Just when you started thinking things had calmed down...

Hello! I'm sure a lot of you will be waking up to the news that there was an unexploded car bomb found in Piccadilly Circus early this morning here in London. Bloody terrorists!! Thank god it didn't go off, but it was a bit jarring as apparently the car was being driven erratically down Shaftesbury Avenue around 1 am - Nicola and I had just left Shaftesbury Avenue around midnight! A little too close to home. The great thing about London though is that no one here seems to particularly care when such scares occur - the attitude is more one of "Ah well, what can ya do? Want to grab a drink?" I was more concerned about whether or not I'd be able to carry out my plans for the day due to the Piccadilly Circus area being cordoned off than the threat of being killed!!!!

Anyway, just thought I'd leave everyone with a quick update seeing as how such things generally don't happen in Canada (knock on wood).

Had a lovely evening last night with Nicola - went out for Japanese in Leicester Square then saw the most amazing French murder mystery, Tell No One, at the "cinema." If it's playing anywhere near you, please go see it! French films are so much more complex and thought-provoking than American films. It was a really nice change and we had a fantastic time!!!!!!!!

Hope everyone is doing well!!! Take care & speak soon, as they say!

Love,
Emily

I'm in Londontown!!!

Hello everyone!!!

Sorry for the big delay in me getting around to writing in here - I don't have internet access in my residence so I have to go to a cafe every time I want to use the internet, and I've only had the opportunity to do so twice now!! I've been quite busy since arriving here and haven't even had a chance to do any sightseeing, let alone open my UK bank account as I had planned on doing almost immediately. I'm hopefully going to get around to that today!

The flight over was very smooth but quite cramped. As a result, I didn't get a wink of sleep the entire time and was totally out of it on Tuesday. I had heard horror stories about Air Transat's charter flights being old and crappy with terrible service, but the plane was actually very nice and new and the service was fabulous. They just didn't have the same amount or choice of food that Air Canada offers, and the seats were much closer together, making it impossible to really stretch out and relax. It didn't help that I was sitting across the aisle from this guy who literally stared at me for 7 hours. Actually, it was more than 7 hours because he was also staring at me in the Toronto airport AND in the London airport after we arrived!!!! Creepy.

Anyway, what have I been up to so far... I went out with my friend Tom on Tuesday night for a good old fashioned night of food and drink, which was a lot of fun. Yesterday I had a three hour long lunch with my friend Nicola, and then we grabbed some coffee afterwards. Then went over to Tom's in Greenwich to watch some Monty Python - it was an extremely English evening!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally have a little more free time today so I'm going to go and open my bank account and hopefully do a little sightseeing. Hopefully I'll have some more interesting stories once I'm able to get out and so something other than eat, drink and watch TV!!!!

I'm really looking forward to having my sister join me on Saturday - it'll be nice to have some more frequent company!!! We're going to spend every...single...second...together :) Love you Kate, can't wait to see you!!! MWAHAHAHAHA.

Anyway, that's all for now - more to come later!!! I have a new mobile number here where you can all contact me any time you'd like!!! From North America you'd dial 011-44-7972-106871. You can also e-mail me of course at emilydontsos@gmail.com.

I miss everyone and talk to you all soon!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Emily

Last night with the ex-127 Dalewood clan (minus one!)

Alright, so I lied when I said I wouldn't be posting much before I leave. I just can't help this obsession with pictures... *twitch*.... and I'm going to miss these ladies! You better come visit me in Londontown! These are from our housemate reunion downtown, June 21st.

The light... it changes colour!!!!!!


Ann and Vas harassing the poor Chinese lion statue


Me and Marianne being NICE to the statue.


Marianne and me (ignore the giant zit on my face)

Vazzy and Ann

Last nights in the T Dot

Just thought I'd share a few pictures from my last week here in T.O.! It's not like I'm never coming back but I'm not gonna see these lovely folks for a while so... this is a little tribute!

John and Sarah


Geoff and Jon


Jess, Katie, me - Afterlife night!

Moi

My ladies, Sarah, Jess and Katie

The Plan...so far

Here's our general itinerary for the whirlwind European tour - no dates included as I'm too lazy to type it all out, but I will say that we'll be in Edinburgh, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon and Lagos for three nights each I believe, 4 nights in Paris, and 2 everywhere else, except for a couple of one-nighters here and there. We're also spending a couple of nights travelling by train!! This is a list of the order in which we'll be travelling:

June 30th - Katie arrives in London
July 1st - we celebrate Canada Day and therefore drink Canadian beer
July 2nd - off to Edinburgh
Okay, that's where my knowledge of dates ends, so the remaining order minus dates is...
Belfast
Dublin
Paris (this is where Fiona and Brian join us)
Brussels
Belgium
Bruges
Amsterdam (Tom joins us)
Berlin
Munich
Geneva (Tom leaves)
Venice
Florence (Fiona and Brian leave from either Venice or Florence... or neither... they're not quite sure yet!)
Nice (overnight train from Florence to Nice)
Barcelona (another overnight train)
Madrid
Lisbon
Lagos - to end the whole thing off with a three-day beach vacation!!!

I'm obviously extremely excited to get this show on the road, but as June 25th gets closer, I'm also getting nervous to leave my beloved friends and family behind here in beautiful Canada. That's all part of the experience though, and I'm looking forward to learning a lot about myself and the world on this adventure (my stay in London included as said adventure). I absolutely cannot wait to see friends that I made in London last summer and to make some new ones. An unknown but extremely exciting future awaits me!!

Take care everyone,
Love,
Emily

Welcome

Hello everyone and welcome to my new blog that I'll be keeping while living in London for a year and possibly longer. I'm leaving on the night of June 25th, spending a few days in London, then embarking on a 6-week backpacking trip through western Europe with my sister, soon to be joined by my cousin Fiona and friends Brian and Tom. Then it's back to London on August 11th to find work and a place to live! Let the adventures begin!