La Dolce Vita

Of Endings and Goodbyes

2009-01-07T22:18:00.013+01:00

January 1, 2009

First of all, Happy New Year!! This post has been a LONG time coming... I've already been back in the states for 3 weeks! But I wanted to write something to close out this blog on my wonderful European adventure, so here it is, a wrap-up of my last week in Italy and finally returning home!

On Monday I turned in my long history paper. Not surprisingly, he didn't show up for our appointment at noon even though I waited and waited. I went to his class and, big surprise, there was no one there! Pretty desperate, I went back to his office at 4pm and thankfully he showed up saying, "Oh, did we have an appointment today?" Idiot. We ended up talking for a good hour (in English thankfully!) about random things, none of them related to my paper of course. Toward the end I tried to make it very clear that my grade should not be based on the quality of my Italian but rather the historical content of my paper. I left a little unsure but glad that I was almost done.

Tuesday, December 16th was sort of a big day... I turned 21!! While it was less meaningful in Italy, where there is no legal drinking age, I still wanted to celebrate. It was hard not being able to spend it with all my friends and family back home, and a little disappointed that I couldn't go to an American bar, but I still managed to have a good day. Way back in September, after I got out of the hospital Gabi, Justine, and Carly had given me gift certificate for a massage. I had been lazy and hadn't used it yet, so I decided to make an appointment for my birthday. On after I'd called did I realize I'd lost the gift certificate! But with the appointment already made, I decided to just pay for it myself and enjoy it. So I spent my afternoon at the spa, getting my anxiety-inducing massage and also adding a hair cut at the end. Later that evening I got semi dressed up and went out to dinner with Carly and Gabi in centro. I had almost forgot how pretty it was all lit up at night! We got a bottle of wine, and after two glasses I was already buzzed, which just goes to show how low my alcohol tolerance has dropped! After dinner we of course got gelato, though not at our favorite place : ( We didn't stay out too late since we were all pretty tired, so I went home a year older feeling much the same as before.

Wednesday was our arrivederci Padova day. I met Gabi in centro and explored the Christmas markets in all the piazze. We both realized that as often as we'd been to these places around the city, we had never taken photos or really stopped to appreciate them. So we wandered the city, stopping at Basilica di San Antonio and Prato delle Valle with Santa Giustina, buying last minute souvenirs and gifts along the way. It felt good to say goodbye to the city properly and not just pick up and go. I tried to imprint everything I could in my mind so I can remember it in the years to come. We treated ourselves to one last gelato from our favorite place, Venchi, and walked past the "Pedicure" sign above the study center one more time. After a while I had to go pick up my paper and grade for my history class. I was expecting around a 26 or 27 (out of 30), so I was shocked when he handed me the grading form with a 30!! I can't ask for better than that! Obviously I was very pleased : ) I met back up with Gabi and her tandem partner for a cappuccino and then went back to her apartment (for the first time actually!) and we cooked our traditional dinner, pasta with zucchini and mushrooms. It was so nice to eat a home cooked meal, and it seemed fitting to eat something that we always made when we were living in Rome. I had to go home early though to pack since I still had a lot to do and I was planning on leaving the next day.

I went to Lucca first and spent one last night there so I could say my goodbyes. That was one of the hardest things because I'd grown so close to them in my time there and I really don't know when, or if, I will see some of them again. What I mean is, although I know I will go back and visit in the future, I don't know when and I don't know if the older generations will still be there. I'm just so grateful to have met them and got to know them. I really do consider them family and love and miss them already.

From Lucca I hopped on the train again to Rome. Managing on the trains wasn't as bad as I thought. People kept offering to help me with my bags and I was able to sit in a seat with my luggage right next to me to keep an eye on. It was entertaining, though, to see peoples reactions when they realized that all that stuff was mine! Anyway, I finally made it to Rome, coming full circle. It felt right to leave from the city I had begun in. Carlo, who was kindly hosting me for a night and taking me to the airport, greeted me at Termini enthusiastically of course. I met his Russian girlfriend, Nastia who was very pretty and nice, too, and then he took us to an enoteca, or wine shop, where he chose a yummy red for us to share along with some munchies. I was extremely exhausted, physically and mentally, so I went home after that and went straight to bed.

The next morning, December 20th, bright and early, Carlo came to pick me up and drive me to the airport. On the way we passed the Coliseum and several churches I visited... It was really a bittersweet feeling since I was so ready to go home and see my family, but I really had fallen in love with Italy. We made it to Fiumicino Aeroporto with a little time to spare. I had to pay for my third checked bag as expected, but was delighted when I wasn't charged for my other two bags being overweight (which they totally were!). I said goodbye to Carlo, my best Italian friend, and made my way to my gate. I was too excited to really be sad; I'd been counting down to this day for so long and it had finally arrived!

The flight to Philly was long - 10 hours to be exact - time which I tried to pass by watching movies since I can't seem to sleep on planes. My itinerary had changed, too, so instead of having three flights (Rome -> Philly -> Denver -> Oakland) I was flying directly from Philly to Sacramento! My domestic flight was delayed a couple hours, but we eventually got going on another long flight - this time 6 hours. I ordered wine on the plane as my first experience being 21 in the states, and was quite disappointed when they didn't card me! The time passed slowly but I really couldn't mind since we were so close! Arriving in Sacramento and seeing my family was surreal, something I'd been picturing in my head for months. My dad had made this really cute sign saying "welcome home" and "happy 21st" and hung it on the garage door and my mom had made me a cute funfetti birthday cake!Having been back for a while now, it's been hard to readjust but also great to be back with family in a familiar environment. I'm starting to miss my life in Italy already though, and I'm looking forward to making it back there asap in the future. This experience was that of a lifetime, and I'm so grateful for it. For the rest of my life, I'll remember my 6 months in Italy, forever la dolce vita.

Thank you to whoever took the time to read this blog. This will be the final post of what I will personally cherish in the years to come as a record of my travels, challenges, and adventures.

Much love,

xoxo

A City of Star-Crossed Lovers

2008-12-14T20:03:00.034+01:00

December 15, 2008

While London was my last big trip, I still had one place in Italy left to go: Verona! So Sunday I hopped on the train to spend the day in the city best known as Shakespeare's setting for Romeo & Juliet. The city was absolutely beautiful! It's small size and character just make it such a charming place. It's full of beautiful churches, bustling piazze, tall towers, and lovely gothic buildings. All in all I really enjoyed my day in Verona, I just wish I had had more time to explore the city!
My first stop was the huge Piazza Bra', filled with the countless stalls of a Sunday market selling food and goods. However my eye was instantly caught by a strange, modern, white arc sculpture ending in a pointy starburst. Bordering the piazza on one side is the grand columned Palazzo Barbieri, Verona's City Hall, and adjacent is the magnificent 1st century A.D. Roman Arena, one of the most important and best preserved Roman ampitheatres ever built. It's actually in incredible condition, inside and out, and resembles a mini Coliseum. In fact, during the summer months world famous operas are performed there. My first sign that Verona is a city for lovers was found actually found here ; someone had wrote "Ti amo principessa" in the sand in the middle of the arena : ) Here I also bought a VeronaCard for 10 euro, which covered the entrance fee to all the places I went that day! From the piazza I walked through the narrow cobbled streets to my first chiesa of the day, San Fermo Maggiore. The church, built in the 11th century, is quite unique in that is has both an upper church, in gothic style, and an older, lower church in Romanesque style. The upper church has a great ribbed vault wooden ceiling, while the lower, almost underground church has frescoed walls and columns but is a little less ornate. Also of some interest, the upper church holds the tombs of the last descendents of Dante Alighieri (author of "La Divina Commedia"). Although not breathtaking, it was certainly a unique church. As I mentioned above, Verona is perhaps most famous for its association with Romeo & Juliet, which it is very aware of and has used it to their advantage as a tourist attraction. My next stop, then, was the Casa di Giulietta... Yes, they have turned a building into the house of a mythical character for the sake of tourism : ) Actually, despite all its lack of authenticity, it's actually a fun sight to see. It's just sweet and charming, and really gives off a romantic vibe. The walls of the covered entrance are covered in notes and scribbles by couples declaring their neverending love for one another with that timeless S + M = 4ever formula.
Inside the courtyard is a statue of Giulietta (or Juliet, as she is probably better known as) whose left breast is supposed to bring you luck when you touch it! There's even a balcony, surrounded by green ivy, supposed to be the very same balcony Romeo climbed to when Juliet whispered the famous line: "Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good-night till it be morrow." The house itself was even set up to seem as though it was lived in by the Capulets. Here and there relics from the play, like paintings (including a replication of "Il Bacio" by Francesco Hayez - from my art history class) and costumes, which remind the visitor whose house it is meant to be. The souvenir shops next to the house of course sold a variety of heart-emblazoned trinkets, making me feel as though I'd just walked into a store run by Cupid! One of the stores was actually quite cute and original; it offered a sort of embroidery service in which you could select a blank item, like an apron or towels, and have the sewers personalize them right there on the spot! And of course, many of the available items were heart-shaped : ) After getting my dose of love and romance for the day, I explored the central piazze for a bit. Piazza Erbe was very pretty with statues, Madonna Verona's fountain, the baroque Palazzo Maffei, and surrounded by little restaurants and cafes. In one corner there is also a lovely tower called Torre del Gardello. Normally the square serves as a lively marketplace, but for the Christmas season the stalls moved elsewhere (see next). Walking underneath the Arco della Costa you come to the adjacent Piazza dei Signori, there was a wonderful German-themed Christmas market called Christkindlesmarkt, full of stalls selling yummy treats and Christmas trinkets and decorated with trees! The square also has a couple palazzi, including Palazzo del Capitano with its overlooking tower. In the corner of the square is Verona's famous Torre dei Lamberti, rising from Palazzo del Comune and towering above the nearby brick buildings. Of course I climbed the seemingly neverending stairs to the top and was rewarded with gorgeous views of the city and the bustling piazze below. At this point my remaining daylight was slipping by quickly, so I had to pick up the pace. Next I went to the nearby basilica of Santa Anastasia, which happens to be the largest church in the city. I fact, connected to the main church is another sanctuary, large enough to be its own church! The gothic church, finished in 1481, is quite large, but the highlight for me was the fresco of "San Giorgio e la Principessa" by Pisanello which we studied in my Storia dell'Arte class. It was way high up at the top of an arch so I couldn't see it up close or get a good pic, but it was still pretty cool to see the real thing. The ceiling was also very pretty with a painted pattern spanning its entirety. There was even a cute nativity for Christmas! I kept going with the churches and made my way to the Duomo. Compared to the extremely ornate Duomo in cities like Milano and Siena, this one could be considered plain, but I found its simplicity to be quite pretty. The Romanesque facade features a double level porch, a side porch and apse area, as well as a tower rising in the back. Inside was also nice, with chapels and paintings lining the sides. The altar was interesting in that it was round and surrounded by columns; the dome above the altar also featured lovely paintings. This church feautured 2 paintings I was familiar with from my class, although I had not studied them closely: Tiziano's colorful "L'Assunta" and Liberale da Verona's detailed "Adorazione dei Magi".

The sun was beginning to go down so I decided on my last 2 things to see and was on my way. This time I walked along the pretty Adige River, past the stone Ponte Garibaldi with Colle San Pietro rising up in the background behind it, and Ponte della Vittoria flanked by statues on either end and with Castelvecchio in behind it. My plan was to check out another church, San Lorenzo, but when I got there the gate was locked even though it should've still been open for another half hour.

So I moved along and made it to my last stop for the day, Castelvecchio, a large and impressive stone castle, complete with embattled bridge and moat! Connecting the castle with the opposite side of the Adige River is a unique, wave-like brick bridge, Ponte Castelvecchio. In a small little piazza to the right of the castle is a simple white arch called Arco dei Gavi and benches providing a great place to enjoy the view of the river and bridge. I unfortunately didn't have time to go inside the castle, where there is a museum of Veronese art, but I was at least glad I got to see the exterior. I wish I had had more daylight to check out a couple more things, but I think I did pretty well considering and saw a lot of the city. I'm so glad I was able to fit Verona in at the end, especially now that I know what a charming city it is! So now that my travels are over, the bittersweet feelings about leaving can start to sink in as I run around trying to pack and finalize things. With only a week left, my days are surprisingly full with little down time, which I'm sure will make these last days here go by extremely fast!

Only 5 more days!!!!!!!!!!

Baci a tutti

Mountains Majesty

2008-12-07T00:05:00.021+01:00

December 7, 2008

On Saturday I took a break from crazy paper writing to go to the mountain resort town of Cortina d'Ampezzo! This beautiful town is located in the Dolomites, part of the eastern half of the Italian Alps. I first learned about Cortina when I found out I was coming to Padova and ever since I'd been dying to go. Gabi came along brought her friend Matt who was visiting for the weekend, and we took a super early bus from Venice. The first half of the bus ride was spent napping, of course, but when I woke up and looked out the window, I was surrounded by the grand, majestic Dolomite mountains everywhere I looked! As we drove through the mountains for the next hour and half, I was a little overwhelmed; the scenery kept getting more amazing! Little towns at the foot of the mountains were so unbelievably picturesque that thinking back to them makes me wonder if they were real, and if not for my photos I don't know if I'd be convinced!

When we got there, we were speechless. We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather in a more beautiful place. The skies were bright blue with only a few fluffy white clouds scattered here and there, and the bright sun was shining, making it almost warm enough to go without a coat : ) Cortina d'Ampezzo is your typical mountain resort town, with cute cabin-like motels everywhere and people lugging around their ski equipment. It sits right in a valley between the Dolomites, so literally everywhere you turn you are faced with the rocky, snow-capped peaks of the mountains. The views were absolutely magnificent, and I'd say a good portion of our 3 1/2 hours there was spent taking pictures!

The town itself is quite small, actually, so after finding the town centro and walking down the main street for a bit, we stopped in a cute Austrian-inspired restaurant for lunch. Being a resort town it was obviously a little pricey but well worth it - my taglietelle with zucchini, pine nuts, and goat cheese was delicious! The restaurant had such a cozy atmosphere, it was the perfect place to grab a bite before setting back out into the town.

The rest of the time we really just walked around, enjoying the scenery, the people, the snow, and especially the Christmas stuff everywhere. There were lights and other decorations throughout the town and the stores seemed to be selling nothing but Christmas things. They had even converted the side of a building into an advent calendar! There were also cute little stands along the street with locals selling artwork, crafts, and other goods. Dominating the town centro is a gorgeous clock tower that stands next to the lone town church, both which made pretty sites to see. It was also funny to see all the dogs dressed up in winter clothes : ) We even saw a pooch wearing boots!

Speaking of boots, Gabi and I fell in love with Moon Boots. I don't mean snow shoes, I mean legit, marshmallow-esque Moon Boots! Everyone was wearing them, and when we saw them in a store window it was a good thing it was closed because I think we both would have bought a pair! Check out the picture if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Since the bus ride back takes almost 4 hours, our time quickly came to an end. Just as we were leaving the clouds started moving in, so it was perfect timing! As we were getting on the bus, imagine my luck when in front of us is an older woman with a baby weenie dog!! He was just the cutest thing I've ever seen. When he tried to jump onto the platform where the seat was, his back legs were too short and didn't make it so his owner had to nudge him on his bottom to help him up : ) I purposely sat near the woman so I could stare at him, and I came seriously close to asking her if I could hold him. Obviously, I'm obsessed with weenie dogs : )

The rest of the bus ride was uneventful and long, this time with no thrilling views as it was soon dark out. We still couldn't believe how lucky we'd been with the weather, and I was so happy I got to see Cortina. It's without a doubt one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen! Although photos cannot do it justice, check out my albums to see the rest of my pics from the Dolomites and Cortina d'Ampezzo : )

p.s. After many long hours of working on my paper, I've finally finished! The total is 11 1/2 pages (in italian!) and was no easy feet. Tomorrow I leave for London for 4 days and when I get back I'll fix it up and then I turn it in Monday. Wish me luck, the professor can be harsh!

Abbracci e Baci

xoxo

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

2008-12-06T22:19:00.015+01:00

December 5, 2008

I still can't believe it's already December! It seems like the moment Thanksgiving was over, Padova suddenly transformed for the holiday season, with twinkling lights strewn between streets, Christmas trees here and there, festive signs wishing Buone Feste, and stores displaying their holiday goodies. There's even a cute little train that gives rides around the city! I downloaded some holiday tunes and have been listening to my ipod as I walk through festively decorated centro, and I can't help but get into the Christmas spirit! This is truly one of my favorite times of the year : )

On Tuesday evening, instead of having a normal storia dell'arte lecture, our teacher took us to the famous Caffè Pedrocchi next door to the study center. When it first opened in 1831, it was the largest caffè in Europe. Famous literary and political characters frequented the caffè, which seems to possess the 'spirit' of Padova. Often considered the most beautiful coffeehouse in the world, Caffè Pedrocchi was heavily damaged during World War II. It was completely rebuilt in its original neoclassical style, and today it is still one of the trendiest places in Padova, known for its dolce far niente (sweetness of doing nothing) experience while you sip a cappucinno and absorb the everyday life around you.

Other than being a trendy place for coffee, Caffè Pedrocchi also has a lot of rich history. The upstairs level has actually been converted into a museum, with a handful of rooms decorated in different themes, among them Ancient Rome and Greece, the Renaissance, the Moorish Empire, and Pompeii. Our wonderful teacher Lucia took us through each one, explaining its significance and pointing out funny or interesting quirks.

Next we went downstairs into the actual caffè, which has three rooms, each decorated with a different color of the italian flag - bianca, rossa, and verde. The caffè was also decorated for Christmas, with heavily ornamented trees surrounded by brightly-wrapped panettone in the corners : ) After our tour, Lucia and Margaret surprised the whole class by treating us to a drink on them! Gabi and I ordered the famous mint-infused "caffè Pedrocchi" while some others got hot chocolate. While the drinks there are a little pricier than most places, they do not disappoint. The presentation alone is worth the money. Our seafoam-tinted drinks were accompanied by a heart shaped cookie, while the incredibly thick hot chocolate is served in a little pitcher with a bowl of fresh whipped cream...it was a truly decadent experience! Every time I'd pass the caffè on my way to the study center, I always wanted to go inside, so it was great to check it out and get a free treat in the process!

Thursday evening was my storia dell'arte final exam. It was cumulative, which meant we were responsible for tons of paintings, but luckily I knew relatively well the 4 that ended up on the test, so I feel pretty good about it, but most of all I'm just glad it's over. That just leaves me with my dreaded 10-page storia moderna paper, which has to be written in italian! Even though I only have a couple weeks left, each day is jam-packed with things to do, places to go, and things to see. This weekend I'm planning a day-trip with Gabi to the winter resort town of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomite Mountains, and then Tuesday I head to London!

I hope you are all staying warm and enjoying the wonderful holiday season and all the wonderful things it brings!

Buone Feste!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T14:59:00.017+01:00

November 30, 2008

Although I'm a few days late, Happy Thanksgiving! It's hard to believe that yet another holiday has come and gone already...and while some key elements were missing (aka my family), others were certainly present - including an absurd amount of food which I of course stuffed my face with - so in a way, it still felt enough like Thanksgiving : ) My holiday was two-fold: EAP held a dinner for students from both Padova and Bologna, and then I headed to Lucca for the weekend to celebrate it with my family there on Sunday.

Thursday night I celebrated Thanksgiving with an EAP-organized dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant in Padova. The restaurant provided the turkey, mashed potatoes, greens, drinks, and "pie", and then all the students were asked to bring a potluck dish to supplement the food provided. I had to ask for a special plate sans turkey and stuffing, so instead of the bird they gave me chunks of cheese - as if that was equivalent! The food was decent, and after finished our large plates of food, we all kind of wondered why we'd brought more food... What they provided was more than enough! But in true Thanksgiving fashion, we continued to eat past the point of bursting, until we all sported a good sized "food baby". The potluck consisted of an interesting array of foods, including nearly 100 tangerines, cakes of all sorts, deviled eggs, cornbread, grilled eggplant, salad... I brought olives - both marinated and fried - only to discover after the fact that the latter were stuffed with meat! I was quite annoyed. The one disappointment of the evening was the dessert the restaurant served us, which was supposed to be pumpkin pie... Instead they were these little squares with a crust that was too doughy and was on both the bottom and the top, was hardly sweet, and had a strange gelatin film on the top. It was not good, and not pumpkin pie! I suppose I can't expect much better since it is Italy. The evening was overall very pleasant though. It was fun seeing all the kids from Bologna that we knew from Rome, and meeting all the new ones who skipped the summer program. The wine flowed freely and there was never a lack of conversation, but after a couple hours, combination of the long day and the red wine made me pretty sleepy so I braved the cold and headed home.

Friday afternoon I took the train to Lucca. Gina closed up the upstairs of her house to save on heating costs, so this time I went to stay at Lia's. I was a little sad I wouldn't get to sleep with Tequila, but Lia's house is really nice and so much warmer! Friday night and Saturday were pretty low-key, spent indoors because of a rolling thunderstorm that literally lit up the entire sky and dumped buckets. Despite the bad weather, it actually wasn't quite as cold as it has been in Padova.

Sunday morning Lia dropped me off at Gina's to help get things ready. The turkey was already in the oven and the potatoes were in the process of being mashed, so I used some sprigs of berries and branches from a mini pomegranate tree to create a centerpiece and 2 smaller accents. Despite my complete lack of flower-arranging knowledge, I think they turned out pretty : )

There were about 25 guests, mostly family, so the house quickly became a bustling center of activity and noise! The menu was delicious, almost a "traditional" American Thanksgiving (although being Italian, they had to include a first course of pasta!), and included: fresh pasta with ragu sauce (butter and sage for me!), turkey and cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, garbanzo beans, sauteed spinach, green salad, and for dessert, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and an assortment of cakes. Gina made my stuffing special, never seeing the inside of the turkey, and it was absolutely delicious! It made me miss home though because it tasted exactly like the one my mom makes : ( And even though the pumpkin pie wasn't homemade, it was delicious and satisfied the craving I'd been having the last few days. It was such a great feeling to be surrounded by family though, even if there were a few key members missing ; )

I finally got a family pic of Gina, Lia, Vic, and Adele, too. And of course, no trip to Lucca would be complete without more pics of Tequila! This weekend was the first time I'd been back to Lucca since the end of September, and I'd honestly missed it and the comfort I feel when I'm here. After a busy past month, relaxing in Lucca was exactly what I needed.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and spent at least a moment appreciating your blessings. I'll be the first to admit I don't do it often enough, so I think it's great that we have a holiday specifically about being thankful, even if it sometimes seems to be about eating turkey! Those of you who know me know my feelings concerning turkey consumption on Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd share these cute cartoons : ) Enjoy, and once again, Happy Thanksgiving!

p.s. Only 20 more days til I'm home!!!

Love you all.

xoxo

Kraków: Dragons, Castles, Salt, Snow, & a Sad Look Into the Past

2008-11-25T00:13:00.057+01:00

November 29, 2008

This post has been a long time coming... Sorry for the delay, I've been super busy! In a nutshell, my weekend in Kraków, Poland, was fabulous!! I immediately fell in love with the city, and the feeling didn't fade as the weekend passed. The best things of Kraków: a medieval castle and gothic churches; snow; the Polish language; and it's amazingly cheap! The city itself has even been named an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Eastern Europe is usually skipped over by tourists in favor of cliché places like Italy and France, which is a shame since so many hidden treasures, like Kraków, are there. If you ever get a chance, I can't recommend Kraków highly enough!!!

Day 1, 11/21/2008 - Scheduled Departure: 8:35am, Actual Departure: 1:45pm!

My flight to Poland was early Friday morning from Bologna, so I'd crashed at my friend Susan's apartment the night before so I could get there in time. This trip marked the one and only time in Europe I wasn't flying with Ryanair, instead I had chosen the super-cheap Hungary based Wizzair. I suppose I should have realized in advance that you usually get what you pay for - and since I only payed $60 roundtrip, I should'nt expect much at all. Well, Wizzair did not disappoint. I got to the airport at 6:30am, only to learn when I check-in that my flight is delayed til 10:10am! Shit. Whatever though, less than 2 hours, right? But as I was sitting in front of my gate waiting, I glanced up at the screen and saw that the time of departure was now 11:45am! Wtf. I napped a bit to pass the time, and when I woke up, surprise surprise, it was delayed another hour to 12:45pm. At this point I started to worry that the next thing to show on the screen would be a notice announcing the cancellation of my flight. Luckily this was not the case... It was just delayed until 1:45am! Believe it or not, it didn't change again, and I finally departed, 5 hours after my original time, a tad disgruntled but excited nonetheless.

I actually flew into a city called Katowice, 2 hours outside of Kraków, where I'd booked a shuttle bus. Even though I'd missed the one I originally scheduled, they had arranged another one for the passengers of my flight. After 2 long hours on a crowded, smelly bus, I arrived at the Kraków bus station, took out zlotys from the ATM, and caught a cab to my hostel.

Let me take a moment now to gush about Ars Hostel, by far the best hostel I've stayed at in Europe. I was welcomed with a delicious raspberry vodka shot - to warm me up - and then given a tour of the place. Instead of a dorm-like atmosphere, it was more similar to an apartment, with a super cozy living room area complete with couches, TV, computer with internet, a stocked kitchen, rooms with beds that were actually made and were comfortable, and free lockers. And then the bathrooms...they were actually clean and there was even a large private one complete with shower that made me feel like a was showering at home and not in a nasty hostel! The attendant showed me my room and bed, made me a cup of tea, and then left to let me get settled in. There were already a bunch of people lounging on the couches chatting, but I was a little startled when I heard someone say my name. I turned around and was shocked to see An, Sarah's friend from Oktoberfest, standing there! Turns out she'd come to Kraków alone, too, and was staying at the same hostel! Small world, right? Unfortunately, while it was my first night it was her last. She gave me some great info and tips on the city though.

She also told me that the hostel arranges activities in the evenings for lodgers and that night they were going out for traditional potato pancakes and then to a bar in Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter of the city. Although I was tired, I was definitely in! They brought us more of the yummy raspberry shots (which I later discovered happened every night at 8pm), and then we headed out. An and I decided to split a pancake since neither of us was very hungry, and then we headed to the bar while the woman from the hostel waited for our food. The bar was pretty cozy, and our group took up a whole corner. An and I went to order drinks and asked for "something Polish" and were given vodka with Cappy apple juice... I was skeptical, but it was delicious! The juice was more like a cider and it wasn't strong at all. The potato pancakes finally arrived, and ended up being more like fried hash browns topped with cheese. They were huge and obviously pretty heavy, so after a few bites An and I were done, but it was still fun to try something traditional.

The rest of the night was spent enjoying some great conversation with some great people from all over - England, Australia, Canada, and even Asia! Some were backpacking through Europe, others were just on holiday, but all were eager to chat and share experiences, and the conversation flowed freely. An and I went outside toward the end of the night to get some air, and were surprised to notice soft snow flakes falling! The forecast had called for snow that weekend, but I hadn't been expecting it yet. They didn't stick, but it was still so pretty, and a great way to end the night.

Day 2, 11/22/2008 - Into the Old Town and Down to the Salt Mine

Kraków is divided into 3 major areas: Wawel Hill, Stare Miasto or Old Town, and Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter. I'd planned on exploring these when I got in around noon Friday, but since it was delayed I missed daylight and lost half a day. So Saturday I got started early to make up for lost time. When I walked outside Saturday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find a light layer of snow on the ground and the parked cars! I didn't know then but it was a sign of what was to come...

Wawel Hill (remember the 'w' in Polish is pronounced as a 'v') is famous for the medieval Wawel Castle and Cathedral which sit at the top of it. My hostel happened to be located 5 minutes walking from there, so I made it my first stop of the morning. Former home to the Polish King, it is now a museum and has opened it's grounds to visitors. While it is indeed a castle, the exterior doesn't resemble your "standard" fairytale castle. Instead it is a vast, somewhat ecclectic mix of buildings, complete with towers and courtyards.

The most visually stunning part, however is the Cathedral. Poland's most important place of worship, the Cathedral dates back to 1384 and is the burial sight for most of the country's royalty, bishops, and national heroes. From the outside, it is a beautiful cluster of towers and domes with a red brick base. Inside wasn't as spectacular as I'd been expecting; you follow a path that takes you past lots of tombs and other relics, but the church itself is not breath-taking.

While Wawel Castle is probably Kraków's most prominent tourist attraction, the Wawel Dragon is also quite famous. At the foot of Wawel Hill there is a cave, where, according to legend, a fire-breathing dragon once lived, wreaking havoc on the city. Desperate to be rid of the beast, the Polish King offered the reward of his daughter's hand in marriage and part of his kingdom to any man that could slay the dragon. After several failures, a cunning man tried a different approach - he covered some sheep with poison and led them to the cave. After they were consumed, the dragon's stomach started burning so he drank from the nearby Vistula River. Nothing could satiate the fire within him, and he kept drinking until he finally exploded. Outside he cave is an iron sculpture of a dragon, but I wasn't able to go into the cave because it is closed in winter. While this is story is obviously just a playful legend, it's well-known and a part of Polish culture. In fact the rest of the day everywhere I went that sold souvenirs shamelessly exploited the legend of the Wawel Dragon.

From Wawel Hill, I headed into the Old Town. As I made my way to the main square, I passed the pretty St. Peter's and Paul's Church, best known for the 12 statues that line the front representing the apostles. Directly across from the church was a cute little square with a statue in the center, called Plac Marii Magdaleny.

Next I checked out 2 more well-known churches at opposite ends of the same street. The first, a pretty brick gothic church called the Dominican Church, I only saw from the outside.

The other, called the Franciscan Church was less impressive from the outside, but I decided on a whim to go in and I was pleasantly surprised! It was quite dark inside and took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but the style was very different than most churches. It seemed to have a floral theme going on, with several gorgeous, colorful, flowery stained glass and a wallpaper of flowers. As I turned to leave, I was stunned to see a gorgeous stained glass of a man in lovely blues, greens, and violets.

When I got back outside, a smile crept across my face because it was actually snowing! Not heavy, but certainly noticeable flakes, and I started to get the impression that this was not going to be a fleeting occurence...

I finally made it to the famous Rynek Glowny, or Marketplace, one of the biggest medieval squares in the world, and at the heart of the Old Town. The beautiful square is filled with impressive buildings and an array of stores, bars, and restaurants. In the center of the square, the pretty yellow building called Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) cannot be missed, and is now a market full of souvenirs and local wares. Next to Sukiennice is the clock-bearing Town Hall Tower.

Bordering the square is St. Mary's Church. The gothic exterior is brick and dominates Rynek Glowny, but inside is the real highlight. The church is most famous for the Veit Stoss Altar, which requires a special ticket just to see! Located behind the main altar of St. Mary's, the huge and elaborate alterpiece, carved between 1477 and 1489, shows scenes from the life of Mary. The center shows her dormition, coronation, and assumption, while the 6 side panels, when opened, show the joys of Mary. I was lucky enough to come in just as the panels were being opened : ) The alterpiece survived remarkably well over the years, even coming out of WWII unscathed, and was very pretty to look at.

After I'd stared at the Veit Stoss Altar for a while, I explored the rest of the church. With it's colorful and gilded decorations and bright blue ceiling, it was easily one of the most stunning churches I've been to, but very unique as well. An interesting feature of tourist sights in Poland, I found, is that instead of prohibiting photography, they simply charge you a little more and put a sticker on you which allows you to take pics. I think it's an interesting concept, and as long as it's pretty cheap, I'd much rather pay than not be able to take photos!

As I walked back outside, I was just in time to hear the Hejnal Mariacki, a trumpet signal played live from the top of St. Mary's every full hour that's cut short suddenly in memory of a trumpeter shot and killed by a Tatar arrow in 1241. Check out the video clip below!

When I finished at St. Mary's I decide to take a lunch break and headed to a place nearby that An had recommended. Along the way I passed more attractive gothic brick buildings and a small, pretty, white church that stood out among it's red brick surroundings.

In addition to being hungry, it was getting pretty cold by then, so I was very happy to spend some time indoors : ) The restaurant was called Zapiecek, and specializes in pierogi - little dumplings stuffed with either sweet or savory fillings. A Polish staple, I knew I had to try some, so I ordered some ruskie-style, stuffed with potato and cottage cheese. The pierogi are relatively plain, but in a strange way they are oddly satisfying and quite tasty.

After lunch I made my way toward the Planty, a large "park" that surrounds the entire Old Town. With the falling snow, the plethora of trees looked quite pretty.

At that point my plan was to find another church and the main university building, but the snow decided to make itself fully known, and before I knew it I couldn't see 5 feet in front of me! Although I was thrilled by the fact that it was snowing for real, and not just a few flakes, I quickly realized that I couldn't wander the city in conditions like this, because 1) I couldn't see anything, 2) I was freezing, and 3) I couldn't take pictures. So I headed back to Rynek Glowny, where I took refuge in the Sukiennice and browsed the stands for some souvenirs, watching the swirling snow outside I'd eventually have to back into.

When I was finally ready to brave the snow again, I started walking, but quickly ducked into an ecclectic little store, bent on finding a snow hat. I found a cute blue one with hearts that covers my ears and ties underneath, and emerged from the store much happier.

When I got back to my hostel, I was a human popsicle, wearing all white, and no longer quite so dazzled by the snow. The cars from this morning were quickly being buried by snow, as was everything else! So I decided to defrost and relax at the hostel for an hour until my scheduled tour of the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine that evening.

I had booked my tour beforehand and the company was scheduled to pick me up around 4pm at my hostel. When I went outside to wait, the snow had stopped but had left a thick blanket covering everything! I really think snow makes everything look prettier.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in the town of Wieliczka, also happens to be an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is the second oldest mine in the world. The mine was actually open for active mining up until 1996! The mine reaches a depth of 327 meters, and is over 300 km long, but only 3.5-km, less than 1%, is open for visitors. To get down to the 150-meter level of the mine, visitors must walk down a spiraling wooden stairway of some 400 steps. The tour lasts about 2 hours and takes you down to 3 different levels, through the mine's corridors and its amazing chapels, and past statues carved by miners from rock salt and an underground grotto and lake. Rock salt is naturally grey, in various shades like granite, so that the statues resemble carved unpolished granite rather than having the white or crystalline appearance that many visitors expect. Along the way we were also shown old mining equipment and machines, some of which still function,and told stories of the mines history.

My favorites things include the little carved gnome statues, which miners believed brough them luck, and the fabulous, jaw-dropping Chapel of St. Kinga. Since mining was such a dangerous job and miners were usually very religious, they built and carved several chapels throughout the mine for them to worship in because they spent so much time underground. This particular chapel is basically a large room with salt carvings everywhere - the crosses on the altar, the walls, the stairs - everything was salt! The wall carvings are mostly scenes from the life of Christ, but there is even an imitation of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper! The chandeliers as well were made out of salt crystals that really sparkled in the light. A large statue of Pope John Paul II, former Polish Archbishop stood in the chapel, too. If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was just a normal chapel, but once you know it's salt it just blows your mind! We were told that the chapel can be rented out for concerts, banquets, and weddings, too, and just as we were leaving we saw a bride and groom coming down the steps with their bridal party and a photographer!

After the tour visitors take an elevator back up to the surface. The elevator holds 36 people (9 per car) and takes roughly 30 seconds to reach the surface - basically you're stuffed into the car like sardines and then shoot upward at a shockingly scary speed!

Day 3, 11/23/2008 - Auschwitz & Birkenau

Sunday I had a tour of the concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau so I made my way to the meeting point in the Old Town. Along the way, I saw many of the sites from the day before now with a fresh blanket of snow. The newly white Planty was especially beautiful with its trees and benches now covered.

One new thing was the Barbican, a fortified outpost or gateway on the north side of Old Town. It's one of the few remaining relics of the complex network of fortifications and defensive barriers encircling the city. It looks more like a castle though, with its moated cylindrical brick structure, an inner courtyard, 7 turrets, and a tower named Florian Tower.

The square we were meeting in, Plac Matejki was big and very pretty after the nights snowfall, with imposing buildings on either side and a statue of a national hero in the middle. It took a while to get checked-in, but finally they figured it out, gave me my ticket, and I hopped on the warm bus, ready to go.

The bus ride took about an hour and a half, during most of which I napped : ) I knew that while the tour would be informative, it would also be sad and depressing, so I'd tried to prepare myself as much as possible beforehand. In hindsight however, I don't think anything can prepare you to experience the excruciating and haunting realities that were the Holocaust.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of Nazi Germany's concentration camps and was in operation from 1940-1945. It can be divided into 3 subcamps: Auschwitz I, the original concentration camp, which served as the administrative center for the whole complex; Auschwitz II (Birkenau) was the largest and served as an extermination camp; and Auschwitz III (Monowitz) served as a labor camp. The tour covers only the first 2 camps. It is estimated that 1.1 million people, about 90% Jews, were murdered here during those 5 years. Most victims were killed in gas chambers using Zyklon B while other deaths were caused by starvation, forced labor, disease, individual executions, and "medical experiments".

The tour began at Auschwitz I, which now houses a museum. The whole camp is made up of brick buildings and could be mistaken for a normal, abandoned place, if not for the double barbed wire fences surrounding it. As I passed through the entrance to Auschwitz I marked with the infamous sign "Arbeit Macht Frei”, or “work makes (one) free”, I couldn't help but get the chills, which had nothing to do with the cold weather.

Our tour guide lead us through the streets of the camp, giving us some background history, before taking us inside several of the "blocks", or buildings, which make up the museum. Inside we were shown devastating photos, given tragic facts, shown various possessions of prisoners like shoes and suitcases. The stories that accompanied these exhibits were heart-breaking; and let me tell you, reading about the Holocaust is nothing compared to standing on the earth where it took place, and seeing what was left behind with your own eyes. This is the very reason why it is so important to preserve the camps for future generations.

Though Jews were sent to Auschwitz I, this camp was initially used for holding Polish intellectuals and resistance movement members, then also for Soviet Prisoners of War. Most Jews were sent to Birkenau. The harsh work requirements, combined with poor nutrition and hygiene, led to high death rates among the prisoners, estimated at 70,000, most of which were Poles and Soviet POWs.

Our tour eventually lead us to Block 11. This building was known as the "prison within the prison", where violators of the numerous camp rules were punished. Some prisoners were made to spend the nights in "standing-cells", about 1.5 square meters, with 4 men squeezed into each one, unable to do anything but stand, and then were forced to work during the day with the other prisoners. In the basement there were "starvation cells", where prisoners were given neither food nor water until they died. And then there were the "dark cells", which had only a very tiny window and a solid door. Prisoners placed in these cells would gradually suffocate as they used up all of the oxygen in the air. Looking into these rooms, places of so much suffering and death, was incredibly difficult.

Back outside, we were lead the execution yard between blocks 10 and 11. In this area, individual prisoners were executed. Some were shot, against the so-called "death wall" which still exists; others suffered a more lingering death by being suspended from hooks set in two wooden posts, which also still exist. The wall had dozens of flower bouquets and other items strewn in front of it, brought by visitors as memorials of those who perished there.

Next we were lead to the gas chamber and crematorium with it's lone chimney, passing still-standing gallows along the way. In September 1941, an SS officer experimented on 600 POWs and 250 ill Polish inmates by cramming them into the basement of Block 11 and gassing them with Zyklon B, a highly lethal cyanide-based pesticide. This paved the way for the use of Zyklon B as an instrument for extermination at Auschwitz, and a gas chamber and crematorium were constructed by converting a bunker. This gas chamber operated from 1941 to 1942, during which time some 60,000 people were killed. I can't explain with words the feelings that overcame me as I walked into this building and saw the ovens where they destroyed body after body. Thoroughly depressed, we concluded our tour of Auschwitz I and hopped back on the bus to make our way to Birkenau, about 5 minutes away.

Birkenau, which is 26 times larger than Auschwitz I, was built in 1941 to ease congestion at the main camp. It was designed to hold several types of prisoners, but mostly Jews, and to function as an extermination camp in preparation for the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" - the extermination all Jews worldwide. To accomplish this, the camp had 6 crematoria, and by 1945 more than 1 million prisoners had been killed, most from gassing.

A railway, which is still present, ran through the entrance of the camp, and almost daily prisoners were loaded onto trains throughout Europe and made their journey to Birkenau. As they were unloaded, the infamous "selection process" was used to determine those who were "fit" for labor and those who were "unfit". The latter category included children, women with children, the elderly, or those who were deemed sickly or too weak after a quick inspection. The "unfit" group, usually about 3/4 of the total, were immediately taken to the gas chambers under the impression that they were to shower. They stripped, were lead to a room with fake shower heads, and were gassed with Zyklon B. Afterword their clothes and belongings were collected, their bodies were inspected for gold teeth, sometimes female heads were shaved, and then the bodies were collected and burned in mass.

Our tour guide lead us into one of the barracks where we saw the triple-stacked wooden bunks where the prisoners slept. It was snowing again and was absolutely freezing, and I couldn't help but try to imagine what it must have been like for the prisoners in winter in those conditions. In what seems like a cruel joke, a long furnace was built down the center of the barrack, but with nothing to burn, the prisoners could use it for nothing but a bench.

Before we left, we climbed up to the top of the main watchtower overlooking the entire camp. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to see Birkenau as it was 65 years ago, a place where families were destroyed, murder was a daily activity, and all hopes were lost. I could almost see the ghosts of all the victims trudging through the snow.

I hope my description of my experience of Auschwitz-Birkenau wasn't too morbid, but that was the reality of te Holocaust. If you ever get the chance to visit, I highly recommend it as a reminder to all of what we humans are capable of and to ensure that it will not happen again in the future.

I slept again on the bus ride back, and then walked back toward my hostel. I hadn't really had lunch, so I headed into Kazimierz to find this burrito bar I had a coupon for from the hostel. It happened to be right next to the beautiful Tempel Synagogue, a building I had planned on seeing. The burrito was decent and satisfied my craving for mexi food at least until I get back to the states, but it was no California burrito! I've also concluded that real salsa does not exist in Europe, so I have that to look forward to when I get home, too. I called it a night super early with my alarm set for 1:30am to make my journey back to Padova.

Day/Night 4, 11/24/2008 - Nonstop Napping

My flight back was at the ungodly hour of 6am, and since I had to arrive 2 hours early, and it takes 2 hours to get from Kraków to Katowice, that meant calling for a taxi at 2am. My journey back can be summed up as a series of naps; first on the bus, then at the airport, on the plane, on the bus from the Bologna airport to the train station, and finally on the train back to Padova. Imagine my shock, however, when I wake up mid-nap and look out the train window to see everything covered in snow! For a minute I thought I was either dreaming or back in Poland, until I realized I had just left the snow only to come right back! The snow didn't disappear as we approached Padova; indeed, it had snowed quite a bit the previous night and the ground was actually noticeably white. Although a little sad that I'd missed the first snowfall of the season, all I wanted was to get home and take a nice hot shower and sleep!

I had such an amazing time in Kraków, I could have easily spent a week there. It's so great to return from a trip that you truly loved, despite any negatives or challenges. I'm so glad I got to experience everything, and I'm sure I'll return sometime in the future!

xoxo

Update

2008-11-24T21:06:00.020+01:00

November 24, 2008

So I've noticed that while I've been blogging frequently about my travels, I've neglected updates on things going on here in Padova.

Last Wednesday I had my final for Psicologia della Personalità. My suitemate and I studied together, and realized as we downloaded the lecture slides that while we covered maybe 20 slides in each class period, each topic really had on average 60 slides! Not to mention that each one was packed with info and diagrams in italian of course. Studying was more like trying to squeeze as much into my brain...we decided that there was obviously too much info to cover, so we decided to focus on what we talked most about in class and hope for the best. It was a little nerve-wracking as well not knowing the structure of the exam except that it would be oral. Would she take us each in separately? Would she drill us with whatever questions she wanted? Would it be a discussion where she simply asks us to tell her what we learned? While I hoped for the latter, it actually turned out to be the worst it possibly could be. She took us in separately, and my suitemate went first. I'm pretty sure I've never been so nervous in my entire life, I felt physically ill. After about 15 minutes, it was my turn. Well it must've not been my lucky day, because she simply flipped open the textbook (which neither of us had read) to random pages and asked questions on whatever she found there. And of course, 95% of the questions were on things we had consciously decided to skip over while we were studying, so I had no choice but to keep saying I didn't know, feeling more like a failure with each response. I knew an exam like this would be partly based on luck; you either get asked about the things you do know or you get asked about those you don't, and I got the latter unfortunately. Although I must admit I was so nervous my italian was absolutely atrocious. The result: 18 out of 30. As I walked out of the room in shock, I realized, that shit, that wasn't even passing! So I went back and basically pleaded with her to allow me to explain to her the things I did know for a higher grade. Luckily she consented and in the end raised my score to a 21, which will end up as an approximate C back in the States. While I'm glad it's over and by now I'm over it, it took a good few days to comprehend and accept my first C grade ever. Ever since I knew I was coming to study in Italy I was conscious of the fact that I wouldn't get my customary straight A's and my GPA would suffer, but I maintained that it would be worth it. So when I was faced with my first just-passing grade, I was forced to eat my words and I did not like the taste. But it is what it is, and I know I'll make up for it back home eventually. I think a lot of factors were involved, but complaining and being bitter will not change my grade, so I'm over it.

I spent the next couple days literally doing nothing and letting my brain rest. Then Friday we had a field trip to Venezia for my Storia dell'Arte class. Our teacher took us to a really amazing church I had not yet been to which housed a few pieces we'd been studying in class, including 2 wonderful paintings by Tintoretto. Then we went to the Accademia, and although I had been there on my own before, it was so much better with a knowledgeable guide as well as having studied several of the pieces on display there. Like I said before, it's so much more interesting to see a piece of art in person after having studied it : ) Our last stop was a visit to Basilica San Marco. Again, having our teacher as a guide made it so much more fascinating than it was before!

Afterward Carly and I decided to stay in Venice and make our way out to the islands. I'd been meaning to visit the lagoon islands of Murano (famous for it's glass-making) and Burano (known for it's colorful houses and lace production), so I figured it was a good time since we were already in Venice. But since we didn't get on the boat to Murano until about 3pm and it took nearly 45 minutes to get there (unfortunately we caught the one that makes a million stops rather than the direct one) we only had about a half hour before it was getting dark, which meant no Burano for me : ( But we had a lot of fun shopping for Christmas gifts in all the glass stores, and I must say I think I picked up some fantastic pieces that the recipients are going to love! As the stores started to close down, we made it back to the boat and caught the last one back to the Venice train station.

Although it had been a long day, Carly invited me to join her and some others at some bar her Italian "friend" had told them about and I figured why not, I could sleep in the next day. It actually ended up being a pretty fun night, too. We ended up being part of a group celebrating the DJ's birthday, so they brought free pitchers of spritz and other drinks to our table! I allowed myself 2 drinks - a spritz and my, favorite, a mojito. At the moment that's my alcohol limit, but since my tolerance is so low from not drinking for a while, it hit me pretty fast. We danced for a bit and then decided we were exhausted so Carly's friend gave us a ride home and I eagerly went to sleep immediately.

The rest of the weekend was very uneventful, but I felt like I needed to just do nothing after so much traveling, like almost every single weekend. My most exciting update, however, is that my close friend Sarah (my G Phi roommate from last year who is currently doing EAP in Sweden) came to visit for a few days with 2 of her friends Monday! The first evening Carly and I took them out for spritz at the place that gives you these yummy olives with the drinks, and everyone graciously gave me theirs, so I ended up eating probably 7 big fat olives! Then we went to a little osteria for a slightly over-priced pasta dinner, followed by gelato of course.

The next day Sarah and her friends explored Padova in the morning and then came back to my room to warm up and rest for a while. We all walked back into centro since I had class at 5pm, and then after we went for pizza at Tio Pepe's. Here I must rant for a moment. Justine and I had been extremeley loyal cutomers there literally since we moved into Copernico, practically going there every night for dinner. Over time, the prices went up maybe 50 cents, but were still quite reasonable at 3 euro for a pizza and 4 euro for my usual paella or veggie soup. I had never payed more than 4 euro for a meal there until that night. Granted we did each order a glass of sangria, but they charged us 8 euro each! Now since I got pizza, which should be 3 euro, that would mean my drink was 5 euro? Hmmm... I decided to ignore, but was annoyed nevertheless. We called it an early night though, and they headed back to their hostel.

Wednesday was there last day here, so they went to Venice early in the morning while I had to stay in Padova for my meeting with Marina, our program director, to finalize and sign my study list. After the meeting I went to meet them in Venice, where the plan was to go to the islands once again. And while we got an earlier start this time and took the shorter direct boat, we still ended up only making it to Murano once again (eventually I will make it to Burano!). The boat ride there was gorgeous of course and very pleasant, passing boats, colorful houses, and the pretty Il Redentore church.

It was nice to see the island in the bright afternoon sun, too. It's such a cute little island, with an actual lighthouse and quaint bridges everywhere, and made up almost exclusively of glass shops selling jewelry, vases, lamps, figurines, and other beautiful glass products. I got a few more gifts for people, as did Sarah and her friends and I was able to snap some pics of the island as well, including this really cool glass sculpture that looks like a giant sea urchin : )

Speaking of photos, while I was waiting outside for Sarah and them to buy something, this Italian guy with a camera approached me and complimented my butterfly tattoo, and then proceeded to ask me if he could take a picture of it. I figured why not, it wasn't like it was my face or anything. He said he was a photographer and he was currently doing a compilation of photos of tattoos and piercings... I decided to neither believe or disbelieve him. Of course he then noticed the plethora of piercings in my ears, and asked to take a pic of them as well. At that point I was pretty much done being photographed, and he gave me his card with the website, thanked me, and we parted ways. I chalked it up to just another random experience, but when we got home later we decided to check out the website for fun. And wouldn't you know it, just 2 hours later my butterfly photo as already up! With viewer comments! And it was actually a really good photo - he'd made everything black and white except for the butterfly, which made it appear super bright and colorful. Go here to check it out!

On the boat ride back we passed Cimitero, the walled cemetery island of Venice, and were lucky to see a gorgeous sunset, with half the sky shades of yellow and orange and the other half roses and violets : ) We didn't catch the direct boat back though, so it took nearly 40 minutes to get to San Marco.

From there we had decided to take a gondola ride! Riding in an authentic gondola in Venice is on my list of life goals, so I was super excited! It's pretty expensive (80-100 euro for half an hour to an hour) so it's best to do it with several people and split the cost. To be honest, however, it was a little anticlimactic for me. But then again I proabably just had too high of expectations. We left at dusk, with our gondolier taking us through the small canals in between buildings and under quaint little bridges. It got dark pretty quickly though, so visibility - and photos - was not the best, but it was still very relaxing and pretty. Our gondolier had mad skills of maneuvering that thing though. There were so many corners i would've sworn we couldn't get around, but he managed it, often with no more than an inch to spare. I think I was disappointed the most by my inability to document the experience very well; we didn't even get a pic of all of us in the gondola! But all the same I'm really glad I got to do it, especially with Sarah, and it's one more thing I can check off my list!

Back in Padova we went to Tio's again for dinner, where they charged me 6 euro (!!!) for paella, without a drink! I was so pissed, I've sworn never to go back there again. For their last night in Padova, Carly and I took them out for spritz night in the piazze for a bit, and of course we got gelato again as well : ) They had to be back at their hostel by 11:30pm, though, so we called it an early night, and I headed back a little later because it was too cold!

Early the next morning they stopped by Copernico for a sleepy goodbye. I'm so glad Sarah was able to visit, I think I was really needing to see a familiar face, plus I always have fun with her : )

Although I loved having them here, playing host set me a little behind on things, especially preparing for my trip to Poland that weekend (which was absolutely fantastic by the way, look for the post soon!). So all of Thursday was spent researching and packing, and then after class I headed to Bologna to start my Eastern European adventure!

Two final notes: 1) I finally figured out the bus routes here, so instead of taking expensive taxis to the train station, I can take the bus! And on cold days I can even take it to centro. It only took me 3 months though, haha! 2)I got a care package today from Gamma Phi with 2 super cute PR shirts (from Bid Day and Pancake Breakfast) which I've been eyeing in Facebook pictures, the adorable tote bag from Bid Day, and a sweet page with notes from a bunch of the girls! I miss the house so much, the package totally made my day : )

Un bacione X

Smile, You're in Florence!

2008-11-12T23:24:00.037+01:00

November 16, 2008

Hello there! So the weekend before last Gabi and I took an overnight trip to Firenze, aka Florence, and had an amazing time wandering the surprisingly small city and reveling in it's abundance of great art. We left Saturday morning by train, taking about 3 hours to get there. We were able to walk from the train station to our hostel (and actually to everyplace we went) so we didn't have to waste money on a taxi or bus. As far as our hostel, we were pleasantly surprised. The rooms were standard shared-dorms with bunks but the rest of the hostel was almost like a hotel! It was well worth 16 euro a night. We couldn't check-in right away so we left our backpacks and headed out.

We walked through these great outdoor mercatini with stalls selling all sorts of wares and souvenirs. I guess leather is a big industry in Florence because it was everywhere! Leather purses, coats, wallets, belts, you name it, it was all over the city, and definitely not my favorite part of Florence considering my views on the product. It was still fun to browse each of the stands. Gabi and I bought some ever-so-popular "friendship" bracelts, played with a cute little boxer puppy named Punto at one stand, and I bought a little souvenir for my mom that is unique to the Toscana region.

Our walking eventually led us to the grand Duomo. Of all the Duomos I've seen thus far, this one may have been the most impressive. Not only is it immensely detailed with multicolored marble and a carved facade, but it was also enormous! It's famous dome can be seen for miles away. Connected to it is Giotto's pretty bell tower and directly in front of it is the octagonal baptistery with it's famous carved bronze doors by Ghiberti (however the originals are actually in a nearby museum which we went to later). We had reservations for the famous Uffizzi Gallery at 3pm, so we kept moving, grabbing caprese sandwiches along the way for lunch.

Our next stop was the bustling Piazza della Signoria, dominated by the brick Palazzo Vecchio and it's tower (which look remarkably like those in Siena!). The piazza also has a pretty Fountain of Neptune and a covered "stage" with several statues whose originals can be found in nearby museums.

It was nearing 3pm so we headed to the nearby Uffizzi, along the way spotting an odd man putting paint all over his face (this will come up again later...). The outside of the museum is really nothing too special, but inside is filled with wonderful treasures of Italian artwork. Gabi and I had actually studied a handful of the paintings in our Storia dell'Arte Italiana class so getting to see them was quite a treat. I'm finding that viewing art that you actually know something about is so much more rewarding and interesting than simply browsing unaware. In fact, when we walked into our first room, we both let out gasps because we were surrounded by the 3 golden Maestà (one each by Giotto, Cimabue, and Ducio) that we had just learned about in class! Paintings which, to me, had seemed somewhat unimpressive in my textbook now were suddenly unbelievable in real life. I even managed to sneak a pic of Giotto's from the doorway : )The big highlight of the galleria, however, was Botticelli's paintings: Primavera and Nascita di Venere (Birth of Venus). I'd always loved these paintings, and after learning more about them in class I loved them even more... In person they completely surpassed my expectations and were lovelier than I could've hoped. One thing I especially admire about Botticelli is his faces; they are so much prettier and more realistic than those by other Italian artists. Not to mention how refreshing his choice to portray figures from Greek mythology rather than Christian-themed images and figures (there must be about a million "Madonna with Child" paintings!) is. We wandered the other rooms, seeing some amazing paintings, some that we were familiar with, others which we weren't. From a window there was also a great view of the Ponte Vecchio below, and from the terrace we had a close-up view of the tower of Palazzo Vecchio. The ceilings inside were covered with paintings and very pretty, too. While it's no Louvre, I can definitely tell why the Uffizzi has gained the notoriety it has... in terms of Italian art, it stands alone and was well worth the visit!

When we finished at the Uffizzi we walked back to the Duomo to check out the inside before it closed. The highlights include a pretty astrological clock, a dizzying spiral marble floor, the gorgeous dome adorned with paintings, and cute little candle "trees" for prayers and devotions. To be honest though, I think I've become a little dulled towards churches.

Sadly the sun was starting it's descent, so we made a beeline to the Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge. On the way, we passed a stand selling freshly roasted chestnuts, and having never tried them I bought a bag and was pleasantly surprised! They remind me of little brains when you shell them, and they're a little softer than expected, but very yummy. I'd always been curious about them since they're part of such a famous Christmas song, too.

So here is when that guy with the painted face comes back into the picture: Apparently he paints his face and acts like a weirdo, walking weird and imitating others, and as Gabi and I walked past him he started following me. Whatever, I just ignored him, but then he got a little too close and was using me to entertain those around us... but my final straw was when he actually reached out and touched my head, so I turned around and just wacked him! He even tried to grab my arm as I swung at him, but I got my point across and the crowd thought it was pretty funny... I did not.

Back to the bridge... There has been a bridge spanning the Arno River close to this spot since Roman times, but the current stone bridge was built in 1345, bearing a multitude of shops on its three arches, now occupied by fancy jewelry stores displaying their shiny wares. Fun fact: "The bridge has endured numerous fires and floods over the centuries, but perhaps came closest to destruction in 1944, during WWII. As the Germans retreated, they blew up all Florence's bridges except the Ponte Vecchio."

Since it was just about dark by then, we went back to our hostel, took our stuff to our room, relaxed for a bit and then headed back out for dinner. After dinner we wandered more and then tired to find a famous gelateria that Gabi's guidebook recommended called Vivoli. We didn't know an exact location, just a general vicinity and the street name, so we went exploring. In the process we stumbled upon a beautiful white church all lit up, but we had a bit more trouble finding the gelato shop. After looking for a good half hour, we decided to give up, but lucky us, as we were heading back we look up and see the street sign we'd been searching for! It was the perfect way to end our first day in Florence.

Sunday morning we got an early start since we had a 10:30am reservation at the Accademia. The small museum would really be quite unimpressive if not for their one big tourist draw: Michelangelo's magnificent David. Gabi and I must have spent at least 20 minutes taking it in. I confess that before I had always wondered what all the hype was about and thought that I had seen plenty of other sculptures that were just as good, but when it's right in front of you, it takes your breath away. The size alone is incredible, almost 3 times a normal man, and the precision of the body is amazing. I couldn't help but imagine the enormous block of marble Michelangelo transformed into his vision of perfection, piece by piece, bit by bit.

Afterword we headed back through the mercatini toward Piazza del Duomo. Sitting on the steps we planned the rest of our day, fitting in as much as time would allow. Next on our schedule was the Museo del Duomo, directly behind the church. Although small and probably often overlooked, the museum houses a few wonderful treasures. Among these is Michelangelo's unfinished marble Pietà, intended to be his own funeral monument; a haunting wooden statue of Mary Magdalene by Donatello; and the 10 original bronze panels of the Baptistery doors, by Lorenzo Ghiberti, and collectively known as the "Gates of Paradise".

We continued our morning museum trend with the Bargello National Museum next. We went with the intention of seeing 2 sculptures: Michelangelo's Bacchus and Donatello's David. Unfortunately the latter was being restored and thus unavailable for viewing. The round-bellied Bacchus, however, was still there, one of Michelangelo's earlier works which showed a distinctly different style from later works like his famous David.

At this point we were somewhat spent of museums, so we took a lunch break and got some pasta at a little restaurant called Il Gatto e Il Volpe (The Cat and the Fox). Refreshed and rested, we made our way back to the Ponte Vecchio to see it in the bright light of daytime. We lucked out with the weather, too. Not only was it not raining, but the sky was a bright blue spattered with big fluffy white clouds!

On the other side of the bridge we wandered to the grand Palazzo Pitti, former residence of the powerful Medici family that once ruled Firenze. Due to a lack of time and money, however, we were unable to explore the multitude of museums and gardens within its walls.

Our last stop of the day was climbing a hill up to Piazza Michelangelo, which Gabi assured me would be more than worthwhile for the views alone. It took us about a half hour just to get to the stairs leading up the hill, however... We kept stopping along the Arno River to take pictures of the gorgeous blue backdrop!

The piazza is literally at the top of this huge hill, but with spectacular views of the city, the domes of the Duomo, and the surrounding Tuscan hillsides. In the middle of the piazza is a smaller imitation of the artist's David, hence the name. It was truly magnificent, and by far my favorite part of the weekend.

Before heading back down we climbed a little higher up to this pretty white church that you can see from way down on the Ponte Vecchio. Not surprsingly, the views from there were even better!

We relaxed up there for a while and then made our way back down and back to our hostel. On our way back we passed the same pretty white church we'd seen the night before while searcing for our ice cream, and it was even prettier in the light of day. We got our backpacks from the hostel and headed to the train station, figuring we'd catch a train at 4ish and make it home relatively early, but when we went to use the automatic ticket machines, every train to Padova somehow had "no seats available"! Now in my 5 months of using the Italian train system, this has never happened. Apparently, there was going to be a strike later, so everyone was trying to rush to their destination early, and thus most of the trains were actually full. So we had to wait in line 45 minutes (hence missing the 4ish train) to talk to a Trenitalia employee who was willing to sell us tickets sans seats. Translation: we sat on the floor for most of the way, but at least we made it home at a decent hour!
I have to say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Firenze. Before going I'd heard mixed reviews: that it was stiffling with tourists, only good for it's museums, and small. While I found these to be a little true, they by no means made it any less charming or enjoyable. I think Gabi and I found a great balance between seeing all the great art Florence has to offer and seeing the beautiful city itself, the latter which I feel like some people may overlook. It was just one of those weekends you think back on and just smile about : )

Baci

Looking Forward

2008-11-07T15:40:00.010+01:00

November 7, 2008

First of all I would just like to congratulate Americans on making history November 4th and taking a huge step forward by electing Obama as our new President! I wish I could've been there to celebrate... I truly believe great things are to come. I also have to thank my Dad for doing me a big favor and making my voice count, since I had some problems obtaining an overseas absentee ballot : )

Secondly, I would like to tell Californians: Shame on you for supporting a proposition that writes hate into our constitution. So many people defended their choice to support prop 8 by saying it was a matter of religion... Is it just me or is "separation of church and state" not clear enough? It's not an issue of religion, it's about civil rights and equality. Believe it or not, back in the day, being of a race other than white was thought to be "abnormal", "wrong", and "lower", but those same ideas today would be considered absurd, crude, and even oafish. How is sexual preference any different? They are both things we are born with and cannot change. No, this proposition was about equality, accepting your neighbor even if they are different from you or you don't personally agree with their lifestyle. That's what's supposed to be so great about America right? Apparently I was wrong. And to think that people close to me, whom I care about and whose opinions I once respected, are hateful enough to have supported this! I shudder to think how my own friends and family would treat me if I were gay. Disappointed as I am, I have not lost hope. Every civil rights campaign in history has endured set backs. Legalizing gay marriage in California this past summer was a huge stride forward in the campaign to gain equality for all, and this proposition is only a bump in the road. One day we will look back and wonder how we could have ever denied two people who love each other the right to marry. Until then, we can only look forward...
I also wanted to share an article my aunt sent me concerning Obama and the challenges he faces as the new President of the United States. I thought it was a very good read, so enjoy it below! Thanks, Sam.

The Obama Agenda
By Paul Krugman

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, is a date that will live in fame (the opposite of infamy) forever. If the election of our first African-American president didn’t stir you, if it didn’t leave you teary-eyed and proud of your country, there’s something wrong with you.

But will the election also mark a turning point in the actual substance of policy? Can Barack Obama really usher in a new era of progressive policies? Yes, he can.

Right now, many commentators are urging Mr. Obama to think small. Some make the case on political grounds: America, they say, is still a conservative country, and voters will punish Democrats if they move to the left. Others say that the financial and economic crisis leaves no room for action on, say, health care reform.

Let’s hope that Mr. Obama has the good sense to ignore this advice.

About the political argument: Anyone who doubts that we’ve had a major political realignment should look at what’s happened to Congress. After the 2004 election, there were many declarations that we’d entered a long-term, perhaps permanent era of Republican dominance. Since then, Democrats have won back-to-back victories, picking up at least 12 Senate seats and more than 50 House seats. They now have bigger majorities in both houses than the G.O.P. ever achieved in its 12-year reign.

Bear in mind, also, that this year’s presidential election was a clear referendum on political philosophies — and the progressive philosophy won.

Maybe the best way to highlight the importance of that fact is to contrast this year’s campaign with what happened four years ago. In 2004, President Bush concealed his real agenda. He basically ran as the nation’s defender against gay married terrorists, leaving even his supporters nonplussed when he announced, soon after the election was over, that his first priority was Social Security privatization. That wasn’t what people thought they had been voting for, and the privatization campaign quickly devolved from juggernaut to farce.

This year, however, Mr. Obama ran on a platform of guaranteed health care and tax breaks for the middle class, paid for with higher taxes on the affluent. John McCain denounced his opponent as a socialist and a “redistributor,” but America voted for him anyway. That’s a real mandate.

What about the argument that the economic crisis will make a progressive agenda unaffordable?

Well, there’s no question that fighting the crisis will cost a lot of money. Rescuing the financial system will probably require large outlays beyond the funds already disbursed. And on top of that, we badly need a program of increased government spending to support output and employment. Could next year’s federal budget deficit reach $1 trillion? Yes.

But standard textbook economics says that it’s O.K., in fact appropriate, to run temporary deficits in the face of a depressed economy. Meanwhile, one or two years of red ink, while it would add modestly to future federal interest expenses, shouldn’t stand in the way of a health care plan that, even if quickly enacted into law, probably wouldn’t take effect until 2011.

Beyond that, the response to the economic crisis is, in itself, a chance to advance the progressive agenda.

Now, the Obama administration shouldn’t emulate the Bush administration’s habit of turning anything and everything into an argument for its preferred policies. (Recession? The economy needs help — let’s cut taxes on rich people! Recovery? Tax cuts for rich people work — let’s do some more!)

But it would be fair for the new administration to point out how conservative ideology, the belief that greed is always good, helped create this crisis. What F.D.R. said in his second inaugural address — “We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics” — has never rung truer.

And right now happens to be one of those times when the converse is also true, and good morals are good economics. Helping the neediest in a time of crisis, through expanded health and unemployment benefits, is the morally right thing to do; it’s also a far more effective form of economic stimulus than cutting the capital gains tax. Providing aid to beleaguered state and local governments, so that they can sustain essential public services, is important for those who depend on those services; it’s also a way to avoid job losses and limit the depth of the economy’s slump.

So a serious progressive agenda — call it a new New Deal — isn’t just economically possible, it’s exactly what the economy needs.

The bottom line, then, is that Barack Obama shouldn’t listen to the people trying to scare him into being a do-nothing president. He has the political mandate; he has good economics on his side. You might say that the only thing he has to fear is fear itself.

Besides the election, this week has been a whirlwind of events and emotions. I found out that one of my closest friends here in Italy was withdrawing from the program early to go home due to serious family issues. It swung me for a loop, and while I understand her decision and would do the same in her position, I can't help but feel selfish... Who will I go to dinner at Tio's with now? Who will I go to Switzerland with? Who will celebrate my birthday with me? These were all things I was going to do with her. I'll still do them, but they won't be the same without her : ( I just have to remember it's not about me at all. My problems are insignificant in the big picture. So Gabi and I went with her to the airport this morning, and I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed saying good-bye. She is such an amazing friend, and she's such a strong person who I've come to admire. I'm going to miss her these last 6 weeks, and I'll have her and her family in my thoughts and prayers.
I also had a midterm for my art history class this week... Let's just say I hope 1/3 is passing! Tomorrow I'm heading to Florence with Gabi for an art- and museum-filled weekend, and then I have an oral final for my psychology class Wednesday which is causing me more than a little stress. We'll just have to see how that one turns out!

Cheers to change America!!
xoxo

A Halloween in Milano

2008-11-02T15:55:00.017+01:00

November 2, 2008

I can't believe it's already November! Time seems to be flying by so fast.... Only 1 1/2 months til I'm on a plane heading home! And while I've certainly been loving my time abroad, I think I'm just about ready to return to the good old US of A.

Anyway, happy belated Halloween! It was strange not really celebrating it over here, especially coming from Santa Barbara where Halloween is practically the biggest event of the year. Instead of costumes and candy, I spent the day in Milano with Gabi and Justine. It was actually a horrible day for sightseeing, or just being outside for that matter. The sky was an ugly gray and it rained off and on the entire time, but we made the best of it regardless!

When we got to the train station, it was pouring out so the first thing I did was buy a new umbrella (my old one broke in Munich!). It's so cute, and so me - it has bright rainbow colored segments just like one of those beach balls! Then, as we were trying to find our bus stop to get to a hostel (Gabi and Justine were staying over night), we saw a super nice Maserati passing us, and just as Justine and Gabi were commenting on how nice it was, the window rolled down and he yelled over to us "Dove andate?" We figured with the 3 of us it would be legit, so we told him the address of the hostel and hopped in! He turned out to be really nice, and we chatted on the way there. When we got to the hostel, we couldn't resist taking a picture with the car! After all, who knows when the next time is that we'll get to ride in a Maserati?

The hostel was a tad skanky, and there was some problem with the reservation of the group in front of us, so it took forever to check in. We had reservations to see DaVinci's Last Supper at 3:15, so we were kind of pushed for time. We grabbed a quick bite for lunch nearby and then hopped on the tram. We'd assumed that public transportation would be the best way of getting there, but we hadn't realized the tram would take 15 minutes to go 2 blocks, or that the Metro after that would be so difficult to figure out. So we ended up getting off the Metro at 3:10 and literally running the entire way there, bursting into the ticket office at exactly 3:15! Lucky for us, they still issued us our tickets and we went in immediately with the next group.

The viewing process is odd and very strict in order to slow the inevitable damage and disintegration of the famous fresco. Every 15 minutes, 15 people are shuffled through a series of rooms that are quickly sealed behind them to reduce humidity. When you finally make it to the grand finale, you have exactly 15 minutes to view the masterpiece.

Anyone with a decent bit of education is familiar with, or at least could recognize, DaVinci's Last Supper - or Il Cenacolo, as it is actually named. But thanks to the brilliant Dan Brown (please note the tone of sarcasm intended here) and his novel The DaVinci Code, this famous fresco is has grown to iconic fame. I, and I think any intelligent person, have chosen to ignore these ridiculous conspiracy theories of hidden messages about Christ, and blah, blah, blah, and simply tried to appreciate it for what it is: a masterpiece of Italian art by one of the greatest artists of all time. Since photos were obviously not allowed, I'm including one from the Internet.

If I'm being truly honest, however, I have to say I don't see what all the fuss is about. Yes, it's a great piece of art, but there are dozens of other versions of Il Cenacolo by a handful of other artists which are also quite impressive. Why is this one so special? I can't help but think it has to do with the artist, with DaVinci himself. I think many times we assume that a famous artist creates nothing but masterpieces, and thus anything with there name attached is great. Maybe I'm being cynical, but I wonder if this work would be considered less impressive if it had been done by a lesser-known artist. But then again, maybe the art and the artist are one and the same.Sadly, the evidence of time was very clear, despite the efforts of restoration. Pieces are wearing away, some already gone, colors are fading, cracks line the painting like the face of an old woman. As the attendant announced that our 15 minutes were up, I couldn't help but turn back for one more look. I wondered how much longer it would last, and thought of how future generations would be left with nothing more than a picture in a book of a long gone masterpiece, and I was grateful.

Back outside and less rushed, we were able to admire the beautiful brick exterior of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where the Last Supper is housed, and laugh at all the tourists huddled together with their brightly colored umbrellas!

I think it's pretty obvious that Milano is no Roma; it's not a mecca of ruins, museums, churches, and ancient buildings. In truth, it really only has 2 can't-miss attractions - the Last Supper and the Duomo - and the rest of it's fame is fashion. So we hopped back on the Metro to get to the second of Milano's sights, the Duomo.

It was still dreary out, but the rain had stopped so we decided to climb to the roof of the Duomo while it lasted. Although the terrace is a lot less higher up than most churches, it's much more spectacular. It's like being in the middle of a marble forest of gothic pillars and arches and beams. Everything is ornately carved and full of intricate details.

We continued our ascent a bit further from the terrace to the actual roof, where we got a great view of the golden statue of Mary at the top of the highest steeple, illuminated against the gray sky. The views of the city would have been much better on a clear day, but we were able to see the glass dome of the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuel II.

Back down in Piazze del Duomo in front of the church, we admired the famous gothic facade of a pretty pinkish marble. From the front, I found the church less impressive, but maybe that was because I compared it to the gorgeously intricate terrace and roof. The interior was a bit dull compared to other Italian churches. The lighting was very dim, but I could still make out the spiral details in the ceiling, supported by rows of massive columns. On either side of the center aisle they had hung paintings, but the lighting was not very good for viewing them.

Back in the piazza we wandered over to a fun display for the Rock 'n' Music Charity Concert - a huge neon pop-style art display of the Beatles walking down Abbey Road! Also amusing were the pigeons sitting on top of the grates emitting warm air, with their feathers all puffed out like balls of fluff!

Right next to the piazza is the huge arched entrance to the famous shopping center, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. We didn't go inside immediately but walked around the exterior, trying to find the world famous opera house, Teatro alla Scala. We finally came to Piazza la Scala, but found ourselves surrounded by 3 impressive looking buildings and unsure which was La Scala. The pillared one had a sign for a bank, so that was out, and on closer inspection, the long, plain one was a hotel, so we finally deduced that the illuminated white building, with posters saying Teatro alla Scala was the right one.

We wandered back into the Galleria, walking past the famous designer shops like Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and even a fancy McDonald's! The inside of the Galleria is absolutely stunning as well, with the glass dome in the very center. As we window shopped, we heard music growing steadily louder and were treated to an actual marching band performance as they made their way from one end of the Galleria to the other!

Since it was already dark and I didn't want to get home too late, I decided to head to the train station and make my way back solo.
In other news, school sucks as usual, and for once I don't feel confident at all about passing! I'm sure everything will work out, but I'm anxious all the same. I have mixed feelings about November; I want it to come because it brings me closer to the end of classes, my birthday, travels, and going home, but at the same time it brings paper deadlines, procrastinated reading, and finals. Hopefully it just goes by quickly.

November does bring some exciting things, too. For one, in just 3 days Americans are going to have a brand new president and decide on some very important issues! Please make your voice heard and go out and VOTE November 4th! This election is history in the making, so be part of it. From November 21-24 I'm going to Krakow, Poland to visit Auschwitz, the infamous concentration camp of the Holacaust, which is sure to be one of the most moving experiences of my life. And then the last weekend of November I'm going back to Lucca to celebrate Thanksgiving! So I suppose there are some things to look forward to : )

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!!!

Baci xx

Bar-ce-lona

2008-10-27T21:10:00.107+01:00

October 30, 2008

This past weekend I was lucky enough to find myself exploring the mecca of modernism that is Barcelona, Spain! I must say in advance that my words and photos will not do this fabulous city justice; as my new favorite city, I can't rave enough. Barcelona is blatantly unique from other cities, and its charms lie in its combination of modern and historic architecture and their exquisite details. The modernist movement left its mark on Barcelona, led by creative genius Antoni Gaudí who can be credited with some of the most magnificent creations in the city, incuding the Sagrada Familia, Casas Batlló and Milá, and the fairytale-esque Parc Güell. Nothing else like them exists in the world; I absolutely fell in love. As the capital of Catalonia, the city also has a distinct catalan influence separating it from the rest of Spain, found in everything from the language to the food. After 2 non-stop, exhausting days, we just about covered all the main sights, ate some authentic paella along the way, and got a true taste of the magnificent city of Barcelona.

Day 1, 10/23/2008 - We're in Spain!

Carly, Gabi, Justine and I left Padova Thursday evening, taking a bus to Treviso airport where our flight left from. The flight itself was pretty uneventful, except for these obnoxious Italians who didn't understand the concept of keeping their voices down in confined, shared spaces. We finally arrived in Girona, Spain around 11pm and had to catch a shuttle bus into Barcelona, about an hour and a half away. Once in the city, we switched transportation yet again and caught a taxi to our hostel, Hello BCN. As far as hostels go, this one was pretty decent. The ground floor had a cool lounge area with couches as well as a bar, but unlike some hostels it wasn't party central so it was a great place to just go hang out and relax without feeling like you're in a club. The 4 of us had our own room with bunks. Speaking of the beds...they were literally rock hard, like sleeping on the floor! And the first night they forgot to give us pillows, and since it was so late we just decided to go without, which, along with our ridiculous matresses, made for one of the most uncomfortable night's sleep ever!

Day 2, 10/24/2008 - Wandering La Rambla

I came to Barcelona prepared, with 4 pages of notes and info on things to see and do in the city, which put us on a tight schedule to cover it all in only 2 days. We started our first day along the water at Port Vell, formerly an obsolete harbor which now boasts several entertainment structures and grand buildings. Our eyes landed first on a huge, futuristic sculpture of metal loops, like the arcs created by a bouncing ball. The harbor itself was lovely, with boats scattered along the sparkling water and the wave-like pedestrain bridge, La Rambla del Mar, cutting across, connecting the end of the famous La Rambla street with the Maremàgnum entertainment complex.

Nearby there were also several fancy buildings, including the Naval Sector, an old customs building called the Aduana, the New World Trade Center, and the Maritime Museum. Next to one of the buildings was a pair of gorgeous hibiscus trees full of the red blossoms, making the perfect backdrop for a photo : )

Next we started our walk up the famous La Rambla, a street consisting of 5 'ramblas'. The wide boulevard connects the Plaça de Catalunya, a busy square, to the Monument a Colom, a tall column erected in honor of Christopher Columbus. We began at the latter end, the Rambla de Santa Monica, first admiring the beautiful and intricate column, flanked by several giant lion statues at the base and topped with a statue of the explorer himself. The often crowded street is popular with tourists and locals alike, with the middle part of the Rambla pedestrianized and bordered by trees. Elaborate buildings, kiosks, flower stalls, animal stalls, and street artists are in abundance here. Next was Rambla dels Caputxins, with several great things to see. There is the Gran Theatre del Liceu, a lovely building decorated in modernista style, Plaça Reial, a 19th century lively little square with tall palm trees and eclectic street lamps designed by Antoni Gaudí. Opposite the square is the eye-catching Palau Guëll, one of Gaudí's first residential buildings, complete with twisted iron details and his signature colorful "chimneys". My first tastes of the genius of Gaudí were absolutely thrilling!

The next rambla was Rambla de Sant Josep, better known as the Rambla de les Flors, or 'Flower Rambla' because of all the flower stalls you'll find there. At the start of the rambla there is a little square called Plaça de la Boqueria which features an asian-themed building, decorated with a cool art-deco dragon, and a mosaic by famous surrealist artist Joan Miró.

The best part of this rambla, however, was the Mercat de Boqueria, an extensive, colorful market, selling everything from exotic fruits and vegetables to whole pigs and animal hearts! Housed inside a huge tented area, the stalls are truly a treat for the eyes. The fruits and vegetables are displayed as if it were an art, with many exotic varieties standing out, and candy and chocolate stalls, with their bright and succulent treats lined up, literally make your mouth water just walking past... On the not so pleasant side for me, there was a meat and seafood section, which, among all the normal things you'd expect to find, there were also whole pigs, whole hearts, and other terrible things! It was still a lot of fun wandering the aisles, taking in all the interesting sights and smells!

When we'd finished in the market, we joined the crowd again and kept walking up La Rambla, stopping every now and then to look at the postcards at souvenir stands or the sad animals ebing sold in cages lined up stall after stall. Now on Rambla dels Estudis, we passed the 18th century Reial Acadèmia de Ciènces i Arts, a theater since 1910 which also houses the city's first public clock.

We finally made it to the final rambla, called Rambla de Canaletes, which ends at the beautiful Plaça de Catalunya. The square was enormous, flanked by statues and absolutely filled with swarms of pigeons! A cubist-style statue bearing the name of the square was there to greet us, and there was also a lovely fountain, surrounded by amazing beds of bright orange flowers! Surrounding the square were a bunch of really unique buildings, too: a castle-esque building with orange spires; a concrete brick building where the name is an optical illusion of the same brick; and a grand white palace which really was just a bank. As we walked to the other side to leave, we saw the Canalete fountain, which legend says that once you drink from it, you will keep returning to Barcelona : ) It looked a little too green for us though, so we passed. But I definitely don't need a fountain to make me return to this city!

Our next stop was the city's gothic cathedral, officially named Cathedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulalia, after Barcelona's patron saint Eulalia. But as we got closer, we were shocked to see the entire church covered in scaffolding! Only a few spires stuck out from behind the ugliness : ( Needless to say, we were pretty disappointed. It was pretty expensive to go inside, too, so we opted out. I was a little sad because in the cloister, there are always 13 geese in its central courtyard, each representing one year in the life of the martyr Santa Eulalia, a young girl tortured to death in the 4th century by the Romans for her religion. I wasn't sure if the geese were real or fake, and I still don't know!! Compare the pics I took with one from the internet to see how the cathedral looks without scaffolding.

At this point we spotted a Starbuck's, so Justine and Carly went to get a pick-me-up while Gabi and I went to get a closer look at a really cool looking building we had seen from the distance. The roof was wave-like with a colorful geometric, mosaic-style pattern. Upon closer inspection, we realized it was another market, the Mercat de Santa Caterina.

Our next stop was lunch! We were lucky enough to come across a restaurant called princess-something with the most amazing thing on the menu....NACHOS!! Having gone without mexican food for 4+ months, we had all been craving it since we got to Spain (for some reason we associated mexican food with Spain...the language maybe?), so we were super excited. When they came out, topped with a mound of guacamole, something we hadn't seen in so long, we just dug in!

Our stomachs no longer grumbling, we headed for the Picasso Museum! The highlight for me, sadly, was the gift shop which had several things, including a t-shirt, with Picasso's peace dove lithograph that I have tattooed on my ankle! The museum itself was interesting, but it only had his work pre-cubism and it didn't have any of his major works. The best part is too graphic for words, but let's just say there was an anatomical comparison that proves right the sayings! Haha.

Next on the schedule was the wonderful Parc de la Ciutadella. The park is home to a zoo (which until a couple years ago had a famous albino gorilla), a lake, a large fountain, and several museums. The Catalan Parliament is also seated at a reddish building in the center of the park, with rows of surrealistic looking trees in front of it. Upon entering the park, we were greeted by 2 tagged green parrots that had flown over from the zoo : ) The lake was beautiful, albeit a little green, with trees growing directly out of the water and little row boats available for rent scattered across it. I had read about a giant mammoth statue in the park, too, so I was eager to find it. When we did, we couldn't resist climbing up onto his trunk, which was curved perfectly for a person to sit! Definitely my favorite part of the park. There was also supposed to be a statue of a metallic cat, but unfortunately we couldn't find it : (

The park also has a famous fountain called the Cascada, an impressive arched fountain complete with waterfall, built for the 1888 Universal exhibition and loosely based on the Trevi Fountain in Rome. But as luck would have it, the Cascada was also covered in scaffolding! We literally couldn't believe our luck, or lack thereof. Despite this unfortunate "blemish", we took pics and climbed the ivy covered stairs on the sides of the fountain for a great view over the park grounds. On our way out, we passed the medieval Castel dels Tres Dragons, which now houses the Museo de Zoologia.

From here we were just a short walk from the Arc de Triomf. The stunning red brick arc is situated at the end of a wide promenade lined with palms and these über cool curliqueue lamposts. With its colorful Spanish brickwork design, the arc stands out from other notable arches in other cities like Paris and Rome. The top of the arch is adorned with a stone carving of the Coat of Arms of Barcelona. The other Spanish provinces are represented as well on either side of the crown.

From here we went to find the Palau de la Mùsica Catalana, a brick, multi-leveled, pillared, embellished masterpiece of modernista architecture. From pictures I could tell that the inside was even more impressive, but unfortunately we didn't have the time or money. The facade was truly spectacular, but as it was located in a narrow street, it couldn't be seen straight-on, so my pics are of bits and parts. At this point, I was forced to see the error of my ways in choosing to wear my new boots for a long day of walking; my feet were throbbing like crazy! I took my turn at another Starbuck's to refuel and rest my poor feet.

I had been looking forward to our next place ever since I started planning our trip to Barcelona, and even more so after seeing it displayed on various postcards throughout the city: Casa Batlló, one of Gaudí's masterpieces in Barcelona. Let me just say, nothing else in the world is like it, every detail is inspired and reeks of creativity. I was constantly marveling at his genius, wondering where his ideas could have come from and why I couldn't be like him. Located on the fashionable boulevard Passeig de Gracia, Casa Batlló, is one of 3 consecutive houses in the modernist style, each by a different architect. Gaudí's of course is the most expressive and impressive, and thus has become the most famous. The eccentric facade of Casa Batlló is made of sandstone covered with colorful trencadis (a Catalan type of mosaic), making it look like something from a fairytale. In true Gaudí style, straight lines are avoided whenever possible in his design, and thus interesting shapes are found everywere: the 1st floor features irregularly sculpted oval windows, the balconies at the lower floors have bone-like pillars, and those on the upper floors look like pieces of skulls. As a result of these features, the house was given the nickname 'House of Bones'. The enlarged windows on the first floor also gave it another nickname, 'House of Yawns'.

The house's interior is just as fascinating as the exterior. Once again Gaudí avoided using straight lines everywhere possible, leading to some rather unconventional details. There are large oval windows lined with colorful, spherical stained glass, with delicate carved wooden columns in front. Even the wooden doors are one-of-a-kind! One room also has a mushroom-shaped fireplace, complete with benches on either side of the grate! The ceilings are also worth a look, with 3-dimensional textures, like bumps or spirals. Crisp white hallways have consecutive arch-shaped ceilings, creating an optical illusion as you stared down them. The terrace off this floor also has beautiful colorful mosaics mirroring the front facade.

Taking the stairs up to he roof, you're surrounded by pretty blue and white tiled walls interspersed with windows and balconies. The roof, to me, was the most spectacular. Anyone who knows me knows I love mermaids, and the top of the facade, in my opinion, with its colorful scales in front and bright mosaics in back, is about as mermaid-esque as you can get with architecture! There are just no words to describe it; it was like so many things I love combined into one: mermaids, shiny, fairytales, and candy! I was speechless. You could even go inside this part, where there was a weird little water fountain playing gurgling noises. Gabi and Justine literally had to tear me away after like 20 minutes!

When we got outside, it was starting to get dark, so we sat on a bench across from the house to take a break before heading to get dinner. As luck would have it, we suddenly looked over to find Casa Batlló illuminated! It was even more stunning all lit up, starting with a greenish hue and becoming a golden glow, and we took about 100 photos of it between the 3 of us. Since it had gotten a little dreary out by the time we'd gotten to Casa Batlló that day, we decided to come by it again the next day to see the facade in better lighting.Dinner was not the smoothest of operations. We took the metro back to La Rambla and after looking for something good but decently priced for close to an hour, exhausted and with feet aching, we found ourselves back in Plaça Reial, lured into sitting at a restaurant when a waiter shoved a menu into our hands. Lucky us, it turned out to be one of the worst restaurants I've ever been to! We sat outside until we were informed that if you weren't buying drinks you had to sit inside...and a bottle of water doesn't count. So we move inside, order our food, and are then told in a very rude tone that it would be a 20 minute wait for our food. Ok, we thought. Until 45 minutes later we still did not have our food! When it finally came, we were relieved that it was at least tasty. In true Spanish style, I ordered the vegetable paella, served in the pan it was cooked in. Not surprisingly, we waited a half hour for our check before hobbling home, showering quickly, and literally falling into bed, exhausted beyond belief, but extremely excited for what we had planned for the following day!

Day 3, 10/25/2008 - Montjüic, More Gaudí, & Magic Fountain

Before going to bed the night before, Gabi, Justine, and I had outlined our plan for the next day, cramming in all the sights we hadn't gotten to yet, leaving us with a very busy itinerary. With so much to do, we got an early start leaving at 9am and heading to Montjüic, a hill near the center of Barcelona, featuring many famous attractions. As our feet were killing us from the day before and we were pushed for time, we bought day passes for the Metro and took that from place to place. We started at the Plaça d'Espanya, the square at the foot of Montjüic. Several interesting sights are located here. The centerpiece of the square is a large modernist fountain designed by several famous Barcelonian architects. Two twin Venetian Towers flank the wide avenue, Avinguda de la Reina María Christina, modelled after the Bell Tower in Piazza San Marco in Venice. At the other end of the square stands the red brick Arenas de Barcelona, originally an arena for bullfighting, it never caught on in Catalonia and thus is now being transformed into a shopping center. In the area behind the arena lies Parc de Joan Miró, a small park named after the famous local artist who left his mark there with a large, colorful, surrealist sculpture, called Dona i Ocell, or Woman and Bird. After seeing all the above, we headed up the Avinguda de la Reina María Christina toward the grand Palau Nacional. Before the palace lies the large Font Màgica or Magic Fountain. The fountain is not active during the day, but several times at night, it comes alive with colorful cascades of water! Of course we made plans to return later that evening forthe show! Although the palace appears very old, it was actually built in 1929 for the International Exhibition. It now houses the National Museum of Catalonian Art. But it's location at the top of Montjüic hill is the highlight; it provides some of the best views over the city.

From there we walked further up the hill to the Poble Espanyol, or Spanish Village, also built for the 1929 Exhibition. Meant to show visitors a replica of authentic Spanish architecture, it was basically an imitation of an old Spanish village. The village features a large square, the Plaza Mayor, and a couple smaller squares connected by picturesque streets, some with stairs. It also includes a town hall, a church, a monastery, shops, and residential buildings. There was even an old man working in a glass-making studio for visitors to watch! Although it was interesting and many of the buildings were impressive, it looked too fake for me. My favorites were the brick and white striped Torre de Utebo, the Monasterio de Sant Miquel, and the entrance gate Puerta San Vicente. There were also some great views of the city from the village if you peaked through gaps between trees, some with the famous Sagrada Familia church and Torre Agbar visible!

Next we hopped back on the Metro and headed to the strangely modern Parc de l'Espanya Industrial, sitting just south of a large railway station. The park overcomes a difference in elevation between the elevated railway station on one side and the lower parkland on the other by a series of steep steps bordering a lake and forming an odd sort of amphitheater. Of course when we were there, the man-made lake was dried up : ( At the top of the stairs are a series of 14 cool, futuristic-looking watchtowers.

The best part of the park, however, was this huge, cast iron sculpture called St. George and the dragon which also happens to be a slide! When we got there a bunch of little kids were going up and down it, so we thought we'd give it a try as well... only we are a lot bigger than those kids, so gravity pulled us a lot faster! Although it was a little scary at first (it's much higher than it looks!) it was a lot of fun and exactly the break we needed from sightseeing. Check out the funny video below!

From there we headed back to the modernist Eixample neighborhood where Casa Batlló was located and took some more pics, this time with a nice blue sky backdrop. The house next door, Casa Amatller, by another modernist architect, was unfortunately covered by blue scaffolding, but a few houses down we were able to see Casa Lléo Morera, by yet another architect, with a cute little suspended tower in the midde of it. Together these 3 modernist houses earned the name Mançana de la Discordia, or Apple of Discord, for being so different from the surrounding buildings. Next we spent a good hour looking for a decent place to get lunch near Gaudí's Casa Milá - which, unfortunately for us, is located in a very upscale shopping and hotel area, making it very difficult to find somewhere cheap to eat. Eventually we settled for less than delicious sandwiches, then Gabi, Justine, and I went to get in line for Casa Milá while Carly went to check out the Palau de la Mùsica Catalana. Also known as La Pedrera, the exterior of the house is wave-like, sort of resembling a honey-comb, with oddly twisted cast iron balconies. In true Gaudí fashion, not a single line was used in the design, inside or out. And while much larger and less colorful than Casa Batlló, it is nonetheless an impressive sight to see.

Inside was magnificent and an absolute treat for the eyes. The entrance door is like an iron spider web of circles, but what's waiting inside is even better. In my opinion, the ground floor is the best, with a colorful stuccoed ceiling and brightly painted walls, and 2 wonderfully eclectic staircases, one with columns running alongside making spirals where they touch the ceiling and another covered with ivy and sheltered by a canopy. The tour began with the attic, whose walls and ceiling were completely made up of concentric arches of red brick, and which houses an exposition of Gaudí's works, including some the quirky chairs he designed. The lighting was dim, inducing a cool optical illusion all around us!

Next up was the most extraordinary part - the roof! Topped with several surrealistic, twisting, colorful chimneys, you truly feel like you've been transported to a fantasy world. The terrace itself is not flat, it's made up of waves, with several staircases connected lower levels to the upper ones. Many of the "chimneys" reminded me of soft serve ice cream because of their smooth, twisted shapes and creamy coloring. We spent about 45 up there, circling the entire terrace and enjoying the views of the surrounding neighborhood and the city. Their was even a great view of both the Sagrada Familia and the bullet-shaped, sparkling Torre Agbar! The roof is an absolute must-see and it will leave you truly inspired.

Back inside we visited the final part of the house, an apartment on the top floor. It was more convential than I had associated with Gaudí; it was very clean, delicate, and white, a mixture of expressionist and Art Nouveau styles, but almost like something out of Home & Garden magazine. My favorite feature of this part was the pretty raised designs on the ceilings surrounding the chandeliers.

The rest of the afternon we continued the Gaudí trend, taking the Metro to his final, unfinished masterpiece: the infamous Sagrada Familia. The iconic church, which has literally become a symbol of Barcelona, is two-faced, since the front and back have very different, distinct looks. The so-called "back", from a distance, appears to be melting, but up close, it is ornamented in a baroque fashion with motifs of animals and plants and the famous Nativity Facade in the center. It is topped by 4 tall immensely tall towers on each side, although when finished it will have a total of 18. It is the most unconventional and impressive thing I've ever seen, I could barely take my eyes off it. And once again I said to myself, "Gaudí was a fucking genius."

The "front" of the church is lighter and smoother than the front, and features the famous Passion Facade behind 6 diverging columns. To the right is an extension of the church, distinctly different from the rest, with several of Gaudí's signature colorful "chimney" tops. Once again, I could've spent all day admiring the details of this facade. Unfortunately as it is still unfinished, it was surrounded by scaffolding and construction, but they did little to take away from the powerful effect of the church. The Sagrada Familia is scheduled to be finished in 2041, and I can't wait to return and see the finished masterpiece!

In the park in front of the church, I took a much-needed break to massage my feet, which had gotten to such a level of pain that I was practically hobbling. When I removed my boots I saw that I had several blisters and a few areas were even numb! If I weren't so determined to see everything on my list, I think I would have called it a day right there because they hurt so bad. So I begrudgingly put my boots back on and we headed toward our last Gaudí work, which also happens to be an UNESCO World Heritage Sight: Parc Güell.
The Metro doesn't take you directly to the park, so there is actually a pretty long walk to get there. We followed some signs which ended up taking us the wrong way and up a virtually 90 degree incline, but we eventually made it. When I layed my eyes on the entrance I actually gasped... I felt like I'd just walked into a fairytale! The 2 pavilions flanking the entrance, designed by Gaudí, seem to be taken out of Hansel and Gretel, with curved roofs covered with brightly colored tiles and ornamented spires. They looked just like huge ginger bread houses! Beyond the pavilions is a double-sided staircase decorated with ceramics, with the most eccentric fountain at its center and a mosaic covered dragon-like lizard further up.

At the top of the staircase is a hall known as the Sala Hipòstila with 86 huge columns supporting the platform for the large square called the Gran Placa Circular. This famous feature of the park is reached via a connecting flight of stairs and is bordered by the serpentine bench, considered to be the largest bench in the world! The colorful ceramic serpentine bench, designed not by Gaudí but Jujol, twists snakelike around the plaza, its curves perfect for nestling into : ) The view from the plaza is spectacular as well - on a clear day you can actually see as far as the Mediterranean Sea!

Next we saw the pink colored Casa Museu Gaudí, a pavilion where Gaudí once lived which now houses a museum dedicated to the man himself. Another unique aspect of the park is the decorative "rock" work. Hallways lined by columns of rock were everywhere, some even quite intricate... I'm still not sure what to make of them! We kept wandering the park until twilight, finding new treasures at every turn, and then watched the sunset from a terrace.When it was dark we headed back toward the Metro. I could barely walk at this point, and I actually felt physically sick from the constant throbbing I'd been experiencing since 9am! I pushed on, however, since we only had a couple more things to see. We went back to the Sagrada Familia, hoping to see it all lit up, but were unfortunately disappointed. Then we headed back to Montjüic for the 8:30pm Magic Fountain show! When we came up from the Metro, we heard music and saw the fountain and without a thought Gabi and I just took off running! Oddly, this seemed to help my feet; I think maybe it caused more blood flow? Anyway, when we got there we were speechless. For about 20 minutes we just sat there in awe, watching the colors change from yellow to red to pink to blue and the plumes of water changing from one stunning shape to the next. At the same time, the Palau Nacional was illuminated, providing a beautiful backdrop to the even more beautiful fountain. I cannot think of a more fitting name for this wonder than the Magic Fountain. I might even go so far to say that it has been my favorite thing I've seen in all of Europe so far... Something about the combination of the lights, colors, and music was just magical : ) Check out this link for a clip of the show: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=623351641187

When the show finished we met up with a Carly's friend and also a friend of Gabi's who is studying in Barcelona as well, and went to a small Mexican restaurant for dinner. We had to split up since there wasn't a big enough table, so Carly and her friends went to another restaurant close by. The food was really tasty, especially since we have all been craving Mexican food for 4 months. I got enchilades verdes and we ordered a bottle of red wine to split.

After dinner we went to a fantastic local bar called Espito Chupitos, which is known for its creative shooters. My first one was called the Boy Scout; first they light a fire on the table and give you skewers with marshmallows attached, which you thn roast, dip in the shooter, eat, and then shoot the alchohol. It was by far the most delicious thing I've ever put in my mouth! I have no idea what was in the shooter, but it was heaven. Check out the video below!

My next shot entailed more pyrotechnics (which the bar seemed to do a lot of)... The bar tender filled 4 shot glasses with alcohol, poured some liquid onto the table in a spiral design, lit it on fire, including our shots, then extinguished everything but our shots and gave us straws to drink them while still flaming! At that point I was finished for the night, but I got to watch some other cool ones: the Watermelon, in which they place a piece of watermelon shaped and flavored gum at the bottom of the shooter to use as chaser; the Harry Potter, in which they light the shots on fire and then sprinkle cinammon over the flames to create "magic sparks"; a nameless one in which the bar tender fills a shot glass, covers it with her hand with a straw peaking out, and then has you drink from it, slams it on the table to create strong alcohol fumes inside, and then makes you drink the rest (Justine made the funniest faces with this one!); and finally the Monica Lewinsky, which is too graphic to describe here! After a while it got super crowded and smokey, so I opted to head back while Gabi, Justine, and Carly, went with their friends to a club.

Day 4, 10/26/2008 - An End to a Perfect Weekend

Oddly, "fall back" occured on our last night there, so we gained an extra hour of much-needed sleep! We checked out of our hostel, got sandwiches on La Rambla, then took the Metro to the Bus Station. Altough I was dead tired and glad to be going home, I was sad to leave such an amazing city. Like I said, my words and pictures do not do it justice, it's a place that must be seen in person. Gaudí's work is truly one-of-a-kind and I envy is creative genius but also love him for it. My trip to Barcelona was really the perfect weekend : )
On the flight back I caught some pics over Girona, and going over the Dolomites there was an eery fog so that just the black peaks were visible. Back in Treviso we caught another bus back to Padova, glad to be home but more than ready to go back!
Besos xx

Hello, Dublin

2008-10-21T00:20:00.045+02:00

October 21, 2008

Ok, so I officially love Ireland, and Dublin in particular! This past weekend was one of the best yet. I spent 2 amazing, full days in Dublin with my friend Gabi. We did one of those hop-on, hop-off bus tours to see as many sights as we could in the limited time we had, and we couch surfed for the first time, too! All in all, it was a fantastic, albeit exhausting, trip, although I'm coming to realize that the 2 often go hand in hand : )

Day 1, 10/17/2008 - Hello, Dublin!

Our trip had a pretty early start as Gabi and I left had to catch a 7:30am train to Bologna, where our flight was out of. When we arrived in Bologna andtried to get a taxi to Forli airport, we found out that although it is considered an airport of the city of Bologna, it is actually in nearby Forli (hence the name, duh), 30 minutes away by train! We quickly run to catch the next one, and the whole time there we are freaking out about time because we had no idea how long it took to get from the Forli station to the airport. Luckily, it ended up being only 10 minutes by taxi, and we made it to the airport and through check-in and security with plenty of time. On a funny side note, Gabi and I had been pondering why our reservation showed our outgoing flight as only taking 2 hours while our return flight, going the same route, took 4 hours... It wasn't until on the way over that Gabi finally figured out that we hadn't taken into consideration the 1 hour time difference, and actually the flight both ways was 2 hours each : ) I'm still bitter that neither of us ended up with a window seat because when we were flying over Ireland we could only catch glimpses of the beautiful green landscape, making clear how it earned it's nickname, the Emerald Isle.
When we arrived at the airport and went through customs, we were super ecstatic to find out we got stamps in our passports! And not just little plain ones, but big green ones that took up a whole page! I know thi seems silly, but when we travel to other Schengen States from Italy (i.e. Germany, France, Spain, etc.) it's essentially like traveling in the same country; we aren't required to go through any kind of customs because our visa is valid in these countries. And since a passport is a travel document, it's fun to be able to look and see where you've been. We stopped and got bagel sandwiches (bagels seemed to be a weekend trend as they were sold everywhere!) and then made our way outside. On our way out, there was a great little sign on the wall paying homage to Ireland, saying: "When I went to those great cities I saw wonders I had never seen in Ireland, but when I came back to Ireland I found all the wonders there waiting for me."

We caught a bus into the city center, walked around a bit. The first thing we realized was that although everyone spoke English, their accents could sometimes be so heavy that it was like another language! In fact all weekend I had a lot more trouble than I expected understanding the Irish, but it was still refreshing to be in a country where my native language is spoken. Another thing we noticed right away was that all the signs were in English and Gaelic! Considering the fact that Gaelic is sort of dying out (something like 30% of Irish speak it) we were quite surprised to see the translations everywhere.
Finally, we went to the train station. Since we only had about half a day Friday, we decided to check out a nearby little cliff town on the coast called Howth (although we pronounced it like 'house' with a lisp, we were quickly corrected and told it was like 'hoe-th'). The town was like a picturesque fishing village you'd find on a postcard; it was absolutely charming. There were wildflowers along the shores, the water was speckled with colorful sailboats, and the cliffs behind the harbor were magnificent in shades of green and red. There was a wonderful little island in the distance, a memorial to sailors lost at sea, as well as a quaint lighthouse. Unfortunately the sky was a little gray, but that didn't stop Gabi and I from taking a plethora of photos.

After about an hour we were pretty cold and decided to make our way back to the city, where we were greeted by a gorgeous sunset in shades of purple and pink. We had called our couch surfing host when we arrived in Dublin and he'd given us his address and told us which bus to take. I think at this point I should explain couch surfing: The CouchSurfing Project is a free, Internet-based, international hospitality exchange network. In plain English, you become a member of the website and can then find hosts in different cities willing to share their couch with you during your stay there. In return, you can also be a host for others. It may sound sketchy at first, but it is such a great way to meet peole from around the world, not to mention save money. Hosts often will show you around the city or give you tips and advice, something you are less likely to find at a hotel or hostel. So anyway, our host was named Brian, a student at Dublin City University, although his roomate Joe, also Irish, was very much a host as well. I don't think we could have asked for a better "first time" experience! The guys were wonderful, friendly, open-minded, and funny. Brian met us at the bus stop and walked us back through his suburban, college student neighborhood back to his house. Gabi and I each had a couch to ourselves in their living room, so the accomadations were quite comfortable. Upon arrival Joe made us coffee, we talked for a while about random things, and then Brian looked up a good Thai restaurant for dinner and we hopped on a bus back into town.

Dinner was fantastic! Gabi and I shared spring rolls as an appetizer and I had noodles with veggies. It was so nice to eat something ethnic for once, it made a great change from Italian food! To show our thanks for hosting us, we bought Brian's dinner. Afterward, he took us to a quiet little Irish pub where he bought us our first glasses of Guinness beer! It was much darker and richer than I expected and a little too bitter for me, but certainly not bad. The foam on top was so creamy and thick that we immediately made mustaches! I drank maybe half my glass then made Gabi finish the rest.

Next we headed to the famous Temple Bar area. Although there is an actual pub named Temple Bar, the name actually refers to a few streets lined with pubs and restaurants and known for their night life. It was fun to walk to streets and observe; people of every age roamed with varying levels of intoxication, couples and friends dined in the array of ethnic restaurants, live music provided passersby with free entertainment. We went to a much busier and "hip" pub than the previous one, with great live music playing covers of some popular songs, and with these really cool colorful mosaic "columns" here and there. Brian bought us another beer, something a little lighter than Guinness, and again Gabi had to drink half of mine. But the environment was still really cool, and the whole evening the 3 of us had had some really great conversations, on everything from politics, traveling, and drugs, to music, being gay, and getting mugged. We had a long day ahead of us and were still exhausted from traveling, so we took a taxi back and went straight to bed.

Day 2, 10/18/2008, Hop-On, Hop-Off

Saturday we got up pretty early and headed back into the city center via bus. We got bagels for breakfast (haha) and then headed to our bus stop. We had made prior reservations for a hop-on, hop-off tour bus to maximize our sightseeing without dealing with public transportation or maps. Some of the drivers were pretty entertaining, too, providing colorful commentary as they drove us from one stop to the next. This brings me to the point of Irish driving...the whole weekend it creeped us out that they drive on the right side (I even took a pic of our taxi driver and when we told him why he laughed)! It's just not normal. We caught the bus on O'Connell Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare, full of restaurants, stores, statues (including the world's tallest, a silver column extending toward the sky in the middle of the street), modern "art" (a digital screen w/ an orange stick figure walking eternally?), and monuments.

Our first stop was the beautiful Trinity College, home of the famous Book of Kells. With many buildings, both old and new, ranged around large courts, called squares, the campus reminded me of those back east, like Cambridge or Yale. Making it an even more beautiful place, everywhere we looked there were signs of autumn, with trees whose multi-colored leaves gave them the appearance of being on fire. I love being in places where there are distinct seasons, and fall is one of my favorites : )

After exploring the grounds, we went inside the Old Library, one of Ireland's biggest tourist attractions, containing over 4.5 million books, and, most notably, the ancient Book of Kells. The book is by far the Library's most famous book, and can be viewed in an exhibition along with the Book of Durrow, the Book of Howth, and other ancient texts. The Book of Kells is a lavishly decorated copy, in Latin, of the 4 gospels of the New Testament, probably produced in the 9th century by monks. A masterwork of Western calligraphy, it also represents the pinnacle of Insular illumination with it's Christian iconography and ornate swirling motifs. The handwritten books were mindblowing, with the most intricate images and details decorating the perfectly written text. I can't fathom how steady a hand mut have been, or how much time they must have taken. Nor did I expect the texts to be so beautiful! The closer I moved my face to the pages, the more awed I was by the tiniest of details.

The Old Library also incorporates the vast Long Room, which holds over 200,000 of the library's oldest and rarest volumes. Nearly 65 meters in length, the Room's walls are lined with rich wooden gallery bookcases with shelves full of the well-worn spines of books. Marble busts of famous writers (including Shakespeare!) line either side of the room, and down the center are display cases showcasing some of the most important volumes. Photos were not allowed, but Gabi and I worked as a team and I was able to snap several of the Long Room : )

Before we left, we were shocked to discover an identical sculpture to the golden mechanical-style sphere found in the courtyard of the Vatican Museum in Rome! We still aren't sure if it was a duplicate or the original, but it was pretty shocking to see.

On our way to the next stop, we passed through a few streets with the famously colorful "Doors of Dublin". Almost everywhere in the city, you can find doors painted every shade of the rainbow: yellow, pink, blue, turquoise, red, white, green... According to our bus driver, this is because residences in Dublin used to not have address numbers, so they painted their doors distinct colors to distinguish their house from others. Regardless of the reason, it is one of the quirkiest things I've seen in Europe, and certainly one of my absolute favorite things about Dublin! All day, Gabi and I snapped pics of the various colored doors we passed : )

We got off at St. Stephen's Green, Europe's biggest "square", but in reality, a lovely park, complete with small lakes, walking paths, carrousel, monuments, and plenty of trees. There were even holly bushes! Like Trinity College, the colorful trees throughout the park were breathtaking.

My favorite part was the lake, however. It was full of wonderful mallard ducks and on one bank, there was even a family of swans! Although at the time I thought they were geese, I was later corrected by Joe when I showed him my pictures of them : ) There were 2 beautiful, HUGE, white ones, and four smaller grey "babies", and they let me get super close!

Across the street from the park is the fancy brick Shelbourne Hotel, where the Irish constitution was once signed. Nearby was a Celtic Whiskey Shop, full of every imaginable whiskey as well as other types of liquor, including absinthe! I really wanted to buy one of the cute little bottles of Irish whiskey but didn't want to risk taking it on the plane. Also in the area was the pretty mayoral house with European Union flags flying.

Then we wandered onto Grafton Street and the main shopping area of Dublin. We wandered the streets here for a while, trying to find a decent place to eat lunch. On our way we stumbled upon the red-doored church of St. Ann, where Dracula author and Irishman Bram Stoker was married. We finally found a cool restaurant for lunch called Nude, serving organic and healthy dishes. We spent a little too much time with lunch, however, and realizing it was 3pm (most things close between 4 and 5:30) we had to hussle.

At this point, we had to make a tough decision. The bus only operates in one direction, and it stops at 6:30pm. We had really wanted to visit Kilmainham Gaol, a now-unoccupied jail which once housed the leaders ofrom 5 Irish rebellions. Unfortunately, this stop was toward the end of the bus route, and there were still several sights before it that we wanted to see. So we had to forget about the jail, and instead made our way to Dublin Castle. Looking less like a typical castle and more like a vast governmental fortress, we were limited to the exterior because the wait for the next tour of the interior was far too long for us.

We walked to our next sight, Christ Church Cathedral. From the outside, it was a beautiful brick building, connected by footbridge to an Irish heritage building housing an exhibition on the history and Viking influence on the city called Dublinia. Even the doors around the church were fancy!

Inside the church was somewhat plain, however, especially compared to the lavish churches we're used to in Italy. Highlights included an underground medieval crypt, an impressive display of church treasures, and the celtic-style flooring. Also, we were lucky because a choir happened to be practicing while we were there.

Back outside, we rushed to try and find our next sight, St. Patrick's Cathedral. On our way, we passed 2 other churches: St. Adoen's, a Roman Catholic Church with one half resembling the Pantheon with large columns and the other an old stone castle surrounded by wildflowers, and St. John's a gothic-style church which we mistakenly thought was St. Patrick's from a distance. When we couldn't find the Cathedral, we ran to get back on the bus, figuring we'd at least see the church from the bus as we passed it since it was the next stop on the route. Luckily we hadn't spent too much time or effort looking for it, because when we passed it, we saw that it was covered in scaffolding! It was quite a disappointment, but we really didn't have enough time to see it thoroughly anyway.

Our final stop of the day was the Guinness Storehouse, home of the famous Irish beer. The restored 1904 building houses an exhibit, called the Guinness Experience, an innovative, sightly interactive museum of sorts allowing visitors to discover all there is to know about Guinness beer, including the history and how it's made. The storehouse has something like 8 stories, each hosting a different aspect of the beer-making process or history. My favorite level was the one with all the ingredients: hops, yeast, barley, and water of course. There was even an actual waterfall to represent the last ingredient!

The final stop on our tour of the Storehouse was the Gravity Bar, where visitors can enjoy a complimentary pint of Guinness while enjoying 360-degree views of the city from the glass walls. I declined my pint, and instead enjoyed the views. From the Bar we could see St. James's Gate Brewery, exhaling bales of smoke, where Guinness is actually produced, and the tall, redbrick, pointed St. Patrick's Tower with a green dome, formerly an old windmill which has now lost it's blades.

Back on the bus, our driver was a lively fellow who pretended to have drunk a couple of pints himself as he swerved the bus down the road. Although we couldn't stop anywhere else since everything was closed and it was getting dark, we were able to enjoy the driver's commentary on the last few places along the tour. A big disappointment, however, was when we passed Kilminham Gaol and he told us it was an amazing sight, "one not to be missed before leaving Dublin"! Damn. We drove past the vast Phoenix Park, Europe's largest urban park, covering 1,750 acres. Within it's boundaries lies the homes of the Irish President (random fact: both the current and former Presidents were women!) and the U.S. Ambassador, Dublin Zoo, sports complexes, and a herd of wild deer. More disappointments followed: the national museums and galleries (in Ireland they're free!), the Old Jameson Whiskey Distillery, and Smithfield Village. Although we still saw a lot I knew we wouldn't be able to see everything, it still sucked just a little.

We got off along the River Liffey, which runs through the city, right by O'Connell Street. We tooked pictures of the 2 most famous bridges: the thrice arched O'Connell bridge, connecting busy O'Connell Street to the hip Temple Bar area, and the spindly Ha'Penny bridge, lit green at night (it's called "Ha'Penny" because it used to cost half a penny to cross! thanks Brian). We wandered O'Connell street, stopping for an absurd amount of time in a souvenir shop where I spent at least an hour trying to decide what gifts would be best for each person.

Finally we were ready for dinner, and headed into the Temple Bar to find a restaurant. Everything was ridiculously expensive, but we finally found a burger joint that was fairly reasonable. For a place that only serves burgers, they had a surprising number of vegetarian "burgers" to choose from! I got an amazing one stacked tall with eggplant, portobello mushroom, roasted bell peppers, sweet potatoes, onion jam, and camembert cheese. It was one of the most divine things I have ever eaten!

After dinner we caught a taxi back to Brian's. Gabi accidentally told him the wrong address by a few letters, which lead to a little detour, but we eventually made it, and also booked the same taxi to take us to the airport at 3:30am! Back at Brian's, we hung out with Joe, watching TV, drinking coffee, chatting, and best of all, sitting by the real fireplace!!! Oh my goodness, we were beyond excited and oh so toasty : ) We discovered that Joe is among that 30% of Irish who speak Gaelic, and he kindly ignored my ignorance when I asked him about the conflict between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Basically, Joe was an extremely cool guy, as was Brian, and maybe one day they will crash on my couch in California! We ended up staying up til around 2pm, and decided to just take a nap until our taxi came.

Day 3, 10/19/2008 - I Feel Dead

Basically, the next day was nothing but traveling and an exhausted blur. We got breakfast at the airport and then I napped til it was time to board. I slept the entire flight back, and then the entire train back, and was still dead tired when I finally made it home around 2pm. The weekend was absolutely worth it though, and I wish I could go back! One thing is certain, Ireland certainly has a place in my future.
This week is crazy busy. I have to figure out the classes I want t take winter quarter back at UCSB since my pass time to register is Saturday, and we leave Thursday for Barcelona, so we've been squaring away all those details, but I can't wait! Also exciting news, I just booked my flight and hostel to go to Krakow, Poland in November! I know this sounds odd, but it's where the infamous Holocaust concentration camps, Auschwitz and Birkenau are located, and I'm planning on touring them while I'm there. Also, notice that I added a list of my travels on the right-hand side of the blog, in case you were curious what I have planned for the next couple months!

P.S. Only 2 more months til I come back to the states!

love
xoxo

Finally, Venezia!

2008-10-13T18:42:00.033+02:00

October 14, 2008

This past Saturday, I finally went to Venice, or as we say here Venezia, for the first time! Considering that it's only 20 minutes away by train, it was about time. I finally had some good weather (last time I tried to go it stormed all weekend), so the timing was perfect. I think my expectations were a little too high though; it was certainly a beautiful, eccentric, and unique city, and I enjoyed it very much, but it didn't leave me speechless. Maybe it was a tad too touristy for me... But I'm sure I'll go back at least 1 or 2 more times, so who knows!
I caught a train in the morning and bought a 12-hour pass for the vaporetti so I could save time getting from one place to another. It's so strange that for public transportation, instead of buses they have boats, and yet they are just as efficient. The Grand Canal is certainly just that: grand. I highly suggest taking a vaporetto along the length of the canal at least once to get a feel for Venice's main thoroughfare.
My first stop was the Ca' d'Oro, a wonderful gothic-style palazzo along the Grand Canal which houses the Galleria Franchetti, a great little museum. Although small in size, the museum has some masterpieces, like Andrea Mantegna's San Sebastiano, which I managed to get a crummy photo of before learning that cameras were not allowed : ( The rest of the collection was scattered with lovely works, and I had a pleasant time perusing them. One of the best parts of the museum, however, is not found hanging on a wall or in a glass display case; visitors have the opportunity to stand on the loggia above the Grand Canal, looking out on the sparkling water and passing boats.
Afterward I hopped back on the vaporetto and headed to the Rialto mercato, just before the famous Rialto bridge. Filled with colorful stalls selling a variety of fruits, vegetables, spices, and fish, although your nose is likely to notice the latter first! Since I've been in Italy I've developed a fondness for the ever-popular outdoor market and the whole idea of fresh food which they promote. I love to watch little old Italian women carefully choosing the ripest, most fragrant peaches out of the bunch or picking out the reddest tomatoes of the bunch. The fish market is especially large; in fact there is a whole area designated soley to the sale of fish! I must confess that for several reasons, the smell being perhaps at the top, I did not find this part of the market quite so whimsical or pleasant. I continued on and found a place to get a quick slice of pizza for lunch, then walked along a street packed with souvenir stands. Typical souvenirs in Venezia include masks for the famous Mardi Gras-esque Carnevale, ranging from cheap little ones to large, colorful, elaborate ones, and glass items, especially jewelry, because one of the lagoon islands of Venice, Murano, is famous for glass blowing. I didn't let myself buy anything, except a refreshing cup of fruit, but it was still fun to browse the variety of knick knacks at each stall.
The street eventually lead me to the famous Rialto bridge, so commonly featured in postcards that it has become somewhat of a symbol of Venice. The stone bridge is made of fairly steep flights of steps. Two rows of shops, opening inwards, divide the inner steps from two external balustraded flights. From these external steps, you can enjoy a great view of the Grand Canal, busy with gondolas and ferries. Because of its notoriety among tourists as well as the fact that it is such an important crossing-place on the Grand Canal, the bridge is constantly crowded with people, so after about 5 minutes I crossed to the other side and made my way to my next destination.
Next on my list was another museum, the famous Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice's greatest art gallery. Filled with masterpieces by some of Italy's greatest artists, I only wish I knew more about art and the artists to fully appreciate the pieces. Highlights include: Giorgione's mysterious Tempest, Carpaccio's St. Ursula cycle, and Veronese's Christ in the House of Levi, as well as works by Piero della Francesca, Titian, Tintoretto, and Bellini. Veronese's Christ in the House of Levi was especially impressive, taking up an entire wall and full of rich, colorful, and decadent details. It was originally a "Last Supper", but when the Inquisition objected, Veronese simply changed the name : ) Carpaccio's St. Ursula cycle, a series of large, detailed paintings recounting the fanciful legend of the holy maiden, her betrothal, and her pilrimage with 11,000 virgin attendants, was also spectacular. Following the cycle around the room, I was stunned at the end to discover that St. Ursula and her attendants were eventually slaughtered as martyrs in the final painting : ( There was Titian's dark and haunting Pietà, his final work before his death, which I found quite moving. Interspersed among the masterpieces, the museum is also filled with romantic landscapes of Venezia as it appeared back in it's early days, tempting the viewer to inspect the details for similarities to modern-day Venice. If you look closely enough in a couple, you can even spot the original Rialto bridge, made of wood, and a gondolier giving a ride to an aristocratic woman and her fluffy little dog! Please note that the images that follow were found on the internet since cameras were not allowed in the Accademia.
Before catching the vaporetto, I stopped to admire the handsome, wooden ponte dell'Accademia in front of the gallery, Venice's second most famous bridge, after the Rialto of course. On one side, the bridge offers a view of the dome of Santa Maria della Salute (unfortunately covered with ugly scaffolding when I was there), while the other side is a quieter view of the Canal, eventually curving out of sight.

Although the larger bridges are beautiful, one of my favorite things in Venice was all the quaint little bridges, crossing between alleys, which just have so much character!

Next I made my way to the nearby church of Santa Maria della Salute. Ignoring the terrible scaffolding, the intricate, baroque, white facade is quite impressive amidst the boat-strewn Canal. Inside, six side-chapels along with the high altar open off the main space, but the real treasures lie in the sacristy... Tintoretto's Nozze di Cana displaying lovely ladies with elegant braided fair hair; a painting by Titian over the altar: a plague-referencing study of saints standing around for a chat in their identifying "regalia"; and more works by Titian on the ceiling displaying 3 Old Testament scenes (I just about strained my neck getting a good look at these, but well worth it!). Outside looked out onto the Grande Canal, full of all kinds of boats.
And finally, I made my way to the hub of Venetian tourism, Piazza San Marco. Passing through the lido to the vaporetti stop, I had a breathtaking view Il Redentore, the lovely church located across the way on the shores of Giudecca island. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the actual church, so it will have to wait til next time.
While walking to the square, I couldn't help but stop and take in the breathtaking view across the lido, with boats cruising past and gondolas parked on the shore. It was like every where I looked was a scene from a postcard, and the whole place had a magical feeling that I just wanted to savor. The first things I came upon were the columns, one topped with a lion, the symbol of San Marco, guarding the square, and then the impressive gothic-style facade of the grand Palazzo Ducale, or Doge's Palace. The lamp posts everywhere were also a favorite of mine because they were pink! I went to see the nearby little "Bridge of Sighs", and was disgusted to see that it was surrounded, absolutely enveloped, in awful blue advertisements!
The actual square was packed as usual, with both tourists and pigeons, but with all the amazing things that are found there, it's no wonder why. First there's the Torre dell'Orologio, or clock tower, an elaborate structure with complicated systems for displaying the time, the sun, the moon, and the signs of the zodiac. The clock tower is also topped by a large bell, which is struck every hour by 2 large bronze figures. It's archway leads to the Mercerie, Venice's historic commercial streets, so it was designed as an impressive entrance to visitors arriving from the lagoon.
Before going into the basilica, I went through the archway and explored some of the nearby streets in search of the gelato I was craving. Most of the windows were filled with the famous Murano glass and other pretty wares, so it was fun to meander aimlessly and window shop for a while.
With my craving saitsifed, I finally made my way to the Basilica di San Marco. For once, the inside of this church could give the outside a run for it's money. The outside is indeed spectacular, with an elaborate facade full of shining, colorful frescoes, but the interior is a world of gold. As I entered, it was like walking into a treasure chest; the ceilings are covered with golden fresoes and mosaics, creating a breathtaking sight.

I climbed up to the loggia first, where I practically came face-to-face with the famous bronze horses and got some great first glimpses of the piazza from above. Also from up there, you can see some of the ceiling mosaics at face level! Back down in the basilica, I didn't have too much time to explore because it was close to closing time, but I managed to sneak the photos above of the golden walls and ceilings on my way out.
After the basilica, I ascended the famous Campanile, or bell tower, just opposite the church. At 99 meters, the tower is Venice's highest buildings, and offers splendid views of the city from it's viewing platform. For once, there was a lift to the top, so no climbing up narrow, never-ending staircases to get to the top! Looking over the city was wonderful; one side opened up to the sea and the lagoon islands of Venezia while the other looked down on the the buildings of the city, including the domes of San Marco. The original tower, dating back to the 9th century, crumbled to the ground in 1902, and was rebuilt in it's present form copying a later 16th-century design. As I've now climbed several towers in several cities, I've decided that they are one of the best ways to really see a city.
On the vaporetto ride back, I was treated to a lovely rose-tinted skyline as it was just before sunset. It was the perfect way to finish my day in Venice.
As for this week, it's been uneventful except for a few things. First, I finally found a pair of flat, brown, slouchy boots to wear during the day instead of my flip-flops. They were really cheap and are super cute, and I'm already wearing them all the time!
On Wednesday, I got a haircut! Gabi, Justine, and I all went and had ours done at this little salon that did an amazing job! It was long overdue for me, I hadn't realized I let it get so long. Using a picture of Posh as inspiration, she chopped of a couple inches, giving me an almost identical bob to the one I arrived in Italy with. It's super short in the back )my entire neck is exposed!), so it's been weird getting used to it, but it feels so healthy now and I absolutely love it, although I'm not looking forward to styling it everyday.
After getting our hair cuts, we figured we should show them off at spritz, so we got all dressed up and went out to Piazza delle Erbe. We spent a good part of the night in the "Ghetto", an alley off the main square, where we spotted a Heath Ledger look-alike whom Justine and I played a sort of "game" with for a while, finally culminating in us chatting for a bit. I had a small glass of prosecco wine as well and was fine! The rest of the week has been preparing my finalized study list, getting my books, and planning for my trip to Dublin this weekend! Expect a post on that adventure soon!

Buonanotte : )
xoxo

Oktoberfest & München

2008-10-08T01:33:00.050+02:00

October 8, 2008

After literally planning the trip for months, this past weeked finally marked my adventure to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest!! And as if being at Oktoberfest wasn't enough, I got to share the once-in-a-lifetime experience with some of my closest girl friends : ) Although I wasn't able to really drink much beer, I was able to have a little bit here and there so I didn't feel like I was missing out on too much. We also had a chance to explore Munich a bit as well and it was such a beautiful city, I would love to go back one day. Even though it had its ups and downs (camping was NOT a good idea), it was one of my best weekends yet!

Day 1, 10/2/08 - Let the Beer Drinking Begin!

Carly and I got up super early to catch a 7:30am train to Verona where we changed trains and headed to Munich. The train ride was actually pretty pleasant, and going through Austria was absolutely breathtaking! I've never seen grass such a bright, vivid green, surrounded by clusters of pine trees, delicate bridges here and there, magestic mountains in the background, and sheep grazing on the gently sloping hills. Even the architecture was beautiful. Steepled churches and clusters of pretty houses dotted the landscape every now and then.

The whole journey took about 7 hours, so when we finally arrived at München Station around 2:30pm, we were pretty worn out. As soon as we got off the train, however, we sptted the perfect pick-me-up: Starbuck's! Since they don't exist in Italy, it had been a long time since Carly or I had seen one, so we were obviously a little excited. I got an amazing bagel with cream cheese, lettuce, and tomato and the most delicious hazelnut hot chocolate!

Once we were refreshed, we managed to figure out the U-bahn, Germany's underground system, and made our way to our campsite. After you take the subway, you have to walk quite a ways, but it turned out to be quite a treat. Autumn is definitely the best time to visit Munich because everywhwere the trees look as though they are on fire, in brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow. Our walk also lead us along this gorgeous river whose banks were lined with trees transforming their leaves for the season. Carly and I couldn't resist stopping and taking several photos!

We finally made it to our campsite and checked-in with Topdeck, the company with whom we booked the trip. The campsite, called Camping Thalkirchen, was a typical, huge campsite, and Topdeck had their own section of blue tents. We were meeting my really good friend (fellow Gamma Phi and former roommate) Sarah and her friend An, both who are studying in Sweden with EAP, but we had no way of contacting them. They had already checked-in though, so we assumed they had gone to the festival already, so Carly and I wasted no time before climbing on the bus for our first day at Oktoberfest!

When we arrived, I was surprised by how similar it was to a carnival back home...in fact it reminded me a little of the State Fair back in California, but with a lot more beer of course : ) There was tons of carnival rides, bratwurst stands every few feet, and people, young and old, everywhere! We passed several beer "tents", which are actually just huge buildings, and finally stopped at one and got in line. Let me explain how tents work for a moment. Reservations can be made ahead of time which guarantee you entrance and a table, but for less organized folk, like us, you wait in line and hope that you're lucky. Most of the time, you have to get there around 9:30am when they open to get inside and get a seat at a table, and then they usually "close" by noon when they're at capacity. And of course, some tents are better and more popular than others, so those are obviously harder to get into. Most of the tents also have outdoor beer gardens, so if you aren't able to get inside, no worries, you can still quench your thirst! Carly and I waited in line for over an hour, then realized it wasn't going to happen so late in the day, and headed to the Paulaner beer garden where we had our first beers of Oktoberfest! While we drank we met some nice Germans who bought us more beers, enjoyed the eclectic mix of music (they played Azzurro!), had a mini photo shoot, and ate a delicious baked potato!

And then it started raining (which it did at least once every day we were there!). And Carly and I froze. We met some Americans and talked for a bit, and when we told them we were staying in tents at a campsite, they looked at us and laughed! Anyway, we decided to call it a night and made our way back to the bus pick-up point. Back at the campsite, we figured out what tent Sarah was supposed to be in and went and found her. It was so great to see a familiar face, especially one I had missed so much! She and An joined us in our tent for a pow wow to catch up and keep warm. And speaking of warm... Munich is the coldest place I have ever been. At night it was in the low 30s, raining, so sleeping in tents wasn't exactly toasty. I slept in leggings, sweatpants, a tank top, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, two sweatshirts with hoods, and Ugg boots, I spooned with Carly, and I was still freezing!!! Really, I can't express how cold it was there. In fact, the whole weekend, I was never warm, not even once!

Day 2, 10/3/08 - Hofbräu and Carnival Rides!

Friday we got up early, ate the "hot breakfast" provided by Topdeck, and loaded onto the first bus to the festival. We decided to split up into pairs of two and each go to a different beer tent to scope out the line situation, then call each other and meet at the one that looked the best. So Sarah and I went to the popular Hofbräu tent, and Carly and An headed to the famous Hippodrom tent. The plan backfired, however, because within 5 minutes of getting in line, Sarah and I were let in! I called Carly asap and told her they were letting people in and to get there quick, and we assumed they'd get in in a half hour at most. Well, 3 1/2 hours later, Sarah nd I watched from inside as Carly and An, the first people in line, waited in the rain with the saddest faces ever. For some reason, they just weren't letting anymore people in that day. Sarah and I didn't want to leave, because we knew none of us would get into any other tent at that point, so our best bet was to hope they eventually were let in. Although we felt bad about the situation, we couldn't help but enjoy our good fortune at getting into one of the best tents at Oktoberfest! We couldn't find a table, but we managed to get a beer anyway. Those huge, liter-sized steins are alot heavier than you'd immagine! We watched the beer wenches carrying 6, 7, sometimes 10+ steins at a time, and marvel at their strength (their trick is to wear wrist guards)! We spent a good 30 minutes waiting by the kegs trying to get a picture of this amazing feat of strength, and I finally got the money shot! I sipped a little of Sarah's Hofbräu, and let me just say that the Germans have it right : )

We bought one of the famous pretzels, which live up to their reputation and are truly the perfect accompaniment to beer. We people watched, listened to the live band play everything from traditional German drinking songs to Frank Sinatra tunes. We met some interesting characters from several different countries, enjoyed the plethora of liederhosen-clad fellows, watched people dancing on tables, singing drinking songs, prosting (aka cheersing) constantly, chugging beer while the whole tent cheered them on, and just enjoying the merriment that is Oktoberfest : ) Check out the video below! After close to four hours inside, and after inhaling enough smoke to darken my lungs a whole shade, we went outside to meet Carly and An, who were in surprisingly good spirits for being cold and wet, getting ripped off by "the toilet man", and waiting in line for so long.

Outside and reunited, the 4 of us grabbed a table in the beer garden and ordered more beer and some amazing mac and cheese : ) In the hour or so that we sat there, we must have met half a dozen Italians... The whole weekend it seemed like instead of meeting Germans, we only met Italians because they were seriously everywhere! And I think they liked the fact that Carly and I spoke Italian, haha. Most of them were nice, some were a little creepy, but it was all in good fun.

When we were spent on beer for the day, we decided to check out some carnival rides! Thay were pretty expensive, so we only went on two, but they were totally worth it. First was the swings, called the "Star Rider". It was freezing cold at the top, but the views over the festival were incredible!

Next was the "Olympic Rings" rollercoaster, with 5 loops, one for each ring! I was quite impressed with this ride, probably one of the best rollercoasters I've been on. Sarah was brave enough to have her camera out on both rides, so the action picks are courtesy of her : )

Next we had photo shoots in front of the famous red and yellow Hippodrom tent and the "Welcome Sign" at the main entrance to the festival. Stupid drunk people kept trying to get into our pics, but we got some cute ones anyway!

We stayed for a while after dark and enjoyed the park all lit up. I spent too much time at various souvenir stands debating what to buy each person back home, but I think my choices were pretty good : ) Soon it was too cold and we knew the next day was going to be a long one, so we decided to head back a little earlier.

Back at the campsite, Carly and An headed up to the front to hang out and drink some more while Sarah and I braved the disgusting showers in the freezing cold. It was not a pleasant experience : ( Then her and I cuddled in my tent, ate snacks, talked, and had a strange photo shoot in the dark, haha. Carly came back a few hours later a little tipsy, and all 3 of us cuddled together for the rest of the night. But it was still freezing!!
Day 3, 10/4/08 - Ich Liebe München!

Once again we got up early to get to the festival as early as possible. Carly, An, and our friend Kathryn (our roommate from Rome who showed up a little late) got on the first bus, determined to get into a tent this time. Sarah and I followed on the next bus, only we realized that neither my phone nor Carly's had money on it, so we probably wouldn't be able to meet up all day. Sarah and I made a beeline for the first tent that didn't look too crowded, Pschorr-Bräurosl, and once again got in almost immediately! Amazed at our luck once again, within 5 minutes we also ran into Carly, An, and Kathryn! Seriously, what are the odds? Anyway, they all got beers, I broke out my baby white cup to have my "daily ration" of beer, took lots of pics, and we shared another delicious pretzel. Carly, An, and Kathryn were all "too hungover, too tired, or too full" to drink their beers, and after an hour thet still hadn't finished them! So much for their "big day" at Oktoberfest, haha. Anyway, this tent wasn't that exciting, especially compared to Hofbräu the day before, so we left pretty quickly.

We perused more souvenir stands where I bought a wonderful sweatshirt for myself and some postcards, some of the other girls bought some of the famous Oktoberfest gingerbread hearts that were everywhere, and then it started sprinkling, again. Umbrellas in hand, we walked toward to the center of town, where Kathryn knew of a Starbuck's, to wait out the rain and then do some sightseeing. I got the same yummy bagel, defrosted a bit, and laughed delusionally with Sarah at our photos from the last couple days.

We headed toward the center of Munich and walked through one of 3 impressive city gates called the Karlskor, and ended up in the famous square called Marienplatz, the heart of München. Several famous sites are located there, including the grand Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) and the smaller, simpler Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall). Although the latter was simpler, it has a beautiful astrological clock on it's tower that gives it a little sparkle. Along the way, we stopped at these giant statues of a boar and a catfish to take pics : )

It started pouring almost as soon as we got to the square, so we found refuge inside the Altes Rathaus where there was a cool little Toy Museum. The museum was inside the tower of the building, with each of five landings hosting a different room full of old German toys. There was the usual: teddy bears, trains, dolls (even Barbies!), cars, etc. and then some more "eclectic" things, like cookies with the images of satan and the pope, a teddy bear with a creepy face on the back of it's head... They also had the "parts" of toys strewn about, like the heads of dolls or the arms of teddy bears. Kind of strange actually. There was a little stuffed elephant that had a little card next to it that said it was the first soft, plush toy, originally made to be a pin cuchion... I saw itand thought it was a voodoo doll : )

When we finished in the museum, we could see in the distance blue skies moving in and could tell the rain would be done in about 5 minutes so we held out. Carly, An, and Sarah disappeared, so I was left with Kathryn and this guy Ben who we'd met up with and who was also staying at our campsite. When the rain stopped, we were left with a gorgeous, clear blue sky. We went back into the center of Mareinplatz for a bit and took pictures of the Fischbrunnen, aka fish fountain, and the Mariensäule, a huge column topped by a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary. At each corner of the column's pedestal is a statue of a putti. The 4 putti's symbolize the city's overcoming of war, pestilence, hunger, and heresy.

Then we headed out of the square and ended up in the nearby Viktualienmarkt, a huge (5 1/2 acres!) outdoor, gourmet food markets with stands selling, cheese, flowers, meat, honey, fruits & vegetables, etc. We didn't spend too much time looking around because we wanted to see some other things while the nice weather lasted, but my favorite thing I saw was an entire stand selling just huge chunks of cheese!

Then we passed Peterskirche, or St. Peter's church, where we climbed the clock tower to a viewing platform for magnificent views of Marienplatz, Munich, the Neues Rathaus, and the most famous church in Munich, the double-towered Frauenkirche.

After descending from the tower, we managed to meet back up with the other girls in Marienplatz and decided to go see the Frauenkirche. The two twin towers of the church can be seen for miles, and the church itself is Munich's most famous landmark. The outer design is pretty simple, with the towers getting all the attention, and the interior is likewise simple. The ceiling is quite eye-catching, however. At the altar, I was amused by the crown that hung there, because it's a symbol of Bavaria, but also of Hofbräu beer! Another one of the most interesting things inside the church is the memorial grave in black marble of Prince Elector Kurfürst Maximilian I. But the real draw for us, and for most tourists I'd imagine, is the "footprint of the devil". According to legend, the architect promised the devil you could not see a window from the inside of the church, and in return the devil would help him build the Frauenkirche. When it was finished, the architect led the devil to the middle of the church from where you could not see a single window, even though all churchgoers would sit in an area where a lot of light came through the windows. The devil stamped his foot with so much rage that his footprint was visible in the stone floor! On the way out, I noticed a unique pond in front of the church with little mushroom-like fountains in the middle of it, and I thought it was quite charming.

Then we walked back to Marienplatz where we waited til 5 o'clock when the characters in the glockenspiel on the clock tower of the Neues Rathaus would "perform". While we waited, we witnessed a real German protest (something about racism or abortion we think) with police who actually got a little violent! It was a different side of Munich that I didn't care to see. When 5pm came, basically, for 10 minutes the figures rotated and moved along with the chiming music of the clock. Nothing too exciting, but it was funny to see all the tourists gathered in the square staring up at the silly glockenspiel!

We headed back to the festival to get final souvenirs and some dinner. I ate this cheesy dumpling thing, the only vegetarian thing on the menu at the beer garden we went to, and it really didn't sit well... Before leaving the festival, we went on a Haunted House ride called the Shocker, which Sarah had been dying to go on. It was lamer than expected, and my stomach was feeling pretty yucky at that point, and it seemed colder than usual, so I was super ready to go back and sleep it off. So for the last time we said auf wiedersehen to Oktoberfest : (

I immediately crawled in my tent and changed and got under blankets, shivering like mad. Everyone else decided to go up front to hang out and drink wine. The rest of the night went as so: me laying in my tent alone, freezing, listening to other drunk people puking, getting up and puking myself, my friends coming back 5 hours later, suddenly concerned when they learn I'd thrown up, all 4 of us crowding in one tent for the night and still being cold.

Day 4, 10/5/08 - Auf Wiedersehen, Oktoberfest!

I woke up still feeling like shit, but somehow managed to pack up and get to the train station. We had about 4 hours til our train left, but I was in no shape to do anything so I went and slept in the Starbuck's for a few hours while Carly, Sarah, and An went to walk around Munich for a bit. I slept most of the way back, but woke up enough to see that the beautiful, bright green hills of Austria were now....covered in snow!! Not even the mountain peaks had had snow on our way there, but in the course of the weekend, everything was covered, all the way down to the train tracks. It was like a scene out of a dream, I just wish I had woken myself up enough to take pics (I stole the 2 below from Carly).

On the train from Verona to Padova, Carly accidentally thought our stop was the wrong one, so we had to go all the way to Venice and then scamper to catch the last train of the night back to Padova in only 4 minutes! When we eventually made it home, I was slightly annoyed and all I wanted to do was take a shower, skype my mom, and crash. Instead, I was greeted by a bathroom flooded with 2 inches of water everywhere and internet that didn't work. Needless to say, my night did not end well. They fixed the problem in our bathroom the next afternoon and cleaned it up for us too, thankfully. I still didn't feel well, but over the next few days I got a lot better and concluded that it was probably from all the shitty, heavy carnival food I ate the whole weekend, mixed with the stress of traveling and the cold ass weather.

I had an amazing time at Oktoberfest, and couldn't have asked for better people to spend the weekend with. It's weird that it's over though, because this is a trip we've been talking about and planning for months and months. Going to Germany has made me even more excited for all my upcoming travels, too. And who knows, maybe if I ever make it back to Oktoberfest in the future, I'll be able to drink a full stein all by myself!!

Until next time,

xoxo

The Ups and Downs of Università

2008-10-01T23:23:00.007+02:00

October 1, 2008

I can't believe it's already October! Time seems to be flying by so fast here... University started this past Monday, so I thought I'd post about my first week of classes at my Italian università. First, let me just say that choosing classes was one of the most challenging experiences. The system here is so different from anything in the States, so the unfamiliarity as well as the complexity made planning a schedule for the semester really difficult. When Italians go to university, they only study one thing in a specific facoltà, kind of similr to a major in the States. General ed requirements don't exist here. But us EAP kids are special, and we're allowed to take classes from any facoltà. This seems great, but actually it makes it really difficult to plan a schedule because times for classes in different facoltà tend to overlap. Also, when choosing a class, there are many things to consider: when it is, whether the workload is doable (everything takes 10x longer in Italian), if it will count for credit back at our home campus, whether the professor is good/accomadating to foreign students, etc.
The structure of the academic calendar here is very different from back home, too. The year is split into semesters, but many classes are split into 2 "modules" within a semester. And being with EAP it gets even more complicated. We leave in December before the 2nd module is over; so we can either just do the first one, or we have to arrange to finish the 2nd earlier than the rest of the class which is a pain in the ass. And another thing...EAP requires us to take a minimum of 18 units (approx. 4 classes), which basically works out for me to be one psychology class (only module A...which means it's over by Nov. 8th!), an art history class taught at the Study Center which goes until December, and a yet-unknown class from the Letters and Philosophy facoltà (both module A & B, which will count as 1 class each). The latter class is proving to be impossible to find though.
EAP has not been very helpful either. Basically this whole week we were just told to go check out as many classes as we could until we find ones that work. Some other gripes: classes here are usually 2 hours and 15 minutes, 3 days a week, and trying to concentrate on a foreign language for that long is extremely difficult; I finally appreciate the variety of classes available back home because here the options suck; you don't actually register for classes here, you just get credit at the end if you take the exam, whether or not you ever went to class; following a professor in lecture is much harder than I thought, and I'm really starting to wonder why I chose to study in a foreign language!
Hopefully next week I'll straighten things out and have a concrete class schedule, but right now it just adds a lot of unwanted stress and anxiety to my life. On a somewhat more positive note, I ended up with a B+ in ILP, which is what I felt I earned so I'm happy with it. I also got my other package in the mail with some more wonderful clothes including two pretty dresses! I finally got the flight fiasco for Dublin cleared up (with some help from my mom : ) Also, EAP is requiring us to do this "Tandem Learning" program where we are paired up with an Italian student learning English so we can meet and both practice speaking the languages. My partner emailed me yesterday... He studies chem though, so I don't know if we'll have much in common or a lot to talk about, but we'll see.
My most important news, however, is that tomorrow morning I leave for OKTOBERFEST!! Carly and I are taking a train at 6:30am and getting into Munich at 2pm where we're meeting one of my closest friends Sarah (who's studying with EAP in Sweden) and my old roommate from Rome, Kathryn (who's studying in Bologna now). Even though I know I won't be able to down a liter or two of beer, I think I've mentally prepared myself to be surrounded by it all, and I'm also pretty sure I'll be able to "taste" the beer my friends get and be fine. Regardless, it's going to be fantastic and literaly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I can't wait! I'm sure I'll be exhausted when I get back on Sunday night, but I'll try and post about the adventure asap!

Auf wiedersehen!
xoxo

La Dolce Vita

Of Endings and Goodbyes

A City of Star-Crossed Lovers

Mountains Majesty

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Kraków: Dragons, Castles, Salt, Snow, & a Sad Look Into the Past

**Update**

Smile, You're in Florence!

Looking Forward

A Halloween in Milano

Bar-ce-lona

Hello, Dublin

Finally, Venezia!

Oktoberfest & München

The Ups and Downs of Università

Update