Adventures Abroad: Fatigue

It's all starting to settle in--the fatigue of this past weekend, of this past few weeks, of the past school year. For some reason, these past few days have been the worst in terms of feeling tired, yet I am getting a decent number of hours of sleep (I think...). I hope I'm not getting sick...Anyway, because it's been such a crazy couple of days and I am super tired, let's launch into some updates!

Let's begin with Saturday. This was our one planned day from CIEE--basically the day was structured so that we would go to different activities in and around London with CIEE staff helping us along the way. It first began with a walking tour of some of London's most famous sites--Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, etc. It was really cool to see everything in person and up close. For me, London is more of a place I have seen in pictures than in person, so it was really different to be able to experience everything in the flesh. My only complaint? The weather was really cold and gloomy, exactly what one might expect when they visit Pittsburgh in the winter. Although I was excited to get out of the Palma heat for a little bit, the cold of London definitely showed me how privileged I was to study in such a warm area. After the walking tour, a small group of us headed to the National Gallery in Trafalgar square to take a peek around (it is free, after all), and then headed to a local pub for lunch. I had fish and chips (who wouldn't, while they're in London) and although they were good, they weren't the most amazing thing I have ever tasted. Disclaimer: Don't ever ask me to taste food--my palate is so bad, I can only tell "good" from "not good", different textures, and whether something is salty or not. That's basically it...Anyway, the fish and chips were very filling and all of us walked out of that restaurant very, very full. After meeting the larger group, a small group of us headed to the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal plays. It was really cool to see this newer stadium, and compare it to the FCB Stadium in Barcelona. The stadium itself is a little smaller than that of FCB, but the facilities are so much more modern and luxurious. I walked from room to room speechless at the posh surroundings and the cleanliness of everything around me (see the pictures)! I don't quite know how to describe it to give it justice, but take a look at the pictures and see for yourself. I would have probably said similar things about the Emirates Stadium as I would have FCB if I had not gone. After the Arsenal tour, we headed to the Southbank and had dinner at Pizza Express (which was one of the most delicious places, with HUGE portions) before stopping by the Globe Theatre to watch the play "As You Like It". The Globe is pretty spectacular. It is, of course, a reconstruction of the original thing, but the concept behind it remains the same--we were standing in a courtyard with no roof, for the entire duration of the play (which ended up being around 3 hours). It was so worth it though--the actors, the scenes, everything was perfect. It was one of the best things I have ever watched. I would highly recommend going if you ever stop by London. Although my feet were somewhat sore from standing, I would say it was so worth every second of it because this was perhaps the most authentic Shakespearean experience I will ever get. Seeing as the play let out at 10:30 and we didn't really get home until 11-11:30, we basically just passed out once we got home.

(The famous underground!)

(Buckingham Palace--People are waiting to see a procession of the Royal Family)

(Big Ben in person!)

(Of course, the obligatory red telephone booth photo)

(Trafalgar Square)

(Arsenal/Emirates Stadium)

(The inside--not as big as FCB, but still really amazing!)

(According to the security, the best player on the team)

(The London Eye and cityscape)

(Dinner at Pizza Express)

(The outside of the Globe)

(The Inside of the Globe)

(There's sitting room, but we're closer!)

On Sunday, we took it easy in the morning. Isabel's sister was arriving into London, so we decided to wait for her to grab some lunch. Most of the morning was waiting in the hostel, but we did head out to see the famous Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter at the King's Cross station. The station itself was very nice--architecturally aesthetic, large, expansive. I wish Union Station could be like that! The platform was very busy though--there were a lot, and I mean A LOT of tourists waiting to take pictures. Upon asking for wait times, we were told it would be an 40 mins-1 hour wait time, so we decided to leave and walk around instead, I stood around and managed to snap a photo of the cart by itself, so maybe I will photoshop myself into that picture one day so that I can say that I was there haha. After that, we headed to lunch at the Marquis Cromwell. After a very filling lunch (I had a nut roast, as part of their Sunday roast tradition), we headed back to the Hostel to hang out before meeting to go to the airport. Travel to the airport was pretty stressful, as traveling in any large group is. There was some confusion as to what passes to use, and some people fell behind, but in the end we all made it on the Stanstead express on our way to the airport. Once we got there we were shuffled into the security line, which inched slowly forward. Stanstead is amazing in that the technology used for security is super modern, perhaps the best of any airport I have seen. But it is not efficient. We probably waited in that security line for an hour, when at any other airport (especially Heathrow), the same line would have taken us probably half the time. Many people were running to their gates to try to make their flight after being held up at security. Luckily everyone from our group passed through alright, and we hung out before catching our delayed RyanAir flight back to Palma. Apparently Spanish air traffic controllers were going on strike all week so our flight got delayed because of the strikes that were occurring earlier in the day. Anyway, I personally did not get home until around 1:30AM, so I was definitely ready to hit the hay.

(King's Cross Station)

(Finally, a photo with no one else in it!)

(Nut roast at the Marquis Cromwell)

(Our very late flight back to Palma)

Despite getting home late, we still had class today at 9AM. We went to Cabrera National Park, which was really beautiful. We drove, then caught a boat there but because of strong surface winds, the waves were quite high and the boat ride was really rough the whole hour there. We ended up riding with a lot of younger children on a field trip, and many of them threw up. I was ready to puke myself by the end of it but I managed to keep everything in. The boat ride was definitely worth it though. Cabrera was quiet, pristine, and was not chock full of tourists like some of the other places we have visited. We hiked up to the castle to catch a view of the surrounding area, then went snorkeling--twice--to see the marine species living in the area. The water was bright blue and crystal clear, some of the best waters I have swam in, especially for snorkeling. It was really great to get out in the field and be able to see all the content in the lectures coming together at this one place. I really wish I had an underwater camera so I could capture all of the amazing things that are down under the water. It is a whole nother ecosystem down there, and it's something that is pretty rare to see anywhere in the States because of the poor water quality. Ah well, I guess I will have to come back. At 5PM, we headed back towards Mallorca (the boat ride was much, much smoother this time), and headed home. As soon as I got home, I took a 3 hour siesta to help myself recouperate. And now sitting here typing away I can feel the fatigue slowly settling in again. It's time for me to go back to sleep. Until next time...