Something wicked this way comes...

Why hello there!

Long time no see. I am currently writing on an iPad so let's see how this post turns out. I know I promised a month ago for more posts but exams arose and alas I was too busy getting my study on.

Any who, I left off wandering the beautiful countryside. So we left that place to discover something even more magical, the place where Shakespeare was born! It was a ridiculous 2 hour train journey from London and we need up only being there for 3 hours because I was an idiot but I will get to that later.

We arrived a t the beautiful Stratford upon Avon, lives in towe since we had to go to Southampton afterwards. It was a gorgeous day and aside from a few stressful money issues to start with it was a happy day. We fell in love with the picturesque scenes of the 16th century buildings. We wandered the city dotted with subtle Shakespeare-isms and went to his birthplace, a cute little cottage. We then started to wander to the church where he is burried. When we got there there was a sign for Shakespeare's birthday celebration. Sarah was in heaven! (<3) we listened to the organ man rehearse for the big night which filled the church and made the scene perfect. Around the church there was a canal that we decided to sit at for a while before moving on. I looked at my phone and realized the time was 15:15 I stopped to think for a moment and realized our train was at 15:37 (which does not translate to 5:37 which I stupidly thought it had). So just as we were scheming on how to cross the canal to the park on the other side we bolted across an unfamiliar town following little iron signs to the station where we thankfully caught our train. (sorry Sarah I failed at planning).

We caught our ridiculous train to London, then a bus to Southampton. And then slept for a few hours until we had to catch another bus to the ferry port so that we could catch our ferry to Caen, France.

Wee caught the little shuttle bus from Ouistreham (pronounced (i think) we-strum; as in "we strum a guitar" -- that was for you Trimble.) to Caen and the first thing you see is this absolutely gorgeous gothic cathedral, and to the right a huge castle. Of course Sarah and I were very excited about this castle and proceeded to walk the entirety of the walls. The view was gorgeous. Also it was here I decided that cats love castles-- I will get back to this in my post on Lisbon. We toured the very French little town doing some shopping and eating French things, like baguettes and croissants. We set our path towards things that looked old and cute and found the abbey for men-- which has a french name, but I can't seem to look it up at the moment on this iPad. Then as the day was ending and the sun was setting Sarah and I went to a little market and bought a bottle of French cidre and euro champagne. We climbed back to the top of the castle to one of the towers with a cannon and sat and watched the sunset.


Back in Ouistreham we split a delicious pizza and creme brûlée. The waiter was very confused as to why we would want to split a 12 inch "personal" pizza. We then caught our overenight ferry back to Southampton where we slept the rest of the day.

I will upload morer pictures tonight. I promise!!

That is sarah's and my journey throughout europe (really only uk and France).
We spent the next few days in Southampton and then I had to send her off back to the states which I was veery sad about! I love you Sarah!

Xxxx
Sara

Sara(h)s Vs Europe (pictures to come)

So it has been quite a while since my last post because I have been ridiculously busy between finishing coursework, my friend Sarah visiting and travelling!

To set my parent's minds at ease-- I got all my coursework finished and turned in on time!

I managed to get up to George's house a few days early to finish a bit of my coursework up before Sarah got here. On Friday the 22nd of April dear Sarah arrived nearly an hour early-- unheard of for international flying! We collected her from heathrow and got her settled in and allowed her to passout and sleep in the next day.
We then went to St. Albans, which is a town near hatfield with a really beautiful cathedral and nice shopping area. There was a street market going on and a group of monks singing and dancing down the streets passing out pamphlets about G-d or something. After sitting at a lovely  little cafe we decided to continue to meander our way to the Cathedral. The Cathedral was absolutely gorgeous and we walked around inside of it-- it looks soooo much larger on the inside than from the outside! Then we ended our day by buying some cider and taking the bus to the lake and sat on the hill and relaxed.

The next day we did the London thing. And literally did EVERYTHING. We probably walked about 10+ miles that day and finished in a nice little dim-sum restaurant for a lite bite before we left. We saw all the royal wedding set up and news programming being. There was the Morning Joe at MSNBC that was set up at Trafalgar Square. We went to the Globe Theater and almost were able to enter for free, but were told off for it. . . . oops.
 Sorry Dad, I failed you.
We would have gone to Greenwich but I was not entirely sure I knew my way around it and we were both completely exhausted by the end of the day-- so we decided to head back to George's house a bit earlier than planned.

Next morning, we were up again and off to St. Pancras to catch a train to Barsby. We were both expecting a relaxing day in the country side to allow our blisters to go down. However, when we arrived we were whisked away to Foxton Locks which is a beautiful area with a canal running through it. (Hence the Locks) It was an absolutely gorgeous and in the words of Yogi the Bear, "It's a fine day for a pic-a-nic!" So we had a lovely little picnic between two of the holding ponds-- while Chalkie the dog, was IN one of the holding ponds. We walked around viewing the country side and all the rapeseed oil (or oilseed rape) which has a beautiful yellow flower that covers the majority of England during the spring months.
Later that day we went to go buy some chickens for the Marriotts new chicken castle. We each got to pick one, we got a small black and brown one, a speckalty one, a white one with a black collar, a BIG white fluffy one named G, and a HUGE blue brahma named Eagle.

We delivered the chickens to their castle and when were taking them out of the box, one of the chickens laid an egg in the box! Now that must have been an incredibly uncomfortable experience, laying an egg with two other chickens with you!

The next day we did a nice long walk in the countryside and just enjoyed the fresh English air.

Next half of this post is to come within the next few days.
Sorry again this has taken so long, but there is more Shakespeare, France and Sunny Southampton to look forward to!

Also pictures will be posted soon, my internet is acting up so cannot post them now.

Cannot believe I only have 2 months until I come home!!!
Sara

A unique view of wales, and how to avoid them in the sea.

It has just occurred to me that I have not written an update in a very long time!

Well after Budapest I have been swamped with work, and spent about 15 hours in the library in the past 4 days!!

Anyway the first weekend of Easter break I went on a horse riding holiday with the Riding Club at Southampton University. It was absolutely amazing-- beyond words. We stayed at a B&B at Cwmfforest Riding Center, Trans Wales Trails, in Breacon. We got there and had an amazing roast dinner and a lemon pot for dessert, and chatted with the owner about ourselves so he had an idea of which horses to give us.

Next morning woke up to the lovely sound of Wales in Spring time i.e. baby lambs. Got geared up, went to eat breakfast and then to get our horses. My horse was names Jonah and he was a black cob with a strip on his face-- was adorable and a very easy ride! Here are some pictures:

We did about 20 miles on horseback with pub lunches every day. It was absolutely amazing. I wish the pictures did this trip justice.  On the last day we jumped over these ditches which looked a lot bigger when you were in them than they did from a distance!! It would have been a lot of fun if I could have felt my legs, because at that point we had done 8 miles and I could no longer feel my knees so was basically gripping to Jonah's mane and holding on for dear life so I did not end up in the mud. I cannot express how amazing this trip and scenery was-- I am tempted to go back in the summer-- though it is not quite in my budget. 

This past week I had a week lone "field course" that basically involved becoming certified for First aid and CPR and Sea survival. Essentially how to avoid death via hypothermia, sharks, debris, when your shipwrecked or floating in the sea. I also got to drive a RIB and to be honest I drove that boat like a pro! I really enjoyed it and this course got me really excited to spend the rest of my life at sea! 

Also my friend Sam is backpacking her way through Europe raising awareness for awful wasteful practice of Shark finning  and asking for donations for the Rob Stewart Foundation. Please check it out and if able to-- any size donation will be greatly appreciated!! (Even if it is just $1!)
SAVE THE SHARKS CLICK HERE

It is going to be a fabulous blog!

Sara

Budapest: The Final Chapter

I guess I should finish my posts on Budapest before I go to Wales this afternoon.


On our final day of traveling in this amazing city we decided to take a more "relaxing approach." And by that, I mean it was a full day of going back and forth across many trams, undergrounds, buses and rivers in order to finish everything we wanted to do. We started the day stopping at a little stand for some breakfast and ordered two things that we had no idea what they were or how they were going to turn out. George ended up with a french pizza like thing with some bacon or ham in it. And I ended up with a very heavy piece of bread with bacon, onions, potato, and sour cream and possibly some other things that I have no idea what they were-- but it was delicious!!
    We wanted to go to "the island" for sake of a better name; oh well I guess a better name is what it is called "Margaret Island" and for my father's information, since I know he will be anxious to go look it up, is where the Dominican Convent once stood. Margaret, daughter of Bela IV of Hungary, lived at the convent. The ruins are quite spectacular though I wonder what it would have been like if it was still standing. While walking around the island a small creature took my attention for about 20 minutes. The allusive red squirrel! Which looked like a miniature fox. I was WAY too excited about this and left George with Flat Stanley next to a statue somewhere in the park to go chase after this squirrel. I have yet to see one in England but seeing one in Budapest kinda made my day!

The island is made up of a few hotels, a water park, pool, and many many many parks and statues etc. And again to my animal lover's delight a little ZOO! There were tons of birds, a few peacocks which all displayed their gorgeous feathers. Some deer like creatures and little horses. I wanted to play with them but George wouldn't let me-- probably for the best. 

We then made our way to the Funicular Railway which George had been so eager to ride. We somehow navigated our way there via numerous Mickey D trips to use their Wi-Fi to orientate ourselves. George proceeded to tell me all about cogwheel rails and how they are used to climb up mountains and hills that are too steep for normal rail. The wheels are cut like gears and match one of the rails, so the wheels fit in to the cuts in the rail and then is able to pull the tram/ train up the mountain. I hope that explained it well enough. All I know is that we were on the tram for about 20 minutes going up hill-- George trying to contain his little boy excitement :-D. When we got to the top there was a very overpriced restaurant and a few over-looks of Budapest which were not able to find too easily. But the most exciting part of the top was finding FUNNEL CAKE. And no, not the kind you get at fairs or carnivals that are deep fried and covered in powdered sugar. It is is cinnamon sweet dough wrapped around a wooden stick and rotated over coals for a while. It ends up (pictured below) in a literal funnel shape. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! Sugary and crispy on the outside and soft and cinnamony on the inside. PERFECT snack/ pick-me-up on a cold day. 

We walked by heros square while trying to find somewhere to eat. We went back down far far away from the Turkish thermal baths that we were planning on going to that evening. We found this nice little restaurant on the iPad app and decided to try it. There ended up being another couple who were American. We were sitting at different tables but they were next to each other, and the woman started asking us questions since she heard us speak English. We ended up talking with them the WHOLE evening, they were from Virginia near D.C. which was really cool. And they were just really awesome to chat with and hear about American life for a while. She did a really good Sarah Palin impression and decided that, *pardon my French,* the Brit's insistence for calling it "Fillet Mignon" (Rather than filet) was because they hated the French but did not want to look like idiots so they were really saying "Fuck-you-Mignon" Which frankly, I thought was hilarious. We eventually had to leave their company to head back to the baths. 

 The baths were absolutely amazing. The outside temperature was quite chilling at that time of night but we suited up and joined the crowds of night bathers. There were lots of tourists as well as the local Hungarian people who just wanted a relaxing Sunday evening. I must say soaking in those waters was the absolute perfect end to a very tiring and exciting trip. Relieved all my foot and back pains from carrying bags and walking up lots and lots of stairs. I highly recommend doing the baths on the last day you are in Budapest because it will just be the cherry on top of a perfect trip!

Next morning got on our flight to head back to the UK, at the pleasant  time of 5AM. 

I am off to Wales for a Horse back riding Holiday! So keep posted in the next couple weeks about that trip!!!

Sara

Budapest: Day 2- Flat Stanley comes out to play.

. . . The next day it was time to travel like the 21st century adults that we are; with an iPad. This made getting around a million times easier because anytime we got ourselves sufficiently lost (which happened quite often) we were always able to find a wi-fi spot or use his "Budapest City" App, to get ourselves back on track.

My main goal was to get to the Great Synagogue, which is one of the most impressive, and largest synagogues in Europe and was constructed in 1859. George and I spotted some domes and towers over the skyline and determined that was the way to go. When we arrived there was a large plaza with an even larger building which was absolutely amazing. However, on closer inspection i decided to tell George that there was "way too much Jesus" on the building to be a synagogue. So we popped in to the nearest "California Coffee Co." and looked up what the huge church was.

It was St. Stephen's Basilica-- which they claim to hold a relic of his mummified hand. Stephen was the First King of Hungary. This is probably the most beautiful church I have ever been in. It is incredibly different than the Gothic style churches of France and England. For one, the inside was completely constructed of marble and granite-- or other polished stones as opposed to the rough stones that Gothic is made up of. Anyway-- it is definitely a MUST see when ever you make it to Budapest. But thus, my search for the equally impressive Dohany Street Synagogue continued. 

I guess it is about time that I introduce you to my new travelling partner. Flat Stanley who is an Alien. 

As a school project for a friend of mine's son, we were instructed to take Stanley around and photograph him with landmarks. 

When we finally found the way to the synagogue, through the Jewish Quarter-- which I assume looked shut because it was Shabbat. I was immediately in awe of the building it was absolutely gorgeous, and all I wanted to do was go to services there-- but we were a little late to get to morning service-- and because it was Shabbat entrance was shut to the temple so I was very disappointed. None-the-less, the outside of it was gorgeous enough to satisfy me. Its size is only second in the world to Temple Emanuel in New York. 

As we were up ridiculously early to get a start on the day, we got a lot of stuff done, and after we saw the temple and wandered around the area, it was time to again cross the bridge into Buda and make our way up the "Funicular Rail" on to Castle Hill-- or so we thought. We made it to the foot of Castle Hill and went to the Funicular rail-- which was a fake cogwheel rail which made george very upset. Not only that but they charged an arm and a leg for a 2 minute journey up the hill-- we decided to walk. It was a VERY long walk up lots and lot and lots of stairs-- on a very empty stomach. Though I complained (again) I do not regret it a single bit because the view on the way up was spectacular.

On the hill there were lots of little stands selling overpriced touristy things which did not seem to interest me too much. Especially when there was a palace to explore, as well as an entire town on the hill! We went into the Castle to warm up and relax. It is now inhabited by many museums. We took a walk to the town and went to Matthais Church which again was a very beautiful church. 

But by this time of the day we were absolutely starving so going for a walk around inside was not on highest priority. We hopped a bus back down the hill and went to walk about the Parliament Building. One thing about Budapest is their absolutely fantastically ornate architecture-- such as all the buildings I have described thus far and Parliament.

Now was time for the real fun. Eating authentic Hungarian lunch. George read up on this local place that is tucked away and very small. Portions were huge and prices were small and taste was -- to be a little cheesy-- out of this world. I had Chicken Goulash-- not the stew version, but on a bed of potato noodles. Oh-my-gosh it was heaven. It was true, hungarian, home-cooking. The waitress did not even speak English.
I believe after that lunch we went back to the Hotel and crashed-- all those stairs are very tiring. We decided to go out that night for a nice drink and some dessert. We read about this artsy little cafe with funky furniture and decided that was the place for us. We got there and decided we were not hungry for dinner, so just decided to order a slice of cake-- the waiter was definitely NOT pleased and said he could only offer the table for 10 minutes because it was a Saturday night and they were busy-- there were plenty of tables open and it was not a fine dining establishment.
So we were planning on getting a quick 15 minute bite and then going to the bar we went to last night for drinks. However, 10 minutes became 30 minutes, became almost 45minutes to get our food, eat, pay, etc. And literally two seconds after we got our change and were getting up to leave another waitress comes up and begs for the table (How rude!). Anyway, because they took so long to let us pay we were no longer able to get drinks after because we would not make in time to get back on the metro and tram to our hotel. Overall disappointed with that particular cafe-- though their food looked very good.

Hope this is not too much to read! Tomorrow is the finale of my ventures in Budapest!
Sara

Budapest: Day 1- The Great Journey

Hi Everyone,

This is my first official post for Budapest! As stated below at 8am in the morning Gatwick Airport Duty Free shops were giving out free alcohol-- such typical England behaviour. The flight was a grand 1 hour and 35 minutes, ironically the same amount of time it takes me to train from Southampton to London.

First thing out of the Airport is to take out some cash and buy a 3 day unlimited travel card. which cost approximately 3,350 HUF (Forints). The Exchange rate is about 200:1 in Dollars and 350:1 in £s. This ended up being a great investment since we used the buses, trams, and metros consistently!! Their public transportation is incredibly efficient-- even if it hasn't been updated since the Soviet Era.

We finally made it to our hotel after getting lost on the tram system a few times. We developed a general plan of getting into the City and just doing-- old school. Meaning we only used paper maps and did not bring the iPad with us.  We walked around looking at the cool suspension bridges and the chain bridges. Ate really cheap food for lunch. Walked through a park and found an awesome tree with random Michael Jackson pictures and poetry and letters with candle memorials around it.

We then walked down to the Bridges and the river front and George geeked out at figuring out why it is called the Chain Bridge. Apparently it has something to do with chainlinks on a bike :-D. But the city of Pest and Buda from either side of the river is absolutely gorgeous-- even in cloudy weather! 

Then we found this awesome hill called Gellert Hill. Which has something to do with a saint. We had a hard time figuring out what everything was since hungarian is not the easiest language to read or understand. (Though by the end of the trip we definitely picked some up!) Anyway so this hill side had all these stairs going UP. (Well duh) -- but I mean really really up. So of course we had to climb them to get to the cool statue at the top. (And of course I complained about all the stairs! ). 

One thing I noticed about Budapest is all the graffiti. I am usually a graffiti pro-ponent, however the fact that people vandalized such beautiful architecture just made me sad. That being said, the city overall felt very safe to me (besides of course pick-pockets that you get in every city). Walking around at night, even in sketchier areas, I did not feel in any danger-- and I noticed that there were lots of young women walking alone at night as well. 

Anyway, back to my point. The view point from "the top"-- we were really only half way-- was absolutely spectacular! 

So as it was getting late and we were getting hungry it was time to venture out to find some classic hungarian cuisine. Let me just say: We failed. The area we decided to go to was aparently the only place in Hungary that was not lined with restaurants. We ended up sitting in a little cafe, ordered .5L of beer-- Local of course for under a £. And it was very good!!!. We then asked the owner if he would mind if we walked up the street, got a gyro and came back to order more beer. Which we then did. And then we got a slice of what I thought was going to be chocolate cake-- it wasn't. Still have no idea what was in it but it was delicious!

Overall first AMAZING day!!

Sorry if it droned on a bit. But there are TWO more days of blogging to come! So keep your eye on it.

(Almost 500 views!! Thank you so much for reading my blog!)

Sara

Hungary? Why yes, I am!

Started my day with a shot of free vodka at the airport at 8am this morning, finished with a pint of 1£ beer. This tripq is already at a great start!!