Add another patch to the bag

Funny story: I went to Portugal last week!

As I was thinking only of doom and gloom (and interminable essays) last Monday, an acquaintance from College sent me a text, wondering if I'd be interested in going to Portugal. Apparently her friend could no longer go and I could have her plane ticket. The kicker: The plane was leaving Wednesday morning, super early! At first, I wasn't sure what I should do; I only had another 4 weeks for the essay, and I really should be working, plus I'm living on student loans at the moment...

And then I thought about what my friends would say: I'd be stupid not to go. So I made about the fastest decision in my life when I told her I'd join her in Portugal.

I am so glad I did.

I guess I'd forgotten how much I've missed travelling... the last time I went someplace completely new (for fun, not moving) was chaperoning the high-schoolers in Budapest last summer. While I'm still not a fan of not knowing the language of a new place (I always feel a bit guilty that people have to speak mine), I love sight-seeing, soaking up the atmosphere of a new place, trying local food (randomly from a menu which I can't read), wandering about the neighborhoods, and taking excessive amounts of pictures. Some of which you will now see.

Typical small, windy street. Cars drive down these, believe it or not. (though not this one, since it has stairs)

The riverfront of Porto, plus the really high bridge we walked across to the other side. My lunch on the first day. Note that the head is still attached.
St. Alfonse of something church.. too bad I don't speak Portuguese. These blue and white tiles were everywhere, though; they were beautiful.
12th century cathedral.
Cathedral cloisters... though I'm not entirely sure what 'cloisters' are. We got to see them for free, though, since it was a National Day of Historic Centers!

A bishop and the Clerigos church tower. You can see the tower almost anywhere in Porto, and you can get a great view of the city from there. (I'm not posting any pictures from there because it was gray and misty that day... no fun.)

The beach! I have concluded that I have to live near the beach when I grow up. No more of this land-locked crap.
I noticed this rock formation when it was dry, and then waited patiently for some water to come in so I could get a nice, artistic shot. Unfortunately, a really big wave decided to come in then, so I ended up with this:
Wet socks are no fun. Luckily we had nothing to do, so we could lounge on the beach while I waited for my socks to (mostly) dry out.

So those were the highlights... and I've now caught the travel bug again and can't wait to go someplace else. I'm thinking possibly Belgium in June, or else maybe Croatia...

Merry Eastermas!

The weather decided to go all multiple-personality-disorder on us this weekend: yesterday passed in 15-minute increments of bright sunshine, wind and misty rain, and wind and fat snowflakes. The stretches without sunshine, which comprised most of the day, were pretty miserable, but it was just warm enough so that the snow didn't stick. So imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up to this:

(Just to clarify, I wasn't face-down in the daffodils when I woke up. I just don't have another picture of my neighborhood.)

It being Easter Sunday, I'd planned on going into town for church this morning and went to King's College Chapel. The thirty-minute walk turned into more like a 45-minute walk due to the slushy sidewalks and my crappy shoes, but it at least provided me with an opportunity to take some rare Cambridge In The Snow photos. And now, a photo essay:

Walking very carefully down the hill into town
Across the Cam and past the snow-covered punts
King's College Chapel and the Senate House

The Cam and a snowman (not made by me, but appropriated for this photo)

Clare College, King's College Chapel and the Cam

Happy Easter!

My fair lady

London was great! Not sure if it rivals Berlin (oh Berlin, how I miss you), but good times were had. Plus, they speak English in London, so that's one point Berlin doesn't have.

It's nice to go to a city you've visited before; it kind of takes the pressure off. You don't have the feeling that you absolutely have to visit the top 10 tourist sights, since you've already seen them. You don't have to spend half an hour figuring out where you are, where you want to go, how you're going to get there, and how to ask the guy behind the counter for the ticket you want. Fitting everything in doesn't matter as much, you're just relaxed and there to have a good time, which makes it more likely that you will actually have a good time. What I'm trying to say here is that I really didn't do very much in London, and I'm totally okay with that.

What I did do was meet up with Mandy, a former Wittenberger who's doing her PhD at University College London. We got to talk about Witt, good times as Fulbrighters, and the perils of academia. (And I was very, very envious that she is fully funded. Grr.) We took the bus up to St. Paul's Cathedral but didn't go in because it costs 10 pounds. (For a church! Prime example of how London is overpriced.) We wandered around for a bit, then went to the Tower of London, which was awesome! From the outside, it just looks like a fortress, but there is a regular complex in there, including 13 towers which held prisoners, a courtyard, the house that was built for Anne Boleyn (but wasn't finished before she was beheaded), the central White Tower which was home to kings and queens, the chapel where many, many (mostly unidentified) people are buried, and the building housing the crown jewels. We had a tour by one of the Yeoman Warders, who clearly had done this a million times, but was just as enthusiastic this time as he was the previous 999,999 times. Did you know that the Beefeaters live in the Tower? And that their dress uniforms cost 10,000 pounds?

our excellent tour guide

After hanging out in the Tower for a good 4 hours, we then went for dinner at a Pakistani restaurant, which was delicious... I am totally going to miss this kind of food when I go home. And then we had to book it across the city so I could make my 7.30 bus: from the bus, to the Tube, to the coach station, to running through the coach station, to sprinting across the parking lot... I made it to the bus at 7.29. Whew.

So now it's Sunday night, we get an essay assigned tomorrow and I'm dreading this week. But of course I'll keep you all updated on that, because it's NaBloPoMo and I have to.

Two more pictures of the Tower of London for good measure. Here's the White Tower:

... and a shot of where some of the Beefeaters live, complete with laundry:

Jolly good egg!

Just got back from London, and in the interest of NaBloPoMo, I'm posting to my blog! (*gasp*) Full details to come tomorrow, because I am wiped out. Also, because I will more than likely need something interesting mildly amusing to write. In the meantime, enjoy these photos as an appetizer:

The Tower Bridge. Not the London Bridge. People get them confused. (London Bridge is far less attractive.)

The Tower of London! Bloody and gory and creepy and wonderful.

Sunset over the Thames. Those buildings are doubtless landmarks and very interesting, but I don't know what they are.

And now, instead of the Halloween party, I am off to watch 'The Office' and to bed. Sounds like a much better evening to me.

Matriculation dinner, Windsor castle, etc.

The thing about not having class on Fridays is that I tend to sit around and not do anything. I have reading to do, and an essay to write, but no! Let's update my blog, shall we?

On Monday, we had a formal matriculation dinner at the College. Rumor has it, this was the best meal we'll get all year... and it was FREE. The food was indeed delicious: a three-course meal including smoked salmon with cream cheese, pork with roasted vegetables, and a lime marscapone tart. It also involved candles, more silverware than I've ever seen, mandatory gown-wearing, and lots and lots of wine. (heh) Oh yeah, and I got to sit at the head table, next to the Master of the college. (Don't know what the equivalent of his position would be in the US... something like the Dean, on a slightly smaller scale?) I'm not entirely sure how I managed this. Apparently he wanted to sit next to a linguist, or something. At any rate, it was a bit intimidating sitting in the middle of the high table, next to the Master, but I managed to make enough small talk. (and then he turned to other people at the table and I could just sit back and listen) The guy has this amazingly dry sense of humor. Added bonus: I got to hear all sorts of sordid stories about the College.

The rest of the week has been pretty much awful, with this (8-page) essay I have due on Monday. I spent the entire day Wednesday in the library reading for it, and didn't understand a thing. Just now, I sort of have an idea, but I haven't started writing yet. We'll see if I actually do know what I'm talking about when I start working on it.

Randomly, here's a picture of my house. Or, more accurately, the house in which I rent an 11' by 7' cubicle. I live on Windsor Road (how English!), so I suppose you could call this Windsor Castle:

Pictures of my cell room available upon request.

Embarrassing stories from Britain #1 and 2

So I made it here, etc., etc. We're going to skip over the madness that was the Rochester Airport, the semi-depression that marked my first few days here, and the mold in the bathroom that hasn't been cleaned since the Carter administration. (Or, since Margaret Thatcher left office. When was that, anyway?) Instead, let's skip right to the Embarrassing Stories About Which I'll Laugh Later, Or At Least Have A Hearty Chuckle!



Embarrassing Story #1:


Organized by the graduate welcome committee, a bunch of us went out to dinner on Monday. We went to an Indian place (henceforth called a 'curry') down the road, which was fantastic, in case you were wondering. There was a fairly large group of us, about 13, most of whom were international students. As is typical for a meal, the portions were fairly large, and I couldn't eat all of my Chicken Korma at once, so I managed to catch the waiter's attention and asked for a box. He looked confused, so I said I'd like to take the rest home. He still seemed a bit taken aback, but he took the rest and brought it back in a box. The girl next to me (a Canadian) then asked for a box for her meal, and he looked even more reluctant, but did so. While he was repackaging her food, one of the Brits was like, 'I've never seen someone do that before.' The Canadian girl and I were like, what? Apparently in Britain, you just don't take home leftovers; you're supposed to eat all your food. And then two other people at the other end of the table (American and Hungarian) asked for boxes for their food, and the waiter was like, 'We don't do that here.' So this Canadian girl and I obviously offended these people by not finishing our meals! We both felt really bad and took a lot of teasing for the rest of the night. Needless to say I can't show up in that restaurant again, at least for a while. Thank goodness there are many, many other curries in town...



Embarrassing Story #2:


Also organized by the graduate welcome committee, a group of students went punting today. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and not too cold. We went up and down the Cam, looking at the scenery and watching the tourists and tour guides maneuver their punts. I had a great time...until I tried punting myself. I felt like I was going to lose my balance and fall in the water, and I got us turned around twice and almost lost the pole! I was the worst one in our punt; it was pretty embarrassing. Clearly, being punted is much more fun than actually punting. Well, at least I've tried it and know I can't really do it. Also, at least I have photographic evidence:

The Bridge of Sighs, St. John's College

Punts of tourists (and grad students) trying to get a handle on how to punt

The river Cam

(that is indeed me in the foreground...I told you I was there!)

One of the buildings of (the entirely too wealthy) St. John's College

I should go do some reading for class now. How are you?

Photos Part Deux: The Reckoning

Title shamelessly stolen from Müs.

Here, for your viewing enjoyment: Austria and the Alps!

First off, to Vienna: Here, you can see the palace Schönbrunn, which I find very difficult to pronounce and where the Hapsburgs lived from... er, whenever they built it until Austria lost WWI. This is actually a view of the palace from the garden. And I think I took more pictures of that stork than of the palace and garden combined.

On Sunday, since nothing was open, Cathy and I went to the top of one of the towers of Stephansdom. Legend has it that the cathedral was supposed to have two towers (spires?); one was finished. Unfortunately, various tragedies kept happening at the top of the other tower: people falling to their deaths, perhaps a fire, I don't remember exactly. So after a couple of tries, they just stopped building where they were, put a little roof on it, and were done. This is the tower we went up. No wonder the fencing up there was so high.

Oh yeah, the roof of the cathedral was rebuilt post-WWII, hence the date.

The hills are alive in Salzburg...

The Festung: It puts the 'burg' in 'Salzburg'!

I think someone should put that on a t-shirt.

Then we went back to Germany, via Berchtesgaden and the Alps:

Kehlsteinhaus, Hitler's hideaway/vacation home. It was his 50th birthday present from the NSDAP. When I turn 50, I want someone to pick a mountain in the Alps, build a road almost to the top, dynamite a hole in the middle to create an elevator up to the peak, transport tons of raw materials up there, and build me a house. Funny thing was, Hitler didn't even like the house so much, or spend a whole lot of time there. But how could you ever get tired of the view?

Amazing.

The End.

On an unrelated note, Müs is coming to visit tomorrow!! Woo!

Photos!

At long last: Photos From My European Adventure! (PFMEA?) Some of them are kind of boring, and you probably have seen these things before, but oh well. You don't have to look. So there.

Moving on...

Ah, the East... how I've missed you, your Ampelmänner and your Ostalgie...

The Brandenburg Gate, with no scaffolding! Will wonders never cease?

Gendarmenmarkt. Say it with me now: "Die Tasche! Die Tasche!"

One of the lions on the Ishtar Gate, at the Pergamon Museum.

Inner workings of the Reichstag. The color of those chairs was specially made for the Reichstag... I mean, you can't have green or red chairs favoring any political party now, can you?

Entrance to KZ Sachsenhausen. Chilling.

And now we're in Prague...

The Charles Bridge, home to street vendors and pickpockets. And one of the main tourist drags in Prague.
On the Charles Bridge. See the tourists? And the castle in the background?

That's enough of Prague. (I'm not a fan.) Now for Budapest:

The first night we arrived, everyone was a little hyper after the 10 hours spent on the bus. We all met in the lobby to do some sight-seeing at 9.30 at night, because... well, why not? This is the view from the Pest side of the river (where the Parliament is) across to the Buda side.

Heroes' Square. This is the part where Hungarian reading skills would have been nice, since I didn't know who any of these people were. Except for the...
Barbarians! Aren't they frightening? Whereas most countries have these Classical-style marble statues of their heroes (Lincoln, Goethe, whoever), Hungary has barbarian hordes. Parliament building, as seen from here:

Fisherman's Bastion. Not entirely sure what its use was (check the Wikipedia link), but nice-looking just the same. The view made up for the endless stairs we had to climb to get here.

I think that's about it for now; my poor laptop and I are tired of uploading pictures. Enjoy! Photos of Austria and the Alps yet to come...

'Hold on, I'm going to stop and take a picture...'

To change up the format a little bit from the usual bullet points, I present to you: A (Rather Small) Photo Slideshow of DC! Note that I am not in these photos because my uncle nearly dropped my camera. Twice. (At which he said, 'At least there's no film in it!' Ha ha... give it back now.)

The White House. Actually, it looked smaller than I thought it was.

WWII Memorial (obviously) and Lincoln Memorial in the background.

Cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial. Luckily, we went on Wednesday, since there was a huge thunderstorm that night and most of the blossoms were gone the next day, I heard.

The Capitol. You can play 'Spot the Security Guards' with this picture!

Requisite photo of cherry blossoms. Does not, however, capture how ridiculously cold it is here; where's that lovely early-April spring weather?