The Big Move

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It's now October 1st, 2011 and I've left Seattle. I now live in Treforest, Wales UK, and am attending the University of Glamorgan. I'll be here for the next two years, and I plan to share some of my experiences, visual and otherwise, on this blog.
I've wanted to live abroad for a very long time, and I sometimes still can't believe that I'm here. Life goes on as usual but I hope not to take for granted all the differences in people, culture and landscape there are all around me. Perhaps keeping this blog will help me do that.
Enjoy!

Dressup Statues

Manneken-Pis

Brussels, Belgium

vs.

Waiting For The Interurban
Seattle, Washington USA

I was hoping to do a little sight-seeing in Brussels as I waiting to catch my plane to Munich, but since I don't know how the public transportation system works (nor do I speak enough French to feel comfortable navigating on my own), I've decided to head straight to the airport. What I will have missed in Brussels is the Manneken-Pis statue and fountain. Seattle has the Waiting For The Interurban dress up statue, Brussels has the Manneken-Pis (ok, not really in the same league). I'll be sad to miss the little man, but I'll have to come back to see him another time.

"Brussels has its silliness, too. Its mascot is the Manneken-Pis, a statue/fountain of a little boy who lives up to his name. You'll find him three blocks off the Grand Place, possibly wearing some clever outfit. By tradition, costumes are sent to Brussels from around the world. Cases full of these are on display in the City Museum on the Grand Place. For the story behind this little squirt, check a postcard stand."

Pre-trip Trials

It is now 2009, and one week from today I will be arriving in Paris.

When the idea of going to paris first was mentioned to me in early October I thought it would be a nice thing to do for myself since I knew that the holidays and my birthday, in November, would likely be awful, especially with the impending move out of the ex-boyfriend and, sadly, his daughter Jane (whom I adore). Kelly said, "come visit us for a month or two... stay for Martin's birthday in January, and mine in March, or come for your birthday". To this I said, "Yes! I'll stay for ALL the birthdays: mine, Jesus', Martin's AND yours. :^) I'm not crazy for the holidays, and I wholeheartedly wish I could have.

The last few weeks have been ghastly....Craig (the ex-bf) and I had planned on having a small Christmas with Jane on the 23rd, the day before they both left town for the holidays, about which I was very excited! I bought presents for him and Jane and was looking forward to making a turkey and playing games and whatnot. Mother Nature had other ideas. A week before Christmas a snow storm hit Seattle and basically shut the town down. No one was driving anywhere, and I'd heard that of 4,000 taxi requests, only about 800 people actually got rides. Craig and Jane ended up spending the snowy days just before the 23rd at her mom's having fun sledding and making a snowman, while I drove through the snow to get to work every day and coming home to an empty house. So our little Christmas with Jane ended up being a whole 7 hrs and then she went back home to her mom's. What a let down.

Also during this month, Craig found an apartment but then found out he didn't get it after all; I had a roommate set up to move in after Christmas but she lost her job and now isn't moving in. The new roommate was going to watch my dog during my trip, so then I was also out a dog sitter. THIS is not what I needed just weeks before leaving the country.

A last minute scramble has had me repost my roommate ad, negotiate with Craig to stay one more month until I get back, and finding (thankfully!) a friend willing to stay at my house and watch my beloved dog. I will be so happy to be on with my adventure and will be sure to enjoy myself - while also trying not to think too much about what I'll be coming back to.

Novelty Sight-Seeing and Souvenir-ing

I've never been very into conventional souvenirs (the impersonal, mass produced kind that say the name of the place you've visited - think Niagara Falls ashtrays, and tiny decorative spoons), but it occurred to me that I already have begun a small collection of large, latte mugs with the names of cities I've visited such as Denver, CO, West Palm Beach, FL, and Vancouver BC. The thing is that these mugs happen to be found at Starbuck's. They ARE functional after all, so I hope it's not quite the same as the mini spoons, and certainly more healthy than the ashtrays.

With this in mind, I wondered if there even were Starbuck's stores in Paris. I mean, they're everywhere, right? So why not Paris too? I couldn't quite imagine it, so I looked on the Starbucks website and found that Paris contains a total of 10 Starbucks, Vienna - 10, Munich - 7, Brussels - 2, Salzburg and Luxembourg - zero.

I can't quite fathom going out of my way to find these mugs, but since many seem to be located either in airports or near major sights I'll probably end up adding at least a few more to my collection.

I Heart Rick Steves and Google Maps

To find my Paris lodging I searched Hotels.com, recommendations from friends, and finally chose a place that I found on Rick Steves budget hotel list on the "Sleeping In Paris" page. My small room in the Port-Royal Hotel (on Porte-Royal Blvd) will be for one person, will have one washbasin (sink), no toilet, and no shower (the last two are down the hall), all for 48 euros per night (coming to under $250 for 4 nights)! I'm perfectly happy with an inexpensive, bare-bones room (provided it's clean) because I don't plan to be there all that much. The time I will be there I mostly plan on looking at the back of my eyelids, in the dark, not at how the room is decorated, or at a stunning view out of my window, or (god forbid) anything on television. (Really - I'm not traveling from one side of the planet to the other to see what's on my hotel room's fancy, flat-screen TV!) The money I save can be used for experiencing everything outside of my hotel room. As for a deposit on my reservation, none is needed, and they don't accept credit cards. I suppose we'll see if there is actually a room waiting for me when I arrive. ha!

Thanks to the nice people at Google Maps, and because of the genius of the "street view" of their maps, I was able to see the neighborhoods of each of the Paris hotels that I considered staying in. I feel so comfortable with the neighborhood I'll be staying in, and have "virtually" walked it so many times that I know where the Poste office is, and where the nearest metro entrance is located. It feels strangely familiar to me now,... as if it were my neighborhood. I just wonder what it will be like when I'm actually there. Because of this map view, I also know that my hotel is located on a wide, tree lined street (vs. a narrow back-alley looking street), there is a pharmacie 2 doors down, a movie theater nearby, and, in fact, a McDonald's just down the block. I'm interested in that last item only for the sake of novelty. It will be on my Paris to-do list to have the Royal Cheese on the Port-Royal blvd. More on that later....

Trip Skeleton

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Over the last few weeks I've managed to construct the skeleton of my trip, spending hour upon hour on the internet (for which I was teased by Craig who said "just go and figure it out when you get there") and then on the phone with some of the people I'll be visiting. My trip will now consist of 4 days in Paris, 4 days in Luxembourg, a train ride to Brussels where I'll catch a plane to Munich where I'll likely only stay a day. My cousin kindly will be driving 2.5 hrs to Munich to retrieve me, at which point I'll spend 5 days in Austria with her and her family. My fifth day in Austria we'll go to Vienna, see a few sights and I'll board a plane to Paris. I'll spend one last night in Paris and fly home the next day. I won't bore you with the (clever to me, but boring to you) details of how I'll get around quickly and cheaply, but suffice to say that my weekend of internet research will have been worth it. I've managed to avoid two 8hour, $300+, train rides, giving me more time and money to enjoy being there.

USD vs. EUR

How much is our money worth today in exchange for Euros?