Nostalgia

York seems to have anticipated my departure, and its way of coping is throwing a weather-tantrum. Every day has consisted of overcast, sunshine, rain, a little hail, and LOTS of wind. This counterproductive maneuver has resulted in our relative inability to enjoy the outdoors. Not that we haven't tried. Over the past two weeks, Mike and I have explored the various strolling options that York has to offer. Currently, my favorite stroll is along the banks of the Foss, a path that ultimately leads to a little gem of a park. This walk is not without its downsides. Each time we step onto the path, a horde of ducks and geese assume we are coming for the sole purpose of feeding them. These birds have no boundaries. The last time we went there, I had to run away from a goose that nearly walked into my crotch and seemed to have no intention of backing down. When we finally give up and walk away, each time we turn around, the group of birds follows us, getting closer and closer with every attempt at escaping them (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzzjgBAaWZw). We solve this problem by spreading our arms out really wide, charging at the group, and hissing and honking loudly.
This is a really roundabout way of saying that I am in the process of being very nostalgic. At this moment, I am feeling a little stretched. I have not yet come to terms that I will not be coming back to York (except for a ten-minute change at the rail station when I go to Manchester to fly home). My refusal to start thinking about leaving ("We still have time!") will, I know, come back to bite me, but I can't help it. At the same time, I am looking forward to going to Edinburgh again (my home away from home away from home) and seeing Julia and Alex. This prospect warms the cockles of my heart, but at the same time, I am ultimately looking forward to finally going home to Grand Rapids, a place that is familiar and comforting. I Skyped my family when they were at my cousin's wedding, and I have to admit that I am really homesick right now. I miss my front yard and my neighbors and my bed and my dog and my family and my kitchen and downtown GR and the Lake and my car and being able to bake cookies whenever I feel like it.
That's the issue. I'm feeling really homesick for Grand Rapids, but I'm also feeling really homesick for Future Sarah, who will be feeling homesick for York. Does that make any sense? I know how these things go, and I know that I will long to be back in York. And I also know that I will probably never come back here again.
Ugh.
So here we go: instead of writing ten more blogs on leaving York, I'm going to be really nostalgic and list some of the top things that I will miss about York:
• The history: I know, I say it over and over, but there is really nothing like this in the U.S.
• The silly street names: Grape Street, Elbow Lane, Whip-ma-whop-ma Gate. Need I say more?
• The Grange Kitty: Have I not told you guys about her? She is a resident of the Grange, and she loves me (and Mike, apparently). She comes right up to us and nuzzles our legs. I LOVE ANIMALS!
• The ability to get a filling lunch with less than two pounds (Thank you, Thomas the Baker, Cooplands, and the Cornish Pasty Bakery!)
• The silly British sayings ("Hiya!" "You alright?" "I'll be back at half seven.")
• The pub life. It was so nice to sit and chat and sip a beer in a five-hundred-year-old building.
• The ease of being a pedestrian
• Cream tea (See image above)
• Playing Frisbee in the Museum Gardens—one of Mike's and my favorite pastimes.
• Middletons: One more full-English breakfast on Tuesday, and then it's goodbye. They were my surrogate parents in York.
• The Minster: I've said enough on this topic

I could go on forever. The point is, I feel completely at ease here. I have adopted York—or has it adopted me? Either way, this is no longer a "new" city that I need to explore and understand. It has morphed into my York. I am a heaping pile of confusion right now, so I don't quite know what else to say except that this has been one of the most rewarding times of my life. And I'm afraid I'll come home and feel like none of it even happened. Well, at least I have this blog to prove it.

Wales (not whales)

This weekend marked the end of an era. Our group went to Wales: our final excursion. Wales was about a four-hour drive from York. We left early and most of us slept on the bus. We went to Conwy first, a charming sea-side town with a castle. It was sunny and warm when we got there. I had a cheap, yummy lunch at a little bakery, and then Karie, Gabe and I lay down in a field of grass before we met our group at the castle. Conwy Castle was very fun to explore, although it did start drizzling once we got in. You might see a video of me on Facebook where I'm imitating a sheep on a pile of rocks. That is in Conwy Castle.
By the time we were finished climbing up the twisty staircases in the Castle, it was very cold and wet, so we huddled in a mass penguin-style until our bus came to take us to our hostel. The hostel was nice and clean, and it had beds, which was our main area of focus, since a lot of us conked out for an hour or two until our group dinner. Unfortunately, the entire floor below us was inhabited by a mob of very loud middle schoolers. I may or may not have said some very nasty comments about wishing the bunk beds would collapse on top of them, a remark I regret, since they were surprisingly polite and well-behaved in the cafeteria. After dinner, most of the girls took a nice walk through a field and some woods. Then a group of us went into the town and found a pub.
The next morning, we left Conwy early and went to Caernarfon, another town with a castle. This castle was bigger than Conwy Castle, and it had a lot more secret passageways and rooms to explore, which I did with Karyn and Kristi. I had purposely stuffed myself at breakfast, so I didn't need lunch (I also stole three croissants and an orange from the hostel for dinner. Sh!). However, I did get a latte. We left Caernarfon and went to Beaumaris, yet another seaside town with a castle. By this time, we were all castled-out. We went to the beach, which was freezing, and then strolled along the streets. We found an adorable little tea shop, which reminded me greatly of Grandma and Grandpa Gau's old house, with all these different tea sets displayed. I got a pot of tea, and we sat there chatting for a long time until we had to meet the bus again.
This trip was only about thirty-six hours, but I enjoyed every minute of it. It was raining most of the time, but the Welsh landscape is so wild and dramatic that it almost seemed fitting. Now the only thing I have to do is look up how to pronounce all of those Welsh words!

Spring Break

Spring Break 2011 consisted of two wonderful weeks exploring Europe with Mike. Unlike most of my fellow Calvin students, Mike and I only went to two places: Paris and Florence (we ended our trip in London, where I met back up with my Calvin group). We stayed in each location for a week. We decided that we'd rather have a relaxed, exploratory vacation instead of traveling every few days. This cut costs as well. We experienced so many amazing things that I could not capture in one little blog, so I've decided to write the highlights of our little adventure.

Paris:

• Travel: This was true going to Florence. I was so nervous about flying RyanAir and EasyJet, but they were wonderful! Punctual and efficient.
• Location: We stayed in an apartment in the Latin Quarter right next to this adorable little square with a great bakery. We were also right by Rue Mouffetard, where we bought tons of crepes!
• Luxembourg Gardens: Also in our neighborhood area. We spent an entire afternoon with a baguette, cheese, and lemonade and a pack of cards (I taught Mike how to do a bridge!). These gardens were gorgeous.
• Eiffel Tower: Mike decided that it would be a splendid idea to re-propose to me on the Eiffel Tower since "it would make everyone's day." So he did. And everyone cheered. And I felt a little bad since it was a lie. But mostly it was funny and cute. That day we had lunch on Rue Cler, which was adorable, and went to the Musée d'Orsay, which was really neat!
• The food!: Crepes, baguettes, cheese, crepes, and crepes. We found that it was really easy to eat cheap, delicious meals. We could split a savory crepe and be pretty full. Also, did I mention I love crepes?
• Monday night, after seeing the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe, we strolled the Seine with crepes (!) in the evening. It was an incredibly beautiful sunset and so romantic!

Downsides: We went to Chartres on Friday, which was tons of fun, but it was also a day full of disasters. First, we missed our train but were able to take another one. It was difficult to get to Chartres since we had to change to a bus and we had a hard time finding it. Then, a guy threw up a few seats behind us and it was really gross. Also, it was freezing that day and we were not dressed properly since the weather said it was supposed to be nice. Oh, and I broke our water bottle all over a souvenir shop.

Florence:

• Location: Once again, we had an amazing apartment in a great part of town. The guy we stayed with, Mirco, was incredibly nice and helpful. He told us to make ourselves at home. We were right by Santa Croce Square and a few minutes away from the Duomo.
• Gelato: !!! Stracciatella was amazing, but our favorite combination was Strawberry plus Fruit and Yogurt. Soooooo good. We had gelato at least twice a day.
• Museums: The Uffizi was amazing (all those famous paintings!), but our favorite was the Accademia! We didn't need to wait to get in, and I loved all the sculptures. The David was incredible. We just sat and stared at it. Plus, there was this section of old instruments that was really cool too.
• Piazzo del Michelangelo: We decided on Friday to climb one of the hills south of Florence, which happened to have an amazing view of Florence. The space itself was a giant parking lot, but the view was extraordinary. We sat on the steps of a church looking at Florence and the Tuscan countryside and ate gelato.
• Duomo and Baptistry: The Baptistry ceiling was an amazing mosaic of Biblical images. On Monday, we climbed up the dome of the Duomo and had a panoramic view of Florence. It was absolutely breathtaking. We walked past the Duomo multiple times a day, and we never got sick of it. I love the intricate detail of the exterior—all the colored marble and geometric designs.
• Fiesole: This was our favorite part of our Italy trip. We took a very cheap bus ride 6 kilometers north to Fiesole. It was a quintessential little Tuscan hillside town. There were villas and vineyards and little parks. We found one park with a swing set and spent some time there playing cards and chatting. Then we walked up a hill and through a garden, where, upon rounding a bend, we saw an absolutely spectacular view of Tuscany, with Florence nestled in the hills. We sat on the edge of the hill for a long time just looking. It was exactly what I wanted Florence and Tuscany to look like.

Downsides: We had an awful food day on Saturday (the worst fries and panini I've ever eaten), and on Sunday (Easter) I was incredibly homesick. This is the first Easter I've spent away from Grand Rapids and I did not like missing it one bit. I liked the whole "being in Florence" part, but I missed my church and my family. Mike and I consoled ourselves by buying Easter candy.

London:

• Mike and I got to London on Tuesday and saw The Lion King at the Lyceum Theater. It was a great conclusion to our trip.
• I spent the rest of the weekend with my Calvin group. We went to the Tower of London (so much interesting history!), saw Parliament and Westminster, went to the British Museum (amazing and free!!), went to Portobello Market, and went to the War Rooms, where we learned about Winston Churchill and Britain in World War II. These were really interesting activities, but my favorite part of London was:
• THE ROYAL WEDDING! Some people pulled all-nighters in front of Buckingham Palace, but I went to Hyde Park to watch the wedding on mega-screens. There were literally hundreds of thousands of people at Hyde Park, but we managed to get pretty good seats. The Brits are really good at watching things in crowds. They were loud and excited until the ceremony started, when the entire park fell silent. We would applaud after any important moment ("I do"), but after about five seconds, they would all fall silent again. It was such a fun atmosphere to be in, and thankfully it didn't rain! It was really fun to pretend to be British for the day, but there were definitely areas where my American-ness shined through. For example, at the end of the wedding, everyone in Hyde Park stood up and sang the national anthem. I, however, sang "God save our gracious Queen……Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing."

Downside: I got sick from some veggie curry, which was no fun. Also, about an hour before we left to go back to York, I lost my wallet on the Underground. This contained my ID, driver's license, money, credit card, rail card, and apartment keys. I am as of now unable to leave my apartment without either borrowing keys from my flat mates or calling security to let me back in. Good thing all I will be doing the next few days is finally washing my socks after two and a half weeks of re-wearing them.


I am shocked that Spring Break is over, since I feel like so much time and energy has been spent focusing on it (thanks, Dad!). I just feel so lucky that I got to go to these places with Mike, because most people don't get the opportunity to travel with their fiancés for two weeks.