Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Pergatory Plus Perfection

Oh dear, I've had a busy few weeks. Since I last wrote I went to Scotland, Ireland, Germany (Munich), Austria(Salzburg), Italy (Rome, Venice and Verona) and am now back in Germany(Tubingen)! Here are some highlights:

-2. Edinburgh was nice. They had lovely, old architecture all over the place. We also had Pimms and Strawberries and Cream whilst watching Wimbledon. That was nice, to say the very least.

-1. We went to Killin, Scotland for a night. My parents and I woke up at 6 in the morning to hike in the Scottish Highlands. We passed sleepy sheep. (Though they weren't too sleepy after we scared them down the mountain accidentally!) We got to see the sun rising over the Scottish mountains which was nice, to say the least.

0. We got to go fishing in a real fishing boat in Ireland-- think old Irish men sometimes speaking in Gaelic, black rubber floor(easier to clean that way!), cutting board complete with half-cut up fish, and buckets to throw the fish in. It was really cool! And the girls got way more fish than the boys. I got 10 Mackerels, mom got the only 'proper' fish, and Andrea got something like 5 fish. The boys probably got a total of 5 fish. They try their hardest.

1. I, like a complete human, sent my passport home with my parents. Fortunately the next day the embassy was open in Dublin at the perfect time and, a few hours and around 100 dollars later, I got a neat little temporary passport. Later that day Jaime and I went to the Guinness Museum to learn a little and drink a little to forget our problems. It was fantastic!

2. I got to see Sabine in Munich. Since she lives there she took us around, and we even went to Salzburg, home of Mozart, for a day-trip. While there I also got a tantalizing view of the Austrian Alps. Later I'll be able to compare them to the Swiss ones.

3. I slept on a Eurostar Train. It was alright, but cost 20 euros extra. And, of course, we had to pay 24 euros each way to get through Austria because our passes don't cover Austria. Still, it would have cost around 30 euros to spend the night at a hostel so it was alright!

4. Rome was nice, but a bit too hot and full of people. That being said, the Sistine Chapel was amazing--I want to be Michelangelo when I grow up. The food was also great, of course, and the usual sights were cool too, though not quite breath-taking.

5. Venice was lovely! It was my favorite city in Italy. The street was the ocean! The buses were boats! It was also less expensive and they had beautiful glass sculptures and intricate masks practically dripping from all of their stores. The night we stayed there Jaime and I got a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers, and enjoyed it while sitting in front of the hostel and watching the lights play on the water. It was amazing.

6. Verona was nice as well, but a bit warm since there wasn't water to keep it cool. While there we watched Carmen at the Opera Festival. It was great, and we got to watch it in a centuries-old open air arena. The seats were stone and not extremely comfortable, but it was definitely worth it.

7. After the opera, which ended at 12 30 am, we rushed to get our 1 00 am train to Munich. We didn't get beds there and the snoring, somewhat smelly men in our compartment made sleeping slightly impossible. Then at 6 00 am we got off that train and got on another and then another to make it to Tubingen at 10 00. So now we're here finally, but we're a bit tired!

With all the train riding we've done, and all the walking we sometimes feel like we're in Purgatory, and that we'll have to keep walking and catching trains and drowsing for hours before walking more and catching more trains and... well, you get the picture. But then we get to where we want to be and it's all worth it again. And, from today on we don't have to catch trains (well, maybe we'll have to catch two.) But Jaime's parents will be driving us. Hoorah! No more lugging cumbersome and clumsy back packs for entire days around priceless glass sculptures in shops since there's nowhere with cheap storage! No more sleeping with a towel for a blanket and a jacket for a pillow! But then, that's what makes for good stories and fond memories.