Picture of the Day

Homeward Bound

Picture of the Day

 All packed and ready to head home

A Swede in Stockholm

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
From The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

As the plane landed in Stockholm,  the weather couldn't have been more different than what I'd left in Amsterdam.  The sun almost blinded me and the blue sky went on as far as I could see. I could only see the trip sailing smoothly.  I couldn't have been more wrong.

A New Favorite: Amsterdam

“How happy is the little stone
That rambles in the road alone,
And doesn't care about careers,
And exigencies never fears;
Whose coat of elemental brown
A passing universe put on;
And independent as the sun,
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute decree
In casual simplicity.”
― Emily Dickinson

So, I like traveling alone.  Not just a little bit,  but a lot a bit.  I think it feeds two needs: 1) My need to be alone - being an introvert,  by nature I struggle being with people 2) My need to do what I want,  when I want - I'm like a two year old this way. So when I decided to go on a trip at the end of my year in the UK, going on my own was a dream come true. Where to go, and how long to travel were much harder choices to make.  I,  of course,  started with an elaborate plan that spanned four countries,  two weeks and transportation included air, rail, and water.  However,  the price tag was a little steep, so I scaled it back to two cities and nine days.

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Safely arrived in Amsterdam

A Beach Holiday

'"What do you like doing best in the world, Pooh?'
'Well,' said Pooh, 'what I like best-' and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. And then he thought that being with Christopher Robin was a very good thing to do, and having Piglet near was a very friendly thing to have; and so, when he had thought it all out, he said, 'What I like best in the whole world is Me and Piglet going to see You, and You saying "What about a little something?" and Me saying, "Well, I shouldn't mind a little something, should you, Piglet," and it being a hummy sort of day outside, and birds singing.'
'I like that too,' said Christopher Robin, 'but what I like doing best is Nothing.'
'How do you do Nothing,' asked Pooh after he had wondered for a long time.
'Well, it's when people call out at you just as you're going off to do it, "What are you going to do, Christopher Robin?" and you say, "Oh, Nothing," and then you go and do it. It means just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.'
'Oh!' said Pooh."
From The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

So after months of stress, cold weather and clouds in England we'd finally had enough. Over a month ago we decided to go to Portugal once our dissertations were submitted.

The original plan included a group of about eight.  Not shocking, as the day got closer people dropped like flies.  By the middle of August, Anni and I were the last ones standing.  But we were going to take this vacation even if it was just the two of us.

After some recruiting we convinced Sandra,  Kanar, and Shapol to join.  But as August rush by and our deadlines snuck towards us,  we put off and put off booking.  The week before, calamity struck - Kanar and Shapol, who are Kurdish, weren't going to be able to acquire visas in time.

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We spent a few hours in Faro before heading to the airport

Return to the Emerald Isle - Belfast

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."

From The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 

July has been a strange month. For the first time in nine months I had no deadline looming over me - or at least none that I had any ability to do any work towards. Knowing this and also understanding that August would be a month of stress and suffering, I decided to go on one last adventure. At first, the question was where. This was solved when I learned that not one, but two friends from back home would be in Ireland for the summer. Since my first trip to Ireland had been dominated by truly miserable weather, I figured this would be a great opportunity to let her remedy my impression of her. In addition, one friend would be in Belfast, and since I'd never traveled to Northern Ireland I thought this would be the perfect chance to do so.

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Best toilet signs I've seen in a while

Thank you Birmingham Airport

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Final Airport before reaching home

It's bittersweet

Last Stop - Dublin

'"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.

"So it is."

"And freezing."

"Is it?"

"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."'

From Winnie-the-Pooh By A.A. Milne

The final stop on our whirlwind European tour was Dublin. Much to our disappointment we were traveling from the warmth of Barcelona to the unseasonably cold weather of Ireland (you know it's bad when the locals are disgusted with how frigid it is).

Caitlin is part Irish (the part that her last name comes from) so she was extremely excited to step foot on her "native" soil. She even intended to buy a whiskey that bore her family's name, even though it was 'disgusting tasting'. She was also looking forward to trying local Irish beer - a sentiment I did not share, but supported.

Barcelona = Sun, Tapas, and Cava = Amazing

'"If we walk far enough," says Dorothy, "we shall sometime come to someplace."'

From The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Caitlin and I had decided we were going to fly on the cheap for this trip. And that meant no checked luggage. We both had no difficulty packing light at home but now that we'd completed the first leg of our journey Caitlin found herself having a little trouble; all her belongings refused to fit. Unlike all American airlines, a lot of cheap (I'm not going to dignify them by saying inexpensive, they are cheap) European airlines only allow one piece of hand luggage - no personal item. It was with this that Caitlin struggled. She shifted, squeezed, pushed, and pressed but her belongings wouldn't compress into her suitcase. After a hour and a half she admitted defeat and put some of her stuff in my bag. This would become a tread and growing issues with each flight.

Springtime in Paris

'"And remember, also," added the Princess of Sweet Rhyme, "that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.”
From The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

After months of planning Caitlin and I were finally going on our crazy two week vacation. First stop: Paris.

With neither of us able to use our phones (without selling our first born to pay the bill) we had arranged to meet outside her baggage claim. Easier said than done. Apparently Charles de Gaulle Airport is known for causing maze-like confusion in travelers - a fact which we were unaware of until I tried to find my way from my gate to hers. I had to ask two different people where to go. I'd like to say that we did a classic airport meeting, complete with slow motion running, but in reality I didn't see her until I was almost upon her.

Firsts in my First Term

"'After all,' Anne had said to Marilla once, 'I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.'"
From Anne of Avonlea By L.M. Montgomery

Top 10 

(in no particular order) 

1. Watching New Years Eve fireworks over the Themes in London
2. Mulled Wine (yummy)
3. Reading (and Potentially Understanding) German Philosophy 
4. Christmas in a Medieval Gothic Cathedral 
5. Mince Pie (yucky)
6. Ordering a Cab 
7. Christmas without my Family 
8. Conversation with Someone on Their First Day out of Jail
9. Weekend Trip to a Foreign Country 
10. Pulling a Christmas Cracker

Can't wait to see what the New Year brings! 

Happy 2013

P.S. My mother was upset to see #7 because she thought I was happy to not be with them for Christmas. However, this list is of first - not always good - from this term. I don't want anyone thinking that I stayed in the UK over break because I didn't want to see the fam!

A Roman Holiday

“See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask for no guarantees, ask for no security.”
From Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

First, let me apologize to my readers for not writing about my adventures in Rome sooner. It’s been a crazy/busy last week of term and I just haven’t had the time to do my trip justice. Hope it’s worth the wait! 

There’s something crazy to an American about going to Rome for the weekend. It’s like a Minnesotan going to Chicago; fun, but no big deal! I was extremely excited to visit my friend Lyssa who was studying in Rome for the fall semester. We’d planned on my visit before we left Minnesota in September.
However, I was worried I’d not make it due to an error with my visa expiration date. Due to that (I really felt that having my visa expire January 2013 instead of 2014 just wouldn't work for my…) I had to send my passport to the Home Office for a new visa. They claimed that it would only take three weeks. Being a government agency I didn't want to bet on that and book a ticket only to waste my money because I couldn't leave the country!

Down the Rabbit-Hole

“Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it and, burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.” 

From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

One of the most difficult parts of moving to another country is choosing what to pack, what to store, and what must move on (either to the trash or a willing/unwilling recipient). So not surprisingly my journey to the University of Warwick begins with my baggage.

As a general rule I'm a frugal traveler. Really, why pay more when you can work the system and be able to spend that money on something better - like coffee, for example. Because of this stinginess I never check a bag when flying. I am morally against paying $35 so they can, most likely, loose my luggage. However, when deciding what to do about packing for England, I bit the bullet and packed two checked bags. 

Yet even with this concession I still stumbled on a major hurdle, my stuff weighed too much. Insistent that all the items I planned to were a necessity, I shifted and squeezed and in the end got everything in to one of my four bags. A scientific fact must be acknowledged before I continue relating my adventure; an item weighs the same no matter how well a person packs or in what bag the item ends up. Because of this I found myself with two checked bags that stayed under the 50 pound limit and a carry on item that boasted a weight of over 40 pounds. The only hope I had was that the airline would be as oblivious as usual to a bag that held close to 15 pounds more than was technically allowed. 

As any smart reader may have already have guessed, the above scenario created interesting encounters for me every stop in my journey.