Finally in Barcelona!

Well it took some time to get here, but it was definately worth the wait. I took the train from Nice along the French Riviera to Cannes, then Marseille (a very cool city, wish I had more time there), to Montpellier, and then finally to Barcelona. I arrived in Barcelona at 11pm so I was a little apprehensive to carry around my life on my back and it turns out I had a good reason to be worried. As I was getting onto the Metro, a theif intentionally tripped me and felt up my leg to try and steal money that may have been stored there. Luckily, there was none and my scream scared him away. This is no need to worry though. Barcelona is a very safe town, but like many other European cities, petty crimes like pick pocketing has become quite common. Trust me, I´d rather be in Barcelona at 4am lost on Las Ramblas then on the streets of Detroit. Nevertheless, I was here and after this incident everything was great. ¡Me encanta Barcelona!
The next morning I met my program at a hotel for our two-day orientation. As expected, I was nervous as these things are usually sink or swim. Things went perfectly, probably because of my aforementioned anxiety. Turns out we were randomly paired up for roommates and we had two free nights at a four star hotel in the heart of Barcelona, plus free meals at nice restaurants. My roommate, Joey, is also a CU student and my first friend here in Barca. Our entire program consists of about 30 people, from which about 14 are from CU and I knew none of them beforehand (or that CU was such a feeder to this program). We also have students from: CSU, UT, Northwestern, Harvard, Case Western, Davidson, Texas Tech and a few others. It also turns out that another one of my good friends here, John, was in one of my classes last semester in Boulder, ¡Que ridiculo! This is one of the aspects that I really like about the program, that is, how students from different backgrounds and social clicks who would otherwise never become friends indeed become friends. Also, due to our short stint here in Barcelona, we all have become very sociable to each other very quickly.
Another neat aspect of our program are our ¨Guardian Angels.¨ Once we got over the cult-like names, we all became very appreciative of this aspect. Guardian Angels are local students from Barcelona around our age who take out to meals (payed for by our program) and do different activities around town to help us better understand the culture of Barca. Also, they help us with our Castellano, as they are all at least trilingual (Castellano/Spanish, Catalan, English). Also, my GA, Ares and one other one, Juan Miguel, have taken us out at night become our good friends.
We were all excited to try our first Tapas and Pinxos for dinner the first night. It was great! Our first plate consisted of classic Catalan chorizos or sausages and different types of cheese. Also, the Catalan bread that accompanies dinner is like French bread with tomato sauce rubbed on it, very delicious. The next dish was paella consisting of pasta and various seafood, also very tasty. Also, no Catalan meal would be complete without some Cava, or Spanish Champagne. It´s very sweet and I can´t really say that I love it.
Anyways, that´s all for now, hope you´ll read on as I report back.

Beach day in Nice

Today I finally had a day to do and see nothing. But of course it was hard to break routine, so I ended up walking around the old town and shopping district of Nice for 3.5 hours! Yikes that doesn't sound very relaxing. But then I came to my wits and hit the beach. If you don't know about the beaches in Nice, well, they're beautiful and stretch for over 10 miles, but there's no sand, its just pebbles. It actually is not as bad as it sounds because sand doesn't get all over everything and the stones become comfortable after a while. Also, the Ironman competition is going on here so there are thousands of people around for that. My closest buddy in Nice is a Brit from Gilford (Southwest London) and he is working staff at the competition so I got to hear all about it. Last night, him and I watched the Argentina/Mexico game at the bar in our hostel. It got pretty rowdy and Argentina won in Overtime scoring a 'Silver Goal.' Anyways, the game was much more competitive than anyone thought. We met some special ed teachers from Texas who were right out of college and on their way to Italy soon so I was able to profess all of our wisdom about the places we went to. Also, 2 other roommates of mine I met and hung out with go to UF actually. They too were on their way to Italy soon so I gave them some tips. They just returned from Barcelona so I heard their stories as well.
The French people I encountered have been very nice so far. I did run into one arrogant anti-American Frenchman, but other than that everything has been tip top...there goes my english friend's vocab rubbing off on me. Of course I can't get the phones to work here but that's a different story. Anyways, time to get ready to go to Barcelona, Au Revoir~

Day 10: Final day in Italy

Well the end is here, and it comes way too soon as always. Amy and I took a shuttle to Milan Malpensa airport this morning. I had to go get my other bag that I stored at the airport, and then I had an epiphany about this bag. Even though I was conscious about the amount of luggage I brought for months before I even packed, I downsized. See kids, do NOT overpack. My epiphany was that carrying a large camping backpack, a monster duffle bag on wheels and a handbag was too much to trek across Europe with. So, with about 15 minutes until Amy needed to be checked in, I darted around the airport to find a smaller bag. Fortunately I found a good one for a decent price because Milan is so into price and fashion, everything is pricey and nice. Anyways, I then ran over to an area where I could throw everything I wanted into the new bag and give the old bag to Amy to check back to Denver. After humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme and sweating some, we did it.
Amy and I then said our goodbyes and I waited around until her plane left for Toronto. She then flew to Denver, but I found out her/my bag is still in Toronto! We'll wait and see what comes of that. I then shuttled back to the Central Station in Milan to catch a train to Monaco-Monte Carlo.
The train ride along the Italian and French Rivieras was gorgeous. The other people in my train compartment spoke Spanish so we could communicate. We went through San Remo, a gorgeous town on the Riviera. Around 8pm the train made it to Monaco, which looked like a postcard when we saw it from the train.
I then ate dinner in the train station, walked around a bit and stayed away from the casino (20 euro entrance charge). I boarded a train to Nice where I was due to stay the night.
The hostel that I am currently staying in Nice is rather bizarre. It is located up in the hills in a very ritzy neighborhood with nice houses, and then there's our hostel full of hundreds of young kids doing the same thing that I am. Anyways, Nice is pretty and I look forward to going to the beach tomorrow to relax before my voyage to Barcelona.

Day 9: Trip back to Milan

Today marks our funal full day together in Italy. The whirlwind of emotions is great due to how wonderful our trip has been, yet how fast it has gone while at the same time how it feels like we have been here over a month. We woke up this morning and explored two other Cinque Terre towns, Corniglia and Vernazza. Then, we finally made it to the beach for a little while. Soaking up the sun we ran into another celebrity from a popular MTV show.
At 3:20pm we caught a train from Monterosso to Genoa. We were both excited to stop in Genoa for dinner as Genoa is the home of pesto and boasts a big reputation for the quality of its pesto on just about every type of food you can think of. We exited the train station in Genoa and searched for about half an hour for a good place to eat. We finally settled on a place right on the water where we could see a panorama of the town as well as all of the boats in the port. The food was amazing! We both ordered tomato and pesto pasta and agreed it was the best we have ever had. So Genoa wins this round. Also, the wait staff at this restaurant was by far the nicest of all the restaurants we went to in Italy.
After a very satisfying last meal in Italy, we took the Genoa Metro back to the train station. I wanted to slip in here how impressed we were with their Metro. It was the cleanest train and station we've seen in Italy or elsewhere. We decided that this system must be relatively new.
We then took a train from Genoa back to Milan. Our train arrived a little late in Milan, but we thought we would be okay late at night because we had already been in Milan and we knew our way around a little bit. Wrong! We stepped out of the metro stop where our hotel was and we were given the directions to walk 20 meters out of the train station and we would see the sign to our hotel. When we got out of the train station we were in a square filled with graffitti and many dodgy characters walking around. To postpone our impending mugging we asked bus drivers, locals, etc. where our hotel's street was located. When all the them had no idea where it was located, we decided to ask a taxi driver. He was very nice and told us where to walk and warned us how expensive the cab ride would be, but at this point we just wanted to get there, so we ate the 7.50euros and made it to the hotel. When we stepped into the cab, we thought it was the Godfather himself, as our driver's Brandoesque physique and large scarface could only lead us to such a conclusion. Bed at last. What a way to end our trip, but of course a crazy whirlwind trip would end in a crazy whirlwind.

Day 8: Viva la Huelga!

This morning we thought we were clever to wake up at 5:30am to catch an early train, haha were we wrong. As we waited near the large train departures screen in Rome's Termini, we watched our train get delayed again and again until it was cancelled. After some panic, we realized there was a train at 7:15 and would get us to Pisa in time so that we could catch our connection to La Spezia. We were just saying how good and efficient the Italian train system has been...anyways, it gets better.
Once in Pisa, we realize our first train to La Spezia was cancelled. Then we grew more suspicious. I waited in the help line for a while and found out that the Trenitalia workers were on strike for 24 hour- with which I thought might have been in protest to tourists after the 1-1 tie with the US, but this was not funny to the help lady in my broken Italian.
Anyways, we had about an hour in Pisa to figure out what to do. We were stuck between running over to see the leaning tower and figuring out the trains. We chose the latter because of the crazy day we had been having and we wanted to make sure to catch any train to La Spezia because this was also not our final destination.
Finally, in La Spezia, we were thrilled to find out that all trains from La Spezia to anywhere were cancelled. With no other way to get to Cinque Terre, we decided to taxi to the Southernmost Cinque Terre town, Riomaggiore. Once in Rio we walked through the gorgeous, tiny sea town down to the water so that we could catch a ferry to the town we were staying in, Monterosso. Finally all of our troubles had payed off; the ferry ride between the towns was incredible.
In case you don't know, Cinque Terre means "five lands" and they are five small fishing villages only several miles apart and are hikeable by cliffside trail.
Once in Monterosso we checked into our place- a very old apartment-like building turned hotel. The small town was very quaint and there were quite a bit of tourists, but not too many yet. We had dinner along the beach and searched for internet and happy hour specials but decided to just take a freezing cold shower (most of the showers in Italy were cold) and go to bed, thus ending our crazy adventure to the coast of the Italian Riviera.

Day 7: Rome

Ciao from Roma...
We woke up early so that we could fit everything in that we wanted to see. We arrived in Vatican City around 9am, and the line to get into the Vatican museums seemed like it wrapped around the entire country. About 1.5 hours later we made it in. The crowds were intense and the inside of the palace was even more so. It got to a point where we were a little overwhelmed as every room was so spectacular and almost too much. The highlights though were the staples: the Raphael room and of course the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo was quite talented indeed.
Next, we walked around the inside of St. Peter's Basilica, which again was a bit overwhelming. After walking around the whole thing and around the rest of the piazza, we went back to the hostel for a nap. We checked out some of the major clothing shops along Via del Corso, including the popular Diesel and Zara stores. Our travel book said that we could get some good deals at these stores, but it was quite the contrary. It might be me, but 200euros ($250) for an item of clothing is a little much.
This afternoon, we strolled along the old Roman Forum, up to Palatine Hill, and of course we did the Colosseum. Sometimes we forget how spectacular some of these sights are because we are barnstorming Italy at such a fast pace. With this in mind, we sat amongst some ruins and took it all in. Also, today is a special day for us as we celebrate our one year anniversary...we are quite lucky to be in such an incredible place for this occassion!
One more note...we have been sampling the pizza in every town we visit, so far we have: #1 = Milan, #2 = Florence, #3 = Venice, #4 = Rome. With only a few places left we are looking forward to including some more variety in our diet. This is not to say that the food here isn't great, because we have enjoyed it. Tonight we did the low budget meal: foccacia, cheese, salami, fruit and wine.
Anyways, we have to catch a train at 6am tomorrow to Pisa, and then tomorrow afternoon we will be in Cinque Terre and we will finally have some down time to hike a little and relax on the beach, can't wait!

P.S. - In all seriousness, we are at a Internet/Laundromat (quite popular in Rome) and the England/Sweden game is on tv and Joe Cole just scored an amazing goal for England. Hope everyone is watching the World Cup back in the states. (pictures soon)

Day 6: Trip to Rome

This morning we left Florence to train to Rome. After checking out of our camping village, we met two CU kids who were just checking in and who also were doing the same trip as we were but reversed and we happened to cross paths. They gave us some good advice about Rome and Cinque Terre. Also, Amy ran into a high school teacher from Rocky Mountain High School in Ft. Collins; our world remains small.
We got off our train and walked through the massive Roma Termini to our hostel, which quite possibly may be as old as the Colosseum. We have 3 roomates: a crazy Aussie, a Portugese guy and a Spanish girl. They're pretty nice, but the Aussie is from a small town and is a little nuts, but he keeps making us roll on the floor laughing with his stories and accent. We also hung out with a nice British kid last night who made us both laugh harder than we have in a long time (if you've seen the movie Snatch ask us about him!)
Once we were settled we took off to see some sights. We visited the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona. The Pantheon was our favorite by far. We were both awestruck by the grandeur and beauty of this structure. I must admit we dined at the ubiquitous McDonalds next to the Pantheon; irony at its finest.
Come nightfall, we were pretty tired so we were content with just hanging out with the Brit and the Aussie in our room. The Aussie talked our ears off and we were more than ready to hit the hay. Until tomorrow, Buonsera-

Day 5: Florence

We were surprisingly productive today after the amount of vino that was consumed the night before for the football game. We arrived in town early so that we could get in the massive line for the Uffizi art museum, Florence's best collection. Luckily, we made reservations for 3:30pm later in the day.
Since we had the time to kill, we walked through the gorgeous Piazza della Signoria and over to the impressive Duomo, which has the world's 3rd largest dome behind St. Paul's and St. Peter's. The marble and intricate adornments on the outside of the church were incredible. Unfortunately, the dome was being restored so there was some scaffolding.
We then waited in line for about an hour to get into the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David...definately worth it. I will post my illegal picture I snapped of David when I get the chance (no pics allowed in the museum but like everything else in Italy they are very lax when it comes to enforcing it).
Next, we made it over to the leather district to shop a little and to see the Chiesa de Santa Croce, where many famous Florentines are buried (Galileo, Michelangelo, Macchiavelli). While we managed to escape the damned pigeons in Venice of all places, them fellers got us in Florence aka we were pooped on. But just as the Ponte Veccio in Florence escaped the Nazi bombs of WWII, we were unscathed by their attacks and continued on to...the Ponte Veccio!
This bridge is incredible and right now ranks as Italy's most impressive in our books (with the Rialto in a close second). After strolling around the bridge area, it was time to visit the Uffizi.
We spent about two hours walking around the Uffizi. We saw Bottichelli's The Birth of Venus, many of Da Vinci's original drawings and sculptures and Rafael's angels. I almost snapped pictures of all 4 ninja turtles (the actual guys, not the turtles) in the Uffizi corridor, but couldn't track down Donatello (he was always the least impressive anyways).
We then went to the Piazza Michelangelo to watch a magnificent sunset. I hope the pictures turn out and many of you may get a blown up and framed one for xmas so watch out. Pics will be up as soon as I can get them up.

Day 4: Trip to Florence

Today we trained to Florence. This train ride was much nicer, we had plush seats and we actually sat next to each other. The trip was roughly two hours, with the train only making one stop in Bologna, the so-called food capital of Italy.
Once in Florence, we bused from the main station to our Camping Village, which was situated up in the Florentine hills next to the Piazza Michaelangelo. We slept in small tents with two uncomfortable cots, but the view made up for the lodging inconveniences. Once we were settled, we went into the city to prepare for the huge Italy/USA world cup match. We bar hopped a little and found a bar with mostly Brazilians (?) first. We left after a drink and an Italian red card and went to the Piazza Michaelangelo, where the game was projected onto a massive screen and about 5,000 Italians were present. The place erupted after Italy's goal and you could hear a pin drop after the own goal. The largest roar, however, was after Pablo Mastroeni was ejected after the terrible red card the referee gave, after much Italian persuasion. It was funny seeing the Italians cheer for a call in their favor after their history of referee nagging in past World Cups.
(Pictures will be up ASAP).

Day 3: Venice

Well we had a very busy 2nd day in Venice. This photo is the highlight of the outsider's trip to Venice: the Basilica San Marco and its infamous pigeons. We took the public gondola #82 down the Grand Canal to get here, passing the Rialto Bridge and many other incredible Venetian sites. As you can tell by the picture, this square was terribly crowded with people, yet somehow we ran into our British couple from the train! Small world...
We then went to the Rialto market, a open air market filled with fresh fish, fruits and vegetables and prepared an ensemble and we were shocked that it only cost about 3 euros for about 6 lbs of food. We took the ferry to the public gardens commissioned by Napoleon to enjoy our meal.

By late afternoon we managed to get lost on some of the back roads and after about an hour of climbing bridges and traversing small streets, we found our bus station again. This became a really nice tour of Venice by the end of it.

Come early evening, we strolled around and caught another great Italian sunset. Tomorrow, Florence...Arrivederci!

Day 2: The trip to Venice

Ciao!

Today we woke up early and strolled along the fashion district of Milan. Despite the lack of beauty within the city of Milan, the people and the shops in this area made up for it. I think the four Armani, 2 Dolce & Gabana and Prada stores made enough income alone to help Milan remain as the bustling economic center of Italy. It also helps to have former PM and Italy's wealthiest man, Silvio Berlusconi, as a resident.
After this window shopping (cheapest item was 300euros), we checked out of our room so that we could catch our train to Venice. 2nd class trains in Italy are full of luggage and people. We were crammed in together, but we met a very nice British couple on the train, who were definately weathered travelers, but more on them later. The train made several stops, including in Verona where an Italian lake and Juliet's balcony are located. The aforementioned Brits alerted us that parts of the new James Bond film were shot on Lake Como, one of the Italian lakes that we flew over. The countryside began to get prettier when we were in the region of Venice as well.
Finally, after roughly three hours of stopping and going, we made it to Venice, and it was definately worth it! Venice is by far the most beautiful city that I have ever been to. The train station abuts the Grand Canal which we had to cross to catch the shuttle bus to our Camping Village. Our accomodation was essentially a small trailer home, but we had AC and a bathroom, so no complaints.

Day 1: Milan

Well, we finally made it to Italy and it was definately worth the wait. After flying into New York, we thought we could train into Times Square and grab dinner, but later we found out it was $14/person one way to Penn Station, so all we got was a lousy photo of the NY skyline from the airport. We then left America at 11pm on Alitalia. After popping our sleeping pills we woke up to a nice Italian breakfast and a magnificent view of the Swiss Alps from the airplane. Finally, we landed in Milan.
Once in Milan we were just a short walk away from our hotel which was situated a mere 100 meters from Milan's Stazione Centrale. Our place was very nice with a magnificent window that opened onto Via Tomale, a major Milanese street. By now it was 2pm and we wanted to start experiencing Italy, so we bought a Metro pass and visited Milan's Duomo (see photo), the 3rd largest church in the World. The architecture was stunning and it only got better when we went inside. In fact we ran into Marg Helgenberger--better known as the Strawberry Blonde from CSI--walking around the Duomo with her extremely Italian-looking boyfriend.
After seeing the Duomo, we found a little hole-in-the-wall pizzeria off the main drag. Our cook and waiter spoke no English so to kill the awkwardness he projected a 5x10 foot image on the wall of the World Cup game that I tickets to (and unfortunately decided to sell them): Saudia Arabia v. Tunisia. Oh yeah, and the pizza margherita was amazing. We then checked in for the night so that we could sleep off our jet lag and get an early start for the next day.