Under the Tuscan Sun

Today started at 7:00 AM. "Katherine, wake up!!" I was tapped on the shoulder and whisper-harrassed (It's no secret that I'm the hardest person to wake up in the morning, for those of you who don't know, now you do). The four of us rushed to get dressed and made it to the breakfast area of our hostel in perfect time for the hostel guys to open up the breakfast bar, which was amazing! Espresso machine, yogurt, toast, orange juice, pastries, etc. Definitely the best continental breakfast we've had thus far. The reason we woke up so early was because late last night, after exploring Firenze (I prefer this name to Florence because it has a mystical quality to it) and its absolute gorgeous city streets and scenescapes, we decided that we wanted to make the most of our time here. Our Australian roommates suggested a tour and gave us information on one they had done. It's funny because we had planned in our itinerary to go to "Tuscany" as a day trip, but it turns out that Tuscany is a region...and Florence is a Tuscan city. So, we didn't have far to go! The tour we had our eyes on started at 8:45 at the train station, so we walked there and thank goodness there was room for us! (And we got a student discount!).
We boarded a coach bus and began the day. The tour name was "Tuscany in a day." The tour guide's name was Agathe, and she was perfect. She was in her late 20's, I'd say, and was a student of Art History and 14th/15th Century Italian Culture. She had come to Italy after finishing school in Poland and had interned at several museums. She decided that she loved being a tour guide because she could share all her knowledge with people! Her accent was extremely endearing. We were big fans. We started the tour with a 1.5 hour ride to Siena, a Tuscan city known for several things. The first is the Palio, which is an annual 4-day horse race that everyone goes crazy for. The race takes place in the center of the city, in the Piazza del Campo. The city is divided into 3 regions, and each region has its own mascots and flags and all these crazy shenanigans, so the people really get into it and have been doing so for centuries. It reminded me of SEC rivalries, except that the horses get blessed by priests... Siena is also home to the Cathedral of Siena, which is devoted to the Virgin Mary, and is probably the most gorgeous church we have seen so far. (Note: We have not yet been to Rome!). I was in absolute awe, when we entered this church. The colors were so vibrant and everything was done in marble that is from the surrounding area. The fact that gave me goosebumps, though, was that there were works of Michelangelo, Donatello, and Bernini all inside the church. WHAT!?!? Only some of the greatest artists of all time! Definitely had to blink a few times and remind myself to close my mouth, when my jaw dropped.
After Siena, we took a 45 minute drive into the Tuscan countryside. I have really seen nothing like it. Gorgeous rolling hills and valleys, with orchards and vineyards, alternating with small but beautiful clay-looking estates. It definitely lulled me to sleep, and I got a nice 20 minute nap in before arriving in Chianti, the city we'd be in for lunch. I wish I remembered the name of the Organic Farm that hosted us because I had the best meal of the trip (aside from my first meal in Paris) today!!! 99% of what we consumed was produced on the farm. Wine, cheese, beef, pasta, salad, biscotti...all of it was made where we ate it. And throughout lunch we had a gorgeous view of the countryside and the nearby city of San Gimignano, which is known as "Medieval Manhattan" because of its skyline. After lunch, we were so stuffed, but we went to tour San Gimignano, a 10 minute bus ride from the organic farm location. Apparently the town is known for their gelato (it won best in the world twice...2007 and 2008, I believe), so we got suckered into buying and eating gelato, even though we'd just had a 3-course lunch. There wasn't much else in the town, to be honest, its greatest appeal was its gorgeous location. We kind of bummed away the hour that was dedicated there. The final stop was Pisa!!!!!! And it's leaning tower! Galileo performed his gravity experiments off of the Tower of Pisa -- I either never knew that or knew it at one point and was again reminded today. Also, it was originally a bell tower for the cathedral that is right next to it -- another thing I never knew. The tower had been increasing its lean since it was built in the 14th century up until 1998, when restoration began on it. Now, engineers have made it so that the tower maintains its current angle for the next 200 years. We stood in awe looking at the tower from all different directions (I was fixated on the gravity experiments, since I took Physics this summer) and then had a tour of the city, where we saw the University of Pisa and a few building that reflected Medici influence. (I have managed to remember the main facts regarding the Medicis from my high school European History knowledge. Thank goodness for that because it has helped me appreciate everything we've seen so much more than I would have otherwise. It's amazing how historical context enhances an experience).
We got in around 9 PM and walked back to the hostel. The day was absolutely perfect. It was around 100 degrees until sundown, but I have no complaints. My life is unreal. The past week, I was in front of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, works of Gaudí, the shores of the Mediterranean, and the canals of Venice. Today, I thank you, Tuscany!

Happy September from Firenze!

Thursday, September 1, 2011 Bonjourno! This is now present time. I am currently sitting on a train from Venice to Firenze (Florence), and we should be arriving in an hour or so. Check out this morning from our hostel was at 10 AM, so we woke up at 9, packed, got ready, and stored our luggage with the hostel before seeking out food. Strangely, most places weren’t open…apparently 12 PM is when kitchens open. I think Italians just have coffee for breakfast, which I was down for, but I’m really the only coffee drinker on the trip. We walked down a few paths before finding a place that was reasonable and open. Laura and I got pizza for breakfast (I mean…why not??), Malvika got a panini, and Molly got an omelet. The ladies who owned the café were Chinese and adorable. I love globalization. Also, the café was right next to a waterway….perfect last Venetian meal!! Venice would have been a sight to behold back in the day when Casanova was around and the population sported elaborate, frilly dress. I know that the city is proud of that time and the romance of it, though, because mask and costume shops are easier to find than restaurants or toilets. After eating, we went back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, got stuck in torrential downpour, and then headed to the train station. Now, I’m on the train. Italy definitely wins the award for nicest trains. I can’t wait to go to Florence and see el duomo and just behold it. Eeek!!! Next update will be from there.

This way to Piazza San Marco

Wednesday, August 31st The next day, I slept in ‘til 10 (so did Laura..our clocks are in sync most of the time) and did some laundry and made some instant coffee and tea that was available to us. At noonish, the four of us headed out in search of a)lunch and b) Piazza San Marco, the main square of the city. I would say central, but it really wasn’t. Chris told us the night before that it was a 15 minute walk, but it ended up taking us like 2 hours at least to get there hahaha. Everyone gave us different directions. There were signs, but some of them even had double arrows, so we’d choose which way to go, having no idea if it was in the right direction. Lunch was along the way (at a hole-in-the-wall which was delicious with perfect portions). We also stopped for a gondola ride!!!!! Gondolas, one of the main attractions of course, are so expensive. For the most part, the drivers charge around 100 Euro for a boat. But we cannot afford that. Even though I have spent more than 25 Euro on a single meal (it is what it is), I couldn’t justify a 10 minute Gondola ride for the same amount. We passed a couple and finally got a guy to give it to us for 50 Euro. Half the price!! It was well worth it, and I am so glad we ended up being able to drop the price. How can you go to Venice and not ride a gondola? The guy didn’t sing, but he was a total character. He kept making inappropriate comments that were totally amusing and also terrifying. We ran off the boat and didn’t make eye-contact, when he brought us back to the dock. Eventually, we found ourselves in the Piazza San Marco probably around 3 PM. It was beautiful, though. There is a huge church with mosaics and gold plating. And if you go through the square, it opens up to the ocean, where all the canals lead. When you think of Venice, you think of Canals and gondolas, right? It’s so surreal though because there are actually no cars. There are boats. People use the waterways to get places, if they don’t walk. The water canals are their road equivalents. Strange and so different from the rest of the developed world. Oh, but so scenic. I don’t want to know how many bridges we took pictures on… Venice was hot, too. So, after the heat and exhaustion and all other things that involved getting to Piazza San Marco and back to our hostel, we needed a refueling in the room. Our friend from the previous night, Chris, had already left for Rome, but we saw that we had a new roommate in his place. I collapsed on my bed and slept for an hour or so, which felt wonderful. When I woke up, our new roommate was there, and it was about 8 PM. He was not so friendly; in fact, he didn’t make eye contact or even say hello to us. Awkward. We just lowered our voices and left the room to find someplace to eat dinner. Probably 5 minutes after leaving the hostel, we saw a tourist shop with a tshirt rack out front. The first tshirt was one that had two signs to Piazza San Marco, with arrows pointing in opposite directions. We all burst into laughter because it was obvious that it’s a running joke that its complicated to get to Piazza San Marco. Which meant that clearly, after a 5 hour escapade from earlier in the day, the joke was on us. Hhahaha. Like I mentioned earlier, Venice doesn’t have much of a nightlife. This means that generally a lot of restaurants close early, too-- at least the cheaper, more local joints. The nicer restaurants stay open later, probably because they have the funds to employ their staff for a longer period of time every day. We were so hungry that we stopped at the closest restaurant that didn’t have a cover or service charge (in Italy, some restaurants have a cover charge and a service charge included in the meal. So, we started to look for places that said specifically that there was neither). It was called Marciana and once inside, looked like an Italian place you could find in the states. But, it was crowded, so we used that as a good sign and sat down and ordered. The waiter was impressive as he was taking our orders. He spoke great English and understood Molly’s eating parameters. But when the food came, it was clear that he had totally taken advantage of us. Malvika and I had a decent meal, but Laura’s portion of pasta was way too small and Molly had ordered, upon his recommendation, fish that was ridiculously small. We were like, huh? Is this real life? And after he filleted it for her, it was half the size. Oh yeah…and it was 18 euro. At that moment, we decided we didn’t like him. But it got worse. When it was time for the bill, he told us that the bread he brought us was 2 euro per serving. (and we’d gotten 2 servings). He also added some arbitrary numbers together for our totals. I was totally fed up with him, and I almost ended up paying him the amount he had dealt me, which was like 2 euro more than I owed him, but Malvika totally told him off. It was awesome. And then he gave us a refund, kind of. Not to mention he tried to flirt with us earlier, so he was basically a walking disaster. Arrivaderci, Marciana. Gelato for dessert fixed the dinner failure. Mmmmmm. We had already gotten it earlier in the day, but it is just 1.50 for a scoop…so it’s hard not to have it multiple times. It made me think of Paolo’s Gelato in Virginia Highlands back home, which is where I first had gelato, I think. We sat in a random square that was pretty populated, finished our gelato, and headed back to sleep. When we returned to our hostel, we had another new roommate, who was much nicer than the awkward one, and turned out to be Swedish. He was talkative and had great English. Turns out he was headed to a Music festival in Croatia, and was stopping in Venice along the way. Cool.

Venice: Pizza, pizza, and more pizza

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011 Our train to Venice was an all-day affair, starting at 9:50 AM. Before leaving Nice, we ate breakfast at our super nice hostel and headed to the train station. We paid some sort of reservation fee (to be honest, I am losing track of all the random fees and am just going with the flow). My philosophy is why stress about things you can’t change or have no control over, ya know? We ended up getting on an earlier train to Genova, which was our planned stop to Cinque Terre along the way to Venice. Cinque Terre is an apparent must-see, a collection of colorful towns that sit on cliffs off of the Mediterranean. But when we got to Genova, we found out that Cinque Terre was a 2-hour ride from Genova, and we just didn’t have the time to do that if we wanted to catch our train to Venice and be there on time. So, we had to sadly scratch Cinque Terre from our itinerary. Several hours and a couple of wrong train stops later…we arrived in Venice. The train station was right on the Grand Canal, and it turns out so was our hostel!! Literally less than a quarter mile from each other. Venice is everything you expect it to be and for me, more. I expected a stench that it seems many friends have prepared me for, but I think Western Europe has been on top of its cleaning and an environmental initiative. Every city we have been in has been noticeably cleaner than any American city I’ve been to. Because it was around 6 PM when we arrived in Venice, we were able to check in and everything before exploring the city. Our room was like a 5-star hotel compared to the last couple of rooms. Though the hostel in Nice was so nice, it was still an 8-person bunkbed room, which is great for the price, but this room in Venice was 7 –spaced-out twin beds, with room in between all of them and two windows overlooking the Grand Canal. One bathroom for everyone, but no complaints from us!! There was one other guy in the room when we got there, and he was totally friendly and cool. We talked to him for a bit and asked if he wanted to come out with us for dinner (pizza). He obliged, and we all ended up hitting it off really well. He was from California and had been studying in Brighton for the summer and was headed to Rome and then back home. Venice doesn’t have much of a night life and can really be seen in a day. Considering we had 2 nights and a day, this was a perfect opportunity for us to catch our breath and relax. Dinner was at a place that came pretty highly recommended, though I was hesitant because it looked like a chain resturant, which is not my idea of a good eat in Italy. I know I’m totally snobby about food, but I’d rather eat in a hole-in-the-wall. The pizza was good, but huge. Our roommate Chris told us they were personal sized pizzas…but they definitely weren’t. The best part of the meal was the company of our new friend and our waitress, who was an absolute doll. She was in University in Venice and at the end of our meal, she told us it was a pleasure to meet us and gave us free limoncellos (popular Italian drink…super strong). We took a picture with her – of course ☺. We sat by the canal for a while talking about random things and turned in around 11:30 or so.

NICE

Monday, August 29, 2011 Arrived in Nice at around 8:45 AM after getting a good night’s rest on the train. Went to the bathroom and headed to our hostel, which was a 20 minute walk from the station. The hostel was SO NICE!!!! Haha punny. But really. There were showers available for us, even though check-in wasn’t until 2 or 3 PM. So that happened, and we changed into bathing suits and headed for the beach! Oh, I forgot to mention that we checked facebook before leaving the hostel and communicated with one of the guys who is going to be at Oxford with us for the semester who happened to also be in Nice. So, we coordinated a meet-up time at Lido Plage (which I learned means Lido Beach). We met up with Chris at 12 and went to the main square to eat lunch. It was delicious, as per usual. French cuisine is on a level all its own. Dang. I am looking forward to Italy, but it’s pretty accessible and not totally extraordinary, you know? But good French food is. I ate a salad that was topped with duck bacon and foie gras. Chris got the same thing. Molly got fish, Laura got salmon pasta, and Malvika got Lamb pasta. We headed back to the beach, and after a few hours, we grabbed some Häagen Daze and went back to our respective hostels. Nice is soooo beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. The water is the deepest blue you’ve ever seen, and completely translucent. The coast is a mixture of jagged cliffs and rocky shores. Almost every view of the water is picturesque, and you find yourself completely absorbed in the scene. When we were on the beach, Chris pointed out a waterfall that was up on a hill, from which you can see all of Nice and is worth the hike. So, we tried to see it, but it ended up being closed at 8 PM. I know it’s ironic, since I’ve been going on and on about French food, but our last meal in France was Chinese food. We passed a place that was on the main strip, and it was there…and delicious…and affordable…so hard to resist. We picnicked with it on the rocky shores and devoured the meal. The rest of the night consisted of riding a merry-go-round, drinking mimosas, and walking around Nice. Definitely a wonderful close to the French segment of the trip.

Paris, je’taime

Sunday, August 28, 2011 Wake up was at 9 AM today, but not for me, because I showered last night ☺. I rolled out of bed around 10:30, when the other 3 were getting dressed and packing after each having a shower. In case I forgotten to mention that in addition to its strange lack of continuous water flow, there is only ONE shower. Yeah. Anyway, we packed up and were excited to leave our smelly hostel. Really, the smell just kept getting worse. Even though yesterday we were woken up at 11 by this guy banging on our door and telling us there was a “look out” (turns out he was saying “lock out at 11” but it sounded like look out with his French accent…). So, even though there was a lock out for cleaning at 11 AM yesterday, our room still smelled like something was dying in it/fish. The worst was that it started pervading our belongings, and that’s where I draw the line. There was also a communal hostel cat (so precious), but Laura is allergic to cats, so we couldn’t sleep with the door open, in case she came inside the room. Bottom line was, thank goodness we were leaving the Woodstock hostel in all its splendor. The plan for today: Versailles and anything else we could fit in before catching our night train to nice at 22:03 hrs. We took a train to Versailles that was free with our Eurail pass! The ride was about 30 minutes long, and when we arrived in Versailles, we weren’t really that impressed with the town. But we got onto a bus to the Chateau and….Oh my goodness. There is definitely a reason that Versailles has the reputation it does as one of the most beautiful palaces in Europe. Everything morphs into splendor when it comes into sight. Laura and I did the palace + garden tour, Molly and Malvika just did the garden, so we agreed to meet outside at the statue of Louis XIV at 6 PM. Versailles, the palace and the gardens, was absolutely breathtaking. Just a little bit of historical context, Versailles was the brainchild of Louis XIV, the bourbon king of France, who rules by Divine Right, channeling authority from the Sun and the Gods. The mythological aspect was prominent, as Louis XIV had entire rooms dedicated to gods and goddesses (Venus, Diana, Apollo, to name a few). There was some quote like “All light and energy and good things come from the sun, and I want to be that to France” that our audio guides mentioned. I need to google it. We didn’t have time to do Marie Antoinette’s quarters…raincheck. Speaking of weather, it was perfect…no rain. Laura and I felt like we were in a dream the entire day. One could literally spend hours in the gardens alone. Turns out, also, that a huge part of the garden is public park space. We found out when we wandered outside the borders and tried to go back, but couldn’t because I had lost my ticket stub (oops). By one of the main lakes, I ate crepe with sucre and a café au lait. Laura got a crepe with chocolat. Bottom line is that Versailles is Heaven on Earth. FORREAL. On the way back to the metro, stopped at an antique store for Laura to buy books. She found 4 for 1 Euro a piece and was ecstatic. We ended up being short on time, so no sit down dinner for our last night in Sweet Paris. Didn’t get to see Melina again either, but at least I saw her at all! We got back to Paris, took the #2 line to Anvers, grabbed our bags ,and made a run for the metro. Had to make two train changes before arriving at Paris Montparsse, where we had just enough time to order a sandwich to go and board the train. On the train now, slowly falling asleep while typing this fragmentally. Off to Nice.

This doesn’t happen on the tube

Saturday, August 27th o Woke up around 10:30 AM, missing breakfast in the hostel. o Worst hostel by far. The showers were jank, and you had to press the button continuously to maintain pressure. Ironic because it was one of the more expensive hostels of our journey. o Facebooked Mélina and told her we were planning on going to the Paris flea market (St. Oeun), so we could meet up there at 12. o Breakfast outside of the hostel…so much better. Stopped at a Patisserie right down the street from us and I got a two croissants and a coffee (gluttony is real). o Headed towards the Flea market and sought out a phone store to call Mélina. She said she could meet up with us around 2, and we agreed on McDonald’s as the meeting place. o Then…we went shopping!!! Shoes for 5 Euro. Finally got my cape. And a chunky knit scarf. Total great buys. The cape is felt and made in Italy (win). The shoes…china (let’s be real). The scarf – Senegal! African cotton holler at me. o Went back and bummed around McDonald’s…so depressing that American influence is as such. Found Mélina and it was a beautiful reunion. She took us to the café/bar next door, where three of her friends were sitting at a table. Marine, Laura, and Ronan. We chatted with them, and they asked us what we wanted to see in Paris. o Notre Dame o Eiffel Tower o Moulin Rouge o Lunch place…epic journey. Found a sweet bakery/salad shop, and the food was delicious. Got a salmon sandwich and malvika got a ham and goat cheese one, so we split the two. o Mélina and her friends were so sweet and accommodating. So much so we felt awkward. Invited us to a party later that we were fully intending on attending until we were harassed by a group of gypsy children on the metro, and it killed our party mood. o I digress. o Headed to Notre Dame after lunch. Breathtaking. I love Paris. The architecture, the landscape (the Seine), the weather, the people, the food, the music…all so romantic. A type of beauty that doesn’t exist in another city. o Went into Notre Dame. Solemnity with being Catholic…lit candles for my grandparents o Lost our tour guides…awkward. Ended up needing to use the bathroom and did so at a creperie, where we ate our first Parisian crepes. No words. Mine was with apricot jam…she made the crepe in front of me with butter and a fancy batter dispenser. Pure heaven. At this point, I was sporting my cape. o Found Ronan because of the plaid he was wearing, and as we were all reuninting, it began to rain again. Ran to the metro and our French friends gave us directions to Trocadero, where we would be able to have a beautiful view of the Eiffel tower. We did so, and damn….was it beautiful. We took at least 200 pictures and then proceeded to people watch as per usual. A couple was taking wedding pictures and because of the rain, the place was emptier that it normally is (not to say it wasn’t still crowded), and the weather had cleared up for us momentarily. o Got stranded on the metros for 1.5 hours because the line we needed kept halting for some strange reason o We were supposed to meet up with Melina and friends at 10:30, but we weren’t headed back to the hostel til 9 30 to freshen up, and this was when the gypsies came onto us o Seemed so young o Targeted us because we were sitting o I kind of blended in because I was wearing my cape, until I made the mistake of saying something in English o Rude A British guy was like "This doesn't happen on the tube." And got up and left. HAHA o Ended up walking to the other side of the train o Physically disturbed…was on the verge of tears o The gypsies drank molly and laura’s water bottle o To be fair, I do not hate on gypsies. I respect that as a whole, they are a displaced community and there is a lot of prejudice that exists against them. But by the same token, these kids were total hooligans and just completely uncalled for. o Went back to the hostel, recovered from fiasco o Hungry….everything was closed o Found a Lebanese place. Wanted Canard l’orange (Duck), so that was my only requirement. It was on the menu, but they were out (of course they were), so I ordered lamb. It was delicious, but way too expensive, and way too much food. Once again, I am consuming an obscene amount in this city. o Went back to the hostel, showered (I am so not a morning person), and went to sleep.

Break

Okay, forgive me, but the next few posts are going to be in bulleted form. As much as I love narrative writing, I am lazy. And this is just as detailed, just fragmented ☺. Ya’ll are the best! Thanks for reading this!

Paris, City of my Dreams

Friday, August 26th PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At 8:30 AM, we arrived in Paris. It was freezing and raining, and we were in shorts because of Barcelona’s 100-degree weather. Haha. I ran to the closest bathroom and threw on a turtle neck I happened to buy in Lisbon and jeans. It’s really irritating to have to pay to go to the bathroom, but you know, I respect that they are taking advantage of a basic human need. If I need to go, I need to go. Even if that means I will pay you a euro. Having not eaten for 12 hours, we found a café in the train station and had our first French meal. The directions that the hostel gave us from the train station were really vague, so I tried to call them on the payphone and called on a couple of French people to help me figure out how to use the darn thing. The hostel guy was pretty rude on the phone and didn’t even help me, so that was a waste of 2 euro. We took a local metro to our hostel – Woodstock Hostel, off the Anvers train station. Check in wasn’t until 3 PM, so we dropped off our bags, and sought out a) more food and b) our overnight train ticket from Paris to Nice for the night of Sunday the 28th. We got our tickets and then ended up eating breakfast outside the train station and this perfect café, where I ordered a country pate sandwich. DELICIOUS. o Spanish speaking waitress o The way the tables are set up on the sidewalk - Went back to the hostel and napped - Freezing when we woke up and headed to the Champs D’Elysees to do some SHOPPING! I had my mind set on finding a cape, which I didn’t do the first night. - Dinner was with a perfect view of the Arc de Triumph. I wanted someone to pinch me the entire time. I spent way too much on dinner, but it was my first time in Paris, and I was in love. I ordered foie gras, caprese salad, beof carpaccio, and chocolate mousse. Oh dear lord. Also, it continued to be freezing the entire time we were eating dinner, so that was hilarious. We requested to be moved 30 minutes into the meal, and our waiter put us below heated lamps. - Were deliriously satisfied by the end of the meal and wandered towards Arc de Triumph to take pictures, when it began to downpour. Rain + freezing = pneumonia. We ran for our lives to the metro. - Passed out. - Facebooked my friend Mélina, who used to be my cousin’s aupair, and she said she would be arriving in Paris in the morning! So, it was decided we would meet around noon…somewhere. We exchanged contact information and hoped for the best. - Hostel is worst yet. Room was situated on a courtyard, so we had to cross the courtyard to get to the bathroom. Also, everything smelled bad. Also, the management was rude.

Totes HunCal Spanish FroYo

Thursday, August 25th I don’t even remember what time we woke up, but we showered, talked to our roommates, and missed the free breakfast that the hostel provides. Though we were told it was stale bread and watered down juice…so we didn’t feel too bad. The Americans in us found the local frozen yogurt joint. Fro yo for breakfast!!! Mmmm. I got peaches + granola (parfait anyone?) and café. Our time in Barcelona was limited because our train was at 5:30 PM. It was decided that Gaudí was our priority (let’s be real, I really wanted to see his work…it was the main reason I wanted to come to Barcelona). Headed for Parc de Güel to see Gaudí. He designed the park for a friend of his, and though it took us forever to get there, it was well worth the journey. One there, we explored the parc and took pictures, stopped at a fruit stand on the way back. So much fruit on this trip… Took the metro to our hostel, got our bags, headed for the metro. Seats for the overnight train from Barcelona to Paris were like 77 Euro each, so we ended up taking 2 legs. The first was to Cerbere, and the second was from Cerbere to Paris. We didn’t have to pay for the first one. Dinner was McDonald’s (I refused) and random sandwiches (some delicious cured ham). The night train was freezing cold, again, and I blogged a little before being completely knocked out.

Madrid y Barcelona

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 We woke up at 9 AM to make the most of our last day in Madrid. It was decided we would take the metro to green space, Parque del Buen Retiro, which was actually its own metro stop. Breakfast was more of a brunch in the middle of el parque, across from a huge pond, where you could rent boats for a certain amount of time. I got a napoletano and café (gotta have my coffee), and everyone else got an assortment of things. Molly is a Celiac, which means she can’t consume gluten. So she has these awesome travel cards that explain her eating condition in different languages. The usual sequence of events is that we look at a resturant menu and make sure she has options, and then she’ll pull out her card and talk to the waiter or the chef will come out and talk to her. People have been really great about it, and for the record, she is amazing about it. She never complains or anything. She’ll just thank us for dealing with it, when, in actuality, we are doing nothing. We are usually just insensitive and stuffing our faces with bread or gluten filled foods. After eating breakfast, we went boating on the pond/lake/body of water , and it was perfect! The rental of the whole boat was 4.55 euro, so a little more than 1 euro per person. When our time was up, we walked to this monument that overlooks the body of water and is beautiful, and we took pictures like nobody’s business. We ran into an American family (the husband is from Madrid, but they live in New York), and we did the “will you take a picture of us, if we take a picture of you?” trade-off. Always keeping an eye on our watches, we took the metro back, got our bags, headed to the Atocha station to catch a train to Barcelona. At the Madrid train station, we epically failed with making reservations for Barcelona because we didn’t understand the system of tickets and numbers, etc. But it was kind of a blessing in disguise because we ended up just sitting down for 30 minutes and considering how HEAVY our backpacks are getting, it was awesome. We love sitting down. The train to Barcelona was swank. I got a solid nap in. Upon leaving the train station, it was clear that Barcelona was a much popular city than Madrid. And our hostel was in an awesome location! We checked in and had nice roommates (we didn’t know what to expect with an 8 person room…and we were dreading dealing with people who go to sleep at 10 PM like the roomies in Lisbon). Dinner was served in La Plaça Real – DELICIOUS tapas. Best yet. Though the salad was a little too olive oily. In a city with so much activity, we actually wanted to experience nightlife, since we weren’t able to in the prior cities for whatever reason. Within minutes of walking down La Rambla (a central street in the city), we got a free admission pass to Club BLVD, which was really close to us and didn’t seem sketchy (AND FREE), so we decided to check it out. It was a total blast. They played a ton of American music and did cool mixing. There was an arrangement of Ray Charles’ “Hit the Road Jack” that was killer. And there was a perfect moment where the entire club was singing together “Hello” – some new pop song that I am a huge fan of now. I don’t even know if that’s what it’s called, but the lyrics are along the lines of “I just came to say hello”. Precious. There was a fair share of creepers – after all, it is a club, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Luckily, our hostel was very close, so it was a quick walk home at the end of the night. Win.

Chicas! What’s up!?

Tuesday, August 23rd The train arrived in Madrid at 8:45 AM. After a solid four hours of sleep, we sleepily threw on our backpacks and sought out a place for breakfast. We ended up at a random tapas bar, which wasn’t particularly for desayuno), but I got a café and jamon y brie on toast. Mmm. So good!!!!!! I am definitely used to the quality of food in these countries. Every bite of everything tastes so good. I think I have gained like 5 pounds on this trip…Typical, since I’m such a foodie. I am literally eating my way through these cities, it is borderline terrifying. After the meal, we went to our hostel, but check-in wasn’t until 1 PM, so we dropped off our bags and killed time in the Plaza de Sol (people watching). Oh! Just a note-- We had literally just missed the International Youth Celebration (Catholic) and the Pope was there, so everyone was wearing the tshirts and stuff. Anyway, Madrid was busier than usual because of that. People also probably assumed we were there for JMJ with our backpacks and all. Funny because days later I saw on facebook that one of my 3rd cousins had flown into Madrid for the celebration, so it’s possible we were there at the same time. When we were able to check in, we went back to the hostel, got way too excited by the wifi, showered, and napped!! SIESTA!!!! One of my favorite things about Spain. Dinner was set in La Plaza Mayor. We stumbled upon a tapas place ( had to) where they had a great sangria + tapas deal. Just like Porto, another super charismatic guy reeled us in…he was Cuban. Commentary for a moment: there was a notable South American presence in Spain. I mean, I really don’t remember seeing so many South Americans last time I was here! Every other person was from Guatemala, Cuba, Dominican Republic, etc. While at dinner, we got harassed by someone for money (typical) and also were victims of a mime act. We were suckers for the mime, though, and ended up giving him a euro. There’s something to be said about La Plaza Mayor at night. The buildings glow, and the people gather there just to enjoy it. Street musicians play their part, cafés are lit and serving food late into the night, and strange vendors sell touristy junk souvenirs. We spent a few hours soaking up La Plaza de la noche. We attempted going to a discoteca that hostelworld.com recommended, but it was a fail because we couldn’t find it, and we were tired. It didn’t matter though because the evening was absolutamente perfecto.

Lisbon loves you!

Monday, August 22nd Checkout from Equitypoint was at 10 AM, so we were up an at ‘em at 9 in the morning. Breakfast was continental downstairs, and everyone was sitting at a long table in the kitchen (where we’d sat the night before). I sat down and was drinking coffee when I heard a really American sounding accent from two girls next to me. I asked them where they were from, and they turned out to be Canadian!!! From Toronto! I love Canadians. Take two on the Lisbon to Madrid night train was at 10:30 PM, so after breakfast, we had all day to explore the capital. What an amazing impromptu visit. Lisbon is on the coast, so the ocean view coupled with its old architecture and winding, steep cobblestone roads makes for a killer combination. We asked the guy at the hostel where we should be sure to visit, and he circled places on a map for us, numbering them in importance. We headed down to the coast, walked through the shopping district, ate lunch, and went to go see the Lisbon castle, Castelo de S.Jorge, a national monument that was an old citadel (versus a palace). It was built by the Moors in the mid-11th century and is now open to visitors for an entry fee and is home to an active archaeological site. Laura and I were the only ones who wanted to see the castle enough to pay the entry fee (3.50 euro, we got the student discount), and it was worth it. The view was gorgeous. After dinner, we had a couple of hours to kill before having to be at the train station. We decided to do a picnic on this beautiful street that ran down the center of the city (and actually reminded me a lot of upper east side Manhattan). We went back to the hostel and called a cab around 9 PM, boarded the night train, and left at 10:30 PM. Once on the train (our first night train!!! Of 3…), Molly and I watched Pride & Prejudice on my ipod touch….so good. The four of us were seated near the cart end, so there was a corridor where a bunch of guys were standing (seemed like total hooligans). They were drinking beer and smoking every time the train stopped. At one point they motioned to us to join them, but we were like “as if” and continued watching the movie. Haha!! But when the movie was over, curiosity got the best of us. I started thinking about how people meet on trains in Europe and how maybe we were being too judgmental. After all, Europeans drink beer like water. Maybe they were just having a friendly drink. So, we started up a conversation with them, refusing any drink and stating the pretense that we just wanted to say hi. There were four guys, and all of them were German. Three of them had sub-par English, so the conversation was really slow and kind of awkward. Then, the one on the end started talking to us – Mitch! His English was wonderful and next thing you know, the three of us were talking about ideology and how he had been speaking English for 8 years and loved the practice. Unfortunately, he wasn’t staying in Madrid, so we went our separate ways when the train stopped, but we are all facebook friends now. ☺

No Madrid for You

Sunday, August 21, 2011 Sunday morning we woke up and ate breakfast with other hostel dwellers in the kitchen on the main floor. We had really nice conversations with two guys from the UK and one girl from Paris (redeeming on behalf of the group the night before who basically laughed in our faces). Checkout was at noon, so we kept our bags at the hostel and left for the beach, which was a 30-minute metro ride. The coast was beautiful (the Atlantic from the other side!!), but didn’t really hold a candle to the riverfront in terms of being picturesque. Still incredibly enjoyable, and we had a pleasant lunch at a café in the sand. Finally using the Eurail we’d invested in, we said bye to Porto and took the train to Lisboa, where we were going to get an overnight train to Madrid. But when we got to Lisboa, they told us there were only 2 seats on the train. And there are 4 of us. Which meant an impromptu stay in the capital of Portugal. …Life could be worse. Luckily the train station had wifi, so we found an affordable place near the city center and called them from a payphone. They had a room! We took a taxi to the Equity Point Hostel- Lisbon, which ended up being super swank and amazing. The guy who checked us in spoke perfect English and told us he spent a lot of time in California. Because it was 11 PM or so by the time we were settled, most restaurants were closed. So, we headed to a mini food mart, where we bought eggs, cheese, rolls, and fruit. We used the hostel’s kitchen, and I cooked us some eggs ☺. We chatted late into the night and enjoyed the beds we slept in and the perfect pressure of the showers.

Saturday, August 20th –Sunday, August 21st We woke up Saturday morning at 6:00 AM, expecting darkness and freezing temperatures that come with UK before sunrise. However, the sun was up and the weather was perfectly tolerable with a cardigan. The lady who runs the hostel had breakfast ready for us, and we quickly got ready and jumped into a cab (Indian. Holler) to the Stansted airport. Stansted airport was SO NICE. I think that’s where all the RyanAir flights depart from the UK, so I suppose the credit is due to RyanAir. I was really impressed with the airline until we reached the gate and there was a ridiculously long line to board the plane (which makes sense because none of the seats are assigned, it’s first come-first serve). Most of the people on our flight to Porto were Portguese, probably returning from vacation. But there were still a bunch of British people, and it’s just so cool that European countries are so accessible to the UK and especially mainland Europe, where you just jump on a train. I mean, WHAT? Amazing. (I would totally take advantage of this. Going to Porto for the weekend BRB). The flight was nice, but comical. The entire 2 hours a little girl was screaming at unheard of decibels. Also, there were ads aired over the intercom every 10 minutes. I managed to sleep, only because I was completely exhausted (thank goodness). I opened up the book I brought, The Girl Who Played With Fire, which is the 2nd in the trilogy of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. When we arrived in Porto and got off the plane, the heat was more than welcomed after being on a freezing train and shortly prior, a chilly UK morning. We boarded the metro to our train station Trinidade (after figuring out that the train ticket machines had an English option…struggles). The metro ride into the city was especially enjoyable because it passed through all the outskirts of the city, which tourists don’t usually have access to, you know? It’s all about the glitz and the glam and what the country’s department of tourism puts together to present to outsiders. Portugal has a very rustic feel, almost like a Latin American country. Some characters were on our train and provided good entertainment on the 30-minute journey. Porto is absolutely breathtaking. We had all day Saturday (more or less) and most of Sunday (the plan was to take a night train to Madrid via Lisbon). As we were walking to the hostel, the city was eerily empty. We were so taken aback that we were wondering whether or not the Portuguese practiced siesta like the Spaniards did. Anyway, our hostel was called The Yellow House. Super cool and everything a hostel should be. Three stories, bunk beds from IKEA, not enough bathrooms, and a super sweet manager. We asked her if it was siesta, and she replied with a laugh “No! It’s the weekend – everyone is at the beach!!” So, we proceeded onto…the riverfront. Hilarious in retrospect because I have no idea why we didn’t just go to the beach. I think it was accidental; we just took the wrong streets. It was fate, though, because the riverfront (Ribeira) was a slice of paradise. Once near the water, we ate at a cute outdoor café (there were many lining the street we were on, so we just picked one and sat down), and I ordered cod cakes, salad, and French fries (it was a combo meal). Delicious!!! Everything was so fresh tasting. I went for the seafood because I figured it was a more traditional meal. After that, I wanted to take a nap (eating and sleeping…I could do it all day everyday), but we did something much more productive and walked along the riverfront, exploring and taking beautiful pictures. Porto is the birthplace of Port wine, so along the river are wine production companies showcasing their products. We stopped into a family-run Port cave (cellar) called Vasconcellos. There was a tour and Port tasting for 3 euro!!! What a steal. We sampled two white Ports and two red Ports. Our tour guide Yolanda explained the process of Port. The reason it’s so sweet is because the fermenting is cut short with the addition of a type of moonshine after a certain amount of time. This causes the wine to retain its sugar. After the Port wine tour, we sat along the riverfront and just soaked in the city. Ah it was so gorgeous and the perfect mix of tourists and natives (the former being present in a lesser proportion). We ate dinner at a place where the friendly man out front recruited us with his charm (not to mention the reasonable prices). We ended up falling in love with him. The food was delicious but heavy – Malvika and I ordered “rissol” which we had seen on menus all day and assumed it was a traditional dish. It was a meat pie, kind of like an empanada but better because the shell was thicker. However, Fernando Nogueira stole the show. He told us he was in charge of Public relations and Mario, our waiter, was the one who dealt with the food. He kept us company the entire time we sat outside the little restaurant, which ended up being 3 hours. He was this dynamic Portuguese man, handsome, probably in his late 60s, and completely hilarious. There was a language barrier but it didn’t really interfere with our interaction with him. We worked around it. He only knew Portuguese and French, and we only speak English and Spanish. Somehow we managed. Haha so funny. We took a picture with him after paying for our bill and couldn’t get over how refreshing it was to meet him. Not that there’s been a shortage of dynamic or interesting people we’ve met on this trip thus far, but just in general. There’s just something special about meeting a wonderful person in passing. It’s inspiring. We stayed by the Ribeira until nightfall, wanting to see it lit up after sunset. Man, was it worth it. Laura and Molly have their nice Nikons with them, so they were able to capture the beauty of it. We dilly-dallied until 11:00 PM, when we got in a taxi and headed back to The Yellow House. Once there, we decided we were so in love with Day Porto that we wanted to experience Night Porto. There were two people fast asleep in our room when we walked in. Super awkward. We dragged all of our suitcases into the hallway and changed into the bathroom into more night appropriate wear. Hostel world had recommended places after dark, and we trusted their testimony. What a terrible idea on our part. First of all, the street that the club was on was right next to our hostel, so we assumed it was walking distance. Nope. Avenida de Boavista stretched across the entire city, all the way to the coast. It was obvious we wouldn’t be walking to Triplex after 10 minutes. We turned around, defeated, and ran into a group of French kids staying at The Yellow House too. They seemed to be going out, so we asked them where they were headed and hahaha they were not receptive. They ended up telling us they were going to a famous club in this district where they’d take the metro, but it was a “well dressed party,” implying we were not well dressed. We laughed, embarrassed and offended, and ended up taking a taxi to Triplex, which was completely empty, and we mumbled to the driver that we wanted to go back to the hostel where he picked us up. Overall, it was a complete failure. Hilarious, but upsetting.

FINALLY an update!

Hello blog followers :) So, I finally have WiFi to be able to update my blog! WOO!! I have been writing posts daily, though, so bear with me. The following posts will be split up according to day, but the dates will be off a little... Anyway, here we go...