Paris

Hi. I'm in Paris. It's beautiful. Today we left for Versailles at 7:45, got there around 9, and marveled at just how huge the line was. The palace is massive, but maybe not as massive as the expanse of tour buses and tourists. Gross. We thought about buying a museum pass yesterday that would allow us to see pretty much everything in the city for €59 over 4 days. We didn't luckily. We've been pretty crafty and clever. We saw the Musèe de l'Orangerie and the Musèe d'Orsay yesterday for a combined €6. I loved the d'Orsay. It's the best museum I've been to - a topic I feel I now have at least some authority on. As much as I loved d'Orsay, Paris might love students more. Especially students who lie about the duration of their stay in the EU and claim to have been studying for a full year in order to qualify for the "EU students under 26 who have been studying for at least 6 months" designation. Not illegal, but probably not ethical. Maybe not nearly as unethical as accidentally cutting a 3 hour line at Versailles. We were told there was a pre-purchased ticket line and since students use their ID as a ticket, we thought we qualified. We probably would've qualified, if such a thing existed. Looking back I think we somehow snuck in the handicap/VIP line. Although as you all know, there's a fairly decent chance I'm eligible for VIP status, so I guess it wasn't unethical after all. Please don't take that last comment seriously. The regular price for the Palace of Versailles is €25. I wouldn't recommend it at all. It was miserable. Beautiful - just as you'd expect - but I felt trapped everywhere I went. There was a flow to the palace. A flow that moved fast in the rooms you'd like to see, and excruciatingly slow in the stairways and corridors. But it was free. Plus the Hall of Mirrors was cool. The gardens on the other hand were unbelievable. We walked around the grounds for maybe 2 hours. Spending a whole day there might be enough to do it justice. Great pictures coming...

After Versailles we boarded the train back to Central Paris. Got back around 1:30, checked into our 3rd hotel (long story.. I'll explain later) and got a great lunch. Can't remember the name but we're going back tomorrow for breakfast so I'll take a pic or do something touristy so I can remember the name. It was along the lines of Panera but much better and I ate with wooden utensils. Weird.

After eating plants with pieces of tree, I went to the Louvre. The Louvre was the Louvre. Famous for it's size, it's ridiculous number of pieces, the Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa, it rivaled Disney World (or Venice, hah) for the most touristy place I've been. It was too much. All great stuff, of course, but it would take at least two full days to completely see and understand everything. I had 3 hours. After what I've seen and done this semester, it's fair to say I'm museumed out. Obviously this is a First World Problem but I need to stop visiting them. I've been "studying in the EU for 6 months" so it too was free. The Louvre, for free. I saw 3 of the best museums in the world, the Palace of Versailles and it's gardens all within 30 hours. I really have nothing to complain about. I know how fortunate I am but after seeing so much in so little time, the importance of ancient Egyptian jewelry got a little lost on me. Add the museumed out aspect with the constant annoyance towards those who pose in front of EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE WHOLE MUSEUM!!! is too much to handle. Every room has "No photos please" signs, but that won't stop the non-Western people of this world from fully documenting everything in every museum right down to the sign explaining why a piece was on loan to another museum. Maybe if it was a famous piece, but I'm certain that dude hadn't the foggiest idea what it was. I know I didn't.

Anyway...

Today was good. This whole trip is good. I'm laying in my hotel bed now. Two nights ago I slept in a bed one floor away, last night I slept on the other side of the city. Tomorrow I'll be a few blocks away. This is a funny (tragic) story that I'll explain when I have more time.

Tonight we're going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and having a nice French dinner. Tomorrow is monument and church day. Tuesday is Labor Day or something so we're going to stroll around and enjoy Paris from the outside since it will be shutdown. My flight leaves Paris around 9:30. I should clarify: the airport isn't in Paris. It might actually be closer to Brussels. I vow that this will be my last Ryanair flight for as long as I live. EasyJet is a pleasure. Ryanair, a nightmare. The journey to the airport is a mere 80-minute train ride and 25-minute bus ride away. But hey, it's Paris. One of the most beautiful cities in the world. It's worth it. It's all worth it. This is the perfect city to end my insane European adventure with. After I get back to Rome late Tuesday, I have a presentation in the Vatican museums, a presentation on the ignorance of austerity when combatting a recession, and most importantly: three glorious weeks in Rome. But I shouldn't be thinking too much about that. My stay in Paris isn't even halfway over. I'll check back in Tuesday night and over the next three weeks I'll post more. I'll finish London, which deserves more recognition for it's awesomeness. I'll talk about the strange and surprising Budapest and Istanbul, the pure beauty of Santorini, Athens and it's amazing history, the canals and perfectness of Amsterdam, the Capitol of Europe: Brussels, Paris and it's elegance, and if you're lucky I may tell more of Rome, the city that can never cease to impress. I'll travel Italy with the Dunn girls, then I'll be in the foreign farmland of Central Illinois. Home.

April 24 (already??)

Completed my projects and what not. Just stopped by my favorite cheese and meat shop. It's probably the best one in the world. Yeah, easily the best. I've been up early enough for a flight to actually see the Pecorino Romano and Ricotta cheese being unloaded fresh off the truck. This place has been around for over a century by the looks of the newspaper clippings. It's amazing. Quintessential Italian, which is becoming pretty rare in Rome. As I type this, I'm eating fresh bread with olive oil and parmigiano reggiano. I could eat this for lunch everyday.

At 4 a.m. tomorrow morning I leave for Spring Break Part Due. Two full days in Amsterdam, one in Brussels and almost four in Paris. After this trip, I'll be in Italy til the end of my semester, May 17th I think. The men's professional tennis circuit comes to Rome that week. I plan on seeing a few matches with Paige and Tally. Hopefully matches that feature Nadal, Federer or Djokovic. Then la mia famiglia comes for a nice jaunt around the southern and central areas of Italy.

What a dream this is...

April 19 II

This blog was probably much more interesting at the beginning of the semester when everything I did was new and exciting and I felt the need to let the world (maybe 25 people) know what I was doing. But luckily for those who miss how this blog used to be, there something is happening in my apartment right now that is too funny and remarkable not to post about.

I've been reading online newspapers (NYT: $.99 for 8 weeks? How can you say no?), watching Mad Men, and reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen all day. But about 20 minutes ago a rambunctious group of five Italian boys made their way home from school and made my day a lot more exciting. They immediately went to the kitchen. Thankfully I had some water boiling to make tea, which gave me the perfect excuse to watch the incredible phenomenon that is little Italian boys cooking. The dish was one of the most Roman ones I know of: Pasta carbonara. They might be even more opinionated than their mothers. Each was giving insight into how many eggs, how much cheese, and which kind of cheese best fit the type of pasta they were using. A scrum erupted from the bickering with one boy being pushed out of the circle. Don't feel sorry for him; he's now playing XBox. They took turns beating the eggs but honestly none of them were doing a particularly noteworthy job of this. To see a group of small Italian boys cook is hilarious. They have the same mannerism as their parents but much more exaggerated. They are quick to give their opinions based solely on what they think their own mothers do. None of them are probably completely correct, but I'm sure it'll end up being great anyway since all food in Italy tastes better. Not because of the methods necessarily, but because, as I noted once, their ingredients are much much better. If you don't believe me I can take a picture of an egg yoke for you. You've never seen one so  orange.

April 19

Just when I thought I was out... the sickness pulled me back in.

Another day of lying in bed. I called my doctor who speaks just a comfortable amount of English to give him an update. He decided it is best to go to Plan B (not that Plan B). If you heard him describe it in person you'd think it was some sort of highly guarded government secret. In fact, it is merely Amoxicillin.

Staying at home has allowed me to catch up on the news and current events in America. The most interesting thing to me was a preview of Woody Allen's new film. It seems to be sort of like a Rome version of Midnight in Paris called "To Rome With Love". I've seen the preview 3 times now and it already could be my favorite movie. Not only do I recognize the location of nearly every outdoor scene, but I'm so familiar with several of them that seeing them in a preview was almost the equivalent of seeing the preview to The Informant. I don't know how I hadn't heard of this before today. Where have I been? Why aren't there ads on every street in Rome for the Romans who love movies, love Woody Allen, and more than anything love Rome?

 The scene where Alec Baldwin says "You know I lived in Rome for a year..." and the scene just before,  when Alec and Jesse Eisenberg are ending a run, are both on my walk to school. The building on the right behind the two runners is John Cabot University. The coffee shop where they let up on the left has some of the best coffee I've found in Rome. The street Baldwin claims might have been his is right near the Vespa mechanic I walked by everyday. It's accurate that he says he could have lived in Trastevere because that's where most of the Americans tend to live. Especially in the northern area of Trastevere, near John Cabot. All very cool. I plan on seeing it multiple times. The movie isn't released in America until June 22nd, but those of us in Rome will get to see it tomorrow(!). 

London (cont.)

Piccadilly Circus

The "Full English Breakfast" complete with tea.

British Museum

Inside

Rosetta Stone

Easter Island

2012 Medals

View from top of double decker

Me

Vintage London cab

Liverpool St Station

Hot Cross Buns and a nice maple and vanilla breakfast smoothie

This post has been a long time coming. I don't think I had the time to write about London, but good grief was it great. From the minute we stepped off the Stansted Express and onto an Underground train (where I should've "Minded the gap" a little more), I was in love. London isn't a particularly exotic city. You could even say it's the least exotic city there is. Everything seems natural and normal. There isn't much out of place or much missing. It's perfectly livable. I should mention that I haven't visited the two other cities that are usually lumped into this category: New York City and Paris. But nevertheless, London seemed perfect. It was clean - maybe because of the upcoming Olympics, accessible, and fun. The corkiness of the inward facing passenger compartments of the cabs, the double decker buses, those ridiculous accents was almost too much to handle without periodically laughing to myself. Every store and restaurant, and I mean every store and restaurant, had immaculate signage. To think, a city that loves typography as much as me; we're perfect for each other. The Underground system was so efficient and complete that we could've seen the famous sites without having really seen much in between. I'm a huge fan of public transportation, and in that category, London gets an A+. I can't imagine the need for a personal car in London. Maybe that's why it's justifiable to enforce a congestion tax within the inner city. Congestion taxes... what a perfect way to entice economists and want-to-be economists, such as myself, to move there. London was great. Not great in an exotic, Istanbul, call to prayer way, but in an efficient, this-makes-sense way. I enjoyed it so much I started researching grad schools in London.

April 18

And there I was... lying in my bed with a 38.4 degree fever. (101 to you yanks.) But it's fine. I'm getting better. I missed school today and yesterday, with the exception of a presentation on the Roman aqueducts, for which I was only partially coherent. I did need a few days to unwind after the whirlwind that was Spring Break, but this wasn't what I had in mind. I cut my remaining trips down to just one pseudo-Spring Break trip. Next Wednesday and the following Tuesday are national holidays in Italy. The travel crew and I will leave for Amsterdam Tuesday night and remain there until Friday morning when we'll take a short train ride to Brussels. We'll spend just that day in Brussels before we hop back on the same rail line for Paris. I've heard from those who enjoy forming other people's opinions for them that I'll like Paris much more than London. We'll see. I'll take this bedridden opportunity to write and post about past trips.

I'm Baaaaaaacckkkkk

Spring Break was an unforgettable experience. Well this whole semester has been, but especially Spring Break. I had a few casualties including my jacket, which was left in a Budapest taxi, and my power converter, which was left in an Istanbul hostel. But those were literally the only two things to go wrong. The highlight of the trip, and likely the whole semester, was driving around Santorini on a Vespa scooter. The island is maybe 6 miles long and not more than half that distance wide. Me and my travel buddies usually pat ourselves on the back after each destination for doing everything the right way. I'm really fortunate to have found three other guys who have similar tastes in destinations and adventures. I can say without a doubt that we have traveled better than anyone else in our program. That isn't to say we spent more money. Considering total cost per day, I know we aren't even close to that benchmark. Especially after the stories I've heard of 5-star resorts on Portugese beaches and Eiffel Tower view apartments. Instead we pick very interesting destinations, but mostly we know how to cram everything we want to do into a short amount of time. We travel fast and furious, but we're having the time of our lives. I still have over a month left in Europe and I already feel as though I've spent an entire lifetime here (which still wouldn't be enough to experience Rome by itself). I have a busy week of quizzes and presentations coming up and I'm getting sicker by the minute, but I promise to post pictures and write about the most fun-packed week of my life.

I'll post a few preview photos. I promise they're real. I didn't change the color in the Santorini ones, but I wouldn't blame you for doubting me. I honestly can't look at the photos and believe it's real either.

Budapest

Istanbul

Black Sea, Asian Istanbul

Santorini

 Athens

April 4

You may have noticed I didn't have time to finish London or write about Tuscany at all. But I'm already T-minus two hours from leaving for Ciampino Airport where I'll hop on my last Ryanair flight for the foreseeable future. They're cheap enough to make the extra hassle and extra uncomfortableness worth it though.

I've heard everyone who goes to Budapest loves it. I'm sure I will too. But, I'm most excited for Istanbul. Istanbul straddles the European-Asian border, as many of you probably know. I'll officially be able to say I have stepped foot in Asia after this spring break, even if I barely puncture its border. That's not the reason I'm excited, however. Istanbul has really come alive in the past decade and has been dubbed by someone in the Wall Street Journal as "The Paris of Eastern Europe." Sounds great to me. On Santorini the Grecian waters will be too cold for swimming. Instead we plan to take a day trip to Crete, rent a sailboat (well, Tally "The Skipper," will be renting one), and also rent scooters to ride up the coast to Oia, where we'll watch the sunset. I'll take many pictures. In Athens I'll put my coursework in the classical civilizations to use. I can still picture the ancient layout of the city from all four of the courses I have taken on mythology, the Greek tragedies, and ancient Greek culture. I'll be back on the 15th of April.

I'm very excited. I must go now, Giovanna is calling.

1st of April

I just got back from Tuscany. The bus ride to the winery we stayed on was hill after hill of breathtaking views. It's really hitting me how lucky I am to be seeing all of these incredible places weekend after weekend. I fully expect this, April, to be the best month of my life. I have a short turn around with Spring Break starting (for me) on Wednesday night when I fly to Budapest. I'll be back on the 15th of April. I'll try to upload some pictures of Tuscany before I leave, but this week is going to be pretty hectic.