Every summer I get a brutal sunburn the first time I spend an afternoon on a beach. Yesterday the girls and I went to Barcelonita and went to the beach. I should have known that things would go wrong because when I went up to change I found to my shock that instead of grabbing my black bathing suit bottoms, I had grabbed a black sports bra. So, I had to suck it up and go in the water in my underwear. Luckily for me, I suppose, it was a clothing-optional beach and wearing underwear was a lot less risqe then what most people were doing. Although I suppose on a European beach it isn't even considered risqe. So, the girls and I helped each other put on sunscreen, but apparently that didn't work out to well because I got a burn all over my shoulders and on my thigh. It is becoming tradition for this to happen, try as I may to prevent it. So, now I am trying to wear sleeves to protect my burnt shoulders and to cover up the awful pattern in which I am burnt.
I am having a good time in Barcelona. We sleep in, walk around all day, drink lots of water (well, I drink lots of water), eat gelats and tonight we are going to a Flamenco show!!! The show is just down the street from us and its something we've been looking forward to for a long time. Then tomorrow it is our last full day in Barcelona, and tomorrow is the final football match. If Spain wins, be sure we will not be sleeping one bit!
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Birthdays and Barcelona
Well, this is my first post since I became 22 years old, and you will notice by my writing that I have changed drastically because of my age! Talia and Lauren took me out for dinner on the 24th, to Soho. I did not realize that the reason we went to Soho was so they could get balloons for me, and so I kept suggesting different directions to head then they were hoping to go. Since it was intended to be a surprise, they never made it to their balloon shop. We went to a restaurant called Bella Italy, which is a big chain of Italian restaurants in England. It was very good, and our server Flavio made the evening very enjoyable. He was so friendly and joked with us a lot, and at the end I told him that in Canada on your birthday the whole waitstaff sings to you and you get a free dessert. So, while I was busy talking with the girls, the lights started to flicker and all of a sudden Flavio was walking towards me with our desserts and birthday candles, singing happy birthday. He gave me the dessert free, but we gave him a big tip.
On my ACTUAL birthday we unfortunately had to check out of our hotel, sit with our luggage in the bar for a couple of hours and then head off on the subway to the airport. We got there nice and early, and waited for our flight by walking around the airport. The flight to Barcelona was short and I liked it that way. I had an empty seat beside me and that made me happy. We grabbed a taxi to our apartment, which is just off of a busy tourist street: La Rambla. We had a nice dinner of different tapas and paella.
Today, we walked the whole city and went to all sorts of buildings designed by Gaudi. He was a modernist architect and all his buildings are really strange: they are scary looking but at the same time beautiful. He uses a lot of wrought iron and the artwork is all very interesting looking. He began building a cathedral, but died before he completed it. Today, work is still being done on this unfinished masterpiece.
Well, for now that is all. I need to get back to my apartment to shower, and eat some fresh fruit that I bought at the market. As always, pictures will be available when my memory stick and a usb outlet cross paths.
On my ACTUAL birthday we unfortunately had to check out of our hotel, sit with our luggage in the bar for a couple of hours and then head off on the subway to the airport. We got there nice and early, and waited for our flight by walking around the airport. The flight to Barcelona was short and I liked it that way. I had an empty seat beside me and that made me happy. We grabbed a taxi to our apartment, which is just off of a busy tourist street: La Rambla. We had a nice dinner of different tapas and paella.
Today, we walked the whole city and went to all sorts of buildings designed by Gaudi. He was a modernist architect and all his buildings are really strange: they are scary looking but at the same time beautiful. He uses a lot of wrought iron and the artwork is all very interesting looking. He began building a cathedral, but died before he completed it. Today, work is still being done on this unfinished masterpiece.
Well, for now that is all. I need to get back to my apartment to shower, and eat some fresh fruit that I bought at the market. As always, pictures will be available when my memory stick and a usb outlet cross paths.
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Abbeys, Cathedrals and Palaces
Well, Talia and Lauren safely arrived on Wednesday, and I left Auntie Frances to join them at ISH (International Student House). We have a room for four to the three of us, and the place has a lot of people from all over staying. In our hallway are a lot of teenage Italian girls, in Britain for an English program. The place is decent, and cheap. Well, our first morning we went to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. We got there very early and so we decided to go across the street to walk in Green Park. The park is indeed very green. At the other end of the park there were decorated beach chairs that people could pay to sit in. It was amusing to see so many empty chairs, because really, who would pay to sit in them?
The changing of the guards took forever to start, and there were so many people there to view it. First, the guards on horseback went down the street to the right of us, and the band played. The guards disappeared and then nothing seemed to happen for a long time. Then the bands started filing onto the grounds, and what they played was quite shocking. - they played Star Wars music. It was kind of hilarious hearing people slowly recognizing what was being played, it seemed so out of place for Buckingham Palace and all its British Grandeur. What I found was the event is only worth going to see once, and if you like the music you'll keep coming back. The crowd didn't see much action, and I think this was a little disappointing. There we met up with Talia's new friend Nicole, an Aussie who went on Contiki.
After the Changing of the Guards we went into the Royal Galleries, where we saw some of the art and ornate furniture and objects the Crown has collected over time. The works were beautiful, its so hard to imagine growing up in that life, where one family owns so much wealth and has so much prestige that they can create a whole museum of their wall-hangings. When we finished at the galleries, I was so hungry and went off with Nicole to eat before we went to the Royal Mews. I spent £8 on a plain hamburger and chips. It was outrageous, but I suppose when you own a cafe on Buckingham Palace Road you can charge anything you want!
The Royal Mews is ''living history:'' it is where horses are trained, royal carriages are kept and the people who care for them live. It was cool to see the Golden Carriage, which Elizabeth II rode in for her coronation. It gets quite tiring going through so many museums though, and reading so many explanations for the displays. Everywhere I go there is a display to look at.
We have also gone to Westminster Cathedral, the London Eye, London Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Harrod's, Kensington Palace, and to watch Grease. Everything we have seen and done is so interesting, and since I have four days that I haven't written about everyone will have to ask me questions about them all when they see me, or email me. Maybe I'll have time someday to write about them. I also have lots of pictures that I will add as soon as possible to facebook. So, until next time, Cheerio!
The changing of the guards took forever to start, and there were so many people there to view it. First, the guards on horseback went down the street to the right of us, and the band played. The guards disappeared and then nothing seemed to happen for a long time. Then the bands started filing onto the grounds, and what they played was quite shocking. - they played Star Wars music. It was kind of hilarious hearing people slowly recognizing what was being played, it seemed so out of place for Buckingham Palace and all its British Grandeur. What I found was the event is only worth going to see once, and if you like the music you'll keep coming back. The crowd didn't see much action, and I think this was a little disappointing. There we met up with Talia's new friend Nicole, an Aussie who went on Contiki.
After the Changing of the Guards we went into the Royal Galleries, where we saw some of the art and ornate furniture and objects the Crown has collected over time. The works were beautiful, its so hard to imagine growing up in that life, where one family owns so much wealth and has so much prestige that they can create a whole museum of their wall-hangings. When we finished at the galleries, I was so hungry and went off with Nicole to eat before we went to the Royal Mews. I spent £8 on a plain hamburger and chips. It was outrageous, but I suppose when you own a cafe on Buckingham Palace Road you can charge anything you want!
The Royal Mews is ''living history:'' it is where horses are trained, royal carriages are kept and the people who care for them live. It was cool to see the Golden Carriage, which Elizabeth II rode in for her coronation. It gets quite tiring going through so many museums though, and reading so many explanations for the displays. Everywhere I go there is a display to look at.
We have also gone to Westminster Cathedral, the London Eye, London Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Harrod's, Kensington Palace, and to watch Grease. Everything we have seen and done is so interesting, and since I have four days that I haven't written about everyone will have to ask me questions about them all when they see me, or email me. Maybe I'll have time someday to write about them. I also have lots of pictures that I will add as soon as possible to facebook. So, until next time, Cheerio!
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Brixton Day
Well, I spent the morning today just staying in, which was nice because I've been fighting a cold. Then Frances and I went out with Emma, a nice neighbour of Frances who is currently in medical school. We went to a Turkish restaurant, where I am very sure the restauranteer fell in love with me, but since I am leaving in a week and was with my elderly aunt did not ask me to run away with him (half a joke, half reality.) Then Emma took me around Brixton, where she told me about the history and showed me pictures of the buildings as they used to be, as we looked at this modern, multicultural and busy place. The market was a scene out of another country, it no longer felt like England. Anyway, I am on Emma's computer and don't want to put her out so I'll keep this brief. Talia and Lauren come tomorrow and I am very excited. Now, I'm going to cook for Frances and myself. Oh, and pics are up on facebook but I don't know how to put them here yet.
Monday, 16 June 2008
Out and about in England
Well, it is day 3 in England and this is the first opportunity I have had to sit down and use a computer. I am staying with Auntie Frances, Mark's aunt, who apparently is called Auntie Far by all who are near and dear, and she is wonderful. She lives right near Brixton Prison and she owns the town. Everyone around knows her, from her neighbours to the guys manning the shops, and she is very good to me. She takes me around, introduces me to all sorts of wonderful people and arranges good things for me to do. We arrived in Brixton after a £70 taxi ride from Gatwick on Saturday around 3, and she had not slept at all (or maybe only an hour of the flight.) I slept the entire time, excluding when meals and drinks came around. On our first day here we just settled back into her apartment, set off for supper, came back because she forgot her bus pass, set off again, came back because it was forgotten again, then finally didn't even use the pass because we walked to a pub about 15 minutes away. After dinner we just walked home, bathed, read and went to bed. Francis called about every person in her address book to let them know we were back. The next day we went to Euston station where I caught a train to Northampton to attend the Althorp Literary festival. At the station in Northampton Susan, Mark's cousin, picked me up and we drove through the town to Althorp. Here Susan works and organized the literary festival, which was quite impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed. The first lecture I went to was given by two women, each of whom had written a book on a royal mistress. Not a subject I have been familiar with, I found it quite entertaining and interesting. It seems that it was quite expected for a King to have a mistress, although it was frowned upon by the Church and often led to many problems for the mistress and even sometimes the King. Anyway, the two tales were quite contrasting, the first of Katherine Swynford and the second of Henrietta. Katherine it seems had quite a loving relationship with John of Gaunt, and through marriages to other people they always loved each other, and after struggling with public opinion and disgrace, the two were finally married and their children legitimized. Henrietta was simply a mistress of necessity, and as a great intellect had what seems to be quite a boring affair with the Prince of Wales. She decided to leave court after two decades of it dragging on and didn't regret her choice or her new found freedom. Anyway, thats probably rather boring to all of you who weren't there! The second lecture was by Lord Spencer, who talked about Althorp, his family and his life. He was warm and personable: a pleasure to listen to.
So, it took me forever to get back from Northampton to London, and even longer to eat that night. Frances insisted that we couldn't go in a restaurant with few people in it, but all the restaurants were empty so I insisted that she settle. We ate Thai in a completely empty place, where the food was good. There had been a fire in a tire shop (or tyre as the Brits spell it) and the road had been closed off. All busses had been diverted and we couldn't even walk down. This was because they were afraid the containers in the shop may be unstable. This may explain the lack of restaurant-goers, or the fact that it was 11 by the time we were leaving.
Today, we met up with Juliet, Frances' neice, and her little boy Oliver. The day was spent walking around London. Juliet used to work for the current Chancellor, who was then a minister (I think). So she knew all about the Parliament buildings and all the churches in the area. We went in Westminster, then walked around the Parliament buildings, had lunch in the park (where apparently whoever asks for the table is the one who all the questions are directed to: ''Do you want anything to drink?'' ''Are you ready to order?'' ''Do you want more bread?'') Afterwards we just walked through Trafalgar Square and went in St. Martins-in-the-Fields. Then I was left alone and went to the National Gallery. Now I am just wandering the streets and will soon return to Brixton. I am still feeling tired, presumably from the flight, and I have a bit of a cold/hayfever. Also, I suppose it is a good idea to conserve my energy for when Talia and Lauren meet up with me on Wednesday, for I'm sure they will be running around like crazy people taking pictures and seeing every possible sight there is. So until next time...
Cheerio!
So, it took me forever to get back from Northampton to London, and even longer to eat that night. Frances insisted that we couldn't go in a restaurant with few people in it, but all the restaurants were empty so I insisted that she settle. We ate Thai in a completely empty place, where the food was good. There had been a fire in a tire shop (or tyre as the Brits spell it) and the road had been closed off. All busses had been diverted and we couldn't even walk down. This was because they were afraid the containers in the shop may be unstable. This may explain the lack of restaurant-goers, or the fact that it was 11 by the time we were leaving.
Today, we met up with Juliet, Frances' neice, and her little boy Oliver. The day was spent walking around London. Juliet used to work for the current Chancellor, who was then a minister (I think). So she knew all about the Parliament buildings and all the churches in the area. We went in Westminster, then walked around the Parliament buildings, had lunch in the park (where apparently whoever asks for the table is the one who all the questions are directed to: ''Do you want anything to drink?'' ''Are you ready to order?'' ''Do you want more bread?'') Afterwards we just walked through Trafalgar Square and went in St. Martins-in-the-Fields. Then I was left alone and went to the National Gallery. Now I am just wandering the streets and will soon return to Brixton. I am still feeling tired, presumably from the flight, and I have a bit of a cold/hayfever. Also, I suppose it is a good idea to conserve my energy for when Talia and Lauren meet up with me on Wednesday, for I'm sure they will be running around like crazy people taking pictures and seeing every possible sight there is. So until next time...
Cheerio!
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