From Amsterdam to Glasgow

I realize that I haven't written in what must seem like forever (6 weeks?)...but getting settled in Glasgow has been so busy! I suppose I'll digress for a moment and say a bit about the end of my travels in Amsterdam....

Laura and I got into Amsterdam on a Saturday after flying from Venice. It was a long day what with all the travelig to the airport, waiting around, flying and navigating the train from the airport outside of Amsterdam. When Laura and I found our hostel, the White Tulip, it was in the Red Ligth District. It was madness! We climbed our way to the top of the hostel, up some incredibly steep stairs and met with a few old friends of mine who had already checked in. It was so good to see Jenny (one of my best friends who I met in Aberdeen), Mark (an Irish friend from Aberdeen) and his cousin Declan (who I met in Chicago last summer). It was so great to see them all and having Laura there made it perfect. We went for drinks that night at the Irish pub next to our hostel as well as a cafe/bar called the Grasshopper. It was a hilarious night!

The next few days saw us do our touristy duties, checking out (as one does) a sex museum, grabbing some Haagen Dazs, going to the Heineken Experience, Hash Museum, Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House. It was a great few days and we made sure to see a few different bars every night. The best night was definitely our last one where we checked out a different Irish pub and ended up at a bar called Amsterdamned. It was awesome! The next day, Jenny, Laura and I headed back to London where we spent a day relaxing and catching up with Harry, another friend of ours from Aberdeen. It was a great way to end our trip but I was still sad that it was all over. It was so amazing to backpack with my best friend. It's an expereince I'm sure I'll never forget.

Laura and Jenny took me up to Glasgow the second weekend in September. Jenny headed off to Edinburgh to start her Masters program and Laura went back to London a couple days later to get settled in her flat and find a job. I missed them both a lot initially but that was to be expected since they're some of my best girls. I have a great place here in Glasgow...simple, but great. I live in a building of flats organized by the University called Winton Drive. It's an older building but the inside of the flats is pretty new. I have lucked out and only have one flatmate (I expected to have four) and she's great. Her name is Sarah and she's from Fife, just outside of Edinburgh. We get along great and I couldn't ask for a better flatmate.

Classes started after about a week of me being here and I'm absolutely loving it. My degree is called a Masters of Literature in Modernities so I focus, more or less, on literature (as well as some theatre and art) from the first half of the twentieth century. On Mondays from 5-7 I have my core course and there are about twelve of us in the class. The core course focuses on important movements within Modernity and is a really interesting class. Each week a different professor talks to us about what they focus on within Modernity. Everyone in my course gets along great so it's a ton of fun. Tuesdays and Wednesdays I meet with my option courses. I chose to take Modernisit Sexualities and it's really interesting. My professor is am amazing woman named Vassiliki Kolocotroni. She's really great and has made such an effort to get to know us all which is amazing. The seminar time for the class is Wednesdays from 5-7 and on Tuesdays we all get together and watch a modernist film from 11-1. Thursdays I have a research seminar from 1-2 which helps us prepare for our dissertation and for future PhD work if that's what we want to do. It's really helpful. You may be thinking that I'm not in class very much and you're right. But the amount of reading I have to do more than makes up for it. I'm trying to get ahead on my two papers for this semester going as well as staying on top of presentations so its definitely busy. There are a lot of reading groups available as well and this Friday I'm checking out a "Works in Progress" seminar where PhD students and professors read the papers that they're working on. I think it'll be a great chance for me a learn about research methods so that I can have an idea of what to expect when I start my own. I'm thankful that I'm not working for this first semester while I settle in and get myself in order. Being able to focus on school 100% is great.

I can't believe I'm here!!!!!! It catches me off guard sometimes, extremely surreal. It's just so crazy that for the last two years I've been trying to get back over here and now it's finally happening. I love every minute and am thankful for everyday. It's the most amazing feeling to look forward to everyday of your life. To have been out of school for a year has really made me appreciate just how inspiring it is to be a student and how much I need to cherish it. I'm so lucky to have the family and friends that do who are constantly supporting me. Without my parents I certainly would not be over here. I will try not to sound cheesy, but I really hope they realize how much I appreciate all that they've done for me. I'm thankful everyday for the opportunities they've given me. I miss them so much!

On a lighter note, it's also amazing to have Laura in London and Jenny and Chris in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is only an hour away and makes seeing two of my favorite people extremely easy. The bus to Edinburgh only costs three pounds fifty which is great! I just wish all my friends and family could be here! But then I would never get anything accomplished! Haha. Ahhhhh life is good. The new friends that I've made are so much fun, I just know that this year is going to be really amazing. I think that I overuse the word "amazing" but I hope that you know it's only because of my perpetual excitment! Anyways....I won't continue on any further tonight as I have to get started on my reading for next week. I promise to keep this blog up to date as best as I can from now on. If I can be sure to write in here once a week then I'd say I'm doing quite well! Wish me luck!

xx Vanessa

The Blue Lagoon

I believe the last time I wrote I was recovering from a night of madness so you'll be happy to know that I've fully recovered and am back to my well-rested self. Laura and I even managed to get to Vatican city to check out the museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica and the square before catching the train. When I've had a good sleep I can be very productive.

While I've been to the Vatican before, seeing the Sistine Chapel is something that never gets old. Laura and I were pressed for time after an adventure at the Vatican post office so we got in line to enter the Basilica with the intention of waiting five minutes, seeing how far the line moved and deciding if we had time. It wasn't looking good so with sadness we left the line and started to leave the Vatican when I noticed that the other line into the Basilica (around the corner and previously pouring out into St. Peter's Square) was gone. We decided to turn around the corner (a U-turn really) and head straight into the Basilica. It must have looked to some of the guards like we were leaving and to the other guards that we had paid and were walking in...we didn't pay. We were even lucky enough to have the distraction of a girl who hadn't covered her knees and was being escorted out. We got in! Laura and I quickly burned around the Basilica, took a couple snaps, and ran out to catch our train. Once outside we realized there was actually a massive line of people that we had some how skipped as well as being charged for entrance to the Basilica. All I can say is "WIN."

We caught out train and made our way to Venice where after much confusion about what bus to take and where to get a ticket we arrived at our lovely hotel in the country just outside of Venice. Finally...after nearly a month of sleeping with strangers in our room, we were alone! There was silence! The hotel is beautiful, the breakfast is tasty and the room is awesome. Sigh. Venice is good to me. I even watched some Italian TV. We have left it on MTV Italy because while we don't understand a word the hosts say, most of the videos are in English.

Our first full day saw us take the hotel shuttle into Venice and buy a "Rolling Venice" card. The very helpful man at reception in our hotel mapped out our two days here in Venice for us with all sorts of tips on how to get around. This "Rolling Venice" card gives us discounts at restaurants, museums and allows us to take all the boats and buses we want within a 72 hour period. We hopped on a boat immediately and headed over to the beautiful island of Murano where majority of Venice's glass blowing is done. After checking out a handful of glass shops and grabbing a bit we took the boat a bit further to Burano, the most beautiful island in Venice. It's very small and the houses are in a rainbow of colors. The island is known for it's lace making an we took lots of great photos. My favorite part of Venice is the quiet. Unless you're at the train station by the bridge out of Venice, the sound of traffic is gone. I love it.

We eventually made our way to St. Marc's Square and climbed (in an elevator...) to the top of the bell tower. It was a beautiful view and while 8 Euros seems silly to me, I'm glad I did it. We found dinner by the Rialto Bridge and enjoyed free Bellinis courtesy of the waiters who try to convince you to eat at their restaurant. If there is a free Bellini in the deal I'm willing to have a seat. After dinner we found Gelato and headed back to catch our ride.

Today took us to the Peggy Guggenheim (sp?) museum which was also silly expensive but some of the art was really amazing. The museum was her house from the late 40s until she died in 1979 and it was beautiful. The art was an accumulation of cubism, futurism and one other "ism" that I can't recall. Laura and I chose to opt out of the expensive audio guides and just mused about the meaning of the art between the two of us. I think we came to some really important conclusions, Peggy would be proud.

And now, after a bit of shopping, some pizza and wandering (getting lost twice?) here I am. It's time for din din soon and we head back to the hotel for 9. Tomorrow we are up and off to Amsterdam where I will be reunited with one of my best girls, Jenny! It will be nice to see Mark and Declan, friends joining us from Ireland, as well. Being in Amsterdam I'm sure it'll be a wild time but I welcome it after this very relaxing time in Venice. I doubt I will write until I return to London on Wednesday so I will say "Ciao" for now!

Roma!

I'm going to make this a quick entry because truth be told Laura and I are still recovering from last night's events and this screen is making my head spin. It was worth it! I think.

Rome has been great. We arrived to our hostel (Alessandro Palace...ooo la la) at about 930 Sunday night and fell asleep. Monday saw us at maximum productivity as we walked all day, checking out the Roman Forum, Colloseum (sp? I have seen this word in too many languages to know for sure...), Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We saw a million things in between but these were the highlights for us. Best of all I love the Pantheon. There's nothing quite like walking down a seemingly normal street and then all of a sudden BAM! The Pantheon pops up outta nowhere. It's awesome.

The gelato here is the best I've had. I'm no real authority on the matter and it might just be the magic of Rome seducing my taste buds, but I can't get enough of the stuff. What I did have enough of was the crazy Italian man at the gelateria (is this even a word?) who wouldn't leave me alone. It seems that what they say about some Italian men is true, they're crazy!

Laura and I had an amazing dinner at a place by our hostel where my Heineken was the size of my arm. After dinner we went to the pub in our hostel with Jacqueline, a British girl from our room and another Laura, from Vancouver. The pub was empty save for a table of boys who we joined. There were a couple Irish boys, two Americans and an Australian. I forgot what it's like to drink with Irish boys and the wine never stopped. Before Laura and I knew it we were in a bar around the corner and it was getting close to last call (3am). Laura stayed until the end and I bailed. No need to disclose the details of how ill I felt but Laura and I slept most of the day and will have to go to the Vatican tomorrow. I'm not sure that the saying "When in Rome..." should ever include "drink as the Irish do"....shudder. It was a great night though. Where's my water....

Ciao!

Barcelona...Nice...Where am I?

Greetings to the two people that probably read this! My Mom and Dad! Ok maybe there's a few more...

Laura and I haven't been able to find computers in recent days and all of a sudden I'm in Nice, France. Barcelona was really beautiful and the hostel we stayed in was more like a hotel so that was great. We finally did some laundry but took it a bit easier as Madrid saw us pull a lot of late nights. Our hostel was in a decent aread but not somewhere that I would wander late at night which was a shame. The architecture and museums, lots of Gaudi and Picasso, were amazing. We spent an afternoon on the beach and walked everywhere. The Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished church masterpiece, was truly the highlight of our visit and happened to be about ten minutes from our hostel. We loved it so much we went there three times. It really took my breath away. For someone who isn't remotely enamored with religion it was really eye opening for me to see what that kind of belief can inspire. Really beautiful.

We got up super early and hopped on the train for 9.5 hours to get to Nice. It was great to take the train and go up the coast but 9 hours of sitting anywhere can make you go crazy. By the end of it I actually relished having 35 pounds on my back and walking. Our hostel in Nice is great and due to some booking confusion we were lucky enough to get a room to ourselves for one night. Yay! After a shower and a bit of french telly ( je ne comprends pas...) we hit the town for a late dinner. Laura and I walked by the hotel I stayed at with my family 4 years ago and settled on a restaurant appropriately named "Le Pizza." You really can't go wrong there. It was across from one called "Le Quebec" and seemed fitting. We both enjoyed pasta and a bottle one wine...mmm. Our neighbors (a french couple from Toulouse and a local from Nice) asked us where we were from and before we knew it Laura and I had had two more glasses of Rose and a lemoncello thanks to our new French friends. They proceeded to show us around Nice a bit but we eventually had to pull the plug when they wanted "more champagne!"....any more drinking and Laura and I were both not going to wake up the next day. Ahhh France.

After breakfast and a bit of shopping I am at an internet cafe in Nice. Tonight we are attending a spaghetti party at our hostel....all you can eat for 1€ and wine included. I do love France. Tomorrow we'll hit the beach and head to Monaco for some site seeing. Not sure when I'll find a computer next and there sure doesn't seem to be time for photos so I'm very sorry for those of you only interested in pictures of sites and not my descriptions of them. I will put pictures up eventually....although I doubt it will be until I return to the UK. That's all for now! Je vous adore! Vive le France! (???)

Madrid!

I´m in Madrid! This is crazy. I almost have to smack myself to remember where I am it´s all so surreal. The hostel we´re staying at has been great. They provide you with lots of group activities to keep you busy and meeting people. Laura and I flew in from Paris two days ago and have been occupied ever since. We met up with my friend Neil who I met on a Contiki tour two years ago and who also happened to be in Madrid for a few of the same days as us. It´s crazy how two years can go by and randomy you can meet up with people again. It´s awesome.

It rained the first night we were here but Neil managed to find our hostel, dripping wet the poor guy. We walked about 20 metres and ended up grabbing tapas and drinks at a restaurant next door. We ordered the drinks that we could make out from the menu and got our server to pick what she thought we´d like from the tapas menu. There was no translation and our Spanish is limited to simple words that keep us polite but entirely unaware. We ended up eating a cold soup that tasted vaguley of tomatoes, some sort of potato salad, fried cheese sticks....was that all? I cant quite recall but it was delicious. So were those mojitos....

After tapas we joined in on some drinking games at our hostel and called it an early night as we were all bagged from travel. The next morning Neil joined us for a walking tour with people from a few hostels in the neighborhood. The tour lasted just over 3 hours and we saw everything we wanted to see. It was amazing. I feel like I know so much about Madrid now but sadly I am crippled by my inability to pronounce, understand and reiterated any of the names of the sites I saw. I can tell you in dull English that I saw the palace where the royal family stays, the cathedral next door, an opera house, the gigantic post office among many other sites. I won´t expand on that too much but it was great. Neil, Laura and I grabbe ice cream after and went our separate ways so we could shower for the evenings activities.

Two nights of the week our hostel holds a tapas tour around the area where you get to sample food and beverages form Madrid, northern Spain and southern Spain. While tapas still leave you starving, it was great to get a taste of the culture and I´ve come to absolutely love Sangria. Am I spelling that right? Sure! After the tapas tour we ate fries at Burger King (starving!) with Neil and a couple new freinds from Brazil and the UK and met up with the pub crawl. It was a great night and the night life here in Madrid is crazy! Its amazing how many people are out on the street at 3am...Ive never seen anything like it. Rush hour in the wee hours....madness.

I´m outta time for now but will post pictures some time....eventually. Just goole Madrid and you´ll get the idea! It´s amazing here and I´ll do my best to write again soon. No time to spell check so....fingers crossed!

Bonjour Bonjour

Greetings from the land of snails, chapeaus and crepes! Yes, Im in Paris and no, I cannot operate these Euro keyboards with any efficiency. This is going to take forever...

Laura and I arrived in Paris Sunday night only to be greeted by a Parisian monsoon. We wandered a while in the rain and finally found our hostel, fittingly named the Vintage Hotel & Hostel. Our current roomies are a fellow Canadian from Toronto and an Argentintian girl, both traveling on their own which I give them huge credit for. I feel that I could navigate this city on my own but without Lauras mapping skills Id likely still be trapped in the Louvre. Speaking of confusion....where is the apostrophe on this keyboard?! It seems my genius will have to go without. Haha...

Monday took us to the Louvre first thing in the morning where we spent something silly like 6 hours checking out anything and everything. It was great! We decided to forage for food and hit the road towards the Obelisk and the Champs Elysees where we saw a couple who had just been married walking the streets with their photographer. Even a skeptic like myself cant ignore the romance of something like that. Our bubble was burst however when Laura and I were both the victims of bird attacks. Ok, the birds never actually touched us but they came close enough!

Having recovered from our trauma we refueled with dinner and dessert on the Champs Elysees. We had dinner at a bar/restaurant called Unisex that had a destinctive 70s lounge feel and we stopped after walking another two blocks for crepes at a cafe called Henry V. Mmmmm. We needed to walk off our over priced meals so we climbed the 200+ steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe for a stunning view of Paris. Having seen the Eiffel Tower now in plain view we decided to walk there as well. I have been to Paris twice before but seeing the tower never gets old. Its like the first time, every time! If only more things in life had that power.

We decided to put off going up the tower for another day so we headed back to the hostel and after a good nights rest, hit the road again...or the metro, rather. And thats how I find myself at this internet cafe by Versailles (huge by the way...). Im starving now and must prepare for the trip back to the hostel and our quest out to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur tonight. Sadly I cant post any photos because Im not prepared but you guys know what Paris looks like anyway Im sure....

Au Revoir pour le moment! (Did that make sense?)

Vanessa

London Pics!