| (no subject) |
[May. 30th, 2007|04:02 pm] |
its official. i'm coming home this saturday.
whereto and exact time are yet to be determined |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 27th, 2007|01:02 am] |
double decker tour bus outside the horse guards. i learned what it was!! they are the highest order of guards to the queen, and the regiment william & harry serve in
salute to carolina
driving!
dont be fooled, i actually drove the most, but the first 2 days were more frustrating than anything so there are no photographic pieces of evidence
highlands!
loch ness cruise, the monster is there, they just keep the tourists coming. 18 total.
loch ness
small hike on the scenic stop of glencoe (glen means valley) where harry potter & braveheart were filmed some... and ps most of braveheart was done in ireland
this is why i want to go back!!
canon & view of edinburgh from the castle
english country from the motorway
river tour in canterbury
considered stealing the lilies for granny
view of canterbury high street from the top of the west gate tower
interior of the cathedral
where the saint died!! monument is symbolic of the faith (the cross) and the 4 swords that killed him - to on the monument and 2 in the shadows
thats all for now... its late! |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 27th, 2007|12:50 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  blank | ] |
mom made it here safe and WE WENT TO LOCH NESS! and ps, we saw the monster!! there are 18 altogether! the loch is 23 miles long and all the lakes in britain & wales combined could not fill loch ness (there is a lake district in britain with many lakes.. and loch is gaelic for lake)
i want to go back to the highlands.
what we did was a one day tour from edinburgh that was just under 12 hours where we made a circular tour of the area with many tourist/scenic stops including a one hour cruise of loch ness. it was a dreary day but it was still beautiful
and we drove to edinburgh from south london! that was an experience! it was nerve wrecking for the first few hours.. dark, getting low on gas... not sure where a gas station is... but we made it! and it was fun. i only turned into the right lane once. only one oncoming car so that could have been worse.
saw the crown jewels of scotland in the edinburgh castle - the oldest in europe. also saw where many american pows were kept turning the revolutionary war, but never got home.
learned where 'bite the bullet' and 'useless git' come from - scottish musketeers. bite the bullet to make it fit in the barrel, it was made of lead and very unpleasant to do. a git is the excess lead from pouring it into the mold to make the bullet, to much makes the bullet useless b/c it wont go down the barrel.
yesterday we drove all the way back down to canterbury from edinburgh (8+ hours w/o stops) and we started at 2pm. we got to thinking and changing our weekend plans and ended up turning the car back in 3 days early to save nearly $400! smart move.
today we toured canterbury. it was good to back in a place i knew and was comfortable in. mom got her first fish & chips, saw some old roman stuff, the cathedral, west gate towers, a river tour, etc. twas great.
tomorrow its back to london for the london tower for the english crown jewels and such, then mom is off monday morning.
pictures to follow. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 21st, 2007|08:11 pm] |
so today in london has been... interesting? eventful? stressful? maybe a little of each rolled into one.
i left canterbury early today to make it to a small town on the other side of england to get my military id renewed with my medical insurance (blayh blah ran out on my birthday.. .needed proof of school...) #
turns out that the people i talked to on the phone here (that told me to go to RAF Daws Hill) were WRONG. daws hill has never done ids. i had to go to a special little place 30 back towards london, which i could have gotten to via the tube.
the days events|:
coach to london
check in to hostel to put down bags
back to central london
train to high wycombe
walk to bus station
missed the once and hour bus to the RAF base by 10 minutes
got taxi to base
talk to gate guard police man
police man made a call
i talked to josh fawcett on the phone, he laughs at the situation.. and tells me i need to go 30 miles down the road
josh meets me at the gate to give me directions in person
guard man tells josh i came from kent
josh realizes i dont have a car
josh makes phone call and gets a charity ride for me to the other base/office
30 minute write with white reveals he's from james island, a huge gamecock fan!
get to the office, their swamped, i'm the last person they want to deal with
dont have a parental permission form i 've never heard of
they give me the id anyway b/c the chief is out.
breath out. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 19th, 2007|08:37 pm] |
| [ | Posting from: |
| | canterbury | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  calm | ] |
| [ | Currently Listening to |
| | matt wertz | ] |
2 days later... THE EXAM WENT WELL! well, as far as i can tell. It was one of those "pick 2 of the 19 questions and write!" which i knew was the format, but the questions could have been about ANYthing. Thankfully, the major question was exactly what i wanted - the Faerie Queene and its reflections of queen elizabeth and england at the time. they give you 3 hours and i only took and hour and half. could be good or bad. the unfortunate thing about essay exams is that you dont know what you dont know... if you missed something, you have no idea because you dont know the information. but itll be fine i think.
i started packing today. nothing big, the room looks the same, just got the winter clothes put away and some extra shoes. i'll be postponing changing the look of the room as long as possible since i have 2 weeks left.
i'm actually going to an american friend's going away party now... and bronwyn left yesterday morning. it's getting real. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 16th, 2007|01:21 pm] |
OH PS!
marisia, sorcha (her friend from london, and a fun girl!) and i are going to roadtrip the last week i'm here! which is after mom comes next week.
mom and i will probably rent a car (which is exciting b/ci really want to drive on the left side, in a car with the wheel ont he right side... i'm prepared, i've biked through traffic for 2 months)
anyway, i found out i'm old enough at 21 to rent a car, just an extra charge for being under 25. but its still cheaper than i thought it'd be. i think 5 days for a compact automatic is roughly 100lbs. split between 3 of us, nooooot bad! plus marisia has wanted to roadtrip for a long long time, but she can't drive, which would leave sorcha with all the driving. so this works well! petrol is expensive compared to the states, but we'll save a ton of money not using trains or coaches.
this means iceland and copenhagen are out. but just for now. i can always comeback to europe. i've lived in england for almost 6 months and i've still only seen london & canterbury. i think this is more appropriate.
although, i am very disappointed ireland is so expensive to get to! a ferry is 60lbs per person w/o a car (144 with a car), but to get to the ferry is another 35lbs and 15 hours in a coach or 68lbs and 6 hours by train from london. flying, even with the 33lb flat tax, would be so much cheaper! so ireland may not happen. sad that i've been here so long and cant get to a country so close. eh. oh well. we'll see. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 16th, 2007|01:16 pm] |
in exactly 24 hours i will be headed to my exam.
i'm feeling better about it. I just needed to change my mind and attitude about it. There is no way to know all the material. the lecturer knows that. so i've picked three major themes out of 6 or so from the course, which are the 3 with the most material/poems to read, and also what occurred on previous exams consistently. (we have access to past exam papers on the library website. pretty useful)
studying for it is a foreign task - no memorization, no repetition. just ideas and concepts and analytically thinking.
peppermints are still going strong. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 14th, 2007|05:33 pm] |
| [ | Posting from: |
| | library | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  unmotivated | ] |
i've reverted back to SAT taking strategies like eating peppermints to stay awake while studying... which is all reading.
BLAH
and i remembered quickly why I dont like this library:
its crowded and its always hard to find a place to sit! and when you do, that place sucks. too many people, too close to someone, in the a major walkway (where i am now) and an outlet for the computer? never. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 13th, 2007|02:06 pm] |
| [ | Posting from: |
| | canterbury | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  grateful | ] |
FINLAND!!
kaisa & me at her dad's place (he's in the back!)
the balu (thats how it sounds, probably not spelled right). basically a hot tub with water from the lake heated by burning wood
9pm! and the sun wasnt down until 10pm then started coming back up at 2am! pretty crazy
large church - actually very simple and elegant inside, with a modern twist
kaisa & me at the church/steps
strawberries from the small tourist market. they're spanish b/c the finnish ones aren't in season yet
on a typical ferry (15 min, no shows) to an island swedish & russian forts
red fingers from the strawberries! they were so good, no white in the middle at all! and dark red
sitting in the widow of the forts/dungeon
crazy jesus lady! they're not limited to the bible belt!!
amusement park! free to get in and she had left over free ride coupons from last summer!
more to come later... |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 13th, 2007|02:00 pm] |
| [ | Posting from: |
| | canterbury | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | blank | ] |
photos from stockholm!
could be sweden, could not be sweden.
roof tops from the roof of Roman's workspace
city hall with the three crowns, the symbol of sweden
one of the big churches in Old Town, near the royal palace
tiny alley in old town
7-eleven in stockholm! the nice area!
my bed!
the ferry to finland aka mini cruise
sweden from the ferry
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| (no subject) |
[May. 7th, 2007|10:58 pm] |
now about today...
traveled for a solid 12 hours - 540 out of canterbury, 8am outof london, 1140 out of the airport, 345 from airport to stockholm city, 5pm met up with Roman in central station. not much sleep but it worked out.
Roman is a freelance writer with a really nice workplace he rents out with others... very in line with the design trendy sweden & scandanavia in general. there was access to the roof from their office which was fantaaasstic! it was really cool to see all the roof tops & steeples
he had more business to take care of so i explored the old town per Kaisa's recommendation, found the Royal Palace (they do have a monarchy for show here). i'll probably hit part of that up tomorrow. some alleys are so narrow i can't put both my arms out straight in them! that was fun. found a super tourist shop, the only shop open at 730 pm, and bought a cheap shirt that says 'THE MOOSE ARE LOOSE' b-c there are apparently lots of moose here. Roman explained that there is a german habit of stealing the moose xing road signs, the transport agency noticed a spike in spending on roadsigns and made a connection... kinda funny. i like how its specifically germans... no one else. (like me) would want a moose crossing sign. and btw the signs are kinda funny, the moose looks like he's squatting
louisa was really cool, we just talked, ate, and drank beer for a couple hours...
now its time to sleeeeeep |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 7th, 2007|10:31 pm] |
| [ | Posting from: |
| | stockholm, sweden | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
| [ | Currently Listening to |
| | something earlier was goooood, but nothing now. | ] |
who wants to hear a funny stoooooorrryyyyy?
last night i left canterbury at 715 on the bus to london to stay thenight and take the train to the airport...
45 minutes into the journey i realize I DONT HAVE MY PASSPORT. can't fly out of the country without THAT. freak out insues. i cant get off the bus and taxi back to uni, itll be expensive, i dont know where i am. its all small towns. maybe i can pay someone to drive it to me. wait they cant get into my locked room. maybe marisia & bronwyn can pick it. no its a deadbolt. the only two people with cars aren't at uni anyway. crap what do i do? i can't go. no i HAVE to go, i spent so much money. is this the last coach from canterbury for the night? what about back? by the time i get to canterbury, and ill i have to take a taxi which is expensive back to uni, itll be midnight. its sunday there are no coaches that late. tomorrow is a BANKHOLIDAY! they may not start until 10. i have to be at the airport at 930,its 3 hours from canterbury. CRRRRAAAAAAP speed freak out texting . Marisia, what's the last coach back to uni? whats the last coach from uni to london tonight_none? what about the morninbg? wait is that coach or trian that leaves at740? which station? only to victoria? i gotta go tostanstead another hour out...that means the hostel i booked i wont use... 24dollars gone.. uuugh. ok what about trains? faster, but expensive... well, whats another 40lbs . just kidding no more trains for the night...ok. theres a train back at 10p, i get there at 9pm. ill get that far and ask the clerk... ausioödjfglkasjfoieutuäåweåfksdlkgneariotuj384uoijaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!
thats my brain for 2 hours in a nut shell.
what happened: got to london by coach at 9, immediately talked to the train ticket lady, Esther, yes there was a train out at 10 but nothing until 7 the next morning with 3 changes and i wouldnt get there until 1030. but she made me go to talk to the coach people b-c they ran all night (not information given freely on the website) thank God she did that! I got a coach back straight to uni, stayed the night in canterbury, up at 430am, taxi from uni to town at 510am, coach out of canterbury at 540, coach out of london to the airport at 8am... there at 915am!
i should have just done that in the first place and not even bothered with a hostel. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 4th, 2007|03:57 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  bored | ] |
i was watching the charleston news online at wciv.com and one of the stories was about the influx of people from ohio moving to the lowcountry.
it even mentioned this website that i find funny:
gobacktoohio.com |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 2nd, 2007|11:24 am] |
date to come home is still up in the air.
i should have a definite answer in 2 - 2 1/2 weeks. i all depends on the funds to travel b/c after 2 weeks from now thats all there will be for me to do. i dont want to dwiddle my thumbs here with the exchange rate like it is! |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 1st, 2007|09:43 pm] |
i am getting very excited for tomorrow at 3pm when i will be on my way to print, staple, and turn this paper in!
then i will relax/run around for a day then begin leisurely (probably outside or down in a field somewhere) reading for the english exam. 50% is a bit nerve racking. and its two essays. blah. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 29th, 2007|01:12 pm] |
another bump in the road for Finland, but quickly cleared up!
Apparently the Stockholm airport I'm flying into is actually 56 miles OUTSIDE of Stockholm, making it impossible for me to get to the ferry via public transport (my only means) within the aloted 2 hours. So I'll be spending the night in Stockholm!
downside: I'll be by myself
upside: Its only one day and a city I've wanted to visited and heard great things about! And I've already got some contacts to recommend a good hostel. The travel buddy from Rome, Jim, spent over a week in Stockholm.
the reason for the high transport costs and ferry troubles? A huge music competition is being held in Finland for the first time ever - Eurocompetition (i think thats the name). But I'm working with limited time now so I'm going for it - just over 5 weeks before I come back to the states. UNBELIEVABLE!! (feel free to plan a party.. complete with fried okra, mac & cheese, cornbread, sweet tea and steak! haha)
paper? still crappy but i'm getting somewhere finally.
other travel news: might have found a travel buddy for Copenhagen! friend from carolina has a friend in Copenhangen we could probably stay with, which is music to my bank account! |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 28th, 2007|07:35 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  cranky | ] |
jfkjalskfjsdk!
after some stressful research i've officially got tickets to helsinki, finland!!!
its pretty intense -
next sunday i go to london, stay in a hostel (no night busses or trains...)
fly out of stansted at 11am
get to stockholm around 1 or 2
take a ferry at 5 overnight to finland
get to finland 9am the next day!
then reverse, minus the hostel the following saturday, the 12th!
i almost had plane tickets to stockholm without a ferry, b/c the first company was full. but Kaisa saved the day!!
this paper is going nowhere slowly. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 27th, 2007|02:41 pm] |
so that is pretty much all the photos of significance. I've deleted the lot down to roughly 800, and could probably trash another 200 when i get the time- there are several duplicates. it still needs more organization. But the other photos are mostly scenic and those can get boring to look at.
big paper due wednesday then its off to finland! of course, i still dont have tickets planned or anything but that will be straightened out in the next day or so. the goal is to travel on off peak days of the week. leave thursday return monday or tuesday.
i've researched iceland some - whale watching and national parks, live volcanoes, hot springs and naturally heated swimming pools. sounds like a good time if you ask me! |
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| and more photos from berlin to vienna |
[Apr. 26th, 2007|03:41 pm] |
the Ubahn in berlin - no advertisements. those are artsy black & white photos - most of them are of american things - mcdonald's & disneyworld. I'm sure they're not all like that.
berlin wall at posdamer platz
really bad picture! i dont know why i'm posting this. but thats the wall.
marks where the wall use to be. goes the entire distance
Jewish memorial. its pretty fun, which seems blasphemous to say
from outside it looks like they're all roughly the same height, but as you walk through the ground slopes down so the blocks tower over you. they're laid out in a grid - all 90* angles.
if you start from the edge the blocks are 1 foot high then grow, so you can just stand on top
the gate that was no man's land... napoleon stole the horses as booty which was considered a huge disgrace to the city
Reichstag aka parliament building. the globe up top is where we went
middle of the globe at the reichstag
berlin haupfbahnof - train station, largest in europe
MUNICH - hofbrauhaus or beer garden (i think). that is 1 liter of beer and yes i drank it all. but alas, we were there for hours so dont worry. and we ate giant pretzels
tourist shop in munich
mailing postcards from munich after a good time working the stamp machine..
i dont know why this image is so much larger. but thats a german postbox in the munich train station
this is the lady that yelled at us in german!! it was scary and funny at the same time. philip snuck this photo like a genius! we finally got across that we didnt speak german and did a 180* and was really nice but lecturing me that my pack was too much for a girl and that i need to have my back for another 50 years and told me all about how the trolleys work and how much they are and where i can take them... haha it was funny.
PIZZA IN ROME!! this was a great and very inexpensive pizza place two blocks from our hostel. we ate here 3 or 4 times in less than 48 hours.
coliseum! i did this coming out of the underground station b/c it was just across the street and RIGHT there when you walked out, and an italian waiter made fun of me and it was great
they're building a stage just across from where i was standing, and everything under that, where the grass is is all the understage, for trap doors and get the animals in and out. really cool for ancients
the forum from the palace hill where the ancient palace was
other end of the forum with the coliseum behind the trees
for of the forum
VATICAN! view from the window of the library portion
ramp exiting the vatican
italy from the train
venice from the train station
venice
public transport in vienna
philips friends in vienna!
gamecocks in vienna! minus alison fortnum b/c she went home early |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 25th, 2007|09:27 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | calm | ] |
first overnight train ... the really crappy one with changes at 4am and 6am.
killing time in montepellier for 5 hours.
that is a fish! this girl travelled with the fish! she was on our train.
made it to nice! top of le chateau where nice was established
same
the other side of le chateau
nice beach! no sand, just rocks!
small market area of nice that looked like italy
bed in nice
le poste! mailing postcards from nice
first sleeper car! really nice, probably the nicest one. complete with ear plugs, water, hand & face wipes.
too bad philips was broken. from nice to brussels
prebroken sleeper
high speed train from paris to brussels
i look sad but i wasnt!
city hall in the Grand Place, Brussels. from the 1500's! the rest of the square is old buildings for the guilds.
mannekin pis - icon of the city.
me as manneken pis!
belgian waffle! SO GOOD!
admiring the architecture
friends from the hostel! token aussies of brussels - mal & reece
on the metro going to the train station!
playing with the camera on the train! i really was enjoying it.
switzerland!
got there around 10, marissa on the right was a roomie and wanted to go out and philip was asleep!
the other two we met! I forgot her name, but the guy is Okoi (awe-kwee) and thats a swiss beer
bed in zurich!
swiss german bretzels (yeah thats how its spelled)
thats europe's largest clockface i think, it may actually be the other tower. i think it is the other one. haha
the snowman! finale of the parade and burned the day we left!
water fountains from the ALPS!
overnight train #2 from zurich to amsterdam!
i think this is amsterdam..
this is definitely amsterdam! the BIKE garage 3 floors and overflowing outside the train station
bookcase to the annex of the anne frank house
amsterdam
red light district by day. photos at night is super dangerous. if they think you're taking pictures of the prostitutes you can get arrested.. and they come out and break your camera
berlin!! to the left is Batiste, from france. our roomie in the hostel
the best hostel we had! berlin
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alisoninengland's journal
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