The Great Adventure- Day 1: London

This morning I woke up and I was the only person left in my room. All my roommates had left to go their separate ways and have their own adventures. So I got up and packed my last few things, had one last quick breakfast in the refectory and boarded the shuttle for the last time heading away from Harlaxton. This place is so magical and transforming. I know I have changed dramatically since I first got here. Harlaxton wasn't just a place I lived and went to class; Harlaxton was my home. It was my little piece of paradise in this crazy world. I will never forget the nights I stayed up far too late running around the manor with Dani and Chelsea, or all the times I ran down the cedar staircase on my way to British Studies. I will always remember the way the sun shines through the windows in the Long Gallery and how the floor reflects the sunlight and casts it up to the ceiling, painted like the sky. I won't ever be able to forget the very uneven stones in the stone corridor and how many times I almost tripped and ate it while I was rushing down to drop of my sheets to be laundered. And I will remember the days we spent lying on the grass in the garden and gazing up at the manor and the evenings we spend sitting on the ledge of the manor wall and looking out at the English countryside fade into the dusk. All of that has gone, but the memories will remain forever.

We arrived at the train station and about six or seven of the kids who had been on the shuttle got on the 8:30 train. Mine wasn't until 9:30 so I just waited. I got to London without any problems and hauled my suitcases onto the Tube so I could go drop them off with Jenny, Aunt Theresa's friend. I arrived at the EArls Court Tube station and called Jenny to let her know I was there. A few minutes later she arrived and we headed off to her flat which is only a few blocks away from the tube station. It dropped my luggage off and we chatted for a little while. I left and just about the time I got to the Glouster station I realized I had left the print out of my itinerary. I witched trains and went back to her flat to get it. I double checked everything and then set off for my hostel. I found my hostel with no trouble and after I had settled in I headed over to St. Pancras to see what the deal would be for Friday morning. I got things figured out and then just started wandering along Euston Street. I didn't have a map, which was actually kind of nice. I walked and eventually found myself in front of the British Library. I went inside. It was astounding. It was huge and there were people everywhere reading and doing research with your lap tops, etc. There were 3 or 4 floors of rooms dedicated to certain types of books: Humanities, Social Sciences, Maps, etc. I couldn't go in any of the rooms because I didn't have a reading pass, so I wandered around instead. The bookshop there was fantastic. Finally I left and continued to wander aimlessly until I eventually came to Tottenham Court Road. I turned down this street and walked again for a very long ways until I found myself in SoHo. I was getting tired and hungry (about 4pm now) so I hopped on the tube back to Kings Cross. I grabbed some food at Mark and Spencers and went back to my hostel to eat. I ate and afterwards went out again. I had intended on going down to the Thames, but for some reason I had the impulse to get off at Covent Garden, so I did. I found a pillar to lean against and I sat there and people watched for a long time. Eventually I got cold so I started wandering again until I found my way to the Holborn tube station. I got on and a short while later I alighted at Kings Cross and headed for the hostel. I tried to get to bed early because I knew I had to get up before the crack of dawn. 

Lake District- Day 2

On top of the unknown mountain
view from near the summit
waterfall trail
My duck friend.
Ferry ride.

So we woke up early this morning-- 8:30 or something along those lines.

Dani and I had planned to take the ferry down to Bowness to go see the Beatrix Potter museum. As our luck would have it, it was raining that day. Of course! It was like Ireland all over again. But we didn't let a little rain get us down and we set out on the ferry headed for Bowness around 10am. The rain decided to take a break and fortunately it did not rain on us on the way down to Bowness. Once we got there we just sort of wandered around looking for little rabbits to lead us to the museum. We didn't see rabbits but we saw a heard of swans hanging out on the dock of Bowness. They looked pretty fierce and I tried to restrain Dani from petting them. She has a soft spot for animals-- it's pretty serious actually. Eventually I managed to pry her away from the swans and we set off for the museum with Mary Katherine and my roommate Erin. We found it and shelled out the money to take the self tour. 

Let me begin this paragraph by saying that this museum was made for children, but I enjoyed it as much as I might have if I was 4 years old again. The Beatrix Potter books have a special place in my heart; and my heart truly did skip a beat when I saw Jemima Puddleduck. In the museum they had various scenes from different books. It was a trip down memory lane and as cheesy as it sounds it really was magical. It seems as if nowdays you can only let your imagine wander such extremes when you are a child. Anything else is deemed as immature and improper. Children have it off so easy and they don't even realize it. They can believe anything they want to believe and their lives have not yet been tainted by corruption and vileness. The still believe that good will always triumph and that everything is worth hoping for. Oh how I wish I could be a kid again. 

Eventually we tore ourselves away from the museum and wandered around Bowness in the rain for a little while. When we were sufficiently wet and cold we got back on the ferry and headed back to Ambleside. Upon arrival we ate our lunch and then headed out again. Some friends of ours had discovered a waterfall hike earlier that day and they pointed us in the direction of it. We wandered through ambleside until we found a sign labeled "Waterfall"-- so we followed it. The waterfall hike was pleasant and ran parallel to a pretty substantial stream with several waterfalls. At some point on the hike we found another trail that would lead us to the top of a mountain. I of course jumped with excitement at the chance to summit a mountain, however, my counterparts were not as enthusiastic was I was. Nevertheless the humored me and we started trekking. 

Now during this "little" trek of ours I discovered that it doesn't pay to stay away from the Rocky mountains for as long as I have. So I can safely say that this mountain definitely kicked my derriere. It was a beautiful hike though. We could see all the villages nestled at the base of the mountains surrounding the lake. As we climbed higher and higher I could feel the mountain breeze and feel my lungs contract as the air got thinner. Some people would freak out about that and pull out their inhalers, but not me. It was wonderful. I find it very safe to say that at some point in my life I MUST live near the mountains. I have been spoiled my whole life by spending almost every summer hiking around the mountains in some part of the United States. Now that I've gotten older and gone to school and gotten a serious summer job I can no longer do that. There is nothing I miss more during the summer than being forced to get up early and go summit  a couple fourteeners. These mountains were nowhere near 14,000 feet, but it was good enough for me.

When we finally summited this mountain, that I still don't know the name of, we were out of breath and slightly chilly because we had stripped off so many layers of our clothes. From the peak we could see all of Lake Windermere below us and the villages along the lake shore. It was wonderful. Around the rest of us we could see mountains upon mountains upon mountains. I had an Ireland moment all over again and I told myself that I would return. Perhaps not in the fashion that Beatrix Potter had, but that I would take time in my life to wander through these hills and learn about their story. This really is the wild English countryside and I love it. I feel like this is part of England that few people see and this is what makes England so beautiful.

We descended from the peak and picked up some of our fellows that had bailed earlier and together we found a restaurant in Ambleside to quench our insatiable appetite. Dinner was served and we went home with full bellies and an unshakable sense of accomplishment. 

Little did we know what tomorrow would bring. 

Lake District- Day 1

So this is the trip I have been waiting all semester for. This is the trip that every single student has said "you have to go on". The Lake District is an area in the North of England that is known for its... well it's lakes... and it's mountains. For those of you that have read Peter Rabbit you will be intrigued to find that Beatrix Potter visited the Lake District as a child and eventually moved there to write many of her world-famous children's books. 

This was the one trip I was taking that was organized by the school so I had high expectations for it. We left on Thursday around 6pm with a 5 hour coach ride ahead of us. Fun, I know. For some strange reason the drivers here cannot drive for more than 4 hours without a 45 minute break... so about 2 hours into the trip we had to stop for them. I have no idea where we stopped, but it was at some swank lorry stop. We finally arrived at some god forsaken hour. Everything was dark and the shunted us off the coaches and into the hostel. It felt similar to all those times when we arrived at campsites late and night and had to try and pitch the tents in the dark. I am thinking of that particular time where mum was supposed to make Pasta with tomato and basil but... she forgot the whole pasta part of the dish and so we ate it on bread. Oh the good old days. Well here in the Lake District we dropped off our bags and then went on onto the tiny pier and when say tiny I mean the thing was about 4 feet wide and maybe 30 feet long. It's basically there for the hostel guests to walk out on. So you've probably gathered that our hostel was on the shore of the Lake. Lake Windermere in fact. 

We got bored on the pier after a while so we decided to walk to the little town of Ambleside. Ambleside is the closest town to our hostel and it was about a 15 minute walk into the town. It was so late that everything was pretty much closed except for a few pubs, so the group of us just walked around exploring. There really wasn't anything to see in Ambleside so we walked back to our hostel and called it a night. 

g'night moon.

Cambridge

So on March 7th I went to Cambridge for a day trip sponsored by the school.

Originally I hadn't planned on going because I was supposed to go to Venice but that trip fell through for some reason that I can no longer recall. Anyway, so I decided on Tuesday to go on this trip because I missed the trip to Oxford and I had been told by my most hard core Uncle that visiting the Unis (Universities) is a right good time. So I woke up at an abnormally early hour and got on the coach to go the famed Cambridge University.

Before we went to Cambridge we stopped at the American Cemetery. The American Cemetery is a cemetery dedicated to the men and women who fought for America and died while abroad. We stopped there for about 30 minutes or so. It was wonderful in a weird, somber sort of way. The sky was cloudless and the grass was the perfect shade of green. Then... there was row after row after row of white marble crosses and stars of David. When you first walked through the gates into the cemetery there was a long looking pool to your right and running along the right side of the entire pool was a wall with every single name etched in it's surface. Along the top in much larger letters was a tribute to the men and women who had died to preserve freedom. Other people walked along the wall in silence stopping every so often to look at a name or too. I think cemeteries are strange places. They cast this spell over us. They are scary at night. They command our attention like few other things do. In some respects they are beautiful, in some respects they are morbid. And sometimes you just wonder how much of a party it must be with all these people hanging out. I don't wish to be irreverent, but boys will be boys and soldiers definitely will be soldiers. Cemeteries cast this spell of remorse and melancholy upon those that walk through and while I think that the sacrifice that many of these people made is not one they should have made; I don't think they died in vain and I don't believe they would want us to go tip-toeing around. Granted this is not the place to throw your fourth of July bash, but it's also not a place to loose your soul at for 30 minutes. 

There is nothing glorious or romantic about death. As Tom Stoppard once said one moment you are alive the next you are not. It's just an absence of being "Now you see me, now you...". We don't see them. I was walking past a thousand faceless people. People I didn't even know. People I couldn't share anything with or learn from. 

These men and women are brave. Far braver than I shall ever be, but their memorial inspires us to be more than what we are today. They inspire us to make a change, hopefully for the better. There is very little good left in this world, but the good that there is left is something that is worth fighting and sacrificing for. 

So after we left the cemetery we continued on to Cambridge.  They dropped us off on the edge of Cambridge's campus... which is enormous. People wandered off to do their own thing and my friend Elise and I headed for the Kings College Chapel. The grounds of the campus were beautiful. There were little snow drops and crocuses blooming beside all the footpaths and people were lazily drifting down the canal that runs through the campus. Even though it was a Saturday students were wandering around. The intellectualism that was permeating from the school was almost too much for me.

We walked into the the Kings College Cathedral and were stunned. It is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in. The fan ceiling is probably one of the high lights. It has stunning gothic architecture. The stained glass was also quite incredible. We walked around and sat and reflected for awhile before heading outside to explore the rest of the campus. 

I had come to Cambridge with only two goals: to see the Kings College Chapel and to see the Great Courtyard where the race in Chariots of Fire took place. Now obviously Kings College Chapel is part of Kings College and it was open to the public, but today Trinity College which houses the Great Courtyard was closed to the public. Since when have rules ever stopped a Sullivan. After walking around the campus some more and looking at the outsides of the colleges we decided to simply just break the rules and walk onto the St. John's College campus. We're students anyway so we blended in... sort of. We walked around St. John's for awhile before we headed towards Trinity. The gate door was obviously closed but I just walked up and pulled it open. Other people were doing it anyway so I wasn't the only one breaking the rules.

The courtyard was not what I had imagined at all. It was much bigger than I had anticipated and very open. The sun was shinning and the courtyard glowed in the early afternoon sunlight. We walked around the quad a bit and then left. After that we perched ourselves outside the Kings College entrance and ate our scrumptious  packed lunch. After eating our lunch we headed to the Fitz-William art museum in Cambridge. It had a good selection of world art and ceramics and such. After walking through there we headed back to Cambridge's main market area. On the edge of the market there was a church. The church was of no particular significance but pinned to the fence surrounding the entire church, were flyers for events at Cambridge. These events varied from public lectures, to parties, to theatre performances, to concerts and recitals. It was incredible to see that there was so much going on there. By the looks of it there were atleast 7 or 8 different plays being performed by various groups in the Cambridge community. 

By the time we left Cambridge at 4pm I was thoroughly sold on coming back. If theatre doesn't work out I plan to do whatever it takes to get accepted and study at Cambridge. I don't really care what college I'm in or what I'm studying as long as I get to be part of what goes on here. Cambridge didn't feel like a nerd school to me. Nor did it seem like a haven for a bunch of toffee-nosed rich kids and snobby-elitist-Ivy League Americans. Cambridge is a place of learning, and that learning transcends what is taught in the classrooms. That's one thing I have discovered while I have been abroad-- learning is not something that is limited to notes and ideas. Trust me I've taken plenty of notes this semester, but the knowledge that I have really retained has had little to do with what date the Easter Rising occurred on, or why Charles I was beheaded. What I have come away with from this experience is a greater appreciation for what I have. A much greater appreciation for what my mother spend all those years doing, and an increasing desire to learn more and try to connect with more people. 

Florence Day 2

After spending the night in that horrible hostel we got up the next morning and went in search of our actual hostels. We had all forgotten the time change and so we thought it was 9am when it was really 10am. First we stopped at the hostel where Mary Katherine and Tina were staying. We had booked at different times and the hostel I was staying it filled up so they had to find a different hostel. While they checked in I waited in the stairwell and looked out over the street below. Shortly thereafter they joined me and we traipsed off to find my hostel. The whole multiple numbers on one building thing was tripping us out, but fortunately we did find my hostel.

I went up and checked in while they went across the street to get some money. My hostel was really cute and quaint and the woman running it was really sweet. The view from the balcony of my hostel looked out towards the Duomo, which was stunning. After checking-in, etc, I joined them on the street below and we crossed a bought some groceries for the next day. Some things never change and I am still ever the frugal traveler. After buying our sustenance for the remainder of our trip, we walked through the San Lorenzo market to get to the Duomo. The market was amazing! It reminded me of the Portobello market except better. There were leather bags and notebooks everywhere. There was class from Venice and scarves from the south part of Italy. There was touristy stuff and beautiful carpets. There was very little "junk" which sort of contrasted it with the Portobello market. It was a very class street market. The venders tried to persuade us to look at their wares, but we replied with a genteel, but firm "no, gratzie". They were kind enough to not persist further. After making it through the market we walked the short rest of the way to the Duomo.

The Duomo we had seen the night before was deserted and loomed above us like the imposing authoritative figure it was constructed to be. Now, by daylight, the Duomo had transformed into a holy place of reflection, instead of one of divine justice. The exterior of the Duomo is one of the most beautiful and remarkable feats of architectural artistry I have seen to date. Even in the overcast light the green and pink marble shone beautifully. It was a towering edifice with gothic and moorish influence. The inside of the Duomo, however is rather a disappointment after you've seen the outside. It's beautiful and lofty and the frescos on the dome are stunning, but otherwise the walls are a bland earth tone and other than the spectacular floor inlay the interior leaves something to be desired for the supposed awe-inspiring-ness. We walked around in it for a little bit and then decided to move on.

After the Duomo we wandered down towards another one of the Piazza's near the Ufizzi galleries and the galleria academia. We saw a whole bunch of statues... go figure... and then we headed off towards the Ponte Veccio. The Ponte Veccio is the bridge over the main canal in Florence and on the actual bridge there are dozens of tiny little jewelry shops... don't ask me why. However the very center of the bridge is open and you can look out on either side towards the canal. It was still overcast, but the view was pretty nice.

Leaving the Ponte Veccio we wandered around the other bank for a while just seeing the local culture and eventually we wandered all the way up to the top of a hill overlooking Florence. Great things befall you when you least expect it. The sky was clearing now and we could see all of Florence beneath us. It was pretty spectacular. The Ponte Veccio looked very small off in the distance and the powerful dome of the Duomo stood out above all other buildings in the city. We sat up at the top of this hill for awhile just breathing, drinking and eating chocolate. It was lovely. Eventually we figured we better go back down and do something with the rest of our day. So we wandered down and towards the Ufizzi galleries. We were planning on going in, but we took one look at the line and changed out minds. Mary Katherine said she would come back early the next morning because she really wanted to see the galleries. Tina and I just opted out. I will definitely go when I go back to Florence in May. 

Instead we walked around some more and went in search of a gelateria that a friend had recommended to me. Let me say here that I would have absolutely no qualms with quitting college right now, finding a flat in Florence or somewhere else in Italy, devoting some time to learning the language and then spending the rest of my life eating gelato on the banks of a canal and writing short stories long into the night. After getting our gelato we wandered back to towards the Duomo and sat on a bench contemplating what to do with our evening. We eventually decided to head back to the Ponte Veccio and watch the sunset. It was probably the most beautiful smoldering sky I have seen in my entire life. The colors were unbelievable and even though it only lasted for a few short minutes I will undoubtedly carry that image with me the rest of my life. 

After the sunset we decided to call it an early night and we all headed back to our respective lodgings. It was only 8:00 so I sad on my bed and wrote postcards for a good long while and then sat on the balcony and looked at the Duomo all lit up. 

This has been a pretty incredible trip and caused the most struggle, but no-one ever said growing up and learning was easy.

Till next time...

The Adventure

So I went to Florence, but before I could get there I had to practically part the Red Sea as it were. This is the epic tale of my travels so far. If you have been reading about my father's journey to China than this tale will pail in comparison to his and my wit is certainly not on par with his, but hopefully with age I can live up to his expectations. 

Let me say first off that I was not involved in too much planning for this trip. So on the day we were supposed to leave I got on the 1:10 shuttle to the train station. My cohorts Jane and Emily were supposed to come on the 2:10 shuttle and our train was supposed to leave at 2:45. Jane had bought all our train tickets so I couldn't pic  mine up but I soon discovered that I had forgotten my rail card which would in effect keep me from getting on the train. I panicked for a minute and then just decided to ask the clerk at the ticket office what to do once Jane picked up our tickets. Well Emily arrived shortly after 2pm without Jane. Emily had freaked out that she wasn't going to make it and had called a cab to take her. Silly. Cabs are expensive when you are traveling solo. Jane arrived a little while later and got our tickets and I took mine to the clerk and explained to her that I had foolishly left my rail card at school. She said it was fine and that I would just have to pay a little more to make my ticket a standard ticket. So I changed it and dragged Emily and Jane away from the woman they were talking to so we could get to our platform. We got on our train and all seemed to be going right. We arrived at the East Midlands Parkway where we would get on a shuttle to the airport; but when Emily pushed the button to open the door to get off the train it opened half way and then slid shut. She pushed it again but still nothing. The train started moving and Emily, Jane and the two other girls going to the airport with us began to freak out. The train pulled out of the station and we were still on it. Two of the girls went off to find the conductor and another girl and I tried to remember what stop was next. By this point we were less than an hour and a half from our takeoff and we weren't headed to the airport. They finally found a conductor and told him what happened. He said at the next stop we could get on a shuttle or get a taxi to the airport. We waited impatiently and when the train stopped in Loughborough we flew off the train and towards the exit. We asked the guard if there was a shuttle to the airport. He said yes, but it wouldn't be leaving till half past, putting us at the airport after our check-in time had closed. We said "no thanks" and ran out of the station and piled into the first taxi we saw. The next twenty minutes were the longest of m life. I thought we would never get there. The taxi driver made awkward conversation and I seemed to be the only one who could understand him. Also, apparently the speed limit there is something like 10 miles an hour because he was crawling along at snails pace.

Finally we got to the airport and Emily and I hastily paid him and took off for the departure area, leaving Jane in the car. We assumed she was right behind us so we went in and looked for our check-in desk. There was no-one there so we were able to get through in a flash. I headed for the departure tv area to find out what gate we were at and I ran into Jane. She was furious we had left her and I just said, "Hey, we gotta go.We are in a hurry". She went off to check-in and I waited there for her and Emily to join me. Once they finished we all went through security and I , lucky I, got searched. It was hardly an inconvenience, but I'm just tired of getting searched. By this time it was 30 minutes to departure and so we sat down for a few moments before going to our gate. Everything ran smoothly until we got the Pisa airport. When we were booking this trip Emily said she didn't want to pay for two nights in a hostel and that we should sleep in the Pisa airport when we arrived at 8:30 pm on Thursday. I was fine with that because I've slept in almost every airport I've been to over here. We were going to sleep there and take an early coach into Florence the next morning. That was all well and good until we found out that the airport closed at 1:30am and then they would kick us out. What kind of international airport closes at 1:30am? My heart stopped and my head started racing, trying to find options of what we could do. 

We found out that there were only two hostels in Pisa. No good. I suggested we just take the last coach to Florence that night at 11:30 and hope for the best. We had no idea where we would go or what we would do. It was 9:30 now so we had roughly two hours until the coach left. We were going to try and get some sleep on the off chance that we might have to be up all night walking around Florence. Jane and I were going to find the bathroom when we happened upon a computer station with internet access. We pulled out some Euros and went straight to Hostelworld.com. We looked for the cheapest place that would have 24 hour reception. We found a place and even thought it had a 76% rating we jotted down its name and address. I also frantically checked facebook to see if Julie Ann or Jaleesa (my two friends studying there) was online. They weren't so our only hope was this hostel. The lady at the coach counter said there were some pubs that stayed open until dawn and that we should be able to go there. Awesome! Not. We tried to get an hour or so of sleep, but it didn't work because we were in very uncomfortable chairs. I never want to sleep in an airport again! Eventually it was time and we got on our coach. The lights were turned off and I tried to sleep but I couldn't. The Italians were being so loud and two girls in particular were being incredibly obnoxious. I turned my iPod up so high it was hurting my ears and I could still hear them. 

The coach arrived and we staggered out and set off looking for the hostel. First we had to head towards the Duomo and from there we might find our way. The streets were pretty well lit but pretty empty. We ran into small groups of people or couples. It was not after 1am. We found the Duomo, which was stunning even at night and turned south. Than God, he have me a great sense of direction or we would have been totally hopeless. We walked down vacant streets and closed restaurants. I asked Jane for the name and address and she produced it after going through her entire bag of luggage. She got it and we found the road the hostel was supposed to be on. At the corner there was a Piazza where a bunch of young people were hanging out getting drunk. We walked to to the right and started looking for address numbers. But there was a problem. There was more than one address number on each building. There would be a number 16 than the numbers 151, 152, and 153 at different points on the bilding. We were looking for number 6 so it should have been near the beginning of the street, but we couldn't find it. the numbers kept getting high so we walked the other way until we found ourselves in another piazza. We headed for an Irish pub that still looked opn and Jane asked where the hostel was. Fortunately they spoke English, but they didn't know the hostel only the street. We walked back towards the Piazza with lots of people and aksed in another pub. They also didn't know the hostel. We were beginning to wonder what we would do because all the pubs were closing at 2am. We wandered and wandered and wandered until we thought there was no hope in finding a place to sleep. Then God showed us mercy and suddenly we found ourselves in front of number 6 Via Porta Rossa. There were a whole bunch of apartments to call and we searched in vain for the only that said Hotel Veronique. Emily spotted one that had Veronique in the title so we pushed the button to ring the "apartment". We waited and Jane and I tried to figure out how to ask for a room in Italian. Suddenly a voice came from the speaker and Emily smacked us instead of replying to them herself. Jane ran to the speaker and said "hello?" frantically. He rsponded and she told him there were three travelers looking for a place to stay and asked if he had any rooms He said "yes" and buzzed us up to the second floor. 

Long story short we got a bed to sleep in that night. It was a seedy joint, but atleast we were not out on the street. We could hear the drunk people outside for along time, but eventually we all feel asleep. The next morning we woke up and got out of there to see what we had really come to see: Florence.

I hope I never had to go through something like that again, but now I know what people are talking about when they say that people get transformed while they are abroad. They really get to see how people work under stress and in unfamiliar territory. I'm not sure what I would have done had I been alone, but there's always the possibility of finding out on my later adventures...

A Sunday on the French Riviera

My future home.
Nice is nice.

So this morning we woke up after a riotous night before of participating in the Carnival activities. We had almost the whole day Sunday to spend in Nice before we had to take a flight home. So we started it off with a breakfast of cherios and milk... what could be better.

After breakfast we checkout of our hotel, but left our luggage there in their "luggage room"-- basically the corner of their little reception room. Meh, None of us had anything of value anyway. We decided it would be nice to walk along the beach so that's where we headed. I guess Sunday is the "get out" day for the Cote A'zur folk because the streets and cafes were packed with families. It was quite the sight to see. We walked along the beach up on the boulevard and watched the sun shining over the Mediterranean. We walked around to this lookout point where we could look back and see all of Nice and the French Alps. Again, I can't even hope to describe it to you so please visit my shutterfly website. We climbed an endless staircase up to a point above Nice, which again was unbelievably beautiful. We sat up there for awhile just soaking up the sun and sitting in completely beautiful unadulterated silence. It was glorious. 

As a side note-- one of the things that I have discovered about myself while I've been over here is my liking to silence. I know for some of you that is hard to believe because as a child you could not get me to shut up, but as I've grown up I've become a much more introverted person and now take particular joy in silence. So we sat up there in silence for awhile. While we were up there we could see down into Nice and we saw what looked like a market street so we decided to descend from our own little heaven and check it out. It was indeed a true French market flanked by cafes and brasseries on either side. There was fresh produce and pizza and wine and plants; jewelry and postcards, and olives and scarves. Anything and everything that a habitant of sunny southern France might need. We looked around for awhile and decided that we should find a little cafe to eat lunch in. We ended up walking out of this market area to find the cafe we ended up in, but it was still lovely. We got a table outside the cafe in the Sunday sun. We all had sandwiches of various types and spent a good long while there. We soon discovered that the cafe we were in was on the parade route for that day. Before we knew it there were people scuttling around shooting each other with silly string. The people sitting at the table next to us were in a fierce battle of this one little girl probably 6 or 7 versus 3 adults. She was dressed as a princess and was there with her parents and I assume some other relative of hers. It was adorable and hysterical. People around us were getting shot and continued on with their meals as if nothing had happened. My table, on the other hand, were constantly ducking and covering in hopes of not getting hit with silly string. Shortly there after the parade started going by, literally 10 feet from where we were sitting. It contained the same floats we had seen at the night parade except they weren't lit up because it was day time.

 Eventually we left the cafe some time in the afternoon and walked back to our hotel to pick up our bags. We were supposed to catch a bus right at the end of our street to take us back to the airport, but that didn't work out so well. Part of that street was closed down for the parade and so when we finally left the bus stop and went the tourist office they told us that we would have to go to a different bus stop further in the heart of the city. I wasn't in charge of the map on this trip and so Dani and Brelyn led the way to this supposed other bus stop. We got there and there tons and tons of people there waiting for various other buses. Time was ticking along now and even though we still had plenty of time to get to the airport we were unsure of exactly how it was all going to work. We waited and watched as most of the people disappeared onto various buses that came round. Finally we saw a bus coming that had our number on it. We walked to the edge of the curb to get on it and it looked like it was going to slow down and stop but the doors never opened and it went on past the stop. We looked around in bewilderment and then took off running down the street after the bus. Undoubtedly we looked ridiculous. We ran and ran, but we couldn't keep up with the bus and it disappeared out of sight. Now we had no idea where we really were and how we were going to find a way to get to the airport. We could have probably walked there, but again we didn't know the way. We started looking for another bus that might take us close to the airport. We found one that would take us to the wrong terminal but we figured if we atleast got there we could figure it out from that point. So now all we had to do was find a bus stop where that bus stopped. Ha Ha We found one, but we were on the wrong side of the road and so we would have gotten on a bus taking us in the opposite direction that we wanted to go. We crossed the road and waited for the bus. Fortunately it showed up about 15 minutes later and we hopped on. We had no idea how much a bus fare was and the driver spoke no English so I'm pretty sure we way over-payed him. Oh well. It was a pretty uneventful ride to the airport and once there we just hopped on their free shuttle that would take us to the international terminal. We went through check in and security just fine and an hour or two later were flying back home to England.

So far it has been my favorite place I have visited and I think it will be hard for any other trip to trump this one. We didn't go see any museums or anything particularly historical, but we spent time enjoying ourselves and indulging with the locals over a common value of happiness and good life. Far too often with all these trips I take, and life in general, we rush through it all trying to get everything done. We forget to experience and live in the 'now' of life. We want all the things on the list to be checked off; but really at the end of your life are you going to look back and say "Wow! I'm glad I went to 24 places in Paris in 28 hours." No, you aren't. You might, however, say "Wow! I'm glad I went to Nice and walked along the boulevard with people from all walks of life; and I'm glad I just took the time and sat on a bench and watched the sun set over the Mediterranean with my best friends. I'm glad I shared that with them and nothing that happens in the future can ever replace that experience." That for me is nice.

Cheers!

Le Carnival!!!

So when we woke up today we were all a buzz for Carnival until we discovered that the shower in our room had no hot water. Awesome! We all took freezing cold showers and for once I was so thankful I had short hair and could make it really really brief. We then dined in style with our cherios and milk before heading out to find the tourists office to pick up our Carnival tickets. 

It was a glorious glorious day. The sun was shining it was was 60 degrees and the aura of happiness was everywhere you looked. We walked down the Blvd across from the beach and picked up our tickets. We still had several hours before the parade started so we went back to the main drag and did a little Nice shopping. I was frugal, but I did pick up some pretty sweet Cote A'Zur stuff. After our shopping escapade we dropped our stuff off at the hotel before heading down to the parade. Here the parade is in the afternoon instead of the morning. We got there around 1pm approximately an hour before it started so we could get a place right up against the barricades. We stood there and walked people go by and masque venders distribute to the locals and the tourists. Some of my friends indulged in a masque or two but I remained abstinent. 

Something else that makes the Nice Mardi Gras parade different is that they line the floats up along the parade route and then the floats go around in a circle essentially. So the parade we were at was the the Flores Bastille- the Flower War or the Parade of Flowers. This is where it gets interesting and almost indescribable so please look at my pictures on shutterfly. The floats are made entirely of flowers. It is incredible! And instead of throwing beads or other random stuff the beautiful women who are featured on each float throw flowers to the crowd. It was so dignified and beautiful. So the parade started at 2pm and for the next two hours it was a barrage of extremely colorful floats and people and just general frivolity in nature. There were dancers from all different nations and there was a marching band. There were people dressed in full masquerade ball regalia and people on stilts. There was an automation dragon and big balloons. It was stunning. I can't even begin to describe it.

So after the parade had come round full circle we headed back to our hotel to drop off our flowers and such before heading back to the beach. We went back and sat for an hour or so just enjoying the sun shine and contemplating.... what flavor of gelato we were going to get that night. You know, the usual life altering thoughts. We stayed there until sunset when we went back to our hotel to eat dinner before the night parade.

After dinner we walked around some more before going over to the grand boulevard near the Albert garden for the Parade of Lights. Just like the parade earlier that day the Parade of Lights was unbelievably beautiful. It was the most colorful thing I had ever seen. Go to my shutterfly for pictures. For this parade there was a completely different set of floats that were made out of papier-mache, painted beautifully, and lit up. There is also another tradition here in Nice. Instead of having beads for the night parade/ the flower parade people have silly string instead. So if you really like the float or if you just want to be silly you shoot the people on the float with silly string. But wait, it extends to all the people standing around you. My friend Chelsea and I were standing there when 3 little boys decided it would be funny to start shooting us with silly string. Their parents were standing right there, but they thought it was funny too. So Chelsea and I went and bought some silly string and prepared to take revenge upon the little boys. This soon extended into an all out war between a good 10-15 people around us. It was one of the strangest experiences I have ever had. People were shooting complete strangers and it was totally okay. People were laughing and running and ducking. Little kids were shooting old men and women and the elderly folk were just laughing and pulling the silly strong off their faces and out of their hair. Sometimes it got a little extreme, but for the most part it was just silly fun. 

So the parade went by and we got covered in confetti and silly string. We tried to hide from the little boys, but they found us eventually. After the parade had gone by we headed back to our hotel by running and dodging in and out of people trying to shoot us. At one point Brelyn and I fell down and got covered in silly string by a group of French guys. The only way to get away from them was to run across the parade route, but that didn't work out to well so we ended up joining the parade until we found Becca, Dani and Chelsea. Delighted and high off of life we skipped back to our hostel where we recounted our adventures to Anthony. I'm sure he thought were were crazy, but we all had fun watching TV in French and trying to figure out what they were saying. 

I hate to break it to all of you back home, but this was the best Mardi Gras I have ever experienced. Thank you Carnival Nice!

Nice- Day 1

So let me preface this trip by saying that back in St. Louis Mardi Gras is a huge thing for my family. It has been since I was a little kid and almost without fail I have been toe very Mardi Gras since I was probably 3 or 4 years old. So when I cam to the realization that I would not be home for Mardi Gras this year I was disappointed to say the least. One of my best friends, however, is a true Arcadian from Lafayette, New Orleans and she promised me that we would celebrate it in true fashion over here. And when we say true fashion we mean, Níce where it essentially originated. If you are wondering where Níce is it is on the French Riviera pretty close to the border with Italy. So it is basically sun and sea. 

Now prior to our trip to Nice we were going to go see Spring Awakening in London because we found really inexpensive tickets and we had all been wanting to see it. It was phenomenal. One of the best theatrical productions I've seen to date, and I don't say that too often. It's not for the faint of heart and if you ever see it prepare to be assaulted by less than savory language and be pulled back to the angst of your adolescence. Having said that it is a true masterpiece. It shows the consequences of being ill-informed and in this case being completely uninformed about sexual relations with members of the opposite sex. It is not a modern day setting... I think it is in the 1920s maybe in Germany... not sure if that is entirely correct. Anyway, the cast is entirely kids, I mean that literally, and two adults. I was probably older than all of the young actors and actresses. Me, the old bag at twenty years of age. I even felt old sitting in the front row and that's saying something. Anyway, the show is a powerhouse, with an underlying poignant message that I think often gets lost when we are all forced to grow up before we are ready. In the last year I've learned that growing up isn't fun or easy. Basically, Peter Pan knew what he was talking about. Now if I only knew the way to Neverland I'd be set.

So after seeing the show that night Dani and I scooted ourselves out the Luton airport for... another night of sleeping in an airport. I won't go into the gory details because it was much like all the the other times I have slept in an airport. Basically I can't wait to go home and not have to sleep in an airport. So anyway, our flight leaves around 1:45 on Friday and we arrive in Nice approximately 4:45pm give or take a little bit. Upon our arrival we are greeted by a bunch of dancing girls and men banging on drums. It was like show girls from Vegas and musicians from somewhere south of the border. Quite the site let me tell you. The French Riviera French are much freer about their bodies and so in that fashion and in the spirit of Mardi Gras (I'm sure) the ladies were wearing thongs, and I don't mean the sandal. Sadly we had to leave the welcoming party and hop on a bus to take us into town. The Nice airport is very near the center of the city so it was only a 15 minute bus ride to our stop. We got off the bus and were on the beach, literally. The sun was already sinking low in the sky and stretched out before us was the Mediterranean Sea. It was jaw-dropping. We finally tore ourselves away from the beach and found our hotel, which was a block and a half away from the beach; and I don't mean a long Arsenal block, I mean a short little Arsenal to Spring block. 

After checking into our hotel we walked a couple blocks to the grocery store to get our traditional bread, cherrios, milk and jelly combination. We went back to the hotel and made ourselves some dinner before heading out for the night. By the time we left our hotel it was after dark, but we still headed down to the beach. We walked along the waterfront for a while before heading up towards the main part of the city. Let me just say here that the parade runs on the blvd parallel to the beach right next to it. Anyway so we walked towards the center of the city and followed all the color for Carnival posters. We had no map so we were just wandering blindly around Nice. We eventually found ourselves in the Jardin de Albert I-- Albert's garden where there was a huge ferris wheel. We couldn't restrain ourselves so we got tickets and road the ferris wheel. I hadn't been on ferris wheel since I was very very young at Six Flags so it was pretty exciting. From the top of the ferris wheel you could see all of Nice glittering below you and the French alps off in the distance. It was pretty stunning. Directly below in Albert's garden was the main center of all the Carnival festivities and where the two highlight floats were on display. We went around a few times and then got off to go look at the two floats. The incredible thing about the Carnival Parade floats is that they are made entirely from papier-mache, no truck beds here. They are moving pieces of art. We walked around them and took a bunch of pictures before heading away into the city.

Nice is set up in a way that there are wide boulevards and then there are narrow little pedestrian walk-ways. We walked down what was probably one of their main drags looking into the windows with glee. Nice definitely has got the fashion thing down pat. We wandered on the pretty deserted streets for awhile. We figured no one was out because they were all resting up for the following day of insanity! We found a little gelateria and I got some fantastic terramissou gelato. It was soooo good! So we walked around with our gelato and eventually headed back to our hostel for the night. 

When we got back we met one of our roommates, Anthony. Anthony is from Belfast, Ireland who is on a vacation because of the economy. He is a shy, blonde-haired, 34 year-old construction worker. We had the hardest time figuring out what he was saying at first because his accent is so thick, but once we did we all became great friends and bonded over our common distaste of our other roommate this young man from Turkey who snored so incredibly loudly that none of us could sleep that night. So yeah, you basically know how our night went. I actually slept really well because I was so exhausted from getting little to no sleep in the airport. 

So we went to bed in anticipation for the next day.

Paris-Day 3

So this morning Brelyn and Becca headed off to Versailles and Dani and I slept in a little before beginning our Valentine's Day escapades. The sun was shining, the sky was crystal clear and as blue as can be, and the temp wasn't too bad. 

First we headed off to the Montemarte area in search of the Lapin Agile cafe. There's a whole background story on why we would want to see one particular cafe. In high school I did a show called Picasso at the Lapin Agile. The Lapin Agile is a cafe where Picasso and his contemporaries would hang out and be losers, brilliant losers, but losers none the less. Anyway, so I did this show in high school and it so happens that UET, my university Theatre Dept, is doing it this spring. One of my best friends at UE is playing Picasso and so we promised him we would go and take a picture. We had attempted to find it the day before when we were looking for Sacre Coeur, but had failed. So Dani and I were determined to find it today. Well apparently my internal compass was still broken because we got lost again, but miraculously we found our way to it. We couldn't go inside because it was in the morning, but we took pictures of it and danced about in the morning sun.

After that we set off for the Opera Garnier, where the Phantom of the Opera is said to be from. Again my romantic notions got the better of me and I was a bit dismayed to see this beautiful opera house squished between department stores. It was still pretty spectacular. We didn't go inside because it would have cost an arm and a leg, but we admired it from afar. Following that we went in search of the Paris Hard Rock Cafe because Dani's dad said he wanted a shirt from there. She and I both think he's crazy for wanting that, but like a good daughter she complied with her father's requests. We got lost on the way but eventually found the Hard Rock Cafe. Stopped in for about 3 and a half minutes to get the shirt and then headed out. Our next point of interest was to be the Picasso Museum down near the Bastille/ St. Paul area. 

This littler excursion to the Picasso Museum ended up being my favorite part of the trip, and I think Dani's too. We got off at the stop near the Picasso Museum and discovered we were in this quiet little neighborhood in Paris. It was wonderful and very much like our excursion to Abbey Road in London. She and I just walked along the tiny little streets going in and out of the shadows of the buildings until we arrived at the Picasso Museum. We didn't have the time to go through it, but we stopped in the gift shop to get a postcard for our friend playing Picasso in the play back home. This museum is another I would like to visit if I have the time to go back to Paris. The neighborhood around it was perfection to me. It was quietly nestled in the middle of a huge city. It had character and love permeating from the little cafes as well as the delicious smell of bread and pastries. I am such a carbohydrate lover at heart despite my habit of eating rabbit food. We finally tore ourselves away from this neighborhood because we were running tight on time on meeting our friends for our Valentine's Day lunch. 

We got back on the metro to connect back to our hotel, but randomly we got on the same car that Brelyn and Becca were already on heading back to our hotel. It was a miracle or something to that effect. We decided that instead of going back to the hotel first we should just go to lunch. We got off at the next stop and turned ourselves around and found the line we needed to get on to go to the restaurant recommended to me by my Women and Politics professor who lived in France for several years. We got off in the St. Paul district, which is a lovely little neighborhood, but not quite as quiet as our secret Picasso neighborhood. Because I had thought we would be going back to the room first I hadn't brought the piece of paper with the name of the restaurant on it and so we had no idea where we were going. I must have been a really good person in a former life, or just incredibly lucky because we just happened to walk into the very restaurant that my professor had recommended. We ordered and I had the most delicious slice of Quiche Lorraine. It was heavenly goodness. After lunch we indulged in dessert which was even better than the main course. Dani got a tiny cup of espresso that we all tried and it was surprisingly good.

After lunch we left the St. Paul area and headed for the cemetery where Jim Morrison and Moliere and Chopin are buried; the Pére Lachaise cemetery. Great way to spend Valentine's, no? We were actually surprised at the number of people at the cemetery. It was about 4pm or so and the sun was casting beautiful shadows over the graves. This cemetery is HUGE and in the middle of the city. Burial stone after burial stone was squished in there. (Please see my shutterfly website for pictures). We saw Jim Morrison, Moliere, Frederic Chopin, and Oscar Wilde. It was quiet and somber, but wonderful in a melancholy way. After we left the cemetery we headed to the island to see Notre Dame.

Seeing Notre Dame at sunset was probably the other highlight of my trip. We didn't get to go inside or even walk around the entire building which was a little disappointing to me personally, but you have to make sacrifices when you travel with other people. Anyway, we saw the front of it and it was awe-inspiring. I wish the bells would have rang while we were there, but just being there as the sun turned it's gray face burnt orange was good enough for me. After leaving the plaza in front of Notre Dame we walked around the island a bit more and then went in search of a chocolate shop, seeing as it as V-Day. We couldn't find one in the down town area so we just got some from the little grocers near our hotel. Then we went back to our hotel and had a dinner of sandwiches and cherios with a glass of white wine. Classy, no? Hey, you can't always be classy when you are a starving college student abroad. What's more important is the time we spent, not what we were eating or drinking. So we had our wine and then some champagne and I discovered that I dislike champagne... alot. Perhaps it was just this champagne, but if all champagne tastes about like this than I am going to have a round life of not being able to toast. 

The rest of the night we just sat around and listened to music and talked till we all fell asleep. Best Valentine's Day I've had to date, but that's not saying too much seeing as I scare all the gentlemen away. Hard-Hearted Hannah.

Paris-Day 2

Day two of Paris, Friday. We got up and got ready to head out to this market we had heard about in an area called Belleville. Not Bellville, Illinois! We got on the metro and set out for the market with the sky spitting a cold, nasty rain. When we arrived we got off and surfaced in a little neighborhood. Luckily the rain had stopped. There were two narrow streets and in between there was a wide area with booth and booth of everything you could possibly imagine. Venders were bellowing out prices for fresh fruit and fish and bread. It seemed to go on forever. I'm sorry to say I didn't take any pictures because I was afraid I would get mauled if I even took my camera out. We walked for several blocks before we came to the conclusion that this was not for us. It was a lovely market, but one that truly was not for the faint of heart and none of us wanted to spent the entire morning being heckled by people in French. So we resigned ourselves to going to the Champs-Élysées and see the Arc de Triomphe.

So we made our way back to the metro station and got back on headed west. We got off at one of the Champs-Élysées stops and started walking down the wide boulevard towards the Arc. There weren't that many people on the street except for tourists and unfazed French motorists sped past taking no notice of the pedestrians diving out of the way. I would be terrified for my life if I were to own a bicycle in Paris. So we walk and walked for awhile until we got to the retail part of the C-E. I guess I had just come with this romantic notion of Paris, but I was kind of disappointed to see the C-E lined with shops like the Gap, Louis Vitton, Zara, the Disney Store, and Virgin. That's what I get for being obsessed with the film An American in Paris. I had imagined that the C-E would be lined with trees and little benches to sit on, instead it was a thriving commercial retain district making a bang off the Americans' buck. I guess it's all well and good for the economy, but it just wasn't what I was expecting. We stopped in a few stores and the girls I was with did some shopping, while the ever frugal Sullivan that I am, just looked on. Thanks Mom.

After that we walked and ate our sandwiches and apples looking like slightly malnourished students. I consider that a pretty fair description of our current situation. So we're walking and walking and walking and eventually we get up to the Arc de Triomphe. So, it's big, much bigger than I could have imagined, but other than that it's kind of plain. I'm sure if I could read French and read the inscriptions on it it would be alot more meaningful, but since I was lacking in that department I could only appreciate for it's architectural qualities; which don't get me wrong were amazing. Again we walked around it for a little while and then headed back down the other side of the C-E towards our metro stop. It was still rainy and nasty so I'm sure on some other day we all would have relished this experience alot more. Stupid weather!

From there we went in search of Sacre Coeur which proved to be alot harder to find than we thought. We got off at what we thought was the appropriate metro stop, but were so turned around that we couldn't find it and I took the girls on a wild goose chase of trying to find it when the whole time we were heading in the opposite direction. So much for my internal compass. However, on the way we found the Montemarte Cemetery which was beautifully eery. We found ourselves at the Moulin Rouge which is nothing to get excited about. Perhaps it was because at this time I was so frustrated about not finding Sacre Coeur. It's small and red, and is now a cabaret for tourists. I'd stick to the film if I were you. After leaving the Moulin Rouge we decided to just get on the metro and try to find Sacre Coeur again. We got off at another stop and low and behold there it was just up the hill.

We passed a whole bunch of tourist shops and some little crepe stands and got to the bottom of the Sacre Coeur steps. We narrowly escaped a hoard of creepy scam artists trying to give us bracelets, and started climbing the steps. First) it has alot of steps. Second) it has a lot of steps. I am an seasoned climber due to my mother's insistence in doing some outrageously long hike every summer since I was a wee babe, but it really came in handy today. We climbed and took pictures and then climbed some more and took more pictures. We finally got to the top , well sort of. We got to the platform below the top and the girls said they could go no further so I let it go and we just went trigger happy with our cameras. It was still a disgustingly cloudy day so we couldn't see very far, but it was still really cool. Perhaps if I have the time to go back to Paris I will go back to Sacre Coeur and actually go inside...

After we left Sacre Coeur we headed back to our hotel to rest up before going to the Louvre that night. After resting we got on the metro and skirted down to the Louvre for an evening of art. Now I don't pretend to be an art connoisseur, but I like art as much as the next person, and probably quite a bit more than the next person. Anyway, we got to the Louvre and were first greeted by the enormous glass pyramid. I don't care what Inspector Fache says in The DaVinci Code, the glass pyramid is wicked awesome. It was all lit up and looked stunning against the very ornate facade of the Louvre. Snappy snappy with the cameras and then we got queued up to go inside. Our reason for going Friday night is that on Friday's after 6pm it is free for students. Woo!!! So we got inside and got ourselves a map before heading off to explore. 

The Louvre is similar to the British Museum in that it is so expansive that it would take you months to go through it and see every piece of art. It is also incredibly exhausting to go through. We started out by going through French and Italian sculpture. Then 2 of the girls just really wanted to see the Italian paintings so we headed up towards you-know-who. Lisa or Mona or whatever you want to call her, is small. But she's not as small as everyone critiques her to be. She can't help that she is little. After all, it really is just a painting of some guy's wife that DaVinci was commissioned to paint. He can't help what he was given to work with. So we saw her, but I like his Madonna of the Rocks better. Actually my favorite painting that we saw there was probably this painting by Paul Delaroche called the Young Martyr. Look it up if you get a chance. It's dark, and despairing and wonderful. Anyway, we walked around some more and saw the Napoleon apartments and the Venus de Milo, and by that time 2 of the girls were getting tired of seeing art so Brelyn and I (the art enthusiasts) agreed it was time to go. We had been there for over 2 hours by this point. We left the Louvre and I said I would like to see the Place de Concorde, where the fountains from An American In Paris are, so we headed down that way. From the Louvre we could see all the way down the Champs-Élysées. It was pretty spectacular. When we got to the fountains I skipped about in joy and they all looked at my like I was crazy. Nothing new there. We all took pictures and then found a metro stop to take us home.

We chilled in our room that night and went to bed because we all had to get up early.

Paris Day-1

So this weekend, February 11-15, was our first long weekend at school. On Wednesday we had our first dread British Studies exam. Two hours of relentless essay writing. I think I did pretty well, but we shall see when I get the test back. It was 3 essays covering about 1500 years of history and 31 monarchs. Yay! Anyway, after that all went down I packed my bags and headed to Paris for Valentine's Day weekend.

Wednesday night my friend Dani and I took a train to the East Midlands Airport, which is near Nottingham which is about 45 minutes west of Grantham. We got to the airport around 10pm  and as our flight was not until 9:30am the next morning we found a place to sleep and crashed for the night. Fortunately we were able to sleep on these benches in a little 24 hour cafe in the restaurant, otherwise it would have been the floor. This is the second time I have slept in an airport for a trip and I can tell you it won't be the last. For both of my next two trips I will be sleeping in the airport at some point. If you ever need any advice on how to catch some Zs while traveling give me a shout and I'll tell you all about it. Dani and I were honestly the only two people in the airport until about 2am when other people started showing up. I didn't get much sleep, but atleast I was able to shut my eyes. The other two girls joining us had opted to just get a taxi ride in the morning before the flight. I would have done that, but I am a frugal traveler and was not willing to pay the 35 pound taxi ride. Yikes! Anyway, the other two girls showed up around 7 and we got checked in and hung out in the airport until it was time to board the plane. Surprisingly everything went smoothly and about 55 minutes later we touched down at the Paris Beauvais airport which is about an hour and ten minutes outside of central Paris.

We got on a shuttle to take us into Paris and once we arrived there we tried to get metro (their version of the subway/ underground/ L) passes. Right here I want to tell you that anyone who tells you that going to Paris is no problem because everyone speaks English, is a liar. Everyone does not speak English. Hardly anyone speaks English and even if they know English they refuse to speak it to you. So don't be fooled. We had a hard time getting our passes but once we got them we scooted off to our hotel which was located North of central Paris near-ish Montemarte, if you know where that is. Another thing to mention here before I get too far in... somehow, I have no idea how, but somehow the people here can tell you are English/ American without you even opening your mouth. I don't know how they do it, but people could tell we were and it wasn't like we were doing the dorky touristy thing where we are constantly pulling out our maps. No, they just knew somehow. Also, the French have no concept of personal space. The personal bubble that most Americans have is completely ignored here. I might as well have been sitting on someone's lap on the metro and they probably would have been okay with it. 

Anyway, we got to our hotel alright, but even the people at our hotel did not speak great English. I'm not at all complaining, but I was a little surprised at how infrequently it is spoken. It is not like Paris is a little village that is untouched by English speakers; no, Paris is a huge metropolis that has a large tourist draw and most of those tourists speak English. It was just strange. I'll have a whole post, if I have time, devoted to how my entire perspective on language and foreign language and native language has changed. For now I will just say that this was the first trip where my outlook on life and human interaction was really challenged... in a good way.

So we settled into our hotel and went out and got some food at a restaurant where they spoke pretty much no English. Two out of the three girls I was with had some background in the French language, but that was really no help. So ordering food at this restaurant was really pretty scary. The people there were really nice, but trying to find common words and phrases to communicate with was really difficult. I kept wanting to revert back to Spanish but that would have been no help. So we got our food and then we went to the grocery store to buy groceries for the weekend. Food is incredibly expensive in Paris and so we decided that unless we all wanted to break the bank we would be eating jelly sandwiches the rest of the weekend. After we got our groceries and such we planned out the rest of our day and around 4:30 decided to go down to the Eiffel tower.

When we got down to the Eiffel tower it was around sunset and when we came up from the metro stop and turned around there it was. From far away it was smaller than I expected, but as we walked towards it I slowly realized the grandeur and scope of it. The underside of the architecture is nothing spectacular and in some ways I really wonder why this is such an iconic building/ monument, but I was still awestruck by it. The sun shinning on it was pretty spectacular and when we walked around to the other side of it we saw the sun sinking below the horizon framing the Eiffel tower and it was truly breathtaking. We wanted to see it all lit up so we decided to walk around the neighborhood there until it was dark enough. It was a really nice quaint little neighborhood with no-one really speaking English, but hey we didn't really need to talk to anyone. There were Patisseries EVERYWHERE and that alone made me very happy. There were also Chocolatiers everywhere which made me think of Chocolat the film. Anyway we walked around that neighborhood with it's charming cafes and little fruit stands and finally found ourselves back at the Eiffel tower all lit up. It was indescribably beautiful. We walked around underneath it for awhile until we got too cold and then we started the long trek back to our metro stop. We hopped back on the metro and were back at our hotel in no time. We had a lovely dinner of peanut butter sandwiches and went to bed early that night. 

Please check out my shutterfly for pictures.

Cork- Day 2

Doolin 
Me and the Cliffs
Fog rolling in over the cliffs.
Cliffs of Moher.
Cliffs of Moher

So on day 2 we woke up before the crack of dawn and walked across town to catch the coach for our Paddy Wagon tour of the Cliffs of Moher. We pulled out just after 8am and headed north towards Limerick. In Limerick we stopped for a toilet break and to pick up some more people. All told there were 21 people on this tour so it was a nice small group. Our drivers were Kevin and PJ and they were both wonderful. Kevin was a younger guy and PJ or Peter as some called him, was an elderly Irish chap with a flare for telling stories. After picking up some people who had come over from Dublin we head up towards the cliffs. It really isn't that far, the whole journey without stops would have been about 3 hours. So it's  about the distance from St. Louis to Evansville... except going to the Cliffs of Moher once is better than any journey I will ever make to Evansville.  As we drove along we got to see a fair bit of the Irish countryside which really is as green as everyone says it is. Rolling hills of green as far as the eye can see with little farm houses and tiny villages nestled amongst the hills. All during the ride to the cliffs it was raining so that was a little unfortunate.

Before we knew it we were on the coast looking out at the Atlantic ocean in one direction and looking back  at the Irish hills in the other direction. It was stunning. Momentarily we arrived at the cliffs and they gave us a good hour and a half to walk around the cliff edge. When we arrived at the cliffs the rain began to taper off and eventually stopped. At this point I am going to attempt to describe what it was like, but no words in the English language, or any other language for that matter, can really do justice to this natural wonder. We walked up the cliff edge, or as close as they would let us get and  as my pictures show above it was just vertical cliff sides. Everything was green, even the water. The water was such a beautiful aqua colour. We walked around the cliffs for a long time and took lots of pictures and it was really overwhelming. It felt like I was standing on the edge of the world. It was such a liberating feeling. You should try it some time. To our amazement the rain stopped and the clouds cleared some and the sun peaked out. Also, lots of fog rolled in across the cliffs... and to put it simply... The world is beautiful and life is so good right now. 

Ultimately we had to leave, but I've promised myself that I will come back. We drove down the road a little bit and stopped for lunch in a village called Doolin. My group had packed lunches so we sat outside the pub in the sun and ate our sandwiches. When we finished there was still some time before we had to be back on the coach so we walked around the village. Again for those of you who have seen Waking Ned Divine it was just as I always imagined it to be. I have also decided that when I retire I will either come back and live in Doolin or find another small Irish village and live there quite contently with my dog  and my cat. It will be wonderful. So we got back on the bus and set off down the road a little more until we came to a place known as the Burren. The Burren is as another cliff edge, but unlike the Cliffs of Moher that are covered with green grass the burren is an extremely rocky cliff edge. There is a rock field before you can even get to the cliff edge. Because these cliffs are significantly shorter we were allowed to walk out as far as we wanted. Don't have heart palpitations now, but I walked all the way to the edge and looked down over the ocean. If you want to be reminded how small you are in the grand scheme of things just come here. It was so beautiful and it really reminded me that everything was once one, because our driver was talking about how these rocks and boulders ended up here due to the floating glaciers during the Ice Age. There's history for you. 

Finally we had to get on the bus and the took us back to Limerick via the scenic route and then back to Cork. When we got back we were all exhausted, but I think for the majority of the people there it was the best day of their lives for the past 2 years. It was the most beautiful place on earth I have seen to this day. That night we went back to our favorite put An Spaílpin Fánac and heard some more Irish music. This time I had a Beamish, not a Guinness and it was good, but not as smooth. In Cork it is said that Beamish and Murphys are the true Irish Stouts and that Guinness is for the northerners and those from abroad who don't know better. So I was fair and sampled both. I'm still not a big beer fan, but I was able to appreciate it. So no worries I'm not a drunkard yet. 

We went home that night all delighted about the last 24 hours events. We had to get up the next morning and leave for the airport so our journey kind of ends here, but it was the best trip I have ever taken. I was surrounded by friends that I hold dear, good food, good beer, and beautiful surroundings. What more can a person ask for. Parting was such sweet sorrow, but I know I will be back so that makes it a little easier. Ireland is a Claddagh in and of itself. It is Loyalty, Love and Friendship and I've never been so proud to be Irish and to wear that reminder on my finger everyday of my life. 

"Come fill to me the parting glass, goodnight and joy be to you all."

Cork- Day 1

This is all of us at the pub Friday night.
Long live Ireland!
My delicious Irish Coffee.
Looking down into the courtyard at Blarney.
Blarney Castle.

So on Thursday we left for our trip to Cork Ireland. My best friend Dani and I had to stay at the manor a little later because we both have meet-a-family families and Thursday was the formal dinner. After the dinner my family drove me to the train station and Dani and I got on a train to London Stansted Airport. 2 and 1/2 hours and 1 train change later we arrived at London Stansted airport. It was pretty empty there because it was 11:30pm and the only other people there were those who were spending the night. The other 7 kids going to Cork had already been there for a couple hours and after we met up we found a corner and all went to sleep on the floor. Not everyone slept. Dani and my friend Austin stayed up for most of the night watching over us and our stuff, but eventually Austin fell asleep and Dani and I stayed up. Our flight was at 6:20 so the rest of the kids work up around 4:20 to check in. We all checked in and went through some pretty dodgy security checkpoint. We were flying with RyanAir and they are really strict about carry on luggage. You are only allowed one piece so if you have a purse your purse has to be inside your other bag. And there's a weight limit of 20 lbs I think. So I went through security just fine, but some of the other kids got pulled aside and had their bags searched or got frisked. I really can't imagine how they thought a bunch of Anglo- American kids were going to cause trouble or anything, but apparently they did. Once we got released from the watchful eyes of the security officials we set off for our gate which was sooo far away. 

RyanAir works like Southwest in that there is a mad rush to get inline to get on the plane. People are crazy!!!! We all got separated in the process of getting in line. RyanAir is also different in that you walk out to the airport and walk up the little staircase. It was FREEZING! They also don't de-ice their planes so the wing that I was sitting over was still covered in ice when we took off. Sketch!!! The flight to Cork is only just over an hour. Before we knew it we were bumping along the runway in Cork trying to slow down. It was the roughest landing I have ever experienced. We finally got to our gate and walked down the gang-plank. We found each other again and all went through immigration together... which means I've got another stamp in my passport. Wooo!!!!! 

Our taxi wasn't supposed to arrive for another hour or so so we got some breakfast, I had a scone, and set about changing our money into Euros. When our taxi arrived we all piled into two cars and puttered off towards Cork. Oh, I think I should mention now that when we arrived in Cork it was raining; a disgusting cold yucky rain. It did not stop when we left the airport... or ever when we arrived at our hostel. Anyway, our taxi driver for the ride was very friendly and wanted to know where we were all from and what we were doing in Cork and what we wanted to see while we were here... etc. He told us where he thought we should go. On our drive through the city he pointed out sites and such to us. Cork is not known for anything special in terms of architecture. It's just your average Irish city. It was still pouring when we arrived at our hostel and even though we had made plans to go out to Blarney once we arrived we decided to take a nap until 11:30. We all woke up around 11:30 and asked our awesome hostess Tracy how to get to the bus station where we would catch a bus out to Blarney.

In the rain we headed into the City Centre which is on an island and went to the bus station. We had just missed a bus and so we had a good hour before the next one would run. So we decided to go find some lunch. We stopped in a pub called Mulligans... at least I think it was called Mulligans. I had chicken soup with Irish soda bread and a cup of hot tea. Some of the other kids got Murphys which is the local brew. After lunch we headed to the bus station where we got on a bus to go to Blarney. It was still pouring when we arrived in Blarney. Due to the weather there was no body there so we walked right through and up to the castle. The castle was pretty cool, but I'm not really sure it was worth the 8 euros we had to pay. Meh. Atleast I can say I went there and kissed the Blarney stone. I wish I could tell you the significance or the history, but they didn't really explain it to us, so if you are really interested just Google. 

We were all soaked to the bone by the time we left Blarney castle and so we headed to a pub in Blarney for an early dinner. It was little and cozy and full of locals because its the off season in Ireland. We sat down next to a roaring fireplace and took off our coats and shoes to try and dry off and warm up. As is traditional if you are in Ireland I had shepherd's pie and Irish coffee. When I went up to the bar to order my Irish coffee the bar tender scoffed at me a little bit. I guess he thought that I didn't know what was in Irish coffee, which I did. It's coffee and Whiskey. Duh! Anyway, I just smiled and took my Irish coffee and enjoyed my Shepherd's pie. After dinner we went out and did a little shopping in Blarney and my splurge was to get a celtic knot ring, which is gorgeous if I say so myself. 

After that we headed back into Cork on the bus and rested before the rest of our night. A few people decided to stay because they were just too cold and wet. We left to go out around 9 and we were going to go to this pub down the street from our hostel that was supposed to have Irish music at 9 on Fridays, but when we got there we realized that something was not right. There were no musicians and we felt like we had just walked into a private locals only pub. We left that one pretty quickly and walked until we found another pub. This one didn't have any music, but by that point some people were desperate for a drink so we sat down. Well this pub didn't have desserts or food so we nixed it and left this one. We walked all over town until we finally found the pub that I will remember forever and return to again and again when I go back to Ireland. An Spailpín Fánac... it's Gaelic... don't know what it means. Anyway, this place was amazing. It was everything that an Irish pub should be. It was pretty big and we found a little nook in one of the larger rooms off to the side. We all ordered drinks and sat down and hoped that the music would start. To appease my Irish ancestors I had a half pint of Guinness. It was so delicious. It was so smooth and dark. mmmmhmm. I also tried, but did not purchase, a Beamish and a Beamish Red. The Beamish is another Irish Stout and the Beamish Red is an Ale. 

At some point in time, I'm not really sure when, but at some point in time Irish music began. It turned out that the four guys playing were sitting right outside our nook. It was so wonderful. For those of you that have seen Waking Ned Divine it was just like the part in that film near the end where the entire town is in the pub drinking and dancing. There was no dancing here, but the atmosphere was the same. It was glorious! Finally we called it a night and made the long, long walk back to our hostel. We all went right to sleep because we knew we would have to be up super early the next morning, so...

Goodnight and joy be to you all.