Discovering Far Off Places...

Aiming for fall?

2011-09-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. It gets a little cooler, a lot more colorful, and has become my signature time to leave on excursions (one year today I will be waking up my first morning in Dublin with Jen). This has been one of the first years, as such, that I have been less than thrilled with its coming. I have many months to my next trip, and this summer was so short. Not to say that this last bit of summer hasn't been enjoyable. The adoption was finalized, my mom and I both had fun birthdays, I got to work at Polo. Lots of things have occured this month.
None the less, I am just not excited for summer to be over. Every night when I get off work and it's dark it makes me sad. Which is an odd feeling, as at this time last year, I was looking forward to spending the shortest day of the year in as much darkness as I could. I feel as though I am just sitting around biding my time. I need to stop spending money, and focus on my trips. But they are just far enough away to make them hard for me to anticipate. I think they haven't quite fully sunk in yet, as they all came up so quickly. I need to get myself in gear!

Just For Jen

2011-08-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted all summer, but stuff has definitely been happening. As Jen pointed out to me, this is unacceptable behavior. Thus, this post will hopefully be rather long, but satisfying to my past roommate and future travel companion. :)

The summer started off fairly low key. The weather was fairly bad, so we weren't doing a lot. We didn't even get the boat in the water til almost August. Still, we would spend weekends up at the lake doing puzzles and going on walks. We like to leave the dogs off-leash which the dogs love, but has led to several mishaps. The first was the burrs. Still not quite sure what type of plant it was, but it was like cheatgrass enclosed in some weird sticky mud. It plastered itself down to their skin and we could not brush it out. This is how I learned I do not have a calling as a dog groomer. Even with a professional dog razor they looked awful. The first day it was just Riley, but the next morning they both found it. John had to take them to get professionally done several days later, but at least we got the muck out of them for the time being.

Shortly after this was the Fourth of July. Since there had been so much rain and snow this spring, all the rivers in the area were really high. So John went and bought us river rafting tubes so we could go down the Priest River. When we first went to step in, it was frigid! But after the first set of rapids, it suddenly didn't seem quite so cold anymore. Still, it would continually catch me off guard when I got a face full of ice water over my head. None the less, it was a ton of fun! We only wished it had been nicer earlier in the season so we could have gone when the river was higher still. But as John put it, it probably wouldn't be fun to get in water that cold when the air was equally as cold.
The next day, Jeanne, Brandon, Hailey and Holden came up to the cabin for the day. Hailey and Holden were master butterfly catchers. I believe their grand total for the day was 19. Hailey even caught 3 in one swoop at one point. The kids splashed in the shallow water while the rest of us enjoyed the sunshine. Jeanne and Brandon introduced us to their "spicy lemonade." It was so good! It had jalapenos and basil mixed in, which made it quite possibly my new favorite lemonade. After awhile, Jeanne and I decided to be brave and just dive in off the end of the dock. Brandon was laughing at us for quite a while for all the noises we made as soon as we surfaced. Still, the experience was fun, and we all got a good laugh at the end.

The following weekend was the Portland Antique Show. Deena, my mom, and I had a space rented and set off at 4 in the morning for Portland to go buy, sell, and have a good ol' time. It really is an amazing show, and a lot of fun. Deena was pleased that she sold many of the things she has trouble selling here in Spokane, my mom got to both shop and sell, and I learned about diamonds. Deena taught me a few basics and then sent me out to scout the show to compare prices for her. I have never before liked diamonds on myself, but I found a diamond ring I would have been happy to own. Unfortunately I apparently go straight for the big boys and became attached to a several thousand dollar ring. The one nice part about it being so far out of my price range is it kills most of the attraction to it.
On Saturday, I met up with Anne Peasley and headed downtown. I had received an invitation the week earlier to show up for the filming of the Portland scene of the next "Where the Hell is Matt." If everything goes well, I could be in the 2011 video, unless the location gets cut. Fingers crossed! Not only was this experience a ton of fun, but I also got to meet Matt, who is pretty much my hero for finding a way to get paid to travel like this. The people who were there were hilarious too. We were told we could come in costume, as long as it wasn't trademarked, to identify ourselves in the video later. There was a giant head of broccoli, the SST (supershottwins) who had canisters, each with a shot of vodka, strapped all over their chests, someone with a flaming pitchfork, and several other highly amusing costumes. Everyone had a great time, doing silly dance routines. My favorite was, and a quote his dance move terms: Lasso, Lasso, Stomp the bug, Stomp the bug, Feet together, Hop, Left, Right, Laaaaaaaaaawnmower!
I bought Matt's book and the "I danced with Matt" shirt and he signed both. He also let me take a video dancing with him. It is very dorky, and makes me exceedingly happy every time I watch it. The book was a very poor choice for me though. I read about his experiences (even the bad), and all I want to do is go to these places and encounter such things. It is all so exciting! (Hey Jen, 56 weeks!)

The weekend after this (notice a trend yet?), was the release of the final Harry Potter movie. I, of course, had plans to go with several of my friends to the midnight movie. And it was so worth it. I spent the day beforehand learning how to make pumpkin juice, and getting my costume out of storage and put together. Heather, Alex, Jenn, and Jen were all there, and then Heather and I decided to go run around and take pictures with all the best costumes. We found an amazing Luna, Neville, Draco, Bellatrix, and Lord Voldemort himself. There was even a girl dressed as Harry from the cover of the first book, and it was amazing how much she looked like it. We gave her total props. At one point, a really drunk (and definitely underage) Professor Slughorn staggered his way into one of our pictures, to our amusement. Not ten minutes later he was throwing up all over himself and being led away, so drunk he didn't understand he was being kicked out, and thinking he was already watching the movie (which was an hour and a half from starting still). The movie was really good too. The best on yet. Still wasn't perfect, and I have my peeves, but overall, I was quite satisfied.
The following morning, I had to open at the bagel shop, but my mom got me off early so I could go have lunch with Heather's family, followed by watching the movie once more with them. Heather and I wore our themed T-Shirts and had a great time watching it once more. Heather even came prepared with Kleenex for me both times. She knows what a movie sap I am. Then we went to her parents condo and made Harry Potpies, Cockroach Clusters, Butterbeer, and had Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans out. It was all delicious, particularly the Potpies and Butterbeer. Ron ate most of the Cockroach Clusters, so they were definitely a hit too.

Finally the Harry Potter craze slowed down in our lives and the summer started to kick into full swing. We've been bridesmaid dress shopping like fiends all summer for Heather's wedding, only to have something foil the ones we like at the last minute and have to start at ground zero all over again. It is very frustrating. We are currently still without dresses, though Heather has found cake she likes. It was progress of some sort.

Then came the Priest Lake excursions. The whole family made it up this year, mostly overlapping, and it was incredible. I got the full week and a half off of work and spent most of that time in the boat every day. To summarize it: biking, hiking, surfing, skiing, wake boarding, climbing, wandering, remembering, tubing, snaking, roofball, swimming, diving, tanning, lazing, eating. Got it?
The first day everyone was up there was Jinnie's memorial service. Everyone spoke at the table, and some people even flew in only for the day to be there. It was very nice. Even Kashi, Brian, and Scott made it, which I think meant a lot to different people in the family. We ate some of Jinnie's signature dishes, and told and listened to our favorite stories. It was sad, but wonderful.
After that, the adventures began. David would pile us into the boat first thing in the morning to begin the water sports. We started with the usual. Everyone tubing, some skiing, me surfing. Then the sports exploded. All the kids tried and succeeded at everything. It was so much fun to watch them all find their favorite sport. Gaia was an amazing surfer, and even caught some great air wake boarding. Ainsley looks like a natural on the wake board. Liam is an awesome little skier. That got me to try wake boarding again, which I was finally fairly successful at, and all the adults tried surfing. Paula even got to the point of propelling herself! David just pulled us all day long. Except when we went to Hill's for drinks and pickle ball, or the sunken island for a mid-lake swim.
Every morning most of us went on a 6:30 bike ride, to try to see the moose. We never did on that ride, but it was always fun and beautiful at that time of day. Very peaceful. Then we let "Ranger Dave" direct us. We all ended up pushing our bikes up steep gravelly hills, hitting dead ends. Really, every one of us should know better than to follow David's directions.
And yet, the following day we did it again. We went to look for the rock slide at Lion's Head on the north side of the lake. It's a natural rock slide with water over it which forms a perfect water slide in nature. Following David's map reading skills, we ended up fording the creek as a human chain to pass bags and kids along, hiking for hours up the mountain (in bad water shoes), before turning around and going home. The hike was a lot of fun, but it would have been more so if it had been planned and we hadn't all ended up tired and with bad blisters from the shoes we wore. We did get an excellent view and found some huge huckleberries though. David wanted to go try again a couple days later, but no one was backing him on the idea. We did have fun teasing him about his ranger skills though, and comparing him to Bob Gregory, who would have never got us lost. Good thing David's a good sport about the teasing, I think some of those are going to be around for awhile.
Next, David and Meridith rented jet skis. We spent the next couple days speeding around the lake on them and having a right good time. I Photoshopped a picture to trick David into thinking he had missed seeing Ainsley ski too, which was actually successful for awhile. We also played a lot of roof ball, ping pong, hunted for snakes, went on a ton of walks, and played a lot of cards. We had several multi-player solitaire games and a couple Gin Rummy tournaments.
Partway through the week, I came back into town for the Michael Buble concert too. My mom, Courianne, Jeanne, Wendi, Becky and I all went together and had a great time. We had an amazing dinner at Clinkerdaggers, before wandering over to the arena. Becky brought us flamingo straws for our drinks, and Courianne got the amusement of seeing my mom get slightly intoxicated. Michael's opening act was a band called Naturally 7, who imitated instruments with their vocal cords. They were incredible! My favorites were the electric guitar, the bass, and the drum set. They sounded just like instruments and got really into their parts, air playing and having a great time on stage. Then following them up with Michael was the icing on the cake. He had fun sliding on his stage ramp, teasing his band, and the audience. After several hours of amazing music, we went out to where we could meet Naturally 7. I bought their CD, they signed it, posed for pictures, and got to meet all their players. It cracked me up how shy the bass player was off stage, when he was one of the more active ones down there.
The night after I got back to the lake was the big pig roast. Al had dug a hole, done months of research, and was roasting a whole pig in the ground Hawaiian style. We all helped him prep the pig, (me by recording the whole thing) which included hauling it to the hole in a wheelbarrow, seasoning it, stuffing its skin with garlic, putting an apple in its mouth, filling its chest with hot stones, wrapping it in banana leaves, foil, and wire mesh, before burying it in the ground for 24 hours. My favorite line of the night was Liam asking, "So, did you just find it dead somewhere?" We all had a good laugh at that, and John had fun daring the little girls to tough the eye and its teeth. Gaia was the only one brave enough, and not squeamish enough to do all the above. In the end it was quite delicious, though not nearly as good as John's pulled pork. They are talking about making it a yearly tradition, so who knows, we may get to do this again next year!

Eventually though, I had to come back to work. I did get to go spend a day on Schweitzer with Heather and Alex though, as they happened to be up there and call me as I got off work the evening before my day off. We played cards, drank huckleberry beer, watched the stars (trying to remember as many constellations as we could, but my astronomy class is rather quickly fading out of my brain), and went huckleberry picking. I had never been up there in the summer before, and it was a fun new way to see the mountain. The view of Pend O'Reille was beautiful, as in the winter it is usually obscured by fog and clouds. It was a fun mini trip, and I enjoyed spending the time with them. I don't get to see nearly as much of Heather as I used to, and it is always good to be able to hang out with her for awhile.

After coming home, my mom and I began painting the house. She had spent all summer trying to pick out colors, and after Judy and I finally told her to just pick one and stop getting more samples, she did. It is going to look amazing! We are doing the main part a rich grey tone, with a hint of purple to it, with cream trim to match the white bricks, and we are doing a deep red accent, including the front door being painted red. The door is what I am most excited about! The colors look amazing together though, and they really make my mom's plants pop out, especially the yellow of her black-eyed Susans. I do enjoy painting too, so its an enjoyable way for me to pay her "rent." She and John gave me permission to stay at home for awhile to save money so that I can try to afford going to Abu Dhabi this year, as well as Europe next fall. I'm sure I can make it work now, and I am really excited whenever I think about these trip potentials. I can't wait to get in touch with Kate and Steve about it, though I am waiting a bit as I know they are doing several different weekend trips to see their friends and for work. I have plenty of time, even if I am antsy to go somewhere new.

Now we are getting ready for GU to start up again at the bagel shop. All the freshman started moving in today, and we are slowing getting back to normal. We were prepping everything really well, and I was even sharpening the knives. Of course, being classic me, I sharpen all the knives with out incident and then as I finish the last one, drop it can catch it just in time to yank it across my own hand. Now I have a lovely deep gash across the side of my palm. My only consolation is that since I had just sharpened the knife, it is probably about the cleanest cut I could ask for. At least it doesn't hurt most of the time, though it is highly obnoxious when it pops open when I try to use my hand too much. I just figured my hands wanted to match with bagel shop knife battle wound scars. My best one up until now was my pinky one from trying to cut the turkey across the sinks. Poor life choice there. At least they make good stories. Now if only it would heal so I can use my hand properly again. Anyway, that about sums up my summer in hyper drive!

lots done in seven days.

2011-06-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

What an exciting week this has been! Lots of catching up to do it would seem.
Last week was Heather's birthday, so I went down to Pullman to visit for the weekend. We had such a good time! I haven't been down to see her since last summer, so just hanging out in general was good, but then we were invited to help bottle wine at the local winery, Merry Cellars. What an experience! I set up, filled, corked, cleaned, foiled, and boxed bottles of wine. I enjoyed the corking the most, even if my arm and hand were very sore the following day. But this didn't stop me from going back again!
Since I spent most of my time on the corker, I ended up with severely purple hands, because it occurs before the bottles are wiped down. I guess they call it "getting caught purple handed" and are talking about making a T-shirt about it. My hands finally unstained the last little bit yesterday morning, just to demonstrate how purple my hands were. And for every half day shift we got to take home a bottle of wine, so I ended up with almost $70 worth of delicious wine. Plus we were allowed to sample what we were bottling. The owners puppy did a little sampling of his own when we weren't looking. Apparently he was licking wine off the floor and got himself drunk the first night that I was helping. He was obviously not feeling well the next day, and slept all morning in his crate.
On top of the amazing wine experience Heather and I got some of her wedding stuff going. We worked on her playlists (at least got a start on it), had lunch with Molly (a fellow bridesmaid I had not yet met), and talked about bridesmaid dresses. Hopefully we'll get the chance to try some on soon, so we can have an idea what the dresses we're considering will look like on us. Pictures online never quite do it justice. We also played a lot of Lego Harry Potter, like the awesomely cool kids that we are.
I've spent the rest of this last week working on my Father's Day present for John. I told him not to expect another gift after this, because there is no way I could ever top this one. A friend and customer of ours from the Bagelshop used to be a judge, and started the paperwork for me for an adult adoption. That's right, I asked John to adopt me this morning. So now papers are in-motion, and once we get the more formal forms and a court appearance, we will finalize it. Mind you, it's really just making official what already was, but it was still wonderful.

Idina Menzel!

2011-05-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight I got to go see Idina Menzel perform with the Spokane Symphony. Wow is all I have to say. I like her even more now than I did before. She was not only an incredible performer, but also seems completely down to earth, and was quite hilarious to boot. My favorite was when she started telling us everything in her pill box to stall for time while her lozenge dissolved. Or when she tipped over her stool and just looked up and said, "I meant to do that..."
She sang part of For Good Capella too, not too mention the Finale B from Rent and Defying Gravity. And her rendition of Don't Rain on my Parade? I don't know if I preferred it or her story about Barbra Streisand that went along with it. Let's just say the story included Tequila shots and calling Beyonce a bitch and you can see my difficulty in this decision.
She also sang us some of the little songs she and her husband wrote for their son. Songs about getting in the car and changing diapers. My favorite is the full out swing song she wrote about him waking up, which besides being amazing, I can totally see her singing to him when he is 16, just to completely embarrass him.
I also liked that she seemed truly surprised that we clapped long enough for her to come back out for a third bow afterward. She was totally cool, and just a normal person, which is nice to see in a successful performer. And after her asides about Wicked, I am even more excited to see it now!
What I really can't believe is that this was my mom's first symphony. How I haven't managed to take her to one yet is beyond me. This was definitely a good first go though. Well, I'm still all giddy from this evening. So I'm going to go rip the two CD's of hers I just bought and try to call it an evening. What a lovely one it was!

Last Leg

2011-04-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

So I have spent my last evening in Ireland in Dublin. An excellent choice (as well as convenient) I though, as I do quite love this city. Now, I love it even more. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day so I enjoyed walking through all the different areas and shopping districts. Plus I finished off my shopping that I wanted to do!..and then some...oh well. It is my last day in Europe for awhile. Unfortunately this was after I had finished my packing, so I got to do it all over again. I think I was rather effective at it though.
After I dropped my stuff off back at the hostel, I decided I needed one last good Irish meal, so I asked the desk guy at the hostel for a recommendation. Wow, was it amazing! Best meal I've eaten in Ireland, and I've really liked the food here so far! The restaurant was called Gallagher's Boxty House, and they were known for their potato dumplings. So I thought I would try them. I got the small one so that I could get dessert too. I wish I hadn't. I scraped my dish completely clean and was still craving more. So then I went for their dark chocolate cake with sauce and ice cream. Equally amazing. I was stuffed, and still wished I had more in front of me.
I also got to walk around the Temple Bar area, which I hadn't made it to yet, for unknown reasons. This is my third mini trip here in two weeks, I'm not really sure what my deal there was. Especially when it turned out to be so awesome. Live music and buskers all over the place, a drunk homeless guy dancing in the middle of the street to some of the buskers (It looked like a cross between the hokey-pokey and the chicken dance), food and the smells of all over the place. Plus tons of signs for the Leprechaun Museum, which I wish I had known about sooner. Oh well, guess I'll have to come back! Darn... :)

Cork it!

2011-04-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Cork was wonderful. I like the smaller cities like that. Big enough that there is stuff to do and things to see, but small enough that you can walk the whole of it. I quite enjoyed just wandering through all the different little stores and markets. I ate a lot of food, and accomplished a lot of nothing. It was wonderful.
The one thing I did do, as was my goal, was Blarney Castle. It was just as I had been told. The castle was quick, cool but nothing stupendous in relation to other castles. But the gardens. Those were amazing. I walked in them for a good couple hours.
Of course, the very first thing I did was bee line it for the top of the castle. Talk about some narrow staircases! And the stone steps were half worn away and rounded and slick from the numerous people tromping up them. I can't imagine living like that. And the kitchen was on the top floor. Talk about a hard working staff you would have in a place like that. Of course the line to the stone wrapped around the top of the castle, so I made small talk with the three Canadian guys behind me. One of them had a hard time with heights and while was braced for the upcoming lean, made an uneasy comment about falling.
This of course led into a whole line of jokes from his friends about not jumping off Blarney Castle. In the end we came to the determination that if this is on your bucket list, it should not be left for last. A person might realize they had finished all the had to live for and just flip off as they kissed the stone! Morbid yes, but we got the guy laughing and he was much more at ease by the time we got up there. He was even nice enough to take a picture for me when it was my turn.
They weren't kidding about leaning back either! I knew the concept of what you do, lean backwards/upside down over the edge of the battlements and kiss the bottom stone. What isn't said is how wide the gap is that you are leaning across. You HAVE to hold on to the bars, cause you are definitely not sitting on anything anymore to reach far enough out. It was a little disconcerting to be dangling like that and knowing that I was only on something solid from just above my knees down. The rest of me was hanging upside down three stories up with only a little hand rail to hold on to. No wonder they have a guy there to brace you! And here I thought it was just a formality to ease peoples minds. Nope, he is very necessary. Quite an experience though, and only time will tell if the eloquence will come to fore now. Should last me seven years though they say.
Now that this was accomplished, I left for the gardens. As I said, stunning. Waterfalls and trees and moss covered boulders everywhere. I found the wishing stairs, but I think I peeked a little on the way down, so I'm fairly sure I'm outta luck there. Though I did get my coin in the stream over my head, so that one is supposed to come true still. There is the Witch's Stone, the Witch's cave, the druids cave and the druid stone circle. There was also a type of passage tomb, that you are supposed to walk through, which I did, though I'm not sure quite what that one achieves. And the whole time it was sunny and gorgeous. How lucky I seem to be with all my traveling. Denmark was a little chilly/rainy, though not bad, but other than that, I have achieved almost perfect weather while traveling. This is through a European fall, winter, and fall. How can you top that!?
This morning I went for breakfast at the English Market, which they claim is one of the oldest markets that is still in it's original location in that fashion. I had a pain de chocolate, and got some pesto potatoes and a sandwich for my train ride. Then I stalled going to the train station until I was at the last train I could catch for the cheaper rate. Somehow, I think I'm not ready to go home yet, though the time seems to have come anyway. While I wasn't ready to stop traveling before, there was reason I was going home before, and that made it easier to make the transition. This time, there is nothing. Not I have to figure out what to do with myself, though I'd rather just keep traveling indefinitely. Guess it's time to start researching jobs, careers, and schools…wooo…

Northern Ireland in one quick swoop.

2011-04-18T11:36:00.001-07:00

Well, I have explored as much of N. Ireland as I can in a day and a half, and I feel like I rather successfully hit quite a bit. and fairly effectively too! I took the train up from Dublin on Saturday morning and arrived in Belfast at around 2 in the afternoon. At first I thought rather unfortunately that my hostel was on the other side of town, but the walk turned out to be lovely. I wasn't really sure what to expect here, because I feel I have only heard of the rougher aspects of N. Ireland.
When I got to my hostel, I was a little concerned at first. It didn't seem especially clean and there didn't appear to be much in the near by area. But the workers there were especially nice and helpful, and I figured it was just a place to sleep really. One of the girls on staff recommended a couple of places to go to. Turns out this was the middle of the University district, I had just taken the wrong street in to notice this. So on the other block were tons of pubs, parks, and museums. I quickly headed out to explore.
I went to the botanic gardens first. While not the most impressive ones I have ever been to, they were an enjoyable walk. There was also a free museum in the middle of the park, which was a fun quick exploration. After this, I headed in towards the city center to see what there was. It was recommended that I do a black taxi tour, but the cost was only worth it if you did it in a group, and there was nobody around the hostel when I arrived to make a group with. Instead, I figured I'd see the safer areas of the city on foot.
There is not a lot to see in Belfast, so I was not too worried about walking a little further to see the things that were there. I saw their clock tower, the large ceramic fish on the waterway, and then headed into the Titanic Quarter. This is the city where the Titanic had been built, and it's slipway still exists on the northern end of the city. I had a fun little walk through the shipbuilding yards, before I decided to head back because the sky was looking a little iffy, and I didn't plan to get caught in a storm while a 30 min. walk away from the hostel.
The one thing I really love about Ireland, is how friendly everyone is. Talking to people on the street corners is totally normal, and everyone is willing to help a person out. Once I had crossed the waterway, I sat down on a bench and looked in my local guide trying to find somewhere good for dinner. I man stopped by me, just to make sure I wasn't lost and to see if he could help me in any manner. This just isn't something you see in other countries! You're always worried about ulterior motives and tend to be suspicious when a stranger singles you out, but here, they just honestly want to socialize. Even the guide books say to expect it and go with it! So I told the man I was just looking for good food and he waved me down the street with him and spent the next block pointing out restaurants and interesting places to eat for different types of food. It was very pleasant.
Eventually I ended up in a pub and had a rather nice meal before calling it a night. And when I got to the hostel I had an even nicer surprise. I must have turned up just in that point of cleaning where everything looks worse, because it was like a different place. Still not the nicest I've ever stayed in, but my concern was gone. I was also able to sign up for a free Causeway Tour because I had booked the hostel for two nights.
In the morning, I got ready to take my tour. The free breakfast was pretty insubstantial so I headed to Starbucks around the corner for some coffee first. When I came back I was mildly concerned at first. I met the tour guide, but overheard him saying something about overbooked and three of the freebies were going to have to get off. I was definitely a freebie, and if I didn't go on this tour, I wouldn't be able to go at all. But there was a group of three girls together, who since they were a group, were the ones not going. I was very relieved. I was hanging out with Erin, a girl from Australia and we stuck together for most of the tour.
Troy, or as he called himself Troooooooy, was our tour guide, and a fabulous one he was. He was telling stories the entire time and we were constantly amused and laughing. He quickly told his motto that what happens on tour, stays on tour. So there is no tattling on him about anything he says once you're off the bus.
Our first stop was Larrybane and Carrick-a-rede, the old rope bridge where the locals used to fish for salmon off the coast line. The bridge was a newer one, for safety reasons, but it was essentially the same concept, and we all enjoyed walking across to the island where a local explained what we were seeing and it's history. We were informed that the large island we were seeing way out in the water, was in fact Scotland. That this was the closest point between the two and it was only twelve miles away. I thought that was very cool.
Once we had boarded the bus again, we headed for Giant's Causeway, which is what I was really excited to see. I have been fascinated with it since the first time I saw "Where the Hell is Matt." It was just as good as I had hoped. The basalt columns were huge, and there was free reign to go climb all over them. Erin and I took pictures of each other, before we went to find the giant's boot, left when the Scottish giant ran away so quickly and turned to stone over the years, the organ, and then a local guide showed us the Old Lady, which really does look like an old lady climbing up the hillside. The colors were fascinating too, as parts of the soil were red from all the iron, and really showed against the green of the grass around it. It was a fascinating place, and I am so glad to have made it.
We had lunch here too. I had steak and Guinness pie, and is was delicious. We also had Irish coffee on Troy's recommendation, as apparently this hotel won an award for best Irish coffee in N. Ireland this last year. It was made with Bushmill's whiskey, which is the town the Causeway is right beside, and was delicious. Once we were all filled up, we loaded back into the bus and headed for Derry. Here we were taken on a one hour walking tour of the city. Our guide, Roy, has lived in the bogsite for almost his entire life, and was able to tell us the whole history of the battles with first hand experience. It was a fascinating, though very sombre walk. It felt strange to be walking through this city, knowing and hearing that all these tensions were simmering just below the surface still. The sidewalks and streetlights were all painted either the colors of the British or the Irish flag, depending on which political section of the city you were in at the moment, and there were Free Derry signs and IRA tags all over. Most of the tour was taken from the Derry Wall, built to subdivide the city, which is still part of the boundary of the two different segments.
Roy told us there were still political extremists and that the city was currently building the "peace" bridge to link the two parts of the city in hopes of making a statement to these people not to start anything again. The tour ended at the site of Bloody Sunday, where a memorial now stands. It was sad to see that most of the people killed were about 17 years old. There is always the issue of what to call the city as well. Depending on if your talking to a Catholic or a Protestant, you have to call it either Derry or Londonderry, and you really have no way of knowing which until it's too late.
On a less sad note though, Roy had the most interesting accent. It was unlike any other Irish accent I have heard before, with more of a roll to the r's and a bit of a trill to some of the words. When we asked about this, we learned that Irish is taught from birth in Derry. That children were expected to speak it in school and at home, and only spoke English to each other on the streets. So Roy's accent was not English Irish, it was Gaelic Irish, and it was beautiful. He read us a couple of political signs which were written entirely in Gaelic, and it was incredible to hear. Definitely a beautiful language, and it's good that it's not going to die out any time soon.
I feel as though I learned a lot in the last 24 hours, and it was a unique and fascinating experience. I have quite enjoyed Northern Ireland, and it will be interesting to see what happens to it in the years to come. There is still so much unrest there. For now though, I am heading south again. I am on the train to Cork right now, which I have heard good things about. I am excited to see Blarney castle, though sad because it is essentially my last stop for this trip. I am not ready to go home at all, though I could definitely stand to go to work and earn some money, and it will be good to see my friends again.

couple days later...

2011-04-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

All right, so I'm apparently on a 2-3 day cycle for updating right now...I'll work on that...later. But for now, I'm actually updating. So take it at face value and be happy for a post. I have seen a lot more of Ireland since I last wrote, and I have yet to be disappointed by it.
After we woke up (yes, in the castle), Pat picked us up and took us out to the Dingle Peninsula. It was a misty kind of day, but the gray of the sky really only makes the ground look greener. We stopped in Dingle for lunch first and while the others had coffee, I decided to do a little look into the shops in the area. I found a great little music store where I got a CD of local artists as well as an awesome "something" for Heather. Heather, if you don't like it, tough luck. Cause it's completely amazing, though I know you will. How's that for a teaser?
Before we headed out of town though, Pat mentioned a jewelry store that does designs with the Ogham (pronounced o-um) alphabet which is based on lines and slashes. Very cool. Mormor and Joan both got earring which read their names. I didn't get anything, but I did have a good deal of fun looking through the store. I'm looking for something, I'm just waiting for it to catch my attention.
When we left the store, we headed out for the coast line to take our drive. I still just can't get over how amazing the cliffs on this side of Ireland are. We even got to walk down a huge paved trail to a pier. It was neat to see the cliffs from this angle as well. Helps you to appreciate just how vast they are. We could see the barest outline of Dead Man Island, which looks like a person lying on their back, but were unable to find the Skellig Islands, though Pat gave us the whole history of them. Talk about determined people! I can't even imagine living like they managed there.
We stopped a couple other time to appreciate the view, or structures built. It's much like Joan said, it's strange to think that all of this was built and constructed and ancient before our country was even created. We just don't have that kind of ancestry in the states. I enjoyed just looking out the window as we drove and seeing these beautiful fields and walls and cliffs. The whole country is really just amazing to look at. I don't think I've found an ugly area yet.
Yesterday we had debated following up Dingle with the Ring of Kerry, but it was another gray day. Instead, Pat brought us to a waterfall just out of town (we were staying in Killarney). At first, the waterfall was rather unimpressive, more a series of waterfalls, but every tree was bright green, completely encapsulated in moss. Then as we followed the path, we came around the corner and saw the REAL falls. While the Torc Falls are not particularly large still, they were very beautiful in that setting. I chose to run up a path to the top of the falls too, which turned out to be completely worth the time. On my way down I ran into Mormor, who had come part way up too. While she didn't make it to the top, she did get to the clearing that had a fabulous view of the Killarney lakes.
When we got back down again, Pat told us he was taking us to Ruckmoss House, which was set on the lakes themselves. While everyone else went to look at the gardens, I chose to take the trail down to the boathouse. This was equally amazing. I took the back way there and was climbing up and down stone steps into little garden groves the whole way, and once I got there is was so beautiful! The lake was smooth as glass and reflected everything in it perfectly; the boats, the trees, the islands. There was a boathouse nature walk loop around the point which I jogged down and loved every minute of. It was just cool enough to be perfectly comfortable out there, and was very invigorating.
We then continued to drive through part of County Cork, and went to St. Finbar's Island which is where we had lunch and enjoyed a pleasant quiet afternoon by the lake. Just as we were leaving, people started showing up, which I think proves that we have really good timing. The ruins on the island of the old chapel were very different from others we had seen, and were set up to say the rosary as you walked around the room. From here, we continued our drive inland to Kilkenny.
While this evening was fairly uneventful, we were all tired from driving, we decided to go to the local pub for dinner that night. Kyteler's Inn was based from the lady who used to live on the property in the late 1200's to early 1300's until she was declared a witch and forced to run away to England. The food was fabulous, and towards the end of the evening there was even live music. I must say though, that it was very apparent that we were all so tired. Joan tried to ask what a song was called and to help us know the song, squeaked it like a dolphin, which set me off laughing. Then Sam followed up with a completely different song and we all just went around the table having moments. We were all laughing so hard. I loved every minute of it.
Eventually we went back to the hotel though, and called it a night. We had a straight shot back to Dublin first thing this morning. Mormor, Joan, and Sam are all flying to Edinburgh today, while I am staying here in Ireland for awhile longer. Now I have to get used to hostels again, and not eating regularly. Still, I'm excited to head to northern Ireland tomorrow. And I do love wandering aimlessly through the different cities, so it's not like I wont be enjoying myself. It will just be directed a different way than it has the last week.

family, and falconry, and castles. Oh My!

2011-04-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

I should really be writing more frequently rather than less. There's no way I will be able to keep track of everything at the rate I'm going. And here I though my days would slow down once I met up with the family, but we've been continuing at a rather quick pace through the Irish countryside.
Yesterday our driver came to pick us up at 9 am, and on his suggestion we started to drive north through the Connemara region. We stopped first at a little beach, which Pat told us had highly unique sand. And really it was! It reminded me a bit of working with yeast, only larger. The sand was oblong and a creamy, off-white color. Definitely different from any sand I have encountered before, and the location smelled much better than the spot we had stopped at for photos of the Aran Islands a short while before.
After this, we had a lovely drive through the countryside, aiming for Kylemore Abbey. Not that this stopped us from stopping for pictures at beautiful seaside viewing spots, or old railway bridges, and streams. We even were able to see a guy digging peat moss by hand. He made it look so easy, but Pat explained to us some of the technicalities we weren't seeing when he shoveled out the bricks and tossed them aside; such as how heavy each of those bricks were. We did eventually make it to the Abbey, despite our pitstops, and enjoyed lunch next to the beautiful building.
As we headed back south towards County Clare, Joan mentioned some of the gifts she was hoping to buy for people back home. Pat quickly suggested a crystal store about ten minutes ahead, and we all agreed it could be fun. Not only did we get the history of all the designs they cut, but we were shown around by one of their glass cutting masters who now designs and trains and then were taken into the back room. Here, their master working that day cut a glass bowl with the claddagh design right for us (I had only learned the day before that the design originated in Galway). Talk about talented people! He didn't even mark the pattern, only three basic lines so that everything would line up appropriately. It was incredible to see. Mormor bought me a christmas tree ornament here as well as a vase for herself to be shipped home.
But was this enough for us for the day? Of course not! We stopped to admire a Galway Hooker and then headed up the Barrows into the hills. Here Pat dropped us off at the Poulnabrone, an over 3,000 year old portal tomb on the top of the hill where they found the remains of numerous bodies along with personal possessions. It's amazing to see these monuments!
Then, because this route was on the way, we decided this was the day to see the Cliffs of Moher. Wow, this was one of the highlights of the trip for me so far! I found the location for the Harry Potter movies, as well as the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride. The was even the remains of an O'Brian castle near the top. The view was incredible from up here, and with the sky completely clear it was a perfect view of the Aran Islands from here too! I just couldn't believe how vast the cliffs were. And it was so windy, though this I did expect. It almost blew you over from time to time up at the top. I had so much fun running from spot to spot trying to see the view from all the different angles.
Eventually though, we made it to our hotel for the night. One of the nicer ones I have ever been in! Right on the beach, it was out of the city a little ways, but it was very impressive. The bathroom was easily one of the nicest ones I've seen in a hotel. We think it might have been time shares, or seasonal properties for the most part, just because of the courtyard setup and overall structure it had. We did get to see our first peat fire though, which was exciting, and an interesting, though rather pleasant scent.
Before breakfast this morning, I went for a quick walk down the the shoreside to get pictures of the the water. It's amazing how large the waves are round here, even if it is the ocean coming in! We had a quick breakfast, and got ready to head out. Today was the day we were looking for the Austins, my great-grandfather's family who were in the states by 1870.
We started out, with a couple names, and a Parish area to search in. The pastor of the church we tried first was in a huge rush for a meeting he had set up, but he managed to point us in the direction of a cemetery to search in, as well as a man who lived not far away who might know information for us.
After searching the cemetery for awhile, we found the Austin headstone, with five different names. None of them were familiar to us, but it was a start. Then a man walked in to through the gate and hollered, "I hear you're looking for Austins!" Talk about a small town, the word had already spread through Cross about who we were and what we were doing. Turns out this was the man we had been going to find next, Keane. He informed us that there were only three Austin families in the immediate area, and that it was a fairly uncommon name. Then he sent us down the road to a descendant of the tomb we had found.
Anne had only just arrived to her house from New York, where she lives, for Easter. She invited us in and we started talking. Unfortunately she knew very little past her grandfather, but she and her husband were very nice. We have no way of identifying whether they are our family or not, but it is neat to think they might have been.
Keane had also told us about a lighthouse at the point that we could likely go up, so we followed the coastline around searching for Tom, the lighthouse keeper. He was there, but couldn't let us in at that time unfortunately. Still, what another amazing spot. I really just can't get over the cliff sides on the west coast here. We were able to go right to the edge of the cliff and look down at the caves and crashing waves. Sometimes the spray was so large you could see it clearing the top of the cliffs! Quite incredible, because we were definitely a ways up.
We tried to stop for lunch at the last bar before New York, but it was closed for the week. We ended up at a little pub across the street, and the gal there was able to point us toward the other church we had been looking for. This was another one which we had heard may be affiliated with our family, and while there were no records here, it was interesting to see this portable church from when they weren't allowed to worship. They had found loopholes to this rule though, and the movable church that they could carry to the beach was one of them. They were certainly determined people.
Pat told us at one point that one of the trademarks of the Irish, is that if you tell the not to do something, they are almost guaranteed to do it. Now I know where that trait in the family comes from! It's our Irish heritage showing through. Extreme stubbornness and determination to prove people otherwise. At least now I know why the whole lot of us behave this way. It's just bred into our blood.
Tonight we are sleeping in a castle. Yes. An honest to goodness castle. The part we are sleeping in was built in 1730. How cool is that? I think it's very much so. In fact, I am beyond excited about this fact. The registration desk has suits of armor next to it. The building has turrets. I a stoked.
We started off our stay here doing falconry. Mormor was especially excited for this, and Joan and I were happy to join in. Wow, what an experience. Jim met us at the front door to the castle, and as soon as we stepped outside, we saw Bruce waiting for us. Bruce was a Harris Hawk we soon learned, as we would spend the next hour and a half with him. Jim taught us to catch and toss Bruce as we went on a walk through the woods. At one point, poor Bruce got his leather traces wrapped around the branch he was sitting on. This was on ordeal, simply because he had flown just high enough into the tree that we couldn't reach him. Eventually we got him loose by getting him to flip back around the branch in reverse. He got an extra treat for being good during it. The funniest part was when he was on the ground though. He would chase after Jim doing this strange run/waddle because he knew Jim had treats in his bag. Then, right before he would try to jump on Jim's arm for a treat, he would crouch and wiggle his tail like an excited dog. It was adorable!
Finally, we had go take Bruce back to his roost though. Here we got to meet the other hawks and falcons they keep here. There was even a peregrine falcon, which has been clocked diving up to 250 mph. Talk about a fast bird! Once Bruce was all settled and happy, we moved on to the owls. There was one right up front which had the funniest fluffy feathers. He was name was Alvin and he was a real talker. There was also an Irish Barn Owl, which was a beautiful white color. We learned that this is the only type of owl which has all black eyes.
Then came Peggy. Peggy is an African Spotted Eagle Owl. While she didn't hoot, she did talk quite a lot too. We took her to the Walled Garden where Jim would take her to the opposite side. Then, when he gave a piece of meat a wiggle and whistled, Peggy would come swooping down to land on our arms, one by one. So many people stopped to watch. It's amazing how owls just draw the attention like that. Such an amazing experience. And the top of Peggy's head was about 3 inches deep of feathers. Like a big down pillow on the back of her neck. She would also nibble on our fingers for a moment every time we pet her. Jim said it's because she though we had food for her, so she would nibble, realize we had nothing, then let us pet her.
Finally, we had to say goodbye to the birds though, and go meet Sam for dinner, which we were about an hour late for now. We had spent two and a half hours with Jim and the birds. Sam was a good sport though, and we had another delicious meal, followed by some excellent creme brulee. What really astounds me is how every day somehow seems to manage to surpass the last. This was such an incredible day/evening, and I really don't know how tomorrow could top it. We will be heading toward the Dingle Penninsula though, and we will see what we will see. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed. In a castle. Yes!

Little behind now.

2011-04-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

All right, so I'm a little behind in my posts, after the whole internet fiasco in Dublin. It worked but it didn't, they charged but it was free, but they gave it to us for free because it wasn't really working. Chaos. That's all it was. Chaos. None the less, I absolutely loved the city. We did one of the hop on, hop off bus tours which was a really neat way to see the city. Plus we had some really funny bus drivers. One guy changed his name in his introduction at every stop. One name even had a 5 minute monologue of explanation to go with it.
We stopped at St. Patrick's cathedral, where Jonathon Swift is buried, first. What a cool old church. One of the only ones I've seen them allow you to take pictures inside of too! I really like that they had written explanations for why things were set up the way they were. And the old battalion flags were amazing. They were practically falling apart on the wall. You could definitely tell that they had seen battles.
After the church, we decided to balance things out again and headed for the Guinness Factory. It was really neat to see the process of how everything was made as well as the old machinery. My favorite part was the sampling as you went through though. Although the old advertisements were awfully fun too. I took pictures of the Alice in Wonderland ones for Jenn. And then when you reached the top you could get a free pint with a view of the whole city. We didn't stay too long as it was very loud, but it was a really cool thing to see.
We also saw the Museum of National History. This had old furniture, dresses, jewelry, and a special room to the high crosses. It was fun to see what things had been specifically made in Ireland over the years and what trademark styles and craftsmanship they have been known for in different eras. I only wish the neo-Irish art display had been open, as this was the one which I had been hoping to see. I still enjoyed all the other exhibits though.
We went to stop at Molly Malone and the Book of Kells next, as well as do a little shopping. All three were a success. Pictures were taken with Molly's statue, and sterling jewelry was purchased. Then came Trinity College. What a beautiful campus! I wouldn't mind going to school there! We quickly found the book of Kells exhibit which was very informative. We even got to watch a video of how they used to bind books. It looked very complicated, yet amazing. I would love to try doing something like that, but you could tell they only made the individual steps look easy and quick. Still...it could be quite a lot of fun! Eventually we made it to the room with the actual books. There was even a scholar who started talking with Joan who could read the old script. It was just neat to see these old books I have always heard about.
Once we got back to the hotel, I went out in search of better internet. I did not find any, but I did have a spectacular walk through several different parks. I started taking pictures of all the different colored doors too, though I know I only got a fraction of the colors I had seen over the several days we were there. I eventually ended up at the Oscar Wilde statue, which had a couple pedestals covered in his one liners. He would have been someone to meet! Sounds like you were always amused when he was around, and he was very clever in some of his statements. My favorite was, "This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last."
This morning our driver showed up at the hotel to pick us up. His name is Pat and he is a very nice guy. He answered all the random questions that were thrown at him throughout the day, only to get stumped at the end when Mormor asked him what Ireland's National Bird was. And they threw some obscure ones at him too. Quite impressive really. We had no idea what there was to see between Dublin and Galway so he made some amazing suggestions. We stopped first at Newgrange, which is an old one-passage burial mound which predates both Stonehenge and the pyramids. We got to go inside and see all the old carvings, including the triskel, and they showed how the light works coming through the lintel window to light up the back area on the Winter solstice. It's incredible that they built something so lasting over 5,000 years ago. Plus the fact that the roof hasn't leaked once in all that time. Talk about some workmanship!
After Newgrange, we made our next stop at Clonmacnoise, the remains of an old monastery on the Shannon River. We got to watch a video about the history of the sight and how it developed before wandering the grounds. There were two of the original high crosses here, as well as the towers they used to escape raiding vikings. It had an amazing history, and it was beautiful walking through the ruins along the river. It looked so archaic! And the last bit of the pilgrimage to the founders grave cut right through the cemetery, so you could walk on the last leg of the granite trail. At this point, it started to cloud over for the first time in Ireland since we arrived. Shocking isn't it!? We've had beautiful warm sunny days. It looked like rain for a little while, though it had cleared up by the time we reached Galway.
We got settled into our hotel and then went for dinner. Another delicious meal, though I laugh every time I see corn in odd dishes because it is exactly what Pat and Janine told me I would see. Once we left the restaurant, it had started a mist like rain. It was really quite lovely, so while everyone else called it a night, I went for a walk on the beach. It was wonderful! Though my hair is now a frizzy mess again. Guess I won't be going straight again for a little while. Worth it though! I had to turn back in because it looked like the clouds were coming in thicker, and while I enjoyed walking in the mist and the wind wasn't bothering me, I didn't enjoy the thought of being caught in an actual rainstorm tonight.
So here I am, back at the hotel again, after another wonderful day in Ireland. My mom may be in trouble, as I really like this country so far. I just may not come home now! Good food, good people, good culture...but then again, I feel like that in most countries I visit. Still, there is something particularly appealing here, though I can't quite put my finger on what it is. I'll just enjoy it instead!

Last day in Denmark

2011-04-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

Well, today was another wonderful day. Shocking I know, as I seem to be having so many awful ones while over here. We all met up for breakfast, after which Joan, Mormor, and I decided to go to the Royal Copenhagen Museum/Outlet store. Guess which part of this it was which I was truly looking forward to? That's right, the shopping. I have wanted a Royal Copenhagen tea set for quite some time now.
Our cab driver to the store was incredible. He took it upon himself to tell us the history of every building we drove past and explained how the city evolved into what it is today. His sister even used to be one of the R.C. hand-painters a number of years ago. Talk about an amazing talent! We made sure we gave him a good tip afterward, because he gave us such a fantastic experience.
When I started looking around, at first I thought I must be translating the signs incorrectly. Some R.C. tea cups alone are up toward 40 euros. With the discounts, I was finding cup and saucer sets for 7. I was amazed! Yes, these were the "flawed" pieces, but they consider a 2nd hand piece to be ones which had one drop of paint in the wrong spot, or had a glaze come out slightly the wrong shade. In the end, I found a set of eight cups and saucers which I then had shipped to my mom's house in Spokane. I am so excited to receive them! I will now just have to keep an eye out for matching sugar and cream dishes that I like. No big deal, there is no rush. But I am very pleased with the ones I selected.
After this we rushed back to the hotel, where we were to meet the other part of our Danish family. These we had never met before, though Joan has been emailing with one of them for quite some time. Tova, her son Lars, and her daughter Hannah were an absolute pleasure to meet. They drove 3 1/2 hours to Copenhagen to meet us and spend the day with us, and brought pictures of the family, as well as newspaper cutouts about us that they had saved from all the years. Tova spoke very little English, Hannah some, and Lars spoke it very well. They brought presents for all of us too, which was very sweet of them.
After socializing for some time, we headed out for some lunch. Delicious, once again. We had open-face sandwiches once more, a signature Danish dish. I had their special salted pork, cooked in a way you cannot find in the states, and another one which was roast beef with a horseradish tartar sauce and a mango chutney. Sounded strange, but it was so delicious I cannot begin to tell you. What a combination of flavors I would never have thought to combine!
After lunch, we all headed for the Harbor tour of the city, which our relatives joined us for. Such an interesting way to see the city. I can see why all the locals recommend it as a must see. The tide was really high though, so we had to stop the boat at every bridge and check the depth to see if we would make it under. There were several close calls, and the last bridge the captain was not willing to risk.
After the boat ride, we stopped at a local cafe for drinks and pastries. I had tea, and shared a chocolate cake and a sort of raspberry tart with a vanilla cream with Mormor. Once again...delicious. I can't even begin to tell you how many pastries I have eaten in the last 48 hours. At least I enjoy them though. The best part here though, was that one of the waiters, a younger guy came up and asked if we were from the states, as he was about to travel there for the first time. He was going to be in Washington, so I was chatting with him about places worth seeing and what to do with his interests. After he left, I looked over and Tova just gave me a look and waggled her finger. This was because earlier in the day I had told them my mom's statement that I was not even allowed to make eye contact with boys, much less talk to them while traveling. Tova said something in Danish which Lars translated as being "You looked him in the eye!" It was hilarious! The whole lot of them had such an incredible sense of humor, and we greatly enjoyed conversing with them.
Unfortunately, they had a long drive ahead of them, so we exchanged emails and addresses and said our goodbyes. It had been so wonderful to meet them, and realize what wonderful family we have, even if they are so far away. After seeing them off, Mormor and I went on one final walk to take a last set of pictures. Along the way the wind picked up, and we were sand blasted for a block or so. Mormor decided this was enough for her and headed back to the hotel, while I went to one last spot to see the large anchor and then to a bakery to pick up some pastries for breakfast in the morning. I look forward to eating them, and am very proud of myself for not sampling them yet.
Still, I am packed and ready for the next leg, though I wish I had more time here. I suppose I feel that way about every place I have left though. Hopefully I can stay in touch with this part of the family, and maybe I will have another opportunity to come and visit them in the future. Tomorrow morning we head for Dublin though, bright and early. So be ready Ireland, cause I'm coming to visit!

Danish Family Ties

2011-04-06T12:15:00.001-07:00

Whew, what a day! We started off when Joan and Sam called at about 7, ready to head for breakfast. The hotel does a free one for the guests, but it was pretty nice. The pastries here are wonderful. Go figure! After breakfast we went out shopping, so that gifts could be purchased for people back home. Joan was specifically looking for a ring, so we did a lot of window shopping.
Then we came upon the Royal Copenhagen store. So cool! We spent quite a little while wandering through and looking at all the different styles of kitchen sets, collectibles, and other figurines they had in stock. It was wonderful, though it would be better to actually get to see them painting the pieces. Still, it was neat to wander through the store.
After Joan and Sam headed back to the hotel, Mormor and I kept wandering for while longer. We found a really cute jewelry store, to which I am debating purchasing a pair of earrings, and on our way back heard a band playing. We stopped to figure out what it was and realized it was the Danish changing of the guards and the royal band and new guard set were marching down the street toward the palace. We quickly followed them and got to see the whole ceremony, which we later learned not only happens when the royal family is in residence, but that it meant the queen was there because they have different, less extravagant ones when it is only the princes there.
Shortly after this Helle and Mona came by the hotel to start our afternoon together. Their grandfather was my great-great-grandmother's brother. They took us to a restaurant for lunch that was right by the courthouse and the "Bridge of Sighs" and back in the day was only inhabited by prostitutes and thieves. Today it is one of the older restaurants in the city. They ordered us several plates of traditional Danish food that we could all share, Danish beer, and a Norwegian liquor which Helle referred to as...schneps, I think.
The meal was absolutely fantastic and once we were all stuffed they lead us to the bus and back to their homes. We went to Mona's first, where we had drinks and chocolate. Mona speaks very little English, but we were able to co-mingle a conversation together and had a good time laughing at stories and our attempts to understand each other. Then we walked to Helle's house which was only 10 minutes away. She lives in the same house she grew up in, which Mormor and Joan visited in their teens. Helle says it is because she is like a turtle. She never moves.
Helle had purchased some Danish pastries and made tea and coffee for us. We spent the rest of the evening exchanging family stories, showing family trees, and just having an overall wonderful time. We didn't make it back to the hotel until almost 9 tonight.
Some of the family stories were wonderful though. Helle was telling us about how after the war, Bedstemor, Joan, and Mormor had put together packages of clothes and candy to send to them. She started crying when she told us how much it had meant, and how she'd felt like a princess in her new clothes. Mona told us how she had been the only girl to have pantyhose at that point in time, and it was wonderful. The funniest part of the story was when Mormor mentioned she remembered sprinkling some white powder in the box, because if they thought the clothes were new, they might make them pay for the package in Denmark, but if they looked used they would not have to. This made Helle laugh, because she remembered the distinctive smell (it had been moth ball dust) to the clothes, and the unusual taste it had left on the candy. She had just told her friends that this was the type of candy they ate in the States and not thought anything of it.
We also heard many stories about when the family went to visit them that last time when they were only children. It was fun to hear all these aspects of the family and to see old photos that we simply don't have access to back in the states. Overall they were both fantastic to meet, and I greatly enjoyed the day with them. Tomorrow we meet Tova and her son, who were from my great-great-grandfather's side of the family. This is the family none of us have ever met, so we can only hope it will be as wonderful as today was.

I saw a mermaid!

2011-04-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today is the day I finally made it to Denmark! Very exciting for me, as it was one of the places I was most disappointed to think I was missing. I got up early to catch my 7am train and cruised across northern Germany. Beautiful country side, and one of the nicest trains I've been on. There were only about 5 of us on the entire 3 car train! It was amazing to have it practically to yourself. I also got to take the train on a ferry to get across to the island. While a short trip (45 minutes) across, it was exciting to see the train drive on and off the boat. One more experience for the books!
I got to Copenhagen a little after noon, and got to walk halfway across the city to get to the hotel. While overcast, I still felt over-warm with my backpack on, so I made quick work of it to check in. Mormor, Joan, and Sam hadn't arrived yet. Turned out they had missed their connection in Amsterdam and were delayed by two hours for the next flight. Worked out perfectly though, as it meant I was only here about an hour and a half early, which gave me time to take a shower (after spending 30 minutes trying to figure out how to turn it and the lights on) and get cleaned up.
Once they got settled in, we went to wander a brief little bit. The brief is emphasized because it was definitely raining on us, and I was the only one with an umbrella. Puts a bit of a crimp on the exploration. We asked for a restaurant recommendation and ended up at a cute little cafe down the street. I had an excellent Caesar salad with rooster breast (more moist than almost any chicken I've ever had), Sam had apple die (Danish style) with ice cream, and Mormor and Joan split 3 open face sandwiches, which turned out to be huge! It was all delicious, and we topped it off with coffee and tea.
After dinner, we were going to call it a night, as they were all jet lagged. I decided I was going to go find The Little Mermaid first though, as the skies had cleared up, and I was primed for some walking. Mormor decided she's rather go with me, and got dressed again to join me on my adventure. It was amazing! The tide was out, and I couldn't believe how close I could get to her. Even better than I had expected. After taking tons of pictures, we spotted a windmill, that I thought looked amazing on the other side of the park. So...detour! Crossed a pond through some battlements (turns out it's one of the best preserved fortresses in this area) and up a hill. As we get closer to the windmill, we realize that the "lake" is in fact a moat. That we had crossed a true medieval castle moat and not even realized it! How cool is that?!
It was beginning to cool off though, and Mormor was still jet lagged, so we headed back to the hotel after this. On the possibly round about method, due to Mormor not trusting my sense of direction (which turned out to be correct), but back towards the hotel. We stopped to check out the guards at the palace this time, as we had cruised past them in my mission to see the Little Mermaid earlier. We even saw one of them slip up and step out of time! It was fun to be so close to them and watch them do their routines though. We were literally within 4 feet of them, and could even hear a couple of them talking to each other, and their whispered marks to stay in time.
Now though, we're calling an early night with the hopes of getting everyone on the European schedule by tomorrow...mostly. So hats off to an awesome day!

Ich spreche nicht Deutsch

2011-04-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Well, that was chaotic transportation. Due to some railway work between Usti and Dresden, they had to transfer us to a bus. Which was running ten minutes late when it left! Needless to say I was a bit late boarding my train in Dresden, though they were holding the train as it was beyond our control. And I got to take a quick cruse through Dresden which I found interesting in a music history context.
I have to say too, that I feel much more comfortable conversing in languages I don't speak fluently now. After being in countries where I don't even have a vocabulary base to the languages (German and Czech), it seems almost a relief to be able to communicate at all. Which is why when I tried to ask a question of the couple sitting across from me and they just shook their heads and said, "Spanish." I immediately started trying to communicate in Spanish with them.
Normally I feel uncomfortable speaking anything other than English, though I try with the country I am in, just because I find the lack of fluency aggravating for me. I couldn't believe how quickly we were able to communicate what was going on in the train, and I am happy that I remembered some of the words I did. I still couldn't hold a conversation in Spanish if my life depended on it, but I was completely comfortable asking basic questions and understood how they were answered. I found this rather invigorating. Now if only I could do that in every language...
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, other than it was sunny every time I was in a vehicle and as soon as I stepped out it would start pouring. And there were two really drunk Irish girls on the last leg too. As in they had a bag full of empty clinking bottles, and you could tell when they were getting drunk as they got louder and ruder. They had a very loud conversation about what a cell was called in Germany, and it took the one girl 10 minutes to explain it to the other. My favorite part though was when we were about to get off and they were right behind me. Not only could I smell the alcohol reeking off them but one "whispered" to the other, "I think people might think were drunk" before collapsing in a fit of giggles. Think!?
Hamburg is very pretty, and still surprisingly warm despite the rain. It will be pouring one second and the next I'll need my sunglasses. It's an interesting combination. I went real traditional tonight though and got a kebob sandwich. It was delicious, though pointedly turkish. I did enjoy a delicious muffin for dessert though, and stocked up on clementines and water for the morning train ride. It's going to be an early one!
When I checked into my hostel, somehow my reservation had been changed. Even in my email confirmation the date was correct, but they had me checking in tomorrow for 3 days! I was quick to let them know that wouldn't work, and they informed me they were booked full. Slight issue! They managed to squeeze me into an all girls room at the same rate though, so thankfully I'll have a bed tonight. Unfortunately it's booked full because of a bunch of high school groups. I'm currently surrounded by excess high schoolers all from different countries that have mobbed the entire area. Talk about overkill!
Basically between the rain and the early train, it will be a low key evening. I walked the local neighborhoods, but didn't feel up for heading downtown when I'm on a time limit. That will just have to be for another time. Plus the fact that I have run into very few people who spoke English, so while they were willing to co-mingle an understanding together with me, it's more work that it's worth when you're just trying to order a sandwich and call it a night.

Cruising through Prague at the speed of light!

2011-04-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I may be comatose by the time I get to Copenhagen, but no one can say I squandered this week! I think I completely finished Rachael's list of things worth seeing except for the paddle boats which just don't seem as much fun alone. I started off getting my train ticket, which is extra confusing in Czech. And the schedule she gave me to go with my ticket (which only says Praha--->Hamburg) seemed to stop at Berlin. Because yes, I have three changes to make and my ticket says none of them. When I got back to my hostel though, the first thing I did was to check the online schedule and I think I know what's going on now, so I feel pretty good. And I get to cruise through Dresden by bus too! Bonus!
After getting my ticket, I walked to Wenceslas Square and checked out the shops between there and Old Town Square. I have to say, some of the things I saw would not fly in the states! The museum of sex toys with a machine being demonstrated on a mannequin right in front of the open doors? The amounts of nudity on public signs? All I could do was laugh about how I definitely was in a different world.
After my amusement had subsided, I decided to walk to the castle. I managed to get lost on a side street, found an older couple from Newcastle that were looking for the same thing, and we found a police officer to direct us. The couple was there for a wedding, their nephew was marrying a Czech girl, and it turns out it was one I had actually noticed the day before. I'd seen the girls wedding dress as she was married in Old Town Square and had taken note of it. We enjoyed walking up to the castle together, but parted ways at the top of the stairs. They needed a breather, and I was on a mission to see as much as I could as fast as I could!
I wandered the grounds and checked out some of the buildings. There are great views all over this city! I was amused by the barbie museum within the compound though, and somehow I kept managing to get caught behind slow moving tour groups that were near impossible to get around. Still, I eventually made it out the other side of the compound and found the old castle stairs to climb back down off the hill. I have to say though, since I witnessed this several times, that I don't understand using one of those clear, see-through umbrellas to protect against the sun. Just seems like it defeats the purpose to me.
After this I was going to go to Vysherad, the fortress. I could have taken the metro, but decided I was making good time and would continue on foot. I did make good time, but managed to miss the entrance to the hilltop and looped the entire enclosure from below before I finally found the stairs up. It was amazing up there! It was close enough to the river that there was a wonderful cool breeze rippling past, and the grounds were fabulous. Rachael did not lead astray! I continued with my trend too, and found Dvorak's grave. Just wandering around the hilltop and seeing all it's lookout points was worth the walk. I decided to reward myself with walking back too.
I have never seen cops give bikers so many tickets before! There is a tunnel they're supposed to walk their bikes through, with two cops on bikes sitting on the other end. I saw them dole 4 out on the spot! It was like a speed trap, and there couldn't have been a better set up, as the bikers couldn't see them til the zoomed out of the tunnel. I also saw what may possibly be the worst haircut ever. Bald on top, and the sides wire dreaded down to his butt. Talk about needing a haircut. The girl with him was near as bad, her dreads had not been well looked after and were frizzy and dirty looking. I was just surprised that their kid didn't have dreads too, as they seemed the type to wear them through thick and thin.
I also found the astrological clock (which is sadly on a building which is incredibly close to my hostel which I have walked past repeatedly)! It is really cool, I just wish I knew how to interpret what it says. It has all the astrological signs, and numbers, and sections and three wheels spinning within each other. I think part of it shows the current rising sign, but that's about all I could logic out of it. Still it was unique and cool in my mind.
Now I just have to figure out what to have for dinner. I'm not really in the mood for more Eastern European dishes, and I'm trying to figure out what other ethnicity they might serve well here. There are tons of Italian restaurants, and a couple the cover several different styles. I just am not up for any more traditional Czech food.

Czeching In!

2011-04-03T00:08:00.001-07:00

So Prague did not fall flat! I got off the train at 1:30 and even while wandering for my hostel I was already gaping at the buildings. There is awesome buildings all over the place! Though I may have wandered down some wrong street because I was looking up instead of at street signs, so I carried my pack a bit further than I really needed to. Oh well!
It was so warm here that the first thing I had to do was take a shower from carrying my stuff. Then it was time to explore. I went to the Charles Bridge, climbed to the top of Petrinske Hill to the ~~Eiffel~~ Petrin Tower (Though I did not climb it. Too expensive!), checked out the local vendors, and roamed Old town and the Jewish Quarter. I also had to stop at an electronic store and buy a new converter plug, because like an idiot I left mine on the train. But I'm good to go again now!
I also enjoyed a klobasa sausage which was delicious. Then I later found out what it is made of. Pork, beef and bacon traditionally. Of course I liked it! I also had some ice cream as I wandered and called it good. I think I found a bakeshop I am going to try here this morning before I really get wandering again. I also found the shirt Rachael always wears that I think is really cute. They all say Czech me out! on them. Didn't get one, but I was excited to spot them.
Did I mention that my current roommate is Danish? I took that as a sign that I am on the right track here. She is from Copenhagen, and just recently got back from visiting her family in the states. She is also a violinist and we spent the evening talking music last night. This has only cemented in my mind, that I think Denmark is going to be amazing!
Today I have to go buy my train ticket north for tomorrow. Hopefully I'll make it to Hamburg, since that is so close to Copenhagen. It will make getting there to meet my family much easier, because I would arrive only about 35 minutes before they would land. We'll see though, it depends on routes. So...off to the ~~train station!~~ BAKESHOP! Then to the train station! Then out and about!

My socks have been rocked.

2011-04-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Vienna,
Thank you for an absolutely AMAZING day.

I don't know that I can quite explain how amazing yesterday was for me. I started off waking up on my sleeper train, which was really quite comfortable. I will definitely look into traveling this way again. They come and wake you up 30 minutes before your stop and then come again five minutes later with breakfast for you. Simple yes, but a nice courtesy I had not expected. There was an Austrian girl in the bunk getting off two hours before me, so I woke up with her wake up call and spent the morning looking out the window. What a gorgeous countryside. I discovered the girl was Austrian when she said something to me in English, and I swear to you she sounded American. She laughed when I told her this and said she had studied in the states for four years. Her accent was perfect. She was really nice though and spent her last bit on the train teaching me some German niceties. Excuse me, hello, good bye, thank you etc.
Now I don't remember if I had posted this before, but about the time I got on the train, I realized I had booked my hostel in Vienna for that night as well, and I definitely wasn't getting there before 9 in the morning. Oops. This usually means you have to suck up the cost on your own because you didn't call to cancel, though I had no means of doing this. When I got to the hostel, I explained this and my receptionist pursed her lips at her computer and thought for a minute before smiling at me and saying, I'm not going to be that mean to you. Not only did she not charge me, but since my bed had been set up the day before, she let me up early to the room! She was so friendly and helpful. Even gave me a map of Prague for the next day too.
I got up to my room and all the girls were awake but present. One gal from Minneapolis (Bree) and another from Korea (Yun) got talking with me and we made plans with each other for throughout the day, though we didn't split up till after breakfast. I had my first turkish tea call cay pronounced chai and it was delicious!
Bree and I hung out first. We were going to head down to the old Schonbrunn palace on the south end of town. Talk about an amazing mix of cultures! The palace was set up like Versailles with its structure and gardens, very western Europe, while buildings across the street had the Eastern Europe steeple style. Similar to what you think of in Russia to top buildings. Austria is definitely the cusp of the two halves culturally. The grounds were beautiful though, especially the Gloriette which gave an incredible view of the city, and you could tell how amazing they would become in the summer. There was even a full labyrinth, though we didn't go in because it had started to pour on us and we didn't fancy getting lost crammed under one umbrella. Sad though, because I would have loved to get lost in an old hedge maze.
After this we decided to get my second umbrella (I brought two because the one starting to break) and find a place to hole up for lunch. Bree was wanting to try Wiener Schnitzel and hearing her talk about it had made me want it as well. Of course as soon as we get the umbrella, it completely cleared up, but it did this on and off all day. I ended up giving my spare to Bree because she was concerned it would continue, even though I told her north Italy was gorgeous right now and is supposed to stay that way all weekend. We went to a cute little restaurant that sold dyed easter eggs for a Euro on the table and each got a different style of schnitzel. They laughed at me because I ordered not only the one off the kids menu, but also a raspberry soda, which the waitress informed me was a "youth drink." Who says pop is only for kids! It may have tasted rather similar to a Shirley Temple though, which may have explained her comment, though ensured that I enjoyed the experience. Both our meals were delicious though.
After lunch we headed to the north side of town. I was determined to see as much as possible in my one day there, and it is one of the few cities I felt positively giddy about the second I had stepped off of the train that morning. In fact, I believe Paris, Florence, and Vienna have been the only so far, though I am expecting Copenhagen will be much the same for me. We went to Stephensdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral) because we heard you could climb to the top of the south tower. Over 400 steps up a narrow, spiral, stone, staircase. The view at the top was worth every moment of it though. The church was all old gothic architecture and the roof was tiled in colors to create patterns and pictures. When we came down, we tried to find Mozart's house which was around the corner, but turned out to be a complete bust. Still, it was neat to know that's where we were at.
After this we stopped at a chocolate store, got distracted by some break dancing street performers, and got caught in another sudden downpour. Eventually we headed back to the hostel though, as she had to catch my sleeper train in reverse, heading to Venice, and I had to get changed. This is because I was to meet Yun at the Staatsoper, the Opera House. In Vienna you can get 4 euro standing room only tickets for the show each night. I got to go see Don Quixote the ballet, and it was amazing! I couldn't believe how long the prima stayed en pointe without moving! And they even spun Don Quixote around a windmill on stage.
The opera house was absolutely beautiful. I almost wish I had arrived a day sooner though, because last night they had performed Madame Butterfly, and that would have been worth seeing! Still, the ballet didn't end till almost 11 and there was the 30 minute walk back to the hostel, and I was exhausted! I can't begin to tell you how tired I will be by the time I get to Copenhagen. I wasn't kidding myself about this being a whirlwind week!
None the less, I have enjoyed it all. Vienna was beyond incredible and I loved every single minute of it. I will definitely be back here again. It's a big city and tons to do here. My feet will attest to the amount of walking I did there too. I have blisters on the ball of my right foot, that are making life interesting today, especially since I went to the wrong train station at first and really had to hustle to catch the train I'm now on to Prague. Obviously I made it though, with about a minute to spare. Thank god I had tried to get there early! That'll teach me a quick lesson though, and I can bet you I'll never make that mistake again. So cheers to Austria, for the most amazingly chaotic day. You rock my socks . Prague, you have a lot to live up to now!

Sleeper Train!

2011-04-01T00:35:00.000-07:00

Venice is a beautiful city! I just wish I didn't have my bag on my back the whole day so I could have explored it more thoroughly. It was another gorgeous day though, in fact I got rather warm in my coat! And you think I would get sick of taking pictures of bridges, but then I take a corner and am taking them of another one all over again. Sadly I didn't make it to the far side of the island where the plaza is. If I had known it was so wonderful as I was later informed I would have taken the water taxi there! Alas, I may have to come back another time. Darn, I hate it when that happens. Such sufferings.
Still, I spent the day admiring the city, debating buying a carnival mask (which I decided against after trying some on and seeing how odd they looked on me), and soaking up the sunshine. I spent an hour sitting in the local park just people watching in the sun.
After a bit when my back was starting to hurt (I'm definitely out of shape in hauling my pack around after three months home) I decided to get some pizza for lunch. It was low key when a guy asked me if the pizza was good. He got really excited when I responded and he realized I was also an American. Guess he hasn't run into many on this trip. Stephen was a nice guy, we talked most the afternoon about random things and experiences we've had traveling and where we were each going next. Little full of himself though, and how much money he makes. I got kinda sick of hearing about that. I understand that he is a trauma surgeon, I think that's commendable. I don't need to guess what his yearly income is, thanks. Especially when I compare it to mine. And then he keeps telling me that the money isn't the important part. So why is it the one topic he kept coming back to over and over and over…! Still, it was nice to spend the afternoon with someone, and it obviously made his day that I was willing to spend it talking. We ran into each other again later in the evening when I was sitting on the steps to the train station waiting for the lights to start turning on the the Canal Grande.
I saw tons of gondola drivers all over the place, but only saw one group go for a ride. I figured it was probably cause it was so expensive, but then I wondered if that was only part of it when I saw the guy take his spin. I'm sure it would have been a wonderfully smooth ride about 30 years ago, but there were nothing but motorboats and their wakes out there today. That gondola was a rocking! Looked fun, but not in the way I would expect to have on a gondola ride. That makes it even more money to spend on a ride that doesn't go as smoothly (literally) as expected.
I did get onto the sleeper train for tonight though. I am actually on the train as I write this. I'm rather excited for my first experience of this. I got a four bunk cuccetta for girls, but judging from the set up, I think there may only be three of us in here. I am supposed to arrive in Wien Westbahnhof at around 8 am and then we will see what the plans become after that! Germany may or may not happen at this point, but I will make the most of whatever happens!

Heading for the canals.

2011-04-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

Oh, what a day! I got to spend the entire afternoon in the leather market for starters, which is always a plus in my books! And you should see my gorgeous new purse…and scarf…and bracelet…ok, so I went on a shopping spree. But I rather figure I'm getting all the things I held back on last time because I didn't want to have to carry them, and since this is so much shorter of a trip I feel comfortable carrying things. I held back on the coat though. All the ones I was drawn to were very similar to those I already own. And then later on several girls complimented the coat I was wearing and asked if I had bought it here in Firenze. I am, in fact, wearing my pleather jacket John bought me in Vegas last year. I think that is a massive win, and it makes me love this coat even more than I already did, which was a lot.
Later on in the evening I met up with Martha, which was exciting. She couldn't believe when I whipped out a six pack of bagels for her, including the last orange cranberry of the day from Monday. She's going to be the envy of the GU Florence kids, as they apparently all know her from the bagel shop and are always talking to her about bagels. I told her she should just walk down to breakfast with one tomorrow and tell them, "Yeah, the Ultimate Bagel delivers now. Even cross continent."
We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant Martha had picked out. Free wine since she was a student. We caught up on gossip and had a lovely meal. I had the spaghetti alla carbonara and we made a toast to Jinnie who the meal reminded me of greatly. Then we had a slow amble back across the river, though we stopped on the pont for awhile to watch the sunset, and then went to Perche no! for dessert. Delicious as always, and Martha had never been! She said she hadn't been able to find it, so it was neat to show her a good little spot as well.
When I got back to my hostel, there were a couple of Argentinian girls in my room. They were very nice, and we commingled a conversation together between Spanish and English. They were pleased to hear that I could understand their English so well, though they said it was easier for them to understand Scottish accents than American ones. We had a very pleasant evening before they headed out for their last night in Florence. They were bound for Rome in the morning. I, however, had a wonderful nights sleep. I highly recommend that hostel to anyone staying in Florence, I've had fabulous experiences every night that I have stayed there.
I am now on the train to Venice, and I always am blown away by how beautiful the Italian countryside is. I am highly amused that every time I prepare to change locations I get really nervous, to where my stomach feels a little off kilter, but as soon as I step onto whatever my form of transportation is, I feel nothing but excitement. It's worth the anxiousness every time, though I still can't figure out why I feel like that each time. You think I would be over that by now.
I have been looking in my rail book that I picked up in London off my hostel's bookshelf to plan out the rest of my week. There is a sleeper train from Venice to Vienna every night that gets in at 8:30 in the morning. Not only that, but it is the only train on that route which stops at the station I need. This trip is just piecing together so beautifully! Now I just need to see if I can book that train for tonight as soon as I come into Venice. Then I can spend a whole afternoon exploring and travel all evening. Completely ideal. Plus the fact that I haven't taken a sleeper before, and I am rather excited for that. Hopefully it all works out, though I brought a list of Venetian hostels in my ipod just in case.
If these trains work out too, I may get to make a quick pitstop in Germany on my way north too! Do you think I could hit more cities any quicker than I am? Probably not, but I am loving every extra city I get to see. A lot of it will depend on Prague though, and how much I love it and how quickly I can get through the things I want to see. I probably will have to decided between the concentration camp and Germany though, and I think I'd rather see Germany. Less depressing, though I would be very interested in seeing the camp too. And I had been thinking of flying into Copenhagen, but now I'm thinking I'll still just train in. If I do, I get to go on a train ferry, which just sounds cool in my mind. Though that one would also be a night train, so I don't know how much of it I would see. You never know though. That is still several days out, and you all can see how at whim my travel plans are still changing. Rather impressive I think considering what a tight timeline I am on. Somehow though, I will make it all work.

Italy 2.0

2011-03-30T05:25:00.000-07:00

This morning was absolutely gorgeous. London was all misty and gray, which made all the green seem...greener! I also heard some of the most amazing birds as I walked to the train station. Sadly, I needed this awesome to begin my recovery from last night. First I went for my Indian food, which the place the hostel recommended...eh. I was really rather disappointed overall. Then there was the lack of awesomeness which came from the other people staying at my hostel. While the place itself was rather nice, the people were rather not.
People hung out underneath the dorm windows being loud and drunk until 3 am. This included people leaning out their windows from many different rooms and telling them to "shut up!" repeatedly. Or the couple that decided coming into the room and beginning packing for the next day at 12:30 in the morning was acceptable, and then turned on lights to read. Or the guy that checked in at 2 am and I swear all his belongings were in plastic bags cause all I could hear was "crinklecrinklecrinkle." So essentially I managed to get another cumulative 2 hours of sleep last night. Just to top off my jetlag you know. So I'm a little sleepy today, but that's just going to be how it is.
My train to Gatwick airport had the final destination of Brighton. Being the literary dork I am, all I could really think was weather I'd find myself a militia man like Lydia. Points if you get the reference! The ride was uneventful though, and while I did not find Wickham, I did see whole fields of daffodils along the way. And tons of fabulous little housing areas with all their laundry hanging in the back yards. I love Europe for stuff like that.
Getting into Italy was a little more interesting though...as I signed in, they told me my backpack was considered excess baggage and seemed sure I was going to pitch a fit that I had to pay to check it. This rather made me laugh, since I saw people with whole trolleys overflowing with ginormous suitcases and all I could think was how much it must cost to travel like that if it cost extra to fly my way. Then came passport control in Florence. She looked at my passport for a good several minutes before telling me I was over my 19 days. First off, what 19 days, since I was here 3 months last time and nothing of the sort was ever mentioned to me, and secondly, she was basing this off my Iceland stamp from December. She said it showed that I left Iceland on the 23rd of December. Which I agreed to, while telling her that I left it to go back to the states. Every time I pointed to my return to the US stamp, or my new ones from Iceland/London in the last two days, she would look at me blankly. Finally she understood this was only my 3rd day in Europe this trip, and that I was nowhere near 19 (still don't understand what she was talking about there as those usually apply country by country and I definitely wasn't in Italy that long).
Oh well, I made it in and that's all that matters. That and how stunningly sunny and wonderful it is here now! I'm just sitting in the hostel waiting for my room to be ready so I can ditch my bags and go wander. I've got some train tickets to buy, a city to wander in, and Martha to hang out with! I already stopped and got a sandwich at my favorite focaccia shop and have begun the culinary awesomeness that the next 24 hours will hold.

Back in the EU!

2011-03-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

I am officially back in Europe now. I landed in London several hours ago, and it is already going smoother than my first trip. Mostly because I didn't pass out on my bed instantly and sleep through my first afternoon. My hostel seems nice enough, especially considering how little time I will be spending there. I have to leave by 6:30 in the morning to catch my train to catch my plane... But I am very excited that tomorrow I will be in Florence and hanging out with Martha.
This is going to be one very fast paced week though! One night in London, Florence, and Venice respectively. Likely one night in Vienna and about two in Prague. Then it's on to Copenhagen to meet family familiar and new!
I do have to say too, that I think London is really starting to grow on me. I never disliked it, but I also didn't have an affinity with it either. But I really enjoyed walking down the streets this afternoon and people watching (there are some interesting ones here that's for sure!). I think I like this city a little more every time I come here. I do think that a good deal of that is that I am comfortable in this city now. I've walked it enough times and explored enough areas, that I feel good just being here. It's more familiar than other places here.
Very glad I brought zucchini bread with me though. I just think of it in my bag and it makes me happy. I will be happy to depart of Martha's goodies though. Bagels get heavy after awhile! But I will be dumping them off on her rather suspecting person tomorrow. Hopefully we picked out good flavors for her.
Well, I'm off to chug my coffee and then get some delicious Indian Cuisine for dinner. Then it's an early bed for me! My two combined hours on the flight aren't doing me a lot of good at the moment. That's okay though, I'll just blame it all on jet lag. :)

Catching up!

2011-03-14T15:11:00.001-07:00

Once again, I've become a slacker in my writing now that I am home. I have actually done some pretty cool things in the last couple weeks, but have just been to lazy to post anything. I've been working at both Finders Keepers and the Ultimate Bagel lately, and just don't seem to feel like taking the time to write once I get home.

Last weekend, John, Don, and I went to Vegas for the WCC tournament. Always a fun trip to take. We stayed in the New York New York this time, and it was a pretty nice hotel. It's amazing how much you notice the cigarette smoke in the buildings though after spending so much time in a smoke free state. Started to make my eyes sting after awhile.

We wandered amongst the different places on the strip, John played some poker, and ate some very good food. John and I went on the roller coaster too, which was pretty cool. I totally wasn't expecting the barrel roll when it happened. One of the better ones I have been on for sure! I loved the people in line for it too. One guy had one of the down to the ground drinks that you have to strap to your neck on. It was almost empty too. I would think that could lead to trouble on the coasters, but oh well.

Then there were the basketball games, which is the whole reason we were there. GU played really well! Very exciting fun games to see. I wasn't very fond of the St. Mary's fans though I must say. I wanted to tell the guy behind me to stop cussing, and knowing me, that takes awhile to get me to that point. Plus he was just mean and rude to boot, as were all the others I encountered, and my friends later told me they had noticed the exact same situation. Totally unnecessary I think. Sadly we only got to see the semi-finals, but we made it home just in time to hear the girls win and to watch the boys game that evening. I'm glad they are playing so well!

This weekend I am up at Schweitzer with Heather and Alex. It's a pretty low key time, as barely any lifts are working so its not really worth my time and money to go rent gear. Still, last night Tanna came over, and Alex's brother was still here and we hung out in their awesometacious snow fort. It has a really steep slide that runs through the fort and through a tunnel down to the trail. You get some serious speed on that thing! Then somehow we ended up in a massive snowball fight ranging all over the hills. Eventually us girls took shelter in the fort using the sled as a roof. It was amusing how long the boys pelted it with snowballs before they realized what we had done.

Tanna, Heather, and I finished the evening chatting and watching the Little Mermaid. Quite satisfying, overall. Heather was laughing at me because I stopped following the conversation at my favorite points in the movie, and got really excited because it doesn't skip like mine does. Small pleasures. And best of all, Heather asked me to be co-maid of honor for her wedding. :) We spent a lot of time talking wedding and just general ideas for what she's thinking.

Today we've played a lot of games and puzzles. At one point we had to try to move my car so Alex's brother could leave. Not super effective. Took us about 30 minutes to get it shifted enough for him to get out, and then he proceeded to get partially stuck too. Makes me look forward to tomorrow though...I know I'll get out, but I think it's going to be a complete adventure doing as such.

Coming home.

2011-02-22T22:33:00.000-08:00

Whew, just got home this afternoon. It's been awhile, even before heading to Palm Springs, I only had about 2 days home. I had so much fun in LA though! Got to spend a lot of time with Paula, Rita, Tony, and Leslie, and a little bit with Mia and Gaia. It was especially fun because I usually only get to see them for such brief periods at the lake, and we really got to hang out for awhile.

I got the full tour of LA over those couple days, from Malibu to Pasadena to Beverly Hills and everything in between. We went shopping, hiking, to movies, and had some great meals. Plus there was Tony and Paula's ~~garage~~ Estate sale, which went off with great success. On our hike at Malibu, Paula and I saw dolphins, a seal, and even a whale spouting off the coast. Very exciting and beautiful!

I was really happy that Leslie got to meet Paula and Rita too. The Chapmans always hear me talk about the family, but this is one of the only times they have got to meet them, and the first time they would get to meet someone other than John. Hopefully Leslie and Mia will make it up to Priest Lake this summer. That would be a lot of fun.

The hardest part about coming home though was the weather. This morning when I woke up it was gorgeous and sunny and as I sat looking out the window and basking in the warmth, I was reading my friends facebook posts about the snow in Spokane. Did not make me anxious to get on that plane. And later this week its supposed to get down to 2. That doesn't make me happy after all this time in Southern California. And I think the world agrees with me. My first flight was delayed and then I missed my flight, but turned out I hadn't really...Delta really messed with my head today to say the least. Told me I had missed my flight by 2 minutes and was put on the next one, but when I got to the gate, the one next to it was my original flight, which was delayed due to mechanical difficulties. Still, I made it home.

Loved my greeting when I got here. Lucy cried, and both dogs practically knocked me over in excitement. I missed my puppies! They both spent most of the evening with me, and when I was writing my thank you notes, Riley got up on the bed and curled up practically on top of me. Things like this make it really nice to be home.

LA bound!

2011-02-18T07:17:00.001-08:00

What a crazy couple weeks it's been! It's been such a tiring month, that it's strange not to feel so exhausted all the time anymore. Just lots of busy tasks to get done. Then came the possible life changing decisions.
While at Jinnie's brunch, I was potentially offered nannying job in LA. How's that for quick and out of the blue? One month I'm in Europe, the next looking at moving to LA. I was going to do a test run this weekend, but I don't have my car down here, so that's on hold for now. Still, it got me thinking about what to do with my life, and I still have no clue!
None the less, I am currently on a train to LA for just a visit. I've never been here before and am hoping to get a feel for the place to help in my decision making. I do love trains. I always forget, but they always make me so happy when I'm on them. Comfortable and a great way to see places. Just wish there had been more than just this one at 5 am. Still, it is what it is.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Places to go, Places to see.

2011-02-09T11:02:00.001-08:00

And the travel planning begins again. On the menu so far? Vegas to watch some basketball in March, then back to Europe in April. I know I will be seeing Copenhagen followed by a week in Ireland. I'm debating spending an extra week in Ireland, or if I should continue on to Edinburgh with the family. Tough decision. I love Edinburgh, but there are some extra things I want to see in Ireland that we will be missing in that first week.

I'm also trying to figure out if I will head over a week early, but I'd have to decide on one or two places to see, which is a challenge for me. How do you pick just a few out of so many amazing places! Needless to say, no, my last trip did not get the travelbug out of my system yet. Anyone have any suggestions of particularly remarkable places to hit? Any favorites that I may have not seen yet?

And to top it off, it is the same cost to fly from Ireland to Spokane as it is to fly to Niagra Falls and take a train home. The only down side to this one is the weather going across the country this winter. Don't know that it will be worthwhile, and I don't know that there will be any way to find out until the time comes. So I may just wait on that one for another time when I can count on better weather. Decisions decisions! And other possible trips for the year include LA and Florida. I'll have to see about the planning for those as it comes.

On another note, I can't believe it is already time for the Grammy's again. It seems as though it comes by way too early each year. It keeps catching me off guard whenever they advertise for it. Gotta love the red carpet events though. They are always fun to watch. Time again to find out how many bestof outfits I hate and how many worst I love. My tastes never seem to run on season tragically. But hey, vintage is in, maybe I stand a chance...

What to Write

2011-01-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here, watching the humming birds and trying to decide what to write. Gina thinks I should do a post about deciding there is nothing in Europe I can't get here in S. California, or a Jane Austen perspective on a personality trait such as stubbornness, but neither of of them seems to hold too much fascination to me. I want to post something interesting though, as it has been awhile since I posted, as Dana has been kind enough to point out (HI DANA! Have fun procrastinating at work!), but I can't seem to think of anything off the top of my head. I'll keep pondering and hopefully my next post will be more interesting, this is more just one to say "I'm still posting!" for the moment, and a generic summary of highlights of the last couple weeks.

I've spent most my time these last two weeks reading and playing Angry Birds, which I have officially defeated. Sadly. I think that means I spend too much time playing on my ipod. My other humorous anecdote is how I managed to get a pedicure. I spent an afternoon outside with my aunt Meridith and her kids and took the opportunity in the sun to paint my toenails. The next day Meridith said she had booked me a pedicure, because she had never seen anyone paint so much of their skin before...I claim I just wasn't being careful because I was going to be in the pool shortly, and therefore it would all just wear off...kinda...ok, so maybe I just really suck at painting my nails. Still, it makes a good story, and my nails now look fabulous. My whole family informed me that it was a huge difference from when I tried to do it myself. Not a glowing recommendation if I ever wanted to go work in a nail salon. Good thing that's not on my career list.

I also hadn't realized how much I've come to depend on my wireless internet. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to check my ipod to realize I can't. So frustrating really. I keep thinking to myself that Starbucks is only a couple miles down the road, I could easily walk that. But it seems silly to do that just for the internet. They do have some here, you just have to be on the desktop to use it. Such a strange concept in this day and age. I'm half tempted to go buy a wireless router and just hook it up one afternoon. I may yet.

Trying to decide what to do with my next stage of life too after this. Do I want to go back to school? And if so, what will I study, where will I go? I'm leaning towards a business of music degree, but I still have no idea what I will do with it. I'm also leaning towards being a homeless vagabond again. It was quite an enjoyable way of life, though I don't know that my bank account will let me keep it up to much longer. Maybe I'll work for awhile, and then disappear for the summer. I'm thinking about putting an air mattress in the back of my car, and just tootling around seeing the sights. But I have time left to think. I'm going to be hovering down south here for awhile I think. At least it's warm and sunny here!

So, in conclusion. Remember to SUIT UP! and be ready for what comes.

Picture by Jennifer Becker

Snow's fun. Slush is not.

2010-12-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

So the update since the blizzard. Yesterday we couldn't do a whole lot, just because of the sheer amount of snow. Even the subways were closed down! We learned later that this was due to the sheer amount of snow in all the entrances, making them all too dangerous to use. We went and got a great breakfast around the corner (though my mom didn't like hers) before deciding what to do for the day. John and I didn't feel like fighting the snow, so we went to go see a movie. My mom decided to walk 5th avenue up to Central Park instead.

On the way to the theater, John decided he was done seeing me walk through the slush and puddles in my worn out tennis shoes, and stopped to get me a great new pair of boots. Love them, and have definitely put them to the test since getting them. Then we went to go see True Grit. It was a really good movie, though I will now have to watch the original rendition of it with John Wayne.

Eventually we all just settled into the room for awhile. Then we headed up to Top of the Rock for sunset. We had to sit outside for awhile, but eventually the skyline started to light up. It was really cool to see each of the towers turn on one by one. Then we headed back for happy hour. As we settled in though I got a headache, so John brought back dinner to the room for us.

This morning it looked gorgeous. We left the room and it was so nice out we didn't even need our hats and gloves. We wandered down to the Empire State Building first. The City Pass is amazing at those places! We went straight up to the top, and with how clear the sky was, it was another amazing view. It wasn't all that windy until you went around the corner to the west side, and then it hit you full force. My mom refused to go around the corner though, and sat inside for the full view.

Afterward we went to Grand Central Station. Here we had a fabulous lunch of soup and bagels with cream cheese, topped off with a black and white cookie. So good! Once we were full, we decided to try and do the Statue of Liberty and caught the subway to Battery Park. The snow was even deeper here though. I went to stand on a bench for a picture and had to wade through thigh deep snow to get there first. People were having a lot of fun in it though, and we saw one guy get nailed in the face with a snowball. His friend fell over he was laughing so hard.

Unfortunately, the tour was closed, which we didn't learn until we arrived, so we went to head north again to go to the Met instead. The subways here are not clearly marked though, and there are no maps in the tubes. We ended up on a line that we thought stopped at 81st, but took us all the way to 125th instead. So we went south on another one that should stop and ended up at 59th. Finally a really nice cop helped us get onto the correct line and we cane out on 81st street. Then we walked through the Park to get to the Met. Kids were all over sledding and having a general good time. It was a lot of fun to watch.

After the museum, we went to find the Alice in Wonderland statue, which Jen and I failed to locate last year. Turns out it is completely visible from the road we had walked several times. Got to go take pictures of it though which was really cool. Then we went to the MOMA. There was the coolest thing there too. A grand piano, with a hole cut in the middle of it. The guy played it backwards from inside the piano itself while walking the entire piano around the room. We followed him around as he moved for almost half an hour. It was amazing to watch really.

For dinner tonight we went to John's, which we were told is one of the best pizza places here. Turns out it was the one Jen and I went to on a whim last year. We must have had good taste. It was just as good this time around too. We had garlic bread, pizza, and an antipasti plate, which had an amazing Caesar salad in it too. Very good, though we are all so full we can hardly move now. Quite a successful day overall, and we saw a lot of things. Who knows what will be next!

Blizzard!

2010-12-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

What a welcome back to the states! Quite an experience though. NYC in a full blizzard. This is nuts!

I arrived at the hotel yesterday evening, and got to hang out with my parents. It was really good to see them after these last couple months. And 5-6 was free happy hour at the hotel, with really good wine and hot apple cider with whiskey. Delicious. Then we decided to head out a little and find a place for dinner and to hang out. Times Square was absolutely packed. You could barely move at all. Eventually we found a place that looked really good for food, but we had to wait a couple hours to get seats for sure. So we put in our names and headed to the bar just a couple spaces down.

While we were hanging out and chatting, the guy at the table next to us piped in with some suggestions of places to go and ways to get there. We ended up chatting with him for awhile. Turns out hes a stand up comedian here, and he told us e had a show Sunday night at Dangerfield's and suggested we come out.

After we all parted ways, we went and got our food. John got a steak, my mom the Spaghetti Bolognese, and I the veal. I think John's was the best, but I was also craving a good American steak and have been for quite some time. All the food was really good though.

When we woke up this morning, the blizzard forecasts had become more prominent on the news. So we decided to walk to Macy's first before and snow started. I bought a new pair of jeans and was therefore able to throw out my old pair. It was about time on that front. Then we walked down to the Empire State Building to get our City Passes, though we weren't climbing yet. We want to go up at sunset and the blizzard was going to hinder that today.

We did however go to the Museum of Natural History. Did the planetary, history of the stars show, saw the dinosaurs, the gemstones, and whatever else took our fancy. Once we left though, the snow had started and was already sticking, but it was pretty minimal. We weren't too impressed with this NY blizzard. The wind was pretty bad though, so we headed back to the hotel for happy hour and to bundle up for the evening. Then we headed out for dinner and the show.

We went to Jacksonhole Burgers and they were amazing burgers indeed. The taxi ride to get there was a bit more interesting though. Couldn't see out of a single window in the cab, not even the front windshield. And our taxi driver was chatting on his phone and still zipping around traffic. Not a drive I'd ever be comfortable making...

The comedy show was incredible. R.C. Smith was so funny! Only about 20 people were there though, due to the weather, so we all got picked on regularly. The best of all though, was the really drunk Australian gal that kept trying to heckle. She was such an easy target, and the guy she was with was not happy with her or the evening. Eventually he made her leave early, and we heard she'd refused to put on her coat and slipped straight into the snow outside the building.

After the show, R.C. came up to talk to us for awhile, and we found out he is on the Rachel Ray show. When ever she references talking to R.C. backstage, it is him. Very cool we though! Then we headed outdoors. The snow had picked up like mad while we were in there. Cars we stuck at every intersection, spinning out their tires, just in general trouble on that front. We waded through the snow for several blocks to get a subway back to the hotel, and by the time we got there were thoroughly wet and covered in snow. The worst part though is the wind. It would drive the snow like needles straight into your face, and the city is like a giant maze of wind tunnels. Quite an experience to be sure.

The news report has upped our snow forecast for overnight, and it should continue through tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow hold for us, and what we will be willing to walk through.

Hometurf

2010-12-24T06:12:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I'm officially back in the states now. It feels kinda strange, I won't lie, though not being in an airport anymore is wonderful.
My flight was supposed to leave Iceland at 5, but kept getting bumped back later and later to the point where I started getting concerned. After a certain time, I would no longer be able to catch a bus to David and Meridith's house and would have to sleep in the Port Authority bus terminal to catch the 6 am bus...and that is one experience I would be okay not having. I really started to get concerned what time the flight was going to be, when they announced at the airport that they were giving the people on my flight 1,100 ISK (around $11), worth of dinner credits in the food area. Not a good sign.
Finally, around 4.5 hours later (which really isn't too bad considering how delayed some of my friends in Europe were flying home. I was just really more concerned about catching the last bus), we boarded our flight. Then I found out why we were delayed, and I can't even be upset. I would gladly sit in the airport again. Turned out, the Parisians went on strike. Two days before Christmas, during a snow storm. There were about 40-50 Americans that if their flight was canceled, they wouldn't get home til the 27th at the earliest. So they told them, we will not cancel on you. We will get you home for Christmas. And they delayed the connecting flight (mine) to ensure that they would get home. The guy sitting next to me would have missed his first Christmas with his kid if we hadn't waited. So obnoxious? Yes. But I would happily do it again.
We finally landed at 10:15 EST, a little after 3 am for me. Got through customs, got on the subway (really makes me appreciate London's tube. I didn't realize how nice those seats were!) and made it to Port Authority, 20 minutes before the last bus left at 12:45. Whew!
So here I am, at David and Meridith's house. I got in around 1:30 in the morning, and am now sitting around, drinking coffee, and hanging out with Noodle and Carly. Janine and Lisa were here too, but they ran to the store. I'm excited to be here, though sad to not be in Europe. And I do have to admit, the hours I kept in Iceland made the transition easy. Another perk to the weird hours of sunlight there. Who need jetlag?!
Nonetheless, it is Christmas Eve! So now it's time to wrap some presents (I'm so excited for how much room this will clear up in my bag!) and enjoy the prospect of seeing my parents tomorrow evening. I can't believe how fast the last 3.4 months flew by, but they were amazing. Memories for a lifetime.

Not Ready to Leave!

2010-12-23T01:55:00.000-08:00

Today I leave Iceland, and I’m sadder about that than I expected to be. This was such an amazing stop, and I can’t tell you how glad I came here, especially for the winter solstice. Now I can’t wait to come back in the summer at some point and see it from an entirely new perspective. I am just eating my breakfast right now, and then I go pack my bags and catch a plane to the US.

I have had so much fun the last couple days though. Two nights ago, I signed up for hostel outing night, which was a foosball tournament and a pub crawl. Turns out everyone who signed up was the kids I have been hanging out with the last several days, so we all knew each other already and quickly paired off into teams. Darren and I were Team Hurific, which is the way our Icelandic event coordinator spelled horrific. We felt that made our team even cooler. We lost, sadly, but we did give the game a very good effort and held our own for the majority of it. We even had the game tied at 6 for awhile!

Eventually the girls team one and we all sat around drinking cheap beers before we hit the bars. So much fun once we got out though. We ended up at The English Pub (somehow a lot of the best places here are named after other countries. Café Paris was good too…), and as we walked in the live band was doing Proud Mary, and quite well. They played all these great older songs, with random covers of Umbrella and Dynamite thrown in to change up the mix a bit. Everyone got shots of Black Death, which is an Icelandic drink that is supposed to be awful. Not great, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. The Jelly Bean Jen gave me in Cheney was far worse.

Actually so was the other drink I had earlier…Darren and Jess had bought the traditional Icelandic candy Opal, and its alcoholic counterpart. They are flavored with licorice and menthol. After trying both, I don’t think I will have sinus problems for weeks. Wow. The candy was like a chewy, sticky Halls that you just couldn’t get out of your teeth, and the drink was like shooting really bad cough syrup.

Eventually we made our way back to the hostel, after an amazing night out in Reykjavik. Well the girls did at least. The boys stayed behind and later tried to find the hot dog stand, but it was closed on the. Their loss!

Yesterday, Darren, Jess and I had made plans to go to the Wednesday free museums together. We met up and decided to try Café Loki for lunch first, as you could get sample plates of local specialties, and we all wanted to try the shark. Why we wanted to try this, don’t ask, but we were curious. Even after the locals told us how horrible it was.

So, we got to Café Loki and each ordered a lunch of meat soup and bread with either smoked lamb or lamb pate on it. And a side of shark for us to split. Our waitress warned us when she brought it out, “Make sure you eat it and don’t smell it.” Not a good sign. While setting up cameras to photograph the eating, Darren got a whiff. Now I was getting scared as I saw his face. What had I just gotten myself into…but it was too late to turn back, we had our cubes on toothpicks and were ready to go.

Then we ate it. The consistency is what hits you first. It is slimy like a gelatin, but really thick and chewy. You have to chew and chew and chew. Then it finally hits the back of your throat and you can both taste and smell it at the same time. This is where the gag reflex kicks in and you can’t help but think, ‘I am eating putrefied shark. What is wrong with me?!’ But we all got it down and dived for our drinks and soup, trying to get the taste out. Our waitress just laughed at us, “Sooo…what did you think? Delicious?” We all had to laugh and admit, no, delicious is probably not the best description of what we just did. The rest of our meal was delicious, and it was one of the cheapest ones I had here, even with the shark added to it.

After this we braved the cold and went museum hopping. First up was the National Gallery. This was cool, and we got to walk across part of a frozen lake to get there. Too soon it was over, and at 3 it was already dark out, but we still decided to walk across town to get to the Saga Museum on the hill. While it was cold, we were fine. Until we hit the wall of snow. It was clear one minute, and then boom, snowing. Which still wouldn’t have been too horrible, if the wind hadn’t been shooting the bits of snow into our faces like little needles. None the less, we eventually made it to the museum, which was not nearly as cool as anticipated. So we went to wait for the bus. Which was 20 minutes late. Soooo cold.

Eventually we made it back to the hostel though and warmed up enough to go get hot dogs for dinner. And on the way back we swung through the Christmas market where I got to try horse meat for the first time. It was delicious! Much more tender and flavorful than I had been expecting, and I wanted to buy some. But, I am flying home, and I don’t need to bring horse meat with me too. I recommend trying that one though, to anyone who is curious. It was the good culinary adventure to counter the shark of earlier.

But now I am here, getting ready to go. Thank you Iceland, for a wonderful set of experiences. I cannot wait to encounter you again!

Golden Circle

2010-12-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

Today I was set to do the Golden Circle Tour. Since it was to leave at 8 and I wanted to catch the first part of the eclipse, I set my alarm for 6:15. Thank god I woke up naturally at 7. I had accidentally set it for 6 pm. So I hustled really fast and was able to grab some breakfast before hoping on the bus where I watched the majority of the eclipse still. I am very glad it was a long eclipse, or else I would have missed it, and it was pretty incredible to see.

The tour was awesome too. My roommate Matt, as well as two other guys from my hostel, Kevin and Justin, went on it too and we all hung out together. It's more fun to share the experiences with people I think. First they took us to one of the greenhouse towns, where we got to check out one of the many greenhouses. Then after some coffee, we all got on the bus to head to the geyser. For an extra treat, our tour guide dropped us off at the top of a volcanic crater (inactive of course) so that we could watch the sun begin to rise.

Eventually we made it to the geyser. This was the second of two, though the first stopped erupting after an earthquake about 20 years ago. Turns out that ones name was Geyser, and it is the one that named all other geysers. After standing out in the open for about 8 minutes, none of us could feel our fingers, but we did get to see the eruption from about 10 ft. in front of us. Of course two minutes after we start walking for the warmth of the cafe we were parked at, it erupted again, about 5 times larger than the one we had seen and photographed. But we were too cold to go try it again.

After the geysir came Gulfoss Falls, or the Golden Falls. This was one of the things I had really been looking forward to seeing here. And it did not disappoint! Several tiers of falls, mostly frozen, plundered down the canyon beside us. And we could walk straight up to the edge of the falls. They were pretty spectacular to see. The river they were on is from the nearby glacier, which was just chilling on the landscape not too far away. This is the glacier I would have climbed, though I am now very glad I didn't. I talked to someone who went on it yesterday, and apparently with the wind chill, it is -40 C. That is just a little too cold for me, especially since I'm using cheap cotton gloves, and only have jeans. I think it would have been more than I could have handled.

Next came the All-thing. This was the earliest parliament sight, forged by the Vikings in the 900's. We got the whole Viking history lesson which was rather interesting, and much appreciated that our tour guide held it from inside the bus, rather than at the All-thing like normal.

Once again, the amazingly hot showers that come in Iceland was much appreciated. I love that they have limitless water, of whatever temperature you dream of!

Spa day!

2010-12-20T12:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe another two days have already gone by. I think the time is going by faster and faster as it gets closer to Christmas. I will be sad to leave Iceland though, it has been quite an experience.

Yesterday I wandered through the town to check out it's three art museums. They are on the three opposite corners of the central city, which wouldn't have been that far if that darned wind would go away. You'll be strolling down the street, snug in your coat when it just hits you out of nowhere, cutting straight through your layers. It was fun to see all the Icelandic art though. They pride themselves on only putting pieces in their galleries which they feel demonstrates a portion of Icelandic culture. Some were...different...but they were definitely all interesting. Particularly a set done in vivid colors depicting the Icelandic landscape. Those were stunning.

Later in the evening, as I was chilling about, I heard one of the locals working in the hostel talking about the putrefied (yes, that is the correct word) shark. I asked what it was like, since I've been curious, but it's so expensive. When the locals tell you, "It's disgusting. But you have to try it," I can't really say I'm jumping for the experience. I asked how it had become their national dish if it was so awful and his only response was, "All they had to eat was fish and lamb. They got bored, so they said 'Hey, let's try this shark!' But it was really bad. So the let it rot a little and tried it again. It was even worse, but there you go." Probably the most interesting way I've ever heard of a dish become national, and not likely the true one, though I do enjoy it's telling.

Today, I went to the Blue Lagoon. Wow. It was such an experience! The water is a milky, opalescent, blue and completely opaque. You can feel the sand/silicate mud under your feet and if you scoop it up, you can see it is indeed the silica mud with bits of lava rock in it. Everywhere is the mist from the temperature difference. In fact, the wooden deck to get to the lagoon is frosted over, so you're feet are frozen by the time you get to the water.

After doing the mud facial, and playing in the waterfall (you are supposed to use it like a back massage), I went to get my actual massage. Strangest thing ever, though highly enjoyable. It is done in the lagoon. They float you on a foam raft, facing upward, and massage your back as you float in the water. They spin you in a slow circle the entire time too, so you have no idea where you are facing as you look at the sky, but you can feel the water swirling around you. Then he gave me a mud facial with a different type of mud, before leaving me to float comfortably as long as I wanted.

I have to say though, I was not impressed at all with the couple who went out on the same bus as me. He was from Greece, and she from NY, and when the bus went to pick them up at the hotel, they were still asleep, and said they'd meet us at the leaving point on time in fifteen minutes. They got there barely on time, but as we went to get in the bus, we realized he had gone missing. He'd decided to run to the hot dog stand around the corner, not realizing it was time to leave he claimed. And then he wasn't even allowed to have the hot dogs on the bus, which he would have known if he'd mentioned it to the bus driver.

The gal though, why would you go to a spa/lagoon with tons of heavy makeup and fake eyelashes on? It just seemed silly to me. And then when we were leaving at the same time too, she started throwing a fit in the locker rooms, saying all her jewelry was gone, and practically blaming the attendant lady. Turns out she had not only forgotten to lock her locker the entire time she was in the lagoon (3 hours), but when she got back in, she set her coat out, which supposedly had all the jewelry in her pockets, and left it in the middle of the room while she took a shower and killed time somewhere else!

I felt so bad for the lady working, cause NY was giving her a complete run around, and it was her own fault. The whole thing seemed slightly odd to me though, and I can't help but wonder if she actually lost anything at all, as she still had half her jewelry, and supposedly the stuff that went missing was all gold and diamond. I just tried to stay out of it, because I didn't know quite what was going on, or how honest she was being. I got a weird vibe from the whole thing really.

On the bus ride back, I saw the single-handed most amazing moonrise I've ever seen. The moon was huge! Sitting right on top of the hill ahead of the bus. It even photographed beautifully, which I have never managed to do with the moon before. I'm hoping it's a good sign for the morning, as this is the night of the full moon eclipse on the winter solstice. It should start for me around 6 am, and reach it's peak around 8, which will be perfect because I leave for a tour at 8. So I should be able to see the whole conclusion of the eclipse from the bus as we leave town.

For now though, I am going to go take a shower and get to bed. My hair is completely dried out from the lagoon and I have a full day ahead of me tomorrow!

Blown Away

2010-12-19T02:44:00.000-08:00

While the last couple days haven't been super exciting, they have been interesting. I've mostly stuck around the downtown area, though I did finish my Christmas Shopping which is very exciting I think. I had debated doing the Blue Ice tour, which is the one on the glacier, but it was canceled for several days, and after seeing this wind, I can appreciate why.
I have never encountered wind like this! The days would be comfortable otherwise, but the wind is bitterly cold at times. And so strong! There were times when I was walking into it, and I would literally almost not be moving at all. And just when you thought you'd made some headway, you would pass a side street and one would catch you from the side, almost keeling you straight over. The couple of us braving the streets were probably amusing to watch as we leaned weird directions only to be staggered sideways randomly.
It wasn't too long before I chose to just hole up inside and call it a day. Plus the fact that the sun is literally only up for two hours at this point, though it is light for much longer as the sun skirts right below the horizon.
Jemma stopped by that night, and we decided to go try our hand at the runtur. In most of Iceland, this is their way to hangout in the evening, they all get in their cars and do laps around the towns slowly, stopping in car parks to chat with others once in awhile. They do this all night. In Reykjavik, they've altered it a little though. No cars necessary here! They have turned it into their form of all night bar hopping, though drinks are so expensive that it is acceptable to only drink one or two things all evening. We didn't stay out too long though, we were both too tired unfortunately. We did have a great dinner, and I tried the Icelandic beers which were quite tasty.
You can see the effects the next day though. Both yesterday and today, I have noticed that nothing opens for quite some time. It is 11 am, and the coffee shop across the street still has stools stacked and all lights off. I guess that's what happens though when the whole town is out until 5-6 in the morning. Still, it's weird that the town is still almost completely asleep this close to noon. The sun is even up...kinda...
Last night was fun though. I'd sat around talking to my mom on skype when I decided to go to the grocery store to get food. I didn't realize how late it was though (Ironically, you stay awake a lot because it's so dark all the time you never realize when it has become late, it all just feels the same.) and the store was closed. I figured I'd just grab a bite a nearby bar, when I heard the music coming out of the alley. Really, how I didn't notice it sooner is beyond me. You could feel the bass through the sidewalk for blocks. So I wandered back and spent the next while enjoying an awesome Icelandic band perform. People had climbed trees for seats, and random people were headbanging and whipping their hair around, and to songs that were not headbanging songs. Everyone got way into the music. After the set was over and the band was tearing down, I went back to my hostel. As I climbed into bed, I realized I had forgotten to get food, which had been my whole intent in going out. Nonetheless, I feel it was a highly successful outing. I just wish I knew the bands name, but unfortunately, that's the downside to not speaking their language. I can't understand a word they said when they announced themselves, and there were not signs or posters up at all. Oh well.

So Tired!

2010-12-17T03:59:00.000-08:00

I find it hilarious that I half expected to sleep this week away due to the lack of sunlight, but instead I have spent more time awake here than anywhere else I've been. Last night was the first time I was in bed before 3 am, and I went to bed a little after midnight, and I have been up by 8 every day, doing tours and exploring. I woke up this morning, and felt as though I needed a day of less stuff going on.
Yesterday I went on the Black and Blue tour, which was very cool, and very cold. We were standing by the lake, watching the sunrise, and freezing in the wind when we looked at the area we would be swimming, looked at each other, and all concluded that we were nuts. It took us a while to get dressed for the snorkel, we had to get on our thermal layer (which is like a sleeping bag with arms and legs), and then fit that into our dry suits. Then get our neoprene hoods, gloves filled with warm water (which didn't stay warm more than 3 minutes), masks, and flippers on.
Once we got in, it was one of the weirdest experiences. There was enough air in the suits that you just floated, though you can manage to get your feet below you and literally just sit in the water completely buoyed. When you looked down in the water, is was completely clear, a huge rock fissure below you with caves and crannies and the weirdest plant life growing on them. No fish at all. Then we floated with the current for a little under an hour to the pick up point. By this point, we were all mostly numb. Especially our faces, which had nothing over them and were under water almost the entire time. One girl had to be rushed up for the vans because she was so cold she was having trouble breathing a little. The rest of us were fine, though also freezing.
Then, just to prove we were okay, we went rock jumping back into the lake once we'd taken off our flippers and masks. Somehow, this felt even colder, though it was extra cool because it was just high enough that you really got the falling feel. And when you plunged in the water? There is nothing stranger than getting a bunch of really cold water in your ears. Especially when your neoprene hood holds it there afterward.
Eventually we decided we needed to warm up and went back to the vans to get dry. It is so hard to get out of a dry suit when it literally freezes on you. As in you can almost not get out because your arms barely bend, you can't bend down cause the waist line is frozen, and you can barely walk because you almost can't bend your knees. And then once we got out, our hair which was slightly wet all froze. We looked so funny though! And we got a lot of hot chocolate to get us warming up again. They took us out for lunch after this too and we had some hot lamb soup with bread.
Then came the caving. We drove out into the lava fields to the tubes, which are 1,000 years old. We had hardhats with lights on our foreheads, which was totally cool, and even though we could all see our breath and had to watch out for ice in the tubes, it was the first time we all felt warm that day. At the very end, we found the lamb skeleton, which they think is about 1,000 years old from the last volcanic explosion there. They call the tubes Leidarendi which means "end of the road" in tribute to the lamb. A little bit past that we all turned out our lights and told stories in the dark, and then sang happy birthday to one of the guys in our group. Somehow Carlos, our tour guide, had learned of it and the guy was shocked when we all started in.
On our way back out, we took a different route. This one was so narrow, that we would literally have to crawl on our bellies for several spans to fit through. Carlos showed us all the different lava activities too, the marks on the floor, the drips on the ceiling, the layers in the walls, and the bigger cave where the temperatures were so hot that you can still see how the rock was melting. He found us the point out that looks like it came from Alien too. Our group was so much fun though. We spent half the time in the tubes quoting Austin Powers. None of us could stop laughing whenever Carlos said magma, because he said it exactly like Dr. Evil.
Eventually the tour came to an end, and we went back to the city. I took a hot shower to thaw, and was about ready to head in early when Jemma came down and said it was supposed to be a 4 star opportunity for the lights that night. So we layered up again and went down to the harbor to try and see the show. We sat out for a little over two hours, before we were just too cold and went back in. Unfortunately we did not see the lights, but I did have to take another shower to thaw out again. I will be nothing if not clean this leg of the trip!
I'm about to head out for the day, but I keep hearing that wind whip past my window and it makes me feel cold just listening to it. Ah well, I can't stay holed up in here forever. Hope I won't get blown away!

Better and Better.

2010-12-15T23:51:00.001-08:00

I have no words for this place, and it just keeps getting more amazing every time I turn around. I woke up a little before ten yesterday, and got to watch the sunrise a little before eleven. Quite an experience, and I can't tell you how glad I am to be here at this time of year. It is worth the cold, which mostly isn't that bad at all.
I spent a good deal of time at the front desk of my hostel with maps and adventure programs. The stuff that goes on here is fantastic. I had to decide between the Black and Blue tour and the Blue Ice tour. In the end I chose the Black and Blue due to the descriptions from the desk guy who sometimes leads the tours, and the votes my friends turned in on facebook. Then I chatted with Heather. I think I may be doing both now.
After figuring out a couple of activities, I decided to go explore the old town while I had sunlight. It is such a fun quirky area! Tons of little shops and many have fabulous carvings of fairytale creatures around them. They have many stories of elves, giants, trolls and fairies here, and are regularly thought of as real. This is definitely my culture!
I had lunch in a little cafe down the street (food is almost as expensive here as it was in Switzerland...almost). It was a traditional meat soup. So good! Filled with tons of vegetables and herbs, it was rather salty (which I love), and had big chunks of meat in it. I can't wait to have more food. I especially look forward to trying the lamb, which is a specialty here and apparently the main Christmas meal, and possibly the shark, which I am slightly turned off to just because it's expensive, seafood, and the term translation for how they cook it is putrefied. Sounds kinda iffy to me, but it is their renowned dish. Maybe if I can find a sample platter with it or something.
I checked out the church and when I got there I realized how close to sunset it was. At 1 in the afternoon. It really is quite an experience there. And if anything, I have been getting far less sleep than more. I may not make it anywhere after this because I will be passed out and comatose at the rate I'm going.
Around 5 in the afternoon, I checked in at the front desk for the Northern Lights (AB) and found out the conditions looked very good. Still no guarantee, but that was what I had been hoping to hear. So I booked to go on the 7:30 tour that night with Ben from my hostel. Their tours are amazing. They pick you up at the door of your hostel and take you out. For this one they told us the tour could go from 3-5 hours depending on the lights and how many places we had to move too. I was quickly convinced that if I saw no AB, it would not be to the fault of the company who conversed with each other and other tours constantly for the best location, would stop on the side of any road for opportunities, and just went all out. Our tour guide was amazing. She told us how the Icelandic people celebrate Christmas, their holiday stories and traditions, sang us traditional Christmas songs in Icelandic, and told us ghost stories which she collects. We stayed at the first drop point for an hour and had just piled into the bus when someone realized they were there. Just to faint for the human eye. Their camera had picked it up faintly over the mountain though, so we waited a little longer to no luck and carried on.
We hung around by the lake, across the fissure that is the continental divide (technically I spent time in the Americas and then hopped to Europe by crossing the actual tectonic plates.) Then we saw them. There was no where to stop, so they literally dropped us off in the middle of a huge lava field and we all stumbled out, tripping over bits of lava rock to see our first glimpse. Incredible.
We saw them several more times, but it was so cold that less and less of us got out of the bus each stop. After seeing them a couple times I was almost disappointed. It was just a green streak across the sky. Then our guide had the driver quickly pull over. "This one is moving! Get out now!" she hollered back to us.
This was how I had expected the Northern Lights to look. A green, occasionally reddish ribbon rippled its way across the sky, visible movement easy to see with the naked eye. So worth the tour. And when we got back to the city, we saw them again, bright enough to show up over the city's light pollution. It was at this point that I realized it was after 2 in the am again, and that we had spent 6-7 hours hunting them, rather than the 3-5. That and that I couldn't feel my toes.
So I got back to the hostel, took a shower to thaw, and went to bed around 3:30. It is now 8ish, and I am up and getting ready for my new tour which leaves at 10. I will be doing Black and Blue today with Jemma, a gal also staying in this hostel. We will climb down lava fields and go snorkeling across the continental fissure. The water is supposed to be around 2 celsius, but they told me they back us in dry suits so well be plenty warm, but I have a feeling I will need another hot shower tonight.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring! The Golden Circle tour? Blue Ice? the Blue Lagoon? And I still need to go find the hot dog stand by the harbor. It is their renowned restaurant and the line is supposed to be huge. I can't wait to see what is next!

Hallo!

2010-12-15T01:50:00.000-08:00

So I've decided Heathrow Airport is just confusing. Not that it mattered too much with how early I was there, but if I had been rushing it wouldn't have been good. Took me forever to figure the place out with the "take the lift to check in, then a ways to the holding area, but you can't go to your gate because we wont tell you where it is until it's almost time to board. Not the best set up ever.
Icelandic Airlines however, are amazing. Movies and TV the entire flight, plus they brought us Christmas cookies. And rather comfortable. My rowmates were great, Jim and Petra. It's their first time here too, and we ended up on the same route to our hostel/hotels so we chatted most of the way. They even invited me to go on a drive with them the day they rent a car, but as I don't have a phone and they don't have a computer it became rather moot. Still, it was very nice of them to invite me.
I landed a little after midnight, and after customs and immigration and all that it was closer to 2 in the morning. Best part though? I didn't even need to wear my coat. I expected it to be so much colder here, but it was actually colder in London! Feels wonderful right now.
Everyone I have encountered so far is incredibly nice too. Going out of their way to not just point me somewhere but to explain it as well. My hostel is super nice, I have the dorm to myself, and they recommended tons of things to do. I will not be bored in my week here, that much is for sure.
It is weird though, to know it is 10 am, and to look out the window and see night still. Not as tiring as I expected it to be. Nor, strangely, as dark. Even though there is definitely no sun, there is still a warmth to the sky. As though it recognizes that it is day, even though, technically, it's not.

Northward Bound

2010-12-14T01:16:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't written in awhile. Last time I wrote I think I was still in Switzerland. Well, now I'm in London again. I made a one night pit stop in Paris on the way up too. I do really like that city, and once again the people were wonderful. Or rather, mostly.
While I was waiting for my train to London, a girl who was petitioning for signatures drove me up the wall. She would not take no for an answer, even when I got in her face and told her to back off. Very obnoxious, and it makes you worry when they won't leave you alone that they are trying to distract and pickpocket you or something. I don't think she was, though I was very agitated by the time I finally got her to back off. The guy near me they had also harassed gave me a look afterward, which made the experience a bit more humorous. At least I wasn't alone in my irritation at her.
Nonetheless, I uneventfully made it back to London where I have been hanging out with Patrick. We spent the last couple days hitting all the different Christmas markets here, the British Museum, and he went to a show last night while I shopped for warmer clothes. Because I head to Iceland tonight.
I land at midnight, which I was concerned about momentarily because I didn't want to wander around at night. Then I realized, there are about two-four hours of sunlight there now. It is almost always night, so the hours don't really matter quite so much. I will be there for the next week or so, and then I'm off to New York. Can't believe the holidays are upon us already!
Anyway, I know this is a short post, but nothing too exciting has happened, I've spent most of the last couple days on trains. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and moving!

Wow, it is actually winter!

2010-12-09T11:54:00.000-08:00

So today I was set to take the train to Switzerland. Since it didn't leave until 9, I took the morning to get some breakfast a coffee at one of my favorite little cafes first. I love how people here linger over coffee and just chat the time away. You never see anyone getting their coffees to go here. It's a good difference.

As I was getting on the train, I felt so over dressed. I had on some extra clothes to ease my packing (since I have now bought several Christmas presents and had to put them somewhere), and in anticipation that I was going into the mountains. Good choice in turns out. It was warm enough in Florence to be good in a T-shirt when I boarded. When I got off, it was winter. Which I am actually quite happy about. It just doesn't seem like Christmas is this near when I don't need a coat or anything.

The train ride was beautiful too! Mountains crouched on huge blue, blue, lakes. Clouds billowing around their peaks. I love going up into the more mountainous terrains. The guy across from me kept chuckling when I would whip out my camera only to miss the shot due to houses or a copse of trees. I loved taking the little train from Spiez into Interlaken too, prettiest stretch of all.

Once I got here, I must admit to relishing the briskness of the air. It's just so clean and refreshing when it's colder out, and I have rather missed that this year. Once I got settled into my room, which apparently I get entirely to myself, I down and got all my info for the next couple days. I may or may not get to do my chosen activity though, which I'm rather upset about. I need three more people to go for it to work, so I have my fingers crossed that people will book.

I wandered through the town and admired the mountains. It's so strange to think I'm standing in the Alps right now. I found a great little foot path up the nearest smaller mountain. I enjoyed going up to see the fabulous view of the city and finding a couple little waterfalls. Tomorrow I'm going to try and see the more well-known ones in the area.

On my way down, I found an area that keeps mountain goats, so people can see them! So cool. It reminded me of the grizzly center Heather took me to in Pullman this summer. They even gave them little huts and a bunch of them were trotting up and down the lengths of the roofs. It was a lot of fun just to watch them for awhile.

Then the sun went down. And it got a lot colder really fast. I should have foreseen it, as there were barely any clouds all afternoon, but it caught me completely by surprise. So I went back to the hostel to put on some warmer clothes and thaw a bit before going back out more prepared. Of course I lost my gloves this morning, which just figures. I'm going to put off buying new ones until London though, just because everything is so expensive here.

I'd always heard that, but I guess it never registered until I went looking for dinner. $20 for a one person pizza? I didn't even get traditional Swiss food because that was even more expensive. Still, my pasta was good, Jinnie has corrupted me to the wonders of carbonara now, and the hot chocolate was even better. My wait staff was fabulous too. They chatted with me for awhile and loved that I was asking how to say thank you and the like here. This is the first country I have come to completely unprepared for any language skills at all. Luckily both here and Germany, almost everyone speaks English, so I will be able to ask how to say things and learn as I travel.

All in all, Switzerland is a nice change of pace. Totally different from everywhere else I've been. Expensive, yes. But I've found some cheaper things to do to keep myself entertained as well. Hello snow, it's nice to finally see you.

Ultimate Adventure Part 3

2010-12-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

I always find it amusing how days can change so quickly. One day can be slow and lazy, where I feel like I talk to no one in particular. The next I can be fast friends with everyone in my dorm and we will be continually doing things and hanging out together.

The other day started off simple enough. I spent time wandering around Florence, just taking in the sights, and enjoying the good food. The town is really quite beautiful when it is all gray and misty. And here, even when it is rainy and overcast, it has been wonderfully warm. All I need is a long sleeved shirt or a light sweater, and I'm good to wander all day.

I spent a good deal more time in the leather market too. I was tempted to buy a dark brown middle length jacket(the only color and length not yet in my leather jacket collection), but happily when I tried it on, it was not right. Makes me glad I tried it on though, or else I would have been mooning over it the whole time I was here and wishing I had bought it. Now I can just move on to other things. Switzerland and Iceland are going to be expensive enough on their own without adding additional costs beforehand.

After these laid back days, it was funny to suddenly have a room full of awesome people again. Blair from PA, Andrew from WA, Luke from Australia, and Nicole and Jenny our resident Kiwi's from New Zealand. They all arrived yesterday and we have had some awesomely good times hanging out. Blair, Luke, Andrew and myself spent an hour moaning about how hungry we were last night, and not doing anything about it, before we decided, "Hey! Let's all go out together!" We went to Acqua al 2, which was recommended by a customer. So good! Andrew and I had cannolini, Blair an artichoke pasta, and Luke the risotto. Everyone's meals were fantastic; Luke and Andrew said the best they've had yet. Topped off with some gelato, we were good for the evening.

When we got back, we found out that the next day(today) was Nicole and Jenny's half way point in their trip. So we all decided to celebrate by having a Wine Half Way Party in the room the next night. Then we found out Andrew had been accepted to his grad school of choice that day too, and we had even more to celebrate.

Andrew even does a drawing thing similar to mine, and got me started getting people to draw for me again, something I am sad I slacked on in the first part of my journey. I think that was what the journal I bought here was meant for, and I am excited to fill it with drawings from everyone I meet from here on out.

Today, Blaire headed out on a several city tour, the others to Pisa and Cinque Terre, and I roamed the area again. I bought my ticket to Interlaken for tomorrow, booked my hostel, bought snacks for the next couple legs of my journey(in anticipation of Switzerland's expensiveness), and explored the east side of the city, where I have yet to go.

I found the Leather School, which I have heard great things about, but of course they were closed. Some sort of Italian national holiday, though I have yet to figure out what. No one seems to know when I ask. After the lack of leatherness, I found a restaurant which served spaghetti alla carbonara, which I have been meaning to try, after hearing Jinnie rave about it this summer at the lake. So good! Now I know what all the hype is about! Topped off with bruschetta and some hot chocolate, and you have yourself a fabulous rainy day meal. The hot chocolate here is so different from the states. It's like hot chocolate pudding really, you almost need a spoon to eat it. In fact, they give you a spoon with the "drink" just in case.

After this I went to the hostel to dry off a little, before heading out for Ultimate Adventure Part 3. This leg of the Ultimate Bagel over seas was hosted by Dominic. We hung out in the area for a while, he showed me the Christmas market, and the Pont Vecchio by night. Then we went to the big Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Duomo. They had flags being thrown, trumpets and drums being played, and a giant Christmas tree to illuminate. Very cool experience. Plus Dom and I always have the most interesting conversations. Part of tonight's was all about aliens and if and how they would/do exist. Always random, always fascinating. He also gave me good tips and activities for Switzerland, and took me to another awesome gelataria.

Once I got back to the dorm, Blair was there and decided she wanted gelato, so I went with. We ended up getting really good pizza first, and just hanging out before checking back to see if the others had returned. They had, and were drinking boxed wine and eating Chinese food. We spent the evening playing silly drinking games with cheap wine, friending each other on facebook(I can't wait to visit people in New Zealand now!), and telling stories of our days.

All in all, it was a wonderful couple days. I can't believe my time in Florence is at an end already, though I am very excited for Switzerland.

lazy, lazy days.

2010-12-05T07:45:00.001-08:00

I think my favorite thing to do here is just wander aimlessly through the markets. Just to see what is there, and smell the food and leather. I love the haggling too, and how everyone tries to outdo their neighbors. I think it is very exciting, though I am not very good at it. I did get the first step of my Christmas shopping started though, which is good. Unfortunately, those were the easy ones.
I did find the most delicious lunch though today. Little mini pearl onions that were caramelized whole with carrots. They served it with a salty pastry to contrast the sweetness of the onions. So delicious! I can't wait to go back and get some more later this week. I've also been enjoying Perche no! gelato, once I finally figured out it's hours which were not posted anywhere. The tiramisu is like eating it at the White House Grill. Only gelato and creamier. Quite amazing.
Overall the last couple days have continued to be lazy and filled with delicious food and wandering. It's just cold enough to slow you down, without driving you to indoor activities and museums. Rather enjoyable, though I feel as if I haven't done much productive here. None the less, I have enjoyed it.
I tried out the gym in the hostel last night. I'm ashamed to say how long it took me to turn on the machines. But in my defense, I had to flip the fuse, which was not written anywhere in the room. I just stumbled onto it by chance. I was excited to see that I really am in much better shape than I was when I left. I ran, actually ran, on the treadmill for 20 minutes no problem! And my friends can tell you what an accomplishment that is.
I had intended to go up to Fiesole today, but when I got to the ticket office I discovered it was closed on Sundays, and they don't let you buy tickets on the bus here. Signs all over the internet warning you of this. If I had known I would have bought a ticket yesterday. Oh well, if the weather holds good to tomorrow I will try again.
I have to wonder though, if I am this lazy here now, what am I going to be like in Iceland, with almost no daylight, and much colder. I have a feeling I will be good for nothing! Still, it will be a fun experience and I am ready to go, crazy or not.

It was a fluff kinda day.

2010-12-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to an incredible thunderstorm. It was right overhead, and it took me a minute to realize what I was hearing. After watching it for a little while, I curled up in bed, expecting to need to hunker down. Boy was I wrong. Despite the pouring rain a bit earlier, by 10 it was cropping up to be a very nice day!
I decided to start my day taking the scenic route to the duomo. I figured this would give me a chance to scope out restaurants in my general vicinity while I wasn't hungry. Otherwise I end up diving on the first place I see, later. I wandered in and out of piazza's checked out some cute little courtyards, and eventually made it to the duomo.
What a huge difference in times of year there. I remember when we were there in summer and you had to push your way over to see the buildings. Today? I ambled up to Giberti's doors and hung around checking them out. Then I meandered across the way and took some pictures of the duomo itself. I was able to hop and skirt around puddles, because there was barely anyone there. So strange for me! But I guess that's the perk of being here in the off season.
After this I went hunting down two other restaurants. A pizzeria my hostel recommends and has a good lunch deal, and Acqua al 2, a restaurant a customer from the bagelshop recommended through my mom. Well, the downside to off season? The pizzeria was not open for lunch anymore, only dinner. Same for Acqua al 2, but I expected that one and look forward to going one night.
When I had my fill of staring at empty restaurants, I decided to go to the Ponte Vechio. I unintentionally went through the Piazza S. Firenze, was awesome, even if you are only looking at a replica David. I window shopped the area and decided to climb to the Piazza Michelangelo. Great view of the city, and one of the only things to do here that is free.
On my way back, as my pants were wet from puddles and it was making me cold, I pit stopped and the Porcellino and rubbed it's snout for luck.
I'd intended to just grab a sandwich and head back to the hostel to warm up, but I am a sucker for leather, and I could smell it when I walked past. So I hung out in the leather market, just enjoying what was there, and eventually succumbed to the leather bindings. Yes, I own a new leather journal. But it is refillable! That makes it better...right?
Basically it was a slow meandering day in which I did nothing terribly exciting, but just enjoyed what was there. I'm debating doing another day trip tomorrow, perhaps to Sienna. I'll wait to see what the weather is like tomorrow.

Orvieto. Better than remembered!

2010-12-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

I am very excited to be staying in Florence for a little while. There is so much to do both here and in the area. I probably won’t see all the sights in the city, just because they are all so expensive, but that in no way limits my options.

I arrived here at a little after noon yesterday. When I first got to my hostel I thought I might be in the wrong place. It was set up like a nice hotel in the front. But I was correct. While it is definitely still a hostel, it has many perks that I never would have thought a hostel would carry. A pool, sauna, and exercise room are tucked into the basement, near the restaurant within the hostel. It is really rather clean too, and the restaurant isn’t too bad, and is cheap. Still, I think I would rather go out in the town more than eat in.

After becoming acquainted with my hostel, I decided to go wander around a little bit. Maybe buy a new umbrella since there is much rain in my next week’s forecast, and the one I bought in Paris is officially dead. So as I wandered I stumbled onto one of the awesome leather markets, and we all know I’m a sucker for good leather. I have to keep telling myself I don’t need another jacket, though I am highly tempted to get one, and I honestly don’t know that I will make it out of here without one. Or at least something leather. Just the smell when you wander through those areas is amazing.

After the market, I got turned around somehow, and was facing the wrong direction. Turns out this was meant to be though. As I’m strolling down the street I thought I heard my name, but figured I was imagining it. After hearing it called out several times though I turned around and there are Jillian and Andrew on the street corner. I couldn’t believe I met people on a street corner in Florence, especially since I thought they were in Venice. After laughing at the fact that we had not only run into each other, but also the fact that the recognized me by my bright purple hoodie, which sticks out like a beacon among all the blacks and grays they wear here, they headed off to see the David, and I headed back towards my hostel. Or so I thought. Six blocks later I had wandered through the north end of Florence and had to turn around and take the street I had thought I was on. Oops.

Once back at the hostel I went to dinner with Jake, from Missoula, MT. We had fun getting different dishes so that we could try a wider variety of food offered, drinking wine, and discussing the best skiing locations in the Pacific Northwest. He’s heading back there in two weeks, so he was happy to hear about all the snow, and is prepared for an awesome ski season. Somehow he also managed to talk me into going to the sauna, which turned out to be an awesome end to the day. I had forgotten how much I enjoy those.

This morning I decided I was going to head to Orvieto, since Thursday is one of their market days. Unfortunately I arrived too late in the day for the market, but I still enjoyed seeing my favorite haunts from before. The giant boar on its wheeled cart was still there too! After wandering though several amazing stories for quills, journals, leather, and ceramics (sadly my silver store is now gone) and admiring the view from all four sides of the plateau, the wind got a bit chilly and drove me indoors. I went to a little Café underneath the clock tower and had bruschetta con pomadoro and café latte. It was wonderful! I finished off the meal with gelato from my favorite gelataria, getting tiramisu and bacia (which was recommended by the delivery man who came in, and was excited to show off the little bit of English he had learned recently).

After this I wandered back to the funiculare, but had an hour to kill before my train. What I want to know is how we spent all that time there and loving the place, and never realized we had never seen the back half of the city. The fortress is free to walk in and I had fun climbing up the old walls and seeing the view from a whole new vantage point. A local who was walking through and is interested in architecture gave me the history of the fortress too; from the Etruscans to the Medieval era. You can tell the different eras from the colors of the stones they used when building. I even went to check out St. Patrick’s Well, though I still didn’t go down it. It just made the city even better than I had remembered it to be.

I am currently on the train back to Florence, which will pretty much finish off my day. It’s a 2.5 hour ride each direction. Still, it was absolutely worth it, and I can’t tell you how happy to know that not only did I get to see my favorite city, but that memory hadn’t exaggerated its amazingness; that it really was that wonderful. I liked too that on the train ride in, I could tell when I was getting close by the other hills and towns nearby. I’m glad that Umbria stuck with me so well after all these years, and that it will likely stay with me again until once more I can make it back to this fantastic region.

Pisa 2.0

2010-12-01T00:25:00.001-08:00

Okay, so Pisa has mildly redeemed itself in my eyes. Rather the people here have done as such for the city. It's still not my favorite city, but I no longer look on if with scoffing, disrespectful eyes thinking, "Ugh, Pisa."
Yesterday I took a walk to the leaning tower. And I managed to take the big shopping street/market. It is always so much fun to walk in those areas in Europe! Markets are the best. I really can't wait to get to Florence's. I remember then having the most amazing ones, especially the leather one by the duomo!
Eventually I made it to the tower. Yes, it is just as tiny as I remember it to be. However, it is also much prettier than I remember it being. Maybe they have cleaned it up in the last ten years, but it is quite lovely. And the walk was a nice one, though there are a bunch of student protests going on right now, so I had to skirt some areas of town, because there were so many people blocking the routes.
After the tower I got some food and came back to the hostel. There really isn't much else to do in Pisa after all. My roommates are amazing though. One gal from southern Italy, and the other from England. The Italian girl is so social. We talked and talked. She is planning on going to Texas where her dad is working so that she can work on her English. It is amusing to me how they speak English rather well, and to a level where they can communicate easily, and they think they don't speak it well at all, where in the US if we can say a dozen words, people are like, yeah, I can kinda speak the language. The difference in mentalities is staggering here.
Then the Italian girl brought me a giant glass of Chianti because she said the bottle was too big to drink herself. They are just so much more friendly here. Everything is meant to be shared and socialized over. As long as you show interest and are friendly, everyone wants to chat with you.
The English gal is trying to get a job here. She's been running in and out of interviews the last couple days. She cracks me up! She's super nice, but she is just very English in an Italian world. I'm sure it's the same when people interact with me, I know I appear very American, though I have been told by locals that they don't mind because I respect the differences in our cultures.
Anyway, she had been telling me last night how she has a coffee maker and makes good Italian coffee in the mornings if I wanted to share some with her today. I had forgotten all about it and was lying in bed, when she brought me a mug to our room! It was delicious, but the sheer fact that she went out of her way to do that was incredible to me. The hostel workers here are much the same, making sure stuff is set up for you, and very cheerful and friendly. So Pisa's redemption has been the people I have interacted with.
Today is pouring rain, which will make an interesting walk to the train station. You should see my umbrella at this point. It's quite amusing. Maybe I'll take a picture of it on the walk. It is done in. Two spokes are completely dead and just dangling, and the others are bent and distorted. I think I may need to buy a new one, as my weather report says rain almost all week. Still, I am heading to Florence today, and for that I am excited!

Reconnected.

2010-11-29T12:16:00.002-08:00

All right, so if you missed it, I just did one massive post for the last several days in Cinque Terre a second ago, so go read the post before this first.
I was originally going to leave Cinque Terre rather early this morning, as there was a train direct to Pisa a little before 9 am. I ended up putting it off though, and was hoping to be able to stash my bag in the check-in room so I could go on a hike with Jillian and Andrew. Of course, this doesn't work out, and all I can think is that if I went straight to Pisa, I'd probably end up not doing anything constructive with my day. So I decided last minute, with all my luggage strapped to my back, to go to Montresso and do the hike to the sanctuary there at the point. It didn't look too bad on the map after all.
When we arrived, the waves were HUGE. Jillian and Andrew couldn't restrain themselves from taking an impromptu swim, even though the water was rather cold. I hung back with a couple I had just met, visiting from San Francisco, while we watched those "Crazy Canadians." I decided I'd rather drink coffee than swim, a choice I do not regret. It was a fabulous cappuccino, very cheap, and it was wonderfully warm in the sunshine.
Eventually everyone had dried off again, and we headed for our hike. I wish I had counted how many stairs we climbed. It was steep. Straight up the hill. And the stairs were huge old stone ones at best, and streaks of broken rock at worst. But I made it up. I kept my pack on for most of the climb too. But Jillian is afraid of heights and didn't want to climb all the way, so I took advantage and left my bags with her. Still, I was proud, because I would not have been able to carry my bag that far on level ground in September, and now I went straight up the hillside.
The view was incredible once we got there. There was the remains of an old chapel, and beyond that a building that was set up so you could climb directly onto roof to get the most incredible view. You could see every town of the Cinque Terre from there. We even off trailed it a little bit down the point to get more shots, and once we were out from the hillside we could see all the mountains to the north. It was really just incredible.
Once we got back down, it was of course, siesta time. So we just climbed on the train to La Spezia. We enjoyed a fabulous lunch there and checked out the downtown area of the town. We also had some gelato(technically before lunch), though the gal serving us left much to be desired. Maybe she was just having a bad day though.
While we were buying our train tickets after this, they were going to Venice through Florence, so we were booking the same train, we saw a girl collapse outside the window. Turns out Andrew has some lifeguard and paramedics training, and he went running outside to help out. Probably a good thing because the cops there had no idea what to do, and the girls boyfriend apparently kept acting like she was playing a bad joke on him. It was pretty impressive to watch though.
Of course we got the train with problems too. Took two and a half hours to get to Pisa, as it kept stopping to fix whatever was going on. That is almost an hour late, and Jillian and Andrew only had an half hour to catch their next train, the last to Venice tonight. We were all hoping that the other train is running late too, and that they make the connection okay, but I'm not sure they were going to. I gave them some places I had been looking at for hostels in Firenze just to be safe, and gave them the briefing of Florence safety tips just to make sure they were aware. Hopefully they make it okay, though I'm sure whatever happens it will end up an adventure and a story for them to tell when they get home.
Now I'm here in Pisa again. I'll stay all day tomorrow, and then I head off to Florence myself. I'm very excited to get there, and even more so to take a day trip to Orvieto. I hope everyone had great Thanksgivings while I was out of touch, and I'll try and get pictures posted soon!

Cinque Terre, encompassing several days in one long continuous post.

2010-11-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 26

I arrived in Cinque Terre’s Riomaggiore early yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, I lack internet here, so I will be creating a continuous post and then uploading it all at once. So this will likely be a longer one, though chronologically correct.

On the train ride here, I met a couple from Bend, OR. We recognized it as each other’s first time here by our gasps as we came out of the tunnel onto the coast line the first time. It was nice to be able to say and hear a Happy Thanksgiving. They will be staying in Vernazza, where I have since run into them in passing.

Riomaggiore is definitely a smaller town. I got through it in that first afternoon. It was a nice sunset, though I wish I had a better view of the sea for it. When my roommates came back last night, I have to say I was less than impressed. One, a gal from NJ, was sullen and terse the whole night. I never even learned her name though I tried to make conversation several times. The other is a guy from Brazil. He has said one word since I’ve seen him. “Bye” as he left this morning, though in his defense I think he is shier and doesn’t speak English especially well. Still both just seem completely detached and NJ is annoyed by any one interacting with her. Hard to avoid in a one room space.

I tried to make it to a payphone last night, figuring I’d at least call on Thanksgiving to say hi to everyone, since I wasn’t going to be able to facetime them. It was here that I learned apparently Italian payphones do not like American calling cards. They only accept Italian ones or credit cards. So sorry I didn’t call mom, I’m ok. I promise. It was pouring rain at this point, and I loved it when a lady walked passed me in it on my way back to the room and looked at me saying, “Mama Mia!” It was a good moment.

Today I woke up to slightly more overcast skies. I spent the day in Monterosso and Vernazza. It was nice just to sit on the beachside all morning and wander slowly through the towns. There isn’t a whole lot to do here; it’s more just a slow down time. I think I may have booked too many nights here though, and I will likely be antsy my last day. Maybe I’ll try and do a day-trip out that day. I’ll have to see how I am feeling. It doesn’t help that all the walks except one are closed due to a landslide a bit ago. That was what I was hoping would take up most of my days, was walking between the cities. Ah well, it is what it is. I have a feeling I will be out of books again though by the time I get to Florence.

When I came back to the room, since it is siesta time and I am cold, it was to find a half empty room. NJ has left, which I find amusing because I know she was booked until Sunday. Apparently we must have encroached on her space too much. I just don’t understand why if you don’t want to be talked to, and want your space to yourself, you would ever book a room termed “Dorm.” The websites made it very clear what to expect for bunking. Her problem I guess, though I am not sorry to see her gone I must admit. I’d rather not have people here, than have surly people.

The sun has started to come out for the afternoon. I’m going to go decided if I will use it to dry laundry or to go on as much of a walk as I can.

Saturday, November 27

Today I got two new roommates, and they are much nicer than the others I had. Jillian and Andrew are from Ontario, Canada and we had a lot of fun hanging out today. We started out trying to hike up to the sanctuary above Rioaggiore, but we got mildly lost and ended up turning back, though looking back we think we may have been close. It is such a pretty area though, and we did get some amazing views.

Once we came back down, we got some lunch at the restaurant just underneath our room. The owner was such a nice guy; he sat around chatting with us for awhile. He spoke almost no English, and us no Italian, but we had a phrase book, and a couple key words, so we comingled a conversation together. We all learned new words in each other’s languages. We learned how to say to eat, to drink, to walk, and he learned how to say friends and girlfriend and boyfriend. Not to mention that the food was delicious.

I do find it fun to see how much people respond when you try to speak their language. I didn’t have my phrase book like Andrew did, but our guy obviously loved when I would say a random phrase like “como si dice” and would get really into finding ways for us to make each other understood. He even gave us a lesson in how Italians greet each other for the first time. Taking the time to shake hands one at a time and make the eye contact when learning each other’s names. So much nicer than America’s quick rush passed greetings.

We tried to do the waterside walks, but only lover’s lane was open. Still it was a nice walk, though fairly short. We tried to walk up to the cemetery above, but Jillian is afraid of heights and we didn’t want to leave her behind. Once we got to Manarola, we could see why the other roads were closed though. The landslide was huge and obvious, as was how much of the trail had been taken out by it; completely impassable.

Instead we ended up taking the train to Corneglia. This is the city that is set higher up on the hill. It started raining on us up there, but we found a store to buy some local wine, and found a sheltered entryway in which to enjoy both it and the view. After enjoying our wine, we found a flight of stairs which took us down to a cove on the backside of the city. We were followed by two different local cats, which jumped from dry spot to dry spot, wanting us to pet them. One even followed us all the way down to the cove despite getting wet along the way.

Then we continued along the way to Vernazza to buy some bread. Nothing was open until five, so we explored the city a bit until then. It was fun to stand on the breakwater and watch the huge waves come in, and see the bit of a sunset we were getting due to the clouds.

Eventually we made it to the stores, where we bought fresh baguettes, some dessert pastries, cheese, pesto, and pasta. I also found a place which carried fresh coppa. Delicious. It was nice to be able to share what little I know of Italian culture with Jillian and Andrew too. The niceties of how the meat/cheese person hands you a receipt so they don’t have to handle the money. Our gal was very glad that I knew that when Jillian tried to hand her money, because I don’t think she spoke enough English to get that across. She made a point to thank me after I explained how it worked here. They also hadn’t known about how it is more expensive to sit at a table than to take something to go. It’s nice to know that even after all this time, I do know some of the little things, and can pass them on to other travelers to make their trip easier and more enjoyable.

We came back and had a delicious dinner of pesto, bread with cheese and coppa, and local wine, while having great conversations about books (Andrew’s a literary major), Italy, and whatever else popped into our heads. It amused me when Andrew commented on how well read I am, more so than some English majors he knows, and all I could think was that he should meet some of my friends and family. I haven’t even read a fraction of what some people I know have gone through. Although there really is nothing better than a good book, I will admit.

All three of us also couldn’t help but laugh at how we became instant roommates. We all bought different parts of the dinner and are just sharing amongst ourselves and taking turns with the dishes. I have really enjoyed having them share this spot with me. Though they only stumbled onto it by accident this morning, not even having booked the location. I love how life works out that way sometimes. Especially since I had just been thinking how lonely this spot was going to be if the room was to myself for the next several days.

We finished off the evening playing Go Fish, but to make it more fun, we learned how to say “go fish” in Italian and required ourselves to say the numbers in Italian as well. It took us over an hour to play one hand because we had to keep looking up the words and phrases in Italian. Best round of the game I have ever played.

I just seem to keep having moments where all I can think, is that there is really just no place quite like Italy. It is truly a world unto itself, both in the landscape, food, culture, and people, and I love every minute of it here.

Sunday, November 28

Today was a very cold day! Andrew and Jillian decided to brave the temperatures and rain (it started hailing on us yesterday at one point, and someone told me it was snowing not far away from here on Friday. I can’t believe it went from mid-sixties to this cold so fast!), while I huddled in the room for a bit first. I was listening to random music on my computer, and Chicago with Tony Bennett came up and it made me think of Jinnie, plus the fact that I was eating coppa at the same time. It was a good moment.

Once I warmed up a bit, I decided to head out for at least a while too, though I didn’t make it very far. I had just missed the train to the next town and the subsequent one didn’t come for another hour, so I headed to the grocery store and got some nibbling for dinner tonight. I also took the opportunity to go through my photos here and clean them up a bit, something I haven’t really taken the time to do with too many of my photos. I have to admit though, after using gimp on this trip, I am really missing photoshop. There is nothing quite like a good photoshop program, and while gimp gets me through, it really just doesn’t quite cut it. Probably doesn’t help that I only know how to use about half the software features for it too. Ah well, it is what it is.

Overall it was quite a lazy day. Just to cold and wet to do anything outside. If the weather is good tomorrow, we are talking about doing a quick morning hike before we have to check out. All depends on how it looks outside when we wake up. Still, being inside led to some more awesome conversations from evolution and man’s place in it to Harry Potter. Overall we have had some interesting conversations the last two days.

I find it strange to think that tomorrow I will be in Pisa again. A couple days ago it felt like I was going to get bored here by the last day. It’s amazing what a difference having a couple people to hang out and spend time with can make. It makes me miss my friends back home for sure though. Some days I can’t wait to go home and see everyone, others I would be happy to just sit here forever. It’s amazing how quickly your perspective on things can change and all due to minor differences too.

Ciao!

2010-11-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

After ten years, I have made it back to Italy. And I can't tell you how happy I am to be here. Even as I rambled down the coastline, I was getting giddy-excited, just knowing I was here again. And to make it even better, the sunset was gorgeous, as I pulled into Pisa.
Now, I haven't been the biggest fan of Pisa. When we were here before it was some what of a disappointment, and possibly the only bad meal I remember having in Italy. But since I couldn't book Riomaggiore until tomorrow, Pisa was the best place (cheapest) to stay overnight in the area. I am determined to give it another chance.
Already though I am just, again, not enamored with the city. Though I was excited when I remembered the layout of the city and the train station. I couldn't believe how dark the streets were when I went looking for food, and didn't really go very far at all. I will probably stay here another two nights after Cinque Terre though, just because I want to see it in the daylight again (it's final chance for redemption), and because I can easily do a day trip or two out of the city. After that it will be on to Florence.
I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It will be weird not to spend it with family. We used to have big to dos in the Tri-cities, and in recent years, my parents and I have always traveled somewhere together. I will miss the family and the food for sure. But I will be in a beautiful place, so I guess I can justify it in my mind. My parents are going to go to the tri-cities, which will be fun, and hopefully I will get to say hi to everyone. If I have working internet in Cinque Terre that is. I feel bad missing Starbucks, but it is such a consistent source of backup internet, even if Europe doesn't carry my green tea matcha.
I just can't believe I'm on my final stretch of traveling before Iceland. It seems so surreal to think I have been gone as long as I have. Occasionally I miss home, but most days just feel like they are flying by. I have a feeling Italy will go by especially fast. I had forgotten just how friendly and nice everyone is here. I ended up sitting next to two guys on the train to Genova, who didn't speak English, though one spoke French and Spanish. Between our spattering of languages, we cobbled together the most interesting conversation about languages and what people spoke and studied. He knows people who speak eight languages, which just seems so incredible to me. He found it amusing, though not surprising, that most Americans speak, solomente English.
And the people in the train stations were very helpful, making sure I got on earlier trains where I could. It shows how many English speakers come here though, when this is the first time in awhile I've seen all signs written in two languages. Italian, and then English below. Basically the summary is I really am just happy to be here. I can't wait to make it to Orvieto at some point. I hope it is just as wonderful as I remember it being.

Good Company, Good Places.

2010-11-22T14:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, the last couple of days have been so much fun! I started out yesterday just wandering around Nice. Went to their flower market, wandered around by the beach, took in the town a little. Everything here is so clean and nice. Even though it was a little overcast, the water was still azure blue, and there were quite a few people milling about.
At around three, Anne and I met Claire, our third roommate from Sydney, back in the room. We had talked earlier in the day about going up the hill to the Chateau together. What a view. We tried to get up for the sunset, but unfortunately a large cloud obscured any sunset we may have seen. However, there was time to wander down by the point and in towards the port for a while, and on top of the hill we could just see the tips of the two mountain ranges, one we think is the very southern tip of the Alps, though we can't be sure.
After sunset, we wandered around in Old Town. Found a bar for a drink, and then wandered looking for food. We ended up getting these fabulous pizzas, and they gave us some sparkling raspberry wine to go with it. So delicious. Their ploy worked and we ended up buying a container of it for the rest of our meal.
When we got back, we all sat around talking for awhile. Really the last couple nights have been like slumber parties. We've been all girls just sitting up gossiping all night. It has been so much fun!
Claire was leaving us this afternoon, but she decided to join us for our morning jaunt to Villefranche-sur-mer, the next small town over. It was a picturesque morning. We sat in a harbor, two feet from the Mediterranean, drinking cappucinos and chatting all morning. And with the sun, it was so warm and wonderful. Completely peaceful. After that, we went back to Nice to send Claire on her way.
Anne and I continued on the road a couple more town down. Ese, is known for their perfumeries. We got a free tour of how they distill, press, and blend scents to create all their perfumes, before they introduced us to their many scents and gave us really good deals. I only bought soap, but Anne got a fabulous mixture of samples. Once we were overwhelmed with scent, we wandered up the hill to see the view. Gorgeous, and the whole time we kept running into the family from Redmond, WA who had joined us on the tour. We all had a good time laughing about our regular passing-bys. Their daughter had been invited over to play piano, and is on her way to India next for the same purpose. It was really quite amazing to hear about.
Eventually we had to get down to Eze-de-mer, (we had been in Eze Ville) and since we missed the only bus for an hour, decided to walk the only path down ourselves. Wow was it a bit of a hike. Very steep and rocky, in the valley between the hills. Staring at the sea the entire time, and somewhere to our left there was a waterfall we could hear, but never see. It was worth every second of the hour hike, and we spent the whole time talking about, comparing, and recommending favorite authors. It was so fabulous.
When we got to the bottom, we were just exactly on time to catch our bus to Monaco. We were racing the sunset, which we had heard was wonderful to see there. Unfortunately we didn't really make it in time, as we got lost in the city/county. Eventually we found our way onto the port wall and caught the last glimmer or red and orange that glowed around Nice down the coast. There wasn't a lot to do here though, so fairly soon we were on our way back to the bus stop.
Overall, both days were so much fun. Especially hanging out with Anne and Claire. We had so much fun together, and saw some amazing places. I don't see how people could not like Southern France, though I have run into people who don't. I'm very glad I extended my stay here another couple days. It has already been worth it!

Nice!

2010-11-20T12:36:00.001-08:00

Ah, it is so nice to be in Nice. Couldn't help cracking the pun at least once. But it's out of my system now, so everyone is safe again. Took 11 hours to get here, but the ride was so beautiful that I can hardly complain. I was highly amused by the different states of trains though. When the first one pulled up in Barcelona, I couldn't help but think, "This is a passenger train? For sure?" In it's defense it was much nicer on the inside. Just very simple and rather old. Then when I changed trains in Montpellier, what a difference. The French train is fully automated with all the bells and whistles. And those were plush seats. With fold out tables at each one individually. Quite a nice stretch of track.
Once I got here to Nice, I couldn't find the road I needed to take, so being the savvy traveler I am, I decided to ask some locals. The first two people were very helpful, each pointing me a bit closer to the street I was looking for. The last group, I an just amused at how unhelpful they were. It was three girls and a guy, probably in their mid-teens. I asked where the street was, in French, and the two girls shrug and apologize, and make it known that they are not familiar with the street. The boy looks at me and says, "WE DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH." Thank you, for clarifying that, so loudly and rudely, boy. Especially since I had only attempted to speak in French, and not spoke a word of English until then, and the girls and made themselves perfectly understood, even though neither of us spoke each others language before you even said that. The best part of all? I continued walking, and the street was the next intersection a mere 20 ft. away.
So I get checked into my hostel, and the manager (who is from Spain and has recommended several places to go to, including where to stay for the best and cheapest) informs me that the hostel is full of Americans. And he doesn't know why. It is just this week for some reason. He found it very amusing, and was telling me, "At least you won't be lonely!" which is quite true! So far we represent WA, WI, NJ, NY and that's only the couple of people I have talked to so far. I have heard many more Americans talking around the rooms.
Anne, who is my roommate so far, is traveling the same way I am. Just graduated, didn't like her career job so she quit and bought a ticket overseas. She was in Ireland while I was in the UK, Paris at the same time as me, and arrived here in Nice today as well. We are also leaving Nice on the same day, both having added a one day extension last minute as we checked in. She also took my Anne McCaffrey book off my hands, which makes her cooler both for loving Anne McCaffrey and for lightening my load that much.
My luck has held with the weather again though. My entire walk to the hostel was nice, dry, just cool enough to be comfortable. When I stepped out for dinner it was pouring rain. I don't mind walking in the rain, I'm just happy to avoid it when I have my backpack on, as there would be no good way to keep it dry. Unless I dug out the poncho to wrap around it, but that is currently in the bottom of said bag and not very accessible. All my gear is dry though, and I cannot wait to go explore tomorrow!

Mangowhelmed!

2010-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

I know I'm still talking about this mango. But it was truly something incredible to see. I don't think I can explain how large it was, and the pictures are all making it seem smaller than it was. I couldn't even finish it, not that I didn't give it a good effort. You know you are truly eating a big mango, when people keep stopping by your table in awe to watch you eat it, only saying, "Whoa, that's a big mango..." before walking away dazed. Beyond my awesome mangoness, I also went to the last couple artistic buildings in the area that I had meant to see.
However, the best part of my day was yet to come. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not be seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I until mid December. I was upset about this, but it was how it was going to be. And then this morning, the Australian gal, Lucy, in my room, mentioned she had heard there was supposedly a theater in Barcelona which played English movies, in English. I told her if there was one, I would find it. And find it I did. V.O., or version originale, movies were played regularly at one particular theater. So we hoofed it down eagerly. We were like little kids really. Straight on in, and we were watching the movie half an hour later.Best HP yet. It was so good, I can't even tell you. I laughed, I cried, I cringed in horror (Emma Watson can give one mighty tortured scream). Lucy and I were both so excited about the entire thing, that we couldn't stop talking on the way back. I was especially glad with how far into the book they went. Much further than I had expected, which mean more time for what better be an amazing final battle.
The funniest part of the whole thing was that we were a little nervous that we had read the info online wrong while standing in line. But I heard the two girls behind us speaking English, so I double checked with them. We got to talking. Guess where they are from? Spokane, WA. One of them graduated from Mead in '08 and knows the Marcums (Lisa Marcum was by piano teacher for about 11 years). The world is sure a small place sometimes.
Anyway, I'm going to go get packed. I leave bright and early for Nice tomorrow, and I am ready to get back to France. Barcelona is beautiful, but not the cleanest place ever. I could definitely do without some of the smells. And I am really looking forward to some more French food. So adios once more!

That's a big mango!

2010-11-18T09:40:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was stormy, and I decided as such it was a good day to hole up inside in plan out my next couple weeks. I don't have the freedom I normally do while traveling here as I actually have to be certain places at certain times. This limits my options quite a bit, not that it makes them bad by any means.
I leave on Saturday officially for Nice. I'm very excited. The two Canadian girls in my dorm just came from there and said even when it was stormy, it was gorgeous to see. Which makes me happy because it may be rainy while I am there. But I think I will stay for about two days or so, maybe three. Just depends on how much I enjoy it.
I also bought my ticket to Iceland last night. People always look at me like I'm crazy for wanting to go in winter (which I probably am) and I start to agree with them. Then I go online and look at pictures of what it is like in winter, and it's not too much colder than Spokane gets.
If you doubt me, go look at pictures of Gullfoss and Dettifoss Waterfalls Frozen. Or the Blue Lagoon which has water at 32 Celsius even when it is surrounded with snow. And they say being in the geothermal springs in winter is actually better for you. And just think of the Northern Lights I will most likely get to see. Unfortunately still not guaranteed, but I have a much better chance there than at home.
But I didn't spend my entire day travel planning. Just most of it. My room contains two Canadians, and about six Koreans. Only two of whom know each other. Even they find it hilarious. They were telling me they think the hostel looks down the list and puts all the Koreans in the same room. But one of the Korean girls, Poyo, invited me down for a drink in the hostel bar with them. So entertaining.
My favorite part of the evening was when Brittney Spears Hit Me Baby One More Time came on the stereo. The Turkish guy across from me looks at me and says, "She was not a virgin. She was never a virgin. She is like salmon." I will now forever view her as a salmon spawning upstream. No one else understood why I was laughing so hard I was crying.
After that we all had a good laugh when they tried to teach Poyo and I how to swear in different languages. We could not roll the r's in the back of our throats like the Europeans do, so they kept making us do so over and over. Everyone was rolling at the end of the night.
Today I chose to splurge on myself. I think I have been traveling out of a single bag too long when a huge splurge is indulging in liquid shampoo, lotion, and a pasta dinner. Best shower I've taken in quite a long time. Bar soap was just not cutting as a shampoo after two months. I did have better meals while I was in Paris (thanks Jonette!) but it is a rare treat again now that I am off on my own.
For all the people who though American drivers were bad though, you have obviously never seen a European drive. Terrifying. They accelerate so fast, and whip around corners. Lights are optional, as are lanes. Motorcycles alternate between sidewalks and streets, depending on which is quicker. I took two buses through London to get to different destinations. And both times when they drove through the city it made me feel nauseous until we got out of the city limits.
Spain however is slightly better on this front, than the other European countries I have encountered so far. While they are still crazy and reckless on the road, they are also slightly more considerate. I have seen drivers come to screeching halts to let myself and other pedestrians cross, even where there is no crosswalk. And the second we are more or less past them, they are fully accelerated and four blocks away.
As I am typing this, I am hanging out with three of the guys from last night. One of them is planning to head to either Balbao or Madrid tomorrow. He doesn't know which yet though. He is going to take the metro to the freeway and start walking and whichever direction the first person to pick him up is heading is where he will go. No that is true backpacking. I can tell you that is one way I would not be brave enough to travel. He's fairly certain he will actually be walking most of the way. Its over 600 km to each. I can't tell you how impressed I am with him having the gumption to do that. He says he is quite nervous, as he has never done this before.
Well, it is time for me to go eat my dessert now. Mango. It is almost as big as my head and weighed in a over a kilo. Can we say delicious?

Apparently people think I'm from Barcelona?

2010-11-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

Another beautiful day. I didn't wake up very readily, but when I went down to breakfast and it took me 10 seconds to figure out if I needed coffee or not when asked, they had already just handed me a cappuccino and said I obviously did. Now that is how you start a day. No decisions, just Boom! and there's a coffee in your hands.
After getting a bit caffeinated, I decided to brave the day. What a hardship this was. Azure blue skies, not a cloud in sight. I was roasting in my jeans. Which is why I can't understand how people here run around in boots, leggings, jeans, sweaters, coats, and scarves. Commonly all at the same time. And this I was seeing at one to two in the afternoon! I was horrified.
However, this option was better than what I witnessed during my picnic on the beach. Some people should NOT wear speedos or thong bikinis. Just saying. It was not a pretty picture by any means. I don't care if you want a tan, that was bad.
After wandering around on the waterfront for a good couple hours, I decided I didn't want to bake myself (I am inordinately pale), and headed back inland.
I have been planning to go to the magic fountain tonight at seven (think the Bellagio in a smaller scale), so I decided I would walk there to see how long it took me for that evening. It was MUCH further than the map made it look. And I a very glad I did as such. It is under construction until the 24th. I leave on the 20th. I found this to be rather disappointing, but I now had a rather large hill in front of me begging to be climbed. And who am I to disappoint it? The view was amazing, definitely worth it. And I got some amazing pictures of the other fountains up there, as well as some landscapes pictures. The sun was perfectly set when I hit near the top.
At last I made my way down and back to my hostel. However, something strange has now happened several times to me in this general area. People come up to me and ask something in rapid Spanish (obviously asking directions or a location or something but I can't get a single word that they say). When I respond with a, "Lo siento. No comprendo." in a blatantly American accent, they get a look of Aha confusion before going to someone else who points them in a direction.
Now, I believe I mentioned earlier in this post, just how pale I am. In fact, I sent Jinnie and email earlier saying I think I may blind people walking beside me at times. And Jonette made a point to tell me how American, and un-European I look. So why do all these people seem to think I can help them? I try not to scream tourist (cause that also screams "Hey pickpockets and scam artists, I'm over here!"), but I most definitely do not scream local either. All I can figure is I must just look like I know where I am heading, and where everything is. Which I think I will take as a compliment. Still very random though.

Basic everyday Spanish does not answer questions about meat being raw or not.

2010-11-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

Barcelona is amazing! The tapas are delicious, and the waiters are amazing. Mine yesterday was swapping Spanish for English words with me. And then later when I was turning down dessert to the other waiter, walked up behind him and said, "I am all the dessert she need." in a low sexy voice before we both burst out laughing. It was an great experience.
Today I woke up to the supposed rainy day to see blue blue skies. I can deal with that kind of rain. I decided to just wander around and see what I can see. The buildings are all works of art, so it's not like you're lacking things to look at along the way.
I went to La Rambla first, and there discovered their big market La Boqueria. A full square block full of booths of color organized fruits, vegetables, juices, meats, cheeses, and seafood. You can buy mangoes bigger than your two fists put together. They are massive! I bought some coconut mango juice, which was delicious and then went looking for my lunch. At the one bread shop there I bought a sandwich, and a loaf of the most delicious looking grain bread, with oats on top of it for dinner. Then decided I would need some meat to go with it. While the bread lady had laughed at what I thought was asking her the price (makes me wonder what I actually said, if anything) and asked what I wanted in English, the meat guy spoke no English at all. But I could smell the deliciousness and was practically drooling on his counter, so he tried to help me anyway. I believe the conversation went like this (with translations, or at least what I think was said...):

I gestured to the hanging meat stick above me which
looked possibly cured, smells delicious, and is enough
to be a small meal in itself . Being quasi-homeless
meaning I have no way to cook raw meat.
"Yo como bein?" (I eat good?)
I pantomimed picking it up and taking a bite off the end.
He nods his head.
"ajfhadjkjfh, bien, dsfhshf" (random words, good, random words)
I look like I'm considering his statement.
Really I'm trying to decide how to phrase my next question.
"No necessito cocinar?" ( I don't need to cook?)
"sklfdjlskdohgwehjfaslkdfjsdklfjs" (random words)
I think for all of three seconds.
"Si! Bien! Yo tengo!" (Yes! Good! I have!)
He takes the meat down.
"2 Euros" (Two Euros)
I hand him the money, pretending like I didn't only
understand the cost because it was tagged on my
meat stick, and walk away happy.

All in all it was a very successful encounter I think. And it was a delicious dinner. I guess I'll find out later if we actually communicated the right thing to each other, when I'm either sick or not. Ah well. At least it was fun. And everything was so delicious! I think I'll get a mango for lunch tomorrow.
After that encounter, I continued down La Rambla, to La Rambla de Mer, which is the road continued on a boardwalk into the sea. It was gorgeous there! I followed the shore down until I eventually came to the beaches. There I looked towards Florence, which is right across the way (ignoring the giant island of Corsica in between) and a little north and waved to Dom. I have a feeling he did not wave back. However, just the fact that it was warm enough to lie out on the beach, and that there was a beach available at all, were rather thrilling. I hung out there for a bit, but I was slightly overdressed, so I eventually continued on.
Found a park by the zoo with an amazing fountain you can climb to the top of. While I was near the top, I realized there was actually a homeless man living in the greenery, slightly beneath the upper platform, and hidden by the fountain itself. Really one of the smarter places I've seen them, though it did put me off the fountain a bit, which up until them was simply amazing.
Then I found the mammoth statue across the way. Heather, it rivals the Portland Elephants. Except it isn't all artsy carved, just realistic. Still cool, as I trotted over to it to take pictures like the awesome tourist I am.
On my way back towards the hostel (cause I was really thirsty), I discovered the Musee de Xocolat. Who doesn't love a town with a chocolate museum! (The boys from LA and New Mexico with the beds next to mine told me there is apparently one somewhere in Germany too, that's really good. Also they said you can go to the gummy bear super store that is as big as a mall with nothing but gummy bears in Bonne(sp?) Germany. Bet theirs aren't stale!) I think I will be breaking my thought of not going to any museums here because there is so much to see outside of them.
Eventually though, I made it back to the hostel, for my delicious dinner and a low key evening. Quite a successful first day I do believe!

Viva Espana

2010-11-13T22:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I am officially in Spain. My bus got in at 6 in the morning, after a 15 hour trip crammed into seats I think may be smaller than airplane accommodations. Much to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Just a couple little cat naps here and there. But I was riding next to a guy from Barcelona the whole way here which was amusing. He would try to speak English, I would try to speak Spanish. We both butchered the languages thoroughly.
One here I decided I would rather walk to my hostel than take the metro, just because I am half asleep and my little Spanish was diminishing with every passing minute. There was also the fact that it was 6 am and no chance I would be able to check in when I got there, so why hurry. Makes you appreciate the cleanliness that is France though. Every third block or so the corners would smell rank and rotten. Eventually I did make it there though, still freakishly early for any check in. But the people that work here are awesome.
They guy who checked me in spoke impeccable English, though he seemed pleased that I was trying some phrases in Spanish. He gave me a pass to the luggage room to drop off all my stuff, and called upstairs to the common room so that they would let me in an hour before they opened. Just so I would be, "more comfortable waiting" as he put it, and with the free internet access card.
And then there is the kitchen staff who let me slip in. They came over, asked where I was from, and offered to serve me breakfast early and to personally bring me a cafe Americana. I had to pass though, all I really want to do is kill the next couple hours til I can check in and take a nap. So as lame as that will be, I do intend on spending my first several hours in Barcelona sleeping.

the rest of Paris

2010-11-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

So much for writing more here. Ah well, here's my catch up of the last week. Cram packed full of amazing times, and a LOT of rain.
On Saturday, Jonette and I decided to go to the Latin quarter for dinner. Somehow we got lost. I know that this shocks everyone. How could we manage such a thing! Well, we did, and ended up on the far south side of town. I think it's fair to say we accidentally walked every square inch of this town, and not always intentionally.
Eventually we got back on track and ended up in an awesome fondue restaurant. Though instead of fondue we ate beef cooked on a hot stone at our table. It was delicious. And our table was amazing! On one side was a group of three from Brazil, leaving the next morning for Italy. They taught us that good-bye in Portuguese is Caio. On the other side was an amazing Parisian couple. We ended up sitting there talking to Camille and Stefan til almost one in the morning, and they wanted us to go to a bar with them afterward, though we declined.
Stefan was so interesting! His job takes him all over the world, and he was telling us stories about locals in Romania, where he has been working lately. In his spare time, he plays "funky music." His words on that one. He invited me to jam with him, but we just never got a chance to get it together unfortunately. He also taught me my new phrase. Pas un probleme. Not a problem.
Then while he plied us with wine, we had a whole discussion about how life is about coming in on the one-no count off, and feeling the beat. It was amazing. Music really is a universal language. Even when we lost track of what each other was saying we had an idea of what was going on. Or we'd just laugh and go back to "One!"
The next day was the first Sunday of the month, which starting in November means free museums. So we got up bright and early to catch the train out to Versailles. It was incredible. You could see it from blocks away due to the sheer amount of gold visible on the front and the gate. The Hall of Mirrors was so incredible. Pictures just don't do it justice. And the gardens! They were huge. Even though it was pouring rain, it was still really neat. All the side palaces were closed though, such as Marie Antoinette's personal estate. But we got to see the really cool parts in the main palace.
After that we hustled back into Paris and went to the Louvre. There was a line wrapped around the pyramids and into the back area, but apparently no one knows about the door we used, because we walked straight into the building, no waiting at all. Once we got hungry we headed back to the apartment, though we still managed to end up at the George Pompidou center for modern art that evening. Basically, we did a lot of big museums all in one day.
Tuesday we ended up in a history of cinema museum on accident. It had films, costumes, and information on old renditions of Marie Antoinette, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Beauty and the Beast to name a few. All were old French origin stories.
Afterward we went up to the catacombs on the south side of town. They had moved the bodies of over six million Parisians there due to diseases stemming from the cemeteries, and the bodies were all artfully arranged. The walls were lined with skulls and leg/arm bones to form patterns, there were hearts, and crosses, and quotes about death on all the walls. Eerily neat. Didn't like that water was dripping on us through random sections of the tunnels though. Very worthwhile though, quite an experience.
Later on that evening, we went on a walk to the canals. Very glad we went at night, they were much better that way! They lit up the different lock series which an iridescent blue light, and all the trees reflected on the water from the street lights.
On Wednesday, we went in search of Debussy's grave on my request. He is in the Cimeterie de Passy right behind the Trocadero, and it took us awhile to figure out how to get in, as the whole cemetery is elevated up above, with only one entrance. Right as we got there, it began to rain, and eventually started pouring. But with persistence I found it, and right as I came up to it, the rain stopped, and there was a rainbow. This really made the whole experience rather amazing. So I stood there and listened to Reflets dans l'eau, since the water had pooled on the top of his stone and was reflecting everything around. It seemed fitting.
Yesterday was Veteran's Day, and they had a ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier. We arrived a little late because the Metro dumped us out in weird places since they closed whole sections of it for the ceremony. It was very low key, and though we missed a good deal of it, we didn't think we would have understood the speeches that had come earlier anyway. Plus we got to hang out with the family on the Metro whose little boy kept saying, "Hey! Can I tell ya something? Me grandpa got shot!" The mom had to explain to us that he was a veteran from that war and they were going to the ceremony in memory of him. The kid was adorable.
Afterward we went to the Musee de Orsay, which has the best collection of Degas I have ever seen. And I love Degas! They also had an aerial view of the Opera House and it's surrounding streets under Plexiglas that you could walk over. and a side section of the Opera itself. I may have to come back and go to a show there at some point, just to see the inside in person, and of course for the amazing opportunity to see something in Paris' Opera. We wrapped up the day with our favorite resaurant on Vielle du Temple, the Cafe Marche. The pesto was still as good as before.
Today I felt pretty lame though. I've had a bit of a throat thing for awhile, though it never really bothered me, and it got worse last night. Jonette made me stay in the apartment most of the day, which was probably for the best, though not quite how I wanted to spend my last day in Paris. Definitely solidified my travel plans for tomorrow though. France will be rainy almost all week, so I am heading for sunnier places. Namely, Barcelona. I take an overnight bus tomorrow afternoon and will get there bright and early Sunday morning. Other than two days, the week is supposed to be sunny and at least a bit warmer. I'm very excited for Spain though. It's going to be an adventure!

oops.

2010-11-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Apparently I'm just really bad about writing here. I'm just going to blame it on doing too much and having too much fun though. It is gorgeous here, and my luck with the weather has continued to hold.
Jonette and I have taken to heart the idea that you learn a city best by walking it, and walk we have! Once we got settled into our apartment, which is perfect, we walked to cimetiere Père Lachaise. It was huge! And to make it better we learned that France celebrates a day of the dead like Mexico does, so the cemetery was full of people. Everyone was there with flowers and candles, cleaning graves and visiting others. After wandering around for several hours and having an eclair in honor of the dead we finally found Jim Morrison's grave. My favorite part of it was the tree beside it which many people had written his song lyrics and many other comments on. After that we found Chopin's grave which was really neat for me.
We have also wandered the Latin Quarter, explored Notre Dame (and countless other churches, cathedrals, and other grand building we were able to get into), walked the Seine, wandered Pigalle (though we got lost before we found the Moulin Rouge), and window shopped all the bigger districts. Yesterday we climbed to the top of the Sacre Coeur, which was an amazing view. And I found "La vie est belle, et vous etes comme elle!" or "Life is beautiful, and you are as she!" written on one of the marble benches at the top of the dome.
Then yesterday evening Jonette and I wandered our own ways. I ended up at the tip of the island which Notre Dame is on watching the sunset, and then spent a good deal of time taking photos of the carousel at the Hotel de Ville.
When we met back up we decided to go to an Italian restaurant we had walked by and later found a guide book write up for. It was amazing! The salad was fabulous, and I can't even begin to describe the homemade giant raviolis. The server/owner wasn't overly friendly, until Jonette realized he was actually Italian and began speaking Italian with him. He completely warmed up after that, although he was disgusted to hear she had spent so much time in Milan.
Today was brilliant blue skies, so we decided it would be a good day for me to climb the Eiffel Tower. Jonette was going to bow out, but I convinced her it would be a good climb, and the stairs were half the price of the elevator. So up we went, and it was such an incredible view. Better than I though it was going to be after going to the top of the Sacre Coeur which I had thought was higher. We spent a good couple of hours up there, though we still can't understand how people can be so lazy that they would pay double and stand in line for so lone, when there was no line for the stairs. It wasn't that bad!
Then we realized it was two o'clock and we only had an hour to get to the Galleries Lafayette for the fashion show, and we weren't quite sure where it was. We flew and made it there just in time! So much fun, and such cute outfits. I've never been to a fashion show before, and even if this was a minor free one, it was still a great experience.
I think that's a pretty good summary of the last several days. If I think of anything amazing I forgot to put in I'll write about it in the next post, which will hopefully be tomorrow. Unless I get all distracted again. Doesn't take too much unfortunately.

Bonjour Paris!

2010-10-31T00:13:00.000-07:00

Oh, the last day of London ended up being rather amusing.amazing. First off, I went to Stonehenge! Which was just as cool as I'd hoped it would be. I'm just sad I couldn't get a sunset tour where they let you actually walk up to the stones instead of the set distance away. But that was only because it was the wrong time of year for that, so unfortunately, I have found yet another reason to come back. Darn. The tour came with an audio guide to0, so I got to learn a lot about what they've learned about Stonehenge and it's construction over the years. And since I picked the tour with extra time I was able to walk out to the barrows too. Overall, a very satisfying experience.
As I had a 6 am train to Paris, I figured I'd be going to bed early, no big deal. So imagine my surprise when at 9:30 at night I find myself on the tube heading to a club with about 10 people from my hostel. Still not really sure how I managed to get talked into that, but that's just a whole other story. I kinda figured it might be meant to be, seeing as how most of the group was a large bunch of French guys, some from Paris, and that it was just too fortuitous on the eve of my departure there. The most interesting one in the group though was the British gal who got in full cat costume for the club (really a fairly common thing to do there) especially since she had a whip, a kit of makeup, and quite a personality. She could not stand still if her life depended on it! On the tube she was putting makeup costumes on all the French guys, my favorite one of which was the lightning bolt on the forehead.
Turned out that the club the French guys had found, was actually a pub. A very small pub. And they couldn't seem to tell the difference! Very amusing over all, but our resident cat was slightly less amused and was on her phone like a mad woman finding another club to go to in the area. I had a lot of fun though! Kevin (from Canada) and I made the best of it and just kept trying to piece conversations together with the French guys (I can remember none of their names unfortunately, and they spoke very little English), showing off our worst dance moves imaginable (we had all the French guys discoing with us for awhile), and just overall laughing about the fact that we were in a tiny pub unable to communicate with most our group on the far east side of London. At least some of us found it amusing. I split for the hostel not long after when they decided they would rather take the expense of the tube for one stop rather than walk 5 minutes and they weren't even quite sure where they were going again. Figured that was my sign to head to bed.
I have been in Paris officially for just shy of 24 hours though and it is amazing. Beautiful city! I really like it here so far. When I got off the train it was an absolute downpour. And of course I lost my airport in screening at the train station that very day. So I was running for the hotel when I heard my name and turned around to find Jonette running in the rain too! So we went in, checked into our hotel went outside, and it was the most beautiful blue skies. You would never known the rain we had been in 10 minutes earlier! And the rest of the day continued like that.
We ate some French Onion soup, some of the most delicious french fries I have ever had, and an amazing pizza. Wandered around, found Notre Dame and the Louvre (though we didn't go in either yet, but hey, we have two weeks!), got lost, got unlost. It was a lot of fun. We also found a bridge with chain link which had tons of padlocks attached to it with couples names on it. Very cool, though we weren't sure what started it, if anything in particular. It might just be like the shoe tree, something people just cobbled together over time. Some people had obviously just scrounged their bags to see what they could attach. There was even a fork tied on with headphones, twist ties, and key rings. I loved it.
Today I'm going to meet up with Kristi for a short time before she heads to Germany. I'm excited to see her. How cool is it that we are in Paris at the same time, even for so short a period. So until my next adventure, au revoir!

My favorite part of London is...

2010-10-28T09:34:00.001-07:00

I've decided that my favorite part of London is it's hills. Locals measure everything by hills. The place your looking for is at the top of the hill. The tube station is at the bottom of the hill. If you find yourself on this hill you've gone too far. Funny thing is, I've yet to see a single on of these supposed hills

These are the two sides of the intersection next to St Paul's cathedral. One of these two stretches is marked and named as an official hill on London maps. Can you guess which one? If I hadn't seen I on a map I wouldn't either. It is in fact he second one facing the bridge and the Thames. It makes directions quite difficult to follow when you can't even see the landmarks mentioned. And in Scotland they kept talking about their mountains. Again I say, "What mountains?" They do have some gorgeous hills, but I can't see them as mountains. Just amusing to me.
Made it to Spitalfield market today. Was rather disappointed. It was definitely no Portland show mom! Speaking of which, tell the guys hi for me and have fun.
Excited for Stonehenge tomorrow. More excited for Paris. Did I mention I was hanging out in my hostel in Edinburgh with a German gal? Very nice. Taught me a good phrase for me to know. Ich spreche kein Deutsch. I don't speak German. Oh the little things.

One more day

2010-10-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow is my last day in Edinburgh, which is strange to think about. I have felt so completely comfortable in this city. I can't believe I will have been here for almost a week and a half when I leave. That's the longest I've stayed anywhere here yet. And I'm heading back to London, which my stomach is not so excited about. I will officially been coming in at King's Cross though, which is exciting, as I will be there for real and not just to track down Platform 9 3/4. I will only be there for two days before I'm off to Paris though! I can't believe I have been here for a month. It is so surreal!
I'm trying to decide what it is I want to do for my last day here though. Today I climbed Calton Hill, and it was so perfectly beautiful with bright blue skies that I couldn't resist climbing the Crags up to Arthur's Seat again, but I took a different route then before. It was just as wonderful as the first time. Definitely my favorite place here. I may just wander around in a couple areas of town I don't know quite as well. One last random wandering to see whatever I come up to.

Ghost Hunters

2010-10-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

So I went on the ghost tour today. I decided on the one called Ghost hunters because it did not allow children do to the goriness of the stories and higher scare chances. Alas, I did not see a ghost though. Our guide told us though that "The Watcher" was actually following us; though he commonly follows most groups. With the sole intention of making sure they leave sooner than later. He has a history of turning off all the lights, blowing out candles, throwing rocks, scratching people, and even on three occasions, possessing someone to make people leave faster. I even hung out in the room they call his HQ, which is where he most commonly truly "attacks" people. The funny thing about him though, is even though he's called the watcher, the people who have actually seen his face (which is rare, usually you hear his footsteps, see his boots, or feel him breathing on your neck) say he has no eyes, just holes in his head. And that his mouth is just a black elongated hole in his chin. Sounds to me like how the victims looked in The Ring.
The closest thing I had to an actual encounter is that I did notice while in one room that a single candle down the hall and in the next room was flickering. Because I remember thinking, how funny if my biggest encounter here is a draft. This was ironic because when we hit the next room, she mentioned that if you feel a draft at all, it isn't. Because we are four stories underground and there are no drafts. As in the builders who were making sure it was safe when they opened up the vaults in '96 said it was impossible for there to be any when someone mentioned one. So who knows what I saw. Could have been anything or nothing. I like to think it was something though.
Thus ends my Edinburgh ghost tour through the vaults. Though I did hear some amazing stories from throughout Edinburgh's past. Definitely a fun adventure. And for my friends who have complained about some of the tour guides lacking authenticity. My gal and a thick Scottish accent, and got awesomely into the stories, including jumping out at us and screaming when appropriate in the stories. Or just simply refusing to go into the Watcher's room, because as she put it "I just don't like that room and I don't go in it if I can help it." So I was highly satisfied with her.

Couple days later.

2010-10-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

So I haven't really written in a couple of days, sorry for that. They were kinda interesting ones at times. The day I hung out with Madge, I lost my camera. I'd retraced my steps and nothing (I'd noticed it missing within 5 minutes of leaving the restaurant), so we were hoping it was at the restaurant, which had closed as we left.
So I headed out bright and early the next morning. Only it wasn't quite so bright. More like monsoon flooding. But I headed out anyway, because I also needed to get a new ipod cord since mine had gone missing the night beforehand. Which I really just find amusing in the long run because it only fits my particular model ipod so chances were the person who took it got nowhere with it. Eventually I found a place here that sells ipod cords, and I had the guy triple check that he was selling me one that would work with my model. He told me he had plugged mine into an identical one and it had worked so I was good to go.
Afterward I headed back out into the rain/flood. Couldn't find the restaurant. Eventually after asking people who all gave me conflicting directions I located it, but I was drenched from mid thigh down which was as much as my umbrella covered, and the store was not open yet. So I retraced my steps again, even though I knew if I found it now it would be useless after the rain. Somehow actually managed to get more wet than I was, so I headed back and went to the cafe above Rotato to wait for then to open. The cafe lady was really nice and went down through the back door and asked if it was their for me. It wasn't. My camera was long gone.
So I gave it up as lost and went back to my hostel. Tried to plug in my ipod. The cord didn't fit. So I headed back into the rain again, walked back across town, and the guy exchanged it for one which he opened up and plugged in himself this time to ensure its working. Once I got back to my hostel, I walked up to my room on the third floor to find my key card didn't work. So I went back down, got it fixed, went back up, it still didn't work. Did this three times before I could get into my room. The hostel workers were very nice and apologetic about the whole thing, and I know it wasn't their fault, it was just a lot of things all at once. So I decided it was a good day to take a nap and just hang out in bed. That evening I was invited to the pubs with two of my dorm mates though, Arielle and Stu, which was a nice culmination to a not so nice day.
The following day was Saturday which was a lot of fun though, just to contrast the not so fun of the day before. I hung out in my hostel most of the morning and made a bunch of friends at breakfast. It was actually pretty funny. There was Diana from Germany, Rebekah from Tazmania, Collin from southern England, and myself. It was a lot of fun though just hanging out and chatting with all these very different people. We all just compared places we had been and where we were all hoping to continue going.
Then in the afternoon Madge and I went to Char's flat for lunch and football. It was really good to see Char! Madge and I met halfway there by chance (since we were walking nearly the same route) and she got to learn how awesomely nerdy I am when she yelled at me from across the street for several minutes before I noticed because I was listening to Gregorian Chant on my ipod. Sorry Madge!
After the game we decided to go on a walk across town, and then we caught the bus to the Firth of Forth. I just like that it is called that. We walked along the board walk and then caught the bus back. It was very low key, but nice. It was good to just hang out with and chat with people I knew.
I tried to go on a ghost tour last night, especially since it was a full moon last night, but it was booked. I did get on for tonight, and the day after the full moon is almost as good as the full moon. Right? Close enough anyway. I'm excited though, it's the one which goes down into the vaults and kids aren't allowed on it because it's supposed to be too scary for them. They tour guides sweat that they don't do anything nor do they have anyone down there to do things and scare you. Anything you experience is real. I'm really excited for it! I went out and bought some gloves and a hat today though, because it's getting rather chilly at night and I'm sure underground will be the same. And I'll need them soon enough anyway! So for now I'm just biding my time until this evening.
I'm getting awful excited for Paris though, can't believe its a less than a week away now! I'm ready for a new country! And who knows, maybe I'll actually get my French going, instead of having just a bunch of random words. This week should be fun though. Spitalfield Market, Stonehenge, National Gallery, and if I can get it in Oxford or Cambridge too! All depends on my care package. Common mail!

Ultimate Adventure Part 1

2010-10-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

So today began a series of hopefully many more Ultimate Adventures. Madge and I took the day to hang out. So yes, the term has officially been dubbed as such. It was a lot of fun to see her and catch up a bit. We wandered around and she showed me the places she has lived in Edinburgh. Then we climbed up the Scott Monument. That is one TINY spiral staircase. Especially when people are passing each other going up and down. I could barely squeeze through the last flight just on my own! Once there we decided to leave our mark amongst all the graffiti and left an I <3 Ultimate Bagel message. It seemed appropriate as we'd spent most of the morning talking about the shop and bagels in general.
After this we swung by the Fruitmarket Gallery where we had fun playing in the elevator and on the stairs. I still think they are the greatest things ever! Then we went to lunch at Rotato, one of the local baked potato shops where the infamous Andy joined us (I had actually met him earlier in the day, but he had things to do while we wandered around a bit). We began the planning of a book on hostels! I think they should go for it, it would be a lot of fun to make. And I still happily volunteer myself as a guinea pig!
After that we just hung out for a little while before I called it a day. While it may be clear skies still, it is rather chilly none the less, and I for one didn't fancy being out in the cold when it stated to get dark. Which it is doing noticeably earlier these days.
Made a new friend in the dorms today too. Stu and I hung out after noticing we were both reading Sho-gun to discuss our like of James Clavell.
All in all it was a good day full of good people with good conversations. Go Ultimate Adventure, Go!

Let the sun shine on!

2010-10-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

The last two days I feel I have been very productive. Yesterday when I woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a mostly clear sky I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to climb to Arthur's Seat and the Crags. It was a beautiful climb and it felt really good to do a hike like that, even if it was pretty easy. Then right when I got to the top it started raining a little. Which wouldn't have been too bad except it is very very very windy up there. Which made the rain hurt a bit, so I didn't stay at the top for very long. But on the way down I learned how slippery those rocks get when wet. I can't tell you how many times I almost fell and it was only be my sheer coordination that I maintained standing. Or it could have been luck. Or the chain railing. I like to think it was skill and coordination though.
I also found a fabulous cafe on the Royal Mile called Almost Sunday. I don't know that the food really was that much better than other places I have been, but the staff was so beyond friendly and nice that it sure seemed like it was. It was really a very nice morning, even with the freezing rain on the hill. I also went to the Museum on the Mound, which wasn't very exciting unfortunately. Alas I didn't realize it was a museums about the founding of the bank there until I got inside, and then I might as well check the whole thing out.
This morning I woke up to another gorgeous blue sky. Can we talk about my luck with the weather here? I think I have had two legitimately bad days and I have been here for just shy of a month. That is not something I was expecting on this trip. The only downside to this morning's clarity though is it is the time of year that you need the cloud cover for it to be warm. So while beautiful and sunny, it was almost bitterly cold at the same time. I was not one to be deterred though and I headed out on my own personal art walk. I went to the Dean Gallery, GOMA, Collective Gallery, Stills Gallery, Fruitmarket Gallery, and one other I can't remember the name of. Loved the Stills and the Fruitmarket though. The Stills had a collection of black and white forest shots. But my favorite section was pairings of photos of the same location, same angle, but with a notable time difference between the shots. Its amazing the little changes we don't notice accumulating over time with basic things like that.
But even better than that was the Fruitmarket, which also had notably the friendliest and most personable staff. The had a staircase where each step was pressurized and hooked to a speak so as you climbed the stairs each one released a different note making a chromatic scale as you climbed up or down. And the elevator sang. When you went up it started with a bass at the bottome of his range singing upward, more voices joining in and dropping out until there was only a high soprano as you reached the next floor. It went in reverse on the way down. I totally want a musical staircase and or elevator! It was amazing! And the best part was the staff there encouraged me to take all forms all directions to make sure I heard every rendition. And then we all talked about how it would be fun to get a group on the stairs and have each person claim a couple notes/stairs and play an actual song by walking up and down. That would be so much fun.
Then I went to a pub which was recommended to me by my hostel. So much food for so cheap! I couldn't believe that it was actually good food too! I can't decide though if it was actually good or if my taste buds just don't care anymore. I think I'm going to go with the former though. Score one for my hostel though. Actually score several, as they have also introduced me to or reminded me of tons or music. They play great stuff all day long! And they not only fixed my stay for the days I wanted (the internet bungled my request a bit) but they made sure I wouldn't have to change rooms or beads any more. Keeping things simple they said. Basically Edinburgh rocks on all levels possible at this point.

Edinburgh

2010-10-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

So Glasgow may no longer be top fiddle. I spent today wandering around Edinburgh today. I hit a couple of museums, including the writer's museum. I found it very interesting that they actually intentionally built the steps different heights so that if there was an intruder he would likely stumble and the homeowner would hear him. Little bits of fluff I find interesting I guess. I think I like Edinburgh a bit more just because it seems more approachable somehow. You feel a bit more comfortable exploring here because it's so laid back. Glasgow has almost a more 'proper' feel to it. If that makes any sense.

I went to the Elephant House today, which was exciting. I didn't stay there to eat though. It was a bit to pricey for what the food looked like for me. Sorry JK, I just couldn't justify it in my head. But Madge says we might be able to walk by where she lives, which would be awful cool.

I was able to do laundry today too. Like really do laundry. In a washer and dryer. The sinks just weren't cutting it after this long. They needed a good honest cleaning. But I got to hang out with an Australian guy while we waited for our clothes and he was telling me about his adventures renting a car and driving through the lake district from London. Apparently in London when you rent a car they charge you 8 pounds tax per day you are in the city so they can use cameras at all the intersections to keep track of all the license plates of all the registered cars in the city. It sounded rather...interesting. Just glad it's not something I have to deal with myself.

The weather started to get rather chilly today. You can feel it in the wind (and it's non breeze) that winter is heading in now. I'm hoping tomorrow will be nice so I can try to climb up to Arthur's Seat and the Crags. I just have to be willing to change my plans with the weather. So I have a set of backups just in case it turns up nasty. Someone asked me how long I had been traveling today, and it was strange to say it had been three weeks already. Sure doesn't feel like it's been that long. I suppose that's a good thing though.

Pictures of Nellie and Nessie

2010-10-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

Whoa Nellie!

2010-10-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

So I made it to Inverness the other day. But there are minimal places for internet around here so this is my first real post. It's a pretty town, though it is rather small. I did the river walk the first day which takes you down to the Ness Islands and across. It's appearing to be the end of fall through this area, and it's definitely starting to cool off quickly. I don't know that I'd call it cold yet, especially after a day like today.
Yesterday it was pouring rain, so I decided to put off my Loch Ness adventure in hope of better weather today-a gambit which paid off nicely. Instead I wandered around the town, starting in the library, getting Indian food for lunch, and then finding a used bookstore. I'm very disappointed in the libraries here. They undoubtedly leave much to be desired by way of size and selection, even in the bigger cities. I also can't tell if Indian food is just not that hot, or if my spicy tolerance is just that high these days. I ordered something supposedly hot, even told my waiter I was okay with hot, and I didn't even notice a tingle when I ate it. Very good, just not what I was expecting.
The bookstore though...Amazing! Biggest used bookstore in Scotland. I spent quite a bit of time there, perusing and finally came out with two books. Quite an accomplishment for me. I will now finally be reading shogun though. I'm saving it for the train right now though. I've just gone through too many books electronically, and can't afford to keep buying books that way. I will try to sell the ones I bought when I finish reading them and then proceed to locate another set. See if I can get a good cycle enabled. Plus this way I will hopefully find some more awesome bookshops.
This morning I headed to Urquhart Castle on the loch. And there I made some friends. A group of 5 kids from Duke studying in Glasgow were there at the same time, also agreed they weren't paying 7 pounds to get closer to the ruins, and we all walked the mile and a half back to Drumnadrochit together. Once there we lost half the boys to a group of cows (during which we learned the t9 for boys and cows is the same), wandered the side streets and a little wooded area for awhile, before settling in at a cafe to wait for our bus back to Inverness. It was a lot of fun to have people to hang out with for the afternoon. And they said I could stay with them in Glasgow if I head back that direction at all, which I may well with how awesome it was. All in all it was a productive day. Especially since I saw both Nellie and Nessie (pictures to come). In the end, we decided having to walk through the Scottish highlands is really no difficulty, and that had been the right way to go about the trip.

Glasgow

2010-10-13T06:18:00.001-07:00

So I made it to Glasgow last night around 8:30. Just coming in on the train was beautiful. The city lights up, including all the bridges over the River Clyde. After getting mildly lost wandering around the train station, I finally got pointed the right direction and managed to find my hostel. And let me just say, if this is how Scotland is, I love it. The people are nice. The city is gorgeous. It's by far my favorite city so far.
It is true what they say though, to see the real beauty of the city, you must be constantly looking upward. Almost every building is old with beautiful statues and carvings all over. It's really quite incredible.
I started out the day walking through the main shopping district. This is after all, the self proclaimed fashion capital of Great Britain. And there were some fabulous shops. Not all Armani and Gucci, though there were those too, but just fabulous small everyday shops. I spent quite some time wandering around there, and I went to the GOMA which was right in the same district. Yes Jen, they call the MOMA the GOMA here, which makes since as they set it up more as a gallery than a museum. I found an information center not long after that and the gal there was super helpful. Not only did she point me to some fabulous free activities, but she also gave me a booklet on Inverness since I head there early tomorrow morning.
I went to the Glasgow Cathedral, which is currently being redone. Much of it is black, from the years still, but its ceilings were a gorgeous wood. As I was leaving I realized the point behind the Cathedral was actually a Necropolis. So I climbed to the top of the hill from where you could turn around and see most of the city. It was beautiful. I went to the post office for stamps too and one of the workers went out of his way to make sure I got cheaper stamps than what I thought I needed from the machine. Everyone is just so friendly here!
I think part of the reason I like the city so much though is it reminds me vaguely of Seattle. Different stores and set up, but similar attitude. Probably helps that its a rather grey day, which some how does the city credit.
My hostel is amazing. I signed up for a 14 bed dorm, ended up in a four and it didn't cost me anything extra. I sort of thought the last hostel was okay, th0ugh not fantastic. But this one puts it to shame. Everything is clean, no funny smells, and the girls I'm bunking with are very nice. Both from New Zealand. The only down side to it is there is no free internet there. But that is a small price to pay, especially since I'm only here for one day. Though I almost wish I was staying here longer now.
I leave for Inverness tomorrow morning at 7. Hopefully that leg will be just as wonderful. And who knows maybe I'll even see Nellie, Nessie's long lost cousin...

2010-10-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

So yesterday my inner ear imbalance acted up, so I didn't really do much at all. Today was much more fun though. I may not be able to walk a straight line for a couple days yet, but I still managed to get out. Patrick and I took the train to Seaham to see the-you guessed it-sea. It was a fun trip, though the town was very small. We walked through the city center in about five minutes. The shore line was very pretty though. Unfortunately we couldn't get all the way to the lighthouse though. The only people out there were fishermen. We were going to stop at Newcastle on the way back too, but it was just a bit to cold. It got down to 10 degrees Celsius by the end of the day, and tomorrow is supposed to be colder. But I will be heading inland again tomorrow. In the morning I will go to Carlisle for a day trip. Then in the evening I will head for Scotland and spend a couple days in Glasgow.

York to Durham

2010-10-07T17:10:00.001-07:00

So I haven't posted in a couple days, but that's really because I've been pretty busy doing things! Yesterday I took the bus northward to York. It really amuses me that an across country bus ride that the locals think is long distance took 5 hours, and is about the equivalence of driving from Spokane to Seattle. It is just really a whole new perspective on travel, and really quite cheap too! I made it to York at about 6 last night, and my friend Patrick met me at the bus. We had decided to stay the night there so we could see the town, which is one of his favorites, and quite an enjoyable time it ended up being.
The place we stayed was really very nice. Especially since I was sleeping on an actual bed. We wandered around a bit for dinner, and then decided we wanted to find a pub called the Old Black Swan, which is supposed to be the oldest pub and York, as well as half haunted. Of course it turned out to be a rather difficult pub to locate. We wandered around the downtown area in circles for quite a long time, though it was overall very enjoyable, and quite an interesting way to see the town at night. The best part was when we passed the ghost tour though; identifiable by the man leading a mass group wearing a top hat and carrying a step ladder. They even had one called the ghost jaunt, which sounded rather amazing. Eventually we did find the pub, in a completely different area than we had been looking for it.
The next morning we were provided with a proper English breakfast. Quite a step up from my last week of meals. We then proceeded to wander the entire town, following the old walls around and through the town. We spent most of the morning just wandering in between the sights. Then we decided it was time I had a proper high tea. So we went to Betty's, which Patrick informed me is one of the nicer more well known places to do that. It was wonderful! And a fabulous experience to boot.
After tea, we got our bags and headed to the National Rail Museum. Which awesomely had the Hogwart's Express in it's showroom. So even if I couldn't get through the platform, I still made it to the train!
Not long after that we got on the train and headed for Durham, which is where Patrick is living; and he's nice enough to put me up on his couch. The view of the city was gorgeous coming in, and I really can't wait to explore it tomorrow. He was telling me that this was actually the town which was used for a lot of the Harry Potter movie shots, including his school, so my Hogwart's adventure is continuing-and in the proper sequence to boot! The fact that he goes to school in a castle is pretty amazing to begin with, but the Harry Potter aspects of it make it even cooler in my mind. My adventure is now truly on the move since I've left London, and I feel as though I have seen a lot of neat things rather quickly. Let the fun continue!

Strike!

2010-10-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

Today was an interesting day. Turns out the tube workers are going on strike one day a month and this was it. So the whole tube system was shut down. Which meant extra road congestion. So it was 2 hours to get anywhere by bus or walk. I chose walking. I started off the day going to the library. If you could call it that! Tiny, barely any books. Much to say, I didn't stay long. I did end up purchasing my ticket to York though. I leave early Wednesday afternoon by bus. Best part of my day by far though? Passing a guy on his bike who was belting out Jailhouse Rock in a high falsetto. Oh yeah.

2010-10-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

I went to a service at Westminster Abbey today, and it was amazing. Not only did I get in the church for free, which including walking past all the major features such as Newton and Churchhill's markers. And the building itself was incredible! To top it all off, I was able to hear the choir sing as well. They are so incredible, and with the accoustics in the room it couldn't have been better. Except that it became so. While everyone was leaving, the organist was playing the Finale from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. Wow. I had no words. I had to stop walking and stand against the wall so I could listen to the entire thing. And I'm not the biggest fan of organ music, but just the sheer way in which it resonated was more than I could have asked for. Quite a successful adventure I do believe!

Meandering...

2010-10-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was a constant rain all day. But still it was not a heavy rain which is a nice change from Spokane. Since I didn't feel like getting too drenched, as an umbrella only does so much after so long, I decided to make it store and museum day! I started off at Harrod's and wandered through all the different departments. It was rather overwhelming, and I had to leave not long after the perfume department as it was just too much on my nose.
Then I wandered down the street to go to the Natural History Museum. When I got there I was kind of disappointed, not at all what I had been expecting of it, and it had all these weird V&A signs all over, which I thought was an obnoxious way to show patronage and donations. So after wandering through I tried to find the Science Museum which was supposed to be up the street to the East. But when I went east I couldn't find the road! I eventually just ended up at a cafe to get some food and while I was there I pulled out my map to see what I could figure out. Turns out there's a museum called the Victoria and Albert Museum...right BEFORE I would have run into the road I had been looking for. Which meant I had never even made it to the History Museum.
So I turned back around yet again and this time got there for real. And it was an amazing museum! Before I knew it I was being kicked out because they were closing-I had spent 3-4 hours in there. Now I can't wait to go to the science museum which is even more interactive. I was going to go today, but I woke up to sunshine, and decided that meant a walk around day instead.
Thus today became Literary Wanders Day! I started out at Baker Street and hung out in Sherlock Holmes haunts, then I went to King's Cross Station and tried to get to Hogwarts. But alas, Dobby closed platform 9 3/4 on me when I was halfway through. I knew my letter had merely been lost! Then I went to the Globe Theater, and on the way saw the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Then after wandering across the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral I eventually made my way back to the hostel to realize it was only 2! But my legs were tired so I called it a mostly day and just had linner before winding down my day. I think tomorrow I'm going to try to go to Westminster Abbey for a service tomorrow. I looked up when the choir sings and I think that would be pretty amazing to hear.
I found out why my legs have been so restless the last couple days though. I haven't had enough iron, which makes since as I haven't eaten anywhere near my normal red meat diet lately. So I went to buy some alternative iron sources and we'll see if that helps at all. But I think it likely will. Oddly, I'm hoping for a couple more days of rain, so I can see a couple more neat museums without feeling guilty about being indoors the whole time. Whatever happens, I'll just make the most of it! No more photos will be up until my internet connection fixes itself though, as it doesn't stay on long enough to get anything uploaded.

2010-09-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

Today was a London adventure. I decided I'd rather walk than take the tube, as it was actually a beautifully sunny day, so I set out through Hyde park around 9:30 this morning to go see the changing of the guard. I got there with no problems, though I did meander aimlessly for awhile since I had the time. Unfortunately though, I was a little dehydrated after my flight (even though I did drink a lot of water mom, it apparently wasn't enough) and I didn't notice it til the crowd started to push and it got a bit warm at the front of the group. I got a little bit dizzy, but there were two very nice London guys and an Australian girl who noticed I was a bit out of sorts and they got me out of the crowd so I could get a drink. (I ran into the two more times after that and they kept asking after me, they were all very nice) Then a little more hydrated and out of the madness of the crowd I was able to watching the changing with little incident. I was very embarrassed though, I had felt perfectly fine until the body heat of the crowd just pushed me over the edge, although I'm tempted to say it was really just shock at seeing the sun since I was expecting rain all week.
After the changing, I made a point to go chug a couple bottles of water, just to be safe, and then I headed on my way, which turned out to be towards Big Ben. I then proceeded to wander around Central London (though I haven't crossed the Thames yet), and eventually ended up at Westminster Abbey. I find it's difficult to locate places here because all the buildings in Central London are in the elaborate older styles, and thus all look similar in their grandeur. Luckily the Abbey was ringing its bells for quite a long time, which made it much easier to locate.
Now I need to decided if I want to go see the Globe and the London Eye tomorrow, or if tomorrow will be Baker Street and the London Zoo! Maybe Platform 9 3/4 will be on the menu too...

2010-09-29T08:10:00.001-07:00

Sitting on the plane, if I look out the window I can currently see the far Irish shore. Im not nervous right now though. Excitement is definitely back in on the map. And to make it better were landing an hour ahead of schedule. What an excellent start to a trip!

I saved my letter for landing. UB girls, you're amazing. Best part of my trip so far! The best part is I do in fact remember each of those days you guys mentioned. I'm going to miss you girls so much! Morgan, you will have to tell me about all the new awesome restaurants you go to. Mom, I hope it comforts you that I'm nervous for all the same reasons you are.

And wendi, those toothbrush things are a godsend. Thank you so much for them.

And mom, tell John there was no problem with using all my bags as carryons. So you two will be fine like that for ny, no added charges. Also, thanks for the pictures you put on my camera. :)

I keep hearing phone texts going off and trying to check my phone before I remember I don't have it here. It's also weird to think that while it's almost noon here it's only four in the morning back home still. At least I slept most of the flight and don't feel off kilter at all on that front.

I've spent the last couple hours wandering around Kensington gardens. It was a lot of fun even if it was sprinkling the whole time. I even found Peter Pan! The park has the coolest old gnarly trees too. Very awesome. But I think tonights going to be an early night, I'm awful sleepy since I only really dozed on the flight. So here's to next time!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Almost Gone...

2010-09-28T08:26:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting in my living room, getting the last of my stuff together. My flight leaves in only 6 hours! I feel much less nervous today than I did yesterday though (thanks Mom), and for that I am thankful. I had originally been going to stay up and make jewelry all night, but I'm very glad I didn't now. I needed those couple hours to function today. It's weird to think that this is the last time I'll be here for awhile. None the less, I'm very excited. I know this is a good step for me, and I know that I am ready for this, but the step is much larger than it seemed even a week ago. So here's a big thank you to all my friends and family supporting me in this decision. It means the world to me that you all have my back. Next time I write, I should be in London!

Back to the lake

2010-07-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

Just got up to the lake again late last night. It was the Portland expo this weekend and we were selling at it for the first time. I think it went really well, but we'll have to wait and see if we are going to do it again. It's always a lot of fun to hang out with the Seattle guys though, and Emily came with us since Deena had to stay behind to open the new store up. If was fun to have her there, because we were able to go off and do our own things too; such as spend way to much money at Powell's, find a fabulous Italian restaurant (Pastini's), and spend time in new age stores. We even got some tarot cards and debated getting an official reading done.
On the way back to Spokane yesterday, my mom dropped me off at Multnomah Falls. When she said it was a short walk, I don't think she expected me to hike to the top of the falls. Totally worth it though, and something I have been wanting to do for some time now. It was fun to check something off my bucket list. Then we stopped in the Dalles at le petit provence. I little french restaurant with good French Onion soup. It was not as good as last time though, and I think it fell out of the top three for favorite soup spots. Really good food though, and a fabulous lunch.
Of course the dogs woke me up at about 5 this morning, but I made them go back to bed until 6. When we went on their morning walk, I was highly amused as someone had drawn a huge foot in the sand, so it looked as though Big Foot had come through. It's the little things that early in the morning that really make it good.

Why the Pacific Northwest rocks.

2010-05-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

These are not things solely to the P.NW. (Well some are but not all), but merely things which make it awesome.
Huckleberry's
Bite Size Steak
Loaded Baked Potatos
4 seasons
Not everything here is poisonous. (caterpillars, snakes, water creatures, plants.) ((Yes there are some exceptions but they more make the rule.))
Spokanistan Adventures (Spoklahoma, Spokompton, Spokaloo, etc.) ((And the lesser known Cheneyland Chronicles))
Slugbug-old and new
Bigfoot or Sasquatch if you prefer
We have bridge trolls
No Pronounced Accents
Clamdiggers-both the drink and the people
We have a giant needle shooting up into space.
Sex Offenders
Serial Killers-in Washington they are for prostitutes
Bloomsday
Hoopfest
Hempfest
the Gorge
Dave Matthews lives here
Where's Matt? lives here
Viggo Mortenson lives here
Kurt Cobain-need I say more?
Death Cab for Cutie
Most awesome newer bands
Lilacs-and the associated allergies
Taters
Tillamook
Dry Fly
Hydroelectric Power-runs most of us!
Grand Coulee Dam Laser Light Show
Salmon
Fry Sauce
Mad Cow Disease struck in Washington!
Necessary tanning beds due to seasonal affectedness. Yay, fake Vitamin D!
Mt. St. Helens
Try and think of a type of geography. Yep we have it, deserts to rainforest and beyond!
Tumbleweeds! Chase one, its fun. I promise...
Ice storms
Wind storms
Fire storms/seasons
Our towns like to sprawl
Leavenworth-MmmmGermaninspiredtowns
Bach Festival
Shakespeare Festival
Lionel Hampton
Aunties
Powells
Didgereedoo Man
Awesome Mexican Food.
Cheap Mexican Labor
Anti-politicalness and Anti-political correctness
Like to think were liberal, but were really secretly conservative
We think were "Worldly"
Were really close to Canada
Were not afraid to say Canada Rocks!
Most of Canada thinks we rock.
We go to Canada to drink underage
We still don't accept Canadian money (their pennies are shit, so are ours, but theirs are worse)
We love attachments.
hehe, we have dirty minds (I meant cooking attachments)
Zips
Bill Gates
We love us some farm animals. No seriously, lock up your horses and pigs at night here. Probably the goats too.
Starbucks originated here. Take that world.

Will be pondering for more.

mon petit chou

2010-05-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

So I was telling Jen how in French mon petit chou is a term of endearment. When I told her the direct translation was my little cabbage I asked her how that would make her feel if a guy called her that. Her response was, "Like a sexy piece or sauerkraut!" I laughed hysterically. Now I need to learn how to say that in French in case I ever get the opportunity to respond to such a statement.

Homeward bound

2010-05-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genii's power and magic in it.

I'm in the airport in Houston waiting for my flight home and came across this quote in my notebook. Don't know where I found it or who it's by, but I still love it so I know why I wrote it down.

This trip has been so much fun though. Got to see some if the coolest thunder storms, explore Carlsbad caverns, see Roswell's UFO museum, explore San Antonio, see the galleria in Houston, see alligators, my first fireflies, and went to the beach off the gulf of mexico before it became coated with oil(I have a sunburn to prove the last). I am excited to go home though. I need to start packing my stuff and moving it to storage and the lake. I'm going up for memorial weekend and I'll help Jinnie set up her computer then. I also need to clean uphe apartment and talk to my mom about the garage sale we were going to have in June. Basically there is a lot for me to do in the next month. Jeanne was helping me with my french though and I have a whole new set of vocabulary words to practice now, and some are rather interesting. Mon petit chou is a term of endearment in france. It actually means my little cabbage. How's that for a sweet nothing. I still have trouble hearing some of the pronunciations which I feel just proves I need to use my programming more frequently. I'll get there though, of that inhabe no doubt. Just give me time! Well were prepping to board, so I'll write more later! Au revoir.

Traveling

2010-05-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting on a plane heading down to Houston, Texas. I can't lie, I'm pretty stoked, even if my friends think I'm nuts for wanting to go to Texas. Jeanne's going to pick me up from the airport and well head straight out for Roswell, New Mexico. Cause really, why stop at adding just one more state to my list when I can add two! I'm really excited to see the UFO museum and the carlsbad caverns. I hear they're supposed to be really neat.
I'm also currently reading an interesting book my mom gave yesterday called "the gift of fear." It's all about learning to listen to and trust your intuition to save your life. We had just been talking about this at finders keepers the other day too, as Deena has the most uncanny feelings and instincts I have ever seen.
Like the time the lady made off with around three of our dresses and a purse. Hours later Deena was walking by a line of cars and stated she just felt warm and knew there was something up. When she looked inside one, there on the passenger seat were the stolen items. She tracked the girl down store to store and drug her back to her car and made the girl pay for them. But, how many people can claim having something like that happen to them. She gets feelings like that about people in general too, and shell just give you a look and you know no to let the person out of your sight in the store.
Mine have always been much more subdued, I'm definitely not the best judge of character, but even I can claim having moments that I look back and say I had a feeling I should or should not have done that. The book states that our biggest problem as humans is we discout this feeling and then proceed to search for logical reasons solely to not trust ourselves. Very interesting look toward humans, particularly Americans and western civilizations.

2010-05-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

Jeanne, Nick and I are in the car on the drive back to Houston. Technically tonight were only going to go about an hour to Carlsbad and well go the other nine hours tomorrow after we see the caverns. Rather excited for that, even though we don't get to take the rope-you-up version because it's only offered in the afternoon. It's been a rather nice drive so far. We stayed in San Antonio last bight and did the river walk and cruise. We didn't see the Alamo, but we were within a block of it. Jeanne says it is super small and not worth the time other than a walk past. None the less I gave a cursory "remember the Alamo!"
This morning in the car Gina and I practiced French in he car for about half the trip. Once we got to Roswell and picked up Nick, they left me at the UFO museum. It was rather interesting though I don't believe it was an alien. I definitely think something happened, likely governmental, but I don't think it was aliens. At least not in that instance...

More adventures!

2010-04-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

The last couple weeks have been sporadically exciting and boring, which kinda ups the anticipation level of things to come. I've gone down hiking around the Riverside state park a couple times now, on the nicer days-both by myself, and I talked Morgan into coming with once too, so much fun! I've also went down to Pullman last minute to see Heather and Alex, a little more of Heather than Alex due to finals coming up here soon though he broke away from his ~~napping~~ studying to play a board game with us.
I'm also currently making plans to go to Texas in about two weeks now. I'm so excited because we will also be going to New Mexico to pick Nick up from school where I will get to see the UFO museum and the Carlsbad Caverns. Gina was telling me about all the other plans she was setting up for us to potentially do too and I am so excited! One last big US hurrah, though I am still hoping to do a bunch of smaller more local trips this summer. We'll see how many work out, but the goal is set!

childhood subliminal brainwashing?

2010-04-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

So as I'm digging through my box of electronics trying to find my microphone so I can work on my French program, I came across a stack of cassettes. Expecting to find the old birthday mixes my aunt used to make me I dug through them and found not only those, but also Ross Point mixes, Romeo and Juliet, and the crowning glory...There's a Hippo in my tub. So of course I had to pop in Hippo in my Tub for the old childhood memories, and realized I may have been influenced young in my childhood to my current predispositions in life.
I listened to this tape all the time, though I had forgotten the specific songs on the tape. There was a song encouraging you to play the saxophone and the kazoo, songs encouraging travel, especially by plane, and The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which is a song I regularly sing when I'm being silly(though I could also blame that song on Disney with the Lion King). Now I only wish I could find my Nicole tape, where each tape was directed towards a particular name so it was like they were interacting with you, which was the other tape I listened to all the time in my childhood. Makes you wonder how much of these things you may not remember could have really impacted who you become, and how many are ironic instances of happenstance.

On a whim...

2010-04-08T22:17:00.001-07:00

I have slowly started packing up and separating my stuff up, and was looking through some of my old journals-personal and for classes, sketchbook, and random notebooks. I found quite an accumulation of old memories, moments, thoughts, and comments and they just made me happy. So I thought I'd share some highlight moments of my life-the little tidbits I had mostly forgot til I rediscovered them, buried in my bookshelves. After all, its the little things that really count.

Flying Toasters and Pickle People
Peace is not just the absence of war; peace is the absence of tension

Mango Slices!

"The surface of the earth is soft."-Thoreau

" 'The pictures, they're talking.' 'What are they saying?' 'They say...Keep me, Protect me, Share me, And I will live forever.' "

Seconds tick away
Slowing as the time passes
Hesitantly stops.

Have a Lizst, Gone Chopin, Be Bach later.

Continue with life and don't look back

C'est la vie

All things shall perish from under the sky, music alone shall live, music alone shall live, music alone shall live never to die.-Band Camp

Hippograffe!

"How are you like a backpack?"-Mike Carroll

Live, See, Jump, Become, Play, Smile, Journey, Imagine, Burn, Fall, Write, Trust, Exist, Discover, Believe, Laugh, Grow, Doodle, Fly, Float, Dream, Dance, Sing, Belong, Encourage, Hold, Hope, Trust, Allow, Perceive, Build, Enhance,

"Let me go, I'm not done. I swear I'll take just one lifetime."-Boxcar Racer

Consciousness is the edge of reason and humanity. The encompassing of heart and soul in a single being.

"Hold me, love me, choose me."-Meredith Grey; Grey's Anatomy

"Hold me, Love me, ain't got nothin but love babe, eight days a week."-The Beatles

Let sleep claim you, drift you, love you. Dreams hold the intimate caresses of infinity, the wistful longings of yesterday, and the ending of forever. Loose yourself and wonder if you'll never return.

Vanilla-the childhood memory of snow ice cream.

"The dust has only just begun to form crop circles in the carpet. Sinking. Feeling."-Imogen Heap

"Don't know how much time has passed, and it feels like forever. But no one ever tells you: forever feels like home."-Stone Sour

Heels make me feel powerful.

"Time falls away, but these small hours still remain."-Rob Thomas

Hug a musician, they never get to dance.

"When in doubt, follow someone! Even if you don't know them or where they're going, because they may be going to the same place as you!"-Heather on driving.

You have to work for what you want.

Creation is unique.

When you taught me how to dance...

Life is sense overtaking you.

"The beauty of grace is it makes life not fair."-Reliant K

My ideal is unreachable, and yet I can't erase it.

A second can mean a life, a death, a breath...

Believe in the moments, Believe in eternity...

"If you ever felt
alone
if you ever felt
rejected
if you ever felt confused
if you ever felt lost
if you ever felt anxious
if you ever felt wrong
if you ever felt wronged
if you ever felt unclean
if you ever felt angry
if you ever felt ashamed
if you ever felt curious
if you ever felt
used
be prepared to feel
revenge
feel the romance
my brutal romance
my beautiful romance
my miserable romance
my x-rated romance
my harlequin romance
my innocent romance
my selfish romance
my scandalous romance
my childish romance
my watercolor romance
my chemical romance."-My Chemical Romance

AM: The thrum of life filling you from the inside out.

"Write about the whale.' 'what whale?' 'The one trapped in your imagination , dieing to get out."-J.M. Barrie

What is my yellow brick road?

Our culture is growing and thriving as we drown in our own lack of identity.

Do you trust yourself to catch you?

I stood watching as the ship sailed out to sea. The settig sun tinted the sails with a golden light, and as it disappeared from sight, a voice at my side whispered, "He is gone." But the sea was a narrow one.
On the farther shore, a band of family and griends had gathered to watch and wait in happy expectation.
Suddenly, they caught sight of the sail, and at the very moment when my companion whispered, "He is gone." A glad shout went up in joyous welcome, "Here he comes!"

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination..."-Souza

"When you stand int he present moment, you are timeless. "-Rodney Yee

Paganini looks like Filch!

"I was in the library, and a girl in a gorilla costume popped out at me from behind a shelf and said, "Hey, you want a kafka $ and a hershey bar?" She was getting funny looks from those studying." -Karmen

Captain Harry!

"He was a jaded romantic."
"So it's like somebody broke his rose colored glasses?"
"Uhh...well, I have no idea what you're talking about."-music history discussion

Beef, it's what's for dinner.

Joy to the world, Barney is dead, we barbecued his head...!

NOISE!

And I can only wish I could include some of the sketches I found in my class notes. I obviously was not paying enough attention to the lectures.

Here and Now

2010-04-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Today's the first day in quite some time that I haven't felt incredibly restless, something for which I'm rather thankful for. I spent the afternoon on my couch doing absolutely nothing, I only left for my guitar lesson (which was embarrassing when I didn't realize I was singing the songs under my breath until Bill loudly proclaimed, "At last, I hear a voice!") and about 4 I realized there was nothing I'd rather be doing. So as I sit here, discovering new music, reading fanfic (because I am that big of a dork), checking everyone's facebook, and just overall catching up on the world around me; I realize I am at peace in this one moment. While I still have the itch to get out-to wander around, in this one moment, I am satisfied. Could be in part because I made travel plans for next month today, but whatever the reason, this is enough. I will get where I'm going when I get there.

Found this website of awesome pictures I want to try and recreate and expand upon.
http://crystalinks.com/holdthesun.html
Already have one myself, and for some reason I never really saw how much more could be done with it. Something I will have to rectify!I have also enjoyed discovering new music tonight, as well as rediscovering old groups. I'm currently working on making a new playlist and will likely have to go to Hastings and some other music stores tomorrow.
Found an awesome and hilarious quote by Kate Winslet.

There are moments to indulge and enjoy, but I always know when it's time to go home and wash my knickers.

Here's to knowing when!