Since the last blog: I have visited Cambridge, England and Prague, Czech Republic. I came out of a steep and panicked, "I was just thrown into the deep end", learning curve at work--Alive and well. Tom visited Chelmsford and London. I've began try-outs with the London Roller Girl's. Finally, the transition from feeling like a tourist to feeling like a local has happened.
Cambridge, England! One of the oldest colleges in the world. It is rich with history and lure and architecture. A group of other overseas r
ecruits gathered at my house on a Sunday morning where I treated everyone to breakfast (I am loving hosting and cooking lately!). We drove a quick hour drive and were in a different world. A travel guide was assigned to our group for a walking tour. Highly recommended for travelers. The tour guide was full of knowledge and stories about buildings, ghost stories, discoveries on the college. The double helix of DNA was discovered after being sketched on a bar napkin during lunch. The pub is still haunted from fire back in the 1800's. Tid-bits about Isaac Newton's bizzarre ways were interesting. Apparently he used to poke himself in his eyeballs and stare at the sun for hours at a time--wondering if physically changing his eyesight would alter the way he saw life. Stuff you don't get with a audio guide or on a bus. Plus, its good exercise. It was freezing the day we went and my toes remained frozen for a couple days, but well worth it. This picture was inside of St. John's College. It was considered an "Unlucky Courtyard". The lady that commissioned this courtyard went into bankruptcy. As policy dictated at the time, she was placed into a debtors prison. The architect working on the courtyard was involved in an accident which resulted in a lost hand. As we walked into this courtyard, a lady in our group tripped and cut her face and broke her glasses. Lucky for our group, we escaped just fine!
Prague, Czech Republic! Recgonizing that many of the Overseas Recuits that I have become great friends with have holiday time off work but were not going home; an idea of traveling was budded. Like me, a large motivation for coming to England to work includes the budget weekend getaways. We left on a Saturday morning the day after Christmas and returned on Tuesday. A two hour flight later, we're in a completely different country! A budget trip which included airfare, taxing to and from airport, and hotel for 300 pounds! Plus, the British Pound was much stronger than the Czech.
Prague is known for their Christmas Markets. Squares that are adorned with local food that engulfs your senses of smell. Resulting in a scream for more! I felt like a kid in a candy shop entering the market. The workers literally make all the food from scratch while you order. One of my favorites was a what we would call "pizza" and they call something I couldn't pronounce: Fresh dough w/ a sweeter tomato sauce and tons of cheese. My first day I tried a Lokse (see left picture). It was more of a fresh crepe with a brush of butter and garlic. Amazing. You could get them as a sweet option with chocolate, berries, cinnamon, etc. The lady to the left was kind enough to take out her personal vegetarian butter for me and share. I was probably more moved by this little act of kindness than most. But every once in a while something tiny and kind happens unexpectedly and its a sweet feeling. My other favorite was the mulled, hot wine. Delicious and it was either that or hot chocolate to stay warm.
The people of Czech Republic are very nice. But, only when you offer up respect and kindness first. Its not an overly accommodating culture. English is not spoken frequently so learning little sayings go a long way. We went with the budget trip as mentioned above. Our hotel was really scary at first. It looked like a post communism Russian high rise; cold concrete, light blue in color. It had stains on the carpets, dark long hallways with temperamental hall lights. The rooms were bare with some wood blocks with thin "mattress like" bedding. Many of us were shocked at first, but soon it turned into hysteria and lots of laughing. It made for brilliant stories. The hotel, Fortuna Luna, looked amazing in the pictures, but clearly they were 30 years old or taken at night. When Adam mentioned he got stuck on a 12th floor because of the one elevator that was faulty and took him there randomly without lights. The hotel receptionist reminded us that we were at a budget hotel. Yep, we paid about 17 pounds a night and got exactly that!!! We just took care of each other--not walking to and from places by yourself and so forth. A majority of the time is spent outside in the city.
Prague Castle is the biggest tourist attraction in Prague. It is the size of a small city and you walk up a small mountain to reach it. As with Castle tradition, its at the highest point of the city to act as a look out. Inside its walls were churches, museums, restaurants, a winery and more.
Beyond the Castle, we made time for a horse and buggy tour of the city, a Jazz Club, lots of good dinners and street walking and of course a trip to the US Embassy. After jamming in five people in a taxi to get home from the Jazz Club, my wallet fell out of my purse and of course it had all of my identifications, my credit cards and my passport. DUH! Well, a sober and humbling morning afterwards, Kerrin accommodated me to the US Embassy and they were great. I was able to get issued a temporary passport within three hours and go on my way. The realization that we were in a post-communist country and I may be stuck in the country w/out my passport or work visa to get back to the UK was harsh. And of course, taxi drivers had reputations for being dishonest in this country, so nothing was reported or turned in.
Fees and paperwork later, I'm still picking up the pieces of all the lost items, but getting closer. Every other time I've traveled out of the country, I store my passport in a safe place, leave a credit card put away, make copies, etc. Traveling from England to Czech felt like popping from Indy to St. Louis, so all the big precautions were thrown aside. Big Lessons learned. Regardless of the little incident--Prague was an amazing experience and I would not have done it any other way!
My weekends are full of small trips to London Markets, Museums, nearby localities, trying out for London Roller Girl's Derby Team. Sometimes, I enjoy just staying local and going to the market, going for runs and catching up with friends. Overall, I'm living a blessed and enchanted life. I have undoubtedly experienced and felt a huge amount of personal growth occur. There is a deep rooted understanding that all is meant to be and that no matter what or where, I'll always be just fine. That I have the tools to overcome. Its a feeling of invincibility and complete trust in myself. I am exuding joy and happiness and loving every minute of it!
Next travel plans: Bath, England in March 2010--where we will explore the ancient Roman Baths and Stonehenge where we will do some hiking, meditating and general exploring!
Tom and I have two weeks holiday lined up for Early April and plans are still being formalized!
I will be home in the US of A for the first two weeks of July!! Its only 5 months away!!
Within the next few days, I promise to create a separate blog about my career updates, Roller Derby and most importantly Tom's recent visit! I'm blogged out and want to save you from reading a book!
Cheers,
Angie
