Photo Blog: Getting Around Europe in One Piece

Upon arrival in Florence, we quickly noticed the speeding vespas zipping around the city.

By having no cars in Venice, the locals use the canals as their main form of transportation.

"Cancellato" is a word you become accustomed to when traveling through Europe.

Overnight trains: a tiny mode of transportation.

Bikes are an easy way to catch a close-up of some amazing structures.

Horses are a common sight in Europe, but leave an inconvenient mess behind for those on foot.

The easiest form of transportation!

When the trains keep you waiting, the views around the station are almost always worth it!

Trains can quickly help you reach your destination and offer some once in a lifetime views.

Hiking affords you the convenience of choosing your own path and speed.

Unless you're stuck on the bottom, boats get you where you're going and the breeze helps cool you off.

La Via dell'Amore, also known as the Walk of Love, is a path full of love and magic.

Although the bus system can be confusing at times, it's an easy way to travel and affords you the luxury of relaxing if you are lucky enough to find a seat.

Barcelona

Hi!

So as usual I’m behind on everything, including updating this blog. I’m either traveling or in class so I don’t have a lot of free time! However, I took a shorter trip this weekend so that I could catch up on everything.

Last time I blogged, I was about to go to Barcelona, Spain. 13 of us took an early morning flight there and arrived around 8:30 in the morning. 6 of us were staying at a hostel- 4 girls and 2 boys. The girls and I had an apartment that had 6 double rooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and sitting area. It was in an old town home that had been converted into a hostel. All of the hostels we have stayed at have been really different, but this was definitely one of the nicest so far.

All we did on Friday was lie out at the Barceloneta beach. There was a restaurant on the beach that had great food so we split our time between that and the sand. The beach was kind of gross and the water was really dirty, but the water was cool and seeing as I haven’t been cool since I left the US, it was fine by me.

Friday night we all went out to a seafood restaurant on Las Ramblas. My friend ordered paella, which is a dish Spain is known for. It is mainly rice and seafood cooked in a skillet. I’m not big on seafood, but I really enjoyed everything I had. I tried mussels, clams and prawns that night. I’m not a huge fan of prawns because I don’t particularly like shrimp eyes staring at me, but all in all everything was good.The next day we decided to devote to sight seeing since we were all sun burnt from the day before. We started at the Park Guell, which is a park full of architectural pieces by Antonia Gaudi. It is up on a hill and the views of Barcelona were amazing.

Afterwards, we visited Sagrada Familia. It is a Catholic church that is still unfinished (they started in the late 1800’s). The line was huge so we didn’t go in, but the outside was really interesting. Every side of the building was completely different and the architecture elements were very modern-definitely not like your traditional old churches.

After that, we went to the Barcelona Aquarium. My favorite part was the jellyfish exhibit. They ranged from tiny ones that you had to use a microscope to look at to giant ones that were bigger than my hand.

Friday night we all had dinner at Restaurant Al Punt and then went out. Our first stop was at a place called Chupito’s. They are known for their creative drinks and have them all listed on a wall. My friend Mary Lindsay from Harpeth Hall was supposed to meet up with us, but we had already left before she got there. She is coming to Florence soon so hopefully we’ll get to meet up. After Chupito’s, we went to Opium. It was this really cool club down on the beach and everyone had told us to go. The place was huge and definitely like nothing we have in Oxford.

We spent all day Sunday at the FC Barcelona stadium and it was definitely the highlight of my trip! Their soccer team is one of the most expensive teams in the world, so their stadium definitely reflected that. We walked through the museum, which showcased their trophies, and then we were able to walk onto the field and into the press box. My friends and I were obsessed by the end and ready to join the team so we all bought jerseys. I have no idea when I’ll ever wear mine, but the tour got us so excited about the team that we just had to buy one.

So getting home Sunday night was a mess. We had all gone to the train station the week before to book an overnight train and were told that it had booked up months ago. Our only options were to take an 18-hour boat ride or give in and buy a plane ticket. Just the idea of having to ride on a boat made me seasick so I opted for the plane ticket. We had about an hour layover in Rome, but at the time that wasn’t an issue. With our luck, however, we should have known it would be a disaster.

When we all showed up to the airport in Barcelona, they wouldn’t give us the tickets for our second flight. Evidently there was a strike somewhere and we were told we would have to check at a desk in the Rome airport to figure everything out. Due to the strike, our plane from Barcelona to Rome left really late so we arrived in Rome at the exact time that our second flight was supposed to leave. At most airports in Europe, you have to take a bus between the plane and the actual airport and Rome was no different.

Since we were on a time crunch, I was naturally sitting in the back of the plane and was literally one of the last ones to get off. The first bus with all my friends had left and only my friend Stephanie and I were on the second bus. When the bus finally left the plane and we arrived at the airport, we started sprinting with everyone else. It seemed that almost every passenger had a connecting flight so it was utter chaos as people were literally sprinting through the airport. Of course when we arrived, we found all of our friends infuriated because our plane had waited “5 minutes” and then taken off without us. I doubt they actually waited, but we were now 13 tired, hungry and pissed off American students.

I didn’t take any part in the negotiations with the customer service people, but my friends, being the great negotiators that they are, got us a free hotel room at a 4 star hotel, free dinner, free breakfast and free shuttle service to and from the hotel for our flight the next morning. So it wasn’t all that bad. Unfortunately though, Monday was supposed to be our first day of the whole trip to sleep in, but instead we had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to the airport. All day Monday I alternated between sleeping and studying for my Tuesday exam which wasn’t fun at all, but inevitable seeing as we’re here for class, not vacation.

So that was last weekend and now I’ll try to write tonight or tomorrow about this past week/weekend!

MH

Dante's Pizzeria

Hani Sawriea knows one thing in life: how to run a business. Actually, he knows how to run five businesses simultaneously. He owns two restaurants, a café, a bar and a leather factory all in Florence.

His friends know him as Hani, but for American tourists in Florence, they know him as the owner of Dante’s Pizzeria, one of the best restaurants in Italy. It is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner and you can always find locals, as well as Americans, dining on delicious pizzas and pastas.

Dante’s Pizza has been in existence for 1,200 years and Hani has owned it for three. According to one of his employees, Hani never takes a day off. He treats his staff like his family and works just as hard, if not harder, than they do.

Born in Jordan, he and his family moved to Kuwait City when he was thirteen years old. His mother’s job included working with Americans and that is why his restaurant caters to American students. He says, “I love to work with Americans. I love the people coming here”. Americans even get free drinks and t-shirts every time they stop in.

But it’s not the free wine or clothes that keep the students coming back; it’s the quick service, the delicious food and the fun atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re part of the family.

Munich

Hi!

So sorry it’s taken me so long to write anything. We are literally in class all day on Tuesday and Wednesday so this has been my first free second! So last weekend we went to Munich and it was AMAZING! It is definitely my favorite city so far. We took an overnight train, which left Thursday night. That was definitely an experience…I was in a tiny room with two other people and got the top bunk. It was insanely cramped but we slept the whole time since there wasn’t room to move around, so it was bearable.

We arrived Friday morning at 6:30 am, exhausted but excited. Our first stop was to the Dachau Concentration Camp. It was chilling to go through and see where the Nazis kept everyone. Andre (our guide from Miami) walked us through and explained the history of the camp. When the camp was raided at the end of the war, the Nazis burned the entire place down. As a memorial, however, they rebuilt some of the buildings. We walked through the barracks and the gas chamber to get a feel for the conditions they endured. There is an amazing sculpture in the camp, which is below here.

After our tour was over, we headed to our first beer garden- Augustiner. We had lunch and I quickly learned that I was definitely not a fan of German food. I had some type of bratwurst and ended up mostly eating fries. Because of the food, I’ve decided that I could never live in Germany for more than a few days.

After that, my friend Charlie from home met up with us. We both turned 22 this week so he came in for the weekend to celebrate our birthdays. Our first stop was to go and find a dirndl. It is a German beer maid’s dress that evidently people actually wear around as an outfit. I think that’s the most shopping Charlie has ever done in his entire life, but I informed him that he’s now my new shopping buddy for my Bal dress since he did such a good job!

We had dinner at Hofbrauhaus, which is the largest brewery in Germany. They had live music and these performers who had fishing polls that they hit together to make noise…not really sure what they were called, but it was really interesting! After dinner we went out to different clubs around Munich, which were very interesting to say the least.

Saturday was the most fun I’ve ever had. We went on a 9-hour bike ride through Munich, which was absolutely amazing. We had a history tour in the morning and saw the Tina Turner Church and rubbed some lions’ heads that were supposed to bring us good luck. We saw the Nymphenburg Castle, which was gorgeous! We had lunch at a beer garden where I found a crepe with Nutella! We continued on and stopped at another beer garden in the English Gardens. The best part of the day was the river inside the English Gardens. The current was insanely strong and you had to hold onto the side for dear life in order to stop. I went in 4 times and my body ached for two days from all the scratches and bruises I got!

Germany was playing in the 3^rd/4^th place game against Uruguay Saturday night so we tried to get into the Olympic Stadium to watch the game. We were too late that they had stopped selling tickets by the time we arrived. So we went to a restaurant near the stadium, which was just as fun. The Germans definitely have pride in their team!

On Sunday we explored Olympic Park and played putt-putt. I also stopped by the BMW museum, which Lizzie and Dad would absolutely love. Granted I’m not really into cars and didn’t understand all of the details, but I know they would really appreciate learning about them. Later that afternoon the group took another bike tour around Marionplatz, which is the center square of Munich.

We had to take another night train Sunday night and arrived in Florence Monday morning. All day I tried to catch up on sleep from the trip and then had to pick up my friend Lauren from the train. She came in for a night to celebrate my birthday! We’ve known each other since we were about 4 years old. She was our neighbor on Valley Brook and she was the first person I ever spent the night with when I was little, so that tells you how long we’ve been friends!

That night about 20 of us went to a restaurant called Tijuana. It had amazing Mexican food and was definitely a nice change from pizza and pasta. Everyone seemed to love it and I had a great 22^nd birthday celebration!

This week I’ve been in class 24/7. I have a lot of stuff due next week so I’ve been scrambling to get it all finished before Barcelona this weekend. Tonight I had to interview someone for my journalism class with two of my friends. We chose the owner of a restaurant that we like to go to- Dante’s Pizzeria. I had eaten dinner before the interview, but he was so nice and insisted that we have dinner on him that night. My first dinner consisted of 2 courses and then I was forced to eat another dinner. Needless to say I have never eaten that much Italian food at one time!

Tomorrow we’re flying to Barcelona and I’m supposed to be up at 4am. As you all know I’m definitely not a morning person, so we’ll see how it goes! Love and miss you all and I’ll write about Barcelona next week!

MH

Trains

If you’ve ever been on a subway in America, then you can easily picture what I’m talking about. The subway stations are no different in Florence- they’re just as humid, smelly and psychotic as they are at home. The worst in people seems to clog the entire atmosphere.

I arrived at the Florence station Thursday night and spent way too many hours in that environment. We were forced to stand in line for over an hour, only to be shooed away at exactly 21:00 when the Italians went on strike for 24 hours. Our train unfortunately was scheduled to leave at 21:30. We sprawled out all over the train station floor, waiting for the inevitable “Cancellato” to flash across the board next to our Munich train.

An Asian-American woman came up to us inquiring why everything was shutting down. She said, “I just want to go home to America where we do everything right.” Our standards of service are on a completely different level in America. We expect everything to be done when we say it should be done. I had never thought that we do everything “right”, but in that moment, I understood exactly what she meant.

Assignment 1: Venice

I have never experienced heat like I did in Venice. It was suffocating, draining and absolutely disgusting. The group I was traveling with, acquaintances for only three days, left their inhibitions in Florence as we sweated together every second of the trip.

Venice is not like the US. The air is crisp and clean due to the fact black smoke isn’t flowing from trucks on highways. There is no logic to the tiny alleyways. No grid system like most cities in the US. The dogs were extremely well behaved and most didn’t even require a leash. Many of the people I came into contact with were friendly, but then again, most were tourists.

I met a couple waiting for the bus (water taxi) from Texas. They had traveled to Italy for a wedding and were taking a couple of days to sightsee around the country. The two had previously lived in Australia and had recently relocated to the US. We spoke about how confusing the bus systems were in Venice and Florence and how expensive everything was. After inquiring about my study abroad trip, they told me that in Australia, most high school or college students take a gap year to travel around the world. I agreed that it was unlike anything we do in the states. We are put on the fast track at an early age and are never given the chance to jump off.

favorite place of the weekend was definitely Burano. It was our last stop on the boat ride and before we docked, I knew I would love it. Everything seemed so simple and fresh. We were greeted with cobblestone streets and fresh laundry drying in the sun. The houses were painted funky colors, the small canal was still, and the people were friendly and accommodating. It was the first time in a long time I had visited a place where no one was in hurry. Time seemed to pass slowly as everyone was either enjoying an espresso or browsing the small lace shops.

Venice is a place unlike any other. Walking through the small streets is nothing like the busy deathtraps that are the sidewalks in Florence and other big cities. In a way the modern culture has not left its mark on Venice, but like most small, quaint towns, it will inevitably happen one day.

Week 1 in Florence

Ciao!

So I’ve been in Florence, Italy for almost one week and I absolutely love it! I left Nashville last Monday and arrived here around noon on Tuesday. The airport wasn’t too difficult and I flew with my friend Clair so we made it fun. We ended up running into friends in Frankfurt and Florence so the 4 of us traveled into Florence together. We arrived before the rest of the group so we just explored the city for an hour or two while we waited for everyone to arrive. We’re staying at the Gould Institute, which is a religiously affiliated hostel. I have 3 roommates who I really like and all of our classes are here in this building, which is very convenient.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent touring the city and sleeping. I was up for over 30 hours traveling so I definitely had to catch up on sleep. Italians take a 2-hour break in the middle of the day here, which they call a siesta. I am definitely a fan of napping in the middle of the day so I’m taking full advantage of this!

So Friday we took a 3-hour bus ride to Venice for the weekend. The city was beautiful but it was almost 100 degrees all 3 days we were there. It was absolutely miserable! I thought Nashville was hot but Venice was beyond anything I had ever experienced. It definitely made me miss the snow and ice in Oxford, which I never thought would happen! Our “hotel” didn’t have a/c so it was even worse at night. I slept upside down both nights so that the fan was blowing on my face.

Other than the heat, the city was gorgeous. The city was built on water so the only way to travel is to either walk or use the canal system. The streets were really confusing and kind of hard to navigate but we always found our way home somehow. We saw the Palazzo Ducale and St. Mark’s Basilica, which were really interesting. Friday night we all had dinner together and then went out to watch the World Cup game, which was crazy. I watched the US games when I was at home but it definitely didn’t compare to watching it in Europe! We’re hoping that Germany makes it to the final because we’ll be in Munich when it’s on which will definitely be crazy!

On Sunday we packed everything up in Venice and took a boat tour to two islands. We stopped on the island of Murano first. It’s known for glass blowing so we watched a demonstration. The presenter made a vase and a cat and it was absolutely amazing watching how easily he made the two. I bought a gorgeous ring while we were there so I’ll have to show y’all when I get back! The next island we stopped at was called Burano, which is known for lace making. I didn’t buy anything because I’m not really into wearing lace, but it was a beautiful little place. All of the houses were painted funky colors so that when the fishermen returned home back in the day, they could easily find their homes. I have great pictures that I’ll try to upload.

We were finally able to leave the Venice heat and come back to Florence Sunday night. Since it was the Fourth of July, we decided to go to a cookout. My two friends and I couldn’t figure out the bus system so after waiting for an hour, we headed to McDonald’s and celebrated the holiday with a cheeseburger. We met some friends after where I ran into 2 guys from home. They graduated a few years ahead of me, but they went to MBA so we knew a lot of the same people-small world!

Tomorrow classes start and we have a packed day. I’m taking an Italian Film class, an Art/Architecture class and then this Journalism class. I’m definitely not ready to start school, but I guess that’s the reason why we’re here! This weekend I’m going to Munich, Germany with most of the group. We’re leaving Thursday night on a night train and won’t be back until Sunday or Monday (depending on the World Cup game). We have a bunch of things planned and my friend from home has been living there since March so he’s coming in for the weekend, which should be really fun!

Anyway, I’ll try to keep updating the blog as often as I can. I have to write certain assignments on this for my Journalism class, but I’ll also keep y’all updated on what I’m doing! Remember I’m an Accounting major and inherited Dad’s writing ability so don’t judge my lack of English skills! Love and miss you all!

MH