[December 21] London -> Brussels -> Cologne -> Dortmund!

I had heard from a few different people that King's Cross/St. Pancras Station was an absolute nightmare and even if you had a train ticket, you would still have to wait in line for ages and ages. I was even lucky that I was able to buy a ticket at all, I later found out. 

My train from London to Brussels was scheduled to depart at 7:30am. I left the dorm at 3:15am. I took the bus to Bloomsbury, then another bus to the train station. Uh-oh. I discovered a LONG LONG line that wrapped around the outside of the station. Ew, ew, ew. But I met a really nice young woman traveling to Poland who was very upbeat and had a really positive attitude, and she really helped cheer up the cold and dark morning!

Even if you had a ticket, you still had to wait in the line. It was first come, first serve. This was towards to front of the line... yeah...:

I was SO lucky because when I went through customs and also got a new ticket, there were TWO TICKETS left for the next train to Brussels and they asked my new friend if she was traveling with a friend and she said yes, so I got to get on the train with her! That was SUPER nice! I can't believe my luck... I really can't!

Before riding the Eurostar for the first time... and going under the English Channel!

Once arriving in Brussels, I found a train to Cologne, Germany. From there I took a train to Dortmund where I met up with my dear, dear friend. I hadn't seen her in 4.5 years... WOW! Stay tuned for some adventures in Germany...

[December 20] London: SNOW & Traveling Nightmares.

The morning of December 18th was a bit stressful—last minute packing, throwing away things, donating things, trying to get a stupid printer to work, etc. I dragged all of my stuff to the Victoria Coach Station in the snow, got on a bus to Stansted Airport to fly to Bremen, Germany, and was on that bus for no less for 5 HOURS. That should have been an 1 1/2 hour bus trip, MAX, people! Stupid snow! I got to the airport late only to find out that my flight had been cancelled due to snow. Even if it hadn't have been cancelled I would have missed it anyway. So after not really knowing what to do for awhile, I waited in a long line to buy a train ticket back to the city. Close to midnight, I was back at the dorm only to discover most of my friends were, too. Their flights had all been cancelled as well. Two of my friends had to sit in and airplane on the tarmac for 7 HOURS. Um, in the States, I'm pretty sure that's illegal!!!

The people at the dorm were really nice and accommodating to us—each extra night we stayed would 'only' be £25 which is sure a lot cheaper than staying at a hotel. I got my exact same room back. Not bad. 

The soonest flight I could get to Bremen in German to visit my friend was on Wednesday. Hmm. Scratch that. I applied for a refund and bought a Eurostar ticket instead, for Tuesday. Okay. I can handle that. Most of my friends were getting new flights only to have them be cancelled and... most of them made it home for Christmas but JUST BARELY. As in, Christmas morning. I wasn't TOO concerned with when I got to Germany, because I wasn't going to be home for Christmas anyway, but it did mean less time with my friend whom I hadn't seen for 4 1/2 years. 

More to come on my train adventures, but here's a few pictures of the snow out of my dorm room window—beautiful, but a pain in the you-know-what:

[December 17] London: IES Farewell Lunch :(

Wow... the last day in London. IES invited everyone to a Farewell lunch which was nice... I was excited for the food I had ordered because the different courses sounded so good when I picked them out on the menu but actually the food was gross!

Me and Anne with our hats that came in our Christmas poppers!

Mushroom things... so much potential but...

Haha I love this pic!

[December 16] London: Christmas Service @ St. Paul's Cathedral

When I looked at the St. Paul's Cathedral website and saw they were having a Christmas service, it seemed like a good idea to go. I kept meaning to go to a service there anyway so this was perfect!

It was really, really cold that evening. The bus took an especially long time to get there, but I was still an hour early, and it was a GOOD THING—the line to get into the service went around almost the entire cathedral. So, I started waiting in line and it started snowing... a lot... then as the line started moving (thank goodness!) a guy came around and said there might not be room for everyone so we might not get in. Sigh. But finally, I was on the steps, so close to getting in, and all of these people from behind me cut me, and although I can generally stick up for myself, whatever, okay. Then one of the ladies in line asked if I 'queue jumped'. "Um, No." She said "How long have you been standing in line?" Me: "An hour. WHY." "Oh, we just thought you queue jumped."Jerk. Sheesh! She's the one who cut me! Loser. Then I had to sit next to the loser during the service.

I just hate it when strangers are rude. 

Anyway. St. Paul's Cathedral! The Christmas Service was a combination of a lovely choir singing, poetry readings, and scripture readings. Really nice, but freezing inside the cathedral as well!

[December 15] London: The Nutcracker & Christmas Tea @ The Ritz!

Oh boy! On my last Wednesday in London, I had my last exam. Afterwards, I went to see The Nutcracker ballet near Trafalgar Square. What a gorgeous theatre!!!

I really enjoyed the performance; The Nutcracker is one of my very favorite things about Christmas. As soon as December hits, I listen to The Nutcracker Suite A LOT—it's definitely on my Christmas music playlists. Even though this particular performance was indeed beautiful... there were some things about it that I'm not used to. For instance, in the beginning, there was a scene that took place outside with 'ice skaters', when people are arriving to Clara's house for Christmas. This seemed a little extraneous and unnecessary although the ice skating bit is nice enough. Then there was some confusion about the 'prince charming' and the nutcracker... he would switch back and forth and I didn't like that. I also really DID NOT like that there was no Snow Queen...?!?!?! And no Sugar Plum Fairy??? HELLO?!?! There was still the dance but the 'princess' did the Sugar Plum Fairy dance, which was right after her solo dance anyway! LAME. I was actually mad about this. Also, there was no Marzipan NOR Mother Gigone. NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!

Later that evening, me and some friends went to have Christmas Tea at The Ritz! It was very ritzy (Sorry! I was obligated to say it...)! It was all decorated for Christmas:

We were served champagne, tea (we chose jasmine; it was definitely the best jasmine tea I have ever had), cute little tea sandwiches, desserts, and scones. The scones were my favorite, oh boy they were delicious!

So. Spoiled.

Tiny mince pie, 'R' is for Ritz!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[December 11] London: Chocolate Festival! & Hanging Out w/Friends

Can you believe they had a Chocolate Festival in London? Whooo hooo! I went with a couple of friends and bought spiced hot chocolate (basically Mexican Hot Chocolate I think) and it was so thick and chocolatey I couldn't finish it... Then I bought some non-chocolate goodies: a gingerbread house kit and macaroons. I LOVE MACAROONS. Holy cow. I've never had them before but I've always thought they were so cute... I didn't imagine... in my wildest dreams... that they would taste so good... 

Then I went for coffee with this cool cat. He said, "Don't put that pic on facebook!" He didn't say blog, so...

Later, I met some friends at a pub with the best name: Goat In Boots.

And I had my favorite mulled wine...

...and a Romanian guy got very friendly with this kiddo...

[December 10] London: Southbank Christmas Market

Some of my friends and I decided to go to the Southbank to ride the London Eye and check out the Christmas Market. I decided not to ride the Eye, because I was already feeling a bit queasy and I was nervous that it would make me feel worse even though I know it doesn't spin around fast or anything! I browsed the Christmas Market while they rode the Eye. 

Here's some pictures from around the Parliament Square/Westminster Bridge/London Eye area:

I took this picture of the Christmas Market area on another day where I got a better view:

On the bus heading to a pub!

Mulled wine... mmm! I really love that stuff, so warm and delicious-smelling...