Entries tagged with "travel"
OM NOM NOM NOM
posted by srah on April 30, 2008 10:27 PM
I went to Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend to visit friends. We had a gang of seven and did a lot of fun things like live karaoke and wine tasting, but what sticks out most for me about this weekend is that I ate The Most Delicious Sandwich Known to Man. This sandwich was perfect in every way. The bread was warm and fresh and delicious. The fillings were delectable and varied. The taste of the mayonnaise perfectly complemented the salmon. The textures all worked beautifully together and there was neither too little nor too much mayonnaise, salmon or onion. The...
In which I call shenanigans on United Airlines
posted by srah on April 19, 2008 12:52 PM
Tags: airlines, california, food, san francisco, travel, united airlines
Tuesday, March 25 - Wednesday, March 26 When I woke up on Tuesday morning, I checked my flight status and discovered that my flight from San Francisco to Chicago was delayed something ridiculous like 4.5 hours. So I called United and asked them to change this in some way, even if it involved putting me on a different airline. "Okie doke," the operator replied (although perhaps not in those words), and she booked me on a US Airways flight leaving slightly earlier that would take me through Charlotte instead. However, she told me, I would have to stop by the...
She's my daughter! She's my sister!
posted by srah on April 19, 2008 11:32 AM
Tags: california, chinatown, food, san francisco, travel
Oh yeah, I'm not done with this, am I? Monday, March 24 On Monday, Cari took the day off work and we went to Chinatown. We went on a tour where the group was made up of us, a mother-daughter pair, and a half a billion German high school students and teachers. So there was this weird Chinese-American-German amalgamation as the Germans translated things for each other. The tour took us around Chinatown and taught us a bit about the history of Chinatown and the people there, especially focusing on our guide's own family and experiences growing up in Chinatown....
No family and too much money makes Mrs Winchester something something.
posted by srah on April 8, 2008 8:22 PM
Tags: california, food, san francisco, travel
Sunday, March 23 Looking back at the pictures, I can believe we packed so much stuff into one day! It seems like this had to have been spread over several days! Cari and I got up bright and early Sunday morning to go to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. We thought we were going to be the only people out being touristy on Easter Sunday but there turned out to be a sizable tour group. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip, I think, just because it was something I knew nothing about before going...
Feel my cocoa beats. Je m'appelle Joe le Lait.
posted by srah on April 4, 2008 5:34 PM
Tags: alcohol, bridge, chocolate, fears, food, san francisco, travel
Saturday, March 22 On Saturday, Cari, Matt and I went to Berkeley to go on a tour/tasting at the Scharffen Berger factory. Unlike the last time I went to a chocolate tasting, I was actually able to appreciate the quality chocolate and the different flavors therein. The key is not to use your teeth at all. You break the chocolate into little pieces, then let each individual morsel melt in your mouth, releasing all the fruity undertones that come from the fermentation process applied to the cocoa beans. IT WAS AWESOME. I tasted all kinds of flavors that I don't...
When I grow up to be a man...
posted by srah on April 3, 2008 6:49 PM
Tags: california, food, san francisco, sea lions, seals, travel
Friday, March 21 Cari and I got up bright and early on Friday morning. Actually, only I got up bright and early, because - even though I was exhausted from my travel - I was still pretty much on Eastern time. That gave me some time to get myself organized before Cari and I left for our morning drive to Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve, where we went on a tour and learned about the elephant seals that come there every year to lay their eggs have their babies. Then the mothers go back out to sea to feed, and...
'I've taken this boat many places. Miami. Tokyo. Denver.'
posted by srah on April 3, 2008 5:30 PM
Tags: airlines, california, driving, san francisco, srahtown, travel, united airlines
I had a whole lot of stuff to write about my wonderful trip to San Francisco (a bajillion years ago) and the not-so-wonderful travel in order to get there, but there's just too much to say and not enough time to write it all. I will try to do it bit by bit rather than writing it all in one go, and return to the land of the blogging. Jday, you win! Thursday, March 20 I set off for the airport several hours early, with the idea that as long as I was going for a long drive to the...
A thousand words?
posted by srah on March 27, 2008 7:55 PM
Tags: california, photos, san francisco, travel
I'm back from San Francisco and my blog is all empty. Here, look at these until I get around to blogging again. My pictures: Cari's pictures: (If you are a Flickr friend of one or both of us, you might want to look at the sets on Flickr instead so you can see the friends-only pictures with people in them!)...
A state that's untouchable like Elliot Ness
posted by srah on January 30, 2008 8:07 PM
Tags: california, open letters, san francisco, travel
I am going to California in March! Finally I will officially be able to say that I've been to California! I sort of was in California this summer, but I'm kind of embarassed to check it off the list, since the entirety of my time there was landing in San Diego, then taking a cab to the port and getting on a ship. And I could still see the airport from the ship, so I didn't even travel that far within San Diego. This time I will actually spend multiple days in the state and see things and take pictures...
Yes, it came direct from Paris, France
posted by srah on November 29, 2007 7:35 PM
Tags: mimes, movies, nablopomo, nablopomo 2007, paris, reviews, steve buscemi, travel
Paris, je t'aime is a ridonkulously huge collection of famous directors (Joel and Ethan Coen, Gurinder Chadha, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Sylvain Chomet) and actors (Steve Buscemi, Other People Who Aren't Steve Buscemi) in a series of short films about Paris. I actually wasn't expecting much, just because I find short-format films pretty hit-or-miss, but it was a cool mix of subjects and directing styles. It's hard to say which one was my favorite because there were so many good ones. The last film is about a lonely American mail carrier who's studied French for two years in preparation for...
Where's the beef?
posted by srah on October 12, 2007 12:06 PM
Tags: chicago, driving, food, lewis, travel
I went to Chicago last weekend! I am very slow at writing these travel-weekend writeups, and even moreso when I spend the week trying to catch up on sleep. Fortunately, the weekend is almost here, so I can clean, claim I'm going to clean and then not clean, and - most importantly - sleep. I drove up to Chicago for Lewis's birthday celebrations Saturday afternoon/evening. It takes about 5 hours to get to Chicago, although it took me a little longer because - no matter how good my directions are - I always second-guess them and get lost when I...
Monkeys' brains, while popular in Cantonese cuisine, are not often to be found... in Washington D.C.!
posted by srah on August 16, 2007 6:17 PM
Tags: anne of green gables, jewelry, travel, walking, washington d.c.
As you may know, I went to Maryland/DC a few weekends ago to visit Katie and Cheryl and use some of the vacation time I've been building up. Photos are here! Friday I flew to Baltimore, which makes me think of Hairspray. Katie and I had dinner and bubble tea and... I can't remember what else we did. We must have just sat around talking until midnight! Saturday On Saturday Katie and had a nice late morning (which was good for recovering from a long Friday at work and sitting near teenagers while waiting for my flight) then set off...
Good Morning Internet!
posted by srah on June 24, 2007 5:51 PM
Tags: in spanish, language, language week, memes, ship, spanish, travel
Or rather, good evening. But I've been so lazy today it might as well be the morning for all that I've gotten done. Anyway, I'm back in the USSR. Photos from my voyage can be found here and videos of fascinating things like whales spouting and cliff divers cliff-diving can be found here. Now I must go and prepare for Language Week! All this time in Mexico and in on-ship Spanish classes has inspired me not to devote the entire week to Arabic. Soy hispanohablante, yo! Por el momento. Hasta que yo olvido todo mi español¹. Ha! What I love...
We're sailing with a cargo full of love and devotion
posted by srah on June 14, 2007 2:45 AM
Tags: music, ship, sleep, travel
Hi! I have had about 8 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours! That actually sounds like a lot more than it feels. I have been really stressing out about this trip: packing, making my connections, adjusting to life on the ship, worrying about seasickness, etc... all while dealing with a lot of other stuff like finding a new apartment (done!) and keeping up with students while I'm out of the office and while the university changes email systems during my absence. So with all the things to worry about (and I love to worry!) I haven't been sleeping...
You say oyster and I say erster¹
posted by srah on June 13, 2007 11:30 PM
Tags: a night at the opera, movies, pirates of the caribbean, shall we dance, ship, texas, travel
I was surprised, as we started our descent into Houston, to see lots and lots of forests of green trees. Everything I know about Texas I learned from the movies, so I expected it to be all brown and sandy with little scrubby bushes, rather than huge forests of green trees. I expected it to be more like the Australian Outback, which I am also very familiar with from my vast experience of... watching The Thorn Birds miniseries once. Also, I didn't see Rock Hudson or James Dean or even Sal Mineo. All of my lifetime experience with Texas (2.5...
You are a bread/ I am love you
posted by srah on June 11, 2007 6:34 PM
Tags: comics, planes, travel, white ninja
I'm flying off on Wednesday to do another site visit for work. This would be just fine, except that now whenever I get on a plane, I think of this White Ninja comic. I am going to lick everyone on the plane, just to be safe....
Who can turn the world on with her smile?
posted by srah on June 4, 2007 12:56 PM
Tags: erica, mary tyler moore, minneapolis, travel
I am happy to say that on my last day in Minneapolis, I got to meet up with my two favorite Minneapolitans: Erica and Bronze Statue of Mary Tyler Moore And which of those is my #1 favorite? The one who bought me breakfast! Thank you, Bronze Statue of Mary Tyler Moore! The waffle was delicious....
Let us all take our pennyfarthing bicycles to the aero-port!
posted by srah on June 4, 2007 12:39 PM
Tags: airlines, airport, cincinnati, dayton, delta airlines, propeller planes, travel, united airlines, us airways
I am equidistant from the Cincinnati and Dayton airports, but I usually prefer flying out of Dayton. Dayton Airport: ProsCincinnati Airport: Prosflights are always cheaper than Cincinnatiyou can walk from the parking lot to the airport rather than waiting for a shuttleit's too small to get lost inyou can get some steps in walking from one end of the airport to anothershorter security/airline waits (usually)smaller and cuterfree wireless internetcheaper parkingmore frequent flightsmore airlinesmore to do and see in the airportmore to do and see on the way to the airportbigger and fancier (note: this is only true of the Delta...
She's baaa-aaack!
posted by srah on June 2, 2007 10:26 PM
Tags: travel
I have 3066 new items in Bloglines. Why doesn't the Internet just shut down when I go out of town? It would be a lot more convenient for me. More to come when I'm more awake!...
Wheezy
posted by srah on May 25, 2007 4:29 PM
I am going to Michigan today. On Sunday I am driving back down to Ohio. On Tuesday I am driving to Dayton in order to fly to Detroit and on to Minneapolis for a conference. On Saturday I return to Dayton via Detroit and drive home. I ab hobing that sobewhere in all of by travels I will find a place that I ab not quite as allergic to as Srahtown. I am drowning here. I cannot breathe! And that is with all the Claritin! Since I never had any serious problems¹ with allergies before moving here, I'm wondering if...
Nyoo Yuck!
posted by srah on April 30, 2007 6:34 PM
Tags: new york city, stamford, travel, video
So I went out East this weekend and sadly enough, I did not see Baby-Sitters, Dunder-Mifflinites or celebrities. What I did see was lots of worksy-meetings, The Pirate Queen, the Circle Line boat tour and Times Square. Photos are here and shaky video of noisy, crowded Times Square (taken from a traffic island) is here:...
Time to get out the ol' Famous Cities skirt!
posted by srah on April 25, 2007 5:51 PM
Tags: blogs, haircut, stamford, the baby-sitters' club, travel
Frightening realization: My new haircut makes me look less like Rachael Leigh Cook in She's All That and more like Rachael Leigh Cook as Mary Anne Spier in The Baby-Sitters Club. I am totally going to fit in in Stamford this weekend! Maybe I will pick up some baby-sitting gigs or solve a mystery while I am there. Or maybe I need to find a new hairstyle inspiration that is closer to my own age. (Speaking of the BSC, this is unspeakably awesome. So I will speak of it no more for the next five minutes, at least.)...
Finding Jesus
posted by srah on April 22, 2007 9:35 PM
Tags: butter jesus, jesus, ohio, religion, the kids in the hall, travel
When my out-of-town guests and I were planning out this weekend, I had a few ideas of things to do, but the only thing they were firm on was seeing Big Butter Jesus: I have lived here for a year and a half and while I've read about the giant 60-foot Big Butter Jesus/Drowning Jesus/Touchdown Jesus in Monroe that scares drivers along I-75, I hadn't actually had a reason to drive through that area and see it for myself. So we all discovered it for the first time together this morning. There's no time like Sunday morning for finding Jesus!...
So nice they named it twice! The other name is Manhattan.
posted by srah on March 29, 2007 7:15 PM
Tags: books, new york city, stamford, the baby-sitters' club, the office, travel, tv
At the end of April, I will spend a weekend visiting one of our study abroad providers in Stamford, Connecticut. Yes, that Stamford, would-be home of Dunder-Mifflin Northeast and the next major town to Stoneybrook. Wow. I am so awesome. Why don't I have any friends around here, again? In addition to visiting super-dibble Stamford, there will also be a "social outing" to New York City. It will be so special I might even call it... Super Special! Then I will glue glitter and feathers on my Kid-Kit and-- wait, what was I talking about? New York intimidates me more...
Srah: Le Retour
posted by srah on March 20, 2007 12:46 PM
Tags: photos, seattle, travel, video
I'm back! So far, except for the marginally warmer weather, I wish I were back in Seattle. And I need a nap. You can see my pictures here and watch these videos I took at the Woodland Park Zoo:...
'Dammit, Johnny, you know I love my Big Beef 'n Cheddar!'
posted by srah on March 15, 2007 10:55 AM
Tags: airport, arby's, atlanta, delta airlines, travel
I will be flying from Dayton to Atlanta from about 3-4:30 today, then from Atlanta to Seattle from about 7 (EDT) to 9:30 (PDT). In all my 9 or so hours of transit, I understand that I will receive complimentary beverage service and maybe up to three snack items for the journey. I'm leaving town at 11am in order to drive to the airport, which means that I will have two meals to cover on the road. I brought myself a cheese sandwich to tide myself over, but I imagine that by the time I arrive in Atlanta, I will...
Traveling, but not off the couch
posted by srah on March 5, 2007 7:52 PM
As long as I am sitting on my butt on the couch instead of getting up and walking around, I suppose I should tackle one or two of the blog posts I've been planning since last week, but which exist so far only in note-form. Who wants to hear my thoughts about the Oscars? Huh? Who? Note to self: blog this stuff a lot earlier. Each topic deserves its own post, so in this pointless explanatory post, I will just throw in these two little tidbits of travel information that I keep meaning to mention but which aren't involved enough...
I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so... sleepy!
posted by srah on October 18, 2006 5:32 PM
I'm home! I'm jetlagged! It's 5:30 and I'm wearing pyjamas! I went to bed at 9 last night and woke up at 5 this morning! I am confused! I didn't check my email or read blogs while I was gone! It is going to take me forever to catch up! But for now I think I will take a nap! Here is some wildlife I saw in London! He wants a hug!...
Travel blogging... ish
posted by srah on October 6, 2006 10:22 PM
All I seem to blog about these days is TV. That and walking, and occasionally the odd dream or two. That's not unusual, because I don't do much more than work, watch TV, walk and sleep. Occasionally I do laundry. I know, it's really exciting. Well, I'm off for a site visit to three universities in England and Ireland tomorrow. I don't know what kind of adventures and scrapes I'll get into, but I'm sure that it will be more interesting than my life here. In fact, I will probably be so busy that I won't have time to blog...
Blub blup plop ploop blup
posted by srah on August 22, 2006 9:50 PM
Tags: travel, video, yellowstone national park
It has come to my attention that I took several short videos on our trip out west and have not bothered to do anything with them. So I have uploaded them to YouTube, where the viewers will doubtless find them much more fascinating than pirated TV and music videos or fat kids lip-synching. Behold the varied and exciting geothermalism of Yellowstone National Park! You can almost smell the sulfur!...
Waiter, there's a DELICIOUS in my soup
posted by srah on August 11, 2006 12:11 PM
Tags: food, rapid city, reviews, road trip, soup, south dakota, travel
It is lunchtime and all I can think of is the Gorgonzola Ale Soup at the Firehouse Brewing Co. in Rapid City, South Dakota. I don't like beer and I don't like cheese soup, so I don't know why I ordered it. I suppose I was intrigued and I had a headache and didn't want anything more complicated than soup. And it was DELICIOUS. And it is SO FAR AWAY. And it is IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. And I will probably NEVER RETURN. And I didn't even think to TAKE A PICTURE, which I very strangely did with a...
Get these m*f*ing drinks off my m*f*ing plane!
posted by srah on August 10, 2006 9:27 PM
Tags: airlines, planes, security, terrorism, travel
All this hullabaloo about liquids on planes is making me even more paranoid than I usually am. I spend more time than I should during flights thinking about ways that, if I were a terrorist, I could kill people or hijack a plane using things I carried-on or things that were already on the plane when I got there. They'll confiscate your nail clippers, but I once got an in-flight meal that came with a plastic fork and spoon and a metal knife. Nice, airline. It was pretty rounded and dull, but I bet I could get a file on...
Halfway there!
posted by srah on August 10, 2006 1:44 PM
Tags: road trip, travel, united states
create your own visited states map Thanks to our little road trip, I've added five new states to my map and am now at 25. Which, I guess, isn't really halfway there because they seem to be counting Washington, D.C. as a state. So only 26 more to go! More on the trip later, I suppose....
Yo.
posted by srah on August 3, 2006 11:50 AM
I am on vacation from work AND, it would seem, from blogging. You can follow our photographical progress here or here, or read apete's accounts here. I'll be back here next week!...
Projets de voyage (et de travail)
posted by srah on July 24, 2006 3:24 PM
Tags: in french, language, language week, memes, travel, work
En mars je suis allée en Israël pour visiter les universités là-bas qui acceuillent les étudiants étrangers. En mai c'était Montréal, où je suis allée assister à une conférence sur l'éducation internationale. Ce mois je vais voyager à travers le ouest des États-Unis, vers Seattle. J'irai en Angleterre et en Irlande en Octobre pour une autre visite aux centres d'études étrangers. On a parlé un peu d'un voyage en Inde en décembre pour assister au mariage de Sylvie (mais avec mes finances ça ne va peut-être pas être possible... on verra...). Il va peut-être y avoir une autre visite au...
Foul, fetid, fuming, foggy Philadelphia (airport)
posted by srah on July 24, 2006 12:01 PM
Tags: airlines, airport, pennsylvania, philadelphia, travel, us airways
To my great surprise, I went to Philadelphia last week. I'd known for weeks that I was going to Pennsylvania, but I hadn't realized that the town I was going to is basically a suburb of Philadelphia and that my hotel was even within the city limits. So I apologize to all of you Brotherly Love Citizens that I did not warn you of my impending arrival. I thought I was going to some town a ways out from Teh Big City. And who knew that cities on the east coast had trains and things like public transportation? It somehow...
Adventures in francophonie
posted by srah on May 24, 2006 6:31 PM
Tags: french, language, montreal, travel
Montreal is awesome. I am doing better than expected with speaking French - instead of avoiding French altogether I string together these mangled franglais thoughts in my mind and occasionally spew them out to whoever my victim is. Example: Shuttle driver with French-Canadian accent: Which hotel are you going to? Me: Le Fairmont Reine Elizabeth¹. SDWFCA: Fairmont Reine Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth? Me: Oui. Yes. SDWFCA: Vous parlez français? You speak English? Me: (stammers) Oui. Yes. Les deux. Both. Je parle... I speak, yeah. So yeah, that was clear. And efficient. Let's speak both languages at once! And translate for ourselves!...
'I'm your main target/ Come and help me ignite'
posted by srah on May 23, 2006 6:45 AM
The second-worst song to have in your head on the way to the airport: "Janie's Got a Gun." And it's in mine. I suppose it could be worse if my name were Janie. Remind me not to sing that out loud as I'm going through security. Oh well, at least it's not #1......
Parlez-vous quebecois?
posted by srah on May 20, 2006 12:24 PM
Tags: french, language, montreal, quebec, travel
No, not so much. I am off to the Great White North on Tuesday for a conference followed by some Staying Around and Sightseeing. Youpi! So far I have made all of my Montreal hotel reservations in English. I am a-feared of the Quebecois French. I'm afraid of all their funny ways of saying things and their different accent and their reputation for looking down on French-from-France and for speaking perfect accentless English to people who try to speak French to them. I was telling someone at dinner that I might just chicken out and try to pass myself off...
Attention-seeking much?
posted by srah on March 29, 2006 8:17 AM
Tags: israel, middle east, politics, sharon stone, travel
It turns out that Sharon Stone, who followed us around Israel and stayed in two of the same hotels we did, was not doing so in order to stalk study abroad advisors, but because she wants to make out with everybody in the Middle East, and especially more women if ya got 'em. Dammit! I thought it was us. In other Sharon Stone-related news: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!...
I've met Israel reports, and this is no Israel report
posted by srah on March 21, 2006 12:20 PM
Tags: travel
Okay, too much happened in Israel to give you a report. Suffice it to say, it was great and you should all go and you should all hire our tour guide. The rest will come out in trickles, but the prospect of trying to blog the whole trip was frightening....
How do you say Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz in Hebrew?
posted by srah on March 8, 2006 9:40 AM
Tags: travel
I'm here. I'm tired. I can't go to sleep or I'll get the jet lags. I had a shower. It was good. I feel much better now, but it's raining and my roommate's sleeping so I'm not all about going exploring. We went on a tour of a nature reserve. I have a lot to say about airport security, but that can wait until I'm awake some time. Here are pictures....
One of these things is not like the other
posted by srah on March 7, 2006 10:17 AM
Tags: airlines, delta airlines, israel, travel
States that I thought I would be going to/through today, as of going to bed last night: OhioKentuckyNew Jersey States that Delta Airlines thought I would be going to/through today, as of some time before 4:59am, which is when they called me and woke me up to tell me my Cincinnati-Newark flight had been cancelled but they had everso kindly rescheduled me on another, ultra-convenient flight: OhioKentuckyGeorgiaNew Jersey States that I will now be going to/through today, after having said "Hells naw, biatch!" to the airline: OhioKentuckyNew YorkNew Jersey The most frustrating thing is that all of the Delta employees...
Eye spy with my little eye a place beginning with eye
posted by srah on February 28, 2006 6:05 PM
Or rather... I will in a week. Well, technically, a week from tomorrow at some obscene hour of the morning. But where am I going? Will it be potatoes and Mormons¹, or corn and wrestlers, or car racing and basketball, or whatever Illinois is famous for? Will it be all leprechauns and shamrocks? Geysers and Björk? Religious fundamentalism and... um, reading Lolita? Roadside bombings and potential civil war? Curry and outsourced call centers? Marinara sauce and gondolas? Gamelans and... whatever else they have in Indonesia? Such mystery! Just you wait and see! ––––– ¹ No. Sorry!...
Oona otruh peenuh cohladuh pore fayvor!
posted by srah on October 25, 2005 6:56 PM
Tags: travel
[...] "It's like, 'the sun's out, let's go,' and we're still here," said Lynn Wickum, of San Francisco as she drank a beer at one of the few open Cancun bars. "We feel the frustration building. You wouldn't want to make a scene, but at the same time, you're ready to go home." Many of Cancun's own 500,000 residents have lost nearly everything in flooded or destroyed homes. [...] - Haggard Tourists Battle to Leave Cancun OMGTHEREAREONLYAFEWBARSOPENGETMEHOMETOMYFLATSCREENTV! Having an economy based on tourism just grosses me out. I'm really disturbed that the safety of tourists is so high on Vincente...
My airplane friends
posted by srah on September 29, 2005 9:08 AM
Tags: travel
When I was flying to North Carolina on Sunday, I thought that one of the male flight attendants looked kind of scruffy, with facial hair in strange patterns on his face. Then I realized he's growing mutton chops! Sweet! On the way back I got to sit across the aisle from this woman I couldn't take my eyes off of. I didn't want to stare, but at the same time I wanted to take her all in and didn't want to forget a detail. In fact, what I really wanted to do was take a picture of her so I...
Thoughts from the drive to Unidentified Town in Pennsylvania
posted by srah on August 2, 2005 8:47 PM
Tags: travel
Alas, I was not able to write down my thoughts as I went along for this portion of the trip. This is why I like public transportation! But here are my thoughts as I remember them: Right, let's take a look at this here TripTik. First step: Turn northeast onto... wait, northeast? Which way's northeast? I don't have a freaking northeast turn signal, thank you, AAA. I am not a Boy Scout. I am not that kid in my 6th grade class who always carried a compass in school.AAAAAAAAAAAAH! Rental car! Rental car! Must not smash! Must not drive too...
Thoughts from the flight from Detroit to Somewhere In Pennsylvania
posted by srah on August 2, 2005 1:50 PM
Tags: travel
It's a tiny, mini, baby plane! It's a freaking biplane! I think Charles Lindbergh flew this very plane! THIS PLANE HAS PROPELLERS! I prefer the mystery of the big planes with those whirly enginey things that people are always getting sucked into in movies. I don't know how those work or what they are exactly. I know how a propeller works, and that scares me!The flight attendant has just informed us that we are in a Saab 340. This Saab is only slightly bigger than the ones on the road. I wonder how it handles on ice."... In the emergency,...
Thoughts from Detroit Metro Airport
posted by srah on August 2, 2005 1:27 PM
Tags: airport, chai, christopher brookmyre, detroit metro, starbucks, travel
The guy at the check-in desk asked if I was over 18. Sigh. I asked him if my bag was small enough to carry on and he looked at it for a while and judged that I should check it. I shouldn't have asked - it probably would have passed.In my rush to get out of the house this morning, I skipped brushing my teeth, justifying it by telling myself that it would give me something to do while I waited for my flight. Now my toothbrush has been checked and I am The Great Untoothbrushed. Waaaaaah!I am also The...
That toddling town...
posted by srah on June 2, 2005 8:08 AM
Tags: apete, chicago, pizza, travel, weddings
Here it is Thursday and I'm finally getting around to blogging about this weekend. I think I have some kind of block - I keep sitting down in front of the computer and thinking I should write, but not really wanting to. Sigh. Anyway, I went off to a wedding in Chicago this weekend with Apete. As I've put off the blogging this time, it will have to be a series of sentence fragments strung together because I really can't bring myself to write something cohesive. What the hell is wrong with me? Saturday Ate waffles. Got in the car....
Self-obsessed travel plans! W00t!
posted by srah on March 24, 2005 8:31 PM
Tags: travel
Upon the discovery of yet another blogging srah, I did some Googling and came up with a new fantasy destination. Alright, here is my new Ultimate Travel Goal: A trip that encompasses both this place and this one....
And their little dog, too!
posted by srah on October 20, 2004 1:42 AM
Tags: travel
I am, as Dana Carvey playing Mickey Rooney would say, "a star, kid..." *does weird hand/mouth gesture* "... A STAR!" Or at least I will be, as soon as I am discovered by Hollywood! When I read about Bob's trip to the Museum of Science and Industry, I decided I wanted to do the same thing. The exhibit about movies sounded quite fun and interesting and you got to appear in your own stupid little film! So I convinced Jez that this was the best museum to start with, which turned out to be a good thing because admission was...
Compendium Chicagodus
posted by srah on October 18, 2004 10:13 PM
Tags: chicago, fondue, food, travel
Unchronological, disorganized thoughts from my weekend in Chicago with Jez: My hair and I can never live together in Chicago. If I were to be employed in Chicago, we would have to be parted. (My hair is normally parted, but in this case, it would have to be parted from me.) The Windy City is, indeed, quite windy. My poor head. We went to The Melting Pot for fondue on Sunday night. Mummmmmnummmyummmy. Bread, apples and vegetables in cheese. Seafood and vegetables boiled in oil. Evurrrrrrthing dipped in chocolate. 'Twere wonderful. You know what's funny? Museum space exhibits that list...
'Dave, please prepare for landing.'
posted by srah on August 25, 2004 10:16 PM
Tags: americans, france, paris, the abbey, travel
I got to France on the anniversary of the D-Day invasion and am leaving on the day of the liberation of Paris. I'll be a bit sad to miss all of the television specials, actually. Got up in the morning, had breakfast, took a taxi to the RER, took the RER to Charles de Gaulle, stood in lines, went through security, stood in lines, got to the gate, stood in lines, sat around forever. No telephones and only one place to get food - where a bottle of iced tea cost 3,15€. Not bloody likely!* Got on the plane and...
Adieu Little America
posted by srah on August 24, 2004 3:55 PM
Tags: paris, the abbey, travel
Ding dong, the internship's dead! Jez and I left P-------- this morning. The darling limey dragged my awful, bulging overpacked rolling suitcase all over Paris to my hotel, then we went for a lunchtime blogmeet with Stuart. Jezzles and I passed through the Cimitière de Montparnasse and passered le bonjour à Serge Gainsbourg then had to hurry back to the Métro so that Jez could get to the airport in time for his flight. I went and blubbered a little, then had to wipe up my sniffles and wander around Paris by myself for the afternoon. That's mostly all I...
My weekend, in the style of Jez, age 7
posted by srah on August 17, 2004 5:20 AM
Tags: travel
I went to England and I took a plane their and it was very nice and then I went to North Yorkshire and I saw sheep and bunnies too but not any ducks and I ate dinner as well and I watched videos too and I went to Tesco's as well and it was different from home because things were called different things like potato chips were called crisps but I didn't get them confused because I knew and we went to some castles that where there as well. (I have a bit of work to do and will do...
Off to England
posted by srah on August 12, 2004 8:35 AM
Tags: travel
Passport? Check. Myself? Check. Right. Guess that's all I need. I'm off now to Montrichard to St Pierre des Corps to Tours to London to North Yorkshire. I'll have a lovely time visiting Jez and JOE and being spoilt rotten with the Super Secret Surprises that Jezzles has planned. And perhaps someday, if you're very very lucky, I'll come back. That is if Jez doesn't murder me with an axe, as online friends are wont to do when you meet up with them in person. If you don't hear from me next week, that's because Jez murdered me with an...
'Je préfère les chevaux bruns... ça ne se salit pas autant que les blancs.'
posted by srah on July 25, 2004 1:12 PM
Tags: crepes, host family, travel
Spent a lovely weekend in Grenoble, visiting the host-fam (minus Denis, who is spending the summer hols wandering around in Egypt). I got to take a shower every morning and spent a lot of time being pénible and making terrible puns, which I will not burden you with because I've forgotten most of them* and they're all in French anyway and wouldn't translate. The trip there was frought with Americans. In the train from Onzain to Paris I avoided talking to the one in my compartment, but the one sitting across from me Paris-Grenoble addressed me first, asking if I...
'That shorrre would be swell, maaa'aaam...'
posted by srah on July 18, 2004 6:37 PM
Tags: travel
Apparently there was a huge storm during the night with thunder and pouring rain and lightning that lit up the sky. Apparently this storm happened right after we went to bed. Who knew? My reputation for sleeping through just about anything on earth remains intact! After the big storm, the rest of the day's weather was sort of questionable, but I'd thought the same thing the day before and had left my sunglasses at the house. So this time I brought them along, but warned Jez that bringing them along would only make it rain. We set off for the...
'This is a castle. And we have many tapestries. But if you are a Scottish lord, then I am Mickey Mouse!'
posted by srah on July 17, 2004 9:34 PM
I think I slept in this morning. We hadn't set a waking-up time, but Jez was ready before I was. We had breakfast (a whole pot of tea for me!) and set off for Loches. Loches is the next sizeable town to St Cyran, so Jez was familiar with the Château de Loches, which is not a big, well-known tourist destination. We walked through the Saturday market and up into the walls of the old part of the city. When we bought our tickets, the ticket-seller saw my magnetic-strip credit card (as opposed to the chip that lots of European...
'Have you fed the fish today?'
posted by srah on July 16, 2004 5:37 PM
The weather was unusually warm and sunny all weekend. I've been layering jackets over sweaters over long-sleeved shirts for weeks now, but we had a brief respite this weekend where it was warm - maybe even hot - for hours at a time. It was a very nice atmosphere for a weekend of castling with Jez, who came down to visit and invited me to stay with his family. Jez called me when he left his parents' house, so I got my stuff together and took advantage of the sunshine to sit in front of the abbey and read my...
'I AM the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells!'
posted by srah on July 16, 2004 2:30 PM
Tags: travel
"That Jez is crap at driving!" Hey, look! Two birds! A stone! Poor birds. :( (More "What I did over my Weekend Hols" is coming soon, if by "soon" you mean tomorrow, after I have slept.)...
'Can it be true? That I hold here in my mortal hand a nugget of purest green?'
posted by srah on July 15, 2004 5:58 AM
Tags: assistantship, books, harry potter, harry potter and the sorcerer's stone, paris, travel
On our last night in France last year, at the end of the assistantship, Renata, Jenny and I went out for Indian food. We found a restaurant just by wandering around and I happened to look up and see that it was in the Rue Nicholas Flamel. At the time, I only knew Flamel as the "only known maker of the Philosopher's [or Sorcerer's] Stone" from the Harry Potter books, but it turns out that he really existed. Flamel was a fourteenth-century French alchemist and that he really was rumoured to possess the Philosopher's Stone, which is supposed to create...
Le douceur angevin? Ca fait plutot froid.
posted by srah on July 11, 2004 5:38 PM
Tags: travel
I managed to sleep until noon today, so I missed the entire morning and went straight into lunch rather than eating breakfast pastries. Sorry, Rachel. I got up, got showered and dressed, then we went to Le May's bar, where Antoine's brother works, to pick up Julien and his girlfriend, Lolotte and bring them with us for lunch. They brought along their cat, who spent all of lunch chasing and being chased by Antoine and Fanny's cat, Kira (full name: Chat-Kira). They really seemed to enjoy the bottle of Menetou-Salon blanc that I brought along, which was lucky because I...
Angers management?
posted by srah on July 10, 2004 9:48 PM
Tags: travel
I woke up at 7:30 this morning. "Fat chance," I grumbled, considering that F&A and I had decided on a 10am wake-up time. I rolled back over and slept until 10:30. Then I got up, got showered and dressed and went around the corner to F&A's for breakfast. We had pastries from his parents' shop for breakfast - some lovely thing with a thin custardy layer and chocolate chips. After everyone was showered and dressed, we left for Angers. We picked up a few friends of Antoine's and went out window-shopping. We didn't buy any windows, nor did we buy...
"Tu es mexicaine? J'adooooooore les fajitas!'
posted by srah on July 9, 2004 6:42 PM
Tags: travel
The trip to Angers was long. It was only about 1.5 hours of train travelling time, but a 1.5 hour wait at St Pierre des Corps had to be figured in, too. Blechhhhh! In case you wondered, here is what is around the train station in St Pierre des Corps: Nothing. I arrived in Cholet and Antoine picked me up at the station. They were out with some colleagues of Fanny's from work, so we went back to the restaurant and hung out with them for a while. They were language teachers from all over the place, but the wacky...
Haiku regarding the picture at left
posted by srah on July 9, 2004 9:21 AM
Tags: haiku, poetry, travel, weather
See how I'm dressed in November 2002? I want a scarf now. This cold weather is inappropriate - July should be stifling!...
Syllables counted/ Poems being created/ Haiku explosion!
posted by srah on July 9, 2004 6:25 AM
Tags: antoine, haiku, poetry, travel
A few years ago I went to Le May sur Evr' Haiku all the way. Return of haiku! Return of Srah to Le May! Return to pastry? I was to go to Angers tonight, but so is The darned Tour de France! There's too much traffic. Darned sports! Instead, I must take the train to Cholet. See friends, eat pastries Sight-see... most importantly: Escape the abbey!...
Müber good deals!
posted by srah on July 3, 2004 10:04 PM
Tags: travel
We got up at 7am today to head off to Paris at 8. Luckily, unlike the last time I travelled, I actually packed more than 10 minutes before departure time. Eirlys, Becky, Anca and I crammed into the van with the other people, who were only going to Paris for the day. Two of the seats had been removed from the van, so Anca remarked that, crammed in and sitting on the floor, we looked like a van full of illegal immigrants. This was completely ridiculous, of course, because only some of us are illegal immigrants. The train ride was...
'On me mettra dans un grand trou...'
posted by srah on July 2, 2004 6:36 AM
Tags: travel
Going to Paris this weekend to take more advantage of the soldes and see some sights. Want to recommend anywhere to buy cheap-yet-lovely clothing or cheap-yet-lovely English books? Hopefully I'll finally visit Serge on this trip, as I've meant to do for years!...
Disco inferno!
posted by srah on June 26, 2004 7:14 PM
Tags: travel
We set the alarm for 9am, but didn't manage to get going until a while later. We ate breakfast and took turns showering. While Nico was having his turn, the TV was on and there was this Belgian documentary on the Saturday morning kid's programming, all about blogs. If the sound had been on, I'm sure it would have been even more amusing! In the morning, Becky and I went shopping together while Nico busied himself with less girly pursuits. Well, I imagine. I don't actually know what he was doing, so he could have been getting his legs waxed...
Brushing my teeth should not require this much concentration!
posted by srah on June 25, 2004 6:21 PM
Tags: travel
Becky and I have come to Bourges for a weekend of shopping, sightseeing and - most importantly - boss-avoiding. So after work, we did some last minute (over-)packing and took the hour and a half trip to the southeast. We are staying with Becky's ex-boyfriend, Nicolas, who works here although he's a native Pontlevien. He picked us up from the train station in his convertible, we squashed our excessive luggage and ourselves in and set off. We had to do something for dinner, so it came down to pizza, Chinese or making something at home, so that we could work...
Does Baby want some attention-wention?
posted by srah on June 7, 2004 4:22 AM
I have not yet sortied Isidore from his pochette. I am terrified of draining his batteries and I keep hoping that sleep will be an alternative option. So much for Sims All The Way To France!...
Also thinking in the train from Paris to St Pierre des Corps
posted by srah on June 7, 2004 4:20 AM
Tags: travel
What the hell kind of name is St Pierre des Corps? Saint Peter of the Bodies? And why do I have to wait an hour and a half for a train I will be on for 20 minutes? And where are all of these Americans coming from? I haven't really spent long stretches of time in France during the summer, but is this normal? Is it because of the D-Day anniversary? Is it because this is the Loire Valley? It's frightening!...
Back to the Future
posted by srah on June 7, 2004 3:16 AM
Tags: travel
For the benefit of I Don't Know How The Hell To Change It And I Don't Really Care, the next two and a half months will be brought to you in glorious Eastern Daylight Time. If you care to, you may add six hours to posted times in your mind and understand that I do not, in fact, blog at 3am. Or that if I do, it will say 9am and you will think it's perfectly normal. It's so ker-aaaaaaaaaaazy in The Future!...
What I'm thinking in the train from Paris to St Pierre des Corps
posted by srah on June 7, 2004 3:13 AM
Tags: travel
Headache. So tired. Have no cash. Have a plug converter (finally). Should have bought more damned postcards in Paris. Darnit. What am I going to eat for dinner tonight? Do I have email? They should have free wireless access in TGVs, for no reason other than 'I said so.' Headache. So tired....
I'm not scared of planes but I can be made afraid...
posted by srah on June 6, 2004 2:56 PM
Tags: travel
This was one of the last blog posts I read before I left today....
Whump!
posted by srah on June 6, 2004 1:34 PM
Tags: travel
Yar, bugger it. I've forgotten to blog before leaving. So much last-minute packing, so little last-minute sleeping. And now at least ten hours of travel time before I collapse onto my newly-ordered bed at the Abbey (or at the patch of floor where the bed would be, if it hasn't been delivered yet). Whump!...
Proposed revision: Home of taxation and representation
posted by srah on February 29, 2004 5:20 PM
Tags: travel
The license plates in Washington, DC say Washington, D.C. across the top, and like many states, have a little motto or quotation along the bottom to represent the place it's from. Michigan, for example, has license plates that say "Great Lakes," less attractive ones that say "Great Lakes Splendor" and unspeakably ugly ones that say "World's Motor Capital." Except that in the US capital, the motto appears to be "Taxation without representation." I understand that this phrase has great importance in American history, in that it was one of the reasons we fought for indepedence and created this new nation...
Y usted, Eugene? Why's your face turning green?
posted by srah on February 24, 2004 5:04 PM
Tags: travel
People keep warning me not to drink the water here, that it tastes terrible and is not fit for drinking. I'm from Ann Arbor, folks! I think I can deal with a little chlorine. Of course, maybe they have some terrible parasites in addition to the chlorine. Washington, DC is not south of the border - unless you mean the Canadian one or the Mason-Dixon line - but I guess I'll stick to bottled water nonetheless....
'He's just visiting!'
posted by srah on February 24, 2004 10:38 AM
Tags: travel
I think I saw the White House from afar yesterday when I went for a walk. It was very disappointingly small and the view was pretty lame. I hope it was just some other white building with a fountain in front but I fear that it's not. It's so stupid, getting excited about something and being let down....
Good riddance!
posted by srah on February 21, 2004 7:54 AM
Tags: travel
Well, I'm off to Our Nation's Capital. Well, unless you're not an American. In which case, what are you doing reading this, you heathenly infidel? So, I'm off to My Nation's Capital. Eight hours in a car with her and him and her housemate, followed by a week of working glee! Please offer me a summer internship, O Place of Employment! I imagine there will be blogging and lots of it, as my time in DC will undoubtedly be frought with adventure and I will hopefully have Internet access at work. To celebrate my absence, you may participate in this...
Wanderlust
posted by srah on November 17, 2003 3:06 PM
Tags: travel
Why does Lebanon sound so fascinating and alluring and exotic and romantic and Beirut just sound scary? Someone just came in asking about study abroad opportunities in Lebanon. I want to go to Lebanon. I want to go to Iceland. I want to go to Cambodia. I want to go to South Africa. I want to go to Ireland. I want to go to Peru. I want to go to Bulgaria. I want to go to Japan. Why am I here? Why am I not trotting the globe?...
Deobfuscating the blog game
posted by srah on August 25, 2003 7:01 AM
Tags: grenoble, jeopardy!, london, porn, study abroad, travel
It is time for the answers to be revealed. At last you will know the truth! And the lie! You won't care, but you will know! And knowing is half the battle. Shut up, srah, and just tell them the answers already. Most people recognized that story #2 (College Jeopardy) was true. That's because this story sucked. I do appreciate that you were so willing to believe that I couldn't come up with anything interesting to say about myself, though. I'm going to go cry in a corner, even though it is true. The other 'story' I came up with...
Obfuscation: The Blog Game
posted by srah on August 22, 2003 10:08 AM
Tags: grenoble, jeopardy!, london, porn, study abroad, travel
Here are my three stories. Two are true and one is false. I will warn you that I have a reputation for being quite good at this sort of thing, although when I've done it as an icebreaker it's usually a factoid rather than a story. You may pick which you think is the true FALSE (oops - forgot to change that when I changed from 2F/1T to 2T/1F) story, leaving your guess in the comments. If you'd like, I'd also be interested to know why you think one or the other is true or false. On Monday I'll post...
185 or so to go
posted by srah on August 20, 2003 2:00 PM
Tags: travel
On one of the temporary dividing walls, the Reference staff have been making lists of the countries they've been to. My list, paltry in comparison to almost everyone else's, is: USA England Canada France Belgium Switzerland Scotland Chile (and if you count airports) The Netherlands Germany I tried to say that I'd been to the Kingdom of Fife (I can't remember if I actually have, now - where is that in relation to Edinburgh?) and Auvergne (Ici finit la France; ici commence l'Auvergne), but my mummy says that's cheating. In an attempt to bolster my list, I've decided that I...
Ik wil naar België gaan...
posted by srah on June 30, 2003 3:36 PM
Tags: travel
Is there anything stopping me from dropping everything and running away to Belgium? Other than grad school, boyfriend, lack of money, lack of Belgian employment, and lack of Belgian work visa, of course. But other than that, it's a great idea! [thank you, Dictionary.com - Babelfish doesn't have Dutch!]...
Even más fotos
posted by srah on May 31, 2003 10:49 PM
Tags: assistantship, auvergne, bruges, new york city, photos, shenandoah valley, travel, vichy
Vulcania Vichy Brioude Brugge/Bruges Various trips in southern Auvergne NYC trip Shenandoah Valley...
That famous movie, Mr Neil Diamond goes to the Decoy Museum
posted by srah on May 19, 2003 11:55 PM
Tags: mad libs, neil diamond, road trip, travel
Our return trip was rather uneventful, marked by some creative and dirty Mad Libs (the title of this post is one of the cleaner things that came out of it) and a profound lack of visits to llama farms. We did go through the Skyline Drive and see some lovely scenery, reminiscent of the Auvergne to those of us who had been there....
Travels in Fauquier County
posted by srah on May 18, 2003 10:50 PM