If you know me, you probably also know that I am absolutely obsessed with Lana Del Rey. Lana tops my list of "people I really want to be". I would probably give my left arm to be Lana Del Rey, mainly because I know she could rock having one arm. She is a celebrity that just radiates coolness and quite obviously gives no fucks. I'm absolutely in love with her style and her 80s hair-dos and her ability to rock red lipstick with her high-tops. Lana is a risk-taking badass in every sense of the word; her style, her philosophies, and her music are all very original and interesting. Although I wouldn't say I love every single one of Lana Del Rey's songs, I do admire her unique, sultry sound. Simply listening to Lana's songs makes me feel cooler and more badass than I actually am. There's certainly a specific mood I have to be in to listen to a lot of Lana, but I still think she's a fantastic musical artist. Her lyrics are not only fun and ridiculous, but also insanely deep and philosophical. Her music videos are also absolutely stunning. They reflect Lana's creative mind and style; they are strange and confusing, yet beautiful. With that introduction in mind, here are my five favorite Lana Del Rey songs. (Once again, this is purely my personal opinion, which is probably pretty uninformed). Also, the songs are not listed in any particular order: 1. National Anthem "National Anthem" is one of Lana's more popular songs, and is maybe my favorite. There is no limit to the amount of times I can listen to this song; it never gets old. The chorus is super catchy, and I like that the song is about American capitalism. Because really, isn't "money the anthem of success"? Plus the music video is super damn cool. 2. West Coast "West Coast" is definitely my favorite song that Lana has released this year. I like how the song has kind of a reverse chorus, where the verses are actually more upbeat than the chorus itself. The chorus is my favorite part of "West Coast"; it's just sexy. There's really no other way to describe it. This song embodies Lana's signature slow, sultry style. And like every other Lana Del Rey music video, the "West Coast" video is a work of art on its own. I love that the entire video is done in black and white. 3. Radio Also from Lana's debut album "Born To Die", "Radio" really showcases the singer's voice. I always find myself listening to this song in the car because for some reason I find this song relaxing. And like many of Lana's songs, "Radio" has the effect of making me feel really hip and cool. My favorite line from this song of course has to be: "Now my life is sweet like cinnamon/like a fucking dream I'm living in". And also: "Pick me up and take me like a vitamin/'cause my body's sweet like sugar venom". I really like how she plays with words. Unfortunately, here's not a music video for "Radio". 4. Fucked My Way Up To The Top This wouldn't be a proper top five without including a song from Lana's newest album, "Ultraviolence". "Ultraviolence" has a different, slower sound than Lana's other albums, but is a work of art nonetheless. Apologies for the explicit title, but I really really like this song. It's super badass. Apparently, the title "Fucked My Way Up To The Top" is Lana commenting on how some people think she got famous. She is obviously super talented, so there is no doubt in my mind that her sarcastic song-titling is a sarcastic remark to tha h8trs. 5. Cola Sorry for another inappropriate one...but "Cola" is just such a good song. Although the lyrics are a little off-putting, it's still a really badass song. Just more evidence for the claim that Lana really gives zero fucks. "Cola" comes from the album "Paradise", which is probably my favorite over-all album.
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In light of me meeting and growing close to many new people, I've been thinking a lot about how people move in and out of our lives. Everyone in our life starts as a stranger. But by some stroke of fate, some strangers become friends, and other strangers become more. But that doesn't always mean that these people will eternally remain in your life. Some people will, but others won't. Sometimes, you lose touch with old friends. Sometimes you become physically or emotionally distanced from someone. Sometimes people simply just can’t remain in your life anymore, for whatever reason.
It's weird to think back to all my friendships and relationships, and remember the time when all these important people were strangers to me. When each was just another unfamiliar person. Someone I wouldn't have recognized if they passed me by on the street. What if you never went to that party? What if you chose a different college? What if they didn’t chose to introduce themselves? When you first encounter someone, you never know how much they could end up meaning to you. Sometimes, it's hard not to believe in fate. One of two things can happen when you first meet someone; you end up forming some type of connection with them, or they just become another name you forget. Another fleeting introduction that is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. And you never know which one it's going to be. But knowing people operates like a cycle; every person begins as a stranger. Then you know them. And then, some people become strangers again. Lately, I've learned that not everyone is meant to stay in our lives. It's a sad, but inevitable fact. The phenomenon of how we go from seeing someone as a stranger, to seeing them as our entire world is wondrous. But arguably more puzzling is how people fade from our lives. How we slowly begin to feel less and less comfortable around them. How we can tell that something has clearly changed, but we can't put our finger on what. And then, we realize that we don’t really know this person anymore; they are once again a stranger to us. The transition from friend to stranger is almost more astounding and confusing than the process of growing close to someone. I am so grateful for all the friends I have met or grown closer to on my trip to England. I’ve never been very good at maintaining “acquaintance” type relationships with people (probably due to my small talk skills, which are considerably lacking), so I really value all those I have grown much closer to through our cider-spiked pub crawls, visits to PT, and hostel adventures. Considering that I’m pretty slow to warm up to new people, I love that I have made so many connections on this trip that I feel comfortable being my complete self around everyone. I’ve also had the chance to meet a wide variety of international individuals who have really widened my horizons. Although I’m somewhat of an introvert, I definitely still have a social personality and really enjoy meeting new people and learning from them. Meeting new people and getting to know not-so-new people is an exhilarating experience. Humans naturally crave companionship and emotional connection, and I really enjoy the experience of trying to know people to the deepest level possible. Everyday, there are a few less strangers to me on this planet, and I like that. -Madeline This weekend, my British Studies friend group decided to take a last minute trip to Edinburg, Scotland. I honestly had no idea what to expect because I had never even heard of Edinburg before visiting it. Edinburg is a surprisingly beautiful place; the city is made up of original Gothic style architecture mixed in with new, fancy modern buildings. Our train trip to Scotland was interesting to say the least. We all paid about $260 for round-trip train tickets from London to Edinburg, but all decided against the "reserving seats" option, because we were kind of unsure what it was (and it cost a few more pounds that no one had to spare). This was a fatal mistake; upon boarding the train, we learned the previous train to Edinburg had been cancelled, and because of this there were only about 5 seats that weren't reserved. So, for the first 2 hours of the trip, our group of 12 was forced to camp out in between train cars on the floor. Considering we were all a little exasperated and annoyed that we had paid so much to take the train and not even gotten seats, we made an executive decision to crack open the wine and cider. We headed to the very back car of the train and made our camp next to a few random people. One guy had the same idea as us, and was silently making vodka cranberries to wash down the his own seat-less disappointment. We began making casual conversation with said vodka-cranberry guy, who turned out to be a pretty cool DJ traveling to Newcastle for a gig. Once we got this guy chatting with us, our next mission was the crack the guy in the corner listening to his iPod. There were plenty of opportunities for him to join the party, but he was not taking the bait. Just when we thought all hope was lost, Meredith pulled out the trivia. And damn, this guy lovvvved his trivia. By this point, we were pretty much having a full-scale party in the back of the train, and we had all stopped fantasizing about how nice it would be to be able to feel our legs and have something soft to sit on. Eventually, seats began to open up, but we all stayed in the back car (the "VIP room", if you will) for the rest of the 5-hour train ride. A true example of making the best of any situation you are given.
Around 11:30, we arrived to the Caledonian Backpacker's Hostel. Upon entering the hotel, I immediately was reminded of my hippy high school. The attendants all had a plethora of tattoos and piercings, the walls were covered wall-to-floor with graffiti, and Radiohead was blasting from the bar upstairs. Yes, there was a bar in our hostel, and also a room called "The Cucumber Room". It was a strange and eclectic, yet awesome, place. Unfortunately, because we booked our reservation so late the only room available was the 30-person co-ed room. Some people did not mind this at all, but personally I really like my privacy and to be completely comfortable after a long day. Don’t get me wrong, the hostel was definitely a good experience (plus a ton of fun), it’s just not exactly my thing as much as it is other peoples. But it was only 3 nights and I survived just fine. The next morning, we visited the Edinburg Castle, which was only a mile walk from our hostel. The castle was actually pretty fantastic, and once again, any description I could provide would not do the place justice. My favorite sightseeing activity we did was by far our volcano hike. Basically, there’s a giant fucking volcano right in the middle of Edinburg. We spent a good part of the day hiking up the volcano (unknowingly doing the longest trail, which we actually probably all needed after all the drinking and eating), and picnicked at the very top. The view was spectacular (see the photos). In the past two years, I have gained a new appreciation for hiking. Not necessarily the actual act of walking up a mountain, but the rewarding feeling of conquest and beauty that comes with reaching the top. It’s a moment I can’t necessarily describe well, but breathing in the crisp air and looking out at all of Edinburg, I was reminded of how very small and insignificant my life is in the grand scheme of everything. Nature’s wonders often remind me that all the negative things in my life that I consider major problems are actually unimportant, and that I have control over my own life. Hiking rewards you for your endurance and physical exertion with the refreshment of feeling absolutely amazed by the world around you. I have finally arrived in Oxford and I couldn’t be more excited! So far, this trip has exceeded my expectations in every way. For the next 6 weeks, I will be studying at St. John’s College, which is one of the Oxford University affiliated colleges. My classes are a little more demanding than I was expecting, but luckily homework-wise they’re pretty light, which gives me lots of free time to explore. I’m taking an Art History class focused on medieval art, and an English class on medieval gender studies. My Art History Professor is quite the jokester; he’s one of those people whose jokes you could easily miss because of his monotone and the way he says them in stride. All the more reason for me to actually pay attention in class, because Professor Clark is truly hilarious. I’m not the biggest fan of my Medieval Masculinities class, mainly because our texts are in middle English, and like, how the fuck do I read that, but also because I don’t have a great track record with the Gender Studies academic discipline. I took the Intro Gender Studies class at Rhodes for an easy “A” and a schedule filler, and it turned out to be a lot more work than I anticipated…
On Thursday night, I went with my class to see a local production of Canterbury Tales. Although the goal of the outing was to help us understand the Tales before we actually read them for class, the production ended up being both educational and fun. To be honest, I was expecting a long, boring play that I would barely understand because of the Middle English, but to my surprise and delight, this particular production of the Canterbury Tales was done entirely in normal English, and was hilariously inappropriate. It was pretty much like Medieval MTV; lots of cursing, sex, and drinking (although a little more subtleley portrayed). One of the tales even featured an original rap, which was probably the best part of the entire play. Yesterday, we took a field trip to Winchester and Stonehenge. Winchester is a historic town about an hour outside of Oxford, and I think most people are familiar with Stonehenge (although, when I was a child I used to think Woodstock and Stonehenge were the same thing…no idea why). Our first stop was Winchester, where we visited a beautiful cathedral and saw King Arthur’s round table. There was some festival going on in the town with lots of people in strange costumes running around making alien noises. Don’t really know what to make of that… Anyways, Stonehenge was a pretty phenomenal sight, but it’s also one of those monuments you really don’t need to spend more than 5 minutes at. You go, you see, you leave. That’s how I like to do sight-seeing. As far as “extracurricular activities” on my trip, Oxford is a pretty fun little college town. To celebrate the 4th of July, a group of us went “punting”. For those of you who are unfamiliar with punting (like me before 2 days ago), it is when you boat down a river in gondola-type boats with one person standing on the boat who pushes you down the river with a long stick. You kind of have to see it in real life to understand what I mean. For my boat, the designated punter was Mike, who luckily was a natural. Some other groups of Americans were not as naturally talented as us, and were really struggling to get even a few feet down the river. On the other hand, we moved swiftly down the river and arrived promptly to the riverside pub in 30 minutes. We did the Americans-abroad reputation well (which, judging by the other obnoxious Americans we’ve encountered, is a rarity). Probably the number one thing I have learned abroad is that foreigners are not particularly found of American tourists. Like not at all actually. There are roughly 62 English pubs in Oxford, and the big drink here is cider. Cider is my new favorite thing; it’s literally like alcoholic apple juice. Plus, it also has a higher alcohol content than beer. Plus it doesn’t taste like beer. Plus it’s not beer… We’ve explored several different pubs and clubs since we’ve been in Oxford, and the most notable by far has been the notorious Purple Turtle. Upon entering the Purple Turtle (or “PT”, as the locals call it), you are shuttled down a flight of stairs into the basement in which the bar is located. The crowd at PT is insanely eclectic; the majority of folks are the hipster/edgy type, with some preppy and average people sprinkled in. The area where the bar is has a jukebox, which mostly plays hardcore scream-o and rock music. Until us Americans arrive and play “American Pie”, “Party in the USA”, and “American Idiot” (that one actually blended in with the atmosphere a little more). After we paid the cover charge, we were all handed 3D glasses that we were instructed to wear on the dance floor. The combination of the strobe lights, the blaring techno music, and my newly acquired glasses was slightly overwhelming, but still tons of fun. The Purple Turtle is a great place for meeting interesting people from all walks of life, and I think we will have many more memories at PT in the next couple weeks. But seriously; how is it that Italians are not all morbidly obese? Let me lay out a typical Italian meal for you. First, bread of course. Even the cheapest restaurants always serve bread as an appetizer. I wouldn't be surprised if even the McDonalds in Italy served bread. And there is also always wine. It's quite handy that the drinking age be only 18 here, but I'm still over-coming the awkwardness of drinking in the presence of my parents and 12-year-old sister. For the main course, you can usually count on choosing between the 3 P's: Pizza, Panini, and Pasta. I haven't liked any of the fish/chicken I've had here yet, so pretty much it's the 3 carbs for me (and sometimes a salad). I've put my gluten-free diet on temporary hold for this trip; I mean, you can't go to Italy and not have pasta and pizza. For dessert we either walk to the nearest gelato place, or get dessert in house served with cappuccinos. I can't remember the last day I haven't been in a food coma for at least part of the day... So far, I've discovered some very interesting and delicious food here. For one, I'm now addicted to cappuccinos. I don't know why I didn't drink them more before, but now I really love them. The pastries here are also heavenly. Like really, they're sooo good. The hotel I'm staying in now has free breakfast, and there's a selection of at least 15 pastries every morning. Italy has this slushy-like drink called a "granita" that I'm also obsessed with. They are like part slushy/part snowball and have sweet and sour syrup mixed with ice. They come in many different flavors, but I've only gotten the lemon flavor because I like it so much. Granitas are super refreshing after a hot day in the sun. I've been super cliche and have been documenting my meals in Italy. Everything just looks so pretty when it arrives that I have to get pictures. My time in Italy is really flying by. I feel like I've only just started getting over the jet lag, and I still only know like 5 words in Italian, but I'm only here for 2 more days. I got this handy app on my phone that gives you English to Italian phrases by category without having to connect to WiFi, but it unfortunately has not improved my ability to communicate in Italian. I took to the streets this morning, feeling great, new app in hand, and attempted to order a cappuccino in Italian using the phrase "Vorrei un cappuccino por favore" (which means "I would like a cappuccino please"). The barista responded with, "okay, one cappuccino is that all?", in English...so yeah apparently I'm that bad at Italian... He killed my new-found Italian-speaking confidence ,so I guess it's time to go back to saying "no Italiano" to every local I interact with. Anyway, my family and I have done a lot of exploring in Lucca, Italy. Lucca is located in central Italy, near Tuscany, and is a relatively small city surrounded by a giant ancient wall. Our apartment is located inside the wall, so everything around us has a very rich history. Callie and I were not super pumped about going to see an opera performance with our parents, but it turned out to be pretty cool (and only an hour long, definitely a plus). Puccini, who is a famous opera composer, was born in Lucca, so they have a performance every night in one of the churches. Lucca is also known for its shopping district. There are designer purse stores, boutiques, and shoe stores galore. Not gonna lie, these stores are definitely feeding my shopping addiction, and I've already blown a lot of my last paycheck. Being in Italy is definitely a bigger cultural shift than I was expecting coming from the States. In Lucca, very few people speak English, which has been a struggle. There is no air-conditioning in most of the restaurants and apartments, despite it being almost 90 degrees here in the summer. The environment is a lot bigger here than it is in America, and there are recycling bins everywhere. Italy takes it's recycling very seriously; you have to separate your trash into 5 different categories, label each bag, and take them to the street on a certain day of the week. It's a very complex system. Every afternoon, there is a "siesta" period from 2-4pm, in which all the stores close, and people "rest". And of course there is the whole pay for the bathroom situation also, but apparently that's common in Europe. Overall, none of the differences are that big of a deal, I just thought they were interesting. We rented some bikes for our trip, so maybe we have a chance at blending in with the locals a little bit. On top of the wall that surrounds Lucca, there is a large pathway and a park. The pathway is 2 miles all the way around, and we've been taking our bikes up there to explore and bike around. The view is fantastic, and the park on the wall is very popular with the locals. I'm gonna post a couple of pictures below, but I'm sure none of them do the historic architecture justice. -Madeline Today my family and I visited the famous leaning Tower of Pisa. We walked to the train station in Lucca and took the train to the city of Pisa. The train was a little confusing because it didn't announce any of the stops, so we had no idea if we were getting out at the right stop (luckily for us, we guessed right the first time and got off at Pisa). We then walked from the Pisa train station to the tower area. Although I personally am not extremely interested in historic ruins, the architecture in Pisa (and in Italy in general) is absolutely beautiful. Everything is very intricate and obviously supposed to be visually pleasing. Unlike many structures built today, these ancient buildings exist for art just as much as function. Even thought I'm not a huge fan of old art or going sight-seeing, I could definitely appreciate the beauty in Pisa, and I genuinely enjoyed going to see the tower and the city.
Italy has turned the leaning Tower of Pisa into somewhat of a tourist trap; there's tons of souvenir tents, people selling knock-off sunglasses and purses, and over-priced pizza. Apparently this is a very common thing in Europe, but I was surprised when I learned that they even charged you to use the bathroom. It's like the musical Urine Town, but in real life. They have a police officer selling tickets and it costs .5 euro to pee...so strange. Anyway, we then paid for our tickets and climbed the leaning tower of Pisa at our 2 p.m. time slot. It's not as many stairs as I expected for a 7-story climb, and I'm definitely not complaining about that. The stairs are all made of marble, so coming down from the top was a little more treacherous than the climb up. The view from the top of the tower was awesome. You could see a lot of the city, and also a spectacular aerial view of Pisa's Cathedral and Opera House. I honestly didn't expect the leaning Tower of Pisa to be as cool as it actually was (sorry mom and dad). You could actually feel how it was tilted as you walked up the tower. Possibly one of my favorite parts was watching all the tourists take the classic "I'm holding up the leaning Tower of Pisa picture". Everyone looked so ridiculous with their hands or feet outstretched no where near the tower from passer-by's point-of-views. Although we were pretty tired by the time we came down from the tower, I'm actually glad that my parents forced me and my siblings to go into the Cathedral at Pisa. When you walk into the Cathedral, if you're wearing a tank-top (which Callie and I were) they hand you this hospital-like gown thing to put on over your head to cover your shoulders for "modesty". Of course, for some reason I'm the only one who had to wear this lovely get up; it was me and one other person in the entire Cathedral... My sister took some beautiful photographs of me (and the Cathedral, of course). The Cathedral was actually pretty awesome; it was hugeeee and had giant paintings and stained glass everywhere. I'm not super great at describing things, so I made a little slideshow with some of the better pictures I took from my day trip to Pisa. The Cathedral is seriously beautiful, and I don't think my descriptions or pictures could quite do it justice. -Madeline Finally, after 14+ hours of traveling, we have arrived in Italy! Our plane landed in Pisa (yes like the leaning tower), and I'm now on the way to our apartment in Lucca. It's 8:30 a.m. local time, and roughly 4 a.m. Atlanta time... It was extremely surreal landing as the sun was rising. I was not exactly mentally prepared for the sun to be beaming through the plane windows, and the dreaded "Happy" song blaring throughout the plane, but I'm glad to finally be here. I'm so disoriented and delirious right now, I honestly have no idea if anything I'm writing makes a shred of sense haha but bear with me. Lack of sleep and jetlag is not a good combination. Sidenote: social media is like impossible here. I'm currently typing this out on a note on my phone to keep myself calm because our taxi driver is actually driving like we are in a car chase. I know sometimes I tend to exaggerate things for dramatic affect, but I swear there have been several close accident calls already and we're only 10 minutes into the drive. I have my headphones turned up super loud right now because I literally can't hear shit because of the lovely combination of my partial deafness and being on a plane for 14 hours. My ears are shot.
But from what I can tell so far, Italy is absolutely gorgeous. Pisa is on the coast of Italy, and there's lots of mountains and rivers. The Italian countryside is lovely with it's cute little houses and green pastures. Literally out of a movie. And the weather!!! I am the luckiest human being for getting to trade in an entire Southern summer for Europe's moderate temperatures (70s/80s). I'm already going full tourist mode and taking tons of pictures of the smart cars and the bathrooms and the scenery. I should really at least try to learn some Italian, but my history with foreign languages is scaring me away. Ciao is like the coolest word ever, so at least I have that under my belt. If someone tries to talk to me in Italian I'll probably start panicking and just rattle off "Ciao" and "Gratzi" until they think I'm stupid and leave me alone. Update: the cab driver just got some, assumingly nasty, things yelled at him in Italian. I think I've seen my life flash before my eyes at least 3 times during this 45 minute car ride. I'm holding on to the handle on the ceiling and everything. And so is my dad, so you know that this shit's real... Ciao for now (great rhyme, right?) -Madeline So, tomorrow is the big day. My suitcases are finally (somehow by the grace of God) packed. My Italian translation app has been downloaded. My Spotify playlist has been updated for the plane. My alarm is set for 7a.m. (ew), and my first flight is at 10a.m. from Atlanta to New York. After a lovely 5 hour layover in LaGuardia (I'm sure you'll hear a lot from me during that time period), I will finally be boarding the plane to Italia! We're going to arrive around 4a.m. American time and 7a.m. Italian time. I'm pretty sure that time change is going to be a complete bitch the first couple days, but I excel at sleeping so hopefully my skills will come in handy.
Packing is literally the most stressful thing about going on a trip. The fact that checking bags is insanely expensive posed a real problem for my over-packing self. I am checking one (stuffed to the brim) bag, and carrying one super heavy backpack. That is it. Somehow, I managed to fit 7 pairs of shoes in my bags. Don't ask me how, but the physics gods were on my side this evening as I scrambled to fit my belongings into my suitcase while having a mini panic attack. I checked the weather for Oxford and Lucca, and that only made my heart rate rise even further... It was supposed to be hot in Lucca (80s/90s) and cooler in Oxford (70s during the day, 50s at night), and also rain in both places. So now I had to worry about bringing pants, shorts, jackets, rain-jackets, and boots. Somehow I managed to fit that entire list into my bag, along with a bunch of other stuff too. Flying is the second most stressful thing about traveling. I'm not a great flyer, I'll admit it. Every time my plane takes off I say a quick prayer that it will land safely in it's destination, trying not to jinx it. My worst nightmare is when the "fasten seatbelt" sign comes on for turbulence. I always close my eyes and grip the armrests and think "this is it" over and over again in my head. I actually pay attention during the safety instruction by the flight attendants because, you know, just in case. So you could say I'm not exactly looking forward to my day of flying tomorrow, but I know it will certainly be worth it when it's over. Plus I get to sit between my lovely sisters the entire time, so at least I'll have entertainment..? Although I have my reservations and anxieties, I am mostly extremely extremely excited to be headed abroad for the rest of the summer. I'm definitely at a point in my life where I need a change, and a break from a lot of things. I think this summer is the perfect opportunity to go abroad and I am so grateful that I get the chance to explore Europe. I'll probably be posting a shit-ton of cheesy tourist pictures, so I apologize in advance for those... -Madeline My M&M's piece got published on Thought Catalog! Check it out here: my article.
Just some shameless self-promotion, but you can also read my other articles and check out my Thought Catalog profile right here: my profile. Thanks everyone! |