Oxford and Ireland

Today I got the phone number of my cousin here in Ireland! I went to the post office here in Dublin and asked if they had phone books. No luck, but they pointed me to the library down the street, where a super sweet lady not only helped me find the right phone book, but she helped me look up bus schedules to their town. She went way beyond what I'd asked for, which is an example of classic Irish hospitality. I called my cousin, but her husband told me to call back again tonight. So I'll have to let you know later how this part of my adventure works out!

By the way, I had a GREAT time in Oxford. It's a beautiful town with lots of gothic buildings and cobblestone streets. I had some veggie soup in the Eagle and Child, where the Inklings used to hang out, and I strolled down Addison's walk, where CS Lewis used to walk and talk with his colleagues. I also went punting, which is where you stand up in a long low boat and push yourself along with a pole. With the sun getting low in the sky and shining through the leaves, and ducks falling asleep and roosting on the shore, it felt like a moment from the Wind in the Willows (incidentally the author of that book, Kenneth Grahame, is buried in Oxford)

This poem is posted on Addison's walk. I already knew & loved it, so it was awesome to see it on a plaque:

What the Bird Said Early in the Year
by CS Lewis
I heard in Addison's Walk a bird sing clear:
This year the summer will come true. This year. This year.
Winds will not strip the blossom from the apple trees
This year, nor want of rain destroy the peas.
This year time's nature will no more defeat you,
Nor all the promised moments in their passing cheat you.
This time they will not lead you round and back
To autumn, one year older, by the well-worn track.
This year, this year, as all these flowers foretell,
We shall escape the circle and undo the spell.
Often deceived, yet open once again your heart,
Quick, quick, quick, quick! -- the gates are drawn apart.

Addison's Walk

Loving London!

Today I explored Charles Dicken's house, the British Museum (loved the Assyrian art), and the British Library (the Magna Carta, Beowulf, the original handwritten Alice In Wonderland, the Gutenberg Bible...). I can't believe how many excellent sites they have here (and mostly for free!) In a couple of days I'm taking a bus out to Oxford to see the town where Tolkien and CS Lewis hung out!
Very limited time here. Internet Cafes close early here for some reason :(

Cheers!

-Valerie

Pamplona!

I'm in Pamplona, Spain for Sanfermines (the festival where they have the Running of the Bulls). It's really quite crazy here, with people partying in the streets all hours. I've got it good though because I'm staying with some wonderful people named Satur and Beatriz, who have given me a bed to sleep in and washed my laundry (oh how I love the smell of clean clothes!) and let me call home from their phone (my first time talking to my parents in 7 weeks). They've also brought me all around Pamplona to see historic areas, and they've taught me a lot about the whole Sanfermines event. Yesterday morning I got to watch the Encierro (the running with the bulls) from a balcony, which normally people have to pay a lot to do. In the afternoon, my hosts brought me to their Sociedad Gastronomica (a cooking club) where they made excellent steaks and salads and roasted red peppers. While we ate and talked, the men would spontaneously burst into song, singing traditional tunes of Navarra (the region where Pamplona is located) or old classic tunes like Old Man River. They asked me to sing a traditional tune from North Carolina, but sadly I couldn´t think of anything except James Taylor´s Carolina In My Mind. The Navarran culture is rather like the Scottish and Irish in a way, with very strong feelings for their history and independence, and a love of music and traditional dancing.

Last night Spain won the World Cup over the Netherlands. It was an interesting feeling to be in an area where a lot of people really consider themselves Navarran rather than Spanish. There are a lot of Basque people here, and many of them actually wanted Spain to lose. So though there was some cheering and honking horns here, it was not at all like the previous game when I was in Granada. After the game we met up with some of my hosts' friends. When she asked me 'Que tal?' I responded 'España ganó!' (Spain won!) and she kind of made a face and shrugged her shoulders like, 'Yeah, too bad.' Things are rather complicated here in Pamplona.

Tonight I'm taking a train to Paris so I can be there for Bastille Day! Tomorrow I get to reunite with my French exchange student from 10 years ago. Last time I saw her I was 15 years old.

Greetings to everyone! I'm sure your prayers have been with me, because I've been unbelievably blessed on this trip!

-Valerie

In Arcos de La Frontera

Undoubtably the most beautiful place I´ve stayed yet. I have a wonderful large hotel room with a giant window overlooking the Andalusian landscape (for only 55 Euros). As I only have one day here, I´m off to explore. This is just so amazing though, I had to share it with you. Seriously, I almost cried when I saw how gorgeous this place is.

http://www.lacasagrande.net/

I decided the moment I arrived that I will return someday.

Estoy En Madrid

I went to Pamplona from Barcelona and really enjoyed it. I stayed with a 24 year old girl named Irene who showed me around the town and let me sleep on her couch! Pamplona is without a doubt one of the prettiest places I've been to yet. The whole city is a garden, with trees and parks everywhere, very well maintained flowers and trimmed bushes, and fountains. They still have old walls from the 15 and 16th centuries, which they have used as boundaries for these parks. They also have a free zoo of sorts with goats and deer, peacocks and swans in different areas.

I'm in Madrid now, and I'm off to explore it. It was kind of difficult getting to the hostal because Madrid's metro is on strike (seriously, what is it with the European transportation systems and strikes?)

Hope everything's going well at home!

Cinque Terre, Torino, Barcelona

I arrived in Barcelona by night train this morning. The night train was quite an experience. After sleeping in less-than-stellar hostels, a clean bed with sheets and a blanket (and a little bar of soap, toothpaste, and a collopseable toothbrush) feels SO posh. I really felt like this second-class sleeper car (which I shared with 3 other ladies) was the fanciest thing ever!

I had a very long travel day from Cinque Terre yesterday. Tuscany had a train strike scheduled from 10am-6pm and my train out of Cinque Terre was supposed to be at 4. To avoid getting stuck, I left on a 7am train so I could get my connection to Barcelona. This train brought me to Torino, which I guess I'm showing my ignorance by saying I didn't know anything about this city until I showed up in their station. Anyway, I arrived in Torino at 11 am, and my connecting train wasn't leaving until 8 pm. I decided to explore a bit, and found out that Torino is quite a beautiful city. It made me think of the nice parts of New York, with fancy shops and interesting people (lots of neon colored hair). I ate in a really nice cafe with miniature cactuses on the tables and worked on my journal (I've made my journal a priority over blogging, sorry). Then I walked around the city a bit, partly just to see what was there, and partly to look for a cheap belt (I forgot to pack one). All of the stores were way too fancy, and belts cost 15€ at least.

Finally I returned to this nice park across the street from the train station. I asked this middle aged lady sitting on a bench across from me 'Dove posso comprare...?' and pantomimed a belt. She tried to explain to me about this place where I could get a cheap belt, but I was afraid it might be too far away (I cut the bottom of my feet by jumping off a rock in Cinque Terre). Finally she led me to the place she was talking about. She's a Romanian lady who works as a caretaker for an old lady (who she brought along of course). She led me to a booth where a guy was selling belts for 5€. Then, because I'd tried to explain why I didn't want to walk far, she led me to a pharmacy and helped me get some bandaids.

After that, I returned to the park with Maria and her charge (I don't remember her name...) and we hung around on the benches for quite some time. Other friends of theirs showed up and gave happy greetings, and joined the group. Soon there were 9 or 10 people hanging out on the benches, chatting. None of them knew English, but we still managed to communicate using some combination of Italian and Spanish. I told them about my travels, and one guy told me about his family back in the Ukraine, showing me pictures of his recently-married son and his teenage daughter. I had a great time with these people, who were mostly from Eastern Europe and worked in blue collar jobs in Torino. One lady was named Valerie too! They were all so kind to me, and advised me to be careful in Barcelona to avoid theft. They also told me it'd be best to wait in the train station as things started to get dark in Torino. I said farewell to them with an Italian kiss (I was hoping to get this before I left Italy!) and headed into the station to get some dinner and catch my train.

I better get to bed early tonight...my only full day in Barcelona is tomorrow. Stay in touch!

Music in Venice

Hello friends! Internet access is getting harder to find without paying an arm and a leg, so I have to be brief again. I had a wonderful time in Florence and met all sorts of nice people (including a pair of British girls named Michelle and Emily, like my sisters!) My hostel here in Venice is not really my favorite so far (the staff is irresponsible and unavailable, and the guests are mostly a partying crowd). However, my visit here has been totally worth it because I found a free concert in a church right next to my hostel tonight. It was so completely beautiful, I felt like my soul was being renewed. The concert was sacred works by Faure for chorus and organ. Also while I was at the concert, I met these ladies from Massachussetts who are on their way to the same place I'm about to visit (Cinque Terre). We're going to try to look each other up when we're there!

I miss you guys! Send me some love!

-Val