I Lost My Heart in Scotland

"It will come to you, this love of the land. There's no gettin' away from it if you're Irish."

Gerald O'Hara in Gone with the Wind was right when he said this.  I'm Irish, and I've fallen in love with land.  The only problem is, I fell in love with what some might think is the wrong land in light of my Irish heritage, for I've fallen in love with Scotland. However, since I've never been to Ireland, I can't really be judged for this flaw, so perhaps Scotland is just Ireland's substitute for the time being. The point is though, I just spent five days in Scotland and had an absolutely incredible time. 

The trip to Scotland started out roughly.  We were to take a 7 pm train from King's Cross on Tuesday the 6th but the Hammersmith and City line on the tube decided that it didn't want to work efficiently and caused us to arrive at the train station at 7:10, just missing our train.  Trains don't give refunds or transfers, so we just burned forty pounds and had to buy whole new tickets. Due to availability, the four of us had to split up what trains we would take, and Carolyn and I purchased tickets for an 11:50 pm train that night leaving from Euston.  Thus, we picked up our bags and headed to another train station to camp out for four hours.  We found a waiting room and took up residence, only to soon be accompanied by two mice, who we not-lovingly named Winston and Wally.  We were both squealing and staring down these mice as they scampered about the room.  No one else was reacting though! Reader, the British have developed an amazing (and rather sad, honestly) stoicism.  They are completely unaware of their surroundings.  The mouse was right under a man's foot and he didn't notice or flinch, while we're across the room staring right at him and it!! It was absurd.  Finally one family noticed as well as an Asian girl around our age, and we all deserted the room for other accomodations, which turned out to be the Burger King sitting area.  11:40 finally rolled around and we boarded our train, only to be thwarted yet again by a problem in the overhead wiring, preventing our train from leaving the station until 1 am. Ironically, both the family and the Asian girl were in our train car as well! At long last, Carolyn and I settled in for our nine hour ride on a sleeper train to Edinburgh.  I slept decently (better than the St. Ives train!) and we arrived in the city around 8 am.  

We were in a slight state of delusion and after a few directional errors finally found our way to our hostel, Castle Rock, on Johnston Terrace, right off the Royal Mile.  Even in my tired state I felt a connection to the city of Edinburgh immediately.  Its stone buildings and hilly roads were charming and just the sort of thing I like.  Once at the hostel, I showered as soon as we got there and then we passed out for a good 2 1/2 hours.  Brigette and Lydia were getting into the city around 2:30 so we had nothing to rush off to. 

Carolyn and I got some shopping in while we waited for them and once they arrived we headed off to tour Edinburgh Castle.  The elevation of the castle provides a lovely view spanning to the water's edge.  

There were some neat displays in the castle of old soldiers' uniforms, the Scottish crown jewels, and lots of information on Mary Queen of Scots, whom I did a report on in fifth grade and have had a slight obsession with ever since. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise I liked Scotland so much...One thing in the castle grounds that I found particular interest in which I think you'll all appreciate is a graveyard for soldiers' dogs. 
 It was quite small and touching, and my first graveyard in Scotland! Win!

By the time we finished seeing the castle it was dark, rainy, cold, and we were starving, so we ducked into a nearby pub in hopes of food, warmth, and drink.  These hopes were dashed though, as the woman would not accept our driver's licenses as legitimate ID and then claimed we could not even be on the premises! We awkardly had to put our coats back on and head back out into the rain, now concerned we wouldn't be able to drink at all in this country, the land of scotch whisky.  
We went to another restaurant though, and had absolutely no problem, and I got my first real scotch!! ...And I didn't like it! It was a very smoky flavor and while I managed to stomach it, it just wasn't my favorite. 

 However, I did have haggis, neeps (turnips), and tatties (potatoes) for dinner, which was delicious!!! Being adventurous pays off for sure. :)   After dinner we headed off to The Jazz Bar, as recommended by my friend Katie who had studied in Edinburgh last spring.  The bartender accepted our IDs no problem.  Apparently that woman just hates Americans. 

 I got "Kind of Blue" which was some combination of Blue Curacao, vodka, orange, and pineapple juice I think...I don't quite remember, but it was really good!  A jazz band played with original music by various band members and they were quite good! It was a really fun and chill night.

Thursday morning we woke up early and headed off to meet our bus for a day trip to the Scottish Highlands, Glencoe, and Loch Ness! Our tour guide, Emily, was perfection: thick red braids sticking out of a winter snow hat with a fabulous Scottish accent.  Our bus was the most diverse group of people of which I've ever been a part: a couple from Germany, a man from Luxembourg, a woman from India, a boy from South Korea, three women from Australia, one woman from Tazmania, and three women from Russia.  We were all in for a long day, which Emily promised to be both exhausting and exhilirating.  What I wasn't expecting from the tour was the amount of history, cultural information, and lore and legends we would be told.  Emily knew her stuff.  To try and regurgitate it all would be impossible so I'll just name a few highlights:

• The city of Edinburgh is divided into two parts (side note: this reminds me of my Latin translations of Caesar - "All Gaul is divided into three parts"): old town and new town. Old town is the original area with the Royal Mile, the Castle, and the Palace, but as society changed the rich wanted to not be intermingled so closely with the poor and so the city expanded across the river and the rich developed what it known as "new town."  New Town is clearly for the upper class as the buildings are Georgian and the streets are wide.  Old Town has very narrow streets and old stone buildings.  
• This dichotomy was one inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Jekyll and Hyde."  Another inspiration is thought to be a man Deacon Brodie who was pious on the outside while simultaneously robbing people's homes.  Another inspiration is thought to be Stevenson himself, who had many conflicting personality characteristics apparently. And drugs, obviously. I didn't know Stevenson was from Edinburgh, or even Scottish, so I found this really interesting.

• The tour company is called "Rabbie's" which is named after the great Scot poet Robert "Rabbie" Burns, who is responsible for making haggis Scotland's national food because he wrote a poem about it. 

As we continued on the ride out of the city we soon passed Stirling castle of which it is said if you hold Stirling, you hold Scotland.  This is where William Wallace fought, I do believe.  Speaking of Braveheart, the namesake for that movie actually comes from a story about a Scottish King who had his friend remove his heart and take it to battle and the man threw the heart at the oncoming enemy. The heart was retrieved and is buried now somewhere in Scotland. Kind of gross, but rather inspiring.  
We stopped at the little town of Callender at the foothills of the Highlands for a quick toilet break.  I purchased a butterfly cake at a local pastry shop, which was a cupcake with two cake chunks on top as wings. It was quite delicious, and the man who served me was quite handsome. I have to say, the Scottish accent is unbelievably adorable and I saw more handsome men in five days in Scotland than the entirety of my time thus far in England.  Anyway, we soon were back on the bus and headed into the Highlands, and let me tell you, they took my breath away.  Even though "purple mountain majesty" is an American lyric, the idea applies very much.  The mountains are so rugged and majestic.  

Being an Appalachian girl and then going to flat ole' England, I've missed mountains terribly and it was wonderful to see them.  We made a few stops during the ride to get off the bus and take pictures of the landscape.  We also took an impromptu stop to take pictures of Highland cows on the side of the road, with which I now have an obsession.  Their long shaggy fur is far too cute. We learned so much on the ride about the Highlands.  Here are a few highlights:

• The Highlands were occupied by the Clans of Scotland, which were based off territory not family lines.  These clans are responsible for kilts (the outfits of their cowboy equivalent), tartan, bagpipes, and essentially everything we identify as "Scottish."  However, with shifts in royalty and industry, the population of the Highlands has dwindled and now only 1/3 of the population lives above the Highland line.
• The population of Scotland is a little over 5 million.  That's less than the population of LONDON!!! 
• 1% of Scots speak Scot, the Gallic language similar to Ireland's Gaelic.
• Scotland and Ireland used to interact and shared more culture.  The divide occurred when the Norse  came to Scotland and influenced the culture.  The mixing of Norse and Scottish genes is actually responsible for the mutation that created red hair which we associate as an Irish/Scottish characteristic.
• The highlands now are used for timber farms.  The fir trees on the mountains are not native and are only for industrial purposes.  I WANT TO WORK HERE. 
• There are no threatening wild animals in Scotland, only deer and fox and the like.  Therefore, as a hiker, one's biggest threat is the weather, which can change at any moment.  
• There's no such thing as trespassing on private property in the Highlands, so walkers and hikers can walk across land without having to worry about that. I AM PLANNING A HIKING TRIP HERE ASAP.
• Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, sits at 4, 409 feet above sea level and the summit can only be seen about 30 days in the year because of the fog.  We didn't see the mountain at all because the fog was so dense.  While Scotland's mountains are certainly not the highest, you see them directly at sea level and therefore the entire mountain, which is pretty impressive. 

 We finally made it to Loch Ness after passing through the Great Glen and the three lochs (lakes) that precede Ness.  There are 31 THOUSAND lochs in Scotland!! We went to the little town of Fort Augustus and took a boat ride on Loch Ness.  Loch Ness's water is pitch black because of the peat content.  On the boat they had sonar detectors to monitor for monster sitings. Unfortunately, the only monster we saw was a wild goat on the hillside beside the loch.  But hey, I'd never seen a wild goat before so that was pretty cool!

After the cruise we were back on the bus and headed down the Eastern side back toward Edinburgh.  It starts to get dark around 4:30 so we didn't have many more stops due to lack of sunlight but it was lovely to see nighttime in the Highlands.  Emily played us bagpipe music which included Highland Cathedral, a favorite of mine, as well as Scottish poems put to song.  I discovered that Robert Burns wrote "Red, Red, Rose" which I had sung in choir!! Scotland was getting more and more perfect. 
We made it back to the city around eight and had dinner at The Villager, where I ordered my first Martini, the Zhivago - very yummy!!  

Friday was dedicated to Edinburgh.  We had breakfast at The Elephant House Cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter.  It was delicious and a really cute interior with lots of elephants, my favorite animal! In the bathroom, people signed the walls with all sorts of messages about Harry Potter, which was quite amusing.  

After eating, we wandered the city and did some shopping.  Then we did a tour of Mary King's Close.  A "close" is the narrow street that is between the tall, medieval buildings.  At one time there were 800 or some absurd number in the city; now there are 31 because they've been built over.  This tour was an underground exploration of one.  I tell you, I'm glad I don't live back then.  The Bubonic Plague, Black Death (which apparently are different things, though I've always thought them interchangeable terms), streets filled with excrement and blood for Black Pudding...life back then does not sound pleasant. I'll take modern hygiene, please.  It was a very neat tour. 

 After that we went to St. Giles Cathedral which has some of the most stunning stained glass I've ever seen.  Then we went down the Royal Mile to see Holyrood Palace, residence of the Queen when she's there.  It's a cute palace; much quainter than Windsor or Buckingham.  The Windsor family has a private home further north in Scotland that they frequent more, though. 

 Later we did the Scotch Whisky Experience, a tour of how whisky is made with a tasting at the end! We had four choices: Speyside (tropical fruit), Lowland (citrus), Highland (vanilla), or Islay (smokey). I tried a Highland whisky, Ancnoc, which I liked much better than my failed earlier attempt.  We also saw the largest collection of unopened whisky, which was crazy, one of which included a chess set in which each piece was full of whisky! What a game that would be!  The best part was we got to keep our tasting glass, so I now have an official Whisky glass for all my future drinks. :)

Later in the evening we went on a Literary Pub Tour, which hit up four pubs and gave us some interesting literary background of the city.  I rather enjoyed it, as an English major, and we met some people from the States as well as London, which was neat.  We grabbed a Chinese dinner afterward and then turned in for the evening.  

Saturday we met up with my friend Kim who is studying in Edinburgh and we all headed to Glasgow.  Glasgow is much more post-industrial than Edinburgh.  It is more sprawled out and had lots of (expensive) shopping. 

 We went to the cathedral, which was beautiful, and saw an AMAZING graveyard on a big hill behind it. I took way too many photos. We also saw the oldest house in Glasgow.  


Otherwise we really just wandered the city and got some food, until Kim, Brigitte, and I headed off to see BON IVER in concert!!! He was AMAZING and his opener, the Staves, was fabulous too!!! It was a great time.  

We caught the last train back to Edinburgh and then Brig and I walked Kim back to her residence, which is the furthest point in Edinburgh possible it seemed.  However, the extremely long walk proved rewarding when we arrived at her apartment and looked up to the sky to see STARS!!!!! I hadn't seen stars in eight weeks and it was simply the most magical moment. Thank you, Edinburgh, for giving me that gift. 

Sunday we woke up to a beautiful clear blue sky, which is just what we needed as we were to hike Arthur's Seat that day, a large hill/mountain/thing in the city!  The climb was amazing, the view stunning, and exactly what I needed.  I have missed hiking, and looking at the Highlands without climbing them was slightly upsetting, so it was very rewarding to finally fulfill this craving.  

"What are men to rocks and mountains?" says Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, and I ask the same question every time I climb.  They are nothing. haha.  After the hike, I ran off to find St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral for mass.  After getting a little lost, I finally found it, and settled in for a Polish mass, which being Polish, I was very excited for.  I really wanted to get to Poland during my time abroad, but that won't be happening, so this was a pleasant and unexpected substitute.  I did not understand I single thing in this mass besides "Amen" and "Hallelujah" but luckily, a Catholic mass is always the same, so I knew what was going on, although all I heard around me was "dzhdzhdzhdzhdzh."  I have no idea what the readings were but it was still a fabulous experience, and a beautiful church!  I was shocked by the amount of people there.  Apparently Edinburgh has a large Polish population, which seems random, but I'll take it! After mass I found my way back to the girls, we grabbed one last meal, and we were off to the train station and headed home to London.

Scotland exceeded any expectation I ever had of it.  I was excited to go, but I had never really thought about Scotland in any way and did not expect to have the reaction to it I had.  I honest-to-goodness teared up at times just at the pure beauty of the country.  I've never felt such a connection to a place in my life, and it was a really exciting experience.  I'm so glad we had a full five days to really absorb some true Scottish culture and flavor and take in such beauty.

And thus, I leave you with these last three pictures to contemplate :)

Loch Ness Monster!!

"Sing out the silence, fill for ever and ever the emptiness."

 Thanks for reading; til next time!

      

[Insert Song Lyrics Here]

Bobbing for apples in Somalia
the man with the iron curtain is following you
no one’s coming for tea time
except my own holy ghost
you’re somewhere far probably drinking a whiskey
I'm dating jack daniel’s and Caleb - swiss miss, Nicky - tea,
nacho's with cocoa -- hey, to each his own
lovely people, lovely places
I can’t remember names and I can’t remember faces

Above are song lyrics by Regina Spektor and they're the theme for this post, but a whole verse is far too long for a title so I had to improvise.  

If you are wondering if I went to Somalia, the answer is NO. I did not go to Somalia.  I did not bob for apples there.  Nor did I deworm orphans (Legally Blonde anyone?).  However, I DID go to St. Ives, which is wholly unrelated to Somalia except for the presence of the letter 's'.  St. Ives was rated the number one beach in the UK and number six in Europe, just below a bunch of beaches in Greece and Cyprus.  I'm sure you think I'm lying and that that couldn't possibly be - why would anyone go to England for the beach?  Well, I asked the same question, but to my immense pleasure I discovered the beauty of St. Ives and I only wish I could go there in the actual warm season instead of on a dreary, drizzly, overcast day! Regardless of the clouds, it was still stunning and a nice change of pace from city.  

We took an overnight train to get there, which was one of the most miserable experiences.  It was FREEZING on the train. I'm not sure why they insisted on NOT putting on heat in the midst of frigid England weather when people are trying to sleep, a time when a person's body temperature drops naturally anyway and heat is even more necessary.  Also the seats were less comfortable than a normal non-sleeper train, so it was just a failure.  But we made it to St. Ives around 8 in the morning and popped into a hotel to ask the concierge if he had breakfast restaurant suggestions to which he responded: "Subway."  Lizzie, Katie, and I just blankly looked at him, not able to believe he was serious.  We ended up going to a chain pub/restaurant which was decent enough - it was food, and I wasn't complaining.  With full tummies we wandered further into the town and went to the Tate St. Ives, a branch of the Tate art museums which are in London.  It featured a good deal of modern art, so it wasn't my favorite but still neat.  Then we wandered down the windy streets and stared at the beach for a long, long time.  The water was a gorgeous color, there was SAND unlike in Brighton, and there were rolling hills, which added an interesting dimension not usually seen in American coastal towns (at least not the ones I frequent).  

And there was a graveyard!! Talk about prime real estate - I'd love that view if I was buried there. The town is full of little art galleries so we spent much of our day wandering in and out of those, wishing we could afford to buy some original oil paintings of the scenery we were admiring so much.  We also went to the Barbara Hepworth Museum; she was a sculptor and the museum was her studio and a garden designed by her with her sculptures specifically placed by her.  It was interesting to learn about her, as I had no idea who she was previously.  Apparently she was one of the first artists to poke holes through sculptures and use strings with wood/copper/etc as sources of tension.  There were some neat pieces and the garden was especially cool because you could touch those sculptures! 

St. Ives is in Cornwall which is famous for its Cornish pasties (you'll recall the definition of a pasty in a previous post) so I had to get one of course! I had a steak and stilton and it was quite delicious.  I also bought some fudge and Cornish Bleu Cheese which was rated World Champion of Cheeses in 2010. It was FABULOUS.  I'm trying to devise a way to ship boatloads of it home for various Christmas presents.  We also had afternoon tea with Cornish Cream, which is the original clotted cream, which if you don't know what that is, it's super thick, almost butter, cream.  I'm becoming quite a fan.  We left St. Ives around three and embarked on a six hour train ride home.  It was a lot of transportation for a very brief day but it was so worth it. 

Thursday was a day I'd been anticipating for some time - Gabby, Rich, Dan F., and Dan H were coming to visit!! I picked the first three up at Baker Street tube station and we headed to Kings Cross Train Station to pick up Dan H, as well as have a photoshoot at Platform 9 3/4, from Harry Potter.  It was so beyond wonderful to see all of them.  We went out for Indian food that night and had a lovely first evening catching up.  Friday we did a walking tour of the Old Jewish Quarter of London, which was a really interesting walk.  The most exciting thing was that I went into my first synagogue!!!! It was a Spanish-Portuguese orthodox synagogue and the oldest in the city.  The Jews are the longest existing, non-interrupted minority in London, originally showing up in 1066, then they were expelled for a while, but returned is 1600 something (I think) and have been consistently present ever since.  I was one of about 3 non-Jews on this tour but I like to think of myself as Jewish at heart because I study it so much. :)  

After the walk we went to afternoon tea at the Crusting Pipe in Covent Garden, with an opera singer to boot! It was really yummy and nice to sit and relax after walking around so much.  After tea we went to the National Gallery and I gave them a tour of the paintings I studied in my class field trip; it was fun to act as the guide.  Afterward we wandered over to see Big Ben at night and then went to the Tate Britain to see the special exhibit of the Pre-Raphaelites, who were a brotherhood of painters who took Raphael's style to a new level of color and accuracy, painting religious and literary images.  The paintings were amazing and very worth the extra fee to see them.  

Saturday we were joined by Aly who had arrived late Friday night.  We had every intention of doing a Beatles walking tour, but all the tube stations leading to the one we needed to get to were closed, so we just went to Abbey Road and tried to take pictures crossing, which was very difficult as it's a really busy street.  Then we met up with Dan H. and Evan and wandered around Marylebone and Baker Street, stopping in to the Beatles Shop and Sherlock Holmes Museum Shop.  Then we went to Portabello Road and enjoyed the market.  I was again thwarted in regards to finding a bedknob.  

After we finished up there we went to Soho, where we met up with Lydia and Hannah and got dinner at Hummus Bros, which was really yummy.  After dinner we parted ways, saying goodbye to Dan H. for good, and Aly, Gabby, and I headed off to see Singin' in the Rain at the Palace Theatre, which was a fabulous show and the rain on stage was just amazing.  We almost didn't get in though because I went to claim our tickets and the man claimed there were none under my name!! It was such a scary moment but eventually he found them, thank goodness!  After the show we headed back to Mile End and met up with the rest of the gang and went out one last time together to a bar next to campus, which was full of interesting characters dressed up for Halloween.  I had a Jack and Coke, which is why that line is the song at the beginning is relevant.  It was a fun last night with the Maastricht gang, who had to be up at 4 am to leave for their flight.  I was so glad to have seen them and look forward to our permanent reunion in the spring semester. :)

Yesterday was Halloween, and I finally made it to a pumpkin patch!!!!  Kyle, Brigette, and I went off to Surrey and spent the day at Crockford Bridge Farm, running around with five year olds and their parents, sliding down slides, rolling around in tops, eating ice cream and chili, taking a Wicked Woodland Walk, listening to ghost stories, and most importantly, picking out pumpkins!! There was a shop there that sold all manner of products and one section had American food products!!!!! It was the most exciting moment.  I bought Aunt Jemima pancake mix, Betty Crocker cake mix and frosting, SWISS MISS, and breadcrumbs.  It was magical. I love Crockford Bridge Farm forever and always. It was a delightful day, finally fulfilling my need for autumnal spirit.  We returned to London and I headed to a party at Lydia's flat and we watched Zombieland, which was actually a really good movie.  I recommend it to anyone who enjoys zombie farcicals. After Lydia's I headed back to my room, got into sweats and was in for a warm evening, when the fire alarm went off at two am and I had to evacuate my room and go outside where it was now pouring rain.  We all stood there miserably for about a half hour (seemed like forever), getting soaked.  Finally we got to go back in.  I went to bed around three, only to be woken at four for ANOTHER fire alarm!!! Needless to say, I was irate, but at least the rain had basically stopped by this time.  I finally returned to my bed in paranoia but was so tired I passed out regardless.  I hate drunk people who trigger fire alarms. That is all.

La Vie En Rose

Until this past weekend, Paris was only an image in my head mostly inspired by the 1954 movie classic Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart.  It was not a concrete place or experience; it was somewhere I'd always wanted to go but was almost an unachievable ideal.  Blessedly, I have made it to Paris, France and checked another item off my bucket list!  Paris and Sabrina are so intertwined for me that the best way to describe my trip to you is to use the movie as my guide.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy a whirlwind viewing of both Sabrina and Paris as seen through my eyes which "are looking at the world through rose-colored glasses."

Sabrina: Oh, but Paris isn't for changing planes, it's for changing your outlook! For throwing open the windows and letting in... letting in la vie en rose.

Paris certainly is for changing planes. And transportation in general. Lots of transportation. Except Paris is bad at transportation.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  I don't mean to confuse you; let me relay our process of transportation getting to and around and from Paris.  First, Amanda, Carolyn, and I hopped on the tube to St. Pancras, where we changed to a train that was to take us to Luton Airport Parkway, except the one we got on took us straight to Luton, so we had to switch to ANOTHER train and go back a stop.  From there we had to take a shuttle to the airport, where we then boarded a plane to Paris.  On the plane I was sitting next to a French girl and an Italian guy who were both working in England and going to Paris for a visit home and for fun, respectively.  At first they were enthralled in a conversation between the two of them and I was set to be an awkward and silent third wheel for the duration of the flight, but I soon joined in the conversation and we had a good time discussing accents and they gave me traveling advice for Paris and elsewhere.  Essentially, they, like everyone else, list dozens of cities in Europe that are wonderful and that I need to go to, which I just don't have time to do.  Well, adding them to the life list!  We hit major turbulence on the flight and it was incredibly frightening; I thought for sure I would die and never see Paris.  However, we did indeed land safely and glad I was!!  The French girl soon left us to go catch a bus and I was left with Emmanuel (the Italian) and met up with Amanda and Carolyn.  The four of us then went in search of the RER, the train.  It took quite a while to wander through the deserted airport, guided by really not helpful signs, and surrounded by French, which none of us Americans understood.  Luckily Emmanuel somewhat knew what he was doing...somewhat.  We were discussing passports on our long hike around the airport and he wondered why I didn't use a Polish passport to get around the EU more easily (I had told them on the plane that I was Polish, German, and Irish).  I had to explain to him that I was not directly from Poland, just my ancestors.  It had never occurred to me before that that is a completely foreign concept to Europeans, and a truly American condition.  America is so unique, I am discovering more and more, and I love it!  Anyway, we finally found the RER and headed to Gare du Nord, where we said goodbye to Emmanuel and went in search of our next switch to the Magenta line, which we found eventually, with a few wrong turns thrown in for good measure.  This brought us to Noisy-le-Sec, zone 3 of Paris, the outerlands.  We walked down a back road according to the hostel's directions for the most direct path to its location. There was hardly anyone about, which we couldn't decide if that made us feel better or worse.  We finally found the hostel, unmarked other than its street number "13" and were greeted by our Asian- and by the accent, American English speaking - hostel owner, who was in socks and flipflops - a winner combo.  She led us up the winding stairway to our attic room, which had a double bed and one twin, the former taken by Carolyn and I and the latter by Amanda - her "Forever Alone" bed.  The only decoration in the room was Micky Mouse dangling from the ceiling.  There was one window, with black out curtains to boot!  The beds were quite comfortable, however the pillows were about 6 x 6 inches and nothing but lumps, which was less then comfortable.  We headed out soon to go get dinner.

 At 11:30 pm nothing is really open but fast food Turkish restaurants, so we settled on doner sandwiches and fries, which were to my shame incredibly satisfying.  The people who ran the store were the rudest French folk we came across all weekend, the man giving a good deal of attitude to us since we had to speak English to the cashier girl who actually spoke it too.  Thus, I went to bed with a rather rough first impression of Paris but maintained hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Linus: Paris is for lovers. Maybe that's why I stayed only thirty-five minutes.

Friday we had every intention of waking up at 7 but didnt actually get up until 9, but this did not ruin the day thankfully! The day was cloudy and a tad drizzly but we were still determined to go out and conquer Paris! We headed to the Eiffel Tower first, in front of which we grabbed crepes for breakfast! We then took the stairs - all 600 and some - up to the second level of the tower, where we then had to take the lift up to the top.  The span of the view was incredible and it was really awesome just to be on top of the Eiffel Tower. However, the view itself - what I was looking at - didn't impress me that much.  The buildings looked very modern and monochrome and there was nothing particularly charming about what I could see.  Part of me was incredibly disappointed.  I was expecting to fall in love with Paris, and I just...wasn't.  Soon we got back down though and made our way up to the green and from there walked around Paris, and then I started falling in love.

 I was finally seeing the architecture and gorgeous, charming buildings I'd heard about and expected.  The iron work on every window and flower box was stunning and nourishing my iron obsession.  We then walked along the Seine river and got tickets for a river cruise - our feet were killing after walking so many stairs and we needed to sit desparately, while still feeling like productive tourists!  The view of Paris from the river is stunning, as that's how the city originally started and was essentially designed, along a river - for the WATT reasons: water, agriculture, trade, and transportation; Thank you Mrs. Marshall, my middle school social studies teacher!  We saw all the main sights and learned some valuable history.  My outlook on Paris was officially changed; I had opened the window and was starting to let in "la vie en rose."

The Bastille

After the cruise we headed up to the Arc de Triumphe and sat there people watching for a long time. Paris provides excellent people watching, most of which consists of lovers taking advantage of the city of love.  We decided it all seemed very forced though, and that it really is not necessary to make out at every opportunity when cliches tell you it's "romantic."  Despite all these semi-disturbing sightings though, we managed to stay in Paris for the full weekend and not leave after thirty-five minutes, like Linus Laraby.  After the Arc, we wandered down the Champs Elysses, which for some reason I'd always thought was some cute charming street in Paris, but it is in fact a very commercialized street with large shops, the best (and really only good part) of which was Cartier.  I just wouldn't characterize Paris by this road, is what I'm trying to say I suppose.

 Anyway, we then wandered in search of dinner and found a nice little cafe, where I got duck confit with pommes frites and we all shared a cheese platter.  It was an outstanding meal, and quite wonderfully affordable!  Afterward we wandered down to the Louvre because it was open late Fridays, but we decided not to go in and just wandered around Paris at night, heading back toward the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up and sparkling.  I have to say, I just found this hilarious because it also shoots off those distance spotlights from the top and it just looked like the Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings to me, and once that thought was in my head, I just couldn't take the Eiffel Tower seriously anymore, and was glad I didn't have to find it romantic for any reason.  It was still very pretty and festive though, don't get me wrong! Just humorous. :)  We ended the day with crepes filled with nutella, ice cream, bananas, and strawberries - incredibly delicious but also incredibly messy!! So worth it :)

Sabrina: And another thing, never a briefcase in Paris and never an umbrella. There's a law.
 
Saturday it was raining basically all day, and I was not prepared for that, and since I'd gotten ice cream on my jeans the night before, I was wearing pants that required ballet flats to be worn, which absorbed the rain all day and by the end when I returned home, my feet were shrivelled up like I'd been in the bathtub. I also did not bring my umbrella with me, and was left to mercy of either sharing Carolyn's or wrapping my scarf around my head.  I embraced Sabrina's law; I don't know if it was the smartest decision but despite all the rain, it was an absolutely fabulous day and sealed my love for Paris.  We started the day off by heading to Montmartre to see the Moulin Rouge and wander the streets of a different part of the city than where we'd wandered the day before.  Montmartre is adorable and exactly what Paris should be.  We had delicious crepes for breakfast and wandered up to see the windmills that inspired Van Gogh.  Amanda decided that if she lived in Paris, this is the area she would live in. 

We then headed off to Notre Dame, which proved to my absolutely favorite part of the trip, both the cathedral itself and the area of Paris it is in, Saint-Michel.  We waited in line, in the rain, for the Cathedral tour which takes you up to the top of the building.  This view, unlike the Eiffel Tower's, was everything it should be and more, showing off Paris at its best.  All the buildings you see are exactly what you would picture in your head if someone said "Parisian" to you.  This makes sense because Notre Dame is in the oldest and original area of the city so everything was built up around it.  It was also really neat to be right up with the gargoyles; I enjoyed pretending to be Quasi Modo - we even went in the Bell Tower and saw the largest bell that is rung only on special occasions!!  To leave the the cathedral top we had to descend what seemed like an endless spiral staircase.  Thank goodness we didn't do the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame in the same day!! That would just be too many stairs!! By the time we got down, our calves, feet, quads - heck, everything! - were killing us.  But we had nothing to do but keep on moving and wander around Saint-Michel, so we walked across the bridge and bought some souvenirs from the little vendors who set up green cabinets on the bank of the Seine.  I decided if I lived in Paris, this was the area of the city in which I'd live, and Amanda could come visit me for a classy night, and I'd go visit her for an artistic night out. 

Soon we headed off to the Louvre where we saw lots of great art, including the Mona Lisa (duh) and The Wedding Feast at Cana, as well as Napolean's Apartment Quarters.  I really enjoyed the museum more now that I've been taking an art class and know how to actually look at paintings.  I was babbling on about central perspective and the hierarchy of genres and felt very intelligent in a realm generally unfamiliar to me. It was fun! After the Louvre we went to L'Orangerie, a museum designed by Monet (my favorite artist) which features his largest paintings of water lillies and willow trees lining the oval walls for a 360 degree effect.  The first room is completely white, which Monet wanted in order to purify everyone's mind upon entering so that they'd lose the stress of the city and enter the peaceful nature of his art.  It sure worked!! It's amazing how from a distance his paintings are so clearly what they are supposed to be (i.e. water lillies) but up close all you can see is texture and strokes that don't seem to make sense.  He's amazing.  We left the museum and headed down the road to find dinner and stopped into a nice cafe.  All three of us ordered Boeuf Bourguignon which was incredibly satisfying.  I got creme brulee for dessert which was quite delightful as well.  I accomplished all my food missions aside from Foie Gras, which means I'll just have to go back to Paris at some point!  After dinner, we wandered back to Saint-Michel and walked up Saint-Germain, an area which has a very bustling nightlife it turns out!  It was beautiful and we had a lovely time getting lost on the streets of Paris at night, but soon, it started raining again, and we were all sore and tired and decided to finally head back to good ole' Noisy-le-Sec via our two switches on the RER. 

Sabrina: I have learnt how to live... How to be In the world and Of the world, and not just to stand aside and watch. And I will never, never again run away from life. Or from love, either...

Sunday morning we awoke to a cloudy morning but no rain! We headed off to Notre Dame so I could go to mass.  It was the most amazing experience.  The mass was Gregorian and though half of it was in French, including the homily so I have no idea what the priest said, it was still such a beautiful service and honest to goodness brought tears to my eyes.  The inside of the cathedral is beautiful as well; the stained-glass windows use red in such a brilliant way that I've rarely seen elsewhere.  It was just fabulous to be in such an old cathedral and experience a mass in another language, meaning truly experiencing the universal church for the first time, because although I couldn't really understand the words, I knew what was going on and when to respond.  I was still in utter communion with everyone around me, which was a really awesome thing.  After mass, I met back up with Carolyn and Amanda, and the sun had finally come out.  My last glimpse of Paris was the sun shining brightly behind Notre Dame - absolutely stunning.  We then headed into the ground to take the long ride on the RER to the airport.  On the ride, a man started playing accordion and my Parisian experience was officially complete.  A mess of transportation lay before us: subway/train (RER), tram, plane, shuttle, train, tube, walking.  It was a very long evening, and I was very sore and tired, but I knew it was all for a good cause - that of experiencing Paris, experiencing the world.  I came back to my room and proceeded to have a night in with myself and a domino's pizza, and I knew that life was good.

A Brief Dictionary Exploration of England

Cambridge - noun - 1. University for the elite and very handsome British men; 2. Town that makes you pay for its Botanical Gardens (see definition); 3. Bridge over the River Cam; 4. Location of very cute and expensive shops that I wish I could actually shop in; also location of markets and Arts and Crafts fair; 4. Town that has the oldest museum in England, the Fitzwilliam; 6. City where the queue for the train station is out the doors; 7. Where the grass is holy and no one may walk on it. At all. Ever.; 8. Tourist attraction, no students to be seen; 9. Therefore, all is a lie and it's not actually a school at all?

The Fitzwilliam

College and its sacred grass

Botanical Gardens of Cambridge - noun - Fancy backyard English Garden from the looks of it; refused to pay, so no further definition available.

Sister/Brother Cousin - noun - female or male cousin, respectively. Used by Indian population.

Cheese Toasties - noun - the lesser version of the Grilled Cheese.

Pasties - noun - Heaven's food; Puff pastry stuffed with anything imaginable, i.e. finger-food chicken pot pie (the 'a' is pronounced short, as in "cat")

Aubergine - noun - Eggplant.

Aubergine Parmesean - noun - English version of Italian food; Cheese melted on top of aubergine.

Eggplant Parmesean - noun - The ACTUAL version of the dish, which we made deliciously and successfully!

Wine and Cheese Festival - noun - Event at Bankside consisting of many tents and vendors selling various cheeses, wines, breads, and most importantly, Hot Mulled Cider.

Cheese Ice Cream - noun - Interesting and slightly disappointing, should be tried with a different cheese selection, not Epoisse.

St. Paul's Cathedral - noun - Protestant church rumored to be where the "little old bird woman comes" asking for tuppence. I did not see her, but had my tuppence ready.

Kensington Gardens - noun - Henry VIII's former deer hunting grounds; Beautiful stretch of land abutting Hyde Park.

Kensington - noun - Posh area of Britain that is way nicer than where I live.

Victoria and Albert Museum - noun - Displays of British cultural history; Most interestingly, the fashion display. Yes, that is a wool bathing suit.