I don't even want to talk about how much shortbread I ate.

I'm serious, John Darnell and I (with a little assistance from Colleen and our friendly neighbors across the aisle on the train) ate a MASSIVE box of shortbread cookies.  I should probably be dead right now.  BUT, once again, by the grace of God, I am not. Yay!  All you lucky people get to put up with me for a while longer.  

SO.  The reason I was eating shortbread.  I spent an absolutely fantastic weekend in Edinburgh.  Renee, Connor, John, John, Katie, Colleen and I all set off Friday afternoon on a five hour train ride to experience the magical lowlands of Scotland.  This was my first experience traveling by train.  I loved it!  The ambiance is so delightful (though I wasn't in car with a bunch of drunken scottish men and a very short gentleman dressed as a real life oompa loompa . . . odd? we thought so. . .)but yes, just so many people from so many walks of life all brought together for a little while.  Most of them chatting happily away as they prepare for a holiday in the countryside or a visit home for the weekend.  Amidst the chapter I somehow settled down for a good four to five hours of homework.  It was nice to start the weekend on a productive note for a change.  Especially since I wasn't sitting next to any of my ND friends anyway.  Five very productive hours later, I found myself stepping out onto a rather blustery platform ready to face a weekend of adventures in Edinburgh.  

Adventure number one?  Find the hostel.  After a brief discussion and a brief moment of confusion where we thought the lift sign meant bathroom, we headed off down princess street for a thirty minute walk to Belford Hostel.  Claim to fame?  (at least according to yours truly)  Old Church converted to a hostel by plopping several makeshift drywalls in the shape of rooms in the old church apse.  No cielings on the rooms.  Don't worry, there was a roof.  The church roof.  But no ceiling on the roof.  Pretty funny to walk into a 12 x 18 room with four bunk beds and no ceilings but a vaulted church roof and an oak choir loft above your head.  We wanted Connor to climb up and wave to our neighbors before scaling the choir loft in search of an organ.  Sadly he declined and we opted for dinner instead.  Dinner led us on a scenic tour till a turn chosen by Renee took us through a, um, interesting part of town, and eventually to haymarket where we grabbed some tasty food before heading off to find a live music place that I can't remember the name of right now. Failure.  Epic failure!  I digress.  We found the music place, but there was nowhere to sit, so we wandered on bumping into some fellow domers along the way and accompanying them to a place called the three sisters that was a sports bar, irish pub and dungeon in one?  There was a room with cool stars.  I'm not sure what that was supposed to be.  Ironically that was our favorite room.  I was quite excited there was no cover and even more ecstatic that my coca cola was only 85p.  Fantastique!  Or "brilliant" as the British say.

After Three sisters we wandered back to the live music place for a minute before heading back to hostel for some shut eye.  Saturday morning we woke up around 10 to get ready for our big day at "el castillo" (that was for my toledo stalkers :) my Spanish is pretty legit ;).  The castle, as is to be expected, is absolutely gorgeous.  

Guess Who?

Last evening, at the Crown Tavern, a new set of Guess Who champs were established.  IN a feat of uncanny ability, Laura Bodien and Patrick Kirkland defeated the self-proclaimed "I never lose at Guess Who" team of Dan Dixon and Tom.  Not once, my friends, but TWICE!  

Well done, well done.  More to come.

SNOW DAY!

So, this entry should have been written FOREVER ago, but I'm a bit behind on my blogging . . . SO quick version of our snow day in Londontown . . . 

1. it only snowed ten inches total over a period of like sixteen hours. 

2. The entire bus system shut down, I actually had my internship meeting cancelled Sunday night for Monday night before five inches had even falle

n.

3. I have no classes on Monday, so I wasn't nearly as excited as everyone else for our snow day, though London in the snow was absolutely gorgeous!

4.  On SUnday evening John Darnell, Sean MCCrosky, Dan Dixon, Pat Kirkland, Mike Grathwol and I set off for this Church, Farm STreet Jesuit Chur

ch of the Immaculate Conception, about a 40 minute bus ride away to hit up a youth mass at 7:30.  There was some sort of bus accident en route so we had to get off our bus and walk for a good half hour to get there.  This was fine, except I had been planning on riding the bus and therefore

 had the worst possible shoes for a chilly Sunday Evening.  By this point a few flurries had begun to fall. By the time we got to the Church, which is in a beautiful area of town, there was a dusting of snow on the ground and my feet were sufficiently chilly.  But it was lovely outside, so I didn't mind.

5.  Mass was very nice and the Church was gorgeous.  Also, it was nowhere near as big as the gigantic Cathedral of Westminster (which was nice

 because that means its also warmer) but it was still absolutely gorgeous.  We'd stumbled upon a real beauty!

6.  Post mass a nice man, Matthew, who is from S. Africa and studying to be a priest invited us to join him at a pub near the Church with some of the other young people.  Mike, Pat, Dan and I agreed sadly the other two had hwrk to finish.  Matthew 

bought us a round of drinks and we chatted for a while about life in S. Africa and the Jesuits and life in London.  We then met the "parish priest" or rector of the Church who was slightly Zany in a most delightful way, and suggested Londoners needed "walking permits."  After spending a week or two in london being jostled about 

and poked by umbrellas and so on and so forth, I think most people would agree :)  Matthew invited us up to his parish sometime, and with ma

ny smiles and much cheerful chatter we wandered out into a British Winter Wonderland.  Wandering past shuttered shops and through silent streets, we waved jovially at two gentleman wearing top hats outside a quiet victorian hotel.  Sigh.  

7.  We retraced our steps hoping just to catch the bus we came on back to the flats.  Unfortunately, after walking for about 40 minutes we realized that our bus didn't run back in the other direction and it was another 40 minute walk at least.  By this time, the gentle snow had turned to outright blizzard and I could no longer f

eel my feet.  I was delighted when Mike and Dan decided we should take the subway from Oxford street up to King's Cross then down to Farringdon, our tube stop.  

8.  While waiting for our tube we had an interesting encounter with a middle aged man claiming to be Jewish who stepped on my feet b

ecause he wasn't allowed to touch people's arms?  As we scurried off onto our train he (of course) touched my shoulder and said good bye I'm a good Jewish Boy! So much for no touching above the foot!

9.  I didn't really mind though, we were almost home and watching the expression on Dan's face throughout the episode was priceless :) 

10.  We got to King's Cross and went to switch over tubes but the snow had shut down the tubeline we needed to take to Farringdon,  no big deal, it said there was a bus we could catch from the station upstairs.  We walk outside, no bus, no bus stop with any of our potential bus numbers.  Hmmm.  Problem.  Finally the boys decide we'll walk the rest of the way back to the flats.  

11. twenty minutes and three frozen sets of fe

et later (I think my feet have never been so numb before) we looked like cute little snow persons.  My black hat and coat were no longer black, and my jeans were well on their way to joining my newly white coat and hat.  But we made it home.  Safe, sound and snowy enough for a South Bend winter.  

Return to Monday, the actual snow day, most of the day is spent just hanging out with Molly, Renee, Connor and for a bit Pat.  We then decided to make a delectable snow day dinner . . .Patrick hamburger chef extraordinaire (over 2,000 burgers grilled in his 20 years) made us some burgers on his Foreman.  Delicious!  After dinner and some more hang out time we went out to explore our little neighborhood in the snow.  Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across not only several inches of snow, but also two little palm trees?  

In the middle of a london borough.  Strange to say the least.  Anyhoo, the snow day was an overall success.  I finally felt vindicated after attending school in the tundraland of South Bend for 2.5 years.  trudging to class in blizzards and subzero temps alike.  If I wanted a snow day, all I needed to do was take a trip to London.  Peace Love and Lots of Snow! 

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Tuesday's With Fr. John (and one really terribly depressing play)

Tuesday, Christianity and islam class today, yay!

Also attended my first tea time with Fr. John and Alice in the library.  I've discovered that while I really like the tea cookies I haven't any taste at all for tea . . . how do I know?

While Father John asked me a question, I took my first sip of tea and had to struggle with all my might not to make the "second grade first communion wine face" in the middle of my answer.  Disgusting, next time maybe I'll try milk with it, I'm thinking four parts milk and maybe 1/2 part tea?  Don't know if that still counts as tea . . . 

Also went to our first London Center mass in the cute little chapel in the farthest corner of the highest floor.  A tiring climb, but well-worth the effort as Father John proceeded to deliver a marvelous homily.  Following a delightful mass, Colleen and I set out to find a dinner place.  We met up with Pat near the theatre we attended later, Dunmar Theatre, and utterly failed to find something reasonable for about twenty minutes.  Fairly impressive in a city as big as London.

We finally found a cute little coffee and sandwhich shop to satisfy our hungry tummies and enjoyed some delicious paninis before heading back to the theatre to see BE NEAR ME.

Depressing.  Even our professor, Charles DUff ( the quintessential British man) thought so . . . at least the theatre was neat looking, being a converted warehouse and all . . . doesn't make for particularly comfy seating . . . anyhoo, back to the tarea and keep an eye out for my version of a BRitish Snow Day :)  Peace lovelies!

The other side of the river

Friday night, my friend, Pat, and I set out to grab some dinner at a pub nearby, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.  This pub is quite old (rebuilt in 1666, after the great London Fire) and boasts of such previous patrons as Voltaire and Charles Dickens among others.  It's been open through the reign of fifteen monarchs, impressive to say the least.  it's no surprise then, with its famous past patronage and its wonderfully unique interior, that we arrived to find its twisting corridors and narrow stairwells packed full of cheerful Londoners enjoying a nice Friday out.  

After surveying the wonder that is the Cheshire, we decided to continue on, and proceeded to wander down random streets in search of another enticing eatery.  Eventually we happened upon another "olde" and famous pub called the George that the Cheshire Website had mentioned.  So we stopped in for a bite to eat and were plea

santly surprised by the warm and welcoming wooded interior that continued for two floors.  We found a nice seat by a stained glass window and were settling down with our cokes when we discovered they were not serving this evening due to "Pub Quiz Night"  We would have participated, but it was all music.  For those of you who know me well, I love to sing, but i haven't the slightest idea what songs are called . . . It was fun to watch such a popular London event, though.  Lots of fun and good merry competition, nothing to cut throat, at least not before we left! 

Upon finishing our cokes we wandered down some side streets stopping into what seemed an inumerable amount of small corner pubs, each with its own enchanting, cozy feel.  I was quite charmed by the comfortable elegance in several of the small back alley pubs we passed.  They inspired me, to do what, I haven't the slightest idea, but they inspired me.  They made me excited to be in Londontown for sure :)   After wandering for a while and failing to find food we stumbled upon the Thames (pronounces tems) from a small back alley I'd insisted we turn down.  Don't worry Mom, it was well lit, not shady, I promise! 

Needless to say, moments like this make me love London.  The Thames at night is a glorious sight to behold.  Lots of twinkling lights lining the carved stone railings and riverboats cruising lazily up and down the Thames with dapper diners dressed to the nines.  And me, little Laura, an American girl, wandering through the wonder of dow

ntown London.  What a lucky lady :) 

After wandering for a while, we began to come across benches.  Generally a normal thing to encounter while strolling down a riverside.  However, these benches, for no apparent reason, seemed to have no seats.  The first time we saw them we found it hysterical.  Heck, I liked it so much I took a picture, a very awkward picture of Pat trying to sit on said bench.  Once our giggling fits had passed we wandered on, only to discover that none of the following benches had seats either . . . ooooo, London.

As we wandered under the twinkling lights, beside the seatless benches I once again felt a smile reaching my eyes and warming my heart.  The very best kind of smile :)  Our wanderings took us over the Thames to a four story restaurant/pub along the river for a delicious dinner of Toad in the hole.  SOunds gross, looked kind of gross, tasted delicious :)  So there, amidst more merry Londoners on the ground floor of our four story restaurant on the Thames we finally found some dinner and actually quite enjoyed it before wandering back past the famous black friar station to our flats.

Another successful evening in England.  Sigh, wish you were all here! 

(again, pictures are on my picture sight picasaweb.google.com/lbodien9 )

39 Steps, 4 characters, 1 fake snowfall = true love

On Tuesday evening my Intro to London Theatre (spelled the British way :) ) Class went to the Criterion Theatre in West End London to see a play. The 39 Steps is a parody of an Alfred Hitchcock film by the same name.  Pleasantly charming and quite entertaining indeed the play takes you on a whirlwind of an adventure with four different characters playing over a hundred and twenty parts.  

My first experience with London Theatre that wasn't Shakespearean.  While Shakespeare is rather timeless, I must confess this play made (as I am wont to say) "my heart smile."

In the closing scene, two of the actors sprinkle fake snow above the window of the two main characters in a simulated Christmas scene, all very sweet and heartwarmingly cliche in a way that undoubtedly would make you say "awwwww."  All of a sudden, snow starts falling on the audience too.  I was like a little kid on Christmas morning.  Couldn't stop smiling and my heart had a pleasantly warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

I've not actually seen the film, but the play was quite lovely indeed.  Til next time then, cheers mates!  

Dover Part II (at last!)

Wartime tunnels?  Tres cool, they were originally used by Napoleon, crazy!  During the time of Napoleon, for ventilation, the soldiers slept in a long narrow hall with an opening to the cliff face on the end.  They must have been insane, it was freezing down there without the cliff face being open.  

We saw the original drafting table used to plan operation D-day and another major evacuation operation.  The cliffs of Dover housed the brains behind the operation.  A pretty impressive head quarters to behold.  Sadly no photos were allowed, however I did greatly enjoy the twilight zone esque ghost they projected onto the walls at various intervals.  

Thankfully, we made it out of the tunnels alive, back into the beautiful landscape of dover.

Adventure # 2: After walking DOWN the massive hills and staircases we'd climbed to reach the impenetrable castle, our cheery gang wandered through Dover towards the path to the famous white cliffs.  After passing through some picturesque side streets we encountered the edge of the cliffs just as the sun began to set.  We snapped some snazzy shots of the cliffs and after claiming some small pieces of fallen cliff as our own little piece of Dover we traipsed back to the bustling marketplace in the middle of Dover.

Now, downtown Dover, while not as ancient or famous as the castle or the cliffs, had a few items to boast of itself.  First, a two story Mc Donalds complete with pop song singing, cell-phone loving pre teens loudly discussing hannah montana in the rest rooms, to the motion activated heat lamps in the bus waiting station.  All in all, a wonderful place to spend a Saturday in the UK :)

The train ride home (roughly two hours) was rather uneventful, barring the rather interesting conversation occurring between some passengers from the country side all fancied up for an evening in town at the infamous dance club, Fabric (just as Dan Dixon if you want some details, he loves the place :) ).

Upon arriving home rather tuckered out from the day of play and photo ops (John Queally had the most amazing camera, that made you feel like a model posing for a magazine every time the shutter went off) I arrived back at Kamen and Minerva just in time to steal some quesadillas from my lovely friends in the Minerva Pent House across the way, mmmmm delicious! 

If you'd like to see pictures feel free to visit my picture page . . . picasaweb.google.com/lbodien9