Going Home!

St. Patty's day in Ireland was absolutely fabulous, but now, I'm on my way to LA! Can't wait to be there!!

Edinburgh--Part 1

Ok, so! Edinburgh! Let's start with: I am completely in love with that city. I just felt an immediate connection to it (in a way that I also distinctly remember feeling with Hawaii when I first went there...though those couldn't be two more different places!), and my love only grew as I saw more of the place! I stayed with my good friend Ratna, who was kind enough to house and feed me for two days, three nights. I started out my stay with a 3 hour free tour of the city. Such a great deal, and a great way to orient myself for the rest of the trip. Well, actually, I really started out my stay with a cup of coffee and a panini at Black Medicine Coffee Co. (apparently frequented by JK Rowling) and then went on the tour.
The tour was, as I said, great. We walked along the Royal Mile, into little alleyways or "closes" like this one, with a great view of the Sir Walter Scott memorial tower...:...through Grassmarket, by the Castle, down to Greyfriar's church/cemetery, by St. Giles cathedral, and other places that I now can't remember! Our enthusiastic guide gave us great history along the way and surely kept me entertained the whole time. Look! A Castle! More on that later...
A cute story from the tour was of Greyfriar's Bobby, a little terrier whose owner was a nightwatch policeman. After his owner died and was buried in Greyfriar's cemetery, Bobby apparently sat next to his grave for the next 14 years! He was looked after by the whole city practically, and they loved him so much that they buried him just outside of the cemetery, and gave him a monument on the street in front:
Edinburgh/Scotland in general, it seems, is very serious about its pets. In addition to the Greyfriar's Bobby memorial, I also saw a small cemetery at the castle for the dogs of military officers and a sign in a pup saying "please keep dogs off the seats." Yup, not out of the pub, just off the seats, please!

After the tour I took to wandering some more on my own, walking all the way down the royal mile to Holyrood Palace and Arthur's seat. Look its me! I'm so happy to be there!
That night I went out with my friend Ratna and her flatmates and had a great time at a pub and later at club that, honestly, played pretty awful music, but oh well!
Thus ended day one in Edinburgh. I'll save the rest for the next post.

Sorry to be a few days behind on updating, but I guess I'll just have to blog more about Dublin when I'm already in Cork, and then do Cork when I'm in the US! Leaving for Cork tomorrow morning, but before that I just have to go out on the town and find me some dinner! :)

A few days ago...

Ok, so I FREAKING LOVED Edinburgh. Absolutely amazing city. Now, I'm in Dublin, which is honestly a bit of a let down from Edinburgh, but c'est la vie. But, I need to back up a little bit....here's what I wrote on the train on the way to Scotland, seemingly a good place to start:
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After hauling ass to the train station because I was sure I was going to be late (there was a slight mishap involving an open water bottle, a backpack, and a laptop…don’t worry, all parties eventually emerged unharmed), I managed to get there just in time and get my butt on that train. Switched trains in Ely, and then again in Petersburgh, and now I’m happily sitting on the train to Edinburgh. However, I managed to pick a seat whose view is mostly obstructed by an entirely unnecessary piece of plastic, so I’m craning my head out of someone else's window to get a load of this awesome scenery. And, it really is awesome. The sun just came out a moment ago, so now its all green and golden fields, cute little farmhouses and towns were the biggest building is either the church or the pub, blue skies, and puffy white clouds. The whole areas is pretty much a lowlands as well, so there are lots of little fens and rivers and whatnot along the side of the tracks. But, most importantly, there are horses wearing, well, horse pajamas I guess (to keep them warm in the winter) and there are sheep and sheepdogs, and that just makes my day.

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I’ve just spent the past two hours reading thebloggess There were at least two points in which I was laughing so hard (silently, so as not to completely freak out the other passengers) that I was in tears. Which probably lead to me freaking out the other passengers even more, because there I am shaking and crying in the corner, but don’t worry, I’m actually just laughing. Anyway. She’s hilarious. Thanks to my sister for the link.

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This train has outlets for your computer. Win!

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We have gone through Newcastle. Joke about coals.

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We just started going by the coast, which was so beautiful! By the time I got smart enough to grab my camera, however, we’d turned inland again. Boo. Hopefully we’ll turn back out one more time, because the glimpses I got of those cliffs and the sea were definitely picture-worthy. Its getting more hilly here, and there are sheep all over the hills. This is exactly why I took the train. I’m loving this.

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So, Edinburgh rocked. But I will save the post about what I did there for another day, because hopefully my random train musings are enough for now...

As of now, I'm in Dublin, which, like I said, is...meh. I think I would like it loads better if I were with other people, as it is a very "sit in a pub with a friend" kind of a city. Alas, this is one stop on my trip during which I am alone. Today I walked through St. Stephens Green park, which was very nice, and it was sunny out, so I sat there a while and just soaked it up. Then I wandered about the city, around Temple Bar and little back alleys, finding lots of cute stores to window shop in, followed by a crepe and some coffee. Oh, and lunch in there somewhere too! I tried to go into Christ Church cathedral, but alas I got there just as it closed for the day. I am quite tired because I woke up at 6:30 this morning to get to the airport, etc., so now I'm just chilling in the hostel. Will go out for dinner later. Until then!

Getting Ready

So today I have been packing, running errands, cleaning, essay writing, doing laundry, and generally preparing for the beginning of my 6 week adventure! Good lord, I can't believe I leave tomorrow. At 12:30 I get on a train for Edinburgh where I'm meeting up with my good friend Ratna (who is spending the year abroad there). Then its three days in Edinburgh, two in Dublin, and three in Cork (where I'll be staying with two more friends, abroad for the semester) before jetting off to the US for two weeks. Still too much to do, so I have to run!

Malvern Hills

Hot water is out throughout the building, so my room is sooo cold!

Went on a great hike with my group yesterday, through the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire. It was beautiful and so much fun! Possibly the best time I've had in Cambridge so far. There were some incredibly steep uphills which I did not enjoy at all (and can feel in my legs today), but other than that, it was great. Nice views, only slightly obscured by the cloudiness of it it all, fun conversation, lots of cute dogs running around the trails, and just a generally good time. We hiked about 10 miles in total, saw an Iron Age hill fort, went to the highest point in the hills, and ended up at a great little pub where we waited for our bus to come get us at the end of the day.

Going up! This was way steeper than it looks.

On the ridge of the hills:

I am very happy to be there, but it is also quite windy at the top.

Cows! Furry cows!

There were a couple of these great signposts throughout the hills.

A bit cloudy, but still some nice views.

And a relaxing drink at the pub at the end of the day.

Return of the Laundry Day

For the first time since being here, laundry day has not been the death of me. I finally figured out how to wrestle these awful machines into submission, and my clothes have emerged victorious! They are clean, DRY, the appropriate colors, and only smell a little bit too much like detergent. Now, if only this whole complicated process didn't take 2 and a half hours just to do one load, then we'd really be good!

Barcelona Part 2--Park Guell

Park Guell is another Gaudi creation, originally intended to be a "model community," but now a public park.
Though the community project failed, its intentions are still obvious in its design. Covered areas for a marketplace, different levels for housing, winding pathways, gardens, and beautiful views of the city.

(Including a view which you may or may not recognize from a past season of America's Next Top Model. Yes. I saw it. Don't judge too hard, please.)
Gingerbread houses! Or...meant to be a school and a guard house, I believe?
Friendly neighborhood pets, too!
There is also, of course, plenty of mosaic in the typical Gaudi style:
And you must not forget the famous lizard statue at the front:Next up, food? The Cathedral? Marketplaces? All of the above?

Barcelona Part 1--Sagrada Familia

I have too many Barcelona pictures to squish them all into one post, so I'm breaking them up into a couple of parts. Part One: La Sagrada Familia, architect Antoni Gaudi's amazing, rambling, modernisme church.
I have honestly never seen anything like this building. It is absolutely amazing. My friend Chris, who wen to Barcelona a few years ago, accurately described this church as "like the Grand Canyon. Pictures will never do it justice." And that is so true... It's been under construction since 1892 and will be completed some time around 2026. The detail on this part of the church is stunning...there is always something to be looking at. I could have stood outside and stared at it for hours.
One of the things I loved were these turtles: a land turtle on the mountain-side of the church, a sea turtle on the Mediterranean-side, supporting pillars dedicated to Joseph and Mary and symbolizing stability and tradition.My friend Nick and me, so happy to be there!This is the actual front of the church, a completely different style from the back. So cool. It's looks like the figures are just hacked out of stone, very different from the ornately carved back, yet still incredibly beautiful.Inside, the place is like a forest of light. The pillars are modeled after trees, and the ceiling looks like a cross between leaves, daisies, and galaxies. As it is still under construction, there's scaffolding everywhere.
There is some beautiful stained glass as well:
We took an elevator and then some verrrry skinny stairs up to the roof, where we got a great view of the city (but on an unfortunately overcast day):
And of these fruit basket adornments on the tops of some of the pillars. I thought they were so whimsical and fun. A lot of this church was just fun, which was a refreshing change from the somberness of traditional churches and cathedrals.So, just a little taste of an astounding building!

Tomorrow: Park Guell!

Rabbit Rabbit!

Happy first of the month!

Back from Barcelona, safe and sound, with 42gazillion pictures to share with you soon.

First, however, I have to finish a book for Philosophy of Art and then go to class in an hour. Wish me luck!