Sunday, April 26, 2009
Prato!!
On Thursday, at 6am, I left for Prato. At 3pm, Stefano and Pierina were at the train station to pick me up. When we got to the house of course they fed me, and then Stefano took me to the center of Prato. He said that it'd been raining constantly since November, but it was only drizzling when we left. As soon as we got out of the car it started to POUR, but we braved it. He showed me the Duomo, a couple of beautiful churches, and what remains of an ancient castle. By then it had stopped raining so we were able to go to the top of the castle's walls and look out over Prato. When we got home, Pierina had made pasta, meat, and salad, just like at Nonna's. It was deliciously amazing. After finding out that ASL and LIS were not mutually intelligible, Daniela and I went through a bunch of words, teaching each other the sign for each. It was really interesting; some signs were similar ('thank you', 'pizza', 'morning'), while others were completely different ('brother', 'coffee', 'married') or meant something else. Even some of the letters of the manual alphabet were different, and it was fun playing around with the two languages.
The next day Stefano took me to Pisa for his first real sightseeing experience as well as mine! It was crazy seeing the tower really LEANING. I mean I knew it leaned, but MAN, they weren't kidding. We climbed to the top where the view was breathtaking and spent the day exploring the baptistery, Duomo, cemetery, and museums in the square. After a hearty lunch (Margherita pizza), we laid on the grass in the beautiful weather and took a short siesta. It was fantastic. On the way home, we stopped at Artimino, a town at the top of one of those famous rolling hills to take in the view of the countryside. That night, after an amazing fish dinner, we went to a piazza in Florence that overlooks the city. It was stunning lit up at night.
Saturday morning, after visiting Pierina at work for a cappuccino and a pastry, Stefano, Daniela and I headed to Siena. The city is gorgeous just to stroll; windy, car-free streets that open into large, bustling piazzas. It was wonderful. After grabbing a panino each, we headed to Moneriggioni. This tiny town is simply breathtaking. Built on top of a hill, it's surrounded by a thick stone fortress that encompasses the entire town and yields a fantastic view of the rolling Tuscan hills. We got home by 4 to leave enough time for some visits to i parenti. We went to Amodio's sister's house as well as to Nonno Joe's sister's, Carmela. We also tried to go to Sesto Fiorentino to see Maria and Alberto Sanzo, but they weren't home. That night, a few of Stefano's friends came over to have homemade pizza from a brick oven. Stefano made us each a personal pizza with customized orders for toppings! And for dessert: Nutella pizza! It was delicious and a lot of fun.
The next day Stefano took me to Pisa for his first real sightseeing experience as well as mine! It was crazy seeing the tower really LEANING. I mean I knew it leaned, but MAN, they weren't kidding. We climbed to the top where the view was breathtaking and spent the day exploring the baptistery, Duomo, cemetery, and museums in the square. After a hearty lunch (Margherita pizza), we laid on the grass in the beautiful weather and took a short siesta. It was fantastic. On the way home, we stopped at Artimino, a town at the top of one of those famous rolling hills to take in the view of the countryside. That night, after an amazing fish dinner, we went to a piazza in Florence that overlooks the city. It was stunning lit up at night.
Saturday morning, after visiting Pierina at work for a cappuccino and a pastry, Stefano, Daniela and I headed to Siena. The city is gorgeous just to stroll; windy, car-free streets that open into large, bustling piazzas. It was wonderful. After grabbing a panino each, we headed to Moneriggioni. This tiny town is simply breathtaking. Built on top of a hill, it's surrounded by a thick stone fortress that encompasses the entire town and yields a fantastic view of the rolling Tuscan hills. We got home by 4 to leave enough time for some visits to i parenti. We went to Amodio's sister's house as well as to Nonno Joe's sister's, Carmela. We also tried to go to Sesto Fiorentino to see Maria and Alberto Sanzo, but they weren't home. That night, a few of Stefano's friends came over to have homemade pizza from a brick oven. Stefano made us each a personal pizza with customized orders for toppings! And for dessert: Nutella pizza! It was delicious and a lot of fun.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Thun
Today I spent a half a day in Thun. I was getting too antsy sitting at home knowing that Momma and Nini are going to be here tomorrow morning. Thun is a small city on Lake Thun, one of the lakes that Interlaken is "inter". It was adorable; the lake broke into a river that ran through the town and all of the shops were built right on the river, kind of like in Venice. I climbed to the top of the hill at the edge of the city where the Schloss Thun (a castle) rests. Inside was a great historical museum and there were countless fantastic views of Thun, the countryside, and the lake. After the castle, I walked down to the lake and strolled along the path. This was when I realized that leaving Fribourg didn't stop the fact that I was still antsy for Nini and Momma to come!!! Can't wait!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Paris
Wow. Paris. Let's start with Thursday. I got up at 4:30am and got to Paris by 11am. I found my hostel easily, left my luggage, and took my key. I went to Versailles, but with the confusing Parisian metro I only got there at 1pm. The palace was enormous and gorgeous and it was a beautiful day. I ventured out into the gardens as saw Marie Antoinette's little private chateaux. However, there were a lot of people there, which I haven't been used to when sightseeing, and it was so hot and crowded and not well organized that by the end I was just frustrated. Although I probably wouldn't go back, I'm glad I got to see one of the most famous chateaux in Europe. That night I tried to get to bed early, having only 4 hours of sleep behind me, but at midnight there was pounding at the door. Turns out there's only one key for all three of us. Would have been good to know. So I get up and let her in and of course she's unpacking and unzipping and being loud. So I think I finally fall back asleep until 2am when there's more pounding at the door. The other girl comes in and the same thing happens. By now I'm wide awake and yet exhausted and incredibly frustrated. I finally get probably a total of 5 hours that night.
Friday morning I'm up early to sightsee and I go to the front desk for breakfast. I ask the guy why there's only one key for three people and he says, "How could we have a key for everyone?" And I said, "Well I didn't sleep last night because of that. It would've been nice to know." And he said, "You should have asked." OHHHH. I should have asked about something I didn't know to ask about? Ok. Fed up, I ask him where breakfast is and he drops three tokens in front of me and says, "The vending machine is around the corner." Yep. "Breakfast" is your choice of two croissants from a vending machine. Anyway, I spent the day seeing the city, and I REALLY saw the city. I went to Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, Les Invalides, a WWII museum, saw Napolean's tomb, climbed to the first floor of the Eiffel Tower for a foggy view of the city, climbed to the top of l'Arc de Triomphe, went up to Sacre Coeur and Monmontre where I took a 30-minute nap on the grass in front of the basilica (you know what they say, right Dad?), walked around the Latin Quarter, checked out the Pantheon where multiple famous Frenchmen are buried (Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau, St. Exupery), and finally went to the Louvre to meet Ashley, since it's free on Fridays after 6pm. What an amazing museum! It's enormous and everywhere you turn are amazing works of art. Although I must say, La Jaconde was very disappointing. Tiny little thing. That night, I try to get to bed early again, but this time, I know. I wedge the key between the door, propping it open slightly, put in my new earplugs and wrap the comforter around my head. I slept like a log that night.
Saturday I got up early again, had "breakfast" and then met Ashley, her friend Moe, and Jen and Diana at the train station to go to Caen. When we got there, we visited the town's cathedral and castle, which housed a free museum! Then, starving, we chose a nice restaurant to have lunch. Diana ordered tripe, thinking it was fish, until it was served and we all realized what it actually was. By the end, we were joking that she had too much stomach in her stomach. After lunch we started walking towards the Battle of Normandy Memorial Museum, which was the reason we'd wanted to come to Caen. However, we didn't realize just how far away it was. By the time we got there we would have only had an hour to see the museum before we had to get back for our train (it was a HUGE museum) and the tickets were EUR 14.50!! We were really upset, and as we're standing there trying to decide what to do, we see a sign for a free photography exhibit. So we follow the signs to this amazing exhibit of the photos of a new photographer. They were so amazing and moving and disturbing all at once. It was fantastic.
Sunday was free museum day, so I met Jen and Diana at Musee Rodin in the morning. It was in Rodin's old house and housed all of his works. It was awesome! There was even a lush, green garden in the back lined with his statues. After Rodin, Diana and I went to another photography exhibit. This one was called "Controversial" and displayed the most controversial photos throughout the years. It was amazing; the one for 2002 was of a severed, bloody hand just lying in the streets as a result of the 9/11 attacks. After that, I went to Victor Hugo's apartment, which has been turned into a museum to commemorate the writer's life and career. It was very interesting. And he had a NICE apartment. Shit, Hugo don't mess around.
Monday was amazing. Ashley, Moe and I spent the day at Disney. We got there right when the park opened and left not a minute before it closed. It was so much fun! There's nothing like a day full of childish bliss. That's what I always say. And I can't imagine why I was ever scared of Space Mountain. That ride was the GREATEST! It's in the dark, it's super fast, and it shoots you up the incline instead of slowly clicking up. Definitely tops my list now. Sorry, Superman. Anyway, more interestingly: when we were leaving the park, so were hundreds of other people. And they were ALL taking the same metro back to the city. So I'm waiting for the train in this huge crowd and there's this boy in front of me, probably about 11 years old. Now he thinks I don't notice that he's looking at my boobs every other second, but I have peripheral vision and I'm not an idiot. So this continues for the 40 minutes that we're waiting for the train, but when the train starts to pull in, he thinks he's can be slick. He turns to "look at the train" and silmutaneously reaches out and touches my boob. TWO TIMES! Oh, and I'm PISSED. So we get on the metro and everyone's sardined in, and I end up like, inches from this little perv, right? He's sitting on his father's lap and I'm standing up, holding on a a metal bar. And I notice he gets up off his father's lap and grabs the same bar as me (which is at about boob height, conveniently). Again, out of my periph I can see him eyeing and inching his hand closer and closer. And this continues for about a half an hour, the entire time I'm thinking, "Yeah, DO it, you little shit. I'll smack you upside the head!" So finally I gather all my rage, turn to him and say, "Do you speak English?" "Yes," he says in broken English. I said, "You need to learn RESPECT. Do you understand what I'm saying?" He says, "I don't know what you're talking about." "Do you understand English?" "Yes." "You have no respect." (And of course, we're all sardined, remember). He says, "I don't know what I diddd!" And his dad is looking from him to me, puzzled. I said, "You KNOW what you did and if your dad wants to know you can tell him. But you better learn some damn respect." He looks at his dad like I'm crazy and says, "I don't know what I didddd." And I said, "Oh, you do." And I turned around. I was seething. That perverted little shit is probably going to grow up to be a pedophile and I just feel bad for anyone else he molests, past, present, or future.
This morning I met Diana and Jen at a restaurant called Breakfast In America. It's a 50s diner-style place that serves American breakfast! I was adorable and the food was so good. I had French Toast and Diana and Jen had a pancake and a Western omelette. After, I went to the train station for what I thought was an 11am train to Geneva. When I go to the ticket window to get a reservation, the woman tells me that it's impossible for me to get on the train with my Eurail pass because there isn't any more room for people with Eurail passes. Bullshit. I ask her if that's my only choice and she (rudely) tells me that I can either pay regular fare (EUR 90) or take a train tomorrow. Oh, please. Out of all the trains leaving this station? So I go to another woman a few windows down and ask her the same thing. She tells me that that limited number of seats for Eurail pass holders is true (and in my opinion, bull), and books me for my only option: a 1pm train departing from a station on the other side of Paris to some podunk town with a connection to Basel. Anyway, I wasn't about to ask Blue Planet Hostel (which is really a typo-- it should be Hell Hostel) for another night, so I paid the reservation, found my way to this other station, and waited a couple hours for the train. When I get to this random town, my connection is only a 15-minute wait, but as I'm waiting an announcement comes on that the train will be an hour late. NICE!! Finally, I make it to Basel and connect to Bern and then to Fribourg. Overall, an entire day's worth of travel that should have only taken 4 hours. None of that would have EVER happened in Switzerland. Man I love this country. Although I'm not sure how good it is that it makes me hate other countries...
PS. Happy belated birthday Nonno Frank!!!
Friday morning I'm up early to sightsee and I go to the front desk for breakfast. I ask the guy why there's only one key for three people and he says, "How could we have a key for everyone?" And I said, "Well I didn't sleep last night because of that. It would've been nice to know." And he said, "You should have asked." OHHHH. I should have asked about something I didn't know to ask about? Ok. Fed up, I ask him where breakfast is and he drops three tokens in front of me and says, "The vending machine is around the corner." Yep. "Breakfast" is your choice of two croissants from a vending machine. Anyway, I spent the day seeing the city, and I REALLY saw the city. I went to Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, Les Invalides, a WWII museum, saw Napolean's tomb, climbed to the first floor of the Eiffel Tower for a foggy view of the city, climbed to the top of l'Arc de Triomphe, went up to Sacre Coeur and Monmontre where I took a 30-minute nap on the grass in front of the basilica (you know what they say, right Dad?), walked around the Latin Quarter, checked out the Pantheon where multiple famous Frenchmen are buried (Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau, St. Exupery), and finally went to the Louvre to meet Ashley, since it's free on Fridays after 6pm. What an amazing museum! It's enormous and everywhere you turn are amazing works of art. Although I must say, La Jaconde was very disappointing. Tiny little thing. That night, I try to get to bed early again, but this time, I know. I wedge the key between the door, propping it open slightly, put in my new earplugs and wrap the comforter around my head. I slept like a log that night.
Saturday I got up early again, had "breakfast" and then met Ashley, her friend Moe, and Jen and Diana at the train station to go to Caen. When we got there, we visited the town's cathedral and castle, which housed a free museum! Then, starving, we chose a nice restaurant to have lunch. Diana ordered tripe, thinking it was fish, until it was served and we all realized what it actually was. By the end, we were joking that she had too much stomach in her stomach. After lunch we started walking towards the Battle of Normandy Memorial Museum, which was the reason we'd wanted to come to Caen. However, we didn't realize just how far away it was. By the time we got there we would have only had an hour to see the museum before we had to get back for our train (it was a HUGE museum) and the tickets were EUR 14.50!! We were really upset, and as we're standing there trying to decide what to do, we see a sign for a free photography exhibit. So we follow the signs to this amazing exhibit of the photos of a new photographer. They were so amazing and moving and disturbing all at once. It was fantastic.
Sunday was free museum day, so I met Jen and Diana at Musee Rodin in the morning. It was in Rodin's old house and housed all of his works. It was awesome! There was even a lush, green garden in the back lined with his statues. After Rodin, Diana and I went to another photography exhibit. This one was called "Controversial" and displayed the most controversial photos throughout the years. It was amazing; the one for 2002 was of a severed, bloody hand just lying in the streets as a result of the 9/11 attacks. After that, I went to Victor Hugo's apartment, which has been turned into a museum to commemorate the writer's life and career. It was very interesting. And he had a NICE apartment. Shit, Hugo don't mess around.
Monday was amazing. Ashley, Moe and I spent the day at Disney. We got there right when the park opened and left not a minute before it closed. It was so much fun! There's nothing like a day full of childish bliss. That's what I always say. And I can't imagine why I was ever scared of Space Mountain. That ride was the GREATEST! It's in the dark, it's super fast, and it shoots you up the incline instead of slowly clicking up. Definitely tops my list now. Sorry, Superman. Anyway, more interestingly: when we were leaving the park, so were hundreds of other people. And they were ALL taking the same metro back to the city. So I'm waiting for the train in this huge crowd and there's this boy in front of me, probably about 11 years old. Now he thinks I don't notice that he's looking at my boobs every other second, but I have peripheral vision and I'm not an idiot. So this continues for the 40 minutes that we're waiting for the train, but when the train starts to pull in, he thinks he's can be slick. He turns to "look at the train" and silmutaneously reaches out and touches my boob. TWO TIMES! Oh, and I'm PISSED. So we get on the metro and everyone's sardined in, and I end up like, inches from this little perv, right? He's sitting on his father's lap and I'm standing up, holding on a a metal bar. And I notice he gets up off his father's lap and grabs the same bar as me (which is at about boob height, conveniently). Again, out of my periph I can see him eyeing and inching his hand closer and closer. And this continues for about a half an hour, the entire time I'm thinking, "Yeah, DO it, you little shit. I'll smack you upside the head!" So finally I gather all my rage, turn to him and say, "Do you speak English?" "Yes," he says in broken English. I said, "You need to learn RESPECT. Do you understand what I'm saying?" He says, "I don't know what you're talking about." "Do you understand English?" "Yes." "You have no respect." (And of course, we're all sardined, remember). He says, "I don't know what I diddd!" And his dad is looking from him to me, puzzled. I said, "You KNOW what you did and if your dad wants to know you can tell him. But you better learn some damn respect." He looks at his dad like I'm crazy and says, "I don't know what I didddd." And I said, "Oh, you do." And I turned around. I was seething. That perverted little shit is probably going to grow up to be a pedophile and I just feel bad for anyone else he molests, past, present, or future.
This morning I met Diana and Jen at a restaurant called Breakfast In America. It's a 50s diner-style place that serves American breakfast! I was adorable and the food was so good. I had French Toast and Diana and Jen had a pancake and a Western omelette. After, I went to the train station for what I thought was an 11am train to Geneva. When I go to the ticket window to get a reservation, the woman tells me that it's impossible for me to get on the train with my Eurail pass because there isn't any more room for people with Eurail passes. Bullshit. I ask her if that's my only choice and she (rudely) tells me that I can either pay regular fare (EUR 90) or take a train tomorrow. Oh, please. Out of all the trains leaving this station? So I go to another woman a few windows down and ask her the same thing. She tells me that that limited number of seats for Eurail pass holders is true (and in my opinion, bull), and books me for my only option: a 1pm train departing from a station on the other side of Paris to some podunk town with a connection to Basel. Anyway, I wasn't about to ask Blue Planet Hostel (which is really a typo-- it should be Hell Hostel) for another night, so I paid the reservation, found my way to this other station, and waited a couple hours for the train. When I get to this random town, my connection is only a 15-minute wait, but as I'm waiting an announcement comes on that the train will be an hour late. NICE!! Finally, I make it to Basel and connect to Bern and then to Fribourg. Overall, an entire day's worth of travel that should have only taken 4 hours. None of that would have EVER happened in Switzerland. Man I love this country. Although I'm not sure how good it is that it makes me hate other countries...
PS. Happy belated birthday Nonno Frank!!!
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