Food in France

I know... I got a little carried away with the alliteration. I couldn't help it. Just bear with me.

If a weekend in London got an entire post dedicated to food, you can bet that a whole week in France deserves one, too. I ate really well while I was there. Mostly because I was staying with my mom's friends, and her friends ensured I got to experience France in my favorite way - by eating my way through it. Since I had a lot of food over the course of the week, rather than elaborate on every meal, here's a streamlined log of pretty much every meal I ate in France, with the occasional commentary thrown in.

Wednesday, 27 April:
Snack: (Nanterre) - Briochette and a petit palmier from a boulangerie; a bag of Carambar from Monoprix (Of course the first thing we did in France was go straight to a bakery.)

Lunch: (Nanterre) - Margarita pizza

Snack: (Paris) - Pain au lait and another brioche from Dalloyau (We needed sustenance after a long afternoon of walking around and buying train tickets.)

Dinner: (Nanterre) - Miso soup and salad and Sashimi with a Heineken at Antoine's house (Maik's son invited us to his place for dinner that first night, since Maik was held up at work and we actually didn't see her. We had to climb over her gate and use a hidden key to break into her house since she wasn't there when we arrived. Katie was too tired to eat with Antoine and his brother, but as soon as they told me they were ordering Japanese, I had to go eat sushi and practice my French! And oh it was so delicious... my first time having sushi in 4 months.)

Thursday, 28 April:
Breakfast: (Nanterre) - Yogurt and muesli (I discovered my love of muesli earlier in the semester in Ireland. They served it for breakfast in all the hotels we stayed at in the beginning.)

Lunch:(Nanterre) - Leftover pizza from Wednesday's lunch, reheated in the microwave (It unfortunately wasn't the best the next day... pizza is much better reheated in ovens.)

Snack: (Paris) - Berthillon! One scoop of Gianduja (which was great, except it had orange rinds in it, which I wasn't crazy about) and one scoop of Blood Orange sorbet

Dinner: (Nanterre) - Rosé, Braised chicken with onions, tomatoes, and fresh ginger with rice, baguette, and ice cream Popsicles (Maik was actually home that evening and made us quite the sumptuous meal. French chicken has so much flavor, and is so much more delicious than what you can get in the States.)

Friday, 29 April:
Breakfast: (Nanterre) - Yogurt and muesli

Snack: (Paris) - Granola bar and chocolate chip cookie (Jessie was sweet and bought me the cookie in the Gare de Lyon after she saw me crying - a dead giveaway that I was still upset about the train ticket business.)

Dinner: (Lancharre) - Quiche with bacon, steamed broccoli, red wine, baguette and cheese, and for dessert, poires au vin rouge with pain d'épice and a tisane (I warned my friends that we would eat well in Burgundy. They weren't disappointed. Jessie fell in love with the cheese course - I believe she is going to bring it back to the States and introduce it to her family - and who doesn't love eating desserts made from local Medieval recipes?)

Saturday, 30 April:
Breakfast: (Lancharre) - Black tea, toasted pain d'épice, and tartines with homemade confiture - pumpkin with lemon; blackberry; and peach (Oh my god I love their homemade jams. I really want to try making some this summer. If I do, I'll be sure to report how it comes out.)

Lunch: (Lancharre) - Stew of veal and vegetables with a light cream sauce, radishes with butter, salt and pepper, salad, baguette and cheese, red wine, and fresh strawberries and sorbet - mango and passion fruit. (I haven't ever really eaten veal, so I wasn't super crazy about the meat, but everything else was delightful.)

Dinner: (Lancharre) - Angel hair pasta with different sauces - Cream sauce from the stew at lunch, pesto, tomato with eggplant, and tomato with basil - salad, bread and cheese, red wine, and plain yogurt with the homemade peach jam for dessert

Sunday, 1 May:
Breakfast: (Lancharre) - Black tea, toasted pain d'épice, and tartines with homemade confiture

Snack: (Chapaize) - Croissant aux amandes from a boulangerie (We had taken my friends to a Sunday church service, and on the drive back to the house, Bernard needed to stop to pick up some baguette. He wound up also picking up some pastries for us to have later, as well as the almond croissants to have right then and there outside the bakery. So yummy; it tasted like the galette we have for King's Day/The Epiphany.)

Lunch: (Lancharre) - Greek salad (tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, olives, and feta cheese), radishes, fish cake (like a bread loaf with a mix of several different kinds of fish), bread and cheese, red wine, and a chocolate cake with a gilded sun on it and Greek coffee for dessert (Salonge was sweet and made the Greek-inspired meal since she knew my friends were planning to continue on to Greece after France and she wanted to prepare them for the food they could expect.)

Snack: (Lancharre) - Verveine and a slice of the gilded chocolate cake

Dinner: (Lancharre) - Pumpkin soup, salad, bread and cheese, red wine, and Millefeuille and tisane for dessert

Monday 2 May:
Breakfast:(Lancharre) - Tartine (pain complet instead of baguette) with confiture, yogurt, and black tea

Lunch:(Lancharre) - Sauteed chicken with a light curry sauce, steamed potatoes and fennel with Cancoillotte, bread and cheese, salad, red wine, and strawberries and yogurt for dessert

Dinner: (Nanterre) - Sushi (Salmon and avocado rolls) and sashimi (tuna and salmon), salad, miso soup and rosé (Maik remembered how much I love Japanese food. Ahhhh, I was a happy one.)

Tuesday 3 May:
Breakfast: (Nanterre) - Yogurt and muesli

Snack: (Paris) - myberry I stumbled upon a Pinkberry knock-off in Paris! Original with blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries (Not quite as good as the real Pinkberry... but I was still giddy with excitement at finding it.)

Lunch: (Paris) - Café in Montmartre with my mom's friend Cecile: Salade norvegienne - lettuce, tomatoes, avocadoes, lemon slices, shrimp, smoked salmon, with a cocktail sauce.

Snack: (Paris) - Gérard Mulot with Cecile: They gave me a Cherry macaroon that was slightly damaged and then we each had a tarte au citron out in the Luxembourg gardens (She told me that she and my mom often went to that bakery after school and that my mom always got an orange or a lemon tart.)

Dinner: (Nanterre) - Suze (aperitif), Tagliatelle with sauteed turkey and mushrooms in a creamy garlic and pepper sauce, rosé, and a tomato and mozzarella salad with a traditional baguette and fresh basil and olive oil from Portugal (A hearty and delicious last meal in France.)

Om nom nom.

Bliss in Burgundy

I received a complaint that my blog posts have been too long... so I'll just be brief with this one.

Salonge's favorite château

I said already that the last time I was in France, I just fell in love with Burgundy. I wasn't at all disappointed when I went back there on this trip. The world there feels different; it's calmer, and the air tastes deliciously clean and fresh. There's just something so grounding and comforting about being in a place full of reminders of the Middle Ages. Everywhere we went, we saw another medieval church, or another medieval castle, or medieval roads or houses or wells or communal laundry spaces ("lavoires")... We spent our time in the excellent company of old family friends, and they kept us busy - we hiked through the forest and went to one of their son's concerts and visited many of the nearby medieval towns. My mother had always told me that Lancharre is the most beautiful place in the world, and I completely agree. I was so happy to still be able to make it out to Burgundy after losing the train tickets and having to buy new ones.

Jessie and Katie at Cluny

Walking through the forest

Problems in Paris

During my week in France with Katie and Jessie, I spent about half my time in Paris and the other half in Burgundy. The last time I had been in France (three years ago), I also split my time between the two places and decided that I had way more fun in Burgundy than in Paris. I was expecting to feel the same way during this return trip, but I wound up enjoying myself in both places. My experiences were radically different, but both a lot of fun... That is, except for a memorably unfortunate mistake I made in Paris regarding train tickets.

It started at the Gare de Lyon. I had purchased a two-day pass for the metro and then managed to drop it inside the little ticket machine. After some difficulty trying to explain what happened in French to someone who worked at the station, they finally sent a woman over to take apart the machine and retrieve my ticket. I should have known that the little drama was a bad omen.. since two days after that, I realized I had lost two other, far more important tickets: not only my, but also Katie's [rather pricey] TGV tickets from Paris to Burgundy. I woke up early on the day we were supposed to take the train, only to find that the tickets were no where in my bags, or on the nightstand, or in the bed... you can imagine that I was freaking out. I had been so careful about keeping the contents of my bag safe from pickpockets and I could've sworn I had them in the house where we were staying. But alas, they were nowhere to be found. In the end, Katie and I wound up going back to Gare de Lyon and I had to buy both tickets again. I was freaking out about all the money, and I was an absolute wreck for the rest of the afternoon, until we actually made it to Burgundy. As my mom and all of her French friends told me, it could have been a lot worse - I could have lost my passport or my wallet or someone could have gotten sick. All true, but it was still pretty upsetting. It certainly made me cranky, but at least it didn't ruin the whole trip for me. Despite my mishap, I wound up liking Paris a lot more than I had the last time I was in the city.

I believe I talked about this in the London posts, but I'll mention it again: I have no interest in going to toursity sites, whereas for my friends, the formal site-seeing can make or break their trip. So, for their sake, we waited on the lines and went to the very top of the Eiffel Tower on a very grey and blustery day (ahem, it was freeeeezing). I did like the view of the city though - it's designed so beautifully.

On another day, one of my mom's childhood friends offered to take me on a personal walking tour around Paris. I was able to experience it in a very anti-touristy way. She took me up to Sacre Coeur so I could get another almost birds-eye view of the city and then we went strolling up and down all the little side streets in Montmartre. Sacre Coeur is a huge tourist attraction, but none of the visitors ever think to explore the lovely little side streets. It felt entirely different from the rest of Paris; it was like we were transported to a little village where it was just so calm and quiet. As we moved through other neighborhoods, she pointed out all of her favorite buildings and tranquil gardens and all the spots she used to frequent with my mother when they were younger. We spent over four hours together, and by the end of the afternoon, I finally felt like I had really experienced Paris... and I finally really enjoyed it.

Liminal Dublin

Like many people I've talked to, I realize that I much prefer Galway to Dublin as far as Irish cities go. I had fun in Dublin and all, but it just feels sort of like this awkward liminal space for me. Like a big, temporary waiting room for when I leave and enter Ireland. When I first arrived in Ireland back at the beginning of January we spent a couple days in Dublin for orientation before moving on to Galway and I did the same thing before leaving Ireland to go spend a week in France. Jane and I bused out to Dublin together and I stayed with Katie and her mom at The Westin hotel for the two nights before moving on across the pond. I know this makes me sound a little pathetic, but I really didn't have much interest in going to do or see anything in the city for the little time we were there; I just wanted to take a hot shower in the hotel (since we didn't really have hot water all semester in our apartment in Galway) and then take naps because I was rather sleep-deprived (Jane and I had spent the past few nights staying up until 3am hanging out with Pam and Ian before saying good-bye for the semester). As long as I had food, I didn't feel the need to try to conquer Dublin. Like I said, the city just felt like a waiting room.

Well, we did eat (and I had some pretty yummy meals as well as some pretty "meh" ones) and we did end up seeing a little bit (since Jane and Katie's mom didn't feel my same sense of anti-enthusiasm for Dublin). Our first night there, Jane, Katie, and I wandered around rather restaurant/pub-dense Temple Bar District to find somewhere to eat. We decided to stop in a place called Elephant and Castle since I thought I remembered seeing a restaurant with the same name in New York. Our waiter strongly encouraged us to try their famous spicy chicken wings, we caved and split some to start. It was the first time I remember ever really eating hot wings, but they were quite tasty. I spent the whole rest of the meal trying to figure out what all the flavors were in the sauce - I got something that tasted a little bit like vinegar, but I couldn't decide what else was in it. I followed up the appetizer with another first: a charcoal grilled burger with mozzarella and tomato with a pesto sauce and fries on the side (remember: they serve potatoes at practically every meal in Ireland). It wasn't my first time ever eating a burger, but it was my first time eating beef in Ireland. Everyone raves about how awesome Irish beef is, so I figured I should try it at least once before leaving the country. Now, I'm sure it was great quality and excellent tasting beef... but it just made me remember that I really don't like the taste of red meat. With each bite, I kept expecting chicken or a veggie burger, and I was disappointed when I tasted beef instead. I wound up taking out the beef after a while and just having the tomato and mozzarella and pesto on the bun. I ended it all with some mango sorbet - a pretty delightful way to end a meal.

We found a place near Trinity College for breakfast the next morning and I decided to go with yet another first: Irish porridge with fruit. I made myself a lot of oatmeal throughout the semester, but I hadn't ever eaten any real Irish porridge. The porridge itself was really good, but I was a little disappointed. When a menu lists a cereal-type thing with fruit for breakfast, I guess I usually assume fruit combinations of either apples-and-cinnamon or mixed berries of sorts. Instead, they gave me melon and pineapples and grapes, all of which tasted a little weird to me mixed with the creamy porridge. Oh well. Lunch was a bit better (although I can't seem to remember the name of the place). It was a cute little café, also in Temple Bar District, and I had an open-faced grilled chicken sandwich on ciabatta with mozzarella and peppers and salad on the side. Simple, but good. I took half of it back to the hotel with me and had it as a pre-dinner snack later... which proved to be a good idea, since I wasn't too crazy about dinner itself. I just wanted to find a place where I could just get a little soup, but of course the place we found didn't have any soup that sounded appetizing. I wound up just getting a Caesar salad, which usually isn't the best bet in Ireland; they always add bacon to their Caesar salads, and it was way overpriced for what it was. Again I say, oh well. We went to a pub for dessert and listened to some live music for a bit before turning in, so the night ended well, anyway.

As far as the "seeing a little bit" in Dublin goes, we really just went to see two exhibits: the Book of Kells at Trinity College and the Bog Bodies exhibit at the Archaeology museum. The Book of Kells was pretty sweet, especially since we had spent a fair amount of time examining medieval manuscripts in my Medieval Heroic Narratives class at Macalester last semester. The pages were all dizzying to look at, since all of the artwork and detail was so intricate and so tiny. Really though, seeing any remains from the medieval period is pretty awesome. Actually, add to that: seeing remains from the Iron Age is also pretty awesome, although really eerie. I've studied the Bog Bodies a fair amount over the past year, and I had seen pictures of the preserved bodies, but it's a totally different experience seeing them right in front of you in a museum. I couldn't get over how much hair the bodies still had, and the fact that you could still read expressions of fear and pain on their faces, centuries and centuries later. After the exhibit, I was a little creeped out and very much exhausted, so I just went back to the hotel and napped until dinner.

My last experience in Dublin was waking up at 4:00 in the morning to get dressed and catch a cab to the airport to make our 6:30 am flight off to Paris - something I will never recommend anyone ever do.

Galway Adventures with Jane

The only reason I was actually able to finish my castles paper and turn it in a week early was because Jane came to visit me from Scotland, and I needed to be free to spend time with her and show her a good time in Galway. I was really glad she was able to make it out to Ireland - of course because I hadn't seen her in a long while and I missed her, but also because I was the only one of my friend group in Ireland who didn't have a friend or family member come visit them during the semester. It was a little sad to a) not have the same little reminder of home and b) not have anyone to show the city to. I've been living here all semester, but there are still always things you don't really find time for until you have someone whom you want to impress (or at least ensure they enjoy themselves).

Wandering down by the bay

Jane and I did end up having a lot of fun wandering through all the cobbled, ankle-twisting streets and exploring down by the bay - something I hadn't done too much of on my own. We walked through some places I hadn't even seen before (I'm a little ashamed to admit). We strolled through Shop Street a bit, wandering in and out of a few souvenirs shops, and we stumbled upon a man sitting in the street, hand-carving slates with beautiful Celtic designs (which I believe all came from the Book of Kells). Later in the day, we wound up down by the Spanish Arch, but instead of just sitting somewhere at the little port (like I had always done throughout the semester), Jane wanted to continue further out to explore more of Galway Bay. After frollicking through fields and along a sort of cement boardwalk along the Bay, we found a lovely bed of rocks which we climbed over and sat on to eat some apples with that delightful aftertaste of salty air. On our walk back, she picked dandelions and proceeded to craft me a crown of flowers. (I wore it during the rest of the afternoon, but I did draw the line at her proposal to hold hands and skip.)

The next day, Jane and I planned a trip to the Aran Islands. Jane had been there once before six years prior, but she only saw one of the smaller islands and she was eager to visit Inis Mor with me. We woke up early (re: 7:00 am) to walk into town to catch the bus that would then drive us an hour away so we could catch the ferry to Inis Mor (another 40 minutes). Although it's the biggest of the Aran Islands (the name translates to "Big Island"); it is still fairly small - I think it's only around 12 square miles.

Soaking up the beautiful landscape

We had the option of either hopping in a sketchy tour van or renting a bike for the afternoon. Because it was absolutely gorgeous weather, we opted for the bikes. I warned Jane that I hadn't ridden a bike in years and wasn't sure I could safely handle biking 9 miles around the island, but she thought I'd be fine. Before venturing forth though, I insisted that we stop for lunch (of course), so we found an outdoor table at one of the little restaurants overlooking the docks. I sat down thinking I would have to order fish (being on such a little island and all), but I wasn't really feeling the heaviness of fish & chips and it was either that or a mixed fish chowder (I've had it before elsewhere in Ireland... and I must say, I'm really not a fan. It's too weird having so many different kinds of seafood all blended together). So I ended up going with a non-fish item off the menu: The marinated Cajun Irish chicken breast with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions on garlic-toasted ciabatta bread. It also came with a small mound of lemony couscous and it was absolutely delicious. Om nom nom. During the meal, the weather was so nice and warm that I could shed all my outer layers and roll up my jeans to maximize my sun exposure (something I haven't had much of all semester, as you might imagine). 

After eating, we hopped on our bikes and started exploring the island (and working off a little bit of the lunch). Like I said in my castles post though, I didn't end up taking too many photos because my camera hardly does justice to Ireland's beauty. Here are just a few to give an idea of what it was like:

                                            

*     *     *

I'll feel a lot better about leaving Galway now that I can say I've really done and seen a lot in the city. Before Jane's visit, I was starting to feel slight pangs of remorse about not going into town more often and not experiencing enough new places. The pangs of remorse have now mostly diminished, I'm happy to report.

Medieval Castles

I`ve mentioned before that I took an Archaeology class this semester called "The Development of the Castle in Medieval Europe." A 300-word paper (90% of the overall marks) was the very last assignment I had to worry about and I turned it in last week. While I thought it was a relatively interesting class, it was honestly probably my least favorite of the semester - or at least the class I felt least invested in. I really enjoyed our lecturers -Kieran always looked like a gentle grizzly bear and Rory was just a great character who clearly took his castle business very seriously. All the same, the lectures often felt really repetitive and we didn't get much new information each time. We must have spent the first 4-5 weeks just establishing the fact that timber castles were more popular than masonry ones, and that they weren't simply "temporary fortresses built in an invasion context." (He practically beat us over the head with that phrase.) After the first few weeks, I felt like I had already gotten the point. I kind of wish they had given us assigned readings to correspond with the lectures, and then it maybe would have been a little more interesting to follow what they talked about during lectures. I wound up writing my final paper on the timber castles since they were pretty much new to me before taking the class, but it was hard to come up with anything original or exciting to write about, which made it awfully difficult to care too much about it. Oh well. I hope it came out alright.

The best part about the course (I might go so far as to say one of the only redeeming factors) was a day trip we took at the very end. They bused us around for several hours, taking us to neighboring counties to visit four different sites: a towerhouse; a later, Renaissance-influenced castle; the remains of a castle and the monastery at Clon Macnoise; and finally, a surviving earthwork mound that onced supported a motte (timber) castle. I only have a few photos from the sites - after a while, I realized that many of the awe-inspiring factors of the places I've seen in Ireland don't really translate well in photographs. Here are some of the few I did take though:

I really loved running around the Towerhouse (which is usually closed to the public), standing at the arrowloops and sneaking up the stone spiral staircases watching out for murder holes and traps. It was like a playground from the 16th century.

The Renaissance-influenced castle: note the symmetrical windows and the skyline meant to impress

The remains of the castle near the monastery at Clon Macnoise.

View from monastery at Clon Macnoise:

Annnd... view of the Almighty Motte Castle from its attached bailey (try to image a heavily defended timber fort at the top of the mound)

Huzzah!

Jane (and her friend) arrived in Galway this afternoon! It's so bizarre having our worlds collide like this - but it's more fun than bizarre. Especially since all of my housemates have been gone and I've been alone in the apartment since Tuesday morning, doing pretty much nothing other than clean and work on my final paper for my castles (archaeology) class. I picked them up from the bus station and brought them to the campus so we could have lunch and so I could finish the paper and turn it in... and guess what guess what guess what?! I did finish it. So I am now officially all done with my semester at NUIG. (I just won't find out how I did in any of my courses until July at the earliest, and September at the latest. Oh well). We celebrated with a Guinness each at a trad bar and then out to dinner and then strawberry gelato for dessert. (Om nom nom.)

It hasn't quite hit me yet that I'm all done; that summer has actually begun and I'm now technically on vacation here in Europe. I guess my next major task will be packing everything up, and trying to spend as much time doing the things around Galway that I didn't make time to do earlier in the semester. It feels so nice to be free.

On a somewhat unrelated note - we had a high of 70 here in Galway today and it was absolutely gorgeous. Today has been a good day. A good day, indeed.

Wing Girl

Over the course of the semester, my housemate Alissa has slowly become my wing girl. I think it pretty much started when I said something about a lack of male dancing partners when we go to the clubs. She rolled her eyes at me and informed me that I had apparently been blowing off guys when we went out to clubs and I was remarkably unaware. What can I say; I didn't realize that I'm apparently supposed continually glance behind me while I dance so I'll actually know when there's a guy trying to dance right behind me. Apparently I'd been ignoring a bunch of them (oops). As a general rule, I'd say that the Irish guys have been a lot more forward/aggressive than the American guys at clubs... however, they still mostly try to initiate dancing by sneaking up behind and I guess expecting you to start bumping and grinding with them. Which, I must add, is something I do not care to do. Well anyway, Alissa decided that we needed to work out a signal so she could alert my unobservant self the next time she saw an attractive male specimen lurking about in the clubs. (It took a while to decide on something, but she finally determined that a subtle "Hey, Jimmy" accompanied by a little head nod would do the trick.) But then of course we took a bit of a clubbing hiatus and we didn't get to try it out much.

Last Monday though, she dragged Jessie, Katie, and me to a pub in town (and I do mean dragged - I was so cranky about leaving the apartment and embarking on a 30 minute walk at 11pm when I was already feeling sleepy). When we got to The Quays, she and I went up to the bar together and each ordered a Guinness - which, if you don't know, takes a while. They pour most of the pint, then let it settle for a few minutes, then top it off, and then it has to sit a little longer. Well, during that Guinness-settling time, a guy at the end of the bar called over the bartender, who then came back to us and handed us back our money (!). Alissa told me that the proper etiquette in such situations meant that we had to go over to him and strike up a conversation... and that's how she and I spent the next several hours in the pub toasting pints and talking with two guys from Columbus, Ohio. (Leave it to us to find possibly the only two American guys in the Irish pub.) It wound up being a fun night. On the walk home, I admittedly felt a little sheepish for the earlier crankiness. Good things seem to always happen when Alissa decides for us to go out on the town.

* Edit: Oh, I forgot to add that Alissa took all the credit for getting that guy to buy us the drinks. She told me later that when we first got to the bar, she spotted a guy who she said looked like Nigel Barker the "sexy noted fashion photographer..." (although she later decided that he also looked a bit like a bona fide New Jersey Guido when he took his sweatshirt off), and she gave him The Eyes. It's an impressive tactic, and she's been trying to teach me how to master them, too.

Springtime happiness

On a completely random note:

I'm sitting at my desk and I just looked out the window and... it's still light out at 9 pm. I'd just like to point out how totally awesome that is.

Hooray for the warmer seasons!

Adventure Weekend

Do you remember my post about the Belfast trip? Well, that was one of the two excursions that IFSA Butler scheduled for people on the program. The second excursion was to the Killary Adventure Center in Connemara, Co. Galway (over a month ago). And it was faaaaaabulous. I think everywhere should have an Adventure Center like this.

I had actually been really reluctant to go for the weekend. I kept making excuses for myself so I could justify not going, ie, it was supposed to be really cold and rainy, I didn't have the right outdoorsy/waterproof clothing, I had a lot of reading to catch up on, I was just feeling really exhausted... I know, I'm lame. Luckily, Katie managed to convince me to suck it up and go, and I was so glad she did.

I didn't take many pictures, so this is from their website

We stayed in a lodge-type place that had a dining area for the whole top floor with huge windows that looked out on a big lake and mountains. Incredibly beautiful. We got there kind of late on Friday, so we just signed up for activities for Saturday and then ate dinner (I had a delicious cod with rice and vegetables, and then chocolate tartlets for dessert). After dinner, we played cards and board games that the IFSA people brought us. My friends and I started with Janga, which I realized my nerves absolutely cannot handle anymore, and then we found an Irish board game that taught us all about Irish geography and trivia.

The happy winners: Salamander Express

We stopped the games for a Table Quiz (group trivia contest!). My group called itself "Salamander Express" (Don't ask - I don't know). It was four rounds of ten questions each, and they threw curve balls at us by making us race to accomplish weird tasks before submitting each answer. The tasks involved a lot of cross-dressing... For example, the first one said that the first group to get a guy wearing women's shoes, a bra, a hat, and holding a toothbrush would win. They also had us switch a guy's and girl's outfits and put them on backwards. The task I won for my team was the first person to do a split in front of the Question Master. I was so excited to have a task I could do that I ran from our table and dropped into the split while running. I didn't even know I could do that. Salamander Express wound up winning the whole game (yay!), so each member on my team received a €15 iTunes gift card.

The real adventures started the next day. The Salamander Express members happened to all sign up for the same first two activities: rock climbing and the giant swing. They strapped us into harnesses and stuck giant bright red helmets on our heads (and we pretty much wore them until we left Sunday afternoon...I spent most of the weekend far off the ground). I scurried up the first 3/4 of the wall pretty quickly before I started losing all sensation in my fingers because it was so cold (Bhí sé an-fhuar)! I told the woman supervising us that I was ready to come down since I couldn't grip the little nubby rocks anymore, but she told me no (!). She said I had gone too far to quit, so I should let go of the wall and just hang on the ropes for a few minutes until I got the feeling back in my fingers, and then decide if I wanted to keep going or not. I saw that I was a lot further up the wall than I had thought, so I did what she told me to do and figured I'd try to just finish it. Well, I was the very first person of the day to make it to the top of the rock climbing wall (50 meters high), followed by Katie a minute or so later.

After we all conquered the wall, we went to tackle the giant swing. I can't explain it too well, but it was basically a big swing for two people that goes up 50 meters high and then you have to pull a little cord that drops the swing and lets it go flying in regular pendulum-like fashion. It felt a little bit like a roller coasterBasically, it was terrifying awesome. And the view of surrounding mountains and lake while swinging was great.

Katie and me - getting ready to be lifted all the way up

Just about to pull the cord and go flying

After lunch (during which I had a delicious vegetable soup and homemade oatmeal bars), we had more activities. I decided to go with the high ropes and outdoor laser tag. Again, more time in a harness, dangling from ropes, climbing up things, and jumping into the air. I was absolutely terrible at laser tag (no surprise there), but it was fun to camouflage and chase after each other in woods, trying -and failing- to avoid the bog water. I totally destroyed my shoes in the bog, but hey, whatever. They were old anyway.

Saturday night after dinner (I had salmon and a rice pilaf with strawberry cheesecake for dessert), they hosted a dance party in the dining hall. The DJ was this totally awesome man who must've been in his 70s, but he knew how to pick some good tunes. Katie, Pam, and I were the first people to get up and dance, so we pretty much got the party started. It was so weird (but fun) to dance with our program leaders and the people who had been supervising us all day. It felt like partying with your camp counselors who got really drunk. After a while, they all hopped on the bar and kept dancing up there.

Come Sunday, we were all totally exhausted and sore, but we had time for one more activity before heading back to Galway. Katie and I went with the zip lining (Pam and Ian had gone on Saturday and told us it was amazing). While we were waiting for the other girls to go before us, it looked like a pretty nice day - not too cold or too windy. You have to remember though that in the west of Ireland, the weather changes really rapidly and really drastically. It started raining as Katie and I walked up to the tower to get hooked to the line and when we were standing at the top of the tower getting ready to jump, it started sleeting. The wind was so fierce, my teeth were actually chattering and my legs were shaking, and the guy tying all my knots was amused that I was shaking from the cold and not from fear. (Really, I wasn't scared about jumping. I felt pretty comfortable with the harness and knots). Well we jumped and went zip lining through the sleeting rain, which I will say was less than ideal - but still a totally awesome experience. And definitely quite memorable.

Props to IFSA for organizing another great weekend for us. Like I said before - I was really glad I wound up going.

Gaeilge

I'm very behind on my blogging, but I'll to try to catch up on the highlights of what's happened over the past month or so. It's been a whirlwind. And... I think I'll start with some Gaeilge (pronounced "Gale-guh").

I mentioned a while back (in my Modules post) that I decided to take an intensive beginner's Irish course this semester - because, ya know, why not? I'm here, and when else will I get the chance to learn to speak some Gaeilge? Well, I just finished the whole course on Monday when I took my written and oral exams (and I think they went well). I wouldn't say that I now know how to speak Irish, but I can more or less pronounce the crazy-looking words like "grianghrafadóireacht" (photography), and I know some stock phrases. I can tell you my name, where I'm from, what facilities are in my area, what the weather's like, what my house is like, who's in my family, what everyone's hobbies are, what I'm studying at school, what my job is, and the time. And I know about 35 verbs (but only in the past and present continuous tenses). For example:

Chelsea atá orm, agus is as Méiriceá ó dhuchas mé. Rugadh agus tógadh i bhFlorida mé, ach tá mé i mo chónaí i Nua Eabhrac le mo chlann anois. Tá muid ina gcónaí i mbaile beag, Rhinebeck, agus is ceantar alainn é. Tá ollmhargadh, pictiúrlann beag, siopá, agus go leor bialanna ann. Tá seacht seomra leapa, trí sheomra folctha, seomra bia, seomra suí, agus cistin i mo theach dha stór. Tá teach an-mhor mar tá ochtar i mo chlann: mise, mo thuisimitheorí, mo dhearháir amhain Jeremy, agus mo dheirfiúracha Chloé, Sophie, agus an cuplá Charlotte agus Brigitte. Réitim le mo dhearháir agus mo dheirfiúracha mar sin tá siad mo chairde freisin. Tá go leor caitheamh aimsire agam. Caithim go leor ama ag scríobh agus ag léabh, agus is maith liom a bheith ag snámh. Téim ag damhsa le mo chairde go minic, agus is aibhoinn liom a bheith ag cniotáil ó am go ham freisin. Is fearr liom a bheith ag cócaireacht mar déanim é le mo mhaithair agus le Chloé. Is brea liom a bheith ag ithe agus ag ól le mo chlann. Is mac léinn mé, agus tá me ag déanamh staidéar ar an mBearla agus ar an bhFrancís chun a bheith i mo mhuinteoir. Níl mé ag obair mar tá mé ag staidéar go lánaimseartha. Sin é!

I guess it's fun being able to know at least that much, but I was pretty frustrated with the way the whole course was taught. I really wish I had been able to learn even more than that. I think they need to do a major overhaul on their Irish language education. Kids here study it in schools for seven or eight years, and a lot of people told me this semester that they don't know anything. I heard a bunch of times that I can speak better Irish than they could, even after only two months of learning it. And that just makes me a little sad.

On a slightly different note, I realize that I never actually wrote about my weekend immersion in the Gaeltacht (an Irish-speaking village), called An Cheathrú Rua. As part of my class, they scheduled a weekend (3 days, 2 nights) for us to go stay with an Irish-speaking family and take classes to practice Irish during the day. I think it's a great idea for any language class...however...they scheduled us to go after only 3 weeks or so of class. So our Irish was pretty weak and we really couldn't understand our host family at all when they spoke in Irish. They ended up having to switch to English for us because they realized we couldn't speak anything, so then the weekend wound up being less about immersion and more about a great bonding experience with the other people in my class. I would love to be able to go back now that I feel a bit stronger with my Irish, and maybe I'd get a little more out of it. It was still so much fun, though.

The house (An teach)

The kitchen (An cistin)

Around 30 people went on the trip, but I stayed in a host house with 9 other kids. The couple was really friendly, and their home was lovely.

The dining room (Seomra bia)

The bedrooms were really comfortable, and the bathroom had a skylight and a really modern shower, and they fed us really well. They set up lots of toast, cereal, biscuits, and tea and coffee for breakfast. For lunch, they had us fill out a little form saying what we wanted for lunch and she had our personalized sandwiches ready for us to take with us to class during the day. For dinner, they made us so much food. The first night she made quiche and had salad and vegetables on the side, as well as french fries (chips) - they really do have some form of potato at every meal here. The second night, she made lasagna with the same sides and had apple pie for dessert.

Me, Natalie, Pam, and Alissa

They also had these two adorable dogs, called Paris and Nicole (and they were so FLUFFY! Seriously, I didn't know dogs could be such mini balls of pure fluff). We could ask them in Irish to give us a high five, and they were so well trained that they would stay on that little red bench in the kitchen and not jump off and run around the room at all the strange people. They made me miss Casper, even though he isn't nearly that obedient. I still think he's cuter. 

After dinner both nights, we walked the five minutes into the teeny little town (baile beag) and went to the pub, An Cistin. We decided it looked sort of like a pub you might imagine the hobbits would have. Everything inside was made of wood, and it was divided into four separate rooms. The bar was a big circle in the center that ran through each room so the bartenders could easily go from room to room from behind the bar. They taught us how to order a pint of Guinness in Irish and say thanks, which got some amused smiles from the bartenders: "Pionta Guinness, le do thoil. Go raibh maith agat." 

During lunch on one of the days, they brought in five local kids to perform some traditional Irish music and dancing. It was so much fun to watch and listen to, and they were really talented. I was so impressed, and it made me wish that I had learned to do anything nearly as awesome when I was a kid. Fortunately, they decided to offer us a class that night on either singing or dancing, and my friends and I decided to go with the dancing. They taught us three kinds of céilí, which meant we partnered up and did dance steps and hops clockwise and counterclockwise around the room. Oh my gosh, it was so much fun. When we went to the pub afterwards someone requested one of the songs ("Shoe the Donkey") from the live band that was playing, so everyone who had taken that class got up and started dancing in the middle of the pub - much to the amusement of all the locals. (It was fun, but I mean, we were really bad at it. At least we knew that we weren't good, though!) 

A week or so after we got back from the Gaeltacht, my friends and I went to Monroe's (one of the pubs in Galway) where they have céilís every Tuesday night. They didn't play any of the three songs we had learned, but it was great to just sit there and watch all the elderly couples get up and start dancing wildly together. I hope that when I'm in my 80s I can dance like that with someone. 

That's about all I have to say about Gaeilge for now. I'll get to working on some more updates. 

Slán go foill!

A Taste of London (3)

On the ground outside The Globe Theatre. (I thought it'd make a nice welcome mat message.)

It's finally time for some serious food blogging! I've actually tried doing this a few times since I’ve come to Galway, but I always bite off more than I can chew (no pun intended) and I can never finish the post. But this time I will – just watch me!

When I was growing up, my mother used to tell me that the French always say of British cooking, “If it’s hot, it’s beer; if it’s cold, it’s soup.” And since I usually take my mother’s proverbial pearls of wisdom as gospel, I’ve generally thought of British food as bland and unsavory. I didn't really have any great expectations about eating my way through London (and, as I’ve said before, eating is how I usually go about experiencing a new place). My first food experiences in London consisted of a Nature Valley granola bar when we got to the hostel after 10:00 Thursday night and then two pieces of toast with peanut butter and strawberry jam for breakfast the next morning. I wouldn’t consider either of those experiences a reflection on British cooking (nothing was cooked) but they certainly weren't anything thrilling.

I didn’t become excited about eating in London until I started texting with Chloé and she said that when she had gone a few years back, she spent most of her time eating. She told me that she would start searching for fun-looking Thai and Indian restaurants near where I was staying. I had forgotten all about the mark Imperialism left on British cuisine, but as soon as she reminded me I became instantly eager to start dining. Our first meal was in a Mediterranean restaurant that we stumbled upon while en route to check in to our hotel. We passed several cafés and restaurants along one street, but we were all intrigued by the tantalizing smells and reasonable prices of the place called Nar. I didn’t think to take any pictures while we were there, but here is the restaurant website if you care to check it out. It’s located right by a Tube station, so every few minutes or so the meal was interrupted by the mild rattle and low rumble of a passing train. It sounded like rolling thunder, and reminded me of a Mediterranean version of The Rainforest Café, although less kitschy and fewer monkey screeches.

I don’t mean that as a criticism by any means. I thought it was amusing and it really didn’t deter from the overall ambience; more importantly though, it had no bearing whatsoever on the actual food, which was, by the way, delicious. Our entrées all came with appetizers, so I started with little lentil patties. I was expecting something akin to mini veggie burgers made with lentils, but it was more like three thumb-sized corkscrew patties of cold red lentils mixed with other vegetables, served with a salad with a mysterious dressing on the side (I really enjoyed it, but I could not for the life of me place this one underlying flavor to the dressing). It surprised me, but it was quite refreshing and definitely really tasty. I’d be curious to try making something like it when I get home. My main course was less of a surprise, but equally delicious: chicken cob shish, which consisted of pieces of incredibly tender chicken (JUST like butter...), vegetables, and perfectly cooked rice. By the time we finished our lovely, leisurely lunch (we stayed there for over an hour and a half), I was so full and so ready for a food coma.

Luckily, I wasn't so full that I couldn't properly enjoy dinner several hours later. Katie and I had made plans to meet one of Chloé's friends for dinner at 7:30. I had requested Indian food, so he took us to a place near Covent Garden called Moti Mahal. He said he hadn't been before, but that it was very highly-reviewed. They checked our coats when we got there, and since my camera was in my coat pocket, I again failed at taking any good photos of the interior or the meal itself. Luckily, they have a nice, flashy website with plenty of pictures that you can check out. It's a pretty posh-looking place, so I definitely recommend looking at some of the pictures. We sat in the downstairs dining room, in one of the booth tables:

The downstairs dining room where we ate (picture taken from their website)

The menu is designed like a travel log: the chef toured around different parts of India and brought dishes back from all the different areas. We started the meal with cocktails (the friend's suggestion!), and I went with something called Goa Fire. It was delightfully fruity but not too sweet, and it was a lovely rosy shade. The description on the menu read:

"Kettle One Vodka & Galliano L'Autentico Liqueur paired with fresh Strawberries, Strawberry purée & a hint of Chili & Lime

The wealth of Goa lies in its warm hearted people & the markets of treasures you can find. Being here really ignites a passion for this beautiful part of India."

While we were waiting for our food to come they brought us a salad plate for the table, but it was unlike most salads I've had in restaurants before. The plate had a knife, vials of garlic salt, oil, and vinegar, a lemon, and whole vegetables, including three radishes, a few lettuce leaves, some whole fresh herbs, a couple whole tomatoes, a whole onion, and a cucumber. My dining companions elected me to be the designated preparer, so I had to awkwardly chop everything right there at the table. It was an unusual setup, but still tasty with its freshness and lightness. 

It had taken me forever to actually decide what to order to follow the salad; the menu was long, and we got all caught up swapping stories about study abroad experiences and picking his brain for travel advice on London and other parts of Europe. Eventually though, I made up my mind. Katie, who by the way had never experienced Indian food before (or Mediterranean food, or really any kind of ethnic food for that matter - apparently they don't have any by where she lives in Cincinnati) went with Chicken Tikka Masala. I was proud of her for being willing to try all sorts of new food with me. We agreed that next she has to try Thai with me. He went with the scallops. I opted for a chicken dish from Punjab called Murghi Nazakat, which according to the menu was:

"A trio of chicken tikka, prepared with tantalizing variations of mint and basil, poppy seed and kashmiri chillies, cracked pepper and dill

The preparation of three different types of chicken tikka is an indicator that the utmost care, attention, and respect is being showered on one's guest. Inspired by a hearty meal prepared for me by a Dhaba Walla in Amritsar."

How could I say no to three different types of tantalizing chicken that indicate the utmost care, attention, and respect? 

One skewer of the Murghi Nazakat (picture taken from their website)

I certainly didn't end up with orderer's remorse (a common affliction for me) - it was again so tender and the different seasonings on each piece were wonderful. Our waiter was really attentive and told us when we ordered rice and naan with the entrées that he recommended we also get some dal, since two of the dishes were dry and we'd probably want something saucy to mop up the rice and naan. He suggested the Dal Makhani from Peshawar: 

"Black lentils slow cooked overnight on charcoal

Hailing from the North West Frontier, this black lentil speciality is slow cooked for several hours, on charcoal. Creamy and earthy, this dal is a delicious accompaniment to tandoori dishes"

And ohhh it was so delicious. So creamy and so rich and flavorful - more so than most dals I've tried. It was a fabulous suggestion. Almost two hours later, and I was again ridiculously full yet wonderfully satisfied. If I'm ever back in London (and I really hope to be one day), I would definitely go out of my way to return to this place.

By the time Katie and I met up with Jessie and Alissa at a pub in Covent Garden, I was still thinking I wouldn't ever need to eat again. But then they told us something that at least made me want to eat again, even if I didn't need to eat again. Before we left for London, I had looked online to see if they had any frozen yogurt places (remember, we found one when we were in Northern Ireland a few weeks ago and it made me so happy), and I saw several sites referring to some place called "Snog" (check out the website if you're

Alissa, Jessie, & Me outside of Snog. We were really happy.

curious). We all giggled at the name and hoped we might come across it while we were there. Well, while Katie and I were busy savoring some Indian food, Jessie and Alissa finished an early dinner and went for a walk... and they actually found Snog! As soon as they told us, I found my dessert stomach and we headed straight over. It was around 11:00pm at this point, so we were worried that it might have closed already. Well, they weren't. Thank goodness they're open until midnight every night!

Inside Snog

As soon as I got in, I knew I had found the British interpretation of a Pinkberry. It was a really hip-looking place and seemed really popular; they even had a line out the door for a while. You can't see too well in the picture, but the walls were covered with crazy drawings of giddy Seussical fruit figures and the ceiling was covered with a wave of individual hanging ball lights that changed colors and turned on and off in cool patterns.

But the best part - of course - was the FroYo. They had four flavors: Original (Plain), Blueberry, Apple Spice, and... wait for it... GREEN TEA! It tasted just like Pinkberry's Matcha flavor before they went and hurt my soul and put it in their flavor vault. Oh it was pure delight in a cup. I ordered mine with mangoes and raspberries (my usual Pinkberry toppings) and I savored it for as long as I could (until it started getting melty). I told my friends immediately that we would have to come back on Saturday, no matter what, since I knew I probably wouldn't be able to get any frozen yogurt for the rest of the semester once we returned to Galway. We did end up coming back the next night after we saw Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband. I opted to go with the Green Tea again, but this time with fresh strawberries (the mangoes hadn't been entirely ripe):

It makes me happy just to look at the photo. I wish they'd open up something like it in Galway so I could have it for the next 3 months! 

When we finally got back to the hotel on Friday night, I was still giddy with food happiness. I told my friends we would have to try to eat as well the next day, too. Luckily, we did. We wandered around Trafalgar Square at lunchtime, looking for a pub that might serve us some good fish & chips - we figured we may as well try to get some while we were London, after all. We came across The Marquis Bar, which not only had delicious fish & chips (I think that might've actually been my first time having it), they also boasted being an old haunt of none other than Charles Dickens! It was definitely an awesome find, and I would definitely go back there with anyone. 

Outside The Marquis Bar, pointing to Charles Dickens's name on the plaque

After lunch, Katie and I explored the Globe Theater, so by the time we got back to pick up our show tickets, we only had about an hour to spare for dinner. We wandered around the outdoor shopping/markets in Covent Garden, which Chloé's friend recommended we do.

There were various street performers all over the place and plenty of outdoor dining that all smelled fantastic. We perused all of our options, but the thing that kept catching my eye and my nose was a little outdoor paella stand with two enormous paella pans full of deliciousness. We all got a bowl and sat on a bench out in the courtyard to enjoy. After I finished, I asked the guy who served me if I could take a picture so I could photo-document the eating experience for my sister, and he laughed and said as long as he got to be in the photo, too. So here he is:

After the Paella, we walked around the area some more until we came across a tiny little shop called Ben's Cookies. I remembered that Chloé's friend had told me that if I find the time, I definitely need to make a trip to Ben's Cookies, because it is totally worth it. He was so right again! It looks like a teeny hole in the wall; the store is just big enough for 2-3 customers to stand inside opposite the counter. The pillar in the photo looks like it's cutting it off, but the store ends right there, behind the pillar. It's only as wide as the three glass panels:

I split an Oatmeal Raisin cookie three-ways with Katie and Jessie, and then ordered two for myself: one Praline and Milk Chocolate, and one Milk Chocolate Chunk (which had JUST come out of the oven, so it was still gooey and melty and falling apart in my hands and my mouth). They were so delicious. If you're ever in London, do as he says: make time to go. It definitely was worth it. 

And now, I must finally wrap up my epic blogging about London. I'm sure there are more stories I could tell and more details I could share, but I'd say you probably have a pretty good idea by now of what my trip was like. As soon as I find some time again, I'll get to blogging about this past week (Rag Week, woo!) and then this upcoming weekend (IFSA Butler-sponsored weekend at an Adventure Center in Co. Galway, woo again!)... so you can look forward to that. 

Til next time!

A Taste of London (2)

Katie & Me, on a ramp between the Tate Modern and The Globe Theatre,
with the Millennium Bridge & St. Paul's Cathedral in the background

Now it's time to talk about being a total tourist in London. A lot of people told us that we were silly for trying to tackle London in one weekend, but I think we managed to cram a lot into just 2 days around the city. I definitely felt like I got a sufficient taste of what London has to offer - and lemme tell you, it tasted great.

I learned rather quickly that my friends and I each have vastly different expectations when we visit a new place, which made it a little difficult to decide on what we should all do and see. Jessie and Alissa cringe at the mention of itineraries and timetables, while Katie and I get frustrated and anxious with the complete spontaneity. Jessie seemed to want to wander and explore, Alissa just really wanted to go on the Beatles walking tour, and Katie wanted to do all of the site-seeing. They asked me what I cared most to see and do, and I realized that the thing I was most excited about was the food. I had to explain to them that eating my way through a city is really the only way I know how to fully experience a city. I just never really did the official touring around touristy thing. (I mean, I've been to New York countless times, but still haven't gone to see Ellis Island, The Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty. But I have eaten in restaurants all over The City.) So I told them that I didn't mind whatever we did during the day - I thought that seeing Buckingham Palace and all of the other iconic touristy things would be cool and interesting, but I said I'd be happy with anything as long as I got fed (all the details about the food to come in Part 3!).

Katie & I are making ridiculous, forced grins on top of the bus.
I promise we actually were enjoying ourselves though!

On Friday, we took a double decker bus tour figuring that it'd be a fun and relaxing way to get a broad, general view of London.We walked around for a bit and had a fabulously long lunch before finally checking in to our new hotel. It was pretty late in the afternoon by that point, so we just rested for a bit before heading out again for dinner and the rest of our evening.

On Saturday, Katie & I wanted more of a game plan. We were all for that sense of adventure and excitement, but at the same time, not even having a rough outline for what we wanted to do in London seemed foolish when we were dealing with such a limited time frame to experience the city. We came up with a list of places everyone cared most to see and I looked up the locations and the nearest subway stops so we wouldn't waste time trying to figure out how to get around throughout the day. We decided to go see Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey first, since all four of us were interested. There wasn't much

Me, Jessie, Katie, & Alissa outside Buckingham Palace

to do at the palace, but it was pretty cool looking. I had been a little reluctant to spend the 14 pounds on the ticket to get into the Abbey, but I'm really glad that the other girls encouraged me to go; it's really remarkable inside. The architectural detail was stunning and there were a shocking number of tombs all over the place. They weren't always clearly labeled though, so I wasn't always sure if I was walking on top of someone's remains, someone's ashes, or just a memorial. One area of the Abbey, Poet's Corner, is reserved for commemorating writers. I was so excited to see so many writers and poets that I've had to read for my Victorian and Romantic literature courses over the past year. They have the remains of Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling. We saw memorials for Lord Byron, CS Lewis, TS Eliot, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Shakespeare. I walked out of there feeling like such a legit English major; it was great.

Afterwards, we explored a little bit before heading to lunch. We stopped for random photo shoots along the way, and I got lots of really great scenic pictures around the city: 

Behold: Big Ben in the distance. It's really so much shinier in person 
than it seems in photos and films! I didn't realize that so much of it
is gilded.

Katie, Jessie, Alissa, & me in the phone booth
(Not quite as awesome as the ANTM Cycle 5 photo shoot,
but still fun!)

After our Saturday lunch, we split up for a few hours so everyone could do their own thing. Alissa finally got to go on her Beatles walking tour and Jessie got to go explore Notting Hill while Katie and I went to the Globe Theater. I spent a good portion of my trip texting Chloé, asking for help on how to best tackle London. She and Mom had fantastic ideas for us - including Mom's suggestion to check out The Globe. It hadn't even occurred to me that I could go do that; I had completely forgotten about Shakespeare. (How embarrassing!)

View of the Globe Theater from the street

It was such a great idea. Katie and I went on a tour that took us inside the theater part (half of the building is set up like a museum gallery) - while they were running a dress rehearsal for an upcoming production of Macbeth. We were able to sit and watch around 20 minutes of it, and it was so cool and so exciting. I'd love to go back to London sometime in April or May so that I could actually catch a full production of one of the Shakespeare plays since we couldn't while we were there.

We had such a hard time getting tickets to see a show. Katie and I had both been really eager to find tickets to see anything while we were there, but we couldn't get anything at a reasonable price for that weekend. Again, Chloé was incredibly helpful and she found us tickets and gave us a number to call and it worked; we got four tickets to see the last showing of :

I hadn't read it before and I really knew nothing about the play going into it, but I was just excited to be able to see something while we were there. We really lucked out though; the actors were great and I laughed hysterically the entire time. I would definitely recommend anyone read/see the play. It was a wonderful way to wrap up our last night in London. 

We had to wake up at 3:30 the next morning in order to make it back to the airport in time for our flight. It meant only getting a couple hours of sleep, but I think it was a good thing - if I hadn't been so exhausted and groggy, I would've had a really hard time leaving London.