Roman Holiday…senza Gregory Peck e Audrey Hepburn May 3, 2009

I’m taking the opportunity today to take things slow and relax. I feel like my brain has been in hyperdrive for too long. We have a three day weekend without intense plans, so I’m going to enjoy it! I now have the opportunity to spend time talking about my experiences. Here we go…

Sometimes it feels like I’m not doing as much here in Italy as I did in England, but I think that observation is incorrect. My life is just more scheduled now than it was in London. During the week, I focus on school, but we’ve still managed to get out and have some fun as a group on the weekends.

A few weeks ago we went to Rome as a class. That was a fun experience! I was particularly excited that we stayed in an actual hotel, not a somewhat sketchy hostel. It’s amusing. Our accomodations, though never bad, are most definitely better when our teachers join us. For example, when we first arrived in Florence, we spent a few days at a place called the Pensione. The staff was very nice and the facilities were clean, but it was a little odd. Definitely not an expensive place…much more like a hostel than a hotel. But, our stay in Rome was great!

Our first adventure in Rome was to venture to Vatican City. Holy line, Batman! The Vatican sure seemed like the place to be, but we actually made it through the line relatively quickly. Janet (our fantastic professor) warned us that we could be in line for a couple hours, but it wasn’t that bad. Janet also warned us that going through the Vatican, specifically the Sistine Chapel, wasn’t necessarily going to be a pleasant experience. Actually, she equated going through the Sistine Chapel with going through purgatory… …I found that to be ironically amusing!

As luck would have it, my camera batteries decided to die soon after we made it inside the walls of Vatican City. I had left my spare batteries in my bag at the hotel. Brilliant! I was irritated, but, at the same time, we weren’t allowed to take pictures in many places, so it wasn’t that bad. FYI the Sistine Chapel is actually bigger than I expected it to be. Some people in my group thought it was smaller than they had expected, but when I think of the word chapel I think small. It was cool, though. It’s really hard to get a good look at anything, though. Way too many people! I don’t really like crowds all that much, so I was happy to move on through.

St. Peter’s, on the other hand, is MASSIVE! It was really impressive. The Lutheran in me was amused the whole time I was there, but I still appreciated the beauty. All I could think of was the movie Luther where Pope Leo X talks about paying for the building of St. Peter’s with indulgences. However, don’t take that to mean that I didn’t appreciate the space. I hate it when people assume that I can’t appreciate Catholic art or churches. COME ON!! I’m Lutheran, you’re Catholic. So what? We’re both CHRISTIAN! It’s still a place of worship dedicated to the same God! Christianity is a religion, Catholicism and Lutheranism are not…they are variations of Christianity. Think about it before you say something, ok?

Rant over. I just had to say it.

One of the few pictures I took of St. Peter's before my camera failed.

While Vatican City was cool, I would have to say that my favorite part of being in Rome was seeing all of the Roman ruins. I’ve been talking about Classical architecture, about how certain time periods tried to mimic Classical architecture, etc. for as long as I’ve been studying art history. Well, I found myself staring at the real thing. There it was…authentic Classical architecture. Wow! The old Roman Forum…the Colosseum…the Pantheon…the Column of Trajan…random temples and triumphal arches…so awesome! The way that the modern city of Rome as integrated itself with the ruins forms quite a contrast. I gazed upon an ancient marketplace built during the time of Trajan while cars sped by on the road that cuts right through the ruins. It was a lot like looking out at modern developments along the River Thames from the Tower of London. It’s a contrast that Americans don’t see much of since our country is so young in comparison.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum was quite an experience. First of all, I found out that Andy Peck had been sneaking tiny rocks into my hood all day without me noticing. Yeah…so, it started to sprinkle. I go to put my hood up and rocks tumble down my back. Everyone cracked up! I was shocked…but it was funny, so I laughed too. I couldn’t believe how oblivious I had been the whole time. Second, I thought I was going insane. There I was, standing at the Colosseum, and I kept hearing music from the movie Gladiator. Yeah!! Crazy, right?! No! I wasn’t crazy! There just happened to be a celebratory parade going on outside the Colosseum while we were there and Gladiator music was indeed filling the air. It was cool. Now I want to watch Gladiator.

Janet was kind enough to get us gelato while we were in Rome, too! The gelatteria was PACKED!! For awhile I really considered opting out of gelato in favor of breathing room outside, but it was well worth the wait. It was DELICIOUS! Pistachio, chocolate and coffee gelato…mmmm…thank you Janet!

Apparently, the best gelatteria in Rome is popular.

So, Rome was pretty awesome! Definitely an experience full of memories! Since we were in Rome, Janet suggested that we take the train just a bit further south to visit Pompeii. She had kindly planned for us to have an extra day off from school just in case we wanted to do that. How amazing is that?! So, we went! Janet helped us make arrangements for train tickets and one night in a hotel in Pompeii. The first day we were in Pompeii, we dropped off our belongings and wandered around the town. Not much there. It’s actually a really run down place where stray dogs wander. It was weird. Three strays followed us around the entire evening. We found out later that there is an organization that tries to vaccinate all of the strays and then they just fend for themselves. We found a very neat little restaurant for dinner. I think it was run by a family that was very happy to have us! They were so kind and friendly! It was great!

The next day we visited the excavation of the ruins. It was weird to look out at Mt. Vesuvias, knowing that it had demolished the entire town at our feet. The excavation site is HUGE!! You can wander for hours and not see it all. There is a strange and eery sort of beauty to it all. On the one hand, it is just an empty place full of old buildings, but then you remember that it was destroyed while it was full of life. Then it becomes something of a ghost town. The smell of smoke and ash lingered in the air. I found myself trying to imagine what it would have been like to live there. I have a vivid imagination when I get the opportunity to wander and contemplate things silently.

Looking down a street in ancient Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvias looming in the background.

 So far, I think the most beautiful thing about Italy has been the wildflowers that appear in random places. The flowers were particularly gorgeous in Pompeii. It’s as though life is returning to a place that was once a place of destruction. The red poppies are most abundant and are my favorite.

Poppies growing in what was once a kitchen.

An entire field of poppies...iconic and beautiful.

Ciao miei amici! April 30, 2009

Ahhhh…yet again I have done a fabulous job of displaying just how terrible I am at maintaining a record of my life. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve started a journal with lofty ambitions of recording all of the amazing events of my life for the sake of future generations who may benefit from my knowledge and then dropped the ball. Apparently, the allure of an electronic journal is not strong enough to break my terrible habit. One day people will cry over the loss.

Well, hey! So, I’m in Florence. Yep. I have been for the past 4.5 weeks or so. Stuff has happened. I’ve seen cool stuff. The time to board a plane for home is getting closer. The end…

Just kidding!

Unlike the London bit of the program where students live all together in an apartment setting, in Florence we live in pairs with host families. I was paired up with a girl named Aubrey, one of the only three students on this trip not from Ripon. We’ve been living in a rather large apartment-like home with a lovely Italian woman named Anna. The apartment takes up the entire floor of a three story building. Anna is a divorcee whose only daughter is currently at Univeristy in Padua. Theoretically, Anna should be a very lonely woman since she technically lives by herself, but the house is rarely empty. She hosts students every year and has other houseguests constantly. She’s been hosting students from my program for years in addition to other students and people from various places. For example, right now, in addition to Aubrey and myself, there is a student from Brazil (Camilla) living with us. One of Anna’s friends (Jaime) who needed a place to stay for a few nights while he participated in an academic conference left last Thursday and was replaced on Sunday by Anna’s mother and her tiny dog, Teo. In addition to people literally living with us, there are often extra faces around the dinner table in the evening. Anna has a lot of friends! And, she’s always more than happy to enjoy the company of others over some delicious food and a glass of wine. The Olive Garden with their made up “Hospitaliano” has nothing on Anna! She’s very happy to be our “Mamma Italiana!”

Communication was incredibly rocky at first, but with time and a few Italian classes each week my skills have improved. Every once in awhile I’m able to piece together a few sentences in what could be interpreted as some semblance of conversation. I always leave the dinner table with a huge grin and a feeling of accomplishment if I was able to understand/contribute to what had been said. It’s amazing, really. The ability to communicate is something I never even think about at home. I just take it for granted. This experience is really increasing my desire to become fluent in other languages. Spanish ranks first, but Italian and maybe French (maybe) are close behind. Hmmm…maybe I’ll have to invest in Rosetta Stone… 

Sidenote: For those of you who may be interested in Italian, any Spanish knowledge you may have will be incredibly helpful. While the two languages are not identical (duh, they are two different languages), they are very similar. Some words are the same or similar and the grammatical structure is almost identical. When in doubt, I’ve been able to revert to Spanish and elaborate hand gestures to get my point across. I’m pretty sure that I pronounce Italian words with a Spanish accent (or my American version of a Spanish accent), but no one has commented on it.

My days have pretty much been filled with class and homework. It’s amazing, really, how fast a day goes by. Class usually begins at 10:00 am, but I live far enough away from school that I have to leave at 9:00 am. I walk with Aubrey and two girls from our program who live down the street from us. We’ve managed to cut our walk down to about 35 minutes. No one wants to pay for a bus pass. I’m happy walking because the bus always makes me sick. Anyway, by the time we make it to school, have class from 10:00 am until 3:45, use the school computers for e-mail and stuff and then walk home, it’s usually between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm. This leaves a little bit of time to complete homework before dinner at 8:00 pm. After dinner I usually slip into some version of a food coma, talk to people online for a bit and hit the hay exhausted. The next day, repeat. It makes time fly.

Speaking of school, I have to cut this entry short because it’s time to head out the door. Off to the Uffizi to see cool art stuff. I shall continue this later.

Hey! Welcome back… April 6, 2009

No indeed, I have not died!! I’m alive and well, having adventures and learning loads! My access to the Internet has been incredibly limited of late. My apologies for all of my avid readers. Now for the recap…

I do believe that I left off about two weeks before the end of my time in London. My memory is already fading, but I can say that much of the time was spent writing papers and studying for an exam. Fun stuff. I was getting anxious as the time came closer for me to hop on the train and head for Paris. As luck would have it, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I spent many an hour gazing out the window, wishing I could just play outside instead of researching and writing papers. Isn’t that how it always goes?

The day of our final with Sarah was beautiful and she brought her dog. He’s a little pug named Dilbred. Now, honestly, I don’t really like pugs. I don’t think they’re all that cute, but Dilbred had a personality that was adorable. Plus, I hadn’t been able to pet a dog for so long that I was ecstatic. We all were, really. That was the most spoiled dog in the world for about 10 minutes before we had to sit down and take our exam. During our exam, Dilbred kept wandering around the room and breathing loudly. It was great. The exam itself wasn’t too bad. It felt really good to finish it, hand it in, and step out the door. I was done with London. Most of my things were packed. The experience was fun, but I was ready to move on. Where did two months go? One more life goal complete. I need a new goal!

That evening I slept very little. My suitcase was ready to go, and my brain was in hyper-drive. Spring break! New city! New language! Meeting up with the boyfriend! Unknown adventures to be had! I’d been glancing at my watch all night, completely aware of when Chad was on the plane. A group of us had purchased tickets for the same Eurostar train into Paris. We had to be on the tube by 6 am at the latest to make our 6:55 train. We made it. No worries. The train ride to Paris was uneventful. I thought it would be cool to go through the Chunnel, but I fell asleep. I assume it was just a long dark tunnel. I didn’t see it, but I can always say that I took it. The first thing I noticed about Paris was the graffiti. It was in a different language. (Duh! French!) I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. It’s kind of a lame thing to be struck by, but you’ll have that, I guess. There’s no good explanation for the workings of my brain. We made it to the Charles du Nord train station and met up with the Ripon students who were studying in Paris. They were kind enough to help us find our way in Paris. One girl helped me buy a ticket for the Metro, since the machines were in French, and then I was off. I left the group and headed for the Hotel Litré where Chad was supposed to be waiting for me. The Metro was easy enough. Once you’ve been on one subway system, you can pretty much navigate them all. I was a bit lost once I made my way into the open air again, but, instead of wasting time wandering around with my luggage, I asked for directions to correct street and found the hotel. What a relief!! A man came out to help me drag my luggage through the doorway. I asked the man at the desk about a room for Chad or myself and then Chad came walking around the corner. I wanted to give him the biggest hug in the world, but instead he kind of received a half hug, half lean thing. I was tired and so happy to see him. I don’t think he minded.

So, I spent the week in Paris with my boy. It was wonderful. We saw lots of neat stuff. I got to indulge my art geekiness at the Louvre and the Orsay. We ate lots of good food and resigned ourselves to pointing and nodding a lot. I really wished that I had studied even just a tiny bit of French before I went to Paris, but we survived.

A lovely view of the city from the top of Notre Dame.

BIG NEWS!!!! Chad and I went to the Louvre on the Monday of my break. It was exhausting, but fantastic! That place is amazing! Anyway, that evening, Chad was insistent that we go the Eiffel Tower. He really wanted to go all the way to the top at night, when the lights of the city are bright and beautiful. It was cold and ridiculously windy. We made it to the top, and my camera refused to take good pictures in the dark. My hair was blowing all over the place. My hands were freezing. I was a little cranky. Chad ignored that. He held onto my hand, and asked me to marry him. YEP!! At the top of the Eiffel Tower!! How awesome is that? I said yes, of course. I forgot all about the cold and wind. Soon after, the tower lit up with sparkly lights. It was so neat. This bitty paragraph doesn’t do the situation justice, but it’s the best I can do. Imagination will have to fill in the gaps.

Newly engaged at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Very windy, but I no longer cared.

We enjoyed the rest of the week immensely. We went out for a few fancy dinners and exhausted ourselves each day with museums, galleries, and all that is good about Paris. Leaving Chad at the airport the following Sunday was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It was super hard to leave him in Chicago when I first took off for London, but, after such a wonderful week, it was heart breaking. Florence just didn’t hold much allure when it meant that I had to leave Chad for two more months. But, I did it. We made it through London. We’ll make it through Florence. I know that if I didn’t have this experience, I would regret it. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Chad and I will have our time together once I return.

Getting to Florence was something of an adventure, not in the good sense of the word. The excursion began with me being upset, of course. Then, our plane departed 40 minutes late without much of an explanation from the captain. The flight itself was uneventful. I listened to my iPod and slept most of the way. It was only supposed to take about 1.5 hours to get from Paris to Florence. No big deal. Well, on the descent, I felt ill again. Great! I had intentionally not eaten anything on the flight. The captain said that the descent would take about ten minutes, so I practiced my slow breathing to keep myself calm. I was doing fine. Then we started to go up again. Yes, up, higher in the sky. Not usually what happens when a plane descends. Apparently, the wind in Florence was too strong for our plane to land. Florence is located in a valley and has one of (if not THE) shortest landing strips in Europe, so I was told. They hadn’t been letting anyone land all day. (Why AirFrance wasn’t aware of this before we took off, I don’t know.) This meant that were diverted to Pisa, about 20 minutes away. I wasn’t sure if my stomach would handle it, so I sought the assistance of the flight attendant. HOLY CRAP!! Bad idea!! Apparently, even though we were no longer descending, the seatbelt sign was still on. She acted like I had murdered someone by standing up. I do believe she said something like, “Well, if you get hurt, it’s not our problem!” in the snippiest tone EVER!! Where was the sympathy? Where were the kinds words? Way to live up to the French stereotype, lady! I really missed the kind flight attendants from my American Airlines flight into London. I made it to Pisa without seeing my breakfast again, but I was fuming in my chair, hoping that if I did need to use the airsickness bag, it would spill on the flight attendant. Yes, horrible thoughts, but I was mad. I do not apologize. When we landed in Pisa, we were herded onto a bus that took us from the landing strip to the airport itself. We waited forever for our luggage, confused and upset. No one had made arrangements to get from Pisa to Florence beforehand. Duh! We all planned on landing in Florence. My suitcase came out with a lovely crack in it. Thanks, AirFrance! An almost unintelligible announcement was made that people from our plane could exchange their boarding passes for train tickets to Florence. Very few people heard it. Where’s thus customer service, AirFrance? I’m never booking with AirFrance again!! All of the passengers followed each other like lost lemmings. Thank goodness the person leading the line must have known what was going on. The line for the train ticket was monstrously long. By the time I got to the counter, I had five minutes to get to the train. Awesome!

So, there I was, walking as fast as I could across the platform with my luggage, frustrated beyond belief and not quite sure about what I was doing or where I was going, when someone shouted, “Rachel!” What?! I stopped and looked around. It was like God was calling me or something. I heard it again. Cady Cummings was standing in the doorway of the train waving at me. WOW!! It was such a relief to see a familiar face. I thought I was going to cry. She helped me haul my luggage onto the train and everything seemed better. God is good! Cady and Brandi Gaspard had flown into Pisa from Barcelona and just happened to be taking that very train into Florence. We made it to Florence and found our hotel without incident. Thank goodness!!

At first, Florence didn’t seem that great. My first impression was tainted by travel stress. That first evening I went out with a few people to find gelato. DELICIOUS!! I had tiramisu gelato. It seemed appropriate considering that I’m in Italy and it was my first gelato ever. Yum, yum! I can see this gelato thing becoming an addiction. Perhaps I’ll give up my coffee habit in favor of a gelato habit.

Most of what I’ve seen of Florence has been beautiful. Especially down by the Arno River. Florence is a city, with all of the dirt, grime, and graffiti, but the view from the river makes it better. The green hills speckled with yellow houses and cypress trees are stunning. The Duomo is impressive and visible from practically everywhere. I’m trying to take it all in, to enjoy each moment, to control my homesickness. I’ll definitely have to come back here with someone I love to fully appreciate the experience. I feel the need to share.

Looking out over the Arno River at Florence.

A bit of reflection… March 9, 2009

I officially have two weeks left here in London. Where did six weeks go? When I first arrived, I was positive that the first eight weeks would last for an eternity (I was very upset about leaving home and my boyfriend for so long), but, now that we’re nearing the end, it seems like the time has flown by. Life is funny like that, I guess. Overall, I do have to say that I’ve enjoyed my time in London. I do not regret the excursion at all.

I’ve spent a great deal of time posting about my most epic adventures, at the expense of my lesser, random thoughts and events. I’ll attempt to rectify this error.

Random Stories

• Some London people just aren’t very nice. One day, after a standard exhuasting adventure with Sarah, a group of us attempted to find a nearby Tube stop. We found ourselves horribly lost. I got brave and decided to ask a man selling newspapers on the corner for directions. I approached him and said in my kindest voice, “Excuse me…” I was ignored. I thought he hadn’t heard me, so I said again, “Excuse me. Could you please…” Yeah, I was wrong. He had heard me. He looked up at me and said, “Excuse me. You are very rude. You need to go away.” Apparently, he had been counting money below the level of his stand, where I couldn’t see it. It was mortifying. I didn’t speak to any strangers for a very long time.
• Another day, my opinion of Londoners was greatly improved. I witnessed a random act of kindness in a Tube station. A woman was struggling to carry her large suitcase up the stairs. A random man walked by her, grabbed the suitcase, and carried it up to the top for her. It was very sweet and unexpected. It gave me some faith in humanity again.
• While visiting Westminster Abbey with Sarah, we stopped in the basement at the mini-museum display. I had a question for her, so I walked up to her and just started talking…then I looked over. It wasn’t Sarah. Rather, it was a random woman with a blonde hair and a similar haircut to Sarah. She looked over at me and just walked away…and one of my classmates noticed. I was laughed at for quite some time. Occasionally, if we’re waiting somewhere for Sarah, someone will say, “Hey! Maybe Rachel can go find Sarah.” Funny.
• I was apparently in the presence of famous people…twice. Yeah, you’ve all read about my trek to the BAFTAs, where famous people supposedly drove by, but I never saw anyone. Well, I was informed later, on the evening that we attended the production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we shared the air with the Prince of Wales. Cool beans!

Things I’ve Learned in London

• Talking on the Tube should be kept to a minimum, especially in the morning. According to Sarah, it is “bad form” to talk on the Tube in the morning. One can always identify non-London folk by the amount of conversation they carry on the Tube.
• London is incredibly diverse, to an insane degree. I spoke to a guy, named Pete, in Wales. He mentioned that London is so different from the rest of England, that it should really be considered a separate entity. He believes that London is not representational at all of the rest of England. It was an interesting thought.
• Paying for things in change is not uncommon or rude. The Brits are quite happy to carry around their pound and two pound coins. I don’t like it.
• Tea is not as gross as I thought. I’m just high maintenance. I need milk and sugar or I won’t drink it. Also, crumpets are good, but English muffins are better.
• The Tube is easy to use. The bus routes are more difficult to comprehend. If one uses the Tube frequently, it is really easy to never learn where anything actually is in relation to anything else. One’s sense of direction is completely lost.

So, my life in London isn’t anything extraordinary. I think that the most useful skill I’ve picked up on is learning to cook for one, although sometimes I still fail. Leftovers are common despite my efforts to stop making so much food at one time. I’m much more confident in traversing the Tube, but I was used to the D.C. Metro system before I arrived here in London. I’ve been most impressed by the accessibility and popularity of theatre. It’s so much more expensive in the U.S. making it much less common in everyday life. I find that to be very sad. I’ve been most frustrated with the accessibility of resources as a student. Not being affiliated with a specific college or university has made access to information much more difficult than at home. I will certainly appreciate a return to a normal academic setting in the fall.

In the land of my people… February 25, 2009

Well, I did it. Lifelong ambition of visiting my ancestral homeland: Check! Thanks to Cady Cummings for doing the grunt work in organizing our journey this past weekend.

Yep, I went to Wales and was entertained by the sheep. Hurray! Six people from our lovely ACM group took a train from London to Bangor. Then we hopped on a bus that took us to a place called Cym-y-Glo, a tiny little village in the North of Wales. Cady has a friend that lives there in a tiny home at the very top of a ridiculously steep hill. I was so excited to finally get to Wales. It was so beautiful! The closer we got to our destination, the more green it became and the more hills and eventually mountains appeared on the horizon.

Upon arriving in Cym-y-Glo, we slowly made our way up the incline to Cat’s house, which, by the way, is a converted sheep barn. It’s made of stone and plaster and has no central heating. Rather, she uses a coal burning stove in her living room. As the evening came upon us, Cat’s house was converted into an ice box. Thankfully, Cat is an avid rock climber. Therefore, she is thoroughly equipped for the out of doors and was not only kind enough to offer us a place to sleep, but also provided us with some high quality sleeping bags to keep us warm.

View from Cat's house. I'm jealous of the view...not so jealous of the walk up the hill and the freezing home.

 Cat took us into the neighboring town, Llanberis, the next day. Llanberis is located in an area that is famous for its slate quarry (Yeah, I learned something…Wales is known worldwide for its slate.) and its wonderful rock climbing landscape. It’s near the base of Mt. Snowden, and is one of the most peaceful, adorable places I’ve ever been. I may be biased, but it tops Salisbury in my mind.

We wanted to be adventerous and hike around, so Cat took the lead. She took us first to a free museum dedicated to the slate quarry that had ensured the survival of Llanberis. Then we wandered around an old, crumbling Welsh castle. It was pretty small, meant really only as a place for defense. Apparently, back in the day, the Welsh really hated Edward the Confessor (a.k.a. Edward I) of England and fought viciously to maintain their independence, hence, the castle. Clearly, it didn’t work. It was hinted at during our stay in Wales that the English consider the Welsh to be English, while the Welsh consider themselves to be entirely Welsh…there is a certain animosity towards the English sometimes. The Welsh are very proud people, as can be clearly seen by their adherence to the Welsh tongue. When one enters Wales, all signs are posted in both English and Welsh. We entertained ourselves for quite a while by trying to pronounce Welsh words. Yeah, it’s not easy. For example, the “dd” sounds like the “th” in the word “those” and the “f” sounds like a “v.” The English “x” and “z” do not exist in Welsh. There are several other weird things to grapple with as an English speaker, but this gives you an idea.

Next we wandered along a stream path that took us into a sort of ravine. It was gorgeous!! Considering that I left Wisconsin in the middle of winter, it had been a really long time since I had seen so much green. It was almost magical. At any moment I expected an elf to come walking out from behind a tree or a fairy to fly past my face. The air was so clean, moist, and earthy. At that point, I did not want to ever return to London.

Beautiful Welsh ravine.

 I was really certain that, if my Great Aunt was mistaken about my family’s Welsh heritage,  I would cry.

My magical fairy land...

 We hiked and hiked and hiked. It was so much fun. I’ve never wanted to go camping so badly before. Our journey took us approximately 1/3 of the way up Mt. Snowden. To go much higher probably would have required actual rock climbing/backpacking gear, none of which we had. Plus, none of us are actually rock climbers…which could have been a problem.

On our way back down the mountain, we stopped at a lovely tea house. Yep, there was a tea house on the side of the mountain. I had the most amazing hot chocolate in the entire world!! No joke. I’m pretty sure my arteries started clogging the second I decided to order it, but it was worth it. No skim milk here, man! Whole cream only! This little tea house will remain forever in my memory as FANTASTIC!!! I bought my very first piece of original artwork!! Yay! Look out world (mainly, Chad), I’m officially an art collector. The tea house had  a separate room full of artwork, most of which came in the form of framed watercolor paintings from a local artist. I bought one of Mt. Snowdenfor 35 pounds! I love it dearly! (Notice all of the exclamation points!!) There is just something so special about owning an original piece of artwork…there isn’t another one like it in the whole world. I have something unique…something that was handcrafted by a fellow human being and will forever remind me of my wonderful experiences in Wales. I don’t want a house full of prints and art from Kohl’s that only takes up space on my walls. I want original work that means something to me. It’s not about owning high priced or highly sought after works. It’s about connecting withand falling in love with a piece of art. It has to speak to you. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about it. There…you’ve been exposed to my art geekiness…I could go on, but I shall refrain.

My beautiful painting. It's simple and small, only a watercolor, but I love it.

 Well, after my purchase, I was on a happy high for the rest of the day. We even went walking along a different stream bed later in the afternoon that ended not so gracefully, but I was still chipper. Brandi Gaspard and I were crossing a stream that everyone else had crossed safely. She paused to tell me that a rock was slippery…yep, it was. As soon as my foot touched it, I went down…hard. I slammed my hip on a rock, which, amazingly, did not bruise. My hand, however, right on the palm where my thumb connects to the rest of my hand, has been turning several shades of green and purple since Saturday. It doesn’t hurt much at all. It just looks a bit gruesome. I was soaked from the knees down. It was special. I tried really hard not to complain, though. I think I was somewhat successful.

That evening we found a lovely bed & breakfast that was willing to take in six college students for a decent price. It was great. We were able to bathe and to sleep in comfortable beds while no longer imposing on Cat. While wandering through Llanberis, we were nearly run down by some frightened sheep. FUNNY!! It must be rather commonplace. No one in the area seemed too concerned about it.

Lost sheep...they found their way into town and ran down the street.

We went out to a pub that evening to listen to what we thought was going to be a country singer. Honestly, we were going simply because we thought a Welsh country singer would be funny. It turned out that he wasn’t a country singer…rather, he was something of a karaoke singer. And he wasn’t any good, poor man. He sang (or butchered) a variety of songs including Pretty Woman and Livin’ La Vida Loca.

We met Cat for breakfast the next morning and made our way back to London. It was sad. Returning to the city was rather depressing. The green slowly faded to gray and the clean air was filled with the smell of wet concrete and exhaust. I have developed an eternal appreciation for open green spaces and quiet. I fully intend to return to Wales one day, if not multiple times.

A view of Mt. Snowden and its rocky companions.

A Day in Salisbury February 19, 2009

So, this past Friday was the best day I’ve had so far in England, without doubt. About half of our group made the decison to make an excursion to Stonehenge. Exciting, right? Yes, we were thrilled. We had a lovely ride on South West trains to Salisbury, England where the ticket collector was kind enough to give us directions from the train station to the bus that would take us to the ancient monument.

Without really knowing what to expect out of our day beyond the fact that we would see large rocks, we purchased tickets for the bus and entrance into Stonehenge. From the bus I noticed a window of the train station. On the window sill was a large rubber duck…just like the one in the GALS bathroom in Bovay last year.  I had to take a picture.

The English twin of our rubber ducky.

The bus ride turned out to be more than we expected. On our 25 minute or so journey from Salisbury to Stonehenge, we were entertained with useful information about the area piped to our ears via an intercom system. Upon arriving at our destination, our bus driver made sure that we all made it past the entry gates without issue and we were handed audio guides. We then made our way to the structure itself. It was impressive. I was very happy to be there. It was a little surreal to ponder how such massive megaliths (there’s my art history education for you) were transported and put into place. And why? Yeah, they still don’t know. Apparently, it has been decided that it definitely wasn’t a Druid thing and it wasn’t used for sacrifices. The Druids came around after the structure was built and the red stains found on some of the stones are due to the iron in the stones…not blood. That’s it…all I learned at Stonehenge.

Well, giant rocks can only be impressive and entertaining for so long. We had time to kill before our bus returned, so we became distracted by the sheep. Yes, there were sheep. They were prevented from wandering into the Stonehenge area by a small fence, but they surrounded the place, happily grazing away. We took pictures and then decided to take pictures of ourselves. Cady is really into creative photography so we played for quite some time. The results:

Epic battle at Stonehenge.

 

 

I think Brandi won...she battled more people.

After our fantastic photo shoot, our bus returned. We hopped on, fully aware that we had many hours to kill before our train left Salisbury. To our surprise, the bus made another stop…apparently we had purchased tickets for a tour of Stonehenge and Salisbury. We could get on and off the bus as frequently as we wanted to along the tour route that day. Cool beans!! So, like I said, the bus made another stop at a place called Old Sarum. It was the original site of Salisbury when it was first founded. There was a huge castle and small walled in city on the top of a very large hilled area. There are only ruins at the location now, but it was really neat. The views from the top were gorgeous and the weather was fantastic. It was peaceful.

View of Salisbury from the top of Old Sarum.

 

We, as highly intelligent college students, did not pay attention to when our bus was going to return, so we guessed. We trucked it down to the bus stop and then Cady remembered that she had a schedule. She checked it and told us that the bus would return at 3:15 and 4:15. We were starving so we opted to catch the 4:15 and eat at a local restaurant in the meantime. The restaurant was good. The food seemed very American, but we appreciated that after a few weeks of odd English concoctions.  I was just a little irritated when it came time to pay. Several people had ordered without checking to see how much money they had in their pockets. Yeah…great. So, I volunteered to pay for the whole bill with my debit card as long as I was reimbursed later. It’s been a few days now…I’m still waiting for some payments.

After our lovely meal, we headed back to the bus stop feeling very happy with ourselves for eating quickly enough to get back to the bus stop with time to spare. Yay! We waited…and waited…and waited…no bus. I finally looked at Cady’s schedule…the last bus came by at 3:15. The use of military time confused her. Yeah, great…we were on the outskirts of Salisbury with no idea how to get back to the train station. No choice but to walk, so off we went into Salisbury.

We walked…and walked…and walked. Salisbury is adorable!! It’s the quiet, green English town I was hoping to see. I loved it! We explored two different Gothic churches while on our journey, and finally collapsed at a pub to kill time until our train left. We were EXHAUSTED!!! But it was great! We got a thorough workout while enjoying an adorable English town.

Our excursion home was followed by a quick “get ready for bed” routine, and then it was off to dreamland. It was a fantastic day.

Ah, life… February 11, 2009

Hey peeps! It’s been a few days, and oh man has it felt like an emotional rollercoaster.

On Monday, we experienced London at its finest. Rain, rain, and more rain. Apparently, we received an entire month’s worth of rain over the course of the day. Of course this deluge, along with many other rainy days, had to come when we had class with Sarah, that is, when we are primarily outside. We went to Hampton Court, which was pretty awesome in spite of the rain.

Hampton Court was pretty much Henry VIII’s playground. It’s a pretty fabulous palace that covers over 70 acres (says Sarah), not including the land outside the structure itself. It originally belonged to Cardinal Wolsey, Henry’s right hand man for quite some time, but when Wolsey fell out of Henry’s favor (he couldn’t convince the Pope that it was ok for Henry to divorce his first wife, Katharine of Aragon, for Anne Boleyn) he gave Hampton Court as a gift to the childish King. Sarah gave us a timeline of the place that identifies when important people visited and important events took place on the grounds. For example, Henry went  to the palace for his honeymoon with both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard (ironically, the two were related and both were beheaded). It was also where Jane Seymour, Henry’s third or fourth wife (I get them confused. 6 is too many!) gave birth to Henry’s only surviving son, and then died.

It was way better than visiting the Tower of London in my book. The place wasn’t modified to look like a modern, interactive museum. Rather, it’s preserved and arranged to look like it did during the Tudor dynasty. There are no attempts to make it glitzy and engaging. It just is, and I appreciate that. There was a roaring fire going in one of the massive kitchen fire places, and reminded me of many happy excursions to Old World Wisconsin. I do love living history museums!

We spent a bit of time following an official tour, but the tour guide was annoying and didn’t provide much useful information. Sarah lagged behind a bit and summoned us all to gather round. She suggested that we “peal off” and go explore on our own, which we happily did. She’s much more knowledgeable and much less annoying than the tour guide. Yes, I admire her greatly! She could be the equivalent of a Mrs. Szemraj or a Prof. Mockridge if I spent more time with her. She is one of those people that can take us out for hours in the rain, leaving us soggy and exhausted by the end, but we still hold her in high regard and look forward to her classes.

Our trip to Hampton Court gave me my first opportunity to take an actual train ride. I was quite impressed with how clean the station and coaches were. Actually, a lot of London is like that. It’s surprisingly clean despite the fact that it is almost impossible to find a rubbish bin when you need one. I have seen people walking around picking up litter who appear to work for the City. Anyway, the train ride was smooth and uneventful. I sat there listening to some Coldplay on my iPod, gazing out the rain splashed windows as our surroundings slowly became more rural. I did a lot of thinking. It felt almost like I was sitting in a very stereotypical movie or documentary scene. Picture a young person sitting on a train, looking contemplatively out the window at a grey sky while a mellow song plays, replacing all other noise. Yep, that was me. It could have been very dramatic…or cliche…

Well, that was Monday…time for another tangent…

Yesterday: Holy frustration Batman!! I’m 100% positive that I’ve never felt so annoyed with a professor or teacher as I was yesterday. By 10:15 yesterday morning, I wanted to throw in the towel and quit my theatre class. Lesley is officially the worst teacher in the world. She’s a nice person, but she just can’t do her job. That’s that. We have a paper coming due next week that she keeps bringing up, but each time she mentions it, the assignment changes slightly. So, we finally got fed up in class yesterday. She asked us how we were doing with our papers, so I flat out told her that we had no idea what she wanted. Holy crap! Bad choice. She proceeded to blather on for almost 30 minutes about what our paper should be. The end result was that we were more confused than before. Lovely! She also completely forgot that she had scheduled a backstage tour of the National Theatre for us. We were supposed to end class early so that we had time to grab a bite for lunch and get over to the theatre on time. Yeah. We had to remind her. It was sad.

Basically, she drives me up the wall. I feel like a horrible person, but I just cannot respect her as a professor. It’s impossible. I am joined by the entire group in this sentiment. Thank goodness I only have to deal with her for half of a semester!

I spent most of the day feeling frustrated and upset, but we ended the evening with a play. We saw the Pitmen Painters. It was fantastic and improved my mood greatly! As an art loving person, many of the arguments and thoughts in the play really resonated with me. I felt like I’ve had those same discussions with friends and art teachers/professors in the past. It was really neat to hear those arguments being performed on stage. It was almost a validation of my own thoughts.

Yeah, so today I’m feeling ok. My extreme mood swings have left me feeling exhausted, but I’m hanging in there. I just have to deal with Lesley one more time this week. I am really looking forward to the weekend!

Huzzah! We are saved! February 8, 2009

So, yesterday was quite an experience, let me tell you. First of all, since this was my second weekend in London, I fully intended to enjoy myself. Therefore, my plan was to get up at a decent hour, quickly get ready for the day, and then find my way to a coffee shop for a lovely coffee and a leisurely sit. Grand scheme…but no. First of all, my roommates have a habit of staying up late and sleeping in really late, which, for a person who enjoys the morning, is rather irritating. I feel bad about getting up and making noise while they’re all catching some z’s. So, my alarm goes off, I decide to hit the snooze since no one else is up, and accidentally turned off my alarm. I remained in a state of half-conscious limbo, waiting for my alarm to go off again until almost 10 o’clock. Sad.

You see, we had already purchased tickets to visit the Tower of London, so I had squandered my time being lazy in bed when I could have been enjoying some caffeine. By the time I actually arose, I only had time to get ready and go.

Getting to the Tower was interesting, too. It was the weekend, so maintenance was being done on the Underground lines that we needed to take. We had to come up with an alternate route on the fly and pray that we didn’t get lost. Thankfully, we made it. Thank God we can read maps.

The Tower was enjoyable. I was kind of irritated with how much parts of the place had been renovated to look like a modern museum. It was difficult at times to really feel like we were in a truly historical place, but, overall, it was worth it. If nothing else, I can now say that I’ve been there. I’ve seen Traitor’s Gate and walked through the Bloody Tower. I gazed upon the Crown Jewels and walked through the chapel where Anne Boleyn and many others are buried. I talked to a staff person who had been to Oshkosh…yep, I’m in London and a Brit knew pretty much where I go to school.

Moi, eagerly waiting to enter the Bloody Tower.

 Oh man, then there was the part of the day that took the cake. We got back home and walked into a very dark flat. OUR ELECTRICITY WAS OUT!!! And magically, it was only the ground floor, only my floor. All of the other floors in the building had perfect electricity. Yeah, it was great. For a while, our Internet connection still worked, but then that died, too. It was sad. So, this morning, since the English use electricity to heat water and to pump water into the shower, I was forced to wash my hair in the sink and to scrub up as best I could with a wash cloth and a bar of soap. The water was FREEZING!! I’m pretty sure my scalp went numb for a bit. We were informed that no one was coming to fix our power problem until Monday. I was a little upset. 

We decided to go on an excursion to stalk famous people at the BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) this evening. It’s pretty much the British equivalent to the Academy Awards. Cady Cummings discovered that they were taking place tonight at the Royal Opera House, which is only a few Tube stops down the line from us. Sadly, it was rainy and very crowded. I didn’t get to see much of anything. Because of the poor weather, the red carpet was shortened up. From our viewpoint, all that could be seen were cars that one could assume held famous people. My favorite part was a woman standing next to me who said, “We pay their salaries. I don’t think it’s right that they black out their windows!” I laughed. It was pretty much a bust, but I can say that I was there.

My view at the BAFTAs...Gwen on George's shoulders.

We did, however, have a happy surprise upon our arrival home. The electricity and Internet fairy had magically swooped down and ended our sad plight. Our electricity and Internet connection had been repaired. YAY!!! I can communicate with the world and take a hot shower!

So, yes, the day is almost complete for me and life is back to normal.

On a completely random tangent, I feel the need to brag. I have the best boyfriend in the whole world!! He sent me flowers. Awww…I feel so special and loved!

Yay! A dozen roses for me! Chad is a sweetheart!

And the backstory continues… February 6, 2009

Ahh! So here I am, refreshed and engergized, ready for another stab at my recap. I’ve just had  a lovely lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup. I sought such comfort food in hopes of being reminded of home, but, as you would have it, the essential elements of a good grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch (that is, the cheese and soup) taste very different here in London. Go figure.

Anyway, lets return to where I left off…

Having just arrived in London on a lovely Sunday afternoon, I had a lovely “introduction to the program” dinner in our classroom. Yes, we do indeed have one classroom, located in our backyard. It’s heated, equipped for computer use, and full of books about theatre and London.  It was there that we met both of our professors, Lesley Delminico from Grinnell, and Sarah Cochrane, an amazing native Londoner and virtually infinite source of knowledge. We also met the other people in charge of our stay including one of our program directors, Jane Passes, and our building managers, Goran and Fabio (yes, Fabio…I laughed. I’m horrible, I know. Deal with it.).

Monday was pretty much a free day for us. We had a scheduled walk around the block with Goran at 10 am, but that was it. Our walk was lovely. Goran tried to get us acquainted with the area. He pointed out all of the important place…the grocery stores, the laundromats, the coffee shops, etc.

Side note: Goran and Fabio are great! They stop by all the time to make sure that everything is going well for us. We love them!

Then, on Tuesday, we started class with Lesley. As I said before, she’s the theatre person, so our class with her focuses on performance studies. We usually meet twice a week from 10am -12pm, and then we attend various theatre productions each week. So far, we’ve seen Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Gethsemane, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I love going to the theatre productions, but the class itself is a different story. Not so much fun. Lesley is a sweet person, but as a professor she’s far too scatter-brained for my taste. (Note to self: Edit previous remarks before turning blog entries in as journal for class.)

Wednesday brought our first meeting with Sarah. What an experience! Class with Sarah is exhausting, but fantastic! Her class is titled: London, A Visual Text. Essentially, it’s a mix of history, art history, and sociology all focused on London, in an attempt to show us how London has developed socially over time. We’re moving through histoy rather chronologically, so we began with the Romans. The neat thing about this class is that we really never meet in the classroom. Instead we meet with Sarah at various sites throughout the city, and we move…at light speed sometimes. I swear that woman should be an Olympic speed walker. But, it’s worth it. We’re seeing the city in a very unique way.

Our first class met at the London wall. It was built by the Romans and once surrounded what was the City of London, essentially a one square mile patch right on the River Thames. It’s just a simple wall, with only a small portion remaining, but it’s amazing to see. If you really think about it, that bit of wall has seen so much. It’s been around for nearly 2,000 years and has witnessed all the chaos and prosperity that has been and is London. It’s now surrounded by modern structures that are built right up against it, but it still stands, and right across the road looms the Tower of London.

The illustrious London Wall

The Tower Hill Tube stop that is built right up to the London Wall

It’s certainly been an adventure so far. Sarah has been taking us all over the place. We’ve taken a ferry ride up the River Thames, visited the Borough Market (an insane farmer’s market), analyzed the Embankment of the river, gazed at the beauty of Westminster Abbey, traversed the Museum of London, and just today we meandered through the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. We are busy, but it’s great!

So, I’m having a good time. This will certainly be a memorable trip.

Yes…I have finally created a blog. February 5, 2009

Well, hello all!

I’ve decided that I would really like to keep track of my thoughts while overseas, so here I am, entering the 21st century with a blog. Apparently, I’m a little behind. I’ve been here for nearly two weeks now, so I’ll have to start with a bit of a recap. Hold onto your hats! It’s already been quite an adventure.

So here goes:

The week leading up to my flight was one of excitement, fear, and stress. I’d never traveled internationally before, and I was going to have to do it by myself. SCARY!! (I pretend to be all big and independent, but really, I’m not.) Well, stuff got packed. Bags were weighed as a precaution. Many e-mails were sent and phone calls were made – I guess a lot of people wanted to see me or talk to me before I left. Basically, I got everything in order and ready to go.

On the eve of January 24th, we loaded up the car and headed for Chicago. Mom, Dad, sister Sam, boyfriend Chad, and myself. It was a sad and silent car ride, but we made it without incident. Then we waited. And waited…and waited a little more. My flight didn’t leave until 9:55 pm, so we had some time to kill. Then my best friend, Amanda, showed up with her Dad. That was cool! She gave me a lovely box full of letters and neat stuff. Kind of a travel care package. To truly understand, you would have to know us fairly well. It’s a tradition we started a while back. Anyway, I said my goodbyes, and we all went our separate ways. There were a few tears, but all in all, I held it together fairly well.

Then there was the plane ride. Yeah, that was an experience. I’ve flown before, so I wasn’t afraid, but the turbulence on the plane brought back memories of childhood car sickness. As the flight neared an end, just over six hours after departure, I found myself gripping the walls of the onboard lavatory after having paid homage to the “porcelain” goddess. Yay, London!

Heathrow was busy. I was definitely afraid of losing my way, but God bless the English for clearly labeling everything! I found my way to the Underground without incident, and, due to my previous knowledge of the D.C. Metro, I was able to purchase a ticket and hop a ride on the train without any form of assistance. Off to Earl’s Court Station I flew at a rate that I thought would make me ill again, but I arrived safely and found my way to 270. Home for the next 2 months.

That’s it. I made to London. I moved my stuff in and got settled. I was ecstatic to discover that our home is equipped with wireless Internet access, and then I went to the grocery store. Exciting…I know. Much more has occurred since that exhausting day, but I’ll have to work on that later. I just can’t stand typing anymore at this point.

Stay tuned…