Travel Changes You

My passport stamps from Germany.

I am four months into this wonderful and life changing adventure, and I can say with all honesty, that I've loved every minute of it.  Everyone says travel changes you, but I wasn't sure how this experience would impact me personally.  Today, I am way more independent and self reliant.  I've always been independent, but I wasn't very confident in my ability exert such brazen independence without the comforting safety net of family nearby.  Moving to a new country and even just traveling by myself has taught me that I am every bit as capable as my family believed I was.

I have also gained a lot of clarity about what I want in life.  When I arrived in the UK, I was convinced that I wanted to work for a big international company and come work and live abroad full time.  I also thought that a career that had me traveling 70-90% of the time would be completely doable and even fun.  Thankfully, now with a bit more life experience and time under my belt, I have realized that even though I love to travel, traveling all of the time isn't nearly as glamorous as it looks in the magazines; it's actually kind of exhausting.  As to living abroad, three months is about as long as I can go before I start feeling the pull to return home.  Luckily, I haven't suffered through any major homesickness, but like everyone, I have my moments where I'd give anything to see my friends and family or a familiar brand in the grocery store.

By spending this time abroad I have learned some incredibly important things about myself.  Now I know that the ex-pat life isn't for me, and that whatever career I eventually end up in, I would like to be home at least 50% of the time.  Knowing that I can tackle the Paris Metro system (entirely in French), the Frankfurt airport (weirdest security checkpoint ever), Heathrow airport (busiest airport in the world), visiting countries and not knowing the language (I don't speak a lick of German), and meeting new friends all over again (now I have friends from all of the corners of the world), gives me a newfound sense of confidence in my abilities to succeed at home.

To anyone who is on the fence about going abroad, I urge you to consider it.  It's more affordable than you think, and the experience is truly life changing.  There is nothing like it.  It changes you.  You won't be the same person who got on that plane to that new destination, but you'll be better for it.  As for WSU students, our Education Abroad department has a great staff who will open a world of opportunity for you if you just make an appointment.

I'm Alive, I Promise!

Luise and I representing our favorite Washington universities.  Go Cougs!

I owe everyone a big apology, I most definitely fell off the map after St. Patricks day.  So please allow me to offer my sincerest apology and a brief explanation on what I've been up to for the past seven weeks.

As soon as I got back from Dublin I had three major class projects come due.  Now, typically, this wouldn't be a big deal, but I lucked out and got three professors this semester that calculate my final semester grade off of only two things:  my mid-term project and my final exam.  Yeah, no pressure or anything.

So, the minute I got home I hit the books.  In the course of two weeks I put together a 22 page group project for my Marketing class, a 12 page essay on 'Criminal Transportation to Australia' for my Victorian Cities class, and 13 page in depth political comparison project on Switzerland for my Political Science class.  Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me.  Apparently, this isn't the norm for professors at Swansea--I just got really lucky.  Good news is, thanks to all of these projects, now I have plenty of material to choose from for my Junior Writing Portfolio (WSU's mid-education writing assessment).  I got them all turned in on time, and was able to leave for Spring Break with no remaining work hanging over my head, except to study for exams when I returned home.

I'll go into more detail later, but I spent my first week of break in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Talk about an amazing country (within a country--although, if they have their way, they may be independent of Britain come September) with a wild, natural beauty.  Now I understand why it's been the background of so many movies.  It was breathtaking.  I took a day trip into the highlands and Loch Lomond.  Only the pictures really do it justice, so check back soon, there will be lots!

I ventured onward from Edinburgh, back to London, to catch my flight to Frankfurt.  I was greeted by my favorite German person on the planet, one of my best friends, Luise, and her dad, Marc.  I spent two and a half weeks with Luise, her mom and dad, and her siblings Paul and Mathilde.  We spent the first week sightseeing, then the second week I attended German high school with Luise.  Quite the adventure!  I finished my trip off by spraining my ankle-I may or may not have tripped coming down a particularly vicarious set of stairs while visiting some friends-but luckily, Luise's mom is a doctor, so she patched me up quite nicely.  It wasn't too bad, and I was good to return to Swansea a couple days later, no brace necessary.

So now I'm back in Swansea studying for my final exams.  Lectures ended the week before Spring Break, so now we have a month to take exams (I will never understand why they feel three weeks is an appropriate length of time to drag out exams), then I'm off for some more traveling.  I'll finish exams on May 29.  One weekend in June, my flat and I are taking a weekend trip to London to do some sightseeing.  The following week I'll move out of my dorm in Swansea, and take off to Athens, Greece to spend a week with my next door neighbor whose family lives there.  I'll visit her for a week, then it's back to Germany to go celebrate my 19th birthday and Luise's high school graduation. On July 2, I will officially be safely back on American soil, and back to my family who are all beginning to voice their wishes for me to return home very loudly--Dad, that's 49 more days!

Just under two months left.  I fully intend to make the most of them.  I'll do my best to keep the posts a little bit more regular, promise.  Lots more to come!  Check back soon.

Dublin for Saint Patrick's Day

I meant to have this blog post up last week when I got home, but I've been swamped with midterm projects ever since I got back on campus.  Luckily, the frenzy had seemed to die down a bit, so I can get back to writing.

Dublin for St. Paddy's day...definitely my favorite trip to date!  I'm not sure if it was atmosphere of millions of people swarming the city for the festivities, the wonderful group of people I was with, or just the experience in general.  Whatever it was, it was amazing.

We drove all night to get to Dublin Saturday morning.  When we got there, I did something very unlike me, I was completely without a plan.  The week leading up to my trip was just as crazy as when I got back, so I had very little time to come up with a sightseeing plan.  There were a few things I wanted to see, but I wasn't set on anything in particular.

When we arrived at our hostel, I got together with a some friends from South Carolina and Tennessee, and we all went on a free walking tour.  The idea of a "free" tour initially left me a bit skeptical.  How good could something truly "free" be?  I was completely blown away.  Our guide was fantastic.  A local college kid who knew the city like the back of his hand.  For three hours, we trekked all over the city, getting interesting little tidbits about the city.  I learned that Dublin was originally named "Duiblinn" pronounced (doob-lynn) which translates into "Black Pool" but the English couldn't pronounce the name correctly and eventually it became the Dublin we know today.

I did my first pub crawl that night.  Everywhere was playing loud Irish music and decked out for the holiday.  I found myself wondering whether or not these places play Irish music all year or if they were just playing up the authenticity for the sake of the tourists.

On Sunday we spent the day at the Guinness Storehouse.  Rather than your typical factory tour, they have built an enormous interactive museum around their product.  The entire building was lit up with green lights on the inside, and they placed dozens of bars handing out free Guinness strategically through the tour.  I don't think I'm a big fan of Guinness, but it was quite the experience to be there and see how it's made.

Monday the festivities really took off.  We all got up early and got ready in our St. Paddy's day garb.  I wore an enormous green bow on my head and got my face painted.  I was definitely channeling my Irish family heritage.  The parade was quite an experience.  I guess marching bands aren't a thing here in Europe, because all of the marching bands in the parade were American.  We saw Louisiana State University's band and several high schools from all over our country.  The parade floats were all themed past, present, and future.  It was obvious the huge amount of work that went in to all of the costumes and makeup; quite the production!

After the parade, I caught up with another friend that I met while I've been at Swansea University.  We walked over to Temple Bar, which is the oldest neighborhood in Dublin, and found it completely packed with wall to wall people.  It was like standing at the front of the stage at a rock concert, but the crowd covered a mile radius in this neighborhood.  Someone in my hostel said they saw Bono, from U2, in the mess with all of his security guards escorting him out.  It was just too crazy.  I bought a t-shirt, and we headed to Trinity College as fast as we could.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that admission to the famous Long Room and Book of Kells at Trinity College was free on St. Patrick's day.  The Book of Kells, a two volume illustrated set of the Gospels, wasn't nearly as impressive as I had read about, but it was still neat to say I've seen it.  The Long Room was just as wonderful as its picture.  I could have spent hours in there.  It's too bad it's not a working library; everything was roped off.  I would have loved to spend a couple hours reading in the beautiful old room.

I finished out St. Patrick's day listening to live Irish music played in a pub near my hostel.  My friends and I grabbed dinner and a pint, and rested our very tired feet.  It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Tuesday was pretty uneventful.  I met back up with some of the friends I travelled with and visited St. Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral.  The churches were beautiful, but it's gotten to the point that a church is a church is a church.  They are everywhere, each prettier than the one before it.  However, it still amazes me the amount of time and dedication people put into their places of worship.

I got in early Wednesday morning, worn out from a great trip.  I spent St. Patrick's day in Dublin, Ireland.  I don't know many people who can say that!  Many more adventures to come.

A Step Back Into Time: Day Trip to Bath

Bath Street, Bath, Somerset, UK

Yesterday, a my exchange group took a day trip over to Bath.  Being a Jane Austen fan and a Georgian architecture enthusiast, Bath was one of the top places on my list to visit.  Wandering around the ancient streets was like a step back into time.

We arrived around ten in the morning.  It was one of the most beautiful days I've experienced since arriving in this rainy country.  About fifteen of us jumped off the bus, and headed for the main attraction, the Roman Baths.  

Over 2,000 years of history, once buried under the rocks, was excavated and restored into a wonderful monument.  The baths themselves look like they do in the pictures, but I was surprised to find out that the geothermal spring that once heated the water for the Romans continues to do so for today.  The museum did a wonderful job of weaving the restorations in with the original works.  

At the end of the tour there was a filtered Bath Spring Water stand, so we too, could take the healing waters.  We all drank the warm, newly filtered water, then immediately regretted it, because, despite being filtered, it still tasted as if it had been boiled with dirty gym socks.  Gross!  It took me two bottles of water and a couple breath mints just to get the taste out of my mouth.  Jury's still out on whether or not it will "heal all of my ailments".  I guess time will tell!

Next stop was Queen Square and the Royal Crescent.  The park held an obelisk type monument erected in the honor of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.  The Royal Crescent appears to have once been a palace or some sort of extravagant stately home.  Now, it has been broken up into apartments.  We were told that one would have to pay £400,000 just for the right to rent one of the homes, then monthly rent and co-op fees on top of that.  The dozens of luxury cars parked in resident parking only went to further our realization that this was where Bath's elite lived.

My group spent most of the afternoon wandering the streets and just taking in the city.  We stopped for lunch at a pub.  

I tried Cottage Pie for the first time.  It was delicious!  I'm going to have to find a recipe and see if I can recreate the dish.

During our journey, we happened upon the famous Pulteney Bridge.  Beneath the bridge was a terraced water feature much like the one from Javert's death scene in Les Miserables.  Beside the bridge was a lovely park named Parade Park.  Despite it only being the first of March, daffodils were blooming everywhere and the grass was luscious and green.  Springtime is coming, I could feel it in the air!

The last stop for the day was Bath Abbey.  I've mentioned before how much I love cathedrals, and this one jumped to the top of my list to tie with Notre Dame.
Unlike many cathedrals I have visited, Bath Abbey was light and airy, rather than having the dark, omnipresent air that many seem to have.  The building was made of a light colored stone, and the windows positioned to take full advantage of the natural sunlight.  The stained glass and flowers added color to a sand colored backdrop.  The way the sunlight and colors mingled brought a feeling of joy to the place, instead of the somber reverence inspired by many churches of England.  It was a beautiful place!

All of the Georgian architecture, well kept streets, ancient alleyways, and beautiful gardens was like stepping back in time into a Jane Austen novel.  Some places you can feel the light whisper of history in the air, in Bath that it is not a whisper but a song floating through the streets.  This beautiful town has become one of my favorite places in England.

Liverpool and Manchester

Liverpool, UK

My friend Danni and I had quite the adventure this weekend.  We took a whirlwind trip to Liverpool, Manchester, and Lyme Park.

Friday afternoon we took the four hour train to Liverpool.  It was a long ride, but pleasant.  I love traveling by train.  It's a great way to see all that a country has to offer.

We spent all of Saturday there just exploring the city at a leisurely pace.  We started our morning off in Liverpool Cathedral which is supposed to have the oldest church bells in Europe.  It was a massive place, and like all the others, breathtakingly beautiful.

Liverpool Cathedral

Next we went down to Albert Dock and did "The Beatles Story" museum.  I'm not a huge Beatles fan, but I learned a huge amount in that short hour.  I left the place with a newfound appreciation for the legendary band.

The Beatles Museum

Our hotel room in Liverpool.

Liverpool was a very historic city, but it was rough around the edges.  The buildings, although pretty, were old and run down.  It seemed no one had taken the time or money to restore the damage leftover by the wars.  I struggled to find a very nice upscale neighborhood downtown, or really, anything that didn't look like rough neighborhood.  It was an eye opening experience seeing the raw side of England.  This once grand city is a ghost of the past lingering on the docks.

The rest of the afternoon was mainly just spent wandering around the city.  We visited the Liverpool Museum, the Liverpool Central

Library, the Royal Liver Building, and saw the Cunard Building at Pier Head.  The day ended by looking for a coffee shop, which didn't end well.  Right when I was beginning to think Starbucks was taking over the world, I found myself in a neighborhood with only one coffee shop that was completely full. Tired and only slightly bitter, Danni and I hiked our way back to Lime Street station, grabbed a coffee to go, and hopped our train to Manchester.

In a short forty-five minutes we were in a brand new city.  Our walk to the hotel was longer than it should have been--we exited from the wrong door at the train station--but it was okay because we saw hundreds of Manchester City fans making their way to the stadium for a game.  Everyone was decked out in light blue and white.  I couldn't help but think of UNC's Tarheel games.  Momentarily it felt a little like home.

I like Manchester well enough.  It's odd, I was warned by many people how rough the city was, but I didn't find it particularly unseemly.  It had the air of an industrial powerhouse with a streak of modernity.  Like Cardiff, the old buildings were mixed with tall glass sky scrapers and apartment buildings.  It appeared that in this city, someone took the care to rebuild and repair the old decaying buildings.  I only passed through the city on a tram en route to Old Trafford, the Manchester United stadium, but what I saw seemed pretty normal for a city.  Manchester is a good deal larger and busier than Liverpool was.  It was more of a working city.  There weren't as many touristy things to do there, but the eternal hum of electricity that you get in a big city was there in the background, energizing its inhabitants.


Saturday morning we caught an early train out to Old Trafford.  Danni had booked us a museum and stadium tour.  This place blew me away!  I wasn't terribly excited at first.  Admittedly, I'm not a football (soccer) fan, and I knew very little about the team except that David Beckham once played for them. But after this tour I was proud to walk out of the "Manchester United Megastore" with my red and yellow t-shirt and support the team.

The stadium holds around 75,000 people, which in comparison to some of the mega-domes back home in the States isn't much, but standing next to the grass pitch being warmed by things that looked like the huge industrial crop irrigation contraptions with sun lamps attached, I realized how much time, effort, and money goes into each game.  We got to see the dressing rooms, directors' box, press rooms, and all of the cool back stage areas typically only seen by staff and players.  We learned a ton about the team's history, and Old Trafford itself that's been there since the early 1900s.



The afternoon was spent at Lyme Park, the home of Pemberly, from the 1995 A&E adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.  Despite some rather foul weather, it was a wonderful afternoon.

Danni and I stepped off the train into what appeared to be in the middle of nowhere.  I pulled out my iPhone to pull up my Google Maps only to find a dreaded "No Service" message.  My heart sank as it dawned on me that neither one of us knew where we were going, and had stupidly planned to rely solely on technology.  Well, technology had failed us.  After a few seconds of panic, we noticed the sign that said Lyme Park.  "Well, I guess we're going to do this the old fashioned way."  Off we went. We only walked for about a half a mile, although, allow me to point out, that when you're walking in a seemingly random direction with only one sign to go off of, no cell service, and practically by yourselves, a half mile feels like an eternity.

Front Gatehouse

Shortly thereafter, we arrived at the gate of Lyme Park.  I was quickly beginning to realize exactly what the true meaning of a "country estate" was.  It's a euphemism for I have a enormous house and lots of land in the big middle of nowhere.  We found a shuttle bus to take us from the front gates up to the house.  Our driver was very nice, and gave a short background story on the property itself.  He told us about the hunting lodge on the property as well as the house.  Apparently, they several types of deer in the park.  In a few minutes, he dropped us off, we went exploring in the house.

South side of the house.

The house itself wasn't nearly as large as I had imagined.  Don't get me wrong, it was still huge, after seeing it in the movie, I assumed it was all house, but it actually was square shaped with a courtyard in the middle.  The north side of the house is where the main entrance was.  It was pretty, with a big circular driveway and another beautiful gate.  The inside of the house was lovely, but we weren't allowed to take pictures.  My favorite, however, was the south side of the house that starred in the movie.  It was beautiful and everything I imagined.  The pond behind the house was enormous, but since the film they had erupted an awful statue of a giant Mr. Darcy emerging from the pond like in the movie.  It kind of ruined the mood.  That small complaint aside, the whole afternoon was fantastic.

We caught our train home and arrived safely back in Swansea for another week of classes and real life.

I feel so blessed to be able to see all that I have in these short few weeks.  Yesterday marked the beginning of my fifth week of classes, and my sixth week here in Wales.  It's been a wonderful adventure that is only just beginning.

I promise, my post on Paris is coming soon.  The pictures from that trip as well as this one is already on Flickr, accessible via my photos link.  More later!

Au Revior, Paris: Day Three

Montmartre

We spent early Sunday morning wandering around Montmartre, the art district of Paris.  The neighborhood was once home to Pablo Picasso.  It was only a ten minute walk from where we were staying, so we thought we'd save it until the last minute.  I love cities in the morning when they haven't quite woken up yet.  Paris was still sleepy when we looking around that morning.  We witnessed the shops slowly opening and the city beginning to come alive.  

Our last and final stop before returning to our tour bus was the Sacre Coeur.  We didn't go inside, but we hiked up the hundreds of steps to see the famous church.  The morning sunlight lit up the beautiful, old white building.  It was like it glowed against the perfect blue sky.  We didn't spend too much time there, but it was a great end to a very good trip.

The bus ride home was long.  It felt like it took a lifetime just to get out of France.  We took the ferry from Calais to Dover, UK.  Since it was daytime this time when we took the ferry we could see the White Cliffs of Dover as we pulled into the port.  It was such an interesting sight.  I've never seen anything like it.

We got home after eleven that evening, and I quickly crashed into my bed.  Class started at nine Monday morning, but the weekend was well worth lost sleep.

That concludes my adventures in Paris.  My next upcoming trip is Bath this Saturday.  Stay tuned for updates!

Dernier Jour: Day Two

#wavetheflag at the Eiffel Tower!  Go Cougs!

The girls and I got up first thing on Saturday morning and took the metro to the Eiffel Tower.  It was absolutely massive, but wasn't what I was expecting.  Maybe it's because we see it all the time in pictures, but it didn't take my breath away.  It's an iconic monument, no doubt, but I didn't think it was as impressive as everyone kept saying.  Nonetheless, it was a wonderful opportunity to experience something famous.

Musee d'Orsay

After taking dozens of photos, we hopped the metro to the Musee d'Orsay.  We got let in for free because we were all on UK visas which was cool.  We wished we'd known that the day before so we could have avoided paying the rather expensive entry to the Louvre.  Oh well.  I actually liked the Musee d'Orsay a bit more than the Louvre.  It wasn't as intimidating.  The building was beautiful.  Previously, it was a train station, so it has the tall foggy glass ceilings and iron supports that train stations of that time usually did.  The glass ceiling tiles allowed for a lot of natural sunlight.

Inside the main room of the Pantheon

We stopped into a little cafe for lunch then went on to the Luxembourg Gardens.  We walked through the gardens and over to the Pantheon.  I love old building like this.  They were doing construction on the dome, so I didn't get any good outside photos, but the inside was really pretty.  In their crypt is the final resting place of Voltaire, Marie Curie and her husband, and many others.

Continuing on our journey we trekked over to Love Lock Bridge and then Notre Dame.  We got a little turned around in the Latin Quarter, but followed the sight of the steeple on the horizon all the way down to the Seine.  Love Lock Bridge is actually several bridges in Paris where lovers come to place a lock on the railing of the bridge and toss their key into the river in hopes that their love will last forever.  What they don't tell you is that there are so many locks that they have to be removed once every seven months.  The Love Lock Bridge we visited is on the bridge just behind the cathedral.

Danni, Molly, Caylyn, me, and Olivia at Love Lock Bridge with Notre Dame in the background

Notre Dame was my favorite stop that weekend.  When I first walked in I was hit with this sudden overwhelming awe and reverence for the place.  It was a powerful experience.  The place was packed with tourists and worshippers alike, but their presence didn't take away from the experience.

The glow of the chandeliers against the ancient walls leading up to the vaulted ceilings created an atmosphere that was magical.  The stained glass windows added light and color, and prayer candles flickered against the stones creating movement in the light.  There were hymns playing softly in the background and the low buzz of the tourists whispering to one another and prayers being uttered.  I would love to go back one day to attend a service.  I'm sure it would be a great experience.

To finish off the day we took an evening river cruise.  It added a special something to be able to sum up all that we had seen in the past two days from a different perspective.  The sun was setting, casting a glow to all of the famous buildings and monuments.  The perfect way to end another great day.

Bonjour, Paris! Day One

Rooftops of Paris

I spent the weekend of Valentines Day in Paris with a large group of students from Swansea.  We had a wonderful time!  It was a very busy few days, but we managed to see everything we wanted to.

We took the bus Thursday night and drove all night to get to Paris Friday morning.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't sleep but two hours on the bus.  I was tired, but when we arrived in the outskirts of Paris, I hit my second wind.  After dropping our bags off at the hotel, my group of four Americans, a Canadian, and an Australian set off to sightsee.























First stop was the Opera Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in Paris and home to the National Ballet of France.  It was as breathtaking as its pictures.  The main hall was my favorite, with its grand double staircase with gilded accents on every surface.  I would love to go back some day and attend a show there.  The main theatre seemed a little bit small to me, but I think it was simply because I was standing in the back with a poor view of the upper decks.  The entire room was covered with red and gold velvet.  Next we wandered into one of the halls.  It had an enormous fireplace at one end, then glassy hardwood floors and gold chandeliers lining the the hallway all the way down to another enormous fireplace.  It was massive and reminded me of Versailles' hall of mirrors.

The Louvre courtyard

The Louvre was the next place on the list.  Overwhelming would be a very good word to describe it.  I knew it was big, but I had no idea how easy it would be to get lost amongst the thousands pieces of art displayed in the former palace.  We saw the two main must-see items, the Mona Lisa, and the Venus de Milo.  I was disappointed to find that the Mona Lisa viewing area was a chaotic mess.  The famous portrait is hanging on the back wall of a huge hallway.  There was no queue, no specified viewing area, nothing but about two hundred people elbowing their way to the front to take the obligatory photo and then push their way back out of the madness.  I was kind of hoping it would look like it did in The Da Vinci Code...not so much, but that was okay.

We walked through the Jardin des Tuileries on the way to our next stop, the Grand Palais, home of Paris Fashion Week.  The garden was pretty, but bare due to the winter weather.  I was surprised to find that rather than concrete walkways there was a light beige gravel mixture spread over the designated walking areas.  We passed this guy who appeared to be a pigeon whisperer.  He was catching pigeons mid-flight then literally handing them to the onlookers.  The strange things you see when you travel.  We made our way to the Grand Palais which is this enormous convention center with a glass roof that looks like an atrium garden from the outside.

Grand Palais behind Pont Alexandre III

The Grand Palais was in between conventions, so we couldn't go in.  Next up was Laduree on the Champs Elysees.  We all got macaroons from the store.  They were absolutely delicious!  By far, my new favorite treat.  We walked down the Champs Elysees, and grabbed lunch.  It is a street made for walking.  The sidewalks are about three times as wide as they are in the States.  All kinds of shops lined the streets, from Sephora and H&M to Louis Vuitton and Chanel.  I wish I'd gotten to see the trees when they had leaves on them.  The whole street is lined with these perfectly manicured trees and flower pots.  It made a lovely background to the cafes.



We continued down the street until we reached the Arc du Triomphe.  All I can say is wow.  There it was in all its grandeur.  What an amazing memorial to the victories of France.  It sits in the middle of a massive traffic circle.  Around eight different streets all merge at this point.  A while back, someone once told me that no matter where you are in Paris, somehow you'll always find your way back to the Arc.  I definitely understand what they mean.  Strangely enough, I found that I liked this monument more than the Eiffel tower.  Something about it is more understated and less gaudy and ostentatious.

It was a crazy first day in Paris, and by the time we hit our last stop, the Galeries Lafayette, I was completely exhausted.  The inside of the building looked like another opera or basilica.  It was beautiful.  I've seen pictures of the place at Christmas, and would love to return and see the enormous Christmas tree in person.  But even without the Christmas tree, it was awesome.  We somehow miraculously managed to see every main destination on the right bank of Paris in just one day.  We walked through almost ten arrondissements and past dozens of iconic sights. It was Valentines Day, so the six of us girls got bread, cheese, chocolate, and macaroons to eat in our hotel room and celebrate spending a wonderful day amongst friends in one of the greatest cities in the world.                    

Tales from day two can be found in the next post.  Pictures from Paris are all posted to the site, so check them out!  The adventures are to be continued!

A Weekend in Barry, Wales

I spent the weekend at my friend Alex's house in Barry, a small town about thirty minutes outside Cardiff.  We had a blast!  On Saturday she showed me her town, which used to be a bustling resort town in the fifties, but has since then slowed down to a more casual pace.

Alex referred to this pond as a lake...for all of you Americans, this is most definitely a pond!

We walked down to this very pretty pond pictured above, which Alex called a lake, but it's just a pond.  The wind was blowing so hard I thought I had gotten caught int the middle of a hurricane!  I found out later there had been reported wind gusts over 75 mph.  On the other end of the pond there were all sorts of ducks and swans.  I suppose they were used to the wind, but I was worried I'd get blown away.

Pebble Beach

Next we went over to Pebble Beach.  It's not the kind of beach I grew up with in Destin, FL, but it is slightly reminiscent of Washington beaches.  The water isn't nearly as pretty though!  In the background of the picture sits Barry Island, which was the main resort attraction back in the day.

It's a lovely little town, and I had a great weekend eating Arabic food and playing tourist with Alex and her family.  I leave for Paris on Thursday night, so I promise, there will be a much more interesting update next week.

Until then!

American Football & Superbowl XLVIII

The day I flew to London was the same day the Seattle Seahawks were in the play-off game that would decide if they made it to the Superbowl.  The captain of my flight from Seattle to Amsterdam came on the intercom every few minutes and gave us updates on the score of the game.  The plane was full of Seahawks fans who went nuts when we got the call for the final score.

Fast forward to last night, a night almost any Washington resident will never forget, when the Seahawks shut out Peyton Manning's offense until the last few minutes of the third quarter, then brought home the game winning 43 - 8.  I experienced all of this crazy excitement watching the game live from a bar on campus at three in the morning with my flatmates.  

We arrived about two hours before the game started.  The place was already packed.  By kickoff time is was standing room only.  I had no idea that American football was popular among the Brits, nor did I realize that we had that many Americans on campus.  When the national began, like any good citizen, I solemnly put my hand over my heart and respectfully listened to the song.  Then suddenly, like a roar from behind me, I hear the Brits in the room start singing "God Save the Queen".  In response, there was a large, rowdy group of American boys who decided that the best counter attack was to sing our national anthem even louder.  Within two minutes the room had become a sing off between two countries.  I sat there a little stunned and incredibly amused.  I had no idea that our national anthem would illicit such a reaction from the locals.  I was told later, by a friend who is from Wales, that she found our national anthem rather annoying and hypocritical.  It's the little things, I guess.

I watched a rugby match over the weekend, and it made me increasingly aware of how long it actually takes to get through any college or NFL game.  In rugby, the clock doesn't stop, nor does the game.  Player gets hurt, his team mates and opponents just run around him.  No one challenges the referees, and there aren't as many timeouts.  A typical rugby game runs for 80 minutes, where as it took us about four hours to finish the Superbowl, not including pre and post game coverage.  Nonetheless, I wouldn't change anything about the way we play our games!  

It was a long night, but thoroughly worth the lost sleep!  I'll never forget the year I watched the Superbowl from a pub in Wales.  Go Seahawks!