YeeHaaa!

This is how the Britons view America, or should I say Am-ur-i-kah.
^click me^

You Say It's Your Birthday

Well it's my birthday too, yeah.

My passport claims I'm another year older, today. But I didn't have to look there because Facebook beat it to the punch.

I went into town, splurged on 2 pineapples from Waitrose (the home of beautiful packaging) instead of Tesco (the home of rotten pineapples), bought some popsicles and a Newcastle Jersey. Happy Birthday to me.

This is said Newcastle Jersey. What should I get on the back (number and name-wise)?

Later we're headed to a club called Digital to celebrate birthdays as well as saying goodbye to the roommates. The last of the girls leave tomorrow morning. I will miss them dearly.

Luckily Tuesday, I'll be bussing it up to Scotland to meet Sami and Steve, friends from home. I am so excited to see people from home. It might tide me over until I get to see all of your beautiful faces on the 8th.

I hope that everyone has a safe (and ash free) flight.

Thanks To The Padres

I saw this ad in LHR Airport after coming home from Rome, which is peculiar because this ad came true at that moment. I realized I had about 200 dollars to live on for a month and a half.

So I was still chugging along...relying on my family a bit (thank you by the way) and a few days ago I checked my balance online.



Whoops. How did THAT happen?

There were a few days where I just didn't go out, in fear I might see something I "couldn't live without" and blow my whole, 2.88, wad on it (like a loaf of bread).

Thankfully, my birthday is Sunday, so Mom and I have been going through the yearly debate of "what do you want for your birthday?" I never get cash because my parents want my present to be a surprise. And believe me, it was a surprise this year, even better than cash.

Direct. Deposit.

(And just in time.)

No Smoking. Except For Dragons.

In the beginning there was so much we wanted to do. We said the dreadful words "oh, we have plenty of time, we'll do it later." 5 months later, we finally made it to Alnwick Castle. It's the most put-together of all the castles we've been to. I'm sure it's because they make a killing off the Harry Potter movies. It was used in the exterior shots of Hogwarts and Harry's first flying lesson. Crazy.
This being said, it was a very child-friendly castle. Despite a kid walking around with a sharp sword.



Creepy, and rather life-like, mannequins. I didn't necessarily enjoy being in a tight space with them.





At one point one of us said "Wow that looks like a real sword." About a minute later, the man obviously in charge of the swords ran over to the boy and said "oh, that's a sharp one!" He didn't necessarily direct it at the child, it was more of a "oh, shit. I hope my boss wasn't looking."


A snippet of a rather long film projected in the castle. I think they had a checklist of every British phrase, and they could've checked them all off.

My camera was shaking becasue it was scared. Inside there was something of a torture pit that you could see down into. They had a clothed dummy sprawled out in the bottom, and a tape of a man in distress playing. Creepy? Um. Just a bit.










Dress up time! We all had matching outfits (and swords).








Aleia didn't enjoy the spinning glowy tunnel. Neither did my stomach.







The biggest piece of fish I've ever seen. It was DELICIOUS.

Then we came home. I've seen the Millenium Bridge roughly every day for 5 months. It tips 1 to 2 times a day, and this was the first time I'd seen it.

Flying Lessons

Alnwick Castle, where the Harry Potter's flying lessons were filmed.
Many more photos to come....

All Great Things Must Come To An End -In Two Weeks

I never in my wildest dreams, would have thought that things would go the way they did. I think that is what is so great about studying abroad.

I'm going to miss Newcastle.
I'm going to miss being so close to these amazing places.
I'm going to miss being able to wake up and just decide "I think I want to go to the castle today."
I will miss feeling out of my element. I will even miss all the bloody coins.
I will miss hearing "cheers" and "uni." I will miss the view from our flat.
I will miss this space and all of the people I've met.
I will miss the excitement of being in a new place.
I think it's the little things I will miss the most.

Although I will miss Newcastle, I've missed home like it's nobody's business.
I can't wait for the Ramsey-ass reunion, it will be a good one.
It will be amazing to hug my family because it's the one thing Skype won't let me do.
I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and to have my dogs to snuggle with.
I can't wait to clean out my life. Travelling has made me realize I can live on very little.
After returning, I plan on eating so much. The most important being Mom's food. Then comes Chipotle -and really any Mexican food I can get a hold of. I'm already planning numerous trips to Dirty Franks with the friends, and the G&R with the fam. New Riegel will be even more delicious than it already is. I plan on buying cases of purple Gatorade.

Pacentro: Video

D and I in the newer part of Pacentro.

Roma: Video

Sistine Chapel Ceiling. I wouldn't suggest getting caught trying to video tape in there.

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Another Spring Break Orphan. I Call It Milan.

Milan is the fashion city of the world. And for good reason.

We were out on a cold, rainy night at midnight, scurrying to get gelato. I love Italy.
This the gelato parlor we were running towards, called Bianco Latte. Check them out on Google. They have an amazing branding team.



This was an incredibly genius idea for and eBay campaign. The metro station, where you wait for the train, was covered in stick-on print-outs of actual ebay auctions. From floor to ceiling, they covered the entire waiting area. In the crowded stops, EVERYONE was reading them. If you saw something you liked, you get on ebay (via Blackberry or internet) and bid on it. Not only did this help traffic to the site, but people saw things that were similar to things they wanted, got on eBay, and search for it. This is one of the best guerilla (non-traditional) ad campaigns I've seen. Passers-by were forced to get up close and personal to these ads, and it is an interactive experience. Bravo.