Sunday, January 23, 2011

Manchester Recap!


Hello again,

As you can see, we (Farrell) are making some progress in sorting these photos. These are from our very long day of travelling from Amsterdam to Manchester by train, plane, bus, and foot. Described by George Orwell as the 'belly and guts of the Nation," Manchester is in many ways exactly what you would expect from an industrial dinosaur -- dirty, gritty, bleak -- but, despite first impressions, Manchester boasts a lively music scene, a well-reputed university, and some really well-done museums. But don't take us at our words, have a look for yourself!

Find the Manchester photo set here, or start viewing a slideshow here.

Until Next Time,
Jessica and Farrell

Saturday, January 22, 2011

New Photos: Amsterdam II

Hello everyone!

Here is the next set of our holiday series, this time from Amsterdam. This short day trip took us all through the city, from our hostel at one end to the Anne Frank Museum at the other. Take a look and let us know if you have any questions!

As far as Nijmegen, everything is going pretty well, but we are still in the midst of exams, so there is not too much to say. Fortunately it will all be over January 31, or possibly sooner if I finish my essays early...of course, that might be hoping for too much. Regardless, we should be able to get back to a more routine posting schedule within the next few weeks or so.

You can find the set of photos here, or start viewing a slideshow here.

Until Next Time,
Jessica and Farrell

Friday, January 21, 2011

New Photos: The Hague

Since I finished my last exam Wednesday, my workload has been more reasonable. As a result, I have had time to get a set of pictures sorted, uploaded and described. I will be going through my photos chronologically, starting with this one in Den Haag, followed by Amsterdam, Manchester England, Edinburgh Scotland, St. Andrews Scotland, and Dublin Ireland. Check back regularly over the next week or two for more more photo sets!

You can find the my newest set of photos here, or start viewing a slideshow here.

Farrell

Friday, January 14, 2011

January in Nijmegen

As you may have guessed, we are back in Nijmegen now, though technically we arrived late Saturday evening. We enjoyed a nice final day in Nijmegen with Farrell's Dad on Sunday, as we slept in, went on a lazy walk, met up with Frank's train buddy that befriended him on the train ride from Amsterdam to Nijmegen, and then went to an early dinner at De Hemmel, the delicious, but expensive restaurant we have written about before. On Monday, we had a final walk around the town and the market, followed by a final frites speciaal, and then we walked to the train station, where we said our goodbyes, and saw the train off.

Since, then we have been studying for exams and attempting to recuperate from our colds. Of course, we did take a short break to celebrate my birthday. Farrell bought me a pretty bouquet of daisies, which are sitting pretty in the common area for all to enjoy, as well as a special tin of Lady Grey tea (my favorite). The tea is an especially apt gift, as it is a tin of loose-leaf tea, so I can use it in my teapot that Frank gave me for Christmas. Plus, when I have used all the tea, I will have a nice little tin to put little mementos and such things in. Oh, and as a substitute for a cake he bought us each an apple pie/tart/scone or some sort of pastry from the bakery, which was absolutely delicious.

So, with one exam down, and several more to follow, it was not too bad of a week. Hopefully Farrell will get some pictures up soon, though do bear with us, as there are tons of pictures that must be sorted and only a little time in which to do it.

Until Next Time,
Jessica

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Greetings from Edinburgh

Hello all!

Well, we are now right in the midst of our holiday travels, with only one more day, one more night, and one more very early morning left in Edinburgh, Scotland. By mid-morning Wednesday we will be in Dublin, Ireland to tour around for a few days, assuming all goes to plan, which in our case is assuming too much given previous events. Before going any further allow me to recap the events of the past few days.

December 27, The Hague: A day spent looking at the city that boasts the Netherlands seat of Government and all that goes with it.

December 28, Amsterdam: Basically a day of walking...followed by more walking, but a fun day nonetheless, filled with interesting sites that included the Anne Frank House, among others.

December 29, Amsterdam to Manchester: The original plan -- get up early, breakfast at the hostel at 6:30, short walk to train station, catch the 7:22 trains to Schiphol Airport (get there by 8:00 am), have plenty of time to go through airport and catch our 10:00 flight to Manchester -- needless to say, things did not go accordingly.

What really happened? Well, we did wake up early -- packed and ready in record time -- however, upon reaching the lobby at a little after 6:15 am we were shocked to find out breakfast (unlike every other hostel and despite what was listed on the website) was not until 7:00. As I had the times and platforms written down for four following trains, we decided to wait for breakfast, since it was "free" (or rather included in the price of our stay). Fortunately, since we were not the only guests "mistaken" about what time breakfast was served, the hostel allowed for breakfast to be served at 6:50, so 10 mintues early. We ate a quick breakfast and hurried out the door and down the street in plenty of time to catch the 7:33 train. Of course, on the way we took one wrong turn and missed that train by a few minutes. But, the next train would be along at 7:45, only about 25 minutes later than we originally wanted, but still alloting us plenty of time since it is less than a twenty minute train ride to Schiphol. Unfortunately, skipping over the details of our dreadful realization, the train we were on was not stopping at Schiphol on this trip. Yes, it was the correct train and time, and every other day it does stop at Schiphol, except that one trip -- yet, the train station had not changed the sign; although, we were later informed that the train station had made an announcement, but we never heard any announcements (not that we would have understood an announcement in Dutch). To our misfortune, and that of a few other Schiphol travellers and even employees, we were on our way to Leiden. But, with a little luck and some help from a very kind lady, we made it onto a train back to Amsterdam Schiphol within minutes of getting off the first train. Then, arriving at Schiphol just after 9:00, we made it from the train station airport to the boarding line in 22 minutes flat -- even including my trouble with security. It was the fastest I had ever run. We made our plane. It took off a little after 10:00 and an hour or so later we were in Manchester, England, which we spent the day exploring and visitng museums.

December 30: On this day we took a train from Manchester to Edinburugh, perhaps, the most beautiful city I've seen.

December 31: We celebrated New Year's Eve by touring and participating in Hogmanay, Edinburgh's huge street party festival, along with 80,000 other people.

January 1: Touring in Edinburgh.

January 2: A train/bus ride to St. Andrews, which turns the Old Course into a public park on Sundays for the locals to walk on as they choose.

January 3: More of Edinburgh, specifically the Castles and a few museums.

As for Dublin, I'm just excited. Plus, even if things do not go as planned, I am willing to bet we will make our plane.

Until Next Time,
Jessica

Edit from Farrell:
I have been photo-documenting our travels even more rigorusly than normal, and will upload those photos as soon as I have enough bandwith to do so. Right now, we are on a slow 3G connection.
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