so close, yet so far

So we left paris yesterday morn at 6 a.m, expecting to be in dublin later that evening. We started using our eurrail passes, which are actually a total rip- off. We paid 800 for these passes, thinking that they would allow us to travel all over europe hassle-free, but these tix are actually quite bullpucky. Even though we paid all this money, we found out that when we book a train we have to pay reservation fees. Which to me seems completely insane since we already paid 800 dollars. So even though we paid all this money, to get from paris to dublin was going to cost us an additional 100 dollars. This was quite a frustrating realization and we felt a bit depressed to think that we were going to have to pay all these fees on a train fare that we had assumed we already paid for. So instead of taking this expensive fare, we decided that we would pay 3 euros to go to calais, a city in the north of france then we were going to take a ferry across to dover, england. We figured that we would just make our way up to dublin by bus or train.

This would have been a brilliant plan if we had an infinite amount of time and money. We got to london just fine and for under the 100 dollars we would have had to spend on the train from paris to london. But once we got to london there were no buses to dublin and the next one was the next day at 6 in the evening. Furthermore, it is a 12 hour bus ride so we wouldn't even get to dublin until early morn on the 24th, which means that we would have absolutely no time there considering that we had to be in west cork that same day to spend christmas with our friend amanda. So in the end we decided just to get a direct ticket to cork and alas are missing dublin. Although we will be hitting it a bit later, if we can.

So instead we spent a night and day in london, which is one of my most favorite cities in the world. We laid low last night, both of us in our hostel beds by 9 p.m. We were in a hostel room that we shared with barely legal kids, but we had beds. I had forgotten how much fun it is to share a room with people who tumble in drunk at all hours, their frantic loud whispers like warm blankets over my heart, the smell of stale beer an aromatic reminder of youth. But last night I was lucky enough to have my memory stirred.

Today we did a walking tour of london. I was a bit disappointed that our guide was canadian because I love the british accent so much, but the historical tidbits were quite informative. I love hearing about history and a lot of the information was stuff that I vaguely remembered from years past, so it was good having a refresher. We saw buckingham palace, house of parliament, westminster abbey, trafalgar square, and of course big ben; which we found out is actually not the name of the clock, but rather the bell inside the clock, so named for its resemblance to the first comissioner of works in london, benjamin hall's, rotund belly.

After the tour we went to the tate modern. I have been to london a few times and this was the first time I had been to the tate. This musuem has an extensive collection of works by picasso, miro, francis bacon, diego rivera, frida kahlo, and other such renowned artists. I spent the majority of my time looking at works from the surrealist period, which is one of my favorite genres. I really wanted to see the rothko exhibit, but it cost (in pounds) 12.50 and we were trying not to spend money today, besides what we had to spend on the ever important coffee and our underground fare.
But despite not seeing the rothkos, it was a splendid day at the tate. And in london.