Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Happy Anniversary Cambridge / Paris!!

Hello!!!

Sorry for the delay. I really should update more often...now, this will be somewhat long...but will have lots of pictures = D.

This past weekend, I went to Paris with 8 other people and the weekend before that, I stayed in Cambridge = D. Cambridge has been very nice. It's relaxing and feels like home right now, though school is a bit of a bother. = ) Of course, every week, I find time to head down to the music room (which is in a really shady location...somewhat creepy) and play ultimate frisbee = ). There are always people who want to play, so we walk over to a park about 10 min. away to throw it around. So far, we've had 2 people ask to join us...they weren't British though = (. I just want British friends...hahaha = )

Last week, I went into London for a night to watch one of the PROMS concerts. PROMS is an event happening in London for around 6 weeks or so where a BUNCH of classical music is played every night. I ended up going to the 800th Anniversary of Cambridge concert in the Royal Albert Hall.
BEAUTIFUL venue!


The King's College Choir performed along with other Cambridge choirs and the London Symphony. We saw a couple of the choir members before and they told us that before people came to line up in the queue, the police were checking the roofs for bombs! Which can only mean one thing...ROYALTY was coming to the performance!

We walked into the arena and found ourselves REALLY close to the stage. The only catch? We had to stand for the entire concert...which wasn't too bad, really = ). The concert started off with England's Anthem...which never happens unless...yup! I turned around and looked over to the Royal Box and there he was...PRINCE CHARLES! I saw royalty! Unfortunately, they didn't let us take pictures once the performance ensued, but it was pretty cool to see him. = )

(random side note...there's a yellow jacket in my room right now...kinda freaky...) = )

Anyway, the day after the concert, my friend and I left for PARIS!!!!
13 HOUR BUS RIDE...wouldn't have been that bad, except we found ourselves seated to people with really bad B.O., a man who wouldn't let me put my seat back, and 4 English guys who were super obnoxious and talked for the ENTIRE time...and I mean, the ENTIRE TIME! How can someone talk for 13 hours?! Really? What do you talk about? I was amazed and found the situation hilarious. = )

After a LONG ride...we made it!


The adventures began right when we got off the bus, AND I was able to use my extremely broke French = ). We succeeded in getting passes for the metro and made our way to a friend's apartment to stash our stuff for the day. Then, we were off to...
Versailles!!!







Since our friend lived near the Moulin Rouge, we decided to pay it a visit = D.


Finally, we rested our legs for the night at our hotel. MAN! Paris is a TON of walking. My legs got their workout this past weekend.

Le prochain jour, nous avons visite (The next day, we visited) Le Louvre, Jardins de Tuilleries, Notre Dame, Le Musee d'Orsay et Le Tour Eiffel. Sooooooo beautiful! Paris is a lovely city! I saw the Mona Lisa and Venus at Le Louvre,
Jessi and I fed sparrows in the courtyard of Notre Dame (her voluntarily...myself, involuntarily), saw many Degas works in Le Musee d'Orsay and watched the flashing lights and view of Paris at night on Le Tour Eiffel!

Amazing day with some wonderful people! = )

The next and final day, we attended Notre Dame for mass in the morning (not the entire thing of course), then headed to the Champs-Elysee! We walked up and down the street, stopping at the L'Arc de Triomphe, then found a spot on the side to see the final section of...

LE TOUR DE FRANCE!!!!!!

Yeppers! That's right! We saw the Tour de France! Sooooo cool...BUT extremely painful! I think at this point, our legs were dying from the first couple of days and 3 hours of standing waiting for the racers to finish the race, but well worth the experience. = D We stood next to a lady who knew much about the race and spoke english, so we were well educated in the race = D.

If you look closely enough, on the bottom right, the man with the blue outfit and black helmet is Lance Armstrong. = )

Wonderful experience with amazing weather! We were pretty fortunate. Thank the Lord! = D

Finally, our last stop was Montmartre to visit Le Sacre-Couer (The Sacred Heart). Gorgeous views! Yummy food! Time well spent = )


And that was my Parisian experience = D. I miss Paris already. BUT, no worries. I shall return at another time = D.

I hope everyone is having adventures of their own! I'm hearing much from little updates from some people, but I would love to hear how others are doing! Also, if you would still like a postcard or something, just email me or message me your address! You can always send me stuff as well = D = D = D. I like getting mail = D.
Christina Chang
King's College, G2
Cambridge CB2 1ST, England
= )

Til the next post,
Christina C

2 comments:

  1. sounds like a lot of fun christina! glad you got to tour paris, i had a lot of fun doing that as well. stay safe! say hello to jessi for me.

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  2. oh my gosh that was amazing
    i love the picture with the purple sky
    so jealousssssss

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