A little treat....

Well I'm still waiting for my USB cord to arrive in the mail but since I have nothing much to offer, I thought this video might be a nice treat....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpXZ3zXn6xM

This is Kate, Amber, and I doing our rendition of "These Eyes" by The Guess Who. If you haven't seen Superbad then it might not be so funny to you, but there is a scene where Michael Cera sings this. So this is our version of Michael Cera's version from Superbad...but in Holland! What's better than that? And if you don't think that's funny then at least you have to appreciate that there's a windmill in the background.

And here's the clip from Superbad....
Superbad movie "These Eyes"

Holland: bikes, boats, & windmills [Spring Break Part One]

I don't even know how to begin this entry on spring break. It was a very interesting and exciting and exhausting week. I have seen and done so much. I guess the best place to begin would of course be the beginning...

Well, after a few days of rest and relaxation at the nearly empty villa Kate, Amber, Alyse, and I left for the train station around 3:45pm and took the train from Capolago to Lugano (only a 15 minute ride) and then from Lugano switched trains to head to Zurich. Even though it was only a couple hours to Zurich, the weather difference was pretty amazing. It was nice and sunny in southern Switzerland but a few hours north there was snow and it was absolutely frigid at the train station. I can honestly say that nothing is quite like walking around a train station (that is not heated, mind you) with a week's worth of clothes in a bag trying to find the next train only to find out that you have close to an hour to wait around. Well you can only pretend to walk around a store with your luggage, running into everything, without buying a thing for so long before you have to move on to the next heated store. We probably looked quasi-homeless. We eventually settled our bags right in front of the train departures board hoping our train would show up soon so we could find our track. We watched that board as if it was television because we were so desperate to get on the train and escape the frigid cold Zurich air. Once aboard the train we soon found our compartment and it was reminiscent of something out of Harry Potter. The door slid open to reveal a small compartment with two rows of three seats facing each other. There were four of us and at first we were excited to have our own private compartment but when it came to sleeping it was an entirely different experience. The excitement turned into utter frustration when we realized only two people could possibly sleep on the two rows of seats and the other two would have to suck it up and sleep on the floor. I sucked it up and slept on the floor with Kate and let me tell you there is nothing more uncomfortable (or more disgusting) than sleeping on the floor of that train. It was like sleeping on itchy plywood. I don't know, but it was pretty terrible. We ended up trading off sleeping arrangements after 3 hours on the floor proved to be completely miserable. It was definitely an experience for a night of sleep, or lack thereof. 

Around 9am or 10am we arrived in Amsterdam Centraal. We looked like a bunch of Bob Dylan-Rolling Stone followers with our messy hair, disheveled clothing, sunglasses, and sassy attitudes.  We had one mission and that was to get to our hostel and lay down in an actual bed for at least five minutes. Luckily our hostel was only a five minute walk from the train station and in a absolutely spectacular location. Unluckily, our beds weren't ready yet when we checked in. We were able to put our luggage in the luggage room that was kindly provided for us and we headed out into the streets. 

How does one describe the cast of characters that you come across is this city?  I could go on for days talking about all the different people we managed to cross paths with. I met people in our hostel alone from South Africa, Canada, England, Ireland, Germany, France, Romania, America, Argentina, and beyond. So many different cultures culminate in this city and form this sort of diverse community unlike anything I have ever seen. It was wild. It is a place where you can easily meet someone from anywhere in the world who have come to enjoy the local color and otherwise. Absolutely amazing how many people are there who aren't actually from Holland. Even the people who worked at the hostel were from all over and ended up in this place like a bunch of vagabonds. 

Alleyway 

Amsterdam reminded me of a mixture of things. I finally narrowed it down to Neverland meets the Island of Misfit Toys meets Lord of the Flies. I don't even know if that does the city justice. There is definitely traditional Dutch culture in Amsterdam but for the most part the city is overrun with tourists and outsiders who ended up there for temporary living or god only knows what else. I truly enjoyed Amsterdam but it is abundantly clear that the culture offered is mainly due to the demand of outsiders and cultural expectations and demands set by the public coming from outside of the city. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I would have loved to see it in a more natural and traditional light rather than this culture created from the outside world (but I'll get to Rotterdam soon enough, which sets the score even). 

Outside the Van Gogh Museum

During our few days in Amsterdam we managed to see the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, and walked around nearly the entire city. The Van Gogh Museum had the most spectacular collection of his works. I listened to the Icelandic band Sigur Rós while I toured the entire exhibit and it was absolutely perfect. [[A quick aside, I think that listening to music while going through an art museum is the  only way to do it. It can really set the tone for the entire experience, and if you don't know Sigur Rós, they are such an amazing band. I don't even know if I can describe their music properly with words, but I think that they demonstrate emotions through music perfectly. All their songs are sung in Icelandic or their own language they created, Hopelandic. It's very soothing music but I think it's also very emotionally charged and powerful. Definitely a great band to check out if you have a chance.]] I was astounded and awestruck by the paintings I actually got to see up close and in person. It was mesmerizing to see some of the most beautiful world-renowned paintings so close. I could have stayed at that museum all day staring at his work and admiring each brushstroke. He was truly a gifted artist and was able to see the world in such a unique and magical way. His perspective...I am just so jealous of his view of the world. He saw true beauty in such ordinary objects or landscapes and transformed them into the most remarkable and dazzling paintings I have ever seen. Honestly to see them in person truly made my respect and love for him as an artist all the most prevalent. I also was lucky enough to enjoy their Paul Gauguin exhibit. That was really nice but I'm not a terribly big fan of Gauguin's work. I also had the opportunity to see some Emily Breton, Monet, Manet, Seurat, and many other brilliant artists. 

The Anne Frank House was a very interesting but also extremely intense experience. It's amazing how well preserved the building is and how the story of Anne Frank has become known worldwide. I walked through the house two times because I just wanted to be able to remember it all. It was incredibly eery and oddly cool to walk through the trick bookcase that hid the entrance way to the annex where Anne and her family lived during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Her father was the only one to survive after someone tipped off the Nazis of their hiding place and shipped them all off to different concentration camps. Anne died only a month before war came to a close and the concentration camps were liberated. It is such a tragic story and her father was the one who turned the building into a museum and opened it up to the public to view. Absolutely incredible story. 

so many bikes! 

Aside from the museums, we also walked around the city which was absolutely gorgeous but incredibly cold. It was 40 degrees all week and very windy. Pretty much bitter cold. The entire city is quite extraordinary because most people ride bikes and there are thousands of bikes all over the city. Chained all the rod iron barriers along the canals and all through the streets. It is such a cool site to see all these people on bicycles of all kinds. I wish more cities were like that. I love that entire idea and mentality to use bikes. There were definitely more bikes in Amsterdam than cars and it makes much more sense. There are canals that cut through the city and have the most beautiful bridges with astonishing views of the narrow canals and the Dutch-styled buildings along the water. I really loved the set up of the city, but I would have to say that it was a little too crazy there for me. I can't even begin to describe the Red Light District. It's probably one of my least favorite places in the world. It's terrible to see women in such a sad situation where they have no other choice but prostitution. Not only that but how it is pretty much promoted in the Red Light District so it's as if you're window shopping for prostitutes. It's really rather terrible to see women being treated like pieces of meat. I definitely left with all the fervor of a feminist.  

Rotterdam

Amsterdam was a lot of fun but after a few days we were ready to leave and move on to Rotterdam. We left early Friday morning and arrived in Rotterdam before noon. Our hostel was pretty nice and in a really cool location. We only had a day in Rotterdam so we tried to use our time wisely but at this point we were all so exhausted. Once we got to the hostel, half the group passed out in their beds while I looked around the building and got some reading done. We managed to find a grocery store for some dinner supplies after we walked around the city a bit. Rotterdam is quite a spectacle because mixed in with all these classically Dutch-styled buildings are these huge modern architecture buildings. Rotterdam also has the biggest seaport in Europe, so there are plenty of boats and waterways. It was such an interesting combination of architecture, sailboats, and parks. The next day we walked along the water front to look at the boats and then continued through this park. It wasn't as cold as Amsterdam but it was pretty windy out. My favorite part of Rotterdam was seeing the windmill. I saw windmills on our way up on the trains but I actually got to see one up close. We walked quite a bit to get there but I think it was totally worth fighting the wind and cold. Eventually we made our way back to the hostel and we broke up for a bit. Some of the group went to explore some more but since it was so bitterly cold out I decided to get some reading done and hang out in the sitting room with Amber. I read my book "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" by Milan Kundera and also perused my Rolling Stone magazine I got in Amsterdam. 

sitting room/bar/dining area at the hostel

the windmill!

We had a bit of trouble on the way back from Holland to Zurich though. I have to say that I have lived up to my father's genes perfectly. I somehow managed to lose my train ticket from Utrecht to Zurich which cost a pretty good amount of money for a poor student. Unfortunately for me the people at the Tickets & Services kiosk were no help what-so-ever. They need to change the name of their kiosk because they did not service me in any respect to help me replace my ticket. Even though I had 3 different forms of identification, the credit card I paid with, and proof I had a reservation on the train there was apparently no way they could possibly look it up on their computers or reprint a ticket, or anything in that respect, to get me on this train. Panic and dread of having to buy another ticket after losing mine threw me and I was pretty much in shock they couldn't replace it. I did manage to reprint my ticket because I bought it online and had saved the email but trying to get to a place with a computer with internet and a printer before our train departed in 30 minutes was really hard and the most stressful time of the entire trip. After going to 4 different places around the train station begging and pleading and using the "I'm a dumb American far from home who lost her ticket and I need help" line...I FINALLY found a restaurant who helped me in my dilemma. There were a series of hoops I managed to jump through to get them to allow me to use their computer, internet, and printer along with all the steps it took to actually print the ticket but I did it. When Alyse came running towards me with a piece of paper from the printer that had all my reservation information it was like the passing of the torch for the Olympics because we literally had less than ten minutes to get to our train platform. We booked it back to Amber and Kate in the main area and then continued to rush along to the platform...but we made it. The rest of the journey went along without a hitch and we made it safely back to Riva the following day (which was yesterday). 

Spring break was really great and I had so much fun, but I am glad to be back in our little town of Riva. Unfortunately this week is crazy because I have a document paper/presentation due, a group presentation, a midterm for my Roman class, and Italian homework along with a workshop with Antonio Fava for Commedia dell'Arte. Then next week I have a paper due and a bunch of Italian quizzes. So it will be craziness around here for a while and I assume I'll go crazy at some point but I'm crossing my fingers that I'll keep my sanity. Oh! And I have a ton of Greek translations I want to get through so I can keep up with my independent study. 

So that's my long way of saying that this is all I have for now and I have a ton of work to do! 

Until next time (more pictures to come). 

p.s.

I lost my USB cord to my camera in Amsterdam so I can't upload my pictures from my camera just yet. You'll have to hold tight till my replacement comes in the mail (thank god for ebay). Until then all the pictures you've seen here were provided by the ever-talented Kate W. & Alyse C. who managed to take some fantastic shots of Holland!

What is there to say about Prague?

.PRAGUE.

I recently had a little adventure to the Czech Republic and actually made it to Prague. Last weekend we had a 4 day weekend due to class conflicts with the theater kids, which meant that I was able to plan a trip with my friends to Prague. I don't know what it is about Prague that draws me in but I have heard nothing but fantastic things about a city located in such a pivotal area historically speaking. The Czech Republic, which was once Czechoslovakia, had at one time been occupied by the Russians during the Soviet Era. Central Europe isn't usually the first place most people look toward when they think of traveling to Europe, but I am prepared to change all your minds. Prague was such a beautiful and I'll even dare to say magical city. It is filled with so much culture and excitement nestled amongst the most serene and absolutely breathtaking buildings that range from so many different time periods. Old Town, Lesser Town, Jewish Town, and even our little "Art Nouveau" district contain so much life and the possibilities of things to do are endless. I loved Prague and it is the first city I've been to where I could honestly say that I could live there and be perfectly content. While our trip was drastically affected by our circumstances, that does not mean it is not still a fantastic place to visit. When I say our "circumstances" I mean that we had our own personal guide to the city of Prague. One of the friends I went with, Kate, happened to know someone from high school who is a true Praguer. Her friend Ondrej showed us around Prague like a true pro and amazingly knew more about the city than most tour guides in America know about any American city. We were able to learn about the buildings and monuments we saw historically and we even got basic knowledge about the local lifestyle. It was so much fun gallivanting around the city without any concerns or strings attached. We had complete freedom to do as we pleased and the weather was absolutely perfect. I can't imagine what Prague is like in the spring time other than completely perfect and splendid. I wish I could go back already and spend a majority of my time there. In fact after returning from Prague we all had a bit of depression since we were no longer in our most beloved city thus far.

Well to begin we left Wednesday afternoon (February 24th) and began our journey from here in Riva san Vitale, Switzerland to Basel, Switzerland. That was about a 3 hour train ride and from there we quickly made our way along the train platform for the train from Basel all the way to Prague. This train ride would last us nearly 14 hours and would go straight through the night. We were scheduled to arrive in Prague around 11pm and finished our nearly 20 hour train ride. Now this might sound either terrible or completely thrilling, and I must say that it was the latter. Leigh Anne, Kate, and I managed to get three seats together and we bought some wine to enjoy on our long train ride. Well, first of all the train ticket man kept coming by and talking to Kate because her last name is Walker which led him to reference Walker Texas Ranger each time. He even managed to conjure up some decent Chuck Norris jokes. We met a guy who sat in front of us from the Berne who entertained us most the train ride. While sleeping wasn't the most enjoyable experience, we managed to survive and by the time we woke up the next morning we only had a few hours left till our arrival.

After disembarking the train and stopping to get a quick and delicious bite to eat, we managed to work the metro and bus system to get to our hostel. Okay so our hostel was said to be located in the "Art Nouveau" district of Prague. Well....I must stress the quotes around art nouveau because there wasn't much about this area that reflected it's title. It wasn't the most attractive side of town to say the least, but we're young and capable girls so we sucked it up and checked into our hostel. Our hostel wasn't too shabby but then again it wasn't the best. It was filled with the wildest objects to decorate it in an attempt to make it have this eclectic chic sort of look, but their attempt failed slightly and by slightly I mean they pretty much failed since most of the decor was shabby looking to begin with. Now it wasn't terrible but if it had some work done on it then that may have done wonders. Our room was filled with about ten bunks and we each had a security locker to place our stuff when we were out and about. We set our stuff down and hit the streets. We took a bus down into the more attractive side of the city and definitely less ghetto. The central part of the city is really extraordinary and I could walk around the city for hours.

At the Center of the World in Prague

We walked around a bit and then met up with Ondrej who showed us all around the city and did a really fabulous job of keeping us entertained. It was so much fun. We had dinner out by the Astronomical Clock which dates back to the medieval period and not only tells the time but also the planetary movements. It was pretty warm out but as it got darker it became a tad bit chilly. We snacked on some trdelnik which is cooked dough with sugar and it is addicting. I could eat some trdelnik on a daily basis.

Astronomical Tower

Our first night in the hostel....well where does one begin? We got back around 11pm or so and managed to get in bed around midnight. It was just the three of us but there were other people's stuff on some of the bunks so we assumed they were enjoying the night life. When we first got in bed and turned the lights off one of our fellow hostel stayers arrived back clearly intoxicated. He stumbled his way across the floor and woke up Leigh Anne in bed by sticking his face less than a foot in her face (mind you she was on the top bunk). He spoke elaborate Czech and offered her wine and Fanta. After she kindly but forcefully refused he eventually passed out in his bed, but not after he stared at Kate and I sleeping in our beds debating whether he wanted to make us the same offer. Luckily Leigh Anne came to the rescue and told him we did not want any wine or Fanta. I'm guessing us [pretending to be] asleep was not a good enough indicator that we wouldn't be interested. Eventually I was able to fall asleep and in the morning we had breakfast which was pretty good and hit the town once again. It wasn't a terrible experience at the hostel and honestly I can look back and laugh it off as just part of the European experience. Would it have been my first choice in a place to stay? Probably not, but it served its purpose and my expectations weren't that high to begin with.

So on Friday we decided to hit some of the major sites in Prague. We took a bus over toward the main castle in Prague. We hiked our way up to the castle which had the most spectacular view of the city. Prague's skyline is blanketed with the red shingled roofs of the buildings with the churches and beautiful architecture breaking through. It was something out of a fairytale. We walked through the church that was next to the palace and this church had such elaborate stained glass windows that it was just unbelievable. Pictures do not do it justice. The church was simply gorgeous. We would have walked through the castle itself but we decided we would rather walk back down into Old Town to get lunch and coffee. We really just wanted to take the city in and not rush ourselves or put pressure on ourselves to tour every single place. To be quite honest, I like to think that it is because I will have to come back to see it. We met up with Ondrej yet again, after we did a little bit of shopping and wandering around,  in the Center of the World which is this circle in this square outside some of the main shopping. He walked around and eventually had the opportunity to meet up with his friends. We went to this place to play pool and hang out which was a lot of fun. I love meeting new people and luckily Ondrej and his friends were a great group to hang out with. They were so nice and even put up with a bunch of silly American girls. It was the perfect last night in Prague.

On the Charles Bridge

Our last day in Prague we met up with Ondrej at the John Lennon wall. This wall is so incredible. Apparently it was originally painted during the Soviet era and was a symbol for peace but was painted over by the government. It was repainted soon thereafter but painted over again. The third time it was repainted the image stayed. After that many people have added graffiti to the wall to where the original image is not even visible anymore. People come to this wall and put message of love and peace as well as pictures that range from portraits of John Lennon to abstract art. It was so beautiful out on this particular day so it was perfect to be out in the city and staring at this wall was exactly what I wanted to be doing. Ondrej took us to the river to show us more graffiti that people have done and it was really a neat experience. Unfortunately we had to leave soon after that to catch our train back.

John Lennon Wall

Leaving Prague was really depressing for me because I really wasn't quite ready to leave. In fact it almost felt wrong to leave such a truly great place in the world. I really loved Prague the most of all the cities I have been to in Europe thus far.

Powder Bridge at night

Hopefully now all of you are inspired to either see Prague for the first time or even revisit it. I would be thoroughly surprised if you were disappointed.