Yes, I'm still here

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Heyyyy Everyone!

I apologize for not being in contact for the last few weeks - I've been pretty much either traveling or studying. March 6-9th friends and I were in Amsterdam, then the 10-12th we had midterms, then the 13-23rd we had spring break. And so, finally, I have a quiet Tuesday night so I can share with you how amazing the last few weeks have been.

Before I start on all of the fun stuff, I thought I'd let you know that classes have been going very well, although because of traveling I've wracked up a couple of extra absences in a few classes. But y'know what? Am I going to remember sitting bored in class at 9am 20 years from now, or am I going to remember sitting by the beach at Playa del Ingles on Gran Canaria? I have no doubt that those will be the days I remember, and besides, my grades will be on par with what I usually try to achieve anyway. Now, finally, on to the fun stuff.

Amsterdam

We got to Amsterdam on Thursday night around 10pm or so, because a few of us had a midterm that afternoon that necessitated a later flight. That airport is huuuuge. I'd put it on par with Atlanta as the biggest airport I've ever been in. We stayed at this place called City Hotel which was right on Rembrandt Square - that's an area with a lot of bars, restaurants, and clubs. We didn't do much that night because of the late start but we did wander around the area a bit, which ended up being a bit confusing because the whole city is separated by U-shaped canals every couple of blocks. It was a bit hard to finally get my bearings, but eventually we were able to figure it out. The next morning Dan, Dave and I visited the Anne Frank house. I want to hesitate before saying it was really cool - being in the house the Frank family was hiding in certainly was a unique experience and I enjoyed it, but at the same time every room is filled with such a somber air it's impossible to say that it's fun. After that, we wandered around the city a bit and eventually found the Van Gogh museum, which I can gladly say really was fun. It has a pretty modern design on the inside with four floors filled with his works - unfortunately, no pictures allowed. Ah well.

Of all the things you hear about Amsterdam, the two most important ones are always left out - the people and the food. The people that live in that city are by far the nicest people I've encountered in Europe so far. They will gladly help you find your way somewhere, or even suggest a restaurant nearby, and are overall just extremely polite and courteous to everyone they meet. They have such a carefree attitude, and it really made the weekend a great respite from the sometimes overly busy and crowded life here in Barca. Coming in a close second was the food - at this point, I've realized that while Spanish home cooking may be fantastic, Spanish restaurants for the most part.... eh. In Amsterdam, though, you could get everything. They even had multiple spots that you could walk up and get a slice of pizza! A real slice! Like big, foldable slices! This means nothing to you back home, but in Spain the only pizza they have is individual sized thin crust, and its really not that good. Seeing a place called "New York Pizza" was like a gift from heaven. All of the food in restaurants was really good too - we stopped at a breakfast place near the Frank house and had waffles with whipped cream and strawberries, which is impossible to find in Barca. Overall, just amazing weekend.

Spring Break Part I: Playa del Ingles

We left Barcelona at 4pm for Gran Canaria, which is the largest of the Canary Islands off the western coast of Africa. However, they're still part of Spain, so we knew we wouldn't have to worry about languages or currency differences. We arrived about three and a half hours later, only they're on London time so it was about 6:30pm there. When we arrived at the hotel, we knew right away we had made the right decision. We stayed at the IFA Continental (in case you want to google it), which was a nice hotel about a 5 minute walk from the beach at Playa del Ingles, which is the southern-most area of the island. We chose the all-inclusive option as well, because it ended up being only $20 extra per night, and we got free buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as free drinks from 10am until 11pm. There were 3 pools there, so usually during the days we would start at the pool and then migrate over to the beach in the afternoon. In all, 9 of us were there splitting 3 rooms, which ended up being a great amount for just hanging out and eventually going out at night.

I don't have that many stories from Canaries, because we barely did anything. That was the best part. We had just finished a bunch of midterms, and stress levels had been high (to say the least) during the past couple of weeks. At the hotel, we just lounged by the pool or down the beach, didn't have to worry about where to eat or how expensive it would be, and by the time we went out at night we weren't worried about spending a lot at a bar either. It was the absolute perfect escape, to just be completely relaxed and not have a care in the world. I personally spent most days buried in a book - I read Barack Obama's 'The Audacity of Hope' which turned out to be a really good read. A lot of his philosophies and policies mirror my view of the world so far, and especially after reading it I can openly say I'm a big Obama fan. Look at that, Kayne's interested in politics. I'm all grown-up.

Ok, not quite. The first night we were there, a couple of us walked down to the beach to go exploring, and I stupidly got a cut on the bottom of my foot. It wasn't that big, and I had it cleaned and bandaged every day, but it was uncomfortable to walk on so I was sporting a little limp for the first few days. Ah well. It happens. The first couple of nights we went to this bar called Keane's, which I was originally attracted to because I wanted a Guinness - we soon found out that it also boasted a stage and karaoke, and we were hooked. All 9 of us went there two nights in a row, beltin out tune after tune. There's a great performance of 'Build Me Up Buttercup' that I have on my camera that has Dan, Dave and I all singing. Great times. Also, one of the days we went on a camel ride as well. There's a big dune area right near the beach where they host rides. Instead of sitting on top, there's a saddle that goes over the camel's back so two people end up sitting in a chair on either side. Each camel is tied to the one in front of it and there's a guy at the front that leads the train of camels through the dunes. Very cool experience, especially because the camels are tied so close together that they can actually touch you from behind. One of the girls in my group absolutely freaked out at one point because all of the sudden she had a huge camel head right over her left shoulder. High comedy. As always, pics will follow. It was a great idea for us to go to the Canaries for the first part of the trip, because the next part left us all exhausted after 5 days, and we wouldn't have been able to enjoy it as much if we hadn't been so relaxed before starting.

Spring Break Part II: Italy

I got back to my room in Barcelona from Gran Canaria around midnight on Tuesday March 18th - just enough time to catch up with what was going on in the rest of the world and put together a bracket before the NCAAs started (disclaimer: I haven't been able to watch any NCAA games at all this year. All of my choices were based on what I could read about each team. If I do poorly, at least I have some semblance of an excuse.) Dan and I were scheduled to leave Barcelona at 2pm on the 19th, so we agreed to meet at noon to catch the bus to the airport. I woke up the next morning at 10, early enough to shower, go to the store and pick up some things, pack my backpack, and hit the road. Dan then called me at 11am asking if I was at Plaza Espanya yet - of course, I say no, and then realize that Gran Canaria was one hour behind Barcelona and it was actually already noon. Sometimes I do dumb things. Anyway, I quickly throw all of my stuff into my backpack, finish making a sandwich for the road, and head out, and luckily didn't have a problem at all getting to the airport or the plane. We left more or less on time, and landed in Rome an hour and 15 minutes later.


Rome

Our friends weren't arriving until later on that night because the prices of flights had increased since Dan and I had bought them, so we began to head for the hotel. Having learned from our troubles in Paris, we stopped at a bookstore and bought a guidebook and a little pocket dictionary. Then we focused on trying to get to the hotel. We were approached by car services and taxi drivers, each quoting prices between 50-80 euro to bring us to Rome from Fiumencino, which we decided was completely out of the question. Turns out, there's a train that runs directly from the airport to Stazione Termini (the main train station in downtown Rome) for only 11 euro that left every half hour. We missed the first one (apparently they only wait about 10 seconds at the platform before leaving), but then took that to Termini and then took the Metro to the Colosseo stop. If anyone has been to Rome, they'll know what I'm talking about, but as you exit the Metro station, the Colosseum is RIGHT THERE, looming huge right across the street about 50 yards away. It was already dusk at that point so it was all lit up - very, very cool introduction to Italy. Our hotel was a short walk from the Metro stop, and when we checked in the guy at the desk gave us another map and drew on it, marking where the hotel was in relation to all the different sights, telling us where to go out at night, etc... He was great and extremely helpful. Dan and I found a little restaurant nearby and had our first Italian meal, and wow, for the food alone I suggest going to Rome. The whole time we were there we avoided restaurants on main streets, instead choosing to try and find more subdued and local places, and it was definitely worth it. I had gnocchi and caprese with foccacia at this first place we went (I'll try and include what I ate at each meal, just because those are the things I'll be remembering). Afterwards, we walked up past the Roman Forum (which I didn't actually know was the Forum at the time, because it was night) and found the Trevi Fountain, which is a huge fountain that you almost find by accident. It's about a block off of the main road, and it's beautiful. It's dominated by a statue depicting Neptune, but there are many other sculptures involved as well. You'll see what I mean in the pics. We finally met up with Dave after that, and pretty much just called it a night because we planned a big day for Thursday.

Thursday we woke up early so that we could grab some breakfast at the hotel (even free hotel breakfast was delicious) and then headed over to the Vatican. It was about a 2 hour wait to get into the Museums, but again totally worth it. We spent about 4 hours or so wandering around there, seeing as much as we could. Near the beginning of the tour is the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, which is a long corridor decorated by huge maps along the walls. The whole interior is extremely ornate. Eventually, you're led to the Stanze di Raffaello, or the Raphael Rooms. He was commissioned to decorate 4 rooms in 1508, and they were finished in 1520 shortly after he had died (thank you, Rome guide-book). The Vatican allows visitors to take pictures, so I'll be able to explain most of the frescoes that cover the huge walls in these rooms. It was really, really, really cool to see it all and actually understand what was happening in each one and why it was important - I really needed a guide like that when we visited the Louvre. After the Raphael Rooms, you're guided through a maze of other museum rooms that have art from every period, usually Catholic in theme but sometimes just random. Finally, you reach the Sistine Chapel, and at the risk of killing this word, amazing. Again the book helped because I knew exactly what each of the nine scenes on the ceiling were, as well as everything that was going on in the huuuuuuuuge Last Judgment that takes up the entire wall behind the altar. I actually liked that more than the ceiling. We're not supposed to take pictures of inside, but I secretly snagged a few (shhhhhh). I'll be able to explain more about the paintings themselves when I post all of the pictures. I should add that in the span of 10 days, 13-23rd, I took 793 pictures. I'll try and pick out 150-200 or so of the best ones to post up.

In the afternoon, we toured St Peter's Basilica and got to see part of the catacombs beneath it. Again, I'm running out of words to describe how great it is to see these places in person. After seeing the smallest independent state in the world, we crossed the river and walked over to the Pantheon. It was built about 2000 years ago, originally as a temple to the Roman gods. It was then transformed into a Catholic church in 608, which is the reason that it has survived so well over the years - it's considered a mortal sin to remove even a single stone. The most amazing thing about it is the dome and the big hole in the top. Instead of a keystone, there's at least a 20 foot wide hole that lets sun into the structure and lights up certain statues inside at certain times. The part that got me was, how on earth do you build something like that??? Even today?? That's a stone dome that has survived for 2000 years that has a big hole in the middle. I just don't get it. We happened to be there right as a mass was ending, which was cool as well. After that we stopped by Piazza Navona real quick (famous square in Rome with a couple of fountains) before returning to the hotel and then wandering around until we found a new place to eat dinner - this time, first a plate of gnocchi and then a nice, inch-thick steak (finally, you have no idea how bad steak is in Spain). Then we went to this Piazza called Campo Fiori, where the staff at the hotel pointed out a couple of bars. We went to the Drunken Ship, which ended up being the local hang-out for a lot of the American students studying in Rome. We met a bunch of people, some studying there, others on spring break like us, and even got to play some games of beirut for the first time since New Years (beirut is a drinking game where you throw ping-pong balls into a cup with beer in it, for those of you who are not in college anymore). From there we found another place called Scholar's Lounge, because rumor had it they were showing NCAA games. We ended up staying there until almost 4am, watching Kansas St beat USC and watching Duke eke out a win versus Belmont. That place was packed with Americans too, so it was a fun and rowdy atmosphere.

The next morning, despite the late night, we headed out a little after 10:30am to get some breakfast before seeing the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. While we were waiting in line, we found out that the Colosseum was closing early that day because of preparations for the Pope's speech that night, which occurs every year on Good Friday. Not wanting to miss out on the inside, we paid 20 euro to join a tour that included tickets and an expedited trip through the line. Once we were inside, though, Dan, Dave and I decided to not even wait for the tour and to instead wander around on our own because we were unsure of when the doors to the Roman Forum would be locked as well. After channeling my inner Maximus (and taking probably 100 pictures) we walked next door to the Forum and started to explore in there. Thanks again to the little guidebook, we were able to actually know which ruins were which and able to see how life would have been like living there thousands of years ago. It's hard to imagine that such a place could exist so long ago, that such a civilized culture could have performed so much with such little technology. We were literally walking in the steps of Julius and Augustus Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, and countless other figures that had impacts on the world that affect us to this day. In case you haven't noticed, I kind of have a thing for ancient Rome. I was just in a state of constant awe - I'm sure my high school history teachers would be proud :p

After leaving the Forum, we went back to the hotel, checked out, and grabbed our bags and started walking towards the Spanish Steps, which is traditionally a meeting place in the center of the city. We hung out there for a few minutes (later in the year, the steps are lavishly decorated with flowers - at this point, they were just steps) and then started walking towards the train station in order to get up to Florence. We caught a 6:30pm train - by 8pm we were there.


Florence

When we arrived in Florence it was pouring, but after finding our bearings on a map we soon found our hotel, which was graciously only about a 5 minute walk. Once we were dry we went across the street for dinner - bruschetta and spaghetti for me - and then met up with Dan's friend who is studying there for the semester. We went to his apartment, which ended up being only a couple of blocks away from our hotel, and pre-gamed there for a little bit before going out to a couple of bars. (Side note: one of the other kids in the program lives in the same apartment, and he was a roommate of my buddy Pat back home at Stonehill. Small world, huh?) The nightlife in Florence was much better than in Rome, I have to say. Maybe it was because I had seen really all I came to Italy to see, but it just seemed like a much chiller, tranquil city with a couple of really good spots.

The next morning we went to the Academia to see Michelangelo's David, which is just huge. It took a while to get inside because they limit the amount of people in the museum at once, but that turned out to be an advantage because you could get up so close to it without a huge group of people around, like seeing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. The museum also includes some abandoned works by Michelangelo - it was eye-opening to see that such masterpieces come as the result of multiple tries, not just one-and-done works. The detail on the sculpture is astounding - a vein runs down his arm, there are lines on the fingers at each knuckle... it's just so large it's hard to picture someone working on it and committing themselves to such perfection. Definitely worth the wait if you're ever in Florence.

After that, we met up with Dan's friend again so that he could show us around the city. Thank god for him, because otherwise we probably would have ended up bored, wandering around and not really seeing anything. Not that there is any lack of things to do - we saw Piazza della Signoria with its other version of the David and the statue of Perseus and Medusa, and we saw the outside of the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio (all of which I'll point out in the pics). Instead of waiting in lines at museums and such, though, Dan's friend brought us around and showed us pretty much the whole city, which we all agreed was the better option considering we only had the one full day in Florence. I loved walking around the city - it's actually the first place I've been where I would actually live, other than Barcelona. At night we went to a restaurant called Za Za that we needed reservations for, and afterwards I could tell why. The inside is decorated with autographed pictures of celebrities both Italian and international, Ben Affleck and Marcia Cross among them, and the guy who was in The Skulls except I don't remember his name. I had bruschetta again, and then gnocchi again, and then a dish called Florentine Chicken, which was a battered chicken dish that made everyone jealous. The closest I can get to describing them is fresh, gourmet chicken fingers which was really just incredible because I ordered it not exactly knowing what it would be, and all of us had been talking earlier in the day about how when we got back to the states one of our first meals would include chicken fingers (again, they just don't exist here). Needless to say, you cannot imagine how happy I was. We went out that night as well, although not for as long as the night before because we needed to wake up early in order to catch the train to Pisa for our flight back home.


Pisa

We got to Pisa around 10:30 and our flight left after 1pm, so our whole group (finally reunited with the girls even though they had been in the same cities as us) walked from the train station through the town over to the Leaning Tower. The city had a festive air to it, which made sense considering how it was Easter Sunday, and I personally really liked walking through the streets. As much as I loved Rome and Florence, Pisa just seemed more authentically Italian. It's a very quiet place - I don't think I'd ever spend more than one night there - but especially for such a short stop, it was very nice. We got to the tower, got some pics, then just headed back over towards the airport. The line for the check-in was long but we didn't have a problem getting on the flight, and we landed in Barcelona around 3pm or so.


And there you go! I'm all caught up! I hope you enjoyed reading this, it took me the span of a couple days because I had to put together a huge project for one of my marketing classes (sometimes Spanish students just have no clue what they're doing, but they'll tell you they do - and then as you're editing everyone's English the day before it's due because people were late sending things to you, you realize that it's useless and needs to be re-written. Can you tell I regretted volunteering to edit?) I also had the final for that class this morning as well, so from now on only 4 classes. And, amazingly, less than a month before the program ends. It's gonna be hard to leave. Hope this finds you all well, miss you all, pics will be up today or tomorrow

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