Ich Bin Eine Berliner

In the off chance that someone actually checks this, here are some photos from my trip to Berlin. Actually, here are a lot of pictures of Berlin.

Starting with........Berlin.

And here's a picture of the city. It's sort of this crazy mix between really old buildings, really cool Bauhaus buildings, and really cool post-war buildings.

And there was street art everywhere

Really inspirational street art.

And lots of art galleries, including this one called Tacheles.

This is the TV antenna that's visible from anywhere in the city and used for navigating the city, sort of like the Citgo sign. Also called The Disco Ball, The Tower of Power, The Pope's Revenge...

Me in front of the Reichstag with a dome designed in part by my architecture teacher's husband. This is why I was allowed to skip my architecture class.

The little man that tells you to go...

....and stop.

At the Brandenburg Gate, right across from...

...the hotel where Jacko hung his baby over the railing.

This is the Brandenburg Gate made out of chocolate in a restaurant that had the best hot chocolate ever.

Part of the Berlin Wall.

East Side/West Side. Being immature at the Berlin Wall.

Here's a replica of Checkpoint Charlie. This was actually the only part of Berlin that felt really tourist-y because there were people dressed as soldiers dancing around and lights everywhere and souvenir "Checkpoint Charlie" stamps for your passport that actually invalidate them.

Around Christmas in Germany, it's traditional for Christmas Markets to pop up. They have rides and homemade gifts and food and beer!

Sampling the local cuisine at a local brewery. Yum!

Ex-ex Pat

I've been insanely busy lately finishing up my time in London, my classes, and my undergraduate degree.

I really want to add some pictures from my (amazing) trip to Berlin, but it looks like I won't be able to do that until after I go home.

My flight home is this Saturday and although I'm (very) sad about leaving London, I'm excited to be going home.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Love,
Larissa, Samantha, and Annie

P.S. We got turkey and [American] football, too. Score!

O'Bama

One more thing about Ireland...

Barack's great-great-great-grandfather, Fulmuth Kearney, was from Ireland. And every single Irish person in Dublin, from the barmen to the cab drivers, told us this.

There are even t-shirts!

Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes....

I've been freaking out a bit because half of my pictures from my day in Ireland were corrupted on my memory card. All my scenic day pictures came out fine, though, so that's important. I was only around Ireland for less than 32 hours, so I had the most intense day ever.

Itinerary:
8:00: Wake Up for Irish Breakfast
9:00: Find out what's actually in an Irish Breakfast
9:30: Get eggs instead
10: Get on a bus to Winslow, Ireland, where P.S. I Love You was Filmed. Awwwww.
11:30-3: Hang out in the Irish countryside
5:00: Back to Dublin for the.....Guinness Factory.
6:00: Guinness Factory Gravity Bar for an amazing view of the city
6:30: Dinner in an Italian restaurant because all the pubs close early for dinner
8:00-9: Head back to our friend's place, get ready for the night
10:00-????: Dublin Pub Crawl

So that was the Ireland in a Day Marathon, which was hugely successful if not entirely tiring.

The Spire of Dublin a.k.a. the strangest monument I've seen in Europe. Literally....it's a giant pole.

The Irish Constitution. Erin Go Brah and all.

Traveling through Dublin

Around Ireland, the doors are all painted different colors. Apparently it's so everyone coming home from the pubs can find their house.

Real Life Irish Countryside

The Town of Winslow

Me & a Mountain

I can't even begin to describe how absolutely delicious the Guinness is in Ireland. It's a completely different drink than the US version.

View from the plane

Ireland vs. England

On my way to Ireland, someone explained to me the difference between the Irish and the British.


British people are polite, but not nice.

Irish people are nice, but not polite.

Three Cheers for the President with A Name Incredibly Convenient for Slogans

I watched T.V. for the first time since I got to Europe two nights ago.

Man, is the X Factor a great show.


Umm...just kidding.

As much as I love Sarah Palin jokes (fabulous parody available here), I'm so excited about the results of the election. It's amazing to see how excited everyone in London is, too. Being abroad for such an incredible event is such an interesting experience because you get to see an entirely different perspective. Yesterday, London-ers were giving Americans high-fives, just because they were American. Everyone was talking about the election and most people at my office had already watched Barack's speech before I came in in the morning.

Unfortunately, I only made it up until around 3 a.m. (an hour before Barack made his speech), so I watched the Daily Show recaps at work the next morning (I'm actually a great, hardworking employee. Coincidentally, I'm looking for a job...resume here).

Yesterday I also went on a really cool photo shoot for Uniqlo. The photographer used a thermal (heat-seeking) camera like the kind from National Geographic. Here's what the pictures look like:




A bit creepy...but posing in front of the camera was a lot of fun. At least you know I'm keeping it real in the LND.

And now, for your moment of zen...

Happy Halloween (ish)

I just got back from Stonehenge, which was great. The only problem was that the bus left at 8:45 am (clearly not an appropriate time to expect someone to be awake) and our tour guide really liked to talk........about nothing. So instead of instantly passing out as soon as I got on the bus, I got to hear the tour guide ramble on and on with such insightful tidbits as "Stonehenge is an incredible monument" and "It looks like all the Londoners are still in bed right now, but later they'll go get their Sunday papers.....that they won't finish reading until later that week!" Dear Lord. But after she eventually got tired of talking I zoned out until we got to Stonehenge.


It's such a weird landmark because it's in the middle of a bunch of roads......and also it's a bunch of rocks just arranged a pattern in the middle of a field. It was really cool to see, though, especially after all the new discoveries from this summer about how Stonehenge had been a burial site, how the stones probably weren't actually dragged hundreds of miles, and how Stonehenge is older than previously thought.


The reason I was so tired was because the night before my roommate and I had gone to a Halloween-themed British/European Pro Skateboarder Expo.


Really.

It was better than actual Halloween, which was a disappointment. People in England don't usually celebrate Halloween, and when they do it's nothing as great as it is in the US. But I did make sure there was Halloween-themed music at my work on Friday and "bloody" punch (made with Pepsi Max and some sort of berry syrup...very British-y).

My internship is going really well. The last week I was working on making a film for the game Wii Music that will be shown on the European Nintendo Channel on the Wii. In simpler terms, it's a video about a game that no one will watch. But here's the set:



And here's a boy getting his makeup done:


I got to be "Wii Music Band Manager," so I got to make the actors play these two songs (The Entertainer and Ode to Joy) over and over again for 6 hours. It was fairly torturous, but I can't really complain because I was just watching people play a video game.

When I don't go to my internship, I'm taking a class called "Architecture and Urbanism in London." It's great because we just get to walk around a lot and we usually end up at a museum so we can do that after class. Last week, in between seeing Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Trafalgar's Square I saw the official center of London,


and the official measurement of a foot.


Good times.

London Living

Here's an awesome number. I just checked the UK-US conversion rate and I found out that every (cheap) beer (or LAH-GAH, depending on where I am) I spend $4.88. And when I did a (i.e. one) load of laundry, it cost me $16. 26.

!

Don't get me wrong, it's all worth it (especially for essentials like those). But I can't wait to start spending those American dollars again.

Rome, Florence, and Pisa

After finals, we had 5 days off from our hectic schedule of going out every night in London to enjoy a break in Italy. 4 of my friends and I headed out to Rome for a day, Florence for two, and Pisa for a day. I took something like 700 pictures because it was all so beautiful.

ROME

The city view outside of the Sistine Chapel

The Vatican

The Vatican courtyard

Jesus says what's up.

There were so many ruins everywhere!

And here's the Coliseum..

We spent 2 hours inside taking dumb pictures on the fallen columns and pedestals

The Trevi Fountain in Rome. I forgot to take a picture of the Spanish Steps.

The next day we took a train to Florence. This is what the Italian countryside looks like.




FLORENCE
There was this GIANT hill you could climb that took you to the best view of the city. The climb was a drag after the extreme sight seeing/lack of sleep that had been going on, but it was worth it.

Florence at dusk

Florence was beautiful. This is the Ponte Vecchio bridge (its actually full of jewelry stores and covered in tourist's graffiti).

The view from the bridge.

The Santa Maria Novella

The front of the Santa Maria

The second day we bumped into a youth Communist rally in front of the church. There were thousands of minors waving signs and playing music. Really, I think they just wanted an excuse to skip school.

That night we decided to act our age and took a carousel ride. Pretty much after a while "When in Rome...." turned into "When in Italy..." and then just an excuse to do everything.

Like eat a whole lot of gelato. At every meal, whenever possible.




We also saw all three Davids, the original and two copies, in addition to a whole lot of other famous stuff (the Sistine Chapel, The Birth of Venus, Da Vinci's Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi, etc.).

The first one we saw was under scaffolding. You could only see two parts of the statue because the rest was covered up. Here's the family-friendly visible part.

The second one was made of bronze and on the previously mentioned giant hill above Florence.

And here's the real one. This is the only illegal photograph I took while I was in Florence, because you can't take pictures anywhere. But I figured that since I spent 20 USD to see one statue, I'd better get my money's worth.



PISA

The next morning we went to Pisa. We were so tired by then so Pisa was perfect. It's a very small area with a little market and more awesome gelato.

Oh, and a tower.

Peek a boo. Um..just kidding. But seriously, it's leaning a whole lot.

Since I was sick of gelatos by the fourth day, I decided to branch out and get an "Ice Burger." It was actually really good.

So there you have it....my last big trip (other than that whole London thing) before I come home.....in 2 months!