I Know I'm Bad With Numbers, But...

This is not an exaggeration. I am currently editing HUNDREDS of pictures! Literally about a thousand. No joke.

Buon giorno, Roma!

So. Beautiful.

Basically, the entire city is built among ruins, so you'll see modern-ish building after building, then suddenly, ANCIENT PILLARS. They really are everywhere! And there are religious paintings on the buildings. Everywhere.

We did a lot these past 2 days! I don't have much time now, so here are a ton of pictures!!

I'm weird about flags, I guess? lol

Just one of the beautiful churches scattered around Rome. It makes me proud to be a Catholic! :)

OH YEAH. VATICAN CITY.

This is basically how I pictured Rome. Sooo beautiful now that the leaves are changing!

Top-notch view of the city!

EVEN BETTER

Rando ruins in the middle of the street

Reliquary of Saint Valentine!

I almost died.

Yay, graffiti! :D

More later! Soon hopefully?

Wowzers.

Craaaazy week. My family was here (SUCH A BLAST), I may have failed a class based on a technicality, a research paper due every week for the past like month, and tomorrow I have a really early flight to Rome... and I haven't packed yet. SO here's a quick recap through pictures:

So many sinks are like this, as my sister pointed out. Seriously... why.

Because I did need another picture of Big Ben... at sunset!

HECK YEAH PARIS!! Arguably the best day of this experience so far.

My brother is a photography PRO.

I don't know what this is, to be honest. Surprisingly, a lot of the day was spent trying to identify buildings, then failing. "That's the Grand Palais!" "Wait, no. That's got to be it... it's on the other side of the river..." So much confusion, but it didn't matter because everything was tres magnifique!

Yes, the real thing! I had to battle quite a number of elderly women to get this shot.

*love*

Night of sightseeing!

In the Tower of London

This guy? Right here? On the poster? HE WAS OUR TOUR GUIDE. Awwwwww yeahhhhh!

This is in the Churchill War Rooms. Basically a WWII fanatic's dream. This right here is a MASSIVE touch-screen table that literally chronicles every day of Winston Churchill's life. Really.

A cast of Churchill's face!! I almost died of laughter at this. Thank you, Madame Tussaud!

One of the many original graphs from the underground rooms. This one specifically dealt with casualties, but not quite sure what the independent variable was.

There was definitely more, but I REALLY need to get packing. I have to be out the door by 4 am.

Just a few notes:

- Having the family here was seriously epic. Not even joking, it was so much fun! And so great to see them again.

- I learned a little bit of French! And even a littttle bit goes a really long way... the French really appreciate it, even if you butcher it!

- I almost legitimately got stranded in Paris because I hadn't even thought to bring the letter from SMUC saying that I'm studying there. Seriously, the border patroller meant business. If I weren't with my family, I have no doubt that I would have been on my own in Paris that night.

- I really have to pack now! I should theoretically be sleeping now... HA! :)

The Queen and I Breathed the Same Air Today...

Windsor castle was SO GREAT. I thought "eh, if you've seen one castle/palace, you've seen 'em all." Totally wrong. I was actually considering skipping this mini-trip because I was so stressed over homework, but I'm so glad I didn't!!

Also... the Queen was home today! IN WINDSOR CASTLE. HOW COOL.

PICTURE TIMEEEE

The whole city is basically built around the castle... it totally reminded me of "Tangled"!

The castle/kingdom from "Tangled." ... Wowzers. Why aren't Disney movies real!?

Took a helicopter, and this was the view!!!*

Inside here is St. George's Hall. It was SO COOL. It basically looks like this:

Most of it burned down in 1992, but they rebuilt it. It has all (ALL) of the coats of arms of the Knights of the Order of the Garter. Yes.

Apparently, it got its name from an incident in Edward III's time. At a party, a lady's garter fell down (darn the lack of elastic in the 1300s!). A bunch of the other guests were laughing at her, but King Edward didn't! He went over, grabbed the garter, and put it on his own leg, saying the old French that is now part of the insignia: "Honi soit qui mal y pense,"which roughly means "shame on he who looks down upon it."And now, it's a thing.

As my friend Sarah puts it, "you can't get much more castle-y than this!"

This building here is yet another reason why Henry VIII was a freakin' jerk. So in his time, Henry was trying to establish that he was in charge of the church of England, and was getting some beef from the Pope. So Henry decided to take all the money from the Catholics in England by tearing down the abbeys, monasteries, etc. This building here has visibly different stone from the connecting part, because this stone is from the abbeys that were torn down. He used them to build an add-on for his already sprawling castle. Henry VIII just did. Not. Care.

Elizabeth I! Heck yes!

View from the castle terrace.

Rando changing of the guard ceremony!

Creeper picture. But still, a police officer and palace guard in one picture? If I'm not a creeper photography pro... then... that'd be okay. But I think this picture proves that I am!

I thought that this building looked like Henry VIII...

Necessary. That guard totally did not want to be there though!

And there you have it!

Some other random stuff, since we weren't allowed to take any pictures in the castle or in St. George's chapel:

The Queen has a freakin' china museum. MUSEUM. There is seriously china everywhere.

It was quite extravagant, to say the least!

The dollhouse and gallery were cool... there were some Da Vinci originals in there!

The chapel was fantastic. I saw the tomb of King George VI and Elizabeth the Queen Mother, which was definitely one of my favorite parts. It was so simple, but so elegant!

Also saw the tomb of Henry VIII. Apparently, he wanted to be buried with Jane Seymour, his favorite wife. Whoever was in charge made it happen! Then, Oliver Cromwell happened... after beheading Charles I, someone decided it would be a great idea to sew his head back on and throw him in with Henry VIII and Jane about 100 years after they had died. Whaaaa-? Here's a picture from Google:

Apparently, there's also a baby buried there. I just don't understand! 

Now I need to get to sleep... my family's arriving bright and early tomorrow!!! Can't wait to see them!

Thanks for reading!!

*This is a total lie... it was a picture inside the ticket building! lol

Windsor Castle Tomorrow!!!

... It is true.

Yay! :D

Let's Talk About Fashion!!

For me, being fashionable is a cheap top at Forever 21 and jeans. But on days when I just don't care what I look like (usually when I don't see Aaron), I settle for an old T-shirt and jeans.

Since Aaron isn't here, guess what I wear almost all the time? :D

As I look around, though, I find that I am alone in my T-shirt-dom. Basically, British girls really are more fashionable than we are! They all look so darn cute!

It's the kind of fashion that has a lot of frills, and that just makes you think of the word "vintage" repeatedly. So cute!

Also, brace yourselves: LEGGINGS ARE PANTS HERE. In the US (or at least in Latrobe), this is soooo unacceptable. A skirt or shorts or something must be over them, or you're just over-exposed! However, here, it's totally fine. Usually, they're worn with an oversized sweater (or "jumper!"). Also, there's a somewhat disturbing variety in color. I love color... unless it's skin-toned. Skin-colored leggings without anything on top of them is just... weird. But I have seen it relatively often here!

Basically, it's a fashionista's paradise!

Thanks again for reading!

P.S. If you like fashion, check out my pal Abby's fashion blog! :)

FINALLY.

I have just officially finished my first ever paper at Saint Mary's!

How exciting!!!

Want to hear the first sentence of my beautiful primary source analysis?

"In Elizabethan England, the issue of an heir to the throne was the most consistent worry in the kingdom."

Good, huh? :)

It's so invigorating to be done! Now on to the next project: Eyewitness Testimony Literature Review!

Yes, I must admit... There is actually a lot of work! But, just like anywhere else, once you get your time management down, it's nothing unmanageable!

I know this is random, but this is the song that got me to chug through it:

Let's see. What else...

My sleep schedule is officially messed up beyond recognition. This is totally normal for me, even at home! For example, last night I went to sleep at about 4:30. I accidentally-on-purpose slept through my first class today, and woke up at 11. Then I took a nap, but overslept my alarm, and so napped from 1-6:30 pm (excluding the fire alarm during which I had to haul out of my room for about 10 minutes). It is currently 2:07 am, and I. Am. Wired.

WOO!!

I'm not complaining, though!

... Yet... :)

My family's arriving on Sunday! Trying to get all of my work done so that I can just be with them all the time!

Alsooo Mom sent me a package!!

HAAAALLLELUJAH!!!

It was such a fantastic surprise!!! Thanks, Mom!

That's all for day-to-day stuff!! :D

Classes Starting To Get A Little Crazy!

All of these papers are sneaking up on me!

These classes are pass/fail. But I do need to pass, and hence write the papers!

That being said, not much is going on... I'm writing and doing homework! I hate to be one of those people who complain about homework all the time, but... I am! Today, I read a lot about Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots; started to write a primary source analysis; and extracted some quotations for a bioethics paper.

WOO!

Also, I recently got all of the travel arrangements in order to go to Rome and Paris!! There was difficulty booking the room in Paris because my credit card was maxed. Once my parents sorted all of that out and upped the limit, it was smooth sailing!

My family's coming to visit me in a little over a week! They're doing a bunch of fun things... can't wait to  (*cough* skip class) and join them!!!

Thanks again for reading!! More to come when I'm not in the library! :D

So.

Drinking age in Britain: 18.

Age to purchase scissors: 21.

... What?

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!!

It's my dad's birthday today!!

Thanks, Dad, for helping me out so much! I can't thank you enough for helping me with this trip... and just for being a phenomenal dad!

I'll see you soon! Have a great day!

What A Fantastically Touristy Day!

Yesterday, we went to both Stonehenge and Bath. What incredible places! And what great weather to go!

Here are some pictures!

Stoneeeehengeeeee

"ALIENS."

(The above picture is me trying to imitate this guy:)

Photography skills? "Definitely some chops indeed..."

At Stonehenge, I fell in love with the English countryside... and took about a bazillion pictures outside of the coach window.

Here's the Royal Crescent at Bath. It's basically where all the rich people lived back in the day. There were a few houses for sale... 5 bedrooms for aboutttt 7 million dollars.

As you can probably guess from the city's name, it's pretty much based upon the Roman baths that were set up there! There's a natural hot spring there, so the Romans were all homesick and created the baths during their occupancy.

I honestly don't know what this is.

Bubbles! It's naturally really hot water!

I think I could pass as the Roman goddess of being a tourist (see: audio tour guide around neck)

I felt like this summed up everything ever. The ancient Romans really did know it all!

Doesn't this just blow your mind!? I so want that house someday.

I didn't come here to travel and to be a tourist; I came here to fulfill my dream of living in England.

But it sure is fun to be a shameless tourist every now and then! :P