The Break: A Grandmother Comes to London

After a month of silence, this blog will once more be brought up to date. Apologies to any readers (besides my mother) who have been waiting anxiously to know what I did to pass the time during Christmas break.

In short, my grandmother came for a wonderful 3-week visit. We spent time in London, Dorchester, Paris, and Oxford - not bad for just 3 weeks. To document everything that we did would be ambitious, so I'll just provide the highlights.

Best shows/concerts:

-Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Christmas Concert: Brilliant.

-'The Phantom of the Opera' at Her Majesty's Theatre: The music of the night is never over.

-'Chicago' at the Garrick Theatre: Extremely well-done, love the music.

Best food:

-Paul cafes in London: Grandma likes the pastries. I love the paninis.

-Christmas Eve dinner at La Piazza near Embankment: Great company (happy group of friends livened up the place) and good meal.

-Christmas Day dinner at Le Bouchon Breton: Delicious turkey.

-Lenois Restaurant in Paris: Yum. The dinner was even better than the French bread and wine.

-Ed's Diner: An American diner in London. I didn't realize how much I missed having a good cheeseburger and shake.

-Melanie's Italian Restaurant: New Year's Eve Veal Spectacular. Unwisely ordered dessert. I've never been so stuffed with food in my life.

-A simple home-cooked meal at Norma's

Best flicks:

-'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows': Opening weekend in Dorchester. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law deliver once more.

-'Meet Me in St. Louis': Screening of the holiday classic at BFI Southbank. Judy Garland singing 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' makes Grandma and I cry.

-'Mission Impossible 4': Not a great script, but some really good action.

-'The Iron Lady': Meryl Streep will win the Oscar.

Best drinks:

-Rose wine: At dinner most nights, plus demolished 3 bottles in my flat.

-Gin and tonics: An English classic.

-Mulled wine: A seasonal favorite.

Best museums:

-National Portrait Galley: Special exhibit on 'The First Actresses'

-Ashmolean Museum in Oxford

-Sherlock Holmes Museum: 221B Baker Street.

Best coffee:

-COSTA. Hands down.

Best random places we visited:

-Fortnum and Mason department store in Piccadilly: Most spectacular window displays before Christmas.

-The bookstores: Foyles, Blackwells, Hatchards, Waterstones. I love them.

-Pere Lechaise Cemeterie in Paris: You've never seen a cemetery until you see this place.

-Opera Garnier in Paris: The Phantom choose quite an opera house to haunt.

-Regent Street: Shopping.

That gives you some idea of how we spent our holiday break. It really was lovely. Our visit to Dorchester was a nice weekend in the countryside, which allowed Grandma to recover a bit from jet-lag. Joan at the Aquila Heights Guest House once again adopted me (and Grandma too); she is the most generous lady and I'll make a point to return to see her once more before I return to the States.

Christmas (and New Years) were both spent in London and I've learned a very important lesson in the experience. I was so blessed to have family with me, but I will not be spending another Christmas and New Year away from home again in a long time. It was quite difficult for both of us to be away from our loved ones, and it was lonely just the two of us in the big city. Expensive meals and wine consoled our sadness only a little, and skype-ing with the rest of the family was by far the most wonderful part of the holidays. When I'm home next year, curled up on the sofa with my family all around the living room, moaning that we all ate too much and arguing over what film to watch - well, I'll be so grateful to just be there.

Between the holidays, however, Grandma and I enjoyed ourselves in Paris. We took the Eurostar to the City of Lights and spent 3 days exploring the city of Hugo and Hemingway. It was Grandma's first time in Paris (my second), so we made the most of our time there by pulling a few long days and making our way to our must-see sites around the city. We managed to visit the Eiffel Tower, the Pere Lechaise Cemetery, Sainte-Chapelle, Notre Dame, the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore, the Ile d' St. Louis, the Place de la Concorde, the Opera Garnier, the Arc d'Triomphe, the Champs-Elysses, and the Petit Palais, as well as take a lovely little boat ride down the Seine. Our final morning there, Grandma slept in and I ventured out early to climb Notre Dame. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The view of the city, the majesty of the cathedral, the brilliant rising sun, the gruesome gargoyles... Being up there makes you see Paris as Victor Hugo saw it. It truly is breathtaking.

After New Year, Grandma and I headed to Oxford for a few days. We visited a friend of my grandmother's, a lovely lady named Norma, who lives in Headington. Norma spent a good two days with us, visiting with us and showing us around Oxford. I was so blessed to have her celebrate my 21st birthday with Grandma and I. We had a lovely time together and I look forward to visiting her quite often in the coming months.

Some photographs from the Christmas break:

Grandma having her first fish and chips in Dorchester. She wasn't brave enough to try the mushy peas.

London Eye at Christmas

Covent Garden

Costa on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day Dinner

A foggy night in Paris.

Kissing Oscar Wilde's Grave at the Pere Lechaise Cemetery.

Pere Lechaise Cemetery - Grave of journalist Victor Noir. There's a superstition that if you rub Victor's, um.... yeah, it will cure infertility in women. Needless to say, neither Grandma nor I partook in that activity; though we were amused all the same.

The stained glass in Sainte-Chapelle. Awe-inspiring.

Notre Dame

Opera Garnier. Waiting to see the Phantom of Leroux's story.

Opera Garnier

Grandma in the Opera Garnier

'There are worse things than a shattered chandelier.'

Opera Garnier

After a dinner in Paris. Grandma sitting pretty.

View from Notre Dame

The famous gargoyle of Notre Dame.

A zoomed-in view of the Tower from Notre Dame.

Norma and Grandma in a pub in Headington. Pre-birthday gin and tonics for the three of us.

Back in London, the Sherlock Holmes Museum.

Last day in London with Grandma. Miss her!

We had some great adventures, her and I. We took buses and trains and undergrounds. We walked great distances. We saw amazing things and spent time with lovely people. So while I may have wanted to be 'home for Christmas,' this year's holidays will stand out in my memory as a wonderful time spent with my wonderful grandmother.

It's back to life in London as usual now. A new semester has started (2 new classes - Milton; Gladstone and Ireland) and there is a lot to look forward to. I'll be plotting my travel plans for the next few months but will also be focusing on spending time here with the people I've gotten close to.

'This, my friend, is a pint.'

December in England is lovely. Even the horror of final essays could not diminish this wonderful time of year. From blinding lights on Oxford Street to carol services to mulled wine, every day holds something festive. I've been really lucky to be able to spend a lot of this pre-holiday time with friends, which has made everything even more special. I've spent an afternoon in the cafe at Foyles writing with a friend, walked around Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park with some fantastic Americans, and met together with fellow Christians for 'Coffee and Carols' at the coffee-shop on campus.

Winter Wonderland is crazy. Hyde Park is converted into this huge carnival/market/food extravaganza. It's sensory-overload if I've ever experienced it. The lights, the smell of the food, the kids, the music...

Emma and I

This past weekend, the holiday cheer continued with a day-trip with the girls in my bible study to Oxford. I had been dying to go. I went, and I was not disappointed. The city is lovely - lots of beautiful shops, an energetic market, cute pubs, and, of course, the majestic university buildings. Unfortunately, most of the colleges were closed or required you to pay for admission, but at least I got to walk around and see the place's exterior. I did go in the Bodleian library exhibit though, which was very neat. Other highlights included meeting Norma, a friend that my grandmother met on a cruise once. She's an amazing, independent, interesting lady who used to be a professional ballroom dancer. Norma's lived in Oxford almost all her life, so was a great tour guide and fantastic to talk to. My other favorite part of the day was going to the Eagle and Child pub, where the 'Inklings' - the literary circle of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien - used to meet. The pub is quaint and old and rickety and dark - it's perfect. I had myself a nice half-pint of the beer on tap to honor the great English writers who frequented the space. It was truly a wonderful experience and I'm glad the lovely girls from QM were there with me to enjoy it.

Oxford - spot of the Martryrs

Preppy Oxford-ians

Bodleian library

Part of the original manuscript of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, with edits by Percy B. Shelley - so amazing to see their handwriting.

Bible Study girls - Christa (USA), Jilly (northern Ireland), Bernou (Holland/Switzerland/Liechtenstein)

The pub visited by Lewis and Tolkien

'It comes in pints? I'm getting one!'

Cheers!

The Bard, The Legend, The Shopping: Stratford-upon-Avon

Ladies and gentlemen - The last of my November travels.

The weekend after Thanksgiving (which I did celebrate, my friends... just a week late), I once again boarded a lovely National Express coach to travel the highways of the UK. My destination: Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare.

The town of Stratford, in addition to attempting to conserve the bard's houses and housing his grave in the Trinity Church, is apparently a small-town shopping mecca for the Midlands. 'Tis a quaint ol' place, full of boutiques and chain-stores, pubs and cafes, hair salons, toy shops, electronic stores, souvenir shops, Christmas stores, travel agencies... need I go on? For my Michigan readers, think Downtown Plymouth tripled. For my Ohio followers, think Medina doubled. That'll give you a pretty good idea of the place.

My main motivation for visiting Stratford was, of course, the theatre. That Friday evening I attended a new production called 'The Heart of Robin Hood' at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The show was entertaining - pretty family-friendly, lots of humor, etc. Nothing completely new on the Robin-Hood-legend front, except that the production focused on Marian, who becomes a good outlaw and teaches the thug Robin Hood the error of his ways. They did add a new character I liked a lot though - Marian's prissy French manservant, Pierre. I enjoyed myself and the theatre itself was amazing - an indoor version of the Globe... with real, padded seats (thank goodness!).

I also fulfilled the requisite visits for a literary pilgrim. A slightly over-priced pass got me into three of Shakespeare's residences in the town. Did I say three? I mean two of his residences and one museum in the building next door where his final house (now demolished) once stood. C'est la vie. The exhibit and birthplace of Shakespeare are pretty sweet though, and I actually learned a thing or two there.

The problem about my visit to Stratford was that it was too long for a broke college student by herself. After seeing all the Shakespeare sites, I still had hours before my coach back to London Saturday night. So I did what everyone else in Stratford was doing: I shopped. Bad news. I do have a nice new overnight bag and some delicious luxury white hot chocolate though. But even shopping couldn't keep me amused for that long. I ended up at this tiny little Italian cafe, attempting to read over a cup of coffee. The waiter convinced me that I needed a crepe too as I sat there for a few hours. Lucky for him, it was a good crepe.

Shakespeare Monument on the river Avon

Avon

Royal Shakespeare Co. Theatre

Hall Croft, the home of Shakespeare's eldest daughter and her husband. Will resided with them for a time.

The Bard's grave in Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon

The town decorated for Christmas. Notice all the shoppers.

Coffee and a yummy crepe.

Christmas lights!

At Shakespeare's birthplace.

So ends my final weekend of mayhem in the month of November. Here are some things I have learned:

-Hostels - not as bad as people hint they are, but then again, I've been pretty lucky.

-Food = expensive. Coffee = less expensive. When broke, drink coffee for that third meal of the day.

-Traveling alone - this is very tricky. Some of my solo experiences were amazing (Laugharne in Wales, St. Andrews in Scotland), while others brought me to the verge of tears when I had no one to sympathize with me (Swansea in Wales, almost Stratford). Places of natural beauty and an energetic local character were wonderful to see alone - I liked being able to just enjoy myself without worrying about what anyone else wanted or thought. Places filled with shoppers and, in the case of Swansea, appalling weather were not good - I got very lonely and bored once I had finished seeing and doing what I wanted. Part of the joy of travelling is companionship and sharing those travels (mishaps and high points alike) with someone.

-Christmas markets MAKE you spend money. Seriously. They advertise these amazing deals that you cannot refuse.

-Waterstones bookstores are everywhere. Foyles is not.

-I love London. It has Foyles. And friends. And church. All great, amazing things.

Well, that is all for my crazy month, folks. These first two weeks of December are dedicated to schoolwork (lots of essays to start and finish), friends, and Christmas in London. My grandmother is coming a week from Friday (YAY!) to stay with me for three weeks and my travels will commence again at that time. In the meantime, when I am avoiding homework, I may do a few posts that I've been meaning to do about more ordinary things like classes, church, etc.

Krakow, Polska

I again have no excuses as to why I have fallen so behind while keeping this blog. All I can say is: life is busy. So here's details of my trip to Poland, which took place 17-20 November.

Flying Ryanair, the main budget airline in the UK, is an experience. My friend Emma had flown it before, but my first time with 'the on-time airline' was our Krakow excursion. Just imagine... frantically packing all I can fit into my backpack for the weekend (my first time backpacking-it in Europe!); a 1 hour bus ride out to Stansted Airport (it's called London-Stansted but honestly, it's in the middle of nowhere outside of London); slight panic attack at security when I realize the liquids I packed are a. over 100ml and b. not in a clear plastic bag; navigate through the labyrinth that is the airport; stand in line for an hour before making a mad charge to the plane (no reserved seats); advertisements the whole flight, no complimentary drinks (even water), and a little triumphant melody played over the speakers when we make it 'on-time'. Now I know that travel isn't relaxing but this was discomfort at a whole new level. On the bright side, I realized my love for train travel, which after the delay coming back from Edinburgh, I thought was permanently lost.

We arrived safe and sound in Krakow and met our taxi driver. The drive to the hostel was crazy - it was dark and the densest fog I've ever seen blanketed the area.  You couldn't see the buildings six feet away from you. But we made it, checked in to the Elephant-on-the-Moon hostel, ran out to the only store open at 9pm (a liquor store) for some food, and settled in for the night.

A note on the Elephant-on-the-Moon Hostel - BEST HOSTEL EVER. The owner, Aga, is such a sweetheart and really takes care of you. The hostel definitely has a home-y feel and you get breakfast and it's definitely the cheapest I've stayed at. Aga also very kindly moved us from a dorm-style room to a room with just two twin beds even though we hadn't paid for a private room. It was wonderful.

On Friday, we took a day-long tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau, which are located about an hour and a half outside of the city of Krakow. It is difficult to convey here what visiting the camps was like; to say 'it was heartbreaking' or 'it was shocking' just does not seem to cover it. We spent a total of 3 hours walking in the two camps and I don't think I was able to say a full sentence the whole time. The harsh reality of what happened kind of slams you in the chest and knocks the wind and the tears out of you; you walk around stunned silent. The exhibits in Auschwitz, which are housed in the blocks where prisoners were kept, humanize the Holocaust in a way that other museums fail to do. There is a room with thousands of shoes taken from prisoners who perished at Auschwitz or Birkenau, a room with childrens' clothing, a display full of eyeglasses... You gain a level of understanding that no book or movie can give. We've all seen the famous images of the place, but to see the wood and brick and barbed wire yourself is powerful.

Auschwitz

From Auschwitz I, our group moved to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Our guide, a Polish woman, took us through both camps, telling us information we needed to know but that we probably wished we didn't have to hear. On entering Birkenau, however, she was quiet as we walked along the rail tracks that run through the middle of the camp. On your left are the womens' brick barracks, many still standing. On your right are the mens' wooden barracks, which were originally built as horse stables  and few of which are still standing. However, the small stone furnaces of each barrack on both sides still stand: you look out over a field of hundreds of little chimneys. Each barrack housed hundreds of people. The scale of the camp is startling. Birkenau, though called a museum, has remained untouched since the end of the war. The ruins of the barracks and the rubble from the blown-up gas chambers and crematorium lie there, on this field, as a shouting warning to humankind. There are no words - only despair.

Birkenau

Visiting the camps will be a memory I carry with me always.

We returned to Krakow for dinner in the city center that evening. The pierogi in Poland - excellent. I also tried some Polish cherry vodka with banana juice, which was quite good.

For our Saturday in Krakow, Emma and I took a free 3-hr walking tour of Royal Krakow. For centuries, the city served as the seat of monarchical government in Poland (before the capital was transferred to Warsaw). Much of the old city remains, as Krakow was not bombed during the Second World War. Our tour began in the city center, Market Square, and took us past the medieval city gates that remain, Wawel Castle, and the famous Krakow dragon (the statue is 'alive' in that it spouts fire every few minutes). I had heard that Krakow was a gorgeous city and I definitely agree. The architectural styles of so many eras appear within the small city centre, housing so much history.

Market Square

Tadeusz Kosciuszko Monument at Wawel Castle - Love him.

Wawel Castle - the Cathedral which houses the remains of Poland's kings and queens, Kosciuszko, and is the final resting place of Poland's president and first lady that were killed in the tragic plane crash last year.

Back in Market Square - Shopping in the Arcade.

A pro: Emma and I ate well in Poland - pierogi and the famous Krakow pretzels. They were delicious.

A con: It was FREEZING in Poland - in the negative degrees C. Such a dramatic change from London. I had to buy a wool hat. Below is me, in my hat, with my pretzel. I'm wearing two pairs of socks and I had to take off my two pairs of gloves to eat my pretzel. You're lucky I'm smiling.

Our final site to visit in Krakow was Oskar Schlinder's factory. The factory now houses an exhibit about the Nazi Occupation of Krakow, showing what life was life for both Jews and Poles in the city from 1939-1945. The way of life for non-Jewish civilians under Nazi rule is something I haven't really been exposed to in my education, so it was very interesting to learn about the sufferings and resistance of those just trying to live in Poland. Many Poles were imprisoned or killed during the occupation, including faculty of the universities and women who were involved in the Polish resistance. The factory as has a few rooms dedicated to Schlinder and his efforts during the war. His office has been reconstructed and there is a circular room with metal walls that list all the names of the Jewish workers he saved. It was astonishing to see how many names there were.

Schlinder's Factory

Visiting Poland, the land of my ancestors, was a unique experience. I was fortunate to have Emma with me and we were so glad to have had the opportunity to see a city that has witnessed so much triumph and tragedy over the centuries.

So that's Poland. My last trip of November was to Stratford-upon-Avon, which I will post on very soon.