I'm back, but let me fill you in....

Hello fellow Bloggers.

Yes, I know. My dedication to these updates has waned. Sorry about that. In case anyone was worried, I am not still in England or wandering around Europe unable to get home. I arrived in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave on the 24th of July, after a rather exhausting trail of events.

But I’ll back up.

Ok, so my last days in England passed by very quickly (hence the lack of blogging). The Elliotts left for holiday (very sad), but not before a goodbye dinner and lots of hugs and promises to write.




The quiet that followed their departure was strange to the point of being unsettling, but happily, it did not last long.
Soon after the Elliotts left, I found out that Marynn, one of my good friends from William and Mary, was going to be in London for the day. She is studying in Cambridge for the summer, and so merely had to catch one of the many buses running into the city. I met her at one of the most confusing bus terminals known to man, but somehow, we found each other and began to explore the city.
One good thing I can say about the terminal, is that right outside of it stands a large theatre, a massive green billboard happily glittering above it—that’s right. Wicked was playing. This 60 foot emerald advertisement being hard to miss, we walked by and were immediately captivated.

Wicked being one of Marynn’s favorites (and me always game for a good musical) we headed to the box office to see if any tickets were available. Long story short, they were, we flipped out, we bought the cheap seats, we flipped out again—high pitched girly squeals were much involved in this scene as box office agents looked on with bemused and slightly impatient expressions.

Anyhoo, so we got the tickets and then continued our so far short-sighted exploration. We hit all the major sights—Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben—and also walked along the river and talked on one of the many bridges for probably hours.




After a quick dinner and more high pitched squeals, we settled into our seats at the theatre and waited expectantly for the show.
It was amazing. No really, I know I’m a musical geek and not too hard to please, but for real—it was amazing.
On a musical high (I’m pretty sure neither of us could wipe a grin from our faces), we made our way back to the bus terminal from hell and I bide farewell to Marynn. I then caught my train back to Gerrards Cross and collapsed into bed at around 1:30. Ah living outside the city.

Ok, so for all of you who hear the word “show” and give a little smirk, or “musical” and think: “I’d rather get a crown replaced on my molar”…..turn back now. No really. You will not be able to handle this.

The next few days were a flurry of musical bliss. See, I have a problem--this intrinsic, gooey, weak spot somewhere inside me reserved especially for broadway shows. I don’t know how this happened, I’m guessing my parents have something to do with it, and possibly the whole growing up around plays and hearing Les Mis blasting as my mom cleaned the house. Whatever psychological analysis you want to perform on me, it does not change the fact that something within me leaps skyhigh when I hear the word broadway, and this thing was released my last week in London.
The night after Marynn came, I went to meet my German friend, Kai, in the city. A few days before he had called me (I had told him I was determined to see a show while I was here and he offered to get tickets when he was in the city), and said he had gotten us tickets for a show. I asked which one and he replied “Les Miserables”. I think I swallowed my tongue I gasped so loud—it’s my favorite show probably ever.

Ok, so anyway, we saw Les Mis (I cried), and the next day Emily came in to visit from Paris, and while she was here we saw King Lear at the Globe theatre (um, I have no words—we were “groundlings” and so saw every little detail, though I must say, standing for three hours can take a bit of your enthusiasm away),



Stomp (SO COOL—these people are ridiculously talented), and finally, Phantom of the Opera (cue hallelujah chorus). *Sigh* Never again in my life will I experience such a show-filled week. It was glorious.





Anyway, it was very cool having Emily there with me. We explored the city too, which was great (we also saw the European Premiere of The Dark Knight going on in Leicester Square and caught a glimpse of Christian Bale—craziness).





Sadly, I had to say goodbye to Kai, and then to England. And the next morning I left bright and early to catch a train back to Paris.





That’s right, I had one more day in my wonderful city. It was amazing—I had all day to wander around, lingering in all my favorite spots and bidding the city of light farewell.
I got my hair chopped (I figured when else was I going to have the chance to do something impulsive in Paris, right?) and of course went to Shakespeare and Company, the Notre Dame, and my favorite park, Buttes Chaumont.



I then made my way to the Champs de Mars and lay under the Eiffel tower for hours, staring up at its magnificent height as the sky’s brilliance slowly faded, until at last it was dark enough for the twinkling lights of the tower to burst into life. Emily met me there (she had caught a late train back) and we said goodbye to the emblematic tower and made our way to the apartment to pack.



After a solid two hours of sleep, I began my grueling day of travel. I had prepared myself mentally and emotionally for the worst. I was exhausted and carrying at least 80 pounds of luggage by myself: my rolling suitcase, huge backpack, and laptop bag, and I knew getting up and down the stairs of the metro was going to be hell. God was definitely present, however, sending me lots of kind people who offered to help, and a very sweet man who helped me to the train station, carrying my suitcase all the way. God bless him. It was still quite a journey, however, and by the time I got to the airport, through security, and to my gate, I walked on to the plane I was running so late. Scary. But—I made it. A seven hour flight followed, and we landed in Newark around noon. I then waited for about ½ an hour for my luggage, and when it arrived walked it about 30 feet to another station where I checked it right back on again. Ah customs. It seemed absolutely pointless to me, and (not gonna lie) had me fuming as I ran with my backpack in tow to my next gate and AGAIN walked right onto the plane. It ended up not mattering that I was late, however, because—although we made it to the runway, we never made it to the air.
It was announced that we had to go back to the gate, and after awhile of waiting, finally announced that we had to disembark as well. People were just a bit unhappy. Not having a clue what to do, we all stumbled off the plane praying we wouldn’t need to spend the night in Newark. One guy in particular was screaming obscenities so that the entire airport could hear, claiming he’d rather die in a crash than deal with this incompetence. I’m pretty sure most of the staff, and not a few of his fellow flyers, were quite ready to let him.
Anyway, after a confusing hour and a half (in which I sat emotionally numbed with exhaustion, staring at a wall and nursing a Venti frappaccino), we finally made it on a flight, but not before I had pulled my shoulder slinging Big Bertha (my backpack) a little too forcefully over my right side. Rats.
So I made it home after all—although the mix up caused me to arrive without a single friendly face to greet me, as they had come and then left again, having been told I was arriving later (I understood, but man, after 16 hours of traveling you just want some arms to fall into at the other side of that gate).
But anyhoo—I’m back Stateside, safe and sound.

Soo, this has been a nice little novel for you all to read—sorry about that. I’m still debating whether I’m going to keep this thing up or not. I’m thinking life will not sound quite as exciting with no Alps or hostels or Eiffel Towers to report on. It does give me a way to keep up with a lot of people though, so we shall see.

If not, Au revoir et merci, Ciao e grazie, Cheers and thank you !!

Jess (: