Adieu Poland (for now)

I'm sat at my gate at Krakow airport. I should be writing an essay for university (amongst other things) but I don't feel quite ready to go back to the mundane... not right yet. Instead, I'll write this short post as I'm too tired to write coherently. It's also without photos. I didn't take many as my camera hates me and I can't transfer the ones that I did take until I get home.

So, the summer is basically over and it has been truly magical.

When I first started my first programme with Angloville, I was concerned that I might not be able to help the people I met with their English. I mean, who am I to do that? And now...? Well, I have seen over 100 children blossom in terms of their English and their confidence over this summer. I'm not saying that was my doing - far from it - but I am saying that I feel honoured to have been a part of it.

And I have met so many amazing people from coordinator, volunteer and participant alike. I'm still in awe. Thank you. I can't name everyone who's been extra awesome, there are too many of you!

So, instead I shall write a little about Krakow. Firstly, I really like the city. Warsaw was a bit claustrophobic for me with all the tall buildings but Krakow was lovely. There was also a lot to see and do there... I only scratched the surface. I was actually there with my mother a couple of days and we spent so much time just sat in cafés, people watching. It's that kind of city. Today I did my art history nerding (kindly accompanied by Brian from my Budapest and Krakow camp) and saw Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with Ermine and also Veit Stoss' St. Mary's Altar. I have a particular passion for gothic altarpieces and oh my goodness wow. Also, part is being restored so I'll have to come back to see it 😉

After that, it was off to the airport with Ginny (an awesome girl from Krakow camp who is a super trooper!) and, after a fair bit of waiting, here I am! I'm so ready to arrive...I think I will fall asleep on the plane...

I saw, you saw, we saw Warsaw

Yes, the title of this blog post is the name of a nail polish. No, I'm not wearing it right now but I did buy it last week in Budapest... logic, aye? It was written on Monday the 18th but I only just got it to post because of hotel WiFi issues so it's a bit out of date. Apparently, airports have better WiFi 😉

So, as you may have guessed, I'm now on the Warsaw leg of my adventure. Warsaw is a city that I had never really planned on visiting and I actually knew very little about it, beyond reputation, and only booked the minimum time there. Admittedly, my time there was influenced by other factors such as my wanting to spend proper time in Budapest and needing to get back to the Netherlands for Castlefest. Anyway, I didn't really know what to expect of the city.

The flight from Budapest to Warsaw was quite easy once we finally got through check-in. We were there as check-in opened and only just made it to the counter as it closed so that tells you something about the chaos. Seriously, departures at Budapest is my least favourite of all the airports I've encountered thus far.

View from the hotel window... not bad at night!

Coming into Warsaw itself we passed quite a few parks and it all felt quite green. The airport is about 15 minutes from the city so that's super convenient. The city itself? Well, the area I was staying in has an industrial feeling. There are tall tall tower blocks which, after Amsterdam and central Budapest feel quite claustrophobic. It was really overcast too and, while the city can’t be blamed for the weather, it made it all quite grey. I actually stayed on the 25th floor of the Marriott (which I would not  be able to afford elsewhere) and this afforded me quite a good view. That was something that I struggled with... everything is super cheap. I mean, from a selfish standpoint that's good but, from a realistic point it's super sad. I mean, economies are artificial constructs and yet they have such impact on people's lives.

On the Saturday I had a tour round a bit of the old town with my fellow volunteers. We had quite an eccentric tour guide so I feel I have a lot still to discover. The old town is really pretty and I could have easily spent more time there.

In the Old Town

Sunday I finally set off for the next Angloville programme and I'm there as I type. I have free time on the first day when I'm ready to go as opposed to later when I might need it but oh well 😉 This hotel has less to do than the last one but it's still nice. It's out in, basically, the middle of nowhere. Whereas last time I had sparrows for company, this time I have mosquitoes. The group is quite a bit bigger than the last programme and I'm still forgetting everyone's names but it seems like a  lovely group of people so I'm looking forward to the rest of the week!!

I brought back the lurgy from Venice and other stories

Featuring tales of holidays, kind people, museums, and deadlines.... why are there are always deadlines?

It's been almost a month since I posted here which is kinda weird considering how often I used to write but also to be expected considering the chaos that was last month. To give a very brief summary, and as you may be able to guess from the title, I managed to get ill quite literally the evening I got back from Venice and am only just about recovered. Did I mention that it's the last week of semester this week? Finals with flu. Yeah, that's been fun. So, as opposed to multiple detailed posts we're doing another of my favourite style smush posts but, this time, with pictures (yay!) and subheadings because I recon it's going to be a long 'un!

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So, we should probably start with Venice. It was an amazing trip. Truly.

Compulsory tourist shot.

I actually traded the week long Dutch summer for an overcast Italy so this was a major sacrifice, although it did warm up for the last couple of days, and still that city is quite magnificent. There are mazes of streets, so many bridges, beautiful churches. The other thing is - and it reminded me of Amsterdam in this sense - it's painfully busy in the touristy areas but you can go just a couple of streets along and be alone. It's a magical, magical place and you can kinda see why, if a film is set in Venice, it's either a romance or a horror.

The majority of my time was spent wondering these streets getting between different churches and the odd museum which is why I actually didn't take as many photos as one might have expected. Seriously, the museums I wasn't too impressed by,  generally, but the churches... we all know I'm a religious art nerd and I was so very much in my element. We, naturally, went into the St. Mark's Basilica and, when we went in, the doors to the basilica proper were closed so, instead of opening them, we, like sheep, followed each other up this uneven mountain of stairs. Anywho, this led up into the basilica's museum, something I hadn't really been too bothered with going round. After climbing those hellish stairs we were going round that museum whether we wanted to or not!! And, frankly, I would recommend it heartily, if only because you get to see the amazing mosaics up close. The song books were also a highlight for me. The other church that made a huge impression was Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. It's a bit more out of the way but it's worth making an effort to see. I wanted to go because the altarpiece is one of Titian's and, to be honest, I was unaware of just how much art is in this building. It's exquisite. There are also some rather impressive monuments that are quite striking, the most well known being a monument to the sculptor Canova.

Came out the church to be greeted by this - sat and watched for a while.
Couldn't have planned it but what a perfect moment.

Other than churches, it's got to be said, I ate quite a lot and also spent quite a lot of time sat outside restaurants having a drink and people watching. Both my mother and I really enjoy sitting down and watching the world go by. You learn so much that way.

I also ended up meeting up with quite a few people out there. Seriously, I had more of a social life in Venice than I do back home - what is this madness? It seems that half of my university had taken a trip to the city at the same time and also, against the odds, we bumped into each other on Murano one day. I was also lucky enough to meet up with the lovely Fietje for dinner which was delightful... although the food wasn't the best and the waiter was, quite seriously, the most miserable soul I've ever come across. I tried so hard to make him smile but I failed in my attempts!

And the other person I met up with was Jacopo who quite literally turned up in the city on the first evening I arrived even though he couldn't be sure I'd know he was there because I didn't have internet. Luckily, I did pick up his message and, unluckily for him, he had to socialise with an extremely tired from traveling me! He was also so kind and saw us off at the airport. Highlight of meeting up with him, other than the fact he's a lovely chap for sure, has to be that moment where he led us over a bridge that led to a block end accidentally and, in his annoyance/embarrassment/I don't know, threw sat himself down on said bridge. And this is where the stereotypes about those southern Europeans come from, you know! Yep, I know he'll read this and I am actively teasing him right now... should probably stop! But it's so much fun!! Anyway, you can read his version of events over on his blog here, scroll down for English.... he's probably been mean about me in the Italian part knowing I can't read that ;-)

With Jacopo on the first evening in the city, featuring tourists walking in sync

I am certainly going back to Venice in the not so distant future as there is so much I want to see there. I also want to go to a few of the other cities in the vicinity so it would be nice to book out a longer trip. Trying to talk Dania and Leonoor into going with me next year and, frankly, I don't think they need much convincing. If only it wasn't so expensive!

As a bit of an aside, I ended up having a paper on Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice due just after my return so I did bits on it while I was out in Venice. I was writing, mainly, about the significance of rings in the text. I left my own ring in my hotel room. You have no idea how much struggle it was to get that ring back but seriously, I had to laugh about it!

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So, as you may recall, upon my return, I was supposed to go to see the Bosch exhibition. Well, I got struck down with the flu and that was not going to happen so I missed out. I am seriously disappointed. However, there was some bright side in that the hotel I had booked for the night before due to having such an early slot at the museum cancelled the room without charging me despite my only being able to let them know on the day of arrival and them having a 'no free cancellation policy'. And, actually, kindness was the theme of this fluey time. Thijs went and got me food and juice because I had literally nothing. Fatiya dropped me round readings I'd missed and was a complete gem as we were supposed to be preparing to lead a class together and I was messing her around so much. Other people sent me through notes without my asking them. People sent me messages asking how I was. I felt so loved. And physically a wreck but, y'know, like a loved wreck. So thank you people for looking after me <3

I also had exams and papers due during that time and somehow managed to get them all in before the deadline. More surprisingly, those that have been graded actually have high marks - higher than usual despite the fact I was writing with a candyfloss brain. I genuinely would have expected to get lower grades considering I couldn't study or think straight. What is this backwardness? Anyway, I now only have three roundtables (one of which is a paper defense - eep!) and then this semester is done and onto German. The less said about that the better. I'm so nervous I cannot put it into words.

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However, the lightening of the work load has meant that I can socialise a bit more and that means my favourite thing: Museum exploration with Dania!

Sunday, we went to the Rijksmuseum to see their Catwalk exhibition which was closing that day. As the name may suggest, this was a fashion exhibition and we'd wanted to go for some time. I have to say, it was well worth getting up early for. There was a really nice range of pieces on display and, importantly, the curation was exceptional. My particular favourite was a room with a conveyor belt (think airport baggage collection just prettier) on which manikins wearing different costumes slowly rotated in a catwalk type fashion. There were chairs where you could sit and watch the 'show' and a book attached to each chair explaining the significance of each piece. There was a seriously snazzy pair of pyjamas made to look like an evening dress too... I might have got some ideas! The highlight of the exhibition was the widest mantua in the Netherlands (over two metres wide) and there was a cardboard cut out in the lobby so, you know.... Dania forced me ;-)

I seem to be missing a neck....

And then today we caught the Spanish Master's exhibition at The Hermitage. Again, we'd planned to see this one since before it opened and, again, we caught it just as it was closing (although it's there until Sunday so if you get a moment then it's worth popping to). I wasn't so interested in this one because I've never really go that into a lot of the Spanish artists. That said, I'm really pleased I went. I actually saw a few paintings, and a few styles, that really did catch my eye and my imagination. Perhaps I need to do a bit more research into the area's art history. The other thing that I really liked about this exhibition is the fact that it was set to music. As opposed to having information given over the audioguide you had a different song/tune play that was supposed to evoke the feelings of the pieces in that area. It made it a very special experience and I kinda want the CD (while I don't think there is a CD you can listen to the music here)

Post exhibition selfie, as always!

While I've had a great time at both museums, I don't think I'm going to go to any more for a while. I fell down stairs in the Rijksmuseum and broke the exit gate at the Hermitage. Am I clumsy, cursed, or is someone trying to tell me something? ;-)

Okay, okay, procrastination over. I will get back to working on my stuff for the next two days. On the bright side, I'm definitely going to Keltfest - there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Budapest: Saturday

Relaxing, Lurking, and Crying.

In a way, Saturday was the best day for me. No matter how nice it is to share somewhere you love with people it was nice to relax on Saturday and get off the complete tourist track, just relaxing a little bit with no real aim.

Saturday saw the group split into two halves once more with Leonoor, Dania and I hitting the city alone while the other three went to the Széchenyi Baths. First item on the to-do list was to have a drink in my usual cafe. Lemonade was as good as ever - seriously the best in Budapest in my not so humble opinion! Not so sure that the same people are managing the place now though which is a shame because they were always good fun. Could just be that they weren't there the day we went though, of course.

Lemonade for breakfast is now a thing that I fully endorse.

After that, we decided to venture into the unknown to get the CD of the Hungarian version of Miss Saigon. One promising looking CD shop was closed - I've got used to shops being open every day in Amsterdam - but we did have to leave the touristy parts in order to get there so that was actually really nice and successful in some senses. We also were blessed with some sun once again so we sat out on the bench in the street by the closed shop and relaxed for a bit. Really, that was the focus of most of Saturday... we loosely aimed for something (most of our plans were unsuccessful) and then used the time to just enjoy watching the world move around us.

This day also saw what was probably one of our poshest meals of the trip, and that is saying something! We went to this glorious restaurant for lunch and had really rather stunning salads and cakes which both looked and tasted sublime!

Hungarian Apple Pie 1 - Dutch Apple Pie 0

The afternoon was spent looking for a tacky touristy picture frame so that I could put a nice picture in it to remember the trip. Seriously, we saw so many awful picture frames in the preceding days but no matter how many tourist shops we went into we simply could not find one! Ah well, I guess the photo will just have to go in to an elegant frame which is simply not the same. At least I know which photo I am going to choose:

A lady saw us swapping round trying to take photos and she stopped with her
toddler, put down all her shopping and took serveral photos of the three of us.
Kind people are still around in the world.

The evening saw the group come together for our final meal of the trip which was accompanied by a fair amount of wine, champagne and cocktails from those who drink; they celebrated the end of the holiday while I mourned its end.

After that, a rather bouncy Leonoor and Dania, energised by the meal, and its accompanying beverages, joined me to meet up with Gitta once more. She and her boyfriend very kindly took us to one of the ruin pubs in Budapest which was a new experience for me (got to love new experiences). Didn't take any photos, sadly, so nothing to share but I can safely say that the place was like nothing I've ever seen. As the name may suggest, the pub was situated in the run down shell of one of the courtyard-houses but one that had been decorated with some of the most surreal things from a room full of television screens to some statue of a dragon-ish type thing that one could potentially sit on.

Sadly, with a stupidly early departure on the Sunday looming we didn't get to stay for very long and we wandered back the apartment. As I settled down for my very short night's rest I could hear Scottish folk songs drifting up from the bar below the window and it struck me that I was leaving one of the places I love dearly while listening to music from home... and going back to the Netherlands. That was a difficult moment for me - hello homesickness!

A Bit of Sunday

Oops.
At silly o'clock in the morning, the others all woke up and I got up out of bed. Because I'm a complete and utter pillock I had managed to get sunstroke again. Luckily, it was rather mild - more so than I've had previously - and I managed to catch the flight with the others. I rather imagine I worried them though and they must be commended for really looking out for me, especially Nora who had to put up with me both ill and crying. Poor girl.

I tell you what was interesting though, walking through the streets at 3 A.M.-4 A.M., something that I can't say I often do in my own countries and, clearly, have never done in Budapest. It was busy, busier than I would have expected, and with surprisingly sober people. Yes, there were a few people who'd clearly had a few too many but the majority were quite with it. Normal coffee shops were open, public transport was running. It was a little surreal!

Several hours later... okay, about nine hours later, we were back in Amsterdam, collapsing in our respective beds.

As for me, well, I will be back to Budapest pretty soon. Nora seems to have fallen for the place too and we discussed returning this summer but our respective flight home plans clash so we cannot do that. However, I have talked with my university and there is the potential of me studying in Hungary for a couple of months next year, perhaps. It will involve a lot of paperwork and discussions with the board of examiners but my tutor seemed pretty hopeful and willing to champion my cause. If that doesn't work out, I'll be back anyway... not leaving it this long ever again!

Not for facebook

More on Budapest:

Wednesday
Thursday
Theatre (to come)
Friday (to come)

Old news... and a horse.

Blogging about this now feels a little redundant, after all I've told basically everyone the news that will be in this post so why bother. Anyway, this is the version with pictures* so enjoy ;-)

Well, well, well...

What a week it's been!

Soon after my 'Amsterdam adventure' I was on my way to Glasgow to attend a couple of events at the university up there. For those of you who don't know, I hold a place to study in Glasgow this September and applied to AUC with the plan to withdraw from Glasgow in the unlikely event I was offered a place in Amsterdam.

When I was younger I used to spend my summers up by Loch Rannoch. I have relatives in Pitlochry so we used to stay next to Loch Rannoch, meet up with relatives and have a lovely time. Of course, going up to Glasgow I simply had to force my parents to retrace the childhood route even if Rannoch is nowhere near Glasgow (eh, at least we were in the right country!)

It was absolutely wonderful to be in the area again. Scotland is full of stunning landscapes and natural areas and this is certainly one of them. Seriously, if you're a friend of mine from Europe (or further) and you visit England for whatever reason (like to see me) nag me to nag my parents to take
us up to Scotland... it's well worth the visit.

However, it was what happened up there that was most surprising for me. In the middle of a no-pick up area my phone somehow managed to pick up a message from a gent I'd met at the interview telling me to check my emails. So I did. Eventually. There were two emails from the university in Amsterdam saying, in the subject field, that I had been offered a place. Thank goodness it said in the subject because I didn't manage to open them until much later as my mysterious internet connection failed me.

So from that moment, I could enjoy myself. I had an offer for Glasgow and Amsterdam and I could, basically, choose. The visit to Glasgow the next day pretty much sealed my choice. Looks like I'm moving to the Netherlands in August. Eek. What a terrifying exciting prospect!

*Yes, I took these pictures while in the area. No, they aren't supposed to relate to anything I'm writing hehe

What a day!

For once, a happy blog post! Everyone's entitled to some justified misery once in a while but it does feel good to be able to write about something at least vaguely good for once!

Well, today, as always, started out with my singing lesson. It didn't go particularly well or particularly badly. I have days when my confidence is more shaky than others and this was certainly a shaky day. That's no problem though because I remember what I was like a few short months ago. Certainly an improvement!

After that it was a trip to hospital with my mother. Okay, this wasn't a joyous event in its own right and we were both a little nervous as she was having tests regarding the Christmas hospitalisation. The nurse who took her blood, however, certainly made things worthwhile. First impression was that he was a little...odd...shall we say. Mother and the gent had a little conversation that was quite something! To give you an idea of the content:

Nurse: So what are you wanting from Santa Claus?

Mother: What?
Nurse: You were talking about Santa Claus earlier.
Mother: No I wasn't.
Nurse: Oh. Well do you believe in Santa Claus?
Mother: I believe in a lot of things.
Nurse: [quite seriously] Do you believe that the cow jumped over the moon?
Mother: ...I don't know.
Nurse: If a cow could do it then surely a man could do it?
Mother: I suppose so. Are you good at this [taking blood]?
Nurse: I'll tell you after I've done it.

And this, ladies and gentlemen is the state of the NHS today. Quite frankly, I think that the gent had maybe been experimenting with illicit substances because I don't think I've ever heard such an amazing conversation! Admittedly, when my mother was pregnant with me she booked into an appointment and was examined by a builder who was pretending to be a doctor so who knows what happened this time!

Anyway, the day really picked up when I eventually got home and opened my email inbox to find out that the university in Amsterdam have offered me an interview and activity day thing. I don't have a date yet (I have to contact them about whether I want to travel out there or want a skype interview) but I'm so chuffed. I didn't really expect to get an interview and, although I know that we're not out of the woods yet and I probably won't get offered a place, this feels like one step closer to something I desperately want! Actually, I think I'm still in shock!

To top it all off, tomorrow I'm off to London to see Within Temptation, one of my utter favourite bands from my childhood, performing a short acoustic set. There's going to be a signing too and I will, finally, get my hands on their new album. Oh did I mention that I'm going to be joined by the lovely Kim and her mother? My own mother is coming with me to London but not to the show, sadly. 

Anyway, today has been great and tomorrow should follow suit!

Putting things back in perspective

Yesterday was difficult for me. It saw me miss out on something that I was really looking forward to (well several things really) because I wasn't well. In my ill haze I couldn't help but feel angry with myself, after all it was as though my own body was letting me down...again. Yesterday it felt like, after everything that has happened recently, this was the final straw, the end of the world.

Today, after a sleep and without being in so much discomfort everything does seem a lot better. My head is still spinning and my lungs ache something chronic but other than that I feel all but better and I can look at yesterday a lot more objectively.

It wasn't the end of the world. Yes, I won't get to look around the university but if I get an interview I will have a chance to get a feel of it so it doesn't matter all that much.

KLM are going to let us reschedule the flights, albeit for a small admin fee. When I was taken ill at the airport I expected it to be 400 pounds gone. We will be able to use these flights to rebook if I get an interview or just to look around Amsterdam.

Annelies and I will get to meet up some other time. She's been lovely over this period too and, to be fair, that kind of human compassion is what makes this world so special. 

I got to go through areas of the airport normal people never get to see. I also went through immigration without actually having been abroad which was a bizarre little experience! These are all new experiences, and experiences a lot of people don't have.

And, last but not least, I ended up spending so much time in the airport that I got to listen to a load of announcements in Dutch and I understood them. Hello proof that my Dutch understanding is improving even if the reproduction isn't ;-)

Somehow, what happened yesterday doesn't seem so bad after all!

Incidentally, this is my 100th blog post

Well, I didn't get quite as far as intended

Okay, I'll be honest, today has been a horrible day. It's been one of the worst days in a long, long time. I was supposed to be going to Amsterdam to look around the university I applied to but I didn't manage to leave the country.

I didn't feel top form when I woke up this morning. By the time I was airside I felt pretty grim. In the end I had to leave without flying. I didn't manage to look at the university, which was vitally important, and I didn't manage to meet up with Annelies, which was something I was so looking forward to doing.

I will admit that I have spent most of the day either sleeping or crying. I feel better now than I did, although still not 100% by any stretch of the imagination but I am really sorrowing on what I have missed. Even more than that, I feel like my own body has once again let me down. I'm sure I'll feel better in the morning, and when I feel less ill, and my mind tells me that everything happens for a reason and things will work out in the end but I just feel incredibly low. I normally wouldn't blog if I felt a bit down because I'm not into letting people know but the fact is that most people know that I was supposed to be traveling today and a lot of (lovely) people have written to ask how it went.

KLM, who I was supposed to be flying with, have been really wonderful and have put a note on the booking so we'll be able to rearrange our flights. This means I'll be able to visit Amsterdam even if I miss out on seeing the university and I'll manage to see Annelies, I hope, too.

Eh, things will sort themselves out in time.

And life keeps on moving on

So it's apparently 2014 now. Who'd have thought it! Nothing's really changed which is no surprise after all true change is a steady process as opposed to a split moment. 

This morning, however, I did get something a bit new for the new year and that would be this beautiful little whistle to replace the one that my dad has nicked off of me (and not paid for, I may hasten to add!) It feels really strange to be playing high whistle again after two months of just low whistle. Just working out the right breath pressure and finger spacings again is a challenge. We're getting on quite well so far though.

New addition to the Havanah home orchestra.

Other than that it's continuing to attempt to improve my life! I'm working especially hard on the Dutch at the moment because, for some reason, the wind has got into my sails. I'm determined to have at least some conversational fluency by the end of my gap year and I'm immensely lucky in that I have a couple of friends who I know would be more than willing to help me with that should I throw myself at them!

Of course, the whole Amsterdam university application continues to hang over my head. I've heard absolutely nothing from them so far, which isn't the end of the world, but want to get myself ready for an interview. Although I am not confident that I will even get an interview I do want to be sure that if I do I have prepared myself the best I can so better to start early, right? I'll be going out for an open day in a couple of weeks too. Flying to Amsterdam and back in one day seems pretty daunting but I have to remind myself that it can't be as bad as the time I went to Glasgow and back to Devon by coach in one day (well in reality it ended up as 48 hours of being awake and traveling).

Whatever happens this year, I've got one thing arranged!

It's also about the time that I'm getting really ready to go off and travel. I am hoping to work my way from Budapest via Austria, Germany,  to Castlefest in the Netherlands. This had been my plan for a little while but I've been putting off arranging it because I'm not so sure that I want to do it alone. It's not that I mind being alone but I would rather have some kind of companion for this kind of trip. I'm going to start doing some arranging, however, and then see if anyone cares to join me.