Sometimes I spend longer trying to think of the post title than the actual post!

I went to the British museum. Based on my friend Hayley's recommendation but I have to admit William from the bar is the person that actually sold it to me. He put it this way, "You know why the British museum is the best museum? Because they stole all the good shit from everyone else in the world and put it all in one place." I have to admit it, but its true. I mean at that point I was tired of museums but when you put it that way, I'd have been an idiot to not go. It was pretty gnarly. And the British museum anticipated people like me that would be all musuemed out and put together a top 10 list of things you have to see if you are short on time. I wasn't that short on time but the blister in my foot did not want to go to the museum at all. 

I did go up to the specialty floor for the drawings and etchings and saw their Picasso exhibit. Looking at the etchings, it made me think of a friend that I haven't spoken to in 10 years. The only outing this friend and I went out on in the few years we knew each other was to see a movie about Picasso and his drawings. So Picasso always makes me think of this person. The not talking to him for 10 years did not make me sad, but the reason that we no longer talk is what made me sad. I kind of know what he is up to because my LinkedIn asked me if I knew him so I kind of saw how he was doing. Despite us having mutual friends, our friends don't talk about us to the other person. And I always come to the same conclusion that is stupid that we don't talk anymore but I have made my peace with it. But thinking about this person, did not help my homesickness blues that started to creep up in London.  

But also let's talk about Picasso. I think he was a little into bestiality. He would draw himself as a Centaur engaged in passionate embraces and more with his mistress or model in the pictures. And I mean the rest of the etching wasn't symbolic so it leads me to believe that him being a centaur wasn't a symbolic gesture and leads me to believe he was into bestiality. I could be wrong but that's just me. 

Oh yeah, and the British museum has the Rosetta Stone. Kind of a big deal. But it didn't move me as I thought it would. I mean it's awesome that it unlocked so much history but....it just didn't move me. But I would still advise people to see it. 

My favorite exhibit in the British museum was the Gallery of Clocks and Watches. There was a clock that was created as a ship and it would sit on the table of kings and the mast would launch when it hit a certain time and people on the ship would walk to announce that it was dinner time. It was sooooo cool. The British museum also had a gold medal on display so you could see what people were wearing around their necks. Another cool part of the museum was the African part. I noticed that much of the items in the museum were only a century or two old which made me sad since Africa has had the oldest civilizations in the world since that is were human beings originated from. However, in the middle of the display is a tree, The Tree of Life that was made from recycled guns that were collected from a drive in Mozambique. They would trade their guns from their war for farm equipment. The tree that they created is very breathtaking, at least for me. I was very moved at the art that they made from the collected guns. It is reported that 7 million guns are still hidden within the landscape of Mozambique. I would recommend seeing that Tree of Life in person. 

There are 2 things I wanted to do in London that I did not get to. I didn't get to go to St. Paul's Cathedral but at this point if you've seen one you've seen them all right? Probably not but I'll see next time. The other thing I didn't get to go do was go to Portobello Road. Now, many of you won't know what this is so let me explain. Portobello Road is just a road that has shops and a market. Nothing spectacular really. But the reason I wanted to go was based on the movie "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"which isn't a great movie, nor is it new or fancy but it's very special to me. When I was little, it was the first VHS (I'm showing my age here) that I owned. I actually remember the day that my dad brought it home for me as a present and I watched it a 100 times. My friend Jessica who grew up with me, HATED that movie. I for whatever reason liked it. But anyway, in the movie they go to Portobello Road and buy a knob. I wanted a knob from Portobello Road kind of as a keepsake and souvenir but didn't get a chance to go. Next time it is on my to do list! 

"I walked down London Bridge last night, I saw you by the lampost light, Then bells rang out in sleepy Londontown"-Jo Statford

Do you know how many songs there are written about London? Tons apparently. As I start to write this I currently have "London Calling" by the Clash as the title of this post but as I look at the many, MANY options I have I'm sure it will have changed by the time this actually reaches you. Which it has. I picked a song lyric about London Bridge since that is where I stayed. 

So this is my London post. I was in London for a week. I originally was going to stay for 5 days but after meeting a girl in Florence, we decided to go to Cardiff together which caused me to extend my trip in London but I am very happy that I did. London has so much to do and see as well as the fact that I used the extra days for some day trips for my own personal want. 

 What I liked about walking around London was the statues that they had. Not only did they have statues of general English people I have never heard of, royalty or something strange but they had statues of important people from all over the world. The influential people, JFK, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, etc. I thought that was really cool. They also had statues commemorating the women of the wars, the animals in wars that lost their lives and I thought that was kind of cool to remember everyone. 

I forgot to mention that when I saw the Changing of the Guard, advice for the future. My friend advised me to get their early but without a real time frame. I got there about an hour and 15 minutes early and there was already a crowd gathering. If I could go again, I would stand up on the Queen Victoria statue as high as I could to see the parade of soldiers walking into the Palace and see the whole process on a grander scale than from where I was. 

Although I walked by Westminster Abbey when I first arrived I didn't go inside. When I went back to go inside I was so surprised at how expensive it was and saw that there were evening services and I heard this tour guide recommend coming back to it. So one day, at 5, I went in to the service at Westminster Abbey. It was pretty cool. Almost the entire thing is sung by a choir. I did not get to see the Westminster Abbey choir despite my best efforts of trying to go back and see them but I saw a choir from Ohio. And since England withdrew from Catholicism I imagined a little bit of a different service. Yes it was primarily sung by the pastor and the choir, but the order of events and the prayers were very Catholic. Luckily I had been to enough services in my life to kind of understand the rhythm of events. But to be quite honest, I would say seeing that service at Westminster Abbey was one of my favorite things I did in London and maybe the entirety of my trip. 

Because I am a nerd, I went to the Science Museum too. They had an exhibit on the growth and importance of the steam engine which wasn't all my style but still interesting. They had this awesome space exhibit though which I totally loved. And it was cool to see it in another country because they were talking about the space race, and the battle between the US and USSR and how the English gave money to the US to help finance the moon landing and etc. Less egocentric and more global. I loved it. They also had exhibits on the growth of the planet's population and pollution and the next steps toward green energy. One of the floors was dedicated to the overall growth of technology with Google at the center of it all and how when you see an image online that you think its in one part of the world but the actual fragment of that image is somewhere else and how it gets routed to you. And with the underlying message that Google is going to take over the world. That's what I got out of that one cause it was all Google operated and sponsored. The top floor had an exhibit on genetics, and  irrational phobias and the five senses. It was mostly geared to children but I am a kid at heart and totally found it really interesting on how they broke it all down. 

I also went to the Tower of London. I think it was my sister's favorite place, not really mine. I mean the history of it all is fascinating and the layout is pretty cool but kind of depressing. And I imagined ONE tower, because it is the "Tower" of London right? It implies one but its not. There are many. I would say the coolest thing about the tower is the tour guide that shows you around. He was very funny and witty, very British humor which I always like. But the other cool thing I thought was the inscriptions on the tower walls from the people leaving their marks. Some of the inscriptions had very detailed and ornate carvings definitely showing people had been there a long time. But also at the Tower of London you can see the royal jewels. I'm not the biggest fan of jewelry but DAMN now we are talking. The detail on the crowns was beautiful as it was all laid out and how they have been recycled and passed down. I think the saddest thing is that the original jewels were destroyed when England decided to not have a monarchy for a period of years but then they went back to their monarchical ways and recreated the crowns. 

London post to be continued! 

BMX Racing Became an Olympic Sport in 2008 in Beijing....now that I have answered that question, read my post!

This is my post about my observations of the Olympics abroad. Enjoy!

First off let me start that I generally have not been the most avid Olympic sport or world competition watcher before coming to Europe. But being abroad has really made me appreciate not only the competition but the hardwork that people have put into it, the training, and the whole other world that surrounds the Olympics that I never knew. I think the reason that I was never a big watcher of the Olympics was because I found it so egocentric watching it in the States. "Oh there goes America again. Is America in all of these sports? And winning all of them? Boring!" But my friends, that is not the case! They don't win everything, (although at this point in time they have 94 medals and it is day 16 out of 17) to be quite honest, they aren't even in ALL the millions of sports that the Olympics has to offer us, we just think they are!

I started watching the Olympics in Italy. I unfortunately did not get to watch the Opening Ceremony since the kids I was with were watching cartoons.The beauty about being in Europe while the Olympics are on is that....I'm almost in the same time zone as when the actual events are on (although being in London now I am obviously in the same time zone). But being in Italy and watching it live and not have to stay up til 3 in the morning to watch it live has totally made me appreciate the proximity of the games to where I was and am in the world.

In Italy I watched the Olympic sport of Fencing for women although it is not called that. But whatever, it was fencing. Italy took home the gold, silver and bronze. It was pretty awesome to see them kick ass like that. I also watched Fencing for men but did not get to watch as much of that since I was babysitting and Simone, he 8 year old I was watching, didn't seem so in to it. Although when Italy was not in the sport like swimming or running, we would watch anything that had Great Britain or the US in it. But it was really neat to see other sports that the US or GB (that is what everyone is calling Great Britain by the way. Team GB!) I was only in Italy the first two days of the Olympics so I did not get to experience much of the international beauty of watching the Olympics in Italy.

After Italy I went to Ireland. Oh Irelaand! I did not get to watch much in Ireland either because we spent a lot of time in the car driving from once place to another but I did see a lot of boxing. We were watching one of the matches that Ireland won in one of the pubs in Dublin. It was favored that Ireland would win in boxing so it was natural that it was on all the time. It was fun to watch it with the Irish as the boxers advanced into the finals. I would also watch portions of soccer and running in Ireland too but it was more background noise in the pubs. Running seemed to be a common theme that ran (pun intended) throughout all of the countries I watched the Olympics in now that I think about it.

Then from Dublin I went to London. YES! I am in the same city as the Olympics. I was actually there as it was happening right before my eyes. I took a bus from the train station to my hostel and before I arrived we drove by the actual center of the Olympics. There were so many people and it just felt so overwhelming to be so close to the excitement and then fans and spectators. It was just amazing. However that was as close as I got to the O2 arena and other events. Later that night I overheard that there were Olympic events that were free and so I looked them up and had decided that I would go to the sailing one later in the week and just do my touristy things the next day especially since part of the events would be going by the touristy attractions.

So the next day I awoke to go to Buckingham Palace. When I arrived I found out that they weren't going to be doing the Changing of the Guard because....oh I don't know the triathlon would be coming by. Oh well! I guess I'll have to stay and get a good spot to watch the Men's Triathlon. So I watched it live. Only the cycling portion though because to watch it start or end, you had to have tickets for that part of the arena and I unfortunately did not. But what I did get to see was pretty exciting and I got some good video to show my friends and family back home.

During my time in London, I met very few Americans. Wearing my Italian blue jacket around London, I was often mistaken for being Italian which benefited me from people trying to sell me items or get me to try something. However, because I was able to blend in to the not English speaking crowd I was able to meet some rude Americans. As I was waiting for the Changing of the Guard on my second day in London, I was about a foot and a half away from this woman. Granted being an American that is kind of close when you don't know that person but its a popular event and crowds gather so I didn't think I was that close. Since I had my jacket on, the woman I was standing next to starts talking about me to her friends. How I'm too close, what a bitch I am etc. I just completely ignored. So after a while, she starts talking to me like I'm an idiot and telling me I'm in her space and to back up. All I respond with was "ok" because I knew that it would get more crowded. Wouldn't you know it? Two little kids soon come up to her and stand right behind her, so close that their hands are on her back trying to lean in to the bars. All I could do was look at her and the little kids and smile. I wanted to say something but karma was already kicking in and I didn't want to ruin the magic.

And since I had just left Ireland, I was noticing a lot of Irish things and people. The Irish people at the Olympics dressed in their Ireland gear did not represent well. They literally all dressed like leprechauns. I'm not joking nor was it an exaggeration. Come on people, you are coming to a place where you can represent your country and that is the message you want to leave behind? We are a bunch of stereotypes? No Ireland. No. Stop it.
Irish people in London not representing well

In England though, I watched the sports that I never thought to watch in the US as an Olympic sport. I watched the equestrian games. I mean it makes sense. You always think of them riding arond in their riding gear in movies and on TV but I never thought of it as an Olympic sport NOR ever have seen it in the US. But yes, it exists! I also watched a lot of sailing, kayaking and canoeing. I don't recall ever watching that in my life as a precursor to the Olympic games or during the Olympics ever. And I think its because the US is just involved. Although I was glad to watch it because Ecuador (whoop whoop) was represented. Although they did not advance to the finals, it was nice to cheer for them. The sailing and the equestrian games all seemed very British and very White upper class and so it was exciting to cheer for the underdogs like Ecuador or like Mexico who weren't known for those types of sports. I also watched a lot of boxing in the evening because that's all I remember being on when I was at the pubs.

I watched the closing ceremony at the pub I liked O'Neils. There were hardly any Americans there. There were a lot of Irish, Dutch, Brazilians and few English now that I think of it because they could stay home and watch it. But it was cool first of all to see it before all my friends and family but to be in the culture and the area that the Olympics were representing. It was just an awesome experience that I won't ever forget. So awesome I want to go to Rio. I want to make it happen! I don't even need tickets but just being there with the people made this trip to London totally worth it. And if I can't go to Rio, I would like to watch it while traveling through different countries because it was just fun to be with people from all over and get a different experience from them.

But Rio 2016! Let's make it happen.

Everyone loves an American girl

I went out again last night to the same pub, O'Neils, as the night before where I met William. I honestly didn't think I would run into him again (and I didn't in case any of my friends were planning on getting their hopes up). But I went because I liked the pub and hoped there would be the same band playing covers or some other form of live music. There was another band playing covers and the lead singer for this band was really good. A lot of energy and just very funny and personable.

As I was watching the band and the boxing match in the background, this man comes up to me and asks me if I am Brazilian. No good sir, I am not Brazilian. Oh where are you from he asked me. I am American, I'm from Los Angeles. He tells me, "Oh, I'm sorry, but that makes sense. I thought you were Brazilian because of your skin tone and you were watching the boxing match and Brazil is playing and I might add, you are very beautiful and I know Brazil is known for their beautiful people. But then so is Los Angeles, so that makes sense you are from Los Angeles." So for those of you that know me, I am not someone that people call beautiful. I'm just not and I understand that. I can pass for pretty when the light is right, I know I'm definitely cute but beautiful not so much. He introduces himself as Roberto from Italy. We talk for a little bit (not so much my type being an older gentleman but still nice to talk to) and I explain what I am doing here and we discuss the Italy education plight as it stands in the nation. He then goes to join his friends. Shortly after he returns and asks if I would like to join them and I politely decline. And then he tells me that one of the guys standing next to me wants to talk to me (cause he had been observing, either sweet or creepy, I don't know which yet) and doesn't know how. But Roberto didn't know what he was waiting for because I am very sweet and he should just talk to me already. So I nodded, Roberto says good-bye again and I leave to go upstairs because the band was finished at this point.

I also forgot to mention this about the night before when I met Ollie from Ireland. When he was chatting me up, he kept going on about how I have a beautiful smile. And he said this line to me, which now that I think about it I can't believe I left it out but he said to me "You have a beautiful smile. It's a real treat to make you smile. The guy who makes you smile is the luckiest guy." Isn't that super super sweet and just smooth? Too bad that he had to keep talking and become rude and crude. Maybe that's why I forgot to mention it before, I remembered his rudeness.

The night before, upstairs was not crowded when I went up there but last night it was already packed. As I walked around the area to see where a good place might be for me to be a wallflower I pack a group of about 5 guys ALL looking at me and watching me. I give them a half wave and proceed to get a drink. As I walk by them again, they drop a glass to the floor and it shatters EVERYWHERE causing me to stop and kind of look at the scene. Two of the five guys really start to chat me up. One of them was toooooo attractive for his own good. Within the first couple of sentences I KNOW they are Irish. Their accents were so thick and so stereotypical of what I imagined everyone in Ireland to sound like that I was surprised I didn't hear more when I was in Ireland. So after telling them about how I was just in Ireland and loved it and yada, yada, yada, they kind of adopt me into their little group.

I only remember one guys name Alan cause I was like...that's not Irish and I couldn't hear the others. Alan was not the one that was too attractive for his own good by the way. Alan looked like Seth Meyers from Saturday Night Live although I couldn't remember last night to tell him so it doesn't matter. But I also couldn't find another American to ask either. Anyway, people that travel will tell you that Australians know how to party. And trust me they do. Being on the cruise,  in Ecuador, traveling around currently, you want a good time, you find the closest Australians and get in good with them. What I learned last night (although it could have been the guys I was with) you want a wild time, you find the Irish and party with them. They were doing like drinking parlor tricks, and I never saw them without two drinks in each of their hands. The only thing I did not appreciate was that instead of putting their glasses down on a table or something they kept dropping them on the floor (which is why the glass dropped and broke right when I met them) or people would stop on them if they landed ok and break the glass. I think they must have been responsible for at least 30 broken glasses if not more. But anyway, they were a lot, a lot of fun!

I met some other Italians later in the evening and discussed the Italian Education system with them too. (I sense a pattern). And then left when the band left and even though I knew where I was going it still took me 2 hours to get back to my hostel and I got in at about 4:30!

It was a good night. I felt pretty and popular. Everyone needs one of those once in a while!

Thank you For such a lovely time William

I'm writing this on 4 hours of sleep so please forgive the nonsensical remarks as they come up. 

Last night after finding a temporary solution to my Mexican Food craving in London, I went to Piccadily Circus to try and watch some of the Olympic Games in the square like people would do in Times Square because to me Piccadilly Circus reminds me of Times Square: with the people and jumbo screens, the Broadway show signs, the theaters, etc. However, they weren't showing anything. So I remembered that there was an Irish pub I walked by the day before that I thought looked cool.
Maybe because it was in the middle of the mini Chinatown district I don't know. 

Anyway, I went by, grabbed a Snakebite which is a different drink in London and proceeded to watch the games. A Snakebite here by the way is half some beer I've never heard of, Budweiser and a red liqueur. Surprisingly good since I hate Bud. Well, much to my pleasant surprise there was a band, actually there were two bands (not Irish) that played music shortly after I arrived. They did all covers, but they were all sing your heart out as loud as you could covers! I loved it. I sang my little heart out with my Snakebite in hand and have a sight sore throat this morning because of it.

Despite the music though, and the drinks and the people around, I got that lonely feeling again. I don't know how people go to bars by themselves.  No one talked to me for a long while. When I got my second drink I went to go stand at the bar because I have found more people to be chattier at the bar. As soon as I got to the bar, this man, Ollie, starts chatting me up. He's from Ireland and has been living in London for about 10 years as an electrician. I would say he was handsome but his jokes were crude and badly timed and it got to the point where I was wishing I wasn't talking to anyone again. I promptly finished that drink and left with another drink in hand to go at least find a place to watch the games. 

There were a small group of people watching the TV, guys actually since it was a boxing match. I had only been there a minute when William leans over and asks me who I am cheering for. I was cheering for Italy because....I only just spent 6 weeks there, I'm part Italian and didn't even know what the other country was. And we naturally feel into a conversational rhythm. I wouldn't go as far to say we had banter, mostly because the music was tooooooo loud but he, like myself was a big fan of banter and I completely appreciated that. We talked about travel, about my time in Europe, his time in the US, how London and New York are very similar but both very different, history, museums etc. It was the type of conversation that you would look back and be like....damn, that was a good conversation, because it just was. He restored my faith in not only men you meet at bars, but just meeting people out socially. I enjoyed his company immensely. It was just refreshing to be talking to someone new, who wasn't creepy, old or crude. 

The night ended with him running into people he knew and me (being new to traveling past midnight in London) leaving at 2:30 to struggle how to get home. I ended up getting home 2 hours later half walking back, half finding the right buses to take me back. (Oh roundabouts and your tricky tricky ill marked signs!!!)

William was so passionate about the museums in the city that I asked him if he wasn't busy to join me at one of them and he could choose and told him to find me here, via my blog (he asked me what my blog was, programmed it into his phone and bookmarked it).  That is why I am writing this kind of early in the morning in the hopes that he sees this and we can somehow meet up. William, if you are reading this, not in a creepy way but I did enjoy your company and would like to hang out with you on the streets of London. (If you read some of my other posts, you can see I'm pretty normal.) I enjoyed your passion about the art, life and history and think it would be totally fun to go see a museum of just hit the streets of London with you and see it through a real Londoners eyes. If you want, you can email me at elizabethcemerald@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you! 

"When you have eliminated the impossible, however improbable must be the truth." - Sherlock Holmes

I arrived in London and immediately felt lonely. I think its because I had such a good time in Dublin and was with a friend and I won't see someone else I know for a week. My friend Jessica thinks because I felt so comfortable being in Dublin and with Kevin that I felt like I was home. In her words "Good people make you feel like you're home" and I think that's what it was. Kiah thinks its because it feels like home since its harder to think that I'm abroad being in London or Dublin. Whatever the reason is...I'm homesick and feel a little lonely.

But anyway, my flight into London was far from the center of the city. So I took an hour or so bus into the city center. And driving through I was surprised. It's more brown than I imagined. Way more brown actually.

Also, London is huge. It reminded me of New York which was a little boring. With the crowded public transportation, people on the streets walking rapidly, jay-walking, the skyscrapers and all sorts of diversity walking around. And other parts reminded me of LA, at least the part I passed through on the bus totally reminded me of the downtown LA area that were all like filled with buildings and restaurants of immigrants that settled in the outskirts of the area. I arrived in London in the early afternoon at about 5:00 after passing through the outskirts and after settling into my hostel went across the street to get Indian. I had been craving Indian food since Dublin since walking around we saw so many in such a small area but I am glad I waited. I forgot that India was a colony of England and therefore there are tons of Indians walking around. Based on that history, I can only assume that the Indian food in London would be better than in Dublin. But of course, this is only speculation. 

My first day in London was just me kind of walking around and going to bed relatively early because I felt like I had been traveling all day. My second day, I planned to go to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard and then grab lunch and eat it in Hyde Park because they are airing the Olympics on big screens there. So I got up, got some breakfast and proceeded to walk from my hostel to Buckingham Palace. I thought it would be nice to walk around and maybe find some things I wouldn't normally see if I hadn't walked. BIG MISTAKE. London is HUGE. I had gotten so used to these small European cities where you can walk from one end to the other in 20-30 minutes. London is not like that at all! I bought and Oyster card which is used for the "Underground" (not just for underground systems but for the buses too) and have been using it since! But anyway, I walked by Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. As I arrived at Buckingham Palace and asked the officer where I should stand to watch the Changing of the Guard, he proceeded to tell me that it would not be happening today. Instead the men's cycling part of the triathlon would be passing through instead. Uh....free Olympic event? Yes please! So I waited for it to start and pass through the Buckingham Palace area. It was pretty fun! And people from all over and each lap of the cycling was different than the rest. Then I tried my hardest, my absolute hardest to make it to Hyde Park to watch the end and see who won but unfortunately I did not and saw the announcement of who won. (More specifics on the Olympics in another blog post soon to come!) 

After I left Hyde Park, I walked down Oxford Street. Even though my friend Hayley told me to avoid it, I just ended up walking on it because they rerouted me to that street since other parts were closed due to Olympic traffic. Hayley told me to avoid it because it would be busy and crowded. WOW, she could not have been more right. It was horrifically busy as people were walking around lost or looking for the next Underground stop. As I got on the Underground, I headed to the next stop that sounded the most interesting to me: Baker Street. For those of you that don't recognize the importance of Baker Street, it is significant to Sherlock Holmes. And walking out of the stop, the walls are tiled with little Sherlock Holmes hats. (Don't worry, I have pictures). Anyway, he lived at 221b Baker Street. I went to the "museum" if you can even call it that. Not worth the money if you have a good imagination and have already imagined what his little flat looked like. I would just go into the gift shop instead because that was adorable. So adorable I considered getting a Sherlock Holmes teddy bear. But I don't need it so I didn't get it, but I'm here for another few days. 

The day ended with me going back to the hostel and booking my flight home!!! I think the homesickness was my final push to finally book it! See you soon my fellow Americans!