the past few months, in summary.

hello readers. yes, i realize how much time has passed since my last post. currently you find me freezing and struggling to finalize my thesis topic. i'll try to give you a quick run through of all the lovely accounts of my happenings of january and february.

i suppose we will start where i left off. new years. so new years came and went without much fuss. i definitely missed ringing in the new year with friends and family at our annual new years brunch. a huge thank you to all of you who mailed christmas cards, new years cards, valentines cards, candies, cookies, and general americana to me. although the royal mail sucks, i appreciated all of them, regardless of how long it took for them to arrive! all the cards are still proudly on display in my room. along with the new year came essay deadlines and many days at the gallery, as well as a trip to paris!

in the middle of january i was talking with my good friend, E, who lives in dc. she was helping me brainstorm for ideas of a weekend getaway. on a whim, we decided to see if there were any last minute mlk weekend flight deals to europe. lucky for us, she found a reasonable flight to paris. she instantly booked an international flight, i booked my first eurostar ticket, we found a hotel and rendez-vous-ed in paris 36 hours later! i am so thankful i have such a willing and adventurous (and future travel show co-host) to drop everything and jet-set to europe for a few days! being my third time in paris, i willingly took E around to a few of my favorite spots around the city, trekked through museums, and explored new sights around the city. the eurostar trip was pleasant. it only took about 2 hours to cross the channel and arrive in the city center. the first night we picked up the paris staples: brie, bread, bugles, pretzels, nutella, and wine, and ate our meal in the comfort of our little hotel room in the bastille. (coincidentally, we stayed in the same hotel B and i stayed in during my first trip to paris.) the next morning, we awoke to an amazing sunny 50 degrees (and the sun stayed out until after 5!) for those of you who have yet to experience the grim, grey, and misty london winter you have no idea how appreciative i was of the sun...i mean literally seeing the ENTIRE sun...for more than 15 minutes, and past 4 pm. (london goes from grey, to lighter grey, to light grey, to dark grey, to black all day every day. although, i must give the city credit as it has not been getting dark until 5 or 5:30 as of late.) after consuming the typical french breakfast, croissants, nutella, bread, etc. we began our day at notre dame. being a sunday we even caught a bit of mass during our visit. we then walked through the catacombs, lunched in the luxembourg gardens, wandered through saint germain, and then tackled the d'orsay. day 2, brought some rain and colder weather, but we still managed to cram a lot in. we went to the eiffel tower, champs elysees, the musee l'orangerie, strolled around the louvre, and then visited the pompidou. the next morning we woke up early and took the rer out to versailles. the palace was absolutely beautiful (and free to european students). after touring the palace, we had to scope out the gardens. unfortunately the weather wasn't the best so we didn't linger too long. i had to visit my favorite book shop, shakespeare & co. (i bought a new book called ghostwritten by david mitchell which i am currently reading.) for our last night we had a lovely french meal with onion soup and salad and mousse. the next morning, after consuming more bread, pastries, crepes, and nutella than one person should in the span of 3 days, we both had to depart to our respective cities. it was so nice to escape london and the uk, as i haven't left either since i've arrived. (ok i did go to liverpool for 2 days, but we all know how that turned out.) it was even better to have a friend from home go with me.

parieeee.

sun!

more sun!

the infamous lilypads at l'orangerie.

christmas trees were still everywhere in the city.

it even made up for my lack of christmas cheer during the holiday season.

the chapel in versailles.

my weekend home.

february proved to be a busy month. and those 28 days always go by so quickly. school and my internship have been busy. when not working or studying, i've been discovering new restaurants throughout the city, cooking with friends, and trying to bake more. i made some strawberry cupcakes for valentines day, followed by cookies, and i just baked one of my favorite smitten kitchen recipes for a friends birthday. there have been a few sunny days here and there in london, but it seems the winter weather is back for bit. i'm so ready for spring and don't want to hear anymore stories about the sunny sc weather!

march and april will be bringing lots of traveling for me. i am excited to see some new places, as i really haven't taken advantage during my time here. i suppose that's part of growing up and having responsibilities.

tomorrow i am making homemade pizza for the first time since being here. i have really missed pizza. the british don't seem to believe in it. i will be making my version of mellow mushroom's kosmic karma. i can not wait. it's been months since i've had a homemade pizza (which was usually a weekly thing back in the states.)

for those of you who beg or anxiously await for facebook pictures, i am sorry i am lazy and never seem to have the time or energy to upload pictures. one day when you are least expecting it, they will appear. for now you will have to suffice with the limited selection i post here.

well, hopefully i won't leave you hanging for so long next time. i am sure my upcoming travels will bring lots of stories and mishaps, as is often the case. so i will have to let the suspense build and will share all in good time. for those of you back in the sunny homestead bottle the vitamin d and mail some my way :)

book club.

well it seems i've neglected the book club for quite some time. so here's what i've read the since the last post...

after completing shadow of the wind way back before i moved to london, here's what i've read since then.

i reread another favorite, harry potter and the deathly hallows by jk rowling. good as always.

then to pique my curiosity, i got sucked into 'the girl' series by stieg larsson: the girl with the dragon tattoo, the girl who played with fire, and the girl who kicked the hornet's nest.

just before departing for london i read little bee by chris cleave. coincidentally the book took place in a suburb of london, in kingston. ironically this is where my university is. i suppose it was a fitting book to read just before leaving.

school books have generally taken precedence these days, but i've managed to read a few since being here.

first i read extremely loud and incredibly close by jonathan safran foer. i read his everything is illuminated back in 2009 after purchasing it at shakespeare and co. in paris. i've been a fan ever since. however, i think i preferred the former. it was the story of a young boy who loses his father in 9/11 and how he is coping with the tragedy.

i just finished half broke horses by jeannette walls. it is the story of her tougher than nails grandmother. i had read her memoir the glass castle and was glad to read another one of her novels. thank you L for mailing it to me.

currently, i am reading ghostwritten by david mitchell.

ten days later...

i'm sure you all have been dying to know what i have been up to the past few days. let's pick up where we left off. i left you with the cliff hanger of nuit blanche. so we'll start there.

saturday-- the day began with a hearty breakfast consisting of southern meal leftovers. yes i ate a fried chicken biscuit-esque sandwich and some apple pie. what are you going to do about it? (so did C) but for good reason...we were saving money and needed lots of calories for our busy 24 hours. we took the train into paris and arrived just before 12. we walked around the pompidou area, passed by the louvre, through tuleries (ps it was fashion week. models were out on the loose), along to seine up to the trocadero where our lunch scavenger hunt began. who knew bread could be so hard to come by in paris. after finding our nutella, bread, and cheese (the parisian staples) we picnicked with a lovely view of the eiffel tower, along with thousands of other tourists. after lunch we hiked back across the city to luxembourg gardens. C's host mom's sister and husband picked us up and drove us to the outskirts of paris (literally just outside the arrondissement borders) to a friends house for a little birthday celebration. the house definitely had a view of the eiffel tower. not too shabby. also, typical parisian crowd...i socialized with an artist who has an exhibit opening in 2 weeks at the louvre, a pr rep for versace who just returned from milan's fashion week, and a production manager among others. yes in case you are wondering, the parisians spoke english and were completely welcoming. after hanging out there, we braved the drive back into paris. let's just say i never ever ever plan on driving in paris. i would not come out alive if i was behind the wheel. anyways, we ate dinner at an american cafe in the marais (the gay district near the pompidou). around 12:30 or 1 am C and i's night really began.

nuit blanche-- so lots of cities in europe have their respective 'nuit blanche' in their respective languages during the respective time of year. paris' happened to fall on the saturday i was there. the museums are open late (and are free). however, the most exciting part is there are temporary art installations in different areas of the city specifically for the event that are open just for the evening. the best part...all of them are free. we started at the pompidou worked our way over to notre dame and the luxembourg gardens. these were the highlights:

notre dame: light installation by sylvie fleury

eglise saint-severin: the forty-part motet by janet cardiff

(well the video won't upload and being an audio exhibit these pictures of the church are lame when trying to illustrate the exhibit. this was definitely the favorite. there were 40 speakers placed inside the church, one for each singer, based on location there was an entirely different experience perceived only by the ears)

jardin du luxembourg: la maitresse de la tour eiffel by michel de broin

jardin du luxembourg: white (night) spirit by hugues reip

hotel d'albret: je vous aime tous by vincent olinet

so at 7 am our night ended, but our day was just beginning. in order to conserve an additional 4 metro tickets we decided to stay in the city until the pompidou opened. the first sunday of every month the museums offer free admission. so we hung out in a mcdonalds for 3 hours waiting for 10 am to come. long story short, obviously we were exhausted as we had been on our feet for the better part of 24 hours. the exhibit on female artists by female artists wasn't exactly what i needed that early in the morning and running on zero sleep. we also breezed through the permanent collection. luckily i've seen it before or it would have been a major bust. we arrived back in bry around 2 pm just over 26 hours since we had last been there. it was definitely an experience and one i will never forget. but let's just say next time i participate in a nuit blanche i will be in the early crowd.

sunday-- once arriving back at bry we ate a much needed warm meal as paris was quite chilly into the wee hours. i also took a much needed shower. the remainder of the afternoon and evening were mostly spent in bed, as they should have been.

monday-- a rainy day in paris. the morning was spent wandering around aimlessly. i did find an amazing bakery with a perfect chocolate muffin. the rest of the day was spent catching up on sleep. if ever in doubt about what life is actually like for a wandering soul, today was a perfect case in point. 80% of my time it is spent wandering around, without a map just going wherever strikes my fancy. the remaining 20% is usually spent sleeping and eating. generally i'd like to think it's divided equally between the two, but those of you who know me might assume otherwise. and are probably right.

tuesday-- most of my day was spent inside shakespeare and company, the amazing english bookstore just across the river from notre dame. i also got a nutella crepe outside the pompidou. my fave. and wandered in the beige and powder blue of the paris streets.

wednesday-- my last day in paris should have been eventful. mostly i wandered around the latin quarter. i went saint sulpice. (da vinci code anyone?) the church is really beautiful. there is a disclaimer about the novel and the whole line of the rose or whatever that is supposedly in the church.

so i realize that still leaves about five off. those five days include dublin and my first day back in barcelona. the rest will have to come tomorrow.

a little of this and a little of that.

ok so since i last wrote a lot has happened....

sunday--last day in bilbao. it was spent in montellano. it's a small mountain town about 30 minutes outside of the city. there we had a wonderful meal. i walked around some. mostly just enjoyed the view. and enjoyed my last day and night with S, C, and O.

cute montellano house.

and from the back.

the pretty view.

monday--i set off for barcelona! the trip was a little stressful to say the least. i condensed my luggage down to one heavy heavy suitcase plus my backpack with clothes for the next six weeks. and then my bookbag with my computer. stil a lot of luggage, but way less than what i came over with. yes, i found the inner stregth to ditch some of my clothes. i took the bus from bilbao to barcelona. instead of taking the metro, or paying for a taxi, i took the bus to the bus station. i had just missed the bus i needed so i had to wait about 15 minutes for the next one. i arrived just in the knick of time though. i sat down on the bus at exactly 10:29. my bus was leaving at 10:30 and they wait for no one. the trip took about 7.5 hours with a 30 minute stop in zaragoza. it was not the most scenic place i've ever been. basically a glorified truck stop. i arrived at sants at 6 with C (a friend from clemson) meeting me. we went to his apartment and walked the entire length of barcelona. we got dinner at samsara! then walked back towards the water, got a drink, and hiked all the way back to his apt because the metro had already closed. all in all a good day. i forgot how much i missed that city. returning felt just like coming home. familar.

tuesday--i woke up and walked the city. i took the metro to para-lel. (my old stomping grounds). i walked from resa to the port area. along maremagum to barceloneta. i put my feet in the mediterranean. then i headed into ciutadella through the born into my favorite church, santa maria del mar. afterwards i wandered to the catedral area and towards catalunya. C met me and we ate at a new walk to wok. it was amazing. we then headed up to gracia again. this time to revist my favorite parc, crueta del coll. we walked some more and headed into lesseps and took the metro back to his apt.

wednesday--my day began around 4:30. i walked to sants to catch the 5:35 train to the airport. i got to check out bcn's new terminal! i flew from bcn to paris where C (a friend from home) is working as an au pair. her wonderful host mom and the 3 kids picked me up from the airport. currently i am staying just outside of paris in a cute little town called bry-sur-marne. (depending on the trains, it takes about 40 minutes to get into the heart of paris.) the day was mostly spent catching up with C and playing with the 3 kids.

thursday--i woke up bright and early to escort C to her french class. her school is located near the luxembourg gardens. while she was in class for 3 hours i wandered around the city. i have truly mastered this. i wish someone could pay me to wander around cities for hours. i wandered wherever i pleased, and only looked at a map just to get back to C's school. first i walked around luxembourg gardens. then i found myself at the pantheon, which is where victor hugo and marie curie are buried, among others. i only looked at the outside though. i slowly worked my way down to the seine and into notre dame. on my last visit i never went into the church. i also found the most amazing bookshop in the entire world. it's called shakespeare & co. it's been in paris since the 1920s and many famous writers have found themselves within it's walls. hemingway's lost generation met there. during wwII it was an underground publishing place for james joyce. the entire place is covered from floor to ceiling in books with hidden nooks and quaint reading corners. i can't wait to go back. i made it back to C's school around 12 to catch the train back into bry.

shakespeare and co.

lots of books.

and nooks.

friday--C has no class so we woke up early and took the train to la defense. there we saw the grande arch as well as many great pieces of art. we found a serra, miro, calder, and others. i also found the nicest mcdonald's i've ever seen in my life. tonight we cooked dinner for C's host family. it was the most southern meal i've had in a long time. the menu included: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet tea, apple pie and vanilla ice cream. it was amazing! currently i am stuffed!

tomorrow is la nuit blanche. there will be some amazing art exhibits in the city as well as museums opened late. we need to do some major planning. we will be spending the entire day in the city. maybe the entire night. who knows.

oh yeah, C and i are going to dublin next thursday-sunday! then i return to barcelona for a few days until i figure out what the next destination will be on my tour-de-europe!