english tidbits

it seems that it's been forever since i've blobbed about england, so i shall do so now!

last week, i finally got to attend a concert i'd been looking forward to for months. i had a ticket for handel's "messiah," performed at westminster abbey for handel's 250th anniversary--in easter week, no less! the concert was immaculate. i'd never seen "the messiah" live, and it was an experience. nevermind that it lasted three hours! there was a 20 minute break about halfway through, and i pushed all the old people out of the way so i could make it to the loo and back in time. england has taught me no manners.

by the end, though i was thrilled with the beautiful music, i was quite ready for it to be over. but the journey lives on--you can actually listen to the concert online (i think it's still up...). check out bb3 online, they have the radio recording of it. simply gorgeous!

ah yes, and earlier that day, chris & his friend james & i went to camden to check out the markets and shops. it's full of offensive t-shirts, smoking paraphernalia, deliciously unhealthy food booths, and punk kids. i have to go back sometime soon to get cheesy souvenirs for the homefries.

what else happened last week...oh, on friday, my buddies andrew and gabriela came to visit, and we had a nice time going around brick lane and gorging on pastries from flat 10's favourite bakery. unforutnately, i've been laden with essay writing, so i couldn't club it up with them. only a few thousand words to go...

i've suddenly realized that i haven't expounded on the joys and thrills of sticky toffee pudding, which has been the best aspect of my study abroad experience so far. when you hear the ingredients, you may think it sounds gross. but believe you me, this should be classified as a wonder of the world. it's basically piping hot date sponge cake smothered in buttery toffee sauce. i've had it in multiple restaurants, and have burnt my mouth countless times on the scorching sugar, but it's been worth it.

until tragedy struck two weeks ago.

before leaving for rome, i did an online grocery shop (they do those here! so convenient), and decided to try some store-bought STP. when the little bombs arrived, i barbarically threw them into the microwave and drooled as i waited for the treats to heat up. a minute later, as i sank my spoon into the promising goo, i noticed an odd odor emanating from the muck. in denial, i ignored it, and took an expectant bite.

and simultaneously felt vomit creeping up my esophagus. it was the worst thing i've ever tasted. it was like someone had melted a barbie doll onto a pile of high fructose nuclear waste. in disbelief--shell-shocked, even--i had another bite. even worse! i almost wept as i binned the traitorous sludge.

but, luckily great britain redeemed herself. a few days ago, i decided to try again, and braved a cup of sainsbury's stp. eureaka! i just polished off the other pot, and it was everything i could've hoped for. yay, stp!

in other news, virginia woolf is currently ruining my life, and i have to get back to this dratted essay. ah, but for your entertainment, i haven't rattled on lately about british/american differences. here are some pronunciation irregularities:

pedophile/paedophile --they say "PEE-dough-file"
tomato --they say "tuh-MAH-toh"
vitamin --they say "VIH-tuh-minn"
aluminum/aluminium --they say "aloo-MINNIE-um"
pasta --they say "PASS-tuh," rather than "PAH-stuh"
z --they say "zed"
h --the say "haych," rather than "aych". imagine teen brits saying "LET'S GO TO HAYCH & M!"

and some different terminologies...i'll put a few at the end of every british post!
quid = pounds
bum = butt
fanny = vagina
cling wrap = saran wrap
bin = trash can
rubbish = trash
car park = parking lot
full stop = period at the end of a sentence

that's all for now, folks! woolfie is howling for my attention...

x,
lilly

una buona pasqua--a very good easter, indeed!

where were we...ah yes, i had just told you about the metro lurks. well, on to a more worthy subject---easter in rome! we began the day with mass (not at the vatican, because you needed tickets in advance), heading to the pantheon for the service. we arrived a bit early, so did the tourist thing and snapped pictures while we waited for mass to begin.

the famed hole in the ceiling

a very blurry picture of me in the pantheon

raphael's grave!

once the mass started, we were shocked at how little the congregation was, with maybe fifty people total. i guess everyone was in vatican city! it was interesting, too, because the priests were extremely traditional--incense rituals throughout the mass, no "our father" prayer, and backs to us during transubstantiation! supremely old school. there were also pigeons flying around overhead, due to the donut hole in the ceiling.

the outside of the panpizzatheon

we were ready for some easter breakenfarst by that point, so we found a pizza joint nearby and sampled the fare. mine was alright, but i couldn't even tell if it had cheese on it! i must say, i think america has improved the iconic italian dish, what with our heaps of cheese and thick doughy crusts. mmm!

of course, after pizza, you need dessert! i got a "caffe" gelato, which was smooth and predictably delicious. even though we were pretty full, we all still wanted to try italian canoli, so we found a bakery/cafe and ordered a couple to share. i didn't think i would like it, since i typically don't like very creamy, fatty desserts, but it was very mild and nice.

by that time, we were satiated and ready to explore the forum ruins and the coliseum. the ruins were very expansive, so i've only put the top-notch pictures up...

what used to be a temple to saturn

ruinin' everything

eventually, megan and i headed up the hill to see views of rome below. check out our journey...

after climbing back down, we ambled over to the coliseum, which was very impressive, indeed. funny story...as we waited in line, an italian employee yelled to me, "HEY! NICE-A HAIR! L'ORIGINALE?" to which i smiled and nodded. oh, those italian men! at least he wasn't crusty, though, he was legit.

anyways, the coliseum was very cool---since the floor has deteriorated, you could see all the tunnels and passageways that the...er..."performers" would wait in. the floor of the coliseum was partially reconstructed, too, so that you could see what the stage would've been like.

chillin like a villain

a cross jp2 gave to honor the christians killed

once again, our group was a bit exhausted, so we took a breather outside the coliseum to soak up the sun (don't worry, mom, i put on sunscreen). we ended up basking for about an hour, watching the passersby and lazily chatting.

ah yes, and of course helen had to try to buy sunglasses. she was looking for a pair the entire trip, but found none satisfactory. this picture sums up her roma experience

posers

cool lizard friend. can you see him on the rock?

thoroughly rested up, we decided to walk to trastevere, a reportedly non-touristy, cute part of rome. we walked for about 45 minutes to find it, passing the fiume tevere on the way

me on the tevere!

unfortunately, we had forgotten that "early dinners" are extremely uncommon in italy. we were looking for a place at about 5:30, and almost everything was closed. thankfully, we finally found a sunny little place with smashing food. i tried the "spaghetti all'amatriciana," which had a rich tomato sauce, parmesan, and bacon chunks. coupled with the sweet house red, and more perfect bruschetta, it was the perfect easter dinner. for dessert, helen and i split a tiramisu, which of course was also perfect.

then...we had to get more gelato...so we found a nearby joint and i tried strawberry, a refreshing change from my usual chocolate-laden choices. some nuns came into the gelateria after us!

we knew the following morning would be an early one, so we hit the sack early (after coming back to the hostel and discovering an italian man had taken the place of our american acquaintance). i wasn't particularly keen on being left alone with a stranger the following morning, so when the group headed out at 7:30, i joined them.

ryanair, the ultra-cheap airline that we used to fly to italy, basically is the bane of my existence and changed my flight a few weeks ago, so i had the rest of the day to spend. i bade farewell to the scotland group, and metroed back to st. peter's square to really explore the basilica

the view the pope had on easter morning!

st. peter's altar

st. veronica to the rescue!

the doors that only open on the jubille, and erase all your sins! i've walked through them!

since the crypts and cupola were closed on saturday when we originally ventured into the basilica, i decided i should check them out alone. the crypts were alright, filled with dead popes--the only ones i REALLY cared about were JP2 and st. peter. so it was cool to see those!

the walk to the cupola (the top of the basilica) was amazing, though. first, you climbed around to the inside dome of the basilica. there was a high, thick fence blocking us off (probably to prevent suiciders), but i squeezed my camera lens through the gaps to snap a few photos..

then, more steps led you to the outside top. the journey was challenging...i think there were about 600 extremely steep steps. towards the end, the stairwells became extremely tight, and curved. see below for proof!

at last, i made it to the top...and oh my goodness, it was worth it. i took about 30 pictures, but have only put up a few. it was a glorious view of the beautiful city.

thanks to the australian lady who took this

the statues adorning the top of st. peter's!

back inside the basilica.

the gleaming part is the top of st. peter's (suppsed) grave!

by the time i was done at the basilica, it was about 11...so i still had a lot of time to kill! i headed back to the cavour area, intending to chill in an internet cafe, and then in a real cafe, until it was time to fly home (i was very limited by my cumbersome backpack).

internet cafe--closed! frustrated, i walked down via cavour until i found a little cafe. i ordered a cappuccino (in italian, no less!), and completely pulled a jk rowling. i plopped into a corner, and nursed my cappuccino for about an hour and a half, writing in my travel journal to pass the time.

i began to get a little bored, when my dear friend andrew called me! he's studying in rome, and had been in croatia for the weekend. but now he was back! we decided to meet in front of the vittorio emanuele monument, and chill for a bit!

it was really nice to see him, and we ended up spending the rest of the afternoon catching up. eventually, i had to be off, so i bid him adieu and took the bus back to ciampino. arrivederci, roma!

if only things were that easy. once back in the jolly uk, i was fretting about catching the stansted express home. when i had asked the airplane steward when the trains stopped running, he said "i think 12:30...could be midnight," so once i was out of border patrol at 11:55, i became nervous when i saw people running for the trains. i knew i'd be a bit screwed if i missed the last train home, so i jumped on the train at the last second, without a ticket.

then, once i sat down, i began panicking over the fact that i didn't have a ticket. i'd never been without one before, and was worried i'd get into deep trouble. i then realized that i was on the wrong train, since this one was stopping at bishop's stortford, and the stansted express doesn't stop until liverpool street. in a split second, i decided to get off and try to get a train back to stansted.

i did so, and stepped on to a platform of a completely deserted train station. i didn't see a single otehr person. that's when i really began to panic, because i had no idea where i was, it was late at night, and i didn't know if any other trains were coming. about ten minutes passed, and no trains came through. thoroughly freaking out, i found a monitor that said a train to liverpool street was coming in forty minutes. for some reason, i didn't trust the monitor at all, but decided to buy a ticket and wait it out.

while i waited, for the entire forty minutes, i didn't see another person anywhere. needless to say, i don't plan on repeating that experience EVER.

but, thankfully, the train finally came, and i practically ran inside. i finally made it into liverpool street at 1:30am, then caught the 1:45 bus back to mile end. i was so grateful to be back in my own bed--even if it was at 2 in the morning.

despite the sour ending, the rome trip was utterly lovely and amazing, and i can't wait to start my adventures with helen in exactly one week--when we conquer france and germany! stay tuned for more english updates...

missing gelato,
lilly

che bella, roma!

monday night, i got back from my favorite trip so far. as usual, i took entirely too many pictures and can't stuff them all into this one post, so i'll divvy it into two parts. on to numero uno!

helen had graciously invited me weeks ago to come to rome for easter weekend, and of course i couldn't pass it up! i'd been to italy once before, in the 2000 jubilee con la mia famiglia. i reckoned that this time, with a gaggle of other 20-somethings, things might be different!

so, on good friday morning, i woke up at 4:45 in the morning to high-tail it to stansted airport (ps, i'm not going to detail EVERY boring thing, but that morning felt so strange that i had to document it here. you're welcome?). as i walked to the tube stop, rather than hearing the usual hum of traffic on mile end road, the air was filled with birds' singing. because the streets were so empty, their voices sounded incredibly loud, and the entire scene became very surreal (made more so by the fact that i was still half-asleep) i'd never seen the neighborhood so empty...i didn't encounter a single person on my walk.

i half-expected to be on the tube alone, but once my train arrived, i was surprised to see that every seat was filled by a miserable-looking person. no one wants to be on the tube at 5 in the morning.

a few minutes later, i caught my express train from liverpool street station, and on the ride to the airport the sky outside looked gorgeous as the sun rose. it was pink and blue with dusty, lavender clouds--it reminded me of a giant easter egg!

the plane ride itself was typical, though there were a couple monks on the flight! i knew i was headed in the right direction.

i arrived in rome at midday. as soon as i stepped out of the airport, i was dizzied by the blast of sunshine and warmth. although it felt vaguely nice, i couldn't help but feel like my skin was curdling under the rays. england, what have you done to me?!

well, i finally got out of the sun as i boarded the bus that runs from ciampino airport to termini station, in central rome. on the very hot ride, we passed an italian trailer park (i had thought that those were limited to the us of a!)--then, without any reason whatsoever, our bus pulled over and idled for about 20 minutes. the italians on the bus started shouting complaints, but the bus still did not move. there was literally no reason why it pulled over. mamma mia!

i took the opportunity to chat with the american fellow sitting next to me. i quickly wished i hadn't, as he had a very loud voice, and kept saying "eye-talian." luckily for me, though, he had a map of the area around termini, which i studied in an effort to figure out how to find my hostel.

we eventually made it to termini, and i determinedly decided to try to find a map whilst not looking like a tourist. i had a feeling rome might be a bit sketchy for a solitary traveling young lady. indeed, as soon as i stepped into the station, some older creep walked by whispering "ciao, bella!" into my face.

well, the station had no maps, so i decided to wander. very luckily, i found the hostel's street--via cavour--and began my hunt for the hostel. dunce that i am, i remembered the number incorrectly. i had remembered it being 210, when in fact it was 201. so, i was on the wrong side of the street, half-desperately looking at the buildings' doorbell signs, when i spotted two euro teens similarly looking up in hopelessness. they looked nice, so i approached and asked if they, too, were looking for victoria hostel. they were, and we began our quest together. one was named yuri, from latvia, and the other guy was from belgium. the belgian hadn't booked anything (for easter weekend in rome, clever), and blithely said that if he couldn't find a place he'd sleep on the street. apparently he had done so in brooklyn! those euros sure think differently!

finally, with a heavy stroke of embarrassment, i realized my mistake and led the boys to the other side of the street. we rang, and the lady in the hostel refused to buzz us in. by this time, i had been in contact with helen and the rest of the group, who were just down the road at the roman forum. i decided to screw the hostel, and travel around the rest of hte day with my backpack (a decision i later regretted, with sore shoulders!). i bid my new euro friends adieu, and at last was reunited with dear helen-cat and her fellow american interns from edinburgh.

monument to vittorio emanuele

in front of the forum, backpack in tow.

the group decided to press on to the fontanta di trevi, stopping first to have a taste of gelato. i got a scrumptious tiramisu cone, and obliterated it in about a minute.

maps of rome were a bit confusing, so it took us a while to find the fountain. once there, we of course tossed in our coins, took pictures, and tried to avoid getting pick-pocketed.

we then headed to the spanish steps, a popular destination! helen and others opted to climb to the top, but i languished at the bottom (too hot!).

the plaza in front of the steps. we def didn't pick a popular weekend to come to rome...

after all that sight-seeing, we were ready for some italian food! so we stopped by the hostel (and i was finally rid of my heavy backpack), which in fact was some italian lady's apartment. she had just put a few bunk beds into a spare room, and that magically made the place into a hostel. haha, not that i'm complaining--it was only 20 euro a night, in the middle of rome!

we headed to a place called "Neumache," or something like that, that had been recommended to the group. dinner was sooo good. i had fettucine all'italiana, since it was basically the only thing on the menu that didn't have meat (good friday, remember!). you could tell that they made the fat pasta noodles themselves, they were squishy and doughy and utterly delish. we also had a nice bottle of the house red wine, and bruschetta with very ripe tomatoes.

after, we walked to the coliseum for stations of the cross--the pope was coming! apparently everyone else in rome knew about it, too, because the place was teeming with people. we got relatively close to the pope's platform, but also had arrived about an hour and a half early. we stood in the pressing crowd, and my legs were started to get pretty tired. once the stations started (and were conducted in italian), helen and i took turns sitting on the ground because our legs couldn't take it anymore.

the event itself was really nice. we were surrounded by people speaking all sorts of languages, there were lots of priests and nuns in the crowd, and the pope spoke to us! hooray! here are pics:

IT'S DA POAP!

we were completely exhausted after it ended, so we hit the hay to get up early for st. peter's and the sistine chapel the next day.

on holy saturday, we took the extremely crowded metro to vatican city, which was even more ridiculously packed. the line to get in was about an hour and a half, so we instead opted to wait for the sistine chapel, which was closing early in the afternoon.

st. peter's square!

once inside the musei vaticani, the journey to the chapel was quite long. being students, our group was too cheap to buy into a tour, audio guides, or paper guides, so we fended for ourselves and made our way to the famous ceilinged room. here are some pictures i snapped along the way

philosophers!

funnily, on the way, i ran into the belgian bloke from the day before. what were the odds of seeing him again, in a throng of thousands of people? weird!

once inside the actual chapel, we weren't allowed to take pictures. but, we did see the famous "creation of adam" painting!

on our way out, i peeped out the window

before heading back to st. peter's to wait in line, we needed food, so helen and i stopped at a little roach coach to split a "ciambella," a giant donut-like pastry that tasted like panettone minus the fruit chunks. we then only had to wait about half an hour before going into the famous basilica.

flowers for the easter mass!

look at the death skeleton with the hourglass! freakin sweet

sorry for the bluriness!

unfortunately, a lot of things were blocked off because of the massive amount of tourists. we were catapulted pretty quickly through the basilica, so i resolved to go back alone on monday, to really take my time. after we made our way through, it was time for another gelato! helen and i went to the famous "old bridge" gelateria, and i got a nutella cone...my favorite of the trip.

enjoying our gelati on a patch of grass. i look stank nasty!

but of course, our day's work wasn't nearly over. we still had stuff to see! we metroed it to the piazza del popolo, another tourist hotspot. it was scenic enough, with a giant obelisk in the center, but the most striking thing about the visit was our experience with a local hustler.

i haven't mentioned yet--rome is full of crooks and bullies! they're all trying to rope you in, and our group was starting to get sick of it. this guy in the piazza, holding wilting flowers, came up to the girls in our group and insisted they take some. despite us YELLING "no! no!" he shoved them into lauren's hands, and walked away saying "regali!" meaning "gifts". we decided no harm done, and were walking away when the guy came back and took vince (the only guy in our group) aside, rubbing his fingers together in the international sign for "PAY UP." that's when we all got mad, and helen (wonder woman that she is) got the brilliant idea to threaten to throw the flowers on the ground. it worked!

the obelisk

piazza!

still huffing about the hustlers, we decided to find the villa borghese, a reportedly pretty park near the piazza. we followed a sign that pointed down a sort of highway, and followed the sidewalk for about 20 minutes...until it dead-ended in the middle of nowhere, on the side of a freeway. we saw a park on the other side of the highway, and surmised it was borghese. i figured we'd be able to run across, jump the median, and make it into the park once there was a break in traffic.

i tried doing so, running across the highway only to discover the median was too high for me to jump (and i was too chicken to try), and ran back. we backtracked, and ended up running across the highway anyways, once the median broke.

the only way into the park was climbing a wall, and i felt badly for the girls who were wearing dresses. let's just say they gave passing cars something to remember! people in the park were staring at what i'm sure they thought were crazy americans, as we sketchily clambered into the park. luckily, it was well worth it! the place was gorgeous, a sort of oasis away from the busy roman streets we'd been traversing.

during our meander around the park, we found the museum of modern art!

taking a break

check out that sculptured statue bum!

after that excursion, we were quite ready to head home and make some dinner plans. two other americans in the hostel invited us to dinner with them in campo dei fiori, a popular little square with restaurants, bars, and the like. we joined them, and planned on maybe hitting the italian clubs afterwards.

we'd heard that clubs were really strict about girls looking...er...presentable, so i wore some high heels just in case. epic mistake. the walk to campo was about 20 minutes, the majority on cobblestones. my heel kept getting stuck in the cracks, and i eventually had to hold onto helen's arm to avoid breaking my ankles. i stumbled about three times on the way there...oh dear!

we picked a restaurant with reasonably priced food, and enjoyed some wine and conversation while listening to the street musicians and watching the passerby. it's fabulous to eat outside in italy--warm and entertaining! i got rich lasagne for dinner, and had a few more glasses of red wine. i can't wait to be legal once i get back to california! wine with every dinner!

after letting our dinner digest for a while (restaurants here don't shove you out once you're done, they let you chill! it's really nice), we got gelato again (i got cioccolato!) and explored some local bars. unfortunately, they weren't too exciting, and were filled with americans and rather questionable locals. helen and i were knackered, anyways, so we went home a bit earlier than the rest of the group (at about midnight).

i knew i couldn't walk in my heels anymore, so we managed to find a (free?) bus to termini station. the walk there was quite interesting. you would think that italian men had never seen bare legs before in their lives. our dresses weren't even short! we tried to laugh off the slimy stares as we made our way home.

termini was different, though. there were a couple of men standing nearby, who would NOT take their eyes off us. i began to get a little nervous, so once the metro arrived i pulled helen into the next carriage over. they followed. we went to the other end of the carriage, and to our relief didn't alight when we did, at cavour. as we made our way out, they just kept looking. fools! helen and i totally could've kicked their butts, though, so no worries.

anyways, i've written quite enough about my first two days in rome. part II will be arriving shortly. ciao for now, amici!

bacio,
lilly