the December Adventures

Well, it's been a while. a rather hectic, rather fun while.
My parents got here on the 10th of December, and after taking them around Swansea, we headed over to Cardiff for the night. I showed them the bay, and then the next day we hopped on a train to London and then took the Eurostar from London to Paris.

Millenium Centre at night.

We only had one day in Paris, so we stuck in as much as we could. We went all over the place--the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, down the river to Notre Dame and to see the Louvre, up to the Moulin Rouge, and then back to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees to the Christmas Market (which was packed). by this time our feet hurt, so we headed back to the hotel.

Arc de Triomphe

Tour Eiffel

Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame

The Moulin Rouge

The next day we hopped on the Thalys (a super-rad high speed train) that went up through Brussels over to Cologne, and then down to Bonn to meet our distant-relative cousins, who were wonderful. They showed us all around Bonn, which was really fun. Occasionally there were complications with the language, but everybody did really well.

at the Beethoven Haus

this is where Beethoven was born.

After Bonn we headed over to Berlin. We had three whole days and we saw a lot, but we didn't even put a dent in the city. The first day we went to the Brandenburger Tor, then walked through the Tiergarten to the Siegessäule (the Victory Column) and climbed up it (280 or so stairs--my legs are still sore). After that we walked over to Potsdamer Platz and then to Alexanderplatz to the Christmas Market to wander and eat dinner.

Brandenburger Tor

Siegessäule

The second day we started out at the Berlin Wall, then went down to the Ampelmann store (the little green man on the walk signs in East Berlin). We wandered down to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, then up to the Holocaust Memorial and walked down the Unter den Linden to another Christmas Market.

Berlin Wall.

Holocaust Memorial

The third day we went to the Zoo in the morning, which was really fun, and then we wandered over to the bombed-out church, then to the Potsdamer Platz again to the Museum of Musical Instruments, and then back to the Christmas Markets for dinner again.

the Elephant Gates

After Berlin we stopped at Prague on our way to Munich. We had about five hours, but I showed them all the good spots--the castle, the astronomy tower, the bridge, etc. Then we hopped on a train to Munich and got in late.

Prague in the winter-time

We didn't spend a lot of time in Munich other than sleeping--on Saturday we hopped on a train to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (which I've actually been to before, with the High School) and wandered around the city. It was freezing but really pretty.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Sunday we took a castle tour up to Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, two of the castles built by [Mad] King Ludwig II. It was really cold, but also really pretty.

Linderhof

Neuschwanstein

After Munich we took a train to Zurich and spent the night, and the next day we headed over to Chur, where we would catch the Glacier Train to Zermatt. It was gorgeous--everything was white and mountain-y, and when the sun shone it was so bright you had to close your eyes. Zermatt is a cute ski town right below the Matterhorn, although for a car-free town it's pretty dangerous in terms of motor vehicles almost running everyone down. We got in after it was dark so we couldn't see the Matterhorn, but we found dinner and walked around. The next morning there were clouds over the Matterhorn so we didn't actually get to see the mountain (which was unfortunate) before we left for Geneva. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Geneva, keeping it low-key and playing a lot of Euchre.

Zurich

on the Glacier Express

what we could see of the Matterhorn

Lake Geneva

On Boxing Day (the 26th) we headed to the airport and flew from Geneva to London. We went to Westminster that evening and saw the city at night, then went back the next morning to ride the Eye and see everything in the daytime. When we were done with that we went down to London Bridge, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London, then found our way up to the Zebra Crossing on Abbey Road. there were a lot of people at first, but it was a large group and they left. It was strange, to see all these people find this precise zebra crossing simply because four people took a picture there a long time ago. After Abbey Road we went over to Hyde Park to the (still ongoing) Christmas Fair, and the next morning mom and dad left (and from what I hear, had a great time flying home, after the Christmas Bomber). I'm really glad they came to visit. It was fun times all around.

The London Eye

Platform nine and three-quarters

Westminster Abbey

View from the Eye

Tower Bridge

Abbey Road

I hung out in London for a couple days after that and went to see Peter and the Wolf live (it was amazing), then went over to Canterbury for a few days over New Year's. I just hung out and wandered around the town a bit. From Canterbury I went to Oxford for a couple days and wandered around there, then came back to Swansea.

Peter and the Wolf

Canterbury Cathedral

I've spent the last week writing my second essay for Genocide, which I turned in today. Next I write an essay for my Picaresque class that's due on Thursday. After that I think I'll just rest in the in-between time and read a few books. Classes start on the 25th. This semester I'm taking Welsh again, the History of Propaganda, and Contemporary American Fiction, and I'm looking forward to all of them. Like last semester, I have classes on only Mondays and Tuesdays, which leaves some weekends open for (hopefully) a lot more travel.

also: I apologize for the super-long post. in retrospect, I suppose I could split it up, but now I'm too lazy.

for your own safety please do not climb these structures.

for Thanksgiving weekend I went to Pembrokeshire (west Wales). I kept it really low-key, because I had a lot of work to do (it didn't really get done, but I had fun). I arrived on Wednesday and stayed in a hostel in Tenby, which is a really cute town in the southern part of Pembrokeshire. Wednesday I just hung out in Tenby and wandered around the town.

the whole town has multicolored houses. it's awesome.

St Catherine's Island at low tide

Tenby beach

Thursday I went to St David's, which is famous for 1. being tiny and 2. having a very large and popular cathedral (St David's Cathedral). it's popular because David is the patron saint of Wales.

St David's Cathedral

stream

Friday I went to Pembroke, which has a pretty awesome castle, and wandered around for a bit.

Swans

Pembroke Castle

Saturday I took a bus up to Narberth, which is a small town in between Tenby and Herefordwest (which is sort of the center of Pembrokeshire) and wandered around there. there are Castle ruins, some churches, and a lot of cute shops.

Narberth Castle

Church and Graveyard

this week I've been reading and studying a lot. I had a few written tests in Welsh on Tuesday and an oral one on Friday, which I think went pretty well. we're just discussing books in my Picaresque class, because the second essay isn't due until the middle of January. I have one essay due for my Genocide class on Monday, and a second one due in January. right now I'm taking the weekend and working on that essay. when that's turned in I'll focus on the parents coming out on the 10th to visit. we've got an awesome plan of attack: Swansea and Cardiff for a day, then to Paris for a couple, over to Bonn to see Grandad's cousin Heide for a couple days, then off to Berlin for three. we'll pass through Prague for a day on our way to Munich for a castle tour, and then over to Switzerland to explore. the day after Christmas we fly to London to hang out for a couple days before mom and dad go back, and I still haven't decided what to do for New Years. I may stay in London for a couple more days because my friend will be there, but I'd like to spend New Years somewhere more low-key. we'll see what happens.
I'll try to update soon after that, but I make no guarantees.

oh, Prague.

this weekend I went to Prague with my friend Gabrielle. we left Swansea on a 3:59 am train to London, and flew out of London Luton, which I had never heard of before I booked the flight. It only took a couple of hours to fly there, and we got in around 3 in the afternoon. we found our way to our hostel, right on the river, and then went to dinner and went to bed early.

Saturday we went to Prague Castle (a lot of which I remembered), and wandered around on the Charles Bridge and then through the Old Town.

that's Prague Castle in the distance

St Vitus's Cathedral

Prague Castle

the Golden Lane

taking pictures in the road-mirror.

Sunday we headed over to Wenceslas Square and then over to Old Town square and then up to the Metronome across the river. it was a hike to get up there but the Metronome was really cool. after that, we wandered around Old Town again, then turned in early, because Monday was a travel day back to Swansea.

Wenceslas Square

spider restaurant and Tyn Church

the Astronomical Clock

the Metronom.

Bridges, and Old Town

Prague Castle.

tomorrow I head to Tenby in Pembrokeshire (west Wales) until Sunday, and next week will be full of reading many many books for my first Genocide paper that's due on December 8th.

the Land of Books and Chocolate

this weekend was really rather fun.
on Wednesday I caught a bus up to Brecon, then over to Hay-On-Wye. it took a couple hours, which isn't bad. I walked over to the B&B, which is about a ten minute walk out of town, over the Welsh border and into England. Hay is on the very edge of Wales, and I had fun sleeping in England and playing in Wales. the B&B was very nice--I had a single room overlooking the garden, the fields, and the sheep. I headed back into town and started looking around all the bookstores.

the view from my window

Thursday I spent wandering around Hay again, looking in all the bookstores. I got to all of the ones in town--there were a couple outside town (about a mile away) that I didn't get to, because they were far away. I did buy a few books--my backpack was about half full when I got to Hay, and it was stuffed to the gills when I left.

the town

Friday I spent the morning in Hay again, then caught a bus to Hereford around 2 and a train to Birmingham, where I spent the night. I was really tired so I didn't do much when I got to Birmingham--I just fell asleep. Saturday I got up early and met the tour group from Arcadia (it was an Arcadia-sponsored tour that I signed up for in September during orientation in London). We toured Birmingham and in the late afternoon headed over to the Cadbury factory to see how the chocolate is made. the air literally smelled like chocolate--it was really fun. I bought lots of chocolate, most to send to friends (unless I eat it first) and around 6:30 I headed back to Swansea. the trip from Birmingham to Swansea took about four hours and we had to take a different route than the one originally planned, because there was a landslide between Gloucester and Newport but it all worked out okay.

apparently I really like tea. and taking pictures of it.

wishing well in Hay

the Cadbury Factory

this week I've been catching up on work (almost unsuccessfully), hanging out in Swansea, and getting ready for Prague this weekend. my friend Gabrielle and I leave tomorrow at 4am to take a train to London and a plane to Prague. I'll come back on Monday afternoon, and then I think for Thanksgiving weekend I'll head to Pembrokeshire to hang out and explore a little.

the merry-go-round at the Swansea Christmas Carnival

I AMsterdam

I haven't done a whole lot since Penzance - read, study, go to class, read, etc., but this past weekend I went to Amsterdam on a trip organized by the University. We left on Thursday night and drove across Britain to Dover, where we took a ferry to Calais and then drove up to Amsterdam and arrived around 9 on Friday morning. it was about six hours from Swansea to Dover, the ferry took about an hour and a half, and from Calais to Amsterdam it was around five hours, so it was a lot of travelling time.

the first day I wandered around with a couple friends. we got tickets for the Canal Bus, which gave us unlimited travel for a day, and took that up to Rembrandt's house and then to the middle of Amsterdam, where we walked around the Red Light District, then we took the Canal Bus back down and went to the Van Gogh museum, which was really interesting. we went to dinner at an Argentinian/Italian place, which was really good, and then I went to bed early because I was super tired.

there are elephant statues all over the city. it's pretty rad.

there are also bikes all over the city, and they will run you over if you're not careful.

the second day (Halloween) we headed up to the Anne Frank house but there was an enormous line so we didn't actually go in. I would have liked to but maybe I'll go back. we also got lost looking for the flower market (which we never found) but it was really fun just to wander around the city and see the sights. we went back to the hostel to hang out for a while, and then a group got together and we all went to dinner at an Italian place. After dinner we wandered over to a coffeeshop and then up to the Red Light District at night. it was interesting, if nothing else. I'm glad I was in a group because I would have been uncomfortable by myself or even in a small group. on the way back we stopped at a souvenir store and I bought a shirt, and then we chilled at the hostel for the rest of the night.

I don't actually know those people, but I thought it was a cool picture.

we left Amsterdam around 10 on Sunday morning, and got into Swansea after midnight. the ferry ride back was pretty rough because it was windy, and by the time we got into town I was pretty happy to be back. today is Guy Fawkes Day and I'm really excited to be in the country that actually celebrates it. I'm going out tonight with my friend Louise, so we'll see how that goes, and then this weekend I have to write a paper and study for a test in my Welsh class. next weekend I'm going to Hay-On-Wye (the town of bookstores) and Birmingham to tour the Cadbury Chocolate factory, and then on the 19th a friend and I are heading to Prague for the weekend. I'm really excited for both of those, and I'll update again when I have some time.