London

My last destination in Europe was London. It was my first time in a English speaking country in quite a while, it was very weird. I can remember looking out the window on my way to the hotel, seeing people on the sidewalk and thinking to myself "i could step out of this car right now and talk to that person without any problem" the absence of a language barrier was quite a shock. For the first time in four months i could understand every conversation around me. It was a mind overload.

London was a fantastic city. Something like 9 million people live in the 36 different burrows of the city. It is quite an expensive city, it is more expensive to live in London than Manhattan. I saw more Ferrari's in one weekend in London than I did in four months in Italy. The city itself was so dynamic. A high end financial district, a theater district larger than Broadway, and every important governmental building in the country exist in London. I liken it to a cross between Washington DC and New York City. The pubs were as advertised. They were all very old, classy and meet all my expectations. I wish we had pubs like that here in America.

London was a great place to visit before my return to America. It acted as a buffer between the extremes of Italy and America. It is a very modern city that is steeped in history. A section of the original roman wall still exists right next to the Thames river. The English people stayed consistent with the notions I had of them. Built from numerous encounters around different parts of Europe. They are generally polite and extremely funny. They make fun of everything and everyone, no one is exempt. The French were a favorite target, which i enjoyed very much. The beer was flat, not warm, but very tasty ( watch out Munich!) and the food was pretty featureless but still good.

We didn't spend the entire time in London. The second day there we drove out the Windsor castle and Stonehenge. Windsor castle was really cool. It was the Fourth and most traditional castle I saw all term. Originally built by William the Conquer around 1070 it still acts as a residence for the royal family. The queen was actually there in the castle they day we were there...i tried, but she didn't respond when i asked her if she was on facebook. Windsor castle was where the queen received president Obama on his recent visit to the U.K.

Stonehenge came after Windsor. Let me first say Stonehenge was my idea. I had to convince the rest of the family to do it and it was well worth it. Such an interesting area and structure. My advice about Stonehenge and Windsor is consistent with the advice i have given all term to my faithful readers (all 3 of you not including my parents) go see them for yourself. Its the only way to really appreciate it.

I enjoyed London, it was a good way to say goodbye to Europe for a while. I wish I had more time to spend there but I will just add it to my "places to return to list".

I have yet to spend a week back in America and my head is still spinning. I liken my return to America to my arrival in Florence just not quite as intense. I am still getting used to things in the states and I anticipate that it will be a few weeks before I am fully comfortable. I have been asked many times about my term abroad. How i liked it, do i miss it. Stuff like that. Its a struggle to put my past term in perspective and I'm sure everyone who was there with me can relate to the struggle. I miss Florence and the people I shared it with very much. I don't expect that to change.

This will be my last blog post as I am no longer in Italy. There isn't anything to blog about anymore (summer internship!? ....no?....okay...you sure?) since I'm American again I will see most of you soon and those I will not see soon you can always call me or text me. I am now accessible by simple modems of communication. This blog turned about to be a really useful and valuable thing. It kept you barbarians from blowing up my inbox (with a few exceptions, you know you are) and I can always keep this URL close so I can look back at any given time. I want to thank you for reading, no matter  how regular your reading was. the responses I got from everyone keep me motivated to keep writing. turns out keeping this blog updated was more fun than I thought it would be. I don't know how to sign off so i will leave you with two quotes from Sir Winston Churchill because I feel that is appropriate.. One profound the other is more of my taste.

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it"

Lady Nancy Astor "Winston, If you were my husband, I'd poison your tea
WC: "Nancy if you were my wife, I'd drink it"

Stereo Love - Edward Maya (everytime I hear this song it takes me right back to florence. big song in the clubs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-Z3YrHJ1sU