London, Visiting with my Grandma-in-Law, and Life in General

Alexandra near Buckingham Palace

Me with the Thames, Millennium Bridge, and St. Paul's Cathedral

Me and my pint of Strongbow cider

In front of Big Ben/the Houses of Parliament

So again, this is long overdue, but at least when I deliver I deliver a lot! I hope you will all excuse the delay and accept the reason that I have been very busy this past week – for reasons I will write about below.

I was blessed with an opportunity to go to London this past weekend! I timed the trip to coincide with the end of my friend (and one of my past and future roommates) Alexandra’s Spring Break stay to visit her friend Emi (who lived on my floor freshman year at school). I finished up my preparations Thursday morning, and set out to take the train to Pisa airport around 2 in the afternoon for a flight that left around 6 pm. Coincidentally, when I was at the airport I saw Megan, one of the 5 other Georgetown girls studying in my same program this semester. She was waiting to board her flight to Edinburgh to visit her friend Brigit (who also lived on my floor freshman year – Georgetown isn’t that large). After chatting with Megan until she had to board, I waited out the time until my own boarding call.

While we were waiting to actually board the plane, I had my first warning of the rowdy large group of Brits that was to take over – thus sort of tarnishing my quaint image that I wanted to ascribe to them all as a populace. One girl either my age or slightly younger was just generally carrying on with friends, but the most annoying thing was that she was periodically shouting “SHIT. SHIT. SHIT.” I really have no idea why. All I know was that it was unnerving, and at least a large portion of them seriously seemed drunk. Then as we walked across the tarmac, two of these girls including the SHIT one ran in order to pass me, a father and a daughter who were with their other family members. The father gave them a “what the hell?” look but they seemed undeterred. My new seating strategy became to distance myself from those two and their cohorts and I did a pretty good job. They leaped toward the middle of the plane and I remained toward the back (passengers were boarding from both ends). However, during the entire flight this group which seemed to be pretty large made the plane much louder than what one would normally expect, and I’m glad I didn’t need to sleep on the flight. My iPod also helped me drift off into my own world a little.

Upon arrival, I realized that the UK is more like the US in terms of security – this was the first of my travels in which I had my passport checked quite often, and I had to fill out an arrival card since I am not a citizen of the EU. Despite the extra task, the non-EU line at customs was much shorter than the EU line, and I reached the customs officer very quickly. She asked me all sorts of questions about my stay and its reasons and the friends I was seeing, which was slightly nervewracking but also just her job. After that I proceeded to an ATM to get my first pounds, and bought a Terravision shuttle ticket for downtown London. (Sidenote: I only had a black duffel carryon bag with me, which was nice to travel with. Aside from convenience, there was no way I was going to check baggage on Ryanair again after my Spain experience.)

After the shuttle departed, my first impressions of the greater London area were along the lines of “oh wow, they really do drive on the left side here. This is odd and sort of cool! Oh boy, we are going to the left in this rotary, not the right, how backwards. I could never drive here.” That was basically my stream of consciousness. Other than that, nothing was novel, especially since it was dark and we were on highways.

A little less than an hour later, the bus had arrived at the Liverpool Street stop, where I (eventually) found the Tube, London’s metro, got a ticket, and hopped on. I found the Tube blissfully user friendly (especially because of my memories of negotiating Madrid’s metro) and was impressed with the fact that it has cushioned seats! Very nice.

I was headed to the Bond Street stop, which was near Alexandra’s hotel. I benefited hugely from generosity on this trip – from Alexandra, her grandfather, and Emi as well. In the first instance, Alexandra had me stay with her at her hotel, which was in turn furnished by her grandfather as a birthday gift to her. He’d also been thinking of coming along at one time, but decided against it. In any case, suffice it to say this was a very very nice hotel, quite the opposite of where I’ve been staying this year and probably nicer than anywhere else I will ever stay in my adult life. I savored it and tried my best to enjoy it while remaining ever appreciative of generosity. I found the hotel pretty easily, and asked the front desk to call up to Alexandra’s room. She and Emi were there, and said they’d meet me coming off the elevator. A very nice porter/elevator man showed me to the elevator and took my bag. And get this – the elevator had a COUCH in it! Or at least something resembling one… crazy. So of course, I sat down. Why not? Anyway, we reached the top and Alex and Emi were there to meet me. It was so nice to see them, especially Alex, after such a long time apart. The elevator man took my bag all the way to the room for me, because that’s what they do in places like that. By that point I had a bit of traveling fatigue, so it was really nice to see a large comfy bed and be in a warm lovely place with Alexandra and Emi. We talked a bit, and when she found out I hadn’t had real dinner Alex said it would be more than fine to get room service, and she was going to get tea anyway. (Sadly, Alex had a cold for most of her trip.) Since some hot food did sound really good, I looked at the menu and opted for a ham and cheese sandwich, made with gruyere cheese. High end comfort food, yum. Alex ordered that and her tea, and before we knew it, the food was upstairs. It was very satisfying and yummy.

After a little while, Emi headed back to her dorm (she is spending the year at the London School of Economics) and Alex and I settled into bed after making a rough plan for the next day. In the morning, early enough but not too early, we got up, took our showers, and headed down to breakfast, located in the hotel’s beautiful lobby area. As you might expect from again, a place like that, breakfast was gourmet and delicious. The orange juice was amazing, the coffee was lovely, and my eggs benedict and toast were also delicious. I hadn’t had eggs benedict in a while, so that was fun. (For one thing it contains more fat and certain ingredients that the Italians would never consider consuming in the morning.) Alex and I also relished the chance to chat at a relaxed pace over breakfast. And she very much enjoyed her porridge with blueberries. And yes, it was actually called porridge. England is so cool.

After breakfast, Alex and I headed off on foot toward Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. The whole time I was just soaking in and only half believing the fact that I was in London! It has such a strong place in pop culture, and I feel like Americans and Brits have lots of similar cultural references, that it was sort of fulfilling and exciting to be there in a way that other cities just hadn’t been. We got to Buckingham Palace, where the crowds were already amassing, and found a spot. We stood around a while and took photos while we waited for it to start. In truth, less happened out in the oval area (which we were facing) than I thought, but it was still fun – we got to see guys in different uniforms marching by, and horses, and the band played a bunch of music inside the gates. Toward the end I did make my way toward the gates and got to see a bit of what was going on there as well. Either way, I’d seen Buckingham Palace and witnessed the changing of the guard. It was a fun first thing to really do in London.

After the ceremony, Alexandra and I took the Tube to Southwark, south of the Thames and near Shakespeare’s Globe – our intended next attraction. Despite previous trips to London, Alexandra had never been there, and for me it was a must – every summer for 7 years I went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with my grandparents, and after missing the past 2 years I am returning this year! In Ashland, where the festival takes place, there is an Elizabethan style outdoor theater, but this was a chance to see an even more authentic tribute to Shakespeare in his home country and city. Upon entering the Globe, we realized there was a performance for schoolchildren going on, so the regularly scheduled tours of the actual theater weren’t running. We found out that there would be another tour at 4:30, and since you had to pay for the exhibition when you entered the tour, we decided to come back later on.

After leaving the Globe, we looked around for a place to eat. We saw a pub called Founders Arms that had a great view of the river. We liked the look of the place and headed on in. After managing to find a couple seats, we perused the menu and went to the counter to order. When I saw that they had Strongbow cider, I knew I had to get it, as Dave had required it of me when he heard about my trip. He trained for about a month with Sandhurst (the British equivalent of West Point) last summer and had many opportunities to enjoy Strongbow back then. So that was decided. With my Strongbow, I got a tuna sandwich with chunky avocado salsa, which turned out to be more appetizing on the menu than in person, only because in the salsa there were lots of pieces of cucumber, which I don’t really care for. It was okay to eat once I acted like a kid and picked out the cucumber, but I may still have ordered something else if I had known. Alexandra got shepherd’s pie and it was delicious! I know because I got to taste!

After lunch, we will had some time before 4:30, so we crossed the Millennium Bridge (which was in a fave movie of mine, Love Actually!) to get to the north bank and St. Paul’s Cathedral. We did go inside, but Alex had seen it already and it wasn’t worth spending 8 or so pounds to really see the whole thing to me, so I admired as much as I could for free and then we headed out. We took a nice stroll back across the river to the Globe, and by that point it was 3:30 so we decided to try our luck. A bit of confusion ensued, as the man at the desk wasn’t positive that the 4:30 tour would go on – he said he’d need clearance as the show could run over. We were a bit frustrated by the lack of certain and confusion, but we ascertained that our best chance to see the theater was to come back at 4 to see. With a little bit more time to kill, we went to a café in the Globe complex and got some Earl Grey tea. The café had a nice ambience, and it was fun to have real English tea (not to mention warming!). Right around 4 we headed back, and happily, the man at the desk was selling tickets to our desired tour. Until it started, we took a spin through the exhibition, though I really wished I could have had more time to go through it. Regardless, it was more important and exciting to get on the tour, so by 4:30 we were down there ready to go.

The tour was great – we had a really great guide who was interesting and illuminating and funny. She told us about the process of reconstructing the Globe (done as much as possible to the specifications and using the same methods as were used for the original, which burnt down and had one successor dismantled). She also told us about the shows they do now and the production of Romeo and Juliet that was put on that day for the schoolchildren. She explained that the show was staged to connect to modern gang life among young Londoners – a problem in which many of the children may have been involved. It sounded like the show was a success, and it was fun to hear about how they were making Shakespeare accessible. So yes, the tour was a great experience, especially with my OSF background. Alexandra and I were both really glad it worked out to go.

After the Globe, it was time for us to go to Covent Garden, a really cool neighborhood in London where we planned to get dinner before we saw the famous play “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie. Alexandra wanted to see it, so Emi and I were happy to go along, and Emi had bought our tickets earlier that day so we could meet her later on (Emi wasn’t with us for the entire day because she had class). Sadly, Emi was running late so Alexandra and I ended up doing dinner on our own. Even more sadly, things got rushed, and though we were able to enjoy some delicious soup, our entrees arrived only in time for us to take a couple bites. We felt bad especially since our waiter was so nice, calling us “love” all the time and just generally being friendly. But alas, we had to go, and that was disappointing but necessary so we could see the show! Then, getting to the theater was stressful, as Alex had to talk to Emi on the phone to figure out, we asked a bunch of people who weren’t that helpful, and finally I was able to use my guidebook map to get us there. So we got there on time and successfully, but then Emi wasn’t there, and she had all our tickets – so it seemed as if our rush might go to waste. But just in the nick of time, Emi arrived, and we were able to take our seats and enjoy the show! It certainly enriched my experience, as I like seeing plays in general, and this one is so famous. In the tradition of the show (which as you might have guessed is a mystery) they asked us at the end not to reveal the surprise ending – which I won’t, but as I read on Wikipedia, after 50-something years the ending is somewhat common knowledge. If you really really wanted to know, you could look it up. But I won’t tell you!

After the show, Alex, Emi and I walked around a bit and eventually ended up near Trafalgar Square. We went on one of the Golden Jubilee Bridges, which was really pretty in its own right, and had a great night view of the river, the London Eye, and the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. We took some pictures and just generally enjoyed the evening. After a busride back to the hotel, we decided to go for drinks at the lounge downstairs. After much consultation of the extensive menu, I decided to try a drink called the ginger sling. It was made with vodka, lime juice, fresh ginger, and ginger ale. It sounded intriguing, especially since I like both lime and ginger. And indeed, it was really good. It was nice to sip while chatting with Emi and Alex about all sorts of things.

Sidenote: Though I go out rather infrequently here, when I do, I try to educate myself more about mixed drinks and cocktails. It is a subject that interests me, but it’s very new in my life, especially since I am still underage in the US! (Though that changes soon…) Step by step though I suppose…

After we sat around a while, Emi headed back to her dorm and Alex and I headed upstairs for one last night of wonderful sleep before Alex had to leave the next morning, to go back to the US. We met Emi downstairs so we could all have breakfast together – once again in the wonderful ambience and delicious food. I got an omelet which was quite good, though I think when I said I wanted everything except mushrooms, that somehow got misconstrued to mean that I DID want mushrooms… luckily I don’t mind them that much though, and I wasn’t going to really worry about it. I still got to have wonderful orange juice, coffee, and buttered wheat toast! Buttered toast is one of my favorite simple pleasures in life…

But I digress! After lunch, Alex checked out of the hotel and was off to the airport. It was a short amount of time we spent together, but I was grateful to have it, especially in a fabulous place like London! Since Alex checking out meant I needed somewhere to spend my last night, Emi was generous enough to have me sleep in her dorm room at LSE, so after parting ways with Alex we headed there. I checked in at the front office, saw the dorm, and dropped my stuff off in Emi’s room. Then we headed off to Westminster together, to see the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. In another situation, I might have wanted to try to get into Westminster Abbey, but there were many things I wanted to do that day, and there was a line, and one had to pay, so I opted against it. It was still nice to see it from the outside! After that visit, Emi graciously agreed that she could have lunch with me too, and we eventually found a nice looking pub. I do love those pubs! They’ve got them everywhere in London, how fun. Anyway, *this* pub was where I finally had fish and chips, fulfilling one of my goals for the weekend. Was it the best food I have ever had? No. But it was good and warm and tasty and I was experiencing part of London’s famous culinary culture – and therefore, it was satisfying. I had yet another kind of cider too, Bulmer’s this time. It was also really nice to talk to Emi and hear about London and her life in general.

After lunch, we parted ways, as I was going to hit up a couple museums and I knew that Emi was tired and might have things to do. It can be nice to go through a museum at one’s pace anyway, and I really didn’t want to impose on Emi. Mostly, I was grateful that I got to eat with her instead of by myself. My first stop after lunch was the National Gallery, full of wonderful works of art. As an added bonus, free admission! There was so much to see there, so I had to pick some priorities, but I made a point of seeing some of the famous French artists that I studied senior year of high school (including Cezanne, Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, and others). Van Gogh’s famous “Sunflowers” was there, and I spent a good few minutes just studying it. I think I really enjoy seeing impressionist works in person because you can see with great detail and clarity the strokes and colors they use to create such a stunning image. I have found with Van Gogh above all that you can just see his hand at work, as he really globs the paint onto the canvas. I find it really interesting. After I’d seen the French/contemporary art, I saw a few highlights such as Rembrandt and Vermeer in the 18^th century section, then headed even more backward in time to the section dominated by Italian artists. I made a point of seeing works by Raphael, Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci, and recognized other artists I had encountered here in Florence.

Once I felt like I had spent about the right amount of time in the gallery, it was time to depart for another world class museum, the British Museum, which as it turns out houses an immense amount of archeological and cultural heritage from around the world. Some of the most famous artifacts there include the Rosetta Stone and the “Elgin Marbles” – statues from the Parthenon that were controversially taken back to England. I made sure to see those, along with other classical/antique artifacts that reminded me of the time I spent in Turkey last June (on a classics themed trip and class). Then I made my way up to other galleries, among them mummies and ancient Egyptian artifacts, Etruscan Italy, and much more. In particular at the British Museum, I felt there was so much to see and no way to really appreciate it all. I was sort of sad to pick and choose and skim through many sections, but that’s what I had to do. Toward the end of my visit, I went to a Japanese exhibit and to the Islamic exhibit, which were interesting ways to end my time in the museum. Oh, and the British Museum also had free admission! How wonderful!

By the time I finished up there, it was getting late in the afternoon, and I knew there was no practical way to visit the Tower of London, which Alexandra had so enthusiastically recommended to me. It was unfortunate, but a sad byproduct of only having two full days to spend in London. I did however take the Tube in order to get to a part of the city where I could really see the Tower Bridge, and used the opportunity to take some photos and enjoy the late afternoon sun. This is as good a place as any to share some happy good fortune I had – I did not have to use my umbrella ONCE in London – a place so renowned for rainy weather. This was especially appreciated considering the umbrella saga I had with Marissa in Zurich… also, my boots are quite far from waterproof at this point, and I find touring cities to me much more pleasant when my feet are dry.

After my short trip to see the Tower Bridge, I took the Tube back to Covent Garden to meet up with Emi and some LSE friends of hers for dinner. Later on, they were going to a charity fashion show that one of them helped organize, and at first I thought I might not go, but during dinner I decided, why not, and decided to go for it. First I need to back up and talk about dinner though!

When I met up with Emi, she was with three of her friends – Elizabeth, who is Scottish, Kayley, who is Chinese, and Winston, who is from China but goes to Georgetown (we actually realized we’d had IR discussion together last year). We ended up going to a place called “Pizza Express” for dinner, since Elizabeth had some coupons for it, or “vouchers” as they call coupons in England. It was sort of strange going to Pizza Express in the same way that I imagine it will be strange to go to Olive Garden or other “Italian” restaurants in the United States. It had Italian vocabulary and Italian-inspired offerings, but it was just that, inspired rather than authentic. My “Quattro formaggi” (four cheeses) pizza was delicious, but it was just a strange feeling to see a reappropriation of a cuisine I am so familiar with and keep thinking “wow this is so not authentic.” But inauthentic in no way means bad! Also it was nice to get to know Emi’s friends, and I was really grateful to be included in their group for the night.

After dinner we went to the fashion show. It was put on by the Chinese Student Association at LSE, along with other groups, and its purpose was to benefit and bring awareness to the continuing crisis in the Sichuan province of China, following their devastating earthquakes last year. The profits of the show went directly to UNICEF in order to help victims of the quakes, and children in particular. It was fun to go to a fashion show, and to witness what the students had put together in order to benefit a good cause. Plus, I sort of felt like I was in a real life version of Project Runway.

After the show, Elizabeth, Emi and I went back to the dorm, and after a quick shower I went directly to sleep. I had to get up really early the next morning, because despite a somewhat reasonable time of 8:25 for my departure, getting to the shuttle coach bus, taking the coach, and allowing enough time for check in meant a wake-up time of 3:30 am. So it is, when traveling sometimes. So I got as much sleep as I could, then got up, shoved on some clothes and my glasses, and headed off. Poor Emi insisted on waking up too to accompany me to the city bus which would take me to the coach bus, and I felt really bad but was also so grateful that she was willing to venture out at such an hour. We walked across the bridge and waited for the bus, which came after too long. I said good-bye to Emi and tried to impress upon her how grateful I was for her hospitality and generosity. After a short ride, I got to Liverpool Street Station and the Terravision bus stop. I got there quite early, and I could tell a long version of waiting, but basically, I got impatient, it was cold, and it wasn’t very enjoyable. Also, the shuttle was slightly late, so being there so early was even overkill. Luckily there were plenty of other travelers awaiting the shuttle, so I didn’t feel unsafe. Just groggy and cold.

But alas, the bus did arrive, and during the ride to the airport the sun rose. Things went smoothly at the airport. There Ryanair had a nifty system where I could just use a little kiosk to check in, and that was really fast and easy. Since I didn’t have to check my bag, I could skip that line and proceed directly to security. Once I was through there, I still had plenty of time. The signage said that as long as your gate wasn’t listed, they wanted you to remain in the lounge area rather than heading to the gate, so I took advantage of that time to have a cappuccino and chocolate muffin for breakfast, then spend some of my remaining pounds on a bit of internet time. Not long after that, I headed to the gate and eventually boarded the plane.

Returning to Italy was pretty uneventful. After I landed in Pisa I took the train right back to Florence. I will admit that I wasn’t sad to feel the warmer Italian sun on me as we arrived… mmm. I got back to the house around 2 pm in the afternoon, and downloaded pictures and talked to David online for a while. Then, around 5, it was time to get ready to head to a hotel downtown, because Dave’s grandma and her friend Carolyn had just arrived in Florence!

That’s right – I had a quick turnaround from my London trip to spending time with Dave’s grandma and Carolyn. Since she knew about my trip, Grandma BB (as I will refer to her hereafter) really wanted to come visit, or rather “stow away in my suitcase” as she’d told me. Dave told her that she really should go for it if she wanted to, so after she verified my schedule, she booked her trip! Happily, her friend Carolyn (with whom she’d traveled before) could come with her. Before they met up with me here in Florence, they spent a few days in Rome, during which Grandma BB got to visit the Roman Forum – which was a lifelong dream of hers, as she studied Classical Archeology at Wellesley during her college days. That is the story of how I was lucky enough to have my grandma-in-law want to come visit me in Florence! (And yes, technically it’s future grandma-in-law, but that is just legalities…)

Sunday night, I greeted Grandma BB and met Carolyn at their hotel, and we started by sitting and chatting for a while, after, of course, I showed off my engagement ring and we all complimented David’s taste. ;-) Afterward, we went to a nice little trattoria for dinner by the hotel, and enjoyed some good food along with more good conversation.

The next morning, I had two classes, and met up with Grandma BB and Carolyn after I got out around 1 pm. In the morning they’d gone to the church of San Marco, and that got rave reviews from them. We had another very good meal together, lunch this time, and then we went to the church San Miniato al Monte, the one I always talk about which was the first place I ever went in Florence, when Lucia took me there the morning I arrived. We were able to enjoy the beautiful church and the stunning view of Florence. I never get tired of going to San Miniato al Monte, especially when it is a beautiful sunny day. We stayed there long enough to see and hear the vespers service put on by the monks at the church – using mostly Gregorian chant! It was one of those things that I’ve been intending to do for a while, and I finally did it. Grandma BB and Carolyn liked it too. We went back to the hotel after that, and I headed home for dinner while Grandma BB and Carolyn rested and did something simpler and smaller. The next day after class, I met them at the exit of the Uffizi, where they’d spent their morning. As Grandma BB freely admits, she could spend all day in there, so she had a grand old time appreciating the art. I took them to Trattoria Anita, a place I first went to with Dave where one can get a primo, secondo, and contorno (side dish) for only 7 euros – a great deal! The food was simple but delicious, as it tends to be here. After lunch we were off to Santa Croce, one of Florence’s most famous churches, to take in the art there as well. Carolyn also did some shopping for family near the piazza in front of the church, while Grandma BB and I enjoyed the weather and people watched. After Santa Croce we headed back to the hotel to relax until dinner. Grandma BB told me even before her arrival that she wanted to take my host family out to dinner in order to meet them, so I found the evening that worked best and it was that day, Tuesday.

I’d made reservations at Perseus, a restaurant near where I live that has the best bistecca alla fiorentina I’ve had, and many other delicious foods. We all met there right around 8, and had a lovely meal – though especially the process of ordering was confusing as I was speaking both languages at once and translating the menu for Grandma BB and Carolyn, and of course there are so many choices of courses and so on. Anyway, we eventually got the food ordered and enjoyed good conversation, though of course with me translating. Switching back and forth is one of the hardest things to do for me, linguistically, and a couple times I said a whole phrase to Grandma BB in Italian before realizing it was the wrong language… whoops. It was really nice that she could meet my host family and that my host family could meet her. And while I hoped it wasn’t too much trouble on a weeknight, I figured it was nice for Cristina not to have to worry about dinner for once. The family really seemed to enjoy themselves too, so that was nice (though Lisa was a bit bored at the beginning especially).

The next day, due to the threat of a custodians’ strike, I only had my first class of the day rather than both. There was uncertainty over whether the building would be open, so my Storia della Chiesa professor decided not to hold class, as she has a long commute. (I like how I write this with such normality now… but this is the type of thing I spent last semester getting used to.) Therefore, I got out of class at 11 and met Grandma BB and Carolyn a bit early. I talked to them while they packed for their departure the next day, and then we went to the area by Palazzo Pitti to search out lunch, as our afternoon plan was to go to the Giardino di Boboli – the beautiful gardens surrounding the palace. Sadly, the place I wanted to eat lunch, another place I’ve visited in the past, was inexplicably closed, so we found an alternate that was also very good. We had the typical long lunch, then made our way to the palace, bought our tickets, and spent the rest of the afternoon in the gardens. For limits of time we only saw a small part of them, so I’ll have to go back sometime to see even more. It was nice to see them for the first time though! Afterward we headed back to the hotel and after a bit more conversation I bid farewell to Grandma BB and Carolyn, as they were off to Rome for their return flight the next day. It was so nice that a part of my “in-law” clan came to visit me (and Grandma BB will be followed by Dave’s parents in April). Many people are taken aback when they hear that HIS family is visiting in addition to my own, but I have been able to get to know them as Dave and I have been together since we were both 16. Also, I think deep down inside a lot of people want to go to Italy, and why pass up the chance this year, when a friendly free guide who speaks the language is living here? I think this is mainly what has led to my four sets of visitors in four months, starting with my parents in February and leading to my grandparents in May. It’s always nice, to see family, share Italy, and in the case of adult visitors, be treated to some nice meals. Today (Sunday) is Grandma BB’s birthday, and Dave and his family are over at her house hopefully hearing all about her trip!

As for life in general, let’s see. I am starting to see my return to the US as it dawns on my mental horizon. I think this became especially true once my mom bought my new return ticket and we set the date in stone – June 17. That gives me less than three months from today. To be totally honest, I am quite eager for it. I do remind myself constantly that I have to enjoy what’s left of this experience, but it’s been a long time away and it will be nice to return to my home country, family, and friends. Also, another part of the honest truth is that I have been picking up lots of ideas and thoughts about the wedding I’m planning (oh yeah, my own!) and I am anxious to be back so I can actually get things done. Thank goodness Dave has been great and booked our ceremony and gotten in touch with our likely reception venue, out of necessity and convenience, but at the end of the day, I enjoy this type of thing more than he does. I am going to be using the summer to hopefully get a lot more done and organized, and I am also excited to share the process with my family and friends, and Dave whenever he isn’t training. So yes, that is part of my being antsy!

However, in the short term there is also a lot to look forward to. My 21^st birthday is next weekend, which will be odd in that in the here and now, nothing changes. But being American, it still feels like a rite of passage, unique among birthdays… and it will make things different when I return. However, I suppose I can’t complain that I have had all these extra months to enjoy Chianti and other beverages of the alcoholic variety when eating out, even as a 20-year-old. I am hoping to eat dinner out with friends who are here in Florence to celebrate – hopefully at least a decent number of them can come. At any rate, I am looking forward to the chance to get a little dolled up and go out to celebrate, though at times it feels bittersweet since my very closest friends and family are on the other side of the pond, or in other countries.

Toward Easter, my friend Allison is coming from Paris (her blog is linked here!) to spend a little time in Italy, Florence included. Allison and I have a lot of the same friends (and past roommates) at Georgetown, and it will be really nice to see her. I know she has another friend in Florence as well, but we have already tentatively discussed possibly going to mass together on Easter.

And in late April, David’s parents are coming to Italy on their trip! I will be doing part of it with them, notably Naples and the Amalfi Coast, and of course their time in Florence. I am really excited because if it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be getting down to that part of Italy, and I have definitely wanted to! I’m also just so happy that I’ll get to see them in general, because like I said, I’ve been hanging around Dave’s family for many years now, and they are definitely like additional family for me – I am lucky when it comes to in-laws!

Oh yeah, there is also school. It’s been going along fine, except that already second module is going to start, not this week but the next I believe, and I haven’t nailed down for sure my third class, the one I will take second module. I did e-mail the professor of the one I’d like to take, so hopefully I will hear back soon that it’s alright with him – I felt it better to check because professors are picky about foreigners or people outside a certain track of study doing their classes. Otherwise, I like my other classes and it’s nice that I know people in them. Eva and I have had a lot of lunches together and have both classes together, and she is a valued new friend. Also, in Storia del Risorgimento there is Neza, one of the Georgetown girls, and Diane, an American from Smith College who happens to be in the class. We joked the other day that there is a foreigners’ table, as many of the Italians were seated on the other side of the room that day… but I don’t think there is truly segregation going on. Either way, it puts me more at ease to have a built in group of “outsiders”. I have a lot of reading for class, but it is on a pretty flexible time schedule as most of it is meant to provide background knowledge – knowledge that many of the students would have already had. I should also be meeting with at least one of my tutors for this semester soon as well – the one Neza and I will share for the Risorgimento class. I am also going to be writing a paper on Giuseppe Garibaldi for the class, and doing some sort of presentation/paper for Storia della Chiesa. So there is enough school to keep me busy – and I hope I can stay on top of it and not let it overwhelm me. Regardless, the pace of schoolwork is nothing like Georgetown, and I only have class three days a week…

Speaking of Georgetown, I am unnaturally excited for pre-registration, which starts online next week. If you’ve read my blog all year, you know that waiting until just before the semester starts to put a schedule together has been an adjustment for me, along with the general confusion about class schedules and administration here. So, pre-registration is exciting in that I can see course offerings and put a schedule together MONTHS in advance – Georgetown seems so incredibly organized. In addition, it’s a signal that I really am going back, and I love Georgetown, so that is a cheery thought. And lastly, I will be handpicking classes to finish my major and certificate – therefore classes that fit my academic passions and are the more familiar, engaging, classes that I was used to my first two years of college (also, they will be taught in English).

Well, that is my update on London, visiting with Grandma BB, and a hodge podge of the rest of life. I am so sorry that this took me so long, it was a combination of being very busy and very lazy. But I hope the length and detail makes up for it a bit! To see more photos, please see my Picasa page – there are a ton from London!