We are in Venice and it is HOT. But we finally did laundry, so we don.t smell as bad as usual! This is a huge plus, mostly for the people around us.
We had an awesome time in Ljubljana. Shout out to our amazing hosts, J and S, who put up with us for a really long time. We even got to ride around in a spaceship car that talked to us and found us Chinese food.
Ciao from Venezia for the moment
X
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Danke
Ok so that's about the only German word I'll actually speak to Germans...otherwise it's pure English (or slug language as I am calling it here, since no one seems to understand all that much, but we can get the basics). We're in Munich now...it's pretty nice, the hotel breakfast was good today. And my lunch was awsome! Brat with saurkraut and a beer=great! We spent the morning in the city part of Munich, then went to a concentration camp in the afternoon...very sad, but the site is restored well. We're going to watch the soccer match tonight, should be crazy since Germany is playing. That's all...short and sweet.
Goodbye from Deutschland.
Goodbye from Deutschland.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Random Updates
1. We are in prague, which is actually quite an accomplishment, as we know neither Dutch nor German nor Czech, and we left amsterdam, went through germany, and arrived in the czech republic. of course there was that minor thing where we got off at the wrong Dresden station and had to wait two extra hours and speak to an actual German person (ash and I were scared out of our minds to do this...i find the german language scary), but hey, we got here. so the hostel turns out to be a 2/3 star hotel! easily the cheapest and teh nicest place we've stayed at yet, except internet is CRIMINALLY expensive and we can't find an i. cafe nearby. so this will have to be quick (for real, broberg)
2. went to a grocery store today. Embarrassed the hell out of myself. Learned one czech word so far, which i asked for: thank you is something like "zhe koo-ee". Anyway, naturally i bought bananas, and i was like, "you know, i feel like i should eat some more fruit" so i got some oranges, adn then i went to the chck out and the guy gets to my oranges, and he says something that sounsd a lot like "vanesh?" at me adn waves them at me. naturally ih ave no idea what he means, and "thank you" doesn't seem appropriate here, so i just smile really big and kind of shrug and shake my head and gestuer vaguely all at the same time, and go "Ummmmmm" and he goes "ok ok one minute" and hops outo f his chair and returns adn slaps a sticker on it. i'm like "I'm so sorry!" in English and he's like, "is ok is ok." So I breathe a sigh of relief and can't wait to get out of tehre. then he gets to my bananas and gives me this look (he's nice though). then ashely comes over because she's done checking out, and apparentlyhe is hoping SHE knows some czech, because he waves teh bananas at her and goes "vanesh??" and she looks at me and then at him and goes 'Ummmmmm" and the guy behind me starts cracking up, adn this guy gives this resigned smile adn goes 'is ok! is ok! one minute" and leaves again, adn cmoes back and slaps anotehr sticker on my bananas. appparently here, when you buy produce, you have to put stickers on it indicating price adn weight. I did not know this. then, when i was trying to leave (you have to pay extra for bags so i just carry it), ashley, in trying to help me, smacks me in the head with my bread and causes me to stumble into teh basket, creating more chaos.
THEN, when we actually came home to eat teh stuff we'd bought, we discovered a couple things: (a) Ashley bought sour cream instead of yogurt, so she had strawberries with sour cream tonight, (b) the milk Ashley bought was NOT milk, but some kind of sour milk. Unfortunately, I had seen her investigating the dairy situation in depth, decided to elt her do the work for me, adn gotten the same not-milk. So that was a failure. (c) The bread I got (it was on sale!) is not what I thought it was. It has like coffee in it or something? But still edible. All in all, it was a very strange dinner.
3. We went pedal boating in Amsterdam! I really can't be on the internet anymoer because it's costing me a fortuen, but suffice it to say that a pedal boat would be a GREAT Christmas present for me this year. I could use it to get from my house to Sloan at MIT via the river, so it would obviously be very practical.
In sum: Amsterdam was brilliant (though very expensive), would totally go back some day when I (ideally) have more money. Ash and I had a lot of fun, spent WAY too much money, but did not fall into any canals and I think this is enough of an accomplishment.
Oh yeah, adn we went to the Prague zoo todaywhich is AWESOME btw (Angeline Jolie and Brad Pitt apparently visited last year, there are pictures of them up). We saw elephant genitalia pretty close up and let me just say, boy, am I glad I'm not a female elephant.
2. went to a grocery store today. Embarrassed the hell out of myself. Learned one czech word so far, which i asked for: thank you is something like "zhe koo-ee". Anyway, naturally i bought bananas, and i was like, "you know, i feel like i should eat some more fruit" so i got some oranges, adn then i went to the chck out and the guy gets to my oranges, and he says something that sounsd a lot like "vanesh?" at me adn waves them at me. naturally ih ave no idea what he means, and "thank you" doesn't seem appropriate here, so i just smile really big and kind of shrug and shake my head and gestuer vaguely all at the same time, and go "Ummmmmm" and he goes "ok ok one minute" and hops outo f his chair and returns adn slaps a sticker on it. i'm like "I'm so sorry!" in English and he's like, "is ok is ok." So I breathe a sigh of relief and can't wait to get out of tehre. then he gets to my bananas and gives me this look (he's nice though). then ashely comes over because she's done checking out, and apparentlyhe is hoping SHE knows some czech, because he waves teh bananas at her and goes "vanesh??" and she looks at me and then at him and goes 'Ummmmmm" and the guy behind me starts cracking up, adn this guy gives this resigned smile adn goes 'is ok! is ok! one minute" and leaves again, adn cmoes back and slaps anotehr sticker on my bananas. appparently here, when you buy produce, you have to put stickers on it indicating price adn weight. I did not know this. then, when i was trying to leave (you have to pay extra for bags so i just carry it), ashley, in trying to help me, smacks me in the head with my bread and causes me to stumble into teh basket, creating more chaos.
THEN, when we actually came home to eat teh stuff we'd bought, we discovered a couple things: (a) Ashley bought sour cream instead of yogurt, so she had strawberries with sour cream tonight, (b) the milk Ashley bought was NOT milk, but some kind of sour milk. Unfortunately, I had seen her investigating the dairy situation in depth, decided to elt her do the work for me, adn gotten the same not-milk. So that was a failure. (c) The bread I got (it was on sale!) is not what I thought it was. It has like coffee in it or something? But still edible. All in all, it was a very strange dinner.
3. We went pedal boating in Amsterdam! I really can't be on the internet anymoer because it's costing me a fortuen, but suffice it to say that a pedal boat would be a GREAT Christmas present for me this year. I could use it to get from my house to Sloan at MIT via the river, so it would obviously be very practical.
In sum: Amsterdam was brilliant (though very expensive), would totally go back some day when I (ideally) have more money. Ash and I had a lot of fun, spent WAY too much money, but did not fall into any canals and I think this is enough of an accomplishment.
Oh yeah, adn we went to the Prague zoo todaywhich is AWESOME btw (Angeline Jolie and Brad Pitt apparently visited last year, there are pictures of them up). We saw elephant genitalia pretty close up and let me just say, boy, am I glad I'm not a female elephant.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Some Stuff
-I have now learned how to say, in Dutch, the following words:
1. Hello (Hallo)
2. Thank you (Dank yu)
3. Good bye (pronounced: Doo-ee. do not ask me to spell this.)
4. I would like... (pronounced: Ich veal hraaarch. To say the last word, roll your "r" briefly and then cough up your gallbladder, but while rolling your tongue. Most of Dutch seems to involve coughing up your gallbladder and rolling your "r"s actually; Dutch people must be born with an extra supply.)
-A cashier at a Monoprix said "Ni hao, wo ai ni" to me when I bought a Fanta. HAHAHA. (This means: "Hello, I love you" in Chinese. After he said this I laughed and waved my arms a lot to indicate the feeling, "Ha ha!" because the only things I can do in French are order crepes and ask for bananas and count, none of which is an appropriate response. Then he got all embarrassed and said "No wo ai ni? No wo ai ni? Por qua?" or however you spell "why" in French.)
-Amsterdam is great. I love the rooftops/gables. Fact: the most expensive tulip ever recorded as a sale during Tulipmania was 13000 guilders, which could've bought you a canal. Fact: a house was once traded for three tulips. Fact: an average of one car a week drives into a canal. They didn't say if people were inside.
--Also in Amsterdam: unnervingly transparent public urinals. You'll be walking along, enjoying the beauty, and waves of warm urine smell will suddenly assault you out of nowhere. This is slightly unpleasant.
ok out of time
1. Hello (Hallo)
2. Thank you (Dank yu)
3. Good bye (pronounced: Doo-ee. do not ask me to spell this.)
4. I would like... (pronounced: Ich veal hraaarch. To say the last word, roll your "r" briefly and then cough up your gallbladder, but while rolling your tongue. Most of Dutch seems to involve coughing up your gallbladder and rolling your "r"s actually; Dutch people must be born with an extra supply.)
-A cashier at a Monoprix said "Ni hao, wo ai ni" to me when I bought a Fanta. HAHAHA. (This means: "Hello, I love you" in Chinese. After he said this I laughed and waved my arms a lot to indicate the feeling, "Ha ha!" because the only things I can do in French are order crepes and ask for bananas and count, none of which is an appropriate response. Then he got all embarrassed and said "No wo ai ni? No wo ai ni? Por qua?" or however you spell "why" in French.)
-Amsterdam is great. I love the rooftops/gables. Fact: the most expensive tulip ever recorded as a sale during Tulipmania was 13000 guilders, which could've bought you a canal. Fact: a house was once traded for three tulips. Fact: an average of one car a week drives into a canal. They didn't say if people were inside.
--Also in Amsterdam: unnervingly transparent public urinals. You'll be walking along, enjoying the beauty, and waves of warm urine smell will suddenly assault you out of nowhere. This is slightly unpleasant.
ok out of time
In Which I Write a Fake Sonnet
SONNET* FOR A SCARY CAFETERIA WOMAN
written on the occasion of our departure from Jules Ferry Hostel in Paris
You guard your baguettes as if they were crown jewels
You scar for life all who do not follow the rules.
Until nine in the morning you have infinite power
We dare not complain, though the juice is quite sour.
At eight thirty a.m. we creep out of bed
Repeating our prayers twice, thrice in our heads.
"Oh please let me not offend her today
Oh please let her count'nance be sunny, not gray.
For each euro be costing me 1.5 dollars
And I don't want my wallet to grow any smaller.
So I'd like to eat in the hostel today
Oh please don't let her turn me away."
We descend with knees knocking into your Dark Domain
(If you served anything but food we'd really refrain)
Those who have made it beam us sincere good luck wishes
They eat quickly and quietly and hand you their dishes.
If they linger too long they will regret it for sure
You will yell at them in French as they run out the door.
Oh people will think I am exaggerating
"That May," they will say, their expressions berating.
"Making mountains out of molehills is what she does best
Everything's a battle, a legend, a quest."
To the doubters I say, "Aha, I know I can be
Somewhat reliant on hyperbole."
But if you come to Jules Ferry I think you will come
to realize that really I have only begun.
Oh scary cafeteria woman! You strike fear in my heart
More than prelims and spiders and nude fat woman art
More than the dark or getting lost or too much sangria
More than wasps and bad breath and cold diarrhea.
You screeched at me when I tried to get another baguette
"Only two!" you kept French-ing but I hadn't had the second yet.
I tried to explain, but alas, to no avail
With echoes of "Deux!" I quickly turned tail.
The next day a boy behind me carried only a bowl
for applesauce, but he never reached his apple-bound goal.
"What are you doing" you barked, but French were the words
"Tray! Tray!" but "Blah! Blah!" was all that he heard.
He stood there and stared and tried to point at the 'sauce
But you'd have none of it, so, at a loss
He dropped the bowl on the counter, he turned and he fled
To this day he is probably still scratching his head.
Oh scary cafeteria woman! Today I sing your praise
A toast to you and all your reign of terror days.
Your gimlet eye! Your terrible swift sword! Beneath your gaze we quail
We try to outsmart you but we will always fail.
I see your hairnet bobbing and my throat, it starts to close
When I ask you for orange juice I focus on your nose.
Your fleshy arms, your quivering chin, your always lowered brow
In JF I lived in fear but I kind of miss you now.
In Cite Sciences** the ladies stand but we might not be there
They look not at us nor at themselves but hold a vacant stare.
We take our food and lay down our trays and eat and it is fine
But now there's no threat, no surprise, no rush of 'drenaline.
The French barrage, the massive chest, the fierce growl in your throat
The breakfast here just doesn't hit that adventurous note.
Besides I know your secret, the one you hide so well
Don't worry, 'sides this poem, I will never tell.
The day you kicked that poor boy out, and put him in your file,
is the day I saw you crack a--well, I saw you crack a smile.
*not in sonnet form
**second hostel we stayed at in Paris
written on the occasion of our departure from Jules Ferry Hostel in Paris
You guard your baguettes as if they were crown jewels
You scar for life all who do not follow the rules.
Until nine in the morning you have infinite power
We dare not complain, though the juice is quite sour.
At eight thirty a.m. we creep out of bed
Repeating our prayers twice, thrice in our heads.
"Oh please let me not offend her today
Oh please let her count'nance be sunny, not gray.
For each euro be costing me 1.5 dollars
And I don't want my wallet to grow any smaller.
So I'd like to eat in the hostel today
Oh please don't let her turn me away."
We descend with knees knocking into your Dark Domain
(If you served anything but food we'd really refrain)
Those who have made it beam us sincere good luck wishes
They eat quickly and quietly and hand you their dishes.
If they linger too long they will regret it for sure
You will yell at them in French as they run out the door.
Oh people will think I am exaggerating
"That May," they will say, their expressions berating.
"Making mountains out of molehills is what she does best
Everything's a battle, a legend, a quest."
To the doubters I say, "Aha, I know I can be
Somewhat reliant on hyperbole."
But if you come to Jules Ferry I think you will come
to realize that really I have only begun.
Oh scary cafeteria woman! You strike fear in my heart
More than prelims and spiders and nude fat woman art
More than the dark or getting lost or too much sangria
More than wasps and bad breath and cold diarrhea.
You screeched at me when I tried to get another baguette
"Only two!" you kept French-ing but I hadn't had the second yet.
I tried to explain, but alas, to no avail
With echoes of "Deux!" I quickly turned tail.
The next day a boy behind me carried only a bowl
for applesauce, but he never reached his apple-bound goal.
"What are you doing" you barked, but French were the words
"Tray! Tray!" but "Blah! Blah!" was all that he heard.
He stood there and stared and tried to point at the 'sauce
But you'd have none of it, so, at a loss
He dropped the bowl on the counter, he turned and he fled
To this day he is probably still scratching his head.
Oh scary cafeteria woman! Today I sing your praise
A toast to you and all your reign of terror days.
Your gimlet eye! Your terrible swift sword! Beneath your gaze we quail
We try to outsmart you but we will always fail.
I see your hairnet bobbing and my throat, it starts to close
When I ask you for orange juice I focus on your nose.
Your fleshy arms, your quivering chin, your always lowered brow
In JF I lived in fear but I kind of miss you now.
In Cite Sciences** the ladies stand but we might not be there
They look not at us nor at themselves but hold a vacant stare.
We take our food and lay down our trays and eat and it is fine
But now there's no threat, no surprise, no rush of 'drenaline.
The French barrage, the massive chest, the fierce growl in your throat
The breakfast here just doesn't hit that adventurous note.
Besides I know your secret, the one you hide so well
Don't worry, 'sides this poem, I will never tell.
The day you kicked that poor boy out, and put him in your file,
is the day I saw you crack a--well, I saw you crack a smile.
*not in sonnet form
**second hostel we stayed at in Paris
Sunday, June 15, 2008
In Which I have only one minute left at Ben and Jerry's Internet
WE ARE IN AMSTERDAM RIGHT NOW AND IT IS WONDERFUL.
LOVE FROM
DUTCHLAND
PS Dutch is really hard. Each word is like sixteen letters long, and seems to be composed primarily of j's.
LOVE FROM
DUTCHLAND
PS Dutch is really hard. Each word is like sixteen letters long, and seems to be composed primarily of j's.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
nothing witty comes to mind
Just wanted to say that I am alive too and Ashley is not covering up a grievous Xiao Yu injury or something. Although I would not put it past her. j/k!
I'm pretty much half-baguette by now. On those census things I'll have to bubble in "other": "Chinese-American-baguette." Side note: An Argentinian guy complimented me on my Spanish today!
Okay, I don't want to take up more time on Yalu's computer, so I'm going to go now. Oh, and I have no idea why Ashley is saying "Anywho" so much. Also, I feel compelled (since Ash mentioned the floss thing) to point out that Ashley has been playing Jetman consistently, AND being in Europe has adversely affected her Jetman abilities. Even I took a Scrabulous sabbatical, come on.
Au revoir~
X
I'm pretty much half-baguette by now. On those census things I'll have to bubble in "other": "Chinese-American-baguette." Side note: An Argentinian guy complimented me on my Spanish today!
Okay, I don't want to take up more time on Yalu's computer, so I'm going to go now. Oh, and I have no idea why Ashley is saying "Anywho" so much. Also, I feel compelled (since Ash mentioned the floss thing) to point out that Ashley has been playing Jetman consistently, AND being in Europe has adversely affected her Jetman abilities. Even I took a Scrabulous sabbatical, come on.
Au revoir~
X
Walk, Walk, Walk and some Metro
Hi everyone, here's the basics of our visit in Paris...
Right now we're over at Yalu's apartment in Paris hanging out with her and Lucy (friends of Mahalia's, the friend we stayed with in England). So I can take more time, but it won't take as long to post because it's an American keyboard!!! Seriously French keyboards are really hard to type on, it makes your head hurt!
Anywho...
Some of you should be getting postcards from us soon...aren't you excited! You should be! Stamps are expensive and we made fools of ourselves asking for stamps...my French is lacking. But we were excited to send them, for real.
Anywho...
I saw Amber, my sister, yesterday and we did the Siene boat tour at night with her group. Basically the tour involved seeing Paris lit up at night, very pretty. The Eiffel Tour is much more impressive at night, it's VERY sparkly. During the day we went and saw Sacre Coeur, which is in the Montmarte area, the 'artsy' area of Paris. We also saw l'Arc de Triomph and walked up le Champs Elysees (very famous street in Pairs), there are tons of shops along it.
Anywho...
On Monday we went to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, walked through the Louvre grounds, but didn't go in...basically we around the entire city both Monday and Tuesday.
Our diet has consisted of bread (baguette), cheese, yogurt, bananas and apples, pretty much since we've been here. The bread is amazing here and pretty cheap.
Today we went to Versailles Palace and hung out in the gardens, we ate lunch and walked through the famous gardens...we didn't actually go in the Palace, it was expensive to go in!!!
Other:
*May flosses after eating anything...it's kinda funny since she'll pull out her floss anywhere in Paris.
*Today, on the train to Versailles we sat by a couple and the man was wearing salmon colored capris pants...lets just say they were a little tight. It seems men in France wear their pants a bit tighter.
*In Paris there are TONS of couples everywhere and they are not shy about PDA...they make-out all the time!!! Everywhere you look.
*Lots of cute dogs, also lots of poo in the streets
That's all for now,
Ashley
Right now we're over at Yalu's apartment in Paris hanging out with her and Lucy (friends of Mahalia's, the friend we stayed with in England). So I can take more time, but it won't take as long to post because it's an American keyboard!!! Seriously French keyboards are really hard to type on, it makes your head hurt!
Anywho...
Some of you should be getting postcards from us soon...aren't you excited! You should be! Stamps are expensive and we made fools of ourselves asking for stamps...my French is lacking. But we were excited to send them, for real.
Anywho...
I saw Amber, my sister, yesterday and we did the Siene boat tour at night with her group. Basically the tour involved seeing Paris lit up at night, very pretty. The Eiffel Tour is much more impressive at night, it's VERY sparkly. During the day we went and saw Sacre Coeur, which is in the Montmarte area, the 'artsy' area of Paris. We also saw l'Arc de Triomph and walked up le Champs Elysees (very famous street in Pairs), there are tons of shops along it.
Anywho...
On Monday we went to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, walked through the Louvre grounds, but didn't go in...basically we around the entire city both Monday and Tuesday.
Our diet has consisted of bread (baguette), cheese, yogurt, bananas and apples, pretty much since we've been here. The bread is amazing here and pretty cheap.
Today we went to Versailles Palace and hung out in the gardens, we ate lunch and walked through the famous gardens...we didn't actually go in the Palace, it was expensive to go in!!!
Other:
*May flosses after eating anything...it's kinda funny since she'll pull out her floss anywhere in Paris.
*Today, on the train to Versailles we sat by a couple and the man was wearing salmon colored capris pants...lets just say they were a little tight. It seems men in France wear their pants a bit tighter.
*In Paris there are TONS of couples everywhere and they are not shy about PDA...they make-out all the time!!! Everywhere you look.
*Lots of cute dogs, also lots of poo in the streets
That's all for now,
Ashley
Monday, June 9, 2008
in which i learn to despise los keyboards de france
bonjour!
that, along with sundry other phrases ("that dog is cute", "that baby is not cute", "i am (adjective)") comprises my entire french vocab. also the keyboards are SO DIFFERENT and thus i can only type about two words per minute.
i have discovered that paris - other than the keyboards - is not overrated at all. tis gorgeous and full of stuff to see do hear etc. i dont have time to go into detail here but suffice it to say that i amhaving a great time and our hostel - jules ferry - is awesome except for really expensive internet. thigh tonage coming along nicely.
umm i had a lot to say but now that all my brainpozer is being used to type i cant think of any of it. keyboarding classs must be terrible here.
saz the eiffel tozer today. it was quite eiffelly. seriously though it was fantastique. what else...well lots but my time is running out so i will go noz. aaah sorry for all the zs its in the place zhere the w usually is
gah
au revoir
x
that, along with sundry other phrases ("that dog is cute", "that baby is not cute", "i am (adjective)") comprises my entire french vocab. also the keyboards are SO DIFFERENT and thus i can only type about two words per minute.
i have discovered that paris - other than the keyboards - is not overrated at all. tis gorgeous and full of stuff to see do hear etc. i dont have time to go into detail here but suffice it to say that i amhaving a great time and our hostel - jules ferry - is awesome except for really expensive internet. thigh tonage coming along nicely.
umm i had a lot to say but now that all my brainpozer is being used to type i cant think of any of it. keyboarding classs must be terrible here.
saz the eiffel tozer today. it was quite eiffelly. seriously though it was fantastique. what else...well lots but my time is running out so i will go noz. aaah sorry for all the zs its in the place zhere the w usually is
gah
au revoir
x
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Paris
We got to Paris yesterday, it was quite a journey.
We spent the day in Dublin, AWSOME city. We went to the old jail and took a tour...it was pretty interesting, TONS of info about Irish history. It was May's favorite thing so far.
We left Dublin around 630pm for Paris and arrived at our hostel at about 11pm. We ended up needing to take an hour and 15min bus ride from the airport to get to Paris. We have our own room here!
We're going to the French Open today!
Gotta go, time's up
We spent the day in Dublin, AWSOME city. We went to the old jail and took a tour...it was pretty interesting, TONS of info about Irish history. It was May's favorite thing so far.
We left Dublin around 630pm for Paris and arrived at our hostel at about 11pm. We ended up needing to take an hour and 15min bus ride from the airport to get to Paris. We have our own room here!
We're going to the French Open today!
Gotta go, time's up
Saturday, June 7, 2008
In Which We See Two Look-Alikes and Some People Who Are Potentially Affiliated with WI
Hello everybody
This'll have to be short since I have 5:55 remaining and counting. Basically, some things that happened:
1. took the train yesterday from Dungarvan to Dublin. Saw a mini Matthew Braun. Train in front of us broke down so we were delayed 45 min. That's when I wrote my ode. Countryside absolutely stunning, so I didn't really mind the breakdown.
2. Got to Avalon House in the late afternoon, around 5:30 or 6 pm. It's supposedly the nicest hostel in Dublin? Walked around the TEmple Bar area, which is super sweet. Listened to some street music. ATe traditional Irish stew. Saw Katie Schultz look-alike! Seriously, twin status.
3. Returned to hostel around 11:30 pm, tried to get shower stuff together, only we are in 12 bed mixed dorm and three people were already sleeping. I pack everything in plastic bags, and it was pitch black, and i was top bunk...needless to say, this became very awkward very quickly. FInally took shower and slept on edge of bed because my stuff took up all the other space.
4. THis morning people STILL sleeping so had to go through stressful minimization of noise during morning routine. Some people left at 4:30 am so I woke up then, didn't really fall asleep again. People in bunks next to us had Milwaukee Brewers paraphernalia. Maybe WI affiliates? Saw old guy with Badger jacket on last night as well. Skinny ITalian lady in bunk opposite us glared at me all morning. Feel like she is not big Xiao Yu fan, due to all the plastic bag noise. Oh well. I'm not big fan of skinny Italian lady either.
5. Hostel provided breakfast of juice, milk, toast. Talked to lady from London here for conference. Now about to embark on Dublin sightseeing. Cheers.
This'll have to be short since I have 5:55 remaining and counting. Basically, some things that happened:
1. took the train yesterday from Dungarvan to Dublin. Saw a mini Matthew Braun. Train in front of us broke down so we were delayed 45 min. That's when I wrote my ode. Countryside absolutely stunning, so I didn't really mind the breakdown.
2. Got to Avalon House in the late afternoon, around 5:30 or 6 pm. It's supposedly the nicest hostel in Dublin? Walked around the TEmple Bar area, which is super sweet. Listened to some street music. ATe traditional Irish stew. Saw Katie Schultz look-alike! Seriously, twin status.
3. Returned to hostel around 11:30 pm, tried to get shower stuff together, only we are in 12 bed mixed dorm and three people were already sleeping. I pack everything in plastic bags, and it was pitch black, and i was top bunk...needless to say, this became very awkward very quickly. FInally took shower and slept on edge of bed because my stuff took up all the other space.
4. THis morning people STILL sleeping so had to go through stressful minimization of noise during morning routine. Some people left at 4:30 am so I woke up then, didn't really fall asleep again. People in bunks next to us had Milwaukee Brewers paraphernalia. Maybe WI affiliates? Saw old guy with Badger jacket on last night as well. Skinny ITalian lady in bunk opposite us glared at me all morning. Feel like she is not big Xiao Yu fan, due to all the plastic bag noise. Oh well. I'm not big fan of skinny Italian lady either.
5. Hostel provided breakfast of juice, milk, toast. Talked to lady from London here for conference. Now about to embark on Dublin sightseeing. Cheers.
Friday, June 6, 2008
In Which I Write an Ode
ODE TO CRUSTI CROC SOUR CREAM AND CHEESE CRISPS
In the evening they're lovely, in the morning they're neat,
No matter the time, they're always a treat,
Crusti Croc crisps, oh what a delight,
They're round and they're ruffled and they're salty and white.
They crumble and they crackle, oh what a sweet noise
They're one of my life's most delectable joys.
175 grams of cheer in a sack
Rushing me towards a sure heart attack.
But arteries be damned, for where can I find
such glorious flavors, though they inflate my behind?
Oh you all can do what you all well please
But my belly'll keep playing chip symphonies.
Oh crisp! Oh crunch! Oh heavenly munch!
Bursting with greatness in every last bunch!
Crusti Croc, you do make a really mean chip
Now maybe you can work on an accompanying dip.
PS We are safe in Avalon House in Dublin, our first hostel. It's very nice.
In the evening they're lovely, in the morning they're neat,
No matter the time, they're always a treat,
Crusti Croc crisps, oh what a delight,
They're round and they're ruffled and they're salty and white.
They crumble and they crackle, oh what a sweet noise
They're one of my life's most delectable joys.
175 grams of cheer in a sack
Rushing me towards a sure heart attack.
But arteries be damned, for where can I find
such glorious flavors, though they inflate my behind?
Oh you all can do what you all well please
But my belly'll keep playing chip symphonies.
Oh crisp! Oh crunch! Oh heavenly munch!
Bursting with greatness in every last bunch!
Crusti Croc, you do make a really mean chip
Now maybe you can work on an accompanying dip.
PS We are safe in Avalon House in Dublin, our first hostel. It's very nice.
Dungarvan, Ireland
This needs to be quick because we are leaving for Dublin soon, but...
We arrived in Cork, Ireland on Tuesday evening. Then we took a bus to Dungarvan, which is right along the sea...the bus ride was really beautiful. Ireland is really green, they're not lying. Anyway, once we got to Dungarvan, Jenny (a close Eide family friend) picked us up from the bus stop. We pretty much relaxed the rest of the night and met Jenny's dogs, Fish and Chips, they're golden retrivers.
On Wed. it was raining most of the day, but it cleared up a little in the afternoon so we took a walk around Dungarvan. We went into the Dungarvan Castle and ended up seeing a video and getting a tour of the castle, though it is still being restored. The woman who gave us the tour seemed really excited to see us since there was no one else around. After that we walked along the bay of Dungarvan to see the Abbey and then walked along the beach. It's crazy here because depending on the time of day you are around the bay it can seem like a completely different place, due to the tide. In the evening, since it had cleared, Jenny took us for a drive around the bay and to the fishing port.
Yesterday it was beautiful in the morning, so Jenny took us for a drive through the mountains. We saw TONS of sheep and their little baby lambs...we also saw a little boy peeing, it was comical. Then in the afternoon, May and I rented bikes and we went for a long ride. At one point we stopped at the beach to relax. May collected rocks and shells and I, unsuccessfully, tried to skip stones. The view was great, the sea seemed to go on forever. In the evening we had fish and chips (the food, not the dogs, just to clarify), it was great again.
Today we are taking a train to Dublin where we are staying the night, then we fly to Paris tomorrow. Jenny has been a great host! Thank you so much for letting us stay here, we've been spoiled.
Ashley
We arrived in Cork, Ireland on Tuesday evening. Then we took a bus to Dungarvan, which is right along the sea...the bus ride was really beautiful. Ireland is really green, they're not lying. Anyway, once we got to Dungarvan, Jenny (a close Eide family friend) picked us up from the bus stop. We pretty much relaxed the rest of the night and met Jenny's dogs, Fish and Chips, they're golden retrivers.
On Wed. it was raining most of the day, but it cleared up a little in the afternoon so we took a walk around Dungarvan. We went into the Dungarvan Castle and ended up seeing a video and getting a tour of the castle, though it is still being restored. The woman who gave us the tour seemed really excited to see us since there was no one else around. After that we walked along the bay of Dungarvan to see the Abbey and then walked along the beach. It's crazy here because depending on the time of day you are around the bay it can seem like a completely different place, due to the tide. In the evening, since it had cleared, Jenny took us for a drive around the bay and to the fishing port.
Yesterday it was beautiful in the morning, so Jenny took us for a drive through the mountains. We saw TONS of sheep and their little baby lambs...we also saw a little boy peeing, it was comical. Then in the afternoon, May and I rented bikes and we went for a long ride. At one point we stopped at the beach to relax. May collected rocks and shells and I, unsuccessfully, tried to skip stones. The view was great, the sea seemed to go on forever. In the evening we had fish and chips (the food, not the dogs, just to clarify), it was great again.
Today we are taking a train to Dublin where we are staying the night, then we fly to Paris tomorrow. Jenny has been a great host! Thank you so much for letting us stay here, we've been spoiled.
Ashley
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
In (Half-Hearted) Defense of my Punting
Let me begin by saying that Ashley is actually not exaggerating about how bad I am (for once). She might even have been too kind to me--"a few circles" is certainly an understatement. And I think I blocked the river twice. In fact, looking back on it now, I may just be the worst punter ever to stir the pristine waters of the Cam (fun fact: Cambridge = Bridge over the river Cam). Tourists gliding smoothly past us in the water on their guided punts pointed and took pictures. "Ha ha look at that silly girl, no one can be that terrible. She must be stationed here for our entertainment," I imagined them saying to each other, in their native languages. BUT I feel compelled to tell the whole story. You be the judge.
Defense: Part I: The Background
1. I have never been actively canoeing. The one time I have gone canoeing, I was the ballast, i.e. I sat in the middle and pointed out interesting sights along the way, such as ducks and boats shaped like Jersey cows. While this is of course as indispensable a position as any other, I did not get as much experience paddling the canoe as I might have. Ashley and Mahalia have both been canoeing; Patrick, M.'s friend from Clare College who got us a punt in the first place, is an expert punter. I was the true novice of the group!
2. I have weak arms. In taekwondo, kicking>>punching! The only thing I ever use my arms for is typing, and I type a lot, but no one can type their arms into buffness. To my knowledge.
3. I have poor eyesight and was wearing a raincoat with a ginormous hood. Every time I turned my head, the hood draped over my eyes. Plus, it was raining, and my glasses got all speckled. This made it even more difficult to steer, which is one of the reasons I accidentally punted us into a tree. Hey, the person who really suffered was me, since the others were sitting down and thus got a nice leisurely float under a beautiful willow tree, whereas I, who was standing, got smacked in the face by a wet branch.
Part II: The Circumstances
1. I started us off by popular request (Mahalia, Patrick, and Ash thought I should, I voted against), which just shows that democracy/majority rules really doesn't work all that well most of the time. It was very difficult to start, because the instruction I received was basically: "Punt." I didn't even know which direction we were supposed to be going (it was a 2 way river). So I just stuck the pole in and shoved, and it turned out I guessed wrong (the punter is supposed to stand at the back part of the punt), so I was told to make a 360 turn, which is KIND OF HARD, and so I tried to do it, and people kept yelling, "Turn! Turn!" at me, and I didn't know if they meant turn BACK or what, and then suddenly two or three other punts appeared out of nowhere, and there I was, rotating on an axis, trying to put all my weight into the stupid pole, and you know that part in the Sandlot where Scotty Smalls has to get the ball back in the beginning, when it's rolled by the Beast, and Squints yells, "We are WAITING..." Well, that's what I felt the other punts were beaming at me and I got all nervous. So then I crashed us into a wall, but that was good, because it let the other people go by, and then M., A., and P. pushed off from the wall for me and I got us going straight for a couple of seconds, and then gave the pole to M.
2. The stick/pole is EXTREMELY long and heavy. I thought we were going to harpoon a whale when I first saw it, or eat a very, very large shish kebab.
3. The second time I tried, I was doing very well, actually, for a couple of minutes. Seriously, ask anyone. BUT THEN this Chinese guy came punting out of nowhere, leading a bunch of Chinese tourists, and I stared at his punting technique to try and imitate him, which was when we started heading for the willow tree, and then we bumped into him, which was my fault I admit, BUT THEN I straightened us out and we were about to head on our way when HE went wayyyy crooked and did a horizontal on us and completely blocked me, which was fine for HIM but not for me since I went careening into a wall again. Stupid guy.
Feel free to contact me for further defense points. I have to finish packing now, though, since we are leaving in an hour for the airport to go to Ireland!
Punter out.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Punting in the Rain
I'm going to try to be brief because I'm not exactly the best writer...I don't have May's wit, oh well...read at your own risk:
Today was pretty relaxing, though I was tired most of the day. The morning started off with May and I taking a long walk around Cambridge. We walked by the river and more into the residential area of Cambridge. The walk was pretty uneventful, May and I were practicing our British accents during the walk (this was of course when no actual Brit's were around). Let me tell ya...we aren't good.
After lunch Mahalia met up with us (she had been doing work in the morning) and we went punting!!! One of Mahalia's friends goes punting frequently and had time to take us. Basically, when punting you use a punt (a type of boat that is a cross between a gondola and a row boat, it's long and flat on the bottom) and an extremely long pole which you use to push off of the river bottom to guide your way. The person who is steering the punt stands at the back (up higher than where you sit) and uses the pole to push the punt along. We went on the Cam river, which flows through Cambridge, and has great views of lots of the colleges. May started as our driver and it was quite comical...I'll just say we went in a few circles and had to push off of a few walls! It was great and really fun to watch, but it takes a bit to get the hang of it. We all tried and May tried again, we went in circles again, at one point we were blocking the entire river, LOL, but finally she got the hang of it. It was lightly raining most of the time, but it was completely relaxing. We went under tons of old bridges and by lots of colleges with lots of open green space and through willow trees haning over the river. Tons of fun.
Then we went to chapel at King's college, one of the most famous colleges. The building was awsome with beautiful stained glass.
Dinner was lots of fun, we went to a formal Cambridge dinner. We went to Magdalene College formal dinner, Mahalia hadn't been to this one before and she had a friend who could get us on the list. Well actually, May got us in, she pretended to be Mahalia's friend (who belongs to Magdalene College and is Chinese), Mahalia and I were here guests. We wore these black gowns, which are traditionally worn at these dinners and the person who belongs to the college is required to wear them throughout the dinner. Dinner was three courses, soup (tomato), lamb (with cabbage and potatoes), and some type of sponge custered plum cake. Basically it was fun to get dressed up and have a fancy dinner.
That's all for today, no bathroom issues today. I was so mortified yesterday, I had no idea what to do, but to wait, in the dark, for the bus to turn on!!! I was waiting in there for like 10min not knowing what to do. When that guy walked in I couldn't help but laugh, oh well.
Ashley
Today was pretty relaxing, though I was tired most of the day. The morning started off with May and I taking a long walk around Cambridge. We walked by the river and more into the residential area of Cambridge. The walk was pretty uneventful, May and I were practicing our British accents during the walk (this was of course when no actual Brit's were around). Let me tell ya...we aren't good.
After lunch Mahalia met up with us (she had been doing work in the morning) and we went punting!!! One of Mahalia's friends goes punting frequently and had time to take us. Basically, when punting you use a punt (a type of boat that is a cross between a gondola and a row boat, it's long and flat on the bottom) and an extremely long pole which you use to push off of the river bottom to guide your way. The person who is steering the punt stands at the back (up higher than where you sit) and uses the pole to push the punt along. We went on the Cam river, which flows through Cambridge, and has great views of lots of the colleges. May started as our driver and it was quite comical...I'll just say we went in a few circles and had to push off of a few walls! It was great and really fun to watch, but it takes a bit to get the hang of it. We all tried and May tried again, we went in circles again, at one point we were blocking the entire river, LOL, but finally she got the hang of it. It was lightly raining most of the time, but it was completely relaxing. We went under tons of old bridges and by lots of colleges with lots of open green space and through willow trees haning over the river. Tons of fun.
Then we went to chapel at King's college, one of the most famous colleges. The building was awsome with beautiful stained glass.
Dinner was lots of fun, we went to a formal Cambridge dinner. We went to Magdalene College formal dinner, Mahalia hadn't been to this one before and she had a friend who could get us on the list. Well actually, May got us in, she pretended to be Mahalia's friend (who belongs to Magdalene College and is Chinese), Mahalia and I were here guests. We wore these black gowns, which are traditionally worn at these dinners and the person who belongs to the college is required to wear them throughout the dinner. Dinner was three courses, soup (tomato), lamb (with cabbage and potatoes), and some type of sponge custered plum cake. Basically it was fun to get dressed up and have a fancy dinner.
That's all for today, no bathroom issues today. I was so mortified yesterday, I had no idea what to do, but to wait, in the dark, for the bus to turn on!!! I was waiting in there for like 10min not knowing what to do. When that guy walked in I couldn't help but laugh, oh well.
Ashley
In Which We See Many Awesome Sights, but the Most Awesome Sight Ends Up Being on the Bus
Hi everyone,
This'll have to be short because it's already 11 am here and we haven't done anything, and we kind of want to do stuff before it starts raining, which it probably will in like five minutes.
So yesterday we went to London. My first impression can be summed up in three words: London is awesome. I would totally live here if I had money. Which of course brings me to my second, unsurprising impression: London is expensive. But it was okay for one day.
Things We Saw Which Were Great but Which You Should Really Just Google Because They are Huge Tourist Attractions (TWSWWGBWYSRJGBTAHTA):
1. Harrod's shopping area (super posh department store which was ginormous but closed, because it was Sunday and apparently stores can only sell for six hours on Sundays, so they open at 11:30). The glam of the glam.
2. 11:30-12:15: Changing of the Guard. Basically, the guard changes. It was still neat, though. Ashley keeps calling the groups of guards "the fleet of guards," so I will borrow her jargon temporarily, and then go back to making fun of it again later. We got there around 11:25 and the place was PACKED. Policemen on horses patrolled the roped-off areas, and hordes of tourists swarmed around the Buckingham Palace grounds. Then a bunch of soldiers marched out playing instruments, and we were like, "Huh, that's weird, they look Malaysian," and sure enough, they were Malaysian. We still are not quite sure why Malay soldiers preceded the guard yesterday, although I have a theory it is related to the recent diplomatic scandal that broke out between Malaysia and Britain over the Royal Army recruitment video. No idea, though.
There were these really long pauses so we thought maybe we would go; Mahalia was really certain that the fuzzy-hat guys didnt' actually come out of the gates, which would make it pointless for us to keep hovering outside of them. But luckily we dallied a while, taking pictures, and suddenly fleets of fuzzy-hat guys came marching out of the gates! So we got some extremely close-up pictures (they marched right past us...we keep lucking out), and then we left. So, if you go and really want to see the changing of the guard, be patient. It takes them like twenty-five mins/half hour to march out (they march out to the Wellington Barracks across the street and play music for a while. I don't know what they do afterwards since we left at that point). So, fuzzy-hat guys: check.
3. St. James Park. BEAUTIFUL park. Probably my favorite "sight" yesterday...I'm a sucker for parks. They had all this exotic waterfowl. A huge crabby pelican came right up to me and flapped his wings really hard...I think he thought I was trying to steal his mate. I don't want your mate, pelican! I was extremely impressed by his wingspan, though. There were also magpies and finches and pigeons (there are pigeons EVERYWHERE, but this is okay since they crack me up...have you ever noticed that a pigeon uses flying only as a last resort? 9/10 times they are convinced they can get away by running, and since every pace they take means one bob of their heads, they look like hilarious when they start sprinting away from you. "You'll never catch me now! I'm running!") There were also white swans and black swans, and their adorable cygnets. Also some birds I didn't recognize. Oh yeah, some collared doves, ducks, etc. Anyway. I would recommend picnic here.
4. Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey. Big Ben was a cool big clock. That's all I can say about that. Westminster Abbey we couldn't enter because it was closed on Sundays, but it was a very nice church. House of Parliament was an extremely impressive building (Ashley in particular loved it). We sat on a stone thingy outside of it and ate our lunch by the statue of Oliver Cromwell. I took some cool pictures of this structure; I would definitely recommend stopping by.
5. Other things we passed by: Wellington's Arch (very cool), Wellington Barracks, Imperial War Museum, various War Memorials
6. Tate Modern (Millennium Bridge leads up to it; London Eye, Shakespeare Globe Theatre, close by). Extremely cool modern art museum, although we didn't see much of it other than Level 3 due to time constraints. The wing of level 3 we saw was "Dreams and Poetry" which was dedicated to Surrealism--artists I noted: Joan Miro, Francis Bacon, Juan Munoz, Max Ernst, Cy Twombly, Picasso. Pieces I really liked: Hanging Figures (Munoz), Three Figures and Portrait (Bacon), Forest and Dove (Ernst). Met Sarah V. (housemate next year) at the Tate and headed to dinner together. So glad we got to meet up!
7. Chinatown. This is near Leicester Square for those of you following a map...luckily, we had Sarah for a guide, who goes to the LSE and knows the area fairly well. Ate at the Golden Dragon: we all shared half a Peking duck to begin with, and I had some hong shao pork and rice. Everything was delicious. Got to chat with Sarah about the upcoming year, shared some thoughts...it was a good time.
8. Woman. As M., A., and I were walking back to Victoria station (the bus station we needed), we saw a woman lying on her side on the ground, with several people around her. We walked over to see whether we could help, and asked if someone had called the ambulance (they had). Turns out she was a diabetic, we think she probably collapsed due to low blood sugar. Ashley got to try out her budding nursing skills, although the woman was breathing, so no need for CPR (plus, Ash didn't have the CPR mouth-cover thing, so it was a good thing she was conscious). She'd hit her head pretty badly, there was blood all over. We held a newspaper clamped to the back of her head to try and staunch the flow, and we checked her pulse and looked at her insulin pump. Luckily, the ambulance came pretty quickly. It turns out she's American, and she was completely disoriented--did not know where she was or what happened, did not want to get into the ambulance and get help. We thought our accents might soothe her, but they didn't, so we finally left because we didn't want to be in the way. That was pretty scary, actually--she did not look good, but like I said, help came quickly.
9. THE BUS. We finally arrive at the best part of the night. We board the bus at 8:30 pm to go back to Cambridge, and all three of us need to go to the bathroom, but we let Ashley go first, so she clambers out of her seat and goes to the back of the bus. Mahalia and I talk for about ten minutes, and during a lull in our conversation, I think, wow, Ashley's still not back? Is she really constipated or something? So I look back, and Ashley is standing outside of the bathroom, with this extremely sheepish air about her, looking really out of her element. She waves frantically at me to go back and join her, so I do, and it turns out the following had happened: she'd gone into the bathroom, and there was no light, but she really had to go. Also, there was a little bit of water on the floor and it generally looked kind of gross, so she'd done the public-bathroom-squat and been quite proud. She'd "peed forever," in her words. Then she'd fumbled around the teeny bathroom looking for the flush button, and found it. She'd pressed it. Nothing. Pressed it again. Still nothing. She tries the sink to wash her hands. Nothing. The beginnings of panic. Then she'd thought, maybe the bus needs to be in motion, so she stands up and kind of waits there, in the dark, for the bus to start. Then, all of a sudden, a dude opens the door and sees her there, just standing, scrunched in between the toilet and sink, in the darkness. "Oh! I'm sorry!" he exclaims. She explains, and he sits back down. Finally the bus starts moving again, and she tries to flush. Still nothing, only this time it RISES a little. She gives up.
So the whole two hour ride, Mahalia and I really had to go, and we kept watching these guys get up, disappear for an abnormally long time, and then emerge looking extremely uncomfortable, as if to say, "That did NOT as planned." Turns out the stuff had sloshed all around, and Ash spent the whole ride hoping no one had seen her come out in the beginning.
All right, time to jet. More Cambridge today, and then fly to Ireland tomorrow! Peace out.
XW
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)