Made it safely to Rome on Friday and met up with Allison and Sam. Unfortunately, the travel gods have it in for my sister and she is having an epicly difficult time getting here to join us. With luck, she will finally get here this evening and then we will be off to Florence together!
Saw the pope on Sunday. Got blessed. NBD
Have been eating gelato every day. obv.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Roma
Made it safely to Rome on Friday and met up with Allison and Sam. Unfortunately, the travel gods have it in for my sister and she is having an epicly difficult time getting here to join us. With luck, she will finally get here this evening and then we will be off to Florence together!
Saw the pope on Sunday. Got blessed. NBD
Have been eating gelato every day. obv.
Saw the pope on Sunday. Got blessed. NBD
Have been eating gelato every day. obv.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Loose ends
I've been meaning to write for a while, but like always it has just gotten away from me.
For starters, my parents were here just a couple weeks back. They spent a week and a half with me and we traveled all around Provence and had a blast together. It was really nice for me to share this place with people who know and love me. We did a lot of sight-seeing, and really had the most wonderful time together. Of course they did happen to arrive right in the middle of the biggest travel crisis ever to affect France. Airport closings due to volcanic ash cloud + French train strike (mais oui) = good fun. But, apart from a slight delay in getting to Avignon it didn't really affect us. We saw and did so much that it's hard to recount it all, but I think the most fun we had was just sitting in the sun eating ice cream or watching old men play pétanque in the parks.
Due to my phenomenal navigating skills we got successfully lost or at least well off the beaten path on several occasions. But, on one occasion that path took us through lavender country. It was beautiful even though the plants weren't in bloom.
Saying goodbye was hard. I have lots of friends here in Aix, but they don't know me in the same way, and it was so comforting and easy to have people here that just wanted to spend time with me and experience a little piece of my life. They came at a good time, though. The weather was the best it has been before or since.
So now I am in the throes of despair. I leave Aix tomorrow. This city has been my home for 4 months, potentially the best consecutive 4 months of my life. I have become adapted to a completely new way of life which includes daily fresh-food markets, patisseries on every corner, and cafés with large outdoor terraces. I'm not sure how easy it will be to leave it all behind. I am also looking forward to going home, but I'm traveling for 2 weeks first and during that time I will be missing both my home in the US and my home in France. Luckily, my sister will be here to help keep me stable...or something. Mostly I'm worried that I will return to my normal life and it will be like nothing happened, as though these four months of my life just didn't exist.
I will try to update during my travels, but if I don't I will at least write one more entry when I return to the states
For starters, my parents were here just a couple weeks back. They spent a week and a half with me and we traveled all around Provence and had a blast together. It was really nice for me to share this place with people who know and love me. We did a lot of sight-seeing, and really had the most wonderful time together. Of course they did happen to arrive right in the middle of the biggest travel crisis ever to affect France. Airport closings due to volcanic ash cloud + French train strike (mais oui) = good fun. But, apart from a slight delay in getting to Avignon it didn't really affect us. We saw and did so much that it's hard to recount it all, but I think the most fun we had was just sitting in the sun eating ice cream or watching old men play pétanque in the parks.
Due to my phenomenal navigating skills we got successfully lost or at least well off the beaten path on several occasions. But, on one occasion that path took us through lavender country. It was beautiful even though the plants weren't in bloom.
Saying goodbye was hard. I have lots of friends here in Aix, but they don't know me in the same way, and it was so comforting and easy to have people here that just wanted to spend time with me and experience a little piece of my life. They came at a good time, though. The weather was the best it has been before or since.
Mom and Dad in front of the Pont du Gard
So now I am in the throes of despair. I leave Aix tomorrow. This city has been my home for 4 months, potentially the best consecutive 4 months of my life. I have become adapted to a completely new way of life which includes daily fresh-food markets, patisseries on every corner, and cafés with large outdoor terraces. I'm not sure how easy it will be to leave it all behind. I am also looking forward to going home, but I'm traveling for 2 weeks first and during that time I will be missing both my home in the US and my home in France. Luckily, my sister will be here to help keep me stable...or something. Mostly I'm worried that I will return to my normal life and it will be like nothing happened, as though these four months of my life just didn't exist.
I will try to update during my travels, but if I don't I will at least write one more entry when I return to the states
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Spring Break: Part 3
This is ridiculous. Spring Break has been over for 2 weeks and I am still writing about it.
Norway was great. I spent just over 3 days there with my college roommate who is studying in Lillehammer. It was really nice to have some down time in my travels to just relax. The weather was gorgeous, easily the warmest and sunniest place I visited during my break - go figure. We spent two of the afternoons just sitting in the sun. Awesome. Also, since she is there with a Luther program, I was allowed to participate in their weekly family dinner. Beef stew. It was good. It's always nice to go to a place and stay in a familial environment. Plus, I got to do laundry which was definitely a plus.
One thing I decided was that I really don't like traveling in places where I do not no the language at all. The day I left Norway to go to Belgium, I had to take a train to Oslo and then catch a bus to the airport. In my travel schedule I had 45 minutes free in between these connections and had intended to do some souvenir shopping before searching out my bus.
However, after I got on the train in Lillehammer, it did not depart on time. There was an announcement, but it was in Norwegian and no one else in the car spoke English. The announcement was repeated a couple times. Or perhaps more information was revealed. But, either way I had no idea what was going on, and it was 25 minutes before the train decided to move. I was only slightly panicky at this point. I would still have 20 minutes in which to maybe buy a Norwegian hat or flag or shot glass and then book it to the bus. But, then we were delayed on the tracks 3 times, totally 10 minutes. Thus I arrived in the Oslo with 10 minutes to find the bus station and find my bus. So, yet again I found myself running through an unfamiliar place to find an unknown location and found the bus that I absolutely could not miss exactly at the designated time of departure. Once on the bus I managed the rest of my travels that day without a problem. Made it to my hostel in Brussels and walked around a little to orient myself. I by chance shared a room with a girl who is studying in Pau with a high school friend of mine. So wierd.
Didn't see any trolls in Norway, but I also didn't cross any bridges, so I don't really know what I was expecting.
Brussels is the kind of city where you either need to spend a day or a month. I only had 2 days, so after one day in Brussels I decided spur of the moment to go to Bruges. My favorite thing in Brussels was the Mannekin Pis, which is a fountain of a peeing toddler. It's kind of a big deal. It has a very rich history and several hundred specialized costumes. He was much smaller than I was expecting, but still pretty neat to see. Also, there were no less than Bruges was beautiful.
Bruges was really nice. A small medieval city that is touristy, but not offensively so. I of course got a picture of the belfry, which played a prominent role in the film, In Bruges. Also, there is a Michelangelo statue of the Madonna with Child. I accidentally stumbled into the church where it is on display, so that was neat. I mostly just walked around and took in the beautiful day in a beautiful city. Honestly, the best thing about Belgium is the food. I'm pretty sure I could live on fries, waffles, and chocolate. I may not live very long, but at least I would be happy.
That afternoon I went back to Brussels to catch my train to Paris. Once in Paris I met up with Erik and we went for a drink at a Scottish pub of all places. It is one of those rare places in France where I feel comfortable speaking English. Afterwards we got some gelato. Always a good decision.
The next day I had to wake up before the sun in order to meet my parents at the airport. And that of course came with its own set of struggles.
Norway was great. I spent just over 3 days there with my college roommate who is studying in Lillehammer. It was really nice to have some down time in my travels to just relax. The weather was gorgeous, easily the warmest and sunniest place I visited during my break - go figure. We spent two of the afternoons just sitting in the sun. Awesome. Also, since she is there with a Luther program, I was allowed to participate in their weekly family dinner. Beef stew. It was good. It's always nice to go to a place and stay in a familial environment. Plus, I got to do laundry which was definitely a plus.One thing I decided was that I really don't like traveling in places where I do not no the language at all. The day I left Norway to go to Belgium, I had to take a train to Oslo and then catch a bus to the airport. In my travel schedule I had 45 minutes free in between these connections and had intended to do some souvenir shopping before searching out my bus.
However, after I got on the train in Lillehammer, it did not depart on time. There was an announcement, but it was in Norwegian and no one else in the car spoke English. The announcement was repeated a couple times. Or perhaps more information was revealed. But, either way I had no idea what was going on, and it was 25 minutes before the train decided to move. I was only slightly panicky at this point. I would still have 20 minutes in which to maybe buy a Norwegian hat or flag or shot glass and then book it to the bus. But, then we were delayed on the tracks 3 times, totally 10 minutes. Thus I arrived in the Oslo with 10 minutes to find the bus station and find my bus. So, yet again I found myself running through an unfamiliar place to find an unknown location and found the bus that I absolutely could not miss exactly at the designated time of departure. Once on the bus I managed the rest of my travels that day without a problem. Made it to my hostel in Brussels and walked around a little to orient myself. I by chance shared a room with a girl who is studying in Pau with a high school friend of mine. So wierd.
Didn't see any trolls in Norway, but I also didn't cross any bridges, so I don't really know what I was expecting.
Brussels is the kind of city where you either need to spend a day or a month. I only had 2 days, so after one day in Brussels I decided spur of the moment to go to Bruges. My favorite thing in Brussels was the Mannekin Pis, which is a fountain of a peeing toddler. It's kind of a big deal. It has a very rich history and several hundred specialized costumes. He was much smaller than I was expecting, but still pretty neat to see. Also, there were no less than Bruges was beautiful.Bruges was really nice. A small medieval city that is touristy, but not offensively so. I of course got a picture of the belfry, which played a prominent role in the film, In Bruges. Also, there is a Michelangelo statue of the Madonna with Child. I accidentally stumbled into the church where it is on display, so that was neat. I mostly just walked around and took in the beautiful day in a beautiful city. Honestly, the best thing about Belgium is the food. I'm pretty sure I could live on fries, waffles, and chocolate. I may not live very long, but at least I would be happy.
That afternoon I went back to Brussels to catch my train to Paris. Once in Paris I met up with Erik and we went for a drink at a Scottish pub of all places. It is one of those rare places in France where I feel comfortable speaking English. Afterwards we got some gelato. Always a good decision.
The next day I had to wake up before the sun in order to meet my parents at the airport. And that of course came with its own set of struggles.
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