in such a world art | veg | academia | geekery

On finding it increasingly difficult to post

I want to apologize for not posting as I promised.  Kind of wishing I had brought my macbook with me, since uploading pictures to Flickr takes hours of my time that I should be spending travelling.  I am thinking about waiting until I get to France to do some major updating (for about May 1st), since there I will be more settled on farms for WWOOF-ing and may have more and energy for documentation.

Either way, I will try to still upload photos… but blogging may come later.  Sorry again, I really love blogging but I keep strange hours and it is even stranger to sit in a cafe for 3 or 4 hours doing all of this.  Hope all is well with you, dear readers.

London art galleries, museums, churches and monuments - eesh!

It is going to be impossible to write about every aspect of my trip, so I am giving some highlights as much as I can. Since I have been in this internet cafe for several hours now, this will be my last post. Of course I have to talk about the museums and galleries I visited. In London, major museums/galleries are free of charge, except for special exhibitions.

I went to the Tate Modern on my first day, exhausted from jet lag but struggling to stay awake so I could get a full night’s sleep. At first, I was surprised to see its monumentality and foreboding appearance - like a prison or a factory, I thought. And it turns out that it was converted from an old electric power station:

I got to take a look at their extensive collection, and of course saw the infamous Shibboleth by Doris Salcedo in the Turbine hall:

One of my favourite experiences on the trip was attending the exhibition of Juan Munoz at the Tate Modern, whose work absolutely blew me away. It was a retrospective of his career, demonstrating his amazing ability to create sculpture. I never would have gotten even close to the full experience of his work, which is immersive, from images. As in all of the galleries, I wasn’t able to take pictures, and most of the time I listened.

The best day by far was one in which I saw:

• the National Gallery: containing works by some of the artists I studied in art history and some I discovered I loved that weren’t in the major textbooks. Jan van Eyck’s famous Arnolfini Portrait was great to see in person, Titian, etc. etc. Plus a FANTASTIC special exhibition of large scale paintings by Alison Watt, called Phantom. Absolutely breathtaking works.
• So after I was blown away by that experience, I unexpectedly walked out onto Trafalgar Square.



As usual, this picture comes nowhere close to capturing that amazing view.

• Then I headed over to meet Donal and Graziano for some more visiting of contemporary art galleries. First we checked out the Barbican Gallery’s AMAZING exhibition, the Martian Museum of Terrestrial art. The entire show was based around the concept of an exhbition held by aliens where they attempt to understand what contemporary art says about “terrestrial beings,” or “earthlings.” I am so glad that I invested in this exhibition (and also, my one large souvenir this trip, picked up the exhibition catalogue). Works by Sherri Levine, Annette Messager, Jenny Holzer, Cao Guo-Qiang, Christo, Yves Klein, Mona Hatoum, and a number of other fantastic cutting edge contemporary artists. It was an amazing opportunity. And of course, no pictures allowed!

• So at this point I was exhausted by the weight of all this fantastic art - but we weren’t done! We attended another exhibition at the White Cube gallery, entitled “You dig the tunnel, I’ll hide the soil,” consisting of artworks inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s writing. If you know his short stories, you will know that his writing is notoriously dark - part of this exhibition was held in the actual gallery, and the other part was in an underground dungeon-style area with immersive spaces… making the entire thing atmospheric and, well, appropriately creepy. On top of all of that, I came across a work by Anselm Kiefer, one of my favourite artists, at the White Cube that was apparently for sale! I thought to myself, this piece is amazing - then found out it was his. I’m not going to go into more detail about the White Cube, but here is the signboard with all of the notable artists in the show:

Some other notable museums/monuments/major sites I visited:

• Natural History museum: had so much fun looking at the dinosaurs, including this massive unlikely vegetarian non-dinosaur.
• British Museum: Learned a lot on this visit, but became utterly fascinated by their Egyptian section with many mummies. It was very creepy to be looking at dead bodies wrapped and behind glass… They mummified animals, too! A theme on this trip is death - mummies and entombed kings and queens at Westminster Abbey.
• British Library: my favourite part was getting to see original books with handwritten text by Leonardo da Vinci, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and others, including Lewis Carroll. I also saw a sculpture by Antony Gormley (a favourite artist of mine) outdoors in the garden area.
• Science Museum:
• Whitecross Gallery opening: I liked one artists architectural abstraction drawings quite a bit, but the other artist seemed to have a fascination with drawing babies that look like aliens.
• Westminster Abbey: I found the above ground tombs to be slightly disturbing. I don’t know about you, but when I pass away I would like to be as close to the earth as possible - not in a wooden box or a marble encasement, but if possible in a simple cloth and buried directly. Or, cremation is fine if I am spread out in the earth. And this is getting very morbid, so, moving on!
• Westminster Cathedral: I found this an interesting trip…
• Wellington Arch and Hyde Park.
• Big ben/Parliament.
• I am sure there is much more I’m missing here! I have been keeping a detailed paper journal, either way. And I can’t blog about everything; so I will have to learn how to make this process faster and easier for me for Spain.  It is all a learning process!

Food in London

As I expected, I had no problems whatsoever eating in London. I even had vegan food that was not all that bad on the airplane! Soon after I arrived I bought some fruit, pita and hummus at a local grocery store for breakfast and snacks. The first day, Donal took me out to an Indian Vegetarian restaurant for some Thali (sp?) a large several course meal. I normally don’t love Indian food, so I was surprised at how yummy it was. As Donal pointed out, traditional London food is really to have a wide variety of ethnic cuisines, since it’s so multicultural - after seeing the city I definitely agree.  I also noticed that veganism was not as strange a phenomenon here - more people knew what it was without needing a definition, and in the main grocery stores they had a large section for specialty foods.

Here are some of the categories I managed to cover:

Traditional English - chips (or “fries,” as we like to call them) with a veggie burger. Greasy, but delicious:

Thai/Chinese - For the first time ever, an all-you-can-eat 100% vegan asian food restaurant, Joi Buffet:

Thai - Stir fried noodles, vegetables and tofu at Thai Thai restaurant:

Gourmet - Tortillas dish at the Gate restaurant (wheat tortillas filled with sweet potato, sweet corn, coriander & chilli, served with guacamole, & a black bean & red pepper salsa):

World famous vegan food - finally went out and bought some cheezly, heralded as the world’s best vegan cheese. I had to hunt for it at three different health food stores - due to various hilarious circumstances… I have tried the nacho cheese flavour, which is definitely very cheezy. Surprisingly, even the texture is convincing. I hope to have the mozzarella one on a pizza I will make soon. Also got vegan mayo - which is VERY tasty, rivaling Vegennaise, some kind of gross veggie burgers, and some discounted panini buns:

First ever vegetarian fast food joint I’ve encountered - at Red Veg restaurant; had a really delicious veggie burger with chips (had vegan mayo on it). Overall I was disappointed they didn’t try harder for vegan options (their pesto on pasta has parmesan cheese), but it was really exciting to see a vegetarian place in the spirit of the big-bads (McDonalds, Harveys, etc):

There is life in London

One of the things that stood out most to me in London, was that despite the fact that the city was crowded and loud, interspersed throughout were beautiful gardens, called squares - little pockets of quiet and luscious spring growth. As I got used to the city I began to seek them out, peering through the gated walls of the ones I could not enter (for private residents only) - this ability to see the gardens but not enter was its own kind of torture. As you walk through the city, the mix of concrete and new and old architecture is punctuated by the luscious green of spring growth. A long walk through Hyde Park was a chance to take in the spring smells and another form of life, birds! Here are some of my favourite shots of this aspect of London:

Private square - taken through the iron gate:

A bird who I think was really enjoying the attention:

Hyde Park was lovely:

Lincoln’s Inn Fields:

The entrance to Lincoln’s Inn Fields:

A garden I saw on my regular walk:

Last day in London - on couch surfing and observations

(at Kensington Palace - and there’s a 159 more photos of London where that came from, once I got over my camera-shy anti-tourist thing). Well, it has been an eventful and overall great experience in London. Sorry for not blogging until now, I’ve been wanting to experience everything and then write about things after having had time to digest them. (While it took me a long time to upload pics, I won’t make that mistake again and will be uploading at least once every two days.) Today I am winding down, at a hostel for the first time where I know no one and will hopefully get to sleep early. Tomorrow morning I catch my flight to Madrid - looking forward to the hot weather.

I would say that the best part of my experience is the fact that I am “couch surfing” my way through Europe as much as I can. On Couchsurfing.com, people from all around the world create personal profiles identifying themselves, and offer up a place to stay on their couch, spare bed, floor, etc. The hope is that as people offer their couches and others stay, guests can leave positive or negative references for that person describing their stay. In the end you have a peer-reviewed, travel exchange system where you can simultaneously travel with no accommodation costs, meeting really interesting people (usually world travellers), and explore the city you’re staying in in an entirely new way.

In London I stayed with Donal Savage for all days except for my last, at a cheap local hostel (please forgive the shot taken by a shaking hand):

Having the first time traveller’s jitters and in an overwhelmingly large and loud city, I could not have asked for a better host. Donal (a Londoner originally from Ireland) went above and beyond the call of duty - he is a lover of history and knows something about everything - meaning we had wonderful conversations that often went late into the night. He owns something like 5,000 books and has read them all, clearly. He also knows a lot about London, and helped to reinforce my itinerary ideas. We ate out at several vegetarian restaurants (he is vegetarian) and went to a local contemporary art gallery opening. Also, through him I met two other couch surfers - David (from Argentina) and Graziano (from Italy). David is currently living in the south of France and offered his couch to me when I’m in the area, and Graziano lives about an hour from Rome so I may be able to stay with him when I’m there in June.

Graziano:

David (and Donal):

There are countless benefits to couch surfing I hope to experience time and time again on my journey - not the least of which is saving money. Being able to live with someone in their home and experience the intricacies of their life is a very unique way to learn about the culture of the place, which I have found to be the most important part. I’ve stopped caring about seeing every monument; instead I want to leave with some great memories of the people and a good feeling of the city itself. Living in their home also makes you feel like you are a local so it helps you to act confident. I was approached multiple times for directions for this reason, which makes me laugh since I have the worst sense of direction and have been lost multiple times - but when travelling getting lost is pretty fun.

The confidence also helped when I had to walk home two times in the dark, a 15 minute walk that had me spooked for different reasons. I saw two shows at the theatre that caused me to go home late, Into the Hoods and Wicked (both were excellent, by the way). The first time I decided to take a bus instead of walk for safety purposes but took the wrong bus or got off on the wrong stop. I ended up completely lost, and despite the fact that I had a map I could not identify any of the streets around me on it. I ended up attempting to walk as fast as possible, and within sight of females or other people walking - I also took any opportunity to ask a friendly looking person for help. But on my way, I witnessed a man (a dominos pizza delivery man) on a moped get hit by a car. Just like that, he crumpled to the ground. This all led to a disturbing experience to get home, but I managed it. The second time around, looking confident and walking quickly got me there without a hitch.

…

Cities have a million different changing faces. Donal remarked that despite the fact he has been living here for 18 years, he is still learning new things about London. In my time in London I am sure that I have only seen the reflecting shadow of one of these faces, but nonetheless my eyes have been wide open as I wandered around finding my way through the city’s interesting nooks and crannies.

Some of my observations about London:

• It is massive. It is also massively crowded. This takes some getting used to.
• It is dirty: not only in the muggy air, but also on the concrete - I find the city rough around the edges. For some reason, this is not off-putting so much as it this lends the city a certain fascinating character - mixing in with the old and new buildings and the general feeling of the city. It is very hard to describe how the city’s interesting angles, colours, sounds, and other characteristics combine to form its unique quality… so different than in Canada.
• Red telephone poles, double-decker red buses, strange-shaped taxi cabs and police vehicles, these are all very real and very interesting.
• Despite the fact that the language spoken here is English, and that I speak English - when they talk too fast I have a lot of trouble understanding what they are saying. This is inconvenient when there are overhead speaker tube announcements.
• Signage can sometimes be more intuitive than in Canada. When you are using the tube and are looking for a way out, there will actually be a sign that has an arrow and says “Way Out.” I think this is more efficient and requires less mental effort than EXIT signs, which must first be interpreted by the brain as being the “way out”, because I don’t know about you but the first thing I think when I’m looking to leave a place, is “OK, so now where is the way out?” Also, in the grocery store I went to there is a whole section of specialty foods that are free from certain ingredients (such as wheat free for people wh o are gluen-free), and one brand is called “Free from” - as in foods that are “free from” certain ingredients…
• I was confused when I first started using the tube and could not find a garbage to dispose of my gum - found out later that they have taken out garbages because of the terrorist attacks (garbage cans are handy places to put bombs).
• People in London can seem rude at times, but I’m come to conclude that it is simply the way that they communicate - they are very direct and to the point. There is little to no embellishment or fake politeness, but rather they talk to you as if they have known you for a while and are just starting a new topic of conversation.
• They say “Cheers” here, and it’s a lovely way to end a conversation.
• “garden” = backyard, “jumper” = sweater, “petrol” = gasoline, “boot” = trunk of a car - and many other linguistic differences (of course potato chips are called “crisps”, french fries are called “chips”)
• Lots of cars everywhere, very dangerous - generally if you see someone coming, they won’t stop unless you are really assertive while crossing the road or there is a clear electronic walking signal.
• It is very multicultural… this translates to the people you encounter but also to the wide variety of different restaurants with ethnic cuisines. I will go into more detail about the variety of food I’ve eaten in another post.
• I feel pretty safe, at least during the day, and for the most part can pass off as a local (as long as I don’t start talking). I have been learning how to look and act as if I live there, even while casually glancing at a map at times.
• You often come across different “squares,” beautiful garden-parks in the middle of crowded city areas that become kinds of sanctuaries with their large overhanging trees and somehow quieting space. I wish we had more parks like this in Ottawa.

I have a few more blog posts planned out that I’m going to get to right now… stay tuned for more details about the trip.

Mapping in progress

Here is a tentative map of my four month path across Europe using Google maps. I will be updating the markers since it will certainly change as I go (meeting people, learning of places I need to see).

View Larger Map

Travel updates part II: 6 days until departure

(15 Ways to Sleep on a Train. Want this zine (via etsy) by illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli. Hope my train rides are more comfortable than this.)

• Behind on my research about each city, so far have thought in-depth only about London. Want to limit planning as much as possible to be on-the-go, over-thinking it seems counterintuitive.
• Frustrated that farms in France I’ve contacted for WWOOF-ing are very slow to respond via email (or not at all), will likely start to call them by phone via Skype.
• Vegan ice cream from Gelato places in Madrid and Italy? It already sounds easier to eat vegan in Europe. There are over 100 vegetarian restaurants in London, for example. I can count the vegetarian restaurants in my city on two hands! My hypothesis (yet to be tested), is that I will find Europe more veg-friendly than my hometown.
• Bazu posts about her trip to Paris, eating as a vegan with mostly homecooked meals - restaurants were too expensive. Feeling better about staying in Paris when I see her photos of beautiful fruits and vegetables from markets and falafels loaded with lots of veggies that look delicious. Also, she points out: “Produce was relatively affordable, especially considering that in the E.U. GMOs and certain pesticides are banned, thus making everyday fruit practically the equivalent of what we would pay a premium for as organic.”
• Shopping for my trip and packing is a seemingly never-ending process - but I can see the finish line. Have comfortable and nice clothing I can’t wait to wear (PJ pants that double as comfy train/plane pants), as well as a spanky new watch with two time zones. Hopefully I can finish getting all supplies by Saturday, and hope to be fully packed 2 days in advance so I can relax and prepare for deathly jet lag.
• Plan to blog about once a week, and will be using Skype to talk to J while on the go. Will be updating Flickr the most often, likely on a daily basis if I have accessible internet access.
• Still waiting to hear back from grad schools! Hope to find out by Friday where I am going to be living in September.

Hendrik Kerstens photography: the Paula Pictures

Hendrik Kerstens‘ series the Paula Pictures, takes his daughter as the photographic subject. I see many influences here, and find the relationship between father/photographer and daughter/subject to be a fascinating one. I wonder about the story behind each portrait - how it was set up, what she was thinking in that moment, whether or not it was awkward to be imaged by her father (especially those shots in which she is half-naked). She never seems fully understood - each photograph only a snapshot, seemingly insufficient to express the layers of her identity.

Black cap

Weep

Curtain

meet Benjamin

J’s sister heard meowing at her door the other day - found an orange cat eager to sprint into the apartment. She harboured him while she visited each neighbour on the floor to see if they had misplaced an orange cat, while she posted (very obvious) signs in all of the right places indicating “Found: Orange Cat. See Apt ___.” No one visited to claim him. Someone had let their cat leave - turned them out at the age of 6 months to 1 year.

Turns out this delightful orange cat is really that - delightful. Highly affectionate, gentle, sweet, well-behaved, house broken - but not neutered. How could anyone give him away like that? As soon as I heard about him, that she needed to find him a home since she couldn’t keep him, I had a strange feeling about it. And then when I met him that night, I fell in love. You can never predict when you will meet someone you have a connection to, and I knew it when I encountered this orange cat, that something was going to change. J and I thought long and hard about it; so surprised we were even considering adopting him. Adopting kittens was something we were going to do later on, when we were more settled - certainly not right before a four month trip to Europe and an unknown future academic year. But again, sometimes these things can’t be planned.

Long story short: we decided, against all odds, that if he needed a home, our tiny apartment is as good as any. We named him Benjamin. So what about my trip? Well J is staying at the apartment, and will now have some sweet feline company. And I have someone to get to know who will keep my mind off of my travelling fears for the time being. (Someone else I can miss on my trip; let’s not think about that part right now).

He has beautiful stripes and very pink parts (nose, paws, ears).

He is so affectionate that he reminds me of a dog in the way he energetically “bashes” your face with his in his enthusiasm. This morning when J and I woke up and had a morning hug in bed, Benjamin decided to come and snuggle in between us, so sweet I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. I hope I get woken up every morning like that. His favourite spot is the window where he can look down at all of the activity. This is how he tends to sit, with one paw outstretched.

He is extremely smart. Had to reckon with his reflection in my full length mirror, gets his own cat toys from a plastic bag when he chooses to, explored every nook and cranny in our apartment within 15 minutes, is endlessly curious. So far, he can’t figure out why I am so enamoured with my macbook, and finds the moving pictures perplexing. Here he is watching youtube with me (his eyes are open):

I promise: no more gushing! I feel like I am in the honeymoon phase of a new relationship! Needless to say, I couldn’t have asked for a better non-human animal companion for this humble abode. I can’t believe he’s really here.

Travel updates

I apologize for being remiss on my posting - I’m 13 days and counting for my trip, which means my life has been filled with the tasks of purchasing VERY EXPENSIVE travel equipment (crying at cash registers) and learning about all of the exciting things I will soon be doing in other countries. This still surprises me, every day - that I am actually doing this, taking off for four months by myself. Finally making it happen. At this point I am in the fear and guilt phase of the planning process, wondering if I can really take this plunge and leave J alone for four months. Wondering if I am going to be happy living out of a backpack for four months. J can’t afford to come with me, so we will be communicating via Skype and mini-emails as I go from place to place. I am equally terrified and thrilled at the prospect of my massive trip. Here is some of my equipment - no matter how much packing/prep I do, it seems like I always have more on the todo/tobuy list. Luckily, I am able to borrow this pack from a friend of mine, at 55L it’s larger than I would have liked but might just be the perfect size:

The itinerary has become more refined, but I am sure it will still change (especially as I meet people):

• Leaving April 2nd
• 1 week in London
• Taking a cheap flight down to Spain - there for 3 weeks (Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba, Barcelona) - this part will be interesting. Spain is probably the most challenging country I will be eating in. For example - apparently salads, by default, usually come with tuna or ham on top. But despite minimum vegetarian restaurants, there are equal parts delicious fresh fruit and vegetables I am looking forward to.
• 1 month in France (WWOOF-ing, still need to make definite arrangements) - on the weekends, will hopefully visit parts of southern France. (Also attempting to become bilingual at the same time).
• And this is the part where it gets more fuzzy - 2 months left!: over to Switzerland
• a while in Italy (Rome, Pompeii, Milan, Florence, Bologna, down to Naples or any number of other places)
• up and over to Croatia (Dubrovnic on the Adriatic coast)
• over to Bosnia (Sarajevo)
• up to Hungary (Budapest)
• Austria (Vienna)
• Czech Republic (Prague)
• all over Germany as much as possible (esp. Berlin)
• Netherlands (Amsterdam)
• Belgium
• Paris, France
• then back to London and home! August 5th.

This is definitely a fluid path I weave, and because I’m a fan of slow travel a few countries may get tossed aside if I feel like hanging out in a given place for longer.

One of the hardest things is also leaving my job, which is the first real one I’ve ever had, so to speak. I am leaving my own office which I adore and have filled with all of my own marks of organization (or lack thereof). As I clean out my files, I realize how much I have nested there. It has been such an amazing position where I have been able to express myself creatively and have grown so much as a person. Also, for the most part my coworkers have become great friends.

With so few days left, I am filled with such strange feelings. I have no idea how people are able to leave their jobs and lives for more than a year for even more ambitious travel. From far away this trip seemed easy and simply exciting, but it is longer than I thought. I am putting myself directly into a situation where nothing is predictable - where at every turn I risk the safety and security of hiding at home. But I know it will be beautiful, and terrible, in all of the right ways.