Hi All,
Yes I have been slack on posting, but away from my computer and need to donwload photos off my camera onto it before I put them on here.
Had a lovely Xmas with the family in Wells after a few days in London. I leave tomoro on the bus to Edinbourough before spenidng New Years at the Hogmany festival in Glasgow. Then fly back to Paris for one night and then off skiing in the Alpes for 7 days. I get back to Paris on the 8th January and then start work bright and early on the 10th.
So there is a lot of news coming, I just need to find the time inbetween all this fun to write on my blog.
Hope everyone had a merry xmas has an awesome New Year.
Lots of love
Nikki
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Xmas Time
I am very lucky to have my family in the UK so that I wasn’t alone for Xmas, so nice to just chill with family in an actual house. Volunteered my services for cooking and made about 3 batches of mince pies for xmas breakfast – yummy! 
On xmas eve the whole family trundled off to Bath for a very early dinner because we all wanted to drink and the last bus back was at 7pm or something. The sunset on the way there (at about 4pm I might add) was gorgeous over the snowy fields. Had diner in a tapas restaurant – was delicious. Another reason to love Bath!
Came home and got roped into helping Uncle Julian make pastry for his game pie. The two uncles were having a competition to see who could make the best… was up until 2am on Xmas day making it – of which one slice was eaten!
Since I was up anyway I decided to go to midnight Eucharist at Wells Cathedral. It was beautiful but sad being there by myself and seeing everyone with their families- what did I expect really. Was funny the prayer they did included Zimbabwe and those away in the armed forces – freaky!
Woke up nice and late on Xmas day and headed over to Aunty Fi & Nick’s to open stocking presents and eat mince pies! I am saying I had a white Xmas, it didn’t actually snow but there was still some on the ground. Xmas dinner was a feast – beef, ham and turkey! And lots of extras on the side.
After dinner, we mnaged to have a skype chat with the Aussie Meads who were on Boxing Day already and about to sit downa nd watch the cricket - looked so nice and warm, was very jealous.
We played charades altogether which was pretty funny, we are quite the dim family not being able to make the connection between kneeland and Disneyland, was a good laugh though!
Ofcourse Xmas isn't christmas without someone falling asleep on the couch, this is the start of balance things on Uncle Ju's head game!
After Xmas, there was a lot of leftovers eaten and a trip to Bath for the sales before I headed up to Scotland to celebrate New Year.
On xmas eve the whole family trundled off to Bath for a very early dinner because we all wanted to drink and the last bus back was at 7pm or something. The sunset on the way there (at about 4pm I might add) was gorgeous over the snowy fields. Had diner in a tapas restaurant – was delicious. Another reason to love Bath!
Came home and got roped into helping Uncle Julian make pastry for his game pie. The two uncles were having a competition to see who could make the best… was up until 2am on Xmas day making it – of which one slice was eaten!
Since I was up anyway I decided to go to midnight Eucharist at Wells Cathedral. It was beautiful but sad being there by myself and seeing everyone with their families- what did I expect really. Was funny the prayer they did included Zimbabwe and those away in the armed forces – freaky!
Woke up nice and late on Xmas day and headed over to Aunty Fi & Nick’s to open stocking presents and eat mince pies! I am saying I had a white Xmas, it didn’t actually snow but there was still some on the ground. Xmas dinner was a feast – beef, ham and turkey! And lots of extras on the side.
After dinner, we mnaged to have a skype chat with the Aussie Meads who were on Boxing Day already and about to sit downa nd watch the cricket - looked so nice and warm, was very jealous.
We played charades altogether which was pretty funny, we are quite the dim family not being able to make the connection between kneeland and Disneyland, was a good laugh though!
Ofcourse Xmas isn't christmas without someone falling asleep on the couch, this is the start of balance things on Uncle Ju's head game!
After Xmas, there was a lot of leftovers eaten and a trip to Bath for the sales before I headed up to Scotland to celebrate New Year.
London Town
After freaking out that I wasn’t going to be able to leave Paris for Xmas with all the snow I was lucky enough that both Paris & London airports were open. Luckily I was flying with easyjet to Luton as there were still delays at Gatwick and Heathrow. I went straight to the hotel to meet Aunty Fi who was taking me to the theatre as a Xmas treat. 
We headed off to explore London, taking in Covert Garden, Piccadilly Circus before getting a meal and heading to Mamma Mia. I’m a big fan of the movie but the live show was so much better. By the end of the show we were all dancing and singing along with the finale! So much fun!
The next day after a lazy start I headed off to explore London on my own. I decided to splurge and went on one of the tourist buses, I think I got a good deal – 48 hr pass including a cruise on the Thames and guided walks. The bus tour was great and had a live guide which made it a bit more interactive, was a little bit chilly on the top. Did all the major sites….photos below!
I did the Ghost walking tour which took as past a few scary places, the best part was at the end when he showed us where all the pubs were!
Went into Harrods to see where my mummy worked while she was doing the living overseas thing – smelly fish place. Got the best lamb pie for dinner from the food hall and then headed back to my hostel – which was not the nicest but a bed and a shower.
The next day I did the changing of the guard walking tour – unlucky for me but with Xmas changing the dates I only got to see the changing of the horse guard. Oh well, always next time! Managed to fit in a cruise on the river before catching the bus to Bath where Saint Nicholas picked me up to take me home for Xmas.
We headed off to explore London, taking in Covert Garden, Piccadilly Circus before getting a meal and heading to Mamma Mia. I’m a big fan of the movie but the live show was so much better. By the end of the show we were all dancing and singing along with the finale! So much fun!
The next day after a lazy start I headed off to explore London on my own. I decided to splurge and went on one of the tourist buses, I think I got a good deal – 48 hr pass including a cruise on the Thames and guided walks. The bus tour was great and had a live guide which made it a bit more interactive, was a little bit chilly on the top. Did all the major sites….photos below!
I did the Ghost walking tour which took as past a few scary places, the best part was at the end when he showed us where all the pubs were!
Went into Harrods to see where my mummy worked while she was doing the living overseas thing – smelly fish place. Got the best lamb pie for dinner from the food hall and then headed back to my hostel – which was not the nicest but a bed and a shower.
The next day I did the changing of the guard walking tour – unlucky for me but with Xmas changing the dates I only got to see the changing of the horse guard. Oh well, always next time! Managed to fit in a cruise on the river before catching the bus to Bath where Saint Nicholas picked me up to take me home for Xmas.
School's Out for Winter
I have finally finished school - yay! My course is still a complete mess. We were told we were having one 2 hour exam with each of the 8 subjects having a section that we needed to answer (so 15 mins per subject). With that in mind (and no calculator or notes), the exam couldn't really be that hard since 15 mins of testing per subject is not a lot! The day before the exam I was involved in an evaluation of the course and mentioned that one of the subjects really needed to test us a bit better since it was highly based on calculations and you couldn't do them without a calculator. We were then informed that actually, that subject had a 45 minute exam with notes and a calculator - didn't we know??? NO. How ridiculous is that! So disorganised and typical of our course coordinator! It was a mad panic to try and study that subject to the neglect of others.
Then we get into the exam - which is all in english and they give all the international students french-english dictionaries. What the? This school is not organised very well at all! So silly! The so called 'english' in the exam was pretty awful as well, surely someone should have proof read the exams? Haven't got results back yet, but not too worried. More worried about the skipping classes bit!
Anyway, us Chatenay girls had a final breakfast all together in my room with croissants and coffee - yummy.
We also did some celebratory drinking ofcourse, bit of a nightmare trying to get into Paris with the snow and the like - got the first train home in the morning at like 5.30am...not good but a fun evening!
Then we get into the exam - which is all in english and they give all the international students french-english dictionaries. What the? This school is not organised very well at all! So silly! The so called 'english' in the exam was pretty awful as well, surely someone should have proof read the exams? Haven't got results back yet, but not too worried. More worried about the skipping classes bit!
Anyway, us Chatenay girls had a final breakfast all together in my room with croissants and coffee - yummy.
We also did some celebratory drinking ofcourse, bit of a nightmare trying to get into Paris with the snow and the like - got the first train home in the morning at like 5.30am...not good but a fun evening!
Showcase
Us international students had a last soirée on the Friday the week before we finished. Now we all had exams the following week and me being me hadn't actually studied so I was planning on just going to the pre-party and then going home - likely story. Got home at 4.30am! We had pre-drinks at Cité Universitaire, not on the lawn like in summer but just sitting on the steps in one of the residence's foyer! Crazy people that we are.
We soon headed off to Showcase which is a nightclub under Pont Alexander III (Alexander the third Bridge). It's quite classy and you have to be a on a list to get in. Not entirely sure how its done - but it helps to have friends on the inside! Here's a promo pic from their website showing the entrance.
Apparently it was an old boathouse that they converted - anyway its pretty special to have been there. It's huge and you can see the stone arches of the roof. It's so nice to actually find a place which is big enough to actually dance in, normally night spots here are tiny and overcrowded.
They have guest DJ's and the like and although I was pretty sick of the music by the end of the night it was an experience. Shots were only 5Euros (when compared to the other drinks this was a bargain!) so not too expensive. Here are a few more photos of the night. I look like shit but I wasn't planning on going clubbing
We soon headed off to Showcase which is a nightclub under Pont Alexander III (Alexander the third Bridge). It's quite classy and you have to be a on a list to get in. Not entirely sure how its done - but it helps to have friends on the inside! Here's a promo pic from their website showing the entrance.
Apparently it was an old boathouse that they converted - anyway its pretty special to have been there. It's huge and you can see the stone arches of the roof. It's so nice to actually find a place which is big enough to actually dance in, normally night spots here are tiny and overcrowded.
They have guest DJ's and the like and although I was pretty sick of the music by the end of the night it was an experience. Shots were only 5Euros (when compared to the other drinks this was a bargain!) so not too expensive. Here are a few more photos of the night. I look like shit but I wasn't planning on going clubbing
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)