Today I went to Buckingham Palace

First of all, welcome back everybody. Sorry for being away for so long...in case you haven't heard, the internet in my flat went down for the past week due to router issues, but now, after 92 pounds of collective tears and anguish, we are back online.
First, to finish up my experiences on my trip. After Rick and Joe showed me an excellent time in Rome, I flew over via Ryanair to Brussels where I met up with Schloss at the European Union. He is an intern for an MEP of Malta so he was able to give me special access to a visitors pass into the Parliament building, something that I would normally have to apply for months in advance. The building was nice, I learned alot about the EU and met some important Europeans. Later that night, we were invited to a formal function sponsored by European rail companies who were trying to lobby for the privatization of European rails. We were greeted by our charter train by a butler in a tux bolding a champaign tray. The train ride was fun; some British rail executives sat with us and I had to pretend I was Neil Bergman, the name of the intern who let me go for him and the one on my nametag. Whoever put this event together went all out -- it took place in this massive warehouse with modern trains on display, free food, and an open bar. Needless to say, we had a ball. Even met up with these two American girls who were on a similar program to Schloss' and hung with them till the event was over.
Next day Schloss showed me around the city of Brussels then we went to see a French slapstick comedy. Pretty good, considering I didn't understand one word of it.
Next day I went to Brugges, little Venice, where I drank Kriek and took the canal tour. Also, I ate chocolate and kissed Jesus' blood. Long story.
The next day we met up with the Friedrich's and their buddies. All fun from there.
After Brussels I took a train to Paris to stay at Pete's aunt's place for a night, then came home via chunnel to London. There was a half hour delay on the train due to "security issues" at Waterloo station, but besides that the ride went quite smoothly.
Funny story about my wicked witch aussie flatmate. In case you loyal readers did not know, I am living with this 30 year old aussie, who encases all of the nastiness, condescendingness, uptightness, and, pardon my french, bitchiness that all other aussies seem to lack. So if you've ever wondered why the Aussie you met the other day is so lovable and friendly, it's because my flatmate encases all of it.
As soon as I get back to London, I am as excited and refreshed as I could be. I had an extremely successful break, everything turned out well, and I had a great time. So I'm telling my flatmates all about my expereinces, and who walks into the room but the evil Aussie. She asks Jason first, then me, if she could please borrow one of our digital cameras for a few hours for her work because she accidentally left hers in Wales. After Jason says no, I politely decline her request, letting her know that a) my camera is out of batteries, and b) I don't feel comfortable lending out a $200 piece of equipment. She takes personal offense to this, and calls me "rude." After that, she storms out of the room.
Just thought I'd let you know this story, because she has been quite a pleasure to live with since then ::sarcasm::. There's been many more evil Aussie, or as I call her, wicked witch stories to share since then, but I'll leave that for another blog.
Anyway, for the past couple of weeks the Friedrichs and friends have visited, Sue and Rich visited, and I Michelle visited. Two more of Schloss' friends from Brussels are visiting on Sunday, and staying until Tuesday. It should be a good time. I will start updating as frequently as I can again. Peace.

Welcome Back

I'm Home! Back home in the 5L, off the lovely Edgware Rd. Tube stop. Ok. Enough small talk. Onto the trip.
One more thing... for the sake of my sanity I will not write out every detail of the trip because that would go on forever. For the details please call or shoot me an e-mail asking about specific parts.
I arrive in Paris last Thursday, the 7th, all by myself. I was supposed to ride with Pete, but we got our communication mixed up and I would up in Gar du Nord all by myself. Not knowing one lick of French, I kept my cool and walked around the station, hoping to God that Pete took the next train which was scheduled to arrive an hour later. I buy a tomato and cheese baguette (something Europe specializes in) and hung out in the Relay book shop looking at the French languge books.
Luckily Pete arrives and we're ready to go. He takes me on the subway to his aunt and uncles Notre Dame apartment where we stay the night.

Friday
We get up around noon and head out after a delicious egg and cheese breakfast prepared by Auntie Marmelade. We also have a fresh baguette and fresh squeezed orange juice. We decide to first hittup the Louvre. Quite spectacular. We saw lots of interesting pieces of art and ancient sculptures. We followed signs to see the Mona Lisa, which turned out to be not as impressive as the insane mass of tourists pushing and shoving just to catch a glimpse of the famous Leonardo painting.
Other highlights include the Shakespeare bookstore, an English bookstore we visited where James Joyce wrote Ulysses, and Monmart, with its incredible view of Paris. We also went to the massive Sacreshure church in Paris (which is called something else...I forgot the real name). We then walked around historic Monmart and got nutella and banana crepes.

Saturday
A mostly lazy day. Shabbas, after all. Breakfast was delicious as always, got croissants and baguettes. Went to the Eiffel tower, which the Irish had taken over for the day as their hot spot to tailgate for the soccer game versus France later that day. Got home by 7 in time for Auntie Marm's crepes. Soo good. I had 3 cheese ones and 2 sweet ones. After dinner we went to a bar to see the soccer game. Scoreless tie. For the life of me, I'll never understand that bloody game. It made me miss American football, espeically since the Eagles are rolling.

Sunday
Go to Rome! Wake up in Paris and get packed. I must admit I can't remember what I did that morning. All I do remember is that I almost missed the bus to the airport because of the confusing Paris subway and the guy on it who told us to get off 2 stops before we needed to. I decided it would be necessary to just take a cab to the spot. Cabs are much cheaper in Europe than London. Get on the bus to the airport and sit next to an Irishman, who explained to me the whole story behind how so many Irish got into Paris for the game. Of course the internet.
The flight to Rome was nice and short, no real problems. I get into the city around 9 and the hotel around ten, where I was supposed to meet up with Uncle Adam and surprise Aunt Amy. The consierge asks me if I'm Ben, I say I am, and he tells me to go to the Atlante Star hotel around the corner where they are eating dinner. I head over and take the lift up to the restaurant, properly surprising my dear Aunt. We had a lovely meal and an excellent time catching up on everything. The food was excellent, and quite filling. After dinner we were all pretty exhausted, especially my poor Aunt and Uncle who hadn't slept in days. We head back to the hotel/apartment (long story -- ask Uncle Adam), call Jonathan wishing him a happy birthday, then go to sleep.

Monday
HUGE day. Wish I could remember everything that went on. Spent the whole day with Aunt and Uncle, so you just know it was exciting. We go to the Spanish steps and have lunch at Spizzico, an Italian fast food pizza chain. One thing Uncle Adam and I both much appreciated about Rome was the ubiquity of peaches and dimes in the city. So many of the women looked like either movie stars or models. After the pizza Uncle Adam goes tie shopping and finds some quite nice pieces. We then buy gelati and head to the Collisium.
The Collisium was awesome. I learned that the word arena means sand in Latin, so because the floor of the Collisium was made of sand originally, that's where we get the modern term for it. I loved the living history of the place. So amazing.
Quick funny story. Uncle Adam challenged me to race him up the stone steps of the arena, so as we run up, his pda flys out of his belf and bounces, stair after stair, down to the floor, finally banging on the stone floor. As it hits the floor the memory chip flys out. Luckily, everything still worked.
Anyway after some issues with the pocketbook street vendors, we are ready to go to Yesh Restaurant on Via Girardi. Unfortunately, no one has ever heard of Via Girardi so we have no idea where to go. We finally ask the guard at the subway stop naer the station to talk to the lady at Yesh because she spoke no English. Turns out we pronounced it wrong ("Not Girardi. Girardi!").
Ok I'm tired of writing. I'll continue the rest tomorrow.

Paris

Sitting in my friend's aunt's Paris apartment brings a relaxed contrast to the fun and excitement i've experienced here so far. I wish I could go on and on about what I've done here so far, but I can't write for too long because first, it's incredibly difficult to write this blog entry because the keyboards in France are quite different from the one's we are all used to; and second, Pete's Aunt is getting ready to serve dinner. I'll be happy to outline some quick highlights so far.
I first arrived here all by myself because there was a breach of communication and Rocky ended up taking the train an hour after mine. So, I arrive in this completely foreign country all by myself, not having a place to go or people to see. It was quite a cool expereince. I dont know any French, but I was still able to buy a hardboiled egg and cheese baguette and a coke. Rocky finally came and we took the metro to this beautiful flat overlooking Notré Dame that I'm writing this in.
Today we saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre; lots of tourists that I got a funny picture taking pictures of it.
OK, Im getting way too frustrated with this weird keyboard; the a is zhere the q should be; the m is where the ; should be; the w is zhere the z should be. And you need to use the shift key to zrite a period. I'd use an exclamation point, but I cant find it. Au revios

Midterms

These past couple of days have been quite insane, with Iddo staying the weekend and Elkind finally arriving at LSE, not to mention midterms looming for the coming week. However, I am getting things together now and ready to take the midterms on full force, no matter how gloomy they seem.
I have 2 2000 word essays and 3 tests. One essay is due Tuesday. The other is Thursday. There is also one test on Tuesday and 2 on Wednesday. Nothing should be overly difficult or stressful. The papers are going to be a grind, but I am not too worried about it. For my Minorities essay I'll spend a day researching British Jews either tomorrow or Sunday and write it Monday. If anyone knows of any good online sources or even text sources I should check out please let me know.
My lit essay looks to be a little more difficult, as I haven't finished the book I'm supposed to write about yet. No worries, though, because it's not due till Thursday.
Enough about tests. Onto the fun. Three hours after my last class on Thursday, at 4:15, Rocky and I are hopping a Eurostar train to Paris. I will stay there for a few days, then fly down to Rome to visit the Friedrich boys, then after that go to Brussels Thursday or Friday of that week. Should be a helluva week. I'll be sure to take many a photo.
As far as what I've been upto, the highlights have been most definately the shows I've seen. First, on Tuesday, my music class went on a trip to the Royal Festival Hall and saw the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra play 3 pieces, the highlight being Holst's The Planets. It was so cool. Then, last night, we went to the Royal Opera House and saw Mozart's Cossi fan Tutti. It was surprisingly entertaining. The surtitles made it understandable and the actors dressed in modern costumes to make it easier to follow. Afterwards, I visited Elkind and walked around town for a bit, then slept over at his flat. Always nice to catch up with old camp buds.