Spring Break is over. Boo. I got back last night from my latest jaunt to Europe (every time I see the word "jaunt" I picture someone skipping...and that's not what it means at all. Why is this?). Good times! It was a much more laid back trip than usual, which was very nice. I got to see my fabulous sister (which was pretty much the point) in Kingston (just outside of London - where she goes to school) and we spent lots of girly sister time together. I like to call it Haley and Kristen's WEEK OF FUN! (Friends, anyone?)
The short(end) list of things we saw and/or did includes: a tour of Kingston's town center complete with shoe shopping (much too expensive) and Kronenberg Blanc beers (mmmmm). Saw Ice Age 2 and Failure to Launch at the Odeon theater (and no, Pat, they were not dubbed...). We toured Camden, sat and pondered the meaning of life in the Mark Rothko room of the Tate Modern Art museum, fruitlessly tried to find affordable tickets to see the Lion King broadway production (I saw it in London three years ago - spectacular), elbowed through the crowds in Covent Garden, bought scones and dreamed of buying baby grand pianos at Harrods, and "flew" on the London Eye.
Tuesday through Thursday we were in Amsterdam. We stayed with my friend Niels who was kind enough to be our native guide. We wandered through the Van Gogh museum, the Heineken museum (Niels' 5th time - but hey, you get 3 free beers as you go through the museum - he can't complain too much), Dam Square and the Leidseplein, shoe shopped on the Kalverstraat (poor Niels), took a canal tour, walked through the Red Light District, saw V for Vendetta with Dutch subtitles. We met up with my friend Alissa and her husband Demis (he's a Dutchie) one night and we all conned Haley into singing karaoke. Our flight back to London was delayed a bit, so we spent some quality time in Schippol airport where Haley and I shared a very questionable pickle & cheese sandwich.
After my 8 1/2 hour flight home (wedged in the middle seat all the while), standing in endless lines in customs, finding my car, and driving two hours home to Augusta, I was pretty much spent. I think I've managed to avoid the reverse jet lag so far. It was back to classes today. I went to dinner at Carrabba's with Kathy and Alissa. Kinship was great tonight - we sat outside around Will and Sarah's crackling fire pit. Now I smell like wood smoke and Italian food. Makes me want to go camping. And eat more Italian food.
No comments:
Post a Comment