30th of June
This week the majority of my friends I made this year are off to Falmouth for a third year course requirement for those majoring in oceanography or marine biology; and my friends that are still around Southampton are tied up with studying for life changing exams or have work - which gives me the perfect amount of time to get things done and ready for France next week and ultimately get ready for the big move home to Sammamish.
Yesterday I managed to finally get a ticket home, which I will be flying back on the 29th of July.
Since Rich and everyone left around Tuesday, I have been an exercise-oholic and going for many walks. I discovered an aerobics class at the gym through my friend, Hannah, where the instructor has such a fast pace class you end up practically hobbling your way back home after each session. I feel absolutely marvelous with all my happy endorphins!
Today I learned a very important lesson that will stick with me for the rest of my life:
Do-it yourself bikini waxing is never a good idea.
Ah well hopefully the bruising goes down by the time I am sporting my bikini on the beaches in southern France next week!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Working the Fields in Chichester
21st of June
Just came back from spending a day and a
half in Chichester with Rich and his mum. Yesterday Rich and I went straight to
work in the garden for approximately 5 hours. During that time, Rich cut down
the tall grass and thistles with a strimmer while I raked up the cuttings into
mounds (or what Rich calls strimples). By the end of the day, I had raked up 49
strimples and had received lovely sunburns on both of my shoulders. In the
evening Phil made us dinner and treated us to a cider for our hard work.
Today, I woke up from my solid sleep in the
cabin with a slight ache in my lower back. At the house Rich’s mum, Helen, made
us waffles with cooked cherries and pure Canadian maple syrup (which I have
been craving within the first month of setting foot in this country). On our
way back to Chichester, Rich lead us to our train back to Southampton, or so we
thought. After a good 20 or 30 minutes on the train there was an announcement that
the train was terminating early. Rich then went to figure out if we were on the
right train to begin with- the answer was no!
Luckily the train terminated early and we
were able to catch a train to St. Deny’s station after 20 minutes of waiting.
Taking a longer journey home, once at St. Deny's we trotted back home two blocks from the station
in the rain. It has been a fabulous past few days.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
16th of June
This week has been one goodbye after another.
On Monday, I finally managed to skype with
my mum after about two months of not really being able to get a hold of her. I
was so excited to finally talk with her as she told me that she had lots to
catch me up on. Unfortunately one of my biggest fears while studying abroad
came true when my mom informed me that my Grandma Doris passed away during the
time of my exams in May. The past month I was planning on calling my grandma
through skype but never really got around to it as I wasn’t able to reach my
parents for the phone number- now I will never be able to. I always have looked
forward to receiving packages from my grandma, because she sent the most random
things to show that she was thinking of me. One of the last things she sent me
was a slow cooker that needed an international adapter to function in the UK;
she wasn’t planning on me bringing it back to the states but thought I could
use it on my year abroad. Along with the slow cooker were two boxes of tea, one
of which I discovered some of the teas were already tested/tasted for approval,
it is kind of hard finding herbal teas in Southampton so it really hit the spot
and made me feel at home. My housemates were great in being there for me and trying
to cheer me up, we ended up watching Kinky Boots (one of my favourite films) to
keep my mind off of things.
On Wednesday, my housemate, Alec, pretty
much spent his last night with us before he moves out. On the plus side of
things though, I will be able to see him a few more times before I leave home
so it wasn’t quite yet time for goodbyes.
Yesterday I went with Rich to visit his
friend who he calls Scatty and her new Labrador puppy named Occy to walk in Brockenhurst.
It was quite refreshing as I haven’t been out too much since Ireland. Later
that night I went to The Hobbit to spend time with my University of Washington compadre,
Ashley, during her last night in the UK. It was a good night in being able to
see a good gathering of friends and enjoy each other’s presence. This morning,
Matt, Naomi, and I, went early to the bus station to surprise Ashley. While
waiting Sami (my other UW compadre) coincidentally was at the station to buy a bus
ticket for the airport for when she heads home on Monday.
I still need to get my plane ticket home
and will hopefully do so within the next few days, but it really is sad parting with Ashley and
Sami as it reminds me the reality that I will be heading back soon as well.
It has been a bit of a rough week but
hopefully once we encounter some summer weather, aka sun, then it will help me
look on the brighter side of life as I finish my time here in the UK.
Kilmainhan Gaol and Our Last Day in Ireland
5th of June
Woke up and beat the masses to breakfast,
turns out that the masses never showed up. Then around 10:45 am I ended up
going on my run, 4th country in Europe!!
After that I watched part
of the Diamond Jubilee with Chris in the T.V. lounge area while Sami and Logan
napped. When we couldn’t spend any more of our day in the youth hostel we woke
up the two sleeping beauties and headed off to see the prison, Kilmainhan Gaol.
The tour was so engrossing the stories of the prisoners were just fascinating.
During its time when it was a working prison it didn’t take much to be arrested,
even 5 year olds were being arrested for stealing a piece of bread. Around the
turn of the twentieth century prisoners were being fed and had a roof over
their heads meanwhile outside of prison people were suffering from the potato
famine and being kicked out of their homes – in other words prison wasn’t
looking so bad as an option. People would purposely commit crimes in order to
get in jail. There were political rebellions happening during the beginnings of
the twentieth century resulting in public hangings. The people who were
executed at this time had some interesting stories. For instance, Joseph
Plunkett and Mary Plunkett were married one day before Joseph was to be shot by
firing squad.
After the museum, we went to the most
gorgeous gardens that I have seen (in Ireland possibly even including Europe).
The gardens were outside of the Royal Hospital/ Modern Art Museum. It had
statues and a fountain. Hedges bordered the walkways that formed a symmetrical pattern
through the estate. Sami said it looked like it came out of Alice and
Wonderland. We had lunch around 3pm in a pub across from the prison, and after
getting a few more souvenirs we headed back where Chris made us BBQ chicken and
pasta with peas. I went and pre-packed my bag for the early leave the next
morning and joined Sami, Chris, and Logan for one last evening out on the town
in Dublin.
The Cliffs of Moher
4th of June
After a restless night, I rolled my weary
body out of bed at 5:30am. We went into town at 6 am where the guys got some
McDonald breakfasts. Broke (for the moment, need to change some more currency),
I opted out of McDonalds, but I munched on my bag of apples and pretzels.
Aboard the bus a 16 year old boy from Spain named, José,
sat next to me. I started talking to him and next thing I know I spent the next
hour and a half struggling to understand his broken English as he told me about
some Spanish T.V. show. I figured with a couple hours bus ride I wanted to help
him with his English.
Then we finally made it to our first stop at a town called Galway. In
Galway I learned about The King Head, where King Charles I was killed by two
men from Galway. Also there was a family, the Lynch family, who kept order in
the town and Mr. Lynch was the mayor. At one point the son of the mayor killed
a Spanish boy who was staying with the family because both boys were in love
with the same girl. The son was given the death penalty but he was very popular
and well liked that there was a mob of townspeople present for his release. As
mayor’s son he was allowed to stay his last night with his dad. The mayor knew
that the mob would have his son free the next day, but to maintain order he
called his son to a tall story of the house and hung him. That is where the
term lynching came from, as well as the term lynch mob. After this tragic event
the pope gave Mr. Lynch some prayer beads in thanks for maintaining order.
Then we went to a church which only had
three sides covered with clocks and windows, the plain fourth wall was faced to
the common people where the saying, “they didn’t have the time” originated.
From there we went to Jane Eyre square and headed off to our next destination.
After a long bus ride we stopped at an
interesting geological spot with rugged sedimentary rocks.
We then took a lunch break at a pub and off
we went to the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher has been nominated as one
of the natural wonders of the world and the cliffs span an impressive two kilometres
long and 200 metres high. The Cliffs of Moher have also been featured in many
films, most notably in ‘The Princess Bride’ as the Cliffs of Insanity. There we
had an hour and a half to explore the Cliffs. We first followed the trails to
the left which went a good distance with protective stone barriers. Then we
reached a point where it said not to pass, but like a good many handful of
tourists we ignored the sign and went on to the unprotected path. There if you
went to the edge you could fall of the cliff that is over 200 metres high!!! I
took over 200 pictures easily and Chris worried Sami and me by going right to
the edge of the cliff. The cliffs were breathtakingly gorgeous. Then we went to
the other side of the paths where there was O’Brian’s Tower. At the visitor’s
center the building looked like it came from Teletubbies.
Piled in the car again we went to a 5,800
year old Poulnabrone Dulmen, Ballyalban Fairy Fort which was a tomb in essence. After the ancient tomb we were once again
on a three hour bus ride back to Dublin.
On the walk back to the hostel I
caught a man trying to pickpocket Sami but since I made eye contact and kind of
stared him down (same with Chris) he gave up though he did try to take her purse!!
(*If you are trying to picture what the cliffs look like, the background picture for my blog is of the Cliffs of Moher)
(*If you are trying to picture what the cliffs look like, the background picture for my blog is of the Cliffs of Moher)
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Getting our Culture On - Dublin style
3rd of June
Woke up around 8:45 am and got downstairs
to a mob of people swarming over the complimentary breakfast- oy vay! After
waiting for our turn at the toaster our next mission was to find seats.
Everywhere was occupied, even the lobby was full! Luckily I spotted Tom (from
Australia) and Julien (from Hamburg) at a table finishing up their meals and I
quickly asked if they were leaving. Score! So Chris and I sat there while Sami
and Logan found spots in the lobby.
Afterwards we went to a free walking tour.
Paul, our Irish guide, was a stitch and a fabulous tour guide at that. Paul
kind of reminded me of my old resident advisor from last year, just funny and
had lots of stories. Random things that I learned on the tour were:
At the Castle of Dublin, the statue of
Justice has the blind fold off, and with the hand that isn’t carrying the
scales she carries a sword. The sculptor had made her hand cover one of the
scales so when it rains heavily the scales are off balanced!
Then we went to the gardens just on the
other side of the castle which were stunning and also works as a helicopter pad
for when people like the Queen visit.
Also went to a church where he told us
about how a British organ player found a key off when playing and asked the caretaker to fix
it, next thing he knew the care taker pulled out a dead cat. So the British
organist sat down again at the organ and began to play again. Once again the
key fell flat with a thud. “Caretaker, could you fix this please?” and then the
caretaker pulled out a dead rat. Instead of disposing the creatures, this
cartaker decided to stuff the dead cat and rat which is still on display within
the church. After the tour we tipped him and had a Guinness mash (steak and
potatoes) for lunch.
Outside there was a formula one race going
on- it was so loud and watching it wasn’t too interesting since I could only
glimpse split second blurs as they drove past. It has been cold and rainy today
(~10°C or 50°F). I suggested that we go to the history & anthropology museum.
It was great and I learned a lot of the Irish history on the Vikings
occupation. After that we went to the supermarket where we got groceries for
our lunches tomorrow and ingredients for our pasta bake dinner tonight.
We booked a day tour to see the Cliffs of
Moher tomorrow (got to get there at 6:35am!!) so excited to see the natural
side of Ireland tomorrow.
First Full Day in Dublin!
2nd of June
Explored the city with Sami, Chris, and
Logan a little last night as we searched for a pub to have dinner; we ended up
eating at O’reilly’s Pub. Breakfast consisted toast and cereal. After breakfast
we wandered about finding an old tall ship and really neat bridges. We found
Trinity College which has a gorgeous campus! They had a neat art sculpture in
front of the Berkley Library. At the college we randomly joined a tour group
but after 10 or 15 minutes with no idea where the group was going we split off
and discovered a history museum which I want to go to when the weather isn’t as
nice (best part – free admission). Then we found Saint Stephen’s Green Park.
The park has so many flowers and fountains and ponds. I would highly recommend
anyone visiting Dublin to take a picnic there or something.
There was an amazing street performer that
we passed by who pretended that he was a statue. He was so realistic that even
pigeons were landing on him – though after closer inspection he had birdseed in
his pipe… still impressive though!
Sami and the others bought some bracelets
at a street vendor and got other touristy things at a shop. I bought 8
postcards which I will try to start writing up this evening. After much walking
we found what we were looking for- the Guinness Storehouse.
The
place was gianormous and it was very well built. The architecture of the place
created a beer pint glass out of the stories! There I had my first pint of Guinness
– I guess not a bad place to start! Afterwards the others were going to tour
the Whiskey brewery but I was feeling like I wanted to pace myself on the
liquor for the time being. Not to mention that according to Rich, one pint of
Guinness is 1000 calories!!! So I split up and wandered to the youth hostel on
my own time checking out the streets and the live music … basically taking time
to absorb my surroundings and enjoy Dublin without feeling out of place.
The street musicians in Dublin are some of
the best- they all sound so professional. Temple Bar district is a must see. So
lively!!! I took about 365 pictures since the 31st so at the moment
my trip is going well. I think I will try to go to Temple Bar district again
during the day- we’ll see.
It appears that there are more beggars here
than the UK or parts of Europe that I have been to. Not sure if I would live
here but maybe Northern Ireland or in the UK.
Traveling to Ireland
1st of June
Currently I am on the train from Euston to
Holyhead, where my ultimate destination is Dublin, Ireland!!! I woke up for the
second day in a row at 5am – luckily this time it isn’t for last minute
studying for an exam. The past two weeks the weather was incredible. For the
most part my exams went ok, well fine actually except for the phytoplankton and
marine benthos which fall under the categories of were ‘ok’ or ‘I’ve had better
exams’. We’ll see once the grades are out.
So many green pastures we’re passing now,
looking out of the train I can definitely say I am traveling through the
English countryside and it is lovely. It is overcast today but warm. Sheep are
laying about on the grass. The fields are speckled by old houses of brick and many
of the field brighten up the day as they are as yellow as the yellow brick road
in Wizard of Oz. The yellow fields are of rape; rape is a big crop here in the
UK and produces rapeseed oil which supposedly has less saturated fat than olive
oil.
Earlier in May, I walked a total of 13.5
miles from Salisbury to Stonehenge with Naomi, Matt, Joe, Rob, Sarah, and a
couple more people. Stonehenge itself was impressive but very crowded since we
went on a bank holiday weekend. Although I didn’t pay to get a closer look at
the stones, I was still impressed by how much history is behind this mysterious
structure.
On Monday of this week, Claire, Rachel,
Becky, Michael, and Emily threw me a surprise goodbye get together at the
Mitre. I will miss them all terribly.
11:42am- The countryside is amazing from
the train!!! At the moment we are going along the coast where the water is out
and the beach is covered in shallow puddles which reflect the overcast sky.
Some of the stratus clouds are breaking apart allowing patches of blue skies
and a cumulus cloud or two. The towns that I am passing are just ADORABLE,
currently pulled up in Rhyl which looks like it was built in the eighteen or
nineteen hundreds. The signs now are bilingual, but I don’t recognize the new
language. I have been passing the time
on the train by playing Sudoku and reading – being away from Sami, Chris, and
Logan since they are in a different coach.
Now stopped at Bae Colwyn, which has white
picket fences and the sea just beyond; pink and purple flowers grow along the
fence. I actually can see hills and elevation in the scenery to my right
(opposite of my view of the sea). So many of these towns I would love to visit
eventually.
I am reading a book that Rich recommended me
that I absolutely love reading on this trip, it is called The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The author has a very unique style
of writing; it is written from the point of view of an autistic boy and goes on
almost as many tangents as I do. Just the view point and sincerity of the
writing allows the reader to relate to the story to some degree.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)