Tickets to Florence Booked

Round trip tickets were only £40, but after all the fees it came out to £87 (about $120).

I fly into Pisa (only a short trip from Florence) around 11pm Thursday Feb 12 and leave early Sunday morning.

After work it's right to bed, then up at midnight to get to the airport by 4am. I arrive in Amsterdam 2 hours before sunrise--hopefully in time to see this:

...And You Think The U.S. Economy Is Bad?

Be grateful you're not looking for a job in the UK right now.

Meeting My MP

Finally got to meet my MP Mark today. We got a brief chance to chat about my time here already and what his expectations are. He is quite an energetic man whose thick Scotish accent is difficult to understand at times. I think he will be quite enjoyable to work for. He has quite a few assignments for me, namely research on various consumer protection isssues relating to energy. Nearly 15% of U.K. citizens have a "pay-as-you-go" system for their electricity and gas. Many of the people who use this system are low income, and unfortunetley most electic and gas companies charge significantly more for the "pay-as-you-go" than they do standard billing or direct debit billing methods.

I've contacted Mikey Maresca, a good friend from Marist, who is currently studying in Florence about visiting for an extended weekend from Feb. 12-15. I found a round trip flight for £50, which I may finalize this evening.

Countdown until Amsterdam: <2 days

Tomorrow

So I finally meet me MP (Member of Parliament) tomorrow. I'm highly anticipating it. Hopefully, my next 2 and a half months here will become clearer.

Also today after work I met up with an old friend from middle school, Brooke Sciarrotta, and recalled simpler times. We both remembered that she came to my formal freshman year of high school with me...Wow that seems like lifetimes ago.

Lots of schoolwork to do before Amsterdam. Goodnight....

Amsterdam Here I Come...

I just booked a flight to Amsterdam tonight. I'll be leaving London 6am Friday morning and I'll be back late Sunday night. The whole trip was thrown together very last minute, so it cost me more than i would have like 154 pounds sterling, but I'll be sure to book one of those 5 pound flights when I go to Florence/Rome/Paris.

My First Van Gogh

For part of the Hansard Program I must write a dissertation of roughly 35 pages on a topic of choosing relating to British politics. In between my two classes today, I met with my one professor to finalize my topic--we settled on a comparison of UK and US environmental policy through examination of various legislation. The UK is the first nation to set clear carbon emission reduction guidelines and put them into law. 

After my last class I went to visit the National Gallery and saw my firs Da Vinci and Van Gogh in person. I must say photos of Van Gogh's do not give his work justice; you really need to see the piece in person. The thick brushstrokes and rich texture bring another dimension to the painting that photos like the one below cannot display.

...possibly my favorite painting in the museum Van Gogh although here it's a little cut off

For Those Yankees Fans...

If you haven't already heard you may want to read this story on ESPN.com about Joe Torre's new book about his time with the Yankees. I'm a little scared about what we might learn and I've certianly lost a little respect for Joe for publishing this while he is still an active manager. We'll see what becomes of this...

Exploring London

Up until yesterday I have only seen the nice parts of London. I live by the Boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, which are very posh areas. Yesterday, my flatmate Rebecca and I took a bus through Chelsea and crossed over the river into Southwark. We explored some flea markets there and I saw how how and where "the other half live."

Today I'm going to meet up with Jill Roberts (my good friend from home who is studying here for those that don't know) and visit a museum. I've seen Jill quite a lot since I've been here, which has been fantastic--she's not only a familar face whose company I enjoy greatly but a great person to explore London with because she's up for anything.

Jill and I out to dinner earler this week

Apparently, there is a town of Overton 

Me in front of the Houses of Parliament (The Palace of Westminster) on my first day of work

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Egham Visit

Yesterday after work I left London for the first time. My roommate, Zach has a girlfriend named Naomi that goes to Royal Holloway (one of the many University of London campuses) in Egham which is about 40 minutes from London by train. The trains here are supposedly fantastic--very efficient and they go everywhere. I had no complaints; it is definitely better than SEPTA, MetroNorth, and NJ Transit.

Egham was the quintessential small, quaint English town with just one pub. It was very fun to just walk around. Then, later that evening I hung out with all of Naomi's friends then went to a club about 15 minutes away. It was very cool to finally enjoy some quality time with British students my age.

Hope all is well back in the states...

Day 2 in Westminster Palace

Okay so I don't technically work in this building, but I walk through it frequently and some of my program colleagues do. There are actually 5 buildings sorrounding Westmister Palace that are all connected by underground tunnels and above ground skyways. It will take me a full 3 months to learn how to maneuver this labyrinth. 

And now for something completely different...

...read carefully

Obama in London

My internship started today. Unfortunatley, Mark Lazarowicz, my MP (Member of Parliament) is in Africa for the week, so what I'll be doing with my time there is a little unclear. Unlike in the states, Parliamentary staffs are rather small. There is only one other person in the office with me and Mark's office in Edinburgh, Scottland (where his constituency lies) only has 3 people. I'll be visiting Edinburgh through the Hansard Program, so it'll be cool to actually explore the constituency that I'll be serving.

I was able to leave work at 4pm just in time to get home to watch Biden get sworn in. I found myself a little emotional just before Obama began to speak. It's still a little surreal that a black man is running this country. 

As excited as the others in my program are about the new president, the excitment that Londoners have about Obama is incredible--it's almost as if he's their president. 

Parliament Placement

Today was the start of my first normal week. From here on out every Monday I will have class and on Tues, Wed, Thurs I will have my internship. I just found out today who I will be working for Labour Party MP Mark Lazarowicz. He is Scottish and his big issues are energy and the environment. I start tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited.

Yesterday I went to the sung mass at Westminster Abbey. The male choir was fantastic and the Anglican mass is nearly word for word the same as the Roman Catholic mass. 

Here is a picture right above the door. I wasn't allowed to photo the inside

Later that day I went to the Albert & Victoria Museum which is only a 5 minute walk from my flat. Admission for public museums is free here, so I fully intend on revisiting because I only saw about half of the exhibits.

monstrance for Eucharist

Poseidon

Finally I finished up the day by take the Tube (subway) to the Tower of London and walking across the Tower Bridge.

view of the south end of the Thames skyline

Tower of London

Tower Bridge

So I'm Starting A Blog

So I've been in London now for one week and after a very exciting time exploring the city, meeting new people, and getting adjusted to my program I want to start updating people on my life here...

I hate to bore everyone by recapping the last seven days, but suffice it to say it's been a nonstop orientation of London. My program director arranged a tour of London, a tour of the Houses of Parliament, a tour of the Parliamentary Archives, tickets for the equivelant of a Broadway Show, a tour of the London School of Economics (my current university), and lectures with MPs (Members of Parliament) and Lords. 

In the Parliamentary archives holding the physical act of Parliament that outlawed the death penalty in the UK.

There have been countless protests in support of Palestine on campus. These protestors are camping out right in the Parliament square.

A beautiful shot of the the Houses of Parliament at night.