Cork, Dublin, Paris, London, Dublin, Edinburgh

Well readers when last your hero left you she had just arrived back to dublin with stories galore.

so friday was cork day, i wanted to take the 2pm bus to Cork out of Dublin, it is a 4.5 hour drive so if i left too late it would be dark and i wouldn't get to see or do too much in the city. unfortunately i missed the 2pm bus so i was going to take the 2:30pm bus but i couldn't because there was no end to the line for the bus! so it was the 4pm bus for me and then because there was a blockage around Kilkenny which made the bus ride 5.25 hours long. so i found my hostel and then wondered around Cork but i didn't see much as it was dark out. but saturday was a really busy day. i started out by signing up for a film to go and see as there was a film festival in cork that weekend. I saw the Shutka Book of Records, an area in the Balkan region, and one of the poorest areas in the Europe but wealth is not determined by typical riches but by a man's ability to reinvent himself. The best quote of the film was "Don't look for Shutka on a geographical map. Shutka is a state of Mind." I later went to 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep, in which the director was there to do a QA after the film. This film was about the Pamir Kirghiz, a tribe native to the Pamir region of Central Asia, They speak a form of Turkish but the film was all about the Kirghiz nomadic way of life being in jeapordy due to other countries power struggles during the late 19th century through till now. The last film i saw was a double feature in which the first film "King for a Day" was a film by an irish director that was a dream like state in which a zealot mother locks her daughter in her room after she finds her reading the book 120 days of Sodom by Marquis De Sade. the second film was "A Curious Incident In The Life of Uri Geller". Uri Geller is known for being able to bend a spoon with his mind and he was asked to make a film about a Plaza in Venice in which some really freaky things were happening to the group. i was freaked out enough by the film that i started grabbing the arm of the person next to me. the poor thing having to deal with me. so aside from the films i also wandered around the city and made it too the blarney stone. so i don't recommend going to the castle unless you have good knees and balance. it is quite difficult to walk to the top of the castle as the stones were worn smooth in the spiral staircase, with no handrail! but it was a great 14th century castle and i did not kiss the stone. so sunday morning i got up at about 7:30am to catch the bus back to dublin and got back about 12:30 in the afternoon.

Monday: so i got a ride from patrick to the airport on monday morning to fly to france. i was trapped between two french people on the airplane, who would not give up an arm rest to me, bastards! but i fell asleep anyway, when i landed i had to take an hour bus ride into paris and then find a metro, as i had no map. so once at the hostel i unpacked some things and then out on the street i went to the Arc de Tromphe Etoile and then the Palais de Challot where i turned around to see the Eiffel Tower. The next day was louvre day when i went to get in line, i was saddened to find out that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. so I had to settle for the Orsay museum with all french art, not bad but not exactly what i wanted. After i went to Notre Dame, Palace and Garden of Luxemborg Opera House, Palace du la Madeline, St. Augustine Caterdral another Church and the Pantheon. On my way back to my hostel i decide to go to the Sacre Coeur so i got off the metro at a station which once above ground realized i was in the ghetto so i walked really quickly to the next station and gave up hope of finding the church. in the morning i was looking at a guide book about paris and it said pretty much whatever you do don't go to this area-metro.

wednesday i took the metro then the train to the airport to London. i arrived in london about 10am as the plane was late getting into the airport. then i took a bus into town and then the underground to the hotel. but i found that the line i needed to take was closed as there was a fire. so i didn't get to the hotel until close to noon. but after that my aunt earleen my uncle charlie, myself and our tour guide Sue drove around London and then on to the Westminster Abbey. and at night the National Gallery, lots of 16th century to 19th century painting.

Thursday we did some touring around London, we went to the Tate Modern and passed by the globe theater. I was able to see Cindy Sherman photographs as well as a film by her. I also saw text art by Jenny Holzer two of my favorite artists and i purchased a guerrila girls tshirt. I also made it into the SoHo area of London where i saw lots of little shops and markets. This was also the day that my corduroy pants died and i was down to one pair of pants but i was able to find a pair in a shop in Leister square.

Friday was Oxford day. Sue, our guide, took us to the college where we wondered the streets and learned some interesting facts about the university. for instance the University of Oxford actually contains several schools within the University and these are the people that you live with but not necessarily go to classes with you, so they're not all lawyers or whatever. it was a beautiful city and we had a great day. and i also got to peek into the hall where some of harry potter was filmed ooooohh...

Saturday my family and i parted ways and i went to do some things i wanted to do and they went and got checked in for the eurostar they were taking on thursday. So while they were doing that and going to the theater to see Chicago, starring ashley simpson. so i went to the Portabella Market, where over 2000 stalls are in place for your shopping needs. Then i went to the Victoria and Albert museum where i saw some Dave Chihuly glass works (check out the UMD library rotunda and look up). Then i also went to the Natural History Museum but i couldn't find the Dodo bird. I got back on the metro and went to the Tate Britain where i saw lots of british art and then some great contemporary art as well as a huge exhibition of Turner's work the sublime landscape, brilliant. Then i went back to the hotel to organize my things for my flight back to dublin. So once in the metro i took the metro to the train station, where i took the train to the airport. On the way to the airport on the train all trains were stopped in all directions because there was a fatality on the tracks. so we were all speculating that someone committed suicide on the train tracks during rush hour. so people were getting off the train to take buses and taxis to the airport so the traffic was insane everywhere. the poor person only got attention for 40 minutes and then we were back on track to the airport. so i made the check in time by 20 minutes and i was through security and waiting for the gate to be announced for my flight so this flight was also 40 minutes late in leaving. so i was a bit worried if i was going to be able to take the last bus from dublin airport towards my house. but i was able to take the last bus at the airport at 11:25pm so i got home at around midnight. a long day finally done. so that was the shortened version of all the stuff i have done this past week. and on wednesday i will leave for edinburgh scotland! travel travel. so that's all sorry to keep you on the edge of your seat.

xoxo,
christie