Sunday, April 3, 2011
Postponed
Hi, this post is going to be quite lame so I apologize. I'm not going to be able to finish Dublin before I leave. There was more scrambling this morning when I thought I'd be able to finish it and now we're taking an earlier bus to Cardiff so I'm definitely not going to have time. So I guess I'm leaving you all on a cliffhanger. I am really sorry. I wanted to get this done so I wouldn't forget things but I guess plans change. As a preview of what's to come, I'm happy to let you all know that future entries will be covering my time in Paris, Greece, and Italy. Woo! Something to look forward to anyway. I hope you all have an amazing Easter, and I'll talk to you all in a few weeks! <3
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Dublin
Alright, almost caught up now. On to Dublin!!
This is the only trip that I've taken so far where I've had to miss a class. And we left Tuesday night. Go figure. The bus ride there was...interesting. We met a couple of Canadians that pretty much reversed any stereotype someone might have of Canadians being sweet and mild-mannered. I think it was one of our boys that was being polite and asked "Oh, so what part of Canada are you from?" and the more obnoxious one said "the asshole part." Excellent. It was that kind of witty banter that defined the bus ride since they were sitting right behind Lisa and I. There was one particularly riveting conversation at around 6 a.m. when everyone else was trying to sleep where they were discussing whether the plural of beer is "beer" like "deer" or "beers" like normal human beings say it. We arrived in Dublin on Wednesday morning, dropped off our luggage and decided to get some coffee to regroup. While there, we looked at the map and decided that it was a good day to go to the Guinness Factory. The Factory itself was pretty cool. There was a huge pit of barley seeds and an indoor waterfall to display 2 of the 4 ingredients needed to make a Guinness. We also got to pour our own pint and get a certificate for our trouble. The trick to pouring the perfect pint is to tilt the glass at a 45 degree angle up until a mark on the glass when you slowly tilt it upright until the beer is a few inches from the top. From there, you need to let it sit for 2 minutes to let the beer settle before topping it off by pushing the handle up. Unfortunately, the beer was absolutely nasty. I wish I was one of those down-to-earth guy's girl that can chug a cheap beer, but I'm not. I need my fruity drink. We got to go up on the top deck, however, and see a 360 view of the city itself. It was a wonderful view, made even better by the clear skies. Unfortunately, it was so busy that we could barely stand in there let alone wander around enjoying the scenery. We ended up heading over to St. Patrick's Cathedral afterwards and chilled out in the park. It really was a lovely day--perfect for some people watching. There was this cute little boy that really wanted to ride his sibling's scooter and was running through the flowers to make his point heard. After relaxing in the park, we decided to go inside the cathedral itself. It really was a lovely place with particularly notable stained glass windows. After walking around the entire perimeter, I was surprised to discover that this is where Jonathan Swift is buried. I was first introduced to Swift back in Mr. May's English class junior year when we read "A Modest Proposal" an essay that he wrote about how the Irish were in such destitution that they may as well eat their own babies. It then went on to graphically describe the eating and cooking processes. It's not an essay that one is liable to soon forget. More recently, I got to read portions of Gulliver's Travels in my early British literature class. It's just a really neat moment when you get to be in the place that someone with such literary significance is buried. We grabbed some dinner in a pub soon afterwards and turned in early, exhausted from our lack of sleep the night before.
The next day was St. Patrick's Day. I was so excited to see this parade, partly because I was interested in what bands were going to be marching in it. Woo band pride! Me, Steph, Lisa, and Jayne got extra decked out with our green eyeshadow and eyeliner before heading out a few hours before the parade started to get a good spot. I had gotten a St. Patrick's Day cowboy hat the day before so I think I encapsulated the combination of America and Ireland in my outfit. Once we picked out our spot, Jayne and I left to find her a hat and get some coffees for the group. On the way, we got stopped by some Japanese people who asked us to sign a Japanese flag that they were going to send to Japan for encouragement after the earthquake and tsunami. Then, as we continued down the street, some random guy took a creeper picture of us but was pretending like he hadn't even though the flash clearly went off. Awesome. Finally, just as we were about to go into the coffee shop, we were given a 5-10 minute pitch by some girl who wanted us to buy raffle tickets. We finally made it back to the group and awaited the parade's start. The crowd had definitely grown in the time that we were gone. It was at least five people deep everywhere you looked. There was a historic statue near our spot and people were even scaling it to sit in the laps of angels. The parade itself was bizarre. The inspiration was a fantastical children's book: [posting the rest later, I need to restart my computer and will therefore lose this if I don't post.]
This is the only trip that I've taken so far where I've had to miss a class. And we left Tuesday night. Go figure. The bus ride there was...interesting. We met a couple of Canadians that pretty much reversed any stereotype someone might have of Canadians being sweet and mild-mannered. I think it was one of our boys that was being polite and asked "Oh, so what part of Canada are you from?" and the more obnoxious one said "the asshole part." Excellent. It was that kind of witty banter that defined the bus ride since they were sitting right behind Lisa and I. There was one particularly riveting conversation at around 6 a.m. when everyone else was trying to sleep where they were discussing whether the plural of beer is "beer" like "deer" or "beers" like normal human beings say it. We arrived in Dublin on Wednesday morning, dropped off our luggage and decided to get some coffee to regroup. While there, we looked at the map and decided that it was a good day to go to the Guinness Factory. The Factory itself was pretty cool. There was a huge pit of barley seeds and an indoor waterfall to display 2 of the 4 ingredients needed to make a Guinness. We also got to pour our own pint and get a certificate for our trouble. The trick to pouring the perfect pint is to tilt the glass at a 45 degree angle up until a mark on the glass when you slowly tilt it upright until the beer is a few inches from the top. From there, you need to let it sit for 2 minutes to let the beer settle before topping it off by pushing the handle up. Unfortunately, the beer was absolutely nasty. I wish I was one of those down-to-earth guy's girl that can chug a cheap beer, but I'm not. I need my fruity drink. We got to go up on the top deck, however, and see a 360 view of the city itself. It was a wonderful view, made even better by the clear skies. Unfortunately, it was so busy that we could barely stand in there let alone wander around enjoying the scenery. We ended up heading over to St. Patrick's Cathedral afterwards and chilled out in the park. It really was a lovely day--perfect for some people watching. There was this cute little boy that really wanted to ride his sibling's scooter and was running through the flowers to make his point heard. After relaxing in the park, we decided to go inside the cathedral itself. It really was a lovely place with particularly notable stained glass windows. After walking around the entire perimeter, I was surprised to discover that this is where Jonathan Swift is buried. I was first introduced to Swift back in Mr. May's English class junior year when we read "A Modest Proposal" an essay that he wrote about how the Irish were in such destitution that they may as well eat their own babies. It then went on to graphically describe the eating and cooking processes. It's not an essay that one is liable to soon forget. More recently, I got to read portions of Gulliver's Travels in my early British literature class. It's just a really neat moment when you get to be in the place that someone with such literary significance is buried. We grabbed some dinner in a pub soon afterwards and turned in early, exhausted from our lack of sleep the night before.
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| Sorry guys, I can't figure out how to rotate it. At least you'll look funny turning your heads. Pouring the perfect pint. |
Friday, April 1, 2011
London again (brief)
Hey all,
I figured I ought to catch up on all of this stuff tonight because apparently I'm leaving for spring break on Sunday, not Monday like I had originally thought. And seeing as though I'm going to be gone for almost all of April, I better do this before I forget.
We'll start off with London Part 2. A few weeks back, I got the opportunity to go to London again--this time on U of I's dime. They'd paid for hotel accommodations, breakfast and dinner, some of the transportation cost, and the cost of all of our planned activities. I'm not going to miss an opportunity like this if it's practically free so even though I had been traveling several weekends in a row, I bought my round trip bus ticket to London. This time, I was traveling by myself which I hadn't had to do since I arrived. It wasn't nearly as scary this time around, and the exhilaration of being in London completely on my own was potent. I got to choose whether or not I wanted to stop for coffee on my way to the Tube station, and I got to navigate the streets by myself. I felt really independent and mature, and it made me kind of excited to get to really get a place of my own after I graduate. When I got to the hotel, I went to an orientation with U of I students from all over the U.K. I recognized one girl from a couple of my English classes and someone else from a mutual friend. That was it however so I mostly struck up conversations with random people. I've found that this is something I've gotten much more comfortable with over here. Usually if I don't know someone, I tend to just keep to myself because I don't want to bother anyone. Studying abroad has forced me to interact with people I don't necessarily know, and I actually found a group of people to hang out with while I was there. For someone who doesn't make friends as quickly as most people, this was definitely a skill I've needed to develop.
As far as activities go, a lot of the things we did felt somewhat repetitive, especially since I was just there two weeks earlier. The first night, however, was full of new things. We ate at this ethnic restaurant (and for the life of me, I can't remember exactly what type of food it was) which took a really long time. It actually got to the point where we had to take our dessert on the run because we were going to miss seeing a show: Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. Basically it's a show about 3 Australian drag queens taking a cross-country road trip. Definitely not your average musical. Our seats were quite bad; I could only see about 2/3 of the stage and being so high up, it was incredibly warm. The show itself was pretty good. The first half dragged but I think it was necessary to give the audience the character development needed to give the second half some emotional potency. I met my roommate that night, Catherine. I was surprised at how easily we got along, and I really enjoyed talking to her that night. The next day we took a coach bus tour around London. I ended up sitting near the front and got to overhear the witty banter between the guide and the driver. Our guide was the epitome of the little old English lady. She got overly excited at places she liked and made politely rude witty remarks. It was brilliant. Afterwards, I met up with Lindsay to grab lunch. It was so good to see her. Lindsay is someone who I never really have any drama with, and it feels like distance and college has done nothing to change the ease of our conversations or the way we relate to each other which is always a bit of a worry after graduation. After lunch, I went on a scavenger hunt around London with a few people from U of I. I managed to convince Lindsay to join us, and nobody seemed to notice when the group met back up that she wasn't from our school. She ended up being our photographer for the group shots which was really convenient since we didn't have to bother random passersby to take touristy photos. As lame as a scavenger hunt sounds, it was probably my favorite part of the trip. I like feeling like I'm on a mission and checking things off lists and to get to do that with Lindsay, who I don't see as often as I'd like since she normally goes to school in California, was really cool. Lindsay and I parted ways for dinner. Unfortunately, our group lost which was a let-down after ALL of the places we went to. =( After dinner was a comedy show. The first act wasn't very good. It was clear that he was just starting out and was still trying to get his bearings, so I felt kind of bad for him. Because it wasn't all that great, there was a really awkward moment when a significant chunk of U of I students decided to leave early to go drink instead. It was made even more awkward when the MC commented on it and started defending the first act. After that, the comedians were quite good. I'd never been to a comedy show, and this one was in the basement of a pub. It felt really authentic which was definitely cool. The next day we got to explore around the Tower of London. I had been there before with the band back in 2008, but the Tower of London is always fantastic so I was happy to go again. The first time I was there, the line to see the Crown Jewels was incredibly long; I think it took about an hour. For some reason, there was no line this time, and we got to walk right on through. I had one really cool moment as we were walking around the grounds where I saw one of the beefeaters giving a tour. I looked closer and realized that it was the same man that me, Heather, and Lindsay had taken a picture with three years earlier. It was so exciting. I tried to take a picture of him, but we were too far away to get a good shot. I'll put a picture comparison below. That afternoon, I left for Victoria Coach Station to get a ride back to Swansea. I had a slight moment of panic because I knew I was in the right area but I couldn't quite find the station right away. It wasn't anything to worry about, however, because I did manage to make it back on the right coach all in one piece. I actually met a woman on the bus who had a son about my age, and apparently I was the first American that she had ever met. She seemed quite excited to tell her family about that. Anyway, that was London, part 2.
Alright, I'm posting this and taking a quick break before starting on Dublin. I'd hate for my computer to randomly shut off like it sometimes does when I've written so much. Back soon.
I figured I ought to catch up on all of this stuff tonight because apparently I'm leaving for spring break on Sunday, not Monday like I had originally thought. And seeing as though I'm going to be gone for almost all of April, I better do this before I forget.
We'll start off with London Part 2. A few weeks back, I got the opportunity to go to London again--this time on U of I's dime. They'd paid for hotel accommodations, breakfast and dinner, some of the transportation cost, and the cost of all of our planned activities. I'm not going to miss an opportunity like this if it's practically free so even though I had been traveling several weekends in a row, I bought my round trip bus ticket to London. This time, I was traveling by myself which I hadn't had to do since I arrived. It wasn't nearly as scary this time around, and the exhilaration of being in London completely on my own was potent. I got to choose whether or not I wanted to stop for coffee on my way to the Tube station, and I got to navigate the streets by myself. I felt really independent and mature, and it made me kind of excited to get to really get a place of my own after I graduate. When I got to the hotel, I went to an orientation with U of I students from all over the U.K. I recognized one girl from a couple of my English classes and someone else from a mutual friend. That was it however so I mostly struck up conversations with random people. I've found that this is something I've gotten much more comfortable with over here. Usually if I don't know someone, I tend to just keep to myself because I don't want to bother anyone. Studying abroad has forced me to interact with people I don't necessarily know, and I actually found a group of people to hang out with while I was there. For someone who doesn't make friends as quickly as most people, this was definitely a skill I've needed to develop.
As far as activities go, a lot of the things we did felt somewhat repetitive, especially since I was just there two weeks earlier. The first night, however, was full of new things. We ate at this ethnic restaurant (and for the life of me, I can't remember exactly what type of food it was) which took a really long time. It actually got to the point where we had to take our dessert on the run because we were going to miss seeing a show: Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. Basically it's a show about 3 Australian drag queens taking a cross-country road trip. Definitely not your average musical. Our seats were quite bad; I could only see about 2/3 of the stage and being so high up, it was incredibly warm. The show itself was pretty good. The first half dragged but I think it was necessary to give the audience the character development needed to give the second half some emotional potency. I met my roommate that night, Catherine. I was surprised at how easily we got along, and I really enjoyed talking to her that night. The next day we took a coach bus tour around London. I ended up sitting near the front and got to overhear the witty banter between the guide and the driver. Our guide was the epitome of the little old English lady. She got overly excited at places she liked and made politely rude witty remarks. It was brilliant. Afterwards, I met up with Lindsay to grab lunch. It was so good to see her. Lindsay is someone who I never really have any drama with, and it feels like distance and college has done nothing to change the ease of our conversations or the way we relate to each other which is always a bit of a worry after graduation. After lunch, I went on a scavenger hunt around London with a few people from U of I. I managed to convince Lindsay to join us, and nobody seemed to notice when the group met back up that she wasn't from our school. She ended up being our photographer for the group shots which was really convenient since we didn't have to bother random passersby to take touristy photos. As lame as a scavenger hunt sounds, it was probably my favorite part of the trip. I like feeling like I'm on a mission and checking things off lists and to get to do that with Lindsay, who I don't see as often as I'd like since she normally goes to school in California, was really cool. Lindsay and I parted ways for dinner. Unfortunately, our group lost which was a let-down after ALL of the places we went to. =( After dinner was a comedy show. The first act wasn't very good. It was clear that he was just starting out and was still trying to get his bearings, so I felt kind of bad for him. Because it wasn't all that great, there was a really awkward moment when a significant chunk of U of I students decided to leave early to go drink instead. It was made even more awkward when the MC commented on it and started defending the first act. After that, the comedians were quite good. I'd never been to a comedy show, and this one was in the basement of a pub. It felt really authentic which was definitely cool. The next day we got to explore around the Tower of London. I had been there before with the band back in 2008, but the Tower of London is always fantastic so I was happy to go again. The first time I was there, the line to see the Crown Jewels was incredibly long; I think it took about an hour. For some reason, there was no line this time, and we got to walk right on through. I had one really cool moment as we were walking around the grounds where I saw one of the beefeaters giving a tour. I looked closer and realized that it was the same man that me, Heather, and Lindsay had taken a picture with three years earlier. It was so exciting. I tried to take a picture of him, but we were too far away to get a good shot. I'll put a picture comparison below. That afternoon, I left for Victoria Coach Station to get a ride back to Swansea. I had a slight moment of panic because I knew I was in the right area but I couldn't quite find the station right away. It wasn't anything to worry about, however, because I did manage to make it back on the right coach all in one piece. I actually met a woman on the bus who had a son about my age, and apparently I was the first American that she had ever met. She seemed quite excited to tell her family about that. Anyway, that was London, part 2.
 |
| I saw this guy. I can't find the other picture off hand. |
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