Lisbon actually kind of reminds me of san fansisco

fyi, view from pinetemare balcony. hell. yes.
plaza behind maria sofia
this is my, "quick, before the docents see" picture of a play-doughy version of the nike of samothrace, one of my favorite statues ever
centeral plaza or reina sofia
this was so cool; the inside of the black box thing you see above.

view from my reading bench
anna was sleepy, but the room was very cool.
i swear you can see my face when this is on the camera. i'll work on it on the computer. this was the view from lunch.
graffiti on the stairs up towards the castle. wahoowa?
view from the castelo
plaza of the castelo
peahen of the castelo (!) (i think)
looks like monty python and the holy grail could be set here
BLOOD ALONE MOVES THE WHEELS OF HISTORY!
rooftopish cafe and anna
I wasn't lying about the billowing sails

We're in lisbon! and it's so beautiful, I don't know what to do with myself. But let's backtrack a bit:

Yesterday, I was feeling a lot better, but still a bit low on energy, so I went and bought myself Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safran Foer (because I knew I'd finish HP before the plane ride) and a Vogue and Elle from the English-language bookshop I found, went to the Centro de Arte de Reina Sofia (where Guernica is), and then went to the Real Jardin Botanico, where I read about the final adventure (?) of Harry, Ron, and Hermione for about five hours. It was just lovely. Then it was back to the hostel, to the train station, and we caught our overnight train to Lisboa (which falls somewhere between the other two overnight trains in terms of quality; it was like the zurich train but aged about 30 year). We arrived in Lisbon about 8:00, at the (really cool) hostel by nine, where we had to wait about four hours for our room to be ready. Anna passed out on the beanbags in one of the common rooms, and I had just enough time to finish my book. 600 pages, two days, basically twenty-four hours. woot for me. I won't give anything away, but if anyone else has read it and wants to discuss, i'm game. And, walter, if you read this, I can bring it to Peru when I come so that you can read it on the flight home.

After putting our bags in the room and showering so that we felt human again, Anna and I went to a little restaurante down the street from the hostel, where I had a delicious chicken dish and a pretty okay desert (prepackaged but yummy). The view from the outdoor table where we sat was spectacular, and the weather couldn't have been more pleasant. After lunch we crossed the city to another hill housing the city's castle. It was quite a hike, but well worth it. The views were spectacular, the setting peaceful, and there was a free font of water! After touring the remains of the castle, we went to this amazing and somewhat hidden cafe just a few dozen feet lower than the castle that was open and outdoor, with couches and lounge chairs and billowing sails for sun protection.

Tomorrow, I plan to go on a walking tour so that I can learn a thing or two about this city that seems so cool. Then, oh man, shopping! Because now I won't have to lug what I buy around (though I may have to buy a new bag, hmm . . .). I don't even know if I'll buy anything, but I love having the option.

Much love to you all and see you in TWO DAYS!!!

Madrid: well, the hostel room is nice

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been (and still am) under the weather. Every week, it seems, I've eaten something that hasn't agreed with me, and I'm sick of it. (Pun intended).

Now I'm in Madrid, and for the second day I haven't had the energy to do much of anything. I think I've got a bit of a postnasal drip. It sucks, but if there was any place on this trip to get sick, it's probably here, for we're in a twin room in a nice hostel with free wireless for four nights. And Anna's going to be back in this city in not much longer than a month. Moreover, I have nothing in particular I want to see here, as I've been here before, and it's kind of nice to at least hear the goings on of the big city ouside our little balcony. I just have to focus on feeling better for Lisbon.

It's so cool to see Anna in this city, though, even if it just has been for the two dinners I've attempted ouside of the room. She and the city just fit together: both vibrant, diverse, adventurous, and confident. She's going to have such a blast next semester.

Also, I found an English-language bookshop that will have Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Saturday! Perfect for the long trip home.

in the shadow of vesuvius

it smelled of honeysuckle, climbing the volcano
crater
crater plus me!
wall painting in herculaneum

I cannot reiterate enough how much I appreciate being here.

Today, I went with Dr. Ciuffo, Michael, Mariah, and Glenn to Mount Vesuvius, where we could park the car (a massive van) one km from the top. We walked in the ash and rock all the way to the crater at the top of the volcano, and IT WAS AWESOME!

It was an arduous walk (esp. on the calves), but well worth it. There was a nice breeze off of the Bay of Naples, and the view was so clear that it was almost unbelievable.

After that, we went to Herculaneum (?), the other city that was destroyed by the 79ad eruption. It's a lot smaller than Pompeii, but it was covered in a mud slide that actually preserved a lot of the organic materials. It was neat, but we were all pretty exhausted.

Back to the condo, and Anna and I went down to the beach with her little sister, Rio. It was so shallow and refreshing and clean. Perfection after a long day. Then, wonder of wonders, I took a bath! That was such a luxury. Fantastic. really.

"you owe your existence to Florence"

me and the hofburg palace. it was actually kind of hot and sunny, and we'd just biked for about three hours. that's the only explanation for my harried state.
see above, but now in Cafe Central, where Lenin, Trotsky, and Freud would frequent.
Venice, in one picture: people, pigeons
Florence: the duomo, bell tower, and baptistry.
Tuscany!
San G. (and michael) is so cute!
antennas as far as the eye could see
this is for mom and grammy
siena duomo. It looks like the window is clear to the sky.
Trevi Fountain! so pretty!


Last day in Vienna: bike tour, famous cafe, lousy overnight train.

Italy's been a bit of a whirlwind. Venice kind of sucked. I mean, I liked the visuals of the canals, but it was so hot and humid. The weather was generally oppressive, especially walking half an hour to our one-star hotel with 40 pounds on our backs. We did the touristy stuff, but, holy god!, everyone and their mother was in San Marco's square! We couldn't handle it for long. So Venice was a bit of a bust, and I know this because I only took one picture the whole 24 hours we were there. and it was from the train station before we left.

Florence was much nicer. We met Dr. Ciuffo and Michael when we got in and went around with them all day, saw Michaelangelo's "David," and saw the sights. That evening, Dr. Ciuffo drove us all to Lucca, a cool medieval city where, to our surprise, Elton John was giving a concert. We tried and failed to get a view of him, and ended up eating at a little cafe outside where we could hear him as we ate. We got back to Florence late, and the next day, we went to the uffizi, then left Florence headed to Rome with two pit stops.

Our first stop was in San Gimiagnino (?), another medieval walled city, but way cuter and up on a hill in Tuscany. It rained, but we found a cafe to eat a delicious meal and wait out the storm. Then we walked up to the top of the city and took in the absolutely beautiful vistas (and a funny one of all the antennae). We made our way to Siena as well, which I found vaguely familiar and pretty. Turns out that I had been to both cities with Mom and Dad way back when I was five.

Got into Rome late, again, late dinner (like 23:00). In Rome the next day, again, we did all the major sights with the Ciuffos: Churches, Colosseum, Forum, Trajan's column, St. Peter's (where I couldn't go because I was wearing a sleeveless shirt).

Now, we're in a small beach town outside of Naples at Anna's step-step-grandfather's condo. I can see the Mediterranean from where I'm sitting, and there's a whole contingent of friends and family staying at this fantastic home. We're blowing off Barcelona and Valencia and spending a few nights here then flying from Naples to Madrid on the 17th. Then Madrid for four nights, overnight train to Lisbon, two nights in Lisbon, and flying home.

It's so lovely here. Such a nice change of pace, break from extreme travelling, and I'm looking forward to beaching it in the coming days.

Love to you all!

(also, the quote is from my mom, regarding the fact that without florence she wouldn't have a job . . . I guess) (love you, mom <3)

later on a trip to vienna, eating a baguette in a bag

recognize this lakefront?
how about this gazebo? (hint: "timid and shy and scared am I of things beyond my kin")
how about this tree line? do I look like I have confidence in confidence alone?
the lake district around salzburg: so pretty!

mirabelle gardens, salzburg; sadly that woman was not jumping to the correct "do-re-mi" stepvolksgarten, vienna austria. the view from an inexplicable ionic temple in the middle of the park
this is supposed to be a river in the stadtpark
view from the north tower of the stephandom, vienna's major church, and yes, that is the design of the roof. isn't that cool?
vienna
who knew?


Sound of Music tour was a bit of a let-down. Beautiful places, but a lot of time on the bus, and a tour guide who tried far too hard and seemed insincere. also, it was four hours long. and no one but anna and I sung along when she played the soundtrack. Anna posited that it might be a form of masochism, going on the tour while not liking the movie. I did get a whole baguette that I was able to eat on the train to Vienna (a triumph for my stomach). Hence, the title of this post (and of course, a reference to "the Ballad of John and Yoko").

We got into Vienna about 22:00, and were able to walk about five minutes to our hostel, which is pretty fancy as far as hostels go. It's quite shiny, with leather couches and electronic keys and lockers. We're in an all-girl, four-person dorm, with (semi-verboten) access to the fire escape and a sloping roof. It's really nice. I was pretty wiped, so I just went to bed, and Anna hung out with Rachel, our British roommate for the night, and apparently she ran into the two guys we met in Brussels, which is pretty cool, seeing these people by chance more than once.

This morning, we had a bit of a lie in, the first opportunity we've had to do so in almost a week, then went to the park, a huge flea market/regular market, another park to enjoy the hummus we bought at above market, and St. Stephen's (with catacombs, which were suitably creepy). It's been a nice day, but I don't know if I'm up for eating an actual meal tonight. I don't want to get sick again, and I think if I hold off for a little longer on fruit and rice cakes and mild foods, my good health will last. we'll see.

Much love from Vienna (which I like a lot!)

pictures uploaded and a long-awaited (or just long) update

pergamon museum, berlin. massive temple
there was an exhibit on words and art at the pergamon musuem, and this might have been my favoite part of it.
part of the same exhibit: an ahmadinijad room
(fake) checkpoint charlie!

(real) Berlin wall!memorial to the dead jews of europe
See: Star Wars meets the Reichstag
Brandenburg gate

I really like the composition of this photo. Anna, looking out over the city.tiny night train room
the view from our hotel in zurich (we were the only room with a balcony)
zurich is adorable
look at how pretty that river is.

in a munich subway/walkway, we found a woolworths. we had to document this strange event. Anna even bought Black Sheep and posed in front of the "Mr. Proper" bottles.glockenshpiel
impromptu concert. which of these things is not like the other? which doesn't quite fit?




Pictures have been retroactively uploaded to previous posts. woo!

It's been a while since I've updated because it's been a hectic few days: one night each in zurich, munich, and salzburg. I'm in the salzburg hostel currently, watching The Sound of Music before going on the Sound of Music tour, and hoping that my nauseaed stomach will calm down soon. It sucks being ill while travelling, but it's definitely not as bad as it could be. I think it's just something I ate that will work it's way through my system quick enough. and the hostel here plays the movie daily, so it's probably the best place to be sick: three hours of relaxation and escapism available daily. though, let me tell you, salzburg is really close to the german border, not so much to the swiss border, and the mountains here are super steep and rocky, so I don't know how those von trapps did it, or how they logiced that one out there for the movie.

back to the reality of the trip.

The last day in Berlin was great: an amazing bike tour all around the city, then we went up to the top of the Reichstag (which now looks quite a bit like the Star Wars government house) for a fantastic and free view of the city (in the rain, but still nice). That night, it was the overnight train to Zurich, and let me tell you, I'm in love with long overnight trains. This one was even longer because the train workers in Germany staged a strike from 5-9am, during which we were dead stopped. Four extra hours of sleep. glorious. Moreover, our one other roommate on the train was this 20-something German named Marcus, who had emo-bangs, spoke amazing English, and was flying to Thailand that day. We shared about two hours of extremely engaging conversation with him, and I felt reinvigorated. I'm hoping that the overnight train to Venice will also reinvigorate me as well. I love trains: stress-free, easy, smooth, punctual, and with beautiful scenery.

Zurich was adorable. very alpine. I liked how small and condense it is, and the river is the cleanest I've seen yet: green watter! and you could see the bottom! and there were swans swimming in it! The hostel/one-star hotel in Zurich (Zic-Zac Rock Hotel) boasts themed rooms, but we were disappointed to discover that the Lenny Kravitz room we were in had not a single picture of Lenny. There were pictures of Paul McCartney wrapped in a wrigley's gum wrapper and standing next to a giant ashtray and a large picture of a craggly keith richards. nothing to indicate that it was a Lenny Kravitz room other than the placard on the door. My suggestion: make a feather boa border around the ceiling and at least one picture. that's all you needed. It was a private room, which was a nice change up, and the shower on the floor was actually large enough to shave my legs, which was also a welcome change.

In Zurich, we mainly walked around, and went to this very cool museum (Kunsthaus) that had works from the Old Masters to Cy Twombly. I love the little pedestrian streets in these germanic cities: little shops, boutiques, cafes, and a very cool (read: European) atmosphere.

After a four hour train ride to Munich, we walked around that city, saw the glockenshpiel (big mechanical clock with figurines that dance at certain hours), wandered upon a spontaneous concert by a string quartet (ish; there was a violin, bass, cello, and . . . an accordian). They were fantastic. Not so fantastic? the weather. It's like Virginia in late November but wetter: temperatures in the 16-21 degree Celsius range (50-70 F, I think) and rain EVERYWHERE WE GO. We were able to do laundry in Munich, too, which was so relieving because we both packed mainly for warm weather with warmer clothes as an afterthought, and have thus been wearing the same few things for the last two and a half weeks. And we are at the halfway point! woot!

Yesterday morning, we went to Dachau, a place I really had no desire to go, but Anna wanted to and I didn't have any better ideas, and she's right that it's a place I should see. God, was that trying. It was cold, rainy, grey, depressing, and completely fitting for that location. The one affirming connection I felt was when I looked at the part of the memorial that said "never again" in six different languages, and yiddish was at the top. I could read that language, understand it literally, and feel that connection and comfort from the continuation of yiddish and the traditions surrounding it of which I am a part.

Then, train to salzburg, made it to the hostel, and, well, yesterday evening was a wash for me. I was asleep before ten. I am feeling a bit better, and the apple one of our roommates gave me seems to be doing okay. And I'm really quite excited about the Sound of Music tour.

Vienna tonight and tomorrow night, then we take the overnight train to Venice (where apparently, there's a heatwave going on). Don't know when I'll be able to update again, but I love and miss you all. See you in two and a half weeks!

Also, Walter, if you're reading: I heard Peru made it into the quarterfinals of the Copa America. Is it awesome being in Lima while Peru's doing well. I hope you're watching the games in some raucous local watering holes. Also, do you think Rafa or Andy have a chance against Roger? or that they'll be able to finish the tournament on time? much love, brother.