Last Day in Ireland

For my last day in Ireland, I finally let down and did something specifically touristy--I went to the Cliffs of Moher. While they were quite beautiful, I don't really think it was worth it for me to go on a bus that far, especially since buses make me feel like crap. It sorta reminded me of most of the California coast line, except the water was nice and serene rather than the waves the California coast has. Also greener, more cows, that kind of thing.

Yesterday I spent most of the day inside, taking a sort of day off from trying to see everything in the world. It was nice because traveling is really tiring. I went to a bar around 4 to watch GAA football, which is a sport similar to soccer, rugby, and basketball combined. 15 players try and get a ball either over a bar (like a field goal in American football) or into a goal right below the bar, which is defended by a goalie. Over is 1 point, under is 3. To move the ball, the players carry it and dribble it every 4 steps, and every second dribble has to be off the player's foot. They rough each other up, but don't really tackle. Passing has to be with the thumb side of a fist of kicked. Kerry beat Dublin to go to the finals against Cork by a score of 16-14, I think. Pretty fun. Last night stupid Germans or something were butchering American songs late into the night, so I was up until 3:30 listening to them be annoying. We tried to change our room today, but got there a minute too late. Monday is supposed to be quieter.

Dublin continued, then Galway

My last day in Dublin was pretty eventful, going to the main churches in Ireland, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church, the Jameson factory tour where I received a honorary degree in the exquisite art of whiskey tasting (notice there's an e in whiskey in Ireland, not in England or Scotland), napped for three hours, went to the Dublin art gallery, and had a true Irish pub crawl. During that crawl I learned many things about Ireland, watched a hotly disputed rugby match, learned about the sports of hurling and Gaelic football, learned a key phrase in Gaelic Irish language, took a picture with a statue of the singer in Thin Lizzy, heard an Irish man sing Hotel California and Leaving on a Jet Plane, and got to sleep before it was even too late.

Then I hopped on a train to Galway. When I first walked down the street, a distinct question came to my mind, and that was, why in the heck am I in Galway for three nights. For those of you familiar with the locales, the entire town is roughly the size of Seaport village or the Santa Monica pier. It's tiny, and yet the craziest place I've been in a while. In one day there was a gay pride parade (right outside the window of my hostel), a huuuuge biker rally, and a raggae festival complete with pot smoking hippies. All in a town of 70.000 (smaller than Santee). I walked around the town, saw the church, went to a used bookstore, read, took a shower, saw the birthplace and home of James Joyce's wife, who lived with the unfortunate name Nora Barnacle (no wonder she was so ready to run away to Triest with Jim), and then in the evening went to a pub where I saw Scotland get massacred by South Africa in rugby, then off to watch a Marley tribute band, then off to a play, and now here! Whew. I've been writing short stories, someday I will share them. until then, cheers.

S

Dublin Day 2

I'm tired. Why? Not because I stayed out all night, but rather because I was forced to stay out all night by my bunkmate who seems to bring his chainsaw to bed with him at nights. He seriously snores loud enough to shake the bed frames. Beyond that, it's pretty warm in the room, and if we were to open the window we would have to listen to the sounds of the extremely-lively Temple Bar district downstairs. So I did stay out later than planned, but at least I made some new friends.

I'm also tired because I woke up for the complimentary "breakfast" they serve at the hostel. When they say breakfast, that actually means there will be a couple loaves of bread and a toast machine. I was slightly disappointed after what I've become used to in London, but I do really like toast, so it's not total hardship.

Today I went to the Dublin writer's museum, which was pretty overrated. There wasn't that much to see. At the same time, I got a ticket to go see a one-man production by an Irish actor of various elements of Irish literature. Luckily, the crowning piece of the show was a one person dialogue taken from The Importance of Being Earnest, which I read yesterday, so I could fully appreciate it. I was the only audience member under 60. It was a nice break in the middle of the day. After that I went to the James Joyce cultural experience, which was much cooler. If you are even remotely a fan of Joyce, or even if you aren't, you will leave in love with the man.

I also wrote a lot today, so hopefully I can put all of my words together and make a coherent piece of fiction when I get back. I'm also reading a lot on this trip. I've read David Mitchell's Ghostwritten, Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase, The Importance of Being Earnest, I'm reading Joyce's Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Wilde's Dorian Gray, and might pick up some other stuff around as well. Plus, um, Shakespeare too...

End of Program and Ireland

I am now done with the Shakespeare classes, UCLA, and college in general. It feels nice to be able to say so, but it was bittersweet having to say goodbye to everyone last night, especially since I won't be around UCLA to hang out with them after this. Oh well. I woke up at 8 this morning and started on my way towards the airport for a noontime flight. The flight, other than the pilot rocking the plane back and forth as we were about to touch down, was pretty nice. I was lucky enough to get an aisle seat in the emergency exit row, so had plenty of leg room.

The first thing I like about Ireland is that for the first time in several weeks I am looking at a cloudless sky. I get the impression this isn't generally what the sky looks like here, but London was just miserable the whole time I was there, weather-wise. I got on a bus and got to my hostel after a pretty long walk through town. Where as London (at least where we were) seemed to be very uptight and business like, Dublin seems to be a little more casual. First impressions only though there. My hostel is a six person room, though there doesn't appear to be anyone sleeping above me right now. Perhaps they will arrive later. I'm just down the street at an internet bar, and listening to the radio of Irish language traditional music. Kinda cool. I don't know what my plans are for the rest of the day, but figured maybe go to Trinity college to see the Book of Kells. We'll see. Hope you all are well!

Sunday

Probably the worst 24 hour period I've had since being here. Starts with last night at the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The play was fantastic, but because it was outside, once it started raining the director came on and stopped the show. It figures only the play that I was actually enjoying would be the one rained out. At least I got some cool pictures of London at night on the way back.

Today I woke up and got on a bus to Oxford, the city with the really old university. It was about an hour on the bus out into the countryside, about half way between London and Stratford. We got there around 2, so I was quite hungry. To make me even more hungry, we got off at the wrong stop, had to wait for another bus to come only to have them tell us we couldn't get back on, had to switch to a different bus to get into town. Once we did, out friend wanted to go to a specific pub that JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis used to meet at called the Eagle and Child, which happened to be across town. When we got there, the service took forever to bring out the food, and then when they did, they brought out only 4 of the 5 we had ordered. Three guesses as to whose didn't come out. I told them I was missing my steak and ale pie, at which point they went back and looked for it, decided I had never paid for a steak and ale pie (I had) and told me as much. After checking their bills again, they told me I had to pay for another pie ($11) or else not eat. I told them where I wanted them to put their pie and waited until my friends were done to go get a sandwich at the supermarket.

For a $25 bus ride to Oxford and back, $15 for a pie and pint of beer (at least I got the beer before they called me a swindler), $10 for entrance into Christ Church, and $5 for a latte at Starbucks, I spent way too much money to see one thing in the city, spent way too long on a bus that made me car sick, and now I'm hungry but the pot I need to make the dinner I had planned is filled with some sort of cream soup that my roommate left over. I'm going to McDonald's. And getting a receipt.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Today was our last day of lecture, and tonight we go see our last production (A Midsummer Night's Dream). We had a pretty big break though from the end of class to the time I need to get on a train out of the city, so I thought I would finally go inside St. Paul's Cathedral. A little background for you on the building: Finished in 1705 by the noted architect, Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul's is the fifth church of that name to stand on those grounds, all the others having been destroyed by fire. Commissioned by King Charles II, the cathedral has the second largest free-standing dome in Europe, behind only St. Peter's in the Vatican. Lots of famous people are buried there, specifically John Donne, William Blake, Lord Nelson, Duke Wellington, Christopher Wren himself (whose tomb tells that his monument is the building around him), Florence Nightengale, and a bunch of other less famous people.

I'd seen pictures of the building, studied it in high school art history, and walked passed it several times on the way to the Globe, but I still was still not prepared for how big it was inside. Really quite amazing, and no pictures or words can do justice to it. If you are ever in London, go here and you will see what I mean. While there, I climbed up to the top of the dome, 280 feet above the floor of the Cathedral, or something like 450 steps. From there, I think that might be the tallest point in London, you can see just about everything, including the sea to the East. The wind also blows about 45 MPH, so you have to make sure you don't go over the edge. Amazing, and I have plenty of pictures from here to show. Pictures weren't allowed inside the building, so I have none from there. See if you can find some online though.

The end of my time in London comes too soon. The next two days are free days before our final, during which time I intend to see London a little more fully. I wanted to go to Canterbury to celebrate Chaucer, but no one wants to go with me. Some people are going to Oxford though, so I might do that. Hope you all are well!

Thursday

Hopefully by the time I am done writing this post, my pictures will be uploaded and available to see. I'll just put a link to my webshots gallery so you don't have to scroll through all of them here (and take up all the space I have to use).

Really not a whole lot interesting here. We are on a pretty regular schedule of class, discussions, and attending the plays, so that's all been going on. We saw Othello the other day, which was good but long and boring at the same time. Today I went to the National Gallery, and really want to go back again. So many cool things there! Van Gogh and Monet and Michelangelo. In the room the women come and go, talking of Michelangelo. Tomorrow I am waking up early and going to St. Paul's Cathedral, so that should be fun too. Also yesterday, on the way back from the Globe, we walked along Tower Bridge past the Tower of London. All that's pretty cool too, but just don't know when I'll have the time to go inside. Sad how much there is I won't be able to do here.

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/album/560314612XFQRwF

Monday

Today was a full day. So was yesterday.

Yesterday I went to go see the play about Shakespeare's plays condensed. It was pretty funny, and was actually rather refreshing because it was put on by three American actors (who sorta reminded me of the guys in Knocked Up). Despite saying they will condense all 37 plays, what they really do is spend an hour on Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, and then with the remaining 30 minutes blow through all of the other 35. Probably best since a lot of the other plays are really dull and not very popular. Highlights included the "brother from Venice" rap version of Othello, the sword fighting scene from Macbeth acted out using golf clubs, and Hamlet performed backwards in about 45 seconds. Funny, but not side-splitting, so maybe I wouldn't have paid as much as I did had I known. On the plus side, we found London's China town while waiting to go in, which was pretty lively. Even the smell was authentic.

Today we had class, then the actor who played Macbeth came and spoke to us and answered questions for an hour. I was pretty tired on the account of staying up half the night reading a book I had just bought. After that, I got a call from my friend Luke who I then had dinner with at an awesome Greek restaurant overlooking the Thames. Nice but not terribly expensive either. After that we parted ways and I went on to see Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Oh what a difference from Macbeth! This one was in the Globe theatre, which was built in 1970 to replica the one Shakespeare wrote his plays for. Everything was right about it, despite the fact that MoV is one of the most racist plays ever to see a theatre (Marlowe's Jew of Malta is still hundreds of times worse). Once you get beyond that, it was quite well done. Now I'm just going to get some sleep. I think most of my friends are starting to get sick, and I'm not feeling all that well either...

Beer Fest

Mother and Grandma are already cringing at the title of this post, I can tell. Today I went to the thirtieth annual great British Beer Festival immediately after finishing my second midterm. The test was ridiculously easy, which was nice, but either way I thought the fest could prove a nice place to blow off whatever leftover steam I had from that. I had previously seen an advertisement on the tube, which I wouldn't normally consider a credible source for a fun day out, but the more I read up on it, the more it seemed like a good idea.

We got there and paid too much for the tickets, then had to pay for a pint glass that you take around with you to the various booths. My friend Jess and I walked around for the better part of two hours trying as many different kinds of beer as we could handle. Luckily you can get them in a third of a pint size (and unlike America, you don't pay more here to get the smaller size), or you can even just sample a sip or two to figure out what you like. We also had my new favorite food, Cornish pasties (pronounced PASS-tee). Don't worry, I didn't try all of the beers, and I was able to walk out easily under my own power. My 4'11" friend was certainly not going to carry me!

So now I am done with two of three tests, need to write two more short papers, and then I will be done with college. Yay, yet not yay. Tomorrow is a day off, so I will be going to the play called The Complete Shakespeare: Abridged, which is a show where they play all 37 Shakespeare plays in 97 minutes. It seemed like the right play to go see, plus it's supposed to be really funny. I also saw a play called The Penelopiad in Stratford when I was there, which was awful. Hopefully the play tomorrow is cool. Thats all for now!

All Shakespeare was not created the same. Today we saw Macbeth, arguably the best Shakespeare play to read and definitely my favorite. That said, watching it was the worst experience I've had in a theatre since I had to perform Demetrius of A Midsummer Night's Dream with a totally bald head (thanks again dad). I could not believe how bad this play could be, especially after some really crappy Shakespeare plays had been previously turned into good productions in Stratford. The actors forgot lines, the play was dreadfully miscast, and the costumes were ridiculous, among other fatal flaws. Sad, sad, sad.

I've gotten the hang of London a little better though. I realized from where we are, I can walk almost anywhere worth seeing in less than an hour. Today I made it to Regent's Park, where the play was held, in about a half hour (check the map to see how far apart Holborn and Regent's Park are and you will see just about everything else is the same distance). Lot's of weird people here, and the streets have the air of the Sunset Strip a lot of the time, but still a pretty cool place.

Now a word about the hotel, and then I have to go before my friends shoot me for being late. The Stratford Holiday Inn now feels like we were staying in Buckingham Palace compared to the Holborn Citadine. Apparently the French do not think things like shower curtains are necessary, as there is none nor anywhere available to hang one from. That's my main complaint about the place, but everything is smaller, smellier, cheaper, less accommodating, and just generally not as nice as we had it. Ah, if we had only known. On the plus side, we now have a laundrette and free internet, but I'd still rather be bouncing and chillin' at the Holiday Inn.

Well, I should go now, we have a midterm tomorrow. Cheers!

London

In the past I've had some time restrictions that made me unable to write here extensively, but right now I should have more than a few minutes to update.

I'm in London now, just pulled in yesterday. London is exactly how I imagine Tokyo to be. Urban sprawl as far as the eye can see, cars and pedestrians and bicycles, a thousand languages spoken at once, noise at all times of the day. The first day I was here I didn't feel all that great, mostly since the bus ride in was cramped and hot and long. I went to sleep at 10pm after calling home and didn't wake up again for another 12 hours, which made me feel quite a bit better.

Today is our day off, which I decided to spend at the British museum and the British library, two large and famous buildings in London. The British museum has lots of mummies, the rosetta stone (a big basalt block that helped archeologists first translate Egyptian hieroglyphics), and the Elgin marbles (pillaged from the Athenan Parthenon). I was a little bored with it though, because it was hot inside and I don't really care about any of those things all that much. The British library, on the other hand, is AMAZING. They have a room that contains original handwriting and texts of Shakespeare, Chaucer, the Magna Carta, the Beatles' lyrics, Handel's Messiah, and various other things that were the English major's equivalent of striking gold.

For the rest of the day I need to do my laundry and finish reading Macbeth. I suppose most of the reason my posts are short is not that I have no time, but rather that I run out of things I want to say. Please email me questions and I will happily expound upon anything. Or post comments. Luke, come visit me! I'm in Holborn off the Picadilly Line to Cockfosters (I love the Cockfosters line).

Long Awaited Post

Here's a new one for you.

I'm still in Stratford for the next two days, and then I must leave my peaceful little village for the big city. The last week has been pretty intense, as always when you travel, I guess. Thursday we went to Warwick castle, which was pretty cool (and yet not). It was quite touristy by this point, so hardly anything authentic about it still. Oh well, it was my first real castle. I took some pictures of it, and made sure to climb the arrow tower whilst shouting something about English pig-dogs and how someone's mother smelled of elderberries.

Yesterday (Sunday) I went to the Cotswolds. Those unfamiliar with this area (as I was before yesterday), the name means "sheep pens in rolling fields", which describes it pretty well. Cuuuuute little villages and plenty of sheep, which I chased around for a while. All pretty fun. I have lots of pictures of this particular place, so please ask to see them when I get back, if you would like.

Beyond being a tourist, I've read three plays, seen the same three performed, taken a midterm, and written a paper, all in the space of a week. I've made lots of friends and have even managed to become close enough to decide not to be friends with certain people any longer. Lot's of drama here! I don't know what else to say about that, but people talk quite a bit. Other than that, certain people have made me quite a bit homesick the last couple days. I think now that midterms are passed I'll be alright, but I'm thinking of you all.