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.
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Sunday, December 26, 2010
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!
Friday, September 10, 2010
edinburgh, at last.
I forgot in my last entry to describe taking the tube during rush hour, which was quite the experience. I was smashed like a sardine into the train, and I felt like such a jerk to be taking up as much space as I was. Oh well, it’s not like I had tried to take so much on in a crowd at any other time, and there was really no other option for getting to the train. I ended up getting there just 10 min before the train left, but I got on and it was all okay. I got to Edinburgh and hauled my crap up some giant hills to get to the orientation hotel. Straightaway, I met some pretty nice people, but I unfortunately missed the free sandwiches. Boo! We walked around the city until dinner. My camera ran out of battery for the first time on the trip, which was incredibly sad.
The hotel beds were so amazing after hostel beds/couches/air mattresses, that I slept all night and barely managed to wake up in the morning in time for breakfast. I love English breakfast. Whoever thought of eating baked beans in the morning was truly a god among men. The rest of the day was orientation stuff, the highlight of which was the Captain of Edinburgh police talking to us. He looked sort of like Craig Ferguson and pretty much spent the entire time cracking jokes about how much he liked drinking, and how much Edinburghers like drinking. But he also did have some important information for us. Today, we had another guest speaker, a member of the Scottish Parliament, who was equally as hilarious. She told a girl that she should marry her grandson, and invited a guy to come with her to an Edinburgh Hibernians football match next weekend. Everybody was INCREDIBLY jealous of the guy. That exchange led to her promising to make the attempt to get us a group rate for a game in the future so that we could all go.
When everything was done, I went out shopping with some girls. That wasn’t particularly exciting. That brings us to now… I hear people singing Don’t Stop Believin’ out the window… I bet it’s kids from this program. I am surprised that they could be drunk enough by 9 pm… but I feel like a lot of people came here solely to party. I need to get better so I can join in. I think I may have a sinus infection rather than a cold, but I don’t want to see a doctor about it or anything, because I hate taking antibiotics for something minor. I haven’t really gone out at all yet, because I just don’t want to make anything worse. So tonight, I came back the earliest yet, at like, 7 pm and just crawled into bed after I repacked all my stuff to move into my flat tomorrow. I just feel pretty gross, and it sucks because Fresher’s Week is a non-stop week of events and I don’t want to have to miss anything! I’m thinking about just going to sleep, and I’ll write a more introspective and less narrative entry later.
The hotel beds were so amazing after hostel beds/couches/air mattresses, that I slept all night and barely managed to wake up in the morning in time for breakfast. I love English breakfast. Whoever thought of eating baked beans in the morning was truly a god among men. The rest of the day was orientation stuff, the highlight of which was the Captain of Edinburgh police talking to us. He looked sort of like Craig Ferguson and pretty much spent the entire time cracking jokes about how much he liked drinking, and how much Edinburghers like drinking. But he also did have some important information for us. Today, we had another guest speaker, a member of the Scottish Parliament, who was equally as hilarious. She told a girl that she should marry her grandson, and invited a guy to come with her to an Edinburgh Hibernians football match next weekend. Everybody was INCREDIBLY jealous of the guy. That exchange led to her promising to make the attempt to get us a group rate for a game in the future so that we could all go.
When everything was done, I went out shopping with some girls. That wasn’t particularly exciting. That brings us to now… I hear people singing Don’t Stop Believin’ out the window… I bet it’s kids from this program. I am surprised that they could be drunk enough by 9 pm… but I feel like a lot of people came here solely to party. I need to get better so I can join in. I think I may have a sinus infection rather than a cold, but I don’t want to see a doctor about it or anything, because I hate taking antibiotics for something minor. I haven’t really gone out at all yet, because I just don’t want to make anything worse. So tonight, I came back the earliest yet, at like, 7 pm and just crawled into bed after I repacked all my stuff to move into my flat tomorrow. I just feel pretty gross, and it sucks because Fresher’s Week is a non-stop week of events and I don’t want to have to miss anything! I’m thinking about just going to sleep, and I’ll write a more introspective and less narrative entry later.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The End of Phase I
I'm writing this entry on the train to Edinburgh, because I feel like I probably won't have too much time to write much until orientation is over. Leaving London was actually really sad, even though I am really excited to get to Edinburgh and start the semester. I feel like you never contemplate how much you haven't seen until you are about to leave. Additionally, I made some pretty cool friends, so I am obviously going to have to go back to London (and they might come visit me in Edinburgh!). My host, Osman, and I went to the pub on Monday night to meet up with CouchSurfers and play games, and I lost at Shithead (i.e. village idiot, asshole, whatever you call this particular game), so this guy, Andy, from Australia was insistent that sometime in the future, we have to play again so I can redeem myself. He also told Osman to bring a big picture of my head when they play again this week, so that whoever has to deal the cards can use it as a mask. Haha, I'm pretty terrible at cards.
Back to Stockholm: on Sunday, Tove, Jonas' roommate, and I enjoyed some oatmeal, then caught the bus and met up with a few of her friends at the harbor to go on a hop-on, hop-off sightseeing tour. We went to the Vasamuseet, which is a museum that's main attraction is a huge warship that sunk on its maiden voyage in the 17th Century. It was really, really interesting. I could probably have stayed there all day, but we had more to do and see! So, I spent most of my time in the museum looking at the exhibit about the skeletons they found around the ship and the possessions they found by the bodies. It was quite an interesting way to learn about the life of seafarers, but also about archaeological methods, etc. Then, we went to Skansen, which is an outdoor folk museum sort of thing, and it is supposed to represent all of the different parts of Sweden in a miniature setting. I ate Swedish meatballs, saw reindeer, and saw a lot of different buildings of a Swedish sort. Tove was very excited to show us the farm representing her area of Sweden (the south).
After Skansen, we were all exhausted and happy to ride the tour boat for a while, until we got to Gamla Stan (the old town), where we walked around the palace, the Storykyrka and browsed the lovely array of shops. Tove and I went back to the flat, where we relaxed by making Swedish pancakes. Tove was getting frustrated because the temperature wasn’t getting to the optimal point, so the pancakes kept ripping or not cooking exactly the way they were supposed to. She said she felt like a failure as a Swede, but eventually, we got it down, and they were deeeeelicious. Jonas went out, and I read for a while, then went to bed early, since I was still not feeling particularly wonderful, and I had to leave the flat at 5:30 the next morning.
Now we get to the exciting part of my story, in which I have my first encounter with Ryanair. I feel like every study abroad student has this experience. I had already had an easyjet flight, which I thought was actually quite pleasant, despite having to pay an arm and a leg to get to Stansted from London. Easyjet is no frills, yes, but they don’t have a weight limit despite having a size limit for your one carry-on bag. On Ryanair, they actually weigh your baggage. Knowing this, I got dressed in the morning by putting on my leggings, then my jeans, then my boots, and my dress, and my sweater with a scarf. When I got to the airport, before going through the bag check, I decided that my bag might still be too heavy… So I took my blanket out, and put it on as another (giant) scarf. I also took out my iPod, wallet, phone, book, and a few other things, and stuffed them into my pockets. I imagine I must have looked quite ridiculous, but it was a damn good strategy, because when I put my backpack on the scale, it wavered between 10.1 and 10.0 kilos until finally settling at exactly 10.0 kg.
The plane itself is just a Boeing 737, but the inside is gross-ified. The entire trip, the flight crew is advertising various junk to buy. There is NO PEACE on a Ryanair flight. Honestly, after all of the administration fees and getting to the airport and all, I may as well have just paid for a normal flight. We’ll see about how it goes in the future, but I do not have a very favorable view of Ryanair. As soon as I got to the airport, I ran to the bathroom and stripped off a few layers so I could be a normal person again. I got through passport control no problem, and then went back to the city. I chilled for an hour or two to take care of vital communication, and then I went to the Science Museum, which was pretty cool. I met up with my friend from Couchsurfing, Osman, at the tube stop by his place, and then we waited for his other surfer, a German girl named Luisa, to get back. We watched some TV, specifically, “Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?” and I strengthened my conviction that all British TV is just weird. After that, the pub trip that I highlighted earlier occurred.
The next day, I had to battle the Tube strike to pick up my 60 or so pounds of luggage from the Canadian High Commission, and I was wondering how on earth I was ever going to manage to do so. I figured out that a taxi would cost me almost 30 dollars, which seemed pretty damn steep. So I found out that the Northern Line still had a good service, and since there was a stop right by Osman’s flat, I could take it to within just over a mile of the High Commission. When my dad’s friend found somebody to help me since she wouldn’t be there, I set out on my voyage. I walked the wrong way out of Tottenham Court Road station, but realized it pretty quickly. I was running a little late at this point, but I made it to the High Commission within about 10 minutes of when I said I should get there. The lady who helped me was incredibly nice, though she was very surprised I was American, because she had been expecting a German, based on my name. So, luggage in tow, I managed to get back to the tube, and back to Osman’s flat.
I was so tired that I just sort of loafed around for a while before deciding to go to the Imperial War Museum. I got there, but realized I had taken a very roundabout way. I looked at the WWII stuff, and then wandered into the Holocaust exhibit. This was a mistake. It was so interesting, but so heartbreaking. I didn’t make it all the way through to the end, and then I decided to go look at the spy exhibit to pick my spirits up. It’s strange how even though I have been exposed to so much about the Holocaust through all of my classes (even as early as middle school), but I couldn’t even get through this exhibit. I think it was the abundance of pictures and the video clips of Nazi speeches, rather than just reading about it. When I got back, Osman was cooking dinner. Yum. After we ate a little something something, we headed to a different pub for another CS party night meetup thing. There were SO MANY people at this! I couldn’t keep track of everybody I met, but there were a few people whom I’ll probably see again.
Luisa wanted to go, but Osman and I were having a good time (though again, I wasn’t drinking because I was feeling not so great), so we said we’d stay a while longer. Then, when we wanted to go, we couldn’t get Luisa to leave. Luisa, who could probably be a model, was surrounded by no fewer than 6 men, all making the googly eyes at her and clinging to every last barely-understandable word (she hardly speaks any English. It was kind of amusing, but also pretty annoying, since Osman and I both had to get up really early.
Back to Stockholm: on Sunday, Tove, Jonas' roommate, and I enjoyed some oatmeal, then caught the bus and met up with a few of her friends at the harbor to go on a hop-on, hop-off sightseeing tour. We went to the Vasamuseet, which is a museum that's main attraction is a huge warship that sunk on its maiden voyage in the 17th Century. It was really, really interesting. I could probably have stayed there all day, but we had more to do and see! So, I spent most of my time in the museum looking at the exhibit about the skeletons they found around the ship and the possessions they found by the bodies. It was quite an interesting way to learn about the life of seafarers, but also about archaeological methods, etc. Then, we went to Skansen, which is an outdoor folk museum sort of thing, and it is supposed to represent all of the different parts of Sweden in a miniature setting. I ate Swedish meatballs, saw reindeer, and saw a lot of different buildings of a Swedish sort. Tove was very excited to show us the farm representing her area of Sweden (the south).
After Skansen, we were all exhausted and happy to ride the tour boat for a while, until we got to Gamla Stan (the old town), where we walked around the palace, the Storykyrka and browsed the lovely array of shops. Tove and I went back to the flat, where we relaxed by making Swedish pancakes. Tove was getting frustrated because the temperature wasn’t getting to the optimal point, so the pancakes kept ripping or not cooking exactly the way they were supposed to. She said she felt like a failure as a Swede, but eventually, we got it down, and they were deeeeelicious. Jonas went out, and I read for a while, then went to bed early, since I was still not feeling particularly wonderful, and I had to leave the flat at 5:30 the next morning.
Now we get to the exciting part of my story, in which I have my first encounter with Ryanair. I feel like every study abroad student has this experience. I had already had an easyjet flight, which I thought was actually quite pleasant, despite having to pay an arm and a leg to get to Stansted from London. Easyjet is no frills, yes, but they don’t have a weight limit despite having a size limit for your one carry-on bag. On Ryanair, they actually weigh your baggage. Knowing this, I got dressed in the morning by putting on my leggings, then my jeans, then my boots, and my dress, and my sweater with a scarf. When I got to the airport, before going through the bag check, I decided that my bag might still be too heavy… So I took my blanket out, and put it on as another (giant) scarf. I also took out my iPod, wallet, phone, book, and a few other things, and stuffed them into my pockets. I imagine I must have looked quite ridiculous, but it was a damn good strategy, because when I put my backpack on the scale, it wavered between 10.1 and 10.0 kilos until finally settling at exactly 10.0 kg.
The plane itself is just a Boeing 737, but the inside is gross-ified. The entire trip, the flight crew is advertising various junk to buy. There is NO PEACE on a Ryanair flight. Honestly, after all of the administration fees and getting to the airport and all, I may as well have just paid for a normal flight. We’ll see about how it goes in the future, but I do not have a very favorable view of Ryanair. As soon as I got to the airport, I ran to the bathroom and stripped off a few layers so I could be a normal person again. I got through passport control no problem, and then went back to the city. I chilled for an hour or two to take care of vital communication, and then I went to the Science Museum, which was pretty cool. I met up with my friend from Couchsurfing, Osman, at the tube stop by his place, and then we waited for his other surfer, a German girl named Luisa, to get back. We watched some TV, specifically, “Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?” and I strengthened my conviction that all British TV is just weird. After that, the pub trip that I highlighted earlier occurred.
The next day, I had to battle the Tube strike to pick up my 60 or so pounds of luggage from the Canadian High Commission, and I was wondering how on earth I was ever going to manage to do so. I figured out that a taxi would cost me almost 30 dollars, which seemed pretty damn steep. So I found out that the Northern Line still had a good service, and since there was a stop right by Osman’s flat, I could take it to within just over a mile of the High Commission. When my dad’s friend found somebody to help me since she wouldn’t be there, I set out on my voyage. I walked the wrong way out of Tottenham Court Road station, but realized it pretty quickly. I was running a little late at this point, but I made it to the High Commission within about 10 minutes of when I said I should get there. The lady who helped me was incredibly nice, though she was very surprised I was American, because she had been expecting a German, based on my name. So, luggage in tow, I managed to get back to the tube, and back to Osman’s flat.
I was so tired that I just sort of loafed around for a while before deciding to go to the Imperial War Museum. I got there, but realized I had taken a very roundabout way. I looked at the WWII stuff, and then wandered into the Holocaust exhibit. This was a mistake. It was so interesting, but so heartbreaking. I didn’t make it all the way through to the end, and then I decided to go look at the spy exhibit to pick my spirits up. It’s strange how even though I have been exposed to so much about the Holocaust through all of my classes (even as early as middle school), but I couldn’t even get through this exhibit. I think it was the abundance of pictures and the video clips of Nazi speeches, rather than just reading about it. When I got back, Osman was cooking dinner. Yum. After we ate a little something something, we headed to a different pub for another CS party night meetup thing. There were SO MANY people at this! I couldn’t keep track of everybody I met, but there were a few people whom I’ll probably see again.
Luisa wanted to go, but Osman and I were having a good time (though again, I wasn’t drinking because I was feeling not so great), so we said we’d stay a while longer. Then, when we wanted to go, we couldn’t get Luisa to leave. Luisa, who could probably be a model, was surrounded by no fewer than 6 men, all making the googly eyes at her and clinging to every last barely-understandable word (she hardly speaks any English. It was kind of amusing, but also pretty annoying, since Osman and I both had to get up really early.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
As promised, a real update.
My avid readers-
Okay, so I think I might have somewhat gotten the hang of things around here. Sort of. When I got in at around 11:00 pm yesterday, I couldn't get any money using my debit cards. My credit cards didn't work in the tube ticket vending machines. I was freaking out, and having an attack etc, etc, etc. That was quite the way to start my study abroad experience... however, I feel a little better knowing it can only go uphill from here. Last night was spent on skype with my wonderful and supportive parents until almost 04:00 London time, trying to sort out how I can get some money, and it ended up with me being able to get enough to last at least the next 4 or 5 days. So, the grand total of sleep I have had in the last 48 hours or so is maybe 9 hours on the high end. However, I've found a lovely chain with 99p coffee and free wi-fi, so that solves that problem.
I wanted to go to the British Museum, but there was apparently some sort of gas leak, and it had to be evacuated earlier in the day. Hopefully it will be open tomorrow! So, instead, I checked into my hostel and quickly learned that you get what you pay for. for £16.00 ish, I was pretty happy just to have a place to stay, but I really wonder what kind of backpacker's hostel doesn't have lockers big enough to hold backpacks! So, I put all my valuable stuff into my rucksack and threw it in, and hoped for the best on the rest of it. I don't think anybody would want to steal my suitcase full of old shoes and underwear. The hostel smells intensely like BO, and the mattress is approximately 3 inches thick, but the bed has a curtain so I can have a little privacy. And there's a free breakfast. Tomorrow, I go to a different, and most likely better hostel, so I can definitely deal with this for one night. I wish CouchSurfing had panned out for London!
After settling into the hostel, I made an attempt to find a place to get a SIM card, but failed miserably. I ended up wandering aimlessly for a while, which was interesting, though the blisters on my foot from wearing bad shoes yesterday are getting pretty painful. I ought to find some moleskin or something before I explode in a pus-filled mess. Yuck. The plus of that escapade was the fact that I found a place to get a passport style photo to use to get a 16-25 discount railcard. Being a moron, I presumably left my photos in America. I walked into a store with a sign outside, got my 4 pictures for £3.99, but then they messed one up and gave me a pound back, which was lovely, considering that most places seemed to be charging £5 for 2 pictures! The picture is terrible, but it doesn't matter. The next step is getting to a rail station to buy my railcard and a ticket for the Stansted express and one for Edinburgh. Then, I'm going to take it easy for the evening, since I am EXHAUSTED.
Monday is the Notting Hill Carnival, which I hear is a pretty huge deal. I'm going to meet up with a bunch of Couch Surfers at a pub (P.S. Responsible grown-ups reading this blog: note that though I am of legal drinking age here, and have gone through several ordeals since arriving, I have yet to purchase an alcoholic beverage. That's restraint.) and then watch the parade and listen to the Caribbean music. I am very excited for that. That leaves tomorrow to move my stuff to the new hostel, hit up the British Museum, British Library, Science Museum, and Museum of Natural History (or, you know, whichever of the above I have time to visit. They're all FREE!). I'll probably end up at the British Museum since it is just a hop away from the hostel.
Okay, this novel is over. I have a few hours in which to get to a T-Mobile store and get phone service, then figure out if I can take care of my rail stuff on a Saturday.
Over and Out.
P.S. I'm trying to think of a way better sign off. We'll see if that ever happens.
Okay, so I think I might have somewhat gotten the hang of things around here. Sort of. When I got in at around 11:00 pm yesterday, I couldn't get any money using my debit cards. My credit cards didn't work in the tube ticket vending machines. I was freaking out, and having an attack etc, etc, etc. That was quite the way to start my study abroad experience... however, I feel a little better knowing it can only go uphill from here. Last night was spent on skype with my wonderful and supportive parents until almost 04:00 London time, trying to sort out how I can get some money, and it ended up with me being able to get enough to last at least the next 4 or 5 days. So, the grand total of sleep I have had in the last 48 hours or so is maybe 9 hours on the high end. However, I've found a lovely chain with 99p coffee and free wi-fi, so that solves that problem.
I wanted to go to the British Museum, but there was apparently some sort of gas leak, and it had to be evacuated earlier in the day. Hopefully it will be open tomorrow! So, instead, I checked into my hostel and quickly learned that you get what you pay for. for £16.00 ish, I was pretty happy just to have a place to stay, but I really wonder what kind of backpacker's hostel doesn't have lockers big enough to hold backpacks! So, I put all my valuable stuff into my rucksack and threw it in, and hoped for the best on the rest of it. I don't think anybody would want to steal my suitcase full of old shoes and underwear. The hostel smells intensely like BO, and the mattress is approximately 3 inches thick, but the bed has a curtain so I can have a little privacy. And there's a free breakfast. Tomorrow, I go to a different, and most likely better hostel, so I can definitely deal with this for one night. I wish CouchSurfing had panned out for London!
After settling into the hostel, I made an attempt to find a place to get a SIM card, but failed miserably. I ended up wandering aimlessly for a while, which was interesting, though the blisters on my foot from wearing bad shoes yesterday are getting pretty painful. I ought to find some moleskin or something before I explode in a pus-filled mess. Yuck. The plus of that escapade was the fact that I found a place to get a passport style photo to use to get a 16-25 discount railcard. Being a moron, I presumably left my photos in America. I walked into a store with a sign outside, got my 4 pictures for £3.99, but then they messed one up and gave me a pound back, which was lovely, considering that most places seemed to be charging £5 for 2 pictures! The picture is terrible, but it doesn't matter. The next step is getting to a rail station to buy my railcard and a ticket for the Stansted express and one for Edinburgh. Then, I'm going to take it easy for the evening, since I am EXHAUSTED.
Monday is the Notting Hill Carnival, which I hear is a pretty huge deal. I'm going to meet up with a bunch of Couch Surfers at a pub (P.S. Responsible grown-ups reading this blog: note that though I am of legal drinking age here, and have gone through several ordeals since arriving, I have yet to purchase an alcoholic beverage. That's restraint.) and then watch the parade and listen to the Caribbean music. I am very excited for that. That leaves tomorrow to move my stuff to the new hostel, hit up the British Museum, British Library, Science Museum, and Museum of Natural History (or, you know, whichever of the above I have time to visit. They're all FREE!). I'll probably end up at the British Museum since it is just a hop away from the hostel.
Okay, this novel is over. I have a few hours in which to get to a T-Mobile store and get phone service, then figure out if I can take care of my rail stuff on a Saturday.
Over and Out.
P.S. I'm trying to think of a way better sign off. We'll see if that ever happens.
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