Levi and I are simultaneously submitting blog entries.
We arrived in Rome yesterday to be greeted by ugly weather. After getting settled in Alice's apartment I found a nearby internet café. To my luck I found an email from Br. Benoit, who is a Benedictine from Saint Vincent that is currently studying in Rome. Benoit gave me the name of the monestary and told me to stop by and ask for him. I googled San Anselm and found that it was minutes away on foot. I called Benoit's cell phone via Skype and told him I would be there in half an hour.
I walked across the Tiber River and cought a glimpse of the gorgeous monestary up on the hill. I requested Benoit at the porter and minutes later I was greeted by the friendly monk. Benoit was excited as I was to talk about Rome, my trip, and Saint Vincent. Almost immediately he took me to the top of the tower that overlooked all of Rome. We could see Saint Peters Baslica, the Pantheon, and the Coluseum.
San Anselm is the Benedictine monastery in Rome that is the home for any Benedictine that is studying in Rome. The congregation is compiled of 120 monks from 40 different countries. I joined them for vespers in the chapel at 7:15, where I found myself lost in the psalms in Latin. I saw a monk that I recognized from Saint Vincent and pointed him out to Br. Benoit. The familiar monk was Fr. Mauris who just arrived in Rome a couple of days ago and is studying Latin Litergy for the next two months. Following vespers I joined both Benoit and Mauris for a delicious dinner.
While eating dinner the Benedictine hospitality that I am so familiar with immediately surfaced. Mauris offered to go with us Wednesday morning to see a handful of the churches in Rome. Benoit invited Levi, Alice, Alice's roommate Sarah, and myself to lunch at San Anselm on Wednesday afternoon. Even across the Atlantic I feel like I am back at Saint Vincent.
This morning the four of us got up at 6:15 to get an early start at the Vatican. We got there early enough to beat the lines for Saint Peter's Basilica. Although we had to battle some crazy nuns to get through security, we made it through fairly quickly. When we walked in the door any expectation that I had previously had was wiped away. It truly blew my mind. Everything about it was incredible. The statues, the art, the size, the brillance, EVERYTHING. To our luck, there was a mass in service whenever we were there. With a handful of bishops or archbishops around the altar, we experienced the Saint Peter's Basilica to the fullest.
When we left the Saint Peter's we departed for the Vatican Museum where we apparently did not beat the line. The line extended for blocks around the Vatican wall. After 2 hours and 8€ we were wandering through the home of the Sistene Chapel. We went through a number of fantastic exhibits, but the prize was truly at the end. When we stepped into the Sistene Chapel everything that was previously saw could be compared to a coloring book. Michelangelo's masterpiece is truly a MASTERPIECE! Both the front fresco and the ceiling are beyond belief.
Tomorrow we're going to explore the ruins, the colluseum, the pantheon, and the other landmarks in the hustling and bustling Rome. When in Rome...
I cannot wait to be on the beach in Barcelona!
Ciao ciao!
Monday, June 4, 2007
An Attempt to Catch Up
Alright so I haven't written in quite some time. That hasn't really bothered me too much. But a lot has happened since I made a real post so I'll attempt to rectify my shortcomings. I will say, however, that I am on almost-total shutdown mode right now; its the equivalent of how I feel when right after I finished finals. I can't really be bothered to do anything. We are going to be in Europe for another week and I can think of nothing more perfect than sitting on the beach all day, drinking espresso at cafés, and sleeping in. The lines to see anything and everything in Italy have sucked the lifeblood from my soul.
In short, don't expect jack diddly after this lengthy entry. Entreaties for my version of events will be ignored entirely.
I'm gonna go chapter style:
1. ON MAKING FRIENDS IN FARAWAY PLACES
I was really impressed with Vienna and everything it had to offer. When Nate and I walked around on the first day it felt like there was way more than we could get to in three weeks let alone three days and that proved to be true. We did have a wonderful time there though and I must admit that much of my enjoyment was derived from spending that time with new and interesting people. One of the girls we met early on our trip referred to people met while traveling as "24 Hour Friends" which I think is a fair and apt description. We got to hang out with Natalie, Chris, and Melanie for two days so it was that much better. Nater and I still laugh about how on the one night we all got into our pijamas in the dorm, took turns using the bathroom, and then shut the light out and said goodnight as a group. If you guys are reading this good luck with your travels and many apologies for not making it back to the hostel. We missed the last bus by about 30 seconds.
Overall I loved Vienna and would go back in a heartbeat. To me it seems we didn't really get to hang out there because there was so much to do so I'd like to just take it easy for a day or two in a park.
2. ON THE PERFECT DAY
The next stop after Vienna turned out to be Munich. It is known as the beer capital of the world. It turns out I liked Munich. ORLY???
We spent two nights, each at a different hostel. The first was at a place called Jager's (Yeah, that's where the name is from) and the second was at this incredible placed called Wombat's. The first day it was still raining so we just grabbed some quick food, a ham panini if I remember right, and then kind of settled in before heading out for the night. There was an American guy who was living in Argentina that played poker for a living so we talked shop a good bit at the bar. Went to a bar next door, chilled with some more folks that we met up with, and then called it a night early. In retrospect that was a good thing.
The next day, the perfect day, we got up fairly early and got ready to go on a free bike tour of the city. The place had breakfast so ate and talked extensively in the lobby with a girl from Seattle. Also witnessed a hilarious exchange between a guy and a girl who had obviously hooked up the night before. The girl was clingy as hell. The guy couldn't get out of there fast enough with his friends. I choked on some strawberry preserves.
We met up for the bike tour and the guy who led it, Lenny (!), was ridiculously funny (like he could be anything else, CMON!). He took us around on some sweet California cruisers and gave funny anecdotes about just about everything from the nudist meadow, to the stupid glockenspiel clock and the dance that goes on, to his beer belly. We stopped at the biergarten and got a liter and some lunch and then saw a lot of the great stuff that Nate detailed. By the time we were done it was a little after three and we were in the mood for some action after being refreshed by a day off our feet. We had met four people on the tour who were down as well and decided to head to the Hofbrauhaus. 3 liters and about 4 hours later that had been filled with talk about brew, broads, biking, being abroad, and being deported by your own family from Thailand, we realized that our waiter hadn't spoken to us in well over an hour. We were in a place that seats 5000 people. We were ready to leave. All signs pointed to the dining maneuver you hear about from friends of friends and in urban legends. Thats right...the Dine and Dash. I'm proud to say that I am the one who initially suggested it. Perhaps karma caught up with me later (you'll see), but it was freaking worth it. I was laughing so hard and felt like a million bucks when the girls finally made it outside after about 10 minutes (we thought theyd gotten caught). We then went back to hostel row and the bars there. The two guys from FSU, Landis and Blake, decided they wanted to be loaded for their night train to Amsterdam. My jaw hit the bar when one asked for 3 shots of Jager and the other echoed, but the number had double to 6. I was in bed an hour later, or at least thats what I have been told.
3. ON THE FOLLY OF DISCOUNTING NATURE
After we left Munich we went to Fussen, Germany and Bregenz, Austria for two days. Probably the only two places that heavily involve being outdoors that we have visited thus far. Of course it rain incessantly and was freezing on both of those days. As a result I did not make it to Ludwig's castle, did not see Lake Constance in the middle of the Alps, and basically did a whole lot of nothing for two days. Was/Am I bitter? Not at all really. While it would have been great to see those things they were both in the middle of small towns that didn't have much else to offer, at least ostensibly. I walked around Fussen while Nate went to the castle and it was a very quaint little town even smaller than Hollidaysburg. I enjoyed it and being alone. Bregenz was kind of crappy but had a casino. I was pretty excited to go play poker but decided against it in the end because I didn't feel like concentrating too much and staying out of the rain and reading was a much more appealing option.
4. ON HOW AWESOME IT IS TO LOSE YOUR PASSPORT WHILE ABROAD
So we decided while we were in Fussen to skip Zurich and go directly to Venice before meeting up with Alice and Co. in Florence. I liked the idea. Little did I know that we would end up seeing Zurich anyway.
While making our way to Venice we went through Switzerland, switching trains a few times. I also keep (kept) my travel wallet out because the officials would check to see that we had tickets and passports with pretty fair regularity. Our changeovers were very quick; we only had about 5 minutes to get off our train and get to the correct platform before the next train came. As many of you already know or can surely guess I left my pouch on one of the trains while we were switching over. I really don't know how other than I grabbed my bag in a hurry and hustled to the next train. I didn't realize it was gone until we were on the next train for a few minutes. I wish I had a picture of my face when I realized what I had done. This was exponentially worse than forgetting about a paper until the morning it was due or the feeling I get when I fire a big bluff on the end and the guy snap calls before I even start sliding the money in the middle. I wanted to chew my leg off and then feed the bloody stump that remained to a wild pit bull army.
After getting off at the next stop and trying to get the passport back through the train authorities we really had only one option. Our efforts thwarted, we called Nate's friend from freshman year, Sascha, who lived in Zurich. We met up with him at the train station and he figured out just what we needed to do. It turned out there was no real embassy in Zurich so we would have to go to Bern the next day. We filed the loss online (which included far more than just my passport. I now am considerably poorer, have 1/3 of my original count of DS games, have no insurance card, have a 2nd EuRail train pass, cannot use the UPitt athletic facilities due to lack of an ID card, and am without a bunch of files from my jump drive, you know...just to name a few), called the consulate, found out I needed a police report and passport photos, and then called home a bunch of time to get a Western Union transfer from my parents (thanks Mom and Dad!). The whole process took about 8 hours with dinner thrown in there. I am happy that I never really panicked, that we thought things through rationally, and that Sascha's phone plan covered calls to Italy and the US. He's the real hero here, so I just want to say thank you sir for your generosity and help.
After that cluster fuck of a day we went to his house outside the city. One of his friends was having a party so went there and had some brews and some good conversation. Somehow Nate made it behind the wheel when we were driving home. I didn't care. We had a long day ahead and I was thinking only of getting this shitty situation resolved. Luckily it worked out pretty well. Apparently if I lose my passport again I can never have a fully valid one. Ever. Sweet. I'll try to remember that.
5. ON GUELPHS AND GHIBELLINES
With Switzerland memorably behind us we made our way to Florence to meet up with the brown wonder of the world, Alice. We woke up at like 6 and and didnt make it Florence until 10 because our high speed train broke and turned into a no speed train. Italian engineering in da house. It was a long ass day, but I guess I didn't really deserve to have it easy after my mighty gaffé. I was very happy to meet up with Alice. Her roommates became our roommates and we spent three very fine days in one of the great art cities in the world. Saw the Uffizi, saw David, and ate some great food. David was one of the most incredible things that I've ever seen. He's tall.
That's kind of a weak description but I haven't had a lot of time for reflection. We went at it pretty hard today in Rome but I'm sure Nate already wrote abotu that. I enjoyed it a lot. I'm excited to lie down.
Barcelona and San Sebastían coming up next. The beach. Haven't decided if I'll be getting in the water but am pumped at the idea of doing nothing.
Levi
In short, don't expect jack diddly after this lengthy entry. Entreaties for my version of events will be ignored entirely.
I'm gonna go chapter style:
1. ON MAKING FRIENDS IN FARAWAY PLACES
I was really impressed with Vienna and everything it had to offer. When Nate and I walked around on the first day it felt like there was way more than we could get to in three weeks let alone three days and that proved to be true. We did have a wonderful time there though and I must admit that much of my enjoyment was derived from spending that time with new and interesting people. One of the girls we met early on our trip referred to people met while traveling as "24 Hour Friends" which I think is a fair and apt description. We got to hang out with Natalie, Chris, and Melanie for two days so it was that much better. Nater and I still laugh about how on the one night we all got into our pijamas in the dorm, took turns using the bathroom, and then shut the light out and said goodnight as a group. If you guys are reading this good luck with your travels and many apologies for not making it back to the hostel. We missed the last bus by about 30 seconds.
Overall I loved Vienna and would go back in a heartbeat. To me it seems we didn't really get to hang out there because there was so much to do so I'd like to just take it easy for a day or two in a park.
2. ON THE PERFECT DAY
The next stop after Vienna turned out to be Munich. It is known as the beer capital of the world. It turns out I liked Munich. ORLY???
We spent two nights, each at a different hostel. The first was at a place called Jager's (Yeah, that's where the name is from) and the second was at this incredible placed called Wombat's. The first day it was still raining so we just grabbed some quick food, a ham panini if I remember right, and then kind of settled in before heading out for the night. There was an American guy who was living in Argentina that played poker for a living so we talked shop a good bit at the bar. Went to a bar next door, chilled with some more folks that we met up with, and then called it a night early. In retrospect that was a good thing.
The next day, the perfect day, we got up fairly early and got ready to go on a free bike tour of the city. The place had breakfast so ate and talked extensively in the lobby with a girl from Seattle. Also witnessed a hilarious exchange between a guy and a girl who had obviously hooked up the night before. The girl was clingy as hell. The guy couldn't get out of there fast enough with his friends. I choked on some strawberry preserves.
We met up for the bike tour and the guy who led it, Lenny (!), was ridiculously funny (like he could be anything else, CMON!). He took us around on some sweet California cruisers and gave funny anecdotes about just about everything from the nudist meadow, to the stupid glockenspiel clock and the dance that goes on, to his beer belly. We stopped at the biergarten and got a liter and some lunch and then saw a lot of the great stuff that Nate detailed. By the time we were done it was a little after three and we were in the mood for some action after being refreshed by a day off our feet. We had met four people on the tour who were down as well and decided to head to the Hofbrauhaus. 3 liters and about 4 hours later that had been filled with talk about brew, broads, biking, being abroad, and being deported by your own family from Thailand, we realized that our waiter hadn't spoken to us in well over an hour. We were in a place that seats 5000 people. We were ready to leave. All signs pointed to the dining maneuver you hear about from friends of friends and in urban legends. Thats right...the Dine and Dash. I'm proud to say that I am the one who initially suggested it. Perhaps karma caught up with me later (you'll see), but it was freaking worth it. I was laughing so hard and felt like a million bucks when the girls finally made it outside after about 10 minutes (we thought theyd gotten caught). We then went back to hostel row and the bars there. The two guys from FSU, Landis and Blake, decided they wanted to be loaded for their night train to Amsterdam. My jaw hit the bar when one asked for 3 shots of Jager and the other echoed, but the number had double to 6. I was in bed an hour later, or at least thats what I have been told.
3. ON THE FOLLY OF DISCOUNTING NATURE
After we left Munich we went to Fussen, Germany and Bregenz, Austria for two days. Probably the only two places that heavily involve being outdoors that we have visited thus far. Of course it rain incessantly and was freezing on both of those days. As a result I did not make it to Ludwig's castle, did not see Lake Constance in the middle of the Alps, and basically did a whole lot of nothing for two days. Was/Am I bitter? Not at all really. While it would have been great to see those things they were both in the middle of small towns that didn't have much else to offer, at least ostensibly. I walked around Fussen while Nate went to the castle and it was a very quaint little town even smaller than Hollidaysburg. I enjoyed it and being alone. Bregenz was kind of crappy but had a casino. I was pretty excited to go play poker but decided against it in the end because I didn't feel like concentrating too much and staying out of the rain and reading was a much more appealing option.
4. ON HOW AWESOME IT IS TO LOSE YOUR PASSPORT WHILE ABROAD
So we decided while we were in Fussen to skip Zurich and go directly to Venice before meeting up with Alice and Co. in Florence. I liked the idea. Little did I know that we would end up seeing Zurich anyway.
While making our way to Venice we went through Switzerland, switching trains a few times. I also keep (kept) my travel wallet out because the officials would check to see that we had tickets and passports with pretty fair regularity. Our changeovers were very quick; we only had about 5 minutes to get off our train and get to the correct platform before the next train came. As many of you already know or can surely guess I left my pouch on one of the trains while we were switching over. I really don't know how other than I grabbed my bag in a hurry and hustled to the next train. I didn't realize it was gone until we were on the next train for a few minutes. I wish I had a picture of my face when I realized what I had done. This was exponentially worse than forgetting about a paper until the morning it was due or the feeling I get when I fire a big bluff on the end and the guy snap calls before I even start sliding the money in the middle. I wanted to chew my leg off and then feed the bloody stump that remained to a wild pit bull army.
After getting off at the next stop and trying to get the passport back through the train authorities we really had only one option. Our efforts thwarted, we called Nate's friend from freshman year, Sascha, who lived in Zurich. We met up with him at the train station and he figured out just what we needed to do. It turned out there was no real embassy in Zurich so we would have to go to Bern the next day. We filed the loss online (which included far more than just my passport. I now am considerably poorer, have 1/3 of my original count of DS games, have no insurance card, have a 2nd EuRail train pass, cannot use the UPitt athletic facilities due to lack of an ID card, and am without a bunch of files from my jump drive, you know...just to name a few), called the consulate, found out I needed a police report and passport photos, and then called home a bunch of time to get a Western Union transfer from my parents (thanks Mom and Dad!). The whole process took about 8 hours with dinner thrown in there. I am happy that I never really panicked, that we thought things through rationally, and that Sascha's phone plan covered calls to Italy and the US. He's the real hero here, so I just want to say thank you sir for your generosity and help.
After that cluster fuck of a day we went to his house outside the city. One of his friends was having a party so went there and had some brews and some good conversation. Somehow Nate made it behind the wheel when we were driving home. I didn't care. We had a long day ahead and I was thinking only of getting this shitty situation resolved. Luckily it worked out pretty well. Apparently if I lose my passport again I can never have a fully valid one. Ever. Sweet. I'll try to remember that.
5. ON GUELPHS AND GHIBELLINES
With Switzerland memorably behind us we made our way to Florence to meet up with the brown wonder of the world, Alice. We woke up at like 6 and and didnt make it Florence until 10 because our high speed train broke and turned into a no speed train. Italian engineering in da house. It was a long ass day, but I guess I didn't really deserve to have it easy after my mighty gaffé. I was very happy to meet up with Alice. Her roommates became our roommates and we spent three very fine days in one of the great art cities in the world. Saw the Uffizi, saw David, and ate some great food. David was one of the most incredible things that I've ever seen. He's tall.
That's kind of a weak description but I haven't had a lot of time for reflection. We went at it pretty hard today in Rome but I'm sure Nate already wrote abotu that. I enjoyed it a lot. I'm excited to lie down.
Barcelona and San Sebastían coming up next. The beach. Haven't decided if I'll be getting in the water but am pumped at the idea of doing nothing.
Levi
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Firenze, Italia
Florence is gorgeous. Sara wasn't messing around whenever she told me how great it is here. We've been here since Thursday night and we're taking off tomorrow for Roma. Alice, Levi's girlfriend, is currently studying in Rome. She made the trip up to Florence, along with three of her roommates, and it has been an absolute blast.
Some highlights:
Some highlights:
- Michelangelo's David
- The Florence Cathedral and hiking 439 steps to the top of the Duomo
- Wine
- The Ufizzi Gallery
- Piazza Michelangelo
- Gelato
- Espresso
- Panninis
Pretty much everything has been super. Last night, after some wine, I haggled a street vendor for a fake Louis Voiton (sp?) handbag that I had no intention on buying from €45 to €15. Everyone got a kick out of it.
Oh another thing. A couple years back my Uncle Jim told me about the image of a fly that appears in urinals in Germany. Anyways, I couldn't find any flies in Germany, but while taking a leak at the train station in Zurich I found the fly. My goals for my backpacking in Europe have been completed.
Roma tomorrow! Vatican on Monday! Barcelona on Thursday!
Note: Levi, you need to spellcheck this.
Friday, June 1, 2007
ITALY!
I'm not really going to say much, because it is all on Levi. Lets just say, the duck loses things easily.
We didn't make it to Venice (you'll find out why), but we're in Florence and it is awesome!
We saw the David statue today and went on top of the dome of the Santa Maria Cathedral. It was pretty amazing.
We didn't make it to Venice (you'll find out why), but we're in Florence and it is awesome!
We saw the David statue today and went on top of the dome of the Santa Maria Cathedral. It was pretty amazing.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Rain Rain Go Away
The past two days have been filled with lots of rain and cold temperatures. To our luck they were the two days on our trip that were outdoors oriented. I went to Schloss Neuschwanstein Castle yesterday in Füssen, Bavaria, while Levi stayed dry. The castle was built by Mad Ludwig in the late 1800's and is the castle that Sleeping Beauty's Castle was based off of. Definitely an awesome visit and worth seeing, even in the rain.
Today we're on the coast of Lake Constance in Bregenz, Austria. The lake is awesome, but it's freezing out and we're stuck indoors.
Scratched out Zürich. Venice, Italy tomorrow!
Today we're on the coast of Lake Constance in Bregenz, Austria. The lake is awesome, but it's freezing out and we're stuck indoors.
Scratched out Zürich. Venice, Italy tomorrow!
Monday, May 28, 2007
We're Still Truckin
Since I didn't post or email all weekend, I guess I worried some of you. Sorry about that, my bad. Münchon, or Munich, has been pretty awesome, which has left no time until now to use the internet facilities. So here it goes...
Saturday, we left the most gorgeous hostel ever in Vienna. The place was incredible and overlooked all of Vienna. It was a complete hippy hostel, had free breakfast, but was a good 20 minutes outside of the city. The train ride went across Austria to Salzburg, where we changed trains to get to Munich. The ride was a good 5 hours, but was filled with beautiful landscapes. We actually got our first, but not last, glimpse of the Alps.
We got to Munich, checked into our hostel, and it rained. After the down pour, Levi and I walked into the center of town through the tourist track to the Hofbanhaus. The Hofbanhaus is the largest beer hall in Munich (I think second largest in the world), seats 5,000 people, and serves 10,000 liters of beer in the dead of winter. We each enjoyed a liter of Bavarian brew, then headed back to the Jaeger Hostel.
While hanging out in the bar in the Jaeger Hostel we met two Aussies named Ollie and Ross. Excellent mates who are doing an excursion similar to ours, but multiplied times 1,000,000. The started in Australia, did a little US tour (San Fran, LA, and NYC), two month Euro trip, then to Tokyo! Pretty insane. We chilled out with them for a while, then turned into bed fairly early.
In the morning we checked out of Jaeger's, checked into Wombat's (next door), and departed for a free bike tour. We've seen things like this all over Europe, where the tour guides simply work for tips. This tour in Munich was three and a half hours long and included a cruiser, for FREE! Our tour guide's name was Lenny and he was the man.
Things we saw on the tour:
Saturday, we left the most gorgeous hostel ever in Vienna. The place was incredible and overlooked all of Vienna. It was a complete hippy hostel, had free breakfast, but was a good 20 minutes outside of the city. The train ride went across Austria to Salzburg, where we changed trains to get to Munich. The ride was a good 5 hours, but was filled with beautiful landscapes. We actually got our first, but not last, glimpse of the Alps.
We got to Munich, checked into our hostel, and it rained. After the down pour, Levi and I walked into the center of town through the tourist track to the Hofbanhaus. The Hofbanhaus is the largest beer hall in Munich (I think second largest in the world), seats 5,000 people, and serves 10,000 liters of beer in the dead of winter. We each enjoyed a liter of Bavarian brew, then headed back to the Jaeger Hostel.
While hanging out in the bar in the Jaeger Hostel we met two Aussies named Ollie and Ross. Excellent mates who are doing an excursion similar to ours, but multiplied times 1,000,000. The started in Australia, did a little US tour (San Fran, LA, and NYC), two month Euro trip, then to Tokyo! Pretty insane. We chilled out with them for a while, then turned into bed fairly early.
In the morning we checked out of Jaeger's, checked into Wombat's (next door), and departed for a free bike tour. We've seen things like this all over Europe, where the tour guides simply work for tips. This tour in Munich was three and a half hours long and included a cruiser, for FREE! Our tour guide's name was Lenny and he was the man.
Things we saw on the tour:
- The historical side of Munich
- The Hofbanhaus
- The English Gardens (twice the size of Cenral Park)
- A nudist meadow
- Beer Garden in the English Gardens (I bought a liter stine for €2.60, which now has to fit in my pack)
- River surfers (the water rushes under a bridge and forms a wave on the other side where people actually surf the wake)
We met four people on the tour. Landis and Blake, who are two frat guy from Florida State and doing the same thing as us. Ali and Emily, who are Fulton Scholars from the states and teaching English in a small town in northern Deutchland. The 6 of us went to the Hofbanhaus after the tour and enjoyed many liters of Bavarian brew. Excellent time. We eventually made it back to the WomBar in the hostel where the fun continued.
Ah running out of internet time!
Cheers
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