22 June, 2010
I’m winding down after one of the longest days of my life. Last night I didn’t fall asleep until after 1am for various hostel-related reasons, and this morning I got out of bet at 6:45, earlier than I had since Rennes, to skip some lines at the Vatican.
I accidentally went to the Basilica first, rather than the museum, which may have resulted in me having to wait in longer lines and also miss Caleb and his family, but it also meant that the Basilica was nearly empty and probably more tranquil. It was pretty impressive– very ornate and intricate– but, and I hate to say it, I have seen so many basilicas (basilicae?) They blend together and in the end, they only stand out in my mind for their size. So this one is probably foremost in that department. Anyway, then I went on to the Vatican museum and Sistine chapel. The museum is… well, a museum. Lost of scultures, a few of which I recognized, most of which I didn’t. Some Egyptian and Etruscan artifacts (liked the gold crowns the best) and some paintings (finally a couple James Ensor, whose work I have been looking for since Paris), and then the magnificent famous sites: the hall of tapestries are enormous), the walls of maps (cool, but I found myself more interested in the ceiling and its detail than the maps) and finally the Sistine chapel.
19 June, 2010
My whole life, I’ve heard this phrase, “when in Rome…” I usually has the vocal inflection that requires the accompaniment of a sigh or eye-roll. It never comes with any explanation. You hear, “well, it’s a sort of when-in-Rome thing.” And that is that.
If my knowledge of Roman history stretched beyond “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” I might be able to offer some valuable insight to WHY one is supposed to do as the Romans do when in Rome. Then maybe I coud relate that to every experience that people find analogous to doing as the Romans do when they utter the phrase.
As it is… Maybe I shouldn’t analyze it too much or wonder about it. It’s probably one of those times when it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie, not beat a horse, etc.
And there you have it.
Unknown Village, June 12, 2010
I honestly don’t know the name of the town… I’m not sure we even knew when we were there. Lise and I went to this town in Bavaria, just west of Regensburg, right after I’d arrived in Germany. It was delightful; unfortunately, I took very few pictures, and this was one of the better of the ones I did take.
Venice, June 23, 2010.
A haunting moon over Venice. This was the night I got desperately lost for 2 hours around midnight, then went back to my hostel to sleep for 6 hours and get 35+ mosquito bites. Nevertheless, Venice was still my favorite city in Italy!
May 13, 2010 – Bordeaux
It’s 12:44 p.m. on my only day in Bordeaux, and I haven’t been to any museums yet. I’ve taken lots of pictures and even sat down to draw one, which turned out better than I’d hoped. Just that made Bordeaux worth it– it giving me a creative spurt that I rarely feel…
I think when I wrote on my blog that I was afraid of feeling like I hadn’t actually been to a city that I meant not having an opinion about it or not feeling like I could have an opinion about it. But I feel ok about having an opinion about Bordeaux. S’all good.
[3 hrs later]
Ok, so what happens when the two museums you’d planned on your vagabondage are closed? I think it’s a bank holiday or something. I mean, I’ve done stuff. I’ve been walking everywhere, I went to McD’s and got a smoothie and free wifi, bypassed all the good shopping, saw some dance crews perform and got some video… went in a church… sitting in a garden with a weird crocodile thing… Plus, I feel creative since I drew something.
The question now is, what do I do now? I don’t have a train ticket, so I could stay here, and I suppose that would be the responsible thing, but I don’t want to. I want to move on. And I wouldn’t have a problem with that, except that I came here for academic purposes, which fell through, and now what?
Oh! I know!
I’m going to sit in a garden and listen to music and write! Or maybe even draw! And I’m going to redefine academics.
Academics is when the best laid plans aren’t the ones meant for you.
Academics is looking twice at something you might not have, and noticing something new.
Academics is not being weirded out by a multicolored-mirrored giant crocodile mouth, but instead seeing that its colors match those of the flowers in the garden, and wondering which came first.
"Crocodile" in French
Sometimes, academics is sitting still and letting meaning come to you.
Academics is wondering…
Wondering is meditation…
Meditation is a tune.
THERE’S NOWHERE YOU CAN BE THAT ISN’T WHERE YOU’RE MEANT TO BE. IT’S EASY.
There was an old woman I noticed sitting on a park bench a little ways to my side and in back of me. I was about to draw her, when I turned around and she’d gotten up and was walking away. Every time I looked at her, she had a small smile on her face formed by her thin, wrinkled lips. She reminded me of my great aunt Janet.
I wondered about this woman in the heavy brown coat. Did she know where she way? Did she bring herself here? Is she waiting for anything? And of course, what is she thinking?
And then, morbidly, I wondered if the smile on her lips had something to do with her last precious moments. I wondered if she ever thought about being “academic.”
And then I felt a twinge of sadness as two men sat down on her bench… her bench. But, not that much sadness, because I thought they were gay and cute.
Life goes on.
Bienvenue encore!
Whew. ok. Long time.
So by now everyone knows that I’m home safe and everything, the whole trip was fantastic, and I learned oh-so-much. I don’t mean to trivialize it that much; it’s just that I hope all that was obvious from my actual posts without me having to say it.
But the adventure continues! That is, we all get to relive it through pictures and other timeless memorabilia. Case in point, I drew a picture in Bordeaux that I felt like sharing on the internet, and you can all view that little sketch if you click THIS LINK. Incidentally, that sketch is on my other blog, which I update more often. It’s filled with musings, ramblings, poetry, thoughts on music, a couple recipes, and the occasional piece of art. Check it out, it’s called The Inner Piece.
I’ll try to keep posting pictures and anything else I find… maybe even journal entries.
Then, Now, and Beyond
Ok, very brief update since I know I’ve been unclear about what is going on.
Right now i’m in Naples, but I don’t really intend to leave the hotel room. The atmosphere is, to say the least, not inviting to a teenage girl traveling alone. Not that it’s incredibly dangerous–it’s too touristy for that–but just that it’s not particularly inviting to my exploratory nature. And anyway, I didn’t mean to come here. But after 6 hours on trains I wanted to save money and time and just stop instead of heading on to Pompeii.
So here I am, una notte a Napoli, and I am going to treat myself right. I have a room to myself for the first time in two weeks and I have every intention of using it to sleep as much as possible, then get an early start to Capri tomorrow. Being here in Naples for the night means that I skip Pompeii and Assisi (well, and I suppose I’m skipping Naples too, really) but that I can really milk my time in Capri for all it’s worth. I am very excited for the boat ride out there and being on the island. So exciting! Tonight the agenda is to look for lodging there, too.
Life has been pretty great. I am beyond exhausted, and ready to go home, but that just means the homecoming will be sweeter than ever. I can’t wait!
Seeing Caleb and his family helps immensely, also. Familiar faces every day (I’ve seen them every day since Tuesday, minus today) really takes the edge off. And I am so grateful to them for being open to me tagging along! They are so generous and I am so appreciative. It’s even more magical because I have absolutely no way of contacting them, and their plans can always change at any moment. So whenever we see each other it’s like a twist of fate, even though I’m so dedicated to finding them all the time that phones probably wouldn’t make much of a difference… So the time with them has been just amazing.
I’ve seen some fantastic sights. So far we have been to Rome, Florence, and Venice, and I did day trips to Montecatini and Pisa. Venice was my favorite, even though it got me lost more than any other city, and Rome was also pretty bad in that respect. My family was right– the maps in Italy are really the least helpful i’ve seen. But the sights are still incredible. Climbing the tower of Pisa was one of the most interesting feelings Ive ever had. It’s very difficult to climb stairs that are also tilted a bunch. It was crazy.
I took a boat out to an island off of Venice, which was also peaceful and very excellent to be out on the water. I passed up the Gondola ride because of how much it costs, but Caleb and I promised we’d come back and do that at some point. Ahhh, I loved Venice. To top it off, the name of the train station is called Santa Lucia, which is the name of the Italian song Caleb and I sang as a duet my senior year. His mom took our picture by a boat called S. Lucia! Besides getting lost and all the mosquito bites (over 32 in one night, 10 of which are on my hands and 10 on my face and neck), my time in Vernice was the absolute best in Italy so far.
So tomorrow it’s off to Capri for two nights (hopefullly in cheap hostels, because I’ve heard that island is incredibly expensive) and then one night in Rome (hopefully in the same hotel as Caleb so that I can be close to the airport and say goodbye to them) and then HOME!!!!!
And then I will sleep and post pictures and more fun stuff as soon as possible.
Ciao!
Germany, day 2 (from 11 June)
Life is such an adventure. Yesterday I had some trouble meeting Lis at the train station because my train was late and we had communication and technology problems, but then all was good.
The rest of the day passed in conversation, a small party with her coworkers, swimming at a nearby lake, getting food, eating, and more conversation. I have met all of her four roommates (three guys, one girl) and spent time with two of the guys. They all know English (as does every German person, they say) and a little bit of French. It is so much fun to talk with them about traveling, cultures, vocabulary, languages, and the like. I am so excited to be here, to be making some friends and to be enjoying all our differences and similarities.
Plus, the town of Regrnsburg is not only gorgeous, but it also reminds me of home. There are lakes and rivers and boats and signs of LIFE, both of nature and the people living in it and taking advantage of it. Lise and all her friends are very busy and are always doing things, usually creative things or outdoor things. They play guitar or make household appliances (like a coffee grinder) or decorate or go swimming or biking or go to concerts or learn languages. It’s fantastic! And I love keeping busy… It gives me ideas of what to do when people complain, as they so often do, that they are bored or tired or feel low-energy or unmotivated. It gives me ideas of how to keep myself motivated and active!
It’s also quite refreshing to be where people are so laid-back. In France, they dress to impress and walk to show that they are going somewhere important. It’s all about image, and it’s very intimidating. One worries about fitting in and worries about acting French, because it is so easy to stand out. That can be fun; don’t get me wrong. We loved the challenge of blending in and looking French and not acting like a tourist. It was fun to try to feel like what we perceived the culture itself to be, not just to be immersed in it. But here, the new fun is to relax and, even if I don’t automatically blend in, it’s sort of a comfort to be THIS much of an outsider. I used to worry about my French being gramatically correct, whereas here all I worry about is not using French. It is so freeing, even if I feel nervous and guilty about not knowing the language. It’s also freeing not to look at a map, worry about doing the tourist drag (though I’ll try to fit in a little of it), or think about… anything, really. I mean, I guess this is just what summer feels like, but suddenly I’m with new friends and new sights, hobbies, and activities. So cool!
Lise speaks perfect German, so as long as I’m with her everything is fine. And I learn a few new words each day, which is very cool. It’s so fascinating to be around different languages. German is so similar to English! Or vice versa. But the intonation is completely different from French. Ahhh, I love it all.
The weather is hot and perfect, the rivers and lake are cool and refreshing. The people are nice and funny, and very very friendly. The food is hearty and… German. The clothes are relaxed and practical.
There is not a cloud in the sky right now, I’m taking a power nap, and later we might go to a biergarten. Life is, as always, amazing.
I love ya, tomorrow
If I told you I just went down the hall to use the bathroom, would it be too much information or too little?
In either case, I’ll elaborate, as thunder claps overhead and I wait for it to start pouring buckets!
The hotel I found for tonight, my last night in Strasbourg, is pretty cheap and just a step above a hostel in that I have my own room. My room has a sink, but no toilet, bathtub, or shower. The shower is down one hall and the toilet is down the hall the other way.
These types of rooms used to be very common, but I think as the tourism industry has grown the western world has become more homogenized. Now it’s more the norm for rooms to be delux and include a full bathroom. But the simple rooms are cheaper, of course, as well as more ecological and practical.
I speculate. This is not a history lesson.
Anyway, I don’t mind this arrangement at all. It shakes things up a bit… And who am I to be picky about where my toilet is? Or, the real question, who am I to be picky about anything at all?! Especially when traveling. You never know what you might encounter.
There were a lot of people in my class (including me, to some extent) who were completely unprepared for the changes in culture that we were about to experience. It resulted in a lot of closed-mindedness, which then turned into homesickness and this bitter circle continued. But this is why I’m so happy to be traveling for the next 4 weeks with people who are open to change with good senses of humor and just a well-rounded sense of worldliness.
Tomorrow I leave for Germany and I’m pretty dubious about keeping this blog updated. I will try to keep some notes going so I don’t forget anything, but no one should count on anything.
My email (which I should check pretty frequently) is josahlin@gmail.com if you’re terribly worried 
I don’t have any idea what to expect as far as when I can update in Italy. But if it happens that I don’t update much again, just know that I will be taking tons and tons of pictures and having an absolutely amazing time.
But really, this does not mean I don’t love you– I do, that’s forever.
Just kidding. I was listening to that song.
Anyway, this doesn’t mean I’ll never update again!! I will try to save up tidbits and post them here and there.
Love to all and a bientot!
