March

3.29.2006

EUROPE CALLING

After deciding not to attend the Easter Isle of Mull hiking trip to Scotland, but to work on my essays instead, I had time to rejuvenate in a quiet house before my month long adventures begin. Thankfully my housemate Chris also stayed an extra week, for he was good company to have around! He even made me food! Well, we shared the cooking and wash up duties, very grown up indeed. I don't think I've seen Chris laugh so much...sober that is! hahaa. what a boozehound, and I'm only writing that because I know he'll read this! But for the few days we've had together I think Chris really has come to see how crazy and weird I am, but I can say the same thing about him with his annoying phrase "chill your boots luv" every 5 minutes. I exclaimed back "I'm not wearing boots!" Oh man, I think I've picked up some of his phrases...like 'coolio' .ugh. He was also good to have around because he kept reminding me to work and even though his attempts were not always successful, you could see he cared because he was more stressed about my essays than me...lol. I think I have slight motivation issues. Nevertheless, it was a time of bonding, b/c he's more than a housemate now,but a friend. hahaha wow that's corny.

AAHHHHHHHH! So now I'm finally here, on the verge of an enthralling, exciting and action-packed Easter Break! Today (WEd. 29th) I'm off with Willa for two weeks to the heart of Europe, first stop: Amsterdam. From Amsterdam we're going to Belgium (Bruges, Brussels), then to South Germany (Ulm, Munich), down to Switzerland (Bern, Lucerne) and through to Austria (passing through Salzburg and Vienna for 2 night) then to complete with the Czech Republic in the one and only Prague!!! YAH BABY!!!!! Oh this is exciting, I'm ready. well, actually I haven't finished packing, but mentally, ohhhh yah, I'm there.

On the 12th of April I fly back to London where my sweet housemate, Anna, will greet me and I'll stay with her for two days. THEN... i'm not done, my sister Kirsten comes and off we go to Dover, Canterbury, check out the scene in London, Stonehenge (we're I've booked access to inside the circle--regular visitors you must be quite far away) and to Nottingham to meet up with my sister's friend Beata (who studies there) and where my friend Marina will happen to be for her birthday! crazy coincedence. On the 19th of April we fly out to Shannon, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland. From there we head to the famous and rather indigenous heritage of the Aran Islands, viewing the Cliffs of Moher along the way. From the Cliffs we head down to Blarney where the ever famous Blarney Stone is held (if you kiss it a certain way, it gives you the gift of eloquence), then to Cork, Kilkenny and Dublin. Hopefully there's time for everything, because I know journey times can go wrong and things can happen. Oh boy, I just can't believe it's all happening, and I can't believe I have to travel for one month with a 55L bag! That's probably the hardest part..living out of a 55L bag..I like options. haha.

3.23.2006

EASTER SALSA

I tell you, I thing that is utterly British (at least in Leeds) is the desire and love for 'dress up'. The countless themed Otley Runs, and really anything! Our easter formal dinner was a salsa night where we hired 2 Salsa intructors to teach the hall to learn a little hip shake. This did not limit people's imagination: little bo peep, a lamb, playboy bunny rabbits, characters from the passion of Jesus, flowers, sexy salsa clothing and I'm sure I'm missing more...it was ALL there!! What a fun night!

Female Vice President Hannah as a innocent lamb (she made the costume herself!!!) Hannah is such a sweet girl, she's really grea tto work with on the council! So dedicated and creative, Hannah always plans the decorations.

Carla as little bo peep, another lovely girl on council. She never fails to say hi and ask how I am with a huge smile on her face! She's so genuine and friendly, it's impossible not to like her!

Daffodil Joe (president) and Jesus and soldier in the background.

Aleks and Assad strutting their stuff. I was so proud, all the couples chosen to go on stage and have a dance off, all had partners from Moor Grange!! :) represent! I didn't know who to cheer for! In the end Faye and Adam won. I was happy because Faye is a half Spanish and absolutely LOVES going out to Salsa nights at bars and pratically drools while she avidly learns from watching her idol Shakira dance.

Anna and Eugene.

Adam and Faye.

Look at that concentration in Adam...where's Faye looking? She's so good, she doesn't need to look at her feet! ;)

Eugene getting down and dirty with Faye..haha. no, but he's the best Salsa dancer by far in Tetley.

Me and Eugene..boy he gets around!

the dance-off dancers.

taking a break...

3.20.2006

Myra's bday and lots of ties!

The night I got back from London with my parents, my housemates and co. celebrated Myra's bday!!! We made it into a three-legged pub crawl. Names were picked out of a hat and I was paired with Chris. I, of course, was not ready to go out in time, but Chris loves his alcohol and was rushing me profusely to hurry up so we could get to the pub. Even though I said I'd meet up with them, he wouldn't have it. Aleks and Siobahn were paired together and the 4 of us limped along to the Three Horseshoes, the first stop. At first I think I crushed his toes, and he was not at all happy, but we got a rhythm going near the end. Chris said everyone had to match their partner for drinking. I said he's crazy, but someone how I managed to do it that night and still walk! He was very impressed, especially because I'm the only girl he knows who will drinks a pint(s) of beer. Somewhere during the night we became husband and wife, and the term hasn't left us since! He still calls me hunny. haha. It was so nice having all my housemates and co. (3rd floor mainblock) together before the break!! BONDING! :) yahhhhh!

In the New Inn . Ralph, the poser. ALWAYS making a different face in pictures.

I told them to sing into the 'Reef's. Will really got into it. lol.

Will and the bday girl Myra!!

Aleks about to eat Will's head (in the background) while I'm trying to squeeze into the picture, but it seems Myra would have none of it! lol, jk. But she was the bday girl, so it was her night to be center of attention!

I seem to be arguing with Eugene about something...he was probably just telling me something about Russia that I didn't understand (the hand on heart tells me he's very patriotic) ;)

Aleks and me and my hubbie.

Chris showing me how to tie a tie. (btw, there were so many ties b/c that's what we used to tie our ankles together...but nearer the end everyone gave up, and some pubs even told us we had to untie to go in).

Me, cute Chris and sweetie Shiv proudly displaying our tying talents (except you can't see Shiv's)

PUB CRAWL PART II (Thursday March 23rd)

Our last night all together (well except Anna, she left us early to go home) before the month long Easter break. awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

In the New Inn: Tom, Will, Faye, Me, Ant, Myra

Chris weating my jacket, I was surprised he got in it!! It barely fits me! haha.

i love this pic! everyone's doing something different!

'modern' dancing the way Aleks loves to move.

3.19.2006

PARIS -- P is for Pretty -- March 16/17th

oHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, Paris was lovely. Even though every single sign was in French and I didn't learn anything because I am crap at reading french, and even though it was about 1 degress outside with strong winds, and even though it was kind of dirty in places with scary people in the underground, I LOVED IT!! The architecture was beautiful! There were little black, iron railings outside all the windows in the curvy Baroque style. The Louvre was gigantic (an old royal palace) but we did not go in it because it was too big and we wanted to see the rest of Paris. The Musee d'Orsay was a great museum we went in to view the impressionist paintings. This musem was packed and I couldn't get over all the people taking pictures (you were allowed to without a flash). So I succumbed and took a few of Van Gogh..I couldn't resist.

The Jardin du Palais Royal (where Cardinal Richelieu resided) was very charming..not much grass though, just some dead looking trees perfectly groomed in the "court" part of the royal residence with some REALLY dumb modern pilars at different heights each a metre apart. SO UGLY. I can't believe they let modern art/design ruin a place full of such history and ruin the essence and aura of the old, majestical building. We also walked past the Place de la Concorde where over 1,000 executions took place during the Reign of Terror at the time of the French Revolution. We couldn't get to the monument itself because traffice was crazy busy in the round-about around it. Though it was possible because I saw people in the circle with the monument from Luxor (a needle type statue from the Middle East I'm assuming Luxor is there).

That night we walked all along the river. Notre Dame was so gorgeous and striking at night. Eerie with the gargoyles looking down at you and the flying butresses holding up the walls to allow for more windows. My goodness, the stained glass windows inside we beautiful. Stunning. I really was taken by it. The whole atmosphere of Notre Dame was profound (is that the right word? who knows). I learned later that it was there Napolean crowned himself Emperor!! THERE! I WAS THERE! wow. neat. That was also where the Hunchback of Notre Dame was based! neat!

Day 2 (Friday) we just walked around ALL day: Sacre Coeur, Moulin Rouge, Place de la Bastille (a large monuement to commemorate where republicans stormed the prision to signify defiance against the crown, ultimately starting the French Revolution). The HUGE, HUGE, bigger than the marble arch in London, the Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napolean to commemorate his victory at Austerlitz I believe. It was completed after he died because it took so long. Oh, oh, I really liked the Pantheon, just a massively large building built by Louis XV after he recovered from illness...he was so relieved and thankful he built this grand church. I really like how there were these long, wide bright yellow banners/ribbons hanging from the top of the walls...very alluring. haha, ok wrong word. Next we walked to the Palace du Luxembourg, but we were too late because the gardens were closing and they werne't letting anyone else in. It looked very beautiful and grand inside, much like St. Jame's Park in London, but of course this was more trimmed and symmetrical being the "backyard" of the royal Palace built for Marie Antoinette. Before we knew it, we were back on th Eurostar train back to London Waterloo station. I liked getting a nice stamp of Paris at customs. oh la la, I can't wait to see my passport after I come back from Europe during the Easter break.

Back in London we had a splendid day (notice how I only use pretty words and talk about good things...I suppose that's becuase I want to forget about the bad things). We went to the Museum of London and the Victoria and Albert Museum, eating lots of yummy trailmix my mom brought from home along the way. I really enjoyed the Victora Albert Museum with all its decorative arts and costumes and visual displays about high culture in Britain. There was lots more tha that..so big, to walk around the whole museum would be 7miles! We only had 2 hrs there, so I just stayed in two main sections: costumes and architecture/decoration of estates in Britain. :) We also managed to get to Little Venice and walk along the canal which was sooooo sweet, aside from the biting cold. UGH. Not fun, but I have some cute pictures.

We were off on early Sunday morning. I had to hold back my tears of saying goodbye to my parents again. I get so choked up I can't say anything or I'd cry. aww, they're the best! I had such a lovely time!! QUITE MEMORABLE! :) I wouldn't want to see Paris for the first time with anyone but my parents. It was quite amusing watching my dad speak in French (being of German descent and correcting us on how to pronounce names) haha!

in the Musee D'Orsayes, a painting by Van Gogh in the impressionist section. I can't believe all the people taking pictures!!! The museum was rammed packed, so I took a few too, as long as there wasn't a flash, it was okay.

The Grande Palace, where Cardinal Richelieu used to reside. Stupid pilars now ruin the atmosphere, but I couldn't help but stand on them.

Under the Eiffel Tower at night. The Eiffel tower was soley constructed for the 1889 World Fair, also celebrating the 100th year French Revolution. But through the public support, and proving valuable for communication purposes it was not demolished afterward.

The Louvre. The old palace of the French Monarchs, where 1 side was knocked down and converted into a 3 wing museum. That glass pyramid in the middle is the entrance and it extremely popular and representative of the Louvre now.

Notre Dame by night. Yes, this is where Alexander Dumas' famous story, "the Hunchback etc." was set. I expected different, but it was still breathtaking. The flying butresses--gothic arches that give more support to the Cathedral perimeter, so that the walls can be thinner and have more windows--we really neat. Lots of gargoyles, so I suppose I expected that.

Le Arc de Triumphe I recall. This was commissioned by Napolean after he claimed victory, ermmm, I forget where. Nevertheless, it was HUGE!! I mean, it dwarfed the Grande Arch in London. The Arch was located smack in the middle of a round about, so you had to get across via an underground tunnel. It was also not-so coincedentally aligned along the Champe d'Ulysses (spelling??) which was a massively wide street with many, tall, historic monuements along it, ending with a very modern office building that could fit Notre Dame inside.

Sacre Coeur. It's a catholic church made by a very rich man, who was terminally ill, and promised that if he recovered, he'd make a church for the community. Seems he was an honest name who stuck to his word, b/c TA DA!!! It was absolutely stunning, colourful stained glass inside.

The original 'Moulin Rouge.' I have to say, I was quite disppointed, I thought it would be larger and more glamorous and lit up. Though, I'm sure all the action takes place inside.

Mommy and Daddy along the Seine, with the island and bridges in the background.

Cute pathway along a canal near the Bastille. It was here that the prison that was seiged in 1789, the onset of the French Revolution. The prison is not there anymore.

Some cool architectural building. I swear, it was this building they used in Les Miserables (one of my favourite movies ever!!!) I got really excited. haha. what a loser I am.

Back in London, this cute area is dubbed 'Little Venice' I believe because of all the canals. We actually walked to the wrong way, but even this party was very cute to walk along.

3.12.2006

LEEDS & YORK -- March 11/12th

Saturday my parents and I walked around Leeds. It was freezing. UGH. We walked to Kirkstall Abbey, the ruins of a large Abbey just 20 min. walk from my house. It is quite impressive and even got to walk around inside of it when the key keeper opened the door for us..perfect timing. It was during the reign of Henry VIII that the Abbey went to ruins, as many others did when he made himself the Head of the Church of England. Anyway, I couldn't wait to get into the warmth after another 30min. walk to the Leeds City Art Gallery. It seemed almost never-ending. The art gallery was small, so small we ran into Aleks, my housemate, who had her Polish friends to visit this weekend as well. And they say Leeds is a big city. Then we visited the Royal Armouries Museum, which is HUGE!!! It was really neat though. So many, errm, armours, and guns and swords. There were men dressed in combat regalia and put on a demonstration as to how to fight like in the medieval ages. Really neat, especially for kids! That night I took my parents to see Willa's performance as an Irish dancer in the Leeds Dance Societies Show. There was everything from ballet to hip hop to Brazilian to Irish tap dancing to break dancing! Some were kind of funny and you could tell people were amateurs, but it was good to see it and support my friend. I think my parents enjoyed it as well. The break dances were AWESOME!!! One looked like Johnny Depp and me and Marina wanted a picture with him, but we didn't find him after. Francois and I kept laughing at this horrible male "hip hop/modern" dancer. He was always 2 steps behind but acted so cool w/ this bandana. hahaha. It was too funny.

--York --

York is an old medieval town a 25 min. train ride north-east of Leeds. I knew it was beautiful, but my parents said to wait to see it with them. It was the perfect day trip, aside from the Canadian type weather all day long. I haven't been so cold since, well I can't remember. It was brutal. York is rammed packed with tourists in the summer, a real hotspot in England. It would be so lovely in warmer weather, maybe I'll be back there, who knows. We caught up with a free tour from the tourist office which was fabulous. Then we had sme tea, looked around a bit more, and headed for a pub for a traditional British pub dinner. yum yum!

Kirkstall Abbey.

The small, non-existent river in Leeds. I didn't even know Leeds had a river!!! It's all built up with some sort of residential section around it and not very pretty and welcoming.

Leeds town hall (the red brick building that lies before--not the town hall)
Part of the Victorian Quarter in Leeds. The buildings are really beautiful, and this is where the main, no, more expensive shopping is.

The Grande Arcade where all the expensive shopping takes place. SO pretty inside!

Walking around the castle walls was neat, but FREEZING. And I know I say that a lot, but I mean it this time. It was snowing and extremely strong winds all throughout our 2 hr. tour. My parents and I were troopers and stuck it out...the tour was even free! We learned a lot, lots of little, interesting facts..not just dates and names of places.

Cute medieval streets. The houses had jetties built on (as seen in the background) where the bottom higher floors were built wider and more spacious than the bottom floor. They believe they did this because everyone had to pay a a tax on your land area..so they made their house small on the bottom area, and made up for that by adding to the top floors. smart!

Clifford's tower. over 200 Jews were massacred here so the townspeople could remove their debts to the Jews. This is the only remaining part of the castle of York..it sits on a small hill, so I wonder where the rest of the castle would be...

St. Mary's Abbey ruins. Right next to the museum and a nice garden. When King Henry VIII became head of the Church of England, the Abbey fell to ruins and all the townspeople took its stone and used it for their own use. This happens everywhere, including old roman and norman buildings.

York Minster, the largest cathedral in England. It contains one half, yes, that's one hal, of all the stained glass window in England! It was beautiful inside! Unlike Durham and Norwich Cathedral, York was warm and welcoming. The colourful windows made it so probably and the beautiful architecure inside. It costs 10,000 pounds A DAY to maintain..but that probably takes into consideration the restoration on the largest stained glass window in the world I believe...anyway, it was stunning.

cute Guildhall I believe...

3.11.2006

Familiar Faces, messy faces, and happy faces :)

I have to say, one of the things I miss about the University of Toronto is seeing people I know on campus. Here at Leeds I rarely bump into someone I know, even recognize...and Leeds is half the size of Toronto! But I tell yah, this week has been a week of familiar faces. On Tuesday, on my way to the library who do I bump into but crazy Sam!! Crazy Sam, more enthusiastic than crazy, was also at this weekend's Northumberland trip and have known since the beginning of the hiking society. He's always mocking my accent and trying to get me to say British words/phrases n my best accent. He truly is one of the nicest, most friendlist and outgoing guys I've met in Leeds, so it's easy to see why we spent like 15min. talking before heading our separate ways.

I went swimming later that night which was fabulous!! It's been so long since I've swam because of my back ache (something that still hasn't fully healed) but it's not really a bother anymore. Tom, one of my housemates, and I were argueing how swimming is a crap sport--he said because it was boring--I said it was a full body workout, builds endurance, and you can do it whenever and do not need to rely on a team to show up. I said badminton was a crap and boring sport (he plays it)...he denied it saying it wasn't. That was the end of out conversation. It's useless, he loves stating his opinion, and some of the time I just love to play devil's advocate because he needs to see that he is not always correct and that people are entitled to their own opinion and it should be respected. Becuase let's face it, everything's relative :)

Wednesday comes along, I'm in the library checking out books for my upcoming essay when who do I see but Kristien! (from Denmark, met him this past weekend as it was his first weekender and he was such good company...i'm seeing a pattern starting to form, I need to expand my social horizons b/c I'm only bumping into hikers) It took me awhile to figure out it was him because people do look quite different without hats and big jackets and slush pants. Instead he was wearing this thick, light grey pea coat material jacket down to his feet with buttons on his shoulders like a military jacket!!! It was quite the jacket, very striking indeed. Well all good things come to an end and soon I was off to my tutorial (1 of all 5 hrs. of class I have a week!!!).

Wednesday night was the HIKESOC Otley Run (a long pub crawl down the main road). The theme was international stereotypes, and to say the least, there were quite the collection of costumes: English gentleman, french, mexican, arab, irish, german pornstar, australian, hawaiian...I went as a French woman and Aleks as an English Gentleman. It was so much fun dressing up and pretending to be someone else. I honestly looked like a typical trendy British girl with my tights, shirt skirts, striped toped and a barret. Only to distinguish myself I carried a large baguette and a little mop--to represent a french maid. One of the most memorable things of this night for me, aside from the vey lovely atmosphere, was this stupid black face paint. I think Rich brought it for he came as a Mexican. It was then drawn on James, who was also a Mexican, then on to Crazy Sam, who was said to be a Canadian Lumberjack (haha, he had a plaid shirt on, very Al Bundy). Soon Dave P's face was covered in this stuff, followed by Martin, followed the the table, and soon after my face had two lines as if I was a linebacker. Very messy indeed.




















notice the bagette in my purse and a little "mop" (french maid ;). haha.
Near the end of the night, I had little bread left...everyone kept eating it!! okay, I confess I nibbled on it as well. I'd say there was at least 25 people present from the hiking club, a really good turn out! Well I'll stop there and just show pictures...I think they summarize the night rather well.... (POSTED BELOW)

Thursday morning...well to be honest, didn't exist. It was a late night and I ended up getting the bus way past Tetley Hall because the top of the bus windows were so cloudy I didn't see that we passed my stop. Nooooooooo. I got home safe and sound though. Anyway, back to Thursday, yes this was a rough day, my head hurt well into the early evening. I didn't drink enough water, but I didn't want to drink anymore. What a useless day...but needed for recovery! I think we went to nine different pubs in all before parking it at the usual place "dry dock"--the hull of a ship.

Friday!!!!! Not only did today come with good night sleep behind me, my parents from Canada arrived! Before this reunion I had tutorial and more book hunting at the library, before heading to the refectory for a quick bit to eat. While eating my sandwich in peace, I get a text from Dave P saying "so you're in the refectory eh?" After spotting blonde hair with glasses Dave P, I head over to his table and who is behind him eating away on his own but Martin, the civil engineer/funny guy from Fort Bill! Crazy!! We went from 3 strangers sitting by themselves eating lunch, to 3 friends enjoying a laugh. Now that's what I call fate, because let's face it, no one likes eating alone. Soon after that little reunion, it was off to meet my parents! It's only been two months since I saw them last, (I saw them less often when living downtown which was only a 1/2 drive from my house!) but it was lovely to see them again and show them around my house/rez/main road. They ate in my dinng hall that night, it was fish and chips. I asked them to take off their Canadian pins on their collars before dinner, but my dad just lifted up his collar saying absolutely not, we look like tourist because we are tourists! haha, slightly embarassing, but it doesn't matter. I don't think anyone noticed. It doesn't get more exciting then that because they started falling asleep on me while I was showing them some of my pictures...they're not THAT bad. It was an early night for the sweet parents, but I stayed out quite late at a house party which Marina and I finally decided to venture on down to at about 10:45pm. An enjoyable evening was had by all :)

OTLEY RUN PICS

So that's where all my bread went...

Siobahn (actually Irish) and me

Drunk Martin and Dave (w/ paint smeared all over his face! haha)

James and crazy Sam (James applied Sam's beard..Sam wasn't too impressed. lol)

Willa and Katherine = #1!

Me and Thierry (a real French!)

3.05.2006

NORTHUMBERLAND WEEKENDER -- March 3-5

The hiking society were up in Kielder in Northumberland this weekend. The first day was a walk around the lake--nothing exciting because it was just flat, but I don't mind...easy is good for me! I got a REALLY bad blister, oww, but I've worn these boots before! We stayed in a Scout Camp cabin..but it didn't fit everyone so people slept outside in this wooden teepee wedges with a gravel bottom! I was deranged enough to sleep outside the second night when there was a warm bed inside available. It was a lot of fun!!! :D Very relaxed and sociable! Will write more later.
night! xxx

The resevoir


Melissa, Elaine, Aleks and Kristian in conversation. I wonder what they're talking about?

Dave being interrogated at the pub. Poor guy.

Me and Marina with the cabin in the background...very small, but cozy.

The wooden wedge we slept it for one night. Inside was gravel. How delightful. Thank goodness for the mats that were laid down. It was actually quite warm inside with everyone nestled close together.

It looked like Scotland on top of this 800m hill. Actually, it borders Scotland, so it was pretty far north (hence NORTHhumberland) It was so cold with the wind was blowing fiercely! Unbeleivable, like gale force winds..ok, I'm exaggerating, but close enough!

Sledging down the hill in survival bags. I slide down on my waterproof pants....just as slippery. Good fun! :)

Both vans got stuck trying to reverse. Everyone had to get out and push in the blizzard. You can't see it in the photo, but it was blowing snow like a blizzard.

---

April

4.30.2006

The return of katherine!

I made it!!! One month of solid traveling, not staying in a place for more than 2 days. While living out of a backpack for that long had it's advantages (ie. being able to carry it on my back round towns we were passing through) it was delightful to pick clothes out of my drawers and throw them on my floor after I wore them come Monday night. But what a trip!! I mean, WOW!!!!!!!!!!! My central European extravaganza with Willa was everything I had listed previously, plus Interlaken (in the Swiss Alps) and a few hours in Zurich. I have to say, Bruges and Prague were my favourite cities...well, rather, the most beautiful/picturesque which is what I love. Switzerland was magnificent, so clean, and fresh air, and open spaces leading upwards to snow-capped mountains and freezing rivers running off mountain sides. It was so beautiful and refreshing, thank goodness the weather stayed reasonably dry for us. I'm not going to post any pictures. 1. Willa still has the CDs we burned and 2. I have no time...3 essays and 2 exams in the next few weeks! and then a few more weeks and I'll be home! It's a scary, scary thought. I suppose we're never REALLY ready for some things in life... I don't think I'll ever be ready to come home, because there's still so much I want to see, discover and learn here! I shall just have to come back, that's all.

4.29.2006

ANNA'S HOUSE!!!! -- April 12-14th

From Prague I flew in to Stansted airport and took a delayed bus to Heathrow, pleasantly greeted by my housemate Anna! Her move was very kind to drive the 20+min trek to Heathrow, and for that I was veryyy thankful. Car travel is so much more relaxing. Anna let me sit in the front for the better view, aww, what a sweetie!! I just loved my time with the Speroni family in their town of Walton-on-Thames!! What a welcoming, chatty, and good-natured bunch of people! That night Anna and I cooked some vegetables while Anna's mom made the beef burgers. Her dad came home and parked himself reading the newspaper in front of the TV, what a multi-tasker! Dinner time!! It was sooooo nice to sit down over a good, home cooked meal and chat, without having to worry about staying too long like in a cafe/restaurant! Anna's younger brother Joe (gr.8) and dad had recently got back from Rome, so it was funny to listen to their stories and then bicker about Joe sharing his like 5 pound chocolate bar.

That night we met up fellow Tetley-ites, Ellie and Chris, who lived a short train ride away. We met in Weatherspoons (cheap pub with good food) in the nearby high street (aka main street). Staying longer than intended, Ellie and Chris missed their train after a dedicated jog to it (they even were on the platform as it pulled away!), so they stayed over at Anna's as well. Her dad stayed up until we got home, kind of like when my mom says she cannot fall asleep until I'm safe in the house.

The next morning, Anna, her mom, brother, and me, got ourselves together and headed a nearby National Trust family estate called Standen. It was a victorian home for a rather wealthy family. It wasn't too large, very livable, unlike those massive mansions of the rich who barely step foot in them. This cute house had darker wood panaling and uncomfortable looking Victorian chairs, but it has character because it was properly lived in, so you could tell it was just filled with loving memories by its former occupants. The ground were very green, with a large lawn, colourful flowers, a pond, and little pathways. Joe wanted Anna to race down the hill like when they were kids, but Anna wasn't up for it, so I did instead. Of course, I let him bet me. lol. We had tea and soup in the cafe over another pleasant conversation. On the drive home Anna fell asleep in the back, so her mom and I just chatted away the hour drive as I was sitting in the front seat again. That evening, we met up with another family over dinner at a Tudor pub on the river named, the Swan. I couldn't get over the number of swans on the river! There must've been at least 40 from what I could see. We had to scarf down our tasty pub food to make evening mass, only to be followed by yet another pub, but this one had a special entertaining factor...look below.

Ellie, sweetest girl EVER! and me!

Chris and Anna--so smiley!! (maybe it was all the Reefs they drank)

Standen House

Joe. I told him to eat it, but he wouldn't. I think he was tempted though. haha HI JOE!!!! ;) Anna told me you'll read this! :)

The local pub that is sketchy and people of Anna's area are too scared to go...perfect example of the weirdness: a paper-mache Jesus with flashing lights around and a paper-mache Santa praying in front. haha! It was funny though! We went to this pub after the 'Maundy' (Holy) Thursday mass we attended. Anna's mom, her friend and daughter were eager to come along and see this unique sight with their own eyes. A bunch of my housemates (Will, Chris, Faye, Laura, and Aleks) were in the same pub a week ago, laughing at the same thing. awwwww.

4.28.2006

KIRSTEN'S VISIT to the motherland!

I enjoyed seeing the White Cliffs of Dover, and the extensive, historic Dover Castle. We also managed to fit in Canterbury and it's world renown Cathedral. They weren't letting more people in by the time we arrived, but I found a way in through the back door and we had a few minutes before it officially closed and kicked the tourists out. London was the same as I remember, still enjoyed walking along the Mall and St. Jame's Park..all the tulips were out, absolutely piles of them, so that was beautiful. We head to Salisbury which I loved! So old and green and historic! There was a free tour of the cathedral (highest spire in England) which was really neat. We took a bus to an old hill fort and the foundation remains, also very fascinating!! The view was amazing from up there!! 360 degrees rolling countrysides..I really love the Cotswolds! Just like the scenery in Bath.

We then got a bus to Stonehenge...at first sigh over the hill the stones looked MASSIVE! Once up close, it was how I imagined them...though I didn't imagine 2 busy highways to be right beside it!!! Ruined the atmosphere. Thankfully they'll be making tunnels for the highways in the near future to bring back to 'atmosphere.' There were alos loads of small/large mounds around...I found out they were all burial mounds..WOW! We frolicked among the stones and took a gazillion pictures from every possible angle! It was fun! The security guard said they get up to 25/30 jumpers a night!!! I would not want that job! The following day we went to Nottingham to hang out with Kirsten's friend, Beata for the night. We went out for dinner then stayed in that night with some rum and coke, listening to cheesy polka music, but with Beata's enthusiastic conversations, it's hard not to enjoy yourself.

It was surreal to return to Ireland, after being there only 2 months ago. It was green and remote as I remembered, except this time we were on the West coast of the Republic of Ireland, supposedly the "real, more primitive" Ireland. Tha'ts for sure on the Aran Islands...a Gaelic community off the coast of Galway. They speak English, but theur first language is Gaelic. We took a mini-bus tour around the small, stoney island (8mi by 1mi). It literally was a pile of rock, and in order to create open areas, the rocks were piled to make long/square/round/asymetrical walls leading to no where and surrounding sometimes just more rock!!!! They estimate that if they were to make a solid stone wall using all of the rocks on the island, it would be over 3000miles long! The island only received electricity 30 years ago and it's main source of income is fishing and tourism. We stayed in a small village on the coast near the islands named Doolin. It reportedly had the best traditional Irish music around, and we checked it out both nights. I just love listening to the music in the pubs, it can be so relaxing, and just put you in a good mood. Next on our list was south, through Limerick and west to the Dingle Peninsuela. Here was a mountainous region on a small, narrow peninsuela, so you can imagine it was spectacular views. The bus windows were so dirty that the pictures did not turn out so well...but the town of Dingle was so sweet and quaint! It was also on the water, with a beach, coves and caves. We had limited time here because the tours were not at the right time for us so we did not stay long.

Through the hustling, somewhat dirty/unfriendly town of Cork (sorry, but that was my impressions at first) we ended up at the lovely Blarney Castle. And yes, we did kiss the Blarney Stone. It supposedly gives you the gift of eloquence. The grounds were absolutely beautiful! There were Druid stone circles and fairy trees and it was very mystical and extensive. Too bad we didn't have more time! Well off we were again, we managed to make it to Kilkenny that night and find a hostel. It was in a sketchy dark alley, but there was a church next door, so it couldn't have been that bad. I liked Kilkenny. We visited the castle, which really was transformed into a 3 sided stately home. It was sold in 1948 for a meer 50quid ($100)!!! By this time it was in ruins and needed lots of work, but STILL!!!! They reconstructed the place nicely and our tour guide was great! She was very clear and the things she talked about were of great interest (well maybe not of GREAT interest, but VERY interesting to me)....like about what certain pieces of furniture were used for, and the use of mirrors and colours, and the shapes of rooms.

It was quite funny, the next day in class we talked about the Imperial Empire in the 16th century England course, and Kilkenny castle came up as the home of the leading family to pretty much rule all of Ireland!! How cool is that??!?! I should've raised my hand and said "I was JUST there! fancy that!" The weather was gorgeous and we walked round a bit more to a nice cathedral which was closed. After running to catch the train out, we barely found a seat on the sticky and crowded train. Stupid people had their bags and jackets on the seats instead! UGH. Dublin was the same and we ended up shopping for gifts (well Kirsten) and then to watch the "inside man" with Denzel Washington. It was rather good. Early morning we flew back to Leeds to make it with time to my class. That night I brought Kirsten to two nearby pubs with my housemates. Willa and Marina also came to visit which was nice! So Kirsten got to see Leeds, and meet the majority of my close friends! YAHHHH! We were up at 4:30am the next morning for her 5:30am train. I went back to sleep, and from what I heard, Kirsten got home safe. It was nice to be home (in Leeds). I was missing my housemates and the easy paced daily life at Tetley....but then again, I'll always miss it. The end draws near and I cling to hold on to those sweet moments and memories I wish never to forget.

Tower Bridge w/ my sister!

STONEHENGE!!!

Kissing the Blarney Stone...the pic of me was crap because I kissed it too fast. I found it a bit hard to pull myself back up...kinda scary!

The old age cliff side fort: Dun Aegnus

Cute thatched house on Inishmore (largest island in the Aran Islands)
On the Aran Islands...more stone! shocking :)

Kilkenny Castle. The east wall was knocked down to view the gardens when converted into a stately home by the most powerful family in Ireland to the time.

bye bye Ireland!

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