This weekend, I traveled with a grotesquely-filled backpack and a still-unquenched desire to see Italy, the last major destination of my travels. I tried to get a couple of other people to go with me, but alas, they couldn’t come. But no matter: I went alone.
Wednesday, 4/9
I left on Wednesday morning, so I had to skip my three Wednesday classes. Whatever dude. I used the class cuts to use, and I wasn’t nursing a hangover, I was going to Italy. My decision was justified.
I was on the same flight as Kevin, Brian and Greg (who were also traveling to Italy that weekend), so we took the same cab to Weeze airport. The flight was to an airport outside of Milan, and we took a shuttle to Milano Centrale, Milan’s main train station, not the hub of Pepperidge Farm cookie production.
Milano Centrale was the most confusing place in the universe, and my difficulty in deciphering the signs and geography of the station was coupled by a complete lack of anyone who was willing to answer questions with any level of specificity. I asked the information desk where I could make a reservation for a seat, and they said “downstairs.” This building is the size of Rowley. Could you narrow it down any?
I missed my train on account of not being able to find it on the departure board and nearly being swallowed by a crowd of rush-houring Italians. I switched my reservation and got on my train. Our flight to Milan took less than two hours, but my train ride from Milan to Rome took four and a half. I didn’t get into Rome until 10 p.m. Not funny, Italy. Not funny.
Also not funny is that the Rome metro closes at 10 p.m. The directions to my hostel--a camping village on the outer reaches of the city--told me to take the metro. Well, I would, hostel directions, but the metro’s closed! At 10 p.m.!
I left Rome’s main train station and approached a bus to ask how to get to line 246, the bus that would take me to my hostel. Thankfully, my guardian angel--a 55-year-old Italian man with well-groomed facial hair, a tan blazer and an issue of Vanity Fair Italia--saved me from certain disorientation. The way to bus 246 was on his way home, which was very fortunate for me. He spoke English well enough to understand how infinitely thankful I was for his help. I got to my hostel around midnight and promptly passed out.
Thursday, 4/10
I fell asleep around midnight, so I was able to get up and at ‘em pretty early, which was nice. I decided I would take on the Vatican first. Saint Peter’s Cathedral is so large, so vast, it seemed one could fit Sacre-Coeur or any other church I’ve seen inside of it. I went to a mass in one of the chapels (although the level of my participation in the Italian-language service was limited) and strolled around inside the cathedral, looking at the art and architecture. Wow.
When I left San Pietro, I noticed there were a large amount of people heading for a building down on the side of the cathedral. It was the Papal crypt, where Popes are buried and memorialized. John Paul II’s mausoleum is white and plainly decorated, and bright. I was really glad I got to see that.
I decided I didn’t want to wait through the endless lines and pay the 8 Euro ($13) to get into the Vatican Museums, at the end of which is the Sistine Chapel. Maybe if there were other people with me, I would have been more excited about it, but I just didn’t have it in me.
Rome only has two metro lines, and its bus lines are winding and poorly marked. I would have just walked around Rome (and I tried), but the city is just too expansive. I wanted to go a specific neighborhood for lunch, but I couldn’t manage to figure out the buses (and I rode quite a few of them) before hunger overtook me. There are a lot of small shops that sell pizza by weight, which can get you some reasonable deals for a quick lunch. I had zucchini (which was a white pizza) and margarita. The fungi (mushroom) pizza I had on Friday was much better, though. I spent a lot of my afternoon walking around, not quite sure where I was, slightly frustrated but still enjoying the atmosphere. And eating gelato.
The Coliseum is as cool as you think it would be, and also surprisingly integrated into the city; there were roads and buildings all around it. There was also a political rally-concert going on on the lawn right next to the Coliseum, pumping up supporters for conservative Silvio Berlusconi, whose party was victorious in the April 13-14 parliamentary elections. It was really cool to see the election placards all over the city. There are 10 or so political parties (that I could observe), so all the political advertising and imagery was really interesting to look at.
I went and saw the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. They were cool and there were a lot of people looking at them.
I had a great, mid-range dinner at a place recommended in my travel guide. I had insalate with lettuce, tomato, tuna, olives, and mozzarella. I got free bread and water, too. There was a huge pack of kids from Notre Dame (Michigan) University there. They were quite wine drunk. The owner was a really personable Italian guy, and he gave me a dessert of sugared strawberries and a glass of port to top it all off. All this for 7 Euro! It was a really great dinner. It would have been very depressing to have left Rome without a nice meal at a place like this. I got gelato again (don’t judge me) and headed back to my hostel, which was an adventure in itself.
Friday, 4/11
When I rode the bus this morning, I was the most crowded I’ve ever been in my life. Some French idiots decided it was a good idea to jump onto the already too-full bus, which then made the bus so full its doors couldn’t open to let anyone in or out! Yes! I forced my way through the doors (it took all my weight and effort to get the door open) and went to an outdoor market. It was raining--and it was raining for about half the time I was in Italy--and the market had awnings overhead, so I was protected from the rain. I bought an apple, a pastry and 1 Euro Italian toothpaste (I needed some).
I sent a postcard at the post office in Rome Termini (the city’s central train station), and walked north of the station. I didn’t want to do any more sightseeing, even though there was a lot more to see. Whatever, dude. I just wanted to walk, so that’s what I did.
On Thursday, I had instant messaged my friend Britt, after seeing she was planning to go to Rome and Florence this weekend! Britt goes to Emerson and is currently doing a semester in Greece. This was such a cool coincidence, and a very welcome one, at that. Having been alone since Wednesday, I was starting to go slightly crazy. I was thankful to meet with Britt for my journey to Florence.
Well, that journey didn’t go so well. We got on a train and went past Florence (the train didn’t stop at Florence’s main station like we had expected), got on another train that we thought was taking us back towards Florence but was really taking us further away and then waited on a platform in some deserted station until a train finally came to take us back to Florence (but for real this time). We got to the city around 11. We felt pretty dumb. I went to find my hostel, which was about a 15-minute walk from the station (Florence is very small and very walkable). This walk was prolonged by pouring rain. Hooray! Upon arriving at my hostel, I slept.
Saturday, 4/12
It was difficult to get up this morning. But after mustering up the will, I did. I went and got a pastry (a butter cookie with nutella in the middle) for breakfast and explored the city. I saw the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) and proceeded with my unscientific but tried and true method of seeing a city: walking around. I had pappa al pomodoro for lunch. It’s a tuscan Tomato stewy soup (or soupy stew) made with garlic, olive oil, basil, broth and bread (for thickening). It was a little sweet--I could’ve used some cheese--but really fresh and really good. I knew I was in for a treat when I saw a huge crowd of Italians waiting in front of this cafeteria thing. You could tell it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill pizza/pasta stand.
The indoor market (Mercato Centrale) was really neat. Outside were a bunch of booths trying to sell you poorly-made pashtima scarves and jewelry. They were too aggressive. If you want me to look at your stand, give me air. If you want me to not look at your stand, tell me you have the stuff in the market and you’ll give me the best price. Baaaaaaack off. I didn’t buy anything.
I walked over to the Duomo, which is a really unique-looking church. The emphasis was the patterned decoration and the really intricate detailing, not the architecture (not to sell the architecture short).
At this point, I hit the wall. I went back to the hostel to read a little and take a nap.
For dinner, I met up with Britt and her friend Alina. We went to Spera, a hole-in-the-wall pizza place on the outside of the city center. I got a Napoli pizza for less than 4 Euro! I don’t know how they make money off that (we got wine, so there’s the answer, I guess).
I had to get up very early Sunday morning, so I went back and went to sleep.
Sunday, 4/13
I got up at 6:30. My train was at 8:14 and I ended up having way too much time, but I wasn’t taking any chances with missing my train (out of not having enough time or out of confusion). If I missed that train, I was going to miss my flight. On the whole, it was a long and unfun day of traveling.
The Tuscan countryside kept me awake, even though I usually nap on trains. The hills and quant villas are really cool and really personable. I got to Milano Centrale at 11, and from there took a shuttle bus to the airport. I did have to take a lap around the station to find where the shuttle bus was (the ticket agent said “outside”), but I found it. The bus cost 8 Euro ($13). These ticky-tack hidden costs really added up over the course of the semester.
I arrived at the airport almost too soon to check-in (I was NOT missing this flight). I hit up the duty-free shop for a liquid gift to bring home. My iPod was dead, which sucked, and on the flight I was too tired to read and too uncomfortable to sleep. Whatever. I was almost home.
From Weeze I took a taxi service (for 15 Euroà$24), which dropped me off right where the buses that go through Well do. It was a long day and a long weekend and I’d had enough, for the time being, of being my own company. But the castle’s become my home, and home I was.
I went on a day trip to Cologne Thursday and to Nijmegen, a city here in the Netherlands, yesterday. I'll post about those later--maybe not until I have my feet back on the ground in the United States. I leave Friday! Pray for my travels...US Airways has already been playing some practical jokes on me!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Croatian dreams and Barcelona breath
Tomorrow I'm going to Barcelona, but tonight I'm looking back on our past few days in Dubrovnik. It's been a very relaxing yet eventful five days, and I'll remember a lot of my stories for a long time to come.
Friday, 3/28
We got up at 6-a-freaking-clock-a.m. to start our first travel day. We packed lunches and boarded buses for Cologne at 7:30. We got to Cologne and sat around the terminal for two and a half hours before we could board. Not cool. Don't make me get up at 6 so I can sit around in a terminal. If you want to see an unhappy Chris, do exactly that. Terrible.
We flew to Split and landed at 2 or so. We went through passport control and took a short bus journey to an old Roman village, where we checked out ruins of an amphitheatre and some other stuff I was too thirsty to properly appreciate.
Split is about 4 hours from Dubrovnik, but the drive was made worth it by the immaculate Croatian countryside. The radiant blue of the sea up against the deep green of the pine trees on the seaside mountains. Our coach buses snakes in and out of the sunset, and I almost forgot how sleep deprived I was at that point.
We got to the hotel late—around 10:30—and we ate a spread our program director had the hotel prepare for us and (mercifully) went to bed.
Saturday, 3/29
Today we began with a walking tour of Dubrovnik. The city is incredibly old, and incredibly pretty. And it's walled. We walked up around the city wall, and I jumped up onto the wall itself and made people nervous. Whatever, dudes. I can handle it.
When you enter the walls of Dubrovnik (through the front gates), the city has one main pedestrian avenue. There is little vehicle traffic in the old city. Little alleyways shoot off to the left (further uphill) and to the right (closer to the ocean). The stone streets are winding and thin and clean. The whole city (minus the abundance of stray dogs and cats) was very clean.
I had a lunch of dried, sugared figs (from an outdoor market) and pizza and went to the Sponza Palace in the afternoon. What I got out of it is that the Croatians did what the rest of Europe did during the Renaissance but later and not quite as well. But admittedly, I wasn't paying very close attention. Most of us weren't. It was so warm and sunny outside, we just wanted to run around.
I had gelato three times today, at three different gelato shops. The business models were pretty American: inexpensive product (7 Kuna=1 Euro=$1.50), large servings and marginal quality. I mean, it was tasty, but not nearly as tasty as any other gelato I've had.
That night, I went to see Skup, one of the better-known plays written by Croatian playwright Martin Drzic. It was in Croatian, so I couldn't understand anything, but the costumes and sight gags were entertaining in and of themselves. It was only like $8 or something, so I thought it was worth it to experience some of Croatia's culture.
Sunday, 3/30
Today we were to go to Mostar, Bosnia, about a 3-hour trip away from Dubrovnik. We couldn't get into the country, though, because when after breakfast, four students asked if they should go get their passports, Johnny, one of the Emerson staff members, said "No, you won't need it." Well, we did, and thanks to Johnny's incompetence, we couldn't get into Bosnia. The ride to and from the border was amazingly picturesque, though, and we had a lot of time to nap and hang out.
When we got back, we went to the beach! I went into the water, which was extremely cold. Like, oh my god I can't breathe this is freeeeeeeeeezing cold. It was good to be in the sun. That made us all very happy. Ben, Meg, Lauren and I went to Restaurant Mea Culpa for dinner, where I got baked lasagne, and went back to the hotel. We went back into town to go to a small club, Fresh, which was mostly filled with American travelers, and then went back to the hotel.
We soon learned that we were lucky to have made it back without incident. On the walk back from the hotel tonight, thirteen (our of 80) Emerson students were jumped by a pack of drunken Croatian teenagers. A few of us were taken to the hospital, but no one got anything more physically severe than a black eye. It was a freak thing, I think. Some of the local Croatian seemed to be slightly disgruntled with the presence of Americans during the tourist off-season (although the town was still filled with tourists), but all-in-all, we were welcomed and our presence embraced. I don't think Dubrovnik is any more unfriendly or friendly to Americans than any other place I've been to. It could've just been a group of drunk-ass teenagers causing trouble, which can happen anywhere, irrespective of country, irrespective of our nationality.
Monday, 3/31
I was thinking about skipping the program this morning (if you have unused class cuts, you're allowed), but I got up anyways. We were going to go to the Modern History Museum, which focuses mostly on the Yugoslav conflict, but it was closed. Dulchia, the executive director of the program, verified that everything was open before we went to these places, but open/close times were quite Mediterranean—approximate and subject to change without notification.
After an abbreviated, improvisational tour of a memorial for those who died during the Yugoslav conflict, I went with my friend Brian to get a haircut! He found a place that charged only 50 Kuna ($11), and although my hair is now shorter than I like, it will grow back, and I don't have to put up with the chastisement of those around me to control my unwieldy hair. And now my head is a Croatian souvenir, too!
In the afternoon, the museum we had planned to go to was also closed, so we went to the modest Dubrovnik aquarium for about 30 minutes and then had the afternoon to ourselves. There was something that looked like it used to be a turtle tank. Now, it looks like it's a dead turtle tank.
Because we have two travel breaks and a slightly abbreviated semester, we need to use travel excursion programs towards academic hours requirements. The shortage of true classroom time is the reason the Kasteel Well is subject to rumblings of shutdown. So when these museums were closed, we needed to find replacements in order to appease the administrators back home. I've said it many times and I'll say it again: I can't believe we're getting college credit for this. It feels like a sabbatical.
We got seafood for dinner, which was something most of us agreed needed to happen while we were in Croatia, whose currency is relatively weak and whose seafood is very fresh.
Tuesday, 4/1
By the way, one of these nights, we had an earthquake, which we were told is a weekly occurrence in Dubrovnik. Many other people were waken up, but I slept through it, which is probably why I forget when it was.
Today was our last full day in Dubrovnik, and my group was supposed to go to what was advertised by Emerson student services as an impressionism gallery, so I was pretty excited. It turned out to be some really inferior modern art. Again, the program was short. Meh.
For lunch, we went to a nice vegetarian place called Nishta. We liked it so much and word got around so quick twenty people from Emerson went there for dinner that night.
That afternoon, we went to outside of Dubrovnik to see Trestno, where there is a nice renaissance-period villa and gardens. Some people swam in the water while others strolled amongst the fountains and trees. I took a nap on the docks in the sun. A relaxing afternoon.
Wednesday, 4/2
Today we went to Dubrovnik's synagogue/Jewish history museum. The area's Jewish community is much, much smaller than it once was. The museum and tour were interesting and short, and we were done before 11. I bought figs, an apple and a roll (to be accompanied by Barpy, a hazelnut crème which cost half as much as Nutella) for a snack on the plane. And then, of course, I bought gelato (Emerson students could rarely be seen with gelatoless hands in the city) and headed back to the hotel to catch a cab to the airport.
We got into Barcelona around 6, and took a bus to the city center and the metro to our apartment. (Yes! We got an apartment!) It cost us 21 Euro ($33) a night. It's completely worth it! We can cook our own meals (which will save us money while allowing us to eat and drink better, chill out in privacy and sleep in our own beds. I feel like a real person!
We took advantage of our cooking facilities by making a big meal. I did laundry, we watched a movie together and we went to bed happy.
Now, I’m writing from our apartment in Barcelona.
Thursday, 4/3
We started slow today, which was fine with all of us. We made a big breakfast and then split up: the girls went shopping and Ben, Jeff and I went to rent bikes down by the beach. But—reoccurring theme alert—we got gelato first. We rode around for a while and saw a lot of the city. The city's very cool. It's very modern; very New York. We returned the bikes (just 5 Euro for two hours) and went back to the apartment to meet up with the girls make dinner.
After that, we went to the hostel where most of our Emerson friends are staying to visit. There are probably 40 of us in the city, our of the 80 in the program. On Wednesday, flights were scarce out of Dubrovnik, and Barcelona is was an extremely popular choice for the second half of the travel break. We didn't know where the hostel was in the classical sense, but we did know the nearest metro stop and the name of the hostel. We found it easily. Ben and I decided that we're getting quite good at this!
After we went to the hostel bar, it was too late to take the metro (even though it was just past midnight), so we walked back to the apartment. It wasn't that far though.
And now, I’m writing back at the castle!
Friday, 4/4
We got up around the same time and made about the same breakfast and left the apartment at about the same time. We went to the beach, and even though it wasn't as warm as Thursday and we could tan or go swimming, it was still nice for a little while.
After that, we went to the Sagrada Familia, Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi's still-under construction magnum opus. Construction began in 1882, was interrupted by the death of Gaudi (who left full plans for the project) and the Spanish Civil War (in 1936) and is scheduled to be completed in 2026. It's the most mammoth cathedral I've ever seen. It made me sad, though. Building such huge churches was understandable in centuries past, but here and now, when we have such a firm grasp of the extent of the problems in the world, there are much more worthy things into which we should be pouring our money. God's hands and feet shouldn't be so self-indulged as to keep building massive basilicas. We have enough already.
Acts 17:24 (NIV): The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
Saturday, 4/5
We got up at 4:30 a.m. so we could leave the apartment, get on the metro at 5, take a bus at 5:45 and catch our 8:30 flight. We got back to the castle around 11, which we were all were thankful for. It was a great travel break (and much less costly than the first), and we have a lot of awesome things to look back on!
Ben and I leave for our last big trip on Wednesday. We're skipping 3 classes that day (which was planned and is sanctioned by the program) flying to Milan and continuing via train to Rome. On Friday, we'll pick up and go to Florence, and then train it back to Milan on Sunday morning for our return flight. People have said it's good I left Italy for last—now everything won't pale in comparison! It'll be a while before I write again. When I get back next Sunday, I have finals and stuff. Until then!
Friday, 3/28
We got up at 6-a-freaking-clock-a.m. to start our first travel day. We packed lunches and boarded buses for Cologne at 7:30. We got to Cologne and sat around the terminal for two and a half hours before we could board. Not cool. Don't make me get up at 6 so I can sit around in a terminal. If you want to see an unhappy Chris, do exactly that. Terrible.
We flew to Split and landed at 2 or so. We went through passport control and took a short bus journey to an old Roman village, where we checked out ruins of an amphitheatre and some other stuff I was too thirsty to properly appreciate.
Split is about 4 hours from Dubrovnik, but the drive was made worth it by the immaculate Croatian countryside. The radiant blue of the sea up against the deep green of the pine trees on the seaside mountains. Our coach buses snakes in and out of the sunset, and I almost forgot how sleep deprived I was at that point.
We got to the hotel late—around 10:30—and we ate a spread our program director had the hotel prepare for us and (mercifully) went to bed.
Saturday, 3/29
Today we began with a walking tour of Dubrovnik. The city is incredibly old, and incredibly pretty. And it's walled. We walked up around the city wall, and I jumped up onto the wall itself and made people nervous. Whatever, dudes. I can handle it.
When you enter the walls of Dubrovnik (through the front gates), the city has one main pedestrian avenue. There is little vehicle traffic in the old city. Little alleyways shoot off to the left (further uphill) and to the right (closer to the ocean). The stone streets are winding and thin and clean. The whole city (minus the abundance of stray dogs and cats) was very clean.
I had a lunch of dried, sugared figs (from an outdoor market) and pizza and went to the Sponza Palace in the afternoon. What I got out of it is that the Croatians did what the rest of Europe did during the Renaissance but later and not quite as well. But admittedly, I wasn't paying very close attention. Most of us weren't. It was so warm and sunny outside, we just wanted to run around.
I had gelato three times today, at three different gelato shops. The business models were pretty American: inexpensive product (7 Kuna=1 Euro=$1.50), large servings and marginal quality. I mean, it was tasty, but not nearly as tasty as any other gelato I've had.
That night, I went to see Skup, one of the better-known plays written by Croatian playwright Martin Drzic. It was in Croatian, so I couldn't understand anything, but the costumes and sight gags were entertaining in and of themselves. It was only like $8 or something, so I thought it was worth it to experience some of Croatia's culture.
Sunday, 3/30
Today we were to go to Mostar, Bosnia, about a 3-hour trip away from Dubrovnik. We couldn't get into the country, though, because when after breakfast, four students asked if they should go get their passports, Johnny, one of the Emerson staff members, said "No, you won't need it." Well, we did, and thanks to Johnny's incompetence, we couldn't get into Bosnia. The ride to and from the border was amazingly picturesque, though, and we had a lot of time to nap and hang out.
When we got back, we went to the beach! I went into the water, which was extremely cold. Like, oh my god I can't breathe this is freeeeeeeeeezing cold. It was good to be in the sun. That made us all very happy. Ben, Meg, Lauren and I went to Restaurant Mea Culpa for dinner, where I got baked lasagne, and went back to the hotel. We went back into town to go to a small club, Fresh, which was mostly filled with American travelers, and then went back to the hotel.
We soon learned that we were lucky to have made it back without incident. On the walk back from the hotel tonight, thirteen (our of 80) Emerson students were jumped by a pack of drunken Croatian teenagers. A few of us were taken to the hospital, but no one got anything more physically severe than a black eye. It was a freak thing, I think. Some of the local Croatian seemed to be slightly disgruntled with the presence of Americans during the tourist off-season (although the town was still filled with tourists), but all-in-all, we were welcomed and our presence embraced. I don't think Dubrovnik is any more unfriendly or friendly to Americans than any other place I've been to. It could've just been a group of drunk-ass teenagers causing trouble, which can happen anywhere, irrespective of country, irrespective of our nationality.
Monday, 3/31
I was thinking about skipping the program this morning (if you have unused class cuts, you're allowed), but I got up anyways. We were going to go to the Modern History Museum, which focuses mostly on the Yugoslav conflict, but it was closed. Dulchia, the executive director of the program, verified that everything was open before we went to these places, but open/close times were quite Mediterranean—approximate and subject to change without notification.
After an abbreviated, improvisational tour of a memorial for those who died during the Yugoslav conflict, I went with my friend Brian to get a haircut! He found a place that charged only 50 Kuna ($11), and although my hair is now shorter than I like, it will grow back, and I don't have to put up with the chastisement of those around me to control my unwieldy hair. And now my head is a Croatian souvenir, too!
In the afternoon, the museum we had planned to go to was also closed, so we went to the modest Dubrovnik aquarium for about 30 minutes and then had the afternoon to ourselves. There was something that looked like it used to be a turtle tank. Now, it looks like it's a dead turtle tank.
Because we have two travel breaks and a slightly abbreviated semester, we need to use travel excursion programs towards academic hours requirements. The shortage of true classroom time is the reason the Kasteel Well is subject to rumblings of shutdown. So when these museums were closed, we needed to find replacements in order to appease the administrators back home. I've said it many times and I'll say it again: I can't believe we're getting college credit for this. It feels like a sabbatical.
We got seafood for dinner, which was something most of us agreed needed to happen while we were in Croatia, whose currency is relatively weak and whose seafood is very fresh.
Tuesday, 4/1
By the way, one of these nights, we had an earthquake, which we were told is a weekly occurrence in Dubrovnik. Many other people were waken up, but I slept through it, which is probably why I forget when it was.
Today was our last full day in Dubrovnik, and my group was supposed to go to what was advertised by Emerson student services as an impressionism gallery, so I was pretty excited. It turned out to be some really inferior modern art. Again, the program was short. Meh.
For lunch, we went to a nice vegetarian place called Nishta. We liked it so much and word got around so quick twenty people from Emerson went there for dinner that night.
That afternoon, we went to outside of Dubrovnik to see Trestno, where there is a nice renaissance-period villa and gardens. Some people swam in the water while others strolled amongst the fountains and trees. I took a nap on the docks in the sun. A relaxing afternoon.
Wednesday, 4/2
Today we went to Dubrovnik's synagogue/Jewish history museum. The area's Jewish community is much, much smaller than it once was. The museum and tour were interesting and short, and we were done before 11. I bought figs, an apple and a roll (to be accompanied by Barpy, a hazelnut crème which cost half as much as Nutella) for a snack on the plane. And then, of course, I bought gelato (Emerson students could rarely be seen with gelatoless hands in the city) and headed back to the hotel to catch a cab to the airport.
We got into Barcelona around 6, and took a bus to the city center and the metro to our apartment. (Yes! We got an apartment!) It cost us 21 Euro ($33) a night. It's completely worth it! We can cook our own meals (which will save us money while allowing us to eat and drink better, chill out in privacy and sleep in our own beds. I feel like a real person!
We took advantage of our cooking facilities by making a big meal. I did laundry, we watched a movie together and we went to bed happy.
Now, I’m writing from our apartment in Barcelona.
Thursday, 4/3
We started slow today, which was fine with all of us. We made a big breakfast and then split up: the girls went shopping and Ben, Jeff and I went to rent bikes down by the beach. But—reoccurring theme alert—we got gelato first. We rode around for a while and saw a lot of the city. The city's very cool. It's very modern; very New York. We returned the bikes (just 5 Euro for two hours) and went back to the apartment to meet up with the girls make dinner.
After that, we went to the hostel where most of our Emerson friends are staying to visit. There are probably 40 of us in the city, our of the 80 in the program. On Wednesday, flights were scarce out of Dubrovnik, and Barcelona is was an extremely popular choice for the second half of the travel break. We didn't know where the hostel was in the classical sense, but we did know the nearest metro stop and the name of the hostel. We found it easily. Ben and I decided that we're getting quite good at this!
After we went to the hostel bar, it was too late to take the metro (even though it was just past midnight), so we walked back to the apartment. It wasn't that far though.
And now, I’m writing back at the castle!
Friday, 4/4
We got up around the same time and made about the same breakfast and left the apartment at about the same time. We went to the beach, and even though it wasn't as warm as Thursday and we could tan or go swimming, it was still nice for a little while.
After that, we went to the Sagrada Familia, Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi's still-under construction magnum opus. Construction began in 1882, was interrupted by the death of Gaudi (who left full plans for the project) and the Spanish Civil War (in 1936) and is scheduled to be completed in 2026. It's the most mammoth cathedral I've ever seen. It made me sad, though. Building such huge churches was understandable in centuries past, but here and now, when we have such a firm grasp of the extent of the problems in the world, there are much more worthy things into which we should be pouring our money. God's hands and feet shouldn't be so self-indulged as to keep building massive basilicas. We have enough already.
Acts 17:24 (NIV): The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
Saturday, 4/5
We got up at 4:30 a.m. so we could leave the apartment, get on the metro at 5, take a bus at 5:45 and catch our 8:30 flight. We got back to the castle around 11, which we were all were thankful for. It was a great travel break (and much less costly than the first), and we have a lot of awesome things to look back on!
Ben and I leave for our last big trip on Wednesday. We're skipping 3 classes that day (which was planned and is sanctioned by the program) flying to Milan and continuing via train to Rome. On Friday, we'll pick up and go to Florence, and then train it back to Milan on Sunday morning for our return flight. People have said it's good I left Italy for last—now everything won't pale in comparison! It'll be a while before I write again. When I get back next Sunday, I have finals and stuff. Until then!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
