Words weren't enough to explain how incredible this semester was...
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Vita Dopo Firenze
It's still surreal being home for one whole week. I haven't had social interaction with anyone beyond my family, so a part of me feels the same way I always do over Christmas break each year. Temporarily living in a room decorated with my past and overcrowded with boxes filled with my new life, here only to see my family, catch up on trashy reality TV, and go to ten million doctors appointments until I return to Clemson. Whenever I'm home, I'm in a weird in-between place. I'm not back to my real life yet, so I guess being "back" hasn't quite hit me yet. A part of my brain actually believes that when I pack up my car and start driving next Sunday, I'm going to somehow end up in Florence. Don't get me wrong, I miss Clemson as much as a person could ever possibly miss a place, and I can't wait to get back, but I don't think the real "culture shock" will sink in until I settle back into my real life. My life that consists of an apartment and bills and two summer jobs and responsibilities. My life that requires me to hop in my car to buy a bottle of wine that costs a lot more than 2.50 euro.
The harshest reality is going to be interacting with people who didn't go through this experience. The world kept going on while we were in Florence. Just like it kept going on in Vernon once I moved away, and then I came back that first summer to find I had absolutely nothing in common with those people anymore. I'm not afraid of this happening in Clemson, though. It's my home and I'm sure I'll settle back in quickly. But it still scares me that I can't hop in a car and drive to Florence to find my apartment and my roommates and my Tigers all there with me. I apologize in advance to all of my friends who have to listen to my incessant "This one time in Florence..." stories.
There's so much I'm going to miss about it. Especially the simple things that I didn't notice until I left. Being able to walk everywhere. The smell of leather. Walking past the Duomo on a regular basis. The sound of Italian. The lady on my street with the fluffy dog. Tiger Thursdays. Windows without screens. WINE. The list goes on...
All in all, Florence was the greatest experience of my life. It taught me more than I ever expected to learn. Everyone says after you study abroad you come home with this new appreciation for the world and different cultures, which is completely true, but the past four months taught me a lot more than that. I learned how to relax and live my life outside of my iCal for once, how to stand on my own two feet when bad things happen, how to relate to people who are different than me, how to communicate with a language barrier, how to live in a city, how to drink wine, how to let my guard down, and how to appreciate the world in a way that is so much greater than my American bubble.
If you followed this blog, thank you :) I'm glad I could share my experience with people who really wanted to listen. And thank you, especially, to the people who made the entire four months possible. My Dad for actually letting me past U.S. borders, my Mom for mapping out every detail of my semester in an organized file folder, and then staying up until 4 a.m. putting my life back together when that organized file folder was stolen, my Aunts for inspiring me to choose Florence in the first place, my Grandma and relatives for donating to the "help Tara not go entirely broke in Italy" foundation, my best friend Meghan for being there for my ridiculous international phone calls, my Clemson friends for always being on Skype when I missed them, and my study abroad family for helping make the entire semester what it was: life-changing.
It scares me that I don't know when I'll be back to Europe. There is so much more I want to see, and so much more about Florence that I'm going to miss. Luckily, I rubbed the nose of Il Porcellino and dropped my coin down into the grate, and legend has it that means you'll return to Florence in your lifetime.
The harshest reality is going to be interacting with people who didn't go through this experience. The world kept going on while we were in Florence. Just like it kept going on in Vernon once I moved away, and then I came back that first summer to find I had absolutely nothing in common with those people anymore. I'm not afraid of this happening in Clemson, though. It's my home and I'm sure I'll settle back in quickly. But it still scares me that I can't hop in a car and drive to Florence to find my apartment and my roommates and my Tigers all there with me. I apologize in advance to all of my friends who have to listen to my incessant "This one time in Florence..." stories.
There's so much I'm going to miss about it. Especially the simple things that I didn't notice until I left. Being able to walk everywhere. The smell of leather. Walking past the Duomo on a regular basis. The sound of Italian. The lady on my street with the fluffy dog. Tiger Thursdays. Windows without screens. WINE. The list goes on...
All in all, Florence was the greatest experience of my life. It taught me more than I ever expected to learn. Everyone says after you study abroad you come home with this new appreciation for the world and different cultures, which is completely true, but the past four months taught me a lot more than that. I learned how to relax and live my life outside of my iCal for once, how to stand on my own two feet when bad things happen, how to relate to people who are different than me, how to communicate with a language barrier, how to live in a city, how to drink wine, how to let my guard down, and how to appreciate the world in a way that is so much greater than my American bubble.
If you followed this blog, thank you :) I'm glad I could share my experience with people who really wanted to listen. And thank you, especially, to the people who made the entire four months possible. My Dad for actually letting me past U.S. borders, my Mom for mapping out every detail of my semester in an organized file folder, and then staying up until 4 a.m. putting my life back together when that organized file folder was stolen, my Aunts for inspiring me to choose Florence in the first place, my Grandma and relatives for donating to the "help Tara not go entirely broke in Italy" foundation, my best friend Meghan for being there for my ridiculous international phone calls, my Clemson friends for always being on Skype when I missed them, and my study abroad family for helping make the entire semester what it was: life-changing.
It scares me that I don't know when I'll be back to Europe. There is so much more I want to see, and so much more about Florence that I'm going to miss. Luckily, I rubbed the nose of Il Porcellino and dropped my coin down into the grate, and legend has it that means you'll return to Florence in your lifetime.
See you soon, Firenze.
Final 48 hours in Firenze
Forty-eight hours doesn't seem like a long time. But when you're trying to hang on to the greatest experience of your life when you know it's just about to end, you find yourself forgoing sleep and downtime for any opportunity to make it last a little bit longer...
Thursday
I got up early and took my Italian final. The moment I handed it in I realized I'm now a senior. SO. OLD. I ran into Mindy on our way out of Strozzi, again seeing that as a sign from the universe that we should daydrink. We both hadn't eaten yet so we went to Gusta for pizza in beer. It is the best pizza in Florence so we had to eat there one last time. A few minutes after we sat down Virginia, Amelia, and William walked in. Great minds think alike! We all enjoyed our final real Italian pizza together, the first of many "this is the last time we'll ever ____" activities that took place in the following two days.
I went home for a few hours to start packing. I was extremely unproductive since I was in denial that I actually had to move out. I distracted myself by doing a little more souvenir shopping and going to the advising office to say goodbye to Laura, my advisor (and the savoir of my Italian life). My roommates and I got ready, and then met up with Eric to walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo. Tonight was our final "Tiger Thursday" and our final time going to my favorite spot in Florence. It was our last chance to take it all in. Every time I look out over that piazza, I honestly feel like I'm dreaming this entire experience. This time, knowing it was the last time, it was even more surreal. I think it's the first time it hit me that I have no idea when the next time I'll be looking out over this city will be.
After Piazzale Michelangelo we met up with the rest of the group at Il Gatto. It's a family style restaurant where they bring out giant bowls of pasta and unlimited wine for large groups. We enjoyed one final, perfect Tiger Dinner, complete with "Tiger Superlatives" that my roommates and I made on paper plates for all thirteen of us. My roommates named me the "Drunken photojournalist Irish M.I.L.F." in reference to my sheer talent of photographing people doing embarrassing things and acting as the Mom of the whole wild bunch. We made a bit of a scene inside the restaurant with our grand presentation and photoshoot of the superlatives. They were the perfect way to express what a weirdly diverse group of friends we have. Somehow despite our differences, we all complimented each other so well. Suddenly at the end of dinner, laughter and commotion started to build outside. When I went outside to see what it was, I found my lovely roommates ("the Blondtourage") negotiating rollerblades off of two Italian school children. Next thing you know they are rollerblading in sundresses through the streets of Florence. Totally normal night...
After Il Gatto and the rollerblading extravaganza, we headed to the one and only, Lion's Fountain. I can't imagine spending my last night "out" in Florence anywhere else. Meg got free shots galore for her birthday. Then suddenly my lifelong dream came true. Mindy and I weaseled our way behind the bar with Luca, Karl, and "the Hot One" (no one knows his name, he's just the hot one). My life was complete:
Thursday
I got up early and took my Italian final. The moment I handed it in I realized I'm now a senior. SO. OLD. I ran into Mindy on our way out of Strozzi, again seeing that as a sign from the universe that we should daydrink. We both hadn't eaten yet so we went to Gusta for pizza in beer. It is the best pizza in Florence so we had to eat there one last time. A few minutes after we sat down Virginia, Amelia, and William walked in. Great minds think alike! We all enjoyed our final real Italian pizza together, the first of many "this is the last time we'll ever ____" activities that took place in the following two days.
I went home for a few hours to start packing. I was extremely unproductive since I was in denial that I actually had to move out. I distracted myself by doing a little more souvenir shopping and going to the advising office to say goodbye to Laura, my advisor (and the savoir of my Italian life). My roommates and I got ready, and then met up with Eric to walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo. Tonight was our final "Tiger Thursday" and our final time going to my favorite spot in Florence. It was our last chance to take it all in. Every time I look out over that piazza, I honestly feel like I'm dreaming this entire experience. This time, knowing it was the last time, it was even more surreal. I think it's the first time it hit me that I have no idea when the next time I'll be looking out over this city will be.
I <3 Lion's Fountain
Friday
I woke up surprisingly early Friday morning, and when I went to the bathroom I found Meg's pajamas folded in the bidet. Successful 21st birthday, I'd say. We got up and out early knowing it was our last day in Florence. Meg, Alana, and I went to our favorite cafe on the corner for cappuccino and cioccolato caldo. We even stood at the bar like real Italians. Afterwards we wanted gelato, but considering it was 10:30 in the morning, our gelato boyfriend hadn't opened shop yet. We decided to get lunch at the Oil Shoppe, one of my favorite sandwich places. We got them to go and sat in the sun in Piazza Santa Croce to have a mini picnic on a bench. Unfortunately we were attacked by pigeons after we very cleverly decided to feed them. Post-pigeon attack, we started wandering aimlessly behind Santa Croce (a part of town we generally don't go) where we stumbled upon the Florence Leather School. I don't know how we never knew this place existed, it was so interesting. It was an actual school filled with students learning how to make leather goods. They had a huge workshop with windows so you could see right into their classes. They also had a store upstairs full of some of the most beautiful (and not to mention, out of my price range) leather I've ever seen.
After the Leather School, Alana and I got lost in that area of town trying to find the Sant'Ambrosio market. Jacqueline always talked about it being the non-toursity version of Marcato Centrale. We eventually found it. It was so cute and so local. Alana got a pear and I got a peach and we wandered around saying hi to the adorable little vendors and enjoying the perfect Florence weather.
Afterwards, Alana and Meg went to the Uffizzi (once was enough for me), so I officially finished souvenir shopping and headed home to officially finish packing. Seeing my room so empty made it feel even more real. My roommates and I started to clean our apartment, which was a much more difficult feat than we imagined. We never got around to counting the wine bottles we saved on our cabinets, but I would estimate the final tally to be somewhere between 60 or 70 empty bottles. Job well done. We also had a ton of unused food, so we had a strange midday feast on pasta and parmigiano. We continued to pack and clean for the rest of the afternoon, until it was time to get ready for Meg's big birthday dinner.
We headed across the Ponte Vecchio (one last time...) all dressed up in heels and dresses. Meg even had a light up crown. We attracted a lot of awkward attention on the way there, considering it was still daylight and we were strutting past Piazza della Republica in heels. Random Italians kept yelling at Meg "Oh, it's the Queen! You're the Queen!" We ate at Gold View, a super fancy restaurant that overlooks the Arno. It was stunning, and we had delicious food and obviously good wine. It was one last perfet meal shared with the best study abroad friends that have ever existed. Meg stood up to give a toast to "The Tigers," and this set off a chain of toasts around the table, most of which all of the girls cried through. It made us all realize how lucky we were to have each other in Florence. Most people don't go study abroad and find a huge family to share their experience with; especially not a family full of so many diverse personalities and upbringings. Every one of them surprised me this semester by not being anything I expected them to be. After this experience, we truly have one of the most unique bonds a group of friends could have. For the rest of our lives, when we think of the four months we spent in Italy no one else in the world will be able to relate besides the 13 of us. I'm so thankful for that.
After dinner, we did one last grand tour of our beautiful Firenze. This started with a photo-shoot on the Ponte Vecchio:
From there we headed back to Lion's Fountain so Meg could get her Dad a t-shirt and a "beer for the road." This is when the trail of goodbyes started. As we walked around the city, different people said their goodnights and goodbyes and trickled off to head home to their apartments. Now it was real. Fortunately for me, most of the first goodbyes I had to say were to real-life Tigers who I'll see in the fall or summer, so I managed to hold it together. After Lion's we stopped by Cafe Bigallo, another spot we frequented for cheap drinks from Giorgio in the beginning of the semester. It was actually the very first place we ever went out in Florence. Looks like everything comes full circle. After that, we felt it was essential to pay our respects to Astor. We hate this bar as much as it hates us, but a picture of myself and the Blondtourage out front was definitely necessary.
From there, we wandered back to my favorite piazza, Piazza della Republica, to dance in the streets and say goodbye. Toto also walked me around the corner to the Jersey Shore 4 cast's apartment! If I couldn't meet them, I was at least going to see their apartment. It was on the street that I walked on to get to class every single day! There was a security guard standing in the doorway otherwise I might have invited myself in. It was eventually time to go home, so we said goodbye to Eric & Toto and headed back to our cozy home on Via Faenza, 66. We sat in Jacqueline & Megan's room with a bottle of fancy champagne and had a slumber party. The intoxicated birthday girl even made a music video of herself rapping about her birthday. We attempted to stay up all night, but eventually took a little hour long nap until it was time to walk Alana to the train station. When we woke up, Alana was on the floor, I was in Meg's bed, and Meg was in...Amy's bed? Who would've thought she'd spend her birthday and last night in Florence passed out on the bed where the Wicked Witch of the West once slept? Jac and I walked Alana to the train station at 5:30 a.m. and that's when the waterworks started. The sun was rising, I was leaving in a few hours, and Alana was leaving. My entire concept of time and life and the fact that we were really all leaving was so thrown off. Jac and I got breakfast at the only cafe that was open this early, and then I said goodbye to my room, my roommates, and the city that became my home.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The Italian way of life
Update on the past 24 hours of my Italian life:
I woke up early so that Alana and I could go to Marcato Centrale and pick up some presents from our favorite cheese ladies and scarf man. We have become pros at negotiating cheap scarves. Then I had my Food & Wine Pairing final presentation. My group made pasta salad with eggplant, peas, and toasted walnuts in a really delicious lemon and olive oil dressing. Definitely bringing that recipe home. We had to cook that, make it look pretty on a presentation plate, and then pour the judges wine while giving a presentation about the type of wine and why we chose it to go with the food. I felt like I was on top chef or something.
After class I walked around for nearly three hours by myself shopping and taking pictures of all of my favorite places. Now that I realize I'm leaving, I'm much more aware of my surroundings. I really don't want to forget a single thing. I came home for another failed attempt at packing, when Alana and Eric called from Zanonbini, our favorite wine shop. They were already on glass two. Meg and I hurried down there and I had two delicious glasses of Prosecco (only 2.50!). We chatted with our favorite cute Italian bartender and had the other Italian guys in there help teach us Italian. "Posso avere un altro encorce?" is how you ask for a second glass of whatever you were drinking. After two glasses we ventured across the Arno to eat a really local Trattoria that Eric knew about. We seemed to be the only Americans in there and the food was so good. I had traditional tuscan ribollita, one of my favorites.
We left the restaurant and Alana & Eric went home while Meg & I went to Lion's Fountain for una birra. We made friends with a man from Holland and got free shots from Luca, one of the bartenders. I was so full from dinner I could barely finish my Bulmer's, so we took the rest of our beer for the road and wandered our way home drinking in the streets and loving our lives. We even stopped to say hi to our favorite gelato man, but didn't get gelato because we were so full.
Today was a perfect Italian day. No plans. No responsibilities. Spontaneous dinner. Speaking Italian at a local enoteca. I can't believe I really have to leave this all behind..
I woke up early so that Alana and I could go to Marcato Centrale and pick up some presents from our favorite cheese ladies and scarf man. We have become pros at negotiating cheap scarves. Then I had my Food & Wine Pairing final presentation. My group made pasta salad with eggplant, peas, and toasted walnuts in a really delicious lemon and olive oil dressing. Definitely bringing that recipe home. We had to cook that, make it look pretty on a presentation plate, and then pour the judges wine while giving a presentation about the type of wine and why we chose it to go with the food. I felt like I was on top chef or something.
After class I walked around for nearly three hours by myself shopping and taking pictures of all of my favorite places. Now that I realize I'm leaving, I'm much more aware of my surroundings. I really don't want to forget a single thing. I came home for another failed attempt at packing, when Alana and Eric called from Zanonbini, our favorite wine shop. They were already on glass two. Meg and I hurried down there and I had two delicious glasses of Prosecco (only 2.50!). We chatted with our favorite cute Italian bartender and had the other Italian guys in there help teach us Italian. "Posso avere un altro encorce?" is how you ask for a second glass of whatever you were drinking. After two glasses we ventured across the Arno to eat a really local Trattoria that Eric knew about. We seemed to be the only Americans in there and the food was so good. I had traditional tuscan ribollita, one of my favorites.
We left the restaurant and Alana & Eric went home while Meg & I went to Lion's Fountain for una birra. We made friends with a man from Holland and got free shots from Luca, one of the bartenders. I was so full from dinner I could barely finish my Bulmer's, so we took the rest of our beer for the road and wandered our way home drinking in the streets and loving our lives. We even stopped to say hi to our favorite gelato man, but didn't get gelato because we were so full.
Today was a perfect Italian day. No plans. No responsibilities. Spontaneous dinner. Speaking Italian at a local enoteca. I can't believe I really have to leave this all behind..
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
No such thing as too much gelato.
Today was a great day! Last night I was feeling too emotional about my nearing departure and couldn't study, so I was up at 7:00 a.m. to cram before my exam. I had Italian class and then my exam for History of the Catholic Church, which surprisingly wasn't has horrifying as I anticipated it to be. After my exam I got a gelato for lunch (healthy...) and went home to start prepping for packing.
An hour or two later I met up with Virginia and William to go to the Bobboli Gardens! We unfortunately had to wait in a long line of obnoxious tour groups (our fault for waiting until May to be touristy) but once we were inside it was so worth it. The gardens were beautiful, had a great view of the city, and the weather was beyond perfect. We walked around and eventually just laid in the shade talking and overlooking the Pitti Palace and our beautiful Firenze. Afterwards we met up with Ashley, got gelato (healthy second course of my lunch), and did a little bit of gift shopping. This was obviously all followed by a trip to Lion's Fountain. Couldn't go without our afternoon Bulmer's Cider. Luckily, Virginia lent me a "stamp" and I finally completed my Lion's card. WOO free-but-actually-really-expensive tshirt that says "I <3 Lion's Fountain!" Ain't it the truth.
Later tonight my roommates and I had our last official "Roomie Dinner." We went to Trattoria Anita, recommended by my Food & Wind Pairing professor, and it was so delicious. We got an asparagus and parmigiano appetizer, and I got ravioli rose. Perfecto! It was weird having our last real night out as roommates. We wandered home and took in the sights and the sounds and the people and even the obnoxious catcalls. Aside from those, I'm going to miss everything about this place, especially living above Hotel Monica on Via Faenza, 66 with these three:
An hour or two later I met up with Virginia and William to go to the Bobboli Gardens! We unfortunately had to wait in a long line of obnoxious tour groups (our fault for waiting until May to be touristy) but once we were inside it was so worth it. The gardens were beautiful, had a great view of the city, and the weather was beyond perfect. We walked around and eventually just laid in the shade talking and overlooking the Pitti Palace and our beautiful Firenze. Afterwards we met up with Ashley, got gelato (healthy second course of my lunch), and did a little bit of gift shopping. This was obviously all followed by a trip to Lion's Fountain. Couldn't go without our afternoon Bulmer's Cider. Luckily, Virginia lent me a "stamp" and I finally completed my Lion's card. WOO free-but-actually-really-expensive tshirt that says "I <3 Lion's Fountain!" Ain't it the truth.
Later tonight my roommates and I had our last official "Roomie Dinner." We went to Trattoria Anita, recommended by my Food & Wind Pairing professor, and it was so delicious. We got an asparagus and parmigiano appetizer, and I got ravioli rose. Perfecto! It was weird having our last real night out as roommates. We wandered home and took in the sights and the sounds and the people and even the obnoxious catcalls. Aside from those, I'm going to miss everything about this place, especially living above Hotel Monica on Via Faenza, 66 with these three:
Monday, May 9, 2011
Where did the time go?
I have four full days left in Florence. I'm in complete and utter disbelief. As excited I am to see my friends and family, and to indulge in American luxuries like super advanced, cutting-edge clothes dryer, I am not ready to leave at all.
Today, I had two finals (Social Psychology and International Marketing). Both went fine, I suppose, but school work is the last thing on my mind these days. I think it's the first time in my life I've ever been able to say that. My inner nerd kind of got cooler in Italy... Anyway, after my second final I ran into Mindy on our way out of Piazza Strozzi. We finished our exams at the exact same time. This is the universe's way of telling us that we need a beer from Lion's Fountain. Monday day drinking at Lion's has become a bit of a tradition in these last few days. We people watched and reminisced and enjoyed a delicious Harp from the best Irish Pub in Italy. I don't think I'll ever love a bar more than I love Lion's Fountain. I'm three stamps away from my "I <3 Lion's Fountain" t-shirt. Can't wait for it.
After going home to relax for a while, I went to the library to meet up with a friend from my class and study for my Tuesday final. We were both utterly lost and unmotivated. Remind me again why I thought I was capable of taking a history class with a bunch of artsy fartsy philosophy gurus? I would rather sit through Accounting five more times than study Renaissance Humanism. AHH.
I abandoned the library (and the studying) to go to Mama Gina's with Ashley, Virginia, Mindy, and Amelia. I had been dying to take them there ever since I went with Karen (and after all of the wonderful recommendations from my Aunties). Our waiter was the most adorable old Italian man who fell in love with us all and gave us a pretty nice discount on our meal. When we left, he told us Buonasera and said "Come back next time, I'll give you discount again." That's when I realized that "next time" won't be next week or next month or even next year. I have no idea when "next time" will be.
I walked home from dinner and got really, really sad about leaving. The Ponte Vecchio looked perfect and calm as it always does at night, and Piazza della Republica was all lit up with a cute little street band and people riding the carousel. I was feeling so nostalgic that I even convinced myself I was going to miss the sketchy Albanians who stand outside of their rip-off wine shops at night and try to convince me that they have the best student discount on 5 bottles of cheap wine. My time here went way too fast, and as much as I can convince myself that "I'll be back someday" someday won't be when I'm twenty years old with no responsibilities and and four months to embrace and an amazing group of friends to share it with.
I should be studying right now for this ridiculously irrelevant-to-my-future history class, but when I'm old, I don't think I'll care at all about this history class or my grade in it. I'll care about one of my last nights in Florence eating at Mama Gina's with our cute little waiter and smiling at the Italians hanging out in the Piazze living life in the carefree, beautiful way that they do.
Four days left to make the most of it. Here goes nothing.
Today, I had two finals (Social Psychology and International Marketing). Both went fine, I suppose, but school work is the last thing on my mind these days. I think it's the first time in my life I've ever been able to say that. My inner nerd kind of got cooler in Italy... Anyway, after my second final I ran into Mindy on our way out of Piazza Strozzi. We finished our exams at the exact same time. This is the universe's way of telling us that we need a beer from Lion's Fountain. Monday day drinking at Lion's has become a bit of a tradition in these last few days. We people watched and reminisced and enjoyed a delicious Harp from the best Irish Pub in Italy. I don't think I'll ever love a bar more than I love Lion's Fountain. I'm three stamps away from my "I <3 Lion's Fountain" t-shirt. Can't wait for it.
After going home to relax for a while, I went to the library to meet up with a friend from my class and study for my Tuesday final. We were both utterly lost and unmotivated. Remind me again why I thought I was capable of taking a history class with a bunch of artsy fartsy philosophy gurus? I would rather sit through Accounting five more times than study Renaissance Humanism. AHH.
I abandoned the library (and the studying) to go to Mama Gina's with Ashley, Virginia, Mindy, and Amelia. I had been dying to take them there ever since I went with Karen (and after all of the wonderful recommendations from my Aunties). Our waiter was the most adorable old Italian man who fell in love with us all and gave us a pretty nice discount on our meal. When we left, he told us Buonasera and said "Come back next time, I'll give you discount again." That's when I realized that "next time" won't be next week or next month or even next year. I have no idea when "next time" will be.
I walked home from dinner and got really, really sad about leaving. The Ponte Vecchio looked perfect and calm as it always does at night, and Piazza della Republica was all lit up with a cute little street band and people riding the carousel. I was feeling so nostalgic that I even convinced myself I was going to miss the sketchy Albanians who stand outside of their rip-off wine shops at night and try to convince me that they have the best student discount on 5 bottles of cheap wine. My time here went way too fast, and as much as I can convince myself that "I'll be back someday" someday won't be when I'm twenty years old with no responsibilities and and four months to embrace and an amazing group of friends to share it with.
I should be studying right now for this ridiculously irrelevant-to-my-future history class, but when I'm old, I don't think I'll care at all about this history class or my grade in it. I'll care about one of my last nights in Florence eating at Mama Gina's with our cute little waiter and smiling at the Italians hanging out in the Piazze living life in the carefree, beautiful way that they do.
Four days left to make the most of it. Here goes nothing.
The most beautiful place on earth
Ciao!
I just returned from my very last weekend trip of the semester :( The Amalfi Coast was definitely the best way to end it though. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been, and by far my favorite in this wonderful country. We left Thursday evening and took a bus there through a student travel agency, arrived in a small town called Sant'Agnello at 3:30 a.m. and headed straight to bed. Our hostel was really nice, and it was such a relief having the entire trip booked for us through this company. I got a break from playing travel agent and Mom to my fellow travelers.
Day 1 - CAPRI
We left our hostel at 7:25 a.m. (yes, after arriving that night at 3:30 a.m.) and walked down to the small marina in Sant'Agnello. There, we boarded a public ferry to the beautiful island of Capri. When we arrived we split up into smaller groups and boarded smaller boats to head to the Blue Grotto. The weather was perfect and the water was crystal clear.
To get into the Blue Grotto we had to board even tinier boats that only fit four people and our nice Italian rower man. Then we went under a tiny hole in the side of a rock and all had to lay down flat in the boat to keep from hitting our heads. The inside was so cool. The water was glowing blue and our rower man sang in Italian to us as he rowed us around. I love this country. After the Blue Grotto we got back on the medium sized boat and got a full circle tour of the Island of Capri. The scenery was unreal...I felt like I was imagining it all. The water was really choppy and our relaxing boat ride eventually turned into a roller coaster, but I didn't mind. We finally went back to the Marina Grande in Capri and headed up to the town's Centro. We wandered through the ritzy shopping areas and went inside this beautiful garden overlooking the ocean.
We then headed up to the town of Anacapri where we ate lunch and bought a few souvenirs. Unfortunately the only places to eat up there were incredibly touristy (pictures of food, obnoxious men telling you you get a special student deal with a drink and gelato, etc.) but we were so hungry that we didn't care. After shopping for a while we decided to head up to the "top of the world." We were told that a ski lift took you up there to see some amazing views. I don't know about you, but when I think ski lift I think two or three people on a chair, or a gondola that fits a ton. Apparently I am spoiled by Mountain Creek, because these were one person ski lifts. I'm not the biggest fan of heights unless I'm strapped into a roller coaster that goes too fast for me to notice how high up I am. This was going to be interesting. We got in line and before you knew it some Italian guy was pushing us down into a single person chair, throwing a very unreliable looking metal bar over us and sending us on our was up an enormous mountain. Minor panic attack ensues. I managed to distract myself from the sketchy looking ski chairs by taking a million pictures and talking to my friends on either side of me. We all traded cameras, and Meg took a few really cool shots for me:
The view was definitely worth the slow, rickety ride up the ski lift from the 1800's. We sat on the terrace and had a few beers while we basked in the sun and repeatedly asked ourselves if this was real life. America is going to pail in comparison.
After hanging out on the top of the world, we had to get all the way back down to the Marina Grande in Capri. We skipped the crowded public buses and opted for a CONVERTIBLE TAXI. Yep. And it was only 5 euro a person. We cruised down these cliffside windy roads with the top down. The driver even let us plug in Mindy's iPhone so we could blast Britney Spears and make completely American fools out of ourselves. Who can say they've ridden down the island of Capri in a convertible taxi singing Britney? We can.
We had a long journey back to Sant'Agnello where we opted to head out to dinner on our own. The big group was going into Sorrento for a group dinner, but we were too exhausted for that kind of wild socializing. Self-proclaimed grandmas right here. We found the only restaurant in Sant'Agnello, so it seemed. Luckily, this place was a not-so-hidden gem. Delicious and cheap. I have legitimately never seen food this cheap in my life. We feasted for less than fifteen euro each including drinks! While we were eating we watched a number of adorable Italian people come in to grab take out pizzas, something you never see in Florence. We also sat next to a couple from Australia who were road tripping through Europe for 3 months in a rental car. They were awesome and instantly became our best friends. After dinner we headed back to our hostel for a good night's sleep. More grandma time!
Day 2 - Positano
We got to sleep in a bit more today, and after breakfast we got on the bus and headed for the tiny town of Positano. It was a longer bus ride on these incredible winding roads, legitimately on the edge of a cliff. Cliffside driving in a charter bus. Check that one off the bucket list. We then walked approximately thirty minutes from the top of the town down to the beach, since the buses could not even fit on these tiny little streets. We headed straight for the beach and made ourselves comfy with panini, coronas, and Breezers. I hate when I fall in love with European delicacies so late in the game. Bacardi Breezers fall under this category. They make me feel like I'm reconnecting with the "sixteen year old not-so-stealthly drinking Smirnoff Ices" in me. I also bought a floppy hat because I forgot my 80spf sunblock and felt like 30 wouldn't do the trick. I may look silly but when you're 40 and have a lot of wrinkles you'll be jealous of me.
After a long day of drinking, napping, swimming, people watching, speedo spotting, sea glass collecting, and life-loving, we did a little bit of shopping before boarding the bus back to the hostel. I got a pair of sandals that were hand made from an adorable old man. He weaved the leather around and attached it to the sandal right in front of me, custom to my feet! So cool. We left this beautiful city all feeling like it's a place we'll surely return to...
That night, the hostel was hosting an overpriced pasta buffet for Bus2Alps, so we decided to venture off on our own again. Naturally, we landed at our new favorite restaurant for the second night in a row. If you are ever for some very odd reason in Sant'Agnello, Italy, you must eat here. While eating we ran into (guess who!?) our Australian best friends from the night before! They were just as guilty as we were. Pizzeria di Peppino two nights in a row! We chatted with them for a while and wished them well on their three month adventure. Meeting people like this is one of my favorite parts of traveling.
Day 3 - Pompei
We got up early on our last day in Southern Italy to check out of our hostel and head to the ancient (yet touristy) city of Pompei. As you probably know, it was covered with volcanic ash in 79AD from Mount Vesuvius and not discovered until over 1700 years later. Pretty crazy. We had quite the adventure wandering through the ruins of Pompei taking obnoxious pictures and trying to guess what things were. We found cool things like a giant bath (the ancient Romans liked to hottub too!) and an oven. It's insane that these things survived 6 meters of volcanic ash. This is what delirious American girls look like when they visit really serious, historically significant ancient cities:
We departed Pompei after lunch for a very long bus ride back to Florence. Luckily the bus was nice and it gave us a lot of time to get some studying done for final exams. I didn't think those really existed in Italy! The Amalfi Coast is by far my favorite place in Italy that I had the opportunity to visit. I can't imagine myself not going back there. Looking back on my pictures a part of me really thinks I dreamt it.
I just returned from my very last weekend trip of the semester :( The Amalfi Coast was definitely the best way to end it though. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been, and by far my favorite in this wonderful country. We left Thursday evening and took a bus there through a student travel agency, arrived in a small town called Sant'Agnello at 3:30 a.m. and headed straight to bed. Our hostel was really nice, and it was such a relief having the entire trip booked for us through this company. I got a break from playing travel agent and Mom to my fellow travelers.
Day 1 - CAPRI
We left our hostel at 7:25 a.m. (yes, after arriving that night at 3:30 a.m.) and walked down to the small marina in Sant'Agnello. There, we boarded a public ferry to the beautiful island of Capri. When we arrived we split up into smaller groups and boarded smaller boats to head to the Blue Grotto. The weather was perfect and the water was crystal clear.
Day 2 - Positano
We got to sleep in a bit more today, and after breakfast we got on the bus and headed for the tiny town of Positano. It was a longer bus ride on these incredible winding roads, legitimately on the edge of a cliff. Cliffside driving in a charter bus. Check that one off the bucket list. We then walked approximately thirty minutes from the top of the town down to the beach, since the buses could not even fit on these tiny little streets. We headed straight for the beach and made ourselves comfy with panini, coronas, and Breezers. I hate when I fall in love with European delicacies so late in the game. Bacardi Breezers fall under this category. They make me feel like I'm reconnecting with the "sixteen year old not-so-stealthly drinking Smirnoff Ices" in me. I also bought a floppy hat because I forgot my 80spf sunblock and felt like 30 wouldn't do the trick. I may look silly but when you're 40 and have a lot of wrinkles you'll be jealous of me.
Day 3 - Pompei
We got up early on our last day in Southern Italy to check out of our hostel and head to the ancient (yet touristy) city of Pompei. As you probably know, it was covered with volcanic ash in 79AD from Mount Vesuvius and not discovered until over 1700 years later. Pretty crazy. We had quite the adventure wandering through the ruins of Pompei taking obnoxious pictures and trying to guess what things were. We found cool things like a giant bath (the ancient Romans liked to hottub too!) and an oven. It's insane that these things survived 6 meters of volcanic ash. This is what delirious American girls look like when they visit really serious, historically significant ancient cities:
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
11 days left
Update on the past 24 hours of my Italian life that is dwindling away quickly...
Last night we (most of the Tigers) went out to eat at Acqua al Due. It's a really famous restaurant. They even have one in D.C. and San Diego, but obviously the Italian one is the best one. It's apparently where most famous people eat whenever the visit the city. It had a really great ambiance and I had delicious maccheroni alla vodka. It tasted way better than vodka sauce at home. After dinner we got gelato at Grom and walked around the city just loving our lives. We stopped in Piazza della Republica and had a few sentimental "oh my gosh we're leaving" moments. Then we made a fun game out of seeing how many annoying vendors came up to us trying to sell us useless crap. We had the flower man, the weird light up thing that flies man, the scarf man, the "come to my club tonight" man. Messing with them was quite entertaining. Sometimes we would interrogate them about how much they actually buy the flowers for, or Meg would grab the light up toys out of their hand and start playing with them like a little kid in the middle of the Piazza. Being able to just stand in a Piazza doing absolutely nothing with my friends just would never happen in America. Italian life is brilliant.
Today I had the first half of my Food & Wine exam. Afterwards I came home for a little rest and relaxation before heading out on a long walk around Florence. I went into a million stores until I found the souvenirs I was looking for. Even though the city is annoyingly packed with tourists right now, I am starting to appreciate it despite the craziness since I'm leaving so soon. I could really never get sick of walking past the Duomo...
Tonight we're having dinner at Quatro Leoni. I've never been there but everyone raves about it! I think I might gain 20 pounds in this last week alone since we're eating out virtually every night. Then we're having Tiger Wednesday at the boys' apartment and going to an outdoor club called Central Park!
Tomorrow afternoon I leave for the AMALFI COAST with Alana, Meg, and Mindy. I can't wait to see the Blue Grotto!
Ciao for now :)
Last night we (most of the Tigers) went out to eat at Acqua al Due. It's a really famous restaurant. They even have one in D.C. and San Diego, but obviously the Italian one is the best one. It's apparently where most famous people eat whenever the visit the city. It had a really great ambiance and I had delicious maccheroni alla vodka. It tasted way better than vodka sauce at home. After dinner we got gelato at Grom and walked around the city just loving our lives. We stopped in Piazza della Republica and had a few sentimental "oh my gosh we're leaving" moments. Then we made a fun game out of seeing how many annoying vendors came up to us trying to sell us useless crap. We had the flower man, the weird light up thing that flies man, the scarf man, the "come to my club tonight" man. Messing with them was quite entertaining. Sometimes we would interrogate them about how much they actually buy the flowers for, or Meg would grab the light up toys out of their hand and start playing with them like a little kid in the middle of the Piazza. Being able to just stand in a Piazza doing absolutely nothing with my friends just would never happen in America. Italian life is brilliant.
Today I had the first half of my Food & Wine exam. Afterwards I came home for a little rest and relaxation before heading out on a long walk around Florence. I went into a million stores until I found the souvenirs I was looking for. Even though the city is annoyingly packed with tourists right now, I am starting to appreciate it despite the craziness since I'm leaving so soon. I could really never get sick of walking past the Duomo...
Tonight we're having dinner at Quatro Leoni. I've never been there but everyone raves about it! I think I might gain 20 pounds in this last week alone since we're eating out virtually every night. Then we're having Tiger Wednesday at the boys' apartment and going to an outdoor club called Central Park!
Tomorrow afternoon I leave for the AMALFI COAST with Alana, Meg, and Mindy. I can't wait to see the Blue Grotto!
Ciao for now :)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Beginning of the End
Today it hit me that I'm going back to America in twelve days. TWELVE. I am not ready at all and am mentally preparing myself for the reverse culture shock. I've realized nearly all of my blog posts are about weekend trips, but I never write about the perfect Firenze days in between them all. My last two weeks will be documented thoroughly so that I don't forget a single thing :)
Yesterday I got out of class and ran into Mindy. She had just had a horrible class presentation and needed a beer. I never turn down an afternoon trip to Lion's Fountain, so I joined her and Ashley met up with us. We found ourselves sitting in Lion's for three hours drinking Bulmer's Cider (my favorite) and adding stamps to our Lion's cards so that we can get free t-shirts before we leave. Things like that...just running into a friend and grabbing a beer after class because we can...that's what I'm really going to miss. Life is so carefree here and even I might have trouble getting back into the swing of my always-too-busy-being-an-overachiever lifestyle.
Later that evening we all went to Reginella's for William's birthday dinner. We cheers-ed a few too many liters of vino to everything from William being 21 to Osama being dead. After that we had a classic night out: Lion's Fountain & Red Garter. I would say we should stray from these American bars, but they're too much fun. We met married couples in their late 20's from both Oregon and Toronto who got to relive their college years by hanging out with us. We even got the one lady to do a shot tower.
Today (12 days from my departure) I skipped class, just because I can. I hadn't used all of my allowed absences, so I figured I deserved a day to clean my room and souvenir shop at the market. Virginia and I had lunch at Antico Noe (most delicious sandwiches ever) and then to work off our sandwiches we climbed over 400 steps to the top of the Duomo Bell Tower! We got lucky that there was no line. At one point the stairwell got crowded and I got violated by a few Italian men, as well as knocked over by a really big nun. Good times. Luckily, the view was worth all of the stairwell turmoil:
Yesterday I got out of class and ran into Mindy. She had just had a horrible class presentation and needed a beer. I never turn down an afternoon trip to Lion's Fountain, so I joined her and Ashley met up with us. We found ourselves sitting in Lion's for three hours drinking Bulmer's Cider (my favorite) and adding stamps to our Lion's cards so that we can get free t-shirts before we leave. Things like that...just running into a friend and grabbing a beer after class because we can...that's what I'm really going to miss. Life is so carefree here and even I might have trouble getting back into the swing of my always-too-busy-being-an-overachiever lifestyle.
Later that evening we all went to Reginella's for William's birthday dinner. We cheers-ed a few too many liters of vino to everything from William being 21 to Osama being dead. After that we had a classic night out: Lion's Fountain & Red Garter. I would say we should stray from these American bars, but they're too much fun. We met married couples in their late 20's from both Oregon and Toronto who got to relive their college years by hanging out with us. We even got the one lady to do a shot tower.
Today (12 days from my departure) I skipped class, just because I can. I hadn't used all of my allowed absences, so I figured I deserved a day to clean my room and souvenir shop at the market. Virginia and I had lunch at Antico Noe (most delicious sandwiches ever) and then to work off our sandwiches we climbed over 400 steps to the top of the Duomo Bell Tower! We got lucky that there was no line. At one point the stairwell got crowded and I got violated by a few Italian men, as well as knocked over by a really big nun. Good times. Luckily, the view was worth all of the stairwell turmoil:
I'm really going to miss this city...
EuroTigers
This past weekend was a perfect replication of a weekend in Clemson. Only in Europe! I flew out to Brussels to stay with Danielle (one of my sorority sisters) and Tricia (my best orientation ambassador friend). They're both studying at Clemson's satellite campus in Belgium with 30 other Clemson students. They all live in a hotel together, so this hotel has basically been transformed into a frat house.
Day One
I had a miraculous day of traveling on Thursday. I got to the Florence airport to find my flight was delayed. I had a connection in Munich, and due to the delay would be missing my connection. I would then be arriving in Brussels lord knows when. I also had no way to get in touch with Tricia since she doesn't have a phone, and I didn't have internet. Panic. I ran to Luftansa desk and demanded they put me on an earlier flight. Luckily there was room, but it was leaving in less than 20 minutes. In true Italian fashion they slowly clicked through their computer screen, casually asking if I preferred window or aisle, and if I minded that there wouldn't be a meal on this earlier flight. I DON'T CARE GIVE ME MY BOARDING PASS. I legitimately sprinted, cut the entire security line, and made it to the gate just as they were about to finish boarding. I then flew to Munich, and from Munich to Brussels. At this point the airport information desks are all closed down, I could not read the dutch on the train ticket machines, and I could not figure out which train was going where. I got on the first train I saw praying it would take me to Brussels Centraal. Luckily, it did, and I never got checked for a ticket. Yay, free train ride! From there I navigated the meto and arrived in front of the girls' hotel, noticing an open window full of drunk college students. Found them!
I was immediately greeted with drinks in a room packed with other Tigers. I changed quickly and we headed out to Celtica, their favorite local bar. It was a pub downstairs, and a mini club upstairs. The beer was so good and so cheap. It made me freak out a little when I realized I pay 5 euro for beer at Lion's Fountain. We danced and took a Clemson photo shoot until heading to the second bar: a karaoke bar. Am I in Clemson? Is it TDs Tuesday? We took over the bar and the Belgians didn't even seem to mind. Every American song you can think of was sang, and Tricia and I even got to sing our favorite Mariah Carey summer classic. I literally felt like I was in downtown Clemson again. Home sweet home.
Day Two
We got up the next day and headed out to do touristy things in Brussels. Luckily, it was their last weekend there so they wanted to go souvenir shopping and do as many touristy things as possible. We went to Grand Place, a beautiful square in the center of the city. I got my first Belgian waffle which really is everything it's cracked up to be. So unhealthy and so good. We did some souvenir shopping, saw the famous Mannequin Pis (the little peeing guy who is famous for no apparent reason) and got some Belgian frites. Best french fries I have ever tasted. I almost think Belgium might be a more fattening country than Italy. Never thought that was possible. We also visited the Atomium, this crazy looking structure that was built for an exhibit and never moved.
After the Atomium we ate dinner in the girls' hotel room and went out for beers at Delirium! It's a famous bar in Brussels that has over 2,000 types of beer. It was so packed but such a fun atmosphere. I got pear-flavored beer which was delicious! We turned in early this night since we were getting up at 7:30 a.m. the next morning to head to AMSTERDAM!
Day 3 - Koninginnedag 2011
In other words, Queen's Day 2011! Queen's Day is a huge national holiday in Holland to celebrate the Queen's birthday. It is basically a gigantic street party throughout the city with concerts, vendors, and people decked out in orange. In true Clemson fashion, we all met in the lobby bright and early decked out in our gameday best. We boarded a 3 hour train to Amsterdam, and took over a whole compartment with Clemson students. We even came equipped with cups and necessary ingredients for "screwmosas." That's a screwdriver and a mimosa combined. Pre-gaming on a train. Never thought I'd do that in my lifetime.
We arrived in Amsterdam to see the streets flooded with crazy Dutch people in orange. The city was really charming and beautiful, but it was a bit difficult to get the true gist of it when it was so crowded with orange. We did Clemson proud today.
The entire day consisted of wandering, eating, drinking, dancing, singing, and observing the wild and crazy culture of the city of Amsterdam. I don't even know where the time went, because within hours it was time to head back to the train to Brussels. I took a lovely three hour nap on the train which was the perfect remedy to the crazy day I experienced.
Day 4
My last day in Brussels we wandered the city a bit more and I bought some Belgian chocolates to bring home to my roomies. We got lunch and then relaxed the rest of the day while the girls started to pack up their stuff! They leave a week before I do. It made the fact that I'm leaving so soon a scary reality :/ I got home to Florence safe and sound after a great Clemmy-filled weekend!
Day One
I had a miraculous day of traveling on Thursday. I got to the Florence airport to find my flight was delayed. I had a connection in Munich, and due to the delay would be missing my connection. I would then be arriving in Brussels lord knows when. I also had no way to get in touch with Tricia since she doesn't have a phone, and I didn't have internet. Panic. I ran to Luftansa desk and demanded they put me on an earlier flight. Luckily there was room, but it was leaving in less than 20 minutes. In true Italian fashion they slowly clicked through their computer screen, casually asking if I preferred window or aisle, and if I minded that there wouldn't be a meal on this earlier flight. I DON'T CARE GIVE ME MY BOARDING PASS. I legitimately sprinted, cut the entire security line, and made it to the gate just as they were about to finish boarding. I then flew to Munich, and from Munich to Brussels. At this point the airport information desks are all closed down, I could not read the dutch on the train ticket machines, and I could not figure out which train was going where. I got on the first train I saw praying it would take me to Brussels Centraal. Luckily, it did, and I never got checked for a ticket. Yay, free train ride! From there I navigated the meto and arrived in front of the girls' hotel, noticing an open window full of drunk college students. Found them!
I was immediately greeted with drinks in a room packed with other Tigers. I changed quickly and we headed out to Celtica, their favorite local bar. It was a pub downstairs, and a mini club upstairs. The beer was so good and so cheap. It made me freak out a little when I realized I pay 5 euro for beer at Lion's Fountain. We danced and took a Clemson photo shoot until heading to the second bar: a karaoke bar. Am I in Clemson? Is it TDs Tuesday? We took over the bar and the Belgians didn't even seem to mind. Every American song you can think of was sang, and Tricia and I even got to sing our favorite Mariah Carey summer classic. I literally felt like I was in downtown Clemson again. Home sweet home.
Day Two
We got up the next day and headed out to do touristy things in Brussels. Luckily, it was their last weekend there so they wanted to go souvenir shopping and do as many touristy things as possible. We went to Grand Place, a beautiful square in the center of the city. I got my first Belgian waffle which really is everything it's cracked up to be. So unhealthy and so good. We did some souvenir shopping, saw the famous Mannequin Pis (the little peeing guy who is famous for no apparent reason) and got some Belgian frites. Best french fries I have ever tasted. I almost think Belgium might be a more fattening country than Italy. Never thought that was possible. We also visited the Atomium, this crazy looking structure that was built for an exhibit and never moved.
Day 3 - Koninginnedag 2011
In other words, Queen's Day 2011! Queen's Day is a huge national holiday in Holland to celebrate the Queen's birthday. It is basically a gigantic street party throughout the city with concerts, vendors, and people decked out in orange. In true Clemson fashion, we all met in the lobby bright and early decked out in our gameday best. We boarded a 3 hour train to Amsterdam, and took over a whole compartment with Clemson students. We even came equipped with cups and necessary ingredients for "screwmosas." That's a screwdriver and a mimosa combined. Pre-gaming on a train. Never thought I'd do that in my lifetime.
We arrived in Amsterdam to see the streets flooded with crazy Dutch people in orange. The city was really charming and beautiful, but it was a bit difficult to get the true gist of it when it was so crowded with orange. We did Clemson proud today.
Day 4
My last day in Brussels we wandered the city a bit more and I bought some Belgian chocolates to bring home to my roomies. We got lunch and then relaxed the rest of the day while the girls started to pack up their stuff! They leave a week before I do. It made the fact that I'm leaving so soon a scary reality :/ I got home to Florence safe and sound after a great Clemmy-filled weekend!
Czech It Out! Easter in Prague
Sorry I suck at updating this! But anyway, it's official: Prague is my favorite city. I spent our extended Easter weekend there with Virginia and Amelia, and completely fell in love with the city. The incredible weather might have played a big part in that, but it's somewhere I'll definitely be going back to at some point in my life. We had a very non-stressful day of traveling on Thursday, and arrived at our hostel around 11:00 p.m. We stayed at the Mosaic House, and if you're ever in Prague, you must stay here. It's a hotel, hostel, bar, music venue, restaurant, and best of all, owned by two CLEMSON alums :) These two guys David and Daniel who graduated in 2005 moved to Prague, found some investors, and five years later are running Prague's top rated hostel. It's incredible. When we showed up the place was packed with people drinking delicious Czech beer and listening to live music. We sat and had our very first Czech beers (Pilsner Urquell) and Greek salads. It was literally the best beer I've ever tasted. And it only costs 38 czk (less than 2 euro!!) We went to bed early that night so that we would be fully energized for sight seeing the next day.
Day 1
We got up early and headed out to explore the city. Every corner we turned, we were taking pictures of buildings. Literally every building in Prague is beautiful. The architecture is so different than the yellow with green shutters Italian standard that we've grown so accustomed to. We headed to Old Town Square, where the Easter markets were all set up. There were tons of adorable little stands selling souvenirs, traditional Czech food, and these beautiful hand-painted Easter eggs. From there we got breakfast at Bohemia Bagel. It was everything I dreamed of. A real bagel. It somehow tasted a million times better than any Italian pastry ever could at this point. Total comfort food. After obsessing over our bagels, we headed to the famous Charles Bridge. It was packed with tourists and street vendors, but it had an amazing view of both sides of the river including the Prague Castle. From the bridge, we ventured to the opposite side of the river to find the John Lennon wall. Apparently after he died, someone painted a huge picture of him on this wall. Ever since it's been painted over, but it has become the ideal spot for tourists like us to take cheesy pictures:
From there we hopped on the metro to Vysrehad to discover some of Virginia's insane family history in Prague. Her great great great Grandfather was the mayor of one of the sections of Prague, and a famous diplomat in the city. He's buried in a cemetery that is referred to as the "Who's Who" of important people in Prague. It was full of elaborate graves with really important looking people, and we were able to find her great great great Grandfather! Judging by his grave, he was a pretty important guy. The cemetery and church were next to a beautiful park with a view of the city, so we wandered around there and had another delicious Pilsner Urquell at a little restaurant. We headed back to the hostel to shower and regroup before going out to dinner. Happy again to be in a country with diverse cuisine, we skipped traditional zech for another homey comfort: Mexican. Not only did we eat at an amazingly authentic restaurant in a completely residential, tourist-free neighborhood, but I also got two frozen margaritas. In other words, I was in heaven. After dinner we decided to just go back to the Mosaic House to have a beer and listen to the band.
Day 2
We got up with intentions of taking a free tour, but it was too crowded and the guide was kind of annoying, so we adventured off on our own instead. We walked across the river and up to Prague Castle. We somehow managed to walk in backwards, and did the entire tour of the place in reverse order. We literally went in the exit and went out the entrance. After hiking up a fairly strenuous hill we found an incredible view from a mini-vineyard that overlooked the entire city:
We walked from there to the castle grounds where we visited three parts of the castle. The first was Katedrala sv. Vita, or St. Vitus's Cathedral. It was the most interesting church I've seen in Europe so far. It was obviously enormous, and was surrounded on both sides by these little alcoves, each with different stained glass windows. It was so beautiful. After the Cathedral, we visited inside the Old Royal Palace, and saw old government meeting rooms that we like to think V's great great great grandfather used to attend important meetings in. Lastly, we visited the small Basilica on the castle grounds which was much more Medieval. After exploring the castle we headed down the hill to the other Bohemia Bagel for lunch. They even had hummus. Too good to be true. After lunch we wandered the city a bit more and then took naps at the hostel so we could make it out that night. We also got to meet David, one of the owners of Mosaic House who we talked to for about an hour about Clemson and his life in Prague. He and his wife (high school sweethearts from South Carolina, aww) moved here five years ago and now they're having a baby in four weeks! They're even naming her a traditional Czech name since tehy have intentions of staying in Prague indefinitely. So cool. We ate dinner at the hotel bar and headed out for the night. We made best friends with a few of the hotel receptionists who knew us as "The South Carolina Girls," so our new friend Luis recommended a place called Harley's. We didn't even make the American connection to the name until we got there and found ourselves in a motorcycle-themed American bar that literally only played Queen and Journey. After a few cocktails we adventured down the street to find a place that David told us about. These were his only instructions: "It's a secret bar that was converted from a 2nd floor flat in an apartment building. You have to find white archways, go to the second floor, ring the bell, and wait until a light shines on you so they can look at you and decide if they want to let you in or not." We figured it was a long shot finding it, and even asked a few people on the street who had no idea what we were talking about. We eventually found white archways and wandered into a very sketchy looking courtyard in the pitch black. A man asked if we needed help and luckily he understood us when we awkwardly mumbled "we're looking for a secret bar?" He pointed us toward the stairwell and we luckily made it to the doorbell without getting killed. We then walked into the coolest bar I have ever seen in my life (and will probably ever see for the rest of my life). It was a gigantic old flat with a small bar, a big stage with a DJ, and a ton of trendy couches with trendy Czech people hanging out. Behind the DJ there was a projector screen with a slideshow of really whacky vintage photos, and they played all Czech music (including a Czech rendition of "Hit The Road Jack"). We didn't want to look like Americans so we couldn't take pictures, but I really wish there was a way to more vividly explain this place. It was unreal. We were casually chatting when I was awkwardly approached 8th grade dance style by a guy who said his friend wanted to dance with me. Considering there were no people on the dance floor, I suggested he bring his friend over. His response to this was bringing eight of his friends over. We were suddenly bombarded by two Portugese, one Italian, one Vietnamese, one Spaniard, one Irishman, and two others whose nationality I cannot remember. They all went to high school in Switzerland together, and one of them is doing his masters in Prague, so they all came to visit. They were quite the characters, and it took about 20 minutes until they got really creepy so we "went to the bathroom" and left for the night. Sorry boys.
Day 3
Happy Easter! We slept in and got free breakfast at our hotel from David (aw, Clemson family). Then we took the train to the church where Virginia's great grandparents were married. We were hoping to go to a full mass, but since we couldn't figure out the service times we showed up towards the end, right before communion. It was still cool to see the inside of this church. It was very traditional and was in a small, local neighborhood. It was fun to dodge the tourists for the day. From there we went back to a park down the street from our hostel and had a picnic with apples, pretzels, and granola bars. Everything in Prague is so cheap so we each stocked up on a lifetime supply of granola bars to get us through the next 20 days. After our picnic in the park we took the tram up to the famous Monastery at the top of Petrin Hill. Or so we thought. We found ourselves wandering through beautiful gardens, with a view of this beautiful church which we assumed was the monastery. We kept going "Wow, that monastery is so amazing" until we walked straight into a very familiar square. We were at Prague Castle. Again. We managed to walk in backwards. Again. We were staring at the exact same cathedral we toured the day earlier. Whoops. After laughing at ourselves for a good twenty minutes we finally found the monastery. The monastery was more like a huge estate with several buildings, and there were choir singers and organ players practicing for Easter Monday mass inside of this beautiful little church. We wandered through the gardens of the monastery stopping to bask in the sun every once in a while. There were amazing views from the top of Petrin hill. Prague is definitely a city of a million amazing views. From there we headed to a beer garden that David recommended. He said it's where Czechs hang out at least three or four times a week after work. It's basically this enormous park full of trees and picnic tables, overlooking the entire city of Prague. Not to mention, Pilsners are only 33 czk. That's not even 1.50 euro. Can I stay here forever?
We were surrounded by Czechs drinking beer, playing guitar, and even smoking questionable substances in public. We felt pretty cool hanging out up there with all of the locals. After two beers we got pretty hungry, so we headed down to Old Town Square and ate a traditional Czech meal at a restaurant called Lokal. The waitress barely spoke English, and there was not a single other tourist in the place. The food was delicious. I had lemon chicken with spinach and mashed potatoes. Of course, accompanied with another yummy Czech beer.
Unfortunately, that was our last beer in Prague. We had to leave our hotel at 5:00 a.m. the next morning to make our flight in time, so we went to sleep and said goodbye to our new favorite city.
Until next time, Praha..
Day 1
We got up early and headed out to explore the city. Every corner we turned, we were taking pictures of buildings. Literally every building in Prague is beautiful. The architecture is so different than the yellow with green shutters Italian standard that we've grown so accustomed to. We headed to Old Town Square, where the Easter markets were all set up. There were tons of adorable little stands selling souvenirs, traditional Czech food, and these beautiful hand-painted Easter eggs. From there we got breakfast at Bohemia Bagel. It was everything I dreamed of. A real bagel. It somehow tasted a million times better than any Italian pastry ever could at this point. Total comfort food. After obsessing over our bagels, we headed to the famous Charles Bridge. It was packed with tourists and street vendors, but it had an amazing view of both sides of the river including the Prague Castle. From the bridge, we ventured to the opposite side of the river to find the John Lennon wall. Apparently after he died, someone painted a huge picture of him on this wall. Ever since it's been painted over, but it has become the ideal spot for tourists like us to take cheesy pictures:
Day 2
We got up with intentions of taking a free tour, but it was too crowded and the guide was kind of annoying, so we adventured off on our own instead. We walked across the river and up to Prague Castle. We somehow managed to walk in backwards, and did the entire tour of the place in reverse order. We literally went in the exit and went out the entrance. After hiking up a fairly strenuous hill we found an incredible view from a mini-vineyard that overlooked the entire city:
Day 3
Happy Easter! We slept in and got free breakfast at our hotel from David (aw, Clemson family). Then we took the train to the church where Virginia's great grandparents were married. We were hoping to go to a full mass, but since we couldn't figure out the service times we showed up towards the end, right before communion. It was still cool to see the inside of this church. It was very traditional and was in a small, local neighborhood. It was fun to dodge the tourists for the day. From there we went back to a park down the street from our hostel and had a picnic with apples, pretzels, and granola bars. Everything in Prague is so cheap so we each stocked up on a lifetime supply of granola bars to get us through the next 20 days. After our picnic in the park we took the tram up to the famous Monastery at the top of Petrin Hill. Or so we thought. We found ourselves wandering through beautiful gardens, with a view of this beautiful church which we assumed was the monastery. We kept going "Wow, that monastery is so amazing" until we walked straight into a very familiar square. We were at Prague Castle. Again. We managed to walk in backwards. Again. We were staring at the exact same cathedral we toured the day earlier. Whoops. After laughing at ourselves for a good twenty minutes we finally found the monastery. The monastery was more like a huge estate with several buildings, and there were choir singers and organ players practicing for Easter Monday mass inside of this beautiful little church. We wandered through the gardens of the monastery stopping to bask in the sun every once in a while. There were amazing views from the top of Petrin hill. Prague is definitely a city of a million amazing views. From there we headed to a beer garden that David recommended. He said it's where Czechs hang out at least three or four times a week after work. It's basically this enormous park full of trees and picnic tables, overlooking the entire city of Prague. Not to mention, Pilsners are only 33 czk. That's not even 1.50 euro. Can I stay here forever?
Unfortunately, that was our last beer in Prague. We had to leave our hotel at 5:00 a.m. the next morning to make our flight in time, so we went to sleep and said goodbye to our new favorite city.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The luck of the Irish
Hi Everyone!
It's Tuesday and I've spent the last two days recovering from my trip to IRELAND. This is going to be a long blog post, because I am now officially Ireland obsessed and I want to be sure I remember every detail. It's such a beautiful country and gave me a new appreciation for both my heritage and for beer. Here we go:
Day 1
I left for the Bologna airport immediately after my Italian class Thursday morning, on my first real solo journey in Europe aside from my initial trip from the U.S. After my 35 euro Ryanair debacle last weekend, I somehow managed to pack for the entire weekend in my Longchamp bag. This is the bag usually used only to carry my laptop and a few thin notebooks. I'm now a self-proclaimed packing extraordinaire. My day of traveling was very easy, and it was surprisingly really nice to travel alone. When we're in a big group I constantly feel like we're stressed and rushing. Someone has to use the bathroom, someone needs a water, someone gets stuck at security, someone walks fast, someone walks slow, you know the drill. Normally, I love airports, so getting to travel alone again made me feel like I was just hopping on a plane back to Clemson like always. AND I finally got an Italian stamp on my passport since I was leaving the EU. Very exciting! I landed in the Dublin airport to the refreshing sound of THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Don't get me wrong, Italian is beautiful, but English sounded so good. And especially in those cute Irish accents that I love so much. I took a bus from the airport to the city center where I spent a good twenty minutes getting lost looking for my hostel. It was thankfully really nice. Definitely the nicest I've ever stayed in before, even for my first 10-person dorm experience. I was hoping to meet lots of other young people in the hostel, but unfortunately there were only two girls in my whole dorm the first night, and neither of them spoke English. I was too excited to see the city to try to make friends, so I dropped my bags and wandered off with my map in hand.
I was staying on O'Connell street, which is the main shopping street north of the River Liffey. I crossed the river and headed in the direction of the Temple Bar district. Wow. It was around 7 p.m. and this place was already packed. Only in Ireland. There were great street performers that I stopped and watched for a while and then grabbed a quick sandwich for dinner and walked around some more. I immediately felt comfortable and at home walking around Dublin. It's definitely not as architecturally stunning or original as most European cities, but it's incredibly laid-back and homey. I might have freaked out being alone in Paris or Barcelona, but in Dublin I never felt nervous. I window shopped and got my bearings on the city until it got dark. Then I got a (really bad) ice cream...yeah, this is going to be a problem when I go back to gelato-devoid America....and sat by the river taking pictures for a while. Then I headed back to the hostel in hopes of finding some other 20-something backpacking students, but unfortunately there was only a huge group of 50-year-old English men and a huge group of 14-year-old Italian school kids. Figures. I was exhausted anyway, and decided it would be best to go to bed early and get the most out of my next day.
Day 2
I got up early and got hostel breakfast. I was the only English speaker in the entire restaurant. So many Italians. I can't escape them. I got a bunch of information from the front desk, and then headed back across the River Liffey to meet for a free tour. I did one through the same company in Paris and it was really interesting even though we didn't stay for the whole thing since we were pressed for time. I figured this would be the perfect thing to do since I had a whole day to kill until Meg got in later that night. My tour guide's name was Mick and he was my age and hysterically Irish. He kept us laughing the entire time and was so knowledgable about Irish history. And very passionately Irish. He made it clear that he hated British people. At the beginning of the tour he made us say where we were from and there were two girls from South Carolina. I asked them where and they asked me at the same time where in New Jersey I was from. Turns out they grew up their entire lives in Hilton Head, but moved to New Jersey a few years ago. One of them is dating a guy who graduated from Vernon the year before me, and they knew a ton of people at Clemson. Small world! Mick took us inside of the Dublin City Hall, where he told us about the beginning of Irish history. Fun fact: the national Irish symbol is the harp, and when they started getting a reputation for being alcoholics, the government ordered Guinness to change their logo. Guinness responded by simply flipping the logo, so the Guinness harp and the Irish harp are mirror images of one another. We moved from there to the Dublin Castle, most of which burnt down and was rebuilt in the 1800's, so it looks more like a college campus in the South than a castle. He then walked us around the Temple Bar and showed us a few great places to go out. We then moved onto Trinity College, which was unfortunately having their "Grand Ball" later that night so there were trucks and tents up everywhere, but it was still nice to enjoy another homey American comfort: a college campus! We then learned about a few of the museums and went to St. Stephen's Green, which was (surprise, surprise) so green! It felt like Bowman :) If you can't tell, Ireland made me really nostalgic. At St. Stephen's he told us all about the Potato Famine, and how Irish people don't consider it to be a famine, they consider it to be a genocide. 1.5 million people died, and 1.5 million people immigrated to the U.S. Other countries were apparently sending ships of food to Ireland to help, and the British blockaded those ships so that the Irish could have no means to live by. It was cool to learn about so much Irish history throughout the tour, and I normally hate history so that's saying a lot. Oh, and I forgot to mention that this was all going on in perfect weather. So ha! to all of the people who laughed at Meg and I when we said we wanted to go to Ireland, because it never rained :)
After the tour I went to the National Library, where Mick told us we could look up our genealogy in the national database. I wish I had had an older family member with me, because there were so many McEntee's that I had no idea who was who. There was an Elizabeth and several Johns, so perhaps I stumbled upon a few direct ancestors!? I left the library and wandered around the Grafton Street area where I took in the sights and went gift shopping. I eventually found myself back in Temple Bar with still a few hours to kill until Meg arrived, so I decided to really tap into my Irish roots by walking into a bar and drinking a Guinness. Solo. I felt like an old man. But there was great live music, a great atmosphere, and since I hadn't eaten since the bilingual hostel breakfast, I was kind of drunk. I headed straight across the street to the first place I saw to get a wrap and regain some stability. Drunk by myself in a foreign country at 4 p.m. At least it was almost 5 o'clock? I headed home and took a long, much needed nap until Meg called for directions to the hostel. I met up with her in the lobby, so happy to finally have a friend in Ireland with me! Then we started to get ready for our first night out when tragedy struck. Ireland has different voltage than the rest of Europe. Any of you who know me well enough know what I'm getting at...my straightener wouldn't work. So, this is a disclaimer to all of you who see my pictures and wonder why I'm sporting the eurofro for the entirety of my trip. This only gives me an excuse to go back to Ireland some day and take better pictures with an appropriately tamed lion's mane.
Meg went out and got dinner at a great place in Temple Bar. By this time I had unfortunately started to feel like I had a fever and a sore throat, so I got really good soup to make me feel better. We had a big plan of 5 different bars that my book suggested, and mapped out our routes for the entire night. The first stop was at the Porterhouse. This was also our last stop because we had way too much fun there and couldn't leave. So much for that! The bouncer at the door noticed we were American so he asked for our I.D.'s as a joke and told us it was 21+. For about five seconds we believed him and got really mad. Silly Irish man. We got Irish beers and wandered this huge, four-story bar until we found a suitable place to sit. This place was so crowded and for once we didn't see a ton of other American girls. All Europeans. We sat with a couple from Holland and were quickly joined by a group of too-old-for-us guys from Manchester. We ended up sitting at this table the entire night because we had so much fun! Meg was proposed to by the creepy one in the weird shirt, and I bonded all night with a married 38-year old who gave me great hope for the future when he complimented my conversation skills and reassured me that there are guys out there who like smart girls over bimbos. Phew. But why are you eighteen years older than me and married and from England? We talked with the Brits and the Dutch about our thoughts on Ireland, American football, college, Obama, and every other typical conversation topic that always comes up between different cultures. After our Irish beers, Meg and I switched over to American beers. They don't have them in Italy, and a Coors Light sounded too good to pass up. We got a lot of abuse from the British guys about our beer selection, but it was worth it for the taste of home. We didn't leave until the bar literally kicked us out, and by that time we were both exhausted and headed back to our hostel for a quick nap before getting up at 6:30 a.m. to leave for the West Coast the following morning.
Day 3
After our short night of sleep we headed to the bus stop to catch the 7:45 a.m. bus to Galway. We slept the entire ride, which I now kind of regret since we probably passed a lot of really cool, green places, but I was feeling even more feverish than the day before and really needed the rest. We got to Galway and boarded another bus with this adorable old man named John who took us on a tour of Galway and the countryside. He told us all about Galway history as he drove us around, and then we headed around Galway Bay out into the countryside. The countryside was by far my favorite part of Ireland. It's so beautiful and quaint. We drove through several villages, making a few stops at castles, beaches, and little town centers along the way to take pictures. Here's just a preview of what our bus ride looked like:
We eventually headed out of the Galway area and into County Clare! I was so excited since I had no idea that's where we were even going, so I got Nana a postcard to show her that I was in "her" county. We drove up what is called "The Burren" which is this amazing hilly area the leads up to the Cliffs of Moher. There are a bunch of tiny villages spread throughout the Burren, all filled with beautiful houses (ideally one which me and my Irish husband will purchase and live in during our old age) that overlook what is probably the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Look through my facebook album for pictures of it, but none of them do it any justice. It's something you have to experience yourself.
Our ride up the Burren eventually lead us to the Cliffs of Moher. This was the most incredible place I've ever seen in my life. I thought the mountains in Gran Canaria were cool. They're not. At least not in comparison to this:
This picture still doesn't do it justice. Meg and I wandered around the Cliffs for about an hour in pure amazement. If it was warmer and less windy I could've stayed there forever. The bus ride home was very long and we slept through most of it. We had to wait around in Galway for about an hour to get the bus back to Dublin so we went into a bar the ended up being completely American themed. Signs about Texas, rebel flags, PBR cans. Ah, more comforts of home. They even had Meg's beloved Bud Light that she's been desperately searching for since we got to Europe. We got to see a bit of the Galway city center as well, which is a really great town full of young up-and-comers. We boarded the bus back to Dublin and got in a good 2-hour nap to gear up for another night out in Dublin.
We went out already feeling exhausted, and we both had wet hair due to the voltage issue, but we figured we're only in Ireland once (that better not actually be the case) and had to make the most of it. Our first stop was at a bar called The Celt right down the street from our hostel. There was great live music and we got Irish beer since the place was full of locals. After our beer we kept wandering and as we passed a very average-looking pub that we would have easily overlooked, I heard something that was too good to be true. Live music. I've Got Friends In Low Places. Tons of drunk Irish people singing country music. I nearly died and dragged Meg right in there while I was beaming of pure joy and singing along. We got another beer and ended up staying until the musician was done playing for the night. We had been sitting right next to his adorable old Dad the entire night and didn't even realize it, so the musician sat down with us and his Dad and we all talked for a really long time. They were Dublin natives and so nice! They told us all about things we should do while we're here and just gave us the greatest overall impression of this country and its people. After we left this bar we were on a mission to get to the one place we had actually planned on going that night: The Brazen Head. It's Ireland's oldest pub so we figured it had to be cool. The thing about Ireland is that it runs a bit more similarly to American time. People go home and sleep at a decent hour. We were in Barcelona last weekend, so we were a bit thrown off when the Brazen Head was closing down around 1 a.m. when we arrived. Fortunately, the owners saw us and how drunkenly upset we were that it was closed, and gave us a mini personal tour of the place. They had one room that was completely covered in American dollar bills and American police badges! I took a picture of a Bergen County one that was right next to a Charleston one. The owners were great, and they immediately sensed that Meg and I "had Irish blood." As soon as we dropped the names McNulty and McEntee he nearly died. He was such a nice old man and told us to come back tomorrow, but sadly this was my last night. From there we headed to the famous Temple Bar, one place we knew would not be closed. It was so crowded but there was even more awesome live music so we had a great time. In true Irish fashion we stumbled all of the way across the river and back to our hostel where we finally got a great night of sleep.
Day 4
This was my last day, and the first time that I've traveled somewhere and literally wasn't ready to leave. I need at least another two weeks of my life to see everything I want to see in Ireland. We got up and headed to the Guinness factory (promptly at 10 a.m. for a healthy breakfast). It was pretty cool, and the best part was drinking our perfectly poured Guinness at the top of the gravity bar! It has an amazing view of Dublin and overlooks the entire city. The workers were all so nice, and Meg and I ended up standing at a table with two old guys from the West of Ireland who were just in Dublin for the day. They asked so much about our lives and studying abroad, probably in hopes to relive the glory days. I love Irish people. After Guinness we split up so that Meg could go on the free walking tour, and I headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I had a lot of time to kill unti her tour was over, so I got a sandwich and had a little picnic in the gardens next to St. Patrick's. It was so beautiful outside. I just laid down, put on my headphones, and people watched for an hour or two in the sun. I honestly never wanted to leave.
After my little relaxation time I got up and shopped around a bit more until Meg called after her tour. We met up and went to this amazing department store, Penney's, which has the cheapest clothes I've ever seen. I got way too impatient for the line to the dressing room, and I had nowhere to fit any purchases since my Longchamp was about to burst, so I left Meg to catch the bus to the airport and she spent the night and the next day there. My journey back to Italy was unfortunately a long and irritable one, but I finally got home around 1 a.m. so happy to be in my bed!
Ireland is somewhere that I absolutely have to go back to. Everything about it, the people, the atmosphere, made me feel so at home and so eager to see more parts of the country. Now I get to spend my first extended period of time in Italy in a while, which I'm really excited about. It'll be nice to not unpack just to repack three days later!
Ciao :)
It's Tuesday and I've spent the last two days recovering from my trip to IRELAND. This is going to be a long blog post, because I am now officially Ireland obsessed and I want to be sure I remember every detail. It's such a beautiful country and gave me a new appreciation for both my heritage and for beer. Here we go:
Day 1
I left for the Bologna airport immediately after my Italian class Thursday morning, on my first real solo journey in Europe aside from my initial trip from the U.S. After my 35 euro Ryanair debacle last weekend, I somehow managed to pack for the entire weekend in my Longchamp bag. This is the bag usually used only to carry my laptop and a few thin notebooks. I'm now a self-proclaimed packing extraordinaire. My day of traveling was very easy, and it was surprisingly really nice to travel alone. When we're in a big group I constantly feel like we're stressed and rushing. Someone has to use the bathroom, someone needs a water, someone gets stuck at security, someone walks fast, someone walks slow, you know the drill. Normally, I love airports, so getting to travel alone again made me feel like I was just hopping on a plane back to Clemson like always. AND I finally got an Italian stamp on my passport since I was leaving the EU. Very exciting! I landed in the Dublin airport to the refreshing sound of THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Don't get me wrong, Italian is beautiful, but English sounded so good. And especially in those cute Irish accents that I love so much. I took a bus from the airport to the city center where I spent a good twenty minutes getting lost looking for my hostel. It was thankfully really nice. Definitely the nicest I've ever stayed in before, even for my first 10-person dorm experience. I was hoping to meet lots of other young people in the hostel, but unfortunately there were only two girls in my whole dorm the first night, and neither of them spoke English. I was too excited to see the city to try to make friends, so I dropped my bags and wandered off with my map in hand.
I was staying on O'Connell street, which is the main shopping street north of the River Liffey. I crossed the river and headed in the direction of the Temple Bar district. Wow. It was around 7 p.m. and this place was already packed. Only in Ireland. There were great street performers that I stopped and watched for a while and then grabbed a quick sandwich for dinner and walked around some more. I immediately felt comfortable and at home walking around Dublin. It's definitely not as architecturally stunning or original as most European cities, but it's incredibly laid-back and homey. I might have freaked out being alone in Paris or Barcelona, but in Dublin I never felt nervous. I window shopped and got my bearings on the city until it got dark. Then I got a (really bad) ice cream...yeah, this is going to be a problem when I go back to gelato-devoid America....and sat by the river taking pictures for a while. Then I headed back to the hostel in hopes of finding some other 20-something backpacking students, but unfortunately there was only a huge group of 50-year-old English men and a huge group of 14-year-old Italian school kids. Figures. I was exhausted anyway, and decided it would be best to go to bed early and get the most out of my next day.
Day 2
I got up early and got hostel breakfast. I was the only English speaker in the entire restaurant. So many Italians. I can't escape them. I got a bunch of information from the front desk, and then headed back across the River Liffey to meet for a free tour. I did one through the same company in Paris and it was really interesting even though we didn't stay for the whole thing since we were pressed for time. I figured this would be the perfect thing to do since I had a whole day to kill until Meg got in later that night. My tour guide's name was Mick and he was my age and hysterically Irish. He kept us laughing the entire time and was so knowledgable about Irish history. And very passionately Irish. He made it clear that he hated British people. At the beginning of the tour he made us say where we were from and there were two girls from South Carolina. I asked them where and they asked me at the same time where in New Jersey I was from. Turns out they grew up their entire lives in Hilton Head, but moved to New Jersey a few years ago. One of them is dating a guy who graduated from Vernon the year before me, and they knew a ton of people at Clemson. Small world! Mick took us inside of the Dublin City Hall, where he told us about the beginning of Irish history. Fun fact: the national Irish symbol is the harp, and when they started getting a reputation for being alcoholics, the government ordered Guinness to change their logo. Guinness responded by simply flipping the logo, so the Guinness harp and the Irish harp are mirror images of one another. We moved from there to the Dublin Castle, most of which burnt down and was rebuilt in the 1800's, so it looks more like a college campus in the South than a castle. He then walked us around the Temple Bar and showed us a few great places to go out. We then moved onto Trinity College, which was unfortunately having their "Grand Ball" later that night so there were trucks and tents up everywhere, but it was still nice to enjoy another homey American comfort: a college campus! We then learned about a few of the museums and went to St. Stephen's Green, which was (surprise, surprise) so green! It felt like Bowman :) If you can't tell, Ireland made me really nostalgic. At St. Stephen's he told us all about the Potato Famine, and how Irish people don't consider it to be a famine, they consider it to be a genocide. 1.5 million people died, and 1.5 million people immigrated to the U.S. Other countries were apparently sending ships of food to Ireland to help, and the British blockaded those ships so that the Irish could have no means to live by. It was cool to learn about so much Irish history throughout the tour, and I normally hate history so that's saying a lot. Oh, and I forgot to mention that this was all going on in perfect weather. So ha! to all of the people who laughed at Meg and I when we said we wanted to go to Ireland, because it never rained :)
After the tour I went to the National Library, where Mick told us we could look up our genealogy in the national database. I wish I had had an older family member with me, because there were so many McEntee's that I had no idea who was who. There was an Elizabeth and several Johns, so perhaps I stumbled upon a few direct ancestors!? I left the library and wandered around the Grafton Street area where I took in the sights and went gift shopping. I eventually found myself back in Temple Bar with still a few hours to kill until Meg arrived, so I decided to really tap into my Irish roots by walking into a bar and drinking a Guinness. Solo. I felt like an old man. But there was great live music, a great atmosphere, and since I hadn't eaten since the bilingual hostel breakfast, I was kind of drunk. I headed straight across the street to the first place I saw to get a wrap and regain some stability. Drunk by myself in a foreign country at 4 p.m. At least it was almost 5 o'clock? I headed home and took a long, much needed nap until Meg called for directions to the hostel. I met up with her in the lobby, so happy to finally have a friend in Ireland with me! Then we started to get ready for our first night out when tragedy struck. Ireland has different voltage than the rest of Europe. Any of you who know me well enough know what I'm getting at...my straightener wouldn't work. So, this is a disclaimer to all of you who see my pictures and wonder why I'm sporting the eurofro for the entirety of my trip. This only gives me an excuse to go back to Ireland some day and take better pictures with an appropriately tamed lion's mane.
Meg went out and got dinner at a great place in Temple Bar. By this time I had unfortunately started to feel like I had a fever and a sore throat, so I got really good soup to make me feel better. We had a big plan of 5 different bars that my book suggested, and mapped out our routes for the entire night. The first stop was at the Porterhouse. This was also our last stop because we had way too much fun there and couldn't leave. So much for that! The bouncer at the door noticed we were American so he asked for our I.D.'s as a joke and told us it was 21+. For about five seconds we believed him and got really mad. Silly Irish man. We got Irish beers and wandered this huge, four-story bar until we found a suitable place to sit. This place was so crowded and for once we didn't see a ton of other American girls. All Europeans. We sat with a couple from Holland and were quickly joined by a group of too-old-for-us guys from Manchester. We ended up sitting at this table the entire night because we had so much fun! Meg was proposed to by the creepy one in the weird shirt, and I bonded all night with a married 38-year old who gave me great hope for the future when he complimented my conversation skills and reassured me that there are guys out there who like smart girls over bimbos. Phew. But why are you eighteen years older than me and married and from England? We talked with the Brits and the Dutch about our thoughts on Ireland, American football, college, Obama, and every other typical conversation topic that always comes up between different cultures. After our Irish beers, Meg and I switched over to American beers. They don't have them in Italy, and a Coors Light sounded too good to pass up. We got a lot of abuse from the British guys about our beer selection, but it was worth it for the taste of home. We didn't leave until the bar literally kicked us out, and by that time we were both exhausted and headed back to our hostel for a quick nap before getting up at 6:30 a.m. to leave for the West Coast the following morning.
Day 3
After our short night of sleep we headed to the bus stop to catch the 7:45 a.m. bus to Galway. We slept the entire ride, which I now kind of regret since we probably passed a lot of really cool, green places, but I was feeling even more feverish than the day before and really needed the rest. We got to Galway and boarded another bus with this adorable old man named John who took us on a tour of Galway and the countryside. He told us all about Galway history as he drove us around, and then we headed around Galway Bay out into the countryside. The countryside was by far my favorite part of Ireland. It's so beautiful and quaint. We drove through several villages, making a few stops at castles, beaches, and little town centers along the way to take pictures. Here's just a preview of what our bus ride looked like:
Our ride up the Burren eventually lead us to the Cliffs of Moher. This was the most incredible place I've ever seen in my life. I thought the mountains in Gran Canaria were cool. They're not. At least not in comparison to this:
We went out already feeling exhausted, and we both had wet hair due to the voltage issue, but we figured we're only in Ireland once (that better not actually be the case) and had to make the most of it. Our first stop was at a bar called The Celt right down the street from our hostel. There was great live music and we got Irish beer since the place was full of locals. After our beer we kept wandering and as we passed a very average-looking pub that we would have easily overlooked, I heard something that was too good to be true. Live music. I've Got Friends In Low Places. Tons of drunk Irish people singing country music. I nearly died and dragged Meg right in there while I was beaming of pure joy and singing along. We got another beer and ended up staying until the musician was done playing for the night. We had been sitting right next to his adorable old Dad the entire night and didn't even realize it, so the musician sat down with us and his Dad and we all talked for a really long time. They were Dublin natives and so nice! They told us all about things we should do while we're here and just gave us the greatest overall impression of this country and its people. After we left this bar we were on a mission to get to the one place we had actually planned on going that night: The Brazen Head. It's Ireland's oldest pub so we figured it had to be cool. The thing about Ireland is that it runs a bit more similarly to American time. People go home and sleep at a decent hour. We were in Barcelona last weekend, so we were a bit thrown off when the Brazen Head was closing down around 1 a.m. when we arrived. Fortunately, the owners saw us and how drunkenly upset we were that it was closed, and gave us a mini personal tour of the place. They had one room that was completely covered in American dollar bills and American police badges! I took a picture of a Bergen County one that was right next to a Charleston one. The owners were great, and they immediately sensed that Meg and I "had Irish blood." As soon as we dropped the names McNulty and McEntee he nearly died. He was such a nice old man and told us to come back tomorrow, but sadly this was my last night. From there we headed to the famous Temple Bar, one place we knew would not be closed. It was so crowded but there was even more awesome live music so we had a great time. In true Irish fashion we stumbled all of the way across the river and back to our hostel where we finally got a great night of sleep.
Day 4
This was my last day, and the first time that I've traveled somewhere and literally wasn't ready to leave. I need at least another two weeks of my life to see everything I want to see in Ireland. We got up and headed to the Guinness factory (promptly at 10 a.m. for a healthy breakfast). It was pretty cool, and the best part was drinking our perfectly poured Guinness at the top of the gravity bar! It has an amazing view of Dublin and overlooks the entire city. The workers were all so nice, and Meg and I ended up standing at a table with two old guys from the West of Ireland who were just in Dublin for the day. They asked so much about our lives and studying abroad, probably in hopes to relive the glory days. I love Irish people. After Guinness we split up so that Meg could go on the free walking tour, and I headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I had a lot of time to kill unti her tour was over, so I got a sandwich and had a little picnic in the gardens next to St. Patrick's. It was so beautiful outside. I just laid down, put on my headphones, and people watched for an hour or two in the sun. I honestly never wanted to leave.
Ireland is somewhere that I absolutely have to go back to. Everything about it, the people, the atmosphere, made me feel so at home and so eager to see more parts of the country. Now I get to spend my first extended period of time in Italy in a while, which I'm really excited about. It'll be nice to not unpack just to repack three days later!
Ciao :)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Barcelona confirms it: I'm an old lady
Ciao amici!
It's already the Tuesday evening after my trip to Barcelona, and I realize I've been seriously slacking on blog updates. I've had a busy few days. It generally takes me an evening to catch up on emailing, facebooking, skyping, and picture uploading when I first get home from my trips. And not to mention napping. Then the entire next day is filled with classes, unpacking, and more napping. Now it's finally Tuesday and I spent my day stressing over an interview for my dream internship (which ended up being not only frighteningly competitive, but also in Chicago. Womp, Womp), and then having dinner with my Aunties' friend Karen, newly dubbed "Auntie Karen" (are you excited about being mentioned in the blog?? you're famous now!) So, now onto BARCELONA:
Day 1
More like Day 0.5 + Day 1. The concept of normal human time in Barcelona is incredibly skewed, plus we left for our trip at 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday night! The plan was to go to bed early to be fully prepared for a long day of traveling. Was the plan carried out? Of course not. We all found ourselves drunk off of wine at 2:00 a.m. skyping people from home and throwing a random array of clothing and possessions into our duffels. Luckily my checklist was already printed out, and we remembered all of the necessities even in our wine-induced state. After a long morning of traveling we arrived in Barcelona around 10:00 a.m. and took the metro to Amelia's friend, Cal's apartment where we were staying. This place was a bachelor pad if you've ever seen one. Small, dirty, lacking toilet paper and basic human necessities, and very lived in by one American, two Finnish, and one Mexican guy. Five girls and all of this. We knew this was going to be quite the experience. We dropped our bags and headed straight for the beach which was so beautiful. I managed to take a nap and fall into a ridiculously deep sleep, right there along the coast of the Mediterranean. What a tough life...
After they woke me up, we got a quick lunch at a cafe near the beach, and then Cal took us to Las Ramblas, which is the main touristy strip in Barcelona; complete with European street performers and people trying to talk you into coming to eat at their restaurants with unappetizing pictures of paella and pizzas. We went to La Boqueria, as well, which is the main market in Barcelona. It is ten times bigger and brighter than Marcato Centrale! We got delicious fresh fruit juices, and Alana was filmed as what we think was part of an Apple commercial (?). After spending a lot of time wandering Las Ramblas, we walked around the city a bit more and then went to another market to get ingredients for dinner. We decided to eat in tonight to save money, so we decided to make chicken fajitias! When we returned to Cal's apartment we were greeted by close to 15 Spaniards smoking, drinking, and yelling in a language foreign to us, all circled around the tiny living room (our bedroom). This prompted me to check into a hostel for at least the first night with Meg and Nicole. We somehow managed to all squish into his tiny kitchen to make dinner, and then got ready to go out for the night.
Our first stop was a local Irish pub down the street from Cal's. There, we met up with a few of his other guy friends who are all living and working in Barcelona as ESL teachers. Amelia and I got delicious mojitos, and then we all moved on to the next bar. Chupito's is a crazy, crazy place. And if you know anything about study abroad students visiting Barcelona, you know about Chupito's. 500 shot variations, each with a crazy name, none with a description of what the shot entails. After hearing rumors from other students, we were pretty knowledgeable about both the tastiest and the most inappropriate shots they offered. Meg's friend, Nicole, had never heard of any of these, so we offered her up one of the most ridiculously hilarious shots I've ever seen. I'm trying to keep this blog PG, so I can't tell you. If you're that curious, you can ask me personally. Amelia and I went for the famously delicious "boyscout shot" which involves the bartender lighting the bar around the shots on fire so you can roast a marshmallow on a stick, then dip it in the shot to put out the fire, take the shot, and eat the marshmallow. Greatest invention I've ever seen/tasted. And for only 2 euro! Following our interesting experiences at Chupito's we headed to a club called Sutton. I've never been anywhere like this before. My comfy little bars and pubs in Florence have kept me completely sheltered from the world of the euroclub. This place was huge, crowded, and fancy. In jeans and heels I felt incredibly underdressed. We all danced for a while until I found myself yawning on the dance floor (yeah, I'm that girl), and then I decided it was time to get my grandma butt home. That was the most comfortable, deep night of sleep in a hostel I've ever had.
Day 2
We got up fairly early to get a jumpstart on our touristy day in Barcelona. After the roommates' necessary Starbucks, we found our way to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's famous basilica in Barcelona. It was so cool, but out of cheapness and what we've heard from others, we decided not to venture inside.
We took our necessary tourist shots, and then I met up with Gabe (my best guy friend from high school / prom date / strange Dominican friend who is studying in Spain) and his friends outside of the church. I love seeing people from home in Europe. It's just so crazy to be like..."Oh hey, friend. We're in Europe together right now." We all went to Park Guell which was by far my favorite part of Barcelona. It is this amazing park with views of the entire city. If you haven't picked up on it yet, parks with good views are my favorite part of any city. Here's a quick glimpse:
The girls decided to go shopping for the rest of the day, so I stayed with Gabe and his friends to explore the park some more. We found this really cool walkway that was basically a long archway of vines and plants. We also went inside of Gaudi's house to see some of his furniture and models for major architectural sights in the city. Afterwards we wandered for a very long time to find lunch. We were all tired and in what I like to call "sightseeing-zombie-mode." You know, that feeling you get when you've looked at too many beautiful, historically significant things in one day. That's how we felt. So after a delirious "where should we eat" struggle, we settled for a quaint place where the food was good but the service sucked. We got sangria but it might have put us even more to sleep! Gabe and his friends decided to go back to their hostel for a nap, so I met back up with the girls and finished up shopping with them,
Later that evening we all tried to siesta (I never successfully got comfortable or fell asleep, which explains the remainder of my night) and then got ready to go out. We went down the street a few blocks to Cal's friends' apartment which was much bigger and they made us chicken paella. Delicious! We drank a ton of wine and by the end of dinner I was ready for nothing but bed. Bed was all I wanted. Particularly the couch in this huge, comfy apartment. The guys were nice enough to let me crash there while the others went out. I felt silly for staying in one night in Barcelona, but I never would have survived. I am a twenty year old grandmother. Turns out half of the group couldn't even get into the club and spent the night sitting outside of the club in the street, so I don't think I missed much.
Day 3
Alana and I woke up in this foreign apartment, but I was feeling quite rejuvenated after my 10 hours of sleep! We went back to Cal's to gather our things where the rest of the group was passed out, and then headed straight for the beach. Everyone else eventually caught up with us, and we spent the entire day lounging, basking in the sun, and enjoying the views with the whole group. This beach was incredibly beautiful:
I took in a lot of interesting observations at this beach:
It's already the Tuesday evening after my trip to Barcelona, and I realize I've been seriously slacking on blog updates. I've had a busy few days. It generally takes me an evening to catch up on emailing, facebooking, skyping, and picture uploading when I first get home from my trips. And not to mention napping. Then the entire next day is filled with classes, unpacking, and more napping. Now it's finally Tuesday and I spent my day stressing over an interview for my dream internship (which ended up being not only frighteningly competitive, but also in Chicago. Womp, Womp), and then having dinner with my Aunties' friend Karen, newly dubbed "Auntie Karen" (are you excited about being mentioned in the blog?? you're famous now!) So, now onto BARCELONA:
Day 1
More like Day 0.5 + Day 1. The concept of normal human time in Barcelona is incredibly skewed, plus we left for our trip at 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday night! The plan was to go to bed early to be fully prepared for a long day of traveling. Was the plan carried out? Of course not. We all found ourselves drunk off of wine at 2:00 a.m. skyping people from home and throwing a random array of clothing and possessions into our duffels. Luckily my checklist was already printed out, and we remembered all of the necessities even in our wine-induced state. After a long morning of traveling we arrived in Barcelona around 10:00 a.m. and took the metro to Amelia's friend, Cal's apartment where we were staying. This place was a bachelor pad if you've ever seen one. Small, dirty, lacking toilet paper and basic human necessities, and very lived in by one American, two Finnish, and one Mexican guy. Five girls and all of this. We knew this was going to be quite the experience. We dropped our bags and headed straight for the beach which was so beautiful. I managed to take a nap and fall into a ridiculously deep sleep, right there along the coast of the Mediterranean. What a tough life...
After they woke me up, we got a quick lunch at a cafe near the beach, and then Cal took us to Las Ramblas, which is the main touristy strip in Barcelona; complete with European street performers and people trying to talk you into coming to eat at their restaurants with unappetizing pictures of paella and pizzas. We went to La Boqueria, as well, which is the main market in Barcelona. It is ten times bigger and brighter than Marcato Centrale! We got delicious fresh fruit juices, and Alana was filmed as what we think was part of an Apple commercial (?). After spending a lot of time wandering Las Ramblas, we walked around the city a bit more and then went to another market to get ingredients for dinner. We decided to eat in tonight to save money, so we decided to make chicken fajitias! When we returned to Cal's apartment we were greeted by close to 15 Spaniards smoking, drinking, and yelling in a language foreign to us, all circled around the tiny living room (our bedroom). This prompted me to check into a hostel for at least the first night with Meg and Nicole. We somehow managed to all squish into his tiny kitchen to make dinner, and then got ready to go out for the night.
Our first stop was a local Irish pub down the street from Cal's. There, we met up with a few of his other guy friends who are all living and working in Barcelona as ESL teachers. Amelia and I got delicious mojitos, and then we all moved on to the next bar. Chupito's is a crazy, crazy place. And if you know anything about study abroad students visiting Barcelona, you know about Chupito's. 500 shot variations, each with a crazy name, none with a description of what the shot entails. After hearing rumors from other students, we were pretty knowledgeable about both the tastiest and the most inappropriate shots they offered. Meg's friend, Nicole, had never heard of any of these, so we offered her up one of the most ridiculously hilarious shots I've ever seen. I'm trying to keep this blog PG, so I can't tell you. If you're that curious, you can ask me personally. Amelia and I went for the famously delicious "boyscout shot" which involves the bartender lighting the bar around the shots on fire so you can roast a marshmallow on a stick, then dip it in the shot to put out the fire, take the shot, and eat the marshmallow. Greatest invention I've ever seen/tasted. And for only 2 euro! Following our interesting experiences at Chupito's we headed to a club called Sutton. I've never been anywhere like this before. My comfy little bars and pubs in Florence have kept me completely sheltered from the world of the euroclub. This place was huge, crowded, and fancy. In jeans and heels I felt incredibly underdressed. We all danced for a while until I found myself yawning on the dance floor (yeah, I'm that girl), and then I decided it was time to get my grandma butt home. That was the most comfortable, deep night of sleep in a hostel I've ever had.
Day 2
We got up fairly early to get a jumpstart on our touristy day in Barcelona. After the roommates' necessary Starbucks, we found our way to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's famous basilica in Barcelona. It was so cool, but out of cheapness and what we've heard from others, we decided not to venture inside.
Later that evening we all tried to siesta (I never successfully got comfortable or fell asleep, which explains the remainder of my night) and then got ready to go out. We went down the street a few blocks to Cal's friends' apartment which was much bigger and they made us chicken paella. Delicious! We drank a ton of wine and by the end of dinner I was ready for nothing but bed. Bed was all I wanted. Particularly the couch in this huge, comfy apartment. The guys were nice enough to let me crash there while the others went out. I felt silly for staying in one night in Barcelona, but I never would have survived. I am a twenty year old grandmother. Turns out half of the group couldn't even get into the club and spent the night sitting outside of the club in the street, so I don't think I missed much.
Day 3
Alana and I woke up in this foreign apartment, but I was feeling quite rejuvenated after my 10 hours of sleep! We went back to Cal's to gather our things where the rest of the group was passed out, and then headed straight for the beach. Everyone else eventually caught up with us, and we spent the entire day lounging, basking in the sun, and enjoying the views with the whole group. This beach was incredibly beautiful:
- There aren't as many nudes as Gran Canaria
- People do a lot of drugs in public
- Sarongs double as beach towels
- Asian women try to sell you "masaje"
- Indian men try to sell you henna tattoos
- (My roommates got unicorn tramp stamps...quite the souvenirs!)
- American footballs do not exist
- You make a lot of friends in line for the public bathrooms
After spending all day at the beach, we headed back to Cal's to shower and get ready yet again. This night we decided to go out to dinner, and by out, I mean we went to Wok to Walk. Wok to Walk is the best invention ever. Chinese food in fast-food form. Genius. How America hasn't adopted this is a mystery to me. It sounds right up America's alley. You pick your noodles, meat, veggies, and sauce, and this precious little Asian man sings and sautés right in front of you. It was super filling, which was just what we needed to endure the night ahead. The boys took us out to a bar called Cyrano's. It was the smartest bar I've ever been to. Every bar in the world should operate by this bar's standards. Here is how it works: you order a drink. For example, I ordered a rum and coke. They hand you a bottle of coke (in the old fashioned bottles), a tall glass with three ice cubes, and a bottle of rum. You pour the rum yourself. You're not dreaming. You read that right. For 3 euro they let you pour the rum yourself. By cheap, poor, starving college student standards, that means pour yourself a tall glass of rum and use your cola as a chaser. Cheapest way to drink. Ever. We had a great time at Cyrano's, so then we headed out to a small club which I do not know the name of. There we participated in your classic euro dance party and met a bunch of people from London. Around 5 a.m. it seemed appropriate to call it a night (early by Barcelona standards), so me, Amelia, and Cal's Mexican roommate found ourselves on our way back to the apartment making complete fools of ourselves in the streets. This involves the Mexican roommate "borrowing" a bike to ride home, and Amelia and I doing ballet in the streets. Ah, Barcelona.
I luckily woke up by instinct at 9:30 the next day (when we were supposed to leave), even though my alarms did not work (I think my phone got drunk too...) so we packed up our things and ran out the door to get to our long day of traveling. No major travel blunders were endured, besides our very first RyanAir fiasco. They measured our bags for the first time ever, and three out of five of us had to pay 35 euro to check our bags. I was so angry. I guess I should rethink my packing decisions before heading off to Dublin this weekend!
Overall, Barcelona was one of my favorite places we visited so far. It has a lot of charm and a lot of really interesting architecture. And not to mention crazy people who never sleep! Coming home to quaint little Firenze is always a relief after a weekend like that. Now time for me to be the grandma that I am and go to bed :)
Ciao!
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