Roma RO MA MA!! That lady Gaga song has been in my head the whole time in Rome (because Rome in Italian is ROMA). The second day in Rome was insanely busy and a tad bit stressful! It was BEAUTIFUL outside, sun shining, hot and wonderful. We woke up super early to head to the Vatican in hopes of missing all the long lines. Well, apparently everyone else in Rome thought so as well. We waited for TWO HOURS in line to get into the Vatican. I'm not even religious!! Ah well, its something to say you have seen!
We finally got into the Vatican Museum and started walking around with about a bazillion other tourists. And in the Octagonal Room, I LOST MY FRIENDS. There were four of us and I couldn't find them. So I though, oh well, I'll meet them outside of the Sistine Chapel and kept walking. Got to the Sistine Chapel, saw the frescos and pretty celiing... but honestly, was a little dissapointed. You know this picture () well, its actually a very SMALL part of the celing. I mean, it was impressive that it took Michalangelo 4 years to paint it, but I was much more impressed with the Statue of David in Florence. Plus, having waited for like three hours by that point to see the Sistine Chapel (because really, that was what I was there for) was kinda a rip.
Remember how I said I lost Sally, Kim and Lisa? Well, I never found them. I waited outside the museum for about an hour and then after having a littl freak out (and calling my parents and therefore freaking them out too -- sorry!), I headed back to the hostel in hopes of seeing them there. I left a note for them in our room and at reception, but because it was a beautiful day and my ONLY day in Rome, I decided to head to the Collesium by myself because I really wanted to see that.
And man, am I glad I did!!! That was probably my favourite thing I've seen in all of Italy (maybe even more than David). I went on a tour (paid an extra 4 euros and skipped the line) and learned all about the gladitatorial games, the Collesium and ancient Rome. Did you know, for example, that the women had to sit with the slaves at the topmost tier of the Collesium? What a gip. Also, at the inaugeration, they filled it up with water and staged a naval battle? Too cool. The tour was full of all kinds of things like that and I was so happy to FINALLY learn something about the things we were seeing.
Being by myself on the tour was pretty nice actually. I didnt have to wait for anyone or stop for bathroom breaks (which happens A LOT when you travel as a group of 6 girls). I mean, i don't know if I could travel by myself for long periods of time, but for alittle bit it was a nice break. I felt like a true traveller, not so much as a tourist. :) I headed back to the hostel around 5:30 and finally reunited with everyone. Had a quick nap and headed to dinner with all 8 of us (Monica and Chris too).
I had the best pasta EVER. Bucatini All'Amatricana which was Bucatini pasta in a bacon, tomatoe, onion and chili sauce (I took a photo of the menu so I'd remember, LOL). It was amazing. :) After dinner we went to the hostel bar, had a beer, and played Pictionary (which I ROCKED at).
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Roma Ro-ma-ma!
So we've arrived in Rome!! The Eternal City! Took a 6 hour train ride to get here from Venice. But ever since the summer, long train rides don't bother me! On the train, Kristin and Lisa randomly ran into some boys they met in Grenada at New Years so that was pretty exciting for them. I want to randomly run into someone I know in Europe!!
Anyways, we pulled into Rome around 4 pm and checked into our hostel. We had to split up into three and three so I am bunking with Sally and Kim. We met up with Monica and Chris who had already been here for a day and seen the Coliseum.
The group of 7 (haha) then went to dinner and found a cheap ristorante where I had a 5 Euro Lasagna. We then decided to go see some famous sites because we are trying to cram in all of Rome in one day tomorrow. So with my map in hand, I led the group around Rome. And I was a good navigator (so ha! dad). We went to the Trevi Fountain and threw a coin in to make a wish. Its absolutely beautiful. Oh and we also got Gelato again (this time: cherry and dark chocolate...mmm... plus a hilarious gelato man who served us our dessert). Next we walked to the Pantheon which was... can you guess? ...UNDER CONSTRUCTION. LIKE ALL OF EUROPE. We also saw a piazza which was very pretty. But it was dark and we were tired so we ended up just walking back to the hostel and here I am!!
As usual, Its now time for me to say goodnight. Tomorrow we're trying to go to Vatican City and then the coliseum on a walking tour. Early wake up call at 7am.... Then we're also having a night out and partying it up in rome. So you might get a drunken post from me. Ciao!
Anyways, we pulled into Rome around 4 pm and checked into our hostel. We had to split up into three and three so I am bunking with Sally and Kim. We met up with Monica and Chris who had already been here for a day and seen the Coliseum.
The group of 7 (haha) then went to dinner and found a cheap ristorante where I had a 5 Euro Lasagna. We then decided to go see some famous sites because we are trying to cram in all of Rome in one day tomorrow. So with my map in hand, I led the group around Rome. And I was a good navigator (so ha! dad). We went to the Trevi Fountain and threw a coin in to make a wish. Its absolutely beautiful. Oh and we also got Gelato again (this time: cherry and dark chocolate...mmm... plus a hilarious gelato man who served us our dessert). Next we walked to the Pantheon which was... can you guess? ...UNDER CONSTRUCTION. LIKE ALL OF EUROPE. We also saw a piazza which was very pretty. But it was dark and we were tired so we ended up just walking back to the hostel and here I am!!
As usual, Its now time for me to say goodnight. Tomorrow we're trying to go to Vatican City and then the coliseum on a walking tour. Early wake up call at 7am.... Then we're also having a night out and partying it up in rome. So you might get a drunken post from me. Ciao!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie....
Wow, I have done so much in the past three days it's hard to remember. I'm currently on a computer (circa 1993) in our hostel in Venice so I'll try to quickly hammer it out before someone else needs to use it!
Florence *Friday*
- slept in a little bit and had a 5 euro brekfast at the hostel. Had my first italian pastry and it was delicious (a doughnut with cream in the middle, mmm).
- The weather fluctuated from beautiful sun showers to cold rain. But the majority of the day was warm sun showers.
- Wandered around the city and looked at famous sites like the Duomo (didn't pay / wait in line to go up it and get a panaramic view of Florence though).
- Waited in line for an hour to see David..... and it was WORTH IT. The statue is immensive and impressive. The most impressive and beautiful statue I've ever seen. Michalangelo clearly was a master. :)
- Ate shitty pizza in a cafe. :(
- Walked some more and saw the square full of statues, including a replica of David.
- Watched a bunch of living statues even though they give me the creeps
- Stood in line for 45 minutes to get into the Uffizi, a large art gallery. Unfortuently, we were only there for 45 minutes before closing so we kinda just ran through it. BUutttt I did get to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus!!!!
- Great hostel dinner for 5 euros and ended up playing pool and cards in the dining room / bar area.
- Met three fun American boys and a Canadian couple and drank with them a little bit.
- Earned my Florence patch. ;)
SAN GIMINANGO *Saturday*
- I can never pronounce the name of that place.... but it was BEAUTIFUL. It was in Tuscany and full of old world charm. A little touristy now, but still THIS is what I thought Italy would look like. Narrow streets, tall sandy coloured buildings surrounded by vineyards and countryside. This town is about an hour away from Florence (and you have to take a train and then a bus to get there).
- Wandered around after checking into our adorably quaint hostel (basically like a B & B... without the second B)
- Ate a salad at a cute but expensive Ristorante.
- Ate worlds best (2006/07 Champions) Gelato... Cinamon, Dark Chocolate, and Raspberry flavours.... A-MAZING.
- Took lots of pretty pictures and fell asleep early. :)
VENICE *Sunday*
- Woke up at 6:30 am to catch the bus... that ended up coming an hour after it said it would. :( But slept on the train and arrived in Venice in the afternoon.
- This city is exactly how I pictured it. Gondalas, canals, tall buildings that are falling down / rustic looking. And very very expensive food / everything. lol.
- We went on a Gondala ride!!!!!!!! 15 Euros each for only half an hour but totally worth it. :) Our gondalier was adorable and sang to us while also spouting out various trivia about the buildings around us (which as you know I'm a big dork -- I loved). This was my favourite thing we've done in Italy so far even though it was very expensive.
- Walked around a lot and took forever to find the perfect Venician mask... but I did! It's blue and pretty and paper mache... Now I somehow have to get it back to London in one piece... The girls want me to wear it on the train tomorrow... and I might just do that.
- Had the best pizza :)
And that brings us up to date. There are people waiting in line so I gotta go. ROME TOMORROW!!! And I get reunited with monica (and chris!)!!! So excited to see them. It's felt like I've been travelling for a week but its been only 4 days... 12 more to go!! :)
I LOVE TRAVELING!!!!!!
Florence *Friday*
- slept in a little bit and had a 5 euro brekfast at the hostel. Had my first italian pastry and it was delicious (a doughnut with cream in the middle, mmm).
- The weather fluctuated from beautiful sun showers to cold rain. But the majority of the day was warm sun showers.
- Wandered around the city and looked at famous sites like the Duomo (didn't pay / wait in line to go up it and get a panaramic view of Florence though).
- Waited in line for an hour to see David..... and it was WORTH IT. The statue is immensive and impressive. The most impressive and beautiful statue I've ever seen. Michalangelo clearly was a master. :)
- Ate shitty pizza in a cafe. :(
- Walked some more and saw the square full of statues, including a replica of David.
- Watched a bunch of living statues even though they give me the creeps
- Stood in line for 45 minutes to get into the Uffizi, a large art gallery. Unfortuently, we were only there for 45 minutes before closing so we kinda just ran through it. BUutttt I did get to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus!!!!
- Great hostel dinner for 5 euros and ended up playing pool and cards in the dining room / bar area.
- Met three fun American boys and a Canadian couple and drank with them a little bit.
- Earned my Florence patch. ;)
SAN GIMINANGO *Saturday*
- I can never pronounce the name of that place.... but it was BEAUTIFUL. It was in Tuscany and full of old world charm. A little touristy now, but still THIS is what I thought Italy would look like. Narrow streets, tall sandy coloured buildings surrounded by vineyards and countryside. This town is about an hour away from Florence (and you have to take a train and then a bus to get there).
- Wandered around after checking into our adorably quaint hostel (basically like a B & B... without the second B)
- Ate a salad at a cute but expensive Ristorante.
- Ate worlds best (2006/07 Champions) Gelato... Cinamon, Dark Chocolate, and Raspberry flavours.... A-MAZING.
- Took lots of pretty pictures and fell asleep early. :)
VENICE *Sunday*
- Woke up at 6:30 am to catch the bus... that ended up coming an hour after it said it would. :( But slept on the train and arrived in Venice in the afternoon.
- This city is exactly how I pictured it. Gondalas, canals, tall buildings that are falling down / rustic looking. And very very expensive food / everything. lol.
- We went on a Gondala ride!!!!!!!! 15 Euros each for only half an hour but totally worth it. :) Our gondalier was adorable and sang to us while also spouting out various trivia about the buildings around us (which as you know I'm a big dork -- I loved). This was my favourite thing we've done in Italy so far even though it was very expensive.
- Walked around a lot and took forever to find the perfect Venician mask... but I did! It's blue and pretty and paper mache... Now I somehow have to get it back to London in one piece... The girls want me to wear it on the train tomorrow... and I might just do that.
- Had the best pizza :)
And that brings us up to date. There are people waiting in line so I gotta go. ROME TOMORROW!!! And I get reunited with monica (and chris!)!!! So excited to see them. It's felt like I've been travelling for a week but its been only 4 days... 12 more to go!! :)
I LOVE TRAVELING!!!!!!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Viva Italia!
I am now typing to you from our hostel in Florence, Italy! Day 1 of Italy - Eastern Europe trip complete!
We spent last night in the Days Hotel near Stansted airport because our plane left at 630 am today. WE includes myself, Lisa and Kristin (two girls I knew from McMaster) and their two friends, Kim and Sally. I took an airport shuttle bus from London to Stansted and even though it should have only taken me an hour to get there, it took TWO due to an accident on the M25. Bloody hell. Anyways, I met Kim and Sally and we hung out in the hotel room until LIsa and Kristin came a few hours later. In order to save afew bucks, we said there were 4 ppl insted of 5 in our room, so three of us ended up having to sleep sideways in a double bed! Needlesstosay, it was not a good nights sleep.
We woke up at4am and I had my first Ryan Air experince. Ryan AIr is a budget airline with very shitty customer service, but cheap prices. Our flight was about two hours and i dozed the whole time. We arrived in Pisa and had our first bus adventure. We tried to take public transit to the leaning tower, but ended up super far away and had to walk (lugging our backpacks) for like 20 minutes til we found our way to the tower. Tonnnnnnns of pictures were taken (trying to hold it up, leaning against it, trick photography, etc) and then we stopped for lunch at a pizzaria in view of the tower. I had an olive pizza that was delicious, except for the fact that there were very few olives. pizza in Pisa is very thin and very yummy.
We made our way to the train station and caught a train to Florence (Florinza). Our hostel, Plus Florence Hostel, was reccomended by Ve and seems more like a HOTEL!!! We are in an 8 bed mixed dorm that had three sleeping boys in it when we arrived at 3 pm. Havent talked or met them yet... Gorgeous beds, great lockers, and guess what.... A POOL AND SAUNA! Not to mention a rooftop terrace! Unfortuently, its a bit rainy so that terrace wasnt very busy.
After we settled in and explored the hotel, we decided to find some gelato. MMMMM. I had dark chocolate and mixed fruits. Super yummy. We saw the Duomo, but will look at it more tomorrow. We then went through a market. Italy, maybe Florence especially, is known for its leather so I bought two little braclets and..... A LEATHER JACKET! Real leather! I saw one I loved, but it was 180 euros and i couldnt afford it. After talking to the merchant, he found me one that was in my budget and I bought it for 60 euros!! I get so excited when I remember that I bought it. Lisa also purchased a stylish purple leather jacket. The merchant was awesome and kissed us on our cheeks when we left.
After shopping, we went to dinner (off the beaten path... I told them we had to walk for 5 minutes away from the market and do two zig zags before we settled on a restaurant so we weould get something more authentic). I had yummy but filling 4 cheese Gnocchi and white wine. We then came back to the hostel and chilled a bit before heading to the FREEZING cold pool (indoors). Luckily, they had a sauana too. I met some Americans and a Spaniard when the other girls left to go back to the room. The ppl I met arent gonna be FB friends, but we did havea great convo!
Now my minutes are almost up and its super expensive to use the internet at this hostel. Spending the rest of the day tomorrow in Florence and Ill post as soon as I can! Ciao!
We spent last night in the Days Hotel near Stansted airport because our plane left at 630 am today. WE includes myself, Lisa and Kristin (two girls I knew from McMaster) and their two friends, Kim and Sally. I took an airport shuttle bus from London to Stansted and even though it should have only taken me an hour to get there, it took TWO due to an accident on the M25. Bloody hell. Anyways, I met Kim and Sally and we hung out in the hotel room until LIsa and Kristin came a few hours later. In order to save afew bucks, we said there were 4 ppl insted of 5 in our room, so three of us ended up having to sleep sideways in a double bed! Needlesstosay, it was not a good nights sleep.
We woke up at4am and I had my first Ryan Air experince. Ryan AIr is a budget airline with very shitty customer service, but cheap prices. Our flight was about two hours and i dozed the whole time. We arrived in Pisa and had our first bus adventure. We tried to take public transit to the leaning tower, but ended up super far away and had to walk (lugging our backpacks) for like 20 minutes til we found our way to the tower. Tonnnnnnns of pictures were taken (trying to hold it up, leaning against it, trick photography, etc) and then we stopped for lunch at a pizzaria in view of the tower. I had an olive pizza that was delicious, except for the fact that there were very few olives. pizza in Pisa is very thin and very yummy.
We made our way to the train station and caught a train to Florence (Florinza). Our hostel, Plus Florence Hostel, was reccomended by Ve and seems more like a HOTEL!!! We are in an 8 bed mixed dorm that had three sleeping boys in it when we arrived at 3 pm. Havent talked or met them yet... Gorgeous beds, great lockers, and guess what.... A POOL AND SAUNA! Not to mention a rooftop terrace! Unfortuently, its a bit rainy so that terrace wasnt very busy.
After we settled in and explored the hotel, we decided to find some gelato. MMMMM. I had dark chocolate and mixed fruits. Super yummy. We saw the Duomo, but will look at it more tomorrow. We then went through a market. Italy, maybe Florence especially, is known for its leather so I bought two little braclets and..... A LEATHER JACKET! Real leather! I saw one I loved, but it was 180 euros and i couldnt afford it. After talking to the merchant, he found me one that was in my budget and I bought it for 60 euros!! I get so excited when I remember that I bought it. Lisa also purchased a stylish purple leather jacket. The merchant was awesome and kissed us on our cheeks when we left.
After shopping, we went to dinner (off the beaten path... I told them we had to walk for 5 minutes away from the market and do two zig zags before we settled on a restaurant so we weould get something more authentic). I had yummy but filling 4 cheese Gnocchi and white wine. We then came back to the hostel and chilled a bit before heading to the FREEZING cold pool (indoors). Luckily, they had a sauana too. I met some Americans and a Spaniard when the other girls left to go back to the room. The ppl I met arent gonna be FB friends, but we did havea great convo!
Now my minutes are almost up and its super expensive to use the internet at this hostel. Spending the rest of the day tomorrow in Florence and Ill post as soon as I can! Ciao!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Two weeks of boredom and then....
Both Jaclyn and my Dad scolded me for not updating my blog enough.
Well, the truth is... nothing exciting has happened really! I have had a cold for the past two weeks (slightly getting over it now --- which I am solely contributing to the fact that I fixed my good luck whale necklace that had been broken since the night before I got pneumonia) and a lot of my classes that I've been teaching have been hellish yr 5s. Two sundays ago, Monica Bao and i went to the Imperial War Museum (toured the WWI, WWII, and Holocaust exhibits) and I really found that interesting and enjoyable. That was my kind of history! And then on Monday night, I went to a pub quiz night at one of our locals (The Fox and Firkin) with Monica, Chris (he got here on Sunday), Bao, Steve Topp and his gf Karen. Btw, I would like to shout a internet CONGRATULATIONS to Steve and Karen who are expecting their first child! Crazy! The pub quiz was fun but very UK-centric and therefore we came in dead last (our name was "and in last place..." because we figured as much). I hope to continue going back there though, I really enjoyed it! The trivia / Jeopardy dork in me loved it!!
But now.... the next 16 days.... they will not be boring. There WILL be posts (hopefully every other day at least!) because..... I AM FINALLY GETTING SOME TRAVELING DONE! I'm going to Italy and Eastern Europe! In like 10 minutes, I'm heading over to the hotel airport (we grabbed a room for the night because our plane ride is freaking at 6 am). I'm going with six other girls, two of whom (lisa and kristin) I know from Mac. Monica and Chris are meeting up with us in Rome on Tuesday. Our plan of attack for Italy is:
Pisa -> Florence -> San Gimignano -> Venice -> Murano/Burano Islands -> Rome -> Vatican city -> Naples -> The Amalfi Coast!
Then on the 10th, Lisa and I are saying bye to everyone else, hopping on a plane and heading to Eastern Europe!
Budapest, Hungry -> Vienna, Austria -> Bratislava, Slovakia -> LONDON!
Should be a whirlwind 16 days! See you in Italy!
Well, the truth is... nothing exciting has happened really! I have had a cold for the past two weeks (slightly getting over it now --- which I am solely contributing to the fact that I fixed my good luck whale necklace that had been broken since the night before I got pneumonia) and a lot of my classes that I've been teaching have been hellish yr 5s. Two sundays ago, Monica Bao and i went to the Imperial War Museum (toured the WWI, WWII, and Holocaust exhibits) and I really found that interesting and enjoyable. That was my kind of history! And then on Monday night, I went to a pub quiz night at one of our locals (The Fox and Firkin) with Monica, Chris (he got here on Sunday), Bao, Steve Topp and his gf Karen. Btw, I would like to shout a internet CONGRATULATIONS to Steve and Karen who are expecting their first child! Crazy! The pub quiz was fun but very UK-centric and therefore we came in dead last (our name was "and in last place..." because we figured as much). I hope to continue going back there though, I really enjoyed it! The trivia / Jeopardy dork in me loved it!!
But now.... the next 16 days.... they will not be boring. There WILL be posts (hopefully every other day at least!) because..... I AM FINALLY GETTING SOME TRAVELING DONE! I'm going to Italy and Eastern Europe! In like 10 minutes, I'm heading over to the hotel airport (we grabbed a room for the night because our plane ride is freaking at 6 am). I'm going with six other girls, two of whom (lisa and kristin) I know from Mac. Monica and Chris are meeting up with us in Rome on Tuesday. Our plan of attack for Italy is:
Pisa -> Florence -> San Gimignano -> Venice -> Murano/Burano Islands -> Rome -> Vatican city -> Naples -> The Amalfi Coast!
Then on the 10th, Lisa and I are saying bye to everyone else, hopping on a plane and heading to Eastern Europe!
Budapest, Hungry -> Vienna, Austria -> Bratislava, Slovakia -> LONDON!
Should be a whirlwind 16 days! See you in Italy!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Cat-pocalypse!
I just woke up to the Cat-pocalypse.
I was sleeping soundly when all of a sudden I woke up to cats fighting very loudly. I was confused and then more than a little freaked out. The noises dulled a bit so I opened my door and went to the stairs. I turned on the light and saw fur everywhere. Now I'm sufficiently freaked out, no one else is moving around in this house and I begin to feel like I'm in some sort of bizarre nightmare. So I take my cell and text everyone in my house to see if they heard it too. Monica replied back, but understandably refused to open the door because it had happened right outside her bedroom. She eventually comes out and we marvel how in the heck Jonnie and Allen didn't wake up or get my texts too. I also tell her we need to check to see if Fred is hurt in the dining room / kitchen.
Armed with a flashlight (woo, what a great weapon... Monica and I decided we're going to each take one of Jonnie's golf clubs and keep it beside our beds in the future), we creep along the side of the hall to the dining room and I reach in and flick on the light. Nothing. So we move towards the kitchen (where the cat door is) and flick on the light. Nothing. No more fur here or in the dining room either. Monica is the worst horror movie investigator ever, she was like two feet behind me the whole time. lol.
By this time, Allen comes downstairs. He got my text but did not hear the cat's fighting. We wait around in the kitchen for about 10 minutes to see if Fred returns. He doesn't. We then start to joke about how the ghetto life of Lewisham is now getting to the cats as Fred has to protect his crib from the other cracker cats. We all retire to our rooms, but I am still WIDE awake (its now 4:30 am). I'm really worried about Fred. I hope he comes home soon and is not too hurt. :(
UPDATE: Fred got home at 5:30 and seemed alright, except when I woke up today there were splotches of blood on my covers from him and he's limping. Poor guy. At least I have a reason to buy my "own" new duvet covers....
I was sleeping soundly when all of a sudden I woke up to cats fighting very loudly. I was confused and then more than a little freaked out. The noises dulled a bit so I opened my door and went to the stairs. I turned on the light and saw fur everywhere. Now I'm sufficiently freaked out, no one else is moving around in this house and I begin to feel like I'm in some sort of bizarre nightmare. So I take my cell and text everyone in my house to see if they heard it too. Monica replied back, but understandably refused to open the door because it had happened right outside her bedroom. She eventually comes out and we marvel how in the heck Jonnie and Allen didn't wake up or get my texts too. I also tell her we need to check to see if Fred is hurt in the dining room / kitchen.
Armed with a flashlight (woo, what a great weapon... Monica and I decided we're going to each take one of Jonnie's golf clubs and keep it beside our beds in the future), we creep along the side of the hall to the dining room and I reach in and flick on the light. Nothing. So we move towards the kitchen (where the cat door is) and flick on the light. Nothing. No more fur here or in the dining room either. Monica is the worst horror movie investigator ever, she was like two feet behind me the whole time. lol.
By this time, Allen comes downstairs. He got my text but did not hear the cat's fighting. We wait around in the kitchen for about 10 minutes to see if Fred returns. He doesn't. We then start to joke about how the ghetto life of Lewisham is now getting to the cats as Fred has to protect his crib from the other cracker cats. We all retire to our rooms, but I am still WIDE awake (its now 4:30 am). I'm really worried about Fred. I hope he comes home soon and is not too hurt. :(
UPDATE: Fred got home at 5:30 and seemed alright, except when I woke up today there were splotches of blood on my covers from him and he's limping. Poor guy. At least I have a reason to buy my "own" new duvet covers....
I love going to the pictures....
'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimbel in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe.
And so begins the Jaberwocky... a poem from Lewis Carrol's Alice Through the Looking Glass and one that we studied back in Grade 11 quite extensively as I recall. I went and saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland tonight and now I cannot get that poem out of my head!
Cinemas in London are much different than the multi-plex cinemas back home. For one thing, when you buy your tickets (your very EXPENSIVE tickets... £12.40 this time, and £14.50 when we saw Valentines Day) you choose where you'll be sitting! They have reserved seating so you don't have to rush in to get a seat. Some theatres have priority seating which you can pay an extra two pounds for and it'll give you "better" seats. Also, the theatres all have bars in them where you can order drinks to either be brought to your seat or you can bring in with you before the film starts. Similar snacks (popcorn, sweets, pop, etc), although they asked us if we wanted "salt or sweet" popcorn instead of "butter or salted?".
We've been to two different theatres. We saw Valentines Day at one of the Odeons in Leicester Square. This is where they hold all the movie premieres in London so this theatre was F-A-N-C-Y. It had a curtain and two tier seating. Unlike the cinemas back home, this theatre was only showing two films. Not every film is shown in every cinema and they don't all have similar times (like back home you can see a film at like 7, 9 or 11). The latest films are here start at 9. I think that's because the tube closes at 12:30. They show ads just like back home, but don't do that pre-ads slideshow. Anyways, I really liked this theatre, even though it was a bit more expensive than the other one.
Tonight however, we went to the "other one". We went to the Greenwich Picture House, which tends to show a mix of popular and art house films. For example, they were showing Alice in Wonderland, but also the Girl with the Red Dragon Tattoo and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (an AMAZING silent film I studied in one of my film classes at Mac). This theatre is also the closest to us as it's only a 15 minute bus ride away. The screen was not as impressive (much smaller than the Leicester Sq one) but still adequate. Anyways, I think this is enough talk about cinemas. I keep forgetting that most people aren't big film geeks like me.
I went and saw the film with Allen and Monica and we had a great time. It was a wonderful end to probably the MOST stressful week of teaching I've had here. Remind me never to take a supply shift that's longer than one day. Because if its only one day and it goes bad, you can relish in the fact that you don't have to go back there tomorrow. But if its a three day cover no matter how bad the first day was, you still have to go back there for two more days. YEESH.
Did gyre and gimbel in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe.
And so begins the Jaberwocky... a poem from Lewis Carrol's Alice Through the Looking Glass and one that we studied back in Grade 11 quite extensively as I recall. I went and saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland tonight and now I cannot get that poem out of my head!
Cinemas in London are much different than the multi-plex cinemas back home. For one thing, when you buy your tickets (your very EXPENSIVE tickets... £12.40 this time, and £14.50 when we saw Valentines Day) you choose where you'll be sitting! They have reserved seating so you don't have to rush in to get a seat. Some theatres have priority seating which you can pay an extra two pounds for and it'll give you "better" seats. Also, the theatres all have bars in them where you can order drinks to either be brought to your seat or you can bring in with you before the film starts. Similar snacks (popcorn, sweets, pop, etc), although they asked us if we wanted "salt or sweet" popcorn instead of "butter or salted?".
We've been to two different theatres. We saw Valentines Day at one of the Odeons in Leicester Square. This is where they hold all the movie premieres in London so this theatre was F-A-N-C-Y. It had a curtain and two tier seating. Unlike the cinemas back home, this theatre was only showing two films. Not every film is shown in every cinema and they don't all have similar times (like back home you can see a film at like 7, 9 or 11). The latest films are here start at 9. I think that's because the tube closes at 12:30. They show ads just like back home, but don't do that pre-ads slideshow. Anyways, I really liked this theatre, even though it was a bit more expensive than the other one.
Tonight however, we went to the "other one". We went to the Greenwich Picture House, which tends to show a mix of popular and art house films. For example, they were showing Alice in Wonderland, but also the Girl with the Red Dragon Tattoo and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (an AMAZING silent film I studied in one of my film classes at Mac). This theatre is also the closest to us as it's only a 15 minute bus ride away. The screen was not as impressive (much smaller than the Leicester Sq one) but still adequate. Anyways, I think this is enough talk about cinemas. I keep forgetting that most people aren't big film geeks like me.
I went and saw the film with Allen and Monica and we had a great time. It was a wonderful end to probably the MOST stressful week of teaching I've had here. Remind me never to take a supply shift that's longer than one day. Because if its only one day and it goes bad, you can relish in the fact that you don't have to go back there tomorrow. But if its a three day cover no matter how bad the first day was, you still have to go back there for two more days. YEESH.
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