A couple of months ago, Karen and I realized we didn't have enough weekends to fit in all the traveling that we wanted to do. After consulting our, i mean Karen's agenda (Anybody who knows me knows I'm not one for agendas, I've got my fantastic memory for that;) we realized that we didn't have class last Monday due to an Italian national holiday and that nothing important was happening in our tues/wed classes. So back in February we booked our flights to Barcelona, Spain!
Last Tuesday, for our Ancient Rome class, we were supposed to have outdoor presentations at various ancient Roman monuments around the city. Mine was on the Trajan Forum (located by the Colosseum). Tuesday morning dawned overcast and rainy. I checked my email repeatedly certain that my professor would cancel this outdoor class due to the tercentennial rain. Not finding an email, all 8 of us in the class (actually a large class for LdM) scoured our rain gear from the back of our closets (this was the first rain since the "great flood" that lasted 2 weeks when we first arrived back in January) and trooped a mile through the flooded streets of Rome. At some point along the way, hail began to pound from the sky, so we hurried along as fast as we could to get there on time without slipping on those good 'ole Roman cobblestones. Drenched and cursing our professor for not canceling class, (does she want a law suit when we all have brain damage from the hail???) we arrived at the meeting point, Piazza Venezia.
After waiting 20 minutes for our professor, we heard through the thunder and downpour the buzzing of a cellphone. It was LdM calling to inform us that our professor was waiting at the LdM campus for class due to the rain. Furious, we began the long walk back to school, going in true Italian style (aka a snails pace) determined to take up as much class time as possible. Our professor greeted us in our usual classroom dry and with a big smile. We returned her enthusiastic greetings with angry stares while taking off whatever sopping wet clothing we could. Anyways, my point in telling this astronomically long story about absolutely nothing was to say that the presentations that were supposed to be on that Tuesday were postponed to the next Tuesday, when, you guessed it Karen and I were going to be in Spain. Fortunately our teacher worked with us to present on another day, and you'll be shocked to know the sun began to shine brightly the minute our professor began the lesson indoors.
Last Sunday, I celebrated Easter with Papa Francesco at the Vatican. I went earlier in the week with a friend to the Vatican City State to pick up my ticket. (I had ordered my ticket months ago) The slip promising a ticket said the tickets would be distributed behind the bronze door across from the Bernini Statue...In case you have never been to St. Peters Square, there are numerous "the bronze doors" and "the Bernini statues". I asked a Vatican Employee for directions who threw around his hands, up and down, to the left and to the right, while rambling off directions in Italian, ending with you get it, okay? I nodded, because Italians have this habit of repeating themselves. Pretending you understand slightly reduces the chances of them repeating the same story. So of course, he repeated the same gibberish directions, but this time I understood that tickets were not distributed until 3p.m. It was only 1 so we found shade and hung out in the Vatican for a few hours (Casual hang out right) I am going to miss being able to hang out at places like the Vatican. Sometimes on any given day I will go admire and say a quick prayer inside St. Peters or walk by the Colosseum just because I can. Today after the Canonization mass, I found a Sicilian bakery, had a delicious conolo with pistachio topping, and wandered by myself the the narrow, cobblestoned streets of a charming district in Rome. It is little moments like this that enhance your study abroad experience...
Anyways, back to Easter (Sorry I am already looking back with nostalgia on the past few months in the eternal city....) it was a beautiful service, but with very slow solemn music, which surprised me for an Easter Celebration. I kept listening for the trumpets. (Johnny is needed at the Vatican! By the way shout out to my super intelligent brother for being accepted into the Governor School for Math and Science! I know you will be so missed at home, but I can't wait to see the big things you'll do!) Because I got there at 7a.m for a 10 o clock service, I had amazing seats. Some friends of mine, showed up 15 minutes later and unfortunately had to stand in the heat the entire time. After getting through security, I watched as people RAN to find seats. I stood there for a half a second wondering why everyone was running. Let me tell you, the saying "he who hesitates is lost" comes from events at St. Peter's Square where there is a mad race for a good spot, with an excellent view of the pope. Half a second later, all the seats were filled. (I'm not ashamed to say that I too used my 800meter track experience to secure a seat front and center) The highlite of the mass came at the end when Pope Francis hopped on the PopeMobile for a spin around the Plaza. From his big smile and kind eyes you can just tell that he is such a friendly, down to earth guy!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Just a weekend in Roma!
This weekend I "just" stayed in Rome for the first time in a while( most weekends I travel somewhere) I put "Just" because staying in Rome is never just,"just". This city, we have discovered, has many layers. On Friday, we went to Villa Borghese, the largest park in Rome and laid out on blankets and read for several hours. Our peaceful reading was interrupted when the sprinklers decided to turn on on full blast! We gathered our things in a hurry and left the park choosing to walk the hour back to our apartment (rather than take the metro) because the walk from Borghese to our apartment is very pleasant. Via is the road where celebrities in the 60's lived or visited so it is marked by extravagant hotels and expensive restaurants. Among the many lively restaurants with waiters standing outside urging you to "prego prego, eat here!", was a deserted, closed restaurant. It turns out that the Italian police shut down the restaurant (And I thought they didn't do anything but smoke cigarettes and stare at American girls) because it was run by the Mafia. The restaurant-with the tables still set with napkins and silverware-looks like it was abandoned in the middle of the night. Even the "Trip Advisor" sticker saying "eat here eat here! is still stuck on the door (next to the Police Evacuation Notice lol) Perhaps Trip Advisor needs to be re advised!
For my Film & Mafia class we met with Libera, an anti mafia organization that works everyday to eradicate the mafia forever. In Italy the Mafia is everywhere, north, south, in wealthy neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, your neighborhood. Many times the average individual can in some way have ties with the mafia because it is very much a part of every aspect of society. Luckily, I have never witnessed a mafioso in action, and seeing the evacuated restaurant is the closest I ever want to come to a mafia scandal!
Saturday was Karen, my roomate's birthday, so I woke up extra early to prepare a brunch for her. After brunch, we decided to explore a new part of Rome where alleged "Ethnic Markets" are. What was advertised as an Ethnic Market, was actually a neighborhood very similar to Naples, in that it was dirty, smelled, and filled with immigrants. We joked that we were confused what country we were in because we didn't hear Italian spoken anywhere! Most of the shops, filled with crap and restaurants filled with food poisoning, were Chinese. However, the area is also inhabited by Indian and African immigrants also trying to sell you their crap, which ranged anywhere from a "I heart Rome" key chain to a hairbrush, safety pins, or raw almonds. I actually did end up buying a phone charger at one of the stores because it was cheap, and I figured all things are made in China anyways. We opted not to eat in this area because the smell of garbage and B.O had made us nauseous among other reasons, mainly the value we have for our health.
We hurried home very thankful to see the flower vendor, fruit stand, bakery and cafe that have become the familiar sights of Via Nomentana. We are very fortunate to live in such a lovely area of Rome. I am going to miss being able to get a chocolate chip croissant whenever I please. By now they know my order at the bakery and they know that it is always "porta via" (Take away, in America it would be "to go") because I take it back to my apartment and enjoy it with a book and cafe americano! I have been reading a lot here. LDM's library has a nice collection, which I have been working through. I just finished Hawthorne's"The Marble Faun", and have read several other books by Forester. I've missed reading!!! In real college there is never time to, So I am glad that classes here are easy and relaxed enough that I have plenty of spare time to explore the city and relax and read a book for once.
On Saturday I also skyped my wonderful parents for several hours. The wifi has been particularly bad this week so I was very thankful I got to talk to them. My mom's silliness cheered me up! Plus they were so cute, both of them in their nike workout clothes. My dad had just biked 13 miles and my mom promised she was going on a short run only to text me later that she did 10 miles.... My mom filled me in on everything happening at home, so yes the Peterson Family Rumor Mill has finally reached Italy!! Ben walked by the camera and stuck his tongue out at me, and I felt like I was back home. I also got to skype my favoritest oldest sister for a few minutes, until the wifi went down. I am very thankful she consistently is always there to talk to me whenever I need her!! I know she is very busy, but I have enjoyed keeping up with the hard work she is doing in nursing school. I can't believe by December we will have a nurse practitioner in our family!
I didn't talk about Prauge in my last post probably because it was my least favorite city of spring break. We also spent the most time here, but it was such a large city that it was not manageable if you didn't know exactly where to go/what metro stop to get off at. It was still very beautiful and felt like a fairy tale land, with all the mid evil structures and castles around. The food was also delicious! For lunch one day I had pork and cheese, which I expected to be served hot, but actually came cold in a little jar that also had hot peppers among other vegetables, served also with fresh bread. Unfortunately nobody told me they were hot peppers, and I spent a good bit of the meal trying to soothe my burning mouth! ON the bright side, even if I accidentally bit another pepper, I wouldn't have noticed because I burned off all my taste buds with the pepper seed! The next day one of the girls and I split an entire duck, and it was some of the best meat I've ever had. The duck was served with potato dumplings, bread dumplings, and bread. It was nice to be full on meat and protein and not just pasta for once!!
Today my roomates and I are all going to a Holy Thursday mass at San Giovanni, the first Christian Church in Rome. The Choir of Rome is singing and they have apparently won many national awards, so I am excited! It will be nice to go to a church here that actually has music. Usually the service is extremely casual! Well gotta go do some laundry with the fabric softener I bought that I thought was detergent.....I even tried asking the workers "lavarare con vestiti" (To wash with clothes?) They answered back in Italian of course, but I hadn't previously google translated their responses to know what they were saying... The worker then started pointing at marshmellows to explain what he meant, at which point I smiled and said "Non Importa, Gratzie!" and proceeded to the check out line with my fabric softener.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
From Poland to Paris and Everything In Between!
Can't believe it has been a month since my last blog. Time is rapidly passing by! I seriously would have posted sooner had I had an extra minute to breathe let alone catch everybody up on my jammed packed, absolutely incredible, insanely hectic travels.
For spring break I went throughout Eastern Europe to Slovenia, Czech
Republic, Hungary, and Poland. (Germany and Austria in transit)
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana, Slovenia appeared like a small, but beautiful (and clean!) town. However, upon hiking up to a castle on the very top of the city that overlooked the region for miles, we realized that Ljubljana is actually a large, industrialized city and that we had just been exposed to the tourist part. We spent two nights here in a hotel that used to be a World War II prison, which was neat, even if I did have to duck to get in/out of my bed. Ljubljana had a small open air market, where vendors cooked up delicious, exotic smelling dishes. Our tour guide stopped here and let us try what Ljubljana (and the rest of eastern europe!) is known for: Sauerkraut. I was actually one of the few people who enjoyed it for cabbage is so popular in Eastern Europe not because of it's delicious taste but because it is cheap! Eastern Europe is definitely still trying to recover from WWII/Soviet rule. In the 80's, our tour guide explained how citizens of Slovenia, himself include, had to sneak basic goods (like food for survival) across the Austria border. While their economy improved in the 90's, the introduction of the euro and the Great Recession has severely impacted Slovenians lifestyles. On a lighter note, perhaps what I will remember most from Ljubljana is the time at breakfast where I went to put cream in my coffee only they don't use cream here so I was looking for the heaviest, creamiest looking milk, which I found and poured into my coffee only to discover that I had dumped copious amounts of YOGURT into my (hard to come by) coffee. Go figure.
Budapest, Hungary
After Slovenia we arrived in Budapest, Hungary. Budapest is a large city divided by the river into Buda and Pest (pronounced pesht) I really liked this city, though to me it didn't offer any more than any other city-spectacular views, river dividing the city, and a pretty cathedral. It did have a Starbucks and my cup of coffee americano was actually what you would pay in America, but not as good. Europeans just like their cappucinos and expressos. For lunch we got a Hungarian speciality called Langos, which is a deep fried flat bread with sour cream and cheese. It was very rich, delicious and filling. Our travel company, Bus 2 Alps, arranged a dinner cruise (Viking River cruise for all you who watch Downton Abby and always see the advertisements for it! ALl the times I watched longingly never thinking I would actually get to go on one...How lucky I am!) I was actually in a very homesick mood on the cruise (I wish my family had been with me, these type of experiences aren't the same without people to share them with) but I forced myself to sit on top of the boat and soak in the beautiful, ancient bridges and the magical lights on the buildings we glided past. The parliament building, modeled after the one in London, was decorated in lights and beautiful.
We found several unique bars in Budapest, including the largest bar in all of Europe. It was five floors, and one floor included a "jungle" of live plants, which was neat. We also went to the Hungarian Baths! They are really just a big lukewarm pool and we tried to stay underwater because the cold air bit at our head and upper body. I felt a little let down by these famous baths, but nonetheless they were relaxing for my sore muscles (we did a lot of walking and I went running in the morning). On of my favorite parts about Budapest was the currency!!!! One dinner cost $10,000 ft which is equivalent to about three euros lol.
My absolute favorite part of Hungary was caving. If you are how I was, and are ignorant to precisely what "caving" entails allow me to explain. If you ever dreamed of being a mouse and sliding through dark small holes, and scurrying through crevices narrower than your computer screen width, then you may enjoy caving. We entered through a normal looking wooden door, only to climb down a 20 ft long ladder (By the way-if you fall, you fall into nothingness and die.) and slide down 10 feet of slippery clay and then we slid down more gooey clay until we were 40 meters underground, where not a ray of sunshine could protrude. We explored the cave, on our stomachs crawling, for about an hour through windy passage ways, led by our guide, a petite woman of about 40. She told us that no matter how long we stood that far underground our eyes would never adjust because there was absolutely no sunlight. At this point we all said a prayer that the batteries on our flashlights didn't die. Our guide assured us she knew the way out with or without light....
At one point I legitimately got stuck in one of the tunnel entrances. Apparently the guide gave instructions to enter on your stomach with one hand above your head and the other at your side. Never one to follow the rules, I entered on my stomach with both hands and arms under me. Because of this, I was too wide and my arms got stuck underneath me. I was imagining the worst--news headlines of "American Girl Dies In Hungarian Cave", and hoping for the best "Firefighters Rescue Stupid American Out of Cave", while the others struggled to get me out. One person ended up pushing on my feet while pushing their own feet against the cave walls, while somebody else pulled on my shoulders from the front. It was quite a traumatizing experience, especially since I never knew that when my mom taught me to always read the directions that failing to do so could result in me being stuck in a pitch black cave.
From Caves to Krokow....
On our route to Poland we traveled through Slovakia, which is a greener Arizona with a mountainous terrain. Snow glistened on the mountain tops, while the people heated their homes with firewood below. Stacks of firewood sat outside the tiny, steep red roofed houses. NO exaggeration, my bedroom was probably bigger than those houses, though the people didn't appear particularly impoverished. The yards and houses were for the most part well kept, excluding one "shanty town" we passed. I wondered what the people of Slovakia do, what the industry is like, and the political structure of the country because most of what we drove through was in the boonies. We also passed an abnormal amount of cemeteries, which we were informed were for the thousands of lives lost during WWII.
Krokow, Poland
Krokow was my favorite city. I loved Poland. The Polish people are extremely blunt and sincere. I too see no reason why everything is always so politically correct and sugar coated, so perhaps I am polish. The food was DELICIOUS AMAZING BEST FOOD EVER and we lucked out with our authentic restaurant choices. It is actually quite a science choosing a restaurant that is actually authentic, reasonably priced and delicious. I enjoyed Polish Sausage (I know Johnny && Michael would be jealous), sourkrout and potato dumplings. Though Krokow was small compared to a large city like Budapest or Rome, it's elaborate history enriched our one full day there. I kept thinking to myself, "I am walking the streets John Paul II walked, I am walking the same paths where Poles were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, where Soviet Soldiers brutally controlled the people and the economy not thirty years ago". Poor Krokow...It has been constantly invaded, and it is constantly rebuilding. It is hard to date the buildings because the city was constantly destroyed and original buildings rebuilt for the past 1,000 years. The city plaza (for a while the largest plaza in Europe) was sparkling and very clean. Every hour a trumpet player plays his trumpet on the bell towers of the church where John Paul II used to attend, and so we spent a lovely few minutes listening to him.
We ventured to the outskirts of the city in order to see Schindler's Factory. As we did the buildings got grayer, the material cheaper. All in all though, I was surprised at how remarkably fast the city has recovered from communist reign. I would love to know the lasting effects of communism, but they don't cover deep issues like that in fear of boring people with "too much history" on the tours. On our way to Schindler's Factory I stopped to buy a cup of coffee for 300 polish currency (1euro) in order to stay awake during the museum. The long bus rides at night had started to catch up to me because we traveled late into the night in order to maximize daylight for touring. I got my coffee, which was actually a normal size (European coffee doesn't get any larger than about a grande-usually it is a sippy cup amount). I proceeded to add a dash of cinnamon and cocoa powder and a large amount of sugar. I walked outside sipping my coffee that I had to spit out because the "sugar" was actually salt. I tried convincing myself that it tasted like a salted carmal mocha, but really it was just disgusting. I decided it was not meant to be for me to have coffee in Eastern Europe, and I silently cursed the day years ago when I tried coffee for the first time and have been addicted ever since (thanks mom:)
This weekend I went to Paris. I was hesitant to go back to Paris after being thoroughly disappointed in the city when I visited last time. However, this trip, Paris fulfilled my high expectations for a beautiful, magical city! We had an early morning flight to Paris so the shuttle picked us up from our apartment at 3:25 A.M. Yes, you read that correctly if you read a number that is in the middle of the night. I do not remember the shuttle ride to the airport or the flight to Paris or the bus into Paris because I slept the entire time, and did not fully awake until I had a shot of espresso and the best chocolate chip croissant of my life. France certainly knows how to make their pastries, and it will actually be difficult going back to mere “roman” pastries. On our second day we awoke bright and early, enjoyed some Parisan crepes and headed for the Louvre. As we waited in the long line to purchase our 12 euro ticket, a security guard approached us and asked if we were students living in Europe. Since we are, we got to get into the largest museum in the world for free! I found it funny pulling out my Clemson University I.D along with my Passport (Visa) at every entrance to the different sections of the museum. We ended up spending 7 hours here, with a short lunch break in between. The Louvre has recently added a Colonial America Exhibit, which they proudly heavily advertised throughout the museum. When we finally found the small corner dedicated to three tiny portraits of George Washington, we were thoroughly disappointed in the American exhibit. We did recognize that our country is younger than most of the art work displayed in the Louvre so we could be a little understanding of the lack of American art!
On our last day in Paris, Karen and I decided that we wanted to rent bikes in order to explore more of the city in a shorter amount of time. Paris has a government sponsored bike renting program where you can "check out" a bike with a credit card and then return it anywhere at a bike station in the city. We set off for the nearest bike station excited and eager to experience Paris on bikes! Once at the station, we tried both of our credit cards, but both of them got declined because they don't have a "chip" in them. Never ones to give up, I looked in my Rick Steves guide book for an alternative place to rent bikes. While looking up the address for this place on our map the size of Paris, an elderly man stopped and asked what we were looking for. We told him we wanted to rent bikes, but our credit cards wouldn't work. He then took out his credit card, went through the whole complicated process on the computer, and then handed us the ticket to get our bike. We were so surprised by his unexpected kindness! To rent a bike you have to put down a $150 euro deposit (per bike!) so we were shocked a stranger would do this for us. We tried to pay him the cost of the bike rental (10 euro or so), but he waved us off. We thanked him profusely and he went on his way (to find a baguette, but it was Sunday so he couldn't find one anywhere!) I think I was most surprised that there are still genuine, kindhearted people in the world who do nice things just because. He didn't have to stop, and he definitely didn't have to purchase our bike rentals, so it was incredible knowing that he did a kind deed when he knew he wouldn't get anything in return. Our trip would not have been the same without this generous French man, and his small deed inspired us to strive to be better people. We set off on our bikes, our backpacks in the basket, content and ecstatic to explore the gorgeous city of Paris!
Riding past the Eiffel Tower bike basket full of Parisan pastries (Macaroons, baguettes, croissants...) is the most exhilarating, happy experience and one I won't soon forget.
Well believe it or not I still have many stories to tell, but this post has taken me several hours and I need to go grocery shopping before the stores close...(no 24 hour Walmart here) so I will have to post another blog soon!
La vita i recordi i momenti felici!
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana, Slovenia appeared like a small, but beautiful (and clean!) town. However, upon hiking up to a castle on the very top of the city that overlooked the region for miles, we realized that Ljubljana is actually a large, industrialized city and that we had just been exposed to the tourist part. We spent two nights here in a hotel that used to be a World War II prison, which was neat, even if I did have to duck to get in/out of my bed. Ljubljana had a small open air market, where vendors cooked up delicious, exotic smelling dishes. Our tour guide stopped here and let us try what Ljubljana (and the rest of eastern europe!) is known for: Sauerkraut. I was actually one of the few people who enjoyed it for cabbage is so popular in Eastern Europe not because of it's delicious taste but because it is cheap! Eastern Europe is definitely still trying to recover from WWII/Soviet rule. In the 80's, our tour guide explained how citizens of Slovenia, himself include, had to sneak basic goods (like food for survival) across the Austria border. While their economy improved in the 90's, the introduction of the euro and the Great Recession has severely impacted Slovenians lifestyles. On a lighter note, perhaps what I will remember most from Ljubljana is the time at breakfast where I went to put cream in my coffee only they don't use cream here so I was looking for the heaviest, creamiest looking milk, which I found and poured into my coffee only to discover that I had dumped copious amounts of YOGURT into my (hard to come by) coffee. Go figure.
Budapest, Hungary
After Slovenia we arrived in Budapest, Hungary. Budapest is a large city divided by the river into Buda and Pest (pronounced pesht) I really liked this city, though to me it didn't offer any more than any other city-spectacular views, river dividing the city, and a pretty cathedral. It did have a Starbucks and my cup of coffee americano was actually what you would pay in America, but not as good. Europeans just like their cappucinos and expressos. For lunch we got a Hungarian speciality called Langos, which is a deep fried flat bread with sour cream and cheese. It was very rich, delicious and filling. Our travel company, Bus 2 Alps, arranged a dinner cruise (Viking River cruise for all you who watch Downton Abby and always see the advertisements for it! ALl the times I watched longingly never thinking I would actually get to go on one...How lucky I am!) I was actually in a very homesick mood on the cruise (I wish my family had been with me, these type of experiences aren't the same without people to share them with) but I forced myself to sit on top of the boat and soak in the beautiful, ancient bridges and the magical lights on the buildings we glided past. The parliament building, modeled after the one in London, was decorated in lights and beautiful.
We found several unique bars in Budapest, including the largest bar in all of Europe. It was five floors, and one floor included a "jungle" of live plants, which was neat. We also went to the Hungarian Baths! They are really just a big lukewarm pool and we tried to stay underwater because the cold air bit at our head and upper body. I felt a little let down by these famous baths, but nonetheless they were relaxing for my sore muscles (we did a lot of walking and I went running in the morning). On of my favorite parts about Budapest was the currency!!!! One dinner cost $10,000 ft which is equivalent to about three euros lol.
My absolute favorite part of Hungary was caving. If you are how I was, and are ignorant to precisely what "caving" entails allow me to explain. If you ever dreamed of being a mouse and sliding through dark small holes, and scurrying through crevices narrower than your computer screen width, then you may enjoy caving. We entered through a normal looking wooden door, only to climb down a 20 ft long ladder (By the way-if you fall, you fall into nothingness and die.) and slide down 10 feet of slippery clay and then we slid down more gooey clay until we were 40 meters underground, where not a ray of sunshine could protrude. We explored the cave, on our stomachs crawling, for about an hour through windy passage ways, led by our guide, a petite woman of about 40. She told us that no matter how long we stood that far underground our eyes would never adjust because there was absolutely no sunlight. At this point we all said a prayer that the batteries on our flashlights didn't die. Our guide assured us she knew the way out with or without light....
At one point I legitimately got stuck in one of the tunnel entrances. Apparently the guide gave instructions to enter on your stomach with one hand above your head and the other at your side. Never one to follow the rules, I entered on my stomach with both hands and arms under me. Because of this, I was too wide and my arms got stuck underneath me. I was imagining the worst--news headlines of "American Girl Dies In Hungarian Cave", and hoping for the best "Firefighters Rescue Stupid American Out of Cave", while the others struggled to get me out. One person ended up pushing on my feet while pushing their own feet against the cave walls, while somebody else pulled on my shoulders from the front. It was quite a traumatizing experience, especially since I never knew that when my mom taught me to always read the directions that failing to do so could result in me being stuck in a pitch black cave.
From Caves to Krokow....
On our route to Poland we traveled through Slovakia, which is a greener Arizona with a mountainous terrain. Snow glistened on the mountain tops, while the people heated their homes with firewood below. Stacks of firewood sat outside the tiny, steep red roofed houses. NO exaggeration, my bedroom was probably bigger than those houses, though the people didn't appear particularly impoverished. The yards and houses were for the most part well kept, excluding one "shanty town" we passed. I wondered what the people of Slovakia do, what the industry is like, and the political structure of the country because most of what we drove through was in the boonies. We also passed an abnormal amount of cemeteries, which we were informed were for the thousands of lives lost during WWII.
Krokow, Poland
Krokow was my favorite city. I loved Poland. The Polish people are extremely blunt and sincere. I too see no reason why everything is always so politically correct and sugar coated, so perhaps I am polish. The food was DELICIOUS AMAZING BEST FOOD EVER and we lucked out with our authentic restaurant choices. It is actually quite a science choosing a restaurant that is actually authentic, reasonably priced and delicious. I enjoyed Polish Sausage (I know Johnny && Michael would be jealous), sourkrout and potato dumplings. Though Krokow was small compared to a large city like Budapest or Rome, it's elaborate history enriched our one full day there. I kept thinking to myself, "I am walking the streets John Paul II walked, I am walking the same paths where Poles were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, where Soviet Soldiers brutally controlled the people and the economy not thirty years ago". Poor Krokow...It has been constantly invaded, and it is constantly rebuilding. It is hard to date the buildings because the city was constantly destroyed and original buildings rebuilt for the past 1,000 years. The city plaza (for a while the largest plaza in Europe) was sparkling and very clean. Every hour a trumpet player plays his trumpet on the bell towers of the church where John Paul II used to attend, and so we spent a lovely few minutes listening to him.
We ventured to the outskirts of the city in order to see Schindler's Factory. As we did the buildings got grayer, the material cheaper. All in all though, I was surprised at how remarkably fast the city has recovered from communist reign. I would love to know the lasting effects of communism, but they don't cover deep issues like that in fear of boring people with "too much history" on the tours. On our way to Schindler's Factory I stopped to buy a cup of coffee for 300 polish currency (1euro) in order to stay awake during the museum. The long bus rides at night had started to catch up to me because we traveled late into the night in order to maximize daylight for touring. I got my coffee, which was actually a normal size (European coffee doesn't get any larger than about a grande-usually it is a sippy cup amount). I proceeded to add a dash of cinnamon and cocoa powder and a large amount of sugar. I walked outside sipping my coffee that I had to spit out because the "sugar" was actually salt. I tried convincing myself that it tasted like a salted carmal mocha, but really it was just disgusting. I decided it was not meant to be for me to have coffee in Eastern Europe, and I silently cursed the day years ago when I tried coffee for the first time and have been addicted ever since (thanks mom:)
This weekend I went to Paris. I was hesitant to go back to Paris after being thoroughly disappointed in the city when I visited last time. However, this trip, Paris fulfilled my high expectations for a beautiful, magical city! We had an early morning flight to Paris so the shuttle picked us up from our apartment at 3:25 A.M. Yes, you read that correctly if you read a number that is in the middle of the night. I do not remember the shuttle ride to the airport or the flight to Paris or the bus into Paris because I slept the entire time, and did not fully awake until I had a shot of espresso and the best chocolate chip croissant of my life. France certainly knows how to make their pastries, and it will actually be difficult going back to mere “roman” pastries. On our second day we awoke bright and early, enjoyed some Parisan crepes and headed for the Louvre. As we waited in the long line to purchase our 12 euro ticket, a security guard approached us and asked if we were students living in Europe. Since we are, we got to get into the largest museum in the world for free! I found it funny pulling out my Clemson University I.D along with my Passport (Visa) at every entrance to the different sections of the museum. We ended up spending 7 hours here, with a short lunch break in between. The Louvre has recently added a Colonial America Exhibit, which they proudly heavily advertised throughout the museum. When we finally found the small corner dedicated to three tiny portraits of George Washington, we were thoroughly disappointed in the American exhibit. We did recognize that our country is younger than most of the art work displayed in the Louvre so we could be a little understanding of the lack of American art!
On our last day in Paris, Karen and I decided that we wanted to rent bikes in order to explore more of the city in a shorter amount of time. Paris has a government sponsored bike renting program where you can "check out" a bike with a credit card and then return it anywhere at a bike station in the city. We set off for the nearest bike station excited and eager to experience Paris on bikes! Once at the station, we tried both of our credit cards, but both of them got declined because they don't have a "chip" in them. Never ones to give up, I looked in my Rick Steves guide book for an alternative place to rent bikes. While looking up the address for this place on our map the size of Paris, an elderly man stopped and asked what we were looking for. We told him we wanted to rent bikes, but our credit cards wouldn't work. He then took out his credit card, went through the whole complicated process on the computer, and then handed us the ticket to get our bike. We were so surprised by his unexpected kindness! To rent a bike you have to put down a $150 euro deposit (per bike!) so we were shocked a stranger would do this for us. We tried to pay him the cost of the bike rental (10 euro or so), but he waved us off. We thanked him profusely and he went on his way (to find a baguette, but it was Sunday so he couldn't find one anywhere!) I think I was most surprised that there are still genuine, kindhearted people in the world who do nice things just because. He didn't have to stop, and he definitely didn't have to purchase our bike rentals, so it was incredible knowing that he did a kind deed when he knew he wouldn't get anything in return. Our trip would not have been the same without this generous French man, and his small deed inspired us to strive to be better people. We set off on our bikes, our backpacks in the basket, content and ecstatic to explore the gorgeous city of Paris!
Riding past the Eiffel Tower bike basket full of Parisan pastries (Macaroons, baguettes, croissants...) is the most exhilarating, happy experience and one I won't soon forget.
Well believe it or not I still have many stories to tell, but this post has taken me several hours and I need to go grocery shopping before the stores close...(no 24 hour Walmart here) so I will have to post another blog soon!
La vita i recordi i momenti felici!
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