Family, Friends, London, Copenhagen, AH!

Remember, remember, the fifth of November! Gun powder, treason, and PLOT!

Ok now that I acknowledged that it's Guy Fawkes day... WOW! I cannot believe it has been about two weeks since I wrote to you. Time is flying by over here and I'm starting to fear my inevitable fate... a long flight back to the US of A. I will try my best to recap what I have been doing these past two weeks and to give a little preview of what's to come in my LAST FIVE WEEKS here in London. Insert cries of horror here.

The weekend before last, the weekend of my lovely Alexandra Jane's 21st birthday back in the city of brotherly love (she survived, by the way), my sissy Briel and her male counterpart Jeremy made their way over to Europe for a week-long vacation. I met them on Saturday morning at the Gloucester tube station and welcomed them into beautiful South Kensington. Their nice small hotel was near the South Ken tube station and happened to be right above Janet's Bar... the one where we met Uncle Timmy two months ago... ahhh my life comes full circle. I was able to spend a lot of time with them wandering the city and seeing the more touristy sights in London. On Saturday afternoon we went to the British Museum where I got to see the Rosetta Stone and mummy cats then grabbed some Indian food for dinner at a restaurant right near where I live in South Kensington. On Sunday morning we went to the Tower of London, which was so fascinating because I have read many books about British monarchs and the strange incidents that occurred at the tower like beheadings and the disappearances of the little princes. It was also great place to go because Briel got to see what most think is London bridge, but is in fact the Tower Bridge, as seen below.

We then walked to Tate Modern where we saw a really amazing box/optical illusion exhibit and some Andy Warhol works, which are usually my favorite. We spent some time in a pub on the Thames and meandered quite a bit along the river in spite of the cold. On Monday morning I got to give my first ever exclusive tour of Parliament. I was really impressed with myself at how much I knew about Parliament to share with Briel and Jeremy as I walked around with them. I also felt pretty legit when a security guard told us that we were supposed to stay with our tour group, but immediately corrected herself, apologized and told us to take 'as long as we wished' after seeing my security pass. After Parliament, we went to Westminster Abbey and saw the memorials for kings, queens, playwrights, and scientists including Henry James and Isaac Newton. On Monday afternoon I had class and Tuesday I had work, but in the evening on Tuesday I met Briel and Jeremy at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, Maze, for an incredible dinner. The food was EXTRAORDINARY, the service was AMAZING, the cocktails were DELICIOUS, and the atmosphere was BEAUTIFUL. Let's just say Gordon Ramsay's establishments are not overrated. I won't lie... I kind of got sick from the food... but I enjoyed the taste and the experience too much to blame it on the food itself. I'm instead blaming it on my gluttonous, over-eating. On Wednesday evening we wandered the city a little more, ate tasty oriental food, and took Briel and Jeremy to my favorite frozen yogurt place, Snog, before having to bid them goodbye. It was sad to see them go, but we definitely accomplished a lot in those few days and I know that they were ready for the second leg of their trip in Paris come Thursday morning.

On Friday I made my way over to Copenhagen to spend Halloween with my lovely roommate from Wake, Rock. Like any best friend would, Rock picked me up from the Copenhagen Airport with alcohol in hand and a smile on her face. Note: she was wearing her Saved by the Bell costume under her peacoat as she stood there with her bag of goodies awaiting my arrival. I'm glad I will never have to question why we get along so well. She whisked me away via train (which is based on the honor system like public transportation in Munich) into the center of the city where we met up with some of her friends at a bar that I believe was called Kular Bar? It was a really fun atmosphere and I had great time... mostly because it was very, very refreshing to be dancing around with one of my best friends again. After Kular Bar we made our way out to the suburbs where Rock is staying with family friends for the semester. The house was adorable and the family was so welcoming. Rock's host-mother actually works for the Danish foreign affairs office in Copenhagen and has been spending a lot of her time assisting in the planning and execution of the climate conference that my MP and the rest of the world has been preparing for, which will take place in Copenhagen in December. On Saturday morning, we made our way back to the city where we got some delicious pastries and sat by one of the canals.

It was absolutely FREEZING outside, but the air was crisp, the water was beautiful and I was too distracted by the amazing scones and other delicious treats to notice that my body temperature had dropped at least 10 degrees per minute that we sat there. After we finished our treats, we wandered over to the Round Tower, which is the tallest tower in Denmark (I believe).

After a very long and steep climb, we made it to the top of the tower only to find this incredible view.

Every direction was like dessert for the eyes, from the windmills churning in the breeze just beyond Christiana (the independent city where drugs are legal) to the many gothic-inspired domes and towers of palaces and churches in the distance. I'm not going to lie, I did not expect Copenhagen to be so beautiful. Yet, Copenhagen has its own unique character defined by a juxtaposition between industrial/mod architecture and old baroque and gothic influenced buildings. I especially enjoyed going to Nyhavn, one of the most well-known areas of Copenhagen, and seeing all of the colorful buildings and boats.

We spent quite a bit of time wandering Copenhagen, seeing sights like the opera house and the palace where the royal family lives. Yet, we had to head back to Rock's home-stay early enough to prepare for what lie ahead... Halloween... at Sensation.

Sensation deserves its own paragraph. Actually, let's be real... Sensation should be a global holdiday. Here is a video to help explain why...

Basically Sensation is a white-themed rave in a soccer stadium. The entire stadium is shared by thousands of people and an elaborate set, made specifically to trip you out and react strangely when lights are flashed on its many pieces. Rock and I arrived and met up with her friends at approximately 8:30 p.m. and did not even think about heading home until around 2:00 a.m. There were intense/pulsating beats, crazy Danes, insane outfits and pyrotechnics galore. It was an amazing experience and I am so happy I went because I really felt as though I got a taste of that intense, club-going European culture. I can't say that I would frequent events like Sensation, but I would not trade that night for anything and would absolutely recommend that anyone goes. I also would recommend that you wear a toga or a tutu... clearly that worked out well for the roomster and I.

So on Sunday morning we somehow managed to remove ourselves from bed. Rock packed, as she was preparing to embark on her two week fall break around Europe, and then we headed off to Nyhavn for some breakfast before going to the airport. It worked out really well because Rock and her friend Tara began their two week trip here in London. So I got to spend a little bit of time with them showing them where I live, where I work, and some of the more entertaining attractions that London has to offer. On Monday morning I got to give Rock and Tara a tour of Parliament, then we headed east along the Thames toward St. Pauls cathedral so they could see the Millennium (a.k.a. Harry Potter) Bridge. I then left the girls at Tate Modern after showing them my most recent favorite view of London from the fourth floor terrace overlooking the Thames at Tate Modern.

I love it because you can see St.Pauls (to the left) and the Millennium Bridge all at once, showing a major contrast between one of the most important older structures in London (even Churchill apparently said that as long as St. Pauls remained untarnished, they were still winning WWII) to some of the newer structures like the bridge and Tate Modern itself. Unfortunately I had class on Monday afternoon so I couldn't stay with them, but I was able to meet up with the girls at Covent Garden after they spent the day wandering the city. I took them to Porterhouse, one of my favorite bars in London, before we retired for the evening.

Rock and Tara left on Tuesday morning and the week has flown since. Work has been relatively slow lately because of the postal strike, which inhibits even Parliament from getting copious amounts of unnecessary campaign letters from constituents. Yet, when I was at the gym tonight I noticed a news bulletin that said the postal strike has been suspended until after Christmas so who knows how many letters will be on my desk when I arrive at work tomorrow morning! I still love my internship a lot. The people I work with are great and I truly enjoy being able to have such a hands-on experience in politics. Last week I got to sit in on a meeting with my MP and take notes for his records. Today I began helping R research how diplomatic immunity applies to locally-engaged staff members of British embassies because recently an Iranian national who is also a top political analyst at the British embassy in Iran was sentenced to many years in prison for apparently having a major hand in the post-election Iranian protests over the summer. Of course the man had absolutely nothing to do with the protests, so R and the rest of the shadow foreign affairs team are trying to figure out why nothing has been done by the British government on this man's behalf in order to keep him from having to spend his life in prison for something he didn't do. So I was scouring the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 for an hour or two today, hoping to find some clause that says that the British government should be able to act on his behalf. I'm not sure if I have found anything yet, but I did get to write a question that my MP will be asking the Foreign Secretary to answer, which is kind of a big deal?

Anyway, tomorrow I head to Dublin to meet up with Bridget (VOT PRIDEEE!) and Kristen (who is studying in London and I have yet to see!) for the weekend. Can you say dance team reunion? Hopefully the night won't end in doing 8-counts... but hopefully it will end in doing quake. Then when I return to London on Sunday I will only have five weeks left here in London. Last night, Kendall and I were wandering Brick Lane, the Liverpool Station area, and then Oxford Street to see the Christmas lights when suddenly the reality of leaving this place dawned on me. The first half of the semester was rather slow for me and even though I was having an amazing time, I still always had the prospect of going home in a few months at the back of my mind. Now, while I am still excited to go back home to see my family and friends and to eventually go back to Wake Forest, part of me is very, very nervous about the reverse-culture shock and leaving London in general. I have really come to appreciate a lot of what London has to offer from its pub lifestyle to the history that you can find in even the smallest of nooks or crannies. Also, come January, I will have spent seven total months living and working in a city: Three months working for the New York Knicks in New York City and four months living in London, two months of which I will have worked for British Parliament. How am I supposed to go back to a small school in a small city in North Carolina after this? How will I fare not being able to walk or take public transportation everywhere? What will it be like to have to lock myself in ZSR for hours at a time only to make a mere dent in my workload? Maybe it will be refreshing. Maybe I will fall back into place right away. I guess I just never thought I could grow up this quickly. Don't get me wrong, I love and miss Wake Forest, but I guess I just never thought that I would even consider fearing that Wake Forest may just not be enough.

Until next time... which hopefully will be less than two weeks from now because that was just ridiculous... I hope all is well whether you're in South America, Europe, New York City or the good ol' Village of Tequesta! I can't wait to update you on my next adventures!