The first week back was crazy busy as I rushed to start and finish an essay that was due on the first Tuesday back and put the finishing touches on another essay that was due that Thursday. So homework and classes were pretty much my life my first 5 days back in Winchester. It was hard, consuming work, but it felt so good once I actually had the essays completed, turned in, and offically out of my hands. I could now do fun things guilt-free for a few days before having to work on my next round of essays.
The first weekend back (May 2-3), Laura and I explored Winchester and went to St. Katherine's Hill, which we had not done yet... we were probably the only 2 American students who had yet to go there. We also discovered this old road/path thing that ran through some woods overlooking a field and stream. It was really cool. The weather that weekend was perfect for walks, too. The evenings consisted of watching movies (Bridge Jones' Diary!), snacking, and just hanging out.
This past week has not been too terribly exciting. It's wierd being back in classes and knowing that my days of travel are pretty much over for this semester. To console ourselves, Laura and I went shopping in Southampton yesterday, where we visited our favorit store - Primark! It's such an great store, it really is too bad the U.S. doesn't have them. The styles are cute, the prices are unbeatable, and, well, we'll leave the quality out. I found some cute summer clothes, a sweater, a bag, and a few accessories. Primark is fabulous for 1 pound accessories - better than dollar stores!
And now this weekend, I'm working on essays and photos. I can't believe I have exactly three weeks before all of my assessments are due (4 of them, one for each class) and that three days after I turn them in, I will be on my way home. It seems so far away and so close all at the same time! All I can do is see what these next few weeks bring, and make the most of them, because then I'm coming home! Or, in Urkel's words, "I'm coming home! I'm coming home to you, baby!"
Saturday, May 9, 2009
3 Lovely L's... London, Liverpool, Lake District!
Day 24 – Saturday 18 April
We had to leave really early to catch our 7 am flight to London. So at 4 am, we went to get a taxi, but no one was at the office to check us out and call a taxi. So Laura finally found some parking guy to call the night watchman, who called a taxi for us. We got dropped off at the shuttle stop, and then took a shuttle to the airport, and within a few short hours, we were headed back to England. Soon, we were back in London, back “home.” Laura met up with her parents, and Hannah and I were on our own. We spent the afternoon on Oxford St. to do some more souvenir shopping and hanging out at our hostel.
Day 25 Sunday 19 April
Hannah and I wanted to go to Hillsong Church, but then we got lost on the way because we decided to walk there instead of take the tube. By the time we decided to just take the tube, the service had already started and we would have been an hour late, so we decided to just find Abbey Road. We rode the tube for a while, trying to find it, before we gave up and asked a worker how to get there. We then found out that it would be near impossible to get there that day because some of the metro lines weren’t running that day. So Hannah and I never made it there because we had to head back to get our stuff from the hostel in order to catch our coach to Liverpool on time. Then we took a five-hour coach to Liverpool. We got there, found our hostel, settled in, and went out for a drink and food at a local pub. Afterwards, we decided to do a load of laundry. Laundry, that shouldn’t take too long, right? Wrong! It took almost four hours to dry! So we didn’t get to bed until after 2 in the morning. At least it provided me with some time to skype with my sister, which is always nice.
Day 26 Monday 20 April
We did the Liverpool thing – found Penny Lane, went to the Beatles Story museum, wandered around the docks, went to the Cavern (not the original one) and Mathew St. Then we ate Chinese (insert sigh of contentment here) before leaving for our last phase of our holiday-of-a-lifetime. We grabbed our things from the hostel and took the five-hour train to the Windermere… Lake District, here we come!
Due to an hour delay for one of our trains, we didn’t get to Windermere until after 10 pm, and the buses had already stopped running. So Hannah and I ended up taking a rather expensive taxi to our hotel in Grasmere. The drive there was one of the most amazing drives of my life! The road was windy and went through some really quaint little towns and woods and lakes, and the starts were bright against the black night. It was beautiful! After about 20 minutes, Hannah and I let out a gasp because we saw this old, beautiful house all lit up on this hill. That’s when the taxi driver informs us that that house is our hotel. We are overcome with giddiness and the driver asks us if we are satisfied with our choice, and all we can do is nod, our eyes big and the most goony smiles on our faces. We go into the hotel, where the owners, a married couple who waited up for us, checked us in. They were really nice and apparently the man used to be a truck driver, which made the fact that this couple owned the hotel even better. We get to our room, which is really cute, put our stuff down, and go outside to sit under that stars before going back and collapsing in our beds. Not even three hours had passed, and we were already in love with the Lake District!
Day 27 Tuesday 21 April
We woke up at 8:45 only because breakfast was only served from 8:30 to 9:30. With difficulty, we forced ourselves to get up and dressed and go downstairs for breakfast. Our grumpiness over getting up so early did not last long as we took in the heavenly sight that was the dining room. The couple greeted us, asked us if we wanted tea or coffee, and showed us where our table was. It was so cute, this tiny little table set for two underneath this window with a gorgeous view of woods, gardens, and animals. The breakfast included tea, coffee, juice, toast, sausage and beans, English bacon, eggs, hash browns, fried mushrooms, and an assortment of fruit, yogurts, and cereals… a real full English breakfast! It was scrumpdilyicious and completely worth waking up early for!
After eating, we spent a little time in the parlour, working on some online stuff. Then we went out and explored Grasmere, which is a really quaint town where Wordsmith is from. We saw the tulip garden and his grave before we found a lake to hike around. The lake, surrounded by mountains and sheep, was simply gorgeous! That walk took us several hours, and by the time we walked around the lake, it was dinner time. We went to this little café and then went back to our hotel. We spent the rest of the evening in the parlour working on our computers. The owners liked to tease us about that.
Day 28 Wednesday 22 April
Woke up for our delicious breakfast, and then spent the day working on essays in the parlour. In the afternoon, I took a two hour break and went on a walk before going back to work on my essays. I spent the evening curled up by the fire in the main parlour and a cup of tea in my hands. Oh, did I forget to mention that I am now a fan of tea?
Day 29 Thursday 23 April
Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday. It rained, though, so I was not so depressed that I had to sit inside and work on essays. This was the perfect day to sit by the fire.
Day 30 Friday 24 April.
Again, Friday was a repeat of Wednesday and Thursday. I finished my essay and started another one. Hannah and I became really depressed that our time at the Lake District was almost over, and we attempted to think of ways to prolong our trip back to Winch and reality.
Day 31 Saturday 25 April
We had our last breakfast there – it was bittersweet. Then we packed our things, took a bus to the Windermere train station, and headed back to Winch. On the train, I had some good personal reflection and devo time. We got back into Winch at about 4 pm, and it felt so good to step onto familiar grounds. It is so good to be back in Winchester, I get this feeling of “home” whenever I come back to Winch after being gone. The walk back to Uni, despite being tired and sore from our rucksacks, was wonderfully splendid. Everything is in full bloom now, and Hannah and I were super psyched to be back, even though it meant no more Lake District! We “broke into” our dorm rooms since we technically weren’t supposed to be back until Sunday at 4. Then Hannah and I went to Sainsbury’s and on a walk before settling into our respective rooms. The rest of the day was low-key – I pretty much unpacked and watched a movie before going to bed.
Day 32 - Sunday 26 April
I woke up at around 6 am because I was freezing sine I didn’t have any of bedding stuff. So I got up and worked on some essay stuff before going on a walk. Then I worked on some essay stuff again. That evening, Hannah and I went to Charlotte’s house to pick up our luggage that Charlotte so kindly stored for us over break (we had to completely move out of our rooms for break) and went back to Alwyn Hall. Then I unpacked and talked to some people on skype. I was “officially” back in Winchester! Happy day!
We had to leave really early to catch our 7 am flight to London. So at 4 am, we went to get a taxi, but no one was at the office to check us out and call a taxi. So Laura finally found some parking guy to call the night watchman, who called a taxi for us. We got dropped off at the shuttle stop, and then took a shuttle to the airport, and within a few short hours, we were headed back to England. Soon, we were back in London, back “home.” Laura met up with her parents, and Hannah and I were on our own. We spent the afternoon on Oxford St. to do some more souvenir shopping and hanging out at our hostel.
Day 25 Sunday 19 April
Hannah and I wanted to go to Hillsong Church, but then we got lost on the way because we decided to walk there instead of take the tube. By the time we decided to just take the tube, the service had already started and we would have been an hour late, so we decided to just find Abbey Road. We rode the tube for a while, trying to find it, before we gave up and asked a worker how to get there. We then found out that it would be near impossible to get there that day because some of the metro lines weren’t running that day. So Hannah and I never made it there because we had to head back to get our stuff from the hostel in order to catch our coach to Liverpool on time. Then we took a five-hour coach to Liverpool. We got there, found our hostel, settled in, and went out for a drink and food at a local pub. Afterwards, we decided to do a load of laundry. Laundry, that shouldn’t take too long, right? Wrong! It took almost four hours to dry! So we didn’t get to bed until after 2 in the morning. At least it provided me with some time to skype with my sister, which is always nice.
Day 26 Monday 20 April
We did the Liverpool thing – found Penny Lane, went to the Beatles Story museum, wandered around the docks, went to the Cavern (not the original one) and Mathew St. Then we ate Chinese (insert sigh of contentment here) before leaving for our last phase of our holiday-of-a-lifetime. We grabbed our things from the hostel and took the five-hour train to the Windermere… Lake District, here we come!
Due to an hour delay for one of our trains, we didn’t get to Windermere until after 10 pm, and the buses had already stopped running. So Hannah and I ended up taking a rather expensive taxi to our hotel in Grasmere. The drive there was one of the most amazing drives of my life! The road was windy and went through some really quaint little towns and woods and lakes, and the starts were bright against the black night. It was beautiful! After about 20 minutes, Hannah and I let out a gasp because we saw this old, beautiful house all lit up on this hill. That’s when the taxi driver informs us that that house is our hotel. We are overcome with giddiness and the driver asks us if we are satisfied with our choice, and all we can do is nod, our eyes big and the most goony smiles on our faces. We go into the hotel, where the owners, a married couple who waited up for us, checked us in. They were really nice and apparently the man used to be a truck driver, which made the fact that this couple owned the hotel even better. We get to our room, which is really cute, put our stuff down, and go outside to sit under that stars before going back and collapsing in our beds. Not even three hours had passed, and we were already in love with the Lake District!
Day 27 Tuesday 21 April
We woke up at 8:45 only because breakfast was only served from 8:30 to 9:30. With difficulty, we forced ourselves to get up and dressed and go downstairs for breakfast. Our grumpiness over getting up so early did not last long as we took in the heavenly sight that was the dining room. The couple greeted us, asked us if we wanted tea or coffee, and showed us where our table was. It was so cute, this tiny little table set for two underneath this window with a gorgeous view of woods, gardens, and animals. The breakfast included tea, coffee, juice, toast, sausage and beans, English bacon, eggs, hash browns, fried mushrooms, and an assortment of fruit, yogurts, and cereals… a real full English breakfast! It was scrumpdilyicious and completely worth waking up early for!
After eating, we spent a little time in the parlour, working on some online stuff. Then we went out and explored Grasmere, which is a really quaint town where Wordsmith is from. We saw the tulip garden and his grave before we found a lake to hike around. The lake, surrounded by mountains and sheep, was simply gorgeous! That walk took us several hours, and by the time we walked around the lake, it was dinner time. We went to this little café and then went back to our hotel. We spent the rest of the evening in the parlour working on our computers. The owners liked to tease us about that.
Day 28 Wednesday 22 April
Woke up for our delicious breakfast, and then spent the day working on essays in the parlour. In the afternoon, I took a two hour break and went on a walk before going back to work on my essays. I spent the evening curled up by the fire in the main parlour and a cup of tea in my hands. Oh, did I forget to mention that I am now a fan of tea?
Day 29 Thursday 23 April
Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday. It rained, though, so I was not so depressed that I had to sit inside and work on essays. This was the perfect day to sit by the fire.
Day 30 Friday 24 April.
Again, Friday was a repeat of Wednesday and Thursday. I finished my essay and started another one. Hannah and I became really depressed that our time at the Lake District was almost over, and we attempted to think of ways to prolong our trip back to Winch and reality.
Day 31 Saturday 25 April
We had our last breakfast there – it was bittersweet. Then we packed our things, took a bus to the Windermere train station, and headed back to Winch. On the train, I had some good personal reflection and devo time. We got back into Winch at about 4 pm, and it felt so good to step onto familiar grounds. It is so good to be back in Winchester, I get this feeling of “home” whenever I come back to Winch after being gone. The walk back to Uni, despite being tired and sore from our rucksacks, was wonderfully splendid. Everything is in full bloom now, and Hannah and I were super psyched to be back, even though it meant no more Lake District! We “broke into” our dorm rooms since we technically weren’t supposed to be back until Sunday at 4. Then Hannah and I went to Sainsbury’s and on a walk before settling into our respective rooms. The rest of the day was low-key – I pretty much unpacked and watched a movie before going to bed.
Day 32 - Sunday 26 April
I woke up at around 6 am because I was freezing sine I didn’t have any of bedding stuff. So I got up and worked on some essay stuff before going on a walk. Then I worked on some essay stuff again. That evening, Hannah and I went to Charlotte’s house to pick up our luggage that Charlotte so kindly stored for us over break (we had to completely move out of our rooms for break) and went back to Alwyn Hall. Then I unpacked and talked to some people on skype. I was “officially” back in Winchester! Happy day!
Pisa to Florence, Florence to Venice
Day 19 - Monday 13 April
Early Monday morning, we left Rome and took a train to Pisa for the day. While there, we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa and two other really cool buildings that I am sure have some great significance, but as to what that is, I’m not sure. And yes, we gave in to our inner nerdy tourists and took pictures “holding” the tower up… it was a moment – or hour – of weakness for us! After satisfying our inner tourists, we wandered the streets of Pisa for awhile, found some grass to lie on, which gave me a rash similar to Laura’s disease de la franc, and relaxed… it was lovely. From there, we took a train to Florence.
Florence
We got to Florence relatively late Monday night, late enough that the buses had already stopped running, which left us relying on our feet for transportation to our hostel. Thus, we ended up walking through a pretty decent chunk of Florence at 9:30 at night. At first we were a little hesitant, but after a few minutes of walking, we reached some of the Florence squares, where tons of people were out, street musicians were playing amazing music, and lights were twinkling along the river. It was magical… I know that sounds cheesy, but it is true – the entire atmosphere was something out of a movie. Eventually we found our hostel, which seemed kind of sketchy at first because it blended in with other houses and didn’t have a sign outside. But our fears were laid to rest when we finally found the office (on the third floor of the building) and checked in. The staff worker took us to our room that ended up being on the 7th floor – kind of annoying because we had to take the steep stairs up 4 more flights of stairs while carrying our enormous rucksacks. But it turned out to be worth it, since the 7th floor was the top floor, and we had our own little “suite” consisting of a little room, a bathroom, and a balcony with an incredibly amazing view of Italianesque houses. We called it our penthouse suite. Once we settled in a little, we had this insane urge to explore Florence some more, so we ventured out… only by that time, most of the city had settled down for the day, but it was still beautiful out, so we decided to stay out. Laura bought a bottle of wine, Hannah bought potato crisps and Jess and I, well, we decided to just mooch off of them. We ended up eating our treats on this huge concrete slab-hill type thing in front of this huge museum across from our hostel and playing ‘hot seat.’ To top it off, the background noise was none other than drums, because there was this huge group in one corner of the lot sitting around banging drums. I don’t know why. Oh, and the next day, we found out that it is illegal to drink outside, which we were really confused about because a lot of people were walking around with open bottles of alcohol… who knows.
Day 20 - Tuesday 14 April
In the morning, we all took turns showering and going to the grocery store. After we were all done, we just chilled on the balcony for a long while, basking in the Tuscan sun and eating our breakfasts/lunches. Then we went up to this hill that overlooks the whole city… the view was spectacular, the weather was perfect, and I was purely content. We spent a while there, then consulted the map to find out where to go next; according to the map, there was another spot a little further away that provided some more spectacular views, so we decided to go there. The “there” turned out to be this old church and cemetery. It was the most amazing cemetery I had ever been in, so aged and beautiful and serene, and I probably could have spent forever and a day there. I spent a little time by myself there, surrounded by brilliant gardens, old gated tombs, and elegant sculptures. God really met me there, and my alone time wasn’t so lonely. Later we went back to our hostel, did some things we needed to take care of online, then just rested. Then we tried finding a relaxed pub to hang out at, but couldn’t find any casual, appealing ones, so we decided to just get some snacks and go back to our hostel, where we watched a movie and fell asleep.
Day 21 - Wednesday 15 April
Wednesday morning we got up, checked out and then took the train to Venice. We took a bus to our hostel that was actually a campsite outside of Venice. The website had said something about that and trailers, but we didn’t really know what to expect. What we got was a pleasant surprise. It was indeed a campsite –right on the water!- with small but nice trailers as the “hostel” rooms. The campground was similar to ones we would have in the States – complete with a restaurant, bar, and camp shop. We spent the afternoon wandering around and sitting by the water and later, checking our e-mail. And that was our first day in Venice.
Day 22 – Thursday 16 April
We took a bus to Venice for the day. Venice is such an amazingly unique place, with quaint bridges, rivers, and boats everywhere, but there isn’t really much to do there other than shop and wander around. Venice has lots of neat glass stuff available from vendors all over the city, so it’s a great place for buying souvenirs. We left in the late afternoon because Jess had to leave to go back to Malta. We accompanied Jess to the airport shuttle stop, then said goodbye. Hannah, Laura, and I went back to CampingFusina and just hung out the rest of the day.
Day 23 – Friday 17 April
Friday was another day spent in Venice. Mission: Souvenirs. Mission: Accomplished. We stayed there until late afternoon, then went back to our little trailer. Hannah and Laura napped while I watched The Breakfast Club. Then Hannah and Laura went to the bar while I packed and did my devos.
Early Monday morning, we left Rome and took a train to Pisa for the day. While there, we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa and two other really cool buildings that I am sure have some great significance, but as to what that is, I’m not sure. And yes, we gave in to our inner nerdy tourists and took pictures “holding” the tower up… it was a moment – or hour – of weakness for us! After satisfying our inner tourists, we wandered the streets of Pisa for awhile, found some grass to lie on, which gave me a rash similar to Laura’s disease de la franc, and relaxed… it was lovely. From there, we took a train to Florence.
Florence
We got to Florence relatively late Monday night, late enough that the buses had already stopped running, which left us relying on our feet for transportation to our hostel. Thus, we ended up walking through a pretty decent chunk of Florence at 9:30 at night. At first we were a little hesitant, but after a few minutes of walking, we reached some of the Florence squares, where tons of people were out, street musicians were playing amazing music, and lights were twinkling along the river. It was magical… I know that sounds cheesy, but it is true – the entire atmosphere was something out of a movie. Eventually we found our hostel, which seemed kind of sketchy at first because it blended in with other houses and didn’t have a sign outside. But our fears were laid to rest when we finally found the office (on the third floor of the building) and checked in. The staff worker took us to our room that ended up being on the 7th floor – kind of annoying because we had to take the steep stairs up 4 more flights of stairs while carrying our enormous rucksacks. But it turned out to be worth it, since the 7th floor was the top floor, and we had our own little “suite” consisting of a little room, a bathroom, and a balcony with an incredibly amazing view of Italianesque houses. We called it our penthouse suite. Once we settled in a little, we had this insane urge to explore Florence some more, so we ventured out… only by that time, most of the city had settled down for the day, but it was still beautiful out, so we decided to stay out. Laura bought a bottle of wine, Hannah bought potato crisps and Jess and I, well, we decided to just mooch off of them. We ended up eating our treats on this huge concrete slab-hill type thing in front of this huge museum across from our hostel and playing ‘hot seat.’ To top it off, the background noise was none other than drums, because there was this huge group in one corner of the lot sitting around banging drums. I don’t know why. Oh, and the next day, we found out that it is illegal to drink outside, which we were really confused about because a lot of people were walking around with open bottles of alcohol… who knows.
Day 20 - Tuesday 14 April
In the morning, we all took turns showering and going to the grocery store. After we were all done, we just chilled on the balcony for a long while, basking in the Tuscan sun and eating our breakfasts/lunches. Then we went up to this hill that overlooks the whole city… the view was spectacular, the weather was perfect, and I was purely content. We spent a while there, then consulted the map to find out where to go next; according to the map, there was another spot a little further away that provided some more spectacular views, so we decided to go there. The “there” turned out to be this old church and cemetery. It was the most amazing cemetery I had ever been in, so aged and beautiful and serene, and I probably could have spent forever and a day there. I spent a little time by myself there, surrounded by brilliant gardens, old gated tombs, and elegant sculptures. God really met me there, and my alone time wasn’t so lonely. Later we went back to our hostel, did some things we needed to take care of online, then just rested. Then we tried finding a relaxed pub to hang out at, but couldn’t find any casual, appealing ones, so we decided to just get some snacks and go back to our hostel, where we watched a movie and fell asleep.
Day 21 - Wednesday 15 April
Wednesday morning we got up, checked out and then took the train to Venice. We took a bus to our hostel that was actually a campsite outside of Venice. The website had said something about that and trailers, but we didn’t really know what to expect. What we got was a pleasant surprise. It was indeed a campsite –right on the water!- with small but nice trailers as the “hostel” rooms. The campground was similar to ones we would have in the States – complete with a restaurant, bar, and camp shop. We spent the afternoon wandering around and sitting by the water and later, checking our e-mail. And that was our first day in Venice.
Day 22 – Thursday 16 April
We took a bus to Venice for the day. Venice is such an amazingly unique place, with quaint bridges, rivers, and boats everywhere, but there isn’t really much to do there other than shop and wander around. Venice has lots of neat glass stuff available from vendors all over the city, so it’s a great place for buying souvenirs. We left in the late afternoon because Jess had to leave to go back to Malta. We accompanied Jess to the airport shuttle stop, then said goodbye. Hannah, Laura, and I went back to CampingFusina and just hung out the rest of the day.
Day 23 – Friday 17 April
Friday was another day spent in Venice. Mission: Souvenirs. Mission: Accomplished. We stayed there until late afternoon, then went back to our little trailer. Hannah and Laura napped while I watched The Breakfast Club. Then Hannah and Laura went to the bar while I packed and did my devos.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Roma... the Eternal City!
Day 16 - Friday 10 April
We arrived at the airport in Rome late Friday morning. From there, we took the metro and a bus to get to our hotel, which turned out to be way outside the main area of Rome. Although it took awhile to get there, it was fairly easy to follow the directions there. By the time we actually left the airport, figured out the transportation to our hotel, and got there, it was mid-afternoon. We checked into our hotel, which was really nice, as it should have been because it was way out of our price range. Hannah and Laura decided right away to drop off their bags and then hit Rome; Jess and I were hesitant about doing this and decided against going. We were tired, crabby, and hungry, so we chose to walk to a grocery store, get some food, and relax in our hotel room. We ended up getting some fancy ice cream, chocolate, and drinks. When we got back to our hotel room, we enjoyed some of the ice cream and chocolate while watching… Bring It On. Seriously. That’s what we did, or at least, attempted to do before we fell asleep only some twenty minutes into the movie. We were awoken by the sound of knocking on our door – Hannah and Laura were back, and it was almost midnight, even though they were supposed to come back at 9! Jess and I couldn’t believe we feel asleep and for that long, but we obviously needed the rest. I was sad, though, that I missed out on what Laura and Hannah experienced – seeing the Pope at the Coliseum! We didn’t think Hannah and Laura would do anything remotely that fun… from then on out, I was determined to see the Pope at some point while in Rome.
Day 17 - Saturday 11 April
We woke up early to go the Vatican museum because we hear the line to get in was crazy ridiculous. So we got there relatively early, waited in a relatively short line, and were in the Vatican museum within a relatively short amount of time. First thing we did once we were in and purchased our tickets was go straight for the Sistine Chapel to see it as empty as possible. It was a good thing we did that first, too, because by the time we left the Chapel, it was crammed full! The Sistine Chapel was amazingly beautiful – I can’t imagine all the hard work and detail put into all the paintings that cover every surface of the chapel! With the chapel visit over, we wandered around the rest of the museum for the morning before heading outside to St. Peter’s Basilica, which is the main cathedral attached to the Vatican. This is where the Pope can be seen on his balcony.
In the afternoon, we decided to go to the Coliseum. On the way to the Metro that would take us there, we ran into some other students from Eau Claire who are also studying at Winch! Crazy! When we got to the Coliseum, we found a tour group that would provide an English tour of not just the Coliseum, but also Palatino Hill and the Roman Forum. At first we were a little nervous about paying the extra money to do it, but once somebody explained to us how the tour worked and that the tour guides were official guides, we decided to do it. Without the tour, the ticket price to get into the Coliseum is 12 euro, but there’s no information on the history of it and the importance of it was. For eight euro more, we could have an official tour guide of not only the Coliseum, but of Palatino Hill and the Roman Forum. It turned out to be an incredible tour and one of the best decisions we made on the trip – we would not have appreciated what we saw if we had not known the history and significance behind it.
The Coliseum – It was interesting to be in a building that has been there for 2000 years – hard to wrap a mind around that when my own country is not even 300 years old. The tour guide told us stories about what took place there, the games between gladiators and wild animals. The arena floor was covered with sand to cover up blood, so whenever the floor became too soaked, more sand was added to the floor. Underneath the floor of the arena were tons of little rooms that were used to hold the animals and gladiators waiting to fight.
Palatino Hill – the hill that Rome was founded on. Story: Romus and Remus, princes abandoned at birth, were found and nursed by a she-wolf before being founded and raised by shepherds and farmers. When they were older and discovered their natural birth rights, they took over the area. We toured the ruins of the large home that became a place on the top of Palatino Hill. The guide for this part of tour was very knowledgeable and told so many different interesting facts and stories, such as how all the different kings added on to the palace and how the palace was completely covered in marble. The marble was later taken from the palace to be used in other important buildings at the end of the monarchy in Rome. Some of the marble flooring is still there, though, and visible. The white marble is native to Rome, but the colored marble comes from all different areas that the Romans conquered. By looking at the different colors, one can tell which lands Rome conquered. After walking through the ruins, we went to the edge of the hill and had a spectacular view of the Roman Forum.
The Roman Forum – the original city area or downtown of Rome.
After our tour, we met up with Jess’ flat mate from Malta, Valeria. Valeria is from Rome, and was actually in Rome for a few days for Easter, so she agreed to show us around that evening. We met up with her and her friend Julia at a metro station near her house. We went back to her home and enjoyed some snacks and wine. It was so good to be able to go into someone’s home and to witness a normal neighborhood, not just the touristy areas, of a city. She then took us out for pizza at this Italian pizza place. Once they were done with their pizza, we all crammed into Valeria’s itsy bitsy car. She drove us to this area that overlooked Rome in a much less touristy area, so it was much less crowded. From there, we saw Rome all lit up – it was spectacular! We got to see the whole city of Rome sparkle at night – so beautiful. Then we took the metro and bus back to our hotel. It was a long, but thrilling, day!
Day 18 - Sunday 12 April – EASTER!
Originally, we had all decided we wanted to go to Vatican for Easter, but after Laura and Hannah experienced firsthand the craziness of the crowds over Easter at events featuring the Pope, they were unsure they wanted to go. So I spent the entire weekend pleading my case to them; I was, after all, very determined to see the Pope at some point. I went to Rome with the expectation of seeing him, and I did not want to be let down after there were other things I really wanted to do that I couldn’t in Spain and Greece. After were found more information on how the Sunday mass and blessing worked, we compromised on leaving early Sunday morning to get there for the blessing; that’s all I wanted was to see the Pope and be blessed by him on Easter… I did not need to sit through two hours of service in a different language. So we got to Vatican at about 11 am, and it was crowded! The service was still going on, which we could see some of it from the large screens. We waited in the “Catholic mosh pit” – a term coined by Hannah – for the service to end and for the Pope to go out on his little balcony and give the blessing in different languages. Right before the Pope came out, the police took away some of the gates that were keeping people from getting closer to the building during the service. This enabled us to move up right before the blessing and to get a better view of the balcony and the Pope. The Pope gave his blessing “May the peace of Christ be with you all.” That was it, short, sweet, to the point. Then we hung out in St. Pete’s Basilica, sitting on the ground eating carrots, while we waited for the crowds around us to clear out. Then we did our own “walking tour” of Rome, which consisted of a bunch of places Valeria told us to go see. We saved the walking tour for Sunday because all the places on the list did not require being open, paying money, or waiting in lines to see it. The places were different piazzas (basically common squares with statues), the Trevi fountain which was extremely busy, the Spanish Steps, and some other buildings. At the Trevi fountain, we threw in our coins to ensure that we would be back to Rome before finding a gelato place. We had absolutely scrumptious gelato (four different scopes each, but they were small) then found a place to sit for awhile, where we were amused by the “grass police” who yelled at anyone who sat on the grass! After a nice sit, we went to the Pantheon, which was cool to see because it’s always mentioned in history books, but it was not really that exciting. There we had another crazy run in, this time with three American girls Jess is studying with in Malta! We chatted with them for a little while, then headed back to our hotel to get a real night’s sleep before heading out to our next holiday spot…
We arrived at the airport in Rome late Friday morning. From there, we took the metro and a bus to get to our hotel, which turned out to be way outside the main area of Rome. Although it took awhile to get there, it was fairly easy to follow the directions there. By the time we actually left the airport, figured out the transportation to our hotel, and got there, it was mid-afternoon. We checked into our hotel, which was really nice, as it should have been because it was way out of our price range. Hannah and Laura decided right away to drop off their bags and then hit Rome; Jess and I were hesitant about doing this and decided against going. We were tired, crabby, and hungry, so we chose to walk to a grocery store, get some food, and relax in our hotel room. We ended up getting some fancy ice cream, chocolate, and drinks. When we got back to our hotel room, we enjoyed some of the ice cream and chocolate while watching… Bring It On. Seriously. That’s what we did, or at least, attempted to do before we fell asleep only some twenty minutes into the movie. We were awoken by the sound of knocking on our door – Hannah and Laura were back, and it was almost midnight, even though they were supposed to come back at 9! Jess and I couldn’t believe we feel asleep and for that long, but we obviously needed the rest. I was sad, though, that I missed out on what Laura and Hannah experienced – seeing the Pope at the Coliseum! We didn’t think Hannah and Laura would do anything remotely that fun… from then on out, I was determined to see the Pope at some point while in Rome.
Day 17 - Saturday 11 April
We woke up early to go the Vatican museum because we hear the line to get in was crazy ridiculous. So we got there relatively early, waited in a relatively short line, and were in the Vatican museum within a relatively short amount of time. First thing we did once we were in and purchased our tickets was go straight for the Sistine Chapel to see it as empty as possible. It was a good thing we did that first, too, because by the time we left the Chapel, it was crammed full! The Sistine Chapel was amazingly beautiful – I can’t imagine all the hard work and detail put into all the paintings that cover every surface of the chapel! With the chapel visit over, we wandered around the rest of the museum for the morning before heading outside to St. Peter’s Basilica, which is the main cathedral attached to the Vatican. This is where the Pope can be seen on his balcony.
In the afternoon, we decided to go to the Coliseum. On the way to the Metro that would take us there, we ran into some other students from Eau Claire who are also studying at Winch! Crazy! When we got to the Coliseum, we found a tour group that would provide an English tour of not just the Coliseum, but also Palatino Hill and the Roman Forum. At first we were a little nervous about paying the extra money to do it, but once somebody explained to us how the tour worked and that the tour guides were official guides, we decided to do it. Without the tour, the ticket price to get into the Coliseum is 12 euro, but there’s no information on the history of it and the importance of it was. For eight euro more, we could have an official tour guide of not only the Coliseum, but of Palatino Hill and the Roman Forum. It turned out to be an incredible tour and one of the best decisions we made on the trip – we would not have appreciated what we saw if we had not known the history and significance behind it.
The Coliseum – It was interesting to be in a building that has been there for 2000 years – hard to wrap a mind around that when my own country is not even 300 years old. The tour guide told us stories about what took place there, the games between gladiators and wild animals. The arena floor was covered with sand to cover up blood, so whenever the floor became too soaked, more sand was added to the floor. Underneath the floor of the arena were tons of little rooms that were used to hold the animals and gladiators waiting to fight.
Palatino Hill – the hill that Rome was founded on. Story: Romus and Remus, princes abandoned at birth, were found and nursed by a she-wolf before being founded and raised by shepherds and farmers. When they were older and discovered their natural birth rights, they took over the area. We toured the ruins of the large home that became a place on the top of Palatino Hill. The guide for this part of tour was very knowledgeable and told so many different interesting facts and stories, such as how all the different kings added on to the palace and how the palace was completely covered in marble. The marble was later taken from the palace to be used in other important buildings at the end of the monarchy in Rome. Some of the marble flooring is still there, though, and visible. The white marble is native to Rome, but the colored marble comes from all different areas that the Romans conquered. By looking at the different colors, one can tell which lands Rome conquered. After walking through the ruins, we went to the edge of the hill and had a spectacular view of the Roman Forum.
The Roman Forum – the original city area or downtown of Rome.
After our tour, we met up with Jess’ flat mate from Malta, Valeria. Valeria is from Rome, and was actually in Rome for a few days for Easter, so she agreed to show us around that evening. We met up with her and her friend Julia at a metro station near her house. We went back to her home and enjoyed some snacks and wine. It was so good to be able to go into someone’s home and to witness a normal neighborhood, not just the touristy areas, of a city. She then took us out for pizza at this Italian pizza place. Once they were done with their pizza, we all crammed into Valeria’s itsy bitsy car. She drove us to this area that overlooked Rome in a much less touristy area, so it was much less crowded. From there, we saw Rome all lit up – it was spectacular! We got to see the whole city of Rome sparkle at night – so beautiful. Then we took the metro and bus back to our hotel. It was a long, but thrilling, day!
Day 18 - Sunday 12 April – EASTER!
Originally, we had all decided we wanted to go to Vatican for Easter, but after Laura and Hannah experienced firsthand the craziness of the crowds over Easter at events featuring the Pope, they were unsure they wanted to go. So I spent the entire weekend pleading my case to them; I was, after all, very determined to see the Pope at some point. I went to Rome with the expectation of seeing him, and I did not want to be let down after there were other things I really wanted to do that I couldn’t in Spain and Greece. After were found more information on how the Sunday mass and blessing worked, we compromised on leaving early Sunday morning to get there for the blessing; that’s all I wanted was to see the Pope and be blessed by him on Easter… I did not need to sit through two hours of service in a different language. So we got to Vatican at about 11 am, and it was crowded! The service was still going on, which we could see some of it from the large screens. We waited in the “Catholic mosh pit” – a term coined by Hannah – for the service to end and for the Pope to go out on his little balcony and give the blessing in different languages. Right before the Pope came out, the police took away some of the gates that were keeping people from getting closer to the building during the service. This enabled us to move up right before the blessing and to get a better view of the balcony and the Pope. The Pope gave his blessing “May the peace of Christ be with you all.” That was it, short, sweet, to the point. Then we hung out in St. Pete’s Basilica, sitting on the ground eating carrots, while we waited for the crowds around us to clear out. Then we did our own “walking tour” of Rome, which consisted of a bunch of places Valeria told us to go see. We saved the walking tour for Sunday because all the places on the list did not require being open, paying money, or waiting in lines to see it. The places were different piazzas (basically common squares with statues), the Trevi fountain which was extremely busy, the Spanish Steps, and some other buildings. At the Trevi fountain, we threw in our coins to ensure that we would be back to Rome before finding a gelato place. We had absolutely scrumptious gelato (four different scopes each, but they were small) then found a place to sit for awhile, where we were amused by the “grass police” who yelled at anyone who sat on the grass! After a nice sit, we went to the Pantheon, which was cool to see because it’s always mentioned in history books, but it was not really that exciting. There we had another crazy run in, this time with three American girls Jess is studying with in Malta! We chatted with them for a little while, then headed back to our hotel to get a real night’s sleep before heading out to our next holiday spot…
Mainland Greece - Athens and Thessaloniki...
Day 11 – Sunday 5 April
We arrived in Athens at roughly 1:00 am, got our bags, and found a nice, cozy spot in the airport. Laura was able to get the most sleep out of all of us – she came equipped with a blanket, eye coverer, and ear plugs with her. I was able to get several hours of sleep off and on, but I spent a majority of my time reading Memoirs of a Geisha. Hannah and Jess didn’t get hardly any sleep. We weren’t the only ones in the airport using the seating area as a makeshift, free hotel, so it was not too awkward, but we still receive our fair share of odd looks. This is not a surprise, since there we were, four young women lying on the floor of an airport surrounded by four very large back packs, plus computer cases and bags of groceries. Though it was not the most comfortable place to stay, it does make for a good story, especially with the “how you doing” story…
Eventually we all woke up, brushed our teeth and attempted to make ourselves look presentable before heading out to find our way in Athens. We bought train tickets into Athens, but were immediately confused as to how to get there, because we spoke no Greek and could not figure out the train stops and transfers that would get us to Larissa station, which is where we needed to get. Tired, grumpy, cold, and hungry, we eventually gave up on figuring out the train system, bought some bus tickets, and took a bus into Athens. Once in Athens, we went to find the train station that we were going to leave that night from to go to Thessaloniki. Train station found, we tried finding the hostel that was going to store our stuff for us for the day, but once again got lost on the way because we did not understand any of the signs in Greek and no one spoke English to help give us directions. We made a rush decision to just find a hotel to stay at because we didn’t want to have to walk all the way to the hostel and we didn’t want to have to spend the night at the sketchy train station. A few blocks from the station we came across Hotel Nana, and on a whim, decided to check price and availability. There was accommodation available for four that was within our price range, so we took it. We ate lunch there before heading off to the Acropolis. There we saw all the old Greek stuff that is pictured in history books and seen in films… it took us only a few hours. It rained, but it didn’t ruin our fun; we were kind of goofy after lack of proper sleep and travel frustrations, so we took silly pictures instead of paying much mind to the history of Athens. Then we went back to Hotel Nana to eat dinner, relax, and have some nutella while watching 4 hours of Malcolm in the Middle with Greek subtitles. By this point we were extremely exhausted and very slap happy – which ended with Hannah falling off her bed.
Day 12 - Monday 6 April
We woke up early to walk with all our luggage through pouring rain to the train station, where we bought our tickets and caught the morning train to Thessaloniki. The train was crowded, and so we had to separate to find seats. We soon discovered that apparently seats are assigned; we concluded that we were not given seats because we purchased our tickets so last minute. Since o one around us spoke English to explain to us what was going on and how the train system worked, we decided to just hunker down in seats until we got kicked out. Hannah and I were lucky enough to pick seats that were never reserved, so we never got kicked out. Jess and Laura each had to move at least five times to stand or switch to different seats as people got on and off the train. Despite the frustrations with the train system, the six-hour train ride was beautiful, going through mountains and along the coast. When we arrived in Thessaloniki, we were greeted by Megan, Hannah’s friend and roommate from Eau Claire.
We started our time out in Thess by first dropping Hannah and Laura’s stuff off at Megan’s apartment and then by finding mine and Jess’ hotel. Transportation went much smoother now that we had Megan with us, and we easily found our hotel, checked in, and dropped our bags off. In the lobby, we met some guy, Pete, from England who was travelling by himself, so Megan invited him to come along with us for crepes and a walk along the water, where we watched the sunset. After that, we went back to Megan’s apartment and ate dinner, Pete included. Then Megan, Hannah, and Laura escorted me, Jess, and Pete back to the hotel. We said goodbye to Pete, who actually lives very close to Winch, so we might meet up with him sometime in May when we are all back from our travels. Jess and I spent the rest of the night just talking and hanging out in our room before going to bed.
Day 13 - Tuesday 7 April
Jess and I met up with Laura and Hannah at Starbucks to fuel ourselves for the day. We spent the day exploring Thessaloniki. First, we walked up this giant hill that had a beautiful view of the whole city and the Aegean Sea. Tired from the hike up the hill in the heat, we spent quite some time just sitting on a bench, admiring the city view and talking, before exploring the rest of the top of the hill. Then we went through the process of finding a taxi to take us to Megan’s school – it took forever to find a taxi that was willing to take four people all the way there. Finally a nice taxi driver took pity on us and agreed to take us wherever we needed to go, but because he couldn’t understand English very well, he had to call his daughter. His daughter then talked to Hannah to find out where we wanted to go and relayed the information back to her father. That done, he took us to A.C.T. (Megan’s school) Hannah, Jess, and Laura played volleyball with Megan and the school team while I, the unathletic one, watched and cleaned out my rather large purse, a task that had been looming in front of me for some time. After volley ball practice was over, Jess and I headed back to our hotel. Back at our hotel, we got ready to go out to a Taverna for Megan’s birthday celebration dinner. Tavernas are basically a Greek version of a pub; you can sit outside, surrounded by tons of lights and other tavernas and people, and order lots of different food that can be served family style. The atmosphere around tavernas is very festive; there are twinkle lights all over, live music, laughter, and employees from all the different tavernas come out and try to convince you to eat at their tavernas. It is quite amusing! Tavernas definitely made the Greece experience better, and it was great to meet some of Megan’s school mates and hear their travel stories and experiences!
Day 14 - Wednesday 8 April
We went to a Halkidiki beach called Pefkohori with Megan and some other girls from her school. The bus ride there cost 10 euro each way and took about two hours one way because the beach is located in one of the northern fingers of Greece, but it was worth it! It was the perfect day for the beach – sunny with clear blue skies and just a slight breeze. Supposedly it is one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Greece, including the islands. Although it was not as beautiful as it will be in the summer, it was awesome to laze around there for about six hours before we had to catch the bus back to Thessaloniki. When we got back to Megan’s, we made dinner, which Megan accidently dropped on the floor when checking to see if it was cooked through; not the slightest phased, everyone else said to just put the food back in the pan and to finish baking it. They ate it; I didn’t… but only because I couldn’t eat it because it had gluten in it. I did try a small taste, and it was still scrumptious despite falling on the floor!
Day 15 - Thursday 9 April
We all decided it would be good to have a morning where we could sleep in and take care of some things, so Jess and I did not meet Hannah and Laura until noon. Once we all met up, we toured the White Tower, which apparently is the main landmark in Thessaloniki. The museum in the tower was somewhat interesting, and allowed us to go to the top of the tower. We liked this, since we like our city views J The hours after that were used to provide us with some shopping time in Aristotle’s Square, which is the bustling center of Thessaloniki lined with tons of shops. I started feeling sick, so I then went back to the hotel that evening while Hannah, Laura, and Jess went to play volleyball again at Megan’s school and then get gyros. I took the solo time to pack, get some things done online that needed to be done, and to call my dad. The phone call turned into a 3 hour conversation, which was good because we got to talk through a lot of different things. Jess, Hannah, and Laura got back to the hotel late that night. Jess and I finished packing while Hannah and Laura hung out in the lobby waiting for us. Jess also ended up booking another hotel in Rome because she felt guilty about sneaking four people into a 2 person hotel room, which is understandable. We were all a little frustrated, because it ended up costing us a lot more because we had to pay for two rooms instead of one, but at least we could have guilt-free consciences. Once we got all our luggage together, hotel plans straightened out, and other last minute details taken care of, we took at taxi to the airport. We slept for a little while in the airport, then got on our 6:30 am flight to Athens. In the Athens airport we slept some more before getting on our flight to Rome. Guess what we did on that flight… yup, we slept. All this little naps amounted to approximately four hours of sleep; that would have to sustain us for the day… because there would be no time for sleeping at the next stop on this crazy adventure for us… ROMA!!!
We arrived in Athens at roughly 1:00 am, got our bags, and found a nice, cozy spot in the airport. Laura was able to get the most sleep out of all of us – she came equipped with a blanket, eye coverer, and ear plugs with her. I was able to get several hours of sleep off and on, but I spent a majority of my time reading Memoirs of a Geisha. Hannah and Jess didn’t get hardly any sleep. We weren’t the only ones in the airport using the seating area as a makeshift, free hotel, so it was not too awkward, but we still receive our fair share of odd looks. This is not a surprise, since there we were, four young women lying on the floor of an airport surrounded by four very large back packs, plus computer cases and bags of groceries. Though it was not the most comfortable place to stay, it does make for a good story, especially with the “how you doing” story…
Eventually we all woke up, brushed our teeth and attempted to make ourselves look presentable before heading out to find our way in Athens. We bought train tickets into Athens, but were immediately confused as to how to get there, because we spoke no Greek and could not figure out the train stops and transfers that would get us to Larissa station, which is where we needed to get. Tired, grumpy, cold, and hungry, we eventually gave up on figuring out the train system, bought some bus tickets, and took a bus into Athens. Once in Athens, we went to find the train station that we were going to leave that night from to go to Thessaloniki. Train station found, we tried finding the hostel that was going to store our stuff for us for the day, but once again got lost on the way because we did not understand any of the signs in Greek and no one spoke English to help give us directions. We made a rush decision to just find a hotel to stay at because we didn’t want to have to walk all the way to the hostel and we didn’t want to have to spend the night at the sketchy train station. A few blocks from the station we came across Hotel Nana, and on a whim, decided to check price and availability. There was accommodation available for four that was within our price range, so we took it. We ate lunch there before heading off to the Acropolis. There we saw all the old Greek stuff that is pictured in history books and seen in films… it took us only a few hours. It rained, but it didn’t ruin our fun; we were kind of goofy after lack of proper sleep and travel frustrations, so we took silly pictures instead of paying much mind to the history of Athens. Then we went back to Hotel Nana to eat dinner, relax, and have some nutella while watching 4 hours of Malcolm in the Middle with Greek subtitles. By this point we were extremely exhausted and very slap happy – which ended with Hannah falling off her bed.
Day 12 - Monday 6 April
We woke up early to walk with all our luggage through pouring rain to the train station, where we bought our tickets and caught the morning train to Thessaloniki. The train was crowded, and so we had to separate to find seats. We soon discovered that apparently seats are assigned; we concluded that we were not given seats because we purchased our tickets so last minute. Since o one around us spoke English to explain to us what was going on and how the train system worked, we decided to just hunker down in seats until we got kicked out. Hannah and I were lucky enough to pick seats that were never reserved, so we never got kicked out. Jess and Laura each had to move at least five times to stand or switch to different seats as people got on and off the train. Despite the frustrations with the train system, the six-hour train ride was beautiful, going through mountains and along the coast. When we arrived in Thessaloniki, we were greeted by Megan, Hannah’s friend and roommate from Eau Claire.
We started our time out in Thess by first dropping Hannah and Laura’s stuff off at Megan’s apartment and then by finding mine and Jess’ hotel. Transportation went much smoother now that we had Megan with us, and we easily found our hotel, checked in, and dropped our bags off. In the lobby, we met some guy, Pete, from England who was travelling by himself, so Megan invited him to come along with us for crepes and a walk along the water, where we watched the sunset. After that, we went back to Megan’s apartment and ate dinner, Pete included. Then Megan, Hannah, and Laura escorted me, Jess, and Pete back to the hotel. We said goodbye to Pete, who actually lives very close to Winch, so we might meet up with him sometime in May when we are all back from our travels. Jess and I spent the rest of the night just talking and hanging out in our room before going to bed.
Day 13 - Tuesday 7 April
Jess and I met up with Laura and Hannah at Starbucks to fuel ourselves for the day. We spent the day exploring Thessaloniki. First, we walked up this giant hill that had a beautiful view of the whole city and the Aegean Sea. Tired from the hike up the hill in the heat, we spent quite some time just sitting on a bench, admiring the city view and talking, before exploring the rest of the top of the hill. Then we went through the process of finding a taxi to take us to Megan’s school – it took forever to find a taxi that was willing to take four people all the way there. Finally a nice taxi driver took pity on us and agreed to take us wherever we needed to go, but because he couldn’t understand English very well, he had to call his daughter. His daughter then talked to Hannah to find out where we wanted to go and relayed the information back to her father. That done, he took us to A.C.T. (Megan’s school) Hannah, Jess, and Laura played volleyball with Megan and the school team while I, the unathletic one, watched and cleaned out my rather large purse, a task that had been looming in front of me for some time. After volley ball practice was over, Jess and I headed back to our hotel. Back at our hotel, we got ready to go out to a Taverna for Megan’s birthday celebration dinner. Tavernas are basically a Greek version of a pub; you can sit outside, surrounded by tons of lights and other tavernas and people, and order lots of different food that can be served family style. The atmosphere around tavernas is very festive; there are twinkle lights all over, live music, laughter, and employees from all the different tavernas come out and try to convince you to eat at their tavernas. It is quite amusing! Tavernas definitely made the Greece experience better, and it was great to meet some of Megan’s school mates and hear their travel stories and experiences!
Day 14 - Wednesday 8 April
We went to a Halkidiki beach called Pefkohori with Megan and some other girls from her school. The bus ride there cost 10 euro each way and took about two hours one way because the beach is located in one of the northern fingers of Greece, but it was worth it! It was the perfect day for the beach – sunny with clear blue skies and just a slight breeze. Supposedly it is one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Greece, including the islands. Although it was not as beautiful as it will be in the summer, it was awesome to laze around there for about six hours before we had to catch the bus back to Thessaloniki. When we got back to Megan’s, we made dinner, which Megan accidently dropped on the floor when checking to see if it was cooked through; not the slightest phased, everyone else said to just put the food back in the pan and to finish baking it. They ate it; I didn’t… but only because I couldn’t eat it because it had gluten in it. I did try a small taste, and it was still scrumptious despite falling on the floor!
Day 15 - Thursday 9 April
We all decided it would be good to have a morning where we could sleep in and take care of some things, so Jess and I did not meet Hannah and Laura until noon. Once we all met up, we toured the White Tower, which apparently is the main landmark in Thessaloniki. The museum in the tower was somewhat interesting, and allowed us to go to the top of the tower. We liked this, since we like our city views J The hours after that were used to provide us with some shopping time in Aristotle’s Square, which is the bustling center of Thessaloniki lined with tons of shops. I started feeling sick, so I then went back to the hotel that evening while Hannah, Laura, and Jess went to play volleyball again at Megan’s school and then get gyros. I took the solo time to pack, get some things done online that needed to be done, and to call my dad. The phone call turned into a 3 hour conversation, which was good because we got to talk through a lot of different things. Jess, Hannah, and Laura got back to the hotel late that night. Jess and I finished packing while Hannah and Laura hung out in the lobby waiting for us. Jess also ended up booking another hotel in Rome because she felt guilty about sneaking four people into a 2 person hotel room, which is understandable. We were all a little frustrated, because it ended up costing us a lot more because we had to pay for two rooms instead of one, but at least we could have guilt-free consciences. Once we got all our luggage together, hotel plans straightened out, and other last minute details taken care of, we took at taxi to the airport. We slept for a little while in the airport, then got on our 6:30 am flight to Athens. In the Athens airport we slept some more before getting on our flight to Rome. Guess what we did on that flight… yup, we slept. All this little naps amounted to approximately four hours of sleep; that would have to sustain us for the day… because there would be no time for sleeping at the next stop on this crazy adventure for us… ROMA!!!
A strange island called Malta...
Malta is this little island located in the Mediterranean off of Sicily. A contradiction of itself, Malta is very behind the times but not. I’m not even sure words can even describe it; it’s a place that one needs to see for oneself, which can be done in just a few short days! My friend Jessica is studying there for the semester, which is what brought me there in the first place. But I’m glad I was able to experience it firsthand, and these are some of the experiences I had…
Day 6 Continued – Tuesday 31 March
After landing in Malta and collecting our bags, we met Jess at the gate. From there, we rushed to make the last bus that would take us to the residency, where we would be spending the next few days. The buses are crazily retro – they were brought to Malta some time ago from England, and the Maltese are very proud of them, which is why the buses are pictured on post cards and key chains and any other souvenir item… Anyway, the bus ride was a bumpy one (which Hannah likes to say would have been more complete had there been cages of chickens on the bus), but one which allowed us to view over 1/3 of the country in just 45 minutes – that is how small Malta is! Once we reached the residency, we checked into our room, which turned out to be a little suite complete with a living room, kitchenette, bedroom, and bathroom. It overlooked the courtyard and pool; that, combined with the colors of the buildings, gave the whole place that amazing island feel! After we settled into our little suite, Jess cooked for us and fed us dinner while we planned the next day’s adventures, then we went to bed.
Day 7 – Wednesday 1 April
After getting ready Wednesday morning, we walked to a local fresh fruit and veggie stand, where we bought our apples for the day. Then we went to Smart, the local big grocery store, for the rest of our food for the day; once our goal of purchasing something of sustenance was reached, Jess headed off to class and Hannah, Laura, and I headed off to a beach, Golden Bay, via the orange and yellow retro Maltese buses. The bus ride itself was a long one, but we enjoyed the scenic route to the bay. Golden Bay itself is gorgeous, but the weather was not too cooperative with our plans; it was windy and cool the entire time. We relaxed on the beach for awhile – reading, eating, and sleeping – until we were too cold to enjoy it. That is what we got for expecting warmer weather on an island in the Mediterranean, and thus not dressing appropriately for cool weather…
After we got back from the beach, we all spent time napping, checking e-mail, or in my case, reading. Once Jess got back from class, we went over to her flat, we did the three M’s: Made Mexican food (tacos, which I hadn’t had since being abroad!), munched, and met some of her flat mates. Her flat mates were wonderfully interesting and fun people from so many different places, such as the U.K., Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and U.S. It was a very entertaining, homey evening spent in a small kitchen with good food and good company!
Day 8 – Thursday 2 April
We started out our day per what has become our routine; woke up, got ready, and went in search of food. We headed right for the fruit and veggie stand for apples, then went to Smart, where we purchased our routine, cheap foods. With our bags loaded with foods and our wallets only somewhat lighter, we headed to Valetta, the capital, with Jess. While there, we wandered around and saw some great views of the country. We spent some time in a garden and then walked up and down some of the streets. There were churches and shrines and statues of biblical figures everywhere – I suppose that’s what happens when over 95 percent of the population is Catholic! Jess had to leave for class then, so Hannah, Laura and I wandered down by the water. On our way to the water, two guys who were giving horse-drawn carriage rides called out to us saying, “Hey pretty ladies, you want a carriage ride?” We chose to nod our heads no and keep walking, paying no attention to them. Hannah was holding her loaf of bread in one hand and her apple in the other, so the guys then called out to us “apple and bread!!!” and laughed. That quickly became our new favorite slogan for our typical daily food allotments – “apple and bread!” or in my case “rice cake and break!” Once we reached the water, we spent a good chunk of time there, eating, taking in the views, and taking more band pictures. It was a wonderful day, sunny and warm, to just relax and meander around a random city. As the day got sunnier and warmed, we decided to go the Mellieha Bay for another go at some beach time. We spent a few hours there, doing the typical beach activities of lounging, talking, napping, reading, and wading. That evening we hopped a bus back to Valetta and then Mdina to meet Jess. Mdina is this old, secluded, walled in city with only about 400 (wealthy) residents, two convents, and a monastery. That is the entire city. It took us only about 30 minutes to walk the entire city, including stopping to enjoy the view of the country and take pictures.
From Mdina, we went back to Jess’ flat, where there was a flat mate dinner happening. The flat mate dinner was so awesome to experience, with fifteen ladies from all over the globe crammed into one very compact kitchen, all cooking and talking and laughing. That environment always makes for a good time…
Day 9 – Friday 3 April
Need I even say we started our day off by going to the fruit stand and Smart? Hannah, Laura, and I went to Marsaxlokk (pronounced Marsh-sla-shlock), which is the fishing village. We spent the morning wandering around there, enjoying the large bay filled with colorful fishing boats and the market along the bay. We then attempted to walk to another bay that was nearby that were supposed to have beaches after asking a local in Marsaxlokk for directions. We were told to just follow the bay for 30, 35 minutes. So we walked along the coast for awhile, following random trails through hills and cliffs. We went slowly, finding random places to take random pictures. As the day progressed, it grew hotter and hotter and we grew more tired and sun burnt, and by the time we arrived to what we think was “Pretty Bay” – which really was not all that pretty- we were ready to head back to Valetta. We got on the first bus we found that would take us to Valetta, collapsed in the seats, and did not move the entire bus ride. When we reached Valetta, we wandered through the streets with only one mission : to find a place that served gelato. We easily found some, indulged ourselves in the scrumptiousness of it, and then went back to the residence. Hannah napped while Laura, Jess, and I made chicken melts. When Hannah woke up, we all sat in Jess’ kitchen eating. Afterwards, we attempted to figure out the game plan for the next day, which would be a travel day. Once the disarray of random bus schedules and travel schedules were sensibly arranged, we tried Malta’s soda, Kinnie, which was plain old nasty… and that is how we spent our last night in Malta.
Day 10 – Saturday 4 April
We went to Smart, loaded up on groceries to last us the next two days, and then headed to the airport on a Maltese bus. A bus that was only supposed to hold 40 people sitting and up to 12 people standing was holding over 60 people, tons of luggage, and a baby buggy. People were all up against each other, and poor Laura who is over 6’3” had people practically sitting on her lap since her legs were in the aisle because they didn’t fit in the seats. To add to the memorable experience, the bus driver was an insane older man who had some anger at other drivers, so there was a lot of honking and Maltese swearing happening during the bus trip. There were also a few times the bus almost got stuck turning a corner on the narrow roads. A bus trip that was only supposed to take 30 minutes turned into a bus trip that took over an hour. Still, we made it to the airport just in time, caught our flight to Rome, and settled in for a six hour layover in Rome on our way to Athens.
The six-hour-layover in Rome was spent wandering the airport, playing around on computers without internet connection, and playing cards. The time passed both quickly and slowly. We then got on our flight to Athens…
Day 6 Continued – Tuesday 31 March
After landing in Malta and collecting our bags, we met Jess at the gate. From there, we rushed to make the last bus that would take us to the residency, where we would be spending the next few days. The buses are crazily retro – they were brought to Malta some time ago from England, and the Maltese are very proud of them, which is why the buses are pictured on post cards and key chains and any other souvenir item… Anyway, the bus ride was a bumpy one (which Hannah likes to say would have been more complete had there been cages of chickens on the bus), but one which allowed us to view over 1/3 of the country in just 45 minutes – that is how small Malta is! Once we reached the residency, we checked into our room, which turned out to be a little suite complete with a living room, kitchenette, bedroom, and bathroom. It overlooked the courtyard and pool; that, combined with the colors of the buildings, gave the whole place that amazing island feel! After we settled into our little suite, Jess cooked for us and fed us dinner while we planned the next day’s adventures, then we went to bed.
Day 7 – Wednesday 1 April
After getting ready Wednesday morning, we walked to a local fresh fruit and veggie stand, where we bought our apples for the day. Then we went to Smart, the local big grocery store, for the rest of our food for the day; once our goal of purchasing something of sustenance was reached, Jess headed off to class and Hannah, Laura, and I headed off to a beach, Golden Bay, via the orange and yellow retro Maltese buses. The bus ride itself was a long one, but we enjoyed the scenic route to the bay. Golden Bay itself is gorgeous, but the weather was not too cooperative with our plans; it was windy and cool the entire time. We relaxed on the beach for awhile – reading, eating, and sleeping – until we were too cold to enjoy it. That is what we got for expecting warmer weather on an island in the Mediterranean, and thus not dressing appropriately for cool weather…
After we got back from the beach, we all spent time napping, checking e-mail, or in my case, reading. Once Jess got back from class, we went over to her flat, we did the three M’s: Made Mexican food (tacos, which I hadn’t had since being abroad!), munched, and met some of her flat mates. Her flat mates were wonderfully interesting and fun people from so many different places, such as the U.K., Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and U.S. It was a very entertaining, homey evening spent in a small kitchen with good food and good company!
Day 8 – Thursday 2 April
We started out our day per what has become our routine; woke up, got ready, and went in search of food. We headed right for the fruit and veggie stand for apples, then went to Smart, where we purchased our routine, cheap foods. With our bags loaded with foods and our wallets only somewhat lighter, we headed to Valetta, the capital, with Jess. While there, we wandered around and saw some great views of the country. We spent some time in a garden and then walked up and down some of the streets. There were churches and shrines and statues of biblical figures everywhere – I suppose that’s what happens when over 95 percent of the population is Catholic! Jess had to leave for class then, so Hannah, Laura and I wandered down by the water. On our way to the water, two guys who were giving horse-drawn carriage rides called out to us saying, “Hey pretty ladies, you want a carriage ride?” We chose to nod our heads no and keep walking, paying no attention to them. Hannah was holding her loaf of bread in one hand and her apple in the other, so the guys then called out to us “apple and bread!!!” and laughed. That quickly became our new favorite slogan for our typical daily food allotments – “apple and bread!” or in my case “rice cake and break!” Once we reached the water, we spent a good chunk of time there, eating, taking in the views, and taking more band pictures. It was a wonderful day, sunny and warm, to just relax and meander around a random city. As the day got sunnier and warmed, we decided to go the Mellieha Bay for another go at some beach time. We spent a few hours there, doing the typical beach activities of lounging, talking, napping, reading, and wading. That evening we hopped a bus back to Valetta and then Mdina to meet Jess. Mdina is this old, secluded, walled in city with only about 400 (wealthy) residents, two convents, and a monastery. That is the entire city. It took us only about 30 minutes to walk the entire city, including stopping to enjoy the view of the country and take pictures.
From Mdina, we went back to Jess’ flat, where there was a flat mate dinner happening. The flat mate dinner was so awesome to experience, with fifteen ladies from all over the globe crammed into one very compact kitchen, all cooking and talking and laughing. That environment always makes for a good time…
Day 9 – Friday 3 April
Need I even say we started our day off by going to the fruit stand and Smart? Hannah, Laura, and I went to Marsaxlokk (pronounced Marsh-sla-shlock), which is the fishing village. We spent the morning wandering around there, enjoying the large bay filled with colorful fishing boats and the market along the bay. We then attempted to walk to another bay that was nearby that were supposed to have beaches after asking a local in Marsaxlokk for directions. We were told to just follow the bay for 30, 35 minutes. So we walked along the coast for awhile, following random trails through hills and cliffs. We went slowly, finding random places to take random pictures. As the day progressed, it grew hotter and hotter and we grew more tired and sun burnt, and by the time we arrived to what we think was “Pretty Bay” – which really was not all that pretty- we were ready to head back to Valetta. We got on the first bus we found that would take us to Valetta, collapsed in the seats, and did not move the entire bus ride. When we reached Valetta, we wandered through the streets with only one mission : to find a place that served gelato. We easily found some, indulged ourselves in the scrumptiousness of it, and then went back to the residence. Hannah napped while Laura, Jess, and I made chicken melts. When Hannah woke up, we all sat in Jess’ kitchen eating. Afterwards, we attempted to figure out the game plan for the next day, which would be a travel day. Once the disarray of random bus schedules and travel schedules were sensibly arranged, we tried Malta’s soda, Kinnie, which was plain old nasty… and that is how we spent our last night in Malta.
Day 10 – Saturday 4 April
We went to Smart, loaded up on groceries to last us the next two days, and then headed to the airport on a Maltese bus. A bus that was only supposed to hold 40 people sitting and up to 12 people standing was holding over 60 people, tons of luggage, and a baby buggy. People were all up against each other, and poor Laura who is over 6’3” had people practically sitting on her lap since her legs were in the aisle because they didn’t fit in the seats. To add to the memorable experience, the bus driver was an insane older man who had some anger at other drivers, so there was a lot of honking and Maltese swearing happening during the bus trip. There were also a few times the bus almost got stuck turning a corner on the narrow roads. A bus trip that was only supposed to take 30 minutes turned into a bus trip that took over an hour. Still, we made it to the airport just in time, caught our flight to Rome, and settled in for a six hour layover in Rome on our way to Athens.
The six-hour-layover in Rome was spent wandering the airport, playing around on computers without internet connection, and playing cards. The time passed both quickly and slowly. We then got on our flight to Athens…
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
When it rains in Barcelona...
Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona
The time had finally come for spring break. Months of relentless dreaming of far away European travels were not in vain as I spent my first five days of break in Barcelona, Spain. The reason Hannah, Laura, and I went there of all places was because we were able to get cheap flights there, and from there, to Malta, our next destination. We really had no idea of what there was to do in Barcelona, but to quote an old popular show, the price was right! So, on Thursday afternoon, as soon as Hannah got out of class, we headed to the train station, went to Stanstead Airport, and were on a flight to Barcelona… and we weren’t disappointed. For despite the fact that we knew next to nothing about the city, we had a blast there, and here’s why…
Day One (Thursday)
We arrived at Girona airport at 8:30 pm. From there, we took an hour-long coach ride into Barcelona, found the metro, and attempted to find our hostel. We didn’t have to try very hard; we easily found the hostel, thanks to very detailed directions from the hostel website. Our hostel was really nice; the staff was extremely friendly, the kitchen was clean, the bathrooms were nothing to cringe at, and the rooms were small but tidy, with no butcher knives lying around. Plus, there was free Wi-Fi, which is always a plus, especially since all three of us decided to lug our laptops with us for our Easter Break Adventure… glad to know it wasn’t all for nothing. So, yeah, after a long day of travel, it was good to find a safe, comfortable place waiting for us. We were asleep in no time.
Day Two (Friday)
We slept in and then took our time getting ready for the day. After all, who wants a demanding time schedule when on vacation? We found a small supermarket, grabbed some random food to go, and then found a nice spot in a park to sit down and enjoy our meals. With gorgeous, warm weather and random food, our trip started out amazingly. When our bellies were full and happy, we wandered around to Espanya and to this huge museum on top of this hill – that we took outdoor escalators to get to! - which provided us with an spectacular view of the city! Views tend to make my heart sing, and this time was no different. From there, we meandered through some gardens, took some crazy awesome “band” pictures (a new obsession of ours in which we take timed pictures in ridiculously ace places that make us look like a band), and just enjoyed being there. The gardens brought us to a road that when crossed, lead to the place where Olympics ’92 were held. The place was enormous, almost empty, and completely futuristic looking! Several hours were spent there as we took for random pictures and walked around, in awe of being at the Olympics place. Once we novelty of being there began to remotely wear off, we headed off in a random direction in hopes of finding the beach. What we found was a sketchy part of the city that was off our map, so we took a bus back to the Espanya. By that time, it was getting to be early evening and we were getting tired, so we headed back to our hostel, stopping at the market on the way to buy some food for dinner. Once we were back at our hostel, we spent some time on the internet and eating, and concluded our evening by watching Across the Universe. I had never seen the movie before, and I loved it. So as we prepared for bed, we blasted the soundtrack and other Beatles music. It was fabulous… but probably not for our neighbors. Haha.
Day Three (Saturday)
It rained pretty much all day Saturday, which was a little bit of a bummer. Due to the bad weather, we had a slow start to the day. We went to the market again, where we discovered squizable nutella. We ate our breakfast in the same park as we had the day before, but that time it wasn’t quite the same. Dreary, drizzly weather does not make for epic breakfasts in the park. Once we were done eating, we went back to the hostel to put warmed clothes on, then wandered around Las Rambas, were we saw tons of random pet vendors, florists, and human statues on the street. Off of that street was this fresh market, with fruit, bread. We all bought some fresh fruit juice – I had kiwi, which was more delicious than I could have even imagined! – and fresh fruit. We then proceeded to go to McDonalds so that we could have a warm, dry place to enjoy our fruit loot from the market. We also bought French fries there, and ate them with our new best friend, the squizable nutella. French fries weren’t the only thing we ate with the nutella, either… we put it on our fruit and rice cakes and bread and cereal. We found such simple joy in just eating nutella on random foods in a random McDonalds in Spain, of all places. I’m pretty sure everyone there thought we were insane; Insane, but extremely happy. That evening, after more wandering around the city, we ate our dinner and watched What a Girl Wants. Only fitting since we ourselves had been to London recently. That evening we went out with some people from the hostel to The Black Cat, where we tried a Harry Potter shot. That is, they line the drinks on the counter, places lemons on top of all them, then light them on fire with this crazy display of some fire baton-looking thing. After that we went to an expensive, sparkly dance club that we were able to get into for free because we went with staff from our hostel. We also received free champagne, which I could not stand, so I dumped most of mine into Laura’s flute. We then salsa-d the night away.
Day Four (Sunday)
We slept in until noon, got ready, and had breakfast/lunch on the rooftop terrace of our hostel. By the time we left our hostel, it was 2 pm. We went to Park Gueill, which was insanely cool. We spent several hours there, then went to Barceloneta beach. We stayed there for several hours, walking along the shore and taking sunset pictures. Then we went back to our hostel, bought some chocolate and Sangria, and watched The Notebook (another first time movie for me)… it was an epic girls night.
Day Five (Monday)
We ate food, went to the beach, froze at the beach, went back to Las Rambas to admire the pet vendors again, and went to Starbucks to warm up. I had a caramel macchiato and a big slice of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Then we went back to our hostel, ate, spent some time posting pictures online, skyped home, and took siestas. At 9, we went back to the big hill with the museum on top, admired the city view at night, and had a dance party in the rain. We also took more random band photos and music videos. It was the perfect ending to our stay in Barcelona.
Day Six (Tuesday)
We left for the coach that would take us to the airport at 10 am. We were on the coach at 11:30, and at the airport at 12:30. Our flight didn't leave until 5, so we spent 4.5 hours in the airport. Then we had a forty minute delay, after we had already borded the plane, due to rain (of course! although bad weather did make it easier to leave Barcelona) during which I fell asleep. At 7:40, we landed in Malta... where the weather was warm and the sky was blue.
When it rains in Barcelona, it shines in Malta!
The time had finally come for spring break. Months of relentless dreaming of far away European travels were not in vain as I spent my first five days of break in Barcelona, Spain. The reason Hannah, Laura, and I went there of all places was because we were able to get cheap flights there, and from there, to Malta, our next destination. We really had no idea of what there was to do in Barcelona, but to quote an old popular show, the price was right! So, on Thursday afternoon, as soon as Hannah got out of class, we headed to the train station, went to Stanstead Airport, and were on a flight to Barcelona… and we weren’t disappointed. For despite the fact that we knew next to nothing about the city, we had a blast there, and here’s why…
Day One (Thursday)
We arrived at Girona airport at 8:30 pm. From there, we took an hour-long coach ride into Barcelona, found the metro, and attempted to find our hostel. We didn’t have to try very hard; we easily found the hostel, thanks to very detailed directions from the hostel website. Our hostel was really nice; the staff was extremely friendly, the kitchen was clean, the bathrooms were nothing to cringe at, and the rooms were small but tidy, with no butcher knives lying around. Plus, there was free Wi-Fi, which is always a plus, especially since all three of us decided to lug our laptops with us for our Easter Break Adventure… glad to know it wasn’t all for nothing. So, yeah, after a long day of travel, it was good to find a safe, comfortable place waiting for us. We were asleep in no time.
Day Two (Friday)
We slept in and then took our time getting ready for the day. After all, who wants a demanding time schedule when on vacation? We found a small supermarket, grabbed some random food to go, and then found a nice spot in a park to sit down and enjoy our meals. With gorgeous, warm weather and random food, our trip started out amazingly. When our bellies were full and happy, we wandered around to Espanya and to this huge museum on top of this hill – that we took outdoor escalators to get to! - which provided us with an spectacular view of the city! Views tend to make my heart sing, and this time was no different. From there, we meandered through some gardens, took some crazy awesome “band” pictures (a new obsession of ours in which we take timed pictures in ridiculously ace places that make us look like a band), and just enjoyed being there. The gardens brought us to a road that when crossed, lead to the place where Olympics ’92 were held. The place was enormous, almost empty, and completely futuristic looking! Several hours were spent there as we took for random pictures and walked around, in awe of being at the Olympics place. Once we novelty of being there began to remotely wear off, we headed off in a random direction in hopes of finding the beach. What we found was a sketchy part of the city that was off our map, so we took a bus back to the Espanya. By that time, it was getting to be early evening and we were getting tired, so we headed back to our hostel, stopping at the market on the way to buy some food for dinner. Once we were back at our hostel, we spent some time on the internet and eating, and concluded our evening by watching Across the Universe. I had never seen the movie before, and I loved it. So as we prepared for bed, we blasted the soundtrack and other Beatles music. It was fabulous… but probably not for our neighbors. Haha.
Day Three (Saturday)
It rained pretty much all day Saturday, which was a little bit of a bummer. Due to the bad weather, we had a slow start to the day. We went to the market again, where we discovered squizable nutella. We ate our breakfast in the same park as we had the day before, but that time it wasn’t quite the same. Dreary, drizzly weather does not make for epic breakfasts in the park. Once we were done eating, we went back to the hostel to put warmed clothes on, then wandered around Las Rambas, were we saw tons of random pet vendors, florists, and human statues on the street. Off of that street was this fresh market, with fruit, bread. We all bought some fresh fruit juice – I had kiwi, which was more delicious than I could have even imagined! – and fresh fruit. We then proceeded to go to McDonalds so that we could have a warm, dry place to enjoy our fruit loot from the market. We also bought French fries there, and ate them with our new best friend, the squizable nutella. French fries weren’t the only thing we ate with the nutella, either… we put it on our fruit and rice cakes and bread and cereal. We found such simple joy in just eating nutella on random foods in a random McDonalds in Spain, of all places. I’m pretty sure everyone there thought we were insane; Insane, but extremely happy. That evening, after more wandering around the city, we ate our dinner and watched What a Girl Wants. Only fitting since we ourselves had been to London recently. That evening we went out with some people from the hostel to The Black Cat, where we tried a Harry Potter shot. That is, they line the drinks on the counter, places lemons on top of all them, then light them on fire with this crazy display of some fire baton-looking thing. After that we went to an expensive, sparkly dance club that we were able to get into for free because we went with staff from our hostel. We also received free champagne, which I could not stand, so I dumped most of mine into Laura’s flute. We then salsa-d the night away.
Day Four (Sunday)
We slept in until noon, got ready, and had breakfast/lunch on the rooftop terrace of our hostel. By the time we left our hostel, it was 2 pm. We went to Park Gueill, which was insanely cool. We spent several hours there, then went to Barceloneta beach. We stayed there for several hours, walking along the shore and taking sunset pictures. Then we went back to our hostel, bought some chocolate and Sangria, and watched The Notebook (another first time movie for me)… it was an epic girls night.
Day Five (Monday)
We ate food, went to the beach, froze at the beach, went back to Las Rambas to admire the pet vendors again, and went to Starbucks to warm up. I had a caramel macchiato and a big slice of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Then we went back to our hostel, ate, spent some time posting pictures online, skyped home, and took siestas. At 9, we went back to the big hill with the museum on top, admired the city view at night, and had a dance party in the rain. We also took more random band photos and music videos. It was the perfect ending to our stay in Barcelona.
Day Six (Tuesday)
We left for the coach that would take us to the airport at 10 am. We were on the coach at 11:30, and at the airport at 12:30. Our flight didn't leave until 5, so we spent 4.5 hours in the airport. Then we had a forty minute delay, after we had already borded the plane, due to rain (of course! although bad weather did make it easier to leave Barcelona) during which I fell asleep. At 7:40, we landed in Malta... where the weather was warm and the sky was blue.
When it rains in Barcelona, it shines in Malta!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
A Week Went By...
Wow, before I even know it, a week has gone by since I last wrote. It's been one crazy week, with filled with many different adventures, adventures that I could talk for days, or at least hours, about. But I won't. So here's the abridged version:
Wednesday, March 18
- Went to class, then Maria and I went to lunch at O'Neills
- Took a train to London in the early afternoon
- Went to the Tower of London, which was much cooler than I thought it would be! And the crowned jewels are pretty spectacular, too...
- Maria and I attempted to go to King's Cross Platform 9 3/4 (from Harry Potter) but we couldn't figure out how to get to the platform without having to buy a ticket, which was sad
- Left for Paris at 8:30 pm... via bus. Again.
Thursday, March 19
- Arrived in Paris at 6 am
- Went to Notre Dame and then St. Chapelle
- Went to our hotel (the same hotel I stayed in last time I went to Paris) and took a catnap
- Musee O'rsay - saw some Monet!
- We ate at a scrumptioius French cafe/restaurant for dinner, and had mousse chocolate for dessert - Mmm!
- Mickey D'd it for some interenet to check e-mail, then went to bed early
Friday, March 20
~ DISNEYLAND PARIS (where Maria and I met up with my Jess - it was fab.u.lous!
Saturday, March 21
- More Paris, this time with Jess included... Notre Dame, the Louvre, Champs Elysees, Arc D'Triumphe, Eiffel Tower...
- Left at 11pm for London
Sunday, March 22
- Arrived in London at 6am
- Wondered around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens for a few hours, it was a beautiful day for that! While there, we saw the Princess Di Memoraial.
- Went to Westminster Abby (which was closed) and the Houses of Parliament
- Went to Buckingham Palace, and wandered through a park to get there, which was really cool
- Saw the Rosetta Stone at the British Musuem
- Took the train back to Winch at 3 pm, and just hung out in Winch
Monday, March 23
- Class
- Went to the city centre with Maria - a trip that included Shake-Away for some nutella (!) shakes, Sainsburys, and some chocolate shoppes...
- Walked with Maria to the bus stop that would take her to Heathrow - it started raining, the first time it rained while Maria was here. Cray-zee. We said good-bye in the rain, it was epic.
- Went back to Uni and worked on essays and other things, such as spring break plans
Tuesday, March 24
- Classes
- Spring Break Planning
- Cell Group, which went really well. I'm enjoying being back in a bible study; I can tell it has been missing in my life.
Today
- Class
- Finished packing all my stuff - students on campus are required to completely move out of their rooms over spring break. Hannah and I lugged all our belongings to Charlotte's, who was generous enough to let us keep our stuff there over break - for free.
- More spring break planning and preparing
And tomorrow... tomorrow I leave for Easter Break. First Stop: Barcelona! Bring on the adventure, I'm ready!
-
Wednesday, March 18
- Went to class, then Maria and I went to lunch at O'Neills
- Took a train to London in the early afternoon
- Went to the Tower of London, which was much cooler than I thought it would be! And the crowned jewels are pretty spectacular, too...
- Maria and I attempted to go to King's Cross Platform 9 3/4 (from Harry Potter) but we couldn't figure out how to get to the platform without having to buy a ticket, which was sad
- Left for Paris at 8:30 pm... via bus. Again.
Thursday, March 19
- Arrived in Paris at 6 am
- Went to Notre Dame and then St. Chapelle
- Went to our hotel (the same hotel I stayed in last time I went to Paris) and took a catnap
- Musee O'rsay - saw some Monet!
- We ate at a scrumptioius French cafe/restaurant for dinner, and had mousse chocolate for dessert - Mmm!
- Mickey D'd it for some interenet to check e-mail, then went to bed early
Friday, March 20
~ DISNEYLAND PARIS (where Maria and I met up with my Jess - it was fab.u.lous!
Saturday, March 21
- More Paris, this time with Jess included... Notre Dame, the Louvre, Champs Elysees, Arc D'Triumphe, Eiffel Tower...
- Left at 11pm for London
Sunday, March 22
- Arrived in London at 6am
- Wondered around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens for a few hours, it was a beautiful day for that! While there, we saw the Princess Di Memoraial.
- Went to Westminster Abby (which was closed) and the Houses of Parliament
- Went to Buckingham Palace, and wandered through a park to get there, which was really cool
- Saw the Rosetta Stone at the British Musuem
- Took the train back to Winch at 3 pm, and just hung out in Winch
Monday, March 23
- Class
- Went to the city centre with Maria - a trip that included Shake-Away for some nutella (!) shakes, Sainsburys, and some chocolate shoppes...
- Walked with Maria to the bus stop that would take her to Heathrow - it started raining, the first time it rained while Maria was here. Cray-zee. We said good-bye in the rain, it was epic.
- Went back to Uni and worked on essays and other things, such as spring break plans
Tuesday, March 24
- Classes
- Spring Break Planning
- Cell Group, which went really well. I'm enjoying being back in a bible study; I can tell it has been missing in my life.
Today
- Class
- Finished packing all my stuff - students on campus are required to completely move out of their rooms over spring break. Hannah and I lugged all our belongings to Charlotte's, who was generous enough to let us keep our stuff there over break - for free.
- More spring break planning and preparing
And tomorrow... tomorrow I leave for Easter Break. First Stop: Barcelona! Bring on the adventure, I'm ready!
-
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
In London, then Winch
So, here's just a quick update on what's been happening the last few days...
Saturday:
Maria and I went on a double-decker bus tour of London, it was fabulous! We also did a tour of the Tower Bridge, which provided us with some beautiful views of the city. A few hours were spent just walking along the river and enjoying the mass amount of random street perfmormers - perhaps one of my favorite passtimes! Then we continued on the bus tour. That evening we ventured back to the river walk and went on the London Eye - spectacular view of London at night, with pretty sparkly lights. Pictures from it did not turn out quite so spectacular, but it was definately an awesome experience! We then went back to the hotel and tried to go to bed early.
Sunday:
Maria sneaked out of the hotel before I checked out, since technically I had a single room. After I checked out, I met her at a little market, then she and I went on the entire bus tour again because our ticked was good for 24 hours. We were going to take time to go to Westminster and do some other things, but we began to worry about the time crunch, so we decided to do Westminster and other things when we go back to London to leave for Paris, which is actually tomorrow. After we went on the entire tour route, Maria and I got off the bus and just wondered around Hyde Park and the Kensington Gardens before collecting our luggage from the hotel and going to Victoria Coach Station. At 4:30, we left the Coach Station for Winchester. At 6:15, we were back in Winch and had to walk 25 mins with all Maria's luggage plus my weekend bag to campus. It was a long walk. When we got back, we just hung out in my room for the rest of the night, talking, eating tootsie rolls, and attempting to watch "27 Dresses." We then went to bed early.
Monday:
I had class from 9-11, then Maria and I had lunch together. Then I worked on essays and travel arrangements for a few hours while Maria wandered around Winch. We met back up and had dinner together in the Game Room, then went on an hour long walk down High Street in the City Center while we waited for "27 Dresses" to load online. It didn't, so we ended up once again just watching another tv show and talking, which was nice and relaxing.
Today:
Class, lunch with Maria, worked on essays. In 30 mins I have another class, at which I have to present the research on my essay topic, Children's Struggle for Mental Health Care in the United States. Does that topic come as a surprise to anyone? haha. I will finish class at 5, then work some more on essays. Then Maria and I will go eat dinner, I'll do some laundray before Paris, and then we'll probably just chill out and get ready for Paris tomorrow! It's going to be a busy rest of the week!
I can't wait!
Saturday:
Maria and I went on a double-decker bus tour of London, it was fabulous! We also did a tour of the Tower Bridge, which provided us with some beautiful views of the city. A few hours were spent just walking along the river and enjoying the mass amount of random street perfmormers - perhaps one of my favorite passtimes! Then we continued on the bus tour. That evening we ventured back to the river walk and went on the London Eye - spectacular view of London at night, with pretty sparkly lights. Pictures from it did not turn out quite so spectacular, but it was definately an awesome experience! We then went back to the hotel and tried to go to bed early.
Sunday:
Maria sneaked out of the hotel before I checked out, since technically I had a single room. After I checked out, I met her at a little market, then she and I went on the entire bus tour again because our ticked was good for 24 hours. We were going to take time to go to Westminster and do some other things, but we began to worry about the time crunch, so we decided to do Westminster and other things when we go back to London to leave for Paris, which is actually tomorrow. After we went on the entire tour route, Maria and I got off the bus and just wondered around Hyde Park and the Kensington Gardens before collecting our luggage from the hotel and going to Victoria Coach Station. At 4:30, we left the Coach Station for Winchester. At 6:15, we were back in Winch and had to walk 25 mins with all Maria's luggage plus my weekend bag to campus. It was a long walk. When we got back, we just hung out in my room for the rest of the night, talking, eating tootsie rolls, and attempting to watch "27 Dresses." We then went to bed early.
Monday:
I had class from 9-11, then Maria and I had lunch together. Then I worked on essays and travel arrangements for a few hours while Maria wandered around Winch. We met back up and had dinner together in the Game Room, then went on an hour long walk down High Street in the City Center while we waited for "27 Dresses" to load online. It didn't, so we ended up once again just watching another tv show and talking, which was nice and relaxing.
Today:
Class, lunch with Maria, worked on essays. In 30 mins I have another class, at which I have to present the research on my essay topic, Children's Struggle for Mental Health Care in the United States. Does that topic come as a surprise to anyone? haha. I will finish class at 5, then work some more on essays. Then Maria and I will go eat dinner, I'll do some laundray before Paris, and then we'll probably just chill out and get ready for Paris tomorrow! It's going to be a busy rest of the week!
I can't wait!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
A WiCkEd Weekend [insert heart here]
This weekend has barely started, and already it's great! Yesterday evening, Laura, Kristin, Whitney, and I went to see Wicked. I had never seen the show before, but have heard constantly for the past few years about how wonderiful it was and how I must go. So yesterday, I went. I love saying I saw Wicked... in London! It was a.ma.zing! Loved, loved, loved it! And if you haven't been, do go see it! During the show, all I could think was that I wish my life were a musical... so if you hear me singing a lot when I get back to the states, that's just me trying to make a reality out of my dreams.
This morning, I woke up in London at 6:15 am, and left for Heathrow Airport to meet Maria, my good friend from Neenah. By 8:00, I was rushing through terminal 5 trying to find her because I was running late because of metro delays... and there she was! We met up without a hitch - ah, success! Now, we are back at the hotel, and I am blogging while she takes a quick nap after a long flight. And then we'll be off to explore London - a first for both of us, since I have not spent a weekend, or even a day, in London until now!
So, we'll just have to see what this weekend brings us... whatever it is, I know it will be WiCkEd!
Peace out :)
This morning, I woke up in London at 6:15 am, and left for Heathrow Airport to meet Maria, my good friend from Neenah. By 8:00, I was rushing through terminal 5 trying to find her because I was running late because of metro delays... and there she was! We met up without a hitch - ah, success! Now, we are back at the hotel, and I am blogging while she takes a quick nap after a long flight. And then we'll be off to explore London - a first for both of us, since I have not spent a weekend, or even a day, in London until now!
So, we'll just have to see what this weekend brings us... whatever it is, I know it will be WiCkEd!
Peace out :)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Tales from Ireland and Other Bits from Life in General...
Alrighty, it's been awhile since I've last blogged, so I'm going to attempt to highlight what has been going on over the past week, just my experiences in Ireland and my activities in Winchester. Still, it could be a long read, so maybe you'll want to grab a cup of coffee, or perhaps a spot of tea before settling in to read...
DUBLIN, IRELAND... with Hannah, Laura, and Lauren
Thursday, March 5
- Leave for DUBLIN, IRELAND - 3 methods of transportation to get there: train, coach, plane
- Arrived at hostel, Jacobs Inn, mid-afternoon. There could be a seperate blog on the tales of what would happen there over one weekend, but basically the hostel featured a random butcher knife on the floor of a room, 4 missing passports and wallets, an unintelligent thief, and two crazy sisters who lived there...
- Pub, The Boar's Head, for dinner - quite the tasty food
- Nap
- Pubs for a ridiculously expensive drink and live music - but what else is there to do there?
Friday, March 6
- Wild Wicklow Tour, a day-long coach tour that took a group of about 30 people on a tour of the Wicklow Mountains and country-side.
- Saw the P.S. I LOVE YOU bridge!!!
- Met some other exchange students from the U.S. and Canada who are studying in France
- Met up with those students in the evening for some live music at Porterhouse
Saturday, March 7
- Wandered around in the morning until we found THE Guinness factory, which we then toured - I had a soda at the top, because I can't drink beer... which is ok, because I'm told that it's nasty
- Toured the Dublin Castle, not quite what it was cracked up to be, but neat nontheless
- Shopping
- Hung out at the hostel (night of the "big heist")
- Super-market supper and a movie at the hostel
Sunday, March 8
- Ate breakfast, checked out of Jacobs Inn... happy day
- Reverse travel back to Winchester: plane, coach, train
- Plane was literally struck by lightening, but nothing severe occurred because of it
- Back in Winchester, safe and sound
Monday - Wednesday, the 9th-the 11th
- Worked on essays, which are extremely difficult to focus on
- More planning for spring break - am no longer stuck in Malta or Greece
- Got the song "Something Beautiful" stuck in my head - amazing song, major revelation to me, listen to it if you have the chance, or if you have never heard it before... it's by Newsboys
- Went to cell group, or bible study... it was good to finally feel connected in fellowship and in the word with other students
And that has been my week. I can't wait to see what the next few weeks will bring, especially as I have to finish my first round of essays while travelling and visiting with dear friends. Even more importantly, I can't wait to learn more about what God has in store for me, the beginnings He's going to give me...
DUBLIN, IRELAND... with Hannah, Laura, and Lauren
Thursday, March 5
- Leave for DUBLIN, IRELAND - 3 methods of transportation to get there: train, coach, plane
- Arrived at hostel, Jacobs Inn, mid-afternoon. There could be a seperate blog on the tales of what would happen there over one weekend, but basically the hostel featured a random butcher knife on the floor of a room, 4 missing passports and wallets, an unintelligent thief, and two crazy sisters who lived there...
- Pub, The Boar's Head, for dinner - quite the tasty food
- Nap
- Pubs for a ridiculously expensive drink and live music - but what else is there to do there?
Friday, March 6
- Wild Wicklow Tour, a day-long coach tour that took a group of about 30 people on a tour of the Wicklow Mountains and country-side.
- Saw the P.S. I LOVE YOU bridge!!!
- Met some other exchange students from the U.S. and Canada who are studying in France
- Met up with those students in the evening for some live music at Porterhouse
Saturday, March 7
- Wandered around in the morning until we found THE Guinness factory, which we then toured - I had a soda at the top, because I can't drink beer... which is ok, because I'm told that it's nasty
- Toured the Dublin Castle, not quite what it was cracked up to be, but neat nontheless
- Shopping
- Hung out at the hostel (night of the "big heist")
- Super-market supper and a movie at the hostel
Sunday, March 8
- Ate breakfast, checked out of Jacobs Inn... happy day
- Reverse travel back to Winchester: plane, coach, train
- Plane was literally struck by lightening, but nothing severe occurred because of it
- Back in Winchester, safe and sound
Monday - Wednesday, the 9th-the 11th
- Worked on essays, which are extremely difficult to focus on
- More planning for spring break - am no longer stuck in Malta or Greece
- Got the song "Something Beautiful" stuck in my head - amazing song, major revelation to me, listen to it if you have the chance, or if you have never heard it before... it's by Newsboys
- Went to cell group, or bible study... it was good to finally feel connected in fellowship and in the word with other students
And that has been my week. I can't wait to see what the next few weeks will bring, especially as I have to finish my first round of essays while travelling and visiting with dear friends. Even more importantly, I can't wait to learn more about what God has in store for me, the beginnings He's going to give me...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Hello before Goodbye
Hi everyone!
Just a quick hello before I leave for IRELAND in an hour! I know it's been awhile since I last blogged, with the exception of my prayer request post, so I thought I would just give a quick summary of how things have been here...
Things have been good here, which has not been mirrored in the weather, as there have been random bursts of bad storms and hail the last few days. Papers are still a struggle to complete, but my classes are enjoyable and the content; interesting. There hasn't been anything really new to relay, but I have been working on planning spring break with Hannah and Laura, the Eau Claire ladies I will be travelling with. So far we know we will go to Barcelona, Spain, the first weekend, then fly to Malta on a Tuesday. We already have tickets booked for those two places, and we know where we want to go after Malta, but we are having difficulties getting OUT of Malta! Oh, well, it will all work out. Gotta keep the faith!
Living arrangements have been made for next year, which for me, is a major stress-reliever as I was completely beffudled by how to go about signing up for a room and with my roomie and all that jazz. But apparently, I was one step ahead of myself and filled out the forms prior to leaving for study abroad. Go me. As you all know, I didn't get an RA position that I had applied for last fall, but out of perceived bad things come good things... wonderful things. I'll get to spend another semester on my friend Lindsay's wing (great friend and RA! yay!), room with my friend Jess (double yay!) and be joined by our friend Aimee and some other really amazing people (triple yay!). So, yeah, a lot of yays, but that completely describes next fall. I'm excited at the prospect of going back to the States and Eau Claire and being surrounded by good friends. That's one of the things I dislike the most about Winch Uni - haivng a single room and not being near friends. Next year is going to be awesome.
Well, friends, now that I have shared pretty much everything that is going on here, it is time for me to say goodbye and finish getting ready to leave for Ireland... so...
Goodbye! Ciao! I'll be back in a few days with more tales of travel adventure to tell... this time of the Irish sort :)
Just a quick hello before I leave for IRELAND in an hour! I know it's been awhile since I last blogged, with the exception of my prayer request post, so I thought I would just give a quick summary of how things have been here...
Things have been good here, which has not been mirrored in the weather, as there have been random bursts of bad storms and hail the last few days. Papers are still a struggle to complete, but my classes are enjoyable and the content; interesting. There hasn't been anything really new to relay, but I have been working on planning spring break with Hannah and Laura, the Eau Claire ladies I will be travelling with. So far we know we will go to Barcelona, Spain, the first weekend, then fly to Malta on a Tuesday. We already have tickets booked for those two places, and we know where we want to go after Malta, but we are having difficulties getting OUT of Malta! Oh, well, it will all work out. Gotta keep the faith!
Living arrangements have been made for next year, which for me, is a major stress-reliever as I was completely beffudled by how to go about signing up for a room and with my roomie and all that jazz. But apparently, I was one step ahead of myself and filled out the forms prior to leaving for study abroad. Go me. As you all know, I didn't get an RA position that I had applied for last fall, but out of perceived bad things come good things... wonderful things. I'll get to spend another semester on my friend Lindsay's wing (great friend and RA! yay!), room with my friend Jess (double yay!) and be joined by our friend Aimee and some other really amazing people (triple yay!). So, yeah, a lot of yays, but that completely describes next fall. I'm excited at the prospect of going back to the States and Eau Claire and being surrounded by good friends. That's one of the things I dislike the most about Winch Uni - haivng a single room and not being near friends. Next year is going to be awesome.
Well, friends, now that I have shared pretty much everything that is going on here, it is time for me to say goodbye and finish getting ready to leave for Ireland... so...
Goodbye! Ciao! I'll be back in a few days with more tales of travel adventure to tell... this time of the Irish sort :)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Adventure to Paris!
Bonjour!
This past weekend in Paris was amazing and tiring and exciting and frustrating! Laura and I got to London at about 5 pm on Thursday, then ate dinner at a pub before going to the coach station. When we got to the coach station, we went to an information desk to find out where we were supposed to check in and we were greeted by a completely rude person who was no help, so we ended up in a sitting area (that had pigeons flying around!) hoping we were in the right place. We were, no thanks to the information personnel. At 8:30, we boarded the coach and were off to Paris.
We arove in Paris at 6:00 am, with no euros and no clue where we were. Without euros, we couldn't buy a map of Paris and metro (subway) tickets, so we were in desperate need to find an ATM, because oddly there was not one at the coach and metro station. All the surround stores were closed, which made it difficult for us to find someone to ask where an ATM was, but after a few inquiries at different hotels, Laura and I managed to find an ATM to get euros. At 7:30, we bought a map and metro tickets and, winging it, we were off to inner Paris. When we got off the metro, we were across the rue (road) from Notre Dame, so we went there right with our luggage away since we couldn't check into our hotel until 2. After wandering around Notre Dame and some surrounding parks for awhile, we set off to find our hotel. It was a tiring trip there because we had been carrying our luggage for over 7 hours, but we found the hotel easily and checked in with no problem. It was such a cute hotel!
Once we were there, we rested for about an hour, then headed out in food and things to do. We ended up walking through the Luxembourg Garden and seeing the palace, then ate at... ooh, I'm ashamed to admite it... McDonald's. But only because we were hungry and couldn't find a place I could eat at for a reasonable price. Afterwards we meandered until we found the Louvre and some arc that Laura thought was the Arc de Triumph (but wasn't). By that time it was getting a little darker, and the city lights were shining brightly... it was beautiful! And we could see the Eiffel Tower and monuments at a distance, simply stunning! We just stared out at the skies for awhile, soaking the city lights up, then made the long trek back to our hotel because we were tired and soar. We were in bed by 9.
9 am is when we woke up to a knock on the door... Aimee, my friend from Eau Claire who is studying in Northern France, had arrived! So Laura and I quickly got up and ready, and then planned out the day with Aimee. We did so much on Saturday - we ate breakest at a little French patisserie, we went to Sainte Chapelle, which is this beautiful church with stained glass windows depicting the entire bible, walked around some gorgeous parks and old streets, ate lunch, spent hours at the Louvre, then walked down the famous Avenue Champs-Elysees (which we ate dinner on) to the L'Arc du Triumphe. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower, which is amazing when it's all lit up at night, glittering and sparkling on the hour. Almost as beautiful as the tower at night was the view of the city lights from the top of the tower. When we finally made it back down to the ground after a long wait in line for the elevator, we enjoyed some cotton candy, then took a taxi back to our hotel. It was almost midnight.
Sunday was a little more relaxed. We ate breakfast, then went to Notre Dame and walked around the ile de cite. Then we went to Montmarte, which is the huge hill with an old church on top, and a view of the city that is breathless. This was followed by more wandering around, then we went to this French cafe for dinner - the food was scrumptious, but it took over two hours, leaving Laura and me in a panick when we realized it was already 7:30. We still needed to go back to the hotel, which is over a 1/2 hour walk away, to get our bags and be to the coach station by 9! We booked it to the hotel after paying for dinner, grabbed our bags, said a too-quick goodbye to Aimee, and were off in search of the nearest metro entrance. It was 8:55 before we found one, then we needed to find the route to get to the bus station. By the time we got there, it was 9:45! Luckily, they were still allowing people to check in - there were even a few people who arrived right after we did, out of breath just as Laura and I were. Laura and I almost collapsed in a mixture of laughter and happiness that all that panicking was over and we wouldn't miss our bus.
We boarded the bus at 10 pm, got back to London at 5:15 (almost an hour earlier than we were scheduled to be back), made our way to the underground, figured out how to get to the train station, and got to the train station. Literally two minutes before the train was scheduled to leave, we were on it. It was a good thing our bus was earlier, because the train ride back took 45 minutes longer than it was supposed to, and we didn't get back to Winchester until after 8, and we both had 9 am classes.
Perhaps we were crazy to take a bus to Paris and to push the time the way we did coming back, but it was worth every minute! And now, I have to adjust back to the reality of school and essays and readings... story of my life.
This past weekend in Paris was amazing and tiring and exciting and frustrating! Laura and I got to London at about 5 pm on Thursday, then ate dinner at a pub before going to the coach station. When we got to the coach station, we went to an information desk to find out where we were supposed to check in and we were greeted by a completely rude person who was no help, so we ended up in a sitting area (that had pigeons flying around!) hoping we were in the right place. We were, no thanks to the information personnel. At 8:30, we boarded the coach and were off to Paris.
We arove in Paris at 6:00 am, with no euros and no clue where we were. Without euros, we couldn't buy a map of Paris and metro (subway) tickets, so we were in desperate need to find an ATM, because oddly there was not one at the coach and metro station. All the surround stores were closed, which made it difficult for us to find someone to ask where an ATM was, but after a few inquiries at different hotels, Laura and I managed to find an ATM to get euros. At 7:30, we bought a map and metro tickets and, winging it, we were off to inner Paris. When we got off the metro, we were across the rue (road) from Notre Dame, so we went there right with our luggage away since we couldn't check into our hotel until 2. After wandering around Notre Dame and some surrounding parks for awhile, we set off to find our hotel. It was a tiring trip there because we had been carrying our luggage for over 7 hours, but we found the hotel easily and checked in with no problem. It was such a cute hotel!
Once we were there, we rested for about an hour, then headed out in food and things to do. We ended up walking through the Luxembourg Garden and seeing the palace, then ate at... ooh, I'm ashamed to admite it... McDonald's. But only because we were hungry and couldn't find a place I could eat at for a reasonable price. Afterwards we meandered until we found the Louvre and some arc that Laura thought was the Arc de Triumph (but wasn't). By that time it was getting a little darker, and the city lights were shining brightly... it was beautiful! And we could see the Eiffel Tower and monuments at a distance, simply stunning! We just stared out at the skies for awhile, soaking the city lights up, then made the long trek back to our hotel because we were tired and soar. We were in bed by 9.
9 am is when we woke up to a knock on the door... Aimee, my friend from Eau Claire who is studying in Northern France, had arrived! So Laura and I quickly got up and ready, and then planned out the day with Aimee. We did so much on Saturday - we ate breakest at a little French patisserie, we went to Sainte Chapelle, which is this beautiful church with stained glass windows depicting the entire bible, walked around some gorgeous parks and old streets, ate lunch, spent hours at the Louvre, then walked down the famous Avenue Champs-Elysees (which we ate dinner on) to the L'Arc du Triumphe. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower, which is amazing when it's all lit up at night, glittering and sparkling on the hour. Almost as beautiful as the tower at night was the view of the city lights from the top of the tower. When we finally made it back down to the ground after a long wait in line for the elevator, we enjoyed some cotton candy, then took a taxi back to our hotel. It was almost midnight.
Sunday was a little more relaxed. We ate breakfast, then went to Notre Dame and walked around the ile de cite. Then we went to Montmarte, which is the huge hill with an old church on top, and a view of the city that is breathless. This was followed by more wandering around, then we went to this French cafe for dinner - the food was scrumptious, but it took over two hours, leaving Laura and me in a panick when we realized it was already 7:30. We still needed to go back to the hotel, which is over a 1/2 hour walk away, to get our bags and be to the coach station by 9! We booked it to the hotel after paying for dinner, grabbed our bags, said a too-quick goodbye to Aimee, and were off in search of the nearest metro entrance. It was 8:55 before we found one, then we needed to find the route to get to the bus station. By the time we got there, it was 9:45! Luckily, they were still allowing people to check in - there were even a few people who arrived right after we did, out of breath just as Laura and I were. Laura and I almost collapsed in a mixture of laughter and happiness that all that panicking was over and we wouldn't miss our bus.
We boarded the bus at 10 pm, got back to London at 5:15 (almost an hour earlier than we were scheduled to be back), made our way to the underground, figured out how to get to the train station, and got to the train station. Literally two minutes before the train was scheduled to leave, we were on it. It was a good thing our bus was earlier, because the train ride back took 45 minutes longer than it was supposed to, and we didn't get back to Winchester until after 8, and we both had 9 am classes.
Perhaps we were crazy to take a bus to Paris and to push the time the way we did coming back, but it was worth every minute! And now, I have to adjust back to the reality of school and essays and readings... story of my life.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
In Other News...
Hello mates!
I just wanted to start by saying that I was wrong about the squirrels in England. It has been confirmed by a Brit that there are indeed squirrels in England, of two different varieties: the red squirrel and the grey squirrel. The grey squirrel came over from the United States and chased the red squirrels into hiding. The organization that is trying to save the squirrels, though, is just another non-prof that targets uni students to tug at their heartstrings... and their pursestrings (the Brit's words, not mine). Imagine that...
I'm becoming more adjusted to life here. Modules are going well. Sacred Texts is such an interesting course, but my favorite module is Poetry. Bonkers, I know, since normally I dread trying to intrepret poetry. But for some reason, this class is just so - fascinating. And the theories I hear and learn - bonkers! Christian Union has been fun to go to, but I feel like a frosh (freshman) there because Hannah, Laura, and I are still new to it and don't really know anyone. Bible study through CU will start next week; I'm looking forward to being back in a small group! And the weather (oh, sorry to resort to such small talk) is getting cooler again and drizzly, but it's still simply lovely.
In other news, I am going to Paris tomorrow with Laura. Well, actually we are going to London tomorrow, and the will get on a bus at 8:30 pm tomorrow, and when we wake up, we will be in Paris. I am so ready to be there after all the frustrations of travel arrangements. Hopefully all will go well, but if not, it'll be quite the experience with quite the stories to tell. I would say, "what's the worse that could happen?" but we all know that those are famous last words...
So, I will check back next Monday with stories galore of travel adventures and Paris.
Cheers!
I just wanted to start by saying that I was wrong about the squirrels in England. It has been confirmed by a Brit that there are indeed squirrels in England, of two different varieties: the red squirrel and the grey squirrel. The grey squirrel came over from the United States and chased the red squirrels into hiding. The organization that is trying to save the squirrels, though, is just another non-prof that targets uni students to tug at their heartstrings... and their pursestrings (the Brit's words, not mine). Imagine that...
I'm becoming more adjusted to life here. Modules are going well. Sacred Texts is such an interesting course, but my favorite module is Poetry. Bonkers, I know, since normally I dread trying to intrepret poetry. But for some reason, this class is just so - fascinating. And the theories I hear and learn - bonkers! Christian Union has been fun to go to, but I feel like a frosh (freshman) there because Hannah, Laura, and I are still new to it and don't really know anyone. Bible study through CU will start next week; I'm looking forward to being back in a small group! And the weather (oh, sorry to resort to such small talk) is getting cooler again and drizzly, but it's still simply lovely.
In other news, I am going to Paris tomorrow with Laura. Well, actually we are going to London tomorrow, and the will get on a bus at 8:30 pm tomorrow, and when we wake up, we will be in Paris. I am so ready to be there after all the frustrations of travel arrangements. Hopefully all will go well, but if not, it'll be quite the experience with quite the stories to tell. I would say, "what's the worse that could happen?" but we all know that those are famous last words...
So, I will check back next Monday with stories galore of travel adventures and Paris.
Cheers!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Of Squirrels and Twins
Wherever we go, bluebirds sing
And the flowers bloom
And the grass gets green
It's a curious thing
But it's just our thing
Wherever we go, the bees behave
In the treetops, squirrels smile and wave
It's a curious thing
And it's humbling
- Newsboys, Wherever We Go
This song has been playing through my mind for the last two hours, which is no surprise to me because it brings to mind so many images from the last two days...
Yesterday was another beautiful day, yet I didn't spend very much time outside. A very slow day, I slept in until 10:00, read for awhile, posted pictures on facebook, responded to some e-mails, and even did some homework. At one point I did leave my room to go to the learning cafe so that I could get some caffeine in the form of a double caramel latte, complimented by a pear and chocolate biscuit. Yummy. Then at 5:30 I went to dinner with Laura and Hannah and two other American students. Laura, Hannah, and I then went to Christ Church, which is the church Hannah and I had adventured to last week. Which, by the way, is only about a 4-minute walk from campus through the cemetery - last week, it took Hannah and me over 20 minutes to get there because we went the long way around... ah, silly new American students. After church service, which was about the parable in Matt. 13 and overcoming barriers, we attended Radical Living. Radical Living is sort of a bible/book study and discussion for uni students, and they feed us while we're there - does it get any better than that?! At Radical Living, I heard two of the best phrases ever:
1. Turn or Burn (in reference to a certain type of evangelical witnessing)
2. Mind the Gap (in reference to "the bridge" diagram of witnessing - really hilarious because at all the train stations, there are signs everywhere by the track that read "mind the gap")
After I got back from church and group, I spent a few hours looking up tickets to Paris, and then convincing Laura to come with me. Much confusion enveloped me and Laura as we tried to skype each other to talk while looking up tickets and schedules and costs and information. By 1 am, we had tickets book and are set to go to Paris next weekend... via a coach bus! yeah, that's about a 9-hour ride...
Today I had my normal 9:00 Monday module, Language and Society. Modules are composed of two parts: a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar (which is small group discussion). I'm really enjoying the class so far. Then I went to lunch with some Eau Claire students. After lunch, Laura, Hannah, and I took advantage of yet another gorgeous day (sunny with a high of 55!) and walked to the city centre. We first walked to the train station to figure out train schedules and prices, and then we walked to Blacks (an outdoors shop) to get backpacking backpacks. I'm sure there's a more technical name for them, but I don't know what that is. Hannah found a great deal on one, so I followed suit and purchased the same backpack. Turning down plastic bags to put our backpacks in, Hannah and I decided to wear them while we went to Sainsbury's (a food market) to get chocolate and toilet paper, of all the random combinations. But the silly part of all of this is that Hannah and I both have green pea coats, green side bags/purses, and the now the same exact backpack. We looked insane, like twins! Crazyness. We got many not-so-discrete glances as we walked through town in our practically matching get-up, eating chocolate oranges. At least we are able to laugh at ourselves :) We had a hoot!
Tonight I will go to Christian Union, and that concludes my accounts of yesterday and today.
And did I mention that on the way to Blacks, a man approached us, dressed all spiffily and holding a clipboard, and said "Have you heard about us? We save squirrels." Not sure what that was all about... if it was a joke, or some psychology project, or if there really was an organization trying to save squirrels. If such a group really does exist, they aren't doing a very good job, because I have yet to see a squirrel in England...
And the flowers bloom
And the grass gets green
It's a curious thing
But it's just our thing
Wherever we go, the bees behave
In the treetops, squirrels smile and wave
It's a curious thing
And it's humbling
- Newsboys, Wherever We Go
This song has been playing through my mind for the last two hours, which is no surprise to me because it brings to mind so many images from the last two days...
Yesterday was another beautiful day, yet I didn't spend very much time outside. A very slow day, I slept in until 10:00, read for awhile, posted pictures on facebook, responded to some e-mails, and even did some homework. At one point I did leave my room to go to the learning cafe so that I could get some caffeine in the form of a double caramel latte, complimented by a pear and chocolate biscuit. Yummy. Then at 5:30 I went to dinner with Laura and Hannah and two other American students. Laura, Hannah, and I then went to Christ Church, which is the church Hannah and I had adventured to last week. Which, by the way, is only about a 4-minute walk from campus through the cemetery - last week, it took Hannah and me over 20 minutes to get there because we went the long way around... ah, silly new American students. After church service, which was about the parable in Matt. 13 and overcoming barriers, we attended Radical Living. Radical Living is sort of a bible/book study and discussion for uni students, and they feed us while we're there - does it get any better than that?! At Radical Living, I heard two of the best phrases ever:
1. Turn or Burn (in reference to a certain type of evangelical witnessing)
2. Mind the Gap (in reference to "the bridge" diagram of witnessing - really hilarious because at all the train stations, there are signs everywhere by the track that read "mind the gap")
After I got back from church and group, I spent a few hours looking up tickets to Paris, and then convincing Laura to come with me. Much confusion enveloped me and Laura as we tried to skype each other to talk while looking up tickets and schedules and costs and information. By 1 am, we had tickets book and are set to go to Paris next weekend... via a coach bus! yeah, that's about a 9-hour ride...
Today I had my normal 9:00 Monday module, Language and Society. Modules are composed of two parts: a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar (which is small group discussion). I'm really enjoying the class so far. Then I went to lunch with some Eau Claire students. After lunch, Laura, Hannah, and I took advantage of yet another gorgeous day (sunny with a high of 55!) and walked to the city centre. We first walked to the train station to figure out train schedules and prices, and then we walked to Blacks (an outdoors shop) to get backpacking backpacks. I'm sure there's a more technical name for them, but I don't know what that is. Hannah found a great deal on one, so I followed suit and purchased the same backpack. Turning down plastic bags to put our backpacks in, Hannah and I decided to wear them while we went to Sainsbury's (a food market) to get chocolate and toilet paper, of all the random combinations. But the silly part of all of this is that Hannah and I both have green pea coats, green side bags/purses, and the now the same exact backpack. We looked insane, like twins! Crazyness. We got many not-so-discrete glances as we walked through town in our practically matching get-up, eating chocolate oranges. At least we are able to laugh at ourselves :) We had a hoot!
Tonight I will go to Christian Union, and that concludes my accounts of yesterday and today.
And did I mention that on the way to Blacks, a man approached us, dressed all spiffily and holding a clipboard, and said "Have you heard about us? We save squirrels." Not sure what that was all about... if it was a joke, or some psychology project, or if there really was an organization trying to save squirrels. If such a group really does exist, they aren't doing a very good job, because I have yet to see a squirrel in England...
Saturday, February 14, 2009
To Southampton and Back
The last few days have been the definition of beautiful. The sun is out, the sky is bright blue, the clouds are white cotton candy, and the air is fresh. Today was no different, and what better way to spend a lovely Saturday than to go exploring? So I went with six other students to Southampton - a place for museums and good shopping - for the day.
We met at 9 this morning and walked down to the train station. Once there, we purchased our roundtrip tickets to Southampton... only 3 pounds a ticket. What a bargain! And the world knows a Hinchley never passes up a bargain! By 9:52, we were boarding the train and soon speeding out of the station. My first trip on an English train had begun!
The travel time to Southampton via train is only about 15 minutes, so my first trip was a quick one. After we exited the train, we couldn't figure out how to get out of the station. We went out one exit only to find out that exit went to the other side of the city, not what we wanted. Oh, silly Americans! So we had to explain to a station worker that we went out the wrong exit, and they had to let us back into the station to go out another exit. Luckily they didn't charge us to do that! Eventually we managed to exit the right part of the station, and we hopped on the city bus to take us to our first stop. We wandered around the city for awhile before deciding where to go. The first place we went to was the Southampton City Art Gallery, where we enjoyed a nice stop in the coffee shop for some caffeine before we circled the gallery. There was some beautiful artwork there, such as a painting of Romeo and Juliet 1884 and lands. Optical illusions came in the form of a painting of Napoleon, in which it looked like his foot was turning as you walked by him. Crazy! Although I did not have a particular favorite, I really enjoyed some of the photography art, such as the study of unemployment in poor areas and what that leads to. Such amazing glimpses in peoples' lives, if only for a moment.
After touring the Southampton City Art Gallery, we went to the Millais Gallery, which is part of the Southampton Solent University. The exhibition, called Tha Click can be summed up by two key elements: experimental and techno music! The music was fun for the first 20 or so minutes, but then became irritating, and the "art"... well, that left a bad taste. Luckily that taste was washed away when, aftering once again wandering around the city for 30 minutes, we found a place to eat. I can't remember the name of the pub, but the food was scrumptious. I had the Bangers and Mash (which is mashed potatoes and some sort of sausage served with peas and gravey). It was a monthly special for the low cost of 1.99 pounds! Good thing, too, since I'm planning a weekend in Paris next week and need to save, save, save!
Food polished off our plates, we left the restaurant in surch of the Maritime Museum, where there was a special Titanic exhibition, called Titanic: Southampton Remembers. For those of you who don't know much about the Titanic, the Titanic left from the Southampton port. Many people in Southampton lost relatives or friends to the Titanic Tragedy. I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit and the information I learned from it, but am also saddened by it. Only 30% of third class children were saved. 30 percent! Mind blowing.
That was the last museum we visited for the day. We then did the "Walk the Southampton Walls" walk, which takes people along nearly half the Wall that was once a mile-long around the medieval town of Hampton. It was - wow! Really fabulous. Hopefully I can post pictures soon.
We ended the day with some shopping. Happily for me, I found 2 beautiful scarves, one solid dark purple and the other cream with light purple and silver throughout it. Yay! Success for the day was declared as we took the city bus back to the train station and went back to Winchester.
Ahh, what a wonderful day to go to Southampton and back! But I am glad to be back, because as neat as Southampton was and as wonderful as the stores it has to offer are, there is something so charming and beautiful about Winchester...
We met at 9 this morning and walked down to the train station. Once there, we purchased our roundtrip tickets to Southampton... only 3 pounds a ticket. What a bargain! And the world knows a Hinchley never passes up a bargain! By 9:52, we were boarding the train and soon speeding out of the station. My first trip on an English train had begun!
The travel time to Southampton via train is only about 15 minutes, so my first trip was a quick one. After we exited the train, we couldn't figure out how to get out of the station. We went out one exit only to find out that exit went to the other side of the city, not what we wanted. Oh, silly Americans! So we had to explain to a station worker that we went out the wrong exit, and they had to let us back into the station to go out another exit. Luckily they didn't charge us to do that! Eventually we managed to exit the right part of the station, and we hopped on the city bus to take us to our first stop. We wandered around the city for awhile before deciding where to go. The first place we went to was the Southampton City Art Gallery, where we enjoyed a nice stop in the coffee shop for some caffeine before we circled the gallery. There was some beautiful artwork there, such as a painting of Romeo and Juliet 1884 and lands. Optical illusions came in the form of a painting of Napoleon, in which it looked like his foot was turning as you walked by him. Crazy! Although I did not have a particular favorite, I really enjoyed some of the photography art, such as the study of unemployment in poor areas and what that leads to. Such amazing glimpses in peoples' lives, if only for a moment.
After touring the Southampton City Art Gallery, we went to the Millais Gallery, which is part of the Southampton Solent University. The exhibition, called Tha Click can be summed up by two key elements: experimental and techno music! The music was fun for the first 20 or so minutes, but then became irritating, and the "art"... well, that left a bad taste. Luckily that taste was washed away when, aftering once again wandering around the city for 30 minutes, we found a place to eat. I can't remember the name of the pub, but the food was scrumptious. I had the Bangers and Mash (which is mashed potatoes and some sort of sausage served with peas and gravey). It was a monthly special for the low cost of 1.99 pounds! Good thing, too, since I'm planning a weekend in Paris next week and need to save, save, save!
Food polished off our plates, we left the restaurant in surch of the Maritime Museum, where there was a special Titanic exhibition, called Titanic: Southampton Remembers. For those of you who don't know much about the Titanic, the Titanic left from the Southampton port. Many people in Southampton lost relatives or friends to the Titanic Tragedy. I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit and the information I learned from it, but am also saddened by it. Only 30% of third class children were saved. 30 percent! Mind blowing.
That was the last museum we visited for the day. We then did the "Walk the Southampton Walls" walk, which takes people along nearly half the Wall that was once a mile-long around the medieval town of Hampton. It was - wow! Really fabulous. Hopefully I can post pictures soon.
We ended the day with some shopping. Happily for me, I found 2 beautiful scarves, one solid dark purple and the other cream with light purple and silver throughout it. Yay! Success for the day was declared as we took the city bus back to the train station and went back to Winchester.
Ahh, what a wonderful day to go to Southampton and back! But I am glad to be back, because as neat as Southampton was and as wonderful as the stores it has to offer are, there is something so charming and beautiful about Winchester...
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Fancy That
Hi, hello, it's me again.
To be completely honest, I am at a loss of how to start out this post. The perfectionist in me says that I need to start off with something clever, but I'm having what must only be known as a writer's block. I write a sentence, but I can't make it flow into my next line of thought. So the perfectionist in me than says that I need to start completely afresh. After innumerable attempts at creating the perfect introductory sentence followed by smacking the delete key, the realist in me decides that I will most likely never find the ideal way to start off the post. So I find myself at complete odds between my two thought patterns, with both sides relentlessly battling each other until the realist wins out by a thin margin. For the realist knows that if I sit and sit and sit until I come up with the flawless theme and flow to my entry, I will go barmy (crazy). Thus, I will just give an account of my past few days, straightforward. Here goes...
On Tuesday morning, I went to a poetry class that I was not signed up for. I did this primarily because I had nothing else to do, and also to see if it was a class I would enjoy and could take in place of that horrid inclusive working module I have on Mondays. The rest of my Tuesday was spent wandering around town and skyping family and friends. I intended to go to bed early so that I would be well rested for Wednesday, but everyone knows even the best intentions can go haywire. For me, it only happened because I made the decision to read a chapter of my book, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, before going to sleep. One chapter led to another chapter, and then another, until I realized it was after 1 in the morning. Grudgingly I put down my book and turned off my light. Within fifteen minutes I was asleep. And within those same fifteen moments I was also awoken. Not by a fire alarm, as I had been last week, but my my neighbors partying. So for four hours I laid in my room, wishing I were somewhere else, trying to get up my courage to knock on their doors and tell them to be quiet. But everytime I would get up my courage, it would start to quiet down a little, so I would go back to bed, only for it to get loud again. By 3, I was angry and resentful, but also to scared to do anything about the partying. I'm not trained to handle drunk people on drugs, so I stayed safely put in my room, with my door locked and my iPod turned on loud, trying to drown them out. I even called my parents to talk, frustrated and grumpy and panicky. Then I tried reading. This lasted for at least two more hours. I checked my watch, and it was a little before 5 in the morning! Next thing I know, I'm waking up at 9:30. I had finally fallen asleep, only to oversleep the first thirty minutes of my class! Hurredly I changed and brushed my teeth. I grabbed my coat and was out the door within minutes of waking up. I made it to class by 9:45. Ironically, the class I was late to because of other peoples' crummy lifestyles was Sacred Texts.
The rest of my Tuesday went better than that, though. After module, I went to a Christian Union lunch that is every Wednesday and FREE, a college student's favorite word! There I met a girl who also has celiac, and so there was food there I could eat. I had a bread roll for the first time in at least two years - it was splendid! After that, time has been a blur. I've spent most of my time meandering around the city centre with Laura and hanging out with other American students, since I'm done with classes for the week. Then today Laura and I went to O'Neills, an Irish pub, for lunch. The pub grub was delicious, leaving me tickled pink! I am in love with Irish burgers. Brilliant! And right before I started this, there was another fire drill in my dorm, but that's ok, because I'm learning to go with the flow and make the best out of things that might normally bother me.
So, despite the horrible moments I've had here, I've been having fun. For every minute that seems to go wrong, there's the promise of a better moment just around the corner. God's making sure of that.
Oh, and did I mention that it started snowing alittle while ago while I was outside for the fire drill, big soft flakes of pure glitter and magic? Fancy that...
To be completely honest, I am at a loss of how to start out this post. The perfectionist in me says that I need to start off with something clever, but I'm having what must only be known as a writer's block. I write a sentence, but I can't make it flow into my next line of thought. So the perfectionist in me than says that I need to start completely afresh. After innumerable attempts at creating the perfect introductory sentence followed by smacking the delete key, the realist in me decides that I will most likely never find the ideal way to start off the post. So I find myself at complete odds between my two thought patterns, with both sides relentlessly battling each other until the realist wins out by a thin margin. For the realist knows that if I sit and sit and sit until I come up with the flawless theme and flow to my entry, I will go barmy (crazy). Thus, I will just give an account of my past few days, straightforward. Here goes...
On Tuesday morning, I went to a poetry class that I was not signed up for. I did this primarily because I had nothing else to do, and also to see if it was a class I would enjoy and could take in place of that horrid inclusive working module I have on Mondays. The rest of my Tuesday was spent wandering around town and skyping family and friends. I intended to go to bed early so that I would be well rested for Wednesday, but everyone knows even the best intentions can go haywire. For me, it only happened because I made the decision to read a chapter of my book, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, before going to sleep. One chapter led to another chapter, and then another, until I realized it was after 1 in the morning. Grudgingly I put down my book and turned off my light. Within fifteen minutes I was asleep. And within those same fifteen moments I was also awoken. Not by a fire alarm, as I had been last week, but my my neighbors partying. So for four hours I laid in my room, wishing I were somewhere else, trying to get up my courage to knock on their doors and tell them to be quiet. But everytime I would get up my courage, it would start to quiet down a little, so I would go back to bed, only for it to get loud again. By 3, I was angry and resentful, but also to scared to do anything about the partying. I'm not trained to handle drunk people on drugs, so I stayed safely put in my room, with my door locked and my iPod turned on loud, trying to drown them out. I even called my parents to talk, frustrated and grumpy and panicky. Then I tried reading. This lasted for at least two more hours. I checked my watch, and it was a little before 5 in the morning! Next thing I know, I'm waking up at 9:30. I had finally fallen asleep, only to oversleep the first thirty minutes of my class! Hurredly I changed and brushed my teeth. I grabbed my coat and was out the door within minutes of waking up. I made it to class by 9:45. Ironically, the class I was late to because of other peoples' crummy lifestyles was Sacred Texts.
The rest of my Tuesday went better than that, though. After module, I went to a Christian Union lunch that is every Wednesday and FREE, a college student's favorite word! There I met a girl who also has celiac, and so there was food there I could eat. I had a bread roll for the first time in at least two years - it was splendid! After that, time has been a blur. I've spent most of my time meandering around the city centre with Laura and hanging out with other American students, since I'm done with classes for the week. Then today Laura and I went to O'Neills, an Irish pub, for lunch. The pub grub was delicious, leaving me tickled pink! I am in love with Irish burgers. Brilliant! And right before I started this, there was another fire drill in my dorm, but that's ok, because I'm learning to go with the flow and make the best out of things that might normally bother me.
So, despite the horrible moments I've had here, I've been having fun. For every minute that seems to go wrong, there's the promise of a better moment just around the corner. God's making sure of that.
Oh, and did I mention that it started snowing alittle while ago while I was outside for the fire drill, big soft flakes of pure glitter and magic? Fancy that...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Modules, Pictures, and Christians in Pubs
Today was the first day of the rest of my life. Kidding. Today was the first day of classes, or should I say modules? Anyway, classes are run differently here. Classes are scheduled in three hour blocks but usually run for about two hours each, and all the classes start at the same time, so there are no conflicts in schedules. Anyway, I had three courses today: language and society, social psychology, and inclusive working: organisations and services.I started at 9 and ended at 5. The first two went well and were fairly interesting, managing to keep me mostly alert. By 3:00, however, I was tired and running low on energy. But with high hopes that my last class of the day, Inclusive Working, would be some grand course and incredibly stimulating, I rumaged up what little energy I did have left and walked the road to class. Little did I know that road was not only a road to Medecroft (the building my class was in), it was a road to dire boredom and confusion. By the end of class, I determined I never want to take another social work class again, let alone ever be taught by a British professor, or tutors as the Brits refer to them. Which is really unfair of me, because I really liked the tutors I had for my other two classes of the day. So maybe I don't mind British tutors...
After class and grabbing a bite to eat, I spent awhile posting pics on facebook. And soon they will be available on this blog for your viewing pleasures, if you haven't got access to facebook. That's another thing I learned about England... the people here say "got" a lot. If you're confused as to why I threw that tidbit in here, just reread the last few sentences. You'll figure it out.
To cap the day off, Christian Union started at 7. Christian Union is basically an on-campus Christian Organization for students, similar to Intervarsity or Navigators or Student Impact or what have you. The guest speaker of the night talked about the importance of wittnessing and praying for others, very similar to what I hear back home at IV. But it was good, and the students are so friendly here. Afterwards, we all went out to a pub, which is a typical after-group thing. It was the first real European pub I've been to, and it was cozy and fun. All the students jsut sat there talking and joking and eating. A perfect way to end the evening. Which brings me back here, in my room, posting this blog.
And that, dear friends, is the end of my first Monday in Winchester. I miss you all and hope all is well back home. Good night!
After class and grabbing a bite to eat, I spent awhile posting pics on facebook. And soon they will be available on this blog for your viewing pleasures, if you haven't got access to facebook. That's another thing I learned about England... the people here say "got" a lot. If you're confused as to why I threw that tidbit in here, just reread the last few sentences. You'll figure it out.
To cap the day off, Christian Union started at 7. Christian Union is basically an on-campus Christian Organization for students, similar to Intervarsity or Navigators or Student Impact or what have you. The guest speaker of the night talked about the importance of wittnessing and praying for others, very similar to what I hear back home at IV. But it was good, and the students are so friendly here. Afterwards, we all went out to a pub, which is a typical after-group thing. It was the first real European pub I've been to, and it was cozy and fun. All the students jsut sat there talking and joking and eating. A perfect way to end the evening. Which brings me back here, in my room, posting this blog.
And that, dear friends, is the end of my first Monday in Winchester. I miss you all and hope all is well back home. Good night!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
"As it turned out"... Life More Extraordinary
Dear friends,
Today started out like any other day, but as it turned out, it was not like any other day. I woke up at about 9 am, read for a little while, and wished I could go to church. Only problem was I did not know where any churches were and I didn't have anyone to go with. So I did what I do on any other day when I don't have classes or church; I lazed around, reading. Eventually I showered and ate and went online. Then I walked to the city centre and bought a cellphone from Orange. Really, that's the name of the phone company... Orange. Gotta love it. So I bought a pay-as-you-go phone for about 10 pounds and topped it off, which basically means to add money for minutes and texts, with ten pounds. Ok, getting a phone is not part of my daily routine, but walking to the city centre is fast becoming part of it. Before heading back to campus, I explored Winchester on my own for a little while before it began to rain. Surprise, surprise. I am quickly becoming used to the drizzly weather here. I spent the rest of the afternoon skyping family and friends then I met up with some students from the states for dinner and met two students I hadn't met before. After dinner, I checked my facebook. Hannah from Eau Claire had responded to a post I put on her wall last night asking if she was going to church today. She said there was a service at a church she heard about at 6:30 pm and that if I got her message in time, we could check it out. I looked at my clock. 5:40. I went in search of Hannah, and we decided to try to find the church. It took us for what seemed like ever - but was really probably 10 minutes tops - to figure out how to find directions and know where we were going. At about 6:08, we set off in search of the church. We were on a mission with our umbrellas out to ward off the rain and our hopes high. We made it to Randeigh St. before we got lost, or what we perceived as lost. We saw a lady on a bicycle and stopped her to ask where Christchurch Road was, which is the Road that would take us to Christ Church. How original, huh? The lady told us that we were at the intersection of Christchurch Road, then asked us where we were going. As it turned out, after hearing that we were looking for Christ Church, she told us that was where she was headed, too, and how to get there. A short walk later, and we were at the church, a beautiful old cathedral.
The service was wonderful. I felt right at home, and the music was similar to music back at my home church in Eau Claire. I even knew two of the songs. There was a guest speaker, Mark Greene, who is the Executive Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). I liked him right away as he began his sermon by comparing James Bond to Johnny English. For those of you who haven't seen Johnny English, you haven't experience amazingly cheesy comedy. He proceeded to talk about Ruth and as it turned out, she was God's hands. He then spoke of how we are on missions and how in our ordinary day lives we need to live for the Lord, because living for the Lord has to do with everything.
Colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
By doing everything we do for the Lord, we are living life extraordinarily, even in the little things. Good work done in a good way is not enough, we need to live fully and faithfully for the Lord. We need to put love where love is not. At some point in time, the true meaning and purppose of the phrase "The Lord be with you" was lost and it became just another meaningless, empty expression. What does it really mean for the Lord to be with us? It means living a life honoring God, in all areas, and knowing God has us His hands, just as Ruth did. We are on a mission to live how God calls us to live and to have the Lord with us.
After service, a young woman behind me started talking to me and asked if I was new. Her name is Fern. Right away she realized I was from the States and I told her that Hannah and I just arrived in the UK a few days ago to study at the University of Winchester. Hannah and I started talking with her, her sister (Adrianne), and a guy who was sitting with them. I didn't catch his name. Fern and Adrianne gave me their numbers in case I needed anything at all while I was here. The were such sweet, lovely ladies. I'm excited to meet them over coffee. So, as it turned out, today was not so ordinary. I found a wonderful church, I made some connections, and I got yet another nudge from God. God is constantly finding ways to remind me of what life is about, and how simple, mere little things are far more than ordinary.
As it turned out... life more extraordinary!
May the Lord be with you, my friends.
Today started out like any other day, but as it turned out, it was not like any other day. I woke up at about 9 am, read for a little while, and wished I could go to church. Only problem was I did not know where any churches were and I didn't have anyone to go with. So I did what I do on any other day when I don't have classes or church; I lazed around, reading. Eventually I showered and ate and went online. Then I walked to the city centre and bought a cellphone from Orange. Really, that's the name of the phone company... Orange. Gotta love it. So I bought a pay-as-you-go phone for about 10 pounds and topped it off, which basically means to add money for minutes and texts, with ten pounds. Ok, getting a phone is not part of my daily routine, but walking to the city centre is fast becoming part of it. Before heading back to campus, I explored Winchester on my own for a little while before it began to rain. Surprise, surprise. I am quickly becoming used to the drizzly weather here. I spent the rest of the afternoon skyping family and friends then I met up with some students from the states for dinner and met two students I hadn't met before. After dinner, I checked my facebook. Hannah from Eau Claire had responded to a post I put on her wall last night asking if she was going to church today. She said there was a service at a church she heard about at 6:30 pm and that if I got her message in time, we could check it out. I looked at my clock. 5:40. I went in search of Hannah, and we decided to try to find the church. It took us for what seemed like ever - but was really probably 10 minutes tops - to figure out how to find directions and know where we were going. At about 6:08, we set off in search of the church. We were on a mission with our umbrellas out to ward off the rain and our hopes high. We made it to Randeigh St. before we got lost, or what we perceived as lost. We saw a lady on a bicycle and stopped her to ask where Christchurch Road was, which is the Road that would take us to Christ Church. How original, huh? The lady told us that we were at the intersection of Christchurch Road, then asked us where we were going. As it turned out, after hearing that we were looking for Christ Church, she told us that was where she was headed, too, and how to get there. A short walk later, and we were at the church, a beautiful old cathedral.
The service was wonderful. I felt right at home, and the music was similar to music back at my home church in Eau Claire. I even knew two of the songs. There was a guest speaker, Mark Greene, who is the Executive Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). I liked him right away as he began his sermon by comparing James Bond to Johnny English. For those of you who haven't seen Johnny English, you haven't experience amazingly cheesy comedy. He proceeded to talk about Ruth and as it turned out, she was God's hands. He then spoke of how we are on missions and how in our ordinary day lives we need to live for the Lord, because living for the Lord has to do with everything.
Colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
By doing everything we do for the Lord, we are living life extraordinarily, even in the little things. Good work done in a good way is not enough, we need to live fully and faithfully for the Lord. We need to put love where love is not. At some point in time, the true meaning and purppose of the phrase "The Lord be with you" was lost and it became just another meaningless, empty expression. What does it really mean for the Lord to be with us? It means living a life honoring God, in all areas, and knowing God has us His hands, just as Ruth did. We are on a mission to live how God calls us to live and to have the Lord with us.
After service, a young woman behind me started talking to me and asked if I was new. Her name is Fern. Right away she realized I was from the States and I told her that Hannah and I just arrived in the UK a few days ago to study at the University of Winchester. Hannah and I started talking with her, her sister (Adrianne), and a guy who was sitting with them. I didn't catch his name. Fern and Adrianne gave me their numbers in case I needed anything at all while I was here. The were such sweet, lovely ladies. I'm excited to meet them over coffee. So, as it turned out, today was not so ordinary. I found a wonderful church, I made some connections, and I got yet another nudge from God. God is constantly finding ways to remind me of what life is about, and how simple, mere little things are far more than ordinary.
As it turned out... life more extraordinary!
May the Lord be with you, my friends.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A Time for Challenges and Change
It's half past midnight, and I can't sleep. My mind has been racing, faster than a speeding bullet... ok, had to reference superman there. Anyway, for the last two days, I have been completely confused with conflicting emotions and thoughts and ideas. Part of me is thrilled to be here in Winchester, probably one of the most splendid towns in the UK, if not the entire world. The other part of me is already missing family and friends and everything that is familiar to me. It didn't help that I could not access my internet on my personal computer to contact family and friends for the last 3 days and that I hadn't talked to my family since Wednesday. Then this afternoon, I found out I could not access my uni (university) records because I was unable to officially register here because I did not have proper ID to show at orientation yesterday. Thus, I could not get my module schedule. So not only was I feeling completely at odds about being here, I was frustrated with this whole registration process. I felt completely at loss, and so uncertain about everything. I had no idea when my classes are, I had no idea what classes I'm even really taking, and I had no idea where to go from here. And I have to not know where I'm going without the support of the people closest to me. Panick has invaded me, but I try to calm myself down by telling myself that I can bring my ID to wherever I need to bring it on Monday and I can get it all sorted out then. If I happen to miss a class before I am able to get it sorted out, it's ok. I'm in international student, after all. Disorder and confusion are bound to happen, right?
Despite these attempts at personal reassurance, I found myself thoroughly discouraged and anxious. I begin to question myself on why I even came... all this semester has brought me is change. And for most people who know me, they know I don't much appreciate most change. Sure, some change is good, but not when it means I have to leave my comfort zone. All this to say... these last few days have been emotional for me. I go up, I go down... I tell myself I can't do this... I can't stay here for 4 months. Finally this evening I was able to finally access internet on my computer and download skype. I was able to talk to my parents for almost 45 mintues, and then I got to video chat with my sister for 2 hours. I began to realize that even though I hadn't talked to them in a few days and that I was far away from them, I still had their support through prayer. After talking with my sister, I started reading my bible and eventually a verse popped into my head, a whisper from God...
Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength"
I'm quick to forget that no matter what life throws my way, I can overcome it by the strength of Christ. He will guide me through every day, and just when I think I can't handle the changes that come with studying abroad, God speaks softly in my ear and tells me I'm in his hands. How easily I forget this, when in truth, it is what should be on the forefront of my mind. If there is one thing I'm going to learn this semester, it is that I need to trust in Him more, and he's going to show me how. Through this, I'm going to change in ways only God can foresee, and that's alright. Because change? I'm learning it can be good.
Change, here I come!
Despite these attempts at personal reassurance, I found myself thoroughly discouraged and anxious. I begin to question myself on why I even came... all this semester has brought me is change. And for most people who know me, they know I don't much appreciate most change. Sure, some change is good, but not when it means I have to leave my comfort zone. All this to say... these last few days have been emotional for me. I go up, I go down... I tell myself I can't do this... I can't stay here for 4 months. Finally this evening I was able to finally access internet on my computer and download skype. I was able to talk to my parents for almost 45 mintues, and then I got to video chat with my sister for 2 hours. I began to realize that even though I hadn't talked to them in a few days and that I was far away from them, I still had their support through prayer. After talking with my sister, I started reading my bible and eventually a verse popped into my head, a whisper from God...
Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength"
I'm quick to forget that no matter what life throws my way, I can overcome it by the strength of Christ. He will guide me through every day, and just when I think I can't handle the changes that come with studying abroad, God speaks softly in my ear and tells me I'm in his hands. How easily I forget this, when in truth, it is what should be on the forefront of my mind. If there is one thing I'm going to learn this semester, it is that I need to trust in Him more, and he's going to show me how. Through this, I'm going to change in ways only God can foresee, and that's alright. Because change? I'm learning it can be good.
Change, here I come!
Little Differences
Today was a beautiful day in Winchester. No snow, no rain, just a little nippy. I was woken up at 4:30 in the morning by a fire alarm, which was not a drill. The whole ordeal was so different than the States; after exiting the building, no one checked to make sure everyone was out or that the building was safe to go back in, such as the fire department. A little while later, security came knocking on doors trying to find some guy who had been running through the dorm during the alarm. Not the way I would love to start the day, but oh, well. I also got to go to Sainsbury market in Winchester with other international students, and it was so interesting to see all the different logos for international food brands. For instance, sunchips were called sunbites. When I looked at ingredients and allergen information, doritos bags said whether or not the item was appropriate for vegetarians or coeliacs. The rest of my afternoon was once again spent in the city center, shopping. The center is so gorgeous with all the old buildings and narrow cobble streets. And now I'm having some down time.
Hope all is well in the States! Cheers!
Hope all is well in the States! Cheers!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Finally Here
well, after a much anticipated year, I am in Winchester. I arrived at HTR airport in London yesterday morning at about 7 am and stayed there for over 4 hours. One coach (bus) ride and an hour later, I was on campus. Two hours later, and I was unlocking the door to my dorm room with a skeleton key. After unpacking, I went to an early dinner with some flatmates. The food was better than expected, not at all completely flavorless as I'd been told, although the chips (french fries) are quite a bit better in the States. Then I walked down to the city center with some other foreign students... Winchester is a beautiful old city, narrow alleys and all! Today I had orientation, then I walked to the city center again with some fellow Eau Claire students. While there, I saw a police officer chasing after a large group of young teens. It caused quite the excitement. And that, so far, has been my experience in England and it's ancient capitol. Despite how much I miss family and friends, I am excited to feel the history of Winchester and surrounding areas.
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