A Success Story

Well, well, well. The return to the blogosphere. Last time I left you I was just a young, uninformed college kid studying in London. Now, I am a wise sage, having traveled the world for 3 weeks. OK, 3 countries. But still, all kidding aside, traveling through Europe on my own (or at least with only people my age) has put some things into perspective for me, and also helped me grow as a person - I truly believe that. But before I get deep and philosophical on you, let me just bring you up to speed (to a certain extent).

As the title of this entry indicates, the one word I would use to describe the trip would be successful. It was a success in every way it could have been: 1. We avoided any travel mishaps or problems with reservations of any kind; 2. We budgeted the right amount of time in each city; 3. We had a good mix of seeing friends in certain cities and having some time just the two of us; 4. We stayed within our planned budget for spending; 5. We avoided losing anything or having anything stolen from us; 6. The order of the cities we traveled to was perfect - Athens was a great final location where we got to relax for a day on the beach and stay in a really nice hotel; 7. Taking trains throughout Spain and Italy using Mom and Dad's generous contribution of a Eurail pass was infinitely more relaxing and manageable than flying would have been; 8. Perhaps most important is the simple fact that Jillian and I were able to share a 3 week journey that we will no doubt both remember for the rest of our lives.

So generally, the trip was great. Great food, great weather for almost all of it, great sights. All adds up to a great experience. So now I'll delve into a little more detail about each stop. But not too much detail, don't worry.

We started off in Madrid. I have to admit going into the trip I was least excited for Spain of all three countries. Having been to Italy, which I loved, and having Greece as the #1 place I wanted to visit that I had never been to, Spain was kind of lost in the shuffle. So my expectations weren't too high going in. But Madrid ended up being one of my favorite cities of the trip (I'll rank the cities at the end... an exciting moment, I know). We didn't have a ton of time there, but the city was great. It was definitely the prettiest city we saw other than Venice, and that beauty was complemented by interesting and unique sights: the Royal Palace, the Prado Art Museum (I emailed Mr. Black to tell him I saw The Garden of Earthly Delights), Retiro Park, etc. Just lots of nice, picturesque little streets with outdoor cafes and shops. It also helped to have a tour guide from afar in Jared, who studied abroad there two years ago - thanks again for all of the recommendations. Other highlights from the city included: dinner at Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world (my steak was still mooing a bit, but nonetheless a good and memorable meal), churros with chocolate at a famous place, and of course, getting to use my Spanish (came back to me pretty quickly, and was fun to use). Overall just a fun and pretty city, and a great way to kick off the trip.

Next up was Barcelona. As I mentioned, before the trip began I didn't have high expectations for Spain. But Madrid changed that, so I was really excited to get to Barcelona - a lot of people study abroad there and rave about how great a city it is. That said, I must admit it did not impress me. It was my least favorite of the cities, and although still enjoyable and fun (especially with friends like Lauren and Michael there), I found it disappointing. My qualms were threefold. First, I found it to be relatively ugly on the whole. Areas of Las Ramblas (the main street/market area through town) were pretty, and the neighborhood around the north part of it were nice, but on the whole it paled in comparison to Madrid. Secondly, we definitely felt the most unsafe in Barcelona. Although this was undoubtedly due in part to the fact that we had heard many stories of muggings and pickpockets, our hostel was definitely not in a great part of town and the city as a whole felt a bit unsafe at night. And lastly, there just wasn't much to do there. There was Gaudi, Gaudi, and more Gaudi, but not many other sights. Although his stuff is cool, I got a bit tired of it after a while and found it to be a bit repetitive. Don't get me wrong, we definitely enjoyed our time in Barcelona, which speaks to the success of the overall trip, but I just was unimpressed with it as a whole in comparison to our other stops. The food we had was better than in Madrid, but that might have just been the result of better restaurant choices. Either way, we had several really good meals. Patatas bravas were a favorite of both of ours. A good time all in all, but I'm glad we did Italy afterwards, so as to avoid a letdown of sorts.

Onto Venice. It lived up to the hype in terms of beauty - especially at night, the canals and little streets were really pretty. The lack of cars is also nice. We only spent about 1.5 days there, but that was perfect - because once we had walked through the city a bit, there isn't much to do there. There's the church in St. Mark's Square, which is impressive, but outside of the Square there's not much. One of the best parts of Venice is just walking through the streets, and our Rick Steves' Guidebook encouraged us to get lost in order to take in some of the less touristy parts of the city. And we certainly did get lost. The city is impossible to navigate, and I barely even bothered to look at the map (I was the designated navigator on the trip, and was successful for the most part - I like using maps to help get a better grasp of the layout and feel of a city), so at one point we found ourselves in a silent residential area far away from the touristy bustle. But, with the aid of technology, I whipped out my BlackBerry and pinpointed our location. It's amazing to think how different our semester would be without those phones. So the city was beautiful, but VERY expensive, and the food was mediocre. I'm glad we went, but I don't think I'd return, at least not anytime soon.

At this point we were halfway through our six destinations, but only one-third of the way through our 20 days. Big chunks of time loomed in Florence, Rome, and Athens. It was interesting returning to Florence 8 years later, and how different it seemed at this age. It definitely made me realized how young I was and how much has changed for me in 8 years. Florence was great - much more of a town than a city. We spent 2 full days there and parts of 2 more. The food was incredible, although pricey, and the sights were memorable. The David was as impressive as I remembered it, and we also did the Uffizi and Bargello Museums. The Duomo was bigger than I remembered, as it truly is massive, especially in comparison to the other buildings in the city. The view from the top is also spectacular, and I was glad to have made the climb this time (Ben did it by himself last time and woke up very early to avoid the long summer line, while Mom and I slept). Spring was definitely a good time to take this trip, as it was warm outside but not hot, and the lines weren't out of control. Jillian's friend Jamie is studying there, so she showed us around a bit, which was nice. A nice city, and very different from Venice.

We then made our way to our last stop in Italy - Rome, for three and a half days. I'm going to ruin the suspense a bit with the rankings, and just admit that Rome was my favorite city of the trip. I had been during my previous trip to Italy with Mom and Ben, but only for a day (yesterday Ben and I rehashed what we did that day, and it was an impressive list of sights for a one day outing). I loved it because I felt it brought everything to the table - good food (better than Venice's), the best historical sights of the trip (the Colosseum is simply awesome, both in the modern use of the word and the traditional... it truly is awe-inspiring), and pretty enough (not tremendously beautiful, but I found it to be prettier than Florence, with much more green space). History is simply everywhere in the city, and the sights are incredible: the Colosseum, St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain. Endless. We had some great meals there, and it was MUCH cheaper than either Venice or Florence, which was nice. The only negative from our stay in Rome was the bed and breakfast we booked - highlighted by the 20-something resident who sat in the kitchen right outside our room smoking cigarettes (which stunk up our room), the unappealing bathrooms we shared with the family, and the cellphone ringtone which we heard incessantly at night while it was locked in a cabinet. It could have been much worse, but it was not a comfortable stay. Between this stay and the one last summer on the Cape the night before the ferry to the Vineyard, I have written off bed and breakfasts. No good. And by the way, the "breakfast" part in Rome? Packaged Italian Twinkies essentially. But the city itself was great, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

After an epic 36 hour travel "day," highlighted by an overnight ferry, we arrived at our last stop, Athens. We had heard it wasn't a pretty city, and that was true. But we still really enjoyed it. The history there was impressive too, highlighted by the Acropolis and Parthenon (although it took us three tries to actually get up to it - closed one day for a city-workers' strike, and closed at 3 PM the next day because we were unaware the "winter" hours were still in effect). Like I mentioned before, it was a great last stop because it was relaxing. Three weeks is a long time to travel, and we were both a bit tired of sight-seeing. So taking that first day to just go to the beach and relax was a good way to rejuvenate ourselves for the last two days of sightseeing. Our views of the city were also unquestionably helped by the fact that we stayed in a 5-star hotel, courtesy of a special online deal. A great place to get to after the overnight ferry and 4 nights in the bed and breakfast. But the city was nice, with a cool area of shops and cafes, good food, and friendly people. We both agreed we liked the city, and want to return to Greece - but to the islands, instead of the city. But I'm definitely glad we went to Athens this time around.

Now, just a few overall observations before I return to my first point about traveling around by ourselves. The language barrier was not a problem at all - much less so than I remembered from my previous trip to Italy. Almost everyone spoke enough English to communicate, which was really interesting (and sad in some ways). Our detailed research also paid off in terms of lodging, as every place we stayed at was clean and nice (even the room itself at the Rome B & B was nice), for good prices. And upon our return to London, it really did feel like home. Strange. Jillian and I both agreed that we are actually happy we have that late-May exam now, to give us a bit more time to enjoy London.

Which brings me back to the point about putting things into perspective. This trip, and semester as whole, has done that in multiple ways. Firstly, I am old. Jared warned us about this too, that coming back from studying abroad really made him feel old, and he's right. When I come back from this semester I already am down to my last year of college. It's gone by ridiculously fast, but at the same time freshman year seems like a long time ago when I think about it. Funny how that works. While feeling old, I also think like this trip has made me more mature. I like to think of myself as someone who was somewhat mature to begin with, or at the very least not immature (with the possible exception of a childish level of devotion to two professional sports teams), but this trip has brought that maturity to a new level. I have navigated my way through nine foreign countries to this point, and have lived on my own in one for 4 months. Although I am obviously not truly independent from a financial standpoint, life seems a lot less scary now. You know, when I actually have to become a real person in the next few years. The trip has also allowed me to completely immerse myself in different cultures, makings me better able to understand them, which I'm sure will be valuable throughout the rest of my life. And finally, after spending 5 semesters of college apart, spending this semester with Jillian has been incredible. I won't get too sappy on all of you, but we've been really fortunate to be able to do this together. So thanks to everyone who has helped make it happen.

And as I promised, here are my rankings:

1. Rome - for reasons already described
2. Madrid - Good sights, very pretty
3. Athens - Unique city, with good food and cool sights
4. Florence - Fun city, but not very pretty
5. Venice - Beautiful, but not much else - also expensive and disappointing food
6. Barcelona - Just doesn't stack up with the other five.

The top two were clear-cut for me, as Rome and Madrid stood out among the rest. But Athens, Florence, and Venice were all on a similar level, perhaps with Venice a shade beneath the other two. And then Barcelona was clearly last in my mind. I know others who have been to the same cities disagree with me, but there you have it. My rankings.

Other than that, since our return Jillian has been preparing for an exam she has on Thursday, and I've been catching up on the Braves and various other insignificant things. I'll probably get going on a paper tomorrow; it was supposed to be due the 30th, but because of the volcano business (another reason our trip was a success was missing all of those shenanigans) it was moved back to the 11th. But with a trip to Paris coming up for a few days, and an exam also on the 11th, I need to get the paper out of the way. This entry was pretty lengthy, but there obviously was a lot about the trip I didn't mention. So if you're curious about anything else, just shoot me an email. Hard to believe the trip's over... we first started brainstorming for it about a year ago. It was a memorable one, that's for sure.


Well, here's your cultural difference for the week:

The British like to say "nice" for a lot of things: "Oh that ice cream was nice" or "I don't think hot sauce on my pancakes would be very nice" or "That outfit isn't very nice." Or "Putting Drew Brees on the cover of Madden '11 which Zach intends to buy wasn't very nice."

Ethtamos en Ethpana (practithing my Barthelona accent)

Well, my trend of writing blogs immediately before trips continues. This one probably wins, though. It is currently 5:00 AM, and we are sitting in Luton airport killing time before our 6:45 flight to Madrid. We’ve been here since about 3:15 (literally before the airport opened – dozens of people were sprawled out sleeping on the floor and in chairs). So I’m going to make this a quick entry, just to catch up before our big trip.

The trip to Dublin with Jillian and Sheri was very fun. We arrived early last Tuesday to a snowy (yes, snowy… and quite snowy at that) Ireland after an uneventful travel day. We cabbed to our Hotel, which was nice and had by far the most spacious rooms of any place we’ve been to at this point. After getting settled, we headed out and grabbed lunch at a nearby sandwich place before deciding it was a good day to go to the Guinness Storehouse since the weather was so miserable. The Storehouse was interesting and informative, and highlighted by a cool lounge on the top floor overlooking the city. Interesting tidbit I had never realized: that Guinness and the Guinness Book of World Records are one and the same. We headed back to the hotel for a bit a down time before dinner, and Jillian and I both took short naps. For dinner we took the advice of Jillian’s Uncle Dick and went into town to an Irish pub/restaurant called Gogerty’s. We had some “traditional” Irish food (chicken Kiev for both Jillian and myself and mussels for Sheri), and then enjoyed the live entertainment provided by an Irish band that Dad surely would have enjoyed. Exhausted from a long week of papers, class, and touring London, we headed back around 9:30 and relaxed before calling it a night.

Wednesday started around 10:30 with breakfast at the same lunch place as the day before (Sheri’s traditional Irish breakfast and the “bacon” on Jillian’s bacon and egg roll left a bit to be desired… it’s fair to say I was the only one completely satisfied with my safe breakfast choice of a cheese and mushroom omelet). It was a much nicer day than Tuesday, so we walked towards town, making our first stop at the National Museum of History and Archaeology. It was interesting enough on the whole, but I found one exhibit called Kings and Sacrifice particularly intriguing. The exhibit was all about victims of human sacrifice from ancient Irish civilizations, and displayed the remains of four victims which had been somewhat preserved by the bogs in which they were found. Very cool. After the museum, we walked to Trinity College and checked out the Book of Kells, a famous illuminated manuscript. It did look very old, but I didn’t find it particularly beautiful, as it is often described. On our way back towards the hotel, we stopped for afternoon tea at a well-known hotel called the Shelbourne. We undoubtedly stood out as improper Americans in the very nice room, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves nonetheless – tea for Sheri and me, hot chocolate for Jillian, and a large assortment of mini-sandwiches, pastries, and scones for all of us to share. Definitely a memorable part of the trip.

After another round of short naps, we went to a very close Italian restaurant for dinner. Good pizza, and good desserts. We took our time at dinner, and after an eventful walk home, retired to our respective rooms. We woke up on Thursday and checked out before strolling back into town one last time to Grafton Street, a smaller version of the Stroget pedestrian street in Copenhagen. It had some nice shops, and the ladies appeared to enjoy themselves. I was on the hunt for a magnet to add to my collection of one from every city we visit – eventually I found one I liked. As our last activity, we took a bus to the outskirts of the city and toured the Kilmainham Gaol, the old Dublin jail. The history of the building and its prisoners was very cool. Many former inmates were imprisoned for political reasons, and so the building’s past and the country’s history of civil war and revolution were intertwined. It was definitely a unique way to end the trip before we headed to the airport and back to London. Upon our return, Sheri checked into a new hotel nearby and we enjoyed another meal at Shah Tandoori, the neighborhood Indian restaurant we discovered. Another visit, another great meal.

Friday began with another trip to Borough market for lunch and samples. Jillian and I still enjoy going there after three visits, and are likely to return at least once more. It was very crowded this time out. We split up after the market, and Jillian and Sheri did some shopping on Oxford Street while I looked into an elusive pair of shoes I had ordered for this trip (I was told my formerly white Nike sneakers weren’t classy enough for Spain and Italy, so I had ordered some nicer looking brown leather sneakers. Marilyn, I think you’d approve for Sam.) Long story short, they never came in time because of various closures for Easter (Schafer office, post offices, etc.), and I had to get another pair on Saturday and hope to be able to return the originals. Anyway, we reunited and took the Tube over to Piccadilly Circus to see it and Trafalgar Square. After a dinner at Wagamama (noticing the repeats from dinners from Mom and Dad’s trip? Probably not, because everyone probably skips the parts in the blog where I say where we ate), we walked to the Lyceum Theater to see the Lion King. The sets and costumes were pretty impressive – particularly the opening and closing scenes. The music, as in the movie, was also good, and the kid playing young Simba had a pretty impressive voice. They did add in some interpretative dance scenes (seriously), which Sheri said were not in the American versions she had seen. I wasn’t a fan of those scenes, and neither was Jillian, but overall, the show was very entertaining and amazing to look at. After the show, Jillian and I hung out with my friend Ibby and boyfriend, who she was in town visiting (he’s studying in London as well). It was really good to see her, and although it was a short visit, we will see her again in Paris when we travel there in May.

Saturday was Sheri’s last day in London, and we had a last lunch at Pret, of which she was particularly fond. We spent the afternoon at Harrods, perusing the food halls (I got my cheese and onion baguette again) and stores. We briefly stopped by the Victoria and Albert Museum, before getting crepes at a different branch of the same chain we had gotten them from after dinner at Relais de Venise – delicious again. After some rest, we had our final dinner at TGI Friday’s, which was good – but the restaurant definitely has a British feel despite being an American chain, which makes for an interesting combination.

Sheri left this morning to return to Cincinnati, and after an early-morning goodbye I came back and gladly slept for three more hours. We just heard she has landed safely in Cincinnati, which is good. Thanks for an amazing 10 days, Sheri! We hope you enjoyed the visit as much as we did.

We spent the day getting ready for the trip (packing, buying tickets for some museums in advance, printing out boarding passes and confirmations, etc.), and I Skyped with some of you fine individuals as well. I also snuck in a fantasy draft for my second baseball league. I hurriedly finished packing right on time, and we headed out at 1:45 to catch our bus here. We should be able to head to our gate within the next 30 minutes or so, and then it’s off to Spain we go. Our schedule is as follows: Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Florence, Rome, and finally Athens (via an overnight ferry). We will be spending an entire day in the port city in Italy where the ferry leaves from, so including that we will be seeing 7 cities in 20 days. I’ll try to post at least once or twice on the blog during the trip, since I’m bringing my computer. I’ll have to wait to post this entry until we arrive at the hostel in Madrid, since I don’t have any Internet at the moment (we’ve arrived!). And you know I’ll be watching opening day for the Braves tonight, too (but don’t worry, probably only condensed games after that – I won’t be wasting my trip through western Europe watching baseball unless we have nothing else to do, which isn’t likely). Well, my brain is no longer working. Going on almost no sleep, but I’ve managed to pump out this entry at least. Nap on the plane, and then probably before dinner tonight (since they eat so late in Spain). Time to wrap this up.

And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for, this week’s cultural difference:
No one in London wears khakis – I mean no one. Or really any articles of clothing I consistently wear. Just all black, all the time.