caravan girl

The Book List

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:00:00 +0000

I can't believe I only have half a week left on the farm! It's gone by so fast. I've been here for 4 and a half weeks...

I thought that I would post a list of the books I've read so far on my trip. This is the most books I've read in a few years! I'm glad that I'm back on the reading train...

Dublin 4 - Maeve Binchy
The Other Side of the Story - Marian Keyes
Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
A Nice Girl Like Me - Rosie Boycott
Vibrator - Mari Akasaka
The Hours of the Night - Sue Gee
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
Light A Penny Candle - Maeve Binchy
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
The History Of Love - Nicole Kruass

And currently I am reading Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles.

Catch up!

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Hello everyone,

so sorry for my recent absense from the world wide web. Not having a set routine makes things really crazy for me!

Since London, I've been to Dublin, Galway, all over County Down, Belfast, the north coast (Giant's Causeway) and as of now, Omagh.

When flying into Dublin I was impressed and suprised instantly by the amazing coastline- I got to see even more when I went to Galway and Northern Ireland. You can see in some of the pictures where I stayed with Avril, it almost looks like I was in a tropical country! I had the most fantastic weather for most of my time visiting the family, which was great.

When I got to Northern Ireland, first off I stayed with Avril Burgess, and then went to Elizabeth and Hugh Maxwell's, then to Ivan and Diane's house, then to Jim, Juliette and Alan's place, and then finally to Margaret's place in Belfast. I spent 2 days at each place- needless to say by the end I was exhausted! Everyone wants to take you sightseeing every day, and it gets pretty tiring... but still fantastic to get to see everything. Sometimes it could be confusing- Elizabeth and Hugh's son, Robert, showed me around for two days and was always pointing out churches and fields and telling me who lived here or who I was related to there... when he dropped me off at Ivan and Diane's, Ivan started talking about someone they both mutally knew, and Robert said "Remember Megan? We drove past his farm yesterday." All I could say was "......yes? (I think?)" It's information overload sometimes! I think that I've gotten to see more of Northern Ireland than most people. We did do some touristy things, but getting to stay with people who actually live in the country is so different than staying in a hostel or a hotel- you really feel like a local instead of a tourist.

I had a great time with Avril. She took me to the Mourne Mountains, which she had a great passion for- her parents even road around the area on her father's moterbike before they got married. I was most suprised when after a bit of sightseeing she said "well. How about we go for a Guiness?" I was not expecting to hear that from her!

Robert took me to County Down High School, where Norma (my grandmother) went to school. We got a tour from the Vice-Principal, who showed us around everywhere, told us all about the history of the school and the area surrounding. He even gave me a school yearbook to take home and show Norma so she could see the school and how it's developed! The next day Robert and his wife Linda took me into Belfast and we did the open roof bus tour which was interesting- I had no idea that the Titanic was built there! And apparently, their hockey team the Belfast Giants are amazing (all Canadian players, of course) and are very popular.

Ivan and Diane were so hospitible- I got to experience the amazing dinners and desserts that I've heard so much about (I was not let down!)! We went to the Giant's Causeway one day, and the next day the Ulster Folk Park, which was very similar to Fort Steele Heritage Town in B.C. where I worked a few years ago. I was very happy to find out that Diane loves tea just as much as I do!

After Ivan and Diane I stayed with Margaret. It was strange being back in a city again- but good to be so close to things. On the bus tour with Robert and Linda we passed the old Crumlin Road Gaol, and I saw a advertisment for a photo exhibition there, so Margaret and I went and checked that out. It was focused on the Troubles, and life in general in those tumultuous times. We came back the following day for a tour of the Gaol itself. It was quite strange to be in a jail like that- it was tiered, with 3 levels of cells- like in all the hollywood movies set in the "olden days" (just kidding....).

At Jim and Juliette's I got to relax a little bit. They were extremely busy, getting ready for more guests to come and stay, as well as their son Alan going away to England. Alan is 19 years old and a pilot- so he gets to go on exchange trips all the time (he spent alot of my visit there polishing his already very shiny uniform boots). My first night there Alan and I went to go see the movie "The Hangover". My second day, Jim and I went to the famed Derryboye Cottage! Everything was locked up, so we had to jump over many fences during our visit. It was so cool to get to see where my grandmother grew up- it was too bad we didn't get to go inside. Maybe next time!

As of last Saturday, I've been in Omagh at the farm where I am wwoofing! It has been fantastic so far- Marella, Billy and their 3 kids welcomed me straight away and I feel like one of the family. Some of the things that I've been doing have been: weeding gardens, sowing seeds (maybe I'll get to eat some of what I've planted!), putting wood chips around the bases of newly planted trees (the tall grass around them have some sort of chemical that keeps the trees from growing- because when the tree grows big, it will give shade, and the grass doesn't like that), as well as keeping the hostel in order among other things.

There is another wwoofer here as well- a guy named Jurgen (J is prounounced as a Y) from Germany. We get along great and he is fun to work with. He speaks good english but sometimes he asks what a certain word means, or things get lost in translation, like me trying to explain what a duvet is after asking about how to organize the hostel bedding: "Big puffy blanket. Big puffy blanket!... I don't know how else to say big puffy blanket!" That one had us laughing for awhile! Luckily all the language confusion makes us laugh.

That's all I have for now- but please keep in touch! My e-mail is megangray_is@hotmail.com

You can learn more about the farm where I am working here, or see pictures of it here!

Talk to you all soon!

P.S. I finally have a return date for coming back to Vancouver- August 29th. Hurrah!

Northern Ireland

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:01:00 +0000

These photos are from when I stayed with Avril in Killough, although some of the pictures are from the surrounding towns. You can see I got great weather!

THE Mourne Mountains!

Galway and Connemara

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:55:00 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates! Hopefully more coming soon!

Connemara

Kylemore Abbey

Dublin

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:57:00 +0000

My dinner on my first night in Dublin... scone, chicken wrap, coke, apple, and chocolate hob nobs!

I couchsurfed with Emma for a few days. (couchsurfing.org)

Emma: "Is that rain?"

London

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:11:00 +0000

The tour guides have a bet as to how many people they can stuff into a sentry box...

London

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:23:00 +0000

What I've been doing in London:

Oxford Street (Shopping)
saw the musical "Carousel"
went on a walking tour and saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and much more
The British Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The British Museum of Natural History
Brick Lane (vintage/trift shopping)
walked along the southbank of the River Thames
saw Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
saw the musical "Chicago", which Jerry Springer happened to be in... he's not that bad!
I've walked around a lot.

I'm sure I've done a bit more than that but I can't think what right now... I definetly could have used a few more days. There is so much to see in London!

I'm off to Dublin later today- I'm really excited for Ireland. Hopefully I'll be able to understand what they're saying...

Frankfurt

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:48:00 +0000

This is probably the last batch of photos I will be putting up for awhile- so enjoy them!

Coffee on my birthday!

It's still my birthday...

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:47:00 +0000

...and I thought I would write a bit about the Alternative City Tour in Berlin.

It was a very cool experience, it showed me an entirely different side of Berlin- the one where all the cool artists hang out. We started at this giant dilapidated building (the same one as where the pub crawl started, actually) and we went inside- it was pretty crazy. It was about 5 floors of artists studios, but not modern like you may expect. It kind of looked like a place no one had gone into for years- the floors were covered in dirt, there was garbage in every corner of the stairwell, windows were broken, and there was graffiti/art/paint on every square inch of wall. Which actually made it that much COOLER! There were papers everywhere petitioning the selling of the building to land developers- it was quite a huge space, and I could see how someone would want to capitalize on it. But hopefully it will stay as it is. You can see more info on the building here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunsthaus_Tacheles

The rest of the tour we wandered the city looking at street art. It made me realize just how big the art scene is in Berlin- it seems that if you want to create, this is the place to be.

EarEarlier today Lisa and I went to Frankfurt’s Museum for Modern Art, and got to see original Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein (my favourite artist!) paintings. Very cool! Later tonight we are going dancing. But before that, Heather is making my favourite meal- potatoes, chicken and salad. It is delicious! I don’t know what she puts in there, but I like it!

Its my Birthday...

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:07:00 +0000

and that means... belated pictures of Berlin!

Also, thank you so much for the cards! Lisa gave them to me this morning. I miss you all a tonne!

The Holocaust Memorial

The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Pub Crawl

Kate (from Toronto) and myself

The Pergamon Museum

The Berlin Alternative City Tour (very cool!)

My hostel roomate Kerry (from Australia) at the Bellini Lounge

On my way to the train station, leaving Berlin...

More Paris!

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:57:00 +0000

One of the girls I met in Paris uploaded her photos- hopefully she will e-mail me the large-scale ones!

Paige (from Regina), me, Krista (from London, Ontario) and Suzzanne (from Abbotsford)

Brittany, France

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:41:00 +0000

Photos of the Gourley's residence, as well as the towns surrounding the area.

Paris, je t'aime!

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 08:56:00 +0000

Berlin

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:58:00 +0000

I have been in Berlin for 4 days now and have been having a very good time. Ive been on a free walking tour, a pub crawl, a tour of a concentration camp just outside of Berlin, and a museum with partial ruins of the city of Babylon located inside.

The concentration camp was an odd experience, as usually the walking tours are happy, and this one was a little downbeat of course. We met up in Berlin with our tour guide and took the train to a small town about 45 minutes away. We then left the station and made the same walk that the prisoners of the concentration camp would have to make when they got off the train. I learned that there was a difference between a work camp and a death camp. This was a work camp, although they did execute people when the camp began to be overcrowded. I also thought the majority of prisoners were Jewish, but there were actually more prisoners from other countries, as well as communists, homosexuals and others. It was called the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp if you want to learn more- Im sure more accurate info can be found on Wikipedia instead of reguritated from me! It was very interesting and very sad... our tour guide asked us not to just strike it off our list like the Eiffel Tower or the Brandenburg Gate, but to come back to it sometime and reflect upon it, as it was a human experience and not just a landmark.

Other than that- Ive been meeting people and having a good time. I met my FIRST Australian today! I had been thinking there would be gobs of them, but not quite... Ive mostly been meeting Canadians.

When I got to Paris I could instantly see what people loved so much about the city- lots of life and people and buildings everywhere. It reminded me of Toronto actually. But Ive still yet to realize why people love Berlin so much. Its an interesting city, maybe I just need to get to know it better.

And I have to mention, that my hostel is AMAZING. Its like a trendy hotel mixed with a Starbucks. Dark hardwood floors, big rooms with tall windows, comfy beds! And its located right downtown, so I have only had to take the train once or twice. All the walking tours are about 10 minutes away. I think I will be a bit sad to leave... but Ill be off to Frankfurt on Friday at 12:30pm and there at about 4:45pm and seeing family, which will be great.

I have no idea what Im doing tomorrow. I feel like Ive seen everything, but Im sure there is still lots more to do. Maybe another walking tour?

I hope you are all doing well, wherever you are!

Back In Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:07:00 +0000

I am in Paris at the moment. I missed my train to Berlin last night, but fortunetly the hostel I stayed at had rooms available so I had someplace to sleep! Im leaving for Berlin tonight at 8:20pm.

I stayed with the Gourley's this past week and it was great. It was very relaxing... they showed me the sights, got to see alot of quaint little French towns sprinkled around, as well as read a pile of Aileens fashion magazines which were on the bookshelf... Helen and Robert spent alot of time revising in the mornings and would usually stop in the late afternoon when their neighbors would come over and play.

I dont have any plans for Berlin, my 'plan' was to get there and see what happens! I think I'll go on a walking tour one day... who knows what else.

I think now I am off to see 'Termintor Renaissance' (aka 'Termintor Salvation') We'll see if its in French or not...

PARIS

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:54:00 +0000

It is my second day in Paris and I have been having a fantastic time!

Yesterday I went on a walking tour and made new friends (all from Canada) and we ended up going to another walking tour together and then taking the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We ate chocolate crepes! Before we knew it, it was dark and the tower was all lit up and sparkling. It was so amazing. I think I spent about 10 hours on my feet that day.

Today I went to the Louvre, and the Notre Dame Cathedral, as well as walking around for a few hours.

There is so more to tell but I am on this funny computer with all the keys in different places! I will write more later!

p.s. did you know... that so many accidents happen around the Arc de Triumph that no vehicles are insured while driving there??

Updates!

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:08:00 +0000

My crazy schedule from the past few months:

January 5 - February 4: Lower Mainland
February 6: Drive from Vancouver to Jasper
February 7: Drive from Jasper to Lloydminster
February 8: Show in Lloydminster, Alberta / Drive to Edmonton
February 9 - 15: Shows in Edmonton, Alberta
February 15: Drive from Edmonton to Saskatoon
February 16: Day off in Saskatoon
February 17: Drive from Saskatoon to Winnipeg
February 18: Drive from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay
February 19: Drive from Thunder Bay to Sault St Marie
February 20: Drive from Sault St Marie to Parry Sound
February 21 - 24: Shows in Parry Sound, Ontario
February 24: Drive from Parry Sound to Toronto
February 25 - March 13: Shows in the Toronto and London, Ontario area
March 23 - 27: Vancouver Island
April 1 - 2: Lower Mainland

and my newly updated crazy schedule for the next few months to the right. And extremely tentative schedule, I should add!

The Island

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:18:00 +0000

By "The Island" I don't mean that movie with Ewan McGragor and Scarlett Johnansenn... I mean Vancouver Island. We were there for a week, and it was definetly nice to be back working in B.C., near the water and lots of trees.

I stayed with my friend Amanda, who I went to school with a graduated with (she is a stage manager also) as well as her boyfriend Al. They have a beautiful blue house with is in Nanaimo but feels more like the countryside.

I hadn't seen Amanda for quite a while and it was nice to catch up. One of the highlights of the week was hanging out with Al- Amanda had a late shift at work one day, so Al ordered pizza, and we drank some beer and watched the Canucks game on their very very large television (52 inches... it's overwhelming!)

We also played Jenga!

We got back to Vancouver on Friday night, and then we did a 4 day week of shows from Monday to Thursday (including one day where we did THREE shows... it was crazy!) Now we are done the tour and I have a bit over a month until I leave for Europe- this is definetly a very crazy year for me!

Stratford and surrounding area

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:52:00 +0000

After leaving Toronto Joel, Andrew and I headed to Stratford. Lyndsay and Ryan stayed in London with family. Joel was so amazing as to arrange for the 3 of us to stay at his friend Pip's house in Stratford- it was a great week. She had a TEAPOT (something I had been missing for quite awhile) and I had my first perfect cup of tea in a very very long time. We made dinners together each night, and on our last night in Stratford we took her to a local pizza place that made amazing thin crust pizzas with almost any ingredient you could want (I, of course had plain ol' pepperoni with some herbs).

A local coffee shop that Pip frequents

Stratford's city hall

A few pictures from the cities surrounding Stratford that we visited on our tour (Strathroy, Tillsonberg)

At the end of our week in southern Ontario we bid Joel farewell (he drove back to Toronto and stayed for a few days and then flew back to Vancouver) and started our 4 day journey back to Vancouver. How, you ask, can you drive across Canada in 4 days? Well you could either drive very very fast, or do very very long days. We did the latter. I think one day we spent 15 hours in the van! But it was all worth it when we got to spend 4 days off in Vancouver before heading over to the island for a week.

All in all we were extremely lucky in terms of weather- it was snowing (more like blizzarding) when we came into Sault St. Marie for the night on our way to Parry Sound, but other than that we had the most beautiful weather! The only time we had to pull out our plastic traction thingys (you put them in front of your back tires and drive onto them) was when we got stuck in the mud on a school's field.

Next- Nanaimo!

Day 2 in Toronto

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:35:00 +0000

Yes, this post is VERY overdue! As of a week ago I finished "The Big League" and have been working on my travel plans for Europe (kind of/sort of). So "Day 2 in Toronto" took place about a month ago! Better late than never...

After the last post took place, Krista and I went back to our accomodation at the College Residence Hotel for the night. The next day we went to the 50's-esque diner "Johnny Rockets" for lunch. We spent the day hanging out on Queen Street, shopping and looking in comic book stores.

Krista's brother John came from Oakville and met us for dinner. We all went to go see the new superhero movie; "Watchmen"! I think that we had all been anticipating it since last year.

That was my last day in Toronto, and the next morning Krista and I went to the Pickle Barrel for a goodbye breakfast!

My Time In Toronto!

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:00:00 +0000

I am on my way back to Vancouver and I have yet to write about my time in Toronto! I was super busy either doing shows or visiting with family and friends.

For the first week I stayed with Alison, Jay and Kate in Toronto. It was great to be able to take one subway ride to work instead of an hour drive in the van. I got to hang out alot with Kate, and on Friday night one of Alison's friends from Ottawa came over and we ate pad thai for dinner; I heard alot of "business" talk during the dinner which didn't all make sense but nonetheless was interesting!

The group and I went to Renfrew to do one show and then we came back to Toronto. I went to Oakville to stay at Krista's for a week!

We went to see a taping of The Mercer Report on Friday night. We spent a long time walking around trying to find a place to eat dinner in downtown Toronto, and I was convinved that everyone in Toronto went out for dinner that night. We eventually found a Swiss Chalet and sat down to eat!

In Swiss Chalet

At The Mercer Report!!

I was so scared when I was getting Rick's autograph...

Outside the CBC building

After the taping we went to go see a friend of Krista's and some other bands

play at a bar called Holy Joe's

It was a great time! And there's more Toronto stuff to come!

It's Sunday night...

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:28:00 +0000

...and I have a 5 day week ahead of me (I'm in Stratford now). I will definetly post some great pictures from my time in Toronto soon, but for now I'll leave you with this picture from Friday!

Krista and I with RICK MERCER! (all of my dreams have now come true...)

the (belated) Parry Sound blog post

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:31:00 +0000

We had a fun time in Parry Sound! It's a really quaint small town, and the theatre we were performing in was beautiful! It was 3 stories high with audience seating all the way around the stage on all 3 levels; a bit like a real hockey stadium which was fun.

Don Cherry's Sports Grill! Connected to our hotel!

Lil's Restaurant- the breakfast that could have fed 2 people... (I didn't realize I had ordered so much!) The server and cashier clapped for me when I finished... :

Finally doing laundry!

Across the country in a week - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:27:00 +0000

On Wednesday we drove to Thunder Bay and stayed with Joel's friend Carly (or as Joel called her, 'Carly Rae from Thunder Bay'). She and her friends Chris and Krystal took us out to go CURLING which I suppose is a very Canadian thing to do... we had alot of fun, and I even threw the winning stone at the end of the game (maybe I`m the only one who understands what that means?)

Across the country in a week - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:59:00 +0000

It's been a week since we left Edmonton. We had one show last Sunday and then we set off on the road!

Me at the sound board

The view from the booth

Since leaving Edmonton we have travelled across most of Canada and are now residing in Parry Sound. We are in the Best Rates Inn, which is connected to the Don Cherry Sports Bar- you actually have to go through the bar to get into the hotel. I like to think that we are living inside of a pub.

On Sunday after our last show in Edmonton we drove to Saskatoon. Andrew and I stayed with Joel's cousin Paige, who is about my age and is studying acting in school. Instead of braving the cold on our day off and seeing the sights, we ended up going to see a movie- at least it was a relaxing Monday! We went to Joel's Dad's place for a family dinner and then went out to "Lydia's" for drinks and some games of pool and foosball.

On Tuesday we drove to Winnipeg and stayed with Joel's Aunt and Uncle (Joel knows alot of people across the country!)