European Adventure

Hi everyone! I’m back from my trip through Barcelona, Aix-en-Provence, Venice and Florence! It was a really fun trip but I’m glad it’s over. By the end of a vacation like that, you begin to wonder when the relaxation part comes in.

However, now that I’m back, I’m bored of relaxing. Here’s the update, so you can enjoy the trip with me.

Barcelona:

March 27:

We took a bus to Glasgow and a train to the airport, making it on time. Security stopped me, as usual, for my inhaler. By the end of the two weeks, I began to wonder if I shouldn’t just put the aerochamber in a bin with my liquids to prove it’s not a bottle of water.

Anyway, when we got to Barcelona, it was mid-afternoon, warmish and sunny. We took a bus from Girona, where we flew in, to Barcelona, and hailed a non-English speaking cab driver to try to find our apartment. The website gave me the wrong directions, and Fernando, our contact, wasn’t very helpful, so we spent about 4 hours lost in central Barcelona. We did finally get to the apartment, and Fernando was extremely accommodating and nice. The apartment was small, but had a queen sized bed and a full-sized futon, as well as a kitchenette and bathroom. The shower was smaller than a walk-in closet, but I’m short so I didn’t have much trouble. The part of town we were in was 15 minutes from Les Ramblas, the main tourist road, and set in a part of town where the people were mostly locals. We had dinner at a restaurant that served us a ginormous plate of fish for 30Euro, and before going back we bought some breakfasty foods. Back in the apartment, exhausted, we all went straight to bed.

March 28:

We wandered around Barcelona with the help of Jake’s map and guidebook. We stopped by the Eglesia de Santa Maria Del Mar, which looked like nothing special on the outside but was absolutely beautiful inside, as we learned most churches in Europe are. Still wandering, we looked into a cloister bear a museum and found orange trees, which reminded me of Florida.

Finally, we ended up in the Ciutadella Parc, which used to be a fortress but was turned into a park sometime in the 20^th century. It was huge and beautiful. The best part was the fountain! The thing was HUGE, and really, really beautiful. A carving of Venus overlooked the waterfall and at the very top was a bronze statue of a carriage and horses. I can’t really explain the awe I felt at seeing it. We saw some baby ducks in the water, too, which is always a plus.

After the park we stopped for lunch, and the most notable part of that was that Matt ordered “fried fish” and when he got was a plate full of WHOLE fish, dipped in batter and fried, heads intact and all. After taking pictures of that phenomenon, we all basically decided we’d had our fill of sea food.

We saw the Picasso Museum, which was amazing because it showed his growth as an artist. I used to dislike his paintings, thinking that they lacked talent and skill. After seeing that at 13 he was painting amazing, realistic portraits, I understood the irony. He had become bored with realism and, using his knowledge of it, moved on to discover and invent new types of painting, like cubism. I bought myself a sketchbook with Guernica on the cover, and a postcard of one of my favorite paintings, to remember it.

After Picasso, we went to the Catedral, which is the big cathedral in Barcelona. The cloister is guarded by geese, and while Jake’s guidebook didn’t really say why, it did mention that they make good guard dogs. The cathedral was built sometime in the 13^th century, which I find amazing, and continued to find amazing throughout our travels. How people lacking technology were able to build such massive, impressive, lasting structures is beyond me.

Besides the drunk Englishmen taking over the streets, nothing too exciting happened that evening. I had a Spanish omelet for dinner, but prefer Noelia’s, and at the tiny café we ate at we got to see some Spanish TV…which is awful. Their version of the “Office” is called “Camera Café” and…well, let’s just say that even in another language I could tell how bad it was.

March 29:

Walking down Les Ramblas on our way to take a Gaudi tour, we passed birds, bunnies, hamsters, and mice for sale all down the road. I was so tempted to buy a tiny dwarf rabbit. They were absolutely adorable.

The Gaudi tour was basically a walking tour Jake’s guidebook led us on. Gaudi was an architect at the turn of the century, when modernista style was huge in Barcelona. His buildings look like something out of Dr. Seuss books, with huge colorful facades and strangely shaped balconies and walls. At La Pedrera, an apartment building he designed with just about the neatest rooftop and view ever, I bought a calligraphy pen and jar of ink, which the writer in me insisted I purchase. It was only 5Euro (about $7) and I’m happy with it, even though I know nothing about calligraphy.

After the tour, we ate some paella for lunch (yum!) and took a train to Montjuic. This is a mountain named for the graves of Jewish people that were found when they excavated it. We got to see the castle there, with cannons from 1898 and 1923. The view was astounding. We could see ALL of Barcelona, which is huge.

On our walk home we decided to check out the beach and restaurants on the other side of our apartment. This led us to having Chinese for dinner, and an early night in.

March 30:

We woke up at 11am for Montserrat on Friday, and took the subway to the train station for it. We had lunch at the base of the mountain, then took the funicular (which is the coolest name for a tram ever) up the mountain. The mountain looks really cool; it’s very bumpy and seems to be made of dribbled sand. We walked up a bit, but didn’t want to miss the last funicular down the mountain, so we stopped when we got to what looked like a small church. The weather was sunny but cool, probably about 70, and very nice.

We learned a bit about the monestary of Montserrat, and then went into the church, which was overwhelmingly beautiful. The brasswork and sculptures all around were breathtaking, as were the paintings. We saw the black Virgin Mary and Christ statue that was found in a cave on the mountain, which I found fascinating. I need to look up the history on it, but I know people come from miles away to see her.

We took the rackrail back down the mountain and got off at the wrong stop. We had to walk through a small town to get to the next train stop, but I’m glad we did, because the town, Montisrol, was stereotypically Spanish, with small houses with clay tile roofs.

For dinner we ate at the Attic, a place that looks swanky but costs next to nothing. Jake bought us cava to celebrate the beginning of our trip, and I had veal with mashed potatoes that was absolutely delicious and tender. We had gelato on the way home, and went to bed.

March 31:

We went to the Segrada Familia, a church which Gaudi worked on until he died by being hit by a tram. The cathedral is still unfinished, but is supposed to be done by 2012 or so. It is built in the modernista style and the spires on it are the symbol of Barcelona; brightly colored spikes jutting high in the horizon. I like the old cathedrals better, enjoying the antiquity, but it was interesting to see the style of this one.

We then walked to the Gaudi Parc, called Parc Guell, which was supposed to be a residence for the elite class but which was too ahead of its time, being built all in modernista style. The project was left unfinished and is now a park for people to spend time in. It was beautiful between 1900-1914, and it really beautiful. The houses look like gingerbread houses, and the architecture and colors are in keeping with the Dr. Seuss style of modernista-architecture. The weather was absolutely gorgeous.

We stopped at a street market off Les Ramblas and bought inexpensive and delicious raspberries. They had whole pigs, tons of fish, homemade gelato, candied nuts, cheese, and basically the best foods ever. We later returned there to buy dinner, which ended up being the least expensive dinner we had the whole trip, of bangers (sausage) and mash (potatoes) and asparagus, which we all cooked together.

After the market we went to the Museu d’Historia de la Ciutat (history of the city). The museum takes you underground into the excavation that uncovered Roman ruins and earlier buildings in the area, dating back to the 6^th century BCE and earlier. We saw wine cellars, laundry/dye areas, etc, and eventually were led up to the 13^th century castle that now sits on top of it all. The ruins that discovered amazed me, especially because I have trouble imaging people in the 6^th century BCE could have language, let alone use sewing needles, looms, ceramics, glass, metal, and coins. To think I was walking in a place where thousands of years earlier others lived was amazing.

For our last day in Barcelona, it was definitely a good one.

Aix:

April 1:

We took the train to Montpellier and then to Marseille, where we got a bus to Aix-en-Provence, our next stop. We passed pretty little French towns that made me think of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”. We sat near a garrulous old lady who, seeing that I spoke some French, was trying to explain the countryside to me. I discovered my French is rusty, but does work.

I was able to speak to the train station people about schedules, etc, without problems, so I felt pretty good to be a country where I can speak the language. We picked up some breakfast food and retired to the apartment, which was much easier to find than in Barcelona.

April 2:

We went to the tourism office first thing to ask about day trips out of Aix, which is pretty but very small. We went wandered about and found a market, where I conversed with a vendor, telling him we were studying in Scotland but visiting France, and bought fresh brie layered with truffles for 7Euro.

We stopped at a cathedral, which had amazing arches along the ceiling, and wandered around. We discovered that everything closes from noon to 2pm here, which was quite annoying. We did find a GF food store, as Jake’s friend studying in Aix has Celiac and told him where to find it. I bought a baguette, croissants, and pasta, which were some of the best consistency of GF food ever. The brand is “Schaff” or something similar, and I’ll need to search it out here.

Waiting for things to open, I got Nutella flavored gelato (yum!) and looked up information for hiking or visiting Avignon for the next day.

We took a small rest in the apartment until things opened again, then got coffee at a café. Seeing as it was too early for dinner, we then all had some wine at a brasserie and then finally ate. Most restaurants here have a set dinner menu, which is often marked down from its usual price. We had duck for 10Euro for dinner and it was so tender and delicious.

April 3:

We took the 8:15 bus to Puyloubier to climb Mount Sainte-Victoire. We stopped in a tiny grocery to buy water, and I asked the cashier, in French, how to find the entrance trail to the mountain. He directed us up the road, and I felt accomplished and understanding the language when we got to the marked trail. We began the climb at 9 and got to the top at 11:40. It was chilly and windy at the top. We had lunch (I had a baguette with brie) and spent some time lounging at the peak while Matt continued to another.

The day was sunny and gorgeous. The climb was not too difficult up and SO pretty. As we prepared to descend, we ran into a Frenchman who asked us for the time and took him some time to realize we weren’t fluent in French. I, acting as our translator, was able to have some conversation with him. He told us his son was in California, his daughter in Michigan, and asked where we were staying, studying, etc. He was very nice.

The climb down was painful, maybe because it was SO hot by that time. We took the bus back, napped, showered, packed to leave the next morning, and ended our day.

April 4:

We woke at 3:30am, missed our 4:45 bus to the airport, got lost looking for the correct bus station, finally got the bus (spent 7.80E) to the airport…and realized that we were a day early and weren’t leaving Aix till the 5^th. Silly. We took the bus back, spending another 7.80, and napped till noon.

Afterward, Matt and I got lunch, stopped at the GF store, and went to the Granet museum to see sculptures, Cezanne’s exhibit, and 14^th century paintings; I brushed up on my History of Art skills and “studied” for my exam while there. We ran into Jake there and checked out the Eglise Jean-something Malte. The guys got sidewalk crepes and then stopped at a café for chocolat chaude for me.

It began raining, so we moved inside and drew and had wine till it stopped. For dinner I made soup and a baguette which turned out so wonderfully. Having bread with soup is something I’ve missed, especially with bread THAT soft and good.

That night, I found out Dr. Raymond passed away. I was shocked into tears at the internet café, but the next morning decided that he had suffered so long, he was probably ready for it, even if everyone who knew him thought his diabetes would never get the best of him. He was able to complete his revenge novel the semester before, and I don’t think he had many regrets in his life. I’ll miss him a lot, and the English department won’t be the same without him, but I’m glad he’s no longer suffering. I thought about him a lot the next couple days, but slowly came to terms with it.

Venice:

April 5:

We got up at 3:30 and got the correct bus on time this time. We flew into Rome and had an 8 hour layover till our flight to Venice. I had finished my book in Barcelona and left the sequel in Scotland so I read half of Matt’s book (“The Last Templar”) while we waited. We were evacuate for 5 minutes, but were told it was a false alarm. We found the hotel easily using the waterbus to get to Lido from Venice, had dinner, and went back to the hotel to shower and sleep.

April 6:

Matt and I spent the day together alone. We walked about Venice. I bought a Murano glass necklace, choosing the glass and chain myself. We then went in to the Basilica at St. Mark’s Square. It began in the 800s and was finished sometime in the 18^th century. Some of the things in it, like the giant bronze horses (thought to be from Constantine), have been dated to the 2^nd century BCE. The Basilica is beautiful inside, with detailed mosaics covering every wall and ceiling, and amazing works of art everywhere. Being in a building that old never ceases to amaze me.

We then went to the Peggy Guggenheim collection, a museum housing her personal collection of art. We saw Picassos, Chagall, Pollocks (to whom she gave his first exhibit), and Dalis. We discovered a new artist we had never heard of, Richard Pouette-Dart, who is now one of my favorite artists. I wrote down the names of all the paintings I liked that I saw there, so one day I may be able to own a poster of them. As I usually do with museums, I bought postcards of the paintings I liked best.

We took the waterbus to Rialto, where we think we saw a movie star but can’t remember his name. I bought some salami and cheese to carry with me as snacks when quick GF lunches are hard to find. I also bought an Italia jacket because I was cold while we waited to meet Jake for dinner.

April 7:

On our last day, we ate and checked out of the hotel, leaving our luggage there for storage. Then we went to St. Mark’s and went up the bell tower. I prepared for 300 steps and found it was actually an elevator ride up. The view was amazing and showed all of Venice. We then collected our stuff, met Jake, and took the 4:30 train to Florence. I missed the beauty and charm and history of Venice, but not the tourists, which are as thick as the pigeons there, and more obnoxious.

We got into Florence at 7:30, had dinner, and slept.

Florence:

April 8:

We went to the Palazzo Della Signoria in the morning, where recreated statues are. David originally stood there, but was moved into the Galleria dell’Academia due to erosion. I got a picture with the recreation though, and took photos of the Rape of Sabine and some of the other Roman sculptures.

We walked past the Duomo, which is the big cathedral in Florence. It’s green and pink on the outside; very impressive. It being Easter, we were shocked when we were able to worm our way in to view some of the service. I wondered if it was in the original Latin or in Italian. Either way, it was fascinating, especially due to the fact that most of it is just tradition – the costumed guards, for instance. We could hardly see the cathedral, but from what we saw it was beautiful. Luckily we would get to visit it again later in the trip.

We had lunch, then went to the Museo di San Marco, where Frescos painted by Fra Angelico and his company are. The place used to be a monestary, and the cells all have one Fresco each. They date around the 1300s, and how they are still preserved escapes me, but it’s really neat to read the symbolism and everything in them (like St. Peter’s bloody head, which I don’t understand at all).

Afterward, we accidentally found a street market and I bought a watch for 3Euro. We had gelato at a place that boasts 70+ flavors (take that Baskin Robbins). We walked by Dante’s church, a road named for him, and the recreation of his “casa.” We sat at the river to draw and enjoy the sun. At this point I was feeling burnt out. Traveling is fun, but it takes a lot out of you, and for someone who likes to be lazy, like me, having something to do every day was getting difficult.

Anyway, we had dinner at a place we found accidentally that was inexpensive and absolutely delicious, boosting Florence to be one of my new favorite places. I bought a large Louis Vuitton purse, knocking the price from 95Euro to 42 simply by putting my foot down. The street vendors sure are desperate! Good thing I bought it, though, since having a larger carry-on was necessary after the trip haha.

April 9:

Matt and I split from Jake again and rented mountain bikes for the day. We rode them to the Piazzale Michelangelo, where the view of the city is amazing, and witnessed an Asian wedding. We then rode down, following a map from the bike place, and passed the giant, ancient gates of Florence. We rode uphill through the country, leaving the city behind. We saw gorgeous farmland and countryside. If you’ve ever seen “Under the Tuscan Sun” or “My House in Umbria”, this is what it looked like. However, tired and hot, I broke down, cried, and we turned back. We had some gelato to calm me down and sat drawing in Palazzo Della Signoria, where we saw a kilted giant with a little kid on his shoulders. We felt at home at once.

We returned bikes and wandered a street market for a bit, then ate at I Ghibellini again, which was still delicious and inexpensive. Besides my bum being bruised from the bike, it felt really good to be out all day in the gorgeous sun.

April 10:

We wanted to join Jake at the Pitti, a palace turned museum, but it was way too expensive and neither Matt nor I wanted to spend all day in one place. Instead, we went to Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine, a church his art teacher pointed him to. The Brancacci Chapel there is the most famous, and depicts scenes from the life of St. Peter. The painted ceiling was AMAZING, with arches that look 3D but are really flat. It was built in 1268 but burned down and was restored in the 1700s. The Brancacci is original, though, from the 1400s.

I began to notice English is the language people use when they can’t find any other common language. A Russian tourist speaking to an Italian person at the tourist office is wont to use English to be understood. Very interesting.

We saw some gypsies trying to clean people’s cars on our way to lunch. The gypsies in Florence are worse than tourists in Venice. They come up to you and shake change in your face, yelling at you like you owe them money. I don’t speak Italian but I’m pretty sure the woman who bothered me said something like “You borrowed 15 Euros from me and I want it back now!” They are incredibly distasteful, they all are pregnant or have children with them, and basically are worse than pigeons. Ugh. I found all my sympathy for them was gone by the end, to the point where I feel they’re stolen my soul. (Being gypsies, they probably did.)

Matt and I continued to the church and convent of Santa Maria Novella, by the train station. It was begun in the 1200s, and had amazing wall paintings and tombs. I’m getting good at taking illegal photos inside these places.

We also stopped in the church of San Lorenzo, which was consecrated in 393 and enlarged in 1059 CE. This church was done in gray and white, with windows letting in natural light and plantlife inside. It was much less oppressive but still beautiful. Donatello and Michelangelo both contributed art to it, including doors and tombs. The cloister was sunny and beautiful.

We passed up seeing David, annoyed with the line of vapid American tourists, and instead went back to the Duomo, which means “house.” It’s really called the Santa Maria del Fiore. It was huge and amazing, of course, and you can go downstairs to see the excavation where Roman ruins were discovered, again. Again, Donatello contributed stained glass to the church, and to understand the size, let me illuminate: the domed ceiling, which hardly takes up a quarter of the entire church, is 3600 sq.meters. The church is 153 meter by 90 meters. You can climb up under the painting and even go outside and stand along the dome to look over Florence. We planned on returning to do so in the morning, when I wasn’t sore from the biking the day before.

I finally broke down and bought a leather bound handmade notebook, which are all over Italy for some reason. Matt bought a green and pink silk tie. We went back to the river and I wrote haikus in my new journal while Matt drew. We had dinner with Jake at the Trattoria al Trebbio, which Alan recommended to us all the way from Stetson. The veal I had was amazing.

On our way home, we passed some chalk art the artists had worked on for about 10 hrs, depicting famous paintings of Venus and the Virgin Mary. The police were out after the purse guys, so Matt couldn’t buy a hat for his brother.

April 11:

We woke early and climbed to the top of the Duomo. It’s 463 steps up, but only takes about 15 minutes. We could see all the churches we had visited the day before. I bought some GF food at a pharmacy, then had lunch and walked back to the apartment. It was absolutely smoldering out, at least 75. We caught our train at 3:57 and said goodbye to Florence.

The rest of the trip home was without incident, besides sleeping in the airport, and returning to Scotland while it was somehow 68F. I’m wearing a dress today, it’s so warm. We left it cold and dead, and returned to yellow flowers everywhere!

I’m glad to be back, but what a trip! I can’t wait to try to get back to France and Italy some day. My photos are extensive (over 400) and hopefully all labeled correctly. They are up at the link on the blog.

And now, as this update took me a couple hours…time for dinner.

-A-