On my flight to Rome, I recall writing in my journal that I felt like I was going to end up sleeping with the fishes...a guy in the row in front of me had been saving seats for two cary looking guys in business suits who sat in front of and next to me...During the last 20 minutes of the flight, the mafia man next to me started speaking to me when he realized I spoke Engligh because he was so excited to practice and then he leaned over and started pointing out all the places of Rome to me and at the end of the flight shook my hand and called me a friend. Precious, I know.
Driving in Rome is scary - point blank, you gotta have balls. The crazy taxi driver I had to get to the hotel did not obey street lines, street signs and just barely obeyed stop lights. She missed the turn and started yelling in Italian which is pretty scary if you ever witness it. I had to eat dinner at the hotel since there was nothing else around and my waiter was also glad to speak English because he really enjoys it. I had some lovely pasta and eben though I am not a big fan of tomatoes, I enjoyed every single one of them in that salad. Fresh veggies!!!! I had another king size bed, another balcony complete with a table and chairs, some awesome American shows dubbed over in Italian, a hot shower, a heater to dry my sink washed clothes on and even a urinal in the bathroom!!!! It took me a while to realize what it was...I must have looked like the caveman when he discovered fire.
The hotel offered a taxi to the nearest metro station so I hopped on that and took the stop the hotel man told me to...well, no one knew the street I was trying to get to. Ended up calling the hostel and after some trial and error, found my way through the constuction zone to the street I needed! The man at this hostel was awesome - when I told him I would have two days here, he took out a map and quite literally, made me an itinerary. I had two other girls from America staying in my room and the three of us spent the first day together. We grabbed some pizza at a local shop for lunch and then continued full speed ahead so we didn't waste any time! We visited the keyhole to the city which is where you can look through a keyhole and through the gardens, see the Vatican! We headed through some orange gardens to get a good view of the city and then ended up at the mouth of truth. As legend says, if you stick your hand into this mouth and tell a lie, it will bite your hand off. (The walking tour guide the next day told us that this 'mouth of truth' is actually an old manhole from ancient Roman times). Next, we headed along the Tiber and crossed over into one of the smaller neighborhoods to get a local chocolate shot - a shot glass made out of chocolate and filled with chocolate liquer or Baileys then topped with whipped cream and powder. To do this shot, you pick it up and stick the whole thing in your mouth bottom first. Difficult but delicous! We headed back across the river and walked through the old Jewish ghetto which was really neat. There are a lot of monuments and statues that I don't know the name of or their significance but I took a lot of pictures anyway! It was getting dark early because it had been cloudy and overcast all day and it sprinkled for about an hour. We walked past the cat sanctuary which was an old ruins site that a bunch of stray cats took over. It's walled off and they can't get out and people and vets do take care of them - they are all tagged. Above, there were tons of bats and they were pooping so we ran out of there! Next, we hit up Piazza Navona which is where they have the Christmas market and Santa was there!!! We had to pay to get our picture with him and the Mrs. though. We also made it to the Pantheon on this part of the walking tour which is very impressive! All of the building are just so old but extremely detailed and it's hard to describe just how awesome they are in person so go see for yourself =] Grabbed a nice bite to eat and shared a bottle of wine before heading back to the hostel for the night. We also had the chance to eat some gelatto - there was a shop with over 100 flavors!
Day 2 involved breakfast at the hostel and then straight off to go chill with the Pope. I battled my way through the street vendors to the Basillica and walked around the inside for a long time. There was no opportunity to light candles in there though because the Italian guard kept saying something along the lines of NO FLAME! at me...Oh well. The building was beautiful and incredibly detailed. What Notre Dame had for size and Gothic architechture, this rivaled with it's incredible number of paintings, things that involved gold, and decorated columns. Don't worry, I have a lot of pictures! Next, I popped inside the Vatican museum which was exhausting. I thought taking the scenice route to the Sistine Chapel was a good idea but half way through it, I needed to get out. I'm not much of a museum person and I have seen an overwhlming amount of churches on this trip so I think that the Vatican and St. Peter's will be my last one if I can help it! The Sistine Chapel was pretty incredible. (Between you and me, I managed to take a picture of the ceiling so I will put that up!) After my tour of Vatican City, I headed back to the center and explored Circus Maximus and the Colleseum. Wow. The ruins are incredible. I don't think I can effectively describe it all in words but it was just AWESOME. I spent quite a bit of time walking around this area and had an old lady take a picture of me in front of the colleseum! Time for food and then I headed out for another free walking tour! We started at the Spanish steps which literal name doesn't mean that at all (it was a lot of words and I can't remember them, sorry!) We headed around to a few smaller churches and checked out their differenct architecture. Our tour guide told us that a lot of the columns that are displayed throughout the city are recyled - if the building wasn't a church, it could be knowcked down so that it's parts could be reused to build new things (he called it recycling instead of looting ha). There was a lot of information being thrown at me and I was tired and cold so my memory was very out of focus so I can't offer you too much information =/ We made it around to the Pantheon again and then headed over to the Fountain of Trevi which was really cool! Neptune is in the middle of this statue and the way that it is structured and just almost appears out of the street is really neat. Grabbed a late dinner and then found my way all by myself back to the hostel on the bus! Woot!
Rome has been awesome but I think the most exhausting out of all the cities I have been in. It's an early bed time for me since I am catching an 8:43am train to Florence tomorrow! Good night and I will try to post as soon as I can so I don't forget important historical information!
P.S. - Do not worry about seeing pictures; I have already filled one memory card and am almost halfway through a second. It's just a matter of how soon can I get them up when I get home...
Monday, December 13, 2010
MADRID!!!!
The ride to Madrid was long but the time managed to pass fairly quickly as I switched between reading my book and sleeping...if you have ever seen me sleep while in a car, you can only imagine how entertained the Spanish people must have been with my head rolling all around...
I will continue to be proud of myself for making it all the way from the train station via the metro and some walking to my hostel without asking for directions!!!!! To all of you who enjoy making fun of me for being bad with directions - I can now prove you wrong! Ha! The hostel was pretty cool - it had tons of people in it and was more like a hotel than anything. I shared my room with two Italian girls and we had our own bathroom which was really nice! I went out and consulted the map the lady at reception gave me and started to go and see some sights she suggested. I bought myself some lunch that consisted of fruits and veggies because it's been hard to get those into my diet lately. I also went and bought two books in Spanish to help me learn the language more efficiently. I walked to this gorgeous park and had lunch then walked all the way through it to the other end of town with a pit stop back at the hostel to grab my jacket because it was actually fairly chilly in Madrid. I spent the better half of 3 hours looking for a Christmas market but of all the places she circled on the map and I thought was it, I could not find it =[
The nest morning something amazing happened - I DID MY LAUNDRY!!!! I finally had a hostel that had really cheap laundry machines and washed all of my clothes. I don't think I have ever appreciated clean clothes that much before! Had some breakfast then packed up my things and left it in the hostel storage closet. Joined a walking tour that started around 11:30am. We started off at the center of Madrid where the guide showed us what the city has that is equivalent to the Statue of Liberty or Eiffel Tower - a small statue of a bear getting some berries out of a tree. Not quite impressive in size at all but the story behind it is that the particular berries ferment on the tree so every season, the bears and other animals go eat them and essentially get drunk and as the guide liked to say - that's how they do it in Madrid. We moved on to the opera house and how Queen Isabel 2 put a lot of work in to establishing the influence and presence of art in Madrid (according to the tour guide, this was because she was a lonley old lady who needed to put her love somewhere). Next, we moved on to the governement building that was once and old Moorish building but when the new king took over (originally from France) he had is destroyed and built this new giant building instead. From here, the offical church of the city is literally right across from the government building and is pretty ugly from the front but from the other side, it's beautiful. This was because in these days, if your building was to be more beautiful than the ones around you, you were being a snob and could get in some serious trouble from that. We carried on to a park/church so we could see the influence from all the other cultures only to talk about the Spanish Inquisition. Another fun fact was that when King....took over, he wanted desperately to do something that people would remember him by so he changed the capital of Spain from Toledo to Madrid. This then involved moving all the nobles to Madrid and when there wasn't enough space to house them, this king decided to make a tax that required the local people to house the nobles. Long story short, a lot of the houses had tons of extra windows to confuse the king when he went around trying to determine if one was able to hosue the nobles. Trickery! Finally, I found the Christmas market! It was a lot different than what I thought it was going to be so I wouldn't have spent a lot of time there the night before anyway.
I then made it to the airport in time to hop on my flight to lovely Roma!
I will continue to be proud of myself for making it all the way from the train station via the metro and some walking to my hostel without asking for directions!!!!! To all of you who enjoy making fun of me for being bad with directions - I can now prove you wrong! Ha! The hostel was pretty cool - it had tons of people in it and was more like a hotel than anything. I shared my room with two Italian girls and we had our own bathroom which was really nice! I went out and consulted the map the lady at reception gave me and started to go and see some sights she suggested. I bought myself some lunch that consisted of fruits and veggies because it's been hard to get those into my diet lately. I also went and bought two books in Spanish to help me learn the language more efficiently. I walked to this gorgeous park and had lunch then walked all the way through it to the other end of town with a pit stop back at the hostel to grab my jacket because it was actually fairly chilly in Madrid. I spent the better half of 3 hours looking for a Christmas market but of all the places she circled on the map and I thought was it, I could not find it =[
The nest morning something amazing happened - I DID MY LAUNDRY!!!! I finally had a hostel that had really cheap laundry machines and washed all of my clothes. I don't think I have ever appreciated clean clothes that much before! Had some breakfast then packed up my things and left it in the hostel storage closet. Joined a walking tour that started around 11:30am. We started off at the center of Madrid where the guide showed us what the city has that is equivalent to the Statue of Liberty or Eiffel Tower - a small statue of a bear getting some berries out of a tree. Not quite impressive in size at all but the story behind it is that the particular berries ferment on the tree so every season, the bears and other animals go eat them and essentially get drunk and as the guide liked to say - that's how they do it in Madrid. We moved on to the opera house and how Queen Isabel 2 put a lot of work in to establishing the influence and presence of art in Madrid (according to the tour guide, this was because she was a lonley old lady who needed to put her love somewhere). Next, we moved on to the governement building that was once and old Moorish building but when the new king took over (originally from France) he had is destroyed and built this new giant building instead. From here, the offical church of the city is literally right across from the government building and is pretty ugly from the front but from the other side, it's beautiful. This was because in these days, if your building was to be more beautiful than the ones around you, you were being a snob and could get in some serious trouble from that. We carried on to a park/church so we could see the influence from all the other cultures only to talk about the Spanish Inquisition. Another fun fact was that when King....took over, he wanted desperately to do something that people would remember him by so he changed the capital of Spain from Toledo to Madrid. This then involved moving all the nobles to Madrid and when there wasn't enough space to house them, this king decided to make a tax that required the local people to house the nobles. Long story short, a lot of the houses had tons of extra windows to confuse the king when he went around trying to determine if one was able to hosue the nobles. Trickery! Finally, I found the Christmas market! It was a lot different than what I thought it was going to be so I wouldn't have spent a lot of time there the night before anyway.
I then made it to the airport in time to hop on my flight to lovely Roma!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
SEVILLE!!!!!
Hola Once Again!
I suppose there will be a section in each post for me to write down what I forgot from the last city...
From Barcelona - I forgot to mention that there was a palace we went to that was significant. It was in the main square (that I forget the name of) and it is unique because most of the stones that make up the walls are from headstones of graves from a demolished Jewish graveyard during the Inquisition. I thought that this was really powerful and when I was going through pictures, I remembered that.
On to Seville!
I had an uneventful flight to Seville - had to wake up at 5:30 am to get to the metro and then on to the airport. Slept the entire flight there which turned out to be acceptable because it was super cloudy. When I got to the airport, I picked up a lovely map and guidebook then got in line for the only bus that takes you to the city. Since it is another holiday in Spain today, it only ran once and hour so I shoved my way to the front and hopped on. I made friends with an American girl from Virginia for the bus ride and when we got off the bus, I met a guy named CJ from California. He was very kind and walked in my direction so I didn't get lost and then sent me on my way after giving me some pointers about what to do in the city. There have been some really amazing people on this trip and their stories are incredible - inspiring at times.
After a long walk with my backpack, purse, North Face slung over my purse and my wool sweater with the sleeves rolled up, I finally arrived at the hostel after a hot and sun drenched walk along the river. I was sweating and was glad it was so cool in here! I am sharing my room tonight with two girls from the states who are leaving before dawn to head back to Barcelona and then I think I have it all to myself! The hostel is pretty empty so I will have no problem with access to things. I hopped on the internet and had to change some things around - I am now headed back to Stirling on the 17th (two days earlier than planned) because there is no way Lisa would make it to Berlin. I will only be spending one night there so the equivalent of a day). It will be nice to see everyone who is still on campus and give me a chance to properly pack and say goodbye.
I will have to admit that I was a failure for lunch - I went to McDonald's (my second time since being in Europe though!) I did, however, win a free hamburger thanks to the monopoly game going on! I spent my time reading my Seville book and deciding where I wanted to go. On my way out of lunch, a gypsy lady stopped me and handed me a sprig of rosemary and started telling me a fortune despite all the 'No entiendo' (I don't understand). I did understand that she thought I had a strong heart, good health due to a gesture upward, people were watching me from above. I also understood the 'Nececitas pagar' portion meaning she wanted me to pay her...she didn't like the answer no and even worse, she hated that I refused to give her more than .60€ I believe she called me some names as I walked away...
I went on a walking tour today (Wednesday I think?) and it was pretty informative. Some of the historical stories are amusing because Barcelona and Seville both believe that Christopher Columbus came from their cities and that doesn't allow for fluid historical accuracy. We were brought through some of the old Jewish neighbourhoods that came with more horror stories about the Inquisition. There are loads of gardens and lush green plants everywhere and trees sprouting with oranges. One of my favorite parts of the tour was when we went to Plaza de España. It is a huge plaza that has a special section for each part of Spain and huge parts dedicated to Seville. It is brightly decorated with all kinds of tiles and artwork and it is just impressive. (I would recommend going to check this out for yourself someday!) The people of Seville LOVE Christopher Columbus...you can't escape him. Another part about the tour that stuck out was the sign or phrase that is all over Seville - NO DO with a vertical infinity symbol in the middle. The infinity sign represents the word 'madeja' which would appear in wedding rituals to signify the bond the couple had for their life. The reason this is all around Madrid is because it was a 'gift' King Alphonse X left for the city. It literally translates to 'No me ha dejado' meaning 'She has not abandoned me'. He left this as his parting gift to the city because when his own son and the Pope turned against him and showed up with the Spanish army ready to attack the city, Seville stood up against them and fought for King Alphonse X. (He ended up being removed from kingship and was to remain exiled in Seville while his son took over.)
Day 2 in Seville started off with a trip to the bus station to purchase my ticket to Madrid. Tomorrow (the 10th) I have a 6 hour bus ride to Madrid. Woot! After the bus ticket, I headed back towards the center of town and for €2, I took a tour of the cathedral and the Giralda. Th cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe and the 3rd largest cathedral (after the Vatican and St. Paul's) The inside was beautiful- loaded with details and a lot of gold and silver. The organ was massive! The Giralda (tower next to the church) involved a climb up over30 sections of ramp (there are no stairs in the tower because the sultan, who commissioned it, had to climb it 5 times a day for prayer so he had ramps put in so he could ride his horse up to the top) It is very Arabic on the inside but the top of the tower is a portion added by the Catholics. Following the cathedral tour, I headed back outside into the side streets and checked out all the souvenir shops - it's amazing how there can be so many with the same things! I stopped in a restaurant for some paella (a very cultural dish) with a glass of sangria. Typically, paella is made with fish or seafood but I had mine with chicken instead =] It was really good so I would recommend it! Walked down town a bit more then headed back to the hostel for a siesta since the hot Spanish sun was making me tired!
After my siesta, I headed out for some Ben and Jerrys (which is a small luxury I treated myself to!) and then I sat by a beautiful fountain people watching for a while. I exchanged greetings with some lovely old people and was able to watch people bike riding and roller blading all over the plaza. This was a particularly lonely night for me...after traveling by yourself for quite sometime, it gets to you, so the people watching helped not to mention all of the awesome Christmas music that the performers were playing in the street! I grabbed some food then headed back through the crowded streets to get ready to leave real early the next day! I really love Seville and would love to head back there some day!
There are loads more stories but I will write about those when I put all of my pictures up on facebook. It is easier to write a historical caption when I can see the picture and so can everyone else!
I suppose there will be a section in each post for me to write down what I forgot from the last city...
From Barcelona - I forgot to mention that there was a palace we went to that was significant. It was in the main square (that I forget the name of) and it is unique because most of the stones that make up the walls are from headstones of graves from a demolished Jewish graveyard during the Inquisition. I thought that this was really powerful and when I was going through pictures, I remembered that.
On to Seville!
I had an uneventful flight to Seville - had to wake up at 5:30 am to get to the metro and then on to the airport. Slept the entire flight there which turned out to be acceptable because it was super cloudy. When I got to the airport, I picked up a lovely map and guidebook then got in line for the only bus that takes you to the city. Since it is another holiday in Spain today, it only ran once and hour so I shoved my way to the front and hopped on. I made friends with an American girl from Virginia for the bus ride and when we got off the bus, I met a guy named CJ from California. He was very kind and walked in my direction so I didn't get lost and then sent me on my way after giving me some pointers about what to do in the city. There have been some really amazing people on this trip and their stories are incredible - inspiring at times.
After a long walk with my backpack, purse, North Face slung over my purse and my wool sweater with the sleeves rolled up, I finally arrived at the hostel after a hot and sun drenched walk along the river. I was sweating and was glad it was so cool in here! I am sharing my room tonight with two girls from the states who are leaving before dawn to head back to Barcelona and then I think I have it all to myself! The hostel is pretty empty so I will have no problem with access to things. I hopped on the internet and had to change some things around - I am now headed back to Stirling on the 17th (two days earlier than planned) because there is no way Lisa would make it to Berlin. I will only be spending one night there so the equivalent of a day). It will be nice to see everyone who is still on campus and give me a chance to properly pack and say goodbye.
I will have to admit that I was a failure for lunch - I went to McDonald's (my second time since being in Europe though!) I did, however, win a free hamburger thanks to the monopoly game going on! I spent my time reading my Seville book and deciding where I wanted to go. On my way out of lunch, a gypsy lady stopped me and handed me a sprig of rosemary and started telling me a fortune despite all the 'No entiendo' (I don't understand). I did understand that she thought I had a strong heart, good health due to a gesture upward, people were watching me from above. I also understood the 'Nececitas pagar' portion meaning she wanted me to pay her...she didn't like the answer no and even worse, she hated that I refused to give her more than .60€ I believe she called me some names as I walked away...
I went on a walking tour today (Wednesday I think?) and it was pretty informative. Some of the historical stories are amusing because Barcelona and Seville both believe that Christopher Columbus came from their cities and that doesn't allow for fluid historical accuracy. We were brought through some of the old Jewish neighbourhoods that came with more horror stories about the Inquisition. There are loads of gardens and lush green plants everywhere and trees sprouting with oranges. One of my favorite parts of the tour was when we went to Plaza de España. It is a huge plaza that has a special section for each part of Spain and huge parts dedicated to Seville. It is brightly decorated with all kinds of tiles and artwork and it is just impressive. (I would recommend going to check this out for yourself someday!) The people of Seville LOVE Christopher Columbus...you can't escape him. Another part about the tour that stuck out was the sign or phrase that is all over Seville - NO DO with a vertical infinity symbol in the middle. The infinity sign represents the word 'madeja' which would appear in wedding rituals to signify the bond the couple had for their life. The reason this is all around Madrid is because it was a 'gift' King Alphonse X left for the city. It literally translates to 'No me ha dejado' meaning 'She has not abandoned me'. He left this as his parting gift to the city because when his own son and the Pope turned against him and showed up with the Spanish army ready to attack the city, Seville stood up against them and fought for King Alphonse X. (He ended up being removed from kingship and was to remain exiled in Seville while his son took over.)
Day 2 in Seville started off with a trip to the bus station to purchase my ticket to Madrid. Tomorrow (the 10th) I have a 6 hour bus ride to Madrid. Woot! After the bus ticket, I headed back towards the center of town and for €2, I took a tour of the cathedral and the Giralda. Th cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe and the 3rd largest cathedral (after the Vatican and St. Paul's) The inside was beautiful- loaded with details and a lot of gold and silver. The organ was massive! The Giralda (tower next to the church) involved a climb up over30 sections of ramp (there are no stairs in the tower because the sultan, who commissioned it, had to climb it 5 times a day for prayer so he had ramps put in so he could ride his horse up to the top) It is very Arabic on the inside but the top of the tower is a portion added by the Catholics. Following the cathedral tour, I headed back outside into the side streets and checked out all the souvenir shops - it's amazing how there can be so many with the same things! I stopped in a restaurant for some paella (a very cultural dish) with a glass of sangria. Typically, paella is made with fish or seafood but I had mine with chicken instead =] It was really good so I would recommend it! Walked down town a bit more then headed back to the hostel for a siesta since the hot Spanish sun was making me tired!
After my siesta, I headed out for some Ben and Jerrys (which is a small luxury I treated myself to!) and then I sat by a beautiful fountain people watching for a while. I exchanged greetings with some lovely old people and was able to watch people bike riding and roller blading all over the plaza. This was a particularly lonely night for me...after traveling by yourself for quite sometime, it gets to you, so the people watching helped not to mention all of the awesome Christmas music that the performers were playing in the street! I grabbed some food then headed back through the crowded streets to get ready to leave real early the next day! I really love Seville and would love to head back there some day!
There are loads more stories but I will write about those when I put all of my pictures up on facebook. It is easier to write a historical caption when I can see the picture and so can everyone else!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
BARCELONA!!!
Hey Everyone!!
I hope you are all enjoying your weather - it's been beautiful over here!
So what I forgot to write was that in Lisbon, I tried roasted chestnuts and they tasted pretty good! They were very warm so that helped since it was a cold night!
I have truly lost all concept of time so if there are inaccuracies in my stories, I apologize!
Sunday the 5th (I hope!) I left Lisbon at 11:39am to take a train in to the city of Porto where I would be catching a flight. The original plan was to explore Porto for a little while and then get to the airport which would have been nice. However, the airport was so far away from anything to do in the city and I didn't want to get lost so I stuck it out in the airport. Turned out alright because I picked up a Portuguese history book and some gummy worms and started reading! The flight went well - it was pouring rain as we headed out to the plane so we all got soaked.
I arrived at the airport and the hotel in Barcelona had a free transport so I took that to the hotel. I ended up having a king sized bed and a huge marble bathroom with a massive tub and it was pretty awesome although it would have been nice to share it with someone!
The next morning, I allowed myself to sleep in given the luxury of the room and then I headed off to find the hostel. Turns out the hotel was in a section called El Prat which is a town within Barcelona. I eventually was able to understand which bus line and metro line I needed to take to make it to the hostel. I arrived just fine after quite an adventure but I was able to laugh at my Spanish skills. I plan on asking people at home who know Spanish to only speak to me in Spanish from now on otherwise I will never learn! At the hostel, I hopped ont he computer to check the emails and such and figured out that Scotland is not a great place to be right now! The entire university shut down, buses and taxis barely run, trains are also very unreliable and no one can fly out or in. All of the exams are rescheduled as well! What this means is that I might be crossing Berlin off my European tour because if Lisa doesn't make it to Germany then I would like to head back to Scotland to see eeryone who is stuck there!
I was feeling a bit lonely yesterday just because it's been 5 days alone already but I met some really nice people here yesterday - a kid named Josh from Boston who asked if I went to WPI when I said I go to school in Worcester haha and a girl named Zainib from Morocco. She and I went out to dinner and walked around the market last night and then came back and called it a night - it's exhausting!
Today, Zainib and I headed out to Casa Museu Gaudí which is a beautiful park featuring the architecture of Gaudí. I took a lot of pictures but you don't to see those until later! After that, we headed back on the metro to go and see Temple de La Sagrada Familia and the two parks surrounding it. This is a very beautiful temple with gothic style architecture - it's actually huge but we didn't pay to go inside of it because the line was incredible! We had some lunch back near the hostel and then I left to take a walking tour of the city.
On the walking tour, we explored a lot of the old Barcelona where gothic architecture is still very present. We saw quite a lot of churches that I forget all the names of but all very beautiful and impressive structures. The church called Santa María del Mar was one of the ones that stuck out because it was built by the people with al of their money - the government wouldn't give them any aid. It was also built in the middle of the plague and famine so it is just that much more impressive. The patron saint of arcelona is Saint Eulalia who died at the age of 13 because she failed to convert religions. We also saw the art school that Picasso attended and a plaza dedicated to George Orwell because of the aid he gave Barcelona. You can still see all the remnants of the firing squad and bombs from earlier times in the walls of the plaza.
Barcelona is Spanish but more commonly, it identifies with it's ancient roots of Catalonia. Catalonia was a small territory that was stuck between Spain and France and has continually fought for their independence (once, the city was being attacked for 13 months with no chance of winning but they fought til the daeth anyway.) Barcelona is the main city and capital of Catalonia but it also includes Girona, Lledia and Tarragona. The tour guide put quite a lot of emphasis ont he fact that the people of Catalonia still identify with their roots. Here in Barcelona, they speak Catalan and then Spanish - all the signs are in both but Catalan comes first. It has a lot of French roots as well so it is quite a bit different from Spanish. There is your history lesson =]
After the tour, we stopped off for a drink and a girl I met came with me and we got a waffle (gofre) with nutella at their version of the Christmas market. There are loads of street performers here!! I think when I come back in the future, I will spend a lot more time here because there is just way too much to see when I only have two full days here!
Tomorrow, I move on to Seville bright and early in the morning! I already have the bus trip to the airport planned out and I looked up directions to get from the Seville airport to the hostel when I get there so for now we can all assume I will make it there without a problem! I was able to charge the lovely British phone tonight so I should be all set!
I took loads of pictures of everything I could since I have been here so you will all have a lot to see when I get home! Also, spell check here is in Spanish so it doesn't help me very much...My bad if there are errors!
Heading out for now to a late dinner and then bed early for the flight tomorrow! Love you all!!!
I hope you are all enjoying your weather - it's been beautiful over here!
So what I forgot to write was that in Lisbon, I tried roasted chestnuts and they tasted pretty good! They were very warm so that helped since it was a cold night!
I have truly lost all concept of time so if there are inaccuracies in my stories, I apologize!
Sunday the 5th (I hope!) I left Lisbon at 11:39am to take a train in to the city of Porto where I would be catching a flight. The original plan was to explore Porto for a little while and then get to the airport which would have been nice. However, the airport was so far away from anything to do in the city and I didn't want to get lost so I stuck it out in the airport. Turned out alright because I picked up a Portuguese history book and some gummy worms and started reading! The flight went well - it was pouring rain as we headed out to the plane so we all got soaked.
I arrived at the airport and the hotel in Barcelona had a free transport so I took that to the hotel. I ended up having a king sized bed and a huge marble bathroom with a massive tub and it was pretty awesome although it would have been nice to share it with someone!
The next morning, I allowed myself to sleep in given the luxury of the room and then I headed off to find the hostel. Turns out the hotel was in a section called El Prat which is a town within Barcelona. I eventually was able to understand which bus line and metro line I needed to take to make it to the hostel. I arrived just fine after quite an adventure but I was able to laugh at my Spanish skills. I plan on asking people at home who know Spanish to only speak to me in Spanish from now on otherwise I will never learn! At the hostel, I hopped ont he computer to check the emails and such and figured out that Scotland is not a great place to be right now! The entire university shut down, buses and taxis barely run, trains are also very unreliable and no one can fly out or in. All of the exams are rescheduled as well! What this means is that I might be crossing Berlin off my European tour because if Lisa doesn't make it to Germany then I would like to head back to Scotland to see eeryone who is stuck there!
I was feeling a bit lonely yesterday just because it's been 5 days alone already but I met some really nice people here yesterday - a kid named Josh from Boston who asked if I went to WPI when I said I go to school in Worcester haha and a girl named Zainib from Morocco. She and I went out to dinner and walked around the market last night and then came back and called it a night - it's exhausting!
Today, Zainib and I headed out to Casa Museu Gaudí which is a beautiful park featuring the architecture of Gaudí. I took a lot of pictures but you don't to see those until later! After that, we headed back on the metro to go and see Temple de La Sagrada Familia and the two parks surrounding it. This is a very beautiful temple with gothic style architecture - it's actually huge but we didn't pay to go inside of it because the line was incredible! We had some lunch back near the hostel and then I left to take a walking tour of the city.
On the walking tour, we explored a lot of the old Barcelona where gothic architecture is still very present. We saw quite a lot of churches that I forget all the names of but all very beautiful and impressive structures. The church called Santa María del Mar was one of the ones that stuck out because it was built by the people with al of their money - the government wouldn't give them any aid. It was also built in the middle of the plague and famine so it is just that much more impressive. The patron saint of arcelona is Saint Eulalia who died at the age of 13 because she failed to convert religions. We also saw the art school that Picasso attended and a plaza dedicated to George Orwell because of the aid he gave Barcelona. You can still see all the remnants of the firing squad and bombs from earlier times in the walls of the plaza.
Barcelona is Spanish but more commonly, it identifies with it's ancient roots of Catalonia. Catalonia was a small territory that was stuck between Spain and France and has continually fought for their independence (once, the city was being attacked for 13 months with no chance of winning but they fought til the daeth anyway.) Barcelona is the main city and capital of Catalonia but it also includes Girona, Lledia and Tarragona. The tour guide put quite a lot of emphasis ont he fact that the people of Catalonia still identify with their roots. Here in Barcelona, they speak Catalan and then Spanish - all the signs are in both but Catalan comes first. It has a lot of French roots as well so it is quite a bit different from Spanish. There is your history lesson =]
After the tour, we stopped off for a drink and a girl I met came with me and we got a waffle (gofre) with nutella at their version of the Christmas market. There are loads of street performers here!! I think when I come back in the future, I will spend a lot more time here because there is just way too much to see when I only have two full days here!
Tomorrow, I move on to Seville bright and early in the morning! I already have the bus trip to the airport planned out and I looked up directions to get from the Seville airport to the hostel when I get there so for now we can all assume I will make it there without a problem! I was able to charge the lovely British phone tonight so I should be all set!
I took loads of pictures of everything I could since I have been here so you will all have a lot to see when I get home! Also, spell check here is in Spanish so it doesn't help me very much...My bad if there are errors!
Heading out for now to a late dinner and then bed early for the flight tomorrow! Love you all!!!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
PORTUGAL!!!!!!
Hey Everyone!
So here is my Portugal update!
Day 1 - A whole lot of travel involved! I was in the train station by 11:30am but with all the time delays from the trains due to the 'severe' weather, I didn't end up getting a train out of Stirling until 12:45pm! While I was on the train and the bus to the airport, I met a guy from Rome and he was giving me a lot of pointers on how to see the city when I am there which was really nice! Made it to the airport in time to discover that my flight was delayed 2.5 hours. We finally boarded the plane at 6:50 (when we were supposed to depart) and then sat in there at the terminal for another 1.75 hours until we finally took off at 8:36! (Yes, I watched the time carefully!) At the airport, there were two guys waiting for me when there was only supposed to be one (long story short the other company is scummy) and my shuttle guy took me to the hotel only after he drove me around downtown to show me the train station. The woman at the reception desk was very sweet and I was able to access internet. My room was awesome! I had a very comfortable double bed with amazing pillows, a full bathroom, a neat TV and my own balcony that overlooked a portion of the city!
Day 2 - I started the morning off with continental breakfast from the hotel and I think I ate enough to feed a small army! I then went on a walk to explore the city of Faro and started off near the marina. The water looked beautiful and it was a very warm day. I strolled around the market plaza which had blue carpet lining all of the shopping streets so I didn't get lost! The town has a bit of poverty but all of the shops were very high end. There was a man playing the accordion in the street which was really neat! I had to purchase a pair of sunglasses because it was so bright thaqt I couldn't see. I hopped on the train at 1:20 to take the trip into Lisbon. The Portuguese country side isn't too fancy - I saw a lot of vegetation and a lot more poverty. Rolling hills and tiny streets are everywhere! I made it into Lisbon at 5:05pm and was so overwhelmed with how huge the Oriente station was that I decided to just take a taxi to the hostel. The driver got me there pretty quickly and safely so I was pleased! The person running the hostel (Guillereme, the French version of William) is very friendly and he gave me a tour and I met some of his friends and my roommate. I have an amazing balcony out of the room of this hostel so that was really nice to wake up to! I followed the map Guillerme gave me and went to a local little shop and had a delicious and cheap steak dinner! When I got back, Frederick, Guillerme and I sat around and chatted for a while. I went to bed early since I was pretty exhausted and wanted to do a lot today!
Day 3 - I woke up and had a filling breakfast in the hostel. After breakfast, I headed out with Frederick and we went to a cathedral. After seeing Notre Dame, this one was not impressive but it was still nice. After the cathedral, we continued down the hill and checked out some shops and ended up in one of the main plazas. This +articular plaza used to be called the kings palace because that used to be the site of the royal gardens but when the earthquake and the tsunami hit in 1755, it was destroyed so they rebuilt and renamed it. It started to rain a bit so we headed back to the hostel to grab another coat then went back downtown. We took a tram into the city and that was quite an experience! It was absolutely packed and the ride is the farthest thing from smooth possible but it was so much fun! A fight broke out so the driver made the guys get off but we carried on! Frederick and I stopped to have some food and coffee at one of the famous cafes in the city and then we went to meet for our guided tour organized by the hostel. This is where we met the group o 7 or so Spanish men that are staying here with us. The tour was given by a woman named Ana who is an archeologist and likes to do these kinds of things for fun. It lasted 3 hours long and was incredibly historic and took us to a lot of unknown sites throughout Lisbon. I tried to get to a computer fast enough to write down all she told us before I forgot but that didn't happen! Part of the tour covered the oldest monastery in Lisbon that they decided to build around after the tsunami/earthquake knocked it over. There is a very strong Muslim influence here in Lisbon and there was a wall all around that city that still exists in some parts.
After the tour was over, Ana took us to ti a shop to get a shot of gin
jinh. This is a very Portuguese liquor that is very strong and has been soaked in cherries for a very long time. It's sweet at first and then it hits you! After the tour, we went to a little restaurant where they have Fado. Fado is a very traditional Portuguese style of music with a Portuguese guitar, as well as normal ones, and a singer. Songs are usually about something that is lost (like love) or can be about the town and can be sad or hilarious. The style of Fado we went to was kind of like an open mic night and it was great! I have some videos that I will put up as soon as I get back to my laptop! Tonight, Ana made dinner for those of us in the hostel. We had some pork mixed with clams, salad, potatoes and onions. Yes, I tried the clam. No, I did not like it. But the point is, I tried! All the seafood I have had so far is just too seafoody...I don't like it. THe hostel got pretty full last night because the Spanish folk are all on holiday since next week they have Monday and Wednesday off. The people I had dinner with were Frederick, Ana,
Guillerme and 10 guys from Spain. They are hilarious though!! Definitely exhausting. Their English is comical and they wanted to tell us jokes but they needed to have the other Spanish people translate them first! On the way home to dinner tonight, I asked the lady for Portuguese sweet bread (in Portuguese) and I purchased some for 1 Euro...it was not Portuguese sweet bread. I haven't found it anywhere but I will keep looking!
Tonight, a bunch of us are going out to do a pub crawl. Tomorrow morning, I will have to take the metro to the HUGE train station then get a train into Porto. From there, I will check out the town and then head on another metro to the airport and get ready to fly to Barcelona! Can't wait!
I hope that everyone is having a great time back at home and you are all decorating for Christmas! I keep forgetting that is coming up because I don't have a tree =[ I will update you next when I am in España!!
Love you all tons and am sending you hugs and smiles from Portugal!!
***I will put up all the pictures and videos I have when I get back home!***
So here is my Portugal update!
Day 1 - A whole lot of travel involved! I was in the train station by 11:30am but with all the time delays from the trains due to the 'severe' weather, I didn't end up getting a train out of Stirling until 12:45pm! While I was on the train and the bus to the airport, I met a guy from Rome and he was giving me a lot of pointers on how to see the city when I am there which was really nice! Made it to the airport in time to discover that my flight was delayed 2.5 hours. We finally boarded the plane at 6:50 (when we were supposed to depart) and then sat in there at the terminal for another 1.75 hours until we finally took off at 8:36! (Yes, I watched the time carefully!) At the airport, there were two guys waiting for me when there was only supposed to be one (long story short the other company is scummy) and my shuttle guy took me to the hotel only after he drove me around downtown to show me the train station. The woman at the reception desk was very sweet and I was able to access internet. My room was awesome! I had a very comfortable double bed with amazing pillows, a full bathroom, a neat TV and my own balcony that overlooked a portion of the city!
Day 2 - I started the morning off with continental breakfast from the hotel and I think I ate enough to feed a small army! I then went on a walk to explore the city of Faro and started off near the marina. The water looked beautiful and it was a very warm day. I strolled around the market plaza which had blue carpet lining all of the shopping streets so I didn't get lost! The town has a bit of poverty but all of the shops were very high end. There was a man playing the accordion in the street which was really neat! I had to purchase a pair of sunglasses because it was so bright thaqt I couldn't see. I hopped on the train at 1:20 to take the trip into Lisbon. The Portuguese country side isn't too fancy - I saw a lot of vegetation and a lot more poverty. Rolling hills and tiny streets are everywhere! I made it into Lisbon at 5:05pm and was so overwhelmed with how huge the Oriente station was that I decided to just take a taxi to the hostel. The driver got me there pretty quickly and safely so I was pleased! The person running the hostel (Guillereme, the French version of William) is very friendly and he gave me a tour and I met some of his friends and my roommate. I have an amazing balcony out of the room of this hostel so that was really nice to wake up to! I followed the map Guillerme gave me and went to a local little shop and had a delicious and cheap steak dinner! When I got back, Frederick, Guillerme and I sat around and chatted for a while. I went to bed early since I was pretty exhausted and wanted to do a lot today!
Day 3 - I woke up and had a filling breakfast in the hostel. After breakfast, I headed out with Frederick and we went to a cathedral. After seeing Notre Dame, this one was not impressive but it was still nice. After the cathedral, we continued down the hill and checked out some shops and ended up in one of the main plazas. This +articular plaza used to be called the kings palace because that used to be the site of the royal gardens but when the earthquake and the tsunami hit in 1755, it was destroyed so they rebuilt and renamed it. It started to rain a bit so we headed back to the hostel to grab another coat then went back downtown. We took a tram into the city and that was quite an experience! It was absolutely packed and the ride is the farthest thing from smooth possible but it was so much fun! A fight broke out so the driver made the guys get off but we carried on! Frederick and I stopped to have some food and coffee at one of the famous cafes in the city and then we went to meet for our guided tour organized by the hostel. This is where we met the group o 7 or so Spanish men that are staying here with us. The tour was given by a woman named Ana who is an archeologist and likes to do these kinds of things for fun. It lasted 3 hours long and was incredibly historic and took us to a lot of unknown sites throughout Lisbon. I tried to get to a computer fast enough to write down all she told us before I forgot but that didn't happen! Part of the tour covered the oldest monastery in Lisbon that they decided to build around after the tsunami/earthquake knocked it over. There is a very strong Muslim influence here in Lisbon and there was a wall all around that city that still exists in some parts.
After the tour was over, Ana took us to ti a shop to get a shot of gin
jinh. This is a very Portuguese liquor that is very strong and has been soaked in cherries for a very long time. It's sweet at first and then it hits you! After the tour, we went to a little restaurant where they have Fado. Fado is a very traditional Portuguese style of music with a Portuguese guitar, as well as normal ones, and a singer. Songs are usually about something that is lost (like love) or can be about the town and can be sad or hilarious. The style of Fado we went to was kind of like an open mic night and it was great! I have some videos that I will put up as soon as I get back to my laptop! Tonight, Ana made dinner for those of us in the hostel. We had some pork mixed with clams, salad, potatoes and onions. Yes, I tried the clam. No, I did not like it. But the point is, I tried! All the seafood I have had so far is just too seafoody...I don't like it. THe hostel got pretty full last night because the Spanish folk are all on holiday since next week they have Monday and Wednesday off. The people I had dinner with were Frederick, Ana,
Guillerme and 10 guys from Spain. They are hilarious though!! Definitely exhausting. Their English is comical and they wanted to tell us jokes but they needed to have the other Spanish people translate them first! On the way home to dinner tonight, I asked the lady for Portuguese sweet bread (in Portuguese) and I purchased some for 1 Euro...it was not Portuguese sweet bread. I haven't found it anywhere but I will keep looking!
Tonight, a bunch of us are going out to do a pub crawl. Tomorrow morning, I will have to take the metro to the HUGE train station then get a train into Porto. From there, I will check out the town and then head on another metro to the airport and get ready to fly to Barcelona! Can't wait!
I hope that everyone is having a great time back at home and you are all decorating for Christmas! I keep forgetting that is coming up because I don't have a tree =[ I will update you next when I am in España!!
Love you all tons and am sending you hugs and smiles from Portugal!!
***I will put up all the pictures and videos I have when I get back home!***
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Travel Plans!
Hellooooo!
I am gearing up to head out on my trip around Europe! Here is my itinerary!
Dec 2 - Faro, Portugal
Dec 3 - Lisbon, Portugal
Dec 4 - Lisbon, Portugal
Dec 5 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 6 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 7 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 8 - Seville, Spain
Dec 9 - Seville, Spain
Dec 10 - Madrid, Spain
Dec 11 - Rome, Italy
Dec 12 - Rome, Italy
Dec 13 - Rome, Italy
Dec 14 - Florence, Italy
Dec 15 - Venice, Italy
Dec 16 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 17 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 18 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 19 - Stirling, Scotland
DEC 20TH - HOME TO CONNECTICUT! (arrival at 6pm in Boston!)
Dad helped me out a lot with this trip and was able to book me some great hotels and hostels since everything is a little overwhelming when you wait until there isn't much time left!
I know that it is an ambitious trip but that's what makes it exciting! I will be traveling on my own until I get to Berlin and then I will be staying with Lisa at her dad's place for those three nights. Everything is all set and ready to go!
Hopefully, the weather here stays good - the airport has been closed more often than it's been open since this weekend...Flights in Ireland, the UK and France are all having issues with the amount of awful weather we have had (yes, it is STILL snowing!)
Sunday night, I went out with some people from Urban Dance and we had a Vietnamese dinner called a hot pot. This involves a pot of boiling stew in the center of the table surrounded by bowls of food and you toss whatever you would like in and take it out when you think it is cooked. The only dangerous thing about this is that you never know what you are getting in your bowl...I wish I had a picture of the food because there were baby octopuses floating around in the pot. To be fair, I tried tofu and prawns and possibly by an accident, a piece of cod. Not a fan of the tofu or the prawns one bit but I think the potential piece of cod was so small that I shouldn't count it...After dinner, the taxi could only drive us so far so we hopped out and found some people with trash bags and went sledding! It was loads of fun but going in a trash bag is not recommended!
Monday, I had my last classes and I finalized all of the flights I would be taking and began packing for my journey!
Last night (Tuesday night), my friends threw me a surprise going away party since I am the first one to leave. They filled a whole room with balloons with nice writings on them and they all wrote in a card for me saying some very sweet things. Elsa also cooked everyone crepes - ham, egg and cheese, nutella, butter and salt, etc. It was delicious and we all had a great last night together - I am so lucky to have found such amazing friends over here and knowing that they think just as highly of me as I do of them is a good feeling. I hope that we can all stay in touch (they all told me to keep writing them emails in Spanish to keep practicing!)
Tonight (Wednesday), Lisa and Melanie made us dinner for German night. We had Knödel which is a potato/bread dumpling that doesn't have yeast. They made it with a sauce of red wine and mushrooms and some other gravy like sauce. It tasted pretty good and certainly is filling! I tried the mushrooms (both cooked and uncooked) and it's really not a food I care to continue eating.
Keep your fingers crossed for a flight that doesn't get canceled and takes me safely to Portugal! The plane takes off at 4:10pm! (on a side note, I have internet almost everywhere I go so I will update you along the way but you won't get pictures until I get home!)
I will leave you with some pictures of all the crazy snow on campus! Love you!
Sledding with 'bin bags' (trash bags!)
Frozen Loch
View of Dumyat on the way to class
Frozen Loch and the Library
Frozen Loch with Dumyat and the Dorms (and you can see the bridge I cross over to get to class everyday!)
I am gearing up to head out on my trip around Europe! Here is my itinerary!
Dec 2 - Faro, Portugal
Dec 3 - Lisbon, Portugal
Dec 4 - Lisbon, Portugal
Dec 5 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 6 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 7 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 8 - Seville, Spain
Dec 9 - Seville, Spain
Dec 10 - Madrid, Spain
Dec 11 - Rome, Italy
Dec 12 - Rome, Italy
Dec 13 - Rome, Italy
Dec 14 - Florence, Italy
Dec 15 - Venice, Italy
Dec 16 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 17 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 18 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 19 - Stirling, Scotland
DEC 20TH - HOME TO CONNECTICUT! (arrival at 6pm in Boston!)
Dad helped me out a lot with this trip and was able to book me some great hotels and hostels since everything is a little overwhelming when you wait until there isn't much time left!
I know that it is an ambitious trip but that's what makes it exciting! I will be traveling on my own until I get to Berlin and then I will be staying with Lisa at her dad's place for those three nights. Everything is all set and ready to go!
Hopefully, the weather here stays good - the airport has been closed more often than it's been open since this weekend...Flights in Ireland, the UK and France are all having issues with the amount of awful weather we have had (yes, it is STILL snowing!)
Sunday night, I went out with some people from Urban Dance and we had a Vietnamese dinner called a hot pot. This involves a pot of boiling stew in the center of the table surrounded by bowls of food and you toss whatever you would like in and take it out when you think it is cooked. The only dangerous thing about this is that you never know what you are getting in your bowl...I wish I had a picture of the food because there were baby octopuses floating around in the pot. To be fair, I tried tofu and prawns and possibly by an accident, a piece of cod. Not a fan of the tofu or the prawns one bit but I think the potential piece of cod was so small that I shouldn't count it...After dinner, the taxi could only drive us so far so we hopped out and found some people with trash bags and went sledding! It was loads of fun but going in a trash bag is not recommended!
Monday, I had my last classes and I finalized all of the flights I would be taking and began packing for my journey!
Last night (Tuesday night), my friends threw me a surprise going away party since I am the first one to leave. They filled a whole room with balloons with nice writings on them and they all wrote in a card for me saying some very sweet things. Elsa also cooked everyone crepes - ham, egg and cheese, nutella, butter and salt, etc. It was delicious and we all had a great last night together - I am so lucky to have found such amazing friends over here and knowing that they think just as highly of me as I do of them is a good feeling. I hope that we can all stay in touch (they all told me to keep writing them emails in Spanish to keep practicing!)
Tonight (Wednesday), Lisa and Melanie made us dinner for German night. We had Knödel which is a potato/bread dumpling that doesn't have yeast. They made it with a sauce of red wine and mushrooms and some other gravy like sauce. It tasted pretty good and certainly is filling! I tried the mushrooms (both cooked and uncooked) and it's really not a food I care to continue eating.
Keep your fingers crossed for a flight that doesn't get canceled and takes me safely to Portugal! The plane takes off at 4:10pm! (on a side note, I have internet almost everywhere I go so I will update you along the way but you won't get pictures until I get home!)
I will leave you with some pictures of all the crazy snow on campus! Love you!
Sledding with 'bin bags' (trash bags!)
Frozen Loch
View of Dumyat on the way to class
Frozen Loch and the Library
Frozen Loch with Dumyat and the Dorms (and you can see the bridge I cross over to get to class everyday!)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Last Weekend in Scotland!
Hello Everyone!!
I hope that Thanksgiving was a fantastic celebration for all of you! I went to the pub for dinner because if you buy a full price drink, you get one meal for free (out of three choices). How could you not be thankful for that?! I also had a lovely time on skype with all of those who were able to make it to the Carey household for the holidays! Just as crazy as always and Lisa is determined to visit so congrats on the fantastic impression =] There better be a buckeye bar for me...
Friday morning, I headed out to Glasgow with Elsa. We arrived nice and early in the morning and some things weren't even open yet! Our first stop was the oldest church in Glasgow - St. Mungo's Cathedral. The church was beautiful and quite large! The first floor was the chapel and then you could go down to the basement/lower levels and it was just a smaller version of everything above with crypts, other areas of worship and artifacts displayed from around the church. We also visited the necropolis that lies behind the cathedral and got some really nice early morning views of the city.
Our next stop was the Provand's Lordship which is across from the church and officially the oldest house in Glasgow. The information said that no one knows that the original function of the house was but now it acts as a 'rare example of 15th century Scottish domestic architecture'.
Following the old house, we went back across the street to the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Architecture. This focused on religions from all over the world as well as an exhibit that involved people being interviewed regarding questions of religion to show how greatly everything is interpreted.
We decided to talk a walk through Glasgow and head to Glasgow Green. The park was much larger than I thought and it had the most amazing playground!! Inside the green is the People's Palace and the Winter Gardens. The People's Palace was constructed to give people a history of Glasgow starting from the 18th century. There is a very beautiful fountain outside of the palace made of terracotta and is one of the largest (?) of it's kind in the world.
After some lunch, we went through the Christmas market in Glasgow (which wasn't nearly as nice as Paris) and then headed towards the other side of town to check out the Burrell Collection. This is a large building filled with historical artifacts and fine art that started out as the private collection of a man named William Burrell when he was only a teenager. He donated the collection to be displayed in Glasgow after his death. It is quite an impressive collection!
Elsa headed home and I headed to Edinburgh to meet Melanie and Lisa. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel (which was right in the center of Edinburgh on the 4th floor!) and went to check out the Edinburgh Christmas market - much better than Glasgow and just about as awesome as Paris! The streets of Edinburgh were all lit up with Christmas lights and it actually started snowing!! We went out to a restaurant that gives out good student deals then spent the night checking out a few other local pubs.
This weekend was St. Andrews weekend meaning that all of the historical sights in Scotland are free. Saturday morning, we headed out to go see Edinburgh Castle. It was just a larger version of Stirling castle but had a bit more historical information displayed with the exhibits. The views from the castle were pretty awesome! You could see the city, the water and the mountains and everything was covered in snow! We spent the rest of the day walking to a section where they have a bunch of second hand shops and explored down there. It was freezing so we decided to head home early. This ended up being a nightmare because when it snowed the night before, it messed up how all of the trains worked so we waited about 2 hours to get home since almost all of the trains were canceled. Train stations are not warm...
Melanie, Lisa and I spent quite a bit of time this morning watching an epic snowball fight from the window of our kitchen! There are about 20 people running around the green making snow forts and throwing snowballs at people with their windows open - some already had coolers full of snowballs and have been throwing back. It makes me miss home! It snowed a bit on Wednesday and then again Thursday and Friday and hasn't stopped snowing since last night! It's awesome! The weather reports are saying that last night was the coldest November night documented in the UK and that it will keep snowing through the week. Let's just hope that this doesn't change plane, train or airplane times because I need to get to the airport Thursday!!
Sorry there aren't too many pictures up this port - I have quite a bit to do before I take off and I just did this on my study break!!
I will be posting my travel plans online soon so stay tuned!
Inside the cathedral
The Necropolis
Sign in the People's Palace
Fountain outside the People's Palace
Building in downtown Glasgow
Christmas Market
Melanie, myself and Lisa
Edinburgh Castle
Inside the walls
Bag piper on the street corner
I hope that Thanksgiving was a fantastic celebration for all of you! I went to the pub for dinner because if you buy a full price drink, you get one meal for free (out of three choices). How could you not be thankful for that?! I also had a lovely time on skype with all of those who were able to make it to the Carey household for the holidays! Just as crazy as always and Lisa is determined to visit so congrats on the fantastic impression =] There better be a buckeye bar for me...
Friday morning, I headed out to Glasgow with Elsa. We arrived nice and early in the morning and some things weren't even open yet! Our first stop was the oldest church in Glasgow - St. Mungo's Cathedral. The church was beautiful and quite large! The first floor was the chapel and then you could go down to the basement/lower levels and it was just a smaller version of everything above with crypts, other areas of worship and artifacts displayed from around the church. We also visited the necropolis that lies behind the cathedral and got some really nice early morning views of the city.
Our next stop was the Provand's Lordship which is across from the church and officially the oldest house in Glasgow. The information said that no one knows that the original function of the house was but now it acts as a 'rare example of 15th century Scottish domestic architecture'.
Following the old house, we went back across the street to the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Architecture. This focused on religions from all over the world as well as an exhibit that involved people being interviewed regarding questions of religion to show how greatly everything is interpreted.
We decided to talk a walk through Glasgow and head to Glasgow Green. The park was much larger than I thought and it had the most amazing playground!! Inside the green is the People's Palace and the Winter Gardens. The People's Palace was constructed to give people a history of Glasgow starting from the 18th century. There is a very beautiful fountain outside of the palace made of terracotta and is one of the largest (?) of it's kind in the world.
After some lunch, we went through the Christmas market in Glasgow (which wasn't nearly as nice as Paris) and then headed towards the other side of town to check out the Burrell Collection. This is a large building filled with historical artifacts and fine art that started out as the private collection of a man named William Burrell when he was only a teenager. He donated the collection to be displayed in Glasgow after his death. It is quite an impressive collection!
Elsa headed home and I headed to Edinburgh to meet Melanie and Lisa. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel (which was right in the center of Edinburgh on the 4th floor!) and went to check out the Edinburgh Christmas market - much better than Glasgow and just about as awesome as Paris! The streets of Edinburgh were all lit up with Christmas lights and it actually started snowing!! We went out to a restaurant that gives out good student deals then spent the night checking out a few other local pubs.
This weekend was St. Andrews weekend meaning that all of the historical sights in Scotland are free. Saturday morning, we headed out to go see Edinburgh Castle. It was just a larger version of Stirling castle but had a bit more historical information displayed with the exhibits. The views from the castle were pretty awesome! You could see the city, the water and the mountains and everything was covered in snow! We spent the rest of the day walking to a section where they have a bunch of second hand shops and explored down there. It was freezing so we decided to head home early. This ended up being a nightmare because when it snowed the night before, it messed up how all of the trains worked so we waited about 2 hours to get home since almost all of the trains were canceled. Train stations are not warm...
Melanie, Lisa and I spent quite a bit of time this morning watching an epic snowball fight from the window of our kitchen! There are about 20 people running around the green making snow forts and throwing snowballs at people with their windows open - some already had coolers full of snowballs and have been throwing back. It makes me miss home! It snowed a bit on Wednesday and then again Thursday and Friday and hasn't stopped snowing since last night! It's awesome! The weather reports are saying that last night was the coldest November night documented in the UK and that it will keep snowing through the week. Let's just hope that this doesn't change plane, train or airplane times because I need to get to the airport Thursday!!
Sorry there aren't too many pictures up this port - I have quite a bit to do before I take off and I just did this on my study break!!
I will be posting my travel plans online soon so stay tuned!
Inside the cathedral
The Necropolis
Sign in the People's Palace
Fountain outside the People's Palace
Building in downtown Glasgow
Christmas Market
Melanie, myself and Lisa
Edinburgh Castle
Inside the walls
Bag piper on the street corner
Thursday, November 25, 2010
PARIS!
Hey Everyone!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!! Gobble Gobble! <--- (that's for you mom!)
As you know, Jessica and I spent the past weekend in Paris! We left at 4:50 am Friday morning and arrived back in Stirling at 1:30 pm on Sunday! What a weekend we had!
The plane ride to Paris went just fine. We had to take a bus from the small airport into Paris (about 1 hour) and then we began walking. The first stop for us was the Arc de Triomphe. It was magnificent! The detail carved into the stone was amazing and the size of the Arc is incredible! There are some pictures of Jessica next to it and she looks like an ant!
Next, we went down some side streets and found a cafe/restaurant to eat some lunch and a cheeseburger and a coke cost me 19 euros - awesome! We spent some more time walking through the streets where there was a huge Christmas fair/market and continued to a park that was right next to the Louvre. We never made it inside the Louvre because the hours of operation never seemed to fit our schedule. It took us 2.5 hours to find our hotel Friday night and thanks to a man on the street who we refer to as our angel, we were able to get there. We went back to the Christmas market and stopped at several different booths to get some dinner - mostly dessert!
Saturday, we waited in line forever to get up to the top of the Eiffel Tower but we did it! While we were waiting, I witnessed a couple getting engaged! Woot! The view from the top of the tower was pretty amazing - you don't realize how tall it is until you get to the top. We had a lovely cloudless day and you could see the entire city. After the tower, we headed down to the park next to it and took some more pictures before we walked through some smaller neighborhoods. We went to a bakery with the most delicious food and then walked through a flea market before we got on the metro and went to visit Notre Dame.
Notre Dame was impressive. Jess walked me there while I was forced to look at my feet and she stood me right in front of the door and told me to look up. All the little figures crafted into the stone was mind boggling. It really is a beautiful building. The beaut on the outside is equally reflected inside the cathedral. The ceilings are amazing and each of the little side room type things had it's own unique look or had some form of carving, statue or painting in it. We were half way through the church when mass started so we were able to see and hear all of the songs and prayer. I was also able to light a candle for Brenna, one of the girls I babysat this summer who has leukemia.
After Notre Dame, we walked around some more side streets and eventually found a restaurant. I had pizza with Parma ham - a smoked ham that looks and kind of tastes like it was never actually cooked. And here is a shocker for those of you who know me - I tried salmon. Yup, you heard right! Jessica somehow inspired me to try it. And I will say this - it didn't go disastrously! She said it wasn't good salmon so I guess that means there is even more hope for me! haha
On the way home we went to go visit Moulin Rouge and the small neighborhood around it. We also stopped at the Christmas fair again and watched the Rock n' Roll tree cutting show - the guy had music blasting and revved the chain saws to the beat and even included his own dance moves. He has a big ego - even started giving a speech after... We mastered the metro system and made it to the bus transport with time to spare! At the airport in France for the trip home, I got in the wrong line first then had to go back and have them check my visa since I am not a member of the EU. Jess and I both managed to set of the metal detector. The man asked if I spoke French and I said no. He then asked if I spoke English and I responded "Sí". He was pretty confused and so was Jess...It was really confusing! I was practicing my Spanish for my exam Tuesday and trying to learn French and that wasn't the first time I had done that... After the lady wanded me and made sure I wasn't smuggling anything, I was able to watch another woman unpack my entire bag only to find nothing. She was not very pleased and either was I. She stinks at re-packing bags by the way.
Once in Stirling, Jess and I ran to the cinema with time to spare! Of course we went to see Harry Potter and we didn't feel like making another trip back into town. I had a lovely postcard from my parents waiting for me and lots of homework!
This week, I had a Spanish language exam which went fair enough. I also had my Spanish culture exam which also went pretty well. Spanish is officially over for the semester and I will spend my time focusing on History and Linguistics. Tomorrow, I will be spending the day in Glasgow with Elsa and meeting up with one of Steph Brink's friends who has some inside knowledge of the city! From there, I am heading into Edinburgh to meet Lisa and Melanie to enjoy St. Andrew's weekend (all of the historical sites are free!) We will be staying in a hostel and heading back Saturday night.
I also got a haircut - Jess has always cut her own hair and as a spontaneous decision, I told her to cut mine. It looks amazing and people keep saying it looks professional! Woot! I was her first customer =]
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to say that I am an incredibly lucky girl to have the most amazing parents in the world who inspire me and believe in me no matter what. They continually encourage me to see the world and expand my horizons and I wouldn't be here without them. My little brother is pretty fantastic too =] I am currently wishing that I could have magically arrived home to spend the Thanksgiving break with my family and friends. I never miss family holidays and it is breaking my heart that I can't be there. Here's hoping that you are all playing some football, making some horrible music videos, failing at karaoke, and eating loads of food for me! (Save me one of Aunt Lynn's buckeye bars mommy!!!)
That's all I have for now! Apologies for taking so long to post again - it's been crazy and Paris was incredibly exhausting! Oh yeah - we got a wee bit of snow last night and I think the forecast says more is coming! And the sun sets at 3:50 today - the sun was only out for 7:57 hours =/
Love you all and Happy Thanksgiving!
Arc de Triomphe
The Louvre
The Louvre
The Louvre
The Louvre
NUTELLA at the street fair =]
Part of the Christmas street market
Eiffel Tower!
Looking down from the very top!
Arc de Triomphe and all the roads that lead to it
Jess and I atop the Eiffel!
Casting its shadow over the city
Inside the Notre Dame
Full view of the front of Notre Dame
Moulin Rouge
**There are tons more pictures on my facebook page so go check them out =]
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!! Gobble Gobble! <--- (that's for you mom!)
As you know, Jessica and I spent the past weekend in Paris! We left at 4:50 am Friday morning and arrived back in Stirling at 1:30 pm on Sunday! What a weekend we had!
The plane ride to Paris went just fine. We had to take a bus from the small airport into Paris (about 1 hour) and then we began walking. The first stop for us was the Arc de Triomphe. It was magnificent! The detail carved into the stone was amazing and the size of the Arc is incredible! There are some pictures of Jessica next to it and she looks like an ant!
Next, we went down some side streets and found a cafe/restaurant to eat some lunch and a cheeseburger and a coke cost me 19 euros - awesome! We spent some more time walking through the streets where there was a huge Christmas fair/market and continued to a park that was right next to the Louvre. We never made it inside the Louvre because the hours of operation never seemed to fit our schedule. It took us 2.5 hours to find our hotel Friday night and thanks to a man on the street who we refer to as our angel, we were able to get there. We went back to the Christmas market and stopped at several different booths to get some dinner - mostly dessert!
Saturday, we waited in line forever to get up to the top of the Eiffel Tower but we did it! While we were waiting, I witnessed a couple getting engaged! Woot! The view from the top of the tower was pretty amazing - you don't realize how tall it is until you get to the top. We had a lovely cloudless day and you could see the entire city. After the tower, we headed down to the park next to it and took some more pictures before we walked through some smaller neighborhoods. We went to a bakery with the most delicious food and then walked through a flea market before we got on the metro and went to visit Notre Dame.
Notre Dame was impressive. Jess walked me there while I was forced to look at my feet and she stood me right in front of the door and told me to look up. All the little figures crafted into the stone was mind boggling. It really is a beautiful building. The beaut on the outside is equally reflected inside the cathedral. The ceilings are amazing and each of the little side room type things had it's own unique look or had some form of carving, statue or painting in it. We were half way through the church when mass started so we were able to see and hear all of the songs and prayer. I was also able to light a candle for Brenna, one of the girls I babysat this summer who has leukemia.
After Notre Dame, we walked around some more side streets and eventually found a restaurant. I had pizza with Parma ham - a smoked ham that looks and kind of tastes like it was never actually cooked. And here is a shocker for those of you who know me - I tried salmon. Yup, you heard right! Jessica somehow inspired me to try it. And I will say this - it didn't go disastrously! She said it wasn't good salmon so I guess that means there is even more hope for me! haha
On the way home we went to go visit Moulin Rouge and the small neighborhood around it. We also stopped at the Christmas fair again and watched the Rock n' Roll tree cutting show - the guy had music blasting and revved the chain saws to the beat and even included his own dance moves. He has a big ego - even started giving a speech after... We mastered the metro system and made it to the bus transport with time to spare! At the airport in France for the trip home, I got in the wrong line first then had to go back and have them check my visa since I am not a member of the EU. Jess and I both managed to set of the metal detector. The man asked if I spoke French and I said no. He then asked if I spoke English and I responded "Sí". He was pretty confused and so was Jess...It was really confusing! I was practicing my Spanish for my exam Tuesday and trying to learn French and that wasn't the first time I had done that... After the lady wanded me and made sure I wasn't smuggling anything, I was able to watch another woman unpack my entire bag only to find nothing. She was not very pleased and either was I. She stinks at re-packing bags by the way.
Once in Stirling, Jess and I ran to the cinema with time to spare! Of course we went to see Harry Potter and we didn't feel like making another trip back into town. I had a lovely postcard from my parents waiting for me and lots of homework!
This week, I had a Spanish language exam which went fair enough. I also had my Spanish culture exam which also went pretty well. Spanish is officially over for the semester and I will spend my time focusing on History and Linguistics. Tomorrow, I will be spending the day in Glasgow with Elsa and meeting up with one of Steph Brink's friends who has some inside knowledge of the city! From there, I am heading into Edinburgh to meet Lisa and Melanie to enjoy St. Andrew's weekend (all of the historical sites are free!) We will be staying in a hostel and heading back Saturday night.
I also got a haircut - Jess has always cut her own hair and as a spontaneous decision, I told her to cut mine. It looks amazing and people keep saying it looks professional! Woot! I was her first customer =]
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to say that I am an incredibly lucky girl to have the most amazing parents in the world who inspire me and believe in me no matter what. They continually encourage me to see the world and expand my horizons and I wouldn't be here without them. My little brother is pretty fantastic too =] I am currently wishing that I could have magically arrived home to spend the Thanksgiving break with my family and friends. I never miss family holidays and it is breaking my heart that I can't be there. Here's hoping that you are all playing some football, making some horrible music videos, failing at karaoke, and eating loads of food for me! (Save me one of Aunt Lynn's buckeye bars mommy!!!)
That's all I have for now! Apologies for taking so long to post again - it's been crazy and Paris was incredibly exhausting! Oh yeah - we got a wee bit of snow last night and I think the forecast says more is coming! And the sun sets at 3:50 today - the sun was only out for 7:57 hours =/
Love you all and Happy Thanksgiving!
Arc de Triomphe
The Louvre
The Louvre
The Louvre
The Louvre
NUTELLA at the street fair =]
Part of the Christmas street market
Eiffel Tower!
Looking down from the very top!
Arc de Triomphe and all the roads that lead to it
Jess and I atop the Eiffel!
Casting its shadow over the city
Inside the Notre Dame
Full view of the front of Notre Dame
Moulin Rouge
**There are tons more pictures on my facebook page so go check them out =]
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Another Week in Lovely Scotland =]
Hello Everyone!
Yet another week has gone by which leaves me with mixed emotions. I want to go back home to see everyone and to be able to communicate with everyone easier but at the same time, I don't want to leave Europe until I can see it all (which we all know isn't possible in the time I set aside for travel ha). So I already know that getting on the plane December 20th will be both happy and sad but for now, I continue to live it up Scotland style (which is surprisingly hard to keep up with!)
Some good news - I found some girls who are taking the first leg of the trip home with me so we will all rent a van together to take us to the airport when it's time to head home (which saves me money and gets one thing checked off of my pre-departure list!)
It's been getting dark just after 4pm everyday when the sun sets and my flat mates told me I should look forward to it getting dark closer to 3pm. Yay.
I won't be able to go on any more hikes for the rest of the semester. I will be in Paris this weekend and the following weekend, I will be staying in Edinburgh with Lisa and Melanie to sight see and experience the city. It is St. Andrews weekend and all of the historical sites are free!
I just booked another ticket - I will be in Germany for the last 3ish days here so I just booked my flight back to Stirling which will leave my PLENTY of time to pack everything up and hopefully weigh my luggage in the laundry room!! (Mom - if the laundry room is open, I will even do all of it before I come home!!)
I had another Spanish assignment this week - an online test that I only had 1 hour to complete but I think it went well!
Lots to do before I go but I will update after Paris!
Yet another week has gone by which leaves me with mixed emotions. I want to go back home to see everyone and to be able to communicate with everyone easier but at the same time, I don't want to leave Europe until I can see it all (which we all know isn't possible in the time I set aside for travel ha). So I already know that getting on the plane December 20th will be both happy and sad but for now, I continue to live it up Scotland style (which is surprisingly hard to keep up with!)
Some good news - I found some girls who are taking the first leg of the trip home with me so we will all rent a van together to take us to the airport when it's time to head home (which saves me money and gets one thing checked off of my pre-departure list!)
It's been getting dark just after 4pm everyday when the sun sets and my flat mates told me I should look forward to it getting dark closer to 3pm. Yay.
I won't be able to go on any more hikes for the rest of the semester. I will be in Paris this weekend and the following weekend, I will be staying in Edinburgh with Lisa and Melanie to sight see and experience the city. It is St. Andrews weekend and all of the historical sites are free!
I just booked another ticket - I will be in Germany for the last 3ish days here so I just booked my flight back to Stirling which will leave my PLENTY of time to pack everything up and hopefully weigh my luggage in the laundry room!! (Mom - if the laundry room is open, I will even do all of it before I come home!!)
I had another Spanish assignment this week - an online test that I only had 1 hour to complete but I think it went well!
Lots to do before I go but I will update after Paris!
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Cobbler and More!
Hello Everyone!!!
It's been fun since the last time I posted!
Tuesday we had a group dinner night and the four of us made enchiladas! Yum! And it was a cheap meal =]
Wednesday involved a trip to the brewery in Bridge of Allan (the small town next to Stirling). I went with some of my friends from Skye and we followed it up with a mountaineering club dinner and a movie.
Thursday involved some urban dance and during our lesson we learned some basic and intermediate break dancing moves! My arms were ridiculously sore the next day! There was a birthday party for some of my friends and I had a chance to skype with my lovely parents again =]
Friday was a pretty awesome day! I picked up two of the four papers that I turned in before mid semester break and I stayed within the grade range that I wanted so I was really thrilled! My history professor sat me down and talked me through the good and the bad of my paper so I know what to do for the next one! On Friday night, there was a bonfire and a fireworks show for Guy Fawkes day. The bonfire had an effigy of Fawkes and he burned with the fire. After they lit him up, the fireworks began. The event came with live music from some local band as well as some guy from X-Factor and the little food trucks they have at fairs.
The Fireworks!
Jessica, myself and Melanie with the bonfire!
Jessica and I went out to see the movie Due Date Saturday night which was pretty funny! The cinema here is cool - some of the most awesome seats ever with little trays between the seats for your food! Saturday was also American food night in the flat so I made the girls bacon cheeseburgers (with American bacon, not the Scottish kind) and root beer floats. It was nice to have a taste of home! Next week is German week!
Sunday was another hike with the mountaineering club! We set out to hike the Cobbler! At 9:30am when we stepped out of the cars, it was freezing but thankfully the sun decided to pop out from behind the clouds and keep us warm until we got to the steep incline. This hike involved a lot of water and waterfall-ish streams going down the mountain and a whole lot of ice and snow! When we made it to the first flat part, we decided to go up to the top of one of the smaller mountains and were able to catch a glimpse of the view before the fog rolled in. After some lunch, we set out for the actual summit called the Iron Needle. This particular section required you to crawl through a small gap in the rocks (just like the eye of a needle) and step out onto a ledge that was maybe 3 feet wide. You had to glue yourself to the rock and shimmy along the side. After hoisting yourself up on the footholds (which was a huge reach because it was as high as my leg), you were staring at a death defying view over the mountains looking at a straight drop down on all four sides. And you are still not at the top... After you get up past the footholds, you need to shimmy yourself on your stomach over the icy little ledge that was probably 1-1.5 feet wide and then you were able to crawl to the large part of the rock and if brave enough, stand up. Needless to say the three people on the rock watching me go back down had a great time because my short little legs needed guidance from the person below since they were too short to reach a foothold on my own... Aye! We took a different route down the mountain that was much easier since there was no need to go on the steep, water and ice covered portion again. We stopped at a chippie (what most people call a fish and chips place) and I was home in time for dinner!
That little teeny, tiny rock that is the second 'peak' in from the left is where the summit of the mountain is!
All the snow around us!
The Iron Needle close up which is like a death trap...
I signed up for my final four courses at Clark University with success so I am all set to go back to school in January!
And the best news of all - Jessica and I will be going to Paris!!!!!!!! We will be leaving from Edinburgh airport at 8:30 am Friday morning and coming back at 12ish in the afternoon on Sunday. We booked through Ryanair because it is the cheapest one to fly through Europe. Jess can speak the language so it will be easy to get around. We will be staying at the Hotel Studios Phenicio Porte de Versailles! The hostels were actually more expensive so we have a lovely hotel room for two nights! I am so excited!!
I think those are all of the updates for now! Oh - Since the US finally observed daylight savings, I am back to being 5 hours apart from most of you! And a fun fact; the sun set at 4:18pm today. Yay.
Love you all!!
It's been fun since the last time I posted!
Tuesday we had a group dinner night and the four of us made enchiladas! Yum! And it was a cheap meal =]
Wednesday involved a trip to the brewery in Bridge of Allan (the small town next to Stirling). I went with some of my friends from Skye and we followed it up with a mountaineering club dinner and a movie.
Thursday involved some urban dance and during our lesson we learned some basic and intermediate break dancing moves! My arms were ridiculously sore the next day! There was a birthday party for some of my friends and I had a chance to skype with my lovely parents again =]
Friday was a pretty awesome day! I picked up two of the four papers that I turned in before mid semester break and I stayed within the grade range that I wanted so I was really thrilled! My history professor sat me down and talked me through the good and the bad of my paper so I know what to do for the next one! On Friday night, there was a bonfire and a fireworks show for Guy Fawkes day. The bonfire had an effigy of Fawkes and he burned with the fire. After they lit him up, the fireworks began. The event came with live music from some local band as well as some guy from X-Factor and the little food trucks they have at fairs.
The Fireworks!
Jessica, myself and Melanie with the bonfire!
Jessica and I went out to see the movie Due Date Saturday night which was pretty funny! The cinema here is cool - some of the most awesome seats ever with little trays between the seats for your food! Saturday was also American food night in the flat so I made the girls bacon cheeseburgers (with American bacon, not the Scottish kind) and root beer floats. It was nice to have a taste of home! Next week is German week!
Sunday was another hike with the mountaineering club! We set out to hike the Cobbler! At 9:30am when we stepped out of the cars, it was freezing but thankfully the sun decided to pop out from behind the clouds and keep us warm until we got to the steep incline. This hike involved a lot of water and waterfall-ish streams going down the mountain and a whole lot of ice and snow! When we made it to the first flat part, we decided to go up to the top of one of the smaller mountains and were able to catch a glimpse of the view before the fog rolled in. After some lunch, we set out for the actual summit called the Iron Needle. This particular section required you to crawl through a small gap in the rocks (just like the eye of a needle) and step out onto a ledge that was maybe 3 feet wide. You had to glue yourself to the rock and shimmy along the side. After hoisting yourself up on the footholds (which was a huge reach because it was as high as my leg), you were staring at a death defying view over the mountains looking at a straight drop down on all four sides. And you are still not at the top... After you get up past the footholds, you need to shimmy yourself on your stomach over the icy little ledge that was probably 1-1.5 feet wide and then you were able to crawl to the large part of the rock and if brave enough, stand up. Needless to say the three people on the rock watching me go back down had a great time because my short little legs needed guidance from the person below since they were too short to reach a foothold on my own... Aye! We took a different route down the mountain that was much easier since there was no need to go on the steep, water and ice covered portion again. We stopped at a chippie (what most people call a fish and chips place) and I was home in time for dinner!
That little teeny, tiny rock that is the second 'peak' in from the left is where the summit of the mountain is!
All the snow around us!
The Iron Needle close up which is like a death trap...
I signed up for my final four courses at Clark University with success so I am all set to go back to school in January!
And the best news of all - Jessica and I will be going to Paris!!!!!!!! We will be leaving from Edinburgh airport at 8:30 am Friday morning and coming back at 12ish in the afternoon on Sunday. We booked through Ryanair because it is the cheapest one to fly through Europe. Jess can speak the language so it will be easy to get around. We will be staying at the Hotel Studios Phenicio Porte de Versailles! The hostels were actually more expensive so we have a lovely hotel room for two nights! I am so excited!!
I think those are all of the updates for now! Oh - Since the US finally observed daylight savings, I am back to being 5 hours apart from most of you! And a fun fact; the sun set at 4:18pm today. Yay.
Love you all!!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Mid Semester Break Adventures
Hey There Everyone!
I have had a lovely mid term break!
All of my papers were handed in just fine and I think I will start getting my grades this week!
The 23rd - 27th was spent on the Isle of Skye. The trip was beautiful! Saturday and Wednesday were spent driving in a car. The trip was just over 5 hours but with the stops for food, leg stretching and petrol, it took about 7 hours.
On the ride to Skye, my car stopped by the Eilean Donan castle - one of, or the most, photographed castles in Scotland. http://www.eileandonancastle.com/visitor-info/history.htmWe got there right as it was closing so we couldn't go in it. I was able to get some photos while the sun was setting. Another highlight from the ride was the chance to see all of the snow covered mountains - makes me want to go skiing!
Sunday was our first hike. We took a trail that led into the Cuillin Mountains. Here is some more information on the hike: http://http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/sgurrnaneag.shtml The hike was beautiful! The day started out with a very light mist/drizzle. When we got to the trail head, there were two rainbows in the sky. We looked right out towards the Atlantic Ocean and some of the islands that dotted the coast of Skye. The hike was pretty interesting - tons of different terrain and some pretty impressive views. It rained on and off for the first part of the hike. When we got to the section that resembled a gentle rock wall, we had to climb up right next to the waterfall and as we did so, it switched between rain and snow! Our goal was to hike up to a small loch that was between some of the mountain tops. The view from the loch was incredible - the sun had been shining and you could see two small islands right off the coast and a bunch of smaller ones. Leading to the sea was a giant boulder field. Looking around the loch, there were several mountain tops all covered in snow. The wind was pretty intense so we sheltered behind some boulders for lunch and then headed back down. At the base of the mountain, there was a farm and it was really cool to see all the cows against the setting sun with the sea in the background - one of those kodak moments.
(Pictures are in chronological order!)
Double Rainbow!
Almost halfway there!
Just climbed one section next to the waterfall in the snow!
Summit!
Conquered!
Looking back at the loch and the snow covered mountains!
Another summit picture!
Cows!
Monday was another great hike - much longer distance but more gentle.
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/sgurrnastri.shtml The first and last 10km were spent walking a gently sloped but rocky and boggy path. We had 2km to reach the summit from the end of the flat part. We made it up what looked like an old river bed loaded with thousands of tiny rocks that were just waiting to twist your ankle. Once we made it to a flat stopping point, we had a small summit to climb and then made it to the big one. The rocks on these hills are very sharp and scratchy but make for a good grip when you are walking on them. The hike to the summit wasn't awful - it wasn't as steep as the day before. When we got to the top, the wind was fierce! But the views were totally worth it! We could see a large loch behind us and even see all the way back to where we parked the cars. To the right and straight ahead of us was the Atlantic Ocean along with all of the islands and to the left (inland) were all the mountains - way more than I could ever count. The walk to the cars seemed like it lasted twice as long as the way there.
Looking back at the flat part we just walked
Just finished about 10.5km!
On top of a small mountain close to the summit
Loch on the way!
The summit view!
At the top and looking back!
Conquered!
Where we came from! (The wind is trying to knock me down!)
Hanging out at the summit
The trip back down
After two days of intense hiking, we were all exhausted. Tuesday brought nasty weather and only 5 people managed to do any kind of hike. (Some tried then gave up due to the fog, rain and wind). I went on a trip around the northern part of Skye with three other people to see different parts of the island. We went to a beach and saw a very destroyed castle. We also went to a small harbor town because they wanted to find the most local fish and chips (ew.) It was a good drive around the island and I think the driver said we covered 150km!
Small harbor town near the docks
View from the beach - all rocky just like LC!
So many mountains and even more sheep and cows!
Outside of the castle (group shot!)
-This was called Duntulm Castle-
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/skye/duntulmcastle/index.html
Over the hill looking at what's left
Evenings were spent tending to sore muscles, blisters, and empty bellies. We played a lot of card games and I have definitely improved my game of Texas hold em! The last night in Skye, we had a community dinner where everyone chipped in whatever food they could and we pushed all the tables together and had a nice group meal. The ride back on Wednesday was very long but mostly spent sleeping - it was raining so it wouldn't have been a great day to do anything anyway.
Thursday and Friday brought very bad weather as far as sight seeing is concerned - fog and rain. Not even a bit of sunshine. I was able to get everything unpacked, get all of the mud off of my clothes, and sleep! I also did some serious grocery shopping and went to the post office to pick up some stamps - terribly exciting!
Lisa turned 22 this weekend so we had a party for her Friday night and I spent the day with her on Saturday visiting Stirling Castle. The building is beautiful although most of it was closed for repairs (according to the signs, it was because the frost was so bad last year that all sorts of things started to crack). There were a few little museums inside the castle that gave some information about it as well as the restoration project they have going on. The castle walk around the perimeter was beautiful - amazing views in every direction and we could even see our buildings here at uni! There was even a weaver on the premises making some tapestries and we got a chance to watch he/she work. (We only saw the back and couldn't tell!)
Stirling Castle overlooking the gardens.
View from the castle walk
Complete with a British flag
Another courtyard inside the castle
One of the tapestries inside the chapel - one of the men working there said that unicorns (found in all the tapestries) were on the Scottish coat of arms and in cases like this, represent Christ.
Lisa and I on the castle walk
Another view down to some more gardens
yet another courtyard
Overlooking where the jail cells, weaver and gun powder were kept
Robert the Bruce statue outside of the castle
Halloween wasn't as exciting here - the US celebrates much better. There was a large variety of costumes though; the boys like to dress up as animals (such as cat, dog and tiger suits). I do miss all the Halloween candy that goes on sale after though...all the stores here already have Christmas on display!
This week will be a fairly busy one. I need to get back in the mind set of uni work! Registration is coming up for classes at Clark and I've been having trouble with the system so I will be dealing with that. Wednesday, a group of people from Skye are meeting up to go to the local brewery for a tour and tasting. And I believe I might be hiking up Dumyat again this weekend with the mountaineering club for a 5th of November tradition they have that involves fireworks. We shall see!
Fun Fact - the UK already observed daylight savings time (much to my surprise) which means that I am one hour less ahead of you (instead of 5, I am now 4!) It will be easier to talk with people from home this week =]
If you would like to see more pictures from campus, Skye, or Stirling Castle, they are all uploaded on my facebook page so feel free to check them out!
I hope everyone at home is doing well and is looking forward to a fun and productive November!
Love, Shalyn
I have had a lovely mid term break!
All of my papers were handed in just fine and I think I will start getting my grades this week!
The 23rd - 27th was spent on the Isle of Skye. The trip was beautiful! Saturday and Wednesday were spent driving in a car. The trip was just over 5 hours but with the stops for food, leg stretching and petrol, it took about 7 hours.
On the ride to Skye, my car stopped by the Eilean Donan castle - one of, or the most, photographed castles in Scotland. http://www.eileandonancastle.com/visitor-info/history.htmWe got there right as it was closing so we couldn't go in it. I was able to get some photos while the sun was setting. Another highlight from the ride was the chance to see all of the snow covered mountains - makes me want to go skiing!
Sunday was our first hike. We took a trail that led into the Cuillin Mountains. Here is some more information on the hike: http://http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/sgurrnaneag.shtml The hike was beautiful! The day started out with a very light mist/drizzle. When we got to the trail head, there were two rainbows in the sky. We looked right out towards the Atlantic Ocean and some of the islands that dotted the coast of Skye. The hike was pretty interesting - tons of different terrain and some pretty impressive views. It rained on and off for the first part of the hike. When we got to the section that resembled a gentle rock wall, we had to climb up right next to the waterfall and as we did so, it switched between rain and snow! Our goal was to hike up to a small loch that was between some of the mountain tops. The view from the loch was incredible - the sun had been shining and you could see two small islands right off the coast and a bunch of smaller ones. Leading to the sea was a giant boulder field. Looking around the loch, there were several mountain tops all covered in snow. The wind was pretty intense so we sheltered behind some boulders for lunch and then headed back down. At the base of the mountain, there was a farm and it was really cool to see all the cows against the setting sun with the sea in the background - one of those kodak moments.
(Pictures are in chronological order!)
Double Rainbow!
Almost halfway there!
Just climbed one section next to the waterfall in the snow!
Summit!
Conquered!
Looking back at the loch and the snow covered mountains!
Another summit picture!
Cows!
Monday was another great hike - much longer distance but more gentle.
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/sgurrnastri.shtml The first and last 10km were spent walking a gently sloped but rocky and boggy path. We had 2km to reach the summit from the end of the flat part. We made it up what looked like an old river bed loaded with thousands of tiny rocks that were just waiting to twist your ankle. Once we made it to a flat stopping point, we had a small summit to climb and then made it to the big one. The rocks on these hills are very sharp and scratchy but make for a good grip when you are walking on them. The hike to the summit wasn't awful - it wasn't as steep as the day before. When we got to the top, the wind was fierce! But the views were totally worth it! We could see a large loch behind us and even see all the way back to where we parked the cars. To the right and straight ahead of us was the Atlantic Ocean along with all of the islands and to the left (inland) were all the mountains - way more than I could ever count. The walk to the cars seemed like it lasted twice as long as the way there.
Looking back at the flat part we just walked
Just finished about 10.5km!
On top of a small mountain close to the summit
Loch on the way!
The summit view!
At the top and looking back!
Conquered!
Where we came from! (The wind is trying to knock me down!)
Hanging out at the summit
The trip back down
After two days of intense hiking, we were all exhausted. Tuesday brought nasty weather and only 5 people managed to do any kind of hike. (Some tried then gave up due to the fog, rain and wind). I went on a trip around the northern part of Skye with three other people to see different parts of the island. We went to a beach and saw a very destroyed castle. We also went to a small harbor town because they wanted to find the most local fish and chips (ew.) It was a good drive around the island and I think the driver said we covered 150km!
Small harbor town near the docks
View from the beach - all rocky just like LC!
So many mountains and even more sheep and cows!
Outside of the castle (group shot!)
-This was called Duntulm Castle-
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/skye/duntulmcastle/index.html
Over the hill looking at what's left
Evenings were spent tending to sore muscles, blisters, and empty bellies. We played a lot of card games and I have definitely improved my game of Texas hold em! The last night in Skye, we had a community dinner where everyone chipped in whatever food they could and we pushed all the tables together and had a nice group meal. The ride back on Wednesday was very long but mostly spent sleeping - it was raining so it wouldn't have been a great day to do anything anyway.
Thursday and Friday brought very bad weather as far as sight seeing is concerned - fog and rain. Not even a bit of sunshine. I was able to get everything unpacked, get all of the mud off of my clothes, and sleep! I also did some serious grocery shopping and went to the post office to pick up some stamps - terribly exciting!
Lisa turned 22 this weekend so we had a party for her Friday night and I spent the day with her on Saturday visiting Stirling Castle. The building is beautiful although most of it was closed for repairs (according to the signs, it was because the frost was so bad last year that all sorts of things started to crack). There were a few little museums inside the castle that gave some information about it as well as the restoration project they have going on. The castle walk around the perimeter was beautiful - amazing views in every direction and we could even see our buildings here at uni! There was even a weaver on the premises making some tapestries and we got a chance to watch he/she work. (We only saw the back and couldn't tell!)
Stirling Castle overlooking the gardens.
View from the castle walk
Complete with a British flag
Another courtyard inside the castle
One of the tapestries inside the chapel - one of the men working there said that unicorns (found in all the tapestries) were on the Scottish coat of arms and in cases like this, represent Christ.
Lisa and I on the castle walk
Another view down to some more gardens
yet another courtyard
Overlooking where the jail cells, weaver and gun powder were kept
Robert the Bruce statue outside of the castle
Halloween wasn't as exciting here - the US celebrates much better. There was a large variety of costumes though; the boys like to dress up as animals (such as cat, dog and tiger suits). I do miss all the Halloween candy that goes on sale after though...all the stores here already have Christmas on display!
This week will be a fairly busy one. I need to get back in the mind set of uni work! Registration is coming up for classes at Clark and I've been having trouble with the system so I will be dealing with that. Wednesday, a group of people from Skye are meeting up to go to the local brewery for a tour and tasting. And I believe I might be hiking up Dumyat again this weekend with the mountaineering club for a 5th of November tradition they have that involves fireworks. We shall see!
Fun Fact - the UK already observed daylight savings time (much to my surprise) which means that I am one hour less ahead of you (instead of 5, I am now 4!) It will be easier to talk with people from home this week =]
If you would like to see more pictures from campus, Skye, or Stirling Castle, they are all uploaded on my facebook page so feel free to check them out!
I hope everyone at home is doing well and is looking forward to a fun and productive November!
Love, Shalyn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
