So Fall Break at Michigan is all of 2 days, plus the weekend lol. You study hard for midterms, they reward you with the only break you'll see until the holidays or Spring Break. Here, they gave us 10 days. Was not prepared for that! For Fall Break, me and 5 of my boys, Chris, 2 Matts, Jim and Joe decided to do a lot of travelling, so we hit up Barcelona (Spain), Edinburgh (Scotland), Amsterdam, and Milan.
Before I get into the break, there's a quick disclaimer that will be important as you continue to read. So there was almost a strike on the Italian transportation system the day we left, so to avoid any conflict, we got charter bus tickets to Pisa (that's where our flight left from, good ole' RyanAir). Our flight left at like 6am, so we got the 3:30am bus. Everything in Florence shuts down around 2am, so we were stuck outside the bus station, freezing and giggling because we were so tired. We had 2 extras with us for this flight, Steven and Laura, 2 interesting characters in the Villa. Laura is very loud and Steven is just.....Steven, a corny, chubby, Jewish white guy that sings all the time. So after Laura's failed attempt to make us play "Never Have I Ever", Steven feels the need to make us laugh. He pulls out his computer and starts playing Too Short songs!! I was in tears laughing so hard, especially in the middle of the night. Needless to say, this was the beginning of our adventure.
Barcelona was definitely my favorite city. The language barrier wasn't that bad, even though they speak Catalan mostly instead of Spanish. It was easy to navigate and travel once I got used to metro system, and I mean who wouldn't love a big city with a beach!? Anyhow, the first 10 minutes in Barcelona made the next 3 days just a joy. We had to bus into the city from the airport, and then navigate our way to the hostel we booked. It's early morning in late October and it's still 70 degrees, so I took off my jacket and put on my sunglasses. We're walking down the street and this girl just starts screaming at me in Spanish and I have no idea what she's saying....until I hear "rapper". I was already confused enough as it is because I'd barely slept, but this girl was following me because she really thought I was a rapper! Hahaha so funny! All she had was this marker and I didn't have any paper, so to get her to leave me alone I signed her boob with the marker and kept it moving!! The laughing quickly turned to near tears when I got to the hostel and my debit card didn't work so 1 of the guys had to spot me. Didn't work at atm's, restaurants, nothing. Then we get in our room, it's 6 guys, and it's pink. That kinda made me laugh, and it was good to see one of my friends, Brittany (studying in London) who I invited because it was her birthday. All in all, I spent the next couple of days back and forth with my dad and Faith to get my card and money situation taken care of. Our hostel had a kitchen so I got to make omelettes too, they were so good! All the food we had was good, the beach was great, the sites were great, the clubs were HI-larious, and we had a great time!
Edinburgh was def the most interesting city. There were so many sites, so many things to do, and the people were so nice! It was great to speak English again lol, but the British pound is even better than the Euro, which meant a bigger whole in my pocket. At this point I could use my debit card everywhere except atm's, which still sucked. Our hostel was right outside Edinburgh Castle which was really cool. We found a long walking tour of the city that was free so we did that, and learned a lot about the city and different folk tales and urban legends that surround it. The tour guide was from Chicago but decided to go to grad school and live there. Saw the Elephant Cafe, the spot where J.K. Rawling wrote Harry Potter- that was pretty cool though I'm not much of a Potter fan. We also saw the cemetary that inspired some of the characters and there's a school near it that I guess inspired Hogwarts. The guys went on another tour and a pub crawl the next day, I stayed behind to try to figure out my card situation while I was in an English speaking city lol. They saw Lake Lochness and met Hamish, our new best friend, the highland cow who single-handedly pimped his way into restoring his species! I checked out the city a bit, including a couple of museums that were free. The most interesting thing I saw was Dolly the Cloned Sheep. Great city, but super expensive.
And finally, last and certainly least, was Amsterdam. I don't know what the duece I was thinking going to this place lol. I've heard about it and seen movies portraying it and people talking about it, but actually being there was a completely different story. If you got hair on your peaches and got some silly friends, give it a shot! I would never go back there though, that place is of satan lol. Yes the Coffee Shops do legit hook you up with whatever weed you want, and yes they are everywhere. I learned the difference between being stoned and high my 1st hour of being in the city! I did not smoke at all, but did get high on accident. When you go in coffee shop and you don't smoke, don't buy anything! I bought a sucker because I wanted a sucker, turns out it was dipped in cannabis oil. I was so confused and silly for like 3 hours lol. The Red Light District is a very interesting place as well. Sex everywhere! Chicks standing in the window at all times of day, coaxing you to come in and spend money, down for whatever. No sir. It's kinda sad, but I don't feel sorry for them. The most interesting thing I saw in Amsterdam was Anne Frank's house, which was turned into a museum. The Dutch are nuts, their language sucks, and this was marked the beginning of my homesickness.
Stay turned!
Ciao!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Playing Catch-Up (Part 1)
Sorry Mr. Blog for forgetting about you. My laptop charger sparked and almost burned my sheets so computer access has been limited.....
Hello World!
It is absolutely impossible to try to give a play by play of events between Oktoberfest and now. I could write a novel about Oktoberfest to now lol. Things have changed, people have changed, lives have changed (literally), and I'm so overwhelmed that at this point I really wanna go home. Yeah I said it, home. Detroit, Motor City, Murder Mitten, 313 I miss you. Never thought in a billion years I'd say that, but that's how things have turned out.
I'll start with Oktoberfest. I truly believe that was a decision made out of pure curiosity, nothing more or less. I thought I knew what I was getting into, false. The long bus ride (8 hours) was awful, and upon arrival at the camp site I was greeted with a cup of beer by our host Australians. False. I'm here to laugh and take in Germany, not to drink, especially God-awful beer. We bussed to the festival and the games began. I was under the impression that Oktoberfest was a big festival where everyone was drunk and stuff and that wasn't entirely true. It was like a big State Fair.....on drugs lol. Germans everywhere, from little kids to beer maidens to rude/drunk Dirk Nowitski looking dudes. Needless to say, it was an adventure. One of my boys kept getting hammered and leaving the group, and me being the sober one I kept looking for him. I gave up after a while lol, knowing he'd find his way back. It rained (and hailed) the 1st night, so the whole weekend was ruined by muddy wetness all over the campsite. The only thing I got out of Oktoberfest was a chance to go see Dachau (Nazi) Concentrate Camp. It was DEEP. Glad I got to go to Germany? Mmm hmm. Would I go back? Nuh uh.
The weekend after that was Venice. Unlike any place I've ever been in my life. I'm used to cars, electronics, you know modern day stuff. No sir. Italians are late bloomers when it comes to electronics and stuff like that, so I pretty much have to reserve my nerdy side for my return to America. And you don't have cars in Venice, you have a boat. They don't have streets in Venice, they have canals. So you don't cross the street, you cross a bridge. Lol it was so weird and kind of a chore navigating through there. I feel like it would get old after a while. Couldn't live there but would definitely visit. Got to see one of, if not the most, beautiful churches I've ever seen in my life. In America there are megachurches, where thousands of people congregate. It's pretty modern and standard. This church took like a century to build; ceilings were guilded in gold, walls made from marble, the tomb of St. Mark (that's right, Mark from the Bible), it was just overwhelming. Paintings everywhere, then a golden frame structured with every jewel you can think of to symbolize the effort and worth of the place I was in. I promised myself I would write a poem about it, it's gonna question pretty much if people today put effort into their lives the way those that built this church did, the world would be such a better place. Also, for the ladies, I saw a wedding come in on a gondole, which is a long, expensive boat that shows a sign of wealth. The wedding party was escorted around the city, and when they stopped the streets crowded around to see the bride. It's gonna suck getting married, the wife is gonna get all the attention lol. I could wear hooping shorts and no one would notice because they're worried about her haha.
The next weekend, there was hiking in the Italian Alps, not the Swiss Alps. I was lied to lol. It was still cool though, I got to see the famous Marble Mountains. There is a cave and excavation site about a 1/4 mile deep into the mountain, where marble is excavated from and shipped all over the world. Expensive stuff too, I saw a slab of marble worth about 200,000 euro (about half a million USD). It was really nice. Got to hike the mountain, took a billion pics, and had a good time. By this time, my butt was starting to flatten from the hours of bus riding every weekend lol. The next weekend was midterms season, so I grinded out in the library to make sure I did well in all my classes. Nobody believes I'm actually in school because of all this traveling lol, so I plan to burst they bubbles with a 4.0 this semester!
Other than travel, I wrote a pretty good number of poems, had a bunch of laughs and met some really interesting people. I also intern at this local elementary school teaching 4th graders English. They are so funny, all they wanna do is ask questions and play Simon Says lol. Stinkin' kids!
Part 2 gets juicy! Stay tuned!
Hello World!
It is absolutely impossible to try to give a play by play of events between Oktoberfest and now. I could write a novel about Oktoberfest to now lol. Things have changed, people have changed, lives have changed (literally), and I'm so overwhelmed that at this point I really wanna go home. Yeah I said it, home. Detroit, Motor City, Murder Mitten, 313 I miss you. Never thought in a billion years I'd say that, but that's how things have turned out.
I'll start with Oktoberfest. I truly believe that was a decision made out of pure curiosity, nothing more or less. I thought I knew what I was getting into, false. The long bus ride (8 hours) was awful, and upon arrival at the camp site I was greeted with a cup of beer by our host Australians. False. I'm here to laugh and take in Germany, not to drink, especially God-awful beer. We bussed to the festival and the games began. I was under the impression that Oktoberfest was a big festival where everyone was drunk and stuff and that wasn't entirely true. It was like a big State Fair.....on drugs lol. Germans everywhere, from little kids to beer maidens to rude/drunk Dirk Nowitski looking dudes. Needless to say, it was an adventure. One of my boys kept getting hammered and leaving the group, and me being the sober one I kept looking for him. I gave up after a while lol, knowing he'd find his way back. It rained (and hailed) the 1st night, so the whole weekend was ruined by muddy wetness all over the campsite. The only thing I got out of Oktoberfest was a chance to go see Dachau (Nazi) Concentrate Camp. It was DEEP. Glad I got to go to Germany? Mmm hmm. Would I go back? Nuh uh.
The weekend after that was Venice. Unlike any place I've ever been in my life. I'm used to cars, electronics, you know modern day stuff. No sir. Italians are late bloomers when it comes to electronics and stuff like that, so I pretty much have to reserve my nerdy side for my return to America. And you don't have cars in Venice, you have a boat. They don't have streets in Venice, they have canals. So you don't cross the street, you cross a bridge. Lol it was so weird and kind of a chore navigating through there. I feel like it would get old after a while. Couldn't live there but would definitely visit. Got to see one of, if not the most, beautiful churches I've ever seen in my life. In America there are megachurches, where thousands of people congregate. It's pretty modern and standard. This church took like a century to build; ceilings were guilded in gold, walls made from marble, the tomb of St. Mark (that's right, Mark from the Bible), it was just overwhelming. Paintings everywhere, then a golden frame structured with every jewel you can think of to symbolize the effort and worth of the place I was in. I promised myself I would write a poem about it, it's gonna question pretty much if people today put effort into their lives the way those that built this church did, the world would be such a better place. Also, for the ladies, I saw a wedding come in on a gondole, which is a long, expensive boat that shows a sign of wealth. The wedding party was escorted around the city, and when they stopped the streets crowded around to see the bride. It's gonna suck getting married, the wife is gonna get all the attention lol. I could wear hooping shorts and no one would notice because they're worried about her haha.
The next weekend, there was hiking in the Italian Alps, not the Swiss Alps. I was lied to lol. It was still cool though, I got to see the famous Marble Mountains. There is a cave and excavation site about a 1/4 mile deep into the mountain, where marble is excavated from and shipped all over the world. Expensive stuff too, I saw a slab of marble worth about 200,000 euro (about half a million USD). It was really nice. Got to hike the mountain, took a billion pics, and had a good time. By this time, my butt was starting to flatten from the hours of bus riding every weekend lol. The next weekend was midterms season, so I grinded out in the library to make sure I did well in all my classes. Nobody believes I'm actually in school because of all this traveling lol, so I plan to burst they bubbles with a 4.0 this semester!
Other than travel, I wrote a pretty good number of poems, had a bunch of laughs and met some really interesting people. I also intern at this local elementary school teaching 4th graders English. They are so funny, all they wanna do is ask questions and play Simon Says lol. Stinkin' kids!
Part 2 gets juicy! Stay tuned!
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