Thanksgiving Bliss

Yesterday was my first Thanksgiving away from family.

Having to be responsible for the cooking made me feel VERY grown up.

Natalie and Jaime, two of my flatmates, celebrated Thanksgiving with me.

Whisking the gravy just like Rachel Ray taught me!

Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green beans, and rolls. yumm.

The only thing sad about Thanksgiving in England is we couldn't find any pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie just isn't Thanksgiving. I suppose this means I'll just have to eat twice as much pumpkin pie next year to make up for no pumpkin pie this year!

Ahhh....turkey coma. What is thanksgiving without the turkey coma?

Dublin, Ireland!

Spent two days in Dublin, Ireland

and I fell in love with it!

Ireland from the air

In Ireland for not 5 minutes and what do I find:

a leprechaun!

At Trinity College of Dublin. There were a couple of angry Irishmen who couldn't understand why we would choose to study at Oxford instead of Trinity College.

At St. Stephen's Green (a park). It's very beautiful... and green!

On Grafton Street (alot like Oxford's Cornmarket Street).

No cars allowed and people flood the cobblestone streets that are aligned with little shops.

Outside one of the most popular places for Irish night life. There was live Irish music and afterward we met one of the guys in the band, Dan, who became our angel taking us to all the best places for a true Dublin experience.

At bar number two where we saw Irish dancing! It was awesome. The guy was in Riverdance and the show included some moves from Lord of the Dance.
After the show was some more live Irish music. One of my friends was dying to hear Galway Girl (from the movie P.S. I Love You), and when the band ran out of time to take the request, Dan brought us to our third bar where some friends of his were playing and he made sure they played it for us.

We went to the Irish sea! This is at Dun Laoghaire.

(Those of you who have seen P.S. I Love You might find the name familiar - it's where Holly and Gerry meet and Gerry sings Galway Girl.)

Emily and Me

The Irish Sea!

Emily, me, & Vanessa

After Dun Laoghaire, we went further south to Killiney
where there's a stone beach!


I stole a stone from the beach and brought a little piece of Ireland home with me!

After seeing the sea, we went back into town to attend an Irish Dance Party where there was more live Irish music, an Irish dancer performing, and we took Irish dance lessons! It was so much fun!

Since I've been home, I've listened to nothing else but Irish pub music!



I LOVE IRELAND!

Portsmouth

Welcome to Portsmouth,

the navy capital of England.

This is the Victory, a very important ship to the British. It was key to defeating Napoleon in the battle of Trafalgar.

The British had fewer ships than their opponents but won because they could reload a cannon faster than the French - only 2 minutes.

We were told about punishment aboard ship. Because the navy was not entirely voluntary, there was strict punishment for those that didn't tow the line. Ever heard of the phrase "let the cat out of the bag"? The cat of nine-tails was the whip used on board and it was kept in a red bag until someone was caught doing something wrong. We saw the surgery room where we were told a very detailed description of an amputation in that day. yach.

Sailing the ship!

Mmmm.... I LOVE crepes!

A beautiful sunset in Portsmouth.

Fantasy & Fairytale Bop

Last week was yet another bop. This theme was Fantasy and Fairytale

and this bop was so psychedelic and crazy that it made Alice in Wonderland look like a walk through normality.

Mona and I went as Thing 1 & Thing 2 (from Dr. Seuss)

Andrea is a gypsy and Vanessa is Paul Bunyan.

Bop's are so much fun! I'm so sad that there is only one more.

New Heights

Today I climbed 129 steps to the top of St. Mary's tower.

Why you ask?

It's simple. I got a wicked-sweet view of the city.

Above is Christ Church College tower.

Below is High Street.

Radcliffe Camera - the most beautiful library on earth.

(In front of All Souls college.)

While it was totally worth the climb, let me not downplay it. Climbing up short, cramped, spiral, stone staircases for ever and ever is more difficult than you might think. You just hope you don't miss a step and go tumbling down!

Stratford upon Avon

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in

Stratford upon Avon, the city of Shakespeare!

I saw the house that Shakespeare lived in.
Me, Zoya, Shauna, and & Kiran

Shakespeare was everywhere.

I went into the church where Shakespeare is buried.


We took a stroll in the park where William might have played as a child.

We saw the Shakespeare theater
and got a William's Shake from As You Like It
where you really get any shake any way you want it - fruit, candy, or candybar.

Me and Zoya at lunch.

At Scholar's Court!