Midterm trip - day three

So I left off at the pictures on the Saine right? Oh actually I beleive I left off at the cemetary. Basically because we are cheap students (excuse me - inexpensive) we decided we didnt want to pay 2 euro for a map. So instead we would take the picture of the map at the opening and write down the location of all the famous ppl's graves we wanted to see and then go from there. This was a crazy cemetary to wander around in. It looked like those buried had staged a coup and at one point or another had tried to escape. Such phrases as "mmm brains" were frequently to referred to. It was a seriously creepy and haunting cemetary, nice gloomy day too. In other words we had a great time wandering around trying to scare each other and exploring the graves. We were pretty much on a scavenger hunt for famousdead people. Our first stop I beleive was Georges Saurat. I got a picture with the pointalist painter. Or at least his grave. After that we got a little lost trying to find the next grave. I meanwe knew we were but were having a heck of a time finding the grave. After that we took a wrong turn on our way to Jim Morrison and Katie's camera batteries were dying so I took over with my camera.

Jeez Jim Morrison was a bitch to find. He was burried in the middle of a bunch of other graves and beleive me this place was already crowded, but it looked like they squeezed him in between a bunch of other people. They had had to rope it off too because I guess people deface it all the time (with intentions of love). Strange people out there eh? I cant remember every single person we visited but among them was Chopin, Maurat, some other painters and philosephers and so on. Our second last visit was Oscar Wilde. Now his grave was already very advanced for its time, very futuristic, but what else was on the grave was incredible. Hundreds of lipstick kiss marks all over the grave. And not for decoration. Hundreds of people have kissed his grave or left markings. Sooo weird. I got a picture pretending to kiss it but thats as far as I would go. Next we looked for Edith Piaf and Isadorra Duncan who were in the same area. We were looking in the wrong spots or something because it took forever to find Edith and after that we couldnt even find Duncan. She might have been one of hte graves without a name. At this point Libby was very cold and ready to get warm. I had done a magic trick earlier in front of the pyramid at the Louvre. I love being a girl - you see the magic trick was to take off my tights on the spot, they were falling down to no end, but at least I had on leg warmers to keep me warm.

Anywho when we left the cemetary we wandered a little and found a restaurant. There was a menu outside that had a bunch of stuff on it so we went in. Eventually the waiter came over to the table and asked us to order. We asked (actually Kari asked as she was translating for us) to have 5 minutes to decide as well as to wait for orur friend in the washroom. He said thats ok and that he could come back for our friend but we had to order now. Katie and Cameron feeling pressured ordered some kind of french sandwhich and Kari and I said we werent having anything. He didnt seem to understand this and once Kari explained that we didnt want anything he stood there looking at us blankly, then rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders and walked away. We all considered leaving as this was really rude but we didnt want to be rude in return and also we were scared of the backlash should he catch us. When Heather came back and he came back to order she tried ordering at least three things she had seen on the menu outside and non apparently were available. He got annoyed and told her to look at the menu on the wall. Gah, he was a dick basically. She finally got a sandwhich but we all decided no tip. As we were eating we realised why he was especially grouchy. He sat down to his own lunch. GAH, why do people need to eat all the time and get so grouchy when they dont get food? Especially men, I have discovered this over here. Anywho at least the sandwhiches were good apparently. Also there was a poster on the wall saying the Doors wrote and sang Stairway to Heaven which didnt sound right to me. I mean I am not a music person but I have the basics. The rest all laughed because sure enough it was Zepplin's song. Silly French.

We eventually left and made our way for the city centre again. On the way as we were leaving the restaurant we passed over a Marilyn Monroe grate, if you know what I mean. Should you recall I was wearing a dress and no longer wearing tights. Now this wasnt a normal tiny kinda blown up and then in slight embarassment pull the dress down. This was a full sweep lets bloww these girl's skirts as high as they can go. I was not so luckily in the front of the pack of us, but luckily no one was paying attention until I screamed and pranced as far from the grate as I could. I looked behind me at Kariand Cameron, Cameron "I was looking at Kari" and Kari just looking at me with some confusion. Katie and Heather were sqelling with laughter and I joined in because really who else would this happen to? And who else would make such a grande production of it? We visited a perfume museum and smelled all these intersting smells and saw how perfume worked. Right accross from it was the Opera House. We went up it to take a look. There was a red carpet which of course made us all feel extra special. We next made our way to the Louvre area where we were to split up. I made my way to what I thought was the nearest metro (subway) station and found I could not find this station to save my life. I passed over another grate only it wasnt so funny this time because I was by meyself at almost night. I decided to be safe and look for the next station over and luckily found it and got back to the hostel in time.

In time for what do you say? Well to catch the coach bus with the rest of the students who had signed up to go up the Eiffel Tower at night. The reason I went back is because I was kinda nervous to go bymyself since it would be night and I was unfirmiliar with the language and the location and apparently there were always these niceraguan men (sorry about the spelling but sound it out) trying to sell things and they follow you and are very pushy and i decided it would be better if I went with a group. I sat beside Addy and we chatted the whole ride in. Turns out her dad is a photographer so I chatted with her about photography for a bit. We took photos basically the whole time the way up and such. We took the elevator because the stairs were closed at night. The second level was beautiful but we decided to pay a little extra and go to the very top. Its really interesting because all around the observation thing is little flags with main city names underneath showing what is in what direction. Addy and I of course got a picture under Toronto! We met up with Charlotte and Amy and Amanda and the five of us decided to make our way either back or to get food.

We crossed the bridge over the Saine but stopped for pictures with the Eiffel Tower again. Charlotte and I decided to do some dancer poses, one of which ended up being with one leg up on the railing thing. At some point this one french tourist and his friend came by and he decided to stand between us and get a picture with us. His friend seemed to be shyer and was just taking pictures so we said whatever and ok. We got some pictures with them too. At one point he leaned in for a kiss but I dodged it (outside the comfort zone at this point) but Charlotte couldnt avoid it and got a big smooch on the cheek. We departed from them after a bunch of pictures of course giggling intensly at the frenchiness of it all. We then looked for an inexpensive cafe on the Saine, hee, we should have know better. Instead we made our way back to the hostel and Charlotte and I continued on our quest for riches of food while the others made there way back. Literally everything was either closed or closing so our last resort was a pizza place where we found Tom and Chantel (two of our SLCs). The man who we ordered from restored our faith in the goodness of the French. He was very nice and teased us a little but helped us through our dismal French. The pizza was actually amazing! It was extraodrinary pizza for some reason. Charlotte and I took it back to the hostel and chatted while eating it to great content. I went to sleep very satisfied with my day.

Day four and five still to come as well as my past weekend. I cant beleive how much has happened that I need to write down!

Midterm trip - day two and three

So last Tuesday I was still in Belgium. I woke up at a semi decent hour to load my backpack onto the bus so I wouldnt have to carry it around with me and then head upstairs for a free breakfast. I breakfasted with Heather, had a chocolate coisant and some fruit. Next the two of us decided to take a hike around Brussels while everyone else was at their Political Science feild study. We took pretty much the exact same route that I had taken the night before, quite different though during the day time. We stopped so Heather could buy some chocolate and then continued to the main square. We then made out way to the Cathedral and this time took a look inside. It was very beautiful, a lot like Notre Dame. We then proceeded to go back to the hotel again the same way as the night before. We stopped for waffles but this time I got one with carmel syrup. It was really good, but not as much flavour as I would have liked, it made me miss maple syrup. Oooo and I forgot to mention I think that the waffle shop we stopped at both days was next to the little peeing boy. I dont know if you have heard of it but it is a fountain that is a boy peeing. It is apparently a well known symbol of Brussels or something.

Anywho we then got on the coaches (most of the history students - lets just say it was a really confusing schedule and I was on a coach to my next feild study). So the next feild study was just outside of Brussels and is the African Culture Museum. We were told to listen really carefully to the tour guides that were to take us through the museum and compare it also to what we learned in class. You see Belgium has a troubled history with colonisation in the Congo and they are starting to admit to their faults in the situation but still have a bit of an attitude towards it. Luckily my group got the young cute guy leading us. He said one thing that troubled us at first but I think it was a translation issue. I think he meant to say something else. I think he was trying to say that Africa has diverse cultures and is very different all over but said that "in Africa it is all the same" which got baffled and embarrassed looks all around (he was talking to history students), but we realised a few minutes later thats not what he meant to say. We were pleasantly surprised when he admitted that certain statues in the foyer were unrealistic of African culture and that they were adding on to the Museum and this would be changed with time. He also actually showed us the part of the museum that showed how the colonialisation went wrong and though he did downplay Belgiums role a little he still admitted to some of the horrors that occured. Technically it was all the Leopolds and Belgium in particular, but it is still a bit of an embarassment. Interesting history to look up if anyone is intersted.

The museum was interesting, lots of exhibits and displays and interesting information about Africa. Outside there were gardens and giant wooden elephant statues. I regret now that I didnt look further into the gardens, but I went with a bunch of people to lunch and we had some intersting converstation. We were the first ones on the coaches and had a good fifteen minutes to wait for people, though honestly nothing really itnersting happend. Katie and the rest of the history group eventually showed up and the coach began its leg to Paris. It wasnt a really interesing ride until we actually got into Paris. I think we slept most of the way. But once we got near the hostel (which was a good 30 minute tube ride from the centre of Paris) we found it quite difficult to get to the actual hostel. All the coaches seperated and had their own adventures. I must say ours was intersting. At one point we realised the street we were trying to go down was too small for us to fit so the diver had to back up and turn around - in an intersection. We bascially blocked an entire intersection for a good 5 minutes. At another point we drove down a one way street - the wrong way. We had multiple Frenchies come out to tell us we wer egoing the wrong way. After having a good many people already tell us this as we were heading toward the end a lady in a car stopped her car so she could come out wag her finger at us and tell hte driver he was going the wrong way. Jeez people can be asswipes, I mean seriously? Did she not think that we already couldnt tell and were already having issues getting out without her stopping us and wasting our time? It was fun though I must admit - being lost. We eventually got to the hostel and got to hear other peoples adventures with their busses.

Our hostel was really nice Our room was on the third floor, it was Katie, Kari, Amanda, Amy, me, Emilia and two other girls I dont know very well. I gots a bottom bunk and found to my delight that each bunk had its own reading light and a curtain to pull accross when you want to sleep but others dont. I also got a nice pull out bin thing underneath. It was a nice hostel. I got a pretty good nights sleep I would say, the beds were really comfy. So the next morning we all woke up in time to go down for a free breakfast of cut up bagettes. They were really good and warm and fresh. Next, all the Art History students got on a coach to be taken to the Musee D'Orsay. Kari and I got in with the first group and were toured around by our art history prof who is hilarious and just a doll. She was so excited by the little devices we were given to be able to hear she so she wouldnt have to shout. Bascially she had a microphone and we had little ear devices to hear her from. We got to see a bunch of impressionist paintings and such. I got to see my Renoirs which excited me greatly. After a short while Kari, Heather and I made our way to the Louvre where we were to meet Katie. On our way Kari had an epic fall right infront of the Louvre, a fall only a dancer can accomplish - hands out and slowmo all the way to the ground. IT was beautiful. We also met Cameron in front of the Louvre and the six of us all decided to make our way to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetary - you know where all those famous people are burried.

On our way we stopped on a very American in Paris looking spot so Kari could have her dancing picture. Her theme song is Tiny dancer by Elton John so she put on her point shoes and Katie and I went at it taking photos of her dancing in the Saine. After an interesting debacle with the metro we made it to the cemetary. Mmmm, I must go down to lunch so I guess I will have to continue the story later. Until then Au revoir!

Midterm trip - Belgium day one

So I just got back last night from a week abroad with the school, our week off. After writing my last blog I had a couple more fun nights with the girls, incluing another movie night with the twilight zone, but other than that not missing much from the week before the mid term break trip. I will start with last Sunday night. At around 10 or 11pm Kari, Katie, Heather and I gathered in my room to watch some Twilight zone (after a mad scramble on my behalf to clean my very messy room...I had had a busy week!). I packed while we watched and once it hit mid night Heather headed out and the three of us fell aslepp in my room. Our alarm went off around 3am because thats when we needed to load our luggage onto the coach busses. We then went down to breakfast and then got our seats on the bus. Katie and I sat together on Coach A, all the history students needed to be on coach A or B as we had a different timings and destinations in some cases. Katie and I gravolled up and pretty much passed out for the ride to Dover. Once in Dover guess what we got? Another ferry trip! I dont know if you all remember my last ferry trip, but it wasnt my best experience. This one wasnt so bad as I slept through the whole thing. Again on the coaches, not much happened other than Katie and I sleeping our way until our next destination.

This happened to be Sanctuary Woods. This is a memorial to the First World War. Dr. Scott (our history prof) gave us a small lecture before taking us up to Hill 62 which is a Canadian memorial. It was a beautiful setting. After that we went inside a small building which had world war 1 objects and pictures and eventually lead us to a trench area. It had preserved trenches from WW1 and allowed you to walk through them and on top of them and see what it was like. It had been really rainy the day before so it was really wet. Since I didnt have boots on and only shoes I didnt go into the tunnel system you could go through. But I did get pictures of other people doing it and it was still really interesting to explore around. Back in the store there was a Belgian cat, not that they are different from other cats. It was really cute and seemed to be their greeting cat to say hello to people as the came and went. Another feature of the place was a cemetary for many of the soldiers, very nice memorial for them. A few minute drive away was another cemetary that we got to explore for about an hour. Again I got some really good pics. Soon enough it was time to make our was to Brussels.

We arrived at our hotel afternoonish, just as it was getting dark. We struggled through the crowd of students but eventually got our room keys. Amanda and I were in a room. Once we got there we got our stuff ready for a gander around the city. Though not before checking out the bathroom, at which by first glance sent both Amanda and me into a state of squeeling excitment. It was a very nice bathroom, a hotel bathroom with all the qualities one would hope for on a vacation. We actually were jumping and hugging and giggling we were so excited. Hee, silly girls. Anywho, we then met a pooload of people downstairs, of which included Kari, Katie, Cameron and Amy and a bunch of other people. Cameron lead us to a waffle shop where we could get traditional Belgian waffles. They were soooo good! Seriously must have one. Mine had whipped cream and chocolate, intense! Others had fruit on theirs or white chocolate or sugar or a combination of random things. We went for a gander after that towards the main square. We first stopped at a choclate shop and I bought a bunch of different varieties of belgian choclate, they had so many amazing deals on the chocolate! We also got free tasting of some truffels, soo good again.

Once we got to the square we basically just took pictures and chatted and figured out what we wanted to do. We then explored that area which happened to have all the choclate shops and waffles places and stuff. We also went into a beer store and bought some Belgian beer for later that night. Dont remember what it was called, but they had some spunky strange beers there. We split up after that, Cameron, Katie, Kari, Amanda, Amy and I all decided to gander towards this one certain Cathedral. It was very lovely and pretty, especially at night. They also hada peace tribute in the shape of wooden mooses. People had written all over them, I guess it was a thing. I wrote on it too saying "I miss Canada, but I love the world". Weird I know but hey. We then kept walking and went through a garden to reach a palace. It wasnt the most grand palace, but it was beautiful. We gandered and got a little lost for another hour more before getting back to the hotel. We changed into our pajamas and all gathered in Katie and Kari's room. We drank the beer (of which I didnt really enjoy so I let them have the rest). But we chatted and watched TV (in French) for a while before heading to bed.

So I was going to try and do all of Belgium today but I think I will save it for later. I might try to do more tonight, but ifnot look for it later!

Last week already?

So I have finally finished my hell week. Four assignments due, gah, doesnt sound that bad but you also have to take into account that we travel on weekends and arent always arounf too much, plus they are always holding a fun night of some sort almost every week. So back to my tale. I had just gotten the autograph and the man and his mother offered me a drive to the train station but I said I would walk since I had another hour and a half until my train would come in. Except I got to leicester square area, looked at my map and realised the amount of sketchy areas I would need to pass through by myself at 11pm at night to get there. So I tubed it to Victoria station. Not eventful to be honest except when I got to the station and looked at the board, prepared to have to wait a while for my gate number to appear. Except when I looked at the board that should have my station it didnt say my station. It only got up to Lewes, which is right before my station, but that train was definately supposed to take me so I went and asked what was going on. All I was told was that that was my train and to wait for my gate number. Eventually it came up and I decided to ask another person, who didnt end up being very nice or helpful. She just told me that that was my train, saying pretty much nothing else. Gah. Fine, so I got on the train and waited. There ended up being an announcement that due to repair work the train was only going to Lewes and that there would be a bus provided from there to take us to Polegate.

So I relaxed until I got a text message on Kari's phone. Kari had given me her phone just in case something happened and I needed to call. Perfect because it was a text from the cab that was supposed to pick me up (we use the same guy/company a lot and we had used Kair's phone to make the appointment), it turns out that he was delayed picking up someone from the airport and couldnt get to me. He gave me another number that I could call instead and luckily I got a cab with them. I relaxed again until I heard this guy walk up to the head of the train and ask everyone for their attention. I looked up because I wasnt facing him and then I looked forward because I realised it was not a personel of the train. He started telling everyone this story about how he was homeless and how he lost his arm or something and that he wants to go to this certain homeless shelter but to get in he needs 17£ and he already raised 11, so if anyone could contribute? It was the most akward few minutes I have ever experienced. He stood there for a while after he concluded and everyone on the train was avoiding his gaze and looking the other way or pretending not to have heard. I felt so guilty, especially because I did the same thing. Not to make excuses for myself or anything but it made me nervous especially because I was by myself and I also couldnt tell if he was being truthful or not. He eventually thanked everyone for their help (even though no one had) and walked away. There were a couple of middleaged men sitting in the booth thing next to me and had been chatting about work or what ever and I obviously looked guilty feeling because the one guy smiled at me sympathetically. I actually enjoyed listening to their converstation because from the way they were tlking my first presumption was that they were gay, but the more I over heard the more I couldnt tell. So I kept listening.

Unfortunately I never did find out (I was just curious) because we eventually arrived at Lewes. Took me a few minutes, but I found the bus with a bunch of other people already in it. I went to the top and relaxed as best I could. I realised after we started that I was going to be late at the station to get the cab, so I called the company and told them. After about 20 minutes I realised that the bus was taking longer than youd expect to get to Polegate. I asked the couple behind me if it was stopping at Polegate and they said they thought it was just going straight through to Eastbourne. I was pretty sure they were wrong, but I headed to the bottom level just in case. Another ten minutes later we finally arrived at Polegate and lucky me my cabbie was still there. I had a nice chat with him about the snow they have been getting here (not in East Sussex thank god - a little further north). Apparently people are stuck in their cars because they dont know what to do, they had to call in representatives from Canada to teach them how to cope. Sooo funny. I made it back around 2:30am. Kari had asked me to stop by her room when I got back so she'd know I was alive. I regaled my stories to her and then went to bed. We dont want to even think about what might have happened should I not have taken her phone.

The next morning (Friday) I woke up for breakfast and did this and that all morning. After lunch I got on a mini-bus for Eastbourne. My goal in Eastbourne? To get my hair cut of course! If you havent seen it and would like to before I have other pics up check out my flickr. Anywho I went to this one place that was recommended to me, you dont need an appointment, you just show up. I only had to wait a couple minutes and then I got the cutest girl doing my hair. She was so mice and we ended up talking about travel and Canada and stuff and then hair for a while. I really like my hair and strangely for me it is all natural! I have not had all natural hair (non dyed) in around 6 years I beleive. So it is vry strangeto me. I tipped her at the end, which I think surprised her a little because of my age (I dont think a lot of people do it). She also recomended shampoo that will keep my hair soft, yay! The rest of the time in Eastbourne I spent with Heather, we sat in Costa, had a hot chocolate and chatted. When I got back to the Castle it was MOVIE NIGHT!!! Kari and I grabbed a bunch of hte ales I had bought after Dublin and also her rum and my whiskey. We turned the beds again to make a huge couch. The people at this movie night was: Kari, me, Amanda, Amy, Heather, Jacinta, Jill and Emma (if I left anyone out I am sorry). The first thing we did was watch I met the Walrus, which is a Canadian made short film. It is anamtion to an interview a 14 yr old boy did with John Lennon in 1969. Very interesting because the questions are very smart and interesting all about his views of peace and war and stuff. I recomend it, its on youtube, type in I Met the Walrus and click on the one that is 5 minutes 15 seconds.

Next we watched some of a video that Heather and Amy got from the Scientology people in London. Apparently they walked in nd asked for a tour. They somehow managedto get a free tour of hte Scientology building in London! They were given a vidwo and we watched about ten minutes of it. It was sooo fancy. Heather and Amy had seen one thing where there was like a whole video that was a dedication to Tom Cruise. Wasnt on the disc apparently. We watched other parts though, but there was way too much to watch the whole thing. Basically when we turned it on Kari and I started making random comments here and there and making everyone laugh. Nothing like MSD3King a scientology video! (you dot know what that is look it up - too long to explain). And we hadnt even started drinking yet! Next they put on Secret Window with Johnny Depp and this is where Kari and I started drinking. We finished the ales and then to buy a mixer for the rum. We put the entire contents of a coke bottle in a 2-4 bottle of rum. There was about a quarter or third of rum left and strangely it was the perfect mixture!!! We finished that pretty well, hee. Then we went on a mission (while everyone was watching the Holy Grail). You see, we had started watching it, then heard someone say they needed to fine their grail. And then Kari pointed at our whiskey, which happened to be Grouse whiskey. So our mission was to find a chaser or the Holy Grouse (as we proceeded to call it). We went into my room and I took out a box that I usually kept my money in and proceeded to sit in the hallway in front of my room pouring otu the contents of my box in search of change for the vending machine. After a few minutes Angie came out and asked what we were up to (she had obviously been sleeping) and we told her our mission. She asked if we needed change and got us a 50p coin! Thank you Angie, we apologised for waking her up and she said she just neededto go to the washroom. She told us to say hi to Kevin who was asleep on her bed. So Kari and I cheerily waved and cheered a hello and Kevin grunted a response. We checked in on the Holy Grail people and then decided to go to the washroom. I impressively turned on the shower withour getting wet and Kari realised there was someone else going to the wasroom. Not until we left the washroom did it dawn on us it must have been Angie probably just listening to us and laughing.

After mixing our whiskey we decided to go on a gander. We went to Katie's room and made a tribute to Katie's door (she was away for the weekend if you dont remember). Her room mate (who had also obviously been drinking) came out as we were drinkingto Katie and told us her stamp was coming off on her face. We were bewildered and apologised for waking her up. She just looked confused and went back in her room. Next stop was the basement where we sat on the floor for a couple minutes in the tv room. Next stop was Cameron's room to whom we also tributed (he was asleep though). Last stop was the washroom on our hallway, where I proceeded to sit in the wet shower I had turned on earlier (wasnt on now) and Kari sat on the floor and we talked for 2 or 3 hours. Next was beddy time and we got to sleep feeling like we had had a fun night.

Last weekend

So after the Dublin trip it was really hard to get back into the school mood. On the Wednesday night Angie and I went down to the pub as there was an auction to raise money for some organisation. Of course we only did a little predrinking...hee. We got down closer to the end of the auction so we didnt see all of it, but I got to chat with a bunch of people and have a good time. Some of the auction items were the usual, jewelery and other random objects, but therewere also some really interesting ones too. There was go-karting with Dr. Scott (history prof) for three people. Cameron won that one. There were a bunch of home made dinners at houses of people who work at the castle, there was also a pizza and movie night with one of the head adminostrators (these were all in groups). There was also piano lessons and guitar lessons and one that said this girl would draw a cartoon of your life. Very cute.

On the Thursday after I only had one class in the morning and so got some free time to do work before Katie and I left for London. She was satying the night with a friend somwhere north of London as well as seeing a lecture that night on Barrack Obama. I on the other hand was seeing the musical Oliver! and comingback that same night. We got a cab in the early afternoon and made good timing to the train station. Not much happened really on our way to London. We chatted a lot. When we actually got to London we only got a little lost and were kinda worried we would not find Katie's lecture. She made it right on time and now it was my turn to find my theatre. Unfortunately for me I didnt know what my theatre was called and although I had a ma that indicated where all the theatres on the west end were, I didnt know which one was Oliver. So I decided to make my way to Leicester square where they sell tickets and ask them how to get there. I went to TKTS and a nice man there gave me a map and pointed out how to get there. Unfortunately it happened to be in a very difficult area to understand. I mean the street names change dramatically every few blocks and the streets look nothing like the maps. I am usuall y very good with maps, but I had to ask two or three times in order to figure out how to get in the right direction. Lucky me I got there with 15 minutes to spare, so I could buy a program and stuff and relax into my seat.

I had really good seats up in the balcony, right in the middle. I chatted with the people beside me for a short time before the show started. Unfortunately the people behind me (ppl in their early 30s probs) had been drinking a little and were a little noisey occassionally, but they werent the whole time so I didnt mind. The show was amazing! The kid who lpayed Oliver was good, but the kid who was Dodger was brilliant! He danced and sang and acted all at the same time and he is only 13. I mean he was soo good and funny and just perfect for the part, definate potential star. Of course who else was in this musical right now? Rowan Atkinson of course. He was fabulous. Very funny and perfect for the part (fagen). At one point the characte is looking through a small chest of jewelery and puting it on and he takes out some opera glasses and says something about perhaps going to the opera. He put the glasses to his eyes, looked to the orchestra seats and said "...just looking at all the rich glamorous people out there," then slowly he lifted his head up to us, "and all the poor people up there." HEE!!! Well I dont know if that is always said in the productions, but he was perfect and quite brillient. There was a little boy who could not have been more than 5 years old and he played one of the little street brats/pickpockets. He was soo cute! And so good, at one point he was supposed to be following Rowan around and mimicking him behind his back and when Rowan turned around he shouk his little but at him, it was sooo cute! The whole cast was brilliant, the girl who played Nancy had the most astounding voice that just broke your heart. Then of course there was Burn Gorman. If you dont know he plays Owen Harper on Torchwood, a British tv series and in this he played Bill Sykes. He was absolutely terrifying. So good, but so scary! He was perfect and I really enjoyed his performance! At the end with the roll call when he came out everyone bood because his character is a bad one and he just played along with it then laughed and said something to Rowan. So cute, and I actually saw him smile! Like a genuine laugh and smile (he doesnt do that much on the show).

Once it was all over and time to go home I decided to look around and see if there was a back door that you gathered around to get autographs, because I did the same thing at Hairspray. There was and there was already a nice group wating to see Rowan. I of course was also waiting for Burn. While waiting in line I started chatting with this man in his 30s and his mother who he had taken out for her 76th birthday. She made a comment about them never queing up like this when she was on the stage. I questioned her a little bit, but she said she didnt do much, and didnt elabortate. The guy said his ex-girlfriend used to be on stage and take him back stage and he could meet everyone. Eventually I saw someone who might be Burn come out but he had his cap on down and seemed very determined to not be recognized or noticed. I just managed to touch him to get his attention, but he didnt notice and kept walking. I dont blame him as he probably wanted to get home, but I got to touch him! After 45 minutes we were told the reason Rowan hadnt come out yet was because he had guests but that he would be out soon. He finally did, but it was obvious that he wanted to go and chat with his friends. I hadnt brought my camera but the nice ppl I had met said they would take my picture and email it to me! So not only did I get an autograph, but a picture too! I would say I have done pretty well for myself while here.

I have a nice story about trying to get home as that was a bit of a trial, but I have to go to lunch, so I will contiinue this another day (hopefully tomorow). Soon soon!

Dublin day three and Airport

So one whole week ago, Sunday February 1 Kari, Katie, Kurtis and I wake up to a nice warm breakfast in the hostel. Not too much occurred at first. Our first step was to go buy food for later, so I bought a grapefruit to try and change it up a bit. We made our way to Viking World/Dublinia. Basically it is a museum about vikings and viking settlements in Dublin and the rest of Ireland. The museum was really cute and quite fun. Once we got to the end of it there was a tower you could climb and look over Dublin. It is here we decided to have our lunch. It was really funny because I got the grapefruit juice all over my hands and was all sticky. It was soo good though. Was a hell of a time getting apart with only my hands, I felt like quite the animal. But it was worth it! We made sure to go to the washroom to clean up before we headed to...

The Jameson Irish Whiskey Distillery! We again had quite the adventure getting there and trying to find it, but it was fun non the less. We had time to wait for our tour to begin once we had bought tickets so looked around the gift shop and found the most fancey washroom I have been in while on travels. Seriously, it was soo cute. The first part of the tour was a video in this theatre like room. We made sure to get front seats. The video was so epic, al about the Jameson family and the history of the whiskey and stuff. We found out it was the Irish who first "invented" whiskey - not the Scotts. So funny, they are so proud of their liquer in Ireland. Anywho after the video our tour guide came out and asked if she could have 8 volunteers for whiskey tasting at the end of the tour. Of course I made sure my hand was the first up and she handed me a cardbord tube to hang onto and say that I was a taster.

Next she showed us through a museum like thing of the distillery. It was really interesting because it is so similar to beer, but not quite. I learned so much about whiskey! Aparently there is a process near the end where the...I cant really remember, all I remember is that American whiskey does the process only once, scotch does it twice, but Irish whiskey always does it 3 times, which is what makes it smoother. The other interesting thing is how the barrells effect it so much. At Jameson they only use barrels that have been used before for a certain type of lquer that I cant remember (I'm doin well today - not). Anywho it has to be distilled for at least 3 years, but at Jameson they leave it for 4 to 6 years. You can also buy (for £150) 12 or 18 year old Jameson whiskey. One day when I get that rich old hubby of mine eh. Anywho aparently Jack Daniels use brand new barrels only and thats why it has a really oaky flavour. We learned all this and more and were finally taken to the tasting room. There was this big bar with a bunch of tables and stuff one with trays whiskey on it. Everyone else who wasnt doing the tasting got a shot of Jameson and were allowed to mix it with something if they wanted or have it plain. Kari had it with Cranberry juice and Katie with sprite. They had to go to another table, while Kurtis and I went to the tasting table. There were three whiskey half shots in front of each of us, one jack daniels (amreican), one scotch and then Jameson. We were also given water. The guide walked us through it telling us when to try what and how much to taste. At the end we were supposed to push forward our favourite and I was honest when pushing forward the Jameson, I really liked it! Kurtis was the only one to push forward something different (the scotch) and the guide made fun of him for it. It was cute, our guide was so good. We sat beside a guy from England (York) and chatted with him fora bit. Katie and Kari came over and since we let them try some. Everyone agreed that we could taste the oakyness of the Jacks, so weird! The scotch was good, but Jameson was so smooth. All the tasters got another shot of Jameson that they could mix if they wanted. I of course didnt. Hee. We went to sit with Katie and Kari and we all chattedabout the Jameson. I bought souvineres in the fact that they had butlers chocolate bars mixed with Jameson! So exciting.

Our next stop (even though the sun was starting to set) was the big park on the one side of Dublin. We made it there as one side of the park was closing, but went to the other side. I at this point had to pee so bad I was mostly in search of a bathroom. The others told me if I just wanted to go in the park they would watch for me. So I went to the most secluded part of the park I could find and did my business. Right as I was finishing up who in the distance happens to drive by where my friends are standing, but the park watch/police. I couldnt hear what he said to them so I had a minor panic attack that I would get caught with weeing in public property. Luckily he had just told them that they had to leave as the park was closing. God I get these close calls dont I? So folks I have now officially marked my territory in two European countries. I now officially belong here. Hee. So our next goal was to walk all the way accross the city to a pub we had seen near the hostel that said it not only had live music but a deal for 12 euro for a pint and a meal. On our way over we got another mission. To find Irish crisps (potato chips). Apparently they are different from those everywhere else, so we went in search of them and strangely quite easily got our hands on a bag. Sorry guys, I didnt try them, i am not really a crisp person, but if you are interested in what they may have been like just ask me and I ask Kari or Katie for you.

We eventually made it down to the pub. Kurtis, Kari and I ordered fish and chips and a pint of Guiness. Katie ordered the Guiness and ...mmmm my memory is failing me again, I cannot remember what it was called. Anywho we sat near the front as that is where the music was. It turned out to be two guys at a table, one playing the guitar and singing adn the other playing the flute. It was so good and so Irishy! As we were finishing our meal they started chatting with us and the players found out that Katie played guitar and sanga little, so they asked her to give them a song and play for them. She said she would if they played us Molly Malone. They did and it was so cool and then Katie got up and played also allowing me to get loads of neat pictures of them. It was so casual and relaxing. I loved every minute of it! When Katie was finished and we had talked to them a little more they played a song about a Katie, probably just for her, it was so cute! I ordered one more drink that Heather had introduced me to a couple nights before, Baileys and milk. It was very good and I think I am going to keep it as one of my favourites.

We left not too late and packed our thingsto be ready to leave early the next day. That night I found only two young men in my room (I think a couple), so it was a peaceful night sleep. The next day we got up nice and early sowe could catch an early bus to the airport. It was lightly snowing out when we got out and had obviously already snowed a little, but to be honest we didnt think too much of it at the time. We made it to the airport nice and early and got ourselves checked in and through security. It took about an hour before we were told where our gate was and I spent most of my time looking around the shops. We eventually made it to our gate and waited patiently for our plane. We kept seeing other planes to London (on the board thing) being cancelled or delayed so we made sure to be near enough the board at least to keep checking it just in case. Eventually It popped up on our gate's sign our destination and time so we decided that we were fine. About 15 mintues later though when we look over we descovered that it had been changed to saying a plane to cork was leaving from there. So we look to the times board and see...that our flight had been delayed to 2:10 pm. This gave us three hours, so we mostly just wandered around and chatted. Once it got to 2:10 it came up on the board that we would not leave until 4:20. At this point we were doubting that we were getting back at all and Katie went to finda computer to warn people that we were stuck in Ireland so they wouldnt worry. This was last monday so we were suposed to have class, but there was no way we were going to make any of them.

Strangely enough at 4pm they told us we could get on our plane as it had finally arrived! We were very excited and managed to get seats together. Katie got the window again and this time I took the aisle while Kari took the middle. As we thought we were about to take off we were told it was going to be a delay as it was snowing and a bunch of airports in London had shut down due to snow. Luckily Gatwick was still open, but might close as well. Every half hour or so for quite a few hours they would say only a half hour longer of waiting! We were ok, but after a couple hours there were a bunch of people that decided it wasnt worth it and wanted to get off. They had to open the plane and get their luggage and for the next few hours, slowly more and more people got off. Luckily they left the door open so we could get fresh air. And at one point I had to go stand next to it because I was getting a little clausterphobic. I got to chat with one of the ground control guys who I talked to about the snow and found out that certain airports had closed and that the only way we could take off was if they got the runway cleared of the snow and that Gatwick didnt close. I eventually went back to my seat and Kari, Katie and I (all at different times) had our little freakouts. Being stuck on a plane for some reason for hours can seriously drive out crazy, so we each had our moments of insanity with eachother, but got it out of our system and could eventually feel better.

One of the crummiest things was the people on the plane. They all started freaking out because the flight crew was not allowed to feed us. They were not allowed to bring out the food and people were freaking out for some reason. Made me agery that people could not go without food for a few hours (ok it was 6, but still!) and then they would freak out at the flight crew. I mean its not their fault, gah. At one point we got passed a pad of paper that was being passed around the passengers. It said that the person who wrote the message was going to complain and talk to the media and government/airline about the fact that they werent feeding us and it was against our rights and blahblahblah and if we wanted more information we should put our e-mails down. I was so angry I wanted to rip it up and throw it in their faces. I know it doesnt solve anyhitng, but it would still have been satisfying. I wish I could have found the person who wrote it and barfed on them. There, eat that you selfish pig. Dear God, get over yourselves. There are people around the world starving every day and you cant go 6 hours without food? Around 9pm it was announced that the flight was cancelled, but if we stayed on there might be a chance we would take off. A lot of people left and after we looked around we noticed that we had lost two thirds of the passengers. We decided we had no where else to go and had nothing to loose by staying on the plane.

Sure enough about an hour later we were told we were taking off, just as it began to snow. I beleive we were the last plane to be allowed to leave before th eairport shut down. YAY! It was an uneventful flight after the adventure we had already had. When we got to Gatwick we had to figure out some way of getting home. All the trains were cancelled and we called the taxi driver who was supposed to pick us up, but he said he had an early run and he was really sorry, but couldnt drive us. He gave us other options though that we could take or do and really took care of us. Apparently he had waited for 3 or4 hours and kept being told that we were about to take off every half four or so. Gah, we instead tried a bunch of different companies to find the lowest priced taxi. We eventually found one for not too bad a price and decided to wait for him for the hour so we could get home that night. It took a bit longer, but the driver came and I crawled into the backseat. I guess after the lack of sleep and all the stress during the day made me get really car sick. I ended up sleeping on Kari's shoulder most of hte way only occasionally waking up at bumps. At one point I guess the gps took the poor driver through back roads, so we went through this forest and sketchy dirt road to get to the castle. I felt like poo the whole time so I dont remember much of it, but apparently it was really cool! We got back around 2:30am and I got to sleep around 3. I had a class the next day at 10 so I got up as late as I could before going down.

I hope you enjoyed my adventure. I have more stories to share as I had an eventful week, so hopfully I will be able to do that tomorow. Enjoy for now!

Dublin day one and Two

Gah, I have to learn to stop procrastinating with these blogs. I love doing them but I get so behind so easily. Really sorry about that. Lets start talking Dublin again. last Friday (a week ago), I woke up in my hostel room and decided to wear a skirt. Yes, a skirt with tights and leg warmers to keep me from getting too cold. Next step was meeting Kari, Katie and Kurtis for breakfast (the hostel provided it). After that we started towards Trinity college where we were to meet two other friends, Amy and Heather. It was spitting rain but warm out (well up to 8 or 9 degrees, but still). I enjoyed the weather as it felt very authentic. Trinity College was nice. We were going to go see the book of Kells but they had a duplicate out instead because the original was being cleaned or something, but they were still charging a poo load to see it so we headed towards St Patrick's church. We got to wander and meander our way down. You might have seen some of the pictures of this on my facebook. We found a post box thing with a sign saying "no bomb please." Which amused us immensley. Not that that thing should amuse but...whatever, its me, the girl who laughs at people getting hit with cars. IN FILMS! I almost forgot to add that. Hee.

Anywho, we got to St Patricks ala help from a nice Irish man who stopped and asked if we needed help finding where we were going. So sweet. I found the people in Dublin so nice and so helpful. St Patricks we got a peek at but didnt go all the way in as it was kinda expensive. Thats one warning about Dublin is that it is more expensive we found than London, but it is very friendly and there is so much to do! We started making our way to the Guiness factory/museum but on the way stopped in this nice old church. Interestingly I went to use the wash room and on my way out I saw a catholic newpaper with the headline "pro-lifers lament Obama's first killings." I think we all know what that means. I read a little of the article and it said that some ppl were initially excited about Obama going in because of his focus on human rights, but that they thought he was doing more harm than good because of his pro-abbortion, contraception and stem cell research. Strange strange ppl out there I must say. Anywho, next stop the Guiness factory!

When we got there we checked in our backpacks so we wouldnt have to carry them around. We bought tickets as a group and some of us got asked to show ID. You see if you are over 18 you get to go up to the gravity bar at the end of the museum, and have a free pint of Guiness. The guy giving out the tickets hadnt looked at me when asking for ID so I asked him if he wanted to see mine. He looked me up and down looked in at my face, smiled and said no, your fine. Hmmm. I shall take that as a compliment. The museum was really interesting. It took you through the process of making the beer as well as the history of the beer and the family that started it. My pictures on facebook explain that better, lots of wheat and lots of hops and water and yeast. There is a water fall in there that reminded me soo much of Charlie and the Chocolate factory, but dont worry, they dont use the fountain water to make the beer. Eventually we made it to the tasting station where we got a little taste of it. We then proceeded to the Gravity bar which happens to be at the very top of the factory and be an observation deck like thing where there are windows all around and stuff. We got our free pint of Guiness and got started. Now let me announce that I am a light weight now for some reason and I decided to finish my Guiness as quickly as I could so that I wouldnt haveto drink any more at the end, if you get what I mean. I mean dont get me wrong, I liked Guiness the best out of every beer I have tried, but I still do not really like beer. So we chattedand observed. Kurtis finished his first, but he's a guy so woopty do. Next I was sure Iwas taking silver, but almost as I was about to finish Heather somehoe passed me at the last second and stole the prize. I guess i'm taking home the bronze then. I beleive Kari got fourth place and Katie got fifth, but if I am mistaken I hope you correct me. Amy got the pretty purple ribbon for sixth. Katie and I somehow managed to be very tipsy and ended up having a grande time on the observation deck just chatting and taking pictures.

Once we left I believe we went in search of a pub or bar to eat at. We actually ended up stopping at this little bokstore and I found/bought a 21st edition of a compilation of certain Rudyard Kipling poems. Now when I say 21st edition I mean that the book was published/printed in 1905. It sold for 10 euro! The guy who sold it to me was like, wow thats a steal, you are so lucky. I giggled and was very pleased with my purchase. We found the pub we were looking for, which had live music and dance. No dancers that night, but it did have some live music. A few of us got food and the rest of us just enjoyed the music and eachother's company. When everyone was done we started looking for a pub with live music and cheap booze. We eventually found one after wandering fora while. I decided to order an Irish whiskey tasting tray. I gots four different whiskeys each coming with a description and name. There was half a shot of each though I think it would be fair to say they were pretty big half shots. Kurtis got a tray too, but the bar tender didnt fill his as much as he had mine! Love the Irish. I was feeling bouncey after that and we all had a good time chatting and drinking and listening to music. We luckily had gotten seats that were a both and basically it looked like we were sitting in a giant barrel that had half of it cut out.

We eventually left, I bought food and snacked when we got back. We chatted for a very short time and then I headed to bed. My adventuare that night was that a young french couple came in and decided to share the bunk above me. They only made out for a little bit, but still, gah! I managed to have a fairly good sleep anyway. I think I will start talking about the next day. Sorry this is going to be so long. Again I got up and had breakfast at the hostel, this time deciding to wear my dress. We met Heather and Amy again at Trinity College. This time though explored around it a bit and ended up getting some really good photos. Our next stop was a book store so Katie could get a book for her dad. I love book stores, I hada hard time leaving them even when in the beautiful city of Dublin. Next we stopped at a celtic like jewlery store. While the others were in there I went next door to the chocolate shop that turns out to be a company that makes the best chocolate and hot chocolate in Ireland! I decided to try the hot chocolate because strangely it wasnt that expensive. It was seriously the best hot chocolate I have ever had in my enire life! OMG! You could not taste the powder, if they use any! You could drink all the way to the bottom without getting any taste of powder. They also throw in a complimentary chocolate when you buy a drink and omg! The company is called Butlers. Dear god, they were soo good!

So our next stop was the little park accross the street. It was so pretty and we got lots of gorgeous pictures. We even met a very fat seagul that was not afraid of us at all and ended up creeping us out. We also randomly found this playground with no children playing. It was such a good one too. Kari and I just ran towards it and started playing. Eventually everyone was all over the playground, swinging, playing or taking pictures. I even tried out the swing! Even though it was a baby one so I had to stand in it. It was soo much fun. We made our way to another cute little park and gots some photos. Then we crossed the street and went into the Dublin National Gallery. Saw some cool pictures. Once that was done we headed for our hostel and said goodbye to Heather and Amy who were flying back to London/the castle. We hung out at the hostel just to rest and to eat. But we knew we had to explore a bit so we wondered around this one part of Dublin, going into stores and taking pictures. Eventually (as it was getting dark) we saw this building that had been burned partially down. I wantedto go take pictures, so we wandered that way. We then spotted an alleyway that wasnt quite sketchy but was and we decided it would be a nice thing to wander down. The barbed wire here and there freaked us out only a little, but what made us laugh was the Erotica bar/strip joint at the end of the ally. We of course took pictures of the ronchy paintings on the wall and of the sign. What was even better was that there was this guy that walked past us at least four times obviously wanting to go in but not wanting us to see because we had been laughing at finding this place.

We decided to keep on our merry way and find the same pub we had gone to the night before ( the first one with the dancing). I got food and we all got to watch some live irish music and at one point some Irish dancing. It was really cool and I really enjoyed it. We then went back to the hostel and got some goodies and decided to hang out in Kari and Katie's room. We chatted and ate and hung out there for a while when in came their other room guests. All french guys ranging between the ages of 25 to 40 I would say. Nice guys. These two Canadian girls (who had obviuosly been drinking) then came in to chat with the french guys, the one of the girls didnt know french so she talked to us instead. What made me feel good about myself was I was able to understand the Canadian girl and the guy she was talking to when they were speaking french to eachother! So cool! I eventually went downstairs and to bed my only adventure that nightbeing that I found that my bed had been stripped of the sheets and stuff (I left all my stuff in a locker, dont worry) and someone had taken my bed. So I got the top bunk (the french couple had left). The music from the club next door was louder than from the bottom bunk, but strangely it didnt bug me. It obviously bother ed the other people in the room (a family) who were swereing in German and were obviously not happy because they couldnt sleep.

So I think that is all I will do for now as this is already long enough, though I hope to conclude my Dublin adventure soon as I already have other tales from this week that must be told!

Dublin arrival

So I honestly dont remember much of last Thursday morning. I went to my early morning class, then packed what I thought was a minimal amount of belongins for our 4 night stay in Dublin. I kept getting distracted and going over to watch Gossip Girl with Angie as she had it on on her laptop. Eventually I completed the packing and met Kari, Katie and Kurtis in the reception of Bader Hall. The taxi was on time to pick us up and I gots the front seat (I was worried about getting car sick). It was a pleasant journey to Gatwick Airport in London, full of friendly chat and banter. We took a taxi from a particular company all the way there instead of a train because between the four of us it ended up costing less than a train ticket. Didn't take much to get us through security and stuff. First time I have ever had to take off my shoes for security! Hee. We waited for a while until the sign announced what gate we had to go to.

Honestly dont remember getting on the plane for some reason other than we had to go outside. It was a cute plane and Katie gots the window seat with Kari in the aisle and me in the middle. It was a really short flight and honestly we napped the whole way. I woke up for the landing, but Katie didnt so she got quite the surprise when we bumped fairly hard down. During the flight we were sitting behind these chavs the whole way there and at first it was funny but it became very annoying quite quickly. If you don't know chavs are a type of group in England. By group I mean set behaviour and style and clothing and characteristics. They have these certain types of jackets and hair styles and they are generally considered dicks. At least this is what we have been told and now witnessed. These kids are the ones you see on youtube (they post it themselves) of them giving happy slaps or somethings. Basically going up to random people and hitting them or punchingthem then running away giggling. The best videos are the ones where people fight back. Very funny in those cases. Anywho, they were basically being dicks and rude and being very noisey. A comic releif in their chattering was when they were talking about a certain airplane movie and trying to mimic the American actor and getting the accent completely wrong.

We arrived ontime to the trumpety music Ryan Air plays when they are on time. Quite cute. We got a bus very easily to the city centre. We saw a Budweiser advertisment on a store and laughed. Its Ireland! Everyone knows Guiness and Ireland go together, not Budweisser. Boo. Anywho we made it to the city centre and luckily our hostel was really close by. We found it with no difficulty and got our rooms and sheets and info and stuff. I was in a different room from the other three. They were in an 18 person room and I was in an 8 person room. I took the bottom bunk of the bed nearest the door (quick escape). I got to meet a guy from Catalonia (sorry on the butchering of the spelling). I told him my friend (Katie) spoke Catalan as well as Spanish and he was very surprised. I found it kinda hard to understand him, but we had an intersting converstation anyway. There was also a family in my room (parents with their teenage son). Kari came to get me and the four of us headed out to explore the Temple Bar area which is where all the resaraunts and pubs are. A lot were only for over 21s. We eventually (after wandering around in the rain for a while) found a pub/resaraunt and had food. I gots these chicken thigns and fries. Mmmm. Pretty good! We chatted for a while before deciding to wander back and head in for the night.

Once I was peacefully in bed I found out/realised that there was a club next door and you could hear the music through the walls. Didnt honestly bother me at all until I heard something else. Nooo, you dirty dirty people, not that! There was this Englsih girl I guess stomping past my room over and over again yelling and screeming and apparently hitting or slamming things. She was upset about not getting anypeace and quiet. She also said something about a woman or something or I dunno, she freaked me out because my door wasnt locking and my smart little quickest route to the door things was turning out to seem like not such a good idea. The freakiest part was I could hear if there was another person she was talking too. It sounded like she was talking to someone other than herself (though I suppose she could have been). Maybe she was on a cell phone or the other person was really quiet, but it took a good hour before she calmed down and I guess went to bedor left. I didnt have anything like that happen again luckily for my other nights.

So thats all I am going to do for today. I still have four other days of stories from this journey, but I am going to get foofoo, so you'll have to wait!