Coming Home

Finals are over and now it's just three day's until home!

Andrea just sent me this link to the song Coming Home by John Legend "It's by John and it talks about going home...needless to say, it touches the soul"

I love Granada more than anything, but although Paul Childs once said "Home is where we are" I have to politely disagree.

But now it's time to celebrate! Maybe the construction men outside my window (they've been banging there for 2 weeks now) would like to join me for a little celebratory drink.

I have also come to the conclusion that converting my money will be such a pain and I will ultimately loose money by changing it to dollars. Therefore I have devised a plan to solve this problem: time to go shopping

Parting Ways

On the last day in London, Tyler Sarah and I bought tickets to go see Wicked at the Victoria Theater. Of course it was raining, so before we headed to the play, we stopped in the National Portrait Gallery to avoid the bad weather.

A small precursor if you will...

My sister and I grew up learning about art and artists of all kinds; my mom would convince us to go to the Met or MoMA by playing games and scavenger hunts in the museums. But one artist we knew better than anyone else was Monet. My sister had the water lilies strewn across the walls of her room, and I played with the pop up books of his home in France.

I had no idea what art was in the National Portrait Museum, but needless to say, when I stumbled upon this painting, I started to cry

I think it's time to go home.

But first! Wicked!

By far one of the BEST plays I have ever seen! Now I have "Defying Gravity" on repeat; Carmen and Alejandra probably think I am crazy.

So goodbye London! Don't worry, I know we'll see each other again soon.

The Downside to Being a Tourist

So we decided to go see the Changing of the Guards, like every other tourist, and thought it would be a good idea to arrive a little over an hour early to make sure we had a nice spot to see all that is "the changing". Well it turns out, everyone had the same idea, and it was practically standard to arrive at least an hour early.

The amount of people that showed up was absurd. And I'm almost certain 50% of them had no idea what was going on, because they could not speak English. Normally I do not hold this against people, but when a police officer tells you to move you should not take that as :

- move back and up into MY grill

-walk away and return when the police officer is not looking, and assume he won't recognize you

- stare blankly

And may I just say kudos to the British Police Force. Never have I heard a police officer say please and thank you every time he asked someone to do something. So classy. So not New York City...

So a word to the wise, if you want to see the changing of the guards, may I suggest befriending the Queen to get prime seating. Otherwise, you are on your own. And here's a video of what you might get if you follow in our footsteps... (UGH messed up the video. The first portion is out tour guide Paul an our trip to Stratford -upon- Avon. Feel free to fast forward)

La La London

While in London, I managed to see the usual tourist sites. It was only fair...

Trafalgar Square

National Portrait Museum

A useful reminder

Hello Mr. Ben

Parliament

London Eye

A view from the top

Westminster Abbey

Changing of the Guards

Stonehenge

Bath and Stratford -upon- Avon

Bath

Home to Jane Austin and Gainsborough

Stratford -upon- Avon

Home of Shakespeare (left)

Notting Hill

Portobello Market

Cheerio, Christmas Has Been Found

I found out where they have been hiding Christmas!

It's All Downhill From Here

So the family has headed back to the states, and has left me to fend for myself for the next few weeks. Only a few more week here?! I remember sitting in my room looking at my planner only to see it was 15 weeks until my parents were coming to visit. I blinked and now it's the end. But first...

LONDON!

When I was little, I had an odd obsession with London, despite the fact that I had never seen it; and now I finally get to see what I was obsessed with! Granada isn't exactly a holiday-spirit town either. I have been completely deprived of all things Christmas here - how is a girl supposed to survive? The only hint of holiday is in the tinsel decorations that the city has hung up in the streets, but they have yet to light them which either means, they literally wait until the last minute to do so, or they're simply just ugly tinsel decorations. Who's in charge of the Beautification Department here???

Time to go get some holiday cheer across the pond!

You Know You're an American When...

So I had already been to Seville once, with the Bucknell group, making for a much more relaxing trip (in some aspects - I'll divulge later) we went to all the usual sites and then it was time to show my family was tapas were really like.

We went to one of my favorite tapas bars Las Colonias for dinner, and my family learned fast that tables are not easy to come by in Spain: we waited an hour for a table. but I think it made it that much better, but made Katie that much more peeved.

My family got their first taste of Jamon y queso and Salmorejo and from that night, there was no turning back. While tapas normally are a small snack-like food you have with drinks at night, we ate enough food to keep the restaurant running for the next few years.

The next morning was breakfast and we had had our eyes set on a cute cafe across from the Cathedral. Now if there's anything the Milot family can find common ground on, its our competitive spirits, and our love for food. No needless to say, when finding a table in this cafe-which turned out to be one of the best in Sevilla- we got our game faces on and took no prisoners...

not even 80 yr old women (my mistake I thought she was trying to take my table)...

And once again, we practically bought the place out. YUM

I've also never seen my mom so addicted to a particular food (except for peanut M&M's but who isn't). My mom loved the Jamon Iberico, she wanted to take a pig leg home with her. I now know I am in fact my mothers daughter when it comes to choice of food, and I am my fathers daughter when it comes to an addiction to food. Deadly combo, thanks