Two Weeks in Review

A sign in the woods at Anne Hathaway's house

Wow. All good things have to come to an end I guess. This has been an amazing trip. And, not even a trip. It started out as a trip, but now, I really do feel like I live here- because, well, I do. This is my home; a three month home, but a home none-the-less.

Well, I've been up to a bunch of stuff the past few weeks. I guess I'll start with the week before Thanksgiving. That Monday, I went to my first ballet here. It was Sleeping Beauty, at the Royal Opera House in Covent Gardens. It was beautiful. The whole time I was just amazed with how strong the dancers were. They were lifting their whole bodies up onto their tip-toes all night long! It was incredible.

Then, on Wednesday night I got to go to the long awaited, much anticipated War Horse, the play. It is closing soon, I think this December or something, so it was awesome that we got to go. We bought the tickets way in advance, like, at the end of September, so we had been waiting for this event virtually almost this whole semester.

Roasted chestnuts at a Christmas market!

War Horse is a play about a boy and his horse and their relationship. They love each other so much, but then the war (WWI) comes, and the horse, Joey, is taken by the military to use in the cavalry. There is nothing the boy can do to prevent it and he is heartbroken, thinking that he might never see his best friend again. So, the story follows the events that occur to bring the two together again. It is a fabulous storyline, but what is even more awesome is that the whole thing is done with puppets. All the animals, the horses, farm-creatures, birds, wildlife of any kind is all done by huge, life-size (or bigger) puppets. The horses have three men a-piece for each suit. There are two men who stand inside of the horse's torso/ribcage and work the back and front legs and the tail (yes, the tail even twitches and moves like a real horses! I think it's hydraulic powered or something and they squeeze a trigger and it swishes around very realistically).

Then there is one man who works the head. He stands outside the body and holds onto a rod which directs and moves the head and he has a trigger he can push that swivels and twitches the ears. The men working the legs also make the torso move up and down in breathing motions and the legs move just like real legs would bend and move, even when it's galloping around! It is sooo life-like and the whole play was choreographed extremely well! They had these scenes where they would do slow-motion action and it was just incredible what they could make you feel and see with just slowing down their motions and black and white lighting.

Anyway, it was the most amazing display of showmanship in a play I've ever seen. I loved it!

That Saturday, we went ice skating outside in Hyde Park. They have set up this little carnival with rides (feris wheel, mousetrap- like in Lagoon- and the rocket, a haunted house; Christmas style though), and tons of little sweets shops and little booths roasting chestnuts on a fire. It is awesome. And then there's the ice rink, the largest in the city that gets put up for the holidays (there are other carnivals just like this one all over the city, but the Hyde park one is the best). It is round and in the center is a little gazebo, lifted up from the ice, and there a live band (pianist and guitar and voice) played for us while we skated around under strings of lights in this winter wonderland (actually, I think that's the name of the carnival, Winter Wonderland), on Saturday night. It was enchanting. So much fun.

So, the week of Thanksgiving was chalk full of stuff as well. On Monday and Tuesday we went traveling. We drove to Stratford Upon Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. His wife, Anne Hathaway, lived here with their children while he was in London doing theatre for 26 years. Then, he came back home for good (he visited during his years away, but never for long), and this is where he died too.

It was a quaint little town- full of Tudor style houses, which were adorable. We went to his birthplace, Anne Hathaway's cottage, his grave, and visited the site where one of his houses used to be as well. Then, after exploring the city more, that night we got to go to a play, Measure for Measure, which is one of his plays. It was a little risque, but pretty fun- the Duke, the main character, was definitively the best acted part by far. He was a really funny character, but seriously powerful too. It was a comedy, luckily, so it all ended happily, which was good.

The great hall in Christ's Church College, also the hall used for Hogwarts in Harry Potter!

On Tuesday, we drove up to Oxford and went to the Ashmolean museum there. It is a very beautifully done museum, with tons of stuff. Lots of artifacts and things from lots of different time periods; I could have spent all day there.

Then, we got to explore the town; Lynne, Emily and I went on a tour of Christ's Church College, the place where they shot the Great Hall and other parts of Hogwarts in Harry Potter. That was fun. :D

Christ's Church College, Oxford

Then, later that night we went to Evensong at the college and then drove home.

Thanksgiving was way fun. The whole center pulled together to cook a feast for all 50 of us who attended. There were 24 pies, over a hundred rolls, and 5 turkeys. There were green beans, cranberry jelly, crackers and 20 homemade cheeseballs, fruit platters, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and a whole ton of stuffing. There was also a vegetarian dish called rissoto or something for the Everetts (they are vegetarian). It was a really fun time. All day Wednesday we had classes and cooking, then Thursday morning was a football game and then more cooking, then eating, then sleeping, then skyping, then working on art projects. Then Friday was our Art Show Gallery opening which was way fun, and I finished all my art pieces for my 480 class just in time to put them in the show.

So yeah. It was a full week. And now we are on the Monday of our last week here. I can't believe it. I don't want to believe it. But here it is. A week from now I will be getting packed to go, and then the next morning will be the longest day of my life, traveling almost 24 hours worth to finally get home to the Colorado Springs airport.

I just hope that, like some of my travels and trips, that this one doesn't turn into just a dream, like it never happened. I hope that I've learned things here and made friends and had valuable experiences enough that when I come back and enter the real world again, that I will bring these things with me, that I will be a changed person, for the good.

But, who knows. Maybe I'll just be the same. I don't think so though. :D

Wales Travel Weekend

Wow. I remember thinking at the beginning of this program that the travel weekend and my race day would never come.

My family, almost every time we've skyped for the last three or four weeks has kept asking me, "did you do your race yet?!" And I've had to say, no, that's in a few weeks, no, that's next week. But, huzzah! it finally came!

Let me start at the beginning.

Me in front of the causeway leading to Worm's Head

Before even coming out to the London program, I knew that I wanted to run a race in the UK. How cool would that be? Awesome. First one in my family to run an internatio

nal race. So, I started looking online to find a race that met my requirements. First, it had to not be on a Sunday. I don't run on Sundays. Second, it had to be within a time slot of four days; November 9th,10th, 11th, or 12th. One of those four days I could do, but any other time and it might be tricky (unless the race was in London itself). Our professors told us that those days were a weekend that we would be allowed to travel (in groups of 3 or more) anywhere we wanted to go. So, that weekend was ideal for a race; I could travel to the location, hang out, stay the night, and then that next morning, go run the race.

The trail leading down to Worm's Head from Rhossili village

Well, these requirements were harder to meet than at first I had anticipated. I searched hard and long, but it's really difficult to find a race that isn't on Sunday. Most races (at least Half-marathons and marathons) are on Sundays because... well, I don't know why, but they are. And fewer still tend to land on the exact day that you need it, just because... idk, murphy's law maybe?

Finally, after trudging through mounds of internet data, I found the gem. The CTS Endurancelife race series; a series of 7 trail races that include 10k, half, marathon, and ultra races at each Race. They are located all along the southern coast of Wales and England, in some of the country's most beautiful areas. And one of them just so happened to fall on November 12th, the Saturday of my travel weekend!

So, it was decided. When I got to London, i found two other girls, Carolyn and Nicole, who volunteered to go with me to Wales (my race was in Southern Wales, on the Gower Peninsula) so I could run my race.

So, before we could go on the trip we had to figure out transportation (we took the train), a place to sleep (Southmead Bed and Breakfast, a quaint little B&B that was clean, friendly and had a good continental breakfast), and then how to get around once we got there (the bus system). After many hours of planing and preperation, we had tickets to travel, a reservation at our B&B in Llanelli (a little town nearby Swansea, the town which is at the neck of the Gower Peninsula), and we were ready to go.

So, after much planning, preparation and training, we made it out to Wales.

The first day was a little bit stressful because we got in to Swansea in late afternoon, just as the sun was setting. So, we were wandering around the city, looking for the bus to take us to Llanelli, with a map printed out from google maps and carrying all our stuff in the dark. It was great. But the people were really friendly and we finally made it to our B&B after asking directions from the nice lady in the Newspaper store.

So, the next morning, we made the hour bus ride from Llanelli back into Swansea, and, noticing that it was actually a really nice, sunny day, we changed our plans (to explore the city that day) and instead headed to the bus station and found a bus to take us down to Rhossili (the little town where my race was to be held!) down by the coast in the Gower peninsula. It had been forcasted to be a nasty, wet day, but it turned out to be, surprizingly, a gorgeous, 60 degree weather day.

My wellies!

We had a great time down in Rhossilli. It took about an hour to get there, but the landscape was beautfiul, all the oranges and browns and reds and golds forming a leafy blanket over the land as we drove past sheepfields and up and over hills and down into shadowed vales, thru tiny villages of sandstone and stucco, and finally, emerging from the hills to see the ocean, a grey-blue mass broken by huge waves that roared silenetly as we viewed from behind the mud-streaked plexiglass windows of our creaky old bus.

We drove further until we got to the coast itself, and meandered through a skinny roadway, hills on one side, cliffs, and the occasional hamelt on the other, dropping down into the sea. Finally, we curved into a little village full of cute little white stucco houses, a tiny church spire rising up amid the sloping roofs and brilliant green grass patches, neatly trimmed and gleaming with dew, adding color to the scene.

Rhossilli is a beautiful little village that starts higher up in the hills and then migrates downward, till it hits a flat slope that snakes out to a point and then drops away into the ocean. And then, your eye jumps to a double-island (two huge hills that are connected by a tiny strip of rock down the center) emerge from the waves like the loch ness monster rising from depths of the ocean. It's called the worm's head (worm being an old english translation for "dragon," which, when you see it, it makes perfect sense to call it the dragon's head).

The Worm's Head, the far end of the island with it's own secret bay

To the right of this little peninsular-type geography is a huge, sandy beach forming a crescent-shaped bay. Surfers bob up and down in the surf, waiting patiently for the waves that march towards the sand like an army coming in from the horizon-line, continuous and massive and imposing. This area of Wales is apparently the best surfing spot in the whole UK; which, by the size of the waves and the amount of surfers still around during early November, seems to be pretty on the spot to me.

The Beach at Rhossili Bay

We wandered through the village for a little bit and then walked down to the Worm's Head. You can access the island(s) by walking over a rocky causeway that emerges during low tide. Sort of like St. Michael's Mount, but the causeway isn't paved, it's a natural rocky reef of some sort. We scrambled over sharp rocks and around tide pools, crunching mussel shells beneath our wellies, for about half and hour, finally reaching the island on the other side, tired, sweaty and ready for a rest on the grassy slopes.

We passed an older guy on the way over, just before we got to the island, who said there were "quite a few seals" on the right side of the island. When we went over there really were "quite a few" seals playing in the surf and sunning themselves on the rocks below, just up against the island's base. We sat and picnicked for a time, watching the seals, the sun warming our backs and the wind tousling our hair.

After a while, we got up, though, in a hurry to try and reach the worm's head (a good twenty minute walk to the far side of the island, across the rocky strip of land to the "second" island). We had to get there fast before we had to head back, so we wouldn't get cut off by the tide closing in. It was 1pm and we had to get back to the other side of the causeway by 2pm. So, we hurried, but we didn't make it. We chose to head back instead of getting caught with the random dozen sheep (how those sheep made it over to the island I have no idea; that causeway was

treacherous!) overnight.

After returnign to the village we went to the one little cafe and had tea and scones and then took the next bus back to Swansea.

The next day was wet and rainy and cloudy and I was so glad we had decided to go to Rhossilli the day before. We spent the morning wandering around town (Swansea). We found the National Waterfront Museum and explored that for an hour or so. It was actually quite a nice little museum, recently redone, so it had a bunch of techy gadgets and interactive little exhibits which were pretty neat. My favorite was a big screen projected onto the wall that displayed a geological map (showing hills and trees and water, like a picture) the city and the surrounding lands on it. You sat at a little desk in front of it and moved a little ball with your hand. That moved a glowing strip of color across the projected screen, highlighting different places. You could touch a screen on the desk infront of you then, and a little movie about the place that you had just highlighted would tell you all about it. It was pretty neat.

Me coming in towards the finish line

After the museum, I was getting pretty hungry, so we left and, right across the street was a glowing orange and red sign for the local movie theatre. Food forgotten, I dragged my friends over to the theatre and got us in for the next showing of TinTin (actually, a pretty awesome movie!). After the movie, we got lunch/dinner, walked around, went shopping (i got some sweet new clothes), and then went to bed early in preperation for my race the next day.

Race Day: I am converted to trail runnning. Best kind of running ever. Imagine running through open feilds with no track, no concrete, not even a trail to follow, just the churned up, muddy grass in front of you. Imagine running along a cliff, glittering grey waves crashing beneath you, stony rocks climbing up on your right, breaking the cloudless blue sky. Imagine scrambling up hills and dancing down the other side, trying to do it like a mountain goat, with light, but firm feet, not too fast, but not too slow or you'll trip and tumble down the slick, muddy, hillside. Imagine running up a mudslide, through streams and marshes in a scraggly, prickly moorland that goes on forever in an upward slope that finally curves back around to a little village and you break out of the grasses onto hard, black asphalt and then hurtle down the road to the finishline, located beyond a farmer's feild and back through the mud and grass and wet.

Nicole, me and Carolyn (left to right) after my race

Imagine running a race like that and you've got my race.

It was awesome. I loved it. It was one of the hardest races i've ever run, but it was also one of the most fulfilling. Before the race started I wasn't even a tiny bit nervous. I was prepared. I had no fear. I had run hard and worked up to a half-marathon distance before the race, so I was ready for anything. I was really glad I had done that too, because the race took me 1:43 hrs/mins to finish. The longest I had gone before in training was 2hrs. I was so glad. That is about half an hour longer than any other 10k i've ever done, but then again, this 10k was actually more like an 11k, cus it was 6.8ish miles instead of 6.2.

So, that was our trip. After the race we went back to Swansea, took a train home to London, took a bus to our house and hit the sack.

Paris!!

The Eiffel tower at night during the 5 minutes (every hr on the hr) it sparkles

Alrighty, so, I have to write a blog post about Paris. Well, we did soooo much in Paris, I just don't even think it would be fair to split it all up into five huge posts; too much reading. And, since I've already written about it all in my own personal journal, I'm kinda averse to writing it all again, the exact same way that I wrote about it before. So, I think I'm going to list off a bunch of the things that I did, and then tell you all a few short, sweet (and sour) stories about Paris instead!

me in front of the palace of Versailles

Things I Did in Paris:

walked up the first two levels, and then took a lift to the top of THE EIFFEL TOWER

went to NOTRE DAME

THE LOUVRE

took a solo picture with THE MONA LISA

took a BOAT TOUR on the river Sein

walked down the CHAMPS DE L'ESSAYS and went into a huge Sephora store (make-up paradise!)

paid 2 EUROS FOR A BATHROOM

ate the best patisseries ever at the BEST PATISSARIE IN THE WHOLE WORLD

went to MUSEE D'ORSAY

admired and ogled at the Dying Slave, a SCULPTURE BY MICHELANGELO

went to the POMPIDOU CENTRE

walked around a RODIN SCULPTURE GARDEN in the rain

saw THE THINKER a sculpture by Auguste Rodin, a modern day Michelangelo (look it up, you probably know this one, even if you think you don't)

saw NAPOLEON'S TOMB

went down the creepy underground tunnels of the famous CATACOMBES

climbed the ARC DU TRIOMPHE at night

went to the L'ORANGERIE an impressionist museum that houses some of MONET'S WATERLILIES

went to the MARMOTTAN, another museum, which has the LARGEST MONET COLLECTION IN THE WORLD

getting followed by a CREEPER GUY on the metro

walking through VERSAILLES a huge, grotesquely ornate palace where Marie Anttoinette did her “let them eat cake!” thing

looked out from SACRE COURE, a cathedral on a huge hill and saw all of Paris spread out beneath us

saw the famous SAINT-CHAPPELLE stained-glass windows, whose brilliant colors have never been able to be recreated

had a friend, Sarah, LOOSE A SHOE in mud, trying to cross a ditch and climb a wall (ILLEGALLY) at Versailles

ate lots of delicious CHOCOLATE MOUSSE and CREPES

BREAKING CURFEW FOR CRAPPY DESSERT

tried on MAGIC LIPSTICK that later got us HIT ON BY WAITER AT ITALIAN FOOD (yes, we ate Italian in Paris)

could find NO SHOES IN SIZE 42 which is a size 9 in the US

ate a lot of FRIES which are just called “fries” cus, well, we were in France

ate some ONION SOUP (WHICH IS ALSO FRENCH)

and BOUGHT CHEAPO SOUVINEERS

Me and Travis the Traveling Frog in front of a frog water fountain at Versailles

okay, so, that's pretty much all. Sweet. Got a whole week covered in a single list.

So, overall, I have to say that I LOVED seeing all the attractions (the Eiffle tower, Notre Dame, the museums, etc), but I did not really love the city of Paris itself. Paris is dirty, rough, and most French people really did not like Americans (or any english speakers). It was really hard not speaking the language- not that I talk to people in London all the time, but it is nice to know what the annoucner guy is saying over the intercom on the Metro or being able to read and understand all the signs around you.

Pic of me taking a pic in the hall of mirrors :D

I also felt afraid almost continuously all week long- either I was afraid of speaking the language, or of getting pick-pocketed, or of the people around me on the metro. One night we did have a crazy old french dude follow us in the metro; he followed us onto the train, all the way through the train (we walked upstairs and then downstairs in an effort to loose him but he stuck to us like a piece of gum), and then got off with us at our stop. The whole time he was cursing at us (doing some sort of witchcraft curse, with hand motions and everything) and it was just really unpleasant. When he followed us off the train I got really mad and scared and turned around and told him, “Stop following us— Stay on the train!” Really loud in a firm voice, and then turned and pretty much ran, but not before I heard him laugh at me and keep following us.

The only reason we got rid of the guy (yeah, nobody tried to stop him or help us either!) was

because he didn't have a ticket to get through the turnstiles and exit the metro station.

That was pretty creepy. That night we went home and just ate dinner at the hotel cus that was the only place we actually felt safe.

Going to Paris really put things into perspective for me. I didn't realize how awesome it is to be here in London, where I understand the language (most of the time :D) and where everything is soo clean, and so much brighter and well lit. I feel safe on the streets and I don't feel like everyone hates me because I'm American.

Before going to Paris, though, I didn't really realize how good we had it. I even compared Britain to the US, thinking that, man did we have it good in the United States. Now I'm even more grateful for the United States and our government and the way things are run there. There may be some good things here, like awesome public transportation and stuff, but along with that comes creeper guys that follow you around and nasty urine puddles on the ground and gross trash all over and little mice and rats scampering between the rails, and dingy hallways and tunnel-systems that you navigate like little moles underground, popping up, blinking in the sunlight from spending too much time underground.

So, there are pros and cons to living in different places, but, I think I've definitely decided that the United States is the place for me. It truly is the promised land.

Notre Dame!