I thought I'd sneak in a blog before Di and I head off to Dublin tonight. There are a couple of things I forgot to mention between my War and Peace sized Paris entries and the rushed attempt at summarizing my life previous to them.
Some things of note: My friend Nick celebrated his birthday earlier this month with a "subcrawl," and invited me and Di along. A subcrawl is an extension of the "pubcrawl" concept, where you go from bar to bar, getting at least one drink at each. The subcrawl takes this even farther, so that the party goes to a different pub at each stop on the "Clockwork Orange" (Glasgow's subway system). It sounds like a fun idea, and it was to a degree, but the amount of time between pubs left me feeling ill more than hammered. And it's a lot of liquid to put in your stomach, since there are 15 (or so) stops in all. Probably the coolest part of the subcrawl was the stipulation that you had to "subway surf" to each stop, meaning no one was allowed to sit down or hold onto anything on the tube, you just had to ride the bumps out. And since the subway is so small, and we were all getting increasingly inebriated, this was no small feat. Oh, and we got to see the stadium where the Rangers play, so that was kinda cool. Di and I made it just about halfway before wimping out -- it was a Wednesday afternoon, and under no circumstances could either of us be called a "party girl."
I used way too many quotation marks in that last paragraph.
Di and I did attempt to go out another night to one of the clubs on Sauchiehall St., the Garage. It's supposed to be a major hotspot for Glasgow's student community, but apparently that's not really true on a Monday night. It's probably our fault for picking a Monday night at all, but that's when the spirit filled us, so off we went. The experience was sort of lackluster, and after paying for some expensive drinks we hit the dance floor, to be surrounded by sketchy creeps and a multitude of gay men. We left early, again. :)
As for classes, things have been heating up in terms of my workload. I have two essays due in a week, and I've finally been down to the resource room in the Film and TV studies building. It's pretty nice, and has a good collection for some of the more obscure films that my classes cover, but I still miss Van Pelt Library at Penn. On a related note, I'm starting to wonder if my Scotland, Film and TV professor things I'm a little slow. He keeps coming up to me during the break in our seminar and asking if I understand everything, if I need anything explained. The odd thing about it is he never asks the other American student, Zach, who sits right next to me. I think Professor Goode is trying to be nice, but it generally comes off as condescending. Then again, he's the professor who never makes eye contact when lecturing, instead staring at the ceiling on his left side. So maybe it's him being socially awkward, instead of patronizing.
Oh, I almost forgot -- last weekend Kara, Xixi, Di and I went to the Glasgow Science Centre. I need to put those photos up on Picasa -- for those of you on facebook, they're already up. It was a sort of silly trip, since the Centre definitely targets a younger audience, but we all enjoyed messing around with the exhibits. Plus the Centre is right on the river Clyde, which made for a really pretty view. It's also next to the BBC Scotland building, which made me, and no one else, very excited.
All right, I need to finish packing, but I'll leave you with an account of today. Di and I are taking an 11 PM flight to Dublin because we had already bought tickets to a Celtics match before we booked our flights. So after a delicious lunch at Ashoka (rated one of the best Indian restaurants in Glasgow -- I highly recommend it), we took the subway down to Buchanan Bus Station, and after walking a couple blocks to the correct bus stop, grabbed a bus to Parkhead, where Celtic Park is. It's been very wet for the past couple of days, but today was just a torrential downpour. Di and I were already soaked when we walked down to lunch, but trekking over to the stadium was even worse. My shoes had puddles in them, and my jacket had changed color completely. Thank god it's waterproof.
We finally made it into the stadium, which has overhangs covering the seating, but leaves the pitch open to the elements, so the wind was pretty tremendous. I felt awful for the players, though they put on a great show. The Celtics were playing Hibernian, from Edinburgh, and it was amazing to be surrounded by vociferous fans. Thankfully, the most rabid ones weren't in the nosebleed section with us. We were right next to a pole, but could see around it for the most part, and I don't think we missed much because of our location. The best part was the reaction of the tiny Hibernian-supporters section, who were completely surrounded by security guards. All in all, it was a fantastic experience, and both Di and I will probably try to get tickets again.
When we finally got back to the bus stop, we were probably 102% water, and incredibly cold. The weather created traffic problems, so it took at while to get a bus back to City Centre, but we managed to hop on one that actually dropped us off only a block or so from Murano. Some dinner, a hot shower, and a change into fresh clothes later, and here I am. I think I'm going to buy a Celtics scarf or jersey or something. It was really incredible to be a part of that, and I definitely felt like it was something you don't get in the U.S., although now I kind of want to go to an American football game. Anyway, it was a great prelude to another international adventure.
Now I should go blowdry my hair.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Omelet du Fromage?
I went to Paris for the first time this past weekend. I had been two France two years ago for Penn-in-Cannes (which was a stupendous experience), but had only spent a few fleeting moments in Charles de Gaulle in a mad dash to make my connecting flight home from Nice (well, as much of a mad dash as you can make when in an aircast).
Anyway, here's the collection of notes I made over the course of the weekend:
10/10/08
"Oh what a day -- unexpected and frustrating at times, but still pretty cool. Got up at 3:45 AM to catch a 4:30 taxi from Murano to Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Arrived at Prestwick around 5:15 (it was raining, big surprise).
Check-in was very easy, took at most a minute, since it was so early that there was literally no line. Ryanair is so budget, our names were handwritten on our tickets.
I'm beginning to think that British candy bar companies only came up with about 5 unique ideas and just rebrand them with a catchy title -- what's the difference between all these caramel, nougat and cereal bars? Mars Planets vs. Galaxy Maltsers vs. whatever else they call them. Interestingly, I have seen white chocolate Twix, which I should try.
The flight was fine, and I actually slept a little. An adorable but surprisingly loud 2 year old girl sat behind me. Xixi was in the aisle, I was in the window seat, and the girl woke both of us up several times with her vocalizing. Paris-Beauvais, the airport we flew into, was covered in fog, and after trying to land several times, they had to divert the plane to Lilles Airport, with the promise of buses back to Beauvais. As it happened, Lilles is 2 hours away from Beauvais by bus, and then another hour to Paris. They also said there was a direct route to Paris, which turned out to be a shuttle to the train station at Lilles. Never mind the fact that the shuttle bus couldn't fit all 250 people on our flight, and the company only sent one. And the fact that the train tickets were 55 Euro (or 37.50 for students, as we found out). Xixi and I shared a cab with two other women from our flight to the train station.
The train station looked very familiar -- I feel like I've seen it in a movie or something. I tried to read Waverley on the train (since I was supposed to finish it by Monday) but passed out again. We finally got to Paris around 2 PM, arriving at Gare du Nord. After struggling to figure out the metro system, I caved in a bought a cheap guidebook from a newsagent. Xixi and I found the route to the Eiffel Tower, and headed over.
We got a fairly cheap lunch at a brasserie across from the metro station, indulging in our first honest to goodness French meal. Xixi got a cheese platter and I got a savory crepe (makes me think of Penn, oddly). She also got chocolate fondant for dessert. Mmmm. We trekked over to the Eiffel Tower, but unfortunately the top was filled to capacity, so we could only go to the second floor. The view was amazing, and I took many, many photos. Actually, taking tons of pictures was pretty much par for the entire trip. Link below.
Another trip on the metro, with several switches to get to the Latin Quarter, where the hostel was. We stayed at the Young and Happy Hostel, where Jacqueline lived for a couple of weeks a few years ago. It was clean and fine, though I'm clearly too spoiled to live the backpacking life for too long. At the hostel there was an advertisement for an airport shuttle for 17 Euro a person, which seemed like a pretty good deal. But it turns out that's a lie, it's only for CDG and Orly. Beauvais is so far away it would cost nearly 100 Euro. So we ended up taking a shuttle for much less from a far away metro stop on Sunday. Took a little longer, but it was significantly cheaper.
We had dinner near our hostel (kebabs) and walked around the Latin Quarter before we got some dessert (I had creme brulee, Xixi got chocolate mousse). I would say on the whole I ate very well while in Paris. After more strolling we headed back to the hostel, where we were surprised to find most of the beds in our room filled with sleeping people, even though it was only about 10:30. Apparently they were all as tired as we were."
10/11/08
"Accomplished a lot today, basically all I wanted to do. Fell asleep right after writing last night -- tried to read some Waverley, no use. I guess I'll have to finish it tomorrow. Since I went to bed so early, woke up before my alarm at 7:50. Got dressed and headed downstairs to get the breakfast included in our stay at the hostel. Breakfast was a croissant, mini baguette, orange juice and the option of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate as well as the choice to have cereal. I forgot how much bread they consume here. I had coffee for the first time on this trip -- so much better than the stuff they have in Scotland, even the cheap stuff the hostel serves. After breakfast, we headed out to the metro at Place du Monge, and over to the Louvre.
We got to the Louvre at 10, and there was almost no line! It was very easy to get tickets, and we saw the Mona Lisa with very little crowd. Also saw the Venus de Milo, Dying Slave, among a variety of other works. I almost saw the Code of Hammurabi, but got separated from Xixi in the Egyptian section (she went to the bathroom, and I waited on a bench on the other side of a large statue, but she didn't see me sit down, and so went on without me). She had my cellphone and my wallet (ask if you want a full explanation), but I had checked my backpack, so I could use the international calling card and a payphone to call my cell and told Xixi to meet up at the information booth under the pyramid.
While waiting for Xixi I ran into Corey Feldman, a kid I went to Hebrew school with, who also goes to Penn and I had Hebrew with freshman year. What are the odds? He's in Tel Aviv, on break now and visiting Paris. Crazy.
After finding each other again Xixi and I walked all the way down the Champs de Elysees, saw the Arch near the Louvre and the Arc du Triomphe. Had lunch at a cafe on a street off of the Champs, had a salad for the first time in months. They gave me frites, too, which was a little odd. Later on we got ice cream -- vanilla caramel brownie, mmm. After we got to the Arc we took the subway down to Notre Dame.
I'm absolutely in love with Notre Dame. I kept having flashbacks to Disney's Hunchback, but honestly it was overwhelmingly beautiful. I love Gothis architecture, I only wish I had gotten to take a tower tour. In fact, we almost didn't get to go in -- there was a demonstration of some sort around the corner, and police in riot gear showed up and closed the cathedral. We then walked all around the isle and tried to go to Saint Chapelle, but that was closed early, too. On the plus side, when we walked by Notre Dame again, there was almost no line, so we got to go in right before mass at 6:30.
We had dinner at Cafe du Esmerelda -- duck confit with (once again) frites. We walked around some more, found a patisserie (chocolate eclair for me, brownie for Laura and a brioche for the next day, which she accidentally squished in her bag, :(), and headed back to the hostel. We're watching the World Cup Qualifying match between France and Romania now."
10/12/08
"Up at 9 AM, free breakfast again. Xixi and I walked around the Latin Quarter, got chocolate to take back at a local chocolatier (white and milke with macadamia nut) and a raisin baguette at a patisserie (for lunch). Laura got a proper brioche and a cute chocolate ghost with mixed chocolates in the middle.
Then took the subway over to Porte Maillot, caught bus to Beauvais (about an hour long ride) for 13 Euro. Easy check-in again, real tickets this time, and easy security check. But our flight was delayed by (you guessed it) fog -- the first flight of the day had to be diverted, so all later flights were pushed back. Finally got on plane, easy ride home and after a bus and subway and walk to Murano, finally got back to my room. What a trip!"
Here's the photo album again. Kudos if you made it all the way through this post:
Two Days in Paris
Anyway, here's the collection of notes I made over the course of the weekend:
10/10/08
"Oh what a day -- unexpected and frustrating at times, but still pretty cool. Got up at 3:45 AM to catch a 4:30 taxi from Murano to Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Arrived at Prestwick around 5:15 (it was raining, big surprise).
Check-in was very easy, took at most a minute, since it was so early that there was literally no line. Ryanair is so budget, our names were handwritten on our tickets.
I'm beginning to think that British candy bar companies only came up with about 5 unique ideas and just rebrand them with a catchy title -- what's the difference between all these caramel, nougat and cereal bars? Mars Planets vs. Galaxy Maltsers vs. whatever else they call them. Interestingly, I have seen white chocolate Twix, which I should try.
The flight was fine, and I actually slept a little. An adorable but surprisingly loud 2 year old girl sat behind me. Xixi was in the aisle, I was in the window seat, and the girl woke both of us up several times with her vocalizing. Paris-Beauvais, the airport we flew into, was covered in fog, and after trying to land several times, they had to divert the plane to Lilles Airport, with the promise of buses back to Beauvais. As it happened, Lilles is 2 hours away from Beauvais by bus, and then another hour to Paris. They also said there was a direct route to Paris, which turned out to be a shuttle to the train station at Lilles. Never mind the fact that the shuttle bus couldn't fit all 250 people on our flight, and the company only sent one. And the fact that the train tickets were 55 Euro (or 37.50 for students, as we found out). Xixi and I shared a cab with two other women from our flight to the train station.
The train station looked very familiar -- I feel like I've seen it in a movie or something. I tried to read Waverley on the train (since I was supposed to finish it by Monday) but passed out again. We finally got to Paris around 2 PM, arriving at Gare du Nord. After struggling to figure out the metro system, I caved in a bought a cheap guidebook from a newsagent. Xixi and I found the route to the Eiffel Tower, and headed over.
We got a fairly cheap lunch at a brasserie across from the metro station, indulging in our first honest to goodness French meal. Xixi got a cheese platter and I got a savory crepe (makes me think of Penn, oddly). She also got chocolate fondant for dessert. Mmmm. We trekked over to the Eiffel Tower, but unfortunately the top was filled to capacity, so we could only go to the second floor. The view was amazing, and I took many, many photos. Actually, taking tons of pictures was pretty much par for the entire trip. Link below.
Another trip on the metro, with several switches to get to the Latin Quarter, where the hostel was. We stayed at the Young and Happy Hostel, where Jacqueline lived for a couple of weeks a few years ago. It was clean and fine, though I'm clearly too spoiled to live the backpacking life for too long. At the hostel there was an advertisement for an airport shuttle for 17 Euro a person, which seemed like a pretty good deal. But it turns out that's a lie, it's only for CDG and Orly. Beauvais is so far away it would cost nearly 100 Euro. So we ended up taking a shuttle for much less from a far away metro stop on Sunday. Took a little longer, but it was significantly cheaper.
We had dinner near our hostel (kebabs) and walked around the Latin Quarter before we got some dessert (I had creme brulee, Xixi got chocolate mousse). I would say on the whole I ate very well while in Paris. After more strolling we headed back to the hostel, where we were surprised to find most of the beds in our room filled with sleeping people, even though it was only about 10:30. Apparently they were all as tired as we were."
10/11/08
"Accomplished a lot today, basically all I wanted to do. Fell asleep right after writing last night -- tried to read some Waverley, no use. I guess I'll have to finish it tomorrow. Since I went to bed so early, woke up before my alarm at 7:50. Got dressed and headed downstairs to get the breakfast included in our stay at the hostel. Breakfast was a croissant, mini baguette, orange juice and the option of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate as well as the choice to have cereal. I forgot how much bread they consume here. I had coffee for the first time on this trip -- so much better than the stuff they have in Scotland, even the cheap stuff the hostel serves. After breakfast, we headed out to the metro at Place du Monge, and over to the Louvre.
We got to the Louvre at 10, and there was almost no line! It was very easy to get tickets, and we saw the Mona Lisa with very little crowd. Also saw the Venus de Milo, Dying Slave, among a variety of other works. I almost saw the Code of Hammurabi, but got separated from Xixi in the Egyptian section (she went to the bathroom, and I waited on a bench on the other side of a large statue, but she didn't see me sit down, and so went on without me). She had my cellphone and my wallet (ask if you want a full explanation), but I had checked my backpack, so I could use the international calling card and a payphone to call my cell and told Xixi to meet up at the information booth under the pyramid.
While waiting for Xixi I ran into Corey Feldman, a kid I went to Hebrew school with, who also goes to Penn and I had Hebrew with freshman year. What are the odds? He's in Tel Aviv, on break now and visiting Paris. Crazy.
After finding each other again Xixi and I walked all the way down the Champs de Elysees, saw the Arch near the Louvre and the Arc du Triomphe. Had lunch at a cafe on a street off of the Champs, had a salad for the first time in months. They gave me frites, too, which was a little odd. Later on we got ice cream -- vanilla caramel brownie, mmm. After we got to the Arc we took the subway down to Notre Dame.
I'm absolutely in love with Notre Dame. I kept having flashbacks to Disney's Hunchback, but honestly it was overwhelmingly beautiful. I love Gothis architecture, I only wish I had gotten to take a tower tour. In fact, we almost didn't get to go in -- there was a demonstration of some sort around the corner, and police in riot gear showed up and closed the cathedral. We then walked all around the isle and tried to go to Saint Chapelle, but that was closed early, too. On the plus side, when we walked by Notre Dame again, there was almost no line, so we got to go in right before mass at 6:30.
We had dinner at Cafe du Esmerelda -- duck confit with (once again) frites. We walked around some more, found a patisserie (chocolate eclair for me, brownie for Laura and a brioche for the next day, which she accidentally squished in her bag, :(), and headed back to the hostel. We're watching the World Cup Qualifying match between France and Romania now."
10/12/08
"Up at 9 AM, free breakfast again. Xixi and I walked around the Latin Quarter, got chocolate to take back at a local chocolatier (white and milke with macadamia nut) and a raisin baguette at a patisserie (for lunch). Laura got a proper brioche and a cute chocolate ghost with mixed chocolates in the middle.
Then took the subway over to Porte Maillot, caught bus to Beauvais (about an hour long ride) for 13 Euro. Easy check-in again, real tickets this time, and easy security check. But our flight was delayed by (you guessed it) fog -- the first flight of the day had to be diverted, so all later flights were pushed back. Finally got on plane, easy ride home and after a bus and subway and walk to Murano, finally got back to my room. What a trip!"
Here's the photo album again. Kudos if you made it all the way through this post:
Two Days in Paris
Plenty to catch up on
Hi again. I know it's been far too long since I updated (in fact, Sarah yelled at me for not blogging frequently enough), and I don't really have an excuse for my behavior except for the adjustment to classes. I probably can't recall or cover all of my activities since Rosh Hashanah, but I'll try to highlight a few. So let's think back, back, waaaaaay back to a couple of weeks ago:
I went back to Garnethill Synagogue for the second day of Rosh Hashanah. My experience with the Orthodox service was even less fulfilling this time, and I actually left the service before the conclusion of Musaf because I felt that I just wasn't getting much out of it.
Because of this I looked into my options for Yom Kippur, and decided to try the Glasgow Reform Synagogue (GRS). It took a lot of finagling to get a ticket for the service, mostly because of some decidely unhelpful people at the Movement for Reform Judaism (MRJ). The day after Rosh Hashanah I spoke to a very nice woman at GRS who told me that it would be fine for me to attend Yom Kippur, and gave me the bus routes to get out to Newton Mearns (yet another Glasgow suburb), but that I should call the MRJ to get a free ticket since I was under 30, and GRS needed my information for security reasons. So I called MRJ, and got an answering machine. I played phone tag for the next two business days (Friday and Monday), and couldn't get a hold of the woman at MRJ. Finally on Monday afternoon I called their main number and managed to get ahold of someone else in the department, who told me that it was too late, they had already sent the list of guests to GRS. Completely frustrated, I called GRS back, and thankfully they were very accommodating, and took down my information immediately, telling me that I could pick up my ticket at the door before Kol Nidre.
I was interested to see what the British definition of reform Judaism would be, especially since there seems to be no Conservative Movement in the UK. But it was pretty much like the services I remember from Larchmont Temple (from my brief visits during bar mitzvah season), with a fair amount of English, but fewer songs. I would say I was more comfortable than I had been at Garnethill, but the tunes were still different, and strangely enough, the custom of beating your chest during the al-chaits was not practiced, so I felt a little weird doing it by myself (but still did so -- there are some things you stick with). Overall, my experiences during the High Holidays here confirmed that I should belong to a Conservative synagogue, and will avoid observing them away from my family, since I really missed them.
Other miscellaneous events over the past couple of weeks:
- Di, Kara and I went to the Big Pub Quiz night at the QMU, where we lost severely due to our lack of knowledge about British-specific pop culture. Metric measurements, British TV shows, and British zoology knocked us out early. We'll have to get a native on our time for the next time.
- Classes are good, but not too demanding at this point. All that will change in about a week, when I have to write two papers after almost half a year of not doing anything of the sort. Should be fun.
- As for extracurricular activities, I actually haven't done any theatre here. I'm not just very impressed with what they have to offer -- it all seems sort of slapdash and thrown together. But I am looking into learning how to produce for Subcity, the student radio station. It's got a very good reputation (relying on students and volunteers) and supposedly I'll get a very high level of training. I've already been submitting reviews to the website for the music team, though it appears I'm gradually assuming the role of token mainstream girl. What can you do, it's what I listen to.
I'm going to break off here and devote a full post to my Paris trip, which was this past Friday to Sunday with Xixi. Hopefully this will tide Sarah over in the meantime. :)
I went back to Garnethill Synagogue for the second day of Rosh Hashanah. My experience with the Orthodox service was even less fulfilling this time, and I actually left the service before the conclusion of Musaf because I felt that I just wasn't getting much out of it.
Because of this I looked into my options for Yom Kippur, and decided to try the Glasgow Reform Synagogue (GRS). It took a lot of finagling to get a ticket for the service, mostly because of some decidely unhelpful people at the Movement for Reform Judaism (MRJ). The day after Rosh Hashanah I spoke to a very nice woman at GRS who told me that it would be fine for me to attend Yom Kippur, and gave me the bus routes to get out to Newton Mearns (yet another Glasgow suburb), but that I should call the MRJ to get a free ticket since I was under 30, and GRS needed my information for security reasons. So I called MRJ, and got an answering machine. I played phone tag for the next two business days (Friday and Monday), and couldn't get a hold of the woman at MRJ. Finally on Monday afternoon I called their main number and managed to get ahold of someone else in the department, who told me that it was too late, they had already sent the list of guests to GRS. Completely frustrated, I called GRS back, and thankfully they were very accommodating, and took down my information immediately, telling me that I could pick up my ticket at the door before Kol Nidre.
I was interested to see what the British definition of reform Judaism would be, especially since there seems to be no Conservative Movement in the UK. But it was pretty much like the services I remember from Larchmont Temple (from my brief visits during bar mitzvah season), with a fair amount of English, but fewer songs. I would say I was more comfortable than I had been at Garnethill, but the tunes were still different, and strangely enough, the custom of beating your chest during the al-chaits was not practiced, so I felt a little weird doing it by myself (but still did so -- there are some things you stick with). Overall, my experiences during the High Holidays here confirmed that I should belong to a Conservative synagogue, and will avoid observing them away from my family, since I really missed them.
Other miscellaneous events over the past couple of weeks:
- Di, Kara and I went to the Big Pub Quiz night at the QMU, where we lost severely due to our lack of knowledge about British-specific pop culture. Metric measurements, British TV shows, and British zoology knocked us out early. We'll have to get a native on our time for the next time.
- Classes are good, but not too demanding at this point. All that will change in about a week, when I have to write two papers after almost half a year of not doing anything of the sort. Should be fun.
- As for extracurricular activities, I actually haven't done any theatre here. I'm not just very impressed with what they have to offer -- it all seems sort of slapdash and thrown together. But I am looking into learning how to produce for Subcity, the student radio station. It's got a very good reputation (relying on students and volunteers) and supposedly I'll get a very high level of training. I've already been submitting reviews to the website for the music team, though it appears I'm gradually assuming the role of token mainstream girl. What can you do, it's what I listen to.
I'm going to break off here and devote a full post to my Paris trip, which was this past Friday to Sunday with Xixi. Hopefully this will tide Sarah over in the meantime. :)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Paris Pictures
So tired ... full explanation of trip to come. And maybe a reference to what I've been doing for the past week or so. But here's the link to the album to tide you over. Now I'm gonna go pass out:
Two Days in Paris
Two Days in Paris
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