I know I haven't updated much since school has consumed my life until now but I am enjoying my last days in London. My family arrives today and we will be spending three days here and three days in Paris. I don't have much to update about but I will leave you with these pictures of me feeding the squirrels and pigeons in St James's Park.
The last week
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Posted by Rachel at 3:36 AM 0 comments
Viva Madrid! (& Segovia)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I just got back from a long weekend in Madrid, and had a pretty good time of nonstop "tourist-y goodness". I was happy to spend a weekend in a city that actually had some sunshine. On Friday, my cousin was in class all day so I had some time to wander the city by myself. I paid $9 for a guided audio tour that I found online which basically took me all over the city. It started out at the Palacio Real, Madrid's version of Buckingham Palace. But basically, there were lots of plazas and churches, along with a Ham Museum (so random...I didn't go inside). Madrid also has some really pretty street signs. I liked them a lot. The tour ended at the Prado Museum, which was my final stop of the day. It has a lot of really impressive Spanish art, and it was nice to see a lot of the works that we talked about back in high school Spanish class. A lot of them were way bigger than I expected them to be, especially "Las Meninas" by Velazquez, it was be-au-ti-ful. After walking around the city for a few hours, I had lunch and took a short siesta (nap), in true Spanish fashion. After my nap, I went out again the Reina Sofia, another popular art Museum in Madrid. I felt bad for spending less than a half hour there, but I wasn't recognizing a lot of art, except for Pablo Picasso's Guernica - another surprisingly massive painting. Its 11 and a half feet tall and 25 and half feet long...to put it in perspective.I met up with my cousin later in the evening (around 9) for dinner then went out for a glass of sangria with her friends and headed back to my hostel for the night.
Side note: this is the one complaint I have about Spain - and its their eating schedule. I really cannot function eating dinner at 9 or 10 at night, since I really have no willpower when it comes to staying up late. I didn't experience it, but apparently people don't even go out to bars or clubs until 1 or 2 the morning, and then they stay out until 6 or 7 AM. I imagine this is a young person's lifestyle, since how in the world could you maintain a job if you don't even get to bed until 7 in the morning? Even with that middle-of-the-day nap time.
Since I basically saw all of Madrid in one day, my cousin, her friend and I took a day trip out to Segovia on Saturday. Although it was pretty, I was disappointed to find out that it was very overcast - and why would I enjoy that when I get it all the time in London? Its a small city, but we managed to spend a few hours there taking pictures and browsing the shops. Segovia is home to a castle that is possibly the inspiration for Cinderella's Castle in Disneyland. Its not quite as over the top, but you can definitely see the resemblance. The tower of the castle also had some really great views. On the way back we stopped and got some lunch, and I had my first bocadillo de tortilla espanola, and I am officially in love. Its basically an omelette with potatoes and onions on a loaf of french-type bread, and it is amazing. Even if you don't like eggs (ahem...Mom) its delicious. I had 2 more during my stay in Spain. After Segovia, we headed back to Madrid where I took yet another nap. I actually took one every day while I was there, getting up early really took its toll on me. I met up with my cousin and her friend again for dinner, this time at 10:00, and we waited almost 40 minutes for a table at a really good Mexican restaurant, but that could have just been because by that time I was so hungry anything tasted delicious.
On Sunday I met up with my cousin yet again and we went to El Rastro, the big street market they hold every Sunday in Madrid. It was pretty big, with lots of jewelry and scarves (and SO cheap). It was good since I was able to find gifts for friends from home at reasonable prices. After that, we went and walked around Retiro, Madrid's famous park. It looked really beautiful with all the fall colors. It also had a man-made lake in the center where people were using row boats. If I ever go back to Madrid its something I am going to look into. After walking around we stopped and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. You might ask why I would eat there when I am in Spain, but to be honest I could not have been happier to eat an American meal (chicken strips and fries). I went back to my hostel and will not even bother to mention what I did, since I'm sure you already know (hint...it involves sleep). I did dinner on my own this night, and had what my friend recommended I try when I go to Madrid. It was called a doner kebab, and its nothing a shish kebab. Basically they cut really thinly sliced meat off of a rotating spit and put it in a pita with some salad and amazingly delicious sauces. Its Turkish in origin, and I guess its similar to shwarma or gyros. I am going to seek it out in London though, because it was to die for. I met up with my cousin later in the evening for churros, which were disappointing in comparison to the American-ized version that are covered with cinnamon and sugar.
This will be my last post for awhile, since I plan on school consuming my life for the next three weeks. But that was my weekend in Madrid, adios!
Posted by Rachel at 8:39 AM 1 comments
Cymru am byth
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
In case you didn't know I learned how to speak Welsh this weekend...just kidding. But I can thank Wikipedia (only the most valid source on the planet) for providing me with my blog title, which means "Wales forever" and is supposedly Wales' motto. Since when do countries have mottos? Does the US have a motto?
Anyway, I am taking advantage of the free wireless on campus. Since the internet is limited in my dorm, I am taking this opportunity to download my TV shows from last night so I can watch them later. Along with the episode of Grey's Anatomy from last Thursday that I still haven't been able to watch.
Saturday morning I left bright and early to catch the bus to go to Wales. It was a nice drive through the English/Welsh countryside and my inability to sleep in moving vehicles allowed me to appreciate the sights. Our first stop was in Caerleon, the site of an ancient Roman amphitheater and army barracks. Its always interesting to see how this stuff is all still standing after all these years. It makes me think of my Roman history professor who always raved about how the Romans were so far ahead of their time when it came to architecture. I can't say he was wrong since they have some pretty impressive structures all over the world, which we can still see today.
After leaving Caerleon we went on to Caerphilly Castle, which I can't really describe except its an ancient medieval castle. Before entering the castle they gave us 45 minutes to eat, not nearly enough time when there are 100+ students on the tour and only about 2 places to eat. Our tour guide told us two really disgusting stories which I can't really repeat here but they involve some pretty nasty torture. Feel free to ask me to elaborate if you are so inclined.
Our final stop for the day was at the Museum of Welsh Life. It consisted of old Welsh buildings that had been moved and restored to one site. They gave us way more time than we needed to explore the place, which seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the weekend. It was cold outside and no one wants to be forced to spend so much time outdoors in that kind of weather. I did get some really pretty pictures of the fall scenery though.
After leaving the museum they brought us to our hotel, a bed and breakast literally in the middle of nowhere. I volunteered to sleep on the top of the bunk bed they had given us, since my friend Tessa has to sleep in the top bunk of her bed that she shares back at her flat in London. They dropped us off "in town" for dinner, a town that consisted of only three restaurants that were open, and this was on a Saturday night. We managed to find a decent place to eat, and had some pretty amazing nachos. It seems like I manage to find some good food everywhere I go. We returned to hotel after dinner and watched some British television, then made it an early night as we were all in bed by 10:30.
On Sunday they took us to a coal mine in Blaenafon, Wales. We got to wear some pretty funny looking helmets which came in handy since I hit my head more than once on the low ceilings in the coal mine. I am sorry I wasn't able to document these helmets, but they told us on the bus not to bring our cameras since anything with a battery was not allowed in the mine. The tour guides were actual miners, and they had some pretty interesting stories to tell. The one that I liked most was about the pit ponies, the horses that were used to pull bins of coal to the exit of the mine. He told us about a horse (named Welsh...so creative, haha) who stopped in one particular room of the mine, refusing to move on into the next room. The miners believed that the horses had a sixth sense about these things, so miners would always stay back if their horse would not budge. As it turned out, the ceiling to that particular room caved in, and the pit pony had saved the miner's life. Of course it could just be an urban legend, but I thought it was pretty impressive.
After leaving the coal mine, we stopped for lunch. For the second time this weekend they dropped us off in a place with limited places that were open, and not nearly enough time. We managed to eat at a Pizza Express (one of my favorite places in London, and way better than it sounds) although we had to scarf down our food pretty quickly.
After lunch, we got back on the bus and went to Tintern Abbey, our last stop of the day. It was still pretty beautiful, considering that had been virtually destroyed by Henry VIII when he dissolved all the monasteries in England. Our tour guide told us a little bit about the monks, and what a meager life they lived. They wore only white robes, and were forced to consume a meager vegetarian diet. I guess you sign up for that kind of lifestyle when you decided to be a monk, but I know I would never want to be one. We spent a short amount of time here, but it was still nice to see one of the important sites in Wales.
All in all, it was an okay weekend. If you're only in England for a short time I wouldn't put it on the top of your list though, since it involves doing a lot of traveling all over the country. And definitely don't stay at the Dare Valley Park Hotel, unless you want a wilderness experience. I found out later that it was situated on a campground, so that probably explains it. Until next time, cheerio!
You can view my album from Wales here.
Posted by Rachel at 8:55 AM 0 comments
Missing in Action
Friday, November 7, 2008
Sorry for the lack of blogging lately, you haven't missed much though. The past couple weeks have consisted of these events:
1. School
2. Quantum of Solace (Bond movie #22) Premiere - the coldest day in London yet. I stood outside for 7 hours to attempt to see some famous people but after those 7 hours couldn't take it anymore and decided to go home.
3. Halloween - not as big as it is in America, and people really take the scary part of it seriously
4. Had the best ice cream sundae I've ever had in my life at Harrods (yes...a department store, its amazing)
5. Guy Fawkes Night - London's celebration, if you can call it that, of the night Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators tried to blow up Parliament. They celebrate it with fireworks, I guess its supposed to be symbolic. They were fun to watch though, and I got some pretty cool pictures which you can see here.
I am off to Wales this weekend, so expect a full report when I return.
Posted by Rachel at 1:14 PM 0 comments
A Bad Hair Weekend
Monday, October 27, 2008
As I mentioned in my previous post, I just got back from a weekend in Amsterdam and Bruges. It was not just a bad hair day, but a bad hair weekend. The rain and my hair just do not like to cooperate. I always seemed to leave my umbrella behind just when I needed it.
On Friday morning, my friend Kat and I left our dorm at around 5:30 to take the tube to our bus stop which was picking us up at 6:05. We neglected to factor in that the tube does not run as often really early in the morning, so to say we were running late was an understatement. We finally arrived at our bus stop almost a half hour late, only to find out that the bus had left without us. Luckily, someone was there to assist us and point us in the right direction. We ended up having to take a cab to Lewisham in south London, which cost us 40 pounds, but at least we made it.
The bus then departed for Dover, where we stopped for a photo opportunity at Dover Castle. It was then that I realized that I had left my camera at home, which was basically the last thing I wanted to forget. Luckily Kat was generous and let me take plenty of pictures with her camera all weekend, so I will have plenty to post later on. We took a ferry from Dover to Calais, a city in northern France just across the English channel. From Calais we got back on our bus and started the drive to Amsterdam. The trip was a grueling 7 hours, and I can honestly say that I don't want to set foot on a bus again for a long time. Unfortunately the trip I am taking to Wales in 2 weeks will probably involve bus travel.
When we finally got to Amsterdam, we dropped off our bags at our hotel, and then took a short tour of the Red Light District. It is world famous, but also very small. Just from walking around the city for 10 minutes, it is pretty obvious that the Netherlands is a very tolerant country. There are coffee shops, as the Dutch call them, on practically every corner. And if you know anything about Amsterdam, these coffee shops are nothing like your run-of-the-mill Starbucks. After seeing the Red Light District, we headed back to the hotel and went to bed.
The following morning, we left for Zaanse Schanse, a living Dutch heritage museum. There, we saw demonstrations on how clogs and cheese were made. They had plenty of free cheese samples, and I am not afraid to admit that I went through the sample line more than once. I took home some goat cheese for myself, so I didn't feel so bad about it. After leaving the museum, we headed back to downtown Amsterdam and took a cruise through the canals. I found the cruise to be rather pointless and boring, and would have preferred to have more time to visit the museums. After the canal tour, we were given free time to explore the museums. I would have preferred that the trip was more organized, since the only museum we had time to go to was
Anne Frank's house. It was very moving, and although I was not able to visit the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh Museum, I am glad I got to experience at least one important Amsterdam landmark.
On Sunday, we left Amsterdam for Bruges, a small city in Belgium. Our tour guide explanined it as the Venice of the north, although I am not sure why since I saw more canals in Amsterdam than I did here. We were given an hour and a half to explore the city, which I found to be very pretty with all of its medieval buildings. To me, the highlight of Bruges was the french fries. I don't think I have ever had better fries in my life, and I would go back just to have them again. After leaving Bruges, we stopped at a chocolate factory, since it is one of Belgium's specialities. I bought some chocolate here, but ended up regretting not buying some in the actual city of Bruges, since the chocolate there was kind of disappointing. I was only upset I wasn't able to try some Belgian beer, another specialty of the country. From there, we headed back to Calais to get on the ferry to Dover. Again, we got on the bus, and headed back to London.
On the bus, Kat and watched the most recent episode of America's Next Top Model. Although it sounds strange, it really was the perfect way to end the trip. For those of you that don't watch the show, towards the end of each season the models go to a foreign country. Tyra usually surprises them at judging, by including some sort of challenge that involves the heritage of the country. Both the models (and myself) did not consider the fact that making them walk down the catwalk in clogs, was the hint she was giving them that they were going to...AMSTERDAM!
PICTURES HERE
Posted by Rachel at 11:17 AM 1 comments
"Insert witty title here"
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I have seriously been struggling to come up with witty titles for my blogs, so Chris... I am jealous!
On Friday, I went to Hampton Court Palace. I have struggled to explain to people exactly what it is, so I have just been calling it the vacation home of Henry VIII and other British monarchs. Apparently it was the place where everyone decided to flee to when the Black Plague struck London. Speaking of the Black Plague, I feel like I have some variation of that right now. I might be exaggerating just a little bit, because I have been getting progressively better in the past few days. Hampton Court was seriously beautiful though, especially the gardens. I was happy that all the flowers were still in bloom. They provided for some pretty good pictures. (which you can see here) After touring the Palace itself, we walked through the hedge maze in the gardens. I expected it to be way more difficult than it was, as we only hit 2 dead ends before making it to the center. If you ever go to Hampton Court, make sure to walk through the Queen's apartments. Above one of the doorways, there is a painting of a man leaning up against a tree with a hoof for a foot. If you look closely, you can see that one of the art restorers has painted a modern day wristwatch on the man. The art restorer no longer works for the palace but he wanted to leave his mark on Hampton Court. I highly recommend making a day trip and visiting the place, it was beautiful.
The rest of the weekend I basically relaxed and mostly recovered from my illness. I slept way more than I should have, but it was nice.
On Monday, I decided to venture out on my own while again, everyone else was in class. I went to a store called Primark, which was incredibly cheap but a little overwhelming. I managed to make a few good purchases though, and I look for any excuse to get a lot for only a little money. From there, I decided to an audio tour that I found online of some places I hadn't seen yet in London. The audio tour took me through Kensington Gardens, which was especially pretty because of all the fall colors from the leaves that are currently changing. Fall is definitely a season I miss when I am in Arizona. I walked past Kensington Palace, the place where Princess Diana and Prince Charles lived. If you've seen pictures, this was the gate where millions of flowers were placed after her death. After walking through Kensington Gardens, the tour took me past the Albert Memorial, where I was stopped by a silly old British man who proceded to rant to me about how awful the Albert Memorial looks since they have painted him gold. He was also upset about the fact that there are currently gates around the memorial, which prevent anyone from scratching the gold off of the statue of Prince Albert. Across from the memorial is the Royal Albert Hall, where concerts and movies are still played to this day. After passing both monuments to Prince Albert, I walked by the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and some random churches. The tour ended at Harrod's and I was so hungry that it stopped me from going inside this time. I am still planning my trip back for the gelato from the food halls. The only thing I regretted about the tour was that I forgot my camera.
Today was the start of the school week, so if I don't update again before Friday you'll know why. I am leaving for Amsterdam this weekend, so expect a detailed post about that trip when I return!
Posted by Rachel at 9:23 AM 2 comments
Tourist-y Goodness
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Since this blog will basically consist of mainly tourist attractions, I figured this would be a fairly appropriate title. Sunday afternoon, my friend and I headed off to the Tower of London. For those of you that don't know, the Tower has served multiple purposes, including an army fortress, a "luxurious royal home" (quoting the brochure on that one), and a prison. It was also the place where Queen Anne Boleyn (among others) was beheaded. Today, it houses more bling than a Tiffany and Co., also known as the Crown Jewels. My personal favorite was the crown most recently worn by Queen Elizabeth I, mostly because it contains the Koh-i-Noor diamond, a pretty impressive rock if I do say so myself. Its quite a massive place, my friend and I took around 2 hours to explore almost every building. After leaving we grabbed some ice cream (some soft serve that tasted more like whipped cream in my opinion), and headed back to the dorms. Click here for my album from the Tower.
On Monday, while everyone else I knew was in class, I took the opportunity to go to the British Museum. I took a tour through a company called London Walks, and right off the bat I found our tourguide Tom to be pretty hilarious. My favorite joke was the one in reference to him and another member of our group being "folically challenged." I am sure him and Larry David would have gotten along famously (for all you Curb Your Enthusiasm fans). I learned some random interesting tidbits about the museum from the guide, none of which I could tell you now. The one thing I do remember is that apparently most of the items at the British Museum have been stolen from other ancient civilations, or in the words of our guide "acquired." The only critique I had of the tour is that the company should be called "London Stands" as I felt we spent the majority of the time in the museum standing. I personally like my tours a la college campus, where the tour guide walks backwards and tries not to trip over anything.
Last night I soared 450 feet above London on the London Eye. Although the views were more spectacular than I remembered, especially at night, it only reiterated my fear of heights. After leaving the London Eye, a tour guide walked us to a pub for the start of our pub crawl. Upon entering the room they reserved for us, it was so crowded that myself and a few other Americans that I met decided to venture off on our own to a completely different pub called the Blackfriar. The night consisted of enjoying my first cider with some new friends, and then heading home on the tube. Although the Brits I have met have been really friendly, I feel like its such a cultural difference that its hard to get along with anyone but Americans. And finally, pictures from the London Eye.
Until next time, don't forget to check back in my main album from time to time. I'll be adding random pictures that don't really fit in any album. The link is now permanently in the sidebar under "My Blog List."
Posted by Rachel at 11:55 AM 0 comments