More pictures

Too many for one album! More here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jkytta/20090805MariaVisits#

Back in RI

After a loooooong drive we've arrived back in RI. Photos are updated, so check them out http://picasaweb.google.com/jkytta/20090805MariaVisits?authkey=Gv1sRgCIr9waj0-sHpHg&feat=directlink

Ohio!

So we got up at another ungodly hour and left Virginia, through West Virginia (yes I had to sing it....the whole 7 hour journey- j loved me!) and finally arrived in Ohio. We spent the first couple of days chilling out in Logan with James' grandparents and even had a toad jumping competition of our own! The days were very chilled out and relaxed and I had a great time drinking and playing games with the family 'Ohio' style. James also took me to some beautiful places such as Old Man's Caves so look out for those photos.

On Saturday we then headed for the city and we've been exploring Columbus since then. The two of us are testing our friendship to the limit with me carrying James home on Saturday night (even after he bit me!!!!!!!) and him carrying me last night after a night of musical showtunes in a local gay bar- the excitement was all a bit too much for me!

Anyway, we've hundreds and hundreds of pictures and stories but we can't get them uploaded here so when we get back to Rhode Island on Thursday we'll sort them then.

Greetings from Charlottesville, VA

After a VERY trying drive of 13 hours through the night, we arrived safely in Virginia. We've had a great time seeing the sights, tasting the local wines with Barry and Maxine, and visiting some of the historic sites.


Last night we were treated to a Viginia County Fair speciality- a Frog/Toad jumping contest! (Though it's too bad we'll be gone and miss the Husband Calling Contest and the Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest...)

Narragansett, RI

Hazard Rocks

Blessing of the Fleet Festival

Settling in

I've been here about 36 hours now and am settling into life that doesn't involve reports, exam marking or planning- it's bliss! Yesterday was my first full day here and I became more familiar with Providence. I was able to see Brown University, the Admissions office there, and a few of the bars! Brian joined Keith, James and I yesterday afternoon and we had a very relaxed afternoon and evening. (Although I don't think James was impressed that for the second year running he lost miserably to me at pool! ;-))

Today we're heading down to Brian's beach house in Narragansett for a seafood and beer festival and the storms from my first night here have disappeared and the sun's come out just for us. It promises to be a great day (again) :-)

Watch out the States

so apparently no one took any pictures from the last mix of cultures between the two muppets...probably for the best in hindsight! but the next one is only three days away and this time it's my turn to cross the atlantic. Last night I thought I was doing well in terms of organisation and was pretty much sorted for leaving at the crack of dawn on Thursday morning. I only have Passport to find, dollars to obtain, and a suitcase to steal before then! Nothing important then...

Hopefully there'll be chance over the next three weeks though to post some pictures and comments (minus my camera this year) on the ever educational cross-culture misadventures.

photos take 2

it's only taken me nearly 10 months to get these up
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/maria.bajkowski/Summer2008Continued#

Do you know who lives there?

3 countries in 3 days....

Apparently it's my turn to update the blog so expect a lot of waffle! To complete the trinity of Scotland/England/Ireland we spent an easy day on Saturday getting ready to fly to Ireland (and James calming me down from the excitement of it all!!) Martyn then kindly gave us a lift to John Lennon Airport, Liverpool, and with James getting excited having passed the birthplace of his beloved Jaguar, we booked ourselves in. The flight was harmless enough, as were the customs, and the bus into town, and the walk to our accomodation, and the accomodation....it was all going too well! And that's pretty much how the next three days went.

We had a slight hiccup in that everywhere was shut on the Sunday and we spent what felt like forever walking round Cork trying to find somewhere to eat, and had to settle on a pint of Guinness and a game of Irish football in a local! It didn't matter though, we were on holiday, and were content. What we weren't expecting however was to wake up Monday and find it was a bank holiday weekend so yep, you guessed it...Cork was closed again!!!

Who needs a city to be open though?! We got into the spirit of the trip (literally!) walked for miles, saw some of the sites and EVEN had to settle with a lager and garlic bread breakfast at 9am to use up what sustenance we'd found but not managed to finish the day before. One might even think we were back in Finland.....

Tuesday we hit the streets of Manchester with Andrew and Liam. I was glad the boys were there to help because despite growing up next to the city I really don't know it very well. Luckily for James the boys knew the city inside out and we were able to show James a whole range of places. What he was most bemused at it seems is that whatever the weather, come rain or shine, the English will sit outside for their pint! (and yes, the rain has now started, and no, James hasn't melted yet!) The day ended perfectly by driving past the Coronation Street set and seeing Carla leave for the day. Well I was happy :-)

We then drove to my parents for tea and they treated us to a Roast Dinner. James was able to experience 'Bajkowski Meal Times' and during the course of dinner had to join in the debate about the apocalypse, evolution and property value politics. We then settled down for the evening with 'Brassed Off' and watched a 'proper English' film. It was a fun night, so much so that we forgot to take any photos- oops!

And so we're onto today, another day of no photos. Today we've been taking it easy. I've been tidying my stuff away, and we've watched a film, AND completed a jigsaw of Scandinavia!!!! We needed today off because we've run ourselves ragged the last two weeks, and half way through the holiday we're preparing ourself for hitting 'the South' tomorrow. On that note though, I've got three bags full of papers from this year which are going to be burned- and James is looking restless at me to go and start the fire, so I'll end it there. Not sure how regularly we're going to be able to post while we're further down the country but we'll keep taking photos and will update where possible :-)

Travels in the North

Well, we've survived another few days and they've been quite an amazing few days, let me tell you! On Monday we drove up to Durham to stay with Beckie and see all that the city (since there's a cathedral, though by James' estimation it's really a town) has to offer. It was a good opportunity to see where Maria spent "The Uni Years," from season 3 of Mariaoaks, and to compare the life here to the life @ Helsingin Yliopisto (The University of Helsinki). We also took a quick trip up toward Newcastle to see the Angel of the North for a nice comparison of the naked men on the beach we'd seen with Theo. After lunch with Susan on Tuesday we braved the stairs to the top of the cathedral tower. It was only when we reached the top that James remembered he's afraid of heights.... That night Beckie had organized a special night out for us all, only to find that the entire "city" was shut. Oh well, you can't win them all, and we still had an amazing time at Bellvedere with Beckie and her housemates (and Simon).

Wednesday we set off for Edinburgh. Being our fearless selves we set off without a map thinking that the centre of town must be "roughly that way," only to find that it was not, in fact, "that way." Turns out it was completely the opposite of "that way," but we had a nice walk by the coast anyway. Luckily we were able to find our way back to the car despite every street being called Trinity because Maria had wisely noted that we should follow the Ferry Path road (and we all know who lives there!) Thankfully Mary was there to save the day and help us get our bearings properly. She took us up Arthur's seat to have some amazing views of the city (and yes, James believes Edinburgh is actually a city). Afterward it was back to Mary's for some traditional Scottish haggis and tatties followed by a local beverage in a local pub. Thursday we bid farewell to Mary and were left to our own devices roaming around the city. Luckily this time we had a map and Mary had shown us where the centre actually is! We even managed to find ourselves a traditional Scottish breakfast complete with potato cakes and black pudding. The day was beautiful and it wasn't until we'd begun driving back down to Durham that rain set in (so many wet sheep!).

Back in Durham we reunited with Beckie for curry club in Wetherspoons. She'd looked after us all week and it was a lovely way to end our time with her. We drove back down to Leigh Friday morning and a visit with Martin, Kathryn and family (including Lady!). Keeping with tradition we went round to the local chippy shop for our tea and spent the evening just relaxing, and getting ready for our trip to Ireland! We'll be leaving this evening for Cork, and couldn't be more excited! Look for those pictures on Monday=)

Well under way!

It's amazing how much can be accomplished in the matter of 3 days! After a ridiculously long flight James finally arrived Wednesday night. We then went on to start our tour with the finer parts of England- Wigan, Prescot, and Leigh ;) Yesterday we met up with the grandparents (both sets) in Barlick (Barnoldswick) for a viewing of the sights and a couple rounds of snooker. James was horrible, and thanks to arbitrary scoring Maria won by about 500 points... hmm... Today we headed back down to the very north west (James is confused as to how one can go DOWN to the VERY north west) and met up with Theo in Liverpool. We had a whirlwind trip around the center (centre) in about 2 hours and then headed off to the beach to see the Anthony Gormley art installation. The weather was in our favo(u)r, so with any luck Maria and Theo will get a tan comparable to James' exaggerated tan in this photo! It's been a very packed but awesome/lovely three days (and these were the quiet days before the real travel begins!).

Arrival!

As you can tell by the countdown clock, Now! has arrived!!! After 26 hours in transit apart and 4 hours driving together the muppets are reunited=) As our travels progress be sure to keep an eye on our picture postings here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jkytta/SummerTravels

The photos currently on the page are of Iceland, but we've not even had 24 hours together in the UK yet so give it time. Amusement is promised in the near future. But if you're reading this, you'll probably be part of it! For now, it's back to carsickness (takes some getting used to cars passing quickly on the right!) and getting used to that awful accent called "American." Hope to see you soon!

Itinerary No. 32!!!!

RIGHT. One week to go until the plane leaves Boston so it's about time I got myself sorted and organised. I've been busy enough the last couple of weeks quietly organising little sections of the jigsaw to make the complete picture a memorable occassion! I'm just about at the stage now of sorting out most of the concrete dates- but there's still some people I could do with chatting to and finding out when they're free to visit, so here's a version of the latest itinerary and if anyone wants to add their imput, feel free!

Wed 23rd July: James lands in Heathrow at 8.10pm- drive up to Wigan.
Thurs 24th July: Easy day around Wigan- tea with the boys in Leigh
Fri 25th July: Barnoldswick- visiting all the family.
Sat 26th July: Stop off at Lisa and Phil's in Manchester and then onto Liverpool from there.
Sun 27th July: Meal booked at the Owls.
Mon 28th July: Drive up to Durham
Tues 29th July: Coffee with Susan. Party that night- organised by Beckie!!
Wed 30th July: Drive up to Edinburgh
Fri 1st August: Whitehaven/Windermere
Thus 7th August: Brighton....possibly!
Fri 8th August: Oxford
Sat 10th August: Tom and Kelly's Wedding!
Sun 11th August: Cardiff
Tues 13th August: Torquay
Sat 16th August: Bath
Sun 17th August: London
Tues 19th August: James goes home! :-(

And that's it....time completely run out. There's possibility in there to see Peterborough/Cambridge, Birmingham/Warwick, Manchester, Blackpool and of course we need a couple of days in London! But that's the plans thus far....

Wishful thinking

im very aware i haven't written on here in forever. It's bank holiday Sunday and I'm sat staring at the pile of work in front of me thinking...what i wouldn't give for it to be 59 days from now.....

Hit the ground running

Yesterday on the bus I was reading my latest issue of Men's Health and two of the articles in particular caught my attention. The first was about the benefits of fasting one day a week (actually makes a good case for it!), and the second concerned a sleeping pattern reportedly used by DaVinci among others where one sleeps 20 minutes every four hours instead of 8ish hours a night and still functions at peak level. The case for that isn't as convincing.

Anyway, as I was checking the headlines this morning the two topics have collided and can potentially be put to good use for travels this summer (and all future trans-timezone flights). Apparently by fasting 16 hours pre-flight one can prevent jet lag by throwing the brain out of it's comfort level an into a different mode where the circadian clocks that generally control our sleep schedule are knocked down in priority. If this really works, it'll be awesome!

I'll let you know how it goes...

Scratch that!

So much for the midnight trip to Stonehenge! It's recently been the site of some ridiculous vandalism that makes me believe there'll be people all around at night, strictly enforcing the visiting hours. And here I was thinking I could avoid all the tourists....

Castlefield Roman Fort

Castlefield Roman Fort
Originally uploaded by ajcr41

While it may not quite be as authentic as the ruins I saw in Troy, Castlefield looks like an interesting part of Manchester to visit. The old Roman fort Mamucium is the reason to go. If nothing else it might be worthwhile to see how the Romans would've incorporated railroad technology into the structure of their forts ;)

Info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamucium

Oysters and Swans

I doubt that we'll be fishing for things to do, but if looking for a change of pace and a bit of time near the water there are options!

Whitstable will be hosting their annual Oyster festival the week I arrive. The even purposely coincides with St. James Day, he being the patron saint of oysters and oyster fisheries. I had no idea such a thing needed a patron saint!


And if we need to practice our maths we could always go and count swans!

"The Dyers and Vintner's Companies have the right, established in medieval times, to keep swans on the Thames River. Every year the Queen's Swan Keeper and Swan Markers from the two livery companies row in skiffs along the river to mark the cygnets (baby swans)."

Oh the possibilities! ;)

Haunted England?

Ghost stories are something that seem to continually pop up around me, and it seems that England is even more prone to claims of the supernatural. Perhaps it's because many of the buildings are so much older than what we have here (as was pointed out to me recently, tepees don't really stand the test of time the same way that, say, a stone castle would...) Anyway, if we get the chance I figure we might as well visit a couple of these supposed sites anyway and see if I can give myself a heart attack. So far it seems like Bath is the most popular destination for ghostly encounters, though that may also just be because they have better marketing for their supposed haunted locations. Derby is another possibility. Anyone have any encounters of their own? First hand reports would be helpful, and if we can find somewhere that's on the route any way even better. I suppose we could also see what the Manchester Ghost group is up to in July...

Urbis

photo by Steve Mayes
Originally uploaded by Urbis, Manchester

Am I a major dork for really wanting to visit this place in Manchester? I can't say manga is an exhibit I'm especially eager to see, but a museum of urban culture is quite an interesting idea indeed. And it's free! More info: http://www.urbis.org.uk/

Yee-Hah!???!

So there's no way I'm doing this, but when I stumbled across it I just had to point it out. Apparently folks with a passion for the old days of the Wild West and Clint Eastwood movies can get all dressed up and play cowboys and indians like they did when they were 7. That such a place exists doesn't surprise me. That it's not somewhere like New Mexico, or Texas, but instead in London leaves me scratching my head. Really guys? Come on, you can't be serious?! At £60.00, is it really worth it?

England's most patriotic town?

According to the BBC Morley may just be the must patriotic town in all of England. Whether or not this is the case I'm in no position to judge, but it does highlight an issue I've always wondered about: patriotism. Here in the states it's much more intense than I've seen in Europe. In Finland I always loved the holidays because it meant that flags would be flown and that was a rare sight. Here flags are out every day of the year and, provided lights shine on them, night too. You see it EVERYWHERE and patriotism has even more recently taken the form of a magnet people put on their car. So I'm wondering what I'll encounter in England. I somehow doubt patriotism will be as laid back as Finland, but don't think it will be as intense as it is stateside. Unlike Finland, England at least has international soccer teams that the country can rally for... So we'll see. Any predictions on what I'll find? And what's the fascination with St. George? Bulgaria was the same way...

Winter Arrives in England

Winter Arrives in England
Originally uploaded by nick.garrod

This has got to be the skinniest castle ever! Has anyone seen it? Does it look so skinny from the other angle? If we're near Worcestershire (how do you pronounce that?!) we're gonna have to track this place down!

The REAL 2nd leg of the journey

Well we did get a little bit further last night than James suggests in the initial plans of his visit! (He just likes maps far too much!) So the REAL initial plans at this moment in time....

Wednesday 23rd July: Drive straight back up to Wigan from the airport and crash out! We just figured it was the best option for both of us.

Thursday 24th- Sunday 27th July: Around home. Meet up with friends in Wigan and Leigh. Maybe go to Barnoldswick/Manchester/Liverpool/Blackpool- just take it easy those first few days basically and not too anything too taxing while body clocks adjust to UK times and no 6am starts for school!!!

Monday 28th July: Make our way up to Durham. Possibly stopping off at the Cheese Factory en route! And spend a few days seeing the North East and then across to the Lakes on the way back. Been looking at staying at St Chad's or a travel lodge. There was also speculation of going up to Edinburgh for the day in this time.

Saturday 9th August: We know we need to be in London now so we figured we'd head up north first and then head down to the other side of the country and spend some time down there.

And that's as far as any sort of plans have gone so far (see I do have ideas - of a sort! they're just open to negotiation) But that's where we are now :-) with 91 days to go!!!! :-)