Getting Ready

This week was the final week of lectures, although I still have one essay and three exams to look forward to in May. I also registered for classes back at William & Mary this past Tuesday. It was amazingly simple, one of the benefits of finally getting a senior's timeslot. I got all of the classes I wanted, although I unfortunately could not avoid having early morning classes.

On Wednesday Take Note had a party/election for next year's executive positions. I enjoyed having a more social practice and got to know the people in the group much better, plus I had a lunch that basically consisted solely of junk food (healthy I know).

Friday, I met up with everyone from William & Mary at Ruby's (an "American" burger place in town). The burger was pretty good (it had avocado on it, which makes everything better), and it was great hearing about everyone else's spring break plans. I was still kind of jealous hearing about all the amazing places people are going, despite the fact that I am very excited about my own plans.

Speaking of said plans, I honestly can't believe that my trip to Italy came up so quickly. I leave Exeter by bus at 4:45 tomorrow morning, which is far too early in my opinion. But hopefully it will give us some extra time in Rome in the evening after we arrive, although it is likely that the time will be used to figure out where we're going and how best to avoid getting lost. We'll be spending three days in Rome, two in Florence, and another two days in Venice before returning home. I probably will not be posting anything to my blog until I get back, I won't be packing a laptop (or really anything that isn't absolutely essential). I will however attempt to check in on facebook every now and then.

I'll only be back in Exeter for about three days before heading to London to meet my Dad, Claudia, Michael, and Abby for their visit. I don't really know what we'll be doing, but I'm sure it'll be fun. They leave on the 19th and on the 20th I'll be back in London to meet up with a tour group. I booked onto a Trafalgar tour of Europe that will be going to Amsterdam, Heidelberg (Germany), Lucerne (Switzerland), and Paris. I'm definitely looking forward to a trip that requires no planning on my part, and I actually recieved a very well-organized package in the mail this morning with my itinerary and other useful information.

But for the moment I'm focusing on Italy: making a list of places I want to visit in each city, brushing up on some basic Italian phrases (which I will inevitably butcher a bit, but it's the thought that counts), and watching movies to get pumped (my favorite: Roman Holiday)

Augurami buona fortuna!

Dancing Queen

I had several fun nights out this week, which is not the usual for me, but it definitely made for a nice change.

On Tuesday I went to the end of term meal for the Catholic Society at the Côte Brasserie. It was a lot of fun and the food was quite good, particularly the desert. It was, however, the first time I really noticed a difference in the way that Americans socialize versus the British. There were three Americans (myself, Maddy, and Malorie) seated next to each other and, when we reached the time period after the meal where everyone just talked, we got very enthusiastic in our conversation. I hadn't realized that this might not be the case everywhere, that people didn't always get loud and energetic in the middle of normal conversation when they started to get really into the topic (or even sometimes when they're not). I mean I knew intellectually that Americans do tend towards being louder when speaking than most others, but it was a little different to actually notice it. Also, it felt a bit like the difference was not so much in volume, but in temperament. I think perhaps we Americans just tend to be more likely to get really into a conversation and suddenly become very outgoing. Regardless I had a great time talking with everyone else as well, and I would definitely be interested in hearing other perspectives on the cultural gaps they've experienced.

On Friday I attended the A Cappella Awards Ball, for the Exeter A Capella Society (of which Take Note is a member). I spent a couple of hours getting ready, I put on make up for only the second time since I have been in Exeter, and took quite a few dorky photos of myself in the process (very few of which I am willing to ever let anyone else see, I still have at least that much dignity left). 

I had an amazing time though! The food was really good, again especially the desert (I'm noticing a trend here), and so was the company. One of the members of Take Note, Elsa-May, was recognized for her great work as a represetative for the group. After dinner and the awards we got down to the best part, the dancing! First there was a live band, Bridges, that was pretty enjoyable (even if I couldn't always understand what they were singing) and then we listened to a playlist of songs. I danced basically until I dropped, and literally until the event was over and we were told we had to leave. The walk home was basically torture, I was so hot from the dancing that I didn't wear my coat or my shawl the entire way back, and when I arrived at the Printworks I still had to take down my hair and remove my make up (I found a record, for me at least, twenty hairpins in my hair, although it felt like at least fifty).

Today Take Note had a performance at the Firehouse, and I think we sounded pretty great, especially considering the fact that we could hardly hear each other over the people in the crowd. Afterwards I finally got to try the Firehouse pizza, which I have been told several times is amazing, and it definitely lived up to its reputation. It was also really nice to get to know some the other girls in Take Note better, since there hasn't been a lot of time to socialize during practices. We talked about books we enjoyed (such as the Clockwork Orange), as well as crime dramas and movies (Bones, Luther, Minority Report) and bad babysitting experiences (apparently Robyn had a kid who tried to attack her with a knife...and another set who were creepily obedient and didn't talk).

I can't believe that it's already the last week of classes, and actually this Tuesday is the day we register for next semester's classes at home, it definitely doesn't feel as though I have been here that long. In only a little more than a week I'll be in Italy, and in fact I'll be on the go almost all of the next month. Can't wait for all the amazing stories!

TARDIS Time in Cardiff

I wasn't really expecting to have something exciting to tell you about this weekend, I was expecting this to be just another average week where the most exciting things that happened were going out to eat with friends and a Catholic Society social (both of which were lots of fun, but not necessarily what one would call exciting). But you're going to have to wait for the exciting bits, because we have to start from the beginning of the week.

The week began, unfortunately, with working on my first essay assignment of the term (honestly my first real any kind of assignment of the term). Worse, this essay was about accounting. Can you imagine writing an essay about accounting? Doing accounting is bad enough sometimes, writing about doing accounting is even worse. It was made especially difficult by the fact that I have gotten out of the habit of writing essay, since I've spent several months now with absolutely no assignments of any kind, which is both wonderful and terrifying, because next semester I will be back at William & Mary. I have definitely been thinking about how difficult it will be to go back to the academic atmosphere of W&M, which is quite rigorous and definitely busy, when compared to the fairly relaxed semester I've been having here. The focus on travel and new experiences while studying abroad is both to my benefit and to my detriment I suppose.

The upside was that I finished my, very wonderful, essay early. So, on Wednesday, I met up with Maddy and a few of her flatmates for dinner at Hubbox (that burger place on high street that I've now been to about four times). It was a nice treat, who doesn't enjoy a burger and fries?

Thursday also involved delicious, and bad for you, food. It was American Night for the Catholic Society social. We watched Mean Girls (and some of them didn't like it, can you believe?) and ate Sloppy Joes, potato salad, rice krispies, and muddy buddies (a very well-balanced meal, wouldn't you agree?). I think we may even have converted some of these poor deprived Brits to the wonder that is the Sloppy Joe.

Earlier that Thursday, Sophie had decided that she wanted to go somewhere this weekend, and we spent a couple of hours trying to figure out what trips might actually be possible this last minute. We ultimately decided on Cardiff (the capital of Wales), and Maddy said she'd be interested in coming along as well. We all bought our tickets separately and spent Friday trying to plan out what we wanted to do with our day in Cardiff.

We left from the Exeter bus station at 6:30 in the morning, which was difficult for me because I am in no way a morning person, had a half an hour stop in Bristol (which we used to walk around a little before getting back on the bus), and arrived in Cardiff about four hours later. We had until 9 that night, but most of the museums and castles closed at 5, so we still had some time limits.

First we headed to Cardiff Castle, which included: battlements which surrounded the actual castle and around which you could walk (and some creepy tunnels below them), a shell of a keep on top of a daffodil-covered hill and surrounded by a moat, and a mansion whose interior is a spectacular example of the gothic revival in architecture.

The view from the top of the keep was gorgeous, although I did regret my choice not to bring my sunglasses when faced with all that sun (which is why I look as though I am crying in about half of the pictures we took up there).

After exploring the castle grounds for awhile, we headed down towards the bay for lunch. The walk to the bay definitely felt longer than it should have, mostly because by that point we were very ready to eat.

On our way we walked through the Roald Dahl Plass (or Plaza) and saw the Water Tower (which looked more like a mirror tower, because the water appeared to be off), and took some flatteringly distorted pictures of our reflections.

We settled on the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, which had a wonderful view of the water and where I had the skinniest french fries I have ever had in my life and the Camemburger (which included Camembert and hash browns).

We split off for a bit after lunch. I headed to the Doctor Who Experience (hence the title of this post), while Maddy and Sophie took a walk around the bay (as neither of them watch the show). The museum was, in my opinion, a lot of fun. The first half hour was an interactive adventure featuring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor (which I appreciated, because he is my favorite). Then there was an exhibition of costumes, set pieces, and aliens! Also it turns out the Water Tower that we had seen earlier is the site of the headquarters in Torchwood, a Doctor Who spin-off, which I don't really watch.

We met back up by the bay at around three and decided to take a river boat tour of the bay. It made for a nice break from walking around for Maddy and Sophie, and the views were really pretty since the weather was so beautiful. We stopped into the Pierhead Building, which is part of the National Assembly of Wales, and the Wales Millennium Centre, both of which were really cool from the outside but less interesting inside.

By that point it was nearly five, none of the museums were open anymore, and we needed a caffeine pick me up. We wandered back towards the main street, which turned out to be completely packed. It turned out that we had chosen the day of the Wales vs. Scotland rugby match in Cardiff for our trip, so we saw all sorts of incredibly and inappropriate(ly entertaining) drunken revelry.

We found a cafe that wasn't too crowded, luckily everyone else was looking for alcohol and not coffee so it wasn't too difficult. Maddy and Sophie got Mochas (with misshapen hearts in the foam) and I got an pot of Early Grey tea. We relaxed for a bit before wandering around the town a bit more, wanderings which included a stop into Primark to consider the merits of overalls.

Eventually we decided it was time to eat again and found ourselves a Bangladeshi and Indian restaurant called Barbucci. We split an order of Chicken Tikka Masala and Chicken Curry, as well as Peshwari and plain naan. It was absolutely delicious and definitely the right choice.

Then it was time to walk to the train station and head home, we arrived back in Exeter at about one in the morning. It was an exhausting walk home, especially considering that I am now sick for the second time since I arrived in Exeter (hopefully I won't completely lose my voice this time), but the trip was worth it.

Hope Springs

So it's the end of another great week. Unfortunately, this was also the week that I had my first (I know, I can't believe it either, but it's only the first) actual assignment at the university, I'm not counting the presentation on how you do research that I had to do for my Business and Tourism class.

But back to fun stuff, we had another William & Mary meet up on Tuesday. Sarah, Liv, Sophie and I went out to Hubbox for some, almost, American style burgers and afterwards we made chocolate chip pancakes in honor of Fat Tuesday. Our attempts at pancake selfie shots were a bit lackluster, so you'll just have to picture it for yourself.

I also made some plans for later on. I bought a ticket for the A Capella Society Awards Ball, which is excitingly black tie. I mean, everyone knows that I'll take about just any excuse to dress up, and I have to put the formal dress and heels I packed just in case to good use somehow. I also purchased myself a ticket for Paloma Faith's upcoming tour. Her new CD, A Perfect Contradiction doesn't actually come out until tomorrow, but I loved the first single (Can't Rely On You) and her last two CDs. It's in London in late May, so it's still a while from now, but I definitely can't wait.

Yesterday, I procrastinated a bit with my essay in order to go on a walk down to the Quay with Sophie. It was absolutely gorgeous out, and it seemed a shame to miss out on it to write an Accounting essay. I did discover that Sophie is a great proponent of the dorky photo, so I have some new slightly embarrassing additions to my Facebook page for which I have her to thank.

That's it for the moment, but I'll write again soon.

P.S. I am a firm believer in the idea that it's spring as soon as you have flowers that bloom, and don't die from the cold (this exception is necessary because sometimes you'll see crocuses bloom in the snow), so it's officially springtime in Exeter!

Weekend in Dublin Part Two

Although we went to bed quite early, before 10, we still didn't get up until about 8:30. There really wasn't any reason to get up any earlier, as very few places in Dublin appear to open any earlier than 9. We had a light breakfast provided by the hostel, when you're hungry toast with butter and jam can be a spectacular meal.

At about 9:30 Maddy and I were off, we headed straight for Trinity College, to see he Book of Kells and the Trinity College Library. The Book of Kells was beautiful, but if will admit that I was much more interested in the library. This will come as no surprise to anyone that knows me very well of course, I would be happy to live in a library forever, and certainly one as beautiful as the one at Trinity College would be no hardship.

We had decided the night before to plan out our day a bit better and so, in keeping with our schedule, we headed to the National Gallery next. Some areas of the gallery were a bit unnervingly empty, but the exhibit on European masterpieces was pretty cool. They had a Rembrandt and a Picasso, but my favorite was probably either the Four Seasons by Simon Vouet or possibly one of the several gorgeous landscapes.

We also went to see the exhibit on Yeats that was currently on display at the National Library. I really enjoyed seeing handwritten examples of his poetry, even if I am utterly incapable of reading cursive (even when it is not particularly illegible I find it a difficult task).

After looking around the shops for a bit, Maddy was particularly looking for Aran sweaters, which are also known as fisherman's sweaters and are characterized by complex stitch work usually associated with traditional meanings (such as the standard cable pattern standing for success and good luck). We stopped for lunch (both because we were hungry and because we wanted some time to consider our purchases). Sometimes you just want a burger, and Bobo's was definitely a good choice for that. Although we had no say in how our burgers were cooked, which was a change from home where they always ask, they did have proper "skinny chips" (more importantly they were pre salted).

After finishing our lunch we were still suffering from a very important craving, caffeine. We stopped next door for some coffee (for Maddy) and chai (for me). We also got some sweets, because the bakery looked so tempting.

By the time we finished our caffeine break we were ready to make some shopping decisions. We returned to some of the shops we had visited earlier, where Maddy purchased Aran sweaters for herself and her parents and I decided on a tartan shawl that I had been considering. For the regard, it turns out we've been using the term plaid incorrectly in the US. Plaid actually originates as a reference to a type of clothing, similar to a blanket or a shawl, while tartan is the correct word for the pattern.

Afterwards we didn't have very many more set plans, so we wandered around the city. We started with a stop by Dublin Castle, which seems like more of a hodgepodge of buildings than an actual castle (but I still like it). We sat in the courtyard for awhile and just enjoyed the view.

The we found our way to a few shops on the side streets, including a shop that sold vintage goods and a really cool independent bookstore. I definitely considered picking up a few books, but decided against it for practicality's sake (although I did note a few titles for later perusal).

At about 6:00 we arrived at John's Lane Church to attend mass. We were a bit early, so we had some time to look around the church and take a few pictures. The construction of the church began in the 1860s, but it actually opened in the 1870s and the construction wasn't fully complete until the 1890s. The church was really beautiful, especially the stained glass windows.

We walked back to the hostel so we could drop off a few bags, before heading out for dinner at an Italian restaurant that was pretty nearby. We were just in time to take advantage of their "Early Bird" menu which allowed a starter, an entree, and a glass of the house wine. I really enjoyed the restaurant, and it had some nice paintings of Italian landmarks on the walls (some of which I will be seeing in person not too long from now).

That was basically the end of our Dublin adventure. We left the hostel at about 11 on Sunday morning and ended up waiting for the ferry for about three hours. The ferry itself was significantly less pleasant than the one on the trip to Dublin, although it was shorter. We suffered very rough waters for the entire trip, and my ability to sleep in most circumstances came in handy because I avoided the worst of the seasickness. We made a couple of food stops on the way home, which were definitely needed, as the trip felt as though it lasted forever. We made it back to Exeter a little after midnight, and I was very glad to be back in my own bed.

And that's the end of my weekend in Dublin, but I'll be heading back to Ireland again sometime after my exams are over.

Weekend in Dublin Part One

So, I have finally crossed another city off my list of places I want to travel someday. If you weren't already aware, this is because I spent this past weekend in Dublin!

Maddy and I booked onto a trip with the Exeter History Society, so we didn't know anyone, but we were all at least students and it was nice to travel with a group. We left from the St. David's train station in Exeter at around six and spent the next twelve hours traveling (first on the coach for seven hours, then on a ferry for about 4 hours, and then the last leg on the coach again). We arrived at Isaac's Hostel at about 6:30 in the morning and, suffice to say, we were all pretty exhausted. I got about four hours of sleep and, compared to some of my other traveling companions, that was quite a lot. Luckily, although we couldn't check into the hostel and get some well deserved shut eye, we could leave our luggage in a locker (so no one had to lug around a suitcase all day, not that I brought a suitcase for a weekend trip).

We lounged in the common area for awhile, because of course nothing was actually open yet, and finally left at about 8. Maddy and I decided to stick with the others, at least for awhile, so we could get our bearings a bit more. We stopped for breakfast at O'Brien's, which was a lovely little cafe across the street from the Trinity College campus, and I had an amazing raspberry scone and some hot chocolate.

Afterwards we walked around the Trinity College campus, which is absolutely gorgeous by the way, but we didn't stop into any of the buildings at that point. We did, of course, stop to take a couple of group pictures, before walking over to St. Stephan's, a nearby park. the park was absolutely beautiful, it helped that it was quite sunny out (though unfortunately also rather cold). 

We then wandered back towards the college campus to visit the Archaeology branch of the National Museum of Ireland. The museum was really cool, lots of interesting old jewelry that was simply listed as being found in a "hoard" which I suppose makes sense considering Dublin's rich Viking history. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside the exhibits, so all I have is a pictures from the atrium (which was still quite pretty).

We then walked to yet another park, this one with a memorial to Oscar Wilde. I personally think the statue of him looks rather smarmy, but that might just be me. The other two statues which had quotes written on them were very cool however.  On our way out of the park we passed by the house in which Oscar Wilde lived on Merrion Square.

We walked into the Temple Bar district around lunchtime. The district is right on the edge of the river and many of the buildings have some pretty fantastic graffiti/art painted on them.

Maddy and I wandered for a bit, before eventually joining some of the other members of the group for lunch at a pub called the Porterhouse. I got Traditional Irish Stew which, to my dismay, came with a leg of lamb which was somewhat difficult to manage. It was delicious, so definitely worth the work.

We then walked over to the Christchurch Cathedral, which I personally preferred (aesthetically speaking) to St Patrick's Cathedral (which we came across later in the day), before splitting off from the group in order to head over to the Guinness Storehouse.

Even if you don't like Guinness, which I have discovered that I most certainly do not, I would have to highly recommend the Guinness Storehouse if you are ever in Dublin. The museum is located in the St. James' Gate Brewery, where at one point they performed the fermentation process involved in making Guinness. The first thing you see after buying your ticket and entering the museum portion of the building is the 9000 year lease on the brewery signed by Arthur Guinness for the building (yes I did say 9000, so he was certainly in it for the long haul). Also the central section of each floor of the building (which is like an open glass atrium all the way up) is apparently designed to be the largest pint glass in the world and, if filled, could hold 14.3 million pints of Guinness (or, more pints than there are people in Dublin)

There were lots of other cool things too: portraits that started to move and talk when you stood in front of them, examples of different advertising from different time periods, a set up where you could take a picture that made it look like you were featured in a vintage Guinness add, and a tasting room where they taught you how to properly drink Guinness in order to taste the four flavors. 

After finally making our way up to the 7th floor, where there was a bar with amazing views of the surrounding city, we got our obligatory pint of Guinness. I suffered through about half of it before admitting defeat, Guinness is much too bitter a drink for my tastes.

Afterwards Maddy and I wandered around the city a bit, getting somewhat lost in the process (and it was at this point that we came across St. Patricks), before eventually figuring it out. After finding our way to Grafton Street, which is the main shopping district in the city, we went in search of dinner.

We ate back across the river at a place called the Epicurean Food Hall, think a more upscale food court, where we settled on Mediterranean for dinner. I had a falafel sandwich, plus the essential of Irish food, chips (ie. potatoes).

Finally we made our way back to Isaac's only a little before 7:30, where we decided to relax for a bit before calling it a night. It was certainly a long and busy day.

To be continued...

(I've always wanted to do that) 

But seriously, I'll post the second half of the trip soon, it seemed like a bit much to make into just one.