Happy Halloween from London!!!


Wow, I absolutely cannot believe that tomorrow is the first day of November…time seems to be going by faster and faster now, especially since we just got back from our three-day long weekend and now only have three weeks left in London! It is going to be a pretty full three weeks, so get ready for some exciting updates! I am starting to make my final to-do list of everything that must happen in the next three weeks, on top of the usual class time and nightly trips to the theater, and I’m slowly beginning to realize that there is just no way it’s all going to happen. The only solution is to come back again next year, assuming that my plan of finding free tickets to the Olympics works out as planned! :-) 


This past weekend we were allowed to make short 3-day trips to anywhere on the continent (our first time out of the UK on the trip so far!), and so we all dispersed in our many directions-a few went to Amsterdam, several went to Paris, one went to Barcelona, and three of us chose the lovely city of Prague in the Czech Republic as our weekend destination! Knowing very little what to expect from this eastern European capital, Olivia, Hannah and I decided to venture to the “Golden City” to see if it was just as beautiful and charming as we had heard it was…we just wanted to “Czech” it out!  And we were certainly not disappointed! Prague is an absolutely wonderful city with lots of deep-rooted medieval history, cobble-stone roads, lots of beautiful bridges, ancient churches, and a charming culture of music and theater. Much of the city reminded me of my time spent on church mission trips to Romania, because the Czech language is very similar to Romanian, and both countries share similar historical experiences with the rise and fall of communism, as well as the harsh realities of the Holocaust that affected the Jewish and Romany populations in each country.  We visited the oldest ancient castle in the world, Prague Castle, which is still used as its main center of government, and we climbed to the top of the Astronomical Clock Tower to see some incredible views of the city! One of my favorite parts of the trip was climbing the beautiful Petrin Hill, seeing Prague’s version of the Eiffel tower at the top, and just enjoying the beautiful fall colors and playing in the leaves, all while overlooking one of the most beautiful cities in Europe! Other highlights of the weekend included seeing Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni performed at the National Marionette Theater (think a bigger version of the Von Trapp family’s puppet show! So cool!), eating lots and lots of yummy bread (a Czech specialty), perusing through lots of local bookstores, and spending thousands and thousands of Czech crowns (their currency is ridiculous, a dollar was worth about 18 crowns so we felt like we spent SO much money this weekend!) All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, and it made me even more excited for our 10-day free travel period at the end of the month (and especially getting to travel around Italy with my sister!!! YAY!)

Prague's famous Astronomical Clock!

the view from the top of the clock tower!

Over the long weekend, I joined the crew heading to Paris. I woke up at the delightfully early hour of three o’clock on Friday, and I was soon on a five thirty train bound for the city of light! Our first day in Paris was fairly jam packed, as Brian, Justin, and I made our way to Versailles and the Louvre. Although Versailles is outside of the city of Paris, it is fairy easily accessible by train. Versailles itself was really interesting! As perhaps the most famous symbol of absolutism, the palace really illustrates the former grandeur of the French monarchy. To be honest, I found the gardens surrounding the complex to be far more interesting than the palace itself! In fact, I think Blenheim Palace in England may have been a bit more impressive. The Louvre was also terrific! If any of y’all have ever been, you know that it is impossibly overwhelming. You could quite literally spend days in it at a time. Perhaps the most famous object in the Louvre, is the Mona Lisa, although I did see a variety of Roman and Egyptian antiquities. Saturday was an interesting day in which we saw Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe. We also enjoyed taking a nice leisurely stroll along the Seine! To be honest, our visit to Paris was a bit superficial, as we only got to see the major tourist highlights. I also have a bit of a confession to make. While in Paris, I gained a newfound appreciation for the British. Not to say that all of my encounters with the French were unpleasant, but I did find a highly disproportionate number of rude people! Perhaps it was our age, accent, and nationality, but we always managed to find some rather grumpy people. I will say that, as expected, the food in Paris was spectacular! I had some delicious entrees and desserts over my few days there, and I am happy to report that Paris continues to maintain its status as the culinary capital of the world. Although I am happy I made the trip to this great European city, I have come to the conclusion that I am a Londoner and Anglophile at heart. 


I also wanted to give y’all a few quick highlights from our last couple of weeks. Last week, we went to the Churchill Museum and War Rooms. I think it was actually my favorite museum from the entire trip! It provided a fascinating glimpse into the life of Churchill, and I am truly awed by the man. In my opinion, he was undoubtedly one of the greatest figures of the 20th century. We continue to see a wide variety of interesting plays. Last week, we saw The Pitmen Painters, The Veil, and The Playboy of the Western World. All three were good plays, and I think most of the group enjoyed them. We have our usual routine of plays this week, and tonight, a few of us are actually hoping to go see Paranormal Activity 3 in honor of Halloween! All in all, life continues to go pretty well at a nice cruising speed! 

 In honor of the fact that we will be home in one short month, we decided to compile a list of the things we are most looking forward to when we return home!!!

1. Seeing our parents!!
2. Seeing my sisters!!! 
3.  Seeing our other family members!
4.  Seeing my dogs
5.  BOJANGLES 
6.  CHICK-FIL-A
7.  Going to church at home with my family 
8.  Returning to the land of Southern Baptists
9.  Going yard-sale-ing on Saturday mornings 
10.  SWEET TEA 
11.  Going for a run and not having to dodge ten million people on the sidewalk 
12.  My Eeyore footie pajamas, which I tragically left at home 
13.  Christmas tree-shaped Reese’s Cups (and any other holiday reese’s cups) 
14.  my real home with my real bed (though I have grown quite attached to room 2233 at the Royal National, it will never be a real home) 
15.  Going back to Furman and seeing our friends!
16.  Republican Primary Season 
17.  The Iron Lady – the new movie about Margaret Thatcher starring Meryl Streep
18.  CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!


Yours Truly,
Thomas and Julie