Hey guys!
As I sit writing this blog entry, I am on the final train of my epic journey and am now in the Czech Republic. The view out the window is quite pretty, though rather glum in comparison to the sunshine I’ve been enjoying. You can actually see the mist gathering atop the fields (which are quite beautiful and lush). Some Czech policemen just walked through the train, and let me tell you, the uniforms that policemen in Europe wear are definitely more intimidating to me than US police uniforms. But maybe that’s because they’re unfamiliar. Plus all non-US law enforcement officials make me nervous that something will be wrong with my passport and they will lock me up in some creepy prison reserved solely for idiot Americans who mess up in travel protocol. But I digress – Germany!
I really do think that Germany is the perfect country. This is partly because it is gorgeous and there were tons of flowers while I was there, but also because it is the perfect country for someone with a hint of OCD (ahem, I’m sorry CDO – it’s just like OCD but the letters are in alphabetical order as they should be). Everything is clean. Everything is organized. Everything is on time. I loved it. The foliage and general feel of Tuebingen, the town where I went to visit my friend Meike, actually reminded me a great deal of good old Palo Alto, California. Tuebingen is definitely a college town, with lots of students everywhere. The University is really the only thing in the town, so it’s mostly students and professors who live there.
I stayed with Meike in her apartment, which she shares with two other very nice girls. My first night we had a barbeque with her roommates and several of her roommates’ friends. I enjoyed the combination of hearing German and getting to talk to some German students (they all spoke wonderful English). It was so nice to sit in a kitchen and relax in an apartment where friends actually live – I haven’t had that opportunity since Granada and Cordoba, which was weeks ago. I also got to do laundry, which was a really good thing since I more or less was out of clean clothes.
Meike showed me all over the town and told me some entertaining historical stories about it. Germany has fraternities similar to the US, but not only does pledging last for a whole year, but you also pay dues for life. This sounds like a bit more of a serious commitment than Trinity’s fraternity system. The architecture of the town was beautiful, and the river even had boats that were a little bit like Venice’s gondolas, though bigger and less ornate. Tuebingen is also, according to Meike, the oldest German university. Evidently this is debated by another university, but if you ask anyone from Tuebingen, University of Tuebingen was first, haha.
I also got to go to one of Meike’s classes (she’s also an English major) that was, thankfully, in English. It was Introduction to Shakespeare, which was interesting to experience since I just took Shakespeare last semester. The German system is quite different than the US – you have either seminars or lectures and at the end of your time at University, you take final exams on EVERYTHING you’ve learned. Thank you very much but I will be sticking with our system of taking finals after each class.
My last night in Germany I cooked dinner for Meike and her roommates as a thank you for letting me stay (and feeding me way more than they ought to have). At Meike’s request I made “American mashed potatoes” and then stir-fried some vegetables. It was quite the hit. Overall, Tuebingen was a great relaxation time and I really enjoyed the town and the conversations with Meike and her friends. After so much time traveling, I’ll be quite glad to return to my little room in London. Just two more nights and I get to be in my own, familiar London abode. I’m meeting Claire in Prague in a few hours, which I’m definitely looking forward to. It’s always so fun to see Trinity friends here in Europe.
Anyways, I’m going to go back to Cormac McCarthy and “The Road” (amazing, though disturbing book on the potential aftermath of global warming), and I shall update you all on Prague very soon! I hope you’re all happy, healthy, safe, and loving life wherever in the world you are!
Thursday 23 April 2009
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Barcelona
Hello again!
As I write this blog, I’m on the train from Paris to Stuttgart, where I will then catch another train to see my friend Meike in Tuebingen, which is in Southwestern Germany. So – Barcelona. I absolutely loved the city. It was great to see Greg as well! The city itself felt much more residential to me than most other cities I’ve been to – there were markets everywhere and the city just had a lived-in air about it. I really enjoyed all of the art as well!
I wasn’t taking notes on my activities as religiously as I should have been, but I’ll do my best not to leave anything out! My first day I met my friends Matt and Pat (both from Trinity but both doing a year at Oxford) at the harbor. The harbor was beautiful and it was so refreshing to see the water and feel a nice clean breeze. After sitting and catching up for a while, we went to the Picasso Museum, which was really interesting. While they certainly do not have all of his work, they have a very impressive collection, particularly of his early work, which I found very interesting as the collection as a whole really showed Picasso’s progression as an artist. After the museum we met two other Trinity students for Tapas who are also studying in Barcelona at the moment. All of them are getting ready to go home as their semester is just ending. Greg stopped by at dinner with Matt, Pat, and I (where we had paella which is AMAZING) after his final.
I did a fair amount of exploring on my own in Barcelona, which I enjoyed. I checked out La Rambla, which while touristy was very pretty. I also went to the Museum of the History of Barcelona, which I found very interesting – they had the Roman ruins of Barcino, the original city that developed into Barcelona as we know it today. As for the Cathedral – I have seen A LOT of cathedrals lately – they’re starting to look a little similar to each other, haha. However this cathedral was a nice change as it had a more Gothic design. My favorite thing in the entire city, though, was La Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi cathedral that is still under construction. It was so cool to see a cathedral of this expanse in not only a more modern design but also still during the process of construction. I also saw Parc Guell, the Gaudi designed park, which is Greg’s favorite place in the city. It’s absolutely gorgeous and has not only uniquely designed buildings but also statues. Another favorite attraction was the Palau Nacional, where I also went to a light show one night with my hostel (they light up the fountains and play music). Greg and I also explored the old Olympic stadium, which was really neat.
My hostel (Mambo Tango) was awesome. The family that runs it really encourages meeting fellow travelers and facilitates this by creating a generally great atmosphere, but also by having activities like the visit to the fountain. I met and talked to people from Argentina, Ecuador, England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and the US. I think my favorite part of the hostel was the concept that Totti, the main owner creates in the hostel that the hostel is your home, that you have a sense of responsibility and ownership towards it. As I left he told me that it was “my home in Barcelona”, and I really felt like he meant it. Adela, Totti’s mother-in-law, only spoke Spanish, but she and I chatted and she helped me practice my Spanish a lot.
It’s been so rewarding to get to practice my Spanish – I can’t get over how much easier it’s gotten just in the week and a half I spent in Spain to communicate my thoughts. I’ve always had much better comprehension skills than communication skills, but practice really does make the difference, and it was great to practice my Spanish in an environment like my hostel where making mistakes was absolutely fine and where there would even be someone there who could explain to me how to say what I wanted to say correctly. It was great to hang out with my new hostel friends and my Trinity friends and to spend my time in Barcelona relaxing more than I have in other cities. I felt like five days was a great amount of time to have, as I didn’t feel rushed to see everything I was “supposed to see in Barcelona” in just a few days.
Alright, if I remember anything I’ve forgotten I shall add it in my next post, but for now, I’m going to take a little nap on my train to Germany/enjoy the beautiful French scenery out my window! I’ve devoured several books recently, on a side note – I highly recommend “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott. I’m most of the way through “The Reader” now, which is another winner. I hope you’re all healthy, safe, and happy wherever you are and I can’t wait to see all of you and hear about your lives soon!!
As I write this blog, I’m on the train from Paris to Stuttgart, where I will then catch another train to see my friend Meike in Tuebingen, which is in Southwestern Germany. So – Barcelona. I absolutely loved the city. It was great to see Greg as well! The city itself felt much more residential to me than most other cities I’ve been to – there were markets everywhere and the city just had a lived-in air about it. I really enjoyed all of the art as well!
I wasn’t taking notes on my activities as religiously as I should have been, but I’ll do my best not to leave anything out! My first day I met my friends Matt and Pat (both from Trinity but both doing a year at Oxford) at the harbor. The harbor was beautiful and it was so refreshing to see the water and feel a nice clean breeze. After sitting and catching up for a while, we went to the Picasso Museum, which was really interesting. While they certainly do not have all of his work, they have a very impressive collection, particularly of his early work, which I found very interesting as the collection as a whole really showed Picasso’s progression as an artist. After the museum we met two other Trinity students for Tapas who are also studying in Barcelona at the moment. All of them are getting ready to go home as their semester is just ending. Greg stopped by at dinner with Matt, Pat, and I (where we had paella which is AMAZING) after his final.
I did a fair amount of exploring on my own in Barcelona, which I enjoyed. I checked out La Rambla, which while touristy was very pretty. I also went to the Museum of the History of Barcelona, which I found very interesting – they had the Roman ruins of Barcino, the original city that developed into Barcelona as we know it today. As for the Cathedral – I have seen A LOT of cathedrals lately – they’re starting to look a little similar to each other, haha. However this cathedral was a nice change as it had a more Gothic design. My favorite thing in the entire city, though, was La Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi cathedral that is still under construction. It was so cool to see a cathedral of this expanse in not only a more modern design but also still during the process of construction. I also saw Parc Guell, the Gaudi designed park, which is Greg’s favorite place in the city. It’s absolutely gorgeous and has not only uniquely designed buildings but also statues. Another favorite attraction was the Palau Nacional, where I also went to a light show one night with my hostel (they light up the fountains and play music). Greg and I also explored the old Olympic stadium, which was really neat.
My hostel (Mambo Tango) was awesome. The family that runs it really encourages meeting fellow travelers and facilitates this by creating a generally great atmosphere, but also by having activities like the visit to the fountain. I met and talked to people from Argentina, Ecuador, England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and the US. I think my favorite part of the hostel was the concept that Totti, the main owner creates in the hostel that the hostel is your home, that you have a sense of responsibility and ownership towards it. As I left he told me that it was “my home in Barcelona”, and I really felt like he meant it. Adela, Totti’s mother-in-law, only spoke Spanish, but she and I chatted and she helped me practice my Spanish a lot.
It’s been so rewarding to get to practice my Spanish – I can’t get over how much easier it’s gotten just in the week and a half I spent in Spain to communicate my thoughts. I’ve always had much better comprehension skills than communication skills, but practice really does make the difference, and it was great to practice my Spanish in an environment like my hostel where making mistakes was absolutely fine and where there would even be someone there who could explain to me how to say what I wanted to say correctly. It was great to hang out with my new hostel friends and my Trinity friends and to spend my time in Barcelona relaxing more than I have in other cities. I felt like five days was a great amount of time to have, as I didn’t feel rushed to see everything I was “supposed to see in Barcelona” in just a few days.
Alright, if I remember anything I’ve forgotten I shall add it in my next post, but for now, I’m going to take a little nap on my train to Germany/enjoy the beautiful French scenery out my window! I’ve devoured several books recently, on a side note – I highly recommend “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott. I’m most of the way through “The Reader” now, which is another winner. I hope you’re all healthy, safe, and happy wherever you are and I can’t wait to see all of you and hear about your lives soon!!
Thursday 16 April 2009
Florence
Hey everyone!
So first, I must add this fact to my Rome blog… Catherine and I saw the POPE! I think I forgot to mention it because it definitely did not seem real, haha. We saw him from a distance as evidently he gives public audiences every Wednesday morning, which was when Catherine and I went to the Vatican. We also saw the “pope-mobile”, as the Pope’s car is fondly referred to. It was definitely a surreal experience, and so cool!
After a delightful and short train ride from Rome, Catherine and I arrived in Florence! We met Siena at the train station (she was kind enough to come to Florence from Bologna!), and then headed to our hostel, Archi Rossi. If you EVER go to Florence you must do the following things: 1. Stay at Archi Rossi. It is the nicest hostel I have heard of, stayed in, or even seen falsely advertised for. It was spacious, the staff were great, free wireless internet, free breakfast (and we’re talking scrambled eggs and bacon here, not nasty cornflakes and stale toast), and free tours of the city. Oh, and it was beautiful – the architecture of the building was perfect for a visit in Florence. 2. Eat at Grom. It is a gelateria and is absolutely out of this world phenomenal. Thank you Katie Kuppens for the suggestion! 3. Bike around Tuscany. But now I’m getting ahead of myself.
Anyways, we got to our hostel, checked in, reveled in the space and wonder, and then headed out for a delicious dinner. Seeing Siena was a delight as always, and she joined us for a little exploration of the city and some gelato (at Grom of course). Then Siena caught her train back and Catherine and I headed back to the hostel, where we met two of our 7 other roommates, Colleen and Caitlin. They both go to USF, and not only do they know several people I went to high school with, but Colleen even lives in Portola Valley and went to Menlo-Atherton. We figured out that we probably swam against each other in swim meets, and crazily enough, she swam for PASA as well, just at a different site. It’s such a small world!
The next morning the four of us took the free hostel tour of the historic city center. We saw all the big sites, like the Duomo, San Lorenzo’s market, Santa Cruce, and many others. After lunch with our newfound friends, Catherine and I went to check out David. As the line was quite long we decided to scrap David for that day and go for a bike ride instead! We rented bikes and headed out of the city, along a quite hilly road, to enjoy the beautiful Tuscan countryside. It was absolutely breathtaking – just like in the movies. We also saw the Piazza Michelangelo, which has an amazing panoramic view of the entire city. We biked around the city a little bit as well before returning our bikes.
We then bartered in the market and got cut matching sandals and got me a “grown-up” person wallet (such a terrifying thought to think that I’ll need to look like a grown-up for job interviews next year… what happened to my college bubble?!). Thanks to our bartering talent and bumbling Italian, we got some pretty decent prices!
Afterwards we headed back to the hostel to regroup, then grabbed some cheap dinner and, of course, more gelato.
The next morning we got up early and got into David after only about 10 minutes of waiting in line, which was great. David was absolutely amazing – it’s quite clear why it’s such a famous statue. The detail is stunning – I didn’t even know the human body has so many muscles! We then had coffee at Chiarscuro, another definitely recommendation for anyone visiting Florence. It’s REALLY good quality coffee from all over the world and clearly is the place the actual Florentines go for coffee in the morning. It was really cute inside, too!
Then we strolled around city, and had an early lunch before, very sadly, I had to watch Catherine get on her train to Rome to head back to Spain. Since I had to wait until Monday (this was Saturday) for the train I needed to Barcelona from Milan, I stayed on in Florence until Monday. I spent a lot of time relaxing and did some reading and running. I also had dinner with my friends from USF Saturday night, though they left for Rome Sunday morning.
Easter in Florence was absolutely incredible. They had beautiful flag performances in the squares and fireworks in front of the Duomo! I went to Easter Mass in the Duomo itself, which was an incredible experience. They actually had a (fake) pigeon powered by fireworks that flew through the church on a wire – it was quite the performance! Certainly an Easter Mass I will never forget! I also took the hostel’s other free tour of the southern section of the city and saw some less well-known Florentine sites, which I really enjoyed. Then I headed back to the hostel to register for classes at Trinity for next semester, which went very well, and then got on my train to Milan to catch my train to Barcelona!
My classes for next semester, if anyone was wondering are: Writing Theory and Practice (in order to become a tutor in the Writing Center), The Coming of the Civil War (with Dean Spencer, my former advisor!), American Literature Part II, my Senior Fiction Creative Writing Workshop, and I’m mentoring freshmen again for the program I was in my freshman year, Guided Studies.
I just spent the past two and a half hours talking to my seat neighbors, which was great! AND we only spoke Spanish and while I definitely couldn’t communicate the ideas I wanted to, I absolutely understood the conversation. It was very gratifying. I think it helped that one of the girls I was talking to is from Mexico and her accent was SO much easier to understand than the Andalucían accent. I also met a cute little family with a 3-year-old little girl who I play hide and seek with for a while. She could count in English so we practiced counting to ten – absolutely adorable. The parents were really neat to talk to as well. I also met two boys from Mexico who are only 15 and 17 (brothers) and are traveling for 3 weeks – I told them that even as a 21-year-olld I often wished I had my parents to just take care of all the stressful parts of traveling for me and that I was VERY impressed that they were doing this so young. They spoke really good English as well, so we talked in a little bit of Spanglish for a while. I explored the train as well, which has sleeper cars (though I’m cheap and got a reclining seat, which actually isn’t that bad). The bunks look really cute though. But then if I had gotten one of those, I wouldn’t have met my new friends!
I’ve loved meeting people on this trip, whether I talk to them for 3 hours or 5 minutes. The little glimpses I get into their lives remind me constantly that at the end of the day, we may have different cultures and customs, different languages and foods, but we all live our lives based on the people who surround us. If you ask someone what’s important to them, it’s always their friends and families and the experiences they’ve shared with them. In the midst of the economic problems our world is suffering through, I am so grateful that I have what really matters – the most kind, caring, and extraordinary family and friends. I miss you all and look forward to seeing you again very soon! I hope you’re happy, healthy, and enjoying life wherever you are!
So first, I must add this fact to my Rome blog… Catherine and I saw the POPE! I think I forgot to mention it because it definitely did not seem real, haha. We saw him from a distance as evidently he gives public audiences every Wednesday morning, which was when Catherine and I went to the Vatican. We also saw the “pope-mobile”, as the Pope’s car is fondly referred to. It was definitely a surreal experience, and so cool!
After a delightful and short train ride from Rome, Catherine and I arrived in Florence! We met Siena at the train station (she was kind enough to come to Florence from Bologna!), and then headed to our hostel, Archi Rossi. If you EVER go to Florence you must do the following things: 1. Stay at Archi Rossi. It is the nicest hostel I have heard of, stayed in, or even seen falsely advertised for. It was spacious, the staff were great, free wireless internet, free breakfast (and we’re talking scrambled eggs and bacon here, not nasty cornflakes and stale toast), and free tours of the city. Oh, and it was beautiful – the architecture of the building was perfect for a visit in Florence. 2. Eat at Grom. It is a gelateria and is absolutely out of this world phenomenal. Thank you Katie Kuppens for the suggestion! 3. Bike around Tuscany. But now I’m getting ahead of myself.
Anyways, we got to our hostel, checked in, reveled in the space and wonder, and then headed out for a delicious dinner. Seeing Siena was a delight as always, and she joined us for a little exploration of the city and some gelato (at Grom of course). Then Siena caught her train back and Catherine and I headed back to the hostel, where we met two of our 7 other roommates, Colleen and Caitlin. They both go to USF, and not only do they know several people I went to high school with, but Colleen even lives in Portola Valley and went to Menlo-Atherton. We figured out that we probably swam against each other in swim meets, and crazily enough, she swam for PASA as well, just at a different site. It’s such a small world!
The next morning the four of us took the free hostel tour of the historic city center. We saw all the big sites, like the Duomo, San Lorenzo’s market, Santa Cruce, and many others. After lunch with our newfound friends, Catherine and I went to check out David. As the line was quite long we decided to scrap David for that day and go for a bike ride instead! We rented bikes and headed out of the city, along a quite hilly road, to enjoy the beautiful Tuscan countryside. It was absolutely breathtaking – just like in the movies. We also saw the Piazza Michelangelo, which has an amazing panoramic view of the entire city. We biked around the city a little bit as well before returning our bikes.
We then bartered in the market and got cut matching sandals and got me a “grown-up” person wallet (such a terrifying thought to think that I’ll need to look like a grown-up for job interviews next year… what happened to my college bubble?!). Thanks to our bartering talent and bumbling Italian, we got some pretty decent prices!
Afterwards we headed back to the hostel to regroup, then grabbed some cheap dinner and, of course, more gelato.
The next morning we got up early and got into David after only about 10 minutes of waiting in line, which was great. David was absolutely amazing – it’s quite clear why it’s such a famous statue. The detail is stunning – I didn’t even know the human body has so many muscles! We then had coffee at Chiarscuro, another definitely recommendation for anyone visiting Florence. It’s REALLY good quality coffee from all over the world and clearly is the place the actual Florentines go for coffee in the morning. It was really cute inside, too!
Then we strolled around city, and had an early lunch before, very sadly, I had to watch Catherine get on her train to Rome to head back to Spain. Since I had to wait until Monday (this was Saturday) for the train I needed to Barcelona from Milan, I stayed on in Florence until Monday. I spent a lot of time relaxing and did some reading and running. I also had dinner with my friends from USF Saturday night, though they left for Rome Sunday morning.
Easter in Florence was absolutely incredible. They had beautiful flag performances in the squares and fireworks in front of the Duomo! I went to Easter Mass in the Duomo itself, which was an incredible experience. They actually had a (fake) pigeon powered by fireworks that flew through the church on a wire – it was quite the performance! Certainly an Easter Mass I will never forget! I also took the hostel’s other free tour of the southern section of the city and saw some less well-known Florentine sites, which I really enjoyed. Then I headed back to the hostel to register for classes at Trinity for next semester, which went very well, and then got on my train to Milan to catch my train to Barcelona!
My classes for next semester, if anyone was wondering are: Writing Theory and Practice (in order to become a tutor in the Writing Center), The Coming of the Civil War (with Dean Spencer, my former advisor!), American Literature Part II, my Senior Fiction Creative Writing Workshop, and I’m mentoring freshmen again for the program I was in my freshman year, Guided Studies.
I just spent the past two and a half hours talking to my seat neighbors, which was great! AND we only spoke Spanish and while I definitely couldn’t communicate the ideas I wanted to, I absolutely understood the conversation. It was very gratifying. I think it helped that one of the girls I was talking to is from Mexico and her accent was SO much easier to understand than the Andalucían accent. I also met a cute little family with a 3-year-old little girl who I play hide and seek with for a while. She could count in English so we practiced counting to ten – absolutely adorable. The parents were really neat to talk to as well. I also met two boys from Mexico who are only 15 and 17 (brothers) and are traveling for 3 weeks – I told them that even as a 21-year-olld I often wished I had my parents to just take care of all the stressful parts of traveling for me and that I was VERY impressed that they were doing this so young. They spoke really good English as well, so we talked in a little bit of Spanglish for a while. I explored the train as well, which has sleeper cars (though I’m cheap and got a reclining seat, which actually isn’t that bad). The bunks look really cute though. But then if I had gotten one of those, I wouldn’t have met my new friends!
I’ve loved meeting people on this trip, whether I talk to them for 3 hours or 5 minutes. The little glimpses I get into their lives remind me constantly that at the end of the day, we may have different cultures and customs, different languages and foods, but we all live our lives based on the people who surround us. If you ask someone what’s important to them, it’s always their friends and families and the experiences they’ve shared with them. In the midst of the economic problems our world is suffering through, I am so grateful that I have what really matters – the most kind, caring, and extraordinary family and friends. I miss you all and look forward to seeing you again very soon! I hope you’re happy, healthy, and enjoying life wherever you are!
Thursday 9 April 2009
When in Rome...
Hello again folks,
Welcome back to Italy! I’m currently enjoying the beautiful train ride to Florence, where Catherine and I will be meeting Siena for dinner, but thought I’d fill you all in on Rome so my Italy post didn’t get quite as epically long as my Andalucía one. After an epic day of travel (including a 6 hour lay over in the Milan airport, which incidentally is rather reminiscent of Bradley airport in Hartford), Catherine and I arrived in Rome! We trekked on over to our hostel after the bus from the airport dropped us off at the train station. Navigating Rome has been very easy – we got a great map at the train station, and Catherine and I both have pretty good senses of direction, which definitely helps. Rome is big, but definitely not in the sense that London is big. We were able to walk everywhere easily, which was great.
This was not the best hostel I’ve been in, but it was fine. We had a pretty big all female dorm, which got crowded with luggage, and there definitely weren’t enough bathrooms or showers for the whole hostel, which was contained in a very small flat in an adorably cute, very Rome building. Still, on the whole the staff were friendly and helpful and the little annoyances were not a big deal considering how reasonably priced it was (I love hostel prices, haha).
For dinner we met Catherine’s childhood friend, Stephanie, who is studying in Rome this semester. She was super friendly and a great dinner buddy – she also explained that in Rome to cross the street, you have to just walk – there are rarely any signals. Cars will stop, but it helps if you stare them down, which Catherine and I got very good at. I had AMAZING pesto pasta for dinner. Sorry Bryce, your pesto is delicious, but the combination of freshly made pasta and amazingly fresh pesto made this a whole different story. Catherine and I headed for bed after that as we were very tired since we hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and had had a long day of traveling.
We got an early start the next day and went to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, and then to the Trevi Fountain (Courtney said we should sing Hillary Duff songs there since she did that movie there, but we decided against it, haha). The fountain was beautiful, though, as with most of Rome, was very crowded with tourists. It was too funny – we heard almost as much English as we did Italian.
Next we headed to the Vatican. We were approached by a tour guide and listened to their intro for free, thought about doing the tour, and then decided to save ourselves the 20-euro by just doing the route they had explained on our own. We figured out that if you go in through the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel and then take the tour guides exit to St. Peter’s Basilica, thus missing the horribly long lines in front of St. Peter’s. The Sistine Chapel was absolutely breathtaking – after a very long walk through the museum, Catherine and I spent about 20 minutes just taking in the chapel – it is just so incredibly impressive. Then we walked through the crypt of St. Peter’s and saw the tombs of several popes, including John Paul II. It was incredible to see how many people were crying when they saw his tomb and who were praying in front of the tomb. We then went on into St. Peter’s itself, which was absolutely breathtaking. It actually reminded me a lot of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, which is surprising since England so differentiates its church from the Catholic Church.
For lunch we had some earth shatteringly amazing pizza, followed by café (typically Italian – very strong espresso, and delicious). We then walked around Trastevere, which is a cute little neighborhood with a great hill that offered a lovely view of the city. We then took a break at the hostel, re-grouped, emailed (this hostel had wireless that worked with my Mac, which was greatly appreciated – the wireless in Spain had not liked my Mac for some reason). For dinner I had Gnocchi, which was again absolutely amazing. I love Italian food and will be so sad to leave it behind, though I’m excited to eat more delicious Spanish food in Barcelona). We then went to see the Spanish Steps, which were gorgeous, particularly with the lights since it was dark out. The weather was great the whole time we were there – sunny and nice and warm, probably around 65 to 70).
This morning we got another early start and headed over to the Pantheon, where we saw the Rotunda and the Piazza Navona. We also found a Deutche Bank (they don’t charge you ATM fees, like Barclay’s in the UK, if you have Bank of America, so Catherine and I are ALWAYS excited to find one). We then checked out the Coliseum, which was SO big! It was quite impressive. We also walked by the Roman Forum before we grabbed some lunch. I had tomato soup, which sounds simple, but was wonderful. We then headed back to the hostel to regroup and then grabbed some café before heading to the train station to catch our train to Florence!
In other news, I have figured out my living situation for next year! I’m very excited to be living in the Fred in a quad with Catherine and our friends Fiona and Grace! That will make for an amazing senior year rooming experience!
Up next, Florence! I hope you’re all well and happy and enjoying life wherever you are!
Welcome back to Italy! I’m currently enjoying the beautiful train ride to Florence, where Catherine and I will be meeting Siena for dinner, but thought I’d fill you all in on Rome so my Italy post didn’t get quite as epically long as my Andalucía one. After an epic day of travel (including a 6 hour lay over in the Milan airport, which incidentally is rather reminiscent of Bradley airport in Hartford), Catherine and I arrived in Rome! We trekked on over to our hostel after the bus from the airport dropped us off at the train station. Navigating Rome has been very easy – we got a great map at the train station, and Catherine and I both have pretty good senses of direction, which definitely helps. Rome is big, but definitely not in the sense that London is big. We were able to walk everywhere easily, which was great.
This was not the best hostel I’ve been in, but it was fine. We had a pretty big all female dorm, which got crowded with luggage, and there definitely weren’t enough bathrooms or showers for the whole hostel, which was contained in a very small flat in an adorably cute, very Rome building. Still, on the whole the staff were friendly and helpful and the little annoyances were not a big deal considering how reasonably priced it was (I love hostel prices, haha).
For dinner we met Catherine’s childhood friend, Stephanie, who is studying in Rome this semester. She was super friendly and a great dinner buddy – she also explained that in Rome to cross the street, you have to just walk – there are rarely any signals. Cars will stop, but it helps if you stare them down, which Catherine and I got very good at. I had AMAZING pesto pasta for dinner. Sorry Bryce, your pesto is delicious, but the combination of freshly made pasta and amazingly fresh pesto made this a whole different story. Catherine and I headed for bed after that as we were very tired since we hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and had had a long day of traveling.
We got an early start the next day and went to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, and then to the Trevi Fountain (Courtney said we should sing Hillary Duff songs there since she did that movie there, but we decided against it, haha). The fountain was beautiful, though, as with most of Rome, was very crowded with tourists. It was too funny – we heard almost as much English as we did Italian.
Next we headed to the Vatican. We were approached by a tour guide and listened to their intro for free, thought about doing the tour, and then decided to save ourselves the 20-euro by just doing the route they had explained on our own. We figured out that if you go in through the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel and then take the tour guides exit to St. Peter’s Basilica, thus missing the horribly long lines in front of St. Peter’s. The Sistine Chapel was absolutely breathtaking – after a very long walk through the museum, Catherine and I spent about 20 minutes just taking in the chapel – it is just so incredibly impressive. Then we walked through the crypt of St. Peter’s and saw the tombs of several popes, including John Paul II. It was incredible to see how many people were crying when they saw his tomb and who were praying in front of the tomb. We then went on into St. Peter’s itself, which was absolutely breathtaking. It actually reminded me a lot of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, which is surprising since England so differentiates its church from the Catholic Church.
For lunch we had some earth shatteringly amazing pizza, followed by café (typically Italian – very strong espresso, and delicious). We then walked around Trastevere, which is a cute little neighborhood with a great hill that offered a lovely view of the city. We then took a break at the hostel, re-grouped, emailed (this hostel had wireless that worked with my Mac, which was greatly appreciated – the wireless in Spain had not liked my Mac for some reason). For dinner I had Gnocchi, which was again absolutely amazing. I love Italian food and will be so sad to leave it behind, though I’m excited to eat more delicious Spanish food in Barcelona). We then went to see the Spanish Steps, which were gorgeous, particularly with the lights since it was dark out. The weather was great the whole time we were there – sunny and nice and warm, probably around 65 to 70).
This morning we got another early start and headed over to the Pantheon, where we saw the Rotunda and the Piazza Navona. We also found a Deutche Bank (they don’t charge you ATM fees, like Barclay’s in the UK, if you have Bank of America, so Catherine and I are ALWAYS excited to find one). We then checked out the Coliseum, which was SO big! It was quite impressive. We also walked by the Roman Forum before we grabbed some lunch. I had tomato soup, which sounds simple, but was wonderful. We then headed back to the hostel to regroup and then grabbed some café before heading to the train station to catch our train to Florence!
In other news, I have figured out my living situation for next year! I’m very excited to be living in the Fred in a quad with Catherine and our friends Fiona and Grace! That will make for an amazing senior year rooming experience!
Up next, Florence! I hope you’re all well and happy and enjoying life wherever you are!
Tuesday 7 April 2009
Andalucia!
Hello again!
So here’s my first update from the road… Andalucia! Andalucia is the southern province in Spain. I visited Kendra in Granada, Catherine in Cordoba, and traveled with Catherine, Kendra, and Kendra’s roommate from UCLA, Drew, to Sevilla.
The first leg of my epic journey was a very long day. I left really early due to the G20 protests in London. They were threatening transportation disruptions and I didn’t want to miss my flight. After a very long journey, I got to Madrid, where I had quite the adventure getting to a bus to take me to Granada. I finally found a bus that wasn’t full, after a metro adventure (the Madrid metro is DEFINITELY more confusing than the Underground… I’m so spoiled!). The bus ride was beautiful and I got to see a lot of Spain as Madrid is fairly far north whereas Granada is quite far south. Five and a half hours later, I finally made it to Granada, where I took a city bus to Kendra’s apartment (or piso as they call them here), where I met Drew and Kendra’s roommates. We hung out with some of her friends that night and I got to practice my Spanish, which was great. I’ve been surprised how much has come back to me – I understand most of what people say and it’s been getting easier and easier to communicate what I want to say.
Kendra and I went for a run the next morning, which was great since it was such a beautiful day. I have LOVED the Spanish weather – warm, sunny, fresh air – it’s been a welcome break from the fog of London. We then walked up to the Muslim quarter of the city, called the Albacin, to see the Alhambra before I actually went into it. Granada was the last Muslim stronghold, which is why they have the Alhambra there – it was their palace and final base and was so beautiful that the Romans couldn’t find it in them to knock it down when they got to Granada. It was truly spectacular. There was courtyard after courtyard, surrounded by complicated engravings and decoration. The gardens were huge and equally impressive.
After the Alhambra, we headed into the city center to meet Kendra’s friends for churros and chocolate, a typical Spanish treat. Quite delicious and it’s a good thing I don’t live in Granada because I would eat them far too often, haha. We went out for Tapas for dinner and then headed back to the piso to pack.
The next morning we took the bus to Cordoba for my glorious reunion with Catherine! Cordoba, as Kendra says, definitely wins the superlative award for best smells. The food, the orange blossoms, and the general city were just absolutely delightful. After dropping stuff off at our hostel, which was very nice, I had lunch with Catherine and her host mom, Pilar, which was another great chance to practice my Spanish. She cooked typical Cordobes food, which was delicious! We then met back up with Drew and Kendra and went to the Mezquita, the main attraction in Cordoba. Here, instead of leaving everything intact as with the Alhambra, the Romans plopped a Cathedral down right in the middle of a mosque, yet left the rest of the mosque as is. It’s very intriguing and an interesting combination of the Muslim and Christian worlds. The arches were gorgeous and the cathedral portion was very impressive. After this we went for some ice cream and then strolled around the city. Eventually we stopped by the river and explored some Roman ruins, which were really interesting. Seeing all of the Roman structures really impresses upon you just how old Spanish history is, especially when considering that they took over from the Muslims.
For dinner that night we went to Catherine’s friend Tara’s apartment, where we cooked a delicious dinner. We had quite the international exchange of languages, as Kendra and Catherine both speak Spanish, I more or less speak Spanish and can throw in a phrase or two in French, Drew speaks a little Spanish, German, and Russian, and then Tara spoke a little German and Spanish. Tara and Catherine’s friend Stephanie also ate with us, and she is from Austria. She spoke German, Spanish, Italian, French, and English. It was great to hear so many languages and discussion of the world floating around the dinner table.
The next morning we headed to the Cordoba zoo! It was a great way to expand my Spanish animal vocabulary, and was a very inexpensively delightful time. We also stopped by the Botanical Gardens, which were lovely, where Drew made friends with a stray cat. We also saw our first Paso. We were, at this point, fascinated, as they are the parades that happen throughout Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Spain, particularly in Cordoba, Granada, and Sevilla. The people in it wear pointy hats and robes (I feel terrible for saying this, but they look exactly like the Ku Klux Klan). After about 100 of these people go by, a band follows them, playing traditional Spanish music (though it’s definitely not uplifting Spanish music – think creepy funeral durge). Then there is a sort of float that goes by, but many men carry it. After some more pointy hat people, the Paso ends.
After an epic battle to find wireless internet, Kendra and I got to talk to our parents, which was great since they were all at my parents house together. After that we headed out to try some Mexican food. Mexican food in Spain? Not going to lie, a little strange. The name Burrito Loco might have been a tip-off, in retrospect, but oh well. They had the Nachos down though, haha. Then back to the hostel to pack up my life into my backpack.
We left early Monday morning to head to Sevilla on the train. When we got there we walked around the touristy section and saw the Cathedral from the outside. The city was absolutely beautiful and we all immediately fell in love with it. We checked in to our hostle then, and then went to search for some lunch. Kendra and I found some sandwiches that were quite cheap and were pre-packaged at the grocery store, so we decided to go for that. They were… interesting. We were rather perplexed that they were so dry and generally icky, until Drew, the one person who can’t read Spanish, pointed out that we were supposed to bake them in the oven. Oh well, haha. At least we had some apples and a baguette. We then saw our first Sevillian Paso, which was about the same as the first one. We slowly progressed to the river, where we rented… wait for it… PADDLEBOATS. It was amazing and we had a great time watching the Pasos cross the river on the bridges. It was also the cheapest activity I have ever experience. We then made our way over to some wonderful gardens, where we found… wait for it… SURRIES! Again, cheap, great way to see the gardens, and between Drew’s driving, my epic peddling, and Catherine and Kendra’s photographic talents, it was a hilarious ride. We then walked around the park a little more and decided to head back to the hostel for showers. This was at about six. Oh man, if only we knew what was to come. Let me preface this by saying that Pisos 1-3 were really cool, interesting cultural learning experiences. I love learning about cultural traditions and Semana Santa is a HUGE deal in Spain so I’m really glad that we were there for it and got to see the Pisos. Everyone gets pretty dressed up and the little kids are dressed ADORABLY. The little girls all have on dresses or skirts and bows in their hair and the boys have on khaki shorts with knee high socks and loafers with button up shirts. The Spanish seem to take great care in dressing their children, and I love it and am definitely doing this to my children one day because it would make for some adorable photos.
I should also mention that Pasos move VERY slowly. As the men in Sevilla in particular carry the “floats” on their necks (evidently they train for this for a very long tim), they have to take many breaks and don’t move very fast. There are also lots of children under the pointy hats, and their parents often have to stop to give them water or snacks. Basically, Pasos are one of the slower processes ever. And surprise! There were 9 of them. You can’t cross the street when there is a Paso. And they go EVERYWHERE. To cut a long story short, we got trapped by Pasos and despite our best attempts for about 3-4 hours, we couldn’t get back to our hostel. We tried – oh we tried – but no luck. There were SO MANY PEOPLE in the streets – Semana Santa is quite the event in Spain. We finally gave up, ate dinner, and the finally headed back to the hostel with much greater success. We headed to bed as early as possible, to get ready for Catherine and I’s flight to Rome!
Next update to look for… Italy! I hope you are all well and happy and having a wonderful April wherever you are!
So here’s my first update from the road… Andalucia! Andalucia is the southern province in Spain. I visited Kendra in Granada, Catherine in Cordoba, and traveled with Catherine, Kendra, and Kendra’s roommate from UCLA, Drew, to Sevilla.
The first leg of my epic journey was a very long day. I left really early due to the G20 protests in London. They were threatening transportation disruptions and I didn’t want to miss my flight. After a very long journey, I got to Madrid, where I had quite the adventure getting to a bus to take me to Granada. I finally found a bus that wasn’t full, after a metro adventure (the Madrid metro is DEFINITELY more confusing than the Underground… I’m so spoiled!). The bus ride was beautiful and I got to see a lot of Spain as Madrid is fairly far north whereas Granada is quite far south. Five and a half hours later, I finally made it to Granada, where I took a city bus to Kendra’s apartment (or piso as they call them here), where I met Drew and Kendra’s roommates. We hung out with some of her friends that night and I got to practice my Spanish, which was great. I’ve been surprised how much has come back to me – I understand most of what people say and it’s been getting easier and easier to communicate what I want to say.
Kendra and I went for a run the next morning, which was great since it was such a beautiful day. I have LOVED the Spanish weather – warm, sunny, fresh air – it’s been a welcome break from the fog of London. We then walked up to the Muslim quarter of the city, called the Albacin, to see the Alhambra before I actually went into it. Granada was the last Muslim stronghold, which is why they have the Alhambra there – it was their palace and final base and was so beautiful that the Romans couldn’t find it in them to knock it down when they got to Granada. It was truly spectacular. There was courtyard after courtyard, surrounded by complicated engravings and decoration. The gardens were huge and equally impressive.
After the Alhambra, we headed into the city center to meet Kendra’s friends for churros and chocolate, a typical Spanish treat. Quite delicious and it’s a good thing I don’t live in Granada because I would eat them far too often, haha. We went out for Tapas for dinner and then headed back to the piso to pack.
The next morning we took the bus to Cordoba for my glorious reunion with Catherine! Cordoba, as Kendra says, definitely wins the superlative award for best smells. The food, the orange blossoms, and the general city were just absolutely delightful. After dropping stuff off at our hostel, which was very nice, I had lunch with Catherine and her host mom, Pilar, which was another great chance to practice my Spanish. She cooked typical Cordobes food, which was delicious! We then met back up with Drew and Kendra and went to the Mezquita, the main attraction in Cordoba. Here, instead of leaving everything intact as with the Alhambra, the Romans plopped a Cathedral down right in the middle of a mosque, yet left the rest of the mosque as is. It’s very intriguing and an interesting combination of the Muslim and Christian worlds. The arches were gorgeous and the cathedral portion was very impressive. After this we went for some ice cream and then strolled around the city. Eventually we stopped by the river and explored some Roman ruins, which were really interesting. Seeing all of the Roman structures really impresses upon you just how old Spanish history is, especially when considering that they took over from the Muslims.
For dinner that night we went to Catherine’s friend Tara’s apartment, where we cooked a delicious dinner. We had quite the international exchange of languages, as Kendra and Catherine both speak Spanish, I more or less speak Spanish and can throw in a phrase or two in French, Drew speaks a little Spanish, German, and Russian, and then Tara spoke a little German and Spanish. Tara and Catherine’s friend Stephanie also ate with us, and she is from Austria. She spoke German, Spanish, Italian, French, and English. It was great to hear so many languages and discussion of the world floating around the dinner table.
The next morning we headed to the Cordoba zoo! It was a great way to expand my Spanish animal vocabulary, and was a very inexpensively delightful time. We also stopped by the Botanical Gardens, which were lovely, where Drew made friends with a stray cat. We also saw our first Paso. We were, at this point, fascinated, as they are the parades that happen throughout Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Spain, particularly in Cordoba, Granada, and Sevilla. The people in it wear pointy hats and robes (I feel terrible for saying this, but they look exactly like the Ku Klux Klan). After about 100 of these people go by, a band follows them, playing traditional Spanish music (though it’s definitely not uplifting Spanish music – think creepy funeral durge). Then there is a sort of float that goes by, but many men carry it. After some more pointy hat people, the Paso ends.
After an epic battle to find wireless internet, Kendra and I got to talk to our parents, which was great since they were all at my parents house together. After that we headed out to try some Mexican food. Mexican food in Spain? Not going to lie, a little strange. The name Burrito Loco might have been a tip-off, in retrospect, but oh well. They had the Nachos down though, haha. Then back to the hostel to pack up my life into my backpack.
We left early Monday morning to head to Sevilla on the train. When we got there we walked around the touristy section and saw the Cathedral from the outside. The city was absolutely beautiful and we all immediately fell in love with it. We checked in to our hostle then, and then went to search for some lunch. Kendra and I found some sandwiches that were quite cheap and were pre-packaged at the grocery store, so we decided to go for that. They were… interesting. We were rather perplexed that they were so dry and generally icky, until Drew, the one person who can’t read Spanish, pointed out that we were supposed to bake them in the oven. Oh well, haha. At least we had some apples and a baguette. We then saw our first Sevillian Paso, which was about the same as the first one. We slowly progressed to the river, where we rented… wait for it… PADDLEBOATS. It was amazing and we had a great time watching the Pasos cross the river on the bridges. It was also the cheapest activity I have ever experience. We then made our way over to some wonderful gardens, where we found… wait for it… SURRIES! Again, cheap, great way to see the gardens, and between Drew’s driving, my epic peddling, and Catherine and Kendra’s photographic talents, it was a hilarious ride. We then walked around the park a little more and decided to head back to the hostel for showers. This was at about six. Oh man, if only we knew what was to come. Let me preface this by saying that Pisos 1-3 were really cool, interesting cultural learning experiences. I love learning about cultural traditions and Semana Santa is a HUGE deal in Spain so I’m really glad that we were there for it and got to see the Pisos. Everyone gets pretty dressed up and the little kids are dressed ADORABLY. The little girls all have on dresses or skirts and bows in their hair and the boys have on khaki shorts with knee high socks and loafers with button up shirts. The Spanish seem to take great care in dressing their children, and I love it and am definitely doing this to my children one day because it would make for some adorable photos.
I should also mention that Pasos move VERY slowly. As the men in Sevilla in particular carry the “floats” on their necks (evidently they train for this for a very long tim), they have to take many breaks and don’t move very fast. There are also lots of children under the pointy hats, and their parents often have to stop to give them water or snacks. Basically, Pasos are one of the slower processes ever. And surprise! There were 9 of them. You can’t cross the street when there is a Paso. And they go EVERYWHERE. To cut a long story short, we got trapped by Pasos and despite our best attempts for about 3-4 hours, we couldn’t get back to our hostel. We tried – oh we tried – but no luck. There were SO MANY PEOPLE in the streets – Semana Santa is quite the event in Spain. We finally gave up, ate dinner, and the finally headed back to the hostel with much greater success. We headed to bed as early as possible, to get ready for Catherine and I’s flight to Rome!
Next update to look for… Italy! I hope you are all well and happy and having a wonderful April wherever you are!
Friday 3 April 2009
Wales!
Hey everyone,
My adventure has begun! 3 weeks of travel here I come. However first I must catch all of you up on my last few days in the U.K.
I went to Wales with Arcadia, my study abroad program. There actually weren’t any other Queen Mary students on the trip, so the other students were from colleges around London, England, and Wales. We took a coach, which was an epic 8-hour ride due to traffic. However the countryside was beautiful and I got a bunch of research reading done for my Medieval Troy paper. In a short departure from the topic of Wales, I am nearly done with all of my work! So crazy! I finished three out of my four final essays before I left, and now just have to finish up one more when I get back at the end of this month. That should make my trip a lot more relaxing.
Anyways, back to Wales. I made friends with three girls, Paige, Kelly, and Sara, who were all great. We ended up rooming together in the hostel and hanging out for a lot of the weekend. The night we got there, all of the people on the trip hung out in the common room of the hostel, which was nice. The hostel provided all of our meals, which was great.
Saturday was our first day of our “Adventure Weekend”. In the morning I went rock climbing in an old quarry, which was fantastic and really fun. The only downside was that it was REALLY windy and cold. But the hike up to the quarry was gorgeous and it was really fun to take my experience rock climbing indoors at Planet Granite with my dad and apply it to some outdoor climbing! We headed back for lunch, and then went kayaking, after donning several layers of wetsuits and jackets to hold off the cold water and wind. I really enjoyed kayaking – it’s been a while since I’ve gone and I loved being on the water and getting to do some physical activity outdoors!
Saturday night Paige, Kelly, Sara, Ben and I went with Duncan, Arcadia’s program director who was also on the trip with us, to check out the Mountain Rescue Center nearby. It turned out that Duncan’s brother is one of the 6 people in charge of it. This was actually the highlight of my weekend, because it was one of those really great cultural experiences that are so random that I never would have thought about. Mountain Rescue in the UK is entirely run by volunteers and receives no government funding. They occasionally will get some help from the Royal Air Force if they need helicopter assistance, but usually they go into the mountains and get people out on stretchers. We got to see their base, their general equipment, and talked for a really long time with Duncan’s brother, Rhys, about his experiences and the differences between various Mountain Rescue services in different countries. We then stopped by a cute pub in Llanberis, the Welsh town we were staying in, had a pint, and then headed back for bed.
Sunday morning we went on an epic hike. Sunday was a lot sunnier, and though it was still cold and windy at the top, the sun was really nice. Paige, Kelly, and I beat all the boys in our group, which we took great pride in, haha. It was a really steep and although it was only about 10 kilometers (a little over 6 miles), I definitely could feel the hike by the end. The views were absolutely surreal and chatting with our guide, Jim, about Welsh and American culture was great.
After our hike we all piled back onto the bus for our much shorter bus ride back (no traffic thankfully) and then I headed back to Queen Mary, where I spent my last 3 days packing and working on my papers!
Right now I’m in Granada visiting my cousin, Kendra, which has been absolutely fantastic. I’ll update you on that a little later, so for now, I hope you are all healthy, happy, and having a wonderful time wherever you are in the world! I miss you all and can’t wait to see you soon!
My adventure has begun! 3 weeks of travel here I come. However first I must catch all of you up on my last few days in the U.K.
I went to Wales with Arcadia, my study abroad program. There actually weren’t any other Queen Mary students on the trip, so the other students were from colleges around London, England, and Wales. We took a coach, which was an epic 8-hour ride due to traffic. However the countryside was beautiful and I got a bunch of research reading done for my Medieval Troy paper. In a short departure from the topic of Wales, I am nearly done with all of my work! So crazy! I finished three out of my four final essays before I left, and now just have to finish up one more when I get back at the end of this month. That should make my trip a lot more relaxing.
Anyways, back to Wales. I made friends with three girls, Paige, Kelly, and Sara, who were all great. We ended up rooming together in the hostel and hanging out for a lot of the weekend. The night we got there, all of the people on the trip hung out in the common room of the hostel, which was nice. The hostel provided all of our meals, which was great.
Saturday was our first day of our “Adventure Weekend”. In the morning I went rock climbing in an old quarry, which was fantastic and really fun. The only downside was that it was REALLY windy and cold. But the hike up to the quarry was gorgeous and it was really fun to take my experience rock climbing indoors at Planet Granite with my dad and apply it to some outdoor climbing! We headed back for lunch, and then went kayaking, after donning several layers of wetsuits and jackets to hold off the cold water and wind. I really enjoyed kayaking – it’s been a while since I’ve gone and I loved being on the water and getting to do some physical activity outdoors!
Saturday night Paige, Kelly, Sara, Ben and I went with Duncan, Arcadia’s program director who was also on the trip with us, to check out the Mountain Rescue Center nearby. It turned out that Duncan’s brother is one of the 6 people in charge of it. This was actually the highlight of my weekend, because it was one of those really great cultural experiences that are so random that I never would have thought about. Mountain Rescue in the UK is entirely run by volunteers and receives no government funding. They occasionally will get some help from the Royal Air Force if they need helicopter assistance, but usually they go into the mountains and get people out on stretchers. We got to see their base, their general equipment, and talked for a really long time with Duncan’s brother, Rhys, about his experiences and the differences between various Mountain Rescue services in different countries. We then stopped by a cute pub in Llanberis, the Welsh town we were staying in, had a pint, and then headed back for bed.
Sunday morning we went on an epic hike. Sunday was a lot sunnier, and though it was still cold and windy at the top, the sun was really nice. Paige, Kelly, and I beat all the boys in our group, which we took great pride in, haha. It was a really steep and although it was only about 10 kilometers (a little over 6 miles), I definitely could feel the hike by the end. The views were absolutely surreal and chatting with our guide, Jim, about Welsh and American culture was great.
After our hike we all piled back onto the bus for our much shorter bus ride back (no traffic thankfully) and then I headed back to Queen Mary, where I spent my last 3 days packing and working on my papers!
Right now I’m in Granada visiting my cousin, Kendra, which has been absolutely fantastic. I’ll update you on that a little later, so for now, I hope you are all healthy, happy, and having a wonderful time wherever you are in the world! I miss you all and can’t wait to see you soon!
Sunday 22 March 2009
My Virginia Woolf Pilgrimage and Belgium
Hey everyone,
So, two things to update you on!
1. What my professors referred to as our "pilgrimage": my trip to Rodmell and Monk's house, Virginia Woolf's country home, as well as to the River Ouse, the river where Woolf drowned herself. An uplifting reason for our journey? Definitely not. A little creepy? Definitely yes. However, I should add, as I hope my photos reflect, that Sussex, the area of England where Rodmell is located, is beautiful. It reminded my fellow Californian classmate and I of the area around Gilroy, with hills surrounding golden fields. It was wonderful to get out of the city and into the countryside. When we got to the river, we read Woolf's last letters and took a moment to think about what an influential writer she really was. After our fairly long hike back to Rodmell, the town, we had our sack lunches in the tiny town hall there. One of my professors had brought tea and biscuits, and two of my adorably British classmates were kind enough to make everyone tea - it was delightfully English and my American friends and I got quite a kick out of it. Overall, it was a great way to spend the day, and the bus ride there was just as beautiful as the town itself. I got to pay homage to a writer who has certainly changed my views on literature and writing itself, and enjoyed a lovely day in the countryside.
2. Belgium - Brussels and Bruges! So I got to Brussels at the rather early hour of 9 a.m., after taking a Eurostar train through the Chunnel that left at 5:57 a.m. I dragged poor Roger, whose train didn't leave until noon that day, to St. Pancras at 4:30 a.m. and am forever indebted to him for running with me, backpacks and all, to make our bus. Suffice it to say, I was a little sleepy, and slept on the train ride there. Once I got there I quickly discovered just how small the city is, as I was able to walk around the whole city very easily. Katie got in a little later, and after dropping our stuff off at our hostel (which was VERY nice! very clean, nice staff, good roommates - an all-around great hostel experience), we explored the city. We saw the Cathedral, the Grand Place (when I say Place think French/Belgian version of Piazza), had chocolate (I will never be able to truly enjoy Hershey's EVER again), found some absolutely breathtaking architecture, and enjoyed the flowers that were all over the city. After a late dinner and some reading, we called it a night. The next day we got up, enjoyed breakfast at the hostel (it came with the price of the rooms, hooray free food!), and grabbed a train to Bruges, otherwise known as the Venice of the North thanks to the canals throughout the city. The train ride was gorgeous - the Belgian countryside doesn't even look real it's so green. Bruges itself was also very small, so after checking out the Madonna and Child, some churches and generally cool architecture, we hit the Chocolate Museum. This was arguably my favorite activity of the weekend - it was absolutely hysterical, as were the English translations. Plus we got to watch hazelnut-filled chocolates made, and then eat them, and really, who can say no to that. After delicious coffee and chocolates, we headed back to Brussels for another relaxing evening. Overall, a delightful weekend!
Pardon me while I wax philosophical here for a moment. On my various train rides this weekend, I devoured several books (including Woolf's last... surprisingly saddening), and had a lot of time to reflect on my experiences in foreign countries thus far. While I always claim that I am sympathetic to immigrants in the United States, and while I was sympathetic to as much of an extent as possible, I have a new, much deeper appreciation for just how much they go through to "find the American dream". It baffles me to think that here I am, in England most of the time, where I speak the language, am generally familiar with the norms of the country, and am fortunate enough to easily blunder my way in and out of customs and immigration with my American passport, and yet I still am overwhelmed by at least one thing each day. I cannot even begin to imagine how emotionally and even physically taxing it must be for immigrants in the United States, who often don't speak the language, often have no concept of the social, political, or economic norms in America, who often have no friends to ask for help, and who are surrounded by a country that is constantly trying to keep them out and then even push them out, to the extent that we literally have fences separating our country from Mexico (and might I add here that our economy would crumble if we were actually successful at keeping immigrants out). While getting kicked off a train or yelled at in a grocery store for making, what must seem to the British to be stupid, mistakes can ruin my day for a few hours, imagine the plethora of day-ruining events that happen to immigrants in the United States every day. They just want to live a happy, healthy life - and isn't that what we all want? Thanks for bearing with me - suffice it to say that when I return, I will have so much more patience and empathy for anyone unfamiliar with American customs.
In upcoming news, next up, Wales adventure weekend! I hope you are all happy, healthy, safe, and enjoying the coming of spring! (The arrival of sunshine in London has improved my day-to-day life beyond measure!)
Peace and love,
Jordyn
So, two things to update you on!
1. What my professors referred to as our "pilgrimage": my trip to Rodmell and Monk's house, Virginia Woolf's country home, as well as to the River Ouse, the river where Woolf drowned herself. An uplifting reason for our journey? Definitely not. A little creepy? Definitely yes. However, I should add, as I hope my photos reflect, that Sussex, the area of England where Rodmell is located, is beautiful. It reminded my fellow Californian classmate and I of the area around Gilroy, with hills surrounding golden fields. It was wonderful to get out of the city and into the countryside. When we got to the river, we read Woolf's last letters and took a moment to think about what an influential writer she really was. After our fairly long hike back to Rodmell, the town, we had our sack lunches in the tiny town hall there. One of my professors had brought tea and biscuits, and two of my adorably British classmates were kind enough to make everyone tea - it was delightfully English and my American friends and I got quite a kick out of it. Overall, it was a great way to spend the day, and the bus ride there was just as beautiful as the town itself. I got to pay homage to a writer who has certainly changed my views on literature and writing itself, and enjoyed a lovely day in the countryside.
2. Belgium - Brussels and Bruges! So I got to Brussels at the rather early hour of 9 a.m., after taking a Eurostar train through the Chunnel that left at 5:57 a.m. I dragged poor Roger, whose train didn't leave until noon that day, to St. Pancras at 4:30 a.m. and am forever indebted to him for running with me, backpacks and all, to make our bus. Suffice it to say, I was a little sleepy, and slept on the train ride there. Once I got there I quickly discovered just how small the city is, as I was able to walk around the whole city very easily. Katie got in a little later, and after dropping our stuff off at our hostel (which was VERY nice! very clean, nice staff, good roommates - an all-around great hostel experience), we explored the city. We saw the Cathedral, the Grand Place (when I say Place think French/Belgian version of Piazza), had chocolate (I will never be able to truly enjoy Hershey's EVER again), found some absolutely breathtaking architecture, and enjoyed the flowers that were all over the city. After a late dinner and some reading, we called it a night. The next day we got up, enjoyed breakfast at the hostel (it came with the price of the rooms, hooray free food!), and grabbed a train to Bruges, otherwise known as the Venice of the North thanks to the canals throughout the city. The train ride was gorgeous - the Belgian countryside doesn't even look real it's so green. Bruges itself was also very small, so after checking out the Madonna and Child, some churches and generally cool architecture, we hit the Chocolate Museum. This was arguably my favorite activity of the weekend - it was absolutely hysterical, as were the English translations. Plus we got to watch hazelnut-filled chocolates made, and then eat them, and really, who can say no to that. After delicious coffee and chocolates, we headed back to Brussels for another relaxing evening. Overall, a delightful weekend!
Pardon me while I wax philosophical here for a moment. On my various train rides this weekend, I devoured several books (including Woolf's last... surprisingly saddening), and had a lot of time to reflect on my experiences in foreign countries thus far. While I always claim that I am sympathetic to immigrants in the United States, and while I was sympathetic to as much of an extent as possible, I have a new, much deeper appreciation for just how much they go through to "find the American dream". It baffles me to think that here I am, in England most of the time, where I speak the language, am generally familiar with the norms of the country, and am fortunate enough to easily blunder my way in and out of customs and immigration with my American passport, and yet I still am overwhelmed by at least one thing each day. I cannot even begin to imagine how emotionally and even physically taxing it must be for immigrants in the United States, who often don't speak the language, often have no concept of the social, political, or economic norms in America, who often have no friends to ask for help, and who are surrounded by a country that is constantly trying to keep them out and then even push them out, to the extent that we literally have fences separating our country from Mexico (and might I add here that our economy would crumble if we were actually successful at keeping immigrants out). While getting kicked off a train or yelled at in a grocery store for making, what must seem to the British to be stupid, mistakes can ruin my day for a few hours, imagine the plethora of day-ruining events that happen to immigrants in the United States every day. They just want to live a happy, healthy life - and isn't that what we all want? Thanks for bearing with me - suffice it to say that when I return, I will have so much more patience and empathy for anyone unfamiliar with American customs.
In upcoming news, next up, Wales adventure weekend! I hope you are all happy, healthy, safe, and enjoying the coming of spring! (The arrival of sunshine in London has improved my day-to-day life beyond measure!)
Peace and love,
Jordyn
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