So, 24 hours from writing this I will be 'leaving on a jet plane', in the immortal and too-often-quoted words of John Denver. Quite frankly, I can't say that I'm excited. Both David and Dan left early this morning, leaving just Haggai and I, along with a few of the kids from my program, as my close friends in Budapest. Everyone's been trickling out for what seems like weeks.
So, in the interest of a slight pick-me-up for me, and a nice round recap, here is a list of things that I will and will not miss about Budapest, Hungary.
First, lets go with the things I will not miss:
- The language. It's impossible, and although my Hungarian has improved over the course of my time here, I still cannot come even close to carrying on a decent conversation about much other than my desire for pastries. ("Hello. I want a chocolate. Thank you.")
- The dog feces (or maybe human feces?) on my street. We have a lot of homeless people who sleep on our street. This has never been scary, but does make me wonder about the fecal matter on the ground. Either way, our street is a little grubby.
- Rude waiters. Come on guys, give me my change without complaining no matter how large the bill I handed you is, and stop being so grumpy.
- Having to do the money conversion in my head.
Things that I will miss:
- First and foremost, my friends. I've made some of the best friends in the world. I'll miss you guys.
- Living in a city. Northfield, you just don't quite cut it.
- Angry people. I know this may go in direct contradiction to my rude waiters comment above, but I don't always like saying hi on the street.
- Cheap, delicious wine. Being able to legally buy it.
- Andrassy ut (a main street) at Christmas time. It's lit up and absolutely beautiful.
- The currency. American money is ugly.
- My apartment. Its beautiful. I love it. It will be quite awhile before I can afford another apartment with hardwood floors and super high ceilings located in the dead center of a major city. Relatedly, I will miss our heater, which looks like a chimney that doesn't reach all the way up and just sort of radiates heat from the corner of the living room. We like to all huddle around it.
- Potkulcs. I've mentioned it a million times. I love it.
- Learning a ton without living in the libe - one of the main things I've learned here is that life doesn't have to be as hard as Carleton makes it, and that you can learn just as much (if not more!), even in academic subjects, without working constantly and stressing out about it all the time.
- Meeting Hungarians. As grouchy as they look on the exterior, I've never failed to have a completely engaging and enjoyable conversation once you get them started.
And, finally, the things that I am looking forward to in America are:
- Seeing my family at Christmas and my friends both at home and at school.
- The English language: Easily ordering food. Having people behind counters speak English. Taking classes with native English speakers. Eavesdropping. Knowing that someone is saying goodbye on their cell phone just doesn't cut it.
- Getting tap water without getting a weird look.
Those of you at home, I'm looking forward to seeing you. I'm thrilled to be home for Christmas; to see my family and friends and those that matter and to sit around a fire with a bunch of native English speakers who I love. As hard as it is to leave, I'm glad that's what I'm coming home to.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Istanbul, not Constantinople
So, I've spent the past three and a half months in Budapest, which is about as 2nd World a city as you can find. The language, the culture and the people are all very, very different from those back in the US. Living here feels different.
Budapest has got nothing on Istanbul. Istanbul is a different world.
Hannah and I landed in Istanbul on Saturday afternoon. We went to the place where we were supposed to meet our shuttle to the hostel, and found no one. So, instead of sticking around, we decided to take the metro. We get on the metro then get off where the directions say. At this point, we get a little lost. We're wandering through a sea of 15 lira ($13) shoes, pomegranates and remote control salesmen, when we hear some yelling. We figure out that that yelling is at us. We roll our eyes, assuming that someone is trying to sell us something, when we realize that, actually, he is yelling "tramvay? tramvay?" which sounds shockingly like tram, which is what we're looking for. Sure enough, this guy is just trying to point us towards the tram, which he does successfully and off we go.
This was our first introduction to the fact that the Turks are the nicest and friendliest people in the world. This continued to be proven again and again through nearly all of our interactions. Wandering through the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, we got offered apple tea and had explanations of dozens of teas and spices given to us. This man would, of course, have loved it if we had bought some of those teas and spices, but he was in no way offended when we gracefully stepped out. An older man with a 25-year-old asian wife showed me his art gallery. Two brothers who owned a rug store invited us in for tea. We ended up talking to them for something like two hours about everything ranging from politics (they loved Bush! - the first foreigners I've ever come across with those types of sentiments... however, they ended up basically explaining that for Turks, it is a choice between the US and Iran, which does make the Bush inclination somewhat more understandable, I suppose) to drugs (one of them told us all about his time in Vietnam where he preferred one club to another because everyone was on ecstasy, not drunk...) to American houses and Vermont (they showed us a picture of a typical American house. Yes, we know what one looks like.) I can't imagine that talking to two broke students is a good way to sell rugs, but they didn't seem to care. We also made a good friend out of a man who stood outside a restaurant on the way back to our hostel, who would consistently invite us in for drinks and tea and once insisted that we use his bathroom, not the one at the hostel. Equally friendly, but somewhat less welcome interactions include several marriage proposals and/or declarations of men's bachelorhood ("I am thirty years old and unmarried!") and a particularly difficult conversation that ensued when I tried to turn around and take a picture of the Hagia Sophia. which consisted of the following sentences:
him (interpreted by friend): Hello. Where are you from?
me: America...
him (still interpreted by friend): Can I have your email address?
me: no!
him (or more accurately, his friend): What about your name?
me: umm...
him (apparently not speaking a word of English): Why not?
At this point, we made a feeble attempt to explain that this was just not done, and moved on. Like I said, a different world.
Our week was jam-packed. However, highlights include:
Hamam (Turkish bath): Budapest says that they have Turkish baths. I love the baths. However, this was a totally different experience. In Turkey, you walk into the bath and are given a sort of table cloth to wrap around yourself. After undressing, you head into basically a huge sauna where the middle is a massive heated stone on which you lounge and begin to sweat. Eventually, a bath attendant comes to get you. This old Turkish lady proceeds to remove every stray piece of dead skin that has ever come in contact with your body. You get SCRUBBED. Then, she soaps you up and scrubs some more. Then, she washes you down and massages - except really, its more of a scrub. Then, she washes your hair. And scrubs. It was completely outrageous and the best pamper I've ever received. We also splurged on an oil massage there, which felt great at the time but unfortunately didn't really have any lasting effect. The bath was a really, really worthwhile experience and a great choice for my Christmas present to myself.
Blue Mosque: Beautiful. In order to get to our hostel, you had to walk between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, so I saw both of these at almost every time of day. My favorite was night.
Sunset wasn't too bad either.
In the evening picture, if you look very, very closely, you can see sea gulls flying above the minarets. Its an absolutely magical sight. Also, the inside of the Blue Mosque is certainly nothing to be scoffed.
Hagia Sophia:
Okay. This building was built in 532. By this I mean not that a building was built on that site in 532. I mean that this building was built in the year five hundred and thirty two. Before that, two other churches (the first one built in 360, and both destroyed by riots) had stood on the site. That is an age that is almost completely beyond my capacity to imagine. Additionally, it was originally built as an Eastern Orthodox church, and was then, in 1453, converted into a mosque. This means that both Christian and Muslim decorations can be seen.
next to
.
Here,
, if you look closely, you can see a cross beneath the Muslim pattern. Also, although we didn't realize until too late, there is Viking graffiti! We couldn't get upstairs to see it because the upper gallery closes earlier than the lower, so a picture of a picture will have to do.
Asia: We went to Asia. Istanbul, as many of you will know, overlaps both Europe and Asia. This means that you can take a boat tour up the Bosphorus, weaving between Europe and Asia. The final stop is in Asia at a tiny fishing town called Anadolu Kavagi.
We got off there then spent our three hours between ferries having a delicious seafood lunch and hiking up to an old castle ruins. I'm not sure how old this castle was, however it, along with its sister castle on the Europe side, Rumeli Kavagi, served as Byzantine fortresses to guard Istanbul/Constantinople against unfriendly ships from up the Bosphorus.
Here is me, in a hammock, in Asia.
Tea: Turkish tea is delicious.
I drank somewhere between three and eight cups per day. Then, I forgot to buy some to bring home. Oops.
I know that everyone says that Istanbul is a mix between ancient and modern, but let me tell you, I really, really don't think they're lying. In many ways, it was more westernized and modern than Budapest. However, right next to these new, shiny, glass hotels and fluent english speakers is the Hagia Sophia and the Cistern, another 532 AD invention (and another highlight). The Cistern is, well, a cistern (lots of water). But a really, really old one. It also has two Medusa's heads, one upside down and one sidewise from some ancient Roman something or other. Pretty cool, I thought.
The Grand Bazaar was overwhelming.
The Egyptian Spice Bazaar was colorful, and cool.
Thanks to my Aunt Kristin for informing me that she did not want a postcard from anywhere in Budapest, but if I saw the Hagia Sophia... causing me to even consider this trip. A great top-off to my study abroad.
Budapest has got nothing on Istanbul. Istanbul is a different world.
Hannah and I landed in Istanbul on Saturday afternoon. We went to the place where we were supposed to meet our shuttle to the hostel, and found no one. So, instead of sticking around, we decided to take the metro. We get on the metro then get off where the directions say. At this point, we get a little lost. We're wandering through a sea of 15 lira ($13) shoes, pomegranates and remote control salesmen, when we hear some yelling. We figure out that that yelling is at us. We roll our eyes, assuming that someone is trying to sell us something, when we realize that, actually, he is yelling "tramvay? tramvay?" which sounds shockingly like tram, which is what we're looking for. Sure enough, this guy is just trying to point us towards the tram, which he does successfully and off we go.
This was our first introduction to the fact that the Turks are the nicest and friendliest people in the world. This continued to be proven again and again through nearly all of our interactions. Wandering through the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, we got offered apple tea and had explanations of dozens of teas and spices given to us. This man would, of course, have loved it if we had bought some of those teas and spices, but he was in no way offended when we gracefully stepped out. An older man with a 25-year-old asian wife showed me his art gallery. Two brothers who owned a rug store invited us in for tea. We ended up talking to them for something like two hours about everything ranging from politics (they loved Bush! - the first foreigners I've ever come across with those types of sentiments... however, they ended up basically explaining that for Turks, it is a choice between the US and Iran, which does make the Bush inclination somewhat more understandable, I suppose) to drugs (one of them told us all about his time in Vietnam where he preferred one club to another because everyone was on ecstasy, not drunk...) to American houses and Vermont (they showed us a picture of a typical American house. Yes, we know what one looks like.) I can't imagine that talking to two broke students is a good way to sell rugs, but they didn't seem to care. We also made a good friend out of a man who stood outside a restaurant on the way back to our hostel, who would consistently invite us in for drinks and tea and once insisted that we use his bathroom, not the one at the hostel. Equally friendly, but somewhat less welcome interactions include several marriage proposals and/or declarations of men's bachelorhood ("I am thirty years old and unmarried!") and a particularly difficult conversation that ensued when I tried to turn around and take a picture of the Hagia Sophia. which consisted of the following sentences:
him (interpreted by friend): Hello. Where are you from?
me: America...
him (still interpreted by friend): Can I have your email address?
me: no!
him (or more accurately, his friend): What about your name?
me: umm...
him (apparently not speaking a word of English): Why not?
At this point, we made a feeble attempt to explain that this was just not done, and moved on. Like I said, a different world.
Our week was jam-packed. However, highlights include:
Hamam (Turkish bath): Budapest says that they have Turkish baths. I love the baths. However, this was a totally different experience. In Turkey, you walk into the bath and are given a sort of table cloth to wrap around yourself. After undressing, you head into basically a huge sauna where the middle is a massive heated stone on which you lounge and begin to sweat. Eventually, a bath attendant comes to get you. This old Turkish lady proceeds to remove every stray piece of dead skin that has ever come in contact with your body. You get SCRUBBED. Then, she soaps you up and scrubs some more. Then, she washes you down and massages - except really, its more of a scrub. Then, she washes your hair. And scrubs. It was completely outrageous and the best pamper I've ever received. We also splurged on an oil massage there, which felt great at the time but unfortunately didn't really have any lasting effect. The bath was a really, really worthwhile experience and a great choice for my Christmas present to myself.
Blue Mosque: Beautiful. In order to get to our hostel, you had to walk between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, so I saw both of these at almost every time of day. My favorite was night.
Sunset wasn't too bad either.
In the evening picture, if you look very, very closely, you can see sea gulls flying above the minarets. Its an absolutely magical sight. Also, the inside of the Blue Mosque is certainly nothing to be scoffed.
Hagia Sophia:
Okay. This building was built in 532. By this I mean not that a building was built on that site in 532. I mean that this building was built in the year five hundred and thirty two. Before that, two other churches (the first one built in 360, and both destroyed by riots) had stood on the site. That is an age that is almost completely beyond my capacity to imagine. Additionally, it was originally built as an Eastern Orthodox church, and was then, in 1453, converted into a mosque. This means that both Christian and Muslim decorations can be seen.
next to 
.Here,
, if you look closely, you can see a cross beneath the Muslim pattern. Also, although we didn't realize until too late, there is Viking graffiti! We couldn't get upstairs to see it because the upper gallery closes earlier than the lower, so a picture of a picture will have to do. 
Asia: We went to Asia. Istanbul, as many of you will know, overlaps both Europe and Asia. This means that you can take a boat tour up the Bosphorus, weaving between Europe and Asia. The final stop is in Asia at a tiny fishing town called Anadolu Kavagi.
We got off there then spent our three hours between ferries having a delicious seafood lunch and hiking up to an old castle ruins. I'm not sure how old this castle was, however it, along with its sister castle on the Europe side, Rumeli Kavagi, served as Byzantine fortresses to guard Istanbul/Constantinople against unfriendly ships from up the Bosphorus.
Here is me, in a hammock, in Asia.
Tea: Turkish tea is delicious.
I drank somewhere between three and eight cups per day. Then, I forgot to buy some to bring home. Oops.
I know that everyone says that Istanbul is a mix between ancient and modern, but let me tell you, I really, really don't think they're lying. In many ways, it was more westernized and modern than Budapest. However, right next to these new, shiny, glass hotels and fluent english speakers is the Hagia Sophia and the Cistern, another 532 AD invention (and another highlight). The Cistern is, well, a cistern (lots of water). But a really, really old one. It also has two Medusa's heads, one upside down and one sidewise from some ancient Roman something or other. Pretty cool, I thought.
The Grand Bazaar was overwhelming.
The Egyptian Spice Bazaar was colorful, and cool.
Thanks to my Aunt Kristin for informing me that she did not want a postcard from anywhere in Budapest, but if I saw the Hagia Sophia... causing me to even consider this trip. A great top-off to my study abroad.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
My favorite holiday
I'm sure you've heard: last Thursday was Thanksgiving. I'm also sure you've heard: Thanksgiving is solely an American holiday. It's a big American holiday, all about families and turkey, but Hungarians just don't celebrate.
So, we're a bunch of American students in Budapest. What do you do? Well, you make Thanksgiving.
We'd been planning this for awhile. My apartment was hosting, although my roommates were out of town in Amsterdam and Paris, so it was me, three friends from my program, and a friend from the math program. It was basically a potluck: I did turkey and those accessories: stuffing and gravy, and my personal Thanksgiving favorite,
cranberry sauce. Paulina and Chelle made the pies, Danielle made vegetables, and Dan did the mashed potatoes. It looked pretty much ready to go.
Except: Thanksgiving requires certain foods. The main one of these is a whole, roasted turkey. In the States, its hard to find one of these except right around late November. In Hungary, they don't care about late November. I did know, however, that many other ex-pats had managed to have Thanksgiving before. I'd heard plenty of rumors about acquiring a turkey. I knew it was possible. Stacey, Lisa and I headed to the Great Market on Monday afternoon. After a bit of wandering and some paprika purchasing, we started to look for turkey. We find turkey. It's chopped up. We find a full animal. It's chicken. Another full animal. It's goose. Eventually, things start shutting, and we decide that they will return the following day while I am in school and just get some breast and legs. I'll simply roast that. Not quite a full turkey, but hey, it'll taste the same.
Tuesday after school I come home and cross the street to their hotel. As I'm walking in the door, I hear, "Liza!". I turn around and see Stacey and Lisa coming down the street. "We need to get up to your apartment, now." "Why, mom?" "We've got a turkey in my bag. It weighs 7 kilograms."
6.9 (more accurately) kilograms is exactly 15.212 pounds. There are 5 of us coming to Thanksgiving.
That is about three times the amount of turkey that I was looking for. However, as it turns out, this was, at the point that they went, the only whole turkey in the entire Great Market. I'm ecstatic. We've got a turkey. It may weigh a ton and still have its neck attached (luckily, there was no head or even guts), but it's a turkey.
The second adventure consisted of Wednesday afternoon shopping. I'd made a pretty organized list of all the things that I need. However, I don't actually know the translation of "cinnamon" or "poultry seasoning" or "basil" or "celery". We ended up with cinnamon-flavored punch instead of cinnamon, some onion/chive-like thing instead of celery, and our best guess on everything else. Luckily bread looks like bread and I've needed to buy salt before, so I didn't end up with sugar.
My personal favorite part about Thanksgiving in Budapest: apparently, Hungarians do not believe in meat thermometers. Now, I was not expecting one of those fancy things that pops out of the turkey. That was never even remotely in my mind. I was, however, expecting to be able to find a (celsius, but functional) meat thermometer. No. I could find room thermometers. I could find wine thermometers. But all of my (hungarian) "thermometer? chicken? meat?" questions came up with a resounding "nem".
So, I was scared. No meat thermometer. But hey, I could just follow the Joy of Cooking's instructions, right? Set my oven to the right temperature, do it for the right time, and hope it works? Oh, right. My oven is straight out of some Communist factory.
It is gas. That's fine. However, most gas ovens have little markings that estimate temperatures. These markings might be in C, or they might even just be random numbers (how are you supposed to know that 3 is actually 450?). Mine doesn't have that. Mine has nothing.
Okay, well maybe you can still kind of guess. No. Mine is actually just on/off. You can change the amount of gas going in and out slightly, but it will not control itself. We have, thanks to Stacey, a (Fahrenheit!) thermometer inside the oven. So, I had to check the oven every 15 or 20 minutes, and turn it off or on (using a match, we don't have a spark button or anything) according to the temperature. That was the plan.
So, Wednesday night. Paulina and Chelle have been over prepping the pies, and I've got some delicious cranberry sauce made. (Thanks again to Stacey for bringing over the cranberries!) I've heard that brining the turkey makes it fool-proof, so this is my plan. I'm not quite willing to ruin the only turkey in Budapest. Foolproof sounds great. We don't, however, have anything great to brine our huge turkey in. I think it'll probably work if we put the turkey and the salt water in two or three garbage bags, and just leave it outside in a box.
We do this. Chelle and Paulina leave. About 5 minutes, I hear a knock on the door. It's Chelle and Paulina, and they are pointing to my balcony, from which you can hear a constant drip,drip,drip onto my neighbor's stoop. Oops.
Okay, so I'll just put the turkey in a few more garbage bags and put it in the garbage can. Garbage cans don't drip. 5 minutes later, I check outside again. Drip, drip, drip.
Okay, I'll bring the garbage can inside so I'm not quite as obnoxious and so that my downstairs neighbor doesn't have salt water all over their stoop. I put it in the tub. It then becomes clear that my garbage can is not dripping. It is GUSHING.
Alright, it is now about 1:30AM. My turkey is losing water. I obviously can't leave it outside because we have no appropriate container. Finally, I just shove the turkey in the sink, fill it up with water, and leave it to brine for the night. Chilledness will have to wait.
Actually, at this point, the adventure became much more normal. Thursday, as it turned out, was pretty easy. I woke up, (skipped school - they tried to make a bunch of American students go to school on Thanksgiving!), received an absolutely life-saving email from Marianne, who instructed me on just about every aspect of turkey, stuffing and gravy, and proceeded to relatively smoothly get everything out. My friends showed up early in the afternoon, made their food, and around 5PM we sat down for an absolutely delicious and delightful dinner.
my pride and joy
cranberry sauce, my favorite part of Thanksgiving
our beautiful table
So, for my family, I missed you all on Thanksgiving. It's definitely a day for family. However, I have great friends here. In many ways, they are family. I'd say that I couldn't have done better. Although next time I make a turkey, I'd like the oven to be controllable.
So, we're a bunch of American students in Budapest. What do you do? Well, you make Thanksgiving.
We'd been planning this for awhile. My apartment was hosting, although my roommates were out of town in Amsterdam and Paris, so it was me, three friends from my program, and a friend from the math program. It was basically a potluck: I did turkey and those accessories: stuffing and gravy, and my personal Thanksgiving favorite,
cranberry sauce. Paulina and Chelle made the pies, Danielle made vegetables, and Dan did the mashed potatoes. It looked pretty much ready to go.
Except: Thanksgiving requires certain foods. The main one of these is a whole, roasted turkey. In the States, its hard to find one of these except right around late November. In Hungary, they don't care about late November. I did know, however, that many other ex-pats had managed to have Thanksgiving before. I'd heard plenty of rumors about acquiring a turkey. I knew it was possible. Stacey, Lisa and I headed to the Great Market on Monday afternoon. After a bit of wandering and some paprika purchasing, we started to look for turkey. We find turkey. It's chopped up. We find a full animal. It's chicken. Another full animal. It's goose. Eventually, things start shutting, and we decide that they will return the following day while I am in school and just get some breast and legs. I'll simply roast that. Not quite a full turkey, but hey, it'll taste the same.
Tuesday after school I come home and cross the street to their hotel. As I'm walking in the door, I hear, "Liza!". I turn around and see Stacey and Lisa coming down the street. "We need to get up to your apartment, now." "Why, mom?" "We've got a turkey in my bag. It weighs 7 kilograms."
6.9 (more accurately) kilograms is exactly 15.212 pounds. There are 5 of us coming to Thanksgiving.
That is about three times the amount of turkey that I was looking for. However, as it turns out, this was, at the point that they went, the only whole turkey in the entire Great Market. I'm ecstatic. We've got a turkey. It may weigh a ton and still have its neck attached (luckily, there was no head or even guts), but it's a turkey.
The second adventure consisted of Wednesday afternoon shopping. I'd made a pretty organized list of all the things that I need. However, I don't actually know the translation of "cinnamon" or "poultry seasoning" or "basil" or "celery". We ended up with cinnamon-flavored punch instead of cinnamon, some onion/chive-like thing instead of celery, and our best guess on everything else. Luckily bread looks like bread and I've needed to buy salt before, so I didn't end up with sugar.
My personal favorite part about Thanksgiving in Budapest: apparently, Hungarians do not believe in meat thermometers. Now, I was not expecting one of those fancy things that pops out of the turkey. That was never even remotely in my mind. I was, however, expecting to be able to find a (celsius, but functional) meat thermometer. No. I could find room thermometers. I could find wine thermometers. But all of my (hungarian) "thermometer? chicken? meat?" questions came up with a resounding "nem".
So, I was scared. No meat thermometer. But hey, I could just follow the Joy of Cooking's instructions, right? Set my oven to the right temperature, do it for the right time, and hope it works? Oh, right. My oven is straight out of some Communist factory.
It is gas. That's fine. However, most gas ovens have little markings that estimate temperatures. These markings might be in C, or they might even just be random numbers (how are you supposed to know that 3 is actually 450?). Mine doesn't have that. Mine has nothing.
Okay, well maybe you can still kind of guess. No. Mine is actually just on/off. You can change the amount of gas going in and out slightly, but it will not control itself. We have, thanks to Stacey, a (Fahrenheit!) thermometer inside the oven. So, I had to check the oven every 15 or 20 minutes, and turn it off or on (using a match, we don't have a spark button or anything) according to the temperature. That was the plan.
So, Wednesday night. Paulina and Chelle have been over prepping the pies, and I've got some delicious cranberry sauce made. (Thanks again to Stacey for bringing over the cranberries!) I've heard that brining the turkey makes it fool-proof, so this is my plan. I'm not quite willing to ruin the only turkey in Budapest. Foolproof sounds great. We don't, however, have anything great to brine our huge turkey in. I think it'll probably work if we put the turkey and the salt water in two or three garbage bags, and just leave it outside in a box.
We do this. Chelle and Paulina leave. About 5 minutes, I hear a knock on the door. It's Chelle and Paulina, and they are pointing to my balcony, from which you can hear a constant drip,drip,drip onto my neighbor's stoop. Oops.
Okay, so I'll just put the turkey in a few more garbage bags and put it in the garbage can. Garbage cans don't drip. 5 minutes later, I check outside again. Drip, drip, drip.
Okay, I'll bring the garbage can inside so I'm not quite as obnoxious and so that my downstairs neighbor doesn't have salt water all over their stoop. I put it in the tub. It then becomes clear that my garbage can is not dripping. It is GUSHING.
Alright, it is now about 1:30AM. My turkey is losing water. I obviously can't leave it outside because we have no appropriate container. Finally, I just shove the turkey in the sink, fill it up with water, and leave it to brine for the night. Chilledness will have to wait.
Actually, at this point, the adventure became much more normal. Thursday, as it turned out, was pretty easy. I woke up, (skipped school - they tried to make a bunch of American students go to school on Thanksgiving!), received an absolutely life-saving email from Marianne, who instructed me on just about every aspect of turkey, stuffing and gravy, and proceeded to relatively smoothly get everything out. My friends showed up early in the afternoon, made their food, and around 5PM we sat down for an absolutely delicious and delightful dinner.
my pride and joy
cranberry sauce, my favorite part of Thanksgiving
our beautiful table
So, for my family, I missed you all on Thanksgiving. It's definitely a day for family. However, I have great friends here. In many ways, they are family. I'd say that I couldn't have done better. Although next time I make a turkey, I'd like the oven to be controllable.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
A Visit
Stacey and Lisa arrived.
28 hours late. Their plane was cancelled the first day, then had a forced landing in Boston the second. Eventually, they made it.
I won't give you a blow-by-blow. I will, however, give some (fairly extensive) highlights.
1) Delicious dinners. We had two stand-out dinners. The first was their first night here, at Spinoza cafe, right down the road from me. I had never been there before, but had heard rave reviews. It was well deserved. I had gnocchi with blue cheese sauce and prosciutto - delicious! We also had an excellent wine. I tend to drink Egri Bikaver, which is a dry red Hungarian wine from the Eger district. Actually, it literally translates as "Bulls Blood". This was a fancier Bikaver than I had ever had, and it was well worth it. Lovely.
The second meal was later in the visit, at a restaurant called Klassz (pronounced 'class'). This was by far one of the best meals I have had in a very long time. We had delicious soup - potato with an egg - that was brought out in the brass pot in which it was cooked, then poured into the bowl, lamb leg and catfish with goat cheese and some spectacular veggies for a small sample, as well as four different and satisfying desserts. Highly, highly recommended.
2) Vienna.
On Saturday, we took the 3-hour train trip up to Vienna early in the morning, spent a day in the city, and then took a late train back. I loved Vienna. One particularly memorable part of the day was the art museum there - it is one of the premier museums in the world, with tons of Netherlandish art that I particularly enjoyed. I believe I've mentioned this earlier in my blog, but I took an art history class last year that was very difficult at the time but has really increased my appreciation of art. Thanks, distribution requirements. We also had a very excellent cake at the museum. Austria is famous for its torte, and with good reason. Mmm-mm.
The city itself was so beautiful and delicate. We wandered through the Hapsburg grounds for most of the day - huge palaces, gardens, and museums that were breathtaking. It's nearly impossible to imagine how Budapest and Vienna could possibly have co-run an empire. I can barely imagine two more different cities. Budapest feels so earth-bound, whereas Vienna felt like anything besides earth - a little sky, some water, but definitely not earth. I have two friends who will be visiting Vienna next weekend, and I think it will be even more amazing with all the lights up for the holidays.
Just a travel recommendation, though not an original one - Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Each city is so different, but they are in such close proximity that this is truly fascinating. I'd say 3 days in Prague, 2 in Vienna and 4 or 5 in Budapest would be a really amazing vacation. Just my two cents. One reason for the timing is not only that I liked Budapest better than Prague or Vienna. I also think that Budapest takes a little while longer to get a hold on. Prague is full of expats, so in many ways I've heard that what you see is what you get, and though I can't speak for Vienna in that way, I personally felt that I got what I wanted in just a day, but Budapest is a little harder to penetrate, it seems to me. Budapest is also the largest of the cities, and thus has the most wandering ability.
3) The Opera. We saw The Marriage of Figaro in the Hungarian State Opera House, which is one of the best opera houses in the world, or so says the New York Times. I've never been to the opera before, but I'd have to say I agree. It was so much fun. First of all, the building itself is breathtaking.
Secondly, the opera is a ton of fun. Who knew? I had little to know idea what they were saying - except for the very slight bit of Italian that I could pick out - but it didn't matter. It was beautiful, and funny, and really just a great time. I'm going to see Othello with my program on Thursday, and I'm psyched. It'll be something totally different, what with being a tragedy and all, but I'm really looking forward to it.
4) Great Market.
This is a huge market. The bottom floor is filled with fruit and vegetable and meat and spice stands, the basement has fruit and kitchenware-type things, and the top floor has food stands as well as more touristy things. I'd actually never been before, and it was an experience. We came looking for a turkey, but there will be more on that in just a little bit.
5) The Baths. The baths are just amazing. The first day, we tried to go but it was closing just as we showed up. Instead, we went to a nice little coffee shop.
.
The second day, we managed. We actually ended up going right at sunset, and watched the sun set from one of the outdoor pools, complete with steam rising off it and a fountain. It was absolutely beautiful, and of course, totally relaxing. I love the baths. I'm hoping to go to one in Istanbul as well - they are Turkish baths, after all!
I also took them to my favorite gypsy music place, and my favorite gypsy steak restaurant. They wandered a ton while I was in school, and saw most of the big sites. So, the moral? Visitors are, actually, good.
28 hours late. Their plane was cancelled the first day, then had a forced landing in Boston the second. Eventually, they made it.
I won't give you a blow-by-blow. I will, however, give some (fairly extensive) highlights.
1) Delicious dinners. We had two stand-out dinners. The first was their first night here, at Spinoza cafe, right down the road from me. I had never been there before, but had heard rave reviews. It was well deserved. I had gnocchi with blue cheese sauce and prosciutto - delicious! We also had an excellent wine. I tend to drink Egri Bikaver, which is a dry red Hungarian wine from the Eger district. Actually, it literally translates as "Bulls Blood". This was a fancier Bikaver than I had ever had, and it was well worth it. Lovely.
The second meal was later in the visit, at a restaurant called Klassz (pronounced 'class'). This was by far one of the best meals I have had in a very long time. We had delicious soup - potato with an egg - that was brought out in the brass pot in which it was cooked, then poured into the bowl, lamb leg and catfish with goat cheese and some spectacular veggies for a small sample, as well as four different and satisfying desserts. Highly, highly recommended.
2) Vienna.
On Saturday, we took the 3-hour train trip up to Vienna early in the morning, spent a day in the city, and then took a late train back. I loved Vienna. One particularly memorable part of the day was the art museum there - it is one of the premier museums in the world, with tons of Netherlandish art that I particularly enjoyed. I believe I've mentioned this earlier in my blog, but I took an art history class last year that was very difficult at the time but has really increased my appreciation of art. Thanks, distribution requirements. We also had a very excellent cake at the museum. Austria is famous for its torte, and with good reason. Mmm-mm.
The city itself was so beautiful and delicate. We wandered through the Hapsburg grounds for most of the day - huge palaces, gardens, and museums that were breathtaking. It's nearly impossible to imagine how Budapest and Vienna could possibly have co-run an empire. I can barely imagine two more different cities. Budapest feels so earth-bound, whereas Vienna felt like anything besides earth - a little sky, some water, but definitely not earth. I have two friends who will be visiting Vienna next weekend, and I think it will be even more amazing with all the lights up for the holidays.
Just a travel recommendation, though not an original one - Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Each city is so different, but they are in such close proximity that this is truly fascinating. I'd say 3 days in Prague, 2 in Vienna and 4 or 5 in Budapest would be a really amazing vacation. Just my two cents. One reason for the timing is not only that I liked Budapest better than Prague or Vienna. I also think that Budapest takes a little while longer to get a hold on. Prague is full of expats, so in many ways I've heard that what you see is what you get, and though I can't speak for Vienna in that way, I personally felt that I got what I wanted in just a day, but Budapest is a little harder to penetrate, it seems to me. Budapest is also the largest of the cities, and thus has the most wandering ability.
3) The Opera. We saw The Marriage of Figaro in the Hungarian State Opera House, which is one of the best opera houses in the world, or so says the New York Times. I've never been to the opera before, but I'd have to say I agree. It was so much fun. First of all, the building itself is breathtaking.
Secondly, the opera is a ton of fun. Who knew? I had little to know idea what they were saying - except for the very slight bit of Italian that I could pick out - but it didn't matter. It was beautiful, and funny, and really just a great time. I'm going to see Othello with my program on Thursday, and I'm psyched. It'll be something totally different, what with being a tragedy and all, but I'm really looking forward to it.
4) Great Market.
This is a huge market. The bottom floor is filled with fruit and vegetable and meat and spice stands, the basement has fruit and kitchenware-type things, and the top floor has food stands as well as more touristy things. I'd actually never been before, and it was an experience. We came looking for a turkey, but there will be more on that in just a little bit.
5) The Baths. The baths are just amazing. The first day, we tried to go but it was closing just as we showed up. Instead, we went to a nice little coffee shop.
. The second day, we managed. We actually ended up going right at sunset, and watched the sun set from one of the outdoor pools, complete with steam rising off it and a fountain. It was absolutely beautiful, and of course, totally relaxing. I love the baths. I'm hoping to go to one in Istanbul as well - they are Turkish baths, after all!
I also took them to my favorite gypsy music place, and my favorite gypsy steak restaurant. They wandered a ton while I was in school, and saw most of the big sites. So, the moral? Visitors are, actually, good.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
My mom (Stacey) and my aunt Lisa arrived just a few hours ago for about a week-long stay. They were actually, due to the wonders of air travel, approximately 28 hours late. But, they're here now and I'm looking forward to showing them around the city.
There are a few things that I have done before and am looking forward to showing her, and another few that I haven't done, and am looking forward to doing with her. Basically, the following is a list of things I love about Budapest, followed by a list of things I think I might love.
1) The Turkish Baths. Now, I love water. I love swimming. However, I was still a little skeptical about the baths. I mean, how much can you really do with tons and tons of pools of water? Actually, tons. I had two friends from high school visiting awhile back, and we went up there one beautiful Saturday (back when it was beautiful out, not rainy and cold). I ended up being entirely, completely satisfied. They have tons of pools, all of varying temperatures. My favorite was the ridiculously cold one - something like 8 degrees C. You jump in, gasp a little, bounce around, dunk your head, and move out as fast as possible. Once you're out though, you just want to get back in. This is especially good after a long stay in a particularly warm pool. The other great part of the particular bathhouse that I went to was the whirlpool. This is just a donut-shaped set of walls inside a bigger pool. If you get a bunch of people running around in circles, the whirlpool gets strong enough that you can actually walk sideways on the walls. Great.
2) The Food. This is actually a combo share-discover. Basically, I really, really like paprika. There are tons of delicious restaurants in Budapest. The trouble is that many of them, I cannot afford. I am a student. I am on a budget. My mom, however, is on vacation. I'm hoping for a nicer dinner or two. (Actually, anything better than Kinai Bufe - Chinese Fast Food - is an improvement. Not that I don't love Kinai. Its just that their dishes are sometimes 630 Ft - about $3). I'm also really looking forward to showing her my favorite Hungarian hole-in-the-wall, a place that serves amazing Gypsy Steak - pork stuff - with fried fat on top. Delicious.
3) Parliament and the Castle. Actually, this goes for all of the city. This city is beautiful. The architecture is amazing, especially when you consider that a huge portion of it, including the ENTIRE PALACE and all the bridges, has been entirely rebuilt after the city was destroyed in WWII. I'm really looking forward to just walking around with them.
4) Szentendre, maybe. Szentendre is a city about 40 minutes outside of Budapest. It is absolutely adorable, and has an entirely different feel than Budapest itself. I'm hoping that maybe we can make it, just to give them a taste of the countryside. We'll see though - that may be getting a bit ambitious.
5) Gypsy Music at the Spare Key.
Now, for the things that I am fully expecting to love.
1) The Opera. We are seeing the Marriage of Figaro in one of the most beautiful and important opera houses in the world. I'm psyched. I still wish it was Giselle, which is my favorite ballet and was showing while I was in Italy, but hey. I've never been to the opera before.
2) The Food Not for Students. See above.
3) The Museum of Terror. The Museum of Terror is a museum dedicated to victims of Communism. It is actually located in the block where the torture, etc. took place. I've heard its intense. I'm so excited.
I'm really looking forward to being able to be a bit of a tourist again. I've gotten so wrapped up in living in the city (not that that's bad!) that it's been a long time since I've seen something new. So, this is the time.
There are a few things that I have done before and am looking forward to showing her, and another few that I haven't done, and am looking forward to doing with her. Basically, the following is a list of things I love about Budapest, followed by a list of things I think I might love.
1) The Turkish Baths. Now, I love water. I love swimming. However, I was still a little skeptical about the baths. I mean, how much can you really do with tons and tons of pools of water? Actually, tons. I had two friends from high school visiting awhile back, and we went up there one beautiful Saturday (back when it was beautiful out, not rainy and cold). I ended up being entirely, completely satisfied. They have tons of pools, all of varying temperatures. My favorite was the ridiculously cold one - something like 8 degrees C. You jump in, gasp a little, bounce around, dunk your head, and move out as fast as possible. Once you're out though, you just want to get back in. This is especially good after a long stay in a particularly warm pool. The other great part of the particular bathhouse that I went to was the whirlpool. This is just a donut-shaped set of walls inside a bigger pool. If you get a bunch of people running around in circles, the whirlpool gets strong enough that you can actually walk sideways on the walls. Great.
2) The Food. This is actually a combo share-discover. Basically, I really, really like paprika. There are tons of delicious restaurants in Budapest. The trouble is that many of them, I cannot afford. I am a student. I am on a budget. My mom, however, is on vacation. I'm hoping for a nicer dinner or two. (Actually, anything better than Kinai Bufe - Chinese Fast Food - is an improvement. Not that I don't love Kinai. Its just that their dishes are sometimes 630 Ft - about $3). I'm also really looking forward to showing her my favorite Hungarian hole-in-the-wall, a place that serves amazing Gypsy Steak - pork stuff - with fried fat on top. Delicious.
3) Parliament and the Castle. Actually, this goes for all of the city. This city is beautiful. The architecture is amazing, especially when you consider that a huge portion of it, including the ENTIRE PALACE and all the bridges, has been entirely rebuilt after the city was destroyed in WWII. I'm really looking forward to just walking around with them.
4) Szentendre, maybe. Szentendre is a city about 40 minutes outside of Budapest. It is absolutely adorable, and has an entirely different feel than Budapest itself. I'm hoping that maybe we can make it, just to give them a taste of the countryside. We'll see though - that may be getting a bit ambitious.
5) Gypsy Music at the Spare Key.
Now, for the things that I am fully expecting to love.
1) The Opera. We are seeing the Marriage of Figaro in one of the most beautiful and important opera houses in the world. I'm psyched. I still wish it was Giselle, which is my favorite ballet and was showing while I was in Italy, but hey. I've never been to the opera before.
2) The Food Not for Students. See above.
3) The Museum of Terror. The Museum of Terror is a museum dedicated to victims of Communism. It is actually located in the block where the torture, etc. took place. I've heard its intense. I'm so excited.
I'm really looking forward to being able to be a bit of a tourist again. I've gotten so wrapped up in living in the city (not that that's bad!) that it's been a long time since I've seen something new. So, this is the time.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
continued
Here we are. Its now Saturday, and I'm doing nothing all day, so I think I can probably manage to actually finish this up.
So, we're in Florence. Florence turned out to be, without a doubt, one of my favorite cities ever. I was slightly skeptical, as I'd heard a few times that the city was overrated. I couldn't disagree more.
We spent four days in Florence, so I don't want to give a play-by-play, but I'll leave you with a few of the highlights for me.
One was, without a doubt, our campground. We were staying in a house-tent, which is basically a very sturdy and thick tent. Now, it was late October and early November, so this wasn't exactly the warmest situation. However, we got a whole bunch of blankets so it turned out pretty well. And the view, as you've seen, made everything worth it. We also met some pretty cool people there - we ended mostly hanging out with three Australians and a New Zealander - a couple in their early twenties, then two 30-somethings. Every night we'd meet up for Uno, then a couple times we ventured out to find a wine cellar.
Another was the wine - I had the first white wine I've ever liked, as well as some delicious reds. Mediterranean wine is somehow really different from Hungarian wine. The whites were without a doubt better - Hungarian only has one white-growing region, and I find it really quite mediocre. Too sweet. I do like Hungarian reds though; I was happy to return to my Egri Bikaver. Yes, I'm becoming a bit of a wine snob.
One of the other things I loved, and I know this is a bit unspecific, was just the nature of the city. One afternoon I ended up wandering the city by myself. I have no idea where I ended up, but I found this beautiful little outdoor flea market.
It was closed, but I could still peer into the shops, which were just packed with tons of fun junk.
The city just seemed to be packed with gems like this. I'm a big fan of cities where it feels like people actually live, as opposed to cities that seem to be simply vacation spots or tourist destinations. Now, around the Duomo (we'll get to that), of course Florence was simply a tourist destination. However, unlike Prague or even Dublin, I felt that I could find the part that wasn't that. It wasn't even hard to find - it was there for anyone willing to stroll out of the Piazza Duomo and open their eyes a little.
Okay. The Duomo.
Now, to me, for whatever reason, this seemed like a place that was totally fake - it just existed in Art History books or something. But, actually, its a real place. I've been there. I've been inside.
I even went to mass there. On All Saint's Day. Actually, it was my first mass, which was quite an experience. It was a really fascinating and, to me, fairly incomprehensible combination of ritual, religion, performance, show, and splendor. I had this bizarre feeling of being included in something ancient combined with my skepticism about the Catholic Church. I really enjoyed it.
Another highlight, and I'm sure this goes without saying, was the food. Our best meal was in this tiny little hole in the wall. You walk in and you're seated with whomever happens to have an open space. The first half of our meal was with two other American tourists, and the second half was with Italian businessmen. The pasta was amazing. Dan's meal was great - fried beef with an absolutely incredible sauce. I don't like tomatoes much, but Italy can feed me tomatoes any time it wants. I ordered tongue. Like that thing in your mouth. It actually ended up being pretty good - hard to get used to, and the parts that weren't very meaty were kind of gross, but there were sections in there that were absolutely to die for. We also had biscotti with sweet wine which was a really nice light dessert. Our second best meal was in Siena, where they made the most delicious homemade pasta I've ever had. I had ravioli. No ravioli will ever be the same again.
Now for my favorite part of Florence. I don't have any pictures of this, so I'll just include my favorite online image.
Yes, Michelangelo's David. This completely surprised me. I knew going that I wanted to see him. However, I didn't expect to be so impressed.
Now, the David is HUGE. He's probably 1.5-2 times the size of a normal human being, and he's placed up on a pedestal. He's also absolutely gorgeous. Michelangelo knew how to make a man. Alone, I know I'd be impressed. However, I think the that the Galleria d'Academia, where he is located, knows how to do art. David is located at the end of a fairly long corridor, which is lined with six unfinished Michelangelo sculptures.
This setup definitely enhances the experience. First of all, the unfinished sculptures are incredible. They seem to be coming out of the stone just like a ghost would walk through walls or a person would walk through a waterfall. I snuck into a bit of an english-language tour, and one of hte main parts I heard was the tour guide explaining Michelangelo's theory of sculpture, which was that you simply needed to peel away the stone to allow its true shape to appear. Looking at his unfinished sculptures, some of which were unfinished because he died and others because he simply abandoned them, this was definitely the sense I experienced.
Also, looking at the unfinished works made the David that much more impressive. I really realized how incredible it is that any of these scultpures came out of one block of stone. These stones are HUGE. Also, David looks real. He doesnt look like any work could have possibly gone into him. He looks effortless. The contrast is amazing.
Alright, enough of my little art history paper. Lets move to Siena.
I, honestly, was not impressed with Siena. I had heard amazing things, but it seemed to me to be more touristy than Florence, with less reason. The central square was beautiful with all its burnt sienna coloring, but packed with people.
The main church was beautiful. It was zebra striped, which was just cool, and the entire floor was covered with marble arranged in scenes, which is amazing.
However, the lines were long, it was a bit expensive, and one cool church is not enough to warrant 839289214 tourists covering an entire, tiny city. I feel like such a spoilsport saying that, but hey. Maybe it was just the contrast between Florence and Siena that didn't quite work for me. Who knows.
That night we took a night train back to Milan, which consisted of spending from 1AM-4AM in the Bologna train station, then flew out in the morning.
So, we're in Florence. Florence turned out to be, without a doubt, one of my favorite cities ever. I was slightly skeptical, as I'd heard a few times that the city was overrated. I couldn't disagree more.
We spent four days in Florence, so I don't want to give a play-by-play, but I'll leave you with a few of the highlights for me.
One was, without a doubt, our campground. We were staying in a house-tent, which is basically a very sturdy and thick tent. Now, it was late October and early November, so this wasn't exactly the warmest situation. However, we got a whole bunch of blankets so it turned out pretty well. And the view, as you've seen, made everything worth it. We also met some pretty cool people there - we ended mostly hanging out with three Australians and a New Zealander - a couple in their early twenties, then two 30-somethings. Every night we'd meet up for Uno, then a couple times we ventured out to find a wine cellar.
Another was the wine - I had the first white wine I've ever liked, as well as some delicious reds. Mediterranean wine is somehow really different from Hungarian wine. The whites were without a doubt better - Hungarian only has one white-growing region, and I find it really quite mediocre. Too sweet. I do like Hungarian reds though; I was happy to return to my Egri Bikaver. Yes, I'm becoming a bit of a wine snob.
One of the other things I loved, and I know this is a bit unspecific, was just the nature of the city. One afternoon I ended up wandering the city by myself. I have no idea where I ended up, but I found this beautiful little outdoor flea market.
It was closed, but I could still peer into the shops, which were just packed with tons of fun junk.
The city just seemed to be packed with gems like this. I'm a big fan of cities where it feels like people actually live, as opposed to cities that seem to be simply vacation spots or tourist destinations. Now, around the Duomo (we'll get to that), of course Florence was simply a tourist destination. However, unlike Prague or even Dublin, I felt that I could find the part that wasn't that. It wasn't even hard to find - it was there for anyone willing to stroll out of the Piazza Duomo and open their eyes a little.
Okay. The Duomo.
Now, to me, for whatever reason, this seemed like a place that was totally fake - it just existed in Art History books or something. But, actually, its a real place. I've been there. I've been inside.
I even went to mass there. On All Saint's Day. Actually, it was my first mass, which was quite an experience. It was a really fascinating and, to me, fairly incomprehensible combination of ritual, religion, performance, show, and splendor. I had this bizarre feeling of being included in something ancient combined with my skepticism about the Catholic Church. I really enjoyed it.
Another highlight, and I'm sure this goes without saying, was the food. Our best meal was in this tiny little hole in the wall. You walk in and you're seated with whomever happens to have an open space. The first half of our meal was with two other American tourists, and the second half was with Italian businessmen. The pasta was amazing. Dan's meal was great - fried beef with an absolutely incredible sauce. I don't like tomatoes much, but Italy can feed me tomatoes any time it wants. I ordered tongue. Like that thing in your mouth. It actually ended up being pretty good - hard to get used to, and the parts that weren't very meaty were kind of gross, but there were sections in there that were absolutely to die for. We also had biscotti with sweet wine which was a really nice light dessert. Our second best meal was in Siena, where they made the most delicious homemade pasta I've ever had. I had ravioli. No ravioli will ever be the same again.
Now for my favorite part of Florence. I don't have any pictures of this, so I'll just include my favorite online image.
Yes, Michelangelo's David. This completely surprised me. I knew going that I wanted to see him. However, I didn't expect to be so impressed.
Now, the David is HUGE. He's probably 1.5-2 times the size of a normal human being, and he's placed up on a pedestal. He's also absolutely gorgeous. Michelangelo knew how to make a man. Alone, I know I'd be impressed. However, I think the that the Galleria d'Academia, where he is located, knows how to do art. David is located at the end of a fairly long corridor, which is lined with six unfinished Michelangelo sculptures.
This setup definitely enhances the experience. First of all, the unfinished sculptures are incredible. They seem to be coming out of the stone just like a ghost would walk through walls or a person would walk through a waterfall. I snuck into a bit of an english-language tour, and one of hte main parts I heard was the tour guide explaining Michelangelo's theory of sculpture, which was that you simply needed to peel away the stone to allow its true shape to appear. Looking at his unfinished sculptures, some of which were unfinished because he died and others because he simply abandoned them, this was definitely the sense I experienced.
Also, looking at the unfinished works made the David that much more impressive. I really realized how incredible it is that any of these scultpures came out of one block of stone. These stones are HUGE. Also, David looks real. He doesnt look like any work could have possibly gone into him. He looks effortless. The contrast is amazing.
Alright, enough of my little art history paper. Lets move to Siena.
I, honestly, was not impressed with Siena. I had heard amazing things, but it seemed to me to be more touristy than Florence, with less reason. The central square was beautiful with all its burnt sienna coloring, but packed with people.
The main church was beautiful. It was zebra striped, which was just cool, and the entire floor was covered with marble arranged in scenes, which is amazing.
However, the lines were long, it was a bit expensive, and one cool church is not enough to warrant 839289214 tourists covering an entire, tiny city. I feel like such a spoilsport saying that, but hey. Maybe it was just the contrast between Florence and Siena that didn't quite work for me. Who knows.
That night we took a night train back to Milan, which consisted of spending from 1AM-4AM in the Bologna train station, then flew out in the morning.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Italia
I enjoy the following things: the ocean, the mountains, good wine, homemade pasta, beautiful buildings, windy streets and famous art.
So, I went to Italy.
Last week was my program's fall break, so we had an entire week off. A friend from Carleton was in Prague, so he came to Budapest and we flew to Milan. From Milan, we took the train to Genoa, where we spent our first two nights and one day.
Genoa was incredible. It's an old port city built into a huge hill.
The first thing I noticed?
Yup, them's palm trees.
The second thing I noticed: San Francisco may have lots of switchbacks, but its got nothing on Genoa. The view from most streets looks something like this:
The view from our hostel looked something like this:
We spent most of our time in Genoa just walking around and exploring, although we did make a tourist stop at the Aquarium. It was huge. They had lots of weird-looking fish and some dolphins.
Genoa, overall, was really great. At first I thought it was the kind of place where I would like to grow up - there was a bunch going on, but it wasn't so large that you felt overwhelmed at all. Then I realized that my growing up was done. I'd like to retire there. Ocean, mountains, palm trees, and I saw enough old Italian ladies on the bus that I know I wouldn't be lonely. I would be worried about hiking up that hill though.
Our next stop was Florence. However, before we could get to the train station we had to march in a protest for who knows what, see Genoa's version of the Arc de Triomphe, which is backed by a garden picturing the Nina, the Pinto and the Santa Maria. Columbus was born in Genoa. We didn't find his house. Its hard to take pictures of gardens on hills, but here's my best shot.
Then, we went from Florida
to Colorado
in three and a half hours on a train.
Italy is, apparently, a country with wide-ranging climate.
We arrived in Florence late in the afternoon, to a lot of drizzle and no clue where our bus to the campground was. We eventually made it. Please, look at the view.
Yes, that's the Duomo. Like, for real.
I'm going to take a break from blogging right now, but I was informed that my aunt was anxiously awaiting an update, so Kristin, here you go. Florence and Siena to be continued.
So, I went to Italy.
Last week was my program's fall break, so we had an entire week off. A friend from Carleton was in Prague, so he came to Budapest and we flew to Milan. From Milan, we took the train to Genoa, where we spent our first two nights and one day.
Genoa was incredible. It's an old port city built into a huge hill.
The first thing I noticed?
Yup, them's palm trees.
The second thing I noticed: San Francisco may have lots of switchbacks, but its got nothing on Genoa. The view from most streets looks something like this:
The view from our hostel looked something like this:
We spent most of our time in Genoa just walking around and exploring, although we did make a tourist stop at the Aquarium. It was huge. They had lots of weird-looking fish and some dolphins.
Genoa, overall, was really great. At first I thought it was the kind of place where I would like to grow up - there was a bunch going on, but it wasn't so large that you felt overwhelmed at all. Then I realized that my growing up was done. I'd like to retire there. Ocean, mountains, palm trees, and I saw enough old Italian ladies on the bus that I know I wouldn't be lonely. I would be worried about hiking up that hill though.
Our next stop was Florence. However, before we could get to the train station we had to march in a protest for who knows what, see Genoa's version of the Arc de Triomphe, which is backed by a garden picturing the Nina, the Pinto and the Santa Maria. Columbus was born in Genoa. We didn't find his house. Its hard to take pictures of gardens on hills, but here's my best shot.
Then, we went from Florida
to Colorado
in three and a half hours on a train.
Italy is, apparently, a country with wide-ranging climate.
We arrived in Florence late in the afternoon, to a lot of drizzle and no clue where our bus to the campground was. We eventually made it. Please, look at the view.
Yes, that's the Duomo. Like, for real.
I'm going to take a break from blogging right now, but I was informed that my aunt was anxiously awaiting an update, so Kristin, here you go. Florence and Siena to be continued.
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