österreich.

the trip from paris to austria started off with an undesired bang, but quickly improved from there.  here's what happened.  

our train was scheduled to leave paris-gare de lyon station at 6:15 am.  all fine and dandy, but at about 6:11am, i was deep underground preparing myself for a flat out sprint up to the train platforms as soon as the doors of my metro car opened.  i had caught the earliest possible metro from where i was staying  and as i planned the previous night, i figured i would have about 10 minutes to make it from the metro to the train.  a little close for comfort, but doable. however, as soon as all the drunk 20-somethings descended onto the metro at the first stop on their way home from their friday night exploits, i knew it was going to be a rough ride.  there i was, smashed against the door of the metro, huge backpack in tow making maneuvering impossible, surrounded by sweaty, stinky frenchies, alcohol leaking from their pores, slurred speech and song spewing (loudly) from their lips, and not a thing i could do about it.  to make matters worse, because the drunk 20-somethings took longer than normal to get on and off the train, we were running a few precious minutes behind schedule, which meant i just missed my connecting metro, which meant i would have to wait 4 minutes for the next one to come.  it's an interesting place to be in, really-- knowing you are 100% out of control of a situation.  no amount of foot twitching or watch checking could make time slow down or make the metro come early so that i would be able to catch my train.  there was absolutely nothing i could do... except prepare myself for the flat out sprint that was about to happen as soon as my metro doors opened.  and sprint i did.  given the huge backpack on my back, it probably wasn't my fastest ever, but effort wise, it was definitely up near the top.  i chugged up the flights of stairs (don't worry, sara.  didn't forget the mouthguard), around the corner, and into the hall of trains. i knew my train would be on platform #?, but i entered into the platform with letters (damn train station.  two halls of platforms?  REALLY?) so after somehow asking a kind french man where the other platforms were, i sprinted down the corrider and around another corner into the correct hall.

pause here.  should i ever get to heaven, i really hope to re-watch this scene of my life again.  and then i'll put it in slow-mo for added effect. i swear... straight from a movie. 

just as i was about to enter the hall, i heard a whistle blow and right as i turned the corner, i saw my train start to pull away, friend and sister on it, and all dreams of sound of music reenacting flying out the window.  to say i was bummed is an understatement.  i was sick to my stomach. i couldn't believe it.... and you shouldn't either, because that last part wasn't true.

here's what really happened: i rounded the corner, saw sara and sophie standing at our pre-determined meeting point and as soon as they saw me, they started running down the train platform to let the conductor know we were going to be getting on.  i caught up to them (couldn't stop the sprint now) and not 30 seconds after we got on the train, the whistle blew and our train started to move.  all this before 6:30 am.  a little too much excitement so early in the morning, don't you think? my mother must have prayed extra hard that day because i still have no idea how i made that train.  truly a miracle.

to sum up the rest of the trip (because this post is long enough): o.m.austria, i heart you. i want to live within your borders. and o.m.s and s.  i heart you, too.

innsbruck

hallstatt.

no sun needed when you're recreating the sound of music.

view from fortress in salzburg

salzburg

vienna

vienna

  lainz tiergarten, vienna.

bonjour et au revoir.

there is a faculty member of my alma mater's french department who is notorious for her ability to make you feel like you are nothing.  some would argue she is cold, judgmental, unsympathetic, and downright heartless.  but there is not one student i've talked to who didn't come out of her class knowing a lot more than when they went in.  she somehow brings out the best in you, pushing you past the self-imposed boundaries of your brain.  and if you give it your all, she may recognize it, she may not, but either way, you come out better in the end.

in my mind, this professor is the embodiment of paris.  my semester in paris was a difficult one; paris pushed me in its sometimes cold, heartless way to help me discover some of my true capabilities.  in reality, paris and i do not have particularly compatible personalities.  we will never be besties and i will never really fit in here. and you know, i am perfectly fine with that.  i don't feel as though i have anything to prove here like i did 4 (!) years ago.  i can, like over the past three days, appreciate what the city has to offer.  after all, it was paris that gave me my first true glimpse into the outside world and for that, i will be forever grateful.

p.s. austria tomorrow.

sainte chapelle 

floor of sainte chapelle

stained glass at notre dame

sacré-coeur from roof of musée d'orsay

arc de triomphe from place de la concorde

le penseur

my fav rodin. and my fav schwestern #4

stained glass at st-denis

The North of England, pt. 2

day #4: whitby --> eyam via mount grace priory and malham tarn

truthfully, we could have stayed another few days in whitby and discovered more of the town, but we pushed onward to mount grace priory and then through the north york moors national park.  in the park, we stopped for a great 6-mile hike up to a lake called malham tarn.  the scenery was, again, stunning.

view during my morning run along the coast. 

mount grace priory. 

malham cove 

hey there, beautiful countryside. 

malham tarn 

way down. 

hiking companions. 

really great dogs.

day #5: eyam --> edale via bakewell

our travels then took us to the peak district national park in hopes of finding some, well, peaks.  we weren't disappointed.  after driving down to bakewell to sample the pudding (and use the internet), we went back to eyam to walk around this very interesting city.  there was an outbreak of the plague in eyam in 1665 and it was honorably decided that rather than risk contaminating a larger part of the area, a border would be established around the city to contain the disease.  no one was allowed in and now one was allowed out, resulting in 260 deaths in the coming year (the population was approx. 600).  certainly it makes one give pause and reflect on how one would react to that situation...

after walking eyam, we headed further into the peak district to edale to take on kinder low, which is not low at all.  the way up was difficult, but the resulting view of the surrounding countryside was well worth the effort.

celtic cross in eyam 

typical scene... general confusion over which way to go. 

 not a bad view.

it's calling "shivering mountain" for a reason... 

way down. 

day #6: edale --> london via lyme park and national coal mining museum

a and i went to lyme park over thanksgiving, but weren't abe to go in the house/gardens.  s had yet to make the pemberly pilgrimage, so we detoured a bit to fit this in.  after lyme we went up to the coal mining musuem, then made the 4 hour drive down to london where we returned to a's flat exhausted from the walking, traipsing, hiking, running, exploring, adventuring, and trying to figure out the english road system. (only one near death experience) but we were happy.  the north done us good.

"to think, of all this i could have been mistress"

another really.  great. tree.

The North of England, pt. 1

a, s, and i are currently enjoying a rest day in london after an excellent trip up to THE NORTH (as the road signs say).  the three of us agree that whilst big cities provide the cultural activities we all enjoy,  we much prefer being in the countryside away from the traffic and the loud noises.  do we sound like we're 80?  probably. and as the past week confirmed, we like to vacation like the over-60s, too.  here are some highlights.

day #1: london --> york via brief stop in lincoln

lincoln cathedral from the (appropriately named) steep hill 

 lincoln cathedral

day #2: york

a very interesting and historically rich city.  after the three of us spent the morning at the national railway museum, s and i wandered the streets while a researched at the york minster library.  we met up for evensong at the minster, walked the roman wall that surrounds the city centre, and generally enjoyed our evening.  

mr. t wants to go! 

must always use quantities the british will understand.

roman tower in the middle of the museum gardens. 

ruins of st. mary's abbey, also in the middle of the park.

cute old couple.

evensong at york minster

 view of the minster from roman wall.

heart the color of the doors!

day #3: york --> whitby via castle howard driveby, fountains abbey, rievaulx abbey.

fountains abbey and rievaulx abbey, both ruins of cistercian abbey, were fantastic. our drive through the moors to whitby was also fantastic.  whitby itself? amazing.  whitby is a fishing village right on the coast of the north sea. we stayed in a hostel run by the cutest swedish lady, brigitte, who made us feel right at home.  the high latitude of whitby (and england in general) made it so we could could stay out much later than when i was here in november.  the sun sets around 11 and rises at 4, giving you long days to fill with adventures.

really great tree. 

fountains abbey 

fountains abbey again. 

 and again.

fish and chips on the whitby pier. 

countryside around whitby.  hello blue sky.

abbey ruins in whitby. 

sunset over the north sea.

Summer '13: Prologue

jan to early april of this year was probably one of the darkest times of my life.  i was very emotionally unhealthy and in a desperation move, i bought a plane ticket to europe.  i needed something to look forward to-- something to pull me out of the depression.  thankfully, through work and miracles and people being kind without knowing what i was experiencing, today i am in a much better place.

not only that, today i get to go to europe.  

as dumbledore would say, "let us step out into the night and pursue that flightly temptress, adventure."

gimme, gimme moore.

since memorial day weekend, i've been able to drive up to moore, ok for two more days to help with tornado relief.  the work continues, slowly but surely.  and while it may not look like progress is being made as a whole, each tree brought down, each house cleaned up, and each individual helped brings the task one step closer to completion.  i am grateful for the chance i had to do moore of the following:

acquire moore skillz/knowledge: thanks to a wise crew chief today who insisted on teaching his group everything he knew about disaster clean-up/life, not only am i now chain saw certified, i know how to fell a tree, slice and dice it into workable pieces, and (more importantly) be a better human being.  i'm grateful that he took the time to share his knowledge.

perform moore manual labor: i'll tell you what--manual labor does it for me.  hauling, breaking, lifting, dragging, dumping, stacking... it is such a joy.  not only that, all the aforementioned activities are simple.  no feelings to navigate, no answer-less problems to try and work out.  you cut the wood, you stack the wood, you load the wheelbarrow, you dump the wheelbarrow.  see? simple. plus,  it's nice to feel like you're successful at something, even if it is stacking sticks.

log moore miles in elaine the elantra: driving is good thinking time.  also good time to practice auditioning for american idol.

spend moore time with new friends: i've been so much affected by the people i've met in my time up in OK.  they are generous, kind, selfless, positive, down to earth, and hard-working.  in short, the kind of people i want to be.  you know who you are.  and thank you.

serve moore: most importantly, i am beyond grateful for the opportunity to try and make a difference, even if it is a small one.  i'm finding that you discover your best self when serving-- your strongest back, your most giving hands, your kindest heart.  and if being my best self requires a life-time of service, i'm all in.

thanks, moore.  i owe you big time.

cracked. (to the rhythm of humpty dumpty)

not ten minutes after students cleared out the halls

this first year teacher curled up in a ball. (as seen below)

europe, no grading, hours of sleep (just a few)--

these might lure her back to the school for year two.

this poetry break was brought to you by the teacher pictured above (some co-workers coaxed her out of the fetal position with the promise of diet coke).  and now back to our regularly scheduled grading of final exams.