Nueava Entrada

Hey all...

I´m in Barcelona now, and happy as can be. The weather here has been incredible... Shorts and t-shirt kind of temperatures as far as an Albertan kid is concerned, but everyone else wears scarfs and winter coats. I´ve been spending my days visiting some of the many attractions in Barcelona- Picasso Museum, Parc Guell, and the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is absolutely incredible, amazing light, architecture and history. I´ve brought along a small watercolour set and am getting good use out of it. My journal is being filled with little paintings and loads of writing. The food here is good too... There are a few big markets really close by to get bread, cheese and fruit at every morning. If I spoke Spanish I don´t think I would ever leave this country. I´ve been hanging out with some kids from Prague and may have a job lead through them. Everyone I meet has suggestions on where to go and what to do, it´s a little overwhelming. I´m off to Paris on Thursday anyhow, and then on to Scotland. After that... who knows?

xoxox!
kyla

Rising Sun to Quorn and back again

So I've spent the past week staying with my Aunt Alacoque in the small village of Quorn. Catching the train out of London was pure magic, I took delight in watching the city disolve into misty green hills dotted with sheep. I rode a bike into the nearby city Loughborough and found the equivalent of the Sugarbowl there - the Orange Tree, where I spent some of my time. Got to hang out with a 6 year old (cousin Daniel) and color a lot. Also, I read Neil Gaiman's 'Anansi Boys'. I spent the past weekend in Leicester at a Quaker Youth gathering and met some great people and possible leads on future places to live.

Today I met up with Chris at Liverpool Station. Note for next time: Saying "hey, let's meet at the costa at liverpool" is equivalent to saying "hey, let's meet at the starbucks in downtown vancover". Anyhow, we found eachother after a bit of a wait and proceeded to visit 2 very different, but equally awesome bars in centralish london. We then came back to my Aunt Olive's house (in Edmonton Green), and had dinner. Chris charmed the entire family, and we ended up going to the local pub "The Rising Sun" and drinking a few more pints.

So now it's time for bed, only a few hours to sleep before I get up. We've got an early start tomorrow morning and will be in Spain tomorrow afternoon. I plan on hanging out in Spain for a week or so and then traveling up to France. I hope everyone is well, much love and goodnight!

xoxox
kyla

It snowed "the most in 10 years" in London on Wednesday. Yesterday I went to the British Natural History Museum and then to London's Science Museum. Got to see the Apollo 10 Lunar Landing Capsule. My cousin Mary took me to a fantastic vegan resturaunt run by Hare Krishnas... delicious, cheap food in central London. After dinner we went to Camden Town (the 'alternative' part of London) and went to a pub called "The World's End", and my inner geek shone again this time to the tune of Neil Gaiman. We then went "clubbing" at an indie-venue called the KoKo club, where The Switches played and everyone danced to brit pop all night long. The building was a beautiful old theatre that has been converted- everything was incredibly ornate and there was box seating. wow. Tomorrow night I'm going to go see Bonnie Prince Billy play. there's too much to do in this city...

departures/arrivals

highlights thus far:

- 2 hour delay at airport means 2 periods of hockey and really expensive pilsner
- sleeping most of the plane trip
- waking up and seeing dawn on the horizon of the atlantic
- everything (really everything) in London is interesting to look at
- delicious dinner and kind family
- weekend nightlife already planned out
- the bath I'm about to take!

I hope everyone is doing well this week. Much love from London!

xoxox
kyla