Goodbye London

I'm spending my last few minutes on Edgware Road at the i-caf to give a little update. Amanda and I rushed this morning to miraculously get packed up and head with Laura and Allison to Heathrow(they were nice enough to take our luggage back to the states for us). It's really hard to believe I only have a few more hours here. Last night was pretty emotional saying goodbye to everyone (students and faculty) at our closing banquet. We walked through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens to arrive at this beautiful French restaurant where we had the top floor just for our group. There was a cake there with all of our names on it. After dinner the faculty members said a few words and we all hugged them goodbye. We still had a few finals to finish up last-minute, but we somehow got it done. The entire group met up later at the pub (The Duke of York, of course) and had a few rounds before saying our goodbyes.

We are set to get on the eurostar to Paris in about 2 hours. I'm really excited and nervous, but most of all I'm sad to leave London. This program has been so much more than I expected. Hopefully everything will go smoothly for my 5 days in France and 3 days in Dublin. I really do miss all of you and I got some sweet souvenirs. Mom, I had them sent home so please watch for them in the next week or so. Liz probably has the most to look forward to, mainly because every store I went in to I would say "aw this reminds me of something Liz would like."

Since Amanda and I pulled an all-nighter 2 nights ago and only got 4 hours of sleep last night (not even a nap!) we are pretty exhausted and ready to nap on the chunnel. I think our plan for tonight is to get there and somehow figure out how to get tickets for the metro. After the initial mayhem, we'll walk around, eat some baguettes and find our hostel. We don't know any French, but we're equppied with our street smarts, wit, American charm, a map and a phrase book. Should be an adventure! I will do my best to keep you posted on here.

All my loving.