Birthday Blessings. Thank you!

It has been a fantastic day full of wonderful blessings. From a four-mile stroll to Kensington Park and the Science Museum (where I saw awesome planes and adorable bubble-catching children), to receiving Pterrance the Pterodactyl, to eating a wonderful veggie-wrap dinner, I was once again reminded of the amazing opportunity to be in London with many new friends. Additionally, the three e-cards from Mom and signed-notes from church that she mailed were bright moments and great reminders of home. Now, Maddi and I are off to Scotland for my birthday weekend. I cannot wait! Love, Kate

Let's start at the very beginning...

Munich and Salzburg were wonderful get-a-ways! I’ll be uploading photos for the next couple of days and will write of my adventures after my mid-term tomorrow.

The English Gardens was so large and full of so many things – rivers, bridges, summits, dogs, and most importantly, stampeding children J 

The Viktualienmakt was a reminder of ‘home’ (London’s Borough Market). It was full of people, local produce, great artisan crafts, and fantastic smelling food!

I moved rocks all day and night....

Stonehenge at Sunset

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Bath, England. The green steaming liquid is an original Roman baths. One of my professors suggested I feel the microbe-infested water (he did not include that part in his promotion of the idea), and I politely responded that he must not know me well. 
If you look at the pictures and think “Everything looks oddly familiar. Did Kate take several pictures of the same building?” then, you are doing well. Unlike London, Bath is designed so there is building continuity and all homes/stores/museums look eerily identical.

Click picture to enlarge 

The Queen was home!

During winter, the Changing of Guard takes places every odd-numbered date at eleven-thirty and lasts approximately thirty minutes. Maddi and I, on our weekly venture, took a leisurely three mile stroll to Green Park and the Palace. Punctual, we arrived at eleven twenty-five. This was a horrible terrible abysmal not-so-great idea as there were thousands of sharp-elbowed people tourists at the gates of Buckingham Palace who were crowding the barricades. Yes, there were real barricades and men on horses and guards in large puffy hats with horn-like obtrusions and trombones and closed down streets and the Queen was home, AND this happens every other day! What an interesting, fun spectacle. Maddi and I will be returning soon, but plan on going an hour early to secure the perfect spot for vertically-challenged tourists J

Tomorrow I am headed to Bath and Stonehenge – woohoo! Also, four days until SB 2012: Munich & Slazburg. London life is fantastic.

Europe's Kentucky

Sociologists have identified two ways in which people interact with one another – gemeinschaff and gesellschaft. Gemeinschaff is how people related to one another in rural places. This interaction is based on sameness and continuity, and defined by primary relationships. Contrasting this relationship is gesellschaft and defines how people interact with one another in large cities. In these interactions, there is significant visual stimulation that decreases primary relationships and leads to people having many secondary relationships.

London operates under the large-city mantra – gesellschaft. Before learning this, I assumed that the lack of interaction with one another was just London, but now, I am interested to see how cities like Munich and Paris compare. This week, Maddi and I traveled to Dublin, Maynooth, and Bray, Ireland where the refreshing gemeinschaff relationships and interactions reigned.

The city of London is composed of nine million people while the entire country of Ireland has a population of four million people. Therefore, even the ‘busy’ times of Dublin did not begin to compare to normal London traffic and movement. The pace of life in Dublin is very different from London, and I do believe it is Europe’s Kentucky. Although there were many people of the street, they were not as focused or determined to travel from point A to point B, rather, the Irish gave every indication that they were enjoying the journey. In London, enjoying the journey is silly and the enjoyment is found in reaching a destination quickly and without interruptions. When you bump into someone, you do not apologize because a) you move too quickly b) it was the other person’s fault for invading your path. In Dublin, it was refreshing to receive and give an apology when you bumped shoulders or to speak with someone as you waited in line.  On the ride to Maynooth, the Ireland vs. Scotland rugby game had just ended and people were piled on celebrating (loudly) with one another. Although we had no idea who won, we joined in on the conversations and enjoyed the nine little boys who sat behind us trying to fit into two seats (my favorite comment – May I put my elbow in your eye?). The boys also really enjoyed the passing man, kilted, who mooned the train. This was the loudest, most rambunctious train ride of my life, and it would not have been possible in London. (Firstly, the children would never consider being that loud. Secondly, the parents would have swiftly reprimanded the children and would not have joined the chaos. Thirdly, the passengers of the train would have been too consumed to watch a man outside the train moon them) J

Ireland was magical, exhausting, easy traveling, and fun. On Saturday, we took Dublin by storm shopping on O’Connell Street, touring Trinity College, visiting the Archaeology Museum, stepping on the grass in Merrion Square and paying homage to Oscar Wilde, crossing the Leap Year bridge in St. Stephen’s Green Park, wandering the Temple Bar area where we ate lunch at an outdoor market, touring Christ Church Cathedral, sampling homemade desserts on mismatched plates, playing at Dublinia Museum (if only I was a teacher in Ireland, this would be a yearly field trip!), trekking up Michael’s Tower, exploring the Dublin Castle and eyed throne of King George III, crossing the dozens of bridges in Dublin, and learning from the Famine Ship and Memorial! When I bought a postcard at the end of the day, I had seen every site included on the front. It was a pretty good feeling. The day that began at 2:30 AM was fantastic.

There are oh so many bridges in Dublin, and I think we crossed most of them. We really did Dublin ‘right’ and we were able to see many of the Dublin classics, as well as, local favorites. Stopping at a local pastry shop, I ate THE best chocolate fudge cake with cream – WOW. Also, note that Dublin has real castles!

While we were in Dublin, the Ireland vs. Scotland rugby game was taking place. This meant that there were dozens of men in kilts; it was fantastic! Who knew you could were long socks and sneakers with a skirt?!? Needless to say, Maddi and I booked train tickets to Scotland the next morning!

The Dublin Castle was very large and has a great history. Inside one of the rooms was a throne that King George III used when he visited Ireland. All the grass is ridiculously green, and the castle’s church was breathtaking. 

Although I am not interested in painting my future door this bright, the Dublin doors were fun! 

Sunday was a very different day but rivaled our Dublin ventures as we traveled to Bray, Ireland. It was a stunning sea-side town that included a rocky coast, sand beaches, and a summit adorned with a cross. While here, I heard about people’s trips to Florida to visit family while waiting in a café’s line and the Irish spoke of how wonderful the states were. I was asked if I was on holiday, and I was able to talk about both of my homes – Centre and Alvaton! By the end of the day, we had enjoyed lunch on the beach – albeit chilly, saw the green rolling hills of the Irish countryside, touched our feet in the Irish sea, climbed the summit (which resulted in my needing new boots as my current ones have holes), talking to Irish hikers, and enjoying the view of Bray from a few miles above sea level. The day was so full of joy and it was relaxing. When we made it to the top of the summit, Maddi, Lane, and I sat on a rock, ate lemon digestives (cookies), and just watched.  There was something very beautiful and relaxing to just sit, enjoying the moment, and awesome landscape without technology or the noise of a large city with friends. 

Bray, a seaside town, was the perfect way to end a wonderful weekend. Everything was so awesome, and the sun was even out for a few hours in the morning!  

My Irish Syllogism

P₁: Kate loves Kentucky.

P₂: Kate leaves for Ireland at 3 AM.

P₃: Ireland is Europe’s Kentucky                     

C: Kate will find Ireland magical and amazing.

Opera and Sunsets

This evening I attended my first opera – Aida – at the Royal Albert Hall. Wow! It was an over-the-top, amazing spectacle. It was a three-hour opera, but I would have never known. The show was captivating, the orchestra magical, the stage-in-round kept the audience involved, the theatre was grandiose, and the English subtitles were not distracting! I am already looking for tickets to another. Attending the opera was a fantastic end to not my favorite day.

Also, this wonderful sunset greeted Jenn (my roommate who is showcased above) and me this evening. Fantastic. 

Snow Punting

Sitting in the audience for That Sunday Night Show, sampling cheese at Borough Market, turning a trip to Covenant Garden into a five-mile trek, visiting Cambridge, and punting on the Cam, I have so much to report. Until that report, pictures from Cambridge.

Cambridge University consists of thirty colleges. For Cambridge, a college is for residence-life purposes and the university is where students learn. All the green spaces you see above can only be used by professors; students may only use/walk on the sidewalks.  

While in Cambridge, we punted on the Cambridge River. Punting is using a nine-foot poll to propel a small nine-person boat along a shallow body of water. Please do not let the pretty, edited photos deceive you, it was FREEZING! Actually, it was snowing. Please note the bottom right picture in which there is a snowflake on my camera lens.  

Photos from punting on Cambridge River. There are so many beautiful, historically-significant buildings in the city. Charles Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton, and A. Miller all called Cambridge home during their lifetimes! 

Lemon Tarts

Once a week, Maddi and I go on an adventure before our 1:30 PM class. We never plan where we are going but let London take us where she wants. This morning we ended up exploring the Victoria & Albert Museum. It was exquisite! Stunning glass, original Bernini pieces, wooden staircases – truly breathtaking. After the museum, we decided to walk to Borough Market for lemon tarts. These are TO DIE FOR, the best things that have ever touched my lips, God's gift to London, worth significantly more than 2.50 GBP wonderful. According to the map, it was only a couple of dozen streets over and across the Thames. How long could it take anyway?? The answer – After walking Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, and the Thames we quickly took the Westminster Tube to class for fear of being late. After Google-mapping it this evening, we found that our market venture would have been 4 miles meaning we made 2.3 miles of the trek before calling shenanigans. How deceitful maps can be!

The procession through Hyde Park 

It was a spectacular morning, and we were able to see so much of London. Between the Royal Guards, a horse procession in Hyde Park, and egg-hunting, it was fantastic. Today was one of the first times in which I successfully navigated using map (even if it was deceitful) and took the Tube out of convenience rather than out of necessity (i.e. ‘I am lost and do not know how to get back home without going back to Kings Cross.’). Therefore, today was a success, and I look forward to next week’s venture-to-be. 

V&A - Wonderful

Regent’s Canal is a few blocks from where I live and a nice place to take a walk.  We have Wednesdays off, and this is where I spent my day!

Seeing ‘Traveling Light’ at the Royal National Theatre was a great opportunity to see the South Bank at night. The South Bank includes sights such as Big Ben, the London Eye, Parliament, and many arts theatres.