TravelStream™ news feed for member kaylashoe on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/kaylashoe en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:57:15 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kaylashoe/1/1236710700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kaylashoe/1/1236710700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kaylashoe/1/1236710700/tpod.html Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:57:15 -0400 Spring 2009 semester in London, and other adventures across the pond.

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Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands

Barcelona was beautiful as well- it was chilly but I still managed to get a sunburn lying on the beach in my sweatshirt. There were wonderful markets with fruit, candy and fish pulled out of the ocean that morning. Las Ramblas was the main drag which was fun to walk and watch the people, the monsters, the human sculptures and the humans who thought they were dogs? Many vendors on that street sold live tropical birds and baby rabbits in cages. We ate lots of paella and consumed lots more sangria. We went to a bar with over 100 varieties of shots- I had a harry potter shot (it was not magical) which was served in flames and a bob marley shot which I have a picture of- that night made for an unpleasant morning but hey, it was spring break. We did a bus tour and saw a lot of Gaudi's abstract architectural masterpieces including the sagrada familia (sp?) and his park below his mansion- a very interesting creation. We saw the FCB's stadium and spent a long day on the beach. Aaand we won't talk about the 35335908 euro cab ride to the mysterious reus airport. kids- I don't care what ryan air tells you, that airport is NOT anywhere close to Barcelona and there isn't any logical transportation from Barcelona to this "Barcelonian" airport. But the cab ride did take us along the coast and through some beautiful mountain terrain- too bad I spent most of the trip crying over the meter's constantly increasing euro amount.
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Lisbon, Estremadura, Portugal

Lisbon was great! It had such a genuine Portugeuse feel there, Lisbon is not yet used to being host to many tourists which makes this one of the most real places I've traveled to so far. So many times on this journey I've arrived in a city and felt so disappointed, wishing I lived in an early age- a time when I would not have been bombarded by images of these places, of Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower and even images of art on the internet and in the text books so I can step off that plane and really see these things for the first time, and really feel awe at being in this place in this time. All of these huge world cities have the same feel in this increasingly globalizing world- you can't turn a corner without seeing a starbucks or mcdonalds and that's not what I came here for. The untouched, unglobalized, tourist unfriendly places are where we need to go to get the true experiences of a culture, a real taste of the life and times of that place.

So Lisbon was refreshing. The Portuguese people have a distinct look and there were many interesting faces and places to take in. Many of the homes are covered in these beautiful tiles- we stopped in to a tile-maker's workshop to see how it's done. It's a labourious process- all of these tiles are handpainted patterns and yes, my house will be covered in them someday. We stayed in a lovely hostel and had dinner with awful fellow tourists- one an avid Freddie Mercury fan who I offended deeply at the dinner table throwing out words like gaudy, cheesy, funny, very "Freddie Mercury" at his favorite musical, "We Will Rock You." Get some class, Slovanian man. The woman in the Cosby Sweater traveling solo didn't enjoy my antics either. Oh well- you win some, you lose some.

We spent our days wandering the streets taking in the sights- climbing the nearby hill and taking in the beautiful views from the castle on the mount, following in the footsteps of the great Ulysses, so they say. We took a ferry across the channel to the cliff overlooking the bridge, with Cristo Rei, an enormous statue of Jesus, arms outstretched overlooking all of the beautiful city of Lisboa.We took a train to the south of Lisbon to stumble upon a beach resort area where we walked along the docks and heard talk of sailing and fishing and participated in a little game called waterballoon the clueless tourists in which we played the part of targets and wandered the streets drinking sangria- pitchers full of bliss and fruit.
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London, England, United Kingdom

So I'm supposed to be writing a paper and I decided to take my 34th break and post some more pictures- I think they're mostly from London, from the Ice Bar and other shenanigans. Kim's visiting from Nottingham this weekend! I'm pretty excited, thus I'm writing my paper early so I can free up my weekend for some London adventures with her!!
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Liverpool, England, United Kingdom

Ohh the Beatles pilgrimage- a highly necessary excursion on my British invasion tour. The hostel I stayed at was run by the daughter of the Beatles' first manager, which I thought was an interesting little tidbit, and it was located in a dark creepy alleyway around the corner from "The Fly in Loaf" pub and the terrifying bombed out church, St. Luke's. Strange place. The Liverpool cathedral looms over the city- the largest most terrifying to behold building I have ever seen- and it's creepy gloomy atmosphere only strengthens as you climb up that wretched hill to get to its grounds, which incorporate a big old creepy cemetary complete with a forboding tunnel of gravestones. Inside the church is the strangest statue of Jesus you have ever beheld and a bright pink neon light that says "I felt you and knew you loved me." I wanted to take a train to a happier place, but I settled for spending some time at the huge and wondrful shopping complex in the city centre instead, which did quite a lot to lift my spirits, as did the occasional pub stop for a quick pint. I took some time to explore The Beatles' Story which is a type of museum display- and found it really disheartening to see the lads museumized, there was just something about it. That night while I laid in bed exhausted I saw a documentary on music in the 60's and listened to Joan Baez talk about how she thought it wasn't right or healthy for the kids to idolize and obsess over artists of the period, namely Mr. Dylan, but then I'm there sitting in bed thinking, what am I doing in Liverpool- I'm idolizing The Beatles- Joan would not approve! But then I rationalized all night long that I came to experience all of Britain and this was part of it, so I picked up and moved on to the Magical Mystery Tour which brought us to all of the lads' homes in Liverpool, we took a ride down and around the round-about of Penny Lane, stopped at Strawberry Fields and saw various other meeting places of the Beatles and the schools the boys attended and whatnot. We then stopped for pints at the infamous Cavern Club and enjoyed the music of some local artists while a bachelor's party, complete with the engaged young man in a batman suit, carried on. Other than those highlights, I pretty much walked the entire city 8 times, did a lot of shopping, cruised the docks trying to see how many sailors I could get to tattoo my name on their behinds, visited every museum there was to visit and spent an evening at the Liverpool Playhouse watching a performance of "The Price" written by Arthur Miller. So the trip was a success, no thanks to Joan Baez or the massive amount of pints consumed the night before the train ride there.
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London, England, United Kingdom

Okay so I finally got some pictures to upload!!! I'm not posting all of them- but feel lucky you were spared the 39048124 pictures I took at the British Museum and the Imperial War Museum which probably only excite me. So here are some pictures of London and some pictures of our trip to Paris!!
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Paris, Île-de-France, France

So I don't know where I last left off but I've just been exploring London lots more and everything is going great- can't believe I've been here for a month already! I went to Paris last weekend which was a good time except for the last day stuck in the airport with a bunch of irate and loud French people due to snow storms in London. We climbed the Eiffel Tower, visited Nortre Dame, walked the Latin Quarter, climbed up the Sacre Couer like 8 times and did a quick run through of the Louvre and down the Champs Elysees- we saw quite a bit really. I'm trying to figure out how to get all of the pictures on here but I'm having technical difficulties- but I'll get a few up for now.

Last weekend I stuck around London- visited the impressive Westminster Abbey and did a little absinthe tasting at Vinopolis. Spent the day at the Camden Markets which I love love love. I want to go back every weekend but I'd have to take on 8 jobs this summer to cover my market-obsession debt. Booked trips for Liverpool this weekend and Dublin in March. For spring break (yeah, classes are over in less than 3 weeks then we have a week off then I start my internship at Europe Economics!) we decided to go to Lisbon, Portugal and Barcelona!! Should be fun- and should involve more sunshine than this misty city. Still want to get to Amsterdam and must get to Edinburgh at some point though, but I'm running out of weekends fast!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kaylashoe/1/1232854080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kaylashoe/1/1232854080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kaylashoe/1/1232854080/tpod.html Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:07:22 -0500 Spring 2009 semester in London, and other adventures across the pond.

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London, England, United Kingdom

Pictures on the way-having technical difficulties. Sorry!

Our theater class attended the final London performance of August:Osage County- an American production from the Steppenwolf Company of Chicago at the Royal National Theater. I'm still not quite sure what to think of the whole production which dealt with everything from incest to pedophilia- pretty heavy stuff, but it was an out of the ordinary experience and I quite enjoyed it I think.

Yesterday a group of us fumbled upon my favorite pub thus far- and of course I cannot remember the name right now but it was right across from the Belgravia gallery- Dad, remind me to take you there when you visit! We then got our behinds off of the bar stools at 4 in the afternoon and headed toward the Tate Modern on the South bank. I always love crossing that river- such pretty views! The Tate Modern was more or less what I expected- saw some Picasso and a bit of Monet, my favorite (I must get to his gardens in Giverny this Spring!) and some pretty disturbing "art" besides that. Then we crossed back over the Millennium Bridge for a night out in the West-end Theater district- why the guys chose to go there, I will never understand, but it was fun until someone had one too many and decided to man the tube system by herself when she knew there was construction going on and the tube lines were all screwed up. So I ended up in a drunken panic in a dark unfamiliar graveyard having left my map home for the first time ever, I swear! But with a little help from across the pond, I made it home and kissed the welcome mat of this building.

Today I strolled north through Hyde Park to Portobello Road where there is this amazing Saturday market full of everything from antiques to mounted zebra heads. I walked around for hours just browsing and people watching- I bought some really cheap produce and a ring with what I think the guy told me are polish gold fleck stones?? His English was not so great, but I love the ring! Then I headed to Covent Garden for some more market browsing. This market had more high-end shops, which are fun to look in- then the market next door has some neat stuff too. After wandering around for awhile I decided to check out China town where of course I found a McDonald's next to a pretty Chinese Herbal Medicine Shop. Oh Americanization.

The tube situation was ridiculous today, so I pretty much walked half the length of this city- but it really is the best way to sightsee and get the full experience- saw a lot of Green Park and the Wellington Arch- then walked home past Harrod's again.
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London, England, United Kingdom

Saturday was our big bus trip to Stonehenge and Bath, a welcomed escape from the city! Our first stop was Stonehenge- which is definitely something that is worth seeing once in your life- the complexities of the mysteries of this structure's origins make for an interesting journey, and it was a beautiful cold but sunny day so the pictures came out pretty good. Stonehenge really got me to thinking about how unimpressive this structure is to those of us who have been exposed to so many more impressive man-made achievements, and we who can google an image of anything anywhere around the world- so many of the sights I am taking in lose a bit of that all-encompassing amazement- almost makes me wish I had been born before the age of the internet, but then you would not be exposed to this life-enriching blog site, which would obviously be no good.

We then hopped on the bus and headed toward Bath- which was a very picturesque little city built in a hilly area, in all the same color stone. We saw the Circus which we have been studying in my design course, Pultney Bridge, Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent, the place where Jane Austen lived for awhile and the curch where her father is buried and, of course, the Roman Baths! It was such a pretty city- but we only had 3 hours to tour, so I wish I had been able to explore a bit more!

Today I woke up feeling ambitious and decided to take on Hyde Park- a massive green space just a few blocks from our flat. I walked first to Kensington Palace and took a tour which included an exhibition on British Debutants, Princess Di's evening gowns and of course a tour of the Palace- a really good audio tour. I then headed toward the round pond which was full of swans and birds of all sorts- I just love this park! It is so pretty, I don't feel like the pictures I took do it justice! Saw the Peter Pan Statue, Princess Diana's Memorial fountain, The Serpentine (mom's favorite thing in London to walk around) and then my favorite part of the trip thus far: Speaker's Corner. Swearing, spitting, singing- from the homeless to the affluent- a good mix of people turn up to hear what these people have to say. This is the place in London to go to protest or preach without a permit. Just a bunch of people that have something, anything to say come to this corner of the park and get up on their soapbox and rant- it was brilliant! There were religion bashers, Jesus lovers, religious singers, Holy Rollin-recruiters, a man who doesn't believe in love and wants the world to side with him and standing next to him was a man giving free hugs- which are welcomed after hearing the love-basher speak. I've never seen such heated arguments by such strange combinations of people. I love this place and I plan on waking up early next Sunday, walking straight to that corner and listening all day long.

Then I went to Harrod's and felt really poor, but okay with it, because I was "saved" by a man in the park, so it's all good.
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London, England, United Kingdom

Just thought I would post the pictures from the bus and walking tours last weekend. Classes are going well- each class period is three hours long! Not fun, but I only have class three days a week, so it balances out. I have decided to branch away from my usual Economics and Public Policy this semester by taking a British Theatre course and a course on the History of Modern Design. We'll see how that works out. Everyone here is also taking a British Life and Cultures course which I love so far! We are going to tour Parliament I think next week and have a number of other fun things planned.

Other than that, grocery shopping and walking 3 miles with your bags is a pain in the butt and I don't care to deal with that for long, but at least we finally found the supermarket and new pillows for our beds!!! It doesn't sound like much, but that was a pretty big accomplishment in this city. I've fallen a little ill-I'm pretty sure it's from my own lack of cooking skills, but I am feeling much better today! Earlier today I had my first meal of fish n chips, and was immediately reminded of how much I don't like fried fish, so why I thought London Kayla would be any different, I do not know, but when in Rome, right? Tonight we are all attending a performance of "We Will Rock You" - a Queen-related production as you might have guessed from the title. The performance is at the Dominion Theatre. Should be a good time! I also found out that Freddie Mercury used to live somewhere nearby in this neighborhood. Whether that's a good sign or a bad sign, I am not sure.

Anyway, we are off to the pub and then the show to go get rocked.

Love and miss you all!
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London, England, United Kingdom

So after a rough flight, I have finally made it to London! Twelve HWS students are staying in the same flat at Manson Place which is located in South Kensington- a beautiful area of the city. We live right around the corner from three excellent museums, all of which I visited the first free day here which I will post pictures from. First was the Natural History Museum, a beautiful and giant building with decorative animal carvings and gargoyles. There were some really great displays here- everything from dinosaurs to insects including a great geological display. I skipped the Darwin exhibition, which I hope to get back to on some rainy day here. Outside of the Natural History Museum was the first annual ice sculpting contest - which was pretty neat to watch. I then saw the Victoria and Albert Museum which had art and dress from all over the world- but most impressive were the scultptures and British Galleries. I hope to get back to their Cold War Modern exhibition- which we will probably be visiting for one of my classes here. Last was the Science Museum, which had a display on everything from agriculture to the wonders of plastics. Later that evening we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus for a night out on the town. We were all pretty exhausted so we stuck with the pubs- which are more low-key than the night clubs here.

Today we woke up early to take a coach tour of London. Finally a chance to see all of my favorites of the city, and we saw everything! Sorry the pictures are pretty sad, as the windows were not so clean, but I will be getting back to explore all of these sights, so worry not. Our first stop was Buckingham Palace. We drove past Harrods, Westminister Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben, the London Eye, along the river and over the Tower Bridge and the London Bridge and saw the Tower of London and Trafalgar Square and the London School of Economics and everything else!

Once we returned from that overwhelmingly full tour, we had a guide take us on a walking tour of our neighborhood- Kensington. First stop of course, was the Natural History Museum, again! Then we walked up Exhibition Road to have a better look at the Imperial College which we have memberships for to use their pub and other facilities. We then walked to the Royal College of Music across from which is the grand Royal Albert Hall! I cannot wait to see a concert there! We walked around the hall across to Kensington Gardens, and extension of Hyde Park and looked at a statue of Albert and strolled to check out Kensington Palace, the once- home of Princess Diana. Then we did a rapid tour of a few other lovely streets and ended up back at our residence.
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