London, it’s been real

Well, that went fast.  Seems like yesterday we landed in London, explored our flat and the town and went out to our first pub together. I really can’t believe that tomorrow I’ll be going home! It’s very bittersweet, in that I can’t wait to go home and see everyone and for my life to be normal again, but then again it’s going to be real tough leaving this city that we’ve all grown so attached to.
We’ve spent this last week doing all the touristy things we hadn’t done yet, going back to our favorite restaurants/bars/clubs, generally just trying to fit in as much of London as we can before leaving.
In order to recap the time spent here, I’ve made a couple lists. Some sum up the cool things I’ve seen and did here, while others may not mean much to readers, however will be my way of remembering all the awesome times I’ve had here with my friends.
First, the serious list.
Awesome sites/things I’ve done

1. Countries I’ve been to
   
   
   1. England
   2. Scotland
   3. Spain
   4. The Netherlands
   5. Belgium
   6. France
   
   
   
2. Parts of England I’ve visited
   
   
   1. London
   2. Stonehenge
   3. Bath
   4. Salisbury
   5. Hastings
   6. Cotswolds
   7. Dover
   
   
   
3. I’ve met people from…
   
   
   1. Pennsylvania
   2. NY
   3. Wisconsin
   4. New Jersey
   5. Illinois
   6. Tennessee
   7. California
   8. Holland
   9. Norway
   10. Portugal
   11. England
   12. Australia
   13. Japan
   
   
   
4. Number of shows I’ve seen in London
   
   
   1. 12
   
   
   
5. Galleries/museums I’ve visited
   
   
   1. 7
   
   
   
6. Concerts I’ve been to
   
   
   1. 2
   
   
   
7. Buildings/Sites I’ve been to
   
   
   1. Tower of London (built in 1078)
   2. Windsor Castle  (c. 1070)
   3. Edinburgh Castle (c. 1140)
   4. Salisbury Cathedral (1258)
   5. Notre Dame (1345)
   6. Catedral de Barcelona (1450)
   7. Hampton Court (c. 1514)
   8. Palace of Versailles (1682)
   9. Houses of Parliament (1834)
   10. Arc de Triomphe (1836)
   11. Buckingham Palace (1850)
   12. Big Ben (1859)
   13. Sagrada Familia (1882, still under construction)
   14. Tower Bridge (1894)
   15. Sacre Coeur (1914)
   16. London Eye (1999)
   
   
   
8. Cool things I’ve seen
   
   
   1. Crown Jewels of England
   2. Crown Jewels of Scotland
   3. Gutenberg Bible
   4. One of Shakespeare’s original folios
   5. Magna Carta
   6. Original handwritten Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte
   7. Handwritten Beatle’s lyrics
   8. Mummy of Cleopatra
   9. Rosetta Stone
   10. Mona Lisa
   11. Venus de Milo
   12. Works by Picasso, Turner, Botticelli, Monet
   13. Buildings designed by Antonio Gaudi
   
   
   

Now the less serious list.
Fun things/memories

1. Clubs/bars we’ve gone to in London
   
   
   1. 15+
   
   
   
2. Drinks
   
   
   1. Magners
   2. Strongbow
   3. Bulmers
   4. Snakebite
   5. Rum and Coke
   6. Screwdriver
   7. Sex on the Beach
   8. Shots
   9. Bailey’s & hot chocolate
   10. SoCo
   11. Becks
   12. Jaeger bomb
   13. Concoctions by Rachel
   
   
   
3. Roommates with Tylenol for hangovers on the nightstand
   
   
   1. 2 out 3
   
   
   
4. Number of shot glasses Flat 18 started with
   
   
   1. 0
   
   
   
5. Number accumulated
   
   
   1. 10
   
   
   
6. Number of glasses Flat 18 started with
   
   
   1. 3
   
   
   
7. Number by the end of the semester
   
   
   1. 12
   
   
   
8. Number of times at Karaoke
   
   
   1. 8
   
   
   
9. Glasses broken at Karaoke
   
   
   1. 3
   
   
   
10. Number of nicknames we have for people
    
    
    1. 10, including Crazy Glasses Girl, Joby, Climate Change, Yuhhhsortoffff, Social Problems, Hagrid, etc
    
    
    
11. Great stories
    
    
    1. Rachel sleepwalking
    2. The 3 roommates sleep talking
    3. Gauguin
    4. Sarah lost in London
    5. Sarah falling in Palace of Versailles
    6. Rachel falling off bus
    7. Me faceplanting
    8. Mark slipping in Scotland (x2)
    9. Mark & I’s walk back from karaoke
    10. Mark and I freaking out in elevator of Eiffel Tower
    11. Racing down stairs playing Spoons
    12. Big dance move
    13. Mark’s roommate’s grocery purchases
    14. Halloween night bus
    15. Rachel’s receipt usage
    16. Sarah’s ticket usage
    17. Rachel’s toilet paper in shoes
    18. Carrots in the purse
    19. Pregaming the breakup
    20. Epic night--The karaoke video
    21. (whispered) “Hi, how are you”
    22. Being twins
    23. Sarah’s goose laugh
    24. “I have to pee!”…Every time.
    25. Social problems, Ozzy & Greek guy at karaoke
    26. Night bus. Full stop.
    27. Strongbow, kebabs, ChopChop
    28. McFlurries
    29. Mark and Rachel’s 3-7 night bus adventure home
    30. Rachel’s late-night cooking
    31. Eating eggs with fingers and noodles with knives
    32. Stealing glasses from pubs
    33. Stealing glasses from pubs with drink still in them
    34. Chatting up random Norwegian guy(Rrrrrrrramon) to get his glass
    35. Whisky tasting
    36. Tractor….red.
    37. Yuhsortofffff and Hair
    38. Sexist Russian
    39. Playing “Turrets”
    40. Black pudding
    41. Eating baby food
    42. Last night of clubbing
    43. Last karaoke
    44. The mornings after
    
    
    
12. Number of times we made Mark watch twilight things
    
    
    1. 4
    
    
    
13. Number of times Mark felt gay watching twilight things
    
    
    1. 4…000000000000000000000000000
    
    
    
14. Number of meals I can now make
    
    
    1. 8
    
    
    
15. Packs of shortbread cookies consumed 
    
    
    1. 25+
    
    
    
16. Number of guys the flat mates made out with combined
    
    
    1. At least 20
    
    
    
17. Bottles of alchy we went through
    
    
    1. 35+
    
    
    
18. Seminars/lectures skipped
    
    
    1. 7
    
    
    
19. Tube lines
    
    
    1. 9
    
    
    
20. Stations
    
    
    1. 30+
    
    
    
21. London theme songs
    
    
    1. “American Boy”
    2. “Down”
    3. “Sexy Bitch”
    4. “When Love Takes Over”
    5. “Blame It”
    6. “Hotel Room Service”
    
    
    
22. Celebrity Encounters
    
    
    1. Jamie Campbell Bower (Caius and Grindlewald), in concert in Hyde Park
    2. Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley), in Mother Courage
    3. Henry Melling (Dudley Dursley), in Mother Courage
    4. Kevin Spacey, in Inherit the Wind (with autograph!)
    
    
    
23. Tweets from London
    
    
    1. 200+
    
    
    
24. Levels completed in Farmville
    
    
    1. 22
    
    
    
25. Times we had to call maintenance
    
    
    1. 5+
    
    
    
26. British foods I’ve tried
    
    
    1. Black pudding
    2. Chicken and leek pie
    3. Sunday roast
    4. Ciders
    5. Cheese & tomato sandwich
    
    
    
27. Number of bad nights between the four of us
    
    
    1. 5
    
    
    
28. Number of great nights between the four of us
    
    
    1. Too many to count
    
    
    
29. Number of languages I saw New Moon posters/books in
    
    
    1. 4*
    
    
    

*see: London Underground

Bruges, Belgium

  Barcelona, Spain

 Paris, France

This whole trip has been so so cool and an amazing opportunity. I think when I go home it will feel so surreal that I actually lived in London for almost 3 months.  I’m so glad I did it though, because it’s not something that everyone has the opportunity to do. I learned that I can in fact live in a city (although still not sure if I actually want to!) and I learned a lot about different countries and their different cultures. I will never ever take LVC for granted (London Met sux!!) and, as much as it pains me to say it, I will never take Wal-Mart for granted either.
I’ve seen some amazing places and made some awesome friends. As you can see from the lists above I have so so so many great memories I’m taking back with me that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. London, thanks for the amazing semester!

Next post will be from the states! For the comments: If you want me to elaborate on a “great story”, pick one or two in the comments, and I may or may not answer it. Depends which one it is.