Back Home

Hello my dears,
So I'm back stateside-- got in a day ago now-- still alive and intact after going through customs (a bit intense that...). It was a long day and a half of travelling. I was exhausted when we made it in, but I'm much better now. It's incredible being back. Everything's familiar yet decidedly off in some way that I can't quite explain. Everything I took for granted before is all shiny now. Like going to the supermarket and buying milk and produce that's not rotten-- and granola bars! Yay for granola bars! And not having to think about where things are before I head out for the day. And I haven't see any pigeons in the last 2 days. It's been glorious. It's nice not having to lock up my stuff all the time either. And just sitting in the passenger side of the car singing along with the radio (there were lanes on the road lol). I listened to some of my CDs yesterday. I'd missed my music. I'd missed my home. I really do fit here.

That being said, my trip has stirred in me an insatiable need to keep seeing the world so I'm sure I'll be headed off again once I've got this trip and a chunk of school paid for. Seeing these beautiful places with their alien yet compatible cultures... it just integrates itself into your being and slowly makes you more and more human, if that makes sense. I feel like a purer artist now. It's been quite frustrating trying to explain to people what looking at a Van Gogh up close does for you. How you're a different person after walking along the Seine or Avon, when you close your eyes and just let yourself exist in something bigger than yourself, being kissed by the sun in an ancient city that's known philosophical and artistic greatness. And for that moment you're a part of it too, one line in the story that is Paris, or Vienna, or Athens, or London. That's basically the best I can do :). Do you ever wish there were just more words? I yearn for a pure vocabulary every day, some way to completely show others how you feel. Someday, yeah?

So I'm off to do tedious normal things like apartment hunt and paperwork, it's been an excellent adventure all, and I recommend you all get out there too. Now's the time before you're locked too deeply in a career or a family and the next thing you know you're 75 and knitting with 5 cats (no good). I love you all, thanks for being so supportive of this crazy lady. Talk to you all soon. Love,
Me

And now... the time is near...

Hello all!
So six weeks have come and gone.  Can't believe it, but I'll be back Stateside on Tuesday (after about 24 hours of straight travelling mind you...).  England's been great, I have to come back here.  Today we went to church in the morning and then spent hours on Hamstead heath (this huge open park)... gorgeous.  The weather's been amazing-- not a drop of rain.  It was perfect I tell you.  I loved people-watching there.  There were these tiny kids trying to play cricket (one walked right into the ball, poor thing).  And this dad and his son messing around with a soccer ball, and the dad kept holding the kid back so he couldn't kick it (Dad!  No hands!, Alright, referee) so then the kid latched on to his dad's leg and rode it while his dad tried to kick the ball-- SO CUTE.  And these two couples celebrating with a picnic basket of caviar and champagne.  And this dad who had to climb a tree to get his kid done cuz he was  singing at the top of his lungs over and over 'I believe I can fly!  I believe I can touch the sky!' no joke.  Freakin' hilarious.  Almost couldn't handle it.  Made me smile.  Oh, Sarah's addicted to Agatha Christie novels btw lol.  It's very giggle-inducing.  She's devoured 3 in like 2 days and is searching for more for the plane ride.

This has been an incredible experience for me.  I don't even know where to begin with all I've learned, but I feel like I should be completely different than I was before, so much has happened.  And I've met the most amazing people from all over the world.  Eaten amazing chocolate (mmmm... chocolate...).  Can't wait to show you all the pictures.  I'm trying to think of a good way to say this, but the words just aren't coming, so I'll settle for that people really are good deep down.  Slipping and falling on the bus is funny in every language.  You can communicate with anyone no matter what language barriers there are if you really want to (and have a good time doing it).  Honestly, we all want basically the same things:  a good laugh and someone to miss us when we're away.  And that's an end, all.

Oh, a warning.  Once you start traveling you'll never want to stop... I'm already planning my next trips :).  Love you all and thanks for your support.  I'll see my US lovelies soon.  As for the rest of you-- keep in touch.

Love,
Kristi

One day upon the Avon...

Hello my dears!
So I love London.  And not just for the accents... Sadly I've had to watch the money a bit, seeing as how it's the end of our little journey and not the beginning.  Still a blast though.  There are tons of awesome things to see.  It just takes a bit with the traffic (during rush hour in the morning I swear you go backwards).  It's also glorious to understand everything I read and hear.  I didn't realize how much I missed that. 
Today we took a day trip down to Stratford upon Avon.  It took ages it seemed on the bus to get there and back, but it was completely worth it for me.  Bit of a pilgrimage actually to be completely honest... you all know how I am about Shakespeare... so I got to see his birthplace and the remains of his retirement house, his church, and his grave (all roped off of course).  Sadly there were no matinees playing at the Royal Shakespeare Company theater and our bus was leaving way before any of the night performances so I'll have to catch them on my next trip to London (Someday...). 
Stratford feels a lot like Warrensburg, crazy as it sounds.  The people were so similar.  All the families and high school rejects wandering about the park.  Everything all claustrophobic yet charming in its way.  We spent a bit of time by the Avon river, me writing, Sarah reading Agatha Christie.  It was really nice.  Like a scene out of a Kristi literary fantasy.  We just relaxed.  I did some decent work, don't know if a poem will come of it or not.  I like where it's going so far though. 
Oh, and just so everyone knows, there are pigeons in heat in Oxford, Stratford, and London.  Yes-- the pattern holds true everywhere.  Closure.  Tomorrow I'm hitting Portobello market (like the song in Bed knobs and Broomsticks!) in the morning and then spending the afternoon in Westminster.  I plan to see the Abbey, walk by Buckingham, and see Big Ben (yay!).
I've met lots of cool people on this trip, I just wanted to say hey to all the new friends reading this-- you've made my experience richer and far more memorable than I ever could have managed on my own.  I hope to visit all of your countries someday (and you best get your butts to the US- you hear me?).  I'll do my very best to make it to Canada, Northern Italy, Ireland, and South Africa.  Love you all heaps and bunches! We're in London until Monday, we take the Chunnul back to Paris at 8 and we'll be back in the states Wednesday I believe.  Whew, that's crazy.  It's been an incredible 6 weeks.
Kristi
PS- Everyone in London is super nice.  It feels a lot more like home here as well, they run on a much more American time schedule.  It'll be a good stepping stone back down to reality for me I think.

Paris continued... and a bit of London

Hello my dears!
So we have much cheaper internet in London than we did in Paris so I thought I'd toss up a better update than you've been getting of late (your patience has been much appreciated).  So I can't recall what I've told you about Paris, so if any of this is a repeat I'm very sorry. 
So Paris is fabulous.  LOVE IT.  Notre Dame was the only Cathedral that actually felt good to me.  I actually felt close to God there as opposed to the overblown gilt grandeur thrown at you in the several others I've visited in the last few weeks.  And the view from the towers amid those fabulous stone gargoyles is worth the climb and 4 euros definitely.  Paris is meant to be photographed btw-- just gorgeous.  The Seine frames everything so beautifully.  There's a rhythm under the city, a current that kind of strokes the artistic ego... it's a city meant for artists and lovers and those who want to be artistic and lovely ;).  I visited this bookshop across the river from Notre Dame called Shakespeare and Company that was floor to ceiling, two floors of books, all kinds, poetry, drama, philosophy.   I thought I was going to weep from the beauty of it.  Old gorgeous volumes as well.  Loved it.  Like I've mentioned the art in Paris is incredible.  I much preferred the Musse Rodin and Musee d'Orsay to the Louvre.  The Louvre sucks energy out of you... after 5 hours in it I needed crepes and a nap lol.  I got sucked into the Egyptian section and didn't get out for 40 minutes, no joke, there was no end!  Though there are amazing works of are there no question.  Da Vincis, Botticellis.  Good stuff.  It's just not as invigorating as the others.  The Rodin museum had a beautiful garden full of his sculptures.  His Thinker was very cool in person.  Sarah and I ironically contemplated him for a while :).  We saw the Modern art museum (the Center Pompidou) on Sunday, they had a cool exhibit on art and the moving image-- neat stuff.  Mad me think, and the building itself is incridible.  It has pipes and such on the outside.  I loved it around there cuz all these music students were out playing.  I love how there are just random art exhibits everywhere in Paris.  We stumbled on excellent ones on one of the brideges over the Seine and in the Jardin du Luxembourg.  Fabulous stuff.  I learned tons and grew definitely.  Recommend the city to anyone.  And if Italy spoiled ice cream for me in the states, Paris definitely ruined pastries for me.  SO GOOD.  Never will I taste croissants like that.  Pure pleasure from heaven I tell you.  Enough said.
We got into London 8 this morning their time.  Rode the chunnel.  It was only 3 hours or so.  We saw the British library today-- it was incredible.  They have King George III's library in a giant glass cube in the middle of the library-- awesome sight.  They have these vast holdings in there and they display some of it-- I was nerding out.  I saw Shakespeare's First Folio, and an ancient copy of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and Chopin music written by the man himself (I kid you not), Beatles's lyrics, the Wycliffe Bible, the Magna Carta, notes from Leonardo de Vinci's notebooks... the list goes on.  Just incredible.  They had a cool temporary exhibit on the history of the press in England as well and you could design your own front page.  Very cool.  My top story was soccer (football) of course.  MMMM football. 
So we're having a good time.  I met two great Italians tonight in our hostel (which is fabulous and clean btw, very nice) and had a fabulous enlightening conversation about similarities and differences between our languages and cultures.  They think I should move to the north of Italy where their from and teach English lol.  I would have a great time, but I'd miss home of course.  Hopefully we get to hang out again.  Like the Italian people.  They agree that their driving is nuts lol.
We're going to attempt to visit Oxford tomorrow if we can figure out the bus schedules.  Very efficient if you can get the drift.  Love the language here of course... you guys know me, nerd that I am.  I'll probably have a British accent for a bit when I get back.  Please be patient with me.  I'll write more in a few days.  Love you all dearly!  We'll be back soon.
Kristi

Grand ol Paris

Hello my dears!

 

So I love Paris.  I mean I'm actually in love with it, everything about it, from the free clean public restrooms, to the everpresent fountains, to the crepes, to the coffee-drinking poets spouting philosophy in the parks... (sigh of contentment).  So I've had a wonderful past few days.  We've seen monuments and museums mostly.  The Musee d'orsay was by far my favorite.  It houses mostly impressionist stuff, though they had an incredible exhibit of art nouvou furniture (very cool).  I spent at least 15 minutes in the Van Gogh room communing with the master.  It was an intense experience.  All of the art was fabulous, blew Florence away by miles, and the museum itself was incredible.  It's inside an old train station-- and everything is easy to find, and well displayed... it's just a nice change from dark corners and ridiculous lines.  So I don't have a ton of time, but I wanted to let you all know that we're safe and we'll be in London on Tuesday (we take the chunnul at 6am).  Very much looking forward to England, expenses not withstanding.  I'm learning a ton from the city and from my roomies.  There's a girl in our hostel from Virginia-- I've gotten the best lines off of her.  Ask me for the stories and the imitations when you see me :).  I love you all and will email soonish!

Kristi

Paris, etc, etc

Hey all!

So I was reading over these entries and I realized there are many typos, which, let's face it, is really unaceptable seeing as how I'm an English nerd and stuff.  So we're going to blame it on European keyboards.  Blasted euro keyboards...;)

 

So Sarah and I are in Paris!  The train ride was a bit long and cramped.  We had our first and only sleeper car of the trip-- those things are interesting.  A triple bunkbed strapped to the wall that I felt very large in.  No head or feet room (gotta love being over 5'5").  They had a sink that we did use and a chamber pot (yeah I'm serious) that we didn't.  They gave us water in little vacummed-sealed containers to brush our teeth with cuz the sink water wasn't potable and served us croussants and oj for breakfast, that was nice. 

Paris is freezing btw.  Like honest to goodness COLD.  It rained off and on all day today.  I was standing in the gardens outside the Chatue Versailles- most beautiful gardens ever- shivering my butt off.  It was tragic.  The gardens and chateu are gorgeous though.  Totally worth going to see.  I wish I'd had more time and better weather to explore them.  Love gardens.  It had incredible fountains as well (not that they were on... but I imagine that would've been cool as well).

Our hostel is nice, 4 to a room with free showers.  We have 3 more nights here and then it's off to London.  Tomorrow is our monument/church day and then we have 4 fabulous museums split over two.  Hopefully we get to see most of it, though if I've learned anything from this it's that you'll never have enough time, but the time you do have will be wonderful.

That's all for now... love you all!

Kristi

FLORENCE (Firenze)

Hello my lovelies!

 

So Sarah and I spent the day in Florentine museums.   It was a beautiful, wallet-emptying experience.  No student discounts and they won't let you photograph anything, flash or no, so that you have to buy their over-priced postcards.  Nice huh?  I did get to see some amazing artwork though, including the David which was AMAZING.  You just have to stare at it, it holds your eyes like the divine on earth.  I was completely in awe.  It's huge and just masterful.  Can't do it justice, but his expression especially, it just captivates you.  I saw a bunch of Botticelli and a little Da Vinci today as well, very nice, and whole lot of Madonnas.  Give it up for the Virgin Mary. 

Rome was a very cool city, what with the Christian and Pagan history just teeming out of it streets.  Everywhere you walk you stumble on something historical and photo-worthy.  Ruins, churches, take your pick.  The Pantheon was astounding.  I stared at the dome for ages (poor Sarah had a random allergy attack in there though.  We've decided that she must be allergic to sleazy men...).  The Colosseum was incredible as well obviously.  We didn't have enough time to go inside it, but it cuts a mean figure across an Italian sunset.  Beautiful.  Still pinching myself that I got to see it in person.  After an hour and a half in line we got into see the Vatican museum (took an hour and a half each to get into each museum today as well... thanks Italia lol).  It has plenty for the educationally minded, books, globes, Madonnas ;), and of course the Sistine chapel, which I couldn't get enough of.  Simply astounding.  You much see it.   Suck it up, go to Italy, wait in line, pay the ten euro, walk through the museum and the Japanese tourist groups, and LOOK.  You won't regret.  I'm a fuller person for the experience.  It makes you feel closer to God.  It really does.

So we see a bit of Tuscan countryside tomorrow and then it's off to Paris!  We met a sweet British couple in line today who gave us some money-saving tips for London.  God me all psyched up for it... heehee, England!  I love you all dearly and will talk with you soon! Ciao bellas!

Kristi

PS- Less pigeons here lol.

The Birthplace of Western Civilization

Hello all my dearest loves!

I'm writing this update in Green in honor of Greece's dusty heat.  How things grow here I don't know... it's like a grill from like 6am to 9pm, no joke and I have the Mediterranean skin to prove it :).  Athens is a pretty cool city though, I met cool people (mostly traveling Anglos) including a lit nerd from Dublin who was a blast to chat with.  It's nice to have some breaks when you're traveling with the same person and only that person for this long (I'm sure Sarah wants to kill me most days, but she's a dear and only tells me about it occasionally ;) ).  Seeing the ancient sites was incredible, even with the hordes of tourists yelling in Spanish and Japanese lol.  The water is gorgeous as well, the bluest I've ever seen.  I can see why people vacation on the islands here. 

This trip has been marvelous for me because I'm learning how some things never change no matter where you are (such as teenage angsty graffiti, mating pigeons, and PDA).  It makes me feel like I'm actually part of the great human family the gospel refers to.  And even though some cultural things boggle my US mind I can find the differences charming and tasty (though I'd prefer to remember Italian driving fondly instead of trying to live through it, heehee).  The most important thing I'm learning about is myself though.  This journey has given me time for reflection and introspection and that alone is reason enough to have shelled out the time and money and gone so far from home.  I love you all very much.  I'm undeservedly lucky, I have the smartest, most understanding, and beautiful friends in the world.  Thanks for loving me back.

Kristi

PS- We'll be home in 3 weeks.  Our next official stop is Florence, Italy.  After that is Rome, Paris, and LONDON.  :).

VENEZIA

Hello all my favorite people!

 

Sarah and I just arrived in Ancona from Venice and in two hours we'll be off for Greece!  Very exciting.  It's like a day on the ferry over.  So Venice is GORGEOUS.  It would be perfect if I could actually find my way around... loved the water though and the islands were adorable.  And I love Italian people, I just can't say enough good about them.  Language, attitude, everything.  Loved it.  Just a side note, every big city in Europe has an infestation of pigeons.  Yesterday in the main square people were actually paying money to hold food in their hands and let the flying rats walk all over them for the photographic opportunity.  No joke.  No wonder people think Americans are stupid.  Other gross things about pigeons, they're currently in heat.  The males look RIDICULOUS, all puffed up and spinning around trying to get the pigeon ladies to look at them.  It's pretty darn funny.  Yep.  Anyways, we're having a good time though we're quite tired.  6 weeks is a long time, though I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.  I'm learned loads about the world and my place in it and I know this trip is making me a better person.  I love you all dearly and I will talk to you soon!

Kristi

Southern Spain

!Buenos tardes mis amigos!

Sarah and I are currently in Cordoba in the south of Spain.  It´s VERY hot here.  Like 100 today.  I kept splashing myself in the fountains.  Sarah´s a rock though, she´s having like no issues at all with it.  Hopefully I get stronger.... hmmm.  So we´re seeing lots of cool stuff.  The mix of Moorish and Catholic culture is really interesting.  I love the Moorish architecture, it´s muy bonita.  I could stare at it all day.  Yesterday we were in Sevilla.  They have this incredible building there that was a Moorish mosque slash citadel and then it was taken over by the Catholics and made a royal palace-- it was SO beautiful, I wanted to MOVE there forever.  Anyways, we´re having a good time.  Last night we stayed at this incredible hostel.  We even had our own bathroom and there was this flower filled courtyard.  Lovely.  Tonight we take the night train to Barcelona and then we´re off to Nice in France.  We´ll be taking it easy there, just relaxing and taking in some local culture and some beach time.  It will be very nice.  After that we´re in Venice for two days and then we´re taking the ferry over to Greece.  Things are going quite well, though, just so you know, the Madrid train station is a nightmare.  The lines just go on forever.  One thing I miss very much from the states is our service.  I hope everything is going well with you guys and I love you all very much.

Love,

Kristi

Madrid in the springtime

Buenos dias all my dearest loves!

 

Sarah and I got into Madrid early this morning.  We took a night train from Bordeaux.  We´re staying in an incredible hostel called Hostel Luz for then next few days.  It´s lovely, safe, and has free internet and showers (yay!).  The land lady is extremely nice.  The Spanish people are very friendly even though we´re Americans heehee.  I think it helps that I know some Spanish and Sarah´s three times past fluent.  Today we ate at this incredible restaurant for media dia, where they give you a few choices for side dish, main dish, drink, and dessert and you get it all for under 10 euros.  It was DIVINE.  Europe does food much better than we do.  Especially there cheese and chocolate, and we´re not even halfway through yet... I´m very excited.  Anway, just wanted to let you all know that we´re safe and having a good time.  I miss you all and love you very much!

Kristi (the Spanish princess, formerly of Bohemia and France)

Bourdeax

Hello my darlings!

So French keyboards are very different from American ones so it is taking me an excruciatingly long time to type this.  Sarah and I are doing decently.  Just so everyone knows finding a water closet is a pain all over Europe, but especially in France.  We leave for Madrid tonight, I am quite excited about Spain because we actually know the language so things should be a tad less embarrassing.  To find our hostel here in Bordeaux, the tourist office man at the train station (who knew no English btw) DREW us a little map and then the building with doors and the smoking area lol.  We all had a nice international laugh over it heehee.  We have been blessed to meet very nice people on our trip thus far who have helped us a great deal.  God is being kind I think.  I sent postcards to everyone whose address I had when we left Vienna so be expecting a little something.  I love you all dearly;  I am taking some great pics, learning a lot, and keeping up my Europe journal, I cannot wait to tell you all about it when I get back in a few weeks.  We met backpackers from Australia and England yesterday; lots of fun.  All this language stuff is just candy land for me really.  Gotta go; I will write again soon!

 

Love

 

Kristi (Ex Bohemian princess)

Prague, etc

Hello all my dear ones!

 

I hope this update finds you well.  Sarah and I are currently in Prague for the third day.  We've had a wonderful time, the architecture is extraordinarily beautiful.  We were sad today though cuz it's their Liberation day which means everything but public transport and the touristiest stuff are closed :(.  Muy triste!  We've taken some excellent pictures however.  The cathedral here blows St. Steven's in Vienna away by miles.  We had to climb, CLIMB, the tower to see the city from the top though.  It took ages and there were 50 million people in there with us (I don't exaggerate).  I do wish Europeans would shower.... anyways, we're safe and having fun.  Most of the people we've met have been wonderful and friendly.  We met an old lady today that we've named "Lady Czech".  She was SO cute.  She helped us catch a tram to a market that was closed for the holiday.  She told us all about how she used to have a crush on Robert Redford and wrote him love letters.  Just adorable.  Today we checked out a 700 year old synagogue.  OH, and yesterday we walked the St. Charles bridge-- just marvelous, with statues of different leaders and saints and street performers, and shops.  I loved it.  I love Europe in general so far and I'm very excited to keep going.  I love you all and I'll email soon.  Tomorrow we take the train back to Vienna and we catch a flight to Paris the day after. 

 

Love,

 

Kristi

 

PS- Czechs are ALL ABOUT PDA.  Just so you know... lol.

I'M IN EUROPE!!!!!!

Hello my dears!

 

This computer is driving me nuts cuz some of the keys are in different places!  AH!  So the flight went well it was just very long.  It was cool seeing the sun come up over Ireland though.  We're in Vienna right now and tomorrow we take the train to Prague.  The hostel we're staying in is nice and clean and safe.  They even have a free shower!  The other travelers are nice and helpful, mostly students like us.  We're having a lot of fun, though our feet hurt a bit yesterday from a TON of walking all over trying to find things.  We're using the metro a bit today.  Europe has this tiny hard to see street signs, but Sarah's figuring things out beautifully so we're haven't gotten too lost (I'm certainly no help there!)  We checked out some museums yesterday, a few at the Hapsburg complex and a science-music one, very cool.  We saw armor and a collection of really old musical instruments which I of course ate up lol.  We're taking lots of pics, and having a fabulous time.  I love you all!  Today we're seeing St.  Stephen's cathedral and a Mozart commemorative concert, way excited, talk to you all in a day or so!

 

Love,

Kristi

Provo Graffiti on a Tuesday Night

I walked through my student center just now and passed 15 people around my age juggling bowling pins, hackey sacs, fruit, what have you. I walked a little further and saw a slightly larger number of meandering souls breakdancing to rather bad music. Then I thought to myself, "self, where in western civilization's time continuum am I?" And then I remembered: I'm smack dab in the middle of Provo, in the middle of a valley, in the middle of nowhere.

With such things synched up in my often perplexed brain, I'm doing rather well. I just came from my graduate poetry class--a sweet treat once a week ;). I always take something worthwhile away, and often several thoughts reincarnate themselves into decent poetry later on. I wish more people in this often culture-less culture of ours would grasp the concept of a round table of equals discussing art and communication in the contemporary world. We get so caught up in the right answer that we forget about learning from the missed chances and the cliche wrong turns. I wish that every now and again we'd take a few tenuous moments to actually observe the lives muddling through polluted confusion around us--beneath the statistics and arbitrary boundaries.

But then I am a writer. We read an awful lot which I hear means we don't know the first thing about reality... hmmm. Until next time then all?