Spring break update (finally!)
Okay, I am not going to lie to you guys. This is going to be long. I'm gonna split it up into three sections: Venice, Florence and Madrid. You can read all of it, only certain sections, or none of it if you really don't give a rats ass what I did over spring break...hehe. And here we go!
Me, Erin and Maureen left for the airport at 6:30 in the morning, not a whole lot of fun. We had to go to Venice via Milan, which was kinda annoying but both flights were only a couple hours so it wasn't too bad. We got to Venice in the afternoon and managed to find the AliLaguna boat to take us to Lido, which is where our hotel was. After an hour on the boat we got off at Lido and got directions to our hotel. At first we thought the hotel was really sketchy and creepy, but it turns out that the hotel was down the street from that one and it was really nice. The first night in Venice we just went out to dinner, then went back to the hotel and chilled because we were tired. I called Mom from Venice and it definitely cost me £10 to talk to her for like, 2 minutes. Oh well.
The next day we got an early start and set off for St. Marks Square, which is the main area of attraction in Venice. It was reeeeally crowded, lotsa stupid tourists. (hello kettle?) But it was really fun. We mainly just walked around, looking at the sights, going in shops and looking at street vendors. The glass in Venice is amazing. I wanted to buy everything, it was just so cool! We saw the Basillica in the square, but didn't go in because the line was really long. The other cool thing was that because it was Carnivale, there were people walking around in really elaborate costumes. When I say elaborate, I mean elaborate. It was really funny though, because there'd be a big mess of tourists, and then some person walking along slowly in this enormous getup. People would actually stop and form circles around them talking pictures. I did too of course, just not as obnoxiously.
After wandering around we went back to the hotel for a bit, got some dinner and then headed out again looking for something to do that night. We ended up just following the crowd, walking all around the backstreets and stuff. It was a different vibe than before. Before it was tourists, now it was drunks. But we didn't have any problems with being harassed or anything. But I decided not to drink that night because I wanted to be on my toes and have my wits about me, in case something happened. But it was fine. After a while we just went back to the hotel because we felt uncomfortable being Americans amidst lots of drunken Italians. But it was still a fun night in my opinion. I can be perfectly content wandering around, taking in my surroundings.
The next morning Erin and Maureen changed hotels, and I went to the train station for Florence.
I had some confusion with my train ticket at first, because I wasn't sure where to sit. But after getting kicked out of first class, (not really kicked out, I asked if I was supposed to be there and they said no) I found a compartment a few cars back. I ended up sharing a compartment with 5 other American students also studying abroad. And one of them actually lives in Bayswater too! Go figure! Anyway, I slept for part of the ride, and chatted with the other kids for a bit too. We were all talking about school and Europe and traveling and stuff like that. The train ride was 4 hours but it wasn't too bad. The scenery was really pretty, all mountains and hills and some sky.
Eventually I got to Florence and the hotel was only like, 3 blocks away from the train station which was really convenient. The hotel room was decent considering it was more like a hostel. The room was pretty big and I had my own bathroom, which I wasn't expecting. The first night I just wandered around, got some dinner, wandered back to the hotel. The next morning I asked the front desk if there were any bus tours of Florence, and he gave me a brochure. So I decided to take an afternoon tour, and just stay local for the morning.
So I went to a Basillica right across from the train station. I paid a few Euros to get in, and it was incredible. The architecture and intricacy of the designs was amazing. I stood at the very end of the Basillica and I teared up, it was that beautiful. I have a postcard with that image on it, but you can't get the entire view or feel from a postcard. It's still beautiful though. There were a lot of paintings and stained glass, and even the ceilings had paintings on them! That always amazes me that they can paint the ceiling like that. It was just so beautiful.
I left the Basillica and sat in the courtyard for a while, watching the people and the pigeons. There were two funny pigeons at one point, one was following the other around, like they were playing "follow the leader" or something. It was really cute. After that I went next door to a museum and looked at some old stuff from waaay back in the day. That was pretty cool too. It was a really nice morning, very relaxing.
In the afternoon I got on my bus tour, and that was fantastic. First we took the bus up to Fiesolé (I think that's the name) to get a view of Florence. Going up the hill was incredible. The view was unbelievable. Exquisite even. I mean it was just breathtaking. Just gorgeous hills and trees and clusters of buildings...it's indescribable. I'm butchering trying to put it into words, because I can't. Even the pictures I have won't do it justice. After the view, we went back down to Florence and the bus dropped us off at a Cathedral. The Cathedral was were Michelangelo, Galileo, Maciavelli and Rossini are buried. The tour guide told us lots of cool stuff. I forgot everything she said, but I remember being interested at the time. The cathedral was beautiful too, the tour guide said that you could spend a whole week in there and we only had 30 minutes.
But after that we walked a few blocks to the City Hall. On the way we passed this deli type thing. That wasn't important, but where the deli thing was, was the spot where Leonardo Da Vinci's house used to be and that's where he grew up. I thought that was pretty cool. We got to City Hall and she showed us a bunch of the rooms there. Each room was decorated differently with different styles and stuff, and the main meeting room was unbelievable. Paintings on the ceiling, huge murals on the wall, statues of the Greek Gods, it was incredible. I've never been a fan of architecture or anything, but in Italy it's just amazing and I have this new found interest and respect for Italian architecture.
The tour was really great, but there were some reeeally annoying people on the tour with me. This woman with her mother and her daughter, all of them were so obnoxious. The grandmother was wearing this ridiculous fur coat, big blonde hair, lots of makeup. The mother just looked like the gerbils running round on the wheel inside her head had died. And the daughter was a brat. The daughter must have been like 5 or 6, but she barely talked, just whined. And the mother was dragging her around in a stroller. A stroller. The kid was practically falling out of it, she was way too big for a stroller. And when we were at the Cathedral, the kid would mosey around and slip under the red ropes that were in place and be very annoying and the mother did nothing. I wanted to kill them all. But oh well.
That night I went to dinner again and manged to find a bad Italian restaurant in Italy. I ordered spaghetti carbonara but it had like, a pound of parsely on it. When I mixed the parsely around it looked like I had ordered pesto sauce. It was so gross I couldn't eat it. But what can you do? The next day I left Florence and headed for the grand finale!
I had to go via Milan again, but it wasn't too bad. Once I got to Madrid I had a bit of a problem finding the Metro. So I was kinda upset at first because people weren't speaking English and a cab driver made kissy faces at me and I was a little scared. But I found the Metro and then things were fine from then on. I got to my stop and found the hostel okay. I was not crazy about the hostel though. It was really small and the rooms were tiny with 2 bunk beds and practically no space in between them. The first night I roomed with two Norwegian girls, but they were very nice.
After I settled in as much as I could, crazeespain (Anna) came over with her friend Viny and they took me out. They showed me all around, and I stood in the very center of Spain! Madrid is a lot like NYC I think. Of all the cities I've been to, Madrid is definitely the most like NYC. They were on a crusade to find a traditional Spanish restaurant so I could try the food. The first place we went to, we got a potato dish and a pitcher of Sangria. Both weren't too bad. Viny kept refilling my glass, so I think I had like 3 glasses of Sangria...lol! Next we went to a different restaurant and got some other Spanish dishes. We got fried calamari, Spanish omlette, some weird anchovy things I didn't like, and shrimp. It was really good.
After that we wandered around some more and did a pub crawl. Guys were standing on street corners with vouchers for free drinks so we got a lot of free drinks. I did a shot called a Vacuum, which is kinda weird. It's milk, Grenadine and I forget what alcohol was in it. I think rum. But you mix it with a straw until it's pink, do the shot, then cover the glass with your hand and suck the air. I didn't do it right though, because I didn't know how to do it until afterward. So I'll have to try it again sometime and do it proper. We ended up at a Country bar for some Mari Gras party and we bumped into people Viny works with. One guy was reeeally cute and silly.
The next day I went to this Park that Anna and Viny said to go to. It was huge and beautiful and very peaceful. I had fun just walking around taking pictures. I think there was a high school trip there doing a scavenger hunt, because there were teenagers in groups of 3's, running around with pieces of paper. After the park I went to the Opera House which was also cool. There was some guard changing thing, or something going on. There were guys on horses, a band and lots of army type officials. I couldn't really tell what was going on and I didn't really care enough to find out. I wandered around some more then went back to the hotel.
That night I met Anna again and she showed me around again. We went to Planet Hollywood for a drink and I wrote in her friend book thingy. But I got a lil sick from the drink I got. I got something called Sweet Death Becomes Her, which had a lot of different rums and pineapple juice. But I think it didn't agree with me because I hadn't eaten since 1pm, and I had the drink around 10ish. Anna and I met Viny a lil later and we went to dinner, but my appetite wasn't great. They said to eat because I needed food in my stomach, so I just got a Caesar salad. But it was a really good salad. I also tried a croquette, which is a Spanish food. The closest thing I can compare it to is a mozzarella stick, but it's not cheese inside. It's something else...really good though.
We ended up cutting that night short because I was sick and Viny and Anna had work the next day. I felt really bad about getting sick, but it happens. The next day Anna and I met for lunch before I went home. It was kinda rushed because she had to be at work, but I'm glad we got to hang out once more before I left. After that, that was pretty much it. I went home to London and I was really happy to be back home. Though I will miss the gelatto and croquettes. =]
So that was my break. I got back Thursday night, and was back at work Friday. Friday night I saw "The Ring" with Zack which I think I mentioned before. Saturday during the day, I went trekking around London trying to find cool street things to take pictures of. I found Fleet Street and took pictures there. I looked up and down that street for a barbershop, and was very amused to realize that there were two salons, but only once Fleet Street turned into a different street. There was one sign for a Barbershop, but it was around the corner and not actually on Fleet Street.
I also found Fenchurch Street at Tower Hill and took a picture there, though I didn't see anyone snogging in a queue...hehe. And I found platform 9 3/4! It's a small black plaque that simply says "9 3/4" on the wall between platforms 9 and 10. It was so cute...heehee. Later that night I went out with Zack and Mike and we got some drinks. Then Sunday morning Zack and I went down to Clapham Common to see "Bowling For Columbine" with Matt and John. I was the only one who had seen it already, and they were all very impressed, as they should be. I loved it the second time around of course, that movie is just brilliant. Michael Moore is a complete genius and he raises so many points about America it is a little disturbing.
Danielle's boyfriend, Rich is here for a week. He's cool, and last night them, me and Zack went to the pub. He bought everyone a shot of Brain Damage and that was fun. I definitely drank a lot within a short time there, but I wasn't too drunk. Just a lil tipsy which is just how I like it. But anyway, that should bring things up to date I do believe! And now I'm at work and I have to run to Waitrose and get Tom's lunch for him. Lazy git. Hehehe...just kidding. Cheers! :Þ
~originally posted from dreamyemmy
Me, Erin and Maureen left for the airport at 6:30 in the morning, not a whole lot of fun. We had to go to Venice via Milan, which was kinda annoying but both flights were only a couple hours so it wasn't too bad. We got to Venice in the afternoon and managed to find the AliLaguna boat to take us to Lido, which is where our hotel was. After an hour on the boat we got off at Lido and got directions to our hotel. At first we thought the hotel was really sketchy and creepy, but it turns out that the hotel was down the street from that one and it was really nice. The first night in Venice we just went out to dinner, then went back to the hotel and chilled because we were tired. I called Mom from Venice and it definitely cost me £10 to talk to her for like, 2 minutes. Oh well.
The next day we got an early start and set off for St. Marks Square, which is the main area of attraction in Venice. It was reeeeally crowded, lotsa stupid tourists. (hello kettle?) But it was really fun. We mainly just walked around, looking at the sights, going in shops and looking at street vendors. The glass in Venice is amazing. I wanted to buy everything, it was just so cool! We saw the Basillica in the square, but didn't go in because the line was really long. The other cool thing was that because it was Carnivale, there were people walking around in really elaborate costumes. When I say elaborate, I mean elaborate. It was really funny though, because there'd be a big mess of tourists, and then some person walking along slowly in this enormous getup. People would actually stop and form circles around them talking pictures. I did too of course, just not as obnoxiously.
After wandering around we went back to the hotel for a bit, got some dinner and then headed out again looking for something to do that night. We ended up just following the crowd, walking all around the backstreets and stuff. It was a different vibe than before. Before it was tourists, now it was drunks. But we didn't have any problems with being harassed or anything. But I decided not to drink that night because I wanted to be on my toes and have my wits about me, in case something happened. But it was fine. After a while we just went back to the hotel because we felt uncomfortable being Americans amidst lots of drunken Italians. But it was still a fun night in my opinion. I can be perfectly content wandering around, taking in my surroundings.
The next morning Erin and Maureen changed hotels, and I went to the train station for Florence.
I had some confusion with my train ticket at first, because I wasn't sure where to sit. But after getting kicked out of first class, (not really kicked out, I asked if I was supposed to be there and they said no) I found a compartment a few cars back. I ended up sharing a compartment with 5 other American students also studying abroad. And one of them actually lives in Bayswater too! Go figure! Anyway, I slept for part of the ride, and chatted with the other kids for a bit too. We were all talking about school and Europe and traveling and stuff like that. The train ride was 4 hours but it wasn't too bad. The scenery was really pretty, all mountains and hills and some sky.
Eventually I got to Florence and the hotel was only like, 3 blocks away from the train station which was really convenient. The hotel room was decent considering it was more like a hostel. The room was pretty big and I had my own bathroom, which I wasn't expecting. The first night I just wandered around, got some dinner, wandered back to the hotel. The next morning I asked the front desk if there were any bus tours of Florence, and he gave me a brochure. So I decided to take an afternoon tour, and just stay local for the morning.
So I went to a Basillica right across from the train station. I paid a few Euros to get in, and it was incredible. The architecture and intricacy of the designs was amazing. I stood at the very end of the Basillica and I teared up, it was that beautiful. I have a postcard with that image on it, but you can't get the entire view or feel from a postcard. It's still beautiful though. There were a lot of paintings and stained glass, and even the ceilings had paintings on them! That always amazes me that they can paint the ceiling like that. It was just so beautiful.
I left the Basillica and sat in the courtyard for a while, watching the people and the pigeons. There were two funny pigeons at one point, one was following the other around, like they were playing "follow the leader" or something. It was really cute. After that I went next door to a museum and looked at some old stuff from waaay back in the day. That was pretty cool too. It was a really nice morning, very relaxing.
In the afternoon I got on my bus tour, and that was fantastic. First we took the bus up to Fiesolé (I think that's the name) to get a view of Florence. Going up the hill was incredible. The view was unbelievable. Exquisite even. I mean it was just breathtaking. Just gorgeous hills and trees and clusters of buildings...it's indescribable. I'm butchering trying to put it into words, because I can't. Even the pictures I have won't do it justice. After the view, we went back down to Florence and the bus dropped us off at a Cathedral. The Cathedral was were Michelangelo, Galileo, Maciavelli and Rossini are buried. The tour guide told us lots of cool stuff. I forgot everything she said, but I remember being interested at the time. The cathedral was beautiful too, the tour guide said that you could spend a whole week in there and we only had 30 minutes.
But after that we walked a few blocks to the City Hall. On the way we passed this deli type thing. That wasn't important, but where the deli thing was, was the spot where Leonardo Da Vinci's house used to be and that's where he grew up. I thought that was pretty cool. We got to City Hall and she showed us a bunch of the rooms there. Each room was decorated differently with different styles and stuff, and the main meeting room was unbelievable. Paintings on the ceiling, huge murals on the wall, statues of the Greek Gods, it was incredible. I've never been a fan of architecture or anything, but in Italy it's just amazing and I have this new found interest and respect for Italian architecture.
The tour was really great, but there were some reeeally annoying people on the tour with me. This woman with her mother and her daughter, all of them were so obnoxious. The grandmother was wearing this ridiculous fur coat, big blonde hair, lots of makeup. The mother just looked like the gerbils running round on the wheel inside her head had died. And the daughter was a brat. The daughter must have been like 5 or 6, but she barely talked, just whined. And the mother was dragging her around in a stroller. A stroller. The kid was practically falling out of it, she was way too big for a stroller. And when we were at the Cathedral, the kid would mosey around and slip under the red ropes that were in place and be very annoying and the mother did nothing. I wanted to kill them all. But oh well.
That night I went to dinner again and manged to find a bad Italian restaurant in Italy. I ordered spaghetti carbonara but it had like, a pound of parsely on it. When I mixed the parsely around it looked like I had ordered pesto sauce. It was so gross I couldn't eat it. But what can you do? The next day I left Florence and headed for the grand finale!
I had to go via Milan again, but it wasn't too bad. Once I got to Madrid I had a bit of a problem finding the Metro. So I was kinda upset at first because people weren't speaking English and a cab driver made kissy faces at me and I was a little scared. But I found the Metro and then things were fine from then on. I got to my stop and found the hostel okay. I was not crazy about the hostel though. It was really small and the rooms were tiny with 2 bunk beds and practically no space in between them. The first night I roomed with two Norwegian girls, but they were very nice.
After I settled in as much as I could, crazeespain (Anna) came over with her friend Viny and they took me out. They showed me all around, and I stood in the very center of Spain! Madrid is a lot like NYC I think. Of all the cities I've been to, Madrid is definitely the most like NYC. They were on a crusade to find a traditional Spanish restaurant so I could try the food. The first place we went to, we got a potato dish and a pitcher of Sangria. Both weren't too bad. Viny kept refilling my glass, so I think I had like 3 glasses of Sangria...lol! Next we went to a different restaurant and got some other Spanish dishes. We got fried calamari, Spanish omlette, some weird anchovy things I didn't like, and shrimp. It was really good.
After that we wandered around some more and did a pub crawl. Guys were standing on street corners with vouchers for free drinks so we got a lot of free drinks. I did a shot called a Vacuum, which is kinda weird. It's milk, Grenadine and I forget what alcohol was in it. I think rum. But you mix it with a straw until it's pink, do the shot, then cover the glass with your hand and suck the air. I didn't do it right though, because I didn't know how to do it until afterward. So I'll have to try it again sometime and do it proper. We ended up at a Country bar for some Mari Gras party and we bumped into people Viny works with. One guy was reeeally cute and silly.
The next day I went to this Park that Anna and Viny said to go to. It was huge and beautiful and very peaceful. I had fun just walking around taking pictures. I think there was a high school trip there doing a scavenger hunt, because there were teenagers in groups of 3's, running around with pieces of paper. After the park I went to the Opera House which was also cool. There was some guard changing thing, or something going on. There were guys on horses, a band and lots of army type officials. I couldn't really tell what was going on and I didn't really care enough to find out. I wandered around some more then went back to the hotel.
That night I met Anna again and she showed me around again. We went to Planet Hollywood for a drink and I wrote in her friend book thingy. But I got a lil sick from the drink I got. I got something called Sweet Death Becomes Her, which had a lot of different rums and pineapple juice. But I think it didn't agree with me because I hadn't eaten since 1pm, and I had the drink around 10ish. Anna and I met Viny a lil later and we went to dinner, but my appetite wasn't great. They said to eat because I needed food in my stomach, so I just got a Caesar salad. But it was a really good salad. I also tried a croquette, which is a Spanish food. The closest thing I can compare it to is a mozzarella stick, but it's not cheese inside. It's something else...really good though.
We ended up cutting that night short because I was sick and Viny and Anna had work the next day. I felt really bad about getting sick, but it happens. The next day Anna and I met for lunch before I went home. It was kinda rushed because she had to be at work, but I'm glad we got to hang out once more before I left. After that, that was pretty much it. I went home to London and I was really happy to be back home. Though I will miss the gelatto and croquettes. =]
So that was my break. I got back Thursday night, and was back at work Friday. Friday night I saw "The Ring" with Zack which I think I mentioned before. Saturday during the day, I went trekking around London trying to find cool street things to take pictures of. I found Fleet Street and took pictures there. I looked up and down that street for a barbershop, and was very amused to realize that there were two salons, but only once Fleet Street turned into a different street. There was one sign for a Barbershop, but it was around the corner and not actually on Fleet Street.
I also found Fenchurch Street at Tower Hill and took a picture there, though I didn't see anyone snogging in a queue...hehe. And I found platform 9 3/4! It's a small black plaque that simply says "9 3/4" on the wall between platforms 9 and 10. It was so cute...heehee. Later that night I went out with Zack and Mike and we got some drinks. Then Sunday morning Zack and I went down to Clapham Common to see "Bowling For Columbine" with Matt and John. I was the only one who had seen it already, and they were all very impressed, as they should be. I loved it the second time around of course, that movie is just brilliant. Michael Moore is a complete genius and he raises so many points about America it is a little disturbing.
Danielle's boyfriend, Rich is here for a week. He's cool, and last night them, me and Zack went to the pub. He bought everyone a shot of Brain Damage and that was fun. I definitely drank a lot within a short time there, but I wasn't too drunk. Just a lil tipsy which is just how I like it. But anyway, that should bring things up to date I do believe! And now I'm at work and I have to run to Waitrose and get Tom's lunch for him. Lazy git. Hehehe...just kidding. Cheers! :Þ
~originally posted from dreamyemmy