me mum's from lincolnshire (apparently)

okay - so here's the tidbit i promised: on friday i was in bath. as some of you know, i have a tendency to pick up on the accents of those around me. i think b/c i'd been so long amongst non-english speakers, i really soaked up how people were talking once i landed in england. so, much of friday, i would find myself speaking in a british accent. i never knew when it'd come out until i started talking. since i don't know any of these people, it didn't really matter. but i got myself into trouble when i took a taxi to collect my things at my first b&b and head on to my second one. out came the british accent. and once we were on our way the taxi driver became chatty. where was i from? "kansas" but i don't sound like i'm from kansas. "well, me mum's british. she's from lincoln" (sorry mom! my british friends i met in prague were from lincoln & it sounded like a nice place) does she live here or in the states now? "states" does she miss england? "oh, yes." etc, etc. i couldn't believe what was coming out of my mouth. but it seemed less awkward than trying to explain to a complete stranger that i pick up accents from people and i can't help what comes out. i guess at least i'm glad i really did sound british and not like an imposter.

another fun moment was when i arrive in bath, i got totally turned around by my directions. the b&b was only a mile away from the train station so i started walking but ended up going in the complete opposite direction, walking for like 30 minutes. eventually i stopped at another b&b to ask for directions. the lady was the quintessential british b&b-er. she brought me back to her kitchen and had me sit down while she called a taxi and rang my b&b to make sure they didn't give my bed away. she kept going back & forth between the front & the kitchen trying to find info for me and i didn't know whether i was to follow her or stay sitting, but it seemed rude to just sit, so i'd stand every time she got up. finally she turns to me and says, "sit down, love, i'm not the queen."

yes, i'm slow

okay - so pretty much nevermind about a travel log whilst i'm travelling. :) this trip has been so different from my other experiences - an initial lack of internet and an almost continually full schedule have made my time when on the internet focused on checking email and arranging accomodation. for anyone interested, i plan on writing a travel log and posting it here once i return home.

right now i'm in bath (england), but in a few minutes i hop on the train for cornwall. so i only have a brief moment.

i was overjoyed upon arriving in england. almost felt like coming home. and bath has been lovely - though there have been some travel/accomodation frustrations for sure! ah well. i have a funny story that i'll post later tonight when i get to beki's.

oh to travel

since i'm backlogged with stories and now wishing i were asleep, i thought i'd post two random travel tidbits from a few days ago. (i'm currently in germany, staying with my friend taryn - fabulous thus far!)

so i was supposed to fly out of madrid on monday (the 14th) at 19:15 and arrive in basel, switzerland by 21:25. i'd already booked my hotel which was a bus ride and a tram ride from the airport. this would be accomplished of course, only after i'd gotten some swiss francs (& quickly acclimated myself to the look of my new money). so kate kindly rides the buses with me to the airport in madrid and makes sure i get checked in okay. we sit and chat for a bit and then, she goes on her merry way. i sit and read for a while and finally head off to my gate to wait some more. i had to check my main bag this time, which always makes me a little nervous - but it's kind of nice not having to haul two bags around. long story shorter - right before we should've started boarding, they announced (in spanish, of course) that the flight was delayed TWO HOURS. that meant i wouldn't get into basel until midnight. a place i've never been, and a language that i can only say hi, bye, please & thank you. yippee. i call the hotel and they're open 24 hrs, so no worries there; however, the buses only run until 12:30 - so depending on if there's any hassle with the flight or airport, i may have to take a taxi or figure something else out. we ended up flying in after midnight, which the airport apparently normally closes at midnight (do airports really close??). thankfully my bag made it safely and i got some francs, but only got two 50 franc bills. there was a bus outside and i was trying to buy a ticket from the machine and this guy was staring at me that seemed to have some connection with the bus but didn't speak english. i thought he understood i was trying to get a ticket for the bus but the next thing i knew, the bus and the guy were gone. thankfully i could cancel the ticket purchase. and i knew that was the last bus - so i walked over to the remaining taxi and asked the guy if he spoke english, but he didn't so i took out my handy piece of paper where i'd written out how to get a taxi ride somewhere and dove in. he said it'd cost between 28-40 francs and i said fine (what else was i going to do?). he seemed really nice and could speak some spanish, so we conversed a bit that way. when he stopped in front of my hotel, i'm pretty sure he said something about 14. i pulled out my 50 and asked if it was okay (as in, do you have change for this) and he nodded. apparently it cost 37 francs - so i'm not sure if i got scammed or the 14 was just miles and not cost, but by that point i didn't care and wanted to pretend that everything was just great. whew.

the next day (my one full day in basel) i got to help a british man & his mother find a museum they were looking for even though i had no previous knowledge - i had a map and figured it out quickly enough to actually be helpful; and it was such a relief to hear english and with such a great accent. :) shortly after that i stopped for lunch at a little cafe and ended up having a waitress who was from california - so i was able to have a swiss experience but actually know what i was ordering. it was the best quiche/pastry i've ever had.

there's always more, but for now i'll leave you with two photos. the first is in one of the main platzes in basel, taken with my phone. the second is a typical delightful little bavarian cafe in munich.

¡ah, españa!

this is a photo of kate & i in segovia, where we went on friday. it´s a lovely town just outside of madrid. we wandered through the streets and i visited the cathedral, which was gorgeous! sadly i couldn´t take photos or video inside, but i did get a bit of the cloisters. speaking of which, i was trying to take a photo when this family walked into my shot, so i waited while they headed for the centre garden. the bells rang and this little boy of 3 or 4 yelled out "hello, God!" and when he got into the garden yelled it again louder. it was so cute.

this is going to be another lame-ish entry simply b/c the internet place didn´t open until 2 hours after it´s supposed to and kate is supposed to get back from class soon and i have her house key. but wanted to post a wee bit before i leave spain (and fly to switzerland this afternoon).

i have tasted tortilla (a spanish potato omelet of sorts), vino tinto (red wine), paella valencia (scary rice stuff with CRAB, which i didn´t eat), natillas (custard), vino tinto de verano (almost sangria - you could only get a pitcher of sangria and i just wanted a glass so this was the next best thing). most of the time andre cooked for us, which was very tastey. and we had lots of bocadillos (sandwiches).

i´ve been to madrid three times; stayed in camarma; visited alcala several times (as we always have to go there first to get anywhere else; and that´s where kate´s school is); segovia; toledo. the towns are all fascinating with great old architecture and lively plazas. yesterday we went to kate & andre´s favourite park in madrid and it was AWESOME. think of central park in nyc but way way better. you can smell eucalyptus, honeysuckle and more. they have fantastic trees. even some called "brain trees" b/c they´ve been cut that way.



kate showed me how to make tortilla last night and i got to videotape the process, which was fun - especially as we were sharing her ipod (one ear phone each) whilst cooking.

another favourite capture of mine, was while we were in toledo - we were up on a hill and down below could see into the backyard of an elderly couple´s house. they were hanging out clothes to dry and were adorable. hopefully it comes out.



oh and also in toledo i climbed a church tower for a "view of the heavens" whilst andre & kate waited down below. i´m afraid of heights, but always fascinated by them. well, the stairs are thankfully one way, but you are in one room and can see all the stairs and they´re grilled, so you can see through them as you´re walking. i of course was freaking out. the lady ahead of me ending up chickening out halfway and i had to plaster myself against the wall so she could pass me and go back down. i almost followed her, but forced myself ahead. the view was grand, but then it´s time to go down. whew. i had flip flops on and didn´t think i could make it without tripping and falling to my death, so i took them off and stuffed them in my bag. the whole way down i was repeating "via con Dios" to encourage myself. i think i almost broke out in a sweat, but i made it! later that afternoon, we were walking down a narrow alley (toledo is known for its narrow, windy cobbled streets) and i tripped and skinned my knee quite bad. made me especially thankful for removing my flipflops before the descent down the tower stairs!!!

okay - i best sign off before kate has to wait for me.

(check out the pic for my previous post below...i just added it today)

en madrid

as a preamble, the only thing on the screen in english as i write this blog is what i am writing. the blogger page itself, all in spanish. and i can´t figure out some of the punctuation on the keyboard, so i can´t always type how i want.

i was able to carryon on my pack & camera bag, so no worries with my belongings thus far! plane ride wasn´t grand, but definitely not my worst experience, either. since i can´t sleep on planes, movies are key. however, the first movie, freedom writers, was only dubbed in spanish, so i didn´t watch it b/c i actually want to see it at some point and i figured that would ruin it for me. the second movie was spanish and i watched part of it. the third movie was eragon, and i it was actually in english so i watched it. probably enjoyed it way more than i would have otherwise. i had a window seat and so i was able to catch part of the sunset and later watched the moon and stars for a while. pretty cool to be almost on a level with the moon! then, as we were approaching the airport i was able to see the land--mountains, olive tree fields, towns with red-roofed buildings. and when we were taxiing down the runway, i saw these gorgeous patches of red flowers, which i later found out were poppies and are EVERYWHERE. it was a nice welcome.

kate met me at the airport. and we headed to camarma where she lives to drop everything off. then took a bus to alcala and walked around. the town is really lovely and there´s definitely something distinctive to the look of spain. she showed me the huge nests on top of buildings for these storks (?). i was fascinated by these.

yesterday i went to her school in the morning and then we took a train into madrid and walked to the main plazas and saw the cathedral and palace. they have some amazing architecture here.

today i came into madrid by myself. thus far i´ve gone to the reigna sofia (art museum) and saw picasso´s guernica (per hannah´s suggestion). art museum´s always overwhelm me so i decided to take a brake before i head to the prado which is a massive museum.

don´t think i´m sounding too articulate but i still feel tired. i was awake for basically 32 hours before i slept tuesday night and then i´ve been walking and in the sun loads. hopefully my next post will sound more exciting!

just wanted to let you all know i´m alive and well in spain.

run