not Going Well…

My Real analysis class teacher warned the class that we really needed to revise (study) over winter break because it would be too much to do in the Spring.  Yeah, about that... It has been really difficult managing my time between planning for the Euro-trip, writing two essays, cooking, working out, and revising for this half-unit module.  The Euro-trip planning is still consuming a lot of time because I have to develop contingency plans due to the winter weather situation and because there are more complications traveling so close to Christmas/ New Years (I plan to travel from Dec 26th - Jan 7th).    For one, plane tickets are very expensive on certain days due to high seasonal demand, so I have to plan my itinerary accordingly.  Also, it is nice to have a very detailed itinerary to make the most out of the limited time we are going to have in each city (3 days in Rome, 2 days in Florence, 4 days in Paris).  I also have to figure out what to do on New Year's Day (the plan is to be on Champ Elysses in Paris) and also find out what is open the following day (a lot of the major attractions are closed on New Year's Day).  Not to mention the essays are time-consuming as well because I have to do a fair amount of background research for them.

London is Really an International City…

I have mentioned this in passing before, but I think it deserves its own blog entry.  London has a more international feel than I had expected before arriving here.  Every day, I hear a lot of languages other than English being spoken on the street here, even in Central London (combination of tourists and residents of different nationalities).  Also, within a 15 minute walking radius of my residence hall, there are countless different restaurant options available, ranging from American fast food, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, French, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian,  and the list goes on and on.  Maybe this is because traditional British food isn't that great, but still...  It has been good to experience the diversity that is present here in London.

Where is Everybody?

In a previous blog post, I have already mentioned how the atmosphere at Passfield has changed drastically over break.  Since most people that I know have went home or are vacationing, it is very hard to find people who are still around.  I find myself missing the friends that I have made here in London already.  Sometimes I just want to hang out but hardly anyone's around...

Winter Weather may Mess up my Travel Plans...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/18/europe-snow-storm-closes-airports-_n_798729.html

So maybe doing a winter Euro-trip isn't the best idea... For the second year in a row, there have been airport closures and delays throughout Europe due to heavy snow.  In fact, both Heathrow and Gatwick were closed today and will remain closed until at least Sunday.  I am really starting to get worried -  I hope that the snow will clear up by Christmas so I can meet my brother in Italy with no complications.  If my flight gets cancelled, I may get a refund, but that is not the main issue; I do not want to leave my younger brother to fend for himself in a country where he doesn't speak the language...   It would also be a nightmare with the hotel reservations, as I have already made reservations for each city on our trip (Rome, Florence, Paris).

Walking in London is even more dangerous…

Last night, it snowed a little again.  Unfortunately, it melted and then froze on the streets and sidewalks, making it really dangerous to walk outside.  In front of Passfield it is almost like a skating rink due to the thin layer of ice on the sidewalk.

Cooking Everyday Now

Since dinners are no longer served during the break, my friend and I have decided to take turns each night in cooking dinner.  I have found this to be MUCH cheaper than eating out (if I use relatively cheap ingredients, I can cook a very filling meal for less than 3 pounds per person) and it is also nice to have control over both the flavor and the fat/sodium content.  It has been a little time consuming and I will be happy when I am relieved of my cooking duties when the term resumes, but it has been a good experience experimenting/ polishing my cooking skills.

Classic London: The Red Phone Booths

I’ve only seen people use these old-fashioned phone booths a few times, but they are several of them throughout Central London.  They definitely add character to the streets of London, even if a lot of them have ads for call girls on the inside…  The phone booths that are in the photo here are right next to the University of London Student Union, which is about a three minute walk from Passfield.

Must Write Essays... Over Break...

All of the classes I am taking are highly quantitative, so there is very little writing involved.  However, I somehow ended up with unenviable task of having to write two essays over winter break - one on monetary economics and the other on the role of accounting in the recent financial crisis.  Most people had essays due before the vacation, which means they were probably more constrained on time, but that comes with the benefit of having a more enjoyable break.  I also have to continue planning for the Euro-trip - my brother is flying in from the States and meeting me in Rome, so I have to make sure I plan well.

Found a Japanese Store!

My mom is Japanese, so I am used to eating home-cooked Japanese food back in the States.  But here in London, I have not eaten authentic Japanese food because a lot of the Japanese restaurants are fairly expensive and because I lack the ingredients to cook even simple dishes.  I did some research on the Web recently, and discovered that there were a couple of Japanese stores near Picadilly Circus.  I took the Tube today and visited the Japan Center and bought some groceries.  Now I can finally satisfy my craving for some home-cooked Japanese food!  London is a very international city, so if you are looking for ethnic foods, I am sure that you can find it somewhere in the city!

American Companies in London

It is quite interesting observing which American corporations have successfully established themselves across the pond.  Some of the restaurants/stores that stand out the most are: McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Starbuck's, Krispy Kreme, Walmart (Asda), TJ Maxx (TK Maxx), and some American clothing companies (American Eagle, Guess, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren etc).

Passfield has Changed

Like I mentioned in the previous blog entry, Passfield rents out the rooms to tourists over the break so they can offer subsidized rates to students during the term.  However, this means that the atmosphere at Passfield changes drastically during the break.  The once lively common room becomes deserted, and every time you pass by the reception, you see tourists checking in/ checking out.  It is also weird to see so many people who aren't students staying here.  Also, dinner is not provided during the break; instead, breakfast is offered everyday, which is a little inconvenient because dinner is a better value.

Moving Out?

The academic year at LSE consists of 31 weeks of classes and 9 weeks of break.  There is some variation in the contract length in residence halls - some are for entire 40 weeks (including breaks) and some are for 31 weeks.  I chose a residence hall with a 31 week contract because I wanted to explore Europe and didn't want to pay for my room when I wasn't living there.  I also didn't plan on traveling for the entire break, so I applied to stay at Passfield for the first week and the last week.  I was assigned a different room over break, which meant that I had to pack everything up and move.  Fortunately, I was assigned a shared room; since my other two roommates stayed at Passfield for the whole break, I could leave my belongings in the room while I traveled (LSE rents out the rooms to tourists during the break, so I would not have been allowed to leave my stuff in the room if I had a single room!)  Just remember that this is not always the case and you should think through this thoroughly when deciding on a residence hall!

Freeze the Fees! Part 2

There was another protest today, and this time around, I got first row tickets as the protesters marched past LSE!  I was wondering why Southampton Row, a fairly major street that I take to LSE everyday, was blocked off this morning.  I had guessed that a protest might be taking place, but it was impressive seeing one in person this time!  It seems like it would be an interesting experience to be a part of, but if you are a study abroad student in London, don't be tempted!  You don't have much to gain (you will be gone in a year and international fees aren't going to decrease) and if you do get in (big) trouble, you could get put in jail, deported, and/or never be allowed back in the UK again!

Christmas Season

It's Christmas season!  This photo was taken in Covent Garden, near the Apple Store.

Where's the Eggnog?

One thing I look forward to during the holiday season is eggnog.  Unfortunately, I discovered that eggnog is not as popular here in the UK - I have not seen any in the big grocery chains like Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco's.  The only place I have found it (sort of) is at Starbucks, which sells eggnog lattes during the holiday season.  I almost want to ask for just the eggnog (without the coffee) but I guess this will do.  Speaking of Starbucks, they are quite popular here in London as well.  The three main coffee chains that I have come across in London are Starbucks, Cafe Nero, and Costa Coffee; the latter two are Italian coffee chains.    

Nice Car!

Central London is a rather expensive place to live - that is why it is not unusual to see some very nice sports cars around this part of town.  

Hard Water

If you have noticed that you are losing hair or that your hair and skin are becoming unusually dry, you are not alone.  London is notorious for having water with a high mineral content, which causes minor temporary hair loss and dry hair/skin.  I guess that means that you have to use more conditioner/lotion.  Oh, and guys probably shouldn't wear shorts during the Spring/Summer.     

Fearless at Intersections

Before studying in London, I had never really lived in a city atmosphere before, so that was a little bit of an adjustment at first.  There were a lot more people in the streets than what I was accustomed to and I also had a hard time gauging when it was safe to cross an intersection.  It didn’t help that people drive on the left side of the road here, so initially, I looked the wrong way when trying to judge when it was safe to cross.  On the first day I was here, actually, I almost got hit by a police car, which would have been quite ironic.  But now that I am used to it, I have become rather bold – I don’t wait for the crosswalk light to turn green and I sometimes cross in the middle of the road if no cars are coming.  You could say I became an urbanite in a short time…   

F*** ME It’s Christmas! – Another Night of Clubbing

To end the term the right way, a group of us from Passfield went to nightclub called Debut, located under the London Bridge. And yes, F*** ME it's Christmas was the name of the party.  The location of the venue was very nice and the party was what you would expect out of the college student oriented London night scene.  It was a fun night and I would recommend checking this place out once if you are into this sort of thing!  

An Accounting Midterm Tomorrow you Say

Tomorrow, I have an accounting midterm and a marked assignment for Monetary Economics.  For both of these classes, this is the only marked work I have during the Term, so there is quite a bit of pressure to do it well.  Especially with the homework assignment, I have to be more precise than what I am used to being since at LSE, they expect you to expand and go beyond what is directly asked for the question at times!  

Snow in London (and of course, a snowball fight!)

Apparently, we had the coldest November in the UK since 1973.  It was quite difficult motivating myself to leave the warm room and walk a mile in the windy, freezing conditions, but I managed to will myself to do it most of the time (other people bought bus passes and rode the bus to LSE each way).  And today, it snowed enough to accumulate!  Of course, my friends and I celebrated with a snowball fight right outside of Passfield Hall.