Back to Basics - London

I have to admit, I was a little worried about my 15 hour flight from Singapore to London but I was also looking forward to flying with the A380. It might seem like an odd thing to have on your bucket list but - what can I say? - I like planes ;) Well, turns out, the A380 is awesome! It is HUGE (I was in Seat 81K .... ) and incredibly comfortable, especially since it was very empty. Around where I was sitting, everybody had an entire row, so I actually got some decent sleep :) They have tons of movies, TV shows, games (Tetris - *yessss*) and all kinds of other beautiful things to make life on board easier ;)

 drinks anyone? :)

But the best part of the flight was circling over London shortly before 5 a.m. Man I love this city! Especially at night from all the way up there! I was so excited to be back in Europe and even more since Julian had wanted to come to London and was gonna meet me here - unfortunately that didn't work out after all, so I was once again alone in London. Nevertheless it was nice to be back in a familiar city after all the new impressions over the past couple of months...

Good morning Picadilly!

The weather is fantastic, blue skies and perfectly cold :) Just the way I like it! I'm staying at Hyde Park Suites, which means I have a small appartment with a full kitchen so I can safe some money on food and spend it on shoes instead ;) (I couldn't resist...) Thanks to Claire, I tried the Hummingbird bakery - yuuum! Definitely one of my new favorite things to do in London ;)

I enjoyed my last day abroad with my London ritual: a nice, long early morning walk through Hyde Park and then down through St. James Park to see Big Ben and the Eye. Never ceases to make me blissfully happy :)

Hyde Park in the morning

Enjoying a beautiful winter-day

Only in London ;)

As usual, the walk from Hyde Park Corner towards The Mall was swarming with tourists (how do I ALWAYS end up at Buckingham Palace when they have their changing of the guards ceremony?!?) Every single time... My usual path would have led me towards the river, walking along the lake in St.James Park and past Big Ben, but I wanted to go to the National Gallery, so I walked up The Mall instead. Enough beautiful views along that way as well ;)

Big Ben in the distance

The London Eye

The King and the Queen

This is my fourth time in London and I realized I've never visited any of the museums. So I changed that and went to the National Gallery today. I really do like art... Although I have to say I prefer the "Hamburger Kunsthalle" ;) as much as I like London, having only a handful of paintings by Monet and van Gogh just doesn't cut it... 

Best location in town though ;)

After some indulging food in Soho I walked over to the British Museum. I'm an all-or-nothing kind of girl after all and since I had already started my museum tour, I might as well go all the way, right? It was funny to see a display about Polynesian Cultures and suddenly realize I know the Maori building on the picture in the display; it's the meeting hall in Rotorua :) And yes, I was really there! Funny feeling....

I'm still a little sad Julian couldn't make it, but it was also nice to have another day for myself and just reflect on everything that's happened in these past six months. I couldn't stop grinning all day! This was definitely the experience of a lifetime and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I have been given. All that's left to do now is pack my bag for one last flight and then I'll finally be back where I started. Thanks for following my adventures here, it's been a pleasure! 

Thanks for everybody who has been part of my journey, whether through online support or in person. It wouldn't have been the same withouth you! I found some great new friends in various different countries along the way and I hope to see you all again someday!

As for tonight, all that's left to say is Dreams really do come true - you just have to believe in them :)

Border Panic

I made it to the Golden State! What an adventure...
It all started with the ticket agent at Edmonton International not being able to check me in for my flight, because the computer didn't accept the fact that I'm German. No kidding! It wouldn't let her choose Germany as my home country! How weird is that? She didn't even know what to do, so she made me Danish instead and then called ahead at security to tell them why she had done that... weird... Carolyn was joking that the computer must've heard my English ;) *hihihi* so then we go to security and I had to say goodbye to Ducky, Barbie and mom and we fought hard not to cry (I'm gonna come back!!!) I joked that they should better wait to see if I'll be let on the plane with all the confusion about my passport, but border control was after security, so they wouldn't have been able to see what was happening anyways...

So, I walk up to the security officer and I'm totally emotional and high on caffeine and all I can think about is "it's really happening" when something else really happened: they wouldn't let me in. I was kind of afraid something like that might happen, but I thought I had it covered. Apparently, the J-1 wasn't valid anymore, even though I went to Lurlene and checked back with her, making sure I would be allowed back into the country before I left. Yeah, no... that doesn't really work since the term's over and I'm not a student anymore... I felt panic rise in me and all I could think was "I don't even have Barbie's phone number to tell them to come back for me!"

A little advice for future exchange students: Don't leave the country after the term is over, expecting to be let back in, visa or not. Get a "B-visa" before you leave for the states or apply for ESTA! Otherwise they might not let you back in.... I was lucky, I had very nice officers and was able to explain my situation to them - it was close, but they let me board the plane after all.

As I was standing in line for boarding, I noticed a guy a couple of heads in front of me and he caught my attention, so I thought *hm, would be nice to sit next to him* I didn't. At least not at first. But my row was empty, so the flight attentant offered another passenger to take the aisle seat :) That's right, the guy I had seen in line! Seattle Busstation flashback....

The nice company during the flight combined with the unbelieveably friendly and attentive flight attendants from WestJet (unconditional recommendation, by the way) more than made up for the whole passport-visa-confusion ;) In addition, we had beautiful weather as we flew along the Rockies. Check it out, pretty cool, right? I know, I'm a papparazzi... ;)

In Flight Entertainment :)

I'm starting to become somewhat of a flying expert :D 12 flights on this trip so far, visited 10 different airports and have now used five different airlines - I can tell you a thing or two about in flight entertainment by now :D My favorite is still Air Canada though - they are simply the best. Didn't get to fly with them this time but I have a feeling I will return to Canada, so there's always the future :D Delta was actually pretty nice too, but service-wise, I definitely preferred American Airlines. They are all so unbelieveably nice :D And they have nice planes with more leg room than Delta (or so it seemed). Anyways, the reason for this post is not so much an analysis of different airlines as it is my flight from Boston to L.A. That was by far the most amazing flight I've ever had! Why? Well, look at this!

And yes, that's a shot from the plane (I love my camera). We flew over the Rockies and over parts of New Mexico and Arizona :) It was absolutely breathtaking! I mean, look at this!!!

And the best is yet to come! Sure enough, at some point, I look down and I'm thinking "wait, isn't that..." and that's when the captain informs us that we are indeed flying over the Grand Canyon :D There wasn't a cloud on the sky, so I got to experience the Grand Canyon from 30.000 feet - PHENOMENAL!!!!

I know, technically this still means that I wasn't there, but, seriously, could I have any better view than this? I highly doubt it! :D I was virtually glued to my window for the entire flight and we we neared L.A., I actually got the panorama shot with downtown L.A. on one side and the Hollywood hills on the other - no time to get out the camera though... but at least I took a picture of the city and the Sierra in the back from my next fllight on my way to Edmonton. I'll be back there soon, so it's not like I won't have another chance for that panorama shot ;)

Things you might want to know about Boston

Ok, this one is mostly for future exchange students: the things you might want to know about Boston, UMass and life in America - list :) I might have to make it two lists actually.... let's start with the city!

Sightseeing in Boston:
Boston is great, but it's actually smaller than some might think. A lot of things can easily be reached by foot or the T, even the popular sights! If you prefer to be driven around, there are a couple of city tours which will help you get a first orientation for the city. Here are my must-sees in Boston:

Harvard Square and Harvard University - come on, you're here, you might as well check it out :) There's always something going on at Harvard Square, they have everything you could possibly need and the food is pretty awesome too! They also have a little store with foreign specialties, so if you absolutely cannot live another day without Milka, check it out!

Copley Square and Newbury Street - two things that can easily be combined. Copley Square has two pretty churches which are always worth a visit as well as the Boston Public Library, which is a bit of a must-see. Right next to it runs Newbury Street, which starts out at Boston Public Garden as a bit of an expensive shopping street but eventually changes to more affortable shops and craft shops towards the end. It also has some nice little cafés and outlets that are worth checking out!

Prudential Center and Hayes Convention Center - not far from Copley Square is the Prudential, which is basically a small shopping mall on the ground floor of two big office buildings. They also have a scenic lookout on one of the top floors, if you're looking for the bird perspective. More importantly, they have a cheesecake factory as well as a food court, The body shop and a catwalk over to the Marriott hotel with more shops including GAP, American Eagle and Victoria's Secret :) I spend way too much time there! My personal favorite is the Starbucks IN Barnes&Noble (bookstore!) that serves Cheescake Factory Cheesecake *happy*


Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market - the place to be on a sunny day! There's always something happening, its nice to shop here and it's in the harbor area (yeah, I know, me and my harbors) so it's just right down my alley. Not far from it is Haymarket, where you should do your fruits and veggie-shopping since it's a LOT cheaper than in the stores! Haymarket is open on Fridays and Saturdays and its always pretty crowded but also a lot of fun! They also have some nice gift shops as well as little craft shops inside Quincy Market and you should check out Red Barn Coffee Shop in Faneuill Hall - my personal favorite!

The North End - not far from Haymarket (just across the Greenway, actually) is the North End. If you like Italian food, this is the place to be! (If you don't, you're weird...) needless to say I am VERY happy whenever I'm in the North end ;) Not only can you meet actual Italian people here, you can also follow the Freedom Trail and learn a lot about Boston's history! Plus the brickstone houses are just so pretty! AND they have Mike's Pastry :D

Boston Common and the Public Garden - right in the middle of the city are the two parcs Boston Common and the Public Garden. The Common is more... well, common and very open and perfect for a nice stroll between shopping springs, the Public Garden is a little fancier (SO pretty) and just absolutely awesome! A real oasis in the city! They offer swan boat rides here, which apparently are a hit with the tourists... Also, right next to the Common is Beacon Hill, which is always worth a tour, and there is city hall with its golden roof and lots of colleges and dorms around the parc, so even if you're just people watching, it's always fun!

About Trains, Borders and Decisions...

After a very brief visit, it was time to say good bye to Montréal on Friday. The original plan was to get a greyhound travel pass and go to Toronto and Niagra Falls before driving over to Boston. However, somehow I've decided not to..... gut feeling and all that ;) So, I was looking for other possibilities to get to the States and found Amtrack! (www.amtrack.com) Not that I hadn't known about the US train system before, but I didn't think it would be this inexpensive... The trip from Montréal to New York city (which is considered one of the top ten train routes in the world!) starts at 60 $. Since I didn't have the money to pay for a night in the city, I've decided to get off in Albany and found another couchsurfing host there.

The first thing I noticed on the train was the immense space between the seats. I could fit my suitcase in front of me and STILL have enough space to sit! (Granted, I have short legs, but still...) I was standing in the aisle and trying to decide which side to sit on and my gut feeling told me "left" . Since my gut isn't in charge of directions, I sat on the right - and was wrong. Not that the view on the right isn't beautiful, too, it's just that the river shore the train is following? Well, it's on the left.... -.-

All the way towards the border, I was wondering how we're gonna deal with customs. I only remebered the Greyhound trip last year, where everybody had to get off and take everything with him to the customs building and stand in line for an eternity - and I couldn't picture that happening with a train. Turns out, the officers actually board the train and go from row to row asking you what your purpose is comming to the States and, in my case, what on earth I was doing in Montréal! (so, why were you in Montréal? Where did you stay? What did you do there? Why did you go there? - Seriously people? Haven't you ever heard of TRAVELLING???) Anyways, after a lenghty explaination that yes, I had indeed only stopped in Montréal for sightseeing and no, I didn't have a boyfriend or family there and yes, I only stayed there as a tourist, I was finally sent to the officer with the stamp (and *yay* finally a nice/good-looking border control officer!) I had a nice chat with him and was officially welcomed in the States :) Still a little weird that they didn't scan the baggage though...

And then came the River Shore... On the other side of the train, unfortunately, but I could still see it. And yes, the ride really is breathtakingly beautiful! I also realized that I am much more of a nerd that I had thought... scenes from movies seen in class kept rolling through my mind... crazy....

In Albany (not pretty, by the way) I was picked up by my next host and realized, that I really had made the right decision by deciding to go down this way instead :) Jeff is a great host! We went to two couchsurfing parties and I met a ton of new people. He even took me on a motorcycle ride to a state parc nearby with an amazing view over upstate New York! So, yeah, I should really go with my gut feeling more often... ;)