salisbury cathedral and elstree studios

me at stonehenge

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salisbury cathedral



europes oldest working clock



reflective pool in salisbury cathedral






when Henry the 8th broke away from the catholic church, he had his soliders go into churches/cathedrals and destroy anything that represented catholicism...here the statues on the mantel have been chopped off



they still do this today: when you are a new member of the choir you have your friends smack your head against this stone...talk about dedication huh?




oldest tomb at salisbury cathedral--st. osmond





C3PO and R2D2 at Elstree



ET at Elstree Studios




NOTE: the reason why these arent the best quality is because i took them with my phone, my camera died so i had no choice! im sorry!!

soho, bath, wimbledon, etc.

ok SO scotland was very cool and cheap but i think i already i said that...haha we got back sunday evening. but what i have done since then include:
Last Tuesdays (6/23)--For one my class we walked around SoHo and got to see all the old punk rock bars like where the rolling stones, the who, and the clash hung out which was neat and a very different area than the posh museums and areas we have been going to. For my other class we were able to do a walking tour of london of all these different places where movies were filmed. For example, we got to see where the diner scene took place in "Four Weddings in a Funeral" This was very awesome HOWEVER it made us late to WIMBLEDON!! Wimbledon was so so cool I could not believe i was actually there! I only got to see one match between Martin Vassallo Arquello and Pablo Andujar. I didn't really know what was going on or who they were but it was very exciting.

Last Weekend (6/26-6/28): We went to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge was cool...i mean it was rocks and i guess i didnt see the importance of it but people were really into it aha. We also stopped at Salisbury Cathedral which was gorgeous and only took 38 years to build, which apparently is not a long time for back then. Bath was very very cute the town was quaint. However, we stayed at the YMCA. Now i am not trying to be a snob or anything like that but 1.) No AC (which doesn't exist anywhere in the UK) 2.) BUNK BEDS! (what am 11 years old??) 3.) every species of bird placed directly outside your opened window (because we had no AC) that was going to wake you up every hour...our spirits were low and our irritabilty level high...so what do you do to remedy the problem? go get MEXICAN FOOD. we had a delicious meal to be followed by a fun evening. The next day We were able to do a rooftop spa and aroma therapy for only 25 pounds! I used my Visa Giftcard that the Lovely Miller family gave me, so thank you! It was much much needed. The tour of the baths was actually very interesting. They had these two people dressed up as Romans walking around pretending to be the sculptors of bath and they wouldnt break character at all. It was funny but a bit annoying...it was kind of like that South Park episode where the criminals come into the old fashioned town and they would refuse to break character even though people were getting shot...it was like that except less dramatic haha. On the way home we stopped at this adorable town. It was a medieval town that was completely untouched...i have pictures from that also but facebook hasnt been letting me upload my pictures so im going to try again this weekend because i have A LOT to upload!

This Week (6/29): On Tuesday for my classes we went to a Greek Radio Station and some of my fellow classmates got to speak on the radio--this was very cool and every time we go on a new outing i think that is my new career. Last week i wanted to the tour guide to the different movie sites and this week i want to be a radio DJ haha so who knows! But for my film class we got to take a tour of Elstree Studios, this is where George Lucas got his start--we got to see replicas of C3PO and R2D2...i will post pictures! but this was very neat except london is HOT. and people are very smelly so it was a fascinating but stinky tour! I also saw the hangover, which was HILARIOUS. But this morning actually, on my way to work, I ran to my bus and was relieved I made it on there. I was on there for probably less than a minute when this car started to come into the bus's lane. the bus starting honking its horn and the car was not stopping...i knew we were going to hit it because neither of them would stop...it was so strange it was like in slow motion. but sure enough the bus and the car collided into each other and broke on of the car's windows. The bus driver yelled at us and was like...EVERYONE OFF THE BUS! i was more scared of her rather than getting hurt! and i thought to myself this WOULD happen to me...run for the bus end up making it on time for once and then it gets in a car accident. typical. but luckily no one was hurt. this weekend is a free weekend and they are actually having a 4th of July celebration here for the American Community. One thing about London that i really do enjoy is that they serve to the minority communities very very well. It is interesting that ENGLAND of all places is celebrating America's Independence (from england) day. I might go so that way i don't feel like im missing out too much on the holiday! haha but i hope you all are enjoying your summers! i will be home in about 3 weeks!!


kathryn--congrats on quitting your job! seriously...im glad that you are out of there, your boss sounded horrible!

aunt mary ellen--are you jealous of kathryn going to the beach with my family? what is going on here! shouldn't you have first dibs?? ps thanks for the lovely spa treatment!

mom--hi, i miss you

to anyone else reading my blog--hello! cant wait to see you soon!!


until next time,
Caitlin

saatchi, bfi, and scotland

Well a lot has happened since I posted last. Tuesday during our outing for my Media and Society class we got to go to the Saatchi and Saatchi gallery, which was all modern art. Now, with modern art I feel like it can go one way or the other--either its an amazing piece of work OR it just something where they put a molding apple in a glass case and call it "art." For the amazing pieces: there was this life size orgami made out of a tarp and it was a man playing a piano, there was also these really cool pictures that were made out of random pieces of paper used to make a bigger picture. For the crap pieces: a piece of plastic with brown tape. that is not an exaggeration. so there were some pros and cons. Tuesday night I went to the BFI with my other class and we got to see a film about the war in Spain. It was different but the BFI is very cool because it gives you a chance to see all these films that you normally wouldn't see. So we left for Scotland friday morning and the train ride was about 4 hours long. It wasn't too bad until there was a hen party (a bachorlette party) that got on the train. They were all very drunk and very loud. But it was all in good fun. Once we arrived we did a bus tour of the city but unfortunately i was unable to sit up top so it was not as succesful as it could have been. However, the city is really cool. Everything is so old looking that it was such a different spirit of the city compared to london. For dinner we went to a Tex Mex restuarant...i know what you are thinking, why would you go to Tex Mex in Scotland. WELL scotland is not known for their food and i was not trying any bangers and nash, so fajitas were the best decision i have made in my life thus far. But last night we found a pub that stayed open late and kinda parked ourselves there all night. The drinks were cheap and the company was good so it was a pretty good time. This morning we woke up to breakfast around 8 and then headed to the Edinburgh castle which was amazing. After the castle tour we were able to walk around and i got some souveniers. Then there was a tour of the Scottish Paraliament which was not going to lie-painful. The building is not very pretty and it was an hour tour talking about the archeiture of the building. After the tour i came back and slept because i was really sleepy. Then after we woke up we had an amazing italian food...once again not scotish but oh well! tomorrow we are leaving around 3 pm to arrive in england around 8. Well I hope you all are doing well! I miss you!

Until next time,
Caitlin

camden, the globe

So saturday night in Camden was awesome. There are so many different types of people there...its like a big melting pot! We went to a tapas restaurant which was delicious. I got an avocado, mozzarella, and tomato salad and stuffed peppers. After dinner we walked around and stumbled upon this bar that was overpriced and crowded...welcome to london nightlife! But once we got in we were unsure if it was a gay bar or just your typical british men...so that was a fun game to play haha

Sunday morning we had the whole day to ourselves and it was absoutely gorgeous out. Everyone in my program decided to have a progressive dinner where with each floor it would a different course in dinner. So my flatmates and i went shopping for the dinner which was fun but unfourtantely the market we wanted to go to was closed so we had to settle for the standard grocery store. After shopping we went out to lunch and this place called the Onion Bar. I swear we were on candid camera or something because i felt like i was in a sitcom. First the waitress does not speak very well English, which made it very difficult to communicate with her our orders. Second, my one flatmate tried to order 2 or 3 different things which they were ALL out of. Then when it was my turn to order I told her that I would like the "vegetable melt" she looks at me and goes, "the tuna melt" and i take my menu, point to the vegetable melt and go, "oh no the um vegetable melt" she answers: "the tuna melt?" now at this point im looking around for the guy with the camera in the bushes somewhere..."NO THE VEGETABLE MELT" she responds, "ooooh the vegetable melt!" YES!!! so that was a stressful yet hilarious situation to be in. But after my distarious lunch, i went and sat in Russell Square park and just took in the scene. One difference that I have really noticed about the Brits and Americans is that the Brits are much more publically affection...kissing and rolling around in public parks is not weird or inappropriate, which if saw that in America we would be like excuseee me?? who do you think you are? After my observing in the park it was time to get ready for the progressive dinner, which was a success!

Today (Monday), I had my internship in the morning and then class in the afternoon. HOwever, this evening we went to go see 'As You Like It' at the globe which was very very cool. Despite the rain (for you non-theatre gurus the globe is an open theatre, DUH) and standing the entire time it was a pretty positive experience!

Meg and anyone else who wants to read: I am doing an 8-week study/work thing out here through my school. I am taking 3 classes (London Theatre, British Media and Society, British Film Adaptions) and doing an internship at Candid Records, which is a jazz record label. I get to go to various places on the weekends with in the UK. This weekend we are going to Scotland and next weekend we are going to Bath. And yes, the brits are pretty funky! I miss you, when do you return? Cousin shopping trip??

How are you guys doing in your lives? tell me about your summer? I feel so out of touch!!


Until next time,
Caitlin

london bridge is fallng down

OK, so I have no future in professional blogging because i am TERRIBLE at updated. But i didn't think anyone actually read this thing haha anyways...last sunday morning we went to Speaker's Corner, which is where anyone is able to speak about a current issue freely without facing any penalty. Well in theory this is a very cool concept, HOWEVER, there was this one man there who was driving me up a wall. He was talking about how we need to "re-educate" women so that way they know their place in society...aka the kitchen and the bedroom. Well, obviously this did not go over so well with me, so I started yelling back at him, I know mom and dad aren't you proud? I told him that if he was the only man I had to chose from then I would rather be a lesbian. Then he told me that my job, as a woman, was to produce a baby a year. So apparently women are the same thing as rabbits? But it was all in good fun! After the speaker's corner, we went to regents park, which was gorgeous and this amazing rose garden there. Depending on the price, it would be a beautiful place for a wedding or a birthday party. It was so pretty there--it made the 40 min walk worth it! After regent's park we went to Amy Winehouse's neck of the woods-Camden. That is a whole different part of London--its where the punk movement began so it was much different then the prim and proper area of Buckingham Palace. They had this HUGE market and these really cool purses which was a zipper and zipped up into a purse...it was very cool haha

Every Monday, I go to a play for my theatre class and this week we went to go see "War Horse." Now, in class our teacher told us this was the hit of London and critics across the board gave it 2 thumbs up. It was terrible. The production itself--the lighting, the blocking, the costumes and the mechanical horses used were amazing. HOwever, the acting was horrific--the main character sounded like he was crying the entire time! It was something that I would not go back to.

The tube--the underground system, like the metro--went on a strikage from Tues. night at 6:59 until Thurs. night at 6:59...therefore I did not go to work Wednesday and Thursday, which was pretty awesome, especially since I have been fighting a cold so I finally got a chance to relax a bit. But on Thursday night, we went to a comedy show which was hilarious--until the host found out we were from America and then it was all over. We made fun of by every comedian, including the last act who was from where?CANADA. talk about the ultimate burn...a canadian drug addict making fun of us, while we were in england...ouch. But last night (friday) we went to a bar called Zoo Bar, which was fun because they played Backstreet Boys and Bon Jovi so we were just dancing and bopping around until some girl threw up all over the bar--we decided to call it a night. But today I went shopping by work and then I am going to dinner at Camden and going to hang around the market down there!

I miss you all...how are your lives...LEMME KNOW!


Until next time,

caitlin

ok ok it has been forever since i have posted! I am sorry, I am just very very busy! But a lot has happened since I last posted. Lets see...the day after the Thames Walk we went to East London, which is a whole different area than Thames. It was the main place where immigrants would settle so it is really diverse. We went on a guided tour walk and I was able to see some of the places where Jack the Ripper had murdered his victims, which was awesome! East London wasn't my favorite but still a neat part of the experience. The next day we got to see the changing of the arms in front of buckingham palace which was AH-MAZINGGG. Buckingham palace-man what a place to hang your hat at the end of the day. But then that night I was pooped so i went to bed semi early especially since I started classes the next day. So 9 am i had to go to my first class, which I ended up dropping but what we get to do is go to class for an hour and half then go to an outing for the rest of the time. Well for this first class, Media and Politics, we got to go to Old Bailey Court House where we got to see a trial. Its so cool because they lawyers and judges wear the white curly wigs. That was really awesome to see. But then I had my internship on Tuesday which was fun to go to but its just far. I started working on booking an artist at local jazz clubs, so I feel pretty important haha. But my favorite class is theatre. We saw this play, "foreplay"...you can draw your own conclusions of what the play was about! But on friday we got to go to the tower of london which was so so so cool. I got to see the torcher chamber, the bloody tower, and the tower bridge. It was so old...i couldnt believe it. After the tower of london we went westminister abbey, which was breathtaking. I have never felt so tiny before. I got to see all these tombs of royality but I can't even begin to name them all! After the abbey i went home and took a nap-which was MUCH needed. That brings me up to today--we took a cruise to Greenwich village, which was so cute and neat. There is this amazing market that we were able to haggle with prices. We also went to this cool Marina museum, which inspired us to watch titanic tonight.

Well, I am going to upload pictures soon but i miss you all!


until next time,
love Caitlin

pictures from thames walk

british museum


ferris wheel


fountain near the national portrait museum


big ben in the distance


big ben again


skate park with neat graffiti