Strange Things About Europe, Volume 10
1) I love the British accent, but after a while it becomes very irritating.
2) The Brits drive on the wrong side of the road, which is weird enough. But the entrance for the Victoria Train Station is on the right side of the road (which is the wrong side of the road for them). And every time I crossed that street (which was numerous) I almost died because I looked the wrong way.
3) Walking down the streets of London inexplicably made me want to sing. “Chim chiminey, chim chiminey, chim chim cher-oo! I do what I likes, and I likes what I do!”
4) About 2/3 of London is either closed or being restored.
5) Walking through St. James Park, I saw some kids flying a kite, and once again I felt like singing. “Let’s go fly a kite. Up to the highest height. Let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring. Up through the atmosphere. Up where the air is clear. Oh, let’s go fly a kite!”
6) It’s actually more difficult to go through customs in Italy than it is in Cuba.
7) I felt like more of an international traveler than ever when I looked into my wallet and found three currencies (pounds, euros, and dollars).
I have returned to Florence after a wonderful weekend in England. I have such a story to tell. You’d better get comfortable for this one.
Continue reading ‘London’
Strange Things About Europe, Volume 9
1) In general, Europeans really like Americans.
2) In general, Europeans really hate the American government.
This was a weekend to remember, for a number of reasons. Rome was amazing. I will have stories to tell people from this weekend for the rest of my life.
Friday morning at the crack of dawn I was up and ready to go to Rome. We took a bus there which took 3 1/2 hours. That was probably the only rotten part of the trip. I tuned out the rest of the world with my music for most of the trip, but my legs were crammed behind the seat in front of me.
Our hotel should have been really nice. It was a four star hotel (the one in Florence is a three star), but Paulo and I were put in the old wing. Our room was a piece of junk, but at least it had comfortable beds and working air conditioning.
Continue reading ‘Rome’
Strange Things About Europe, Volume 8
1) Monday was an American national holiday: Memorial Day. I did not get a day off from school that day. Justification: I’m in Italy, not America.
2) Today is an Italian national holiday: Festa della Republica. I did not get a day off from school today. Justification: I’m an American, not an Italian.
Quote of the Day: “I see that many of you turned in a rough draft today. Damn you!” — Professor Alistair Duckworth, expressing his disappointment in having to comment on the rough drafts of our 2000 word papers. Turning in a draft was optional.
So as I stated above, today is a holiday here in Italy. A lot of things are closed. It was strange walking to class, which is usually a risky business because of all the cars and motorcycles whipping down the narrow streets; today there was almost no one out. I think I like Florence better like this. There are still hundreds of tourists out by the Duomo, but the vendors who harass you to buy their product aren’t out by their storefronts.
Continue reading ‘A Man Without A Holiday’
Strange Things About Europe, Volume 7
1) Men who wear Capri pants and think it looks good.
2) On the train ride from Sorrento to Naples we were made fun of by an Italian teenager. He did this by asking us what time it was in English. That’s killer material man.
3) Italian children in general are strange, I’ve decided.
Quote of the Day: “Brooke, I heard you was pregnant!” — Brooke Hayes, who was herself quoting someone else from her high school days. It’s a long story.
I’ve got a lot to talk about, so get comfortable. 
Continue reading ‘Sorrento, Capri & Pompei’
Strange Things About Europe, Volume 6
1) While riding a gondola our gondolier was singing a traditional Italian song. Then he broke into the chorus of Like A Virgin.
Quote of the Day: “It sounds like fun. I get to go to Quito and the Galapagos. And get high on whatever made Darwin think up evolution.” — My sister Alison, talking about her possible summer 2005 trip to Ecuador. She has officially been elevated to coolest person of the day.
So Venice… incredible. Beautiful. I’m speechless. But what would a blog be without a speech? 
Continue reading ‘Venice’
Strange Things About Europe, Volume 5
1) The most popular restaurant in Florence at lunch time is the local McDonald’s. That’s sad.
2) Every pay phone in Florence is on a major city street, and they all have next to no volume. So whenever a bus, car, motorcycle, bicycle, or medium-sized dog passes by you can’t hear who you’re talking to. Keep in mind that I wouldn’t have to know this if the phone in my hotel room worked.
Argh! I have to type up a take-home quiz for Modern Italy. Okay, so I don’t have to, but it’ll make a good impression. I still have a lot of reading left to do tonight too, so it’s going to be another boring day in paradise.
Continue reading ‘Another Boring Day In Paradise’
Strange Things About Europe, Volume 4
1) I saw a women riding a bike and talking on a cell phone at the same time. Somehow that just seems stranger and worse than talking on a cell phone while driving.
So today was our excursion to Siena. You know, I really don’t have much to say about it. It was another beautiful city in a beautiful country. I think that just goes to show that I’m really spoiled by being hear. Siena is the kind of beauty that should be able to make me weak at the knees. Instead, it’s on the same level of beauty as most of the other cities I’ve been to. It wasn’t boring or anything; I’m glad I went. I just find it interesting that these trips are starting to become the norm in my mind.
Continue reading ‘Siena’
Strange Things About Europe, Volume 3
1) The farther you get from a tourist center the better the food gets.
2) The purse thieves here are very good at what they do.
So the first week of classes has officially been completed. The scary thing is that each class only meets 11 times, and I’ve been twice so far. So that’s almost 20% of the courses completed after only a mere week. Pretty crazy if you ask me.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Thursday was the first day of my Art & Architecture class. I decided to take this class as pass/fail. I’m a little nervous about having to memorize all the various names of painters and sculptors and having to identify what period it’s from and such. I can tell you what the artist’s intent was until I’m blue in the face, but the technical stuff is a bit hard for me. That and I’m taking three courses so I can get my summer requirement done.
But yeah, the first trip we went to Santa Croce and looked a bunch of tombs and mosaics. It was pretty amazing, mostly because Mrs. Duckworth knows more about this stuff than anyone I’ve ever met.
Continue reading ‘My Classes In Italy’
Strange Things About Europe, Volume 2
1) The mannequins in Florence have extremely erect nipples.
2) I heard a little Italian girl in Pisa say, “Oh momma mia!” when she saw all the people in our program coming towards her.
3) I had two people in the Louvre think I was French. I know this because they asked me questions in French. I knew one of them (he asked me what time it was) but the other one was complicated. I’m not French!
4) I had three people just walking back to the hotel here in Florence Friday night ask me questions in Italian. I didn’t know any of what they said. I’m not Italian!
Hey friends, sorry it’s taken me so long to get an update your way. I’ve just been so busy and hadn’t had the time to get to an Internet cafe. But here I am at intotheweb The Cyber Cafe in Florence, Italy. Let me start with the events of last Wednesday.
Continue reading ‘The Louvre, Florence & Pisa’
Strange Things About Europe, Volume 1
1) I saw a couple making out inside Notre Dame. I know Paris is the city of romance, but Notre Dame is still a church.
2) I heard a young British boy who was probably about 10 years old singing There She Goes, most recently recorded by Sixpence None The Richer. I had no idea they were popular over here.
3) On the Eiffel Tower, a British professor with his class of elementary aged students were looking for the “lift” to the top level. He asked me where it was… in French. Perfect French as far as I could tell. Now I ask you, do I look the slightest bit French to you? I answered him in English, and he looked rather embarrassed. I think it was because he thought he had replicated the accent and everything, but through it all I (being French) still knew he was British and that French was his second language.
4) There is a car in France that is small enough to back into (perpendicular) a parking spot that you are supposed to parallel park into. I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s the wussiest thing I’ve ever seen.
Continue reading ‘Versailles’
