England—The Land of the Brits
Last Tuesday (4-27) I ventured from Italy all the way to England. I had quite a time getting to my final destination, but once I arrived it was so worth it! I eventually made it to Brighton, which is on the south coast on England and the sunniest city in England.
Jenna goes to school just outside of Brighton at University of Sussex. Her campus is the epitome of a college campus, but it’s surrounded by cow fields and parks and nature. It’s really quite beautiful. Jenna gave me a tour and we did a little exploring. After almost being killed by a calf and losing all sense of direction, we found ourselves back on campus in time to cook dinner in Ally’s flat. I had a great time hanging out with her British friends Tuesday night! British accents are by far my favorite! They say odd words and pronounce things funny, and I LOVE it! I want to learn their lingo! We went to a club called Digital and had a blast!Wednesday, Jenna, Beth (her Brit friend from across the hall) and I went into Brighton and walked around. We went to the Laines, which has a lot of vintage shops and funky boutiques. It was quite a foreign concept to me when Beth told us that you are supposed to pay more for vintage even though it’s secondhand. I still don’t get it, but I guess I’m just not that fashion savvy. From there we meandered to the coast and hung out a bit.
We enjoyed a coffee with some of Beth’s friends, one of who spoke cockney, which is quite a crude dialect that comes from the northern English countryside. The guy who spoke cockney asked why I was so quiet, but I was too embarrassed to admit that I didn’t have a clue what he was saying. The pier was a lot of fun too! Even though I’ve never been there, it reminded me of Coney Island. It had random carnival games, big arcades and some fun rides too! I think the best part was the cheap Japanese food! If you haven’t noticed from my previous posts, I miss food variety. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Italian food and don’t ever dread having pasta and bread for a millionth time, but I miss other foods.Thursday I woke up and got my butt into gear. Oigo, my 10 kg backpack (22 lbs.) and I headed to London for a day of exploring. Since I was alone, had a huge backpack, and didn’t have money to spend, I used Jenna’s England for Dummies to give myself a tour of the city.
I started at Victoria Station, then went to/saw Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Artilary Arch, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben and the Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, “The London Bridge,” Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and lots of little things and places in between. 
I made friend along the way to take my picture for proof. Haha. It was a great day, but what they say about London is true. It’s gray, which would drive this sun-lover nuts! About the time my feet started screaming, I met Anitra, Jenna’s sorority sister who stayed in my apartment last month, for afternoon tea. By the time we enjoyed our delicious cupcakes and sipped tea for a few hours, Jenna was just about to the city to meet me. I did a little more wandering to kill time and saw Covent Garden, which has a really cool market. I met Jenna near Jenny’s apartment where we stayed the night. Jenny is another of Jenna’s sorority sisters who I have become good friends with. I love that I love my friends’ friends and vice versa. It makes everything so much better!
Friday morning we woke up before the sun! We were on a city bus to the station at 4:15am and started our trek to Amsterdam! I’ll post soon about that fun excursion!LOVE YOU ALL!!!
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