We drove to County Kerry and Killarney, which is something of a gateway into the stunning Ring of Kerry and the Killarney National Park. We spent a little while walking through Killarney and listening to the thicker southern accents before driving out to Kylie House, our B&B. We chose the B&B somewhat at random from the guidebook, and we found perched high on a hill overlooking MacGillycuddy's Reeks (a mountain chain) and the Gap of Dungloe. Stunning! A perfect view, and we were in a farming area, so there were sheep and horses around. At the suggestion of our hosts (who gave us pie!) we drove down to the Gap to drive through and get some dinner. We only drove in a little way, as it was narrower than the other roads we had tried and it was getting on to evening, so we went back to the mouth of the Gap and went to a pub for dinner (fried Brie... not usual pub fare, but oh so delicious!). We found some horses on the drive back who were excellent at posing in front of the sunset (I think all animals in Ireland are trained to be photographed well), as well as some more gorse, so it was a good night.
Next day we drove into the National Park to walk around. There's a lovely manor house there overlooking the lake (I could live there, no problem) and woodland trails galore. We followed one to Torc Waterfall, an excellent sight, managed to avoid being hit by the horse-drawn carriages that were everywhere, and saw some adorable setter puppies!! Because this is Ireland and we like to continue on themes, we also walked over to an old monastery/graveyard in the park, which was very cool and had lots of dark little passageways and rooms to explore.
That generally brought our grand tour to an end, so we drove back up to Galway, stopping for a bit at Bunratty Castle for some photos and at Gort for some Supermacs (to carry on the M&T fast food tradition). We got back to Corrib Village and took a little walk down the river to see Menlo Castle and then M&T took me food shopping (so nice to have the car and not have to walk the whole way!). The next day we met up for mass and to get some brunch, and then they left me. I was sad to see them go! It was really nice to have family here, as it was when Hannah was here, and it was nice again when I went to the Netherlands. But that's another blog post...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Getting there...
We decided to break our journey south in County Roscommon in a town called Boyle. We found a wonderful B&B directly next door to Boyle Abbey - it was a huge old house with a river and things! So we got some food and spent the evening playing cards and drinking tea in the living room in front of a peat fire. Next day we continued south, stopping to check out Roscommon Castle - in ruins, obviously, but apparently a popular play place for children and picnic place for others - and passing through Athlone (our only traffic jam) before heading to Clonmacnoise Monastery, an old settlement that was once a great center of learning before it was destroyed in multiple attacks way back in the day. It's a really cool place, with all sorts of buildings, graves, a round tower, and the resting place of St. Kieran/Ciaran. You can even still walk part of the centuries-old pilgrim's path. We were all in photographic heaven, as per usual, and we also watched an informative (albeit animated) video about the place.
Next to it, on a hill, there's an old castle in ruins, so Tine and I tramped across a cow field to see it - totally cool! It was set on a hill, but between where we stood and where it stood a huge trench had been dug for extra fortification. All of this overlooks the River Shannon, and it was a really neat place. Our next (and most important) destination was the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary, which is the understood ancestral homeground of the Meagher family. We got there in the evening, and as we rounded a curve on the mountain we could see it silhouetted in the fog. Awesome. We found a nice little B&B (Peggy O'Neill's) with a ruin in the backyard and settled in for the night. Mary and I set out to explore the town and pick up some food (*Helen voice* some bread and some cheese) while Tine remained behind, and we spent a pleasant evening. Next day, the Rock! And I don't mean Dwayne Johnson... had I seen him, I would have been afraid. Anyway, we went in to explore. Originally a castle, it was gifted to the church, so now all the buildings there are the ruins of the Bishop's residence, a large church (might have been a cathedral), a chapel, and a round tower. Both the church and chapel used to be beautifully decorated with murals and things, but under Cromwell they were all whitewashed over and have been lost, but within the past decade or so they've been finding more and more behind the layers of Cromwell, so there's one of the Crucifixion that you can see in the church and a few small things in the chapel. There's also an old sarcophagus and lots of cool carving in the chapel. Much exploring and photographing was done to our great satisfaction. Our final destination - Killarney!
Next to it, on a hill, there's an old castle in ruins, so Tine and I tramped across a cow field to see it - totally cool! It was set on a hill, but between where we stood and where it stood a huge trench had been dug for extra fortification. All of this overlooks the River Shannon, and it was a really neat place. Our next (and most important) destination was the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary, which is the understood ancestral homeground of the Meagher family. We got there in the evening, and as we rounded a curve on the mountain we could see it silhouetted in the fog. Awesome. We found a nice little B&B (Peggy O'Neill's) with a ruin in the backyard and settled in for the night. Mary and I set out to explore the town and pick up some food (*Helen voice* some bread and some cheese) while Tine remained behind, and we spent a pleasant evening. Next day, the Rock! And I don't mean Dwayne Johnson... had I seen him, I would have been afraid. Anyway, we went in to explore. Originally a castle, it was gifted to the church, so now all the buildings there are the ruins of the Bishop's residence, a large church (might have been a cathedral), a chapel, and a round tower. Both the church and chapel used to be beautifully decorated with murals and things, but under Cromwell they were all whitewashed over and have been lost, but within the past decade or so they've been finding more and more behind the layers of Cromwell, so there's one of the Crucifixion that you can see in the church and a few small things in the chapel. There's also an old sarcophagus and lots of cool carving in the chapel. Much exploring and photographing was done to our great satisfaction. Our final destination - Killarney!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Catching up... it will never actually happen
I just got back from Morocco!!! A thrilling thrilling trip, which I will eventually write about. I think, in the interest of time (less than a week left in Ireland, which is rather depressing), I'm going to be a bit more abbreviated than usual as I finish up blogging the rest of my time, although that does not mean any of it meant any less to me! Plus it will leave me with at least a few stories to tell when I see you all face to face. So, back to the Mary and Tine extravaganza! On Tuesday of their visit we drove out through the gorgeous scenery and impressive mountains of Connemara, north of Galway. The roads were small and very windy, and windy, but Mary handled them admirably! Our destination was Kylemore Abbey, which used to be a castle but is now a school. It's set on a lake surrounded by mountains, and is gorgeous, and fabulous, and we were all excessively jealous, and you'll understand why if you look at the pictures. We toured the house and took a walk along the lake to the little church, which was decorated with cool little columns of different kinds of marble. We set off from there to Donegal, driving once again through some stunning mountain and coastal scenery. Our B&B was in the Bluestack Mountains a few minutes from the town of Donegal, so we settled in there before heading into town for some dinner and a little sightseeing, but we didn't do much that night.
The next day we went to Donegal Castle, the ancestral home of the O'Donnells (Tine and I have an O'Donnell friend from school), and it was full of fun little rooms, tiny doorways (for me, that is... Tine and Mary, being mini-people, were ok), and old fireplaces/nooks! Perfect =) Next we went to (of course) two old graveyards. One was a Famine cemetery, but there weren't any actual graves, just a cross marking a small field where the bodies are presumably buried. It was very sad to stand there and imagine what it must have been like, and even more solemn and somber for being so unadorned. We went on to Donegal Friary, which is now in ruins and full of gravestones, many old, some new. It's set right on the bay, so it's a pretty lovely place, and the Friary building itself is pretty cool, with lots of little doorways and things. Our next plan was to drive westward out along the coast, first to a mountain called Slieve League and then to a town called Glencolumbkille, named for the Saint. Our drive took us through the town of Killybegs, which smelled so much like fish you wouldn't believe it, and along some nice (tiny, hairpin-turn-filled) coastal roads.
We initially missed the turn for Slieve League, which is a random little road next to a pub in some small town, but we soon got back on track. The roads now got even smaller, and at one point two cars were expected to drive up a steep curve around the side of a mountain on what was barely wide enough for one car. Anyway, we all survived and made it up to Slieve League, where we parked the car and began our ascent, seeing plenty of sheep (and babies!) as well as other mountains, cliffs, and the sea. Glencolumbkille is in another Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area), so that was cool for me. It's a really little town, but they have a folk village and stuff. We ate some soup (vegetable... we had been overdoing the meat with all the full Irish breakfasts we'd been eating every morning) and then ran across the street to a little church (with graveyard) before driving down to the folk village... which we decided wasn't really worth paying to get into, as it was only a couple of cottages. So we explored the area a bit in the rain, finding a few more fun things, and contemplated taking a new route back out and around to go south again, but as it got smaller and smaller we elected to go back the way we had originally fun, which was fine, as it took us past more mountains, peat bogs, and sheep wandering the roads. As for the road we didn't take, we read in the guidebook later that it's one of the prettiest views in Ireland, as well as one of the smallest, turniest, dangerous roads. We feel we made the right choice, ultimately.
The next day we went to Donegal Castle, the ancestral home of the O'Donnells (Tine and I have an O'Donnell friend from school), and it was full of fun little rooms, tiny doorways (for me, that is... Tine and Mary, being mini-people, were ok), and old fireplaces/nooks! Perfect =) Next we went to (of course) two old graveyards. One was a Famine cemetery, but there weren't any actual graves, just a cross marking a small field where the bodies are presumably buried. It was very sad to stand there and imagine what it must have been like, and even more solemn and somber for being so unadorned. We went on to Donegal Friary, which is now in ruins and full of gravestones, many old, some new. It's set right on the bay, so it's a pretty lovely place, and the Friary building itself is pretty cool, with lots of little doorways and things. Our next plan was to drive westward out along the coast, first to a mountain called Slieve League and then to a town called Glencolumbkille, named for the Saint. Our drive took us through the town of Killybegs, which smelled so much like fish you wouldn't believe it, and along some nice (tiny, hairpin-turn-filled) coastal roads.
We initially missed the turn for Slieve League, which is a random little road next to a pub in some small town, but we soon got back on track. The roads now got even smaller, and at one point two cars were expected to drive up a steep curve around the side of a mountain on what was barely wide enough for one car. Anyway, we all survived and made it up to Slieve League, where we parked the car and began our ascent, seeing plenty of sheep (and babies!) as well as other mountains, cliffs, and the sea. Glencolumbkille is in another Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area), so that was cool for me. It's a really little town, but they have a folk village and stuff. We ate some soup (vegetable... we had been overdoing the meat with all the full Irish breakfasts we'd been eating every morning) and then ran across the street to a little church (with graveyard) before driving down to the folk village... which we decided wasn't really worth paying to get into, as it was only a couple of cottages. So we explored the area a bit in the rain, finding a few more fun things, and contemplated taking a new route back out and around to go south again, but as it got smaller and smaller we elected to go back the way we had originally fun, which was fine, as it took us past more mountains, peat bogs, and sheep wandering the roads. As for the road we didn't take, we read in the guidebook later that it's one of the prettiest views in Ireland, as well as one of the smallest, turniest, dangerous roads. We feel we made the right choice, ultimately.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Holy adventures!! In which Mary drives on the left side.
I did a little shopping two days ago in preparation for my trip to Morocco (I leave Sunday night!! GAH!!!) and got some nice light linen pants and a headscarf, just in case (I can always use it during the summer, while driving merrily in my convertible...). I found some sunglasses at Dunne's which, although they were bigger than sunglasses I usually go for, I quite liked, and they were 10 Euro, which is a middling price. However, while trying to decide if I really wanted them or not (wearing them, staring intensely at myself in the mirror -- I made sure no one else was around at the time), I made the mistake of smiling. The glasses lifted. My cheeks made the sunglasses rise about an inch up my face. It was weird looking. I put them back. Maybe next time.
Monday morning (this is back in April now) we feasted heartily upon the victuals provided by the B&B -- throughout the trip we waddled away from the tables of each B&B we stayed at, overcome by too much food, but it was all so delicious -- before picking up the rental car. That was quite a process, but eventually we had the car. It was very tiny. We named it "Tiny Car" because we're 5. The plan for Monday was to hit up a number of religious-themed sites (plus a Quiet Man-themed one) - Knock, Ballintubber, and Cong. Mary was a tad nervous striking out into the world of left-side driving, but we think she did a corking job - no injuries, no deaths, not even from the sheep who insist on walking down the road in more rural areas! That's what I call a victory.
We drove to Knock, which is an apparition site, and checked out the lovely little church and large basilica. They have the stones from the apparition gable set into the outside wall of the church, so that was really cool to see. We walked through the very large Basilica, then into the church for some prayer, sitting behind some adorable Indian children. The inside of the church is very pretty, and you can see it in my (or Tine's, or Mary's) Shutterfly pictures. Then we headed down towards the museum, but elected not to go in, and over to the old graveyard, our first of many on this trip. There was a really cool stone wall around it that had weird holes in it, like Swiss cheese. Next we headed to Ballintubber Abbey, which has a newer church built right next to the old site and a garden with Stations of the Cross you can walk through. Most of it was very nice, but some of the stations had weird modern sculptures of squiggly shapes and whatnot, and I don't really go for that sort of thing. Anyway, the church is very nice, with some lovely stained-glass windows, and the ruins of the old Abbey were cool to wander through. There was a series of arches around a central courtyard that we noticed at other places too, like Cong, so it must have been a popular style. We walked through the stations as well... the one for the Resurrection was really cool, because it was a little cave you could go into.
Heading away from there, we spotted a very pointy mountain in the distance, which we correctly guessed was Croagh Patrick, a pilgrimage site in honor of Ireland's patron saint. We saw it again later during our travels, but we never actually went there. Our last stop of the day was Cong in Connemara. Not only are there cool Abbey (maybe monastery?) ruins (and an old graveyard!), but it's also where fans of The Quiet Man can see the bridge and cottage from the movie or stay at Danaher's Hotel. On the way there we passed a castle that you can stay in and where, coincidentally, the boy who sat next to them on the plane was staying with his parents. We considered visiting, but ultimately decided against that plan. Cong was very very pretty. After you pass through the ruins, you walk out to a stream and then into some woods. On the stream is a fisherman's house (now roofless) built right out on the water. There are lots of stone arches and little gates, and it was all quite picturesque. My camera, unfortunately, kept dying at this point, but if I gave it some rest sometimes it would work again for single pictures. We finally came across the Quiet Man cottage (hooray!) and Tine posed for a quick picture before we set off for Galway, as it was getting close on to evening. This was our last night in this B&B, as tomorrow we were setting out first to explore Connemara and from thence on northwards to Donegal!
Monday morning (this is back in April now) we feasted heartily upon the victuals provided by the B&B -- throughout the trip we waddled away from the tables of each B&B we stayed at, overcome by too much food, but it was all so delicious -- before picking up the rental car. That was quite a process, but eventually we had the car. It was very tiny. We named it "Tiny Car" because we're 5. The plan for Monday was to hit up a number of religious-themed sites (plus a Quiet Man-themed one) - Knock, Ballintubber, and Cong. Mary was a tad nervous striking out into the world of left-side driving, but we think she did a corking job - no injuries, no deaths, not even from the sheep who insist on walking down the road in more rural areas! That's what I call a victory.
We drove to Knock, which is an apparition site, and checked out the lovely little church and large basilica. They have the stones from the apparition gable set into the outside wall of the church, so that was really cool to see. We walked through the very large Basilica, then into the church for some prayer, sitting behind some adorable Indian children. The inside of the church is very pretty, and you can see it in my (or Tine's, or Mary's) Shutterfly pictures. Then we headed down towards the museum, but elected not to go in, and over to the old graveyard, our first of many on this trip. There was a really cool stone wall around it that had weird holes in it, like Swiss cheese. Next we headed to Ballintubber Abbey, which has a newer church built right next to the old site and a garden with Stations of the Cross you can walk through. Most of it was very nice, but some of the stations had weird modern sculptures of squiggly shapes and whatnot, and I don't really go for that sort of thing. Anyway, the church is very nice, with some lovely stained-glass windows, and the ruins of the old Abbey were cool to wander through. There was a series of arches around a central courtyard that we noticed at other places too, like Cong, so it must have been a popular style. We walked through the stations as well... the one for the Resurrection was really cool, because it was a little cave you could go into.
Heading away from there, we spotted a very pointy mountain in the distance, which we correctly guessed was Croagh Patrick, a pilgrimage site in honor of Ireland's patron saint. We saw it again later during our travels, but we never actually went there. Our last stop of the day was Cong in Connemara. Not only are there cool Abbey (maybe monastery?) ruins (and an old graveyard!), but it's also where fans of The Quiet Man can see the bridge and cottage from the movie or stay at Danaher's Hotel. On the way there we passed a castle that you can stay in and where, coincidentally, the boy who sat next to them on the plane was staying with his parents. We considered visiting, but ultimately decided against that plan. Cong was very very pretty. After you pass through the ruins, you walk out to a stream and then into some woods. On the stream is a fisherman's house (now roofless) built right out on the water. There are lots of stone arches and little gates, and it was all quite picturesque. My camera, unfortunately, kept dying at this point, but if I gave it some rest sometimes it would work again for single pictures. We finally came across the Quiet Man cottage (hooray!) and Tine posed for a quick picture before we set off for Galway, as it was getting close on to evening. This was our last night in this B&B, as tomorrow we were setting out first to explore Connemara and from thence on northwards to Donegal!
As Time Goes By (or, Mary and Tine Visit! Part 1)
First, ruminations: Isn't it strange how many different ways there are to greet someone passing you on the street? I mean, when they're someone you know. So many varieties: if you spot someone you vaguely know you know, or someone you know but don't feel chatting with, you look fiercely down at the ground until you are about a pace apart, then you both glance up for a quick smile and "hey" before looking somewhere else, quickly. Next level... you glance up a few paces apart, allowing for the old "how're you?" "oh good, thanks, you?" "good, see ya!" The latter half is often spoken over one's shoulder, or walking backwards. Then, of course, for good friends, there is much more exuberance. But once you introduce the element of the ipod, the dynamics get even more complicated: do you leave the headphones on? Do you reach for them like you might take them off, but then, ooh, sorry, too late, we've passed each other? There's the old taking-one-side-out tactic, for medium friends, or the person who likes a soundtrack for their life; finally, the full-remove, total commitment. It's an intense world out there people.
Yeah. So, I returned from Bath very tired, but in an Austen mood, so I watched "Becoming Jane" (thanks Mommy!) which was pretty good, especially as James McAvoy's just so darn good-looking. The next few days were pretty calm - it was Holy Week, so I went to mass and got ready for Easter. Mary and Tine (my aunt and cousin) left on Good Friday to come to Ireland (woot!) and were due to arrive in Galway on Saturday morning, I believe around 9:30. I would, of course, meet them at the bus station and personally escort them to the destination of their choice. Theoretically. In truth, I overslept, and woke up about ten minutes before their bus was due to arrive, and it takes about 23 minutes to get there walking at a brisk pace. Clothes were thrown on, hair was not brushed, and I set off, taking it in turns to speedwalk and sprint (very bad for my poor body, which didn't understand why I seemed to be punishing it with physical exertion). Anyway, the poor dears were waiting patiently as I arrived, damp from my labors and from the rain that had started during my run. It was so good to see them!! I'm used to seeing them much more frequently, especially Tine, so this was a lovely visit =) We started trekking to my apartment, but the rain, their fatigue, and their luggage led us to take a cab instead with a wonderfully friendly cabby who talked to us about rock music.
They took in the sights, sounds, and smells of Corrib Village, and we had some tea and toast while filling each other in on our respective lives (well, them as a unit and me... they know about each other's lives pretty well, being mother and daughter). The sun came out and it turned into quite a nice day, so we decided to walk to their B&B, which is on the other side of town near the bay. Although it seemed to them to take forever, the walk is nice and easy and follows a little canal. They settled in at the Prague House (very nice, and the owner is lovely), and then we set off into town to see the sights and eat at Mister Waffle, which Tine had been eagerly anticipating. It did not disappoint. We did some more wandering and sightseeing, heading down to the bay and strolling down the Salthill Prom, as you do. We saw some adorable children ("Sand in me eye! Sand in me eye!"), and Mary and Tine got their first eyeful of Irish men's athletic shorts (they're very, very, very short. You see a lot of hairy, beefy thighs in this country). I had originally planned to cook them dinner, but they were too tired to go all the way back to my apartment and then have to walk back to their B&B, so they just went back, and I went home.
Easter Sunday was a beautiful day, if a little windy, and we met for mass, Mary and Tine having successfully navigated their way from their B&B to the Cathedral. Afterwards we came back to Corrib for some Easter Tacos. The rest of the day we hung out, walked through town a different way to show them more stuff, and went to Monroe's and got some pizza... and Mary and Tine had their first Ireland beers! Well, Tine's first - Mary's first in 11 years. Our pizza was tasty, but Monroe's was very loud and crowded, which was a bit much for my still-tired travelers, so we didn't linger overlong before heading back to the B&B, and we had a sleepover! We started reading their Ireland diary from 11 years ago and watched City Slickers. Score.
Yeah. So, I returned from Bath very tired, but in an Austen mood, so I watched "Becoming Jane" (thanks Mommy!) which was pretty good, especially as James McAvoy's just so darn good-looking. The next few days were pretty calm - it was Holy Week, so I went to mass and got ready for Easter. Mary and Tine (my aunt and cousin) left on Good Friday to come to Ireland (woot!) and were due to arrive in Galway on Saturday morning, I believe around 9:30. I would, of course, meet them at the bus station and personally escort them to the destination of their choice. Theoretically. In truth, I overslept, and woke up about ten minutes before their bus was due to arrive, and it takes about 23 minutes to get there walking at a brisk pace. Clothes were thrown on, hair was not brushed, and I set off, taking it in turns to speedwalk and sprint (very bad for my poor body, which didn't understand why I seemed to be punishing it with physical exertion). Anyway, the poor dears were waiting patiently as I arrived, damp from my labors and from the rain that had started during my run. It was so good to see them!! I'm used to seeing them much more frequently, especially Tine, so this was a lovely visit =) We started trekking to my apartment, but the rain, their fatigue, and their luggage led us to take a cab instead with a wonderfully friendly cabby who talked to us about rock music.
They took in the sights, sounds, and smells of Corrib Village, and we had some tea and toast while filling each other in on our respective lives (well, them as a unit and me... they know about each other's lives pretty well, being mother and daughter). The sun came out and it turned into quite a nice day, so we decided to walk to their B&B, which is on the other side of town near the bay. Although it seemed to them to take forever, the walk is nice and easy and follows a little canal. They settled in at the Prague House (very nice, and the owner is lovely), and then we set off into town to see the sights and eat at Mister Waffle, which Tine had been eagerly anticipating. It did not disappoint. We did some more wandering and sightseeing, heading down to the bay and strolling down the Salthill Prom, as you do. We saw some adorable children ("Sand in me eye! Sand in me eye!"), and Mary and Tine got their first eyeful of Irish men's athletic shorts (they're very, very, very short. You see a lot of hairy, beefy thighs in this country). I had originally planned to cook them dinner, but they were too tired to go all the way back to my apartment and then have to walk back to their B&B, so they just went back, and I went home.
Easter Sunday was a beautiful day, if a little windy, and we met for mass, Mary and Tine having successfully navigated their way from their B&B to the Cathedral. Afterwards we came back to Corrib for some Easter Tacos. The rest of the day we hung out, walked through town a different way to show them more stuff, and went to Monroe's and got some pizza... and Mary and Tine had their first Ireland beers! Well, Tine's first - Mary's first in 11 years. Our pizza was tasty, but Monroe's was very loud and crowded, which was a bit much for my still-tired travelers, so we didn't linger overlong before heading back to the B&B, and we had a sleepover! We started reading their Ireland diary from 11 years ago and watched City Slickers. Score.
Monday, May 4, 2009
I had chocoladevlokken for breakfast!
Yesterday we celebrated Jaye's birthday!! 21 wooo!! Some fun and games at Menlo and then drinks and dancing at Quays... the band was great, and great time was had by all. Here's a post I wrote a couple of days ago about a day several weeks ago...
It’s only just Saturday (12:12) on the 2nd of May. I have recently survived an attack by a crippled spider, but don’t let his condition (“I think they prefer ‘visually challenged’ fiend’) fool you into thinking it was any less of a life and death struggle. Anyway, I am now tucked safely in bed and am ready to type. I’m in Franeker in the province of Fryslan in the Netherlands in the house of my aunt and uncle, Gerry and Margreet Meagher. They graciously allowed me to come and stay with them from Monday to Saturday, which means that I’m leaving later today. Sad! But before I can tell you about my week with them, I have some serious catching up to do. A few weeks ago I was in England. On the 7th of April, I woke up in Oxford. Yes, that trip. Think back now…
We left Oxford for Bath via train, a pretty short drive and a nice enough ride. We had to change trains at Didcot Station, so we waited there for a bit before our next train got there. When it did, we all separated – they assign seating, and we were spread out and in different compartments. We rode along fine for about a half hour, give or take, until we approached the Swindon stop (Thursday Next, anyone?), and I got a text from Julie, saying she had left her bag back at Didcot and so was getting off to get it. Luckily, the Swindon people were all very pleasant (“I left my bag” – “Well that wasn’t very clever, was it?”) and called back to check that her bag was still at Didcot before letting her ride back without having to buy a new ticket. In any case, the other four of us carried on to Bath. Since we had to wait for Julie, we decided to get lunch before seeing any of the sites, which we did, and then checked out some of the comedy festival that was going on. We were texting Julie throughout this time to see what was up, and she said we could start doing things, since she wasn’t desperate to see them, so we first checked out the very lovely Bath Abbey before heading into the Roman Baths themselves.
Bath is on top of a hot spring, which made it ideal for the ancient Romans to set up a spa. The water is green now from algae and full of lead from the piping, but the (rather lame, I’ll admit) self-guided audio-tour told us all about how the Romans used to splash about it the hot water having a merry old time (before, of course, the lead got to them). They have lots of artifacts from the original structure (much of it is more modern, relatively – people in Jane Austen’s time and novels used to go there and hang out in the Pump Room of the Baths), including a whole collection of coin-like things people would toss into the water with their prayers on it. The Baths were built not only as a spa but also to honor Minerva Sulis, a goddess, so these bits of metal were inscribed with prayers to her. Actually, most of them are curses, running something like, “So and so stole my cloak… let his eyes boil out next Friday” or “Whoever stole my gloves, may his hands fall off” or other similarly touching sentiments. I liked them.
At the end of the Baths is the Pump Room, where Austen-era people used to assemble to hang out, gossip, and “take the waters,” which were supposed to be good for you (this is not the lead water). You got a free glass with admission, so we went to get our glass… of warm, mineral-y, somehow heavy water. I took two sips and gave it back. The waters have been taken. We went out into the streets again to watch a very funny comedian in a tutu ride a unicycle and juggle while he had audience volunteers run around with knives and stuff. Next we walked around before settling on some grass to rest and wait for Julie, who came pretty quickly after that. Jess and I wanted to go to the Jane Austen Centre and the Royal Crescent, so we headed there, depositing the others in a small park nearby. The J.A. Centre was cool (we only went into the gift shop) because it was full of fun paraphernalia, much of it Darcy themed!! I was getting “the look” (Colin Firth fans, you understand) from all angles!! *Hoo* Ok, sorry, give me a minute. Jess got a journal for her collection, and we headed to the Royal Crescent, a famous stretch of houses. It was really cool looking, although I did not find Rupert Penry-Jones, which was something of a letdown. There is a huge lawn in front of it which connects to a park, and it was now sunny, so we stretched out for a little while. We started back down the hill to collect the others (the whole town works its way up a hill, to where the fancy people live(d)), but I suddenly remembered that the Assembly Rooms were back up there, so Jess indulged me, and we went back to see them. The Assembly Rooms were where balls, concerts, and entertainments were held back in the day, and, like the Pump Room and Royal Crescent, I’ve seen them in movies before, so it was great to be there, and know that Jane Austen was there, and all of that geeky greatness.
We finally met up with the others for some Starbucks, and we decided to see a movie because we still had a long time before our train to Heathrow and all the shops were closing already. We saw “The Boat that Rocked,” a very very funny British comedy, so it was well worth it. The train ride to Heathrow was uneventful, and we got there at about 11pm for our 6:40am flight. We found a nook near a row of rentable computers where we all sprawled out, although only Jaye slept. Throughout the night we chatted, baring our souls and all of that fun girl-sleepover stuff (we magically pulled feather pillows and silk pajamas from somewhere, and a pillow fight ensued, obviously). There was a 24 hour café near us, so around 1:15 we went to get some snacks and spent the rest of our time there in their comfy leather chairs. We all fell asleep around 3:30 but had to wake up again at 4:30 to go check in. Finally we got through, walking practically back to Ireland already just to get to our gate, and slept again on benches, but eventually lots of other people showed up, so we decided to be nice and not hog ALL the seats. Moral of the story: we all got home to Galway, albeit exhausted, and Jess got a tattoo.
It’s only just Saturday (12:12) on the 2nd of May. I have recently survived an attack by a crippled spider, but don’t let his condition (“I think they prefer ‘visually challenged’ fiend’) fool you into thinking it was any less of a life and death struggle. Anyway, I am now tucked safely in bed and am ready to type. I’m in Franeker in the province of Fryslan in the Netherlands in the house of my aunt and uncle, Gerry and Margreet Meagher. They graciously allowed me to come and stay with them from Monday to Saturday, which means that I’m leaving later today. Sad! But before I can tell you about my week with them, I have some serious catching up to do. A few weeks ago I was in England. On the 7th of April, I woke up in Oxford. Yes, that trip. Think back now…
We left Oxford for Bath via train, a pretty short drive and a nice enough ride. We had to change trains at Didcot Station, so we waited there for a bit before our next train got there. When it did, we all separated – they assign seating, and we were spread out and in different compartments. We rode along fine for about a half hour, give or take, until we approached the Swindon stop (Thursday Next, anyone?), and I got a text from Julie, saying she had left her bag back at Didcot and so was getting off to get it. Luckily, the Swindon people were all very pleasant (“I left my bag” – “Well that wasn’t very clever, was it?”) and called back to check that her bag was still at Didcot before letting her ride back without having to buy a new ticket. In any case, the other four of us carried on to Bath. Since we had to wait for Julie, we decided to get lunch before seeing any of the sites, which we did, and then checked out some of the comedy festival that was going on. We were texting Julie throughout this time to see what was up, and she said we could start doing things, since she wasn’t desperate to see them, so we first checked out the very lovely Bath Abbey before heading into the Roman Baths themselves.
Bath is on top of a hot spring, which made it ideal for the ancient Romans to set up a spa. The water is green now from algae and full of lead from the piping, but the (rather lame, I’ll admit) self-guided audio-tour told us all about how the Romans used to splash about it the hot water having a merry old time (before, of course, the lead got to them). They have lots of artifacts from the original structure (much of it is more modern, relatively – people in Jane Austen’s time and novels used to go there and hang out in the Pump Room of the Baths), including a whole collection of coin-like things people would toss into the water with their prayers on it. The Baths were built not only as a spa but also to honor Minerva Sulis, a goddess, so these bits of metal were inscribed with prayers to her. Actually, most of them are curses, running something like, “So and so stole my cloak… let his eyes boil out next Friday” or “Whoever stole my gloves, may his hands fall off” or other similarly touching sentiments. I liked them.
At the end of the Baths is the Pump Room, where Austen-era people used to assemble to hang out, gossip, and “take the waters,” which were supposed to be good for you (this is not the lead water). You got a free glass with admission, so we went to get our glass… of warm, mineral-y, somehow heavy water. I took two sips and gave it back. The waters have been taken. We went out into the streets again to watch a very funny comedian in a tutu ride a unicycle and juggle while he had audience volunteers run around with knives and stuff. Next we walked around before settling on some grass to rest and wait for Julie, who came pretty quickly after that. Jess and I wanted to go to the Jane Austen Centre and the Royal Crescent, so we headed there, depositing the others in a small park nearby. The J.A. Centre was cool (we only went into the gift shop) because it was full of fun paraphernalia, much of it Darcy themed!! I was getting “the look” (Colin Firth fans, you understand) from all angles!! *Hoo* Ok, sorry, give me a minute. Jess got a journal for her collection, and we headed to the Royal Crescent, a famous stretch of houses. It was really cool looking, although I did not find Rupert Penry-Jones, which was something of a letdown. There is a huge lawn in front of it which connects to a park, and it was now sunny, so we stretched out for a little while. We started back down the hill to collect the others (the whole town works its way up a hill, to where the fancy people live(d)), but I suddenly remembered that the Assembly Rooms were back up there, so Jess indulged me, and we went back to see them. The Assembly Rooms were where balls, concerts, and entertainments were held back in the day, and, like the Pump Room and Royal Crescent, I’ve seen them in movies before, so it was great to be there, and know that Jane Austen was there, and all of that geeky greatness.
We finally met up with the others for some Starbucks, and we decided to see a movie because we still had a long time before our train to Heathrow and all the shops were closing already. We saw “The Boat that Rocked,” a very very funny British comedy, so it was well worth it. The train ride to Heathrow was uneventful, and we got there at about 11pm for our 6:40am flight. We found a nook near a row of rentable computers where we all sprawled out, although only Jaye slept. Throughout the night we chatted, baring our souls and all of that fun girl-sleepover stuff (we magically pulled feather pillows and silk pajamas from somewhere, and a pillow fight ensued, obviously). There was a 24 hour café near us, so around 1:15 we went to get some snacks and spent the rest of our time there in their comfy leather chairs. We all fell asleep around 3:30 but had to wake up again at 4:30 to go check in. Finally we got through, walking practically back to Ireland already just to get to our gate, and slept again on benches, but eventually lots of other people showed up, so we decided to be nice and not hog ALL the seats. Moral of the story: we all got home to Galway, albeit exhausted, and Jess got a tattoo.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Filler
I'm in the Netherlands!! My uncle Gerry, his wife Margreet, and their kids Colin, Andrea, and Emily (and their dog Sparky) were kind enough to allow me to stay for a week. We're taking a driving tour of fun things in North Holland today, so I'm not actually going to do a real blog, but I thought I'd give a quick heads-up. I'm also watching Spongebob in Dutch, which is totally weird. I promise I will really blog soon!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Just a few things
First of all, congratulations to Gail and Joe and Rich and Cass!! New babies for everyone!! Both James and Tristan are beautiful, beautiful babies =)
Faithful readers, I apologize for falling so behind. Not only have I not yet chronicled my day in Bath or put up those pictures (London and Oxford are there), but I have yet to document the week following Easter, which I spent traveling up and down Ireland with Mary and Tine (my aunt and cousin)! On Monday I am flying to the Netherlands to visit my uncle Gerry and his family for a week, so I really may never catch up. I'll try though, really.
On Thursday I had my one final, so I am now done with classes!! I would just like to recount to you the saga of NUIG finals, because it's really something a sane school would never think of. I think I mentioned in an earlier post how silly the class schedules are, never in the same room or at the same time during the week (are they trying to hide our movements from enemy intelligence?). Now, when they have to arrange finals, we see again some stellar ingenuity. Lots of the classrooms are theatre-style, with rising levels of long tables with chairs attached to the floor. They are apparently very worried about cheating, because for the exams they put everyone in rooms big enough to hold rows of separate desks so everyone has so many feet of free space around them. This fear is ironic, I feel, because of the preparation given for these exams: many classes have tests from previous years on the library's website for you to peruse at your leisure; teachers often give out the exact questions they plan on asking or use the same test that's posted online; and one of my professors (and from what I hear this happened in other classes too) talked us through one of the questions, telling us exactly what we needed to write to fully answer it.
So, the only problem is, where to fit everyone? There are only so many large rooms on campus, so where can we find additional space? The answer: the racecourse. Yes, the racecourse. There are large rooms there (with their own taps... apparently they're party rooms on raceday) in which rows of desks have been set up and numbered, corresponding to an alphabetical list of your particular class (I was 139). Of course, the racetrack is a bit of a distance to walk for a 9:30 exam, although only about 10 minutes driving, so they provide buses leaving from the Quad on campus. BUT they charge 3 Euro! Not an astronomical sum, but they make us pay for a bus that we need to take only because they lack sufficient space! Gah. The buses for the 9:30 exams left at 8am (ugh), leaving us an hour to sit around in the general lobby of the racetrack and stew. Luckily I have a bunch of friends in that class, so we were able to pass the time well enough.
Then of course it was the easiest exam ever (did I mention I was walked through the answer?). I just thought I'd share. You may now be wondering why I didn't just take this time to finish off my England trip. To you I say -- I've been at NUIG for a long time now. The logic switch is not always turned on. Goodnight!
Faithful readers, I apologize for falling so behind. Not only have I not yet chronicled my day in Bath or put up those pictures (London and Oxford are there), but I have yet to document the week following Easter, which I spent traveling up and down Ireland with Mary and Tine (my aunt and cousin)! On Monday I am flying to the Netherlands to visit my uncle Gerry and his family for a week, so I really may never catch up. I'll try though, really.
On Thursday I had my one final, so I am now done with classes!! I would just like to recount to you the saga of NUIG finals, because it's really something a sane school would never think of. I think I mentioned in an earlier post how silly the class schedules are, never in the same room or at the same time during the week (are they trying to hide our movements from enemy intelligence?). Now, when they have to arrange finals, we see again some stellar ingenuity. Lots of the classrooms are theatre-style, with rising levels of long tables with chairs attached to the floor. They are apparently very worried about cheating, because for the exams they put everyone in rooms big enough to hold rows of separate desks so everyone has so many feet of free space around them. This fear is ironic, I feel, because of the preparation given for these exams: many classes have tests from previous years on the library's website for you to peruse at your leisure; teachers often give out the exact questions they plan on asking or use the same test that's posted online; and one of my professors (and from what I hear this happened in other classes too) talked us through one of the questions, telling us exactly what we needed to write to fully answer it.
So, the only problem is, where to fit everyone? There are only so many large rooms on campus, so where can we find additional space? The answer: the racecourse. Yes, the racecourse. There are large rooms there (with their own taps... apparently they're party rooms on raceday) in which rows of desks have been set up and numbered, corresponding to an alphabetical list of your particular class (I was 139). Of course, the racetrack is a bit of a distance to walk for a 9:30 exam, although only about 10 minutes driving, so they provide buses leaving from the Quad on campus. BUT they charge 3 Euro! Not an astronomical sum, but they make us pay for a bus that we need to take only because they lack sufficient space! Gah. The buses for the 9:30 exams left at 8am (ugh), leaving us an hour to sit around in the general lobby of the racetrack and stew. Luckily I have a bunch of friends in that class, so we were able to pass the time well enough.
Then of course it was the easiest exam ever (did I mention I was walked through the answer?). I just thought I'd share. You may now be wondering why I didn't just take this time to finish off my England trip. To you I say -- I've been at NUIG for a long time now. The logic switch is not always turned on. Goodnight!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
England, Day 3: Oxford
Next morning we went to Victoria Station to catch the bus to Oxford. We were waiting at the stop the website had told us to wait at, and a bus to Oxford was there, but it wasn’t the company we had booked with, so we figured ours was coming soon, because we saw a number of their buses driving around the coach station. Still, we were getting a little worried, so I asked a policeman nearby, who got a bit shirty with me, really (if I can quote Harry Potter… a theme for the trip) -- “Didn’t you read the internet when you bought your tickets?” “Well, yeah…” “No you didn’t, what time is your bus supposed to be? If you read your internet you would have seen that for that time (the other company) is covering that route. You would have missed your bus.” Yeah, thanks. You really needed to hear the tone to appreciate this. Bah. Anyway, we got onto our bus, which was double-decker! So we rode up top and all got our own seats, so we could stretch out. The ride was lovely, and we passed some other fun things that we hadn’t had a chance to see earlier in London, like Grosvenor Square, the excessively attractive part of Hyde Park, and the royal fishmongers. That one was a surprise. There was a man being interviewed outside of it for the news, and I thought it was funny that this little shop was the royal fishmongers. Anyway, we journeyed through the countryside into Oxfordshire. Oxford town is GORGEOUS, especially if you have any appreciation for architecture at all. Oxford University takes up most of the city, with each of the colleges occupying its own space throughout.
We got off the bus and immediately found a Pizza Hut with a buffet… bonus! We walked to our hostel – too early to check in, but we wanted to stow our bags. We buzzed at the front door, where we were told: “You have to really kick the door….” We tried. “No, really, just kick it…” We tried again, harder, combining our efforts. “Are you in yet?.... really, really kick it!” Finally I did give it a good solid kick, and we were in. After stowing our bags, we headed out to explore (in the wrong direction at first… oops!), found Oxford Castle and mound thing, which we, being castle snobs, decided not to go into, and made our way through the shopping district into town. We went first to Christ Church college, where they filmed parts of the first two Harry Potter movies. It’s very pretty, but you could only see a very small portion of the school itself, because there are actual students there. Angela got REALLY excited when she found out about the HP connection. After going through the hall and chapel, we all had to use the toilet, so we were directed to a bathroom that, as it turned out, was broken. This is where the spy movie comes in. The man working on the toilets told us to “go into the Quad there… look for the man with the bowler hat, and ask him…” We did as he instructed, and lo! A bowler hatted man!
Now, in the Quad you can only walk along one side as tourists, and the rest is for real college people. We told him about our dilemma, and he thought we could use a bathroom a little ways into the forbidden zone, but he would have to take us there one at a time while the rest waited behind the invisible barrier. Suddenly, another be-bowlered man arrived! The two held council: “well, it’s a bit embarrassing really, not having working toilets… I was just going to take them in here” – “Oh, well we could use the one in the JCR.” – “Yes, then they could go en masse...” – “Yeah, I think it’ll be ok, if I go with them.” You can’t make this up, people. So, the second one took us THROUGH THE QUAD!! We got to be special, leaving all the other tourists behind us as we walked through the forbidden zone! We entered a room, and hat man, unsure where the ladies’ toilets were, left us to go find out, and someone yelled “quick, take pictures!”, and we all whipped out our cameras and complied - because, of course, we were in uncharted tourist territory. We all quickly put them away however, and when he came in we were all the “picture” (ugh) of innocence. He led us up the stairs to the, pretty ordinary, bathroom of the JCR (which he told us means the Junior Common Room, where the students hang out). Still, it was fun. He then gave us a mini-personal tour on our way out, which was lovely.
We next wandered through town. I wanted to go to Magdalen college (pronounced “maudlin”), where Tolkien and Lewis had both taught, but the others didn’t want to spend the money, so I went in and they went to the Botanical Gardens. Magdalen was quiet and picturesque, and I honestly enjoyed exploring it alone. They have lovely grounds, including the river and a deer park. After going through the buildings that are open to tourists, I walked along the river for a bit (and over a bridge to nowhere!) and admired the general splendor. The windows in the chapel there were odd… black-and-white and sepia toned. They also have an impressive copy of “The Last Supper.” After Magdalen, I spent some time walking through town and checking out bits of the other colleges and a church. I eventually met up with the others who had been relaxing in the large lawn at Christ Church. We went back to our hostel to check in, passing the ice rink on the way, which was exciting for Jaye, who plays hockey at home and hasn't seen an ice rink in months. The hostel was very nice (we now had the knack of flinging ourselves against the front door to open it), and Jess, Julie, Jaye and I had a room to ourselves. We met Angela on the hostel's top deck and enjoyed some tea in the late afternoon. Eventually we went to the grocery store for dinner, which we ate on the floor of our room, followed by a small singalong. Later, we went out to see the Eagle and Child pub, where Tolkien and Lewis used to gather with other literary friends and discuss their works, and then went to Rosie O’Grady’s Irish pub down the street from our hostel for a drink. The bartender was from Dublin, and we were the only ones there for a while, so we were telling him all about how we were in Galway studying and such. We said how nice it was to hear Irish accents again after being in England. He asked how long we’d been away… “three days!!” we wailed. He rolled his eyes. It was a lovely day.
We got off the bus and immediately found a Pizza Hut with a buffet… bonus! We walked to our hostel – too early to check in, but we wanted to stow our bags. We buzzed at the front door, where we were told: “You have to really kick the door….” We tried. “No, really, just kick it…” We tried again, harder, combining our efforts. “Are you in yet?.... really, really kick it!” Finally I did give it a good solid kick, and we were in. After stowing our bags, we headed out to explore (in the wrong direction at first… oops!), found Oxford Castle and mound thing, which we, being castle snobs, decided not to go into, and made our way through the shopping district into town. We went first to Christ Church college, where they filmed parts of the first two Harry Potter movies. It’s very pretty, but you could only see a very small portion of the school itself, because there are actual students there. Angela got REALLY excited when she found out about the HP connection. After going through the hall and chapel, we all had to use the toilet, so we were directed to a bathroom that, as it turned out, was broken. This is where the spy movie comes in. The man working on the toilets told us to “go into the Quad there… look for the man with the bowler hat, and ask him…” We did as he instructed, and lo! A bowler hatted man!
Now, in the Quad you can only walk along one side as tourists, and the rest is for real college people. We told him about our dilemma, and he thought we could use a bathroom a little ways into the forbidden zone, but he would have to take us there one at a time while the rest waited behind the invisible barrier. Suddenly, another be-bowlered man arrived! The two held council: “well, it’s a bit embarrassing really, not having working toilets… I was just going to take them in here” – “Oh, well we could use the one in the JCR.” – “Yes, then they could go en masse...” – “Yeah, I think it’ll be ok, if I go with them.” You can’t make this up, people. So, the second one took us THROUGH THE QUAD!! We got to be special, leaving all the other tourists behind us as we walked through the forbidden zone! We entered a room, and hat man, unsure where the ladies’ toilets were, left us to go find out, and someone yelled “quick, take pictures!”, and we all whipped out our cameras and complied - because, of course, we were in uncharted tourist territory. We all quickly put them away however, and when he came in we were all the “picture” (ugh) of innocence. He led us up the stairs to the, pretty ordinary, bathroom of the JCR (which he told us means the Junior Common Room, where the students hang out). Still, it was fun. He then gave us a mini-personal tour on our way out, which was lovely.
We next wandered through town. I wanted to go to Magdalen college (pronounced “maudlin”), where Tolkien and Lewis had both taught, but the others didn’t want to spend the money, so I went in and they went to the Botanical Gardens. Magdalen was quiet and picturesque, and I honestly enjoyed exploring it alone. They have lovely grounds, including the river and a deer park. After going through the buildings that are open to tourists, I walked along the river for a bit (and over a bridge to nowhere!) and admired the general splendor. The windows in the chapel there were odd… black-and-white and sepia toned. They also have an impressive copy of “The Last Supper.” After Magdalen, I spent some time walking through town and checking out bits of the other colleges and a church. I eventually met up with the others who had been relaxing in the large lawn at Christ Church. We went back to our hostel to check in, passing the ice rink on the way, which was exciting for Jaye, who plays hockey at home and hasn't seen an ice rink in months. The hostel was very nice (we now had the knack of flinging ourselves against the front door to open it), and Jess, Julie, Jaye and I had a room to ourselves. We met Angela on the hostel's top deck and enjoyed some tea in the late afternoon. Eventually we went to the grocery store for dinner, which we ate on the floor of our room, followed by a small singalong. Later, we went out to see the Eagle and Child pub, where Tolkien and Lewis used to gather with other literary friends and discuss their works, and then went to Rosie O’Grady’s Irish pub down the street from our hostel for a drink. The bartender was from Dublin, and we were the only ones there for a while, so we were telling him all about how we were in Galway studying and such. We said how nice it was to hear Irish accents again after being in England. He asked how long we’d been away… “three days!!” we wailed. He rolled his eyes. It was a lovely day.
England: London, Day 2
After another night at the Hootananny, I got up on Sunday for mass, where, I discovered, it was actually Palm Sunday! Oh how the time flies when you’re jet-setting (wistful look…). Anyway, I got some palms, which I fashioned into a little cross for traveling ease (it was my first one ever, and it wasn’t too bad… you could at least see that it was supposed to be a cross, which is something, I suppose). We planned to go to the British Museum next, but we were meeting Angela there after she went to do some personal exploring, so we wandered from Tottenham Court Road to Oxford Circus, a big shopping district (where, apparently, stores don’t open until the afternoon on Sundays, so we didn’t actually go in any), before meeting up with her. The British Museum is so cool! One part of your mind is thinking that it was, of course, wrong for the British Empire to steal all these things from their native places, but another part is so excited to be able to see artifacts from everywhere concentrated in one place! The first thing we saw was the Rosetta Stone – sweet! – and then lots of Egyptian artifacts. I was particularly interested in the pieces from the Ancient Near East (because I took a Myth in the Ancient Near East class last semester and had seen pictures of some of the pieces in my books) and in the Asian Art (because I also took an Asian Art course and got to see live and in person art I had studied, like the Shiva Nataraja!). I’m ALWAYS interested in Egyptian and Greek artifacts, and there were plenty to be seen. All in all, an excellent excursion, and free as well!!
Jess and I wanted to see the British Library, home to the Magna Carta and manuscripts of Jane Austen’s novels, among other things, so we went that way while the others set off to relax in Hyde Park. The library was indeed open, but, after running excitedly up the stairs to the manuscript room, we discovered that THIS particular room was open every day EXCEPT Sunday. A similar discovery met us downstairs in the Rare Books room, so we wandered a bit through the library, which is cool looking, and into the “Restoration” exhibit type thing, which was pretty lame. We finished off our trip by reading some children’s poetry (part of another exhibit) before heading off to meet the others at Hyde Park. On Sundays, Hyde Park is the home to Speaker’s Corner, where people get up on stepladders and tell everyone their opinions and feelings on subjects of their choice – when we got there, one man was discussing Islam, and when we left he was talking about how “there’s a difference between employment and work.” There were also some ladders with placards on them, for the usuals, I gathered, like the “Socialism” stepladder. We walked around the park, in what we realized later was the unattractive bit (we drove by the pretty part on our way to Oxford… curses!!), and got some ice cream (tiramisu for me, delicious!!!). The others let us know that they had gone elsewhere, so we decided to go to St. Paul’s, since everyone else didn’t particularly care about seeing it.
It’s so pretty! Even with scaffolding… the large white dome with the birds flying around it (feed the birds… tuppence a bag…), the impressive stairway in front, the lovely inside... We went in (for free, because it was Sunday and there was a service) and saw Wellington’s grave, which was cool. There were no pictures allowed, but I took a few stealthy hip shots of the gorgeous ceilings and arches (yes, yes I am a rebel, thanks for asking). We chilled on the steps for a minute, then saw a cup of fruit sitting on a pillar by some pigeons, so we took some “feed the birds” shots with that. Next we found a great statue of a man with goats! Finally we met up with the others, around dinner time, and spent the rest of the evening eating our traditional baguettes and brie. I had a nice heart-to-heart with the Denmark boys in my room, as well as with an American boy who had gone to Carnegie Mellon and had spent time in Galway. The next morning... Oxford!!
Jess and I wanted to see the British Library, home to the Magna Carta and manuscripts of Jane Austen’s novels, among other things, so we went that way while the others set off to relax in Hyde Park. The library was indeed open, but, after running excitedly up the stairs to the manuscript room, we discovered that THIS particular room was open every day EXCEPT Sunday. A similar discovery met us downstairs in the Rare Books room, so we wandered a bit through the library, which is cool looking, and into the “Restoration” exhibit type thing, which was pretty lame. We finished off our trip by reading some children’s poetry (part of another exhibit) before heading off to meet the others at Hyde Park. On Sundays, Hyde Park is the home to Speaker’s Corner, where people get up on stepladders and tell everyone their opinions and feelings on subjects of their choice – when we got there, one man was discussing Islam, and when we left he was talking about how “there’s a difference between employment and work.” There were also some ladders with placards on them, for the usuals, I gathered, like the “Socialism” stepladder. We walked around the park, in what we realized later was the unattractive bit (we drove by the pretty part on our way to Oxford… curses!!), and got some ice cream (tiramisu for me, delicious!!!). The others let us know that they had gone elsewhere, so we decided to go to St. Paul’s, since everyone else didn’t particularly care about seeing it.
It’s so pretty! Even with scaffolding… the large white dome with the birds flying around it (feed the birds… tuppence a bag…), the impressive stairway in front, the lovely inside... We went in (for free, because it was Sunday and there was a service) and saw Wellington’s grave, which was cool. There were no pictures allowed, but I took a few stealthy hip shots of the gorgeous ceilings and arches (yes, yes I am a rebel, thanks for asking). We chilled on the steps for a minute, then saw a cup of fruit sitting on a pillar by some pigeons, so we took some “feed the birds” shots with that. Next we found a great statue of a man with goats! Finally we met up with the others, around dinner time, and spent the rest of the evening eating our traditional baguettes and brie. I had a nice heart-to-heart with the Denmark boys in my room, as well as with an American boy who had gone to Carnegie Mellon and had spent time in Galway. The next morning... Oxford!!
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