I'm coming home...

I feel horrible for not updating you all this week. It has been a crazy crazy week of red bull, study guides, exams, eating on the go and turning in the last of my papers. The last 24 hours have been so bittersweet. Everyone is so sad to be leaving but happier than you can imagine to go and be home with their families for the break.

It is 3:35 am here, and I have to be up in 3 hours to get to the airport.....good news....all my stuff fit!!

I love you all so so much, and will post pictures asap when I get home.

Thank you as always for all your love and support, I would not have had such a happy and wonderful 4 months here without it.

Lots of love and hugging soon :o)

-Kate

Home from Rome...last day of classes tomorrow!

Wow, it's really coming to an end. I spent last night disposing of shoes that couldn't survive Rome, backpacks that have too much dirt from Vesuvius, and sweaters that frankly the washing machine tore to shreds. I'm cleaning and clearing the way to pack...I have some amazing memories, and I still have ten days left!

Rome was incredible. We got to see the Pope!! He blessed the people on Sunday in over eight languages....it was amazing. We toured the inside of the Colosseum for over 3 hours, saw the Trevi all lit up at night, saw a wedding taking place in the Pantheon, climbed St. Peter's Basilica (544 steps), and ate just about every kind of Italian food you dream about (pasta, lasagna, pizza, espresso, gelato, pizza, wine, olives, caprese, pizza....more pizza). We popped our heads in every church that we came across, probably near 15, they're all stunning. Rome is so beautiful, incredibly romantic and breathtaking. I have some great pictures to post in the next two days and cannot wait to write all about it.

Anyways I'm just figuring out my lists of things left to do and see here. There's still so much....and lots of stuDYING and packing to do.

Miss you all, perhaps a little less now that I know I'm seeing you sooooooo soon :o)

Lots of love,
Kate

A London Thanksgiving

It has thus far been an amazing Thanksgiving. Tim and I got an early start on the day and got student tickets 10th row for The Lion King tonight! We then headed across town about ten minutes to St. Pauls for the 'American mass of Thanksgiving'. The Ambassador for the US gave part of the homily and exclaimed that it is the best day filled with 'the best food, people and sports'...I think everyone is missing American Football today. The cathedral was filled to the brim, thousands of people crammed in wall to wall as the London American community came together to celebrate. The sun has been shining since first thing this morning and came seeping in through the windows of St. Pauls, it was beautiful...London feels so much my home it is wonderful to come together as a community for the holiday.

I am off to class right now, then packing for Rome tomorrow morning. The dining hall is having a full Thanksgiving meal for dinner...and its FREE (my favorite word) so after that Tim and I will be off to The Lion King!!! I'm so excited!

This is a brief note I know, but I want you all to know I'm having a wonderful Thanksgiving and can only hope you have the most amazing day with each other.

As every year, I'm most thankful for you :o)

Lots of love,
xoxo
Kate

PS Hope we'll be skyping later!!!!!

3 weeks!

Hi!!

I'm sorry I'm trying to update as much as I can, lack of camera and the closing of the term are preventing me from doing so as much as I'd like. Some stories may just have to wait until I'm home. I will definitely write about this weekend tomorrow though! Thursday I walked with Tim for about 4 hours around the city trying to find scenes around the city for our History of London class. It's getting chilly but I can't help but try and walk the city as much as I can in the closing weeks. Friday was getting some work done, St. Pauls for evening mass and then walking Fleet Street, Covenant Garden and Leicester Square in the evening. Saturday I walked to Notting Hill and shopped Portobello Road market with Tim, Stu and his fiance, Bri, who is visiting. Then we headed to Clapham Common amongst massive tube closings for Tapas.

I'm trying to do as much as I can these next 3 weeks. I'm heading to Rome on Friday with Tim for 3 nights. I'm excited to get pictures and see the Vatican!

Still trying to get a lot done is hard, we're all really bogged down with final papers and presentations. Please forgive my lack of chit-chat...I promise to update as much as I can, and if not will bring photo albums and stories for Christmas :o)

Lots of love,
xoxo,
Kate

Amsterdam

Hello!

So last weekend was Amsterdam. Tim, Ashley and I had an awesome time. Flying from Heathrow airport made us feel like we had money as we usually use the far away airports that fly budget airlines (Stansted, Gatwick or Luton). Heathrow is nice and easy because you can take the Picadilly Underground all the way to the Terminal from here in Kensington, pretty nice!! Anyways we left around 7am, and got to Amsterdam by around 1p.m. The nice think about not packing heavy and just carrying backpacks is it saves so much time checking your bag and having to wait for it after the flight. So once in Amsterdam we grabbed some food and then headed from the airport to the center of the city by train. (figuring out the train system in every city has been an adventure, I have now ridden local train transportation in Barcelona, Paris, London, and Amsterdam.

So we figured our way to the Crowne-Plaza by 2pm, the streets of Amsterdam are really easy to navigate. We decided that a nap was a good idea and enjoyed the comfort of non-dorm beds for a change!! We awoke to head off into the city and explore for dinner and the nightlife. Amsterdam doesn't sleep that's for sure, and you get that impression even at the very beginning of the night. We found a place for dinner and then headed off to explore the bars and see that famous 'red light district'....well if you've been to Amsterdam it certainly is an experience, that's for sure! Anyhow we ended up having a really good night and heading back to the hotel after enjoying some late night waffles (which they are famous for as well).

Next morning alarm clocks failed us and we ended up sleeping til just after noon - which we ended up not being too too upset about as on most trips its 'go, go, go' it was nice to relax on a trip. We got ready and headed out for a late lunch across the way at a pub. Unfortunately the entire time we were there it rained and was slightly freezing but at this point on Saturday we decided we needed to accomplish something in terms of seeing the city so we rented 'yellow bikes' and headed off to explore. Okay first, biking in Amsterdam is dangerous....there are more bikes than cars and there is an entire lane of every road for bikes. It's crazy! We basically biked down to where the Van Gogh Museum is and where the 'I AMsterdam' sign should have been , but they removed it for the first time in months as there was a function or soemthing. We followed the canals exploring back streets and even came across a candlelight march against hate crimes which was interesting. Also, nice part about Amsterdam is everyone speaks English!

We ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe for a 3 hours dinner a little bit later. It is located right on one of the canals so it was the perfect place to warm up and grab some food! At the end of dinner we made our way to a bar for a few drinks and decided to call it a night early. Sunday morning was waking up to go souvenir shopping and enjoy the sun for the first time all weekend. Sadly all good things must come to an end and we had to make our way to the airport for a 3pm flight home. Amsterdam was definitely a lot of fun, and a nice weekend was had by all.

Here are some pictures from our trip, as it rained almost the whole time the cameras weren't pulled out as much as normal:


I'm jealous as Thanksgiving approaches for all the fun you will have! I hope you have an amazing time together!!

Holidays are here in London

Really quick entry. I walked Oxford Street tonight! They had the official 'light ceremony' last night but I was in class. I grabbed some pictures it is really beautiful!

Anyways I'm definitely off to Amsterdam in the morning! So I shall talk to you all on Sunday!

Okay I have come out of my shell of embarrassment over missing out on Dublin. I was lucky that Tim was there for fall break so he took me through photos and postcards....it's almost as though I went myself...but not quite, it's an adventure for another time.

I have posted my fall break update below...it's quite long but I've sectioned it off my city so you can read some and come back to it later. I'll have to tell you all about my weekly trips the past three weeks later I want to give you all a chance to read below but two weeks ago I climbed to the top of St. Pauls, last week was Sommerset house and this week was Greenwich! I got to stand on the Prime Meridian! Really cool. Anyways I'm off to the gym and packing up for Amsterdam tomorrow....I double checked the flight date/time...so we're good.

*4 weeks, 2 days*....unbelievable...still so much to do!

Lots of love,
Kate