Le mal du pays....

Tonight is the last official night of vacation, as our contract says we begin teaching again tomorrow. However, as I work every other Monday, I get one more day of relaxation and planning, which will probably be consumed running errands and cleaning. Maybe a stop by Pizz'burger to catch up on some American TV... who knows.

Thursday, my first full day back at home, I mostly took care of odds and ends - grocery shopping, laundry, blogging, etc. I was trying to ignore the fact that it was Halloween and I was in a country that does not seem to acknowledge it. However, when I was at the grocery store, I did see a small Halloween section, or what had been one. All of the costumes and holiday-related items had been bought out! Guess the French might celebrate it more than I thought. However, I still didn't see anyone roaming around in costumes and with no Hocus Pocus to watch, I was feeling a little deprived. Later that night, Amy decided to add a little Halloween flair to the apartment to celebrate. Have to admit it made me laugh, convincing me to eat a Reese's Pumpkin* and watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and enjoy the best of my French Halloween.

Amy's Halloween ghosts. Aren't they scary?!

On Friday, we ventured to Avignon. Amy's boyfriend was in town this weekend, and they were planning on going to visit there anyway, but we are also looking into getting new phone coverage and the store we needed to go to happened to be there. One thing that I had thought about in advance but thought it would not be a problem: it was November 1st. As in, jour de la toussaint - the reason we had a two week vacation was for this holiday. So as you can imagine, we reached Avignon and the store was closed. After using free wifi and wandering in some shops for a few hours, I came back to Apt empty handed. Amy and I are already planning a trip for next Friday to get this sorted, and maybe a trip to Ikea is in store as well.

Saturday is always the same, spending hours meandering through the market. Not like I mind it - I find it to be comforting constant in my life here. I am starting to recognize the vendors, and some are starting to recognize me as well. It makes this place feel a little more like home. 

Had been dying to try the pizza from a specific vendor who is always packed and sells out by 10:30am (Note: there is a bite taken out already... I couldn't wait until after the picture.)

Macaroon type of day.

However, the rest of Saturday was not a good day. Ever since I have been back to Apt, I guess you can say that I have been extremely homesick.** This stemming from my wish to be back home for State Finals on Saturday to see my students perform as well as many of my travel plans seeming to fall apart beneath my eyes. And also, some unexpected news from home didn't help either. I couldn't help but feel how incredibly alone I feel here. At the beginning, I liked that feeling - it made me feel independent and strong. But now, I just feel a bit lost.

My parents are seriously the best in the world. Why, you may ask? They knew how sad I was and skyped me into all three performances for each of the groups that I instructed/choreographed for this year. Although I was up very late staring at a computer screen, I went to sleep with a smile, the first time that's happened in awhile.

NOTE: Not saying that I don't feel absolutely blessed to be here, because I do. I just feel like it is equally important to write about the harder times, as it makes the amazing times here that much more important.

*Thanks Mom!!!
**Again, probably a huge understatement.

“Guinness is not beer for the Irish – it is strong tea!”

Luck of the Irish? I don’t believe this to always be true. Our Ireland adventure began VERY early Thursday morning, with an hour drive to our 7am flight to Dublin. Well, our plane sat on the runway for half an hour, getting us into the Emerald Isle around 9am. Luck was not in our favor.

Once we got in the city and checked in to the hostel (and got free breakfast, score!), we spent the morning exploring the Temple Bar area, the Medieval/Viking area, and the area around Trinity College, finding ourselves at the busy, pedestrian Grafton Street for lunch. We saw Dublin Castle, the Christ Church Cathedral, and lots of pubs during this morning walk and decided to get a bite to eat at Bewley’s, a tea room that Amy’s dad had recommended.

 During the afternoon, we decided to wander around Trinity College, the oldest college in Ireland. It is said to have inspired the architecture of Oxford and Cambridge – roaming around the old buildings was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. And, just like in Scotland, Ireland boasts wonderful colors of Fall foliage, adding to the magnificent look of the campus. This campus has been used in the Harry Potter movies as well as many other popular films, as it is quite a picturesque school. 
  

While there, I got to see the Book of Kells, a wonderfully ornate Bible from 800 AD. It was one of those things you just simply could not take your eyes off of, and to think how much time, talent, and dedication it took to make such an intricate document was mind-numbing. Also, got to see the Long Room, aka the most amazing library I might ever see in my life. I felt like Belle when Beast shows her the library in his castle, except 20 times more exaggerated.*

I was in heaven.

After all that walking around, we decided to go grab ourselves a Dublin staple, a Guinness. I was asked to take a survey about Ireland when leaving the country and one of the most important questions that was on it: Did you have a Guinness? Even though I do not generally like beer**, I felt that I had to try this beer, as it is so deeply rooted in the culture. It is different than other beers in the way it is made, with nitrogen gas rather than carbon dioxide. When they pour it, they pour part of it, let it settle and then fill the rest. It is a very delicate art. Although it was not really my cup of tea (though for the Irish it is, noting the title of this post), I am really glad I decided to give it a go in the birthplace of this beer.

Where we downed our Guinness

For dinner, Amy and I went to a restaurant called Elephant and Castle. Hearing mixed reviews from several people before going, we were not sure what we would be met with when we arrived. We decided to get hamburgers, as France’s burgers have generally shown to not be great quality. We were sourly disappointed with our overdone burgers, making us think that maybe Irish food is not one of the things that are lucky.

Friday morning, Amy and I set out for a day trip to the place I was most excited to visit during this whole vacation: the Cliffs of Moher. Although the forecast looked a little grim, we still woke up at 6am and were already fallen asleep on the bus by 7am. We awoke to the sun rising over the beautiful Irish countryside, as green as ever. The luck of the Irish continued to be in our favor, as we were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day driving to the West Coast of Ireland. We passed through Limerick on the way but reached the “Edge of the World” while the sun was at high noon.

Irish green.

Looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean from the cliffs, you truly did feel like you were on the edge of the world. With it being a little breezy and a few of the pathways being muddy (with no fence at the edge, mind you), it appeared extremely easy to fall to your death. As we all know how klutzy I am, it shouldn’t surprise you that I slipped once, but as I am still here to write this post, the fall was not to the depths of the cliffs. 

The view of the cliffs is again one of those things I can’t explain – you just have to see it for yourself. As I gazed out onto the horizon, washing the waves crash into the cliffs with such sheer force, combined with the natural beauty of the rock against grass… it is a sight that everyone should experience. Again, the sense of calm I found here was something one can’t find in a bustling city like Dublin. The hour and a half that we spent wandering around was simply not enough, I could have spent a whole day there!

A five minutes’ drive down the road from the cliffs, we stopped at the Burren national park. Completely different scenery in such a short distance away – the landscape was covered in split rock, making it hard to walk around on (especially as there was a sprinkling of rain by the time we reached this stop). Again, I may have tripped here, and landed on my ankle funny, but it was all worth it to see this interesting landscape. We also stopped at the abandoned 12^th century Corcomroe Abbey, in an isolated field in the countryside.

After getting back quite late, we met up with Katie to go get dinner and drinks. However, upon going out we found a huge cultural difference: pubs in Ireland don’t sell food past 9:30pm. So it was to the supermarket we went, although Katie soon found out another cultural difference: supermarkets don’t sell alcohol past 10pm. Seriously? This actually kind of shocked me about Dublin, which seemed so progressive in many ways.

Saturday, our final day in Dublin, Katie and I decided to the free walking tour provided by the hostel. The tour ended up becoming an all-day affair, linking up with a bigger group of people to go on a 4 hour walking tour. It helped that our guide was quite entertaining and knowledgeable about Dublin, making stories come alive as we roamed the city. However, about halfway through the tour, the heavens opened and it began to pour. As neither of us had an umbrella and I only had a flimsy raincoat, we ended up soaked from head to toe. I think my boots might still be wet. At the end of the dreadful tour, we made our way shivering to O’Neill’s Pub, where I finally got to have some traditional fish and chips and warm up a bit.

That night, we had planned to go out and get drinks, as it was the second biggest party weekend of the year. I didn’t realize that Halloween is a celtic celebration, with its roots in Ireland. As we were there the weekend before Halloween, the city was as alive as it could be. However, after standing outside in the cold and rain all day, I was feeling quite ill and opted to buy tea from the supermarket and get a good night’s rest before leaving for France Sunday morning.

All in all, Ireland kind of disappointed me. I shouldn’t say that – Dublin disappointed me. It was actually quite ordinary with how it looked, reminding me of a suburb of Chicago. It had a hint of being extremely Americanized, with the shops and restaurants that were there. I had heard a lot about the Irish being the friendliest people so I was excited to be welcomed in this culture. However, I wasn’t overwhelmed with how nice the people were, and some were actually quite rude. Now, my experience in the Irish countryside was purely amazing. If I would give any advice for travelers wanting to go to the Emerald Isle, find more time to venture in the countryside, and less in the city of Dublin. I can still hear the swells of Danny Boy while looking at the rolling green hills and will never forget the feeling of standing on the Edge of the World.

*Fun fact: George Lucas copied this library exactly to use in Star Wars. He asked the college to use it first, they denied his request, then he did it anyway. Look for the Jedi library and you will see the Long Room from Trinity College.

**Yet another understatement in this blog.

“Everyone is Scottish, they just don’t know it yet!”

The travel extravaganza began on a Sunday, with a bus, train, shuttle bus, airplane and taxi which lead me, Amy and my friend Katie (who I met from Kalamazoo and lives in the Toulouse region) to York, England. I know what you are thinking – I thought you were going to Scotland? Well I did go there, but it was a cheaper way to go through this roundabout itinerary. Plus, Amy decided to go home for a few days instead of joining us in Edinburgh, so we were able to stay at her house that first night after so much travel (cannot be thankful enough to her and her parents for having us!).  

The following morning, Katie and I were off to Edinburgh via train. Once in the city, we checked into our hostel and set out to have some lunch and explore. As this was my first hostel experience, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. Thankfully, this hostel’s staff was more than helpful and friendly, making the trip that much better! The staff told us to go to this great lunch place which serves traditional Scottish pig roasts with a choice of haggis or stuffing. Needless to say, our trip was off to a pretty amazing start with this meal. 

Yup, pretty delicious!

After this great meal, we walked around the heart of the city – The Royal Mile. This is the main road in the city and contains many of the best pubs and sights, including St. Giles Cathedral, Holyrood Palace (where the Queen stays when she’s in Edinburgh), and at the very top of the road, Edinburgh Castle. The castle is on a raised hill in the center of the city – in fact, the rest of the city was built around the castle, making for some fantastic sights of the city if you go into this breathtaking fortress. It was quite fun to wander around this expansive castle on a hill and to imagine the lives of the people that once lived there. The only downside was the rain that drove us to take cover a few times.

St Giles Cathedral

Edinburgh castle

Although I have been to Edinburgh before, this trip I saw it from a different perspective entirely. I couldn’t stop staring at the architecture of all the buildings, almost gothic. It was a great time to come to Scotland as well, as the trees where crisp with their autumnal colors, leaving traces with the leaves that fell to the ground. I had been feeling quite disappointed with Fall in Provence, as Fall is my favorite season back home. Scotland made up for the lack of seasonal change I had been experiencing – I am so glad I got to soak up all the Autumn shades while there. 

I mean really, look at this view!

That night, we decided to go on a ghost tour, which ended up being really cool. Edinburgh is a city with a pretty dark past, including witch hunts in which many women died for unjust reasons, vaults filled with homeless and crime beneath the city, etc. Even the town’s nickname “Auld Reekie”* shows its disgusting nature: as the whole town is lead up to the castle, all of the roads are on a slant downward. In the old days before modern plumbing, at 10pm every night everyone would open their windows, call out to make sure no one was below, and throw their sewage out their window. Pretty disgusting, right? The best part is that sometimes people would be walking back from the pubs and would miss this warning… and that is where the term “shitfaced” comes from. The tour that we went on took us down to the vaults themselves and we got to hear some of the darker Edinburgh tales. This town definitely got me in the Halloween mood, with all the dark stories, gothic buildings and even quite a bit of decorations – a good change of pace from the non-existent decorations in France!

The second day in Scotland we decided to take a day trip to the highlands in the North, with the main goal to see Loch Ness. Leaving at a very early 7am, we ventured through the rolling hills of the highlands, being told tale after tale by our amazingly energetic and proud Scottish tour guide. He is the one that said the quote that is the title of this post, and he went on to prove that everything we know to be from our own countries was truly of Scottish descent. Again, a very proud man. In general, I have noticed that the Scottish are incredibly proud people AND incredibly friendly. Even more so than the Irish.**

Just an example of one of the beautiful views of the highlands

I was so enthralled by the highlands, I don’t know if I can quite put it into words. This area is definitely one of the most breathtaking natural wonders I have seen, you simply must go to see them yourself as the pictures don’t show how massive they are. During the tour up to visit Nessy, we visited Ian Fleming’s*** estate, saw where they filmed a scene of Skyfall, saw the bridge used in the filming of Harry Potter, saw Glencoe and the Three Sisters (where they superimposed Hogwart’s Castle for the movies), and saw a lot of Lochs. That’s right, not lakes, but lochs. Look it up. 

Home of James Bond

Where they filmed Skyfall!

Hogwarts castle is right here. I know you can't see it, you just have to use your imagination.

Then, we finally arrived at Loch Ness. Although we did not see Nessy, it was wonderful just to relax by the bonnie banks of this huge, deep loch, where known flesh-eating fish reside. The calm that I felt here as well as during the rest of the trip to the highlands was nice and a refreshing contrast to the big city atmosphere of Edinburgh. The sun even decided to come out for a bit, something that rarely occurs in Scotland. 

It is so black due to the level of peat in the water.

Just kidding, we totally did run into Nessy! We are best friends now.

After returning to Edinburgh after our long day, we decided to get some traditional Scottish food at a nearby pub called Fiddler’s Arms. Although I had tried it the last time I was in Scotland, I decided to give haggis a second go. I wouldn’t say I hated it… but I will say that it was the last time I will be eating it. But hey, when in Rome!

Wednesday morning, we went on a walking tour of the city provided by the hostel. It was great to walk around and see a few of the sights we had not seen before, and to hear even more history of this incredibly dark city. We visited Greyfriars Kirkyard, which is a graveyard that is known for the old graveyard keeper John Gray and his dog. After the keeper died, his dog continued to roam the graveyard, protecting it from grave robbers. The dog, known as Greyfriars Bobby, became a national symbol, and even had a right to vote (before women mind you…). The statue and his grave are the most visited in Scotland.

Greyfriar's Kirkyard

Look at that little dog!

Also, in this graveyard were graves which were inspirations for J.K. Rowling as she wrote Harry Potter. You will find graves holding the names of prominent characters in the books, including McGonnagal, Moodie and of course Lord Voldemort himself. The private school right outside of the graveyard, is also said to have been the inspiration for Hogwarts. And, a five minutes walk from the cemetery, you will find the now-famous Elephant House, where Rowling spent hours writing the first draft of Harry Potter on paper. So basically, I just went on a Harry Potter tour without knowing it. And of course, I loved every minute of it.

LORD VOLDEMORT

Hogwarts in real life?

Where Rowling made magic

That afternoon, since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to walk up to Arthur’s Seat, a large hill which promises amazing panoramic views of the city. I had read that it took about an hour and with the weather as beautiful as it was, I was anticipating a great hike. Although the sights were beautiful, an easy hike it was not. The strong gusts of wind were pushing against me the entire way up, nearly taking me over the edge of the hill a few times. But the view at the top was worth it, even if I had to sit down for pictures because I could not hold my balance due to the strength of the wind. And oh yeah, it was a bit muddy too. So true to my klutzy nature, on the way back down the hill, I fell and slid, making quite a mess on an unfortunate area of my body. I guess you could have called me “Auld Reekie” after that incident.

See that hill there? Yeah, I climbed that.

Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat

That evening, we took the train back to York and stayed with Amy and her family (once again, a million thanks!). On the way back, we couldn’t help being a little sad about leaving Scotland, as it was such a wonderful few days. But very early the next morning (with a 3:45am wake-up call to be exact), we were off to our next country already, with the bonnie banks of Scotland a distant memory in our minds. 

*Translation: Old Smelly. Yum.

**Sorry, Guinness.

***Writer/Creator of James Bond.