A Banksy Inspired Weekend - Re-discovering My Inner Hipster

Hello all,
I have just gotten back to Edinburgh after an absolutely wonderful spring break.  So rather than pulling up my socks and going straight to the library to get a start on the plethora of papers I have due.. I will remain in Vacation Fantasy world a little longer, by sharing my trip with all you lovely folks.
First stop on my trip was Berlin, so logically, the first blog post will be about it.
Our flight left from rainy Edinburgh bright and early in the morning, honestly the flight was a bit of a blur, until we stumbled off the ryanair flight, into the bright sunshine of Berlin.  Blinking and confused, I stared up into the sky, what is that yellow sphere in the sky, they don't have one of those in Scotland!
We started the first day by getting orientated to the city.  Wandering around, deliriously happy in the sunshine

The TV tower was built on the East Side of Berlin to prove how technologically advanced it was.  Looking at it is like watching old sci-fi movies about the future.  So cheesy! I have to admit though, I frequently caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye and thought I had been magically been transported back to Toronto.

The recently built Holocaust memorial.  The ground inside is uneven, it is very disorienting to walk through.

Ilya and I deep inside the Holocaust memorial.

Beautiful circular facade to the building... Obviously meant for climbing in.  Actually harder than it looked, this photo is taken seconds before I slid back down to the bottom!

Me, Zoya, Rhianna, Kelly, Alex and Ilya in front of the Brandenburg Gate

Our walking tour guide told us that the statue on top of the Gate was taken back to Paris by Napoleon when he captured Berlin.  When the Germans got it back, they adjusted the statue so that the face stares straight at the French Embassy (also located in this square).  A little ironic considering...

Reichstag, the German Parliament buildings.  Unfortunately we couldn't get in, due to heightened security concerns.  Apparently there are great views of both the surrounding city and the German politicians working underneath.  And I guess the German politicians get a nice view up the girls' skirts? Very strange.

Monument in front of the Reichstag

We (Rhianna and Kelly pictured here) were pretty exchausted from our travels.  Took a quick break in front of the Altes museum.  May have fallen asleep on the grass while being serenaded by a violinist.  Hard life I lead.

Altes Museum, designed by Karl Frederich Schinkel, architectural history class did indeed come in handy while travelling.

Humpty Dumpty!

Neue Nationalgalerie where we spent the afternoon.

We went to this open air art gallery that was described in our guidebook as the "sistene chapel of street art." I kept peering into corners looking for Banksy, but unfortunately I could not find a trace of him.  It was a really cool area, all the shacks held collections by individual artists for sale.  Everything in the area was artwork.

It was clearly not a tourist place, it was a great gathering place, with live music and everything!

We wanted to fit in so, of course, got our giant German beer on in the Beer Garden. 

Check-point Charlie.  Apparently, it is about as historically accurate as Disney land.  Also, the photos of the soldiers are incredibly creepy! Stares at you no matter where you are standing.

Memorial to the Nazi Book burning.  Inside there is empty bookshelves with enough room to house all the books that were burnt.

Next day, we headed to the East Side Gallery to see the famed murals.

Rhianna and I were definitely enjoying the Murals!

This mural instantly reminded me of the Canadian flag, so I thought we should try to create it.  Conversation between Rhianna and I - "you go in front you're short" "No you go in front you're red!" I personally think it is patriotic masterpiece.

Me again getting overexcited by all things Canadian.  Perhaps I have been away too long.

I think this was the exact moment that my repressed Montreal hipster re-emerged. Please view ironically.

Beer Garden Break day 2 - Kelly, Katie and Zoya

 Berlin was a beautiful, if broke, city.  Unlike any other major European city I have been too.  It is defined by its continually changing city scape and, needless to say, constant construction.  All the buildings were very modern and crisp.  The metro system was fabulous, it was so nice to be in a place that assumed its citizens were totally rational, and then build a subway based on rational principles! So simple to figure out!!
From Berlin, I headed back to Edinburgh to rest up for two nights before starting on the much longer leg of my journey, which you will hear about in no time!
Goodbye for now,
the Sheepish traveller

London Calling

Hello all,
This is just a quick update about my spring break (which I am currently in the middle of) while I still have easy access to a computer.  I have been to Berlin also, but it would take too long to upload all the photos, so I am going to stick with telling you all about London. For which I have no photos.  I have come down to London a couple times now, and considering the fact that I am going to be constantly doing touristy things once I leave, I decided to take it easy this weekend.
The train down from Edinburgh was unfortunately 2 hours delayed on saturday.  Apparently some criminal master mind snuck around the lowlands of Scotland in the middle of the night thieving the poor train lines of their cable.  The good people of East Coast trains awoke this morning cable-less and thus signal-less, and helpless in the face of this overwhelming problem.  Or so they would have us believe.  But regardless I did make it into London and over to Lisa and Grant's place.
While I was struggling to make it through multiple failing transit systems (the tube undergoes major construction on the weekends), my good friend Sarah Glover was also entering the city from the house where she is an au pair to meet me!
Once she gets in our wild weekend of various mishaps began! Firstly, Lisa and Grant headed off to go get a mother's day card for Grant's mum (Mother's Day is way earlier over here, crazy Brits).  But Sarah and I had keys to the flat, and a tag to de-activate the alarm, so had free access to the flat! Unfortunately the tags were not set up yet, so once we entered the door, the alarm blares.  Oh shit. I start panicking, rubbing the tags every which way over the alarm but nothing! Sweating bullets, I called Lisa's cell phone on repeat, to no avail, leaving increasingly desperate messages on her voice mail.  I strained my ears, listening for the sound of approaching sirens. I fully expected a police car to show up, throw me into the back of the cop car, drag me off to have my first mug shot, and spend the night at a British prison.  While I was borderline hysteric, Sarah kept her head much better.  She simply walked into the kitchen opened up a bottle of red wine and poured us two glasses.  Only thing we could really do in the situation.  Eventually Lisa and Grant meandered home and we were saved.  My record is free from a charge of breaking and entering.
The four of us and Grant's old flatmate Lucy went out for a lovely dinner at Le Mitre, a nearby pub, where I had absolutely fabulous Sea Bass. From there we left to Sarah's friend's apartment in South Kensington.  It was a pretty cool bachelor apartment.  The bed slides out from the wall at night, turning the living room into the dining room.  Here we met up with 2 more au pairs (one of which happened to be Canadian) and headed out to the Clapham Grand, a cheesy huge night club.
Wild dancing ensued.  Exhausted, we stumbled into a Macdonald's so that Sarah can get a late night snack.  She also stops in the bathroom.  While I am waiting in the restaurant, another alarm goes off.  Sarah had managed to accidentally pull the emergency disabled alarm in the toilet! Two alarms in 12 hours.  It was too much for me to handle.  A table of guys started to heckle her, but justice was quickly delivered, when they got caught for having alcohol and forcibly removed from the premises.
Finally made it back to Lisa and Grant's flat.  Definitely a great night out!
The next day we wandered around Nottinghill and saw the Kensington palace.  We stopped off for sushi at the most surreal restaurant.  Not only was there a 'thrill bar' upstairs (I didn't ask and I don't think you should either), angel wings in glass cases on the walls, creepy butterflies and sayings like "as above, so below' on the walls, there was also copious amounts of small children in rollerblades. However, the sushi was decent and we had a good time.  For our afternoon snack, we went into an organic frozen yoghurt place.  Sarah ordered chocolate sauce on hers, and typically the lid fell off and covered the whole thing in chocolate.  While the guy went to make her another one, I surreptitiously moved the failed yoghurt closer to me.  After paying, I quickly grabbed the third yoghurt, and dashed out the store! 3 yoghurts for the price of 2. Finally our luck was turning around!
Afterwards, Sarah headed home, and I went back to the flat to meet Grant and Lisa, who were returning from a day with Grant's mother.  While, Lisa finished up some school work, Grant and I headed to the movie theater to see Chalet Girl.  A super cheesy but super awesome movie set in the Austrian Alps. Afterwards we enjoyed a great meal of Chinese takeaway.
Well I had better get going, I have to head out to Luton Airport to catch my 1:50 plane to Barcelona.  I can't wait for some sunshine.  I will update again as soon as I can, and expect a belated blog post on Berlin soon!
Hope everyone had as great of weekend as I did!
Love,
The Sheepish Traveller

Haunted Edinburgh

Dear my lovely readers,
I hope all is well in your respective places.  I have some serious news to report.  I think I am being haunted.  I know, I know... I can feel your incredulous eyebrows raising at this last statement.  You are thinking to yourself, oh dear, perhaps the time has come for little miss crazy-kins to come home from abroad.  Katie, you collectively cry, come back to us.  Leave behind the town that spawned the wizarding world of Harry Potter and countless other stories of magic and the supernatural.   Please regain a hold on reality, which I clearly have stopped dealing with.  But hear me out dear readers, put aside your long cultivated skepticism and listen to my tale.
My friend Sarah and I have notoriously bad luck.  Frequently we are forced to deplore the workings of Mr. McFate (who of course is the Scottish equivalent to the normal North American Fate).  Unfortunately, our bad luck struck again when we booked flights to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day with Ryanair.  I am still unsure of how this could possibly be, but there was some sort of screw up on their end and they managed to overbook the flight to Dublin.  It being a very popular weekend to go, it was too expensive to rebook.  So alas, I did not get to hang out with a bunch of green foreigners, as I am sure real Irish people would flee the downtown core, not wanting to associate with such a truly American holiday.  Needless to say, we were flung into a deep dark depression.  But we are resourceful girls so we quickly began planning an adventure to fill our young bodies once more with hope and love of life.
The cure we came up with: Amaretto Sours, Charles Dickens and Ghost tours.  Wait, do these things even go together? Why would any sane and rational person want to combine them? Why was this the first thing that popped into our heads that sad afternoon? Well I do not have the answers to any of those questions.  But I will tell you what went down that eerie Wednesday Night.
After dipping, rather copiously (sorry Mum, but c'mon it was a fairly rough day), into the Amaretto.  We texted our friend Gaston to come collect us from Sarah's and take us on a ghost tour.  But before he got there, we spied a little man siting on Sarah's desk, who looked rather lonely and in need of some cheering up.  This man was of course Charles Dickens.  He is a personal favorite of both Sarah and I (we had actually bonded over a shared nerdy love of English Literature).  He had come into our lives when Sarah, for her 21st birthday, was given a Charles Dickens action figure to accompany her on her foreign adventure.  So the four of us departed, fellow adventurers of the Night, two a little tipsy, one small and plastic, and one a little weirded out by the whole thing, but all equally ready to be told about the spooky side of this city we currently all live in.
The rest of the story is perhaps best told through photographs...

Charles and I were fast friends immediately.  He was preparing me for the tour by telling me some of his own ghoulish tales.

On the ghost tour, Charles was not paying attention clearly, he cannot resist a photo shoot!

At this point we had entered the Calton Cemetery.  Final resting place of the Scottish Philosopher David Hume.  Sarah was unimpressed to say the least by this turn of the events.  I am not exactly sure where she thought we were going to go on a ghost tour.  But clearly not a cemetery.  This is her in full on freak out mode.  But I guess the events that followed justified her reaction.

Gaston and Charles got off to a rough start.  Charles was eager to befriend Gaston.  Gaston was wondering what he had done to deserve such crazy friends.

However, she eventually calmed down and shenanigans ensued.  As we were being silly, slightly apart from the rest of the tour, we missed out on crucial words of warning! Beware of your photographs.  Sometimes the supernatural and unexplainable show up in the photos, where they did not in real life!

This is the proof that I am being haunted.  As you have just heard, Sarah and I were off in our parallel reality that had little if anything to do with the what was happening around us.  The rest of the tour were busy snapping photos of cool look graves and different monuments.  One little lady took this gem of a photo.  There is a blue ghost man directly in between Sarah and I.  His mood is unreadable, he looks something like a fatter Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen or a grumpy Genie from Aladdin.  Either way, I am not sure what he wants or what he is doing there, but I am sure it cannot be good.

Despite our ghostly encounter we bravely soldiered on.  Out of the Calton Cemetery and up Calton Hill.  We had beautiful views of Edinburgh's New Town at night.  Actually, in this spot every spring there is a pagan festival to celebrate springtime by burning things.  As an existential paganist (and a lover of fire), I will of course be there!

It was an awfully long journey for the little guy, he needed a rest in the rocks of the Hill.

This was my desperate, if misguided, final attempt to get to Dublin: Trying to mail myself.  Unfortunately, I could not get into the mailbox.  Probably for the best, I probably did not have enough stamps.

Throughoughly spooked, the four ghost busters headed to a nearby pub to calm our nerves.  Charles, the old flirt, managed to get behind the bar by chatting up the bartender.

Gaston and Charles finally made peace.  Nothing like a pint to cure all animosity.  

So nothing is safe in Edinburgh.  Although you are far less likely to get stabbed here than in Glasgow, ghosts could be waiting around any corner.  So far I have not come across blue ghost man, but then again I have not been foolish enough to re-enter the cemetery to look for him.
Hope you enjoyed my story, and that it won't make any one lose too much sleep.
Good night!
Love,
The Sheepish Traveller.
DISCLAIMER: The phenomena of the ghost photo was probably caused because the photo was taken from a large lens camera. At night, the shutters are open longer to capture enough light to take the photo. During this time we probably moved.  Also, Sarah has her blackberry in her hand.  She probably looked down at her phone and was illuminated by a blue glow.  Thus the picture captures both that image and the later one.  Sorry for the anticlimactic ending!

The Belle of Belfast City

Dear Readers,
I hope everyone is doing swell and enjoying the beginning of spring.  The weather in Edinburgh has been absolutely spectacular this weekend! But more on that in the next blog post.  First let me tell you about the weekend I had in Belfast about 3 weeks ago now, with my brother Sambo.
It was a great city.  Very different from other places I have visited because it is really small.  Interestingly, the visit is very proscribed, as in there are only a handful of must-see tourist activities, and once you have finished them, there is really nothing else to do.  That being said, the things to do are really cool! We spent the first day on a bus tour up to the Giant's Causeway.

 On our first night in town, we went out for a walk after dinner to explore the city.  You can imagine our excitement (especially mine, as it has been awhile since I have been in Canada) at finding a Tim Hortons! It isn't a full restaurant, just a convenient store the sells the coffee and donuts. I think the lady who was working there was used to overjoyed Canadians wandering in, as she quickly warned us that it was not as good as the stuff from home.  Still, it was a great moment. Go Canada!

 A very tired Katie in front of the Belfast City Hall.  A beautiful neoBaroque building at the heart of the city.

 The first stop on our bus tour to the Giant's Causeway.  Unfortunately the castle was closed. But we got to see the outside of it.

 Sam was here too!

Since the castle was closed, I decided to storm the castle.  Only managed to capture a couple rocks, I think I need to invest in some bigger siege weapons.

The rope bridge was also closed for repairs.  Probably for the best, I am not sure if my nerves are up for climbing across a rickety bridge high above sharp pointy rocks.  Potential panic attack averted!

Walking down the path to the Giant's Causeway, Sam is looking particularly dashing.  We were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day to explore the Causeway!

The Causeway

We climbed up to the highest point of the Causeway (which I know is not very high, Sam).  But I managed to get stuck at the top, while Sam capered down abandoning me to the elements.  I look a lot like a beached Manatee. Clearly I am not as photogenic as my brother Sam.

I was channeling Golum in this moment.  I think my precious must have fallen into the crevices.

The formation of rocks on the Giant's Causeway is unlike anything else I have ever seen.  The tops are perfect geometrical shapes.  It is so interesting!

Probably my favourite photo, the waves crashing in on the rocks.  The wind picked up the foam from the crest of the waves and send it flying through the air. I was struck in the face more than once with a big whack of foam

 So we headed back up the path and our tour group crowded back into the bus.  Our driver than proceeded to announce that a couple in our group had just gotten engaged on the Causeway.  Beautiful weather, beautiful location, but really.. could you not splurge and rent a car this one time? Maybe I am old fashioned, but if anyone proposed to my while on a tour bus, I would be rather unimpressed.  I don't think the couple really wanted the driver to make the announcement public, it was a very awkward moment.

We have left the Causeway, beginning our journey back to Belfast.  Stopped to peak at a ruined castle.

The next day we explored the Queen's University of Belfast which was steps from our Hostel.  Very beautiful campus.  Sam's thesis adviser actually went to school there back in the day, so it was nice for him to make that connection!

Gate was closed! Cue me trying to break in. As I do. Then Sam pointed out the open door directly beside the gate.  Embarrassing.

Botanical Gardens

Sam and Sam's brand-spanking new hat! I picked it out, so full credit here please.

Statue in front of the Natural History Museum.  All the children of Belfast and of course my self, felt the need to play in it.  I am so mature.

Sam and hat part 2

We took the Tim Horton's cups from the convenient store.  I felt very Canadian in this moment.

Enjoying (well at least Sam was) the national beverage. I will say one thing, I have had Guinness from the tap in Edinburgh and it honestly did not taste as good! I don't know what they do, but it really is better on native soil.

Sam was having a good time.

Dancing with the Guinness. As you do.

 So on our final day in Belfast, we went on the black cab tour.  During the Troubles in Belfast, the government closed down the bus network, so people relied on these black cabs for transportation.  One tourist asked a driver to take him through the troubled areas, and from that moment onwards. They have been taking tourists into the areas and giving a brief history of the Troubles and taking them to see the murals from both the protestant and catholic sides, the large walls put up in the city,  and the streets where the Troubles occurred.  We were with a large group so we actually had two guides, one who was Catholic and the other who was Protestant.  The Troubles happened in living memory of the people in Belfast, so it was fascinating to hear their first-hand accounts.  For example, the Protestant guide told us how when he was a child, he was taught to look out for bombs, and if one went off to run into the nearest house to hide. 

The Catholic murals.  The black and white mural is a copy of a painting by Pablo Picasso.  It was actually painted during the negotiations for peace by the most prominent Catholic and Protestant artist at the time.  Showing how ready the populace was for peace and encouraging the politicians to find a workable solution.

The murals celebrate the heroes of the Troubles.  These one was told the story of how Margaret Thatcher revoked the prisoner's status as political prisoners, and thus changing how they were treated within the facilities.  It began a series of hunger strikes, and the inmates refusing to don the prisoner's garb, thus only wearing their blankets.

 Unfortunately, my camera died at this point, so I don't have photos from the Protestant side, or our last night in Belfast. But it was very informative and sobering tour.

That's all for now! Keep looking back for new updates, I have been having some great adventures in Edinburgh to share later this week.  Also, my 3-week long spring break is coming up where I will be traveling to Berlin, London, Barcelona, Malaga, Vienna, Budapest and Ljubljana.  Definitely will be updating a lot during that time!

love,
The Sheepish Traveler

Preview

Family Reunion in Edinburgh

Hello all,
You'll have to forgive me for this slightly belated blog post, I have been insanely busy over here.  Friday February 18th, Sam, my brother, arrived from Canada to enjoy his study break in Britain.  It was so great having him here! Oddly enough, underneath my bed, is stacked an identical bed with a mattress and everything! So, despite cramped living quarter, Samwise and I each had a bed and were ready to take on Edinburgh.
Later that night, our cousins, who live in London, arrived with two of their friends from home.  We Canadians came, we saw, we conquered.  All the way. It was great to get to show off my city.  We saw some of the nightlife, including my personal favorite: the big cheese.  Its run in the student center on campus every Saturday night and it essentially plays really cheesy pop music from the past couple of decades.  Its all pop ballads and all that.  It is such a good time!
During the day on Saturday, we climbed up to the peak of Arthur's Seat, the small mountain steps from my residence, we went to the oldest pub in Edinburgh, the Sheep's Head, that is nestled at the bottom of the mountain.
For dinner, Samwise impressively cooked gluten-free pizza for our 12 dinner guests.  He's a dream.

 Sam and I at the base of Arthur's seat

 View of the city centre mid-way up the hike

 

Yah, the path may have been technically closed for the winter... Oops

Almost at the top, the rocks were a little slippery, but we made it alright!

 The cousins were successful! Sam, Lisa, Scott and I at the peak!

 Our whole gang, including a university friend of Scott's and two of Lisa's friends from crescent beach

 Lisa at the absolute highest point

 Celebration in the Sheep's Head after our arduous journey

 Going into the Big Cheese, my friend Sarah had joined us at this point.

 Superfluous shot of me, outside Holyrood Palace

 Sam rubbing David Hume's toe for good luck. Ironically, Hume did not believe in luck...?

 View of Old Town from Calton Hill

The light was peaking through the clouds over Edinburgh Castle. So beautiful

Two Weeks in Edinburgh

To my darling readers,
It has been a great couple of weeks in Edinburgh.  I really do love this city! There seems to be an unlimited supply of amazing cafes hidden away in the nooks and crannies of these old streets.  One of my favorite things to do is to find a small, authentic place with delicious, steamy lattes where I can sit for hours as I pour over the latest novel I have been assigned in class.   I spend so many hours in all these different cafes, yet I doubt I have even tried half the places within walking distance of my campus.

My classes are still going well.  The english literature classes all have these groups called ALGs (autonomous learning groups) where you subdivide into groups of around 4-5 to meet up and discuss the books before class.  It is a great way to fight against the recent dehumanizing trend of universities these days.  It really helps to create a sense of community within the students of the english department, separate from the professors.  As a result, it is so much easier to meet people in your classes.  Although I think in many ways the McGill English department is superior (especially when it comes to improving their student's writing abilities) I will miss the coziness of my Edinburgh classes.  Last semester, one of our professors even provided the students with tea and biscuits! My kind of place.

I unfortunately missed out on the Robbie Burn's festivities on the actual day dedicated to the bard (note: when you are in Scotland Shakespeare's title is usurped in favor of Mr. Burns), but luckily one group had a big dinner a week later so I got to experience the traditional Burns day supper.  It was really fun, we all got 3 course meal (including haggis, neeps and tatties of course), whiskey and half a bottle of wine.  And due to my charming, gregarious personality (or more likely people never suspect someone with an innocent-looking face, fools) I managed to secure for our table an extra couple of bottles. So it turned into a very good night.  We got to hear the Burn's ode to the haggis (practically incomprehensible, and I am an English major! I blame the scottish accent) and the really amusing ode to lassies followed by the ladies rebuttal, the ode to the laddies.  Its supposed to be a gently teasing response that really complements the other sex, but the girl who said the ode to the laddies misunderstood and just ripped into the general male sex.  It was much more hilarious that way.

This week is going to be a tough one to get through as I have two presentations and an essay to write, but its all going to be worth it once my brother Sam, and my cousins Scott and Lisa show up for the weekend! It is going to be absolutely fabulous!
Love,
The Sheepish Traveller