Jul 2008

Well its been an incredibly busy time since I left Emerson. I spent a week with my Aunty Cheryl, Uncle Max, and Nana at a bed and breakfast in Essex, we filled every day with either sightseeing, visiting relatives, relaxing and of course a WEDDING!!! All in all it was a fantastic week, I had great fun helping get things ready for the wedding. I hired a fascinator to have a turn at being part of a typical english wedding, it was great fun. We visited Lavenham, an old Tudor village which was gorgeous, and the Cotswolds which was a long day in the car but absolutely worth it, the most beautifully quaint little villages you can imagine! As I'm sure you can tell, my camera is getting a work out, there are so many lovely things to photograph. After the big exciting wedding week, and might I add the most fun I've had in a long time at the reception, I headed off to London to stay with my Dad's cousin Pamela and her children, they are so bright and bubbly and fun, I wish I'd known they were in London before and I probably would have stayed earlier in my trip. However, I really enjoyed the short time I spent with them! Yesterday I spent the day travelling, from London on the train to Holy head in north wales then across to Dun Laogheire in Ireland on the ferry before spending an exhausted and very quiet night in a somewhat disgusting hostel near Dublin's chinatown. Today left Dublin early for Galway, I've been here now about 6 hours and absolutely loving it! been shopping, shopping and shopping, there are so many amazing shops and the whole vibe of the place is fantastic! I'd find it very easy to live hear, it's so interesting, quite a small town but gorgeous, clean, lively, perhaps because its 'the races week' which they say is the busiest time of the year. As I expected its pouring with rain but I've got an umbrella so haven't been too wet yet and luckily the train station is across the road so I didn't have to walk far! Tomorrow I'm hoping to go to the Aran Islands to have a look around. Next stop is Killarney for a few days before heading back to Dulbin for my flight to Brussels on the 7th. Then it'll be time to explore the Continent and learn new languages! Can't wait to visit Lillith and she's coming to Prague with me which will be so much fun, can't wait!!! Hope everyone is well, thanks for the emails, I love hearing whats happening back home! lots of love, Clare

So I spent most of Saturday on the train, I left my Hostel in Caernarfon at 830am and arrived at my Stratford upon Avon hostel about 230pm I assure you it was a very long day! Now I arrived thinking i would have the rest of the afternoon and most of the next day, only to realise upon arrival at the information centre that to be at Emerson College on time the next day I had to leave on the train at 10am!!! so as you can imagine I filled the few hours that I had there very quickly. I started by simply wandering, its the best way to get to know a new place and find its lively places and cutesy secret cafes and quiet parks and riverbanks. I was expecting a small quiet village but in actual fact it is quite a large town with big department stores and everything, very different from my expectation but also very lively and full of tourists, of which I am one, so I guess I can't complain too much. I found the Holy Trinity Church where Shakepeare is buried, alongside his wife, daughter and her husband. it right beside the Avon river and has beautiful pathways, trees and garden benches in the surrounds. My next step was to try and secure myself a ticket for the night's dose of Shakespeare theatre. When I rang they said it was booked out but to go in to the box to check for returned tickets, by a stroke of extreme luck there were 2 tickets so after realising I had to pay in cash and didn't have enough i was grateful that the woman held the ticket with only a small deposit while I traipsed around town trying to find an ATM.My next little event there was a half hour cruise on the river, very peaceful and relaxing, but also very exciting because I saw my first ever squirrel!!! The riverbank was incredibly green and lush with so many plants and trees but particularly lots of willows weeping into the water. I spent about half an hour wandering in search some dinner that felt tempting before I realising I only had about 10 minutes before the doors opened. I decided I'd give the theatre cafe a try but unfortunately the only vegetarian meal was an awful white bread wrap filled with loads of mayonnaise, and a little bit of egg, cheese and lettuce. very disappointing. I watched the Taming of the Shrew in the Courtyard Theatre, and it was absolutely fantastic, the actors were so skilled and entertaining that even the barrier that usually exists with Shakespeares language wasn't a problem. It was a very contemporary interpretation, the sets were incredible, it was really an indescribable experience, I absolutely loved it!!! Next morning I was faced with difficult decision of whether to walk the 3 miles to the train station, or give in to temptation and catch a taxi..........I gave in to temptation! It was so worth because at the other end of my trip there was no choice but to walk the 2 miles to Emerson from the bus stop.
I felt so lucky when I opened the door to my room that it was MY room and I didn't have to share it with anyone! The atmosphere here is great, everyone is so friendly, the meals a fantastic, the grounds are beautiful and I get the feeling I've only seen a small part because I've been so busy I haven't had much time to explore yet. Everyone in the course is a delight to be with, I have to say I'm enjoying the Anthroposophical component more than the herbal, although today we did a great exercise with the herbal where we told a condition and within a group we needed to come up with a treatment. It really is an intensive program and all the breaks just seem to disappear so quickly! It is a strong rhythm, helped by the fact that meals are at set time and they really a social event, the whole room is filled with conversation. So the days start with breakfast at 730, (although wednesday was a 430 start with a dawn walk) then classes begin at 9 and run till 5 but its usually been 530, with meal breaks in between of course, but not very long, then tuesday, tonight and tomorrow we are having sessions after dinner till about 9 or 10. So as you can imagine extremely full on but absolutely inspiring, fulfilling, nourishing and uplifting, its wonderful!!! I need to go now for dinner but it would be lovely to hear from all of you how things are going there!! lots of love xox the dinner gong is ringing now!

Ok wow, its been ages since my last update, I'll try to start from back there. The rain eased slightly for an hour or 2, although the wind kept blowing as cold as ever. But at least with less rain I could have a look at Caernarfon Castle, the views from the top of the towers were absolutely incredible, out across the water to the Isle of Anglesey, the mountains in the other direction, and down below in the immediate vicinity a birdseye view of the city. The staircases up to inside of the towers were so narrow, dark and steep, it was actually a bit frightening. but on the whole, an amazing place! After that the rain kicked again, I'm told the Snowdonia Natioonal Park is the wettest place in Britain so it makes sense that there was a lot of rain. I decided that rather than go for a bushwalk and wet and cold I'd get on a bus and just enjoy the beautiful scenery from the warmth of the bus. It is incredible that around every corner there was another extremely beautiful place, gorgeous lakes, mountains, farmhouses, train stations, villages, wildflowers, waterfalls and even the sheep, you know how our farmers in Australia cut the tails off their sheep, British farmers don't so all the sheep have really long tails, its quite strange to see really. I went to a little Village known as the prettiest in Wales called Beddgelert, I can understand how it gained that fame, it is just gorgeous, so many beautiful little places and I got the feeling it was really old and it had a lovely quiet atmosphere. There was a gorgeous little bridge, complete with old fashioned lamposts and hanging baskets of flowers, and even more gorgeous river flowing below, rushing over rocks making that amazing sound of flowing water which I think we are really lacking in Australia with all these droughts.
This week I'm at Emerson College doing a course on Anthroposophic and Herbal Medicine, it is all very interesting but I'm afraid I need to go back to class now, so I'll try and get another chance today on the computer to give you a little bit about my brief experiece of less than 24 hours in Shakespeare's home town of Stratford-upon-Avon and also how this course is going!!!
Lots of Love to All!!! xox

I left Windermere on Wednesday morning for a rather long day of hopping on and off trains and waiting in freezing windy and rainy stations for the next one. I had a brief stop in Liverpool but as I was carrying my big pack I didn't get to have much of a look around, what I did see in my short wanderings though was lots of construction work, it seemed that around every corner were noisy machines and pathways blocked of by workmen. I then headed to Port Sunlight on the other side of the Mersey River, this village was where my Great Grandmother worked back in the day. I found the old factory she worked at, it is still running now but it is huge and no-one could tell me where the perfumery was that she worked in. The village was absolutely gorgeous, and the people I spoke to were really friendly, in the factory reception I was even given a cup of coffee and plenty of advice about where to go in Ireland! Tricia I have plenty of photos for your collection, so you have a huge range to choose from. It was incredible walking around the village thinking that years ago my great grandmothe would have done the same. The train trip across to Wales was beautiful, much of the journey was directly alongside the coast, so out one window was a beautiful coastline and the other were the steep bright green hills with sharp and rugged cliff faces. Occasionally a castle would come into view, nestled into the hills, it was spectacular! The place I'm staying is an independent hostel, its very homely and I've met a group of young people from Liverpool who have been loads of fun the last few days. The town is called Caernarfon and the hostel is inside the old walled city built by Edward 1st of England I think in about the 1200's sometime. I literally walk out of the hostel and less than 100 m down the road through the stone arch and onto the promenade right along the coast! I'm going to try and fit in a cruise today because it would be great to see more of the coast. Yesterday I went to Snowdonia National Park on the Mountain Railway, an old steam train to about halfway up Mount Snowdon, the views were absloutely incredible, in every direction there were layers upon layers of mountains, on the way up we passed an old ruined chapel, a gorgeous lake, several waterfalls, wildflowers, stunning cliffs, beautiful valleys, I can only begin to imagine what the views are like from the top! It was a shame because of the strong winds they weren't going right to the summit. I've had a sleep in today so I don't know that I'll everything I want to do in but we'll see, I might just have to come again! Tomorrow morning I'm off to Stratford upon Avon to visit some of the old Shakespeare sights. Wow I've just looked out the window and the rain is now pouring down, maybe I just need to spend the day here in the warm dry library or the hostel!
I'll be at Emerson College for a week from Sunday so I'll probably do another update from there, hope everyone is well.
Lots of love, Clare

London was fabulous, so many things to look at and explore and around every corner something was waiting to be discovered! I visited a church on Trafalgar Square called Saint Martins in the Fields because Rosemary told me about their delicious and gorgeous Crypt Cafe downstairs. I walked into the Church and a piano and clarinet concert was starting in 5 minutes so sat down, it was beautiful music, and absolute magic that I could just walk in ad watch such a good free concert. Lunch downstairs after was delicious.
I had an extensive wander around Covent Garden, a beautiful little corner of London, with a daily market and entertaining street performers, cobbled streets, cute little archways, a live opera singer performing in a classy restaurant, it had a really vibrant feel.
On Saturday night I was planning the next day and thinking I'll go to Cardiff but in the morning I changed my mind and decided to come up here to explore the beautiful Lake District, former home of Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. The train took about 4 hours from London and the longer it went the more I started wondering if it was worth it for half a days travel. Looking out the window everything seemed the same for hours and hours. I had to change trains in Oxenholme to get one to Windermere and immediately when the train left Oxenholme it was like travelling back in time, suddenly all the brick walls and industrial looking cities disappeared and in their place tiny stone cottages or white manor houses, the paddock fences here are gorgeous little stone walls, mostly covered in moss. Everywhere you look is bright green, there is always so much rain! This morning I walked from my Hostel (which overlooks Lake Windermere, absolutely gorgeous view!) down the narrow, winding, hedge-lined street to the narrow, winding, stone wall lined street and you can just imagine horses and carts along their, its beautiful. I don't think I 've heard water rushing down rivers like here for such a long time. Today it wasn't really raining and the locals didn't use rain gear but most of the day its been like this amazing drizzle, you can hardly see the rain but you do get wet, its so fine, almost like mist the air is so moist.
I'll head to North Wales tomorrow with a look around Liverpool on the way.
Hey Laura I bought you a present but you won't be able to use it for a few years, I just couldn't resist it was gorgeous! Can you tell me your address so I can send a postcard or should I send it to your parents place?
Ok, I'm off I'll try to do another update from wales or definitely next week while I'm at Emerson College, I'll arrive there on Sunday afternoon.
For those that are interested in the time difference, I'm currently 9 hours behind Sydney, a good website to check the time is www.timeanddate.com/worldclock
I look forward to hearing from you all, I'm having a great time!!!
Lots of love, Clare xox