Frog Blog

this will be my last entry from school. starting tomorrow, i'll be a vagabond. i'm going on a school trip to scotland for one week, then will meet some family in belgium and france. can't wait! after they leave, i'm off to ireland and england and paris one more time. i can never get enough of paris.

it's a little sad to leave. everyone at the school is so nice and genuine. the teachers got together and pitched in for a goodie bag of sephora stuff for me on my last day, and many of my students gave me little chocolates and cards and homemade things. so thoughtful.

it's also been about 80 degrees for the past few days-- a warm front from africa. so sad to leave now that the weather is good-- especially since it's in the 50s and raining in scotland. oh well-- i'm totally used to that, so no biggie.

may have spotty posts throughout the summer. stay tuned.

scotland was lovely, impossibly green, wicked friendly, exhausting. the four of us stayed with the same host family-- jeannie and jimmy. she works for a christian organization, he's a butcher who makes award-winning haggis. they had a lovely home and offered us a warm welcome. some highlights:

we had NO RAIN. have you heard of such a thing in scotland before? granted, P and i got hailed on in st. andrew's, but only briefly.

during a free afternoon in edinburgh, i slipped away from the group and had an hour of luxury at jo malone-- got an arm massage, learned about her scents, bought some nectarine honey perfume. i stank the rest of the day.

loved glasgow. has such grittiness to it, paired with some really swank fancy shops and amazing churches. caught a cold. drank tea incessantly.

fell in love with scone palace and its gardens full of peacocks.

marvelled at the fact that i could stop anywhere-- any shop, in the middle of the street, wherever, and ask for directions, ask a general question, anything-- and people understood me. and i understood them. such a small luxury. but it was strange how locals often deferred to me in conversation, as if the others couldn't understand english as well. even experienced a bit of anti-french on the first boat over. but think that was a singular incident only from particular person i was talking with. it was luscious to talk to people, turn on the charm, flirt my way into things.

totally want to move to st. andrew's. loved being a duck and all, but wish i'd known about st. andrew's when i was an undergrad. granted, i doubt i'd had the grades to get accepted back then, but it was the most beautiful campus, steeped in history and tradition and very harry potter. not to mention the GOLF!! the golf museum was a little wordy but i did get a hole in one at the mini practice put-put. and saw a bronze caste of ernie els' hands!

the boat to and from the continent was fine- smooth sailing the first direction, pretty rocky the second. thank god for bonine and pressure point wristbands.

some of the kids were these posing, snobby, spoiled brats who are all in desperate need of a good ass kicking. whining gets old, as does disrespect. but, all in all, no major catastrophes.

the best part was when the four of us and the bus driver dumped the kids and headed out to the pubs. guiness never tasted so good.

tomorrow i catch the slow bus to hell-- er, i mean, brussels, to meet up with family for two weeks of fun. time to switch gears. i fly to belfast at the end of the month for 5 weeks of travel in ireland and england before heading ... home. wherever that is!

not to forget: quiz night, aprons, bus buddy, storms, tea tea tea, york, sandwiches, coke, fish and chips.

the american cemetery was very moving. i've never felt any nationalistic bullshit of proud to be an american or any of that until i saw omaha beach and the museum of war in caen and the cemetery yesterday. i cried.

so far so good traveling with the family. at least with family you can freak out and call each other on your shit. we've had nice hotels save for one wicked funky number in a nowhere town-- but those ones always make you appreciate comfort and a hot shower. today we're heading to dinan in brittany, then to the loire where i hope to drink lots of white, then finally to paris. we're all a bit squished in the car but it's not so bad.

belgium was lovely. good weather, free bike rental from the hotel, extravagant breakfast included in the price of the hotel. after belgium was car rental in lille, then drive to normandy, then dinan in brittany, and now amboise, france, in the loire valley. home to amazing white wine and internet cafes. we've rented a little cabin home from a b&b and the woman who runs the place is american. funny, as my dad said, first rude person we've met so far in europe is an american. my aunt and i took the train to alleviate some squish in the car. when we arrived at the b&b, i said in french, hi, my name is N and my uncle made a reservation to stay here. rude woman cut me off and said, i'm american, it's a waste of time to be speaking french with me.

later we found out the house we're staying in has 40,000 dollars worth of furniture and we are not to break anything and we are to clean up the kitchen and blah blah blah and there's this whole laundry list of things we cannot do. what the fuck ever. we did, however, take advantage of the kitchen and made a nice dinner last night. more later.

amboise is definitely touristy. yesterday, though, we took cruella's advice and visited the chateau in loches, not too far away. it was totally uncrowded and really cool. dad and i skipped the chateau tour in montrose and got an eclair instead. i'm reaching a point where i'm sightseeing-out. i just don't give a shit anymore. i'd much rather spend the afternoon reading or getting tea or people watching or talking or whatever. no more churches!

my plan is to go up to harlaam/amsterdam with uncle D and aunt M for two nights until they fly home. i fly on the 31st to belfast, ireland, where i plan to park it for three weeks. i have a friend in ireland and i decent guidebook and at least part of ireland is on the euro instead of the dreaded two-to-one pound. god, those pounds suck you dry. anyway, after ireland, i'll probably hit england for a week and then spend my last four or five nights of this whole little lifetime in paris, lovely paris. a girl cannot tire of paris!

tomorrow we're planning to see some more chateaus and tuesday we leave for four nights in paris. aunt M and i take a perfume tour on thursday. excited!

i think mostly what i'm feeling is burnout. i'm having to remind myself that i do love traveling and seeing new things. i'm hoping the spirit will return once i get to ireland-- it's unchartered territory for me and i have a little irish in my blood from my paternal grandma. i need some reinspiration. i'm feeling a bit tired and worn out. not like i'm in any big rush to get back to america, but i'm tiring of franceland.

is that hippos or hippoes? hi, dan quayle. shit. anyway, i saw a pack of hungry hunting dogs get their dinner tonight at the chateau cheverney. it was intense. the 70 dogs all line up, howling, and wait to eat their entrails and nasty chicken carcasses and kibble. what's worse is that the dog guy dumps all of it out in front of the dogs for about 20 minutes before they can eat. what's even worse than that is the smell of these entrails. putrid. once the dog guy gives his signal, the dogs chow down-- i mean, really hit the skids and fight and rip things apart and it's absolutely crazy. there's a point when they stop being cute and start looking like a pack of things-- ants, rodents, sickies.

my entries are so scattered. i'm trying to motivate myself to traveling again. i'm going to amsterdam with aunt and uncle and then ireland alone. i do like traveling, i do like traveling, i do i do i do i do i DO like traveling. i'm not the cowardly lion, i'm the tired lion. but, i do have the rest of my life to sleep-- or sleepwalk, like what i was doing before i left. hopefully i'll have enough chutzpah to not sleepwalk through life anymore when i get back.

i've been enjoying my family. it's nice to see dad. but the car has been a mixed bag. a blessing and a curse-- nice to get to these out of the way chateaus, so crowded and uncomfy in the back seat.

i love paris. i'd definitely buy a tshirt with that on it. it's so true. this is quite possibly one of my favorite times in paris so far. my dad and family are here, it's hot, everyone's out, the cafes are bustling, the parks are full, it's soooo hot, it's so hot out. and sticky. but after nine months of freezing my ass off, it's a welcome change.

speaking of change: i don't do very well with change, but i've learned that no one really does-- some people just hide it better or adapt a little easier than others. it'll be hard saying bye to dad and aunt R tomorrow. we're actually all going to amsterdam-- dad and R fly from paris to amsterdam for a layover, aunt M and uncle D and i train up to amsterdam/harleem for a few nights before i get to belfast. i have my huge suitcase from reims that i have to repack tonight for dad to take home for me, and then i'm backpack girl again. but recently i've run into people-- strangers-- who have been to ireland and all of them tell me how cool it is up there. i'm looking forward to it but here comes another transition for me. i only have about 39 days left in europe. which is so utterly crazy. but blah blah blah.

aunt M and i took a private walking tour of three perfume houses yesterday, led by a woman who loves perfume. we went to serge luten's shiseido salon, guerlin and one that's slipped from my memory. the sheseido place was gorgeous-- all purple handpainted walls and dark atmosphere and wonderful scents that were way overpriced-- 95 euros for 75ml. guerlin was super old school-- think chanel-- and way too old lady for me but i could totally appreciate some of their old scents made in the late 1800s and 1920s. the third place was sleek and modern and all chrome and black boxes, and the perfumer himself was there. cool to meet him-- wicked nice-- but i didn't care much for his scents. they smelled more like places-- like a new office, new carpet, air conditioning. hard to explain. i didn't buy anything until we stopped at jean patou as an afterthought. i got some 'joy' lotion which is something i already wear. cheaper in france. the tour was fun but a little long-- almost 5 hours-- a lot of time smelling and walking in the hot sun. but worth it.

tonight being our last night all together in the city of lights will be spent on a boat cruise on the seine and at the eiffel tower once it gets dark. can't hardly wait. tomorrow, a new chapter.

i'm on an american keyboard after 8 months and i can't muthafuckin' type!!!!

í'm in haarlem, the netherlands, with uncle D and aunt M. i think i spelled it wrong in an earlier entry.

last night was magic in paris. so bloody hot. 80 degrees at 10 pm. we went for a seine cruise and there were so many people out it was nuts. people picnicking on the ile de la cite, wine bottles on blankets, baguettes, the whole thing. lovely. the bridges radiated heat as we passed underneath them. the city was glowy with the sunset at 10 pm. free salsa dancing in a park every summer evening. jazz band playing in one bar, sushi right next door, a busted stretch limo stranded in the middle of rue de seine in st germain des pres. art shows, flowing skirts, hot bodies, sweat. absolutely divine.

dad was sleeping when we got home and we scared him awake. i barely slept because of the heat. no air conditioning. the alarm went off at 5:45 am and dad and aunt R left at 6:25. it was heartbreaking to see them go.

i'm tired and done and the heat with no sleep made it worse. it's much nicer weather-wise in haarlem. tomorrow i'm going to the hague to see girl with a pearl earring, then into amsterdam for another museum, the rijks? the van gogh? monday aunt M and uncle D fly home, tuesday morning i'm ireland bound. i would like a nap now, please. learning to type again at 28.

waiting in the amsterdam train station today for my train back to haarlem, i spotted a sleek german train bound for frankfort. the trains in the netherlands are bright yellow with blue accents; the german train was silver and red.

i liked amsterdam. yesterday aunt M, uncle D and i went in for the day. i strolled the red light district. i even saw a transaction-- a guy went in and got down to business. most of the women were not very attractive or physically fit. actually, most of them were quite skanky. but they can make up to 500 euros a day, so, to each their own.

i also visited the anne frank house which was very moving, crowded and hot. it added a certain dimension to the place-- i imagine it was super crowded in that little place with eight inhabitants and blacked out windows.

aunt M and uncle D left this afternoon. we parted on a train to amsterdam. sad to see them go but easier than saying goodbye to dad and aunt R. maybe because i'm more used to saying goodbye and because i'm trying to right my mind into travel mode. they paid for my night in the hotel tonight which was super nice, especially since i'm on a budget. i called a hostel in belfast for tomorrow night. they didn't have any single rooms left so i'll be in a quad with three other girls. i don't mind because it's only for one night and it only costs nine pounds. i should be meeting up with F in belfast on wednesday afternoon to stay with her for a few nights and plan out my trip. i'm happy that only northern ireland uses the pound!

the van gogh museum today was extraordinary and extraordinarily crowded. i hate those goddamn audio tours-- people tend to park it in front of "sunflowers" and hog it for five minutes. oh well. seeing all that passion made up for it.

it's raining and cold today. but i have mtv.

getting through customs was a nightmare. he's like, i see you came up to the uk may 4. yes, with school. how long are you staying? do you have a return ticket? where are you staying? what's the address at the hostel? do you have a return ticket home? how do you plan on paying for your stay here? how much money do you have in the bank? how will you access that bank account?

i was just about ready to hand over my ready to use dna samples that i keep on me at all times when he finally stamped my passport. sheesh. my hostel is ... a hostel, funky, run down, a little out of town. town-- belfast-- is not the prettiest. i'm looking forward to getting out of northern ireland and down with the catholics where i'm supposed to be.

i'm starving and only have about 10 mins left here on my internet.