Well it was a long weekend here in Spain for some national holiday, and not much is new. Last week in class I had two quizzes, one in Game Theory and one in Management. Both of them went well. The quiz in Management was written in very poor English so it was a little tough to understand but I managed to get through it. Friday morning I went for a jog about 45 min around Retiro park, right next to my house. it was nice to get out there and run. Tried to take a nap later in the day but a ton of jets were flying over practicing for the parade that took place on Monday so about half an hour into my nap I was rudely awaken!
Friday Night I went to pick up Domingo’s, my cousin, from the airport along with another friend of ours Miguel Castello Branco. Friday night we went out and met up with all my friends from Madrid, Marc, Javier, Ismael, Vicky, etc. It was a good night we danced the night away as usual at Orange Café.
Saturday was kind of Lazy we woke up late being that we went to bed after 6 a.m. and then met up with a friend of Domingo's and Miguel’s that is here in Spain. We went for a walk through Retiro Park and then went to look at the train station by my house. That night we watched Portugal beat up on Hungary in World Cup Qualifying and then went out to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Sunday was even slower than Saturday! Another late night this time after 8a.m. and we woke up around 2:30 or so in the afternoon. We went to Real Madrid’s Stadium, Santiago Bernabéu, not very pretty from the outside but it is definitely one of the more important cites in this city for the fans! After the stadium we cruised around Plaza Mayor, The Royal Palace and a Market near Plaza Mayor. We did not go out partying again, but we did go to a very nice Tapas bar for dinner called Lateral (look over the Menú if you want to see the ridiculously good tapas they serve! http://www.cadenalateral.es/la_carta/la_carta.html)
After finishing dinner around 1:30 a.m. it was tome to call it a night, Domingo’s and Miguel had to leave the house at 5:15 to catch their flight back to Lisbon. All together it was a great weekend, nice to spend one in Madrid again!
Not much else to write so this may go down as the shortest blog to date!
More adventurous to come in the near future.
Miss you all back home in Carlsbad and the Dirty T (Tempe)
Love Always,
Phil
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Spetmeber 30 - Oct 5th
WOW... WHAT A WEEK!
I don’t think this is going to be short, but let me reassure you that it was one Heck of a time with a ton that happened!
I guess we will start off with the school topic again. Well, I went to Class on Tuesday and Wednesday, and have a couple of tests next week.
Good thing we got the boring stuff out of the way! Now onto the good stuff, OKTOBERFEST!!!
As I am sure you are aware I spent last weekend travelling through Germany simply to enjoy one of the greatest, if not the greatest, festivals of all time! There were 5 of us that were Travelling together: Marc, Javier, Ismael, Daniel, and me. Instead of spending €300+ to fly directly to Munich, we flew to Frankfurt which is about 3.5 hours away by car and very near where our friend Daniel is doing an Exchange program (Wiesbaden). We arrived Thursday evening and Daniel met us at the airport. After about an hour and a half of trains and busses, we made it to his dorm, and old U.S. Military Barracks. We left our luggage there and went to the downtown area to find some authentic German cuisine! We went to a nice little restaurant and all enjoyed cold local beer and some schnitzel. After a lovely dinner, Daniel gave us the grand tour of the whole city at night...cathedrals, Palaces and the famous Casino in Wiesbaden. Apparently it is an area where many wealthy people live just outside of Frankfurt. Touring the city at night gave an interesting perspective, and let’s be realistic here, we wouldn’t have wanted to waste time on Friday when we could be at the Oktoberfest!
Saturday morning we picked up our rental van at about 10:00 a.m and began the drive through Bavaria to get to München (Munich). I was not quite sure what to expect of Germany, being that I had never been there, but the drive through the countryside to get to München was absolutely beautiful. The whole way the basically we had rolling hills covered with trees, pretty little towns along the way, oops and did I mention the Autobahn!!! It is something else driving at 140Km (about 85) and having people BLOWING BY YOU!!! Lots of German cars, BMW, AUDI, MERCEDES, PORSCHE, Etc that were nearly flying!
We arrived in München around 4:00 p.m. and battled through traffic to find the Oktoberfest. We had to ask directions a few times but surprisingly we made it there quite quickly. There was one trick once we got near the Festival, finding a place to park our rental van so that we could sleep in there (NOT PAY FOR A HOTEL, DON´T WASTE MONEY YOU CAN SPEND ON BEER!), without being bothered by traffic or hassled by the Police. We were lucky enough to find an older side street with mature tress and a few motor homes and vans where it looked like people were sleeping.
We had no trouble getting to Oktoberfest from where we parked, it was less than a Kilometer and you just walked to the main road and followed the mass! The first day we kind of walked around and took in all the sight s for a little bit, then tried to get into one of the tents (this being much more difficult than it sounds). We waited at a few of the bigger tents and then decided to go to one that was not as crowded, meaning it wouldn’t take more than an hour of waiting to get in! I can’t remember which tent it was, but we found a side entrance where there were only a few hundred people waiting to get in and waited. I was maybe a little more forceful than my colleagues in line and ended up inside without them. I then begged and pleaded with the bouncer, and talked him into letting them in, they still had to fight there way through the mass and the bouncer had to hold the others off that were ahead of them trying to get in instead! The first night was awesome; we sang and danced until closing enjoying a couple of fine liters of beer. We all had a good time and made it back to the van without any problems. I ended up sleeping in the front seat of the van, where it was a little snug and uncomfortable with the seatbelts and break in the seats, but I would guess better than Ismael who slept on the floor between the front seats and the first row of seats!
We woke up around 8:30a.m and wandered down the street to the Café before going to Oktoberfest, there was some talk about going to buy outfits to wear, but that was shot down and we decided to get to the tents early and get a seat at a table. We decided to go to the Schottenhamel tent which is a tent where many young locals go. We arrived just before 10:00a.m. and the inside of the tent was already full and there was a huge line at the front to try to get seating on the patio. Once again we found an entrance that was a little less crowded and got in after about 15 minutes. We were seated at one of the last empty tables, and luckily we were seated with a few local German guys. They were extremely nice, taught us a few different songs and toasts and we stood on the tables, sang and drank all morning long! We could not have had a better day to sit on the patio; it was sunny with a few scattered clouds and about 18 C. We stayed on the patio from about 10:00 till 3:30 and then decided to go out to ride some roller coasters and have a bite to eat. Whoops, almost forgot, we had the typical grilled chicken at the Schottenhamel tent and it was delicious, moist with a great herb seasoning!
I have to admit I didn’t take part in the Riding of the roller coaters, but the braver Marc, Ismael, and Daniel did. After fooling around for a while it was round two of trying to get inside the tent. We were let back into the beer garden because they had stamped our hands; we then went from entrance to entrance trying to see if there was one that we would be able to get into. Unfortunately we had no luck. To get into the ten you really need a reservation or to be there hours before waiting in line. I saw that the people getting in had little reservation cards and had an idea. At another one of the exits from the beer garden the bouncers were giving out cards instead of hand stamps, they didn’t look the same, reservation cards were white, and exit cards were blue, but hell it was worth a shot. We all took the exit cards, went back to our original entrance used our hand stamps and all made it back in without giving the bouncers the little cards. We then found a door that was only an exit where there was only one other person waiting to try an convince the bouncers to let them in, I would have guessed that she would have had the upper hand because she was female and all the bouncers were all guys, but apparently she was not as prepared as I was! We waited for the bouncer to open the door but nothing happened for a little while, I went up to knock on it and the girl standing there waiting told me not to, blah, blah, blah, but of course I did! The bouncer opened the door, she stepped up and started to talk to him in German, he pushed her back I pulled my card out, started walking in like I was supposed to be in there, waived all my friends in and before the bouncer could really question us we had all shoved our cards in his hands, smiled and walked on by while he held the girl out of the tent!!! Makes me laugh every time I think about it! It was apparent why it was closed to new people, the tent was shoulder to shoulder FULL of people, sitting at tables, standing in the aisle ways, and dancing where there was a little room. As we wandered around I saw some people getting down from a table, promptly went over there asked if we could join the people that remained, and got us a seat at a table right smack in the middle of the ten and close to the band!!! Again we danced, sang, and drank the night away!
We made it back safely Saturday night and again woke up relatively early Sunday morning. Sunday was our day to get back to Frankfurt for our 7:40p.m. flight. We toured downtown München for about an hour and a half then made our way up the road. We stopped on the way at Dachau, one of the main concentrations camps during the second world war. Parts of the camp have been preserved and made into a historical monument. It was a strange feeling being in a place that was truly a beautiful part of the country, with trees and small brooks running near the camp, with such a dark history. The dormitories were meant to hold 200 people and at times the held upward of 2,000 people each. There were rows upon rows of them. You read about people dying in the winters while standing at the role call area, infection, torture, experimental medicine, etc. It made me feel a bit sick to my stomach. After touring the grounds where the prisoners lived and were held, we went to the SS camp which was a mere 500 meters from one of the exits from the camp. It was there that I really started to feel sick. This is where there Gas chambers where built and where the Nazi’s had the crematoriums they used to dispose of the corpse. There was an old crematorium that only had two ovens and a newer one that was built later by to prisoners when the camp grew larger and the other one could no longer keep up with the death toll. It was sickening to see the thought that went into the operation; the whole facility was built like a production line. First, there were three chambers where the prisoners that were going to be gassed clothes were put to be burned. Next, there was a waiting room where all of the prisoners would be gathered before their supposed shower, After that you had the Gas Chamber itself where it looked like a huge shower stall, and then on other room for the bodies to be piled before they were taken to the final room which housed the four ovens they used to cremate the bodies. There are no words to describe the feelings of walking through there, and being in all of the chambers, looking up and seeing the fake shower heads seeing the crematoriums, walking through the gardens behind the building where there were firing lines to execute the campers and now headstones remembering thousands of unknown people that lost their lives at Dachau. After a wild weekend it was a sobering moment, but it was something that I wanted to see, and experience.
Well, on a lighter note we finished our long drive to Frankfurt in extremely heavy traffic, road construction, and poor weather. We had budgeted 5.5 hours for a 3 hour drive and when it came down to it, it was a race against the clock...THE CLOCK WON! We arrived at the Airport at 7:05 for our 7:40 flight and the gal at the counter would not print us boarding passes...we thought of renting a car and driving back, but ended up getting rebooked, thanks to the help of Javier’s Aunt who work for Iberia and her contact with the most senior representative in Frankfurt for Iberia that both pulled some strings and made it work out!
We spent the next day touring Frankfurt, which was not that impressive. It is the business capital of Europe, and is where the European Central Bank it, but apart from that, a few churches and some nice little plazas, I don’t think it is really a touristy vacation spot...I could be wrong didn’t do much reading up before we toured but I was far more impressed with the smaller towns in Bavaria and with München.
Well, I am back safely in Madrid again, I have to go study for a couple tests this week, and get the pictures ready to post...sorry the Italy ones aren’t up yet but they all will be by this weekend. Should be a good weekend, staying home but Domingo’s is coming to visit a friend here and will be staying at my place!
Well as always hope you all enjoyed, wish you could have been here to go on the trip also, and most importantly I hope this finds everyone doing well.
Much Love Always,
Philip
I don’t think this is going to be short, but let me reassure you that it was one Heck of a time with a ton that happened!
I guess we will start off with the school topic again. Well, I went to Class on Tuesday and Wednesday, and have a couple of tests next week.
Good thing we got the boring stuff out of the way! Now onto the good stuff, OKTOBERFEST!!!
As I am sure you are aware I spent last weekend travelling through Germany simply to enjoy one of the greatest, if not the greatest, festivals of all time! There were 5 of us that were Travelling together: Marc, Javier, Ismael, Daniel, and me. Instead of spending €300+ to fly directly to Munich, we flew to Frankfurt which is about 3.5 hours away by car and very near where our friend Daniel is doing an Exchange program (Wiesbaden). We arrived Thursday evening and Daniel met us at the airport. After about an hour and a half of trains and busses, we made it to his dorm, and old U.S. Military Barracks. We left our luggage there and went to the downtown area to find some authentic German cuisine! We went to a nice little restaurant and all enjoyed cold local beer and some schnitzel. After a lovely dinner, Daniel gave us the grand tour of the whole city at night...cathedrals, Palaces and the famous Casino in Wiesbaden. Apparently it is an area where many wealthy people live just outside of Frankfurt. Touring the city at night gave an interesting perspective, and let’s be realistic here, we wouldn’t have wanted to waste time on Friday when we could be at the Oktoberfest!
Saturday morning we picked up our rental van at about 10:00 a.m and began the drive through Bavaria to get to München (Munich). I was not quite sure what to expect of Germany, being that I had never been there, but the drive through the countryside to get to München was absolutely beautiful. The whole way the basically we had rolling hills covered with trees, pretty little towns along the way, oops and did I mention the Autobahn!!! It is something else driving at 140Km (about 85) and having people BLOWING BY YOU!!! Lots of German cars, BMW, AUDI, MERCEDES, PORSCHE, Etc that were nearly flying!
We arrived in München around 4:00 p.m. and battled through traffic to find the Oktoberfest. We had to ask directions a few times but surprisingly we made it there quite quickly. There was one trick once we got near the Festival, finding a place to park our rental van so that we could sleep in there (NOT PAY FOR A HOTEL, DON´T WASTE MONEY YOU CAN SPEND ON BEER!), without being bothered by traffic or hassled by the Police. We were lucky enough to find an older side street with mature tress and a few motor homes and vans where it looked like people were sleeping.
We had no trouble getting to Oktoberfest from where we parked, it was less than a Kilometer and you just walked to the main road and followed the mass! The first day we kind of walked around and took in all the sight s for a little bit, then tried to get into one of the tents (this being much more difficult than it sounds). We waited at a few of the bigger tents and then decided to go to one that was not as crowded, meaning it wouldn’t take more than an hour of waiting to get in! I can’t remember which tent it was, but we found a side entrance where there were only a few hundred people waiting to get in and waited. I was maybe a little more forceful than my colleagues in line and ended up inside without them. I then begged and pleaded with the bouncer, and talked him into letting them in, they still had to fight there way through the mass and the bouncer had to hold the others off that were ahead of them trying to get in instead! The first night was awesome; we sang and danced until closing enjoying a couple of fine liters of beer. We all had a good time and made it back to the van without any problems. I ended up sleeping in the front seat of the van, where it was a little snug and uncomfortable with the seatbelts and break in the seats, but I would guess better than Ismael who slept on the floor between the front seats and the first row of seats!
We woke up around 8:30a.m and wandered down the street to the Café before going to Oktoberfest, there was some talk about going to buy outfits to wear, but that was shot down and we decided to get to the tents early and get a seat at a table. We decided to go to the Schottenhamel tent which is a tent where many young locals go. We arrived just before 10:00a.m. and the inside of the tent was already full and there was a huge line at the front to try to get seating on the patio. Once again we found an entrance that was a little less crowded and got in after about 15 minutes. We were seated at one of the last empty tables, and luckily we were seated with a few local German guys. They were extremely nice, taught us a few different songs and toasts and we stood on the tables, sang and drank all morning long! We could not have had a better day to sit on the patio; it was sunny with a few scattered clouds and about 18 C. We stayed on the patio from about 10:00 till 3:30 and then decided to go out to ride some roller coasters and have a bite to eat. Whoops, almost forgot, we had the typical grilled chicken at the Schottenhamel tent and it was delicious, moist with a great herb seasoning!
I have to admit I didn’t take part in the Riding of the roller coaters, but the braver Marc, Ismael, and Daniel did. After fooling around for a while it was round two of trying to get inside the tent. We were let back into the beer garden because they had stamped our hands; we then went from entrance to entrance trying to see if there was one that we would be able to get into. Unfortunately we had no luck. To get into the ten you really need a reservation or to be there hours before waiting in line. I saw that the people getting in had little reservation cards and had an idea. At another one of the exits from the beer garden the bouncers were giving out cards instead of hand stamps, they didn’t look the same, reservation cards were white, and exit cards were blue, but hell it was worth a shot. We all took the exit cards, went back to our original entrance used our hand stamps and all made it back in without giving the bouncers the little cards. We then found a door that was only an exit where there was only one other person waiting to try an convince the bouncers to let them in, I would have guessed that she would have had the upper hand because she was female and all the bouncers were all guys, but apparently she was not as prepared as I was! We waited for the bouncer to open the door but nothing happened for a little while, I went up to knock on it and the girl standing there waiting told me not to, blah, blah, blah, but of course I did! The bouncer opened the door, she stepped up and started to talk to him in German, he pushed her back I pulled my card out, started walking in like I was supposed to be in there, waived all my friends in and before the bouncer could really question us we had all shoved our cards in his hands, smiled and walked on by while he held the girl out of the tent!!! Makes me laugh every time I think about it! It was apparent why it was closed to new people, the tent was shoulder to shoulder FULL of people, sitting at tables, standing in the aisle ways, and dancing where there was a little room. As we wandered around I saw some people getting down from a table, promptly went over there asked if we could join the people that remained, and got us a seat at a table right smack in the middle of the ten and close to the band!!! Again we danced, sang, and drank the night away!
We made it back safely Saturday night and again woke up relatively early Sunday morning. Sunday was our day to get back to Frankfurt for our 7:40p.m. flight. We toured downtown München for about an hour and a half then made our way up the road. We stopped on the way at Dachau, one of the main concentrations camps during the second world war. Parts of the camp have been preserved and made into a historical monument. It was a strange feeling being in a place that was truly a beautiful part of the country, with trees and small brooks running near the camp, with such a dark history. The dormitories were meant to hold 200 people and at times the held upward of 2,000 people each. There were rows upon rows of them. You read about people dying in the winters while standing at the role call area, infection, torture, experimental medicine, etc. It made me feel a bit sick to my stomach. After touring the grounds where the prisoners lived and were held, we went to the SS camp which was a mere 500 meters from one of the exits from the camp. It was there that I really started to feel sick. This is where there Gas chambers where built and where the Nazi’s had the crematoriums they used to dispose of the corpse. There was an old crematorium that only had two ovens and a newer one that was built later by to prisoners when the camp grew larger and the other one could no longer keep up with the death toll. It was sickening to see the thought that went into the operation; the whole facility was built like a production line. First, there were three chambers where the prisoners that were going to be gassed clothes were put to be burned. Next, there was a waiting room where all of the prisoners would be gathered before their supposed shower, After that you had the Gas Chamber itself where it looked like a huge shower stall, and then on other room for the bodies to be piled before they were taken to the final room which housed the four ovens they used to cremate the bodies. There are no words to describe the feelings of walking through there, and being in all of the chambers, looking up and seeing the fake shower heads seeing the crematoriums, walking through the gardens behind the building where there were firing lines to execute the campers and now headstones remembering thousands of unknown people that lost their lives at Dachau. After a wild weekend it was a sobering moment, but it was something that I wanted to see, and experience.
Well, on a lighter note we finished our long drive to Frankfurt in extremely heavy traffic, road construction, and poor weather. We had budgeted 5.5 hours for a 3 hour drive and when it came down to it, it was a race against the clock...THE CLOCK WON! We arrived at the Airport at 7:05 for our 7:40 flight and the gal at the counter would not print us boarding passes...we thought of renting a car and driving back, but ended up getting rebooked, thanks to the help of Javier’s Aunt who work for Iberia and her contact with the most senior representative in Frankfurt for Iberia that both pulled some strings and made it work out!
We spent the next day touring Frankfurt, which was not that impressive. It is the business capital of Europe, and is where the European Central Bank it, but apart from that, a few churches and some nice little plazas, I don’t think it is really a touristy vacation spot...I could be wrong didn’t do much reading up before we toured but I was far more impressed with the smaller towns in Bavaria and with München.
Well, I am back safely in Madrid again, I have to go study for a couple tests this week, and get the pictures ready to post...sorry the Italy ones aren’t up yet but they all will be by this weekend. Should be a good weekend, staying home but Domingo’s is coming to visit a friend here and will be staying at my place!
Well as always hope you all enjoyed, wish you could have been here to go on the trip also, and most importantly I hope this finds everyone doing well.
Much Love Always,
Philip
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
September 22nd-29th
Another week gone by, and more memories made. This last week was relatively uneventful at school. I wen to class as usual and made it through all of the lessons alive. It is a little rough at times with the two I have in classes in Spanish, but luckily those two teachers are the best ones I have. I find that I am really most excited to go to those because not only are the teachers good, but because the classes are in Spanish it forces me to really learn and interact with my classmates during group wok in Spanish! Next week I have a couple of exams, and this week I have to turn in some practical work...shouldn't´t be to hard but the work is starting to pick up.
Don´t let this fool you, I am definitely still having a blast! This last weekend I had an action packed trip to Italy. I went to Bergamo which is a city in the north about 45 minutes from Milano. Why Bergamo right? Well, while in Portugal I met some cousins of my direct cousins that live there, and they had invited me to come to their house and spend some time. Needless to say we had a ball. I arrived Saturday evening (I know what you are thinking...Saturday night, why the heck would you arrive Saturday night. Well maybe I screwed up the ticket purchase, off by one day in each direction, arrival one day after I wanted and departure the same...so be it, I knew it would be a blast either way, and the bonus was that they hadn´t started school yet.) Sebastian picked me up from the airport and we arrived home to his brother Martin working hard on some appetizers and cocktails! They had invited a few friends over and we all sat around chatting. I was surprised at how much Italian I actually picked up on...not as hard as I thought. After appetizers it was time to go out on the town to check out the night life! We went to a couple of local bars, and then to a party thrown by one of their friends. It was pretty cool, the party was out doors and up in the forested area above the city. We parked on some lonely road and hiked about 10 or 15 minutes up the side of the mountain until we finally arrived. It was really cool getting to spend the night as the locals do, and see how it was.
The next day we decided to go to Milano. Martin stayed home because he was studying for an exam so it was just Sebastian and I that went. While there, he showed me the more important sites of Milan. We went to a castle in the middle of the city which was the castle of the first wealthy family in Milan. It was quite spectacular. After touring around the grounds, we walked across part of the city to the main Cathedral. It was breathtaking. A beautiful piazza with a huge cathedral with extremely intricate architecture. I just imagine the people working the stone and the number of man hours it would take to build such a structure. We were there on Sunday so Mass was being held, we watched briefly but from a distant. I was surprised that the Church wasn´t very full, but I am sure it would be a nightmare trying to find a seat during the holidays. The last real touristy thing we did in Milano was go to a little place with a cup shaped whole n the ground. Apparently if you spin around three times with your heal in it it will bring you good luck. It was not clear to me which way I was supposed to turn, and people were turning all sorts of directions and times, so I just hope that I did it correctly!!!
After the action packed half day in Milano, Sebastian and I went to Città Alta. The old city above Bergamo. It is absolutely spectacular. An ancient city with four main doors in the outer walls, one to Milano, one to Venezia, one to Switzerland, and hmmm one to (I don´t recall). In Città Alta we walked around the exterior of the city, or most of it, and toured the two Churches in the central piazza. One of the Churches was where Papa Giovanni XXIII body was up until 2000. There was a nice sculpture and memorial display there. We also toured the fort at the highest point of Città Alta that protected it in early times. All in all, it was beautiful and wrapped up a great day.
That night we were wiped out, stayed in cooked and watched a movie. MMMM FOOD! Martin is quite the cook, I learned how to make a few different dishes this weekend that I didn´t know how to before. Sunday night, he made us an octopus risotto that was extremely good. It´s probably because John makes a mean Risotto that I never tried, simply because I was scared to not make it as well as he does! Lame right, not any more, Risotto cook off when I get home!!! Another thing in the food category now that I am thinking of it. I am not sure if it was mental or really that much better, but we ate a mean Parmesan cheese from the local market, mmm mmm Good.
On Monday Sebastian and I were off again as Martin studied, Exam was today Tuesday, so Monday was the last day for him to cram! Anyways, Sebastian and I went to Lago di Como. The lake is absolutely huge and sits in the pre Alps just due North of Milano. The drive to get there was beautiful, through the country side and through some small towns. We dropped down into the valley where the lake sits and were thinking of what to do. Sebastian had only been there once or twice before and not for years, and I had not done any homework so we were just flying by the seat of the pants...not quite sure if we missed anything really special there, but we had a great time. We walked along the shore of the lake for a while and took in the sights from a far. The only ting that really stood out to go see was the main church in the center. After looking at the lake and the surrounding cities on the hills from a distance we made our way to the cathedral. A very pretty Cathedral with what appeared to be a couple of cooper or brass domes, at least that is what I would guess due to the color of the oxidation? I am not expert though. After walking all around the labyrinth of small streets looking to the sky to try to find it without a map, we made it! Again, unbelievable architecture and detail...how did these people have so much time on their hands?
Kind of an aside, I think to my self, why is it that I am so blown away by the churches and buildings and old cities? It is such common place for everyone here, yet at every new sight I am peering through my camera taking pictures in awe. I feel as though I should be going through these cities in a carriage, or on a horse. It is as if I am living in the past. Old people sit and watch the world go by, time goes by slower, things are calmer...Very different from back home...
Back to Lago di Como, while we were about to leave, we saw some train tracks heading straight up the side of the mountain to a small little town probably a thousand feet or so above the city of Como. It looked pretty cool, and had to be an amazing view from the top so we went to check it out. the ride up was awesome, extremely steep, and the sights from the top were amazing, pictures can´t do it justice. There were a few hundred unbelievable houses at the top, most of them quite old and on large pieces of land, they must have been vacation homes. There was not much more than the homes, and a couple of little tourist bars. We wandered around, and looked over the lake at a few different vista points. We even saw a float plane take off from the lake (pretty cool, I had never seen that before!)After making our way back to Como, we made the trip back home to Bergamo. Once again, Martin cooked a wonderful dinner of Penne and red cabbage with a Gorgonzola cream sauce. I am not usually crazy about Gorgonzola, but didn´t have the guts to tell him so I gave it a good shot and really actually enjoyed it, even surprised myself!
Well that's all or now folks.
Pictures to come later this week, before Thursday that is, as in TOMORROW! Thursday another adventure will begin, 4 friends and I are off to Munich for Oktoberfest!
Hope everyone is well.
Much Love from the library in Getafe!
Phil
Don´t let this fool you, I am definitely still having a blast! This last weekend I had an action packed trip to Italy. I went to Bergamo which is a city in the north about 45 minutes from Milano. Why Bergamo right? Well, while in Portugal I met some cousins of my direct cousins that live there, and they had invited me to come to their house and spend some time. Needless to say we had a ball. I arrived Saturday evening (I know what you are thinking...Saturday night, why the heck would you arrive Saturday night. Well maybe I screwed up the ticket purchase, off by one day in each direction, arrival one day after I wanted and departure the same...so be it, I knew it would be a blast either way, and the bonus was that they hadn´t started school yet.) Sebastian picked me up from the airport and we arrived home to his brother Martin working hard on some appetizers and cocktails! They had invited a few friends over and we all sat around chatting. I was surprised at how much Italian I actually picked up on...not as hard as I thought. After appetizers it was time to go out on the town to check out the night life! We went to a couple of local bars, and then to a party thrown by one of their friends. It was pretty cool, the party was out doors and up in the forested area above the city. We parked on some lonely road and hiked about 10 or 15 minutes up the side of the mountain until we finally arrived. It was really cool getting to spend the night as the locals do, and see how it was.
The next day we decided to go to Milano. Martin stayed home because he was studying for an exam so it was just Sebastian and I that went. While there, he showed me the more important sites of Milan. We went to a castle in the middle of the city which was the castle of the first wealthy family in Milan. It was quite spectacular. After touring around the grounds, we walked across part of the city to the main Cathedral. It was breathtaking. A beautiful piazza with a huge cathedral with extremely intricate architecture. I just imagine the people working the stone and the number of man hours it would take to build such a structure. We were there on Sunday so Mass was being held, we watched briefly but from a distant. I was surprised that the Church wasn´t very full, but I am sure it would be a nightmare trying to find a seat during the holidays. The last real touristy thing we did in Milano was go to a little place with a cup shaped whole n the ground. Apparently if you spin around three times with your heal in it it will bring you good luck. It was not clear to me which way I was supposed to turn, and people were turning all sorts of directions and times, so I just hope that I did it correctly!!!
After the action packed half day in Milano, Sebastian and I went to Città Alta. The old city above Bergamo. It is absolutely spectacular. An ancient city with four main doors in the outer walls, one to Milano, one to Venezia, one to Switzerland, and hmmm one to (I don´t recall). In Città Alta we walked around the exterior of the city, or most of it, and toured the two Churches in the central piazza. One of the Churches was where Papa Giovanni XXIII body was up until 2000. There was a nice sculpture and memorial display there. We also toured the fort at the highest point of Città Alta that protected it in early times. All in all, it was beautiful and wrapped up a great day.
That night we were wiped out, stayed in cooked and watched a movie. MMMM FOOD! Martin is quite the cook, I learned how to make a few different dishes this weekend that I didn´t know how to before. Sunday night, he made us an octopus risotto that was extremely good. It´s probably because John makes a mean Risotto that I never tried, simply because I was scared to not make it as well as he does! Lame right, not any more, Risotto cook off when I get home!!! Another thing in the food category now that I am thinking of it. I am not sure if it was mental or really that much better, but we ate a mean Parmesan cheese from the local market, mmm mmm Good.
On Monday Sebastian and I were off again as Martin studied, Exam was today Tuesday, so Monday was the last day for him to cram! Anyways, Sebastian and I went to Lago di Como. The lake is absolutely huge and sits in the pre Alps just due North of Milano. The drive to get there was beautiful, through the country side and through some small towns. We dropped down into the valley where the lake sits and were thinking of what to do. Sebastian had only been there once or twice before and not for years, and I had not done any homework so we were just flying by the seat of the pants...not quite sure if we missed anything really special there, but we had a great time. We walked along the shore of the lake for a while and took in the sights from a far. The only ting that really stood out to go see was the main church in the center. After looking at the lake and the surrounding cities on the hills from a distance we made our way to the cathedral. A very pretty Cathedral with what appeared to be a couple of cooper or brass domes, at least that is what I would guess due to the color of the oxidation? I am not expert though. After walking all around the labyrinth of small streets looking to the sky to try to find it without a map, we made it! Again, unbelievable architecture and detail...how did these people have so much time on their hands?
Kind of an aside, I think to my self, why is it that I am so blown away by the churches and buildings and old cities? It is such common place for everyone here, yet at every new sight I am peering through my camera taking pictures in awe. I feel as though I should be going through these cities in a carriage, or on a horse. It is as if I am living in the past. Old people sit and watch the world go by, time goes by slower, things are calmer...Very different from back home...
Back to Lago di Como, while we were about to leave, we saw some train tracks heading straight up the side of the mountain to a small little town probably a thousand feet or so above the city of Como. It looked pretty cool, and had to be an amazing view from the top so we went to check it out. the ride up was awesome, extremely steep, and the sights from the top were amazing, pictures can´t do it justice. There were a few hundred unbelievable houses at the top, most of them quite old and on large pieces of land, they must have been vacation homes. There was not much more than the homes, and a couple of little tourist bars. We wandered around, and looked over the lake at a few different vista points. We even saw a float plane take off from the lake (pretty cool, I had never seen that before!)After making our way back to Como, we made the trip back home to Bergamo. Once again, Martin cooked a wonderful dinner of Penne and red cabbage with a Gorgonzola cream sauce. I am not usually crazy about Gorgonzola, but didn´t have the guts to tell him so I gave it a good shot and really actually enjoyed it, even surprised myself!
Well that's all or now folks.
Pictures to come later this week, before Thursday that is, as in TOMORROW! Thursday another adventure will begin, 4 friends and I are off to Munich for Oktoberfest!
Hope everyone is well.
Much Love from the library in Getafe!
Phil
Thursday, September 24, 2009
PHOTOS!!!!
Check out all my Photos on my Picasa...Please let me know what you think, and if there are any problems.
http://picasaweb.google.com/allanphil
Phil!
Monday, September 21, 2009
September 15th-21st
I promise this one will not be as long! Well, the first week of classes went really well. I found out that I will get more credits than I expected and my classes are all very interesting. What do you know I am already sick of talking about school, not much is new in this area!
Now to the good stuff, yet another week full of events. Thursday night is the night that all of the Erasmus students go out to kick off the weekend. I went out for a little bit but it was really cold and I was tired so I ended up coming home around 3:00, which is an extremely early night! Friday, I did not have classes so I did all the boring stuff that I needed to do around the house: laundry, unpack!, reorganize my room, etc. In the evening I met Marc at his house and then we met up with some his friends at a restaurant near by for dinner. After dinner we all went to a little town called Majadahonda to the town party Friday was the first night of the two week festival. I was only planning to stay for a few hours because I had to be at the train station at 10:00 a.m. to go to Toledo to watch the Vuelta de España, but one thing lead to another and we danced the night away until a mere 5:30! Once we all decided to leave, the adventure started. Majadahonda is in between Madrid and Las Rozas were Marc and his friends live. I didn’t want to be a burden so I decided to take the night bus home! I waited for about 30 minutes and finally one arrived. It was a mad dash to beat the other 60+ people that were waiting to get a ride back to Madrid! I made it on, and made it to Madrid safely, packed in the sweaty bus like sardines! Of course the bus dropped me off on the other side of Madrid, not the one that I live on! I started walking, and made it about half way before the Metro began running...I caught the first Metro of the morning, and ended up making it home right about 6:30a.m.
I’ll tell you what (Insert Hank Hill accent!) a 9:00a.m. alarm was not what I wanted to hear after only 2 hours or so of sleep! I barely made it to the train station on time to meet my German friend Timon, and we were on our way to Toledo...the high speed train only takes 30 minutes to get there. We toured all over the city taking many pictures (thanks for the new camera Mom & Dad!) until about 2:00 when the race began. We found a great spot to watch on top of an old wall where we could dangle our legs over and watch the riders sprint up the last hill and finish. It was a time trial, so all the riders came one by one, or occasionally you would have a rider that caught another and the crowd would erupt cheering them on to the finish. The atmosphere was electric when the final rider, Valverde, passed by. He is a Spaniard that ended up winning the overall classification. After the race, while walking back to the train station I ran into Carlos Sastre, the 2008 winner of the Tour de France...photos to come! All, in all the race was a great time and the city was absolutely breathe taking.
Saturday night on little to no sleep I went out again with a few friends. I would have loved to have just gone to sleep but once a year there is La Noche en Blanco, where Madrid is alive all night with art exhibitions, street performers and musicians entertaining the people. It was a lot of fun to walk all over the city and take in the sights and people. I lasted till about 2:30, and called it a night!
Sunday was relaxing, checked my email, went the bakery for some bread, showed my new roommate Charles around, he is from Cameroon...he just arrived on Thursday. In the evening we went again to the bull fight, this time armed with a camera. It was absolutely spectacular...if a fighter does an excellent job the president of the Plaza de Torros will waive one, two or three white flags signifying the reward he shall receive. If one flag is waived the fighter gets an Ear. If two flags are waived the fighter gets both ears, and if three are waived it is my understanding that the fighter gets both ears, the tail, and is carried out of the stadium to the cheers of the arena! It is extremely rare for a fighter two get two, much less, three white flags. On this night we witnessed a kid (must have been no older than 18) receive a white flag from the president... the ear was immediately cut off the bull and given to him. He then marched around the arena and was given tons of love from the crowd...WHAT A SIGHT!!!
Well that’s about it folks, I am off to class...I hope all is well with everyone back home, and once I download the pictures from my camera somewhere I will be sure to share them.
Much Love Always,
Phil
Now to the good stuff, yet another week full of events. Thursday night is the night that all of the Erasmus students go out to kick off the weekend. I went out for a little bit but it was really cold and I was tired so I ended up coming home around 3:00, which is an extremely early night! Friday, I did not have classes so I did all the boring stuff that I needed to do around the house: laundry, unpack!, reorganize my room, etc. In the evening I met Marc at his house and then we met up with some his friends at a restaurant near by for dinner. After dinner we all went to a little town called Majadahonda to the town party Friday was the first night of the two week festival. I was only planning to stay for a few hours because I had to be at the train station at 10:00 a.m. to go to Toledo to watch the Vuelta de España, but one thing lead to another and we danced the night away until a mere 5:30! Once we all decided to leave, the adventure started. Majadahonda is in between Madrid and Las Rozas were Marc and his friends live. I didn’t want to be a burden so I decided to take the night bus home! I waited for about 30 minutes and finally one arrived. It was a mad dash to beat the other 60+ people that were waiting to get a ride back to Madrid! I made it on, and made it to Madrid safely, packed in the sweaty bus like sardines! Of course the bus dropped me off on the other side of Madrid, not the one that I live on! I started walking, and made it about half way before the Metro began running...I caught the first Metro of the morning, and ended up making it home right about 6:30a.m.
I’ll tell you what (Insert Hank Hill accent!) a 9:00a.m. alarm was not what I wanted to hear after only 2 hours or so of sleep! I barely made it to the train station on time to meet my German friend Timon, and we were on our way to Toledo...the high speed train only takes 30 minutes to get there. We toured all over the city taking many pictures (thanks for the new camera Mom & Dad!) until about 2:00 when the race began. We found a great spot to watch on top of an old wall where we could dangle our legs over and watch the riders sprint up the last hill and finish. It was a time trial, so all the riders came one by one, or occasionally you would have a rider that caught another and the crowd would erupt cheering them on to the finish. The atmosphere was electric when the final rider, Valverde, passed by. He is a Spaniard that ended up winning the overall classification. After the race, while walking back to the train station I ran into Carlos Sastre, the 2008 winner of the Tour de France...photos to come! All, in all the race was a great time and the city was absolutely breathe taking.
Saturday night on little to no sleep I went out again with a few friends. I would have loved to have just gone to sleep but once a year there is La Noche en Blanco, where Madrid is alive all night with art exhibitions, street performers and musicians entertaining the people. It was a lot of fun to walk all over the city and take in the sights and people. I lasted till about 2:30, and called it a night!
Sunday was relaxing, checked my email, went the bakery for some bread, showed my new roommate Charles around, he is from Cameroon...he just arrived on Thursday. In the evening we went again to the bull fight, this time armed with a camera. It was absolutely spectacular...if a fighter does an excellent job the president of the Plaza de Torros will waive one, two or three white flags signifying the reward he shall receive. If one flag is waived the fighter gets an Ear. If two flags are waived the fighter gets both ears, and if three are waived it is my understanding that the fighter gets both ears, the tail, and is carried out of the stadium to the cheers of the arena! It is extremely rare for a fighter two get two, much less, three white flags. On this night we witnessed a kid (must have been no older than 18) receive a white flag from the president... the ear was immediately cut off the bull and given to him. He then marched around the arena and was given tons of love from the crowd...WHAT A SIGHT!!!
Well that’s about it folks, I am off to class...I hope all is well with everyone back home, and once I download the pictures from my camera somewhere I will be sure to share them.
Much Love Always,
Phil
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
