This Above All: To Thine Own Self Be True

The Real Fun Begins - February 27th

Not shortly after, in a cafe outside the Vatican, mom gets her wallet stolen… The most responsible, organized person I know to this day on planet Earth. It was horrible and hilarious.  This is why I think the real fun began here.  Barb, (my mother) and I decided to go ahead with the no reservations plan.  We did not want to feel we had to be at each destination by a certain time.  If we ended up loving Sorrento and wanting to stay there and skip a different day, we wanted the freedom to be able to do so.  We figured since we were traveling during Italy’s off season, there would be plenty of availability.  I had not brought my credit card because I figured mom had one so we did not need to be hauling around two… since the credit card was no longer we had to pay cash for every single purchase we made… Not paying with any kind of plastic card was just as foreign to me as driving on the left-hand side of the road!  

Ciao Bella Italia!!!

I could write a book on my spring break… and who knows, maybe one day I will.  It will be a travel book entirely dedicated to traveling during the off season.  So here I suppose is where you will find a taste of it…

It all started at 3am on Wednesday, February 23rd.  I was in my PJ’s getting ready for bed and ready to embark on a week and a half stay with my trusty new backpack.  I went downstairs to print off my boarding pass (Ryan Air of course) and it wasn’t working (typical)!  I couldn’t get a hold of anyone at the airport or from the airline, so I knew I had to just get to the airport, and fast! Being that the tube was not running and all other forms of public transportation would be too slow, I had to suck it up and call a cab.  I had 15 minutes.  I had not even put my belongings into my backpack yet! 60 pounds later I was at the airport desperately trying to punch in my confirmation code into the checki-in computers. Still, nothing.  Finally I found an assistant who looked over my itinerary and said to me, 

“Sweetheart, this flight left a week ago.” 

WHAT?!?! You’re joking. haha hilarious, I MUST be dreaming… Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t.  There was nothing Ryan Air could do, I wasn’t expecting much… If it was my company I wouldn’t reward someone for their stupidity either.  

After trial run #1, the next day went much smoother.  I managed to find our quaint B&B tucked away alongside the Trevi Fountain and the best thing I found was my beautiful best friend and ADPi sister, Brittany Laxton!  As she is studying in Valencia for the semester, our spring breaks coincided for one weekend and knew we couldn’t pass up seeing one another, so we decided to meet in Rome.  I had two main reasons for choosing Italy as my spring break destination… Pasta and Gelato… (however wine does come in a close third)  

The plan for the trip in Italy was Rome for the weekend with Brittany and her two friends Destinee and Judy, then meet my mom in Rome and travel with her to Pompeii, Sorrento and finish in the Cinque Terre.  Brittany and I were great travel buddies as we moved from one eating location stuffing our faces with whatever the waiter told us was the best item on the menu to a site where we would talk about what we wanted to eat next and find a new place to eat again… 

Stonehenge

Honestly, a little disappointing… although, I guess when I think about it, why was I expecting a few rocks to suddenly be so captivating.  Maybe I was thinking that if I went to see the rocks they would tell me where the rocks came from and why they were there; the mystery only being reveled to visitors.  Not the case.  The rocks sit just off the main highway, British families traveling frequently on the highways may even see it as a billboard or road sign.  If you don’t have much time while traveling in London, I wouldn’t say this trip is a must-see. 

WALES

Pembrokeshire- February

The rain greeted Lori Beth, Myah and I as we got off the very crowded train.  This was not the most promising way to start a weekend full of outdoor adventures.  Wrapped up in our big jackets, we opened our umbrellas and headed to the closest pub we could find to wait for our ride to the eco-lodge.  Arriving at the lodge, we warmed our stomachs with homemade lasagna, salad, apple pie and ice cream Chef Paul made; warmed our bodies curled up by the fire and warmed our souls with fresh apple pie and conversation as we shared stories with the other members participating in this Preseli Venture.  

The first half of the day was spent sea kayaking… (A very large portion was putting on all our wet suit gear to embrace the cold air and nearly freezing water).  We paddled around sticking close to the rocks, sticking our noses in caves.  When waves crashed upon the black rocks they would create swirls of white water, just like rafting in the Carolina’s.  A mother seal popped her head up and looked at us, twirled in the water and showed off for us.  

In the afternoon an entirely new wetsuit was needed for coasteering, an insane activity that was some of the most fun I have ever had.  Swimming or walking through the water and caves, as the waves rolled up onto the rocks, we would let the water wash us up onto the rocks and climb to higher ground.  If we found a good spot we would climb even higher and jump off to do it all over again.  

When night fell and we were full from the delicious food Paul cooked up for us, we huddled around a campfire outside, looking up at the night sky.  LB, Myah and I decided it was time to teach the Brits all about making a good ole’ American ‘smore.  Using the only resources available to us, we roasted marsh mellows over the fire and pressed them in between 2 digestive cookies and a piece of Cadbury chocolate (sorry everyone, no Nabisco grahams or Hershey’s around these parts). 

Our last morning we went on a 7 mile hike along the coast, staying mostly on a coastal path that followed the top of the cliffs edge.  Up here there were many grazing farms for sheep and cattle.  As we walked along there was a mother sheep and baby lamb crying at the fence as another baby lamb was stuck on the other side.  As we walked up to it the mother and baby ran off to safety but the baby was stuck with us.  Michael picked up the lamb and put it on the other side of the fence to be reunited with his family.  The baby lamb cried out and began running away from us.  The sheep ran towards the baby and when they met the baby nuzzled itself into his mother to cuddle.  The moment was so cute and something I will never forget. 

FEBRUARY 5-7

PARIS, FRANCE

February is usually my least favorite month of the year, thank goodness it is the shortest.  This one though, is different.  Although there has only been two, it has been my favorite month of the year! And that is saying something, because my January was pretty amazing.  

It all started with a trip to Paris the first weekend.  Our whole FSU group; students, teachers, even our tech guy from the library loaded on my favorite kind of public transportation, the red double decker buses, and headed for the train station.  We caught the Eurostar and took The Chunnel into Paris.  To my extreme disappointment you can not see entering into the water! Although it did feel just like scuba diving, having to pop my ears every few feet with the build up of pressure from going lower and lower under the sea.  

We spent Saturday touring around the beautiful city, taking advantage of our metro pass.  We walked across the River Seine to Paris’ oldest part of the city, the island where Notre Dame is located.  After a tour around the cathedral and all of its Gothic splendors and gargoyles, it was already time for a crepe! From Notre Dame we headed to Montmarte, a charming neighborhood at the top of a gigantic hill.  The boys raced up the hundred or so steps while the rest of us watched and laughed.  Momma Janie of course came to the rescue with my water bottle for them.  At the top of this huge almost mountain if you will, sits the stunning basillica of Le Sacre Coeur.  It overlooks the whole city of Paris.  There were lots of people giving out free hugs, street dancers performing, and my favorite, two guys playing acoustic guitars singing Wonderwall with a British accent.  This place was a true Oasis.  Through the neighborhood we walked by Van Gogh’s apartment where he lived during his time in Paris, which was not very long, the cafe from the movie Amelie, Picasso’s house where he locked his girlfriend inside, and probably most famously, the original Moulin Rouge.  It was quite an adventure.  

I met up with a friend from FSU who is studying in Paris, Alex, who took me on a perfect and proper Paris outing.  The poor guy has been surrounded by UF Gators so it was nice for him to finally be in the company of a Seminole again :) We ate dinner at a lovely French bistro, sipping wine and eating way too many baguettes.  After dinner he says, “Come on, I want to show you something.” We get onto the subway and take it to a completely random station. I have no clue where we are going, but I trust him.  Once we are out from the underground, we are in a remote looking area. Not very many people around, there are some big museums and buildings all around us. “Where are we?!” I ask.  ”Just wait…” he says.  He leads me along the sidewalk past the front entrance of a very tall museum. We turn the corner and there it is.  The Eiffel Tower is gleaming brilliantly so tall in perfect view.  I am in awe of its beauty.  Of course, we must get a crepe and sit on the steps and eat while we wait for the light show to begin.  The temperature is perfect.  The sky is clear and the warm breeze carries all the smells of freshly baked bread through the air.  The Tower sparkles for ten minutes. Ten whole minutes of pure magic.  I of course, ruin the glamour of it all by starting to pose questions about how much energy and electricity is used every hour by this one structure.  But it is so beautiful, and breathtaking.  

Sunday is our next group excursion to the palace of Versailles.  The palace is a monument of the great French monarchy, the Sun King, Louis XIV, which became the symbol for Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution.  The tour of the palace is absolutely beautiful. Paintings line the walls of rooms that each have their own specific decorative pattern.  The tall windows look out onto the magnificent gardens. The fire places are as big as my room at home. You could probably use a person as your marsh mellow to roast over the fire it is so big.  The Hall of Mirrors was such a great idea.  Each mirror is lined opposite from a window which gives the effect that you are walking on a glass bridge, as if there are windows on both sides.  

The Musee D’Orsay was my favorite museum in all of Paris.  The architecture was so different, the building was beautiful, modern and classic all at once, and the exhibits were organized in a strange pattern.  The building is Beaux-Arts and was once a train station but now filled with works of some of the world’s most famous collection of Impressionist paintings. (Some of my absolute favorites; Van Gogh, so I was happy… and Monet!)  After our visit three of us split off to go try to climb the Eiffel Tower.  We got there and of course, with my luck, there is a bomb threat so the entire vicinity was blocked off by armed officers, ready to fire at any suspicious movement.  So we decide to let it go, we will be back to Paris again sometime… We must now! Instead we decide to walk to the Arch de Triumph… which ended up to be a great decision!

Not that being with a group is not awesome, but I couldn’t handle it anymore.  I had to get away and explore on my own.  So that is exactly what I did.  I walked all over the place, watching couples fall deeper in love in such a romantic city, girls strutting through the streets in their inventive fashions; layered materials, mixed patterns and amazing boots, always looking like they have somewhere to be. Which I am sure that they do.  With such a vibrant city, you could never run out.  The French men stand outside their shops, smoking and drinking… making flirtatious comments when they see someone walk by they like.  

So Monday we toured the Louvre… it’s the Louvre. Something you have to go see. Maybe I was museumed out, or not feeling very enthusiastic, I am not sure I just have nothing of dire significance to report. I saw the Mona Lisa… it was crowded and she sits in her own air-conditioned bullet proof case out of harms way.

But our trip to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery was absolutely wonderful.  There are over 70,000 tombs and monuments here including Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison and Moliere… Rays of sunshine beamed through the grey moss on the trees dancing upon the gravestones like angels playing amongst the clouds.  

Someone recently asked me if Paris was actually as romantic as everyone thinks it is… and not being there with any special person, I would still have to say that it is.  It is not the city itself, which is quite dirty with loads of people trying to sell stuff to tourists, but the ambiance, the beautiful language, sites to see and the loving way people interact is what makes this city truly unique.

I can not wait to go back to that special city someday.

DORCHESTER- 1-30-11

I lay in the same bed of the same room that two of my favorite people loved so much.  Tears stream down my face as the many memories of my grandparents consume my thoughts.  Mr. John Pratt’s old mill house with the thatch roof built over 400 years ago is quaint and cozy, and covered with small tokens each holding a special purpose, like the dollhouse he made himself for his daughter Maria or a card from an old friend.  The kitchen below marks the beginning of a unique friendship that would have my grandparents returning to Dorchester-on-Thames year after year.  I sit with Mr. Pratt in his living room as he tells me the magic and beauty of life. Stories of falling in love and holding onto that love for not just fifty years of life, but in the passing of it as well. Stories of war, and even through the pain and sorrow that accompanies, comes happiness.  Without the war, my grandfather and him would have never become best friends and I would not be laying in this bed, listening to the hymns that stream from the player from the room below, keeping warm under soft floral sheets while the blistering cold of night looms just on the other side of the window… 

I woke this morning to the symphonies of great musicians and the old man singing my name and wishing me a good morning.  We had a perfect breakfast of fresh eggs Richard collected down at the farm and whole meal toast.  We bundled up and went for a lovely walk down the river Thames.  The river is much narrower here than in London.  We tromped over icy grass along the footpath, leaving behind prints just like the deer and the moles had also done.  I have a strong appreciation and love to look at the work of man, like buildings and art, but it is the works of God that I find remarkable.  I love to sit outside and soak in rays of sunshine, watching tall grasses dance with the invisible wind.  Looking out over a field at the horizon in Dorchester, it is impossible to describe all the different shades of green.  This is true beauty to me.  That is not something we as humans can create, and just like Van Gogh, it absolutely fascinates me.  Mr. Pratt’s great grand daughter Harmony turned three today, so we drove down to a hall where we met up with the rest of the family and some friends and had a nice birthday party complete with all the works… a pinata, cheese sandwiches, tea, birthday cake and of course, Chandy.

“And sings my soul, my savior God to Thee, how great thou art, how great thou art…”

OXFORD!