Slacking

Okay, so it is late right now and I am in Paris. I will write about my last 2 weeks later on, just wanted to let everyone know that I am done school and I am traveling around with my family. We already went to Bath, London, now Paris and then Dublin. My sister and I will be going to Rome and Venice for a week, then back to the states. Longer update to come later!

Love to all,

Monica

Visit with my Dad

Okay so it has been a long time since I blogged so here it goes...

When my dad and I got back from London I took him to his place for the week and then made a pizza at my flat. The next day so Monday I had class until 130, so my dad was off on his own until then, but then we met up and went to a flower show that was happening at Royal Victoria Park, the show was good but we did not stay long. Then we decided to go to the Roman Bath's which is why Bath is here because of the hot springs, just google it if you want to know more. For dinner we went out to a pizza place that I enjoy in Bath. Tuesday I had to teach all day so my dad again was on his own, but we went to a pub for dinner and then did a walk called the Bizarre Bath Walk, which was so funny I would do it again. Wednesday I had class until 1120 but dad and I went on a canal tour and then later on went to another pub for dinner. Thursday we traveled to Amsterdam for the weekend.

Well, we got to the airport way to early and ended up being bored because there is not much to do in a small airport. However, we made it to Amsterdam and then managed to get to our hotel, which was in the high end section of town not like my dad at all! Since it was late we walked around a little bit and ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant, which I enjoyed! Friday we started our day at the Van Gogh museum, then went to a diamond museum unfortunately I did not get a souvenir there. After we wanted to go to a modern museum but it is closed until January for renovations. However we went and took a canal bus tour where you can ride the canal boat for twenty four hours and it stops at different spots, this was better than walking. Once on the boat we decided to go see Anne Frank's house which I thought was very interesting, yes I was the one that picked this out! After that we headed back to the canal boat to go back where we got on, we saw a pancake place so that is where we went for dinner. However, the pancakes were big but I thought that they were expensive. We walked back to our hotel and had an early night.

Saturday we went back to the canal bus and went to another museum, my dad really likes museums! Then we took the scenic tour around the city and it was great to see other parts of the city that we would not have walking around. We walked around central station and then took the canal bus back to where we started. After we walked to the flower market and I wanted to buy flowers but I didn't think that the flowers would get through customs. Then their was a bike race from Italy that we watched for a little while, don't ask me why they were in Amsterdam. Then we had an early dinner at an Italian restaurant and went back to the hotel since their was not a lot left to do in Amsterdam that interested us.

Sunday was the day we were leaving. Right next to our hotel was a concert hall so we did a tour of the hall and it was probably one of the better tours of a concert hall I have done. Then we took the tram to a square and I was able to buy my souvenirs. After we had some lunch then took the train to the airport and just hung around there until our plane took off. When we got back my dad and I came back to my flat so that I could put my winter clothes into his suitcase so I wouldn't have as much clothes going home, what a nice daddy!

Monday my dad left early in the morning and I said good-bye at the train station here in Bath, I did not cry but I was close to it. I had a great time with my dad here and I am grateful that he was able to come and spend some time with me in the place that I have been studying since February, plus we did some traveling too!

Love to all,

Monica

London

I bet you can't guess where I was... I knew I could not fool you. Anyway I went to London this past weekend and when I arrived on Thursday afternoon I was met by someone at the train station, my dad!!! It was so nice to see him, he will actually be visiting me until May 10 so another seven days, yippee! Alright now onto London!

The first day, so Thursday, we walked around Greenwich since our hotel was right near Greenwich. We went to the observatory where the prime meridian is, so at one point my body was going east and west. After that we just walked around got some dinner then crashed early because my dad did not sleep on the plane (aka he was very tired from the time change) and I have a cold that I am trying to get rid of it, not very successfully.

The second day, Friday, we took the train into London Bridge and then did a tour of Tower Bridge which was interesting, perhaps this will be a repeat when I have other visitors come!!! Then we went to the Tower of London, where we spent a lot of time and even saw some of the queen's jewels! After we had enough of that we made our way towards a museum that my dad wanted to see the Tate Modern and I actually found some of it interesting and other pieces I was wondering how it could even be art, but that is just my opinion. We had dinner and decided where we wanted to go next, which was the London eye. This had to be my favorite part of the day because at the top the whole city can be seen, very cool. Once we got off Big Ben was going to strict, I tried to get a video but it did not work really well, but at least I saw it. Then my dad thought it would be a great idea just to walk around, which was fine, but then we ended up walking an hour back to the train station, London Bridge, to get our train back to our hotel. Let's just say I slept very well that night!!

On Saturday, which was my day, we saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and I got a perfect spot right in the front behind a barrier where the guards walk into the Palace. Even though the changing was long it did not matter because it was nice outside and it was something I really wanted to see. After we walked to Westminster Abbey, where a lot of people are buried, however no pictures were allowed in there, bummer. Then we went to the National Gallery where we only stayed for a short amount of time because my dad and I only wanted to see a certain time period. However, I saw painting by Monet, Degas, Van Gogh and others, which I liked. Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral, but it was closed for tours, by this time it was only four p.m. and we had finished everything that we wanted to do in London but we did not want to head back and sit in the hotel for the rest of the night. So I suggested going to the Shakespeare Globe, but they were closed for tours and then it started to rain, so we went back to the Tate Modern which was nearby and then it down poured, but at least we were indoors. Once we thought it slowed down we made a dash to a pier where we were going to take a boat around the city, but we had to walk to the next pier since the closer one was closed, I got very wet even with my raincoat on. You are probably thinking why would we take a boat while it is raining, don't you worry it was enclosed, which was a great way to see the entire river in an hour. After that we headed back to our hotel, but first we got dinner at a Chinese Restaurant.

Sunday we woke up late and then leisurely made our way to Paddington station to take our train back to Bath Spa, however we had 3 hours to kill! What better way to waste three hours? Eating and that is just what we did, unfortunately that did not take three hours. We would of explored Paddington but first it was raining and second there is not much to do there from what I could tell. We finally made it to Bath and I walked my dad to the place he is staying for the week and then we walked around but all of the shops were closed so we bought a pizza since neither one of us was really hungry and cooked it back at my flat. I then said good-bye to my dad for the night and I guess we will see what we will do for the week. However, on Thursday we are heading to Amsterdam for the weekend, which will be exciting! That is all on my side of the pond for now.

Love to all,

Monica