Spring Break

Another long one.

On February 27th Em arrived in London, jet lagged and over loaded with suitcases weighing more than her (just kidding Em) to join me for Spring break. It was great to see a familiar face and share my London experience with her! We left on the 27th and headed for Paris. We stayed in the Latin Quarter, a quieter area, street lined with flower shops, restaurants and hotels - a touristy area, but not crowded or overwhelmed with them (us). Our hotel was a short walk away from Notre Dame, the Louvre, and many other sights.

On our first day we met up with my friend Charlie, who's studying in Amiens (about an hour north of Paris via train). The three of us and Em’s guide book, Rick Steves’ Paris set out to explore; it was a beautiful, sunny day (sadly one of the few we had on the trip). Notre Dame, where "gypsies" enveloped the front square trying to sell you their mini Eiffel Tower figurines or distract you with the bells they jingled in front of your face, still didn’t distract from the beauty and magnificence of the gargoyle protected Cathedral. The interior and exterior was breathtaking to say the least. We made our way through the Latin Quarter, stopping to admire and photograph the smallest apartment building in Paris (only one doorway wide and nestled between two larger buildings). In the afternoon we went to Pere-Lechaise Cemetery and enjoyed a quiet and peaceful walk among the headstones. I know it sounds a bit morbid, but was a very enjoyable afternoon, especially away from the busy city noise. Some of the graves we saw included those of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, grave memorials to all those who died in Auschwitz and many more. That evening we went to Montmarte (where the Moulin Rouge is located) as the sun was setting and climbed the hill to the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) just in time for the evening vespers (reminded us of The Sound of Music) and then dined in the neat Parisian village.

The next two days in Paris were colder, rainy off and on and cloudy, but that didn’t hinder the experience and majesty of being in the city at all. On Sunday we went to the Arc de Triomphe and then walked down the Champs Elysees, the premier avenue in Paris lined with upscale shopping, restaurants and coveted apartments overlooking the street. We then fought through the crowded masses of the Louvre to see the Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa (smaller than we thought it would be) and many other famous works from Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and countless others. We climbed the Eiffel Tower in the late afternoon, viewing Paris in a rainy haze and saw the magnificent light show from the base that night. Our last day in Paris we shopped!

On Monday evening we moved on the Venice. Arriving in the dark we took a water taxi to the nearest dock and then wandered the streets in search of our hotel. A city without cars, unnamed streets twisting and ending around a dark corner, and webbed with canals, it was gorgeous. The eerie quiet was comforting and serene. We only spent one day in Venice (rainy and cold) but saw a lot. Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica in St. Mark’s Square still stood radiant in the fog overlooking the Grand Canal. We wandered in and out of countless shops, making our way down the cobbled streets, most of which weren’t wide enough for more than two people to walk comfortably and across the bridges with gondolas floating below. Known for its Murano glass jewelry and countless other items crafted out of the glass, we bought some souvenirs, enjoyed the Italian cuisine and moved on.

Traveling to Florence by train on Tuesday night, we once again arrived to the Italian city in the rainy dark. In Florence we saw the Duomo Cathedral and the Accademia art gallery with Michelangelo’s sculpture of David. It was much larger and more magnificent than Ms. Walker’s slides in Art I prepared me for. The rest of the rainy day we trudged through the cobbled streets in our soaked shoes, in and out of shops, admiring the Firenze leather goods and enjoying the pizza and pasta. Once again traveling by night, we headed for Rome (our last destination) that night.

Four days in Rome was the perfect amount of time to explore the city and the weather was sunny and warm every day! While we were there we saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain - where we threw coins over our shoulder and wished to come back one day, the Spanish steps - ate gelatos and tried not to hum songs from the Lizzie McGuire movie, the Colosseum - wished we had watched Gladiator before we came, Roman Forum - took me back to English II, thinking of Caesar “et tu Brute”, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican - wished I would have retained more from Fr. Porterfield’s lectures, ate and drank at the hip Campo de Fiori and wandered the streets of Rome. We walked a lot, ate a lot of pizza (which never had enough cheese and too much sauce, couldn’t believe it) and gelato, Em managing to always drip all over herself and having to throw the cone away. I on the other hand had no problem finishing mine! We stayed south of the river in the young and fun neighborhood of Trastavere, full of locals and few tourists.

On Sunday, we sadly had to leave Rome and head back to London and it was an exciting and nerve racking trip to say the least. For the next hour I felt like I was in a scene of a bad, low-budget movie. In order to catch our flight to London we had to make our way from one end of the city to the other to the train station to catch a train to the airport. Since it was Sunday the busses and trains weren’t running as often so we had to be on the 3:22 train to the airport. We lost track of time and before we knew it we were halfway across the city and it was 2:20 with a 20 minute walk back to the hotel to grab our luggage before catching the bus down the street. We made it back to the hotel quickly, picked up the luggage and headed for the bus stop; we couldn’t miss it. We were hustling down the sidewalk, our heavy luggage in tow with the bus stop in sight, 150 yards away on the opposite side of the street. I glanced back to see how far back Em was and saw the bus heading down the street toward the stop, "OH NO", we have to make it to the bus stop before it does. I take off running up the street neck and neck with the bus (roll suitcases don’t do well over cobblestones), the bus took the lead quickly (of course, did I really think I could outrun a bus). Just as I was giving up the bus gets stopped at a red light 50 yards from the stop (new hope). Next problem though is getting across the six-laned street (tram tracks and all) to the other side with no crosswalks in sight, no big deal right? I glance one direction and see no cars, it’s now or never (please let the light stay red and where is Em?). I crossed over the tracks and in between cars right behind the bus as the light turned green and made it to the stop right as the last people were pushing their way onto the crowded bus (at least 10 people and 10 suitcases over the limit). Em wasn’t far behind and thanks to the fact that the driver couldn’t get the doors closed because of the mass of people in the way, she made it on! We made it, but little did we know that our exercise for the day was just beginning. It was about a 25 minute ride across the city in the hot, packed bus full of people. We knew we were cutting it close as time ticked by. We still hadn’t bought our train tickets and it was 3:17 when we pushed our way out of the bus into the station. We stopped at a ticket machine inside the busy terminal doors and quickly bought our tickets with the electronic voice asking us “Do you realize this train departs in 5 minutes? Do you still want to buy?” YES you stupid machine, quit asking me questions and give me the tickets. We dash away from the machines and head for platform 24 (which is of course located at the opposite end) where we think the train is departing from. As we run up to the platform there’s no train on the tracks, “Oh no did we miss it, but we still have 2 minutes?!” I frantically attempt to ask a custodian who speaks no English (out loud anyway) if this train has left yet, he just smiles and points off into the distance. So we take off along the tracks to the end of the platforms (another 200 yards away, I didn’t realize train stations were this big). So apparently there are 24 more tracks lined up behind the first 24 (really great), we see a train with the words flashing 'DEPARTING to airport' above just as we’re running up. I managed to drop my coat twice during this sprint. We get to the first open door, throw on our suitcases, pull each other up just as the train starts to move and the electric door slams shut. Red faced and out of breath we made it, arrived at the airport on time and made our flight back to London where we finally knew the language!

Em spent the next week in London with me in my tiny flat, sharing the top bunk, it was a tight squeeze. We went to St. Paul’s, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, saw the musical Sunset Boulevard, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey where we listened to the choir sing the beautiful evensong, Parliament and Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, took a day trip to Warwick castle and Stratford on Avon to see Shakespeare’s house, went to a soccer game, Portabella market in Notting Hill and shopped! It was a busy week and time flew by too quickly. Before we knew it, it was Saturday and time to say goodbye. I think subconsciously I had started thinking that I was going to be heading home the same time Em did so it was hard to see her leave, but good to be back in my normal routine.

Other than that I don’t have anything else exciting to report. Six weeks left until my flight home and I know it’s going to be here before I know it. I’m going to spend Easter in Barcelona with friends in a couple weeks and may be going to Amsterdam before that, still up in the air. Otherwise, I’m enjoying my last weeks in London and the spring weather which has finally arrived! Hope all is well with everyone, I promise I’ll have pictures to share soon! Love to all!