i'll be home in six days... :(
but i'll be excited to see everyone at home!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
prague!!! and other things slightly less exciting...
a lot has happened since i last posted...over a month ago. nothing terribly exciting at least. i did manage to go see mia in newcastleton, scotland (which was an amazing look at the scottish countryside, and culture to say the least). we went to greenwich (pronounced "grenich") and saw the prime meridian, experienced a london halloween and 5th of november, which was basically all fireworks and roasted chestnuts. but, this weekend, i have to say, topped it all.
friday, 2:30 a.m: torri and i depart london for prague, czech republic. i was nervous, she was nervous, but we managed to make it just fine. our professor, his wife, and her brother happened to be going as well, so that saved a lot of stress. we spent all of friday walking the streets of prague, getting situated. We then settled into our hostel.
i have to say, of all the hostels i've experienced, this one was surprisingly not sketchy. the door was covered in graffiti, but once we climbed the several sets of concrete stairs and unlocked the door to the common area, we were pleasantly surprised. you might even say our room is nicer than the flat we're staying in london. when my computer is up and running again, there will be pictures.
anyway, we spent yesterday evening in an absinth bar, where we had two rounds of absinth shots, two absinth cocktails (absinth, rum, coke, and uh...something else?) and absinth cake. absinth is served by the bartender this way: we had our shots brought out to us, including some sugar cubes. The first set of sugar cubes are dipped into the shots of absinth and then set on fire (intended to sweeten the taste after the shot) and then a second set of sugar cubes are set on spoons over bigger cups. the shots of absinth are poured over the sugar cubes into the cups, the cubes are set on fire, and then dipped into the cups, melting the sugar into the shots. The shots are then poured back into the absinth shot glasses and are taken right then. the burn was incredible. seventy percent alcohol. ouch. the remaining burned sugar helped, but not a lot.
it was definitely touristy, but an interesting experience. the kind of drunk you get off absinth is like nothing else you can experience with any other alcohol. it's a heady kind of high, not quite drunk, but definitely not completely coherent. we wandered home happy, slightly loopy, and completely satisfied.
saturday: torri and my professor's wife depart early to shop. i spend the morning walking about the city, lost and enjoying it. we all meet up 'round noon. janeea had arrived by then, and while she napped, the rest of us meet up with my professor's wife and brother's old sitter (while they lived in the embassy), named...well, i can't pronounce it haha. we spent lunch with her, listened to stories and enjoyed some traditional czech food, then went on to get janeea, and then toured the famous czech castle. the cathedral inside is beyond words. i wish i could post pictures now but i'm on the hostel computer and i doubt anybody would care to see any of the pictures i took. i'd say it was about thirteenth century gothic (maybe twelfth century). the most incredible (and unusual) part about it was the mosaic of the last judgement. it was on the outside left of the cathedral which is unusual, but it made it all the more exciting to see and experience.
we got dinner and beer in a traditional czech beer hall. i can't describe it, except it was long tables full of people, laughing and singing, and the most delicious beer i had ever tasted. the beer they served was actually brewed in the place itself, and was unusually light for an ale. in between, we were served shots of hips, which gave the beer a sweet taste and brought out the natural flavors. towards the end of our meal and drinks, we had a singing contest with a table full of young drunk footballers. to conclude the night, we had more shots of absinth with janeea, and took candid pictures which i cannot wait to recieve.
i cannot wait for tomorrow.
ps: i'm sorry for the poorness of my spelling/grammar. i've had a few.
friday, 2:30 a.m: torri and i depart london for prague, czech republic. i was nervous, she was nervous, but we managed to make it just fine. our professor, his wife, and her brother happened to be going as well, so that saved a lot of stress. we spent all of friday walking the streets of prague, getting situated. We then settled into our hostel.
i have to say, of all the hostels i've experienced, this one was surprisingly not sketchy. the door was covered in graffiti, but once we climbed the several sets of concrete stairs and unlocked the door to the common area, we were pleasantly surprised. you might even say our room is nicer than the flat we're staying in london. when my computer is up and running again, there will be pictures.
anyway, we spent yesterday evening in an absinth bar, where we had two rounds of absinth shots, two absinth cocktails (absinth, rum, coke, and uh...something else?) and absinth cake. absinth is served by the bartender this way: we had our shots brought out to us, including some sugar cubes. The first set of sugar cubes are dipped into the shots of absinth and then set on fire (intended to sweeten the taste after the shot) and then a second set of sugar cubes are set on spoons over bigger cups. the shots of absinth are poured over the sugar cubes into the cups, the cubes are set on fire, and then dipped into the cups, melting the sugar into the shots. The shots are then poured back into the absinth shot glasses and are taken right then. the burn was incredible. seventy percent alcohol. ouch. the remaining burned sugar helped, but not a lot.
it was definitely touristy, but an interesting experience. the kind of drunk you get off absinth is like nothing else you can experience with any other alcohol. it's a heady kind of high, not quite drunk, but definitely not completely coherent. we wandered home happy, slightly loopy, and completely satisfied.
saturday: torri and my professor's wife depart early to shop. i spend the morning walking about the city, lost and enjoying it. we all meet up 'round noon. janeea had arrived by then, and while she napped, the rest of us meet up with my professor's wife and brother's old sitter (while they lived in the embassy), named...well, i can't pronounce it haha. we spent lunch with her, listened to stories and enjoyed some traditional czech food, then went on to get janeea, and then toured the famous czech castle. the cathedral inside is beyond words. i wish i could post pictures now but i'm on the hostel computer and i doubt anybody would care to see any of the pictures i took. i'd say it was about thirteenth century gothic (maybe twelfth century). the most incredible (and unusual) part about it was the mosaic of the last judgement. it was on the outside left of the cathedral which is unusual, but it made it all the more exciting to see and experience.
we got dinner and beer in a traditional czech beer hall. i can't describe it, except it was long tables full of people, laughing and singing, and the most delicious beer i had ever tasted. the beer they served was actually brewed in the place itself, and was unusually light for an ale. in between, we were served shots of hips, which gave the beer a sweet taste and brought out the natural flavors. towards the end of our meal and drinks, we had a singing contest with a table full of young drunk footballers. to conclude the night, we had more shots of absinth with janeea, and took candid pictures which i cannot wait to recieve.
i cannot wait for tomorrow.
ps: i'm sorry for the poorness of my spelling/grammar. i've had a few.
Monday, September 29, 2008
pictures! finally
i'll give you three guesses to what this is.
glynnis cronin: sheep whisperer
the great roman baths; water has been flowing into this place for almost 2000 years, nonstop.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
stonehenge and roman baths
okay, so for the last five days i have been trying to upload my pictures from stonehenge and the roman baths up to my blog and to facebook, but for some stupid reason they won't load. i am so frusterated! but i haven't posted for like, a week, so i guess i shall be good and post anyway, pictures or no.
wednesday morning at 8:15, we departed from just outside the british museum on a sketchy bus with a sketchy bus driver (who happened to be finishing ramadan...so yeah you can imagine what his driving must have been like), but what really saved the trip was our amazing tour guide. i don't know what it is, whether it's the actual country that breeds this kind of people, but so far all our tour guides have been just amazing. our tour guide for this trek was an older lady named maria. one of the first things she said to us as we were leaving the city was "ladies, this is for you. there is a bilboard on our right with a very lovely picture of a man that i just adore...do you know anything about 'abercrombie and fitch?'" of course, all the girls (and andrew) let out a huge sigh of...i don't know, hormones? either way, we knew it was going to be a good trip then.
the english countryside was just gorgeous. it reminded me a lot of vermont, but instead of mountains there are countless rolling hills, covered in fields and sheep for as far as the eye can see. after living in a city for almost a month, seeing grass and trees was a breath of fresh air. when we arrived at stonehenge, collected our tickets, and walked through the tunnel under the road, i found myself in front of the massive stone structure, surrounded by fields and fields of sheep. i was surprised we were allowed to get as close as we did. stonehenge was subtly bound off by a low rope, in a circle. in this way, we got a full 360 view of the entire thing. afterwards, some of us walked up to the burial grounds just over the hill, and the rest of us wandered into the fields of sheep, which are really fun to harass, by the way.
after stonehenge, we spent another hour driving into bath, a city with some of the best preserved ancient roman baths in the world. i had mixed feelings about it, simply because it was in a museum, and a lot of it was plastered off. even so, there was a lot of cool ancient artifacts, and just being there and thinking about the fact that there have been millions of gallons of hot water circulating through that place for almost two thousand years...it was all quite fascinating. actually, being in the presence of these ancient relics was unreal unto itself. you think about the things humans build now, steel and plaster and concrete, but four thousand years from now, they will be dust.
thinking about it makes my head hurt. i will put up pictures the moment i have the chance. i'm going to make my dinner now, so until i update again...
ciao!
wednesday morning at 8:15, we departed from just outside the british museum on a sketchy bus with a sketchy bus driver (who happened to be finishing ramadan...so yeah you can imagine what his driving must have been like), but what really saved the trip was our amazing tour guide. i don't know what it is, whether it's the actual country that breeds this kind of people, but so far all our tour guides have been just amazing. our tour guide for this trek was an older lady named maria. one of the first things she said to us as we were leaving the city was "ladies, this is for you. there is a bilboard on our right with a very lovely picture of a man that i just adore...do you know anything about 'abercrombie and fitch?'" of course, all the girls (and andrew) let out a huge sigh of...i don't know, hormones? either way, we knew it was going to be a good trip then.
the english countryside was just gorgeous. it reminded me a lot of vermont, but instead of mountains there are countless rolling hills, covered in fields and sheep for as far as the eye can see. after living in a city for almost a month, seeing grass and trees was a breath of fresh air. when we arrived at stonehenge, collected our tickets, and walked through the tunnel under the road, i found myself in front of the massive stone structure, surrounded by fields and fields of sheep. i was surprised we were allowed to get as close as we did. stonehenge was subtly bound off by a low rope, in a circle. in this way, we got a full 360 view of the entire thing. afterwards, some of us walked up to the burial grounds just over the hill, and the rest of us wandered into the fields of sheep, which are really fun to harass, by the way.
after stonehenge, we spent another hour driving into bath, a city with some of the best preserved ancient roman baths in the world. i had mixed feelings about it, simply because it was in a museum, and a lot of it was plastered off. even so, there was a lot of cool ancient artifacts, and just being there and thinking about the fact that there have been millions of gallons of hot water circulating through that place for almost two thousand years...it was all quite fascinating. actually, being in the presence of these ancient relics was unreal unto itself. you think about the things humans build now, steel and plaster and concrete, but four thousand years from now, they will be dust.
thinking about it makes my head hurt. i will put up pictures the moment i have the chance. i'm going to make my dinner now, so until i update again...
ciao!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
the one where i go to camden
along with emily littler, a high school chum i later went on to college with, i took the underground into camden town for the second day in a row. however, it was not, as many would assume, to shop around and people watch. it was to visit our (other) friend from high school, kelsey, whom neither of us had seen in several years. we were fifteen minutes late, and as we scrambled out of the tube exit, we were afraid that she had left. but sure enough, as we rounded the courner, there she was, towering over the rest of the crowd. we both hugged her, and proceeded to browse through many of the shops and vendors, catching up with the times and all that jazz. i wasn't surprised to see that she was exactly the same person i graduated with. we ate in camden, and happened across tori and monica, and shared our lunch with them on the ground, because it was too crowded to get a seat. at the end of the day, we dropped kels off at her dorm, which happened to be just down the road from where we take classes, and took the tube back to our flats. now, i'm sitting here, eating pasta and trying to decide if it's worth taking a nap or not.
it's funny how a nice little reunion with an old friend can make one feel. i'm feeling nastalgic, but refreshed. later, i might get sushi. but now, since i have nothing to report, i will probably just go outside on the stoop and do a little drawing in my sketchpad. no pictures today :( my camera's dead.
it's funny how a nice little reunion with an old friend can make one feel. i'm feeling nastalgic, but refreshed. later, i might get sushi. but now, since i have nothing to report, i will probably just go outside on the stoop and do a little drawing in my sketchpad. no pictures today :( my camera's dead.
Friday, September 19, 2008
weee
so i finally arrived in london a few weeks ago. i've mostly been spending my time situating myself, finding my way around and all that jazz. i think we've all become pretty comfortable in our flat, as we have our stuff EVERYWHERE. i've got to clean it soon though. it's beginning to drive me crazy.
the living room (not so clean now)
we have a really nice cleaning lady. she's got this lovely chocolate skin and a red head scarf. she's so nice, she even does our dishes. makes me guilty sometimes. someday, i'm going to leave her brownies or something, just as a thank you. it's an insult here to leave tips, did you know that?
anyway, over the last few weeks we've been doing A LOT. so much, that i feel almost like we've been here for months. we've toured london, gone to like, five festivals (all which rocked hardcore), shopped at markets, and my favorite, toured st. paul's. i still can't wrap my head around it's size. it's kind of like when you are at the base of a HUGE mountain, after being around the green mountains most of your life, and you just look up, and up, and up...that's how it is. we couldn't take pictures inside, sadly, but i took pictures from the outside and from the very top (after climbing 528 stairs!).
so yeah, been a pleasure, but i am going to enjoy my weekend off :) i'll update later, perhaps tonight, more likely tomorrow. i will leave you with some pictures to look at!
st. pauls
tower of london (where anne boleyn was kept and murdered)
borough market -- huge stack of cheese
hahahaha oh caleb....
the living room (not so clean now)
we have a really nice cleaning lady. she's got this lovely chocolate skin and a red head scarf. she's so nice, she even does our dishes. makes me guilty sometimes. someday, i'm going to leave her brownies or something, just as a thank you. it's an insult here to leave tips, did you know that?
anyway, over the last few weeks we've been doing A LOT. so much, that i feel almost like we've been here for months. we've toured london, gone to like, five festivals (all which rocked hardcore), shopped at markets, and my favorite, toured st. paul's. i still can't wrap my head around it's size. it's kind of like when you are at the base of a HUGE mountain, after being around the green mountains most of your life, and you just look up, and up, and up...that's how it is. we couldn't take pictures inside, sadly, but i took pictures from the outside and from the very top (after climbing 528 stairs!).
so yeah, been a pleasure, but i am going to enjoy my weekend off :) i'll update later, perhaps tonight, more likely tomorrow. i will leave you with some pictures to look at!
st. pauls
tower of london (where anne boleyn was kept and murdered)
borough market -- huge stack of cheese
hahahaha oh caleb....
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