Munich day 1

My trip to Munich and Vienna in May half term signaled the beginning of many things in my life, namely of a more independent jennifer. Due to various snafus and miscommunications, my trip became a solo one. I stepped onto my easyjet flight with shaking legs and unsteady spirit convinced i would have a horrible time.

But I'm a stubborn person and i went to prove to myself, and others, that i could exist solo.
And indeed i did.

My sense of wanderlust hit me as soon as i dropped into central munich with its markets, beer gardens, good weather and lovely outdoor spaces. Ipod in ears, i wandered from edge to edge of the city meeting people from all over the place. Travelling solo=brilliant (minus dinner time where everyone around you is on romantic dates).


the fountain right by my hostel, just on the edge of the pedestrian centre


side views of one of the cathedrals


Rathaus--the 'new' (gothic) town hall...there's supposedly a famous clock that chimes every fifteen minutes but i always managed to miss this display...apparently it's important


all the centre is colourful and pedestrian


cultivating my love for foreign street signs


the beer hall in the main market


bratwurst and half a litre of beer...a really, really, really bad idea





german beer=yum


surfers in englischer garten...the coolest park in the middle of the city with a beach, river, manmade surf...purely and wowly amazing




i love, love mexican restaurants in foreign countries...not sure why i get such a kick out of them, but i do

Oxford, Kent and other day trippiness

These photos are definitely not very exciting, but they sum up my 2009 Easter Holidays. We moved from south to north london in the middle of the break and thus i did not venture anywhere further than about an hour away from the local environs. Dawn and I day tripped to her old university stomping grounds at Oxford, then Jen and I journeyed to rainy Brighton for a few hours and finally i spent the Easter weekend with Jen's family where we drank red wine, ate more cheese and drove around looking for bunny rabbits. I kid you not.

These photos are far from touristy, and that's what I love about them. I often forget that i'm in a lovely and culturally different country with lots of charms. And it's great to see England through the eyes of my friends who've grown up there all their lives.

Oxford

i thought it only appropriate to take a picture outside OUP as i applied, without hope, for roughly thirty-seven jobs here


apparently this is the society to end all societies at Oxford


inside a fantastic dimly lit and nooky pub near the grand union canal...


in a lovely french restaurant...everything a cheese plate should be

Brighton



only in England

Kent

nearly as exciting as Rochester, Michigan


cool pondy, lake thing near Jen's house...no bunnies but lots of cool water fowl


face off between the farm animals...both funny and incredibly scary


i'm making some serious progress with this blogger thing. i could be grading papers so this clearly seems like the better option. more to come soon.

London Snow Days

Back to February 2009...London's public transport network ground to a halt for two days after an inch (ish?) of snow fell, and then wind drifted, in a matter of about ten hours. It was brilliant and the perfect panacea for a city in the midst of recession. A lot of londoners couldn't get to work, many others claimed to not be able to and instead built snowmen, sledded down the street, stayed in and drunk tea. For two days people smiled and smiled and smiled.

I got halfway to work, only to be turned around by stalled trains and no buses. Thus, I made my way back down south of the river and climbed into bed with my stuffed moose, a cup of coffee and a book.

Jen and I made the most of the snow later in the day and trudged, in wellies, to our favourite Italian in Tooting Bec. We sat with a bottle of wine and watched the snow lazily stumble across the sky. perfecto!


view from my front window


down our street


our mini back garden


our Foulser Road adopted snowman

Budapest

Once the centre of empire, Budapest made its lasting impression on me. We ventured there back in October 2008 (i'm only 14 months late) and stayed for five days over half term.

The people were hospitable and the city was a mixture of beatifully cosmopolitan, grand, quiet and antique. In the end we mostly wandered through markets old and new, soaked in geothermal goodness and drank v good (and cheap) Hungarian wine.

Szechenyi Baths (a big outdoor pool, followed by rooms and rooms and rooms of jacuzzis, saunas and pools all naturally heated to scaldingly perfect temperatures...we spent two afternoons there, along with the old, young and middle aged of Pest)

the palace in City Park

something goulashy and vegetarian...tasted like not much but looked pretty cool

tribute to the Jews shot and killed on the Danube near the end of WWII

part of the royal palace in Buda

Parliament from Buda

view of pest from buda

Chain Bridge--oldest bridge connecting Buda with Pest

on the bridge

near the museum quarter

view from the church in the cave on top of the hill in Buda

Dublin

Back to October 2008: My coworker, Sara and I took a quick hop of a weekend trip to Dublin...in a whirlwind less than 48 hours we made it across town on an open top bus tour, to the Guinness Factory, out for evening drinks and local music and then to Trinity College.
cool tour...culminating with a pull your own pint in the observatory at the highest point in dublin

Ha'penny bridge


temple bar!



the beautifulness that is trinity college

streets of temple bar area


and again


sorry it's not a more exciting post; the pictures don't do it too much justice but Dublin was a cool little city. edinburghesque, just more expensive and with friendly, friendly people.

and year three

somewhere around the 26th of September I celebrated my three year anniversary of being in england.

somewhere around the 18th of October I'll be celebrating two years in london.

and still i (sort of) blog.
the big summer project of posting last year's travels was met by some emotional barriers, and I got as far as Brighton. When I muster up the strength and energy I will be posting:

Budapest (October 2008)
Home (December 2008)
Edinburgh (February 2008)
Oxford (April 2009)
Munich and Vienna (May 2009)
Skye, Scotland (July 2009)
Bodrum, Turkey (August 2009)
Croatia and Venice (August 2009)

Not that many people still watch this space, or care, but I may do these out of order seeing as I've just gotten back from some brilliant summer travels and those places are fresh on my mind.

In the meantime, i'm onto project Love London.

Lake District, August 2008

only a year late!
my project for what remains of my summer holidays will be to post pictures from my travels during my first year of teaching in the UK. thanks to half terms and a decent paycheck i made it quite a few places.

at the moment though...these are from the Lake District in North England...camping in the rain with some friends from summer camp. there were a few things i couldnt' figure out: 1. why the english would decide to put a 'campsite' that really was a field in the valley between several mountains. 2. why the english camp in the first place.


Keswick or Kendal?


Keswick or Kendal


Windermere


Windermere



The valley campsite



World's smallest ice cream truck!



another one of the pretty lakes


semi foreboding weather