So, I know I’ve renamed the blog once already, but do I have to rename it again to (195) Days of Europe if I spent four days in north Africa? (199) is a much nicer number…
CAST OF CHARACTERS (in order of appearance)
--Andy
--Kirill
--Zohra
--Mustapha
--John
--Sally
--Tony
--Mike
--Laura
--Elaine
--Annelies
And I guarantee you’ll have a better reading (or, vicarious living) experience if you’re looking at these pictures at the same time.
(142) is Friday, 28 May 2010.
Kirill and I landed in the sunny evening and had a ride waiting for us to Riad Massin. Yeah— one sentence into the narrative and I’ve already got a recommendation. Find them on Hostelworld.com. If you go to Marrakesh (and you should), stay at this Riad. It’s a traditional house designed such that the outside is very plain: basically a stone wall, unlike the relatively ornate outsides of European and North American buildings. On the inside, however, is a charming open-air courtyard with a fountain, a chair and tables, and all of the rooms—rather than opening to the outside—open onto this courtyard. You get a very communal feel and the courtyard is much cooler than the outside (VERY important this time of year in Marrakesh). Funny enough, I had a frame of reference for this type of architecture; Cat’s Hostel in Madrid was designed the same way.
But more importantly, it is at the riad that we met so many wonderful people: fellow travelers with whom exploring the city became an adventure and passing the afternoon’s hottest hours in the courtyard became a highlight. And all that’s to say nothing of the staff, who are also incredibly kind and personable and know how to have fun with their jobs.
So: we sat down in the courtyard to a cup of mint tea (something else I encountered in Madrid)… I’m not normally a tea drinker, but Kirill and I fairly guzzled this stuff during our stay. So sweet, so warm, and so good. And the hostel staff will get you a pitcher whenever you like, free of charge. We had a brief Q&A about Marrakesh with a member of staff before going up to the rooftop for a bit.
It is here we meet Zohra, one of the (attractive) trilingual staff members, who signed me and Kirill up for a day trip the following day to the Ourika Valley in the environs of Marrakesh.
For dinner, Kirill and I went to the center of town, Place Jemaa el Fna (which I confused with “Danny Elfman” several times). This place is crazy at night: performers, crowds watching, brightly lit stalls selling food and spices and who knows what else. There are lots of bright lights from the stalls and smoke from the ones cooking meat; together, the visual effect is very cool. We weren’t brave enough to venture into that yet, so we found a terrace restaurant to eat. If you do eat at one of those terrace places (they’re okay, not great), make sure you pick one closer to the lit-up stalls and open square; the view is better.
As for the title of this entry, it takes its name from “Marrakesh Express,” one of my favorite songs by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. I would link you to it, but I couldn’t find a decent studio version on YouTube. But here’s my counteroffer. As some of you know, I make a music video every year, and I’ve decided that this year’s will be that song and video footage I took in Marrakesh. So, stay tuned.
(143) is Saturday, 29 May 2010.
Today was a big day trip into the Ourika Valley and nearby waterfall outside of Marrakesh. We actually started at a Berber house. Berbers are the people who originally settled in Morocco, but who have since moved into the mountains and generally keep to themselves. They’re atheist and supposedly very shrewd hagglers; if you start haggling with a really low price, the seller will sometimes call you a Berber in good fun (hopefully). So, at the berber house, we watched them make bread and mint tea* and then consumed this very tasty breakfast. Their olive oil was about as good was what we had in the Greek islands.
Our tour guide, by the way, was the incomparable Mustapha, who constantly made jokes, pointed things out, and sang “Hotel California.” Wonderful human being. Speaking of wonderful human beings, it was on this tour that we also met a few fellow travelers staying with us at the riad: John, travelling from Philly, as well as Tony and Sally, two friends on a grand tour of Europe, originally from New Zealand. Anyway, After the Berber house, we stopped on the side of the road. There were saddled camels waiting for us.
Party like a rock star. The ride was about half an hour.
So, we drove through the Ourika Valley, along a river crossable by several rope bridges either from Indiana Jones or the lava scene in Shrek.** We made it to the base of the waterfall climb, which—by the way—neither of my parents would have opted to do. It’s steep and has many interesting challenges in terms of footing, but it’s mostly shaded by trees, and the whole route (about half an hour each way) is adorned with stands selling food, soft drinks, etc.
I wouldn’t mention these except that all of the bottles of soda and such are chilled with this ingenious system. We’re going up to a waterfall, right? So, that means there’s cold water coming down, and here there's a network of hoses channeling this water and pouring them over bottles to keep them cool. And the water doesn’t stop there; more hoses carry that water down to the next stand and their bottles in need of cooling. Brilliant system, really. On a similar note, there are also cool-looking (and I'm sure difficult to build) aqueducts built into the mountains carrying the water elsewhere.
So, the waterfall itself: very cold, very tall, very picturesque. I got my feet wet, and of course Kirill dove in. Most of the others did as well (except for Sally, the only other person on the tour as sensible as myself). After hanging out there for a while and taking some pictures with each other and the other people there that day, we made our way back to the bus and drove to a restaurant for late lunch. Couldn’t tell you the name, but I could tell you that the tajin and couscous were probably the best I’ve ever had. The fruit plate for dessert was also excellent (including some delicious oranges).
Anybody here feel like this entry is too much blatant description and not enough clever? Yeah? Well, at least I'm not the only one who thought so.
So, we got back to the riad around 6, where Mustapha and the other staff members decide it’s the perfect time for a belly dance party. ‘Cause, you know, that’s just what they do. So, we all danced. Mustapha put on a burqa at one point.
(144) is Sunday, 30 May 2010.
Today, we met Laura and Elaine, two friends traveling together who had met on a French program this past semester. The four of us went to find the Tanneries, which is where they make leather.*** This sounded a lot cooler than it actually turned out to be… first of all, it was hot that day, so the smelly tanneries were even worse than usual. On our way there, we met a tanner whose colleague showed us around the place and gave us mint leaves to hold to our noses to fight the smell. It helped, but we basically looked like we were doing lines of menthol the whole time. Of course, there are worse things for your hands to smell like all afternoon than mint.
Anyway, after a brief walk-around, the guy ushered us into his friend’s shop where Kirill was persuaded to bargain for a pair of sandals. When we left, the guy who showed us around the tanneries wanted a tip, so we gave him 5 euro for the two of us. Laura and Elaine had left before the tour because the latter wasn’t feeling well, so on our way to find them, the first guy wanted a tip for guiding us to the tanneries. We ignored him; we had our map and were one block away from the entrance when he offered to guide us. We didn't need his help, and he didn't have to offer it without consideration for contract. So there.
Oh, and Kirill later discovered that his sandals smelled like the tanneries.
It was hot, we wanted to meet up again with the girls, and we were feeling a little crummy about having been hassled like that, so we headed back to the hostel for a bit. On the way, Kirill decided to buy a huge freaking watermelon, which the whole hostel ended up sharing. At the hostel, we met Mike (travelling from the states) and Annelies (taking a few days off before her exams in Spain, although she’s Belgian).
We eventually got dinner with basically everybody we’d met so far and a few other girls at the hostel. Mike and Kirill fought over the rotisserie chicken they shared. I had front row seats to that deathmatch. Oh, and somewhere in here, we got delicious orange juice from a stand in Jemaa el Fna (25 and 28 were both good)... fresh-squeezed, so cold, and so sweet that even the pulp was welcome. We made it back to the hostel around 1 or so and hung out in the tent on the roof for a while. It was, in a word, idyllic. And it was, in a few more words, exactly what I had imagined the Marrakesh experience to be.
(145) is Monday, 31 May 2010.
Today, it was all about the Souks. This is the center of all wheeling-and-dealing in Marrakesh, and it is awesome. Not only are these winding streets covered and thus out of the blazing sun all day (we stayed out from noon to 7 without a siesta), but it's an experience all its own. Shops and vendors are everywhere on the delightfully boggling network of passages between old buildings, and haggling is a must. I had been a bit nervous about this before we got started, but once I took my first swing at it, I really got into it. I'll narrate. Oh, and the following interaction was all in French, by the way.
After Kirill and Mike both bargained for letter openers (their grandmothers collect them or something) at this one shop, I took my shot at an Aladdin lamp for a souvenir. Nothing fancy, and I'd seen several, but this one had an opening-closing lid, so what the hell. Guy's first price: 100 dirham (10-12 US Dollars).
Oh, HELL no. For a little souvenir?? I counter with 15. He insists it's worth at least 85. "Look at the workmanship!" he insists.
It's tin, dude. Just like all the others on this street. 15.
He puts it at 75.
Nope.
He can't stand it! "Last price!" he insists. This is a favorite saying in these parts: it’s part of the ceremony. You’re supposed to give the absolute highest you will go on it, even if that’s not always what actually happens. The real point is that it’s keeping things interesting, the part where the stakes are up and the chips are down. Again he insists, "Dernier prix!"
I feel like I've answered this one already, haven't I? Any guesses on what I say next? Stick to your guns, kids; only way to hit your target.
"15! 15! Always 15!" he comments with the all-important exaggeration in his exasperated tone, "Make SOME concession here! This is how it works."
Possibly the first fair point he's made. Fine. 20.
"OK."
We shake on it. We shake on one fifth of his asking price. I am a shark.
And I don't mean to sound contemptuous or condescending toward that shopkeeper. On the contrary: I had a firm respect for him almost as soon as we got started. You see, thanks to the whole bargaining culture, shopping is like a game. In the best games, the two opponents are worthy and well-matched and each, recognizing this, respects the other for it. Moreover, in a sport where victory is measured by whether or not you’re happy with your final score—a sport where your attitude determines whether you win or lose—it really is how you play the game that counts. I smiled at the guy and thanked him as he handed me the lamp for my 20-dirham note.
Onward we went to the heart of the souks. Mike had bought a Moroccan style cotton shirt the previous day for 120 dirham (about 12€), which everybody agreed looked good on him, and the look of which I sort of wanted to emulate. I found a similar shirt and a pair of cotton pants (with pockets, no less!) to go with it, both in white, for 200 dirham (about $25 USD). Best pajamas (or Matrix attire, if you add sunglasses) ever. Kirill copied me and, because we got the same thing, he got to copy my bargain, too.
My last deal of the day may have been my finest, but unfortunately, certain readers of this blog named Roger Weiner won't have the requisite security clearance to know what I got until his birthday in late July. But I'm sure he will be tickled that the quality of the product is good and that I—my father's son—got it down to 50% of the starting price. Here’s how:
See, it’s all about the story. It was the end of the day and I told the guy that, after a day in the Souks, I didn’t have much cash on me. It was true, but with that much conviction, the strategy would have worked even if I was lying. So, I just talked up how much I liked what I was holding but said I physically could not pay more than _____ dirham, which, to be fair, wasn’t much. He dismisses my offer as crazy talk and drops the price a little, but I stick to my story: “I agree; it’s well-made, and my father will love it, but _____ really is all I have on me. Oh, well. Thanks just the same, though.”
I put the belt back and go. This is the crucial moment.
For those of you who’ve never heard of low-balling, it’s when you’re in the car salesperson’s office and they give you an attractive price on the car you want: $28,000, for sake of example. Everybody in the room is on board. But, the salesperson says, they have to check with their manager first. Then, they go outside the office, come back a few minutes later, and say, “I’m sorry, but my manager says the lowest we can go is $30,500.”
Chances are they spent those few minutes outside the office talking to their manager about the finale of Lost. And chances are that you spent those few minutes feeling pretty jazzed about that good deal and great car you were about to get. When you get that invested in a product and/or the process of buying it, you’re a lot less likely to say “Forget it,” walk away, and give up this opportunity. That’s how they make an extra $2,500.
The great thing about bargaining in Marrakesh, as opposed to the Acura dealership in Bethesda, is that this works both ways. The merchants get really into the process as well, so when you talk up their products for a while, make them think they’ll make a sale, and then make it seem like you’re going to leave, they accept some losses to bring you back, and you low-ball them. And damn, does it feel good!
So, as I put the belt back and go see what Kirill’s buying for Liz, the guy says, “Look, if you can borrow a few dirham from your friends, I’ll drop it to 60 dirham.”
“Mike, can I borrow a few dirham?”
“Yeah, man!”
I turn back to the shopkeeper. “Deal.”
After Kirill got some more souvenirs, the three of us found our way out to Jemaa el Fna and stand #28, home to more delicious orange juice. One glass in basically any juice stand in Jemaa el Fna is 30 dirhams (in USD, that’s about a hell of a lot less than it's worth).
Somewhere in here, I decided that Marrakesh is actually a lot like Las Vegas. There's a unique culture to it (though Vegas’s is painfully hard to find) and the big draw is anticipated return on your money. The big difference, though, is that I love Marrakesh and hate Vegas.
We got back to the hostel to show off our purchases. Kirill and Mike were buying like crazy for their respective significant others. Laura and several others commented that they're "worse than girls." We hung out for a bit, during which time we decided to explore the new city (outside the medina walls) for dinner.
That decision that sets me up to explain a little (operative word) of Marrakesh's historical background.**** Morocco was a French colony for a long time (which is why they speak it and I used it to get probably slightly better starting prices while haggling). French and Arabic are the two big languages (as in most places, English comes in close behind). There are also two parts to the city. The medina is the center, including the Souks where we haggled, Jemaa el Fna, the central mosque tower nearby, the tanneries, and the riad. It's encircled by a tall stone wall with an arch entrance every so often. The other half is the 'new city', the European sector, established more when France moved in and which is — big shock — built more after the fashion of a less awesome and less culturally rich modern city.
So, we left the medina and wandered until we found Le Charlot, a classy little sit-down restaurant with patio seating and a smart Charlie Chaplin theme to the decoration. The food was quite good, and I cannot stress enough how good a value it was. I had the most expensive item on the menu—a very good steak-frites with mushroom sauce—for 110 dirham (about 11€ or $14 USD). The location is-- as best I can tell on Google Maps-- here.
And after dinner and an epic photo-shoot on the Medina wall, I watched, for the first time, the Surfing Bird episode of Family Guy.
(146) is Tuesday, 1 June 2010.
I’ve really suffered you through a long one, so you’ll be glad to know we spent today back in the souks and Jemaa el Fna… just more of the same great experience. Tony and Sally left, so we had lunch (at Le Charlot again, because it was that good) and said our goodbyes. It was Marrakesh. It was great.
That is, it was great until early (147), when Kirill and his Russian passport weren’t allowed to fly to London.
--------------------------------------------
Footnotes
* They call the tea “Moroccan Whiskey” because everybody drinks it, but nobody, being muslim, actually drinks whiskey or any other alcohol.
** They better be serious about Shrek 4 being the last one, by the way.
*** Been a while since you’ve had a French lesson, I reckon… Tanneur is the French word for a craftsperson who works with leather. Thus, tannerie is the place where they work. Come to think of it, English may have borrowed this word.
**** Because, of course, you haven’t read enough of me explaining things recently.
25 June 2010
23 June 2010
(135-141): Basically, I went back to Paris just to take my Music in Cinema exam before leaving again to travel.
The week from May 21-28 was largely uneventful, since most of the VWPP had flown back to the states while I was in Vienna.
From this point forward, basically every entry is a travelogue (until I get to Antibes around the (160) range). And now that I'm irrevocably a tourist, I'm afraid I can't guarantee the same detailed insight into cultures that I've been able to offer from time to time. That is, if you believe I've offered such insight (and you've probably got good reason to doubt).
Stay tuned... I'm trying to catch up, but these travel ones take a while to write and I wouldn't dream of posting them without their photos.
From this point forward, basically every entry is a travelogue (until I get to Antibes around the (160) range). And now that I'm irrevocably a tourist, I'm afraid I can't guarantee the same detailed insight into cultures that I've been able to offer from time to time. That is, if you believe I've offered such insight (and you've probably got good reason to doubt).
Stay tuned... I'm trying to catch up, but these travel ones take a while to write and I wouldn't dream of posting them without their photos.
(132-134): Andy and Sam go to Berlin
(132) is Tuesday, 18 May 2010.
Here are the photos. I refer to several of them this time around, so you might want to take a look if you don't typically.
Sam and I actually filled the time in Berlin. In fact, I’d say we should have gotten an earlier flight out of Vienna the day before. Oh, well.
We got breakfast at this really good pastry place, but tracking down the exact location again is proving quite difficult. Best I can do is tell you that it's near Weinmeisterstrasse metro.
We then hit the New Museum, which ironically housed ancient Egyptian artifacts (among other cool old stuff). Best part was the building though, which probably explains the name. There’s a big, gorgeous exposed-brick atrium in the middle if you look at my pictures. We also saw some 17th-19th century art in the next door museum, which was kind of average… and for some reason, the security guard really didn’t want me carrying my jacket in my arm. Huh.
Afterward, we wandered down Friedrichstrasse, which is the main street in Berlin (our hostel, BaxPax Downtown, was right off said street: huge bonus). We mostly found run-of-the-mill fancy shops, but then there was the VW dealership… Sam’s more of a car connoisseur than I, so he was floored when we saw a Bugatti (I'm told they're legendary, but I just see a car from a sci-fi movie) and a Bentley. There's a picture in the album of a motor almost the size of a nearby child. Cool store, though; big enough to be its own museum.
So, I’m really happy my camera battery held out for a few more minutes, because our next stop was the well-recognized Brandenburg Gate. What I liked even more, however, was the DZ Bank just to the left side in that plaza. This business building, as you’ll see in the picture, looks entirely ordinary from the outside. But go inside, and you find the work of American architect Frank Gehry, who is well known for his mind- (and metal-) bending designs. I wish I’d gotten more angles of this, but they don’t let you in past the reception.
Lunch was less remarkable than Sam’s attempt to get a recommendation. My approach: go on TripAdvisor or Zagat or something beforehand. But, since I hadn't, we were left with Sam’s approach:
“Hey, there’s the American Embassy! Why don’t we ask somebody there?”
“Sam, what the—”
“Dude, they speak English, and they probably know what’s around here.”
“Alright…”
We approach the security guard just outside the building. This is the closest I’ve been to American soil in four and a half months. Sam poses his question to the security guard outside the building.
“Well, that’s one I don’t think I’ve gotten before…!”
Sam laughs. Not that he needs a prompt to do so.
“Well, if you go through the gate, and go round the corner?” The guard instructs, “There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts.”
Dunkin’ Donuts?? Really??? Supporting American interests to the end… somebody needs to give this guy a raise.
“…And next to the Dunkin’ Donuts—”
Ohhhh, okay!
“—is a noodle box place," the guard finishes, "that’s where I usually get lunch.”
Good work, Sam.
There’s really no point to that story—we got lunch somewhere forgettable. But it was right next to the Holocaust memorial just a few steps from Brandenburg Gate, the DZ bank, and the American Embassy. The memorial is a sizeable expanse of square monolithic blocks.* The whole thing is on uneven ground, so some blocks are knee-height, while others down the slope are a good 8+ feet high. They're not all the same height, though. And it’s a grid, so each monolith is pretty close to those surrounding it, so if you were feeling uniquely disrespectful, you could hop across the top of these blocks all the way around.
By the way, if you’re wondering why this the design for a Holocaust Memorial, Sam and I weren’t sure either. I think the best explanation we got was something about how, wandering through them, you feel lost amid a grey, stone cold maze of sameness. I don't think it's one block for each person who ____ .
We then walked a ways to the Technikmuseum, a technology museum. With LOTS of boats. And, thanks to an interactive installation, we learned that Sam has no idea how to steer one.
For dinner, we were in the mood for sushi (largely thanks to a TripAdvisor suggestion on a great place moderately priced). I had sake for the first time and I actually really liked it.
(133) is Wednesday, 19 May 2010.
There’s another bakery just down the block from where we ate the day before. It’s a more impressive display of tarts and such. They had bagels and meats as well; it was a good deal for very attractive food. I’d recommend the first place over this one, but it’s still worth a stop if you’ve got more than a few days. Or if you can actually FIND either of these places...
Today’s big event was Sachsenhausen, the concentration camp north of Berlin. The weather was grey and depressing (that is, perfect). There’s not much to Sachsenhausen; just old empty buildings, maybe a spot of museum here and there, and the pervasive mood of paying respects on a huge flat expanse of land. I was observant and respectful, but I didn’t feel particularly shocked or that my world had changed. I think two things explain this; the first is that Sachsenhausen was more of a holding facility than a death camp. Thus, its horror is not quite as dramatic as, say, Auschwitz.
Now, of course, me being me, I feared for a bit that I should have been feeling something I wasn't... the shock and horror, etc. But then I thought, Sam and I knew what we were in for with this visit. It's not like we studied the holocaust as a footnote of the military history of WWII. And I think that’s a silver lining of sorts; we were already cognizant of the horrors, thanks to the help of teachers (be it in school or family) starting at a far younger age. Since speaking two languages doesn’t make me or Sam especially well-educated or cultured, maybe this does.
The other silver lining was that we saw this place with Fabio and Paul, two travelers we ran into on the way to the camp (and they had met at their hostel that morning). Fabio was from South America (I want to say Argentina, but I’m not sure) and Paul was from New Zealand. Both nice guys, and they made one of the better odd couples I’ve ever met. Paul has a pretty thick accent, so Fabio wouldn’t always understand his intonation or might not hear a word. I’ll illustrate:
PAUL: “So, where are you going tomorrow?”
FABIO: “Yes.”
[Awkward silence for a moment]
But they were fun. It was nice to have someone else to talk with on that train back to the city… I just did not have it in me to spend another hour and a half convincing Sam that he was wrong: that there was no such thing as a ninja administration office, and that even if there was, it would be hidden and so he couldn’t simply move in with millions of American dollars and recruit the ninjas for the U.S. military.
We decided we couldn’t leave Germany without hitting a beer garden, so despite the weather and consequent poor attendance, we ate at Prater Garten, which you can find here.** I didn’t like the hop-loaded beer I ordered, but the veal Wiener Schnitzel was top-notch: great meat deliciously prepared.
(134) is Thursday, 20 May 2010.
Another TripAdvisor tip was Sowol Als Auch, a café in a very picturesque neighborhood (not far from the Sushi place and Prater Garten, actually) that reminded me somewhat of the more walkable residential streets in Manhattan. Anyway, the cafe had cute waitresses, patio dining, and delicious food. I had fried eggs with shrimp and salmon and a vanilla milkshake with a hint of banana. Both were great.
And we couldn’t leave Berlin without seeing the remains of the Berlin Wall. This is one of my favorite things that I’ve seen (which explains why about a third of the Berlin photos on my computer are of this site). Not only is there so much history behind it, but it’s kind of fitting that this dark, gritty landmark with a dark, gritty past is in the middle of a gritty factory area of the city. And of course, the artwork on the wall is pretty incredible, as the photo album for this entry exhaustively proves. I don’t know if there’s a turnover rate for murals, but many were marked to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall last November.
After the wall, we booked it to one last recommendation, Opern Palais, for a delicious lunch. It's right here. Anyway, my sausages with mashed potatoes and kraut were very good, but Sam’s dark horse order of Currywurst stole the show. And, as the guidebooks and sites (and I) will tell you, the real reason to eat here is for the dazzling selection of homemade cakes. I had something called ‘Tree Cake’ (there’s a photo), which was tasty, but I’m sure any of it would have been good.
Sam had to book it to his flight, so we got our bags from the hostel. And of course the sun started to come out as we walked from the hostel to the metro with our suitcases. We said our goodbyes on the train platform.
But I had one more stop to make, since my flight wasn’t until the evening. As you may have guessed from my Frank Gehry comments (or maybe just knowing me), I’m an architecture and design enthusiast. So, I wanted to make a stop at the Bauhaus, a museum to the famous mid-20th century school of architects. It was a tiny little exhibit, but I liked looking at all the geometric drawings and models and examples of furniture.*** Too bad it was half under renovation and they didn’t allow pictures (that didn’t stop me). But for 3 euro, it was a nice visit. I also learned about Walter Gropius, another man mentioned in the Tom Lehrer song I linked you to in the last entry.
I left, satisfied with my last stop, the week’s travels, and my state of being in general. As I walked down the ramp from the Bauhaus, the cloudy sun and soft breeze sang through the stark green leaves—softly, and more or less in tune—and reminded me: this is what spring could be.
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Footnotes
* Think 2001: A Space Odyssey… That is, think 2001: A Space Odyssey if you’ve seen it and are still capable of sensical thought. Most people aren’t afterward. It took me months to recover, and if I hadn’t been folding laundry at the time and thereby distracted, I honestly doubt you’d be reading this now.
** I’m starting to wonder if it’s still worth it to point out my recommendations to you, as I am going almost exclusively by TripAdvisor from this point forward, and you can go on their website much more easily than sifting through my blog again. But you know what? I’m a creature of habit. And perhaps when I get to the French Riviera, I’ll discover my own favorite places again.
*** My parents have a Bauhaus chair at home, and there was one just like it on display. My father was matter-of-fact when I told him about this. Not that I knew it was a Bauhaus chair… to me, since I was four, it’s just been the cool-looking but impossibly uncomfortable and unwieldy black leather-strip chair in the living room that your butt slips through the back of because you’re four and not tall enough to sit in the chair properly.
...I suppose "Bauhaus Chair" is a tad more concise, even if some of the meaning is lost.
Here are the photos. I refer to several of them this time around, so you might want to take a look if you don't typically.
Sam and I actually filled the time in Berlin. In fact, I’d say we should have gotten an earlier flight out of Vienna the day before. Oh, well.
We got breakfast at this really good pastry place, but tracking down the exact location again is proving quite difficult. Best I can do is tell you that it's near Weinmeisterstrasse metro.
We then hit the New Museum, which ironically housed ancient Egyptian artifacts (among other cool old stuff). Best part was the building though, which probably explains the name. There’s a big, gorgeous exposed-brick atrium in the middle if you look at my pictures. We also saw some 17th-19th century art in the next door museum, which was kind of average… and for some reason, the security guard really didn’t want me carrying my jacket in my arm. Huh.
Afterward, we wandered down Friedrichstrasse, which is the main street in Berlin (our hostel, BaxPax Downtown, was right off said street: huge bonus). We mostly found run-of-the-mill fancy shops, but then there was the VW dealership… Sam’s more of a car connoisseur than I, so he was floored when we saw a Bugatti (I'm told they're legendary, but I just see a car from a sci-fi movie) and a Bentley. There's a picture in the album of a motor almost the size of a nearby child. Cool store, though; big enough to be its own museum.
So, I’m really happy my camera battery held out for a few more minutes, because our next stop was the well-recognized Brandenburg Gate. What I liked even more, however, was the DZ Bank just to the left side in that plaza. This business building, as you’ll see in the picture, looks entirely ordinary from the outside. But go inside, and you find the work of American architect Frank Gehry, who is well known for his mind- (and metal-) bending designs. I wish I’d gotten more angles of this, but they don’t let you in past the reception.
Lunch was less remarkable than Sam’s attempt to get a recommendation. My approach: go on TripAdvisor or Zagat or something beforehand. But, since I hadn't, we were left with Sam’s approach:
“Hey, there’s the American Embassy! Why don’t we ask somebody there?”
“Sam, what the—”
“Dude, they speak English, and they probably know what’s around here.”
“Alright…”
We approach the security guard just outside the building. This is the closest I’ve been to American soil in four and a half months. Sam poses his question to the security guard outside the building.
“Well, that’s one I don’t think I’ve gotten before…!”
Sam laughs. Not that he needs a prompt to do so.
“Well, if you go through the gate, and go round the corner?” The guard instructs, “There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts.”
Dunkin’ Donuts?? Really??? Supporting American interests to the end… somebody needs to give this guy a raise.
“…And next to the Dunkin’ Donuts—”
Ohhhh, okay!
“—is a noodle box place," the guard finishes, "that’s where I usually get lunch.”
Good work, Sam.
There’s really no point to that story—we got lunch somewhere forgettable. But it was right next to the Holocaust memorial just a few steps from Brandenburg Gate, the DZ bank, and the American Embassy. The memorial is a sizeable expanse of square monolithic blocks.* The whole thing is on uneven ground, so some blocks are knee-height, while others down the slope are a good 8+ feet high. They're not all the same height, though. And it’s a grid, so each monolith is pretty close to those surrounding it, so if you were feeling uniquely disrespectful, you could hop across the top of these blocks all the way around.
By the way, if you’re wondering why this the design for a Holocaust Memorial, Sam and I weren’t sure either. I think the best explanation we got was something about how, wandering through them, you feel lost amid a grey, stone cold maze of sameness. I don't think it's one block for each person who ____ .
We then walked a ways to the Technikmuseum, a technology museum. With LOTS of boats. And, thanks to an interactive installation, we learned that Sam has no idea how to steer one.
For dinner, we were in the mood for sushi (largely thanks to a TripAdvisor suggestion on a great place moderately priced). I had sake for the first time and I actually really liked it.
(133) is Wednesday, 19 May 2010.
There’s another bakery just down the block from where we ate the day before. It’s a more impressive display of tarts and such. They had bagels and meats as well; it was a good deal for very attractive food. I’d recommend the first place over this one, but it’s still worth a stop if you’ve got more than a few days. Or if you can actually FIND either of these places...
Today’s big event was Sachsenhausen, the concentration camp north of Berlin. The weather was grey and depressing (that is, perfect). There’s not much to Sachsenhausen; just old empty buildings, maybe a spot of museum here and there, and the pervasive mood of paying respects on a huge flat expanse of land. I was observant and respectful, but I didn’t feel particularly shocked or that my world had changed. I think two things explain this; the first is that Sachsenhausen was more of a holding facility than a death camp. Thus, its horror is not quite as dramatic as, say, Auschwitz.
Now, of course, me being me, I feared for a bit that I should have been feeling something I wasn't... the shock and horror, etc. But then I thought, Sam and I knew what we were in for with this visit. It's not like we studied the holocaust as a footnote of the military history of WWII. And I think that’s a silver lining of sorts; we were already cognizant of the horrors, thanks to the help of teachers (be it in school or family) starting at a far younger age. Since speaking two languages doesn’t make me or Sam especially well-educated or cultured, maybe this does.
The other silver lining was that we saw this place with Fabio and Paul, two travelers we ran into on the way to the camp (and they had met at their hostel that morning). Fabio was from South America (I want to say Argentina, but I’m not sure) and Paul was from New Zealand. Both nice guys, and they made one of the better odd couples I’ve ever met. Paul has a pretty thick accent, so Fabio wouldn’t always understand his intonation or might not hear a word. I’ll illustrate:
PAUL: “So, where are you going tomorrow?”
FABIO: “Yes.”
[Awkward silence for a moment]
But they were fun. It was nice to have someone else to talk with on that train back to the city… I just did not have it in me to spend another hour and a half convincing Sam that he was wrong: that there was no such thing as a ninja administration office, and that even if there was, it would be hidden and so he couldn’t simply move in with millions of American dollars and recruit the ninjas for the U.S. military.
We decided we couldn’t leave Germany without hitting a beer garden, so despite the weather and consequent poor attendance, we ate at Prater Garten, which you can find here.** I didn’t like the hop-loaded beer I ordered, but the veal Wiener Schnitzel was top-notch: great meat deliciously prepared.
(134) is Thursday, 20 May 2010.
Another TripAdvisor tip was Sowol Als Auch, a café in a very picturesque neighborhood (not far from the Sushi place and Prater Garten, actually) that reminded me somewhat of the more walkable residential streets in Manhattan. Anyway, the cafe had cute waitresses, patio dining, and delicious food. I had fried eggs with shrimp and salmon and a vanilla milkshake with a hint of banana. Both were great.
And we couldn’t leave Berlin without seeing the remains of the Berlin Wall. This is one of my favorite things that I’ve seen (which explains why about a third of the Berlin photos on my computer are of this site). Not only is there so much history behind it, but it’s kind of fitting that this dark, gritty landmark with a dark, gritty past is in the middle of a gritty factory area of the city. And of course, the artwork on the wall is pretty incredible, as the photo album for this entry exhaustively proves. I don’t know if there’s a turnover rate for murals, but many were marked to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall last November.
After the wall, we booked it to one last recommendation, Opern Palais, for a delicious lunch. It's right here. Anyway, my sausages with mashed potatoes and kraut were very good, but Sam’s dark horse order of Currywurst stole the show. And, as the guidebooks and sites (and I) will tell you, the real reason to eat here is for the dazzling selection of homemade cakes. I had something called ‘Tree Cake’ (there’s a photo), which was tasty, but I’m sure any of it would have been good.
Sam had to book it to his flight, so we got our bags from the hostel. And of course the sun started to come out as we walked from the hostel to the metro with our suitcases. We said our goodbyes on the train platform.
But I had one more stop to make, since my flight wasn’t until the evening. As you may have guessed from my Frank Gehry comments (or maybe just knowing me), I’m an architecture and design enthusiast. So, I wanted to make a stop at the Bauhaus, a museum to the famous mid-20th century school of architects. It was a tiny little exhibit, but I liked looking at all the geometric drawings and models and examples of furniture.*** Too bad it was half under renovation and they didn’t allow pictures (that didn’t stop me). But for 3 euro, it was a nice visit. I also learned about Walter Gropius, another man mentioned in the Tom Lehrer song I linked you to in the last entry.
I left, satisfied with my last stop, the week’s travels, and my state of being in general. As I walked down the ramp from the Bauhaus, the cloudy sun and soft breeze sang through the stark green leaves—softly, and more or less in tune—and reminded me: this is what spring could be.
-------------------------------------
Footnotes
* Think 2001: A Space Odyssey… That is, think 2001: A Space Odyssey if you’ve seen it and are still capable of sensical thought. Most people aren’t afterward. It took me months to recover, and if I hadn’t been folding laundry at the time and thereby distracted, I honestly doubt you’d be reading this now.
** I’m starting to wonder if it’s still worth it to point out my recommendations to you, as I am going almost exclusively by TripAdvisor from this point forward, and you can go on their website much more easily than sifting through my blog again. But you know what? I’m a creature of habit. And perhaps when I get to the French Riviera, I’ll discover my own favorite places again.
*** My parents have a Bauhaus chair at home, and there was one just like it on display. My father was matter-of-fact when I told him about this. Not that I knew it was a Bauhaus chair… to me, since I was four, it’s just been the cool-looking but impossibly uncomfortable and unwieldy black leather-strip chair in the living room that your butt slips through the back of because you’re four and not tall enough to sit in the chair properly.
...I suppose "Bauhaus Chair" is a tad more concise, even if some of the meaning is lost.
22 June 2010
(128-131): Vienna, Out of Context
Ever wonder how far you can take a conversation into the realm of absurdity? Ever wonder what it would be like to have a laugh-track playing over your entire life? And do you ever wonder what it would be like if that laugh-track provided most of its own ridiculous jokes and, by laughing at its own jokes, made them the funniest things you’ve ever heard?
I often do. That’s why I spent a week traveling with Sam Seifman.
And—as if Sam’s and my brand of humor and inside jokes weren’t absurd enough already—there is one thing I need to explain about Vienna. In the various places I’ve been this semester, I understand most things I see: signs, posters, ads, you know. The cultures are reasonably close to my own, so I find most of the visual logic and cues are pretty intuitive.
Not here.
I don’t know why, when, or how this happened, but Vienna has developed into a place where, if you can’t read the captions, the pictures and ads you see virtually everywhere are bizarre and incomprehensible. This city makes no sense out of context. But you know something?
Sam and I can jam to that.
(128) is Friday, 14 May 2010.
Now that I’ve explained my angle on Vienna, you’ll probably have a much better time understanding why I took these particular photos. Key word there is “probably.”
Sam and I found our way to our Hostel in Hütteldorf (called Hostel Hütteldorf), a Viennese* suburb. The hostel was fine—best part was definitely the name “Hütteldorf”—but it was kind of far out from central Vienna. We got lunch at a place near the hostel called Weinbrunnen (which you should go to if you do stay at that hostel… not that any of you, my audience, are actually likely to, I realize).
Before our trip, we didn’t know much about Austrian/German cuisine (“brautwurst” and snickering at the term “Wiener Schnitzel” were more or less the list). But Sam has this great culinary motto, which is: “Eat where you are.” So, if you’re in a restaurant in a place by the sea, get the flounder and hold off on the steak. Similarly, don’t get flounder in Grinnell, Iowa, which is home to more corn (and corn-fed cows) than people. With this strategy, Sam always wins the “who ordered the best” game, and he did it at lunch by ordering something he couldn’t pronounce. I ordered half of a fried chicken. I’ve gotten better about trying new food, but I was really tired from staying up late to pack and didn’t feel like branching out this time.
Still, I was rather chagrined when Sam got a huge plate of delicious meats prepared in the traditional style and served with sauerkraut and I got chicken tenders. Freaking chicken tenders! I’m in Vienna and I get the food standby from when I was seven. Sam couldn’t get enough of it (and I bet you’re laughing again now, you old dog, you).
After a siesta, we wandered into Vienna proper with a map, but no real sense of orientation yet. We walked and, well, stuff snuck up on us. We saw some nice building façades, but nothing stunning until the huge cathedral at Stephansplatz just appeared! We were in the city center now, so there were plenty more cool old buildings to find, scattered about the many pedestrian streets. The twilight was nice, too, so we had a generally nice walk.
At dinner, Sam ordered this drink called a Radler, which I recommend because I’m typically not a beer drinker. This brand combination of blond beer and lemonade was delicious (does wonders to counteract the hops I hate). It came in a sizeable bottle that would last Sam the meal. I, more the cocktail drinker, ordered an aperitif described as warm and apple with whipped cream and delicious. And it was all that. But the glass wasn’t quite as big as Sam’s.
As he put it: “It’s the perfect size for a leprechaun!”**
But I had sausage and sauerkraut, which made up for it. That, and the man performing whatever words he could remember of “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” on an instrument whose exposed strings you hit with mallets.
(129) is Saturday, 15 May 2010.
My daily on-the-fly planning took us to the Schönbrunn Palace and gardens. It’s roughly Austria’s answer to Versailles, and it’s no mere snarky retort.
We walked the gardens (free, and definitely a good idea if the weather’s good) and shelled out a few Euro to walk the equally rewarding garden labyrinth.*** After the labyrinth and utter tangent of a footnote, it was lunchtime because hostel breakfasts aren’t all that filling. We hopped into the restaurant on premises, where we indulged in really good hamburgers (called “hapsburgers!” Get it???) with a great sauce. We decided to get dessert, too: Sam had Sacher Torte (more on that in a bit) while I had their delicious homemade apple strudel. See the word “homemade”? That means I won at “who ordered the best.”
Back in Vienna proper, Sam and I got tickets for a tour of the Vienna Opera House. I was kind of hoping for more of a backstage/behind-the-scenes tour, but it was still really cool: that’s a beautiful building; I highly recommend you walk around there at somepoint, be it for a show or on that same tour. We got to see the tech crew putting up the set for the evening’s show, so that was something. They basically told us the history of the opera house. I liked learning more about Gustav Mahler (of whom I first heard in this song by Tom Lehrer, who sings “The Vatican Rag”), and I liked what he did with the opera. Until he became the guy in charge in the 50s, performers would just stand in place and sing an aria. “Not good enough,” says Gus. “This is a story. Y’all have to act.” So, from that point on, they do.
We got dinner at an off-the-beaten-path place (yay TripAdvisor!) called Schöne Perle (it’s German for “precious pearl” and located HERE). It’s where locals go, for good food and lighting that is low, reddish-yellow, and gives a great gritty city atmosphere. I had a pot-au-feu soup and—get ready—Wiener Schnitzel. Now, I used to think this food was funny, so I understand your instinct to laugh, but take me seriously (or as seriously as you ever can, I suppose) for just a second and read this next sentence. Wiener Schnitzel is a large, thin cut of chicken, pork, or veal breaded and pan-fried to delicious perfection and served with some kind of potatoes (often delicious as well).
Not so funny anymore, eh? Kinda’ awesome? Yeah. That’s what I thought.
So, about 154 food descriptions ago, I mentioned Sam had Sacher Torte and that I’d come back to it. Well, here we are. Our next stop was dessert at the famous Sacher Hotel, where they’ve made famous a rich, semi-dry chocolate cake with a hint of tangerine. Sam and I had delicious coffee and hot chocolate, respectively. I think Sacher Torte is decent, but you only need to get it once, and you only should get it from them.
(130) is Sunday, 16 May 2010.
“So,” Sam and I reasoned that morning, “Because we aren’t crazy enough, and because our laughter isn’t crazy enough, and because the signs around us aren’t crazy enough, let’s add more absurdity to this experience in Vienna.”
“Let’s start the day at this absurd city’s finest modern art museum.”
No decade did modern art better than the 80s. Televisions looked awful, and so the avant-garde people decide they were beautiful and a perfect medium. Films were campy but made sense, so filmmakers had to go back to black and white and film a dude standing on a rock flapping his arms, trying and failing to fly (no joke… it was hilarious). There were also 10-second films at which we laughed hysterically.
Also, the European clothing chain Humanic turned out some of the finest commercials I've ever seen. Here's one of them, and here's another!
Well, it was fun for a while, but that trip went on a little too long. When we finally came off it we were… in the rain again. Damn. We ate and wandered. I think it was somewhere in here that one of the… tentacles? of my umbrella broke. You know, one of the six parts that hold the fabric outstretched. Sam’s umbrella had broken at least a day back. I was stubborn.
By this time, we’d made a few observations about Vienna:
1.) It doesn’t really feel like a city: not many residential buildings in the main part of town, all businesses and old buildings… it feels more like a place to visit.
2.) No matter where in town you are or which way you’re walking, the city center seems to have a gravity-like effect. You always find your way back there. What helps this phenomenon along is that the city center isn’t all that big.
3.) The city’s biggest draw are its buildings and parks, both of which require you to walk around outside. Not a pleasant prospect when it was raining.
So, with these things in mind, we decided it was time to kill a few hours. Soapman hadn’t seen Iron Man 2, so we found an English-language movie theater showing it on their big screen. It was a very cool place, actually, with lots of old projectors and stuff on display. Also, they assigned seats, like in a theater theater. And you know something? After a lukewarm reaction to it in Paris, I actually liked the movie better the second time I saw it.
Dinner was an obscurely-located (not even Google can find it) place called Gäuzchen, an tavern of sorts with lots of good food at student prices. It was here that Sam and I laughed over how people from most other countries speak English better than we do. Looking at the menu, I saw a combo appetizer platter with all your standard American diner-food cravings, and I was food-homesick: fries, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, etc. I ordered it, but the waitress gave me a tip to get something else.
“Not good?” I asked.
“Well, it’s alright; it’s just a little… uninspired.”
Good enough for me. I didn’t write down what I actually got… probably Wiener Schnitzel.
But can we go back to the part where this woman described a dish as “uninspired”? Brilliant use of the word! Most Americans (myself included) typically wouldn’t think to use that phrasing. I was going to wait on this, but I might as well go ahead into a philosophical matter now, since it’s relevant and will break up the food descriptions.
I was with Mom and Dad at dinner back in March, and after ordering everyone’s food in French, they glad-handed me about how great it was that I could do that so easily and that it was the mark of a truly educated person to be able to speak so well in two languages. And, as I’ve travelled a bit, I’ve been thinking about that. I don’t disagree with them; most Americans can’t even speak English well. But this waitress, like the many other bilingual people I’ve meet this year, got me thinking:
She’s German.
She’s bilingual, one language being English.
She’s normal.
I’m American.
I’m bilingual, one language being English.
I’m well-educated.
That doesn’t seem fair.
(131) is Monday, 17 May 2010.
It stopped raining! Everybody’s in the play! And don’t you know… that I got carried away into my favorite song by Electric Light Orchestra. But it did stop raining, so Sam and I finally got to see some of the gardens, where we walked, swapped story ideas, and sang "The General" by Dispatch.****
So, can anybody explain why there are an obscene number of links in this entry? I can't.
Lunch today was at Trzesniewski, and the place gets my award for best meal in Vienna. It’s easily found here, just off one of the main streets in the city center (there’s even a sizeable sign pointing you into the right side street). This place does just one thing: little pieces of bread with different puréed spread combinations, one euro apiece. We ordered five each and were euphorically full for the cost of 5 euro. All of these “sandwiches” were delicious… our favorites were liver, salmon and cream cheese, and egg. So, to answer your question, yes I was Jewish for the duration of the meal.
Since we were just killing hours until our flight to Berlin that evening, we decided to try the Ferris Wheel. So, we made it to that end of town and discovered not just the wheel, but a SECOND wheel. But, hold on a tick… what’s all this stuff here around the second wheel? Is that—an AMUSEMENT PARK?!?!
Um… this was kinda’ necessary.
We walked around, but despite its being mid-May, most rides were closed. We did see these huge funhouses that were several stories high and glorified obstacle courses, most of whose perils you could see on front-facing balconies. It was so much fun to just stand and watch grown men—who paid good money to do this!—walking through these ridiculous, embarrassing sets of bumpers and rollers and rotating crawl-on-your-knees tunnels and who-the-bloody-hell-knows what else. Watching was way more fun than doing would have been: I’m sure of it
We found an operating roller coaster, which was surprisingly good. I then stepped in a puddle. Sam then laughed. I got cotton candy (also kinda’ necessary at an amusement park). Sam’s marshmallow-chocolate-dessert-thing then fell on the ground. I then laughed.
What followed was just walking a huge circle around greater downtown Vienna. We saw the university building, which we hadn’t yet, and it was a very cool gothic structure. Unfortunately, the impressive-looking gothic cathedrals we passed were closed today.
After dinner at Weinbrunnen again, we got Magnum bars (but no sign of the mysterious Magnum Gold?!) before heading to the disorganized mess that is Vienna airport.
---------------------------------------------
Anybody know how to say “Footnote” in German?
* I think “Viennese” may be my favorite location-related descriptor of them all. Not to be confused with “Vietnamese,” a word for which I have no special affection.
** I don’t read German, but I bet they had a special price if you ordered it with chicken tenders.
*** I’ve been to ones where it’s just the labyrinth pattern on the ground in different colored bricks. LAME! Without walls, it’s just as silly as the scheme I had when I was four with my neighborhood friend Vito (then Christopher, nickname Christy) to trap my dad in the basement. The plan was to build a path out of blocks leading my dad to the place on the floor where he was supposed to sleep for the night. Then, during the night, I was supposed to come down to the basement and rearrange the blocks so there was no longer an exit. Trapped: no way out. Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I want you to know I’ve come to appreciate your wisdom somewhat better in the last seventeen years.
**** I love that song, but I actually prefer this recording of it by Matthew's Minstrels, a brilliant Vassar A Capella group. Note my dear former roomie, Jon Fuller, on the refrain harmony.
I often do. That’s why I spent a week traveling with Sam Seifman.
And—as if Sam’s and my brand of humor and inside jokes weren’t absurd enough already—there is one thing I need to explain about Vienna. In the various places I’ve been this semester, I understand most things I see: signs, posters, ads, you know. The cultures are reasonably close to my own, so I find most of the visual logic and cues are pretty intuitive.
Not here.
I don’t know why, when, or how this happened, but Vienna has developed into a place where, if you can’t read the captions, the pictures and ads you see virtually everywhere are bizarre and incomprehensible. This city makes no sense out of context. But you know something?
Sam and I can jam to that.
(128) is Friday, 14 May 2010.
Now that I’ve explained my angle on Vienna, you’ll probably have a much better time understanding why I took these particular photos. Key word there is “probably.”
Sam and I found our way to our Hostel in Hütteldorf (called Hostel Hütteldorf), a Viennese* suburb. The hostel was fine—best part was definitely the name “Hütteldorf”—but it was kind of far out from central Vienna. We got lunch at a place near the hostel called Weinbrunnen (which you should go to if you do stay at that hostel… not that any of you, my audience, are actually likely to, I realize).
Before our trip, we didn’t know much about Austrian/German cuisine (“brautwurst” and snickering at the term “Wiener Schnitzel” were more or less the list). But Sam has this great culinary motto, which is: “Eat where you are.” So, if you’re in a restaurant in a place by the sea, get the flounder and hold off on the steak. Similarly, don’t get flounder in Grinnell, Iowa, which is home to more corn (and corn-fed cows) than people. With this strategy, Sam always wins the “who ordered the best” game, and he did it at lunch by ordering something he couldn’t pronounce. I ordered half of a fried chicken. I’ve gotten better about trying new food, but I was really tired from staying up late to pack and didn’t feel like branching out this time.
Still, I was rather chagrined when Sam got a huge plate of delicious meats prepared in the traditional style and served with sauerkraut and I got chicken tenders. Freaking chicken tenders! I’m in Vienna and I get the food standby from when I was seven. Sam couldn’t get enough of it (and I bet you’re laughing again now, you old dog, you).
After a siesta, we wandered into Vienna proper with a map, but no real sense of orientation yet. We walked and, well, stuff snuck up on us. We saw some nice building façades, but nothing stunning until the huge cathedral at Stephansplatz just appeared! We were in the city center now, so there were plenty more cool old buildings to find, scattered about the many pedestrian streets. The twilight was nice, too, so we had a generally nice walk.
At dinner, Sam ordered this drink called a Radler, which I recommend because I’m typically not a beer drinker. This brand combination of blond beer and lemonade was delicious (does wonders to counteract the hops I hate). It came in a sizeable bottle that would last Sam the meal. I, more the cocktail drinker, ordered an aperitif described as warm and apple with whipped cream and delicious. And it was all that. But the glass wasn’t quite as big as Sam’s.
As he put it: “It’s the perfect size for a leprechaun!”**
But I had sausage and sauerkraut, which made up for it. That, and the man performing whatever words he could remember of “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” on an instrument whose exposed strings you hit with mallets.
(129) is Saturday, 15 May 2010.
My daily on-the-fly planning took us to the Schönbrunn Palace and gardens. It’s roughly Austria’s answer to Versailles, and it’s no mere snarky retort.
We walked the gardens (free, and definitely a good idea if the weather’s good) and shelled out a few Euro to walk the equally rewarding garden labyrinth.*** After the labyrinth and utter tangent of a footnote, it was lunchtime because hostel breakfasts aren’t all that filling. We hopped into the restaurant on premises, where we indulged in really good hamburgers (called “hapsburgers!” Get it???) with a great sauce. We decided to get dessert, too: Sam had Sacher Torte (more on that in a bit) while I had their delicious homemade apple strudel. See the word “homemade”? That means I won at “who ordered the best.”
Back in Vienna proper, Sam and I got tickets for a tour of the Vienna Opera House. I was kind of hoping for more of a backstage/behind-the-scenes tour, but it was still really cool: that’s a beautiful building; I highly recommend you walk around there at somepoint, be it for a show or on that same tour. We got to see the tech crew putting up the set for the evening’s show, so that was something. They basically told us the history of the opera house. I liked learning more about Gustav Mahler (of whom I first heard in this song by Tom Lehrer, who sings “The Vatican Rag”), and I liked what he did with the opera. Until he became the guy in charge in the 50s, performers would just stand in place and sing an aria. “Not good enough,” says Gus. “This is a story. Y’all have to act.” So, from that point on, they do.
We got dinner at an off-the-beaten-path place (yay TripAdvisor!) called Schöne Perle (it’s German for “precious pearl” and located HERE). It’s where locals go, for good food and lighting that is low, reddish-yellow, and gives a great gritty city atmosphere. I had a pot-au-feu soup and—get ready—Wiener Schnitzel. Now, I used to think this food was funny, so I understand your instinct to laugh, but take me seriously (or as seriously as you ever can, I suppose) for just a second and read this next sentence. Wiener Schnitzel is a large, thin cut of chicken, pork, or veal breaded and pan-fried to delicious perfection and served with some kind of potatoes (often delicious as well).
Not so funny anymore, eh? Kinda’ awesome? Yeah. That’s what I thought.
So, about 154 food descriptions ago, I mentioned Sam had Sacher Torte and that I’d come back to it. Well, here we are. Our next stop was dessert at the famous Sacher Hotel, where they’ve made famous a rich, semi-dry chocolate cake with a hint of tangerine. Sam and I had delicious coffee and hot chocolate, respectively. I think Sacher Torte is decent, but you only need to get it once, and you only should get it from them.
(130) is Sunday, 16 May 2010.
“So,” Sam and I reasoned that morning, “Because we aren’t crazy enough, and because our laughter isn’t crazy enough, and because the signs around us aren’t crazy enough, let’s add more absurdity to this experience in Vienna.”
“Let’s start the day at this absurd city’s finest modern art museum.”
No decade did modern art better than the 80s. Televisions looked awful, and so the avant-garde people decide they were beautiful and a perfect medium. Films were campy but made sense, so filmmakers had to go back to black and white and film a dude standing on a rock flapping his arms, trying and failing to fly (no joke… it was hilarious). There were also 10-second films at which we laughed hysterically.
Also, the European clothing chain Humanic turned out some of the finest commercials I've ever seen. Here's one of them, and here's another!
Well, it was fun for a while, but that trip went on a little too long. When we finally came off it we were… in the rain again. Damn. We ate and wandered. I think it was somewhere in here that one of the… tentacles? of my umbrella broke. You know, one of the six parts that hold the fabric outstretched. Sam’s umbrella had broken at least a day back. I was stubborn.
By this time, we’d made a few observations about Vienna:
1.) It doesn’t really feel like a city: not many residential buildings in the main part of town, all businesses and old buildings… it feels more like a place to visit.
2.) No matter where in town you are or which way you’re walking, the city center seems to have a gravity-like effect. You always find your way back there. What helps this phenomenon along is that the city center isn’t all that big.
3.) The city’s biggest draw are its buildings and parks, both of which require you to walk around outside. Not a pleasant prospect when it was raining.
So, with these things in mind, we decided it was time to kill a few hours. Soapman hadn’t seen Iron Man 2, so we found an English-language movie theater showing it on their big screen. It was a very cool place, actually, with lots of old projectors and stuff on display. Also, they assigned seats, like in a theater theater. And you know something? After a lukewarm reaction to it in Paris, I actually liked the movie better the second time I saw it.
Dinner was an obscurely-located (not even Google can find it) place called Gäuzchen, an tavern of sorts with lots of good food at student prices. It was here that Sam and I laughed over how people from most other countries speak English better than we do. Looking at the menu, I saw a combo appetizer platter with all your standard American diner-food cravings, and I was food-homesick: fries, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, etc. I ordered it, but the waitress gave me a tip to get something else.
“Not good?” I asked.
“Well, it’s alright; it’s just a little… uninspired.”
Good enough for me. I didn’t write down what I actually got… probably Wiener Schnitzel.
But can we go back to the part where this woman described a dish as “uninspired”? Brilliant use of the word! Most Americans (myself included) typically wouldn’t think to use that phrasing. I was going to wait on this, but I might as well go ahead into a philosophical matter now, since it’s relevant and will break up the food descriptions.
I was with Mom and Dad at dinner back in March, and after ordering everyone’s food in French, they glad-handed me about how great it was that I could do that so easily and that it was the mark of a truly educated person to be able to speak so well in two languages. And, as I’ve travelled a bit, I’ve been thinking about that. I don’t disagree with them; most Americans can’t even speak English well. But this waitress, like the many other bilingual people I’ve meet this year, got me thinking:
She’s German.
She’s bilingual, one language being English.
She’s normal.
I’m American.
I’m bilingual, one language being English.
I’m well-educated.
That doesn’t seem fair.
(131) is Monday, 17 May 2010.
It stopped raining! Everybody’s in the play! And don’t you know… that I got carried away into my favorite song by Electric Light Orchestra. But it did stop raining, so Sam and I finally got to see some of the gardens, where we walked, swapped story ideas, and sang "The General" by Dispatch.****
So, can anybody explain why there are an obscene number of links in this entry? I can't.
Lunch today was at Trzesniewski, and the place gets my award for best meal in Vienna. It’s easily found here, just off one of the main streets in the city center (there’s even a sizeable sign pointing you into the right side street). This place does just one thing: little pieces of bread with different puréed spread combinations, one euro apiece. We ordered five each and were euphorically full for the cost of 5 euro. All of these “sandwiches” were delicious… our favorites were liver, salmon and cream cheese, and egg. So, to answer your question, yes I was Jewish for the duration of the meal.
Since we were just killing hours until our flight to Berlin that evening, we decided to try the Ferris Wheel. So, we made it to that end of town and discovered not just the wheel, but a SECOND wheel. But, hold on a tick… what’s all this stuff here around the second wheel? Is that—an AMUSEMENT PARK?!?!
Um… this was kinda’ necessary.
We walked around, but despite its being mid-May, most rides were closed. We did see these huge funhouses that were several stories high and glorified obstacle courses, most of whose perils you could see on front-facing balconies. It was so much fun to just stand and watch grown men—who paid good money to do this!—walking through these ridiculous, embarrassing sets of bumpers and rollers and rotating crawl-on-your-knees tunnels and who-the-bloody-hell-knows what else. Watching was way more fun than doing would have been: I’m sure of it
We found an operating roller coaster, which was surprisingly good. I then stepped in a puddle. Sam then laughed. I got cotton candy (also kinda’ necessary at an amusement park). Sam’s marshmallow-chocolate-dessert-thing then fell on the ground. I then laughed.
What followed was just walking a huge circle around greater downtown Vienna. We saw the university building, which we hadn’t yet, and it was a very cool gothic structure. Unfortunately, the impressive-looking gothic cathedrals we passed were closed today.
After dinner at Weinbrunnen again, we got Magnum bars (but no sign of the mysterious Magnum Gold?!) before heading to the disorganized mess that is Vienna airport.
---------------------------------------------
Anybody know how to say “Footnote” in German?
* I think “Viennese” may be my favorite location-related descriptor of them all. Not to be confused with “Vietnamese,” a word for which I have no special affection.
** I don’t read German, but I bet they had a special price if you ordered it with chicken tenders.
*** I’ve been to ones where it’s just the labyrinth pattern on the ground in different colored bricks. LAME! Without walls, it’s just as silly as the scheme I had when I was four with my neighborhood friend Vito (then Christopher, nickname Christy) to trap my dad in the basement. The plan was to build a path out of blocks leading my dad to the place on the floor where he was supposed to sleep for the night. Then, during the night, I was supposed to come down to the basement and rearrange the blocks so there was no longer an exit. Trapped: no way out. Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I want you to know I’ve come to appreciate your wisdom somewhat better in the last seventeen years.
**** I love that song, but I actually prefer this recording of it by Matthew's Minstrels, a brilliant Vassar A Capella group. Note my dear former roomie, Jon Fuller, on the refrain harmony.
19 June 2010
(117-127): Christmas in Kentucky
I think it would be fun to write a TV show-- I don't know what it would be about-- but the episode titles would have NOTHING to do with the content of the episode.
(117-127) are 3-13 May 2010.
So, before the focus of the entry, I have an issue to address, which is the difficulty I've had with uploading photos. I finally seem to be circumventing it, however.
HERE ARE THE PHOTOS FROM FLORENCE, ROME, ATHENS, AND SANTORINI.
I think I’m also going to do one comprehensive entry near the end where I give you the full directory.
Anyway, today’s goal is the record short entry: ten days in four bullet points. And three of them are about movies.
1.) I finished my Hitchcock paper. It came out pretty well: talking about how Hitchcock uses color to highlight objects important to the plot, but more importantly, to represents the personal aspects of each movie. A few examples… in Rear Window, everything outside James Stewart’s window is slightly brighter, showing how they interest him more than his drab apartment (including Grace Kelly, who is dressed in plain but bright blue jeans and a coral button-down shirt in the final shot). In Torn Curtain (underrated movie, by the way), there are small details of blue to indicate when Paul Newman and wife Julie Andrews are safe from the Germans and details of red to indicate when they’re not. Also, when Hitchcock remade The Man Who Knew Too Much in color (only story for which he did this), the remake focused on the family’s stress after their child is kidnapped, as opposed to the father’s apparent primary motive of stopping the bad guys in the original. It goes on and on… for 13 pages… in French…
2.) I turned it in and saw Kick-Ass* to celebrate.
3.) I saw Iron Man 2 a full day before it came out in the U.S. Awesome.
4.) I spent some quality time with my VWPP pals before most of us parted ways, including a second (lovely) dinner at Le Bistrot de Chez Henri (recommended in the entry titled “Days on the 10”) on Rue Princesse.
---------------------------
Footnotes don’t count toward the line limit because of a rule I just made up.
* I don’t care if it was a graphic novel first; I’m pretty damn sure this movie came about because somebody got ahold of—not one—but two of my screenplay ideas, breeded them together, and let their kid play a few too many violent video games. I liked the movie—it was smart, funny, and stylish and while the violence was gratuitous, I understood why it had to be there. But go ahead: see it, and then ask me about Superhero Guy and Black Blade.
(117-127) are 3-13 May 2010.
So, before the focus of the entry, I have an issue to address, which is the difficulty I've had with uploading photos. I finally seem to be circumventing it, however.
HERE ARE THE PHOTOS FROM FLORENCE, ROME, ATHENS, AND SANTORINI.
I think I’m also going to do one comprehensive entry near the end where I give you the full directory.
Anyway, today’s goal is the record short entry: ten days in four bullet points. And three of them are about movies.
1.) I finished my Hitchcock paper. It came out pretty well: talking about how Hitchcock uses color to highlight objects important to the plot, but more importantly, to represents the personal aspects of each movie. A few examples… in Rear Window, everything outside James Stewart’s window is slightly brighter, showing how they interest him more than his drab apartment (including Grace Kelly, who is dressed in plain but bright blue jeans and a coral button-down shirt in the final shot). In Torn Curtain (underrated movie, by the way), there are small details of blue to indicate when Paul Newman and wife Julie Andrews are safe from the Germans and details of red to indicate when they’re not. Also, when Hitchcock remade The Man Who Knew Too Much in color (only story for which he did this), the remake focused on the family’s stress after their child is kidnapped, as opposed to the father’s apparent primary motive of stopping the bad guys in the original. It goes on and on… for 13 pages… in French…
2.) I turned it in and saw Kick-Ass* to celebrate.
3.) I saw Iron Man 2 a full day before it came out in the U.S. Awesome.
4.) I spent some quality time with my VWPP pals before most of us parted ways, including a second (lovely) dinner at Le Bistrot de Chez Henri (recommended in the entry titled “Days on the 10”) on Rue Princesse.
---------------------------
Footnotes don’t count toward the line limit because of a rule I just made up.
* I don’t care if it was a graphic novel first; I’m pretty damn sure this movie came about because somebody got ahold of—not one—but two of my screenplay ideas, breeded them together, and let their kid play a few too many violent video games. I liked the movie—it was smart, funny, and stylish and while the violence was gratuitous, I understood why it had to be there. But go ahead: see it, and then ask me about Superhero Guy and Black Blade.
18 June 2010
(113½-116): This is IOS!!
I have photos for you from this part of the trip! They're right here!
(113½) begins with our arrival in Ios on 29 April 2010.
We took a much faster ferry to Ios with much more comfortable seats. WAY better than taking the SAT.
We checked into Francesco's, a hostel tucked into the honeycombed walkways of Ios Village. It's got a few levels of terraces and just... what a view. The free drinks they provided didn't hurt either. We wandered a bit and got gyros, and then Liz and K-Vomps slept forever while Aaron and I got dinner with a few girls staying at the hostel.
I bolded Francesco's because-- like Stelio's Place-- it's basically a hotel at hostel prices. More importantly, though, if you go to Ios, you have to stay there. You just have to; it's part of the culture. During the off-season (the alternative is supposedly a madhouse), pretty much everybody staying in the village stays there. Everybody knows the place. It's THE party spot (and I mention this because Ios is THE party island*).
To those of you wondering why I've been taking so bloody long to turn out updates-- first of all, if such people do exist, thank you. Secondly, it is not because I have forgotten about my blog, and here is a video that proves it, filmed on location. The clip explains itself. WARNING: This video may not be appropriate to viewers who (like me) hate annoying audio commentaries on films.**
(114) is Friday, 30 April 2010.
We woke up at 1. NOW we're on spring break.
We found a delicious place near the hostel that serves breakfast all day. I had an omelette with a really good vanilla milkshake. Not all that easy to come by in Europe. I don't know the name of the place, but it's on the same walkway that takes you to Francesco's; you'll pass it anytime you approach or leave the place. It's a terrace with a wooden overhead... thing... and a great view of the beach. It's next to where Aaron and Kirizabeth were standing in the video, if you can make it out.
We wandered down to the shore and back for a few hours and found a cupcake shop. We had cupcakes while watching the sunset.
You know, this may be my most succinct account yet of a given day?
Before dinner, we got happy hour drinks at a bar called FunPub, which I recommend because the bartender is hilarious and the place-- I see no way around it-- had to have been built for people like me, who have no idea what to do with themselves in bars otherwise. This place has a pool table, darts, a movie screening room and-- this is the coolest part-- a giant game of Jenga (out of big blocks) in the middle of the floor for people to play for free. FunPub lives up to its name. That's not nothing.
It was at this point that a guy passed us shouting the title of this entry, after the fashion of Gerard Butler in 300.
We then had dinner at a surprisingly good Thai place, hung out at the hostel with other travelers, found our way BACK to FunPub, and then to another place in the village. We then made our way back to the hostel and watched The Road to El Dorado, a wonderful animated movie I hadn't seen since it came out.
And then, we... noted the time. 5 AM. Oh, look at that.
(115) and (116) are Saturday, 1 May and Sunday, 2 May 2010 respectively. As you're about to see, however, I have nothing specific to say about them.
Give or take a few details, our time on Ios consisted of eating at that breakfast/milkshake place at outrageous hours of the day, relaxing on the beach, and getting dinner and drinks at night.
I think if you're reading this blog, you probably know me well enough to know that partying isn't really my thing. Despite this, I preferred Ios to Santorini; it was greener (prettier in my estimation). Also, we got to just relax on a beach, which is kind of what we were in the market for in the first place. Goodness knows I wasn't in the market to return to Paris and write my Hitchcock paper...
Dear Icelandic Volcano,
WE WIN. SUCK IT UP.
Tenderly,
Andy
-----------------------------------
Footnotes
* I think right-hand side of this sign just about says it all:
.JPG)
** And my GOODNESS, my voice is annoying...
(113½) begins with our arrival in Ios on 29 April 2010.
We took a much faster ferry to Ios with much more comfortable seats. WAY better than taking the SAT.
We checked into Francesco's, a hostel tucked into the honeycombed walkways of Ios Village. It's got a few levels of terraces and just... what a view. The free drinks they provided didn't hurt either. We wandered a bit and got gyros, and then Liz and K-Vomps slept forever while Aaron and I got dinner with a few girls staying at the hostel.
I bolded Francesco's because-- like Stelio's Place-- it's basically a hotel at hostel prices. More importantly, though, if you go to Ios, you have to stay there. You just have to; it's part of the culture. During the off-season (the alternative is supposedly a madhouse), pretty much everybody staying in the village stays there. Everybody knows the place. It's THE party spot (and I mention this because Ios is THE party island*).
To those of you wondering why I've been taking so bloody long to turn out updates-- first of all, if such people do exist, thank you. Secondly, it is not because I have forgotten about my blog, and here is a video that proves it, filmed on location. The clip explains itself. WARNING: This video may not be appropriate to viewers who (like me) hate annoying audio commentaries on films.**
(114) is Friday, 30 April 2010.
We woke up at 1. NOW we're on spring break.
We found a delicious place near the hostel that serves breakfast all day. I had an omelette with a really good vanilla milkshake. Not all that easy to come by in Europe. I don't know the name of the place, but it's on the same walkway that takes you to Francesco's; you'll pass it anytime you approach or leave the place. It's a terrace with a wooden overhead... thing... and a great view of the beach. It's next to where Aaron and Kirizabeth were standing in the video, if you can make it out.
We wandered down to the shore and back for a few hours and found a cupcake shop. We had cupcakes while watching the sunset.
You know, this may be my most succinct account yet of a given day?
Before dinner, we got happy hour drinks at a bar called FunPub, which I recommend because the bartender is hilarious and the place-- I see no way around it-- had to have been built for people like me, who have no idea what to do with themselves in bars otherwise. This place has a pool table, darts, a movie screening room and-- this is the coolest part-- a giant game of Jenga (out of big blocks) in the middle of the floor for people to play for free. FunPub lives up to its name. That's not nothing.
It was at this point that a guy passed us shouting the title of this entry, after the fashion of Gerard Butler in 300.
We then had dinner at a surprisingly good Thai place, hung out at the hostel with other travelers, found our way BACK to FunPub, and then to another place in the village. We then made our way back to the hostel and watched The Road to El Dorado, a wonderful animated movie I hadn't seen since it came out.
And then, we... noted the time. 5 AM. Oh, look at that.
(115) and (116) are Saturday, 1 May and Sunday, 2 May 2010 respectively. As you're about to see, however, I have nothing specific to say about them.
Give or take a few details, our time on Ios consisted of eating at that breakfast/milkshake place at outrageous hours of the day, relaxing on the beach, and getting dinner and drinks at night.
I think if you're reading this blog, you probably know me well enough to know that partying isn't really my thing. Despite this, I preferred Ios to Santorini; it was greener (prettier in my estimation). Also, we got to just relax on a beach, which is kind of what we were in the market for in the first place. Goodness knows I wasn't in the market to return to Paris and write my Hitchcock paper...
Dear Icelandic Volcano,
WE WIN. SUCK IT UP.
Tenderly,
Andy
-----------------------------------
Footnotes
* I think right-hand side of this sign just about says it all:
.JPG)
** And my GOODNESS, my voice is annoying...
15 June 2010
(111-113): Island Time
(111) is Tuesday, 27 April 2010.
You know what sucks? Okay, well, yes—burnt popcorn sucks, too. And having to pay for wi-fi. And the SAT.
But the more relevant thing, the one I was going to add, is this: having on-deck seats on ferry rides. Kirill+Liz (henceforth “Kirizabeth”) and I had booked the cheapest tickets we could. Which makes sense, until you’re facing ripping sea winds and cold, wet temperatures while on little sleep and a boat that rocks like… something really, really rocky.
Yeah.
Kirizabeth were pretty glad when we finally snuck onto a row of indoor seats (about 6 hours into the 8-hour ride). I do okay with boats, though… especially when blazing my way through Nick Hornby’s hilarious character study, High Fidelity.
Anyway, for those of you who’ve never been there, you should know that Santorini is pretty awesome. I will post photos VERY soon to make my case. We were picked up at the port by a van from our hostel—Stelio’s Place—and drove up the zigzag cliffs to our newest abode. And for those of you who’ve never been there, you should know that Stelio’s Place is pretty awesome, too. First of all, Aaron was waiting for us by the pool. There WAS a pool, the rooms were basically hotel rooms (spacious and cleaned every day), and it was a stone’s throw from the black sand beach.*
After swimming for a bit and meeting up with Izzy and Carryn (who happened to overlap with Aaron’s itinerary), we strolled the black sand beach before dinner. I loved this beach. It may be my favorite one ever. First of all, it’s beautiful, and secondly, black sand beaches aren’t actually composed of sand. They’re made of lots of little rocks (bigger than grains of sand), so walking on them feels really cool and getting them out of your socks and shoes is painless. It was here we threw a Frisbee briefly and met GhostDog, a pale white dog that appeared and disappeared seemingly at will. Aaron decided GhostDog was our guardian spirit (or whatever the word is from those silly Harry Potter books).
We had dinner at Ntomatini, a beautiful restaurant (family-run, which you might not guess from how classy the place looks) right on the shoreline. I had a delicious plate of shrimp spaghetti, a strawberry daiquiri (perfectly made)**, and a chocolate lava cake. We traded stories, went back to the hostel, and went to bed. I read more of High Fidelity on our deck. Yup. Deck. Stay at Stelio’s Place when you go to Santorini.
(112) is Wednesday, 28 April 2010.
This is the day Iron Man 2 came out in France. Ten days before it premiered in the states. Love it. I didn’t see it today, but still: it rocks like… something that’s still really, really rocky.
Damn it… I’ll get it… I’ll get it…
For today, we had scheduled a day trip through the hostel that would take us around the island. We dashed to the bus with breakfast from a nearby bakery and climbed onto the glass-bottom boat. Everything I’m about to explain will make a lot more sense after you look at this map of the island.
Our first stop was the center rock formation, which was the volcano. It’s dormant, so no worries: your flight schedules are safe. We had a guide who seemed to be both a geology professor and six years old at the same time. He would explain how volcanoes work and how this one formed the island with piles of rocks on the ground and with the speed and fascination with rocks you might expect of one of my campers.
Essentially, to recap what he explained, volcanoes form by molten lava (rock so hot it’s a liquid) building up pressure just under the earth’s surface. When there’s enough lava, it forces the rock to protrude a bit (the familiar mountain shape of a volcano) before eventually bursting through and destroying the mountain it had created. These mountain fragments settle and the rock all cools and a fragmented-looking island like Santorini is formed. Boom.
After the walk, we got on the boat and jumped off at one point to swim in the hot springs near one rocky coast. The springs were warm at best, and even when they were comfortable, there were these sub-surface breezes of chilly water to bring you back down from your warm-water euphoria. Oh, well. It’s not every day I jump off a boat. They then dropped us off on another part of the island for about two hours to get lunch. We found a restaurant at the end of the (sparsely populated***) shore where I had a seafood kebab loaded with deliciously grilled shrimp and lobster (which I had never tasted).
Back on the boat, where they guided us downstairs to look at sub-surface goings-on. Kinda' cool, but not that many fish. Mostly rocks. I found the frantic movement of air bubbles against the glass infinitely more entertaining.
The next stop was Ia, a hilltop town at the end of a VERY long set of stairs up the [verify that it was the west] mountainside of Santorini. This may have been my favorite part of Santorini: the town was essentially situated on a cliff and made of all white buildings linked by sidewalks, all of which was graced with breathtaking views of the sea and where it met the arc of the island. Aaron, Kirizabeth, and I window shopped and even bought a few souvenirs at this charming little store with hand-made furniture, puzzles, and jewelry. I also found a delicious chocolate tart somewhere around this time.
We got surrounded by dogs. There was no real threat, but the visual of Aaron and Kirill clinging to each other atop a bench in the clearing was really funny. To be fair, there were even dogs on a nearby roof barking at us: “sniper dogs,” according to Aaron, who of course called out for GhostDog to come save us.
GhostDog didn’t come to save us.
After walking some more, we found a restaurant to sit, order drinks and appetizers (pan-fried meatballs for the win), and take tons of pictures of a beautiful sunset.
On the daytrip-sponsored bus ride back to the hostel, Aaron and I listened to the Allman Brothers on his iPod. I hadn’t heard 'Midnight Rider' in far too long, and unless you've listened to it while reading this, then the same goes for you.
(113) is Thursday, 29 April 2010.
I want to tell you about a restaurant called Yazz, which also takes up a piece of real estate on the black sand beach and is thus a Kirill’s throw from Stelio’s Place. I would not get a breakfast this comprehensive until Dublin (Spoiler! Spoiler!). Fried eggs that bleed all over the plate (which is wonderful), bacon, sausage, baked beans, and mushrooms. We also decided that— in preparation for the party island of Ios— Mimosas were in order. I decided they aren’t really my favorite drink, but it was a nice sentiment. The coolest part was the gazebo we ate under. We had a private gazebo with an ocean view where we ate a delicious breakfast. This is why we came to the islands.
Well, also to sit on the beach for the next two hours listening to a restaurant play “Feel That Conga Beat.” Spring break rocks. Like something...
Oh, forget it.
-----------------------------------
Deck the halls with lots of footnotes! Fa la la la la, la la la la!
* That last clause is borrowed from a review we read of Stelio’s Place while planning. To quote Kirill: “You hear that?! A stone’s throw from the beach! I want to be a stone now…”
** Don’t give me that look.
*** This note’s actually pretty important. I should note that, in late April, we were a tad before the busy season in Santorini (and Ios a few days later). That’s why our accommodation was such a steal and why not that many things were open. That, and Greece’s deficit was in the process of bringing the Euro down to near-dollar levels BUT THE POINT IS there weren’t always a lot of people around on these beautiful islands. Which was kind of nice, actually.
You know what sucks? Okay, well, yes—burnt popcorn sucks, too. And having to pay for wi-fi. And the SAT.
But the more relevant thing, the one I was going to add, is this: having on-deck seats on ferry rides. Kirill+Liz (henceforth “Kirizabeth”) and I had booked the cheapest tickets we could. Which makes sense, until you’re facing ripping sea winds and cold, wet temperatures while on little sleep and a boat that rocks like… something really, really rocky.
Yeah.
Kirizabeth were pretty glad when we finally snuck onto a row of indoor seats (about 6 hours into the 8-hour ride). I do okay with boats, though… especially when blazing my way through Nick Hornby’s hilarious character study, High Fidelity.
Anyway, for those of you who’ve never been there, you should know that Santorini is pretty awesome. I will post photos VERY soon to make my case. We were picked up at the port by a van from our hostel—Stelio’s Place—and drove up the zigzag cliffs to our newest abode. And for those of you who’ve never been there, you should know that Stelio’s Place is pretty awesome, too. First of all, Aaron was waiting for us by the pool. There WAS a pool, the rooms were basically hotel rooms (spacious and cleaned every day), and it was a stone’s throw from the black sand beach.*
After swimming for a bit and meeting up with Izzy and Carryn (who happened to overlap with Aaron’s itinerary), we strolled the black sand beach before dinner. I loved this beach. It may be my favorite one ever. First of all, it’s beautiful, and secondly, black sand beaches aren’t actually composed of sand. They’re made of lots of little rocks (bigger than grains of sand), so walking on them feels really cool and getting them out of your socks and shoes is painless. It was here we threw a Frisbee briefly and met GhostDog, a pale white dog that appeared and disappeared seemingly at will. Aaron decided GhostDog was our guardian spirit (or whatever the word is from those silly Harry Potter books).
We had dinner at Ntomatini, a beautiful restaurant (family-run, which you might not guess from how classy the place looks) right on the shoreline. I had a delicious plate of shrimp spaghetti, a strawberry daiquiri (perfectly made)**, and a chocolate lava cake. We traded stories, went back to the hostel, and went to bed. I read more of High Fidelity on our deck. Yup. Deck. Stay at Stelio’s Place when you go to Santorini.
(112) is Wednesday, 28 April 2010.
This is the day Iron Man 2 came out in France. Ten days before it premiered in the states. Love it. I didn’t see it today, but still: it rocks like… something that’s still really, really rocky.
Damn it… I’ll get it… I’ll get it…
For today, we had scheduled a day trip through the hostel that would take us around the island. We dashed to the bus with breakfast from a nearby bakery and climbed onto the glass-bottom boat. Everything I’m about to explain will make a lot more sense after you look at this map of the island.
Our first stop was the center rock formation, which was the volcano. It’s dormant, so no worries: your flight schedules are safe. We had a guide who seemed to be both a geology professor and six years old at the same time. He would explain how volcanoes work and how this one formed the island with piles of rocks on the ground and with the speed and fascination with rocks you might expect of one of my campers.
Essentially, to recap what he explained, volcanoes form by molten lava (rock so hot it’s a liquid) building up pressure just under the earth’s surface. When there’s enough lava, it forces the rock to protrude a bit (the familiar mountain shape of a volcano) before eventually bursting through and destroying the mountain it had created. These mountain fragments settle and the rock all cools and a fragmented-looking island like Santorini is formed. Boom.
After the walk, we got on the boat and jumped off at one point to swim in the hot springs near one rocky coast. The springs were warm at best, and even when they were comfortable, there were these sub-surface breezes of chilly water to bring you back down from your warm-water euphoria. Oh, well. It’s not every day I jump off a boat. They then dropped us off on another part of the island for about two hours to get lunch. We found a restaurant at the end of the (sparsely populated***) shore where I had a seafood kebab loaded with deliciously grilled shrimp and lobster (which I had never tasted).
Back on the boat, where they guided us downstairs to look at sub-surface goings-on. Kinda' cool, but not that many fish. Mostly rocks. I found the frantic movement of air bubbles against the glass infinitely more entertaining.
The next stop was Ia, a hilltop town at the end of a VERY long set of stairs up the [verify that it was the west] mountainside of Santorini. This may have been my favorite part of Santorini: the town was essentially situated on a cliff and made of all white buildings linked by sidewalks, all of which was graced with breathtaking views of the sea and where it met the arc of the island. Aaron, Kirizabeth, and I window shopped and even bought a few souvenirs at this charming little store with hand-made furniture, puzzles, and jewelry. I also found a delicious chocolate tart somewhere around this time.
We got surrounded by dogs. There was no real threat, but the visual of Aaron and Kirill clinging to each other atop a bench in the clearing was really funny. To be fair, there were even dogs on a nearby roof barking at us: “sniper dogs,” according to Aaron, who of course called out for GhostDog to come save us.
GhostDog didn’t come to save us.
After walking some more, we found a restaurant to sit, order drinks and appetizers (pan-fried meatballs for the win), and take tons of pictures of a beautiful sunset.
On the daytrip-sponsored bus ride back to the hostel, Aaron and I listened to the Allman Brothers on his iPod. I hadn’t heard 'Midnight Rider' in far too long, and unless you've listened to it while reading this, then the same goes for you.
(113) is Thursday, 29 April 2010.
I want to tell you about a restaurant called Yazz, which also takes up a piece of real estate on the black sand beach and is thus a Kirill’s throw from Stelio’s Place. I would not get a breakfast this comprehensive until Dublin (Spoiler! Spoiler!). Fried eggs that bleed all over the plate (which is wonderful), bacon, sausage, baked beans, and mushrooms. We also decided that— in preparation for the party island of Ios— Mimosas were in order. I decided they aren’t really my favorite drink, but it was a nice sentiment. The coolest part was the gazebo we ate under. We had a private gazebo with an ocean view where we ate a delicious breakfast. This is why we came to the islands.
Well, also to sit on the beach for the next two hours listening to a restaurant play “Feel That Conga Beat.” Spring break rocks. Like something...
Oh, forget it.
-----------------------------------
Deck the halls with lots of footnotes! Fa la la la la, la la la la!
* That last clause is borrowed from a review we read of Stelio’s Place while planning. To quote Kirill: “You hear that?! A stone’s throw from the beach! I want to be a stone now…”
** Don’t give me that look.
*** This note’s actually pretty important. I should note that, in late April, we were a tad before the busy season in Santorini (and Ios a few days later). That’s why our accommodation was such a steal and why not that many things were open. That, and Greece’s deficit was in the process of bringing the Euro down to near-dollar levels BUT THE POINT IS there weren’t always a lot of people around on these beautiful islands. Which was kind of nice, actually.
27 May 2010
(141): A Few Things I've Noticed
(141) is today: Thursday, 27 May 2010.
I figured it only appropriate I write a sort of concluding entry about Paris just before I leave. Next entry will take us back to Greece, moving forward from there (gotta' love nonlinear storytelling). Anyway, as per the entry title, here's the list:
--When you're waiting for a Paris metro train, the one going the opposite direction always arrives before yours (sometimes more than once).
--As my host family astutely pointed out, I bring bad weather with me wherever I go. From 7+ days of snow in Paris this semester to cloudy weather in Austria and Germany to a sun-shower yesterday, I am 'Monsieur le Mauvais Temps.' Bodes very well for the British Isles...!
--Paris takes a long time to get to spring, but when it hits that note... it is pitch-perfect. Sunset at 9:30 is all I have to say about that.
--I'm glad I can say that I did it, but honestly, taking classes at the University of Paris was not a very fulfilling experience. I didn't learn as much as I normally do in Vassar (or even Reid Hall) classes and because I took the senior-level classes, the professors just talked about what they wanted to... I didn't even get a good feel for the teaching philosophy over here. I think I'd have been better off taking all Reid Hall classes and saving 300-levels (the real reason I signed up at Paris VII) for Vassar.
--Apparently my French has gotten better; the guy at the sandwich place yesterday asked where I was from. Already a good sign. I answered, "Etats-Unis." He replied, "Vous parlez tres bien."
--I'm pretty good at the whole travel planning thing.
--Paris is expensive, plain and simple.
--When I have a lot of free time in one place, I tend to stay up and sleep in late. This is compared to vacations, where I usually get up early enough to seize the day.
--I've thought a bit recently about what I'll miss about Paris. Believe it or not, I can't think of anything specific. "Specific" is the operative word there. Hemingway famously called Paris "a moveable feast" and-- before I slide into cliché-- I want to note that I find "feast" the operative word there. Maybe it's moveable, too-- I'll know that once I start moving. But even now, it is a feast. And the best part of a feast isn't the main course or the really good side dish your friend brought that they make better than anybody else. Best part's the ensemble: the experience of coming in, having it all in front of you-- experiencing each great part in its turn, sure... but the final (perhaps defining) part of a feast is that it leaves you with a dazed yet elevated state of accomplishment and satisfied nostalgia. Gratitude as well-- perhaps to the cooks-- but more to the experience itself for having happened.
I figured it only appropriate I write a sort of concluding entry about Paris just before I leave. Next entry will take us back to Greece, moving forward from there (gotta' love nonlinear storytelling). Anyway, as per the entry title, here's the list:
--When you're waiting for a Paris metro train, the one going the opposite direction always arrives before yours (sometimes more than once).
--As my host family astutely pointed out, I bring bad weather with me wherever I go. From 7+ days of snow in Paris this semester to cloudy weather in Austria and Germany to a sun-shower yesterday, I am 'Monsieur le Mauvais Temps.' Bodes very well for the British Isles...!
--Paris takes a long time to get to spring, but when it hits that note... it is pitch-perfect. Sunset at 9:30 is all I have to say about that.
--I'm glad I can say that I did it, but honestly, taking classes at the University of Paris was not a very fulfilling experience. I didn't learn as much as I normally do in Vassar (or even Reid Hall) classes and because I took the senior-level classes, the professors just talked about what they wanted to... I didn't even get a good feel for the teaching philosophy over here. I think I'd have been better off taking all Reid Hall classes and saving 300-levels (the real reason I signed up at Paris VII) for Vassar.
--Apparently my French has gotten better; the guy at the sandwich place yesterday asked where I was from. Already a good sign. I answered, "Etats-Unis." He replied, "Vous parlez tres bien."
--I'm pretty good at the whole travel planning thing.
--Paris is expensive, plain and simple.
--When I have a lot of free time in one place, I tend to stay up and sleep in late. This is compared to vacations, where I usually get up early enough to seize the day.
--I've thought a bit recently about what I'll miss about Paris. Believe it or not, I can't think of anything specific. "Specific" is the operative word there. Hemingway famously called Paris "a moveable feast" and-- before I slide into cliché-- I want to note that I find "feast" the operative word there. Maybe it's moveable, too-- I'll know that once I start moving. But even now, it is a feast. And the best part of a feast isn't the main course or the really good side dish your friend brought that they make better than anybody else. Best part's the ensemble: the experience of coming in, having it all in front of you-- experiencing each great part in its turn, sure... but the final (perhaps defining) part of a feast is that it leaves you with a dazed yet elevated state of accomplishment and satisfied nostalgia. Gratitude as well-- perhaps to the cooks-- but more to the experience itself for having happened.
25 May 2010
(110): My Big Fat Greek Ferry Strike
(110) is Monday, 26 April 2010.
Imagine being Kirill, Liz, or both at this point. You've spent 5 days trying to get out of the Paris airport amid infinite hassle, you finally spend a few days in Rome, and upon arrival in Athens-- a one-night stopover-- you learn that the ferries taking you to the Greek Islands are on strike for the one day you happen to need them. One day! Who goes on strike for one day!?
Well, them. So much for being back on schedule.
Anyway, we decided to make the best of it and see Athens for the one day we had. I think it's pretty safe to say that one day was all the time we needed. There was a great walking tour (for free) that left from the (wonderful) Athens Backpackers Hostel at 9:15 and showed us around all the major sites: Temple of Zeus (more old stuff), olympic stadium, gardens, Syntagma Square, (which is in front of) Parliament, the Fuzzy Foot Brigade (to be explained shortly), a Greek Orthodox church, the flea market, a greek sandwich stand, and the Acropolis.
The Fuzzy Foot Brigade is my overly mocking description of the Greek secret service troops who stand at attention outside parliament, not unlike the guards at Buckingham Palace in London. Difference here is that, every half hour, the two guards engage in a very elaborate ceremony of walking about with extremely long steps. These steps are punctuated by their brushing their shoes against the ground: shoes that have fuzzy stuff on the front.
It's funny until the guide says they're for hiding knives.
The best part of this whole ritual, though, is that it's for them to stretch their legs. Seriously-- they've made an elaborate, tourist-friendly ceremony out of it. It makes sense, but it is just a little too much fun to watch.
So, back up at the Acrop*, the thing was under construction. I thought this was great-- first of all, as Judy pointed out, this is one for the travel article "Except While You're Here."** Renovations are annoying enough if you were really jazzed about seeing something, but here in particular, I have to ask: Seriously? The Parthenon? More than being annoying, doesn't this just defeat the purpose? I mean, they're ruins-- putting up scaffolding here is like saying that Stonehenge has fallen into disrepair.
I just didn't get it. So, I slipped on a dusty rock and landed on my tailbone. Nice view of the city from where I sat, though.
In the next few hours, Kirill and I ran some errands (like adjusting ferry tickets to compensate for the day's strike), and Liz and I took siestas (although I spent mine getting to know our roommate, a girl named Olivia who-- as I later would-- was travelling on her own).
We then found dinner. It was fine, but after a week in Italy, I was not much enamored of what I had here. Suffice it to say I would spend much of the next week living off of gyros.*** This cuisine depends much more on acquired tastes, which, as we've established, I generally don't have. And then there's ouzo... liccorice liquor. How to be witty with this description... Oh, I got it:
It tastes awful.
We didn't really know what to do at night (ended up hanging out in the room with Olivia). Just as well, since we had to get up REALLY early for our ferry.
So, yeah-- the walking tour was basically all we needed, and I'd like to point out that Athens suffers from pollution... I was coughing as I walked, and for once, I wasn't fighting a cold. And we were totally safe, by the way-- those riots you heard about wouldn't break out for another week, by which time we were all safely back in Paris.
Also, if you're in Greece, have fun with the language. This is the only country in the EU with a non-Roman alphabet (they even put the Greek spelling of "Euro" on every bill), and even some of the Roman letters used don't make the same sounds. 'P,' for instance, makes an 'R' sound, while pi (yes, the math thing) takes over for 'P.' I had to get the letters straight before I could get as far as not deciphering the language. And, of course, every piece of Greek I picked up flew out of my memory almost instantly.
Never mind that. On to Santorini!
-Andy
---------------------------------------
Footnotes
* I use "Acropolis" and "Parthenon" interchangeably, and here's why: the Parthenon is the famous monument itself, and the Acropolis is the hill on which it sits. The "Acrop," used as an abbreviation here, is also a loving reference to the similarly named 24-hour diner near Vassar, where all good nights go to get even better.
** I've even started a photo album that lovingly commemorates this phenomenon, and it may bear that title.
** For those as unfamiliar as I had been beforehand, a gyro is a circle of pita bread wrapped around various veggies, a creamy/tangy sauce, and meat (pork or chicken) that they shave off of a big rotating spit. You've seen them before, especially if you've been in Paris's Latin Quarter.
Imagine being Kirill, Liz, or both at this point. You've spent 5 days trying to get out of the Paris airport amid infinite hassle, you finally spend a few days in Rome, and upon arrival in Athens-- a one-night stopover-- you learn that the ferries taking you to the Greek Islands are on strike for the one day you happen to need them. One day! Who goes on strike for one day!?
Well, them. So much for being back on schedule.
Anyway, we decided to make the best of it and see Athens for the one day we had. I think it's pretty safe to say that one day was all the time we needed. There was a great walking tour (for free) that left from the (wonderful) Athens Backpackers Hostel at 9:15 and showed us around all the major sites: Temple of Zeus (more old stuff), olympic stadium, gardens, Syntagma Square, (which is in front of) Parliament, the Fuzzy Foot Brigade (to be explained shortly), a Greek Orthodox church, the flea market, a greek sandwich stand, and the Acropolis.
The Fuzzy Foot Brigade is my overly mocking description of the Greek secret service troops who stand at attention outside parliament, not unlike the guards at Buckingham Palace in London. Difference here is that, every half hour, the two guards engage in a very elaborate ceremony of walking about with extremely long steps. These steps are punctuated by their brushing their shoes against the ground: shoes that have fuzzy stuff on the front.
It's funny until the guide says they're for hiding knives.
The best part of this whole ritual, though, is that it's for them to stretch their legs. Seriously-- they've made an elaborate, tourist-friendly ceremony out of it. It makes sense, but it is just a little too much fun to watch.
So, back up at the Acrop*, the thing was under construction. I thought this was great-- first of all, as Judy pointed out, this is one for the travel article "Except While You're Here."** Renovations are annoying enough if you were really jazzed about seeing something, but here in particular, I have to ask: Seriously? The Parthenon? More than being annoying, doesn't this just defeat the purpose? I mean, they're ruins-- putting up scaffolding here is like saying that Stonehenge has fallen into disrepair.
I just didn't get it. So, I slipped on a dusty rock and landed on my tailbone. Nice view of the city from where I sat, though.
In the next few hours, Kirill and I ran some errands (like adjusting ferry tickets to compensate for the day's strike), and Liz and I took siestas (although I spent mine getting to know our roommate, a girl named Olivia who-- as I later would-- was travelling on her own).
We then found dinner. It was fine, but after a week in Italy, I was not much enamored of what I had here. Suffice it to say I would spend much of the next week living off of gyros.*** This cuisine depends much more on acquired tastes, which, as we've established, I generally don't have. And then there's ouzo... liccorice liquor. How to be witty with this description... Oh, I got it:
It tastes awful.
We didn't really know what to do at night (ended up hanging out in the room with Olivia). Just as well, since we had to get up REALLY early for our ferry.
So, yeah-- the walking tour was basically all we needed, and I'd like to point out that Athens suffers from pollution... I was coughing as I walked, and for once, I wasn't fighting a cold. And we were totally safe, by the way-- those riots you heard about wouldn't break out for another week, by which time we were all safely back in Paris.
Also, if you're in Greece, have fun with the language. This is the only country in the EU with a non-Roman alphabet (they even put the Greek spelling of "Euro" on every bill), and even some of the Roman letters used don't make the same sounds. 'P,' for instance, makes an 'R' sound, while pi (yes, the math thing) takes over for 'P.' I had to get the letters straight before I could get as far as not deciphering the language. And, of course, every piece of Greek I picked up flew out of my memory almost instantly.
Never mind that. On to Santorini!
-Andy
---------------------------------------
Footnotes
* I use "Acropolis" and "Parthenon" interchangeably, and here's why: the Parthenon is the famous monument itself, and the Acropolis is the hill on which it sits. The "Acrop," used as an abbreviation here, is also a loving reference to the similarly named 24-hour diner near Vassar, where all good nights go to get even better.
** I've even started a photo album that lovingly commemorates this phenomenon, and it may bear that title.
** For those as unfamiliar as I had been beforehand, a gyro is a circle of pita bread wrapped around various veggies, a creamy/tangy sauce, and meat (pork or chicken) that they shave off of a big rotating spit. You've seen them before, especially if you've been in Paris's Latin Quarter.
(105-109): Roma, Ro-ma-ma...
Ga-ga, oh la... la. Er, right. Moving on.
(105) is Wednesday, 21 April 2010.
Maybe I'm becoming a bitter old man, but I have to comment on how we got to Rome via the noisiest train ride of my life. There was a battalion of kids between 10 and 11-and-a-half either yelling or snapping pictures of themselves and friends and then looking at their portraits and shouting "Facebook! Facebook!" Oh, well. Only two hours' ride, and the countryside was great.
After checking into The Yellow (pretty standard as hostels go), Dan and I got a very tasty lunch at a nearby restaurant. We spent the rest of the day wandering the city and getting a feel for it in the following order:
Repubblica, walking distance from the hostel, had this really cool church next to it: big and open, very beautiful, with a pendulum (something about Galileo) on display.
The Spanish steps, where-- as always-- there were throngs of people. Today, though, a big army orchestra was playing. Apparently Dan and I picked Rome's Birthday, a local holiday, to arrive and walk around. I was especially tickled when they played this song, featured in my favorite Italian movie, 8 1/2. The steps also afford you a rooftop view of most of Rome. No city does rooftops quite like Paris, but this was still a neat photo-op.
Then there was a neat old pillar that's on most tourist maps.
We found more military music at another piazza. I was grinning because I got to hear-- are you ready for the Coldplay reference?-- Roman cavalry choirs singing.
The Wedding Cake, as most romans mock it, is a huge building built to look like ancient Roman architecture would have. But it sorta' fails. It's not far from the coliseum.
Piazza Navona was next (even a cursory look at a map of Rome will give you a sense of just how erratic our path was), and here we went to the gelato place at either 28 or 30 Piazza Navona. They're famous for Tartufo, a sphere of chocolate gelato-based dessert kept nice and cold. Worth every one of those 5 euros. Beautiful twilight was coming in on the piazza as well. This is one thing I love about Rome: the buildings are painted to catch twilight perfectly. I can't think of another city I've been to that is so beautifully suited to its natural environment.
The fountain at the Piazza Navona was under renovation, but you know what? The Trevi Fountain is a pretty good substitute. For those who don't know it, it's a marvelous (or should I say MARBLE-OUS?!) sculpted fountain depicting roman gods and other naked figures (apparently every day was Casual Friday back then). Epic site, and always full of people taking pictures and agreeing with that sentiment.
We then met up with Meredith, a good friend of mine from Vassar studying Art History this semester in Rome. She and her friends took me and Dan to this really good restaurant that I couldn't for the life of me direct you back to (it's on this secluded little piazza). Great food, though, and when you're in Italy, always get the table wine because it's reasonably priced and always good.
(106) is Thursday, 22 April 2010.
Dan and I started with the Forum ruins near the Wedding Cake and the Coliseum. Pretty cool to walk around, although like a lot of Rome's other attractions that fall into the category of "old stuff," you don't need to spend huge amounts of time there to get the idea. Very cool to see close up, though, and Culture Week was still our friend.
It is at this point in our story that Liz and Kirill finally catch up with us, after having spent 5 days in Paris's Charles-de-Gaulle airport and its environs. We found them at Termini* and took them to get settled at the hostel and course-correct for the next few days of our travel.
The next discovery was a delight. There's a little to-go pizza place just around the corner from the hostel. I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it... no, wait, I'm sorry. That's from being in Paris, where food is also good, but it's nowhere near as filling (and therefore satisfying) as in Rome. The pizza place had crunchy-crust pizza, any sort of combination of toppings, and low prices. I got a lot of pizza with cheese, pieces of potato, and bacon. REAL bacon-- not the small bits of ham that Paris tries to pass off as the good stuff. That pizza was greasy and wonderful. We would be back. I'd recommend this place, but even better than the food was this fact: pizza that good is everywhere in Rome.
We hit the coliseum next, where we took pictures and decided that the passageways in the center of the coliseum (under the now crumbled arena floor, these housed animals and gladiators/victims in ancient times) would be one of the best places in the world for a game of laser tag, especially when you fill the coliseum with spectators. Meredith then found us, and we hung out at Circus Maximus, where an Earth Day concert was happening. We all talked and eventually found dinner in the southwest part of town (across the Tiber from Circus Maximus), which is supposedly where students go to bars and otherwise hang out. We got a decent dinner at a place with crazy low prices.
Big discovery of the meal: prosciutto ham and melon. Anybody who knows me and my 7-year-old eating habits can have a good laugh imagining my face when I saw this as an appetizer. In line with those habits, it picked it because none of the other appetizers caught my interest any better. But it worked. I can't explain it-- really, I figure there is no explanation-- for why these two foods got along, but I can tell you right now that I will be living off of this combination for the next decade or so of preparing my own food.
And, because two great discoveries aren't enough today (or because 3 is the magic number), Meredith did us the great service of taking us to The Gelato Place. Now, any gelato shop that claims to be "artigianale" (meaning "homemade") is going to be good, but this place was just a charming experience. The manager is this very sweet middle-aged Italian guy who loved to smile and laugh and make jokes. My favorite part was when I asked him for a cone with three scoops, picked two (caramel and vanilla), and then got stuck on the third. I asked him what he would pick for the third flavor. He gave me this really good cookies and cream sort of flavor that, sure enough, finished the combo perfectly.** I left that shop with a big smile fueled by delicious ice cream and genuine Italian hospitality.
(107) is Friday, 23 April 2010.
We spent Dan's last day in Rome showing him as much art-and-humanities stuff as we could: today was Vatican Day. And how better to start it than being IN the Vatican with Liz's iPod and listening to Tom Lehrer's 'The Vatican Rag'.
There are a few smaller museums that actually have some really neat stuff... I was particularly taken with a few-- I want to say terra cotta?-- statues of angels that were partially broken, revealing the wire and hay on the insides. These otherwise beautiful, classical statues-- "broken angels," as I like to call them-- were my favorite image of this whole museum complex. And that's saying something, because the Vatican is the biggest small country I have ever been through. One of the reasons I probably didn't like it when I was 12... lots of hallways full of painstakingly elaborate rooms. Beautiful, yes, but the main walkthrough is so long that it gets a little gratuitous after a while. What's worse is that the famous Sistine Chapel is all the way at the end, by which time I was too tired and overstimulated by art to be able to appreciate it. And there's SO much art to appreciate in that room.***
Then there was St. Peter's Basilica, which floored all of us. So many photos...
We then walked along the river for a while and eventually found an okay dinner, which turned out to be two blocks from the super-inexpensive place from the night before. Thus, it was also near The Gelato Place, where we took this picture, one of my favorites of the whole trip:
We went back to the hostel and hung out for a while at the (very cool) attached bar, where we sipped limoncello and killed some time before Dan had to catch an early cab to the airport.
At some point around here-- probably a few days back-- I figured out how to put my camera in 16x9 widescreen mode. So emotionally satisfying.
(108) is Saturday, 24 April 2010.
You ever feel sometimes like these entries just don't end? Yeah, me too. Really, the only uniquely cool thing (the rest of it was uniformally cool) that we did was go to dinner with Judy Bachrach, mother of my dear friend Sam Seifman. She was teaching a journalism class at a Roman university this semester (which I mention because-- one, it's cool-- and two, that plot point will be relevant again in a few more entries). She made us very good pasta and sauce and then treated us to an excellent gelato place near her house.
We then caught a bus back to Termini and went book-browsing in the station's bookstore. I felt like doing some recreational reading for a change, so I picked up copies of Agatha Christie's The Clocks and Nick Hornby's High Fidelity (yes, the basis for the John Cusack movie).
(109) is Sunday, 25 April 2010.
Big event for today was the Borghese Gardens. We didn't get into the museum, but honestly, when you've got a frisbee and great weather, who needs it? Being able to say I once spent two hours throwing a frisbee in the Borghese Gardens in Rome with my friends is the best souvenir of Rome I think I could ask for.
I tipped Kirizabeth off to the wonders of Tartuffo at Piazza Navona (I got a 3-scoop of lemon, strawberry, and something called zambaione that was really good). We then got pizza and a taxi to Fumicino airport, from which we flew into Athens.
Paris excepted, Rome is my favorite place I've been this semester.
-Andy
--------------------------------
I want your footnotes and I want your revenge, you and me could write a bad romance...
* This quickly became one of my favorite train stations for a few reasons. There's the name, the good location on Rome's subway, and most importantly, one of those old-school information boards full of little rectangles that all flip and rattle and whir in a delightfully inefficient and dazzlingly choreographed display when even one field changes.
** By the way, you know the gelato's good when I go out of my way to record the flavors in the Moleskine that holds the details of each day.
*** Also to be appreciated, however, are the guards. Every 30 seconds, the guards call out "Shhh! No photo!" in a room where you're supposed to be silent. Sistine Chapel Security: defeating the purpose since 1929. For more funny info on the Vatican (and another link that most of you will never click on), check out this little gem.
(105) is Wednesday, 21 April 2010.
Maybe I'm becoming a bitter old man, but I have to comment on how we got to Rome via the noisiest train ride of my life. There was a battalion of kids between 10 and 11-and-a-half either yelling or snapping pictures of themselves and friends and then looking at their portraits and shouting "Facebook! Facebook!" Oh, well. Only two hours' ride, and the countryside was great.
After checking into The Yellow (pretty standard as hostels go), Dan and I got a very tasty lunch at a nearby restaurant. We spent the rest of the day wandering the city and getting a feel for it in the following order:
Repubblica, walking distance from the hostel, had this really cool church next to it: big and open, very beautiful, with a pendulum (something about Galileo) on display.
The Spanish steps, where-- as always-- there were throngs of people. Today, though, a big army orchestra was playing. Apparently Dan and I picked Rome's Birthday, a local holiday, to arrive and walk around. I was especially tickled when they played this song, featured in my favorite Italian movie, 8 1/2. The steps also afford you a rooftop view of most of Rome. No city does rooftops quite like Paris, but this was still a neat photo-op.
Then there was a neat old pillar that's on most tourist maps.
We found more military music at another piazza. I was grinning because I got to hear-- are you ready for the Coldplay reference?-- Roman cavalry choirs singing.
The Wedding Cake, as most romans mock it, is a huge building built to look like ancient Roman architecture would have. But it sorta' fails. It's not far from the coliseum.
Piazza Navona was next (even a cursory look at a map of Rome will give you a sense of just how erratic our path was), and here we went to the gelato place at either 28 or 30 Piazza Navona. They're famous for Tartufo, a sphere of chocolate gelato-based dessert kept nice and cold. Worth every one of those 5 euros. Beautiful twilight was coming in on the piazza as well. This is one thing I love about Rome: the buildings are painted to catch twilight perfectly. I can't think of another city I've been to that is so beautifully suited to its natural environment.
The fountain at the Piazza Navona was under renovation, but you know what? The Trevi Fountain is a pretty good substitute. For those who don't know it, it's a marvelous (or should I say MARBLE-OUS?!) sculpted fountain depicting roman gods and other naked figures (apparently every day was Casual Friday back then). Epic site, and always full of people taking pictures and agreeing with that sentiment.
We then met up with Meredith, a good friend of mine from Vassar studying Art History this semester in Rome. She and her friends took me and Dan to this really good restaurant that I couldn't for the life of me direct you back to (it's on this secluded little piazza). Great food, though, and when you're in Italy, always get the table wine because it's reasonably priced and always good.
(106) is Thursday, 22 April 2010.
Dan and I started with the Forum ruins near the Wedding Cake and the Coliseum. Pretty cool to walk around, although like a lot of Rome's other attractions that fall into the category of "old stuff," you don't need to spend huge amounts of time there to get the idea. Very cool to see close up, though, and Culture Week was still our friend.
It is at this point in our story that Liz and Kirill finally catch up with us, after having spent 5 days in Paris's Charles-de-Gaulle airport and its environs. We found them at Termini* and took them to get settled at the hostel and course-correct for the next few days of our travel.
The next discovery was a delight. There's a little to-go pizza place just around the corner from the hostel. I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it... no, wait, I'm sorry. That's from being in Paris, where food is also good, but it's nowhere near as filling (and therefore satisfying) as in Rome. The pizza place had crunchy-crust pizza, any sort of combination of toppings, and low prices. I got a lot of pizza with cheese, pieces of potato, and bacon. REAL bacon-- not the small bits of ham that Paris tries to pass off as the good stuff. That pizza was greasy and wonderful. We would be back. I'd recommend this place, but even better than the food was this fact: pizza that good is everywhere in Rome.
We hit the coliseum next, where we took pictures and decided that the passageways in the center of the coliseum (under the now crumbled arena floor, these housed animals and gladiators/victims in ancient times) would be one of the best places in the world for a game of laser tag, especially when you fill the coliseum with spectators. Meredith then found us, and we hung out at Circus Maximus, where an Earth Day concert was happening. We all talked and eventually found dinner in the southwest part of town (across the Tiber from Circus Maximus), which is supposedly where students go to bars and otherwise hang out. We got a decent dinner at a place with crazy low prices.
Big discovery of the meal: prosciutto ham and melon. Anybody who knows me and my 7-year-old eating habits can have a good laugh imagining my face when I saw this as an appetizer. In line with those habits, it picked it because none of the other appetizers caught my interest any better. But it worked. I can't explain it-- really, I figure there is no explanation-- for why these two foods got along, but I can tell you right now that I will be living off of this combination for the next decade or so of preparing my own food.
And, because two great discoveries aren't enough today (or because 3 is the magic number), Meredith did us the great service of taking us to The Gelato Place. Now, any gelato shop that claims to be "artigianale" (meaning "homemade") is going to be good, but this place was just a charming experience. The manager is this very sweet middle-aged Italian guy who loved to smile and laugh and make jokes. My favorite part was when I asked him for a cone with three scoops, picked two (caramel and vanilla), and then got stuck on the third. I asked him what he would pick for the third flavor. He gave me this really good cookies and cream sort of flavor that, sure enough, finished the combo perfectly.** I left that shop with a big smile fueled by delicious ice cream and genuine Italian hospitality.
(107) is Friday, 23 April 2010.
We spent Dan's last day in Rome showing him as much art-and-humanities stuff as we could: today was Vatican Day. And how better to start it than being IN the Vatican with Liz's iPod and listening to Tom Lehrer's 'The Vatican Rag'.
There are a few smaller museums that actually have some really neat stuff... I was particularly taken with a few-- I want to say terra cotta?-- statues of angels that were partially broken, revealing the wire and hay on the insides. These otherwise beautiful, classical statues-- "broken angels," as I like to call them-- were my favorite image of this whole museum complex. And that's saying something, because the Vatican is the biggest small country I have ever been through. One of the reasons I probably didn't like it when I was 12... lots of hallways full of painstakingly elaborate rooms. Beautiful, yes, but the main walkthrough is so long that it gets a little gratuitous after a while. What's worse is that the famous Sistine Chapel is all the way at the end, by which time I was too tired and overstimulated by art to be able to appreciate it. And there's SO much art to appreciate in that room.***
Then there was St. Peter's Basilica, which floored all of us. So many photos...
We then walked along the river for a while and eventually found an okay dinner, which turned out to be two blocks from the super-inexpensive place from the night before. Thus, it was also near The Gelato Place, where we took this picture, one of my favorites of the whole trip:
We went back to the hostel and hung out for a while at the (very cool) attached bar, where we sipped limoncello and killed some time before Dan had to catch an early cab to the airport.
At some point around here-- probably a few days back-- I figured out how to put my camera in 16x9 widescreen mode. So emotionally satisfying.
(108) is Saturday, 24 April 2010.
You ever feel sometimes like these entries just don't end? Yeah, me too. Really, the only uniquely cool thing (the rest of it was uniformally cool) that we did was go to dinner with Judy Bachrach, mother of my dear friend Sam Seifman. She was teaching a journalism class at a Roman university this semester (which I mention because-- one, it's cool-- and two, that plot point will be relevant again in a few more entries). She made us very good pasta and sauce and then treated us to an excellent gelato place near her house.
We then caught a bus back to Termini and went book-browsing in the station's bookstore. I felt like doing some recreational reading for a change, so I picked up copies of Agatha Christie's The Clocks and Nick Hornby's High Fidelity (yes, the basis for the John Cusack movie).
(109) is Sunday, 25 April 2010.
Big event for today was the Borghese Gardens. We didn't get into the museum, but honestly, when you've got a frisbee and great weather, who needs it? Being able to say I once spent two hours throwing a frisbee in the Borghese Gardens in Rome with my friends is the best souvenir of Rome I think I could ask for.
I tipped Kirizabeth off to the wonders of Tartuffo at Piazza Navona (I got a 3-scoop of lemon, strawberry, and something called zambaione that was really good). We then got pizza and a taxi to Fumicino airport, from which we flew into Athens.
Paris excepted, Rome is my favorite place I've been this semester.
-Andy
--------------------------------
I want your footnotes and I want your revenge, you and me could write a bad romance...
* This quickly became one of my favorite train stations for a few reasons. There's the name, the good location on Rome's subway, and most importantly, one of those old-school information boards full of little rectangles that all flip and rattle and whir in a delightfully inefficient and dazzlingly choreographed display when even one field changes.
** By the way, you know the gelato's good when I go out of my way to record the flavors in the Moleskine that holds the details of each day.
*** Also to be appreciated, however, are the guards. Every 30 seconds, the guards call out "Shhh! No photo!" in a room where you're supposed to be silent. Sistine Chapel Security: defeating the purpose since 1929. For more funny info on the Vatican (and another link that most of you will never click on), check out this little gem.
12 May 2010
(103-104): Florence
(103) is Monday, 19 April 2010.
Blogger seems to have confiscated my user-friendly blogging interface, which means I can't underline things and my fonts may come out looking funny. Don't quite know what the story is with this one, but my glass of Vanilla Coke and I are working on it.
So, Dan and I found ourselves awake and refreshed in Florence. First stop is the Piazzale Michelangelo, home of a fake version of the famous David statue (Dan tells me there are several about) and a show-stopping panoramic view of Florence. It's free, it's good exercise, and we had perfect weather. My suggestion as you climb to the top, though-- and I know this is difficult-- but do try to give it the Orpheus treatment. That is, don't look behind you from the steps. Wait until the lookout point. The sudden reveal is worth your patience.*
Dan and I were really hungry by this point, so we succumbed to lunch at the (relatively) pricey patio near the lookout point. One of many great things about Italian food: since all of it is SO GOOD, even the slightly overpriced stuff is worth it. I had a tasty pizza and Dan's lasagna turned out to be the best lasagna of our trip. The patio, view, and breeze were also a lovely combination.
We rather wandered back to the city... you know how they say "Not all who wander are lost"? Well, thank goodness for its corollary: "Not all who wander but are lost necessarily mind." It was a beautiful day, as I've said, and we found a nice tree-lined street and even a secluded playground that was neat to walk through. After crossing the Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge," full of merchants and stuff) back to town, we found the famed Duomo (yes, like Milan has a famed Duomo... I think they're a chain or something) among other cool old churches.
We then moved hostels to the originally planned Archi Rossi, which I highly recommend to hostel-goers. Fine location near the train station and great resources (best included hostel breakfast I've yet had) for a decent price. After a little siesta, we had gelato. Gelato may be the best ice cream in the world, but the cones are edible cardboard. I don't like this, but I think the idea is so that the cone doesn't distort or otherwise detract from the taste.
My high school friend Christina couldn't meet up with us for dinner, but she gave us a great tip, which I will now relay to you. Muna Ciello is on Via Maffia 31 (see here). Fun, funky place with, of course, great food.** After dinner, Christina and her friend Lauren joined us for hot chocolate at La Cite (mapped here). It's a neat bookshop/cafe/jazz hangout where a few of Christina's and Lauren's friends in their music program were playing that night. But the hot chocolate-- it's a must. They have a few flavors, and they froth it up all rich and thick. I picked white chocolate (my new favorite flavor this semester, likely for its sideways resemblance to vanilla). Delicious, just like the rest of that day.
(104) is Tuesday, 20 April 2010.
This is it, folks-- museum day. National museums are closed on Mondays, and trains taking Andy and Dan to Rome run on Wednesdays, so we had to cram it all in today. We got up early to head over to the Uffizi and beat the rush.
Yeah. THAT worked...
We spent two and a half hours in line, which turned out to be almost double the amount of time we spent actually inside the museum. And I hate to say this, given that time commitment, but I really didn't like the Uffizi that much.
Now, before you, my art-loving friends, forever abandon this blog and my company, I'd like to make my case. The Uffizi museum is famous for its collection of old art, which is my least favorite kind. You've got rooms and rooms and rooms full of old crucifixions depicted in old gold paint on old wood. I find that there are two (connected) problems with this.
1.) Anything can be old. I can paint my (now empty) glass of Vanilla coke and wait 650 years, but that doesn't mean I painted it well in the first place. That doesn't require any unique talent or vision-- that requires endurance, which, as WALL-E teaches us, any given object can have.
2.) Not only does being an old piece of art require no unique artistic vision, these particular old pieces weren't supposed to have any. This is a matter of personal taste, I understand, but if I'm going to spend my morning looking at crucifixions, send me back to the Prado, where each painting of the same thing had a unique perspective: a unique reason to be painted. The way I see it, the artists of the Uffizi's paintings didn't understand that you don't do a remake unless you've got something new to add to the original story.
To be fair (and to stop ranting), however, I suppose you can't go to Florence and not see this museum (unless you take my ranting to heart). And it was great to see Boticelli's 'The Birth of Venus'. Also-- big bonus-- our sojourn in Italy landed squarely in the middle of Culture Week, when all of Italy's state-run museums are free. If you're planning to visit Italy around mid-late April (you should), try to land it during this annual 10-day stretch.
Next stop was a private gallery with a surrealism exhibit focusing mainly on De Chirico, a founding painter of the movement. Dan and I spent a little while looking at De Chirico and Friends (the show included a few Magritte paintings as well). It was a cool exhibit, because some of the plaques accompanying the paintings addressed the movement's larger philosophical issues with sort of "Think about it yourself!" questions.***
Our final museum stop was the Galleria dell'Accademia. The big draw here, of course, is Michelangelo's David (the real David****). It's a great statue-- to be sure-- but what I like almost as much is how they don't open with it. Maybe I'm ruining the effect by mentioning it (and maybe the film major finds this more impressive than it actually is), but the reveal of this statue and where it's situated in the museum is at least as good as the masterpiece itself.
Also, the Galleria dell'Accademia has a lot of Uffizi-style Old Art. If you're hitting museums in Florence but don't want to wait on line for the Uffizi, this museum is a good pick because you'll see a smaller (but sufficient) sample of the same stuff. Or, you could book your Uffizi ticket in advance, which Dan and I didn't do.
We found a pizzeria on the east end of the city that seemed to be favored by locals. Cheap and tasty. We then savored dessert at Gelateria La Carraia, Christina's excellent pick of a Gelato place, easily found here.
I want to close this entry by reminding you that my challenge for major Bonus Points is still open, since my parents still have yet to correctly pronounce the French sentence "C'est une nouvelle année." Skype me, say it right, and WIN!
-Andy
---------------------------------
Tonight I gotta' cut notes! Footnotes!
* For those of you who still don't get the reference, go look up Orpheus and Eurydice in your copy of 'D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths.' Google it if you want to, but you should also invest in the book. Seriously-- your kids will love it.
** Also, how can you not love a place-- in Italy-- whose street is Via Maffia?? It's just too perfect. And if it's not perfect enough, can we also reflect also on how that street name sounds like you could translate it as "Thug Life"?
*** One went something like, "Surrealism often finds its inspiration in dreams, even nightmares. Freud said a nightmare was this, this, and this... do you have nightmares? Do they look like the style of this painting?"
*** No, the dog Paul Anka. 50 Bonus Points if you got that one.
Blogger seems to have confiscated my user-friendly blogging interface, which means I can't underline things and my fonts may come out looking funny. Don't quite know what the story is with this one, but my glass of Vanilla Coke and I are working on it.
So, Dan and I found ourselves awake and refreshed in Florence. First stop is the Piazzale Michelangelo, home of a fake version of the famous David statue (Dan tells me there are several about) and a show-stopping panoramic view of Florence. It's free, it's good exercise, and we had perfect weather. My suggestion as you climb to the top, though-- and I know this is difficult-- but do try to give it the Orpheus treatment. That is, don't look behind you from the steps. Wait until the lookout point. The sudden reveal is worth your patience.*
Dan and I were really hungry by this point, so we succumbed to lunch at the (relatively) pricey patio near the lookout point. One of many great things about Italian food: since all of it is SO GOOD, even the slightly overpriced stuff is worth it. I had a tasty pizza and Dan's lasagna turned out to be the best lasagna of our trip. The patio, view, and breeze were also a lovely combination.
We rather wandered back to the city... you know how they say "Not all who wander are lost"? Well, thank goodness for its corollary: "Not all who wander but are lost necessarily mind." It was a beautiful day, as I've said, and we found a nice tree-lined street and even a secluded playground that was neat to walk through. After crossing the Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge," full of merchants and stuff) back to town, we found the famed Duomo (yes, like Milan has a famed Duomo... I think they're a chain or something) among other cool old churches.
We then moved hostels to the originally planned Archi Rossi, which I highly recommend to hostel-goers. Fine location near the train station and great resources (best included hostel breakfast I've yet had) for a decent price. After a little siesta, we had gelato. Gelato may be the best ice cream in the world, but the cones are edible cardboard. I don't like this, but I think the idea is so that the cone doesn't distort or otherwise detract from the taste.
My high school friend Christina couldn't meet up with us for dinner, but she gave us a great tip, which I will now relay to you. Muna Ciello is on Via Maffia 31 (see here). Fun, funky place with, of course, great food.** After dinner, Christina and her friend Lauren joined us for hot chocolate at La Cite (mapped here). It's a neat bookshop/cafe/jazz hangout where a few of Christina's and Lauren's friends in their music program were playing that night. But the hot chocolate-- it's a must. They have a few flavors, and they froth it up all rich and thick. I picked white chocolate (my new favorite flavor this semester, likely for its sideways resemblance to vanilla). Delicious, just like the rest of that day.
(104) is Tuesday, 20 April 2010.
This is it, folks-- museum day. National museums are closed on Mondays, and trains taking Andy and Dan to Rome run on Wednesdays, so we had to cram it all in today. We got up early to head over to the Uffizi and beat the rush.
Yeah. THAT worked...
We spent two and a half hours in line, which turned out to be almost double the amount of time we spent actually inside the museum. And I hate to say this, given that time commitment, but I really didn't like the Uffizi that much.
Now, before you, my art-loving friends, forever abandon this blog and my company, I'd like to make my case. The Uffizi museum is famous for its collection of old art, which is my least favorite kind. You've got rooms and rooms and rooms full of old crucifixions depicted in old gold paint on old wood. I find that there are two (connected) problems with this.
1.) Anything can be old. I can paint my (now empty) glass of Vanilla coke and wait 650 years, but that doesn't mean I painted it well in the first place. That doesn't require any unique talent or vision-- that requires endurance, which, as WALL-E teaches us, any given object can have.
2.) Not only does being an old piece of art require no unique artistic vision, these particular old pieces weren't supposed to have any. This is a matter of personal taste, I understand, but if I'm going to spend my morning looking at crucifixions, send me back to the Prado, where each painting of the same thing had a unique perspective: a unique reason to be painted. The way I see it, the artists of the Uffizi's paintings didn't understand that you don't do a remake unless you've got something new to add to the original story.
To be fair (and to stop ranting), however, I suppose you can't go to Florence and not see this museum (unless you take my ranting to heart). And it was great to see Boticelli's 'The Birth of Venus'. Also-- big bonus-- our sojourn in Italy landed squarely in the middle of Culture Week, when all of Italy's state-run museums are free. If you're planning to visit Italy around mid-late April (you should), try to land it during this annual 10-day stretch.
Next stop was a private gallery with a surrealism exhibit focusing mainly on De Chirico, a founding painter of the movement. Dan and I spent a little while looking at De Chirico and Friends (the show included a few Magritte paintings as well). It was a cool exhibit, because some of the plaques accompanying the paintings addressed the movement's larger philosophical issues with sort of "Think about it yourself!" questions.***
Our final museum stop was the Galleria dell'Accademia. The big draw here, of course, is Michelangelo's David (the real David****). It's a great statue-- to be sure-- but what I like almost as much is how they don't open with it. Maybe I'm ruining the effect by mentioning it (and maybe the film major finds this more impressive than it actually is), but the reveal of this statue and where it's situated in the museum is at least as good as the masterpiece itself.
Also, the Galleria dell'Accademia has a lot of Uffizi-style Old Art. If you're hitting museums in Florence but don't want to wait on line for the Uffizi, this museum is a good pick because you'll see a smaller (but sufficient) sample of the same stuff. Or, you could book your Uffizi ticket in advance, which Dan and I didn't do.
We found a pizzeria on the east end of the city that seemed to be favored by locals. Cheap and tasty. We then savored dessert at Gelateria La Carraia, Christina's excellent pick of a Gelato place, easily found here.
I want to close this entry by reminding you that my challenge for major Bonus Points is still open, since my parents still have yet to correctly pronounce the French sentence "C'est une nouvelle année." Skype me, say it right, and WIN!
-Andy
---------------------------------
Tonight I gotta' cut notes! Footnotes!
* For those of you who still don't get the reference, go look up Orpheus and Eurydice in your copy of 'D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths.' Google it if you want to, but you should also invest in the book. Seriously-- your kids will love it.
** Also, how can you not love a place-- in Italy-- whose street is Via Maffia?? It's just too perfect. And if it's not perfect enough, can we also reflect also on how that street name sounds like you could translate it as "Thug Life"?
*** One went something like, "Surrealism often finds its inspiration in dreams, even nightmares. Freud said a nightmare was this, this, and this... do you have nightmares? Do they look like the style of this painting?"
*** No, the dog Paul Anka. 50 Bonus Points if you got that one.
11 May 2010
(---): Logistical Update
So, here's the deal. I don't typically do flash-forwards (flashback is the preferred medium), but I wanted to let you know of some grander changes going on in this whole Europe experience of mine.
As the blog's title change ((215) --> (199)) indicates, I am coming back to the States a little sooner than previously planned... I am getting on a flight back to Washington on Saturday, July 24 (those of you who I might see in Washington this summer, take note).
I moved my ticket because I am in the process of applying for a one-month summer program in Antibes, a town on the French Riviera. 4 hours per day (5 days a week) of language immersion, but free afternoons to enjoy and explore the place and get to know fellow students. I will still travel in June, but I will also have a place to really spend time and get to know people.
That's the story. Just thought you might want to know. Hope you're all still enjoying the blog, and I hope to hear from you soon!
-Andy
As the blog's title change ((215) --> (199)) indicates, I am coming back to the States a little sooner than previously planned... I am getting on a flight back to Washington on Saturday, July 24 (those of you who I might see in Washington this summer, take note).
I moved my ticket because I am in the process of applying for a one-month summer program in Antibes, a town on the French Riviera. 4 hours per day (5 days a week) of language immersion, but free afternoons to enjoy and explore the place and get to know fellow students. I will still travel in June, but I will also have a place to really spend time and get to know people.
That's the story. Just thought you might want to know. Hope you're all still enjoying the blog, and I hope to hear from you soon!
-Andy
07 May 2010
(100-102): The Wages of Cinders
(100) is Friday, 16 April 2010
After an omitted week of scrambling on two papers (including Hitchcock), we finally arrive at spring break. 17 days. Travel plans that had been in the works for a month. Italy! Venice, Florence, and Rome! Greece! Mykonos, Santorini, Ios (all islands in the Cyclades), and Athens!
Iceland. A volcano.
Hard to know what to say to that, right? I was at rather a loss for words myself (that takes a lot, a fact this blog often proves conclusively). I have to say, though, I had a hard time being too upset about this because, as travel screw-ups go, a volcano is a pretty epic reason.
Dan and I lugged our bags to the airport for our 6 PM flight; even if it was cancelled, we figured that was our best shot at seeing what the story was. Long story short, there was no flight that would give us any appreciable amount of time in Venice before our scheduled train would take us to Florence.
"Trains! Wait a second..."
In one of the most bizarre spots of luck, there is a train station at Charles de Gaulle. I say bizarre because-- think about it-- when would that ever matter? When would you get off the metro at the airport with your bags and your e-ticket and your passport and say "You know what, Dan? I think I'd rather have train lag tomorrow morning." Probably not that often, considering I don't think I know anyone else who's traveled recently with a Dan. But this was great; we saved time not going back to a station in Paris proper, and. If we had done that, we might have missed out on the patchwork of trains a very nice woman helped us book:
6:10 PM the next evening to Geneva (getting in around 10 PM)
5:45 AM train to Milan (Sunday, getting in around 10 AM)
Flexible time train Florence: skipping Venice, but getting us to Florence a day sooner
So, I went home to pick up the pieces from these changes and fill in the gaps. A few new reservations later, I decided we were in good shape. And since I had the evening and most of the next day free, I headed over to Kirill's most recent apartment (he's gone through about 10 different Parisian residences by this point in the semester) to join our other pals and watch Woody Allen's Sleeper for the first delightful time in years.
So, we re-booked our vacation to get us to Florence a day sooner. Your move, Volcano.
(101) is Saturday, 17 April 2010
Dan and I took the TGV to Geneva, which was very nice. Got us there in short order, and we learned en route that our VWPP pal Victoria would be in Geneva that night as well! Wonderful! She was waiting for us when we got off the train.
The plan, at this point, was to give Geneva what Dan and I call the Madrid Treatment. Fondly named after our last night in Madrid back in March, we would leave our bags someplace safe (a train station locker) and just explore the city. We wouldn't have the chance otherwise, and it didn't make much sense to us to book a pricey hotel for just a few hours.
Geneva is an expensive city. Switzerland's economy is good enough to justify staying on the Swiss Franc (better US exchange rate than the Euro, but not by much). I had to take out a minimum of 50 swiss francs from the ATM. A bag of malted milk balls (required to break that 50) cost me 6 swiss Francs. The train station locker cost us 8. And answering two guys who asked for the time cost me my wallet containing 44 Swiss Francs, about 180 Euros, 4 credit cards, and two or three pieces of ID.
You do get a rebate, actually, on everything but the cash (and your never-useful Reid Hall ID card) if you chase the guys and shout "Voleur! Voleur! Rendez-moi ma portefeuille!"**
Dropping the wry bit for a second, I do want to assure you that these guys only got the cash (and not even all of it: those under-the-shirt tourist wallets are a good investment). My IDs, credit cards-- even the wallet itself-- made it back to me and I was completely physically unharmed. Shaken for a while, but unharmed.
Well played, Volcano. Well played.
After taking a breather over dinner, we decided to seek a hotel after all. We found one near Cornavin (Geneva's big train station) called the Hotel des Alpes-- which you can book here. If you are EVER in Geneva, stay at this hotel for my sake and that of David, the very generous soul working the desk that night. The place was full, but when we explained what happened, David let us use the hotel's Wi-Fi so I could Skype-call my folks. That didn't work, so he let me call them on the hotel's phone. He then called several local hotels for us (all full). Finally, he offered us the lobby couches, water, and something to eat if we wanted (we didn't, but thanked him anyway) until we had to leave to catch our train.
All at no charge.
David also explained that the way I was pick-pocketed was rather common in those parts. I'm sorry to dwell on this subject, but this is good knowledge to have. After asking for the time, the pickpocket made some jovial comment about us being American and "football!" And then he starts in on what David called the jeu de jambes ("leg game"... my translation is less catchy and more suggestive... it figures). This is where the pickpocket starts stepping on my feet and getting up in my personal space. Naturally, I try to jump out of the way, but he keeps on me. My jumping around makes my wallet easier to spot and grab because, one, I'm distracted, and two, rather than keeping hands on my money, I'm using my arms to move away and maintain balance. Once they've got the wallet, they run.
Notes I took from this:
1.) Maybe this is cold, but when you're tired and in transit, let them ask somebody else for the time.***
2.) When someone goes for your feet, go for your pockets.
3.) When arriving at night, always have somewhere safe to go (hostel, hotel, whatever) as soon as you get off the train.
3b.) Giving a city the Madrid Treatment works better when you've already gotten to know it and you aren't tired/disoriented.
At 5:45, after leaving the hotel with gratuitous thanks to David, we found the train station. Victoria continued her journey elsewhere in Europe, and Dan and I boarded (and slept on) our train to Milan.
(102) starts when Dan and I arrive in Milan on Sunday, 18 April 2010
I like Milan. But I think the three hours we spent there was enough. The only thing that might have justified more time would have been seeing 'The Last Supper', but we didn't have the necessary advance reservation to the museum. Instead, we dropped our bags just long enough to wander, see the Duomo, and get lunch and the first of very much gelato. The Duomo is the highlight there-- easily the most ornate (and therefore impressive) Gothic building I have ever seen (and my exposure has skyrocketed since January). My camera died for this part, which was really, really sad.
After walking around a bit, we hopped the train to Florence, where we found pitch-perfect clear weather in the 70s (Fahrenheit). Dan and I took an inexplicably long time finding the hostel I'd finagled for the night, but we then relaxed for a while in the room, relieved that our 24 hours in transit were over. I got a call from Kirill, who reported that his and Liz's volcano troubles were only just beginning (I'd tell you that story, but I could never do it the justice that she or Kirill do). The next few days would feature many such calls and many more hours wondering when the next one would sound. Dan and I then went over to Gusto Leo, a very affordable place near our hostel. Decent food, a friendly atmosphere, and a 20% discount to anyone with a student ID card.
Tomorrow's entry: Vacation, Take 2.
-Andy
---------------------------------------
Footnotes
* Gare de Lyon, Gare du Nord (North), Gare de l'Est (East), Gare Montparnasse, Gare Bercy, Gare d'Austerlitz, and Gare St-Lazare. Any guesses on what the word gare means in English?
** "Thief! Thief! Give me back my wallet!" And, in case you ever need a such a rebate in a French-speaking country, here's the French version spelled phonetically: "vo-LUR! vo-LUR! RON-day moi mah POR-tuh-foy!"
*** You know, maybe that should have been my first clue... These two are in Switzerland-- the land of Swiss watches-- and they don't know what time it is?
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