Happy Mommy's Day!

I know some of you have been anxiously waiting to hear about Darin’s visit and our travels within the UK. As soon as I got back though, I had some very demanding deadlines to meet with my dissertation. Seeing as how it’s Mother’s Day today in North America (they don’t have that in the UK), and I have nothing to give my mom, I figured a blog entry would be the next best thing. So Happy Mother’s Day to all you mom’s out there and ‘motherly figures’. Your function as mothers is so important to society (and still not given enough credit in my opinion). I think living away from home makes you appreciate everything your parents do for you even more – and not just in a superficial sense like providing food and shelter, but also (and arguably more so) in a nurturing sense. Of course my mom always seems to figure out a way to nurture long distance, so thanks mommy for still being there *kisses*.

OK so onto my adventures from a month ago – wow I can’t believe it’s been a whole month since Darin came to visit! We really didn’t waste any time in Leicester and left for Edinburgh (Scotland) the following day. Out of all the places we visited, Edinburgh was probably my second-favourite. I remember even the shuttle ride from the airport to the city centre was so scenic. The homes are beautifully landscaped with a variety of trees and flowers in the front yard, really well maintained even though the homes themselves have that antique feeling to them. The city itself is unique as it’s built around a fortress-like castle on top of an extinct volcano. There are several ‘volcanic vents’ around the city that cooled and were eroded to create these enormous mountains. Which is why I say the city is so unique, because it combines these rock formations with ancient buildings and monuments, resulting in an ideal balance of natural and socio-political history.

On top of that, Darin and I absolutely loved our apartment-style hotel room. It’s too bad that after two days, you’ve pretty much covered all of Edinburgh, because we could’ve stayed in that hotel for a whole week!

So what did we do in those two days? A lot of climbing up extinct volcanic rocks – which was exhausting but very rewarding to take in the view of the city from the top. The main commodities that Scotland is well-known for are their Scotch, Haggis, Neeps & Tatties and Tartan and Argyle. Even though I don’t drink scotch, I could tell you all about how it’s made and where it comes from as we went on a scotch-whiskey tour – I think that was probably Darin’s favourite part of the trip. I did try some vegetarian Haggis (which is usually served with Neeps and Tatties aka Turnips and Potatoes). Tartan, which in North America is called Plaid is the traditional pattern used in textiles for everything from curtains to kilts. Apparently, every ‘clan’ in Scotland has its own specific Tartan pattern. Darin and I couldn’t find a Maharajh-Tartan unfortunately! Argyle is the other popular textile pattern, which is most common on golf attire. Oddly enough, Darin and I both packed argyle socks and accidentally wore them on the same day!

After our two days in Edinburgh, we thought it would be a good idea to spend a night in Glasgow – the largest city in Scotland and apparently its economic centre. Honestly, if you ever go to Scotland, don’t waste your time visiting Glasgow. There was absolutely nothing to see. In hindsight, Darin and I should’ve used that day to visit the Scottish countryside – but we really thought Glasgow had more to offer. The only thing we ended up doing was visiting a museum known as the Burrell Collection. Basically, Mr. Burrell was a very wealthy man who collected all kinds of ancient artefacts from around the world. When he died, the property was converted into a public park with a museum displaying his collection. The most impressive piece on display was Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ – one of a handful of original bronze casts. We must’ve been inspired by all the art and history around us, and decided to get creative with our pictures too…

The following day we took the 45 minute train back to Edinburgh and flew out to Dublin (Ireland). A lot of people are confused by the whole U.K. and Republic of Ireland situation so I’ll do my best to explain it here. Ireland was divided into two separate countries: Northern Ireland (where the city of Belfast is) and the Republic of Ireland (where Dublin is, and what we refer to simply as Ireland proper). The U.K. stands for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which we also call Britain or the U.K.. Anyone who is born in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland is considered British, along with whatever their particular nationality may be. For example, you’re English if you’re born in England (and apparently you have to be at least the third generation born in England to refer to yourself as English) but you also fall under the larger umbrella of British. In the U.K. everything runs on the pound – Scotland has their own Scottish pound but it’s the same value as the British pound. The Republic of Ireland is a part of the European Union and runs on the Euro. The UK in some ways is part of the EU as well, except they choose not to implement the Euro obviously because of the strength of the pound. So I hope that made sense and clarifies the situation...it’s taken me an entire 8 months to learn this!

Darin’s old highschool friend Shane who now lives in Portsmouth (that’s in the south of England) joined us in Dublin. In terms of scenery, there isn’t that much to visit in Dublin. We did take one of those 24 hour hop on-hop off tour bus that stopped at the famous sites and provided a lot of interesting historical facts about the city. We visited Trinity College which is the main university there and of course the Guiness Factory, probably the most famous attraction in Dublin. Did you know that the Guiness Book of World Records is actually linked to the Guiness family? It all started in the bars, where men would be drinking Guiness and having debates about what European game bird was the fastest. A Guiness employee saw that there was a need for a manual that had the answers to these questions in bars to settle these disagreements (which by the way was the Golden Plover). From there it obviously grew to include a variety of ‘trivia’ questions.

In comparison to Edinburgh, I would say Dublin is more of an urban, student-city. Very lively at night, and the European influence has taken effect, especially in terms of style. I think it was a fun place to spend the weekend – oh and it’s the only city in Europe with a Tim Hortons!

After Dublin we parted ways with Shane – but not for long because he invited us to visit him in Portsmouth for a couple of nights, and then we planned to spend a night in London and drop Darin at the airport the following day. So we came back to Leicester for two nights, convinced Z to join us in Portsmouth, rented a car, re-packed our bags, and drove for 3 hours south. Thank God Darin was there to drive though, because not only were we dealing with driving on the opposite side of the road – but we also went around and through dozens of roundabouts, and junctions. Luckily we didn’t get lost (ok maybe a couple little confusions here and there), but we made it to Portsmouth in relatively good timing and it was definitely worth the drive. Out of all the cities we visited, Portsmouth was my favourite.

The city used to be a naval port during war-time, as its coast lies along the Portsea, which joins with the English Channel. Now, the marina is a gorgeous stretch of pebbled beach, where people can be found swimming, surfing and parasailing during the summer months. The best thing about Portsmouth is how close the city centre is to the beach. The city is quite condense, and most attractions are walking distance (although it was handy having a car to get to the outskirts where the best fish & chips place was). I think we were all so giddy just to be by the ocean and take in some sun and salty ocean breeze. Darin predicts that Portsmouth is going to be the next big city in England – Brighton is already known as ‘London by the Sea’ but who knows, maybe it will increase in popularity as Brighton reaches a tipping point. Shane was also a very hospitable host – took us out at night to a really fun party with his work colleagues. We weren’t ready to leave Portsmouth though, it would’ve been so nice to explore some of the neighbouring cities like Winchester and Salisbury…maybe Z and I will be able to visit again over the summer – we were shocked that England even had such beautiful beaches and scenery!

From Portsmouth, we took a 2 hour train into London, and spent the afternoon window-shopping and wandering the streets. Shane joined us after work and we sampled some Bangladeshi-style Indian food for dinner and did some more sight-seeing by night. I think Darin wasn’t expecting the sights in London to be as spectacular as they were – he was really impressed by Big Ben, the Eye and Tower Bridge. The following day we parted ways: I took the train back to Leicester, and Shane dropped Darin off at the airport. Overall, I think (hopefully) Darin had a fun trip. He wanted to explore the U.K. (and Ireland) and I think in the two weeks we had, we made the most of them and saw 6 cities – if you include Leicester. I’m so happy he came to visit me – it’s always a good time when Darin’s around, and we definitely shared a lot of laughs and have some funny stories as memories: like when he drove around a roundabout 5 times until we figured out which exit to take, or the many struggles we faced while climbing up (and down!) Arthur’s Seat and Scott Monument, and of course all the hilarious pictures and video clips we took.

This was by far, the best Easter Break I’ve ever had (and the only one that lasted an entire month!). With Mel’s visit and then Darin’s, we covered a lot ground and I was so fortunate to have shared the experience with them. I’m going to end off here because I do need to get back to my work, but I hope that these past few entries have inspired you to travel more, or if that’s not a possibility, maybe you’ve expanded your understanding of these places just by visiting my blog. After I submit my essay next Monday I’ll have a lot more time to post entries. Until next week!

Last Stop: München

Well if I was skimping on the blog entries before, I’m definitely making up for it now! The final stop on our 2 week excursion was to visit Mel’s friend MJ in Munich. Although not the capital of Germany, Munich has definitely gained popularity amongst tourists, becoming more of a symbolic national core (similar to the Barcelona/Madrid situation). Since we only had 2 and half days in Munich, we made the most of it by visiting the city centre as soon as we arrived.

I think we unknowingly planned the order of our trip in the best way possible, because by the time we got to Munich, Mel and I were starting to get tired of constantly having to figure out where to go and how to get there. It was so nice to have someone take you around to all the sites and explain the significance behind everything – not to mention how to use their insane U-Bahn and S-Bahn subway system – which looked even more confusing than the Budapest one! Oh and for all you car buffs, yes we were taken on the Auto-Bahn in MJ’s BMW convertible…it was sort of strange to see people zipping past us but then again, after staying in a city without cars where people get around by boat, everything else seemed relatively normal.

Speaking of MJ actually, I guess I should tell you a bit more about him. He is completing his PhD in Plasma Physics (I hope I got that right). I think he’s trying to bind the nuclei of atoms together in order to create more efficient, environmentally friendly energy. His girlfriend Beata, who works at the same institute but in a different department, also spent most of our time there with us. MJ made a great tour guide, because his father was a History teacher, but is now the mayor for one of the central districts in Munich – so he gave us a brief overview of the history behind each attraction. What’s sad about Munich is that most of it was destroyed during WWII, however most of the city has been rebuilt and still sparkles.

To be honest, I know that we saw all the important buildings like Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) and Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall), and the important areas like Maximilianstrasse and Residenz, but I don’t think I can say exactly which one was what. Suffice it to say that we saw all the important churches, and of course the most popular Hofbrauhaus am Platzl – the largest beer hall in Munich, and there are pictures of it all below. What I can tell you is that the really old-looking gothic building is actually the New Town Hall (19^th Century) whereas the clean white one below it is the Old Town Hall (15^th century), but you’d never guess it from the architecture. Also, the following picture shows two towers in the background – that is a building called the Women’s Church. This has nothing to do with the church being for women alone, but more so because the shape of the towers is indicative of the female form!

The following day was the highlight of our visit to Munich. We drove 2 hours South of Munich along what is known as the Romantic Road. It’s essentially a 180 mile stretch along the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, passing through untouched medieval villages and 2000 year old towns. We were about half an hour away from the Austrian border when we stopped. Our reason for stopping? To see the Neuschwanstein castle of course!

The castle was built by ‘Mad’ King Ludwig II and is what the castle in the fairy tale of Cinderella was based on. Unfortunately the King was declared mentally insane and mysteriously died shortly after completion of the castle (they said he drowned but the water he drowned in was only 30 cm deep…). The castle today remains incomplete, with only 6 rooms that are properly furnished. Again, we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the inside – but I think the most beautiful part was the outside anyways. Hiking through the Bavarian Alps and seeing Neuschwanstein alone were worth the trip to Munich. Growing up in a West Indian family, I guess we always learn to appreciate the natural beauty of beaches and other tropical environments. But I’ve never witnessed this kind of environment before. I remember when we first got out of the car and I looked up at the mountains, these giant white fluffy snowflakes were falling from the sky, and there was that silence that snow always seems to bring, as if the clouds and the mountains and the snow were insulating the whole area. I guess not many tourists make it out of the city, so it was a well-needed change of pace.

After we parted ways with the castle, MJ took us to a small village where he grew up. That's where I was able to convince that white miniature horse to eat out of my hand! Nobody thought I could get him to come to me but I did, and I named him Ludwig!

On our last day in Munich, we wanted to visit the Dachau concentration camp - the first one that Hitler created in Germany. I know it seems really eerie to do but we thought that it was also an important part of history, and definitely part of Munich. Unfortunately (or maybe it was not meant to be), unbeknownst to us most museums in Munich are closed on Mondays, which included Dachau. We decided we wanted to go either way, atleast to pay our respects and see it from the outside. I figured that a place like Dachau would have an aura about it regardless of if we were inside or not. But I tried to stay positive and kept telling Mel "don't worry, we'll get in somehow, someone will be there" and low and behold, when we got there, a man was opening the gate to the camp. I told MJ to go ask him if I could use the bathroom, and the man said he had no idea where it was, but we were more than welcome to come in and look for it! At this point Mel was officially creeped out by my positive thinking, hehe. So even though the actual buildings were closed, we were able to walk around and see the monument they display in every concentration camp (as pictured below). They also had posters up displaying information about how the camp was organized and how long it was operational for. As for the aura, I was completely right. On top of the heaviness a place like Dachau would always have, it was a bitterly cold and windy day, and the entire camp was empty. The three of us stood infront of the massive monument of black skeletal bodies, wound into one another, and all you could feel was absolute tragedy.


The sad aftermath of WWII is visible in every country we visited however. In Paris we found a school where the students and principal were deported to Auschwitz and exterminated because they were Jewish. In Venice, there was the Jewish Ghetto, where many Venetian Jews were also deported to concentration camps. In Munich, other than Dachau, MJ also took us to his old university, where several students (and I think a teacher) were shot dead because they had voiced concerns against the Nazi regime. The entire main hall of the entrance is a memorial to those individuals - I can't imagine as a student, having to walk past something like that everyday to get to classes. MJ said unfortunately a lot of people have become accustomed to the history of the city, it just doesn't seem to have the same impact it once did.






Visiting these places does put a damper on your day in some ways, but I think it's an essential part of the experience. When you see the kind of degradation others have faced in the past, what man does to his fellow man, and how inaction can be just as dangerous as evil acts themselves, it gives you gratitude for all that you do have, appreciation for the opportunities you've been given, and inspiration to do better. Something I've been feeling rather guilty about from all this traveling I've done is that I've learned so much about the rest of the world, and yet know so little about my own country. I could navigate my way through Paris and Venice better than I can Toronto! There's something unsettling about that to me, and I think when all of this is done, I'd really like to spend some time discovering more about Canada. It's tragic that I've never gone back to Montreal since I left 11 years ago! Lately I've had this strong desire to go to Vancouver as well - mainly to see Simon Fraser university but also because it's supposed to be such a beautiful city that combines the natural environment with urban life.

These are pics from the Nymphenburg Palace - actually named after the mythological Nymphs.

But before any of that, I'm expecting Darin in 5 hours - and tomorrow we are going to Edinburgh, Scotland for 3 days and then from there to Dublin for the weekend! I am so excited, I've definitely been bitten by the travel bug (or maybe it was that Venetian mosquito!). I'm sure there's so much I've left out about this trip, and as I recall it I'll be sure to recount the stories on future blog entries. But hopefully you've enjoyed reading my three-part series, and have acquired a decent understanding of our experience - pictures always help with that! So here are a few more random, cute shots I'll end off with. Stay tuned for next week's two-part series: Double D Do the UK (hehe....I'm so silly).








(The mascot of Munich is the Lion - you can find colourful versions of them all over the city - rawr!).