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6-22-07/Calais, France:
I'm really missing mom and Sarah right now. I'm so tired. I just want to sleep for the next few days. Grief will be shadowing me for the rest of my life. I guess I am learning to adapt to it, though. So I sit in this hotel room during the day, not wanting to go anywhere. I just want to rest. I want to go home. I am excited about Ireland, of course, but right now I just want my own place and possessions and Larry and the cats, the rest of my wardrobe. I even miss the state of Oregon and it's natural beauty. I've been gone for (almost) 4 months but it feels like years sometimes.
I went to the WWII museum this morning. It was interesting but obviously depressed the hell out of me. War IS, after all, a terrible thing involving death and torture and insanity and grief and greed and violence. There is a nice bathtub in my hotel bathroom. I should take a nice warm bath and put myself to bed or maybe I should just do that before bed tonight. Ok, enough with sadness.
I took the Eurostar from Paris to Calais. At the Gard Du Nord (one of the main train stations in Paris) there is passport control (though I was going from one French city to another? Strange)..They usthered me into the "U.K" bound line for some reason even though I SAID "I am NOT GOING to the U.K., just Calais"..The British official or whatever you'd call him was such a prick. He told me I was in the wrong line after I said AGAIN that I was NOT going to the U.K. He then was very amazed (and insulting) about me going to Calais. He said "Why are you going THERE? There is NOTHING there? What are you planning on seeing?" I said "It's on the water and that is why I am going." He continued insulting me for being stupid (or boring) enough for going to Calais for a few days. I felt like punching him. He then said "You haven't researched this much, have you?" I told him I hadn't and it was just a last minute decision. He finally said "Fine. Have a nice stay in Calais" and let me go through..THANK YOU SO MUCH, ASSHOLE! I couldn't tell him off because then he probably wouldn't have let me leave Paris.
Calais nothing special BUT it isn't just a field with a few houses, either. There is a very nice park close to my hotel and then there is the English Channel (Calais is on the Strait of Dover which is the narrowest part of the English Channel)..I plan on going to look at the water tommorrow. Yesterday (the night I arrived) was the "the day of music" in all of France (not sure what the technical name of this in French is)..I ate a really yummy dinner (French onion soup and Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Burgundy, basically) and then I wandered around Calais as it was starting to get dark. Tons of musicians were setting up and playing. Mostly it was rock bands. Most of it was mediocre but a few bands were pretty decent, actually. The streets were packed and everybody was having a great time. Although I was alone and didn't speak to a single soul I enjoyed it and was glad to experience the bands in a small town and not in Paris. Anyways, nap time. I see Larry in less than a week. I'm really excited. We will have such a romantic time in Amsterdam when we meet on Thursday (I arranged to meet him earlier than I had planned). I got us a room at The Rembrandt Hotel. On Friday we will take the train together up to see Tracy and Hans. I really miss being with Larry. He really is the best thing that ever happened to me. I am so glad we've worked everything out. I wish he was here with me right now. He knows how to comfort me when I am sad. I love you, Larry!! I go back to Ghent on June 25th for a few days......
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25-6-2007/Ghent (Gent), Belgium:
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The PoortAcekere Guesthouse is part of an old monastery/nunnery. It is simple but breathtaking and I am staying in "slot 2.1-Sancta Christina" (St. Christina's room)..Unless Sancta means sister (but I don't think it does..) This place has a cool and slightly creepy feeling. It almost feels haunted. I love the windows in the my very plain room. They are oval windows with lines criss-crossing through them. That is a horrible description. Only a picture (which I took) will do them justice. I keep expecting to turn around and see a wooden crucifix hanging above my bed.
The staff seeemed rushed and superficially friendly when I checked in, which I do not like. The atmosphere here is amazing, though. This is the most interesting place I have ever stayed. Time to explore Gent again, too bad it is raining and I have no umbrella (my red one broke in Calais when I was standing on the beach looking at the water while it was windy and pounding rain..)
They serve breakfast in a beautiful dining hall and lay out a pretty decent size buffet of cereals, breads, pastries, fruit, meats and cheeses to choose from.
Had good curry for dinner. Mostly I'm just walking around the areas that I went to before when Trace and I were here for one day. I just love the architecture! OH, and there are tons of stores that sell the most gaudy ( but beautiful) wallpaper here. The wallpapers are in a huge variety of colors with crazy op art or psychedelic designs and some of it looks vaguely neo-Victorian. I'd like to do up one room of our house with some of it. I bet it is really expensive, though, especially to import!!
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July 2, 2007/Dublin, Ireland
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I've been with Larry since Friday, which has been great. He is still the same person I fell in love with when I got together with him in 2003. He is lying next to me reading Wilbur Smith (of course!) It is nice holding his hand and being affectionate. He is so sweet. Even though the break was hard on both of us it made me realize how much I love him. I don't have doubts like I did at the beginning of this year.
Anyways, my train pulled into Amsterdam on Thursday afternoon and I was looking out the window for him. I saw him sitting on a bench. He didn't see me until I stepped off the train. We gave each other a great big hug and kiss and I didn't want to let go of him. We checked into the Rembrandt hotel (which is nice though there was some sort of mix up...the first room they sent us to still had another guests clothing in it! After about 3 different attempts they got us to our correct room?! Strange!!)
Hard to believe that was my THIRD time in Amsterdam. We ate at a nice Turkish restaurant for dinner and then walked around the red light district for a bit when it was dark. We both grew tired of that very quickly. It's just so stupid in many ways. Larry took some amazing pictures of the full moon and the lights over one of the canals. Then we spent the weekend in Eastermar with Trace and Hans. We experienced Dorpsfeest, which was fun. My first taste of Dorpsfeest was when Hans and Larry played a shooting game to try to win prizes. They were shooting rifles or whatever at little plastic things (that looked like little birthday candles)...at first they were only trying to win these ridiculous cards that had naked chicks on them but then Tracy and I were pissed (or pretending to be) that they weren't trying to win prizes that WE wanted..so eventually Tracy got a camel with dominatrix boots on (the goofiest stuffed animal EVER!) and I can't remember what else. Oh yea, I wanted this stupid smiling blue flower stuffed thing, so Larry won that for me. The night before we left we went back to De Winze, which is this wonderful restaurant on a canal in the village of Wyns. We stuffed ourselves! I had been there previously with Tracy and Hans. It is probably the best food I'd eaten in all of Europe to tell you the truth!! I can't remember (or even attempt to spell) the dutch dishes we had, so I won't bother. I will miss Tracy and Hans. I spent a lot of time with them on this trip and it is hard to believe I won't be going back anytime real soon. I hope to get back to see them in the next year or two, though!
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So, anyways..DUBLIN!!! Our flight to Dublin was fine and Larry adapted really quickly to driving a right hand drive car on the left side of the road. I'm proud of him! We are a couple of blocks from Trinity College and the Temple Bar area. We took a tour of Trinity College and also saw the Book of Kells, which was fascinating and then we went to the writers museum. It was a little dull in parts (esp. for Larry, I think!) but I still enjoyed it. We then went to a trendy Indian restaurant. The food was good but not great. Honestly, the best Ethnic food I've eaten (in general) has still been in America. Maybe I just went to all the wrong places over here. I had some great food along the way but nothing that blew my mind (except for the Dutch restaurant on the water!)
The architecture and different customs and the different languages are what have amazed me over here, rather than the food. Well, the beer in many countries is amazing, truth be told!! It's been raining in Dublin (IMAGINE THAT?) but that is fine and reminds me of Oregon. Dublin has a very small city feel to it despite having 1 million in population. The pubs are cool and the people are pretty cheerful and friendly everywhere. Dublin is nothing special to look at but I like it a lot none the less. I think the Irish countryside is what will really amaze us! We sleep in a castle tomorrow night in County Wexford!!!
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7-3-2007/Killiane Castle/Drinagh, Co. Wexford:
We left Dublin this morning and that city sure is hard to find your way out of! It took forever to find N11 but we finally did. The countryside is gorgeous. It reminds me of the Pacific NW (but doesn't everywhere, it seems?). We stopped in Wicklow (Co. Wicklow) and strolled around. We saw some amazing ruins, "Black Castle" and then we continued on down to Wexford (Co. Wexford) and did more walking. Saw the ruins of Selskar Abbey, which were amazing. Too bad the adjoining graveyard has really been vandalized over the years. Not far from Wexford is Drinagh and a few kilometers down an unmarked road lies Killiane Castle. Lodgings aren't actually in the castle (13th century) but in a 17th century farm house which is actually attached to the castle. Our room is really nice. I can't wait for breakfast tommorrow!! We walked around the ground a little. The Castle is still pretty in tact. There are also nice gardens. As I was walking around the resident dog (a funny little dog) came running up to me and so I chased it all around the property for a few minutes. We ate dinner in a really good Chinese restaurant in Rosslare, too.
We are driving to Clonakilty tomorrow (Co. Cork)...Larry and I are having such a great time in the countryside. It is amazing! Oh, Killiane Castle may or may not be haunted by a friendly spirit in a medieval dress (rumor has it). We will see!!
