Viva La France!

Exciting news everyone!! I'm going to Paris this weekend!!! Yayyy! This will be my first time in the City of Love and I am really looking forward to it. When I visited France during my 10th grade exchange program, the closest I came to seeing the Eiffel Tower was through the plane window - I'm assuming it's not the same as seeing it in person. So, I'll be leaving for Paris Friday night, getting in Saturday morning, leaving Monday night, and getting back into London Tuesday morning. My mentor has been wonderful, saying that no matter what I HAD to go to Paris. So go I shall. Please expect an update upon my return, accompanied by lots of pictures. Cheers!

Champagne Cocktails and The Luxury Room

On Friday night we found ourselves at Abacus. We danced the night away and sipped on champagne cocktails - not a bad way to wind down the work week!

Saturday the weather wasn't too great, so Bridget and I shopped along Oxford and Bond streets. Sunday was the better day of the weekend. I woke up and did a nice run along the river, and then a bunch of us went to check out Harrods. Harrods is a famous department store in London - very high end. They literally have rooms entitled The Luxury Room - and they aren't kidding. Any designer you could think of, they have. Also Harrods prides itself in getting anything you could ever possibly want. Honestly, if you want something, Harrods will find a way to get it to you. The whole experience made me wish I was already an attorney and therefore would be able to indulge in The Luxury Room. But alas, I still need a few years. After Harrods we did some more sight seeing around Westminster, Covent Garden, and the like. Unfortunately my camera battery died so I wasn't able to take any new pictures, but it wasn't anything too new. Thank you to Jeff for taking some nice pics!

Directly after Harrods, we stopped off at a cute bakery and indulged in some delicious fruit tarts (you work up an appetite cruising high-end shops):

And then went back to Buckingham Palace:

I hope everyone is doing well back in the states. Cheers :)

Job Update

I have really been enjoying my placement in family law! So far I've seen domestic violence injunctions, child care proceedings, and visitation rights hearings. For this program we have to write weekly journals reflecting on our placements, and I noted last week that it was really nice to see the law being used to help and protect disadvantaged people. It's nice to feel like you are a part of something that's truly helping someone. Also, I love my mentor. She has been a mentor for the Syracuse Program for about 30 years, and she is amazing. She's great at making sure I know what's going on, and continually asks for my feedback and my impressions of the proceedings. She's also great at telling me fabulous places in London I must visit before I leave. So far, I'm giving this placement an enthusiastic thumbs up!

Old Friends in London

Last night I met up with an old friend, Marty, for dinner. I've known Marty since high school and he actually lives in Albany. We never connected in Albany but he is in London on business for a few days so we met up! We went to a french restaurant, Clos Maggiore. The food was amazing and the service was spectacular. It was definitely a thumbs up!

After dinner, we met up with a few law kids at the Nags Head.

Free Meals and 12 Pound Martinis

The London Eye is a big tourist attraction in London. It's basically a huge ferris wheel type device that fits about 20 people per compartment and gives you an amazing view of London. It's something everyone has to do once while visiting the city, and Saturday was a gorgeous day so we decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, we didn't really plan ahead and by the time we got there at 4:00 p.m., the line was ridiculous and we decided to forgo it for now and try it again at a later date.






But not to fear, all was not lost. After we decided to pass on the Eye, we were looking for someplace to eat and came across this nice man and his new restaurant, The Anchor. The Anchor wasn't officially opening until Monday, but they were doing test runs in different sections of the restaurant throughout the weekend, and offered us a free meal in return for giving our feedback on the dining experience. The meal was amazing and after all was said and done we only had to pay for our second cocktail! Talk about lucky!






And here are some random pictures I took walking from The Anchor to our flat.




After our three hour delicious complimentary dinner, we rallied and went out dancing in Soho. The martinis were 12 pounds (i.e. $24!) but Ashley met some nice men who bought us cocktails - solid.

Hello Lovah

Last Friday night we took it easy and went out for a few casual cocktails.

Our *Hello Lovahhh* look:

Lunch at Middle Temple and The Knights Templar

Last Thursday, the students in the Law in London program had lunch at Middle Temple, which is one of the Inns of Court. Everyone was dressed to the nines in their business professional attire and looked great. Before the lunch we had a quick tour of the Inn and then proceeded onto our lunch. I felt quite special because we were seating at the high table in the front - very prestigious.

Afterwards, we went out for cocktails at the Knights Templar. The boys had cigars and I obviously did not want to be left out :)

When we went on the Legal London tour, our tour guide mentioned that the Knights Templar is known for it's Women's Bathroom. And no joke, this bathroom was intense, and probably the nicest facility I've ever used!

And here are a few fun pics of the crew. Dan and I doing ALS proud:

Jeff, myself and Hayley:

Ashley, Bridget, Sarah and me:

And who doesn't appreciate a sweeeeeet ride:

National Gallery

On certain week nights some museums have extended hours. Last Wednesday night after work Bridget and I went to the National Gallery since it's hours were extended to 9:00 p.m. I was very impressed. The paintings were beautiful. They had a few Monets which I particularly loved. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures inside the Gallery since I was unsure whether photos were permitted. But the building itself is quite impressive -

The National Gallery is located at Trafalgar Square:

And yes I am planning to get a picture on that Lion before I leave London.

Biggest Fan!!

It looks like Sara Is The New Blog has a fan - Dudley!! This pic was tooooo cute not to share :) Thank you Maria!!! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did! What a cutie :)