Auf Wiedersehen and Welcome!

Hello everyone! I've returned safely from my Spring Break travels and am now back in Bath. Spring Break was great. I've already written a little bit about Ireland, but to finish up-- Easter night John, Emily, Sarah, and I went out to the pubs. Yes, all of the pubs were open on Easter Sunday, as a very rude woman who worked in our hostel informed us.

John: Will the pubs and things be open tonight?
Rude Woman: (using a 'tone' with some 'attitude') Yes, why wouldn't they be?
John: Well, because it's Sunday... and it's Easter.
Rude Woman: Things only close for Good Friday, why would they close for Easter?
John: Ok, well thanks.

Which, I mean, makes some sense. Everyone in Ireland takes off not only Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but also Easter Monday. So Sunday night is apparently a perfect night for hitting up the pubs. We went to a traditional one which was PACKED. It was called Twas Coilis, I think. It had traditional Irish music played by three (slightly drunk) Irishmen and everyone else there had Irish accents and was singing along and in general quite boisterous. I had a half-pint of Guinness, because I was in Ireland after all.

On the last day we were in Ireland we went on a tour to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. It looked just how you would expect Ireland to look. I bought myself a little instructional guide to Irish faeries that day for fun and it's actually quite fascinating. I love Irish myths and legends. And looking around the Burren I could totally believe in falling into faeryland. All you have to do is walk around a faery rath three times and in you go to their splendid crystal halls, according to the book. At any rate, the scenery was gorgeous, and the Cliffs were spectacular!!! They took three million years to evolve. They are over 600 ft. above sea level. The wind up there was so strong that I worried I would blow right off, which could have been problematic not only for me but for my tour company. There was no voucher to sign before letting us loose on the Cliffs (though, luckily, most of the Cliff area had a wall). We also saw some other sites-- an old Celtic tomb, an earthwork fort from around 2000 B.C (I had my faery book by this point and if there are faeries in Ireland they are IN THAT EARTHWORK FORT), a castle that the Irish National Theatre was dreamed up in (Yeats was there, and Lady Gregory!), Lisdoonvarna-- the Irish town of the Matchmaking Festival, and a few other places. It was a good tour, I thought.

The next day we had to get up extremely early in order to catch the bus to the Shannon airport. We were leaving the hostel by 6:30 in the morning (I think we woke up the other people in our hostel room, specifically a Russian couple who tickled each other until the wee hours of the morning-- swear to God, hostels are not an experience that I want to repeat). We met up with Andrew and his girlfriend at the bus station and then us ASErs bid Megan goodbye and headed off to the airport. We made our flight, got to Stansted, spent six or so hours sitting in the airport, then we were off to Munich! We got to Munich with very little trouble, negotiated our way to the hostel, and got our room. This hostel was better than the one in Ireland-- with Danielle G. arriving we filled a room for six so we had no strangers staying with us, plus the atmosphere was more like a hotel lobby than like summer camp. Still... I think I'm over the hostel thing.

Ahem...Why I Should Have Studied Abroad in Germany:
1) Munich has really great food.
2) Munich has nightlife-- things are open past midnight.
3) Munich is cheaper than Bath.
4) Munich has a wider array of (cheaper, more interesting) day-trips than Bath.
5) I could have learned a foreign language.

The first day in Munich we took a walking tour with a native English speaking guide (it was a free tour thing for backpackers and the guides work for tips-- they are all in their twenties-- it was a really cool thing). I think this guy was a history major, because he talked a lot about history and memory. We saw the Frauenkirche (which Betsy Ray visits in Betsy and the Great World!) and we walked by the Old Town Hall, and saw the Glockenspiel, and we went into the Hofbrauhaus (not for the last time). We also found this gorgeous church called Theatinekirche. I've never seen anything like it. I wanted Jacob there, because I'm pretty sure he would have appreciated the artistic interior far more than I did. It had these twisty columns and some paintings which were probably quite famous, but I wouldn't know. We also went to the English Gardens for a bit and I swear I saw the spot where Betsy and Helena ate lunch before going to the Bayerische Nationalmuseum. Btw, Betsy is the fictionalized version of the author, Maud Hart Lovelace, so really I'm seeing all the places Maud saw... just to clarify for all you non-Betsy-Tacy lovers out there (most of you, I'm guessing). Our tourguide also talked a lot about Hitler and Nazism. I never realized how much of that had happened in Munich-- I guess I always sort of thought it was more of a Berlin thing-- but really it all started in Munich. It made me sad, because I have rather thought of Munich as a Betsy-Tacy rosy glasses city-- and for her it was! She was there in 1913! WWI hadn't started much less WWII! But we saw a lot of sites that had to do with Nazi protesters and Hitler and a memorial at the University to the White Roses-- a student organization which opposed Nazism (it's leaders were executed under the regime). We could have gone to Dachou Concentration Camp, but we decided against it. If we had been in Germany longer we probably would have gone, but we didn't really feel like spending Spring Break crying.

The second day in Munich we just went to some museums. First, we all climbed the tower of Peterkirche. It reminded me of climbing the Duomo in Florence, except less claustrophobic on the way up (and not as high, I doubt). There were some excellent views of Munich, however. Then we went to the Munich Hunting and Fishing Museum, which was actually pretty awesome. It had all these old crossbows and beautiful intricately jeweled and carved rifles, and some old hunting toboggans used by the rich and powerful. It was much better than expected. Next, us girls went to the Residenz Museum. It was pretty much like any other pretty, rich house. It reminded me of Versailles, Hampton Court, The Governors Palace... anything in a Georgian-style, really. It had an awesome treasury, though! There was this one small... jeweled thing... of St. George slaying the dragon-- it was beautiful!!!! And so intricate! I also went to the toy museum, which was a let-down. It was small. I also shopped in Promod, my favorite store from Italy, though I didn't buy anything. AND I got a Mezzo Mix, which is the soda at the Coke Stop in Disney World where there are sodas from around the world. I really kind of thought Coke made up those sodas, because I haven't seen any for real anywhere else. I love Mezzo Mix. It was kind of a dreary day, though, and I felt very homesick all afternoon. Sigh. That night perked me up though! We went to the Hofbrauhaus-- the most famous beerhall in Munich. It celebrated its 400th Anniversary last year the waiter told us, to which I replied "So did Jamestown Settlement!" We had AMAZING FOOD (Bavaria has incredible food-- I'm not sure why no one ever talks about their culinary experience in Germany, because mine was beyond belief) and we each drank a FULL LITER OF BEER! Some people finished TWO LITERS (not me, though... I'm not sure my stomach would have allowed it). We were all very happy that evening. I fell asleep the second we got back to the hostel, but apparently everyone else stayed awake for awhile and had some Smirnoff... bad call, guys. "Beer before liquer, never been sicker." I, however, woke feeling perfectly peachy.

Our final day in Germany us girls took a day trip to a beautiful little Alpine village called Garmisch, where the 1936 Winter Olympics were held, apparently. The place was classic Germany. I loved it. We had lunch outside surrounded by the Alps and I bought a little German teddy-bear (I still haven't named her) and I got some gifts for my parents. We also found a wonderful chocolaterie. I really think Garmisch was my favorite day of all of Spring Break. It was relaxing with walking trails and a peaceful church and a little restaurant on a mountainside and beautiful Alpine houses.

Final Munich note: They have much better street performers than Bath. In Bath we have some homeless men with tin pipes and guitars scattered around. If we are lucky we get a man playing the violin on a tight rope or the men who put sparklers in their behinds. In Munich, however, we got a classical pianist on a baby grand and a string trio playing classical music. In general, I would have to say that Munich is superior to Bath. Except in Bath I understand the language without trying, which is a plus.

I got back to Bath today. I had a good time going through customs:

Airport Employee Manning the Passport Line: Well, well, you've arrived at a perfect time, eh? We just got this flight in from backwoods Turkey and none of them speak English or know what they are doing. It's terrible. It's like they are from a whole nother world. Oh, I guess they are. I think it's called the third-world.

Then, Passport Control Man: Oh thank God! People who speak English! I might just keep you here for the next half-hour so I don't have to deal with any more of those Turks. It's bloody ridiculous they don't know what they are doing.

Needless to say, we were the English-speaking hit of the Border Controllers hour, so we got back into the UK with absolutely no trouble at all. Probably they would have waved us through even if we didn't have our passports with us.

So, now I have three papers and a presentation to work on. Ouch. It will be lots of working for the next couple of days. Luckily, I will sleep well now, because my bed here has back support and my room isn't occupied by strangers. Yay! Hope everyone else has had a good week!

And congratulations to Callie on getting into GRAD SCHOOL!!!!

Once Through Tara's Halls...

Happy Easter, everyone! I'm in Ireland! We arrived late Friday night and have been on the go ever since. I'm traveling with some of my friends-- Emily, John, Andrew, and Sarah, and in Munich we are going to meet up with Danielle.

The group of us left Bath on the 1:24 train to Bristol Temple Meads, then promptly got the Bristol Flyer to the airport. We left early because John was worried about Good Friday traffic (although he's the one who had to run back for his passport), and we had hours to sit around the airport doing nothing. After several hours of nothingness we checked into our flight and made it through security where we found Sylvia waiting for her delayed Venice flight. It was nice to see Sylvia one last time before everyone seperated for the week. Anyways, our flight was on time, nice, easy, quick-- and we were in Ireland! I listened to Great Big Sea the whole flight and bus ride from Shannon to Galway. Once at the bus stop, Andrew met up with his girlfriend, Megan (she's studying abroad in Ireland), and they headed off to a hotel while the rest of us trudged to our hostel.

Our hostel is much like a summer camp. They have a board saying where all the craic (fun) is, and they push tours, and the room we are in has eight beds (we fill four) and they are all bunked. Last night we had two Swedish girls and two German girls with us. We have new roommates tonight, but we haven't met them yet. Friday night we didn't really do anything, because everything was closed for Good Friday.

Saturday, however, we went out to the Aran Islands! We went to Inishmore, the largest of the Islands. We all rented bikes, which might have been a bad idea, considering I'm horrible at bike-riding and terrified of bikes, but I managed to overcome my fear (sort of) and rode around the island. We went to this old Celtic Fort built in 2000 B.C-- it overlooks the Atlantic and is absolutely beautiful. We rode by the sea quite a bit. It was a really nice day. After we got back yesterday evening we tried to go to a pub for dinner, but everything was packed! After much walking around we finally found a little American style diner called Eddie Rocket's (Johnny's brother? His Irish cousin?) and got hamburgers, fries, onion rings, and milk shakes. I think it was much needed. We're all kind of missing America right now. After dinner we all went to a pub called "The King's Head." I stayed for a few minutes, but I was pretty tuckered out from the day, so I headed back to the hostel to rest.

Today, Easter, has been amazing! We woke up, got toast at the hostel, then headed out to church. We went to a Catholic Mass at Galway Cathedral-- the Cathedral is beautiful, and the mass was very nice. They opened with the hymn "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," the same hymn that all Episcopal Easter Services begin with, and that made me really happy-- it can't be Easter without that hymn. Strangely enough, everything has been open today. Apparently Good Friday is the day that everything is closed. We spent the day in Galway shopping (I got a scally-cap for Jacob!) and looking around. Emily and I got some Irish donuts which were AMAZING but I can feel them clogging my arteries, and we got a traditional Irish breakfast at 12:30 at Riordan's, which was sooo good. Everything here is about Claddagh-- all the tourists shops sell the rings, there is a museum dedicated to it (closed today, though, ironically) and everyone wears Claddagh rings. I like that I already had one-- it makes me feel special. It also makes me miss Jacob more than ever. Everything here is also about Guiness, which I have yet to drink in Ireland-- I may do that tonight, just to say that I got a pint while in Ireland. Also, I've seen about eight rainbows since I got here. Now I know why the rainbow is a symbol of Ireland-- they are around everyday! Which makes sense, because everyday is the kind of day while the sun shines as it pours rain.

Tomorrow we're going to the Cliffs of Moher, which promise to be amazing.

Hope everyone is having a great Easter!

Gearing to Go...

Tomorrow Spring Break starts.

Everyone here at ASE is in a flurry of panic. It sort of crept up on us. I don't have little bottles of shampoo, and I need to change money into euros, and I finally did laundry today, but now I have to figure out how to get it all in a little duffel. Someone suggested buying a lock, because apparently at hostels they give you little lockers if you supply a lock, but I have no idea where to find something like that here in Bath. Another rumor is that hostels don't supply sheets unless you pay extra, so after weighing the options, I've decided just to pony up the pounds instead of cramming a blanket into my full duffel. Furthermore, there is no food in our flat but we're all leaving tomorrow so there's no point to buying more, so basically we're all starving. *Dies a little*

I should be doing several things today: packing, getting together necessary odds and ends, and writing a paper about Parliamentary Reform. Hm. That would be productive.