Sunday morning I woke up before my alarm at around 6:15 in the morning. I checked out of the Wombat hostel, went over to the main train station, and rode up to the Munich airport. I found the arrival gate, and waited for about an hour until my parents and Tim walked through. They looked fairly well for having been on an airplane for hours, which was explained by my parents when they praised Lufthansa for handing out free booze. Good strategy: get people to sleep.
Tim and I talked for awhile while our parents tried to get a bigger car than the “minivan” we were given, because we had five bags or so that didn’t seem to fit. Well, no dice, so we took a little while to shove all of our bags in. I had no space to move side-to-side in the backseat; I was a little sardine in a can of a car. The drive was fairly painless, though. We pulled into Kirchberg in less than two hours, and we did not pass through any customs or anything. From there, we checked into the Sporthotel, which is this cute little 3 story building on the side of the mountain. It’s very reasonably priced, and they provide two meals a day. After getting our ski equipment, it was back for a nap, before our first Sporthotel dinner. That night the ND people who were already here got in from a daytrip to Salzburg, and everyone pretty much crashed after a late dinner.
Monday was a great day of skiing. It is fairly warm for skiing in January, and the sun was out softening up the snow a bit. There hasn’t been any new snow here for a week, but all things considered it isn’t too icy. The mountain has plenty of slopes that work well for me, because they are wide open and steep, meaning I get to go fastly, and fastly is how I like to go. We got in yesterday, and I napped before a big Christmas Eve feast. After that, everyone here went to Midnight Mass in the town church. It was in German, so we experienced a minor Christmas miracle when the priest did not say a homily. There probably would have been sleepers in the group, myself perhaps included.
Tuesday morning we woke up to a pleasant surprise of a Christmas brunch (we slept in… bedtime was 2 AM) that we expected to start at noon (it was supposed to end at noon. Key distinction there). From there we hit the slopes, but the skiing wasn’t quite as nice. No sun made a big difference. We did get in some pretty good runs, though, and had a lovely lunch on the mountain. Austrian skiing is less ski-intensive, more chill-intensive. I like it. Everyone is drinking beer on the mountain, and there are way more places to chill out and eat. Very relaxed makes for serious fun.
Christmas evening was unmemorable. As of Thursday evening, I could not remember off the top of my head what we did. My brother reminded me that we spent the night watching the first three episodes of The Office from this season before we passed out.
The next morning most ND kids left, except for this ND kid. We skied on a different mountain that was on our ski pass, and it was good. We left early and picked up my mom at the lodge. After that, we dropped off our rental equipment and we headed over to Kitzbuhel, the more-famous area near Kirchberg. Not much to see, so we decided to go explore Kirchberg. Not much to see there either. Dinner + more The Office = time for bed.
Thursday morning we got up, ate, and drove out to Salzburg, home of Mozart and the cold. We walked around (a good bit), saw the sights (kind of), and got cold (very). We had a delicious lunch at a little place Rick Steeves (Notre Dame parent!) recommends. My mom had some especially delicious goulash, and the Vienna sausages we ate were better than Koegels. Seriously. Also, we went to the Augustiner beer house, where Tim outdrank me. We took a circuitous route home, because we trusted the GPS map, but it was plugged in wrong. We were yelling at the map and each other. It was like the scene in The Office when Michael uses the GPS to drive into a lake. A scene I just watched two days before.
Friday morning we woke up, had breakfast, finished our packing, and said our goodbyes to the fine folks at the Sporthotel who had treated us so well. It took us a while to get going, with packing all our bags in the car, and then my dad temporarily losing his passport. But get going we got, so by 12:30 we were into our hotel rooms in this swanky airport hotel in Munich. Very swanky, but crappy wireless. That’s no good: even the hostels I’ve been to have solid wireless.
We bought our tickets on the S-Bahn (after a bit of struggling with the machines) and headed into town. The first thing we did was get into the main train station and I struggled with train machines again to buy my ticket to Zurich for tomorrow (Saturday). Eventually I figured it out and bought the cheapest ticket, with 4 changes, for 55 euro. Next up was a walk through Karlsplatz and Marienplatz to the restaurant where Max and I got delicious food last Friday night (wow, that was a quick week). We got too much food and now I am stuffed. Most delicious was pork knuckle. Who would have guessed? We then strolled up to the Haufbrauhos, and then we walked around the main area before jumping back on the S-bahn back out to the airport. And now I’m back with mediocre wireless. I hope this post works.
Friday, December 28
Saturday, December 22
Post #101
Today was another good vacation day. We woke up around 9:45, I jumped on the internets while Max got ready, and at 11 we joined a tour of Munich that was “free” (tip requested). We saw some sights for about 2 ½ hours, and then we went around to a park, followed by a trip to the main train station so Max could buy his train ticket to Zurich. From there, we went to some museum (the Munich museum?) where there were a bunch of science exhibits that I did not find especially interesting. Next was dinner at a bratwurst and fries place in Max’s guidebook (nothing special), followed by a really cold trip to the soccer stadium of Bayern Munich. Actually, any time we’ve been outside since we’ve been in Germany it’s been freezing, and I don’t really deal well with these temperatures. My fingers drain themselves of blood (they become even whiter than I normally am, believe it or not) and I cannot feel the extremities. Not good.
Anyhoo, after the trip to the stadium we rode public transpo back to Marienplatz (the main square), got to walk around the Christmas market for about half an hour, then headed over to the Augustiner brewery beerhouse, where Max and I both got a liter of beer and promptly downed it, along with a pretzel (when in Munich…). If you are wondering why this post is so poorly written, that is why: I just finished off my last sip of beer about 30 minutes ago.
In other good news, I got a single in Dillon for next semester. Lucky lucky me.
Other good news: my parents and Tim Tim are coming tomorrow. Austrian Alps “skiing” trip. I doubt I’ll ski more than 3 days. I need a break (too much traveling and stress related with that), so I expect it to be an Austrian Alps sleeping/chilling trip. And I’d be very happy with that.
Anyhoo, after the trip to the stadium we rode public transpo back to Marienplatz (the main square), got to walk around the Christmas market for about half an hour, then headed over to the Augustiner brewery beerhouse, where Max and I both got a liter of beer and promptly downed it, along with a pretzel (when in Munich…). If you are wondering why this post is so poorly written, that is why: I just finished off my last sip of beer about 30 minutes ago.
In other good news, I got a single in Dillon for next semester. Lucky lucky me.
Other good news: my parents and Tim Tim are coming tomorrow. Austrian Alps “skiing” trip. I doubt I’ll ski more than 3 days. I need a break (too much traveling and stress related with that), so I expect it to be an Austrian Alps sleeping/chilling trip. And I’d be very happy with that.
Munich day 1
Yesterday morning I woke up on my own, after spending a good chunk of last night (I was probably up until 3:30 AM) waiting for Max to get back from barhopping. I probably only got about five hours of sleep, which rarely happens to me. My body did not like that, but I did wake up on my own. Weird. Anyways, I woke up Max at 9:15, and it really did take the dude 45 minutes to get ready to leave. More, actually. I have no idea what he was doing for all that time, because I was downstairs on the internets and getting a cereal breakfast. Cereal is delicious when you haven’t had it for awhile.
In any case, we made our train that was at 11 AM, after a little worrying when a bus took longer than expected to arrive. The ride was 5 ½ hours from Berlin to Munich, but it was painless. Train travel in Europe is like that. Plus, this train was especially spiffy. Anyways, we got into our hostel soon after arrival into the Munich main train station, because our hostel is a 2 minute walk from there. Convenient. Max and I checked in, then headed down to a Christmas market in a park south of the city. It was cool, just like those in Berlin. America needs Christmas markets like this, with the Gluhwein (hot spiced wine) and happy families walking around all merry-like. I’m not a Christmas guy (I prefer Thanksgiving), but I would be if Christmas was more of a communal celebration like it is in Germany. From there, we decided to go to this one restaurant because it was the “original brewery in Munich” and it sold “cow cheeks”, among other weird dishes. Plus, it is right near the Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in Munich as well as our final destination of the night.
The restaurant ruled. I had a bread soup thing with Munich-style sausage (whatever that means), and it was way more food than I anticipated. We also spent the meal talking to Germans who were happy to discuss life with some young Americans. Good times. The best, however, was the beer; it was easily the best beer I have ever had. So, so delicious. I’m not a huge beer guy, but this stuff, an in-house brew, is so good. According a dude we were eating with (the place was packed, and you just sat wherever there was room), locals eat there all the time because the food and especially the beer is so good. Chalk another one up for Lonely Planet. The beer hall was fun as well, but I got no beer, because I knew it would not live up to the previous beer I had just consumed. Max confirmed my suspicions. And now we are back at the hostel, ready for a new day.
In any case, we made our train that was at 11 AM, after a little worrying when a bus took longer than expected to arrive. The ride was 5 ½ hours from Berlin to Munich, but it was painless. Train travel in Europe is like that. Plus, this train was especially spiffy. Anyways, we got into our hostel soon after arrival into the Munich main train station, because our hostel is a 2 minute walk from there. Convenient. Max and I checked in, then headed down to a Christmas market in a park south of the city. It was cool, just like those in Berlin. America needs Christmas markets like this, with the Gluhwein (hot spiced wine) and happy families walking around all merry-like. I’m not a Christmas guy (I prefer Thanksgiving), but I would be if Christmas was more of a communal celebration like it is in Germany. From there, we decided to go to this one restaurant because it was the “original brewery in Munich” and it sold “cow cheeks”, among other weird dishes. Plus, it is right near the Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in Munich as well as our final destination of the night.
The restaurant ruled. I had a bread soup thing with Munich-style sausage (whatever that means), and it was way more food than I anticipated. We also spent the meal talking to Germans who were happy to discuss life with some young Americans. Good times. The best, however, was the beer; it was easily the best beer I have ever had. So, so delicious. I’m not a huge beer guy, but this stuff, an in-house brew, is so good. According a dude we were eating with (the place was packed, and you just sat wherever there was room), locals eat there all the time because the food and especially the beer is so good. Chalk another one up for Lonely Planet. The beer hall was fun as well, but I got no beer, because I knew it would not live up to the previous beer I had just consumed. Max confirmed my suspicions. And now we are back at the hostel, ready for a new day.
Friday, December 21
Berlin and Barcelona
Wednesday Night: I write this at 11:22 PM, sitting comfortably in the Circus Hostel in Berlin. The last two days have been a pretty good time.
Yesterday, I finally roused Max at 11:30, but it took us awhile to really get going. After that, we walked down Las Ramblas to the coast. We walked around that area for awhile, looking for a restaurant that Max’s guidebook recommended. With a little luck, we found it, and the meal was delicious. The restaurant hit all the key points: in the middle of nowhere relative to the touristy areas of the city, hard to find even when you’re on the right street, packed with locals, and cheap. If a restaurant is like that, you know that you’re going to have an enjoyable meal. Max had some delicious fish, and I had a platter with sausage, pork loin, a fried egg, and some beans. So, so good.
After our meal, we walked over to the Picasso Museum, which traced his development as an artist probably as much as any museum does for any single artist. It had his paintings from when he was a kid. He had skills then too. Max is a really slow museum-goer (he likes to take his sweet time looking at every piece of art, it seems), so that took like 2 hours, even though it wasn’t that huge of a place. We then walked around the Barri Gothic area, but didn’t go in the cathedral. I was/am morally opposed to paying for getting into a church (even though I haven’t held quite true to my principle this semester, I will admit). Jesus wouldn’t approve.
From there, we walked to the hostel, so Max could change. We wanted to go up to Montjuic (=Mount of the Jews; I was disappointed I did not find Rachel Silton and Aaron Gerger on the top), but were nearly talked out of it. We were told that the funicular wouldn’t run at night, and it was a sketchy area. But Rick Steeves says it runs until 10 PM, and we trusted Rick. Rick Steves is a failure; we ended up walking up the whole mountain. In reality, it wasn’t so bad. Good character building, etc. Max got to climb some trees at the top of the hill, and we got to scare ourselves by going into really dark areas in a public park at night after being told it is dangerous. Those experiences are always fun.
After we headed down the Jew hill, we went back to the hostel, because we wanted to meet our new friends from Stanford and Max needed to clean sap off of his hand from his ridiculous climbing activities. We realized that food was an important thing to have, so we walked around the Las Ramblas area in search of a good looking open place. Easier said than done at 11 PM on a Tuesday, even in Barcelona, apparently. We ended up eating fairly well, but our search was worthless: after about 30 minutes, we ate at a place 2 minutes from our hostel. The calamari was delicious and cheap, though.
Back to the hostel to go out in our last night in Spain with our Stanford buddies. We got only one to come with us, and the receptionist at the hostel ended up taking us with her to a club after her shift ended at 1 PM. It was a really relaxing blues/jazz club as opposed to the ridiculous clubs I was whining about last week. A good time was had by all. I was back in the room at about 2:30, but apparently Max didn’t come back until 5 PM. Party party party.
We woke up at 7:30 in the morning to grab our flight to Berlin. After lounging on the internets for awhile while Max took his sweet time, for he doesn’t get hurried too easily. We walked up Las Ramblas to Placa Catalunya to catch the bus to the airport. No problems with the flight, and we were hostel to hostel in less than seven hours. Nice.
Our new hostel is pretty nice. It seems more like a college dorm than a hostel. There are something like 280 beds here, and there is a café and a bar attached. I like it, but it doesn’t have the character as the Barcelona hostel, which was way smaller. Also, it is not was well located. Max and I walked a long, long way to get to the Checkpoint Charlie museum today (excellent museum, by the way. I don’t know exactly what we’re doing tomorrow)
On the way to this museum, we got sidetracked for a long time. Why? There are amazing Christmas markets in Berlin. It seems like they’re at every main area, and they are all huge. Easily the biggest ones I’ve ever seen, all in the same city. Cheap German sausages, hot spice wine, pretzels, Santa… I couldn’t be happier in those markets. We had a blast looking around and watching a group of 12 year old-looking accordion players (about 10 of them, and they were good as a group). However, it got cold, so Berlin wore on me pretty quick once we were out of the Christmas markets. I was freezing and miserable for much of our walking around, but I tried to hide it the best I could. I was thrilled to make it back to the warmth of the hostel. On that note, I think I may run outside to grab some grub.
Berlin Day #2: Technically, since it is 1:24 in the morning on Friday, this is Berlin Day #3, but who’s counting? Last night we went to bed pretty late (3 AM, according to Max). We spent the night chilling in the basement bar of the hostel. I was karaoke night, and Max and I brought down the house (and ended the night) with our version of Piano Man. It was glorious. Anyways, this morning I woke up at 11 AM (I cannot remember the last time that happened… 1st semester last school year, maybe?). I went downstairs and chilled on the internets for about an hour (the wireless internets are not working so hot, that is why I am writing this post in the format I am on Word. I did not want to waste my valuable hardwire computer time on writing blog entries). Max got up at about 12:30, showered, and we went out for breakfast at a place up the road at about 1:45 or 2. How college of us. Anyways, I had a pastry and a badly needed coffee.
After that, we headed down to the Western side of town. We walked around some Christmas market in Potsdamerplatz (I think that’s the name), and then went to this massive department store. Interesting food note: at the Christmas market, we had ½ meter sausages. ½ a meter is pretty freaking long. It was Germany-tastic! We spent a surprisingly long time in this store, KaDeWe, which was apparently a symbol of capitalistic goodness for the poor folks on the East side of the wall for a long time. Some parts are so over the top that there was a 6000 euro bottle of Hennessy there. From there we went to the German Parliament building (Reichstag, I think) and scaled a dome. We then went to the Brandenburg Tower, and got a video of me going “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”. It felt appropriate.
From there we went to a restaurant that Rick Steeves says has the best desserts in all of Europe. It was very classy, reminding me of the Mozart café in Vienna. The Eiscaffee I had (coffee, ice cream, whipped cream) was supurb, and Max enjoyed his first Sacher torte. From there we walked all the way back to Alexanderplatz, where we promptly turned around the headed back to the West side of town, because we wanted to go to this one bar in Max’s guidebook. It said it had cheap food, good beer, and attracted local college students. I figured it was our kind of place, and so it was. Max enjoyed a couple of brews while I ate some chili and good apple strudel. The bar was really smoky, just like the place in the basement of the hostel, so now a good lot of my clothes smell like carcinogen. Totally worth it, though; the place was very relaxing and played classic rock. We were happy. From there, I rode the subway back while Max set out to find some techno club. More power to him, but I am not paying for another damn dance club again, much less one that plays techno. So now I’m waiting for Max to get back, because he forgot to bring his key (Max = super smart, but Max also = super forgetful of small things like that).
I just got the news that I got an A- in my development economics class. That infuriates me: he told me that I got an A+ on my first test, an A on the second, I only got slightly worse on the third than the second, and I did better on a class project. Plus I did extra credit. Something does not compute. The teacher was clearly out of his element when he taught the class, and it’s really bugging me because the guy seems to not know what is going on most of the time. I sent him an email, and I hope to have him change the grade… Arg. I did not go to study abroad to have my GPA go down, dammit. Especially in a class that was easier than some high school classes.
Yesterday, I finally roused Max at 11:30, but it took us awhile to really get going. After that, we walked down Las Ramblas to the coast. We walked around that area for awhile, looking for a restaurant that Max’s guidebook recommended. With a little luck, we found it, and the meal was delicious. The restaurant hit all the key points: in the middle of nowhere relative to the touristy areas of the city, hard to find even when you’re on the right street, packed with locals, and cheap. If a restaurant is like that, you know that you’re going to have an enjoyable meal. Max had some delicious fish, and I had a platter with sausage, pork loin, a fried egg, and some beans. So, so good.
After our meal, we walked over to the Picasso Museum, which traced his development as an artist probably as much as any museum does for any single artist. It had his paintings from when he was a kid. He had skills then too. Max is a really slow museum-goer (he likes to take his sweet time looking at every piece of art, it seems), so that took like 2 hours, even though it wasn’t that huge of a place. We then walked around the Barri Gothic area, but didn’t go in the cathedral. I was/am morally opposed to paying for getting into a church (even though I haven’t held quite true to my principle this semester, I will admit). Jesus wouldn’t approve.
From there, we walked to the hostel, so Max could change. We wanted to go up to Montjuic (=Mount of the Jews; I was disappointed I did not find Rachel Silton and Aaron Gerger on the top), but were nearly talked out of it. We were told that the funicular wouldn’t run at night, and it was a sketchy area. But Rick Steeves says it runs until 10 PM, and we trusted Rick. Rick Steves is a failure; we ended up walking up the whole mountain. In reality, it wasn’t so bad. Good character building, etc. Max got to climb some trees at the top of the hill, and we got to scare ourselves by going into really dark areas in a public park at night after being told it is dangerous. Those experiences are always fun.
After we headed down the Jew hill, we went back to the hostel, because we wanted to meet our new friends from Stanford and Max needed to clean sap off of his hand from his ridiculous climbing activities. We realized that food was an important thing to have, so we walked around the Las Ramblas area in search of a good looking open place. Easier said than done at 11 PM on a Tuesday, even in Barcelona, apparently. We ended up eating fairly well, but our search was worthless: after about 30 minutes, we ate at a place 2 minutes from our hostel. The calamari was delicious and cheap, though.
Back to the hostel to go out in our last night in Spain with our Stanford buddies. We got only one to come with us, and the receptionist at the hostel ended up taking us with her to a club after her shift ended at 1 PM. It was a really relaxing blues/jazz club as opposed to the ridiculous clubs I was whining about last week. A good time was had by all. I was back in the room at about 2:30, but apparently Max didn’t come back until 5 PM. Party party party.
We woke up at 7:30 in the morning to grab our flight to Berlin. After lounging on the internets for awhile while Max took his sweet time, for he doesn’t get hurried too easily. We walked up Las Ramblas to Placa Catalunya to catch the bus to the airport. No problems with the flight, and we were hostel to hostel in less than seven hours. Nice.
Our new hostel is pretty nice. It seems more like a college dorm than a hostel. There are something like 280 beds here, and there is a café and a bar attached. I like it, but it doesn’t have the character as the Barcelona hostel, which was way smaller. Also, it is not was well located. Max and I walked a long, long way to get to the Checkpoint Charlie museum today (excellent museum, by the way. I don’t know exactly what we’re doing tomorrow)
On the way to this museum, we got sidetracked for a long time. Why? There are amazing Christmas markets in Berlin. It seems like they’re at every main area, and they are all huge. Easily the biggest ones I’ve ever seen, all in the same city. Cheap German sausages, hot spice wine, pretzels, Santa… I couldn’t be happier in those markets. We had a blast looking around and watching a group of 12 year old-looking accordion players (about 10 of them, and they were good as a group). However, it got cold, so Berlin wore on me pretty quick once we were out of the Christmas markets. I was freezing and miserable for much of our walking around, but I tried to hide it the best I could. I was thrilled to make it back to the warmth of the hostel. On that note, I think I may run outside to grab some grub.
Berlin Day #2: Technically, since it is 1:24 in the morning on Friday, this is Berlin Day #3, but who’s counting? Last night we went to bed pretty late (3 AM, according to Max). We spent the night chilling in the basement bar of the hostel. I was karaoke night, and Max and I brought down the house (and ended the night) with our version of Piano Man. It was glorious. Anyways, this morning I woke up at 11 AM (I cannot remember the last time that happened… 1st semester last school year, maybe?). I went downstairs and chilled on the internets for about an hour (the wireless internets are not working so hot, that is why I am writing this post in the format I am on Word. I did not want to waste my valuable hardwire computer time on writing blog entries). Max got up at about 12:30, showered, and we went out for breakfast at a place up the road at about 1:45 or 2. How college of us. Anyways, I had a pastry and a badly needed coffee.
After that, we headed down to the Western side of town. We walked around some Christmas market in Potsdamerplatz (I think that’s the name), and then went to this massive department store. Interesting food note: at the Christmas market, we had ½ meter sausages. ½ a meter is pretty freaking long. It was Germany-tastic! We spent a surprisingly long time in this store, KaDeWe, which was apparently a symbol of capitalistic goodness for the poor folks on the East side of the wall for a long time. Some parts are so over the top that there was a 6000 euro bottle of Hennessy there. From there we went to the German Parliament building (Reichstag, I think) and scaled a dome. We then went to the Brandenburg Tower, and got a video of me going “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”. It felt appropriate.
From there we went to a restaurant that Rick Steeves says has the best desserts in all of Europe. It was very classy, reminding me of the Mozart café in Vienna. The Eiscaffee I had (coffee, ice cream, whipped cream) was supurb, and Max enjoyed his first Sacher torte. From there we walked all the way back to Alexanderplatz, where we promptly turned around the headed back to the West side of town, because we wanted to go to this one bar in Max’s guidebook. It said it had cheap food, good beer, and attracted local college students. I figured it was our kind of place, and so it was. Max enjoyed a couple of brews while I ate some chili and good apple strudel. The bar was really smoky, just like the place in the basement of the hostel, so now a good lot of my clothes smell like carcinogen. Totally worth it, though; the place was very relaxing and played classic rock. We were happy. From there, I rode the subway back while Max set out to find some techno club. More power to him, but I am not paying for another damn dance club again, much less one that plays techno. So now I’m waiting for Max to get back, because he forgot to bring his key (Max = super smart, but Max also = super forgetful of small things like that).
I just got the news that I got an A- in my development economics class. That infuriates me: he told me that I got an A+ on my first test, an A on the second, I only got slightly worse on the third than the second, and I did better on a class project. Plus I did extra credit. Something does not compute. The teacher was clearly out of his element when he taught the class, and it’s really bugging me because the guy seems to not know what is going on most of the time. I sent him an email, and I hope to have him change the grade… Arg. I did not go to study abroad to have my GPA go down, dammit. Especially in a class that was easier than some high school classes.
Tuesday, December 18
Madrid and Barcelona
So, I´m going to make this a really quick post because my internets time is limited.
The morning after the last post, I walked to my new hostel and waited around a bit for Max. He showed up, and we went to our room, which was small and had its own bathroom, to my surprise. We then went on the Madrid death march, seeing just about everything touristy in town to see, except the castle. We went into the Prado, which was very neat. From there, we walked about 3 miles up a road to get to the Real Madrid soccer stadium. We were able to get the cheapest tickets to the game (25 euro), so we got to watch Robinho, van Nistellrooy, Raul, Cannavaro, et al play some football. It was sweet. Night game, too, so good times. Afterwards, we tried to go out, but the city was surprisingly dead. It was a Sunday. Last note: our other two roomies that night were UNC students who were pretty cool.
The next day we got up, ate breakfast in the hostel, and then left for the airport. Our flight to Barca was delayed, so we got into Placa Catalunya at about 5:30, and checked into our hostel soonafter. We walked around the city, walking up to the modernist area, where we saw the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi´s awesome church that is still under construction. Fun fun. Then we headed back to the hostel, and we met our roomies here: two Stanford juniors, one has a twin brother at ND (in Morressey) and another from one of the Catholic suburbs of Chicago, so he´s been to a bunch of ND games and is well aware of how the school is. They´re both very nice and seem pretty fun, and Max went out with them last night while I crashed. Now I´m waiting for Max to wake up. So that is the last two days, in a nutshell.
The morning after the last post, I walked to my new hostel and waited around a bit for Max. He showed up, and we went to our room, which was small and had its own bathroom, to my surprise. We then went on the Madrid death march, seeing just about everything touristy in town to see, except the castle. We went into the Prado, which was very neat. From there, we walked about 3 miles up a road to get to the Real Madrid soccer stadium. We were able to get the cheapest tickets to the game (25 euro), so we got to watch Robinho, van Nistellrooy, Raul, Cannavaro, et al play some football. It was sweet. Night game, too, so good times. Afterwards, we tried to go out, but the city was surprisingly dead. It was a Sunday. Last note: our other two roomies that night were UNC students who were pretty cool.
The next day we got up, ate breakfast in the hostel, and then left for the airport. Our flight to Barca was delayed, so we got into Placa Catalunya at about 5:30, and checked into our hostel soonafter. We walked around the city, walking up to the modernist area, where we saw the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi´s awesome church that is still under construction. Fun fun. Then we headed back to the hostel, and we met our roomies here: two Stanford juniors, one has a twin brother at ND (in Morressey) and another from one of the Catholic suburbs of Chicago, so he´s been to a bunch of ND games and is well aware of how the school is. They´re both very nice and seem pretty fun, and Max went out with them last night while I crashed. Now I´m waiting for Max to wake up. So that is the last two days, in a nutshell.
Saturday, December 15
Good times, bad times
This morning I got up at 6:15, beating my alarm by half an hour (good thing, too; I would have likely not been on time otherwise). I said goodbye to my roommates, finished packing, and set off. My bag was kind of a pain to get down to the subway, and that was pretty much a constant for the rest of the day.
I lucked out and walked right onto the bus to Ciampino at Anagnina. When I got to the front of the line to check my bag and get my boarding pass, I threw my bag on the scale: 24 kg. Aaaarrggh: weight limit is 20. I need to drop 9 pounds of stuff or pay for my sins. The lady behind the counter was nice, and said she'd let me off the hook if I got 2 kg out. I quickly opened up my suitcase and grabbed the first big group of stuff I could get my hands on (a bunch of shirts and one shoe. Yeah, it was a bad situation). It was about 2 kg. I made some room in my already stuffed backpack; my back is killing me right now. I was carrying laptop + electronic equipments + books + other stuff, plus the clothes on top of that. I still had some clothes left to find room for, so I stuffed them in my jacket. I probably looked like I had a disproportionally large upper body today.
The flight was pretty painless. I kind of napped on the way. In getting into Madrid airport, I didn't really have any idea what to do. The directions on my printout were from a different terminal, which was nowhere near where I was. The metro is not at that airport station. I found a bus that allegedly was to go somewhere near a metro, and jumped on. I lucked out, and got off at a stop near a metro. 1 metro change later (and about an hour from the airport), I found myself at the right place. Okay, that oversimplifies greatly: with my hurt back I was lugging this 50 pound bag up and down stairs for way too long. I was miserable and cursing my decision to stay after instead of going home to Charlotte. So anyways, I checked into the Cat's hostel, which I had to get a space for because the hostel I will be at tomorrow didn't have any room when I tried to book. It's pretty nice, and it has wireless. I can't complain so far.
Madrid is a really cute city. Everything worth seeing is within walking distance, which I love. I went down to the modern art museum (the name is not coming to me now, and I could do a google search, but I am too lazy for this) to see Guernica. Free entry to the museum on Saturdays, so yay for that. After about an hour in that museum (and an issue with my camera and the flash going off unintentionally- seriously, I wasn't even taking a picture- leading to some workers accosting me) I headed out, and walked around a public park area behind the Prado. It was nice to stroll around with the iPod on, just chilling out. I guess I'll have a lot of time for things like that in Zurich, Milan, Florence, Rome when I am by myself.
I then went to the main center city area, the Plaza del Sol and Plaza Major. They were cool to see. It's a very pedestrian-friendly area, with shops and Christmas markets set up right now. It was a nice stroll. I also had a delicious sandwich (I can't remember the names they call them here) just south of Plaza Mayor. They sell these baguettes with some type of meat in them. I got a fairly large fried calamari sandwich for all of 2.30 euro. I couldn't believe that deal, especially considering walking around all the restaurants seemed a little pricy. It was the magic of price competition: there were 4 small little greasy food joints right near each other, and their calamari sandwiches (and everything else) are dirt cheap. Yay.
I'm back at the hostel now. It's early, especially by Madrid standards (they like to stay out late, from what I understand), but I am really tired and sore. I only got 5 hours of sleep last night, my last night in Medag. I got all sentimental when I said my goodbyes to the room. It was a good semester.
I lucked out and walked right onto the bus to Ciampino at Anagnina. When I got to the front of the line to check my bag and get my boarding pass, I threw my bag on the scale: 24 kg. Aaaarrggh: weight limit is 20. I need to drop 9 pounds of stuff or pay for my sins. The lady behind the counter was nice, and said she'd let me off the hook if I got 2 kg out. I quickly opened up my suitcase and grabbed the first big group of stuff I could get my hands on (a bunch of shirts and one shoe. Yeah, it was a bad situation). It was about 2 kg. I made some room in my already stuffed backpack; my back is killing me right now. I was carrying laptop + electronic equipments + books + other stuff, plus the clothes on top of that. I still had some clothes left to find room for, so I stuffed them in my jacket. I probably looked like I had a disproportionally large upper body today.
The flight was pretty painless. I kind of napped on the way. In getting into Madrid airport, I didn't really have any idea what to do. The directions on my printout were from a different terminal, which was nowhere near where I was. The metro is not at that airport station. I found a bus that allegedly was to go somewhere near a metro, and jumped on. I lucked out, and got off at a stop near a metro. 1 metro change later (and about an hour from the airport), I found myself at the right place. Okay, that oversimplifies greatly: with my hurt back I was lugging this 50 pound bag up and down stairs for way too long. I was miserable and cursing my decision to stay after instead of going home to Charlotte. So anyways, I checked into the Cat's hostel, which I had to get a space for because the hostel I will be at tomorrow didn't have any room when I tried to book. It's pretty nice, and it has wireless. I can't complain so far.
Madrid is a really cute city. Everything worth seeing is within walking distance, which I love. I went down to the modern art museum (the name is not coming to me now, and I could do a google search, but I am too lazy for this) to see Guernica. Free entry to the museum on Saturdays, so yay for that. After about an hour in that museum (and an issue with my camera and the flash going off unintentionally- seriously, I wasn't even taking a picture- leading to some workers accosting me) I headed out, and walked around a public park area behind the Prado. It was nice to stroll around with the iPod on, just chilling out. I guess I'll have a lot of time for things like that in Zurich, Milan, Florence, Rome when I am by myself.
I then went to the main center city area, the Plaza del Sol and Plaza Major. They were cool to see. It's a very pedestrian-friendly area, with shops and Christmas markets set up right now. It was a nice stroll. I also had a delicious sandwich (I can't remember the names they call them here) just south of Plaza Mayor. They sell these baguettes with some type of meat in them. I got a fairly large fried calamari sandwich for all of 2.30 euro. I couldn't believe that deal, especially considering walking around all the restaurants seemed a little pricy. It was the magic of price competition: there were 4 small little greasy food joints right near each other, and their calamari sandwiches (and everything else) are dirt cheap. Yay.
I'm back at the hostel now. It's early, especially by Madrid standards (they like to stay out late, from what I understand), but I am really tired and sore. I only got 5 hours of sleep last night, my last night in Medag. I got all sentimental when I said my goodbyes to the room. It was a good semester.
So this is what it has come to...
I figured a little food porn would be appropriate for my last big meal with my ND friends. 4 of my other roommates from Medag 123 and I went out to Ristorante Porta di Ripetta, out past Piazza del Popolo. It may have been the best meal I have had since I got here. The place is teeny, and the owner has his own farm where they get a lot of their food, so everything was fresh. And expensive, of course. I paid 36 euro for two courses, one was a delicious linguine with seafoods, and the other was some fried seafoods, as you can see here. That is easily the most expensive meal that has come out of my own pocket in my life. Totally worth it; I shalln't forget. Plus, it has now become immortal on these internets.
The rest of the day was spent being sad in Medag. Not only am I sad, I am really worried about the next 3 1/2 weeks. Very, very worried. My laptop may get stolen, I'm going to be travelling alone for about 8 combined days... so much can go wrong. I hope not.
Friday, December 14
Quick update on packing
Update: I just dropped off a bag at the architecture studio. It was painless, but it was sad thinking that this semester is really over. I ate my feelings by going over to the Christmas market in Piazza Navona and getting a ciambella (donut) maxi, which is this huge donut that is 3 euro. I mean, that's 5 dollars worth of donut, so you can imagine how big it is. We're talking the size of my head. Delicious.
Tonight we're going out to eat. Who "we" are is a concept that is still up in the air, and where we are going is also an unknown. Then we're (this "we" is more set. I think this we will be the entre group) is going to Old Bridge, getting gelato, heading over to St. Peter's Square, and sitting around shooting the breeze while finishing off a last gelato. Of course, it is not my last gelato: I still have 2 nights and a full day in Rome. But still.
Tonight we're going out to eat. Who "we" are is a concept that is still up in the air, and where we are going is also an unknown. Then we're (this "we" is more set. I think this we will be the entre group) is going to Old Bridge, getting gelato, heading over to St. Peter's Square, and sitting around shooting the breeze while finishing off a last gelato. Of course, it is not my last gelato: I still have 2 nights and a full day in Rome. But still.
About last night...
Last night was a lot a lot of fun, and then it wasn't. I shall explain. Here are some pictures to provide a little visual assistance to what happened.
Anyways, most of yesterday morning was spent in "preparation" for a test that I had at 3 in the afternoon. I studied in my room, and by study I mean I figured out what everyone in our room was going to be bringing to the party upstairs. We were responsible for bringing some booze and food, as was everyone else. I must say, my bossiness paid off: our room did a good job providing. Anyways, I didn't leave the room until around 1. I still needed to get my Secret Santa recipient a present for our party that was to come, and I needed to pick up some liquor at the GS. At the GS, I found some lemoncello and some random Italian liquor from north Italy that stood out. I also found a "Merry Christmas Barbie" pink Christmas hat filled with candy and also bought my giftee (a girl, though the hat would have been a funny gift for a guy, even more so I suppose) some Baci chocolates as well.
I went down to JCU to take the test. First I stopped at Bar San Calisto, seeing it for what I thought would be the last time (ahem, foreshadowing, ahem). I also said my happy farewells to JCU, or so I thought...
Anyways, I got back around 6, and we made sure everything was in order for the party. It was not. We realized that the eggnog was supposed to take a fairly long time to blend, with an electric mixer. Beating it all by hand would take forever. So we kind of improvised, and used a freezer to cool it for a little while instead of the fridge for a much longer while. We figured we had messed up, but I should have known better: anything that is fat on top of sugar on top of fat is hard to screw up.
Also, Joel and Andy went and got pizzas from downstairs (my brilliant idea, and a total guy move: why make food when you can buy it elsewhere). It went faster than any other food at the party. Yay for that.
Anyways, the party started at 8, and it was a really, really good, festive time. We were loud: our party was two stories directly above my room, and I could hear it from the inside of my room. Fortunately, no one lives between us. All the JCU kids were there, and we had a rocking, Christmasy time. The girls took it very seriously. They were dressed up very nice and pretty and whatnot. Probably the nicest they have dressed other than the trip to the embassy to the Vatican. The guys, on the other hand, went for Christmas corny (ridiculous Christmas sweaters, etc). I was business up top, party on the bottom: I wore my bright striped dress shirt, and then my plaid pajama bottoms, with my comfy, ridiculously over-the-top slippers. I got plenty of complements on my rather unusual attire.
Lots of alcohol was consumed by just about all. We had a ton of stuff, but a lot of it was gone by the end. We introduced the egg nog at about 10 PM, and by 10:45 our huge batch was nearly gone. It was quite tasty, if I may say so myself. I drank it mainly to sober up (ironic, no?): I had only eaten a banana between 9:30 AM and the party at 8 PM. Yeah. Bad life decisions.
The secret Santa thing was fun as well. Highlight gifts included the presentations by the some of the Santas who spent forever composing poems, ding-dong-ditching their gift person and leaving little trinkets around, etc. The men of 123? We wrapped our presents in GS bags. So much for preparation. If it weren't for me, though, none of my roommates would have wrapped their stuff at all. So at least we did that. I received a very cute ornament from Anne and chocolate. I appreciate that. Gifts are a weird stuff. Generally, those are things that I would not have bought with my own money, so theoretically I should be better off with the money that the gifts cost rather than the actual gifts, right? Well, no, because we get the added memories from the gifts themselves as a side benefit. I guess. Anyways, I was quite happy with that.
From there, we decided to go out to a club. Always, always a bad decision. Why did I not remind myself: I hate clubs. Hate em, hate em, hate em: it's everything bad about a dorm party, taken to a whole new level. Shitty rap/dance music, really loud, you can't hear yourself think, and you certainly cannot hear anybody else who is trying to talk to you. Plus, I was in recovery from the party, so the bumping bass didn't help me avoid a headache.
It was a bit of an adventure getting there. We had trouble getting a cab at Piazzale degli Eroi, so we walked down to the Vatican. It's so pretty there at night. I was kind of hoping that we were going to call it a night after that, but we didn't. We found cabs, but I jumped in the cab with a bunch of girls who didn't know where we were going. All we knew is that it was in Trastevere. We got dropped off in Piazza Trilussa, but when we called the others, we were told it was at Porta Portese. Darn. So I led the girls there, lying that I had no doubt in my mind to get there. I actually nailed it on my first semi-guess (at least getting to Porta Portese), so the girls were impressed, and I was lucky. Still, the area was sketchy as hell (this is where we went to that flea market, Mom and Dad. Imagine that area, dark, dirty, at 1 in the morning. It was bad stuff). Still, at Porta Portese, we couldn't find the club. It was way, way down the street. So far, this club thing was going bad, and I hadn't even stepped in. Then there was a 10 euro cover for guys only (I can see why... there were still more dudes in there than women. Are those guys that desperate to get laid? Or do people really enjoy that stuff? I don't get it). Then there was the whole "Oh my God I can't hear myself think" thing, which I put up with for about an hour and a half (I did dance, but, I mean, that does get old fast). I decided to leave on my own, by myself. So I walked back from Via Portuense to Medag. Google maps says that is 8 km, so it was a bit of a hike. Anyways, it took me back by JCU and Bar San Calisto, and the city was so beautiful at night. And very, very quiet. See, that's what I'm going to miss the most about Rome: the beautiful strolls around the city. The best things really are free, not paying ten euro for the privilege of being miserable in a really loud place.
Here is my plan for the next few days. Today: I have to finalize my packing, and take a bag down to the Architecture studio for storage. Actually, I should do that really soon. Tomorrow, I am flying to Madrid in the morning. I have no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow there, but then on Sunday I am meeting Max at our hostel midday. Then, Monday, we are flying to Barcelona, then Wednesday we fly to Berlin, Friday we train to Munich, then Sunday I meet my parents at the airport in Munich. So that's the master plan right now. We'll see how that goes.
Anyways, most of yesterday morning was spent in "preparation" for a test that I had at 3 in the afternoon. I studied in my room, and by study I mean I figured out what everyone in our room was going to be bringing to the party upstairs. We were responsible for bringing some booze and food, as was everyone else. I must say, my bossiness paid off: our room did a good job providing. Anyways, I didn't leave the room until around 1. I still needed to get my Secret Santa recipient a present for our party that was to come, and I needed to pick up some liquor at the GS. At the GS, I found some lemoncello and some random Italian liquor from north Italy that stood out. I also found a "Merry Christmas Barbie" pink Christmas hat filled with candy and also bought my giftee (a girl, though the hat would have been a funny gift for a guy, even more so I suppose) some Baci chocolates as well.
I went down to JCU to take the test. First I stopped at Bar San Calisto, seeing it for what I thought would be the last time (ahem, foreshadowing, ahem). I also said my happy farewells to JCU, or so I thought...
Anyways, I got back around 6, and we made sure everything was in order for the party. It was not. We realized that the eggnog was supposed to take a fairly long time to blend, with an electric mixer. Beating it all by hand would take forever. So we kind of improvised, and used a freezer to cool it for a little while instead of the fridge for a much longer while. We figured we had messed up, but I should have known better: anything that is fat on top of sugar on top of fat is hard to screw up.
Also, Joel and Andy went and got pizzas from downstairs (my brilliant idea, and a total guy move: why make food when you can buy it elsewhere). It went faster than any other food at the party. Yay for that.
Anyways, the party started at 8, and it was a really, really good, festive time. We were loud: our party was two stories directly above my room, and I could hear it from the inside of my room. Fortunately, no one lives between us. All the JCU kids were there, and we had a rocking, Christmasy time. The girls took it very seriously. They were dressed up very nice and pretty and whatnot. Probably the nicest they have dressed other than the trip to the embassy to the Vatican. The guys, on the other hand, went for Christmas corny (ridiculous Christmas sweaters, etc). I was business up top, party on the bottom: I wore my bright striped dress shirt, and then my plaid pajama bottoms, with my comfy, ridiculously over-the-top slippers. I got plenty of complements on my rather unusual attire.
Lots of alcohol was consumed by just about all. We had a ton of stuff, but a lot of it was gone by the end. We introduced the egg nog at about 10 PM, and by 10:45 our huge batch was nearly gone. It was quite tasty, if I may say so myself. I drank it mainly to sober up (ironic, no?): I had only eaten a banana between 9:30 AM and the party at 8 PM. Yeah. Bad life decisions.
The secret Santa thing was fun as well. Highlight gifts included the presentations by the some of the Santas who spent forever composing poems, ding-dong-ditching their gift person and leaving little trinkets around, etc. The men of 123? We wrapped our presents in GS bags. So much for preparation. If it weren't for me, though, none of my roommates would have wrapped their stuff at all. So at least we did that. I received a very cute ornament from Anne and chocolate. I appreciate that. Gifts are a weird stuff. Generally, those are things that I would not have bought with my own money, so theoretically I should be better off with the money that the gifts cost rather than the actual gifts, right? Well, no, because we get the added memories from the gifts themselves as a side benefit. I guess. Anyways, I was quite happy with that.
From there, we decided to go out to a club. Always, always a bad decision. Why did I not remind myself: I hate clubs. Hate em, hate em, hate em: it's everything bad about a dorm party, taken to a whole new level. Shitty rap/dance music, really loud, you can't hear yourself think, and you certainly cannot hear anybody else who is trying to talk to you. Plus, I was in recovery from the party, so the bumping bass didn't help me avoid a headache.
It was a bit of an adventure getting there. We had trouble getting a cab at Piazzale degli Eroi, so we walked down to the Vatican. It's so pretty there at night. I was kind of hoping that we were going to call it a night after that, but we didn't. We found cabs, but I jumped in the cab with a bunch of girls who didn't know where we were going. All we knew is that it was in Trastevere. We got dropped off in Piazza Trilussa, but when we called the others, we were told it was at Porta Portese. Darn. So I led the girls there, lying that I had no doubt in my mind to get there. I actually nailed it on my first semi-guess (at least getting to Porta Portese), so the girls were impressed, and I was lucky. Still, the area was sketchy as hell (this is where we went to that flea market, Mom and Dad. Imagine that area, dark, dirty, at 1 in the morning. It was bad stuff). Still, at Porta Portese, we couldn't find the club. It was way, way down the street. So far, this club thing was going bad, and I hadn't even stepped in. Then there was a 10 euro cover for guys only (I can see why... there were still more dudes in there than women. Are those guys that desperate to get laid? Or do people really enjoy that stuff? I don't get it). Then there was the whole "Oh my God I can't hear myself think" thing, which I put up with for about an hour and a half (I did dance, but, I mean, that does get old fast). I decided to leave on my own, by myself. So I walked back from Via Portuense to Medag. Google maps says that is 8 km, so it was a bit of a hike. Anyways, it took me back by JCU and Bar San Calisto, and the city was so beautiful at night. And very, very quiet. See, that's what I'm going to miss the most about Rome: the beautiful strolls around the city. The best things really are free, not paying ten euro for the privilege of being miserable in a really loud place.
Here is my plan for the next few days. Today: I have to finalize my packing, and take a bag down to the Architecture studio for storage. Actually, I should do that really soon. Tomorrow, I am flying to Madrid in the morning. I have no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow there, but then on Sunday I am meeting Max at our hostel midday. Then, Monday, we are flying to Barcelona, then Wednesday we fly to Berlin, Friday we train to Munich, then Sunday I meet my parents at the airport in Munich. So that's the master plan right now. We'll see how that goes.
Thursday, December 13
Last day at school
I sit here in the Secchia Lab for the last time; I will probably never see JCU ever again. Okay, that may be an overstatement, because I guess I might come back to show it to my progeny as the main reason Dad became so stupid: "It all started here..."
I will not miss much about this school. The dinky library (my high school library owns the JCU library)? No. The smokers? Hell no. Lemon tree courtyard? Not really. The teachers? Kind of, admittedly. I liked my Italian/Philosophy teacher, Profesoressa Aiello a lot. Not that I learned much in those classes. My main education was outside the classroom, for certain. Good riddance, John Cabot University.
I will not miss much about this school. The dinky library (my high school library owns the JCU library)? No. The smokers? Hell no. Lemon tree courtyard? Not really. The teachers? Kind of, admittedly. I liked my Italian/Philosophy teacher, Profesoressa Aiello a lot. Not that I learned much in those classes. My main education was outside the classroom, for certain. Good riddance, John Cabot University.
Wednesday, December 12
No Roma, Roma, Roma
I think, as usual, I have outsmarted myself. I will not be sitting in Curva Sud tonight singing like crazy. I will not be going to the Manchester United-AS Roma match. Why? I thought too much. "Hey, it is a meaningless game. They are literally playing for nothing. Neither team will bring out the big guns. Also, I have an exam the next day. And I won't study for it until the night before (which is, admittedly, still quite true. I haven't started. Problem is, I probably never will, even with all my roommates at the game)" Well, I was kind of wrong. Manchester United is playing Wayne Rooney, who is in my top 5 favorite players. He probably would have been worth the 15 euro alone. Aaarrrggh. And I would have had the chance to dress up, have the fun, etc. Super aarrrgh. At least everyone else important on Man U isn't playing. Then I might have died choking on my own stupidity.
Still, the soccer on this trip was worth it, even only seeing two matches. Mainly, because I got to see my favoritest player, Mr. Clint Dempsey, aka Deuce. Click the link. Seriously: the unintentional comedy is off the charts. American soccer rap: a double-oxymoron (an oxyidiot?)
In other news, today I took two tests, both of which I barely studied for. I did just fine. I think. Also, I got some delicious Old Bridge gelato, but it was amazingly unfilling. I think I may need a pizza for dinner on top of that. Quando a Roma, I suppose. I can eat my feelings sitting in my silent apartment. Hooray food. I'm going to miss this city.
EDIT: Two other notes from the day. I finally shared Bar San Calisto with some ND people. They enjoyed the gelato, while I had a caffe doppio before I worked out. Also, I crossed a new bridge today: the one leading to the Palazzo di Giudizia. It's pretty impressive. I can't believe I haven't gone over there yet.
Still, the soccer on this trip was worth it, even only seeing two matches. Mainly, because I got to see my favoritest player, Mr. Clint Dempsey, aka Deuce. Click the link. Seriously: the unintentional comedy is off the charts. American soccer rap: a double-oxymoron (an oxyidiot?)
In other news, today I took two tests, both of which I barely studied for. I did just fine. I think. Also, I got some delicious Old Bridge gelato, but it was amazingly unfilling. I think I may need a pizza for dinner on top of that. Quando a Roma, I suppose. I can eat my feelings sitting in my silent apartment. Hooray food. I'm going to miss this city.
EDIT: Two other notes from the day. I finally shared Bar San Calisto with some ND people. They enjoyed the gelato, while I had a caffe doppio before I worked out. Also, I crossed a new bridge today: the one leading to the Palazzo di Giudizia. It's pretty impressive. I can't believe I haven't gone over there yet.
I love my friends
Me and Packy have discussed celebrating your return with a super classy cocktail party. As a rule, everyone would have to dress up nicely, delicious hors d'ouvres would be served, and the only drinks that would be served would be classy manhattans, martini's, and cosmopolitans for the girls, or any other cocktail that would be deemed worthy of our classy party. Since Reevie and my room is somewhat limited in space, of course the entire guest list would be up to you. And there will be plenty of jazz music! Let me know if you like the idea. If not too bad its gonna happen.
Yours in Ron Paul is Awesome,
Drew Jones
I'm touched.
Yours in Ron Paul is Awesome,
Drew Jones
I'm touched.
Monday, December 10
Lots of the same
I can't really get inspired to do anything out of the norm. I have finals this week, but I'm not really studying for them. Honestly, I'm not really doing anything. I really do feel done with this town, in a weird way. I would think that I would be running around trying to get everything done that I haven't done, but I kind of feel like I've done everything here I've wanted to do. This probably explains all the Dexter.
I took my Renaissance Rome final this morning at 9 AM. It was not too bad, but I got a paper back and I got a 17.9/20. All right, that's not all that bad, but here's the catch: all the comments were "excellent excellent excellent oh my god I love you"-y. I think I got the highest grade in the class. I also don't think my art history teacher knows math (for those of you who do not as well, 17.9/20 does not = A). I really hope she gets to the end of her grading, realizes that she hasn't given anybody in the class a grade better than B+, and grades on a curve. I don't think she will. Darn it, I did not come to Rome with the intentions of my GPA going down. Easy grades are one of the perks of study abroad, right?
I took my Renaissance Rome final this morning at 9 AM. It was not too bad, but I got a paper back and I got a 17.9/20. All right, that's not all that bad, but here's the catch: all the comments were "excellent excellent excellent oh my god I love you"-y. I think I got the highest grade in the class. I also don't think my art history teacher knows math (for those of you who do not as well, 17.9/20 does not = A). I really hope she gets to the end of her grading, realizes that she hasn't given anybody in the class a grade better than B+, and grades on a curve. I don't think she will. Darn it, I did not come to Rome with the intentions of my GPA going down. Easy grades are one of the perks of study abroad, right?
Sunday, December 9
Darn
Well, I went down to St. Peter's to do something crazy: go to a Mass in Rome. One of those little things that I really didn't do. The line to get into the basilica was ridiculous. So I just walked around a bit. It was great. A fortunate bad situation, I suppose.
Pretty much I am looking for any excuse not to study. I have an exam tomorrow morning, one Tuesday morning, two on Wednesday, and one Thursday afternoon. I will continue to ignore them.
Saturday, December 8
Another day chilling out in Medag. A few episodes of Dexter, of course. A little studying, a little talking with the parents. I also made what may be my last trip to the GS, after I went to the gym and realized it's now closed on weekends. Arg. I made a little stroll of it though, because it is a 40 minute walk to the gym.
Tonight Dan cooked for me, making up for a meal I cooked him weeks ago. Pesto pasta. That's probably a last. I may only cook myself one or two more meals this week. I want to enjoy some delicious Roman cuisine in my last week. I'm full, but I'm going out for gelato later. I feel like I have to. Only so many opportunities remaining for delicious treats like that.
Tonight Dan cooked for me, making up for a meal I cooked him weeks ago. Pesto pasta. That's probably a last. I may only cook myself one or two more meals this week. I want to enjoy some delicious Roman cuisine in my last week. I'm full, but I'm going out for gelato later. I feel like I have to. Only so many opportunities remaining for delicious treats like that.
Friday, December 7
More Est! Est! Est!
Today I pretty much chilled out in the room all day. I woke up at 8 AM, watched Dexter, studied for 15 minutes, watched some more Dexter, went to Old Bridge for a delicious gelato lunch (3 euro gelato!), watched some more Dexter (5 episodes today. Yeah. That kind of day. And by that kind of day I mean it was an awesome day where I had no responsibilities at all. It is a pretty good show), then napped. After a shower, I went down to check out Dan's photography work that was being shown at JCU along with those works of his classmates, but it was really disorganized and not all that much fun. From there, Dan, Anne, and I walked up Via Nazionale to Est! Est! Est! Red wine + calzone = crazy delicious (Lazy Sunday alert! Appropriate, considering my day). We were ostensibly celebrating a birthday, but I think everyone wants to eat out as much as possible because we have such limited time here. I'm down, of course.
I walked home alone, soaking in the town at night. Everyone else was lazy and got a cab. I figure, eh, only a few more nights to do this, might as well. It's sad.
I walked home alone, soaking in the town at night. Everyone else was lazy and got a cab. I figure, eh, only a few more nights to do this, might as well. It's sad.
Thursday, December 6
Bad News Bears
Well, tonight was a bit of a bummer. Actually, the night was very pleasant. Bad news after getting back to Medag is the bummer.
I went to an art exhibit featuring some of the works of my friends who took art classes at JCU this semester. Some were good. Some were great. All were way better than I can do. From there, we went to l'Archetto, one of the more famous pasta places in Rome. Delicious. I walked home alone, because everyone else wanted to metro it, so I passed through the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona areas. Piazza Navona has a Christmas market in there, and it was awesome. I wish I had a camera.
I got home, turned on the internets, and facebook has a message telling me that Sadie is not coming to Europe in two weeks. Damn damn damn. Sadness, etc. Now I have to cancel/alter a bunch of train, plane, and hostel stuff.
Mrs Cohen - I finish class on the 15th, but I am not coming home until January 8. This decision is looking more and more like a bit of an ambitious mistake on my part.
I went to an art exhibit featuring some of the works of my friends who took art classes at JCU this semester. Some were good. Some were great. All were way better than I can do. From there, we went to l'Archetto, one of the more famous pasta places in Rome. Delicious. I walked home alone, because everyone else wanted to metro it, so I passed through the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona areas. Piazza Navona has a Christmas market in there, and it was awesome. I wish I had a camera.
I got home, turned on the internets, and facebook has a message telling me that Sadie is not coming to Europe in two weeks. Damn damn damn. Sadness, etc. Now I have to cancel/alter a bunch of train, plane, and hostel stuff.
Mrs Cohen - I finish class on the 15th, but I am not coming home until January 8. This decision is looking more and more like a bit of an ambitious mistake on my part.
Officially done with the town
So yesterday was my last day of classes. John Cabot University: I will not miss you most of all. I celebrated with a little shimmy outside the courtyard.
This morning is my first study day. I spent the morning walking around, trying to make my way over to Barberini. At that metro stop, there is a church with the Capuchini Bones in it. Eventually I found it, after a detour by the Spanish Steps. That was one of the two things that I have not done in Rome that I wanted to do before I left. I say wanted, because I also did the other thing this morning: I went and hung out in the Borghese Gardens. Unbelievably, I have not done this other than the day that I took my parents over to the Galleria Borghese. It's actually a pretty huge park. Oh well. Some dogs attacked me there, and it didn't seem like the safest place. But I enjoyed my favorite cream-filled pastry from the market and watched an episode of Dexter on my iPod (the show is great so far; I am two episodes in) and studied a bit (15 minutes).
Anyways, on the way home, something happened that hasn't seemed to have occured in months: I got lost in the city. It was north of Medag, where I never am. I felt like I did three months ago. It's been too fast.
This morning is my first study day. I spent the morning walking around, trying to make my way over to Barberini. At that metro stop, there is a church with the Capuchini Bones in it. Eventually I found it, after a detour by the Spanish Steps. That was one of the two things that I have not done in Rome that I wanted to do before I left. I say wanted, because I also did the other thing this morning: I went and hung out in the Borghese Gardens. Unbelievably, I have not done this other than the day that I took my parents over to the Galleria Borghese. It's actually a pretty huge park. Oh well. Some dogs attacked me there, and it didn't seem like the safest place. But I enjoyed my favorite cream-filled pastry from the market and watched an episode of Dexter on my iPod (the show is great so far; I am two episodes in) and studied a bit (15 minutes).
Anyways, on the way home, something happened that hasn't seemed to have occured in months: I got lost in the city. It was north of Medag, where I never am. I felt like I did three months ago. It's been too fast.
Tuesday, December 4
Hungarian food
Good fun tonight: Andy and I went over across the way to some of the girls' apartments. We had delicious Hungarian foodstuff, and hung out for a couple of hours. There's another thing I'm going to miss from Rome: we get to play house here. It's not quite the same at ND.
EUR
It's 55 outside right now. Truly a perfect, beautiful day. I'm going to miss this back in South Bend and its 10 below with the wind chill.
Sunday, December 2
Budapest
Budapest was quite the trip. Some pictures from the two days can be seen here.
It began at 4:40 on Friday morning, when we woke up to catch the 5:15 metro to Termini. We took the Leonardo Express out to Fiumicino Airport for an 8 AM flight, which was on time. After touching down, we rode into town on public transpo, and found our hostel. The hostel justified the high ratings on the internets. We paid 12 euro, and the six of us (Andy, Erin, Michelle, Teresa, a girl from Oxford, and myself) took over a huge room with its own bathroom. They even provided cereal for breakfast and free tea and hot cocao. And it was only 20 minutes from the Christmas market. What a deal.
Speaking of that Christmas market, we then walked along the Danube (we were on the Pest side. Budapest is split into Buda on the west side and Pest on the east) and stumbled on the Christmas market, where people were selling little trinkets and lots of delicious looking food. And hot wine. Yummy, yummy, warm wine (it was about 35 degrees outside. It snowed at some point on Friday a little bit). Also, there were a bunch of live performances. From there, we walked up to see the beautiful Parliament building, and we also found some old Communist park area. Very cool.
At that point, the group split up a little bit, and three of us (Andy, Michelle, myself) headed back to the Christmas market to see a traditional Hungarian dance performance. It was cool for a little while, and just as it was about to get a little dull, the people walked into the crowd and pulled us out to dance. The three of us tore up the proverbial rug, Hungarian style. It was a blast.
From there we went to dinner, where we had some great Hungarian food, for cheap. Budapest is the cheapest city I've been to so far. I can't imagine it will be cheaper anywhere else. Anyways, I had some goulash and fried food, and we shared and it was good and filling. At that point, Michelle wanted to go to the hostel and crash, but it was only 9:30 or so and I was having none of that nonsense. I said "hey, let's go climb that hill in Buda!", and so we did. Excellent decision. A highlight of that whole experience was us running across the bridge over the Danube to Buda. The run was long (big river), but exhilarating. I will never forget that. Nor will I forget the sweet view from Buda. Budapest is the "Paris of Eastern Europe", and it was truly a city of lights. From there, we headed back to the hostel, got some tea, and I beat Andy in chess. We went to bed at 1:30. Long day.
The next morning, we left the hostel around 10:20. Most of the group went to these famous public baths of Budapest, but Michelle and I weren't really in the mood, so we explored Buda and went up to a Castle. More great views were seen, etc. We also went into some church. We met back up with the whole crew at this labyrinth area under the Castle, where Hungary installed some kind of fake historical stuff down in real old caves. "Authentic copies", I think were the words on the pamphlet. Anyways, the museum was fun, and it had rocks with fossilized computers from the future and stuff. Odd, but fun. We then went to a sweet art nouveau cafe, took some pictures at the top of the hill, and then went down. The others went to the hostel to pick up their stuff, while I went to the Christmas market for some hot wine (I had my stuff with me all day). We met up at a restaurant near the train station. We had to kill a lot of time, and we milked that restaurant for all we could. We were there from about 7 until 10:30. Good times. Good food, as well. Fried = delicious. There's probably a reason Hungarians didn't look so great. That and the sun not coming out. Not that I'm in position to fault people for not having a tan. Anyhoo, we eventually got on our train at 12:30 AM for the airport (our flight was at 6 AM this morning), but we missed our stop at the airport, so we had to improvise and walk three or four miles in the dark using our sense of direction in random Hungarian streets to the airport. Success. From there, we got on the plane, on time, back home, no problem.
A problem did arise when I was riding the bus back to Medag. For the sake of legality, I will keep this in the hypothetical realm. Theoretically, I might have attempted to free ride on the bus by not stamping a metro ticket, and I might have unsuccessfully attempted to stamp the ticket when a group of transportation people jumped on the bus at a random stop to check tickets. One of those dudes might have noticed, and might have tried to lecture me and fine me, but I might have gotten off because I couldn't really understand him and he couldn't understand me. I might have gotten off the bus at the next stop, in case he changed his mind.
All things considered, it was an excellent trip. That's my last trip before the end of the semester. That's sad.
It began at 4:40 on Friday morning, when we woke up to catch the 5:15 metro to Termini. We took the Leonardo Express out to Fiumicino Airport for an 8 AM flight, which was on time. After touching down, we rode into town on public transpo, and found our hostel. The hostel justified the high ratings on the internets. We paid 12 euro, and the six of us (Andy, Erin, Michelle, Teresa, a girl from Oxford, and myself) took over a huge room with its own bathroom. They even provided cereal for breakfast and free tea and hot cocao. And it was only 20 minutes from the Christmas market. What a deal.
Speaking of that Christmas market, we then walked along the Danube (we were on the Pest side. Budapest is split into Buda on the west side and Pest on the east) and stumbled on the Christmas market, where people were selling little trinkets and lots of delicious looking food. And hot wine. Yummy, yummy, warm wine (it was about 35 degrees outside. It snowed at some point on Friday a little bit). Also, there were a bunch of live performances. From there, we walked up to see the beautiful Parliament building, and we also found some old Communist park area. Very cool.
At that point, the group split up a little bit, and three of us (Andy, Michelle, myself) headed back to the Christmas market to see a traditional Hungarian dance performance. It was cool for a little while, and just as it was about to get a little dull, the people walked into the crowd and pulled us out to dance. The three of us tore up the proverbial rug, Hungarian style. It was a blast.
From there we went to dinner, where we had some great Hungarian food, for cheap. Budapest is the cheapest city I've been to so far. I can't imagine it will be cheaper anywhere else. Anyways, I had some goulash and fried food, and we shared and it was good and filling. At that point, Michelle wanted to go to the hostel and crash, but it was only 9:30 or so and I was having none of that nonsense. I said "hey, let's go climb that hill in Buda!", and so we did. Excellent decision. A highlight of that whole experience was us running across the bridge over the Danube to Buda. The run was long (big river), but exhilarating. I will never forget that. Nor will I forget the sweet view from Buda. Budapest is the "Paris of Eastern Europe", and it was truly a city of lights. From there, we headed back to the hostel, got some tea, and I beat Andy in chess. We went to bed at 1:30. Long day.
The next morning, we left the hostel around 10:20. Most of the group went to these famous public baths of Budapest, but Michelle and I weren't really in the mood, so we explored Buda and went up to a Castle. More great views were seen, etc. We also went into some church. We met back up with the whole crew at this labyrinth area under the Castle, where Hungary installed some kind of fake historical stuff down in real old caves. "Authentic copies", I think were the words on the pamphlet. Anyways, the museum was fun, and it had rocks with fossilized computers from the future and stuff. Odd, but fun. We then went to a sweet art nouveau cafe, took some pictures at the top of the hill, and then went down. The others went to the hostel to pick up their stuff, while I went to the Christmas market for some hot wine (I had my stuff with me all day). We met up at a restaurant near the train station. We had to kill a lot of time, and we milked that restaurant for all we could. We were there from about 7 until 10:30. Good times. Good food, as well. Fried = delicious. There's probably a reason Hungarians didn't look so great. That and the sun not coming out. Not that I'm in position to fault people for not having a tan. Anyhoo, we eventually got on our train at 12:30 AM for the airport (our flight was at 6 AM this morning), but we missed our stop at the airport, so we had to improvise and walk three or four miles in the dark using our sense of direction in random Hungarian streets to the airport. Success. From there, we got on the plane, on time, back home, no problem.
A problem did arise when I was riding the bus back to Medag. For the sake of legality, I will keep this in the hypothetical realm. Theoretically, I might have attempted to free ride on the bus by not stamping a metro ticket, and I might have unsuccessfully attempted to stamp the ticket when a group of transportation people jumped on the bus at a random stop to check tickets. One of those dudes might have noticed, and might have tried to lecture me and fine me, but I might have gotten off because I couldn't really understand him and he couldn't understand me. I might have gotten off the bus at the next stop, in case he changed his mind.
All things considered, it was an excellent trip. That's my last trip before the end of the semester. That's sad.
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