Today marks the end of another July. As a kid, the end of July meant back to school shopping, which was my favorite kind of shopping. I LOVE the crisp new notebooks waiting to filled with math problems or history notes and the new pencils that I always lost. And the best part of back to school shopping was getting the brand new backpack. My favorite backpack growing up was my Elmo backpack that I used in 3rd grade. It was all black expect for the embroidered Elmo on the front. Well, it was my favorite until the day I pulled it out of my locker and found an enormous spider in it. I really don't like spiders. The whole idea of them have 6 eyes creeps me out to no end.
I was always excited to go back to school. I was one of those crazy kids that loved school and enjoyed doing homework. When I got into college, August meant getting away from my parents and crazy sister! Going back to Eastern was the best part of the year! I got to see all my friends again, be a broke college student, and not worry about trying to find a meal. Kristin (my younger sister) is leaving for her freshman year of college in 2 weeks and she is very nervous. It's fun to watch her anticipation build as her departure comes closer. And I couldn't be prouder that she found a school that she will love and will help give her the tools she needs to bring God's love to every corner of the globe.
I'm also blessed with the opportunity to take her to school in 2 weeks and I get to see where she will be spending the majority of the next two years. She's going to school in Ozark, Missouri (which is located near Springfield, MO) and although I'm not excited about the 8 hour drive, it will be fun spending some quality time with my sister.
I'm kind of sad July has ended because I had the MOST epic July ever! I spent three weeks tramping across Europe with my two crazy sisters and got to watch first hand as the Rupert Murdoch scandal unfolded (which was kind of cool from a journalistic standpoint). And somewhere along the way I turned 23. Europe taught me a lot about myself and strengthened the relationship between me and my siblings. I still think it's weird to wake up every morning and not want to throw Kristin's screaming alarm clock out the window.
Although July has come to a close, the wonderful memories remain and I look forward to the adventures of August. My summer travels have not ended since I will be going to spend 5 days with my boyfriend and his wonderful family. I haven't seen my boyfriend since the middle of June and I miss him a ton! He's very sweet, cute and all sorts of gushy stuff and he's turning 22 on August 4. I promised him we would go play golf on his birthday (I promise I will try to go easy on him... I may even let him win). We're also planning to go to a drive-in theater because he promised me two summers ago and I'm still waiting.
I also will be traveling to Springfield, MO for a few days to help my sister get settled at college. I'm also super excited to see my sister from another mister, Nichole Steber, who left me in May to move all the way to South Dakota to be with her boyfriend. I miss her SO much and can't wait to see my better half.
Another exciting thing is the long awaited marriage of my very dear friend Ms. Lauren Delaney... who will become Mrs. Lauren Osters on August 28th. I'm VERY excited for Lauren and Stephen (both of whom I grew up with) and I can't tell you how excited I've been since I learned that they got engaged in February. No seriously... Kristin called me on her way to pick me up from work and was like... GUESS WHAT???? LAUREN IS GETTING MARRIED!!!! I was like "That's not funny Kristin. Don't joke with me about that." And Kristin was like "No Alison... THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!!" She was like yelling into the phone and she was so excited that she convinced me. I was jumping up and down outside in the Jewel parking lot from excitement. I'm so excited for you my dear dear Lauren! You deserve the most perfect of days!!!!!!!
So farewell to July! You have been glorious and wonderful and I shall never forget the pure awesomeness! And welcome August... I anticipate more warm summer days and more awesome memories!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Excuse me, I've lost my mind, can I borrow yours?
So Monday was my birthday. I am now the ancient age of 23. The day I put my poor mother through 11 hours of long labor. I weighed 10 lbs when I was born and I was 2 weeks late. I was supposed to arrive in time for my grandfather's birthday on July 10th but I was feeling lazy that day. I sincerely believe my mom deserves sainthood after all I put her through. As the problem child, I spent most of my young years either at the doctors office or in the hospital. Anyways, you don't really want to hear my life story and I don't really feel like telling it today. So I'm going to talk to you about Europe!
I still haven't decided how I'm going to tackle this. I think I'm going to talk today about my top 4 favorite cities. It would be top 3 but 2 cities are tied for 3rd so you'll just have to deal with it. And this may not be too surprising but most of these cities are outside of the major towns. I HIGHLY recommend when you go to Europe that you get out of the big cities because the countryside in Europe is 1000 times prettier than the U.S. countryside.
Now let me preface this by saying it's really hard to pick a favorite city because all European cities are AMAZING! Each had its own feel, personality and smell. Eventually I will talk about all of them but here are the ones that were most notable to me.
1. Firenze (Florence)- This was definitely my favorite city in Europe. When Americans think of Italy, they think of Florence. The atmosphere of the city just screams Italy. It is also by far the most beautiful of Italian cities. It's surrounded by the hills of Tuscany and the Fiume Arno goes through the city. I think the beauty comes from the Renaissance feel to it. All of the architecture is based on Renaissance themes! I mean their centre of political life is Palazzo Vecchio and it was built in the 1400s. Michelangelo's sculpture, David, used to sit outside of thing place. I was reading some travel articles about Florence and it's ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Florence has a very rich cultural history. There are SO MANY art museums and different opportunities to learn about the Italian Renaissance. If you have any interest in Renaissance at all, Florence is the place for you. It's at art lovers' paradise. You can see Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, Botticelli and even Caravaggio. The Uffizi is their art museum and you probably haven't heard of it but it is one of the oldest and premier art museums in the world! I can't pick a favorite part of Florence because I ADORED the whole city. The residents of Florence are VERY proud of their heritage and history. This is one city where you DO NOT say anything bad about it because the locals will string you by your toes. But let's be honest... it's impossible not to fall in love with Florence. I guarantee that if you go to Florence, you will love it the moment you step onto the old cobblestone streets. However, the residents of Florence are incredibly nice and very helpful. Most speak English (since it is a huge tourist destination) and are more than glad to help you get on your way. All the rich people live just outside the city in the hills because that's where the best views of the city are. If you get up out of the city, the views are exquisite. We walked up this one hill and oh.my.gosh. I didn't want to leave. The view overlooking the city was so beautiful I actually cried. Florence is so incredible I cried. I felt like I walked into the middle of a Renaissance painting and I never wanted to leave. I could have died in Florence and been perfectly happy with my life. If you go nowhere else in Europe, if you do nothing else... spend a week in Florence.. I swear it will change your entire outlook on life.
2. I love the UK! I love the British people... they are the kindest, most-outgoing, craziest people ever. They are so backwards and make everything so complicated but they ARE SO WONDERFUL! We drove through the UK (which was probably a mistake) and they were so helpful even when their dumb turnabouts got us lost. Oh and Chicagoans... most Brits know where we are because most flights to the U.S. stop in Chicago. The Brits are the kind of people to introduce themselves and discover your whole life story in about 10 minutes. And it's not just a few of them... it's the ENTIRE country. Every Brit we met learned our life stories. Anyways, my 2nd favorite city in Europe was Bath, England. For those Austenites, Bath is the setting for Northanger Abbey and Persuasion and it's exactly how she describes it in the book. Exactly! Austen actually lived in Bath for a while and our tour guide said she hated it. If you are an Austen fan, you must go to Bath. You must! It's written in the Austen law books. Besides being known for Jane Austen, Bath is actually named for the hot springs beneath the city. They are the only natural hot springs in the entire UK and the Romans discovered this way back in 43 AD (yes... the Roman empire stretched all the way to the UK). It was actually a pretty small town until the 1800s (about Austen's time) and then it SPRUNG up because all the wealthy people decided it was stylish to go to Bath to soak in the hot springs. So the entire architecture is purely Georgian and the stone used to build the city comes from the surrounding area. Bath definitely surprised me. We thought we were only going to stay the night but we actually ended up staying the whole next day too. It's absolutely splendid!!!! And it still has a spa that you can go to and it's supposed to be really good! Or if it's open, you can go to the public pool, which is supplied by the hot spring. Bath is only 3 hours outside of London and if you go to London, you must take a day and go to Bath! London is very nice but I think going to Bath lets you get to know the true Britain. It may not change your life like Florence will but I promise that you will thoroughly enjoy yourself. There is a lot of history in Bath and if nothing else, just go to look at the cool buildings.
3. These two cities are tied for third. Caernarfon, Wales and Dublin. You probably haven't heard of Caernarfon, because let's be honest... I hadn't either. You will also have a hard time pronouncing the city name because we couldn't even get it right, even after the hostel owners tried explaining it to us. It's also in the Welsh language which is REALLY trippy. We kept hearing people talk in Welsh and I swear it was like hearing Parseltongue. They rarely use vowels and I have to post this picture of this town we passed through. The name of the town was 30 letters long and had 2 vowels (I'm totally not kidding). Anyways... Caernarfon is a small town of 9000 people on the Northern coast of Wales. If you know where Liverpool is, it's about 1.5 hours west. The only reason we went to this town was to return our rental car but Wales is about 20000 times prettier than England, especially if go to the Northern coast line. If you drive along route A487, it will take you right along the coast line and you will see dramatic cliffs, quaint little fishing towns and TONS of castles. In the 45 minutes we spent on A487, we saw a castle about every 5 or so minutes. They are everywhere! And these are like old school medieval castles that haven't been renovated or added on to in 700 years. The minute you step into Wales, it's like stepping back in a time machine. Life just seems simpler and you seriously feel like they never quite made it out of the 1800s (which is one of the charms). The people of Caernarfon make their living from fishing and other maritime activities. There's also a small tourism industry because they have a castle in the smack dab center of town. There's still a thriving community within the original castle walls (where we stayed) and the rest of the town probably extends about 2 blocks outside of the walls. They don't have any street lights because the sun doesn't set until almost 11 p.m. during the summer and you will be lucky to find any internet cafes. They finally got a big chain supermarket that opened 2 weeks before our arrival. It's probably the busiest place in the entire city. So I want to you to think of small town America, add fishing and the Welsh language and you will still fail to get close to the atmosphere of Caernarfon. There's only one hostel in Caernarfon called Totters and it's run by this married couple in their 30s and they are SO cool! Apparently, they don't get many people from the states since their town is so small but they even gave my sister a ride back to the hostel after she returned the rental car. Absolutely wonderful! If you want to go to Wales, like truly experience Wales, go to one of the towns along the Northern coastline. You will be greeted by uber friendly Welsh people, adorable little villages and the MOST amazing coast line I saw in all of Europe. And if you're worried about getting around, the public transit between these small towns puts ALL of American public transit systems to shame. L.A., New York, Chicago have nothing on the transit systems in Wales.
Dublin is the most populated of the cities on my list. (Just so you know, I really did like the big cities but I just liked the smaller ones better.) I have to tell you that starting and ending in Ireland was incredible. Ireland may be bankrupt but the Irish are SO proud of their country. We went on a walking tour of Dublin and our tour guide (who I would call a borderline anarchist) just oozed nationalism from every pore. He doesn't like the Irish government but by golly, he is Irish to the bone and he will be the first to tell you. It just seemed strange to me that he would hate the government but still take so much pride in his country. It seems to the me that a lot of Irish felt the same way but there is so much pride, they take the country for what it is and will beat your head in if you bad mouth anything (government included). I think it was partly the stifling sense of pride that made me fall in love with Dublin and mostly heritage.
I've been told that my lineage is mostly Irish. My grandfather Burge thought the first Burge came over from Ireland in the mid-1800s during the Great Potato Famine (although the Irish just refer to it as the Great Famine... they're very particular about leaving the potato out). Although to look at me you wouldn't see Irish, someone once asked me if I was Greek because I have a slight olive complexion (which I get from my mother).
It was like returning back to one of your favorite childhood haunts where you can still hear the voices of the laughter of you and your friends. It just tugs at you somewhere deep inside that you didn't know existed. It was a very spiritual experience, not so much in like a God-sense, but like a reaching back to embrace the spirits of my ancestors. I've been home for about a week and I've already dreamed of Ireland 4 times. I close my eyes and I can literally see the River Liffey and the O'Connell St Bridge like I'm standing right there. There has never been a place in my life that has left such an impact that I can close my eyes and literally feel like I'm standing there.
Now you might wonder why Dublin didn't come in at no. 1 if I seemed so moved by it and I don't have an answer. Dublin's not as picturesque as some of the other places, it's cloudy most of time and drizzles at least 10 times a day. I think part of the reason is I'm still processing whatever happened over there. In the 3 days I was in Dublin, I felt I knew more about the city and it's culture than Chicago. And I've lived in the Chicago suburbs my WHOLE life. I was born and raised in the 'burbs and up until 3 weeks ago considered Chicago the BEST city in the world. The scary part for me was that nothing about Dublin felt foreign. The entire city seemed familiar and comfortable and I forgot that Chicago even existed. People asked, "so where are you from?" And I wanted to say, "I'm from here. What do you mean where am I from?" Dublin turned some switch in my brain and now I can't move it back and the U.S. just feels foreign. And you could argue that it's some form of culture shock, but I honestly believe its not. My experience in Dublin goes beyond the no. 1 spot to have affected me in almost every possible way.
I looked out the window this morning and saw a clear blue sky and a summer sun and it just felt wrong (and summer is supposed to be my favorite season). Maybe this Pride and Prejudice analogy will help you Austenites out there, I'm Mr. Darcy and Dublin is my Elizabeth Bennett.
Oh and to all of you red-heads with fair skin, that's actually not originally from Ireland. It's from the Vikings that came to Ireland from Scandinavia. So be proud of your Viking heritage! My brother-in-law seemed excited to find out he was actually a Viking.
I still haven't decided how I'm going to tackle this. I think I'm going to talk today about my top 4 favorite cities. It would be top 3 but 2 cities are tied for 3rd so you'll just have to deal with it. And this may not be too surprising but most of these cities are outside of the major towns. I HIGHLY recommend when you go to Europe that you get out of the big cities because the countryside in Europe is 1000 times prettier than the U.S. countryside.
Now let me preface this by saying it's really hard to pick a favorite city because all European cities are AMAZING! Each had its own feel, personality and smell. Eventually I will talk about all of them but here are the ones that were most notable to me.
1. Firenze (Florence)- This was definitely my favorite city in Europe. When Americans think of Italy, they think of Florence. The atmosphere of the city just screams Italy. It is also by far the most beautiful of Italian cities. It's surrounded by the hills of Tuscany and the Fiume Arno goes through the city. I think the beauty comes from the Renaissance feel to it. All of the architecture is based on Renaissance themes! I mean their centre of political life is Palazzo Vecchio and it was built in the 1400s. Michelangelo's sculpture, David, used to sit outside of thing place. I was reading some travel articles about Florence and it's ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Florence has a very rich cultural history. There are SO MANY art museums and different opportunities to learn about the Italian Renaissance. If you have any interest in Renaissance at all, Florence is the place for you. It's at art lovers' paradise. You can see Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, Botticelli and even Caravaggio. The Uffizi is their art museum and you probably haven't heard of it but it is one of the oldest and premier art museums in the world! I can't pick a favorite part of Florence because I ADORED the whole city. The residents of Florence are VERY proud of their heritage and history. This is one city where you DO NOT say anything bad about it because the locals will string you by your toes. But let's be honest... it's impossible not to fall in love with Florence. I guarantee that if you go to Florence, you will love it the moment you step onto the old cobblestone streets. However, the residents of Florence are incredibly nice and very helpful. Most speak English (since it is a huge tourist destination) and are more than glad to help you get on your way. All the rich people live just outside the city in the hills because that's where the best views of the city are. If you get up out of the city, the views are exquisite. We walked up this one hill and oh.my.gosh. I didn't want to leave. The view overlooking the city was so beautiful I actually cried. Florence is so incredible I cried. I felt like I walked into the middle of a Renaissance painting and I never wanted to leave. I could have died in Florence and been perfectly happy with my life. If you go nowhere else in Europe, if you do nothing else... spend a week in Florence.. I swear it will change your entire outlook on life.
2. I love the UK! I love the British people... they are the kindest, most-outgoing, craziest people ever. They are so backwards and make everything so complicated but they ARE SO WONDERFUL! We drove through the UK (which was probably a mistake) and they were so helpful even when their dumb turnabouts got us lost. Oh and Chicagoans... most Brits know where we are because most flights to the U.S. stop in Chicago. The Brits are the kind of people to introduce themselves and discover your whole life story in about 10 minutes. And it's not just a few of them... it's the ENTIRE country. Every Brit we met learned our life stories. Anyways, my 2nd favorite city in Europe was Bath, England. For those Austenites, Bath is the setting for Northanger Abbey and Persuasion and it's exactly how she describes it in the book. Exactly! Austen actually lived in Bath for a while and our tour guide said she hated it. If you are an Austen fan, you must go to Bath. You must! It's written in the Austen law books. Besides being known for Jane Austen, Bath is actually named for the hot springs beneath the city. They are the only natural hot springs in the entire UK and the Romans discovered this way back in 43 AD (yes... the Roman empire stretched all the way to the UK). It was actually a pretty small town until the 1800s (about Austen's time) and then it SPRUNG up because all the wealthy people decided it was stylish to go to Bath to soak in the hot springs. So the entire architecture is purely Georgian and the stone used to build the city comes from the surrounding area. Bath definitely surprised me. We thought we were only going to stay the night but we actually ended up staying the whole next day too. It's absolutely splendid!!!! And it still has a spa that you can go to and it's supposed to be really good! Or if it's open, you can go to the public pool, which is supplied by the hot spring. Bath is only 3 hours outside of London and if you go to London, you must take a day and go to Bath! London is very nice but I think going to Bath lets you get to know the true Britain. It may not change your life like Florence will but I promise that you will thoroughly enjoy yourself. There is a lot of history in Bath and if nothing else, just go to look at the cool buildings.
3. These two cities are tied for third. Caernarfon, Wales and Dublin. You probably haven't heard of Caernarfon, because let's be honest... I hadn't either. You will also have a hard time pronouncing the city name because we couldn't even get it right, even after the hostel owners tried explaining it to us. It's also in the Welsh language which is REALLY trippy. We kept hearing people talk in Welsh and I swear it was like hearing Parseltongue. They rarely use vowels and I have to post this picture of this town we passed through. The name of the town was 30 letters long and had 2 vowels (I'm totally not kidding). Anyways... Caernarfon is a small town of 9000 people on the Northern coast of Wales. If you know where Liverpool is, it's about 1.5 hours west. The only reason we went to this town was to return our rental car but Wales is about 20000 times prettier than England, especially if go to the Northern coast line. If you drive along route A487, it will take you right along the coast line and you will see dramatic cliffs, quaint little fishing towns and TONS of castles. In the 45 minutes we spent on A487, we saw a castle about every 5 or so minutes. They are everywhere! And these are like old school medieval castles that haven't been renovated or added on to in 700 years. The minute you step into Wales, it's like stepping back in a time machine. Life just seems simpler and you seriously feel like they never quite made it out of the 1800s (which is one of the charms). The people of Caernarfon make their living from fishing and other maritime activities. There's also a small tourism industry because they have a castle in the smack dab center of town. There's still a thriving community within the original castle walls (where we stayed) and the rest of the town probably extends about 2 blocks outside of the walls. They don't have any street lights because the sun doesn't set until almost 11 p.m. during the summer and you will be lucky to find any internet cafes. They finally got a big chain supermarket that opened 2 weeks before our arrival. It's probably the busiest place in the entire city. So I want to you to think of small town America, add fishing and the Welsh language and you will still fail to get close to the atmosphere of Caernarfon. There's only one hostel in Caernarfon called Totters and it's run by this married couple in their 30s and they are SO cool! Apparently, they don't get many people from the states since their town is so small but they even gave my sister a ride back to the hostel after she returned the rental car. Absolutely wonderful! If you want to go to Wales, like truly experience Wales, go to one of the towns along the Northern coastline. You will be greeted by uber friendly Welsh people, adorable little villages and the MOST amazing coast line I saw in all of Europe. And if you're worried about getting around, the public transit between these small towns puts ALL of American public transit systems to shame. L.A., New York, Chicago have nothing on the transit systems in Wales.
Dublin is the most populated of the cities on my list. (Just so you know, I really did like the big cities but I just liked the smaller ones better.) I have to tell you that starting and ending in Ireland was incredible. Ireland may be bankrupt but the Irish are SO proud of their country. We went on a walking tour of Dublin and our tour guide (who I would call a borderline anarchist) just oozed nationalism from every pore. He doesn't like the Irish government but by golly, he is Irish to the bone and he will be the first to tell you. It just seemed strange to me that he would hate the government but still take so much pride in his country. It seems to the me that a lot of Irish felt the same way but there is so much pride, they take the country for what it is and will beat your head in if you bad mouth anything (government included). I think it was partly the stifling sense of pride that made me fall in love with Dublin and mostly heritage.
I've been told that my lineage is mostly Irish. My grandfather Burge thought the first Burge came over from Ireland in the mid-1800s during the Great Potato Famine (although the Irish just refer to it as the Great Famine... they're very particular about leaving the potato out). Although to look at me you wouldn't see Irish, someone once asked me if I was Greek because I have a slight olive complexion (which I get from my mother).
It was like returning back to one of your favorite childhood haunts where you can still hear the voices of the laughter of you and your friends. It just tugs at you somewhere deep inside that you didn't know existed. It was a very spiritual experience, not so much in like a God-sense, but like a reaching back to embrace the spirits of my ancestors. I've been home for about a week and I've already dreamed of Ireland 4 times. I close my eyes and I can literally see the River Liffey and the O'Connell St Bridge like I'm standing right there. There has never been a place in my life that has left such an impact that I can close my eyes and literally feel like I'm standing there.
Now you might wonder why Dublin didn't come in at no. 1 if I seemed so moved by it and I don't have an answer. Dublin's not as picturesque as some of the other places, it's cloudy most of time and drizzles at least 10 times a day. I think part of the reason is I'm still processing whatever happened over there. In the 3 days I was in Dublin, I felt I knew more about the city and it's culture than Chicago. And I've lived in the Chicago suburbs my WHOLE life. I was born and raised in the 'burbs and up until 3 weeks ago considered Chicago the BEST city in the world. The scary part for me was that nothing about Dublin felt foreign. The entire city seemed familiar and comfortable and I forgot that Chicago even existed. People asked, "so where are you from?" And I wanted to say, "I'm from here. What do you mean where am I from?" Dublin turned some switch in my brain and now I can't move it back and the U.S. just feels foreign. And you could argue that it's some form of culture shock, but I honestly believe its not. My experience in Dublin goes beyond the no. 1 spot to have affected me in almost every possible way.
I looked out the window this morning and saw a clear blue sky and a summer sun and it just felt wrong (and summer is supposed to be my favorite season). Maybe this Pride and Prejudice analogy will help you Austenites out there, I'm Mr. Darcy and Dublin is my Elizabeth Bennett.
Oh and to all of you red-heads with fair skin, that's actually not originally from Ireland. It's from the Vikings that came to Ireland from Scandinavia. So be proud of your Viking heritage! My brother-in-law seemed excited to find out he was actually a Viking.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Just so we all are clear, the capital of Sweden is not Ikea.
So the last 2 days in Dublin, we're playing cards and this Swedish guy sits down at our table. He's like, "Do you know Go Fish? That's the only card game I know." We stop playing Hearts and start playing Go Fish so he can play with us. He's asking us questions about the states and asks us about European geography. Now, I'm pretty good at geography but he asks us about the capital of Sweden (which is Stockholm). I completely freeze and my older sister goes, "Ikea?"
Forgive my immodesty but I would say my sisters and I have above average intelligence. Tracie graduated with some crazy GPA and I landed a 3.5 in college. Kristin had some slacker years in high school but managed to end with a 3.0. So for one us to answer Ikea to as the capital of Sweden seems egregious (which it was). But it was incredibly funny and poor Tracie will never live it down.
I'm not sure where this blog will go because I'm SUPER tired. I didn't really suffer much jet lag going to Europe but coming back I'm struggling. I have a theory my crazy jet lag results from my lack of sleep for the last 3 weeks. I think I averaged about 4.5 hours of sleep a night. For most people my age, they may be able to push through that but when you're constantly going and averaging probably 5 miles of walking a day in hot summer heat, it wears on you quickly.
I think I slept my best in Ireland and worst in Italy. Italy was just hot and we hadn't quite adjusted to not having AC yet. By the time I reached Ireland (both times), I was so exhausted my body gave out. There was one night I slept for 10+ hours and was still exhausted the whole next day!
I also think part of my tiredness resulted from the whole burning through twice as many calories when your an amputee thing. I first noticed my exhaustion in Paris (about halfway through our trip) while we were at the Louvre. We spent the entire day there, which is hardly enough, and we were in the Egyptian exhibit and I sat down to rest for a moment and I fell asleep. So to try and wake myself up, I decide to drink some water but I doze off while trying to get the bottle to my lips and spill water all over my pants. I seriously looked like I peed my pants. I was so loopy Kristin took my camera and recorded me. I shall post this later for your entertainment.
So my brain is just kind of mush right now and I can't think of anything else clever to say. Have a great Friday!
Forgive my immodesty but I would say my sisters and I have above average intelligence. Tracie graduated with some crazy GPA and I landed a 3.5 in college. Kristin had some slacker years in high school but managed to end with a 3.0. So for one us to answer Ikea to as the capital of Sweden seems egregious (which it was). But it was incredibly funny and poor Tracie will never live it down.
I'm not sure where this blog will go because I'm SUPER tired. I didn't really suffer much jet lag going to Europe but coming back I'm struggling. I have a theory my crazy jet lag results from my lack of sleep for the last 3 weeks. I think I averaged about 4.5 hours of sleep a night. For most people my age, they may be able to push through that but when you're constantly going and averaging probably 5 miles of walking a day in hot summer heat, it wears on you quickly.
I think I slept my best in Ireland and worst in Italy. Italy was just hot and we hadn't quite adjusted to not having AC yet. By the time I reached Ireland (both times), I was so exhausted my body gave out. There was one night I slept for 10+ hours and was still exhausted the whole next day!
I also think part of my tiredness resulted from the whole burning through twice as many calories when your an amputee thing. I first noticed my exhaustion in Paris (about halfway through our trip) while we were at the Louvre. We spent the entire day there, which is hardly enough, and we were in the Egyptian exhibit and I sat down to rest for a moment and I fell asleep. So to try and wake myself up, I decide to drink some water but I doze off while trying to get the bottle to my lips and spill water all over my pants. I seriously looked like I peed my pants. I was so loopy Kristin took my camera and recorded me. I shall post this later for your entertainment.
So my brain is just kind of mush right now and I can't think of anything else clever to say. Have a great Friday!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
"The most important thing I learned from Europe is... Nutella is not an artificial sweetener."
Hey Everyone! Today's title comes courtesy of my sister Kristin.
It feels so good to be back in the writing realm again (sort of). I have to make this a very short blog but the hostel we're staying at has free internet and I couldn't resist. Let me give you a very brief overview of my life recently... I flew to Dublin, flew to Milan, went to Venice, Florence, Pisa, Nice, Antibes, Cannes (France), Paris, Amboise, Blois, London, Bath, Machester, Caernarfon (Wales) and FINALLY back to Dublin. We leave on Thursday to back to the states and it's seriously been the most epic trip of my life! Oh my goodness, I don't know where to start we've seen so much. The whole trip has been one big blur but I can give you the main highlights very briefly.
1. Kristin has decided she's going to marry an Irish or English boy. There was one attractive young man that was a missionary (who was in his early 20s) who she met at an Anglican church in Bath. He does work mostly in Uganda. We decided she's marrying him.
2. Did you know it takes Australians 24+ hours to get from Australia to Europe? That's why if you ever meet one in Europe they're here for like a year. One girl we met in Nice took a whole year off of work to travel around Europe... best part? Her boss told her to go and party all night for him.
3. We only missed 1 train! And it was a minor train that took us to the Loirre Valley... so we just took the train that left an hour later.
4. You really don't know how much the Brits love the Queen until you go there... Seriously... it's crazy. And the best part of the UK is the countryside. We spent 2 days driving through it and it's spectacular.
5. My French is absolutely terrible. The only thing I can even remotely say right in Champs-Elysee and that's it. I don't even have to say anything to have the French people speak English to me.
6. Beaches don't have to be nude beaches for people to take their clothes off. At the beach in Antibes, half the women took their tops off to sunbathe. Some didn't even wear bathing suit tops to begin with and it was easy to spot the Americans because they were the ones with the most skin covered.
7. This may seem like a no brainer but make sure you know whether or not the people you go with are afraid of heights. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower is not a smart idea if you're afraid of heights. Kristin is apparently (I didn't even know) and she did her afraid of heights potty dance.
8. The best views are ALWAYS worth the 300 stairs or mile walk to the top of the giant hill. If a local says, "Oh you can get a good view from here." Just go! We climbed 300 stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower and a huge hill in Florence to the Piazzale di Michelangelo... definitely worth it.
9. Some times playing the dumb American tourist can work to your advantage. It got us discounts to see the Harry Potter movie in London and out of a possible fine due to tricky train tickets in Milan.
10. Europeans love Bon Jovi! I don't like Bon Jovi (don't ask why and yes, I know I'm crazy) and they played him in every city! Aggghhh! There was also a Disney store in EVERY single city we went to except for maybe Caernarfon. Disney is really taking over the world.
Ok... well I promise I will write more about my trip later. I haven't decided how I will handle it yet but you will hear about my journey in lots of detail with lots of photos.
It feels so good to be back in the writing realm again (sort of). I have to make this a very short blog but the hostel we're staying at has free internet and I couldn't resist. Let me give you a very brief overview of my life recently... I flew to Dublin, flew to Milan, went to Venice, Florence, Pisa, Nice, Antibes, Cannes (France), Paris, Amboise, Blois, London, Bath, Machester, Caernarfon (Wales) and FINALLY back to Dublin. We leave on Thursday to back to the states and it's seriously been the most epic trip of my life! Oh my goodness, I don't know where to start we've seen so much. The whole trip has been one big blur but I can give you the main highlights very briefly.
1. Kristin has decided she's going to marry an Irish or English boy. There was one attractive young man that was a missionary (who was in his early 20s) who she met at an Anglican church in Bath. He does work mostly in Uganda. We decided she's marrying him.
2. Did you know it takes Australians 24+ hours to get from Australia to Europe? That's why if you ever meet one in Europe they're here for like a year. One girl we met in Nice took a whole year off of work to travel around Europe... best part? Her boss told her to go and party all night for him.
3. We only missed 1 train! And it was a minor train that took us to the Loirre Valley... so we just took the train that left an hour later.
4. You really don't know how much the Brits love the Queen until you go there... Seriously... it's crazy. And the best part of the UK is the countryside. We spent 2 days driving through it and it's spectacular.
5. My French is absolutely terrible. The only thing I can even remotely say right in Champs-Elysee and that's it. I don't even have to say anything to have the French people speak English to me.
6. Beaches don't have to be nude beaches for people to take their clothes off. At the beach in Antibes, half the women took their tops off to sunbathe. Some didn't even wear bathing suit tops to begin with and it was easy to spot the Americans because they were the ones with the most skin covered.
7. This may seem like a no brainer but make sure you know whether or not the people you go with are afraid of heights. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower is not a smart idea if you're afraid of heights. Kristin is apparently (I didn't even know) and she did her afraid of heights potty dance.
8. The best views are ALWAYS worth the 300 stairs or mile walk to the top of the giant hill. If a local says, "Oh you can get a good view from here." Just go! We climbed 300 stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower and a huge hill in Florence to the Piazzale di Michelangelo... definitely worth it.
9. Some times playing the dumb American tourist can work to your advantage. It got us discounts to see the Harry Potter movie in London and out of a possible fine due to tricky train tickets in Milan.
10. Europeans love Bon Jovi! I don't like Bon Jovi (don't ask why and yes, I know I'm crazy) and they played him in every city! Aggghhh! There was also a Disney store in EVERY single city we went to except for maybe Caernarfon. Disney is really taking over the world.
Ok... well I promise I will write more about my trip later. I haven't decided how I will handle it yet but you will hear about my journey in lots of detail with lots of photos.
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