College roommates, reunited!

Hi there! Back again. In these past two weeks, I’ve travelled to Brighton, Wales, and Windsor, had Andrea and Erin visit, and sang karaoke in an actual bar (as opposed to in my basement or at Danielle’s house). Whew.

Where to begin? Andrea came to visit two weeks ago from Paris, and I showed her around a lot of the touristy sites in London. We also got to watch the Eurovision contest, which might very well be the most ridiculous thing, ever. The contest, which was formed back in the 50s, features acts from all over Europe, who perform awful songs in gaudy costumes, with hideous choreography and various levels of tunelessness. So, basically, it’s karaoke – Europe-wide karaoke. Then all the countries give out rankings of 1-12 to the performers, which is a purely political exercise (France never votes for England, England never votes for France, Scandanavia votes among itself, Germany makes sure to give a generous ranking to Poland…) Greece won, and England finished 3rd from last. I personally was rooting for the Latvian boy group, who had a tenuous grasp on pitch and rhythm, but you could tell they really wanted it. All in all, a completely satisfying night. Europe’s so weird.

Erin came on Wednesday – yaay! Thursday morning we headed off to Brighton, which is basically the English equivalent of Wildwood in NJ – piers crowded with rides and arcades, cheesy souvenir shops, and a beach (or at least a strip of rocks with tiny waves lapping up on shore). No, actually, it’s a lot nicer than I made it sound. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and we took a really nice walk along the boardwalk. The city also has a lot of history – high society used to head out to Brighton (like Jane Austen characters!) and one of the kings built the Royal Pavilion, an Indian-style palace. Erin and I indulged in some nostalgia by riding the carousel, and almost got bucked off by a racehorse arcade game (which actually warned that game players should have some riding experience.) Eric, you would have loved it.

From Friday to Sunday, Erin and I went on a tour of Wales – more to come about that later. On Monday, we hit up some of the markets in London, and on Tuesday, we headed out to Windsor to see the castle, possibly stalk the queen, and enjoy the (freakishly) nice weather. Windsor Castle is gigantic – it’s the largest inhabited castle in Europe. We got to see the State Apartments, where Henry VIII and the Queen Mum are buried, and Queen Mary’s dollhouse, which is taller than me, has running water and working electricity, and features mini books handwritten by their original authors. Ridiculous. Oh, we also got to see Queen Elizabeth’s doll from when she was young – the thing wears Cartier jewelry! Fabulous.

Erin left yesterday – sob – it was really great to spend some time with her, since we haven't seen each other in forever. Yaay college days. Alana and Alicia also moved out of the house, so a bit of a sad day all around. For a quick update, the new house lineup is: Me, Liam, Joe (and Joe’s friend Coli, who used to live in the house and is now staying for a month), Jenny, Chris (an Australian, banker, 25 or so, replaced Sally), Claire (Australian, indeterminate age, don’t know too much about her yet), and Geraldine (French, 21?, works in a bakery and is learning English).

Last night, Joe, Coli, Jenny and I all headed out for karaoke, and I actually decided to sing something in public – eek! It might have been the Limoncello I had before leaving the house, but who knows? Anyway, sang R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (thanks for all the practice, Karaoke Revolution), and had a great time watching the other acts, both good and awful. I think I have a the karaoke bug – on Tuesday we’re planning on going to the bar where Joe works and trying out the night there. Awesome. Oh, and Geraldine's job is the most fabulous thing ever, since last night when we came home at midnight (and were absolutely starving), we found a TON of baked goods from the bakery on the table...mmmm. Free breakfast, I love you.

Anyway, off to the rollerdisco tonight for Jenny’s birthday. Should be incredibly fabulous. I’ll write more later!

= :)