Tale of Travels (pt. 2)

Sorry about the delay! After many hours spent relaxing, making French toast, and doing anything that didn't involve studying, I decided that it was time to prepare for finals. (They're only 80% of my grade. No big deal.) But they're over now. So now it's celebration time/write a new blog post about my winter travels time. Yay!

Kay, so we left off with the Girlfriend and I traveling to Edinburgh, Scotland after having visited Cambridge and Oxford. We took two trains to get there, totaling about 6 hours overall. I'm not complaining, though: the scenery was beautiful, the seats were comfortable, and I had lots of time to do homework or sleep. (But mostly sleep. [In fact, it is entirely possible that 5 out of 6 hours was spent sleeping.]) We arrived in Waverly station, and spent the following five seven nights in the West End Hotel. During the days, of course, we explored one of the most amazing cities in Scotland:

The city centre at night (click to enlarge);

that's right, Edinburgh has a ferris wheel

The National Gallery, which included several Vermeer paintings!

Girlfriend in traditional clothing at the National

Museum of Scotland

The Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling drafted Harry Potter

Interior of Elephant House

Bridge! And church.

Greenhouse at the Royal Botanical Gardens

Gazebo in the Royal Botanical Gardens

My weird Scottish duck friend 

Well... you can sorta see the castle. Right?

Here's a better one.

Highlight of Edinburgh: Just walking around. Holy frick, it was neeto.

Edinburgh was one of our favourite places on our entire trip. The city was absolutely stunning, and so full of history. The girlfriend and I also appreciated the fact that the Scots knew what snow was. They also knew that salt and snow plows made it go away. (This is such a problem in England!) When we were not visiting *free* museums or art galleries, the Girlfriend and I walked around the gardens, or just played cards back at the West End.

Our hotel/hostel was a bit strange in that it seemed to be more of a businessman accomodation. Allyson and I were the only students. We did meet an incredibly knowledgeable, eccentric man who upraised art for a living. He told us about his years in Mexico and the far North. Most of the time, we couldn't understand what he was saying because his accent was so thick (and varied). But it was good to meet him, and he was our only roommate (in a 12-person dorm) for our five day stay.

Right. Well we only intended to stay in Edinburgh until the 21st, at which point we would fly over to Ireland and take a bus to Wexford, Ireland. So the we packed everything up, checked out, caught a bus to the airport, checked in our baggage, went through security, and waited at our gate for several hours. We then were told via intercom that due to "adverse weather conditions" in Dublin, our flight was cancelled. Now there were some pretty bad snow storms around Europe, most notably around Heathrow Airport, which actually shut down for a few days. But this was potentially problematic. We had planned to be in a certain hostel on Christmas, because that was the only one open in Ireland during the holidays. (Just kidding, but it WAS one of the few).

So we headed back to the West End, checked in again, re-booked our flight, and attempted to cancel our Wexford hostel reservations. (Alas, to no avail. I wasted about $60 on that one. CURSE YOU, CANCELLATION POLICY!) But anyway. We decided to stay in Edinburgh until the 23rd. (Unfortunately, so did some loud, smelly Polish people.) Even though everything was quite frustrating, we actually didn't mind being in the city a couple more days. In the end, it was all good. Yo.

(See above process.) This time we got on our plane without any trouble. It took about 50 minutes to fly to Dublin, during which time OUR PLANE GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. FRIGGIN. WHEN DOES THAT HAPPEN?

Ryanair: With flights this cheap, you can AFFORD to pay for the bathroom!

Oh, the joys of traveling. *chuckles knowingly* We survived, though. No structural damage to either us or the plane. And finally. We were in Ireland!

Well that's all for now! Look for part three in the next few days. I'll go into great depth about the awesomeness of Ireland. But right now I have to prepare a presentation. Or something.

Here's a picture of a gin and tonic because they're SOGOOD.

You can just FEEL the summer vibes.

Next stop: Kilkenny, Ireland

Tale of Travels (pt. 1)

Oh hey, folks. Did you miss me? Of course you did. What a silly question.

As you may know, I have spent the past month double-abroad. (i.e. away from the U.S.A., and away from England. AT THE SAME TIME.) If you weren't aware of this fact, perhaps it is because you were busy doing important things like celebrating the holidays, which coincidentally, probably did not involve staying at sketchy inns, fraternizing with nine-fingered drunks or being struck by lightning. (More on this later.)

Anyway, if you haven't the patience, capacity for procrastination, or vague interest in the AWESOME which are all required to read this blog, then I suggest you do something more productive. Like watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QspuCt1FM9M

I apologise if this post appears in several episodes, but there is simply too much action, tragedy, and photography to fit onto a single page, or into a single night, for that matter. So bear with me while I spin this woeful but life-affirming tale of travels.

The Girlfriend and I left on December 12th for Cambridge, England. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure any Couchsurfing accommodation, so we booked a quaint lil' hostel near the city centre. We arrived by train, (did I mention the fantabulous public transportation in Europe?) and stayed until the 14th, during which time we sufficiently explored the small college town.

Cambridge is a biking place. These people were intense: they hauled backpacks around, made intricate hand-signals, dressed up in shiny fabric, and shouted at you if you were in the way. It was pretty neato, and far less smog-y than most cities in England.

Mostly the Girlfriend and I did some sightseeing. We visited King's College and a couple of museums. Afterwards, we went shopping and made our meals in the hostel kitchen. Overall I'd say it was a good couple of days, as well as a good indicator of what the remainder of our trip would be like.

Church where we attended mass on Sunday

Closed History Museum. Awww. (Click to enlarge.)

Dinosaur head in the College Museum of Earth Sciences!

Plaster-cast statue in the Museum of Classical Archeology

Girlfriend being a poser

King's College!

Awesome tree near King's College

Girlfriend pretending to enjoy our third set of PB&J sandwiches.

Highlight of Cambridge: Visiting the renowned Cambridge University Press bookshop. So tasty.

Wasn't that exciting? I can feel your anticipation. Next we caught a coach bus to Oxford, England. It took about three hours or so, but hey, it was cheap. After unpacking in the AMAZINGLY COZY/elaborately decorated hostel, we decided to look around a bit. We soon discovered that this was going to be quite a pleasant visit. Over the next few days, (December 14th-16th), we immersed ourselves in the wealth of knowledge that Oxford had to offer. The museums, college life, and surrounding town created an altogether scholarly atmosphere (which we thoroughly appreciated.)

Eagle and Child: Pub where the Inklings met to discuss and share a pint

Girlfriend in The Eagle and Child

Letter which J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis wrote to the bartender

praising him and his superior bar tending abilities

Ashmolean Museum: the oldest museum still in existence (and free, too!)

Stradivari collection at the Ashmolean

Blackwells: a bookstore with over 3 miles of shelves, and 160,000+ books

*sobs* It's so beautiful... (click to enlarge)

Exterior of the distinguished Oxford Library

River which ran through Oxford

We also visited the Oxford shopping scene, stopping in places like Alice's, which sold Alice and Wonderland paraphenelia. Apparently Lewis Carol wrote his masterpiece here in Oxford. Back at the hostel, the Girlfriend and I enjoyed some mulled wine and local beer before our long train ride to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Highlight of Oxford: Aside from the astounding book shops, I would say the discovery of Ramen Noodles as an alternative to sandwiches.

In general, I rather enjoyed the English towns we visited. We learned a lot at the *free* museums, and enjoyed much of the *literary* history surrounding the local life. On our journey we met quite a few students who studied or presented at the colleges. Hostels are great places to meet people interested in traveling. Yo.

Well guys, that's all for now. Don't look at me like that! I'm afraid that it'll take me a while to fully chronicle my exploits. With finals in the next few days, time management is of the utmost importance. In the meantime here is a preview of what is to come:

Who said snowmen had to be made of snow? NOBODY. THAT'S WHO.

Yep. So go peel some grapes or something while I sleep for hours. (Sleep. Mmmmm.) Never fear, though. I'll keep you posted. (Haha, get it? Posted? 'Cause this is a post?)

Next stop: Edinburgh, Scotland.