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[03 May 2005|03:48pm] |
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Rilo Kiley - "A Better Son/Daughter" |
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So, Jay is no longer in the UK. I'm back in Canada, for who knows how long. It's a little weird so far trying to readjust but I'll be okay.
My adventures can now be found at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) anythingtwice, starting here.
Love,
Jenna
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| 30 April 2005 - London to Toronto |
[03 May 2005|03:30pm] |
I'm on the plane home!
Yesterday we got up, had breakfast, and took the tram to the train station, then the train to the airport. At the airport we checked in and the lady had to swipe my passport three times before it went through. I bought some presents for people and we headed for our gate. The gate was changed twice before we finally boarded. When we did, my information still wasn't in the computer. Argh.
After arriving at Gatwick, we took the train to Victoria and then the tube to our hostel, where we dropped off our stuff. Lunch was from a grocery store down the street, where I also picked up some Green and Black's chocolate (yay!). Then we headed for the train down to the castle.
At Bader we ran into Aidan, Mike Graham, Paul and Kelly, and hung out with Mike and Paul while waiting for our cab. Just as we were loading up the cab, Simon came down, and hugs were exchanged. My packed of Hershey's chocolate from Grandma was there and Caroline Dennett gave it to me. Sadly, it only confirmed to me how awful chocolate back home is.
Train and tube back - oh God. With all our luggage, it was hell. Thankfully, there were quite a few people who helped us with stairs and doors. Hauling it down the street to the hostel was hell too. We left it downstairs and brought our backpacks to the suitcases to reorganise. Afterwards, we went out to Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square to see Canada Hosue one last time, and find something to eat. I wasn't looking where I was going, a guy on a bike swerved onto the sidewalk to avoid me and ended up hitting someone else. Gah! Then back to the hostel for sleep.
This morning I got up a lot earlier than planned because I couldn't get back to sleep. Breakfast and then a cab to Heathrow - there was no way in hell we were taking the tube again with all our stuff. Ran into Jenn, one of the SLCs from last term, at the airport; she's on our flight. I bought more Green & Black's - stocking up, haha. Donated my last 88p to charity. And now we're on our way! Like, six or seven more hours ahead of us. Apparently it's only SIX DEGREES back home btu it'll be afternoon when we land, so hopefully it will have warmed up.
Home is going to be weird. Good, but weird.
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| 28 April 2005 - Amsterdam |
[03 May 2005|03:29pm] |
Today - breakfast at hostel, van Gogh museum, Red Light District, shopping, food, chilling, Anne Frank House.
Tomorrow - travel to London.
Day after - home.
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| 27 April 2005 - Amsterdam |
[03 May 2005|03:19pm] |
The Visa problems are worked out. Mom is awesome.
Venice was absolutely amazing. No green space though, which is about the only downside. I suppose the water makes up for it. We went to the Accademia and San Marco. Then the Visa incident occured and we went back to the hotel. Called Mom and she said she'd take care of it. Decided to go back into Venice for dinner but on the bus Thea realised she'd forgotten her wallet, so we went back to the hotel again and had dinner in the little suburbia town the hotel is in. Waiter forgot us and took forever to bring us the bill. Sleeeep.
Today we checked out, left luggage, went into the city so Thea could buy the Murano vases for her mom and so I could buy the carnevale mask I had my eye on. Then we saw the Doge's Palace and ate, then headed back.
Bus to Treviso airport didn't leave until it was too late, so we had to take a cab, which ended up costing 70 Euro. Ugh. Flight was fine. Treviso airport = shitty. Amsterdam airport = confusing. SOmehow managed to miss passport control and realised it much later. Train to Centraal station, tram to Leidseplein, walked to hostel.
Flying Pig Palace is nice but a big change from Venice. 10-bed dorm, we're in a queen-sized bunk and there are both guys and girls in here. There are two people from Toronto and a guy from New York and some other people we haven't met yet. Free internet and breakfast included, hooray.
Went to a Spanish restaurant for dinner. As a testament to how awfully overpriced the place in Venice today was, we ate steak, fries, salad, drinks and break for like, 10 Euro, less than the crap from Venice. Stupid touristy place. Now we're back at the hostel, and I'm going to wander around and get acquainted with the place.
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| 25 April 2005 - Venice |
[03 May 2005|01:56pm] |
Venice hotel is SWANK. For one, it is a HOTEL, not a hostel, though it was listed on the hostel website. Hotel Venice Villa Dori is outside the city, on the mainland. We got to it after a three hour train ride, one hour of whic we spent in the doorway of one of the cars because of the number of people onboard and the ensuing lack of seats. The other two hours, after people got off at Bologna, we managed to score seats, in a first-class carriage, during which we talked a LOT with an older couple from California. I noted later that we seem to talk to a lot of old people on this trip -- we did on a bus in Rome, too.
From the train station was a bus to the hotel. The receptionist lady is really awesome; sh explained exactly how to get into town and back and gave us a printout of the instructions with a map. There is free internet here and the place is AWESOME-looking! I took many pictures of our room, the walls are all fabric, there's a skylight and a chandelier AND we have our own bathroom and really nice furniture and breakfast tomorrow and it's not costing much more than some of the other places we've stayed in. We like. We like a LOT.
Went into the city, Thea bought a sweater because she realised how cold it was getting, and we just wandered aimlessly until we found someplace to eat. As we left the restaurant we continued on the trend of talking to old people - this time it was a couple from Ottawa; finally some Ontarians! They recognised our accents as Canadian. Then we got lost on our way back and felt the place was a little sketch, but we made it.
Venice is beautiful; I really wish we were staying longer. Despite it being a maze, I lvoe it. I wish I'd been able to reread some stuff from the Kushiel's Legacy books because the La Serenissima of the books is based on the La Serenissima of our world - Venice, of course! It would've been cool to try to find some things from the books, though I doubt we'd have time. I get the Doge's Palace anyway.
Came back, got freaked out by some dogs on the walk from the bus stop, planned out our day for tomorrow. Whee! I love Venice!
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| 25 April 2005 - Florence |
[03 May 2005|01:44pm] |
Waiting for the train to Venice. Yesterday we took the tourist bus around a bit and then waited in line for the Uffizi gallery. Eventually we gave up because we'd been waiting for hours and the line was still a million miles long. We ate an overpriced crappy meal in an attempt to eat a primi, secondi AND vegetables, like the Italians do, learning the lesson that it is perfectly find and highly advisable to only eat the primi (which is usually pasta), because it is cheaper and reliably good.
Then there was a large amount of wandering around and looking at vendors and stores, and we had reeeeeeeeeeeally good gelato (we have yet to go a day in Italy without it), then basically just hung out talking until it was time to sleep.
And the train will soon be here. Yay!
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| 23 April 2005 - Florence |
[03 May 2005|01:32pm] |
Busy day today. Saw one of the Medici villas, La Petraia. Holy frescoes, Batman! Very cool. Also saw San Lorenzo's chapel, the Duomo, and the Accademia gallery - including Michelangelo's David. That thing is MASSIVE. We also saw the BACK of it, something no one ever shows, haha. Ate lunch at this pizza place decorated with Coke stuff that served Pepsi, and dinner at a very nice little restaurant. Saw San Marco but didn't go in; on the way back from it I bought an Astro Boy wallet. Didn't go into Santa Maria Novella because the line was too long.
Tomorrow is the Uffizi and a bunch of other stuff, I really don't know. Thea has a list of stuff, mostly art history-related, to see, and I'm basically attracted to anything Medici-related, so Florence is lovely. Anyway. Lots to do. Time for sleep.
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| 22 April 2005 - Florence |
[03 May 2005|01:01pm] |
Interesting day today. Slept through the alarm at 9.30 this morning, but luckily, not by much. Checked e-mail, Mom giving me money, yay, checked out, went to Termini. Left luggage there. Went to San Pietro, Thea took pictures this time because she finally got new batteries for her camera. Sistine Chapel and the dome of the basilica were still closed. The chairs were all put in rows and speakers were set up in the piazza for Benedict XVI's inauguration thing on Sunday.
Went back to Termini and while we were waiting around for our train I realised I'd lost the receipt from the luggage check. So we went down there to ask what to do. They sent me to the police. There, what I wanted to say was translated to the officer through two people: English to Spanish to Italian. There was this American guy there who has been studying in Spain, he translated our English into Spanish for his host sister, who has been studying in Rome, and translated the Spanish into Italian for the officer. Crazy. I had to fill out a declaration of lost items form for my receipt, which I took to the luggage check.
There, the guy sent me down to the luggage room, where a guy who spoke no English led me around the shelves looking for my backpack. Eventually I found it, then I went back upstairs where I had to fill out a form listing the contents of my bag. Presumably this was so they could check that it was mine, but they never did. The guy took the form away before I was done (I seriously remembered everything in there and was writing ALL of it down), and sent me on my way. Never before have I been happy to strap seven kilograms to my back, but then, I was. Thea and I still made our train with ten minutes to spare.
The train ride was almost two hours, during which I read about stuff to do in Florence, ate chocolate, and slept. Found the 'hostel.' Actually, we're in a very nice guest house, very central location, our own room (after the 12-bed hallway in Rome, this is excellent), breakfast in the morning (something we haven't been eating due to sleeping through it and going straight to lunch), no curfew, our own keys, and a really nice guy running the place. We ate tortellini down the street and it was yummy, and then went to the Internet cafe next door (2.80 Euro for half an hour, ech, Rome hostel = 1 Euro/half hour, Nice hostel = free, Geneva = 5 Sfr./hr). Apparently back home there was a SWAT takedown of some guy we don't know; and in an unrelated incident, Bryan Barchard got arrested (not surprising). She put $240 in my account, which should be plenty. Yay money!
Now Thea and I are planning our weekend -- there's a LOT to do here, despite the small size, and unlike Rome, we can't see it all in one day!
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| 21 April 2005 - Rome |
[03 May 2005|12:57pm] |
I still am inept in Italian but that's mostly because we keep finding people who speak English. This morning we found the Spanish Steps, and climbed them (gah). Then we went to this museum that Thea wanted to see but it was sold out for the day. We got to wander through a very nice park though.
Then we caught a bus to Tivoli, a little town about an hour north of Rome. We were hoping for hot springs. Went to Villa d'Este, which was gorgeous - lots of pictures taken. Beautiful gardens with lots of fountains. Then we tried to find the thermal baths but that got thwarted because Tivoli's bus system sucks. So we came back to Rome. Randomly got on a bus and got off when we saw somewhere we could eat. Ate. Really good penne arrabiata - very spicy and yummy - for 4.70 Euro. Then we left and didn't realise just how far we'd taken the bus and got rather confused, so we took a bus to the Termini because we know how to get to the hostel from there.
Came back, had gelato, and are now slowly getting ready for bed. Attempting to see the Sistine Chapel tomorrow, then Florence!
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| 20 April 2005 - Rome |
[02 May 2005|10:33pm] |
ROME! We did sooo much today. After sleeping in, we took the bus into town and had ravioli for lunch at this random little place.
Hold up, let's do last night first.
Got into Rome, like, 9-ish. HUGE military/police presence - guys in camo with big guns; really freaking me out. Most ghetto/sketch metro EVER. Wandered around the Piazza for a long time before finally finding the hostel. Checked in, then went to this restaurant called Meeting Place. Very nice - cheap food, friendly staff, and excellent gelato. Mmm... how I'll go back to regular ice cream, I don't know. After that, we came back and went to bed.
This morning I found out they elected Ratzinger as pope - yeah, yeah, slow on the uptake but we were in the airport when it happened and they didn't have TVs, and we were totally zonked last night. I don't like this guy much but oh well, he's old so he probably won't last long. Benedict XVI. Went online to read about him, check mail, etc. 'Net here isn't bad, 1 Euro for 1/2 an hour and you don't have to use it all at once, you get a password for the time block. Very cool. And then we went into town and had that ravioli and then we saw just about EVERYTHING.
Vittorio Emanuele II monument - I think that's what it was, anyway, but it's some kind of war memorial at least. Very white, lots of stairs, took my picture with a random police officer.
Ruins of the Roman Forum extension - these are RIGHT in the town, cheap to get into, very cool. You buy your ticket and they let you wander around. You can see the archaeologists working and the infamous stray cats.
Trevi fountain - awesome! We climbed the wall and down the rocks at the side to avoid the ENORMOUS crowd on the stairs. Threw pennies in, climbed back up the rocks to get out.
Pantheon - OMG HUGE. It was awesome. Thea told me about the lava rocks in the dome that baffle today's architects.
St. Peter's - Now that the pope's been elected, there weren't many people there besides a few large tour groups. We saw JP2's grave, the Basilica itself (awesome) and wandered the colonnades. The Sistine Chapel, apparently, is still closed and probably won't be open until the day after tomorrow. Thea's really upset about this - Sistine's her dream - so I said we could check back on Friday before we leave for Florence.
Had gelato at Meeting Place again. I calculated and it looks like I'm going to be about $200 short for paying for these hostels. That isn't including the cash on hand I have (20 Sfr., and about 70-80 Euro), which is for food mostly, and the Rome-Florence train. Dad won't be able to hook me up until the 28th, which will do me for Amsterdam and London, so I really hope Mom'll come through in time for Venice.
Two new girls are in the bunks next to us. They're from Vancouver and one of them knows Thea's friend Herbert (like so many zillion people at the ISC do, too). We may be going out with them tomorrow to see the *outside* of the Sistine Chapel and maybe some catacombs. Thea and I also want to go to Tivoli so we can see Hadrian's villa, Villa d'Este, and more importantly, soak in the hot springs. Mmmm... springs.
I still haven't bought a shirt yet. I forgot in Nice so I got 2 in Geneva (I wish I could shop there forever), and so I don't want to screw up this plan anymore.
Well, time for sleep.
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| 19 April 2005 - Geneva Airport |
[01 May 2005|05:13pm] |
My feet are killing me. We're waiting for the check-in for our flight to Rome. All day has been spent wandering aimlessly.
Last night two girls from California checked in. Thea and I played Spit and randomly walked down to the Reformer's Wall at 10 PM. Dark and creepy park, ahhh! This morning we checked out and there was a message from Dad checking up on me. I'll e-mail him back from Rome. We went out for breakfast with the Cali girls and then after check-out, Thea and I went to the archaeological site under the cathedral. It was cool, very much like the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology in Montreal.
Then we dumped our backpacks at the train station, wandered aimlessly, had lunch at the same place we had breakfast (it's like Movenpick, but cheaper). We also went to the UN and had a tour. Would've done the Red Cross Museum too but it was closed.
Anyway. Rome calls: pasta... gelato... a new Pope?
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| 18 April 2005 - Geneva, Switzerland |
[01 May 2005|05:08pm] |
Yesteday Geneva greeted us with wet snow. Prairie Boy, Skypatch and The Asian never showed (Thea thinks Aidan was being overly ambitious in suggesting breakfast), so we left the country.
We went to this restaurant called Chez Ma Cousine and I had a very good half-chicken dinner that came with salad and fries for 13.90 CHF.
What's fab is that the Swiss franc is almsot exactly the same as the Canadian dollar, so there's no conversion necessary. What sucks is that stuff is generally a lot more expensive here.
After dinner we napped and then walked across the lake to an Internet cafe where we e-mailed Ben and M.Ro, hoping that they are a) still in town, and b) able to get online. 'Cause it would be great to meet up with them. Then we hit up the bank and came back to the hostel, and SLEPT MORE.
Today, we paid the lady for the hostel and went out. We've done some tourist stuff and shopped. Went back to the 'net cafe, hoping for a Ben.Ro reply, but there was none. I bought an orange zip-up sweater, a Switzerland shirt and a Switzerland bag. We rode one of the funny tourist trains. Now, Thea is on a quest for another sweater.
Tomorrow: Rome!
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| 16 April 2005 - Nice, France |
[01 May 2005|05:05pm] |
Yesterday at 3.30 AM, Thea and I left the ISC for our two week backpacking trip. After many hugs, kisses and good-byes, we got on the bus and headed for Heathrow. By 9.30 AM, we were in Nice!
Yesterday was cool and windy, but when the sun came out it was t-shirt weather - for us Canadians, anyway! We ate crepes and baguettes and explored the pedestrian shopping area and the old town. Very, very pretty. We didn't get into Monaco because the buses were all changed around due to Prince Rainier's funeral, so we're going today.
Today it is raining. But, we're going to Monaco. Ha. Tomorrow, we're meeting some guys from school for breakfast. Aidan, Pat and Josh will be arriving today, but at night, so we're meeting up before Thea and I leave for Geneva. Should be nice. In Nice!
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[01 May 2005|08:14am] |
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Happy birthday Casey.
So it's morning and I can't sleep. I'd like to. I just had yoghurt and now remembered dairy is bad for sore throats, one of which I have. The cat slept on my bed last night. I passed out as soon as I hit the pillow.
I think I'm going to switch over to the new journal and I'll let you know when the journals from backpacking are up here. So, from now on, you can find me at anythingtwice, considering I am no longer in the UK.
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[30 Apr 2005|08:26pm] |
I'm home. I'm exhausted. The dog is being adorable. My Kurt print is awesome. I will type up my journals from the trip later. I feel kinda sick.
Update, 10.07: Feeling less ill but argh... my mind is kinda screwy. Apparently when I go back to work I have five shifts that week. Blah. I think I'm going to go to bed.
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[29 Apr 2005|09:08am] |
Off to London today. It's pretty much all going to be transit. To the train station, to the airport, fly to the other airport, train and tube to the hostel, tube and train, cab to castle, pick up stuff, cab to train, train and tube to hostel, sleeeeeeeeeeep. Then tomorrow my flight's at 1 PM so we have to be up early to tube it out to Heathrow. I'll be home about 4 PM EST if the flight isn't behind schedule.
Rock.
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[28 Apr 2005|10:32am] |
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Amsterdam. Sadly we're coming home before Queen's day but apparently there's a shindig at the hostel tonight because it's their tenth anniversary or something. I need to get dressed.
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[27 Apr 2005|09:37am] |
Going into the city to see some things we missed because of the Visa fiasco and then off to Amsterdam.
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[26 Apr 2005|10:41pm] |
So I basically hate RBC Visa right now and want them all to die a firey death in the depths of the earth. According to my online banking, I had enough money to pay for everything. I felt short on money, added up my expenses and ended up having to ask the parents for money. Mom gave me $250, which would do me for Venice and Amsterdam, and Dad had already said he'd be giving me money on the 28th, which would cover more Amsterdam, London, and maybe a little extra with which to feed the Visa. All was good.
Or so I thought.
When we checked in last night my credit card was rejected. I figured it was because the bank was just slow and the $250 that Mom had put into my bank account just hadn't transferred over to the Visa yet, so Thea paid for it and we chilled. I was able to take some money out in the city so I could have dinner and it was good.
Or so I thought!
In the city today, bank machines gave me trouble. First they said they had been told to return my card. Then other places said I wasn't authorised for international transactions. Other people were having trouble with the machines too, so I thought it could be that. After only being able to get out €20 and then being thwarted again, I called the customer service number on the back of my Visa.
According to them, I was maxed out.
What.
The.
Fuck.
I had just checked my account online this morning, it said I was at about $449. The lady on the line said I'd used up the entire $1000, perhaps I could get my limit increased? Transferred to the credit department. Since I'm a student I don't have an income at the moment and therefore they wouldn't give me any more money. I explained my situation to the guy and he suggested I talk to customer service, the department that had sent me to him. Typical runaround.
I hung up and we came back to the hotel. Checked my banking, a couple other transactions had gone through but it still said I had enough money. Hiked in the blazing Venice sun (it felt like mid-July today and the locals were still wearing long sleeves) to the nearest pay phone and used my ISIC card's phone card option to call Mom, at work, to tell her I was screwed over because the bank is a piece of shit. I was seriously really upset, after I hung up then I had to wipe tears off the handset. Anyway, Mom sounded really surprised to hear me and I told her everything, we figured out I'd need about $500 and she said not to worry, she'd make some phone calls, talk to Dad and the bank and things and figure everything out. Thank God she has power of attorney, or else this would be an enormous bitch to work out.
We took the bus back into Venice but realised on the way that Thea was missing her wallet, so we came back to the hotel, where her wallet was sitting on the desk in our room, and by then we figured it was too late to be worth going back into the city so we ate at a restaurant in the little town we're staying in (suburbia Venice). It was pretty good, although the waiter kinda forgot us so it took forever to get the bill.
Came back, checked banking, $500!!!! Whee! Apparently Jill put it in my account? I don't know if it's Jill friend of our family or someone I don't know, because the e-mail was from Dad, but that might just be because they figured something out on the phone while Mom was at work and therefore lacking e-mail. Anyway, I have money and that is good.
And now, I sleep. Amsterdam tomorrow.
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