Adieu to Kalamazoo

My cousin, Teri, got married recently and it made for one fast weekend. We left Oklahoma at about 10 o’clock in the morning, after taking Sherlock for a ride because we found him climbing in the front window of the Jetta.  Clearly, he did not like that he was being left behind. We drove pretty much straight through to St. Louis, stopping for a couple potty breaks along the way before stopping for dinner at the Hard Rock Café.  All I could do was compare it to the ones in Europe, since that was my only experience with the HRCs.  It was small, and didn’t have as much memorabilia as the one in Florence.  However, it was very similar to the one I ate at in Barcelona, so there’s that.  The food was fantastic regardless!

We made it all the way to Bloomington, Illinois before we stopped for the night.  We stayed at a Double Tree Hotel and walked what felt like a mile to get to our room.  I’m pretty sure we went down three full length hallways before we even got to ours.  And the elevator was on the other end of the hotel from our room, which definitely made the stay interesting.

The next morning, we got up, ate breakfast at Panera Bread, and hit the road to Kalamazoo. Thankfully, we were only about 4 hours away at this point, which was nice.  And the people on the road were averaging about 90 mph, even though the speed limit was 55, so we made great time. Unfortunately, we also had to drive through construction on the outskirts of Chicago, so 4 hours got to be a little longer.  We finally got to the hotel at about 4 pm (Oklahoma time) and dad got in line to check in. It was a very busy weekend for the hotel. 

They had 900 people check out that morning and 250 were checking in.  Half of the rooms weren’t even clean yet.  However, we had to give it to the staff as they were doing a great job considering the circumstances.  The valets were running from place to place, trying to make sure everyone was covered and got a cart for their luggage and whatnot.  By the time we got up to the room, it was 430 (still in Oklahoma time) and we thought we had some time to sit down before we had to be at the rehearsal dinner.  However, then we realized there was a time change.  It was 530pm Kalamazoo time and the dinner started at 6.  No sitting down for us.

We were fashionably late to the rehearsal dinner, but so was most everyone else.  It was in a dueling pianos bar near the hotel and was filled with people by the end of the night.  It was really great to see the family again, although I didn’t really get the chance to talk to Teri, the cousin who was getting married.  The drinks were great, the food was fantastic, and the company was alright (it was awesome). We talked, we laughed, I met my uncle for the second time, and then I was exhausted.  Two days of driving made for a very tired family.  We went back to the hotel and I worked on some homework before we went to bed for the night. 

Here's that uncle I mentioned.

The next day dawned wedding day.  Thankfully, it wasn’t until 3pm, so we slept in and then went to the nearby mall to walk around and get our legs moving.  We had a light lunch at Olive Garden and had the most amazing waiter.  He kept our drinks full, checked on us frequently, and had a fantastic personality.  Definitely wish we could have more of those back here in Oklahoma. 

The Hindu wedding ceremony came first, which was on the roof of a building, in the 50 degree, windy Michigan weather.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and no clouds, but it was definitely a shock after leaving 90+ degree Oklahoma. Thankfully, I was smart enough to wear some fleece lined legging with my dress and to bring a jacket with me to the ceremony.  Most of the other girls there were not quite so smart.  There were many girls in their short dresses and high heels and little lace shawls trying to huddle together on the roof to keep warm.  I was relatively comfortable though!

It was a beautiful ceremony, although the Hindu priest was rather clueless, along with the rest of the wedding party.  He didn’t show up in Michigan until the morning of, and even the Indian people present said that he was rather scattered throughout the ceremony.  Dad (mine, not hers) got to walk the bride down the aisle.  Apparently it’s some sort of tradition that no one knew about beforehand. Dad was certainly surprised!  My cousin didn’t even get to see her wedding sari until she was putting it on, but it was absolutely gorgeous.  I have no idea what was happening in the ceremony, but it was still fun to watch.

After the Hindu ceremony was over, we headed across the street for a cocktail hour while the bride and groom got changed.  I’m pretty sure the poor bartenders served a couple hundred Moscow Mules, as that was Teri’s favorite drink.  I’m really surprised they didn’t run out of ginger beer and vodka!  They also had some fantastic little snacks going around during this, which was both good and bad.  The snacks themselves were delicious and authentic Indian foods, for the most part.  However, they were so good and in such easy supply that I definitely ate more of them than I should have.  No regrets, though!

Next, we went upstairs for the Christian ceremony and reception.  Again, Teri’s dress was absolutely gorgeous and the food was amazing.  At that point, it was more or less like almost every wedding reception.  There was an open bar, an ice cream bar, and a late-night mac-and-cheese bar, although we left before the mac-and-cheese bar got set up.  I was so full at that point, though, that I’m not sure I could have eaten any more food!

The Wedding Party

They had also set up a really cool photo booth for the guests, along with a bunch or hats and decorations for people to use when taking the pictures.  People would leave one half for the bride and groom and take the other half for themselves, which I thought was a great idea.  Oh, and my cousin Tommy put on one of those blow-up T-rex costumes and started wreaking havoc, including tearing down a string of lights.  At that point, we left since we had to drive all the way back to Oklahoma the next day, but we heard that the party lasted until at least two in the morning, travelling to a couple different bars along the way.

Guess which one's my cousin Tommy!

We ate breakfast with the family the next morning before hitting the road, which was an adventure unto itself with the Moses clan.  People bustling this way and that trying to get the food on the buffet, get everyone drinks, take care of the trash, make coffee and mimosas, and just generally getting things done and getting in the way at the same time.  It wouldn’t be an event with the Moses family without a little chaos! 

Unfortunately, after breakfast, we had to start our 14 hour drive back home so I could get to class for my presentation the next day.  And work on homework in the car along the way. And try to make sure my group members were doing their part.  Oh, and work on my part of the presentation. It honestly wasn’t that bad of a drive on the way home.  It felt shorter than on the way up, so that was nice.  Especially considering we drove straight through. 

The happily married couple at another 

ceremony the next day!

Small Rant

The last movie that my family and I went to see had a preview for a new World War II film entitled Dunkirk.  Now, I’ve never been the biggest history buff, but I like to think I know at least the important events in our history.  However, after watching this preview, it started to dawn on me how little the American education teaches us about anything that occurs after the Civil War.  As a matter of fact, the only thing I ever learned in school about either of the World Wars was about the Holocaust and that was in English, not history.  I do vaguely remember learning about the Victory Gardens, but I’m not even sure that was in school.  We were never taught about the World Wars, not even about Pearl Harbor.  Most of what people my age know about these wars has either been from movies or from parents who are history buffs.  

To be honest, this realization started while I was in Italy.  Not only was I taking classes in the subject, but I picked up a copy of the Monuments Men book (because it was one of the few that were in English). Between these two sources, I was rather surprised by how much I didn't know.  Pretty much the entirety of Italian history that we learned focused on how the wars affected their country and culture.  Now, I know that it is a much bigger deal for the European countries because the wars were actually fought on their soil, but America was still a major force in the World Wars.  I just don’t understand why our history education essentially stops with the Civil War.  Even my Government class didn’t really go into modern day.  In four months, I learned more about the World Wars and America’s role in them than I did in the last 15 years.  The saying goes that “those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”  What does that say about the future of our generation?

I think a lot of this has to do with outdated curriculum requirements.  Just look at all of the things that people NEED to know to live as adults that they are never taught.  Very few schools even offer classes like Home Ec., and when they do it’s a complete waste of time.  Schools need to be teaching us some of those basic life skills like how to sew on a button, how to write a check, and how to do our taxes, but that is clearly less important than taking X number of classes so we can get into college.  In fact, we’re expected to decide the course of our lives by picking a major when we still have to raise our hands to go to the bathroom.  How is that a good idea?  Schools preach that they are preparing us for the real world, but how? We don’t know our history, we don’t know basic life skills, and the next generation is even worse off than mine is. 

Sorry for the rant, but I felt the need to share.  It has definitely pushed me to start picking up books on certain topics, like Dunkirk.  Movies are great and all, but very few of them are accurate and for people in my generation, most of the documentaries are extremely boring and dull.  However, there are other outlets like history blogs and books that make it a little more tolerable.  Or don’t listen to me.  Either way is fine.  

The Curious Case of the Stone Lion

The Stone Lion Inn Bed and Breakfast

Well, it’s been a little longer than a month since my last post, but life got a little crazy all of a sudden and I’m not even sure what with.  I started my summer class, but that only takes two hours out of my day and the rest is filled with… something.  I don’t know if the rest is full of errands, day dreaming, or chores, but I’m even finding it hard to get my readings done for my class! Although, considering most college students don’t even bother to try to do the readings, I’m probably a little ahead to begin with. 

Anyway, a few weeks ago, my friend Madison took me to the Murder Mystery Dinner at the Stone Lion Inn located in Guthrie.  We were given characters to dress up as and to ‘act out’ (which we were rather horrible at doing). Unfortunately (sort of), when we called to make our reservation they thought that I was a Michael not a Michaela, so we were given a male and a female character.  Madison’s character was Katie LaFemme, an airheaded hostess at the Stone Lion Inn who was having an affair with Roger Worthington (alongside just about every female character at the party).  I was Benjamin Cohen, a student at Boston College who was an absolutely terrible waiter but was kept on the staff as a ‘service to the community’.  Or so we were told…

 Of course, we had to find clothing to fit the decade (the year for the party was 1948).  Madison actually already had a dress and a pair of heels that were pretty perfect for the decade, she just needed a pair of tights and the right hairstyle and she was set.  I, on the other hand, had to find men’s clothes that fit the decade, which was actually surprisingly easy.  I found a pair of men’s wool dress pants at Nearly New that fit pretty perfectly.  Madison and I went shopping for a white button up and a fedora, both of which we found on sale at JCP, so again, a pretty easy costume.  I already had a pair of ‘oxford’ booties that would work and I was ready to party like it was 1948!

We got there a little earlier than most of the guests because we were staying the night (which I definitely would NOT recommend).  Don’t get me wrong, the inn is lovely, but there are no actually locks on the doors, just a hook that you can only ‘lock’ once you are inside of the room.  Not to mention, all the staff disappears immediately after the dinner and we didn’t have towels in our room, so that wasn’t exactly great.  Regardless, we got ready in our room before going downstairs.  Madison ripped her tights as she was putting them on, and not just a little bit either.  She practically ripped them in half, so we had to run up the street to CVS to get another pair… or three.  By the time we got back and finished getting ready, it was time to go downstairs and begin the cocktail party.  Madison didn’t want to go down the stairs in her heels and couldn’t easily bend over to put the ankle straps on, so we stood in the middle of the living room while I hooked her ankle straps.  There was a lovely older woman who commented that she needed a friend like that.  What are friends for, right?!

Before the cocktail party began, we were given little slips of paper that included more information about our characters that we were not supposed to share with anyone.  They also contained clues that we would be reading out later in the evening when were given the information that could potentially lead us to the killer, although no one had died just yet.  We had little hints we were supposed to drop during the cocktail party as well, but Madison and I were horrible at this.  Clearly we are not meant to be actors!

The Parlor

Next came dinner, which was absolutely delicious.  We had a small salad, a green chile bisque, and for our main course we had half of a pheasant with mashed potatoes and vegetables (I think, I can’t really remember, but it was delicious!).  At the beginning of the meal, I had a small part to play, which pretty much just entailed me being a really horrible waiter and getting fired, which was pretty fun.  Madison and I were sat at a table with a mother and daughter from Texas who were doing a mini road trip.  We were supposed to stay in character throughout dinner, but that’s a really long time to talk about history and my story was close enough to that of my character anyway.  Half way through our dinner, the killer struck.  The victim stumbled out into the hallway and face planted onto the ground.  Now, this was another guest, not one of the workers, so he just made the decision to commit to the character and risk injury.  Although, I have to admit he was pretty plastered before the cocktail party even started, so he probably didn’t even feel it.  I had another part to play once this happened, which was to run out of the room because I was ‘afraid of dead bodies’.  Like, I had to run past the dead body to do this, so I’m not really sure why that was part of the script, but whatever.  Madison was the only one to notice anyway.

The next part of the evening consisted of returning to the parlor to read out the clues that we had been given that would, in theory, lead us to the killer.  Pretty much every character at the party had motive, but only a few had opportunity.  After the clues were read, we divided into the sexes to discuss the clues and come up with an individual who had motive, means, and opportunity.  Since my character was male, I was put with the men as well, most of whom were too drunk for true reasoning, but that just made it that much more fun.  Now, since I’m not sure if they use the same story every time, and you think that you may do this dinner in the near future (which I would highly recommend) please skip this next paragraph so I don’t ruin the fun for you:

The man who was murdered was Roger Worthington, a rich man who was more than a bit of a womanizer.  Pretty much every woman at the party had slept with him or wanted to sleep with him for one reason or another.  He was poisoned with curare which was taken from Uta, the hostess/inn owner’s apartment during the day.  Since he had bleeding stomach ulcers, it was able to get into his blood stream. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have killed him.  Now, only about 7 people had access to the apartment (including my twin brother who decided not to show up to the party apparently).  We were given the clue that Roger was very picky about everything in life, to the point that the inn only served him a specific water when he came and only the staff would know this.  That narrowed the list of suspects down to five: Uta and Yvonne, both of whom own the place, me and my absentee brother, and Katie, aka Madison.  I had a strong suspicion who the killer was, but when we divided into groups to discuss the clues, the men were set on their suspect and who was I to argue! Although, in all fairness, I had information that they did not.  My little slip of paper told me that I was not actually a student or a waiter, but that I was a Nazi hunter who was looking for the couple who killed my father during the war in Paris.  Earlier that week, me and my twin had killed the man, but we were still looking for his girlfriend.  Little did everyone else know, Uta was the girlfriend and it was her we were trying to kill.  Roger had taken Uta’s place at the dinner table so he had drank her water, which was laced with curare.  Funnily enough, even if she had been the one to drink the water, it wouldn’t have killed her because it has to enter the blood stream.  So, not only was I a terrible waiter, I couldn’t even commit murder properly!

Anyway, when the groups returned to the parlor, the spokesperson of the group had to stand up and declare who their suspect was and how/why they had committed murder.  While the groups had different suspects, neither were right and the killer got away! Although, it would have taken some intense concentration during the clue reading and some serious thinking to actually come up with the right killer, and some paying attention during the dinner. 

All in all, it was actually a lot of fun to do!  The people were great, the food was great, and it was pretty funny watching all the men staying in character despite being drunk. I would definitely recommend going to it, and there are usually Groupons that pop up every now and then that make it super affordable.  However, don’t bother staying the night.  It’s a little pricey and totally not worth it.  The website says that the event will last until about midnight, if not later, which is why we chose to stay the night.  It ended at 9pm and we didn’t bring books or games or anything.  There was no television or internet either and most of the people were quite a bit older than us, not to mention they left to go to the bar as soon as the even was over anyway.  DO the dinner, DON’T stay the night!

One Long Month Later

I can’t believe it has already been a month since I left Italy.  It’s funny how quickly things revert to normal, especially after spending 4 months on my own in a foreign country.  However, I have noticed some things that are a little off now.  

Our food is horrible.  Not just tasting, but for you.  My first week or two after coming home, I had a horrible tummy ache.  I didn’t really want to eat anything because it all tasted funky and it made me feel sick.  The funny thing is that mom and dad noticed it too and they only spent a 10 days out of the country.  Clearly America is doing something wrong with our food that 10 days away makes it readily apparent.  Not to mention all the salt, sugar, and overwhelming amounts of disgusting cheese on everything.  Honestly, I knew our food was horrible for us, but after 4 months of eating really good and healthy food, it’s much worse.  Just looking at the ingredients lists between the two countries shows how significant the difference is.  In Italy, their version of Cheetos have 5 ingredients.  FIVE INGREDIENTS.  In America, there are over 20 ingredients.  Why do we feel the need to throw in a ton of unnecessary ingredients when it tastes just fine with only 5?! Anyway, enough ranting.  I’ll move on now. 

The first shower I took once I got home was a bit of a wake up, although not in a bad way.  As soon as I stepped under the spray, I felt like I was going to be blasted through the floor from the water pressure.  I also forgot that most showers in the States don’t give you the option of turning down the water pressure, which Italy does. That wasn’t always a welcome option in Italy when you had a tiny shower and every time you moved you were turning the water off, but still.  Those first few days back home it would have been nice not to feel like my skin was about to be blasted off!

The most welcome change from Italy to the States (although that may be unique to the south, I can’t remember) is having people smile at you when you make eye contact walking down the street.  In Italy, people just stare.  And if you try to smile and nod, they look at you like you are completely insane! You may not really realize it, but (at least for me) those little acknowledgments kind of make your day a little better, even if it’s just a courtesy smile.  And not being stared at like you’re a freak of nature is nice too.

Within days of being home, I missed the easy access to the country that Italy has. Between the trains and the ability to walk everywhere, life was just so much easier. Not to mention, you get in much better shape.  I averaged between 10- and 15,000 steps every day, even when I was just walking between class and home.  And there was always a hill between you and your destination in Italy, so you definitely got some cardio in.  On top of that, you can’t buy a bunch of food and snacks at the grocery store because you then have to carry it up the hill back home.  Who wants to lug a bunch of crappy snacks and drinks up the hill when you can easily go without by drinking water and eating the fruit at home? 

For now, those are my few little problems with returning home.  Although, to be honest, I’m starting to go a little stir crazy now.  Not having new experiences every few days or weeks is driving me insane.  I’ve already completely purged and reorganized my room, my linen closet, and the kitchen pantry.  There are only so many things to keep me busy around the house right now.  I didn’t realize how much I relied on work and school.  They may not have provided NEW experiences, but they always kept my brain busy and thinking which I am sorely missing right now.  If anyone has any ideas of what I can be doing, please let me know.  I’m currently job hunting, but I need something to fill the time!

I'm going to try to post something at least once a month, especially in relation to exciting things to do or places to go here in Oklahoma.  I'm not sure how long those exciting things will last around here, but I'll try!

The Final Week, More or Less

The semester finally ended and boy was it a long, drawn out, exhausting end.  Just these past few weeks, we’ve had assignment after assignment due, on top of a trip to Barcelona that we planned before spring break. We had a ten page Italian film paper, an 8-10 page Renaissance art paper and a 10 minute presentation, a five page evolution paper and a 15-20 minute presentation, and three finals.  I really wish this stuff had been spaced out a little more or that they had warned us that we would have this much due alongside a free weekend, but whatever. 

I managed to get through all of this to be able to meet mom and dad in La Spezia this past Wednesday, which was really nice.  They had an amazing B&B in La Spezia with absolutely fantastic hosts.  Once I got there, we pretty much just had dinner and relaxed in the apartment.  The next day, we hopped the train down to Montarosso al Mare, the last town of Cinque Terre.  It was a very beautiful city, although at this point all of the Italian cities start to look the same.  Apparently the only way to truly see the beauty of the Cinque Terre is by ferry, but the waters were too rough for the ferries to be running. 

We walked around the city, stopping in the souvenir shops to look at the shirts and whatnot along the way.  We eventually wandered back down to the beach just in time to watch a group of kids trying to jump across the water to a rock that was about 3 feet away from the dry part of the beach.  Several of the kids hesitated a little too much and got their feet wet while a few others just weren’t paying attention and got wet up to the knees.  After we walked a little further down the beach, we saw two other ladies encounter the same problem.  See, the beach had a slight hill that the water almost never crested.  However, every once and a while, a large enough wave would come up and rush over that hill and soak anyone who was standing there.  Apparently it happened to mom the first day that she was there and she had to walk around in wet tennis shoes!

The day after we went to Montarosso, it was time to head back towards Arezzo to pick up our suitcases, say goodbye, and head to Florence.  Unfortunately, we were stuck on a train with some EXTREMELY annoying Italian middle schoolers that were screeching and kicking chairs the entire time.  They were being very rude and very loud, but it seems to be a very common theme amongst the younger Italians. 

It was a long day of travel, but it was really great to see the Bruschis one last time.  They were an amazing host family that definitely made Italy a home away from home.  Federica and Francesca were extremely helpful and Stefania was absolutely amazing.  She definitely filled in any time I was missing mom! It was a hard goodbye, but hopefully I’ll see them again. 

By the time that we finally got to Florence, we were all exhausted.  It’s funny how sitting on your butt all day can wear you out so much.  Our B&B host in Florence was a bit of a sleaze ball and the apartment wasn’t great, but the view from the tower was absolutely spectacular.  I’d seen the Duomo quite a few times at this point, but this was the best way to see it.  Not only were we right up on the dome, but the nighttime lighting was perfect at this level.  I would highly recommend it!

 

Our first real day in Florence was one crazy adventure.  We started out with the plan to buy our Firenze cards to be able to have an expedited entry into the various museums.  Unfortunately, our first stop to get the cards (the Uffizi) was a bit of a bust, so we headed next door to get one at the Palazzo Vecchio, which is where the fun really began:

I was walking in the lead, trying to see where the entrance to the ticket office was, and dad was apparently following right behind me.  Mom, being mom, wasn’t watching where her feet were and fell into a hole instead of walking on the level ground between the pillar and the dropped floor like dad and I had.  She had a very spectacular fall and scraped up and bruised her knee, in addition to further injuring her hip.  Every time she starts to feel better, she has another fall!

After a bit of recovery time, we continued with our plans for the day, which included the Uffizi Gallery, lunch near the Duomo, dad and I climbing the Duomo, and the leather market.  The Duomo wasn’t nearly as crowded this time around, which was really nice.  We only had to squeeze past people once or twice, which was much better than standing chest to chest with people like we did before, waiting for the path to clear.  On the way back down the stairs, we had a very funny American gentlemen who was cracking jokes the entire way down.  By the time we go to the bottom and went to get mom out of our decidedly not-so-great B&B, mom was asleep and her knee was stiff again. 

Once we got her moving, we headed towards the leather market, where I finally bought a purse.  I’d been looking all semester, but I’d never found one that I really liked.  Thankfully, I found one!  We had dinner right there at the leather market in the Mercato Centrale, which is absolutely delicious.  It’s built into an old warehouse with the bottom floor as a sort of merchant’s area and the top floor for us hungry people.  It’s kind of like that one wall of Whole Foods with the pizza and sandwiches and whatnot, but it’s the entire top floor of the building.  We had some amazing hamburgers and chips before heading back towards the B&B for the night. 

Sunday was our last day in Florence and pretty much our last day in Italy.  We got up early and went to see the David at the Galleria dell'Academia and to the Capella Medici, which is the burial grounds of several Medici family members.  Mom had been wanting to see something specifically Medici (despite the fact that Florence is basically the Medici family) so this was a perfect site that wasn’t too far from the B&B.  Afterwards, we had to drag our luggage to the train station for storage since we couldn’t get a late check out and it was quite the trek.  Normally, it’s only about a 10 minute walk from the Duomo to the train station, but dragging 5 suitcases and 3 backpacks along with us made it horrendous.  Not to mention, there was a 10K race running around the Duomo, so we had to push our way through the crowds, which made it even worse. 

Next, we headed back towards the Duomo to visit the Baptistery and the Museo del Opera, which is the buildings works commission of the Duomo.  The Baptistery was gorgeous, with very Gothic frescoes all over the ceilings and an intricate design on the marble floors.  It was definitely a sight to behold.  The Museo holds most of the original sculptures from the façade of the Duomo and even some from the Bell Tower.  The best part was that there were benches throughout the museum, which was very nice on our poor tired feet. 

By the time we finished the museum, it was sprinkling outside so we shot across the backside of the Duomo to Magnums, where we made a custom Magnum bar.  Thankfully, we only got one to split because it was incredibly rich, but also really delicious.  We got vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate coating, and pistachio, almond, and honey comb toppings. We sat there, enjoying our Magnum bar while watching the rain come down.  Eventually we headed towards the train station to catch our train to Rome for the night.

Our official day in Italy was an exhausting whirlwind, but it was amazing. We saw the last few highlights of Florence, had some good food, and enjoyed some down time.  

Mom and Dad Arrive in Italy

On Friday morning, mom and dad finally made it to Italy!  In case you didn’t know, this is mom’s first time out of the country other than to Cozumel on a cruise and to the Azores when she was two.  Dad, of course, has been everywhere.  Anyway, I met them at the airport in Rome so I could help them get back to Arezzo.  Unfortunately, they didn’t recognize their own daughter when they finally saw me.  I mean, I was holding up a handmade sign that said MOSES and everything, but still nothing. (I was going to print off a professional looking sign, but they stole the computers and printers out of the monastery)  After they finally saw me (after raising my sign as high as I could reach), we hopped on the Leonardo Express train to get to the train station in the center of Rome.  Despite having traveled for over 15 hours, they still had another 3 hour train ride before we got to Arezzo. 

We sat on the very hot train for just under three hours.  As I worked on a little bit of homework and then listened to the music, mom and dad passed out.  Especially dad.  In all fairness, they hadn’t exactly gotten a whole lot of sleep on the airplane, but it was still entertaining for me.  Not to mention, mom’s complaints about train bathrooms were hilarious.  She didn’t realize that they literally just dump straight onto the tracks so there’s a bit of a breeze coming up the hole!

By the time we finally reached Arezzo, we were all pretty tired so we headed straight towards their B&B.  We managed to check in mostly okay.  I translated most of what the woman was saying for mom and dad because she did not speak a lick of English, at least until she started trying to tell us something about some fee to the booking website.  I’m not entirely sure why she felt the need to tell us about this, especially considering it was obvious that we weren’t really understanding.  I had to call Colin, our GRD, to come to the rescue.  Apparently it wasn’t anything important, but we wanted to be sure that mom and dad didn’t still owe anything.  He was definitely a lifesaver!

Mom and dad were in desperate need of a nap after that, so I left them at the B&B while I headed back to do homework.  We met up again for dinner at a restaurant called Il Cantuccio, which is absolutely delicious and their cheesecake is to die for.  Mom and dad were falling asleep at the table, so I went back to the monastery and half-way worked on homework.  Mostly it consisted of staring at my rather horrible essay before deciding it wasn’t going to get any better, submitting it, and then watching Get Smart to make myself feel better, which then lead to watching Stardust until 2 am.  Probably not the greatest decision in my life, but oh well.

Today, mom and dad walked over to my family’s pastry shop for breakfast and they fell in love with them, just like my newfound muffin top and I did.  They both had one of Stefania’s delicious muffins and a cappuccino.  We walked to the Saturday market that I haven’t visited since the first weekend that we were here in Arezzo, which was a lot of fun.  It’s a huge market and we actually did find some fun things to buy, including a polka dot blazer.  For lunch, we stopped at Bar Stefano for some pasta before separating again so I could work on a paper for art history (which I’m supposed to be doing right now, but it’s not going real well.  I need another two pages but I’ve run out of things to say and my introduction is going nowhere).   Anyway, we met up again for a tour of the monastery where most of the students live and I study and hang out. 

We then went for a little walk down the Corso Italia which is the main shopping street of Arezzo and then stopped to get some stuff for a snack that ended up being pretty much dinner.  We bought mozzarella, (extremely hard) bread, some Pecorino cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and pesto to go with the tomatoes that mom had bought at the market and just had a little snack while it rained.  It was nice and peaceful, listening to the rain and sitting with my family.  We were full at this point, but mom and dad would need something with a little protein so we ventured out into the rain to get some piadinas (they’re like a cross between a wrap and a quesadilla, but delicious).  

View out Mom and Dad's window

Anyway, mom and dad headed back to their B&B and I headed back to the monastery, where I am currently sitting and procrastinating on doing my homework, like an awesome college student.  Unfortunately, this the only productive thing that I can do while procrastinating, and its time has come to an end as well.  Oh well, here’s some pictures of mom and dad’s super exciting first day in Italy as a parting gift:

My Final European Adventure... for now!

So where was I? Oh, that’s right… BARCELONA!

This past weekend was my last trip in Europe, at least for the foreseeable future.  While it was not my favorite place that I have visited over the past four months, it was still a good trip.  Honestly, the best parts were the amazing food and spending several hours just sitting on the beach in the sun. 

We started off the trip kind of rough, considering we had to get up at 5 am to catch a train to get to Bologna to catch our flight.  Quite the adventure, right? By the time we got to Barcelona, we were already exhausted.  After checking into our hostel, we went to get some lunch at a local restaurant and it was AMAZING.  If you’ve never had paella, I would highly recommend it, especially if you are in Spain.  It’s a really simple dish, but it was sooooo good.  I had the Chicken Paella, which is basically just chunks of marinated chicken in rice that cooked in tomato sauce with all sorts of vegetables and juicy goodness.  Totally worth all those starch-filled calories. 

After we finished eating, we hopped on a bus to go to the beach, which was amazing.  We sat on the sand and just watched the water for a while before getting up and walking down the boardwalk.  There were a ton of Indian men selling mojitos, beer, and these gorgeous squares of linen that had really beautiful patterns on them.  I purchased on that has a green mandala on it that I absolutely love, although I really wanted one with elephants on it.  Oh well.  We did have a bit of a shock when we saw this older gentleman walking down the beach completely naked.  I wouldn’t have been that surprised other than the fact that he was literally the only person that was walking around naked.  And he wasn’t even going in the water, he was just walking down the sand and occasionally pausing to just look out at the water.  Rather odd, if you ask me.

We eventually left the beach and headed back into the city center, where we saw a Flamenco dance.  All of the singing was in either Spanish or Catalan, I honestly don’t know which, but it was still really cool.  From what we could gather, the show was about a love triangle between a woman and two men.  The dancers were really great.  The woman was amazing, especially when she wore this dress with a long, fluffy train.  She was whipping it around and up and it looked really cool.  The men, on the other hand, were absolutely fantastic.  The skill that they had and the speed that they moved at was phenomenal.  Most of the singers were really great too, although the one woman sounded like a dying goat, which was a bit unfortunate.  Overall, a really cool experience!

The next day, we went on a Modernism walking tour of the city.  Definitely not the highlight of the trip, but we did get to see a lot of the city and some really cool buildings.  For a while, the buildings in Barcelona could not have any color on them.  I can’t remember exactly why this is, but it was still really interesting.  After this color ban was lifted, the buildings were covered in mosaic tiles that are absolutely beautiful to see.  At the end of the walking tour, our guide took us to a local restaurant for some tapas, which are basically just appetizers.  However, they were absolutely delicious.  We had a bit of a variety, including Bravas potatoes, croquettes, meatballs, and chorizo.  It was all so good, although not quite enough food.  On the bright side, by the time we ate, it was almost three o’clock, so we didn’t have that much time until we could eat again. 

For dinner, we went to the Hard Rock Café.  I know, we ate American food in Barcelona, but we’d already eaten all of the typical Spanish food and it sounded really good.  And it really was, although it was a surprisingly small restaurant.  We had met an Australian kid on our tour of the city, and he came with us to Hard Rock café.  He didn’t entirely understand why Hard Rock is such a big thing, although to be honest, neither do I.  However, it’s good food and the music is great.  He was a really nice guy doing his gap year in Europe, although he was also a bit of a baby since he had just turned 19 in February.

Next, we went to this really cool fountain show in the main square of the city.  It’s kind of like the show in Vegas, but it changes colors and is set to different kinds of music, including rock n’ roll and classical.  It was absolutely gorgeous to see, although we only stayed for about 20 minutes.  Honestly, how long can you admire a fountain changing colors and making different shapes? And at that point it had changed to classical music that didn’t quite fit with the fountain’s colors and movements.  But who am I to judge! Afterwards, we just headed back to the hostel since we had been out for most of the day.  No, we did not hit the nightlife that Barcelona is famous for, but I do not regret it in the least. We did, however, see a group of break dancers near the fountain show.  They were really energetic and fun to watch, definitely a great part of the Barcelona culture.  

On our final day in Barcelona, we just went back to the beach.  We spent a while just sitting on the sand and enjoying the sun and the sound of the waves.  There was a nice breeze that kept it from being too hot so it was absolutely perfect.  While the others slept, I read what was left of my book and enjoyed the sights.  Eventually, we got up and headed to a fresh food market that was just down the road.  We ate some empanadas (they were cold but delicious), some fresh strawberries, and some amazing churros.  They were fresh and delicious and completely bad for us, but oh my god were they good.  We got some traditional sugar coated churros and some chocolate ones as well.  Afterwards, we walked along the harbor, looking at the various people selling random things.  They had everything from knockoff shoes and purses to keychains and Flamenco fans.  Unfortunately, it was then time to head towards the city center again to catch the train to the airport. 

I know it sounds odd, but the Barcelona airport was my favorite one this entire trip.  It was enormous, but still very clean and quiet.  When we walked through security, it was like we were walking into a mall.  There was an enormous circle filled with various shops for clothes and food, and there was even an entire wine store! Despite the size of it, it was practically silent.  Alright, that’s all I’ll say, since it is just an airport, but still!!!

Overall, it was a pretty good trip.  There were a few downsides and it certainly wasn’t my favorite city, but I definitely enjoyed the time on the beach.  It was nice to have a little bit of relaxation considering all of the work that I have due in the next two weeks.  Why they made this a free weekend is beyond me, but whatever.  

Irish I Was Still in Ireland

Ireland, the home of my people.  Well, some of my people, since we only have a little Irish heritage based on what we could find.  Some of my Scottish ancestors moved to Ireland, but I’m not sure if we actually have any Irish blood.  But who cares!

This past weekend, I travelled to Dublin with a friend to escape Italy for the weekend.  We had a mild mishap with our Air BNB, mostly because we arrived later than expected and didn’t have a way to contact her to tell her.  However, once we finally arrived, she was the nicest person you could meet.  She greeted us outside, showed us how to jimmy the key in the lock to get it to open, and then showed us into our room where she had a bowl of popcorn waiting for us! How awesome is that?! 

The following morning, we got up and headed towards the Dublin city center.  After wandering around for a bit, we walked into an amazing Irish gift show called Carrolls.  Everything was green and covered with sheep and shamrocks!  We spent a bit of time walking around and I probably bought more than I should have, but it was definitely worth it.  Afterwards, we headed across the river to a tourist office that we had spotted to see what there was to do in and around Dublin.  We ended up buying tickets for a hop-on hop-off bus tour of the city, which was more than worth the money. We also bought tickets to go see the Giants Causeway the following day. We drove around the city with the driver providing a commentary as we drove past interesting sights.  Our first stop was a nice, quiet little park.  I have no idea what the name of it was, but it was very beautiful. 

We hopped back on the next bus and rode until we got to St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  In case you didn’t know, it is actually a sort of memorial cathedral for people who died in wars throughout the churches history.  I certainly didn’t know it so it was really interesting to walk around and see the various tombs and dedications to colonels, generals, and what not.  They even had this cool little tree that you could write a leaf for someone you had lost and put it on the ground beneath the metal tree.  

We continued our trek through the city, seeing Phoenix Park where the US Embassy house sits across the roundabout from the President’s mansion, which I thought was interesting.  There are actually over 1000 deer within the park that people were even going up to pet.  How cool is that?! By the time we got back into the city center.  Thankfully, that bus tour gave us a coupon for a two-for-one meal at a restaurant in Temple Bar that we definitely took advantage of.  It was a great little restaurant and it had really good food!  The waiter recommended the lamb shank, which came with scalloped potatoes and steamed vegetables and it was amazing! Top it off with a Bulmer’s Cider and I was one full and happy person!  We decided to go to bed early since we had to be up early for our tour the following morning.

At the crack of dawn the following day, we were up and walking towards the city center as the sun was just peaking over the water of the river.  It was a farther walk than we thought, so we had to book it to make it to our bus on time, although it was late anyway.  We were headed out of the city by 730 though, and on our way toward Belfast.  Other than a brief stop for breakfast and to pick up some snacks (we bought sandwiches for lunch), it was a beautiful and quiet ride north to Belfast.  We were given the option of either doing a Black Taxi tour of the city or to go see the Titanic museum.  Since I’ve never actually seen Titanic, I chose the taxi tour and I was very glad I did.

Belfast is very intriguing city.  I learned a lot about the city during our taxi tour, most of which I had never heard about:  I knew that the IRA was still active, but I never really knew anything about them.  In Belfast, they have a rather rich and interesting history.  Back in 1969, the government began building what they called “peace walls” to separate the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods.   The Catholics were definitely on the losing side of these walls, as they were placed into tiny little ghettoes that packed in over 1000 people per square mile.  At some point during the years that these walls went up, Protestants began bombing and attacking the Catholics of one particular ghetto.  At the time, there were fewer than 30 IRA members in the city and they had no weapons whatsoever, so they could do nothing about the conflict.  It got to the point that the British army was sent to protect ghetto.  Since they could no longer attack this ghetto, they turned their sights on the other.  Less than three days later, they were prepared to attack other ghettoes but the IRA had been busy.  Within those three days, over 1000 IRA members were in Belfast and armed to the teeth to prevent further conflict.  How amazing is that?

Today, there are murals throughout the city.  They depict support for refugees, remembrances for those killed in political conflicts, and memorials for innocents killed, including for those killed in the conflict mentioned above.  These murals are not allowed to have anything racist, sexist, homophobic, or secularist.  They also are only up for three years before they are repainted, with only two exceptions: an imitation of Picasso’s Guernica painted by a Protestant and a Catholic artist working together and a mural that was painted in remembrance of the Jews killed in WWII. Both of these painting were up for 5 years.  We also learned about Bobby Sands, an IRA leader who was imprisoned and lead hunger strikes to protest their political imprisonment as well as later “blanket” protests.  He was even elected as a Member of Parliament while still in jail, although he died of starvation in prison before he could take his seat.

The last stop of our tour was at Cupar Way, the longest peace wall of the city.  This wall was painted by several artists with the graffiti that had been on the Berlin wall before its demolition.  They hope that eventually the peace walls of the city will receive the same treatment, which is supposedly on its way.  The wall is covered with signatures of people advocating for its demolition, which actually began under Bill Clinton’s presidency.  He facilitated a peace process between the Irish and British governments and the IRA and decided to sign the wall.  It has also been signed by various political leaders and celebrities, including the Dali Lama, Beyonce, and Barack Obama, and now me!

Finally, we made it to the Giants Causeway, which was absolutely gorgeous.  I have come to the realization, however, that Hollywood and the internet ruins everything.  I thought the stones would be bigger.  Don’t get me wrong, it was absolutely gorgeous and I had a blast climbing around the stones and up the nearby hill to get a better view, but still…  All of the rocks are shaped like hexagons, the side effect of an ancient volcanic eruption apparently. Clearly that geology class I took didn’t cover hexagonal volcanic eruptions.  It is such an odd and unique view, all those geometric rocks being crashed against by the waves.  Some are covered with lichen, some with seaweed or moss, and others are just black from the constant abuse by the water.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  The water was a gorgeous turquoise and I really just didn’t want to leave.  It helped that it was a gorgeous sunny day, I’m sure.  Wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun if it had been pouring down rain.  We had about two hours to wander around and eat lunch while looking at the rolling green Irish hills before we headed off again. 

Our final stop of the day was the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.  Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like.  It’s a rope bridge that links the mainland to a tiny, rather useless little island, although some fisherman in the 1700s thought it was worth building a bridge to.  There’s even a little boat on the island that has absolutely no access to the water below, so I’m not sure what the point is.  However, it was really fun to cross the rope bridge in the gusting Irish breeze alongside a bunch of shrieking people (no that isn’t sarcasm).  It was really fun and it had a great view of the water and the cliffs of the mainland.  We spent a few minutes enjoying the view before we took the harrowing walk across the bridge again.  Good thing I’m not afraid of heights! After that, it was just a long bus ride back to Dublin with a quick little bus tour of the Belfast city center, which we did not see on our taxi tour. 

Along the drive, the bus driver threw out some random little facts every once and a while.  One of them, which he almost had some of the passengers around us believing, regarded the paint marks on the sheep throughout Ireland.  He claimed that the Scottish would come over during the night and graffiti the sheep out of spite.  The people around us were almost convinced.  By the time we got back to Dublin, we were rather hungry and tried to find a new place to eat.  Unfortunately, most places were too packed even for standing room so we ended up back at the restaurant from the previous night.  We had some absolutely amazing fish and chips before having a quick walk through Temple Bar (I mean when in Ireland do as the Irish do right?) although we were still back at our B&B before 11. 

We just kind of wandered around the last day, including going to see Trinity College. It's an absolutely beautiful campus, right in the heart of the bustling city.  You can't even hear the world outside, which was amazing.  Overall, it was a really great trip.  I’d love to go back one day and see the area where our family lived, but it was too difficult to get to with the little bit of time that we had.  Ireland reminded me a lot of Scotland, although Scotland definitely had better scenery in my opinion!  Sorry for the little bit of a history lesson, I was just really amazed!