Copenhagen!

I got to Copenhagen on a Monday night. My friend Emily picked me up from the airport and we went back to her place. Two of our other friends were visiting from the states so I got to see them too!

The next day we slept in a little and then Allie, Julia, and I went to the Rosenborg castle. We splurged so we could walk around the inside. It was pretty cool, but not phenomenal. I mean, it was only a summer castle... hehehe. Then we walked around Copenhagen; stopped at a cafe for lunch. We hung out at Nyhavn, which is the street that will show up on google images if you were to google Copenhagen. There is a canal that is lined with pretty boats and different colored buildings. Met up with Emily, since she had class, and went to the grocery store to buy food to make dinner. That night we met up with Julia's friend Freddy who lives in Copenhagen. She met him because he did an exchange at her high school and she kept in touch with him. We went to a few bars with him and one of his friends.

The next day we had to wait for Julia to get back because she slept at Freddy's, which was kind of a bummer since we didn't get to leave until like 3, but it ended up not mattering too much. Allie, Em, and I went to Dyrehavn, which was the royal hunting grounds back in the day. In english it is called deer park! There were just a bunch of deer running around. It took us a little while to find them, but once we did it was so cool! They had really big antlers and were so pretty. Then we went to the beach which was right across the street and sat on some rocks and ate ice cream. From the beach you could see Sweden! Later while Emily was supposed to be writing a paper, Julia and Allie took me to Christiania. Christiania is a a freetown. I think the miliatry used to be there, but once they moved out people started squatting there and then made a neighborhood of their own. I was bummed I couldn't see it during daylight because everyone said it is wicked cute and pictures prove it, but at night it was a little sketchy. There is an open cannabis trade so you can buy weed on the streets there and smoke it. It seems like the government has gone back and forth between ignoring it and enforcing drug laws there. You aren't allowed to take pictures or run in Christiania. There was a lot of pretty art and murals on the buildings.

Wednesday night we went to bed relatively early because the next day we were off to Berlin!

P.S. Sorry it sounds like a 10 year old wrote this. I am feeling very scatterbrained today.

Amsterdam!

It's getting harder and harder to write blog posts! So this is probably going to be a brief summary of my spring break broken into 3 parts. Maybe soon I'll do a blog post of all photos since it takes really long to upload them all.

I started out spring break on March 16th. I had to wake up at like 3am to start my journey. Got to the airport with no problems and got on my flight for Amsterdam. When I got in I met up with my friend Natasha who goes to Maryland and is studying in Amsterdam. First thing we did was got pancakes! I got a tomato and cheese pancake which was huge. And absolutely delicious. You put maple syrup on it just like a normal pancakes which I thought was going to be weird, but it was not at all. Then we went and picked up the bike that I was renting for the weekend. It was only 5 euros a day and Tash was jealous because my bike was way more authentic than hers is and I didn't look like a tourist. I was nervous at first because my roommate told me biking is crazy there, but I didn't have any big problems assimilating to the bike traffic. For anyone possibly going to Amsterdam, I would highly recommend renting a bike. I think my view of the city would have been completely different if I didn't have one.

Tash gave me a quick biking tour and we went back to her place so I could drop off my stuff. Then we went to a photography museum and a bag and purse museum because it was also in the area. Natasha gets a "museum card" from her program that gets her into all the museums at no extra cost and I was able to borrow her friend's card. We made mexican food for dinner and then went to a bar with her and some friends. And we all rode our bikes. I was a little nervous about biking and drinking, but didn't fall or anything! Apparently they call it "BUI" for biking under the influence but no one cares unless something bad happens.

The next morning we went to breakfast and got BAGLES.Which was really exciting because it's something you can't get in Roma. Then we went to a market by her apartment. It had a lot of random stuff and some pretty good food. I got dried fruit, a stroopwafel (which is kind of like a wafer cookie, but round and soft instead of crunchy with maple syrup inside), some awesome cheese, and fries. We were all feeling a little hungover so we went back and I napped while Tash did some homework. Later in the afternoon we walked around the redlight district and went to a "coffeeshop." Made curry veggies and rice for dinner. Then went to a few different irish pubs since it was st. patty's day, but didn't stay out too late.

Sunday we went to Zaanse Schans which is about 20 minutes outside of Amsterdam. It was really cute! It was really reminiscent of the days when Holland was all about trading. There were a bunch of mills and cool museums. We saw a pewter demonstration, went to a clock museum, spice mill, and cheese maker (where I got awesome cheese and the best honey mustard I have ever eaten), a clog maker, and a museum about the history of the area.

Monday was kind of a fail on my part. Natasha had class so we dropped off my bike (since I was struggling around on it with my big backpack), then I walked around. I wanted to go to the Frank house, but I couldn't with my pack. Then I was going to go to the Van Gogh museum, but it was just a little too expensive for me and Natasha had forgotten her museum card. I walked around, found another outdoor market and ate some more awesome food. Then met up with Natasha to say bye and get on my plane to Copenhagen.

I really really liked Amsterdam. It was so pretty and the people seemed so happy. I really wish Rome or DC had that kind of bike culture. It is so easy to get around via bike! But I am planning on buying one when I get home to have in Burlington this summer and will probably take it to school next year.

Almost bed time (it's not even 9pm). I am exhausted because my friend was here for the weekend! It was fun and I will post about it soon!

Barcelona

Last weekend I went to Barcelona to visit my roommate from Maryland who is currently studying there. I have to make this brief because I have homework to do, so here are the highlights:

Let me preface this weekend with the fact that I think I had an ulcer! I ate too many oranged on Wednesday and my stomach hurt incredibly from Wednesday night until this morning. I finally made a doctor's appointment today and of course I am feeling infinitely better.

Got to see my friend Jess too! She is studying in Paris and came for the weekend too.

Went to Parc Guell on Friday. IT WAS SO COOL. I absolutely love the work of Gaudi. If you don't know his stuff, you should probably google it right now! So much color! The weather was beautiful and there were a bunch of small children who had the cutest uniforms going on field trips in the park. We walked around and shopped a little. And got sushi! Which was extremely exciting.

Vicki lives above a hostel and the hostel people go out everynight and bring the guests. We went out with them on Friday so we could get into the club for free. First we went to a bar and I had the tastiest shot ever! It was a mojito shot and it had lime juice, rum, mint, and sugar. It did not taste at all like alcohol (and probably didn't have much in there- mostly sugar). Then we went to the club. It was one the beach which was cool, but Vicki had never been to it and it ended up being kind of lame so we were home by 3am.

Got a good 7+ hours of sleep and were out the door by 11. Walked down to the beach and walked along it. Then we went to my favorite part. Barcelona Beer Festival! It was the first time they had this festival and it was amazing! Entry was free, and then inside you would pay for a glass and then tokens. Each beer was a different amount of tokens. I ended up getting 18 tokens and got to try 7 different types of beer and spent less than 20 euros. The atmosphere was perfect; it felt like summer. My favorite beers were Meantime (London) Cranberry Stout and the same brand's Yakima Red. There was a really interesting one from Denmark by Cervesart called Cat Porter that had hints of chocolate and coffee but was SMOKED which gave it a really interesting taste. We got empanadas too! Which were delicious, especially since we were all a little drunk.

We didn't do anything Saturday night because when I got home my stomach started hurting pretty badly again! I had totally forgot about my condition and had drunk a glass of sangria at dinner. The citrus fruit in it made my stomach go crazy.

Sunday we just lazed around La Ramblas.

It was a grade A weekend and next week I will be in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Berlin! Yay spring break!

Cows on parade

This was the type of weekend that confirms why I wanted to come to Italy.

So, Leah and I decided we wanted to get out of the city, so after doing some research we found a farm stay near Sora, which is nearby the Abruzzo National Park. We got to take a double decker bus! Which was so much fun, but extremely bizarre, because it would stop in places that seemed completely random. Like on the side of a busy road, or someone’s house. We could not figure out the system for it. We made it to Sora and had to go to a pizza place that the owner of the hostel told us to go to, where they would get us transportation. We figured they would be calling us a taxi, but when we got there a large man, who only mumbled, presumably named Frederico (it was Ferderico pizzeria) asked us if we could wait 10 minutes until his wife got back with the car.

We had no qualms about going with him, because the hostel told us to go there. But about 5 minutes in after driving through this creepy driveway worries started seeping in. Is this going to be where he kills us and chops us into tiny pieces? There are only two doors on this car, I would have to break a window to escape… But of course, two minutes later we arrived at the farm stay and he greeted Antonello as simple Nello and all was well. Antonello showed us our room and told us he saved us some dinner. We had rigatoni with white beans and sauce, carrots, salad that had oranges and raisins, and the best wine I have had in Italy thus far. We “settled up” and chatted about what we were going to do the next day. We decided to do a hike to a waterfall and he gave us a detailed map.

Woke up bright and early on Saturday and had a typical Italian breakfast- bread with jam and NORMAL coffee. Leah and I had 3 cups each. Then we went on our way.  We had to walk from the farm stay into town, and then find the trail. It usually takes about 45 minutes or so to get into town. This particular morning was extremely foggy. As we were walking into town on a sort of busy road a woman pulled over. I was thinking she was going to ask for directions, but then was like, “Dove vai?” So we said Pescosolido, then she was basically like get in the car. Leah and I looked at eachother and the woman was saying, “Vai, vai!” Like, let’s go! So Leah was like, just get in the car and I did. This woman was probably around her late 60s wearing sunglasses (even though it was foggy?) and a leopard print hat. We were quiet for a while, but then started conversation. She is an artist and sometimes goes to New York or Detroit to display her work. Here’s her website! http://www.tizianamonti.com/

She invited us in for a cappuccino, which in hindsight, we should have accepted, but instead told her we must be on our way. It took us a while to figure out where we were supposed to be going because the fog was so bad. We could probably see 10 meters tops.

So much fog it looks like a gray background!
Thanks Padre Pio, for showing us the way.

On the way back. Look how it cleared up!
There is actually life!

 It started to clear up a little right as we hit the bottom of the trail and were surprised with… COWS.

First cow sighting.
We didn't know what was to come...

It was kind of scary actually. I know cows aren't usually thought of as scary, but they kind of were. Someone had just fed them, so they were all walking up to the trough.

Cow parade.

Once they all started mooing at each other and staring at us we figured we should back off and let them do their own thing. We watched from afar for a little and then followed behind them.

Our view during the hideout.

The hike was GORGEOUS.

ABOVE THE CLOUDS.
SO PRETTY.

Making friends with the possibly wild horses on the path.

This was the most nerve-racking part of the hike.
No, my camera is not tilted.

What we looked at while we ate lunch and thought about our options.
Also, from here we could HEAR the waterfall.
So depressing.

But when we were about 30 minutes away from the waterfall, we found a tree on the extremely narrow path with no way to get around it, without the possibility of falling to our deaths in the gorge. FOILED AGAIN.

Stupid tree. I hatechu.

The cows were a lot less scary on the way down, because they weren’t feeding although we did feel like we walked into a party we weren’t invited to…

Cow party.

Had dinner at the farm again. Pasta with a chickpea sauce and a little pasta with pesto, broccolitini, and salad. Leah and I got a half litre of wine and found out that the snow was really devastating! Besides downing a bunch of trees (which got in the way on our hike the next day, also), it totally ruined a bunch of crops. Usually the farm produces about 400 litres of wine, but this season they only expect to produce 60. That is 15% of their normal production! We also had a nice long chat IN ITALIAN with the hostel owner's friend. This made me extremely happy because it reassured me that I know Italian and can keep a conversation! The language is so much a part of the culture here, I am happy that I know it because it really allows me to understand not just the people better, but Italy itself better.

We also met a family from San Diego that is living in Napoli (the wife is in the navy) and since Leah was planning on going to Napoli next weekend now has somewhere to stay! Meeting people really is the best thing about travelling. I’m getting sort of lazy and have to study so I’ll make the rest short.

We hiked to a castle! And it was really cool.

The whole hike down we had to traverse fallen trees.
Most of them were worse than this.

Going to Barcelona next weekend to see VICKI. And I am unbelievably excited about it.

Study time... or bedtime. Ciao.

Oh Italy...

Just now I was telling Leah how I went to the post office, but couldn't figure out how to buy stamps. She told me to google it and I found this (it may be horrible writing but it is incredibly accurate). I don't know if it will be funny to you, but this is exactly how Italy operates and is the exact scene I witnessed today in the post office.


"If you just want a few stamps it'll probably be easier for you to just buy them at a 'tabaccheria' and then drop your postcards in the nearest postbox; because of the incredible popularity of cell phones in Italy, there's not much actual posting goes on at the Italian post office anymore. Then again, it's so inefficient, we doubt if there ever was.

Go into any post office in Rome and you will encounter two or three incredibly long queues - All the people in these queues are queuing for the same thing - Not postage stamps, but in fact something called the Conto Corrente. The Conto Corrente is the Italian version of the Giro credit, and it is how most bills are paid in Italy. One delightful feature of the Conto Corrente payment slip is that it's about ten minutes work to fill one in. You then queue for about forty minutes to pay it, as there's only ever two or three clerk's windows open, and the clerks operate at a ridiculously slow pace.

A recent sophistication of our local post office is a client-number waiting system - You know, same as they have at busy delicatessens these days - You go in, pull a numbered ticket out of a machine on the wall and wait until your number is displayed above the teller's window. This sounds like a good idea, but in practice the service is even slower than before - All it does is accomplish the devious psychological feat of making the customers feel as if they're gonna be attended to soon - In fact all it does is take the immediate pressure off the clerks, so that they now operate at an even slower pace, with no motivation to speed up. Typical Italian solution. Eventually this service will fail, not because anyone will complain about it, but because one day the numbering machine will break down and no one will ever make the effort to come out and fix it - So they'll go back to the old system of long, slow, angry queues while forty-thousand dollars of taxpayer's money tied up in the failed numbering hardware will sit rotting in a dusty corner of the post office.

If you do attempt to buy postage stamps in the post office, you'd better buy plenty while you're there. That's if you ever figure out which queue to get in - I never do because nothing's ever sign-posted properly. We don't advise you to post anything of value in Italy actually - it's unlikely to reach its destination intact, if at all, even inland, let alone international post."

Ho trovato tutti gli italiani con barbe!

As the title says, I found where all the beardy men hang out! Which you don't see too often in Roma. Last night Leah and I trekked to Circolo degli Artisti to see the band blouse. It took us two buses and 45ish minutes to get there and it was SO WORTH IT.

We found it pretty quickly, and although we thought it was going to be in a sketchy area it wasn't bad. We got in for free because it was before 20:20, otherwise it's 5 euros, which isn't bad. It is so beautiful! There are a bunch of gardens with trellises and vives! And a bunch of tables. There is a bar in each garden area. I really can't wait to go there when it gets warmer. It will be an awesome place to just go and chill for the evening/night. We scooted to the bar to buy a beer between all the guys watching the soccer game that was being projected on a screen. I don't even think AS Roma or Lazio was playing... They sure do love their soccer here. Then Leah and I went into the venue area which was smaller than I was expecting, so I was happy about that.

The first band was an italian post-punk band, who I actually got kind of into! It was fun and everyone knew the words to the songs. Then Blouse came on and they were adorable. After the show, the place turned into a club. In between Blouse ending and the DJ starting they played good music! Like neon indian, m83, and beck! Then the DJ started and it got pretty packed. We left around 1:15 so we could get some sleep and it only took us an hour to get home, which was nice. All of my past experiences with the night buses have been negative.

This morning we slept in and then went to meet Mel to say bye. Then Leah and I went to Castroni, an international grocery store. I got pb! and refried beans! And brown rice! I am so pumped about it. Leah found some great boots. I have yet to make any big purchases.

This weekend has been awesome. The apartment has been quiet and clean and the weather is beautiful! Hopefully I'll finish my homework and will go shopping tomorrow morning! It's supposed to be 65 on Wednesday!

Buona giornata!

Pompeii!

Today I went on a field trip to Pompeii for my on-site architecture class. Had to wake up bright and early (6am), which I was not happy about because I ended up staying up pretty late last night... watching La Dolce Vita for my italian cinema class. Sprinted down the gianicolo hill to Piazza Trilussa where the buses were leaving from.

Pompeii was gorgeous! Let me start by setting the scene: sunny, not a cloud in the sky, a slight breeze, upper sixties, birds chirping, and the smell of freshly cut grass. Yup. Pretty much perfect. My professor is amazing. I cannot get over how much information he knows. I really don't understand how one person can accumulate all the dates and people and names of buildings and recall it at a moment's notice! In my state of panic about being late and missing the bus I forgot my camera, but I will be back in Pompeii later in the semester so I will hopefully post pictures later.

We got to see the amphiteatre, shops, houses, the forum with all the temples and markets, and a huge villa. The forum was absolutely amazing because looking towards one end is an awesome view of Vesuvio and looking towards the other end is beautiful mountains! We got to see some of the plastered people. So Vesuvio erupted twice in AD 79. The first time it wasn't bad at all; nothing was really damaged, but people knew what was coming so they began to evacuate. It was the second day that really did people in. About 10% of Pompeii perished almost instantly after the eruption because of the sulfuric gas that was emitted from the volcano. And so what happened with the people was they were covered in volcanic ash which preserved them. Eventually the flesh deteriorated and what was left was bone. When archaeologists were digging and would hit caverns, they figured out they were actually corpses and would fill them with plaster. The casts are really creepy because you can see bone! And the positions they were in when they died. The houses and villas were so pretty. I love that they would all have gardens on the inside like a courtyard.

There are a bunch of adorable stray dogs. At one point we were sitting in a theatre and someone was giving a report on it. A dog just walked in. Looked at us and wagged its tail a little. Then flopped down to lay in the sun. All the dogs we saw were so friendly and non of them looked malnourished! And I just read (which would be so nice if it was true) that the guides of the ruins pool their money to buy them food. I also saw a silly stereotypical moment: there was a dog who was walking towards us and then took off. I looked towards where it was running and there was a cat! That scooted right up a tree and into safety.

For if you want to adopt a dog from Pompeii... http://www.icanidipompei.com/english/progetto_cave_canem.html
How cool would that be?!?!

After hours and hours of walking around I was ready to go home. Of course on the way home we got stuck in traffic for over an hour. But when I finally got home, I found bruschette on the table with Leah whipping up something yummy in the kitchen and Kristen making banana cupcakes. I almost rallied to go out and meet Mel who is visiting from Firenze, but then made the mistake of laying in my bed. I guess I'll just see her tomorrow.

Buona notte!