I forgot to introduce myself!

I completely forgot to introduce myself to you guys before telling you all about my trip! My name is Hannah Klein and I am a Dramatic Literature student at NYU in CAS. I came to London to immerse myself in the theater culture. I have been studying theater all my life in New York City (my parents were both in the theater), and have heard over and over again that London is the most amazing place to see plays, write, etc. I am a complete theater nerd, so be prepared to see a lot about plays, the arts, and a few favorite book shop/coffee spots.

I am writing this blog because (a) I want to be able to have a digital log of my time here in London (or at least the highlights) and (b) I want to help everyone who reads my blog have the best time ever while studying abroad by giving them travel tips, study tips, food tips - whatever comes up! A helping hand is always comforting when planning a major trip - especially a trip of a lifetime/opportunity of a lifetime like this one! I personally feel so lucky that NYU offers so many study abroad sites and gives us the opportunity to have so many new opportunities. I, for one, plan on taking advantage of these opportunities as much as I can, and plan on telling you guys all about them (either to encourage or warn you).

So far London has been completely amazing. I love the people here and even though the weather is COLD, I am enjoying breaking in my new sweaters in early September. I actually am about to make a post about the art culture in London right now SO STAY TUNED!

The last two weeks: my adventures in europe!

Welcome to my very very first blog entry for my semester at NYU LONDON!!! I wanted to post it earlier, BUT I was having quite a large adventure and it didn't include computers or wifi :) I have just finished backpacking Europe for the past few weeks (and all on a great budget I might add). I backpacked through Amsterdam, Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome. I had the absolute time of my life (as one would expect) and it was all very doable thanks to NYU storing my luggage for me while I traveled! I figure that some students out there may want to take an economical back-packing trip before getting to London because there is free storage at the dorms and you can take as much time as you'd like (and it won't interfere with school). That said, I thought my first post would be about affordable travel websites and I am posting my hotel itinerary in case any of you would like to take my exact trip!

If you want to backpack on a budget, use skyscanner.com to find your flights - they WILL BE CHEAP. Also, for housing, hostels are always affordable (and 99% of the time safe) so I would say use hostelworld.com to find your hostels in advance. This way you can check their ratings, comments by past customers, photos, etc. Here are the AMAZING places I stayed while I backpacked, and if you go to these cities I would advise you do the same!

Amsterdam: Hotel Internationaal
Warmoesstraat 1-3, Amsterdam  Netherlands
020 624 5520

This place was fun because it was actually located above a bar in the heart of Amsterdam. The bartender was also your hotel concierge which made for great stories, meeting new people, etc. 

Paris: Hotel Innova

32 Boulevard Pasteur  75015 Paris, France

01 47 34 70 47

This was a great hotel to stay at in Paris because it was extremely safe, pretty affordable, and had very good facilities. The only problem was that there was no air conditioning! 

Venice: Hotel Adua 

Sestiere Cannaregio, 233  30121 Venice, Italy
041 716184

This hotel was not as nice as the first two, but the location was AMAZING. Right in the heart of a fun area, near the jewish ghetto,

and right by the train station and vaperetto stops. 

Florence: Il Ghiro Guesthouse

Via Faenza, 63  50123 Florence, Italy
055 282086

BY FAR THE BEST PLACE WE STAYED. An extremely cool/nice staff that helped with everything, walking distance from every

single major attraction, in a great area, by the train station (which made a day trip to Rome possible) and a washing machine and kitchen

to use. STAY HERE IF YOU ARE IN FLORENCE!

I just got to London so I will be posting again soon about my first impression!! Although I already know I love it :)