On Friday, I had to get up at 6AM to get to the airport by 7:45 for her to land. I got there about 10 minutes early which was good so she wouldn't show up with no one waiting for her. When she finally came I about died. I was very very close to crying .. actually when she arrived and when she left. Anyways, we finally calmed down and I took her down for the Tube ride home. When we got to my flat I showed her around, which takes about 2 minutes, and we unpacked her stuff. I had a doctors appointment that morning so we went straight there and then to lunch at one of my favorite (pretty American) restaurants, Garfunkels! We were thinking about going shopping after but she was so jetlagged we just went home for a nap. We didn't do too much that night, just walking around and such, because we had to wake up early Saturday for Liverpool! I have been so so so so excited to go I was going crazy!
So we woke up Saturday and got on the coach for our long l o n g 5 hour ride. We got into Liverpool and weren't able to check in for a couple of hours so we went out for lunch, went back to check in, then headed to the Cavern Club to watch the Shakers! They are officially my favorite band, and I could probably listen to them every day and be happy. There was a bachelorette party there for a little while, and some Europeans decked out in American shirts (I don't know why..?) By the time the end of the show came, we were all dancing around with each other in the center floor though. It was so fun! After the show ended, we went over to the Lennon Bar to see what was going on. There was a band playing which we danced to for a while and then went up to the bathrooms to sign the walls. I found Heather and my signings, which wasn't too hard because we about signed the entire thing. But Holly and I wrote some things and then went next door to the Grapes where we met the nicest ladies who talked to us for a while and told us where to go next! It was called some square that was supposedly filled with bars ... so we walked in circles and finally found a place that we thought was it and headed into Oniels bar where we met some friends and chatted with them for a while. When we decided to leave, we jumped in and out of so many bars/clubs I couldn't even begin to tell you which was which. We walked into some for about 2 seconds then walked right out, and stayed in for a little while at others. By the end of the night we were back at Matthew Street though, of course. We made it back to the hostel for bed later on, and woke up the next day deciding to head back to London that night since we had ran out of money. We booked our bus ticket for 8 so we had the whole day in Liverpool, which I loved! We started out shopping around a bit and then had lunch at the cutest cafe in Cavern Walks. They gave me my drink with ice, so of course I loved it. After that, we headed down to Albert Dock where we saw a parade of pirates, a statue of Elvis and the docks and things. We walked around until we had to catch our bus, and made it back to my flat in London at about midnight. We took a detour on our walk home from the coach station to Buckingham Palace for some pictures for Holly. I always love going there!
The next day I woke up for class, which Heather and I found out on our walk there that the Queen was going to be at Westminster Abbey that afternoon! After my class, I met up with her and Holly outside Westminster Abbey to see the Queen! She was so cute in her little pastel pink dress coat thing and hat. There were SO many people there too! It was one of the coolest things I've been able to experience here. I mean, how many people can say they've seen the Queen of England??
After that, Holly and I headed out to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London for her to see, then went out to Leicester Square and Picadilly Circus. We went into M&M world, which I hadn't been in yet either, so it was great to see! For dinner, Holly and I went to Friday's ...... I know. But it was still good! And I've been craving some real American food for a while .. we got some good food and a DELICIOUS dessert of about a million scoops of ice cream and oreos. It was SO good. We went up to the bar after that and talked for a while, and met all the bartenders! They were all from different places - Serbia, Italy, and Greece - and were all nice! They hated on me for loving Liverpool of course, but loved that we were Americans, of course!
The next day we woke up and headed out to the Camden Markets, Holly Heather and I. We all got some little things and souvenirs and spent the day looking around the place. The markets are SO big but so fun to go to and bargain! After that, Heather headed home and Holly and I went to eat.. at Garfunkels again. It's just so good!
Wednesday, we started out early and went to Abbey Road! We took some pictures and signed the wall, then went to look in the Beatles Coffee Shop, which really wasn't anything .. disappointing. After that, we went inside Westminster Abbey and looked around for a couple of hours. Holly really loved it! We walked over to the bridge by Parliament/Big Ben for some pictures of it before we went back to the flat to get ready for the night. We were going to see LES MIS!! We bought a dinner/theatre package, so it was all included which was great! We got ready and went to the restaurant, which was Italian and delicious! Then to the show, which I had been going crazy for since the last time I saw it. It was SO good again. I decided it's my favorite show, ever. I love my Rent and all, but this show is just incredible.
Home:)
After the show ended, we headed back home because we had to pack, shower and try to get some sleep in before we had to leave for Dublin at 3AM! Our flight was at 6, but the airport is an hour and a half away so we had to take a bus there. Needless to say, we were up early. I was only able to sleep for an hour which was better than I expected. When we got into Dublin, it was around 730, so we were all ready for a nap. Luckily we were able to check into our hostel right away. The hostel was AMAZING. It had a bar/club on the bottom floor, and it was full of graffiti art on the walls. Our room was filled with 5 bunks; each bed had their own fluffy pillow, and we had a cute couch and wall mural in the room. It was definitely the nicest hostel we have stayed in since we've been here! We slept a little longer than expected, then headed out to meet the other girls that were in a different hostel. We grabbed some food and they needed to go to a tourist desk to figure out their trip so we headed straight into the bars. There was already amazing music coming from each one, so I was so eager to get in! We spent the night hopping bars around the Temple Bar, singing and dancing and making new friends. It was such a fun night!
The next day, the girls took a day trip to Galway, but Heather Holly and I decided to stay in Dublin and go to the coast, Howth. It was rainy and cloudy, so we grabbed lunch at a cute cafe, hoping it would let up. It didn't, but we still went out around. Finally, when the rain stopped we decided to walk up a little street that ended up taking us to the top of the cliffs. The view was incredible! We took about a thousand pictures doing whatever and just had fun up there for a couple of hours. When we decided to head back, we grabbed some dinner then hung out in the hostel, since we had to wake up early for St. Patrick's Day!
The next day we got up and got all decked out for the day. Holly and I had some green tights, Heather and I had sparkly ties and we all had little headbands with shamrocks and leprechaun hats. Clearly, we were ready to go. We went out to the parade and the streets were insane!! There were SO many people all over the place!! We saw what we could of the parade - which was interesting.. and very weird. Then headed over to the Temple Bar area again. We went into a new bar where we met some Canadian friends. We all sat together, played some games and watched rugby together. Everyone was so so nice! Holly and I went downstairs to talk/meet some more people, then Heather came to meet us and we left to a new bar. It was so crowded so it was hard to get into anywhere, but we managed. We met and danced with so many people until we decided to head back to the hostel later in the night. We thought when we got back we would head up to the room, but then remembered there was a bar/club inside and saw everyone dancing downstairs, so of course we had to join for round two. We danced around with everyone for a little while and then headed back to the room. Holly and I bought about 4 cans of Pringles and a sandwich to share. We sat in the hallway (everyone else was sleeping in the room) and talked and laughed for a couple of hours until we headed to bed. The entire day was so so so much fun and I cannot even explain how happy I was to have Holly there with me!
The next day, we woke up, checked out, and went out for some lunch. We didn't have too long to spend around Ireland cause our flight was at 3, but we got some souvenirs and then headed to the airport to get back to London. When we got back, Holly wanted to go out for dinner and drinks for my birthday, so we headed out to a cute little restaurant and some places. It was a nice last night with her.
Yup. That right there is my best friend.
The next morning was my birthday! Very exciting to be turning 21, but I had to say bye to Holly which wasn't so great. It was a quick and wimpy goodbye cause neither of us wanted to cry, but we both managed to after we left eachother. She made it home safely though, which is good. That night, I won tickets to an acoustic show with Ramin Karimloo, who is a big theatre actor that I love! I haven't won anything before so it was awesome to have won on a show on my birthday! Heather and I went and it was so much fun! He sang some covers and some of his own songs, and he was just great .. and soo cute : ) After the show, we went to a bar to grab a 21st drink and it was delicious! When we got home, Heather gave me the little desserts she bought me. They were so cute! and DELICIOUS! And being in Europe to top it all off, I really couldn't have asked for anything for my birthday. This year has been so amazing, there's nothing more I could want!
Tuesday was a work day, as both Heather and I had presentations on Wednesday. The presentations were real easy though, and we are both done with those classes for good which is amazing! After my class on Wednesday, I was having such a good week, I decided to just make things even better and go see Les Mis again! I got 9th row seats for half price which is a great deal! The show was iiiiiincredible, and I'm probably going to see it again next week to be honest. Can you tell I'm obsessed?
Thursday morning, Heather and I woke up early and met our friend Madison at the Apollo Victoria to get some cheap front row seats to Wicked!! Neither of them have seen the show, so I was soo excited for them! The show was just as amazing as the other times I'd seen it, and Madison and Heather LOVED it! We planned to get some more seats to Legally Blonde next week, since it's closing. It's not my favorite show, but it's a lot of fun, and everyone knows I will never say no to seeing a show!
I also got my birthday package from my parents that day, which was one of the greatest gifts I have ever gotten. They sent me ICE TRAYS! Which if you don't know, they don't give you ice here .... and I love my ice. So it was probably the greatest gift I've ever received. I also got some sea shells from Jupiter, earrings, and my Grandma got me a fleece Beatles blanket! It is SO cool! I have such a great family : )
Friday, Heather and I woke up and decided to wander around the city. I had to go to the Apple store because my stupid computer's trackpad isn't working, which makes everything SO much more difficult. I made an appointment for Sunday to get it checked out, so hopefully they can fix it. After that, we went over to Savile Row so I could see where the Beatles rooftop concert took place! It was so cool! After that, we went to Fortnum and Mason, which is a cute expensive dessert/wine/everything shop. Everything was so cute and looked sooo goood! We were able to taste test some truffles that were so so so so so tasty! Everything was too expensive for us to buy, but we'll probably go back and split something soon! After that, we wandered around to some Harry Potter places that I don't really understand yet. I need to watch the movies though, because I'm doing a studio tour in May! So excited, even though I haven't seen the movies yet, hehe..
Today I woke up to try and go see a matinee show, but realized that Saturday is going to be super busy, so I went shopping instead. I got some cute things for summer, since I barely packed anything! After I got home, Heather and I have just been working on our homework and are going to finally plan our spring break! It's actually our summer, because our classes end April 5th, but whatever. So exciting!
Tomorrow we are waking up pretty early because we are TOURING ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS!! I am so so so so excited, and if I am this excited, you can only imagine how crazy Heather is going! It's going to be amazing. After the tour I am going to Apple to fix this stupid thing. Then maybe it won't take me 352 hours just to update my blog!