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Published: March 8th 2007
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view from the square
walking around vienna at night is just wonderful. beautiful imposing buildings abound. and some are even lit up. Well, this is obviously a post-travel blog. Very post-travel. I apologize for the long gap between blogs. The blog service is no longer able to send out the handy alert-Clair-has-posted-a-new-entry emails, so we´ll just have to go from there.
I am doing well this second semester in Cáceres. I have an internship at a human rights watch group and am taking Mitología Clásica (Classical Mythology) from the Uex itself. The group of ISU students nearly trippled with 30 of us here this semester...the biggest group ever! I am procrastinating more this semester even though I have more projects to be done, but I think the motto ´´hay tiempo´´ (there is time) fits well right now.
Crazy that it is already March! I will post more to fill you in on my trips to Guadalupe, Córdoba and Granada and other things like that. But for now, I will do my best to give a re-cap of the last half of the crazy month Dionne and I spent traveling around Europe (January 6-23).
After Alice left from Rome to return to the US, Dionne and I got on a train to Vienna. Vienna is definitely one of my favorite cities.
outside the natural history museum
I really liked the elephant. The little plaque next to it said it was dedicated to all the children. Which children I do not know, but I approve! It feels big, clean and neo-classical all over. One of the best things we did was just walk around the city at night. The beautiful buildings are all lit up and they look even more impressive than in the day time. We saw Anna Karenina the ballett and Klimt´s The Kiss in the Upper Belvedere Gallery. Fantastic! And too bad a trained ear was not with us, but I do believe that the bells to announce trains leaving the Vienna train station are a major chord. That made me smile...it was also much more pleseant to listen to than the standard clanging.
After Vienne we went to Prague...the train ride an adventure in and of itself. We found out at the boarder our Eurail train passes we indeed NOT valid in the Czech Republic and had to pay 15 € to get from the boarder to Prague. We did get our passports stamped for the first time at the boarder station of Breclav. Very serious looking policeman with muzzled German shepards stamped our passports, twice. The city of Prague is very distinct from the other capitals we visited. Lots of points. Pointy steeples and point bridges and long tall
The Natural History Museum
Vienna is a neo-classical city to be sure. spikes from the corners of almost all buildings. We spent a day wandering around Prague Castle--supposedly the biggest in Europe--it takes up the ENTIRE hill above the city. We made the very good spur-of-the-moment decision to see a photography exhibit called Skin of the Nation by Japanese photographer Shomei Tomatsu. It was a large retrospective of his work from immediately post WWII until now. I especially like the series entitled Chewing Gum and Chocolate that showed here and there American culture permeating Japan. We didn´t get to go into the Old Jewish Cemetery, but just peaking in through the gates and over the walls was enough to see that all of it was gravestones on top of and next to grave stones. Easy to believe that it is half a dozen layers deep--one of the longest-used cemeteries in Europe.
After Prague, we had an all day jaunt across Germany with transfers in Dresden and Frankfurt before getting to Brussles. It must be said that the Germans have efficient, fast and clean trains. Not to mention cool little belts that can take your baggage up and down some staircases. Huzzah for the Germans! Also, Dionne and I did not pay
Border stop
Ever wonder what a train station on the border between Austria and the Czeck Republic looks like? We found out at Breçlav. We were even greated by a pair of very stern looking border patrol officers who stamped our passports (a much coveted first!) and their German shepard. a single reservation fee to get on a train (Eurail buyers, watch out, Italy and Spain have reservation fees on almost all trains) which was super awesome and much appreciated. In conclusion, Germany = the best trains and train stations I have yet seen. Take that Termini!
Brussles has a beautiful main square with guilded buildings and a church steeple so high you can´t take a picture of it from within the square. Good waffles, too. But my favorite part of Belgium was visiting Chocolatiere Manon. Mr. Manon himself showed us the kitchen, answered our questions and let us try a few samples. Fabulous! The truffles that Dionne and I bought were the first that I have ever had with real gold on top. I think my favorite were the dark chocolates filled with creme freche and hazelnut mousse....
Ok, so this is getting a bit long. I will post again to wrap up the break travel. The last two stops were Paris and San Sebastian. These will be coming soon!
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Jennie LeGates
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Good to hear from you again
Clair, I was wondering if you had dropped of the edge of the world (oh, never mind, Columbus proved that couldn't happen). Your adventures continue to amuze and delight. I am beginning to be glad that I will do my European trip next fall with a Rich Steves tour so I don't have to worry about extra fees, etc. for my rail passes. Actually, I think all of our travel is by bus. How does Classical Mythology taught from a Spanish context differ from an American context. Are there any different assumptions present in the teaching approach? 'Till your next posting. Jennie