Oh Goodness, I Need More Sleep

Saturday, the 5^th of Feb.

That was the first thought I had when my alarm went off at 5am.  It’s not so much getting up at 5am as going to bed at 1:45am then getting up at 5am that does it to me.  Anyways, I stumbled downstairs to wait for the shuttle only to be greeted by a very chipper British lady who was probably in her late fifties.  She was also taking the shuttle and while we waited, she wanted to know everything about me.  Where I was from, where I was going, what I would be doing there etc.  It was actually great because I love meeting new people, it just threw me off a bit at 5:30 am.

I’ll say this for the Brits, they really do security right.  I checked my bags, including having to go to two different British Airways desks, cleared security, took a serious of trams and escalators and was at my gate in 32 minutes.  Not bad considering the TSA would have just starting warming up the porno-machine in 32 minutes. 

A little bit of despair/frustration set in when I realized that after the agony of the flight to London an almost equally long flight to Tel Aviv faced me now.  However, I wound up seating next to Conrad, well actually there was one seat between us which was perfect.  Conrad is a really cool English chap who works in London for a US software and logistics firm.  He goes to Israel about 15 times a year for business so he had loads of useful info.  Plus, he’s flown so many times that he knew exactly when we were crossing the Alps.  Being the thoughtful fellow that he is, he interrupted my movie (Due Date, which is hilarious) to open the shade so I could see them.  They are breathtaking, even at 30,000 feet you are overwhelmed by the grander and majesty of those mountains.  With all due respect to my brother, I can’t wait to go skiing there.

Upon arrival in Tel Aviv I was a little nervous because while the law school here “recommends” that you have a student visa upon entry, it’s not actually required and all the material they sent me said I could come in without one.  That is until about 5 days before I left when they sent me an email saying they recommended I have one.  The fact that I did not have one, coupled with Israel’s notoriously difficult immigration/security made me slightly tense.  However, I needn’t have worried.  When it was my turn I walked up to the booth and the guard asked me the purpose of my visit.  I responded that I was there to study. 

“Study what?” 

“International law.” 

“Where?” 

“Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University.” 

“Ah cool.  [big smile] I’m a law student myself at [a law school I can’t remember but fully intend to look-up].  Do you have a visa?” 

“No, the law school said I could get one when I got here.” 

“Alright.  Get the visa when you get a chance. Welcome to Israel.” 

End of discussion.  I really could get used to this whole “being a lawyer makes people actually want to help you” thing.  It’s new to me.

After immigration I sailed through customs, caught a taxi and checked into a hotel.  Providentially the taxi cab ride took me by my apartment building so I got to check it out briefly.  Once I checked into the hotel I walked up to check out the area around the apartment building and then called it a night.  I just couldn’t believe that the hotel that the airport info-desk lady booked for me happened to be within easy walking distance of my apartment.  What a blessing!

P.S. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the two “reunions” I had in the airport.  The first person I saw after deplaning was a guy wearing an E&Y backpack in the airport.  We struck up a conversation and discovered we’d worked on some of the same clients.  Thousands of miles apart but the same team.   The second reunion was of course an Auburn Family Reunion™.  After clearing customs I was trying to decide what to do, I could either call my prospective landlord who had offered to put me up for the night or check into a hotel.  I finally decided on the hotel but while I was thinking I hear a big “war eagle” and I get a big hug from this lady who’s frantically tugging at her husband and pointing at my shirt.  We exchange “war eagles” and go on our way.

One More Day in Cambridge

Friday, the 4^th of Feb.

It was a pretty glorious day.  We got up early and went to brunch at Patisserie Valerie which was outstanding then wondered around Cambridge some more.  We had to stop at FCUK (yes, I spelled that right it’s French Connection United Kingdom see this post for a picture) for one member of our group to flirt with a English bloke who works there which meant I had to stand outside and wait so I wouldn’t look like I was attached to this particular person.  Wouldn’t want to throw off the groove. 

We saw some beautiful parks and then I went home to pack.  We met up with Lauren again for dinner at Pizza Express, which was really good, and she brought her friend Rachel who was really cool.  It was a great night of fellowship and I really enjoyed it.  However, it meant that I left Cambridge a lot later than I was planning and didn’t get to the hotel till after 1am.  Oh well, definitely worth it.  Tomorrow it’s on to the Old, Old World!

On to Ireland!

Saturday, the 29^th of Jan.

Today is one of my designated travel days as I am headed to the Republican of Ireland.  (FN1) We had planned to get up early and go visit some of the parks but everyone slept in, which was fine by me.  I spent the day re-packing my bags so that I could get everything I needed for a week into the one carry-on that RyanAir allows (no personal item, just one bag).

Everything went fine until I got to the train station.  I got there a little early so I decided to call home since I hadn’t talked to my parents the entire trip.  I figured a “hey, I’m alive” phone call was in order.  Well, I’m standing at the right platform for my train to Stansted airport but the train arrives early.  I get on it, it starts to pull away and immediately I realize I’m on the wrong train going the opposite direction.  As a result I had to take a cab to the airport, which stunk.  It also meant that instead of arriving comfortably early to the airport I arrived 8 minutes before the gate was supposed to close.

By the grace of God, and my wily traveler skills (hah), I made it onto the flight but I was quite a sight.  Stansted is a very long airport.  Instead of having lots of terminals that are spokes off a hub, Stansted is all one, long, long, long terminal (think Detroit if you’ve ever flown out of Northwest’s terminal there).  It’s hard for me to tell for sure since I was running through at full-sprint, but I think it was over half a mile long.  Of course my gate was the very last one.  So I’m sprinting through the airport hauling my carry-on (which probably weighed 30 pounds and was awkward to carry) and wearing a sweatshirt and jacket because it was 2 or 3° Celsius outside (around 38 F).  By the time I made it onto the plane I was sweating, but I didn’t care because I just wanted to be on that flight.  It was a RyanAir flight which meant that I purchased the ticket for £6 (about $10) but if I had to change my flight it would be £45 ($72) so I didn’t want to miss that flight.

The flight itself was really interesting.  RyanAir obviously doesn’t make its money from ticket sales (in fact, until this year they sold all their flights for a pence [penny]) so they make it up other ways (like that huge change fee).  The flight had a carnival atmosphere with the attendants hawking everything from vacation packages to lottery tickets.  It was great.  I slept through most of it though.

Seth picked me up from the airport and we went straight to the missions conference his church was helping to host in Cork.  It was really cool to meet people from all over Ireland right away.  They kept saying, “well you can probably tell I’m not from around here” but I had no clue.  By the end of the week I could tell certain accents apart, but not then. (FN2)  The pastor who spoke used the Will Smith classic Independence Day as one of his sermon illustrations which I thought was hilarious.  (Essentially his point was that it was very American to make a movie where our president saves the entire world himself. Haha.)  It was really sobering to hear stories from the missionaries gathered about the persecution the churches were under in the countries where they ministered.  It’s hard to believe that torture still occurs for someone’s beliefs, but it does. 

I think the coolest part of the conference was realizing that I’ve seen the body of Christ in four countries on three continents in the last month and I’m about to add one more country and continent!  It really does remind you of how big and awesome God is when you see the work he is doing all over the world.

After the conference we loaded everyone up in the van and started driving back to Youghal which was 45 minutes away.  During the van ride I made the comment, “wow, I love the winding back-country roads!” And the entire car burst out laughing.  Turns out we were on the major highway in the county.  Whoops.

When I got to Seth and Jessica’s they had a warm coal fire burning in the fireplace and I made my bed beside it and slept like a baby.  I felt so cool to be sleeping by a coal fire in Ireland.

FN1 Ireland.  The Emerald Isle is divided into two parts: Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom (all parts) and Great Britain (the part of the UK that’s in the British Isles).  Southern Ireland, which is about 2/3 of the isle, is a separate country, the Republic of Ireland.  It is a member of the EU and has its own government.  There are no border controls between northern and southern Ireland, but there are between England and Ireland.  (In fact, in some places the boundary between northern and southern Ireland is not even marked at all.)

FN2 Accents.  Northern Ireland has the thickest accents.  Lot of brogue and is probably what you think of when you think of an Irish accent.  The middle seems to have the softest accents while the south, especially County Cork has its own distinct accent.

Cambridge Proper

Friday, the 28^th of Jan.

Today we toured downtown Cambridge and the University.  The downtown still has a very medieval feel to it.  It was awesome.  Lots of cobblestone sidewalks and streets with narrow roads and shops all built in a row.  It’s like one giant strip-mall, only really cool looking and the shops are interesting.  There is a market in the center of the town where we spent some time browsing.  Basically our day consisted of wondering around sightseeing until the girls got cold, at which point we’d duck into a random shop for tea.  It was great.

The entrance to one of the many colleges of Cambridge University.

A street in downtown Cambridge.

The same street shot to show the sky.

Near the market downtown.

At one point Haley got really creeped out by this guy that was leaning on a balcony watching everything.  Only it turns out that “he” was a statute.

Maybe it’s just because I’m in England, but everything feels classier.  The homeless here don’t beg for money they sell “The Big Issue” which is a newspaper.  The street performers weren’t The Naked Cowboy but instead we witnessed a duet between a bassoon and violin.  Straight class that was.

We toured Jesus College and the Fellow’s Garden there.  It was unbelievable.  I don’t really know how to describe it.  A lot of amazing buildings with beautiful gardens.  It felt very Secret Garden to me.  You’d walk around the corner and there would be a stone wall stretching into the distance with moss and vines growing over it and a very intriguing door every so often.

After that we went to meet up with Lauren, an old buddy from Auburn who’s currently getting her masters at the University here.  She toured us around St. John’s College which was unbelievable as well.  Lots more open space.  Whereas Jesus felt like Secret Garden, St. John’s felt like Lord of the Rings.  Sorry for resorting to cheap movie references, but word pictures have never been my specialty.  St. John’s had tons of towering, majestic buildings with wide-open courtyards and green-spaces between them.  At one point you cross the Bridge of Sighs over the river which is supposed to be one of the most famous bridges in England.

The low light was killing me.  It was already well into dusk at this point.

Next we went to Evensong where Sam, another American getting his masters here, joined us.  I hesitate to even describe Evensong because it was so awesome.  Sam is a minister in the Anglican Church so it was great to have him there because he knew so much of the history behind the service.  It’s a chapel service from the Book of Common Prayer and has been worshiped regularly since 1622.  It’s in the Cathedral at King’s College. (FN1)  The cathedral is tall with warm woodwork everywhere and plenty of stain-glass windows.  There is a big organ in roughly the middle of the church that services a divider of sorts.  It allows them to use part of the huge cathedral as more of a chapel without seeming empty.  Very ingenious design.

The actual service consisted of the King’s College Boys Choir singing in Latin and English with the congregation doing responsive readings and the priests reading Scripture and praying.  It was amazing.  If you do one thing in England this is it hands down.  It’s done every Friday evening at 5:30.  Better line up early though.  We got there at 5:10 and that was plenty early, but I imagine during tourist season that earlier arrival would be necessary.

The line forming outside the famous chapel.

After Evensong we left to try and get dinner.  We first tried The Eagle where the discovery of DNA was announced by Watson and Crick.  However, it was packed so we moved on.  We wound up at B.  It was great.  Great food and great drink selection.  As everyone says, the service just isn’t the same outside the US.  We were sitting there after placing our dinner order when a manger-type person appeared and put a sign on our table saying that the table was reserved at 8:30 (in 45 minutes).  Who just tells paying patrons they have to relinquish their seats in 45 minutes?  I tracked him down and we got things sorted out, but I was slightly incredulous.  We celebrated Lauren passing her first round of exams.  It’s similar to law school in that her entire masters program consists of two papers and a thesis so there’s not a lot of feedback and a ton of pressure on those papers.  Afterwards we migrated over to All Bar One where we hung out some more. 

Haley, Elizabeth, Adam, Me, and Lauren

The highlights of our time at ABO were Haley taking her tip back from the bartender after she felt like his service was subsequently lacking and me forgetting my souvenir sweatshirt and having to run back several blocks to get it.  Some things aren’t different no matter where you are and running through crowds of drunk people will get you the same cheers and jeers here that it will in the US.  Hahaha good times.

FN1. Colleges.  The university system is different over here.  Instead of doing it by subject matter (I graduated for example from Auburn’s creatively named College of Business), they do colleges by residence.  So your college is more like your community.  Then each major/faculty would have its own separate buildings which I think are located within a college, but not necessarily your college.  All the colleges I have named in this post are part of Cambridge University.

London!

Thursday, the 27^th of Jan.

I am so pumped to be headed back to London WITHOUT all the luggage.  Good grief that was so miserable hauling all that gear around the Tube and train.  We took the train from Cambridge to King’s Cross and changed over to the Tube (the Underground).  From there we went to Buckingham Palace.  Quite regal.  There was some kind of ceremony going on and we could see in and watch them taking pictures with some dignitary.  The Palace is quite impressive and their guards look way cooler than our Secret Service, but if I wanted someone protecting me, I’d pick our boys every day of the week.

The English are quite thoughtful of us poor ignorant Americans and I kept cracking up at the street paintings which remind us to look the other way before crossing.  I finally took a picture of one just because it amused me.  (FN1)



Haley missed Elizabeth’s “look serious” memo.



Next, since any tour of London is not complete without large department stores, we went to Harrods of London.  It wasn’t my choice to go there, but man, it was something else to see.  We never even made it past the first two levels.  It was HUGE.  Easily the entire city block and I think seven stories tall.  They had about eight restaurants in the bottom.  They had several large rooms for watches only.  It was ridiculous.  We saw a watch there that was £750,000 ($1,200,000)!  For a WATCH!  It was wild.



We at lunch at this place called Pret, and I only mention it because I HIGHLY endorse it.  It was awesome and fairly cheap for London.

Next we moved on to the Thames, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and the Eye of London because they are all right together.  Big Ben is really cool looking and impressive.  It looks simultaneously futuristic and historical.  It sits on the corner of the Houses of Parliament which were also cool looking, especially for government buildings which are normally quite drab.  We didn’t go into Westminster Abbey because it costs a lot of money and I wasn’t presently interested in paying money to see dead people.  Some day when I have more money and time I definitely want to see it though.

Big Ben and the Tube

Parliament and one of the iconic double-decker buses

Another shot of the Houses of Parliament

Westminster Abbey

The River Thames

Then we moved on to see the changing of the guard at the Household Calvary.  It was kind of cool, but not a lot of action for the time it took.  It’s like all the other changing of the guard ceremonies I’ve seen, except on horseback, which was kind of cool. 

Then we moved on to

Trafalgar Square

, which is a place I’ve always wanted to see.  I think it’s because every good novel set in England mentions it (authors from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Tom Clancy have used it).  So even though there’s not much there the girls graciously indulged me. 

It was only a short walk from the Square to Café in the Crypt.  Which is at St. Martins in the Fields! The NPR nerd in me got really excited when I realized that.  *smooth voice talking* “And now we’ll have Gianni Schicchi’s O mio babbino caro played by the Orchestra of the Academy of St. Martins in the Fields directed by Peter Frankl.”

 The Café is actually in old catacombs and it was so cool.  We had a spot of tea nestled in the catacombs and it was delightful.  As we were leaving they turned out the lights and lit candles so I made a mental note to go back some time in the evening.  (I am DEFINITELY going back, despite the fact that Elizabeth and I separately spotted mice roaming.  Haha.)

We spent the rest of the day wondering the shopping district.  Anthro was my favorite because it had great chairs for me to sit and read emails on my Blackberry.  I also have to give a shout-out to FCUK.  As in French Connection United Kingdom.

FN1.  Traffic.  Actually, it isn’t just Americans.  Brits, and their former possessions/territories, are about the only people in the world who drive on the left side of the road. In fact, about 2/3 of the world drive on the right side of the road.

British Culture

I feel like this is an appropriate time to delve into little things I noticed. Like the fact that they have strange flavors over here.

Roast chicken?  Really?

Chips = fries.  Crisps = chips.

Biscuits = cookies.

Using the bathroom = $$$.  I couldn’t believe this one but its true: restrooms generally cost money.

England = cool words.  They just use cooler words than we do.  Case in point is this sign on the train from Cambridge to London exhorting you not to litter.

We now return to our regularly scheduled blogging.

The Old World!

Wednesday, the 26^th of Jan.

This day is really a continuation of yesterday.  Despite getting upgraded by Gertie to an entire row, I didn’t sleep very well on the plane, which is unusual for me because I sleep really well on planes.  [Update: I slept like a baby on every other flight this trip.]  Arriving in London and getting to Cambridge was actually remarkably easy.  Or at least it would have been if I wasn’t hauling about 150 pounds of luggage.  Yuck.  That was quite difficult to navigate through the airport, immigration, customs, the Tube at rush hour, the train station, the train and finally the cab.  One cabbie actually refused to take us because the bags were so big haha.  I actually think I packed quite light for three months but whatever.

When we got to the Mudge’s we went with Elizabeth to the grocery store, Tesco Express, which was a really pretty walk through a park and an alley.  The store had some really interesting products like “Roast Chicken” potato “crisps.” 

After lunch we took a quick nap and then hung out for a while before we headed to Wrestlers this incredible English pub that serves amazing Thai food.  You read that right.  Cask ale on tap and some of the best Thai food ever on your plate.  Highly recommended.

After dinner we went on base to go grocery shopping at the PX, Adam also showed us the flight line which was amazing.  Rows of fighter planes lined up and ready to roll.  Then we went home and to bed.  Apparently I had already started the process because I fell asleep on the way back then woke up and jumped in mid-conversation, much to the amusements of my fellow passengers.