Before I came here, I definitely did not get English humor! Jessica and I watched the British version of The Office a while ago, and I'll admit that I didn't think it was too funny. Maybe American humor is more crass, simple, down to earth? I'm not sure. I suppose the English like to think that they're above our childish humor levels. But I've come to appreciate it a lot more, and the definite subtle differences.
I've watched several English TV shows now since I've been here and am hooked! Peep Show (hilarious!!), Little Britain (like our SNL), other older ones that I can't remember now... Anyway, they're great.
I'm mainly writing this post because I want to put up a clip from Little Britain. It's a sketch show like SNL and my favorite character is Vicky. She's a chav (sort of like what we would call white trash, if someone was EVER so vulgar as to use that term!) and she's hilarious. And this is my favorite scene, enjoy....
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Fun in Dublin
I really wanted to go somewhere while Jessica was here so we found super cheap tickets to Dublin. As in $100 round trip! Cheap airfare + cheap hostel = FUN IN IRELAND! We were there for two days and I absolutely loved it. The city is very quaint and everyone was super nice. It had a wonder atmosphere, beautiful scenery, fun people, historic buildings, and great food. We went on a fantastic tour of Dublin Castle, which was built a long long time ago (the 1200s maybe?) but burnt down in maybe the 1600s. It was rebuilt more as an administrative place for the viceroys of Ireland and visiting dignitaries and such. But part of the original castle still stands. The tour guide was really great and definitely knew her stuff. No, we did not do the tour of the Guiness factory...I hate the stuff though if I had more time I guess I would have gone.
We went to a town just south of Dublin called Dalkey, which has a castle and is on the coast. The castle was really neat to walk around in, because we got a personal tour and free reign of the place. Then we really wanted to take a walk along the coast because it's supposed to be amazingly beautiful. We started out and it began POURING. I mean I've never been in such harsh rain and wind in my life. I think it was a monsoon. The wind broke both my and Jessica's umbrellas. It dominated. We were so wet that we had to buy new pants in Dublin. But totally worth it! There were some amazing mansions along the coast, and apparently Bono lives in one!
Remaining part of the original Dublin Castle
Christchurch Cathedral
Jessica on top of the Dalkey Castle. Such a cute little town!
Don't piss me off
Jessica is trying to hold back the monsoon that we walked through. Unfortunately the wind beat her umbrella into submission
This is my future house on the Dalkey coast. Currently a residence of the Moroccan embassy...
We went to a town just south of Dublin called Dalkey, which has a castle and is on the coast. The castle was really neat to walk around in, because we got a personal tour and free reign of the place. Then we really wanted to take a walk along the coast because it's supposed to be amazingly beautiful. We started out and it began POURING. I mean I've never been in such harsh rain and wind in my life. I think it was a monsoon. The wind broke both my and Jessica's umbrellas. It dominated. We were so wet that we had to buy new pants in Dublin. But totally worth it! There were some amazing mansions along the coast, and apparently Bono lives in one!
Remaining part of the original Dublin Castle
Christchurch Cathedral
Jessica on top of the Dalkey Castle. Such a cute little town!
Don't piss me off
Jessica is trying to hold back the monsoon that we walked through. Unfortunately the wind beat her umbrella into submission
This is my future house on the Dalkey coast. Currently a residence of the Moroccan embassy...Edinburgh's Hogmanay
I came back to London just after Christmas with two friends, Jess and Jessica, in tow. We had decided a bit earlier to go to Edinburgh, Scotland for New Year. They have the largest street party in all of Europe and a 4-day celebration called hogmanay. In short, it was AMAZING!!! We got a really nice hotel room (actually cheaper than a hostel) and stayed there for 3 days and nights. It rained practically all day every day, but the sights were amazing. It's an walled city with such cozy feeling but placed in a spectacular landscape I think created by volcanoes. Edinburgh castle is on a big hill overlooking the city and the "Royal Mile" is the road that connects the castle to Holyrood Palace, the royal residence of Scotland.
New Years eve here was great fun--it is a Times Square-ish street party with concerts. Plus we got tickets to a special section that played really cool traditional Scottish music and had dancing. Plus fireworks over the castle at midnight. Definitely, definitely go here for hogmanay sometime! And take me with you.
Edinburgh castle all lit up at night.
cannon at the castle
We went to this cafe called the Elephant House, which is where JK Rowling wrote the first couple of Harry Potter books. The cafe overlooks this castle-looking place which is actually a school. And legend has it that the kids in this school are wizards and witches who fly around on broomsticks. I took this picture while on a really really scary ghost tour. WAY more than 5 pumpkins!
J, J, and I at the castle
dressed in our finest for New Years eve. Not that anyone saw our amazing outfits under all the coats and scarfs and hats.
Jessica loves Hogmanay!
watch this video of traditional Scottish dancing! Which we then participated in.
New Years eve here was great fun--it is a Times Square-ish street party with concerts. Plus we got tickets to a special section that played really cool traditional Scottish music and had dancing. Plus fireworks over the castle at midnight. Definitely, definitely go here for hogmanay sometime! And take me with you.
Edinburgh castle all lit up at night. 
cannon at the castle
We went to this cafe called the Elephant House, which is where JK Rowling wrote the first couple of Harry Potter books. The cafe overlooks this castle-looking place which is actually a school. And legend has it that the kids in this school are wizards and witches who fly around on broomsticks. I took this picture while on a really really scary ghost tour. WAY more than 5 pumpkins!
J, J, and I at the castle
dressed in our finest for New Years eve. Not that anyone saw our amazing outfits under all the coats and scarfs and hats. 
Jessica loves Hogmanay!watch this video of traditional Scottish dancing! Which we then participated in.
Home for Christmas
After months of intense work 24/7 and absolutely no play or fun (ok, heavy sarcasm) I got a break to go home for the holidays. I spent several wonderful days in Virginia seeing friends and eating out (lots and lots of Mexican!!) and shopping (everything is half as expensive as in London!). It was strange to be home and to be driving...being there tuned me into a lazy bum =) Then on to Pittsburgh to spend Christmas proper with family. An intense couple of days filled mostly with baking and coking and eating and relaxing. Not a bit of schoolwork in sight!
Lovely family portrait! Me, Brad, Monica, and Kathy. Christmas tree in the background, but we're wholly blocking it
mmmmm.... what is Christmas without baking loads and loads of cookies? And eating them of course.
Lovely family portrait! Me, Brad, Monica, and Kathy. Christmas tree in the background, but we're wholly blocking it
mmmmm.... what is Christmas without baking loads and loads of cookies? And eating them of course.Friday, December 14, 2007
Having Fun
The people here are great =) I know most of what I post is about how fabulous London is, but here is one all about how great my flatmates (and the people next door) are.
A dinner with my flat and the one next door. We are having chili! mmmmm......
Going out for a birthday celebration
The peeps in the flat next door. A lovely bunch =)
We had Christmas dinner cooked by everyone--roast chicken, carrots, potatoes, sweet potato fries, salad, Christmas pudding, and a cake. It was delicious-- and how fun it is to have a meal with friends! Definitely better than sitting alone at the table eating a tired bowl of pasta!
Carving (or rather, picking apart) the chicken. This was such a find. An entire raw chicken with herbs and pork rosemary stuffing for 3 pounds!! That's good value....
Everyone eating Christmas dinner
Yes, I'm squeezing his butt....
Apparently you're supposed to set the English Christmas pudding on fire with alcohol?!
A dinner with my flat and the one next door. We are having chili! mmmmm......
Going out for a birthday celebration
The peeps in the flat next door. A lovely bunch =)We had Christmas dinner cooked by everyone--roast chicken, carrots, potatoes, sweet potato fries, salad, Christmas pudding, and a cake. It was delicious-- and how fun it is to have a meal with friends! Definitely better than sitting alone at the table eating a tired bowl of pasta!
Carving (or rather, picking apart) the chicken. This was such a find. An entire raw chicken with herbs and pork rosemary stuffing for 3 pounds!! That's good value....
Everyone eating Christmas dinner
Yes, I'm squeezing his butt....
Apparently you're supposed to set the English Christmas pudding on fire with alcohol?!Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Usual Pretty Pictures
OK here are the usual beautiful pictures of London. Yes, yes, I am quite the photographer =)
I love how it looks like the Tate Modern spider is crawling all over London. St. Paul's in the background
A section of a copy of Rodin's Burghers of Calais in front of Parliament
Parliament in the dark.
I love how it looks like the Tate Modern spider is crawling all over London. St. Paul's in the background
A section of a copy of Rodin's Burghers of Calais in front of Parliament
Parliament in the dark. Christmastime in London
Christmastime in London is amazing! Everything is so beautiful (when it isn't rainy and wet!). Actually, speaking of, the weather is crap here. It's always rainy and freezing cold and there are puddles everywhere and it gets dark at 4:00 PM. And they say it will get even worse in the coming months!! Aaack!!! Back to beautiful Christmas... the city is so big so everywhere you go, it's decorated in a unique way. There are trees and lights everywhere. I'm posting some of my favourite Christmas spots: Covent Garden, Oxford Street, Hays Galleria, etc.
The market at Covent Garden--I love this because the decorations are so tasteful and elegant
I think this is called Carnaby Street or Wharf or something.. it's off of Oxford street and it's a buch of great little stores and I love these unique decorations
Beautiful twinkling blue lights around Southbank/Waterloo. I LOVE walking by here at night.
Angel decorations down a side street of Oxford Street. In case anyone didn't know, Oxford Street is THE shopping street. With literally any store you can imagine. You could spend days shopping here!
An ice rink an gorgeous tree at Somerset House, near my school. Maybe one day I will pay the $24 to skate there....
It's a big deal here to light the Traflager Square Christmas tree. It started as a gift of a tree from Norway in 1947 to say thank you for help during WWII. So I went, thinking it would be great. They play it up like the Rockafeller tree, so I had high expectations. Well first, of course it was raining. So that automatically brought it down a notch. And the tree was.....disappointing. Like a Charlie Brown tree. Fairly tall, but super scraggly and thin. And just a few lights draped haphazardly over it. And you couldn't hear the choir singing carols. And the rain made the tree branches droop even more than usual. Maybe I'm too used to "America--bigger and better", but it was sort of a disappointment! Picture below....
Sorry to end this posting with such a sad photo, but it was a sad tree.
The market at Covent Garden--I love this because the decorations are so tasteful and elegant
I think this is called Carnaby Street or Wharf or something.. it's off of Oxford street and it's a buch of great little stores and I love these unique decorations
Beautiful twinkling blue lights around Southbank/Waterloo. I LOVE walking by here at night.
Angel decorations down a side street of Oxford Street. In case anyone didn't know, Oxford Street is THE shopping street. With literally any store you can imagine. You could spend days shopping here!
An ice rink an gorgeous tree at Somerset House, near my school. Maybe one day I will pay the $24 to skate there....It's a big deal here to light the Traflager Square Christmas tree. It started as a gift of a tree from Norway in 1947 to say thank you for help during WWII. So I went, thinking it would be great. They play it up like the Rockafeller tree, so I had high expectations. Well first, of course it was raining. So that automatically brought it down a notch. And the tree was.....disappointing. Like a Charlie Brown tree. Fairly tall, but super scraggly and thin. And just a few lights draped haphazardly over it. And you couldn't hear the choir singing carols. And the rain made the tree branches droop even more than usual. Maybe I'm too used to "America--bigger and better", but it was sort of a disappointment! Picture below....
Sorry to end this posting with such a sad photo, but it was a sad tree.
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