It’s been a while
Ok ok, I know, 5 weeks without an update is perhaps leaving it a bit too long! My apologies… but hey, I’m having such a great time, I don’t want to be sitting in front of the computer for hours! And we still don’t have internet installed at home – there have been so many dramas, I won’t even go into it, but let’s just say I’m hoping we have it by Christmas…
So, the rest of October was pretty normal, classes, drinking red wine, eating too many baguettes, etc. At the start of November I went to London for four days, where I stayed with the lovely Alex Ponton (I mean van Wyngaard!), and then three days in Dublin with my friend Keri who is on exchange there from Melbourne Uni.
Flying into England made quite an impression on me, the countryside is beautiful: The fields are amazing, emerald green, and you can hardly tell that there are crops – they are just solid patches of colour, separated by hedges or lines of trees or low stone walls. I would like to explore the English countryside at some point… London was great, I had the most perfect autumn weather – not a cloud in the sky, clean crisp (cold!) air, beautiful autumn colours… Hyde Park was amazing. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament were equally impressive, much more intricate than they look in photos. Buckingham Palace was a bit underwhelming, although I did see the changing of the guard which was pretty cool. I didn’t realise that they had a marching band, who entertained us with a bit of instrumental Elton John! I spent some time wandering along the Thames (the Thames! One hears so much about it, and it’s just another river, broad and muddy), and took about a hundred photos of the Tower Bridge.
I spent a small fortune getting into the famous St Paul’s cathedral, and climbed up inside the dome and saw the mosaics up close, as well as panoramic views of London from the two upper galleries. Taking full advantage of the free entrance to all major museums and galleries (Paris could learn something here! Paris could also learn a bit from London about keeping the streets clean and the con artists away from tourist sites… but despite all this I still find Paris more charming, individual and less overwhelming than London), I saw my first works by Dalí, Warhol and Picasso at the Tate Modern, as well as some of my favourites by van Gogh (including ‘Sunflowers’) at the National Gallery. The Egyptian section at the British Museum is incredible. I spent a Saturday night in Soho with Alex and Renée at a very chic and trendy bar (Cocoon), very expensive too though… but it was great to see a bit of London nightlife, even if we didn’t succeed into getting into Milk and Honey later! Apparently one of the more exclusive lounges, and we didn’t have a reservation, nor were we members…
Dublin was of course very different, a very dynamic and cosmopolitan city. I knew I’d arrived in the land of the Irish wit when I asked the bus driver at the airport if he went to O’Connell St, and he replied ‘I try my best, love’. I really liked Dublin, the streets are broad and there is a real sense of space, there is a great boardwalk along the River Liffey and of course the Irish are lovely. St Stephen’s Green was as pretty as Hyde Park, and I was very impressed with the collection of ancient manuscripts (more interesting than you would think!) at the Chester Beatty Library, in particular the illuminated Korans. The only regret I have is that I didn’t get to see the infamous nightlife, partly because I was there from a Monday to Thursday (the bars close at 11pm during the week), but also because I was staying in the town of Blackrock about an hour away from the centre of the city. Although Dublin is pretty cool, there is not that much to do in terms of touristy things, so on the third day I headed out into the Irish countryside. I explored a bit up the north coast (the towns of Howth, Malahide and Skerries), which was beautiful in a unique way with its rough seas and moody skies. Malahide was particularly lovely.
The rest of November has been pretty busy in terms of uni, it is about the middle of the semester now so I’ve had a lot of assignments and presentations. I have done two presentations in French now, which were quite nerve-wracking. I have given up on the capoeira classes (did I mention I took it up?), I choose capoeira because it was something way outside of my comfort zone and it looked cool. It was fun but my muscles are so tense that I couldn’t do all the moves properly, I think I need to take up yoga or something to relax a bit first.
I am going to Strasbourg in the middle of December, which is a town in north eastern France famous for its Christmas markets. Then on the 20th of December (my birthday for those who have forgotten, ha ha) I am going to PRAGUE! I am so excited! I am going with an American friend from uni, Caitlin. I can’t wait! We have a whole week so we’ll probably go and see Cesky Krumlov as well. I’ll be spending Christmas Day in Prague – I really hope that I get to have a white Christmas!
PS This blog is still not letting me post up photos, so I'll put them on Flickr