Welcome to the chaos...
Well, I know it's been a while, which I seem to be saying a lot recently, but I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday and won't mind that this entry will almost certainly be far too short for what I've been up to in the last couple of weeks. I think I last posted before I went to Amsterdam, which was a great and semi-eventful trip. Then I had my last couple of days in Holland, and a very eventful 15 hour trip from Rotterdam, across the English Channel, to London. One day in London before coming to the madness that is my family in Wales. :-) Now for the more detail version, and a couple of the much promised pictures.
Amsterdam was a place that totally stressed me out, but still managed to enchant me to the point that I very much hope to go back and visit again when I have more than three days. I finally got my canal tour, which I took two of, and it was wonderful looking up at the city from the water, especially in the evening when everything was lit up. Unfortunately, I spent half my time there terribly lost, in the snow, but at least not by myself. Cecilia met me there on the second evening, and on the third day she and I went to the Dutch Resistance museum and ended up in the Holocaust and WWII Archives looking for mention of my family during the war! I think we'll never end up doing boring things while we spend time together. We did end up finding a brief mention in a document, which I then copied, and plan to add to our family history documents. The second day I did a five hour walking tour (which was supposed to be two hours) which was great, and I finally got to see Anne Frank's house which was an incredibly powerful experience. Since I managed to be lost between each great experience, I didn't manage to get the postcards and other little things I wanted to be sure to get, so I guess that just means I'll have to go back.
A couple of good pictures from the water during my first canal tour. It's definitely an interesting and beautiful city to travel through, no matter what else happens. The fact that the snow just hit Holland on the second evening I was in Amsterdam didn't help much with all the getting lost.
And the snow brings me to the second bit of my story for the last week. I had a ticket via TransAvia to come to London from Rotterdam and I spent the whole of the day hoping really, really hard, that the snow was done and that my plane would leave okay. As it happened, I got checked in and all ready and my flight was only delayed from 8pm to 10pm before we were able to board the plane. Then we stayed on the plane until just after midnight. At which point we were unloaded from the plane because they hadn't managed to clear the runway and the snow had started again and the airport was closing. We were then bused to a hotel where the airline was going to keep us for the night. I was finally checked in at 2am, and we already knew that we were booked on the first flight in the morning, so the bus was coming back to pick us up and we had to be set to go at 5am. Then I had to go through security again (where an overzealous, to say the least, security agent wouldn't let me keep the Sambal chili paste that had made it through the night before, which was just enough to finally make me yell and burst into tears) then through customs again, then wait another two hours to get on our plane. Our flight was again delayed and it took forever to get through customs on this end (I was almost sure the border agent was going to send me back to the US because she couldn't understand why someone would come to the UK for MONTHS in WINTER) so I finally got to my hostel at about noon. I did take advantage of the time though and found that I immediately adapted back to London, so I went to the Borough Market and got fresh Leek and Potato soup for lunch, plus some cheese and a couple of sauces for when I'm on my own again. I basically spent the day just wandering and got my good Indian food and then on Tuesday I caught the train to Swansea.
Maggi picked me up at the train station and this is the view from the guest bedroom where I'm staying in the house she shares with Emma, Barry, and Griffin. Also staying in the house are Barry's brother Richard, his nephews: Duncan and Jason, and his mom, Anita. So we had nine people in the house for the chaos that was the holidays (I ran out of batteries on my camera, so I'll have to wait to get pictures from soneone else). Tomorrow Anita, Richard, Duncan, and Jason head off at 4:30 in the morning and then will be replaced just after noon by a school friend of Maggi's! This appears to be quite the wayside for travellers, and it's wonderful how well everyone gets along. I love everyone and I'm sure I'll have some fun stories to pass along in the next couple of weeks and then I'll get an apartment, probably in Mumbles, and we'll see from there.
This is the view of Mumbles from the Castle, and I'm hoping to get an apartment somewhere in there (I've already put in a request to view one right near the "main street"). I'll keep you all updated and send pictures once I find the right place.
This is one of the views from a drive we made today to explore a little of the country and take one last walk for pictures for those who would be heading out tomorrow morning. I already love Wales, since it seems to have the idyllic countryside of a Jane Austen novel, the people are friendly and open, there are sheep EVERYWHERE, and it seems that you can't help being drawn in. Plus, I admit, it's awfully nice being able to speak English and being sure that the people on the other end of the conversation know what I'm talking about, and don't mind that it's in English. I have no doubt I'll enjoy my stay here and Maggi and Emma are already giving suggestions for things to do when I travel to other areas of the UK with my railpass.
I hope you all had a fantastic Holiday and have a very Happy New Year!!
Amsterdam was a place that totally stressed me out, but still managed to enchant me to the point that I very much hope to go back and visit again when I have more than three days. I finally got my canal tour, which I took two of, and it was wonderful looking up at the city from the water, especially in the evening when everything was lit up. Unfortunately, I spent half my time there terribly lost, in the snow, but at least not by myself. Cecilia met me there on the second evening, and on the third day she and I went to the Dutch Resistance museum and ended up in the Holocaust and WWII Archives looking for mention of my family during the war! I think we'll never end up doing boring things while we spend time together. We did end up finding a brief mention in a document, which I then copied, and plan to add to our family history documents. The second day I did a five hour walking tour (which was supposed to be two hours) which was great, and I finally got to see Anne Frank's house which was an incredibly powerful experience. Since I managed to be lost between each great experience, I didn't manage to get the postcards and other little things I wanted to be sure to get, so I guess that just means I'll have to go back.
A couple of good pictures from the water during my first canal tour. It's definitely an interesting and beautiful city to travel through, no matter what else happens. The fact that the snow just hit Holland on the second evening I was in Amsterdam didn't help much with all the getting lost.
And the snow brings me to the second bit of my story for the last week. I had a ticket via TransAvia to come to London from Rotterdam and I spent the whole of the day hoping really, really hard, that the snow was done and that my plane would leave okay. As it happened, I got checked in and all ready and my flight was only delayed from 8pm to 10pm before we were able to board the plane. Then we stayed on the plane until just after midnight. At which point we were unloaded from the plane because they hadn't managed to clear the runway and the snow had started again and the airport was closing. We were then bused to a hotel where the airline was going to keep us for the night. I was finally checked in at 2am, and we already knew that we were booked on the first flight in the morning, so the bus was coming back to pick us up and we had to be set to go at 5am. Then I had to go through security again (where an overzealous, to say the least, security agent wouldn't let me keep the Sambal chili paste that had made it through the night before, which was just enough to finally make me yell and burst into tears) then through customs again, then wait another two hours to get on our plane. Our flight was again delayed and it took forever to get through customs on this end (I was almost sure the border agent was going to send me back to the US because she couldn't understand why someone would come to the UK for MONTHS in WINTER) so I finally got to my hostel at about noon. I did take advantage of the time though and found that I immediately adapted back to London, so I went to the Borough Market and got fresh Leek and Potato soup for lunch, plus some cheese and a couple of sauces for when I'm on my own again. I basically spent the day just wandering and got my good Indian food and then on Tuesday I caught the train to Swansea.
Maggi picked me up at the train station and this is the view from the guest bedroom where I'm staying in the house she shares with Emma, Barry, and Griffin. Also staying in the house are Barry's brother Richard, his nephews: Duncan and Jason, and his mom, Anita. So we had nine people in the house for the chaos that was the holidays (I ran out of batteries on my camera, so I'll have to wait to get pictures from soneone else). Tomorrow Anita, Richard, Duncan, and Jason head off at 4:30 in the morning and then will be replaced just after noon by a school friend of Maggi's! This appears to be quite the wayside for travellers, and it's wonderful how well everyone gets along. I love everyone and I'm sure I'll have some fun stories to pass along in the next couple of weeks and then I'll get an apartment, probably in Mumbles, and we'll see from there.
This is the view of Mumbles from the Castle, and I'm hoping to get an apartment somewhere in there (I've already put in a request to view one right near the "main street"). I'll keep you all updated and send pictures once I find the right place.
This is one of the views from a drive we made today to explore a little of the country and take one last walk for pictures for those who would be heading out tomorrow morning. I already love Wales, since it seems to have the idyllic countryside of a Jane Austen novel, the people are friendly and open, there are sheep EVERYWHERE, and it seems that you can't help being drawn in. Plus, I admit, it's awfully nice being able to speak English and being sure that the people on the other end of the conversation know what I'm talking about, and don't mind that it's in English. I have no doubt I'll enjoy my stay here and Maggi and Emma are already giving suggestions for things to do when I travel to other areas of the UK with my railpass.
I hope you all had a fantastic Holiday and have a very Happy New Year!!