Great Life.

It's the final countdown....

And now that you all have that wretched throwback of a song stuck in your heads, I'll amuse you with the tales of my waning moments abroad.

Liz and I gallivanted around London appropriately: shopping at Westfield mall, Portobello Road boutiques, and Oxford (High) Street... I can already hear my closet thanking me, even from these thousands of miles away ;)

When we weren't shopping, we were practicing our other most highly developed skill: eating. Of course. We had fish & chips from Rock & Sole (said to be London's best), pizza and gelato from Herrod's basement restaurants, Pizza Express (more upscale than Btown, and maybe even more delicious?), sushi and edamame (my favorites!), an obscene amount of McDonald's, and a lovely little picnic in Kensington Gardens. Liz made sure we went to Ice Bar (a London novelty!), drank Pimm's in a pub (every Brit will tell you it's "the perfect summer drink!"), saw Wicked!, stalked her neighbor Stella McCartney daily, and rehearsed our British accents and catch phrases constantly (favorites included: "it's spot on, is it?", "'ello!", "is it rubbish or litter?" and "this is the ____ line, via ____. mind the gap/door")

I had so much fun with Liz - it was so great to see her again, and for anyone to knows her, it was nice just to hear her laugh - not that it's hard to miss if you're within 100 yards! :)

I can't believe it: I'm leaving Europe, no longer living out of a backpack, and already suffering from severe gelato withdrawals. Not looking forward to the responsibilities that await this fall, but so looking forward to a new city and new adventures!

But to have had these experiences, see so many incredible places, and now return to by far the most amazing people I've ever met - I just know it's a great life.

So cheers, London! And America - ready or not, here I come!

A Visual Recap

1: Exhibit A - defense for the sinking Venice argument.
2: A typical view on Lake Como (maybe George's plane?)
3: Spanish ham in the supermarket.
4: Rachelle, Megan and I with our Spanish tour guide, Eric

Ciao Italia & Adios Barcelona

So hard to say goodbye.
Once again, I just couldn't get enough of Italy - by far of one my favorite countries.
We started in Venice - a city completely it's own. You have to experience it to even begin to fathom the complexity of its structure. We recorded evidence to contribute to the "sinking" argument, savored a local creation - the Bellini, and feasted on pizza and gelato constantly.
Although we did find the rumors of its summer stench to be true, if you stay away from the water a bit it really isn't so bad.
Then we trained off to Milan - definitely a big European city and much more industrialized than I had previously seen in Italy. We saw the Duomo and walked the shopping district - I must admit I was a bit disappointed. I, of course, had very high expectations for the fashion capital - pretty much envisioning models walking down the street towards me in haute couture. It didn't happen. In fact the people looked no more beautiful or well put together even than in any sloppy, ordinary American city. Oh what could have been...
We had a few extra nights in Milan because of trains being over-booked, so we took a few day trips around Northern Italy to smaller villages including Parma and Bologna. I enjoyed both, though their meat and cheese shops were quite a sight! My favorite by far was Lake Como. No George Clooney sightings (soo disappointing) but the homes were beautiful, the area enchanting and the gelato worth every euro-cent.
Getting a train to Spain was ridiculous. Not only in price and lack of times to choose from, but also in a shortage of capacity. We barely got seats on one leaving Friday night, only to board the train and find a mother and her baby sharing our cabin. As exhausted backpackers we could only laugh to keep from crying. She didn't speak English, but tried to tell us we didn't have one of the seats and instead wanted to put her kid in it. We made the staff help us talk to her, hoping they would make her leave. As we stepped off the train to wait (so we could actually have space to breathe and process the a night locked in a small cabin with a screaming, stinky child) we looked back inside to notice she was breast-feeding. Only in Europe. It was bound to be such a long trip... maybe even worse than the ferries? Suddenly this girl from Texas showed up with a legitimate ticket for the seat, kicking out the lady and her baby. Turns out seats on the train were in such high demand people were trying to sneak on. Crazy.
The following morning we were in Barcelona! That afternoon we walked around Gaudi's Guell park before my friend Eric that lives there came and got us! He took such good care of us - introducing us to his friends, touring us around the city, and making sure we ate all kinds of delicious Spanish foods (tapas, coquettes, Spanish ham (which just hangs from the ceiling everywhere - not even going to discuss my feelings about that), Sangria, churros, Spanish omelets, and even some seafood that I was a very scared of - I'll just say it had tentacles and eyes!). It's so relaxing to see a city with a friend who lives there because you can just soak it all up as they show you around. Though I'm pretty sure we turned Eric into a bit of a tourist - we caught him using a map to find La Sagrada Família and buying souvenirs along La Rambla!
Now: London with Liz! Can't believe this is my last stop before returning to the States - so excited to see everyone there, but not quite sure I want to leave just yet...
xoxo.
Ann