As of yesterday, I have officially been in Europe for one month. It is amazing how quickly time flies by! I am having an absolutely incredible time. I thought that you all might appreciate an update from me, so here it is! I���ll start back at the beginning, back on June 17th, when I originally came to England for Henley.
My wonderful mother drove all the way up to Cambridge to send me off. I love her and miss her so much!
After a 6 hour flight, we arrived in London at 10 oclock at night. We stayed in a hotel outside of Heathrow for the night and then went to our host family���s house in Henley. Alot of the families in Henley rent out their houses to teams who are competing in the regatta. We stayed in a house about 2 miles from the race course. Our host, Lisa, was a little crazy. I suppose you'd have to be crazy to let 25 girls rent out your home for a week. Her house was really nice, but it was still a tight sqeeze. We lined up air mattresses along the ground in all of her rooms, and 7 or 8 of us would sleep in the same room.
The biggest problem was going to the bathroom (the "lou"). The British are very concerned about water conservation, so the toilets don't use alot of water to flush. Usually the first person to use the lou could flush, but anyone who tried to afterwards couldn't...kind of awkward. Lisa would leave us instructions on how to flush on a white board and she told us if we were going to take any "thunderingly good craps," we should avoid using certain bathrooms. Apparently they're are very frank about that type of thing in Britain.Anyhow, living in the house was really fun. Noodle���s birthday was on June 18th, so we threw a little party for her.
For that week, my schedule was basically: wake up, eat breakfast, walk to the course, row, walk back to the house, eat lunch, take a nap (see above photos of Julia and Smoore), read, walk back to the course, row, walk back to the house, eat dinner. Yep, pretty much just eat, sleep, and row. What a vacation!Since we were paid our per diem in US dollars, and not British pounds, we wanted to stretch our money as far as we could by purchasing food communally. Each night, one of the classes (freshman, sophomores, etc.) was responsible for cooking dinner. We actually ate pretty well for only 2 pounds a night. Sometimes between practices, we'd walk into town, have afternoon tea at a hotel overlooking the Thames, or visit the used book shop. I was surprised to find out that they really do have those red telephone booths in England!
One day, when we had afternoon practice off, we took a day trip to Oxford. It was the last day of exams there. Apparently, students only take exams after sophomore and senior year, so finishing is a really big deal. If you dont pass, you can't continue studying at the college. It was really cute to watch someone finish because all of their friends would be waiting outside to hug them and then throw eggs at them (weird tradition, I know). They also have to wear black robes when they take their exams, which reminded me alot of Harry Potter.
You have to pay to get into the colleges at Oxford, but my friends and I didn't want to do just walked in pretending to be students.
The colleges at Oxford are gorgeous (and in my opinion, much prettier than Harvard or Yale). Each college has its own gardens���nun's gardens, deer gardens (with actual deer).
They only bad part about the gardens is that you can't step on the grass. Seriously, if you do, there���s a 50 pound fine per step.
After exploring some of the colleges, everyone wanted to go punting. I had no idea what punting was (isn't it when a goalie kicks the ball in soccer?).
I soon discovered that a punt boat is a boat that you move by "punting" along the river with a big stick instead, as opposed to paddling.
Of course, we didn't want to pay 12 pounds to rent a punt boat, so Katherine and Kate just walked into Magdalen college as if they were Oxford students and used one of the students' punt boats for free. I was actually very impressed they pulled it off, because they had to walk right past the admissions table where visitors are supposed to pay to see the college. They were supposed to leave
the key to their dorm room as collateral, but instead they left the key to the Lisa���s house instead. Probably not the smartest idea. When they went to reclaim it, the guard told them that they had left the wrong key, and implied that Katherine had mistakenly left him a key that some boy had given her to his apartment...Since 5 American accents would have undoubtedly raised some suspicion, only Kate and Katherine went in to get the boat. The plan was for the rest of us to meet them by the river bank to jump in (because that would not raise any suspicion at all...). Unfortunately, when we made this brillant plan, we didn't know that the river bank was completely fenced off. Phoebe, Sarah and I had to climb over a fence and then jump down a 3 foot bank to meet Kate and Katherine. But it was worth it. Punting was so much fun.
Of course, I may just be saying that because I couldn't figure out how to punt (see photo of us crashing above). As a result, I got a free boat ride while everyone else did the work. We met a bunch of oxford kids celebrating the end of exams during our ride. We also saw a cricket match on a nearby field (though apparently the cricket players were 12 years old���)
As for the actual races at Henley, our coaches messed up when they submitted lineups. I've actually been quite frustrated with my coaches for seat racing, etc., this year, but I'm not going
to go into it now. Anyways, they thought that they could change our lineup with the council's approval. However, the council did not approve of their subsitutions, and we didn't find out about it until 9am on the day of our race.Anyhow, we raced Cambridge, who was the #1 boat in the UK,. It was actually a really good race, a dog fight to the end. We lost to them by about half a boat length. Its too bad because we were up for the first 750, and I think we'll always wonder if we would have won had we raced in our original lineup. But honeslty, it wouldn't have mattered anyways. Even if we had won
against Cambridge, we would have raced Browns 1V in the next round, and we surely would have lost then. So yeah, it was fun to experience racing on the Thames and fun to get this free trip to England, but I don't think anyone in the 2v really came over here expecting to win. As for our 1V, they met Brown in the finals. Kind of ironic that they flew across the atlantic to race a team from 40 minutes away. Anyhow, Brown won . Brown's 1V was the # 5 boat in the country at NCAAs, and our 1v was the 11th or 12th. So that race was another one that we all hoped to win, but knew we probably wouldn't.Anyhow, after Henley, my friends and I camped out in the "queue" for Wimbledon.
Well, they camped out (without a tent, in the rain, spooning for warmth),
and I brought their luggage to Mike's.
I woke up at 5 and waited in line myself in the morning. Luckily, because of the rain, not many people had camped out, and I still had a good chance for Show Court tickets. Even though 
my friends could have bought center court tickets, they got tickets to court #1 where Roddick and Blake were playing. I was hoping that I would get a Court #1 ticket as well, but they sold the last two tickets to the mom and her son who were standing right in front o
f me. Literally, right in front of me. I purchased a grounds ticket, but I snuck in and sat with my friends at Court #1 anyways. They had really good seats ( 2 rows back and right at the net), so it was pretty sweet.Unfortunately, alot of the matches were delayed because of rain. We saw Roddick's match, and we saw Gonzalez and Serena play on the back courts, but we didn't get to see Blake play :(. It was still a lot of fun, though.
Then I went to Rome, which is officially my favorite city. We only spent 4 days there, but we saw so many cool monuments and buildings!
Our bed and breakfast was only a couple of streets from the Colosseum, which is where the Roman gladiators fought, and where early Christians, along with other prisoners, were put to death. It was so cool to see the Colosseum first hand after I studied it in my Roman games class.
We went to the Roman Forum, where all of the senators would meet in the Curia , where Caesar was stabbed, and where Marc Antony gave his famous "friends, Romans, countrymen" speech.
We walked through the remains at Palatine Hill, which is the Roman equivalent of Beverly Hills.
We visited the Pantheon, which is a Roman monument that has been converted into a Catholic church. We ran into a kid from Harvard there who is from Greenwich.The dome in the Pantheon.
The dome in the Pantheon.
I put my hand in the "Mouth of Truth" which supposedly bites down on the hands of anyone who has ever told a lie. Don't worry, my hand is okay.Okay, here come a bunch of photos. But I can't help it. The Vatican was one of my favorite parts of Rome and I want to share it with all of you!
View from atop St. Peter's Basilica.
Outside St. Peter's
The Pieta, inside St. Peter's
The Dome of St. Peter's
View from the Dome of St. Peter's
Tapestry by Raphael in the Vatican Museum
Ceiling of the Map Room in the Vatican Museum
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
The Last Judgement, Sistine ChapelOne of my favorite sights in Rome was the Basilica of San
Clemente. This 12th century church is filled with beautiful frescoes and mosaics. However, the really
interesting part is that the 12th century church was built on top of a 4th century church, which was built on top of a Roman house that both pagans and early Christians used for worship. You could walk down stairs and through the remains of these ancient buildings!
I bartered for a fucci (fake Gucci) wallet in Piazza Navona, but I think I wasted my money because it wasn't very good quality..
While we were in Rome, we also visited the catacombs, where early Christians were buried. The Aufiero���s were on the same tour! I didn���t recognize them, but Mrs. Aufiero approached me after the tour and asked me if I was David O���Brien���s sister.
I also threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, which, according to legend, means that I will go back to Rome some day!
We took the train up the coast of Italy to the Ligurian Coast, and stayed in an area called Cinque Terre, which means 5 lands. It���s where pesto is orginally from! We didn���t have a place to stay reserved, but we found a pretty sweet room once we got there that had a nice view of the water.
Cinque Terre was absolutely gorgeous. The 5 towns were on peninsulas that you can hike between. Each day we hiked to a new beach, layed out in the sun, read, and relaxed. It was no Bethany Beach, but it was still pretty great.
I flew back to London for Royal Henley. While I was there, I visited Mike. We went with Sophie to Le Grand Depart of the Tour de France.
Much to Mom���s chagrin, I took the chunnel from London to Paris. I arrived at my apartment safely. The apartment is HUGE. It���s 4 br with 2 bathrooms, and my bedroom rivals my bedroom from freshman year. I���m living with my friend Katherine from my crew team, and a girl named Katerina from Harvard, who is in the same internship program that I am in. We posted an ad on craigslist for a 4th roommate and found Alix, who will be a senior at Dartmouth next year and who is doing a similar internship program at Dartmouth. Alix and Katerina seem pretty nice, but I don���t really know them that well since I haven���t really spent that much time with them yet. Katerina is interning at an art gallery and Alix is interning at a jewelry store. I don���t have any pictures yet, but I will send you more soon.
As for my own internship, I went to work on July 9th, as planned. I had been having issues getting a certificate from my insurance (Dad knows all about this���), and I finally had to purchase additional personal liability insurance in order to be able to work in France. When I got to work the first day, I met with a bunch of people in my dept and they started explaining to me the projects that I would be working on this summer. They were all very nice, and my boss seemed really great.
However, even though I got the insurance, my office still hadn���t received a letter from the French Dept of Labor permitting me to work, and the HR dept called my boss a couple of hours later and told her that I couldn���t work yet. They said that I was going to have to wait another 2 weeks to begin work. I was initially worried about this because my Weissman grant required that I work for 8 weeks, but my boss said that if Harvard asked she would just say that I worked from home for those 2 weeks.
So what did I do? Well, naturally, I went home and booked a ticket to Vienna. Sarah���s parents just moved there, and she Julia, and Noodle were staying there for a week before Noodle goes home to the US and before Julia and Sarah start classes at the London School of Economics.
I was so happy that I got to go visit them! Julia, Sarah, Noodle and I took a road trip together last summer,
and I was jealous that the three of them were all
going to Vienna together this summer and I was going to have to stay in France for my internship. Last summer, we had Roadtrip 2k6 and this summer we had Eurotrip 2k7! Unfortunately, since Sarah���s parents just moved in on July 1st, their apartment wasn���t equipped to have 4 extra people sleeping there. We had to sleep on couches and with sleeping bags.
Julia was obviously very happy about this���
The next day, we went to the Hofburg, which was the palace for where the Hapsburgs lived.
We also went on the big ferris wheel and saw all of Vienna.
And we bought gifts at the gift shop���
Sarah decided that she wanted to go on crazy carnival ride called the Turbo Booster. Julia is afraid of heights, and Noodle doesn���t like carnival rides, so I went with her. I have never been afraid of a ride in my life���rollercoasters, salt and pepper shaker, nothing.
I don���t think I have ever been as scared as I was on this ride. I actually thought I was going to slip out and die. I am convinced that this ride must be illegal in the US.
Julia���s ride was just as scary.
That night, we got all dressed up and went to a Mozart concert in the throne room at the Hofburg.
Then we went to St. Stephansdom. I fell and hurt my arm :( It���s almost better, though!
We went to the Schonbrun, the Hapsburg���s summer palace, and walked through their gardens.
Well, Sarah, Noodle, and Julia rolled���
Look Danny! There are black squirrels in Vienna, too!
I flew back to Paris from Vienna on Saturday, July 14th. It was Bastille Day. Mike took the train into Paris for the weekend, and he and some of his friends from Yale stayed in my apartment Friday to Mon.
Bastille Day was so much fun! Nelly Furtado performed at a free concert in near the Eiffel tower, and I saw the most amazing fireworks display I have ever seen (sorry Mom, but this one was even better than Fairfield���s���). The coordinated the fireworks to the music and they used lights and smoke. It was so cool.
Anyhow, I���m in London now visiting Mike and some of my other friends who are here for the summer. I���m coming back again this weekend and starting work again next Monday!
I hope you guys are all having fabulous summers! Please, please, send me emails and let me know what you guys are up to! courtneyobrien@gmail.com or cobrien@fas.harvard.edu
Danny, how is NY? Thanks you so much for letting me borrow your camera for the summer! Mom tells me that you���re not coming to visit me anymore. Are you sure you don���t want to? I honestly think that you���d love it out here, and it would be a shame to pass it up, especially when you get free housing in Paris���
Bobby, how���s the job? Have you started working out for baseball yet?
Taylor, how is the whole college thing going?
David, how���s summer school? How did the rest of your work study go?
Darren, how is the O���Brien Backyard Baseball League? Who���s in 1st?
Please let me know how everything is going!
I miss you all and love you all very much!
Love,
Courtney
Clemente. This 12th century church is filled with beautiful frescoes and mosaics. However, the really
interesting part is that the 12th century church was built on top of a 4th century church, which was built on top of a Roman house that both pagans and early Christians used for worship. You could walk down stairs and through the remains of these ancient buildings!
I bartered for a fucci (fake Gucci) wallet in Piazza Navona, but I think I wasted my money because it wasn't very good quality..While we were in Rome, we also visited the catacombs, where early Christians were buried. The Aufiero���s were on the same tour! I didn���t recognize them, but Mrs. Aufiero approached me after the tour and asked me if I was David O���Brien���s sister.
I also threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, which, according to legend, means that I will go back to Rome some day!
We took the train up the coast of Italy to the Ligurian Coast, and stayed in an area called Cinque Terre, which means 5 lands. It���s where pesto is orginally from! We didn���t have a place to stay reserved, but we found a pretty sweet room once we got there that had a nice view of the water.
Cinque Terre was absolutely gorgeous. The 5 towns were on peninsulas that you can hike between. Each day we hiked to a new beach, layed out in the sun, read, and relaxed. It was no Bethany Beach, but it was still pretty great.
I flew back to London for Royal Henley. While I was there, I visited Mike. We went with Sophie to Le Grand Depart of the Tour de France.Much to Mom���s chagrin, I took the chunnel from London to Paris. I arrived at my apartment safely. The apartment is HUGE. It���s 4 br with 2 bathrooms, and my bedroom rivals my bedroom from freshman year. I���m living with my friend Katherine from my crew team, and a girl named Katerina from Harvard, who is in the same internship program that I am in. We posted an ad on craigslist for a 4th roommate and found Alix, who will be a senior at Dartmouth next year and who is doing a similar internship program at Dartmouth. Alix and Katerina seem pretty nice, but I don���t really know them that well since I haven���t really spent that much time with them yet. Katerina is interning at an art gallery and Alix is interning at a jewelry store. I don���t have any pictures yet, but I will send you more soon.
As for my own internship, I went to work on July 9th, as planned. I had been having issues getting a certificate from my insurance (Dad knows all about this���), and I finally had to purchase additional personal liability insurance in order to be able to work in France. When I got to work the first day, I met with a bunch of people in my dept and they started explaining to me the projects that I would be working on this summer. They were all very nice, and my boss seemed really great.
However, even though I got the insurance, my office still hadn���t received a letter from the French Dept of Labor permitting me to work, and the HR dept called my boss a couple of hours later and told her that I couldn���t work yet. They said that I was going to have to wait another 2 weeks to begin work. I was initially worried about this because my Weissman grant required that I work for 8 weeks, but my boss said that if Harvard asked she would just say that I worked from home for those 2 weeks.
So what did I do? Well, naturally, I went home and booked a ticket to Vienna. Sarah���s parents just moved there, and she Julia, and Noodle were staying there for a week before Noodle goes home to the US and before Julia and Sarah start classes at the London School of Economics.I was so happy that I got to go visit them! Julia, Sarah, Noodle and I took a road trip together last summer,
and I was jealous that the three of them were all
going to Vienna together this summer and I was going to have to stay in France for my internship. Last summer, we had Roadtrip 2k6 and this summer we had Eurotrip 2k7! Unfortunately, since Sarah���s parents just moved in on July 1st, their apartment wasn���t equipped to have 4 extra people sleeping there. We had to sleep on couches and with sleeping bags.Julia was obviously very happy about this���
The next day, we went to the Hofburg, which was the palace for where the Hapsburgs lived.
We also went on the big ferris wheel and saw all of Vienna.
And we bought gifts at the gift shop���
Sarah decided that she wanted to go on crazy carnival ride called the Turbo Booster. Julia is afraid of heights, and Noodle doesn���t like carnival rides, so I went with her. I have never been afraid of a ride in my life���rollercoasters, salt and pepper shaker, nothing.
I don���t think I have ever been as scared as I was on this ride. I actually thought I was going to slip out and die. I am convinced that this ride must be illegal in the US.
Julia���s ride was just as scary.
That night, we got all dressed up and went to a Mozart concert in the throne room at the Hofburg.
Then we went to St. Stephansdom. I fell and hurt my arm :( It���s almost better, though!
We went to the Schonbrun, the Hapsburg���s summer palace, and walked through their gardens.
Well, Sarah, Noodle, and Julia rolled���
Look Danny! There are black squirrels in Vienna, too!
I flew back to Paris from Vienna on Saturday, July 14th. It was Bastille Day. Mike took the train into Paris for the weekend, and he and some of his friends from Yale stayed in my apartment Friday to Mon.
Bastille Day was so much fun! Nelly Furtado performed at a free concert in near the Eiffel tower, and I saw the most amazing fireworks display I have ever seen (sorry Mom, but this one was even better than Fairfield���s���). The coordinated the fireworks to the music and they used lights and smoke. It was so cool.
Anyhow, I���m in London now visiting Mike and some of my other friends who are here for the summer. I���m coming back again this weekend and starting work again next Monday!
I hope you guys are all having fabulous summers! Please, please, send me emails and let me know what you guys are up to! courtneyobrien@gmail.com or cobrien@fas.harvard.edu
Danny, how is NY? Thanks you so much for letting me borrow your camera for the summer! Mom tells me that you���re not coming to visit me anymore. Are you sure you don���t want to? I honestly think that you���d love it out here, and it would be a shame to pass it up, especially when you get free housing in Paris���
Bobby, how���s the job? Have you started working out for baseball yet?
Taylor, how is the whole college thing going?
David, how���s summer school? How did the rest of your work study go?
Darren, how is the O���Brien Backyard Baseball League? Who���s in 1st?
Please let me know how everything is going!
I miss you all and love you all very much!
Love,
Courtney
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