paris, j'taime

i am in love with paris. i don't even think i can describe the city and how beautiful it really is. it was everything i expected it to be. the only way i could even describe the way i felt is to reference carrie bradshaw when she finally gets to paris and she looks at the eiffel tower from her hotel window and just screeches with excitement. that was me the entire time.

this is the brief version of our trip:
day un: stayed up all night to take a 5:25 AM chunnel into gare du nord. arrived at 8 and took the metro to our disgusting hostel, hotel bastille. mom and dad came knocking on our front door and it was so good to see them. they had a museum filled day planned so i opted to meet up with them for dinner and spend the rest of my day with my flatmates in front of the eiffel tower with some baguettes and some vin. later dinner with the rents, night trip to sacre couer and then bed cause i was exhausted.
day deux: woke up early, went to the crepe place by the hostel and headed to the louvre. i guess this place is a pretty big deal for most people, but we all know what i admire and that is fashion. so after an hour and a half in there, i met up with M&D and headed to the printemps to look at some couture. after roaming the aisles and oogling designer shoes and handbags we decided to end the torture and call it a day. later that night we ate some more baguettes for dinner and then went out to a bar in the hostel's neighborhood.
day trois: met up with mom and dad at their luxurious hotel at the ungodly hour of ten am. walked over to notre dame and decided to pass on the line to get in and just looked around outside. the bird and flower market was taking place nearby so we checked out some canaries and cockatoos. after some cappucino, we took the metro down to the champs elysees and arc d'triomph. i expected a bit more from the champs but the view all the way down was spectacular. we had italian for lunch and then walked through the tuileries back to their hotel where we said out goodbyes. that night, the roommates and i went up to the eiffel tower where i screeched again with excitement. paris at night is something to be seen, for sure.
day quatre: late start but still a packed day. went to the pere lachaise cemetary where jim morrison, oscar wilde and edith piaf are buried. walked around there and sat by a fountain since it was such a nice day. then headed back up to monmartre and sacre couer to lamp on the steps and watch some breakdancing. made our way back to gare du nord and took the chunnel back to london.

we are running out of time

we found this flyer for an indie dance party that happens every saturday night on the kings college campus. i really want to go because the music is exactly what i want to hear and then i realized i have to go this upcoming saturday because it is MY LAST SATURDAY IN LONDON! WHAT?! time flew forreal.

friday we went to the decode digital and interactive art exhibit at the V&A which was awesome and of course the best time ive had a museum so far was not during class time. then went out to one of favorite spots, the barfly, in camden to dance to some bands that were playing upstairs.
yesterday after the Oxford v Cambridge boat race in Hammersmith we went to Justin's boss' bar, Peter Parker's Rock and Roll Club for some 60s rock and soul and we all had a great time.
tomorrow i think keshia and i are going to try to go to the american apparel rummage sale on brick lane that we tried to go to on friday morning but the bobbies shut it down because of crowds and hipsters stampeading trying to get their leotards for 70% off. hopefully it wont be as insane tomorrow.

here is the list i made of things i wanna do before we get kicked out:
-go to the camden market
-go to another show (preferably a british band)
-london eye
-tate modern
-plastic people
-more lamping and running in hyde park
-harry potter stuff (platform 9 3/4, millennium bridge)
-cheap football tickets
-globe theater
-lazy oaf/old blue last
-stay out all night
-randomly go someplace in one of our travel books
-picture in a telephone booth
-indian food on brick lane
-final hurrah at topshop and primark
-brixton
-go back to all of my favourite neighbourhoods
-find a nice pub to relax in
-souvenirs for reptar
-plan my last ten days
-return to abbey road for the picture
-NOT STAY HOME AT THE FLAT ON FACEBOOK!

heres my list:


paris update coming, i promise.

a no plans weekend

for the first time in a long time, i have no plans whatsoever for the weekend. i heard it's real nice in philly right now but our weekend forecast says rain. so i'm gonna eat this pizza, watch some march madness games online and hope that i can salvage my bracket from the mess it has become. tonight, we are going to a club we discovered last night by king's cross station called scala.

a side note-- i have finally heard the music i have been craving to hear while out at a dance club. the smiths! new order! gang of four! joy division! pulp! so this IS england, after all. when i heard this song, my night was officially complete.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhDwuNIAh2o

tuscany

we reluctantly said goodbye to venice and continued our gastronomical journey through italy. our next stop was florence, which everyone told us we would love.
we got there on a beautiful day and decided to just lamp and people watch in piazza san marco, right by the academia. we met a friend on the bench who we named guiseppe. he was awesome.

next we walked around to see the Duomo, located right by our hostel, and also to the ponte vecchio bridge.





we took a bus to grieve in chianti for a wine tour and lunch at the vineyard. although it was a cloudy day we still enjoyed the views.




the next day we walked through the boboli gardens, a massive green space in florence with beautiful gardens and views of the city.







on our very last day we took an early train to pisa to see the leaning tower and then headed to the airport to come "home".






and now we are back in london with only four or so weeks left of the semester. i fully intend on making the most of my time here and doing at least one productive thing a day whether it be roam a section of the city alone or running in hyde park. i can't believe that this semester is almost over. im excited to get back to philly but there is still a lot to be seen and done here.

venice

i loved italy. i don't understand who these people are that did not recommend Venice to us because we ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. The moment we got to the city it felt like we were stepping into a postcard.

our hostel, the venice fish. it had a private bridge over a canal to get inside. we thought that was pretty dope.

view of venice from our gondola ride.

us with our gondola driver. he didn't serenade us. a little disappointing.

the flood sirens went off during dinner so the city put up their flood barricades and walkways. we put our wellies on and took a walk through the city at night in the flood.

V-Day flix

On Valentines day we attempted to go see Breakfast at Tiffany's at an old cinema in Notting Hill but apparently everyone else had the same idea and it was sold out. Instead we went to the Whole Foods on High Street, bought some V-Day necessities (cupcakes, strawberries, and champagne), and spent the rest of our day getting ready for our big girls night out to "My Gosh Marvelous Vintage Ball" at the Proud Camden Stables Market.





Proud Camden Stables Market is probably the coolest place ever. I read about this space way before I got to London and we finally made it up to Camden to check it out.


It's set up in an old Horse Hospital so there are still the actual stables inside of the space. During the day, people can come there to hang out in the stables, have food and drinks etc. At night, the stables are transformed into mini-lounges with people dancing and hanging out. When we were there the place was packed and everyone was dressed in their best vintage and dancing to the music of the 1920s and 30s.

I definitely want to come back to Proud Camden a few more times to check out a regular DJ night and hopefully a live show.

an update for slash

first off, i miss reptar a whole lot (did you get the tats?) but its okay because pretty soon we will have a house and summer will be a-may-zing. yesterday was the nicest weather we have had since we've been here. the sun was out, it was almost in the 50s and all i wanted to do was have a picnic and lay outside. it made me think of the west philly roof and how i wanted to move a picnic table and bbq up there. (except that ladder-oh man!!). i wanna go up there the minute i get back and play apples to apples and dance to GnR.
anyway! tuesday was pretty much the best night of my life. i couldnt believe that i was standing a few feet away from lindsay lohan. to those who do not and cannot understand my obsession, i'm sorry it's something i just cant put into words. it was like being in a dream. except babygirl looked like a hot mess.
kind of upsetting. the other girls there had on the most amazing shoes, though. i dont understand how they can walk in them. my puny heels on valentines day killed my feet so i opted for motorcycle boots with my dress.
the event was pretty awesome. when we got out of the cab, the paparazzi were waiting with their cameras and when they realized we were nobodies they turned around and waited for the next arrival. so we will not be featured on perezhilton any time soon. but we did get to walk on a red carpet and have our pictures taken in front of a few sponsor backboards. (one at this event and the other outside of the kensington hotel right on our street where the sony brit awards after party was). this event was a Brit Awards after party too but all of the proceeds went to relief for Haiti. So I guess Lindsay isn't a complete failure. It was also Kerri, one of my flatmates, 21st birthday. I couldnt think of a better place to celebrate than a celebrity hosted event.
So we danced, and stared in awe and attempted to get as close to Lindsay as the velvet VIP-only rope would let us.
Now, I'm off to Manchester tomorrow to see Dad and Uncle Rob and family (who I haven't seen in YEARS) Should be a good weekend and I'll hopefully get to finally have a home-cooked meal.
Next week is our adventure to London fashion weekend and then a flight to Venice the next morning!

Miss you Slash. Wish you were here.

--Axl.



ALSO-- take a look at these crazy Nina Ricci "heel less" boots:
That is a man, by the way. I should probably step my fashion weekend game up.