Hello again and sorry for the lack of post-age lately!! I have lots to update on...but I am in Italy right now at a hostel so it's going to be quick! (And all the punctuation is in the wrong place so forgive me if I get lazy and choose to omit some!)
So now I have to remember what has happened since...
Edinburgh - Weekend of March 23
One of my friends said that Edinburgh is like a giant castle, and I would have to agree. It was a very cool old city, with lots of old stone (?) buildings and cobble stone streets, and a steep hill in the centre upon which sits an actual castle!!!! The first morning I went to the castle on my own because Hugh and Kirsty (my Scottish friends) had been a thousand times and werent interested in going again. It was AWESOME. I got to see all the old swords, armor, and cannons, the crown jewels, the dungeons and jail cells, etc. It was especially interesting since I am reading Game of Thrones right now, which is all about the battle over castles and kingdoms. My favourite part about the castle was reading about the treatment of prisoners. Being jailed was not a punishment there, but just a temporary situation until the punishment was administered. Often members of the castle garrison who were drinking on the job would be imprisoned, and since many preferred it to the difficult training they would have to do otherwise, they decided to make the prisoners lives more difficult by forcing them to do tedious and tiring tasks, such as lift up a heavy block, move it to another location, then pick it up again and return it. And then repeat, for hours. haha. The punishments were interesting as well...if a man murdered another while at sea, he was thrown overboard with the body. If he murdered a man on land, he was buried with the body. Seems somehow just, in a strange way... It was also interesting to see how they treated the prisoners of war, such as the Americans. They got to sleep in hammocks, and their daily rations consisted of 2 pints of ale, a large block of cheese, loaf of bread, some meat, and peas. !!!!! Not such a bad life! They also got a daily allowance!!
After the castle, I wandered up this hill/park where there was a nice lookout, and a half-completed copy of the parthenon at the top! Crazy. I think they ran out of money to finish it. Then I met my friends, and their cute little baby Holly. She was adorable and very well behaved, but watching them I realized what a handful a baby is, so was very understanding that they could only stay with me until dinner. We wandered around the city, stopped a few times for drinks or coffee, and ate Italian food for dinner, since they claimed that Italian food was excellent in Edinburgh (and i wasnt interested in eating haggis!!) It was indeed very tasty! And now that I have been in Italy...I would say its just as good! The pasta I had in Edinburgh was less olive oily, so I liked that better even. But I still need to try more :)
I stayed in a very tiny hostel that was full of character, and it was really easy to meet people. So I didnt have any problems finding people to go out with on Sat night, and ended up seeing the Scottish pub (Irish pub with live band) and club scene with 1 French guy and 3 Mexicans. Was a good time. Had to leave quite early on Sunday to catch my flight, so it was a quick visit. But it was great!!
London - Easter weekend
Well, I went to London with the intention of staying with and seeing Katherine, but it turns out she was SUPER sick, so I ended up spending more time with other friends. It was great though, I stayed with a Kiwi friend Chris that Mike and I met in Laos, and he lived in a nice 3 bedroom apartment in zone 2 with his brother and his bros wife, although they were gone for the weekend. Stuff is so expensive in London...their house cost...what was it....over 1200 pounds at least. I feel like I remember the number 2200. Maybe that was my conversion into dollars? Another mutual Kiwi friend of ours came and visited for the weekend too, so it was great to see him as well!!
Saturday morning I went to Camden market where I was both amazed/in heaven/overwhelmed. It was sooo busy and so packed with stalls for blocks, with stalls in all sorts of buildings with multiple floors, inside and out. I wandered for hours, and spent a lot of money. Lots of cool crafty things, which were way cheaper than crafty stuff in Vancouver. Lots of the stores on the streets had very cool fronts with painted scultures and things...will have to post a pic. I then met my friend Ben from high school, and we toured around and saw some of the major London sights, such as Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, etc (just from the outside though). I was really disappointed that the queen guards were in this gated area, so i could only get a picture from afar. We walked a LOT and my feet hurt a lot by the end (especially thanks to my 10 EUR boots). We also took what we thought was a tour boat ride down the river, although it turns out it was just a sea bus, basically, lol. We wondered why it was so cheap!! Saturday night I went to a comedy club with my Kiwi friends and their friends, and saw some hilarious British comedy. 2 of the 3 comedians were female, and they were actually very funny!
Sunday we went to a cool art gallery exhibit by some funny British artist (will have to post the name later when i look it up), and then wandered in another free art gallery for a bit...stopped for food at a very cool food market. I swear that EVERY country in the world is represented at these food markets in London. I had Ethiopean one day and Morrocan the next. Delicious! I am jealous, we dont even have quite that selection in Vancouver! We did a LOT more walking that day, and my feet were dying. My Kiwi friends told me to suck it up :P. Saw lots of street performers too. I saw some cool cathedral as well...will have to look up the name. Saint James? Sorry, only 4 min left on internet time, so need to post fast!!
Sunday night I met Katherine for Indian food, which was tasty. Then met Kiwis at a bar called the Ship. Was a fun night. Left London the next morning. Was an expensive weekend, but very fun!
Leaving Germany
Welll..It was bittersweet. I was realllly looking forward to seeing Mike, traveling Italy and of course going home. Near the end I was losing interest a bit, although I was sad to say goodbye to my friends and my apartment, etc. I will miss many things about Germany, such as the bread, beer, cheap gelato and curry wurst, but I am really looking forward to going home. I had a fun going away badminton match plus drinks, since I missed the last badminton when my bag was lost on the way back from Austria. Germans really like badminton apparently. It was really fun though.
I met Mike in Dusseldorf on the 15th and we stayed at my friend Kathrin's place. The next day I showed Mike a quick German experience...went inside the gigantic old Dom in Cologne, had some currywurst, went to a brewery in Dusseldorf, saw some of the cool architecture, etc. Was a good day.
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