Ok so I think I've finally made decisions. 1 hostel is yet to be booked, as are all trains, but I think this will work out once that happens.
Here is my spring break travel itinerary:
March 17th-21st: Rome
March 21st-24th: Florence
March 24th-26th: Venice (then night train to....)
March 27th-30th: Nice
March 30th-31st: Montpellier
March 31st-April 3rd: Barcelona
April 3rd-6th: Madrid
April 6th-9th: Paris
April 9th-1oth: Brussels
April 10th-12th: Amsterdam
Wow. That is a lot of travel, but I am stoked!
Oh and if anyone has suggestions of where to stay in Venice, I am all ears. I am having a little trouble finding cheapish accomodation.
Thursday, 28 February 2008
Monday, 25 February 2008
Travel
Laura Cobb and I spend a good 3 hours sitting in my room tonight, hammering out travel plans. We have had some success. Although, I am still unclear about March 24th through March 31st because it is dependent on what the people I'm in Florence with want to do.
Laura and I really want to meet up in Nice on March 27th and hang out there for three nights, enjoying the French Riviera. That hasn't been booked yet, but we're going to make it happen. And then, somehow, we are going to get from Nice to Barcelona. We're thinking some sort of train route, but we're having trouble finding them. We might take a train from Nice to Montpellier, stay a night in Montpellier, and then go from there to Barcelona. But that needs to be figured out.
But things that we for sure have (as in they are booked!):
March 31st: arrive in Barcelona, hostel for three nights booked.
April 3rd: take a plane to Madrid, hostel for three nights
April 6th: fly to Paris, hostel for three nights
April 9th: train to Brussels (haven't booked any trains yet), hostel for a night
April 10th: train to Amsterdam, hostel for two nights
April 12th: fly back to London!
Of all the locations, Laura and I had the hardest time finding accomodation in Amsterdam. The hostels were either all booked, required a minimum of three nights stay or would jack their prices up to like $50 a night for the Friday night as opposed to the $20 on Thursday. So in desperation, we ended up booking this hostel that is actually, get this, a Christian hostel. I mean, it's centrally located and I'm sure it will be clean and safe and full of nice people, but it's a religious hotel in a city that has legal marijuana and prostitution. Hmm or maybe they showed up because of it. Felt the need to save the city. Whatever, it will be fine.
So yeah, that's some travel so far. It's very exciting to know that this is all actually happening and nothing is outrageously priced either. All my flights are between 30-50 Euro, the trains that we're taking will probably be in the same price range, and the hostels aren't terrible. Yay for a lot of travel on not a lot of money!
I'm super stoked.
Just need to get March 24th to March 31st figured out, any suggestions? I'll do it tomorrow. It's late right now.
Laura and I really want to meet up in Nice on March 27th and hang out there for three nights, enjoying the French Riviera. That hasn't been booked yet, but we're going to make it happen. And then, somehow, we are going to get from Nice to Barcelona. We're thinking some sort of train route, but we're having trouble finding them. We might take a train from Nice to Montpellier, stay a night in Montpellier, and then go from there to Barcelona. But that needs to be figured out.
But things that we for sure have (as in they are booked!):
March 31st: arrive in Barcelona, hostel for three nights booked.
April 3rd: take a plane to Madrid, hostel for three nights
April 6th: fly to Paris, hostel for three nights
April 9th: train to Brussels (haven't booked any trains yet), hostel for a night
April 10th: train to Amsterdam, hostel for two nights
April 12th: fly back to London!
Of all the locations, Laura and I had the hardest time finding accomodation in Amsterdam. The hostels were either all booked, required a minimum of three nights stay or would jack their prices up to like $50 a night for the Friday night as opposed to the $20 on Thursday. So in desperation, we ended up booking this hostel that is actually, get this, a Christian hostel. I mean, it's centrally located and I'm sure it will be clean and safe and full of nice people, but it's a religious hotel in a city that has legal marijuana and prostitution. Hmm or maybe they showed up because of it. Felt the need to save the city. Whatever, it will be fine.
So yeah, that's some travel so far. It's very exciting to know that this is all actually happening and nothing is outrageously priced either. All my flights are between 30-50 Euro, the trains that we're taking will probably be in the same price range, and the hostels aren't terrible. Yay for a lot of travel on not a lot of money!
I'm super stoked.
Just need to get March 24th to March 31st figured out, any suggestions? I'll do it tomorrow. It's late right now.
The Cotswolds and Warwick Castle (Illustrated Version)
We make it to Bourton-on-the-Water! Apparently, it's the Venice of the Cotswolds. Who knew?
Yes, a footpath and a village. What more could you ask for?
On the advertised footpath, making our way to the village. Cuteness abounds.
Ah, there is the water. Which could possibly be why the town is called Bourton-on-the-WATER. And perhaps why they claim it is the Venice of the Cotswolds.
Standing on one of the many bridges across the water. Quaint as anything.
It's so cute that it just makes you want to puke. But in a good way.
Some little restuarant. I wanted to have cream tea (which is just tea with a scone and clotted cream/jam) but we really didn't have time. Sad.
Outside of the motor museum. Anyone have any idea what/who Brum is?
Little church that we found off the main drag of the village.
Silly pose in a little gate (we found a lot of little gates/hedges/pathways that reminded me a lot of the Secret Garden for some reason). This picture is a little ridiculous because I didn't realize that there was this nice graveyard behind me.
I love old graves.
Jon, Randy, Amanda and I messing around in a phone booth, before we leave B-ot-W. Obviously doing the Top Model photo shoot from a couple seasons ago.
Warwick Castle! Best castle so far!
Me in front of the castle (typical). I just wish it wasn't so washed out in the background.
Matt and I trapped in the stocks. Aaah!
Approaching the entrance to the castle. Arrows rained down upon us. (Just kidding, there were no arrows, but that would have been cool if there were)
Portcullis. (Plural? Portculli?)
Castle grounds. I have this picture in many variations. All from different heights around the castle.
The Mound from the opposite side of the courtyard.
Yummy delish. Dinner's ready!
Elaborate set-ups in the Victorian-ish part of the castle. Pretty nice digs.
Even more elaborate with a valet actually pouring water into the gentleman's bath.
Tapestry in the old chapel of the castle.
Beautiful stained glass. I have a lot of pictures of the various glass around the castle, too. But I'll just put this one up.
Chapel.
Yes! Medieval weaponry! My favorite. The walls of this Great Hall were just covered in swords, axes, armor, etc, it was awesome.
Pony! If I can't have a sword, a want a horse- decked out, just like this.
More elaborate decorations. I'll totally live in an old, drafty, cold, dark castle if this is what it looks like on the inside.
Up to "The Mound". Obviously.
View from partway up the mound, facing the entrance to the castle.
You learned a lot of information on medieval warfare climbing up to the top of The Mound. Those medieval warriors seemed like a cheerful lot.
Trebuchet! My favorite.
Top of The Mound.
Jon further up on the rampart walk.
Up we go.
And up and up and up. This is the town of Warwick from the top of Guy's Tower, I believe.
Castle from an arrow slit in Guy's Tower. I had a fascination with taking pictures through the arrow holes.
Top of Guy's Tower. The tallest part of the castle. Great view. Way too many stairs.
Trying to capture the experience of going up and down the stairs. Unfortunately the flash makes it way too well-lit to really get the feeling of them.
The River Avon through the arrow slit. Just follow that river up and you'll get to Stratford-Upon-Avon...wooo Shakespeare!
Off to the dungeon! Obviously a cause for concern.
Chains, where some prisoners were kept until their bodies rotted away. Apparently, according the plaque on the wall, it made even the most hardened criminals cry when they were being measured for their chains. Yeah, I think I would cry too.
Friendly medieval people.
Yeah, that looks like a fun place to spend the rest of my life.
Peacock garden. A little rainy.
Peacock.And so ends the chapter on The Costwolds and Warwick Castle!
The Cotswolds and Warwick Castle
Another weekeend, another day trip. While I'm sure it would be cool to take crazy weekend trips to other European cities, I'm really glad that I have the oppotunity to see more of England. In my future life, I'm sure I'll make it to the big European cities, but really, when would I ever go to Bourton-on-the-Water?
So the day started off early, getting on a coach at 8:00 AM. Blah, we were all tired and trying to sleep except for these REALLY LOUD Dutch people. Maybe they had gone to bed at like 9:00 PM the night before and therefore were really awake, but they could have used indoor voices. There was no need for the excessive volume. Especially this one girl who was really shrill too. At first I just thought I was being cranky, but no, further conference with others on the bus illustrated the annoyance of everyone. Whatever. We spend 2.5 hours on the bus and at 10:30 arrive at Bourton-on-the-Water, this tiny little town in the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are this area of England, north west of London, that are basically just made up of cute villages. And that's basically what this was. A cute village. We were only there for 1.5 hours so we didn't really have time to do anything (from the map we saw, there was apparently a perfumery that we could have toured, or a big outdoor maze which would have been fun, but time was a concern) so mostly we wandered around. There was this 10k race going on while we were there so we're just wandering around and then all of these people in running clothes would randomly show up somewhere. Weird. We stopped in a bakery to get food for the bus ride to the castle and it was super delicious. I just had a ham sandwich with cheese, lettuce, tomato, but the bread was really soft and yummy. So yeah, those were the Cotswolds. I'm not sure if there would be any reason to be there for an extended period of time. Maybe a day if you wanted to do some of the activties, but really, it's just more of a wandering around kind of town.
We got back on the coach at 12:00 and headed to Warwick castle, which was further north and took about an hour to get there. Now, I liked Edinburgh castle but a lot of the exhibits there were focused more on the modern history of the castle and what it was used for during WWII and things like that. But Warwick Castle was super medieval and I liked it more. Walking up to it, it was exactly what you imagine when you think "castle". Towers and arrow slits and a portcullis and a moat (dry). Really really cool. We were there on a cold and cloudy day (it eventually rained by the end) but I thought that added to the castle's charm. We entered the castle grounds and started off in an exhibit about how the castle was still used in the late 1800s/early 1900s as a residence for royalty. So a bunch of the rooms were how they were decorated in that era. The exhibit went all out, though. There wasn't just furniture and descriptions, but there were all these wax figures pretending to do things. And there was animation and sounds and scents (in one of the rooms, there was this wax maid running a bath of water and the water was actually running and smelled of jasmine) so it made the exhibit really interesting to look through. That was definitely a nice time to live at the castle, very posh. Then we went to the exhibit on more of the medieval uses of the castle. A little less posh. There was this huge room (the Great Hall) that was just filled with armor and swords and axes and all the weaponry you could imagine. I totally want a sword now. And we went through an exhibit about general life in the 16th century. Didn't sound swell. Oh, and, outside in the courtyard, these guys were making typical food from that time. I didn't really know what it was, but it looked gross and didn't smell much better, either. After doing some of the indoor stuff, we decided to go up. We first made a stop on "The Mound" from where we could see the River Avon and a trebuchet! I like trebuchets, I think that if we had been there in the summer, we would have seen a display of trebuchet, but since that's a seasonal thing, we didn't get to see it. Then we got of the mound and headed for the rampart walk, which was an adventure. There was a sign posted saying the last entry to the rampart walk, due to early sunset, was 3:30 PM. I didn't really understand why until I started going up the stairs. The stairs spiralled up in a ridiculously narrow, steep fashion and best of all, it was DARK. every once in a while you would pass a little window to the outside which would let in a sliver of light by which to see your feet, but most of the time, you got nothing. I suppose it wouldn't be safe at all if it was dark outside because people would be tripping all over the place. So we get up the first set of stairs, walk along the ramparts, and head to Guy's Tower which is the main tower of the place. We spiral up and up and up and up (we were going up stairs for a very long time) but it was worth it because we were rewarded with a great view of the castle and of the surrounding area. We then spiralled down and down and down and walked along more of the walls, up another tower and down again. Basically my exercise for the day was completely fulfilled with all of those stairs. After the long rampart walk, we went to check out the dungeon. It was only one room (although maybe in medieval times, they used more rooms) and it was pretty bleak. It was really dark and unventilated there and there were all these old restraining devices and plaques describing what they were used for. Urgh, remind me never to get sent to a medieval dungeon. When we exited the dungeon, it was 4PM and the bus wasn't leaving until 5PM and it had started to rain. But luckily, I had been warned that it might rain, so I brought my umbrella with me. We had looked at most of the exhibits around the grounds so we decided to walk around the grounds. We came across this garden filled with peacocks which was nice. But after a while, we were tired and cold, so we just got on the bus early and tried to dry off and warm up.
3 hours later (with the same loud Dutch people. Grrr) we return to Sussex, tired but fully satisfied by our day at the castle.
Next week: Stonehenge and Bath! Heck yeah!
So the day started off early, getting on a coach at 8:00 AM. Blah, we were all tired and trying to sleep except for these REALLY LOUD Dutch people. Maybe they had gone to bed at like 9:00 PM the night before and therefore were really awake, but they could have used indoor voices. There was no need for the excessive volume. Especially this one girl who was really shrill too. At first I just thought I was being cranky, but no, further conference with others on the bus illustrated the annoyance of everyone. Whatever. We spend 2.5 hours on the bus and at 10:30 arrive at Bourton-on-the-Water, this tiny little town in the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are this area of England, north west of London, that are basically just made up of cute villages. And that's basically what this was. A cute village. We were only there for 1.5 hours so we didn't really have time to do anything (from the map we saw, there was apparently a perfumery that we could have toured, or a big outdoor maze which would have been fun, but time was a concern) so mostly we wandered around. There was this 10k race going on while we were there so we're just wandering around and then all of these people in running clothes would randomly show up somewhere. Weird. We stopped in a bakery to get food for the bus ride to the castle and it was super delicious. I just had a ham sandwich with cheese, lettuce, tomato, but the bread was really soft and yummy. So yeah, those were the Cotswolds. I'm not sure if there would be any reason to be there for an extended period of time. Maybe a day if you wanted to do some of the activties, but really, it's just more of a wandering around kind of town.
We got back on the coach at 12:00 and headed to Warwick castle, which was further north and took about an hour to get there. Now, I liked Edinburgh castle but a lot of the exhibits there were focused more on the modern history of the castle and what it was used for during WWII and things like that. But Warwick Castle was super medieval and I liked it more. Walking up to it, it was exactly what you imagine when you think "castle". Towers and arrow slits and a portcullis and a moat (dry). Really really cool. We were there on a cold and cloudy day (it eventually rained by the end) but I thought that added to the castle's charm. We entered the castle grounds and started off in an exhibit about how the castle was still used in the late 1800s/early 1900s as a residence for royalty. So a bunch of the rooms were how they were decorated in that era. The exhibit went all out, though. There wasn't just furniture and descriptions, but there were all these wax figures pretending to do things. And there was animation and sounds and scents (in one of the rooms, there was this wax maid running a bath of water and the water was actually running and smelled of jasmine) so it made the exhibit really interesting to look through. That was definitely a nice time to live at the castle, very posh. Then we went to the exhibit on more of the medieval uses of the castle. A little less posh. There was this huge room (the Great Hall) that was just filled with armor and swords and axes and all the weaponry you could imagine. I totally want a sword now. And we went through an exhibit about general life in the 16th century. Didn't sound swell. Oh, and, outside in the courtyard, these guys were making typical food from that time. I didn't really know what it was, but it looked gross and didn't smell much better, either. After doing some of the indoor stuff, we decided to go up. We first made a stop on "The Mound" from where we could see the River Avon and a trebuchet! I like trebuchets, I think that if we had been there in the summer, we would have seen a display of trebuchet, but since that's a seasonal thing, we didn't get to see it. Then we got of the mound and headed for the rampart walk, which was an adventure. There was a sign posted saying the last entry to the rampart walk, due to early sunset, was 3:30 PM. I didn't really understand why until I started going up the stairs. The stairs spiralled up in a ridiculously narrow, steep fashion and best of all, it was DARK. every once in a while you would pass a little window to the outside which would let in a sliver of light by which to see your feet, but most of the time, you got nothing. I suppose it wouldn't be safe at all if it was dark outside because people would be tripping all over the place. So we get up the first set of stairs, walk along the ramparts, and head to Guy's Tower which is the main tower of the place. We spiral up and up and up and up (we were going up stairs for a very long time) but it was worth it because we were rewarded with a great view of the castle and of the surrounding area. We then spiralled down and down and down and walked along more of the walls, up another tower and down again. Basically my exercise for the day was completely fulfilled with all of those stairs. After the long rampart walk, we went to check out the dungeon. It was only one room (although maybe in medieval times, they used more rooms) and it was pretty bleak. It was really dark and unventilated there and there were all these old restraining devices and plaques describing what they were used for. Urgh, remind me never to get sent to a medieval dungeon. When we exited the dungeon, it was 4PM and the bus wasn't leaving until 5PM and it had started to rain. But luckily, I had been warned that it might rain, so I brought my umbrella with me. We had looked at most of the exhibits around the grounds so we decided to walk around the grounds. We came across this garden filled with peacocks which was nice. But after a while, we were tired and cold, so we just got on the bus early and tried to dry off and warm up.
3 hours later (with the same loud Dutch people. Grrr) we return to Sussex, tired but fully satisfied by our day at the castle.
Next week: Stonehenge and Bath! Heck yeah!
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Lunar Eclipse (Or Lack Thereof)
Apparently last night was the lunar eclipse. It was reported to be visible from England around 3 AM, so a couple of us decided to stay up so we could go hang out on the Downs in the middle of the night and look at it. We all manage to keep each other up until that ungodly hour and we go out and start walking up the hills around campus. Of course, since Brighton is on the sea, during the night, the entire sky is completely foggy and cloudy. So good luck trying to see the moon with that. We weren't quite ready to admit defeat so we continued to wander around and we came across all these cows just standing around, hanging out. It was completely dark out and we didn't see the cows until we were right up there next to them. One got startled and ran away to another cow and but I personally felt as startled as the cow. I'm sure they are more afraid of us then we are of them, but seriously, those are big animals. If one doesn't want to play nice, it could easily knock you over. I don't really have much of a desire to go cow tipping anymore. So yeah, we continued to play around on the Downs for a little while until we decided that there was no way we would be able to see the moon and went back to our dorm, ready for bed. Kind of an odd experience. Kind of fun. It's 9:30 AM right now, though, and I have class in 30 minutes, which I am not awake for. Ridiculously knackered.
Monday, 18 February 2008
I am Alive
Apparently my state of existence has been called into question, so I am verifying that yes, I am alive.
Because there hasn't been anything super exciting going on, I haven't had much to write about. Things have settled into more or less of a routine and the novelty of being in a different country has worn off. England is still fun and amazing and everything but it just isn't new anymore. Which is, I guess, a good thing. I definitely feel like I am a real student here at Sussex and not some weird foreigner.
Classes actually have assignments that I've worked on this weekend. Ok, so they arent due for like 3 weeks but most of my friends were in Amsterdam and I needed something to do. I was actually quite productive; maybe friends should leave more often. Just kidding, it was too quiet around here. I've also been trying to collect data for the research internship that I'm doing here and it's kind of been a pain in my ass. The guy I'm working with is a little weird and he wants 100 participants in this study. Yeah, Viv, good luck getting that. Or should I say, good luck Ellen with getting that since that's my job. All first and second year psych students here have to do 4 hours of experiment credit over the course of the year, so I've been trying to tap that, but it hasn't been super productive. I actually have a meeting with Viv in about an hour to discuss "strategy". I think the strategy should be setting sights lower than 100 participants. But that's just my humble, uneducated, opinion.
I had a dream last night that instead of coming back to England after the spring term my study abroad program was actually moving to Vietnam. It was a weird dream and I remember not really appreciating the fact that I had to go to Vietnam- I wanted to stay in the UK. Luckily, I woke up in England, staying in England.
Agenda for the day: two more classes (gah, SO much class!), come home and cook artichoke and mushroom lasagna for dinner (I decided since the normal chef-boys were in Amsterdam this weekend, they would be tired today and not want to cook so I was going to cook something I had been wanting), and then probably sit around and talk for the rest of the evening with people.
Coming up: Trip to Warwick Castle and the Cotswolds on Sunday! Yay day trips!
Because there hasn't been anything super exciting going on, I haven't had much to write about. Things have settled into more or less of a routine and the novelty of being in a different country has worn off. England is still fun and amazing and everything but it just isn't new anymore. Which is, I guess, a good thing. I definitely feel like I am a real student here at Sussex and not some weird foreigner.
Classes actually have assignments that I've worked on this weekend. Ok, so they arent due for like 3 weeks but most of my friends were in Amsterdam and I needed something to do. I was actually quite productive; maybe friends should leave more often. Just kidding, it was too quiet around here. I've also been trying to collect data for the research internship that I'm doing here and it's kind of been a pain in my ass. The guy I'm working with is a little weird and he wants 100 participants in this study. Yeah, Viv, good luck getting that. Or should I say, good luck Ellen with getting that since that's my job. All first and second year psych students here have to do 4 hours of experiment credit over the course of the year, so I've been trying to tap that, but it hasn't been super productive. I actually have a meeting with Viv in about an hour to discuss "strategy". I think the strategy should be setting sights lower than 100 participants. But that's just my humble, uneducated, opinion.
I had a dream last night that instead of coming back to England after the spring term my study abroad program was actually moving to Vietnam. It was a weird dream and I remember not really appreciating the fact that I had to go to Vietnam- I wanted to stay in the UK. Luckily, I woke up in England, staying in England.
Agenda for the day: two more classes (gah, SO much class!), come home and cook artichoke and mushroom lasagna for dinner (I decided since the normal chef-boys were in Amsterdam this weekend, they would be tired today and not want to cook so I was going to cook something I had been wanting), and then probably sit around and talk for the rest of the evening with people.
Coming up: Trip to Warwick Castle and the Cotswolds on Sunday! Yay day trips!
Monday, 11 February 2008
Long Time, No Talk
So it's been 10 days since my last post- an eternity, I know. There hasn't been a whole lot of super interesting things going on, so I haven't had much to say. But I know you all are eagerly awaiting my deeply moving and intriguing thoughts so I will stop this heinous torture and write something.
In recent days:
I turned 21! That was fun, despite the fact that the biggest excitement of the 21st birthday (being able to legally buy alcohol) is redundant in a country where the drinking age is 18. On Wednesday night a bunch of kids from my floor and I went to this club called the Arc down on the waterfront that has an 80's night every Wednesday. No one was particularly dressed in 80's garb but they played fantastic 80's music and entry was only 80p (always a good thing) which makes for a good party any day. I had decided to wear heels for the first time since being in Britain and it was fun and I looked good (I had also bought a new little cotton dress that was super cute with the shoes) but god, my feet hurt. The heels are good for maybe a couple of hours but dancing around from about 11 to 3, and then walking to and from bus stops just wreaks havoc. It'll be a while before I wear those shoes for that extended period of time again. Then on Thursday my dinner group (the same 6 or 7 people I cook and eat dinner with every night) made a lovely, delicious meal for my birthday and I had baked our famous bread pudding for dessert so it was a nice little family meal. Definitely a good birthday even though I'm so far away from home.
Saturday was usual ASDA trip. ASDA is this chain store in England, owned by Wal-Mart, and it's kind of wonderful, just because they have so so so much stuff and it's all not that expensive (I mean it is owned by Wal-Mart). The store is kind of out of the way, so there's this free bus that the store runs that goes from Falmer station to ASDA, gives you 2 hours to shop and then leaves from ASDA to go back to Falmer station. Caitlin, Matt and I have made it somewhat of a Saturday morning tradition (sadly, the bus leaves at 9:30AM. A little early for my taste) to go to ASDA and it's quite fun. I like grocery shopping and you always can find new and exciting things there. The other downside, besides the 9:30 departure time, is that it can be difficult managing all your bags on the bus (especially with dozens of other people trying to manage all their bags). The backpack stuffed full of food is key. It's easier to carry than the plastic bags.
Sunday was another beautiful day. We've been having AMAZING weather lately, it hasn't rained since maybe last Monday or so. Or maybe even before that. It has been sunny and clear with blue skies and moderate temperatures. I haven't taken my wool coat with me anywhere, all I need is my light, white jacket. A bunch of us were originally going to try to take a day trip down to Dover or something, but we realized that they do engineering work on the rails on Sundays so what would normally take 2.5-3 hours to get to would take more like 4 and we decided it wasn't worth it. But because it was gorgeous, Caitlin, Matt and I decided to go into Brighton and wander around there instead. We got up early again (a theme for us, it would seem) and got into brighton around 10:30. Matt ended up going back to school around 1ish because he had work to do (silly) but Caitlin and I stayed in town until about 5 shopping around, having tea and enjoying the people and the weather. Brighton is really one of those places that you can just spend hours walking in, there's so much to see. Especially if you end up in North Laine or the Lanes because of all the little streets you can wander down. We got back to school in time for dinner (we're very serious about our dinner. In fact, if you asked almost any of us who eat together, it's probably one of the most important/fun times of the day. Which is why dinner usually lasts from about 5:30-9) and then we sat around watching American Psycho.
On a different thread- yesterday I actually booked things! And by things I mean travel plans! Travel is actually happening during the Easter break! Slowly but surely it is coming together. I have a flight for March 17th flying from London to Rome. I'm meeting up with Felicia in Rome (she has Holy Week off from school in Madrid) and we're staying there together for 4 nights. Those first flights and hostels are booked. The next thing I want to book is a train from Rome to Florence and then I think I'm going to meet up with Matt in Florence and stay there for a couple days, either leaving the day after or two days after Easter. Apparently Florence has this centuries old tradition called the Exploding Cart on Easter which should be really interesting. After Florence, I don't really know what I want to do. I was going to do Venice-Prague but if I'm going to travel with my sister in May or June, she wants to go to Prague and I don't want to double book. So I would rather go over to Nice and the French Riviera, but Venice is kind of in the opposite direction of that. Maybe I can find some random little Italian village to spend some time in instead. Decisions decisions. I'll meet up with my friend Laura from Washu in Amsterdam on April 1st, we're staying there for 3 nights, going down to Brussels on April 4th, staying there for a night, going to Paris on April 5th, staying there for 3 nights, going to Barcelona on April 8th, staying there for 3 nights, going to Marid on April 11th, staying there for 2 nights and then flying back to London. None of this has been actually physically booked yet, but that is our plan. Booking will happen this week. Exciting!
In recent days:
I turned 21! That was fun, despite the fact that the biggest excitement of the 21st birthday (being able to legally buy alcohol) is redundant in a country where the drinking age is 18. On Wednesday night a bunch of kids from my floor and I went to this club called the Arc down on the waterfront that has an 80's night every Wednesday. No one was particularly dressed in 80's garb but they played fantastic 80's music and entry was only 80p (always a good thing) which makes for a good party any day. I had decided to wear heels for the first time since being in Britain and it was fun and I looked good (I had also bought a new little cotton dress that was super cute with the shoes) but god, my feet hurt. The heels are good for maybe a couple of hours but dancing around from about 11 to 3, and then walking to and from bus stops just wreaks havoc. It'll be a while before I wear those shoes for that extended period of time again. Then on Thursday my dinner group (the same 6 or 7 people I cook and eat dinner with every night) made a lovely, delicious meal for my birthday and I had baked our famous bread pudding for dessert so it was a nice little family meal. Definitely a good birthday even though I'm so far away from home.
Saturday was usual ASDA trip. ASDA is this chain store in England, owned by Wal-Mart, and it's kind of wonderful, just because they have so so so much stuff and it's all not that expensive (I mean it is owned by Wal-Mart). The store is kind of out of the way, so there's this free bus that the store runs that goes from Falmer station to ASDA, gives you 2 hours to shop and then leaves from ASDA to go back to Falmer station. Caitlin, Matt and I have made it somewhat of a Saturday morning tradition (sadly, the bus leaves at 9:30AM. A little early for my taste) to go to ASDA and it's quite fun. I like grocery shopping and you always can find new and exciting things there. The other downside, besides the 9:30 departure time, is that it can be difficult managing all your bags on the bus (especially with dozens of other people trying to manage all their bags). The backpack stuffed full of food is key. It's easier to carry than the plastic bags.
Sunday was another beautiful day. We've been having AMAZING weather lately, it hasn't rained since maybe last Monday or so. Or maybe even before that. It has been sunny and clear with blue skies and moderate temperatures. I haven't taken my wool coat with me anywhere, all I need is my light, white jacket. A bunch of us were originally going to try to take a day trip down to Dover or something, but we realized that they do engineering work on the rails on Sundays so what would normally take 2.5-3 hours to get to would take more like 4 and we decided it wasn't worth it. But because it was gorgeous, Caitlin, Matt and I decided to go into Brighton and wander around there instead. We got up early again (a theme for us, it would seem) and got into brighton around 10:30. Matt ended up going back to school around 1ish because he had work to do (silly) but Caitlin and I stayed in town until about 5 shopping around, having tea and enjoying the people and the weather. Brighton is really one of those places that you can just spend hours walking in, there's so much to see. Especially if you end up in North Laine or the Lanes because of all the little streets you can wander down. We got back to school in time for dinner (we're very serious about our dinner. In fact, if you asked almost any of us who eat together, it's probably one of the most important/fun times of the day. Which is why dinner usually lasts from about 5:30-9) and then we sat around watching American Psycho.
On a different thread- yesterday I actually booked things! And by things I mean travel plans! Travel is actually happening during the Easter break! Slowly but surely it is coming together. I have a flight for March 17th flying from London to Rome. I'm meeting up with Felicia in Rome (she has Holy Week off from school in Madrid) and we're staying there together for 4 nights. Those first flights and hostels are booked. The next thing I want to book is a train from Rome to Florence and then I think I'm going to meet up with Matt in Florence and stay there for a couple days, either leaving the day after or two days after Easter. Apparently Florence has this centuries old tradition called the Exploding Cart on Easter which should be really interesting. After Florence, I don't really know what I want to do. I was going to do Venice-Prague but if I'm going to travel with my sister in May or June, she wants to go to Prague and I don't want to double book. So I would rather go over to Nice and the French Riviera, but Venice is kind of in the opposite direction of that. Maybe I can find some random little Italian village to spend some time in instead. Decisions decisions. I'll meet up with my friend Laura from Washu in Amsterdam on April 1st, we're staying there for 3 nights, going down to Brussels on April 4th, staying there for a night, going to Paris on April 5th, staying there for 3 nights, going to Barcelona on April 8th, staying there for 3 nights, going to Marid on April 11th, staying there for 2 nights and then flying back to London. None of this has been actually physically booked yet, but that is our plan. Booking will happen this week. Exciting!
Monday, 4 February 2008
Football
Yesterday, all the WashU kids in London/Sussex had the opportunity to go to a Premier League football game, some people went, others didn't- and I don't see why not, it was tons of fun! The only downside of the whole adventure was that the game was in London and there was engineering work on the rails so it took the Sussex kids about 2 hours to get from Brighton to London. Altogether there was 5 hours of travel for about 2 hours of football game but it was worth it. Oh and also, it was really cold. That was a downside, too.
The game we saw was Fulham v. Aston Villa. It was really exciting because Aston Villa is ranked like 5th or 6th in the premiership and Fulham is second from the bottom and in danger of being relegated to the lower league at the end of this season. So it was supposed to be a rout of Fulham by Aston Villa but it wasn't; Fulham won 2-1!
Anyway, starting the adventure from the beginning. We get off the train at Putney Station and head towards the Fulham Football Club. At first we were looking at the map, trying to figure out where to go, but then we realized we could just follow the massive amounts of people who seemed to be all heading in the same direction we were, decked out in black and white (yeah, we wikipedia-ed Fulham FC before going so we were representing the black and white, too). As we get closer to the stadium, the shouting gets louder, the crowd gets more dense and there are more and more policemen standing around. I guess they are reeally serious about preventing riots; there were policemen on horses, in vans, lining the streets, basically everywhere (I really wanted to see some crazy football hooligans get into a fight, but I did not. Sad). We made our way through the crowd and get to the home side of the stadium, enter through these tiny little turnstiles and went inside. WashU really takes care of us because the seats were great. They were on the home end of the field, behind the goal that was guarded by Fulham in the first half and Aston Villa in the second, in the very first row. And the very first row is very close to the field. When the players are on that side of the field, they are actually life size. The first half of the game was fairly uneventful, but still awesome. All the football clubs have these cheers that the entirety of the fan base know and randomly just start shouting out or singing throughout the game. I kept trying to record some of them on my camera, but every time I got my frozen fingers to work, the chants were almost over. But I do have 2 videos that are somewhat decent that I'll post. Half time was short, some cute little kids went out on the field and tried to score on each other. Then the second half started and was much more exciting. At about 65 minutes, Aston Villa made a goal, but then at about 70 minutes and again at around 75, Fulham scored twice! And it was great being on the side of the field that we were because when the team scored the ran towards our stands hugging and jumping and cheering to the crowd on our side. And when the team did this, many many many fans in our stands rushed down to the barrier to scream and cheer and yell back to them- which lead those of us in the front row, especially on the aisle, as Laura and I were sitting, to get crushed against the barrier, too, amidst masses of screaming football fans. Which, of course, was fantastic. As with the chanting, I couldn't get my frozen hands to work quick enough to take pictures of the celebrating teams or the crushing fans, but it was quite the experience. Also, in the vein of preventing riots, when all the fans came running down, the security guards who sat between the stands and the barrier of the pitch would stand up and look menacing. It was kind of funny. The game ended with us on top, which made for a very cheery exit from the stadium, another walk back to the station with hordes of other people, and a quiet train ride home to Falmer.
I think football is really exciting and fun and I would like to go again if possible. Although maybe when it was warmer. And maybe with people who know the cheers so I could learn and sing along.
Oh, yeah, after I got home and did some work, I turned to more football- this time American. The tv in the common room in York House was playing the Super Bowl and I went down to watch some of it. But kickoff was at 11:30 PM and they didn't have the commercials so at about midnight I was done. I read this morning, though, that the Giants won. How silly.
Fulham FC enters the stadium!
A somewhat blurry picture of Laura and I enjoying the match.
Action shot.
Cute little kids come out for the half time entertainment
All the Fulham fans behind where we were sitting. There were also fans on the long sides of the stadium. Basically if you were an away fan, you could only sit on the opposite side of the stadium from where we were. It was actually printed on our tickets "home supporters only"
Fulham mascot...a badger?
The game we saw was Fulham v. Aston Villa. It was really exciting because Aston Villa is ranked like 5th or 6th in the premiership and Fulham is second from the bottom and in danger of being relegated to the lower league at the end of this season. So it was supposed to be a rout of Fulham by Aston Villa but it wasn't; Fulham won 2-1!
Anyway, starting the adventure from the beginning. We get off the train at Putney Station and head towards the Fulham Football Club. At first we were looking at the map, trying to figure out where to go, but then we realized we could just follow the massive amounts of people who seemed to be all heading in the same direction we were, decked out in black and white (yeah, we wikipedia-ed Fulham FC before going so we were representing the black and white, too). As we get closer to the stadium, the shouting gets louder, the crowd gets more dense and there are more and more policemen standing around. I guess they are reeally serious about preventing riots; there were policemen on horses, in vans, lining the streets, basically everywhere (I really wanted to see some crazy football hooligans get into a fight, but I did not. Sad). We made our way through the crowd and get to the home side of the stadium, enter through these tiny little turnstiles and went inside. WashU really takes care of us because the seats were great. They were on the home end of the field, behind the goal that was guarded by Fulham in the first half and Aston Villa in the second, in the very first row. And the very first row is very close to the field. When the players are on that side of the field, they are actually life size. The first half of the game was fairly uneventful, but still awesome. All the football clubs have these cheers that the entirety of the fan base know and randomly just start shouting out or singing throughout the game. I kept trying to record some of them on my camera, but every time I got my frozen fingers to work, the chants were almost over. But I do have 2 videos that are somewhat decent that I'll post. Half time was short, some cute little kids went out on the field and tried to score on each other. Then the second half started and was much more exciting. At about 65 minutes, Aston Villa made a goal, but then at about 70 minutes and again at around 75, Fulham scored twice! And it was great being on the side of the field that we were because when the team scored the ran towards our stands hugging and jumping and cheering to the crowd on our side. And when the team did this, many many many fans in our stands rushed down to the barrier to scream and cheer and yell back to them- which lead those of us in the front row, especially on the aisle, as Laura and I were sitting, to get crushed against the barrier, too, amidst masses of screaming football fans. Which, of course, was fantastic. As with the chanting, I couldn't get my frozen hands to work quick enough to take pictures of the celebrating teams or the crushing fans, but it was quite the experience. Also, in the vein of preventing riots, when all the fans came running down, the security guards who sat between the stands and the barrier of the pitch would stand up and look menacing. It was kind of funny. The game ended with us on top, which made for a very cheery exit from the stadium, another walk back to the station with hordes of other people, and a quiet train ride home to Falmer.
I think football is really exciting and fun and I would like to go again if possible. Although maybe when it was warmer. And maybe with people who know the cheers so I could learn and sing along.
Oh, yeah, after I got home and did some work, I turned to more football- this time American. The tv in the common room in York House was playing the Super Bowl and I went down to watch some of it. But kickoff was at 11:30 PM and they didn't have the commercials so at about midnight I was done. I read this morning, though, that the Giants won. How silly.
Fulham FC enters the stadium!
A somewhat blurry picture of Laura and I enjoying the match.
Action shot.
Cute little kids come out for the half time entertainment
All the Fulham fans behind where we were sitting. There were also fans on the long sides of the stadium. Basically if you were an away fan, you could only sit on the opposite side of the stadium from where we were. It was actually printed on our tickets "home supporters only"
Fulham mascot...a badger?
See what I mean about our seats being really close and the players actually being full sized?
I was bored and cold sitting in Brighton station, waiting for the train to Falmer to come so I decided to take pictures. Brighton train station is really cute and it is, by far, my favorite of the train stations that I've spent time in.
More Brighton train station.
My best attempts at capturing the Fulham cheers on video.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)