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.
Friday, July 29, 2011
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.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Goodnight and Good luck!
"Hello to all my friends! I'm glad you came to play. The fun and learning never ends and here's what we did today..." - Barney.
Please don't ask why I quoted Barney. I don't know either. In the last 48 hours, I have gotten approximately 8 hours of sleep. Partly because I'm hoping that I will be so tired when I climb on the plane that I will just pass out for most of it and wake up and be in Ireland. I even bought (per recommendation of my Facebook friends) some Advil PM stuff to help knock me out. I don't know if I will actually need it but every little bit helps. My current lack of sleep mostly relates to all the stuff I had to get done in the last two days.
I have been on a lot of trips in my lifetime but none quite so daunting as jumping the pond (I've wanted to say that for the last week!). I had to call the bank and let them know, I had to call the credit card company, I had to have the post office hold the mail, I have to put a hold on my Netflix account. Oh and I made a side trip to Gary, IN to drop my dads car off in case he decides to come home while we're gone.
Today my to do list is fairly short, confirm we have all the hostel reservations, make sure we all have passports, mow the lawn, run to the bank (1 last time) and finish packing. Kristin and I bought really cheap queen size flat sheets and turned them into mini sleeping bags in case the hostel beds are gross or they charge for linens. Those just came out of the dryer. (Side note: I REALLY need a sewing machine). We hand sewed those and it took FOREVER! I think I spent like 3 hours last night just finishing up my sheet thing.
Our flight leaves at 6:45 p.m. so we'll probably leave for the airport around 1ish. I know that gives a ton of time but my leg always sets off the metal detector. The TSA people are usually super nice to me, probably because I don't complain and I usually smile and chat with them. They're probably told during training to be intimidating but I guess I don't give the threatening vibe. Now that I say all this, today I will get some super grumpy lady who is mean to me. Oddly enough, I get more nervous about going through security than the actual flying apart.
I'm not normally a nervous traveler but I have been SUPER nervous for the last 48 hours. Almost to the point that it made me sick and it's a very odd feeling for me. I did expect to be nervous but not frightened out of my mind. Most of it is the 7 hour flight I have to be on later tonight. Oh and the fact that when I get off in Ireland (OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!) it will be 8:25 a.m. It's also supposed to be like 60 degrees and rainy. I wonder if it will seem as gloomy there. Then there's also the language barrier! But! I know how to say... I'm sorry. My Italian is really bad. Do you speak English? And I know how to count to 10! And I can say Champs-Elysee! I'm very proud of the phrases I've learned in like 3 days. And now I really need to go mow the lawn.
I promise I will try and blog while I'm across the pond but I can't guarantee anything. My internet access will be sort of limited and I may just be having so much fun that I just forget. But I will do my best to keep you updated and that we are still all alive. Plus I know everyone is saying that wish to live vicariously... so I will start letting you be vicarious as soon as I can!
Now I'm going to use my manliest voice and shout Peace!
Please don't ask why I quoted Barney. I don't know either. In the last 48 hours, I have gotten approximately 8 hours of sleep. Partly because I'm hoping that I will be so tired when I climb on the plane that I will just pass out for most of it and wake up and be in Ireland. I even bought (per recommendation of my Facebook friends) some Advil PM stuff to help knock me out. I don't know if I will actually need it but every little bit helps. My current lack of sleep mostly relates to all the stuff I had to get done in the last two days.
I have been on a lot of trips in my lifetime but none quite so daunting as jumping the pond (I've wanted to say that for the last week!). I had to call the bank and let them know, I had to call the credit card company, I had to have the post office hold the mail, I have to put a hold on my Netflix account. Oh and I made a side trip to Gary, IN to drop my dads car off in case he decides to come home while we're gone.
Today my to do list is fairly short, confirm we have all the hostel reservations, make sure we all have passports, mow the lawn, run to the bank (1 last time) and finish packing. Kristin and I bought really cheap queen size flat sheets and turned them into mini sleeping bags in case the hostel beds are gross or they charge for linens. Those just came out of the dryer. (Side note: I REALLY need a sewing machine). We hand sewed those and it took FOREVER! I think I spent like 3 hours last night just finishing up my sheet thing.
Our flight leaves at 6:45 p.m. so we'll probably leave for the airport around 1ish. I know that gives a ton of time but my leg always sets off the metal detector. The TSA people are usually super nice to me, probably because I don't complain and I usually smile and chat with them. They're probably told during training to be intimidating but I guess I don't give the threatening vibe. Now that I say all this, today I will get some super grumpy lady who is mean to me. Oddly enough, I get more nervous about going through security than the actual flying apart.
I'm not normally a nervous traveler but I have been SUPER nervous for the last 48 hours. Almost to the point that it made me sick and it's a very odd feeling for me. I did expect to be nervous but not frightened out of my mind. Most of it is the 7 hour flight I have to be on later tonight. Oh and the fact that when I get off in Ireland (OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!) it will be 8:25 a.m. It's also supposed to be like 60 degrees and rainy. I wonder if it will seem as gloomy there. Then there's also the language barrier! But! I know how to say... I'm sorry. My Italian is really bad. Do you speak English? And I know how to count to 10! And I can say Champs-Elysee! I'm very proud of the phrases I've learned in like 3 days. And now I really need to go mow the lawn.
I promise I will try and blog while I'm across the pond but I can't guarantee anything. My internet access will be sort of limited and I may just be having so much fun that I just forget. But I will do my best to keep you updated and that we are still all alive. Plus I know everyone is saying that wish to live vicariously... so I will start letting you be vicarious as soon as I can!
Now I'm going to use my manliest voice and shout Peace!
Friday, June 24, 2011
I've got a big dilemma about my big leg Emma... oh yea...
In case you didn't know or can't see or just don't care, I am an amputee. Now please... don't feel bad or sad or hurt or whatever because I'm perfectly fine. I'm a perfectly healthy 22-year-old who has a slight mobility malfunction. Or I could give the medical version which is Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency (or PFFD if you're lazy).
I want give you a short education on this malfunction of mine. PFFD is a rare (apparently I'm rare... OOOoooOOO) birth defect that affects the leg (hence... Femoral). If you need a short anatomy lesson... the average adult has 3 major leg bones, the femor, fibula and tibia. The femor is the long bone in your thigh and the other two are in your calf. PFFD always affects the femor... normally shortened femors or some people have no femor at all. It's also very common to have deformed hips with PFFD since the major leg bone connecting to the hip bone is messed up.
Now like every medical condition, PFFD affects each person differently. In my case, I have a shortened femor and by my estimates it's only about 4 inches from my hip to my knee on my right leg. Compare that to my left leg where my femor is like 18 inches. That's a huge difference! In fact, my ENTIRE right leg is shorter than my left femor bone. I also have no knee cap on my right leg, which I found out recently is fairly normal.
In terms of hip deformities, I probably do have one just because of my shortened leg but I'm not sure how noticeable it would be. I don't check out my butt very often so someone else will have to tell me. I do, however, have a dimple on my hip that I believe is a result of having a short femur bone.
Now this may surprise some of you... but I was actually born with a right foot! My right foot is the only thing I'm actually missing. If you look at really early baby photos of me, you see TWO feet. I usually think they're my sisters because I'm like "I don't have a right foot." See even I forget that I once had a right foot but in my defense, they removed it when I was 10 months. So I have no recollection of ever having a foot.
I also, another surprising fact, have no fibula. The two calf bones I mentioned earlier... I have one! And you all have two! I guess that just makes me so much cooler! I might apologize if that sounded racist but since race is about skin color but I guess I could say it's handicapist (according to Alison's dictionary handicapist means discrimination against those without handicaps!). So I apologize for being handicapist. Kind of.
I'm allowed to make jokes about my own malfunctions, it's part of the contract. Before I left heaven, God asked if I wouldn't mind being different and I said "Sure God, anything for you!" He handed me this contract to sign and all it said was simply, "By signing on the line, you are officially allowed to make fun of your difference." So I signed and I'm allowed to make fun. If you got a problem with it, then go talk to God.
Now as I continue to make fun of my technical difficulties, you should know I am extraordinarily lucky. A lot of people with PFFD (though our numbers be small) are born with other complications, primarily organs. Organs are deformed or, in extreme cases, missing. God luckily granted me all of my organs and all are in working order.
Now treatment is also different for each person. Some people go through this painful process of bone lengthening. They have surgery to have screws put in while their growing to lengthen the bone so it matches the other leg. OUCH! No thank you... just hand me a bone saw and I will do the amputation myself. Now in my case, bone lengthening wouldn't have worked. There was too much difference in the lengths of my femurs. And my right foot was extremely deformed and held no real use to me. So my parents made the painful decision to amputate.
Now I must pause and give a shout out to my parents. It cannot be easy for any parent to be stuck with the decision of allowing a doctor to remove a body part. All they could do was hope they made the right decision and I would understand when I grew up. Welp, mom and dad... I think you made the right choice. So from the bottom of my heart... thank you. Thank you for allowing me to lead a very normal life and I hope I didn't cause you too many problems.
You might wonder why I'm not a God-hater and I'm sure there are people in my position who are. I do occasionally wake up and wish I had two legs but the way I see it, God has to exist. I couldn't have made it this far in my life, with very little trouble, without there being a God. Look at what could have happened, I could be missing a kidney or need a liver transplant. God knew I needed to be born with PFFD and he knew that I would be able to handle it with finesse. I had to be an inspiration to someone. He created me so I could help someone else out there similar to me. To show people that adversity is truly what you make of it.
By all means, I should hate God. I should loathe God. If there's anyone out of the people I know who wanted God to not exist, it would be me. I wouldn't wish being an amputee on anybody. There are days when it sucks and I would give anything to have two real usable human legs. I get tired faster than others and yea... it's annoying as heck to walk around with an extra 10 pounds attached to your body. But thinking about what could be and what is in my life... God exists. I had excellent doctors who watched my growth carefully and I had a prosthetist who cared more about how the leg fit me than the bottom line. I had two wonderful parents who didn't make me the family poster child or treat me differently because I was missing a foot. I had friends who didn't even question the fact I was different. I found a boyfriend (who apparently didn't even know about my leg until after we were dating) who could care less.
So don't give me some bull crap about how I'm God's punishment to an evil world. If you truly think that my leg is some sort of punishment.... then you really need to start seeing a therapist. And I'm starting a rant and I apologize. And whatever you do... whatever you think... don't you DARE feel sorry for me. If there's one thing I HATE... It's "Alison, I'm so sorry." Sorry about what? What in my life are you apologizing about? I mean, seriously people... I don't WANT your pity. There's nothing to pity. Heck... my life could be richer than yours. Maybe I need to feel sorry for you! I've built houses, I've gone hiking in the mountains... in the dark!, I go roller blading, ride roller coasters, go swimming, do cannonballs off a FREAKIN' diving board! I'VE EVEN GONE SKIING!!!!! So no feeling sorry for me. No sorrow. Whatsoever.
And another reason why you can never feel sorry for me. I can have kids. That's right. I can repopulate the world with little Alison's and they will not have PFFD because it's not hereditary. So I'm not worried about potential little Alison's. So here's my offer to you.... if you have a question about my mobility malfunction, ask me. Any question at all. Post it, text it, e-mail it... I will answer them all on my blog. Every single one of them. And if you have no questions, I won't be offended I promise. But everyone I know has that one single question about my leg they are afraid to ask. Don't be afraid to ask. Any question at all! Let your curiosity get the best of you!!!!!!!!!!!
I want give you a short education on this malfunction of mine. PFFD is a rare (apparently I'm rare... OOOoooOOO) birth defect that affects the leg (hence... Femoral). If you need a short anatomy lesson... the average adult has 3 major leg bones, the femor, fibula and tibia. The femor is the long bone in your thigh and the other two are in your calf. PFFD always affects the femor... normally shortened femors or some people have no femor at all. It's also very common to have deformed hips with PFFD since the major leg bone connecting to the hip bone is messed up.
Now like every medical condition, PFFD affects each person differently. In my case, I have a shortened femor and by my estimates it's only about 4 inches from my hip to my knee on my right leg. Compare that to my left leg where my femor is like 18 inches. That's a huge difference! In fact, my ENTIRE right leg is shorter than my left femor bone. I also have no knee cap on my right leg, which I found out recently is fairly normal.
In terms of hip deformities, I probably do have one just because of my shortened leg but I'm not sure how noticeable it would be. I don't check out my butt very often so someone else will have to tell me. I do, however, have a dimple on my hip that I believe is a result of having a short femur bone.
Now this may surprise some of you... but I was actually born with a right foot! My right foot is the only thing I'm actually missing. If you look at really early baby photos of me, you see TWO feet. I usually think they're my sisters because I'm like "I don't have a right foot." See even I forget that I once had a right foot but in my defense, they removed it when I was 10 months. So I have no recollection of ever having a foot.
I also, another surprising fact, have no fibula. The two calf bones I mentioned earlier... I have one! And you all have two! I guess that just makes me so much cooler! I might apologize if that sounded racist but since race is about skin color but I guess I could say it's handicapist (according to Alison's dictionary handicapist means discrimination against those without handicaps!). So I apologize for being handicapist. Kind of.
I'm allowed to make jokes about my own malfunctions, it's part of the contract. Before I left heaven, God asked if I wouldn't mind being different and I said "Sure God, anything for you!" He handed me this contract to sign and all it said was simply, "By signing on the line, you are officially allowed to make fun of your difference." So I signed and I'm allowed to make fun. If you got a problem with it, then go talk to God.
Now as I continue to make fun of my technical difficulties, you should know I am extraordinarily lucky. A lot of people with PFFD (though our numbers be small) are born with other complications, primarily organs. Organs are deformed or, in extreme cases, missing. God luckily granted me all of my organs and all are in working order.
Now treatment is also different for each person. Some people go through this painful process of bone lengthening. They have surgery to have screws put in while their growing to lengthen the bone so it matches the other leg. OUCH! No thank you... just hand me a bone saw and I will do the amputation myself. Now in my case, bone lengthening wouldn't have worked. There was too much difference in the lengths of my femurs. And my right foot was extremely deformed and held no real use to me. So my parents made the painful decision to amputate.
Now I must pause and give a shout out to my parents. It cannot be easy for any parent to be stuck with the decision of allowing a doctor to remove a body part. All they could do was hope they made the right decision and I would understand when I grew up. Welp, mom and dad... I think you made the right choice. So from the bottom of my heart... thank you. Thank you for allowing me to lead a very normal life and I hope I didn't cause you too many problems.
You might wonder why I'm not a God-hater and I'm sure there are people in my position who are. I do occasionally wake up and wish I had two legs but the way I see it, God has to exist. I couldn't have made it this far in my life, with very little trouble, without there being a God. Look at what could have happened, I could be missing a kidney or need a liver transplant. God knew I needed to be born with PFFD and he knew that I would be able to handle it with finesse. I had to be an inspiration to someone. He created me so I could help someone else out there similar to me. To show people that adversity is truly what you make of it.
By all means, I should hate God. I should loathe God. If there's anyone out of the people I know who wanted God to not exist, it would be me. I wouldn't wish being an amputee on anybody. There are days when it sucks and I would give anything to have two real usable human legs. I get tired faster than others and yea... it's annoying as heck to walk around with an extra 10 pounds attached to your body. But thinking about what could be and what is in my life... God exists. I had excellent doctors who watched my growth carefully and I had a prosthetist who cared more about how the leg fit me than the bottom line. I had two wonderful parents who didn't make me the family poster child or treat me differently because I was missing a foot. I had friends who didn't even question the fact I was different. I found a boyfriend (who apparently didn't even know about my leg until after we were dating) who could care less.
So don't give me some bull crap about how I'm God's punishment to an evil world. If you truly think that my leg is some sort of punishment.... then you really need to start seeing a therapist. And I'm starting a rant and I apologize. And whatever you do... whatever you think... don't you DARE feel sorry for me. If there's one thing I HATE... It's "Alison, I'm so sorry." Sorry about what? What in my life are you apologizing about? I mean, seriously people... I don't WANT your pity. There's nothing to pity. Heck... my life could be richer than yours. Maybe I need to feel sorry for you! I've built houses, I've gone hiking in the mountains... in the dark!, I go roller blading, ride roller coasters, go swimming, do cannonballs off a FREAKIN' diving board! I'VE EVEN GONE SKIING!!!!! So no feeling sorry for me. No sorrow. Whatsoever.
And another reason why you can never feel sorry for me. I can have kids. That's right. I can repopulate the world with little Alison's and they will not have PFFD because it's not hereditary. So I'm not worried about potential little Alison's. So here's my offer to you.... if you have a question about my mobility malfunction, ask me. Any question at all. Post it, text it, e-mail it... I will answer them all on my blog. Every single one of them. And if you have no questions, I won't be offended I promise. But everyone I know has that one single question about my leg they are afraid to ask. Don't be afraid to ask. Any question at all! Let your curiosity get the best of you!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
It's my party and I'll never cry because I really don't want to.
T-minus 6 days to takeoff, my friends. Over the last two days my older sister and I have been making hostel reservations like it's 1999. I have officially booked all of our hostels in the UK and Ireland. I believe Tracie still has two more cities to book.
The hostel reservation process has been relatively painless. My younger sister got in on the action reserving our hostel in Dublin on the way back. The only complaint I have is that London has way too many options and I felt like most of them were overpriced. However, I do realize that London is INCREDIBLY expensive and therefore most of the hostels are, in fact, overpriced. I did London last because I hate making decisions when there are so many options.
If you really think about it, I'm responsible for our happiness in London. Our entire 3 night stay in London could become a disaster with the wrong hostel. It's a lot of pressure... let me tell ya. Location was incredibly important. Originally the hostel I was looking at was $20 a night but so far out of the city, we'd be paying like $10 a day for tube fare. That didn't make any sort of sense at all. So I looked around the train station where we will arrive from Paris. I found a decently priced hostel at $30 a night but it had abysmal ratings (especially with security) and that made me super nervous.
I was so close to booking it but I had that gut feeling that there had to be something better. So I kept looking. I pulled up the map on Hostelworld.com and looked at the hostels by location. I really wanted something kind of close to all the awesome London stuff... the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament. How cool would it be to wake up every morning walk half a block and see downtown London laid out before me.
I'm all about walking. I absolutely hate trains and buses with a passion of a thousand burning suns. This of course makes no sense since our main mode of transportation through Europe are TRAINS! Imagine my delight when I was able to convince my sisters that we should rent a car to drive around England. If I could have walked the entire trip in Europe, I probably would have. Now understand my hatred of public transportation doesn't prevent me from taking it. My refusal to drive in downtown Chicago is much greater than my hatred of public transportation. But I digress... I apologize...
Anyways, there were hostels close to Hyde Park that didn't look so bad but I didn't want to spend more than $35 a night, which I have decided is a feat especially in downtown London. The hostels in Hyde Park (which is still relatively close to the touristy areas but we'd still have to take the darn train ride) were like $40+ but that was too much.
As I was looking over this map, I felt like it was hopeless. I was either going to have to book the hostel with the bad security or pay more than 40+ a night. But then I'm looking on the map and I see this dot about a block south of Westminster Abbey. I clicked on it and the price was right. So I read the reviews and they were generally very good. It's average rating was 76% and the rating for location was 85%. I almost cried. I have spent 5 days looking at all these freaking hostels in London. At this point, I was almost certain London and I were not going to get along. I was going arrive there and start throwing things at the first Londoner I saw out of sheer frustration.
So my friends, I believe I have found the perfect hostel in London. We will see how this holds up when we arrive but it was $30 a night, had good security, AND superb location. Holla! I believe I win the prize for best hostel picker ever.
The hostel booking for Stonehenge was pretty easy. We're staying at the YMCA in Bath. I know! I was as surprised as you are that the Y still rents out rooms. It was a little above my price range at $35 but I figured we're only there one night and we get ALL sorts of free stuff. I figured with the amenities it was worth it.
After Stonehenge, we're off to Lyme Park (used in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice) and maybe a side trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon. I'm not a huge Shakespeare fan but if it's close... why not? Anyway, our base for central England is Manchester. And I swear... every hostel claims they're 5 minutes away from the Manchester United stadium. In Manchester, the location wasn't too important since we'll have a vehicle. But parking was. All the hostels were about the same price ($27) so it was pretty easy. I picked the one with the highest rating that had parking.
Our booking in Caernarfon, Wales was simple. They had 1 hostel. It got really good ratings. One guy even said he changed his whole vacation so he could spend more time at this place.
The Dublin hostel was pretty simple. I almost died when I found a hostel in the middle of Dublin for $22. Now I know this sounds confusing but we're actually spending 3 nights in Dublin. The 29th of June and then the 19-21 of July. So I booked the $22 hostel for the 2 nights we're there in July and went back today to book for June 29th. The hostel for June 29... $15 a person!
I know this is probably boring and no one wants to read about my hostel booking adventures but I was entertained by it all. Have a great Wednesday my friends!
The hostel reservation process has been relatively painless. My younger sister got in on the action reserving our hostel in Dublin on the way back. The only complaint I have is that London has way too many options and I felt like most of them were overpriced. However, I do realize that London is INCREDIBLY expensive and therefore most of the hostels are, in fact, overpriced. I did London last because I hate making decisions when there are so many options.
If you really think about it, I'm responsible for our happiness in London. Our entire 3 night stay in London could become a disaster with the wrong hostel. It's a lot of pressure... let me tell ya. Location was incredibly important. Originally the hostel I was looking at was $20 a night but so far out of the city, we'd be paying like $10 a day for tube fare. That didn't make any sort of sense at all. So I looked around the train station where we will arrive from Paris. I found a decently priced hostel at $30 a night but it had abysmal ratings (especially with security) and that made me super nervous.
I was so close to booking it but I had that gut feeling that there had to be something better. So I kept looking. I pulled up the map on Hostelworld.com and looked at the hostels by location. I really wanted something kind of close to all the awesome London stuff... the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament. How cool would it be to wake up every morning walk half a block and see downtown London laid out before me.
I'm all about walking. I absolutely hate trains and buses with a passion of a thousand burning suns. This of course makes no sense since our main mode of transportation through Europe are TRAINS! Imagine my delight when I was able to convince my sisters that we should rent a car to drive around England. If I could have walked the entire trip in Europe, I probably would have. Now understand my hatred of public transportation doesn't prevent me from taking it. My refusal to drive in downtown Chicago is much greater than my hatred of public transportation. But I digress... I apologize...
Anyways, there were hostels close to Hyde Park that didn't look so bad but I didn't want to spend more than $35 a night, which I have decided is a feat especially in downtown London. The hostels in Hyde Park (which is still relatively close to the touristy areas but we'd still have to take the darn train ride) were like $40+ but that was too much.
As I was looking over this map, I felt like it was hopeless. I was either going to have to book the hostel with the bad security or pay more than 40+ a night. But then I'm looking on the map and I see this dot about a block south of Westminster Abbey. I clicked on it and the price was right. So I read the reviews and they were generally very good. It's average rating was 76% and the rating for location was 85%. I almost cried. I have spent 5 days looking at all these freaking hostels in London. At this point, I was almost certain London and I were not going to get along. I was going arrive there and start throwing things at the first Londoner I saw out of sheer frustration.
So my friends, I believe I have found the perfect hostel in London. We will see how this holds up when we arrive but it was $30 a night, had good security, AND superb location. Holla! I believe I win the prize for best hostel picker ever.
The hostel booking for Stonehenge was pretty easy. We're staying at the YMCA in Bath. I know! I was as surprised as you are that the Y still rents out rooms. It was a little above my price range at $35 but I figured we're only there one night and we get ALL sorts of free stuff. I figured with the amenities it was worth it.
After Stonehenge, we're off to Lyme Park (used in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice) and maybe a side trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon. I'm not a huge Shakespeare fan but if it's close... why not? Anyway, our base for central England is Manchester. And I swear... every hostel claims they're 5 minutes away from the Manchester United stadium. In Manchester, the location wasn't too important since we'll have a vehicle. But parking was. All the hostels were about the same price ($27) so it was pretty easy. I picked the one with the highest rating that had parking.
Our booking in Caernarfon, Wales was simple. They had 1 hostel. It got really good ratings. One guy even said he changed his whole vacation so he could spend more time at this place.
The Dublin hostel was pretty simple. I almost died when I found a hostel in the middle of Dublin for $22. Now I know this sounds confusing but we're actually spending 3 nights in Dublin. The 29th of June and then the 19-21 of July. So I booked the $22 hostel for the 2 nights we're there in July and went back today to book for June 29th. The hostel for June 29... $15 a person!
I know this is probably boring and no one wants to read about my hostel booking adventures but I was entertained by it all. Have a great Wednesday my friends!
Monday, June 20, 2011
If April showers bring May flowers, and the Mayflower brought pilgrims... then June got screwed.
All right. I'm going to post this blog. I keep writing blogs and then not posting them because something that seems more important gets in the way. First it was moving my friend to South Dakota. Then it was my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, then a funeral, my boyfriend, and then first and foremost, EUROPE! So this blog is dedicated to all of our plans so you can all read and be jealous.
We leave in 8 days and will be gone for 23 days! Augghhh! Our flight leaves from O'Hare Airport on June 28th at 3:45. We arrive in Dublin, Ireland on June 29th at 8 am! Talk about major jetlag. By the time we get there it will be time for bed. I'm deciding on how I should handle this situation and let me tell you... it's not easy. I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and be up for like 30 hours. I've thought about adjusting my sleep schedule etc... etc... each idea seems less appealing. What makes this even worse is the following day (June 30th), we have to up and moving to catch another plane to Milan that leaves early evening. Looking back, probably should have flown out on July 1st but we were just too excited. It's also highly possible that I'm going to be so excited that sleep will be the last thing on my mind. I'm going to Ireland... the home of my ancestors and leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow!
Like I mentioned, we arrive early morning bum around Ireland most of the day and then leave the next day for Italy (which is actually in a different timezone... go figure). We arrive in Milan at like 8 p.m. and we'll probably just head straight for the hostel. We have 2 days in Milan before leaving for Venice on July 2. We will spend the splendid 4th of July in Venice and then off to Florence and Pisa. We spend like an afternoon in Pisa because we decided all we really wanted to see was the Leaning Tower. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure Pisa is a wonderful city but after intense reading of travel books we decided we just wanted to see the Leaning Tower.
After the fastest trip ever through 3 Italian cities, we head to France! We arrive at like midnight because the only train to Nice from Pisa leaves at 7 p.m. We are in Nice from July 7-9 and then we leave for Paris (which is the place I think I maybe most excited about). Mostly because I know how to say Champs-Elysee in French and sadly it's all I know! I'm that stupid American who knows no French whatsoever but in my defense, I don't know any Italian either. So French people and Italians alike shall hate me forever!
We're taking a day trip to the Loirre Valley and visting chateaux which I'm sure will be fabulous. This happens on the 11th. We're back in Paris until the 13th and we hop on the Chunnel to London! My planning for this trip handles London and beyond. My older sister did Italy and France and I got England, which is better since my older sister is the walking translator. She took 6 years of French and like 2 years of Italian so she can understand all the foreign stuff better.
We are doing everything free in London with the exception of possibly the Windsor Castle. Our plans for England were really sporadic and we decided it would be easier and cheaper to rent a car. I think we're getting a tiny Kia clown car. And yes, we are fully aware that gas is SUPER expensive in the UK. And they drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is on the other side. We have a car for a total of 2 days. Besides, it was the most direct way to get from London to our ferry in Holyhead (which is technically in Wales). We leave from London on the 16th for Stonehenge. Stonehenge for us will be just a day trip. It's about 2 hours outside of London and I thought it would be fun to go to.
After that we are headed north to visit the Pride and Prejudice country. We will be visiting the manor as Pemberley in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. Holla. Then maybe some other trips to float our boats and then off to Caernarfon (try to pronounce that... Ka-nare-i-von) in Wales to return the car and than an hour to Holyhead where we jump on a ferry back to Dublin! Woot! We spend 2 days in Dublin and back to the U.S. That is our trip in a nutshell... we have all of our transportation down. We are tying up the loose ends with the hostels. We hope to have everything finalized by Thursday.
Feel free to live vicariously through this. I will post more later this week with more updates and I will do my best to post while I am overseas!
We leave in 8 days and will be gone for 23 days! Augghhh! Our flight leaves from O'Hare Airport on June 28th at 3:45. We arrive in Dublin, Ireland on June 29th at 8 am! Talk about major jetlag. By the time we get there it will be time for bed. I'm deciding on how I should handle this situation and let me tell you... it's not easy. I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and be up for like 30 hours. I've thought about adjusting my sleep schedule etc... etc... each idea seems less appealing. What makes this even worse is the following day (June 30th), we have to up and moving to catch another plane to Milan that leaves early evening. Looking back, probably should have flown out on July 1st but we were just too excited. It's also highly possible that I'm going to be so excited that sleep will be the last thing on my mind. I'm going to Ireland... the home of my ancestors and leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow!
Like I mentioned, we arrive early morning bum around Ireland most of the day and then leave the next day for Italy (which is actually in a different timezone... go figure). We arrive in Milan at like 8 p.m. and we'll probably just head straight for the hostel. We have 2 days in Milan before leaving for Venice on July 2. We will spend the splendid 4th of July in Venice and then off to Florence and Pisa. We spend like an afternoon in Pisa because we decided all we really wanted to see was the Leaning Tower. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure Pisa is a wonderful city but after intense reading of travel books we decided we just wanted to see the Leaning Tower.
After the fastest trip ever through 3 Italian cities, we head to France! We arrive at like midnight because the only train to Nice from Pisa leaves at 7 p.m. We are in Nice from July 7-9 and then we leave for Paris (which is the place I think I maybe most excited about). Mostly because I know how to say Champs-Elysee in French and sadly it's all I know! I'm that stupid American who knows no French whatsoever but in my defense, I don't know any Italian either. So French people and Italians alike shall hate me forever!
We're taking a day trip to the Loirre Valley and visting chateaux which I'm sure will be fabulous. This happens on the 11th. We're back in Paris until the 13th and we hop on the Chunnel to London! My planning for this trip handles London and beyond. My older sister did Italy and France and I got England, which is better since my older sister is the walking translator. She took 6 years of French and like 2 years of Italian so she can understand all the foreign stuff better.
We are doing everything free in London with the exception of possibly the Windsor Castle. Our plans for England were really sporadic and we decided it would be easier and cheaper to rent a car. I think we're getting a tiny Kia clown car. And yes, we are fully aware that gas is SUPER expensive in the UK. And they drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is on the other side. We have a car for a total of 2 days. Besides, it was the most direct way to get from London to our ferry in Holyhead (which is technically in Wales). We leave from London on the 16th for Stonehenge. Stonehenge for us will be just a day trip. It's about 2 hours outside of London and I thought it would be fun to go to.
After that we are headed north to visit the Pride and Prejudice country. We will be visiting the manor as Pemberley in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. Holla. Then maybe some other trips to float our boats and then off to Caernarfon (try to pronounce that... Ka-nare-i-von) in Wales to return the car and than an hour to Holyhead where we jump on a ferry back to Dublin! Woot! We spend 2 days in Dublin and back to the U.S. That is our trip in a nutshell... we have all of our transportation down. We are tying up the loose ends with the hostels. We hope to have everything finalized by Thursday.
Feel free to live vicariously through this. I will post more later this week with more updates and I will do my best to post while I am overseas!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)