Venice: Water everywhere

Welcome back! I'm sure its been a while since anyone has checked this...probably because it's been a while  since I've checked this. I have all of spring break to write about. Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, and London will all be written about in due time, but since it's a lot to cover I'll be spreading those posts out over the course of...a bit of time. For now however, let's play a little game of catch up.

So a long time ago I went to this place called Venice. Although I was only there for one day, I accomplish a lot of what I had hoped, and found the city surrounded by water to be one of my favorite up to that point. One of the most amazing views I have had abroad was from the train on the way to Venice. Surrounded by industrial areas at first, I wondered what was so spectacular about Venice, and even began to debate whether I should've gone...and then I saw it. One second I was looking out at cranes and dirt and stuff; the next second I could see nothing but calm blue waves and the sea on all sides. It took me completely by surprise and immediately a wave of tranquility fell over me. It wasn't long before I was on the island and realized that I was surrounded by canals: All boats, no cars.

All in all, Venice was pretty straightforward. I walked from the train station to Piazza San Marco, which despite lacking quantities of old gigantic buildings was still a fantastic sight due to its quality. My roommate and I hopped on a student tour of the San Marco Palace where the old monarchy found itself and parliament held office. We skipped the tour of the basilica, but it certainly looked interesting from the outside. We then met up with a couple of the girls on our trip and took a gondola ride around Venice. Seeing Venice from the water looking up was a perspective I could never imagine without seeing it for myself and it was breathtaking. After the gondola ride, we all went shopping for murano glass, a specialty of Venice, and truth be told there was some beautiful glass on the Rialto Bridge where all of the nice shops are. I bought a vase for my mommy.

After that night fell. Dinner and a night of wandering aimlessly and sneaking into Hilton hotels on neighboring islands ensued...the water is very still at 5 in the morning.

Spring Break really sneaks up on you

I promise to update Venice soon, I've had midterms all week...and now I leave. Wow.

My trip consists of Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, and ending in London. Jetsetter.

Excursion #4? I can't remember

I'm bad at timing things but um...I'm going to Venice for the day. Hope I can cram in as much as possible like gondolas...and some other stuff...

Go water.

I should really start carrying my camera around...

There are few truer statements than the above. I often times find myself in the most interesting places, yet have no means of capturing their beauty due to my lack of foresight. This week really took the cake in that regard.

On Wednesday night we met our Italian counterparts for dinner in an area of Rome we had never been before called Magliana I believe. I might be wrong, but its been typed and its too late to google whether or not it is in fact the name of where the restaurant was located. Anyways, it was a lovely time (language barriers and all) and we planned on meeting Thursday morning to go to another place we had never been called EUR, which is on the outskirts of Rome and is known as the affluent part of the city. We missed the first bus there by mere footsteps, and the next bus came 45 minutes later. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

We finally got to the area and were all immediately struck by it. Unlike the center of Rome, which is nearly all metropolitan with old buildings and streets as wide as my wingspan, EUR was covered in lush green grass and skyscrapers. It was clear we were in a totally different area. We walked past a manmade lake on a path called "Passegiata Giapponese" which means "Walkway of Japan." I could not give a good reason it is called this, as it looks nothing like Japan architecturally, naturally, or otherwise; however, it may be due to the overwhelming sense of serenity that passes over you while looking out onto the blue lake and fountains. We continued to explore the area, coming across the Square Colosseum. This was a building erected in 1935 under the fascist rule of Mussolini. It is mainly a convention space now, but our Italians told us that due to it's origins, they oft do not promote the building, despite its intriguing facade.

I also went to a club last night called "Goa" which is supposedly one of the more exclusive clubs in Rome. As we entered we immediately noticed that unlike many other clubs and bars where other exchange and foreign students frequent, this bar was nearly 100% Italian. It was a very cool building with tons of decoration that purported its exclusivity.

Clever Title

I must be getting really lazy. Like outrageously so. I am surely going to look back on this post above all others and think,

"Wow...I certainly must have worked my ass off to get out of bed this morning, let alone blog. I think I deserve a break and I'll just make the title...shit."

Alas, the main reason my title is lacking the creative juice flowing through many of the others is because this week I, again, didn't really do much. I spent the majority of my week practicing for my Italian oral midterms. The first was a 3 minute presentation on my younger brother, Sam. My teacher now knows that my brother likes rap, girls, and the color purple...my descriptors were very limited (sorry to Sam if my description lacked depth). The second was a 5 minutes dialogue I wrote with a partner that had to be performed...naturally, our dialogue was about two of the Ninja Turtles searching for their teenage mutant brethren in every pizzeria in Rome. Thankfully, our teacher knew who the Ninja Turtles were, so I think we did pretty well.

I also went on two field trips this week. The first was to staple coffeeshops and eateries around the Pantheon area of Rome. Armando al Pantheon is a restaurant that has bordered the Pantheon for over 60 years and has been family run since the beginning. Tazza D'Oro is located squarely on the Pantheon plaza area and has also been providing Romans their coffee for over half a decade. My favorite stop had to be the Roscioli Forno. Around for years as well, Roscioli has some of the most delicious bread I've ever had...and I know my bread. Also, they had fantastic suppli (those deep-fried rice things I adore). I've already found myself back there for rolls and other small unnecessaries of the like.

The other trip was to a local television station in order to see what the media scene is like here...unfortunately we only toured the direction room (which I've seen numerous times visiting my daddy at ABC) and the set for an Italian cooking show. The creepy Fabio lookin' boy to your right is the host. It wasn't too bad minus the 3 hours of downtime. I played a lot of Euchre. Also we met the former Ms. Italy! She was very charming and was really... charismatic. We left there after a while and began our Unofficial celebration.


I woke up the next morning. Woo.

Paris: I owe my feet an apology

To those who have been patiently awaiting this post...sorry. I met my first week of actual work here so its been a bit difficult to sit down and write this out.

Me and my travelling companions arrived in Paris at 9 in the morning, and didn't spare any time...except getting to my living quarters. My hotel was located in the area near Bastille (that place that was stormed that one time). After getting situated, we took a walk down the side of the Seine, the main river in France. It was cloudy, but it felt eerily comforting. We stopped to look at Notre Dame, the church where Quasimodo and Esmerelda fell in love (says folklore and Disney). We took a walking tour of Notre Dame and learned some interesting things, like the vain architect who renovated it in the 1800's added his own sculpture to those of the kings of France. We also ventured into the heart of medieval France, where the inspiration for Sweeney Todd took place. We continued our long walk along the river until our collective hunger got the best of us and we stopped for some baguettes. A French baguette is nothing to be fooling around with, nor did we. They were gone as fast as they were purchased.

After walking quite a distance we came upon the Eiffel Tower. What's that you ask? Its a big tower that really serves no purpose other than generating revenue; however, it served as a base for scientific research once upon a time. We decided to save going up it for a nicer day, but remained near it through the sunset. The tower began to light up, glow and flicker. I was certainly taken aback by the beauty...until I recalled how far we had to walk back. I learned about the extremely convenient metro the next day.

I woke up the next day and took the aforementioned "1" line to the Lourve...its this museum don't worry if you've never heard of it its quite small actually. After entering my first pyramidal structure ever I found myself in the depths of the museum. I saw the Egyptian exhibits, ancient Roman statues, Napoleon apartments...I don't think I can let it escape that I did not see the Mona Lisa. To be fair I was forewarned it was highly unimpressive and having seen "The Da Vinci Code" I figured I could do without and just go to exhibits that I found interesting. After 3 hours and shin splints, I met up with the group for a bit to eat inside the museum. I then left to find my friends who are currently studying abroad in Paris. Torey took Miotti (who was fortunately also visiting) and I out for crepes....mmmmm....crepes. Miotti and I then ventured to the Centre Pompidou, Paris' modern art museum. It may have been my favorite place in Paris. The art was so engaging and right up my alley culturally, I felt very connected to the ideals and movements explored through the works of art I was examining. Also the building itself was an art piece, looking as if the structure was flipped inside-out.

I had a bit of a repeat of day one on Sunday, except for the croissant I started my day out with. It was amazing. I met the group who hadn't yet seen Notre Dame there, yet this time I explored the inside of it during mass. It was an unexpected feeling being there experiencing the traditions of another religion with people from all across the world. We then went back to the Eiffel Tower, this time going up it. I made it to the 2nd floor, but decided to save the top for the next time I come to Paris (now I have to, right?) Plus, the line to the top was an hour long. Some of us decided we'd rather continue to sight see. We found the Arc de Triumph, which although modeled from ancient Roman arches was much larger and more grandiose. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it and comparing it with the arches I'm learning about in my classes here.

Our last excursion through Paris consisted from a search for the purported best falafel in Europe.  We found ourselves at Las Du Falafel, where I in fact did have some of the best falafel I've ever had (sorry Pita Inn but its gonna be close). After that hefty snack we joined back up with everybody for a final French meal at a traditional cafe. I had a french onion soup (its not called french here) and an omelette...it was economical. Exhausted I went to bed pretty early Sunday night so that I could be up by 430am to catch my flight home Monday at 8am. Made it just in time for class too. I am a baller (someone who is good at things for those reading this who are slang-challenged).