Well now, it's the end of May already.
I'm not really sure where the time has been going, to be honest with you.
This month has been full of: unwanted drama, a trip to Brighton, ICT teaching two days a week, a visitor from Finland, a trip to watch Chicago, pretending that it's summer, various nights out to pubs, the booking of a trip to Canada, and as of today, the beginnings of a trip to Scotland!
So I suppose that is quite a lot. And that's not even counting the various things I've planned and cancelled.
I'll start with the teaching bit: until the end of the year I'm teaching ICT on Thursdays and Fridays. I'm oddly enough enjoying myself, even though it feels like SO LITTLE gets done in the ICT suite. But, I have each class between 40-60 minutes so that's not really much time when that includes getting things set up and tidied up. I'm learning a lot of names there, seeing as I teach the ENTIRE school minus Reception, I'm doing quite well. I know all of the year 5 class that I have Friday afternoons, and handfuls from each class.
Went to Brighton for the second time with my Canadian/teaching friends. I quite enjoy it in Brighton, although it IS rather overhyped. But I like water so I'm happy enough.
I went and saw Chicago with Sarah, an Aussie that I met while supply-teaching the year 3 class back in October that I really enjoyed. It was great, I was highly impressed with the MINIMAL usage of props - the most elaborate prop was a chair. It was basic in that way, that the production relies entirely on the cast. Which personally, I loved. Any more props would have detracted from the performance, imho.
I did decide to go back to Ontario for August. Little sad about the fact that most everyone in Toronto will be unable to see me for different reasons. But I'll have lots of time with my nieces, which is what ultimately convinced me to go for a visit. It's very strange for me to really miss anyone as much as I miss them.
Although, talking about missing people - I miss a lot of people. I miss my Toronto friends, I miss my really old friends who are all over the place. I miss some of the people that are not in my life anymore for various reasons. I miss my London friends that I haven't seen in months, and know that the only reason why I haven't seen them is myself. I feel really isolated, even though I'm not - I'm frequently out doing things with people. So I really just don't know what it is I'm wanting or feel like I'm missing. I'm afraid that it's just my need to leave feeling setting in. I wonder if I'll ever be rid of it?
Speaking of leaving - I'm off to Scotland today! Canadian Sarah and I are going up to Edinburgh tonight on the night bus. We will spend tomorrow (Monday) in Edinburgh and then we will leave on Tuesday morning for a 6-day tour. http://www.wild-in-scotland.com/6-Day-Hebridean-Explorer-01-0005.php That link should show you the tour we are taking. We're doing a tour as it's easiest - at least for me, everywhere I want to go is always rather isolated (perhaps THAT is why I'm always feeling isolated?! haha) and thus hard to get to without having a car. I'm quite excited for it, we've had it planned out since February when we were in Prague.
Which means next time I post here - it will be a Scotland update :)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
April Sunshine brings May Showers?
I could have sworn I knew a different rhyme ;) April in London was very sunny, but May (the few days we've had of it) have been rainy.
Not much has really been going on in my part of the world. Since Ireland, I've just been working. I spent a lovely weekend in Bristol with Siggy and Jen, where it felt more like being back in Canada as we had a bbq and I sat around in their allotment while Siggy did chores. hahaha.
Lately I've been in the frame of mind of "Oh crumb I need to save money" so I haven't been doing a whole lot of anything. Mostly this is because I know that come August, I'm going to go broke. A month with no pay, while having to pay this rather large rent and expenses? Yep. Gonna be a broke me.
So money has kept my life relatively calm and boring. But the other reason is that I'm simply not in the mood for a lot of urban things. I've been missing rural areas and just being outside. Now, yes, I could go outside whenever I want to. But going outside and walking down a street isn't the same as being outside in fresh air. I've been missing just sitting on a deck and reading in the sun, and BBQs, and hiking. Not easy things to do in London. We have a yard in this house yes, but there's nothing to sit on outside and the people we rent from don't want to invest in any cheap outdoor furniture... and we're not keen on buying it for the house as none of us will be living here for years and years. So there's nothing outside, which renders the yard useless. I don't know anyone in London really with a BBQ. And while I could go walking in the parks or hiking in areas near here... I've just been wanting RIGHT outside of London.
It doesn't mean that I love London less.... but I've been adjusting myself to the idea of not living here and it makes me want to go outside of London and explore more of England. So far, I've really only been to Brighton and Bristol. There's so many places I want to go, but it costs so much to go places on a regular basis.
Then there's also, for me, been the fact that lately I've been rather anti-social. Well, it's more like selectively-social. The idea of groups has just NOT been my cup of tea lately.... I've been a lot more interested in 1-on-1 interactions with friends, which is hard to do sometimes. Or groups of 3. Any larger than that and I sorta cringe. Which is odd, cause it doesn't mean there's anything I'm NOT wanting to see, I'm just not feeling incredibly social.
And I'm really missing my friends back in Canada, and my nieces. I wish it was cheaper to visit between the two countries, as I'd love to try to drag someone or another over here to visit me in August. It'd be really nice to see some of the faces I've been missing! I've been tempted to go back to Canada for August, but that's not a good idea financially. It'd cost over £500 though, and that's just not good financially. I don't think I'd spent £500 in August on food and recreation. I spent less than £50/week on groceries, so we'll just round that up to £200 for the month. That's £300 left for spending money. We'll drop £100 of that on books as that just seems like the sort of thing I'll do. Down to £200. I plan to get myself passes for zones 1-4 which I don't normally do, as I expect I'll spend a lot of time in the parks. That's £40 a week, and let's say that I go and spend 1 week with Siggy and Jen... so that'd £120. Ok, so that's leaving me £80 for a month of miscellaneous expenses.
Ok, so maybe I will spend the £500 in the summer. Ummm. Dammit. That's sorta a lot more to think about now.
:S
Not much has really been going on in my part of the world. Since Ireland, I've just been working. I spent a lovely weekend in Bristol with Siggy and Jen, where it felt more like being back in Canada as we had a bbq and I sat around in their allotment while Siggy did chores. hahaha.
Lately I've been in the frame of mind of "Oh crumb I need to save money" so I haven't been doing a whole lot of anything. Mostly this is because I know that come August, I'm going to go broke. A month with no pay, while having to pay this rather large rent and expenses? Yep. Gonna be a broke me.
So money has kept my life relatively calm and boring. But the other reason is that I'm simply not in the mood for a lot of urban things. I've been missing rural areas and just being outside. Now, yes, I could go outside whenever I want to. But going outside and walking down a street isn't the same as being outside in fresh air. I've been missing just sitting on a deck and reading in the sun, and BBQs, and hiking. Not easy things to do in London. We have a yard in this house yes, but there's nothing to sit on outside and the people we rent from don't want to invest in any cheap outdoor furniture... and we're not keen on buying it for the house as none of us will be living here for years and years. So there's nothing outside, which renders the yard useless. I don't know anyone in London really with a BBQ. And while I could go walking in the parks or hiking in areas near here... I've just been wanting RIGHT outside of London.
It doesn't mean that I love London less.... but I've been adjusting myself to the idea of not living here and it makes me want to go outside of London and explore more of England. So far, I've really only been to Brighton and Bristol. There's so many places I want to go, but it costs so much to go places on a regular basis.
Then there's also, for me, been the fact that lately I've been rather anti-social. Well, it's more like selectively-social. The idea of groups has just NOT been my cup of tea lately.... I've been a lot more interested in 1-on-1 interactions with friends, which is hard to do sometimes. Or groups of 3. Any larger than that and I sorta cringe. Which is odd, cause it doesn't mean there's anything I'm NOT wanting to see, I'm just not feeling incredibly social.
And I'm really missing my friends back in Canada, and my nieces. I wish it was cheaper to visit between the two countries, as I'd love to try to drag someone or another over here to visit me in August. It'd be really nice to see some of the faces I've been missing! I've been tempted to go back to Canada for August, but that's not a good idea financially. It'd cost over £500 though, and that's just not good financially. I don't think I'd spent £500 in August on food and recreation. I spent less than £50/week on groceries, so we'll just round that up to £200 for the month. That's £300 left for spending money. We'll drop £100 of that on books as that just seems like the sort of thing I'll do. Down to £200. I plan to get myself passes for zones 1-4 which I don't normally do, as I expect I'll spend a lot of time in the parks. That's £40 a week, and let's say that I go and spend 1 week with Siggy and Jen... so that'd £120. Ok, so that's leaving me £80 for a month of miscellaneous expenses.
Ok, so maybe I will spend the £500 in the summer. Ummm. Dammit. That's sorta a lot more to think about now.
:S
Friday, April 16, 2010
Luck of the Irish...
Anyone who reads this and also pays even a tiny bit of attention to the things I do will know that I just returned from a trip to Ireland. Now, this trip was special for me, and I'll explain why in a bit.
Before I do that though, I'm going to focus on that other key word in my title: Luck. To sum it up, I've got a lot of it. At least, if we go with all the various superstitions. I've known found two 6-leaf clovers, 2 5-leaf clovers, and I think it's 23 4-leaf clovers. I have also found one lone horseshoe on a lawn that was mowed every summer yet it had never gotten in the way. And I know I owned a lucky rabbit's foot, but I can say that I don't recall ever purchasing it, so I'm going with the fact that I'd probably found it. I've yet to find any gold at the end of a rainbow, however, but I'm going with the thought that that's only because I've yet to find myself at the end of a rainbow.
In all seriousness though, I actually am quite lucky. Sure, I make a lot of that luck through hard work and careful planning, but there is some genuine luck in there. I've learned to trust in it over the years. Things tend to work how the way I want them too, and I tend to find that the things where I have a lot of interference... generally don't turn out too well if I keep pushing to get it anyway.
Anyway, onwards to Ireland!
It was a special trip for me as I did it solo. I wanted to be able to say to myself years down the road that I went on a vacation all by myself. I think it shows how much I've changed over the years, as I really am quite shy in a lot of ways and being able to actually go all on my own (and be confident enough to TELL my friends that I was going solo) is something I'm proud of. Even a few years ago I wouldn't have been able to do it.
The First Leg of the Journey: Wales
I didn't head directly to Ireland. I went to Cardiff Wales first, to visit Mel. What can I say, I take people up on open invitations.
I had a relaxing time, and I hope that she wasn't too extra-stressed out while having a guest when she is busy working on her PhD thesis. I was there for Easter (as I failed to understand the hugeness of the holiday here in England... in Canada it's really not all that big) and we spent Easter Sunday at Dunraven Bay. It was a lovely bay with lovely cliffs that were made extra-awesome by the knowledge that they were Bad Wolf Bay in Doctor Who.
I'll say this now: I could sum up my time in Wales by saying that I was stalking Doctor Who.
Anyway, our drive out to the bay showed me what is common in Wales; sheep walking wherever the hell they want to. Who needs to worry about fences when you're allowed to just let the sheep roam free? I couldn't figure out how they could EASILY tell which sheep belong to who, but I'm sure the farmers there have it sorted out somehow.
Anyway. While in Cardiff I also did another first in my life: I went to the cinema on my own, to watch Alice in Wonderland. Now, I've been TRYING to get up the guts to do that for years. I didn't seem able to, despite the fact that I've gone out for meals solo which you would think I'd find a lot more intimidating, but nonetheless, going to the show on my own just hadn't happened. So I did that finally and was all rather proud of myself.
Ireland Part 1: Zombie time in Dublin.
Even though I had a really relaxing time in Cardiff and had lots of time to sleep in rest, I arrived in Dublin after less than an hour's flight totally exhausted. Why was this, you ask? Oh, because my body hates me. It refuses to sleep in, and I was really feeling it when I got to Dublin. I think it was amplified by the fact that the plane (it was a smaller one, where it was only 2 seats-aisle-2 seats) made me feel like I had a nosebleed. Fortunately it only lasted an hour. It really hurt though, I've never experienced that before. Normally I just have some of the ear-popping which is a part of my daily life so I don't notice it. But this plane? It hurt. The pressure hurt, and I kept putting my hand under my nose to make sure it hadn't started gushing blood. I'm going to blame it on sitting where the propeller was literally just out my window, because I don't know what made my head hurt like that.
I head off to find my hostel which was rather easy, I leave my bag and ask for a suggestion on what to do, as nothing IN Dublin itself really struck my fancy as something I needed to go and see. They suggested various things, and I ended up doing the one thing I never thought I'd do anywhere: I bought a ticket for a city bus sight-seeing tour. My logic was that I was too tired to want to walk and do anything, but I still wanted to see places because I knew that was all the time I'd spend in the city. So I hopped on this bus and sat on it for an hour and a half as it went around. I tried my best to listen to the tourguide, but it was hard to stay awake. I was getting really upset with myself, to be honest. I was only tired because my body won't sleep, but I was so tired it hurt and I just wanted to cry.
I ended up going to Kilmainham Gaol. Sure, I had the option to go the Guiness Storehouse which is what everyone else does... but I figured a pint of Guiness would have made me throw up or something, as I was really feeling awful from pure exhaustion. And I didn't seem to want to go to an average museum, so the jail it was. It was really interesting, and sad, and a little spooky. Somehow I made it through the jail without passing out since I was standing up the whole time. I then returned to the hostel and properly checked in since the time was alright finally. I laid on the bed and read for a bit, before heading back out.
This time, I decided I'd go to Trinity College and see the book of Kells. Well. I saw Trinity College alright, but I forgot about the Book of Kells. I was in the yard at the college, and sat down to enjoy the sunshine, and I wanted a rest (yes, taking a bus and getting off the bus tired me out) so where better to rest? However, during this rest I realized I was famished as well.
So I left for food, and forgot about the book of Kells until that evening. I had McDonald's. I was too tired to walk far and I didn't feel like having someone take my order or anything, so McDonald's it was. I felt a bit better after eating, so hopped back on the bus and went to St. Stephen's Green. It was a pretty park, which I just sat in. Didn't even walk around all of it, I just found a place on a bench in the sun to sit, and sat. Thought about how people would go there to watch public executions and whatnot. When I left... I realized a bit too late that the bus had stopped running (as I was still using the sightseeing bus). I hadn't thought it'd stop so early, and I didn't want to pay for public transit. (yes, my logic when exhausted is slightly lacking). So I started walking back in the direction that I thought the bus had came from. Keep in mind, I had a map with me, but forgot I had one.
I just left and went walking. In a strange city. That I had previously only been around one in a bus when I was half-asleep and not paying attention.
Now, this is when you're probably thinking "Oh no, she got lost in Dublin" and this is where you are dead wrong. I didn't. I got back to the hostel without a switch and only looking at my map once to see which corner of Merrion Square I'd shown up in, seeing as I didn't precisely follow the bus route and just walked in the direction I felt I should be. Lindsey's sense of direction for the win!
I then got back to the hostel and passed out, to wake up by 4am. Yep. I lose.
Ireland Part 2: The Cliffs of Moher
So, my first "awake" day in Ireland I was off for a day trip to see the Cliffs of Moher. These are the cliffs that are in the Princess Bridge, when the giant carries Princess Buttercup up the Cliffs after they are in the boat... and where Inigo Montoya waits for Westley/Dread Pirate Roberts at the top for their sword fight. If you've seen the movie.. you'll know how huge they are. If you haven't, then I'll tell you that these are 750 m tall monsters. Tall and gorgeous. But that's rushing myself.
I'll tell you first about the tour guide that day. He was an Irishman (but not a Dubliner) named Shawn who reminded me a bit of my cousin Kevin: sketchy and scrawny. But funny. Throughout the day, Shawn consistently beeped the bus at sheep and said "hi sheep!" Now, mostly, this made me giggle as it's the sort of thing that I do, except I tend to say hello to inanimate things that can't acknowledge I've said anything. He also had the habit of saying "hey sailor" to everything and anything. He also liked to point out all the farmers to us. hahaha. But, behind the somewhat sketchy front you could tell he's rather intelligent, and very good at his job. He was constantly sharing information with us and he talked almost all day long. He also sang songs for us. Now, true, he didn't have the BEST singing voice, but I will give props to anyone who is going to sing in front of a group of people. He sang us Molly Malone at one point.
The first thing we did was to drive through an area of Ireland called the Burren to go see a ruined Abbey. I was much more interested in getting to the Burren. Now, the Burren. It's rocks. Everywhere. The hills look grey and that is because they are grey; it's almost exclusively rocks. So naturally, I was happy. We went to see a Dolma, which was a burial site or something, sort of like a mini Stonehenge but not in a ring, but I spent most of the time clambering about on the rocks.
On this day, I met a nice American couple from California who kept thinking it was a cold day, when really, it was a gorgeous day. But they are from California. I also met a fellow solo-traveller from Chicago, and she was my photo-buddy at the Cliffs of Moher. I made sure to get a picture of them all to prove that yes, while travelling on my own I actually DID talk to other people. I wasn't sure if I would or not, as once I'm out on my own I tend to be quite content being a recluse. But I did, and I was glad of it. I wish we had had more time at the Cliffs of Moher though, as I would have loved to walk all the way down to the end. Didn't have time to though. The weather was amazing though, it was sunny and clear and warm and not overly windy. I didn't even need my jacket on, which was amazing.
Ireland Part 3: Howth
On Saturday I woke up (again, by 4am) and got ready in the dark so as not to wake my roommates. As in, I straightened my hair in the dark. Without a mirror.
When it was an acceptable time, I headed out and went to find the DART (rapid transit, like a train but cheaper) station which was just around the corner. I then headed out to Howth, which was on a small peninsula. It took about half an hour on the DART to get there. I'd wanted to go somewhere coastal and this had fit the bit, and I went out bright an early in search of seals.
Which I found. The seals live right in the habour, which I hadn't known. I was there early (very early) and no one else was around, so I had the seals all to myself. They were amusing, and very wrinkly. I spent my time with them wishing I could feed them (to discover later on in the day that one of the shops sells fish TO feed them! So I did. Money well spent, I say).
After I felt like I had been seal-watching solo for long enough, I headed out the for cliff walk I wanted to go. So off I go, and while walking up a hill I see this dog run across the skinny road. No big deal, until I notice a car come flying UP the hill super fast. I got worried that if I kept walking I'd startle the dog and that it would run back across the road to its owner or to check me out.. and that it'd get hit... so I stopped and waiting and fortunately the car saw the dog and stopped. When it went on, I said to the dog's owner something about how scared I'd been for his dog. He then asked where my accent was from and we had a nice chat. Where I had a soaking wet cocker spaniel sitting on my feet and getting my jeans wet the whole time. It was a nice chat, and we parted ways.
Only to run into each other later in the day, as I guess I was being REALLY pokey on my walk and he took a different/shorter path. It was quite the surprise for me! So I walked along with him for a while. Feel bad, I never got his name, but his dogs were Benji and Margie! When I met him the second time he was taking some daffodils to a woman who lived on the top of the cliff and had just celebrated her 90th birthday. So again, we parted ways and I continued on my walk.
I got really tired and hungry when I realized I'd left my snack/water bottle at the hostel. I went to try to cut my cliff-walk short... and didn't succeed. I left the cliff, but couldn't find where the road would TURN so I ended up walking down the penninsula and it took my ages to get back to Howth. Overall, I think my cliff-walk lasted from 9:30am until 3:30pm, and that's rounding, it was likely longer. Keeping in mind how crappy my sleep had been... I was beat. I ended up just going into the first restaurant, and ordered one of the most expensive (if not the most expensive) meal I've ever ate: 15 Euros, for Hake with asparagus and roast potatoes. I will say though, it was delicious and you really could taste how fresh the fish was! Now, normally when I'm exhausted and starved I don't really TASTE my meal, so I think it would have tasted even better if I had been well-rested. I will make this comment about my meal though: I ordered a pint of Carlsberg as I wanted something light... and she brought me Guiness anyway. So I did, even though I hadn't really wanted it or planned in, drink Guiness while in Ireland. The country saw to it. PS. I got a tiny little sunburn on my nose and a bit below my neck. But it didn't follow the neckline of my shirt so I'm not sure what was up with that.
Ireland Part 4: The Last day, in the Wicklow Mountains and Killkenny
My last full day in Ireland began at 3:30am. Why? Who the hell knows. I went on a day trip out through the Wicklow Mountains and then to Killkenny, and this trip I did for free since I'd stayed for more than two nights at the hostel. It was a nice relaxing day.
It started with driving through Dublin early Sunday morning. It was pretty empty! Of course... that doesn't mean there was nothing going on. Oh no, at the first stop light we had to stop at.. when the light turned green, the truck in front of us doesn't go. Cars behind us start honking.. and (I was sitting right behind the driver) the driver (Connor) and those of us at the front notice that the man's chin is resting on his seatbelt. He was fast asleep. So Connor had to get out of the bus and walk over to the truck. The guys window was down, so Connor smacks him to wake him up. It was rather funny. Connor comes back to the bus and the truck goes bumbling off to the side of the road and almost crashed into a post. Yep. Someone was likely still drunk.
This day I met some other solo travellors... both near the London area. So had lots of company all day. We started out in Glendalough (place of two lakes or something like that) that had a monastery built there... it was gorgeous. Since the weather was so great, and not windy, the lakes were really like a mirror.. totally clear. It was a nice area to go walking.
We drove through the Wicklow mountains which were pretty. They were used in Braveheart, as were Irish horns which apparently pissed off the Scots a bit (can't say I blame them!)
Killkenny was a cute place, but it wasn't really somewhere on my list of things to want to go, so I was glad to just be all relaxed there. We went to a pub that was owned by the last woman burned to the stake as a witch. The food was really good. And yes, we drank a pint of Killkenny in Killkenny. Which, I learned is prounounced "kill-kenny" like I THOUGHT it was, but had peeps in Canada inform me was "kill-kin-knee" or something like that. So turns out whoever THAT was, was wrong, and that I was right, haha.
Well now. I've been sat here typing for wayyyy too long. I think I've summed up the highlights of my trip for me, and if not, then oh well! They're in my memories.
Before I do that though, I'm going to focus on that other key word in my title: Luck. To sum it up, I've got a lot of it. At least, if we go with all the various superstitions. I've known found two 6-leaf clovers, 2 5-leaf clovers, and I think it's 23 4-leaf clovers. I have also found one lone horseshoe on a lawn that was mowed every summer yet it had never gotten in the way. And I know I owned a lucky rabbit's foot, but I can say that I don't recall ever purchasing it, so I'm going with the fact that I'd probably found it. I've yet to find any gold at the end of a rainbow, however, but I'm going with the thought that that's only because I've yet to find myself at the end of a rainbow.
In all seriousness though, I actually am quite lucky. Sure, I make a lot of that luck through hard work and careful planning, but there is some genuine luck in there. I've learned to trust in it over the years. Things tend to work how the way I want them too, and I tend to find that the things where I have a lot of interference... generally don't turn out too well if I keep pushing to get it anyway.
Anyway, onwards to Ireland!
It was a special trip for me as I did it solo. I wanted to be able to say to myself years down the road that I went on a vacation all by myself. I think it shows how much I've changed over the years, as I really am quite shy in a lot of ways and being able to actually go all on my own (and be confident enough to TELL my friends that I was going solo) is something I'm proud of. Even a few years ago I wouldn't have been able to do it.
The First Leg of the Journey: Wales
I didn't head directly to Ireland. I went to Cardiff Wales first, to visit Mel. What can I say, I take people up on open invitations.
I had a relaxing time, and I hope that she wasn't too extra-stressed out while having a guest when she is busy working on her PhD thesis. I was there for Easter (as I failed to understand the hugeness of the holiday here in England... in Canada it's really not all that big) and we spent Easter Sunday at Dunraven Bay. It was a lovely bay with lovely cliffs that were made extra-awesome by the knowledge that they were Bad Wolf Bay in Doctor Who.
I'll say this now: I could sum up my time in Wales by saying that I was stalking Doctor Who.
Anyway, our drive out to the bay showed me what is common in Wales; sheep walking wherever the hell they want to. Who needs to worry about fences when you're allowed to just let the sheep roam free? I couldn't figure out how they could EASILY tell which sheep belong to who, but I'm sure the farmers there have it sorted out somehow.
Anyway. While in Cardiff I also did another first in my life: I went to the cinema on my own, to watch Alice in Wonderland. Now, I've been TRYING to get up the guts to do that for years. I didn't seem able to, despite the fact that I've gone out for meals solo which you would think I'd find a lot more intimidating, but nonetheless, going to the show on my own just hadn't happened. So I did that finally and was all rather proud of myself.
Ireland Part 1: Zombie time in Dublin.
Even though I had a really relaxing time in Cardiff and had lots of time to sleep in rest, I arrived in Dublin after less than an hour's flight totally exhausted. Why was this, you ask? Oh, because my body hates me. It refuses to sleep in, and I was really feeling it when I got to Dublin. I think it was amplified by the fact that the plane (it was a smaller one, where it was only 2 seats-aisle-2 seats) made me feel like I had a nosebleed. Fortunately it only lasted an hour. It really hurt though, I've never experienced that before. Normally I just have some of the ear-popping which is a part of my daily life so I don't notice it. But this plane? It hurt. The pressure hurt, and I kept putting my hand under my nose to make sure it hadn't started gushing blood. I'm going to blame it on sitting where the propeller was literally just out my window, because I don't know what made my head hurt like that.
I head off to find my hostel which was rather easy, I leave my bag and ask for a suggestion on what to do, as nothing IN Dublin itself really struck my fancy as something I needed to go and see. They suggested various things, and I ended up doing the one thing I never thought I'd do anywhere: I bought a ticket for a city bus sight-seeing tour. My logic was that I was too tired to want to walk and do anything, but I still wanted to see places because I knew that was all the time I'd spend in the city. So I hopped on this bus and sat on it for an hour and a half as it went around. I tried my best to listen to the tourguide, but it was hard to stay awake. I was getting really upset with myself, to be honest. I was only tired because my body won't sleep, but I was so tired it hurt and I just wanted to cry.
I ended up going to Kilmainham Gaol. Sure, I had the option to go the Guiness Storehouse which is what everyone else does... but I figured a pint of Guiness would have made me throw up or something, as I was really feeling awful from pure exhaustion. And I didn't seem to want to go to an average museum, so the jail it was. It was really interesting, and sad, and a little spooky. Somehow I made it through the jail without passing out since I was standing up the whole time. I then returned to the hostel and properly checked in since the time was alright finally. I laid on the bed and read for a bit, before heading back out.
This time, I decided I'd go to Trinity College and see the book of Kells. Well. I saw Trinity College alright, but I forgot about the Book of Kells. I was in the yard at the college, and sat down to enjoy the sunshine, and I wanted a rest (yes, taking a bus and getting off the bus tired me out) so where better to rest? However, during this rest I realized I was famished as well.
So I left for food, and forgot about the book of Kells until that evening. I had McDonald's. I was too tired to walk far and I didn't feel like having someone take my order or anything, so McDonald's it was. I felt a bit better after eating, so hopped back on the bus and went to St. Stephen's Green. It was a pretty park, which I just sat in. Didn't even walk around all of it, I just found a place on a bench in the sun to sit, and sat. Thought about how people would go there to watch public executions and whatnot. When I left... I realized a bit too late that the bus had stopped running (as I was still using the sightseeing bus). I hadn't thought it'd stop so early, and I didn't want to pay for public transit. (yes, my logic when exhausted is slightly lacking). So I started walking back in the direction that I thought the bus had came from. Keep in mind, I had a map with me, but forgot I had one.
I just left and went walking. In a strange city. That I had previously only been around one in a bus when I was half-asleep and not paying attention.
Now, this is when you're probably thinking "Oh no, she got lost in Dublin" and this is where you are dead wrong. I didn't. I got back to the hostel without a switch and only looking at my map once to see which corner of Merrion Square I'd shown up in, seeing as I didn't precisely follow the bus route and just walked in the direction I felt I should be. Lindsey's sense of direction for the win!
I then got back to the hostel and passed out, to wake up by 4am. Yep. I lose.
Ireland Part 2: The Cliffs of Moher
So, my first "awake" day in Ireland I was off for a day trip to see the Cliffs of Moher. These are the cliffs that are in the Princess Bridge, when the giant carries Princess Buttercup up the Cliffs after they are in the boat... and where Inigo Montoya waits for Westley/Dread Pirate Roberts at the top for their sword fight. If you've seen the movie.. you'll know how huge they are. If you haven't, then I'll tell you that these are 750 m tall monsters. Tall and gorgeous. But that's rushing myself.
I'll tell you first about the tour guide that day. He was an Irishman (but not a Dubliner) named Shawn who reminded me a bit of my cousin Kevin: sketchy and scrawny. But funny. Throughout the day, Shawn consistently beeped the bus at sheep and said "hi sheep!" Now, mostly, this made me giggle as it's the sort of thing that I do, except I tend to say hello to inanimate things that can't acknowledge I've said anything. He also had the habit of saying "hey sailor" to everything and anything. He also liked to point out all the farmers to us. hahaha. But, behind the somewhat sketchy front you could tell he's rather intelligent, and very good at his job. He was constantly sharing information with us and he talked almost all day long. He also sang songs for us. Now, true, he didn't have the BEST singing voice, but I will give props to anyone who is going to sing in front of a group of people. He sang us Molly Malone at one point.
The first thing we did was to drive through an area of Ireland called the Burren to go see a ruined Abbey. I was much more interested in getting to the Burren. Now, the Burren. It's rocks. Everywhere. The hills look grey and that is because they are grey; it's almost exclusively rocks. So naturally, I was happy. We went to see a Dolma, which was a burial site or something, sort of like a mini Stonehenge but not in a ring, but I spent most of the time clambering about on the rocks.
On this day, I met a nice American couple from California who kept thinking it was a cold day, when really, it was a gorgeous day. But they are from California. I also met a fellow solo-traveller from Chicago, and she was my photo-buddy at the Cliffs of Moher. I made sure to get a picture of them all to prove that yes, while travelling on my own I actually DID talk to other people. I wasn't sure if I would or not, as once I'm out on my own I tend to be quite content being a recluse. But I did, and I was glad of it. I wish we had had more time at the Cliffs of Moher though, as I would have loved to walk all the way down to the end. Didn't have time to though. The weather was amazing though, it was sunny and clear and warm and not overly windy. I didn't even need my jacket on, which was amazing.
Ireland Part 3: Howth
On Saturday I woke up (again, by 4am) and got ready in the dark so as not to wake my roommates. As in, I straightened my hair in the dark. Without a mirror.
When it was an acceptable time, I headed out and went to find the DART (rapid transit, like a train but cheaper) station which was just around the corner. I then headed out to Howth, which was on a small peninsula. It took about half an hour on the DART to get there. I'd wanted to go somewhere coastal and this had fit the bit, and I went out bright an early in search of seals.
Which I found. The seals live right in the habour, which I hadn't known. I was there early (very early) and no one else was around, so I had the seals all to myself. They were amusing, and very wrinkly. I spent my time with them wishing I could feed them (to discover later on in the day that one of the shops sells fish TO feed them! So I did. Money well spent, I say).
After I felt like I had been seal-watching solo for long enough, I headed out the for cliff walk I wanted to go. So off I go, and while walking up a hill I see this dog run across the skinny road. No big deal, until I notice a car come flying UP the hill super fast. I got worried that if I kept walking I'd startle the dog and that it would run back across the road to its owner or to check me out.. and that it'd get hit... so I stopped and waiting and fortunately the car saw the dog and stopped. When it went on, I said to the dog's owner something about how scared I'd been for his dog. He then asked where my accent was from and we had a nice chat. Where I had a soaking wet cocker spaniel sitting on my feet and getting my jeans wet the whole time. It was a nice chat, and we parted ways.
Only to run into each other later in the day, as I guess I was being REALLY pokey on my walk and he took a different/shorter path. It was quite the surprise for me! So I walked along with him for a while. Feel bad, I never got his name, but his dogs were Benji and Margie! When I met him the second time he was taking some daffodils to a woman who lived on the top of the cliff and had just celebrated her 90th birthday. So again, we parted ways and I continued on my walk.
I got really tired and hungry when I realized I'd left my snack/water bottle at the hostel. I went to try to cut my cliff-walk short... and didn't succeed. I left the cliff, but couldn't find where the road would TURN so I ended up walking down the penninsula and it took my ages to get back to Howth. Overall, I think my cliff-walk lasted from 9:30am until 3:30pm, and that's rounding, it was likely longer. Keeping in mind how crappy my sleep had been... I was beat. I ended up just going into the first restaurant, and ordered one of the most expensive (if not the most expensive) meal I've ever ate: 15 Euros, for Hake with asparagus and roast potatoes. I will say though, it was delicious and you really could taste how fresh the fish was! Now, normally when I'm exhausted and starved I don't really TASTE my meal, so I think it would have tasted even better if I had been well-rested. I will make this comment about my meal though: I ordered a pint of Carlsberg as I wanted something light... and she brought me Guiness anyway. So I did, even though I hadn't really wanted it or planned in, drink Guiness while in Ireland. The country saw to it. PS. I got a tiny little sunburn on my nose and a bit below my neck. But it didn't follow the neckline of my shirt so I'm not sure what was up with that.
Ireland Part 4: The Last day, in the Wicklow Mountains and Killkenny
My last full day in Ireland began at 3:30am. Why? Who the hell knows. I went on a day trip out through the Wicklow Mountains and then to Killkenny, and this trip I did for free since I'd stayed for more than two nights at the hostel. It was a nice relaxing day.
It started with driving through Dublin early Sunday morning. It was pretty empty! Of course... that doesn't mean there was nothing going on. Oh no, at the first stop light we had to stop at.. when the light turned green, the truck in front of us doesn't go. Cars behind us start honking.. and (I was sitting right behind the driver) the driver (Connor) and those of us at the front notice that the man's chin is resting on his seatbelt. He was fast asleep. So Connor had to get out of the bus and walk over to the truck. The guys window was down, so Connor smacks him to wake him up. It was rather funny. Connor comes back to the bus and the truck goes bumbling off to the side of the road and almost crashed into a post. Yep. Someone was likely still drunk.
This day I met some other solo travellors... both near the London area. So had lots of company all day. We started out in Glendalough (place of two lakes or something like that) that had a monastery built there... it was gorgeous. Since the weather was so great, and not windy, the lakes were really like a mirror.. totally clear. It was a nice area to go walking.
We drove through the Wicklow mountains which were pretty. They were used in Braveheart, as were Irish horns which apparently pissed off the Scots a bit (can't say I blame them!)
Killkenny was a cute place, but it wasn't really somewhere on my list of things to want to go, so I was glad to just be all relaxed there. We went to a pub that was owned by the last woman burned to the stake as a witch. The food was really good. And yes, we drank a pint of Killkenny in Killkenny. Which, I learned is prounounced "kill-kenny" like I THOUGHT it was, but had peeps in Canada inform me was "kill-kin-knee" or something like that. So turns out whoever THAT was, was wrong, and that I was right, haha.
Well now. I've been sat here typing for wayyyy too long. I think I've summed up the highlights of my trip for me, and if not, then oh well! They're in my memories.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath
The other weekend I went for a fast-paced bus tour. This was my first time on a proper bus tour aside from school trips, at least, I can't remember being on any. I normally opt for going without background information and instead taking things at my own pace.
Which is a little hard to do sometimes when you don't drive.
Melissa (from Orangeville) had wanted to go on the tour during February's half-term. I wasn't able to attend as I was going to Prague, and it turned out that she hadn't gone out during half-term at all. I'd been wanting to go back to Stonehenge anyway, so I asked her if she wanted to go still.
I then invite my friend Sarah (from New Brunswick) as I thought it'd be the sort of thing she'd like to do. Then I remember that Sarah and I both separately met Charmine (from near Barrie) so I decide to invite her out, thinking that she and Melissa would get on well.
Charmine then brings along Aleks (from YORK!) whom she's met here in London, and then later brings along a newly arrived Canadian named Aleisha (from Vancouver - she was lucky enough to be in the city during the Olympics!). So what started out as a two-woman party turned into 6. All Canadians, all but one who I know, and two who I knew BEFORE leaving the damn country. That's just a small-world coincidence really now. haha. I thought it was hilarious when Charmine mentions this girl Aleks and I immediately go "ooooh crap I know this name from somewhere!" only to discover that we both lived in Mac.
The day commences nice and early, hitch-free.
The first stop was Windsor Castle, where we discover that the Queen is home as that was the flag that was flying. I think I was the only one of us not trying to spot-the-Queen (I was overly conscious of the time and quite frankly, totally forgot she was home even though I kept taking pictures of the flag, not sure how that worked out!). I liked Windsor better than I thought I would, as it's not really my cup of tea. Was mega-rushed though!
In true Canadian fashion though, we were the first to arrive back to the coach out of a fear of being late. (This became a pattern for the trip, and we were always the first to arrive back!).
Our second stop was Stonehenge. Most people I know think there is barely even a reason to go there once, let alone twice, but I enjoy it. So I enjoyed it a second time! Although I got a kick out of how many people were taking pictures of the sheep in the fields (I then opted to take a few pics myself, because I felt like being a sheep myself I suppose!... when in Rome.... oh wait, that's the next stop!)
The next stop was what I was looking most forward too - going to Bath. I've been wanting to go visit the city for a while, and while I knew that we weren't going to get much time there, it would at least give me an idea if it was somewhere I'd like to go for a weekend. It is. It's on my list of cities to visit.
I loved the Roman Baths though, although I'd have loved it more if there weren't so many people there (what a shame, but it can't be helped really, so I spent as much time as possible pretending other people were invisible!)
I did, however get yelled at! Someone sad on a stone for a picture, so I thought it was ok and did the same. And got yelled at to get off the stone. I felt humiliated and really sorry, because really, as I'm sure you all know - I'm just NOT someone who does things when there's a sign or something telling me not to, but I hadn't seen one (and an employee of there was talking to my friends and I as the tour guide was talking to us, so if he mentioned it then I hadn't heard!)
Actually, this is a funny story. While those of us in my tour group were waiting with our silly little plastic entrance coins, I went to fix Char's hood cause it'd been driving me crazy. This guy (an employee at the Baths) comes over and starts straightening Char's coat out and sure did make me feel silly. I just cracked up thinking about it, and alas, I've lost the words so you'll just have to imagine an old man with a funny British accent straightening out Char's hood like a butler.
I also successfully resisted the urge to touch the water, even though I saw other people do it anyway. I really wanted to.
Really. I did really really want to.
I was the only one out of the 6 of us who didn't doze at all on the trip. It just doesn't seem to work.
Which is a little hard to do sometimes when you don't drive.
Melissa (from Orangeville) had wanted to go on the tour during February's half-term. I wasn't able to attend as I was going to Prague, and it turned out that she hadn't gone out during half-term at all. I'd been wanting to go back to Stonehenge anyway, so I asked her if she wanted to go still.
I then invite my friend Sarah (from New Brunswick) as I thought it'd be the sort of thing she'd like to do. Then I remember that Sarah and I both separately met Charmine (from near Barrie) so I decide to invite her out, thinking that she and Melissa would get on well.
Charmine then brings along Aleks (from YORK!) whom she's met here in London, and then later brings along a newly arrived Canadian named Aleisha (from Vancouver - she was lucky enough to be in the city during the Olympics!). So what started out as a two-woman party turned into 6. All Canadians, all but one who I know, and two who I knew BEFORE leaving the damn country. That's just a small-world coincidence really now. haha. I thought it was hilarious when Charmine mentions this girl Aleks and I immediately go "ooooh crap I know this name from somewhere!" only to discover that we both lived in Mac.
The day commences nice and early, hitch-free.
The first stop was Windsor Castle, where we discover that the Queen is home as that was the flag that was flying. I think I was the only one of us not trying to spot-the-Queen (I was overly conscious of the time and quite frankly, totally forgot she was home even though I kept taking pictures of the flag, not sure how that worked out!). I liked Windsor better than I thought I would, as it's not really my cup of tea. Was mega-rushed though!
In true Canadian fashion though, we were the first to arrive back to the coach out of a fear of being late. (This became a pattern for the trip, and we were always the first to arrive back!).
Our second stop was Stonehenge. Most people I know think there is barely even a reason to go there once, let alone twice, but I enjoy it. So I enjoyed it a second time! Although I got a kick out of how many people were taking pictures of the sheep in the fields (I then opted to take a few pics myself, because I felt like being a sheep myself I suppose!... when in Rome.... oh wait, that's the next stop!)
The next stop was what I was looking most forward too - going to Bath. I've been wanting to go visit the city for a while, and while I knew that we weren't going to get much time there, it would at least give me an idea if it was somewhere I'd like to go for a weekend. It is. It's on my list of cities to visit.
I loved the Roman Baths though, although I'd have loved it more if there weren't so many people there (what a shame, but it can't be helped really, so I spent as much time as possible pretending other people were invisible!)
I did, however get yelled at! Someone sad on a stone for a picture, so I thought it was ok and did the same. And got yelled at to get off the stone. I felt humiliated and really sorry, because really, as I'm sure you all know - I'm just NOT someone who does things when there's a sign or something telling me not to, but I hadn't seen one (and an employee of there was talking to my friends and I as the tour guide was talking to us, so if he mentioned it then I hadn't heard!)
Actually, this is a funny story. While those of us in my tour group were waiting with our silly little plastic entrance coins, I went to fix Char's hood cause it'd been driving me crazy. This guy (an employee at the Baths) comes over and starts straightening Char's coat out and sure did make me feel silly. I just cracked up thinking about it, and alas, I've lost the words so you'll just have to imagine an old man with a funny British accent straightening out Char's hood like a butler.
I also successfully resisted the urge to touch the water, even though I saw other people do it anyway. I really wanted to.
Really. I did really really want to.
I was the only one out of the 6 of us who didn't doze at all on the trip. It just doesn't seem to work.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Looking Up
I take a lot of pictures. We all know that.
Sometimes I take a lot of snapshots when I'm out with friends; sometimes I take snapshots because I'm taking a quick picture for someone I think would like to see what I'm seeing, but am not interested enough in the subject to put any thought into the photo. Then again, sometimes I take snapshots because I'm feeling shy or silly being in public by myself or feel rushed because the people I'm with are bored.
Other days I'm in a mood to take macro photos (not so much recently as my Rebel doesn't do so well close enough as I do not have a macro lens) and either photograph insects or things might go a bit more abstract.
Then again, somedays I'm more about nature. I either take landscapes or focus on animals.
I'm sort of all over the place in my style and methods and focus. I'm sure that it comes across everywhere that I post photos; the only real common thread is that I take a million photos and take a lot of shots of the exact same thing.
There are patterns though, if you're me and know about them or if you pay a great deal of attention to what I post. There are certain angles or lighting or subjects that I'm more likely to employ. The same can be said of my editing style when I am in a mood to process my photos - there are trends.
I think I might slowly start organizing my photos into various photo entries where I focus on one of my own trends.
The first trend: Looking Up. It's not particularly unique, and sometimes you lose a great deal of detail on the subject, but regardless, I love it. I like seeing pictures where the angle between the camera and the subject is so extreme that you feel like a tiny little bug looking up at something.
I never take these photos because it's the only way to photograph a building: it's usually a lot harder than taking more straight-on pictures and I feel like an idiot when I sit down on the sidewalk and fiddle around with my camera holding it as close to the ground as I can. These photos I can rarely (if ever) see what is in the shot until after I've taken it, as I might hold my camera a few centimetres above the ground.
With these photos, I rarely have the subject properly centered in my photo - again, this is intentional. As I said earlier, I like the angles. I tend to keep taking shots until I've got a fairly centered one, but it's very rarely the photo I'll post up publicly or be my favourite shot.
This is the lighthouse in Lion's Head Ontario. I've taken other shots of this lighthouse, but this is my favourite one. I liked how the door looks like an arrow pointing up towards the light.
This is a Cathedral in Lille, France. I forget what the name of it was. This is actually the only photo that I took in Lille that I'm happy with - even though I took a million shots of the grotto that was there, I wasn't happy with the lighting and my friends were frequently in the photos when I didn't want them to be. It was such an ornate building!
The monkeys are climbing up the arch in the Natural History Museum, London. The entire building was fascinating, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how it would look if these monkeys actually started to climb the wall. It was so busy in the building that I had a few people looking at me funny that I tried to ignore.
You'll notice as this post goes on, that I primarily use this angle for bridges and churches. The above is the Suspension Bridge in Bristol. This bridge is massive. I felt like an insect, and even though the bridge gate is a little bit basic, I just get a feeling of it being a monster that's going to eat me.
Tower Bridge, London. My friend Jay was with me while I was taking this, and what a sport he is as I don't think he even gave me a funny look when I was sat on the ground playing with my camera.
St. Paul's Cathedral, London. This building is so massive that I almost gave up attempting to take this picture. As it is, I'm not as close to the base of the building as I normally am.
Westminster Abbey, London. This one was hard to take a picture of. Like St. Paul's, I almost quit but at Westminster it was mostly because I felt intimidated sitting where I was sat!
Ah, the Astronomical Clock in Prague, Czech Republic. I have other shots with this angle, where you can see the door that's below the dials. I like this one better though, as the lighting was nice and you can see the little clock at the top. 
The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Prague, Czech Republic. You can barely see the tiny spires at the top of this magnificent building! You can also see how other buildings are LITERALLY built up against it! This is one of those rare times where it's the only angle you can take of somewhere - I could (and did) take a pic of just the door, and I have plenty of photos of the top half of the building, but this is the only way I could take a picture with both in the photo!
Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic. I have a brighter photo of this, where you can see that the sky is blue (borrowed a friend's filter) but I liked this one better as I could see under it. 
St. Vitus Cathedral, in Prague Castle, Czech Republic. Ornate. This building is the definition of ornate, in my books. Inside and out, it was full of details. This photo makes it look less intimidating than it is, and actually looks a lot softer than it does in reality.
This is the Powder Gate Tower, Prague Czech Republic. This photo was difficult to get, as there is road running under it. This photo was thus taken while standing and walking across the road. I walked back and forth across the road a few times stopping near the middle to take a picture or so before another car would come and I'd have to run back across. 
Bath Abbey, England. I didn't spend as much time trying to get a more focused shot here, as I ran over to grab a few quick pictures while our tour guide was inside the Roman Baths getting our entrance sorted. I just couldn't resist the colours and the lighting.
Well, there you go. One entry somewhat describing my thoughts about the photo and why/how it was taken the way that it was.
Sometimes I take a lot of snapshots when I'm out with friends; sometimes I take snapshots because I'm taking a quick picture for someone I think would like to see what I'm seeing, but am not interested enough in the subject to put any thought into the photo. Then again, sometimes I take snapshots because I'm feeling shy or silly being in public by myself or feel rushed because the people I'm with are bored.
Other days I'm in a mood to take macro photos (not so much recently as my Rebel doesn't do so well close enough as I do not have a macro lens) and either photograph insects or things might go a bit more abstract.
Then again, somedays I'm more about nature. I either take landscapes or focus on animals.
I'm sort of all over the place in my style and methods and focus. I'm sure that it comes across everywhere that I post photos; the only real common thread is that I take a million photos and take a lot of shots of the exact same thing.
There are patterns though, if you're me and know about them or if you pay a great deal of attention to what I post. There are certain angles or lighting or subjects that I'm more likely to employ. The same can be said of my editing style when I am in a mood to process my photos - there are trends.
I think I might slowly start organizing my photos into various photo entries where I focus on one of my own trends.
The first trend: Looking Up. It's not particularly unique, and sometimes you lose a great deal of detail on the subject, but regardless, I love it. I like seeing pictures where the angle between the camera and the subject is so extreme that you feel like a tiny little bug looking up at something.
I never take these photos because it's the only way to photograph a building: it's usually a lot harder than taking more straight-on pictures and I feel like an idiot when I sit down on the sidewalk and fiddle around with my camera holding it as close to the ground as I can. These photos I can rarely (if ever) see what is in the shot until after I've taken it, as I might hold my camera a few centimetres above the ground.
With these photos, I rarely have the subject properly centered in my photo - again, this is intentional. As I said earlier, I like the angles. I tend to keep taking shots until I've got a fairly centered one, but it's very rarely the photo I'll post up publicly or be my favourite shot.
This is the lighthouse in Lion's Head Ontario. I've taken other shots of this lighthouse, but this is my favourite one. I liked how the door looks like an arrow pointing up towards the light.
This is a Cathedral in Lille, France. I forget what the name of it was. This is actually the only photo that I took in Lille that I'm happy with - even though I took a million shots of the grotto that was there, I wasn't happy with the lighting and my friends were frequently in the photos when I didn't want them to be. It was such an ornate building!
The monkeys are climbing up the arch in the Natural History Museum, London. The entire building was fascinating, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how it would look if these monkeys actually started to climb the wall. It was so busy in the building that I had a few people looking at me funny that I tried to ignore.
You'll notice as this post goes on, that I primarily use this angle for bridges and churches. The above is the Suspension Bridge in Bristol. This bridge is massive. I felt like an insect, and even though the bridge gate is a little bit basic, I just get a feeling of it being a monster that's going to eat me.
Tower Bridge, London. My friend Jay was with me while I was taking this, and what a sport he is as I don't think he even gave me a funny look when I was sat on the ground playing with my camera.
St. Paul's Cathedral, London. This building is so massive that I almost gave up attempting to take this picture. As it is, I'm not as close to the base of the building as I normally am.
Westminster Abbey, London. This one was hard to take a picture of. Like St. Paul's, I almost quit but at Westminster it was mostly because I felt intimidated sitting where I was sat!
Ah, the Astronomical Clock in Prague, Czech Republic. I have other shots with this angle, where you can see the door that's below the dials. I like this one better though, as the lighting was nice and you can see the little clock at the top. 
The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Prague, Czech Republic. You can barely see the tiny spires at the top of this magnificent building! You can also see how other buildings are LITERALLY built up against it! This is one of those rare times where it's the only angle you can take of somewhere - I could (and did) take a pic of just the door, and I have plenty of photos of the top half of the building, but this is the only way I could take a picture with both in the photo!
Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic. I have a brighter photo of this, where you can see that the sky is blue (borrowed a friend's filter) but I liked this one better as I could see under it. 
St. Vitus Cathedral, in Prague Castle, Czech Republic. Ornate. This building is the definition of ornate, in my books. Inside and out, it was full of details. This photo makes it look less intimidating than it is, and actually looks a lot softer than it does in reality.
This is the Powder Gate Tower, Prague Czech Republic. This photo was difficult to get, as there is road running under it. This photo was thus taken while standing and walking across the road. I walked back and forth across the road a few times stopping near the middle to take a picture or so before another car would come and I'd have to run back across. 
Bath Abbey, England. I didn't spend as much time trying to get a more focused shot here, as I ran over to grab a few quick pictures while our tour guide was inside the Roman Baths getting our entrance sorted. I just couldn't resist the colours and the lighting.Well, there you go. One entry somewhat describing my thoughts about the photo and why/how it was taken the way that it was.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Vancouver Olympics
Ok so after making a fuss about almost-not-having two post in January, I go and blow it and have NO posts in February!
This isn't due to having a lack of things to say. In fact, I've had two posts prepared in my head - I just haven't wrote either of them because blast it all, February is too short and I spent a chunk of it not within England!
So I am going to fiddle and see if I can back-post this at all.
Last night the Vancouver Winter Olympics finished.
I actually sat there for the entire hockey game, and loved it. I found it rather intense. I couldn't even keep myself quiet. Thank goodness my flatmate watched the game with me, and I was chatting to various Canadians via my blackberry.
It really is our game, hockey. I found it somewhat fitting that the generally-regarded-as-the-most-important-game was the VERY last game to be played. It really showed all the tension and competition that can be found within the Olympics.
Now, we all know that I'm not much of a sports fan. It generally bores me. I'm not competitive. I think that most athletes (along with actors) are grossly overpaid.
However, I do enjoy the Olympics.
This reason why is this: it's really the only time that you fully get to see Canada being patriotic and openly happy about being Canadian. It really is the only time that the entire country comes together.
It was amplified this year, being on home soil. Yes, we showed a lot of Canadian stereotypes (especially during the closing ceremony, and while there were moments where I found it overly tacky, overall I found it amusing) but to me at least, self-depreciation is a part of our Canadian Identity.
Since I'm over here in England, I had the opportunity of listening to British commentators as well as Canadian. I think that in many ways, the world was surprised to see Canada being patriotic, and who can blame them? We so rarely show any pride in Canada towards ourselves. It doesn't mean it's not there though, it just isn't something I guess that we feel needs to be screamed out for the rest of the world to see. I think in a lot of ways, we're proud of being quietly happy with ourselves. So it was a shock to the world to see us being openly patriotic and loud about it.
But really, when else have we had the opportunity to do so? We're generally overshadowed by the USA or England, and we just go with the flow a lot. The world's never seen us at home. I think it was about time that they did.
And yes yes, we showcased all the stereotypes about us. But when it comes down to it, we're such a big place that those icons really are some of the few things that the ENTIRE country can agree on. We have a thriving outdoor adventure industry, we all know about Moose and Beavers, even if lots of people have never actually seen one (which, I'm proud to say, yes I've seen both in their natural habitat... although once I was very surprised to find a beaver swimming in Georgian Bay which is much too open and clear and cold for a beaver generally!). And in a lot of ways, but making fun of ourselves we're also teasing everyone else, because the stereotypes that we made fun of.... for some people, that's really all that they have ever known about Canada.
So I liked the Olympics, as being a rallying point for Canada to finally (after all of this time) show the world that we actually ARE proud of ourselves and have a personality.
PS. I even stayed awake until 1am to watch the closing ceremony, which did not end until 4am my time. I think I deserve my own sort of medal for that accomplishment!
This isn't due to having a lack of things to say. In fact, I've had two posts prepared in my head - I just haven't wrote either of them because blast it all, February is too short and I spent a chunk of it not within England!
So I am going to fiddle and see if I can back-post this at all.
Last night the Vancouver Winter Olympics finished.
I actually sat there for the entire hockey game, and loved it. I found it rather intense. I couldn't even keep myself quiet. Thank goodness my flatmate watched the game with me, and I was chatting to various Canadians via my blackberry.
It really is our game, hockey. I found it somewhat fitting that the generally-regarded-as-the-most-important-game was the VERY last game to be played. It really showed all the tension and competition that can be found within the Olympics.
Now, we all know that I'm not much of a sports fan. It generally bores me. I'm not competitive. I think that most athletes (along with actors) are grossly overpaid.
However, I do enjoy the Olympics.
This reason why is this: it's really the only time that you fully get to see Canada being patriotic and openly happy about being Canadian. It really is the only time that the entire country comes together.
It was amplified this year, being on home soil. Yes, we showed a lot of Canadian stereotypes (especially during the closing ceremony, and while there were moments where I found it overly tacky, overall I found it amusing) but to me at least, self-depreciation is a part of our Canadian Identity.
Since I'm over here in England, I had the opportunity of listening to British commentators as well as Canadian. I think that in many ways, the world was surprised to see Canada being patriotic, and who can blame them? We so rarely show any pride in Canada towards ourselves. It doesn't mean it's not there though, it just isn't something I guess that we feel needs to be screamed out for the rest of the world to see. I think in a lot of ways, we're proud of being quietly happy with ourselves. So it was a shock to the world to see us being openly patriotic and loud about it.
But really, when else have we had the opportunity to do so? We're generally overshadowed by the USA or England, and we just go with the flow a lot. The world's never seen us at home. I think it was about time that they did.
And yes yes, we showcased all the stereotypes about us. But when it comes down to it, we're such a big place that those icons really are some of the few things that the ENTIRE country can agree on. We have a thriving outdoor adventure industry, we all know about Moose and Beavers, even if lots of people have never actually seen one (which, I'm proud to say, yes I've seen both in their natural habitat... although once I was very surprised to find a beaver swimming in Georgian Bay which is much too open and clear and cold for a beaver generally!). And in a lot of ways, but making fun of ourselves we're also teasing everyone else, because the stereotypes that we made fun of.... for some people, that's really all that they have ever known about Canada.
So I liked the Olympics, as being a rallying point for Canada to finally (after all of this time) show the world that we actually ARE proud of ourselves and have a personality.
PS. I even stayed awake until 1am to watch the closing ceremony, which did not end until 4am my time. I think I deserve my own sort of medal for that accomplishment!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Prague
This is majorly late in being posted, but alas, I'm changing the date anyway!
This may seem like old news now, but I went to Prague, Czech Republic for half-term. It was a great city, and I would love to go back to it in warmer weather. We had great weather while there though, it wasn't overly cold and it didn't snow or rain while we were there. What can I say, I'm rather talented when it comes to the weather.
What we didn't have as much luck with, however, was health. Sarah was recovering from being sick, Lucy had been battling a cold, and I had no voice for the majority of the trip. I was shouting and all that would come out was a squeak. This made it hard to communicate, obviously, and hard to navigate as I was the only one out who was comfortable with directions. And little Sarah caught the flu while there and was rather ill.
Our health was the only negative part of the vacation.
We arrived in Prague late as our flight had been delayed - this had us worried, as the tube system wasn't running and we weren't sure how to get from the airport into the city centre. We hopped on the bus anyway, and arrived at the closed tube station. Fortunately we were not alone, there was another group of young adults at the station as well. And one of them spoke English, and overheard us trying to sort ouf where the hell we had to go. They were heading in to the city centre as well, so we followed them onto the night tram and got off with them in Wencelas Square. He directed us in the general direction of our hostel and we said thanks and departed.
This was the first encounter with my voice not working when it would have been beneficial. I had a fairly clear idea of where to go as I found where we were on the map, but no one else was able to hear me. They were walking off in the written directions that Lucy had wrote down from the hostel's website which was well enough, but the map was clearly showing me where it would have been a good place to go. We ended up walking in a huge circle that led to the road I had tried to say we should go down anyway. hahahaha. We get there though and promptly fall asleep.
Our room was nice. It was more like a budget hotel than a hostel, as we had our own bathroom and there were no bunkbeds in our 4-bed room. One evening they even gave us a bottle of champagne! Which was nice. The negative part about the hostel though were some of the other occupants who chose to ignore the quiet hours and were banging on each others doors and yelling in the hallway at 4am. Idiots.
Our first morning we headed out and encountered what is currently my favourite building in existence - the Astronomical Clock. I can't really explain how it works as it's complicated, but you should try looking it up. It just amazed me that it was built so very long ago. It's beautiful, and amazes me. Every hour there is a little show it puts on. The 12 Apostles rotate past and there is a skeleton representing Death that rings a bell. Many people are disappointed in the show, but I wasn't. I wasn't disappointed because I couldn't get beyond thinking about how incredibly OLD it is. Around 1410, actually.
After the Clock we went to find the Church Upon Tyn which we could see from Old Town Square. However, what we hadn't remembered reading was that this church is actually surrounded by other buildings, so you can't really see it without seeing other buildings. We ended up on a walk around the area trying to find it before discovering this fact for ourselves.
While in Prague, I have to say that my favourite things were the Astronomical Clock and Charles Bridge. This bridge, while under construction (disappointing) is still an amazing bridge to stroll across. There are multiple statues that adorn it, and it's just a really lovely atmosphere. I bought a small watercolour of it, as I was unable to really take the sort of pictures I'd like to have due to the construction.
There is in Prague a very delicious pastry, and it is in fact I think my favourite pastry ever. It's called a Tredlnik and it is made by rolling the batter around a stick and baking it over coals. It's amusing to eat as well as delicious. Once I tried one, I then proceeded to have one every day. They were that good.
Prague's Castle is hilarious. This is why: the gate, so the FIRST thing you see about this Castle... has two statues on the gate posts. One of these statues shows a man clubbing someone's head in, and the other has a man with a thin sword stabbing someone else. It's very friendly and inviting. Makes you feel welcome. Well, in actuality it made me laugh. It certainly would have been intimidating back in the day. The inside of the Castle has Golden Lane which I did not pay to go down, but it has Kafka's house on it. I didn't feel the need to see his house as I'd walked past the museum and not gone in - although I had laughed at the hilarious pissing statue. The hips swivel so that the men's 'piss' is more like-like I suppose.
The architecture in Prague is amazing - Prague has been left relatively undamaged, so the old parts of the city maintain a lot more of the architecture than you will find in many other locations. I enjoyed just simply walking around. Although Sarah and I did pay to go on a tour to see the Mirror Chapel (cool but not something I'd pay to see), the Astronomical Tower (do not confuse this with the Astronomical Clock, as this tower is where they did their stargazing and provided a really lovely view of the city) and the Baroque Library (what I had wanted to see, and was disappointed at not being allowed to photograph it).
Little Sarah and I after the Baroque Library had gone back to Prague Castle for take two (even though this involved walking up a huge freaking hill) because we wanted to go see the Lobkowiz collection. It was a nice little museum, and we learned that a lot of Beethoven's works were dedicated to someone in that family who was his patron. That was my favourite part, actually getting to see works by Beethoven and Mozart and being able to view their actual handwriting. Especially as I hadn't been expecting that.
Back to architecutre, however. There is a building in Prague that I had wanted to see, and on our departure day, since I was up hours before everyone else, I went for a walk around Prague alone to find it. It's the Dancing House, which is also called Ginger and Fred after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It's a more modern building, but I thought it looked lovely and wanted to see it. So I had a lovely stroll along the river while going to find it.
An area of Prague that I would have liked to spend more time in but didn't, was the Jewish Quarter. Prague is known for it's Jewish history, and while I'm sure most of you know that I'm not really keen on war-history, there's a very strong presence in this part of the city. It just felt really intriguing and heavy, moreso than the rest of the Old Town.
To contrast the more sombre memorial that is the Jewish Quarter, there is also in the New Town a wall dedicated to John Lennon. It's a wall covered in graffiti, so it's always changing. There's a lot on there and you could spent a rather long time examining it and still miss a lot. We were unfortunately not bright enough to have taken any markers with us, so we didn't contribute anything to the wall and I think we all wish that we had.
Overall, I really just loved being here. I've left out a lot, but I've tried to keep this entry somewhat contained.
This may seem like old news now, but I went to Prague, Czech Republic for half-term. It was a great city, and I would love to go back to it in warmer weather. We had great weather while there though, it wasn't overly cold and it didn't snow or rain while we were there. What can I say, I'm rather talented when it comes to the weather.
What we didn't have as much luck with, however, was health. Sarah was recovering from being sick, Lucy had been battling a cold, and I had no voice for the majority of the trip. I was shouting and all that would come out was a squeak. This made it hard to communicate, obviously, and hard to navigate as I was the only one out who was comfortable with directions. And little Sarah caught the flu while there and was rather ill.
Our health was the only negative part of the vacation.
We arrived in Prague late as our flight had been delayed - this had us worried, as the tube system wasn't running and we weren't sure how to get from the airport into the city centre. We hopped on the bus anyway, and arrived at the closed tube station. Fortunately we were not alone, there was another group of young adults at the station as well. And one of them spoke English, and overheard us trying to sort ouf where the hell we had to go. They were heading in to the city centre as well, so we followed them onto the night tram and got off with them in Wencelas Square. He directed us in the general direction of our hostel and we said thanks and departed.
This was the first encounter with my voice not working when it would have been beneficial. I had a fairly clear idea of where to go as I found where we were on the map, but no one else was able to hear me. They were walking off in the written directions that Lucy had wrote down from the hostel's website which was well enough, but the map was clearly showing me where it would have been a good place to go. We ended up walking in a huge circle that led to the road I had tried to say we should go down anyway. hahahaha. We get there though and promptly fall asleep.
Our room was nice. It was more like a budget hotel than a hostel, as we had our own bathroom and there were no bunkbeds in our 4-bed room. One evening they even gave us a bottle of champagne! Which was nice. The negative part about the hostel though were some of the other occupants who chose to ignore the quiet hours and were banging on each others doors and yelling in the hallway at 4am. Idiots.
Our first morning we headed out and encountered what is currently my favourite building in existence - the Astronomical Clock. I can't really explain how it works as it's complicated, but you should try looking it up. It just amazed me that it was built so very long ago. It's beautiful, and amazes me. Every hour there is a little show it puts on. The 12 Apostles rotate past and there is a skeleton representing Death that rings a bell. Many people are disappointed in the show, but I wasn't. I wasn't disappointed because I couldn't get beyond thinking about how incredibly OLD it is. Around 1410, actually.
After the Clock we went to find the Church Upon Tyn which we could see from Old Town Square. However, what we hadn't remembered reading was that this church is actually surrounded by other buildings, so you can't really see it without seeing other buildings. We ended up on a walk around the area trying to find it before discovering this fact for ourselves.
While in Prague, I have to say that my favourite things were the Astronomical Clock and Charles Bridge. This bridge, while under construction (disappointing) is still an amazing bridge to stroll across. There are multiple statues that adorn it, and it's just a really lovely atmosphere. I bought a small watercolour of it, as I was unable to really take the sort of pictures I'd like to have due to the construction.
There is in Prague a very delicious pastry, and it is in fact I think my favourite pastry ever. It's called a Tredlnik and it is made by rolling the batter around a stick and baking it over coals. It's amusing to eat as well as delicious. Once I tried one, I then proceeded to have one every day. They were that good.
Prague's Castle is hilarious. This is why: the gate, so the FIRST thing you see about this Castle... has two statues on the gate posts. One of these statues shows a man clubbing someone's head in, and the other has a man with a thin sword stabbing someone else. It's very friendly and inviting. Makes you feel welcome. Well, in actuality it made me laugh. It certainly would have been intimidating back in the day. The inside of the Castle has Golden Lane which I did not pay to go down, but it has Kafka's house on it. I didn't feel the need to see his house as I'd walked past the museum and not gone in - although I had laughed at the hilarious pissing statue. The hips swivel so that the men's 'piss' is more like-like I suppose.
The architecture in Prague is amazing - Prague has been left relatively undamaged, so the old parts of the city maintain a lot more of the architecture than you will find in many other locations. I enjoyed just simply walking around. Although Sarah and I did pay to go on a tour to see the Mirror Chapel (cool but not something I'd pay to see), the Astronomical Tower (do not confuse this with the Astronomical Clock, as this tower is where they did their stargazing and provided a really lovely view of the city) and the Baroque Library (what I had wanted to see, and was disappointed at not being allowed to photograph it).
Little Sarah and I after the Baroque Library had gone back to Prague Castle for take two (even though this involved walking up a huge freaking hill) because we wanted to go see the Lobkowiz collection. It was a nice little museum, and we learned that a lot of Beethoven's works were dedicated to someone in that family who was his patron. That was my favourite part, actually getting to see works by Beethoven and Mozart and being able to view their actual handwriting. Especially as I hadn't been expecting that.
Back to architecutre, however. There is a building in Prague that I had wanted to see, and on our departure day, since I was up hours before everyone else, I went for a walk around Prague alone to find it. It's the Dancing House, which is also called Ginger and Fred after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It's a more modern building, but I thought it looked lovely and wanted to see it. So I had a lovely stroll along the river while going to find it.
An area of Prague that I would have liked to spend more time in but didn't, was the Jewish Quarter. Prague is known for it's Jewish history, and while I'm sure most of you know that I'm not really keen on war-history, there's a very strong presence in this part of the city. It just felt really intriguing and heavy, moreso than the rest of the Old Town.
To contrast the more sombre memorial that is the Jewish Quarter, there is also in the New Town a wall dedicated to John Lennon. It's a wall covered in graffiti, so it's always changing. There's a lot on there and you could spent a rather long time examining it and still miss a lot. We were unfortunately not bright enough to have taken any markers with us, so we didn't contribute anything to the wall and I think we all wish that we had.
Overall, I really just loved being here. I've left out a lot, but I've tried to keep this entry somewhat contained.
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