Lover, I'm on the street where the bright lights & the big city meet...

As I'm writing this, I'm still sitting in Chris's room at Le Cenacle in Geneva, Switzerland.. but my bags are all packed, he isn't here and I don't think I could be any sadder at the thought of leaving.. I've loved Switzerland, it's an absolutely gorgeous country with a backdrop of none other than the Swiss Alps and beautiful cobblestone walkways and fountains and fine dining and AH.. so much. But, I'd be just as sad leaving that infamous apartment in Columbus, Ohio as I am to leave Geneva.. and not to put down Ohio, but the only thing that Columbus, Ohio from a few months ago and present-day Geneva have in common is one thing - my boyfriend.

I've been here since last Thursday evening. On the train voyage here, during which I may have overreacted a bit (sorry!), I got lost and flustered being that French makes about as much sense to me as ancient hieroglyphics, and much to my surprise, I bumped into another American girl my age, who was looking for the same train, had just gotten in as part of her fall break from London and was meeting up with friends in Geneva as well. Sometimes, you just have to love globalization. Studying abroad makes you suddenly sympathize with any foreigner whom every American at some point or another was guilty of bashing for "not learning the language." Regardless, I eventually found my way to the main train station, and without a functioning phone, it felt so good to see him standing there. I wanted to throw my luggage aside and leap to hug him, but remembering that my new friend had more or less saved me from curling up into a ball and crying in the middle of the airport, I elected to put that on hold.

Anyway, the night was so much fun - even taking the tram and getting my first glimpse of the city and Jet D'Eau (which I've decided is so far one of my favorite sights that I've seen thus far in Europe) was so much fun. And I can't lie, even though Chris likes to relapse into Engrench on occasion, it was impressive to see him speak French to some of the passersby :) The rest of the night was awesome, except if I remember correctly, we went out to party and have a good time at Spring Brothers bar with a bunch of his friends, and within ten minutes I had horrible stomach pains to the point where Chris and I barely finished a beer before we headed back to Le Cenacle. Gotta hate that sometimes, but seeing as I had an exhausting day and barely slept the night before, it was probably best that we head back early. If I had to walk the mile and a half back (in heels, nonetheless) I don't know how I ever would have made it..

That Friday, I sat in on Chris's Swiss Life & Cultures class - which was absolutely comical. I realize my British Life & Cultures class is sort of a joke because we're barely actually ever IN a classroom, and my professor makes me giggle like an idiot because he reminds me of one of the main characters from Big Bang Theory on CBS, only he's ten times funnier solely because he has an insanely thick British accent. But regardless, their "professor"(??) more or less stood there for three hours and completely made up stuff about the Genevois as if she had done years of research... it was pretty hilarious, and what was even more hysterical was how EVERYONE was on their computers talking to each other. I suppose that means I should give prop to my BLC professor, because he at least disguises himself for being knowledgeable enough that less than half the class is on facebook when he talks. That's pretty impressive for an abroad class, I'd have to guess...

That night we went out to a classier bar (or two?) which was awesome because I'm not sure the two of us ever went alone to a bar before? (Being that I'm still only 20, that would be a legitimate reason why)... it was so much fun, and afterwards, we met up with the crew at Spring Brothers - and being a little ridiculous was just as fun as well. Not to mention it felt good to be in a sports bar, despite being 3,000 miles away from Yankee Stadium for the WS... but that's besides the point, I guess. Ugh :)

We DID take the walk all the way back at the point - which I should have been discomforted by, but I wasn't in the slightest. In fact, as Chris predicted, the walk more or less flew by haha.

On Saturday we hopped on a bus (without my having money, so of course, I was in fear of getting caughted and being fined $80 for the entire trip) to the Swiss/French border... halfway through the voyage, we realized we were supposed to have our passports. After realizing that passport authority was actually checking people for their credentials, we took a lesson learned from the US/Mexico border and put it to good use - we found a hole in the border fence, hopped it "discretely" and ran like hell.

HILARIOUS. I realize in our minds we probably exaggerated the severity of the situation - in fact, dare I say, we may have been able to walk past the passport authority without them even caring to ask what we were up to - but regardless, it was so hilarious (and SO badass, right?)

So we got kind of lost in a beautiful, more or less deserted French town, before finding our way over to the lifts to climb Mt. Saleve. It was sad that there was a layer of thick, low-lying clouds once we reached a certain altitude (despite it being beautiful, warm and absolutely sunny for our whole voyage to France), but the trip was still so incredible.. and despite what Chris may claim, the photographs are still impressive.

We hiked up the top of Mt. Saleve, plopped ourselves down in a grassy field by a herd of sheep, ate delicious sandwiches and Swiss chocolate and just lied there gazing at the Alps. Incredible... Never undestimate the potentials for study abroad experiences.

We came back to Le Cenacle exhausted, but ready to go out and have a good time. I think that was the night we ended up bar-hopping more or less? We were in search of a jazz club that we failed to find, but stumbled on another cute, overpriced bar, where we ordered pints of 1664 solely because it was the cheapest thing on the menu.. we left there and went to what was more or less an outdoor bar, where we had pints of the same drink for half the price, and somehow, eventually wobbled over to Spring Brothers where we met up with some of the gang again.

I had SUCH an incredibly fun time, even if there were no live bands or dancing or three levels of cheap drink service (I'm obviously describing O'Neills in London's Leicester Square)... it was SUCH a good feeling to not be the sketchball third-wheel at a dance club this time, because this time, I HAD my boyfriend with me. That made it a thousand times better than the best bar I've been to in London thus far.

And, the night ended with us begging a Dutch girl about our age for 40 cents because, as per usual, I was just short of getting bus passage. I've been here 8 days now and have yet to be checked on the public transporation system, but I KNOW that I have such bad luck with t hose things... I couldn't help but notice I'm about 60 cents short for the train from the main station to the airport, and that terrifies me because I KNOW I'd be THAT person who gets caught on my very last public transportation voyage before getting back to London. UGGH.

Anyway, Sunday we laid low despite the fact that we had wanted to visit another town or city in Switzerland.. For photos' sake, I wish we had been able to go somewhere outside of Geneva... but as I'm writing this now, I'm pretty sure I have a fever and my eyes feel like they want to close, despite the fact I slept plenty last night. But, I felt so lousy that I didn't even catch all of Game 2 of the WS last night... so you KNOW I must be under the weather...

Anywho, the rest of the week was fabulous, despite the fact that Chris interns during the week... if I had been more energetic, I'd have gotten my lazy rear-end out of bed when Chris left for work and would have voyaged through Geneva...part of me wishes I had done that more, but most of me realizes that I a.) would've gotten lost and b.) would've spent the whole time pretending I knew what I was doing, without every actually stumbling on anything picture-worthy or notorious. Hahaa. But, I enjoyed sharing all of the lunch breaks with Chris this past week.. and we made sure to try to get out to dinner a couple times at night... although cooking dinners were strangely enjoyable, and staying in with the one you love can never be underestimated.

On Wednesday, Chris came down with something so he ended up staying in from work.. which, although I felt bad, and although it meant we really couldn't go out, I was glad that he was "stuck" with me all day, and the same was true for Thursday.

It seems like I've been here for such a long time because I absolutely love all of his friends here, and I've gotten really good at finding my way through Geneva on my own with very little knowledge of French... but gosh, time always goes by so fast when we visit each other. Oktoberfest in Germany together was hilarious, but I enjoyed the week together in Switzerland so much more, just because it felt like "old" times but in a new, exciting city in Europe. My plane leaves in less than eight hours, which means I'll be at the airport in about 5 and a half.. and Chris won't get out of the GREs until about another five hours... it's always so hard to leave, regardless of "where" it is I'm leaving... so I'm sure I'll sob like I usually do and then, as soon as I get to my flat in London, I'll probably put on sweatpants, climb into bed and watch childrens' Halloween movies all night.. but gosh, this week was worth it so, so much...




P.S. -- I just wanted to point out that the U2 lyrics as a title are to celebrate the fact that summer 2010 tickets go on sale SO SOON!!! AHHHH!!! :)

P.P.S. -- I guess now would be the point to brag that the Yanks tied up the WS and it's still anybody's game now (and by anybody's, I mean anybody's on the Yankees... GO NEW YORK!)

Okay, that's all for now. hahaa

Social disease? Well, take your medicine!

I've really been slacking in my attempts to update this blog - I've started to write posts on several occasions and then either my realization that I have a mile-long list of assignments due in just 5 days, coupled with the fact that my computer caught some obnoxious trojan (thank you, big jerks) has led me to never quite get myself to write on here... plus, in my attempts to clean mass portions of my harddrive, I somehow erased my flickr account login information and I have no idea how to access my photos. Wah, wah..

Anyway, in the course of a week, I've traveled to a Sikh temple in Southall, discovered a (semi-delicious) 17pence swiss cake roll at Sainsbury's, landed the internship with City A.M., bought a dress at Camden markets (AHH and wanted to buy about 12), FINALLY met up with Zach and reunited with Ethan. Oh, and I've grown nocturnal by remaining dedicated to the Yankee games, despite the godawful time difference. (I'm currently watching the Yanks en route to making it 5 wins in a row- HECK YES)...

The Sikh temple was pretty enjoyable, despite the long journey to get there and the fact that my professor is quite certainly either a Sikh or a Hindu who is blatantly prejudiced against other faiths. I'm just saying. It's kind of hilarious because she denies it but then she makes little snide remarks that reveal she's lying through her teeth. Hey, even the educated can still be ignorant to their prejudice, I suppose. Regardless, the Sikhs were incredibly nice and I really enjoyed walking inside and witnessing all of the devouted Sikhs (and many individuals who I'm assuming weren't Sikhs) pay their respects on just a random Monday afternoon.

On Wednesday, I (while shaking in my shoes) went to Cannon Street in the cold, dismal weather, starving and with too little money to buy anything but an old Belgium chocolate brownie at Starbucks to hold me over, and finally made it over to my interview with City A.M. - a daily financial paper with a circulation of approximately 350,000. I realize now, what I had already suspected then, and that is (lucky me) I'm one of the chosen few who gets to be faced with an incredibly challenging internship... however, if I can tackle it appropriately, I truly am fortunate because the rewards could be FANTASTIC... Keep your fingers crossed :)

So, to back-track to the main story of the week thus far that I'd like to mention (as I'm getting lazier and my writing is getting poorer due to the fact that it's 3:30am and I'm rushing to get back to solely focusing on the ALCS) that Zach and I met up at Fortnum & Mason - a famous ice cream parlour /restaurant / center for shopping. We ordered Caprese salad which, oh my goodness, my stomach is growling just thinking about it... and the Knickerbocker sundae was AMAZING (which it should have been for 12 pounds). I'm pretty sure I've never tasted such an incredible combination of fruit, whipped cream and ice cream.. Delicious!

Afterwards, however, we decided to go exploring.. the first floor above us had so many beautiful Christmas displays... I waltzed in there and immediately I wanted to go home to NJ and bake cookies and blast some Johnny Mathis. As I craved a meager, homely Christmas, we walked past their plasma screen-TV yule log to check out a fairly decent (yet not elaboate) looking Santa Claus.. and as Zach walked ahead of me, I was about to follow until my eyes caught a glimpse of the pricetag.

636 pounds.

636?!?! That's over $1,000. How the HELL could this Santa, which neither sang nor danced nor did it dispense candy, how the HELL could it have cost A THOUSAND DOLLARS. And here it was just chilling on an unbalanced stack of Christmas ornaments and other overpriced yet cheaply crafted decorations.

Seeing the pricetag on our beloved Father Christmas, we explored the next floor. And the ridiculous only got more nauseating. There were hats that cost nearly $1,000 that I'm pretty sure I've seen sold by the dozen for a five and some change at Walmart. Honestly - disgusting material and even more atrocious patterns. I'd understand if you were so filthy rich that you had to buy only products that further flaunt your need to display just how materialistic you really are. But why on God's earth anyone would pay A THOUSAND DOLLARS for a polka-dotted hat with mismatching peacock feathers protruding from the top, I HAVE NO IDEA.

While the glam and the delicious food and the atmosphere made me fall in love even more-so with London, the absolute snobbiness of the other floors reminded me of what I loathe. Trust me, I even fall victim to the love for shopping and fine dining despite my incessant bragging about Ramen noodles and half-priced coleslaw, but COME ON. Travel the world, donate to a charity, provide a financial bailout to a small country, or just exchange your pounds for US dollars and roll around in a pool of your own cash but BY GOD... please don't buy the thousand-dollar peacock hats..

There Are Places I'll Remember...

Abbey Road Studios sign
Originally uploaded by awolice89

For a person who can't even function in life without a 24/7 soundtrack, and for someone who has officially been in London for over a month, I don't really know why exactly I hadn't ventured over to Abbey Road until this past Thursday..

Logistically speaking, there really isn't that much to see. In fact, dare I'd come to face the reality, the zebra crossing made infamous by the Fab 4 has actually been repainted and moved several feet from where it was in 1969. But, maybe I'm just a sucker for musicians who made an impact in the 60s and 70s (I swear if there's such a thing as past lives, I HAD to have lived in that era), or maybe there really is something magical still about going on a "pilgrimmage" to the site at which the Beates recorded the majority of their songs. I didn't elect to pay to go inside and tour the studios (from what I'm told, it literally just looks like a studio with maybe some plaques or something on the walls), but to actually go to Abbey Road, to actually see nearly 50 people at 1pm on a Thursday afternoon flock to a crosswalk simply because of an album cover made 40 years ago is something incredible.

Since the era of the British Invasion (which, I suppose they don't call it that here.. in Britain...), Abbey Road studios has welcomed recording artists like Pink Floyd, The Killers and Muse.. yet outside, the front wall serving as a fence in front of the building is covered daily in dedications written by devoted Beatles fans. It's absolutely amazing. Over 40 years later and several people, from the Beatles' generation, to my generation, to people younger than myself (can you imagine) were out there writing song lyrics and messages thanking the Beatles for all they've done for British pop culture and for everyone alive in the 60s and beyond. I know there is, unfortunately, a good handful of self-declared artists out there who I have little respect for because their music is just drab melody mixed with Hollywood controversy and words that sound as if their writer spent under an hour paging through a rhyming dictionary just to meet a deadline.. but going to Abbey Road reminds you of the impact music can really have on the world..

After leaving Abbey Road in a (failed) search for fish & chips, believe it or not I bumped into Kelly out of the blue (I've worked with Kelly for years in NJ and shes visiting from the US until tomorrow). It was absolutely hilarious, and 100 times funnier because I completely CALLED that I would bump into her. I swear I'm clairvoyant sometimes..

While I still can't express how much it meant to spend last weekend with Chris, and to see friends like Justin and Rachel.. It also felt really awesome to see a familiar face from home - not to mention I had a really great time during Kelly's visit!...

So that night, Kelly & her friends (who I LOVEEE) and I went to O'Neill's (because every first-timer to London really HAS to go there), and it was absolutely hilarious. I've never actually been there THAT late, and now I know not to be... Given that I'm obviously (very happily) accounted for, and given that most people at a bar 2am on a Thursday night are looking for something in particular, I more or less fled the dance floor at a certain point until everyone was ready to leave. Still feeling the effects of my choice beverages, I couldn't remember where my bus stop was, so I left with the girls and stayed at Regent's for the night (and God bless the girls for ordering such incredible food at 4am. OH MY GOODNESS. So delicious!)

Then, this afternoon we made our way to Camden. Gosh, every time I go there I want to cry over how many things I want to buy. I swear I'm not an overly materialistic person, but it's impossible not to be when you go to the London markets.

Unfortunately for myself (and my sanity) I still have this God-awful project due this week with NO IDEA how to tackle it.. that being said, I should probably get back to writing my homework rather than writing in my blog... UGGH.

Yo man, pick yourself off the ground..

Canstatter Volksfest @ Stuttgart
Originally uploaded by awolice89

Amidst countless al-Qaeda threats, faulty electronic plane tickets and having to confront my fear of small airplanes (and doing so with enormous amounts of cheap red wine), I not only made it to Oktoberfest (technically Cannstatter Volksfest) in Stuttgart, Germany, but oh my goodness did I have an epic time...

So, in my defense, I'm not actually a wine-o in real life. However, I have a big fear of flying and after walking the tarmac and laying my eyes on what barely even looked like a plane because of it's ridiculously small size, I of course wasn't going to pass up free refills of red wine onboard. It was a great idea and it definitely helped, unfortunately it took a good hour and a half for the other 2 glasses of wine to kick in... and the flight was only an hour and 10 minutes long.

That being said, I got off the plane alone, knowing no more than 5 words in the German language, mapless and.. oh yeah... drunk off Lufthsana's red wine. What should have taken me no more than an hour to get from the airport to our hostel took me about two hours.. and my phone took forever to pick up a signal, so needless to say when I had arrived at our (ADORABLE) hostel, I had missed everyone who had left for dinner. Nevertheless, it was a long, dull three hours in the hostel room until Chris and Steve finally arrived. Words can't express how much I've missed Chris and how happy I was to not only see him again but also to see him in GERMANY, but I had been so worn out and cranky from being alone (and hungover at 7pm) that I'm not sure he realized it until later..

That being said, despite the fact that we really did nothing but get lost and search for a restaurant for several hours that night, it was hilarious and it was so awesome to just wander around a random town in a country completely foreign to all of us. We got back, passed out for the night and woke up to a beautiful, sunny, charming Stuttgart..

So we spent our Saturday at Ludwigsburg at the Bluhendes Barock... I'm still not entirely sure what exactly that place is because none of us could understand the signs (nothing was written in English)... but the gardens were beautiful and OH MY GOODNESS the pumpkins were awesome... It reminded me of family trips to the October festivals in Pennsylvania. My mom would've been all over this place (hahaa). Not to mention had I been 10 years younger I would've loved all of the fairy tale castles and displays that they had...so awesome!

So for lunch we went to this place where everything they served incorporated pumpkins.. I had spaghetti with pumpkin sauce, Chris had some pumpkin rice dish and the others had pumpkin quiches and raviolis. SOO delicious. The beer was fabulous as well.. the awesome thing was that we bumped into quite a few Americans who were in town for military purposes... two of the peope we had spoken to on separate occasions had said that they felt that this year, the Cannstatter Volksfest was actually better than Oktoberfest in Munich had been... I have no grounds to make that statement since I've never even been to Munich, but I can't imagine how Oktoberfest could have been much better (or even much bigger?).

So, we all (of course) came back to the hostel to nap before our festivities that night... We made our way back to Bad Canstatt afterwards and OH MY GOODNESS. First off, they had amusement rides that I've never even seen before.. there were so many incredible food stands and beer EVERYWHERE. Honestly, where else are there festivals that have rollercoasters with loops in them and several ferris wheels?? I would've loved to have done a few rounds of rides, but we somehow managed to wedge our way into a beer tent that was in extremey high demand. Oh my goodness.. no words or pictures could describe how insane it was inside. It was only about 7:30pm and people were already dancing on tables and passing liters of beers and diving into huge platefuls of pork and fries (yes, they're fries again in the EU) and AHHH... so much craziness. How anyone could be a server during Oktoberfest, I have no idea. Definitely requires a lot of skill, alot of patience and a lot of energy...

We finally found a reserved table that no one was occupying and plopped ourselves down and ordered a few rounds of beer and DELICIOUS chicken. SO GOOD. It wasn't long before we made a few German friends without understanding much of what they were saying.. there was also a live band playing German drinking songs, but what I don't understand was... why on several occasions did they play "YMCA" and Robbie Williams' "Angels"??? SO weird!