Renaissance Girl

You've been good to me. I'll be back.



(And for anyone who's interested--since theater was most of the point of coming to Ireland--here's the reflection I did for Donal, for my acting class. It certainly doesn't say everything I want to say, & it feels a little pretentious and, well, like a reflection paper. But there are some thoughts in there that I like.

( it would be fair to say that theater changed my life )

Today was the dress rehearsal (odd; dreamily stressful, as tech/dress so often is)& the showcase--it went well, all the tutors were pleased. Amanda was there & we all crowded around her afterward to talk because we clearly all missed her like mad. She gave us advice (Go back & say this is what I did, & this is what I want to do! And they'll respect you. And say ok. And you'll do it), and told us to keep in touch. And said we were talented. And that she'd missed us. Oh Amanda. Bah. Mom, I found an acting teacher...can I take her home with me?

Then an extremely long & fancy dinner, much fun...I am fond of fancy dinners on someone else's dime (well, I suppose mine as I am paying IES, but I'd prefer to think of it the other way). I went out with Cozy & Kate for a few hours, then left them to come home to pack a little and sleep.

And then I found out that Terry Pratchett is less than well (though of course announcing it with all his usual humor). I am still packing, but am less happy. Dammit, world. Stop messing with my favorite authors this year. I swear I'll get back at you.

So, yesterday roz_mcclure flew into Dublin & gave me a ring. "I'm on a main street," she says, "near a big metal spike!" "Oh yeah," says I, "the Spire! I know exactly where that is." "I figured you would," she says.
So I grabbed a bus up to O'Connell & met her at the Spire (the pointless Stiletto in the Ghetto, the Stiffy by the Liffey) & there was much rejoicing! Indeed. We went for fish & chips & talked at length about Derry & Belfast & Scotland & theater & things on this side of the Atlantic. Since the weather was all over rain and wind and misery, it became a museum day.
I dragged her to the Bog Bodies exhibit at the National Museum, & we decided we ought to start a business where we make fake things (like the replica gold ingots in the hoards, or the fake mini Hill of Tara in the back room). Roz wanted to start a band called zoomorphic pennanular brooch, & I wish I could remember the correct spelling of the gaelic for "zoomorphic," because that's the name I want (it was something like "zoomorfeach" but I can't find it anywhere). We tried to go to the National Library but it was closed, so instead we found the National Gallery. Also there was Grafton street and the Arcade and Turkish delight (yum). We hung out at Cozy's & watched some Father Ted, which is a BBC sitcom about priests on a fictional island off the West Coast of Ireland, & it is hilarious. We got dinner. Then a whole passel of us (Roz, me, Kate, Cozy, Lee, Meghan, Sarah, Micah, Bri, Pete) went to Corrigan's, a "good old man pub" near Bri & Nora's. It was good drinks (cider & black) & good conversations. Mostly I really wish I could have recorded the whole day so I could remember all the crazy stuff that was said. I expect it'll come back to me someday. After the others left, Roz & I went to Devitt's for some sessions. It was fairly empty, but it began to fill up as the musicians played. They were fantastic. I really hope I can find some good sessions when I get back to Seattle, because I will miss this like mad--tapping feet and hands to lively music in a pub. We nearly left at about 11:30 but then the guitar man introduced the next song & we promptly turned around & came back for it, because it was Follow me up to Carlow (Roz, is that the actual title or am I making it up?). We really did leave after that, crashed when we got back to the apartment, & then woke up early to make sure Roz got to the airport in time. It was short but a fabulous good time.


Now I am on the couch, still in pajamas, getting ready to write papers (yuck) and listening to NPR (yay). I need to get papers done today... *sigh*

The second post! Day 2 of the weekend extravaganza, in Belfast. Well, beginning with Saturday night. We went down the street to the Bot (the Botanic Inn), a bar that had been reccommended to us by a northerner at the Gaiety. It was loud and crazy but loads of fun; we got drinks and danced around & were talked to by drunk boys, including one who butted into our group, put one arm around Charlotte and the other around me & started swaying back and forth with us like we were at a folk rock concert, and another who was flirting hardcore with Nora, mostly about her hair.

In the morning, Kate, Lee, Nora and I woke up early and tried to find a Catholic church to go to mass, it being the first Sunday of Advent and all. We had the lady at the hostel give us a map and draw on it where to go, but we still managed to get lost, our feet soaked within minutes, and getting very cold. We managed to somehow nearly get onto Falls road, but thankfully we finally found the church. There was still an hour before mass so we went to McD's for breakfast (classy, I know), & then back for mass. It was short and simple, but really lovely.

We found a cafe to get some warm beverages (harder than you'd think...everything is closed until about 1pm on Sundays), and met up with the other girls, to go on a Black Cab Tour. This is where a taxi driver will take you around Belfast and tell you about the politics and history. If you're lucky you get to go to both sides. We were lucky.

Our driver (who never gave us his name) first took us up Shankill road, which is the Protestant side of Belfast suburbs. Falls road is the Catholic side. They're separated by the Peace wall, and no one really crosses sides at all. In the city centre, Catholics and Protestants mix with no problems; there isn't really a lot of violence anymore. But still no one goes to the other side of the wall. We stopped off Shankill road to see the murals. Similar to Derry, people on both sides of the wall have painted murals about their history in the conflict (though in Derry as far as I know it's mostly the Catholics?).



(This one's a mural of Protestants defending their homes from an attack. The words read, Can it change? We believe!)

( Belfast murals, etc )

Now we're in our last week of classes...everything finishes for Enriqua tomorrow. Friday is a semi-showcase of devising stuff at the Gaiety (should do my research (read: watch Bugs Bunny cartoons on youtube) for that soon), & rehearsal with Antoinette. The weekend is our own. Monday and Tuesday we have rehearsals; Wednesday is the showcase; Thursday is Peter's Seagull reading; Friday is packing & cleaning the apartment & last hanging out with people; next Saturday we all go our separate ways. 10 more days.

I think I just finished my final paper for CID; it needs maybe one more edit, but essentially it's done. I leave the country in 11 days. Between then & now, I have to:( so you don't have to read it if you don't care )

It won't hit me until I'm gone--probably not, as Kate said, until we go back to 'normal' school in January--how much I'll really miss of what I have here. I will miss a lot, I know that. But I feel like most of the time I live my life in a perpetual state of missing something I don't have...and I miss what I haven't had in Seattle too much to be sad about going home. We'll see how I feel next Saturday, of course. But at the moment, I'm getting ready to come home.

The good:

- We are heading to catch a train to Belfast in about 15 minutes!
- We'll see KATIE tonight!
- We have cava & orange juice and Irish bread for the train.
- Did I mention we were taking a train? Yeah.
- Huzzah for Giant's Causeway, Derry, Black Cab Tours & the whiskey distillery!
- Also I got a letter today & they make everything better (& no, you might not have enough time for another one, though you should expect one in Seattle when you get home).

The bad:
- Diane did more swingy choreography last night & we all hurt like hell.
- I am rapidly running out of socks. I really can't explain it.
- Belfasting this weekend means seriously less time to write the papers that I hate. Blech.
- I am feeling stupid over little things.

The ugly:
- Um. Mostly the socks. I'm running out of socks.
- Also the weather. But what can you do.

This weekend was cold, wet, blustery and very much turning toward winter. That didn't exactly stop us from doing anything, however...I & some others managed to get out of Dublin on both days. Saturday Cozy, Lee & I woke up early (again) and met a tour bus at the hotel near our apartments. The tour was led by Mary, a chatty & friendly guide, & took us & a bunch of others up to Newgrange, telling us all the while about the history of Ireland, from the Stone Age until now. We wandered the visitor centre for a few minutes, then took the shuttle bus up to the actual site of Newgrange Passage Tomb:



( Bones. )( Saturday night )
( Bray! )

- Poetry class. Actually called Voice Class, but it really is Cathal introducing us to loads of Irish poetry, which we all then read aloud in various ways, with various things to think about / play / people to talk to etc. Since this is one of the integrated Gaiety classes we're not actually working toward a goal, which makes the class literally pointless, although sometimes enjoyable nonetheless. Today, reading a poem which potentially contained sheep-shagging, we were required to have a partner, and switch off reading verses with them, while one chased the other as farmer and sheep. You think I'm kidding? I'm not. Baaaaaaa! Oh, Cathal...there will never be another teacher quite like you. I was far less disturbed than I expected to be, given the horror stories from the IES kids who had to do this on Monday; mostly I laughed a lot at it & now enjoy the fact that I can say I attended a poetry class about sheep-fucking.

- Movies. Cozy, Nora, Kate, Lee, Meghan & I went to see American Gangster at the enormous movie complex in Parnell Square. The movie was actually really good: violent, though, & I winced a lot; but the cast was on the whole quite good (it has Denzel, people, how can it go wrong? Plus Chiwetel Ejiofor, Russell Crowe, Cuba Gooding Jr & a host of others) and the story was engaging. Also: gangsters. Need I say more.
Then we stayed in the theater & saw another movie, for free. I feel so illegal. It was The Jane Austen Book Club and was totally unremarkable, so that's all I'll say. We were at the theater from noon until five-ten. Yes.

- Le Office. I came home, fought with my internet & talked to Joel for a few minutes while I made rice, reheated leftover Thai curry (may possibly be better the second night? Cannot tell, will do more experiments), and then sat on the couch with Kate & watched about four episodes of The Office and knit.

So...not a bad day, actually. A lot of just sitting about and doing nothing, which is exactly what I wanted. Tomorrow is Newgrange, for which I am getting up appallingly early. Again. (When do I ever get to sleep in?). Sunday is Bray!

I love London. I don't know exactly why; I can't give you particular reasons. It's just that something about that city--upon which I can put no claims except those of a repeat visitor--something about the Tube & the old stone buildings & the insane amount of Indian food & the museums which are all free & the constant construction & the plethora of old theaters playing a grand variety of plays, about the way they play up those emblems that make the whole world recognize England (the red buses; the taxi cabs; the telephone booths); it all just makes me terrifically excited, like a little kid.



I do have one exception to the amazingness that is London, which is also a warning: should you ever go to London (& go, I say, go), NEVER, EVER stay at the Generator Hostel. Just don't. We were all in disbelief about how awful it was, although given that we were all at the hysterical point of tiredness, everything was just hilarious in it's terribleness. Oh, Generator.

But I digress. We caught a flight to London early early Thursday morning, catching the 5am bus to the airport. There were thirteen theater kids, Ashley our program director, & Siobhan, who works at IES. For all the things that could have gone wrong with this many people, it managed to work out fairly well (even though one of us left her passport at home & just barely got it in time. & no, that wasn't me. But it all worked out). We landed, all fairly delirious, at about 9am, and rode blearily on the Tube to Russell Square, where the British Museum is. Ashley led us down a few streets to our hostel. We all stood around the lobby (as it was) while he checked in. The hostel was all metal & neon & florescent lights. They sold a thong at the front desk instead of (in addition to perhaps) a t-shirt. Also it has a nightclub attached to it (or maybe I should say that the nightclub has a hostel attached to it), and a skeezy one to boot. We put our luggage in the storage room, which had a leak. When I say it had a leak, I mean that it was raining inside there. Still, we found dry places, stowed our luggage away, & followed Ashley back out.

We walked to Leicester Square, with Ashley showing us around, & he let us free for a few minutes before our first show. Some of us walked up the next block to Piccadilly Circus, where we stood in the rain & took photos. I got some of one of my favorite statues:



(I wrote these horses into a story once. And by "story" I mean two or three scenes that look a lot like a couple of other books I really loved at that point in time.)

( more blabbling! and photos. those are good. really. )

Well, I'm back. From Venice. One of the most glorious cities in the world. This is why I adore Venice: I pretty much love everything having to do with boats, old cities, things made of stone that are over five hundred years old, masks, hand-made artisan crafts, and fresh Italian food. Fortunately for me, Venice is built on islands and public transportation is by boat, it is extremely old and gorgeous in every way, and masks and pretty things are in grand abundance. I will attempt to do justice to the whirlwind three days that Lee & I spent there. I will fail, but I will attempt...and at least there will be pictures!

Saturday

We left on Saturday afternoon, planning to catch the Aircoach & instead being taken by cab, after a cabbie pulled up to the stop & said, "You want to go to the airport for the same price as the coach? Hop in." Turns out he was going to the airport anyway, so he drives along the aircoach route & steals passengers, which I think is hilarious. Also, he reminded me very strongly of Sanjay from Slings and Arrows, which was even funnier. We did the whole airport rigamarole, but we got to board our aircraft by walking across & climbing stairs!



I know, it's silly for me to get excited about that but it feels so fabulously old-fashioned, like I ought to be wearing a hat and gloves to get on board the aircraft. There were some beautiful views out the airplane window as well: ( +2 )

We landed in Venice, and took bus to Piazzale Roma (a transportation depot, the last place cars can go in Venice) & then a vaporetto (water taxi) to our hostel. The vaporettos are wonderful, old clunky flat boats with a covered seating area. They stutter along the canals making noises that sound like they will just give up at any moment, and they pull up to the docks with a huge listing clunk. I love them.

Sunday

We woke up early on Sunday to avoid the tourist rush across to the main islands. I stumbled blearily out of bed, spent a long time in the bathroom arranging my towel so I could reach it but it wouldn't get showered on, and then spotted a window in the corner. I stumbled over to it, looked outside, and woke up instantly:



Yeah, so, we're in Venice. No doubts! We got breakfast at the hostel, and took the boat across to Piazza San Marco, where we spent a little time just taking photos and being touristy: ( +2 )

Then we went to the Doge's Palace (Palazzo de Doge). Sadly no photos were allowed inside; I would have loved to show you some of those rooms. They were gorgeous, all blue and gold ceilings, and Renaissance paintings everywhere, carved marble fireplaces. Hidden behind a doorway to a staircase that went nowhere we were allowed, we found a fresco by Titian of St Christopher carrying Christ across the Venetian Lagoon. My favorite room by far was the Shield Room, in which there are no shields but the current Doge's coat of arms. But the walls are all painted in maps of the 16th century, and there are two enormous globes--I mean enormous, maybe three feet in diameter--one of the earth, one of heaven. All old, and brown, and beautiful.

I did, however, take plenty pictures of the courtyard....( +3 )

After the Palazzo, we headed for el Teatro Fenice (the Phoenix Theater), via a church where we caught the second half of mass, a cafe where we grabbed some lunch, a gelateria, and various other mazes and amazing places of Venice: ( +3 )

And el Teatro! It was beautiful...and ironic. This theater, and the company that built it, has survived and rebuilt from several fires, each time renovating the theater to look as close to the orginal designs as possible. Except for when Venice surrendered to Napoleon, & they took out several small boxes in the middle to make a royal box (which is riduclously sumptuous, all red velvet and mirrors and gold).

So, we weren't actually allowed to take pictures inside El Teatro, & in the auditorium and seats there were very attentive guards; but in the other rooms no one was around, so I stole a couple photos just to show you how amazing the entire place was: ( +2 )

Just past the Fenice is a beautiful little courtyard. That small building in the back is a hotel, & is, I've decided, where I'll stay the next time I go to Venice. (When I am rich, apparently, and can afford it...)



I could spend so long here...

And the rest of this I'm doing as one great lj-cut lump, because there's no set pattern to any of this... Here are pictures of masks, of bridges, of buildings, of why Venice is strikingly and disgustingly picturesque: ( see? everything is pretty )

So that was Day One of Venice. But I got back to Dublin today, have spent a lot of the day doing laundry & uploading pictures, & I am tired. A lot of my clothes are still wet, I have to pack again because we're going to London tomorrow...& we have to catch a bus at five am. It's 10:25pm right now. So y'all are going to have to wait for more Venice. I will probably do a ridiculous round of Venice & London posts when I get back, after I see my parents!

& now I really do have to pack. And sleep. Love all. Ciao.