When in Rome, Fall 2008

My Final Week in Italy

2009-03-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

FLORENCE
After leaving Rome I had about a week to do some final traveling around Italy before flying back home to the US. My first stop was Florence to stay with Pepe and his CEA friends and see more of the city. I spent my time with Pepe discovering different parts of the city, having delicious meals, and talking about how Europe has changed us for the better. Some things I wish to bring with me back to the U.S. are the traditions of apertivo (having a drink such as wine in the evening with a snack such as bruschetta, honey and cheese, etc.) and digestivo (grappa or limoncello, drunk after dinner). My time in Italy has also changed me in the way that I am slightly less frugal (I spend a little more now to enjoy myself), I have a better sense of fashion and style and have a nicer wardrobe, and I eat slower in order to savor the flavor of my food. It was nice to have Pepe show me around Florence for several days because it allowed me to get to know the city fairly well. I particularly love the Renaissance architectural style of Florence. The main difference between Florence and Rome is that Rome is a much bigger and busy city with Roman ruins and fountains everywhere. Both places are beautiful however. When I first arrived in Florence from Rome, I stepped outside the train station and saw and heard large flocks or rather swarms of birds that filled the sky till it was nearly black (there were literally thousands of them). I commonly saw large flocks of birds like this near Trastevere and the Tiber River in Rome. I walked a short 10 minutes to the Duomo where Pepe lives and called him. He told me he was getting a cup of coffee but that I should still be able to get into his apartment by buzzing in and telling one of the other CEA students who I was. I met Pepe’s actual roommates , who were about to leave to fill a jug of wine for that night’s Christmas party, so I quickly threw my bags in Pepe’s room and joined them. I saw Pepe on the way to the wine shop and he told me to meet him at the apartment after I and his roommates were done. The shop was interesting because it had large jugs of wine (as big as a huge cauldron) which were tapped with their tubes ending at the bar. We were able to sample our own tapped wine and pick our favorite to fill the jug up, for only 20 euro. We each paid 5 euro, which was a great value considering we were each receiving about one and a half bottles worth of wine each. The girl filling our wine at the bar was extremely friendly and would politely correct our Italian while speaking to her (what a great way to improve our language skills). The wine we chose was Vino Rosso Montepulciano. We headed back to the apartment, had some of the wine for apertivo, and then went to a restaurant where I had ravioli and gnocchi. Pepe showed and explained a bit more of the city to me before we headed back for the Christmas party. The next day we spent most of our time shopping. We went to an open air market where I bought a deck of cards showing different sites in Italy, and I touched the wild boar (which guaranteed my return, similar to tossing a coin in the Trevi Fountain in Rome). In another piazza (with medieval buildings and a cathedral) there was a Christmas festival and market where I had some strudel and hot wine. That night we had one of the nicest meals… probably THE nicest meal… while in Italy. I was in a castle restaurant resort in the hills outside Florence and Pepe heard of it from a shop owner he befriended who knew the owner of the restaurant. It was a four course meal with champagne and red wine, fresh (very moist and mushy) mozzarella with meat slices, pasta, pork and potatoes, an assortment of desserts including tiramisu and chocolate with dessert wine, and finally a digestive of grappa, mandarincino, and two different kinds of wine spirits. The next day we slept in, went to Pepe’s school to use the internet, and at night we went ice skating. I did surprisingly better than I thought I would… I didn’t fall once. I can only remember going ice skating once before several years ago and I remember falling frequently and not having much fun. I guess my motor must have developed over the years, and in good fortune to because I had a blast. For dinner at a restaurant I had spaghetti Bolognese. I took my time walking back to Pepe’s to enjoy the sights, especially the view of the Ponte Vecchio from another bridge. Florence and other Italian cities such as Rome are decorated with Christmas lights etc, creating some beautiful sights. The next day I headed to Civita di Bagnoregio, between Florence and Rome.

CIVITA DI BAGNOREGIO (Tuesday)
I am on the train from Orvieto to Florence. It is 6:45 pm. I just was in Bagnoregio to see Civita, and I think it is one of my favorite places in Italy. To visit Bagnoregio I had to take a blue Cotral bus which arrives outside the train station at Orvieto. It is amazing how efficient public transportation is in Europe. You rarely have to wait more than an hour for a train or bus to where you want to go. My bus from Orvieto to Bagnoregio was filled with Italian high school students to the point where I had to stand up at the front of the bus for 15 minutes until enough students got dropped off at their houses and there was a free seat for me. The bus was loud with boys and girls shouting and laughing like any American high school bus would be, but it is interesting to hear only Italian accents and language. When I neared Bagnoregio I could see Civita and it stunned me with its beauty. I looked back at it with awe just like I did with the Colosseum when I first saw arrived in Rome. The bus stopped at an inconspicuous place on a road circling the central area of Bagnoregio. The bus driver gave me some brief directions and I started walking towards Civita. Much of Bagnoregio has medieval style architecture, with large stones around the doorways and plaster on the façade that is faded and worn. The main road on the upper terrace (near the center and bus stop) is lined with medieval style buildings, and I walked down the street to get to Civita. I asked for directions when it looked like I was leaving the main part of the city, took a right down a small road, and eventually when I turned a corner Civita appeared in the distance. I have seen Civita in pictures, but nothing can prepare for the joy you feel when you see it in front of you for the first time. Civita is a small medieval village located on a plateau sticking out in the middle of a valley. There is a small, long bridge that connects Civita to Bagnoregio, and when you first see it you think that you are looking at some sort of fantasy castle which would only exist in a Disney movie. I took some pictures of myself in front of it (gotta love the timer setting on modern digital cameras) and saw a man walking down the bridge and asked him to take a picture of me as well. Now that I am finished with my beginning level Italian class I can speak Italian fairly well and have few problems asking questions and understanding responses in Italian. It was cloudy out but it didn’t detract from the beauty of the moment. The valley and hills surrounding me were lush with green vegetation and Italian homes and farms/vineyards were sprinkled throughout. I finally reached the plateau and entered the main gate of Civita. The small town is an amazing step into a medieval experience, with buildings of the style composing the entire village. Parts of the plateau are gradually eroding, leaving ruins and single facades with nothing but scenery behind them. Once you first enter Civita and look at the facades behind you, the windows above the doors show the sky instead of the inside of a building). Civita is so small that less than 15 locals reside in Civita year long, and they mainly make a living by catering to tourists. I only saw a couple locals during my visit, including a lady in the church at the main square, and I only saw 5 other tourists. It is extremely pleasant to walk in a village with no cars, only a few people around, small plants, and buildings built several hundred years ago. The combined effect made me feel as if I were a medieval villager, and seeing a stray cat meandering around and hearing the bell chime from the church’s tower completed my fantasy/illusion. When I entered the main square it started to rain but it didn’t bother me the slightest bit. I explored every nook and cranny of the village, taking in the rough stone walls and paths and tile roofs. Stairs, facades, and windows were covered with plants and ivy, and I saw many heavy wooden doors with bronze attachments. I especially like the door knockers depicting animals holding the hoops in their mouths, torch/candle holders bolted to the stone walls, and curved metal railings of balconies (which I have seen all over Italy). Near the opposite end of the village I saw a young Italian couple (about my age) taking pictures and saw a rainbow peaking out of the hillside in the distance. I also saw an old small space which must have once served as a stable. The main square is dominated by the church and its tower, and there are a couple other large buildings lining the piazza. There are only one or two main paths running from Civita’s main gate to the end, and all the other side paths have beautiful views of the valley below near the plateau’s edge. There are still inns, restaurants, and especially shops that sell and or serve wine, olive oil, and bruschetta. Virtually all these places were closed, but I saw Rick Steves’ video of when he went into one of them, saw fresh olive oil be pressed, and had bruschetta with olive oil and tomatoes. I first heard of Civita by watching his video. After about an hour of exploring Civita, I decided to start heading back to Bagnoregio in order to catch the last Cotral bus back to Orvieto. While walking down the bridge I was greeted by the sunset ahead of me so I stopped to take a few last photos. I walked back to the bus stop and had some time to spare so I grabbed a café (small strong espresso) at the bar while standing up (the Italian way), grabbed some snack food at a nearby shop, and waited for the bus to arrive at the stop (it came shortly after 17:25). Civita was an incredible experience, and is right up there next to Capri as one of my favorite places in Italy. It find myself to be very happy and peaceful whenever experiencing a small, peaceful town/village without the bustling disturbance of cars or lots of people, walking down peaceful, small paths and every corner I turn being surprised by another amazing site. The scenery of both of my favorite places in Italy (Civita and Capri) is also extraordinary because they provide opportunities to look down at the environment below. There is something about man to want to build high and look down at the world below him and experiencing this phenomenon is one of my greatest passions. My train will arrive in Florence (or Firenze as the Italians say) shortly, where I will visit with Pepe one last night and prepare for my journey to Vicenza tomorrow.

AFTER CIVITA
After I got back to Florence from Civita, I took a picture of the Duomo and the nearby statue of Brunelleschi (the famous Renaissance architect of the dome) and entered Pepe’s apartment where they were having apertivo. After apertivo Pepe and I took a short walk outside to reflect on our journey. Some of us wanted to go out, and after convincing the rest of them that they should (I knew how important it was to live every night up the last week since I already knew it how hard and sad it is to leave everyone and the city your last night), we went into a bar where there was a Beatles cover band playing. We spent the entirety of our time there playing beirut/beer bong (although we were a little rusty since most of us haven’t played for over half a year back at college. The next morning I packed and headed to the train station where Pepe met me (he was there already saying bye to another friend), showed me how to catch the bus to the airport, and we said our final goodbyes in Europe. I caught a train north to Vicenza, known for its famous architect Andrea Palladio, where I would stay at the next 3 nights and also visit Venice (Venezia) the next day.

ARRIVING IN VICENZA
I arrived in Vicenza late at night after a long day’s travel from Florence. I got off at the train station and walked all the way to my hotel, checking the map and directions periodically to make sure I was going the right way. It started drizzling a little bit and was cold outside, so I walked quickly. Vicenza is a pretty small town, and I walked from the southern end of town (where the train station is) to the east and north until I got to my hotel. I was a little wet when I tried to check in, and my reservation wasn’t on the hotel computer so it took a little while before I was able to get my room. Once I got the keys to my room I got settled in and went outside to explore the town at night and find a place to eat. I discovered how to get to the main part of town, looked at a few sights, and found a nice restaurant recommended in my Lonely Planet Guide located a little north of the center of the town. I ordered pasta and enjoyed a basket of various types of bread and a glass of red wine while taking in the ambiance of the restaurant. Then I headed back to my hotel to go to sleep.
I woke up the next morning and walked to the train station with my backpack to go to Venice.

VENICE
As the train approached Venice (Venezia), the strip of land for the train tracks were surrounded by water on either side, so it was somewhat like approaching an island on a road. It was a cloudy and slightly drizzly day unfortunately, but it didn’t take much away from the excitement and atmosphere of Venice. Once I stepped outside of the train station I saw the “Grand Canal,” which is the main canal of Venice and curves through the entire city in an “S” shape. Across the train station, right next to the canal, there were a couple tourist booths where I bought my boarding pass for the taxi ferries which stop at various points along the Grand Canal and other main points of Venice. Rather than boarding a taxi ferry first, I walked to the right along the Canal from the train station and crossed a modern bridge to check it out and get a better feel for the area I was in. The bus station was across the bridge, and I kept walking south and through the city hoping to come to an intersection again of the Grand Canal. I decided to take Rick Steeve’s advice of getting lost on purpose, so that I could see how the Venetians really live without too many tourists ruining the ambiance. There were many small arched bridges to cross the small canals, and small boats docked all along the canals. The city is like Amsterdam except much more compact and smaller canals, creating a busier feel to the city.
I found a taxi ferry stop along the Grand Canal (after working my way around some dead ends along it), and hopped on. I rode it all the way down to the end of the Canal, to St. Marks Square, the main part of the city and the biggest tourist spot. St. Mark is Venice’s city saint, his symbol, the lion, is shown many of the big landmarks of Venice, such as St. Mark’s Basilica, the Clock Tower, and a staute of a lion on a freestanding column next to a similar statue of st. Mark himself in human form, all located in St. Mark’s square. Along the dock of St. Marks Square where I got off the ferry taxi, there numerous gondolas docked next to a “Servizo Gondole” sign and men waiting around for customers. I heard gondola rides were somewhere around 100 euro usually so I didn’t even try to go on one, especially since I had my boarding pass to get myself around, and I thought a gondola ride would be something better to do with a girl. There was a large cathedral on its own island across the canal from the dock. In St. Mark’s square itself there were numerous pidgeons, well known to be part of the scenery in the square. The main building which I came to see was Doge’s Palace, which I learned about in my architectural history class. The Doge was the lord of Venice, and the palace was his residence and the location of government practices. I paid for a tour of it, and walked around its various halls and rooms, and even saw the dungeon and armory rooms, where I saw a chastity belt on display (the first one I’ve seen in my life). The Doge’s Palace is built in the Venetian Gothic style, which is distinct because the Italians have always been very proud people and didn’t want to adopt the Gothic style of the rest of Europe, so they put their own twist on it with more ties to it. The pointy arches is Gothic, but the curvy, ornate designs such as the 4 leaf clover like openings on the second story arcade are definitely unique to the Venetians.
It was getting dark when I left the palace so I walked around more of the city just outside the square and looked for glass shops. Venetian glass is very well known and there are a ridiculous amount of glass shops. I bought a colorful shotglass and a colorful, spiraling wine stopper for a good price after looking in various shops for a bargain. There were Christmas lights up, giving a nice touch the city. I had to go to the bathroom, and ended up going to the same McDonalds just to use the restroom twice that day because finding a restroom was surprisingly hard. I saw another Bavarian styled group of huts selling Christmas trinkets and food, next to a park and nice college building. I walked all around the city, took the ferry and took pictures of famous sites along the Canal, and stopped at a Bar next to the Casa d’Oro (Golden House) to have Sushi with a glass of red wine. I took a picture of the Casa d’Oro across the canal next to the fish market. I also walked on the famous Rinaldo Bridge, the most famous and cherished of the many large bridges crossing the Grand Canal. Earlier I went to another nearby bar for appertivo munched on the food they had there with a glass of wine. Then I took a ferry back to St. Mark’s Square and had a beer at Aurora, a place recommended in my Lonely Planet guide. It was funky with neon lights and paint, and weird posters on the walls. I stayed extra late in Venice because I was only there for the day, so by the time I got on taxi ferry to go home it was already around 11. I enjoyed the views along the canal at the front of the boat, even though it was cold, while heading towards the train station. Apparently Bono from U2 owns one of the buildings along the Grand Canal. I arrived at the train station, made one of the last trains back in the direction towards Vicenza, but missed the last train actually going to Vicenza so I was stuck in town between Venice and Vicenza. They were closing the station for the night and it was very cold outside so I certainly wasn’t going to sleep out there, plus there were bums and other sketchy people outside the train station so I decided that a hotel right next to the train station would be the best idea. It ended up being a decent and cheap stay. I woke up early the next morning and caught one of the first trains back to Vicenza.

VICENZA
I wanted to visit Vicenza partly because I wanted to spend time at a place in Italy that is not very well known but mainly because I wanted to see works by Palladio, specifically the Villa Rotonda, and see where he lived. Palladio is a famous architect, and most of the buildings in Vicenza,Italy and a good portion of Europe are of his "Palladian" style. He used classical motifs, and studied many of the ancient ruins in Rome. He helped to revitalize classical architecture, and was one of the key figures who jump-started the Reniassance, at least for architecture.
My first sight-seeing goal in Vicenza was to see, the “Villa Rotonda.” I learned about the Villa Rotonda in my history of architecture class. It is basically a square plane, symmetrical on both planes (identical every turn of 90 degrees), with a dome on top, and temple styled base and steps up to the entrances on all 4 sides. It is considered among many to be the quintessential Renaissance building. Thomas Jefferson even based the design for his home, Monticello, after it. I bought two tickets for the bus there at a coffee shop next to the stop, boarded the bus, and was surprised that it actually could have been walked to within half an hour. I followed the street up the hill and looked left at the gate of the Villa. The gate was locked, and apparently it was off season for visitors so I was contempt looking at the villa through gate. It was an amazing feeling to see a building for the first time that I learned about and knew how much it had influenced the field of architecture, with I style that I admire. I walked to the right of the street, directly across from the Villa Rotonda and walked up another road lined with stone walls of other villa sights, looking back to see if I could get a better view of the Villa Rotonda. I tried scaling up a wall to get a better view of the villa and take a better picture without trees in my way, but it was wet so I decided it wasn’t worth the effort after a couple tries.
I continued walking north up the road, and passed by another well known villa (mentioned in my Lonely Planet Guide), with Dwarves lining the stone walls. I kept walking further North up the road until it curved and let out onto the main street cars use to get up the hill, providing an awesome lookout over the city. I snapped some photos, sat and admired the view for several minutes, and tried to pick out some of the major monuments of the city. Then I started walking down the hill next to an arcade running downwards with the slope of the hill. I reached one of the main roads I passed when had first arrived, and walked through the park just North of the train station next to the entrance of the center of town. I ate at a popular sizzler-like chain restaurant and had spaghetti, pizza, and a small personal bottle of red wine. I heard the voices of some American girls, and I thought of how I would be hearing English on the regular only a few more days.
After lunch I continued walking around with my Lonely Planet guide and looking at more of Palladio’s buildings. One of his Villas even had an exhibit dedicated to him in it so I spent a couple hours there, learning about him and his work. I learned how he had studied the ancient monuments in Rome, and I saw some of his original drawings/plans. When I left it was starting to get dark, and there were lights strung on the streets (as is common throughout Italian towns because it was around Christmas time). Practically every building of downtown is in the Palladian style, so I enjoyed looking at every building. I walked around for a little longer, had a Spritzer with an appertivo (of olives and chips if I remember correctly), and walked back to my hotel room to sleep.

LAKE COMO
I checked out of my hotel in Vicenza in the morning and walked with my luggage towards the train station, snapping a picture of the triumphal arch dedicated to Palladio along the way. My first train stopped in Milan and I had to wait about 40 minutes for my next train. Milan’s station is extremely nice, with its large semicircular steel frame and glass forming the main part of the station. I spent most my time with the many other waiting passengers guarding my luggage and looking up at the schedule of departures to see what gate my train would be departing. Eventually I boarded the train, and as it approached Como the scenery began to get more mountainous since we were heading towards the Alps. Once I arrived I walked out of the train station and followed my directions to where my hotel was. While out of the train station I thought of how George Clooney had probably been here many times since it is the main train station of the Lake and he lived in one of the many small lakeside towns, Laglio. On my way to the hotel I tried finding an internet point which I read about in my Lonely Planet Guide, but the shop seemed to no longer be there. My hotel was closed temporarily but I read a sign outside its door to talk to someone at the restaurant next door, so I did and waited there while having lunch until the hotel opened up and one of the ladies working at the restaurant gave me my key and showed me to my room. The hotel and restaurant must have been owned by the same person. For lunch I had a sandwich on a French roll and an Augustiner beer, an Oktoberfest beer. I was also given two codes to punch in order to get into the main door of the apartment complex and the door into my particular hall of the complex. The key was just for my particular room. It was a nice room because it was along the front side of the building on the second floor (or first in European standards because they call our first floor zero) and I had a somewhat nice view of the lake. After getting settled in I walked outside to the Lake where I saw many different flocks of birds (ducks pigeons and geese) waddling around and picking up the bread that people were feeding them. Next a walked down a path along the lake with Christmas lights strung above in the tree branches to the main square along the lake where there was an ice rink and stands next to it with people watching the crowded skaters. On the other side of the rink there was a Bavarian styled Christmas festival, with logged huts covered in pine tree branches. I walked more into the center of town (which is the main town of Como, from which Lake Como gets its name) and I found another open air market, although this one just had umbrellas over tables instead of huts. I continued to walk around the center of the city and saw most of the main sites including a couple cathedrals and the old city wall, along the outside of which was a vast market. I also went into a shop recommended by my Lonely Planet guide and bought two nice skinny silk ties (Como is known for its silk). At the end of the night I walked further along the lake to towards the outskirts of the city where there was a ferris wheel (although then closed because it was late), a monument to Alexandra Volta (the Como local who invented the electric battery and who the “volt” is named after I believe), and a fascist style building which was very tall, plain and imposing. I sat on a ledge near the water for a few minutes and enjoyed the tranquility of the silence and the lights gleaming off the dark water, then walked back to hotel and slept.
The next morning (Sunday, December 21st) I woke up at 8:30 AM, took a shower and got ready for the day. Then I went to a nearby bar where I had a cappuccino and a croissant (joined with some other Italians, it’s how we start breakfast) followed by walking down the opposite side of the lake that I walked to the other night (this one was closer to my hotel) to find the train up the mountain. However, I discovered that I walked too far so I back-tracked until I discovered that the small station was in a wooden building. It was actually pretty close to the bar and my hotel. I bought my ticket and boarded the train, and after a few minutes it started heading up. I stopped once momentarily while heading up and then the track eventually split into two as it passed a train heading down. There were no drivers in the trains so it must have been controlled from the station below. The tracks up the mountain were steep and it reminded me of the train ride up to Capri a few months before. When I arrived at the top I got out of the train and saw a breathtaking view of the lake and town below. I walked around a bit for a clear view (with no trees in front of me) to take pictures and saw a band wearing Santa hats and playing Christmas music. The sun was to the south since it was winter and I was at the south of the lake since that is where Como is located, plus I it was morning and I was on the east side of the lake looking west so it was an opportune time to take pictures. I wasn’t able to see any snow on the peeks of mountains from below, but once I got up to the top I could see them north in the distance… beautiful! Eventually I found the actual look-out spot (with coin-activated binoculars). The whole city of Como could be clearly seen below. It was an amazing way to get my bearings with what I had seen the day before (and I’ve already talked about how wonderful it feels to look down at the environment below). I took the train down and went to “Port 2” to buy my ticket for a ferry over to Bellagio but found out it would leave at 2:00 instead of 1:30 so I spent the next half hour meandering around the Christmas stands surrounding the ice-skating rink in the main piazza. I bought a gelato and some almond taffy with pistachios in it. The stands were Bavarian in style (with warm wine served, German food like wurtzel and strudel. The stands were similar to the ones I saw in Florence earlier in the week. I went back to the port and boarded my ferry. Lake Como is shaped like an upside-down “Y.” The lake is huge, so with only a few brief stops at comparatively major towns between the two cities, the total trip took about 50 minutes. Some of the noteworthy sites I saw along the way to Bellagio were the most fancy and expensive hotel of the Lake Como (the lakefront Villa d’Este), George Clooney’s hometown of Laglio, a waterfall, the villa where the ending scene of Casino Royale was filmed (where bond shot the enemy with a sniper rifle), and several awesome views of snowy Alps ahead. It was surprisingly warm today and when I was on the mountain earlier taking pictures I took off my jacket. The skies were clear and beautiful. Bellagio itself definitely lives up to its fame (it’s what the Casino in Vegas is named after). It is a very small, comfy town with few cars, stone steps, beautiful and colorful narrow tall buildings connected to each other and balconies filled with plants sticking out… all of this with the beautiful combination of a terraced/sloped building site and the scenery of the mesmerizing lake and snow capped mountain in the distance… che bello! I only had 2 hours at Bellagio since the last ferry to Como would leave at 5, so I headed north to the very tip of the crutch (the northern most part of Bellagio, since it is located at the crutch of the upside down “Y” shape of the lake). The area is a port with a small park next to it to sit on benches and gaze at the scenery. I walked out to the end of the dock and took pictures… from this point I could see somewhat well down the 3 arms of the “Y,” although the most impressive was the main body of the lake straight ahead to the north of me with the snowy Alps in the distance. After taking in the memorable view, I noticed that the sun was getting low so I headed back to the center of town and explored a little further south. When I only had a little over half an hour before the ferry would arrive, I walked back to the main port. While I waited for the ferry to arrive I watched the sun set. As I was soaking up one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen (pink clouds, glimmering water, snow peaked mountains, a beautiful Italian town and a sole ramp stretched out over the water before me), I contemplated the end of the last new destination that I would explore in my 5 months in Europe… I couldn’t have asked for a better scene for that moment. I boarded the ferry when it shortly arrived, (although I had to quickly buy another ticker because I mistakenly thought that the one I bought back at Como was round-trip). The ferry ride back was also beautiful, with the lights of the different towns shining like stars in the dark and casting wavy reflections on the surface of the lake. I arrived back at Como about 50 minutes later, stopped by my hotel quickly to drop off my bag, and strolled down the lively and festive streets of the city (lit by Christmas lights). I bought a nice white scarf at the outdoor market lining the old city wall. It only cost 5 euro… what a deal! After buying my scarf and walking around a few minutes, I heard the “Last of the Mohicans” theme being played so I followed my ears to find a few Native Americans playing the music. They looked like real Native Americans by blood and were dressed up in Indian outfits. They performed extremely well and the music touched me because I knew I was leaving back home for the US in two short days, so I bought their CD as a token of my appreciation and so I could listen to it when I got back home. I ended the night with an apertivo at a bar crowded with locals. I had a glass of vino rosso (red wine) with an assortment of snacks, including black and green olives, fruit, thin and small pizza slices, and bread with choices of spread. I walked down a couple more streets and peaked into some shops, then went back to my hotel. I am spending the last hours of my night writing my experiences down. Tomorrow I will head back to Florence… it will be my last day in Europe!

SOME OF MY THOUGHTS
I have mixed feelings about going home, but overall I feel content with what I have seen. I would still like to see San Gimignano, see Pompeii and Capri again, and see the only town of Cinque Terre I missed (Vernazza). However, these are all reasons for me to come back to Italy! After travelling around Europe and living in Italy for a while, I have become used to seeing new and amazing sites… it just doesn’t have quite the same effect as when I first arrived and started exploring. I am looking forward to coming back home, seeing my family and sharing with them all that I have seen and learned, and to see just how much I have really changed (since I have heard, somewhat experienced from my short time in Scandinavia 4 years ago, and believe that the greatest culture shock I will experience is when I come back. I don’t feel as if I need to come back… I don’t feel the slightest bit homesick and haven’t this entire time, but it is for the best in order to keep progressing with my schooling and other goals. It will also be fun to experience the transition in America first hand when Barack Obama becomes President. I wish I could have been there on election night but it was also amazing to experience the overnight change of Europeans’ perspectives of Americans for the better. I am not looking forward to working hard again, and not having much free time or opportunities to explore new places, but nothing in life is easy. I’ve had an amazing time but it’s time for me to get back to work again… and I can look forward to more European trips like this in the future, just not perhaps as long as my 5 month experience that I am about to end. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to study abroad, especially in a country as beautiful and as majestic as Italy. It is amazing to look at a map of Italy now and to think of how I’ve been to most of its main attractions and most of Rome’s as well! I know that I will miss cobblestone streets, gelato and thin, delicious pizza available everywhere, al-fresco dining with tables filling streets, exploring amazing Roman ruins, hearing a multitude of different languages that I can’t understand, seeing everyone around me dressed nice every day, being able to visit some place nearby filled with history and/or art, being able to go into just about any bar in the early night and have apertivo, many little things including using euro instead of dollars and round prongs instead of flat ones in outlets, using a clothesline instead of a dry to dry my clothes, and seeing Italians break petty laws that Americans would usually follow (such as J-walking, parking on curbs, etc). Perhaps what I will miss most besides the beauty and architecture of Italy is the feeling of being free and able to go on a journey and explore someplace new without the worry of too much schoolwork holding me down. The things I want to take from Italy back home are a new sense of pride in dressing nice, slowing down to enjoy my food and the scenery, learning how to cook delicious Italian meals, and partaking occasionally in Italian routines and traditions, such as apertivo, breakfasts of cappuccino/café with a cornetto, digestif, and taking my time to enjoy my meals. I will miss paying for something and not having to worry about the tax or tip, and will at first be slightly annoyed at waiters bothering me to see if everything is alright instead of leaving me alone until I let them know I want something =). Truthfully, it hasn’t really hit me yet that my time abroad is over. I see myself coming back soon. Overall, I would still choose to live in California because it has the best climate in the world in my opinion and has a lot to offer. What I love about Italy (the sights, food, etc.) gets dull after living there awhile. The grass is always greener on the other side, so why not build a gate in the fence and visit the other side once in a while =). Alora, it’s been amazing Italy, thanks for a wonderful journey that I will remember for a lifetime!

BACK TO FLORENCE FOR MY LAST DAY IN ITALY
I woke up early, checked out of my hotel, and walked back to the train station to catch a ride back to Florence. On my way to the station I snapped a photo of a statue of Alexandra Volta. When the train finally arrived in Florence, I walked to the hostel that I was planning on staying at but saw that it was closed, so I went to a nearby internet point and used a computer there to find another place to stay. I found a nice place just a block away, and when I checked in it turned out that the place I would stay was actually an apartment right next to the train station, which is where I needed to be the next day in order to catch a bus to the airport. It was a nice place and cheap… even nicer than my apartment in Cinque Terre, but I like having apartments to stay in… it makes for a pleasant experience. After getting quickly settled in I headed for Michelangelo’s point… I wanted to see all of Florence during sunset. Along the way I took pictures of Palazoo Vecchio, my favorite building in Florence, and the statues of Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci along the path of the Uffizi Gallery. I eventually made it to the top of Michelangelo’s point and saw an amazing sunset… just like the night before at Lake Como but overlooking the city of Florence… it was truly and unforgettable experience and a perfect symbolism for the end of my journey. I could see the Duomo and Palazzo Vecchio dominating the skyline of the city, against a backdrop of pink sky. I took a picture of a copy of the statue of David, which was there since Michelangelo’s Point is clearly a place dedicated to the artist. Another copy of the David stands outside the Palazzo Vecchio where the original once stood, and the original itself is now inside the Academia museum. I walked back down and walked back into the center of the city to do some last minute souvenir shopping and a place to eat, while enjoying the scenery around me. I bought some Marzipan (a sweat, marshmallow-like candy that is glazed on the outside and tough) for Jon because he wanted to serve the family it for Christmas, and I bought a nice p-coat like all the other Italians wear. I dropped off my bags at my apartment and walked towards the Palazzo Pitti area (past the Ponte Vecchio) where I heard there were many nice restaurants. I found a place that looked good along a piazza and went in. I ordered one of the best meals I had: gnocchi with tomatoes and in a sauce topped with parmesan cheese, a side of bread with oil and vinegar, red table wine and a bottle of water. I spent another hour or so walking around Florence and taking some last pictures of sights, including the Ponte Vecchio, a statue of Machiavelli along the path of the Uffizi Gallery, some statues in an open covered area outside the academia , the door of the baptistery of the Duomo, and the Duomo itself. As I walked away from Point Vecchio and Duomo for the last time I looked back at them several times, knowing that they were the last main sites I would see in Europe. When I got back to the apartment I met the only other person staying there for the night, about a 30 year old man who was living there for a couple of months while writing a book on a new philosophical perspective he wanted people to know about. We talked about philosophy for a little bit and then I went to sleep. The next morning I woke up early, bought a ticket for the bus to the airport at the train station, and waited for it to arrive outside. It was nice that the train station was only a minute walk down the street from where I spent the night. The bus came and I arrived at the Florence airport about a little less than 2 hours before my flight. I checked my bags and went through the security checkpoint, and then bought some wine, olive oil and balsamic vinegar to bring home and show my family. I had a window seat while flying to the next airport Frankfurt (and had window seats for the other 2 flights back to San Francisco luckily) so I had a nice view of the Alps while flying over them so I took pictures. I had to pick up my tickets to Chicago at the check in desk and had to go through security again, but the wine, olive oil and balsamic vinegar that I bought was allowed to go through even though it had the duty free wrapping and tape on it, so I bought a small suitcase and checked it in. When we arrived in Chicago it was snowy. I had to recheck in my luggage and when I took my wine bag off from the luggage claim and opened it up I noticed that one of the wine bottles had broken. The suitcase was soaking so I threw it away (oh well, at least it wasn’t too expensive) but everything else I bought was ok so I packed it into my 2 original check in bags and went to the check in desk area of the airport. At the security point where they check incoming international passengers they had a new technology where they scan the fingerprints of non U.S. citizens and take mug shots of them. At the check in area the lines were huge because of the bad weather, plus it was the night before Christmas Eve, and the Chicago O’hair even made national news (I saw a CNN camera there and my family told me that they saw it on the news). The lines were extremely long, over an hour wait, so I missed my plane and slept on one of the cots that the airport provided for the many people who missed their flights. I was able to get on the first standby flight the next day (scheduled for around 10 AM but really leaving over an hour later), and the snow had started to clear up as well. As I approached SFO I had a great view of the Bay Area… it was nice to see it again. I landed at SFO and when I exited the terminal Jon and my Dad were there to meet me. It didn’t feel too weird to see them again, and I didn’t experience much shock. Mainly I was excited to see my family again and enjoy the winter break. When we drove back to my house I saw the rest of my family. I caught up with them and enjoyed our usual Christmas Eve traditions, then eventually went to sleep because I was somewhat jet lagged and didn’t sleep much the night before. I was finally home.

My Last Days In Rome

2009-03-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

I have many pictures from the second half of my semester in Rome which I will put up and write about, but I can more vividly remember about my last few days in Rome. The weekend before my last week Stephan and Yolanda visited me, so I showed them around many of the main sites and took them to some good places to eat including a Blue Ice gelateria. The last thing we saw together was the Colosseo (it was my third and final time) but ran out of time for the tour of the Forum so my roommate Pat and I went the next day since we already paid for admission. I typically would go out to Campo de’Fiori for drinks with my CEA group, so I showed Stephan and Yolanda the area when they visited me. However in the very beginning of the semester Pat and I found a really nice bar, “The Old Bear” or “Bear Bar” as we like to call it, and we didn’t go back until the last couple of weeks because it took us a while to remember exactly where it was and it was often closed without any signs outside. It was here where we had our 2nd to last group dinner with some CEA friends. I got the sampler plate of the appetizers which included different kinds of sliced meat, some mozzarella, olives, and a slice of a cheesy pie… yum! The next day was my last full day in Rome so I tried to visit the Villa Giulia which is the main museum for Etruscan Civilization that preludes the Romans. Also I saw its nymphaeum in a picture my sophomore year when I was taking my history of architecture class (although I saw it when looking it up myself and not during class) and was impressed by it. Unfortunately it was closed since it was a national strike that day but I saw the outside of it and many other interesting sites along the way. Oh well, it’s just another reason to come back to Rome some day! I also walked around the huge park in the northern part of the city where the Villa Borghese is located, and discovered an area with many marble busts lining the paths including those of Da Vinci, Marco Polo, etc. That night I went out to dinner for the last time with my CEA friends at a place right next to the Colosseo. I had bruschette with cheese, spaghetti carbonara (with small pieces of pork), wine and ending with a traditional digestive of limoncello. Then most of us went for the first time to the ICE CLUB, a bar made entirely of ice close to the Colosseo and they even provide you with parkas and serve you drinks with cups made out of ice. I first heard of this kind of bar from Jon when he visited one in Stockholm. Then we ended the night by going to Scholar’s for the last time, where we usually end our nights, except this time we would say goodbye to friends for good. My other roommate Ryan moved out earlier that night so it was just me and Pat left when we woke up the next morning. It was Saturday morning, December 16th, our program end date. We wrote “CEA Fall 08” on our shoes and threw them out on a pole like previous CEA students who lived in apartment did… so there were a total of 5 pairs of shoes hanging from the pole. It would be exciting if they or even more were still there whenever I visit Rome again. I threw my Converse shoes which I bought before I left the US and had worn while seeing all the major sights in Europe and Egypt. I spent my last few hours packing my bags, shipping a couple boxes home, and cleaning up the apartment. Then I left it for the last time, leaving my keys inside. Most of my friends left for home on Saturday but I was lucky enough to fit in a week of traveling before I headed back to the U.S. I first decided to stay in Florence with Pepe for a few days because it was a free place to stay and I wanted to see more of the city. Before I headed to the train station I walked to the nearby Trevi Fountain to toss a coin into it and ensure that I would return to Rome.
I am content with my time in Rome. I have seen all the major sites and several small ones, which is a prodigious task considering how large Rome is. I can close my eyes and visualize all the significant parts of the city. What is especially nice is that I know the location of most of the Ancient Roman structures, and can imagine what it might have been like for Julius Caesar when he walked from the Roman Forum to the Curia of Pompey where he was assassinated.
I love Rome because every corner you turn you are bound to run into an ancient Roman ruin, and see sites that affected the history of the world. What I will miss most about Rome and Italy are their beauty: Tiled roofs everywhere, cobblestone streets, narrow high alleyways, wooden shutters, balconies filled with plants, walls covered in ivy, stone or old plaster on the facades of buildings, arches making up windows and doors, classical motifs such as pediments over windows, statues decorating some buildings, sloping steps, and undulating hills with small towns, villas or vineyards. However after living somewhere for awhile you begin to become complacent about the beauty around you until you realize that it will soon be gone. I’ve always tried to keep this in mind my entire time in Europe and because of it I feel like I saw a lot more than many of my peers and appreciated it more too. I am sure that I will return to Rome sometime in the near future, and I will enjoy seeing the same sites that I had seen and few that I didn’t get a chance to see. No matter how long it will be until I visit, it will seem trivial compared to the thousands of years some of the Roman monuments have been standing!

Assisi, Florence, Pisa and Cinque Terre

2008-11-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

ASSISI
Last weekend I took a trip to Assisi, Florence, Pisa and Cinque Terre. CEA scheduled a day trip to Assisi on Friday, so I and a few girls in CEA decided to meet up with my roomate Pepe in Florence afterwards instead of heading directly back to Rome. Pepe, the girls and I all wanted to see Cinque Terre so we made plans to see it as well. I booked our hostel in Cinque Terre and bought our train tickets, and on Friday morning almost everyone in CEA:Rome met at Piazza Bologna (the closest metro stop to our school, where we always meet for excursions) and boarded the bus. When we approached Assisi, we saw a beautiful stone town built against a hillside. The bus parked in a public parkinglot and we were greeted by our tourguide. We took an outside, covered escalator up the hill to the main gate of the city. Virtually all the town is made from a white and pinkish stone, and it looks clean since much of the stone was restored after an earthquake. I love stone as a construction material, and I also love the different Italian styles of building/architecture, so when these two are put together in an entire city I'm in awe. I walked around the city constantly taking pictures with every corner I turned and every minute architectural detail that caught my eye. After passing through the first main gate of the city and walking down the road, I watched workers in an adjacent olive orchard to the left (towards downhill) fetching the olives by scraping the branches and catching the olives in a net.
Assisi is known as the town of St. Francis. His basilica is located here along with the cathedral of his partner, St. Claire. Assisi is the twin city of San Francisco (because of St. Francis, go figure), my city of birth and the major city of my home, the bay area. St. Francis was a wealthy individual who wanted to become noble to gain more power and social statues, so he became a knight and fought in battle in order to gain a noble title. During a battle he was captured by the enemy and imprisoned. His time in prison changed his life, and when he was released he came to Assisi and started living a spiritual life. He met Claire, a beautiful girl, and convinced her to cut her hair and live a spiritual life as well.
We first visited St. Claire's cathedral, and while approaching it I saw flying butresses, which got me excited. The cathedral also has a horizontal stripe pattern on the outside (alternating layers of pink and white stone). Horizontal bands are a typical style of Italian cathedrals. When we went inside we went down into the crypt and saw the preserved body of St. Claire (covered in wax) as well as some preserved artifacts of St. Claire and St. Francis such as their clothes, rosary beads, etc.
Then we headed towards the Basilica of St. Francis, and along the way we passed by the main piazza where I saw an ancient Roman temple which is now turned into a church. When we first entered the basilica we headed down to the crypt to see St. Francis' tomb. Most of the crypt was used as a shrine to him, and his stone coffin was located in one side of a stone circular pillar which we walked around. I noticed several small wallet-sized portraits of people thrown in the iron-gated spaces along the stone pillar. We climbed back up the stairs to the nave of the basilica and started examing paintings on the walls. The basilica of St. Francis is worth seeing not only because it is an impressive piece of architecture and houses the tomb of St. Francis, but also because it has some of the most important pieces of work depicting the developement of Renaissance style painting. Giotto, the famous painter who created linear perspective painted several frescoes inside the cathedral. It is interesting to see the development of linear perspective throughout the basilica as Giotto and his followers tried to better depict reality in their paintings. The mentality of artists in this era is fascinating to think about; they were on the brink of a transitional age in art from extremely symbolic to a much more realistic representation of space in paintings/drawings. Most of these magnificent paintings are located on the upper level. The frescoes on the ceiling and walls at the end of this level is severeley damaged due to an earthquake (much stone fell down yet the stained glass windows were not damaged)!
After the basilica we had a large, 5 course meal with meat and cheese platers for apetizers, 2 pasta dishes, a meat dish (with lamb, veal, chicken and potatoes) and a delicious lemon-merange-like pie for dessert. After the late lunch we had a little over an hour to split up and wander around the town before meeting back outside the main gate and getting on the bus. The beautiufl valley and hills in the distance as well as the beautiful stone architecture surround me made for a very pleasant experience. Assisi is one of my favorite cities in Italy and I highly recommend it to anyone. As usual, the pictures don't even do it justice for how beautiful Assisi (and the rest of Italy for that matter) actually is! We boarded the bus and the girls and I were shortly dropped of at the Assisi train station to head to Florence!

FLORENCE
After Assisi we got on the bus and were dropped off at the local train station to catch a train to Florence. It was just Maritza and Nicole with me at this point because Cara and April slept in and would meet up with us later in Florence. When our train arrived I followed the main road to the Duomo, next to where Pepe’s apartment was located. We met Pepe at outside and walked into his apartment to drop off our bags. After about an hour Cara and April arrived so we met them near the train station, dropped off their bags, and ate dinner at a nice restaurant Pepe recommended. I had a calzone with a beer… absolutely delicious! We spent the rest of the night sightseeing. In the morning we saw Michelangelo’s David in the Academia. I was impressed just by the sheer size of the statue, yet as I got closer to the statue I noticed and appreciated the fine detail that went into Michelangelo’s work. The veins in his arms for instance gave David the allusion that he wasn’t just a statue but a live giant marble human being. Some other interesting sites which I saw in the academia were the half-completed statues of human beings taking form from their marble blocks, a room full of plaster preliminary statues with their wire frames sticking out, as well as some old renaissance clothes and a book from medieval times. During the day we also saw the Duomo (cathedral) with its famous dome designed by Brunelleschi, Pointe Vecchio which was the only bridge not bombed in Florence during WWII and has been lined with gold shops since the time of the Medicis, and the Palazzo Vecchio, which was my favorite building in Florence. The first time I saw it I was stunned by how tall it was (it was hard to believe that an unreinforced stone tower could be built that tall during the Renaissance and still be standing today). It was originally the building of the city council but the rich and powerful Medici family bought the building so they could live in it and built another building next to it (now the Uffizi Gallery?) for the city council to meet. There was also a private elevated walkway connecting the Palazzo Vecchio and across Ponte Vecchio to the other side of the river so the wife of Medici wouldn’t have to walk in the stench of everyone else below. The last thing we saw before leaving Florence was the Palazzo Pitti, where we walked up its back gardens and had a great view of all the major sites we saw that day. We walked by the Forte Belvedere and walked back down the hill and at pizza and drank wine in a small pizzeria. After lunch we hopped on our train towards Pisa and Cinque Terre.

PISA AND CINQUE TERRE
We had a little less than an hour wait in Pisa before our next train to Cinque Terre so we all headed quickly to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was surprisingly far away from the train station for such a small city, taking us over 20 minutes to walk over there at a fast pace. We only had time to snap a couple of quick pictures and then the girls took a small cab back to the train station while Pepe and I ran back. Pepe and I missed the train by a few minutes however, so we took the next one which eventually got us on the same train to Cinque Terre as the girls (their train must have stopped at more of the smaller stations along the way). Needless to say, we were all surprised to see each other when we got off our train at Riomaggiore, the lower of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre. We followed the road from the train station to check into our apartment for the night, but found a note outside the door with our keys (good thing no one took it)! The stairs up to our apartment were dark but once we opened up the door we were pleased with the apartment. It was nice to have an entire small apartment to ourselves for a night. We spent the rest of the night having dinner, buying wine and drinking it down near the small port on some rocks right by the ocean. I really liked the scenery… many tall colorful buildings with typical clothes hanging outside them on clothes lines, stone roads, and the small Italian town-feel all next to the ocean. The next morning we checked out of our apartment, bought some tasty pesto pizza for breakfast, and headed towards the beginning of the path to hike on to the next town. Before we entered the hiking trail, near the train station, we had to pay a small fee for a pass and then we were on our way. It was a fairly short hike to Manarola, taking only about 15 minutes, but the hikes would get harder to each successive town. Each path we hiked ran right along the with stunning views of small Italian towns on the edge of vertical cliffs in the distance. Manarola looked much like Riomaggiore except it was built more against the sloped terrain so it had many terraced buildings and vineyards which we hiked up to. During our hike to the next town, Corniglia, we crossed a chain link bridge (like a rope bridge) which was exciting since it was unstable. Once we got to Corniglia we had to climb up several flights of steps in order to enter the actual town on the top of the cliff. It seemed smaller than the previous two towns but had more terraced vineyards and had an awesome viewing platform, where we could see the towns we just visited and the ones we were planning on seeing. The next two hikes were supposed to be much more lengthy and hard so we decided to take the train to them. The girls really wanted to see the last town, Monterosso, so we headed there first. When we arrived we realized that the town they actually were thinking of was Vernazza, the most famous of the 5 towns, so we decided to quickly explore Monterosso and then head over there. Monterosso was much more spread out and had a lot of beach space so I went down there to collect some gravel for my sand/gravel collection of places I’ve been. The ocean was a clear light green which is a nice contrast from the murky ocean I’m used to back in California. We got on a train in the opposite direction but didn’t realize that it was a direct rain back to the first city we visited, Riomaggiore, so we walked back into the center of town to pass some time before the next train. However, we didn’t realize how quickly time had passed so we just missed the train back! We decided to spend the rest of our time until our train out of Cinque Terre arrived sitting near the small port like the night before and had some snacks and wine, and enjoyed our last minutes in Cinque Terre. It was too bad that we missed the main town, Vernazza, but I still had a great time and that is always a reason to come back to Italy! =)

My Perspectives on the Election from Abroad

2008-11-07T05:20:00.000-08:00

I really couldn't be happier with the way the election turned out a couple nights ago. I've been supporting Barack Obama since before he announced his candidacy in Chicago, Illinois on February 10, 2007. It is almost surreal to believe that I was part of the movement which helped elect him as the next President of the United States. I feel more inspired than ever and am extremely proud of my country. And certainly the vast majority of countries around the world are very happy with the results as well. From talking to Italians and listening to international news, it seems as though international opinion of the United States went from being despised and disliked overnight to revered and even envied for having such a great future President (one Italian told me that he now wishes he were American). It sure is nice to hold my head up high for being American (something I haven't been able to do since the start of the Iraq war). I've seen posters in support of Barack all over Europe. Even since the primaries he has been by far the most favored American presidential candidate throughout the world. And the video clips of people ecstatically celebrating on all corners of the globe after the results came in was extremely heartwarming.
From the beginning, what I admired most about Barack was his genuineness, intelligence, common sense and judgment. The crown jewel of all his attributes, however, is undoubtedly his gift as an orator and ability to inspire his audience. He gave me and millions of other volunteers and supporters the belief that each of us had the ability to make a difference... that our "voice could change a room, and if it could change a room it could change a city, and if it could change a city it could change a state, and if it could change a state it could change a country, and if it could change a country it could change the world." Indeed, this grassroots movement paid off, and not only did it help to elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States, but the networks of organized people throughout the country are still here to do grassroots work in any way the future president needs. His campaign was one truly by the people, and his administration will help form a government that is more for the people, with less influence from corporate lobbyists and special interest groups.
I am looking forward to an Obama administration which is going to be much more open, encourages involvement from its citizens, and which doesn't ignore or block opposing viewpoints. An administration that summons both Democrats and Republicans around values that we all share, and helps unify our country to make further progress.
Last night for my "Living Italy" culture class we went to a news/talk show in on of the RAI studios and sat in the audience at it was broadcasted live. They talked about Barack's election as president for the whole 2 hours, and seeing it was an amazing first-hand experience for how much influence the U.S. has on the rest of the world.
Here's the youtube link to the show (I'm shown briefly at 3:03 and partially at 3:52 in the video).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyqk5HTIoO8
I am greatly looking forward to coming home now, which should make leaving the beauty, food, and dolce vita of Italy not as hard. =)

Greece & Egypt

2008-10-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

DAY 1
My friend Jeremy and I left for Athens on Thursday afternoon from Rome's Fiumicino airport. The security check point had a long line so we had to run through the terminal to make it to our plane. While waiting to board we saw some American girls in our program who said they were going to Greece as well for their semester break. We flew with Olympic, Greece's national airline. The meal we were served was slightly different from what I was used to, and I mistakenly thought that the cream for the coffee which I would later be offered was liquid butter or some kind of sauce, which I foolishly dipped my bread in. It turns out Greece doesn't eat that differently from what I was used to after all. We arrived in Athens and took the metro to the city center. Athens is a large city, but it's beautiful because nearly all the buildings are white. When we got to the building our hostel was located in, we had to take a lift that didn't have an inner door (we could touch the outer doorways as the lift was moving) and it could only carry a maximum of 3 people. We checked into our room and went to sleep.

DAY 2
We woke up at 7:45 so we would have enough time to find the bus station to catch a ride to Delphi. After over an hour of searching, a bus driver drove us down the street for free and directed us around the corner to the station's discreet location. The station's location wasn't well labeled, plus everything was in Greek so we weren't very familiar with the language or the letters (everything in Greece is written in Greek letters, a major difference from the rest of Europe that I have visited so far). Even though it took us over an hour to find the station, the bus was scheduled to leave at 10:30 anyway so we didn't loose any time off our trip. We were originally planning on visiting Thermophylae (where the Spartan 300 battle took place against the Persians) but found out that it wasn't accessible from Delphi so we decided to just spend more time in Delphi. The ride provided some awesome views of mountains, and it only took 3 hours to arrive to Delphi, which we were pleasantly surprised by because we thought it was supposed to take 6. In fact, when we were passing by some ruins I wanted to get out even though I thought Delphi was another 3 hours away. Luckily these were the ruins of Delphi that I traveled to see! We checked into our hotel and quickly went to the Museum for an hour before it closed at 3.
Among the highlights which I saw at the museum (located next to the archaeological site) are a statue of Antonius (Emperor Hadrian's lover who drowned in the Nile); weapons, helmets and shields; a pediment relief of a lion eating another animal and a large bull of silver next to two golden statues. After the museum we took pictures of the stunning scenery. The ancient ruins and modern small town of Delphi are built on the top of a rocky gorge with a mountain towering directly behind it. I'm pretty sure that the Greeks must have built their city here largely for defensive purposes. After taking pictures of the scenery we walked around town looking inside several small souvenir shops. The shopkeepers ranged from extremely nice and intelligent (a young woman) to pushy (old men who were just trying to force customers to buy things). I know not all older male merchants in Greece are like that, but I met an exceptional amount who were pushy throughout Delphi and Greece.
At night we headed towards a modern theatre built in the Ancient Greek style (along a hill/mountainside). The acoustics which the Greek theatres are known for is amazing... such that when I stood at the very back in the seats I could hear my friend whispering to me from the center/stage. Then we walked around some more shops until closing time (there are may souvenir shops in Delphi and it is such a small town that browsing them is one of the main activites to do in Delphi... the city is undoubtedly geared towards tourists. Inside one shop we met a merchant who collects official reproductions of Greek artifacts in museums. He even provides his friends and himself with the armor and costumes to do reinactments for the History Channel. One thing I learned is that the famous spartan lambda (looks like a pyramid or upside-down "V") represents the pyramid of social status with the king at the top (in the case of the 300 Spartan soldiers at the battle of Thermophylae, the king was Leonidas). Only the king and his royal army could have this symbol on their shield, and it was believed that one always had to have their shields raised with the lambda pointing directly up so that if they were killed their soul would be able to ascend up into heaven. This motivation for the soldiers to always have their shields raised of course did wonders for their defensive capabilities, and is likely one of many reasons why Spartans were such great warriors. We walked around for the rest of the night and saw a church and several cats, and walked to the top of the town where we began to hike a little up the mountain for a nice view. After that we headed back to our hotel and went to sleep.

DAY 3
We woke up at 7:45 again and had a buffet breakfast including strawberry and cherry juice for the first time (I really like the strawberry juice but the cherry juice was a bit too sweet for me). The food itself was typical: eggs, cereal, toast, etc. that you would expect in any other hotel. Since the town of Delphi is built up against a mountain the city terraces up, so from virtually anywhere you have a great view of the Ravine below, even from the room where we were eating breakfast in our hotel. We then headed to the archaeological site and spent over 3 hours there. There were columns remaining from what once used to be a portico. I saw how they constructed many of their round temples (a flat stone foundation with a raised portion along the perimeter to provide a barrier for the stones that laid against it). There were many exedrae which once displayed statues and there were ruins of treasuries (which were like modern city banks). Perhaps the most important structure in all of Ancient Delphi was the Temple of Apollo (all Greeks were told to visit it at least once in their lifetimes). It is a large temple that today still has its basic foundation, entrance ramp, and a few large columns intact. The small, square-planned temple of Athena had been heavily restored so we could see close to what it would have looked like in the past. We also saw the remains of an ancient Greek theatre and a stadium (which is shaped like a Roman circus, although flat instead of circular at one end). These kinds of stadiums are where many of the olympic-style games took place. Also, there was an abundance of Greek writing throughout the ancient stone walls and slabs of the site. It was amusing to think of the men and women who created and lived in Delphi, and wrote these words over 2,500 years ago.
We then left the site and walked to some other nearby ruins (10 minutes away) to see the gymnasium and Sanctuary of Athena. In the gymnasium I saw a wrestling pit that looked like a large, deep hot tub with the water drained. The Sanctuary was circular in plan with some columns and a frieze. I saw a large boulder on the site and a temple that was largely destroyed near it, so a rockslide probably occured here. We also had a nice view of all the ruins we just saw at the main archaeological site. We headed to town to buy our bus tickets back to Athens, but we had several hours before we had to leave so we started hiking up the mountain to see the Shrine of Apollo and possibly a cave.
The beginning of the hike was more hilly than rocky, but once we reached the rocky part we had a great view of the town and ruins below us and it felt as though we were ancient Greek or Spartan warriors climbing up to the top of the mountain to visit an oracle or worship at a temple. Along the way up we saw sheep, turtles, and then a bull hearder with bulls and a ranch near the top (where the mountain started to flatten out a bit). We thought this area would be the top of the mountain (at least it appeared to be the top from where we were standing below) but it turned out that the mountain was stepped so we still had a large distance before we could reach the summit. After two and a half hours of intense climbing with only a few quick breaks, we decided that we wouldn't have enough time to see either of the sites so we started heading back (we didn't know it would take so long to reach the sites because the location on the map made it seem much closer). If we had an extra hour we probably could have made it though . On the way down we had amazing views of the surrounding mountain terrain with the ravine and lake in the distance. When we made it back down to the town of Delphi it was a totally different experience. While hiking I felt as if I really could have been a Greek soldier in the past. It was very desolate and peaceful, and we had to use track-finding skills to travel on the not-often traveled trails. It felt transformational to come back into a modern city. The hike was the most intense workout I've had my entire time in Europe. We had a little time to spare before the bus arrived so we sat down in a cafe near the bus station and waited. I got a Greek-style coffe which was strong, tasty and had some of the crushed up coffee bean in it. The European coffee that I have had tends to come in small cups and is stronger than American coffee. We boarded the bus around 6:15 pm and headed back to Athens. When we arrived and were walking to the metro station, we found a place that a local recommended which served cheap, delicious gyros. Once at we were at our hotel and went to sleep.

DAY 4
When we woke up at 8:00, I discovered that it had rained and the clothes which I put out to dry were soaked (it didn't bother me though because I didn't need them immediately and I figured they would dry eventually). Also, my legs were sore from the hike we took the day before. I'm not one to let petty things get in the way of having a great time though, and I always look forward to the excitement of the day. We went to the other, larger bus station this time (there are 2 major bus stations in Athens) and had no trouble finding it unlike a couple days before. I find it helpful to ask the locals where something is whenever I am unsure... even if they speak little English they can usually point me in the right direction). At the station, I had a frostyccino (the equivalent of a Starbucks frappucino) which I had been craving since I arrived in Europe. Our bus left for Mycenae at 10:30. Mycenae is another small town like Delphi, although in a flat valley instead of near a towering mountain range. We waited over an hour for a bus to take us from the city to the ruins of Mycenae (about 2 km away) but it never came so we decided to start walking. Within a couple of minutes a nice man offered to give us a ride about half the way their on the back of their truck (we offered them money as thanks afterwards but they kindly refused). Within another couple of minutes walking we got a taxi to take us take us the rest of the way to make sure we would get there in time (it was a Sunday). The fare was only 3 euro! When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the site wouldn't close until 7 pm.. We arrived there at 1 so we had plenty of time to explore!
Mycenae is an ancient fortified village built on a hilltop/acropolis with massive/monolithic stones as well as smaller stones with mud for minor walls. It dates back from the 13th century BC. They were the ancient Greeks. According to myth, King Agamemnon was the Mycenaen king who led the attack on Troy. The main attraction of the ancient village is the famous Lion's Gate. It is the main, stone gateway into the city with a pediment ontop of the lintel depicting two lions standing to the side of a column. I saw it for the first time on the History Channel, and it was amazing to see it in reality. The pediment is the supporting the stones stacked around it, forming a corbeled arch. It is a remarkable engineering feat for that far back in time... and they seem to have been incredibly more advanced than their contemporaries!
Another amazing engineering feat to note are their tholos (bee-hive shaped tombs) which are basically corbelled arches spun around 180 degrees to make a tomb, constructed by building up a mound of dirt for support while stacking the stones around it, then emptying the terrain out of the tomb once it was completed. We also saw a large circular graveyard in the fortress, as well as many other gates, tombs, and the museum. Inside the museum we saw a replica of the famous Mask of Agamemnon which was found in his nearby tholos/tomb. Around the time that the site was closing we ran back to town in the rain. It was a fun experience, and along the way we saw another tholos. It felt like I was an ancient Mycenaen trying to travel to another nearby town without the invention of an umbrella. Whenever I am removed from modern society and am in an area know to be inhabited by an ancient civilization, I take myself back to their time and wonder how it was to live like them. Within about 10 minutes we were back in modern civilization and we ate at a nice restaurant while watching the rain pour down. I had an Alpha beer (brewed in Greece, the other major beer is Mythos) with amazing moussaka and bread on the side. Moussaka is a Greek dish which tastes like a pot pie but better, in lasagna form. It consists of a thin, cheesy crust , a layer of beef, and a large layer of potatoes topped with melted cheese (I bet Tom would love this meal... he is a meat and potatoes kind of guy). After the meal we continued walking back into the center of town in the rain. We waited for our bus, and on the drive back we sat next to a Greek lady who spoke almost no english but discussed Greek and Roman art with us, using my Roman art book which I brought along with me as a guide. We got back to our hotel in Athens around 11. It rained there too so my clothes were even more wet than they were when I left that morning, but it didn't bother me. I had a great day. =)

DAY 5
We woke up very early at 5:30 to throw some clothes in our bags and take the metro down to Pitraeus, the main port in Athens. After getting off the metro we found the office for the ferry we were taking immediately, so we bought our tickets, grabbed some breakfast, and boarded the ferry. The ferry was about the size of the ones I'm used to taking to and from Whidbey Island in Washington, but looks more like a cruise ship and has less room for cars and more room for people. The company is called Blue Star Ferries. Our destination was the Greek island of Santorini, south of all the other islands in its large cluster but still a littl noth of the island of Crete (home to the ancient Minoan civilization). The trip took 10 hours so I killed the time by watching the sun rise, resting, taking pictures of the many island as we passed them by, and reading my Roman art book. We arrived at Santorini around 3 pm. The owners of the hotel we were staying at picked us up from the port and drove us to the hotel, called Manos Villa. Santorini is a crescent shaped island with a volcano in the middle of its water. Our hotel was located near the main city in the center of the island, Fira. When we arrived at our hotel we were given a complimentray meal and glass of wine, as well as plenty of useful information. We quickly got settled in and headed outside. While we were waiting for our bus to Fira one of the hotel owners with her daughter drove next to us and offered to give us a ride into town (about a 5 minute drive). We thanked them and then walk towards the edge of the city. The coastline was composed of vertical cliffs (much like the Amalfi coast of Italy), so we walked down a zig-zagged path down almost to sea level, trying to avoid stepping in the piles of donkey poop. We took a donkey ride back up to where we started and walked up a little farther to watch the sun set (I am pretty sure it provided the best view of the the whole city, island and volcano. When the sun was nearly set we found a place to eat and watched the sun sink behind the volcano. The place was called Lithos, recommended by Lonely Planet, and for dinner I had souvlaki, a greek dish which is basically shish kabob pork. We walked around shops for the rest of the night until they closed (around 8 pm, rather early for a toursit spot in my view). We took a taxi home, and I had a nice warm shower and went to sleep.

DAY 6
We slept in till around 10, got up and headed towards the lobby to have breakfast. While we were talking to the owner she told us that the Blue Star Ferries workers were on strike so our ferry wouldn't be coming that day (we were expecting to go back to Athens in the afternoon). While eating our breakfast we contemplated what to do for another day stranded on the island. We decided to rent an for the ATV and explore the southern part of the island (a common activity for tourists to do here). The hotel owners were friends with the moto rental company so they arranged for them to pick us up from the hotel, plus two American girls who we were sitting next to during breakfast were planning on doing the same thing. The ATV only costed $15 to rent for 24 hours and we had to pay for our own gas, what a deal! After showing them my license and Jeremy's credit card, we were given some basic instruction and were on our way! (We were thinking about renting some motor bikes but you need a motor-cycle license for it and Jeremy didn't bring his driver's license anyway.
Having an extra day in Santorini was actually a blessing in disguise because renting the ATV and exploring the island was probably the most fun I've had in a long time! We decided to drive to Ancient Thira first, on the eastern end of the island and south of us. We drove up a winding road, similar to Lombard street in San Francisco, except much longer, more rugged, and up a mountain! Once at the top it was very windy. we parked our ATV and entered the site for free, expecting to see a couple small ruins. However, we were surprised to find a whole village of ruins, including a theatre, basilica and several residences, built out of the local lime stone and mud.
Ancient Thira was originally a port town and naval base ruled under the Ptolemies (during the Greek Hellenistic period). After Alexander the Great died, his best generals were given control of his different territories. Among Ptolemy's land, he received this island and Egypt (Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Ptolemic dynasty). After the Romans conquered Greece, they also inhabited Ancient Thira (I saw some ruins of an ancient Roman bath). While looking around the ruins I heard and saw some fighter jets fly by, which reminded me of Rob. I saw some cool reliefs, including a ram skull depicted on many columns, and a shrine with animals depicting the different Greek gods). The ruins could almost rival Pompeii. It is not quite as well preserved or as large as Pompeii, but it provides an awesome view of the ocean and landscape below, and you can see other small islands in the distance. The experience was completely amazing because I never even heard of Ancient Thira before, yet here I was just stumbling upon one of the coolest archaelogical sites I've seen. We then rode our ATVs back down the winding path of the mountain, while looking out at the amazing view.
We decided to drive to the black sand beach, which was located just south of Ancient Thira but we had to drive west and then east to go all the way around the mountain in order to reach the beach. Along the way we filled up the tank with gas and stopped at a restaurant to eat some pork and chicken gyros. Nearly every gyro place we visited in Greece puts french fries in them and dashes them with chilli powder. Also, I was surprised by the fact that pork was used instead of lamb (all the gyros I had in the US used lamb). We arrived at the beach with black sand after perhaps 30 minutes of driving. We parked the ATV and walked along the beach, collecting volcanic sand and rocks. The sand is black because it is volcanic, coming from the nearby volcano. Then we drove west to the other southern end of the island and went to the red beach (terrain with a high iron content sticks out along this part of the coast, which then becomes oxidized and eroded to form the sand). We saw the sun set and drove back to back to our hotel. It was dark by the time we arrived. We took a quick break then drove to Fira and went to wonderful place called "Lucky's Souvlaki's" where we ate 2 delicious gyros and a half liter of beer for only 6 euro. We drove back to the hotel and went to sleep.

DAY 7
I woke up around 7 AM and called Dad to wish him a happy birthday (Greece is 10 hours ahead of California so it was around 9 pm there). I went to sleep for another 2 hours, woke up, ate breakfast, checked out and drove back to Fira for the last time to turn in our ATV. We walked down the stairs (which we rode the donkeys on before) down to the small port to take a ship to the volcano. It was an awesome ship because it looked like a pirate ship, completely wooden with sails (although it used a motor to get us around). We left the port at 11, and shortly docked at the volcano to hike up it. I can't remember if I've ever hiked up a volcano before, but this must have been my first time hiking up a volcano which is its own small island. Either way it was interesting to be surrounded by black volcanic stone. Near the top there were areas where I could feel the geothermal heat and smell the stench of sulfur escaping through small holes. Many vast crater-like holes form the landscape of the volcano from the volcano blasting large portions of land away (the last explosion/eruption was in the 1850s). We got back on the ship and sailed to sulfuric hot springs in a small bay. I went swimming in it, which was fun because it was about as warm as bath-water. We sailed back to the port, walked up the spiraling path (careful not to step in the donkey poop) and grabbed another gyro at Lucky's (to go) before tacking a taxi bacl to our hotel. We ate our gyros while waiting for the hotel owners to drop us off at the main port. The Ferry arrived about an hour late, so we ended up boarding about an hour later than expected (around 4). I was able to sleep for about an hour on the ferry. We arrived at Athens around midnight and went straight home and slept.

DAY 8
We slept in till 9, woke up and went to the Parthenon. The Parthenon is located on the Acropolis (or "high city"), a large marble plateau sticking out in the middle of Athens. A valley of hills and the ocean surround the Acropolis, with white buildings covering the land. We entered the ruins from the south side, where the Theatre of Dionysus and several other ruins surround the Acropolis' base. Near the top of the summit we saw a reconstructed theatre (the Odeion of Herodes Atticus) where musical and play performances still take place today. At the top of the Acropolis we were greeted with the imressive entrance portico/gateway, the Propylaia. There were several dogs laying around it. I haven seen cats and dogs lying around archaeological sites all around europe, maybe because it is a relatively peaceful area. Seeing the Parthenon itself was of course amazing... it is probably the single most popular architectural work known to man. Unfortunately it is not in very good condition because in 1687 during the Venetian wars, the Parthenon was used as an ammo depot and a stray shell hit it, causing the ammo to explode. Repair work is still being done on it so there was a lot of scaffolding along it. The Parthenon is extraordinary because of the vast size of its drums, its history, and the knowledge of visual techniques implemented when building it. The columns and steps are bowed (are thicker and thinner in different parts along their lengths) to make them look taller and straighter. It is a Doric temple so it accordingly doesn't have bases for its capitals and has triglyphs and metopes instead of a running frieze. I saw the pediment of the Parthenon in the Bristish Museum in London, so it was nice to finally see the structure itself.
The other structure on the acropolis is the Erechtheion, with it's beautiful caryatids or female-figured columns. It is an ionic temple so it does have bases for its columns and has a running frieze. When we were finished at the summit we walked around the base of the Acropolis to see the rest of its surrounding ruins, including a small cave. Then we tried to find the Agora, the ancient market place of Athens (essentially equivalent to the Roman Forum). We decided to climb a large marble rock (with steps carved into it from ancient times) and were surprised once at the top to find an amazing view with the Agora laid out right in front of us. The rock was an awesome hang-out spot, and we sat there for 5 minutes just enjoying the view. Marble tends to be slippery, especially when it's been walked on by so many feet, so we had to be carful getting up and down the rock. We entered the Agora and first went to the reconstrcted stoa (a typical Greek public building). It was by far one of the most beautiful buildings I've been in, or at least under. The low sun cast a shadow cast amazing shadows of the columns along the floor, creating an alternating light and dark pattern across the floor. Wooden beams crossing along the ceiling mixed with the marble columns holding the ceiling up, and the fact that it was a double portico gave it visual depth. To top it off, there were beautiful staues lining the spaces between the columns, and at the end of the halls there were round arches with plants shown through them. The Ancient Greeks sure knew how to create beautiful spaces. Having plants and vines can really liven up a building, and I've seen this common feature throughout Italy and Greece.
We walked around the rest of the Agora, saw a statue of Hadrian (The Roman Emperor who travelled extensively to Greece and loved everything Greek). We went up a small hill to the Temple of Hephaistos (the best preserved temple in all of Greece)! The hill provided an awesome view of everything which I just saw in the rest of the Agora as well as the Acropolis.
We left the ancient ruins of the Agora and walked along the modern Agora, lined with restaurants and shops. It had a very nice ambience. We looked at shops and had our last gyros washed down with a Mythos beer to cap-off our last night in Greece. When the shops started closing around 8, we headed to the airport for our early morning flight to Cairo, Egypt. I really loved Greece and it is my second favorite country in Europe after Italy. The delicious gyros, the abundance of beautiful ruins, sculpture, and contemporary architecture, and the amazing scenery all make me certain that I will be coming back sometime in the near future for more.

EGYPT
We arrived in the middle of the night at Cairo airport. Cairo is an extremely large city, and it took at least half an hour to take a taxi from the airport to our hostel located downtown right next to the Nile. We had to buy a tourist Visa before leaving the airport for 15 euro, and then right when we stepped outside the airport some locals pestered us and other tourists in an attempt to pressure us into buying expensive tours and taxi rides to our hotels. I was planning on checking to see if we could take the bus to our hostel, but the locals lied to us by saying the bus station was closed, and my roommate just wanted to get to our hostel as soon as possible so we bargained down the price and took a taxi. We arrived at our hostel and gave the driver the fare we agreed upon (75 Egyptian pounds), but then they pressured Jeremy into giving them tips so we ended up paying 100 Egyptian pounds. The dollar to Egyptian pound is a 5 to 1 ratio so we really only paid around 25 bucks for the whole thing, but I still didn't like how they were trying to trick and pressure us for more money. Once we got into our hostel however, we felt completely at ease. We stayed at the Wake Up! Cairo Hostel and were very pleased to find friendly, trustworthy staff. This was probably the best hostel I've stayed at my entire time abroad as far as friendliness and helpfulness from the staff goes. The common room of the hostel is nice because it has a great view of the Nile and Cairo Tower. The couches in the common room were also interesting because they were extremely low, built against the wall, and only had pillows rested against the wall for back cushioning. There were many Americans and other English speakers staying there with us and they all raved about the place. It opened up less than a year ago and one of the owners, Pete is already doing extremely well. He plans to open a few more hostels throughout Cairo. Before going to sleep I had a conversation with him and learned about the city. Cairo isn't as dangerous as many Americans fear it is. It is about as risky as any other large city, and rather than worrying about your safety you mainly have to worry about people trying to trick you and making as much money off of you as they can. Egypt is a very poor country, and since Cairo attracts so many tourists, many locals make their living by tricking and ripping off tourists. Every country has its problems and when a country is as poor as Egypt is (even poorer than my impression of Mexico when I visited Rosarito last spring break), the locals are desperate to make money so they will naturally try to make money wherever and whenever the opportunity rises. Pete certainly has the right business mentality in mind though because his hostel provided a place for refuge where American tourists like us could feel at ease and not be hassled, and the good word spreading around online about his hostel (it was one of the top rated ones at hostelworld.com) is making him great business. After finishing up , my conversation with him I went to sleep.
I woke up the next morning to eat breakfast, consisting of hard-boiled eggs, pitas, butter, jam and tea. Pete has connections with a tour company so he hired a driver to pick us up from the hostel after breakfast and take us to the stables in Giza to ride a camel through the desert and see the pyramids. The pyramids are located right next to the edge of Giza, which many people don't expect because when they imagine the pyramids they envision nothing but desert surrounding them. When we were inside the stables the workers offered us free drinks and asked us if we wanted to take the short, medium, or long tour. We took the medium one but ended up seeing just as much as we probably would have seen during the long one (which included a view of the pyramids from a large mound of sand). I think the total for the whole experience was somewhere around $50. We mounted the camels, which was an interesting experience because you are supposed to lean back while the camel gets up in 3 jerky maneuvers. Two young boys served as our tour guides, and one of them rode on a white horse. We had to pass through the tourism police gates into the site of the pyramids, and while we were waiting someone offered us drinks but then charged us for them after we drank them (this was the worst that I was tricked my entire time in Egypt. I suppose that I was too excited from being on a camel and figured the drinks would be free since they were earlier). When we entered the pyramid zone some Muslim chanting started blasting on a nearby megaphone. This is known as the "call to prayer" and happens every few hours every day. It is crazy because the speakers/megaphones are placed throughout the city so the praying can be heard everywhere, even in my hostel. This was probably the biggest shock for me while staying in Egypt, since hearing the loud Islamic chanting is practically unavoidable and it must have a strong, seemingly unavoidable influence on people.
Riding a camel through the desert was an amazing experience. I also bought and wore a kaffiyeh (the cloth headdress with a fastening band usually worn by Arab men) to help immerse myself in the culture and the moment. We didn't travel that long of a distance (the camels were used more to travel around the site rather than to get to it), but we still rode for about 2 hours. We would stop at certain points to get off the camels (after they would sit down in 3 jerky maneuvers) and take pictures of the pyramids. We could even climb onto the pyramids to take pictures (which was surprising to me because most important archaeological sites that I've been to are protected and preserved with great care, although I suppose Egypt's poor economic condition makes preserving the pyramids less of a priority. In fact, one of the reasons why so many Egyptian artifacts are found in museums around the world is because Egypt sold them in order to lift itself out of extreme poverty and even famine). Stepping foot onto one of the pyramids for the first time was a special moment for me, thinking of how they are over 3,000 years old and the only ancient wonder of the world still surviving today. Many of the world's great leaders have seen the pyramids of Giza, including Cleopatra, Caesar, Augustus and Napoleon to name a few. We ended the tour by taking pictures in front of the Sphinx and then returning the stables. On the car ride back we stopped by the papyrus museum, where I learned how papyrus was made. I also learned that in hieroglyphics, the name of a Pharoah can always be spotted because only they could have their names surrounded by a cartouche (oval). We spent the rest of the night inside the hostel because we didn't want to risk anything by walking around the streets at night.
The next morning we took another tour that we booked online ahead of time. Our tour guide picked us up and we drove to the stepped pyramid. It was built by the world's very first architect, Imhotep. Since I am an architectural engineering major I greatly appreciated seeing this pyramid. We went into a nearby museum named after Imhotep, then drove to a museum which had a colossal statue of Ramses and some other large statues. Next we drove towards a couple small shops, and along the way we stopped and ate at a buffet-style restaurant. The food wasn't very tasty, although it was nice to be exposed to new types of food. The most authentic Egyptian dish was rice wrapped around in some kind of green vegetable; like large, warm, plain sushi. One shop which we saw was a quilting workshop (which was worth the experience just to see young children at work weaving carpets. It is sad to see children be forced into child labor due to their country's poverty, including the young kids who were our guides during the camel rides to the pyramids). The other shop which we saw sold ointments which are all natural, made from the oils of flowers, and serve as the bases of many famous cologne's such as Calvin Klein, Hugo BOSS, etc. They were much too expensive though and I had no need for fancy colognes. It is funny how just about every tour run by the locals will take tourists to these shops. An indication of this is the fact that Bill Clinton, Sting, and Martha Bush among other famous people have all been to the Papyrus Museum!
After the shops we returned to Giza and played soccer with some of the locals at the stable while we waited for our camels. We rode into the desert again, although this time for relatively cheap since we weren't going inside the archaeological site and therefore didn't have to pay any entrance fees. We rode to a nearby gypsy camp/resting place and watched the sun set. Our guides were the same boys from the day before so we became slight friends by the end of the day. Then we rode back to the stables and watched the sound and light show of the pyramids while sitting on the stable's upper story. After to show we were given a ride back to our hostel and we stayed in for the rest of the night.
We spent all the next day taking it easy, staying inside our hostel. We talked to the hostel owners some more, ate our food (mostly packaged just to be safe and not get sick), and getting caught up on homework and leisure reading. Food and everything else in Egypt is ridiculously cheap (because of the 5 to 1 ratio of the dollar and Egyptian pound). One of the nights during our stay Pete ordered Egyptian fast food for everyone who wanted it, and it turned out to be ground beef in an oily pita, and different kinds of sauces to put on it. Again, the quality of the food wasn't very good but the experience was interesting.
The last day we went to the Cairo Museum (located a block away from our hostel, next to the Nile) and spent 4-5 hours there. It is the largest Egyptian museum in the world, and millions of artifacts are located here. We saw many statues, mummies, coffins, everyday objects, etc. but the highlight of the museum was definitely the King Tutankhamon room, where I saw his famous mummy mask, along with his multi-layered coffin and other precious golden objects found in his tomb. Something which everyone should know about the Pharaohs is that the depiction of them with a crook crossed with a flail is a symbol of power: each of them were the shepherds ruling over their subjects/sheep. Also, the famous and ubiquitous symbol of an eye is that of the Egyptian god Horus (depicted with a falcon head). Horus' left eye was ripped out in battle against his evil uncle Set, and it is a symbol of protection and healing. The Eye of Providence symbol located on the back of the one dollar bill as well as the "Rx" symbol that pharmacies use both descend from the Eye of Horus. Finally, the cross with a loop, called an ankh, is the "key of life," and represents life: reproduction and/or life after death. After the museum we went back to the hostel. At night we went to the airport to catch our flight back to Rome.
I am glad I visited Egypt not only for the amazing sites, but also for the shock of being in such a different culture. The site of mosques instead of churches, hearing Muslim chanting blasting throughout the city every few hours, riding camels, seeing the dirty and poor state that Egypt is in and how children are forced to work, and the extreme desperation of people to make money off of tourists were all a culture shock. The trip has made me appreciate the wealth and prosperity that citizens from America and other non-impoverished nations enjoy. Seeing the pyramids, riding a camel through the desert, and seeing countless Egyptian artifacts in the museum were all unbelievable experiences that I will never forget. I would recommend Cairo to anyone wanting to see the pyramids and able to handle any tricks/surprises by the locals in search for easy money.

Riding a camel into the desert, and hearing the "call to prayer" on the loudspeaker.

Oktoberfest, Paestum and Siena

2008-10-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to Oktoberfest. It was quite an experience, with people from all over the world coming together to celebrate. I met my roommate Pepe in Florence, and while waiting for him I took pictures of Brunelleschi’s famous Duomo (dome) of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral (he lives across the street from it). We boarded a train to Munich and arrived there late (around 10 or 11 pm) and spent about 20 minutes just trying to get our bearings because the street name that we were looking for was different from what we were expecting. Eventually we made it to our nearby hotel and went directly to sleep so we would have enough energy in the morning. We woke up around 8 AM, ate an extravagant breakfast buffet in the downstairs lobby, then walked towards the festival. On our way there we met some local Germans a little younger than us who we quickly befriended and spent the majority of the day going into different tents, going on rides, and exploring the city. That evening I met some more Germans outside of one of the tents and spent the rest of the night with them. The Germans who I met at Oktoberfest were extremely friendly, and it was nice to learn more about their culture, such as how to sing drinking songs, etc.
The next day Pepe and I headed towards Hacker tent. Jon told me it was his favorite tent and I have to agree with him; the paintings on the inside of the tent are amazing, with sky and clouds on the ceiling to evoke the feeling that you are outside. It was extremely lively in the tent and we met friendly people from all over the world. In the afternoon we left the tent and went to the train station so I could catch my train to the Frankfurt airport. Since I flew with RyanAir (a cheap airline), the actual airport which I was flying out of was located an hour and a half away from the city of Frankfurt, so I had to take a night bus to get there. I arrived in Rome in the
morning and headed directly to school. I was tired from the weekend but had an amazing time. The chanting, traditional clothing, and large scale of the whole event is truly unique and you simply don’t know how fun Oktoberfest is until you actually experience it… it certainly lives up to and even surpasses its expectations.
Two Weekends ago I took a day trip to Paestum. It is a small town located south of Naples with a few Greek temples that are very well preserved. Southern Italy, including everything south of Naples and Sicily used to be a Greek colony called Magna Graecia. Before the Romans conquered the entire Italian peninsula the two main forces facing them were the Etruscans to the north of Rome and the Greeks to the south. Both of these cultures greatly shaped the art, politics and culture of the ancient Romans, and so our modern democratic-republic pays homage to them as well. I love classical architecture so to set my eyes upon a Greek temple for the first time was awe-inspiring. I took well over 300 pictures of just the 3 temples so that is a testament to how excited I was. It is simply amazing to look at structures built 2500 years ago (in about 500 B.C.), imagine how the ancients made use of the buildings and how many people have seen the temples and the history which they have lived through. The fact that I was seeing something which was so old, so well preserved and beautiful was shocking. I stayed until sundown and while waiting for the train back I met a nice German couple who had just been to Capri. The Germans who I have met lately have been much nicer than the ones I met initially, so it goes to show that you can't generalize the character of a whole society by only meeting a few of it's people. This is true with Italy too, for it's not the perfect "Olive Garden" paradise you might imagine from watching movies. The Italians in general are friendly but breaking the ice with them is a little harder than in America. And Italians tend to be calm in order to preserve their "bella figura," but when their temper is broken they will have a sudden and strong reaction. I have met extremely friendly Italians and cold Italians, so like any where else in the world there will always be all kinds of people in great or horrible moods, and acting differently towards you.
This past weekend my CEA group and I took a trip through the Tuscan hills to Siena, and stopped at a winery and restaurant on the way there. The drive through Tuscany is beautiful. As I said before, it is very reminiscent of the hills and vineyards of Northern California, except it is MUCH more hilly. There are many small medieval gated towns which were constructed on hilltops for protection. Two of these many types of towns which I visited were Siena and Sant'Angelo in Colle, but I the first stop which we visited was the Castello Banfi vineyard, located on its own hill. I already went wine tasting a few weeks ago as I wrote in my previous blog, so I don't need to elaborate on the experience, but the Castello Banfi is a lesser known winery that makes some great red wine. The scenery around the winery is magical since it is located ontop of a Tuscan hill and all you can see is valleys of vineyards and undulating hills surrounding you in the distance.
Our next stop was the walled Tuscan hilltop town of Sant'Angelo in Colle. We had several different courses starting with of bruschetta (bread with various toppings, a famous Italian appetizer), slices of meat and cheese for appertif, then 3 different types of pasta including thick spaghetti with ground beef, ravioli stuff with vegetables and some kind of linguine. After the delicious and filling meal we walked around the perimeter of the town and took pictures of some amazing views for a bout an hour before heading back onto the bus towards Siena. When we arrived in Siena it was late in the afternoon so we checked into our hotel (Hotel Athena) and some guys in my group walked around the city to the main square (which is in the shape of half an oval). When the sun came down we met at the hotel with the rest of the group to go to a medieval style dinner. I was expecting one large plate of chicken and bread which I would eat with my hands (since this is what I remembered having at the medieval banquet which I attended at the Camelot Casino in Las Vegas with my family manky Thanksgivings ago). Instead there were multiple small courses (almost 10!) of various kinds of bread with toppings, tarts with nuts, chicken and pea soup, all eaten with silver wear. We washed this meal down with carafes of wine, had a splendid time, and enjoyed the medieval costumes, wooden benches and tables, and medieval decoration surrounding us including stained-glass windows. After the meal most of my group headed to the square again (which is the main hang-out place of Siena) and I talked to a few Italian locals. I talked to one man in Italian about some of the beautiful sights and history in Siena and the rest of Italy, and also about California and America. Every European I've met seems to love California and wants to visit it, while I feel the same admiration and yearning for Italy... I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, although I am very grateful to live in California. When it was getting late we headed back to our hotel to sleep.
We woke up around 8:40 to eat a quick breakfast buffet and then head towards the center of town to meet our tour guide. She is a member of one of the 17 Contradas of Siena, the "caterpillar." The Contrada of Siena are basically social groups that pool money and resources together to compete against one another, the culmination of which is the Palio, or horse race. There are many palios in Italy, but the one in Siena is without doubt the most important. Contradas spend the whole year of every year preparing for this event. A Capitaino, or "captain," is chosen every year to lead the Contrada into victory during the Palio. Professional racing horses are drawn in lotteries and top jockeys are paid ridiculous undisclosed amounts by each of the chosen 10 palios who compete in the two different palios every summer. Winning means everything to the Contradas, because they get bragging rights for the rest of the year and get to display their flags on all their buildings while the other Contrada are not so fortunate. The Palio is life to the different contrada, and they are so prideful and competitive that they label each of the buildings in their designated part of town with their symbols/coat of arms. You are born and baptized into a contrada (during which you are given the Contrada scarf to wear which every member has), although if outsiders become close friends to many of a contrada's members they are often baptized into the contrada as well. Virtually all of Siena's population is a member of a contrada, and it can get complicated with spouses belonging to different contrada, and sometime sibling belonging to different contrada as well. The social aspects of contrada are extremely strong, with children being brought up to practice waving banners and drumming every weekend (which I was fortunate enough to see), and even when they leave for college they will always have strong ties to their contrada. The contradas are like large second families that celebrate together, hold large feasts, are always their for moral support when someone in a member goes through hard times, and they cheer and cry together when the Palio itself takes place. The Palio takes place in the main half-oval shaped square of the city. The horses race 3 times around the track/perimeter of the square, and it is the shortest yet probably most intense horse race in the world. Since winning the race means so much to each contrada the emotion during the race is extraordinary and there is often violence after it is over.
Overlooking the square is a tall tower attached to a governmental palace which I climbed up with a couple people in my CEA group. It was an amazing experience to climb up the narrow stairs and constantly having to turn corners up the square tower. The center of the stairwell had a clear view towards almost the starting point of the tower, so when we got near the top it was fun to see how far we had climbed. When we stepped outside on the top the view was breathtaking. The famous reddish tiles of Tuscan rooftops extended far out all around me. I could see the famous gothic Siena Cathedral (where I saw some newly-weds having there pictures taken, which now seems ubiquitous in Italy) with its stripes/bands (typical for many Italian cathedrals of this era) along the building, the half-oval square below me, numerous tiled buildings enclosed by the encompassing town wall, and hilltops and vineyards as far as the eye could see. There were some bells on the upper and lower levels of the top of the tower, and the top one rang while we were up there. After snapping pictures and video of the amazing view we went back down to square, ate a late lunch at a small cafe and then headed to the hotel where our bus was waiting to take us home. I spent most of the ride staring out the window and appreciating the beauty of the Tuscan hills while it lasted.

Wine Tasting, the Roman Forum, the Vatican and St. Peter's

2008-10-14T03:57:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I signed up to go wine tasting with 8 other students in my CEA group. Our student coordinator, Tom, took us to a small wine bar near Campo de'Fiori that had many different kinds of wine. We met Tom's friend there who told us about 4 different kinds of wine as we sampled them. The four wines were Tirle, Rocca Rubbia, Aglianco del Vulture and Roero Superiore. The Greeks supposedle introduced wine to the Italians, and one of the wines I had (Aglianico del Vulture) s made from the Aglianico grape which is a traditional southern Italian grape believed to be introduced by the Greeks. The Romans were the first to introduce wooden barrels and glas bottles to the wine trade. A wine gets its color from the skin of a grape (for instance white wine can be made from white grapes or skinned red grapes). Many wines consist of a combination of diferent grapes, yet something interesting I learned is that pink wine is not made from mixing red and white wines together, but rather by using the skins of red grapes for only a few hours. The thinner the skin of a grape, the higher acidity the grape will have and the stronger wine it will produce. Vinegars are produced with very high acidity. Out of all the wines my favorite was Roero Superiore, which is produced by Malvira' in Piemonte. Piemonte and Tuscany are where the most abundant/popular wines come from in Italy, yet Roero Superiore is less known. I liked it best because it was made with the Nebbole grape, which has a small skin. Our bottle in particular had grapes picked in 1998 so it was especially strong (the older a wine is the more bitter it becomes), and it had a pleasant aftertaste, although it was too strong for many of the girls at our table. I also like bitter beers and bitter vinegar, so it is no surprise that I now know that I like bitter wine. It is recommended to eat something inbetween each taste of wines this bitter/strong.
As for the other wines, Rocca Rubia is produced by Santadi in Sardegna, and it is a quality wine (which are produced with low acidity) made by many small producers who combine all of their different kinds of grapes. It is sweet and has a decent aftertaste. Tirle is produced by Carandole in Tuscany and it is also sweet but doesn't have much of an aftertaste. It ages in a wooden drum which makes it smoother and last longer. Aglianico del Vulture is produced by Il Repertorio in Basilicata, using the ancient Aglianica grape, and it has a hint of chocolate and horseradish in it.
The other highlight of last week was visiting the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum for my archaeology class. My professor, an archaeologist and architectural historian, fed my hunger for knowledge about this area, the birthplace and bedrock of Rome. The legend of Rome states that it was founded in 753 BC, and archaeological evidence supports it being founded roughly at that time. The area of the forum is located in the valley between the Palatine, Capitoline, and Esquiline hills. This area used to be a swamp (flooded by the nearby Tiber river), and its original inhabitants, the Etruscans and Villanovans (early Etruscans), would live on the hilltops and only bury their dead near the valley/swamp. Different tribes living in the area, including the Sabines and Latins (who are tied to the Romulus and Remus legend) assimilated with the Etruscans, eventually forming a kingdom (which was largely ruled by Etruscan kings). During this period the swamp was
drained. The last Etruscan king was eventually dethroned, establishing the Roman Republic in 509 BC. This period would last until Julius Caesar gained significant power causing him to be assassinated out of fear of becoming a monarch, and Octavian (Caesar’s nephew and adopted son) responded by killing all of the perpetrators and defeating Mark Antony at the battle of Actium, leaving no one to challenge his rule. Octavian thus became the first emperor of Rome and had the Senate proclaim him Augustus (meaning the “revered one”), marking the beginning of the empire in 27 BC.
One important aspect about the Roman Empire is that there was always a wish to connect itself with its past. The famous Via Sacra (Sacred Road), which emperors marched down in the Forum during triumphs, gets its name from the old Etruscan grave sites located nearby the road. Part of the reason for this was for propaganda purposes of the emperors, which is an extremely important part of the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar was a mastermind of propaganda, and all the successive emperors (including Augustus) would copy Caesar’s techniques. The placement of almost every building in the Forum and vicinity, the way imperial statues look, etc. all had precise intentional meanings and purposes to further the political agendas of the emperors. Julius Caesar claimed to be a descendent of Aeneas (Ancestor of Romulus and Remus) and the Goddess Venus, so he would in effect claim to have the blood of the founders of Rome. After he was killed, Augustus had the
Senate officially deify him, and placed his temple/burial place in the center of the Forum. He was the only Roman ruler to ever have either of these great distinctions. Since Augustus was proclaimed the adopted son of Caesar in his will, Augustus officially made himself the son of a deity. Also, by placing “S.P.Q.R.” (which means “Senatus Populusque Romanis” or the “Senate and the People of Rome”) on each new public work, it in effect meant that not only the Senate approved of it, but all of Rome must have approved of it, further unifying and controlling the people of Rome. Caesar placed the Curia (senate house) between the sacred monument/site of Romulus in the Forum and his nearby imperial forum, all for propaganda purposes. By keeping their ties to the founders and past rulers, successive emperors were able to maintain authority. It is interesting to compare the propaganda techniques of the Roman emperors with the techniques used in
the current General Election (such as McCain attempting to skip the first debate or how Obama is now always wearing a flag lapel pin). By learning how to read the iconography and decipher the purpose of each monument or piece of art, I am also gaining a keen eye for deciphering hidden meanings behind situations in both the past and the present.
This week I went to the Vatican with my art history class. I climbed up to the top of St. Peter’s dome the week before and had an awesome panoramic view of Rome. On this visit I visited the Vatican museums and saw the Sistine Chapel. The most important statues I saw were the Laocoon (and His Sons), the Belvedere Torso and the Augustus of Prima Porta, and I also saw the famous School of Athens fresco by Raphael. The Laocoon is a magnificent statue depicting Laocoon and his sons at the moment when they are being attacked by snakes sent from Athena for warning the Trojans about the dangers of the Trojan Horse. It is a Greek Hellenistic work due to its great display of emotion, movement, and unbalance. It is significant because although it is believed to be created in the first century BC it was unearthed in 1506 (during the Renaissance) and had a huge influence on the artists of the time, especially Michelangelo. The Belvedere Torso had a similar
effect on Renaissance artists. It (although missing many of its parts) may depict a Greek mythological character who is contemplating suicide (which is why the figure’s muscles are so tense). Its great display of emotion through its tense muscles and scrunched pose influenced Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque artists, including Raphael and Michelangelo. The Augustus of Prima Porta depicts Augusts in a commanding pose, and on his armor is depicted a conquered foreigner handing back the Standard (eagle) of the Roman Empire. Augustus made a big deal over himself retrieving this standard and by engraving this scene on his armor it was there for all Roman citizens to see and remember, serving as a propaganda tool. He also was always depicted with longer hair than a normal Roman to resemble another great young leader in the then-not-so-distant past, Alexander the Great.
My favorite fresco that I saw was Raphael’s School of Athens, painted in the study room/ library of the pope. It was located on the side where the books on philosophy were located, which is why it depicts so many famous Greek philosophers and scholars. The main figures in the center are Plato and Aristotle. Plato, representing his philosophy based in the realm of ideas, is pointing his finger upwards. Aristotle, representing how his ideas are grounded with real-life observations, extends his hand with his palm faced downward towards the earth. There are many famous figures depicted, including Pythagoras and Alexander the Great, yet what is perhaps most interesting is Raphael’s figure portrayed on the right which is believed to depict himself, looking out towards the viewer.
I learned much about the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel from my professor right before we went in it. It depicts the 9 books of Genesis, beginning with the separation of light and dark. The famous two fingers almost touching are that of God and Adam when God creates Adam. God’s hand is full of energy and Adam’s is limp, showing the very moment when God is creating and instilling life into Adam. The reason why this is such an important fresco is not just its beauty but also its originality. Never before had man been depicted to be comparable to God, yet in this fresco Adam exemplifies a perfect body and is a spitting image of God (they have the same face, although God is older). Another interesting fact is that the first half of the ceiling showing the creation the earth and man has God in it, and it is the side under which the clergy were located, while the other half which depicts human misery is where the visitors were located. In this way
the clergy were tied to the greatness of God and the visitors were tied to human misery (a nice propaganda statement). Also depicted on the far end of the chapel is the Last Judgment, and Michelangelo depicted himself (like possibly Raphael in the School of Athens) as the empty flesh/skin being held by one of the figures. Michelangelo spent 4 years of his life painting the ceiling of the Sistine, and he used interesting scaffolding that looked like a bridge mimicking the arch of the ceiling. The ceiling was much higher than I expected, and it was wonderful to be in the same spot as and imagine Michelangelo painting his masterpiece.
For my Italian language class I met some Italians for a conversation exchange. We all had gelato at a gelateria located near Piazza Bologna (which is the metro stop I take for school). The gelateria has the most generous servings out any other one I’ve been to so far, so I will definitely come back to it. The Italian students are around the same age as me and it was extremely fun to get to know them and learn about their culture. We talked about many things, and one girl confirmed that they eat only a brioche (croissant or biscuit) with a small espresso for breakfast. I have already partaken in the Italian tradition of starting off the morning by ordering a small espresso while standing up at the bar and reading the morning paper, so I will try to buy some biscuits and have that for breakfast. It was great to make some potential new friends (Italians won’t call you a friend until you know each other well) and my time with them greatly
improved my Italian language skills. A conversation exchange really is the way to go! We exchanged numbers, made plans to hang out again, and said goodbye (which for me included exchanging kisses on the cheeks with the girls). I really like the closeness of the Italian culture (once you break the ice) and the Italian accent too.
In an effort to become a little more Italian, I walked around the major shopping area (by the Spanish Steps) and looked through the windows and walked into some of the stores. I walked into Gucci, Prada, Giorgio Armani and even tried on a suit at Versace. These places are way to expensive but it was interesting to look around at the stores of the major Italian fashion name brands. I checked out many other cheaper stores and found some good ones which I might shop at sometime.
I now know the layout of the city very well and can easily get around without getting lost. Rome isn’t too big so I often walk when I’m not in a hurry. Italians walk slower than Americans, which is funny because they drive faster and ignore traffic rules (and pedestrians now including I do too… Italians like to challenge authority). Walking in the minor alleys is always a pleasant experience, and every corner you turn there is more beauty around you. I will have my midterms in two weeks and then have a week of vacation. That will mark the middle-point of my time in Rome, which is hard to believe because I am having a blast and time is really going by too fast. I am trying to make the most of my experience by truly living like an Italian… when in Rome.

Now We Are Free...

2008-09-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago and yesterday my friend Pepe visited me (he began my European trip with me and is currently studying abroad in Florence). I spent the whole night that he arrived talking with him about our experiences so far and walking around and showing him almost all of the amazing sights of Rome. We walked from my apartment (which is in the heart of downtown), to the Victor Emanuel monument, then to the Capitoline hill which Campidoglio rests on and behind which is an amazing view of the Roman forum, then the Imperial Fori including Trajan's column and Market, followed by the Colosseum and seeing the Circus Maximus and the Trevi Fountain on our way back. He was awestruck when he first laid his eyes on the Forum (as I was when I first saw it) so I made sure to record his face and reaction during that moment =). Seeing the Forum for the first time literally leaves you speechless... especially if you have any sort of sense and admiration for the history that took place there and the beauty it still holds. It was a long and enjoyable night of sightseeing with good conversation, and by talking to him I realized how much we have changed even from each other just by living in two different Italian cities. I hadn't realized it until then, but I was confident to cross busy streets with cars zooming by as all the locals do, and Pepe was still used to the small and calm town of Florence so was much more timid to cross the street. Also, when I was walking on a sidewalk he was walking on the street until I pointed it out to him because even though he had plenty of room to walk on the sidewalk he was used to the small sidewalks of Florence. Italian cities can be extremely different from each other even if there are only an hour away from each other, whereas most American towns tend to be the same. For instance, I could go to the Greek island of Capri, the Rennaisance town of Florence, the bustling and historic city of Rome, or the Medeival town of Seina and have completely different experiences in each town. I've been learning about Seina and its Contrada in my Italian culture class... the Contrada are basically small communities that you are born into that are extremely prideful and competitive amognst each other; the climax of which is the Palio, a horse race between all the differenct Contradas of Seina. I will talk more about the Contrada and Palio after I visit Seina in a few weeks and experience some Contada culture for myself. But going back to how different Pepe and I were just from the month we've spent apart in two Italian cities within 3 hours from each other... I have obviously changed in some American ways as well. From what I've noticed, I am eating in smaller portions, I'm eating much slower and actually am enoying my food to the point where I am often the last one to finish amongst my friends. I was at a restaurant with Pepe last night and noticed an obsese man reaching across the table and eating from the plate of his girlfriend. The couple appeared to be Italian or possibly Spanish but none the less it surprisingly disgusted me even though I remember seeing this before in America and it never had the same effect on me. Also, I see some young Italians trying to be "cool" by wearing baggy N.Y. labeled clothes like some American rappers, and I can't help but think of how silly they look to be wearing clothes that don't fit them. I am much less impatient and am able to enjoy myself even if I am waiting in line for long periods of time. I have become so accustomed to eating pasta, pizza and gelato, and drinking from the abundant Roman fountains that I start to have major cravings when I go without it for a while. And although I always appreciate the beauty of the architecture and sculpture around me I am no longer shocked by its magnificence but have started to expect it. Speaking of which, I went inside the Vatican and climbed to the top of St. Peter's dome (the biggest Christian church in the world) and greatly appreciated the sights but wasn't taken aback by it. Although part of the reason why I wasn't impressed by it was because the marble that was used to make the church was stripped from the Ancient Roman palaces on the Palatine hill (where my heart truly lies). Haha.
But anyways, after sightseeing we woke up the next morning to take a tour of the Roman Colosseum, Palatine hill and Forum. Wow... needless to say this was one of my best days of my life. It was the first time either of us had been inside any of these places so it was an awesome moment for both of us, and I enoyed every second of it. I made a point to listen to all the information that the tour guide was telling me because I'm sure I will come back to these areas many times before I leave. So let me drop some knowledge on you guys... The Colosseum was not actually called the Colosseum but the Flavian Amphitheatre, named after the dynasty of the 2 emperors reigns under which the Colosseum was built. When it was first built there were games for 100 straight days and ove tens of thousands of foreign animals were imported from Africa to be slain. Not only would the Romans import African animals but also seeds of plants and trees so they could grow and place these plants in the Colosseum during the animal fights to create a realistic scenery/backdrop. The vast majority of gladiators were slaves, especially Jews when the Roman Empire conquered the Middle East. Slaves would often earn money from fighting as a gladiator and if they won enough times they could eventually purchase their freedom. Unlike it is portayed in the movie Gladiator, there was no thumbs up or down, but rather a closed fist for "live" and an open hand with fingers pointing the ground for "kill." Also, there were referees next to the gladiators monitoring the fight and when first blood was drawn the referee would stop the fight until it was determined whether or not the gladiator could continue to fight, and if he couldn't then the audience and ultimately the Emperor would decide the gladiators fate. Realistically though, it is unlikely that the Emperor could estimate the number of "kills" and "lives" shown by the audience's hands so he would have likely made his decision from the sound of the crowd. There are 4 special entrances/exits that normal citizens couldn't use, including the entrance where the gladiators would enter the amphitheatre, th entrance of the senators, the entrance of the Emperor, and the exit of death where gladiators were carried through after dying. The Emperor had his own special balcony close the the ground floor and had a net placed in front of it in case any wild animals tried to jump up and attack him. The Roman fans had wooden or terracotta tickets with their section number on it and the Roman numerals of each of the 76 sections are still carved above its corresponding arch on the outer layer/ring of the Colosseum. Men would sit on the lower sections closest to the fights with teh Emperor of senators having their own separate and specials places to sit, while slaves and women were forced to sit at the top of the Colosseum where there wasn't marble seats but rather wood scaffolding. Speaking of which, when looking at the Colosseum's walls you can see some large and small holes. The large damaged-looking holes on the white travertine stone (such as that found on the entire exterior facade of the colosseum) are from large metal "staples" that were used to hold the blocks in place, the large square holes in the brick were constructed on purpose in order to hold the wooden scaffolding during contstruction, and the small damaged-looking holes are from torn out brackets that once held up the marble slabs that covered the brick and all of its holes. In fact, the Romans were the first to use veneers (or surface covers) on their buildings. They wanted to copy the wonderous marble architecture of the Greeks, but did it in a much cheaper, faster, and grander scale than the Greeks by constructing their buildings out of brick and then covering them with a marble veneer.
After the Colosseum we took another tour (with a different guide) of the Palatine hill. This was a perfect opportunity to see how the Romans constructed their buildings because the marble had been completely stripped from the Emperors' palaces in order to construct St. Peter's, leaving only the brick with its holes showing. This tour was especially delightful for me because the girl was extremely knowledgeable and personable, and she was talking about one of my greatest passions, the founding of Rome and its history on the Palatine. It was apparent to her that I already knew a lot about the Roman Empire from answering most of the questions she was asking our group so we started talking about how she got her job and I mentioned that I could see myself doing the same thing. Being a tour guide of any Ancient Roman site would be a dream temporary-job for me... Although if I were to really ever pursue that path I would probably be an archaeologist since it is much more professional, academic and established. If I could make up and have any job in the world it would be to learn about the history and uncover and discover the ruins of Ancient Rome (or any other ancient civilazation for that matter), then create new cities in the Ancient Roman/classical style, with some buildings the height of skyscrapers, in an environmentally-sustainable way. A sort of Roman-Indiana Jones-Green Architect... I can dream on... =).
I saw the HUGE ruins of the Flavian palace that took up over a square mile in surface area and was almost completely indoors and covered with marble. From what they uncovered of it so far it was 6 floors high with most of the floors underground. It had its own circus (horse racing arena and gym) attached to it, and it was completely covered in expensive marble. Most Roman buildings were made from the local white or gray marble or the travertine stone (gathered from the stone quarry which I passed on my way to Tivoli... and it's still in use today)! Marbles with much more vibrant colors were therefore much more sought after and expensive. The most rare and expensive marble is of a deep purple color, and it was located only in a small part of Egypt. However, if you want to find that kind of marble now your best bet is Rome because the quarries are now empty and the Roman Empire imported the vast majority of the marble when they ruled over Egypt. The largest solid piece of that kind of marble is a couple of square meters and it was once part of Emperor Nero's bathtub... it is worth approximately $250 million euros (no lie!) and is now housed in the Vatican museum.
I also saw the House of August (where he and his wife Livia lived... although only a small portion of it is remaining) which contains the oldest known frescoes in the world and the site became open to the general public only a few months ago. (I couldn't stop taking pictures and video of this place... if you have any knowledge of Augustus you know that he basically created the greatness of Rome (although Julius Caesar paved a helpful beginning path) so I wanted to document every square inch of the ancient palace in which he lived). And the Palatine hill provides the best view of the Forum, so I spent a significant amount of time taking in the view there. A funny fact is that the Temple of Vestal Virgins and their bathing pools were located right beneath the edge of the Palatine hill, and there's a viewing platform right on the edge of the hill so the Emperors could easily watch the sacred women while they bathed.
We finished off the day with a tour of the forum from a guide who is basically a walking encyplodia on the Roman Empire. There is a massive amount of sights to see and learn about in the Forum so we barely scratched the surface, but some things I learned and re-learned are that Caesar was deified by the Roman people after he died and a temple to him was built in the middle of the Roman Forum (imagine if we had a temple to George Washington or George Bush). In fact it eventually became common practice for every Emperor to be deified after death, even though almost everyone in Rome (even including the Emperor himself) didn't belief that it was actually true. One of the Emperors (Vespasian I believe) was known for his sense of humor and jokingly said the following last words on his deathbed: "Be still, for I am about to become a God!". There is simply too much to else to write about the Forum that I will have to cover it in another blog later.
After the long day of tours Pepe and I had a nice 2-course dinner for a reasonable price at a restaurant which looked like it used to be a wine cellar, located by the Trevi Fountain. I had spaghetti for Primi and chicken with potatoes for Secondi, washed down with a carafe of some house/table wine. It was a scrumptious ending to an amazing day... one that will likely stay in my memories for the rest of my life. =)

Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Column, and the Victorio Emannuel Monument

The Arch of Constantine on my left, with the Via Sacra (Sacred Road) passing under the Arch of Titus on my right.

Il Colosseo (formerly the Flavian Amphitheatre). The platform is what the ground level upon which the gladiators fought once looked like. Below is where the gladiators waited and ate meals before their fights, weapons were sharpened, and animals were stored in cages and lifted up through shafts... all invisible to the public eye). The main entrance ahead is where the emperor entered, above which was where his viewing platform used to be. The marble seats remaining tot he left of the entrance is where senators would sit.

Me giving the "kill" hand gesture (thumb and fingers spread out and pointing down).

Il Foro Romana (Roman Forum) with the Arch of Titus and Colosseo on my right and Basilica of Maxentius/Constantine on my left.

What it looks like without myself in the way. These views are taken from the Palatine hill.

Basilica of Maxentius/Constantine on the right with the Temple of Romulus (an emperor's son, not the famous found of Rome) onthe left. Its bronze doors are still functional with the original key, all 2000 years old!

Ruins of the Temple of Vestal Virgins on the bottom left. It was circular and open roofed, and the 3 Vestal Virgins had to keep the fire in the center lit 24/7, otherwise they would be punished to death!

Temple of Vestal Virgins in bottom center, with temple of Divine Caesar just above it and between the large group of people (the monument that Augustus built for Caesar when he was deified, located in the spot where he was cremated), above which (the tall brick building) is the Curia (senate house) where the senators would meet.

Temple of Vestal Virgins in the center with their living quarters below. They would bath in the pool of water (obviously the emperor at the time would have a nice view of it as well). The statues surrounding the pool area were of the famous/best Vestal Virgins that preceded them.

Basilica of Maxentius/Constantine. (That's small thing at the bottom of the picture isn't a bug on your screen... but me! The basilica is HUGE! In fact this is only about 2/3 of its original height. You can see the beginnings of the main/central vault at the top of the picture).

Domus of Augustus (the first Emperor of Rome)! It's located at the top of the Palatine hill and was recently opened up to vistors a few years ago.

Some of the oldest frescoes in the world... located in the Domus of Augustus.

Villa d'Este and Capitoline Museum

2008-09-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday I had no class so I decided to take a half-day trip to the hill-side town of Tivoli to the East of Rome, about an hour away by bus. I came to see the famous Villa D'Este and its amazing fountains which I learned about in my architectural history class. It had some of the most amazing fountains I have ever seen as far as scuptural decorations go (although the Trevi Fountain in Rome is magnificent as well). My favourite was the fountain of 100 heads which was a line of 100 sculpted animal heads with water flowing out of their mouths... all about 130 meters long and spanning most of the width of the garden. I was also really impressed with the 2 other fountains on opposite ends of the 100 headed fountain. One was the fountain of Rome with a statue of a God laying on his side (perhaps Apollo), and the symbol of Rome (Romulus and Remus suckling a she-wolf). I'm not sure what the other was but I especially liked the arcaded passageay running underneath it, the large marble statue, and the marble tables and benches located in the area. I definitely have a taste for marble statues, and I am starting to learn much about them in my art and archaeology classes.
For my archaeology class today, my class visited the Capitoline Museum (located on the Capitoline Hill in Campidoglio). This is by far my favourite class... I basically get to walk around a museum or archaeology site for 3 hours while my teacher (an archaeologist) explains the who-what-when-where-why-how of every important piece in the museum. Since I am obsessed with Ancient Rome I wrote all the important aspects down, so I'll share some of what I learned...

First some basic history. Rome was founded around 753 B.C. The famous myth goes as follows: Romulus and Remus (twin descendents of Aneas from Troy) were put into a basket and cast into a river (just like Moses from the Bible) by a rival in fear that they would grow to challenge his rule. They were found by a she-wolf who nurtured them until they were discovered by a shephard who raised them. They took revenge on their rival and started to build the walls of their new cities. However a feud broke out between the two so Romulus ended up killing Remus, hence why the city was named Rome. The twins suckling the she-wolf is the symbol of Rome, and I see it almost everywhere I go in the city (on garbage cans, etc.). However, this didn't become the symbol of Rome until around the 15th century. Before the Romans, Villanovans (early Etruscans) and Etruscans lived on the Palatine Hill where Rome was to later be founded. The symbol of the Etruscans was the wolf, and the Etruscans were forced to assimilate once the Romans conquered them. The Etruscans made a bronze statue of a she-wolf which was preserved, and in the 15th century the twins were cast and added to the statue and shown suckling on the wolf's teets, hence-forth becoming the symbol of Rome.
Some more history. When Rome was first founded it was ruled by kings, until the people revolted against an unpopular king (Tarquin) and formed a Republic in 509 BC. During the Republican period Rome was ruled by two consuls who performed the original duties of the king, and were responsible to the people via the senate. Julius Caesar killed his rival consul (Pompey) and was therefore assasinated, but his nephew and adopted son Octavian (Augustus) killed his main rival Mark Antony and all the senators who were involved in Caesars assassination, leaving him with virtually no enemies and an empire all to control for himself. The Empire officially began in 27 BC when Augusts was given the titled "the revered one" and several important honors by the senate. The Empire fluorished until around the 3rd century AD when Constantine changed the official language of the Empire from Paganism to Christianity and moved the headquarters to Constantinople (present day Instanbul).
I saw mainly marble statues in the Capitolie Museum, and learned how the Roman emperors would use statues (and other pieces of art) as propaganda to meet their political desires. Julius Caesar in particular was a master at propaganda and all the succeeding emperors emulated his techniques. Togas were originally worn by Greeks and the Roman Emperors wore togas over their armor to depict philosophy (or wisdom) with military strength. Statues of emperors often depicted them in imposing stances displaying confidence. When the Romans conquered a people they would often erect statues honoring the bravery of their opponents to help them assimilate. And after major victories emperors would erect tiumphal arches or columns with reliefs depicting the story of the battle, so the citizens would constantly be aware of and appreciate the emperor's achievements. The most obvious way to tell the difference between a Roman statue and Greek statue is that Roman statues often have tree trunks shown by the legs of a statue for either support or just the fact that the Romans wanted to show a difference between their work and the Greek's. I also learned today that Doric columns represent male, Ionic female, and Corinthian nature. Laws were written/carved on stone tablets and placed outide the Curia (senate house) for all the public to see. I also saw the statue of Mars which was placed in the Temple of Mars the Avenger in the Forum of Augusts (commissioned under Augustus). Augustus did this to depict himself as the avenger for killing all the senators who were involved with Caesar's assassination. Augustus (and all the later Roman emperors) took the name of Pontifex Maximus (or High Priest) which was the highest religious position in Rome. When ultimate power was eventually transferred over to the popes, they took on the title and have kept it to this day. On one of Augustus' statues he is shown with longer hair than a normal Roman soldier to show likeness to the greatness of Alexander the great (who was also young with long hair). And Marcus Aurelius was known as the peace-keeper so he is often shown with a peaceful hand gesture (middle and ring fingers bent inward with thumb curled. As you can see virtually every roman piece of art had a purpose (usually to serve as propaganda for politcial needs). I learned a lot more about how to tell the differences between differenct sculptures, although this was the most interesting information. I will write more later. Ciao!

VILLA D'ESTE

View from central rear loggia of the Villa d'Este

Fontana della Rometta (Fountain of the Little Rome) with the city of Tivoli in distance.

More of the Fontana della Rometta.

Le Cento Fontane (The 100 fountains)

Fontana dell'Ovato (The Oval Fountain)

Stone bench and table near the Fontana dell'Ovato

Fontana dell'Organo (The Water Organ Fountain, from which music is played every few hours)

Beautiful vine-covered mosaic walkway.

CAPITOLINE MUSEUM

Colossal Statue of Constantine. Emperor Constantine is known for popularizing and legalizing Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. This man is essentially the reason why Christianity is a major religion today. His eyes are unrealistic, marking the departure from realistic towards representative/symbolic art of the Christian era. His left hand is pointing upwards towards God, symbolizing his Christian faith. Most of the statue (the non-naked parts) was made of bronze, and only his head and limbs were made of marble.

Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. This is the oldest bronze equestrian statue of a Roman emperor surviving, due to the fact that it was originally mistaken to be a statue of Constantine, and the Catholic Church wanted to melt down non-Christian bronze statues. It was originally placed outside of the museum in the Campidoglio square, but it was placed in here to protect it from pollution and humidity, and a copy is now placed outside where it originally stood.

Statue of Emperor Commodus (The evil emperor in the movie "Gladiator," and the son of Marcus Aurelius). In real life he was a bit crazy because wanted to be like Hercules and emulated him by wearing a lion's hide, carrying a club and carrying a few apples (to signify the 3 feats of Hercules). The bearded and long-haired started with emperor Hadrian who loved everything Greek and wanted to copy the look of Greek Philosophers to set himsel apart from previous emperors and be known as the "philosopher."

Drawing of what the Capitoline Hill looked like during the period of the Etruscan kings. The large temple is the Temple of Jupiter. The remains of parts of its foundation can be seen inside the Capitoline Museum.

Remains of a young Etruscan girl found on the Capitoline hill. Etruscans would bury their young in large ceramic pots with smaller ceramic pots with food inside for them to have during the afterlife. This grave dates from around the Bronze Age.

Il Spinaro (statue of a boy pulling a splinter out of his foot).

La Lupa (The She-Wolf). The she-wolf itself dates from Etruscan times. The twins (Romulus and Remus) were added during the Renaissance (around 1500), during which this statue became the new symbol of Rome. This symbol as well as S.P.Q.R. can be found branded all over Rome on trash cans, sewer gratings, etc.

Statue of the Dying Gaul. This statue depicts a Gaul defeated after battle and contemplating suicide. The Roman emperor who commissioned it used it for political purposes to show the emperor's power for defeating the Gauls but also to give them honor at the same time for their bravery, thus helping the Gauls to assimilate into the Roman Empire. It is a Roman copy of a Greek statue depicting a dying Celt.

Marte (Mars, the Roman god of war)

Hermes

Marcus Aurelius

Venere Capitoline (Venus of the Capitoline). This statues is important due to the fact that it was the first Roman statue that displayed female nudity. Before it was made, it was never considered proper in Roman art for women to be shown naked. One reason why the artist got away with it is because the godess, Venus, is shown at the instant when she comes out of the bath and is surprised so is trying to cover herself up. It is a Roman copy of a Greek original which no longer exists.

Statue of Mars (the Roman god of war). The god from which the Marrs family descends. =)

Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, located in the center of Campidoglio. This is the copy. The original (shown a few pictures above) is located inside the Capitoline Museum.

When in Rome...

2008-09-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

I have been in Rome for 3 weeks so far and am absolutely loving it. Last night I got back from my Pompeii/Capri excursion and had the time of my life. Rome and Italy are absolutely beautiful. I am truly lucky to be living only a 20 minute walk away from the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Everywhere I walk in Rome I come across 2000 year old treasures. I am taking an Italian language course, Italian culture course, Renaissance and Baroque art course, and Roman archaeology where my class meets on site at many different ruins! Everything that I eat here tastes amazingly good for some reason... even the plain pasta that I make myself... it must be the quality of the ingredients. Pizzerias and gelaterias are on almost every street and every block, and man are they delicious! It would be hard to stay thin in Rome if it weren't for the smaller portions and all the walking that I'm doing. I've noticed that Nutella (a chocolate spread) is very common in Italy and France (they have Nutella flavored gelato and it is the most popular spread on crepes). Some of my highlights so far in Rome: My first night in Rome I was walking home and discovered the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain on accident (the fountain is only a 3 min. walk from my apartment), I saw a caravan of police and limos near the Victorio Emannuel monument one night and later realized that it was Dick Cheney, I've bought some nice pointy Italian shoes and am starting to dress more Italian, I have spent a whole day walking around the Circus Maximus and Palatine Hill area (although I have yeat to go inside the Forum), I got a haircut for only 6 euro from an Italian barber who didn't speak a word of english and he trimmed my hair with one of those old-fashioned razor blades, and last night was the Roman celebration of the "white night" and the streets were crowded with people wearing white. I have found living in small spaces quite comfortable, do many small loads of laundry in my small washing machine, hang up my laundry to dry, cook using a gas stove which I light with a handheld lighter, take time in restaurants to enjoy my meals and no longer feel rushed to eat quickly or get my bill, and am living in an unplugged world where I don't watch tv or listen to music and have a very limited internet access. I've gone into bathrooms where the flush for the toilet and/or sink is on the ground (so you can just step on it instead of getting your hands dirty... although automatic is a nice solution in the States too). I eat many carbs all day (it's hard to avoid when the main italian diet is pizza and past). Italians have pastries for breakfast with a small shot of espresso at the table/bar while standing up. Italian women are beautiful... mainly because of their skin complexion and they know how to dress. I haven't seen much of the ass-grabbing from Italian men but they are very agressive with talking to and hitting on women, and I have seen them try to kiss women. Italians on the subway and on the go don't give you eye contact but when meeting them in groups when going out at night is fine and pleasant. Romans are very proud of the beauty of their city and I find no problem complimenting them on how lucky they are to live in Rome. The driving in Rome doesn't seem that crazy to me (I don't see them breaking traffic laws like they do in Mexico). As long as I look both ways I do fine, and cars are often polite and happily stop for me to cross. I find the many fountains located around the city to be very convenient. I am getting to know my way around more and more each day. I am trying to meet more locals and hope to make some Italian friends soon so I can hang out with them and experience their culture to a higher degree. My main goals right now are to experience Italian culture more by meeting and mixing with locals and becoming their freinds, and to absorb and document as much of the ancient Roman sites as possible.

Pompeii and Capri (my Heaven on Earth)!

2008-09-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

I just had what was probably the most amazing weekend of my life! We just had our first group excursion, which was to Pompeii and the Island of Capri! Almost everyone in my CEA group (about 30 of us) loaded up on a bus Friday morning and headed to Pompeii (which is just south of Naples). As I said before, the hillsides of Italy are very reminiscent of California's golden hills, except it was especially nice on this trip because I passed by several ruins of houses and farms that could have even dated back to ancient Roman times. When we reached Naples I was excited because I got my first glimpse of Mt. Vesuvius (it covered Pompeii with ash for 15 straight days and is the only active volcano left in Europe). Our bus stopped right outside the entrance to the archaeological site of Pompeii, so we ate pizza at a nearby restaurant and waited for our appointment with a tour guide. Man oh man, was I in Heaven on this tour... If there's anything I could do for the rest of my life it's walking through the ruins of an ancient Roman city! I spent so much time taking pictures that I often fell behind the tour group and didn't catch most of what our tour guide was saying... it didn't matter much though because I already knew a lot of it =). My first sight of Pompeii was the outside wall of the city which was where our tour began. Inside I first saw a forum with a cloister of columns still having traces of their Pompeiian red paint (as the lower half of practically all of them were once painted 2000 years ago)! Then we saw a Greek-stlye theatre (using the terrain of a hill), and a smaller Roman-style theatre (using only arches for support instead of a hill). The Greek style theatres like the one I saw have wonderful acoustics, and the Roman theatre still had amazing marble flooring intact. There were large stepping stones to get across the stone roads without getting your feet dirty, between which deep grooves were carved from the wheels of carts passing by. Streets were lined with shops and marble street signs were placed in the exterior walls of buildings, just like European cities today. I saw the domus (house) of an ancient Roman politician, and I could still see his name graffitied on the facade so everyone could know where he lived, and a stone bench was still located outside his door where people would wait every morning to be assigned jobs. Inside in the entrance hall there was an opening in the ceiling above a collection pond in the floor so water could be easily accessed. There were numerous frescoes on the walls and mosaic floors, an open-roof garden in the back, and a small dining room (Romans would lay on their sides while eating, no sit in a chair). All around the city there are penises carved into the stone roads and walls because it was considered a sign of fertility and would point to the direction where the brothels were located. In fact, the "Red Light District" was started in Pompeii (the perimeters of windows and doors of brothels were painted Pompeiian red, and there were about 2o or 30 brothels in Pompeii). Inside there were frescoes depicting different sex positions above each door so visitors who didn't know Latin could still know and get what they were asking for. I saw the city forum (which was amazing since it had two-story colonnades and a temple), a Roman bath, and a building where clothes were washed and dyed (they washed their clothes with urine so they would invite people to come in and add to their supply... and camel urine was considered especially desirable so it was imported whenever possible). I also drank out of a 2,000 year old fountain (although I think the brass piping may have been new/replaced). And I saw some ash-covered bodies with a few bones showing (they were somewhat short back then), and even saw the body of a dog cast into his last moment of struggle. My time in Pompeii flew by, so I plan on coming back in the future and spending at least a whole day there. While I was walking around I thought of how Mom and Dad used to read me the story of Pompeii as a child... and now here I was wandering the streets of Pompeii and imagining myself living the life of an ancient Roman. I also saw a bride and groom having their picture taken in the city... not a bad idea. =)
We left Pompeii and headed to our beautiful hotel in Sorrento, located along a cliff that we could walk down to reach the beach. The hotel was also located right next to the harbor where we would take our boat ride to Capri the next morning. Sorrento is one of many cities located along the Amalfi coast, which is famous for its stunnning views of cliffs dropping down into the ocean. I went swimming that evening and walked around the town... periodically heading towards the coastline to take a breathtaking cliff-side glimpse down onto to the ocean and surrounding terrain. A lot of girls I was with said they wanted to get married here. I had an excellent 3-course dinner and luxurious breafast buffet the next morning. The hotel really impressed me... now I know where all the money that I paid to CEA goes towards. =)
After breakfast we got on our ferry and took the hour-long ride to Capri. The weather was a bit drizzly but it dried up and the sun came out later on in the day which was awesome. When our boat docked we got out and bought tickets to get to the different parts of the island (there's the greeting area at the bottom, the actual/main city of Capri in the center which you have to take a cable-car up to, Ana-Capri which is farther up to the east and reached by bus, and finally the very top of the island which is reached from Ana-Capri via chair lift)! I took the cable car up to Capri and experienced what can only be described as... simply... PARADISE! The view from Capri is absolutely breathtaking. Blue water, amazing high views, birds flying below you, amazing food and ambiance, small roads with few and small cars, Greek-Roman style buildings, and every corner you turn is a new example of the essence of beauty. I had an amazing gelato-sunday with a few girls and then we hiked along the west side of the island so we could reach the Arco-Naturale (a magnificent natural rock arch providing a commanding view of the ocean below). What I saw on my trip over there were the most beautiful sites I have ever seen in my life. I found a spot where I will either propose to someone, get married, or have my honeymoon (and all the girls I was with immediatley decided that they wanted to get married in Capri as well). I wanted to see the arch because I saw a youtube video of it before I left for Italy and it captivated me, but pictures just don't do it justice. As one of the girls told her friends, "You haven't lived if you haven't seen Capri." After the arch we walked back to the center of town. We walked by a tourist information center that I saw earlier and realized that if I had asked for directions to the arch we wouldn't have taken the amazing sight-seeing hike we had just gone on because the trail from the arch back into town was much shorter and didn't go along the ocean (this is one case where I am glad I took some of Rick Steve's "find your own backdoor" advice of getting lost on purpose). We took a bus up to Ana Capri (the ride provided some more amazing views of course) and walked around. We tried looking for the chair lift but decided that we wouldn't have enough time and it wouldn't be worth the extra money. We ran into some of our friends from our group who had been walking around Ana Capri for most the day. I decided that I liked Capri a little more than Ana Capri because it had less road traffic and a much more close, personal and peaceful feel to it. We took the bus back down to Capri and soaked up the beauty on some steps before heading back down to the bottom to catch the ferry back to Naples. While I was up there I envisioned myself going back into time when there were no modern buildings or ferries, and wooden ships would sail to the island so Roman emperors like Trajan could come here to escape and enjoy life in their villas. Capri is also famous for its blue grotto, which luminates the cave in a clear fluorescent blue color. I promised myself that I will come back sometime soon before I leave Italy to experience the chair lift and grotto, and live in paradise once more. =)

Neapolitan Pizza... where it was invented (Delizioso, eh Christina? =) )

Inside one of Pompeii's forums

Picture of the forum shown in the video (note the bride and groom geting their photo taken in the back!)

Another picture of the forum.

Greek-style theatre (notice the terrain upon which the seats were built)

Standing on one of the stepping stones. Notice the grooves in the stone road below my hands from numerous wheels of carts passing between the stepping stones!

Domus (house) of a politician. His graffiti name is still shown behind the glass on the right, below which is the bench where people would sit and wait for their daily jobs.

The impluvium (sunken pool in the atrium) of a Roman dormus, used to collect rain water. The water had a natural cooling effect and could be used to water gardens, etc.

A frescoes above one of the doors inside a brothel, used to let the customer know what he wanted even if he couldn't speak Latin.

One of many penises carved on walls and roads in Pompeii, used to direct you towards a brothel. The "Red Light District" originated in Pompeii.

Almost all of my CEA group in front of the main forum of Pompeii, with Mt. Vesuvius in the distance. This is once case where a tragedy has turned into a treasure.

A 2000 year old man... you can still see the frightened and painful expression on his face.

A dog, trapped in an encasement of ash in his last desperate gesture.

The wall of Pompeii

The view from my hotel room in Sorrento

View from the balcony shown in the bottom right corner of the above picture. The Amalfi coast of Italy is known for its stunning vertical cliff-coastline.

Video of the same view from the picture above.

Walking to our ferry.

The view while waiting for our ferry.

View looking back from the trolley which took us up to the town of Capri.

Holy Crepe... Nice is Nice!

2008-09-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday, and I have been in Rome for almost 3 full weeks now (and have completed 2 full weeks of school). Last weekend I took my first big trip outside of the Rome area (Lazio region) and went to the French Riviera. I went with 3 girls in my CEA group. We left Thursday after class (since we don't have school on Fridays but often have mandatory events) from Termini station (the main train and metro station in Rome). It took most of the day for our train to get to Nice, so we arrived sometime after midnight and checked into our hostel where we stayed for 3 nights. The next morning we started our day off with a French breakfast (omelet, baguette, coffee, orange juice and some extra bread on the side as is typical for French meals) at a nearby cafe. I love the cafe culture of France. Cafes are highly present in Italy and most other European countries that I've been to, but it's nothing compared to France where cafes completely flood the streets as I've seen in Paris and Nice. I also love the ubiquitous white and grey colors that the French use for the exteriors of their buildings. After breakfast we headed to the beach, which is really the highlight of the French Riviera and Nice. I have never in my life seen such blue water! It was so picture-perfect (like you see in movies) that I started to feel like James Bond so the girls and I posed and took pictures. The water was also pretty warm and salty so it was easy to lay back and float. To make the view even more amazing there were cruise ships sailing a short distance off the coast and on one of the far ends of a peninsula there was a small waterfall! The beach was composed of stones/pebbles instead of sand which was a nice abnormality for me, and the freedom of women to go topless was as well, although I've grown used to it so it isn't a big deal for me anymore. We went to the beach everyday (it is defnitely the thing to do in the French Riviera), but some of the other highlights of my time in Nice were having my first carafe (pitcher) of house wine at a restaurant, eating a gelato (Italian ice cream) filled crepe at a gelateria called Pinocchio (haha), and meeting and talking in French with some locals on the beach. I talked French so much that I found myself saying "merci" instead of "grazie" when we came back to Italy. It's funny how being in a place for only a few days can subtly change you so much. Our train back on Sunday offered amazing views along the coastlines of the French and Italian Riveria, and we arrived in Rome that evening. I loved my time in the French Riviera, although I was definitely happy to be back in Rome as well since I was beginning to crave the ubiquitous pressence of amazing pizza and fountains waiting for me whenever I become hungry or thirsty =). Au Revoir / Ciao!

A French Breakfast (it also came with an omelet).

The wonderfully blue water of Nice

Gelato-filled crepes (C'est tres delicieux!)

Where I got the Crepe. I think I saw Gipeto woodling in the back.

Dinner with my first carafe of table/house wine!

Nice street lights in Nice.

Oui, c'est moi!

Tres belle...

I was feeling pretty cool (I'm pretty sure I've seen similar scenery in 007 movies).

All Roads Lead to Rome!

2008-09-01T04:37:00.000-07:00

I have finally arrived in Rome! It is by far the most amazing place I have ever seen... with Roman ruins everywhere, beautiful people, delicious food, and warm California-like weather. I caught a 9 AM flight from the Berlin Tiegel Airport to Rome's Fiumincino/Da Vinci Airport. I flew over the Alps on my way over... what an awesome sight! When I arrived I grabbed my bag and was greeted at the exit by a CEA representative who gave me my keys etc, and had a driver drop me and a couple of other students off at our apartments. The rural hillsides between the airport and city are reminiscent of the golden hills of California's tri-valley. When we reached the outer city it looked a bit like Mexico with colorful buildings and a Spanish-like atmosphere, until finally I saw my first glimpse of Roman ruins as we drove by the Palatine Hill, right after which I saw the Colosseum! I couldn't take my eyes off of it... and this was the moment when it finally hit me that I was actually in Rome. The apartment of one of the students in the car happened to be located right next to the Colosseum (you can literally see it right outside her front door), which I thought was awesome. It turns out that my apartment is located in the heart of downtown next to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, so I am very happy with it. My roommates are Pat and Ryan. Our apartment is on the top/third floor (called the second floor in Europe because the bottom floor is called the 0 or ground floor) with an awesome view outside almost all of the windows. Like all the rest of Rome, my apartment has a lot of character to it with a rustic wooden beam ceiling and painted orange plaster walls... and of course this is Italy so I only have tile flooring. To celebrate our first night my roommates and I met up with some girls in our same program at a bar at the Spanish Steps, and bar hopped the rest of the night with them. We ended up seeing the Pantheon and I saw the Trevi Fountain when I was walking home. I had a couple days of orientation at my campus (which is a beautiful villa) and got to know my fellow students. We went on a walking and bus tour, so I have already seen much of the outsides of Rome's sights (these tours are probably the most fun I've had so far in all of Europe). I've been going out at night with people in my program, and even went on the Colosseum Pub Crawl, which was a lot of fun. Yesterday I went to a local beach in the Ostia region with people in the program. Today was my first day of classes. We have many activities planned in my classes so I am sure that I will be learning a lot. One thing I've learned already just by being in Rome: it is considered rude to pay a vendor by placing cash in their hand, so instead you each place money on a small tray between yourselves.

There are pizza and gelato places eveywhere. I have eaten a ridiculous amount of pizza so far but the food is amazingly good here. It must be the ingredients because I've made some of my own spaghetti and pasta which I bought at the store and it is practically the best pasta that I have ever tasted. There is so much to see and experience in Italy and especially Rome that I can not possibly have time to see it all so I am taking each day at a time and enjoying life slowly Italian-style. The people here are amazingly good-looking, partly because they know how and take the time to dress well. I walk around the city each day and am becoming more acquainted with it. I take the metro and sometimes the bus wherever I go, and every corner I turn while walking around I see more beauty... it will be hard for me to get tired of this place. So far I've found some really nice-looking places like barber shops and bars in hidden alleyways. I will post pictures up soon to show you some of these amazing places. For now I look forward to my first week of classes and am exploring Rome whenever I am free. I am extremely happy with my choice to study abroad in Rome... it has not only met but exceeded my expectations!

Pyramid of Cestius (My first glimpse of a Roman Ruin, driving from the airport)

My first glimpse of the Colosseo/Flavian Amphitheatre

My first meal in Rome!

My first gelato (Black cherry... it's still my favorite flavour)!

Galleria Alberto Sordi (One of the nicest shopping malls in Rome, located down the street from my apartment)

Piazza Navona

Roman barber shop

The street intersection located outside my house... right in the heart of downtown Roma. Beautiful roof gardens like this are ubiquitous in Roma!

A restaurant located just to the right of the same building in the above picture.

Spaghetti in the same restaurant (with small bits of pork).

View from outside my bathroom window... che bella!

Arch of Constantine ( the emperor who popularized Christianity throughout Europe). Triumphal arches like this were built for the celebration of "triumphs," celebrated after military victories. The middle arch was reserved for the emperor, but ordinary citizens could walk through the side arches.

Il Colosseo (formerly called the Flavian Amphitheatre after the imperial dynasty that built it).

Via Sacra (Sacred Road). It extends from the Colosseum to the end of the Roman Forum. After winning a battle, the emperor would celebrate with a "triumph," in which he would march down the Via Sacra in a chariot followed by his army. It was lined with triumphal arches, yet only a few survive today.

View of the Roman Forum from a lower part of the Palatine Hill.

Imperial palaces of the Palatine hill with the terrain of the Circus Maximus in the foreground (The Circus Maximus was Rome's largest circus, where chariot races were held).

Arch of Janus (Arco di Giano)

Temple of Hercules Victor

Ponte Rotte (Broken Bridge) on the left with Tiber Island on the right, located on the Tiber River. Ponte Rotte is the oldest stone bridge in Rome. Only this small portion remains.

Theatre of Marcellus

Foro Romano (Roman Forum) with the Palatine Hill in the foreground. The Palatine Hill was where Rome was founded, and the Roman Forum was the religious, political, and economic center of the city. The left half of the picture shows the remains of the Basilica Julia, built by and dedicated to Julius Caesar. It was mainly used as a law court, but also had shops in it. Basilicas were used as meeting places for the Romans, and it would give them shelter during bad weather.

Roman Forum. The Via Sacra runs along the left side, ending next to the Temple of Saturn in the foreground (which was the treasure house of the Roman Empire). The Colosseum is seen in the distance.

"Ich bin ein Berliner"

2008-08-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

We took an evening train to Berlin and arrived at Hauptbahnhof station around midnight. The station is the most amazing one I've seen... very modern with 3 different spacious levels with clear views of every floor, made out of mainly steel and glass, and some technological gadgets such as advertisement bulletins that hung from the ceiling and rotated, escalators with motion sensors that stopped when not being used frequently, etc. We didn't have reservations for a hostel that night so we just slept at the station. I didn't get much sleep but felt safe with police officers roaming the floors all night. While we were falling asleep some drunk Polish guy told us to watch out for Polish pickpockets, since there's two things Poles are good at: stealing and drinking! We had a nice conversation with him about Poland and its people, and he happened to be 21 also so it was interesting to share perspectives with someone the same age as me.
The next morning we headed to our hostel (Inn-Berlin) on the metro, but got there a little too early so I walked around a bit. Around 8 AM we were finally let into the hostel, so we checked in but had to wait till about noon until our rooms were ready. I spent this time checking emails and going online etc, and went to sleep when we were finally let into our rooms. I woke up around 5 PM and eventually decided to go to a night club with Pepe. While we were looking for it (Q-DORF) we ran into some Middle-Eastern looking guys who were looking for the same place, so we talked with them and found it together. They were in front of us in line, but when they showed the bouncer (who was a huge, intimidating guy) their IDs they were denied entry... even though I heard one of them complaining in German about how he was from Hamburgh and spoke perfect German and his friend was from London, while the Americans behind him (us) couldn't speak a word of German. However, the bouncer let Pepe and me in despite this fact. This was my first encounter with an act of blatant racism to the extent of someone being denied entrance into a building. It bothered me the whole night and I became extremely upset when I was walking home later because I wished I would have stood up for them (maybe by publicly refusing to go inside and calling the bouncer out as a racist)... it was an extremely shocking event though and I don't think anything could have prepared me for it. If something like this had happened in America I bet that it would be all over the news and the bouncer would be arrested or sued. It certainly made me appreciate American civil liberties, especially the recent advances of the Civil Rights Movement in the 60's.
Anyway, the club was located underground and was huge with over 15 different bars and dance floors/rooms. Almost everybody there was white (go figure). Everyone seemed to be dancing without touching each other (except for some couples) which was very different from what is normal in the U.S.. I tried meeting some people but eventually gave up because no one spoke English, so I just enjoyed the music for the rest of the night until I found Pepe and headed home. By the way, everywhere I've gone so far in Europe, American music is by far the most popular kind that is played, which brings me comfort and makes me proud, haha. From what I've seen the same seems to go with movies too.
The next day I slept in, went to the grocery store and bought some food to cook for breakfast. Then we took the metro to Brandenburgh Gate where we took pictures, then walked to the Victory Column where Barack gave his speech less than a month ago! We walked around some more looking at more sights until we got tired and went back to our hostel and slept.
Today we went on the Third Reich tour where we learned all about Hitler's rise and fall. We saw the Reichstag, his bunker, and the building where the "Euphanasia" techniques (really methods for killing such as the gas chambers etc) were initially developed and used. I've always found it hard to grasp that WWII was so recent, but seeing all these sights definitely had an impact on me (although most of the buildings from Nazis are now gone, since most were bombed by the Allies).
Tomorrow I will go on the regular free walking tour of Berlin and might end my last night with the pub crawl, because Tuesday morning I leave for my main destination: Roma!

Victory Column (Where Barack gave his speech!)

Brandenburg Gate

Hotel Adlon (Where Michael Jackson dangled his baby Blanket over the balcony, located in the same square as Brandenburg Gate)

I AMsterdam

2008-08-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a progressive place Amsterdam is! Our train arrived at the Amsterdam Central Station and we walked directly to our hostel (The Flying Pig Downtown), which was located just off of the Damrak (main street running off of the train station). We walked around a bit, ate (large Dutch pancake), and spent the rest of the night getting caught up on our email, blogs and sleep. The next morning we continued to explore Amsterdam and took the free walking tour which started at 11 AM, meeting in front of the national monument. The company running it, New Europe, has multiple tours like this in various cities throughout Europe, and the tour is free but your tour guide is so good that you end up wanting to tip him at the end. I learned that the city was made by damming the Amstel river, hence the name Amstel-dam or Amsterdam (the Dutch named practically everything in this obvious way). The fact that the city is dammed up meant that the whole community had to work together in times of need in order to repair the dam and prevent or respond to floods, so there was a great sense of tolerance, community and welcoming of all people since everyone was dependent upon each others’ survival, and that mentality still exists today. One of the main cultural aspects of Amsterdam is its large number of bikes and bikers, leading to 3 story bike racks the size of parking garages, the much larger likelihood to be hit by a bike than a car when crossing the street, and the tendency for the Dutch to throw unchained bikes into the canals so that a crane has to dig them out of the water every day. Also, The Dutch were taxed according to floor width of the first floor (plus as many Dutch as possible wanted to live along a canal) so most buildings are tall and narrow with steep, narrow staircases. This makes moving furniture in and out of the houses hard so the buildings are purposely built leaning slightly forward with hooks sticking out of their facades near the roof so that anything large or heavy can be hoisted up and through a window using a rope without scraping the front of the building.

The Dutch were great sea merchants, bringing great wealth to the nation. When rich sailors returned to Amsterdam after being at sea with only other men for several months, one of the first things they wanted was some female companionship, which is why prostitution developed. The Netherlands officially legalized prostitution in 2000, and since then sex-workers (as they are properly called) don’t have to worry about any dangers since the Red Light District is now regularly patrolled and under video surveillance, with two police stations on opposite ends of the district. In fact, the Red Light District is the safest place in all of Amsterdam since it is so heavily watched and no criminals would dare take any risks when under such high surveillance. Also, sex-workers are considered equal to any other profession and pay taxes and receive benefits, have unions and are respected by the community for their contribution to the economy. In fact, there are panic buttons in every sex-worker’s room and if anything goes wrong causing her to push the button, all the nearby locals will rush to the scene and make sure the abusive client regrets his actions.

Amsterdam is also known for its high tolerance of marijuana. What is interesting though is that it isn’t actually legal in Amsterdam, just de-criminalized. The use of the drug is essentially given a blind eye, which is why the places where they are sold are called coffee-shops instead of any more revealing name. Efforts to stop the high prevalence and use of both hard and soft drugs by force was ineffective, so they de-criminalized soft drugs (which are naturally made) and focused solely on hard drugs (which are made by man). The result has been extremely effective, with only about 9% of Dutch citizens now using marijuana whereas about 15% of citizens from countries such as France, England and the U.S. using marijuana. With similar success, the legalization of prostitution has led to sex-workers having lower STI rates than the general population because they always use protection at their job whereas most of the general public (especially in other countries besides the Netherlands) tend to be more careless when it comes to using protection. Most of the people who actually smoke and use the Red Light District are actually tourists. More focus has been spent on educating the Dutch general public of the serious dangers of hard drugs, with coffee-shops displaying warnings and educational materials about hard drugs. The main problem for Amsterdam locals is no longer a drug or prostitution problem, but rather a tourist problem with packs of people now crowding the city to experience the freedom the city provides, but in return also blocking bike lanes, etc. The high number of tourists sure boosts the Dutch economy though (btw coffee-shops and Red-Light District companies are taxed much higher than other businesses, at around 50% of their income rather than the normal 25% or 30% of most normal Dutch citizens).

I find the Dutch attitude towards prostitution and soft drugs interesting, and think we may be able to learn some things from it. They recognize that both are very likely to exist not matter what they do (either through the dangerous underground/black market if they try to control it by force or by legalizing it and having much more control over it… which has turned out to be effective and good for the national economy). I am not sure whether the circumstances are the same to make it work in the U.S., but I think it would be beneficial to try educating our population more on the differences between soft and hard drugs (to reduce hard drug use) and educating children about proper and useful sex education at a younger age. Dutch children are taught sex education as early as 12 or 13 and as a result have lower birth, abortion, and STI rates! Norweigans learn sex education as early as 11 or 12 and have similar results. Overall Amsterdam is a very progressive place. I am glad I visited it now because in the near future it will likely be gone: the number of coffee-shops and Red Light District windows have been capped by the Democratic Christian party, and as a result more and more of them are disappearing until soon there will be no more left. This will likely lead to the unsafe black market circumstances the market was in before marijuana and prostitution became tolerated/legal. By the way, I apologize if I offended or made anyone uneasy while reading what I wrote above, but perhaps if we changed our mentalities of drugs and prostitution as a subject that shouldn’t be talked about and should be physically removed whatever the cost, we may find a more reasonable and effective approach.

After the tour I went to the Van Gough Museum. It was interesting to see how his paintings changed over time with the places he went, people he met, and increasing severity of his illness. My favorite painting of his that I saw in the museum was the Wheat Reaper… I really liked his method of using thick paint with straight brush strokes to further aid the sense of direction of the compositions in the painting. The initial chaotic direction of the wheat then being cut by the reaper and collected into much more orderly bundles had an awesome contrasting effect, and I heard that the story of the Grim Reaper also originated here in Amsterdam which also adds to my appeal to the painting.

Yesterday I walked around Amsterdam and went to Anne Frank’s house. It is now a museum but was once the building of her father’s jam-making business and was where she and her family hid from the Nazis for several months until being discovered. It was a moving experience: walking through all the rooms, and reading corresponding parts of her diary to the places and things I saw. She was constantly in fear and of course what happened to her and all the other Jews during that time was horrible. I could easily imagine her life during these few years, so it was a powerful way to experience history. Tonight we will leave for Berlin, my last stop before Italy! It has rained a bit in every city I've been to so far so I should see some more sun in the upcoming days =).

Dam Square

Retrieving bikes thrown in the canal

View down a canal

Anne Frank's house (in the center with the black ground floor)

Enjoying some beers at the bar in our hostel (The Flying Pig Downtown)

Being a Belgian

2008-08-21T04:11:00.000-07:00

Brussels is a small city especially when compared to Paris or London. We arrived at our hostel early (around 9 AM) but couldn’t check in till 1 so we left our bags in the luggage room, walked around (finding the Manneken Pis statue which was small and located in a discreet street corner, which is odd since it is the national symbol of Belgium), and ate Belgian waffles at a restaurant located on one of the main squares. We also sampled some free chocolates at a store called Chocopolis, located in the same square. After eating, Pepe decided to go back to the hostel until check-in time but I decided to walk around the city, seeing the Royal Palace, European Union building, and Grand Place. The Grand Place is the main square of the city, and it happened to be the last day that a very large flower carpet was on display in the center of the square… a pleasant sight. I headed back to the hostel, checked in, slept, and walked to Grand Place to meet an Italian girl and her boyfriend who offered to show us around the city (she had been working in Brussels for the last couple years). We went to a bar and I tasted one of the famous beers made by local monks, which I highly enjoyed. Then we headed to a party that her friend was having, where I met a few people from all over the world. I forget how many of them were French or Spanish, but we were greeted by kisses on the cheek (as I was by a few girls when I was in Paris), but I was even greeted the same way by one of the French/Spanish guys. I had read about how even men may greet with kisses on the cheek in southern cultures, but it is a definite culture shock to actually experience it! I spent most my time at the party talking to a girl from South Africa, and we had a nice conversation about politics, global warming, etc. The next day Pepe and I woke up and went to the train station as soon as we could to catch one of the earlier trains to Amsterdam.

Overall I thought Brussels was a small city in which all the major sites could be explored in half a day. Although the important parts of the city are well-kept, I saw lots of graffiti, even on the pedestals of bronze statues in a couple parks right next to the EU building. I savored the chocolate, waffles, and beer that Brussels specializes in (and there are MANY chocolate shops!). Belgians certainly know and love their beer, and I saw many of them drinking it for breakfast. My next stop is Amsterdam!

Manneken Pisseur

Belgian waffle (with ice cream)

Chocopolis (Belgian chocolate store)

European Union Building

Grand Place

Beer brewed by monks in an abbey!

J'aime Paris!

2008-08-21T03:37:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Paris around 5 pm and were greeted at the gate by our French friend Trinh (who studied at Cal Poly last year). While walking to her car we were pleased to hear music playing in the parking garage (something which would be nice to have in America). Pepe was surprised with how low the ceiling was and how small the cars were. We drove to the Sacre Couer Cathedral and took pictures. This was also the location of one of the scenes from the movie Amelie (where she used arrows to lead the guy she liked up the steps). Then we had a 3 course meal at an Italian restaurant called Fuxia. I had Scaloppine Boscaiola (bull meat with pasta), along with a cheese-pastry dessert and a bottle of Sicilian wine which I shared with Pepe. Then we headed to Trinh’s sister’s house where we would stay for the next two nights.

The next morning we took a metro/train to the center of Paris, ate at a café and went on a hop-on, hop-off boat tour of Paris which runs up and down the Seine and stops at all the major sites along the river. We got off at the Eiffel Tower stop and paid to go all the way up to the top. It was much higher than I expected and it offered an amazing view of all of Paris, so it was definitely worth the extra money to go all the way up to the top. It was a nice moment for me because I have been very familiar with all the famous sites in Paris since I took French in high school, and I was finally able to see them all at once before my eyes. The Eiffel tower itself is a marvelous structure (although many Parisians initially wanted the tower to be demolished), and I felt that it definitely lived up to its fame as the French national symbol, especially at night when it is illuminated by blue lights and sparkles with many small lights for 10 minutes at the top of every hour. As a future structural engineer, it was also nice for me because the tower is essentially just a structural body, and yet it is still very beautiful. It is also noteworthy because it has very little wind resistance since the wind can pass right through it, allowing it to be taller with less sway. That night we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant with Trinh, her sister and her sister’s husband.

For a farewell-lunch the next day, Trinh’s sister made us an authentic French meal of potatoes, meat (mainly ham but also some beef), lettuce, and different kinds of cheese which are placed in a small frying pan which is put on a central heating dish, then once the cheese is melted a wooden stick is used to scrape the cheese onto the ham and potatoes. It was a delicious meal and reminded me of Fondue. We said farewell to Trinh and her sister then headed to the Latin quarter of Paris (located south of Notre Dame), where we checked into our hostel (Young & Happy Hostel). After walking around different shops to put together a dinner for myself (wine, grapes, baguette, cheese, and meat), we walked to the Pantheon then headed down Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, and walked down to the Eiffel Tower for a second time to see it during its night-time splendor while eating a crepe. Paris is definitely best seen at night and would be a great place to visit with someone you love.

The next morning we visited Versailles. The line to get into the palace itself was long but I thought it was worth seeing the many ornate rooms, paintings, and the famous Hall of Mirrors. Louis XIV was an unpopular monarch but he sure knew how to show off and live lavishly. The gardens were even more impressive to me due to their vast size and upkeep, as well as the tremendous amount of statues lining the walkways. I also studied Versailles in my architectural history class, where I learned that forests were then seen as dark places filled with evil and danger, and by bringing forests under control by turning them into orderly gardens, it was believed that this would lead to a place that was much more safe, benign, and Christian-like. Since Louis XIV was a very religious man and thought he was divine himself, it’s no wonder he has such a large garden and has a chapel and many godly murals and statues. In fact the largest mural ceiling in all of Europe (maybe even the world) is in his palace, depicting Hercules ascending into heaven. That night we had an authentic French dinner at a restaurant called Au Piano Muet, located down the street from our hostel. For my entrée I had a cheese tart and salad, and for the main course I had beef bourguignon, followed by the best crème bulle that I’ve ever had for dessert! To top it off we had Medoc wine from Bordeaux and cleansed our pallets with the endless basket of bread complimentary in every French restaurant. That night we met a Canadian girl and went out to a couple pubs with her. On our way over to the pubs we noticed many people with candles heading towards Notre Dame so we followed them into the cathedral where we saw part of a religious/worship projected video by candlelight… quite an unforgettable experience.

The next day I headed to Notre Dame to see it and its famous rose window during the daylight. I studied Notre Dame and cathedrals in my class… in cathedrals the tympanum (relief above the doorway) usually depicts Judgement Day and people going to heaven or hell depending on whether or not they have faith in God. This and other sculpture work on cathedrals were used to tell the stories of the Bible to illiterate peasants in order to convert them into Christians. The Notre Dame in Paris is Gothic cathedral (more developed than the earlier Romanesque), so it was able to have larger windows (like the famous rose windows), and stylistically had more decorations like reliefs and sculptures (such as gargoyles!).

I then headed off to the Louvre and tried looking for the Lions gate entry which very few people know about (so I would have been able to enter the museum without much of a wait), but found only an exit there instead. Once I entered the museum through the main/pyramid entrance I entered the Sully section where most of the ancient and classical work is. I rented an audio-guide and took my time enjoying the Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman sections. My favorite pieces were the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory statues (mainly due to their prestige), although I highly enjoyed all the Greek and Roman sculpture. The Venus de Milo was discovered by a farmer on his plantation and is famous for its S-shaped curve of the body, being armless, and having high detail in the waves of the dress. The Winged Victory statue is simply awesome: a winged goddess/angel (missing her head and arms) is landing on the bow of a ship, with the wind ripples apparent in her dress… although made of marble it looks incredibly light as if it were about to take off and fly. I then rushed to the Mona Lisa which was crowded as I expected. I think it is overrated because it is small and just a portrait, but it’s amazing how her eyes really do seem to follow you as you walk through the room. I then ate a quick dinner and realized that the Louvre would be closing early since it was a holiday (it usually stays open late on Fridays), so I had to leave earlier than I would have liked but I’m sure that I will be back. I then went back to my hostel, ate a sandwich-like crepe and headed back to the Louvre that night to meet up with some American girls who Pepe had met and we went to some pubs with them. We made plans for all of us to see Omaha Beach and the Normandy American Cemetary and Memorial, so we got up early the next morning and headed there by train and bus.

It was powerful to see the thousands of American gravestones, and made me appreciate the sacrifices that American soldiers have made. I walked down to the beach and soaked up the site, envisioning the battle that had taken place only a little more than 60 years ago (strange because it was relatively recent and yet now is a quiet cemetery with many peaceful visitors). I collected some sand from the beach as a souvenir… I might start a sand collection as some travelers do. We missed the first bus back to the train station so we got back to Paris too late to make it to Brussels so we had to cancel our first night’s reservation at our hostel and instead slept on a train docked at the Paris du Nord station. I was sleeping on an uncomfortable bench initially but then the police came, checked everyone’s tickets, and made everyone who had a ticket sleep on the train or else be kicked out of the station since they were closing it for the night. I actually slept decently on the train on a row of seats and used my bag as a pillow. We then took the earliest train (at 6:55 AM) to Brussels.

I highly enjoyed my time in France. Ireland seemed too similar to America in its food, language and culture and only had a few amazing sights, although seeing the Guinness factory was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the Irish jig music and pub scenes. I liked London more than Ireland because it was slightly less similar to America, had much more history and amazing sites to see, plus it was more advanced with the transportation systems (although the Tube can initially be very confusing). France was much more pleasant for me since I was speaking a language other than English rather successfully. Also, the city is extremely beautiful (especially at night), and I was able to experience an authentic French lifestyle while staying at Trinh’s sister’s house. Although the French have a reputation for being cold/mean, once you “break the ice” with them and speak a little French they are just as warm as anyone else. In fact, the French kiss-on-each-cheek greeting is more amiable than the typical hand shake that most Americans use. At the same time that I see many European ways that would benefit America, being in Europe has made me realize and appreciate American hospitality and wealth. For instance, I miss not having to pay for water at restaurants, and although I like paying exactly what the price says in Europe (service charge included instead of a supplemental tax, and tips usually not necessary) the waiters who know that they aren’t going to be tipped for their service or hospitality can be cold and just throw your silverware on the table instead of set it nicely in place, plus they rarely check on you to see if you need anything. I suppose that I am realizing that I have been spoiled by the luxuries of living in the United States. Another example is poor plumbing which has lead to showers and toilets with low water pressure in some places I have stayed (Dublin in particular). The one major benefit of living life like a European is slowing down and learning how to enjoy life. I’ve realized that the American lifestyle is extremely fast paced and I am appreciating the new aspect of the café culture of sitting down outside and slowly enjoying a drink. Europeans also seem to have more free time and holidays, and I wish that America had a gap-year between high school and college like many Europeans so that almost all students could experience what I am experiencing. I have met many Europeans my age so far and most of them seem very well informed about world issues, whereas many Americans my age know very little probably since we are physically isolated from the rest of the western world. Another amazing experience is the number of Middle Eastern women I’ve seen with veils over their entire bodies and faces… something that I would almost never expect to see in America. Maybe more Americans would be more understanding of Middle-Eastern ways and culture if we had to live with more of them. Anyway, I feel a very subtle change happening in my world-wide perspectives as I experience slight differences from my own culture and compare and contrast them. I know that I will definitely come back to Paris some day, but as for now I will continue to explore the rest of Europe and especially Italy in about a week =).

Le Tour d'Eiffel

Home-made French meal (with melted cheese)

Versailles

Louvre

Venus de Milo (inside Louvre)

Winged Victory (inside Louvre)

Omaha Beach (site of D-Day in Normandy)

London

2008-08-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

While in London we stayed at a place called the Wigram House in Westminster, and it was wonderful. It was a college dorm that was cheaper than almost any place we've stayed at so far, and also the most hospitable, plus we had our own separate dorm rooms. Pepe go a little sick from traveling so much and not getting much sleep, so while sleeping off his illness I saw Buckingham Palace, Picadelly Square, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and Big Ben and Parliament. Then I caught a train to the Tower of London to get my bearings for the next morning. The next morning Pepe was feeling much better so we woke up early and caught a tube ride over to the Tower of London. It wouldn't open until 10 am so we walked on Tower Bridge for a bit and then went into the Tower of London. We made reservations for it ahead of time so we avoided the lines and probably saved some money, which was nice. We saw the Bloody Tower (where the two princes were supposedly murdered), Traitors' Gate, the Crown Jewels, and went on a Beef-eater tour. One of the towers had writing etched on the walls from the many prisoners held captive there, including the King of Scotland during the time of William Wallace. We then went to the British Museum and saw a lot of artifacts and sculptures. My favorite part of all of London was going to this museum, and in particular seeing parts of the pediment and other pieces of the Parthenon (The British have many nice things from all over the world, from the time that they were the world's superpower when they had a very strong navy. In fact, I thought that the Port Authority building was one of the most impressive structures in London. ). Seeing the actual pediment of the Parthenon was amazing for me because it is over 2000 years old and it is pretty much the most important part of the most important piece of architecture in the world (at least in my opinion). If I had more time in London I would have spent the whole day in that museum. We stayed till it closed and walk around a bit for the rest of the night. The next morning (which was this morning) we headed straight to the St. Pancras train station a few hours ahead of time to make sure we wouldn't miss our train to Paris. We took the Eurostar train which travels through the English Channel, which was a fun experience since it is only a couple years old and we traveled under water. And so voila, here we are in Paris. Alright I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight. Tomorrow I will live the life of a Parisian.

Big Ben and the Eye of London

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Pediment from the Parthenon (now inside the British Museum)!

The Rosetta Stone (broke the code for deciphering hieroglyphics)!

Bath (Roman bath & hot springs)

2008-08-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

So to put it simply... Bath was just Amazing! The whole city is laid out in the Palladian-style, which is based on Roman Classical... that means columns and arches everywhere, all made out of the same kind of quarried or mined stone (travertine maybe?). The place looks very reminiscent of an Ancient Roman city because the Romans built a city here with a Bath complex (hence the name of the city: Bath), and the city has followed suit of the Romans and built with the same stone and a similar style for virtually all of their buildings. After arriving we checked into our hostel (YMCA) and ate at a pub where I had my best meal for the whole time I was in England: beef in madras curry sauce with saffron rice. Then we went on the city bus tour and saw all the amazing sites. There is a beautiful bridge (Pulteney Bridge) over a river which drops down several steps after passing the river... a beautiful site. Also, we saw The Royal Crescent and The Circus, both of which I learned about in my history of architecture class. They are magnificent Palladian-style buildings that John-Wood the Elder and his son built (they were responsible for bringing the Palladian style to Bath). The icing on the cake for my trip to Bath had to be my visit to the Roman Bath of Aqua Sulius museum. When the Romans conquered Britain, they discovered a natural hot springs and built a bathing complex and temple to the goddess of water (Sulius) over the springs (because to the Romans she was obviously the reason why this miracle of hot water coming out of the Earth existed), hence Aqua Sulius. The dominant feature of a pediment on one of the temple facades is the symbol of the city: the Head of Gorgon (a Celtic sun god). The museum was filled with Roman history and artifacts found in Bath, so naturally I stayed till closing. I also tasted the water from the spring after it went through the pump room, which was interesting. By the way, the Roman drain for the hot spring is still in function today (even after being buried for over a thousand years), truly a testament to their engineering expertise. That evening Pepe and I arrived in London, where we are now. We leave for France tomorrow. I will write about London later when I have time. Ciao.

Beef in madras curry sauce with saffron rice, washed down with a pint of Butcombe (The best meal I had in England).

Roman Bath of Aqua Sulius (best preserved Roman hot spring bath in the World)!

Head of Gorgon (Celtcic sun god) from pediment of main temple entrance into the bath

Pulteney Bridge

Europe at last!

2008-08-08T05:43:00.000-07:00

Pepe and I are in Europe at last! The first flight (to Philadelphia) was filled with many Europeans (Swedes and Germans) and a Japanese man who I sat next to, so it was a fun experience. The airline charged for meals and drinks though so we waited to eat until we landed at the airport and ate a large dinner. The second flight had mainly Irish people, and meals and drinks were complimentary, which was a nice surprise. We landed at the Dublin airport a little after 9 AM (Irish time) and were surprised again with rainy weather (Dublin’s weather actually reminds me a lot of Seattle: very rainy and green grass, even in the summer!). Pepe was surprised with how small the airport was (his first dose of culture shock). We caught a bus to the city center and eventually got to our hotel which was only a couple of blocks away. We took a nap since we didn’t get much sleep on the flight and were suffering a bit from jet lag. When we woke up around 5pm Irish time (8 hours ahead of Pacific Time) we headed towards the main tourist spot: Trinity College. I really enjoyed it since the whole place is built from stone and has classical designs. The main things that I love about Europe so far are all the stone buildings and cobblestone streets. We then walked down one of the main shopping streets (Grafton St), bought sandwiches and ate dinner at St Stephen’s Green (the largest and nicest park in Dublin). After posing and taking pictures in front of some monuments at the park (such as the triumphal arch) we went back to Trinity College to meet up for a pub crawl. There were mainly Americans in our group but I spent much of my time meeting people from different countries such as New Zealand, England and Spain. Since Guinness is brewed in Dublin it is the most popular drink (and it tastes the best here at the original Dublin brewery supposedly because of the Irish water that is used and the fact that it is fresh out of the brewery). The correct way to drink a Guinness Draught is to fill most of the glass, let it settle, and then top the rest of it off so you have a nice thin layer of creamy head (due to the infused nitrogen)… Brilliant!

The next morning I went on the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour which was great to see all the main sites of the city and learn some history. One of the main things Dublin is known for is its Georgian Style architecture (brick buildings from the 1800s with classical decorations and world-famous fancy single doors with a semicircular space on top. Something interesting I learned: after one of the British queens died the Brits told the Irish to paint all of the front doors on their Georgian-Style buildings black to show morning, so in defiance they painted it every color but black (A hint of the Irish-British rivalry)! I also saw the Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick Cathedral (Both of which were extremely beautiful). I went inside the St. Patrick cathedral and it was nice to observe much of what I learned about cathedrals in my history of architecture class (although the ambulatory was used mainly for museum exhibits to St. Patrick and Jonathan Swift instead of just chapels). St. Patrick is known for converting Pagans into Christians in Ireland (and by doing so he “drove out all the snakes/pagans from Ireland”). He supposedly baptized them in a well that was located outside the Cathedral, which was why the Cathedral was built there. I spent the rest of the day walking around and when night came I headed towards Temple Bar (the main pub district in Dublin, named after its most famous pub). I had a great time here, drinking Guinness and listening to some fine Irish Jig music… absorbing the essence of Irish merrymaking and culture. Outside the bar there were two old men playing the harmonica and ukulele, and dancing Irish Jig (the music wasn’t as good as inside but the site of an 80+ year old man swinging his knees and tapping his feet attracted a large crowd). I ended my night at another bar in the region that I went to the night before, where I met some Italians and worked on improving my Italian-speaking skills.

Yesterday I finished my Dublin experience by visiting the Guinness Storehouse. It is a unique building (Shaped in the form of a glass-pint with the “Gravity Bar” on top providing a commanding panoramic view of Dublin. From what I learned so far it seems that Guinness defines the city of Dublin. It is drunk all over the city and of course it is famous worldwide. The success and wealth of the company keeps Dublin alive (they built St. Stephen’s Green for the city’s enjoyment, and are paying for the extremely expensive restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s tower). Arthur Guinness was a very passionate brewer, signing a 9,000 year lease for the Guinness property by the Liffey river (although the actual source of the water used in brewing isn’t from the Liffey but a mountain spring). When Arthur’s supply of the water was challenged by the city, he wielded an axe and was prepared to protect it to his death. (Luckily a peaceful resolution was made in his favor). A funny fact is that an alcoholic rehabilitation center was located right next to the Guinness Brewery, however when the ex-alcoholics were released from the center they would smell the strong scent of Guinness being brewed and the temptation was too much for them to resist: the “best example of a reason for a relocation” as one of my tour guides put it (he also said he drinks Guinness every day “from the womb to the tomb” haha).

After the tour we caught a flight out of Ireland and into Gatwick Airport (south of central London), however the flight was delayed by half an hour. It also turned out that the London Tube route that we planned on taking was closed, so by the time we figured out what we needed to do we missed the last train into Bath. We spent last night at a cheap hotel (instead of the hostel in Bath as we expected), but took an early train this morning into Bath. It is absolutely beautiful, with Ancient Roman-Style architecture everywhere (It is definitely my favorite stop so far... even more than the little bit that I've seen of London). Anyway I am going to explore Bath right now... I will add pictures as soon as I get the time. =) Cheers mate.

Leaving SFO

Guinness Tasting Room... Brilliant!!!

Trinity College

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Irish jig music outside Temple Bar

On O'Connel Street over the Liffey River

You are now free to move about the world!

2008-08-04T00:41:00.000-07:00

So it is now just after midnight on Monday morning. My plane will leave at 10:45 A.M. today from SFO. I am all packed up and ready to go so I'm going to get some rest now and wake up to begin my journey. I can't wait! Ciao. =)

Counting Down...

2008-07-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

I just finished my final and am now done with summer school, which is a great relief. My parents should arrive in SLO soon, and tomorrow I will move back home to Livermore before I depart for Europe. I leave in only 9 days! This week I completed all of my and Pepe's reservations, so I don't have much to worry about. For the time being I plan on reading about the sites before I see them, studying the layout of each city using Google Earth, and making sure I will have everything I need when I pack. I also received my Italian Visa recently and paid for my Permit to Stay (Permesso di Soggiorno), which I need to obtain within a week upon my arrival in Rome. So far from what I've read about the Italian bureaucracy (and Italy in general), it seems like it is very disorganized, and getting my Permit to Stay will likely be a tedious process. Many Italians don't even bother paying taxes, forming/waiting in lines, or following traffic rules like stopping at red lights. It will be quite an experience adjusting to the different customs and culture when I get there, but that is what studying abroad is mainly about: living in a different environment to broaden your perspectives. I look forward to it as an exciting challenge. Ciao!

Through the eyes of a tourist

2008-07-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

Salve! So today Pepe and I decided to walk downtown and pretend like we were tourists in order to get a feel of how it might be when we are in Europe. Pepe brought a backpack filled with miscellaneous stuff and I just brought my camera. While walking around we paid special attention to our surroundings as if we were seeing them for the first time. I have to say that I actually had a lot of fun and truly felt like I appreciated SLO more than I have in a very long time. I took pictures of noteworthy and attractive sites so I could get a feel for how many pictures I might take in a given day. We walked into a store that sells olive oil, called We Olive, and we tasted several types of olive oil and vinegar for free! I was surprised with how flavorful some of them were. The types of olive oils in increasing order of powerful taste were buttery, fruity, and peppery; and the vinegars tasted sweeter the older they were. I decided I prefer vinegar to olive oil and my favorites were the older balsamic vinegars (10 and 12 years old). I learned that balsamic vinegar comes from a special grape (Trebbiano) in Tuscany and is made with 14 different wooden drums. This tedious process is the main reason why balsamic vinegar is only made in Italy (I guess only the Italians have the patience and passion it takes to make superb vinegar... the way it should be made =) ).
Then we went to Barnes & Noble, and read and bought some guidebooks. We decided to finish our European-like visit by sitting down in a cafe (Linnaeas Cafe) to read our new guidebooks. It turns out the outside dining area through the back door was beautiful (surrounded by brick walls but very peaceful and covered with plants), so Pepe and I started taking some pictures and a girl (Bridgette) asked us if we wanted her to take a picture of us. It turns out that her parents were from Italy and we spent over an hour talking about what to see in Italy, especially the Amalfi Coast.
Today was one of the best days I've had this summer... and I can only imagine how much fun I will have when I am actually in Europe. However, I want to be sure to bring a pen and something to write on with me from now on so I can write down everything interesting that I learn and put it on here. I might even try sketching in my journal since I did plenty of sketching in my architecture classes.
As far as preparation, we are mostly done planning and making reservations for our European trip. We recently bought large backpacks in which we will fit all our belongings for our trip, and our Eurail passes just arrived in the mail. Mine covers 10 days of travel in France, Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Italy. I also reserved a hotel for Oktoberfest, which a few of my friends are intending on sharing to cut down on the cost. I leave for Europe three weeks as of tomorrow... I can't wait. =) A piu tarde!

Me and Pepe at Linnaeas Cafe

Less than a month to go...

2008-07-06T01:47:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog entry ever! In just under a month I will leave for Europe to study abroad in Rome, Italy for about 4 months with Cultural Experiences Abroad (CEA:Rome). The program lasts from August 26th-December 13th, although I plan on doing some traveling before and after so I will be in Europe from August 5th-December 22nd. I chose to study abroad in Rome because I have had a strong fascination with it ever since I first saw the movie Gladiator almost a decade ago. I especially love the classical-style architecture left behind from the Ancient Roman Empire, and it will be wonderful to walk around every day and soak up the beauty of Italy. I will hopefully be taking classes that will teach me about the many buildings and sites, and it is one of my main goals while abroad to walk around, explore and document these sites; so look forward to some interesting pictures with details in the near future!
I have been lucky enough to share this past year with another Italian enthusiast, my roommate Pepe, who will be studying abroad in Florence the same time that I am in Rome. We will both depart from SFO on the same plane the morning of August 4th and begin our European adventure, traveling for 3 weeks through Dublin, Bath & London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, and then finally end up in our respective places of study.
I feel very prepared for my trip to Europe from my visit to Scandinavia with my family 4 years ago and my brother Jon who just got back from studying abroad in Sweden for 10 months. Jon, Pepe and I are all currently living together in San Luis Obispo, where Jon has given Pepe and me invaluable information to make the most out of our trip and deal with culture shock before we get there. I have also been reading guidebooks and have already made many of my accommodation and transportation reservations.
At this point I am extremely excited to see the sights and immerse myself into the European culture. I will write another entry soon; I am hoping to keep my blog updated often so I can better record my memories and how my global perceptions have changed. Arrivederci!

Planning for a Euro trip can be fun...

But it can also make you feel like you want to pull your hair out... haha