Cheers.

Instead of taking a nice leisurely weekend to relax after Paris, I went to London . . . the city in Europe I was most looking forward to seeing. And it was amazing. I am a bit obsessed with British history--especially Tudor era, gotta love a scandal--and poor Kate probably put up with all my super excited rambling and random facts while looking around the city. Especially at the tower of London, where we went to first. It was amazing--especially because it just blends into the landscape. The White Tower on the inside was built by William the Conquerer sometime soon after 1066, and the whole thing was finished by the 1250s. I had a particular desire to go here, more than anywhere else, because of Anne Boleyn. There is a glass memorial to the seven people executed inside the Tower itself and Anne is buried inside a chapel directly behind there--I know this is horribly morbid, but I was so excited to get to be there and I even spent the very few minutes on my phone to send a text to my mom about where I was standing. While Notre Dame and Versailles were beautiful and Sans Souci was interesting and relevant to where I am living now, London was always my dream city to visit--English majors unite.

I was not disappointed, even when some other plans fell through--Westminster Abbey closed super early on Saturday and contrary to what I was told, there is no platform 9 3/4 in Kings Cross (we looked.) Wandering the city was super enjoyable and most of the big landmarks are within walking distance. We started at Picadilly Circus, saw the Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and ended at a pub in the center of London with fish and chips and steak and ale pie. Kate's friend lives in Blackheath, near Greenwich, and we got a great view of the skyline of London and as an added bonus stood next to the spot that marks the split between the hemispheres. Definitely wasn't on my todo list, but it was a beautiful day and a beautiful view.

Its strange coming back to Berlin this time, mostly because its starting to feel like a strange city again. As nice as it was to have that week in France, especially in the beginning when we still barely know each other, and as glad as I am that I got to go to London and see buildings I have been obsessed with seeing for the last decade, I feel as if I was just starting to get a grip on Berlin before all this happened. Whatever German I knew at that point, all 3 sentences, is harder to access then it would've been had I been here that whole time.

Before I left for this semester, I was reading blogs from other students abroad--trying to find a clever name for this blog, among other things--and one of the things I read was that you shouldn't spend all your free time traveling. Sure, take advantage of the opportunity, but don't forget where you are. I think the next few weeks will be a focus on just that--Germany, and Berlin. I don't want to leave here wishing I had done more things, seen more things, learned more German. I want to order a meal in a restaurant, or from a Kebab stand (why can't we have this in DC?!?) and not have the person immediately switch to English. While I feel like that in particular will take time to accomplish, I will be in Germany the entire month of October--now's the time to start practicing. Ich möchte ein Döner Kebab bitte!