Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Backpacking Around the Mainland

I never really expected that I would go backpacking around Europe, but I'm essentially doing that starting tomorrow. I've packed a backpack and a shoulder bag, and tomorrow morning at 9:30 AM I'm heading off to catch a coach, which will take me on a nine hour bus ride to Paris.

Once arriving in Paris, I intend to find my hostel, check in, and then go up to the Eiffel Tower, which has admission until 10:30 PM. I want to go up on my first night for two reasons: one, I'm sure Paris is beautiful at night, and the Eiffel Tower gets lit up at night time. And two, the more important reason: admission prices go up, starting on Saturday, March 27th.

At any rate, on Saturday I will spend the day exploring Paris by myself. I'll go to the Louvre and see some famous artwork (I plan to focus primarily on Monet and other Impressionists), and I'll visit Notre Dame which is free! I like free. Aurelie, my friend in Belgium, does not like Paris and has no advice for me regarding visiting Paris. However, she has a friend who loves Paris, and this friend has provided me with all sorts of suggestions on things to do in Paris. So I'm sure I won't find myself bored on Saturday.

Sunday morning, I'm flying to Venice where I will explore the canals and visit St. Mark's Square, as I have been instructed to do. After a day in Venice, I plan to take a train to Rome, where I will check in to my next hostel.

On Monday, I will either take a day trip to Florence (the fast trains are about a 3 hour journey), or I will stay in Rome. I would like to go see Michelangelo's and Dontello's Davids, but I can forgo Florence if necessary.

Either way, Tuesday will be devoted to Rome, where I plan to see the Coliseum (I don't believe it's worth 13 euros admission, so I will be satisfied with seeing), visit St. Peter's Basilica (free to visit, 4 euros to climb the stairs to the top. We'll play that one by ear), and visit the Vatican Museum for 13 euros (this price IS worth it, as it includes the Sistine Chapel). A free walk around the forum and Trajan's Market will also be in order! I'll be sure to wish in as many fountains as I can, assuming I don't go broke doing so!

Finally, bright and early Wednesday morning, I will fly from Rome to Riga, with a layover in Frankfurt on the way. I will be spending the rest of my week, from Wednesday to Monday, visiting with the Sirmacs in Riga. I am very excited to be returning to Latvia!

As preparations for my trip, I have done a little bit of grocery shopping. I have a large bottle of water (two liters), some crisps (AKA Pringles), some cheese crackers, some chocolate cookies, Easter candy that my parents sent me, some granola bars, and seven peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches. We'll see how far this gets me without paying for food!

I should have internet access while zipping around Europe, but don't expect blog entries while I'm out and about; I'll be busy, trying to soak in all the culture I can get!

Tube People Watching

On the Tube, there is one of four things which people are doing during their commute. Everybody is doing at least one of these things; some people may do a combination of things, and occasionally you get people breaking the norm and doing something else completely. But everybody does at least one of these things on the Tube, and on any given day during a regular commute, you will see all four of these happening.

1. Reading. Londoners stick their nose in a book, and will not take it out for anything. People continue reading as they cross the platform to catch another train. People continue reading as they stand on the escalator to exit the station or switch lines. People go as far as possible to avoid putting the book down. Lately, the most common book I've witnessed people reading is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I think they're making a movie of this book, because I also see a lot of posters for it around Tube stations. People also read the sequel to this book. Also commonly read on the Tube are newspapers. It is not uncommon for other passengers to read news papers over peoples' shoulders, especially on packed Tubes. I certainly have been known to do so. Some people are even polite enough to share the paper if they notice people reading over their shoulder.

2. Listening to their iPod. I specifically say iPod, as opposed to mp3 player, because majority of people are, in fact, listening to Apple products, as the tell-tale white earbud headphones indicate. Listening to an iPod is frequently combined with another Tube activity.

3. Playing with their iPhone. Again, specifically iPhone. Occasionally you will see people playing with other cellphones (Blackberry is another common one), but iPhone is clearly a status symbol. Usually, the only people you see sitting on the Tube playing with an iPhone are business people wearing their fancy suits. They're probably doing important things on their phone (or at least trying to look important); I usually pull out my iPhone as if to say "look, I have one too! I am smug as well." and then sit there playing with Facebook. Very important use for Pete.

4. People watching. If you have nothing else to do, or if you have your iPod in your ears and nothing to occupy your eyes, it's difficult not to people watch. The Tube is packed full of people, sometimes they're practically in your lap - everywhere you look, you see other people. So it can be very interesting to people watch.

I mention all of this, because today I had an interesting little people watching moment. I hopped on the Tube, claimed a seat, and popped in my iPod.

At the next stop, a big gentleman got on and sat down next to me. I scooted over to allow him a little more room. I wasn't paying close attention to him, as he was directly next to me. All I could tell was that a big, strong man had sat down next to me.

And then, I heard the sound of a juice-box being slurped. My seatmate had pulled out a little juice-box and he was having a nice little treat on the Tube! I was so amused by this incident, that I didn't realize that the next stop was my stop. He got off there; you would have thought I would have followed him! So, as the train traveled to the next station (where I got off and went back to the previous station), I was musing to myself over this unlikely fan of juice-boxes.

Edit: I notice that I talk about the Tube a lot. In my defense, it is a necessary part of every day for me. And it certainly is considerably different from home, where I drive everywhere and only occasionally ride the bus. We don't even have an underground subway system in Washington state!

Keep Up With Sarah's Excursions Through Her Pictures!

For those of you not following the blog from Facebook, here are links to view my Facebook photo albums from all of my European adventures.

All of my England excursions are kept in an album generally (and inaccurately) titled London 2010. This album is updated the most, as I add to it every time I go do something within England.

The weekend that I spent in Spain back in February has its very own album, which can be found here.

The time I spent in Scotland is also in its very own album, and all the pictures are located here.

And let's not forget the St. Paddy's weekend festivities in Ireland, which have been documented for your viewing pleasure here.

Past European excursions are also included in album form on Facebook, so if you would like to see those pictures, click on the place name to see the albums!

2009
England (album one), England (album two), Berlin (album one), Berlin (album two), Athens (album one), Athens (album two), Napflio

2005
Sweden, Russia, Estonia and Latvia

A Day of Health in Bath

Yesterday, everyone from AHA (both the semester students and the quarter students) went on a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath.

Fortunately, I've been to Stonehenge before; my camera batteries decided to die right as we arrived at Stonehenge, and I was unable to take pictures of the stone monument. I spent 6 pounds (that's $9, folks) on two double A batteries at the Stonehenge gift shop to ensure having batteries for my camera at Bath (where I had never been before). So I have absolutely no pictures from Stonehenge this go round. Luckily, the only difference between last year and this year is that the grass was green this year. Everything else was exactly the same; so, for your viewing pleasure, I have attached a picture of Stonehenge from last year's excursion to the ancient construction.

After an hour there, we moved on to Bath, where we were given a walking tour of the town. I can't say that I saw much of it; it had just begun raining during our walk, so my eyes were focused on the ground, trying to keep my glasses from getting speckled. After the walking tour, we went in to the Bath Cathedral, which has the most gorgeous fan-vaulted ceiling.

After roaming around the cathedral, we went in to see the Roman baths. We had audio guides, and many of us were listening to the children's commentary, because it was short and to the point (and kind of silly, too). At the baths, we met a Roman gentleman who called us barbarians (because we are from outside the empire). As you walk around the bath complex, you occasionally see hologram videos of Romans bathing. In the men's private baths, there are holograms of naked men walking around and toweling off. We were highly entertained there.

After seeing the baths, Annie and I decided it was necessary to try some water from the baths. Heck, I tried haggis in Scotland, I can try anything (except blood pudding)! So we payed 50 p each (that's around 75 cents) for a glass of the water. It was warm and tasted very sulfuric. It wasn't awful, as most people say, but it was certainly far from refreshing. I had two sips before I decided I just couldn't have any more of it.

After this, a group of us decided to try pastys (pronounced pah-sties, not pay-sties), a traditional food in England. They're basically like pot pie, only portable.

Finally, I concluded my day in Bath with a quick visit to the Jane Austen Center with Corrinne. You pay 5 pounds to go in, listen to a speech about Jane Austen and her time living in Bath (she hated it there), and then wander around the little exhibits downstairs. It's not much, but it's a cute little thing to go see. I also learned how to flirt properly with a fan, as proper young ladies did during the Regency period. As we were leaving, I bought myself a fan to go with my growing European fan collection (I have fans from Russia, Greece, Spain, and now England), as well as to practice my fan flirting. I wasn't a big enough Jane Austen fan to justify buying the "I heart Darcy" bag, but I was pretty amused to see the the gift shop sells Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. That's pretty cool, even if those books were disappointing.

After Bath, I went out to Harrow briefly with Annie, where we found a pub and split a bottle of wine. We spent the evening chatting before going home to bed. Today, the plan is to do laundry and work on my mid-terms. So far, only the laundry has been done.

In closing, for your viewing pleasure, here is the book trailer for Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. I showed this lovely work to my Book in Society class last semester, as part of my presentation on my paper about Jane Austen and monsters (known as Monster Mashups).

A Weekend in Dublin's Fair City

Hello folks - I apologize for the lack of updates this last week! I have been fighting off a cold (which stubbornly is hanging on in the form of an obnoxious cough), and have been spending more time sleeping than doing anything else. But I am here with a blog update!

My previous blog entry left off with an exciting trip to the Cadbury chocolate factory in Birmingham. The following day, I went to the Tower of London with Corinne and had a blast running around the tower and hearing bloody stories of execution and betrayal and all that exciting jazz. That evening, Corinne and I had dinner at a delightful Irish pub near King's Cross, and then we met up with my friend Hilary and her friend Stephanie, and we went to a club called The Hamlet, where we saw a band from Boston play. It was a blast.

But it was the following weekend that was really fascinating, and the meat of this blog will focus on the juicy details of this weekend!

First, Tuesday night the class went to see a play called London Assurance. The show was very much fun, and it featured two actors who are pretty big theatre stars here in London. Not so well-known in the US, but they were good and the entire production was very enjoyable.
Wednesday night, the class went to see Benjamin Britten's opera, A Midsummer Night's Dream. The director made some choices that disappointed me, but there were certainly some fascinating elements about the production and I am very glad that we went. To sum up this show, I have this to say: Oberon was a castrated Billy Idol, Puck was in bondage for some unknown reason, and Bottom did not only have an ass head, but a rather large appendage accompanying it. The Brits really like raunchy shows, I guess.

Thursday, Sasha, Annie and I had tickets to see The Misanthrope starring Keira Knightley (from Pirates of the Caribbean) and Damian Lewis (star of Life on NBC). On our way to the theatre, we passed through a giant crowd in the middle of Leicester Square. Turns out, we had wandered into the middle of the premiere for Bounty Hunter, starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. What's more, we had somehow arrived just as the aforementioned stars were arriving themselves. So we saw Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler on the big screen as the crowd was going wild. It was very exciting and a bit dazing.

We continued our fight through the crowd, and made it to The Misanthrope. The show was absolutely delightful, and Damian Lewis was utterly amazing. Keira Knightley with an American accent sounds just wrong, though. After the show, we got Damian's autograph. He was so sweet and friendly! I also took some pictures of him. I was ready to die happy.

After the night's excitement, Sasha, Annie and I made our way to the airport, where we spent the night before catching our flight to Ireland. None of us really got any sleep, but we certainly attempted. Finally, 5:00 AM rolled around and we were able to check in and catch our flight to Dublin.

Dublin was utterly amazing. The city is gorgeous and easy to get around, the Irish are so friendly and helpful, and the Guinness is absolutely delicious!

Friday, we arrived at 8:00 AM in Dublin. Our hotel room wasn't ready yet, so we stored our luggage and then went to breakfast. After breakfast, we explored the Dublin Castle a little bit, and then we returned to the hotel where we checked in and took naps for two hours. After nap time, we went to the Guinness Storehouse, where we learned the history of Guinness (Arthur Guinness signed a 9000 year lease on the Guinness factory in 1759), how beer is brewed, the difference between a stout (such as Guinness) and regular beer, you get a taster of Guinness, and then at the top of the storehouse you get a complimentary pint while overlooking Dublin! That pint was the best pint of Guinness I have ever tasted; it was scrumptious.

That evening, we had a quiet evening in our hotel room. We attempted to go to bed early, but that proved impossible, as the hotel was hosting karaoke that night, and it was taking place directly below us. So we spent the night listening to the karaoke from our room. It steadily got worse as the night got later and the singers got progressively worse.

Saturday morning, we took a tour around Dublin and Wicklow. The tour guide/driver asked me to be his co-captain, as I was sitting by myself and most other people on the tour were in pairs. This meant that I sat up in front of the bus, had to answer his questions and try to pronounce Gaelic words. He also threatened to leave me on the side of the road, or to make me go play ding-dong-ditch at Bono's house. For the record, I was more than okay with the Bono plan. During the tour, everyone had a shot of Jamieson's whiskey while looking down at Guinness Lake. Stephen, our tour guide (who, side note, was born on St. Stephen's day, which is three days before my birthday), also poured some Jamieson's into my mocha after a coffee stop at Avoca. That was surprisingly tasty.

After the tour, we returned to Dublin where the Irish were celebrating their recent Rugby triumph over Wales. The Welsh were also in Dublin, but they were all moping in the pubs. We went out to a pub for dinner and drinks. One person among us (I won't name who, but it was not me) turned to a man wearing a red jersey and a Welsh flag on his back and said "I bet you're excited about today!" Fortunately, her little blunder was forgiven and she made friends with the Welsh gentleman.

Later, we went to a second pub, where we made more Welsh friends and watched a bunch of drunk old people dance. It was very entertaining, and we enjoyed ourselves down there until 1:00 AM, when we went back to our hotel room and called it a night.

Sunday was our final day in Dublin, but we had some time to spare before we had to get to the airport. We checked out of the hotel and headed towards a street fair. On our way, we stopped at a grocery store for breakfast. Here, we met an Irish lady who chatted with us about Ireland, Shakespeare, and school. She was very friendly and sweet and offered advice for any future trips to Ireland we may make.

We passed by the street fair but were a smidge disappointed; so we continued on, where we found Oscar Wilde's old house and a statue honoring him in the nearby park. Then we went to Trinity College, where we saw the Book of Kells, and some other ancient bibles. After seeing the Book of Kells, we went in to the Long Hall, which is full of interesting history about Dublin and Trinity College. I was looking at pictures and news articles from 1911, when Ireland gained independence from Britain.

We wandered around Dublin a little bit longer, found a street band that we really liked (Annie bought a CD), and simply enjoyed ourselves in the beautiful city of Dublin. We even found a leprechaun! Then we headed off to the airport and returned to London. The weekend was magical, and none of us wanted to leave. I fell in love with Ireland in a way I have only felt before for home and Savannah, Georgia. It was incredible.

This week it's been back to classes; we saw a modern adaptation of Measure for Measure last night, which was very interesting. Tomorrow it's off to Stone Henge and Bath. I'll watch out for midgets dancing around Stone Henge while I'm there.

Sarah and the Chocolate Factory

This may come as a shock to some of you, but I discovered today that there really is such a thing as too much chocolate.

I know, this sounds scandalous, particularly coming from me.

Now, rest assured, I don't mean too much chocolate ever, just too much at one time. But anyway, allow me to start at the beginning of the day and explain the exciting, chocolatey end to my day.

The class made an excursion to Birmingham today, a focal point during the industrial revolution which led to the surrounding area being referred to as "black country", as the whole area was dirty from the dirty industry happening in Birmingham.

Birmingham is a delightful little town. We went to the art museum and looked primarily at the pre-Raphaelite painters, as our art history teacher had requested. Then we went outside to the courtyard, which has a pretty fountain, a tribute to gas and water (from the industrial era and Chamberlain era), and some nifty statues randomly placed on the steps. We sat outside on the steps and enjoyed our lunch until it was time to walk to the train station so we could go to the Cadbury chocolate factory.

The majority of our time in Birmingham was spent at Cadbury World. When we arrived at Cadbury World, we were instructed to go to Essence and the museum first. So we walked over to Essence, and everyone was absolutely ecstatic and bubbly. Everyone felt just like Charlie being allowed in to Willy Wonka's factory.

Essence is a silly attraction, but we had a ton of fun and were laughing throughout the whole thing. You get taken back in time to the early 20th century and watch the Cadbury brothers try to figure out the perfect recipe for their chocolate. Once they discover it (one and a half glasses of milk is the secret), magic chocolate bars start floating around them.

Once you've been thoroughly excited, you get taken in to a room where two people are at a chocolate bar with candy behind them. Everyone gets to create "the perfect chocolate". You choose a candy from the back wall, and that gets mixed with a cup of liquid chocolate. If you don't want the candy, you just get a cup full of chocolate. If you don't want the chocolate, you just get a cup full of candy. Everyone is happy.

This is the point where I discovered that there is such a thing as too much chocolate; the first couple bites were pure heaven, but then as the chocolate began cooling, it began to get thicker and thicker. It was sticking to my mouth like peanut butter; I was almost worried that I wouldn't be able to open my mouth again (not seriously)! Halfway through the cup I figured I had to throw away my cup or I might make myself sick. It was still amazing and delicious nonetheless.

After we finished up at Essence and the museum, we went back to the main part of Cadbury World. When you enter that part of the attraction, they give you two free candy bars! Then you go to the Aztec forests and watch as they first discover cocoa. Then you watch cocoa get taken to Europe, and watch as chocolate grows in popularity through Europe.

Eventually you find yourself on a replica of Bull Street, where John Cadbury owned a tea shop and sold chocolate products. Then Mr. Cadbury himself shows up, and you learn about how his sons built a factory in the country, and built a whole little model town for the factory workers, complete with playing fields, swimming pools, and other modes of recreation.

You get to see the chocolates getting packaged in the factory, and then you take a ride on Cadabra (but first, they give you another free chocolate bar. Oh, and I mean legitimate, full-size candy bar; none of that whimpy sample or "fun-sized" crap)! Cadabra is clearly a ride meant for little kids, but when you have a group of college students acting like they're at Disneyland for the first time, it's still exciting.

There's some more strange and trippy exhibits after the ride (you can turn yourself in to a chocolate sculpture, or watch a gorilla playing drums for no apparent reason), you eventually find yourself in the World's Largest Cadbury Shop. The prices in the shop were amazing, and I literally loaded up my arms with chocolates I've never seen before to ship home for my family. I spent less than 9 pounds on my armful of chocolates.

The cashier ringing me up asked me where in America I'm from. I answered Washington State, and then specific "Seattle area". The cashier said "oh, the birthplace of grunge! Nirvana and Sound Garden, right?" I assured her that she had correct, and was kind of amused that grunge was what came to her mind regarding Seattle. I certainly prefer it to what people usually say to me, which is "Oh, like Sleepless in Seattle!"

All in all, it was a very fun day exploring Cadbury...oh, and seeing Birmingham too.

A Touch of Tacoma Pride at the V&A

I found out a fascinating (and extremely exciting!) bit of information while in Edinburgh last week. I had visited the Victoria and Albert Museum two weeks prior with some girls in the program, and while there, Hannah (another Tacoma local) and I commented that the glass chandelier at the entrance to the V&A looked very much like a Chihuly piece. However, we dismissed the idea, thinking that Chihuly wasn't that well-known.

Turns out, Chihuly is considerably more famous than we thought, and the glass chandelier sure enough is a Chihuly piece! Although Londoners describe Dale Chihuly as a "Seattle artist", those of us from the Puget Sound know better...and we're pretty proud to claim him in Tacoma.

Here is a link to an article about how the V&A cleans Chihuly's glass chandelier.

And here are two interesting little facts about Chihuly:
Chihuly wears his eye patch because of an accident he had here in London.
Chihuly has permanent collections all over the States, Canada, The United Arab Emirates, and England, but the place with the MOST Chihuly permanent collections is none other than Washington State (which, of course, is absolutely fitting), including collections at UPS and PLU. Out of that, Tacoma has the greatest number of his collections, with a total of 6 to be found around the city. I assume that the glass bridge is being lumped in with the glass museum.

My senior portrait for high school was taken in front of Chihuly's Persian Glass in the Mary Baker Russel music building at PLU 3 years ago.

I like to go around bragging to people that "that chandelier is by Chihuly; he's from Tacoma; my dad used to deliver his mail." (Okay, so I don't really tell people that...much.)