Day 215. I can’t believe it, but I’m heading home today. I’ve had a really lovely last few days with Amy (and Marybeth and Jerry, and Jenny and Julie!). We visited Cambridge on Wednesday, and got to wander around the college to which I’ve been assigned. It’s not one of the awesomely old ones (unfortunately), but it was cute, and is located next to some fields, giving it an English countryside kind of feel. We also did a punting tour along the river. It was hard to imagine myself there as a student because the whole town is crawling with tourists. That evening I met up with Julie, a pal from Havergal (highschool). It was great to catch up with her, and there’s even a chance she might still be in the UK when I’m here in the fall.

Yesterday I explored Carnaby Street and then got a haircut from Toronto friend Roberta’s brother, Adriano! So I was in top form to then check out LSE in the afternoon. I liked the look of the school quite a lot, and I was even allowed inside the buildings. It definitely feels like a “city” university, which is new for me. I also went to check out the accommodation I’ve been assigned, to find it’s in a beautiful, smart-looking building just off Trafalgar Square - very central. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of this residence initially (too much like undergrad), but it seems to be growing on me. At any rate, I’m still not decided, but I’ll make sure I know before next week is out.

After LSE I went to the National Portrait Gallery to see an exhibit of the BP Portrait Award 2010; it was quite good, and free. Post-gallery I wandered my way back to Amy’s, where we made a tasty dinner, and then went out to a local pub for pitchers of Pimms. We were met by Marybeth and Jerry, and Amy’s friend Lucy. By the end of the night we figured we’d each had about a pitcher of Pimms each - a fitting end to my time in London (for now)!

I’d like to show you more recent photos, but my camera is giving me trouble about downloading - so these ones are from Brighton and the view from St. Paul’s. I’m sure I’ll get the pictures off okay when I’m home, so not to worry. And, well, I’d better go pack up my things. I think when I get home I’ll do a reflections-type post, so the blogging fun isn’t all over yet!

Love,

Isabel

I know you’d rather I had some photos to share, but this is just meant to be a quick little post, letting you know what I’ve been up to the past couple days. On Monday I moved into Amy’s central-London flat, and met her friends Jerry and Marybeth who are also travelling around Europe - the four of us are all from Ontario! That day we took the train to Brighton, and explored the seashore. There were pebbly beaches, the White Cliffs of Dover, carnival games and rides on the pier, and ice cream. And tasty seafood for lunch! That evening we were joined by another Ontarian, Tyler, and went to Amy’s local pub for pear cider, which smelled like pear Jelly Bellys, and tasted DELICIOUS.

Today Marybeth and I spent the morning at St. Paul’s Cathedral, climbing over 500 steps to the highest gallery from which you can observe the city of London. We had a great view of the Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, the Thames, the London Eye, the Tower Bridge, and many other interesting buildings. In the afternoon Amy, Jerry, Marybeth and myself went to see the Wallace Collection of art in a historic town house, and then the Victoria and Albert Museum; there is currently an exhibit of Grace Kelly’s clothes at the V&A, which I really enjoyed. Going to galleries and museums with Amy is pretty sweet, given that she’s doing a Masters at Sotheby’s - she knows the city’s art really well, and likes telling us about it! So we kind of get a guided tour all the time.

This evening I met up with my friend Jenny, whom I met two months ago in Vietnam. We saw a good film at the British Film Institute (My Night with Maud, French, 1969) and then had dinner. It was great to see Jenny again, and in a funny way she has book-ended my two months of post-Australia travel. It’s still possible that we’ll both end up studying at Cambridge in the fall, which - I have to admit - would be pretty sweet. Speaking of which, I’m going to visit Cambridge tomorrow!

Ta-ta for now!

Alright, chappies?! Yes, yes, I haven’t been blogging, I know, but I’ll have you caught up in no time. I arrived here in London on Thursday, which was a two continent, three country, two train, one plane kind of day; I flew to Paris from Casablanca, and then took the Eurostar to London. I was met at Waterloo Station by my dear Tanya, who I hadn’t seen in five years! There have indeed been quite a lot of reunions on this trip.

On Friday Tanya and I went into London - she lives with her fiance in a charming flat in St. Margaret’s, about 30 minutes from the city center. We hit up the shops, and I did some damage, particularly at Topshop. That evening we went out for a nice dinner in Richmond, the next neighbourhood over. On Saturday I met up with Alanna for one last time, and together we went to the Portobello Road markets. I finally found myself a boater at the market, and a vintage London 1930’s boater, no less! That evening I got to meet Tanya’s lovely fiance, James, for the first time, and we all went out to celebrate the birthday of their friend Tom. Today we’ve had a nice, relaxing day in St. Margaret’s, having a “lie-in” (a.k.a. sleep-in), and working on the program for Tanya and James’ wedding, which is just a month away. I won’t be able to attend, so it’s been nice to help out in some way. For dinner we decided to make some traditional English food: bangers and mash! Tomorrow morning I bid Tanya adieu for now, and move in to Mount A friend Amy’s central London flat. She has two other Ontarians visiting her at the moment, and the four of us are going on a day trip to Brighton tomorrow.

My days here in London are flying by - I still have yet to visit LSE and Cambridge, and have more friends to look forward to seeing! Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be hearing from me again soon… I just realized that if I go another four days without posting, then the next time you’ll hear from me will be the night before I come home, WOAH.

So for many of you, I’ll be seeing you soon!

And award for cleanest person in the world now goes to… Isabel. Indeed, for this afternoon I made a pilgrimage to the local hammam. I was steamed, scrubbed, massaged, soaped, showered, steamed again, and waxed. Sure, I lost half my tan to the hammam drains, but as Myriam says, now I have a “glow”. My only complaint is that it all went by too fast! I could easily say the same thing about my time here with her in Casa, given that early tomorrow morning I fly back to Paris, where I’ll catch the Eurostar train to London.

In the past couple days we’ve eaten lots of great seafood - even going to a market where you take your pick from the fishmongers to another guy who’ll barbecue it up for you for lunch. I’ve seen some local art, drank much more mint tea and avocado juice, and last night Myriam and I went to the Rick’s Cafe of Casablanca (the film) fame.

I’ll sign off for now, as shortly Myriam and I are heading out for my last night! Catch you in London, my very last round-the-world destination.

Salam, friends! Greetings from Casablanca, Morocco. I’ve been having such a nice time here with Myriam, who I hadn’t seen for seven years prior to Saturday! Catching up and hanging out has been so nice. Even nicer is the knowledge that we’ll only be separated by a mere (English) channel from October-onward. 

My first night here we went out for a late Spanish dinner in a pretty courtyard with Myriam’s friend Natalie. Then yesterday we had a kind of Moroccan and French fusion brunch, and spent the afternoon at “Tahiti Beach”, a private beach on the Casa coast. Afterward - in part because of the humidity, and in part because it’s so cheap - we went to a salon and had our hair washed and dried. For dinner we grabbed a quick bite on our way to… the VIP section of the Casablanca Music Festival! Myriam has a friend working for the magazine which co-sponsored the festival, hence our awesome hook-up. We saw French rapper/poet Oxmo Puccino, and Missy Elliott. The main festival sponsor was the King of Morocco.

Today Myriam was back at work, where she’s interning with the national water provider. I explored on my own in the morning, and we met for lunch at the souq (a.k.a. marketplace). Unlike, say, Marrakesh, Casablanca is not a tourist destination. So the foreigners one encounters are usually expats, or are here for business. As a result, there’s not a whole lot in this town which caters to tourists; in some ways this is nice, as it makes the place feel more “authentic” - but some things are made more difficult. For example, there’s not a lot of English spoken, or real ‘tourist attractions’.

At any rate, back to today: we each pulled up a chair alongside Casa locals to enjoy a plate of fried fish, shrimp, and crabs legs, along with round Moroccan bread and a slightly spicy dipping sauce. We then wandered, admiring the local leather products, and skeptically eying all the fake designer items. We stopped at a cafe for some of the famous Moroccan mint tea before Myriam was headed back to work. Later on I visited an old, no longer functioning church, where for a mere 20 dirhams (about 20 euro cents) you can climb to the top of one of the towers. From this height, you can see the ocean, as well as a bunch of the city. For dinner Myriam and I frequented her favourite juice bar to stock up on picnic supplies. One of the most popular local drinks here is avocado blended with milk - and once you get over the liquid guacamole thing, it’s actually pretty good. We then carted our avocado shakes, sandwiches, and yogurt with fruit to Myriam’s rooftop terrace!

I’m not entirely sure what the next few days will hold - perhaps back to the beach, and surely more Moroccan food - but I will make certain that I get to the local hamam for a good scrub!

I’d like to share more photos, but I’m using Myriam’s internet-stick, and it’s fairly slow. So you’ll just have to hold out for now, I’m afraid!

It’s my last night in Paris! And a pretty tame one at that, but I have had a busy day. I started off with the Musee d’Orsay (on my own - Alanna and her bro peaced out to the north for a day, so next I’ll meet up with them in London). And my goodness, I was so glad I went to the Musee d’Orsay; when I first laid eyes upon the Gauguins and Van Goghs, with their beautiful swirling colours, I practically wanted to cry, they were so beautiful. But I kept my cool (as always, right?) and held myself together. There was lots of beautiful Impressionist and Post-Impressionist stuff, and the museum building itself is a gorgeous old train station.

After several hours admiring the entire collection (including some really early photographs, and even a bunch of Art Nouveau furniture) I went to the Jardins du Luxembourg for lunch. After that I walked around a bit, and decided to visit Ladurée one last time. Later on I visited a canal recommended by Myriam and Fella, and a park with a cool bar and amazing view of Paris at sunset.

Now, as a young woman travelling in Europe, you always hear that Italian men have the most vociferous come-ons. But as a matter of fact, I have found that the men in France have left their Italian counterparts in the dust far, far behind. I was only hit on/hissed at (kind of the same thing) a couple of times in Venice, and always by older guys. Whereas in Paris, I get some kind of pick-up attempt six or seven times a day; more, if I’m dressed up, or on my own, and always from younger guys. That’s a lot, especially when compared to my Toronto average of zero times per day. Most of the time it’s pretty polite, along the lines of «Bonjour, madmoiselle, ça va ?» but this evening I had a guy chase me down the block and over a bridge, asking me “why can’t we spend the night together?”. I don’t think so, pal. Fella tells me it’ll be most extreme in Casablanca, where cat-calling and whistling is the norm. I have also expanded my collection of pants from one pair to three (let’s hope my suitcase can withstand the growth), as I will have to be pretty well covered up in Morocco. The weather report, though, isn’t much different from Paris, and apparently there are some comfortable sea breezes in Casa as well. 

Time to go to sleep in Myriam’s Parisian bed one last time, before spending six days with her in her Moroccan bed!

Photos, photos, photos! Paris is kind of too pretty not to share so many pictures. It’s also quite a happening place - especially with tourists. It’s been a little odd, coming from Southeast Asia, which is currently in their low tourist season, to here - where you can’t even order a ham and cheese baguette without queuing in line for 20 minutes (sometimes). But seriously, folks, I waited almost two hours in line to get into Versailles on Tuesday. And once inside, there were so many other tourists jostling me, and getting in the way of my photos, and what have you, that spilling out into the massive gardens afterward was a huge relief. 

On Le Quatorze Juillet - that’s Bastille Day, for the rest of us - I met up with Alanna, saw some military parades, walked along the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, went to Ladurée twice, had wine and cheese for dinner, went to a party hosted by a friend of my host’s, drank champagne, climbed Monmartre to see the fireworks from the Eiffel Tower, ran to the other side of Monmartre when we realized we weren’t facing the tower at all, and climbed a fence to see the grand fireworks finale. A pretty good day, all in all!

Today Alanna and I took a boat along the Seine, stopping at the Eiffel Tower (where we took the stairs! That’s equivalent to climbing 43 stories, no big deal), Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, and the Jardins des Plantes. Then I met up with Fella at the Petit Palais to see a retrospective of Yves Saint Laurent - it was the most non-touristy event of the day, for sure, but was still packed with locals.

Tomorrow is my last full day in Paris, and I haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to do with it - there’s still so much to see and do… Either way, I’ll get up early in hopes of beating the crowds.

Je suis arrivé en Paris! How’s that French for you? The photo, though, is from last night in Venice. Caroline and I went out for pizza and red wine, of course. And it was delicious, of course!

But back to Paris - I’m here! I’m staying with a family friend/the mother of a friend at her charming apartment. She was still at work when I first arrived (why yes, I did successfully navigate my way here on the metro all by myself, sans directions or help), but she’d left a key for me with her neighbour - an old French guy named Claude (of course). Claude is super sweet, and had me over for a glass of wine and some cheese-based snacking while I waited for Fella (the aforementioned family friend/friend’s mom) to arrive - quite a proper French welcome, no?

On Wednesday Alanna gets here, so we will be out there painting the town red (and blue, and white) for Bastille Day. I will do my best to see as many galleries and museums, and wondrous sights as I can without keeling over. Maybe do a little shopping, too.

At any rate, I have free internet access again, so you can expect to hear much more from me, and see more photos! I know I’ve been slacking a little in that department, but hey, maybe I’ll even post a few from Laos, since you haven’t seen any.

Bisous, babies.

Hey readers, here I am! Yes, I’m sure you’ve been missing me, and wondering what I’ve been up to - well here goes. First of all, though, I’ll explain my absence: I am staying with dearest Caroline in her Venetian flat, where she does not have internet (the brave thing didn’t even bring her computer). And there are basically no cafes with wireless here - at the moment we’re at a bar, and I am paying to use their Wi-Fi. Though this is the first time all trip I’ve had to pay for internet, so that’s really not so bad.

Venice is lovely, and also hot. Yesterday we took a boat to the island Lido with two other Guggenheim interns (Kimia and Daniel), and relaxed all day on the beach. The day before, when I first arrived, I met up with my Australian pal Alanna and her brother James. We had a lovely day catching up, and exploring the streets and canals of Venice. It’s impossible to not get lost here. Even after her time here, Caroline still gets lost, too!

I’ve been loving the food. On our first night Caroline and I went to a sweet little restaurant in a square popular with students and shared a big plate of cured meats. I’ve also fallen for the local cocktail, hard: the Spritz. It’s a sweetish and slightly bitter drink that comes with an olive and a slice of orange, and it’s orange in colour - it’s great on hot days.

Tomorrow I hope to visit the islands Murano and Burano, which are famous for glass and lace! And I will of course head over to the Guggenheim, to see Caroline at work, as well as the collection.

Ciao for now, bambinos, and next you’ll hear from me, I’ll be in Paris!