Christopher Andre Maggio is horrible at updating his blog (a.k.a. Spring Break Update!)

Ciao folks!

As you can tell, I am horrendous when it comes to updating my blog. I am not a blogger. However, I do wish to bestow upon you one latest update regarding my adventures in Italy and Greece for spring break. It will not be long but I shall share with you several anecdotes and post some pics, so you can get a glimpse into my life here in Europe.

Rome:

The city of my ancestors is absolutely beautiful. I saw Heather, which was lovely, and she showed me around Rome (we ate delicious gelato and drank cocktails at a bar geared towards the younger Romans). Randi, Brittany, Kara and I toured the ancient sites by day, we saw the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Roman Forum, the Treve Fountain (we all stopped to wish for love and throw coins in; 2 Euros = fall in love, 1 Euro = you'll return to Rome), the National Museum, and The Vatican. Upon stumbling into Piazza San Marco (the main piazza near the Vatican), we saw the Pope wave to us from his flagged caravan! It was a sight for sure.

The food was absolutely wonderful, in particular, at this one restaurant behind our hotel. The four of us decided that we wanted to pick this restaurant up and bring it back to the states with us, and we ended up dining there twice! Vitello (veal, yes I know baby cows) is so good, and gelato is heavenly and must be consumed three to four times a day (which is fine because of all of the walking we did!) Mama Rita, the woman who ran our hotel, is my new best friend, and she declared that we were so "fantastic"! Overall, Rome was pretty splendid!

My next entry will be about Athens, Greece. However, I'm sleepy and I need write more postcards to y'all so I'm peacin' out.

Ciao for now!
Chris

Beatlemania!

Hey kids!

So I just got back from a trip to Liverpool this weekend to partake in the "Magical Mystery Tour" showcasing the most significant landmarks to the Beatles. Some of the haunts that I visited over the course of the weekend included The Cavern Club, the birthplaces of Ringo, Paul, John and George (as well as Stuart Sutcliffe, one of the original band members.) As cliched as this sounds, I saw a musician doing Beatles covers at The Cavern Club, but he was really quite good. And in true Christopher Maggio style, I went shopping. I made a few nice purchases at this trendy British department store to enhance my growing Euro wardrobe. All in all, it was quite a nice trip!

I realize this is a short update, but I'll be around soon to provide more details! :)

PS - Venice next weekend for Carnivale! And in less than a month, off to Rome and Athens for Spring Break!

Snowing In London!

I'm sure that caption got your attention! (It actually is snowing here today for the first time in FOREVER - or at least since I've been here).

Where had I left off? Well, after depicting my classes at the Ithaca College London Centre, there comes the first trip of the semester: England's scenic West Country. Early Friday morning (we left the ICLC at 7:30, which meant I had to wake up at 5:30 to shower, eat, pack and give myself enough time to deal with the Tube and getting to school), we boarded the coaches and embarked on our voyage. The first stop on our trip was the ruins at Avebury. Most people are unfamiliar with this UNESCO World Heritage site, but it's actually the same type of neolithic rock formation as Stonehenge and actually encompasses a greater area of land! Upon arrival at Avebury, we began hiking around the "henge" or the circular stone construction within an earthwork (bank or a ditch) - basically the circle of rocks. While a vast majority of the rocks had been destroyed or removed by Britons that had moved into the area who had feared the unknown pagan site, some rocks still remain, and we posed for pictures with these rocks.

After spending a few hours on a walking tour of Avebury, we once again boarded the busses for the town of Glastonbury and Glastonbury Abbey. The town of Glastonbury itself has a low-key, artistic "hippie" similar to Ithaca, and is often associated with a crazy music festival that was cancelled in 2001 due to a threat to public safety - at least 10,000 ticketless fans gained illegal entry to the concert by smashing down the fences - and mythological associations of Jesus Christ, Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail, St. Patrick, King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. However, we were here to visit the famous Glastonbury Abbey, which was founded in the 5th century after the collapse of the Romans in this region, and became the symbol of Christian British resistance to the pagan Anglo-Saxon invaders. The Abbey - or what was left of it - was absolutely breathtaking, and a tour guide dressed in period costume took us around the ruins and practically proposed to one of the musical theatre majors on the trip!

The whirlwind day continued with a short drive to the nearby town of Wells and Wells Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. While the cathedral building dates back to the late twelfth century, a church has stood on this site since Anglo-Saxon times. The main structure of Wells Cathedral was finished in 1306 and alterations began immediately. The Cathedral was completely sublime in its design, and while we were technically not allowed to take pictures inside, I snuck a few without flash!

The last stop for the day was the city of Bath. Upon arrival in Bath, I noticed that the architecture and stone of the buildings looked different from many of the old buildings (the ones not destroyed by WWII) in London. Much of the city was built during the 18th century and planned after the grandeur of Rome, with a circus or grand circular area of housing and wide boulevards lining the hills of the city. Bath is also the site of the only hot water springs in all of England, so there were a great deal of Roman Baths built on the grounds of the city when the Romans settled this area in ancient times. After settling into the YMCA where we were staying, we took a stroll through the old center of the city and stumbled across a pub, where we feasted and drank. The following morning, we awoke and toured the Roman Baths Museum, which was quite cool, and then after the tour, devoured delicious pastries at the oldest bakery in England, Sally Lunn's - famous for the Sally Lunn Bun. C'est delicieux!

After leaving Bath, we stopped at Stonehenge on the way back to London. Built in ancient times by the early unknown settlers of the isle of Great Britain, no one really knows what the purpose of Stonehenge was! However, I do know that it was fun to wander around the site taking pictures and imagining that a rave was taking place between the stones (hence Brittany and I making interesting poses in half of our pictures!). There was also a flock of sheep wandering around on the desolate plains home to Stonehenge, and many of their bums were spray-painted blue or pink. It was a quite a sight!

Brief recap of the past week! (Part 1)

So I realize I'm not being as "on top" of this blog as I had originally planned, but here's an update of everything that happened within the past week.

Last Wednesday was the first day of classes for me at the Ithaca College London Centre! This semester, I am enrolled in 3 classes as well as in a 3-credit internship at public relations agency, River Communications. Wednesday morning, I began with British Pop at 10:30. The professor was very engaging and quite knowledgeable in regards to the influences that American blues, jazz and early rock and roll had on Beatlemania and British rock music. Apparently, we must keep a weekly journal and attend gigs and concerts throughout the semester (that doesn't seem like too much to handle at all!)

My second class of the day was Sports Marketing. As many of you know, I am not so knowledgeable about the world of sports, however, I was quite intrigued as to what this class had in store. While my professor's credentials were impressive (she was apparently the UK's top female polo player at one point and a big time sports lawyer), she wasn't organized or professional and answered her mobile phone several times during class! Let's just say, I was less than impressed. However, we will be attending London's premier Super Bowl party this sunday at the club O2, so that will be a blast I'm sure!

On Thursday, I sat in my first "Drama and the London Theatre" class where we read dramatic works and go see one play a week! The professor for this class seems fabulous and very knowledgeable, and I'm seeing Spring Awakening on Wednesday (as in 2 days!). I have yet to obtain a copy of the work, but that is my goal for tomorrow. Thursday night, I met up with the fabulous Miss Kathy Laluk and my dear dear friend John, as well as one of John's fabulous British friends, Laura and we made a somewhat-enhanced appearance at art-exhibition/bar/low-key club, Shunt. Basically, the venue consisted of a series of underground caves converted into art galleries, where people could enjoy their drinks, while looking at art. And around midnight it turned into a dance party. Following our visit to Shunt, we made our way back to Camden Town, the trendy neighborhood where John and Laura reside and helped ourselves to delicious Turkish fast food. Kathy and I then ventured through the rain, back to my flat in Euston Square around 3 in the morning. It was all kinds of wonderful!

Friday night, Randi and I solidified our plans for our weekend excursion to Venice for Carnivale, and booked our flight to Milan, train tickets from Milan to Venice, and hostel in Venice. It was so rewarding to know that we had successfully booked our first international excursion on our own that we treated ourselves to some fabulous (and spicy!) Singaporean/Malaysian food at this great little place in Bayswater! Following our dinner, Randi, Kara, Brittany, Sarah and myself got all "pimped out" and went to London's most vibrant gay dance club, Heaven, where we ended up meeting kids from UMass Amherst who knew a girl I went to high school with! Small world for sure! I was also super excited that my flat-mates, Julie and Kevin ended up meeting up with us at the club! After a crazy night of dancing, we successfully navigated the night bus system back to our respective flats!

- This entry is probably long enough, so wait for the continuation!

London Nightlife!

As it is nearing the end of my first week in London (and also because this is me we're referring to!), I went out on the town with some dear friends! Friday night, Randi, Brittany, Kara, Sarah and I hopped on the Tube to Leicester Square, the home to London's vast and lively nightclub scene. We checked out a club, Metra, that seemed to be an interesting juxtaposition of glamarous and ghetto. While the cover charge and drink prices were outrageously high, the music was great, some of my friends met British boys and exchanged numbers, and I made my first two British friends, an attractive, fun, and rather obliterated couple, Katrina and Mustafi. I guess we're getting together later this week and probably checking out some other places so it'll definitely be action-packed to be sure!

The real hassle though with the nightlife scene in London is that where the clubs will stay open until 4 AM, the Tube (subway) closes at midnight! That leaves two solutions to the transportation dillemma: cabs and the Nightbus. We attempted to figure out the Nightbus back to our hotel last night, as you can use your Tube pass on the bus. However, the bus stops were poorly marked, and when we approached bus drivers to ask where our bus line was located, we received very confusing and conflicting instructions as to where it was! So, what should have taken a half hour on the Tube took us two hours by bus between finding the correct stop and waiting for the right bus to pick us up. However, this is part of the charm of figuring out transportation in foreign country, and seeing many Londoners still well-awake at 4 AM was quite fun!

Tonight we were approached by this club recruiter who gave us a deal at this three-level club called Oxygen. The cover charge and drink prices were A LOT more reasonable than Metra, and the music was even a bit better. After some good fun, we took a cab back to our hotel in lovely Bayswater, and settled in for a long day of moving into the flat!

Cheers!
Chris

Arrival in London!

Well I arrived in London safe and sound after a bit of an extended travel period! The original flight from Boston to London was cancelled but the airline put a few of us on an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin and then to London, and we only ended up arriving a few hours later. While I am currently fighting jet-lag (it's currently 3:37 AM and I can't sleep!), I have had a great first few days in the city. I found a flat in the Euston Square area close to the University of London and the Theatre District that is on a quiet street but within a block of the nearest tube stop (thus being very convenient!) Now that I have a flat (I can move in Saturday) it will be time to do some serious site-seeing and going out on the town later tonight, if I don't crash first!

Cheers!
Chris

My very first post!

Hey kids! Or maybe I'll say "cheerio"!

I am beginning finals week in true Chris Maggio style - with procrastination and avoidance of work! While sitting down in The Pub to work on my Quantitative Mass Media Research final paper, I decide to create my blog that I'm going to keep portraying my adventures in London.

With five days remaining in Ithaca before I leave for winter break, the reality of my study abroad program is beginning to set in. Although I've been aching for my days in London to begin (with Financial Accounting and early morning classes everyday a distant memory!), I'm starting to feel a bit apprehensive about actually leaving. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited to touch down on the runway at Heathrow and scramble to find a flat in the city I will be calling home for the next six months! I do know, however, that saying goodbye to my dearest friends and family will be bittersweet, and that stepping outside of my comfort zone and into a foreign country will be a challenge. (I think going to another English-speaking nation is intimidating, I couldn't even imagine what Ryan went through preparing for and adjusting to life in Shanghai!)

Here's the good news: as of today, 1 British Pound is the equivalent of 1.5022 U.S. Dollars, and hopefully this will continue to devalue in our favor! I also chose classes for next semester. I'm taking "Contemporary British Pop" where I will attend mainstream and indie British rock concerts and write papers evaluating the performances, "Sports Marketing" which counts for my International Marketing requirement for IMC, and "Drama and the London Theatre" where I will be attending plays several times a week and discuss and write about the theatrical elements I experience. My classes only meet once a week for about three hours at a time, and only on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Mondays and Tuesdays are reserved for my internship at River Communications, a small PR agency focusing on tourism and consumer accounts.

That's all for right now, folks, but I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences! I embark on my semester-long voyage January 12th, a month from tomorrow!

Cheers!