The Closing Chapter

Yesterday, I flew home.

I was hoping my flight home to be a relaxing and stress-free one.

That wasn't so.

 My first flight was from Paris to Brussels.

An excerpt from my thoughts while on the plane:
"Hm...Brussels. Where is Brussels? Oh my gosh, Katrina! How can you forget where Brussels is!? What happened to your geography? If only Gavin was here right now. GAHH where am I going!? Maybe it's Germany again. All my other layovers were in Germany, it's gotta be Germany! Yeah. It's Germany."

So I get to Brussels, certain I'm in Germany, when I walked into the lounge and saw the words "Belgian Chocolate".

Oh....

Needless to say, I was very excited to be in Belgium and immediately bought a box of Belgian chocolate.

Brussels to Montreal was my next plane.

It was 10:20am when I took that picture. I questioned (for about two seconds) how on earth we were going to 3,454 miles in only one hour. In my defense, I had only slept 3 hours in the last 36 hours.

I was so happy when I saw my first bit of Canadian soil after 5 weeks away. There really is no place like home. However, my first few hours back in my home country were not very pleasant.

After a rough touchdown, we got off the plane and had to go through customs.

When I left from Paris, they told me I could pick up my luggage would go straight to Toronto and I could pick it up there.

So I go through a bunch of stuff and walk past the baggage carousels and through an exit towards the next lineup. I get there and the lady asks "where's your bag?"
Me: "uh...isn't it on the place to Toronto?"
Lady: "No. You need to pick it up and bring it here."
Me: "Oh.....so...do I go back?"
Lady: "No. Go to the customs office and they'll get it for you."

So I leave the secure area of the airport and go to customs where they find my bag. But I have to get drilled by a scary looking officer before I can pick it up. Picture his voice in a threatening and accusing voice.

Officer: "Why'd you leave your bag?"
Me: "The person that checked my bag in Paris said it would go directly to Toronto."
Officer: "What's in the bag?"
Me: "My clothes, souvenirs, a bottle of wine, some biscuits."
Officer: "Why were you in Paris?"
Me: "Visiting family."
Officer: "Where else did you go?"
Me: "Uh...Rome, Paris, London, Cardiff."
Officer: "How long were you in each city?"
Me: "Um...two weeks in Rome, about a week in Paris, a few days in Cardiff, and a week in London."
*Officer stares at me*
Officer: "Okay, that's all. You can go."

Personally, I think I got it easy. There girl before me, who made the same mistake, had the same questions, but then they made her open her luggage and lets say she packs like a proper girl. With bras, underwear, and assorted clothing spilling out of her overstuffed bag.

So I had to do a full check in and go through security again because of that. At least I still had an hour to spare afterwards.

My trip of Montreal to Toronto was uneventful until I went to pick up my luggage.

Annnd it's gone.

Hopefully it shows up soon...I want my stuff.

It was a bittersweet moment leaving Europe. I've enjoyed my adventures so much and while there were good times and bad times, I will always cherish each moment. I learned so much and experienced so many things, but I am glad to come home. Spending so much time on another continent, I learn something very important: While it is good to see and learn about different countries and their cultures, there is no place like home.

Proud to be Canadian

You Know You're In London When...

Think of every cliche you have ever heard of about London. 

Yeah. That’s it. 

Seriously! London is so famous for its eccentricities that I could not find something different that London wasn’t already famous for. 

You have the famous buildings 

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

 

Buckingham Palace

 

“London Bridge” aka Tower Bridge

Look at that ignorant smile...

and The Tower of London

Where's the tower???

 And then there are the famous red buses

The famous red telephone booths

The famous afternoon tea and scones

The famous fish and chips

and the famous bobbies and busbies

 There`s also the famous driving on the “wrong side” …

…Which also means walking on the “wrong side”

So here's my short list of things people don't talk about AS MUCH:

1. Ice cream with a flake

"A what?" you ask? A flake. It's a chocolate thing that you find in the UK

2.  Musicals

Traditional and new: everywhere you turn in London, there is some sort of advertisement for some sort of musical.

Cara, I think you need to make a trip to London

3. Pimm's

 

It's a drink called Pimm's. I don't know what's in it...but apparently it's like the ultimate British drink. Aside from beer, that is...

4. Police boxes (if you're a Whovian, well...you already talk about these things)

An original style police box in Trafalgar Square.

This is a police post....it's the right colour...

Next post: The Final Journey

Handel Lived Upstairs

One thing that we lack in North America is history. As Canada is only 146 years old, there isn’t much to talk about when it comes to the history of our country. Being in Europe, I have really appreciated their rich history that dates back to even before the time of Jesus.

In England, they have a lot of music in their history. They have saved many old instruments dating back to the 1700’s. While I was in Oxford they had the Bates Collection of Musical Instrument which carried a variety of instruments, some dating back to the 1600’s. 

funky F holes

 Then there was this...

And in London, I visited the Royal Academy of Music which has a museum with string instruments and pianos. 

They had two Stradivari violins and an Amati violin

The "Kustendyke" violin

The "Maurin" Violin

 They also had some beautiful spinets and harpsichords as well as a late century Steinway.

woah...the pedals!

One of the most important composers to the UK was George Frederic Handel, who was German, but spent most of his composing life in England. I spent my last day in London walking in his footsteps.

The house he lived in for 36 years until his death has been turned into a museum dedicated to his life.

Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures, but they’ve basically made it to look as it would have appeared when Handel was living there. With his bedroom and dressing room on the top floor and the composition and rehearsal rooms on the lower. It was absolutely inspiring. I was standing in the composition room, staring in awe with tears in my eyes, at the space where he composed his final pieces, like the Messiah and his Water Music. The info lady (is that even a title) for the room said to me “you must be a big Handel fan.”

While I love Handel, I would never call myself a huge fan. But I have such respect for him as a composer. His music is so beautiful and his apparent respect for God so strong, how could one not love this man.

Earlier in the week, my cousin took us to a concert at Saint Martin-in-the-Fields Church. They played pieces by Handel, Elgar, and Britten. They performed a few arias by Handel, including the famous one, Ombra mai fu. The conductor, Ivor Setterfield, sang the part in an incredibly sweet counter-tenor voice that I’m certain that half the audience was in tears (or maybe it was just me…)

After my visit in his home, I walked down the path Handel would have taken to go to church at Saint George Church.

 It is a lovely church. Nothing big, but very nice. The main feature was the organ. I’m not sure if it’s the original, but one can just imagine Handel up in the loft, playing his compositions.

I also visited Westminster Abbey.

It’s where all the kings and queens of Great Britain have been crowned, and if you bothered to watch, you would have seen it when Prince William and Princess Kate were married.

I took this picture myself ;)

It is also where Handel was buried in 1759. I’m starting to wonder if I have a problem with my tear ducts or something, but I did cry. There’s just something very tangible about seeing the grave of a beloved composer. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know Handel’s famous Hallelujah chorus and I’ve heard audio dramas and watched videos about his life. I’ve performed the Water Suite in an orchestra, and I’ve played some of his harpsichord suites. I have literally grown up knowing his music and to see his grave and realise I am standing less than a few feet from his body, it’s so utterly humbling.

The more time I spend in Europe, the more I find that there is a stronger appreciation for music here. Perhaps it is because they have grown up in the actual cities of these composers.

Elementary, My Dear Watson

The other day, I walked down one of the most famous streets in London.

Home of the great detective, Sherlock Holmes

I should have used a picture of the original but I prefer Benedict Cumberbatch

You know you're on Baker Street as soon as you walk out of the underground because you see this.

London really gives Sherlockians a treat when you walk down Baker Street. They've created a little exhibition at 221b Baker Street. 

And there are a lot of Sherlockians in London (or that travel to London). The museum opens at 9:30 and when I arrived a half hour early (and read a Sherlock story ;) ), there were already ten people ahead of me. By the time the museum actually opened, the line was probably 45 minute wait. When I left the museum around 10:30, the line was all the way down the block! People really love their Sherlock. 

And why not love Sherlock? Arthur Conan Doyle began writing the Sherlock Holmes mysteries in 1887and there are about sixty stories to read. Then you have many movies old and recent as well as the incredible BBC television series with the gorgeous Benedict Cumberbatch. So Sherlock Holmes franchise reaches out to both young and old.

The museum was done very well: decorating the house as if Sherlock, Watson, and Mrs. Hudson had actually lived there!

They had done up Sherlock’s and Watson’s bedrooms.

The Hallway

Sherlock's bed

Dr. Watson's books of medicine

And they had created an exhibit of wax figures of their different cases. See if you can guess which ones they are. Answers are here.

1

2

3

4

5

6

It’s a small museum, but for a Sherlockian, it was really cool. 

Afterwards, I took a walk through Regent’s Park, which I can only assume Sherlock would have done sometimes since he lived so close. 

It could have been any park really....