Onward to Spain!

It's been a while since I posted last, so here is a brief account of what I did- more for my benefit as it won't interest many since it was so a while ago and I won't go into detail unless it was significant or really fun! :)

Friday 3 July- I was going to go to a nice club with Gaby, so I went out to buy shoes that would be a bit more trendy than my Keen sandals (I only have my Keen sandals and Keen light hikers... not classy enough for clubbing). I found some and returned back to Grant's to have dinner with Grant and his friend, Averon. It was a nice dinner and I was sad to leave, but eager to go out with Gaby. Unfortunately, my new shoes still didn't cut it for the bouncers, so Gaby and I just wandered London, got some pasties and then headed home. It was uneventful, but still fun. We got to talk instead of dance, so it was a nice change.

Saturday 4 July (American Independence Day)- Some CSers were having a Pub Crawl in the afternoon (not for Independence Day, just for fun). In the morning, I bought my Ryan Air ticket to Barecelona, then went to te French Market on my way to the pub crawl. I found some great French pastries and some wooden train-car-like letters (like what you would spell a kid's name in) and got some for Grant as a thank you when I left. I took my treats and train to the pub crawl and it was a lot of fun. There was another American there, so we 'celebrated' the 4th of July with Sam Adams and a shot of Jack Daniels.

Sunday 5 July- In the morning, I packed up to leave my two week stay at Grants. He had some friends coming over to play computer games, so I moved over to Ade's couch in Bethnal Green, in East London. Ade's 'couch' isn't really a couch, but a deluxe queen sized air bed. There was another girl staying there (a mere 18 years old!), so we watched the Wimbeldon Final (and got to see Federer win over Roddick by not much, but still win! Yeah!) and then the surfer and I went out to Guanabara to meet Gaby and her friend. It was fun to dance one last time with Gaby and since Bruno was there, we got to hang out with his friends after for a while, too, trying to find a place with an espresso machine that wasn't broken (hard to find that night). We were unsuccessful but it was getting late, so it was ok with me.

Monday 6 July- I went out to have 'lunch' (translate: coffee) with Bruno on his break and then took the bus back to Central London to meet the Suttons. A long bus ride back and a few phone calls and texts later, I met up with them in Trafalger Square. We wandered in the rain, had some hummous and tea and then they went to a show and I went to buy (late) Father's Day gifts for them to bring back to Dad. I went to a nice Chinese Restaurant (one of the very rare times I have eaten out on my own on this trip) and it was sooooo delicious.

Tuesday 7 July- I met the Suttons for the Changing of the Guards, then we went to St. Martin's in the Fields where I found some gifts for Cole, also, including a handkerchief that has an embroidered French Horn and says 'Blow Here'. If you know Cole, you understand why it was so perfect. After more wandering of London, I left the Suttons annd went to CS Drinks at The Couch for one last time. On my way to meet Bruno for the drinks, I was walking past TCR station and saw a guy that looked familiar: tall, dark skin, really tall, with a guitar (unless I imagined it). Did I say he was tall? It turns out I recognised him from the Ailee River Youth Hostel in Doolin, Ireland, where I had heard him play (one of his two) guitars. I never met him there, but we recognised each other and I told him about the CS drinks and he said he was a CSer, too, and was waiting for his friend to go to The Couch, too! Small world! Anyway, I met Bruno and we headed back to The Couch, where I was returned my coat! One long month it was gone and now it was back in my arms! I was so excited to finally have it back (kind of pathetically, but when you travel, you get really attached to your belonging... at least I do). It was great to see everyone again before I left and to have two final giant bags of Gummy Babies (I shared!). They were on sale 2 for 1. It was Tesco's going away present to me.

Wednesday 8 July- Wednesday, I flew to Barcelona. It was exciting to continue my trip after getting stuck in London (in a very good way). By the way, Ryan Air flies in to Girona Airport, which they say is Barcelona, but it's really a good hour drive from Barcelona. Once I arrived, I found my way on the metro to the youth hostel, which was nice but a sudden change from a month of couch surfing. After I got settled, most of the shops had closed but one still had 30 minutes left, so I hurried to find it and bought some pasta. My first adventure in a Spanish supermarket was quick and hasty, but easier since it was in Spanish and at least I could ask for help. When I returned, some Italian girls from my room invited me for wine, but I was starving and exhausted so I went to eat, search for a couch in Barcelona and then sleep.

Thursday 9 July- My first day in Barcelona, it rained. According to a lady who started talking to me while searching for her umbrella (in Spanish), it was the first day in over a month it had rained. She ended up helping me to the metro and to find the detour to the other metro entrance. She was very nice, but spoke very fast. I went to the Picasso Museum and stood in line, in the rain, to buy my ticket. After getting it, I was walking to the entrance and passed a guy who looked familiar who was looking at me like I was familiar. It turns out that we had met in London at a few events and picnics. We wandered the museum together, then found the Tour de France that was going through Barcelona. We waited maybe an hour and got to see the leaders go through. It was fun to have someone to spend time with and after seeing the Tour de France, we went for Paella, then wandered for a while since it wasn't raining. When I left him, I went to the hostel for my bags then to Fernando's house where we had olives, wine and dinner. My mouth is watering now just thinking about the combos of green olives and white wine he gave me.

Friday 10 July- After a nice relaxing morning, I headed to the market for some fruit, then to Las Ramblas to grip onto my bag and watch all the tourists funnel through the street, wide-eyed and sadly not seeing the 'true Barcelona'. After a few detours, I found an H&M where I searched for a dress that I loved, but they didn't have my size so I went into the city to find another H&M, but none had the dress in my size so I went back to the first store and bought the dress in the size bigger than I wanted, but I think in the end it was ok since I'll wear it with a tank top or longsleeve shirt under. That day, I did wash that had some of Fernando's clothes in it and some of mine, including the new dark pink pashmina I had bought in London. Sadly, it turned everything pink but Fernando was able to bleach his white sheet back.

Birthday Wishes at Midnight in a Brazilian Club from a French-Brazilian in London

I'm in my bathing suit!!! Yes, it's a heat wave in London and the hospitals are on alert. It's wonderful. I wanted to be in my bathing suit before the end of June but I thought it would be somewhere nearer the Mediterranean and not in England, but yesterday I went swimming and read in the sun for a while... it was almost too hot at times when there was no breeze. Anyway, let me start from the beginning, when I last left you.

Sunday was a nice and relaxing day. I finished my book, Eat, Pray, Love, and went to Hampstead to find another book. I found two books that looked interesting. One was a detective novel that takes place in Turkey and Venice. The other was about Guenica, Basque country and the Luftwaffe bombings. Both were interesting so I read a bit of the beginning to see which appealed to me more. I read some of the detective novel and was intrigued but the first page I opened to in Guernica said "Guenica; Dave Boling is a journalist in Washington state, USA. This is his first novel." Well, that answered that. I don't think the gal who sold it to me was quite as excited as I was to find a book by someone from Washington state while in London. But I get excited about odd things. Anyway, I bought the book then went to the other end of town to get baking supplies to make Snickerdoodle cookies for my birthday (Monday). I came back just in time to have the sandwich I bought and then leave again for dancing with Gabby and other CSers at Guanabara, a Brazilian club in London. We got there at 7 and watched the end of the forró dance competition. It was fun to watch and after about 30 minutes of free dance (Gabby, the other CSers and myself just watching in awe) we heard over the speakers "BRAZIL, BRAZIL, BRAZIL... (echo-like)" and the dancers slowly got off the dance floor and projected onto the screen behind them was a football match. No, not just any football match, the Confederation Cub Brazil-US match. So, there was two hours of saying I'm Australian (I had a few people going, too!) and trying to not cheer for the US. We scored at 10m and 27m but then Brazil scored just after halftime and then twice more, so we lost 2-3. Honestly, there was one bad call so maybe it should have been 2-4 but either way, we lost. Apparently it was amazing that we got as far as we did. Three hours, two caipirinhas and one bowl of garlic and red pepper spiced olives (soaked in olive oil... yummy) later, they began dancing again. Forró is a lot of fun to watch and a lot of fun to dance if you know what you are doing or have a good dance partner. I danced with a few guys who represented the spectrum of good and not good leaders. It was all fun, though. Toward the end of the night, one guy asked me to dance but kept catching me looking at my feet and told me to look at his eyes instead or at least look up and try to feel where he wants me to go, not watch his feet. Well, that's better than being asked if I would kindly allow him to lead me (like I was told my first time at Tito's). He was a great dancer and just as the club was closing and we were still dancing, I frantically asked him if it was past midnight. He looked at his watch and said it was 6 minute til and I told him it was almost my birthday. We kept dancing and when they closed at midnight, he went to the DJ and had him announce me a happy birthday. My first birthday wishes on my birthday! I knew it would be a great birthday from then on! Bruno and I went for cappuccino (yes, at midnight- he said it how he celebrates birthdays with his friends) and then we took the same bus back, realizing he lives about 10 minute walk from Grant's. We took a detour and went to Parliment Hill to see London at night and made plans for me to visit him on his lunch break the next day for a birthday lunch!

Monday, my 25th birthday (which had started already fantastically!), I began by making the cookie batter for Snickerdoodles so it could chill while I went to lunch with Bruno. I learned that 1 part Baking Soda and two parts Cream of Tartar makes the same as Baking Powder. Who knew? I thought I made a costly mistake in the baking soda/powder/cream of tartar part of the recipes (going between two recipes is just disastrous but one was from Mom and the other was a UK recipe (for the American cookie) so I figured they would use ingredients you can find here (I never did find cream of tartar). Anyway, I got it all sorted out. I put the batter to chill and took the London Overground to meet Bruno for a market lunch, which ended up being just cherries but it was worth it. Fun to see a funkier part of town, very eclectic and gritty. When he went back to school (work), I wandered town for a bit and bought some watermelon (that I will eat just after I post this!) and a new toothbrush (my birthday gift to myself!) and, of course, a white chocolate hazelnut Ritter Sport bar. Yum. Back at Grant's, I made cookies and thought they were the best ever, which they were, fresh from the oven at least. I met Grant and others at Games Night in Central London and discovered my cookies had turned rock hard. There were a few soft-ish ones, but there were many (joking, but serious) comments to watch out for your teeth so they don't break and teasing comments like that (I was making them, too). Andy brought Blamange, a sort of creamy, strawberry, pepto-colored jell-o-type pudding. It was good. Not everyone thought so, but after two 568mL (that comes to just over a litre, folks) of Bulmers, anything will taste good (except my rock cookies). After my two Bulmers, being drug out by my hair (almost literally) by Grant ('there are two hungry Irish people waiting outside for us!'- was that meant to reference the Irish potatoe famine or was it just in my head, Grant?), we went to Wagamama (a noodle bar) where, when told the kitchen was about to close, Grant assured her that 'we will eat so fast you won't even see us.' We ordered whatever our fingers pointed to and we didn't really know what we got until it came, we ordered in such a rush. It was really good though. After we (we being me after two Bulmers) sang a round of 'Magica Emi', we parted ways from the friendly Irish and Grant took me back to Hampstead (about a 20 minute cab ride) in Black Cab fashion. It was my first black cab in London and it was so much better than the bus or tube. Nothing against public transport, but it was a nice treat for my birthday. Back at his house, he showed me photos of his adventures and I must have felt something because at precisely 00:35 (12:35 am to Americans!) I looked at the clock and realized it was my birth minute! I was born at 16:35 Pacific time on the 29th, which is 00:35 in London on the 30th. So I celebrated my birth minute that didn't fall on my birthday. Haha. Took some explaining to get people to understand it (not really important, but small trivial things that I love!) but I got to celebrate it, well, recognize it, at least. It was a great birthday.

Tuesday, Grant and I met up with the Irish gal from dinner and went swimming in the duck-shit-infested mixed swimming pond (they also have separate men's and women's ponds) at Hampstead Heath. It was fun, if you forget the ducks and duck shit you're swimming with. After coming back and showering (soap is a must), we had some tea, everyone left and I went back to the Heath to read in the sun. My 85 SPF sunscreen has done the trick and I don't think I got too burned. Bruno joined me when he got off from rehearsal and we just hung out and chatted until we had catch to the tube to go meet our respective friends. I went to The Couch again to meet CSers for drinks and then we went out to another bar (some close at 11, like The Couch, and some close later) but it was too loud to hear anyone and I was getting tired, so I found a bus that, theoretically, comes every 10-15 minutes after midnight, but I am positive I waited 20-30 minutes for it. I saw too many other buses go by before my #24 bus came for me. Luckily, since it's a heat wave in London (only 2 degrees Celsius cooler than Barcelona, someone said!) it wasn't cold at all past midnight and I was fine in a light jumper (sweater), skirt and sandals. If I had known the bus would take so long, I would have taken the tube (but it costs nearly twice as much) but by the time I realized how long it was taking, the tubes were almost closed and I knew if I left to see if there was one last one I could catch, the bus would come just after I left.

I got back around 1am and since staying at Grant's, my new alarm clock has been the kettle when he makes tea for us in the morning. Today, I didn't hear any kettle, but I woke up to the sounds of Velcro (on Grant's ankle brace from when he injured it walking last week) downstairs and when I looked at the clock to see it was past 10, I went downstairs to find him getting ready to walk out the door, late, because he slept through his alarm. I said goodbye and then went back to bed. I am going over to Bruno's to watch a Brazil football game tonight that is being played in Brazil. He said the telenovelas (like our soap operas) are such a big thing there that they don't change their time slots for anything, even football. So matches can't start before 9:45p which is 2:45a here. Anyway, I'm off to buy some bagels and top up my phone.

Salsa Dancing and Not Being in Control

Look at me! Two blogs in a row! Fantastic! We'll see how long I can keep it up. :)

Last night I met up some other CSers and went Salsa dancing. I think I was the only American and the only tourist there. It was grand. I didn't know what I was doing (besides what Gabby and other CSers taught me once I got there) but still managed to be asked to dance for most of the time. It was fantastic. One of the first guys, after a few minutes, told me with a smile to "please let him lead." This was an odd but amazing revelation for me. I've been so in control of my trip and I have say over everything that I do, this was my first time to actually not be "leading" and to let someone else take the reigns and do what they wanted (on the dance floor, not in the rest of my trip!). It was greatly satisfying and I became a much better follower with each new dance partner. By the end of the night it was much easier for me to not be in control. Quite an odd thing to think about in relation to my trip, but in a sweaty Salsa club in London, it seemed to make perfect sense.

New Foods I Had With Grant (or) How To Sneak Into Churches (or) How To Hug Hundreds of Strangers

I’m currently sitting atop St. Paul’s Cathedral (yes, on St. Paul’s Cathedral, not in St. Paul’s Cathedral) on the gallery/balcony 85 meters or 528 steps up. St. Paul’s Cathedral is the second highest dome in Europe and it certainly feels like it. I think I am the only one to use a laptop up here and am certainly getting odd looks from people passing by. I suppose I would look at someone on a laptop at St. Paul’s funny, too.

So, if you couldn’t guess, I’m in London. I got here Saturday the 6th and have been relaxing, sightseeing (in a relaxed way) and eating (you guessed it- relaxingly). Usually you think of London as a very busy place, always moving and going somewhere hurriedly, but I’m taking a different approach. I have plenty of time here and am not feeling bothered to hurry through anything.

When I first arrived in London, I flew into London Luton, which is not really in London, and with a shuttle/tube/bus concoction, found my way to my first host’s house. He showed me around town a bit but I had a throbbing headache and elected to call it an early night (near midnight).

Sunday, the next day, there was a Couch Surfing picnic in Hyde Park and after William (my host) and I got locked out of his flat, umbrella-less and not too warmly dressed, it began raining. All ended up well and we found other surfers picnicking and had a great time. After, we went out for drinks and it was great to meet other people in London.

Monday morning, my ethics went downhill. After wandering London for a bit, I found a market and had a bite to eat (cherries are my new favorite market food) outside Westminster Abbey (that’s not the unethical bit). Westminster Abbey is amazing but costs 15 pounds to get in. I decided to go for afternoon Mass, which is free, but when I realized no one saw me enter (except the guard outside who let me in), I just wandered around for a bit. Eventually, I found a brochure (in Italian) and then a ticket (for a senior and for two days prior) which made me look like a belonged a bit... I just had to act old and Italian… fun enough. Eventually, I found an English brochure (much more helpful) and then- voila!- a ticket for an adult for that day! So, ethical me went back to the entrance and was given an audio guide tour and thoroughly enjoyed the abbey. It was fantastic. The highlight for me was seeing Clementi’s grave (the father of the pianoforte as his grave says) and in the process of finding it (well, the process of not finding it at the moment) I asked a docent and she said she was going on break, but if I walked around the corner to the locked wooden doors and rang the library buzzer, they could help me locate it. I rang and they told me to come on up and I entered an old library where everywhere, it says “do not touch books except by permission” or something to that effect. It was an amazing library and the caretaker seemed surprised when all I wanted to know was where Clementi’s grave was. I wished I had more questions for him, but I was not expecting that situation in the slightest. Another lucky moment of mine! After exploring the Abbey (for a few hours!), I went out for a bite to eat (2 pound Tesco meal deal!) then a quick wander to Trafalgar Square, seeing the Changing of the Horse Guards, and then back to Westminster for Evensong. Evensong is a sort of Vespers/Evening Worship service and it was amazing. It was sung by the Vicars of the abbey and it was hauntingly splendid. After a slightly annoying miscommunication with my host about when to meet back at his flat (couch surfing is so much easier with a spare set of keys!) I went to Buckingham Palace and was able to see the Queen (yes, the Queen) drive by on her return to the palace. I didn’t actually see her, but I did see her car and that was exciting enough. Another wonderful strike of good luck! I then rode the tube for an hour and got my bearings of the city and just had some quality time with my iPod. It ended up being alright, but after a long day and approaching exhaustion, the last thing you want is to be asked to “just come back five hours later than first agreed” by your host with the keys. Anyway, it was a good day.

Tuesday I moved house to Suzy’s. Suzy is a CS ambassador and I met her at the picnic where she instantly said she could host me. She is extremely sweet and was also hosting her friend/fellow surfer/semi-permanent flat mate, Valaria, who is moving from one flat to another but is homeless for the in between time. We had a great time. We got multiple comments that the three of us looked like sisters, but I am American, Suzy is Dutch and Valaria is Italian! Suzy and I went for Full English Breakfast next door and then I headed to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guards. It was all well and good, but was highlighted with yet two more Royalty Drive-bys. I suppose if you “shoot” photos of the Queen driving by, it could be considered a Royal Drive-by? Regardless of the wording, I got to see the Queen leaving and returning to the palace. I even asked two guards just to be sure they weren’t just saying it was her to make me feel good. I did actually get to see her the second time and it was much more thrilling than the actual Changing of the Guards. I then went to the National Gallery and realized that most paintings I connect to have a lot of brilliant red and often gold in them… not quite sure what that says of me, but it’s an interesting pattern. I met up with Suzy and Valaria to go to a bar called The Couch, in Soho, for CS drinks. It was another fantastic time to meet people and get to feel a part of the London CS community.

Wednesday, Suzy, Valaria and I had a very nice indoor, breakfast picnic (at noon). After some internetting (yes, I’m making up new words for my traveling), I went to the National Portrait Gallery. There was a Tube strike going on, but luckily Suzy lives very central and I was able to walk most anywhere I wanted without even a bus (good luck on busses when there’s a tube strike… like sardines at rush hour). I talked to some people who usually took an hour to get to work but would take three hours without the Tube. I ate dinner in St-Martin’s- in-the-Field’s Crypt on top of monk’s tombs and the journaled for a bit before I was kicked out for a concert.

Thursday, with the Tubes still mostly on strike, I went to the British Museum, which was good, and Sir John Soane’s Museum, which was even better. Sir John Soane was an architect and built an amazing town just off a main road in London. From the outside, it looks ordinary enough, but if you go inside, it is just amazing. There is one room (wish me luck describing this) that was full of paintings and had two walls, opposite each other, that opened up like windows to reveal more paintings on both the inside of the door/window and on the next wall/door. It was an ingenious way of having access to more paintings than you can fit on the wall. One side opened to yet another set of door/windows and exposed a great open space with many Italian artifacts and even more paintings. There were even skylights (which are not that common in London, I think) and there was a great amount of natural light. It was quite amazing and if you get the chance, look it up and if you can, visit! It’s free, small, off of the tourist trail and just amazing. I decided to chill at the park just across from the museum and I bought some cherries which were intended for dessert after my curry dinner with Ken, an Aussie surfer who just moved to London, but I ate them all at the park so I bought more after. Luckily, the Northern Line, which I needed to get to Ken’s neighborhood, was still running despite the strike, so I headed down and had a great curry night with him! We didn’t get around to the cherries because we were both full and it was getting really late, but Suzy, Valaria and I enjoyed them later with some cupcakes (three different flavors- lavender, cherry and pink, which tasted like soap and I can’t recall what it was supposed to be… rose maybe?... but it is just a soap flavored cupcake) .

Friday morning, I had another house moving, but not until later, so I went for Mediterranean Breakfast with Suzy and Valaria at the same restaurant, conveniently next door to Suzy’s flat. It was delicious. Great cheese, meat, bread, everything! After, I went to the Wallace Gallery and then the British Library. By the time I left the Wallace Gallery, I was running short on time so hopped a bus to take me the mile or so to the British Library and had about 45 minutes to see the Magna Carta, Leonardo’s notebooks, Beatles lyrics written on napkins, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart (Handel wrote much clearer than Mozart if anyone was wondering), Beethoven, Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, Ravel’s Bolero, Shakespeare, Gutenberg Bible, Lindisfarne Gospels and quite a bit else. It was all very interesting but I defiantly lingered more at the music (singing along in my head of course!) and Leonardo’s manuscripts. After my quick tour of most everything important in history, I went back to Suzy’s flat (later than I thought… how can I have no plan but still be running late all the time?) to get ready to go to Grant’s house. I spent some time with Suzy and then her next surfer who, according to her, sounded “very American” on the phone. I went with her to meet him at the tube and then she went back to work and he and I went to explore London a bit. We went to the Tate Modern (about 30 minutes before close) and played on the giant adult playground for a bit, which was both a good workout and lot of fun. Hard to explain, so you’ll just have to search on their website and see what’s there. I came back to Suzy’s and she was off work by then, so we just had a tea and then I headed off to Grant’s, Northern London, near Hampstead Heath. Actually right on the Heath, or the park, as I realized later. After a quick tour and a generous “help yourself to any food except certain bottles of wine I’m saving for special occasions and if you get hungry and don’t help yourself, too bad, it’s your own fault,” which I think is the best worded “make yourself at home” I’ve had you, we chatted for a while then off to bed- the most comfortable actual couch I’ve had yet.

Saturday was Free Hugs to celebrate Couch Surfing’s 10th anniversary. After making “Free Hugs” signs and being fed random toasts with whatever spreads he could find, Grant and I headed off to the South Bank to join other CSers for our random act of kindness. It ended up being three hours of hugging and was great. My first hugger lifted me up and my sunglasses fell and got crooked (I fixed them later with pliers) which just shows how into it some people were. It was great. We devised our strategies of how to best approach people (better in twos, best to smile and make direct eye contact and look huggable!) and were, obviously quite successful. It was a grand. After, Grant and I went for Japanese and I had eel. I never would have guessed I’d have eel (freshwater for those of you wondering: Kathy!) in London, but it was delicious. Not at all what I expected, but really tasty. We came back and met up with his neighbors and I got to play piano for about an hour after the parents left while their daughter, friend and Grant were downstairs chatting. We then played a word game for awhile and then, when the parents returned, found out Nina, their daughter, had loads of homework to do and exams to study for and should really have been studying, not playing games. Sounds like me in high school, I think. But, like me, she somehow got it done and I saw her again yesterday and it all went well. I told Grant about the Italians I had traveled with giving me the theme song of Magica Emi and he quite suddenly became obsessed with the song. He eventually put it as his ringtone and is constantly in either his head or mine. It’s great. Look it up on YouTube and get it stuck in your head too!

Sunday was another CS picnic in Hyde Park, another event to celebrate CS’s 10th anniversary. After getting some picnic supplies, a 40 minute bus ride and then searching for a group of people in 600-acre Hyde Park, we got settled in the CS crowd and got sorted with food, wine, brie (ahhh!), football and badminton. It was great fun and fantastic weather. I got to meet loads more people and by that time I had gotten to know quite a few people so it was not just meeting new people, it was seeing people that I knew. It was a great feeling to keep seeing friends in London, not just meeting new people all the time. After the picnic, Grant had a list of other people’s chores to do, so we headed back to the Heath. He was asked to fix a gate for his neighbors but he didn’t have the right drill bit to go through the concrete, so we only got halfway on it then had to give up. Next on the list was to help hang a picture for his friend but I wasn’t allowed up because he wasn’t decent, so I wandered Camden for a while and Grant just called me when he was done. We went for dinner again and I had a tofu dish but we also had Monkfish, which was fantastic. I had so many random foods with Grant and it was great to be able to try new foods with the guidance of someone who knew what they were and how they were. Back to his house, we just chatted and listened to music and I found out that a lot of the groups I like and aren’t that popular, at least at home, he also knows or has at least heard of. It was nice to just have a relaxing weekend off of the tourist trail and just hang out. Very nice.

Monday was my last day staying with Grant and he gave me a block puzzle that he took apart and told me to put back into the same cube shape. He said it took him and his friend an hour or so to do and after a few hints and over an hour, I had to take a break so we went for a walk in the Heath. We had bought bubbles the day before, so we took them with and had a grand time filling the world with Magica Emi’s bubbles! It was starting to thunder and lightning and we got back just in time to avoid the treacherous hail. It was quite the amazing hail- nearly as bad as I saw in Iowa. Very impressive. Grant was driving into London to meet up with a friend, so he dropped me off at the tube and I went to meet other CSers for Monday night Game Night at the Deveroux. It was great fun, but my planned host, Josh (the American who was staying with Suzy) decided to leave about an hour after I got there, so Andrea offered to host me and I was greatly appreciative to be able to stay longer. I played Apples to Apples (British Version of course!), Mafia and Jungle Speed. It was a lot of fun but eventually Andrea and I had to catch our tube/bus back to East Acton/Hammersmith area in West London. One of her housemates was out of town, so I got her queen sized bed, which was fantastic. Even though I don’t take up that much space, it’s still nice to have it! We had some biscuits that looked a lot better than they really were, but after a few drinks you don’t notice their terribleness as much, so we figured it was a good time to eat them.

Tuesday I slept in a bit and left around 11 for the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Both really should have been full days on their own, but I somehow managed to see what I wanted to see. The most amazing part for me was the Cast Room at the Victoria and Albert (V&A). There were so many amazing works of art (cast copies, of course, but still art!) of all sizes, the Trojan’s Column reaching 140 foot high! I was able to peak into a room that wasn’t open via a hallway that opened into it and I saw the Ghiberti bronze Gates of Paradise which I saw two sets of at the Seattle Art Museum in the fall last year. It was fun to see it and since it wasn’t my first time, I could admire it from a distance. There was also a few works by Chihuly which was great to see, being a third of the world away. After all that adventure of speedy museuming, I walked a mile or two through Hyde Park and along Oxford Street to The Couch for CS drinks. It was fun to see people, of course, and meet some new travelers. We made plans to go to a Balkan-Gypsy Party on Thursday and Salsa dancing Friday night (tonight) so I suppose I can’t leave London quite yet. I beginning to think I should just stay for my birthday, it’s just a matter of finding couches for the whole time, which is actually easier once you get to know people more. Anyway, Grant called to say that he officially set Magica Emi as his ringtone so I called him so he could hear it. Unfortunately, it is such a great song that he doesn’t pick up anymore because he’s busy singing along with the song. We made plans for lunch then Andrea and I headed home to have some more terrible biscuits (microwaving them didn’t help at all) and wonderful-queen-size-bed sleep.

Wednesday, I went to St. Paul’s area (near the Tate Modern) which is near (ish) where Grant works (in the city). Unfortunately (but logically), cell phone reception doesn’t reach the tube so I got off at St. Paul’s, was a tourist for a while then walked a mile to Tower Hill Station where I met Grant for lunch. We decided on burgers and fries (not chips, they were actually called fries). I had a Kiwiburger, which was pineapple, egg, beetroot and some other random thing. It was good and a great precursor to my evening. From lunch, I sauntered across Tower Bridge and sat for a bit to plan my day (although planning is usually worthless with me, I still try sometimes to fool myself and say it is worth planning). I brilliantly decided to sit in gum and it got stuck very beautifully all over my skirt. I went into Southwark Cathedral to use the toilet and try to wipe it off (success!) and Amy’s luck arose again when I stumbled upon a Founder’s Day service for Bacon’s College. They were doing music by Handel and it was beautiful- organ and full orchestra. Well, not quite full, but a good representation. An American with a beautiful voice sang “I know that my redeemer liveth” and one of the hymns was “Here I am Lord.” If you know that hymn, you can rest assured knowing that Brits try to come in at the wrong time just like some do at CTS and elsewhere. It was fun to hear the school song, but my favorite part of the service (besides when the fire alarm went off) was a quote from the Archdeacon who said something to the effect of “Today we are singing great works of Handel, who was said to be King George the 8th’s favorite composer. At least he showed good judgment in something.” After the service, I went to Starbucks (my home away from home) to journal and relax (it was raining and cold) and then off to Waterloo Station to meet up with Andrea. We were going to her friend’s house in Putney for dinner and then out for 2-for-1 drinks. I needed a train ticket because it didn’t take pay-as-you-go Oyster cards and all I had was a 20 pound note for the 2.60 ticket and the machine graciously gave me back all my change in coins. Great! So I then had eight 2 pound coins in my little wallet! It was quite funny when it happened and Andrea and I just stood there staring at it until we came to and realized our train was leaving in a minute. We caught it and had a great (and filling) dinner and then drinks. I had a prosecco cocktail which was nice and one other smoothie-type raspberry cocktail. Both were good. On the way back, we had two buses to catch and the first we had to run to (easier for me in my sandals than Andrea in her heels) but we got back alright and fended off the terrible biscuits for once.

Thursday, I woke up late and moved house once more. Luckily, my host, Patrick, works from home (all these techies in London!) so was flexible about when I arrived but when I got there at noon he was still asleep! He knew I was coming, though, so he gave me a quick tour, gave me the keys and then went back to bed. I went off to the Tate Modern and realized that the most enjoyable part for me was the playground I had gone to with Josh a few days earlier. The art was good, of course, but I definitely enjoyed the more classical art at the National Gallery more. There were some Picassos and Cézannes which were, of course, great, but overall, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d thought. I tried to convince Grant to go to Evensong at St. Paul’s with me but he twisted his ankle so wasn’t up for the hike to the Cathedral so instead of going to a Balkan-Gypsy party that Gabby was going to and I had thought of going to, I went to Evensong and it was amazing. It’s really nice to be able to experience a place through a service instead of just seeing it as a tourist. It was really amazing and similar service, but completely different atmosphere than Westminster. I met Grant inside the tube and we hobbled over to his place for what was going to be cleaning in preparation for his family arriving the next day but turned into just pasta dinner, more puzzles music, chatting, wine, tea and then doing some dishes from dinner. It was good though. I didn’t clean as much as I thought I’d be able to but it was still fun. I then caught the tube and wandered back to another queen size bed all to myself.

Friday, today, was good. I found out that it’s only a 30 minute walk from Patrick’s to St. Paul’s Cathedral, so after breakfast, I headed to St. Paul’s for communion. Just like Westminster Abbey, you can go to communion for free and again my lovely unethical self came out. Same situation. Went to communion, found a ticket on ground (I still had a brochure from the Evensong service) and then just acted like a belonged. The most amazing parts were the Whispering Gallery and the Stone Gallery. In the Whispering Gallery, you can sit anywhere along the wall and whisper against the wall and someone 32 meters away can hear you. It was really amazing. I met a little girl there with her parents- I overheard them whispering “Laura, it’s time to go” so I just started chatting with her and soon her parents got in the conversation. They said I was a good whisperer. Funny compliment, but thanks! The Stone Gallery is kind of like a balcony that rings around the cupola and gives amazing views of London. It was really amazing and a nice (not gorgeous, but nice) day for it. Not too cold, cloudy or windy. I blogged up there for a bit but then it got too windy and chilly, so I’m now at Starbucks. St. Paul’s is really a great place. They charge 11 pounds for entry and I would almost say it’s worth it. It’s where Prince Charles and Princess Di got married and it has a beautiful ceiling you can’t really appreciate in photos or postcards. So now I’m sitting at a very wobbly table at Paternoster Square and there is a piano that welcome’s anyone to play. I’ve heard a few different people play very different styles and it’s really fun. I will head back soon to Patrick’s and drop of my bag before coming back at 9 for salsa dancing! Yippee! It’s so much fun to do these local things with CSers instead of just the touristy things.

I just got off Skype with Grandpa, Uncle Ken and Dad. Hi! Oh, and with Mom earlier. Ok- enough family for today. :)

Hopefully I won’t be longer in blogging. I should get better at keeping this up to date and it’s so much easier if I do, so if you don’t see a new blog after a few days, send me more emails! Ciao!

The History of Northern Ireland and My Role In It

Ahhh!!! Lots to catch up on! Sorry it's been so long but sometimes internet isn't easy to come by and when I do have it I'm busy with emails and now facebook (mistake! but so many peple were asking about it I had to) So look me up on face book and you can see when I'm going for biscuits, when I'm doing wash and all the dull everyday stuff that I do. :)

Ok, let's start at the beginning. When I last blogged, I was just leaving Westpot on my way to Derry, Northern Ireland. Before I begin telling you that adventure, a quick history lesson (sorry if this isn't exactly correct, but I think I have it down pretty well). Warning: This is long. If history bores you (that's ok) skips the itallicised part and get to the good stuff in the normal font! :) I wouldn't have found this interesting before I got here, so all you must know is that Northern Ireland is a different country than Ireland but not everyone wants it that way. That's the oversimplification of Northern Ireland in a tinny tiny nutshell! For the rest of you, here goes:

So, present-day Ireland and Northern Ireland were once both part of England, English colonies (United Kingdom), actually, just like Canada, Australia, South Africa, India and the US. Most of those have become their own countries, but Canada and Australia still pledge allegiance to the queen, unlike the rebel US. Ireland has since broken off and become it's own country recently and Northern Ireland is part of the UK, just like Scotland and Wales. Way back when before all that, England "planted" Protestants in Northern Ireland and they began treated the "native" Irish Catholics very poorly. Eventually, Ireland split off to their own country and Northern Ireland was left to the British.

When they made the border, the followed the River Foyle for the most part, but since it runs through the city Derry, the British took all of Derry. This left the Irish Catholics as a minority still so the Protestants still had the upper hand and left the Irish poor and without a vote, essentially. The Irish Catholics had their part of town, on the "Bogside" of the Foyle River and the Protestants were on the "Waterside." People rarely passed from one side to the other and it was the same in Belfast. Recently, there has been much fighting here over whether to join the Republic of Ireland and make the island one country (which the Catholics want) or to stay as they are, part of Britain (what the Protestants want).

This is NOT a religious thing, it just happens to be Protestants who originally came from Britain and want to remain part of Britain and Catholics who have Irish heritage and want to become part of Ireland again.

The region of Northern Ireland is commonly called Ulster (from the traditional counties' name) and it's easier to find a Ireland flag sticker than a Northern Ireland sticker. When I was trying to find a Northern Ireland patch, the lady at the shop told me that for many people, there is peace at the surface level, but underneath people feel very strongly.

The Troubles, as the violent times are called, are long gone, and most of the violence you hear of today are kids who just want violence and don't truely understand what the fighting was about. I've meet several men and women who lived through those times and they are very sad they happened, but they are looking toward peace in the future and want their way, but not so much to push to violence. On a walking tour in Belfast I took, the guide casually said hi and chatted with a man then told us he used to be a leader of the IRA (the Catholic side army). The governer of Coleraine used to also be a leader of the IRA and order people to be killed and now he governs those people jointly with a Protestant leader. These are real people who are still living today! There is a lot of recent history here, but there are some people who weren't affected immediately by it. I met three ladies today at St. Columb's Cathedral who lived through it but didn't hear about some things until a friend from London called and asked if they were ok because some bomb went off or there was shootings somewhere.

The whole area was not a warzone, but it certainly was in some places. The images we see about The Troubles are not false, but they are not the entire country's state at that time either.

That is the condensed (but not short) history of Ireland and why it is so important to realise it is a different country than Ireland. Many tourists come here and think they are still in Ireland. The border is nothing and many roads can cross it several times in just a kilometer. All that switches to the tourists are euros to pounds, kilometers to miles and most things are cheaper here than in the Republic.

But there is so much more if you look at the past, even the recent past, talk to the people who lived through it and look at the murals painted across town, both on the Catholic and Protestant sides. It's really amazing how recent this was (and it's still going on) but how little people know about it. The people of Northern Ireland feel so much for people in Basque Country and Palestine and other places where the same thing is going on.

Ok, everyone awake still or just confused? Get a book and hopefully it can explain it better. It's really interesting once you get into it. But for me it's easier to understand and connect with if you are here.

Ok, so I left Westport, coatless as you may remember, with my thumb sticking out and getting into random cars. Yes, I hitchhiked from Westport 5 hours Northeast across the border to Derry, Northern Ireland. It was my first time hitching and I did very well. I only took a bit longer than the bus, I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a lift and I had 8 people pick me up, I think, and one even had me over for tea before taking me to a good spot for hitching! Very nice people in Ireland, I must say. And a very successful first day of hitching.

I arrived in Derry and was dropped off right in front of the hostel and after checking in, treated myself to 4 GBP fish and chips at Wetherspoons, a cheap chain restaurant. Back at the hostel, I met my roommates, Jessica and Shawn, and talked my way into going with them in their car around the countryside the next day. After a restless night for all three of us (who puts normal matresses on kidsize bunks????) we took off to explore stone circles in the countryside. It was very cool, (free) and besides the rain, wind and lack of coat, it was great.

When we returned, we were all exhausted and Urko, a Couchsurfing host, had me over for dinner. He is Basque and made me Mussel Paella. Yum. It was delicious. He also introduced me to Kalimotxo, which is a fifty/fifty coke and red wine (sorry Mom, I sinned... mixing wine and coke) and it was quite good. A nice way to fix cheap red wine. :) Well, Urko couldn't host me that night because he was going to leave the next day to a long weekend away, and I returned back to my hostel to brag about my dinner. :)

Sunday, I bummed another ride with Jessica and Shawn to Doe Castle, which is a cool castle in the process of being restored. It's in County Donegal, in Rep. of Ireland, and was great fun for taking photos and exploring.

Monday, Jessica and Shawn went on the Giant's Causeway for two nights, but since I hadn't seen the murals in Derry yet, I stayed behind, plus I had plans to stay at Urkos Monday night and didn't want to cancel on him last minute. I explored the murals, both on the Protestant and Catholic sides of the River Foyle. I was glad to meet up with two other North Americans so we went together, which was good because I don't think as a single female I would have felt comfortable there alone. It began to rain and they had left me to return to the hostel, so I ducked into a mural museum or sorts and began talking with a man there who told me many stories and showed me "just down this street and to the right there was regular fighting" or "just here at this street corner, the Catholics would throw stones at the Protestant soldiers, pausing only for women with their shopping bags returning from the market and for tea time, except this one guy...." It was very interesting.

Coming back to the hostel, I just wanted to decompress, so I watched a movie with Don, from the hostel and went to Urkos for dinner and bed. We had to finish the mussels since they were going to go off that day so he cooked them with a buttery (he never uses butter! just a huge vat of olive oil and a teeny partial stick of butter that expired months ago!) wine sauce and garlic. It was very good. And, again, of course, Kalimotxo. :)

Tuesday I went to Giants Causeway on my first train of the trip! I went with Don, from the hostel and met up with Jessica and Shawn at the train station. We took our bags to the most fabulous hostel ever, Downhill Hostel, and I didn't want to leave! It was like an old country home on the ocean with amazing views and it was also a pottery studio, so it had a great homey feel with their pottery used at mugs and plates, etc.

We left heaven and drove to Giant's Causeway, the four of us, and paid an outrageous 8 euro to park! The causeway was amazing, though. It was an old volcanic field that, over time, reshaped itself into thousands of hexagonal pillars, acting like steps in places and making amazing natural geometric patterns everywhere! After a few hours of wandering, we returned famished to make dinner, only to find out the gas wasn't working. The hostellier's wife was from Seattle and was entertaining guests from Bellingham (wow!) and cooked our pasta and meat for us in her kitchen. Her guests cooked their own food. Everyone was really good humoured about it and we combined our meals to make it less work for her. and we got to eat together. I was still sick, so the hostelier gave me Irish medicine of honey, whiskey and water to help me sleep. It was great.

Wednesday, Jessica, Shawn and I drove to Belfast along the Antrim Coast. It was pretty, but most of the time I was admiring the inside of my eyelids. When we got to Belfast, I was overwhelmed with how large it was but we ended up finding another surfer of my host and he walked me to our host's house. After a few moments of relaxation, we went for coffee and pastry and wandered town. We went to Tesco and got ingredients for dinner. He made us chicken, cous cous and roasted veg and I put together Greek youghurt, honey and blackberries for dessert. With hot toddies, of course (whiskey, hot water and honey. Be careful, though, to not boil the whiskey otherwise you will burn off the alcohol and it's not worth it!)

Thursday was another relax day. I used the internet, started to get over my cold, went to the mall, Starbucks, journaled, then watched the final episode of ER with my host who insisted on silence. :)

Friday I went with another surfer to St. George's Market and shared an Ulster Fry, like an Irish breakfast, black pudding (sausage from you-don't-want-to-know-what-from), white pudding (ditto), egg, bacon, toast, beans (in a sauce like baked beans) and some other greasy thing I've forgotten about... a symptom of not blogging in two weeks... sorry. We then explored the Botanic Gardens and returned to the flat to watch some much needed movies, Friends and West Wing. After dinner, we went to Duke of York to meet up with some CouchSurfers but since we didn't know them, we didn't find them. We did, however meet some very nice and sociable locals who danced the night away with us (not very soberly).

Saturday the other surfer and I went on a walking tour of Belfast, the murals, the IRA headquarters and the Catholic and Protestant cemetaries (and everything in between). It was really amazing to hear what he had to say, since he lived through it and is helping create peace and rebuild Belfast and Northern Ireland. If you go to Belfast, I strongly recommend Coiste Political Tours. I learned so much I can't even tell you it all, especially since most of it is just more detalied version of the history lesson I gave earlier. :) After, I went to H&M to get some green stylish leggings and journal on the City Hall lawn with all the teenage punk and goths. After dinner, I met other CouchSurfers (and actually found them this time- mobile phone numbers are so much help!) for drinks and hanging out. There was live music and the drummer's girlfriend was in the CouchSurfing group, so it was really fun.

Sunday I met up with my new host, Tobias, and he took me to see street theatre which, this week, was a youth circus group and then a tightrope walker. After, we went with Tobias' friend in her to on an impromtu trip to the beach. Yes, a beach in Northern Ireland on the Irish Sea. It was actually pretty nice, but the water was cold. There were a lot of people out and it was quite full of smoke, kids and sunburnt people. We came back after a few hours and went to another host's house for a BBQ where he bought every meat possible. Beef, chicken, lamb, pork and probably some rat thrown in there that we didn't know about. It was an amazing BBQ. We just hung out and chatted for hours and when we left, there were still 4-5 people there and it was nearing 11:30p I think.

Monday, I wandered Belfast with Lia, a German girl who was also staying with Tobias. We found a lot of the murals and then wandered around the pedestrian shopping district. I found sunglasses at T.K. Maxx (just like our T.J. Maxx), bought a new phone for 10 pounds and we shared a Dark Mocha Berry Frappuccino, which, when we discovered whole ice in the bottom, true to Starbucks standard they remade it for us fresh. There were still ice chunks but we had already had twice what we both though we wanted and didn't want any more sweetness. That evening, I took the train/bus/train combo back to Derry and on the last leg, from Coleraine (Giant's Causeway) to Derry I had a beautiful view of the sunset and when one of the train workers started talking to me, I joked that if he could ask the conductor to slow down, I would be grateful. He laughed and several minutes later, came back to me on his cell phone, talking to the conductor but smiling and shaking his head no to me. I laughed and made sure he knew I was kidding and he just teased me more. I did get some good shots, though, just through a dirty train window with trees flashing by.

I suppose I should let you know that I was coming back to Derry on Monday to catch a flight somewhere mysterious that was cheap (I'm going to make people guess) but since I didn't have internet at Tobias', I hadn't bought the ticket and by the time I got to Derry, it wasn't cheap anymore so I bought one for Saturday instead. So I got to hang out in Derry for several days. As if I don't have enough relax time already. But it was still nice to get caught up on blogs, emails, couchsurfing and making the mistake of creating a Facebook account.

I also watched Angels & Deamons in my free days here and it was very good. I'm not spoiling it for those of you who haven't seen it, but once of the charecters (Ewan McGregor's) is from Ulster (Northern Ireland) and talks breifly about The Troubles. It's interesting watching that movie here, in Northern Ireland where many people can connect to parts of his charecter. Oh, and if that wasn't fun enough, in Northern Ireland, they offer the choice of salty or sweet popcorn at the theater! We had salty, but tried the sweet. It's like Caramel Corn, but not as sugary. It was good, just not what we were expecting.

This morning, I went to morning Litany at St. Columb's Cathedral. I was one of three people there and it was nice and intimate. After, we had tea and sweets and just chatted. They told me about The Troubles and their experiences, or lack of experiences. They told me often, something wouldn't happen but they wouldn't know about it until a friend of London or somewhere called them and asked if they were ok because there had been a bomb or a shooting or something. Coming back, I went back on the hunt for a Northern Ireland patch and finally settled on a patch with the four counties on it, including Ulster. The lady at the shop told me it isn't common because most tourists think Northern Ireland is just part of Ireland, so they want Ireland patches. It's also tough because many people on the Catholic side (where I'm staying) want to be part of Ireland, so they consider themselves Irish, not British. It's an interesting conflict that is, as she said, not apparent on the surface, but deep inside people have strong feelings one way or the other.

Well, tomorrow I fly to a mysterious location and will post a photo here and on my Facebook page and maybe by email, too. So standby and guess where I am. Hint (but not much of a hint): I have to fly there. But I'd have to fly anywhere from Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ok- that should be all! Hopefully I'll be less than two weeks next time in my blogging! Keep in touch!