Cambridge and Persistence

Yesterday I ditched London and headed an hour's train ride north to Cambridge. I very specifically left from Kings Cross station---no I didn't take a train out of Platform 9 and 3/4, but I did find it!

A bit of trivia for the Harry Potter fans: the platforms 4 and 5 substituted for 9 and 10 in Kings Cross, as 9 and 10 are actually in a separate building.

I spent the day wandering around Cambridge. It's a lovely city...it pretty much fits the idea I had of an English city (beside London). The weather wasn't too bad while I was there, either. Lower 40s, I'd say, and the sun kept trying to come out. Beats the 10F back in NJ right now!

The colleges of Cambridge were fantastic to see. Cambridge is celebrating its 800th anniversary this year. That's almost impossible for me to comprehend; most things in the US are so new compared to Europe. I heard a choir practice in the chapel in Trinity College while I passed through. It was neat to see the students wandering around these old, beautiful buildings and courtyards...I wouldn't mind living and studying here. Cambridge, here I come!!! ;)

Courtyard, I can't remember which college this is

Clocktower of Trinity College

The other cool thing about Cambridge was the bicycles. They're everywhere! It's the preferred mode of transport for the locals. There are parts of Cambridge that are touristy and commercialized, but the best parts of my day were spent wandering down narrow residential streets and alleys to get a real feel for the town.

Street in Cambridge

Today I moved my hotel room for the second time. I like having my curtains open, but don't particularly enjoy being looked at from the office buildings my previous two rooms looked upon. Persistence has paid off and here's the new view by day...

Tower of London and Tower Bridge during a typical dreary London day

...and by night

It's not as Vegas bright as the picture suggests; I used a 15s exposure and the windowsill

I can also see a piece of the old wall that surrounded London during Roman times...it's tucked behind the hotel and I didn't even know it was there till today. Amazing what you can find in London, if you look around.

Across the pond...again!

Just a quick update: I'm in London for work!! And, I'll be here till the first week in February, so that makes it a 5-week stay this time around.

A week in, and so far outside of work (and the pubs, of course) I've toured the Tower of London...

One of several towers at the Tower of London. This one is the White Tower.

Done a bit of shopping...

And a bit of sightseeing and museum going...

Gorgeous Chihuly installation in Victoria and Albert museum

2008 turns into 2009

Let's back up to Christmas…

I spent Christmas morning with my mom and Molly, same thing I've done my whole life…opening stockings, opening each other's presents, opening presents from Santa. Breakfast of cinnamon buns, and then it's off to Gram's. Gram's house was packed with people this year. All of my aunts and uncles were there, and many of my cousins. Lots of goofiness, laughing, eating too much, and enjoying each other.

Some of us missed the silly face message. From left, sister Sierra, me, sister Molly, cousins Rick and Josh, and brother Scyler in the front

I saw bffs Sara and Renee, which was more goofiness, catching up, and feeling like no time had passed since we saw each other last.

Since all the goofy pics ended up on Renee's camera, here are me and Renee's adorable niece, Graycie

I spent New Years in Pittsburgh this year. I stayed with my bff Julie, home for the holidays from Alaska. We ate at Eat n Park, a Pittsburgh staple. We toasted in the New Year with my other PSU meteo bud, Donati, at his apartment party.

Julie and I brought in the New Year by joining the Pittsburgh Polar Bear Club. She suggested it; I was crazy enough to say yes. Why the heck not!? Everyone else thought we were crazy. There were hundreds of other crazy people jumping into the Monongahela River (the Mon to locals) too, 9:30AM on New Year's Day. Yes, the water was cold. A nice shock to the system. But I warmed up quicker than I expected afterwards.

Me: Guess what I just did?
Ma: What?
Me: I just jumped into a river!
Ma: EW. What is wrong with you?

Molly: Why would you even think that jumping into a freezing cold river was a good idea?

The jump into the 38F water

The only other time I've worn a bikini in January was in Miami. 18F air temp here. I think my face pretty much sums up the feeling: exhilarating, with a touch of 'what the heck did I just do?'

We went on to watch Penn State lose in the Rose Bowl :( And after Julie went off to visit her sister in Florida, I scammed wi-fi waiting for Donati to get out of work for dinner, and was on my way back on a Greyhound bus to NJ.

2008 Wrap-Up

2008 was a bittersweet year for me, but aren't most years? Full of highs and lows, losses and gains. What a bunch of cheesy clichés, but that's life.

I lost two influential family members in 2008. My great-aunt Lillian passed away in January. She, along with everyone else in my family, was so supportive and encouraging of all of my endeavors. She was such a sweet lady, and I am so grateful that she left her piano to me. Once it looks like I'll be settled down somewhere, her piano will be coming with me; for now, it's one of the few things left at my mom's house. The second loss was my grandfather, Alvord, in June. I'm so lucky to have had my grandfather in my life for so long, and that he was so close by. A lot of people aren't so lucky. The grandkids all knew to ask Poppy if Gram and/or our parents said no to something; he inspired my desire to play the piano, after learning my first song, "When the Saints Go Marching In" on his organ. I grew my first garden this summer, full of zucchini, motivated by his ever-blooming summer garden. I'm proud that he was a WWII veteran, and that he was born, raised, lived, and passed away in PJ, and that he loved and was loved by so many. I miss him a lot.

Offsetting the losses, I had some pretty life-changing experiences as well. I left the US for the first time in February, and ended up spending 2 full months of 2008 out of the country. I spent 4.5 weeks in London over 3 trips, and 1 month in India. As a lot of my friends and family like to tell me, I'm quite the world traveler now. I really like London, and I enjoyed my time in India. Leaving the US definitely opened my eyes to the rest of the world, and how others live, and how much of the world is out there for me to see.

I celebrated love at 3 weddings this year. I helped raise a puppy. I went on my first week-long family vacation. I missed my far-flung friends. I made new friends. I thought about all of my experiences and what I'd like out of my young life, and I'm single for the first time in 5 years. I moved into my very own apartment. I voted for Obama. I lived my life, learning from my successes and failures as I went along.

So long, 2008. It was a good year.

New year, new attempt to keep my blog updated

Well, blog followers, if there are any left, I am not currently in India, as my last entry suggests. I've had some big life changes the past few months, and haven't had the time or desire to update. I hope to revive this thing for 2009, since I'll be travelling a bunch again, taking pictures and having grand adventures along the way.

So, goodbye 2008 (wrap-up entry to come), and hello 2009!

Adventures in Delhi

Adventure 1: Walk to Lotus Temple from hotel
A walk in a city should be pretty easy, no? Especially when the walk is about a mile. Yeah, that's not so in Delhi. Co-worker S and I decided to walk to Lotus Temple from the hotel, just as a break from being driven around everywhere (yeah, a hard life). The walk started by asking the security guard at the gate of the hotel which way Lotus Temple was. When he just stared at us, a 'helpful' rickshaw driver pointed the direction and said it was very very far, why don't you take my rickshaw? No thanks, walking today. The temple is less than a mile away.

Except that mile turns into 2 when trying to actually walk there. Lotus Temple is the neat looking thing on the map

It was a hour-long walking journey where the sidewalks disappear and reappear covered in who-knows-what, crossing streets where pedestrian crossings just don't exist, walking on an overpass, dodging cars and rickshaws and bikes and motorcycles, seeing Ecto-Cooler water underneath a bridge. And it was fun! I'm just glad I don't have to do it every day.

The end result of the walk was awesome. Lotus Temple was built in the late 1980s for people of the Bahá'í faith. It's made of concrete, but you would never guess it. It looks amazing and is peaceful and serene inside.

Lotus Temple

Adventure 2: Auto Rickshaw

We were tired of walking in the 90+ deg. heat, so we took an auto rickshaw to our next destination, Connaught Place. Auto rickshaws are everywhere in Delhi, small and sneaky in traffic. No doors and no seatbelts, but they can't go super fast so it's ok. You just have to trust the drivers here. They know what they're doing.

The pervasive auto rickshaw. Don't be fooled by the lack of traffic, we happened to find one of very few empty streets in Delhi, and it was wonderful

Connaught Place was a total disappointment. It's basically like the mall shops around Times Square. But dirtier. And, it's listed as one of THE places to see in Delhi. All was not lost though, we had an excellent Indian veg lunch there. Mmm coconut rice.


Adventure 3: To Market!
We asked our auto ricksaw driver dynamic duo to take us to Dilli Haat, an outdoor market. Along the way we stopped in some ritzy shop (very nice, very popular say the rickshaw guys). Mhmm. After laughing out of the store at the prices, we went to Delhi Haat, which is not an outdoor market. It's a shop. They must make a killing on tourists. Yep, I bought stuff there too. So, real Dilli Haat next weekend.

One of my favorite things in Delhi is what's written on the back of trucks and buses

STOP
Please Honk
Use Dipper at Night

Everything that's aggressive driving in the US is normal driving to Indians. Constant honking, flashing lights at night, weaving in and out of traffic, 10 cars going through a red light. One of my favorite traffic signs? Lane Driving Sane Driving.

The view from the auto rickshaw

Adventure 4: Sunday Brunch
Apparently THE thing to do for Delhi's elite is to go to Sunday brunch. With unlimited champagne. So we went. Easily the most ridiculous, extravagant thing I've ever done (that list keeps growing while I'm here, btw). We drank our champagne and watched a bunch of expat kids running around the lawn unsupervised while their parents drank their champagne in the AC. Yeah. Today felt like college again: wake up late, go to brunch, take a nap, avoid the (home)work you should have done all weekend. Except I drank half a bottle of champagne with my brunch, took a rickshaw to and from expensive hotels instead of walking through the commons in my PJs, and napped in a 5* hotel.

If you find this all completely absurd, don't worry. I do too.

India...on business

I'm in India for work. So, most of my day is spent at work. Our driver picks us up at 8:30, we work and eat lunch at the office, and leave between 6-7. By the time I leave, it's dark and, unfortunately, can't do any sightseeing. Might be better for us if Indians used daylight saving time (but…they don't). Indians also eat dinner late. The restaurants in the hotel don't open back up for dinner until 8PM. That means I've been using the gym at the hotel (I know!), cleaning up, and then going to dinner with my co-worker. That's what the work week is like. But, on the weekends I've been here so far, (this and last week), I have gotten some sightseeing done.

Last Sunday I went to Qutb Minar. It's a mosque site. The tall tower is actually Qutb Minar, the rest of the buildings each have their own names. The detail in the sandstone is absolutely gorgeous. I love looking at old architecture, and I think I've said this before, but they don't make beautiful, handmade buildings anymore, and they're certainly not meant to stand the test of time.


After that, we went to Humayun's Tomb. His wife had the tomb commissioned for him after he passed away. He's not the only person entombed there, but that was the original intention. Amazing building, again with the spectacular detail. This is said to be the architectural pre-cursor to the Taj Mahal, which was next on my list to see.



The Taj is absolutely beautiful. We went just after sunrise, when the light is best (and the heat isn't so bad). I was not terribly familiar with the story before I got here (thanks Wikipedia!), but I am now. Beautiful love story, beautiful building. Did I say it was beautiful? If it wasn't so dang hot I would have stared at it all day. I'm going to admit it: prior to learning about it, I thought it was a cool looking big building, painted white on the domes. Um, yeah, embarrassed to find out it's made of white marble with amazing inlayed detail.


After the Taj we went to Agra Fort, which is where the emperor and his court lived during the Mongol rule of India. So cool! It's one of those really awesome palaces that has a moat and a drawbridge and ridiculous rooms and so much extravagance.


I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to see all of this. Many of my Indian colleagues have not been to see the Taj Mahal. Pictures in the album on the right!