I'm finally getting around to the last entry, despite getting home 8 days ago. In my defense, it's been a hectic 8 days: I spent three days in Philly getting moved into my house for next year (had to move stuff out of both Mom and Dad's apartment and the chapter house) and then had to pack up again to come to Cincinnati. Now I'm here in Cincy and have already begun work at my internship. But I have some free time now, so I'll wrap up the blog with final thoughts on the semester.
But first, just a summary of the last few days. Jillian and I spent our final weekend getting ready for our last exam, in psychology and education. It was tedious, and neither of us enjoyed the British education system very much - but more on that later. The weekend was highlighted by one last visit to our go-to Indian restaurant nearby, Shah Tandoori. Delicious as always. We took our exam on Monday morning, and afterward finally got to enjoy some of the warm weather that had taken hold in London while we studied. We were both quite happy to be done studying and done with the exam. We relaxed in the afternoon, and both napped for a bit before beginning to pack. Around dinner time, we headed out to Wembley Stadium for our final event in London: an England v. Mexico soccer match. It was an awesome experience, and dwarfed the experience of going to an American football game. There was a HUGE crowd, and just a tremendous amount of energy both outside and within the stadium. We were a part of the largest human flag in history, as each chair had either a white or red t-shirt on it for fans to put on to form an English flag (we were part of the white section). We had good seats, pretty high up but between the penalty box and midfield. England won 3-1, and we both thoroughly enjoyed the experience, although Jillian was less of a fan of the actual game than I (at one point she said "I'm more like most girlfriends when it comes to soccer," meaning that she was bored and making a plethora of comments unrelated to the game - both of which are not the case during other sporting events such as NFL games). Mexico actually outplayed England, but couldn't capitalize on opportunities. The game got me really excited for the World Cup, and it will be fun to watch the U.S. play its first game against England next week.
After the game we headed back and had a late dinner and hung out with Rosie for a bit before continuing to pack. It was a struggle for me to fit everything in, and I had to leave a few things behind (e.g. my tattered CCD homecoming long-sleeve t-shirt from middle school), but I finally got most of it in my suitcases. We got everything straightened up and did one final check in the morning/early afternoon the next day, and set out to return our Oyster cards in order to get our £3 deposits back and also grab Pret sandwiches to bring to the airport for lunch. We left a bit after noon, and said goodbye to Rosie - very sad to leave her (she's all alone in the flat now, and says it's very odd). We were really lucky to be able to live with her, since she was able to show us so many things in London. We plan on visiting her and George in the future.
Our flight to Chicago was very easy, as we napped, read, and ate (airplane food is SO much better than it used to be). We then went our separate ways for the first time in five months, which was surreal. But we were only apart for three days, so it wasn't a big deal. I finally got back to Mom and Dad's apartment around 1 AM or so. It was good to see them and Shef, but very strange to be back in the States. At times I still look around and just shake my head. I can't believe I was gone for five months! So now, time to look back.
The semester, simply put, was incredible. At times, especially while traveling, Jillian and I both missed the comforts of home, friends, and family, but neither of us ever really battled homesickness. We definitely took advantage of only having class for 10 of the 20 weeks we were there by traveling. The list of places we got to is pretty impressive. England was the perfect place for me: different enough from the States to get to experience living in a new culture, but not so different as to make me long for the States.
I'll miss a lot of little things about London: the quality of Sainsbury's brand food, the friendlier people (than those in Philly, at least), the Tube, etc. It also was great to meet Rosie and George, and to be able to spend a lot of time with Lauren and Michael. Having and making good friends while abroad definitely enriches the experience.
But when I look back on the semester, I undoubtedly will also think of all of my memories of traveling Europe. The variety of our destinations illustrates what's best about Europe - so many different cultures and countries in such a small area. People keep asking me what my favorite place was, and I still have trouble answering. I suppose Rome would be my #1, just for the combination of food, history, and general atmosphere. But there were so many cool places, and places that were so different from each other.
As far as the experience specifically with UCL, I left with lukewarm feelings. I don't like the school system, which is much more teach-it-yourself. I found it annoying to be given a list of 10 ten textbooks from which no specific readings were assigned or expected. Additionally, performance on exams was graded partly in terms of bringing in material from outside of class. So it basically felt to me as if the professors weren't teaching me anything, and then were grading me on the material they didn't teach. Not to mention that my Psych grades will be composed solely of my exam scores: one shot, for 100% of the grade. Not a fan. The lectures were also drier than at home, and the professors had a tendency to drone on in a tedious way. I'll be happy to get back to Penn classes and professors next semester.
In terms of housing, Jillian and I got really lucky. Schafer was by no means luxurious, but for what we paid, and in comparison to what we could have had, it was great. The location was perfect (some students have to take a 20-30 minute bus to campus every day), we had a nice big kitchen, and our flatmates were pretty clean and respectful for the most part. Although it could be loud at times, and the smell of cigarette smoke permeated my room any time I opened the window, it was pretty nice overall.
Other than that, it's just hard to believe it's over. Seems like it went fast, but at the same time, our miserable day of travel back in January seems like a lifetime ago. I'm happy to just stay put for a while, and not do so much traveling (although I travel again next weekend...) Martha's Vineyard will be a welcomed vacation of relaxing on the beach. No tiring sightseeing, no billing disputes, no uncomfortable stays in a bed breakfast... just family and the beach. Sounds good.
Now, I've already begun to dive right into a summer of interning, working, and LSAT classes. The real world is lurking right around the corner. But I've still got senior year left. There are, obviously, nice things about being home. Like free refills. Or ice. Or not having to use adapters to plug everything in. Or even using a currency in which the bills actually fit in my wallet. But I have a feeling I will always look back on this semester and say two things: 1. What an amazing experience that was, and that I was very fortunate to be able to have that kind of semester, and 2. It marked the beginning of the end of my time before true adulthood.
Now also seems an appropriate time for one last round of thank yous. To Mom, Dad, and Sheri, thank you for everything during your visits - they were both incredible and kept us going through a long semester away from home. And also to Mom and Dad, thank you for supporting me in my decision to study abroad, and for all of your generous contributions throughout the five months. I obviously wouldn't have been able to have this experience without you guys, and I am certainly aware of that fact. So thank you.
Well, thanks for reading all (or some) of my blogs. I enjoyed writing them (sometimes). But a valuable keepsake, nonetheless. Now, it's time to enjoy other facets of American life - perhaps I'll play some video games, or watch a movie with my recently reactivated Netflix account.
See you around - maybe for a return to London during the 2012 Olympics?
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Friday, 21 May 2010
Second-to-last Post...
Today is the first of three days of studying for our last exam, but I am struggling to get going. So I figured I might as well be "productive" and write a new post. Not much will be happening between now and our departure, so my last post can focus on final thoughts/memories and looking back at the semester as a whole. But this one will just serve as an update for my (many) recent adventures.
So let's start back on last Wednesday, when Jillian, Rosie, and I took a train down to Bath, where we met George (he goes to school in Bristol, which is pretty close to Bath). The trip down was eventful, though - we were cutting it close for time in terms of making our train, so the three of us had to ditch our plan of taking the bus (it was taking too long to show up) and catch the Tube. No problem there, but when we arrived at Paddington Station, we ran into some problems. That morning Jillian had taken one of her debit cards out of her wallet as a precaution, so that she wouldn't be carrying all three around. When we got to the station, the machines used to print out pre-booked tickets required the purchasing credit card. Unfortunately, her other two cards didn't work, and it became clear she had used the one she had taken out earlier to purchase her tickets. So we rushed to the ticket office to ask them to print out the tickets, but the teller informed us that he couldn't print them without the card, so Jilli was forced to purchase an additional one way ticket that was more expensive than our original round trip tickets. She grabbed the ticket and we ran to the train, just making it on before departure. Jillian was understandably upset at the mistake, and if we had had more time, she might have been able to convince the teller to print the tickets since she knew the credit card number. She was also concerned she would be hit with an overdraw fee (she ended up having enough in the account by a slim margin) and that she was going to lose even more money by having to buy a ticket for the trip back. Luckily, the woman working in the smaller, less crowded Bath station printed out her return trip ticket for her, so that additional crisis was avoided. She tried for a refund later, but so far, no luck. To her credit, after her initial dismay, she moved on and didn't let the incident put a damper on our day in Bath. But considering the amount of traveling we've done, we have been pretty successful for that to have been the first real issue we have had.
So we met up with George, just as it started to rain. Lovely. The four of us headed to a French cafe that George and Rosie knew about (they've both been to Bath a bunch of times) and got paninis for lunch. After that, Jillian and I toured the Roman baths, which were very cool - the museum was well done and the excavations are in really good condition. Rosie and George walked around some shops while we went in, and we met up again after. Next up was the Abbey in town, which had a "suggested" donation upon entry. We weren't really inclined to pay to get in, but also weren't sure how strong of a "suggestion" the employees would make when we entered. But as we stood in the entrance deliberating, a group entered without paying while the employee was distracted, and we simply tagged along behind them. Success. The church was very pretty, with a really unique ceiling. I am not anywhere near knowledgeable enough in architecture/design to describe it, but there were lots of cool liney-things branching out in circles. Helpful, right? If you're interested, there are plenty of images on Google. Upon leaving the Abbey, we tried to figure out what to do next. Bath isn't particularly large, and there aren't a ton of sights - people visit mostly to shop and just see the city. So we walked around a bit, and went to see a part of town with a large building shaped like a semi-circle. The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at a park, walking in a garden maze, and eating delicious cookies from a chain called Ben's Cookies. We had a lot of time to kill in the city, since our train didn't leave until 8:40. So we just hung out and passed the time in various locations, before parting ways - Rosie went back to Bristol with George for the night. We said goodbye to George for the last time, and the four of us pledged to visit each other sometime in the near future (on both continents). As a whole, Bath was nice, but not incredible, and especially since I had heard it was gorgeous, I was a bit disappointed. I am glad we went, but it's not something I would advise people to go way out of their way to do. The best part of the trip was spending one last day with Rosie and George.
After a long day in Bath, Jillian and I had a 3:00 AM wake-up to begin our travel to Croatia. Since the weather report showed rain for both days we were supposed to be there, both of us were less excited about the trip than when we had initially booked it a few weeks earlier. It also didn't help that I was still completely exhausted from late nights of studying, and that we were leaving BEFORE the crack of dawn. But after a walk, bus, plane, and cab, we arrived at our hotel in Pula. Upon arrival it was pouring, so we decided to take a nap. When we awoke, we were surprised to see no trace of the rain and clear, sunny skies. The good weather continued for the rest of that day and the next, so we actually were able to spend our two days there relaxing in the sun. We napped, read, listened to music, ate, and just enjoyed doing nothing while taking in the pretty views of the ocean and harbor. The hotel was one of a handful within the same compound/resort area, which was a bit odd and isolated, but it was fine for what we wanted. We had another booking issue though, just two days after the Bath fiasco - the hotel charged us more than the room we had booked. I won't go into all of the gory details, but we ended up having to pay about 50 Euros more than we thought, through a combination of our own mistake and a misleading website. Not the end of the world when split between the two of us, but annoying nonetheless. Although there weren't really any beaches nearby, we enjoyed being out on the terrace with views of the ocean, and the trip was a nice change of pace. We headed back on the 15th, and planned our upcoming activities, armed with a list of final things we wanted to do in London.
So started the week of lasts: last big shop at Sainsbury's, last trip to Borough Market, last trip to Harrod's (and last cheese and onion baguette there), last trip to Oxford Street, last trip to the Italian restaurant Prezzo, last trip to TGI Friday's, last trip to Covent Garden, and even last goodbyes to Janista and Anitra, our two other American flatmates who have returned to the States. Lauren and Michael are also stopping by in a bit to say goodbye, as they leave tomorrow for their own trip to Croatia and Paris for a week - we'll be gone when they return briefly for a night before heading back Stateside themselves.
But in addition to some farewells, we also had some firsts. We finally went on the London Eye, which is the enormous Ferris wheel that overlooks the city. It takes 30 minutes to go around once, and it was cool to see the city from above and be able to point out all the places we knew. We went with Lauren and Michael in the evening, and got to see the sun set in the distance despite the cloudy weather. After the Eye, we went to Gordon's Wine Bar, which had been recommended to Jillian and me by our friend Amanda, who studied here for a couple of months last summer. It was a really cool place - all of the seating was in an underground cellar. We got there not long before closing, so our stay was short but sweet. Additionally, later in the week Jillian and I finally had tea in London - we had had it with Sheri in Ireland, but never here. We took Lauren and Michael's advice and went to a cafe in Harrod's for tea and scones. The room was very pretty, and the tea and scones were pretty good, although the whole experience paled in comparison to the Shelbourne in Dublin. Still memorable, though.
Other than that, Jillian and I got some food we had been eying for a while - we went to a bakery that opened recently near us (we've been here long enough to see the hamburger place that was there go out of business, empty out, be redecorated, and open up as a new bakery), got sandwiches, and had a picnic in Regent's Park. The sandwiches were really good, and the park was very pretty. Another fun outing in our last few days here. Throughout the week we also went to a Thai restaurant last night (more stir-fry than Thai though) which was decent, a Patisserie we had our eyes on (I got a very good fruit tart), a Dutch Pancake House for dinner, and a bakery called Candy Cakes (Jillian got an enormous muffin covered in icing). Much of this has been with Rosie, so it's been fun to get to spend some time with her before we had to start studying. It's definitely quieter in the flat now that it's just the three of us, and a bit surreal. Our time really is winding down.
So as you can see, we have covered a lot of ground in the last few days here in London - but we also took a day trip on the 18th to Scotland. Yes, everything has been as chaotic as it sounds, but we aren't likely to leave London with any regrets of not doing something! We woke up on Tuesday the 18th, again at 3:00 AM (I most certainly will not miss those types of travel days), and repeated our steps of a 20 minute walk and hour long bus to the airport (Luton this time, though, and not Standsted). We arrived in Edinburgh in the early morning, and took a bus into town. We had a loooong time before our departure (about 12 hours), so the day was very leisurely. The city is absolutely stunning, with pretty brown buildings surrounded by huge rocky mountains, upon one of which is an old castle overlooking the city. It definitely helped that we had a picturesque sunny day, as the buildings looked like they could be quite depressing during a snowy, grey winter. We spent the day sitting/lying in the sun in various locations: on top of Calton Hill overlooking the city (another monument up there to our man Admiral Nelson, whose history we explained to Rosie the other day - look how far we've come, Dad and Sheri!), up by the castle (which we didn't actually go in), in St. Andrew's Square (where we were entertained by the competition among sea gulls and pigeons for food), and lastly in the Prince Street Gardens, where we picnicked with our sandwiches we had packed. We also saw the Sir Walter Scott Monument, and toured the Scottish National Gallery. We purchased our last magnet, #17 in the collection, and eventually headed back to the airport. Our flight was delayed for 30 minutes, which Jillian found quite aggravating - I realized during the delay, though, that it was our first delay of any sort throughout the entire semester. Pretty impressive, and America could learn a few lessons. We didn't get back to Schafer until about 11 PM, and didn't have dinner until 12 - obviously, quite a long day. But I think we were both really glad to have gone. I really loved the city, even though it was on the smaller side and there weren't a ton of tourist attractions - the castle did look very interesting though, and I'm sure we could have spent an entire day there. For me it was the most beautiful city we've seen along with Prague, and it would have been a shame not to get there when we had been so close. So I'm very glad we went, and also thankful for your recommendation, Mom!
Well, I think I've finally caught you up. No more traveling for us, or sightseeing around London. We have one more activity planned for our last night after our final - we are going to Wembley Stadium to see a friendly between the English and Mexican national teams: a really cool way to wrap up the trip. It looked as if we weren't going to be able to make it to any soccer games, which would have been really disappointing. So I'm glad this one worked out, and I'm hoping most of the starters should be playing for each side since the World Cup is so soon.
Between keeping this blog and writing in journals when we traveled, I have been kept busy with logging our activities. Nightly journal entries during trips were particularly tedious and boring at times, but I persisted because I knew how thankful I'd be to have them in the future. Those, combined with the blog (written in part to keep everyone at home updated, but also very much for my own benefit in the future) will let me revisit my time spent here this semester. I've also been collecting various mementos from the entire semester, and Jillian and I have plans to make a scrapbook out of all of them. We also plan to make a photo album, and have the blogs converted into print form. Assuming we follow through with all of that, we will have plenty of happy reminders of our incredible semester abroad. Not to mention the large amount of money invested in magnets. But I think we've done a good job of documenting our time here, and have plenty of souvenirs.
Time to bring this entry to a close - one final one to come sometime next week, possibly upon my return to Philly. Maybe before I leave, we'll see. Thanks for reading, and I hope the blog helped everyone follow along with our adventures. Time to study, I suppose.
But first, for the final cultural difference, I figured I'd post some words the British say differently - but not the obvious ones, like "lift" or "bloody." The British version is first, followed by the American equivalent in parentheses.
Hob (Grill)
Uni, short for University (College)
College (High School)
Return Ticket (Round Trip Ticket)
Trainers (Sneakers)
Jumpers (Sweaters/Sweatshirts)
Pants (Underwear)
Aubergine (Eggplant)
Coriander (Cilantro)
Courgette (Zucchini)
Ginger (Red-head... used in the States, but MUCH more common here in a non-joking way)
Inverted Commas (Quotation Marks)
Mains (Electricity)
Petrol (Gas)
So let's start back on last Wednesday, when Jillian, Rosie, and I took a train down to Bath, where we met George (he goes to school in Bristol, which is pretty close to Bath). The trip down was eventful, though - we were cutting it close for time in terms of making our train, so the three of us had to ditch our plan of taking the bus (it was taking too long to show up) and catch the Tube. No problem there, but when we arrived at Paddington Station, we ran into some problems. That morning Jillian had taken one of her debit cards out of her wallet as a precaution, so that she wouldn't be carrying all three around. When we got to the station, the machines used to print out pre-booked tickets required the purchasing credit card. Unfortunately, her other two cards didn't work, and it became clear she had used the one she had taken out earlier to purchase her tickets. So we rushed to the ticket office to ask them to print out the tickets, but the teller informed us that he couldn't print them without the card, so Jilli was forced to purchase an additional one way ticket that was more expensive than our original round trip tickets. She grabbed the ticket and we ran to the train, just making it on before departure. Jillian was understandably upset at the mistake, and if we had had more time, she might have been able to convince the teller to print the tickets since she knew the credit card number. She was also concerned she would be hit with an overdraw fee (she ended up having enough in the account by a slim margin) and that she was going to lose even more money by having to buy a ticket for the trip back. Luckily, the woman working in the smaller, less crowded Bath station printed out her return trip ticket for her, so that additional crisis was avoided. She tried for a refund later, but so far, no luck. To her credit, after her initial dismay, she moved on and didn't let the incident put a damper on our day in Bath. But considering the amount of traveling we've done, we have been pretty successful for that to have been the first real issue we have had.
So we met up with George, just as it started to rain. Lovely. The four of us headed to a French cafe that George and Rosie knew about (they've both been to Bath a bunch of times) and got paninis for lunch. After that, Jillian and I toured the Roman baths, which were very cool - the museum was well done and the excavations are in really good condition. Rosie and George walked around some shops while we went in, and we met up again after. Next up was the Abbey in town, which had a "suggested" donation upon entry. We weren't really inclined to pay to get in, but also weren't sure how strong of a "suggestion" the employees would make when we entered. But as we stood in the entrance deliberating, a group entered without paying while the employee was distracted, and we simply tagged along behind them. Success. The church was very pretty, with a really unique ceiling. I am not anywhere near knowledgeable enough in architecture/design to describe it, but there were lots of cool liney-things branching out in circles. Helpful, right? If you're interested, there are plenty of images on Google. Upon leaving the Abbey, we tried to figure out what to do next. Bath isn't particularly large, and there aren't a ton of sights - people visit mostly to shop and just see the city. So we walked around a bit, and went to see a part of town with a large building shaped like a semi-circle. The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at a park, walking in a garden maze, and eating delicious cookies from a chain called Ben's Cookies. We had a lot of time to kill in the city, since our train didn't leave until 8:40. So we just hung out and passed the time in various locations, before parting ways - Rosie went back to Bristol with George for the night. We said goodbye to George for the last time, and the four of us pledged to visit each other sometime in the near future (on both continents). As a whole, Bath was nice, but not incredible, and especially since I had heard it was gorgeous, I was a bit disappointed. I am glad we went, but it's not something I would advise people to go way out of their way to do. The best part of the trip was spending one last day with Rosie and George.
After a long day in Bath, Jillian and I had a 3:00 AM wake-up to begin our travel to Croatia. Since the weather report showed rain for both days we were supposed to be there, both of us were less excited about the trip than when we had initially booked it a few weeks earlier. It also didn't help that I was still completely exhausted from late nights of studying, and that we were leaving BEFORE the crack of dawn. But after a walk, bus, plane, and cab, we arrived at our hotel in Pula. Upon arrival it was pouring, so we decided to take a nap. When we awoke, we were surprised to see no trace of the rain and clear, sunny skies. The good weather continued for the rest of that day and the next, so we actually were able to spend our two days there relaxing in the sun. We napped, read, listened to music, ate, and just enjoyed doing nothing while taking in the pretty views of the ocean and harbor. The hotel was one of a handful within the same compound/resort area, which was a bit odd and isolated, but it was fine for what we wanted. We had another booking issue though, just two days after the Bath fiasco - the hotel charged us more than the room we had booked. I won't go into all of the gory details, but we ended up having to pay about 50 Euros more than we thought, through a combination of our own mistake and a misleading website. Not the end of the world when split between the two of us, but annoying nonetheless. Although there weren't really any beaches nearby, we enjoyed being out on the terrace with views of the ocean, and the trip was a nice change of pace. We headed back on the 15th, and planned our upcoming activities, armed with a list of final things we wanted to do in London.
So started the week of lasts: last big shop at Sainsbury's, last trip to Borough Market, last trip to Harrod's (and last cheese and onion baguette there), last trip to Oxford Street, last trip to the Italian restaurant Prezzo, last trip to TGI Friday's, last trip to Covent Garden, and even last goodbyes to Janista and Anitra, our two other American flatmates who have returned to the States. Lauren and Michael are also stopping by in a bit to say goodbye, as they leave tomorrow for their own trip to Croatia and Paris for a week - we'll be gone when they return briefly for a night before heading back Stateside themselves.
But in addition to some farewells, we also had some firsts. We finally went on the London Eye, which is the enormous Ferris wheel that overlooks the city. It takes 30 minutes to go around once, and it was cool to see the city from above and be able to point out all the places we knew. We went with Lauren and Michael in the evening, and got to see the sun set in the distance despite the cloudy weather. After the Eye, we went to Gordon's Wine Bar, which had been recommended to Jillian and me by our friend Amanda, who studied here for a couple of months last summer. It was a really cool place - all of the seating was in an underground cellar. We got there not long before closing, so our stay was short but sweet. Additionally, later in the week Jillian and I finally had tea in London - we had had it with Sheri in Ireland, but never here. We took Lauren and Michael's advice and went to a cafe in Harrod's for tea and scones. The room was very pretty, and the tea and scones were pretty good, although the whole experience paled in comparison to the Shelbourne in Dublin. Still memorable, though.
Other than that, Jillian and I got some food we had been eying for a while - we went to a bakery that opened recently near us (we've been here long enough to see the hamburger place that was there go out of business, empty out, be redecorated, and open up as a new bakery), got sandwiches, and had a picnic in Regent's Park. The sandwiches were really good, and the park was very pretty. Another fun outing in our last few days here. Throughout the week we also went to a Thai restaurant last night (more stir-fry than Thai though) which was decent, a Patisserie we had our eyes on (I got a very good fruit tart), a Dutch Pancake House for dinner, and a bakery called Candy Cakes (Jillian got an enormous muffin covered in icing). Much of this has been with Rosie, so it's been fun to get to spend some time with her before we had to start studying. It's definitely quieter in the flat now that it's just the three of us, and a bit surreal. Our time really is winding down.
So as you can see, we have covered a lot of ground in the last few days here in London - but we also took a day trip on the 18th to Scotland. Yes, everything has been as chaotic as it sounds, but we aren't likely to leave London with any regrets of not doing something! We woke up on Tuesday the 18th, again at 3:00 AM (I most certainly will not miss those types of travel days), and repeated our steps of a 20 minute walk and hour long bus to the airport (Luton this time, though, and not Standsted). We arrived in Edinburgh in the early morning, and took a bus into town. We had a loooong time before our departure (about 12 hours), so the day was very leisurely. The city is absolutely stunning, with pretty brown buildings surrounded by huge rocky mountains, upon one of which is an old castle overlooking the city. It definitely helped that we had a picturesque sunny day, as the buildings looked like they could be quite depressing during a snowy, grey winter. We spent the day sitting/lying in the sun in various locations: on top of Calton Hill overlooking the city (another monument up there to our man Admiral Nelson, whose history we explained to Rosie the other day - look how far we've come, Dad and Sheri!), up by the castle (which we didn't actually go in), in St. Andrew's Square (where we were entertained by the competition among sea gulls and pigeons for food), and lastly in the Prince Street Gardens, where we picnicked with our sandwiches we had packed. We also saw the Sir Walter Scott Monument, and toured the Scottish National Gallery. We purchased our last magnet, #17 in the collection, and eventually headed back to the airport. Our flight was delayed for 30 minutes, which Jillian found quite aggravating - I realized during the delay, though, that it was our first delay of any sort throughout the entire semester. Pretty impressive, and America could learn a few lessons. We didn't get back to Schafer until about 11 PM, and didn't have dinner until 12 - obviously, quite a long day. But I think we were both really glad to have gone. I really loved the city, even though it was on the smaller side and there weren't a ton of tourist attractions - the castle did look very interesting though, and I'm sure we could have spent an entire day there. For me it was the most beautiful city we've seen along with Prague, and it would have been a shame not to get there when we had been so close. So I'm very glad we went, and also thankful for your recommendation, Mom!
Well, I think I've finally caught you up. No more traveling for us, or sightseeing around London. We have one more activity planned for our last night after our final - we are going to Wembley Stadium to see a friendly between the English and Mexican national teams: a really cool way to wrap up the trip. It looked as if we weren't going to be able to make it to any soccer games, which would have been really disappointing. So I'm glad this one worked out, and I'm hoping most of the starters should be playing for each side since the World Cup is so soon.
Between keeping this blog and writing in journals when we traveled, I have been kept busy with logging our activities. Nightly journal entries during trips were particularly tedious and boring at times, but I persisted because I knew how thankful I'd be to have them in the future. Those, combined with the blog (written in part to keep everyone at home updated, but also very much for my own benefit in the future) will let me revisit my time spent here this semester. I've also been collecting various mementos from the entire semester, and Jillian and I have plans to make a scrapbook out of all of them. We also plan to make a photo album, and have the blogs converted into print form. Assuming we follow through with all of that, we will have plenty of happy reminders of our incredible semester abroad. Not to mention the large amount of money invested in magnets. But I think we've done a good job of documenting our time here, and have plenty of souvenirs.
Time to bring this entry to a close - one final one to come sometime next week, possibly upon my return to Philly. Maybe before I leave, we'll see. Thanks for reading, and I hope the blog helped everyone follow along with our adventures. Time to study, I suppose.
But first, for the final cultural difference, I figured I'd post some words the British say differently - but not the obvious ones, like "lift" or "bloody." The British version is first, followed by the American equivalent in parentheses.
Hob (Grill)
Uni, short for University (College)
College (High School)
Return Ticket (Round Trip Ticket)
Trainers (Sneakers)
Jumpers (Sweaters/Sweatshirts)
Pants (Underwear)
Aubergine (Eggplant)
Coriander (Cilantro)
Courgette (Zucchini)
Ginger (Red-head... used in the States, but MUCH more common here in a non-joking way)
Inverted Commas (Quotation Marks)
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Petrol (Gas)
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Winding down...
A bit of a break since my last entry, as I've been busy. I'm exhausted so this one might not be as lengthy (or philosophical) as the last one, but more on why I'm tired later.
When I left you last, we had just returned from our successful voyage through Western Europe. When we got back, as I mentioned our Art History paper was moved back to the 11th because of the volcano situation. I intended to have it done before our trip to Paris, however, so I could study for my exam also taking place on the 11th. Well... it was tough to get back into work mode. While Jillian studied I did very little other than sleep, catch up on the world (mainly sports), and waste time in various ways. Eventually I got going a bit, but I only finished about half of it before our voyage to France.
Other highlights in our ten days in London between trips were a fun night each with George and Rosie and Lauren and Michael (capped off with a bus driver refusing to let us off of the bus for a few stops... interesting story). Lauren had also set up a tour of Parliament for her, Mike (changing it up from Michael, just for you), and her parents - apparently the tours are available to anyone, but in order to get one you have to contact your local Parliament representative... very strange. Anyway, she had a four person tour set up, and her parents ended up not being able to make it to London, so she generously invited Jillian and me instead. We were a bit late because Jillian was making her third appearance at a London eye doctor (a new one this time, who seems to better know what he is doing), but we arrived without really having missed much. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical of the tour beforehand, but it ended up being pretty incredible. It wasn't terribly long (about 45 minutes, which was perfect in my mind), but they literally took us everywhere: the Queen's dressing room, the Commons Chamber, the Lords Chamber, Westminster Hall, etc. Sheri, you would have loved it. Definitely a memorable experience, so thanks for the invitation, Lauren!
So back to the paper. As has now happened three times this semester (my initial departure from Philly, leaving for the spring break trip, and now Paris), I left for an airport/train station on 0 hours of sleep. At least this time it was a train instead of a flight. It was very convenient just walking to the train station and hopping a train (while also having very little luggage). The train was easy enough, and we arrived in Paris on Tuesday the 4th.
This was my third time in Paris, but there has been a significant amount of time between each visit: the first was in 1997 with Mom and Dad, the second was in 2003 with Ben and Mom, and now here in 2010. Some of it looked familiar (the endless little salesmen selling stuff out of dumpster-looking things along the Seine) and some things I know I've been to didn't (Musee D'Orsay). We had most of Tuesday, all of Wednesday and Thursday, and a bit of Friday in the city. So a good length of time.
After we arrived, we checked into our very nice Marriott hotel (special online deal, of course) and both napped briefly since we were exhausted. We woke up and headed out to meet up with friends (the first of many rendezvouses with friends/family... yes, I figured I'd throw in one of the few token French words I know). We met up with my friend Ibby from Country Day and Jillian's camp friend Ashley at the Arc de Triomphe. We checked it out and strolled down Champs de Elysee all the way to the Louvre. We attempted to go to a couple museums (closed) and ended up just wandering along the river and sampling some delicious French pastry (Jillian was a big fan of the macaroons and later got some mini ones to bring back to London). We parted ways with Ibby and Ashley and grabbed dinner at a cafe. We ordered cheese fondue as an appetizer, but it wasn't fondue as we expected; instead, the waiter brought us a salad with a big slice of warm cheese on it with a side of bread. It was absolutely incredible. After dinner, we went up the Eiffel Tower for a great view of the city. We did a quick lap around the outdoor part, but it was very cold and so windy it was hard to walk. So we mostly stuck to the indoor section. After descending, we watched it sparkle on the hour, which was very cool. Much prettier all lit up at night, I think.
On Wednesday we took a nice walk along a typical French street up from our hotel to Notre Dame. We also passed it later, and I think it, like the Eiffel Tower, was much prettier at night. A nice church, but we both agreed we had seen others throughout the semester that impressed us more. Next up was another church, Sainte Chapelle, which was small, but very pretty with huge stained glass windows. Unfortunately the altar was being renovated, but it was still impressive. We visited the Louvre next, and saw all of the noteworthy pieces, including the Mona Lisa. I liked the glass pyramid, too. After that we met up with Ibby again, along with Lee, my other friend studying in Paris from high school. We had dinner at a nice French restaurant (although all of us ordered bacon cheeseburgers... but Jillian and I did have some delicious French onion soup), and caught up.
I'm running out of steam so these daily recaps are getting shorter. Thursday was a long day: we started with the Musee D'Orsay, which was nice, but we're a bit museum-ed out at this point. The building itself was very cool. After that was the Rodin Museum with Ibby (with the Thinker), followed by the Army Museum and Napoleon's Tomb. Kind of strange that he's not buried underground, and also a bit amusing that he's inside 5 coffins within an enormous sarcophagus, yet was such an itty-bitty little man. The building looked like a palace, with a huge gold dome. It was nice getting into most of the museums for free as EU students (although at first we were going to have to pay for the Musee D'Orsay, but decided to return the next day with our passports to show proof of our visas). After the army museum we met up with my cousin Deborah - I don't know what number cousin she qualifies as, but I believe 2nd? She's Dad's first cousin. Anyway, we met up briefly after a bit of a miscommunication (she was waiting for us outside of our meeting spot, while we were inside), and had a nice time sitting outside at a table (it was a bit warmer on Thursday, but still a bit chilly. Disappointing considering that we had waited until May to ensure the weather would be warm). After she left, we met Ibby again for dinner at an American style diner appropriately named Breakfast in America. Very good, and nice to have a milkshake for the first time in a while. It did feel like the States in there, with American food and American waiters - we got a bit nostalgic for home. We'll be back soon enough, though. After dinner we walked around town a bit and met up with some of Ibby's friends from her program at a gelato place, before heading back and calling it a night.
Friday Jillian and I walked around some more, picked up some souvenirs, and enjoyed our last few hours in the city. In the afternoon, we hopped on the train and, voila, 2.5 hours later were back in our flat. By the way, I forgot that people in France say voila in casual conversation. The first time I heard it I half-expected a paper bouquet flowers to appear out of the woman's sleeve. Overall, we both really enjoyed the city. It has good sights, is pretty, and has great food. The French were friendlier than I remembered (no incidents of empty restaurants telling us they were full when they heard our American accents), but the language barrier was definitely tougher there than anywhere else we'd been. It helped having Ibby around a lot though, since she speaks French pretty well. We tried plenty of traditional French foods: French onion soup, baguette with cheese, paninis, crepes, creme brulee, croissants, etc. Didn't get around to a quiche, though. It ranks up there with Rome and Prague for me, as my favorite cities of the semester. Jillian said it might have been her #1, but perhaps she discussed that in her blog, which I have yet to read.
Once we got to London on Friday, I spent the night finishing up my paper. Then, starting on Saturday, it was my turn to be holed up in my room for three days studying for an exam. It was developmental psychology, and I took it today. Very glad to be done - I didn't enjoy the material particularly, but the class counts toward both of my majors which is nice. As a post-exam celebration today, Jillian and I had a gourmet dining experience at the brand new Chipotle in London, the first international branch to have opened. It was a bit different - the rice was different, and some of the ingredients such as the fajita peppers and onions looked different but tasted the same. And of course, the portions were smaller. But, it was close enough. Yum. I still plan to have it in Philly for lunch the day after my return (a true Chipotle meal, if you will).
We leave to return home two weeks from today. On the one hand it seems like it flew by, but on the other looking back on the day of our arrival seems like ancient history. That seems to be a common theme these days, about college as a whole with senior year coming up. But, more nostalgia and philosophizing about that to come. For now, I'm exhausted from late nights of studying and early wake up today to finish, and we have a day trip tomorrow with Rosie and George to Bath. And then Thursday is a recently planned and booked trip to a beach town in Croatia because RyanAir had a sale and flights were £16 round trip (although the weather report says it will rain both days we're there... figures). We decided it'd been nice to go somewhere warm and just relax, rather than constantly sightsee as we've done. We were ambivalent about going, thinking it might be too much traveling here at the end, but we said: "hey, we're here. let's do it." So we are. After that, we still are going to Edinburgh, but we are flying up very early and then flying back at night - so just a quick trip, but another trip nonetheless. We're getting our money's worth here at the end! It was nice to be able to relax tonight a bit (although I can't really complain about work...), and Jillian and I watched some Arrested Development. We finished the Wire, which we were both sad to see end because it was so good. Perhaps we'll move onto the Sopranos this summer.
Anyway, other good news: Jillian and I received word that we were officially offered internships at a law firm in Cincinnati for the summer. So that's very good news - and Sheri, thanks for all of the help with that! So that about wraps this entry up... time for bed.
This week's last cultural difference:
Spanish people seem to struggle with the concepts of lines and personal space. Pretty much without fail, when we are traveling and someone tries to edge forward ahead of the line or we get jostled from behind, they proceed to speak Spanish. On the Eiffel Tower elevator someone literally pushed their way onto elevator so forcefully that I was lifted off of my feet. Ten cuidado, chico.
When I left you last, we had just returned from our successful voyage through Western Europe. When we got back, as I mentioned our Art History paper was moved back to the 11th because of the volcano situation. I intended to have it done before our trip to Paris, however, so I could study for my exam also taking place on the 11th. Well... it was tough to get back into work mode. While Jillian studied I did very little other than sleep, catch up on the world (mainly sports), and waste time in various ways. Eventually I got going a bit, but I only finished about half of it before our voyage to France.
Other highlights in our ten days in London between trips were a fun night each with George and Rosie and Lauren and Michael (capped off with a bus driver refusing to let us off of the bus for a few stops... interesting story). Lauren had also set up a tour of Parliament for her, Mike (changing it up from Michael, just for you), and her parents - apparently the tours are available to anyone, but in order to get one you have to contact your local Parliament representative... very strange. Anyway, she had a four person tour set up, and her parents ended up not being able to make it to London, so she generously invited Jillian and me instead. We were a bit late because Jillian was making her third appearance at a London eye doctor (a new one this time, who seems to better know what he is doing), but we arrived without really having missed much. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical of the tour beforehand, but it ended up being pretty incredible. It wasn't terribly long (about 45 minutes, which was perfect in my mind), but they literally took us everywhere: the Queen's dressing room, the Commons Chamber, the Lords Chamber, Westminster Hall, etc. Sheri, you would have loved it. Definitely a memorable experience, so thanks for the invitation, Lauren!
So back to the paper. As has now happened three times this semester (my initial departure from Philly, leaving for the spring break trip, and now Paris), I left for an airport/train station on 0 hours of sleep. At least this time it was a train instead of a flight. It was very convenient just walking to the train station and hopping a train (while also having very little luggage). The train was easy enough, and we arrived in Paris on Tuesday the 4th.
This was my third time in Paris, but there has been a significant amount of time between each visit: the first was in 1997 with Mom and Dad, the second was in 2003 with Ben and Mom, and now here in 2010. Some of it looked familiar (the endless little salesmen selling stuff out of dumpster-looking things along the Seine) and some things I know I've been to didn't (Musee D'Orsay). We had most of Tuesday, all of Wednesday and Thursday, and a bit of Friday in the city. So a good length of time.
After we arrived, we checked into our very nice Marriott hotel (special online deal, of course) and both napped briefly since we were exhausted. We woke up and headed out to meet up with friends (the first of many rendezvouses with friends/family... yes, I figured I'd throw in one of the few token French words I know). We met up with my friend Ibby from Country Day and Jillian's camp friend Ashley at the Arc de Triomphe. We checked it out and strolled down Champs de Elysee all the way to the Louvre. We attempted to go to a couple museums (closed) and ended up just wandering along the river and sampling some delicious French pastry (Jillian was a big fan of the macaroons and later got some mini ones to bring back to London). We parted ways with Ibby and Ashley and grabbed dinner at a cafe. We ordered cheese fondue as an appetizer, but it wasn't fondue as we expected; instead, the waiter brought us a salad with a big slice of warm cheese on it with a side of bread. It was absolutely incredible. After dinner, we went up the Eiffel Tower for a great view of the city. We did a quick lap around the outdoor part, but it was very cold and so windy it was hard to walk. So we mostly stuck to the indoor section. After descending, we watched it sparkle on the hour, which was very cool. Much prettier all lit up at night, I think.
On Wednesday we took a nice walk along a typical French street up from our hotel to Notre Dame. We also passed it later, and I think it, like the Eiffel Tower, was much prettier at night. A nice church, but we both agreed we had seen others throughout the semester that impressed us more. Next up was another church, Sainte Chapelle, which was small, but very pretty with huge stained glass windows. Unfortunately the altar was being renovated, but it was still impressive. We visited the Louvre next, and saw all of the noteworthy pieces, including the Mona Lisa. I liked the glass pyramid, too. After that we met up with Ibby again, along with Lee, my other friend studying in Paris from high school. We had dinner at a nice French restaurant (although all of us ordered bacon cheeseburgers... but Jillian and I did have some delicious French onion soup), and caught up.
I'm running out of steam so these daily recaps are getting shorter. Thursday was a long day: we started with the Musee D'Orsay, which was nice, but we're a bit museum-ed out at this point. The building itself was very cool. After that was the Rodin Museum with Ibby (with the Thinker), followed by the Army Museum and Napoleon's Tomb. Kind of strange that he's not buried underground, and also a bit amusing that he's inside 5 coffins within an enormous sarcophagus, yet was such an itty-bitty little man. The building looked like a palace, with a huge gold dome. It was nice getting into most of the museums for free as EU students (although at first we were going to have to pay for the Musee D'Orsay, but decided to return the next day with our passports to show proof of our visas). After the army museum we met up with my cousin Deborah - I don't know what number cousin she qualifies as, but I believe 2nd? She's Dad's first cousin. Anyway, we met up briefly after a bit of a miscommunication (she was waiting for us outside of our meeting spot, while we were inside), and had a nice time sitting outside at a table (it was a bit warmer on Thursday, but still a bit chilly. Disappointing considering that we had waited until May to ensure the weather would be warm). After she left, we met Ibby again for dinner at an American style diner appropriately named Breakfast in America. Very good, and nice to have a milkshake for the first time in a while. It did feel like the States in there, with American food and American waiters - we got a bit nostalgic for home. We'll be back soon enough, though. After dinner we walked around town a bit and met up with some of Ibby's friends from her program at a gelato place, before heading back and calling it a night.
Friday Jillian and I walked around some more, picked up some souvenirs, and enjoyed our last few hours in the city. In the afternoon, we hopped on the train and, voila, 2.5 hours later were back in our flat. By the way, I forgot that people in France say voila in casual conversation. The first time I heard it I half-expected a paper bouquet flowers to appear out of the woman's sleeve. Overall, we both really enjoyed the city. It has good sights, is pretty, and has great food. The French were friendlier than I remembered (no incidents of empty restaurants telling us they were full when they heard our American accents), but the language barrier was definitely tougher there than anywhere else we'd been. It helped having Ibby around a lot though, since she speaks French pretty well. We tried plenty of traditional French foods: French onion soup, baguette with cheese, paninis, crepes, creme brulee, croissants, etc. Didn't get around to a quiche, though. It ranks up there with Rome and Prague for me, as my favorite cities of the semester. Jillian said it might have been her #1, but perhaps she discussed that in her blog, which I have yet to read.
Once we got to London on Friday, I spent the night finishing up my paper. Then, starting on Saturday, it was my turn to be holed up in my room for three days studying for an exam. It was developmental psychology, and I took it today. Very glad to be done - I didn't enjoy the material particularly, but the class counts toward both of my majors which is nice. As a post-exam celebration today, Jillian and I had a gourmet dining experience at the brand new Chipotle in London, the first international branch to have opened. It was a bit different - the rice was different, and some of the ingredients such as the fajita peppers and onions looked different but tasted the same. And of course, the portions were smaller. But, it was close enough. Yum. I still plan to have it in Philly for lunch the day after my return (a true Chipotle meal, if you will).
We leave to return home two weeks from today. On the one hand it seems like it flew by, but on the other looking back on the day of our arrival seems like ancient history. That seems to be a common theme these days, about college as a whole with senior year coming up. But, more nostalgia and philosophizing about that to come. For now, I'm exhausted from late nights of studying and early wake up today to finish, and we have a day trip tomorrow with Rosie and George to Bath. And then Thursday is a recently planned and booked trip to a beach town in Croatia because RyanAir had a sale and flights were £16 round trip (although the weather report says it will rain both days we're there... figures). We decided it'd been nice to go somewhere warm and just relax, rather than constantly sightsee as we've done. We were ambivalent about going, thinking it might be too much traveling here at the end, but we said: "hey, we're here. let's do it." So we are. After that, we still are going to Edinburgh, but we are flying up very early and then flying back at night - so just a quick trip, but another trip nonetheless. We're getting our money's worth here at the end! It was nice to be able to relax tonight a bit (although I can't really complain about work...), and Jillian and I watched some Arrested Development. We finished the Wire, which we were both sad to see end because it was so good. Perhaps we'll move onto the Sopranos this summer.
Anyway, other good news: Jillian and I received word that we were officially offered internships at a law firm in Cincinnati for the summer. So that's very good news - and Sheri, thanks for all of the help with that! So that about wraps this entry up... time for bed.
This week's last cultural difference:
Spanish people seem to struggle with the concepts of lines and personal space. Pretty much without fail, when we are traveling and someone tries to edge forward ahead of the line or we get jostled from behind, they proceed to speak Spanish. On the Eiffel Tower elevator someone literally pushed their way onto elevator so forcefully that I was lifted off of my feet. Ten cuidado, chico.
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
A Success Story
Well, well, well. The return to the blogosphere. Last time I left you I was just a young, uninformed college kid studying in London. Now, I am a wise sage, having traveled the world for 3 weeks. OK, 3 countries. But still, all kidding aside, traveling through Europe on my own (or at least with only people my age) has put some things into perspective for me, and also helped me grow as a person - I truly believe that. But before I get deep and philosophical on you, let me just bring you up to speed (to a certain extent).
As the title of this entry indicates, the one word I would use to describe the trip would be successful. It was a success in every way it could have been: 1. We avoided any travel mishaps or problems with reservations of any kind; 2. We budgeted the right amount of time in each city; 3. We had a good mix of seeing friends in certain cities and having some time just the two of us; 4. We stayed within our planned budget for spending; 5. We avoided losing anything or having anything stolen from us; 6. The order of the cities we traveled to was perfect - Athens was a great final location where we got to relax for a day on the beach and stay in a really nice hotel; 7. Taking trains throughout Spain and Italy using Mom and Dad's generous contribution of a Eurail pass was infinitely more relaxing and manageable than flying would have been; 8. Perhaps most important is the simple fact that Jillian and I were able to share a 3 week journey that we will no doubt both remember for the rest of our lives.
So generally, the trip was great. Great food, great weather for almost all of it, great sights. All adds up to a great experience. So now I'll delve into a little more detail about each stop. But not too much detail, don't worry.
We started off in Madrid. I have to admit going into the trip I was least excited for Spain of all three countries. Having been to Italy, which I loved, and having Greece as the #1 place I wanted to visit that I had never been to, Spain was kind of lost in the shuffle. So my expectations weren't too high going in. But Madrid ended up being one of my favorite cities of the trip (I'll rank the cities at the end... an exciting moment, I know). We didn't have a ton of time there, but the city was great. It was definitely the prettiest city we saw other than Venice, and that beauty was complemented by interesting and unique sights: the Royal Palace, the Prado Art Museum (I emailed Mr. Black to tell him I saw The Garden of Earthly Delights), Retiro Park, etc. Just lots of nice, picturesque little streets with outdoor cafes and shops. It also helped to have a tour guide from afar in Jared, who studied abroad there two years ago - thanks again for all of the recommendations. Other highlights from the city included: dinner at Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world (my steak was still mooing a bit, but nonetheless a good and memorable meal), churros with chocolate at a famous place, and of course, getting to use my Spanish (came back to me pretty quickly, and was fun to use). Overall just a fun and pretty city, and a great way to kick off the trip.
Next up was Barcelona. As I mentioned, before the trip began I didn't have high expectations for Spain. But Madrid changed that, so I was really excited to get to Barcelona - a lot of people study abroad there and rave about how great a city it is. That said, I must admit it did not impress me. It was my least favorite of the cities, and although still enjoyable and fun (especially with friends like Lauren and Michael there), I found it disappointing. My qualms were threefold. First, I found it to be relatively ugly on the whole. Areas of Las Ramblas (the main street/market area through town) were pretty, and the neighborhood around the north part of it were nice, but on the whole it paled in comparison to Madrid. Secondly, we definitely felt the most unsafe in Barcelona. Although this was undoubtedly due in part to the fact that we had heard many stories of muggings and pickpockets, our hostel was definitely not in a great part of town and the city as a whole felt a bit unsafe at night. And lastly, there just wasn't much to do there. There was Gaudi, Gaudi, and more Gaudi, but not many other sights. Although his stuff is cool, I got a bit tired of it after a while and found it to be a bit repetitive. Don't get me wrong, we definitely enjoyed our time in Barcelona, which speaks to the success of the overall trip, but I just was unimpressed with it as a whole in comparison to our other stops. The food we had was better than in Madrid, but that might have just been the result of better restaurant choices. Either way, we had several really good meals. Patatas bravas were a favorite of both of ours. A good time all in all, but I'm glad we did Italy afterwards, so as to avoid a letdown of sorts.
Onto Venice. It lived up to the hype in terms of beauty - especially at night, the canals and little streets were really pretty. The lack of cars is also nice. We only spent about 1.5 days there, but that was perfect - because once we had walked through the city a bit, there isn't much to do there. There's the church in St. Mark's Square, which is impressive, but outside of the Square there's not much. One of the best parts of Venice is just walking through the streets, and our Rick Steves' Guidebook encouraged us to get lost in order to take in some of the less touristy parts of the city. And we certainly did get lost. The city is impossible to navigate, and I barely even bothered to look at the map (I was the designated navigator on the trip, and was successful for the most part - I like using maps to help get a better grasp of the layout and feel of a city), so at one point we found ourselves in a silent residential area far away from the touristy bustle. But, with the aid of technology, I whipped out my BlackBerry and pinpointed our location. It's amazing to think how different our semester would be without those phones. So the city was beautiful, but VERY expensive, and the food was mediocre. I'm glad we went, but I don't think I'd return, at least not anytime soon.
At this point we were halfway through our six destinations, but only one-third of the way through our 20 days. Big chunks of time loomed in Florence, Rome, and Athens. It was interesting returning to Florence 8 years later, and how different it seemed at this age. It definitely made me realized how young I was and how much has changed for me in 8 years. Florence was great - much more of a town than a city. We spent 2 full days there and parts of 2 more. The food was incredible, although pricey, and the sights were memorable. The David was as impressive as I remembered it, and we also did the Uffizi and Bargello Museums. The Duomo was bigger than I remembered, as it truly is massive, especially in comparison to the other buildings in the city. The view from the top is also spectacular, and I was glad to have made the climb this time (Ben did it by himself last time and woke up very early to avoid the long summer line, while Mom and I slept). Spring was definitely a good time to take this trip, as it was warm outside but not hot, and the lines weren't out of control. Jillian's friend Jamie is studying there, so she showed us around a bit, which was nice. A nice city, and very different from Venice.
We then made our way to our last stop in Italy - Rome, for three and a half days. I'm going to ruin the suspense a bit with the rankings, and just admit that Rome was my favorite city of the trip. I had been during my previous trip to Italy with Mom and Ben, but only for a day (yesterday Ben and I rehashed what we did that day, and it was an impressive list of sights for a one day outing). I loved it because I felt it brought everything to the table - good food (better than Venice's), the best historical sights of the trip (the Colosseum is simply awesome, both in the modern use of the word and the traditional... it truly is awe-inspiring), and pretty enough (not tremendously beautiful, but I found it to be prettier than Florence, with much more green space). History is simply everywhere in the city, and the sights are incredible: the Colosseum, St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain. Endless. We had some great meals there, and it was MUCH cheaper than either Venice or Florence, which was nice. The only negative from our stay in Rome was the bed and breakfast we booked - highlighted by the 20-something resident who sat in the kitchen right outside our room smoking cigarettes (which stunk up our room), the unappealing bathrooms we shared with the family, and the cellphone ringtone which we heard incessantly at night while it was locked in a cabinet. It could have been much worse, but it was not a comfortable stay. Between this stay and the one last summer on the Cape the night before the ferry to the Vineyard, I have written off bed and breakfasts. No good. And by the way, the "breakfast" part in Rome? Packaged Italian Twinkies essentially. But the city itself was great, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.
After an epic 36 hour travel "day," highlighted by an overnight ferry, we arrived at our last stop, Athens. We had heard it wasn't a pretty city, and that was true. But we still really enjoyed it. The history there was impressive too, highlighted by the Acropolis and Parthenon (although it took us three tries to actually get up to it - closed one day for a city-workers' strike, and closed at 3 PM the next day because we were unaware the "winter" hours were still in effect). Like I mentioned before, it was a great last stop because it was relaxing. Three weeks is a long time to travel, and we were both a bit tired of sight-seeing. So taking that first day to just go to the beach and relax was a good way to rejuvenate ourselves for the last two days of sightseeing. Our views of the city were also unquestionably helped by the fact that we stayed in a 5-star hotel, courtesy of a special online deal. A great place to get to after the overnight ferry and 4 nights in the bed and breakfast. But the city was nice, with a cool area of shops and cafes, good food, and friendly people. We both agreed we liked the city, and want to return to Greece - but to the islands, instead of the city. But I'm definitely glad we went to Athens this time around.
Now, just a few overall observations before I return to my first point about traveling around by ourselves. The language barrier was not a problem at all - much less so than I remembered from my previous trip to Italy. Almost everyone spoke enough English to communicate, which was really interesting (and sad in some ways). Our detailed research also paid off in terms of lodging, as every place we stayed at was clean and nice (even the room itself at the Rome B & B was nice), for good prices. And upon our return to London, it really did feel like home. Strange. Jillian and I both agreed that we are actually happy we have that late-May exam now, to give us a bit more time to enjoy London.
Which brings me back to the point about putting things into perspective. This trip, and semester as whole, has done that in multiple ways. Firstly, I am old. Jared warned us about this too, that coming back from studying abroad really made him feel old, and he's right. When I come back from this semester I already am down to my last year of college. It's gone by ridiculously fast, but at the same time freshman year seems like a long time ago when I think about it. Funny how that works. While feeling old, I also think like this trip has made me more mature. I like to think of myself as someone who was somewhat mature to begin with, or at the very least not immature (with the possible exception of a childish level of devotion to two professional sports teams), but this trip has brought that maturity to a new level. I have navigated my way through nine foreign countries to this point, and have lived on my own in one for 4 months. Although I am obviously not truly independent from a financial standpoint, life seems a lot less scary now. You know, when I actually have to become a real person in the next few years. The trip has also allowed me to completely immerse myself in different cultures, makings me better able to understand them, which I'm sure will be valuable throughout the rest of my life. And finally, after spending 5 semesters of college apart, spending this semester with Jillian has been incredible. I won't get too sappy on all of you, but we've been really fortunate to be able to do this together. So thanks to everyone who has helped make it happen.
And as I promised, here are my rankings:
1. Rome - for reasons already described
2. Madrid - Good sights, very pretty
3. Athens - Unique city, with good food and cool sights
4. Florence - Fun city, but not very pretty
5. Venice - Beautiful, but not much else - also expensive and disappointing food
6. Barcelona - Just doesn't stack up with the other five.
The top two were clear-cut for me, as Rome and Madrid stood out among the rest. But Athens, Florence, and Venice were all on a similar level, perhaps with Venice a shade beneath the other two. And then Barcelona was clearly last in my mind. I know others who have been to the same cities disagree with me, but there you have it. My rankings.
Other than that, since our return Jillian has been preparing for an exam she has on Thursday, and I've been catching up on the Braves and various other insignificant things. I'll probably get going on a paper tomorrow; it was supposed to be due the 30th, but because of the volcano business (another reason our trip was a success was missing all of those shenanigans) it was moved back to the 11th. But with a trip to Paris coming up for a few days, and an exam also on the 11th, I need to get the paper out of the way. This entry was pretty lengthy, but there obviously was a lot about the trip I didn't mention. So if you're curious about anything else, just shoot me an email. Hard to believe the trip's over... we first started brainstorming for it about a year ago. It was a memorable one, that's for sure.
Well, here's your cultural difference for the week:
The British like to say "nice" for a lot of things: "Oh that ice cream was nice" or "I don't think hot sauce on my pancakes would be very nice" or "That outfit isn't very nice." Or "Putting Drew Brees on the cover of Madden '11 which Zach intends to buy wasn't very nice."
As the title of this entry indicates, the one word I would use to describe the trip would be successful. It was a success in every way it could have been: 1. We avoided any travel mishaps or problems with reservations of any kind; 2. We budgeted the right amount of time in each city; 3. We had a good mix of seeing friends in certain cities and having some time just the two of us; 4. We stayed within our planned budget for spending; 5. We avoided losing anything or having anything stolen from us; 6. The order of the cities we traveled to was perfect - Athens was a great final location where we got to relax for a day on the beach and stay in a really nice hotel; 7. Taking trains throughout Spain and Italy using Mom and Dad's generous contribution of a Eurail pass was infinitely more relaxing and manageable than flying would have been; 8. Perhaps most important is the simple fact that Jillian and I were able to share a 3 week journey that we will no doubt both remember for the rest of our lives.
So generally, the trip was great. Great food, great weather for almost all of it, great sights. All adds up to a great experience. So now I'll delve into a little more detail about each stop. But not too much detail, don't worry.
We started off in Madrid. I have to admit going into the trip I was least excited for Spain of all three countries. Having been to Italy, which I loved, and having Greece as the #1 place I wanted to visit that I had never been to, Spain was kind of lost in the shuffle. So my expectations weren't too high going in. But Madrid ended up being one of my favorite cities of the trip (I'll rank the cities at the end... an exciting moment, I know). We didn't have a ton of time there, but the city was great. It was definitely the prettiest city we saw other than Venice, and that beauty was complemented by interesting and unique sights: the Royal Palace, the Prado Art Museum (I emailed Mr. Black to tell him I saw The Garden of Earthly Delights), Retiro Park, etc. Just lots of nice, picturesque little streets with outdoor cafes and shops. It also helped to have a tour guide from afar in Jared, who studied abroad there two years ago - thanks again for all of the recommendations. Other highlights from the city included: dinner at Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world (my steak was still mooing a bit, but nonetheless a good and memorable meal), churros with chocolate at a famous place, and of course, getting to use my Spanish (came back to me pretty quickly, and was fun to use). Overall just a fun and pretty city, and a great way to kick off the trip.
Next up was Barcelona. As I mentioned, before the trip began I didn't have high expectations for Spain. But Madrid changed that, so I was really excited to get to Barcelona - a lot of people study abroad there and rave about how great a city it is. That said, I must admit it did not impress me. It was my least favorite of the cities, and although still enjoyable and fun (especially with friends like Lauren and Michael there), I found it disappointing. My qualms were threefold. First, I found it to be relatively ugly on the whole. Areas of Las Ramblas (the main street/market area through town) were pretty, and the neighborhood around the north part of it were nice, but on the whole it paled in comparison to Madrid. Secondly, we definitely felt the most unsafe in Barcelona. Although this was undoubtedly due in part to the fact that we had heard many stories of muggings and pickpockets, our hostel was definitely not in a great part of town and the city as a whole felt a bit unsafe at night. And lastly, there just wasn't much to do there. There was Gaudi, Gaudi, and more Gaudi, but not many other sights. Although his stuff is cool, I got a bit tired of it after a while and found it to be a bit repetitive. Don't get me wrong, we definitely enjoyed our time in Barcelona, which speaks to the success of the overall trip, but I just was unimpressed with it as a whole in comparison to our other stops. The food we had was better than in Madrid, but that might have just been the result of better restaurant choices. Either way, we had several really good meals. Patatas bravas were a favorite of both of ours. A good time all in all, but I'm glad we did Italy afterwards, so as to avoid a letdown of sorts.
Onto Venice. It lived up to the hype in terms of beauty - especially at night, the canals and little streets were really pretty. The lack of cars is also nice. We only spent about 1.5 days there, but that was perfect - because once we had walked through the city a bit, there isn't much to do there. There's the church in St. Mark's Square, which is impressive, but outside of the Square there's not much. One of the best parts of Venice is just walking through the streets, and our Rick Steves' Guidebook encouraged us to get lost in order to take in some of the less touristy parts of the city. And we certainly did get lost. The city is impossible to navigate, and I barely even bothered to look at the map (I was the designated navigator on the trip, and was successful for the most part - I like using maps to help get a better grasp of the layout and feel of a city), so at one point we found ourselves in a silent residential area far away from the touristy bustle. But, with the aid of technology, I whipped out my BlackBerry and pinpointed our location. It's amazing to think how different our semester would be without those phones. So the city was beautiful, but VERY expensive, and the food was mediocre. I'm glad we went, but I don't think I'd return, at least not anytime soon.
At this point we were halfway through our six destinations, but only one-third of the way through our 20 days. Big chunks of time loomed in Florence, Rome, and Athens. It was interesting returning to Florence 8 years later, and how different it seemed at this age. It definitely made me realized how young I was and how much has changed for me in 8 years. Florence was great - much more of a town than a city. We spent 2 full days there and parts of 2 more. The food was incredible, although pricey, and the sights were memorable. The David was as impressive as I remembered it, and we also did the Uffizi and Bargello Museums. The Duomo was bigger than I remembered, as it truly is massive, especially in comparison to the other buildings in the city. The view from the top is also spectacular, and I was glad to have made the climb this time (Ben did it by himself last time and woke up very early to avoid the long summer line, while Mom and I slept). Spring was definitely a good time to take this trip, as it was warm outside but not hot, and the lines weren't out of control. Jillian's friend Jamie is studying there, so she showed us around a bit, which was nice. A nice city, and very different from Venice.
We then made our way to our last stop in Italy - Rome, for three and a half days. I'm going to ruin the suspense a bit with the rankings, and just admit that Rome was my favorite city of the trip. I had been during my previous trip to Italy with Mom and Ben, but only for a day (yesterday Ben and I rehashed what we did that day, and it was an impressive list of sights for a one day outing). I loved it because I felt it brought everything to the table - good food (better than Venice's), the best historical sights of the trip (the Colosseum is simply awesome, both in the modern use of the word and the traditional... it truly is awe-inspiring), and pretty enough (not tremendously beautiful, but I found it to be prettier than Florence, with much more green space). History is simply everywhere in the city, and the sights are incredible: the Colosseum, St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain. Endless. We had some great meals there, and it was MUCH cheaper than either Venice or Florence, which was nice. The only negative from our stay in Rome was the bed and breakfast we booked - highlighted by the 20-something resident who sat in the kitchen right outside our room smoking cigarettes (which stunk up our room), the unappealing bathrooms we shared with the family, and the cellphone ringtone which we heard incessantly at night while it was locked in a cabinet. It could have been much worse, but it was not a comfortable stay. Between this stay and the one last summer on the Cape the night before the ferry to the Vineyard, I have written off bed and breakfasts. No good. And by the way, the "breakfast" part in Rome? Packaged Italian Twinkies essentially. But the city itself was great, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.
After an epic 36 hour travel "day," highlighted by an overnight ferry, we arrived at our last stop, Athens. We had heard it wasn't a pretty city, and that was true. But we still really enjoyed it. The history there was impressive too, highlighted by the Acropolis and Parthenon (although it took us three tries to actually get up to it - closed one day for a city-workers' strike, and closed at 3 PM the next day because we were unaware the "winter" hours were still in effect). Like I mentioned before, it was a great last stop because it was relaxing. Three weeks is a long time to travel, and we were both a bit tired of sight-seeing. So taking that first day to just go to the beach and relax was a good way to rejuvenate ourselves for the last two days of sightseeing. Our views of the city were also unquestionably helped by the fact that we stayed in a 5-star hotel, courtesy of a special online deal. A great place to get to after the overnight ferry and 4 nights in the bed and breakfast. But the city was nice, with a cool area of shops and cafes, good food, and friendly people. We both agreed we liked the city, and want to return to Greece - but to the islands, instead of the city. But I'm definitely glad we went to Athens this time around.
Now, just a few overall observations before I return to my first point about traveling around by ourselves. The language barrier was not a problem at all - much less so than I remembered from my previous trip to Italy. Almost everyone spoke enough English to communicate, which was really interesting (and sad in some ways). Our detailed research also paid off in terms of lodging, as every place we stayed at was clean and nice (even the room itself at the Rome B & B was nice), for good prices. And upon our return to London, it really did feel like home. Strange. Jillian and I both agreed that we are actually happy we have that late-May exam now, to give us a bit more time to enjoy London.
Which brings me back to the point about putting things into perspective. This trip, and semester as whole, has done that in multiple ways. Firstly, I am old. Jared warned us about this too, that coming back from studying abroad really made him feel old, and he's right. When I come back from this semester I already am down to my last year of college. It's gone by ridiculously fast, but at the same time freshman year seems like a long time ago when I think about it. Funny how that works. While feeling old, I also think like this trip has made me more mature. I like to think of myself as someone who was somewhat mature to begin with, or at the very least not immature (with the possible exception of a childish level of devotion to two professional sports teams), but this trip has brought that maturity to a new level. I have navigated my way through nine foreign countries to this point, and have lived on my own in one for 4 months. Although I am obviously not truly independent from a financial standpoint, life seems a lot less scary now. You know, when I actually have to become a real person in the next few years. The trip has also allowed me to completely immerse myself in different cultures, makings me better able to understand them, which I'm sure will be valuable throughout the rest of my life. And finally, after spending 5 semesters of college apart, spending this semester with Jillian has been incredible. I won't get too sappy on all of you, but we've been really fortunate to be able to do this together. So thanks to everyone who has helped make it happen.
And as I promised, here are my rankings:
1. Rome - for reasons already described
2. Madrid - Good sights, very pretty
3. Athens - Unique city, with good food and cool sights
4. Florence - Fun city, but not very pretty
5. Venice - Beautiful, but not much else - also expensive and disappointing food
6. Barcelona - Just doesn't stack up with the other five.
The top two were clear-cut for me, as Rome and Madrid stood out among the rest. But Athens, Florence, and Venice were all on a similar level, perhaps with Venice a shade beneath the other two. And then Barcelona was clearly last in my mind. I know others who have been to the same cities disagree with me, but there you have it. My rankings.
Other than that, since our return Jillian has been preparing for an exam she has on Thursday, and I've been catching up on the Braves and various other insignificant things. I'll probably get going on a paper tomorrow; it was supposed to be due the 30th, but because of the volcano business (another reason our trip was a success was missing all of those shenanigans) it was moved back to the 11th. But with a trip to Paris coming up for a few days, and an exam also on the 11th, I need to get the paper out of the way. This entry was pretty lengthy, but there obviously was a lot about the trip I didn't mention. So if you're curious about anything else, just shoot me an email. Hard to believe the trip's over... we first started brainstorming for it about a year ago. It was a memorable one, that's for sure.
Well, here's your cultural difference for the week:
The British like to say "nice" for a lot of things: "Oh that ice cream was nice" or "I don't think hot sauce on my pancakes would be very nice" or "That outfit isn't very nice." Or "Putting Drew Brees on the cover of Madden '11 which Zach intends to buy wasn't very nice."
Monday, 5 April 2010
Ethtamos en Ethpana (practithing my Barthelona accent)
Well, my trend of writing blogs immediately before trips continues. This one probably wins, though. It is currently 5:00 AM, and we are sitting in Luton airport killing time before our 6:45 flight to Madrid. We’ve been here since about 3:15 (literally before the airport opened – dozens of people were sprawled out sleeping on the floor and in chairs). So I’m going to make this a quick entry, just to catch up before our big trip.
The trip to Dublin with Jillian and Sheri was very fun. We arrived early last Tuesday to a snowy (yes, snowy… and quite snowy at that) Ireland after an uneventful travel day. We cabbed to our Hotel, which was nice and had by far the most spacious rooms of any place we’ve been to at this point. After getting settled, we headed out and grabbed lunch at a nearby sandwich place before deciding it was a good day to go to the Guinness Storehouse since the weather was so miserable. The Storehouse was interesting and informative, and highlighted by a cool lounge on the top floor overlooking the city. Interesting tidbit I had never realized: that Guinness and the Guinness Book of World Records are one and the same. We headed back to the hotel for a bit a down time before dinner, and Jillian and I both took short naps. For dinner we took the advice of Jillian’s Uncle Dick and went into town to an Irish pub/restaurant called Gogerty’s. We had some “traditional” Irish food (chicken Kiev for both Jillian and myself and mussels for Sheri), and then enjoyed the live entertainment provided by an Irish band that Dad surely would have enjoyed. Exhausted from a long week of papers, class, and touring London, we headed back around 9:30 and relaxed before calling it a night.
Wednesday started around 10:30 with breakfast at the same lunch place as the day before (Sheri’s traditional Irish breakfast and the “bacon” on Jillian’s bacon and egg roll left a bit to be desired… it’s fair to say I was the only one completely satisfied with my safe breakfast choice of a cheese and mushroom omelet). It was a much nicer day than Tuesday, so we walked towards town, making our first stop at the National Museum of History and Archaeology. It was interesting enough on the whole, but I found one exhibit called Kings and Sacrifice particularly intriguing. The exhibit was all about victims of human sacrifice from ancient Irish civilizations, and displayed the remains of four victims which had been somewhat preserved by the bogs in which they were found. Very cool. After the museum, we walked to Trinity College and checked out the Book of Kells, a famous illuminated manuscript. It did look very old, but I didn’t find it particularly beautiful, as it is often described. On our way back towards the hotel, we stopped for afternoon tea at a well-known hotel called the Shelbourne. We undoubtedly stood out as improper Americans in the very nice room, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves nonetheless – tea for Sheri and me, hot chocolate for Jillian, and a large assortment of mini-sandwiches, pastries, and scones for all of us to share. Definitely a memorable part of the trip.
After another round of short naps, we went to a very close Italian restaurant for dinner. Good pizza, and good desserts. We took our time at dinner, and after an eventful walk home, retired to our respective rooms. We woke up on Thursday and checked out before strolling back into town one last time to Grafton Street, a smaller version of the Stroget pedestrian street in Copenhagen. It had some nice shops, and the ladies appeared to enjoy themselves. I was on the hunt for a magnet to add to my collection of one from every city we visit – eventually I found one I liked. As our last activity, we took a bus to the outskirts of the city and toured the Kilmainham Gaol, the old Dublin jail. The history of the building and its prisoners was very cool. Many former inmates were imprisoned for political reasons, and so the building’s past and the country’s history of civil war and revolution were intertwined. It was definitely a unique way to end the trip before we headed to the airport and back to London. Upon our return, Sheri checked into a new hotel nearby and we enjoyed another meal at Shah Tandoori, the neighborhood Indian restaurant we discovered. Another visit, another great meal.
Friday began with another trip to Borough market for lunch and samples. Jillian and I still enjoy going there after three visits, and are likely to return at least once more. It was very crowded this time out. We split up after the market, and Jillian and Sheri did some shopping on Oxford Street while I looked into an elusive pair of shoes I had ordered for this trip (I was told my formerly white Nike sneakers weren’t classy enough for Spain and Italy, so I had ordered some nicer looking brown leather sneakers. Marilyn, I think you’d approve for Sam.) Long story short, they never came in time because of various closures for Easter (Schafer office, post offices, etc.), and I had to get another pair on Saturday and hope to be able to return the originals. Anyway, we reunited and took the Tube over to Piccadilly Circus to see it and Trafalgar Square. After a dinner at Wagamama (noticing the repeats from dinners from Mom and Dad’s trip? Probably not, because everyone probably skips the parts in the blog where I say where we ate), we walked to the Lyceum Theater to see the Lion King. The sets and costumes were pretty impressive – particularly the opening and closing scenes. The music, as in the movie, was also good, and the kid playing young Simba had a pretty impressive voice. They did add in some interpretative dance scenes (seriously), which Sheri said were not in the American versions she had seen. I wasn’t a fan of those scenes, and neither was Jillian, but overall, the show was very entertaining and amazing to look at. After the show, Jillian and I hung out with my friend Ibby and boyfriend, who she was in town visiting (he’s studying in London as well). It was really good to see her, and although it was a short visit, we will see her again in Paris when we travel there in May.
Saturday was Sheri’s last day in London, and we had a last lunch at Pret, of which she was particularly fond. We spent the afternoon at Harrods, perusing the food halls (I got my cheese and onion baguette again) and stores. We briefly stopped by the Victoria and Albert Museum, before getting crepes at a different branch of the same chain we had gotten them from after dinner at Relais de Venise – delicious again. After some rest, we had our final dinner at TGI Friday’s, which was good – but the restaurant definitely has a British feel despite being an American chain, which makes for an interesting combination.
Sheri left this morning to return to Cincinnati, and after an early-morning goodbye I came back and gladly slept for three more hours. We just heard she has landed safely in Cincinnati, which is good. Thanks for an amazing 10 days, Sheri! We hope you enjoyed the visit as much as we did.
We spent the day getting ready for the trip (packing, buying tickets for some museums in advance, printing out boarding passes and confirmations, etc.), and I Skyped with some of you fine individuals as well. I also snuck in a fantasy draft for my second baseball league. I hurriedly finished packing right on time, and we headed out at 1:45 to catch our bus here. We should be able to head to our gate within the next 30 minutes or so, and then it’s off to Spain we go. Our schedule is as follows: Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Florence, Rome, and finally Athens (via an overnight ferry). We will be spending an entire day in the port city in Italy where the ferry leaves from, so including that we will be seeing 7 cities in 20 days. I’ll try to post at least once or twice on the blog during the trip, since I’m bringing my computer. I’ll have to wait to post this entry until we arrive at the hostel in Madrid, since I don’t have any Internet at the moment (we’ve arrived!). And you know I’ll be watching opening day for the Braves tonight, too (but don’t worry, probably only condensed games after that – I won’t be wasting my trip through western Europe watching baseball unless we have nothing else to do, which isn’t likely). Well, my brain is no longer working. Going on almost no sleep, but I’ve managed to pump out this entry at least. Nap on the plane, and then probably before dinner tonight (since they eat so late in Spain). Time to wrap this up.
And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for, this week’s cultural difference:
No one in London wears khakis – I mean no one. Or really any articles of clothing I consistently wear. Just all black, all the time.
The trip to Dublin with Jillian and Sheri was very fun. We arrived early last Tuesday to a snowy (yes, snowy… and quite snowy at that) Ireland after an uneventful travel day. We cabbed to our Hotel, which was nice and had by far the most spacious rooms of any place we’ve been to at this point. After getting settled, we headed out and grabbed lunch at a nearby sandwich place before deciding it was a good day to go to the Guinness Storehouse since the weather was so miserable. The Storehouse was interesting and informative, and highlighted by a cool lounge on the top floor overlooking the city. Interesting tidbit I had never realized: that Guinness and the Guinness Book of World Records are one and the same. We headed back to the hotel for a bit a down time before dinner, and Jillian and I both took short naps. For dinner we took the advice of Jillian’s Uncle Dick and went into town to an Irish pub/restaurant called Gogerty’s. We had some “traditional” Irish food (chicken Kiev for both Jillian and myself and mussels for Sheri), and then enjoyed the live entertainment provided by an Irish band that Dad surely would have enjoyed. Exhausted from a long week of papers, class, and touring London, we headed back around 9:30 and relaxed before calling it a night.
Wednesday started around 10:30 with breakfast at the same lunch place as the day before (Sheri’s traditional Irish breakfast and the “bacon” on Jillian’s bacon and egg roll left a bit to be desired… it’s fair to say I was the only one completely satisfied with my safe breakfast choice of a cheese and mushroom omelet). It was a much nicer day than Tuesday, so we walked towards town, making our first stop at the National Museum of History and Archaeology. It was interesting enough on the whole, but I found one exhibit called Kings and Sacrifice particularly intriguing. The exhibit was all about victims of human sacrifice from ancient Irish civilizations, and displayed the remains of four victims which had been somewhat preserved by the bogs in which they were found. Very cool. After the museum, we walked to Trinity College and checked out the Book of Kells, a famous illuminated manuscript. It did look very old, but I didn’t find it particularly beautiful, as it is often described. On our way back towards the hotel, we stopped for afternoon tea at a well-known hotel called the Shelbourne. We undoubtedly stood out as improper Americans in the very nice room, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves nonetheless – tea for Sheri and me, hot chocolate for Jillian, and a large assortment of mini-sandwiches, pastries, and scones for all of us to share. Definitely a memorable part of the trip.
After another round of short naps, we went to a very close Italian restaurant for dinner. Good pizza, and good desserts. We took our time at dinner, and after an eventful walk home, retired to our respective rooms. We woke up on Thursday and checked out before strolling back into town one last time to Grafton Street, a smaller version of the Stroget pedestrian street in Copenhagen. It had some nice shops, and the ladies appeared to enjoy themselves. I was on the hunt for a magnet to add to my collection of one from every city we visit – eventually I found one I liked. As our last activity, we took a bus to the outskirts of the city and toured the Kilmainham Gaol, the old Dublin jail. The history of the building and its prisoners was very cool. Many former inmates were imprisoned for political reasons, and so the building’s past and the country’s history of civil war and revolution were intertwined. It was definitely a unique way to end the trip before we headed to the airport and back to London. Upon our return, Sheri checked into a new hotel nearby and we enjoyed another meal at Shah Tandoori, the neighborhood Indian restaurant we discovered. Another visit, another great meal.
Friday began with another trip to Borough market for lunch and samples. Jillian and I still enjoy going there after three visits, and are likely to return at least once more. It was very crowded this time out. We split up after the market, and Jillian and Sheri did some shopping on Oxford Street while I looked into an elusive pair of shoes I had ordered for this trip (I was told my formerly white Nike sneakers weren’t classy enough for Spain and Italy, so I had ordered some nicer looking brown leather sneakers. Marilyn, I think you’d approve for Sam.) Long story short, they never came in time because of various closures for Easter (Schafer office, post offices, etc.), and I had to get another pair on Saturday and hope to be able to return the originals. Anyway, we reunited and took the Tube over to Piccadilly Circus to see it and Trafalgar Square. After a dinner at Wagamama (noticing the repeats from dinners from Mom and Dad’s trip? Probably not, because everyone probably skips the parts in the blog where I say where we ate), we walked to the Lyceum Theater to see the Lion King. The sets and costumes were pretty impressive – particularly the opening and closing scenes. The music, as in the movie, was also good, and the kid playing young Simba had a pretty impressive voice. They did add in some interpretative dance scenes (seriously), which Sheri said were not in the American versions she had seen. I wasn’t a fan of those scenes, and neither was Jillian, but overall, the show was very entertaining and amazing to look at. After the show, Jillian and I hung out with my friend Ibby and boyfriend, who she was in town visiting (he’s studying in London as well). It was really good to see her, and although it was a short visit, we will see her again in Paris when we travel there in May.
Saturday was Sheri’s last day in London, and we had a last lunch at Pret, of which she was particularly fond. We spent the afternoon at Harrods, perusing the food halls (I got my cheese and onion baguette again) and stores. We briefly stopped by the Victoria and Albert Museum, before getting crepes at a different branch of the same chain we had gotten them from after dinner at Relais de Venise – delicious again. After some rest, we had our final dinner at TGI Friday’s, which was good – but the restaurant definitely has a British feel despite being an American chain, which makes for an interesting combination.
Sheri left this morning to return to Cincinnati, and after an early-morning goodbye I came back and gladly slept for three more hours. We just heard she has landed safely in Cincinnati, which is good. Thanks for an amazing 10 days, Sheri! We hope you enjoyed the visit as much as we did.
We spent the day getting ready for the trip (packing, buying tickets for some museums in advance, printing out boarding passes and confirmations, etc.), and I Skyped with some of you fine individuals as well. I also snuck in a fantasy draft for my second baseball league. I hurriedly finished packing right on time, and we headed out at 1:45 to catch our bus here. We should be able to head to our gate within the next 30 minutes or so, and then it’s off to Spain we go. Our schedule is as follows: Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Florence, Rome, and finally Athens (via an overnight ferry). We will be spending an entire day in the port city in Italy where the ferry leaves from, so including that we will be seeing 7 cities in 20 days. I’ll try to post at least once or twice on the blog during the trip, since I’m bringing my computer. I’ll have to wait to post this entry until we arrive at the hostel in Madrid, since I don’t have any Internet at the moment (we’ve arrived!). And you know I’ll be watching opening day for the Braves tonight, too (but don’t worry, probably only condensed games after that – I won’t be wasting my trip through western Europe watching baseball unless we have nothing else to do, which isn’t likely). Well, my brain is no longer working. Going on almost no sleep, but I’ve managed to pump out this entry at least. Nap on the plane, and then probably before dinner tonight (since they eat so late in Spain). Time to wrap this up.
And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for, this week’s cultural difference:
No one in London wears khakis – I mean no one. Or really any articles of clothing I consistently wear. Just all black, all the time.
Monday, 29 March 2010
Big Ben, Parliament
Well, I finally have a few minutes (sort of) to sit down and catch up on the blog. I don't really, as I am writing in similar circumstances as my last entry - I have to get up in about 6 hours to head to Ireland. It's been an eventful 9 days, so I'll jump right in.
Our travels to Copenhagen two Saturdays ago were relatively easy and uneventful. We were first on board on EasyJet (a Southwest-type airline with no assigned seats, but instead of seating positions like B15 as on Southwest, EasyJet just has everyone board in one big, chaotic group). So we strategically positioned ourselves at the gate, and got on first. We managed to be first on the return trip as well, and on both flights we used some of our psychological expertise to ensure a row of three seats to ourselves (I would tell you how, but I can't risk our methods getting out). We arrived to rainy Copenhagen around noon, and were happily surprised when we were allowed to check into our hotel early. It was a cheap hotel, with tiny rooms reminiscent of cruise ship cabins. The rooms were small, but clean, and exactly what we needed. Plus, the hotel was perfectly located near many of the main attractions. Exhausted from our early start, we ate lunches we had packed from London and then both took a nap. We headed out in late afternoon for our first sightseeing of the trip. We walked by Trivoli Gardens (VERY close to our hotel), and peered in through the gates - it's closed for a few more weeks until the weather warms up (we were visiting at the end of the off-season, but that was fine with us since everything was less crowded, and in some instances, less expensive). After that, we continued onto to the main town square, which was nice, but paled in comparison to the Old Town Square in Prague. We walked through the Square and checked out the Stroget, which is the longest pedestrian street in the world. It was very cool, with tons of restaurants and shops. We strolled through for over an hour, scouting out potential restaurants for lunch and dinner on the trip. Around dinner time we returned to the hotel to relax for a bit more.
We were still a bit tired around dinner time, so we didn't feel like wandering too far for food - we caved and got Big Macs and fries (first mention of fries... to be continued) from the McDonald's in the nearby train station. Although there was other motivation for the decision - the city is absurdly expensive, and restaurants can be a fortune (we saw burgers at one point at the Hard Rock Cafe for about the equivalent of $35). So McDonald's was a way of saving a bit of cash. After dinner we just played some cards and watched some Danish TV (interesting...) before bed.
On Sunday we walked across town to see the Little Mermaid Statue, which is based on the myth that inspired the movie. It was very pretty, and Jillian reenacted the pose while I snapped a picture. After that, we toured one of the buildings of the Amalienborg Palace, where the Royal Family often has lived. It was simple on the outside, and had some very pretty rooms on the inside. However, the Prince and Princess who are going to move in soon commissioned several murals that were absolutely dreadful and ruined several of the rooms. We walked back towards central city through the Stroget, and got falafel and fries (second mention of fries...) for lunch. We had plans to tour the Carlsburg Brewery (the local beer owned by a famous family in the area), but we couldn't figure out the bus system in time (the brewery closed at 4... commercial hours in general were very strange throughout the city) so we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner instead. We had a late dinner at a Chinese restaurant (Big Macs, falafel, and Chinese for our first three meals in Copenhagen... nice) which was decent - I thought it was alright, but Jillian was a big fan. We hadn't really had Chinese in quite some time, so it was a good change of pace at least.
On Monday, our last day in Copenhagen, we walked through the Stroget to the Round Tower to check out the church (simple but pretty) inside and to go to the top for an aerial view of the city. It was a nice day out, but the city wasn't particularly impressive from up top - much prettier on street level. We had plenty of time to kill before out 9 PM flight, so we decided to walk east across the river to a part of town we hadn't been to yet. There, we went to Christiania, a self-governed area commonly thought to have legalized marijuana (it hasn't). We were told it was sort of Amsterdam-esque, but when we arrived, we found it to just be a run down part of town with lots of graffiti. We spent no more than 10 minutes walking around before heading back. We picked up our Danish meal of the trip on the walk back - savory crepes, with chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and avocados (quite Danish), which were good. We still had about 3 hours before we had to leave for the airport, but we had seen just about everything there was to see, so we sat in the lobby of our hotel and passed the time with cards and watching TV. On our way to the airport, we stopped at a bakery picked up a couple of Danish danishes (a more authentic meal for Copenhagen, I suppose), which were DELICIOUS.
So overall, I really enjoyed Copenhagen. The city at times looked like Amsterdam, with several nice streets with canals and similar looking buildings lining either side. But it was different than any of the other cities we've seen thus far. Unlike Prague, which has certain small areas that are really beautiful, Copenhagen's beauty is more dispersed in individual buildings all across the city. It was incredibly expensive, so once again a big thank you to Mom and Dad for helping us, as we would not have been able to do it on our own. It was a great city and a great trip, and I'm very happy we made it there.
We came back and immediately had to dive into our last week of class. It was relatively uneventful, although surreal to be finishing despite having spent so much less time in class than we're used to. I am very glad to be done with Developmental Psych, though, and I'm glad I took it here rather than at Penn. We'll see if I feel that way after the exam, though. On Thursday we both wrote our final papers for International Security, which were due today. We did them early in anticipation of being busy once Jillian's mom, Sheri, arrived. Good thing, because we were even busier than we thought. We also did a bit of cooking during the week (our last for quite some time with all of our travels coming up), and on Thursday had chicken fingers and fries (third time...)
Sheri arrived in London early Friday morning. She wore a similar tired expression as Mama Sommers when she arrived a few weeks ago (although Sheri napped in Jillian's bed instead of mine). After class, we checked her into her hotel and grabbed some lunch at Pret (we hadn't been back since our very first day, but it was just as good as we remembered). We walked over to the British Library first, which had an impressive collection of historical artifacts: manuscripts from Jane Austen, an original hand-written copy of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, handwritten lyrics from the Beatles scribbled on scraps of paper, and old copies of the Magna Carta. Very cool. After that we walked down to the British Museum, which Jilli and I hadn't been to since our first day of art history. It has an impressive collection, highlighted by the Rosetta Stone. There are also a ton of artifacts from the Parthenon in Athens, but that seemed odd to me (why is it in London?). After the museum, we headed to Russell Square for dinner at a cafe type place called Giraffe. The food was good, and I had a cheeseburger and fries (number four...) When we got back to Schafer, we hung out with George and Rosie for a bit before our long day came to an end.
On Saturday we woke up early for a trip to the Abba Museum, which was a very thorough look at the history of Abba, with all sorts of displays and interactive features. I'm not a huge Abba fan, but they did a good job presenting everything so it was interesting enough. Jillian was singing their stuff for the rest of the day.
Like any other tourists at the Abba Museum, our next stop was the Tower of London. But that transition obviously wouldn't have made sense without lunch at KFC in between. I fittingly had a "Boneless Banquet for One" box, which was boneless strips, popcorn chicken, and you guessed it... fries (make that five). Feeling light and fluffy after a delicate lunch, we toured the Tower. I remembered enjoying it back in '97 with Mom and Dad, and I did again 13 years later. Pretty impressive sense of history, although I must admit I find it hard to top the Colosseum in that regard. We then returned to our respective rooms for some brief downtime before dinner at Prezzo (the first of multiple repeats of dinners out that we had with Mom and Dad), which was good again.
Which brings us to yesterday. We set out for the Imperial War Museum, with plans to see the Tate Modern afterwards. But the Imperial War Museum had so much to see and was so interesting that we ended up spending four hours there and skipping the Tate. We had dinner at an interesting French place called Relaise de Venise - the original is in Paris, but they opened one here too. We heard about it from my friend Ibby who is studying abroad in Paris. They don't take reservations, so they suggest arriving right when they open. We were a bit late, so we waited for a few minutes - but it moved quickly and we were positioned under a heat lamp outside. Once you sit down, there is no menu - they simply ask you how you want your steak done. Then they bring salad and bread, and eventually steak and pommes frites (fancy way of saying number SIX! french fries six times in about a week! I'm french fried out.) in their "secret sauce." Once you finish your plate, they offer the second half of your steak and fries, which is served separately to ensure it is hot. It was very good, and good to have steak for the first time in a while. And given the food, it is reasonably priced as well. After dinner we capped off our French cuisine night by walking across the street to a creperie, which was actually closing down today. So we got there for the grand finale, and had fruit crepes for dessert. I had a banana crepe with Belgian white chocolate that was unbelievable. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. After dinner Jillian and I put the final touches on our papers, and then hung out with George and Rosie for the last time in quite a while. She left for home today, leaving the two of us alone in the flat. Soon, it will be empty for a couple of days.
So, finally. Today. We've made it. Today was the standard London tourist's day: we started with Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard - there was a HUGE number of people on hand to see it, which made it tough on the shortest member of our trio. But it was interesting enough. The Palace itself is pretty ordinary on the outside, I have to admit. Next up was Westminster Abbey, with the help of the free audio tour guide. Pretty impressive building, and pretty impressive collection of tombs/memorials. We spent a good deal of time there, and afterwards found a nearby Pret (there's always one nearby) for a late lunch. We then tried unsuccessfully to get into Parliament, but settled for pictures on the outside, and then pictures of Big Ben. Big Ben, Parliament. Big Ben, Parliament.
We regrouped and met up later to try and find the necessary goods for a Passover Seder, but our local Sainsbury had a limited selection, so Jillian and Sheri headed up to Camden Town to a bigger one. They got all sorts of kosher-for-Passover stuff (although none of us plan on keeping it this year), while I napped back at Schafer. We all cooked the food for the (very late) Seder, which was abbreviated and a bit surreal - but at least we had one. No french fries, I might add.
Now it's time to get ready for Dublin tomorrow. We get back on Thursday, and only have a couple of days before we leave "Monday" morning (around 2 AM Sunday night, really) for our big three week trip. It's going to be an action-packed next month or so.
Well, I should get moving. Lots to do, and not much time to do it.
Cultural Difference: Far too many people here seem to think it's socially acceptable to dye their hair a maroon-like red. And also to wear glasses with ENORMOUS black frames.
Our travels to Copenhagen two Saturdays ago were relatively easy and uneventful. We were first on board on EasyJet (a Southwest-type airline with no assigned seats, but instead of seating positions like B15 as on Southwest, EasyJet just has everyone board in one big, chaotic group). So we strategically positioned ourselves at the gate, and got on first. We managed to be first on the return trip as well, and on both flights we used some of our psychological expertise to ensure a row of three seats to ourselves (I would tell you how, but I can't risk our methods getting out). We arrived to rainy Copenhagen around noon, and were happily surprised when we were allowed to check into our hotel early. It was a cheap hotel, with tiny rooms reminiscent of cruise ship cabins. The rooms were small, but clean, and exactly what we needed. Plus, the hotel was perfectly located near many of the main attractions. Exhausted from our early start, we ate lunches we had packed from London and then both took a nap. We headed out in late afternoon for our first sightseeing of the trip. We walked by Trivoli Gardens (VERY close to our hotel), and peered in through the gates - it's closed for a few more weeks until the weather warms up (we were visiting at the end of the off-season, but that was fine with us since everything was less crowded, and in some instances, less expensive). After that, we continued onto to the main town square, which was nice, but paled in comparison to the Old Town Square in Prague. We walked through the Square and checked out the Stroget, which is the longest pedestrian street in the world. It was very cool, with tons of restaurants and shops. We strolled through for over an hour, scouting out potential restaurants for lunch and dinner on the trip. Around dinner time we returned to the hotel to relax for a bit more.
We were still a bit tired around dinner time, so we didn't feel like wandering too far for food - we caved and got Big Macs and fries (first mention of fries... to be continued) from the McDonald's in the nearby train station. Although there was other motivation for the decision - the city is absurdly expensive, and restaurants can be a fortune (we saw burgers at one point at the Hard Rock Cafe for about the equivalent of $35). So McDonald's was a way of saving a bit of cash. After dinner we just played some cards and watched some Danish TV (interesting...) before bed.
On Sunday we walked across town to see the Little Mermaid Statue, which is based on the myth that inspired the movie. It was very pretty, and Jillian reenacted the pose while I snapped a picture. After that, we toured one of the buildings of the Amalienborg Palace, where the Royal Family often has lived. It was simple on the outside, and had some very pretty rooms on the inside. However, the Prince and Princess who are going to move in soon commissioned several murals that were absolutely dreadful and ruined several of the rooms. We walked back towards central city through the Stroget, and got falafel and fries (second mention of fries...) for lunch. We had plans to tour the Carlsburg Brewery (the local beer owned by a famous family in the area), but we couldn't figure out the bus system in time (the brewery closed at 4... commercial hours in general were very strange throughout the city) so we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner instead. We had a late dinner at a Chinese restaurant (Big Macs, falafel, and Chinese for our first three meals in Copenhagen... nice) which was decent - I thought it was alright, but Jillian was a big fan. We hadn't really had Chinese in quite some time, so it was a good change of pace at least.
On Monday, our last day in Copenhagen, we walked through the Stroget to the Round Tower to check out the church (simple but pretty) inside and to go to the top for an aerial view of the city. It was a nice day out, but the city wasn't particularly impressive from up top - much prettier on street level. We had plenty of time to kill before out 9 PM flight, so we decided to walk east across the river to a part of town we hadn't been to yet. There, we went to Christiania, a self-governed area commonly thought to have legalized marijuana (it hasn't). We were told it was sort of Amsterdam-esque, but when we arrived, we found it to just be a run down part of town with lots of graffiti. We spent no more than 10 minutes walking around before heading back. We picked up our Danish meal of the trip on the walk back - savory crepes, with chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and avocados (quite Danish), which were good. We still had about 3 hours before we had to leave for the airport, but we had seen just about everything there was to see, so we sat in the lobby of our hotel and passed the time with cards and watching TV. On our way to the airport, we stopped at a bakery picked up a couple of Danish danishes (a more authentic meal for Copenhagen, I suppose), which were DELICIOUS.
So overall, I really enjoyed Copenhagen. The city at times looked like Amsterdam, with several nice streets with canals and similar looking buildings lining either side. But it was different than any of the other cities we've seen thus far. Unlike Prague, which has certain small areas that are really beautiful, Copenhagen's beauty is more dispersed in individual buildings all across the city. It was incredibly expensive, so once again a big thank you to Mom and Dad for helping us, as we would not have been able to do it on our own. It was a great city and a great trip, and I'm very happy we made it there.
We came back and immediately had to dive into our last week of class. It was relatively uneventful, although surreal to be finishing despite having spent so much less time in class than we're used to. I am very glad to be done with Developmental Psych, though, and I'm glad I took it here rather than at Penn. We'll see if I feel that way after the exam, though. On Thursday we both wrote our final papers for International Security, which were due today. We did them early in anticipation of being busy once Jillian's mom, Sheri, arrived. Good thing, because we were even busier than we thought. We also did a bit of cooking during the week (our last for quite some time with all of our travels coming up), and on Thursday had chicken fingers and fries (third time...)
Sheri arrived in London early Friday morning. She wore a similar tired expression as Mama Sommers when she arrived a few weeks ago (although Sheri napped in Jillian's bed instead of mine). After class, we checked her into her hotel and grabbed some lunch at Pret (we hadn't been back since our very first day, but it was just as good as we remembered). We walked over to the British Library first, which had an impressive collection of historical artifacts: manuscripts from Jane Austen, an original hand-written copy of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, handwritten lyrics from the Beatles scribbled on scraps of paper, and old copies of the Magna Carta. Very cool. After that we walked down to the British Museum, which Jilli and I hadn't been to since our first day of art history. It has an impressive collection, highlighted by the Rosetta Stone. There are also a ton of artifacts from the Parthenon in Athens, but that seemed odd to me (why is it in London?). After the museum, we headed to Russell Square for dinner at a cafe type place called Giraffe. The food was good, and I had a cheeseburger and fries (number four...) When we got back to Schafer, we hung out with George and Rosie for a bit before our long day came to an end.
On Saturday we woke up early for a trip to the Abba Museum, which was a very thorough look at the history of Abba, with all sorts of displays and interactive features. I'm not a huge Abba fan, but they did a good job presenting everything so it was interesting enough. Jillian was singing their stuff for the rest of the day.
Like any other tourists at the Abba Museum, our next stop was the Tower of London. But that transition obviously wouldn't have made sense without lunch at KFC in between. I fittingly had a "Boneless Banquet for One" box, which was boneless strips, popcorn chicken, and you guessed it... fries (make that five). Feeling light and fluffy after a delicate lunch, we toured the Tower. I remembered enjoying it back in '97 with Mom and Dad, and I did again 13 years later. Pretty impressive sense of history, although I must admit I find it hard to top the Colosseum in that regard. We then returned to our respective rooms for some brief downtime before dinner at Prezzo (the first of multiple repeats of dinners out that we had with Mom and Dad), which was good again.
Which brings us to yesterday. We set out for the Imperial War Museum, with plans to see the Tate Modern afterwards. But the Imperial War Museum had so much to see and was so interesting that we ended up spending four hours there and skipping the Tate. We had dinner at an interesting French place called Relaise de Venise - the original is in Paris, but they opened one here too. We heard about it from my friend Ibby who is studying abroad in Paris. They don't take reservations, so they suggest arriving right when they open. We were a bit late, so we waited for a few minutes - but it moved quickly and we were positioned under a heat lamp outside. Once you sit down, there is no menu - they simply ask you how you want your steak done. Then they bring salad and bread, and eventually steak and pommes frites (fancy way of saying number SIX! french fries six times in about a week! I'm french fried out.) in their "secret sauce." Once you finish your plate, they offer the second half of your steak and fries, which is served separately to ensure it is hot. It was very good, and good to have steak for the first time in a while. And given the food, it is reasonably priced as well. After dinner we capped off our French cuisine night by walking across the street to a creperie, which was actually closing down today. So we got there for the grand finale, and had fruit crepes for dessert. I had a banana crepe with Belgian white chocolate that was unbelievable. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. After dinner Jillian and I put the final touches on our papers, and then hung out with George and Rosie for the last time in quite a while. She left for home today, leaving the two of us alone in the flat. Soon, it will be empty for a couple of days.
So, finally. Today. We've made it. Today was the standard London tourist's day: we started with Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard - there was a HUGE number of people on hand to see it, which made it tough on the shortest member of our trio. But it was interesting enough. The Palace itself is pretty ordinary on the outside, I have to admit. Next up was Westminster Abbey, with the help of the free audio tour guide. Pretty impressive building, and pretty impressive collection of tombs/memorials. We spent a good deal of time there, and afterwards found a nearby Pret (there's always one nearby) for a late lunch. We then tried unsuccessfully to get into Parliament, but settled for pictures on the outside, and then pictures of Big Ben. Big Ben, Parliament. Big Ben, Parliament.
We regrouped and met up later to try and find the necessary goods for a Passover Seder, but our local Sainsbury had a limited selection, so Jillian and Sheri headed up to Camden Town to a bigger one. They got all sorts of kosher-for-Passover stuff (although none of us plan on keeping it this year), while I napped back at Schafer. We all cooked the food for the (very late) Seder, which was abbreviated and a bit surreal - but at least we had one. No french fries, I might add.
Now it's time to get ready for Dublin tomorrow. We get back on Thursday, and only have a couple of days before we leave "Monday" morning (around 2 AM Sunday night, really) for our big three week trip. It's going to be an action-packed next month or so.
Well, I should get moving. Lots to do, and not much time to do it.
Cultural Difference: Far too many people here seem to think it's socially acceptable to dye their hair a maroon-like red. And also to wear glasses with ENORMOUS black frames.
Friday, 19 March 2010
5 Hours Now I'll Be on My Way to Denmark
Well, just a quick entry here before our travels begin early tomorrow. I figured with the trip, our last week of class, and Sheri coming to London on Friday, I should write a short post before bed. I am waking up around 4:45 tomorrow morning to get ready for the trip - we're hoping to catch the first Underground train at 5:40 to begin our journey. It's supposed to be rainy in Copenhagen unfortunately, but maybe we'll get lucky. Thankfully the temperatures shouldn't be too frigid though - high 30's or low 40's.
We had a quiet week here in London. Only one more week of class (pretty crazy), but Art History has pretty much wrapped up. We found out our exam schedule, and were annoyed to find out we'll be here later than pretty much every other American student we've asked - our last exam is May 24th. So we'll have almost exactly a month upon our return from our big spring break trip with very little to do. Oh well - now that we know the dates, we were able to choose a time for our trip to Paris. Very exciting.
Other than that, we've continued cooking. This week's meals included: falafel (not homemade, but still freshly prepared) and penne pesto (more homemade than usual in that it wasn't just a precooked mix... we added some fresh veggies and chicken). We took our day trip to Oxford on Monday, and were lucky to be able to enjoy a beautiful and sunny day. The town was nice, but seven hours (certain trains were much cheaper than others, so our time-frame wasn't really optional) was a bit much. They make you pay to enter everything too, so we didn't go inside many buildings. But we went in one college's old church, walked around a cool indoor market, and had a picnic on a park bench (packed our own lunch to save money, of course). The train was quick and easy, and overall it was a nice outing. I remembered the card game 500 Rummy, which we hadn't played in a while, and retaught Jillian - a useful idea when we had to kill some time before our train.
We watched some of the NCAA Tournament yesterday. My bracket is pathetic. Enough said. I was surprised to see Cornell handle Temple so easily though. They seem to be pretty good for an Ivy. Watch out, Jared/Wisconsin. But my favorite players were undoubtedly Jimmer Fredette (yes, Jimmer) and Michael Loyd Jr. (yes, one L) on BYU. Very exciting double-overtime win.
Today I followed a few games online, but we spent much of the evening getting ready for the trip tomorrow. We also met up with Lauren and Michael in the afternoon and checked out Camden market again (they hadn't been yet). It has a much different feel than Borough Market, but it's interesting and fun in its own way.
I'm a lot less nervous for this trip than I was for our last one (as in, not at all). I suppose the fact that it's so short and only one city makes a difference, but also just having had the initial experience of navigating our way through travel in a foreign country makes the prospect of this trip much less nerve-wracking. Not that I was terribly stressed about the last one, but still, I feel very comfortable going to Denmark (I'm going to Denmark... still seems odd).
Well, that about wraps this entry up. I told you it would be short, but I guess it makes up for the length of the last one. No sarcastic jokes or witty (at least to me) humor, nothin. Hard to believe this is our last week of classes coming up. I'll have a five month break before my next classes start up (not counting exams).
Well, cultural difference time. By the way, does anyone else still find it hard to believe the Colts lost that game? I mean seriously. The Saints? Give me a break. They won't even win the division again this year.
Anyway, at one point I noticed in my psych classes that there seemed to be a lot of girls, and relatively few guys. So at various points of boredom in each, I counted up. The results were pretty amazing. In one class, the girl:guy ratio was 49:6, and in the other it was 53:7. Combine that with living with all girls, and there seems to be a lack of testosterone in my life here. I guess I made up for that by living with 35 other guys back in Philly.
We had a quiet week here in London. Only one more week of class (pretty crazy), but Art History has pretty much wrapped up. We found out our exam schedule, and were annoyed to find out we'll be here later than pretty much every other American student we've asked - our last exam is May 24th. So we'll have almost exactly a month upon our return from our big spring break trip with very little to do. Oh well - now that we know the dates, we were able to choose a time for our trip to Paris. Very exciting.
Other than that, we've continued cooking. This week's meals included: falafel (not homemade, but still freshly prepared) and penne pesto (more homemade than usual in that it wasn't just a precooked mix... we added some fresh veggies and chicken). We took our day trip to Oxford on Monday, and were lucky to be able to enjoy a beautiful and sunny day. The town was nice, but seven hours (certain trains were much cheaper than others, so our time-frame wasn't really optional) was a bit much. They make you pay to enter everything too, so we didn't go inside many buildings. But we went in one college's old church, walked around a cool indoor market, and had a picnic on a park bench (packed our own lunch to save money, of course). The train was quick and easy, and overall it was a nice outing. I remembered the card game 500 Rummy, which we hadn't played in a while, and retaught Jillian - a useful idea when we had to kill some time before our train.
We watched some of the NCAA Tournament yesterday. My bracket is pathetic. Enough said. I was surprised to see Cornell handle Temple so easily though. They seem to be pretty good for an Ivy. Watch out, Jared/Wisconsin. But my favorite players were undoubtedly Jimmer Fredette (yes, Jimmer) and Michael Loyd Jr. (yes, one L) on BYU. Very exciting double-overtime win.
Today I followed a few games online, but we spent much of the evening getting ready for the trip tomorrow. We also met up with Lauren and Michael in the afternoon and checked out Camden market again (they hadn't been yet). It has a much different feel than Borough Market, but it's interesting and fun in its own way.
I'm a lot less nervous for this trip than I was for our last one (as in, not at all). I suppose the fact that it's so short and only one city makes a difference, but also just having had the initial experience of navigating our way through travel in a foreign country makes the prospect of this trip much less nerve-wracking. Not that I was terribly stressed about the last one, but still, I feel very comfortable going to Denmark (I'm going to Denmark... still seems odd).
Well, that about wraps this entry up. I told you it would be short, but I guess it makes up for the length of the last one. No sarcastic jokes or witty (at least to me) humor, nothin. Hard to believe this is our last week of classes coming up. I'll have a five month break before my next classes start up (not counting exams).
Well, cultural difference time. By the way, does anyone else still find it hard to believe the Colts lost that game? I mean seriously. The Saints? Give me a break. They won't even win the division again this year.
Anyway, at one point I noticed in my psych classes that there seemed to be a lot of girls, and relatively few guys. So at various points of boredom in each, I counted up. The results were pretty amazing. In one class, the girl:guy ratio was 49:6, and in the other it was 53:7. Combine that with living with all girls, and there seems to be a lack of testosterone in my life here. I guess I made up for that by living with 35 other guys back in Philly.
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