No longer homeless in the Party Piso and pizzas used as weapons

Palabra del día: Piso
Translation: Apartment, or, as most Spanish people who have been educated in British English would say, "flat."
Frase: Me encanta vivir en el Party Piso con amigos que les gusta tocar la música.
Translation: I love living in the Party Piso with friends who like to play music.

Comida del día: I've always secretly wanted to have a cooking blog.  The problem is that for the last few years I haven't had a kitchen, and I also barely know how to cook.  At the moment though, I have a blog and a kitchen, so I'm going to turn this section of the blog into a "Recipe of the day" instead of a "Food of the day."  This also makes a lot of sense because I've already discussed most of the important Spanish foods and many of the Eastern European ones as well, so this change will prevent me from running out of things to talk about (call it bad planning, but this blog was originally scheduled to end in December...).  That being said, cooking has been a bit of a struggle during my first two weeks in my new apartment with all of the chaos of moving in, getting used to a new schedule, learning how the tiny kitchen works, and navigating Spanish grocery stores.  My most successful recipe so far was this cookie cake:

which I made for my housemate Rebecca's birthday party.  It was a huge success - there were three cakes there and mine disappeared the fastest! Chocolate chip cookies don't exist in Spain so it was a bit of a novelty to many of the guests at the party.  For the recipe, I used the classic toll house chocolate chip cookie recipe (http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/18476/Original-NESTL%C3%89-TOLL-HOUSE-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/detail.aspx) except without baking soda or baking powder (I couldn't find any...), with slightly inaccurate measurements (they measure things in grams here and I was too lazy to convert everything), and with wayyyy to much butter (I should have measured the butter...).  Despite all of this, the cookie cake was still delicious.

Foto del dia: Look how many instruments I have in my new bedroom!

I count four: the keyboard I'm renting this semester, my french horn, the recorder that I'm supposed to learn how to play for my new internship at an elementary school, and a guitar.  I've been wanting to learn to play guitar for a while and there are so many great guitar players in Spain that I decided this was the place to do it!

I'm two weeks into this semester and it's already drastically different than the last one.  But let me backtrack a little bit to explain the strange title of this blog post.  In three parts:

Part 1: No longer homeless

I was never actually homeless, but I was without a permanent home for my six weeks of winter break.  My housemates ensured me that they wouldn't let me live on the street, but not having a the insurance bedroom that I knew I could come home to made me feel a bit insecure.  For much of that time, I was on my Great European Adventure.  When I finally came home to Granada I was expecting to be able to move into my room, but the girl who was living here before me decided she needed to stay an extra two weeks to finish up her classes.  And so I was exiled to the sofa and shared the living room for a week and a half with my friend/housemate Rebecca who was in the same situation.  Although I was incredibly sick of living out of a suitcase and ready to have some space to myself, I definitely appreciate how generous my housemates were in giving up their living room to the two of us.  And not having a bedroom for so long made me appreciate my new room even more when I finally got to move in, fill it with instruments, and find some much needed personal space.

Part 2: In the Party Piso

I've named our apartment the "Party Piso."  Don't worry Mom, we've only had one party, for Rebecca's birthday.  But sometimes it feels like every day is a party because I'm constantly surrounded by friends. The members of the Party Piso include:

• me (duh)
• Rebecca, who is my friend from IES and plays cello in my band (hahaha she plays cello in a band... long story)
• Our friend Alberto who plays saxophone in our band and invited us to live in his apartment since two of his housemates left this semester
• Our other housemate Nabil who is originally from Morocco but has been studying in Granada for a few years
• And various other people who constantly drop by (a mix of friends and relatives and various nationalities)

Ever since Rebecca and I have moved into our rooms, I don't think there's been one night where both of the sofas in the living room were empty.  So if you ever find yourself in Granada and you're worried you'll have to sleep under a bridge (this was my biggest fear for the last six weeks), just knock on our door and someone will definitely let you borrow a sleeping bag.

Living with friends is a big change from last semester.  It's great to finally have a place to hang out with friends, and I feel like I'm in college again!  It's also a bit distracting, since it's much easier to say no to a night of tapas when my friends are across town than when they're in my room insisting that I stop doing homework and come along.  Speaking of tapas...

Part 3: Pizzas used as weapons

Pizzas are delicious, but did you know that they are also dangerous?  One of the most interesting nights of this semester was when I was at a tapas bar with a large group of Spanish and American friends and a hot pizza was forcefully thrown at us from above.  We have no idea where it came from or who threw it, but a few of my friends were splattered with tomato sauce and possibly suffered some minor burns.  I can guess why it was thrown at us, though, since we were having a rather loud and slightly obnoxious discussion about animal noises.  Did you know that in Spanish birds say "piu piu" instead of "chirp chirp?"  Fascinating.  But clearly not so fascinating to whoever threw the pizza.

In addition to going out for tapas at some great new places that my Spanish housemates have shown me, I've had some other fun adventures with the Party Piso and friends.  We've started having bi-weekly brunches switching between our apartment and my friend Silvia's.  Brunch doesn't exist in Spain but I've decided it should so we're spreading the word.  We've only had one so far but it was a big success: we ate delicious pancakes and then talked for at least three hours about every controversial topic you can think of, including religion, abortion, and gay marriage, and it was really interesting to hear the views of people from different cultures.

Another interesting night was the IES open mic.  My housemate Alberto plays saxophone and clarinet and we've been having a lot of jam sessions, so we decided to play something at the event.  However, we failed to find time to rehearse beforehand and decided to just wing it.  I've never performed for such a large audience (there were probably 100 people there!) while being so unprepared, but it didn't turn out too bad and we had lots of fun.

Two more highlights:

1. Rebecca's birthday party, in which we ate tacos (I made the guacamole) and everyone was instructed to wear a white t-shirt so that we could draw on each other.  It was a lot of fun, and there were probably about 30 people there throughout the night.  We have so many friends!

2. Trip to the mountains: The Sierra Nevada is the largest mountain range in Spain and also happens to be just an hour-long bus ride from Granada.  Last weekend I went on a day trip there with a group of friends to go hiking (and sledding!)  It was absolutely gorgeous and I'm hoping to go back soon to go skiing.

I realize that I've only written about fun social events in this post.  Although it's hard to believe, I have been going to classes, and I started a new internship.  This blog post has reached it's limit though, so I'll save the details about those less interesting things for another day and let you keep believing that my life is all fun and games in the Party Piso.

To Berlin and back

Palabra del día: regresar
Translation: to return
Frase: Estoy muy contenta de regresar a Granada después de mucho tiempo viajando.
Translation: I'm so happy to return to Granada after so much time traveling.

Comida del día: tapas
Yes, tapas are Spanish, but our second to last night in Berlin we went to a tapas restaurant that had some of the best tapas I've ever eaten.  They were so good that we went back the next night for their weekly paella night!  I think the fact that I was perfectly happy eating Spanish food our last two nights in Berlin means that it was time to come home to Granada.

Foto del día: I can't decide, so I'll give you two!  Some of the most unique art I saw on my trip was at Berlin's East Side Gallery, which is a remaining segment of the Berlin wall that is now covered in a variety of street art.

A few people asked me at the end of my trip if I was sick of traveling.  Before the trip started, I was sure that halfway through I would be ready to stop.  Surprisingly, it was only on the last three days of the trip that I started to get sick of museums, living in a hostel, constantly looking at a map, and going out for every meal.  The places we visited were so varied that I was always excited when we arrived somewhere new.  I've had a luxuriously long vacation, and for me it turned out to be the perfect length.

So, about Berlin.  My word for Berlin is "young," in reference to both the architecture and the population.  Like Budapest, much of Berlin was destroyed during World War II and ignored during the communist era.  Unlike Budapest where there are still bulldozers everywhere, Berlin's post-communism "reconstruction" seems complete, with lots of modern buildings and memorials.  For example, the Reichstag Parliament building has a giant transparent dome that signifies that the government won't keep any secrets (and that tourists are allowed to climb up for a nice view into the building and of the whole city).  The city was also young because there were young people everywhere, though it seemed to me that almost half of them spoke Spanish rather than German: I had heard that Spanish people are flocking to Germany to find jobs after graduating from college, since there are no jobs to be found in Spain, and based on my observations that seemed to be completely true (and would also explain why the tapas restaurant was so good!)

Other common things in Berlin: there seemed to be vegan cafes on every corner (which I loved) and some great up and coming neighborhoods with fun vintage boutiques (which Annie loved).  Berlin was quite a contrast to Rome or Venice, both of which have held on to so much of their history, but overall it felt like a city meant for living in rather than a city meant for touristing.

Despite its lack of historical sights, Berlin certainly isn't lacking in culture.  My favorite part of my time in Berlin was, by far, going to a philharmonic concert.  Whenever I want to listen to a piece of classical music, I always try to find a recording by the Berlin Philharmonic, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to hear them live.  We bought the cheapest tickets but our seats ended up sitting behind the stage and directly above the horn section.  This meant that I could hear the horns perfectly and watch the conductor the entire time, so if I tried hard enough I could almost imagine that I was playing with the orchestra in their gorgeous rendition of Dvorak's cello concerto...but then I was snapped back to reality in the second half, in which they played a piece based off of an 80s punk rock band that had musicians moving through the audience, sounds I had never heard before, and a few of the older audience members walking out in the middle.  It was a unique piece and (obviously) very well done, but since I had never heard the Berlin Philharmonic before I would have preferred to hear something a bit more classic.

Before going to the concert, I went to the musical instruments museum next door, and saw some very strange instruments, like this cross between a violin and a horn:

And this strange loopy thing which is apparently a tenor trombone in B-flat and F:

I also walked through Berlin's gorgeous snowy Tiergarten Park, where I found these cows:

Berlin was also the final stop in my exploration of the Jewish history of Eastern Europe.  I went to three Jewish sights.  First, I went to the Holocaust memorial, which was a field filled with rows and rows of pillars of different heights, and an accompanying exhibit that explained the experiences of various people and families who were victims of the Holocaust.  Next I went to the Great Synagogue, which used to be one of the biggest in Europe but was completely destroyed during the war.  Now, the facade and three rooms have been restored, and there is a patio in the back where you can see where the bimah once was and where the congregation once sat.  The Great Synagogue was also interesting because the architecture was modeled after the Alhambra - yet another piece of Spain that has found its way to Berlin.  However, it was a bit of a shock to see the beautiful facade and then to walk into a building that remains halfway destroyed.  Finally, I went to the Jewish museum,  which was built in 2001, with maze-like architecture and an exhibit in the basement that is also a memorial to the Holocaust.  

Restored facade of the Great Synagogue

Going to all of these sights where so many horrible things happened to Jewish people was not only a chance for me to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, but also prompted me to think a bit about my own religion.  I've never been very serious about celebrating Jewish holidays (in the past year I've been to mass more times than synagogue...), but thinking about how much Jews have struggled throughout history to practice their religion, I've realized the importance of practicing my religion and sharing it with other people.  This doesn't mean that I'm going to start going to services every week, especially since the values and the community of the religion has always been more important to me than the purely religious aspects.  However, I think I will make a conscious effort going forward to share my religion with other people, and since Spain has so few Jewish people this semester should be a great opportunity to do that.

And so the longest and by far the best vacation of my life has come to an end, with classes starting up again on Monday.  Normally I would be dreading going back to classes after vacation, but after such an amazing trip and with the fact that my classes are in the lovely city of Granada, I really have absolutely nothing to complain about. 

Prague is perfect in the wintertime

Palabra del día: Dekuji (pronounced “Dyack-koo-yee”)

Translation: “Thank you” in Czech.  We’ve discovered that if you can only going to learn one word in a country’s language, “thank you” goes a long way!

Comida del día: Strudel! My favorite Eastern Europe dessert.  There are many different varieties: the Austrian version was different than the Hungarian version, and the Czech version seemed to be somewhere in between the two.  I’ll try it in Germany next and then let you know which version is my favorite!

Apple strudel from a delicious organic cafe that we decided to hang out in one night. 

 Foto del día: 

Prague greeted us with a nice coating of snow and some freezing cold weather.  But it gave me an excuse to buy a much-needed new winter coat! I had a lot of fun with the fur hood, which is very much the style in Eastern Europe.  I bought the coat thinking I would take the removable hood off, but then I discovered why people wear fur: it's really, really warm!  I also had a lot of fun in the snow building this little guy who I’ve named “Charlie” after Prague’s famous Charles Bridge.

In addition to enjoying (and suffering through) Prague’s wintery weather, our five days in Prague gave us plenty of time to see the touristy sights, enjoy a jazz concert and a dance show, wander the streets, and take some day trips.  On our way from Budapest to Prague, we hopped off the train in Bratislava, which is Slovakia’s biggest city.  However, it felt quite small to me after spending so much time in big cities throughout the last month.  It was nice to see a smaller city, taste some Slovakian food, and add another country and language to our list.  My current tally is eight countries and eight languages, unless you count Vatican City as a country, in which case it would be nine countries.

The other day trip we took was to Kutná Hora, a small town about an hour from Prague.  At least, it would have been an hour train ride except that we misunderstood the itinerary and got off at the wrong station, had to backtrack, and ended up taking three trains and three hours to get there.  The train rides were beautiful though, and so was Kutna Hora and its unique tourist attractions.  First, we went to the Bone Church, where monks arranged bones from thousands of people who died from the plague.  It was definitely one of the strangest sights I have ever seen, and I felt a bit uncomfortable being surrounded by so many bones, but I’m glad I saw it because I’m not sure if anything like it exists anywhere else in the world! 

Other highlights of Kutna Hora included seeing a beautiful cathedral and eating in a cozy pub with long wooden tables, a fire place, and warm traditional food like the beef goulash with dumplings that Annie ate (although it came as a bit of surprise to her that dumplings in this part of the world are actually doughy bread or potatoes instead of Asian snacks filled with meat or veggies...) 

Ok, enough with the charming small town day trips and on to the big, exciting city of Prague!  Compared to Budapest, Prague felt a bit more touristy with many more English speakers.  It also felt more permanent: while much of modern Budapest was built in the last 20 years and still seemed to be under construction, Prague had less bulldozers and seemed to be more established.  It also seemed like Prague maintained more of a sense of tradition.  In Budapest we were at times surprised by how few traditional restaurants there were, but in Prague they were easy to find.  For example, our last night in Prague we went to a traditional beer hall where we were handed (rather than offered) two big mugs of dark beer ("only dark beer here") and serenaded by a tuba and accordion duo.  Another night, we experienced a form of dance unique to Prague called “black light,” which involves a skit interspersed with dances by performers wearing neon costumes on a pitch black stage, creating all sorts of special effects.  Although the show was targeted toward a tourist audience, it was a fun way to spend an evening experiencing some of Prague’s traditions.

In terms of historical sights, my favorites were the castle and the Jewish museum. The Jewish museum was actually a collection of buildings in the old Jewish ghetto, including four synagogues and a cemetery.  One of the synagogues has been converted into a Holocaust memorial.

The collection of buildings that make up the castle is absolutely gorgeous, especially the outsides of buildings and the views from the hill that its on: 

The cathedral within the castle walls also has some of the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen:

To clarify, Prague didn’t feel “traditional” in any sense of the word.  Instead, it felt like a city that has maintained some of its traditions and history while becoming modernized.  In addition to the traditional restaurants, there were modern ones from all over the world (including some great vegetarian ones), and we also got a chance to check out the jazz scene with a concert at the Agharta Jazz Club (one of about four main jazz clubs in Prague).  In terms of art, we went to a neat contemporary art museum called the DOX gallery and a museum about Mucha, an art nouveaux artist from Prague.  

Mucha's version of The Four Seasons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Four_Seasons_by_Alfons_Mucha,_circa_1895.jpg)

One thing that surprised me about Prague was the presence of smoking, pretty much everywhere.  It was allowed inside of restaurants and bars, and although most had a non-smoking room, the smell was still always present.  I have a low tolerance for cigarette smoke and I had to walk out of a few places because of the smell.  It surprised me that smoking is still allowed indoors anywhere in the world, but experiencing the prevalence of smoking in Prague made me happy to live in a country where I know I will be able to breathe safe air whenever I go out to eat!

In general, I loved Prague for its artsy feel, its mix of tradition and modernity, and its overall snowy beauty.  In every other city I’ve been too this trip, I’ve thought that I would love to return to see it in the summer, just to see how it’s different and to enjoy warm weather activities.  In Prague, this thought didn’t even cross my mind.  We experienced Prague exactly the way it should be: freezing cold, dusted with snow, and with plenty of warm pubs and cafes in which to warm your toes.

Where hello means goodbye

Palabra del día: Hello

In Hungary, people use the word “hello” as a greeting and as a way to say “goodbye,” just like “ciao” in Italian means both “hello” and “goodbye.” To complicate things further, the Hungarian word for both “hello” and “goodbye” is pronounced “see-ya.”  So in Hungary, it’s perfectly normal to greet someone by saying “see-ya” and to say goodbye with the word “hello.” All of this confusion explains why Annie and I chose this song as our Budapest theme song:

Comida del día: Lángos

Our tour guide described this food as “communist pizza,” which seems pretty accurate to me.  It’s the same idea as a pizza except the dough is fried and it is usually topped with sour cream and cheese.  Apparently during the communist era they needed to make cheap food quickly, and this was one way to do it.  I tried it, but I wasn’t a fan – I would much rather have Venezian pizza!

Other foods that Hungary is known for include goulash (a beef stew), paprika, and strudel, though Hungarian strudel is very different from Austrian strudel since it has more filling and less dough and can be filled with apples, plums, poppy seeds or even cabbage.

Foto del día: 

On the way to Budapest, we stopped for a day in Vienna.  We did the Rick Steves walking tour of course, then we saw a museum with a great collection of old instruments and armor, then toured the opera house and ate some great Viennese cakes.  Here’s a picture with me and my good friend Mozart.

When I got off the train in Budapest, my first thought was, “I’m not in Kansas anymore!”  Except that in this case Kansas was Italy, or maybe even all of Western Europe.  Budapest is very, very different from anywhere I’ve ever been.  After going to three very touristy large cities, it was immediately clear to me that Budapest is much less for tourists and much more for real people.  When we got off the train, we had no idea how to find the metro and there were no signs in English or any maps to help us out.  Additionally, the Hungarian language is like nothing I’ve ever heard before; the currency is called forints and a typical bill has at least three zeros; and according to the Center for Disease Control website, the water in Budapest isn’t safe to drink.  Once we found our way to the AirBnb apartment, figured out the conversion rate, and bought some bottled water, though, we were ready to explore Budapest’s unique tourist attractions and discover its authentic charm.

I was surprised to find that many aspects of Budapest felt more like the US than, for example, Spain.  The daily schedule and the pace of life, with people rushing around with their to-go coffee, was definitely different from the laid back siesta lifestyle in Spain and Italy, and the numerous cafes all seemed brand new and boasted strong wifi connections. I was a bit confused about this modern feeling because “modern” isn’t generally a word I associate with Europe.  But then I learned that much of Budapest is brand new, built within the last two decades after communism ended in Hungary in 1990.  I hadn’t quite realized how recently Hungary had become a democratic country, and after learning this I was impressed by how much had been rebuilt in such a short period of time. 

One of the most informative sights I went to is called the House of Terror, located in what used to be Budapest’s communist headquarters.  The museum now serves as a way to educate people about communism and as a memorial to its victims. It was disturbing to walk through the jail cells in the basement, and at the end of the exhibits there were hundreds of photos of Hungarian communist police who still hadn’t been brought to justice for the atrocities they had committed, serving as a reminder of how recently communism was present in Budapest’s history.  I was especially interested how communism had affected religion: religion was virtually banned during that time period and instead people were expected to worship their communist leaders.  Although it affected people of all religions, I was especially interested in learning about Hungary’s Jewish population due to my personal connection and the fact that communism ruled Hungary directly after World War II when so many Jews were wiped out in the Holocaust. 

After visiting the House of Terror, I toured the largest synagogue in all of Europe (and the second largest in the world after a reformed synagogue in New York City).  Budapest’s Great Synagogue was built in 1859. It survived World War II but was severely damaged by four bombs, and stayed damaged until 1990 when it was finally fixed up.  The synagogue is unique because it has many elements of a basilica, since the people who first built it were trying to create a Hungarian-Jewish identity for themselves rather than just a Jewish identity.  It’s the shape of a basilica, and has pulpits and even an organ!  The synagogue also has a cemetery next to it, which is rare since Jewish cemeteries are usually far removed from synagogues.  However, this cemetery holds the bodies of thousands of Jews who died from terrible living conditions in the Jewish ghetto, and it was impossible at the time to create proper burial sights. 

The organ in the Great Synagogue

Part of the Holocaust memorial behind the synagogue

 But Budapest has come a long way since its Communist era.  Now, the Jewish district is one of its most entertaining neighborhoods, with tons of unique bars and international restaurants.  The buildings that were ruined in the war have been converted into “ruin pubs,” and their concrete floors and mismatched furniture make a perfect setting for a fun night out. 

Despite its recent history, Budapest to me felt like a fun city that was growing rapidly and offered unique experiences.  In one day, Annie and I managed to go ice-skating in City Park in the front yard of a beautiful castle.  Then we went to the Schelenkyi baths, got massages, relaxed in a few cafes, and went to the opera!  The baths are probably what Budapest is best known for. There are a few of them in Budapest, but the ones we tried had indoor and outdoor pools in a variety of temperatures and are used by tourists as well as locals simply as a way to relax.  In one of the outdoor pools there were even people playing chess! Even though it was 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) and cloudy outside, I couldn’t feel the cold at all while I was in the baths – only when I was running from one pool to another!

Going to the opera was also a highlight, since Budapest’s opera is known as being almost as good as Vienna’s and much less expensive.  Since the tickets were only $7 (for seats on the ground floor!) we decided to go two nights in a row.  I was worried I would get bored with this much opera, especially since it was sung in Italian and the supertitles were in Hungarian.  However, I made sure to read synopses beforehand, and shows were so different and entertaining that I was able to thoroughly enjoy six hours of opera in two days.  The first night we saw a modern Hungarian opera that had premiered two days earlier called Spiritiznák, which had great costumes and set, and the next night we saw a more classical comedic opera called Don Pasqual.  I also enjoyed sitting in the theater and admiring this gorgeous ceiling:

And now that I’ve said “hello” to Budapest, it’s time to say “hello” to Prague!  Or, as they say in Czech, “ahoy!”  Maybe a pirate themed song will be our next city’s theme song?

A taste of Italy

Current location: Budapest!  Though when I wrote this, I was on an overnight train somewhere between Venice and Vienna.  We spent a day in Vienna before finishing our journey here.  I've been moving around so much that it's hard to keep my blog updated! 

Palabra del día: arrivederci
Translation: "Hasta luego" in Italian. I wasn't ready to leave Italy, but with some luck I'll be back soon, hopefully this summer! So in the past month I've been in countries where they speak English, Spanish, French and Italian.  Now that I've covered all of the Romance languages, I'm moving on to German, Hungarian, and Czech.  I'm guessing by the end of this trip I'll be able to say "see you later" in seven different languages and not much else in any of them.

Comida del día: If I had to deicde the one best thing I ate (which is next to impossible because all of the food was soooo good), I would say it was tiramisu at a restaurant in Venice called Tratoria alla Riveta that was literally located under a bridge.   The waiter claimed it was the best tiramisu in all of Venice, and it only took one bite to convince me that he wasn't falsely advertising.  

Other than tiramisu, I ate pizza, and pasta, and more pizza and pasta, and biscotti, and gelato, and cappuccinos, and more gelato, and massive man-ger-ahngs (which is how Annie incorrectly pronounces the word “meringues”) and these interesting things called ciccetti which are basically Venice’s version of tapas.  They consist of all sorts of combinations of seafood and vegetables and you order them as an appetizer with a pre-dinner drink (or if you order enough of them they can turn into dinner).  It was fun to try Italy’s version of tapas, but I have to say that Spain does it much better.

Venice is known for its seafood, and some of the animals at the Rialto Market were actually moving as they were being purchased!

Foto del día:

Actually two photos! One of Rome: 

This is the Roman Forum, the ancient city center that contains ruins of lots of old important structures such as temples, monuments, and even Julius Caesar's grave.

And one of Venice (standing up on boat to Rialto market)

We arrived at the Rialto market by crossing the canal standing up on this type of boat, in the rain.  I was convinced I was going to fall into the water but thankfully I managed to keep my balance.  

The best word to describe Rome is “old” (duh…) There are so many significant historical sights in such a concentrated area, and all of them are so ancient that it’s impossible to comprehend people’s lives that long ago.  Even normal buildings, like hotels, offices, and grocery stores, seem to be located in buildings that look like they are 2,000 years old.  However, the city of Rome does a lot to help modern day tourists understand, and so does my favorite travel guide writer, Rick Steves.  The sights we saw included the coliseum, which was Ancient Rome's version of going to a baseball game except instead of baseball, they watched people getting attacked by large animals. We also went to the Forum, the Pantheon, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica.  I was impressed by the Vatican and especially the Sistine Chapel.  Sometimes when historical sights are so famous, people are disappointed when they finally see them, but for me the Sistine Chapel lived up to its reputation – it was absolutely gorgeous, with its original colors preserved, and the longer I looked at it the more intricate details I noticed.  I also loved the Borghese Gallery, a beautiful art collection in a mansion with overly elaborate floors, walls, and ceilings all in the colorful Roman style.  After the Borghese gallery we took a break from all of the history and enjoyed the beautiful weather (50s and sunny!) with a bike ride through the Borghese Gardens.  And then of course we did some shopping too (there are still great post-Christmas sales in all of Europe!)

Nice view of Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica

To make some more general observations about Rome, it seemed very touristy, but not completely.  Especially in the off-season that is January, the locals are easier to spot (there aren’t many, but they do exist!)  Romans are also the worst drivers I have ever seen in my life, and I’m from Boston, so that’s saying something.  I was warned about the pickpockets before going to Rome, but once I got there I was much more worried about being hit by a crazy driver.  Thankfully, I avoided both problems and left Rome still in possession of both of my kidneys and my laptop.

Ok, now on to Venice.  So different from Rome!  First of all, there are no crazy drivers because there are no drivers at all, just boats.  Lots and lots of boats.  My word to describe Venice is “charming.”  I loved the narrow streets, the bridges, the canals, the shops with crafty window displays, and the tiny cafes.  We spent most of our time in Venice wandering the streets and getting completely lost while window shopping to admire the masks, glass, and other crafts, and taking photos on bridges.  Like this one, where I turned into Mary Poppins and flew away with my umbrella. 

I started out in Venice on my own, since Annie decided to do a speedy trip to Florence.  I had never traveled on my own before, but I found it to be quite pleasant and not lonely at all, and I enjoyed the freedom it gave me. But I was happy when Annie came back.  She’s so good at navigating and finding cool things to do, plus we each worry about completely opposite things, which assures that we always have all of our bases covered.

In terms of tourist attractions, I loved the Correr Museum, which is a mansion on St. Mark’s Square containing all sorts of old Venezian objects and household items.  There were two beautiful rooms full of shelves and shelves of old books, some plates painted with scenes of canals and gondolas, and some gorgeous chandeliers with blown glass flowers.  Venice is known for its glass-blowing, and there were so many little shops full of brightly colored glass jewelry and other fun items.  I also enjoyed the Guggenheim collection, which is Peggy Guggenheim’s personal collection of modern and surrealist art, now displayed in her house right on the Grand Canal.  It was nice to see some more recent paintings after seeing so many ancient things! 

Our last day in Venice, our hungry stomachs and desire to escape the rain brought us to El Faro restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto neighborhood of Venice, which was actually the first Jewish ghetto and where the word “ghetto” originated.  We were so hungry after a long morning of window shopping in the rain that we probably ordered half the menu (we also wanted to fully enjoy our last meal in Italy).  Because of this (and also because we were the only people in the restaurant at 3:30 pm on a rainy January afternoon), we became great friends with the waiter, who took this photo of us with our seafood risotto and pesto pizza.

And I can't finish talking about Venice without showing you a photo of some beautiful masks: 

And now I'm in a completely different part of the world, where the language is like none I've ever heard before and the word "hello" actually means "goodbye"(more on this later).  But I should go – it's time to get off the internet and start enjoying Budapest!

Football pitches, zebras crossing streets, and other rubbish from London

Current location: Rome! But I'm going to backtrack a bit since I still haven't told you about London. Don't worry, I still have one more day in Rome, so after that I'll give you all of the details about this wonderful ancient city.

Palabra del día: During my time in London, I felt like I was learning a new language. I could understand British English about as well as I can understand Spanish: there were certain words I didn't know and there's also a weird accent.  Instead of choosing just one word, here's a list of all of the British words I learned.  Try to guess their definitions (some are more obvious than others). Answers are at the bottom of the post - don't peak!

1. Jumper 
2. Floor
3. Flat
4. Zebra (pronounced "Deborah")
5. Way out
6. Car boot 
7. Trousers 
8. Buckets
9. Chips
10. Match
11. Pitch
12. Rubbish
13. Toilet, gent or ladies, or loo 
14. Cycling
15. Pavement
16. Muffin
17. Petrol station
18. Lift
19. Queue
20. Crisps

Comida del día: afternoon tea 
Afternoon tea is a wonderful thing.  It's basically an excuse to eat mini sandwiches, scones, and three desserts in the middle of the afternoon while feeling classy, proper and caffeinated.

Foto del día: The red phone booths actually exist!

I've been moving around a lot recently.  Two weeks ago, I was on top of the Eiffel Tower.  Since then, I've been in London, Granada, and Rome, and tomorrow I'm off to Venice!  I sometimes have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming because I still can't begin to believe how fortunate I am to have the chance to travel to so many new places.  I keep thinking that traveling makes me feel like a little kid.  I get endless enjoyment out of the green guys in the walk signs (they're brown in the US), the mini smart cars instead of giant SUVs, and the announcer's accent on the subway, and whenever I can decipher a street sign or advertisement in a new language I have the urge to say, "Look Mom, I can read!"

I've now seen three cities and I have plans to see four more.  In general, I'm hoping to avoid the one tall building in each city that tourists always feel the need to climb.  It's usually overpriced and crowded and there are better views in other places (I made an exception to this rule for the Eiffel Tower, because it's the Eiffel Tower, of course).  As I travel, I also hope to meet people along the way so that I learn not just about the museums in each city but also about people's culture and lifestyle.  I hope to find the right balance between educational activities and fun activities; and to not wind up broke (which is a bit difficult because shopping in Europe is so good and there are too many good sales after Christmas!)  

Now I will finally describe some highlights about London, even though it already feels like forever ago since I was there!

• Weather: Rainy. Windy. Cold. Dark.  I don't recommend it.

• Food: There's no sun in England, so vegetables don't grow there unless they grow underground.  There's a lot of meat and potatoes, and a few beets if you are feeling a vitamin deficiency and search for a bit.  You may be able to tell that as a vegetarian I wasn't the biggest fan of traditional British food, except for the tea and the fish and chips.  The good thing is that London is a large and diverse city, so I ate some of the best Indian food I've ever had.  Also, people eat dinner at 6 pm.  How strange is that? 

• Tourist attractions: I loved visiting the British library, which had original copies of works by Shakespeare and Chaucer, the original score of a Mozart horn concerto, and handwritten Beatles lyrics. 

• Public transportation: the train in London is called the "Underground" and it's definitely the best public transportation system I've ever seen.  It's clean, user friendly, goes almost everywhere, and you never wait more than five minutes for a train.  The only downside is that it's quite expensive (along with everything else in London).

• Shopping: There are a lot of department stores, but after the boutique shopping in ever fashionable Paris, London shopping was a bit of a disappointment.  I did enjoy the Brick Lane markets in east London though, which takes place every Sunday and include a flower market, vintage shopping, flea markets, food markets, and basically any crafty item you could ever want.  

These hats were definitely the best things Simone and I found while shopping in London department stores.

Parts of London to me felt exactly like New York city, except older and with a funny accent. But it was more like the US than any other city I've been in recently.  I did a double take when the waitress at a restaurant my first night in London spoke to me in English, because that hadn't happened in four months!  I didn't fall in love with London as much as I did with Paris, but I still enjoyed everything I saw and did there.  Despite all of the clouds, I loved the views of the bridges on the Thames river, and the lack of sun made sunny moments even more enjoyable. 

British word solutions: 
1. Sweater
2. Ground (in London, floors can be outdoors as well)
3. Apartment
4. Yes, its the animal, but it also means crosswalk (since there are white stripes on black pavement)
5. Exit ("Way out" was written on all exit signs, although "exit" was still used for "Emergency Exit")
6. Trunk
7. Pants
8. Ramekins
9. French fries
10. Game
11. Field (Soccer game on a field, or football match on a pitch?)
12. Trash
13. So many ways to say "bathroom"
14. Biking
15. Sidewalk 
16. English muffin (but "American" muffins are just called muffins as well, so it gets confusing)
17. Gas station
18. Elevator
19. Line
20. Chips

Paris je t'aime (even in the rain)

Palabra del día: Bonne année
Translation: Happy new year (In French, again!  I'm still very confused about what language I should be speaking.  I was in a cafe speaking English with Simone, and then the waiter came and I started to order in Spanish, and they both started laughing at me...)

Comida del día: Trout
Specifically this trout:

Which was served to me in a restaurant the other day.  Needless to say, I was a bit shocked when I looked at my food and found it staring right back at me.

Foto del día:

A view looking back at Versaille after a long walk in the beautiful gardens there.  I was lucky to go on my one day in Paris when it didn't rain!

Last week, I cheated on my beloved city of Granada through a rapid and passionate love affair with Paris.  I just couldn't resist its charm, its romantic cafes, its precious small streets, its gorgeous art and regal architecture, and its appreciation for everything cultural.  Unfortunately our romance had to end and I am now back in the ever-cloudy English speaking world that is London, but I left Paris knowing that I would return (hopefully in warm weather, and hopefully soon!)

I was surprised that almost everything I had heard about the city were completely true.  Everywhere I went, there were small cafes with spiral staircases, cute boutiques, beautiful and fashionable women, and great art and music.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that bars with live jazz are alive and well.   and even the musicians in the subway stations were top notch - I even found myself giving them money a few times!

I had been warned that Parisians tend to be unfriendly to tourists, and I was pleasantly surprised to find exactly the opposite: within our first 10 minutes in the city, a nice man saw us with our suitcases studying a map and kindly pointed us in the right direction.  Another night, a man in a restaurant heard us struggling to read the French-only menu and proceeded to translate everything on it for us.  This was the same restaurant in which I was served the fish with eyes (see above), so I'm wondering if he left out some important details for his own entertainment: he laughed pretty hard at my reaction when my food came!

My favorite evening in Paris was, not surprisingly, a night filled with music.  I was on my way to explore the Sainte Chappelle cathedral, which is known for its stained glass, only to learn that it was closed for a string quintet concert of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.  Half an hour later I had succesfully obtained a last-minute student priced ticket and was sitting in the cathedral enjoying its excellent acoustics.  I then concert-hopped to the Sunset Jazz Club where Simone and I enjoyed the Paco Sery group's eclectic mix of jazz with electronic, funk, African influences and even one song from Vietnam.  We ended up sitting in the front row literally two feet from the keyboard player. The group enjoyed performing so much that they played three sets, the concert lasted for three and half hours, and by the end everyone in the audience was on their feet dancing.

While we thoroughly enjoyed the music and food, we also spent a lot of time admiring Paris' vast collection of fine art.  My favorite museum was the L'Orangerie museum, whose main attraction is two rooms in which Monet's water lily paintings surround you on all sides.  Although we had to wait for an hour and a half in the rain to get in, it was worth it, and in general we were extremely lucky that despite throngs of tourists, this was pretty much the only horrible line we had to wait in the whole trip.

A few more photos:

View of Paris from the top of the Eiffel tower

The delicious dinner that Simone and I put together on New Year's Eve.  It was a pleasant way to avoid crowds and rainy weather!

I'll leave you with some words of wisdom from Regina Spektor, specifically at 2:38 when she says, "I love Paris in the rain."