it's been a busy semester...

Brussels - in pictures

Firenze e Arezzo.

First of all, I know I've been really bad about blogging the past few weeks. Apparently studying abroad actually means studying abroad sometimes. Weird, right? Anyway, two weekends ago, I went on an excursion with my study abroad program to Florence and Arezzo. We stayed in Florence Friday and Saturday night and stopped in Arezzo for a few hours on our bus ride back to Roma on Sunday. I really, really liked Florence. I didn't know that the entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which means they can't build any new buildings in the city; they just have to renovate old ones. The hotel we stayed in, for example, was relatively modern inside, but it happened to have been the home of Dante's wife. Like, the Dante. That was so freakin' cool.

Needless to say, Florence has a TON of art. Really, really famous important art by really famous important dudes. At the Ufitzi Gallery, built by the Medici family of course, I saw the Birth of Venus and La Primavera. I saw works by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael ... basically all the ninja turtles. I saw Michelangelo's David too, which our tour guide referred to as "her boyfriend". He is so not overrated. There were scary security women who would yell at you if you tried to take a picture and then make you delete it, but rebel that I am, I managed to take one anyway. Of his ass. Well done, Michelangelo.

I think art, stationary, and leather sum up Florence pretty well. Everywhere you look there's another shop selling absolutely gorgeous paper, pens, stationary, cards, whatever. I had a really hard time not buying the entire store. We also went to the leather market, where every vendor for blocks and blocks is competing for you to come into their shop and buy their goods. Again, self control was necessary and very difficult to maintain. The entire street smelled like a new baseball glove. It was wonderful.

The cathedral and il duomo were cool too. I just wouldn't have chosen that color scheme for the exterior. And, as usual, the church just succeeded in making me uncomfortable.

Arezzo was pretty, but honestly that's about it. It's a very small town - at least by my now skewed standards - famous for its gold and silver working. We were there on a Sunday afternoon, so the whole place was pretty dead. We saw churches. And Petrarch's house.

Sorry...

I suck at blogging lately. Excuses follow:

1. I'm lazy.
2. I'm busy.
3. ...

I'll get on it, I promise.

Fall Break Odyssey, part III - London.

Sad as I was to leave Dublin, London turned out to be an awesome three days. I parted ways with my travel companions almost as soon as we arrived at Stansted airport. Turns out that airport is about an hour away from London by car, which means you have to reserve a bus to Central London. I had booked an 8:40 am bus, but managed to get the last seat on 8:20 bus because I was traveling alone. I have to admit, much as I enjoy company it was so nice to have that hour to myself. Living with five other girls in Rome means I'm almost never alone. (Hence the sacredness of my daily shower.) But just watching the countryside go by and listening to my iPod was incredibly pleasant. We finally got to Baker Street, and Virginia showed up almost as soon as I stepped off the bus. I was grateful for her punctuality, since London really intimidated me at first. It may have been the fact that I'd been awake for almost six hours already, but the fact that it was an English-speaking city didn't reassure me in the slightest. It is one big city. And a hectic one at that.

Since Virginia technically wasn't supposed to have overnight guests at her apartment and the snitch (I mean, cleaning lady) was there, we had to kill a few hours before I could settle in. Luckily Rice roommate number two, Alena, is also studying in London, and I got to put all my stuff down at her place before we started exploring. We had a traditional English breakfast at a place called the Nag's Head (made me happy) in Covent Garden before heading to the Tower of London. The Tower was really cool. Expensive to get into, but worth it. English history nerd that I am, I've wanted to see that place since I was about eleven years old. Highlights included the Traitors Gate and Tower Green - the exact place where Anne Boleyn was executed. We explored the Tower for a few hours before Virginia had to leave for class and Alena took over custody of me. It kind of went like this for the two days I was with Alena and VA. One would have class, so I'd hang out with the other one and visa versa. It was like being the child of divorced parents.

  

On Friday I had kind of a lazy day, exhausted as I was from traveling for a week straight, but I did manage to see Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and some of the British Museum. They were cool. That's really all I have to say about that.

The closest I got to seeing Hatfield House. SAD TIMES.

Since Alena and Virginia were leaving for Valencia early Saturday morning (more like Friday night), I met up with Julie, who we'd parted with in Barcelona, and then Austin, my friend from high school (and preschool) who I hadn't seen since we graduated. Our plan was to go visit Hatfield House, another place I've wanted to see for ages. So we took the tube (something I did a lot of in three days) to King's Cross, bought tickets, ran to our train (why do I ALWAYS end up sprinting through train stations?) and got to Hatfield in half an hour. Turns out the house was closed for the season. I cannot explain in words the depth of my disappointment, only slightly relieved by the fact that the restaurant and a few shops were open. I had tea and a muffin. At least it was the best muffin of my life. That helped a little. On the bright side, we managed to find Platform 9¾ since we were at King's Cross anyway. We didn't get through. Damn.

Despite not getting to see Hatfield House, it turned out to be a pretty good day. Julie and I wandered around before meeting back up with Austin and his roommate for dinner at a really awesome Indian place and then listening to fireworks for Guy Fawkes Day from his flat. It was raining and cold. I was tired. There was no way we were going outside to watch them. We hung out at Austin's place until about 11pm when we met up with the rest of our group to take the bus back to the airport. We had agreed that it was stupid to pay for a hostel when we'd have to leave at 3 am for our 6 o'clock flight anyway, so the cold floor of Stansted airport was my bed for the night. I have never felt more badass.

Fall Break Odyssey, part II - Dublin

After yet another early morning flight, we arrived in my favorite city in the world - Dublin. Right away I was reminded of why I love that place. We walk out of the airport to the taxi stand and right away we are greeted by the jolliest taxi driver in the world. He takes our luggage with a big ole smile on his face and welcomes us to Ireland in his happy Irish accent. He chatted with us the entire ride to our hostel, which he miraculously managed to drop us off twenty feet away from despite the fact that the Dublin Marathon had just started and a bunch of roads had been blocked. I remember the taxi drivers being extra nice from the last time I was in Dublin, but this guy was exceptional. And kind of looked like Liev Schreiber - you know, that actor from Salt and X-Men? Bonus.

When we got to our hostel, it was still too early to get into our room, but we wanted to check in anyway so we could drop off our luggage in their storage room. Our friend Morgan was the one who made the reservation, but somehow it hadn't gone through. We didn't have reservations. Crap. Luckily, the guy managed to find four beds for us - thank God - in a six person dorm two nights and a private four person room the last night. If you are ever in Dublin and want to stay in a hostel, stay at the Times Hostel on College Street. The staff were so helpful, even when we were slightly panicking over not having a place to stay for the night, and the location is incredible. Anyway, we drop 50 euros apiece on our rooms, drop off our luggage and head out to try and find some food. At this point our notion of what time it was was so warped that I could barely wrap my head around the fact that it was only like 10 o'clock in the morning. Between waking up at 3 am, switching to another time zone, and adjusting my watch for daylight savings, my body was just confused. So basically it felt like it should have been at least mid-afternoon. In addition to the marathon going on, it was also a bank holiday, which meant that a lot of pubs and restaurants were also closed, but we found one place that had the Irish breakfast I've been dreaming about since I was last in Ireland four years ago. Poached eggs, bacon, toast. Done.

After that, we wandered around a little more and that is when the theme of our time in Dublin presented itself: magic. Seriously. As my sense of direction has improved dramatically since being abroad (believe it.), I was put in charge of the map. So I'm looking at it, trying to figure out what fun things there are to see in the area, and I see that Dublin Castle should be somewhere nearby - probably only a few blocks away. As we're looking at the map, this very nice Irish girl - who is clearly in a hurry - walks by and asks if we need directions. We decline because we think we have a good idea of where we're going. Turns out the Dublin Castle was literally 20 feet away. We wanted to see it. Bam. It appears. Just a few hours later, we're sitting in another restaurant so one of the other girls can eat lunch and I say offhandedly, "I really want to find this place called the Porterhouse; it's supposed to be amazing." Morgan replies, "You mean that place right there?" And points out the window. Holy shit. It's right across the street. This sort of thing happened multiple times. I'm telling you - Ireland is a magical and wondrous place, where beer and castles appear out of nowhere. I want to move there.

Now that I've introduced the Porterhouse, here follows an account of three of the greatest pubs in existence. The Porterhouse, The Brazen Head Inn, and The Temple Bar.

The Porterhouse:

• Dublin's first pub brewery.
• Located in Temple Bar. 
• It's like a five stories tall.
• Hard to find a table around dinnertime. They don't take your name down. You have to pounce as soon as one opens up. Competitive Liz may have emerged. We got a table. Nobody got hurt.
• Two words: Oyster. Stout. Yeah, I got adventurous. Yeah, it was amazing. Best beer of my life? Quite possibly.
• Additional three words: Oxtail. Pot. Pie. 
• There were potatoes aplenty. And cabbage. 
• I could have stayed in the Porterhouse for the entire trip and been happy. Drink, eat, talk, drink more, eat more, you know. 

The Brazen Head Inn:

• Officially Ireland's oldest pub. Founded 1198.
• The building that houses it now is really young, though. Built in 1668.
• Hangout for badasses like Wolfe Tone, Oliver Bond, and Robert Emmet.
• Michael Collins and other leaders of the War of Independence gathered there too. 
• For beer, they have all the winners - Guinness, Harp, Smithwick's. 
• I had traditional Irish stew for dinner. Lamb, chunks of potatoes and vegetables. 

The Temple Bar:

• Located (obviously) in Temple Bar.
• Classic pub with several bars within it. 
• Super friendly people. 
• Their food menu is awesome - oysters, Irish cheese plates, etc. 
• They have a hundred different sandwiches on their menu. I ordered the Irish Christmas Sandwich - turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce. Easily the best sandwich of my life. Easily.
• Best part of the Temple Bar - I was finally reunited with my beloved Bulmer's. Got myself a pint because I'm actually legal in Ireland this time around. And it felt so good. 

So that's the roundup of my favorite pubs ever ever ever. Other highlights of Dublin included the National Leprechaun Museum, the Guinness Storehouse (really, really cool. You get to see how it's made AND get a free pint at the end. There is really nothing better than Guinness straight from the tap at the place where it's made.), and Saint Patrick's Cathedral, which is absolutely gorgeous. I also went pubbing with my friend Renee from Rice and she introduced me to the most delicious shot on the face of the planet - the baby Guinness. It's just Kaluha in a shot glass with Bailey's poured on top so that it looks like a tiny Guinness. Try it at home. Please.

Pictures!

At the Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse.

Fall Break Odyssey, part I - Barcelona.

Fall break kicked off bright and early last Friday with our 7:30 am flight (the latest flight of the entire trip, by the way) from Rome to Barcelona. Right off the bat I learned a lesson. Flying the cheapest airline out of the cheap airport at the cheapest time is not always a good idea. To get to Rome Ciampino airport, located on the very fringes of civilization, one must take a taxi. Riding in Roman taxis is exhilarating, but they cost lotsa money. The other fun aspect of flying cheap airlines is how strictly the enforce carry-on sizes. My bag for the entire nine day journey had to fit within RyanAir's tiny allotted dimensions, which meant I was re-wearing all of my clothes at least once. Minor drawbacks both, but I felt they needed to be mentioned. 

Anyway, BARCELONA. I didn't get the chance to travel here when I was in Spain a few years ago, so I was glad to have the opportunity to visit a new city/region. The best part was actually speaking the language of the country I was in for once. Granted their official language is Catalán, which is weird as hell and nothing like Spanish, but most people there speak Spanish as well, so I was fine. It was reassuring how easily I fell back into speaking it, and my friend Julie (who is Mexican) and I had a great time prattling back and forth to each other in Spanish. We stayed in a nice hostel in a quieter neighborhood outside the city center but with super easy access to their underground system. The five of us were in an eight bed dorm with three other (less than classy) American girls and unfortunately had to use co-ed hall bathroom. It was a little inconvenient, but at least everything was clean. 

The first day was cloudy and rainy, so we took the opportunity to just relax at our hostel and have a long lunch (9 euros for three courses!) before we finally dragged our lazy butts out to the city center at night. We cruised down Las Ramblas, which is a famous shopping and dining street in Barcelona and had a gelato while observing some really great human statues. We also discovered St. Joseph Market, which is a huge open-air market where vendors sell beautiful fruits and vegetables, nuts, chocolates, fish, meat, fresh juices, and anything else you could want. Pretty sure I was drooling all over my camera as I was snapping pictures of everything, especially the fruits. They were absolutely perfect. I wanted to eat all of them at once.

The cathedral in Barcelona is cool, as is Las Ramblas, and the St. Joseph Market, but by far the highlight of my three days in Barcelona was the afternoon and evening I spent with Ashley, one of my good friends from high school (and elementary school) who I hadn't seen since we graduated. We met up at 11 am, walked to a café where we talked for two and a half hours, then walked around the city and talked some more. We went down to the sea and did some browsing at a little market there, people watched, and just walked. We then wandered around until we found the Gothic Quarter, which I really liked. I've decided I prefer Gothic architecture to the Baroque style you see all over Rome. It's a lot more detailed and less pretentious in my opinion. In the evening, Ashley took me to this awesome tavern near Plaza Catalunya that had the biggest, most delicious (and strongest) sangria I've ever had. There we proceeded to talk for yet another three hours over our huge glasses and patates braves and garlic bread. I love how easy it is to talk to true friends, regardless of how long you've been apart. And the best part is that I convinced Ashley to come visit me in Rome over Thanksgiving weekend. Yay company! 

The other little (by which I mean enormous) highlight of Barcelona was my pilgrimage to the FC Barcelona futbol stadium, where Julie, our friend Morgan and I did the Camp Nou Experience. Our tickets got us into the club's museum, which was beautiful and state of the art. It really gives you an idea of the insane amount of money this organization has. There were hundreds of trophies, jerseys and spikes from the first years of the club's existence, interactive smartboards that let you watch a certain goal from a certain year or read about one a certain player. The place really had everything. In spite of myself, I did rush through the museum just so I could get out into the stadium. We walked through the visitor locker rooms, the media area, and down the tunnel until we were on the ground level, right next to the Barcelona dugout. Very cool experience, even if the security guard didn't let me touch the grass. Jerk.