July 15, 2013 - The Vatican, Ravioli, Nap Time, Dinner Time, and Bed Time

Hello everyone! Oh by the way, the Harry Potter post with probably have to wait until I get home because it's going to be freaking awesome! Anyway, today we woke up around 8:00, got ready, went down for breakfast at like 8:45, then headed to the Vatican! It's actually pretty close to our hotel so we just walked. Turns out Rick thought it would take longer so our appointment wasn't until 11:30 so we just walked around, tried to find an ATM and got gelato. We were sitting on these stairs and this guy came over and tried to sell us scarves because you aren't allowed into the Vatican (or certain parts) if your shoulders and knees aren't covered. We had brought cardigans or scarves so we kept saying no no we are good, we have stuff to cover. So then he went through us all and told us the parts of our body that were being immodest - uh thanks! Plus he came back like two more times and bugged us. We finally met up with the group and got in! We met up with our tour guide and got our headsets. We then walked through the museums, she told us about the Sistine Chapel because you can't talk inside. I had already been there so this was still cool but kinda blah at the same time. We walked through the gardens and the museums.

We walked through rooms painted by Raphael. We sat in the Sistine Chapel for a while. Sooo cool! We headed over to St. Peter's and I showed everyone the creepy popes lying in their see-through coffins. We walked around for a bit then we walked down by our hotel to find something to eat. We were wanting to eat at like 3:00-4:00 but everyone was only serving like pasta. We got two choices - ravioli or lasagna. I chose ravioli. We had some bread and water and some nasty salad. The ravioli was pretty good - they gave us three huge raviolis. The lasagna was good too. It turns out it was more expensive than we were expecting but oh well. We went back to the hotel and showered and took a little nap. We woke up and went downstairs for dinner. We had pasta, steak stew and peas, fries, and gelato. Yum! We then came upstairs and just hung out. Hope everyone had a wonderful day! See you soon! Loves!

July 13, 2013 - Portobello and Packing and July 14, 2013 - Getting to Rome, Baths of Caracalla, Circus Maximus, the Mouth of Truth, and Dinner in Italy!

We woke up at 9:55 and ran down to Rick's flat for the Italy meeting. We just talked about transportation and what we are doing. We went upstairs and got ready for the day. We then all met up and went to Portobello road and market! It was really cool, really really busy, probably because it was a Saturday. Plus it was freaking hot! But it was really fun. We just walked around all the little shops and booths. I got a really cool Frank Sinatra record! The guy that sold them to us was really cool and nice. He had some awesome Beatles ones. We walked around for a bit, browsed. We were hungry but we couldn't find an ATM that worked or took out less than £80. So we just got a water than headed back to Gloucester and ate a a pub, our last pub! I got lasagna and water. We then went back to kings cross and went to the 9 3/4 shop for Sam to get a t-shirt. We then headed home and began packing! All four of us were packing at the same time so our room was ridiculous, crap everywhere you couldn't even move. I started pretty well but I had a few freak out moments because it actually became real that we were leaving and packing sucks. I called my mom freaking out a few times over the weight and stuff. She helped calm me down and told me if we had to pay extra we could. I was determined not to however. I finally finished and all my flatmates said it wasn't very heavy, they guessed like 40 pounds so I guess we'll find out! We went to Waitrose and I bought £38 worth of chocolate! Hopefully it all fits and doesn't melt. We came home and finished packing and then just chilled. We cleaned the kitchen, got rid of most of the food, finished all the dishes. It was really weird cleaning out my home for five weeks. I showered and then we decided to stay up all night because it'll be easier. It was so freaking hot in the flat that we all just sat there baking. Anna drew portraits of us which was cool. I put a ton of pics on Facebook of Harry Potter! I got everything all settled and ready to go. We finished cleaning everything up, stripped our beds, and headed down with all of our luggage at 3:30 in the morning. We took all the trash down and we got on the bus. The bus driver had put my backpack in the deck below so I grabbed it and he was like you taking that on the bus? I said yes... He said make sure you strap it in and stuff because if we stop suddenly it'll go flying. I was like oh ya um ok! I'll strap my backpack in and not even me... Anyway, it was a bit of a ride to the airport so I fell asleep. We went inside, checked in, and stood in the line to check in our baggage. I was so worried about my suitcase and it being overweight, standing in line didn't make that stress and anxiety better... I finally made it to a check in thing. I went up to the lady and was like ok hopefully this works and I'm not too full! I put it on the scale and it was 25.1 KG when you're only allowed 23. I was praying she would just put a sticker on it and put it through but with my luck at airports, of course not! She was like you either need to take out 2kg or pay £40. I was like let's try to take stuff out... So I took out my jeans and a few heavier souvenirs. It finally went down to 23 and she let me go. I grabbed the rest of my crap, pulled off to the side, and had to sit on my carry-on suitcase in order for it to squish shut. Kas and I went through security (had no problems there so that was nice) and then found the gate. I had another stress freak out moment at the gate and cried for a bit but then I got a vanilla bean and a dr p and felt better. We got on the plane, Missy helped me shove my carry-on in the holder and then I slept the whole plane ride. We got in to Rome around 11:00. We got off the plane then sat around while Rick figured out our metro tickets and Roma passes. We got on a bus that took us to the metro station that was about an hour, I slept the whole way. We got down to the metro and rode it to our stop. We then had to carry our suitcases for about a 15 minute walk, uphill, to our hotel. We were all dying! We got in the hotel and just all collapsed. They checked us in. I'm rooming with Sam and Kasee. We went up to our room and it's tiny - my bed is right by the door, then Kasee's is a foot away from mine, then Sam's is right by Kasee's by the bathroom. Tiny! We freshened up as much as we could in 15 minutes then headed downstairs and we all headed to the Caracalla Baths. It was really cool - they are like the Roman baths but in actual Rome... Haha it was really cool. They were huge. We walked around for a bit, then lounged around in a park garden thing. We then headed to Circus Maximus, where the ancients Romans would chariot race and stuff. Brandon and missy and Tayler and Stephen did piggy back rides and ran a race to the entertainment of the rest of us. We then walked over to the Mouth of Truth which is in the Audrey Hepburn movie that I cannot remember for the life of me. We didn't get to put our hands inside because there was a huge line and I think it may have cost money. We hung around the statue across the street then headed back to the hotel. We just hung out, showered, got ready, then went down to the hotel lobby for our free dinner. They gave us bread and pasta. I forgot that pasta is like their salad here. Next was a lemon chicken, salad, and fried potatoes. The chicken was yummy, the salad had a nasty oily dressing, and the potatoes were good. Then for dessert they gave us a coconut mousse thingy with sprinkles on it which was actually pretty good! We came upstairs, got ready for bed, and just crashed at like 9:20. I hope everyone's doing well! See you on Friday! Night!

July 11, 2013 - Last Day of Class, Abbey Road, Family Dinner, Talents, and Harry Potter!

Today was a really fun day. I woke up at 9:50, brushed my teeth, then headed downstairs. I worked on putting more pictures in my blog. If you are interested, I have put a lot of pictures that coincide with the blog so if you want to look back on it, go for it. Anyway, everyone in the higher class did their presentations which were awesome. I came upstairs and just chilled in the kitchen, had some breakfast. I took a shower, I cut myself shaving and it hurts - I put a Monster's Inc. bandaid on it and it didn't really help. I got ready then headed down to Nate's class. We really just talked about whatever we wanted to talk about because it was our last class. One of the best things I've ever heard from Nate is: "A text without its reader is like a milkshake (pause) without a yard" we all paused for a second to comprehend what the brilliant man just said, then Lex and I just burst out laughing. It was hilarious. Anyway, I came upstairs and made myself a grilled cheese - I made one last night at like 1:00 in the morning but I burnt it because I wasn't paying attention. Therefore I had to redeem myself. We all met up then headed over to Abbey Road!!! We were all singing Beatles songs on the way, it became a medley because we all had different songs stuck in our heads. We got there and it was hilarious because it is literally just a pedestrian crossing, no stop light or even a stop sign so there were cars coming all the time. We would just dart out into the road, stand there for five seconds then run back haha it was hilarious to watch. I did a picture with Sam (Lennon), Me (Ringo), Kasee (Paul), and Tash (  I wore a black shirt but that's all I did to get into costume. Kas took her shoes off which is really kind of gross but whatever. We did another picture with Sam, Me, Kas, and Shelby. Shelby however looked at the camera and smiled so it was dumb haha we had to redo it.

We got everyone's pictures then everyone split up - Jena, Shelby, and I headed back to South Ken. We stopped at Starbucks and got drinks, Little Waitrose to get food for tonight, then went home. We played around on our computers for a while then started dinner. We just made pasta and bread. It was so freaking hot in the kitchen that I had to pause every five minutes to climb into the fridge/freezer. We got it all figured out and everyone just hung out and ate. It was just a fun night to spend with everyone. I bought a little London notebook that I want everyone to sign. I know it is a little cheesy yearbook thing but I want something to remember everyone by. I started out the notebook with funny quotes we've shared this trip then I have a list of everyone's names then I had people sign it. Everyone started doing it as well - Lora had us all sign a Union Jack flag, a lot of people had us sign tube maps. It was fun but sad because we all realized we are having to say goodbye to London and each other soon. Not that we won't hang out when we get home but it'll be different of course. Plus, Stephen, Tayler, and Brandon are going to Rome early tomorrow morning so it was their last night in London. We all just sat around and talked. We played a game where everyone wrote two crazy facts about themselves and then we all had to guess who's they were. I did I broke my wrist when I was eight years old running into a drinking fountain and I've seen every episode of The Office at least five times. I couldn't really think of anything better. It was really fun to learn new things about each other and just spend time together. Afterwards, we all mostly wanted to hear the boys sing some more but they said that before they sing, we had to share one of our "talents" with the group too. So, us (me, Sam, and Kas) being the idiots that we are, decided to rap and crump for the group. I rapped the "Grab that bottle, twist that cap..." from Outta your Mind by Lil' Jon while the girls were my back-up dancers and singers. We put sweats on and our sunglasses and had our hoods up. I'm pretty sure everyone thought we were idiots but oh well, it was fun! Next Jena did the splits and Tex showed us some of her awesome ballroom dance moves. Mckell sang for us, along with Tash. Then Anna showed us some of her artwork and then Stephen and Brandon sang Yesterday by The Beatles, Hallelujah because we all love it, Stephen sang a song to Tayler which was precious, then Brandon sang some Josh Groban. We said goodbye for two days then I headed downstairs to do laundry. We tried to watch the first Harry Potter but it didn't really work out so we just did Pottermore instead. I did do it yesterday and got sorted into Hufflepuff which isn't a bad thing... but it's not a good thing either haha so I redid it and I was in Ravenclaw this time! So woo! I blogged, and I probably need to go pick up my laundry soon... I hope everyone had a fabulous day! Thanks to all the friends that I've made on this trip. You've helped make it the trip of a lifetime and I truly have made some wonderful friends. Plus you are all so freaking talented it's insane. Love you all! Good night!

July 10, 2013 - British Library, Platform 9 3/4, and a Picnic in Hyde Park with Devil Pigeons

Today was a nice, fun day. I woke up at 9:30 and got ready. I went down to class and worked on adding pictures to my previous blog posts because they are cooler that way. We had a meeting about Rome and then I went upstairs and did my homework for Nate's class, Shelby did my hair (it always looks so much better when she does it), and I grabbed some breakfast. It was Tex's presentation in Legacies. It was interesting because we talked about war and death and I got to share my thoughts on death and hear theirs so it was pretty cool. I came upstairs and made some ravioli then we all headed out to the British Library. Ok I thought this was going to be like a giant library where you can research in the books and stuff. Ya no they had tons of the very first copies of manuscripts and books written by people such as Milton, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Newton, Wilde, even the freaking Beatles! It was so cool! Also, I have now seen three out of the four (maybe even all four - I can't remember if we saw one in D.C.) of the Magna Cartas! That is so cool! We couldn't get any pictures but I think Jena snuck a few on her phone. It was really really interesting and cool. We went to the gift shop and I got a little book with excerpts from all of Jane Austen's books. We then headed over to King's Cross to see Platform 9 and 3/4!!!

There were some really funny guys there that took pictures and they had scarves and stuff. Unlike last year, they had a line and made it this big thing where as last year, we just walked up and took pictures. We went inside the little store and they had so many fun things!!! I could spend a million dollars in those places, I love me some Har Pot! We went back to the flat. On the way home, we stopped at a cupcake place called the Hummingbird Bakery. I got a caramel chocolate one and a chocolate bottom one (a chocolate and white marbled with cheesecake frosting). Then I went to the Little Waitrose and got some bread, chips, and a drink for our Hyde Park picnic later. We hung out in our room for a bit because it's cooler in there. I got a notebook yesterday and I want everyone to write it in kinda like a yearbook so I can remember everyone. I know it's cheesy but oh well, deal with it. We then all met downstairs and headed to Hyde Park for a picnic. We walked through the park and sat down to eat at the Peter Pan statue. Stephen and Brandon started to feed the pigeons and then after that they wouldn't leave us alone. If you know me at all, I hate everything to do with birds. They got pretty close to eating my bread and I got a little freaked out. After we finished eating, we walked around a bit, took pictures, went to the Italian Gardens, saw a bunch of cute little baby animals and stuff, then over to Kensington Palace then back home. 

I worked on pictures. Lora and I did Pottermore - I am in freaking Hufflepuff! I don't know how I feel about it... We just hung out, had a chill night. I hope everyone is doing well, not missing me too much. I come home in 9 days! So crazy to think about... Night! Love you!