The Hills Are Alive!

When in Salzburg, one must do two things: make a tribute to Mozart and go on the original Sound of Music tour. I, proudly, have done both. I booked my seat on the Sound of Music tour, despite the warnings that it was going to be very kitchy, and started to get excited. I put my hair in pigtails and sang some of the songs in the shower (to myself of course). Got downstairs and onto the bus, trying to not look too excited in case everyone else was just doing it because they should, but immediately I met the three girls around me (Character: Caroline and Isabelle from Australia and Julia from CA) who were so excited, and Caroline the most so. She had been on the tour and couldn't wait to do it again a few years later! She knew all the words to the soundtrack (yes, they play the soundtrack on the bus while you are driving through the countryside) and knew all the scenes. I'm so glad I met them because we just well full out into the tour and it was so much fun! We were singing, we were taking pictures in poses, and all that jazz. We first stopped at the what was the back of the Von Trapp house in the movie with the lake scenes. So beautiful. The mountains are in the background, and on the other side of the lake were the trees the kids dangle from. (By the way, Harvard owns this building and it's the Salzburg Institute? Anyone heard of it?) Then we drove by another mansion which served as the front of the house in the Confidence song and the attempted escape scene. Then we went to a beautiful palace that had the glass gazebo reconstructed in its park for the public to see. Then, it was on to the hills! Basically, they took us around the Lake District, which is just gorgeous! If I had another day, I would take a tour just of this area. You just don't get views like that anywhere else in the world. Unbelievable. Wow. I can't wait for Switzerland! Then they took us to the church where Maria and the Captain got married in the movie, and they directed us to a cafe for apple strudel. Then back to the Mirabel Gardens where the Do a Dear song was filmed around the fountains. Many more things were pointed out to us, but I was just so entranced by the beauty of the area! Definitely worth it!

C, I, J, and I went to a great place for schnitzel (more Favorite Things of both mine and Maria) and then I headed off for a whirlwind sightseeing journey of Old Town. I definitely suggest going to the Fortress, which has loomed over the city for over 1000 years. Perfectly intact and has some of the best views I've ever seen. Stunning! (I know, lots of things in my blog are stunning, beautiful, gorgeous, etc...but it's all true. I shall try to use more pretentious synonyms in the future.) Came down on the steep, STEEP funicular (something like 45 degrees or more...) and walked into one church for mass, another church for mass, yet another church, a cemetary, probably another church, and heard the bells from the glockenspiel. What a lovely town! And then I went to Mozart's Birthplace, which has an odd museum inside. Instead of trying to recreate rooms or give an extensive biography of Mozart, they gave the rooms to Robert Wilson, a very famous artist who has done very odd installations in Boston...aka Fritz for those who know him from the Ag, to design. He designed installations for each room that play on a trait of Mozart's life and character. Weird, but I enjoyed it more than most. Something different that I didn't expect. Walked around with a giant pretzel seeing all the church goers in their traditional dress. I have never seen so many men so proud of their leiderhosen. (Well, maybe the Scots and their kilts...) Anyway, the whole day can be summed up as beautiful. From the mountains to the buildings to the people to the food...this area is wonderful. I really like Austria and wish I had more time. I will definitely come back, and maybe try to get a car and drive through the countryside. Anyone with me?

Off to Switzerland tomorrow!

Austria, ja!

Arrived in Vienna, Austria on the Gregor Mendel train! (When they announced that, I burst out laughing. My friend Tom and I, and someone else, did a whole game show video tape based on Gregor Mendel and his plant studies for 6th grade science. Hilarious.) Anyway, didn't know exactly where to go, so I started at the most famous place I could think of...the Vienna Opera House. Took a wonderful tour by a huge Austrian guy with a very think accent. He told me afterwards to get in line for standing room tickets for tonight's opera as it would only be a 3 hour show rather than Wagner's extravaganza the next day that would last about 5.5 hours. I can do tonight. Walked a bit more to Stephansplatz to St. Stephan's cathedral, which is beautiful. Don't walk up the 343 stairs to the tower though. Not worth it. But the crypt is! Took an interesting tour where I got to see some mass graves from the Black Plague and the collection of innards of the Austrian rulers. Weird, but interesting. Went back to the opera house to get in line and got my amazingly cheap 3.50 euro ticket to stand at the back of the orchestra level with great sightlines of the stage. The show was Massanet's "Wurther", and ok opera, but a fantastic set! We've tried to do trees. We usually fail. (Courtney being an exception.) But this tree was amazing! I was really impressed! And beautiful leaves. Just a stunning stage picture!

Woke up the next morning and there was a girl in the bathroom. Really had to go and was thinking...when is she going to get out. Was about to get down from the bunk and knock on the door when she came out...and guess who it was...KARA KAUFMAN! Ultimate shock happened. (Character: Kara...stage manager from Harvard. Very good friend. Didn't expect her to be in Vienna!) She was sleeping below me the entire night! It totally made my day to see her! She decided to take some stress free time and go to Europe, but didn't tell me! What are the chances of this happening? Wow. We had breakfast downstairs and caught up a bit, but she and her friend were taking off on a train to Budapest. Had I known, I would have gone to Budapest, but I was staying in Vienna for another day and a half and then off to Salzburg. Well, I will see her when I get back in NYC for sure. Hilarious.

After we both ended screaming and hugging and they left, the other girl in our room was wide awake. I felt bad because I had woken her up the night before coming in, but we banded together for the day to travel around the town. (Character: Sara from Japan who just graduated from Brown in biochem and is staying in Providence another year to work in a lab) We started off walking around the Hofburg Palace and all the platzes around there. Went into the library/Imperial State Room which was just overwhelmingly gorgeous. Our mouths hit the ground. They were having an exhibit on gifts of books that Franz Josef had received during his reign. The books may only of had congratulations in them, but the bindings and covers were just stunning works of art. I wish I knew how to do binding and book art. Another art to learn when I get back! Felt like Disney Princess Belle in the Beast's castle. (Have I hit all the Disney Princesses yet? Almost.) Definitely a must go see when in Vienna. Then we walked around to the Burg Theatre, the Votiv Church (which wasn't open, but had beautiful Gothic details), the Rathaus (which is gorgeous!), and Parliament. Decided that we were going to go to see Midsummer Night's Dream at the Burg later, so Sara went back to switch to another hostel while I took the subway out to the middle of who knows where in town to the Hunterwasser apartment building. Hunterwasser wasn't an architect, but he built a number of buildings without straight lines. Every layer and piece is painted a different color. Very Gaudi-esque, but not as refined. Lots of tourists in the area, so I fled back to Stephansplatz and walked along Graben St., as my guidebook told me to, to Peterplatz to view some interesting architectural "gems," including Adolf Loos's bathroom complex...they were all just ok. But St. Stephan's church is beautiful inside! Walked over to the Staatsoper Museum, which is just ok, and then had to meet Sara back at the Burg to get in line for standing room tickets. No one was there when we got in, so we got some of the first places in the front of the standing room section, which is in the back of the orchestra section, like the Staatsoper. And the show just felt like coming home. It reminded me very much of the A.R.T. (American Rep Theatre) in the design and the director's calls, which were just genius! So the play was in German, which is very interesting to pick up on the rhyme scheme and the attempt at iambic pentameter in German. The set started off with techies and these little old ladies setting up hundreds of tables for the wedding. Puck comes on as the wedding planner, and after the first scene, she takes off her big coat (revealing a school girl's outfit, which I didn't understand) and signals a HUGE STORM onstage. What was the roof over the tables, collapsing some of them, to create a forest landscape that the actors then walked on! (And you thought my ideas were crazy!) Then, for about 5 minutes straight, it snowed white cork making a thick layer of ground for the actors to trudge around in and throw each other to the ground on. I could't figure out what it was until intermission when I went up and stole a piece. Genius. (Is cork fire retardent?) Another genius call was to make the little old lady maids into Titania's fairies and have them sing during the performance. Hilarious. The acting, despite not totally understanding what they were saying, was fabulous. The players were really funny, and Puck was genius. They ended the play with Puck screaming at the audience in German, which was for some reason really funny, and then singing "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" in English. Actually a great ending! I loved it! Vienna has great theater, hands down.

Party in Prague!

Again, skipping over Venice to get to Prague, but I will start with my train horror story from the overnight from Venice to Prague. Got on and realized there were no locks on the doors. Not good. Had heard from a girl that she was actually gassed in one of the overnight cars so that the robbers could come in and unclip money belts. More not good. Anna (character: Anna from JMU who is working as a housekeeper to a professor at his villa on the Italian island of Elba) gets on a few stops later and we are told that we are the only two people supposed to be in the car. Great. We fall asleep, but I take great precautions with my stuff, locking it with a bike cable to the bed and put my messenger bag under my head around me under my shirt and the whole bit. At around 3AM I wake up. Not sure why, but I'm just lying there when I two guys open the door and pop their heads in. I'm just watching them thinking, "Oh, they must be lost." One of the guys sees me and gestures to the other guy to shut the door as they say sorry. Think more to myself...no, they saw two girls alone in the car. There are only supposed to be two of us in there. They are trying to rob us. I run out of the car and start asking them why they are in this car and what they are doing. In my sleepy mind, I was ready to beat up two train robbers... Anyway, they flee to another car, but I knew, for some reason, that they would be back. I lay back in bed thinking of all the James Bond ways to kick them in the face (I thank Kayt for this state of mind...) and thinking that I should get out my pocket knife, when all of a sudden I hear Anna screaming, "My wallet's gone!" What? I was awake the whole time! Nope...I had fallen asleep and the guys came back. She woke up to the bald one breathing heavily on her face, but she thought that they were just trying to climb up the ladder to the top bunk. When they saw her awake, they fled. Apparently, he reached over her, unzipped her purse, took out her wallet, took out the euros on one side, the dollars on the other, and put the wallet back in a different compartment, thankfully leaving the passport, the iPod, the camera, and the credit cards. But we were more freaked out that they could get that close to us and neither of us noticed!!! She decided to stay up the rest of the night, and the conductor had her and 3 other people get off for a few minutes at Salzburg to file a police report. We were the only ones with a description. Very scary. We put the ladder against the door in case anyone else tried to get in. Talked and snacked for a bit as we just sat in shock. They didn't take anything of mine, but if they were that close to her, they were that close to me. Avoiding night trains from now on...or, I'll take my bike cable and put it around the door handle and lock it shut. Surreal.

Anyway, Prague is great! Turns out I went from knowing no one on my travels to knowing 7 other people(and really another, but Kara didn't tell me she was there...more on that coming...), so it was really a party in Prague! Crashed in the hostel for a bit since I didn't sleep so well on the train and then went off to the Mucha Museum, which is great! If you like Art Noveau, if you like poster design, if you like art, go to the Mucha Museum. Walked along the river for a bit and then went back to meet up with Eric! (Character: Eric, my cousin who just graduated from the Air Force Academy and is going to Africa to climb mountains. He's awesome.) Had dinner in Old Town Square and then walked around town for a bit. Then both of us decided to crash. Planned to meet up with Eric, Katie, and Bryce (Characters: Katie Stebbins, a costume design student at CMU and the awesome sister of Amy Stebbins! and Bryce, Katie's awesome boyfriend who is now a lover of the theater) to do Prague Castle. Eric and I looked around Tyn Church (it has beautiful spires!) and St. Nicholas's Church and then met up with K&B for Castle time! Made the long trek up, but it was worth it. St. Vitus's cathedral alone is worth it. It's a beautiful church with gorgeous stained glass windows, of which one is by Mucha. Climbed up the trecherous spiral staircase to the top of the tower for great views. Had a wonderful "traditional" lunch of fried cheese (any culture that emphasizes its fried cheese is good with me!), meat (something I didn't have in all of Italy), and knedkly (dumplings). Got caught in a downpour on the Charles Bridge and split off to go to an internet cafe, but got rerouted by the sight and sounds of a military parade in the Old Town Square in memory of a 1621 massacre in the Old Town Square. (Thank you, Dan, for filling me in on that! All the speeches were in Czech and the soldiers were marching with big smiles on their faces...maybe it's beacuse they have to march like awkward toy soldiers from the Nutcracker ballet...) Spent the whole night in anticipation for the Prague Quadrennial (the PQ!) which Katie and Bryce were participating in.

Oh my gosh, the PQ is so wonderful and fun! OK, the PQ is an international festival of scenography and theater architecture that happens every four years in Prague. This sounded not only up my alley, but was my alley. It was so cool! There were exhibits by every country by both students and professionals. Some of these exhibits were good, some not so good, but all were very interesting. I started off by perusing the theme exhibit which was given to student designers to create anything they wanted. The theme this year was Aristophanes's "The Birds." The costumers had a field day! I saw some amazing stuff in this exhibit from puppets to set models to amazing costume sketches to video art. Then attended a lecture on how acting exercises could influence or affect drawing and design. Mostly for costumers, the lecture discussed the extensions of the planes of the body that actors must work with in order to inform their movements. All I could think of was Bo in his Caterpillar costume for Alice. It was a great lecture because many times designers don't think about how their design will affect the actors acting. We think, "The actor will deal. It is what they do." But really the designers AND the actors have to be on the same page. Not that I'm giving up raked stages, people, I'm just saying that I will be more aware of a raked stage's implications on the acting when I design a floor that is above 15 degrees with water... Then I toured the professional pavillions. They ranged from extensive overviews of what is happening in that country's theater scene (the USA, Ireland, and the Sushi Bar of Japan--amazing concept! you sat at a plate with a set model on it and the description in the menu on your placemat) to random drawings, still photographs, or slide shows (Germany and Poland--whose pavillion was the outline of Poland extruded 20' in the air and built out of bright magenta plastic), to installations and interactive spaces (Hungary's customs booth which rejected everyone and the Czech Republic's Carnival). I think I prefer the extensive overviews, especially the one from the US. Maybe that's because I recognized many of the designers. Everything from Eugene Lee's set model for "Wicked" to pictures of the Theatre de la June Lune's "The Miser" and "Amerika" was there. Poland, however, does win for the best caramel candies. I also looked upstairs at the inspiring architecture exhibit. So much is being done in theater architecture in the world. I only hope I can get into that stuff. Decided that I need to go to USITT next year. Anyone up for it? Ended with an interesting lecture on designing with smoke machines and fog. Blase and Tom, this workshop was for you! Then I met up with Xin Wei! (Character: Xin Wei, a good friend from Harvard who was on the Board of Directors for the Gilbert and Sullivan Players with me and is on her way home to Singapore after graduation) She's travelling with two friends and we met up with Eric and went to a really good dinner with more meat and more fried cheese. Went out with them and a girl we met at the hostel to a jazz bar to listen to music and just relax and chat. Great day!

The next day was cousin quality time at Karlstejn Castle. If you want to feel like a Disney Princess in Prague, go to Karlstejn. It's up on a hill and you go through a medieval town to get to it. Very Renaissance Faire in a way, but that is due to the tourists. I've decided that castles are more beautiful from the outside than the inside, and palaces are vice versa. But it was still great to go! If you go, book in advance for the long tour that takes you to the chapel and the great tower. We couldn't get in, but the pictures were beautiful! The castle was built by Emperor Charles IV of the Holy Roman Empire for his treasures. He collected relics and one of them is the head of a crocodile, which he believed, because they didn't have crocodiles in the area often, was the head of the dragon in the St. Michael story. Hilarious. The castle was also occupied by Wencelas IV, and it had a very Ruddigore-esque picture gallery. (No, no stained glass, Courtney.) Had a great time at the castle, and got back in time for dinner with Xin Wei's party and a show at the black light theater. Black light theater is very beautiful for production stills, but not necessarily wonderful after the first effect wears off. There were a few mimes that did some funny bits though. Spent the rest of the night at a jazz bar listening to a great trio that wasn't playing jazz. (I hate jazz.)

Went with Xin Wei and friends and K&B to the PQ for its last day! Katie showed me around the student exhibits, which are really creative I thought. Again, a whole range, but there was the USA extensive overview booth, which was just well done. Each master's program represented had its own closet in this big mirrored box. They could design their closets, so some had shelves with portfolios and pictures, some had models, puppets, props, and UNC? had the most creative...you pulled open a drawer and the top looked like a puzzle. When you pulled up each piece, you saw a tube with show pictures, descriptions, and props. Very neat. Austria or Australia (can't remember which) had a neat pavillion too...you were Alice falling down the rabbit hole...or rather sliding down a big slide with the tea party table upside-down all around you, all made out of paper. Not sure if it showed anything about student theater in the country, but it was fun! Sat for a long time in the uber-awesome cafe structure. Another theme of the PQ was construction, so they made a three-tiered cafe/seating area out of scaffolding and covered everything in foam, bubble wrap, and thick brown bags blown up and sectioned off to make very comfortable lounges and sofas. I must find some in the States and make furniture for my apartment (if I ever get one...) next year. Xin Wei and I sat there for at least an hour just chatting. It was so good to see her again before she gets stuck on her island that lacks the presence of cows. Have fun in Singapore! Then Katie tells me that she and Bryce bought several bags of bird seed with the intention of having a happening. Katie wanted to have a whole flock of pigeons following her around Old Town Square, so we head off with a trash bag full of bird seed. (We stop at the Jewish Museum which is made up of five synagogues and the cemetery which Rabbi Lowe, of the Golem story, is buried. The Spanish Synagogue was beautiful, but the whole thing was very expensive. Not sure the way they set it up was the best way either, but it was interesting.) We get to the Square and there is only one pigeon. Bryce runs after it with a box and gives it a whole pile. After being confused for awhile, it starts pecking. Then another pigeon comes. Then another. We look up and there are hundreds of birds coming in for a landing! We make a line of piles, so the birds started at one end, and when they were finished with that pile, they moved to the next one. Thus, we had hundreds of birds zig zagging through the Square! Finally Katie puts lots of piles around her feet. The birds gets closer and closer as they other piles disappear. After about 20 minutes, they are ready to go to her feet, but all of a sudden, a tiny child runs into the picture and scatters all the birds away! They are so full from the rest of the food that they don't come back! It was hilarious! A wonderful performance that came full circle. People actually were watching. One group clapped I think. Ta da! After that K&B were leaving town, but I will see them again in Berlin! Can't wait! They are great! Met up with XW and friends for one last dinner and then hung out with Eric and friends (he met up with some buddies from the Academy and some girls from Switzerland) at a neat place that was basically a maze of underground caverns with some bars. Reminded me of the big theater party in Edinburgh that the Underbelly Theatre held in the bank vaults underneath the city. Ate a really good fried cheese sandwich walking back to the hostel. Eric, I hope you had a great time in Prague!

Eric and I chatted by the river a bit before he had to leave on the plane. It was good seeing him! I'm glad he came to visit! He directed me towards Frank Gehry's Dancing House, aka Fred and Ginger. I really loved it! I'm not sure it fits its surroundings, but it did look like two figures dancing. I like it. Walked around for a long time and then Dan Wenger (character: Dan, friend from Harvard who is an actor and is studying in Prague for six weeks) called! We didn't know if we'd meet up, but we did and chatted at a cafe for a long time. Helped him through buying train tickets at the station (I'm a pro!) and then met up with one of his friends for a delicious dinner by the river. Great ending to a great city! Thank you to everyone who met up with me!

Firenze, the city of Duomos and Davids, gelatto and gold

Getting to Florence (and my birthday day trip to Siena) was a great breather from the craziness of the cities. Well, I first had to deal with a slight train nightmare involving a briefcase. A man put a briefcase down next to me as he was settling he and his travelmates into their seats ahead of me, and he shouldn't have left it out of his sight, but being a decent person, I felt the responsibility to at least make sure that it is not stolen. Well, it is crowded on the train from Roma to Firenze and people are crunching into every free bit of space while people put their bags up on the racks and get seated, etc. This woman and her daughter saddle up next to my seat and I tell them that I have a reservation and that there is no room here for two. She gestures that she knows, but she can't get out to move yet. Then she starts playing with the buttons on the briefcase, and I say, "It's not mine, but it is his...not yours." She gestures that she is with him, which I knew definitely not to be true. So I take the bag and hold it up and tell the guy, "Your briefcase is here! Take it!" He says in English, "I know, just leave it there." Stupidly, I put it back down on the seat. For some reason, unclear to me, she puts the briefcase on the floor and her daughter sits in the chair. I'm watching her carefully because it isn't her bag and now it's out of my sightline. The guy who is supposed to sit next to me comes, and the girl gets up and he sits. The mother and the daughter start to move out and the mother "trips" over the bag...so I turned to the guy whose bag it is and says, "Your bag is on the floor and you need to take it now before someone gets hurt." He is still bustling around crazy and just gives me a thumbs up. I turn to get the bag and the woman, her daughter, and the bag are gone. Sigh. I turn back to the man and say, "Your bag is gone. She just took it." He doesn't get it and finally he asks for his bag and I explain to him, but I can't get through to chase her down. He bumbles around thinking that she just put it up on the rack, but I'm telling him to go after her because she stole it! We pull away from the station, and after a search of the train, the conductor deduces that she got off before the train pulled away. All their passports, documents, etc. were in the briefcase. Yes, he was stupid. But it was RIGHT next to me...sigh.

Anyway, when I arrive in Florence and the beautiful churches take my mind off things. I start with S. Maria Novella, a beautiful church whose facade is under renovation, and then I get to the Duomo. Wow. You just come around the corner and THERE IT IS! It's shiny white with a huge dome, a bell tower, and a baptistry...all to die for. Do it all if you go, which you should. I started with the baptistry, well, with the famous Doors of Paradise, which are copies by the way. Don't be fooled like all the tourist groups. Still, they are beautiful, bright gold, and just stunning in every way. But they are just a suggestion of what is to come when you go inside. My mouth dropped to the floor upon entering the baptistry. The dome is covered in gold mosaics and rings of angels, prophets and other bible stories with a huge Jesus Christ on one side. Unbelievable. Definitely work the pain in my neck and the dizziness from turning in circles to see it all! The inside of the Duomo nave, however, was a bit more austere than I had expected, but then you walk to the end and see its dome. Just as amazing as the baptistry, just in frescoes, and with a very detailed scene of devils eating the damned. This place wins for best ceilings in Europe so far. I decided that I was going to climb the dome, so I walked out one door and came first to the campanella, or Giotto's belltower. You can climb that as well. So I said, why not and started up the 441 steps. Wonderful views, but when I got to the top, I said, "Now I have to do the duomo dome too." Took a quick break at the museum which has the real gold panels of the Doors of Paradise. (Why save them in Nitrogen? Why can't we view them in the glory that they were supposed to be viewed in. Also, does anyone know if the Mona Lisa at the Louvre is a copy and the real one is in storage? This I heard and don't believe. I have some issues with conservation at the moment...but I digress. Oh also, the museum only has 7 of the 8 panels on display. When I asked where the 7th was, the lady said, "These are the panels." Yes, but where is the eighth. "Oh, these are all of them." There are only 7. "Um, these are the panels!" OK. The 8th is MIA.) Once my face turned its normal color from bright red, I decided to start up the Duomo dome, another 463 steps. 904 steps in total in one day! YES! I wonder how far up that is. 904x8inches or so...ok, you do the math. Well the views are absolutely stunning! If you do only one, which you should be smart and do, do the Duomo. This country is SO gorgeous!



Celebrated my birthday at midnight with my silent post.



But never fear, I did not spend my entire birthday alone! Thank you to all who sent birthday wishes! Sierra, the girl from Brandeis who is studying in Siena, invited me down to Siena to show me around and accompany me on my birthday! So off to beautiful Siena I went. We started off walking through a huge market to St. Catherine's cathedral that is famous for having the relic of St. Catherine's head, and they did a good job of embalming it too. In fact, it is such a good job that it looks like a woman's head with eyes and skin and everything...as if she was just sticking her head out of a box. I think I have deemed relics freakish. We scampered away to the grocery store for proscuitto, cheese, bread, and apples, basically ingredients for the ideal picnic at the Palazzo del Popolo. We come into the palazzo and I scream, "THIS IS IT!" During my Renaissance in Florence class, I think I was dozing off (the professor is terribly boring) and a slide popped up of Siena's Palazzo del Popolo. I remember it because I thought it was a well designed gathering area with a raked curved brick area for people to sit surrounded by beautiful buildings. For some reason I got it in my head that it was the Duomo in Milan. Got to Milan and it wasn't there. OK, Florence maybe. Nope. OK, where is this place? Siena! Had a wonderful birthday picnic while Sierra told me all about the Palio, the huge horse race around the Palazzo every July (getting excited, Sierra?), the history of Siena, and her amazing Italian love story with a Sicilian boy who is going to move to the US for her. (Wow. Way to go Sierra!) Anyway, we went inside and saw gorgeous frescoes devoted to the Siena Council of Nine, or the governing body. Meandered through the winding streets to come out at the Duomo, an amazing jewel box of a building that I like to call the Zebra or Referee Church. Everything is layered white on black stone, so all the columns and the walls are striped. Apparently Siena's flag is a black and white stripe, so the whole building screams the city. And the floors! Oh my, the floors! Beautiful marble inlay of biblical scenes covered the entire floor plane. And it is all under a ceiling of stars in a dark blue sky. Just stunning. Also, Raphael was "discovered" for his talents in a fresco in the library. Ended the day by overlooking the Siena countryside in the Medici fortress, eating birthday gelatto from the best gelatto store in the world, La Kopa Kabana. Tops anything you've ever had, and they give you your money's worth. I was going to splurge for a large, but Sierra said wait to see her medium. It was huge. Biggest medium I have ever seen. I can't even imagine what the large was, but I decided not to get it because I didn't feel like eating a Vermonster's worth of ice cream for a third time. Bacci, chocolate fondant (Nikki, we need to learn how to make this flavor!), and nutella. Unbelievable. Great birthday! Thank you, Sierra!

The next day was Melissa's treat day. Started off by seeing my favorite David, Varecchio's David, at the Bargello. Mom told me it was a must see and she is right, as always. It's a clothed David, and he is only about 2.5 feet tall, but he is exactly what I would picture a David to be. Absolutely beautiful. Almost got kicked out for taking pictures of it, but anything for you, Mom! Donatello's David was about to be cleaned, so it was down on its side in a cradle. You could see it, but it just wasn't the same. But I give a big thumbs up to the Bargello because it is a fabulous museum of sculpture. Best museum in Florence. Before splurging on my birthday gift, I saw some churches: the Orsan Michelle (wedding was going on...), the Badia (which has a beautiful carved wooden ceiling), and the Santa Croche (which is marvellous, even if the apse is being renovated). It houses the beautiful tombs of Gallileo, Dante, and Michelangelo (even though he isn't buried there, I think). Funerary statues are just so beautiful. OK, then it was shopping on the Ponte Vecchio time. So in junior year of high school, Mrs. Cosgrove, my English teacher, told us, "You WILL go to Florence. And you WILL go to the Pontevecchio. And you WILL buy gold." What she didn't tell us was HOW we WILL pay for said gold. My oh my. I said to myself, "Why not?!" and went into every store and tried on very, very expensive gold jewelry that I could never afford. It was really fun, actually. I walked away for a bit to digest what I had seen to rush to my reservation at the Academia, which was not worth it. Michelangelo's David is the UGLIEST statue I've ever seen! It's too big. It's too ugly. And it's too imposing. And it is too bad that it gets all the attention. Don't waste your money. See the fake one outside the Palazzo Vecchio and move on. To get rid of my hatred, I decided to go back and buy something beautiful and ended up with a gorgeous gold rose charm of yellow and pink gold. Happy birthday to me! (Family, thank you very much!) Ate dinner at a place near Santo Spirito and was put at a table with another single traveller, a woman from Germany. Had a great discussion about art and opera and called it a night.

Sorry, these posts are getting longer and longer. One more day in Florence, and I started out at the Uffizi. It's an amazing museum (make reservations way in advance), and there I solidified my love for Botticelli. An entire room of just his paintings, including the Birth of Venus, and they are all just beautiful. Quickly visited the Palazzo Vecchio and then spent way too much money to get into the Pitti Palace. It's a RIP OFF. To get into both the museum and the Boboli gardens, you have to buy both kinds of tickets, thus adding up to 20.50 euro. $30. Definitely not enough there to make it worth it. Luckily for me, there was a special exhibit on set and costume design which was really fabulous. Pictures of models to prove it coming later. Went to dinner near my hostel with Donna, a 64 year old woman from Wisconsin who was staying in the same room as me. When I first met her, she didn't have her teeth in and she said, "Hi! I'm a hick from WI." Yeah, no kidding. But she turned out to be one of the nicest people I've ever met. She had never been out of the country before, but she saved up all her money to do a 3.5 month trip all around the Mediterranean. Wow.

Overall, loved Florence.

Going to skip over my Venice travels until I get load pictures...but I loved it all well! Many more stories to come!

Long time, no post...

Hello all,

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week or so, as I have been packing my schedule with things to see and not with hours at internet cafes. But, as it is pouring out, I shall try to catch up as much a possible in a few posts...so here we go...

Last time I left off, I had completed 3 full intinerary days in Rome, so I decided to take a day trip to Pompeii to get out of the city. I fully expected to start off alone, see some ruins, and then come back alone...but this was not to be the case. In fact, I met many interesting people alone the way, including some stone people...but we shall get to that in a second. While I was trying to figure out what train to get on and dealing with unhelpful information people, I meet two sisters who are also going to Pompeii, so we bonded together to figure it all out. After getting on the train and talking to them for awhile, I realize that they have a very different view of how to travel. Beaches and shopping. They were in Rome for about 24 hours and decided that they were bored (they went only to the Campo di Fiori and met some guys there who wanted them to met them in Naples or Sorrento later that day...I was quite confused with their train of thought...but they were done with seeing Rome...), so they wanted to go to Pompeii of all places in Italy for a day before jetting off to Nice and Cannes. No museums...no ancient city...no Vatican...but Pompeii is on their list. Fine, at least they remember 7th grade history class. Anyway, the older one said that they had to cut their travels short because she had to do a photo shoot at a farm in Normandy. OK. She said that she was living in Paris until Fashion Week, when she hoped to find work, and then live in Barcelona. I asked what she did. She models. Oh. Got it. In fact, it became a very interesting and intriguing discussion about the modelling world and the pressures and joys that go along with it. I still don't completely understand it, nor fully appreciate it, but I found out some very interesting things about the life of an aspiring top model. Again, travelling bonds together people who probably would never cross paths in real life.

Anyway, we met 4 guys on the train from MD and join up with them to find the ruins, as there are no signs when one gets off the train in Pompeii to direct one to that part of the city. In fact, when we got off the train, there was no one around and nothing was open. Basically, it was like walking into a ghost town. Did Vesuvius go off again and no one told us? We meander and find our way to the ruins, which are actually really cool. Trying to understand the Forum and the Colisseum might be a stretch of the imagination, but Pompeii is a snapshot of a past time. You walk down streets lined with buildings that still retain their mosaics, frescoes, fountains, structures, and in some cases, their people. I really enjoyed seeing Pompeii, and I would recommend it as a day trip for anyone who ever studied Pompeii back in the day. (Again, pictures are coming, but there seems to be an issue with hooking up the card reader to the computer...eventually they will be posted.) So without pictures, I will retain more comment on the place, but you should go to Pompeii when in Rome.

As we get out of the Forum there, we see fireworks, randomly going off in the middle of the day. When we get out of the ruins, there is traffic everywhere! Horns are honking. Flags are waving. Drunk people are falling out of car windows and off mopeds. Completely insanity! Where'd they all come from. From the flags, we figured out that potentially Napoli had won a football (soccer) match, but this was more intense than when the Red Sox won the pendant! We cheer right along with the crowd all the way back to the train station where we are serenaded by soccer fans singing every Napoli song they know. (Don't worry, Fran, the British still have the best sports chants! Oh, who did eat all the pies?) We finally find out that Napoli had just beat Genoa, a huge rival whom they haven't beaten in years, and thus, they moved from B Class to A Class. Ah ha! So everyone who follows Napoli, which is everyone in the area, was out in the streets in full force cheering and celebrating. Really fun if you ask me! We find out this information from two middle-aged navy guys who start chatting with us. They had just been to the ruins to after being docked at the base in Naples before going home. One of them turned out to be...in their words...the ship's clown. All of a sudden he turns to me and asks, "Do you like teddy bears?" Um, yes... And he pulls out balloons and starts twisting them into a teddy bear with a heart and gives it to me! So random! He then started making them for everyone in the station. His philosophy...the bag of balloons costs me next to nothing, and it keeps me from being bored! The Navy...bringing smiles all over the world one balloon at a time. Amazing.

Unfortunately, when we get on the train in Naples to go to Rome, we have to stand because it is overbooked...kind of annoying, but we met Francesco, Francesco, and Ivan, three random guys who start asking us what we Americans think of Italy, sports, and Italian food. They laughed at us when we said that we've only eaten pasta and pizza the entire time. Ivan was translating between the two groups, and we all ended up laughing the whole way back. So overall, a great day. Met lots of new friends and had a great time!

OK, and for my last trick in Rome...I wandered all over the city to catch all the churches I hadn't seen in the first few days. Started with S. Maria Maggiore, which was just beautiful. Headed down south for S. Giovanni the Lateran...also gorgeous. It was funny because they were setting up for a papal visit that night, so this guy is taping down microphone and video cords to the nice marble and mosaic floor with duct tape... So in this silent church all you can here is the sounds of duct tape being unrolled with a priest looking on questioningly about whether or not the duct tape will ruin the floor. It was really amusing to watch. Duct tape? I guess so. Decided to just relax and walk around some more. Found myself at the Trevi fountain again and sat there for a long time watching the flow of tourists taking pictures, eating gelatto, and throwing money into the fountain (not hitting people in the process...not one hit person). Decided that the fountain was a good way to end my trip to Rome and headed back to the hostel. Hung out with my roommates a bit...two girls from New Orleans (one girl was the sister of a guy from Mather who graduated in 04...anyone know Chadwell Potts, on the sailing team?) and a girl from Australia. Rome is very big and very neat. I highly recommend it...but I also highly recommend getting out of the big cities to the smaller ones...which I will talk about in the next post.

Ciao!

and...

Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to Melissa!
Happy birthday to me!

Sorry, when one celebrates by oneself, one feels the need to tell the world...or whomever is reading this...

and it says that I posted on the 12th...but it's the 13th here!

When in Rome...

you do lots of walking...

Oh, Roma! Big city...and I've walked a lot of it. Again, this is going to seem like a list of things because I saw so much in a day. I do have to give a huge thanks to Rowan Dorin for making this part of the trip possible, as it was he who sat me down with pen and paper and told me to dictate his daily intineraries of Rome. Rowan, you never...well, almost never...led me astray. (PS...to get to the Campidoglio from the Capitoline Museums, you don't go back down the stairs and around...you go through the square to the left and down a tiny side street...it's ok, small 20 minute detour...)

OK, so I started my trip in Rome, after getting a good night's sleep from the previous day's train craziness, in the ancient city (might as well go chronologically, right?). Hit the Forum at 9AM when NO tour groups were around, and had the rocks to myself. It amazed me that a civilization such as Rome could be so eternal, and yet temporal at the same time. Standing in the middle of the Forum--THE place to be in ancient Rome--I was looking at complete destruction. You can't even start to imagine what it looked like, I felt. Bunch of overgrown rocks with a few standing columns...and arches...I couldn't picture it the way it must have been. And the same with the Pallatine Hill (though the ruins are a little bigger and more intact), which I went to afterwards. HINT: If you want to go to the Pallatine Hill and the Colosseo, buy your ticket at the booth in the Forum. Do not go to the Pallatine Hill street entrance or the Colosseo line...no need. No lines for me and I went right in to both. After wandering through the Pallatine Hill for a bit, went over to the Colosseo to see what it was all about. Well, not much. I mean, it's huge. (And yes, Dad, traffic is a bit crazy over in that area...) But again, ruins. No seats left. No floor. I took a tour and learned that the whole place was basically pillaged/recycled by the popes to make churches. The reason the travertine walls look like swiss cheese is that they took out the metal pieces holding the marble to the travertine to melt down and make guns and church bells. Interesting. Found out the hard way that the Domus Aurea, what is left of Nero's gigantic mansion complex, is closed for renovation. Backtracked to the Circus Maximus...not worth walking to. There is nothing there. I mean, nothing...just grass. But S. Maria in Cosmedin, a beautiful little church has gorgeous tiled floors, mosaics, and the Bocca della Verita, the Mouth of Truth. It's a huge stone face that you stick your hand in, and supposedly, if you are a liar, you get your hand bit off. Happy to say, I am still two handed. Walked back up to the Capitoline Museums, but I was so tired that I couldn't really register anything there. Saw some cool, probably important statues of Augustus, I think... Ended the rock part of the day with Trajan's Column and Market. All very impressive, just tough to visualize it all. Decided to pep up a bit with some gelatto that both Let's Go and the NY Times raved about, the gelatto of San Crispino. It is very good. Took a trip to the Trevi fountain. (Now I understand, Mom.) It's AMAZING! I love it! So powerful. Decided to splurge on a restaurant near the Trevi for some good pasta and bruchetta. Good stuff. Saw the Fountain of Triton and the 4 Fountains. The day of rocks and water. Overall, a good day.

Next day, I woke up at the crack of dawn to get to the Vatican Museums. Rowan advised me to be there at 7AM, and I clocked in at 7:03. 90 or more people had clocked in even before me! You know what...you can't win against those people. As I was naively in line, thinking I would be getting in close to 9, someone said...oh no, we get in at 10. The tour groups get in at 8. What? Yeah...3 HOURS in line waiting for it to open. Granted, even by 8 the line was so far down the street that the people were probably IN the Vatican's piazza, but it was just so long. Passed the time talking to a couple from south of London and a lady from South Africa. Once the doors opened, we got right in, but I chose not to rush through and try to get to the Sistine Chapel first. You know what, nothing was crowded. Tourists go straight for the big pieces, and for la Sistina, but the rest of the museum was wide open for me to peruse. Saw some amazing stuff. The big gems are also very cool as well. But the Raffael Rooms and La Sistina were the best. The School of Athens is just amazing. And well, the Sistine Chapel ceiling...worth every minute in line. It was amazing! So breathtaking that they insure that silence is kept. I like that. Shut the tour guides up for a bit, I say. Anyway, left the museum and laughed at the people still in line as I went to St. Peter's Basilica. WOW. It's just so big and great. Too bad an axe wielding fiend cut off Mary's nose and Christ's hand so now the Pieta is behind glass. It is really beautiful. And what I liked most about it all was the chair and surrounding statue. Bernini really did it right. One would think that the Vatican would have a 30' gilded gold crucifix, perhaps with neon lights saying, WE ARE THE VATICAN. But no. There is no cross in the entire statue. Just the dove...a strong symbol nonetheless, but much less hitting you over the head than a cross, to me at least. It was quite glorious I would say. Another must when at the Vatican is walking up all 551 steps to the top of the dome. (I didn't have enough cash on me to take the lift...but it's better to walk anyway.) Beautiful views from up there! A short storm was coming in, and you could just see the clouds rolling in over Rome. Decided to try to get out of the rain by going to Castel Sant'Angelo, Hadrian's fortress, which is very interesting, but not nearly as cool as the Vatican. Trekked quite a long way to get to a place Let's Go recommended, but it had really good pasta. Well worth the walk.

The third day was supposed to be Big Church Day, but instead I spent most of the day going up and down the river. Started at the Piazza del Poppolo...saw the chapels and the church and the set up of the anti-war protest (did I mention that Bush is in town...). Decided to quickly move to the beautiful Borghese park to stroll amongst the trees, a copy of the Globe Theater, and the Galleria Borghese, a must-see, says all the guide books, but a can't see unless you get your tickets 4 days in advance. Be warned. Walked over to the Spanish Steps...yep, they are there...don't walk up them, no need, and then down to the ruins of the Mausoleo of Augustus and a new glass building by Richard Meier to house the ancient Ara Pacis, a large altar that I did my 7th grade Latin project on. It was really weird to walk up to it and remember all the research I did for that project. I drew up plans of each facade and everything. I think that might have been one of my middle school all nighters even. Oh, good times back at South... Anyway, recharged with gelatto at the Piazza Navona and sat with my feet in a fountain. Walked passed Campo de Fiore and over the bridge to Trastevere, a wonderful area to walk around. Stopped first at S. Maria in Trastevere, a gorgeous church with mosaics, and then walked down to San Francisco dell Ripa, another beautiful church, but not on the regular map. So the friars were going about their regular business and conducting a dress rehearsal for first communion. The little kids were just staring at me as I walked around. Saw a beautiful Bernini statue, checked the clock, and ran back to the Pantheon to make 5PM Mass. OK, so you are wondering, why would the Jew want to catch Mass, ever? Again, a brilliant Rowan tip! Go see a church during Mass! Firstly, you get to see the space as it is intended to be used. Secondly, they clear out all the tour groups who can't get enough of their tour guides annoying voice. Thirdly, you sit there and they sing to you in pretty languages. How can you go wrong? I got there as they were clearing everyone out and closing the doors. I ran up to some guy and said I wanted to go to Mass and he ushered me right in with a smile. Just had to stand and sit when I was told...no kneeling in this Mass oddly enough...and smile and shake hands with people who I think were saying, "Peace be with you." Not sure completely of what happens in a Mass, but I know a lot of it. Anyway, the priest was a very energetic guy. Couldn't understand a single word, but he was very emphatic on whatever topic he was talking about. Then another priest sang in a gorgeous voice. All the while, I'm just staring around the Pantheon, watching the circle of light get higher across the dome, and thinking, "Does anyone get bird pooped on through the hole in the ceiling?" I do wonder. And the building itself is wonderous...how did they do that ceiling? Amazing. I will say that the church doesn't really fit into the original structure, but who am I to judge such things? Ate overlooking the Pantheon in a lovely outdoor cafe and called it a day.

And I'm going to call this a post and get off the computer. I do promise to post more pics as soon as I can get to a place that allows me to plug in my camera card.

PS

Mazel Tov to all the Harvard grads and all of the classes of 2007! I just know that Harvard seems to be the latest graduation, so I would cover all my bases at once.

Welcome to the real world! Well, I can't say that I spent the last year in the real world, but from the little bit I saw, it's great! Enjoy!

All Roads Lead to Rome...Right???

Well yesterday was a blast and a half. In case you believe in the above statement that all roads lead to Rome...you would be somewhat wrong. There are 2 train lines that go to Rome. One along the coast through Pisa, and one on the interior of the country that goes through Florence.

I started out the day with the lofty intentions of going to Pisa for a few hours, just to see if the tower really leans, and then head on to Rome. Got up early to catch my first leg of the trip to Genova at 9AM, where I would change for the train to Rome. Well, the set of tickets I had had me getting into Genova 15 minutes before my train to Pisa. With Italian trains, this is never a good thing. We were 30 minutes late, so I missed the train to Pisa. Got in line...got another ticket. Fine, whatever, two more hours, same route, just instead of 4 hours in Pisa, I had 2. Fine, how long does it really take to prove that it leans, right?

Waiting for the train at 12:52...12:52 comes along and they say the train is sopresso. I had no clue what that meant, and some women were trying to get across a concept, but I had no clue. I thought it meant delayed. It doesn't. It means cancelled. I get back in line...fine, get a ticket for 2:52 to Pisa, take the one later train to Rome (it's the same train line, so I would just be catching the next train coming through)...1:30 comes along...sopresso. Again?! OK, 4th attempt to get where I need to go...getting a little concerned as I would like to get to Rome. Get up to the ticket window, again, and they said...no ticket because we don't know when the train is coming, if it is coming. What. There was an accident. An accident. Yeah, in a place where there are only 2 lines. There are only 2 lines for one of the most major pathways from northern to southern Italy? Two trains collided and both lines are shut down. Oh really... People are getting angry now. Meet Chris (character: Chris, a master's grad student in International Relations, works on the Hill for a senator, is from Miami, has been on a train for 6 hours already coming from Nice) who is ripped about the situation, but we decide that with our powers combined, we could find a way to Rome...even if he had to drive.

Anyway, we are on the platform waiting for the next train, hoping it will come in 2 hours, and I'm just trying to be patient and naively think that the train will come and all will be well. Chris is getting pretty angry and eventually says, "I'm impatient...we are getting on the train to Milan and taking the other route to Rome." Back to Milan? Well, it was my only choice at the moment, and he was going to drag me onto the train, so we seek out a train conductor, ask if that is a viable option, and he says, get on this train to Milan, but get off in Voghera. Voghera...what? Where?

Apparently, they made announcements saying for people on the sopresso train to Rome should go to Voghera and there would be a train waiting for us at Voghera. Fine. But apparently no one told the train in Voghera this and it left before we got there. OK, so now we are stuck in Voghera, Italy. Again, where? Luckily, there were enough Italians screaming at a station officer that we figured this was the group we should join. We approached the angry crowd, having no clue what they were saying, and met Alessandra, who Chris dubbed "Mom" for the night. She spoke fluent English and she said, "Follow me. We will get to Rome." Great. After the train system tells us there is nothing they can do for us, they advise us to get on a train to Milan and go from there... The group, now livid (I have no clue, so I just keep on smiling) gets on the next train to Milan and we arrived at 6PM, 9 hours later than when I left, back in Milano Centrale. OK.

Next hurdle, getting on the train to Rome without reservations. Chris is freaking out because apparently in Spain, he and some other guys were left off in the middle of nowhere for not having the correct reservations with their eurail passes and had to walk over 20 miles they found out to a town. Um, ok. And if this train to Rome goes well, we get in late to Termini, not the best station in the world to walk around. Not good odds, but I thought...just get me to Rome.

The group fights with a train officer in Italian...Chris and I hover near the back and listen to the fighting. It's not looking good, when all of a sudden Mom tells us to just get on the train...they can't kick us all off. Reassuring, Mom. But we get on a train, supposedly to Rome, getting in at a somewhat decent hour...we are happy.

After some really good discussion about state versus nation, the term democracy, and the intricacies of Italian and American politics, along with some chats about children's literature and education, we make it to Rome. Now, the train hasn't stopped for long periods of time or anything, but we are 35 minutes late...now after 11PM at night. (I got to hostel just fine...there were lots of people around.)

But 9AM-11PM trying to get to a city that all roads supposedly lead to...oi vey.

Milano!

So again, with train schedules, I had two nights in Milan, and one full day. With tips from Gloria, my friend and TF from school who is from Milan, and Rowan, another friend from school who has spent lots of time in and studying Italy, I had a very full day planned. This is going to seem like a list of things, because it is. I walked for a good 12-13 hours straight today...my feet are definitely feeling it...and so it my brain. Lots to absorb.

Started off bright and early at the Brera, a museum Gloria absolutely loves, and has some real gems in the collection. I figured out what they were from a Chinese tourist group who was ushered from one gem to the next with no time to look around in between. Funny how tour groups work. Can't imagine just travelling on a tour. I can understand a day tour, so you get context and history, but then having time to go back and really study what you want to see. Didn't seem like that kind of tour. Maybe that's why John Harvard is so popular...how did it get on all those tour lists...like Plimouth Rock. Anyway...that's a completely different can of worms...

Then went down the street to the Teatro alla Scala, the famous opera house, which is also gorgeous! Every theater I have visited, the techies have been working...I miss tech already. I'll have to definitely keep in touch with it...either design, or even just a crew for awhile, moving stuff around. I wouldn't mind. OK, without getting too nostalgic and back on track, saw the museum there which was really cool, too. From there, walked through the 3 storey arcade of the Galleria Emannuele II to the Duomo. Wow. I didn't know what to expect, and then there it is! They are doing work on the lower front, but walking around it, it was gorgeous! All white and decorated. Beautiful. Went inside...gigantic! Walked around for a long time, and then tried to take the stairs up to the roof...but the stairs were "closed," so I had to take the lift. I felt like I was cheating the system, but I guess now my feet are thanking me for it. The roof is really designed for people to walk around it. It's a very cool space to be in. Great views of the city too! Walked down the stairs because they were now open...not the same...but will have to do. Went to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, which has the prep drawings for Raphael's School of Athens...again, HUGE. Can't wait to see the real thing. Had an interesting half English half Italian discussion with a guard about art...a little difficult you can imagine. Heading up to the Castello Sforzesco, another MASSIVE building that houses 10 museums. Hit about 3 of them and decided to move on to the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio, a favorite of both Rowan and Gloria. And it is gorgeous! (I know, it's a favorite word...along with huge...but that seems to be the trend in the places I'm going.) Anyway, Rowan, I saw your red haired Jesus. I even risked taking a picture. I'll post it for you at some point. From there, Gloria instructed me to walk down to the Navigli, a district of old canals and cheap eats. Had some pizza (glad to get Italian food!) and a cannoli.

Spending the night relaxing in the internet cafe across from my hotel to post pics, finally, and update the blog, hence the 3 posts in a few hours. Headed off tomorrow for Pisa for a few hours and then on to Rome! Ciao!

Bonjour and au revoir!

Decided to stay one night in Southern France, so I chose the town of Avignon. Got into the city at 4PM or so, so I had about 6 hours before I had to go to bed to catch an early train to Milan. I get off the train, and the directions tell me to go through the ramparts...yes, ramparts. I get out of the station, and sure enough, there are HUGE ramparts surrounding this town. So medieval. I love it.

Wait first...train stories. At the last minute, I realized I hadn't sent some postcards, and I needed to send them while the stamps were still good in Spain...ran off the train and down the platform to find a mailbox. Couldn't find one, but found two other women running around crazy trying to find the same thing! We ran outside, down the street, found a box, ran back, and caught the train, just as the doors were closing. Close call...might have been left in Barcelona with my bags going to Avignon...

Ok, back to Avignon. Went straight from the hotel to the Popes' Palace, the really only attraction in Avignon. Built in the 14th century, the Palace was home to many popes before Rome became the huge Papal residence that we know of it today. The Palace in Avignon is empty for the most part, due to the move to Rome and also many fires. But it was really cool to see such a building empty because you can really appreciate just how big and cavernous the structure is. I mean, it's massive. Gawking my way through, I made it to the ramparts on top for GORGEOUS views of the countryside. You could see other castles and towers dotting the forest. Exactly what I imagined medieval Europe to look like. So cool. (My medievalist friends will probably find something wrong with this statement...I apologize, Rowan.)

They had to usher me out at closing, and then I wandered through a nice garden with more great views for awhile. Checked my Let's Go book on what else to do in Avignon and they said that the town is famous for its bridge. Apparently there is a famous children's song about the Avignon bridge...I don't it. Anyone? I got a postcard with the song on it, but I have never heard of it before. Well, saw the bridge, or what is left of it, and wandered around the streets for awhile, checking out more ramparts and such until I got back to the carousel (it was a two-tiered carousel...I was tempted to go on it, but I feared people would think of me as sketchy), so I went to a restaurant right out on the main drag and ate a GREAT meal outside. Sat for awhile over my chocolate mousse to take it all in. I'll have to come back and spend more time in Southern France. I think I will be hitting Lyon and Dijon at the end of the trip for sure, but I don't know if I'll make it this far down again on this journey. Au revoir!

(Oh yeah, I don't speak French. I know about 10 words, and the waiter spoke to me only in French because he was convinced I was French, even though I asked him if he spoke English and he did. Of the ten words I know in French, three of them are for one, two, three...helpful for taking tourist's pictures. I just can't understand a language that can have 12 letters in one word, and the word is a single syllable.)

"Where ya goin?" "Barcelona."

Took the overnight train to my first architectural mecca, Barcelona. (Let me tell you that the night train was no fun, as I was sitting in a very small seat that did not recline for 12 hours. I slept regardless, but if you are thinking about it...maybe not.) Anyway, in my exhausted daze, I could not for the life of me figure out why I could not understand the people speaking in Barcelona or the signs around. Later I was reminded that they speak Catalan in Barcelona...very much like French I was told because that area of Spain was under Charlemagne way back in the day. Ah well, close enough.
For the first day, I wandered up Las Ramblas to the info center to book a walking tour and then stumbled back to a metro stop to meet up with Laurel, one of the girls from Granada, and we decided to do a non-thinking trip to Mont Juc, a nearby hill, called the Mountain of the Jews, which was considered a place of political and military power over the years. Franco used the fort at the top as a questioning and holding place. Took the funicular and air tram to the top (nice views of the city and the beach!) and wandered our way down to the Olympic stadium and museum. If you are into the Olympics, this museum is awesome, and no one knows about it. It was designed in a great way, leading you through a timeline of the Olympics and its sports to a main area where you could see movies, peruse pictures, and do all sorts of interactives games. The stadium looked very tiny, but it held the 1992 Olympic Games, so it must be huge. I vaguely remember this games, but I know it most from the opening ceremonies when the archer took a flaming arrow and lit the torch a few hundred feet above him. Saw the torch tower...an amazing feat. Wandered to a huge castle looking thing which we found out was the Museum of Catalan Art...also amazing! It was a very comprehensive look at Catalan art and traditions through the years. Hidden jewels, I tell you. Ate at the Hard Rock Cafe...again, a situation where they keep the same number for their prices, just not the same monetary sign.

Got up the next day early for a tour of the Barri Gotic, the Gothic district, and oldest distric in Barcelona. It was a great tour of the area with a lot of history from when the Romans were around and all the different monarch families. Our tour guide ended at a shop and told us to order orxata, which I had never heard of. It's a drink from a nut from around the Barcelona area...kind of like a coconut, I would guess. It's a milky drink that tastes SO good. If you are ever in the area, or see it in an international food store, try it! I'm hooked. Met up with Laurel again, who had seen the Picasso Museum (I don't like Picasso, so I didn't go...) to start on my Gaudi pilgrimage. Started off with the Casa Batllo (yes, pictures are coming), and discovered another house, next to it, designed by one of Gaudi's contemporaries, Lluis Domenech i Montaner, who seemed like a guy I should know. Turns out he designed what is now my favorite building in the world...read on to find out what! La Casa Batllo is just stunning! I love what Gaudi did with the living spaces and the glass and the curves. Headed on to the Casa Mila, or the Pedrera, which is an apartment complex. Very good museum on the top floor of Gaudi's work. Then we walked over to the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's "crowning" work. Laurel didn't want to pay to go in, but I decided to, so we parted ways, and I went to discover what this building, which is STILL in construction, is really all about. It was really interesting to see it in construction, because you usually only get to see buildings and masterpieces finished. To see it in progress was a great experience because some of it is totally done and other parts are still open to the sky. It's massive and filled to the brim with decoration. Not quite sure what I think of it yet...maybe a little too much...but I think I would like to go back when it's done for a final judgement. Walked around its towers for a bit and then decided to head back to work out some future travel things.
The next day was a packed day of sight seeing, started at a beautiful cathedral, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar, which is in the Barri Gotic, but not as famous as the main Cathedral. Of course, I then visited the Cathedral, which is gorgeous inside, but is being renovated on the outside. Decided that I would spend the day walking around Gaudi's Park Guell, which I am going to say is a huge disappointment. There isn't much there...the main patio area with the famous park bench is of dirt with nothing around. The cave-like walkways are cool, but they only lead a very short way. The lizard, which is like an icon of Gaudi, is tiny, and the museum is not that great. All in all...got out very early, so I decided to go by the Casa Vincens, another of Gaudi's works, and the Dragon gate, another icon that everyone knows. I couldn't get into the Casa V, but I took the metro out to the middle of nowhere to get to the Dragon Gate, which is in front of Palau Guell. No one was around. I didn't see one tourist or even one person recognize that the gate was there, and it's AWESOME! So the Dragon and I became friends for 15 minutes...we took pictures together...growled together...you know, best friend things. I think it was my favorite Gaudi piece in all of Barcelona. Ended my day there.
The next day is what I call "theater" day. Started off with a tour of the Theater Liceu, the second largest opera house in Europe next to the one in Paris. It's absolutely gorgeous. The auditorium has been plagued with fires, so nothing is original, but it is still beautiful. And the stage...it's huge. I mean...huge. I would love to design for a theater like that...On the tour, they took us into the Circle Club, which is a very private club off the Hall of Mirrors, which has the most gorgeous paintings I've ever seen. Very Toulouse Lautrec, but not him. I'll have to figure out the name. And the modernissme detailing of the rooms were beautiful. Headed to my next theater, the Palau de la Musica Catalana...this is my new favorite building in the world. Designed by Lluis from before, it's a garden of music with flower details everywhere, pink glass to filter the light, ceramic muses of music rising out of their mosaic skirts wall behind the stage, the most breath-taking procsenium arch with pastoral, classical, and modern music depicted in a forest scene, Beethoven's head between columns, and the ride of the Valkaries, and to top it all off, a stained glass sun with angels at the top. Sounds over-done, and many people think so, but it's just so breath-taking that I fell in love with it straight away. Decided to go back that night for a concert to see how the accoustics are...they are great. It was a concert of a Weber piece, Schumann's Cello Conerto with a great soloist!, and Brahams 4. Beautiful concert, beautiful concert hall. If you go to Barcelona...GO HERE! If you couldn't tell by now, I'm a lover of art noveau, called in Barcelona, the modernissme movement. Everything I saw from this movement in Barcelona was gorgeous...I will have to research it much more. Yeah.
The Palau was my last thing in Barcelona, and what an ending it was!

Heading off to France...for a night...

¡Hola a todos! Sevilla and Granada

If you ever come to Spain, skip Madrid and come straight to Sevilla. Maybe I´m just a smaller town girl (who is moving to NYC...), but Sevilla had all the spice and color of Spanish culture. From the minute I started getting lost in its streets, Sevilla had me hooked! Walking around felt so comfortable and calm, I just wanted to absorb it all in. The architecture is a true mix of all sorts of cultures, from the days when the Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians all lived together in peace. And palm trees everywhere. (Yes, pictures coming later...hostel computers don´t like you to hook up cameras to them, so I have to wait for internet cafes.) Headed straight for the Alcazár, the palace, which has been my favorite thing I have seen on the trip thus far. It´s absolutely beautiful. My pictures certainly don´t do the detailing justice (the light was pretty bad), but such meticulous work went into tiling and carving every surface and ceiling. And the gardens are just breath-taking. I felt like a mix between Jasmine in her palace and Alice in Wonderland. Lemon, lime, and orange trees abound. I journeyed through mazes, rose gardens, flocks of peacocks, fountains...it was all just so beautiful. There are no words. I felt again like I should have been in a big dress, strolling the grounds with friends. Go to Sevilla to the Alcazár. Took in more of the night life by sitting at a cafe and watching the world go by...in the only day of rain that Sevilla sees per year. Sigh. Can´t always be perfect.

The next day, however, was perfect for seeing more gardens and parks. Started at the Casa de los Pilatos, a beautiful mansion with similar detailing as the Alcazár, and then worked my way through the maze of streets to the series of parks and structures just north of the Alcazár. Just a word of warning...if a lady approaches you trying to give you a sprig of greenery, run away. At the Plaza de España, one of these ladies approached me, and as usual, I said no gracias and tried to walk away, but she grabbed me by the arm and told me to take it...so I did. I tried to get away, but she started reading both my palms, saying all of this generic positive stuff. When she finished, she demanded 5€ per hand. I said I didn´t have any money, but she started pawing at my bag, so I took out the first two coins and ran away. Unfortunately, I think she made off with 1,50€, but I learned my lesson. After that ordeal, I visited the Cathedral, which is just amazing. The walk up to the top of the turret is a series of 36 ramps...and all you actors can´t complain, because these rakes were way steeper than anything I´ve ever built, and it´s code... Anyway, at the top there were beautiful views of the city and a short bell concert. Another highlight of the Cathedral is the tomb of Christopher Columbus. He´s in a marble coffin held by twice life sized marble pallbearers. It´s stunning. Walked around a bit more, and then it was adios a Sevilla!

Arrived at the Funky Backpacker´s Hostel in Granada and wasn´t sure what to expect. Decided the day would be best spent seeing everything other than the Alhambra, so I set out to see the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel (both ok), and walked around steep and narrow paths of the Moorish Albacin, or the Moorish quarter to get great views of the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada. My first views of snow topped mountains! A woman at the hostel said she was trekking up there and the snow was knee deep. But the real fun started when I got back to the hostel and met the greatest group of people at our roof-top lounge. (Cast of characters, some of whom will show up later: Sierra (a student at Brandeis studying at Sienna for a year), Jake (from California, a roommate and a linguistics grad student), Dagan (a windsurfer who spent the last 6 months in Tarifa enjoying sea and wind), Jackson (an artist and student studying in France), Jon (a seasoned traveller from the Peace Corps), and Laurel and Rachel (from Vancouver)). Dagan led the way to a great tapas place where we stuffed ourselves full of jamón, manchego cheese, chicken croquettes, and other wonderful food items for very, very cheap. Bonded with Sierra over the fact that we are both theater nerds. I suggested meeting up early for the queuing at the Alhambra in the morning for tickets (they sell out MONTHS in advance, but release 2,000 tickets every morning, so just go early). Met another Jake (Virginia Jake) at the computers and recruited him for the morning meeting as well.

Woke up at the crack of dawn, ate nutella on bread (the Europeans really know how to do breakfast), and ushered our group out of the hostel and up a steep hill (I don´t know if I´ll forgive you guys for that one!) to our line. Got into the Nazrid Palaces right away (which is the main living quarters of the Nazrid kings) and revealed in the beauty that is the Alhambra. The pools, the fountains, the detailing...amazing. No wonder this place is up for the new 7 wonders of the world. (Check out this website...www.new7wonders.com. There´s voting for a new 7 wonders of the world. Not sure which 7 I´ll vote for. It´s comparing apples and oranges it seems...) Wandered around more gardens, the fortresses, the palace of Charles V, the generalife gardens, and much more. It just keeps going! Definitely worth the trip to Granada! And stunning 360 views of the countryside. (There was an Australian photographer at our hostel that was setting up for hours for the perfect shot of the Sierra Nevadas. Apparently he spent two full days at Stonehenge waiting for tourists to clear or go behind stones before he could get his shot...I feel like such an amateur.)

Went with the group to tapas again. It´s a great system...order a drink, get free food with it...even if you only order a Coca-Cola Lite! And who walks in...but Sinhead from Madrid! I had been trying to reach her, but she didn´t have credit on her phone. Found out that she was on the same coach as me on my overnight train to Barcelona. Was going to upload pics at an internet cafe, but the Jakes convinced me to come back to the hostel until my train. It was nice to just sit and talk for hours, eating paella and enjoying our gorgeous views. Siesta is definitely a genius idea. I was sad to leave the group, but Laurel, two other guys, and Sinhead were all on the train, and VA Jake was soon to follow us. I think I like this hostelling thing. Meeting random people is really a great way to travel!

PS-Overnight trains in seats are not comfortable. I probably won´t learn, and I´ll do it again, but perhaps I should pay for the bed...

Sevilla

Granada (not finished, can't find a good connection yet)