I can't believe that we're already four weeks into classes. I've been back in the US for nearly two months. It feels like Edinburgh was yesterday, and when I'm walking down the street, sometimes I see flashes of Edinburgh stores, or think I see somebody from there. Not that Minneapolis and Edinburgh could ever be mistaken for each other in any context. I really miss life the Edinburgh way. I got my work done, and then I went out to have fun with my friends. Now, every moment is a struggle to force myself to start doing work, to keep doing work, to finish work.
Next week looks like this: Exam Monday. Problem set due Monday. Paper due Tuesday. Lab Tuesday. Exam Wednesday (FOR THE SAME CLASS AS MONDAY!). Lab Wednesday. Applying to jobs and internships all week. Exam the Monday after that.
Oy. I should really get back to reading for zoology. So many exams...
Last night was the Awkward Dance, which was a good time, even though the line was RIDICULOUS... we didn't get in 'til 11:30 and it ended at 1. I saw some folks I hadn't seen in a while, which was good, and Rachel and I got to wear the stupid dresses we bought for $7, so it was exciting all around. Plus, there was a "Congratulations on your Retirement" cake. Who doesn't want that?
Tonight, Nick and I are going to a hockey game. It's good to be getting out and doing things on weekends again. I think I'm finally adjusting to the cold again enough that I am willing to go outside when it is not absolutely necessary to do so. Just maybe.
I've been reconnecting with some friends from freshman year, and I feel really good about it. I didn't part on the best of terms with a lot of people after that year, and I really missed them. It's good to know that I've grown up enough to let things go. Maybe that's what being 21 does for you? Because I still have yet to purchase alcohol in this state... and I think I only bought one or two drinks the whole time I was back in Chicago over winter break. I guess it is a good thing for my liver that most of my friends are not 21, and therefore we cannot go out together.
Tomorrow is hardcore work and accomplishing things day. In the morning, grocery shopping/misc. errands, in the afternoon, WORK WORK WORK, in the evening, practice for our lab exam in Saint Paul. I was supposed to go this morning, but I fell asleep at like 4:30 am after the awkward dance (I had like 8 cups of coffee yesterday. Espresso Royale was giving their test drinks away for free to people who were there) so I didn't wake up til 11.
Legit back to work this time. Th-th-that's all folks!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sunday, December 26, 2010
the exodus
As you all are aware, Edinburgh (and the UK as a whole) experienced crazy snow (by Edinburgh standards anyway) around the time everybody was trying to get back. As a result, a lot of my friends got stuck in various places for a few days. In my last few days, I wandered about the city, saw Holyrood Palace (wish I'd done that when the grounds were open), and packed and cleaned. The snow restricted what I could do, so I never made it to Craigmillar or to Roslin Chapel. Obviously, I will just have to come back, right?
In my last few days, I did Christmas shopping, went to the Christmas market with Craig (he bought me Fire Punch.... mmmmmmmmm), andLeeAnn and I hung out a few times, since we were the last few Americans left around. It was soooo depressingly sad to say goodbye to everybody. Especially when everybody was gone from my apartment... poor Katea had so many problems getting out, but at least she eventually made it. On Tuesday it was go time. I was checking my train to London compulsively... and it was cancelled. All trains to London were cancelled because of some track issues. I was a mess... After calling my mom and dad, I sent the Rigbys an email asking if I could stay with them for a night in case I left my dorm and got locked out in the event of a cancelled train. They are such wonderfully nice people, they even invited me to stay for Christmas, but I was flying out on Christmas so I had to miss out on the chance... but it was definitely nice to get home and be with my own family :) Anyway, back to my train. I got on a bus to Waverley to try and get sorted... I found out that I could take the VirginRail West Coast service that left a little later. So I ran home, got all my stuff, and got back on a bus to Waverley. I sat around for FOREVER and it was soooo cold. The train kept being delayed more and more and more. When they finally announced a track, there was a mad scramble to get on and get seats since every person trying to get to London that day was trying to get on this train. Luckily, I had gotten on in the compartment that didn't have assigned seats for booked passengers, so I was safe. Unfortunately, there was a screaming baby, and then later in the very, very, very long train ride, very annoying smallish children.
I read my book, watched I Love You Man, and tried to sleep. Finally, I got to London and managed to get to Waterloo Station, which was near Cary's flat. It was SO good to see her, since I hadn't seen her since high school!! It was about 11 by the time I got there, but we stayed up til 3 or so reminiscing and catching up on each other's lives. The next day we woke up really late and did some more sightseeing. The following may be out of order because I'm bad at remembering days, but Cary and I went to Covent Gardens, the Natural History Museum (SO COOL), the British Museum, the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, Selfridges Department Store, and the Tate Modern. We also went shopping at Primark, and went to a bar, but that did not end well for Cary's roommate, and so I ended up chilling with Cary's roommate's friend until we decided to go back.
On Christmas Eve, Cary had to get to the airport, and I was going to the Hilton at the airport, so we decided to go together by Tube. This may not have been the best choice, because of heavy luggage going on and off the tube and stuff, and we had left later than planned... we thought about trying to get a cab, but the guy advised us the tube would be faster. I was kind of worried that Cary would miss her flight, but she got there in time, hooray! I checked into the hotel and collapsed for a bit, had some tea, watched TV, and started to get sick. Yuck. I went to the airport and ate dinner at a pub there, then came back, and I couldn't sleep because I was all riled up for my flight the next day. I woke up ludicrously early, checked out, got to my terminal at the airport, and waited like an hour to check in, because business class check in was not open, so there was only one guy checking in all the business class and gold level whatever fliers. It was sooo obnoxious. I got through security with minimal problems, and then chilled out in the AA lounge until it was time to go to the gate. I had some tasty food and some more tea. I got on the plane, and maaaaan business class is nice. Except that I was starting to get really sick. So much so that I didn't really enjoy my flight too much, especially because I couldn't eat the ben and jerry's ice cream or partake of the alcohol. However, I did watch a lot of movies with the comfort of Bose noise cancelling headphones and a lot of space to recline. I couldn't sleep, though.
When I got home, I got through customs really fast and my family wasn't there yet to pick me up. When they got there, I was so glad to see them. I missed them so much in Edinburgh! I got home, and talked to my neighbors who came to say hi for a while, then we did Christmas. Everybody liked the stuff I got them, so I was really happy. Christmas dinner was amazing as usual. But I was so tired that I missed grasshopper pie, which is like the highlight of the year. I woke up the next day feeling even more sick, and more tired, and just generally gross, but at least I was home.
In my last few days, I did Christmas shopping, went to the Christmas market with Craig (he bought me Fire Punch.... mmmmmmmmm), andLeeAnn and I hung out a few times, since we were the last few Americans left around. It was soooo depressingly sad to say goodbye to everybody. Especially when everybody was gone from my apartment... poor Katea had so many problems getting out, but at least she eventually made it. On Tuesday it was go time. I was checking my train to London compulsively... and it was cancelled. All trains to London were cancelled because of some track issues. I was a mess... After calling my mom and dad, I sent the Rigbys an email asking if I could stay with them for a night in case I left my dorm and got locked out in the event of a cancelled train. They are such wonderfully nice people, they even invited me to stay for Christmas, but I was flying out on Christmas so I had to miss out on the chance... but it was definitely nice to get home and be with my own family :) Anyway, back to my train. I got on a bus to Waverley to try and get sorted... I found out that I could take the VirginRail West Coast service that left a little later. So I ran home, got all my stuff, and got back on a bus to Waverley. I sat around for FOREVER and it was soooo cold. The train kept being delayed more and more and more. When they finally announced a track, there was a mad scramble to get on and get seats since every person trying to get to London that day was trying to get on this train. Luckily, I had gotten on in the compartment that didn't have assigned seats for booked passengers, so I was safe. Unfortunately, there was a screaming baby, and then later in the very, very, very long train ride, very annoying smallish children.
I read my book, watched I Love You Man, and tried to sleep. Finally, I got to London and managed to get to Waterloo Station, which was near Cary's flat. It was SO good to see her, since I hadn't seen her since high school!! It was about 11 by the time I got there, but we stayed up til 3 or so reminiscing and catching up on each other's lives. The next day we woke up really late and did some more sightseeing. The following may be out of order because I'm bad at remembering days, but Cary and I went to Covent Gardens, the Natural History Museum (SO COOL), the British Museum, the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, Selfridges Department Store, and the Tate Modern. We also went shopping at Primark, and went to a bar, but that did not end well for Cary's roommate, and so I ended up chilling with Cary's roommate's friend until we decided to go back.
On Christmas Eve, Cary had to get to the airport, and I was going to the Hilton at the airport, so we decided to go together by Tube. This may not have been the best choice, because of heavy luggage going on and off the tube and stuff, and we had left later than planned... we thought about trying to get a cab, but the guy advised us the tube would be faster. I was kind of worried that Cary would miss her flight, but she got there in time, hooray! I checked into the hotel and collapsed for a bit, had some tea, watched TV, and started to get sick. Yuck. I went to the airport and ate dinner at a pub there, then came back, and I couldn't sleep because I was all riled up for my flight the next day. I woke up ludicrously early, checked out, got to my terminal at the airport, and waited like an hour to check in, because business class check in was not open, so there was only one guy checking in all the business class and gold level whatever fliers. It was sooo obnoxious. I got through security with minimal problems, and then chilled out in the AA lounge until it was time to go to the gate. I had some tasty food and some more tea. I got on the plane, and maaaaan business class is nice. Except that I was starting to get really sick. So much so that I didn't really enjoy my flight too much, especially because I couldn't eat the ben and jerry's ice cream or partake of the alcohol. However, I did watch a lot of movies with the comfort of Bose noise cancelling headphones and a lot of space to recline. I couldn't sleep, though.
When I got home, I got through customs really fast and my family wasn't there yet to pick me up. When they got there, I was so glad to see them. I missed them so much in Edinburgh! I got home, and talked to my neighbors who came to say hi for a while, then we did Christmas. Everybody liked the stuff I got them, so I was really happy. Christmas dinner was amazing as usual. But I was so tired that I missed grasshopper pie, which is like the highlight of the year. I woke up the next day feeling even more sick, and more tired, and just generally gross, but at least I was home.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
sleep-deprived
I just got back to my flat after staying up all night with my friends Lindsey and Sam, who had to get their taxi to the airport at 6 am. I hadn't really planned on it (you all probably know how much I like my sleep), but after drinks at Koko, I went with them back to their flat when we decided we didn't feel like going to a club or anything, and all the pubs close at 1. I am really glad I got to spend an extra few hours with them, even if the whole time we were all on the verge of tears and repeatedly saying, "This is surreal," "Going home will be so weird," "I wish I could stay in Edinburgh forever," "I know I'll be back!"
It is exhausting to wait for something like going home. I'm not going to think about the fact that in a week, it's my turn. I have a lot to pack into the next three days in Edinburgh: Holyrood Palace, Craigmillar Castle, Rosslyn Chapel, St. Giles, Portobello Beach, and walking a bit on the Water of Leith trail. I know I'll miss some of them, but my highest priorities are Holyrood and Roslin. So, I'll probably get a daypass bus thing on Sunday and do a few. I can't believe how this semester has just slipped through my fingers, leaving me with no time to say "I'll get around to (insert thing here)."
Though I have accomplished few of the things on my agenda, I'm entirely pleased with my semester. I think I'll elaborate on this thought while I am not exhausted, so I'm going to sleep. Be on the lookout for posts concerning my birthday, finals, and the trip to London and Paris!!
It is exhausting to wait for something like going home. I'm not going to think about the fact that in a week, it's my turn. I have a lot to pack into the next three days in Edinburgh: Holyrood Palace, Craigmillar Castle, Rosslyn Chapel, St. Giles, Portobello Beach, and walking a bit on the Water of Leith trail. I know I'll miss some of them, but my highest priorities are Holyrood and Roslin. So, I'll probably get a daypass bus thing on Sunday and do a few. I can't believe how this semester has just slipped through my fingers, leaving me with no time to say "I'll get around to (insert thing here)."
Though I have accomplished few of the things on my agenda, I'm entirely pleased with my semester. I think I'll elaborate on this thought while I am not exhausted, so I'm going to sleep. Be on the lookout for posts concerning my birthday, finals, and the trip to London and Paris!!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Being Super Classy in Paris/Back to the 'Burgh
Day two began very early. We had breakfast in the hotel's breakfast room, which was super cute, and Chelsea once more got to speak French. I was grateful for the coffee! We ate pretty fast to get to the Louvre early, before it got too crowded, and we definitely succeeded in that goal. The courtyard was nearly empty so we took a ton of pictures, and then went inside. Chelsea talked to the ticket lady, showed her our Edinburgh IDs, and managed to get us in for free, even though we weren't EU residents... she did a good job of talking to the lady, that is for sure. Pleased as punch, we decided to hit up the Mona Lisa first. This was a good choice, as we got to see it, and then like three seconds later a scary hoard of schoolchildren came in yelling and snapping cameraphone pictures. Hooligans. The Mona Lisa is also a little unimpressive. It's way smaller than you think it will be... but it was still cool anyway.
All in all, Chelsea and I spent a little over 6 hours in the Louvre. We saw everrrything. Highlights included Napoleon III's apartments (so swank) and the moat area... where there was a really weird art installation of like, two russian ladies chopping cabbage (what?). Also very cool: giant column things from an Assyrian(?) palace, and Hammurabi's code. And the awesome collection of Roman glass stuff. And erotic pottery. WOOO CNES classes for teaching me about that. We had tasty but overpriced noms in the museum cafe somewhere in the middle of our exploration of the ridiculously large museum.
After that, we went to the Musee de l'Orangerie, where they have 8 very large Monets. You go into the first room and it is just an oval with huuuuuge mural size Monets surrounding you. The second room is the same setup, different landscaping. They were just breathtaking, and beautiful, and gorgeous, and they make me wish I had a better descriptive vocabulary. I could have sat and looked for hours. We then discovered that the basement had a huuuge collection of other art, featuring a ton of Matisses, which was an especially good bonus. When we got done, we waited outside for a bit until my friend Hannah from the U, who was in Paris as part of her grand adventure across Europe, came to meet us. We went to a cafe and sipped on various coffee/tea/hotchocolate products for a bit, until Chelsea and I had to go back to our hotel to change for dinner. It was really fun to see Hannah, but I wish that we could have spent more time with her!
We put on our fancy clothes, and hopped the metro to Odeon, and then walked to the Rue Racine, where Boullion Racine was our final destination. It was a delightful Art Noveau themed restaurant. They pegged us for American quickly though, as they gave us English rather than French menus. Chelsea was upset, but I was okay with this, seeing that I do not speak any French. We took it as a good sign that nobody else in the whole restaurant was speaking English, and it was pretty crowded. We got a bottle of wine, escargot (because we had to try them!), and pumpkin chestnut soup as an appetizer. The escargot were pretty good, actually. I felt brave for trying them, but it was just like eating shellfish. You slather it in butter and garlic until you don't realize how slimy and gross what you are eating actually is. The soup was fantastic, and we both got duck confit, which was divine. I had a creme brulee for dessert, and it was so rich that I couldn't finish it. Chelsea had a very tasty hazelnut cake. We realized that 1) we were a little drunk after polishing off the bottle of wine and 2) we were by no means awake enough to go out on the town after dinner. So, Chelsea got a hold of her friend Sarah who was studying in France for the year, and we decided to meet at a cafe rather than going to a bar or club. I paid the bill (thanks Mom and Dad!), with a little scare when my card was rejected the first time I scanned it... but in the end it worked. Phew.
We found a cute little cafe (it felt sooo Parisian) and I got tea (the second cheapest menu item), while Chelsea got what turned out to literally be hot milk (the cheapest thing on the menu). Sarah was really fun, and we all sat around and talked until we had to go before the Metro stopped running for the night. We got home and pretty much fell asleep straightaway again. In the morning, we went shopping and bought sweater dresses from a boutique where the shop owner spoke not a lick of English. Chelsea was happy as a clam to have somebody who would talk to her in French without trying to switch to English at all. After that, we checked out of the hotel and took the metro to Trocadero, where there was a really nice view of the Eiffel Tower. We took some pictures, and then set off to find a reasonably priced cafe to wait for Sarah to meet us after her class was over. We found a tiny crepe place... i cannot remember the name, sadly, but it was wonderful. We should have gotten the house made cider, but we didn't. The crepes were enough! So, so tasty. Also, there was the cutest little boy, who walked in all by himself, and when his grandma came to meet him, they talked over tea? coffee? and then he paid the bill. SO CUTE. He could not have been more than 7.
Sarah, Chelsea and I had a delightful afternoon at the crepe place, until Chelsea and I decided we had better head to the Porte Maillot, where we would get the bus to the airport. We got there plenty early, and got on an earlier bus than we'd anticipated. Unfortunately, there is really nothing to do at the Beauvais airport for however many hours we were there before our flight. We also didn't realize that there wouldn't really be food for purchase past security. I bought a thing of crispy m&m's behind security when we finally got through, and they sealed them and said I couldn't open them 'til we landed. What the hell is the point of that??? I wanted food THEN not LATER. So, Chelsea and I waited and waited for an announcement that our flight was boarding. It was supposed to be leaving in like 3 minutes, when I realized that people were boarding our plane on the tarmac. The gate we were sitting at was not really a gate ,and the gate for our flight was hidden down a hallway through a secret door, so we dashed onto the plane, and like, ten minutes later we took off. Good thing I looked out the window!!
We were so exhausted and hungry that we pretty much slept the whole way back. We decided we'd go to Karen Wong's when we got back, but we had forgotten to account for the hour train from Prestwick into Glasgow to switch onto a train for Edinburgh. So, we made it back to Edinburgh a little too late to get the Karen Wong fix, so we stopped at Tesco and picked up readymade food. I fell asleep like four seconds after I got home and didn't wake up until late the next day, which I think brings us up to speed.
All in all, Chelsea and I spent a little over 6 hours in the Louvre. We saw everrrything. Highlights included Napoleon III's apartments (so swank) and the moat area... where there was a really weird art installation of like, two russian ladies chopping cabbage (what?). Also very cool: giant column things from an Assyrian(?) palace, and Hammurabi's code. And the awesome collection of Roman glass stuff. And erotic pottery. WOOO CNES classes for teaching me about that. We had tasty but overpriced noms in the museum cafe somewhere in the middle of our exploration of the ridiculously large museum.
After that, we went to the Musee de l'Orangerie, where they have 8 very large Monets. You go into the first room and it is just an oval with huuuuuge mural size Monets surrounding you. The second room is the same setup, different landscaping. They were just breathtaking, and beautiful, and gorgeous, and they make me wish I had a better descriptive vocabulary. I could have sat and looked for hours. We then discovered that the basement had a huuuge collection of other art, featuring a ton of Matisses, which was an especially good bonus. When we got done, we waited outside for a bit until my friend Hannah from the U, who was in Paris as part of her grand adventure across Europe, came to meet us. We went to a cafe and sipped on various coffee/tea/hotchocolate products for a bit, until Chelsea and I had to go back to our hotel to change for dinner. It was really fun to see Hannah, but I wish that we could have spent more time with her!
We put on our fancy clothes, and hopped the metro to Odeon, and then walked to the Rue Racine, where Boullion Racine was our final destination. It was a delightful Art Noveau themed restaurant. They pegged us for American quickly though, as they gave us English rather than French menus. Chelsea was upset, but I was okay with this, seeing that I do not speak any French. We took it as a good sign that nobody else in the whole restaurant was speaking English, and it was pretty crowded. We got a bottle of wine, escargot (because we had to try them!), and pumpkin chestnut soup as an appetizer. The escargot were pretty good, actually. I felt brave for trying them, but it was just like eating shellfish. You slather it in butter and garlic until you don't realize how slimy and gross what you are eating actually is. The soup was fantastic, and we both got duck confit, which was divine. I had a creme brulee for dessert, and it was so rich that I couldn't finish it. Chelsea had a very tasty hazelnut cake. We realized that 1) we were a little drunk after polishing off the bottle of wine and 2) we were by no means awake enough to go out on the town after dinner. So, Chelsea got a hold of her friend Sarah who was studying in France for the year, and we decided to meet at a cafe rather than going to a bar or club. I paid the bill (thanks Mom and Dad!), with a little scare when my card was rejected the first time I scanned it... but in the end it worked. Phew.
We found a cute little cafe (it felt sooo Parisian) and I got tea (the second cheapest menu item), while Chelsea got what turned out to literally be hot milk (the cheapest thing on the menu). Sarah was really fun, and we all sat around and talked until we had to go before the Metro stopped running for the night. We got home and pretty much fell asleep straightaway again. In the morning, we went shopping and bought sweater dresses from a boutique where the shop owner spoke not a lick of English. Chelsea was happy as a clam to have somebody who would talk to her in French without trying to switch to English at all. After that, we checked out of the hotel and took the metro to Trocadero, where there was a really nice view of the Eiffel Tower. We took some pictures, and then set off to find a reasonably priced cafe to wait for Sarah to meet us after her class was over. We found a tiny crepe place... i cannot remember the name, sadly, but it was wonderful. We should have gotten the house made cider, but we didn't. The crepes were enough! So, so tasty. Also, there was the cutest little boy, who walked in all by himself, and when his grandma came to meet him, they talked over tea? coffee? and then he paid the bill. SO CUTE. He could not have been more than 7.
Sarah, Chelsea and I had a delightful afternoon at the crepe place, until Chelsea and I decided we had better head to the Porte Maillot, where we would get the bus to the airport. We got there plenty early, and got on an earlier bus than we'd anticipated. Unfortunately, there is really nothing to do at the Beauvais airport for however many hours we were there before our flight. We also didn't realize that there wouldn't really be food for purchase past security. I bought a thing of crispy m&m's behind security when we finally got through, and they sealed them and said I couldn't open them 'til we landed. What the hell is the point of that??? I wanted food THEN not LATER. So, Chelsea and I waited and waited for an announcement that our flight was boarding. It was supposed to be leaving in like 3 minutes, when I realized that people were boarding our plane on the tarmac. The gate we were sitting at was not really a gate ,and the gate for our flight was hidden down a hallway through a secret door, so we dashed onto the plane, and like, ten minutes later we took off. Good thing I looked out the window!!
We were so exhausted and hungry that we pretty much slept the whole way back. We decided we'd go to Karen Wong's when we got back, but we had forgotten to account for the hour train from Prestwick into Glasgow to switch onto a train for Edinburgh. So, we made it back to Edinburgh a little too late to get the Karen Wong fix, so we stopped at Tesco and picked up readymade food. I fell asleep like four seconds after I got home and didn't wake up until late the next day, which I think brings us up to speed.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
City of Lights- Day 1
Paris is so hyped up in literature, movies, music, everything really. I had in my mind Paris was so overhyped and wasn't actually going to be all that great. I hadn't really planned to go to Paris, but when Chelsea and I decided to go, I have to admit, I was pretty damn jazzed about it. Mainly, I was very excited to go to the Louvre... being a huge museum buff/nerd extraordinaire. When we got on the Eurostar, and emerged from the Chunnel (SO EXCITING), catching our first glimpse of France, I was a little breathless. It was our second sunrise in three days, and let me tell you, readers, sunrise over the French countryside is gorgeous. I was so tired, though, that I couldn't really do anything except poke Chelsea and say "look, pretty."
As we pulled into the terminal, I was incredibly worried that my credit card wouldn't work and I wouldn't be able to pay for our hotel, or the hotel would have lost our reservation, or I wouldn't have enough money to pay for the fancy dinner that my mom and dad sent us to eat for my birthday present (because in my head, my credit card would not work in France). I knew I had to get over it, but sometimes it is really hard for me to relieve anxiety or stop all the thoughts that swirl through my mind. We started off our time in Paris by climbing up the hill to Sacre Couer, a basilica that is the highest point in Paris. It was breathtaking. The sun was shining through the clouds and making rays of light all over the city, sprawled beneath us. But you know, even moments like that can be ruined. By gypsies. Now, I hate to be prejudiced here, but these people will stop at nothing to try and hook you. One lady literally tried to block Chelsea from continuing on the stairs.
Inside Sacre Coeur was beautiful as well, and I've been in a lot of basilicas, so I declare myself a fit judge. From there, we decided to go see the Moulin Rouge, just because it was nearby. That is one hell of a sketchy area. Every store pretty much was a really sleazy looking sex shop. So, basically we saw Moulin Rouge, and then we went to the Metro as quickly as possible to find out how to get to Montparnasse, where our hotel was. We got to the metro, and I had a little difficulty getting tickets. My card didn't work in the machine, which scared the crap out of me. In the end, I used cash and got my ten tickets. The Metro is so cute... it has tires. Awww. So we got off near the Montparnasse cemetery, and looked for famous dead people. We only found a few of the ones we were looking for, but it was so weird how packed the cemetery was. I guess that is what you have to do in a city where space is at a premium, but after the sprawling park-like atmosphere of the cemeteries in Sweden and Denmark, it was especially strange.
By then, it was about time to check into our hotel, so we found it and then waited until our room was ready. Chelsea was absolutely chuffed to be able to speak French to somebody, and we got up to our room, which was about the size of a closet. I had some serious claustrophobia issues with the bathroom, but it didn't really matter because we were only using the room for sleeping, and it was clean. After dropping our bags off, we set out again to accomplish the Hardcore Paris Sightseeing Mission™ (HPSM). I had ostensibly been in charge of picking out what we did in London, but we really left that to wandering about. Chelsea, on the other hand, was super organized and had a plan. The HPSM. We started by walking through the Luxembourg gardens, where apparently my father enjoyed playing with boats in a pond when my grandparents took the kids to France back in the day. I imagine they are much more beautiful in the summer. From there, we went to the Pantheon, which was absolutely amazing. It's basically a secular monument to France's greatest people. There is an extensive crypt, and we saw Marie Curie's tomb... among MANY others. Including Voltaire! Foucault's Pendulum is in the nave of the basilica. Super amazing physics/science geeking out occurred on my part.
Following that, we walked to Notre Dame. We were so excited when we found out that Notre Dame is free to enter (The Pantheon cost money!), so we went in and walked around. It is exceedingly beautiful. However, this volunteer lady cornered us and kept asking us Bible questions. Chelsea and I didn't really have much ability to answer most of them. Eventually, we managed to make our excuses, thank her, and continue walking through the cathedral. The rose window is one of the most awe-inspiring things I have ever seen. I have to say that I find it much easier to understand how people follow a religion when their worship takes place in a grand structure. Rather, I guess I understand how the building could inspire so much awe, especially at the time when it was built, as to really add to the whole deity power/mystique thing.
Next on the list was the Champs Elysee. I'm so glad we were there around Christmas, because it was lit up and awesome. The lights were icicle lights, but they were animated so they looked like falling stars. Sublime. The Arc D' Triomphe (did I spell any of that right?) was equally impressive, floodlit and surrounded by about a bazillion lanes of traffic as it was. Behind that, there was another huge Christmas market, and we enjoyed browsing through it on our way to Eiffel Tower. We actually had some trouble getting to the tower, and then from the tower to a metro stop that would help us get home, but first let's talk about the tower. It's actually a little disappointing. Yeah, it was really pretty all lit up at night, but in the day time, it just seems kind of pointless to me. I think the Ferris Wheel was a better World's Fair invention, personally., So, we were trying to get home, and we knew we were walking in the right direction, but we could NOT find the metro anywhere. We were starting to get a little worried, because it seemed like we were in a sketchy area. Eventually, we kept walking and found it, but then walked the wrong way out of the metro station near our hotel and got lost there. After being all turned around, we were SO hungry that we just picked up sandwiches and desserts at the grocery store and brought them back to the hotel. They were pretty tasty for being grocery store sandwiches! Yay for French food. We fell asleep FAST.
As we pulled into the terminal, I was incredibly worried that my credit card wouldn't work and I wouldn't be able to pay for our hotel, or the hotel would have lost our reservation, or I wouldn't have enough money to pay for the fancy dinner that my mom and dad sent us to eat for my birthday present (because in my head, my credit card would not work in France). I knew I had to get over it, but sometimes it is really hard for me to relieve anxiety or stop all the thoughts that swirl through my mind. We started off our time in Paris by climbing up the hill to Sacre Couer, a basilica that is the highest point in Paris. It was breathtaking. The sun was shining through the clouds and making rays of light all over the city, sprawled beneath us. But you know, even moments like that can be ruined. By gypsies. Now, I hate to be prejudiced here, but these people will stop at nothing to try and hook you. One lady literally tried to block Chelsea from continuing on the stairs.
Inside Sacre Coeur was beautiful as well, and I've been in a lot of basilicas, so I declare myself a fit judge. From there, we decided to go see the Moulin Rouge, just because it was nearby. That is one hell of a sketchy area. Every store pretty much was a really sleazy looking sex shop. So, basically we saw Moulin Rouge, and then we went to the Metro as quickly as possible to find out how to get to Montparnasse, where our hotel was. We got to the metro, and I had a little difficulty getting tickets. My card didn't work in the machine, which scared the crap out of me. In the end, I used cash and got my ten tickets. The Metro is so cute... it has tires. Awww. So we got off near the Montparnasse cemetery, and looked for famous dead people. We only found a few of the ones we were looking for, but it was so weird how packed the cemetery was. I guess that is what you have to do in a city where space is at a premium, but after the sprawling park-like atmosphere of the cemeteries in Sweden and Denmark, it was especially strange.
By then, it was about time to check into our hotel, so we found it and then waited until our room was ready. Chelsea was absolutely chuffed to be able to speak French to somebody, and we got up to our room, which was about the size of a closet. I had some serious claustrophobia issues with the bathroom, but it didn't really matter because we were only using the room for sleeping, and it was clean. After dropping our bags off, we set out again to accomplish the Hardcore Paris Sightseeing Mission™ (HPSM). I had ostensibly been in charge of picking out what we did in London, but we really left that to wandering about. Chelsea, on the other hand, was super organized and had a plan. The HPSM. We started by walking through the Luxembourg gardens, where apparently my father enjoyed playing with boats in a pond when my grandparents took the kids to France back in the day. I imagine they are much more beautiful in the summer. From there, we went to the Pantheon, which was absolutely amazing. It's basically a secular monument to France's greatest people. There is an extensive crypt, and we saw Marie Curie's tomb... among MANY others. Including Voltaire! Foucault's Pendulum is in the nave of the basilica. Super amazing physics/science geeking out occurred on my part.
Following that, we walked to Notre Dame. We were so excited when we found out that Notre Dame is free to enter (The Pantheon cost money!), so we went in and walked around. It is exceedingly beautiful. However, this volunteer lady cornered us and kept asking us Bible questions. Chelsea and I didn't really have much ability to answer most of them. Eventually, we managed to make our excuses, thank her, and continue walking through the cathedral. The rose window is one of the most awe-inspiring things I have ever seen. I have to say that I find it much easier to understand how people follow a religion when their worship takes place in a grand structure. Rather, I guess I understand how the building could inspire so much awe, especially at the time when it was built, as to really add to the whole deity power/mystique thing.
Next on the list was the Champs Elysee. I'm so glad we were there around Christmas, because it was lit up and awesome. The lights were icicle lights, but they were animated so they looked like falling stars. Sublime. The Arc D' Triomphe (did I spell any of that right?) was equally impressive, floodlit and surrounded by about a bazillion lanes of traffic as it was. Behind that, there was another huge Christmas market, and we enjoyed browsing through it on our way to Eiffel Tower. We actually had some trouble getting to the tower, and then from the tower to a metro stop that would help us get home, but first let's talk about the tower. It's actually a little disappointing. Yeah, it was really pretty all lit up at night, but in the day time, it just seems kind of pointless to me. I think the Ferris Wheel was a better World's Fair invention, personally., So, we were trying to get home, and we knew we were walking in the right direction, but we could NOT find the metro anywhere. We were starting to get a little worried, because it seemed like we were in a sketchy area. Eventually, we kept walking and found it, but then walked the wrong way out of the metro station near our hotel and got lost there. After being all turned around, we were SO hungry that we just picked up sandwiches and desserts at the grocery store and brought them back to the hotel. They were pretty tasty for being grocery store sandwiches! Yay for French food. We fell asleep FAST.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
London Calling
Saturday night, naturally, we had to celebrate being done with finals... so I went out with a bunch of my friends. Unfortunately, Chelsea was sick so she didn't make it out as she was trying to sleep whatever it was off before we went to London. I made it home around midnight ish, but didn't fall asleep until sometime after 3 am (counting crows reference anybody?), which sucked since we had to leave to catch the bus at 6:15 am. So, exhausted, I woke up, grabbed my bag, and left... when I promptly realized that I had forgotten my cell phone. Oops. Ran back upstairs, then back downstairs and met Chelsea on the corner outside the Croft, and we walked up to Waverley to get on the airport bus. We got to the airport wayyyyy early. Security was a breeze, except when Chelsea realized she had forgotten to pack her toiletries in the travel friendly sizes. We had a little funeral for all the stuff she had to throw away, after trying to figure out every possible way that she could get them back somehow.
We got to our gate, then they told us the flight was going to be delayed. But then it wasn't going to be... then it was cancelled... then it was back on. EasyJet is weird. Finally, we got on the plane, and we flew into sunrise as we got to London one short hour later. After a little confusion, we ended up pretty close to my friend Osman's place, where we would be staying. On the walk from the train station to his flat, Chelsea and I started a game where we took a picture of Chelsea with any signs we saw that said Chelsea. Once, we found something that said Claudia, and we took my picture next to that... but it was at the British Museum, so it doesn't really count. Osman made us tea, and we made a gameplan for the rest of the day. We decided to walk to Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was a pretty long walk, and it was pretty cold, but I was really glad we did it. When I was in London in August, I took the tube absolutely EVERYWHERE, and so I missed the heart of the city, which was silly of me. So, we sightsaw all the way to Buckingham Palace, where Chelsea was a little disappointed that you couldn't get very close to the guards, but it was cool to see them anyway. In Hyde Park, we stumbled upon the Christmas market, which was delightful. We tried to find the statue of Peter Pan and failed miserably, and after being a bit lost, we made it to the V and A, which was super duper cool. There were some obnoxious ladies in one of the exhibits, but we got over it, and Chelsea found this one sculpture thing that a professor (adviser?) of hers said she had to see. Anyway, the whole museum was really fabulous.
The last thing we did was go to Harrod's, which is splendiferous at Christmas time. There are lights everywhere, and sooooo much decoration. And amazing toys. I almost died of amazingness in their toy sections. Plural. So many toys. So many expensive, fancy, awesome toys. And giant teddy bears. And cute guys selling weird fake snow. Yeah.
We walked back, planning to go to the giant Tesco we had seen earlier, but it turned out that it was closed at 4 on Sundays. So stupid. So, we had to go without meat for the stir fry we were going to make. We popped over to the corner market and invested in stir fry sauce and ben and jerry's, then Chelsea and I made dinner. The three of us played Scrabble over our stir fry and had an all-around lovely time.
The next day, I had been hoping to meet my dad's friend, Clare, who as you may recall, helped me out at the beginning of my odyssey by allowing me to store my bags in her office. Clare had just had a baby, and unfortunately we ended up not being able to meet, which was sad! However, Chelsea and I, walking in the direction of her office, ended up getting to see the changing of the guards, which was great fun. We then decided to walk in the vague direction of the British Museum, via the National Gallery. There were soooo many cool things in there... it was huge and a little overwhelming. We saw some Van Goghs and lots of other art that I cannot at the moment specifically recall. On the way to the British Museum, we decided to stop at hte post office to exchange money as we had heard that debit cards without electron chips tend not to work in France. This was an ordeal... we waited in line for over 45 minutes! This was especially painful when we saw the commission free Euros ATM at the train station the next day. Anyway, we had just enough time to look at the super awesome clocks, the Elgin Marbles, Rosetta Stone, Mausoleum, and some of the Far Eastern art before we had to jet to the British Library. There, I got to see the Lindisfarne Gospels, which was amazing, since we had been reading about them in Latin last year. Unfortunately, the manuscript for Alice and Wonderland was not in at the moment, but Chelsea thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Jane Austen stuff and some of the original musical compositions. In the meantime, I lent my voice to a study on pronunciation of the English language.
When the library closed, we went to King's Cross to take pictures at the silly Harry Potter platform 9 3/4 wall. We were miffed because this platform was NOT between platforms 9 and 10, and it was just a picture of bricks in a back alley wall... so tacky. We called Osman, but he had already eaten dinner, so we decided to go to a pub that had a dinner special on Fish and Chips, so we had those. Mmmmm mushy peas. When we got back to Osman's, there was a really big football match on, so Osman went to the pub to watch it with some friends. Chelsea and I showered and were pretty much asleep by the time Osman got back at the half. We were exhausted! We said our goodbyes since we were leaving so early in the morning. It was sad to say goodbye, since Osman had been so nice as a host!
We woke up ludicrously early, took the tube to King's Cross/St. Pancras, and managed to locate the Eurostar terminal. We got our passports checked, and then we were on our way to Paris!
We got to our gate, then they told us the flight was going to be delayed. But then it wasn't going to be... then it was cancelled... then it was back on. EasyJet is weird. Finally, we got on the plane, and we flew into sunrise as we got to London one short hour later. After a little confusion, we ended up pretty close to my friend Osman's place, where we would be staying. On the walk from the train station to his flat, Chelsea and I started a game where we took a picture of Chelsea with any signs we saw that said Chelsea. Once, we found something that said Claudia, and we took my picture next to that... but it was at the British Museum, so it doesn't really count. Osman made us tea, and we made a gameplan for the rest of the day. We decided to walk to Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was a pretty long walk, and it was pretty cold, but I was really glad we did it. When I was in London in August, I took the tube absolutely EVERYWHERE, and so I missed the heart of the city, which was silly of me. So, we sightsaw all the way to Buckingham Palace, where Chelsea was a little disappointed that you couldn't get very close to the guards, but it was cool to see them anyway. In Hyde Park, we stumbled upon the Christmas market, which was delightful. We tried to find the statue of Peter Pan and failed miserably, and after being a bit lost, we made it to the V and A, which was super duper cool. There were some obnoxious ladies in one of the exhibits, but we got over it, and Chelsea found this one sculpture thing that a professor (adviser?) of hers said she had to see. Anyway, the whole museum was really fabulous.
The last thing we did was go to Harrod's, which is splendiferous at Christmas time. There are lights everywhere, and sooooo much decoration. And amazing toys. I almost died of amazingness in their toy sections. Plural. So many toys. So many expensive, fancy, awesome toys. And giant teddy bears. And cute guys selling weird fake snow. Yeah.
We walked back, planning to go to the giant Tesco we had seen earlier, but it turned out that it was closed at 4 on Sundays. So stupid. So, we had to go without meat for the stir fry we were going to make. We popped over to the corner market and invested in stir fry sauce and ben and jerry's, then Chelsea and I made dinner. The three of us played Scrabble over our stir fry and had an all-around lovely time.
The next day, I had been hoping to meet my dad's friend, Clare, who as you may recall, helped me out at the beginning of my odyssey by allowing me to store my bags in her office. Clare had just had a baby, and unfortunately we ended up not being able to meet, which was sad! However, Chelsea and I, walking in the direction of her office, ended up getting to see the changing of the guards, which was great fun. We then decided to walk in the vague direction of the British Museum, via the National Gallery. There were soooo many cool things in there... it was huge and a little overwhelming. We saw some Van Goghs and lots of other art that I cannot at the moment specifically recall. On the way to the British Museum, we decided to stop at hte post office to exchange money as we had heard that debit cards without electron chips tend not to work in France. This was an ordeal... we waited in line for over 45 minutes! This was especially painful when we saw the commission free Euros ATM at the train station the next day. Anyway, we had just enough time to look at the super awesome clocks, the Elgin Marbles, Rosetta Stone, Mausoleum, and some of the Far Eastern art before we had to jet to the British Library. There, I got to see the Lindisfarne Gospels, which was amazing, since we had been reading about them in Latin last year. Unfortunately, the manuscript for Alice and Wonderland was not in at the moment, but Chelsea thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Jane Austen stuff and some of the original musical compositions. In the meantime, I lent my voice to a study on pronunciation of the English language.
When the library closed, we went to King's Cross to take pictures at the silly Harry Potter platform 9 3/4 wall. We were miffed because this platform was NOT between platforms 9 and 10, and it was just a picture of bricks in a back alley wall... so tacky. We called Osman, but he had already eaten dinner, so we decided to go to a pub that had a dinner special on Fish and Chips, so we had those. Mmmmm mushy peas. When we got back to Osman's, there was a really big football match on, so Osman went to the pub to watch it with some friends. Chelsea and I showered and were pretty much asleep by the time Osman got back at the half. We were exhausted! We said our goodbyes since we were leaving so early in the morning. It was sad to say goodbye, since Osman had been so nice as a host!
We woke up ludicrously early, took the tube to King's Cross/St. Pancras, and managed to locate the Eurostar terminal. We got our passports checked, and then we were on our way to Paris!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
two months later... finals and festivities
This post is the first in a series of backdated entries that will cover the events that transpired from finals week and my 21st birthday party until my return to the University of Minnesota.
Monday was my first final at Uni. Edinburgh. It had been meant to be rescheduled, and then all of a sudden we found out that the department had received special permission to hold the exam on Monday as planned. This was both good and bad news. Good: Chelsea and I didn't have to worry about the conflict with our trip to London/Paris... Bad: I hadn't really started studying at all. Luckily, we knew pretty much everything that would be on the exam. Chelsea and I ate a delightful lunch at Metropol (how had I not discovered this place earlier!?!?) before heading over to take our test. It ended up not being so bad. I forgot a guy's name that I probably should have known for one of my essays, but whatever, I am pretty sure I did okay.
Tuesday, I crammed for my City of Rome exam, that would be held Wednesday, aka my 21st birthday!! I got the exam done, and felt pretty decent about it. Strangely enough, one of the girls taking an exam in the same room (for a different class) is also a volunteer at Science Museum of Minnesota. She goes to Macalester, and we had met previously. Small world, eh? So, I went home, bought two adorable cakes from Choco-Latte (my first purchase there ever!), and got ready for my party. People started coming over and we played drinking dreidl until everybody was there and we ate some cake. It was soooo good. I was sad, though, because my dear friend Sarah was feeling under the weather, and my equally dear friend Emily had too much work to do, and so they didn't make it over. Nevertheless, we had a large cohort making its way to Koko, and when we got there, a few of my friends were waiting for us. We staked out all the good couches and the merriment began in earnest. I don't usually drink a lot, but everybody kept buying me drinks, so I was having a pretty damn good time. It was cool that my two groups of friends seemed to blend pretty well and get along. Somehow, I managed to be a rather functional human being the next day, though I did not end up walking over to Amisha's to say goodbye before she left, because it was suuper cold, and I thought we were going to see each other in London.
My friend Liz, who had missed my party because of studying (so sad) came over and ate some cake, and then Chelsea and Lindsey and I got Karen Wong's Chinese food and discovered how absolutely amazing it was (seriously way too late in the game). Somewhere in there, I studied for the archaeology exam that was in two days. I spent most of the next day cramming as well. On Saturday, Chelsea, Sam, and I congregated at Metropol before the impending doom, then waited outside the exam hall with the other bundles of nerves about to take this terrible exam. I think I did fine, in the end, but I was super mad because I was closing my booklet as the point came when you had to stay in the room til the end, so I had to wait it out. It was definitely weird to be totally done with academics at University of Edinburgh, but I was also immensely relieved that I was done with finals! It was definitely time to celebrate...
Monday was my first final at Uni. Edinburgh. It had been meant to be rescheduled, and then all of a sudden we found out that the department had received special permission to hold the exam on Monday as planned. This was both good and bad news. Good: Chelsea and I didn't have to worry about the conflict with our trip to London/Paris... Bad: I hadn't really started studying at all. Luckily, we knew pretty much everything that would be on the exam. Chelsea and I ate a delightful lunch at Metropol (how had I not discovered this place earlier!?!?) before heading over to take our test. It ended up not being so bad. I forgot a guy's name that I probably should have known for one of my essays, but whatever, I am pretty sure I did okay.
Tuesday, I crammed for my City of Rome exam, that would be held Wednesday, aka my 21st birthday!! I got the exam done, and felt pretty decent about it. Strangely enough, one of the girls taking an exam in the same room (for a different class) is also a volunteer at Science Museum of Minnesota. She goes to Macalester, and we had met previously. Small world, eh? So, I went home, bought two adorable cakes from Choco-Latte (my first purchase there ever!), and got ready for my party. People started coming over and we played drinking dreidl until everybody was there and we ate some cake. It was soooo good. I was sad, though, because my dear friend Sarah was feeling under the weather, and my equally dear friend Emily had too much work to do, and so they didn't make it over. Nevertheless, we had a large cohort making its way to Koko, and when we got there, a few of my friends were waiting for us. We staked out all the good couches and the merriment began in earnest. I don't usually drink a lot, but everybody kept buying me drinks, so I was having a pretty damn good time. It was cool that my two groups of friends seemed to blend pretty well and get along. Somehow, I managed to be a rather functional human being the next day, though I did not end up walking over to Amisha's to say goodbye before she left, because it was suuper cold, and I thought we were going to see each other in London.
My friend Liz, who had missed my party because of studying (so sad) came over and ate some cake, and then Chelsea and Lindsey and I got Karen Wong's Chinese food and discovered how absolutely amazing it was (seriously way too late in the game). Somewhere in there, I studied for the archaeology exam that was in two days. I spent most of the next day cramming as well. On Saturday, Chelsea, Sam, and I congregated at Metropol before the impending doom, then waited outside the exam hall with the other bundles of nerves about to take this terrible exam. I think I did fine, in the end, but I was super mad because I was closing my booklet as the point came when you had to stay in the room til the end, so I had to wait it out. It was definitely weird to be totally done with academics at University of Edinburgh, but I was also immensely relieved that I was done with finals! It was definitely time to celebrate...
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