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Nothing has changed at home. Surprise, surprise. I have this continual knot in my stomach from missing England. It's odd being at home. Comforting, yes. But odd as well. I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet....

Family

My stomach was in knots as I flew into Florence to see my parents for the first time in over 4 months. I landed, safely, collected my bags, and went through immigration. Then I waited, not too long though, only about 25 minutes. Then I saw on the board that their plane had landed. Then I saw people coming in. Then I saw THEM. And I began to freak out. I noticed my Mom had gone to the bathroom, so I abandoned my stuff (not the best thing in the airport, but I didn't care) ran to my Mom and proceeded to say "You went to the bathroom before coming to find me?!?!?!!!". She had a good chuckle and we both cried. Then she pointed me in the direction of my father and I ran and gave him a hug as well. Words cannot describe how it felt to see them. It had been far too long.

The Greatest Writer The World Has Ever Known

I went to Stratford-Upon-Avon. Yes I did!!!!! I cannot believe it yet...it's incredible! Something that I have wanted to do FOREVER....and I did it! As an English major, I have to say, I can now die a happy woman. I got to see everything that is Shakespeare, everything that revolved around the greatest writer the world has ever known and will ever know. And in only a day I will go into central London and see his well known tragedy, "Romeo and Juliet" played in his theatre, the Globe Theatre. I mean, it doesn't get any cooler than that! It's incredible...eveything that I have gotten to see and do while abroad, I am soooo lucky, it's true. Maybe not lucky in all things, but lucky in the things that count most of all. Honest I am. And now I am only 2 finals (which I have started to study for, but it's sooo annoying, cause my brain is shut off) and 5 days away from meeting my parents in Florence. I have gone without seeing them for almost 4 months, and I cannot imagine having to wait any longer, I need them. So for four months with me telling myself that I am fine on my own and that I don't need anyone, I realize that I do need them. I love my parents, they have given me more than I deserve and have supported me throughout everything. I am lucky. Beyond measure and beyond words. So now the countdown continues....5 days.

The Third Scottish Round

My third time being in Edinburgh in the last three years...crazy right? How blessed am I? To have such luck and adventures that have forever altered my life and my person...I am lucky. No doubt about that. And it's funny....cause now that it's all coming to an end, I miss home more than ever. Which is funny. Homesickness at the very end. Typical me. Always have to be different...goodness. I can't wait to see my parents, my friends, to hug people, to sweat in the Kentucky heat, to work at Six Flags and be the greatest HR rep ever, to walk onto the campus of Georgetown College for my senior (gah!) year, and to be myself in everything that I do. I know that despite being unlucky at some things in life, at other I am blessed beyond measure. My life is still open for interpretation, and I'm waiting for the clarity that will show me my way. However, for the rest of the 8, count 'em 8 (!!!!!) days remaining, I will live it up as best I can.

Things I will miss:
-walking to school
-the British sunshine
-a cuppa
-British accents
-the Farmer's Market
-friends from New York, Michigan, North Carolina, California, New Jersey, Nebraska, South Carolina to name a few...
-waking up every morning and knowing that I am IN England
-being able to drop everything and travel wherever I want
-pubs, places where I can be myself and just hang out with friends, all chill like
-trains, and the tube as well
-the history, Kentucky is soooo young compared to where I have been living
-walking EVERYWHERE, yes, I have murdered my feet something awful...but it's good exercise
-the shops
-just smiling from the inside out, because I have done and completed one of my main goals in life

"The Hills Are Alive....With The Sound Of Music!"

Ok, well maybe not literally, but they were definitely music to my ears! Salzburg, Austria is soooo incredibly beautiful it is hard to me to describe it. I will say this, it is historic, eventful, lively, and HOT! Literally. A whooping 26 degrees, also known as 85 degrees (I think...) I was burnt out on such weather, even though Kentucky weather is much similar. Being in London for so long has most likely turned off my ability to live in such heat, so it should be interesting when I finally do arrive stateside in Kentucky, t-minus a little over 4 weeks and counting. Anyways, we did tonssss of stuff in Salzburg, we saw ALL the sights and took in ALL of the scenery. I even gained the courage to face my fear of heights and take a cable car to the top of a mountain that overlooked the Salzburg city centre! Crazy I know! Haha! But other than that, Salzburg, and Austria in general was more than I expected, but in every way a great one! I had an absolute blast and would do it again if I could, but next time, cooler clothes! In about 36 hours I will be heading to Edinburgh once more, I swear I have fallen in love with that city, it is truly amazing and I adore every piece of it. Although only for two days, it will be lovely to be back in the city that took my breath away from the very beginning...After that though, I have to knuckle down, save the rest of my money (which isn't a lot) and study for my two finals that take place on June 3rd and 4th, and then after that, one day of waiting and then I will be headed to Florence to meet my parents and travel another 2 or so weeks with them! It will be total and complete bliss! Plus, they will get to pay, so I won't have to worry about money anymore, thank goodness, haha. 13 days. 13 days until I get to see my Father and my Mother after being away for FOUR months! It's still hard for me to believe how fast the time has flown, but also how much I've grown and matured and learned from this place and these people. I'm not good at goodbyes...so maybe I should stop now while I'm ahead....

Counting down...

Catching up with my life in numbers:

1 day= my trip to Austria!
6 days= my trip to Scotland!
2 weeks and 4 days= time left before I meet my parents in Florence!

I still am in shock about how fast the time has gone by.....I am going to miss my life here immensely....this experience has changed me.....COMPLETELY, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Luck Of The Irish

Ireland was more than I ever could have imagined! Although it rained quite frequently, which I have to admit, I didn't quite care for, it was lovely all around. Galway is a tiny, tiny town, and it was so quaint and lovely that I enjoyed it, even with all of the rain and wind. Dublin is a bit bigger, but still easily walkable (I've learned to walk everywhere!). We saw sooooo many things it's insane! All of the major sights of Dublin: Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Kilmainham Gaol, Trinity College, The Book of Kells, St. Stephen's Green....etc! We even managed to take in a screening of Angels & Demons while there, and I LOVED it!!!!! Everyone must go out and see it, and then if you haven't, read the book...well shoot, even if you have read the book, read it again! The five days and four nights that I spent in Ireland is a time that I will never forget. The people, the small pubs, where everyone talks to you, and laughs in amazement when they hear that I'm from Kentucky, it's funny, endearing, comical, and all around enjoyable, because they tell you the secrets of their fair city. One day I will have to go back to Ireland, to see more of it, to sit and watch the world go by....

In one of the smaller pubs we sat in, there was a band playing, and they played one of my Bluegrass favorites! (And trust me, I don't have many)

"I'll fly away, Oh Glory, I'll fly away. When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away..."

7 weeks and counting

7 weeks until this ends. I hadn't thought about what I would do when it's all over. It's crazy to think about. 7 weeks until my parents arrive and I meet them in Florence. Where did the time go? This whole semester has breezed by, with me becoming ever more comfortable with England; with the people; the culture; the lifestyle. I've grown steadily accustomed to walking the same streets, seeing the same businesses, and saying hello to the same people. What will I do when this all ends? There is no way I can go back to what I was before. I've changed. In good ways I think. My life has been forever altered by this experience, and I am forever thankful to those who have believed in me and those who have helped me to get to this point in my life. England will forever have a piece of my heart, and I know that no matter where I go, this can and will always be one of my homes. :) I have met people who have forever altered my life, and who I will NEVER forget. I have seen places that I never thought I would see. And I've done things, that I never thought I would do, but I'm glad that I've done them, because these experiences, these people, these places and this time will stay with me forever and always. So here's to a semester that I will never forget. Here's to the beginning of a new chapter of my life. Here's to the future. May it be as bright, as hopeful, and as full as I wish and want and hope it to be.

Just some complications...

Come to find out that we could not get a train from Milan to Barcelona.....so what do we do? We hop on a train to Genova, and then proceed to Nice. Ha! France! Love it! Especially since I speak the language! Then we head to Marseille, beautiful there indeed! And then to Montpeiller, then to Pontbou Espagne....on the border into Spain. We then proceed to get immensely lucky to catch THE LAST train to Barcelona Sants Station...and arrived only 15 hours after we planned on originally getting in. HAHAHAAA!!! When life throws you troubles, you have to go with it. When there are no other options, you simply have to go with it, because you cannot do anything else....you roll with the punches and in the end....everything usually turns out the way that you want it to....And it did in this case, we are in Barcelona and it is truly beautiful! Nice and warm and our hostel is great too! We went to the beach today....and although each of us gets on the others nerves every once in a while...we are getting through it though, although when we get back to London, each of us will spend some much needed time away from each other.

The Adventures of CBS....

Otherwise known as the Adventures of Chris, Bryan, and Sarah, who traveled all across Europe during their three week Spring Break from Kingston University. We started off in Amsterdam, had a few issues with our hostel, and then proceeded to find another hostel to stay in (while there were 1,700 Scots in the city for the Holland versus Scotland football match). We got lucky in finding Bob's Youth Hostel. Thank goodness. Amsterdam was nice to visit, and I liked the visit to the Anne Frank House the best, although it was extremely sad. Next off to Berlin. And let me preface this by, I NEVER, I repeat NEVER wanted to go to Germany, although I am mostly German. Yet I LOVED BERLIN! It was fabulous! The food, beer, sights, and hostel were all great and I had the GREATEST time! We even took a NewEurope Tour, which is FREE (yes I said it....FREE) and if you want to give tips you can. Our awesome tour guide was Adam, from Atlanta, GA, another Southerner, YAY! After Berlin, we stopped over in Munich for a bit, and I was lucky to procure a fabulous pair of Birkenstock sandals (made in Germany) for only 32 Euro! A steal. :) Yay SHOES! An overnight train brought us to Rome, where it was lovely and warm! And for some reason we had the not too smart idea to break in our Birkenstocks in Rome...DON'T EVER DO THAT. My feet were swollen and huge by the end of the day and I wanted to die. Although I was delightfully happy to be back in the Eternal City of Rome. I love it there. We spent two lovely days there, seeing all the sights and eating gelato, pasta, and pizza, a true vacation come true. Then we hit up a ferry to take us to Athens, which took like 16 hours....I know....ewwwwww. Haha. We got into Athens, and spent the next dreary day (it rained all day) exploring the city, and bonus my Kingston ID got me into the Acropolis for FREE!!!! Yes sir! We then hopped a ferry to Paros and spent the next three days there, although many of them the sun wasn't out, but the island itself was soooooo BEAUTIFUL! Crystal clear waters, and such, it takes your breath away. We left there this morning and are now back in Athens for the night before heading back to Italy and Rome in the next few days. I'm hoping to catch a Mass while near Vatican City, so we shall see. After that, on Easter we head towards Milan and then catch a night train to BARCELONA! The day we get into Barcelona we are taking a quick trip to Madrid.....to do what you may ask????? To find, buy, and ingest as much TACO BELL as humanly possible!!!! Back to Barcelona where we will be until the 16th when we fly back home. Hoping to see some amazing sights, soak up the warm weather, eat some paella, drink some sangria, go out dancing, and see one of my sisters...KATIE BOYD! Super pumped to see her, I miss her and all of my Phi Mu's soooooo much it's crazyyyyyyyy!!!! Well I hope this blog finds everyone well and dandy....watch out for uploaded pictures on Facebook in about a week and a half.....it's almost May already....where has the time gone??????

:)
Loving Europe
MUCH LOVE TO ALL!!!!!

Scotland

This past weekend was our Proscenium Tour to Scotland and the Highlands and it was FAN-freaking-TASTIC!!! I enjoyed every minute of it, and for serious do want to live there at some point in my life. The Highlands in particular were quite breathtaking and truly a vision for the eyes to see. I highly recommend it to anyone. Hopefully pictures will be up on Facebook soon...most definitely before I leave for Spring Break on FRIDAY!!!! I am soooooo excited for that!!!! 2 weeks of traveling with my two best guy friends! It couldn't get any better than that! On the list: Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Rome, Athens, Paros, Milan, and Barcelona....it's gonna be a lot, but totally worth it! And I found out today...from the help of a friend....that I will be returning to the States in 90 days!!!! CRAZYYYYYYY!!!! Time has flown by....but I will keep on treasuring every moment and second....this experience has been one amazing time!!!! :)

Lots of love to ALL!!!!

J'adore Paris!

Paris was amazing!!!!!!!!! It was a long 2 and a half days, but I stuck it out. We had our ups and downs as friends and travel companions, because let's be honest, everyone gets kind of aggrivated when they haven't slept in 36 hours....Anyways, Paris was great. The weather was PERFECT! And the food, well of course it was amazing...to name a few things I ate: omelette, frites (fries), crepes, gelato, and a croque provencal....needless to say, the food didn't disappoint! We saw tons of sites...literally TONS!!! We saw the Opera, the Pantheon, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the d'Orsay, in only 2 days!!!! Trust me it was a lot. But all worth it in the end. I posted a ton of pictures on Facebook, about 5 albums worth, so make sure you check them out!

Au revoir for now....write again later!
:)

One heck of a day....

So yesterday morning (Thursday) I woke up feeling like someone had slugged me in the eye with a baseball bat..........NO! A stye. For the love of all that's holy! I woke up, 2 days away from Paris with a stye in my left eye. Oy vey! So I hurried out of the house and jumped on a bus to get to Boots (cause I had class practically all day). I went up to the pharmacy and they immediately gave me something, no questions asked, and the ointment only costed 5 pounds. Gosh I love Europe. Back home I would have had to wait FOREVER to get something for it. But no, not here. So then I booked it to school (although I was about 30 minutes early for my 11am class), took out my left contact, put the ointment in, and proceeded to go the whole day with only my right contact in my eye. Basically, I was half blind for the majority of the day. I do not recommend this feeling. IT SUCKED! Taking notes half blind, not cool. But I made it through, with only a few headaches throughout the day. I walked home (probably not the best idea) and put on my glasses...where they have been for all of today also. I don't plan on putting my contacts in until tomorrow morning when we get to Paris, that way, by then, my eye should be majorly better, although it's almost completely healed right now, just still a little red, but it doesn't feel like anyone has punched me anymore....always a good sign.


Paris is a few hours away. Since we have to fly from the Luton airport, we have to take the train and then a bus to get there. We are leaving from Surbiton station at 11:30pm tonight (Friday) and getting there (Luton) about 1 or 2am. Or flight leaves close to 7am and we arrive in Paris at 9am! I cannot wait! The weather looks like it will be beautiful, 56 and sunny on Saturday and 54 on Sunday and a bit cloudy (which is okay, considering we will be in museums for most of the day). This should be a great trip! I am sooooooooooo excited! French food, language, and sites! Yay!


Au revoir!

I'm a GRAND BIG!!!

Some other exciting news via Georgetown College. I am a Grand Big! That's right! My lovely and perfect little, Ashton, has a little of her own....and clue week is starting up! I'm sad that I can't be there for her, because I know she needs someone, although she does have Kristen. :( I miss my Phi Mu family. They are truly the greatest and I know the new addition will not only fit in perfectly, but will complete us! She is truly wonderful, but I cannot reveal anything yet......so the suspense begins.....


Ahhhhhhh! A Grand Big......how did I get to be sooooo old?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!

Some new obsessions...

Lately I have been finding some lovely new obsessions in Kingston. One: the Farmer's Market. Can you say 3 tubs of blueberries for one pound? Also, three large tubs of plums....for get this: also one pound! I got to see "He's Just Not That Into You" last night at the Odeon Theatre in Kingston. What a great movie! Valentine's Day wasn't that bad either, despite the fact that I didn't have a Valentine (which I haven't in 2 years). Another obsession: Pubs. Cute little, almost run down joints that showcase great drink deals and some decent meals. And my final one (at least for now): Tapas. I went to this amazing Tapas restaurant, La Tasca and had a wonderful meal with one of my good guy friends. We had a good time, had some sangria, and about 6 different tapas, all of which were something beyond explanation they were sooooooo good!

I love everything about this city. It's proximity to London, the options for nightlife, the shopping, and of course the Farmer's Market. I have been seriously considering coming back to get my Master's. And I think I will. As soon as I graduate from Georgetown, I can come back here, get my Master's and work overseas.....like I've always dreamed and planned on. I have a good feeling about this place! :)

SNOW!

After having a record of 8 inches, for the first time in 20 years, Kingston Uni shut down it's classes for Monday and Tuesday. Strange, I know. It's funny how I came here to supposedly get away from the crazyyyyy snowy weather.....yeah....didn't happen. Went into London on Tuesday. Fantastic day! Saw the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, plus Trafalgar Square. Also ate chinese in Chinatown to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Everything is great so far and I just know that my classes are going to be amazing! I can feel it! Love to all!



Skype Name: sarah.rae.summers

Stressed Outttttttt!

Soooooooooo, my Visa application wasn't fully completed and they sent it back to me.....THREE weeks before I am scheduled to leave for London! AHHHHHHH!!!! Needless to say, I stressed out, cried a bit, a screamed a lot. But this morning, I re-did it, and sent it again, and it should get to Chicago by tomorrow at noon. And then, I should (as everyone has told me) get it back within TWO weeks....talk about procrastination!!!! Which I don't do. EVER.


Crossing my fingers and saying a prayer...