Ahhhh! I hate having nothing to do! The contrast with active vacation time in Prague--nonstop activites--and being back in my apartment is driving me crazy! Yesterday was nice: I got half of my chores done and got to watch some quality ER and the classic French comedic films Les Bronzés and Les Bronzés font du ski. But today I got up early to get laundry done and ended up with everything finished before lunch!
It's a lovely day outside, and there is some sort of Mardi Gras carvinal going on on Place de la Mairie with people all in costume. A marching band parade (like thirty people, not that big) has passed under my window twice! Ahh, wait--whistle blowing right now makes that three times!
Luckily, spring is arriving. It's just a bit chilly at 16 degrees C here, the nicest day of 2011 so far. Looks like Brussels will be a bit colder, but at least I'll be with friends :)
I would go out to celebrate Mardi Gras tonight, but I have a 6:10am train tomorrow morning! Oh, the joys of travel that make me wish to be home... and a home that makes me wish I was traveling!
More ER this evening? Most likely...
Showing posts with label trains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trains. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Strike Strikes Back!
Let me summarize the last few days for you...
Monday (night): Finally ordered Speed Rabbit Pizza, the place under my apartment! It was really good--tried a barbecue/onion/ground beef/pickles and a chicken/curry/potato/bacon bits. Both yummy!
Tuesday: Went to Vitré in the afternoon to get my haircut with Caitlin! It was 19euros at a walk-in place... I have some funky layers at the moment, but it looks and feels soooooo much better short again! We spluged and bought 16euros worth of fancy chocolates at a shop we passed and spent the evening eating chocolates and these gratin potatos:
Thursday: Another STRIKE day! It's about the same things as back in October, but recently, the government said that all retiring professors will not be replaced in order to cut jobs... One prof was saying that next year was going to be all messed up since they won't have enough profs for their current student grouping system. So out of my three classes, I had three students, two, and zero... I bought groceries and then went to the CAF office to sort out why I am not yet getting my housing aid money. I was there almost an hour, and the lady just made yet another photocopy of my salary bulletin (I had already mailed them two). Hopefully, nothing else will be messed up.
I was so happy to have a busy day! I really am not a person who is content doing nothing :/
So now I am enjoying some tea with my new favorite snack of baguette with fig jam and brie cheese. SOOOO DELICIOUS! All of my high-class blog readers should jump on this bandwagon!
Pictures to come when my camera is recharged, lol!
Monday (night): Finally ordered Speed Rabbit Pizza, the place under my apartment! It was really good--tried a barbecue/onion/ground beef/pickles and a chicken/curry/potato/bacon bits. Both yummy!
Tuesday: Went to Vitré in the afternoon to get my haircut with Caitlin! It was 19euros at a walk-in place... I have some funky layers at the moment, but it looks and feels soooooo much better short again! We spluged and bought 16euros worth of fancy chocolates at a shop we passed and spent the evening eating chocolates and these gratin potatos:
Serves 6
Baking time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- 3 pounds (1.5 kg) Yukon Gold potatoes
- 1/2 pound (225 g) Gruyère cheese (either Emmental or Comté –Comté being stronger, or Beaufort if you can find some –it's very expensive in the US)
- 8 oz. (225 g) crème fraîche (french cultured cream), or heavy cream if you can't find crème fraîche
- 1 egg
- 1 cup (20 cL) milk
- salt and black pepper
- butter (just enough to butter the dish –no oil please!)
- 2 garlic cloves
- Peel the potatoes. Slice them thinly (about 1/8") and place in water to remove excess starch.
- Butter a deep oven-safe dish. Peel and press the garlic cloves or chop them very finely. Spread at the bottom of the dish.
- Preheat your oven at 390F (200C).
- Dry the potato slices in a clean cotton cloth. Place a first layer of potato slices in the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 1 tablespoon of crème fraîche. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
- Add a new layer of potato and proceed as described above. Repeat until all the potatoes are layered. Make sure to keep 1 tablespoon of crème fraîche for later. Finish with cheese.
- Pour the milk on the potatoes.
- Bake for 1 hour at 390F.
- Beat the egg with the remaining crème fraîche and pour this mix on the gratin. Bake for 15 more minutes.
Thursday: Another STRIKE day! It's about the same things as back in October, but recently, the government said that all retiring professors will not be replaced in order to cut jobs... One prof was saying that next year was going to be all messed up since they won't have enough profs for their current student grouping system. So out of my three classes, I had three students, two, and zero... I bought groceries and then went to the CAF office to sort out why I am not yet getting my housing aid money. I was there almost an hour, and the lady just made yet another photocopy of my salary bulletin (I had already mailed them two). Hopefully, nothing else will be messed up.
I was so happy to have a busy day! I really am not a person who is content doing nothing :/
So now I am enjoying some tea with my new favorite snack of baguette with fig jam and brie cheese. SOOOO DELICIOUS! All of my high-class blog readers should jump on this bandwagon!
Pictures to come when my camera is recharged, lol!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Adventures in Copenhagen with Lily and EBrown
Thursday through Sunday I was in Copenhagen, Denmark, to visit two of my Africa study abroad buddies, EBrown and Lily (who lives and studies there now).
Getting there was ok--bus to Rennes airport, plane to Paris, delay in Paris because of the previous day's snow, arrive in Copenhagen around 11pm. Lily picked me up there and we metroed to her place to drop off my stuff. It was cold, windy, snowy, snowing! We metroed to meet her boyfriend Martin at a main square and found a bar. Danes have an intense drinking culture, especially at "Christmas Parties" this season--even your work party is a drinking party from lunchtime until night! Tried the Christmas beer and chatted with Lily and Martin until a drunk Dane named Reuben came to hit on me. All Danes learn English from elementary school and speak pretty fluently. It was pretty easy to talk to people in shops, cafes, drunken bar settings ;)
Between metroing at night and walking back in the freezing cold, Lily and I weren't in bed until 3:30am that night, and we had to get up at 8am so that she could go to class. I got off to explore the shopping streets and the Christmas market on a canal for a few hours.
Lily and I finally got to meet EBrown at noon! We all headed to eat Chinese takeout and met up with EBrown's sister Brittany and her friend Caitlin to roam the streets. See photos in the Copenhagen album for an illustration of those chilly hours. Actually, the sun was out pretty much all weekend, and we had decent weather in general but for a few bouts of snow/rain/sleet. It's just always below freezing and the sun sets around 3pm.
Lily headed to work at a restaurant, so EBrown and I went to Brittany's host family's home for dinner. The house was cool and the parents interesting world travelers. We helped make the delicious home-cooked meal of vegetable quiche/tart, salad, hamburgers with egg on top, potato salad, and South African wine. We also had these delicious ginger/honey cakes with chocolate on top that are a Danish Christmas treat. So good!
They lived about an hour outside the city between a train and walking in the cold. Around 10pm, we headed back downtown for a taste of nightlife. Brittany went with friends, and EBrown and I went to Lily's restaurant where we got free cocktails--mango for me and lemonade mojito for EBrown. When Lily was off, it was a quick Christmas beer before EBrown had to head back with her sister and Lily and I had to metro/walk home.
Slept in a bit before meeting up for walking and a long cafe break where plenty of girltalk ensued. That afternoon we met up with Martin. Firstly, I grabbed an authentic Danish hot dog with mustard, ketchup, fried onions, We climbed up this church spire for a scary but lovely view of Copenhagen, which is actually some islands off of the Denmark peninsula. You could even see Sweden and the bridge to get there--only 30 minutes away!
The power of the wind and the cold had us down before too long, and we headed to Freetown Christiania. This place used to be a military base that fell into disuse, so hippie-squatters moved in and made it a mini-society with its own hippie laws, common property, and lots of pot. The police come to clean out the weed every once and awhile, but the people of Copenhagen cherish it and consider it an important city landmark. It has a "downtown" area with an art gallery, cafes, pot stands, etc., and then there are really neat houses built of odds and ends where people actually live around the lakes--they just have permission to do so rather than actually owning it. Martin showed us around, and then we warmed up with coffee at a cafe there.
It was nearing 6pm when we left again, Lily to work and EBrown and me to Brittany's host home for a candy making party. First of all, the 20 minute walk after the train ride took about an hour because we got lost. Imagine forty or so Danes, adults and children, plus five American girls in a marzipan and nougat sculpting/candy-making competition! I just made myself one little treat to eat, but EBrown made a bunch of grapes and there were animals and traditional candies too. Towards the end, there was a big pot of soup, bread, and cheese to eat. I headed to Lily's alone and made it back safely.
Sunday I really slept in while Lily went to church. EBrown and I met at 11 and went hunting for those honey-ginger cakes which we ate with tea at Lily's apartment while we chatted. All three of us gathered at the metro at one to take me to the airport. So fun to see them, the first old, friendly faces I've seen since September!
I got to Paris just fine, but then my flight to Rennes was cancelled. AirFrance bused us all to the train station and someone went to get our tickets. We waited as a group for half an hour--the train was going to leave in five minutes and we still didn't have tickets in our hand. A search for the AirFrance official failed, and we headed down to the platform where the train was sitting. Some people just got on and said they would get reimboursed by the company for the tickets later... but I was afraid of getting a fine! With only two minutes before departure, the AirFrance lady shows up with a stack of tickets--I grabbed one from her hand and jumped on! So instead of getting back around 9:30, I wasn't in my apartment until 12:30! Oh, well...
It was back to work today for a Taboo-esque game of describing random people, places, and things in English for the other students to guess. Seems to be going pretty well! I also finished Pierre-Antoine's Christmas gifts, so I'm on to some for his family.
Please, check out all of my Copenhagen pictures in the album too!
Getting there was ok--bus to Rennes airport, plane to Paris, delay in Paris because of the previous day's snow, arrive in Copenhagen around 11pm. Lily picked me up there and we metroed to her place to drop off my stuff. It was cold, windy, snowy, snowing! We metroed to meet her boyfriend Martin at a main square and found a bar. Danes have an intense drinking culture, especially at "Christmas Parties" this season--even your work party is a drinking party from lunchtime until night! Tried the Christmas beer and chatted with Lily and Martin until a drunk Dane named Reuben came to hit on me. All Danes learn English from elementary school and speak pretty fluently. It was pretty easy to talk to people in shops, cafes, drunken bar settings ;)
Between metroing at night and walking back in the freezing cold, Lily and I weren't in bed until 3:30am that night, and we had to get up at 8am so that she could go to class. I got off to explore the shopping streets and the Christmas market on a canal for a few hours.
Lily and I finally got to meet EBrown at noon! We all headed to eat Chinese takeout and met up with EBrown's sister Brittany and her friend Caitlin to roam the streets. See photos in the Copenhagen album for an illustration of those chilly hours. Actually, the sun was out pretty much all weekend, and we had decent weather in general but for a few bouts of snow/rain/sleet. It's just always below freezing and the sun sets around 3pm.
 |
| Me, Lily, and EBrown |
Lily headed to work at a restaurant, so EBrown and I went to Brittany's host family's home for dinner. The house was cool and the parents interesting world travelers. We helped make the delicious home-cooked meal of vegetable quiche/tart, salad, hamburgers with egg on top, potato salad, and South African wine. We also had these delicious ginger/honey cakes with chocolate on top that are a Danish Christmas treat. So good!
They lived about an hour outside the city between a train and walking in the cold. Around 10pm, we headed back downtown for a taste of nightlife. Brittany went with friends, and EBrown and I went to Lily's restaurant where we got free cocktails--mango for me and lemonade mojito for EBrown. When Lily was off, it was a quick Christmas beer before EBrown had to head back with her sister and Lily and I had to metro/walk home.
Slept in a bit before meeting up for walking and a long cafe break where plenty of girltalk ensued. That afternoon we met up with Martin. Firstly, I grabbed an authentic Danish hot dog with mustard, ketchup, fried onions, We climbed up this church spire for a scary but lovely view of Copenhagen, which is actually some islands off of the Denmark peninsula. You could even see Sweden and the bridge to get there--only 30 minutes away!
 |
| View of the city from the spire. |
The power of the wind and the cold had us down before too long, and we headed to Freetown Christiania. This place used to be a military base that fell into disuse, so hippie-squatters moved in and made it a mini-society with its own hippie laws, common property, and lots of pot. The police come to clean out the weed every once and awhile, but the people of Copenhagen cherish it and consider it an important city landmark. It has a "downtown" area with an art gallery, cafes, pot stands, etc., and then there are really neat houses built of odds and ends where people actually live around the lakes--they just have permission to do so rather than actually owning it. Martin showed us around, and then we warmed up with coffee at a cafe there.
It was nearing 6pm when we left again, Lily to work and EBrown and me to Brittany's host home for a candy making party. First of all, the 20 minute walk after the train ride took about an hour because we got lost. Imagine forty or so Danes, adults and children, plus five American girls in a marzipan and nougat sculpting/candy-making competition! I just made myself one little treat to eat, but EBrown made a bunch of grapes and there were animals and traditional candies too. Towards the end, there was a big pot of soup, bread, and cheese to eat. I headed to Lily's alone and made it back safely.
Sunday I really slept in while Lily went to church. EBrown and I met at 11 and went hunting for those honey-ginger cakes which we ate with tea at Lily's apartment while we chatted. All three of us gathered at the metro at one to take me to the airport. So fun to see them, the first old, friendly faces I've seen since September!
I got to Paris just fine, but then my flight to Rennes was cancelled. AirFrance bused us all to the train station and someone went to get our tickets. We waited as a group for half an hour--the train was going to leave in five minutes and we still didn't have tickets in our hand. A search for the AirFrance official failed, and we headed down to the platform where the train was sitting. Some people just got on and said they would get reimboursed by the company for the tickets later... but I was afraid of getting a fine! With only two minutes before departure, the AirFrance lady shows up with a stack of tickets--I grabbed one from her hand and jumped on! So instead of getting back around 9:30, I wasn't in my apartment until 12:30! Oh, well...
It was back to work today for a Taboo-esque game of describing random people, places, and things in English for the other students to guess. Seems to be going pretty well! I also finished Pierre-Antoine's Christmas gifts, so I'm on to some for his family.
Please, check out all of my Copenhagen pictures in the album too!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)