It has been great to see Ashley. Of all my friends, she is the most unlike me. She is as witty and blunt as it gets and is one of the most quotable people I know... her brain just works in a different and much more creative way than mine. I told her last week that if she were in a book, the introduction of her character would include the phrase "undeniably cool."
We mostly just relaxed and cooked and finished getting her settled (i.e. went to Ikea). There is an amazing open air farmer's market in Barcelona (butchers, fresh seafood, cheese stands, and really high-quality, cheap fruits and vegetables). We've only bought produce so far, but it has been fun to walk around.
My train pass was ending, so I went to Madrid for 36 hours and really enjoyed the walking tour there. As we were moving from one sight to another, the guide said to us, "And we are passing the American embassy on our right." He simultaneously gestured toward a McDonald's. :)
Jeff and I met back up in Barcelona without a hitch and have adapted a very relaxed schedule. We have gone to the beach twice, but also did a Gaudi tour. Gaudi was an eccentric Spanish architect. At one house I told Jeff I felt like I was at Disneyland and then at the next at The Grinch's summer house.
We have ran into WAY more Americans in Barcelona than any other city, especially at the hostel we're at now. Maybe it's because it boasts a gym (which is a massive embellishment). Jeff's first night in Barcelona we stayed at a huge party hostel and when we got to our room it was empty. A girl came in and after exchanging names, Jeff asked where she was from and she said "Portland". We quickly figured out it was her first night in Europe because experienced Oregonians know that 99 percent of the people you come across in Europe will require much more explanation. She lucked out having fellow Oregonians who knew her hometown as her first roommates. We just looked at her incredulously and then laughed. We have eased into the habit of saying something along the lines of, "The US" and then upon further prodding of location: "Portland, Oregon... the state directly north of California." Without the followup description we are given a vague "Oh, okay" with an uncertain nod.
In any case, I am making plans to stock up on musli to take home and cook "American breakfast" for my friends in Copenhagen one last time while I am there for 36 hours before flying home.
I am beyond excited to get back home after a fun, but long trip. I will spend a few days in Seattle with Julie and then head back to Portland to get everything in order before I start work two weeks from tomorrow! As I told Ashley the other day, I think I have been a 30-year old since I wad 12, so I am very excited to start work and finally begin my career. A twinge of nervousness popped up a couple days ago, but I think that will settle once I get a couple weeks in.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone when I get home. My mom is joining my dad in Europe a couple days after I get back and I have secured permission to have a BBQ/ beer pong day while they're gone... I am thinking it'll be the last weekend of September because both OSU and UO football are on the road. Let me know if you have a date preference.
Also, Jeff and I were talking about volunteering options for me now that I will have a permanent location. Right now I am leaning towards Big Brother, Big Sister... maybe with a Spanish-speaking child to help me practice. I'm also considering trail clean-ups or something basketball related. Let me know if you have any ideas for me!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Sevilla & La Tomatina
I had planned to go to Salamanca from Rota to couchsurf with some students there, but stopped in Sevilla for a night. I didn't finish getting checked into my hostel until about 4:30pm and set out on a whirlwind tour of the city for three or four hours. I went to the Palace of Alcazar, which dates back to the year 913. Hmmm... I wish I had grown up on a farm so I could estimate the acreage of the garden, but it was huge! These pictures only show a fraction.
My favorite thing in Sevilla was the Plaza de Espana. Even though it was under construction, I was still able to enjoy the tile mosaics. There is a tiled alcove representing each of the provinces of Spain. (If I had to guess, I'd say there are about 40.)
My hostel is Sevilla is part of the same group that my Greek hostel is in: "World Famous Hostels". After exploring the city, I went back to the hostel for Paella night. It was really good and now the only other major thing I need to find is authentic gazpahcho! I saw it in the store today, but I want to hold out for the real deal. I had an 11:30 train to Madrid the next morning, so I woke up and was the first one at the cathedral. It is the world's largest gothic cathedral and contains the tomb of Christopher Columbus. It also has a tower that you can go up and see the city from. I had the platform to myself because I was so early.
Some of the people I was hanging out with at the hostel mentioned that they were going to La Tomatina, the tomato fight in Buñol. I had completely forgotten about it! So I changed my plans and went from Sevilla to Madrid to Valencia. When I got there, it quickly became clear that there would be nowhere to stay. I knew people partied the whole night before the festival in Buñol, so I just headed there and met some people along the way. The outdoor clubs, etc the night before were fun, but I was really tired the next day. The actually fight doesn't start until after they blow a horn at 11 and squeeze five (European-sized) semi trucks into already jam-packed streets. I am glad I was able to experience and I can say I did it, but between being sleep-deprived, dehydrated, and not having goggles to protect my eyes, I ended up not enjoying it all that much. I kind of got stuck in the middle of the crowd and people are literally compressing from all sides for hours... to the point that it was hard to breathe.
I was so tired that I decided I didn't want to move around too much more and just wanted to go to Barcelona to see my friend Ashley from undergrad. So, long story short, I am here and it feels fantastic to have clean clothes and not have to lock my bag. Plus, I definitely took a "Hollywood shower" this morning... it was like 20 minutes. I finally feel clean after a few too many days of dirty clothes and sparse showers!
My favorite thing in Sevilla was the Plaza de Espana. Even though it was under construction, I was still able to enjoy the tile mosaics. There is a tiled alcove representing each of the provinces of Spain. (If I had to guess, I'd say there are about 40.)
My hostel is Sevilla is part of the same group that my Greek hostel is in: "World Famous Hostels". After exploring the city, I went back to the hostel for Paella night. It was really good and now the only other major thing I need to find is authentic gazpahcho! I saw it in the store today, but I want to hold out for the real deal. I had an 11:30 train to Madrid the next morning, so I woke up and was the first one at the cathedral. It is the world's largest gothic cathedral and contains the tomb of Christopher Columbus. It also has a tower that you can go up and see the city from. I had the platform to myself because I was so early.
Some of the people I was hanging out with at the hostel mentioned that they were going to La Tomatina, the tomato fight in Buñol. I had completely forgotten about it! So I changed my plans and went from Sevilla to Madrid to Valencia. When I got there, it quickly became clear that there would be nowhere to stay. I knew people partied the whole night before the festival in Buñol, so I just headed there and met some people along the way. The outdoor clubs, etc the night before were fun, but I was really tired the next day. The actually fight doesn't start until after they blow a horn at 11 and squeeze five (European-sized) semi trucks into already jam-packed streets. I am glad I was able to experience and I can say I did it, but between being sleep-deprived, dehydrated, and not having goggles to protect my eyes, I ended up not enjoying it all that much. I kind of got stuck in the middle of the crowd and people are literally compressing from all sides for hours... to the point that it was hard to breathe.
I was so tired that I decided I didn't want to move around too much more and just wanted to go to Barcelona to see my friend Ashley from undergrad. So, long story short, I am here and it feels fantastic to have clean clothes and not have to lock my bag. Plus, I definitely took a "Hollywood shower" this morning... it was like 20 minutes. I finally feel clean after a few too many days of dirty clothes and sparse showers!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Spain
Wine tasting in Bordeaux ended up consisting of staying there one night, buying a couple bottles at a convenience store and taking a train to Spain to enjoy the wine there. Fine by us.
When we arrived in San Sebastian last Saturday, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was the first day of "semana grande". We're still not really sure why they have a celebratory week, but enjoyed world-class fireworks every night (from distances not considered safe in the US... it was cool to be so close). Every night, another country or region of Spain put on 20 minutes of gran finale quality fireworks and at the end of the week local judges choose a winner. They also had evening parades of about eight 30-ft tall figures being carried by single people who danced and twirled around. They also had 15 people dressed up in costumes wearing masks that were like over-sized bobbleheads. They went around hitting children with balloons on ropes and parents tried to steer their children to get hit... I really want to find out the reasoning for this! Everyone was laughing and having a good time though.
We took a week of intensive Spanish classes and now have one week to practice as we travel before heading to Barcelona where they speak a different dialect. Jeff went hiking with a buddy from his class and went to the Gugenheim in Bilbao and I went to the southern coast to couchsurf with an American who is a naval officer at the base here in Rota. His apartment is approximately 10 feet from the beach promenade. We went out to tapas the night I got here and tried sherry from this region (very raisiny). Yesterday, I went to the beach for a couple hours and then came back and read part of a biography of Teddy Roosevelt (it felt great to have access to an English book again!) from his balcony that overlooks the beach. Last night, we met up with two friends of his who live on the naval base and went to town for dinner.
Now, I'm heading to Sevilla for a day and then to couchsurf and practice Spanish in Salamanca for a few days. Not really sure when I will meet back up with Jeff?
I fly to Seattle September 10th and will be in Portland September 12th or 13th!
When we arrived in San Sebastian last Saturday, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was the first day of "semana grande". We're still not really sure why they have a celebratory week, but enjoyed world-class fireworks every night (from distances not considered safe in the US... it was cool to be so close). Every night, another country or region of Spain put on 20 minutes of gran finale quality fireworks and at the end of the week local judges choose a winner. They also had evening parades of about eight 30-ft tall figures being carried by single people who danced and twirled around. They also had 15 people dressed up in costumes wearing masks that were like over-sized bobbleheads. They went around hitting children with balloons on ropes and parents tried to steer their children to get hit... I really want to find out the reasoning for this! Everyone was laughing and having a good time though.
We took a week of intensive Spanish classes and now have one week to practice as we travel before heading to Barcelona where they speak a different dialect. Jeff went hiking with a buddy from his class and went to the Gugenheim in Bilbao and I went to the southern coast to couchsurf with an American who is a naval officer at the base here in Rota. His apartment is approximately 10 feet from the beach promenade. We went out to tapas the night I got here and tried sherry from this region (very raisiny). Yesterday, I went to the beach for a couple hours and then came back and read part of a biography of Teddy Roosevelt (it felt great to have access to an English book again!) from his balcony that overlooks the beach. Last night, we met up with two friends of his who live on the naval base and went to town for dinner.
Now, I'm heading to Sevilla for a day and then to couchsurf and practice Spanish in Salamanca for a few days. Not really sure when I will meet back up with Jeff?
I fly to Seattle September 10th and will be in Portland September 12th or 13th!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Maybe There's More to France Than Baguettes
I've been slacking on my blog updates because I feel like I'm simply not funny enough to make them interesting without pictures! :)
It was quite a struggle to meet back up with Dad and Jeff, but it was obviously really comforting when we finally did connect. I rode the ferry from Greece to Italy with three Spanish guys and they taught me how to play a Spanish card game. Spain uses a different deck with different suits (e.g. sticks) and numbers 1-7 and 10-12. Their face cards are different too (a 10 is a "girl"). At least they kept me entertained before we set up camp on the floor of the ferry restaurant.
I previously thought France was one of my least favorite European countries, but I had only really been to Paris, Marseilles, and Nice. After four days of traveling, I was pretty delirious the first evening with Dad and Jeff, but I was taken aback by the beautiful views of nearby cliffs when I woke up the next morning. We stayed at a bed and breakfast outside of Annecy (a 2018 Olympic site candidate) on a cheese farm. Dad helped out on the farm (mostly in the garden) for four days before we got there to practice his French and the family liked him a lot. It was refreshing to meet some down-to-earth French people and they were extremely friendly and welcoming. We woke up every morning to a freshly-made tart, an array of specialty cheeses, fresh apple juice, homemade jam, straight-out-of-the-cow milk, and sometimes fresh yogurt.
They knew I was tired, so we skipped hiking on my first day and went to Chateau de Menthon, which was the castle of Saint Bernard (famous for his assistance to travelers, dog, and refuge). It is still inhabited by a descendant. The current inhabitant is a retired engineer (I appreciated that he worked even though he inherited a castle, etc.) and his father was in the French parliament and an advisor in WW1.
Now, I enjoy hiking, but maybe not quite to the level that Dad and Jeff do. It's just not a productive vacation day to Dad without a hike. He adjusted to a Jeff-and-Lisa itinerary to maximize his time with us though... that basically means putting in relaxing days of just hanging out in the city about every other day.
On my first trip to Europe, Julie, Mom and I coined the term "clike". It is a hike that is so steep that it is almost a climb. We developed this phrase while dragging roller suitcases (just carry-on, but still!) up a rooty incline to our former-castle hostel up a German mountainside. Dad and Jeff took me on numerous clikes, frequently unintentionally. I learned to not let the phrase, "Don't worry; it will just be a short two-hour hike..." get me too excited. Two hours? Ya right, maybe if you stay on the initially intended trail, but who would want to do that?!?!
"Oh I think if we take this other path just to the top of this hill, we'd have an even BETTER view... the paths probably meet back up anyway. "
Or my personal favorite, which led to 1.5 hours of climbing down a landslide-prone hill of rocks to get about 15 minutes farther down the path:
"Lets go up this way, it looks like it spreads out the incline over a longer span."
We really did have some awesome views both of and out from Mont Blanc, of a cirque with waterfalls, an intensely blue mountain lakes, multiple fauna (some antelope-type things were loving our path), and some beautiful rocky mountainsides.
Yesterday was rainy so we went indoor rock climbing. Jeff goes all the time at home, but I don't think I've ever done it. Jeff had to re-teach me to belay since it had been a while. He said I was pretty natural at it for being new to it (but maybe he was just saying that because he wants me to start up the hobby at home.) My forearms are super sore today since I haven't really done anything requiring arm strength for about three months!
We've also had some excellent food in the last week, including random concoctions by Jeff and me in our kitchen. Without recipes we made ratatouille-esqe vegetable/sausage soup, fresh ravioli with pesto and sausage, a parmesan-herb crusted white fish (although we don't know what kind of fish it was), fresh gnocchi with vegetables, and broccoli with herbed goat cheese a la my German friend Lisa. We went out to some casual restaurants and had things like honey-Reblechon pizza, Croque Madame (toast, ham, cheese, and egg), and mountain-refuge omelets. We also went to some fancy restaurants and had beignets (which were not at all like at home), shredded salad (which was excellent), escargot, garlic mussels, and raclette.
Jeff and I had both had raclette in Switzerland before, served as a dish of a melted cheese with onion, pickles, and meat. The menu said that the fondue and raclette had to be ordered by at least two people at the table for them to give it to you. Okay, weird. Well, it made sense as the waiter emerged from the kitchen. I wish I had a picture of the looks on our faces when he brought out a large plate of charceturie (an array of specialty sliced meats), onions, and pickles... and then there was the approximately two-pound wedge of cheese on a swinging metal platform next to a 8" charcoal cage. This contraption was conveniently placed on the open spot on my side of the table. I spent the next hour and a half perfecting the process of allowing an outer layer of cheese to melt, slicing us some, taking a few bites and then repeating it. It was entertaining to say the least. Jeff and I thought of the "...and you ate a whole wheel of cheese? I'm not even mad. I'm impressed" quote multiple times. Then we split the best creme brûlée I've ever had. :)
Today Jeff and I head to Bordeaux to do some wine tasting... although we've had quite a few different wines on our own at this point. Dad is heading to the Grenoble area to stay with a French penpal of his who is a retired school principal. Sunday Jeff and I are moving on to Spain to take intensive Spanish classes in San Sebastian, which is a beach town. Jeff is pretty good, but I took German, so I am excited to get my Español on!
I'm getting extremely excited to come home soon!
It was quite a struggle to meet back up with Dad and Jeff, but it was obviously really comforting when we finally did connect. I rode the ferry from Greece to Italy with three Spanish guys and they taught me how to play a Spanish card game. Spain uses a different deck with different suits (e.g. sticks) and numbers 1-7 and 10-12. Their face cards are different too (a 10 is a "girl"). At least they kept me entertained before we set up camp on the floor of the ferry restaurant.
I previously thought France was one of my least favorite European countries, but I had only really been to Paris, Marseilles, and Nice. After four days of traveling, I was pretty delirious the first evening with Dad and Jeff, but I was taken aback by the beautiful views of nearby cliffs when I woke up the next morning. We stayed at a bed and breakfast outside of Annecy (a 2018 Olympic site candidate) on a cheese farm. Dad helped out on the farm (mostly in the garden) for four days before we got there to practice his French and the family liked him a lot. It was refreshing to meet some down-to-earth French people and they were extremely friendly and welcoming. We woke up every morning to a freshly-made tart, an array of specialty cheeses, fresh apple juice, homemade jam, straight-out-of-the-cow milk, and sometimes fresh yogurt.
They knew I was tired, so we skipped hiking on my first day and went to Chateau de Menthon, which was the castle of Saint Bernard (famous for his assistance to travelers, dog, and refuge). It is still inhabited by a descendant. The current inhabitant is a retired engineer (I appreciated that he worked even though he inherited a castle, etc.) and his father was in the French parliament and an advisor in WW1.
Now, I enjoy hiking, but maybe not quite to the level that Dad and Jeff do. It's just not a productive vacation day to Dad without a hike. He adjusted to a Jeff-and-Lisa itinerary to maximize his time with us though... that basically means putting in relaxing days of just hanging out in the city about every other day.
On my first trip to Europe, Julie, Mom and I coined the term "clike". It is a hike that is so steep that it is almost a climb. We developed this phrase while dragging roller suitcases (just carry-on, but still!) up a rooty incline to our former-castle hostel up a German mountainside. Dad and Jeff took me on numerous clikes, frequently unintentionally. I learned to not let the phrase, "Don't worry; it will just be a short two-hour hike..." get me too excited. Two hours? Ya right, maybe if you stay on the initially intended trail, but who would want to do that?!?!
"Oh I think if we take this other path just to the top of this hill, we'd have an even BETTER view... the paths probably meet back up anyway. "
Or my personal favorite, which led to 1.5 hours of climbing down a landslide-prone hill of rocks to get about 15 minutes farther down the path:
"Lets go up this way, it looks like it spreads out the incline over a longer span."
We really did have some awesome views both of and out from Mont Blanc, of a cirque with waterfalls, an intensely blue mountain lakes, multiple fauna (some antelope-type things were loving our path), and some beautiful rocky mountainsides.
Yesterday was rainy so we went indoor rock climbing. Jeff goes all the time at home, but I don't think I've ever done it. Jeff had to re-teach me to belay since it had been a while. He said I was pretty natural at it for being new to it (but maybe he was just saying that because he wants me to start up the hobby at home.) My forearms are super sore today since I haven't really done anything requiring arm strength for about three months!
We've also had some excellent food in the last week, including random concoctions by Jeff and me in our kitchen. Without recipes we made ratatouille-esqe vegetable/sausage soup, fresh ravioli with pesto and sausage, a parmesan-herb crusted white fish (although we don't know what kind of fish it was), fresh gnocchi with vegetables, and broccoli with herbed goat cheese a la my German friend Lisa. We went out to some casual restaurants and had things like honey-Reblechon pizza, Croque Madame (toast, ham, cheese, and egg), and mountain-refuge omelets. We also went to some fancy restaurants and had beignets (which were not at all like at home), shredded salad (which was excellent), escargot, garlic mussels, and raclette.
Jeff and I had both had raclette in Switzerland before, served as a dish of a melted cheese with onion, pickles, and meat. The menu said that the fondue and raclette had to be ordered by at least two people at the table for them to give it to you. Okay, weird. Well, it made sense as the waiter emerged from the kitchen. I wish I had a picture of the looks on our faces when he brought out a large plate of charceturie (an array of specialty sliced meats), onions, and pickles... and then there was the approximately two-pound wedge of cheese on a swinging metal platform next to a 8" charcoal cage. This contraption was conveniently placed on the open spot on my side of the table. I spent the next hour and a half perfecting the process of allowing an outer layer of cheese to melt, slicing us some, taking a few bites and then repeating it. It was entertaining to say the least. Jeff and I thought of the "...and you ate a whole wheel of cheese? I'm not even mad. I'm impressed" quote multiple times. Then we split the best creme brûlée I've ever had. :)
Today Jeff and I head to Bordeaux to do some wine tasting... although we've had quite a few different wines on our own at this point. Dad is heading to the Grenoble area to stay with a French penpal of his who is a retired school principal. Sunday Jeff and I are moving on to Spain to take intensive Spanish classes in San Sebastian, which is a beach town. Jeff is pretty good, but I took German, so I am excited to get my Español on!
I'm getting extremely excited to come home soon!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Greece! (Corfu and Athens)
After some ferry complications on my way to Greece, I spent two days on the island of Corfu, one day in Athens, and then another day back on Corfu. The hostel is famous for it's booze cruise, but most of the attendees were about 20 and the activities sounded a bit immature and/or vulgar. So, instead I did a kayak tour for five hours on one day. It included a cliff jump. The cliff seemed rather daunting from the top, but once we were in the water and looking back up at it, we realized it was only 30 feet or so. We also stopped to do some snorkeling, which was extremely unexciting. There were a few small, grey fish, but I quickly decided I would rather relax on the beach than waste my time looking at some rocks and seaweed.
I did a quad tour the next day. I don't do a lot of four-wheeling at home, so I had a lot of fun and found that I became comfortable with the steering quite quickly. We went up to the highest point on the island to have lunch and take pictures and played "wasp baseball", which is esentially trying to swat as many wasps with your sandal as possible.
Speaking of sandals... I only brought two pairs of footwear on the trip: one pair of running shoes and one pair of athletic flip flops. They suggested we do the quad tour in flip flops because we were going to stop at the beach. Well, mine wouldn't start with the button on the handle, so I had to kick start it. I definitely broke a flip flop in the process. I was lucky it happened before we left the parking lot because I was able to just run and put on shoes really quick. Another girls' broke halfway through! Anyway, the point of sharing this was to point out that I discovered that it is quite hard to find women's sandals in MY SIZE in Greece. I eventually found a pair that will work as a temporary solution.
I found them in ATHENS, which was my next destination. I had repeatedly heard two things about Athens: 1) it's dirty and 2) you can see everything in one day. Both were accurate. I took an overnight bus from my hostel and arrived in Athens around 7am and then left at 10pm on the return bus back to hostel. I didn't feel like planning or stressing, so I did a five-hour walking tour.
I have always wanted to go to Greece because I had seen pictures of and heard about my parents' trips. I didn't think it was going to be possible this summer, but I am glad it worked out. The Parthenon was obviously impressive, but I actually liked the structure across the acropolis better. It is unique in that it has a set of columns in the shape of women, rather than the traditional styles. It's where Poseidon and Athena competed for the gods to win the right to name and rule the city. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and made a salt water fountain spring up. At the time, the gods did not understand the importance of water and were more impressed by the olive tree that Athena was able to sprout because it represented future agricultural success. We also saw the 1896 Olympic sight (where the first modern-day Olympics were held), which is now rarely used. In 2004 it was only used for smaller events like archery.
I was surprised to find out that dolmas (aka grape leaves) are a winter product and was unable to have any. However, I did enjoy spanikopita, baklava, and gyros. I also learned that Americans say tzatziki wrong. I have always prnounced it ta-zee-kee, but they pronounce it more similar to how it is spelled. Also, the baklava I had not-surpisingly put the baklava I made for a sixth grade project to shame. Spanikopita was my favorite thing I had though (i.e. spinach pie in a thin pastry dough).
Connecting back up with dad and Jeff could be tricky. We are meeting in about 24 hours and have not really concluded on a time or place. Plus, between the two of us, there's a pretty good chance that either Jeff or I will get delayed. Hopefully it will work out!
I did a quad tour the next day. I don't do a lot of four-wheeling at home, so I had a lot of fun and found that I became comfortable with the steering quite quickly. We went up to the highest point on the island to have lunch and take pictures and played "wasp baseball", which is esentially trying to swat as many wasps with your sandal as possible.
Speaking of sandals... I only brought two pairs of footwear on the trip: one pair of running shoes and one pair of athletic flip flops. They suggested we do the quad tour in flip flops because we were going to stop at the beach. Well, mine wouldn't start with the button on the handle, so I had to kick start it. I definitely broke a flip flop in the process. I was lucky it happened before we left the parking lot because I was able to just run and put on shoes really quick. Another girls' broke halfway through! Anyway, the point of sharing this was to point out that I discovered that it is quite hard to find women's sandals in MY SIZE in Greece. I eventually found a pair that will work as a temporary solution.
I found them in ATHENS, which was my next destination. I had repeatedly heard two things about Athens: 1) it's dirty and 2) you can see everything in one day. Both were accurate. I took an overnight bus from my hostel and arrived in Athens around 7am and then left at 10pm on the return bus back to hostel. I didn't feel like planning or stressing, so I did a five-hour walking tour.
I have always wanted to go to Greece because I had seen pictures of and heard about my parents' trips. I didn't think it was going to be possible this summer, but I am glad it worked out. The Parthenon was obviously impressive, but I actually liked the structure across the acropolis better. It is unique in that it has a set of columns in the shape of women, rather than the traditional styles. It's where Poseidon and Athena competed for the gods to win the right to name and rule the city. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and made a salt water fountain spring up. At the time, the gods did not understand the importance of water and were more impressed by the olive tree that Athena was able to sprout because it represented future agricultural success. We also saw the 1896 Olympic sight (where the first modern-day Olympics were held), which is now rarely used. In 2004 it was only used for smaller events like archery.
I was surprised to find out that dolmas (aka grape leaves) are a winter product and was unable to have any. However, I did enjoy spanikopita, baklava, and gyros. I also learned that Americans say tzatziki wrong. I have always prnounced it ta-zee-kee, but they pronounce it more similar to how it is spelled. Also, the baklava I had not-surpisingly put the baklava I made for a sixth grade project to shame. Spanikopita was my favorite thing I had though (i.e. spinach pie in a thin pastry dough).
Connecting back up with dad and Jeff could be tricky. We are meeting in about 24 hours and have not really concluded on a time or place. Plus, between the two of us, there's a pretty good chance that either Jeff or I will get delayed. Hopefully it will work out!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Some other random thoughts:
I read three books between Heidelberg and Marseille, but I haven't been able to find a book in English to start back up. Here's a quote from a book I borrowed from the French girl, it's referring to playing the Oregon Trail computer game back in middle school: "I would load up the wagon with people I loathed, like my math teacher. Then I would intentionally lose the game, starving her or fording a river when I knew she was weak." :) My favorite of the three was The Bretheren by John Grisham.
When people ask where I'm from, I normally reply that I am "from The States". It seems like the Europeans use the term "American" more than I do. Don't get me wrong, I'm patriotic, I just don't usually use that word to describe myself.
Jeff and I have agreed that for the last couple weeks, it has been about 10 degrees hotter than our ideal temperature... in Celsius.
My parents are ultimate planners, but it wasn't until my dad got a reminder to check in for his flight that he realized that he thought his flight was a day later than it actually was. He made it to France though and we can't wait to see him in a week!
When people ask where I'm from, I normally reply that I am "from The States". It seems like the Europeans use the term "American" more than I do. Don't get me wrong, I'm patriotic, I just don't usually use that word to describe myself.
Jeff and I have agreed that for the last couple weeks, it has been about 10 degrees hotter than our ideal temperature... in Celsius.
My parents are ultimate planners, but it wasn't until my dad got a reminder to check in for his flight that he realized that he thought his flight was a day later than it actually was. He made it to France though and we can't wait to see him in a week!
About halfway through!
Our time in Florence was delayed twice due to our laziness... we just don't enjoy long train rides. When we left Marseilles, we saw the beach in Nice as we were pulling into the station and decided to stay there for two nights. We mostly just relaxed, but we did go to an archaeology museum and up to a chateau that overlooked the city. A Turkish guy came with us and talking with him about the different parts of Turkey made me wish I had time to go. We had socca (a tortilla-type thing, made with olive oil and a special flour) and farcis (like stuffed mushrooms, but with other vegetables such as tomato, onion, and zucchini). After the chataeu we went to the beach, which had pebbles instead of sand. It was our first time in the Medditerranean! It was predictably quite warm, but surprisingly salty... seemingly more so than the Pacific Ocean. So that was one thing off the to-do list!
Our next attempt to get to Florence came up short as well. We decided to stop in Milan for two days. We didn't really want to do all the shopping that Milan is known for, but we did go see the gothic-style duomo (aka cathedral... most Italian cities have a duomo and accompanying plaza). While making dinner in our hostel kitchen (with extra garlic because we heard it keeps away the mosquitoes), we met a bunch of people. Long story short, we decided it would be a good night for beer pong! We played with an American, a Canadian who looked like a 6'5" Jesus, four Germans who go to an American school in Berlin, an Australian girl from Nepal, and a Scottish guy. The Canadian had the most elaborate beer pong shot wind-up I've ever seen... it took about seven seconds and lots of twisting and leaning. We only allowed it because it was ridiculously effective. The Germans knew the rules surprisingly well, but were not very skilled (although I considered one to be the German version of BT, for those of you who know that reference). I guess that is precisely the reason we bought ping pong balls... to spread it to Europe and improve the competition. As usual, it was a very impromptu game... the idea was suggested at 8:55 and the store closes at 9:00. We rushed to the store and got there right at 9, but luckily an Italian girl who just wanted to buy water got there at the same time and was able to coerce the store worker to let just her and Jeff in. As Jeff was walking in he asked over his shoulder how many he should buy. At the time there were four of us planning to play, so I said 30. He comes out four minutes later holding two large cases of Heineken, announcing that he bought 30 for €40. We all thought they were kind of expensive until we realized he had bought 30 half-liter bottles. :) Long story short, I teamed up with an 18-yr old American who had toured around with us that day and ran the table for four games... then the alcohol started to hit us a bit and we lost our touch. Still, when I can make two-thirds of the cups for my team and beat a team where fratastic Jeff is the weaker player, it's a proud night.
One of my friends from undergrad studied abroad in Florence, so she had lots of good tips. I had the gelato that she dubbed "the best in Florence" twice (Jeff had it three times) and it lived up to it's reputation... the melon and house special were particularly good.
The duomo in Florence is gorgeous, with white, pink, and green marble. I've never seen anything like it and it is the fourth largest cathedral in the world. We climbed over 400 stairs, including some very narrow and windy passages, to see the huge and varying painting inside the top of the duomo's dome. We also were able to go on the outside balcony to enjoy a view of the city. We also saw the Boboli Garden and extensive Uffizi museum.
Today (Saturday) we saw Micheangelo's "David" sculpture. It is huge... maybe fifteen feet. It was built out of extra marble that was left over from the duomo and it is amazing to think about how large the original piece of marble probably was. We also did an afternoon trip to Pisa, which is only 80 minutes from Florence. It was definitely the most touristy I've felt and we basically took the obligatory pictures, had gelato and then left.
Since I successfully introduced Jeff to gnocchi (my favorite Italian pasta) our first night here, I think we are going to search for pizza tonight and then hopefully head back to the hostel for some beer pong with some Australian guys we met yesterday who have been travelling since April.
Tomorrow will be the first time Jeff and I split up. It'll be good to have a break from each other and I've already been to Rome. So, while he's there, I am heading to Greece for four or five days before we meet up with our dad to do some hiking in southern France.
This would be much less boring with pictures... sorry.
Our next attempt to get to Florence came up short as well. We decided to stop in Milan for two days. We didn't really want to do all the shopping that Milan is known for, but we did go see the gothic-style duomo (aka cathedral... most Italian cities have a duomo and accompanying plaza). While making dinner in our hostel kitchen (with extra garlic because we heard it keeps away the mosquitoes), we met a bunch of people. Long story short, we decided it would be a good night for beer pong! We played with an American, a Canadian who looked like a 6'5" Jesus, four Germans who go to an American school in Berlin, an Australian girl from Nepal, and a Scottish guy. The Canadian had the most elaborate beer pong shot wind-up I've ever seen... it took about seven seconds and lots of twisting and leaning. We only allowed it because it was ridiculously effective. The Germans knew the rules surprisingly well, but were not very skilled (although I considered one to be the German version of BT, for those of you who know that reference). I guess that is precisely the reason we bought ping pong balls... to spread it to Europe and improve the competition. As usual, it was a very impromptu game... the idea was suggested at 8:55 and the store closes at 9:00. We rushed to the store and got there right at 9, but luckily an Italian girl who just wanted to buy water got there at the same time and was able to coerce the store worker to let just her and Jeff in. As Jeff was walking in he asked over his shoulder how many he should buy. At the time there were four of us planning to play, so I said 30. He comes out four minutes later holding two large cases of Heineken, announcing that he bought 30 for €40. We all thought they were kind of expensive until we realized he had bought 30 half-liter bottles. :) Long story short, I teamed up with an 18-yr old American who had toured around with us that day and ran the table for four games... then the alcohol started to hit us a bit and we lost our touch. Still, when I can make two-thirds of the cups for my team and beat a team where fratastic Jeff is the weaker player, it's a proud night.
One of my friends from undergrad studied abroad in Florence, so she had lots of good tips. I had the gelato that she dubbed "the best in Florence" twice (Jeff had it three times) and it lived up to it's reputation... the melon and house special were particularly good.
The duomo in Florence is gorgeous, with white, pink, and green marble. I've never seen anything like it and it is the fourth largest cathedral in the world. We climbed over 400 stairs, including some very narrow and windy passages, to see the huge and varying painting inside the top of the duomo's dome. We also were able to go on the outside balcony to enjoy a view of the city. We also saw the Boboli Garden and extensive Uffizi museum.
Today (Saturday) we saw Micheangelo's "David" sculpture. It is huge... maybe fifteen feet. It was built out of extra marble that was left over from the duomo and it is amazing to think about how large the original piece of marble probably was. We also did an afternoon trip to Pisa, which is only 80 minutes from Florence. It was definitely the most touristy I've felt and we basically took the obligatory pictures, had gelato and then left.
Since I successfully introduced Jeff to gnocchi (my favorite Italian pasta) our first night here, I think we are going to search for pizza tonight and then hopefully head back to the hostel for some beer pong with some Australian guys we met yesterday who have been travelling since April.
Tomorrow will be the first time Jeff and I split up. It'll be good to have a break from each other and I've already been to Rome. So, while he's there, I am heading to Greece for four or five days before we meet up with our dad to do some hiking in southern France.
This would be much less boring with pictures... sorry.
Monday, July 19, 2010
France
So, we intended to get to Florence on Saturday when we were leaving Marseille. We've found, however, that we are pretty lazy travelers and don't like spending long amounts of time on the train. So we stopped for a day in Nice and now Milan. Thank goodness it has nothing to do with Milan the person, for those of you who know the Rome 2008 story. Anyway, we plan to relax for a few days in Florence, starting tomorrow and then I think Jeff may head to Rome and I might go to Greece for a few days.
The girl we couch surfed with in Marseille was a much better host... She had lots of space for us and was really friendly. Bastille Day was one of only a couple major to-dos on our travel itinerary, so we were surprised to find out that they mostly just look at it as an extra day off work. The city shot off some fireworks, but nothing overly spectacular... definitely not any better than the Oak Hills show on the Fourth. I was talking about all this with a Scottish guy on the train yesterday and he said, "what do you guys do on the 4th of July anyway, sit around and watch that Will Smith movie?" He was, of course, referring to Independence Day... and I thought that was quite hilarious.
The French girl also took us to this little hidden pond in the trees by her house... it was run off of some sort that accumulated into a pool of water in a shady glen. We were the only ones there and it was very relaxing.
The girl we couch surfed with in Marseille was a much better host... She had lots of space for us and was really friendly. Bastille Day was one of only a couple major to-dos on our travel itinerary, so we were surprised to find out that they mostly just look at it as an extra day off work. The city shot off some fireworks, but nothing overly spectacular... definitely not any better than the Oak Hills show on the Fourth. I was talking about all this with a Scottish guy on the train yesterday and he said, "what do you guys do on the 4th of July anyway, sit around and watch that Will Smith movie?" He was, of course, referring to Independence Day... and I thought that was quite hilarious.
The French girl also took us to this little hidden pond in the trees by her house... it was run off of some sort that accumulated into a pool of water in a shady glen. We were the only ones there and it was very relaxing.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Leaving Marseille
We are leaving Marseille to head to Italy... a country that loves food and basketball as much as I do: nice!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
On the Road Again...
The German keyboard with the z and y switched was confusing enough, but the French keyboard is even more mixed around... I feel like an 8 year-old, staring at the keyboard. haha
Heidelberg was nice. We trekked up a pretty big hill in the afternoon sun to see it's castle. That's the problem with castles! Ya, ya, ya, they're built in locations that strengthen defense, but is it really THAT important to see the enemy coming? I'd really appreciate at least one city deciding that they'll probably lose the battle anyway and just building their castle at normal ground level. Maybe not.
Our host was friendly and answered a lot of our questions about German culture, but he was also a self-proclaimed nerd. He has a ton of semi-hobbies, but the one that he is actually committed to is "live role playing". Basically it's like improv, but everyone wears a costume of some character they've pre-conceived. Most of them are more scary or creepy (e.g. a zombie or samauri), but my favorite one that he told us about was a folk singer who kills people with his singing. Not surprisingly, most of the people in the group aren't that into folk music and it would be "murder to listen to". In any case, he took us to meet up with some friends from this group at a bar. One of his friends had an extrememy bubbly and goofy personality and it was interesting to see that the same personality types exist in every culture... sometimes they are muted through the language barrier.
We visited a friend of mine from grad school who is from the 6,000-person town of Dettelbach, Germany. Her house was awesome--exactly how I might picture a rual/suburban German home to be. It had one of those narrow, winding staircases from the basement to main floor. It had an enclosed patio to relax on and another outdoor patio overlooking a vineyard that we had dinner on. Her family was very hospitable and it was great to see my friend, who is also Lisa.
The first day we went around Würzburg and saw it's castle (no surprise, it was up the hill at the top of the town.) It was about 95 degrees so after a bunch of walking, we went to an outdoor beer garden and relaxed in the shade with Radlers (a mixture of beer and Sprite or lemonade). She also took us to a local lake that was extremely crowded because of the heat. It was extremely refreshing though and fun to see everyone having fun and grilling sausages. The next day we saw her former school (ages 10-18)... we were hoping to visit her mom's English class or dad's PE class, but we messed up their schedules, so it didn't work out.
We wanted to travel Tuesday to be in Marseille for Bastille Day, the French independence day, on the 14th. A lot of the trains that require reservations were full when we checked the day before, so we ended up training through Switzerland and making six transfers to get to Marseille around midnight (because of some delayed trains). We found a hotel that was pretty crummy and overpriced, but it did the trick and we made our way the next morning to the house of the girl who we were supposed to be staying with. We were excited for all the celebrations for the holiday and were surprised to find out that most people just think of it as a day they get off work and the only real difference between it and a Saturday or Sunday is that the city shoots off fireworks at night. Our host, Diane, is actually half-American and one of the friendliest French people I have met. Not speaking any of the language, France is probably not my favorite destination on the trip, but she is really cool. When we got to her house, she had friends over to play guitar and it was fun to listen to them play and sing. One of the them was a girl from Wisconsin, here to take intensive French classes for a month. She is in the process of growing dreads and was a bit of a hippie, but she was friendly and ended up showing us around Marseille before the fireworks. Oh, before that though, Diane took us to a local little watering hole (literally, not a bar) in the middle of some trees. The water was run-off from somewhere and perfectly clear. It's just a small unknown place near her house, so we were the only ones there and it was very relaxing.
Other sidenotes:
Jeff can speak any language you want... just ask him to say the word chicken. It sounds shockingly similar in every language and prounced something to the effect of "bok bok." :)
We had handemade ice cream and their caramel flavor was spicy... and delicious.
It seems like everyone considers themself a nerd in some regard, so I have concluded that you can pretty much break society into two groups: nerds and people who aren't very smart.
Heidelberg was nice. We trekked up a pretty big hill in the afternoon sun to see it's castle. That's the problem with castles! Ya, ya, ya, they're built in locations that strengthen defense, but is it really THAT important to see the enemy coming? I'd really appreciate at least one city deciding that they'll probably lose the battle anyway and just building their castle at normal ground level. Maybe not.
Our host was friendly and answered a lot of our questions about German culture, but he was also a self-proclaimed nerd. He has a ton of semi-hobbies, but the one that he is actually committed to is "live role playing". Basically it's like improv, but everyone wears a costume of some character they've pre-conceived. Most of them are more scary or creepy (e.g. a zombie or samauri), but my favorite one that he told us about was a folk singer who kills people with his singing. Not surprisingly, most of the people in the group aren't that into folk music and it would be "murder to listen to". In any case, he took us to meet up with some friends from this group at a bar. One of his friends had an extrememy bubbly and goofy personality and it was interesting to see that the same personality types exist in every culture... sometimes they are muted through the language barrier.
We visited a friend of mine from grad school who is from the 6,000-person town of Dettelbach, Germany. Her house was awesome--exactly how I might picture a rual/suburban German home to be. It had one of those narrow, winding staircases from the basement to main floor. It had an enclosed patio to relax on and another outdoor patio overlooking a vineyard that we had dinner on. Her family was very hospitable and it was great to see my friend, who is also Lisa.
The first day we went around Würzburg and saw it's castle (no surprise, it was up the hill at the top of the town.) It was about 95 degrees so after a bunch of walking, we went to an outdoor beer garden and relaxed in the shade with Radlers (a mixture of beer and Sprite or lemonade). She also took us to a local lake that was extremely crowded because of the heat. It was extremely refreshing though and fun to see everyone having fun and grilling sausages. The next day we saw her former school (ages 10-18)... we were hoping to visit her mom's English class or dad's PE class, but we messed up their schedules, so it didn't work out.
We wanted to travel Tuesday to be in Marseille for Bastille Day, the French independence day, on the 14th. A lot of the trains that require reservations were full when we checked the day before, so we ended up training through Switzerland and making six transfers to get to Marseille around midnight (because of some delayed trains). We found a hotel that was pretty crummy and overpriced, but it did the trick and we made our way the next morning to the house of the girl who we were supposed to be staying with. We were excited for all the celebrations for the holiday and were surprised to find out that most people just think of it as a day they get off work and the only real difference between it and a Saturday or Sunday is that the city shoots off fireworks at night. Our host, Diane, is actually half-American and one of the friendliest French people I have met. Not speaking any of the language, France is probably not my favorite destination on the trip, but she is really cool. When we got to her house, she had friends over to play guitar and it was fun to listen to them play and sing. One of the them was a girl from Wisconsin, here to take intensive French classes for a month. She is in the process of growing dreads and was a bit of a hippie, but she was friendly and ended up showing us around Marseille before the fireworks. Oh, before that though, Diane took us to a local little watering hole (literally, not a bar) in the middle of some trees. The water was run-off from somewhere and perfectly clear. It's just a small unknown place near her house, so we were the only ones there and it was very relaxing.
Other sidenotes:
Jeff can speak any language you want... just ask him to say the word chicken. It sounds shockingly similar in every language and prounced something to the effect of "bok bok." :)
We had handemade ice cream and their caramel flavor was spicy... and delicious.
It seems like everyone considers themself a nerd in some regard, so I have concluded that you can pretty much break society into two groups: nerds and people who aren't very smart.
Friday, July 9, 2010
First Couch Surf
A couple other things about Prague:
The castle had a cathedral with the most intricate stained glass I have ever seen. My grandpa was a glazer and I couldn't help but think that he would love to see it. In addition to having a lot of detail, the windows also had a variety of color schemes. There was an entire window with a purple theme, which seemed unusual to me.
Along the side of the hill with the castle, we stopped and had lunch at a winery with an amazing view of the city. We each had lunch and two glasses of wine and the bill was only about $25... we enjoyed the view there for over two hours.
We made our way to Heidelberg yesterday and shared a compartment with an American couple from the midwest who were very friendly. We had met them the day before and tried to find the Prague castle together.
Our couch surfing adventures have finally started. We are staying with a 30 year old German guy who hosts someone pretty much every week and is into improv, Japanese martial arts, playing the chello, but not beer... what an unusual German! We cooked dinner for him and his friend last night and it was nice getting to know them. I think he knows more about American cinema than we do.
Okay, off to explore Heidelberg. I'll insert pictures later...
The castle had a cathedral with the most intricate stained glass I have ever seen. My grandpa was a glazer and I couldn't help but think that he would love to see it. In addition to having a lot of detail, the windows also had a variety of color schemes. There was an entire window with a purple theme, which seemed unusual to me.
Along the side of the hill with the castle, we stopped and had lunch at a winery with an amazing view of the city. We each had lunch and two glasses of wine and the bill was only about $25... we enjoyed the view there for over two hours.
We made our way to Heidelberg yesterday and shared a compartment with an American couple from the midwest who were very friendly. We had met them the day before and tried to find the Prague castle together.
Our couch surfing adventures have finally started. We are staying with a 30 year old German guy who hosts someone pretty much every week and is into improv, Japanese martial arts, playing the chello, but not beer... what an unusual German! We cooked dinner for him and his friend last night and it was nice getting to know them. I think he knows more about American cinema than we do.
Okay, off to explore Heidelberg. I'll insert pictures later...
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Wigs and Beer... Nice.
Our last week in Copenhagen was relaxing. Jerome, a friend of mine showed Jeff and I around the city. It was great to catch up with him and we had some great views from the top of the Round Tower. On Thursday, I cooked breakfast for the family we stayed with and some teammates because the Danes don't really have pancakes and French toast like we do. I used to make my teammates breakfast before school sometimes last year. The last time I made them pancakes from scratch they tasted like biscuits (not that they knew the difference), but I was glad to redeem my cooking rep! Jeff and I then made dinner for my assistant coach's family and chocolate chip cookies to go along with Galliano shots, another tradition.
Last year we had a pink wig that got passed around on nights out, which is now in pretty ratty condition. Since we were planning on going out on Friday night, we made it mandatory to bring a new wig (or pirate hat in Jeff's case). Christian, a Danish friend from UO met up with us too. It was a crazy night that resulted in 110 pictures, so I will be sure to post some pictures when we get computer access!
On our way to Prague, just before our train got to the Hamburg stop, a man started crying hysterically and yelling "God help me!" and that someone had put something in his coffee. Then he got off without any luggage. We were a bit sketched out and thought he might have been trying to bomb the train so we figured we'd rather be safe than sorry and get off the train. We even told the police about the incident. As far as I know, there weren't any bombings that day, but it turned out to be a great decision! We were in Hamburg for Germany's 4-0 blowout of Argentina! The streets went crazy and we went out with some Brits and Australians that night. The game ended in the late afternoon, but they were honking their horns and yelling the whole night!
Every once in a while the streets would go quiet and then one person would blare their horn and they would fire back up for another hour!
We moved on to Prague, which was the first place new to me on our trip! As I wrote on a friends's postcard today, it's awesome for three reasons: 1) beautiful archictecture, 2) interesting history, and MOST IMPORTANTLY 3) cheap beer. The Wallenstein Garden in Prague had an unusual collection of stalactites in an open courtyard; I have never seen them outside of a cave. There is also an extremely old astronomical clock that does a heck of a lot more than tell time. It gives the astrological time of year, how long it's been since sunset, the sun's position in the sky, and all sorts of other things. The locals say that it's Europe's most disappointing tourist attraction (the clock's movements are underwhelming), but we actually thought it was quite interesting. Still, all the parts were confusing... I think I'll stick with digital.
Also, when Russia tried to invade Prague they planned to do it at midnight, when all the Czechs turn off their radios. Well, Russia was on daylight savings time and it was actually only 11pm in Prague so they had not gone to sleep yet. Word spread that the Russians were coming and all the Czechs removed all the street signs besides the ones directing the Russians back to Moscow! Apparently the Russians got quite confused and it at least delayed their attack til morning. I thought it showed a pretty good sense of humor in stressful times.
We got caught in the rain on our walking tour and the guide was offering umbrellas... I felt that as an Oregonian, I should defer them to the less-adapted Europeans. I also happened to run into a friend from USF, which was crazy.
Our first day here, we went to watch a friend from home play in the World Ultimate Frisbee Club Clampionships... yes, they exist. I had no idea it had such a big following and the tournament was in a stadium built for communist military parades/rallies.
Next, we are moving on to Heidelberg for our first couch surfing experience and then visiting a few friends from graduate school (one who is interning at Adidas and also a German girl who is also named Lisa)!
Last year we had a pink wig that got passed around on nights out, which is now in pretty ratty condition. Since we were planning on going out on Friday night, we made it mandatory to bring a new wig (or pirate hat in Jeff's case). Christian, a Danish friend from UO met up with us too. It was a crazy night that resulted in 110 pictures, so I will be sure to post some pictures when we get computer access!
On our way to Prague, just before our train got to the Hamburg stop, a man started crying hysterically and yelling "God help me!" and that someone had put something in his coffee. Then he got off without any luggage. We were a bit sketched out and thought he might have been trying to bomb the train so we figured we'd rather be safe than sorry and get off the train. We even told the police about the incident. As far as I know, there weren't any bombings that day, but it turned out to be a great decision! We were in Hamburg for Germany's 4-0 blowout of Argentina! The streets went crazy and we went out with some Brits and Australians that night. The game ended in the late afternoon, but they were honking their horns and yelling the whole night!
Every once in a while the streets would go quiet and then one person would blare their horn and they would fire back up for another hour!
We moved on to Prague, which was the first place new to me on our trip! As I wrote on a friends's postcard today, it's awesome for three reasons: 1) beautiful archictecture, 2) interesting history, and MOST IMPORTANTLY 3) cheap beer. The Wallenstein Garden in Prague had an unusual collection of stalactites in an open courtyard; I have never seen them outside of a cave. There is also an extremely old astronomical clock that does a heck of a lot more than tell time. It gives the astrological time of year, how long it's been since sunset, the sun's position in the sky, and all sorts of other things. The locals say that it's Europe's most disappointing tourist attraction (the clock's movements are underwhelming), but we actually thought it was quite interesting. Still, all the parts were confusing... I think I'll stick with digital.
Also, when Russia tried to invade Prague they planned to do it at midnight, when all the Czechs turn off their radios. Well, Russia was on daylight savings time and it was actually only 11pm in Prague so they had not gone to sleep yet. Word spread that the Russians were coming and all the Czechs removed all the street signs besides the ones directing the Russians back to Moscow! Apparently the Russians got quite confused and it at least delayed their attack til morning. I thought it showed a pretty good sense of humor in stressful times.
We got caught in the rain on our walking tour and the guide was offering umbrellas... I felt that as an Oregonian, I should defer them to the less-adapted Europeans. I also happened to run into a friend from USF, which was crazy.
Our first day here, we went to watch a friend from home play in the World Ultimate Frisbee Club Clampionships... yes, they exist. I had no idea it had such a big following and the tournament was in a stadium built for communist military parades/rallies.
Next, we are moving on to Heidelberg for our first couch surfing experience and then visiting a few friends from graduate school (one who is interning at Adidas and also a German girl who is also named Lisa)!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
CPA Exam
I just got a text from my mom that I passed my last section of the CPA exam! What a weight off my shoulders!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Texting
Also, you can text me at (530) 567-4818 and it will be sent to my iPod. I will receive it and be able to respond when I have Internet. Tell me who you are the first text you send because I don't have numbers saved on here. (This is not my new cell number or anything, I am just using an iPod application for the summer.) You can also Skype me; my username is lolden10.
DKizzle
Watching the Denmark game in their city square was insane. We had to shove our way into the crowd to get a spot. People were sitting on top of pølse (Danish sausage/hot dog) stands and every time Japan scored, people threw their partially-full beers up in the air. It was fun to experience the atmosphere. We watched the game with a UO professor of mine who is teaching at Copenhagen Business School this month and who used to play basketball with my Danish coach 25 years ago. It would've been fun to celebrate with so many people after the game, but Denmark lost 3-1. Unfortunately, Europe is not faring too well, so the number of countries we can watch games in to cheer with the local people is dwindling (pretty much just Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal).
The night of the game, local grocery stores were sold out of the regular cans of Carlsberg beer (Denmark's most popular beer, distributed globally). My coach didn't believe us when we told him they were selling 1-Liter Carlsbergs. The cans said "Endlig en øl, den er stor nok at dele"... which means, "finally a beer that is big enough to share." Jeff and I were like, "Share? Ya right! They're the perfect size!"
One of my former teammates asked me to come to her high school graduation on Friday and it was so interesting to see. My coach's son and a few of my players were also graduating, so it was great to see them. It was much more similar to ours than the Danes had made it out to be. The speeches were kind of a wake up call that reminded me of how rusty my Danish is! Jeff obviously didn't understand any of it, but he said he could still tell which speeches were good just based on their tone of voice and how bored the audience looked. :)
THEN I was introduced to the best Danish tradition I have witnessed so far: post-graduation party tour busses. Danish students take most of their classes through their high school career in groups of 20-30 (there were 11 of these "classes" graduating in the one ceremony). Each class rents a big open-air army vehicle and decorates it with leaves, baloons, posters, etc. and drives through the city and visits each student's house for about 15 minutes to meet the families, eat, and DRINK. The posters said things like, "honk once and the boys drink, honk twice and the girls drink, honk three times and the virgins drink" and every vehicle also had posters saying the name of the school and that they were graduates. We'll post pictures at the end of the week of our travels so far, so you can get a better idea of what I mean. I immediately started thinking of all sorts of excuses to have this type of party bus... it's kinda dangerous with all the drinking, but I want to figure out a way to introduce the tradition to the US. Lots of high schools had graduation that day, so as Jeff and I biked through the city, lots of vehicles passed by us, yelling on megaphones and blowing blow horns. It looked like fun.
Friday night, Jeff taught me how to play chess. I've learned before, but now I have actually played a few games. He says I am not bad for a beginner... whether I will continue with the game remains to be seen, but I kind of like it.
This weekend, we went to my assistant coach's summer house about an hour outside of Copenhagen on the beach. We had perfect weather and went to the beach for a little while. We're trying to ease our ghastly pale skin into the European sun a little bit at a time. The water was about the same temperature as the Oregon coast, maybe a little colder (about 15 degrees Celsius, maybe).
It was my coach's 3-year old's birthday weekend, so we had a fun time celebrating his birthday with about 20 relatives. The group spoke ridiculously good English, for various reasons. My coach's brother-in-law is American, so their whole family obviously speaks impeccable English (even the young children). My coach made fun of me for rinsing the dishes off after scrubbing them with soap because apparently when you dry them off with the towel, that is sufficient to get the soap off. Just another small difference...
After being up at the summer house for a couple hours, we went on a walk with the family and I kind of kept Jeff informed about what people were saying and what was funny. After a while, Jeff said, "You actually understand Danish pretty well!" To which I replied, "Jeff, they're speaking to a THREE-YEAR OLD; that's why I can understand!" haha
We came back last night and we had sushi with three of my teammates that I was especially close with. It was "hyggeligt" a common Danish word that the closest translation for is "cozy" or "comfortable". My friend's chinchillas are named "Bimbo" and "Cheek" (as in butt cheek) in Danish and the names actually sound kind of nice in Danish, so an unsuspecting America wouldn't think anything of it. So, we joked around for an hour about all the Danish words I could convince an American to name their child that would lead to a rude awakening were they ever to travel here. For instance, I feel like Fanden is not that far off from other American names like Landon or Fulton, etc... but it translates to a not-so-nice four-letter word in English.
Okay, I'm off for now, we might go to the park this evening for a the large weekly dance lessons they put on during the summer. Tonight's style is Balboa swing... this could be interesting.
The night of the game, local grocery stores were sold out of the regular cans of Carlsberg beer (Denmark's most popular beer, distributed globally). My coach didn't believe us when we told him they were selling 1-Liter Carlsbergs. The cans said "Endlig en øl, den er stor nok at dele"... which means, "finally a beer that is big enough to share." Jeff and I were like, "Share? Ya right! They're the perfect size!"
One of my former teammates asked me to come to her high school graduation on Friday and it was so interesting to see. My coach's son and a few of my players were also graduating, so it was great to see them. It was much more similar to ours than the Danes had made it out to be. The speeches were kind of a wake up call that reminded me of how rusty my Danish is! Jeff obviously didn't understand any of it, but he said he could still tell which speeches were good just based on their tone of voice and how bored the audience looked. :)
THEN I was introduced to the best Danish tradition I have witnessed so far: post-graduation party tour busses. Danish students take most of their classes through their high school career in groups of 20-30 (there were 11 of these "classes" graduating in the one ceremony). Each class rents a big open-air army vehicle and decorates it with leaves, baloons, posters, etc. and drives through the city and visits each student's house for about 15 minutes to meet the families, eat, and DRINK. The posters said things like, "honk once and the boys drink, honk twice and the girls drink, honk three times and the virgins drink" and every vehicle also had posters saying the name of the school and that they were graduates. We'll post pictures at the end of the week of our travels so far, so you can get a better idea of what I mean. I immediately started thinking of all sorts of excuses to have this type of party bus... it's kinda dangerous with all the drinking, but I want to figure out a way to introduce the tradition to the US. Lots of high schools had graduation that day, so as Jeff and I biked through the city, lots of vehicles passed by us, yelling on megaphones and blowing blow horns. It looked like fun.
Friday night, Jeff taught me how to play chess. I've learned before, but now I have actually played a few games. He says I am not bad for a beginner... whether I will continue with the game remains to be seen, but I kind of like it.
This weekend, we went to my assistant coach's summer house about an hour outside of Copenhagen on the beach. We had perfect weather and went to the beach for a little while. We're trying to ease our ghastly pale skin into the European sun a little bit at a time. The water was about the same temperature as the Oregon coast, maybe a little colder (about 15 degrees Celsius, maybe).
It was my coach's 3-year old's birthday weekend, so we had a fun time celebrating his birthday with about 20 relatives. The group spoke ridiculously good English, for various reasons. My coach's brother-in-law is American, so their whole family obviously speaks impeccable English (even the young children). My coach made fun of me for rinsing the dishes off after scrubbing them with soap because apparently when you dry them off with the towel, that is sufficient to get the soap off. Just another small difference...
After being up at the summer house for a couple hours, we went on a walk with the family and I kind of kept Jeff informed about what people were saying and what was funny. After a while, Jeff said, "You actually understand Danish pretty well!" To which I replied, "Jeff, they're speaking to a THREE-YEAR OLD; that's why I can understand!" haha
We came back last night and we had sushi with three of my teammates that I was especially close with. It was "hyggeligt" a common Danish word that the closest translation for is "cozy" or "comfortable". My friend's chinchillas are named "Bimbo" and "Cheek" (as in butt cheek) in Danish and the names actually sound kind of nice in Danish, so an unsuspecting America wouldn't think anything of it. So, we joked around for an hour about all the Danish words I could convince an American to name their child that would lead to a rude awakening were they ever to travel here. For instance, I feel like Fanden is not that far off from other American names like Landon or Fulton, etc... but it translates to a not-so-nice four-letter word in English.
Okay, I'm off for now, we might go to the park this evening for a the large weekly dance lessons they put on during the summer. Tonight's style is Balboa swing... this could be interesting.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Just Like Yesterday...
It is so weird--and when I say weird, I mean amazing--to be back in Copenhagen. It feels like I was never gone (and multiple people have said this to me too). It's wonderfully sunny here, i.e. perfect biking weather. Words cannot express how awesome and bittersweet it is to see all of my friends from last year. I played basketball with some of my teammates yesterday and it was so much fun. Granted, I hadn't ran for a month so my face looked like a tomato within 15 minutes, but it was fun nonetheless. It really was as if nothing had changed... OJ (my former coach) was still telling me to shoot long as we were playing open gym because he hates it when we miss short. :)
We've just been hanging out with my friends and coach's family. Many of the Scandinavian countries celebrate the summer solstice, so a group of us went to a large park in Copenhagen to see the bonfire that the city puts on. At the top of the burn pile, they construct a figure to look like a witch that supposedly flies away when the fire is lit. There was about 10,000 people there to watch the lighting, which only lasts about 15 minutes. Jeff and I laughed and took a picture because they lit the fire at 10pm, but it was light enough outside that it seemed like it could be 6pm. (Copenhagen is about the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska.)
The city is showing the Denmark-Japan World Cup game tonight on a big screen at Rådhuspladsen, the city square. Apparently there was about 30,000 people there for the last game. One of my professors at UO used to play basketball with OJ 20 years ago and is teaching at Copenhagen Business School this summer, so I think he might join us for the game.
This weekend, we're going to my former assistant coach's summer house to celebrate his three-year old son's birthday. I am excited to meet their newborn daughter as well. I'll let you know how everything goes. It is SO great to be back!
We've just been hanging out with my friends and coach's family. Many of the Scandinavian countries celebrate the summer solstice, so a group of us went to a large park in Copenhagen to see the bonfire that the city puts on. At the top of the burn pile, they construct a figure to look like a witch that supposedly flies away when the fire is lit. There was about 10,000 people there to watch the lighting, which only lasts about 15 minutes. Jeff and I laughed and took a picture because they lit the fire at 10pm, but it was light enough outside that it seemed like it could be 6pm. (Copenhagen is about the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska.)
The city is showing the Denmark-Japan World Cup game tonight on a big screen at Rådhuspladsen, the city square. Apparently there was about 30,000 people there for the last game. One of my professors at UO used to play basketball with OJ 20 years ago and is teaching at Copenhagen Business School this summer, so I think he might join us for the game.
This weekend, we're going to my former assistant coach's summer house to celebrate his three-year old son's birthday. I am excited to meet their newborn daughter as well. I'll let you know how everything goes. It is SO great to be back!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
When I was a young chap...
Spending two and a half months in Europe with my brother is bound to lead to some adventures, so I figured a blog would be the best way to share our stories. So, as I sit in our hostel lobby in London (waiting for our laundry), I thought now would be a good time to start.
After watching three great movies but not getting any sleep on the flight, we got in to London on Tuesday and immediately began our search for wireless and then a hostel. We ended up at Clink 261 in an 18-bed room. We met some Germans and a guy from Holland; we're intentionally trying to meet new people and find out what their story is all about. It's funny to see different people's reactions to our situation. "You're traveling all summer? With no plans? Oh you Americans!" (haha)
Jeff's never been here before, so we saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and walked through Hyde Park. It was nice to see the changing of the guards again because it reminded me how much more formal people are here (plus, there's a lot more people walking around in suits). Also, after the guards changed, the newly posted guard's feet flew out from under him! He fell right on his butt and the remaining crowd gasped... it was hilarious! I can't believe Jeff missed the picture! (Maybe if they weren't so darn deliberate with their steps, they could just focus on staying on their feet!)
Yesterday, we decided to take a day off and go to a big open market and then find a pub to watch the England-Algeria game... it was so fun to see everyone get so into football! People seriously weren't even talking to each other, just watching the game and cheering--conversing would just distract people from the game! We talked to two young Brits before the game about drinking ages, American sports, and beer... they were just as interested in us as we were in them.
It didn't work out for us to couch surf here, but we'll try to set up some plans for Spain while resting in Denmark.
No funny stories... YET. I think we're going out tonight, so I'm sure we'll cause some raucous. I usually only like to blog when I have something funny to say, but youlll have to bear with me this first round.
I will probably update this once a week or so; just check back when you feel like it. (Although I ended up only updating once a month when I was in Denmark.) I'll probably update our current location in the tagline underneath my Facebook picture.
Cheerio!
After watching three great movies but not getting any sleep on the flight, we got in to London on Tuesday and immediately began our search for wireless and then a hostel. We ended up at Clink 261 in an 18-bed room. We met some Germans and a guy from Holland; we're intentionally trying to meet new people and find out what their story is all about. It's funny to see different people's reactions to our situation. "You're traveling all summer? With no plans? Oh you Americans!" (haha)
Jeff's never been here before, so we saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and walked through Hyde Park. It was nice to see the changing of the guards again because it reminded me how much more formal people are here (plus, there's a lot more people walking around in suits). Also, after the guards changed, the newly posted guard's feet flew out from under him! He fell right on his butt and the remaining crowd gasped... it was hilarious! I can't believe Jeff missed the picture! (Maybe if they weren't so darn deliberate with their steps, they could just focus on staying on their feet!)
Yesterday, we decided to take a day off and go to a big open market and then find a pub to watch the England-Algeria game... it was so fun to see everyone get so into football! People seriously weren't even talking to each other, just watching the game and cheering--conversing would just distract people from the game! We talked to two young Brits before the game about drinking ages, American sports, and beer... they were just as interested in us as we were in them.
It didn't work out for us to couch surf here, but we'll try to set up some plans for Spain while resting in Denmark.
No funny stories... YET. I think we're going out tonight, so I'm sure we'll cause some raucous. I usually only like to blog when I have something funny to say, but youlll have to bear with me this first round.
I will probably update this once a week or so; just check back when you feel like it. (Although I ended up only updating once a month when I was in Denmark.) I'll probably update our current location in the tagline underneath my Facebook picture.
Cheerio!
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