Today, I've been home for one week.
Today, I saw my grandma for the first time since August. Unfortunately, circumstances dictated that I had to see her in a coffin, her usually pale skin bronzed over with makeup and an uncharacteristic frown pulling at the corners of her mouth. The still body in the funeral home didn't look like my grandma. It was hard to see her like that, especially since I never got to say goodbye. At least I know that she's with Jesus now - and finally, she can run and jump without feeling any pain after so many years of suffering.
Today, I saw my grandpa for the first time since August. He was at the visitation, and was going to be leaving just as I arrived. I'd been thinking that it would be the other way around, that my grandma would be brought to his funeral. I had actually been preparing myself to hear the news in England, where I would be unable to get home to say goodbye.
He sat in his wheelchair, unmoving, eyes closed and head tilted slightly to his left, in much the same state as he was when I left. "Hi Grandpa," I said in his right ear - his good ear. "It's good to see you again." I put my hand on his shoulder to let him know I was there. His fingers started twitching in his lap.
"It's been a long time since I've seen you, Grandpa." I looked at his face, and I saw his eyes open. He knew I was there. It may have only been a few seconds, but I knew he could hear and understand me.
"I love you, Grandpa. I hope to see you again soon." I gave his shoulder one last squeeze and let my Aunt Becky and Aunt Susan put on his knit hat and earmuffs and wrap him in fleece blankets to go outside.
Today, it's been one week since I stepped off the plane. I've never been so grateful to be home with family, especially since this will be the first Christmas without the whole family (as I've known it) here.
Tomorrow, we're going to bury my grandma. I'm going to fulfill her request and play "Amazing Grace" on my Flute, and I can only pray that it holds a candle to how I wish I could play it for her.
Tomorrow, I will say my goodbyes to good times gone.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The last post from England
Monday, November 30, 2009
Right now I’m back in London and completely done with classes for the semester (I handed in my last two papers today). It’s really weird to think that I only have three more nights in England, especially after I’ve been here so long. But, it’s time to go back and try to catch up on my last bit of time here. I guess I left off at Lyme Regis.
Thursday the 19th was our only full day in Lyme. We started the day by going out on the Cobb (a big stone walkway constructed to make a harbor) and re-enacting a scene in Persuasion by Jane Austen that takes place on the Cobb. After that, I went back to the Mad Hatter with Melissa H, Zach, Kaari and Evie and had a delicious cream tea for tea time. For dinner, I went out with Kaari and Evie to a pub called The Royal Standard. And for an interesting side note, I also learned that Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones, was staying at the same hotel as we were.
We left for “Plymouth” on the 20th, so that morning was the last time I had internet for a while. (I say “Plymouth” because the house we stayed at was in the middle of nowhere, somewhere outside of Plymouth.)
On the way there, we stopped at Cadbury “Castle”, the reputed site of King Arthur’s Camelot. Really, it was a big old field that could have been anything. Let’s just say that Monty Python jokes and songs were prevalent that afternoon – “On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. ‘Tis a silly place.”
Then we were off to Battisborough House, our home for the next week. We stopped at Tesco on the way there to buy a week’s worth of groceries, because the house is so remote that there is no way for us to get to a grocery store without hiring a taxi.
Battisborough itself was awesome. It was right on the coast, so we could easily take a walk down by the ocean on some beautiful cliffs. Plus, we had the entire house to ourselves so it was filled with endless England Term bonding. I shared a room in the annex with Melissa K and Nelly – the three of us had five bunk beds to share (that’s 10 beds for 3 people!). Plus, it had an awesome stock of videos, so the first night I watched some old Power Rangers episodes (the good stuff) and Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life.”
On Saturday (the 21st) we took a 2.5 hour bus ride out to Penzance, Land’s End, and St. Ives. It was a really windy day, so we didn’t actually get to stop in Penzance because the ocean was too aggressive and everything that we could have done would be closed. So I saw Penzance through a coach bus window, which I suppose counts for something.
Our next stop was Land’s End, which is the westernmost point in the UK. It was incredibly windy: I had to walk leaning at an angle in order to make any sort of headway against the gales. But it was still worthwhile to go, if only to say that I’ve been there.
St. Ives was entirely unplanned because it was a spur-of-the-moment addition after we couldn’t stop in Penzance. I spent my time writing a couple postcards in a small café since we were only there for an hour or so.
After our day trip, it was 2.5 hours back to Battisborough – I was certainly glad that I had charged my iPod. Then I spent my evening making a triple batch of cookies with Hannah and Erin (and a few others who helped for a while).
The rest of the week at Battisborough involved a lot of class time, writing, walking outside, cooking, acting Shakespeare scenes, and just hanging out and bonding as a group.
Since we had a full kitchen, I had bought food with Melissa K and we cooked our meals together. It was mostly pasta, but we also had a lot of veggies that we cut up and added to the pasta to make it delicious. But we did well at planning – there really wasn’t that much leftover food by the end of the week and we never went hungry.
Another big part of Battisborough was our Shakespeare scenes. As part of our Drama in Great Britain class, we had to act out a scene from one of the plays that we’ve read and then write a reflection paper about the scene. I did the tail end of Act IV, scene 4 in The Winter’s Tale, with me as Autolycus, Carrie as the clown, and Anna S as the shepherd. So we spent a good deal of time rehearsing the scene until we performed it on Wednesday night (the 25th).
And how can I forget Thanksgiving? Since we had the facility, we all chipped in and made a homemade Thanksgiving dinner – most of the items from scratch. We had three turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn bake, green beans, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes. And amazingly, everything turned out to be delicious – we had to improvise on a lot of recipes.
We left Battisborough the day after Thanksgiving. It was a three hour trip to Salisbury to the Hayburn Wyke B&B, where I ended up in the annex (again!) with Allison, Anna S, Annie, and Erin. But really, it was the place to be. We had our own kitchen (complete with fridge!) so we could save money on food for a while. The only strange thing was the awkward shower, placed right in Anna and Erin’s bedroom like it was some sort of furniture decoration. Just imagine a glass shower box placed in your room like a wardrobe – nothing else around it, just there for everyone to see. But we had some good times in the annex – a couple girls’ nights in playing cards and talking.
The main point of Salisbury was (of course) Stonehenge. It’s one of those things that you’re almost required to see if you’re in England for any decent amount of time, especially if you’re there three and a half months. So I made my pilgrimage to Stonehenge, and it was, as the name suggests, a pile of rocks. Don’t get me wrong: it was cool and all – it IS Stonehenge! – but if it wasn’t so famous I probably wouldn’t have cared. We got off the bus, circled Stonehenge and took pictures, and got back on the bus. Other than being there and seeing it in person, there really isn’t anything else to do.
I took Sunday pretty easy – sleeping in, relaxing, finishing up my papers. So that was the extent of Salisbury. We left Salisbury this morning and traveled two hours back to London, and it’s like being home again.
I’ll write about London again later, because right now I have to run out and grab some food. I’m getting kind of hungry.
Right now I’m back in London and completely done with classes for the semester (I handed in my last two papers today). It’s really weird to think that I only have three more nights in England, especially after I’ve been here so long. But, it’s time to go back and try to catch up on my last bit of time here. I guess I left off at Lyme Regis.
Thursday the 19th was our only full day in Lyme. We started the day by going out on the Cobb (a big stone walkway constructed to make a harbor) and re-enacting a scene in Persuasion by Jane Austen that takes place on the Cobb. After that, I went back to the Mad Hatter with Melissa H, Zach, Kaari and Evie and had a delicious cream tea for tea time. For dinner, I went out with Kaari and Evie to a pub called The Royal Standard. And for an interesting side note, I also learned that Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones, was staying at the same hotel as we were.
We left for “Plymouth” on the 20th, so that morning was the last time I had internet for a while. (I say “Plymouth” because the house we stayed at was in the middle of nowhere, somewhere outside of Plymouth.)
On the way there, we stopped at Cadbury “Castle”, the reputed site of King Arthur’s Camelot. Really, it was a big old field that could have been anything. Let’s just say that Monty Python jokes and songs were prevalent that afternoon – “On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. ‘Tis a silly place.”
Then we were off to Battisborough House, our home for the next week. We stopped at Tesco on the way there to buy a week’s worth of groceries, because the house is so remote that there is no way for us to get to a grocery store without hiring a taxi.
Battisborough itself was awesome. It was right on the coast, so we could easily take a walk down by the ocean on some beautiful cliffs. Plus, we had the entire house to ourselves so it was filled with endless England Term bonding. I shared a room in the annex with Melissa K and Nelly – the three of us had five bunk beds to share (that’s 10 beds for 3 people!). Plus, it had an awesome stock of videos, so the first night I watched some old Power Rangers episodes (the good stuff) and Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life.”
On Saturday (the 21st) we took a 2.5 hour bus ride out to Penzance, Land’s End, and St. Ives. It was a really windy day, so we didn’t actually get to stop in Penzance because the ocean was too aggressive and everything that we could have done would be closed. So I saw Penzance through a coach bus window, which I suppose counts for something.
Our next stop was Land’s End, which is the westernmost point in the UK. It was incredibly windy: I had to walk leaning at an angle in order to make any sort of headway against the gales. But it was still worthwhile to go, if only to say that I’ve been there.
St. Ives was entirely unplanned because it was a spur-of-the-moment addition after we couldn’t stop in Penzance. I spent my time writing a couple postcards in a small café since we were only there for an hour or so.
After our day trip, it was 2.5 hours back to Battisborough – I was certainly glad that I had charged my iPod. Then I spent my evening making a triple batch of cookies with Hannah and Erin (and a few others who helped for a while).
The rest of the week at Battisborough involved a lot of class time, writing, walking outside, cooking, acting Shakespeare scenes, and just hanging out and bonding as a group.
Since we had a full kitchen, I had bought food with Melissa K and we cooked our meals together. It was mostly pasta, but we also had a lot of veggies that we cut up and added to the pasta to make it delicious. But we did well at planning – there really wasn’t that much leftover food by the end of the week and we never went hungry.
Another big part of Battisborough was our Shakespeare scenes. As part of our Drama in Great Britain class, we had to act out a scene from one of the plays that we’ve read and then write a reflection paper about the scene. I did the tail end of Act IV, scene 4 in The Winter’s Tale, with me as Autolycus, Carrie as the clown, and Anna S as the shepherd. So we spent a good deal of time rehearsing the scene until we performed it on Wednesday night (the 25th).
And how can I forget Thanksgiving? Since we had the facility, we all chipped in and made a homemade Thanksgiving dinner – most of the items from scratch. We had three turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn bake, green beans, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes. And amazingly, everything turned out to be delicious – we had to improvise on a lot of recipes.
We left Battisborough the day after Thanksgiving. It was a three hour trip to Salisbury to the Hayburn Wyke B&B, where I ended up in the annex (again!) with Allison, Anna S, Annie, and Erin. But really, it was the place to be. We had our own kitchen (complete with fridge!) so we could save money on food for a while. The only strange thing was the awkward shower, placed right in Anna and Erin’s bedroom like it was some sort of furniture decoration. Just imagine a glass shower box placed in your room like a wardrobe – nothing else around it, just there for everyone to see. But we had some good times in the annex – a couple girls’ nights in playing cards and talking.
The main point of Salisbury was (of course) Stonehenge. It’s one of those things that you’re almost required to see if you’re in England for any decent amount of time, especially if you’re there three and a half months. So I made my pilgrimage to Stonehenge, and it was, as the name suggests, a pile of rocks. Don’t get me wrong: it was cool and all – it IS Stonehenge! – but if it wasn’t so famous I probably wouldn’t have cared. We got off the bus, circled Stonehenge and took pictures, and got back on the bus. Other than being there and seeing it in person, there really isn’t anything else to do.
I took Sunday pretty easy – sleeping in, relaxing, finishing up my papers. So that was the extent of Salisbury. We left Salisbury this morning and traveled two hours back to London, and it’s like being home again.
I’ll write about London again later, because right now I have to run out and grab some food. I’m getting kind of hungry.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Less than one week to go
Say Goodbye by Sanctus Real
So say goodbye 'cause you'll be leaving soon
I know it's hard, and I'll be missing you
I know it's time to say goodbye
I know the road, has worn you down
You never broke, you always held your ground
But now it's time to say goodbye
And I know we'll meet again,
But I wish it'd never end
You don't mean to make me cry,
But it's so hard to say goodbye
Say goodbye
Say goodbye
And thought you're gone I remember now
The time we shared, your words still ring out
You're never far, you're in my heart
Someday we'll meet again,
'cause that's how the story ends
It's so hard to say goodbye
Say goodbye
I was writing out one of my last papers and this song came up on iTunes shuffle... it seems to reflect the bittersweet feelings that I'm getting about leaving the UK soon.
It's going to be really hard to leave here on Thursday, especially since I don't know if I'll ever be able to come back again.
So say goodbye 'cause you'll be leaving soon
I know it's hard, and I'll be missing you
I know it's time to say goodbye
I know the road, has worn you down
You never broke, you always held your ground
But now it's time to say goodbye
And I know we'll meet again,
But I wish it'd never end
You don't mean to make me cry,
But it's so hard to say goodbye
Say goodbye
Say goodbye
And thought you're gone I remember now
The time we shared, your words still ring out
You're never far, you're in my heart
Someday we'll meet again,
'cause that's how the story ends
It's so hard to say goodbye
Say goodbye
I was writing out one of my last papers and this song came up on iTunes shuffle... it seems to reflect the bittersweet feelings that I'm getting about leaving the UK soon.
It's going to be really hard to leave here on Thursday, especially since I don't know if I'll ever be able to come back again.
Bath and a little Lyme
Monday, November 23, 2009
Another week has gone by, and I’m another week behind on my blog. But this time I got smart (after 3 months of travel) and started jotting down a few notes about each day in my notebook. So at least I won’t have the typical problem of trying to remember what I did. Too bad I didn’t think of this system earlier!
I’ll start back on the 17th, on our second day in Bath. That’s when we did the typical things that people do in Bath – tour the Roman baths and go to the spa.
Let’s see… Roman baths. The baths were surprisingly well intact considering that much of Bath was built on top of them. The water was green and didn’t look too inviting for bathing, but it was still steaming and bubbling. Plus, we got to walk around the baths with awesome audio guides held up to our ears – some of the commentary was actually entertaining in that there were ridiculous trumpet calls that made it so I had to move the audio guide away from my ear because it was so loud.
After touring the Roman baths, we all went to lunch in the Pump Room. When I thought of “pump room,” I thought about some mechanical pumps in a hot, steamy, loud room. I thought, “Why would anyone want to eat lunch in a pump room?”
Well, the Pump Room at Bath is a prestigious restaurant that’s been around for quite a while. We had a three course meal (I had mushroom soup, pumpkin penne, and a white chocolate torte with chocolate sauce) while a musician played classical piano in the background. The room was white with a huge, glittering chandelier in the center. I also got to “take the waters” – meaning I had a glass of the natural spring waters from the Roman baths. The water was treated for diseases and such, but it was natural. I think the most disconcerting thing about the water was that it was warm – it tasted mineral-y, but other than that, not bad. Apparently the water is supposed to have healing powers, so we’ll see if it holds off any sickness.
After lunch was one of the most exciting things about Bath: the spa. We went to the Thermae spa and had a two-hour session. Let me tell you – the spa was absolutely fabulous at this point in the trip. Three months of travel really makes a person appreciate time to sit and soak in warm water.
The Thermae spa had three main attractions: the rooftop pool, which was outside and still warm enough to swim in even though it was November (“and we can swim any day in November” – Postal Service, anyone?); a hot bath, which was a beautiful indoor pool with (again) warm water and a partially separate area with jets and bubbles; and several steam rooms, each of which were scented with different fragrances (the only two I remember are frankincense and mint, though there were four rooms). One of the steam rooms was so hot that it was difficult to breathe, but it was so wonderful. I was content just to be back in the water – it’s been so long since my swimming days, and I was more relaxed to swim back in forth in a partial breaststroke than to just sit and float. I miss spending time in the water; I just feel so much more coordinated and natural when I’m moving in the water.
The only downside was that about 10 minutes before I left, someone stole my towel (that I had rented from the hostel for 50p) right out from under my shoes. Granted, all the towels there were white, but my shoes had been directly on top of my towel, and when I looked to grab it, my shoes were on the floor and out of the mesh cubbies. It’s not like the Bath hostel had any way of knowing who had rented towels, but I felt bad that they were going to be short one towel because someone took it from me.
After the spa, a majority of people went to Starbucks for a cup of Christmas – a gingerbread latte. I had to grab mine to go since I had a Skype date with Seth, but no one else was ready to go so I walked back up the hill alone in the dark. Since it was kind of a back roads trail, I was a little nervous that I was alone, but fortunately I made it back okay, even if I was still a good 20 minutes late for Skype.
That night was also Kaari’s birthday, so we had cheesecake and wrote her Jane Austen-esque compliments to celebrate.
Wow, I can write so much more about each day now that I’m keeping a few brief notes. I really wish I did this earlier…
But on to the 18th of November, the day we left Bath for Lyme Regis. I had no idea where Lyme Regis was except that it was in Jane Austen’s Persuasion, so it was kind of a surprise.
But first – our stop on the way to Lyme Regis. Our deviation this time was to Glastonbury, the reputed site of King Arthur’s grave and the location of Glastonbury Abbey, which is supposed to be the monastery that the Knights of the Round Table went to after Arthur’s death. I visited Glastonbury Abbey long enough to see Arthur’s “grave” (I’m not sure how much I believe that) and then went out into Glastonbury for lunch. I went to the Mocha Berry Café with Erin, Hannah, and Alea for some coffee and light lunch. I’m sure Glastonbury would have been cool to explore, but I was a little thrown off by the absurd amount of magical/mystical stores.
After that stop, it was onward to Lyme Regis. We stayed at the Alexandra Hotel, which was absolutely wonderful after staying in hostels. I stayed in a room with Evie, and we had a big fluffy bed and a seaside view. The bathroom was shiny, clean, and appealing to the eye. The towels were fluffy and huge, and we were even provided with towel bathrobes.
A little bit after settling in to our room, Evie and I went out to explore. To me, Lyme Regis felt like a combination of Amalfi and Sligo. I think it reminded me of Sligo just because the ocean was just a short walk from the place that we were staying, but it was incredibly like Amalfi because it was an off-season tourist destination. A lot of the stores and restaurants were closed early because nobody goes to Lyme during November – it’s a lot more popular when it’s warm out. But it also resembled a California beach town since all the buildings were painted pastels: blues, pinks, yellows, greens, lavenders.
Apparently Lyme is also known for a bunch of fossils – Evie and I ran across a place called “Dinosaurland” when we went on the “Riverside Walk.” It was worth it though – I did find a very friendly kitty with beautiful green eyes as we walked along the path.
After our adventures, Evie and I went to the Mad Hatter for tea. It was just a few yards down the street from our hotel, and it was called the Mad Hatter. Really, that’s the main reason that I wanted to go there.
Mmm well that’s all for now – I had a conversation with Evie and Melissa and it’s now 11:35 pm – time for bed!
Another week has gone by, and I’m another week behind on my blog. But this time I got smart (after 3 months of travel) and started jotting down a few notes about each day in my notebook. So at least I won’t have the typical problem of trying to remember what I did. Too bad I didn’t think of this system earlier!
I’ll start back on the 17th, on our second day in Bath. That’s when we did the typical things that people do in Bath – tour the Roman baths and go to the spa.
Let’s see… Roman baths. The baths were surprisingly well intact considering that much of Bath was built on top of them. The water was green and didn’t look too inviting for bathing, but it was still steaming and bubbling. Plus, we got to walk around the baths with awesome audio guides held up to our ears – some of the commentary was actually entertaining in that there were ridiculous trumpet calls that made it so I had to move the audio guide away from my ear because it was so loud.
After touring the Roman baths, we all went to lunch in the Pump Room. When I thought of “pump room,” I thought about some mechanical pumps in a hot, steamy, loud room. I thought, “Why would anyone want to eat lunch in a pump room?”
Well, the Pump Room at Bath is a prestigious restaurant that’s been around for quite a while. We had a three course meal (I had mushroom soup, pumpkin penne, and a white chocolate torte with chocolate sauce) while a musician played classical piano in the background. The room was white with a huge, glittering chandelier in the center. I also got to “take the waters” – meaning I had a glass of the natural spring waters from the Roman baths. The water was treated for diseases and such, but it was natural. I think the most disconcerting thing about the water was that it was warm – it tasted mineral-y, but other than that, not bad. Apparently the water is supposed to have healing powers, so we’ll see if it holds off any sickness.
After lunch was one of the most exciting things about Bath: the spa. We went to the Thermae spa and had a two-hour session. Let me tell you – the spa was absolutely fabulous at this point in the trip. Three months of travel really makes a person appreciate time to sit and soak in warm water.
The Thermae spa had three main attractions: the rooftop pool, which was outside and still warm enough to swim in even though it was November (“and we can swim any day in November” – Postal Service, anyone?); a hot bath, which was a beautiful indoor pool with (again) warm water and a partially separate area with jets and bubbles; and several steam rooms, each of which were scented with different fragrances (the only two I remember are frankincense and mint, though there were four rooms). One of the steam rooms was so hot that it was difficult to breathe, but it was so wonderful. I was content just to be back in the water – it’s been so long since my swimming days, and I was more relaxed to swim back in forth in a partial breaststroke than to just sit and float. I miss spending time in the water; I just feel so much more coordinated and natural when I’m moving in the water.
The only downside was that about 10 minutes before I left, someone stole my towel (that I had rented from the hostel for 50p) right out from under my shoes. Granted, all the towels there were white, but my shoes had been directly on top of my towel, and when I looked to grab it, my shoes were on the floor and out of the mesh cubbies. It’s not like the Bath hostel had any way of knowing who had rented towels, but I felt bad that they were going to be short one towel because someone took it from me.
After the spa, a majority of people went to Starbucks for a cup of Christmas – a gingerbread latte. I had to grab mine to go since I had a Skype date with Seth, but no one else was ready to go so I walked back up the hill alone in the dark. Since it was kind of a back roads trail, I was a little nervous that I was alone, but fortunately I made it back okay, even if I was still a good 20 minutes late for Skype.
That night was also Kaari’s birthday, so we had cheesecake and wrote her Jane Austen-esque compliments to celebrate.
Wow, I can write so much more about each day now that I’m keeping a few brief notes. I really wish I did this earlier…
But on to the 18th of November, the day we left Bath for Lyme Regis. I had no idea where Lyme Regis was except that it was in Jane Austen’s Persuasion, so it was kind of a surprise.
But first – our stop on the way to Lyme Regis. Our deviation this time was to Glastonbury, the reputed site of King Arthur’s grave and the location of Glastonbury Abbey, which is supposed to be the monastery that the Knights of the Round Table went to after Arthur’s death. I visited Glastonbury Abbey long enough to see Arthur’s “grave” (I’m not sure how much I believe that) and then went out into Glastonbury for lunch. I went to the Mocha Berry Café with Erin, Hannah, and Alea for some coffee and light lunch. I’m sure Glastonbury would have been cool to explore, but I was a little thrown off by the absurd amount of magical/mystical stores.
After that stop, it was onward to Lyme Regis. We stayed at the Alexandra Hotel, which was absolutely wonderful after staying in hostels. I stayed in a room with Evie, and we had a big fluffy bed and a seaside view. The bathroom was shiny, clean, and appealing to the eye. The towels were fluffy and huge, and we were even provided with towel bathrobes.
A little bit after settling in to our room, Evie and I went out to explore. To me, Lyme Regis felt like a combination of Amalfi and Sligo. I think it reminded me of Sligo just because the ocean was just a short walk from the place that we were staying, but it was incredibly like Amalfi because it was an off-season tourist destination. A lot of the stores and restaurants were closed early because nobody goes to Lyme during November – it’s a lot more popular when it’s warm out. But it also resembled a California beach town since all the buildings were painted pastels: blues, pinks, yellows, greens, lavenders.
Apparently Lyme is also known for a bunch of fossils – Evie and I ran across a place called “Dinosaurland” when we went on the “Riverside Walk.” It was worth it though – I did find a very friendly kitty with beautiful green eyes as we walked along the path.
After our adventures, Evie and I went to the Mad Hatter for tea. It was just a few yards down the street from our hotel, and it was called the Mad Hatter. Really, that’s the main reason that I wanted to go there.
Mmm well that’s all for now – I had a conversation with Evie and Melissa and it’s now 11:35 pm – time for bed!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The land of Shakespeare
Monday, November 16, 2009
Last Tuesday we left Oxford and traveled to Stratford via the “Cotswolds.” If you’re anything like me, you have no idea what the Cotswolds are. Like Mark Bruce said, “We’re only going there because they’re pretty.” And really, that was it. The Cotswolds are just quaint little villages with pretty rivers, hills, and trees. I think they were important somehow in the production of wool, but I don’t remember the details. I did find a pair of mittens (finally!) at the Edinburgh Woolen Mill, though.
Stratford was busy, but it was a lot of fun. We spent most of our days at the Shakespeare Center taking classes from and having discussions with RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) associated people.
The most memorable part of Stratford was going to see Twelfth Night performed by the RSC. I’m not kidding – these amazing performances of Shakespeare may ruin my opinions of future Shakespeare plays. First it was As You Like It at the Globe, and now Twelfth Night by the RSC. This is quality stuff right here. Plus, we got to see Twelfth Night twice – once with the main cast, and once with the understudies. It was really cool to see how just switching the actors and actresses could change the performance. And anyway… Shakespeare is just great to start with. Add an amazing cast, amazing location, and an amazing set and director, and it’s golden.
I also spent a few nights at the Dirty Duck – officially called the Black Swan, though no one else calls it that. The Dirty Duck is the pub that all the RSC actors and actresses visit right after their shows, so obviously it was a great spot to hang out. But despite that claim to fame, the Dirty Duck really wasn’t all that crowded. The only time it seemed crowded enough that you might have to search for a table was on Saturday night – but that could be because the RSC actors and actresses had Sunday off and were there for a lot longer than other nights. Who knows. But because it was really easy to get to (it was just a couple minutes walk from our B&B) and there was lots of room, the Dirty Duck was probably another one of my favorite pubs. Plus, they had a countdown to Christmas and some fun Christmas decorations, including a 4-foot high dancing Santa.
Another highlight of Stratford was our stage combat class with Jean-Marc and Ivan. Both guys worked with the RSC and had a lot of experience and training in stage combat. Jean-Marc actually played the part of the young Prince Caspian in the 1989 BBC version of the Chronicles of Narnia.
We spent the first part of stage combat doing fencing and we learned a choreographed fight from the end of Hamlet and the second part learning a choreographed wrestling match from As You Like It. Surprisingly enough, I had a lot of fun with it, even though I wasn’t very good. I do feel like I could get a lot better with the fencing if I had more time to work with it and practice – since we only had three hours, it was more of a crash course than actual learning.
That’s Stratford in a nutshell – Shakespeare, Shakespeare, and more Shakespeare. Especially since I also visited the birthplace and grave of Shakespeare. All of the Shakespeare was so much fun, and I think I have a whole new appreciation for his work. I actually want to read a bunch of the Shakespeare plays that I haven’t read yet, so hopefully I’ll get on that once I’m back home.
Yesterday we left Stratford and traveled to Bath, stopping at Tintern Abbey along the way. All I knew about Tintern Abbey was the Wordsworth poem… probably all anyone knows about Tintern Abbey. It turns out that Tintern Abbey is actually in south Wales, so yesterday I took a jaunt over to Wales for the afternoon (I feel so weird saying that).
Tintern Abbey is the ruins of an Abbey (surprising, right?). Just the stones are left, though it’s eerily cool to wander through the main hall with all its pillars and big windows, though the roof is gone and there’s grass growing inside.
I did buy myself a £2 mood ring with the red Welsh dragon on it – don’t worry, it’s awesome. I hadn’t gotten myself anything from Wales, so the mood ring was the way to go.
Right now I’m in Bath. We’re staying at the Bath YHA Youth Hostel, which is actually up a hill and about a 10-15 minute walk from the centre of Bath. It’s probably a good thing… I don’t feel like we’ve done quite as much walking in this second half of the trip. Best to get my legs back into shape again before everything is destroyed during the Christmas season at home. Because it’s literally uphill the entire way back to the hostel.
I enjoy Bath, but it’s probably not my favorite place. It’s cool and all, but if we were here more than a couple days I’m not sure what I would do. Today we went on a walking tour, so we saw a lot of the places that Jane Austen uses in her novels (including Persuasion, which we just read). So we saw places like the Royal Crescent, the Circus… places where 17th – 18th century aristocrats would hang out and socialize. Then I went with Joel and Melissa to see the Abbey, which was kind of a strange experience because it was the first old cathedral building to have modern equipment like TV’s for the pews with a view blocked by pillars. On the other hand, it was the first old cathedral building to have a prayer walk and actually encourage tourists to use the building for a spiritual purpose rather than just looking at pretty architecture.
Tomorrow we’re touring the part of Bath that everyone else thinks about: the Roman baths. Plus, we’re spending some time at the Thermae spa, which should be an excellent time investment.
Well, I’m finally caught up. Not for long, though, I’m sure. Oh well – as long as I get there eventually.
Last Tuesday we left Oxford and traveled to Stratford via the “Cotswolds.” If you’re anything like me, you have no idea what the Cotswolds are. Like Mark Bruce said, “We’re only going there because they’re pretty.” And really, that was it. The Cotswolds are just quaint little villages with pretty rivers, hills, and trees. I think they were important somehow in the production of wool, but I don’t remember the details. I did find a pair of mittens (finally!) at the Edinburgh Woolen Mill, though.
Stratford was busy, but it was a lot of fun. We spent most of our days at the Shakespeare Center taking classes from and having discussions with RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) associated people.
The most memorable part of Stratford was going to see Twelfth Night performed by the RSC. I’m not kidding – these amazing performances of Shakespeare may ruin my opinions of future Shakespeare plays. First it was As You Like It at the Globe, and now Twelfth Night by the RSC. This is quality stuff right here. Plus, we got to see Twelfth Night twice – once with the main cast, and once with the understudies. It was really cool to see how just switching the actors and actresses could change the performance. And anyway… Shakespeare is just great to start with. Add an amazing cast, amazing location, and an amazing set and director, and it’s golden.
I also spent a few nights at the Dirty Duck – officially called the Black Swan, though no one else calls it that. The Dirty Duck is the pub that all the RSC actors and actresses visit right after their shows, so obviously it was a great spot to hang out. But despite that claim to fame, the Dirty Duck really wasn’t all that crowded. The only time it seemed crowded enough that you might have to search for a table was on Saturday night – but that could be because the RSC actors and actresses had Sunday off and were there for a lot longer than other nights. Who knows. But because it was really easy to get to (it was just a couple minutes walk from our B&B) and there was lots of room, the Dirty Duck was probably another one of my favorite pubs. Plus, they had a countdown to Christmas and some fun Christmas decorations, including a 4-foot high dancing Santa.
Another highlight of Stratford was our stage combat class with Jean-Marc and Ivan. Both guys worked with the RSC and had a lot of experience and training in stage combat. Jean-Marc actually played the part of the young Prince Caspian in the 1989 BBC version of the Chronicles of Narnia.
We spent the first part of stage combat doing fencing and we learned a choreographed fight from the end of Hamlet and the second part learning a choreographed wrestling match from As You Like It. Surprisingly enough, I had a lot of fun with it, even though I wasn’t very good. I do feel like I could get a lot better with the fencing if I had more time to work with it and practice – since we only had three hours, it was more of a crash course than actual learning.
That’s Stratford in a nutshell – Shakespeare, Shakespeare, and more Shakespeare. Especially since I also visited the birthplace and grave of Shakespeare. All of the Shakespeare was so much fun, and I think I have a whole new appreciation for his work. I actually want to read a bunch of the Shakespeare plays that I haven’t read yet, so hopefully I’ll get on that once I’m back home.
Yesterday we left Stratford and traveled to Bath, stopping at Tintern Abbey along the way. All I knew about Tintern Abbey was the Wordsworth poem… probably all anyone knows about Tintern Abbey. It turns out that Tintern Abbey is actually in south Wales, so yesterday I took a jaunt over to Wales for the afternoon (I feel so weird saying that).
Tintern Abbey is the ruins of an Abbey (surprising, right?). Just the stones are left, though it’s eerily cool to wander through the main hall with all its pillars and big windows, though the roof is gone and there’s grass growing inside.
I did buy myself a £2 mood ring with the red Welsh dragon on it – don’t worry, it’s awesome. I hadn’t gotten myself anything from Wales, so the mood ring was the way to go.
Right now I’m in Bath. We’re staying at the Bath YHA Youth Hostel, which is actually up a hill and about a 10-15 minute walk from the centre of Bath. It’s probably a good thing… I don’t feel like we’ve done quite as much walking in this second half of the trip. Best to get my legs back into shape again before everything is destroyed during the Christmas season at home. Because it’s literally uphill the entire way back to the hostel.
I enjoy Bath, but it’s probably not my favorite place. It’s cool and all, but if we were here more than a couple days I’m not sure what I would do. Today we went on a walking tour, so we saw a lot of the places that Jane Austen uses in her novels (including Persuasion, which we just read). So we saw places like the Royal Crescent, the Circus… places where 17th – 18th century aristocrats would hang out and socialize. Then I went with Joel and Melissa to see the Abbey, which was kind of a strange experience because it was the first old cathedral building to have modern equipment like TV’s for the pews with a view blocked by pillars. On the other hand, it was the first old cathedral building to have a prayer walk and actually encourage tourists to use the building for a spiritual purpose rather than just looking at pretty architecture.
Tomorrow we’re touring the part of Bath that everyone else thinks about: the Roman baths. Plus, we’re spending some time at the Thermae spa, which should be an excellent time investment.
Well, I’m finally caught up. Not for long, though, I’m sure. Oh well – as long as I get there eventually.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Two weeks too late
Sunday, November 15, 2009
It’s been two weeks since I last did any sort of blogging or journaling. I’m sure I say this just about every time I start a post, but I’m feeling incredibly intimidated. Somehow, I need to write about Canterbury, Oxford, and Stratford as I sit in the lounge of the youth hostel in Bath. To help me out, I’m going to post a very rough outline of my days and elaborate off of that.
CANTERBURY:
Wed. Nov. 4: Left Salomon’s for Canterbury. Stopped in Ashdown Forest to visit the Winnie the Pooh bridge and play Pooh sticks.
Thurs. Nov. 5: Morning class, then shopping with Melissa K. Watched V for Vendetta.
Fri. Nov. 6: Morning class. Tour of Canterbury Cathedral.
Sat. Nov. 7: Morning class, then walking on the medieval walls with Allison, Kaari, Anna S, and Nelly. Bonfire night / Guy Fawkes day bonfire and fireworks.
OXFORD:
Sun. Nov. 8: Left Canterbury and stopped at Blenheim Palace. Arrived in Oxford and went to dinner at the Eagle and Child.
Mon. Nov. 9: Morning trip to Café Nero to work on my paper. Tour of Oxford colleges – Ben’s Cookies and Cake shop. Dinner out again at the Eagle and Child.
STRATFORD:
Tues. Nov. 10: Left Oxford and drove through the Cotswolds – bought scarf and mittens. Arrived at Stratford and stayed at Forget-Me-Not B&B. Spent the night in relaxing.
Wed. Nov. 11: Morning classes at Shakespeare Center – discussed Twelfth Night and saw some archives. Visited Shakespeare’s birthplace. 7:15 performance of Twelfth Night by RSC at the Courtyard Theatre.
Thurs. Nov. 12: Voice class. 1:30 understudy performance of Twelfth Night. Evie’s birthday – dinner out at the Dirty Duck.
Fri. Nov. 13: Twelfth Night discussion and Q&A session with Miltos (plays Feste). Visited Shakespeare’s grave. Three hours of stage combat with Jean-Marc Perret (Prince Caspian) and Ivan. Watched Charlie and Lola. Went with Evie to the Dirty Duck.
Sat. Nov. 14: Laundry day. Chinese food for dinner. Went back to the Dirty Duck.
As you can tell, I’ve been busy. So I’m going to do my best to pick the highlights of these cities and write more than just the itinerary. =)
So… I’ll start with Ashdown forest. Can I just say that it was awesome to go to the 100 Acre Woods and play Pooh sticks? I’m not sure what else I can say about that – we had a tour guide who wore all purple, but I don’t think she told me anything I didn’t already know. I brought a bundle of sticks and we had some pretty intense competitions – I finally won a game near the end, once the games dwindled from six or seven people to just two. Plus, we visited Piglet’s house, which was a tiny door on a tree nearby the Pooh bridge. So nerdy, but awesome.
Canterbury was and awesome city. It’s one of the few cities that still has all its medieval streets, so all the streets were narrow and winding. We stayed in the Cathedral Lodge in the Cathedral precincts, so we were actually right next to Canterbury Cathedral. It makes me feel like I’ve been here too long, but it just seemed normal to be able to look out of my window and see a huge cathedral.
Canterbury was also a great shopping town. Since we were right in the center, there were stores everywhere – it was hard to resist spending a bunch of money I didn’t have. But I contented myself with just doing a lot of window shopping. Plus, Melissa and I got to have a great time hanging out and talking over some coffee.
One of the great things about Canterbury was that it was the 5th of November – remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. The only thing cooler would be if we were in London, but just being in England was pretty cool in itself. We marked the date by renting V for Vendetta off of iTunes, and the official celebrations took place on Saturday night, since Thursday is part of the work week. Though people do call it Bonfire Night instead of Guy Fawkes day. So a few of us (the Bruces, Evie, Erin, Dan, and I) went out to a huge bonfire on – Tyler Hill, I think? Something like that. But there really was a huge bonfire… we could see the flames flickering over the rooftops of the houses as we approached. Then there was a fireworks display, which was really long and set off to a music soundtrack including The Beatles and Michael Jackson. If the English do anything well, it’s bonfires.
As far as literature… Canterbury was where we studied the Canterbury Tales, believe it or not. It was kind of weird to study them while we were right outside Canterbury cathedral, since that was the final destination of the pilgrims, though they never make it to Canterbury in the tales. When we toured the cathedral, we saw the shrine for Thomas Beckett, which is where the pilgrims would have come at the end of their journey.
A week ago we left Canterbury for Oxford with a stop at Blenheim Palace on the way. Apparently, Blenheim Palace is the home of the Churchill family – including the one and only Winston Churchill. So we hung out there for a little while, wandering through the state rooms as well as an interactive ghost exhibit on the second floor. That was an exhibit with moving displays and narration about the history of all the people who have lived at Blenheim. I also visited the secret garden – no, really, it said it was the secret garden on the map.
Oxford was excellent, even if we were only there for two nights. I’m going to generalize and say that college towns are always fun, if only because I feel like I fit in better because I’m in the right age range. We stayed in the Oxford YHA Youth Hostel – it was quite nice for a hostel, but I’m glad we were only there two nights. It sucks showering with a hand towel instead of a bath towel and having very little room for suitcases. Other than normal hostel not-quite-as-nice-as-a-hotel-ness, it was great.
I spent a lot of time at Oxford hanging out at the Eagle and Child. That’s the pub that CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien would spend time in and discuss their writing and such with their group – the Inklings. It was totally worth it to go and sit in the same pub for dinner and channel the creative spirits of such great writers – the groups I was with actually had some really great conversations while we were there. I could definitely see why Lewis and Tolkien chose that pub – it had great nooks and crannies, wood paneling, dim lighting, and plenty of small tables tucked away in the corners. On the second night, Evie, Kaari, and I actually ate dinner in the Rabbit room, which was the actual room of the pub where Lewis and Tolkien would meet. They called the pub the Bird and the Baby as well. Actually, this was probably one of my favorite pubs in England. (Obviously Dublin has my top favorites overall.)
We didn’t do a whole lot more outside of our tour of the Oxford University colleges, so I think I’ll finish up for the night. I’m exhausted. I’ll do my best to finish up with Stratford soon.
It’s been two weeks since I last did any sort of blogging or journaling. I’m sure I say this just about every time I start a post, but I’m feeling incredibly intimidated. Somehow, I need to write about Canterbury, Oxford, and Stratford as I sit in the lounge of the youth hostel in Bath. To help me out, I’m going to post a very rough outline of my days and elaborate off of that.
CANTERBURY:
Wed. Nov. 4: Left Salomon’s for Canterbury. Stopped in Ashdown Forest to visit the Winnie the Pooh bridge and play Pooh sticks.
Thurs. Nov. 5: Morning class, then shopping with Melissa K. Watched V for Vendetta.
Fri. Nov. 6: Morning class. Tour of Canterbury Cathedral.
Sat. Nov. 7: Morning class, then walking on the medieval walls with Allison, Kaari, Anna S, and Nelly. Bonfire night / Guy Fawkes day bonfire and fireworks.
OXFORD:
Sun. Nov. 8: Left Canterbury and stopped at Blenheim Palace. Arrived in Oxford and went to dinner at the Eagle and Child.
Mon. Nov. 9: Morning trip to Café Nero to work on my paper. Tour of Oxford colleges – Ben’s Cookies and Cake shop. Dinner out again at the Eagle and Child.
STRATFORD:
Tues. Nov. 10: Left Oxford and drove through the Cotswolds – bought scarf and mittens. Arrived at Stratford and stayed at Forget-Me-Not B&B. Spent the night in relaxing.
Wed. Nov. 11: Morning classes at Shakespeare Center – discussed Twelfth Night and saw some archives. Visited Shakespeare’s birthplace. 7:15 performance of Twelfth Night by RSC at the Courtyard Theatre.
Thurs. Nov. 12: Voice class. 1:30 understudy performance of Twelfth Night. Evie’s birthday – dinner out at the Dirty Duck.
Fri. Nov. 13: Twelfth Night discussion and Q&A session with Miltos (plays Feste). Visited Shakespeare’s grave. Three hours of stage combat with Jean-Marc Perret (Prince Caspian) and Ivan. Watched Charlie and Lola. Went with Evie to the Dirty Duck.
Sat. Nov. 14: Laundry day. Chinese food for dinner. Went back to the Dirty Duck.
As you can tell, I’ve been busy. So I’m going to do my best to pick the highlights of these cities and write more than just the itinerary. =)
So… I’ll start with Ashdown forest. Can I just say that it was awesome to go to the 100 Acre Woods and play Pooh sticks? I’m not sure what else I can say about that – we had a tour guide who wore all purple, but I don’t think she told me anything I didn’t already know. I brought a bundle of sticks and we had some pretty intense competitions – I finally won a game near the end, once the games dwindled from six or seven people to just two. Plus, we visited Piglet’s house, which was a tiny door on a tree nearby the Pooh bridge. So nerdy, but awesome.
Canterbury was and awesome city. It’s one of the few cities that still has all its medieval streets, so all the streets were narrow and winding. We stayed in the Cathedral Lodge in the Cathedral precincts, so we were actually right next to Canterbury Cathedral. It makes me feel like I’ve been here too long, but it just seemed normal to be able to look out of my window and see a huge cathedral.
Canterbury was also a great shopping town. Since we were right in the center, there were stores everywhere – it was hard to resist spending a bunch of money I didn’t have. But I contented myself with just doing a lot of window shopping. Plus, Melissa and I got to have a great time hanging out and talking over some coffee.
One of the great things about Canterbury was that it was the 5th of November – remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. The only thing cooler would be if we were in London, but just being in England was pretty cool in itself. We marked the date by renting V for Vendetta off of iTunes, and the official celebrations took place on Saturday night, since Thursday is part of the work week. Though people do call it Bonfire Night instead of Guy Fawkes day. So a few of us (the Bruces, Evie, Erin, Dan, and I) went out to a huge bonfire on – Tyler Hill, I think? Something like that. But there really was a huge bonfire… we could see the flames flickering over the rooftops of the houses as we approached. Then there was a fireworks display, which was really long and set off to a music soundtrack including The Beatles and Michael Jackson. If the English do anything well, it’s bonfires.
As far as literature… Canterbury was where we studied the Canterbury Tales, believe it or not. It was kind of weird to study them while we were right outside Canterbury cathedral, since that was the final destination of the pilgrims, though they never make it to Canterbury in the tales. When we toured the cathedral, we saw the shrine for Thomas Beckett, which is where the pilgrims would have come at the end of their journey.
A week ago we left Canterbury for Oxford with a stop at Blenheim Palace on the way. Apparently, Blenheim Palace is the home of the Churchill family – including the one and only Winston Churchill. So we hung out there for a little while, wandering through the state rooms as well as an interactive ghost exhibit on the second floor. That was an exhibit with moving displays and narration about the history of all the people who have lived at Blenheim. I also visited the secret garden – no, really, it said it was the secret garden on the map.
Oxford was excellent, even if we were only there for two nights. I’m going to generalize and say that college towns are always fun, if only because I feel like I fit in better because I’m in the right age range. We stayed in the Oxford YHA Youth Hostel – it was quite nice for a hostel, but I’m glad we were only there two nights. It sucks showering with a hand towel instead of a bath towel and having very little room for suitcases. Other than normal hostel not-quite-as-nice-as-a-hotel-ness, it was great.
I spent a lot of time at Oxford hanging out at the Eagle and Child. That’s the pub that CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien would spend time in and discuss their writing and such with their group – the Inklings. It was totally worth it to go and sit in the same pub for dinner and channel the creative spirits of such great writers – the groups I was with actually had some really great conversations while we were there. I could definitely see why Lewis and Tolkien chose that pub – it had great nooks and crannies, wood paneling, dim lighting, and plenty of small tables tucked away in the corners. On the second night, Evie, Kaari, and I actually ate dinner in the Rabbit room, which was the actual room of the pub where Lewis and Tolkien would meet. They called the pub the Bird and the Baby as well. Actually, this was probably one of my favorite pubs in England. (Obviously Dublin has my top favorites overall.)
We didn’t do a whole lot more outside of our tour of the Oxford University colleges, so I think I’ll finish up for the night. I’m exhausted. I’ll do my best to finish up with Stratford soon.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sleepy Sunday
Sunday November 1, 2009
Fortunately for England Term, Salomon’s really is a great place to rest. Lots of people have been hit with colds and are either ill or recovering. As of today, I’ve avoided the worst of it, but my time may still be coming. I did have a cold back in September, and I’m hoping that’s enough to pull me through the rest of the semester without catching another one.
But I’ve really been taking it easy this week. I didn’t bring any of my own books, so I’m getting ahead on class reading. I figure that it’ll pay off once we leave this place – there has to be more to do in Canterbury than here. I’ve been getting to bed early or on time, and I’ve just been relaxed in general.
If anything, though, my schedule at Salomon’s is centered on food. Some days – especially today, since it was Sunday – I consider sleeping in, but then I remember how wonderful the breakfasts are. I really need to stop eating three big meals a day, but it’s there, it’s free, and it’s good. And after just scraping by in London, it seems to be a waste if I don’t eat it.
Today is Sunday, and it’s been rainy and drizzly all day. It’s just one of those days to do absolutely nothing, and it’s been wonderful. I finished watching the two most recent episodes of Heroes with Alea, so she’s caught up on season 4 as well. We actually had a long discussion about what’s going on in Heroes when we finished, which was a great relief after keeping all my theories to myself for the beginning of the semester. I even pulled out the English major card and related some of the characters to the works we’re studying (Othello, White Teeth). Oh! I know this makes no sense to anyone who doesn’t watch Heroes, but I need to tell Alea: maybe Gretchen is somehow in league with Becky? I’ve got to pass that one along and see what she thinks.
Yesterday was Halloween, and even though we’re all living out of suitcases and don’t have costumes, we still found fantastic ways to dress up and celebrate. We all invented costumes for dinner yesterday, and the results were amazing, considering our limited wardrobes. I went with three other girls as grapes: we dressed in all purple (except me; I was the rotten grape so I wore black with a little purple) and formed a grape cluster with a green scarf for the vine. We also had Joel Slotman dressed up as Jesus, which was probably the best costume. Anna Wilson was a Russian spy, Emily Wick was Emily Dickinson (also one of the best costumes), Nelly was Annie Taylor, Annie Taylor was a menorah, Zach was Aladdin, Carrie was Harry Potter, Emily Coleman was Draco Malfoy, Erin Buchen was Ron Weasley, and Melissa Haunty was someone from the 70’s (I’ve never seen her comb her hair into a fro, but it was awesome!). I know I’m missing some people, but it was a pretty awesome costume collection.
After dinner, we stopped back in our rooms so that Rhiannon could come around trick or treating (Mark and Julianne had given us some candy). After that a bunch of us went back to our classroom for a Halloween dance party. It took a while to get going because we had to figure out how to get the music to play from the speakers in there, but after that, it was pretty awesome. Granted, none of us were fantastic dancers, but we still had a great time.
Let’s see… what else have I been up to? Oh! Funny faux-hawk and pigtail story from Friday. It was after I was done on my laptop, and I was walking back to my room to put it away before dinner at 7:00pm. There’s not a long distance to walk, but on the short walk up the hill, a car stops next to me.
“Can you tell me where the Science Theatre is? Where the show is tonight?” the guy in the driver’s seat asked.
I dutifully explained that it was just down the hill and in the doors. Then the guy asks me where parking is, causing one of the girls in the back to start laughing. “It’s just that you have an American accent and we’re asking you for directions!” she said in a proper English accent.
She’s right; it was funny. But I told them where I thought there was parking available and then continued on my way. But as I was walking up the stairs, it struck me: I still had a ridiculous hairstyle. Those poor Brits probably have a terrible image of America now!
Ohhh well. It was entertaining for me, at least. And apparently for them as well, if the girl in the back was any indication.
The rest of the week is mainly classes and homework, though we are having another talent show on Tuesday night. Shoot – that means Kaari, Evie, and I have to get busy writing tomorrow. Then we’ll leave Salomon’s on Wednesday and head off to Canterbury. I’ve started reading some of the Canterbury tales to get ahead, but I don’t think it’ll ever be the same now that I associate Chaucer with my goldfish.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Hopefully this relaxing stay at Salomon’s will give me the energy I need to enjoy the last month of England term.
Fortunately for England Term, Salomon’s really is a great place to rest. Lots of people have been hit with colds and are either ill or recovering. As of today, I’ve avoided the worst of it, but my time may still be coming. I did have a cold back in September, and I’m hoping that’s enough to pull me through the rest of the semester without catching another one.
But I’ve really been taking it easy this week. I didn’t bring any of my own books, so I’m getting ahead on class reading. I figure that it’ll pay off once we leave this place – there has to be more to do in Canterbury than here. I’ve been getting to bed early or on time, and I’ve just been relaxed in general.
If anything, though, my schedule at Salomon’s is centered on food. Some days – especially today, since it was Sunday – I consider sleeping in, but then I remember how wonderful the breakfasts are. I really need to stop eating three big meals a day, but it’s there, it’s free, and it’s good. And after just scraping by in London, it seems to be a waste if I don’t eat it.
Today is Sunday, and it’s been rainy and drizzly all day. It’s just one of those days to do absolutely nothing, and it’s been wonderful. I finished watching the two most recent episodes of Heroes with Alea, so she’s caught up on season 4 as well. We actually had a long discussion about what’s going on in Heroes when we finished, which was a great relief after keeping all my theories to myself for the beginning of the semester. I even pulled out the English major card and related some of the characters to the works we’re studying (Othello, White Teeth). Oh! I know this makes no sense to anyone who doesn’t watch Heroes, but I need to tell Alea: maybe Gretchen is somehow in league with Becky? I’ve got to pass that one along and see what she thinks.
Yesterday was Halloween, and even though we’re all living out of suitcases and don’t have costumes, we still found fantastic ways to dress up and celebrate. We all invented costumes for dinner yesterday, and the results were amazing, considering our limited wardrobes. I went with three other girls as grapes: we dressed in all purple (except me; I was the rotten grape so I wore black with a little purple) and formed a grape cluster with a green scarf for the vine. We also had Joel Slotman dressed up as Jesus, which was probably the best costume. Anna Wilson was a Russian spy, Emily Wick was Emily Dickinson (also one of the best costumes), Nelly was Annie Taylor, Annie Taylor was a menorah, Zach was Aladdin, Carrie was Harry Potter, Emily Coleman was Draco Malfoy, Erin Buchen was Ron Weasley, and Melissa Haunty was someone from the 70’s (I’ve never seen her comb her hair into a fro, but it was awesome!). I know I’m missing some people, but it was a pretty awesome costume collection.
After dinner, we stopped back in our rooms so that Rhiannon could come around trick or treating (Mark and Julianne had given us some candy). After that a bunch of us went back to our classroom for a Halloween dance party. It took a while to get going because we had to figure out how to get the music to play from the speakers in there, but after that, it was pretty awesome. Granted, none of us were fantastic dancers, but we still had a great time.
Let’s see… what else have I been up to? Oh! Funny faux-hawk and pigtail story from Friday. It was after I was done on my laptop, and I was walking back to my room to put it away before dinner at 7:00pm. There’s not a long distance to walk, but on the short walk up the hill, a car stops next to me.
“Can you tell me where the Science Theatre is? Where the show is tonight?” the guy in the driver’s seat asked.
I dutifully explained that it was just down the hill and in the doors. Then the guy asks me where parking is, causing one of the girls in the back to start laughing. “It’s just that you have an American accent and we’re asking you for directions!” she said in a proper English accent.
She’s right; it was funny. But I told them where I thought there was parking available and then continued on my way. But as I was walking up the stairs, it struck me: I still had a ridiculous hairstyle. Those poor Brits probably have a terrible image of America now!
Ohhh well. It was entertaining for me, at least. And apparently for them as well, if the girl in the back was any indication.
The rest of the week is mainly classes and homework, though we are having another talent show on Tuesday night. Shoot – that means Kaari, Evie, and I have to get busy writing tomorrow. Then we’ll leave Salomon’s on Wednesday and head off to Canterbury. I’ve started reading some of the Canterbury tales to get ahead, but I don’t think it’ll ever be the same now that I associate Chaucer with my goldfish.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Hopefully this relaxing stay at Salomon’s will give me the energy I need to enjoy the last month of England term.
Friday, October 30, 2009
The end of the Roman holiday and the return to England
So as usual, I’m terribly behind on this blog. I’m going to do my very best to catch up so that I can start journaling about things that are actually happening rather than things that I did weeks ago. I apologize if I gloss over some things: at this point, I just need to record an outline of my days so that I can remember it in the future. My benefit, not yours. =)
Rome: Mon. Oct. 19 – Tues. Oct. 20
We spent our last day in Rome at the Rome City Hostel on the opposite side of the city from our previous accommodations. It was actually pretty nice to see a different area. It was definitely a unique experience: unknown to us, we were actually staying in a mixed dorm, so our room was the four of us plus one guy from Canada. I think he was intimidated by us at first; we had a bad first impression of him when he walked into the room, grabbed a sweatshirt, and walked out without saying anything to us. He did redeem himself later – his name was Cody, and fortunately, he was not a creep. On the other hand, the four of us were kind of glad that we were only there for one night. Part of that was due to the fact that there were no towels provided for free, so none of us showered on Tuesday.
We left our luggage at the hostel in the morning and spent the day seeing a few more Roman landmarks. We stopped at the Pantheon (which was sweet) and ate one last lunch outside, where I had real Italian lasagna. Then we walked down to the Spanish steps and just sat and enjoyed the sunshine. Our final stop for the day was the Trevi fountain in the daylight, where we had our last cups/cones of gelato.
By that point, we had to get back to the hostel and pick up our luggage so that we could get to the airport shuttle on time. It’s a good thing that we did, because the shuttle was extremely crowded and smelt like BO from all the people. Then we got stuck in rush hour, so Kaari and I had a great time window shopping from the bus windows (yes, it was moving that slowly).
We made it to the airport in plenty of time – Ciampino airport, I think. Something like that, anyway. We checked our bags and had enough time to eat some airport food, and flew RyanAir for two hours back to London Stansted airport. Our plane landed by 11:30pm just like it was scheduled, but apparently London has the strictest customs of any place we’ve been so far. So we had to wait in an endless line, and it was sometime after 1:00am by the time we made it through.
At that point, none of us wanted to deal with trains and buses and trying to figure out how to get home. So we took a taxi all the way back to the Celtic Hotel, which cost us a grand total of £99. At least there were four of us? But we got back the quickest way possible, and at that point, the time was worth the money.
London: Wed. Oct 21 – Tues. Oct 27
Like I said in my last entry, coming back to London was a relief. I didn’t feel like I needed to go out and see everything, and it was okay to spend an afternoon in London at the laundromat. And after being in Italy and France, it was really nice to be back in a city where most people speak English. I’d forgotten how easy it can be to ask questions when the other person can actually understand what you’re saying.
I actually don’t remember a whole lot of what I did in London, just because my days all blur together. I really just kept the whole week or so pretty low key. And because I don’t know if I’m ever going to finish if I write this out in detail, I’m just going to record a line or two about what I did each day. Terrible for my writing, I know. But like I said, it’ll help me remember it in the future.
Wednesday: laundry day! Catching up online, talking to the rest of the group about free travel experiences.
Thursday: Class. Got a letter from Seth. Went with Erin to Ben’s Cookies and Primark. Evening trip to the Agape center.
Friday: TS Eliot walk with Dan Taylor. Went with Alea to the Imperial War Museum.
Saturday: Seth and I have been dating 5 years! Class. Went with Kaari to Camden markets. Erins’ night out.
Sunday: Coffee, devos, and blogging at Café Nero. Afternoon performance of Beowulf by Benjamin Bagby at the British Library (in original Old English with a six-string harp).
Monday: Class. Evening trip with Evie to Kilburn for dinner and the 8:45 showing of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus at the Tricycle Theatre.
Tuesday morning we left London for Salomon’s in Tunbridge Wells, just an hour or so south of London. On the way there, we stopped at Penshurst, an old estate and gardens. It featured in several poems (“To Penshurst” by Ben Jonson; home of Lady Mary Wroth) and was actually the filming location of a few scenes of The Other Boleyn Girl – a movie that I feel like I need to see now that I’ve been to Penshurst. But while we were there, it was the perfect autumn day: sunshine, blue skies, brightly colored trees, warm air with a crisp fall breeze.
And actually, that’s been the weather for the majority of our time at Salomon’s. Sometimes it’s cloudy, but in general, the weather is just perfect for autumn. Salomon’s is a big retreat center, so there’s really not much to do here outside of reading, writing, sleeping, and eating. And let me tell you – we certainly get to eat! We get huge meals of amazing food, and somehow, I’m still hungry for the next one. Who knows how that works.
On Wednesday, we did a ropes course here. I had no idea what I was getting into, but it turned out to be a lot of fun (no lame spider webs or trust falls). We did Jacob’s Ladder (a huge ladder where the next rung up was at my neck), a big pole with a small platform at the top that we had to get three people on, another big pole that we had to get two people on, who then jumped for a trapeze, a zip line, and rappelling off a 100 foot clock tower. I think the rappelling was my favorite: I got some sweet jumping action going by the time I made it to the bottom.
Other than that, though, it’s been mainly classes and free time for homework and relaxation. I’ve actually gotten ahead (for once) on my reading and I’ve even had time for a nap. And, as you can see, I’m finally catching up on my blog.
Today is Melissa K’s birthday, so she requested that it be faux-hawk and pigtail day. So, since my hair is physically able, I’m sporting a faux-hawk and pigtails today. I think that it has officially convinced me to never get a really short pixie cut, because since you can’t see all my hair when it’s back in pigtails, the faux-hawk makes me look awfully man-ish. Especially since I experimented by putting on aviators and popping the collar to my leather coat for a few minutes – bad idea. I definitely looked like a man, and I’m pretty sure this look is never going to happen again. Ah well, it’s an experience.
So that gets me back up to the present, so I’m going to end this blog entry here. I think I’ll head off to the classroom building and go on a search for an Ethernet jack and get internet on my laptop so I can call Seth again. Farewell for now!
Rome: Mon. Oct. 19 – Tues. Oct. 20
We spent our last day in Rome at the Rome City Hostel on the opposite side of the city from our previous accommodations. It was actually pretty nice to see a different area. It was definitely a unique experience: unknown to us, we were actually staying in a mixed dorm, so our room was the four of us plus one guy from Canada. I think he was intimidated by us at first; we had a bad first impression of him when he walked into the room, grabbed a sweatshirt, and walked out without saying anything to us. He did redeem himself later – his name was Cody, and fortunately, he was not a creep. On the other hand, the four of us were kind of glad that we were only there for one night. Part of that was due to the fact that there were no towels provided for free, so none of us showered on Tuesday.
We left our luggage at the hostel in the morning and spent the day seeing a few more Roman landmarks. We stopped at the Pantheon (which was sweet) and ate one last lunch outside, where I had real Italian lasagna. Then we walked down to the Spanish steps and just sat and enjoyed the sunshine. Our final stop for the day was the Trevi fountain in the daylight, where we had our last cups/cones of gelato.
By that point, we had to get back to the hostel and pick up our luggage so that we could get to the airport shuttle on time. It’s a good thing that we did, because the shuttle was extremely crowded and smelt like BO from all the people. Then we got stuck in rush hour, so Kaari and I had a great time window shopping from the bus windows (yes, it was moving that slowly).
We made it to the airport in plenty of time – Ciampino airport, I think. Something like that, anyway. We checked our bags and had enough time to eat some airport food, and flew RyanAir for two hours back to London Stansted airport. Our plane landed by 11:30pm just like it was scheduled, but apparently London has the strictest customs of any place we’ve been so far. So we had to wait in an endless line, and it was sometime after 1:00am by the time we made it through.
At that point, none of us wanted to deal with trains and buses and trying to figure out how to get home. So we took a taxi all the way back to the Celtic Hotel, which cost us a grand total of £99. At least there were four of us? But we got back the quickest way possible, and at that point, the time was worth the money.
London: Wed. Oct 21 – Tues. Oct 27
Like I said in my last entry, coming back to London was a relief. I didn’t feel like I needed to go out and see everything, and it was okay to spend an afternoon in London at the laundromat. And after being in Italy and France, it was really nice to be back in a city where most people speak English. I’d forgotten how easy it can be to ask questions when the other person can actually understand what you’re saying.
I actually don’t remember a whole lot of what I did in London, just because my days all blur together. I really just kept the whole week or so pretty low key. And because I don’t know if I’m ever going to finish if I write this out in detail, I’m just going to record a line or two about what I did each day. Terrible for my writing, I know. But like I said, it’ll help me remember it in the future.
Wednesday: laundry day! Catching up online, talking to the rest of the group about free travel experiences.
Thursday: Class. Got a letter from Seth. Went with Erin to Ben’s Cookies and Primark. Evening trip to the Agape center.
Friday: TS Eliot walk with Dan Taylor. Went with Alea to the Imperial War Museum.
Saturday: Seth and I have been dating 5 years! Class. Went with Kaari to Camden markets. Erins’ night out.
Sunday: Coffee, devos, and blogging at Café Nero. Afternoon performance of Beowulf by Benjamin Bagby at the British Library (in original Old English with a six-string harp).
Monday: Class. Evening trip with Evie to Kilburn for dinner and the 8:45 showing of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus at the Tricycle Theatre.
Tuesday morning we left London for Salomon’s in Tunbridge Wells, just an hour or so south of London. On the way there, we stopped at Penshurst, an old estate and gardens. It featured in several poems (“To Penshurst” by Ben Jonson; home of Lady Mary Wroth) and was actually the filming location of a few scenes of The Other Boleyn Girl – a movie that I feel like I need to see now that I’ve been to Penshurst. But while we were there, it was the perfect autumn day: sunshine, blue skies, brightly colored trees, warm air with a crisp fall breeze.
And actually, that’s been the weather for the majority of our time at Salomon’s. Sometimes it’s cloudy, but in general, the weather is just perfect for autumn. Salomon’s is a big retreat center, so there’s really not much to do here outside of reading, writing, sleeping, and eating. And let me tell you – we certainly get to eat! We get huge meals of amazing food, and somehow, I’m still hungry for the next one. Who knows how that works.
On Wednesday, we did a ropes course here. I had no idea what I was getting into, but it turned out to be a lot of fun (no lame spider webs or trust falls). We did Jacob’s Ladder (a huge ladder where the next rung up was at my neck), a big pole with a small platform at the top that we had to get three people on, another big pole that we had to get two people on, who then jumped for a trapeze, a zip line, and rappelling off a 100 foot clock tower. I think the rappelling was my favorite: I got some sweet jumping action going by the time I made it to the bottom.
Other than that, though, it’s been mainly classes and free time for homework and relaxation. I’ve actually gotten ahead (for once) on my reading and I’ve even had time for a nap. And, as you can see, I’m finally catching up on my blog.
Today is Melissa K’s birthday, so she requested that it be faux-hawk and pigtail day. So, since my hair is physically able, I’m sporting a faux-hawk and pigtails today. I think that it has officially convinced me to never get a really short pixie cut, because since you can’t see all my hair when it’s back in pigtails, the faux-hawk makes me look awfully man-ish. Especially since I experimented by putting on aviators and popping the collar to my leather coat for a few minutes – bad idea. I definitely looked like a man, and I’m pretty sure this look is never going to happen again. Ah well, it’s an experience.
So that gets me back up to the present, so I’m going to end this blog entry here. I think I’ll head off to the classroom building and go on a search for an Ethernet jack and get internet on my laptop so I can call Seth again. Farewell for now!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
More from Italy
As of right now, I’m back in London. I actually have been for a few days, but it’s just taken me this long to sit down and take time to journal.
Before I go back to talking about Italy, I need to write down a few of my current thoughts. This morning, I was struck with the realization of where I am. I was sitting at breakfast by myself, enjoying a cup of coffee and listening to morning conversation floating around me. And suddenly, I realized where I was. I’ve been living out of a suitcase in England for over two months now, and life just seems normal. I wake up and spend a day hanging out in London, and since I’ve been here before, the pressure to see and do everything has just dissipated. I can look at a day here with absolutely no plans and just go off and do whatever I feel like.
And beyond the physical location, too. I suddenly realized where I am personally. I’m here in London: independent, attractive, and competent. And to such a degree that I haven’t really felt before in my life. I took off on a road trip to Italy with three other girls, and we all planned and paid for it by ourselves. I’ve never done anything remotely like that in the States – not even a weekend to Duluth with friends. I’ve had to watch my own money and deal with problems on my own, even though I did have to ask for help on the check card dilemma. I love and miss people at home, but I have the ability to live on my own without seeing them. Sure, sometimes I still feel inadequate and out of place, but I don’t think that I’ll be the same when I get back home. I don’t think I can specify how life will be different right now, but I can’t imagine coming back home without anything different.
I’ve also seen God in my life in ways that I haven’t before, which is what brings me back to Italy. I left you off last time with a tour of the Vatican, halfway through our first time in Rome. So I’ll finish up with Rome, and then move on to Amalfi – where God brought us safely with the help of several Italian angels.
So after the Vatican museum, we walked around in St. Peter’s Basilica, which is over the supposed location of Peter’s grave. Who knows if that’s actually true, but that’s the theory. That’s also where Michelangelo’s Pieta is, so it was pretty awesome to see it in real life.
We took the rest of the afternoon off, and spent the evening in. We cooked our own dinner and then had a girl’s night involving chocolate. So much fun, and a great bonding time for me, Kaari, Evie, and Anna.
Thursday was another good day. We went out to an outdoor market for the morning and did some shopping. Sometimes going to a market is a little stressful, with all the shopkeepers pouncing as soon as you stop to look at some of their products. (“For you? Great price, only 4 euro.”) I did land a hat, shirt, and some awesome leather boots. I was hoping to find boots for a great price in Italy, just because then I’d always remember boots = Italy. Because Italy is shaped like a boot. Sometimes, I just feel so clever. =)
Then in the evening, we dressed up for a nice dinner out in Rome. We decided to stop out at the Trevi fountain so we could see it at night, and from there found an Italian café. We sat outside and had our pasta and tiramisu, but the best part was our waiter. At one point during the dinner, he stops by and places both hands on our table, fingers spread. “See this?” he said. “This means I am not married.” Then throughout the rest of the night, he would make similar comments. “Afterwards, we could go out for champagne. If you say no, I am kidding. If you say yes, I am serious.” And I could never forget: “For you, I will change my religion and marry all of you, as long as you do not fight.” It was quite the entertainment.
On Friday, we left for Amalfi. We had bought train tickets from Rome to Naples earlier in the week, though fortunately the price this time was only €19.50. We were on an Intercity train instead of Eurostar, which was probably the price difference. But the journey itself was slightly less pleasant, so I was glad it was only about two hours. We were stuffed into compartments of six, kind of like the Hogwarts express (I even saw a food trolley pass by in the hallway – go figure). But the guy sitting across from me was really awkward – he wore camouflage sweatpants and stretched out so much that my legroom was severely impeded. He also had a bad habit of scratching himself in unmentionable places consistently throughout the journey, so I tried my best not to pay attention. I was actually hoping to write about Rome during that train ride, but there was no way I was going to get my computer out. Oh well.
We made it to Naples, though, and our next task was to get tickets for the Circumvesuviana train and get off at the Castellammare del Stabia stop. Sounds easy, right? Not so much. We got our tickets, and dragged our luggage down to the platform to wait for a train heading to Sorrento. A train came up that said Sorrento on the front, so we got on. But once we were on the train, a bunch of people seemed to think that it wasn’t heading in that direction. Once the doors were shutting, a lady kindly told us that no, the train wasn’t going to Sorrento, so we should get off at the next stop and wait for the next train. So we did, and we sat out in the sun for a long time waiting. It got to the point where several trains had gone by and none were for Sorrento, so we decided to just get on the next one that came (don’t ask me how we came to that decision). After we had lugged our luggage aboard, a guy on the platform waved to us, saying, “No Sorrento! No Sorrento!” We looked at him helplessly as the doors shut, and I saw him walk away shaking his head. Oops.
So we got off again at the next stop. We waited a little bit longer, and finally, we got on the right train. But it was really crowded, so we had to stand in a clump with our luggage for the next 40 minutes or so (it was a long train ride). Not the best for our morale, but we made it.
Once we got off the train at Castellammare del Stabia, the directions told us to take the blue Sita bus, which would drop us off in front of the B&B. Our first problem is that we couldn’t find a bus stop. We wandered around for a bit (with our luggage, mind you) and eventually saw a green Sita bus going around the corner by the train station. It was a one way road, so we went back and sat outside and waited. It’s so fortunate that it was nice weather, because we were probably waiting for a good hour or so. Finally, we see a blue Sita bus coming around the corner. It was going slow since it had to turn, but it was obvious that it wasn’t going to stop for us because we weren’t at a stop. Evie took a half step forward and pulled out a pathetic, “Scuzi?” Fortunately, an Italian man nearby noticed our panic and quickly determined that we wanted that bus to Agerola and stopped it for us in the middle of the street. We boarded the bus with all our luggage, probably hitting just about every passenger as we walked through the aisle. But we made it on.
The next problem was that we didn’t know where to get off or how to pay. We started asking some of the other people on the bus, and one man who spoke rudimentary English told us that Campora was after the tunnel. Half an hour later, we drove through a tunnel near the top of a mountain. We perked back to attention and started trying to figure out where our stop was. The problem was that the bus didn’t stop unless someone had pressed the stop button or if someone was waiting, and the stops had no labels and were often hidden so you didn’t see them unless you were looking for the “Fermata Sita” signs that looked an awful lot like a laminated piece of paper.
Our next angel was an elderly woman who jabbered on and on to us in Italian, trying to give us directions to our stop. She was pointing things out with her hand, but none of us had any idea what she was saying. We picked up on a few things like “around.” But when it was our stop, she stood up and called out the bus driver so that he stopped in the right spot, so we left the Sita bus on the road right in front of our B&B.
The next problem was getting there. Evie walked over to a couple of people out on the street and asked where the B&B Il Sentiero was – they told her that it was just up a side street, but the owner Teresa, wasn’t in and we should walk 10 minutes up the road to a Tabacchi to use a phone to call.
So we started walking. We got maybe halfway when we paused by a church for a break. Suddenly, we looked up and there’s a car there. “Il Sentiero? Come, I will take you.” So we loaded the four of us plus our luggage into a tiny car, and the guy started driving. The irony of it all was that he drove back down the road and stopped right where we had gotten out of the Sita bus just a little bit earlier. So our walking was in vain. But he brought us up to the B&B and gave us our key. We had made it! (Though we never did pay for our ride on the Sita bus. Seems to be the Italian way.)
After we had our room, I’m pretty sure the guy that brought us there left. So there was no one working at the B&B that night, and there were no other guests. We were the only ones. The room was really nice, with a queen bed and a bunk bed. The problem was that it was pretty arctic in the room – there was a heater on the wall and we plugged it in, but we could not figure out how to work it. So we spent the nights under piles of blankets (thankfully the wardrobe was well stocked) and still woke up cold in the morning. It was really funny, though, because we woke up at 8:50 or so (breakfast was at 9:00) and just started laughing because we knew we should get up but it was just so cold.
Teresa was there in the morning though, and we had a nice breakfast of chocolate filled croissants and toast biscottis. Not very filling, but it was still breakfast. We paid for our stay and asked Teresa how to work the heater. Apparently there was a remote for the heater in the drawer in the bedstand. Go figure. After we figured out the heating, our room was much more pleasant. Though the hallway and the bathroom were still pretty arctic, so it was a little unpleasant to make trips to the bathroom or to take a shower. We did have hot water (most of the time), so that helped.
The unfortunate part of having heat in our room was the flies. There were flies hanging around, but while it was cold, they were sluggish and took to walking on the floor instead of flying (if that doesn’t tell you how arctic it was, I don’t know what will). But once it warmed up, they were flying around and obnoxious again. Oh, well. Flies are just obnoxious, and there were only about five of them in our room.
Our time in Amalfi/Campora/Agerola was pretty low key and relaxing. We were on the top of a mountain in a little Italian town, where we got stared at as we walked down the street because everybody knew everybody and we were very obviously not from there. We did find a pizzeria just seven minutes from our B&B, though, so we went there every night for dinner. It had great pizza and it was only €3.50 for a big prosciutto pizza – and it was open. Eating there was really strange – many places were closed, and it seemed that restaurants for dinner only opened at 7:00pm and were closed until then. So every night at 7:00, we showed up at our pizzeria. By the second time, they recognized us and expected us, and a couple of the employees would wave to us if we passed by on the street. They were great, though.
On Saturday we took the Sita bus down to Amalfi town, so we did get down to the coast. Our Sita bus driver was awesome, and since we were in the front, he started talking to us in Italian for a few minutes. We smiled and laughed like we knew exactly what was going on, until he asked us if we spoke Italian. We laughed and said no. Evie told him that she spoke a little Spanish, and I think he thought we were Spanish after that. Oh well. He started singing as he was driving, so it was a great time.
We spent the day wandering around the town, but it was very obviously a town where cruise ships stopped. There were a lot of expensive, brand name stores for the cruise ship tourists who had money to spend. Plus, there was a cruise ship anchored out in the sea while we were there.
Amalfi was absolutely beautiful, though. Chilly as well, and we spent the day with jackets, hats, and scarves. But it was endless blue sea that ran right up to the mountains, covered with cute Italian buildings. Just gorgeous.
On Sunday we slept in (Teresa had left our breakfast out in the hallway the day before – we didn’t see her again until Monday morning at breakfast). Then we had devotions in our PJ’s – basically we all took time to talk about how we’ve seen God working and how this trip has been changing us. I think that it was just what I needed. We took a walk to Agerola in the afternoon, and after our traditional pizza for dinner, we spent the evening in.
We left Amalfi on Monday morning, so that was Amalfi in a nutshell. There are just so many memories from that part of the trip – what an adventure! I was kind of relieved to get back to Rome on Monday morning, but I wouldn’t trade my adventure off the beaten trail for anything. I felt like we got to experience a part of Italy that not as many tourists experience.
I think I’ll finish up with Italy later, since we still had one more day in Rome before we left on Tuesday night. But I’m running a little short on time right now, so I think I’ll leave and post this online when I get back to the Celtic Hotel. (I’m at Café Nero right now.) But I don’t have huge plans for the day, so hopefully I’ll get this caught up later this evening. We’ll see.
Before I go back to talking about Italy, I need to write down a few of my current thoughts. This morning, I was struck with the realization of where I am. I was sitting at breakfast by myself, enjoying a cup of coffee and listening to morning conversation floating around me. And suddenly, I realized where I was. I’ve been living out of a suitcase in England for over two months now, and life just seems normal. I wake up and spend a day hanging out in London, and since I’ve been here before, the pressure to see and do everything has just dissipated. I can look at a day here with absolutely no plans and just go off and do whatever I feel like.
And beyond the physical location, too. I suddenly realized where I am personally. I’m here in London: independent, attractive, and competent. And to such a degree that I haven’t really felt before in my life. I took off on a road trip to Italy with three other girls, and we all planned and paid for it by ourselves. I’ve never done anything remotely like that in the States – not even a weekend to Duluth with friends. I’ve had to watch my own money and deal with problems on my own, even though I did have to ask for help on the check card dilemma. I love and miss people at home, but I have the ability to live on my own without seeing them. Sure, sometimes I still feel inadequate and out of place, but I don’t think that I’ll be the same when I get back home. I don’t think I can specify how life will be different right now, but I can’t imagine coming back home without anything different.
I’ve also seen God in my life in ways that I haven’t before, which is what brings me back to Italy. I left you off last time with a tour of the Vatican, halfway through our first time in Rome. So I’ll finish up with Rome, and then move on to Amalfi – where God brought us safely with the help of several Italian angels.
So after the Vatican museum, we walked around in St. Peter’s Basilica, which is over the supposed location of Peter’s grave. Who knows if that’s actually true, but that’s the theory. That’s also where Michelangelo’s Pieta is, so it was pretty awesome to see it in real life.
We took the rest of the afternoon off, and spent the evening in. We cooked our own dinner and then had a girl’s night involving chocolate. So much fun, and a great bonding time for me, Kaari, Evie, and Anna.
Thursday was another good day. We went out to an outdoor market for the morning and did some shopping. Sometimes going to a market is a little stressful, with all the shopkeepers pouncing as soon as you stop to look at some of their products. (“For you? Great price, only 4 euro.”) I did land a hat, shirt, and some awesome leather boots. I was hoping to find boots for a great price in Italy, just because then I’d always remember boots = Italy. Because Italy is shaped like a boot. Sometimes, I just feel so clever. =)
Then in the evening, we dressed up for a nice dinner out in Rome. We decided to stop out at the Trevi fountain so we could see it at night, and from there found an Italian café. We sat outside and had our pasta and tiramisu, but the best part was our waiter. At one point during the dinner, he stops by and places both hands on our table, fingers spread. “See this?” he said. “This means I am not married.” Then throughout the rest of the night, he would make similar comments. “Afterwards, we could go out for champagne. If you say no, I am kidding. If you say yes, I am serious.” And I could never forget: “For you, I will change my religion and marry all of you, as long as you do not fight.” It was quite the entertainment.
On Friday, we left for Amalfi. We had bought train tickets from Rome to Naples earlier in the week, though fortunately the price this time was only €19.50. We were on an Intercity train instead of Eurostar, which was probably the price difference. But the journey itself was slightly less pleasant, so I was glad it was only about two hours. We were stuffed into compartments of six, kind of like the Hogwarts express (I even saw a food trolley pass by in the hallway – go figure). But the guy sitting across from me was really awkward – he wore camouflage sweatpants and stretched out so much that my legroom was severely impeded. He also had a bad habit of scratching himself in unmentionable places consistently throughout the journey, so I tried my best not to pay attention. I was actually hoping to write about Rome during that train ride, but there was no way I was going to get my computer out. Oh well.
We made it to Naples, though, and our next task was to get tickets for the Circumvesuviana train and get off at the Castellammare del Stabia stop. Sounds easy, right? Not so much. We got our tickets, and dragged our luggage down to the platform to wait for a train heading to Sorrento. A train came up that said Sorrento on the front, so we got on. But once we were on the train, a bunch of people seemed to think that it wasn’t heading in that direction. Once the doors were shutting, a lady kindly told us that no, the train wasn’t going to Sorrento, so we should get off at the next stop and wait for the next train. So we did, and we sat out in the sun for a long time waiting. It got to the point where several trains had gone by and none were for Sorrento, so we decided to just get on the next one that came (don’t ask me how we came to that decision). After we had lugged our luggage aboard, a guy on the platform waved to us, saying, “No Sorrento! No Sorrento!” We looked at him helplessly as the doors shut, and I saw him walk away shaking his head. Oops.
So we got off again at the next stop. We waited a little bit longer, and finally, we got on the right train. But it was really crowded, so we had to stand in a clump with our luggage for the next 40 minutes or so (it was a long train ride). Not the best for our morale, but we made it.
Once we got off the train at Castellammare del Stabia, the directions told us to take the blue Sita bus, which would drop us off in front of the B&B. Our first problem is that we couldn’t find a bus stop. We wandered around for a bit (with our luggage, mind you) and eventually saw a green Sita bus going around the corner by the train station. It was a one way road, so we went back and sat outside and waited. It’s so fortunate that it was nice weather, because we were probably waiting for a good hour or so. Finally, we see a blue Sita bus coming around the corner. It was going slow since it had to turn, but it was obvious that it wasn’t going to stop for us because we weren’t at a stop. Evie took a half step forward and pulled out a pathetic, “Scuzi?” Fortunately, an Italian man nearby noticed our panic and quickly determined that we wanted that bus to Agerola and stopped it for us in the middle of the street. We boarded the bus with all our luggage, probably hitting just about every passenger as we walked through the aisle. But we made it on.
The next problem was that we didn’t know where to get off or how to pay. We started asking some of the other people on the bus, and one man who spoke rudimentary English told us that Campora was after the tunnel. Half an hour later, we drove through a tunnel near the top of a mountain. We perked back to attention and started trying to figure out where our stop was. The problem was that the bus didn’t stop unless someone had pressed the stop button or if someone was waiting, and the stops had no labels and were often hidden so you didn’t see them unless you were looking for the “Fermata Sita” signs that looked an awful lot like a laminated piece of paper.
Our next angel was an elderly woman who jabbered on and on to us in Italian, trying to give us directions to our stop. She was pointing things out with her hand, but none of us had any idea what she was saying. We picked up on a few things like “around.” But when it was our stop, she stood up and called out the bus driver so that he stopped in the right spot, so we left the Sita bus on the road right in front of our B&B.
The next problem was getting there. Evie walked over to a couple of people out on the street and asked where the B&B Il Sentiero was – they told her that it was just up a side street, but the owner Teresa, wasn’t in and we should walk 10 minutes up the road to a Tabacchi to use a phone to call.
So we started walking. We got maybe halfway when we paused by a church for a break. Suddenly, we looked up and there’s a car there. “Il Sentiero? Come, I will take you.” So we loaded the four of us plus our luggage into a tiny car, and the guy started driving. The irony of it all was that he drove back down the road and stopped right where we had gotten out of the Sita bus just a little bit earlier. So our walking was in vain. But he brought us up to the B&B and gave us our key. We had made it! (Though we never did pay for our ride on the Sita bus. Seems to be the Italian way.)
After we had our room, I’m pretty sure the guy that brought us there left. So there was no one working at the B&B that night, and there were no other guests. We were the only ones. The room was really nice, with a queen bed and a bunk bed. The problem was that it was pretty arctic in the room – there was a heater on the wall and we plugged it in, but we could not figure out how to work it. So we spent the nights under piles of blankets (thankfully the wardrobe was well stocked) and still woke up cold in the morning. It was really funny, though, because we woke up at 8:50 or so (breakfast was at 9:00) and just started laughing because we knew we should get up but it was just so cold.
Teresa was there in the morning though, and we had a nice breakfast of chocolate filled croissants and toast biscottis. Not very filling, but it was still breakfast. We paid for our stay and asked Teresa how to work the heater. Apparently there was a remote for the heater in the drawer in the bedstand. Go figure. After we figured out the heating, our room was much more pleasant. Though the hallway and the bathroom were still pretty arctic, so it was a little unpleasant to make trips to the bathroom or to take a shower. We did have hot water (most of the time), so that helped.
The unfortunate part of having heat in our room was the flies. There were flies hanging around, but while it was cold, they were sluggish and took to walking on the floor instead of flying (if that doesn’t tell you how arctic it was, I don’t know what will). But once it warmed up, they were flying around and obnoxious again. Oh, well. Flies are just obnoxious, and there were only about five of them in our room.
Our time in Amalfi/Campora/Agerola was pretty low key and relaxing. We were on the top of a mountain in a little Italian town, where we got stared at as we walked down the street because everybody knew everybody and we were very obviously not from there. We did find a pizzeria just seven minutes from our B&B, though, so we went there every night for dinner. It had great pizza and it was only €3.50 for a big prosciutto pizza – and it was open. Eating there was really strange – many places were closed, and it seemed that restaurants for dinner only opened at 7:00pm and were closed until then. So every night at 7:00, we showed up at our pizzeria. By the second time, they recognized us and expected us, and a couple of the employees would wave to us if we passed by on the street. They were great, though.
On Saturday we took the Sita bus down to Amalfi town, so we did get down to the coast. Our Sita bus driver was awesome, and since we were in the front, he started talking to us in Italian for a few minutes. We smiled and laughed like we knew exactly what was going on, until he asked us if we spoke Italian. We laughed and said no. Evie told him that she spoke a little Spanish, and I think he thought we were Spanish after that. Oh well. He started singing as he was driving, so it was a great time.
We spent the day wandering around the town, but it was very obviously a town where cruise ships stopped. There were a lot of expensive, brand name stores for the cruise ship tourists who had money to spend. Plus, there was a cruise ship anchored out in the sea while we were there.
Amalfi was absolutely beautiful, though. Chilly as well, and we spent the day with jackets, hats, and scarves. But it was endless blue sea that ran right up to the mountains, covered with cute Italian buildings. Just gorgeous.
On Sunday we slept in (Teresa had left our breakfast out in the hallway the day before – we didn’t see her again until Monday morning at breakfast). Then we had devotions in our PJ’s – basically we all took time to talk about how we’ve seen God working and how this trip has been changing us. I think that it was just what I needed. We took a walk to Agerola in the afternoon, and after our traditional pizza for dinner, we spent the evening in.
We left Amalfi on Monday morning, so that was Amalfi in a nutshell. There are just so many memories from that part of the trip – what an adventure! I was kind of relieved to get back to Rome on Monday morning, but I wouldn’t trade my adventure off the beaten trail for anything. I felt like we got to experience a part of Italy that not as many tourists experience.
I think I’ll finish up with Italy later, since we still had one more day in Rome before we left on Tuesday night. But I’m running a little short on time right now, so I think I’ll leave and post this online when I get back to the Celtic Hotel. (I’m at Café Nero right now.) But I don’t have huge plans for the day, so hopefully I’ll get this caught up later this evening. We’ll see.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Italy part 1
Saturday October 17, 2009 – Sunday October 18, 2009
When in Rome… buy a sweatshirt!
Right now I’m in Campora, an area in the mountains right by the Amalfi coast. And I wish I had bought a sweatshirt when I was in Rome!
But Rome was a great experience, for the most part. The only damper was my check card. I couldn’t figure out how to use a pay phone, even after I switched the language to English. And by not figuring it out, that means that I couldn’t figure out how to make my phone card work, because I didn’t want to pay international fees to call the bank only to have them put me on hold. But Mom was great – I emailed and Facebook chatted about the problem, and she made the necessary calls to change my PIN and make it so that I could access my cash. But that wasn’t until after our first full day in Rome, and everyone else had to pay my entrances into things and for our accommodation. But I’m completely paid off now, so I feel better.
So, Rome. We arrived via train on Monday to a windy and rainy city. We left the Metro at the Ottaviano stop, right near Vatican City. A few blocks up the street, we found our apartment at Michelangelo’s House. Since my check card was still frozen, I was wet, tired, and crabby. But the apartment was amazing, and only about 25 euro per night. We had a kitchen, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. Plus, even though there wasn’t technically wifi there, we did find several networks throughout the apartment that had high enough signals that the internet worked. Free wifi for the first time since Bayeaux!
Monday night was a low key night. We spent most of our time in, settling in to the apartment, catching up on email, and other such things. We did go out to find some dinner, since the supermarket was closed once we were hungry.
Tuesday was our first full day in Rome. We did our grocery shopping in the morning so that we could save money on food, and then we went out for the day. Our plan was to tour the Colosseum and Palatine Hill nearby. Generally, that wouldn’t be a problem, except my check card was still frozen and I only had €10 of cash on me. I thought that somewhere big like the Colosseum would accept credit cards, but they didn’t. So I had to borrow even more money from Evie.
Even though I hate being in debt, I was still able to enjoy the afternoon of sight seeing. It felt almost unreal – how often do you wake up in the morning with no plans, and just decide to go see the Colosseum? I mean, even now it seems weird to say that I was there, where ancient Rome held huge gladiatorial events. And today, the Colosseum is just a shadow of its former grandeur.
Our tour guide for the Colosseum was named Aldo, and he was an older Italian man – maybe in his 40’s or 50’s. To be honest, I’m pretty sure I would have enjoyed the Colosseum more if we had a different tour guide. Aldo was interesting for a while, but he had the tendency to elaborate on one detail for so long that I grew bored from hearing the same thing over and over. He also enjoyed standing in one spot and talking for a good 45 minutes there, instead of moving around from place to place and pointing out different things in each location. Maybe it’s just my personal learning style, but oh well.
But our guide for Palatine Hill was much, much better. His name was Steve, and he was from Boston. And he definitely made the tour much more interesting. He was enthusiastic about his job and the subjects he was talking about, and he had the skill to combine historical facts with interesting anecdotes. A winning combination.
But Palatine Hill was really cool. It was all ruins of the former glory and power of Rome, and it was weird to thing that Rome used to be the world power, and this is all that’s left. Plus, it was also weird to thing that this was the center of all of Rome’s power, and this was where huge parts of the New Testament took place. I mean, this is where Peter preached and later where he was crucified upside down. We also saw the spot where Julius Caesar was cremated, and Romans today still leave flowers on the spot. Crazy.
That night was when I was figuring out my check card fiasco. But after Mom got things figured out with the bank at home, I haven’t had any problems.
Wednesday was another good day. We had reserved a spot with Steve for a tour of the Vatican Museum, since he advertised it after our tour of Palatine Hill and we all enjoyed Steve’s tours. It was €35 total, but it was money well spent.
We started off bright and early at 9:30 am to gather the group together. Then we walked in to Vatican City in order to see the Pope. I’m not Catholic and generally don’t care what the Pope is up to, but it was really fun to say, “I’m going to see the Pope!” So it was really exciting to see him driving around in his popemobile.
“Ten minutes after cheeks touch the chair, we’re meeting back outside.” That was Steve. So we watched carefully for the Pope’s cheeks to touch his chair (Kaari: “Is it sacrilegious to talk about the Pope’s cheeks?”) before going back outside Vatican City to walk around to the museum. That’s when we got our headsets so we could listen to Steve’s voice “speaking softly in our ears.” (Steve’s words from Tuesday.) So yes, we were one of those awesome tour groups with the headsets.
But I was thankful for the headsets once we got going on the tour, since there were so many people there. It would have been awfully hard to hear everything Steve was saying if we didn’t have headsets on. But it was great to have a tour guide: I never would have found everything that was interesting if there wasn’t someone there showing me where it all is. So we did get around to see Raphael’s rooms (School of Athens) and the huge galleries of the Hall of Tapestries and the Hall of Maps. And, last but definitely not least, the Sistine Chapel. It was utterly amazing to actually stand underneath Michelangelo’s paintings and see the original artwork. Scenes from the Sistine Chapel are so often reproduced that it seems like old news – but it’s so astounding in reality. We weren’t allowed to take pictures (though I did sneak a few covert-ops photos) and there were professional shushers, but it was so cool. Definitely worth the money.
This is an awkward ending, but it's all I've got so far. More to come!
When in Rome… buy a sweatshirt!
Right now I’m in Campora, an area in the mountains right by the Amalfi coast. And I wish I had bought a sweatshirt when I was in Rome!
But Rome was a great experience, for the most part. The only damper was my check card. I couldn’t figure out how to use a pay phone, even after I switched the language to English. And by not figuring it out, that means that I couldn’t figure out how to make my phone card work, because I didn’t want to pay international fees to call the bank only to have them put me on hold. But Mom was great – I emailed and Facebook chatted about the problem, and she made the necessary calls to change my PIN and make it so that I could access my cash. But that wasn’t until after our first full day in Rome, and everyone else had to pay my entrances into things and for our accommodation. But I’m completely paid off now, so I feel better.
So, Rome. We arrived via train on Monday to a windy and rainy city. We left the Metro at the Ottaviano stop, right near Vatican City. A few blocks up the street, we found our apartment at Michelangelo’s House. Since my check card was still frozen, I was wet, tired, and crabby. But the apartment was amazing, and only about 25 euro per night. We had a kitchen, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. Plus, even though there wasn’t technically wifi there, we did find several networks throughout the apartment that had high enough signals that the internet worked. Free wifi for the first time since Bayeaux!
Monday night was a low key night. We spent most of our time in, settling in to the apartment, catching up on email, and other such things. We did go out to find some dinner, since the supermarket was closed once we were hungry.
Tuesday was our first full day in Rome. We did our grocery shopping in the morning so that we could save money on food, and then we went out for the day. Our plan was to tour the Colosseum and Palatine Hill nearby. Generally, that wouldn’t be a problem, except my check card was still frozen and I only had €10 of cash on me. I thought that somewhere big like the Colosseum would accept credit cards, but they didn’t. So I had to borrow even more money from Evie.
Even though I hate being in debt, I was still able to enjoy the afternoon of sight seeing. It felt almost unreal – how often do you wake up in the morning with no plans, and just decide to go see the Colosseum? I mean, even now it seems weird to say that I was there, where ancient Rome held huge gladiatorial events. And today, the Colosseum is just a shadow of its former grandeur.
Our tour guide for the Colosseum was named Aldo, and he was an older Italian man – maybe in his 40’s or 50’s. To be honest, I’m pretty sure I would have enjoyed the Colosseum more if we had a different tour guide. Aldo was interesting for a while, but he had the tendency to elaborate on one detail for so long that I grew bored from hearing the same thing over and over. He also enjoyed standing in one spot and talking for a good 45 minutes there, instead of moving around from place to place and pointing out different things in each location. Maybe it’s just my personal learning style, but oh well.
But our guide for Palatine Hill was much, much better. His name was Steve, and he was from Boston. And he definitely made the tour much more interesting. He was enthusiastic about his job and the subjects he was talking about, and he had the skill to combine historical facts with interesting anecdotes. A winning combination.
But Palatine Hill was really cool. It was all ruins of the former glory and power of Rome, and it was weird to thing that Rome used to be the world power, and this is all that’s left. Plus, it was also weird to thing that this was the center of all of Rome’s power, and this was where huge parts of the New Testament took place. I mean, this is where Peter preached and later where he was crucified upside down. We also saw the spot where Julius Caesar was cremated, and Romans today still leave flowers on the spot. Crazy.
That night was when I was figuring out my check card fiasco. But after Mom got things figured out with the bank at home, I haven’t had any problems.
Wednesday was another good day. We had reserved a spot with Steve for a tour of the Vatican Museum, since he advertised it after our tour of Palatine Hill and we all enjoyed Steve’s tours. It was €35 total, but it was money well spent.
We started off bright and early at 9:30 am to gather the group together. Then we walked in to Vatican City in order to see the Pope. I’m not Catholic and generally don’t care what the Pope is up to, but it was really fun to say, “I’m going to see the Pope!” So it was really exciting to see him driving around in his popemobile.
“Ten minutes after cheeks touch the chair, we’re meeting back outside.” That was Steve. So we watched carefully for the Pope’s cheeks to touch his chair (Kaari: “Is it sacrilegious to talk about the Pope’s cheeks?”) before going back outside Vatican City to walk around to the museum. That’s when we got our headsets so we could listen to Steve’s voice “speaking softly in our ears.” (Steve’s words from Tuesday.) So yes, we were one of those awesome tour groups with the headsets.
But I was thankful for the headsets once we got going on the tour, since there were so many people there. It would have been awfully hard to hear everything Steve was saying if we didn’t have headsets on. But it was great to have a tour guide: I never would have found everything that was interesting if there wasn’t someone there showing me where it all is. So we did get around to see Raphael’s rooms (School of Athens) and the huge galleries of the Hall of Tapestries and the Hall of Maps. And, last but definitely not least, the Sistine Chapel. It was utterly amazing to actually stand underneath Michelangelo’s paintings and see the original artwork. Scenes from the Sistine Chapel are so often reproduced that it seems like old news – but it’s so astounding in reality. We weren’t allowed to take pictures (though I did sneak a few covert-ops photos) and there were professional shushers, but it was so cool. Definitely worth the money.
This is an awkward ending, but it's all I've got so far. More to come!
Monday, October 12, 2009
A much-needed update
Sunday October 11, 2009 – Monday October 12, 2009
Where do I start? I have so much to cover – the last time I wrote was in Sligo. Somehow, I’m going to attempt to cover Derry, Belfast, Bayeaux, Paris, and Venice. I’m feeling a little intimidated… so be warned, this entry is going to be really, really long.
There wasn’t much left of Sligo after the last blog post – we made a trip to the Lissadell house, a house that Yeats used in a poem. We took a boat trip out in the lake and saw (through a rain-covered window) the Lake Isle of Innisfree. I also spent an entire day writing another paper.
After Sligo, we left for Belfast. On the way we stopped in Derry (or Londonderry). That’s the city where Bloody Sunday happened – the British Army opened fire on a crowd of unarmed marchers (13 dead, many more injured). I wrote a paper on it in Paris, so if you’re interested you can ask to read it. We went in to see the Free Derry museum about it, which only opened in 2005 even though Bloody Sunday happened in 1972. It was really moving – I had no idea that Bloody Sunday was still so fresh in their minds. The guy that was working there was named John Kelly, and his younger brother Michael was killed on Bloody Sunday at the age of 17. He pointed out the baby clothes in the museum that had been used to pressurize the gunshot wound and where Michael had been killed out on the street. He also told us how three people had been killed right outside of the building where the museum now resides.
After Derry, we drove to the Giant’s Causeway. It’s a huge beach of hexagonal towers and it looks an awful lot like – surprise, surprise – a giant’s causeway. We were only there for about half an hour before we had to leave to get to Belfast.
Belfast was amazing. After the misty/drizzly days in Sligo, Belfast was sunny and beautiful with a crisp fall chill. We were dropped off at Fisherwick Presbyterian Church to meet our homestay families. I stayed with Kaari, and our family was the Wilson family. It was Jonathan (37), Shona (34), Nathan (14), Megan (9), and Benjamin (6). They lived in Lisborn, a suburb just outside of Belfast.
In short, it was amazing. After dinner every night, Kaari and I talked to Shona for a couple hours. Shona had endless interesting stories about religion and her past. She grew up as a Catholic during the Troubles, and Jonathan grew up Protestant. Again, I added some tidbits about her experience in the paper I just wrote in Paris.
I feel like a huge fail right now because my homestay experience was so amazing, but the details of it are already fading. I remember we went to Ulster Folk park (a park where they had set up old buildings from Belfast, pre-Troubles) and drove through the main Troubles areas (Shankill for the Protestants, and The Falls for the Catholics). Then that night we volunteered at the SOS bus until 2:30am, a bus that Fisherwick parks out by the pubs and gives out free coffee, tea, and biscuits to the drunks. There’s also a minibus to help people get home that otherwise can’t. Then on Sunday, we went to church in the morning, took a nap for a little bit, went back to Fisherwick for a lecture, and then went to the evening church service. Then in the morning we went to the airport.
That information doesn’t encompass my homestay experience. It was so much more than just seeing or doing things, but my motivation to elaborate is practically zero. So you’ll have to settle for the shortened version, and I’ll have to keep Belfast in my memories.
We left Belfast Monday morning and flew in to Paris, France. We didn’t stay there yet, though, and drove out through Rouen to get to Bayeaux. We didn’t get in on Monday until late, so we went to bed pretty soon after.
On Tuesday, we went on a tour of the Normandy beaches. We got to see Omaha and Utah beaches. I know several of people got really bored, but I loved it. We visited the American cemetery at Normandy, and the rows of white crosses (and stars of David) went on forever. Best part of all? Driving through Carentan (Band of Brothers) and seeing Drop Zone C (where the 101st Airborne was supposed to land on D-Day). We also went to Ste. Mere de Eglise, which is where the 82nd Airborne landed. And we walked around on Ponte de Noc (sp?), which was the location of six German guns that the Allies bombed to hell. So the remains of the guns and bunkers were still there, and the land was covered in countless craters.
After our tour of the Normandy beaches, we went out to a restaurant for a banquet. It was a lot of fun – we all dressed up got to spend one last night together. It was Allison York’s birthday so we celebrated that, and since it was the last time we were all together as a group, we said goodbye to DR and Judy.
The next day we saw the Bayeaux tapestry in the morning, a huge tapestry with stories about William the Conqueror. Then around noon we left and drove back in to Paris. But on the way we stopped at the Palace of Versailles. The inside was so gaudy and ornate it was almost sickening. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to live there ever. The gardens out back were gorgeous, though.
Paris was nice, but I’ve decided that I don’t like living somewhere where I have no idea what people are saying. Ordering food sucks; I felt like an idiot pretty much all the time. I’d much rather live in an English-speaking country or a Spanish-speaking country. French just doesn’t work for me. I mean, I can’t even do basics like “This one”, “How much?”, or even count past three. And forget pronouncing things off a menu.
Paris was pretty decent, other than that. I spent Thursday doing all my touristy things: we saw the Louvre, the Arc du Triumphe, and the Eiffel Tower. It was a gorgeous day most of the day, but it got cloudy when Anna, Kaari, and I went to the top of the Eiffel tower. We were a little concerned that it was going to rain, but it didn’t. We did get to see a cloud pass by while we were up there, so we were in the clouds for a while.
The Louvre was pretty excellent. It was so much fun to see original works of art instead of reproductions. So we saw the Cupid and Psyche, Mona Lisa, Hammurabi Code… it was awesome. The Arc… to be serious, we just stopped by there to say that we were there. It kind of felt like a “checklist” day:
Things to do in life:
-See the Mona Lisa at the Louvre (check)
-Go to the Arc du Triumphe (check)
-Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower (check)
I mean… those are things that a lot of people want to do sometime in life. And I did it all in one day.
Thursday evening was pretty stressful. I meant to get a good start on the paper due Friday, but I checked email only to find that our Venice accommodations had had a “server error” and they really didn’t have room for us. And we were leaving for Venice in three days. So since Kaari and Evie were out of the room somewhere, I was frantically searching online for somewhere to stay while trying to Skype with Seth and communicate with Anna about accommodation possibilities. I started getting really stressed and snapped at both Seth and Anna. Really, I was not pleasant to be around that night. Surprising that either of them liked me the rest of the night. I did find us a place to stay, but I didn’t get very far on my paper.
On Friday morning, we met for the last time as a group for a Hemingway walk through Paris. It was nice, but I wasn’t entirely pleased with it when I had a paper to write and turn in before bed, and we had to walk for four and a half miles around Paris for a few hours.
After the Hemingway walk, Kaari, Evie, Anna, and I went to an internet café to print important free travel information: boarding passes for our RyanAir flights, hotel information, and directions to our accommodations. I think we all felt a little more confident after that was done.
Instead of working on our papers, we did a little bit of shopping in Paris. Possibly bad academic planning, but it was totally worth it. We got back to our hotel at about 5:00pm and got right to work on our papers. I had about 1500 out of 2000 words to go, but I finished writing before 11:00pm. I took a break to Skype with Seth, but then I had to handwrite my paper in my notebook in order to turn it in. So I didn’t get to bed until about 1:30 am, which wasn’t exactly ideal. But I finished my paper and turned it in.
We got up on Saturday on our first day of free travel. We checked out of the hotel in Paris, but left our luggage there for the morning. We took the Metro out to Mont-something (don’t ask me how to spell or pronounce anything in French), which was the location of a cathedral called Sacre Coeur (again, something like that). It’s also where the Moulin Rouge was. We finally had a nice lunch out at an outdoor café, something that I had wanted to do while in Paris. Plus, I ate a crepe in France. It was excellent.
After lunch, we took the Metro back to Odéon (our stop for our hotel) to go recollect our luggage. Then it was time for a day of dragging luggage around, making all of our connections and hopefully making it to our hotel in Venice that I had just booked a day and a half ago.
Our first task was to get our luggage from our hotel back to the Metro. We took the fuchsia line to the Severus Babylon stop (that’s my interpretation of the French…way easier to remember) in order to switch to the yellow line. Then we got off at Ponte Maillot. We wandered around out there for a little bit, looking to find where the RyanAir shuttle to the Beauveax (sp?) airport for our flight. Eventually we found the blue signs directing us to the correct location.
So we bought €13.00 tickets for the bus, which left at 3:50pm. It was about an hour bus ride, so we arrived at the airport at 4:50pm for our 6:50pm flight to Venice. After that we just had to check our bags and grab some food so that we would get dinner at some point.
We made it on our plane just fine, and I finally got to watch last Monday’s Heroes episode that I had bought off of iTunes and had slowly downloaded during my expensive internet hours in Paris. It had a most excellent ending, by the way. I was missing Sylar throughout the whole episode, but he didn’t let me down. Now since it’s Monday again, I’m going to have to find internet to get the next episode.
Anyway… we landed safely in the Treviso airport in Venice. We got our checked bags and went on a hunt for tickets for the shuttle from the airport to Venice. Thankfully, these tickets were only €6.50. So we got on the bus and hopped out at the Venice-Mestre train station.
This was when our first adventure started. The directions from the hotel’s website that I had written down said to take the no. 9 bus from the Venice-Mestre train station, and it would drop us off in front of the hotel. What they didn’t tell us was that the no. 9 bus only ran until 9:05pm. It was 9:20pm.
We looked at the bus line, and it looked like our stop was only three stops later. (Side note: from the buses we took later on, I think the route sign that we looked at only shows the major stops.) We didn’t want to pay for a taxi, and it wasn’t that late. We had a map we had printed off the hotel website, and even though it didn’t have a scale, it didn’t look like the hotel was too far. We took a gamble, and decided to walk.
Bad idea. Before you freak out and tell me how unsafe that was, I’ll point out that we’ve learned a lesson. “It’s only three stops; let’s walk” is a bad idea when you’re carrying luggage. Two days later, muscles in my arms, legs, and back are still protesting. Plus, it was a long walk and it was dark out. That was a really dumb idea, but at least we’re okay.
We eventually found the hotel after a few mishaps. We walked too far in one direction and had to turn around. We took a gamble and made a right turn onto a main road, and after walking a while we stopped at another hotel and asked directions. We were told that we were walking in the correct direction and that it wouldn’t be too much farther. I think that was also very relative, because we were still walking for a good half an hour after that. About 15 minutes away from the hotel, the shoulder strap on my duffel bag (that I bought in Ireland) snapped. So I’m really hoping I can carry it alright for the rest of free travel.
When we got to our hotel (Elite Residence Hotel), we had probably been walking through Mestre for about an hour and a half. We were sweaty and exhausted, but we made it safely. It was probably about 11:00pm when we finally got there.
Yesterday (Sunday), we had an entire day in Venice. It was a gorgeous, blue sky and sunny kind of day. Maybe around 70 degrees as well – not too hot, not to cold. Just perfect. We walked from the Piazzale Roma through the streets, looking in various stores, until we reached Piazza San Marco. Oh! And I had the world’s most winning gelato combination: raspberry and mango. Absolutely amazing.
It was a really low-key day, just meandering around Venice and stopping to admire the countless canals and the gorgeous masks adorning just about every store. It was almost unreal: all of us said (repeatedly), “Guys, we’re in Venice right now. We don’t have any homework to do. We’re on vacation!”
The only disappointment was the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte de Sospiri). That’s the one thing I remember Seth telling me to see in Venice, so I really wanted to go. We found it, but it was under renovation. So only a fraction of the bridge was showing: HUGE FAIL. I was so excited to see it, too.
We took the water bus (vaporetto) back up to the Venice train station and did a bit more shopping in the area we had first walked through. Anna wanted a mask and Kaari wanted a postcard. But at that point, I was getting a little crabby (not too bad) because I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything (except gelato) since breakfast, and it was about 7:30 by the time we finally sat down for dinner. (In my defense, we all ate a big breakfast since it was free at the hotel. It’s one way to save a little money, at least.) But we had our first Italian pizza for dinner, and it was absolutely amazing. Much better than American pizza.
We got back to our hotel a little bit later, and Kaari, Anna, and I chipped in to buy an hour of internet. It was €8.00 an hour for wifi, which was a little ridiculous. So we had enough time to send out necessary emails, and in my case transfer money from savings into checking. We’re all hoping for some free wifi in Rome – if we don’t find it, you won’t be hearing very much from me this week.
Today is our travel day. We checked out of our hotel this morning, after another big breakfast (and sneaking a few sandwiches we made out of the breakfast room so we would have some lunch). We took the bus back to Venice and went to the train station, where our train for Rome left at 11:43am. (It was a €65.00 ticket, which sucks, but it’s getting us where we need to go, when we need to go.)
But here starts my saga. Our accommodations in Rome say that we need to pay cash upon arrival, which shouldn’t be a huge problem. I have money in savings. But the huge problem comes when I try to access it: my pin number is 8 numbers long, and I use letters to remember what it is. I tried to get some money out at the ATM near our hotel, but when it came time to enter my pin, it cut me off after 6 numbers. Plus, the buttons didn’t have letters on them, so that was hard enough. It took me to the screen where I could select the amount of money, so I thought it had been okay. But then it told me my pin was invalid.
I couldn’t get it to work, so I hunted down an ATM in the train station. That one had letters on the keys, and I noticed that the letters associated with numbers are different here than they are at home. It cut me off after 6 numbers again, and then a screen showed up that said “A message from your bank” and then a paragraph of Italian. I had no idea what it said, so I hit okay. I selected the amount of cash that I needed, and this time it spit my card back out with a message that said “Invalid card.”
Right now I’m on a train to Rome with only €20.00 in cash. I’m pretty sure TCF has blocked my card by now from all the “invalid password” attempts to get cash, and I have no idea how to get at it before we get to our Rome accommodations in a few hours.
Everyone keeps telling me, “Oh, we’ll get it. We’ll stop at a bank. It’ll be fine.” But it doesn’t help at all. Even if I do go to a bank, there’s still the problem of my pin being too long even though I’ve used it at home all the time. I’m not an idiot; I know my pin number. I have no phone to call TCF and ask to unblock my card or ask to change my pin, and I have no idea how to get internet once we are in Rome and try to do it online.
What is a bank going to do? “Oh, looks like your bank has blocked your card. You’ll have to contact them before we can do anything.” And no one has the money to cover four nights in Rome for me while I try to get at my money. I’ve been freaking out internally all morning, and I remember saying, “I’m going to get booted out of the apartment because I can’t pay.” Everyone laughed like I was joking, and said, “No you won’t.” But I’m serious; I’m kind of worried about this. And it’s really frustrating because I have the money, but I just can’t get it in cash. And I’m in a foreign country with a foreign language with no phone and no internet. I’m going to a city where I have no idea where anything is.
So now I’m listening to Avenged Sevenfold as I type out my last few days because I’m stressed, anxious, and just pissy in general. Really, Avenged Sevenfold (Self-titled) is a great CD for people who are traveling, missing someone at home, and in a bad mood (unlike how I was yesterday). The entire album caters to those feelings.
It’s now about 1:20pm, and our train is supposed to get to Rome at 4:10pm. I should eat, but I feel anxious enough that it doesn’t sound appetizing. Sometimes it sucks being independent; I don’t have anyone that can tell me, “It’s okay. I’ll cover that payment for you. I know you can pay me back, so don’t worry about it right now.”
But I’m down to about half battery on my laptop, so I’m going to finish this up so I can conserve it, just in case I can get internet in some café but there are no outlets. I really, really hope that I can figure something out.
Where do I start? I have so much to cover – the last time I wrote was in Sligo. Somehow, I’m going to attempt to cover Derry, Belfast, Bayeaux, Paris, and Venice. I’m feeling a little intimidated… so be warned, this entry is going to be really, really long.
There wasn’t much left of Sligo after the last blog post – we made a trip to the Lissadell house, a house that Yeats used in a poem. We took a boat trip out in the lake and saw (through a rain-covered window) the Lake Isle of Innisfree. I also spent an entire day writing another paper.
After Sligo, we left for Belfast. On the way we stopped in Derry (or Londonderry). That’s the city where Bloody Sunday happened – the British Army opened fire on a crowd of unarmed marchers (13 dead, many more injured). I wrote a paper on it in Paris, so if you’re interested you can ask to read it. We went in to see the Free Derry museum about it, which only opened in 2005 even though Bloody Sunday happened in 1972. It was really moving – I had no idea that Bloody Sunday was still so fresh in their minds. The guy that was working there was named John Kelly, and his younger brother Michael was killed on Bloody Sunday at the age of 17. He pointed out the baby clothes in the museum that had been used to pressurize the gunshot wound and where Michael had been killed out on the street. He also told us how three people had been killed right outside of the building where the museum now resides.
After Derry, we drove to the Giant’s Causeway. It’s a huge beach of hexagonal towers and it looks an awful lot like – surprise, surprise – a giant’s causeway. We were only there for about half an hour before we had to leave to get to Belfast.
Belfast was amazing. After the misty/drizzly days in Sligo, Belfast was sunny and beautiful with a crisp fall chill. We were dropped off at Fisherwick Presbyterian Church to meet our homestay families. I stayed with Kaari, and our family was the Wilson family. It was Jonathan (37), Shona (34), Nathan (14), Megan (9), and Benjamin (6). They lived in Lisborn, a suburb just outside of Belfast.
In short, it was amazing. After dinner every night, Kaari and I talked to Shona for a couple hours. Shona had endless interesting stories about religion and her past. She grew up as a Catholic during the Troubles, and Jonathan grew up Protestant. Again, I added some tidbits about her experience in the paper I just wrote in Paris.
I feel like a huge fail right now because my homestay experience was so amazing, but the details of it are already fading. I remember we went to Ulster Folk park (a park where they had set up old buildings from Belfast, pre-Troubles) and drove through the main Troubles areas (Shankill for the Protestants, and The Falls for the Catholics). Then that night we volunteered at the SOS bus until 2:30am, a bus that Fisherwick parks out by the pubs and gives out free coffee, tea, and biscuits to the drunks. There’s also a minibus to help people get home that otherwise can’t. Then on Sunday, we went to church in the morning, took a nap for a little bit, went back to Fisherwick for a lecture, and then went to the evening church service. Then in the morning we went to the airport.
That information doesn’t encompass my homestay experience. It was so much more than just seeing or doing things, but my motivation to elaborate is practically zero. So you’ll have to settle for the shortened version, and I’ll have to keep Belfast in my memories.
We left Belfast Monday morning and flew in to Paris, France. We didn’t stay there yet, though, and drove out through Rouen to get to Bayeaux. We didn’t get in on Monday until late, so we went to bed pretty soon after.
On Tuesday, we went on a tour of the Normandy beaches. We got to see Omaha and Utah beaches. I know several of people got really bored, but I loved it. We visited the American cemetery at Normandy, and the rows of white crosses (and stars of David) went on forever. Best part of all? Driving through Carentan (Band of Brothers) and seeing Drop Zone C (where the 101st Airborne was supposed to land on D-Day). We also went to Ste. Mere de Eglise, which is where the 82nd Airborne landed. And we walked around on Ponte de Noc (sp?), which was the location of six German guns that the Allies bombed to hell. So the remains of the guns and bunkers were still there, and the land was covered in countless craters.
After our tour of the Normandy beaches, we went out to a restaurant for a banquet. It was a lot of fun – we all dressed up got to spend one last night together. It was Allison York’s birthday so we celebrated that, and since it was the last time we were all together as a group, we said goodbye to DR and Judy.
The next day we saw the Bayeaux tapestry in the morning, a huge tapestry with stories about William the Conqueror. Then around noon we left and drove back in to Paris. But on the way we stopped at the Palace of Versailles. The inside was so gaudy and ornate it was almost sickening. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to live there ever. The gardens out back were gorgeous, though.
Paris was nice, but I’ve decided that I don’t like living somewhere where I have no idea what people are saying. Ordering food sucks; I felt like an idiot pretty much all the time. I’d much rather live in an English-speaking country or a Spanish-speaking country. French just doesn’t work for me. I mean, I can’t even do basics like “This one”, “How much?”, or even count past three. And forget pronouncing things off a menu.
Paris was pretty decent, other than that. I spent Thursday doing all my touristy things: we saw the Louvre, the Arc du Triumphe, and the Eiffel Tower. It was a gorgeous day most of the day, but it got cloudy when Anna, Kaari, and I went to the top of the Eiffel tower. We were a little concerned that it was going to rain, but it didn’t. We did get to see a cloud pass by while we were up there, so we were in the clouds for a while.
The Louvre was pretty excellent. It was so much fun to see original works of art instead of reproductions. So we saw the Cupid and Psyche, Mona Lisa, Hammurabi Code… it was awesome. The Arc… to be serious, we just stopped by there to say that we were there. It kind of felt like a “checklist” day:
Things to do in life:
-See the Mona Lisa at the Louvre (check)
-Go to the Arc du Triumphe (check)
-Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower (check)
I mean… those are things that a lot of people want to do sometime in life. And I did it all in one day.
Thursday evening was pretty stressful. I meant to get a good start on the paper due Friday, but I checked email only to find that our Venice accommodations had had a “server error” and they really didn’t have room for us. And we were leaving for Venice in three days. So since Kaari and Evie were out of the room somewhere, I was frantically searching online for somewhere to stay while trying to Skype with Seth and communicate with Anna about accommodation possibilities. I started getting really stressed and snapped at both Seth and Anna. Really, I was not pleasant to be around that night. Surprising that either of them liked me the rest of the night. I did find us a place to stay, but I didn’t get very far on my paper.
On Friday morning, we met for the last time as a group for a Hemingway walk through Paris. It was nice, but I wasn’t entirely pleased with it when I had a paper to write and turn in before bed, and we had to walk for four and a half miles around Paris for a few hours.
After the Hemingway walk, Kaari, Evie, Anna, and I went to an internet café to print important free travel information: boarding passes for our RyanAir flights, hotel information, and directions to our accommodations. I think we all felt a little more confident after that was done.
Instead of working on our papers, we did a little bit of shopping in Paris. Possibly bad academic planning, but it was totally worth it. We got back to our hotel at about 5:00pm and got right to work on our papers. I had about 1500 out of 2000 words to go, but I finished writing before 11:00pm. I took a break to Skype with Seth, but then I had to handwrite my paper in my notebook in order to turn it in. So I didn’t get to bed until about 1:30 am, which wasn’t exactly ideal. But I finished my paper and turned it in.
We got up on Saturday on our first day of free travel. We checked out of the hotel in Paris, but left our luggage there for the morning. We took the Metro out to Mont-something (don’t ask me how to spell or pronounce anything in French), which was the location of a cathedral called Sacre Coeur (again, something like that). It’s also where the Moulin Rouge was. We finally had a nice lunch out at an outdoor café, something that I had wanted to do while in Paris. Plus, I ate a crepe in France. It was excellent.
After lunch, we took the Metro back to Odéon (our stop for our hotel) to go recollect our luggage. Then it was time for a day of dragging luggage around, making all of our connections and hopefully making it to our hotel in Venice that I had just booked a day and a half ago.
Our first task was to get our luggage from our hotel back to the Metro. We took the fuchsia line to the Severus Babylon stop (that’s my interpretation of the French…way easier to remember) in order to switch to the yellow line. Then we got off at Ponte Maillot. We wandered around out there for a little bit, looking to find where the RyanAir shuttle to the Beauveax (sp?) airport for our flight. Eventually we found the blue signs directing us to the correct location.
So we bought €13.00 tickets for the bus, which left at 3:50pm. It was about an hour bus ride, so we arrived at the airport at 4:50pm for our 6:50pm flight to Venice. After that we just had to check our bags and grab some food so that we would get dinner at some point.
We made it on our plane just fine, and I finally got to watch last Monday’s Heroes episode that I had bought off of iTunes and had slowly downloaded during my expensive internet hours in Paris. It had a most excellent ending, by the way. I was missing Sylar throughout the whole episode, but he didn’t let me down. Now since it’s Monday again, I’m going to have to find internet to get the next episode.
Anyway… we landed safely in the Treviso airport in Venice. We got our checked bags and went on a hunt for tickets for the shuttle from the airport to Venice. Thankfully, these tickets were only €6.50. So we got on the bus and hopped out at the Venice-Mestre train station.
This was when our first adventure started. The directions from the hotel’s website that I had written down said to take the no. 9 bus from the Venice-Mestre train station, and it would drop us off in front of the hotel. What they didn’t tell us was that the no. 9 bus only ran until 9:05pm. It was 9:20pm.
We looked at the bus line, and it looked like our stop was only three stops later. (Side note: from the buses we took later on, I think the route sign that we looked at only shows the major stops.) We didn’t want to pay for a taxi, and it wasn’t that late. We had a map we had printed off the hotel website, and even though it didn’t have a scale, it didn’t look like the hotel was too far. We took a gamble, and decided to walk.
Bad idea. Before you freak out and tell me how unsafe that was, I’ll point out that we’ve learned a lesson. “It’s only three stops; let’s walk” is a bad idea when you’re carrying luggage. Two days later, muscles in my arms, legs, and back are still protesting. Plus, it was a long walk and it was dark out. That was a really dumb idea, but at least we’re okay.
We eventually found the hotel after a few mishaps. We walked too far in one direction and had to turn around. We took a gamble and made a right turn onto a main road, and after walking a while we stopped at another hotel and asked directions. We were told that we were walking in the correct direction and that it wouldn’t be too much farther. I think that was also very relative, because we were still walking for a good half an hour after that. About 15 minutes away from the hotel, the shoulder strap on my duffel bag (that I bought in Ireland) snapped. So I’m really hoping I can carry it alright for the rest of free travel.
When we got to our hotel (Elite Residence Hotel), we had probably been walking through Mestre for about an hour and a half. We were sweaty and exhausted, but we made it safely. It was probably about 11:00pm when we finally got there.
Yesterday (Sunday), we had an entire day in Venice. It was a gorgeous, blue sky and sunny kind of day. Maybe around 70 degrees as well – not too hot, not to cold. Just perfect. We walked from the Piazzale Roma through the streets, looking in various stores, until we reached Piazza San Marco. Oh! And I had the world’s most winning gelato combination: raspberry and mango. Absolutely amazing.
It was a really low-key day, just meandering around Venice and stopping to admire the countless canals and the gorgeous masks adorning just about every store. It was almost unreal: all of us said (repeatedly), “Guys, we’re in Venice right now. We don’t have any homework to do. We’re on vacation!”
The only disappointment was the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte de Sospiri). That’s the one thing I remember Seth telling me to see in Venice, so I really wanted to go. We found it, but it was under renovation. So only a fraction of the bridge was showing: HUGE FAIL. I was so excited to see it, too.
We took the water bus (vaporetto) back up to the Venice train station and did a bit more shopping in the area we had first walked through. Anna wanted a mask and Kaari wanted a postcard. But at that point, I was getting a little crabby (not too bad) because I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything (except gelato) since breakfast, and it was about 7:30 by the time we finally sat down for dinner. (In my defense, we all ate a big breakfast since it was free at the hotel. It’s one way to save a little money, at least.) But we had our first Italian pizza for dinner, and it was absolutely amazing. Much better than American pizza.
We got back to our hotel a little bit later, and Kaari, Anna, and I chipped in to buy an hour of internet. It was €8.00 an hour for wifi, which was a little ridiculous. So we had enough time to send out necessary emails, and in my case transfer money from savings into checking. We’re all hoping for some free wifi in Rome – if we don’t find it, you won’t be hearing very much from me this week.
Today is our travel day. We checked out of our hotel this morning, after another big breakfast (and sneaking a few sandwiches we made out of the breakfast room so we would have some lunch). We took the bus back to Venice and went to the train station, where our train for Rome left at 11:43am. (It was a €65.00 ticket, which sucks, but it’s getting us where we need to go, when we need to go.)
But here starts my saga. Our accommodations in Rome say that we need to pay cash upon arrival, which shouldn’t be a huge problem. I have money in savings. But the huge problem comes when I try to access it: my pin number is 8 numbers long, and I use letters to remember what it is. I tried to get some money out at the ATM near our hotel, but when it came time to enter my pin, it cut me off after 6 numbers. Plus, the buttons didn’t have letters on them, so that was hard enough. It took me to the screen where I could select the amount of money, so I thought it had been okay. But then it told me my pin was invalid.
I couldn’t get it to work, so I hunted down an ATM in the train station. That one had letters on the keys, and I noticed that the letters associated with numbers are different here than they are at home. It cut me off after 6 numbers again, and then a screen showed up that said “A message from your bank” and then a paragraph of Italian. I had no idea what it said, so I hit okay. I selected the amount of cash that I needed, and this time it spit my card back out with a message that said “Invalid card.”
Right now I’m on a train to Rome with only €20.00 in cash. I’m pretty sure TCF has blocked my card by now from all the “invalid password” attempts to get cash, and I have no idea how to get at it before we get to our Rome accommodations in a few hours.
Everyone keeps telling me, “Oh, we’ll get it. We’ll stop at a bank. It’ll be fine.” But it doesn’t help at all. Even if I do go to a bank, there’s still the problem of my pin being too long even though I’ve used it at home all the time. I’m not an idiot; I know my pin number. I have no phone to call TCF and ask to unblock my card or ask to change my pin, and I have no idea how to get internet once we are in Rome and try to do it online.
What is a bank going to do? “Oh, looks like your bank has blocked your card. You’ll have to contact them before we can do anything.” And no one has the money to cover four nights in Rome for me while I try to get at my money. I’ve been freaking out internally all morning, and I remember saying, “I’m going to get booted out of the apartment because I can’t pay.” Everyone laughed like I was joking, and said, “No you won’t.” But I’m serious; I’m kind of worried about this. And it’s really frustrating because I have the money, but I just can’t get it in cash. And I’m in a foreign country with a foreign language with no phone and no internet. I’m going to a city where I have no idea where anything is.
So now I’m listening to Avenged Sevenfold as I type out my last few days because I’m stressed, anxious, and just pissy in general. Really, Avenged Sevenfold (Self-titled) is a great CD for people who are traveling, missing someone at home, and in a bad mood (unlike how I was yesterday). The entire album caters to those feelings.
It’s now about 1:20pm, and our train is supposed to get to Rome at 4:10pm. I should eat, but I feel anxious enough that it doesn’t sound appetizing. Sometimes it sucks being independent; I don’t have anyone that can tell me, “It’s okay. I’ll cover that payment for you. I know you can pay me back, so don’t worry about it right now.”
But I’m down to about half battery on my laptop, so I’m going to finish this up so I can conserve it, just in case I can get internet in some café but there are no outlets. I really, really hope that I can figure something out.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The start of Sligo
Monday September 28, 2009:
Saturday was filled with random stops on our way to Sligo. We stopped at Knowth, Newgrange, and the Hill of Tara. All of these were ancient Celtic sites. Knowth was a site of passage tombs that predate the pyramids of Giza. It was really a huge lump of grass surrounded by a bunch of smaller lumps, but there used to be tunnels. The main lump had tunnels deep inside, where ancient people would put the ashes of their dead. It was cool mainly because it was so old.
The next stop was Newgrange, but we really only stopped at the visitor centre. This one was more of a glorified lunch stop, and there was a huge hassle getting us in to see the exhibit because DR went to eat lunch and wasn’t there right away. So we were really only there for an hour or so, and half of it was waiting around for DR.
A little bit later we stopped at the Hill of Tara. This was a grassy field of lumps. This was the site of something to do with Queen Maeve, and also where St. Patrick had reputedly illustrated the concept of the trinity using a clover, causing the shamrock to be a symbol of Ireland. The history was cool and all, but it was still just a lumpy field. There wasn’t a whole lot to see, and I was tired and ready to be at Sligo.
After stopping at Tesco for food, we finally made it to Sligo just after sunset. We’re staying at a house with several self-catering cottages, and it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere about a half hour’s drive out of Sligo. On the plus side, we’re right next to the ocean, so it’s really easy to go for quiet walks on the beach. I’ve been making full use of that opportunity.
I’m actually staying in the house itself with Kaari and Melissa H, so I have to go to a cottage to actually make food. It’s not bad at all though – our room has a great view and old Victorian furniture. Plus, our shower has hot water and no bugs, which seem to be problems in some of the cottages. We also get breakfast provided in the morning when everyone else has to make their own, so it’s really nice to have an easy hot breakfast and French press coffee.
Oh! And there’s also a kitten that lives here. His name is Jacko and they got him just after Michael Jackson’s death. He is such a sweetie: playful and cuddly all at the same time. I got some fantastic pictures as he was playing with the strap on my camera yesterday. And today, he followed me. We had just gotten back from buying more food, and he was hanging around but I couldn’t pick him up because my hands were full. But when I opened the door to the house, he slunk in. I walked up the stairs. Jacko followed. I opened the door to our room. Again, Jacko followed. I put my stuff down and went to pick him up, but he hid under the bed. I opened the door to the bathroom because I really had to pee, and Jacko scampered in. So when I finished, I opened the door holding a lovely kitten, giving Kaari and Melissa (who had just walked in) quite the surprise. Then I walked back outside and had some cuddle time with a kitten until he got distracted by some other people walking around and jumped down. There are also two black labs that live here and nearly always greet whoever comes up the road, but dogs aren’t as exciting, especially when there’s a kitten. So we’ll just leave it at that.
Yesterday was pretty relaxing: I had a walk on the beach and wrote a paper. I had internet for about an hour, so I got to talk to Seth for about 10 minutes when I finished my rough draft and had a little time before dinner. I haven’t had internet since.
Today, we had class at the Yeats society in Sligo. A woman (I can’t remember her name) talked to us mostly about the history of Yeats and his family and how he was heavily influenced by Sligo when he wasn’t born here.
Then we bussed over to Knocknarae, a mountain that’s just outside of Sligo. Fortunately, it’s no Mt. Snowdon. It only took us 30-45 minutes to climb to the top, where there’s a large lump of rocks that’s supposedly the burial site of Queen Maeve. And when I say large, it really is large: you can see the lump from here at the house – I mean, at least when you walk down to the sea where you can see the mountain.
I did some reading afterward and then went over to the cottage where I’ve been having dinner with Allison, Nelly, Anna, Melissa K, and Evie. I love having dinner with them; they’re such great girls. We actually ended our dinner with a “fuzzy circle”: we took turns saying compliments and things we liked about each person there (Kaari walked in not too long after this started). To be honest, I actually enjoyed saying nice things more than I liked receiving them. Not that the girls didn’t have great things to say – because they did – but it just seemed to emphasize the fact that I don’t have a best girl friend who knows me inside out. (There were several “besties” pairs: Kaari and Evie, Nelly and Allison, Nelly and Melissa.) The only person who really knows me is Seth, and he’s way across the ocean. So it was great, but a little disheartening at the same time because I don’t have that kind of relationship on this trip.
I finished off the evening with a bonfire on the beach. It was a little chilly, but it was just us, the fire, the ocean, and the dark.
The internet here’s been rather lousy, so I don’t know when these blog posts will actually happen. I love it here, but it’s kind of hard being so out of contact. Oh well – it does make my productivity level a little higher than it would be with internet. So maybe it’s a good thing.
Saturday was filled with random stops on our way to Sligo. We stopped at Knowth, Newgrange, and the Hill of Tara. All of these were ancient Celtic sites. Knowth was a site of passage tombs that predate the pyramids of Giza. It was really a huge lump of grass surrounded by a bunch of smaller lumps, but there used to be tunnels. The main lump had tunnels deep inside, where ancient people would put the ashes of their dead. It was cool mainly because it was so old.
The next stop was Newgrange, but we really only stopped at the visitor centre. This one was more of a glorified lunch stop, and there was a huge hassle getting us in to see the exhibit because DR went to eat lunch and wasn’t there right away. So we were really only there for an hour or so, and half of it was waiting around for DR.
A little bit later we stopped at the Hill of Tara. This was a grassy field of lumps. This was the site of something to do with Queen Maeve, and also where St. Patrick had reputedly illustrated the concept of the trinity using a clover, causing the shamrock to be a symbol of Ireland. The history was cool and all, but it was still just a lumpy field. There wasn’t a whole lot to see, and I was tired and ready to be at Sligo.
After stopping at Tesco for food, we finally made it to Sligo just after sunset. We’re staying at a house with several self-catering cottages, and it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere about a half hour’s drive out of Sligo. On the plus side, we’re right next to the ocean, so it’s really easy to go for quiet walks on the beach. I’ve been making full use of that opportunity.
I’m actually staying in the house itself with Kaari and Melissa H, so I have to go to a cottage to actually make food. It’s not bad at all though – our room has a great view and old Victorian furniture. Plus, our shower has hot water and no bugs, which seem to be problems in some of the cottages. We also get breakfast provided in the morning when everyone else has to make their own, so it’s really nice to have an easy hot breakfast and French press coffee.
Oh! And there’s also a kitten that lives here. His name is Jacko and they got him just after Michael Jackson’s death. He is such a sweetie: playful and cuddly all at the same time. I got some fantastic pictures as he was playing with the strap on my camera yesterday. And today, he followed me. We had just gotten back from buying more food, and he was hanging around but I couldn’t pick him up because my hands were full. But when I opened the door to the house, he slunk in. I walked up the stairs. Jacko followed. I opened the door to our room. Again, Jacko followed. I put my stuff down and went to pick him up, but he hid under the bed. I opened the door to the bathroom because I really had to pee, and Jacko scampered in. So when I finished, I opened the door holding a lovely kitten, giving Kaari and Melissa (who had just walked in) quite the surprise. Then I walked back outside and had some cuddle time with a kitten until he got distracted by some other people walking around and jumped down. There are also two black labs that live here and nearly always greet whoever comes up the road, but dogs aren’t as exciting, especially when there’s a kitten. So we’ll just leave it at that.
Yesterday was pretty relaxing: I had a walk on the beach and wrote a paper. I had internet for about an hour, so I got to talk to Seth for about 10 minutes when I finished my rough draft and had a little time before dinner. I haven’t had internet since.
Today, we had class at the Yeats society in Sligo. A woman (I can’t remember her name) talked to us mostly about the history of Yeats and his family and how he was heavily influenced by Sligo when he wasn’t born here.
Then we bussed over to Knocknarae, a mountain that’s just outside of Sligo. Fortunately, it’s no Mt. Snowdon. It only took us 30-45 minutes to climb to the top, where there’s a large lump of rocks that’s supposedly the burial site of Queen Maeve. And when I say large, it really is large: you can see the lump from here at the house – I mean, at least when you walk down to the sea where you can see the mountain.
I did some reading afterward and then went over to the cottage where I’ve been having dinner with Allison, Nelly, Anna, Melissa K, and Evie. I love having dinner with them; they’re such great girls. We actually ended our dinner with a “fuzzy circle”: we took turns saying compliments and things we liked about each person there (Kaari walked in not too long after this started). To be honest, I actually enjoyed saying nice things more than I liked receiving them. Not that the girls didn’t have great things to say – because they did – but it just seemed to emphasize the fact that I don’t have a best girl friend who knows me inside out. (There were several “besties” pairs: Kaari and Evie, Nelly and Allison, Nelly and Melissa.) The only person who really knows me is Seth, and he’s way across the ocean. So it was great, but a little disheartening at the same time because I don’t have that kind of relationship on this trip.
I finished off the evening with a bonfire on the beach. It was a little chilly, but it was just us, the fire, the ocean, and the dark.
The internet here’s been rather lousy, so I don’t know when these blog posts will actually happen. I love it here, but it’s kind of hard being so out of contact. Oh well – it does make my productivity level a little higher than it would be with internet. So maybe it’s a good thing.
The rocky road to Dublin
Saturday September 26, 2009: The rocky road to Dublin
So what can I say about Ireland except that it’s even better than I hoped? I love Ireland. On Tuesday afternoon when we flew in to Dublin, I was pumped. And rightly so, because Dublin is probably one of my favorite cities so far. It’s not the cleanest, the smallest, the biggest, the nicest, or even the most easily navigated, but it’s Dublin.
On Tuesday night I went out to a pub for dinner right away – and what a great start to Dublin! I had great company, good food, and live music in a pub atmosphere. Words can’t describe how content I was.
We started Wednesday morning with a James Joyce walk. The James Joyce centre wasn’t far from our hotel, so we walked a couple blocks over to meet our guide for a walk through the streets of Dublin. We got to see Belvedere College, where Joyce went to school, as well as many of the locations he used in Dubliners. We ended the tour at Trinity College around noon or so and then had the rest of the day free.
I spent time with Erin and Evie, walking down Grafton Street and looking in a few stores. We also got over to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is (I think) the biggest cathedral in Dublin and supposedly the one St. Patrick used. It was beautiful inside, as are all cathedrals.
We meandered back to our hotel (Cassidy’s Hotel on Upper O’Connell Street) around 4:00 or so, and I decided to go out and get a hair cut before dinner. The haircut prices around our hotel weren’t extremely cheap, but I didn’t feel like wandering all over creation to find somewhere cheaper. So my cut ended up at €24.00, but for the service I got, it wasn’t too bad at all.
I went to a salon called “Charmed” that was just a block or so from the hotel, and it was way up on the 3rd floor of a building. I’m pretty sure it was family owned because all the employees were Asian and there was a little boy running around. While I was sitting and waiting, I was offered a cup of tea – so really, the price entailed the haircut and a cup of tea.
Then I got my hair cut, and the girl was great. She did what I wanted and took her time making sure it was done right. I talked to her a little bit, and she said she had been here 3 weeks – she used to cut hair in Malaysia – and she was studying language. I was pretty impressed with her English skills. Then after she was done, she took a lot of time to blow dry my hair so that it curled in the right directions. I’m not kidding; it was probably a good 10-15 minutes of blow-drying. But my haircut turned out great, and now I can tell people that my last haircut was in Dublin.
Later that night I went out with Erin, Evie, and Kaari to an “Irish traditional music pub crawl.” It was a lot of fun – we had two musicians that acted as guides, taking us around to three different pubs. We started at Oliver St. John Gogerty’s, then the Ha’penny Bridge Inn, and then one more that I can’t remember (but it was near our hotel on a side street just off of O’Connell). There was a girl who played accordion and a guy who sang and played guitar. The two of them would perform several traditional Irish songs, sometimes involving the audience on the choruses, and then explain about their instruments, the history of the music, and the songs in general in between songs. So it was both entertaining and informative, a combination that guaranteed a great night. Erin and I topped it off with an Erin’s night out to the Palace Bar to see a live session. There was a huge circle of about 10 musicians just rocking out – we only stayed for a half hour or so, but it was really cool.
Thursday was the 250th anniversary of Guinness, so it was a big day in Dublin. There were banners on the street lights, posters on phone booths and buses, and advertisements in every pub window. So naturally, we took a day trip to the James Joyce tower in Sandycove and then to the monastic ruins at Glendalough.
To be honest, the James Joyce tower was not very interesting. It was a tower that he lived in for a week or so, and we climbed to the top and could see a decent view. Then we went down to the shore and played around on the rocks for a while.
Glendalough was a lot more interesting. Our tour guide was so “I hate my life because I’m doing this stupid job,” but he made it entertaining for us (and he had a fantastic Irish accent). Glendalough used to be the monastery of St. Kevin, and was apparently a huge landmark for a long time in Ireland. It has a cemetery, an Irish round tower, and the ruins of a couple cathedrals. Plus, it was out of the city and in some beautiful, green, foresty landscape. After the tour, we had a little while to walk around.
When we headed back, it was dinner time. I had really wanted to get to a pub by 5:59 for the worldwide Guinness toast, but we didn’t get back til about 5:15. And since the people I was with were more intent on getting food, I missed seeing the toast live from Dublin. Oh, well. I spent a couple hours of my evening in at the hotel, but then I went out with Joel and Evie to people watch on the streets.
Let me tell you: Dublin was 95% intoxicated that night. The Temple Bar district was packed with couples weaving around, rowdy guys yelling as they crossed streets, and some who needed help to even stand up. Breaking glass was the sound I heard most often (other than yelling or singing). The three of us nipped in and out of a few pubs to catch some music, and one pub was ten degrees warmer and my shoes skritched on the floor from all the spilt beer. Plus, at that pub (OSJ Gogerty’s), Evie got asked (pulled in) to dance by a random guy who was completely wasted. After they danced next to each other, he left to talk on his phone. But soon he came back and slurred something none of us could understand but started with, “I hafta apologize…” Then (since Evie had been temporarily holding my coat, draped over her arm) he picked up my coat and sniffed the hood. A second later: “That’s not even your hand.” I’m pretty sure he was attempting to kiss her hand goodbye. =)
It was kind of an interesting experience seeing the festivities from a completely sober point of view. The excessive drunkenness was disgusting, but fascinating in a weird sort of way. Someone (I can’t remember who at this point, so take it with a grain of salt) said that it was comparable to Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day. It was a life experience, that’s for sure.
Friday was my last full day in Dublin, so I made the most of it. Kaari and I hung out most of the day, and we started by touring the Guinness brewery. I’m pretty sure that’s practically required if you visit Dublin. Let me say that even though I know hardly anything about beer (the right combination of hops, barley, yeast, and water goes right over my head – they all seem the same to me), the museum was incredibly informative and interesting. It encompassed all learning styles: there were things to read, things to watch, lots of pictures, and there was an easy-to-follow movement throughout. It actually kept my attention throughout the whole exhibit, and I’m one of those people who gets bored after too much museum time.
Afterward we grabbed lunch and looked in a store or two before heading back across the Liffey to visit the Jameson whiskey distillery. Unfortunately, the price was €10, and after we had just paid €11 for Guinness and realized that the next tour was in 26 minutes, we decided against it and just poked around in the gift store.
Then Kaari and I shopped a few souvenir stores, and I’m proud to say that I’ve actually started Christmas shopping at this point. (Though I’m finding it hardest to shop for my own family: if any of you read this, can you give me ideas of things you might like from this part of the world? That would be great; thanks.)
But the evening was probably the most memorable. I went out with a group of people for one last dinner at a pub (I was getting tired of eating cheap: aka Subway). It took us a while to find a table, but we eventually ended up at the Purdy Kitchen again (really, they have some decent dinner prices). We thought about doing something for Culture Night (it was Culture Night in Dublin and there were things going on all over), but there was nothing we really wanted to see in our immediate vicinity and it was nearing 10:00pm. So we decided to go back to the Palace and see if there was some Irish traditional music happening.
Sure enough, there was: a smaller group this time, with only three musicians (though it was four by the time we left). The night ended with Evie, Kaari, and I talking to a few middle aged guys (probably ranging from mid 30’s to 40’s, though one guy was probably still in his late 20’s): Johnny, a curly haired guitarist from England; Chris, a younger guy who had just joined the navy from England; Ken, a lawyer from Wales; and another older guy who I can’t remember his name from Dublin. They were all from the Bath/Bristol area and in Dublin on holiday. They were all a little intoxicated (Johnny mainly: “I’ve got Guinness in my toes, Guinness in my ears, Guinness in my eyes… all I can see is Guinness! I can’t physically fit any more Guinness inside me!”), but they were all gentlemanly and not creepy in any way. They just wanted to talk, and it was a lot of fun. We didn’t stay out late though – I believe we got back to our hotel and midnight.
Then on Saturday morning we left for Sligo, and I cried a little bit inside as we left Dublin. I will certainly miss this city.
So what can I say about Ireland except that it’s even better than I hoped? I love Ireland. On Tuesday afternoon when we flew in to Dublin, I was pumped. And rightly so, because Dublin is probably one of my favorite cities so far. It’s not the cleanest, the smallest, the biggest, the nicest, or even the most easily navigated, but it’s Dublin.
On Tuesday night I went out to a pub for dinner right away – and what a great start to Dublin! I had great company, good food, and live music in a pub atmosphere. Words can’t describe how content I was.
We started Wednesday morning with a James Joyce walk. The James Joyce centre wasn’t far from our hotel, so we walked a couple blocks over to meet our guide for a walk through the streets of Dublin. We got to see Belvedere College, where Joyce went to school, as well as many of the locations he used in Dubliners. We ended the tour at Trinity College around noon or so and then had the rest of the day free.
I spent time with Erin and Evie, walking down Grafton Street and looking in a few stores. We also got over to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is (I think) the biggest cathedral in Dublin and supposedly the one St. Patrick used. It was beautiful inside, as are all cathedrals.
We meandered back to our hotel (Cassidy’s Hotel on Upper O’Connell Street) around 4:00 or so, and I decided to go out and get a hair cut before dinner. The haircut prices around our hotel weren’t extremely cheap, but I didn’t feel like wandering all over creation to find somewhere cheaper. So my cut ended up at €24.00, but for the service I got, it wasn’t too bad at all.
I went to a salon called “Charmed” that was just a block or so from the hotel, and it was way up on the 3rd floor of a building. I’m pretty sure it was family owned because all the employees were Asian and there was a little boy running around. While I was sitting and waiting, I was offered a cup of tea – so really, the price entailed the haircut and a cup of tea.
Then I got my hair cut, and the girl was great. She did what I wanted and took her time making sure it was done right. I talked to her a little bit, and she said she had been here 3 weeks – she used to cut hair in Malaysia – and she was studying language. I was pretty impressed with her English skills. Then after she was done, she took a lot of time to blow dry my hair so that it curled in the right directions. I’m not kidding; it was probably a good 10-15 minutes of blow-drying. But my haircut turned out great, and now I can tell people that my last haircut was in Dublin.
Later that night I went out with Erin, Evie, and Kaari to an “Irish traditional music pub crawl.” It was a lot of fun – we had two musicians that acted as guides, taking us around to three different pubs. We started at Oliver St. John Gogerty’s, then the Ha’penny Bridge Inn, and then one more that I can’t remember (but it was near our hotel on a side street just off of O’Connell). There was a girl who played accordion and a guy who sang and played guitar. The two of them would perform several traditional Irish songs, sometimes involving the audience on the choruses, and then explain about their instruments, the history of the music, and the songs in general in between songs. So it was both entertaining and informative, a combination that guaranteed a great night. Erin and I topped it off with an Erin’s night out to the Palace Bar to see a live session. There was a huge circle of about 10 musicians just rocking out – we only stayed for a half hour or so, but it was really cool.
Thursday was the 250th anniversary of Guinness, so it was a big day in Dublin. There were banners on the street lights, posters on phone booths and buses, and advertisements in every pub window. So naturally, we took a day trip to the James Joyce tower in Sandycove and then to the monastic ruins at Glendalough.
To be honest, the James Joyce tower was not very interesting. It was a tower that he lived in for a week or so, and we climbed to the top and could see a decent view. Then we went down to the shore and played around on the rocks for a while.
Glendalough was a lot more interesting. Our tour guide was so “I hate my life because I’m doing this stupid job,” but he made it entertaining for us (and he had a fantastic Irish accent). Glendalough used to be the monastery of St. Kevin, and was apparently a huge landmark for a long time in Ireland. It has a cemetery, an Irish round tower, and the ruins of a couple cathedrals. Plus, it was out of the city and in some beautiful, green, foresty landscape. After the tour, we had a little while to walk around.
When we headed back, it was dinner time. I had really wanted to get to a pub by 5:59 for the worldwide Guinness toast, but we didn’t get back til about 5:15. And since the people I was with were more intent on getting food, I missed seeing the toast live from Dublin. Oh, well. I spent a couple hours of my evening in at the hotel, but then I went out with Joel and Evie to people watch on the streets.
Let me tell you: Dublin was 95% intoxicated that night. The Temple Bar district was packed with couples weaving around, rowdy guys yelling as they crossed streets, and some who needed help to even stand up. Breaking glass was the sound I heard most often (other than yelling or singing). The three of us nipped in and out of a few pubs to catch some music, and one pub was ten degrees warmer and my shoes skritched on the floor from all the spilt beer. Plus, at that pub (OSJ Gogerty’s), Evie got asked (pulled in) to dance by a random guy who was completely wasted. After they danced next to each other, he left to talk on his phone. But soon he came back and slurred something none of us could understand but started with, “I hafta apologize…” Then (since Evie had been temporarily holding my coat, draped over her arm) he picked up my coat and sniffed the hood. A second later: “That’s not even your hand.” I’m pretty sure he was attempting to kiss her hand goodbye. =)
It was kind of an interesting experience seeing the festivities from a completely sober point of view. The excessive drunkenness was disgusting, but fascinating in a weird sort of way. Someone (I can’t remember who at this point, so take it with a grain of salt) said that it was comparable to Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day. It was a life experience, that’s for sure.
Friday was my last full day in Dublin, so I made the most of it. Kaari and I hung out most of the day, and we started by touring the Guinness brewery. I’m pretty sure that’s practically required if you visit Dublin. Let me say that even though I know hardly anything about beer (the right combination of hops, barley, yeast, and water goes right over my head – they all seem the same to me), the museum was incredibly informative and interesting. It encompassed all learning styles: there were things to read, things to watch, lots of pictures, and there was an easy-to-follow movement throughout. It actually kept my attention throughout the whole exhibit, and I’m one of those people who gets bored after too much museum time.
Afterward we grabbed lunch and looked in a store or two before heading back across the Liffey to visit the Jameson whiskey distillery. Unfortunately, the price was €10, and after we had just paid €11 for Guinness and realized that the next tour was in 26 minutes, we decided against it and just poked around in the gift store.
Then Kaari and I shopped a few souvenir stores, and I’m proud to say that I’ve actually started Christmas shopping at this point. (Though I’m finding it hardest to shop for my own family: if any of you read this, can you give me ideas of things you might like from this part of the world? That would be great; thanks.)
But the evening was probably the most memorable. I went out with a group of people for one last dinner at a pub (I was getting tired of eating cheap: aka Subway). It took us a while to find a table, but we eventually ended up at the Purdy Kitchen again (really, they have some decent dinner prices). We thought about doing something for Culture Night (it was Culture Night in Dublin and there were things going on all over), but there was nothing we really wanted to see in our immediate vicinity and it was nearing 10:00pm. So we decided to go back to the Palace and see if there was some Irish traditional music happening.
Sure enough, there was: a smaller group this time, with only three musicians (though it was four by the time we left). The night ended with Evie, Kaari, and I talking to a few middle aged guys (probably ranging from mid 30’s to 40’s, though one guy was probably still in his late 20’s): Johnny, a curly haired guitarist from England; Chris, a younger guy who had just joined the navy from England; Ken, a lawyer from Wales; and another older guy who I can’t remember his name from Dublin. They were all from the Bath/Bristol area and in Dublin on holiday. They were all a little intoxicated (Johnny mainly: “I’ve got Guinness in my toes, Guinness in my ears, Guinness in my eyes… all I can see is Guinness! I can’t physically fit any more Guinness inside me!”), but they were all gentlemanly and not creepy in any way. They just wanted to talk, and it was a lot of fun. We didn’t stay out late though – I believe we got back to our hotel and midnight.
Then on Saturday morning we left for Sligo, and I cried a little bit inside as we left Dublin. I will certainly miss this city.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Looking back to Cambridge
It has been a long time since I've written a blog - yet again. I'm not even sure where to start! Guess I'll go back to Cambridge - that was our next stop after High Leigh.
We stayed at Corpus Christi College for two nights, Sunday and Monday night. We didn't have any internet during our stay, though, and there were hardly any internet cafes to be found. But during that time we took a tour of Cambridge University. I had no idea how the University worked, so it was actually pretty interesting. Turns out that Corpus Christi was just one of many colleges in Cambridge University - kind of like a dorm but an autonomous community of students, fellows, classes, and accommodations. We also got to go see King's College Cathedral, where there's a huge Christmas concert every year. And the college that John Cleese and Hugh Laurie went to. =) I actually don't remember which one it was, just that I was there.
Cambridge was a fun college town, even if the students weren't back yet. I went to a church service at St. Andrew the Great's and actually got to talk to a few people. One lady that Melissa H and I talked with was originally from Northern Ireland and knew some people at the church that we're doing homestays at in Belfast. So it was really interesting to talk to her.
And on Monday...? Oh yeah! We went out to Little Gidding for a daytrip to see where TS Eliot wrote one of the Four Quartets aptly titled "Little Gidding." It was a former religious community that is still really small, quiet and peaceful. We got to have a time of silence in the cathedral, which I was really excited about, but then the "time of silence" turned into "let's not talk for 10 minutes." I guess my idea of true silence entails a bit more solitude and a bit more time. Oh, well.
So that was our time in Cambridge. On Tuesday we flew into Dublin, Ireland, which is where I am now. But I'll have to blog about Dublin later because I'm about to head out for the night. Evie, Joel, and I are about to go out wandering and looking for a pub with a good Irish music session going on. Promises to be an interesting night, at least, since it's the 250th anniversary of Guinness. And it's Dublin. =)
We stayed at Corpus Christi College for two nights, Sunday and Monday night. We didn't have any internet during our stay, though, and there were hardly any internet cafes to be found. But during that time we took a tour of Cambridge University. I had no idea how the University worked, so it was actually pretty interesting. Turns out that Corpus Christi was just one of many colleges in Cambridge University - kind of like a dorm but an autonomous community of students, fellows, classes, and accommodations. We also got to go see King's College Cathedral, where there's a huge Christmas concert every year. And the college that John Cleese and Hugh Laurie went to. =) I actually don't remember which one it was, just that I was there.
Cambridge was a fun college town, even if the students weren't back yet. I went to a church service at St. Andrew the Great's and actually got to talk to a few people. One lady that Melissa H and I talked with was originally from Northern Ireland and knew some people at the church that we're doing homestays at in Belfast. So it was really interesting to talk to her.
And on Monday...? Oh yeah! We went out to Little Gidding for a daytrip to see where TS Eliot wrote one of the Four Quartets aptly titled "Little Gidding." It was a former religious community that is still really small, quiet and peaceful. We got to have a time of silence in the cathedral, which I was really excited about, but then the "time of silence" turned into "let's not talk for 10 minutes." I guess my idea of true silence entails a bit more solitude and a bit more time. Oh, well.
So that was our time in Cambridge. On Tuesday we flew into Dublin, Ireland, which is where I am now. But I'll have to blog about Dublin later because I'm about to head out for the night. Evie, Joel, and I are about to go out wandering and looking for a pub with a good Irish music session going on. Promises to be an interesting night, at least, since it's the 250th anniversary of Guinness. And it's Dublin. =)
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Leaving London for High Leigh
Time for a quick update on what I've been up to since London!
I've put up a lot of pictures on Facebook, so I'm sure you can guess most of it. But on Monday morning, we went on a "Mrs. Dalloway" walk through London. (It's a novel by Virginia Woolf that takes place in London.) So we started at Westminster and followed the path of the main character, Clarissa, through St. James' Park, Green Park, and Bond Street, reading out loud from the book as we went. Nerdy and literary, but it was pretty fun.
After the walk, most of our group went to Ben's Cookies. It was round 2 for me, but they were still as gooey and fantastic as last time. Then I went to the British Museum and saw such classic wonders as the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, etc. Plus some mummies. It was free, so that was a definite plus.
That night I went out for dinner with Kaari, Evie, and Erin. We went to a place we found in Covent Garden called Cafe Pasta and it was a great time. We dressed up for the occasion and splurged on dinner, dessert, and drinks. It was nice to have something other than a sandwich and tap water. =)
Tuesday was our day at the Globe. In the morning we had a session with a guy at the theatre who told us about how Shakespeare wrote and how the actors rehearsed (or in this case, didn't rehearse). Basically, Shakespeare wrote to get money and to please the crowd at the Globe. That means that they had a different show every day, so they had the morning to rehearse for an entire Shakespeare play. So Shakespeare wrote cue lines, so that each actor would listen intently for a specific three word phrase and then go. And instead of stage directions, the directions were written into the lines. It just amazes me how well the actors then had to listen and work together.
We had the afternoon off, so I went back to the hotel and did some journaling. I had hoped to go see the Tower of London, but it was raining and our journals were coming due, so I sat outside at a table under an awning and wrote. It was rather therapeutic and relaxing.
Then I went back to the Globe to see "As You Like It." Oh. My. Word. That was probably the best I've ever seen Shakespeare in my life! The actors and actresses were fantastic, and really, Shakespeare did write for the Globe. No roof, three levels of seats in the stands, and people on the ground like at a concert. Best part was that it was still raining, so everyone on the ground got wet (if they weren't wearing rain coats or ponchos). The actors and actresses were even out in the rain for part of the performance. I was up in the stands, so it was okay. But these actors really brought out the comedic elements of "As You Like It." Touchstone? Absolutely hilarious. And even though I had never read the play, they all acted in such a way that I got the jokes. I'm not sure I can watch normal presentations of Shakespeare ever again - it was that good. A great way to end our time in London.
On Wednesday, we left London for Hoddesdon, a tiny town an hour or so north of London. We stopped on the way at Keats' house, which was cool. But now we're staying at the High Leigh Conference Center, which is a nice change from London. I've got my own room (with two beds) and wifi in my room (if it's working). We get fed all our meals and then some. Actually, here's a typical day here:
8:30am - breakfast
9:30am - class
11:00am - tea and biscuits
11:30am - class
1:00pm - lunch
4:00pm - afternoon tea
7:00pm - dinner
9:15pm - evening refreshment
So really, I have 6 different mealtimes. And my caffeine addiction is getting worse quicker than it's getting better. Today (so far), I've had 2 cups of coffee and 2 cups of tea. And it's not even 2:00pm.
Oh well. I do have a paper to write today. I'm hoping to finish drafting by afternoon tea, so that I can edit and start handwriting later. And if I'm feeling so ambitious, I may start planning for my next travel writing paper, since it's due the day we leave Dublin. And it would be a shame to spend my last day in Dublin writing a paper.
Last night, Kaari, Evie, Anna, and I started planning for free travel (and we realized it's going to be a lot of work and money). So I'm pretty certain that I'll be going out to Italy, though the exact schedule hasn't been set in stone. We've got a tentative plan for one night in Venice, 3 days in Rome, and then a round trip down to the Amalfi Coast for a few days before coming back to Rome in order to fly back to London to rejoin the group. We'll see. It'll be expensive, no matter what we do. Good thing I haven't dipped into savings yet.
But that's later. On Tuesday next week (after a couple nights in Cambridge), we'll be heading out to Dublin and I'm PUMPED. I've already been browsing my Lonely Planet guide, which lists a bunch of pubs to go to in order to catch some live music. And that's my plan for the evenings - hanging out in pubs with some good Irish music (and Irish accents!). Or at least for one night.
So I've got a lot to look forward to. But that means I should get writing on my paper - I've got about 2/3 left to go. If I work really hard these next couple days, then I'll be a little less stressed in Ireland, which will be great. It's the land of Erin after all! ;D
I've put up a lot of pictures on Facebook, so I'm sure you can guess most of it. But on Monday morning, we went on a "Mrs. Dalloway" walk through London. (It's a novel by Virginia Woolf that takes place in London.) So we started at Westminster and followed the path of the main character, Clarissa, through St. James' Park, Green Park, and Bond Street, reading out loud from the book as we went. Nerdy and literary, but it was pretty fun.
After the walk, most of our group went to Ben's Cookies. It was round 2 for me, but they were still as gooey and fantastic as last time. Then I went to the British Museum and saw such classic wonders as the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, etc. Plus some mummies. It was free, so that was a definite plus.
That night I went out for dinner with Kaari, Evie, and Erin. We went to a place we found in Covent Garden called Cafe Pasta and it was a great time. We dressed up for the occasion and splurged on dinner, dessert, and drinks. It was nice to have something other than a sandwich and tap water. =)
Tuesday was our day at the Globe. In the morning we had a session with a guy at the theatre who told us about how Shakespeare wrote and how the actors rehearsed (or in this case, didn't rehearse). Basically, Shakespeare wrote to get money and to please the crowd at the Globe. That means that they had a different show every day, so they had the morning to rehearse for an entire Shakespeare play. So Shakespeare wrote cue lines, so that each actor would listen intently for a specific three word phrase and then go. And instead of stage directions, the directions were written into the lines. It just amazes me how well the actors then had to listen and work together.
We had the afternoon off, so I went back to the hotel and did some journaling. I had hoped to go see the Tower of London, but it was raining and our journals were coming due, so I sat outside at a table under an awning and wrote. It was rather therapeutic and relaxing.
Then I went back to the Globe to see "As You Like It." Oh. My. Word. That was probably the best I've ever seen Shakespeare in my life! The actors and actresses were fantastic, and really, Shakespeare did write for the Globe. No roof, three levels of seats in the stands, and people on the ground like at a concert. Best part was that it was still raining, so everyone on the ground got wet (if they weren't wearing rain coats or ponchos). The actors and actresses were even out in the rain for part of the performance. I was up in the stands, so it was okay. But these actors really brought out the comedic elements of "As You Like It." Touchstone? Absolutely hilarious. And even though I had never read the play, they all acted in such a way that I got the jokes. I'm not sure I can watch normal presentations of Shakespeare ever again - it was that good. A great way to end our time in London.
On Wednesday, we left London for Hoddesdon, a tiny town an hour or so north of London. We stopped on the way at Keats' house, which was cool. But now we're staying at the High Leigh Conference Center, which is a nice change from London. I've got my own room (with two beds) and wifi in my room (if it's working). We get fed all our meals and then some. Actually, here's a typical day here:
8:30am - breakfast
9:30am - class
11:00am - tea and biscuits
11:30am - class
1:00pm - lunch
4:00pm - afternoon tea
7:00pm - dinner
9:15pm - evening refreshment
So really, I have 6 different mealtimes. And my caffeine addiction is getting worse quicker than it's getting better. Today (so far), I've had 2 cups of coffee and 2 cups of tea. And it's not even 2:00pm.
Oh well. I do have a paper to write today. I'm hoping to finish drafting by afternoon tea, so that I can edit and start handwriting later. And if I'm feeling so ambitious, I may start planning for my next travel writing paper, since it's due the day we leave Dublin. And it would be a shame to spend my last day in Dublin writing a paper.
Last night, Kaari, Evie, Anna, and I started planning for free travel (and we realized it's going to be a lot of work and money). So I'm pretty certain that I'll be going out to Italy, though the exact schedule hasn't been set in stone. We've got a tentative plan for one night in Venice, 3 days in Rome, and then a round trip down to the Amalfi Coast for a few days before coming back to Rome in order to fly back to London to rejoin the group. We'll see. It'll be expensive, no matter what we do. Good thing I haven't dipped into savings yet.
But that's later. On Tuesday next week (after a couple nights in Cambridge), we'll be heading out to Dublin and I'm PUMPED. I've already been browsing my Lonely Planet guide, which lists a bunch of pubs to go to in order to catch some live music. And that's my plan for the evenings - hanging out in pubs with some good Irish music (and Irish accents!). Or at least for one night.
So I've got a lot to look forward to. But that means I should get writing on my paper - I've got about 2/3 left to go. If I work really hard these next couple days, then I'll be a little less stressed in Ireland, which will be great. It's the land of Erin after all! ;D
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