Killing time
Still in Barcelona, probably will be through the weekend. In Bordeaux, my friend got a job for monday and tuesday, so i'll get there tuesday evening, most likely. Perhaps i'll take a bit of time on my own to some city in the middle. Guiu, my current host, is leaving to bolivia for an internship on wednesday, so i feel bad taking all his time right here at the end before he leaves. Also, it's fairly difficult being in spain, because, as everybody has said, people really don't speak that much english. So, when i go out with guiu and his friends, i feel sort of set aside, and out of place while everybody is living it up. Perhaps this is just a mid-travel crisis, but right now i'm looking forward to getting home. 2 more weeks, and i'll be somewhere that can feel like home again. Having a stable place, understanding what people say, being able to talk to people you meet, i think we take it for granted, and it's tough to be without.
For my philosophical moment, i'm reminded of some dead white guy who thought the ideal situation would be to be an invisible, floating eyeball. You could go around and observe people, and see what's what, without being disturbed. I think i used to believe that would be pretty cool, but now i must say, having been a floating eyeball on and off for a while now, it pretty much sucks. We are social people, and it doesn't feel that great to be ignored while everyone around you is having a good time.
Right, so there's my bit of stress release. Any encouraging, or wise words on the subject would be appreciated.
On a more typical note, i left off last time as i was coming to italy. I'm not sure where to begin, because i saw so much, even though we never left tuscany. Perhaps to begin with Siena.
Jon, i didn't see Pompeii, but it better be pretty good to make up for not having seen siena. Inside the city walls, the whole town is this wonderful brick buildings, crawling up and down this hills. The streets wind around, and it really feels like it's the same as several hundred years ago. Not only that, but that it might not have been so bad to live at that time. Granted, the city was probably a lot dirtier in the middle ages, but the living spaces seem quite reasonable, even by modern standards.
And then of course, there's the Piazza del Campo, the main square where they have the Palio every year. I came between the two races of this summer, but all the people from siena seem very excited about it. The palio is their yearly festival where they have a horse race around the main square of the city. They make a track from the Terra di Siena, and every quarter of the city selects a horse for the race. And, of course, the rest of the square is packed full of people.
Also in siena, there's the old city hall from when siena was a separate state, before they were conquered by florence. Quite nice, with a high clock tower overlooking the main square. And then there's the cathedral in siena. It was planned to be larger than the cathedral in florence, and you can see walls from the original construction. However, when the plague came, the city didn't have enough money, and had to change the plan and make it much smaller. It's still very large, but it could have been enormous. Of course, it's very nice, with wonderful decorations all abounding.
So, that's the highlights of siena. We also spent a day in florence. Another very nice city, but perhaps i had too high of expectations. I had heard of florence as being a great capital of the rennaisance, so i expected there to be amazing statues and monuments, and buildings everywhere. Don't get me wrong, there were many, for instance the bell tower next to the cathedral, and the cathedral itself are amazing, but it's still a real city, not a fairytale land of amazing artworks as i had pictured.
The other great thing about tuscany was the countryside. Paolo's family actually live outside siena, and it was great to go out in their fields, and help paolo dig up the potatoes, and pick fresh fruit right off their trees. And then on one day we drove south of siena into the hills of tuscany, which are supposed to be quite famous. They were indeed very beautiful. Rolling off into the distance, with small roads winding on the ridges between the farms.
Second observation of the day, i think there's a lot more farms in europe than in the states. Taking the trains around, and driving with friends, in most places, it seems that where the cities end the farms begin. There's definately a lot less sprawling suburbs cutting out into the countryside, wasting space, paving over farmlands, and blurring the boundary of the city. Perhaps it has to do with the greater need for space, that everything is used to it's maximum potential. Or perhaps americans just haven't realized how stupid it is to put warehouses on fertile valley farmland.
So, after having seen the big sights in tuscany, we went to the beach to relax for a bit. I never realized just how salty the sea is, never having been brave/stupid enough to try swimming in the pacific. Also never realized just how much of a difference that salt makes on your bouyancy. It's really nice being able to just float there and not sink to the bottom like i do in fresh water. Then we went back to siena, and the day after ensued the great ordeal of trying to get to barcelona which i related last time.
And now i'm in barcelona, waiting for guiu to get back from dropping his girlfriend off at her home. This afternoon we'll probably go into the city center and walk around. It seems that barcelona doesn't have so many big, fancy things to see, but it's a really nice city to be in. There's lots of places to go out, lots of clubs, and restaurants, and small shops, and the downtown area is well built.
As for fancy things to see, apparently there was some crazy architect of renown in barcelona, Gaudi, i think was his name, and he built quite a few things, and left many more half completed. The two big things i've seen are a park designed for rich people to live. There's a few houses scattered around a very nice park, with planted walkways, and everything landscaped just right.
The other big fancy thing i've seen is an unfinished cathedral, 140 years in the making so far. It's only being built with donation money, so the progress has been quite slow, but they say it'll be done on the outside in 25 years or so. What makes it so interesting, apart from the long construction time, is that the architect used all sorts of designs inspired by plant forms and whatnot. It has a traditional form, with columns, and a large cross shape, but the columns, for example are designed to look like trees holding up the roof. It's really something to see, for sure, a very nice change from all the other cathedrals which begin to look fairly similar after the 20 somethingth.
Guiu's back now, so it's time for lunch.
Adios.
For my philosophical moment, i'm reminded of some dead white guy who thought the ideal situation would be to be an invisible, floating eyeball. You could go around and observe people, and see what's what, without being disturbed. I think i used to believe that would be pretty cool, but now i must say, having been a floating eyeball on and off for a while now, it pretty much sucks. We are social people, and it doesn't feel that great to be ignored while everyone around you is having a good time.
Right, so there's my bit of stress release. Any encouraging, or wise words on the subject would be appreciated.
On a more typical note, i left off last time as i was coming to italy. I'm not sure where to begin, because i saw so much, even though we never left tuscany. Perhaps to begin with Siena.
Jon, i didn't see Pompeii, but it better be pretty good to make up for not having seen siena. Inside the city walls, the whole town is this wonderful brick buildings, crawling up and down this hills. The streets wind around, and it really feels like it's the same as several hundred years ago. Not only that, but that it might not have been so bad to live at that time. Granted, the city was probably a lot dirtier in the middle ages, but the living spaces seem quite reasonable, even by modern standards.
And then of course, there's the Piazza del Campo, the main square where they have the Palio every year. I came between the two races of this summer, but all the people from siena seem very excited about it. The palio is their yearly festival where they have a horse race around the main square of the city. They make a track from the Terra di Siena, and every quarter of the city selects a horse for the race. And, of course, the rest of the square is packed full of people.
Also in siena, there's the old city hall from when siena was a separate state, before they were conquered by florence. Quite nice, with a high clock tower overlooking the main square. And then there's the cathedral in siena. It was planned to be larger than the cathedral in florence, and you can see walls from the original construction. However, when the plague came, the city didn't have enough money, and had to change the plan and make it much smaller. It's still very large, but it could have been enormous. Of course, it's very nice, with wonderful decorations all abounding.
So, that's the highlights of siena. We also spent a day in florence. Another very nice city, but perhaps i had too high of expectations. I had heard of florence as being a great capital of the rennaisance, so i expected there to be amazing statues and monuments, and buildings everywhere. Don't get me wrong, there were many, for instance the bell tower next to the cathedral, and the cathedral itself are amazing, but it's still a real city, not a fairytale land of amazing artworks as i had pictured.
The other great thing about tuscany was the countryside. Paolo's family actually live outside siena, and it was great to go out in their fields, and help paolo dig up the potatoes, and pick fresh fruit right off their trees. And then on one day we drove south of siena into the hills of tuscany, which are supposed to be quite famous. They were indeed very beautiful. Rolling off into the distance, with small roads winding on the ridges between the farms.
Second observation of the day, i think there's a lot more farms in europe than in the states. Taking the trains around, and driving with friends, in most places, it seems that where the cities end the farms begin. There's definately a lot less sprawling suburbs cutting out into the countryside, wasting space, paving over farmlands, and blurring the boundary of the city. Perhaps it has to do with the greater need for space, that everything is used to it's maximum potential. Or perhaps americans just haven't realized how stupid it is to put warehouses on fertile valley farmland.
So, after having seen the big sights in tuscany, we went to the beach to relax for a bit. I never realized just how salty the sea is, never having been brave/stupid enough to try swimming in the pacific. Also never realized just how much of a difference that salt makes on your bouyancy. It's really nice being able to just float there and not sink to the bottom like i do in fresh water. Then we went back to siena, and the day after ensued the great ordeal of trying to get to barcelona which i related last time.
And now i'm in barcelona, waiting for guiu to get back from dropping his girlfriend off at her home. This afternoon we'll probably go into the city center and walk around. It seems that barcelona doesn't have so many big, fancy things to see, but it's a really nice city to be in. There's lots of places to go out, lots of clubs, and restaurants, and small shops, and the downtown area is well built.
As for fancy things to see, apparently there was some crazy architect of renown in barcelona, Gaudi, i think was his name, and he built quite a few things, and left many more half completed. The two big things i've seen are a park designed for rich people to live. There's a few houses scattered around a very nice park, with planted walkways, and everything landscaped just right.
The other big fancy thing i've seen is an unfinished cathedral, 140 years in the making so far. It's only being built with donation money, so the progress has been quite slow, but they say it'll be done on the outside in 25 years or so. What makes it so interesting, apart from the long construction time, is that the architect used all sorts of designs inspired by plant forms and whatnot. It has a traditional form, with columns, and a large cross shape, but the columns, for example are designed to look like trees holding up the roof. It's really something to see, for sure, a very nice change from all the other cathedrals which begin to look fairly similar after the 20 somethingth.
Guiu's back now, so it's time for lunch.
Adios.