New Orleans is sinking
and I don't wanna swim

I woke up with this song in my head this morning, possibly subliminally influenced by the sound of rain on the window. It turned out to be incredibly appropriate, since Venice is experiencing a pretty bad acqua alta (literally, high water) today. I just googled for news, and there's nothing about today's high tide, but an article from November 2000 talking about Venice's third worst flood since 1900 puts the tide level then at 144 cm above sea level. Today's was 136.

The sidewalks outside my hotel were completely submerged this morning, but today's my last day in Venice and I had no intention of staying home all day. When there are floods in Venice, do as the Venetians do, which in the absence of knee-high wellieboots involves rolling up your pants, taking off your shoes and socks, and (literally) taking the plunge. The water was pretty cold, and frankly, if I'd known my calves would be showing I'd have shaved my legs, but the whole experience was pretty funny. Tourists braved the waters in everything from flip-flops to old socks to garbage bags, but most had wellies or went barefoot like me. I managed to make my way down to the Accademia, Venice's premier art museum, and enjoyed a nice (dry) tour of the major Venetian artworks since 1300 or so.

After that, the waters had receded a bit, but my next port of call was the Basilica San Marco, which sits in the middle of Piazza San Marco. Piazza San Marco is notorious for being the first part of Venice to flood, so if the waters at my hotel were nearly knee-deep (on me at least, which I know ain't saying much), I knew San Marco would be pretty bad. It was. However, due to the massive influx of tourists there, even on a day like today, San Marco is well-equipped with the portable boardwalks I mentioned in my last post. I did manage to find a wellie vendor at this point, so I continued on my way in a pair of shiny black wellies (only 25 euros, which I think is a pretty damn good bargain considering the markup the guy could have gotten today).

As you've guessed at this point, I didn't end up going to San Marco on Friday as I'd planned, so I had to go today or not go at all, and I'm glad I braved the floods and went. San Marco is unlike any other church I've ever seen, and it really defies description. It's an amalgam of Byzantine and Romanesque architecture, and the whole interior is dazzling gold and marble and mosaics everywhere. The city council passed a law in 1075 or thereabouts stating that anyone who returned to Venice from a trip or trading mission had to bring something back to beautify the church, and it shows. San Marco, more than anywhere else in Venice, is a reminder of just how wealthy and powerful the Venetian empire was at its height.

San Marco is a major contrast to the other Byzantine church I visited while I was here, Santa Maria dell'Assunta on the island of Torcello. I went up to the islands in the northern lagoon of Venice yesterday, and Torcello is a small, quiet island that's often called "the antique Venice" because that's really where the empire started. Santa Maria was founded in 6-something (that's right, not 16-something), and the present basilica dates from 1008. I've never been in a thousand-year-old building before, but Santa Maria is quiet, peaceful, and much more austere than San Marco (despite also having some really nice gold-leaf mosaics). I find myself almost not wanting to write about Torcello, because it's the most peaceful place I've ever been and I don't want more people to go there. I want it all to myself.

I also went to Burano (not Murano) yesterday, another northern island notable for colourful houses and a similar peaceful atmosphere. I did a little souvenir shopping, had lunch in a cafe, and scratched a few happy cats behind the ears. A nice relaxing day, all around. Oh yes, and the third time was the charm. I finally found Santa Maria dei Miracoli, and it was worth it... a tiny little pastel marble jewel box of a church. Supposedly, it's where Venetians like to get married, and I can see why. It's hidden away and very private, and very pretty.

Tomorrow I return to London, but I don't really want to go. I like it here.

So. Where to begin?

First of all, I'm in Venice now, and it's a really beautiful city, although internet cafes are pretty hard to find (hence the lack of postage yesterday). Not much to report on Venice yet, since I basically got here yesterday, checked into the hotel, and went to bed, and today's been spent just wandering. I was looking for Santa Maria dei Miracoli, a little church that's supposed to be quite nice, but I got lost on the way there several times, and I never actually found it. (I'm taking that as divine guidance that I'm not meant to find it.) I do plan to go to the Basilica San Marco as soon as I'm done here, though, so there will be stuff to report once I've been there.

Basic impressions so far are that Venice is a testament to human ingenuity. How the hell has this city managed to survive in the middle of the sea for 700 years? When I woke up this morning, the canals were high (reminding me that this is, above all, a tidal city), and the sidewalks were inundated in several places, but the city had erected little boardwalks above the water and everybody was just carrying on as normal. I admire the Venetians' nonchalance, but it's really not hard to see why the city's historic buildings are decaying. Salt water is incredibly corrosive, and the foundations of most of the buildings are wooden.

Still, the city is beautiful. I regretfully admit that the rumour is true, and Venice doesn't smell very good sometimes, but then again, neither does Guelph. I'm already a fan of cities where boats are the main form of transportation, and this is the original... most of my morning was spent just riding back and forth on the Grand Canal. One interesting thing I've noticed is that, unlike Amsterdam, there are no houseboats here. I think this is probably due to the ever-changing levels of the canals (making mooring difficult), as well as the comparative narrowness of most of them. Houseboats would severely restrict the traffic.

I should update briefly on my last day in Paris, too. I did visit the Eiffel Tower, but it was expensive and a long wait to go up, so I stayed on terra firma. Other than that, I basically wandered, took in a couple more museums (the Musee d'Orsay, which was much more rewarding than the Louvre, and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs), and waited for my train. I'll write more about the Orsay when I have more time, and when I've had a chance to post some of the pictures from there.

Milan, yesterday, was a bit of a bust. Both the Duomo and La Scala, the two buildings I wanted to see, are undergoing renovation and have their facades completely covered up. As it turned out, though, this was a good thing, because when I left my backpack at the train station for safekeeping during my city visit, I left my camera in my backpack, so there wouldn't have been any photos from either place anyway. I also wasn't able to get into Santa Maria delle Grazie, the home of Da Vinci's Last Supper, because apparently you have to book really far in advance (which I actually knew, but I was gambling on it not being peak tourist season). Still, the interior of the Duomo was nice, and I can now say that I bought something at the flagship Armani store in Milan (perfume, but still. 30 euros for perfume is not half bad, especially in Milan).

Before I end the entry, I want to note one thing. It may seem to some of you like I'm visiting an awful lot of churches for someone who isn't religious. I am visiting a lot of churches, but first of all, the only architecture I know anything about is church architecture, so old churches are really interesting to me from a non-religious standpoint. Also, you have to remember that for hundreds of years, in addition to being the centre of religion, the Church was the centre of art, education, society, and pretty much everything except food. The history of Europe is, essentially, the history of the church. So, when in Europe, it doesn't matter if you're religious or not. Go to church.

(Oh. One more thing. I was surprised to find out on Wednesday that my bank card really doesn't work in the Metro ticket machines in Paris. Maybe my ripoff on Saturday was a genuine mistake?)

I'm still in Paris for the moment, doing all the typical touristy things... yesterday I started off at the Arc de Triomphe and walked all the way down the Champs-Elysees to the Louvre (which is a pretty long walk). I took my time about it, though. There are lots of cafes on the Champs-Elysees, so I had some breakfast, and later some ice cream, and I stopped in at the main Sephora store for a while to get beautified at the Yves St. Laurent counter (hey, when in Paris...). I was aiming to arrive at the Louvre sometime after 3, since my Rick Steves book said admission is cheaper then, but either he's out of date or he's lying, because the price is the same all the way through.

Anyway, I did eventually get to the Louvre and saw all the highlights, which is about all you can do without killing yourself, since it's so huge. It's also really, really crowded, and it's worth seeing for certain things, but it's not a terribly pleasant museum experience. I had a much better time at the Pompidou, and I've heard the Musee d'Orsay (Impressionism and Art Nouveau) is much nicer, so I'm headed there tomorrow.

Last night, I was toying with the idea of going to Versailles today, since I wanted to get out of Paris and everybody goes there. Ultimately, I decided not to, since, well, everybody goes to Versailles (especially on Tuesdays, when the Louvre is closed). I'd had enough of elbowing my way through crowds of tourists at the Louvre, so I went to Chartres instead. Chartres is about an hour southwest of Paris by train, and it has a huge, glorious Gothic cathedral with the world's best collection of medieval stained glass. (All the windows were removed, piece by piece, during the World Wars, which is why most of Chartres' glass has survived when other cathedrals' didn't.)

Chartres gets its fair share of tourists, but it's pretty peaceful at this time of year, so I had the cathedral almost to myself. The glass there is predominantly that beautiful shade of blue, somewhere between cobalt and turquoise, that characterizes 13th-century glass; later renovations, such as the southern rose window at Notre-Dame, don't have that colour because nobody knows how to make it anymore. Stained glass is pretty damn hard to photograph, but I tried my best and there will be some pictures up when I get home. Chartres is also notable for its medieval labyrinth, inlaid directly into the floor, which pilgrims used to follow on their knees. It's amazingly well-preserved.

After the cathedral (and an excellent meal in the town centre), I went to the International Stained Glass Centre, which has displays about the making of stained glass, the history of the craft (especially of Chartres), and exhibitions that change periodically. Right now, they're exhibiting restoration techniques and examples from various cathedrals around Europe. It's a really cool place to visit if you're into that sort of thing, and I don't regret missing Versailles at all. (I did see it from the train, coming home, and it looks pretty impressive.)

Tomorrow, I'm going up the Eiffel Tower, visiting a couple more museums (the Orsay and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs), and then making my way to Milan...

Paris is beautiful! It really is a romantic city, and I can see why people honeymoon here. There are a ton of things to see, and the stereotype of Parisians being rude is not true (at least not in my admittedly limited experience). I love it already, but it's the first city I've visited on my world tour that I don't think I'd want to live in. Too many people.

That being said, I have to relate my first Bad Travel Experience. As soon as my train entered the station last night, I went to the Metro map to figure out where I was going. A guy saw me looking at the map, showed me where I needed to go, and even bought my ticket for me with his bank card (he said English bank cards would get stuck in the machine, which should have given me an idea). I paid him back, which took most of the cash I had on me, and went happily on my way, assuming I'd gotten the five-day ticket I'd asked for. Until this morning, when I tried to use the ticket and was informed it was only a one-way pass. Oh well. I just laughed, and I've kept the ticket as a reminder not to trust random strangers too much.

After that little adventure, I bought the right ticket, went up to the Ile de la Cite, and browsed the flower market before getting some much-needed food. Suitably caffeinated and fed, I went back to the flower market, which on Sundays is actually a flower and pet market. I could have bought birds, guinea pigs, puppies, rabbits, or you-name-it, but I settled on two tiny fake mice for Maddy and Malcolm. Everyone deserves a souvenir.

Post-shopping, I went to visit the Sainte-Chapelle, which I had heard was amazing. It was. I am not worthy to write about it, and I don't mean that in any kind of humourous or sarcastic way. I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life, not even Notre Dame, which I visited next, and which was frankly kind of a let-down after the Sainte-Chapelle. There was a mass going on at Notre Dame when I visited, though, which was kind of cool because now I can tell my grandparents I went to mass at Notre Dame.

I eventually made my way back to modern times via the Ile-St.-Louis, a residential island in the Seine that has some beautiful old houses and the world's best ice cream (Berthillon). When I say I went back to modern times, I really mean it... my next stop was the Pompidou Centre, home of the world's best collection of modern art. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, especially because Brancusi, one of my favourite sculptors, donated his workshop to the Pompidou when he died, so I got to see a few of his works in the museum plus his whole workshop. Most European museums are nice about letting you take pictures, too, so I managed to get some good ones that I'll blow up and hang on the wall. (I have to watch it with the photos, though. My memory card only holds so many, so if you guys want to see Milan and Venice, I either have to quit taking Paris pictures or find some way to upload while I'm here.)

I'm going to have a quiet evening in preparation for visiting the Louvre tomorrow, but I wanted to make one observation first. I was worried about visiting Paris alone, since this is my first time alone in a non-English speaking country, but I haven't had a problem at all. Not because everyone speaks English here, which is most decidedly not the case, but because I apparently speak more French than I thought. I guess four years reading the back of Canadian cereal boxes will do that to you.

The trip yesterday got a bit screwed up, but it all worked out fine in the end. Ian and I took the train out to Swindon to see his step-grandma Joyce, who is a very nice lady and a very good cook (regardless of what she says about her own abilities!) She fed us, got us slightly drunk, and gave us even more food to take with us, but even without the food, we'd have had a good time anyway.

We took the bus from Swindon to Salisbury, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake, since what we'd been told would take under an hour ended up being about two and a half. Because we didn't get to Salisbury until about 5 pm, we barely made it into the cathedral before closing time, and we didn't get to Stonehenge at all. Still, the half-hour in the cathedral was well worth it (at least to me, because cathedral architecture in general fascinates me, and Salisbury's in particular), and I got some great photos which I will post when I'm home from my trip. I apologize for the delay, but if any of you would like to donate some money to help us get internet access in our flat, feel free! (I am kidding, by the way.)

Salisbury's cathedral is notable for a few reasons. First of all, it has the tallest spire in England at 404 feet, which is pretty damn amazing for something that was built 700 years ago. Also, it's one of the only cathedrals anywhere that's built in a single architectural style. Because cathedrals are so gigantic, most of them were built in fits and starts, with pieces added on here and there whenever the church could raise some money to build some more. Salisbury's, however, was built within 38 years (an amazingly short period of time), so the architecture is uniform all the way through. I'm not going to bore you with all kinds of cathedral architecture details, but when I post my photos you'll see something really cool. The spire and tower were the last parts of the cathedral to be built, and their entire weight rests on four marble pillars inside the cathedral. Because the architects either mis-estimated the weight and stress of the tower or just plain didn't take it into account (unlikely, given what we know about medieval architects), the four pillars are actually, visibly bent. Cathedrals may look airy and delicate, but seeing something like this reminds you that they're actually made of pretty damn heavy stone. Oh yeah, and one of the only four surviving copies of the Magna Carta is housed here. That was cool, for an aspiring law student.

I have to check off a few more things on the to-do list before leaving tonight, so expect the next post within a couple of days...

I feel so relieved. My law school applications are finished, submitted, and if I do say so myself, damn good. Now I just have to wait until at least December to find out whether I'll be following the Big Red (Cornell) or the Blue Devils (Duke). I'm really glad I have lots to do to occupy myself during that time, or I'd be driving myself (and you readers) up the wall.

Glasgow captions are up, but unfortunately, the Edinburgh photos are going to have to wait until another day. I might (with any luck) be able to post them Saturday before leaving for Paris, but since the laundry pile is growing exponentially and I'd like to wear clean clothes in Paris, don't count on it.

Ian and I are heading out Wiltshire-way tomorrow to see Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, and his stepdad's mother Joyce, who lives in Swindon. Should be fun, although I hear Stonehenge isn't quite as impressive as it looks in photos. Still, how can you go to England without seeing Stonehenge?

I should blog again before I leave for Paris, but after Saturday, the usual caveat applies. I'll be in Paris till the 27th, then to Venice till November 1, so blogging will undoubtedly be sporadic during those times. However, I should have some kick-ass photos for all of you when I return!

I'm in the middle of another photo upload, so check out the photo page. Glasgow pictures are up (albeit captionless for the moment), as well as some shots of our Thanksgiving dinner (in the Neighbourhood gallery) but I may not be able to get the rest of the Scotland pics up today, unfortunately. It's been a hectic week, but things are coming together... I've finished and submitted both of the homework assignments due this week, and by the end of tomorrow my law school applications will be finished and submitted, so I can leave for Paris with a clear conscience and a blank to-do list. Right now, though, I've got a few loose ends to tie up before I can spare a whole lot of time for blogging.

I will, however, take the opportunity to write about Scotland. It is fantastic, and I highly recommend going, although ideally you'd take more time than we did. We had kind of a whirlwind tour, arriving in Glasgow Sunday evening, heading to Edinburgh Monday afternoon, and returning home late Tuesday night. Still, we got to see lots of cool stuff, meet up with some great people, and have a few good pints. Our friend James, a fellow Guelphite, was our Glasgow guide, since he's doing an exchange up there this year, and Sunday evening was occupied with a walking tour of the city (Glasgow is far more walkable than London) and some pub time. Monday morning, we went to the McLellan Galleries, which are currently housing the highlights of the Kelvingrove art collection while its building is being refurbished. They have a fantastic collection of Glasgow Style stuff, with emphasis on the Mackintosh, of course, and loads of incredible paintings from all periods and styles. We spent a couple of highly enjoyable hours there, and then retired to the famous Mackintosh-designed Willow Tea Rooms for lunch. Despite their fame, they still have very reasonably priced (and very good) food, so we had an excellent lunch and then caught the train to Edinburgh.

Upon arrival in Edinburgh, we checked in at our hostel, which was really nicely equipped but pretty far from downtown, and then went back to the city centre to find some food and explore. We walked around the Princes Street and George Street shopping area for a while, before finding a nice cozy local pub with excellent meat pies and toasties, not to mention excellent beer. Thus fortified, we headed south into the Old Town area to find Greyfriars Bobby and the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter (Ian laughs, but I maintain that this is part of British literary history.) On the way, Ian was happily surprised to find a statue of the famous Scottish philosopher, David Hume, so he posed for a photo op.

In the morning, we visited Edinburgh Castle, which, although touristy, is a lot of fun and has some beautiful views over downtown Edinburgh and out to the Firth of Forth. We also enjoyed some shopping on the Royal Mile before catching the train back to England. After a stop in Leeds to hang out with a friend of Ian's for a couple of hours, we arrived home around midnight.

I'm definitely planning on going back to Scotland at some point, and I'd love to spend a lot more time in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Both of them are beautiful cities, especially Edinburgh, and both lend themselves very well to leisurely exploration if time permits. It was a great trip, although exhausting, and I'm looking forward to a couple of days at home before tackling Paris.

One other point: long-distance train travel beats the hell out of the bus.

Speed-blogging from Edinburgh (I think this may actually be my first non-London post since I've been over here!). Scotland is fantastic, and Ian and I are having a great time, with details to be posted when we return. We're about to head off to our hostel here, and then explore the city for a bit. Home tomorrow night.

Oh, and by the way, sorry, Ben. The cats are not really controllable at night by anything short of an Act of God, or shutting the bedroom door (although this may make them yowl piteously and scratch the door, which is debatably more annoying than having them engage in the nightly feline steeplechase over your sleeping body).

Ian's here, happy despite a bit of jet lag, and we're heading up to do a whirlwind tour of Scotland tomorrow (Glasgow on Sunday and Monday, Edinburgh Monday night and Tuesday). Other than that, we don't have too many plans yet, although I think we're going to the British Museum this afternoon (okay, scrap that, it's only open for two more hours and we've got things to do before we leave). So, our plans are up in the air. Expect blogging to be sporadic this week... I have a buttload of stuff to finish up for school, in addition to all the traveling I'll be doing and touristy things I'll be seeing with Ian.

I just realized I'm leaving for Paris a week from today. Holy crap.

Not too much to report today. I'm busily trying to get my law school essays finished, my room clean enough for Ian's arrival on Friday (yes, I know this is not a requirement, but room to walk on the floor would be nice), and my homework done... next week is the sixth of the semester, which means I have some midterm projects due, and I have to get my applications in by November 1. This would not be a problem except I'm going to Paris on October 23rd. (I'm really not complaining. I can't wait to go to Paris. I just have a lot of homework-juggling to do.)

I'm gratified to see that people are still actually posting in the chatterbox! I love it when I get comments, since that's the only way I know any of you read this thing. I apologize for making everyone jealous, though!

Back to Amsterdam. My travelogue isn't going to be quite as detailed as my one for Ireland, since frankly, I didn't do a whole lot of stuff that lends itself well to detailed reporting. Most of what I did in Amsterdam involved just walking around, wandering into different parts of the city, and exploring, not visiting tourist sights (the only remotely touristy things I did were the museums and a canal cruise). Still, I'll try to give a sense of how my weekend went.

The weekend actually started Thursday night, when we boarded the bus. I mentioned before what an incredibly unpleasant experience an overnight bus ride is, so I'm not going to go into that again, but we did get to go on the Dover-Calais ferry in the middle of the night! Very cool (for me at least, since I love boats). I also got to see the White Cliffs of Dover, which are quite impressive, but since it was the middle of the night, no pictures. I'll have to try and get out there in the daytime at some point.

We (Emma, Andrea, Amanda, Nathan, and Kirsti) arrived in Amsterdam around 9 AM Friday, and we split up to try and find accommodation. Emma, Andrea, and myself ended up on the aforementioned houseboat on the northern side of the harbour, so to go back and forth between homebase and downtown, we had to take a ferry. As I've already pointed out, this was no hardship at all for me! Once we were settled, food was the second priority, so we began wandering in search of a café. Amsterdam's not short on cafés, so we found one quickly, had a leisurely brunch, and continued our wandering. We saw Dam Square and its surrounding buildings, walked for a while along some canals, and then split up for a couple of hours (Emma and Andrea headed back to the boat to get some sweaters, and I visited the Poezenboot). The afternoon consisted of more cafés, the Van Gogh museum (incredible!), and sitting in the sun. Lack of sleep and too much coffee makes the rest of the day a bit blurry in my mind, but I know the others must have been feeling the same because we had an early night.

Saturday was a beautiful day, and Emma and Andrea went for a bike ride in the country while I slept late and wandered some more. I did take a canal cruise to see the sights, which is a really lovely thing to do in Amsterdam, and then walked all around the city before meeting up for dinner. Andrea's friend Kirk, who's doing an exchange semester in Amsterdam, was our tour guide for the Sexmuseum and the Red Light District, which (by the way) is pretty overrated. If you're shocked by prostitutes in windows, the Red Light District will shock you, but I was expecting the girls to actually be doing things in their windows, which is not the case. They just stand there, looking bored, and occasionally wiggle. The Sexmuseum, however, is downright hilarious, and if vintage porn makes you giggle, you'll have a good time there. We had planned to go to a club and dance that night, but sleep won out again, and we woke up well-rested on Sunday.

Sunday was our day for even more wandering and a trip back to the Museum Quarter to see the Rijksmuseum. Unfortunately, most of it is closed for renovation at the moment, and only a tiny part of the collection is on display (this is the part that includes most of the stuff the tourists want to see, though). Since we didn't know how much of the museum was closed before we entered, we left feeling a bit ripped off, and headed back downtown for some shopping before we had to leave. There's a fantastic candy store on the Damrak, so we spent quite a lot of time and quite a lot of money there... we had to have munchies for the bus ride, after all.

We got home Monday morning around 7:30, and slept until it was time to go to Thanksgiving dinner at ISH. All in all, an excellent weekend, although I am definitely looking forward to a quiet weekend at home now!

First of all, to all my Canadian and honourary-Canadian readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow. Amsterdam was fantastic. I had a really, really good weekend, despite learning that overnight long-distance bus rides are most decidedly not my preferred form of travel (I have had few life experiences more unpleasant). I'm in the middle of another massive photo upload, which includes all the Amsterdam pictures, plus another few in the Our Neighbourhood gallery. This means that Amsterdam details will be waiting for tomorrow, especially because I have to run to our group's Thanksgiving dinner in 15 minutes. I will give you a few impressions, though.

Amsterdam is a wonderful city to get yourself lost in. The downtown area is small and easily walkable, there's always a pretty canal to wander along (with hundreds of great, unique cafes), and the canal pattern is regular so you always pretty much know where you're going. If you ever go to Amsterdam, my advice is to take a cruise around the canals to orient yourself, and then go get lost. Find a cafe, have a Dutch coffee (my new addiction), admire the houses, and wish for a houseboat. I walked my feet off all weekend, and I didn't even see half of what I wanted to.

Dutch food is amazing. I had a broodje (like a Danish, sort of... it's a flaky pastry with cheese, meat, or cheese and meat and veg inside) every day for breakfast, multiple cups of koffie verkeerd (basically a latte), sandwiches stuffed with aged Gouda... okay, I need to stop because I'm making myself hungry. It seems like all I did all weekend was eat and walk, and I never went to the same cafe twice. I'd go back, just for the food.

Amsterdam is full of all the pets London lacks... every other person was walking a dog, and I saw lots of cats sunning themselves, greeting passersby on sidewalks, and of course, in the Poezenboot. Unfortunately, there is no law about doggie pickup, meaning you have to watch where you step.

Accomodation can be on a boat, if you'd like, which is where we stayed. I've always had living-on-a-boat fantasies, and staying on one made me want one even more. It's like going to sleep on a giant waterbed, but one that doesn't slosh and wake you up every time you roll over.

More tomorrow...

I'm off to Amsterdam in a couple of hours, so before I go, I wanted to issue the standard disclaimer about possibly not being able to blog, answer e-mail, etc. until Monday. That being said, the only new news is that as posted, I went to the opera last night, and I have to conclude that it's one of those experiences I'm glad I've had, as well as being one of those experiences that I'll never have to have again. I was more bored than I thought I'd be, but there were unexpectedly entertaining bits, and this afternoon's backstage tour was much more interesting. The Royal Opera House is a beautiful, well-equipped venue, and I'd be happy to go and see something else there, although preferably not in the nosebleed seats (opera glasses would have been more than welcome last night).

While in Amsterdam, I plan to visit de Poezenboot, the Netherlands' only floating cat sanctuary. It's now my mission to see cats in other countries, since I still haven't seen more than one here in England (although I saw one within ten minutes of leaving the Dublin airport).

Back to Ireland. Sunday morning, I woke up late, headed out in search of breakfast, and had an omelet as big as my head at a cafe around the corner. (I was especially hungry because I'd somehow forgotten to eat dinner Saturday night... don't ask me how that happened.) My plan for the day was basically to walk around Dublin and see the stuff I hadn't managed to see on Friday, including a visit to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. In pursuit of this goal, I walked down O'Connell Street, the main thoroughfare of Dublin north of the Liffey, and took pictures in between watching people. O'Connell's always busy, since it's north Dublin's main shopping street as well as where most of the tourists go to pick up their tourbuses, but on a Sunday it's not too bad. (I'll note here that if you're ever in Dublin on a Sunday, plan carefully or you'll end up at places you wanted to see that aren't open.) Dublin is a fairly compact city, and easily walkable, so I reached the Liffey quickly and walked west along the bank for a bit. I wanted to cross the Ha'Penny Bridge into Temple Bar, because I'd read about a fantastic bookstore that was right by the bridge, but you guessed it, it was closed. I settled for taking some pictures and having a hot chocolate at Haagen-Dasz in Temple Bar. For future reference, Haagen-Dasz makes their hot chocolate with melted chocolate ice cream. It is good.

Lots of the shops in Temple Bar were closed because it was Sunday, but I had a pleasant while browsing before I walked over to Trinity. The Book of Kells and other illuminated manuscripts are really cool, if you're into that sort of thing (which I am), and I treated myself to a nice warm Trinity sweatshirt, which I've actually got on right now. From Trinity, it's an easy walk down Grafton Street, which is a pedestrian shopping street where all the posh shops are, as well as buskers and flower markets. I poked my head into Brown Thomas' beauty hall, and wandered in and out of other shops on the way. Grafton Street ends at St. Stephen's Green, which is a lovely Georgian square with a park in the middle, a bit like Central Park in New York. I went through the park, taking pictures and hanging out on a bench to watch the people and ducks for a while, which is a most enjoyable way of spending the afternoon.

St. Stephen's Green is right at the heart of Georgian Dublin, so for the rest of the afternoon I wandered the surrounding streets photographing the famous Georgian doors (you can see some good examples on my photo page). Nearby Merrion Square is one of the best-preserved examples of Georgian architecture, so I had a lot of fun there, especially since Merrion Square is home to artists every Sunday. I saw a lot of works of art that made me really wish I had money, and I collected quite a few business cards from artists for future reference. By this time, it was about 6 PM, so I hopped on the bus to go home for dinner. I intended to have a traditional Irish pub dinner, but again, everything's closed on a Sunday, so I ended up with a really good burger and fries from the local chipper (so I got my traditional Irish dinner anyway, in a sense). If it hadn't been Sunday, and if I hadn't had to leave at 4 AM the next morning, I'd have gone back out for a pint, but unfortunately it had to be an early night.

My trip to Ireland was fantastic, and far too short. I'd have loved to spend at least a couple of days in Belfast, as well as some more non-Sunday time in Dublin, and it would have been wonderful to see some of Ireland apart from the big cities and train stations. At least now I know what to do when I go back.

Blogging may be sporadic for the next week or so, since I'm coming down to the crunch time on the law school applications (which are going well, by the way), and I'm leaving for Amsterdam with the girls tomorrow night. I'll try to find an internet cafe in Amsterdam, but if the rates are as extortionate as they were in Dublin, don't count on it. On the other hand, you can look forward to another massive photo update on Monday or Tuesday!

We're off to the opera (Cosi fan tutte) tonight. I've never been to the opera before, so it should be an interesting experience, at least!

Lots to say and very little time (the internet cafe closes in 35 minutes), so let's see how well I can do.

First of all, a quick note to say that I ducked into the V&A just before closing time today, and it's already been added to my list of museums to see again. Unfortunately, a couple of the exhibits I'd really be interested in (costume and jewelry) are currently closed for renovation. At least I can head back and see the Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts stuff, none of which I got to see today. After the V&A, I headed up the Brompton Road for my first visit to Harrods. Now, I want to make clear that I've never really been afraid of death, but if I ever had been, I wouldn't be after today, because now I know what heaven looks like. Heaven is the Harrods food hall, especially the chocolaterie and patisserie. I wandered in such a daze that I didn't even buy anything, but now you all know where your Christmas presents are coming from, at least.

On to Ireland! I arrived in Dublin around noonish on Friday, checked in at the youth hostel (very nice, by the way, and I highly recommend it if you're looking for cheap accommodations in Dublin), and took the bus to the Guinness brewery. The brewery's old storehouse was recently converted into what I can best describe as a museum of Guinness, as opposed to a tour of the actual brewery workings. You don't see beer actually being made, as you do on other brewery tours (Coors, for example), but there's a lot more history of the brewery and associated industries than you usually get. The tour itself is a little disappointing, since it's a self-guided tour and I found the layout and maps to be confusing, but the exhibit of antique Guinness advertising is excellent, and of course, you get a free pint in the seventh-floor Gravity Bar, with 360-degree views of Dublin. If you've checked out the photo page yet, you can see some of the city views I photographed from the bar, as well as my free pint (which was excellent). The Guinness shop is also second to none, and I came away with a buttload of souvenirs for myself and others. After that, I headed back to the center of town.

I hopped on a tour bus and did the circuit of Dublin, although I didn't take advantage of the hop-on-hop-off part since all the attractions were closed at that point. Still, it was a great introduction to the major sights of the city, and really helped me get my bearings for walking around the city later. I do regret not being able to visit Dublin Castle and other attractions, but still, seeing them was nice. Our driver provided excellent (and humourous) commentary, and even sang us a couple of traditional Dublin songs, including "Molly Malone."

I intended to have dinner at the hostel and head out to visit the pubs of Temple Bar, but a brief flirtation with food poisoning or the like decided me to call it an early night. I woke up on Saturday unsure about whether or not to head to Belfast as I'd planned, but I felt better and took a bus to the train station. I want to interject here that, in my admittedly brief experience, the absolute best way to see a city is to take public transportation. The tourist buses are nice and show you the major sights, but they won't take you through the typical residential areas, and they won't get you directions from a little old Irish lady in a plastic rainbonnet. Armed with said directions, I made it to the train station and left for Belfast.

The train journey was really nice because I got to see the Irish countryside in a way that you really can't from a car... highways are not exactly noted for being scenic, and what I saw from the train was Ireland cliche. Sheep, green fields, ruined towers, drystone walls, and everything, and it was great. I love trains anyway, so getting to Belfast was almost as much fun as actually seeing the city.

I want to note also that Belfast, despite its reputation, is a very nice city that I think all visitors to Ireland should see. It actually reminded me very much of Cleveland, being a former industrial powerhouse harbour that's busy redeveloping itself (and de-polluting its river). Also, the police stations are heavily fortified, but there are fewer of them than you might think, and the entire time I was there I saw one police officer. It is not, contrary to popular belief, a war zone with soldiers on every corner.

Upon leaving the train station, I got a taxi tour from a very nice young man who was born and bred in Belfast, and loves to show off his city to visitors. He took me around all the major sights of the city centre, including the Albert Clock, which is a four-faced clock that leans (it's known as Belfast's Leaning Tower of Pisa). It's fixed now, but all four faces once showed a different time, giving city workers a convenient excuse for lateness. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a good shot of it.

After the city centre, John the taxi driver took me out to West Belfast to see the political murals, which you can see on my photo page. Interestingly, I noticed that the murals on the Protestant side tend to be more militant in origin and painted on residential buildings, whereas the murals on the Catholic side are more patriotic (and lots of them support other marginalized populations, notably the Basques and Catalonians), and most of them are on businesses and retaining walls. Really, apart from the giant concrete and corrugated iron wall and gates, you'd never know this district was the site of some violent clashes. I especially appreciated John's determination to show me both sides, which lots of taxi tours don't apparently do.

Once the taxi tour was over, I wandered around the main city shopping area, which was surprisingly posh (I actually missed the first train back to Dublin because I was so mesmerized by the biggest Boots I've ever seen). Lots of fun, and I would absolutely love to go back.

The internet cafe is about to close, so my Dublin Sunday story is going to have to wait until tomorrow...

Ireland was absolutely fantastic. I had a really wonderful time, and the youth hostel did have internet access, but it was one euro for fifteen minutes. So naturally, instead of allowing my wallet to be raped, I opted to wait till I was back in London to blog. I'm currently doing a massive photo upload (and a bit of a reorganization, hopefully making it easier for you all to view my photos), so if you don't see Ireland photos and new stuff when you check, hit refresh and hopefully it'll be there.

Unfortunately, because this upload is taking so much time, the major details about Ireland will have to wait for tomorrow. In a nutshell, I went to Dublin and Belfast this weekend, and loved both. I'm already planning on going back, especially to Belfast, which reminded me a lot of Cleveland, and I would have loved to spend more than a few hours there. I'd also like to see more of the island than just the cities, as nice as the cities were.

I'll have a nice long post for all of you tomorrow about Ireland. In the meantime, enjoy the photos!