Livvy in London

Done with Papers!

2006-12-14T04:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am ready to come home. But I have 2 finals. I miss everyone!!!! Off to turn in my 3 awesome papers and go to Harrods for some wandering around.

Finals Time.

2006-12-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

Finals time over here is alot like finals time in Austin. Its cold and I am in my pajammies alot. One of the key differences is that I only have to pass. Thats all. A big, fat C will do just fine. The truth is that if you get anything better than a C, you're an idiot. Why work harder than you have to?

I am dealing with this realization with watching lots of tv (on my computer, that is). I have been watching Heroes (which is a really awesome show), How I Met Your Mother (also a soon to be classic), and Scrubs (which is causing me to narrate my life). All in all, I think that this is going pretty well.

Yay for Cs!!

Parents are here!

2006-11-17T04:00:00.000-08:00

My parents just got into town and are now taking a nap. Tomorrow we are headed to Rome to see our family. I am excited. It should be very nice weather for us to wait in line at the Vatican. I guess that I should be finishing up packing, so I will fill you all in on the trip when I get back. I will give the Pope a high five for everyone!

Moving to Barcelona

2006-11-12T02:46:00.000-08:00

Since leaving Barcelona yesterday, we have officially decided to move there. It is soooo beautiful. I definately think that it is my favorite place that I have been so far. On the first day that we were there, we had a bit of a shopping marathon. The Euro is only 1.3 to the dollar so it was so much more affordable than London. We also stumbled upon some historical sites along the way. We saw Gaudi's house, walked through the Gothic District, drank sangria in a georgeous square where some Gaudi's early works are. We walked across most of Barcelona the first day, so all of the paella that we ate was well earned. The next day we went to Guell Park where there were more of Gaudi's works. Robert Guell and Gaudi were friends and he was commissioned to create a park for children to play in on Guell's country estate. It was very neat. Gaudi was before his time, many of the works seem futuristic in the current age and Gaudi died over 75 years ago. After the park, we went to the Saagrada Familia which is a humumgous church that has never been finished. It is another of Gaudi's works that are all around Barcelona. It was his las project before his death in 1926. The details are incredible. After all of the siteseeing, we spent the evening in a lovely tapas bar. Barcelona was a really great trip and I would love to go back again, any takers???

Guy Fawkes

2006-11-06T04:12:00.000-08:00

Guy Fawkes is remembered on November 5th for something that he failed to do. Guy was a Roman Catholic in England in the late 1500s, which which was not very desireable back then. Catholics were not given the freedom to practice religion and other bad stuff. So Guy and some of his Catholic buddies decided to blow up Westminster during the opening ceremonies of Parliment in 1605. Determined to go out with a bang, Guy packed a room below the Parliment chambers with barrels of gun powder. Unfortunately, none of this came to fruition. Guy and his conspirators were captured and tortured at the Tower of London (see above entry) and then they were executed. The 5th of November is celebrated, ironically, with bonfires and fireworks and British people running around like fools. Blake, Erin, Sean, and I went to see one batch of fireworks at Alexandra Palace and it was quite a spectacle. And it was REALLY cold. There are pretty much firewoks being set off in every direction, though, including outside our dorm. And apparently, British parents think that it is ok to let children play with fireworks as well. Good thing National Health will take care of them when they lose an eye.

For more interesting reading on Guy and the Gunpowder Plot go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes.

Holy Halloween, Batman!

2006-11-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

Wow. Thats pretty much all I can say. We had Borat, Leprechauns, Dark Angel, Euro-handle bar-mustache-trash, soccer houligans, oh, and Nicole Richie. Ridiculous.

Not quite the Luck o' the Irish

2006-11-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to Ireland. We took a train and then a ferry into Dublin and it was a very beautiful trip. The next morning, we went on a tour of the Guiness Brewery. It is the largest brewery in the world. After the tour and a few free Guiness beers, we headed out of town. We went across the country to Galway. A very charming little place. Little did we know that it was 1) a bank holiday weekend (big deal in Ireland), 2) there was a huge soccer tournament in Galway, 3) there were no hotel rooms to be had within a 50 mile radius. Super. Kim, Kevin, and I felt quite biblical: there was no room at the inn, any inn. Finally we found the last hotel room in Shannon, a quaint little town in the middle of freakin' nowhere. There were no food places open, so we ate at a place called Supermacs (McD's but grosser), where , we are pretty sure, the whole staff was stoned. Great. The next day we headed out again. This day turned out a little better. We set out for the cliffs of Moher. On the way we found a little surf town, Lahnich. They must really love surfing there, because you could not pay me enough money to get into that cold ass water. But it was fun to watch. Then we trekked up to the Cliffs (picture), where I was pretty sure that I was going to see someone plunge to their demise. There was an area that was clearly marked no tresspassing (first cliff behind us in the picture), but also had a trail. Attractive nuisance or what!! There was no barrier or anything to keep people from falling a good 200 feet into the rocky ocean. I got about 10 steps out there and turned around, not because I was scared (bc I was definately staying far from the edge) but bc other people were obviously not scared. They were so close to the edge, I was about to have a coronary! So I turned back and looked the other direction. Luckily, no one died while I was there and I got the hell out of there. We then got safely back to Dublin and later to London. Phew, home safely and happy to have a weekend of rest!!! Not so fast with that one ;) Check out Halloween posting.

London Sightseeing

2006-11-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

The weekend after Amsterdam, we stayed in London. Blake and I went around London to see some of the sights around town. First, we went to the Tower of London. This is where there used to be alot of torture, but in an effort to change the image, the Crown Jewels are now kept there. We took a tour with a genuine beefeater (yes, think of the man on the vodka bottle). We saw where Anne Bolyn was beheaded and buried. There were also these incredibly creepy ravens, yes ravens, everywhere. Ther were the size of small dogs! And there were signs that warned visitors that they bite! The Crown Jewels were incredible. There was a diamond called the Star of Africa that is on the end of a scepter that is 52 karats! I told them that I'll take 2 :)

Then we walked across the Tower Bridge (picture). It is a very pretty view of the city. Then we were off to St. Paul's Cathedral. That is the site of 2 very important things: Princess Diana's wedding to Prince Charles and where the Bird Lady feeds the birds in Mary Poppins. It was so grand! The inside was impecably beautiful. The ceilings were all done in mosaics and there were marble statues everywhere. There was also a memorial in the rear of the church dedicated to the American and British soldiers from WWII. It was a very productive day :)

Amsterdam

2006-11-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

We went to Amsterdam with the whole group. There were 8 of us in all. Holland is very beautiful. Amsterdam is much more than the pot-smoking, legal-prostitution reputation that it has gotten. Kim and I stayed with Brad and Marissa at their flat. They are studying for the semester at the University of Amsterdam. The first night that we were there we went to a tapas restaurant and then to a salsa club. It was very nice. We got to meet alot of Brad and Marissa's school friends that they have met since they began studying there in August. The next night we took a walk around the red-light district for the hell of it and then settled in for a night of beer drinking. We also visited a huge outdoor market that was by Brad and Marissa's. Amsterdam was a great time!!

Horns up across the Pond!!!

2006-10-07T04:48:00.000-07:00

We are off to the American Sports bar to start getting ready to see UT beat OU. The Longhorn spirit survives in this strange town. Hook 'em!

Prague then Hook 'em

2006-10-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

We are headed to Prague until Friday and then back to London to watch the UT beat OU with the London Texas Exs. Its a good thing I brought some burnt orange!

British Birthday

2006-10-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

Yay for Birthdays!!! My birthday was very fun here in London. Although it rained almost the entire day, I don't care. We have been going out alot since it is our first week all together here. We didn't have class last week, so that was all the more reason, or so we thought... There are alot of people with birthdays right around mine. So all the more celebrating. Kim bought us all some flare for the birthdays which made us quite a spectacle, but that is what birthdyas are for, right? I am, quite frankly, birthday-ed out at this point. BUT I do need some cake. I have not yet had a birthday cake. So this is a necessity that I will be tracking down this week.

London is very rainy, if anyone was wondering. I would have to say that it rains at least once a day, usually more, and coupled with the cold wind, it is less than pleasant. It could be bright and sunny one minute and then pouring rain the next. I learned quickly to never leave home without an umbrella. I have not learned the less on about wearing closed toed shoes and not flip flops yet. I always have been hard headed.

Here's to birthdays (and to the fact that they only come once a year!)...

Re-Cap

2006-10-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, now. I am incredibly sorry for the lack of posts. It was very hard to formulate my thoughts in an internet cafe. Now I am all settled in in London and have an internet connection all to myself (hooray).

Before we get into soggy ole England, lets re-cap. Kim got to Pisa on a Wednesday. After she caught up on her rest and adjusted a little, we went to Florence for the day. We figured out the train system and had a lovely journey. As luck would have it, we were there on the 3rd Monday of the month which apparently means that most of the museums are CLOSED!!! Thats right, we did not get to see the Uffizzi, nor did we see all of Michelangelo's works in the Cathedral Museum. We did see how beautiful the city was and we enjoyed ourselves in spite of the closures. We had every intention of returning before our trip was over, but time flies. To top off our lovely day, as we were sitting at an outdoor bistro having some wine after our return to Pisa, a bee stings me. Can you believe it? Me either. But knowing Italians, they would probably say that it was good luck. Whenever something bad or gross happens to you thats what they say.

Kim and I also travelled to Venice. It is incredible. Like a city, just ploped in the middle of the ocean. We rode in a gondola, very romantic (hehe). The whole time that I was there I felt like I was lost. The passageways are so narrow that you can't find landmarks, so you just wander through the labrynth until you find where you are going. There are no cars. But there are a freaking ba-jillion pigeons. If you know me well, you will be familiar with my fear of birds. So needless to say St. Mark's square was not a comfortable environment for me. Also, when we were walking over toward the square for the first time, Kim must have startled a pigeon walking in front of her, because it flew up and literally hit her in the face. I was stunned. Also, there are also way too many tourists. Other than that our trip to Venice was really great. We were definately relieved to be back on the train and headed to Pisa, but it is truely an amazing place.

My cousin, Piergeorgio, also took us by car to some very interesting and beautiful places around Tuscany. We went to a mountain town called Volterra. They are famous there for alabaster quarries. We also went to Siena. St. Catherine (of Siena) cathedral is a grand masterpiece. The marble workings are amazing.

Kim and I also went to the beach in Viareggio. It was very pretty. We spent the day at this beach cabana-type place that was reminiscent of the beach that the gang from Saved by the Bell worked at one summer. There was really no one around though since it was a weekday and the summer has ended. We drove through again on a sunday, I think and it was really crowded though. It was pretty neat to be looking out at the Mediteranean Sea.

Although Italy is so incredible, I was a little relieved to be leaving. It is hard to be a houseguest for over 3 weeks and to also feel pressured to travel and see everything. I am quite happy to be in London and all settled into my cozy little dorm room. I hope that all of you are doing well and apologize for being slow on email responses. I'll write some more soon. Cheers ;)

Ciao Gelato!

2006-09-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

I have never seen so much ice cream in my life. Everywhere I go everyone is eating ice cream: women, children, old people, young people, everyone. I am trying not to leave Italy looking like the Goodyear blimp, so I only eat the ice cream 25% of the time and it is still more than I ever have eaten ice cream before. I guess maybe I should be eating the ice cream though, since every time I am on a car trip it could be my last. There is no rhyme or reason to the driving here in Italy. I lose years off of my life everytime I am in the car, sudden stopping, little motor bikes zooming everywhere, goodness gracious!

There is always eating, I feel like that is all that I do. We eat a small breakfast, then a huge 3-4 course lunch, and then dinner. Phew! There is no such thing as a diet here. These little Italian ladies could force feed Ghandi. Seriously. And the language barrier doesn't help either. I have figured out how to get them to stop piling food onto my plate with hand gestures, but that only helps sometimes.

It is unseasonably hot here and all we do is talk about it. Good thing that I got to the weather chapter in my Italian book!!!

Tomorrow, we will go to Pisa. My cousin lives and works there, so I will spend the rest of my time in Italy there. I am very excited to see Florence and other parts of Tuscony. I hope that you all are doing well and I miss you! Arrivaderci!!!!

Ciao Italia!

2006-09-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

Italia e' bella!! I have been here for three days and everything is wonderful. My family here is very loving and welcoming. Everyone in my family speaks only italian, except for one of my cousins. So needless to say, my italian is improving at a rapid pace. On Thursday, I went to Rome. It was very crowded with tourists as well as Romans. It amazes me how it is a modern day city and functions as such, but there are statues and buildings that are hundreds of years old plopped in the middle. We walked everywhere and, lucky enough for me, it is unseasonably hot. It was worth the sweat, but I was very glad to be home. On Sunday, we will go to Pisa where my cousin has a house and I will be able to post more regularly and in more detail. Ciao for now!

Full Swing

2006-09-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for Europe is in full swing! My tooth situation is much better. My new "boyfriend," the head of the oral surgery department at UTMB hospital, has done some major damage contol and I am on the way to healing. Go team!

I am packing away. I am not the best packer, I always overpack, so I am under close supervision of my Dad, the master packer. Only about a day and a half left to make everything fit. We'll see how it goes!

Pre-Europe

2006-08-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

So, I am set to leave for Italy in 4 days and here I lie in bed. This was clearly not the plan. I had my wisdom teeth removed a week ago and am not fully healed. It hurts, so here I lie. Plus, the pain meds are also a help at keeping me in bed.

I really need to pack, but so far the most that I have done is a load of laundry and think of errands that I need to run inbetween naps. Today is full of ambition, I plan on taking dry cleaning, purchasing hair products, and revisiting the oral surgeon. Of course all of these errands will be facilitated by my Dad since there is no hope of me driving. There is a cute resident in the oral surgery deptartment, so maybe I will attempt to put on makeup before I go today. Nah.

All of my 3L counter-parts started school in Austin yesterday. I have already heard how much it sucks and how everyone is generally petty and immature. Wow, I sure will "miss" it.