Well I'm in between finals-- I just finished my Tourism one, and in another two and a half hours I've got my Snobbism one, and then I'll be finished with Spanish Guy forever. Then it'll be time to get back to work on this Venice paper. I'm at over 5,000 characters so far, but I've got a while to go since it has to be 20,000. The good thing is, when you count in characters you advance rapidly so it makes you feel like you're actually accomplishing something other than writing one sentence (100 characters if it's a long one!) and then checking facebook for an hour. Anyway, my Tourism final was easy; I finished it half an hour early. I think I was the first one to hand it in, because Professor Quintana grilled me as to the difficulty of the question and how I liked the course. I actually really did enjoy his courses, mainly because he was very enthusiastic about the topics. That's really important in a teacher: if they don't even like it, how can they expect you to be excited about it?!
Now that the semester is coming to a close, I've been thinking about the past few years. I've come to the conclusion that I'm doomed to never be satisfied with where I am. I noticed that when I was living at home, I wanted to leave Boca. I didn't care where I went, just as long as it was out. Then I went to Williams, and found myself missing home. Then I went home, and wanted to go back. That flopped around another year, and then I went to Australia. It'd be a lie to say I missed anywhere when I was there, because I really didn't at all, surprisingly. But then I went home again, and missed Australia. Then I came here and missed home, Australia, and even Williams. And now that I'm about to leave Venice, I'm afraid I'll miss it too. But then again, I can't really tell if I'm getting sad because the semester's over and I'm leaving yet another group of friends forever, or if I'll really miss living in Venice. I think if I wasn't on this horrible island, this would've been a really cool semester, but really there were too many things here that pushed my patience to the limit and beyond. I guess the only way to know if I'll miss it is to leave here and find out. I think this year has gone by too fast, and that's both weird and bad. Weird because I've never had the experience of wanting a school term to be longer, and bad because all of a sudden I'm a SENIOR!!! The thought of being a "real person" with a job, a house, and bills of my own seems foreign and unpleasant. Then again, it could be fun to make my own decisions. I don't know. I think lack of sleep is making me delirious and contradictory. Anyway, it's lunchtime, and the past few days have actually had decent food for lunch (sadly the same cannot be said for dinner). Yesterday I had a piece of salmon, salad, fries, and an asparagus risotto that didn't taste like asparagus so it was good. Hopefully whatever conference is making them make good food will stay until Saturday when I meet up with Lelo and can finally treat my tummy the way it deserves!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Where did the semester go?!?!
I can't believe that there's only five days left til this semester ends! It really has flown by so quickly. I finished my Italian final earlier (1001 words...one more than the minimum!). I ended up doing the whole thing by myself, and turning it in with just my name on it. Caitlin was supposed to work with me, but we mutually decided last night that it would be best if I turned in my work and she turned in her work. I'm just glad I finished it before lunch. Now the only big thing I have left is my paper for Representing Renaissance Venice. No one can really agree on how many pages it has to be-- the professor just said it has to be 20,000 characters long. From my calculations, that's about 10 pages single-spaced. This will probably be the longest paper I've ever written. I'm not sure about my abilities to complete it from start to finish in just the night before it's due, so I'm going to spend tonight organizing what I want to say, and then I'll most likely spend tomorrow writing most of it. Hopefully, anyway. Realistically, I may end up taking my two Spanish Guy finals on Wednesday and then sitting at this computer until 6pm on Thursday when I have to e-mail my paper in. Either way, by 6:30pm on Thursday the semester'll be over for me! And then I'll officially be a senior. Wow I feel old.
Surprisingly, the past few days have been much cooler (and stormier) than the past few weeks. I'm really thankful for the cool weather, but I can't say I'm that much of a fan of the rain and wind every afternoon. Actually, let me refrase that--I hate it because it's such a soothing sound that it forces me to take a nap everyday. It also coincides with the period of the day when I'm least productive, making it extremely difficult to pass on the temptation to nap. Speaking of sleeping...
The other day I found myself craving zucchini like it's my job, and I couldn't figure out why. I mean, having meat cravings is normal for me, or even salty-food cravings...but vegetables?! Can't say I've ever had cravings for those before. I spent almost all day in the library, just sitting there wondering where on earth I suddenly got the urge to inhale the world's supply of zucchini, when it dawned on me: I had a dream the night before about the zucchini appetizer at Maggiano's. I find this absolutely hilarious because the only time I've ever eaten that was when Lisa and her family were at our house, the night before I left for Italy. And now since that day, I've been thinking non-stop about those zucchini. I think I'm going to have to add that to my constantly-growing list of "foods I need to eat before dieting when I get home." At least it's something healthy?
Okay I think I'll go give in to the urge to take a nap (it's raining outside, and the sound of the rain falling on the lagoon and the waves hitting the side of the building just makes my bed beg for me to go snuggle). And then I'll maybe watch Just My Luck, and if it's stopped raining by then I'll go start some laundry....and after checking facebook I'll get a start on this paper of doom. Unless I find something more fun do to....like play in the acqua alta in Piazza San Marco!
Surprisingly, the past few days have been much cooler (and stormier) than the past few weeks. I'm really thankful for the cool weather, but I can't say I'm that much of a fan of the rain and wind every afternoon. Actually, let me refrase that--I hate it because it's such a soothing sound that it forces me to take a nap everyday. It also coincides with the period of the day when I'm least productive, making it extremely difficult to pass on the temptation to nap. Speaking of sleeping...
The other day I found myself craving zucchini like it's my job, and I couldn't figure out why. I mean, having meat cravings is normal for me, or even salty-food cravings...but vegetables?! Can't say I've ever had cravings for those before. I spent almost all day in the library, just sitting there wondering where on earth I suddenly got the urge to inhale the world's supply of zucchini, when it dawned on me: I had a dream the night before about the zucchini appetizer at Maggiano's. I find this absolutely hilarious because the only time I've ever eaten that was when Lisa and her family were at our house, the night before I left for Italy. And now since that day, I've been thinking non-stop about those zucchini. I think I'm going to have to add that to my constantly-growing list of "foods I need to eat before dieting when I get home." At least it's something healthy?
Okay I think I'll go give in to the urge to take a nap (it's raining outside, and the sound of the rain falling on the lagoon and the waves hitting the side of the building just makes my bed beg for me to go snuggle). And then I'll maybe watch Just My Luck, and if it's stopped raining by then I'll go start some laundry....and after checking facebook I'll get a start on this paper of doom. Unless I find something more fun do to....like play in the acqua alta in Piazza San Marco!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Pictures! Fun!
These are the pictures from the lagoon trip, the regatta, and also Amy's 21st birthday which was last night.
http://williams.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016531&l=fad44&id=3901306
I just had my last Tourism class, and in two hours it'll be my last Snobbism class, and I don't think it's possible to be more excited to get finished with classes. I really did enjoy Professor Quintana, he's a very nice man and he's obviously so excited about literature, which I think is very important in a professor, but having him for three hours a day twice a week was getting very tedious.
I did manage to get some research done yesterday for my Representing Renaissance Venice class, but I didn't get the chance to do anything for my Italian presentation, and I didn't make it to the Ca'Foscari library either. I'll be going into Venice later today though, for....MILANESAS!!!!! I'm really excited. So I'll stop some gondoliers along the way and badger them. I figure it doesn't hurt to give them a taste of their own medicine. I had two fried eggs for lunch today in preparation of the milanesa feast tonight (along with half of a salad and an orange). The milanesas at Taverna are huge (this really good restaurant where everyone on this program goes. I took Tia there when she was here and she even liked it, so you know it's good!). They're not quite up to par with Lelo's milanesas, or Mom's, but hey, at least there's no doubt as to which animal they came from. And I've succeeded in making Chen really jealous when I told her about the "milanesa feast" I eat at Lelo's house every time I go home. I think she's the first person who, after hearing about milanesas with fried eggs, french fries, fried onions, and salad, actually said it sounds good. Most people probably count up the calories and say, "well...uh....that's....interesting..." I say, calories, schmalories. I want my milanesas!!!
http://williams.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016531&l=fad44&id=3901306
I just had my last Tourism class, and in two hours it'll be my last Snobbism class, and I don't think it's possible to be more excited to get finished with classes. I really did enjoy Professor Quintana, he's a very nice man and he's obviously so excited about literature, which I think is very important in a professor, but having him for three hours a day twice a week was getting very tedious.
I did manage to get some research done yesterday for my Representing Renaissance Venice class, but I didn't get the chance to do anything for my Italian presentation, and I didn't make it to the Ca'Foscari library either. I'll be going into Venice later today though, for....MILANESAS!!!!! I'm really excited. So I'll stop some gondoliers along the way and badger them. I figure it doesn't hurt to give them a taste of their own medicine. I had two fried eggs for lunch today in preparation of the milanesa feast tonight (along with half of a salad and an orange). The milanesas at Taverna are huge (this really good restaurant where everyone on this program goes. I took Tia there when she was here and she even liked it, so you know it's good!). They're not quite up to par with Lelo's milanesas, or Mom's, but hey, at least there's no doubt as to which animal they came from. And I've succeeded in making Chen really jealous when I told her about the "milanesa feast" I eat at Lelo's house every time I go home. I think she's the first person who, after hearing about milanesas with fried eggs, french fries, fried onions, and salad, actually said it sounds good. Most people probably count up the calories and say, "well...uh....that's....interesting..." I say, calories, schmalories. I want my milanesas!!!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
11 Days Left
I figured I should update since I haven't in a long time, although nothing much has been going on lately. Massimo's classes ended a week and a half ago, which was probably the best part of that class. Ummm...yeah that's really all that's been going on. I went on a lagoon trip on Friday, which was a covered boat that took us to Torcello, Burano, and San Francesco del Deserto (not exactly sure of the spelling of that...). I'll put the pictures up from that whenever I get un-lazy. I mean....whenever I finish all this work I'm doing....yeah. On Saturday Caitlin and I went to the beach, and I got "tan", AKA red. By now it's a nice tan though. Sunday was the annual "wedding with the sea" ceremony, where the Doge used to throw a gold ring into the lagoon to "marry the sea." I think we should drain the lagoon. I'll be rich! Anyway, I didn't see the actual ceremony because it was far away, but I did go over to Venice to watch the regatta afterwards. It was so cool! It was a 4-man Venetian-style rowing regatta....in brightly colored gondolas! Then I got myself a gelato and went with Chen to the bookstore where she works (because it has free wireless internet, so she can connect to her office at home from there). I picked out two books in Italian to help me over the summer. One is Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and the other is by Jules Verne. I think I may have been a bit too ambitious with these choices. At least I'll have plenty to keep myself busy with this summer!
In case you're out of the loop, Lelo's foot is better so we got the go-ahead with the trip. I'm REALLY excited for it. I'm trying to force myself to give up eating croissants in the mornings in the hopes of maybe losing a bit of belly flab. It worked earlier in the semester, but lately I've been on a chocolate crave, which hasn't been doing anything for me except make my love handles easier to hang on to. Not exactly my goal in life. I have been trying to spend as little time in the room as possible though, so I've been pretty good about going over to Venice and walking around. Today I was going to go early this morning and find the Ca'Foscari library (the only "real" university in Venice...because VIU doesn't count). I need to check out books for my research paper for my Representing Renaissance Venice class. I'm writing on Jewish women, as a continuation of my earlier presentation on women in general. My group had talked about married women, nuns, and prostitutes, and the only group left out completely was Jewish women, so I figured it would make a great research paper topic. If the library cooperates with me, I'd like to find books and articles that would allow me to compare how Jewish Venetian women see themselves and Venice with how Christian women see their own roles and the city they live in, and also against how Jewish men see them. Professor Bassi thinks I'm being too ambitious with that though, so I'd be content just writing a high school-level paper about Jewish women in Venice during the Renaissance if I have to. I'd rather actually use my brain though. It's been dormant for a while, and needs a challenge. I'm finding myself actually excited to get back to Williams and the crazy amount of work. Maybe graduate school work will suit me better than I had thought (given my level of laziness and expertise in procrastinating in even the most boring circumstances, you'd think I'd want to be done with school asap). Well, that's the main assignment I want to get done this week. The other one is for Italian (yeah I know, Massimo has to ruin the end of the semester by making a re-appearance). We're supposed to work in groups of two and go out and ask Venetians what their thoughts on tourism are. I'm working with Caitlin, who surprised me the other day by saying she already did the whole thing by making up the interviews. Yeah that's not going to work with me. This is my final grade, and I want no part in cheating, so I did some research and came up with questions to ask people. Hopefully I'll be able to bother five Venetians today so I can write the paper tonight and tomorrow, because I'd rather focus on my Renaissance Venice paper.
Okay, well that's about all that's been going on in my life lately. Fascinating, I know. You're probably all snoring by now. This is random, but I'm considering auditing German next year. For some reason, this semester I've started wanting to learn languages well. My goals for this summer are to read both Italian books and understand them, and also to improve my Spanish. I realized that it doesn't really help much for the job market to be able to speak Spanglish. I want to learn German because I really liked Salzburg a lot and I'd like to go back to Austria and Germany someday. I don't need to be fluent, I just want to know enough to get myself around. Plus it's cool to speak lots of languages. Or is that a dorky thing to say? Well I think it's cool. Anyway, I'm done babbling now. I'll update again whenever something exciting happens. Like edible meat in the mensa (which, by the way, I'm back to being vegetarian again, much to my dismay).
In case you're out of the loop, Lelo's foot is better so we got the go-ahead with the trip. I'm REALLY excited for it. I'm trying to force myself to give up eating croissants in the mornings in the hopes of maybe losing a bit of belly flab. It worked earlier in the semester, but lately I've been on a chocolate crave, which hasn't been doing anything for me except make my love handles easier to hang on to. Not exactly my goal in life. I have been trying to spend as little time in the room as possible though, so I've been pretty good about going over to Venice and walking around. Today I was going to go early this morning and find the Ca'Foscari library (the only "real" university in Venice...because VIU doesn't count). I need to check out books for my research paper for my Representing Renaissance Venice class. I'm writing on Jewish women, as a continuation of my earlier presentation on women in general. My group had talked about married women, nuns, and prostitutes, and the only group left out completely was Jewish women, so I figured it would make a great research paper topic. If the library cooperates with me, I'd like to find books and articles that would allow me to compare how Jewish Venetian women see themselves and Venice with how Christian women see their own roles and the city they live in, and also against how Jewish men see them. Professor Bassi thinks I'm being too ambitious with that though, so I'd be content just writing a high school-level paper about Jewish women in Venice during the Renaissance if I have to. I'd rather actually use my brain though. It's been dormant for a while, and needs a challenge. I'm finding myself actually excited to get back to Williams and the crazy amount of work. Maybe graduate school work will suit me better than I had thought (given my level of laziness and expertise in procrastinating in even the most boring circumstances, you'd think I'd want to be done with school asap). Well, that's the main assignment I want to get done this week. The other one is for Italian (yeah I know, Massimo has to ruin the end of the semester by making a re-appearance). We're supposed to work in groups of two and go out and ask Venetians what their thoughts on tourism are. I'm working with Caitlin, who surprised me the other day by saying she already did the whole thing by making up the interviews. Yeah that's not going to work with me. This is my final grade, and I want no part in cheating, so I did some research and came up with questions to ask people. Hopefully I'll be able to bother five Venetians today so I can write the paper tonight and tomorrow, because I'd rather focus on my Renaissance Venice paper.
Okay, well that's about all that's been going on in my life lately. Fascinating, I know. You're probably all snoring by now. This is random, but I'm considering auditing German next year. For some reason, this semester I've started wanting to learn languages well. My goals for this summer are to read both Italian books and understand them, and also to improve my Spanish. I realized that it doesn't really help much for the job market to be able to speak Spanglish. I want to learn German because I really liked Salzburg a lot and I'd like to go back to Austria and Germany someday. I don't need to be fluent, I just want to know enough to get myself around. Plus it's cool to speak lots of languages. Or is that a dorky thing to say? Well I think it's cool. Anyway, I'm done babbling now. I'll update again whenever something exciting happens. Like edible meat in the mensa (which, by the way, I'm back to being vegetarian again, much to my dismay).
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Party in room 240
When I said that spring had arrived, a very important feature of my living conditions escaped my memory: the fact that I'm situated in the middle of a very large body of stagnant water. We all know what that means. Malaria. West Nile. Dengue fever. MOSQUITOS. ::cue doomsday music here::
Seriously though, last night I had every mosquito and its grandmother from here to Tokyo in my bedroom feasting on Saki and me. Well, okay, feasting on me. Saki is cold-blooded, so she was sleeping with the blankets completely over her head. I, on the other hand, was extremely hot, so I spent my night in an epic battle between sleeping under the sheet and sleeping with no sheet. I lost to the mosquitos by about 1000 to zilch. Clearly I am just not meant to taste the joys of being itch-free in Venice, because my bruises from my previous mosquito bites were just starting to finally heal (although the one that was on my wristbone is still larger than the bone on the other hand....that may be a bad thing). I went on a massacre spree this morning, and now there are bloody mosquito guts (fat on my blood, how dare they!) splattered on all the walls, but the rest of them have gotten smart and are hanging out on the ceiling. I'm thinking about buying a mosquito net, but I don't know where to get one. I was awake all night going crazy with the stupid buzzing. I'm pretty sure I started hearing it even when it wasn't there. I swear, creatures just can't get enough of me here. Yesterday a bird flew in my window. I wish I could say it landed on my shoulder and started singing like in Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, but actually it just sort of floundered around squalking ungracefully until it discovered the window through which it entered. The cats here hiss at each other to try to get to me first. The black one barely waits til I sit down on the bench before jumping into my lap. Somehow I don't mind the crazy bird or the cats though; the mosquitos are quite a different story.
DEET, anyone?
Seriously though, last night I had every mosquito and its grandmother from here to Tokyo in my bedroom feasting on Saki and me. Well, okay, feasting on me. Saki is cold-blooded, so she was sleeping with the blankets completely over her head. I, on the other hand, was extremely hot, so I spent my night in an epic battle between sleeping under the sheet and sleeping with no sheet. I lost to the mosquitos by about 1000 to zilch. Clearly I am just not meant to taste the joys of being itch-free in Venice, because my bruises from my previous mosquito bites were just starting to finally heal (although the one that was on my wristbone is still larger than the bone on the other hand....that may be a bad thing). I went on a massacre spree this morning, and now there are bloody mosquito guts (fat on my blood, how dare they!) splattered on all the walls, but the rest of them have gotten smart and are hanging out on the ceiling. I'm thinking about buying a mosquito net, but I don't know where to get one. I was awake all night going crazy with the stupid buzzing. I'm pretty sure I started hearing it even when it wasn't there. I swear, creatures just can't get enough of me here. Yesterday a bird flew in my window. I wish I could say it landed on my shoulder and started singing like in Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, but actually it just sort of floundered around squalking ungracefully until it discovered the window through which it entered. The cats here hiss at each other to try to get to me first. The black one barely waits til I sit down on the bench before jumping into my lap. Somehow I don't mind the crazy bird or the cats though; the mosquitos are quite a different story.
DEET, anyone?
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Spring has arrived
It's finally warm out, the island is covered in mini daisies, the trees are all in bloom, it smells lovely, the pigeons are molting so badly that it looks like its snowing....yup, spring has finally come to Venice.
This is the promised update on my trip(s) with Tia. But first, I must share my news! My last day of class with Massimo is this Thursday! When I found out this morning I rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And then I did a little dance and ate a cookie. (I was at the coffee break). It was a wonderful morning. Actually all day has been pretty good-- other than class, where I sat daydreaming for three hours, I managed to "borrow" some paper from the printer and came back to my room, where I've been drawing for the past few hours. It's quite a masterpiece if I do say so myself. Well, it will be once I finish it.
Anyway, the whole week with Tia was fantastic. Two Fridays ago I met Tia at the airport and we flew Austrian Airways to Vienna. I liked that airline-- they gave us a snack, complete with dessert and a candy. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Wien, which was very nice and high-tech. Mom would've had a problem if she had stayed with us- everything was operated through the phone; even the lights were turned on and off by the telephone. We ate dinner that night at El Gusto, which was a Spanish restaurant which was very good. The tapas were especially yummy. On Saturday we saw St. Stephen's Cathedral, which was pretty, but they were having mass so we couldn't really look around much. Then we headed over to the Hofburg Palace complex, where we saw the National Library (lots of very old books; very pretty), Church of the Augustines, Imperial Treasury (baby linens, jewelery, and literally tons of dishes and kitchenware), the Imperial Apartments and the Sissi Museum (about Empress Elisabeth, who was a depressed anorexic woman who never wanted to be Queen in the first place....we even got to see her personal 18th century "gym", which was cool). The whole palace was very pretty, and extremely huge. On our way out we walked past the Spanish Riding School, but we didn't go watch because my guidebook said the tickets aren't worth it except for a trick where "the horse bounds around on its hindlegs like a demented kangaroo." That night I had wiener schnitzel for dinner. On Sunday we woke up early and saw the Vienna Boys Choir, which was very good. In the afternoon we went to Schonbrunn Palace, which was the summer residence of the Habsburgs. The palace was very cool because they kept all the original furniture, including beds, toilets, and exercise equipment. It was huge-- 1440 rooms! The gardens include the world's first zoo, where supposedly Marie Antoinette played with the koala before she was shipped off to France to be beheaded. On Monday we went to the Haus der Musik, which was very cool. It's an interactive museum about music. One of the "exhibits" was to roll dice and create your own waltz, which was then printed out for you (for a small fee of course). My favorite was a screen where you could conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. They don't listen to the baton though, because they definitely weren't following my tempo. Anyway, then Tia and I went shopping. I got new jeans to replace my ripped ones! Good thing, because my second pair of good jeans are on their way out too; they're even older than the ones that ripped. The next day we flew back to Venice, and I had class for two days but stayed with Tia at night. Glorious air conditioning! And real food! The Londra Palace is quite a nice place to stay, although it's not as high-tech as the one in Vienna.
On Friday we took the train to Lake Como, where it was cold and rainy almost the whole time we were there. The lake area was very beautiful anyway, though. After we lugged our bags up and down the stairs at the train station, we arrived at the Palace Hotel, which was right across the street from the lake. We walked around for a bit, saw the Duomo, and by 6:30 we were starving, and I ate a rather yummy seafood pasta and fried calamari. The next morning we took the funicular up the mountain to get some pretty scenery pictures, and then we went to an open-air market, where I got a cute cheap day dress. Then we went back to the Duomo and then we took an hour long cruise on the lake. The cruise would've been really fun except for a whole bunch of rowdy Italian teenagers who were sitting with us...and it was cold. It was pretty though. I think Como would be a great place to spend summers. For dinner we ate at a small restaurant called Lo Storico, where we ate the most delicious shrimp appetizer thing EVER. Tia has to write to her cooking magazine and make them get this recipe. Dessert was cool too-- gelati in weird flavors, like walnut and chestnut, stuck into the shells of the respective flavor. On Sunday we took the train back, and Tia got off at Mestre (the stop before Venice). I helped her get the bags to a taxi, and then we said goodbye and I went back to my bleak reality of perverted Italian professors and mystery meat. But not for long! Massimo is DONE on Thursday, and I don't think I could be happier. I kept trying to wipe the smile off my face during class...I'm hoping Massimo just thought I was obsurdly obsessed with Italian opera music, because I was finding it hard to sit still.
Here are the pictures from Lake Como:
http://williams.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016080&l=ea9f1&id=3901306
Okay well I'm off to sample the mystery meat for the night...tomorrow night I'm cooking dessert for a dinner at Professor Chafe's house (the professor from Duke). That should be fun. Let's hope my creations don't come alive like they did last time I was home!
This is the promised update on my trip(s) with Tia. But first, I must share my news! My last day of class with Massimo is this Thursday! When I found out this morning I rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And then I did a little dance and ate a cookie. (I was at the coffee break). It was a wonderful morning. Actually all day has been pretty good-- other than class, where I sat daydreaming for three hours, I managed to "borrow" some paper from the printer and came back to my room, where I've been drawing for the past few hours. It's quite a masterpiece if I do say so myself. Well, it will be once I finish it.
Anyway, the whole week with Tia was fantastic. Two Fridays ago I met Tia at the airport and we flew Austrian Airways to Vienna. I liked that airline-- they gave us a snack, complete with dessert and a candy. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Wien, which was very nice and high-tech. Mom would've had a problem if she had stayed with us- everything was operated through the phone; even the lights were turned on and off by the telephone. We ate dinner that night at El Gusto, which was a Spanish restaurant which was very good. The tapas were especially yummy. On Saturday we saw St. Stephen's Cathedral, which was pretty, but they were having mass so we couldn't really look around much. Then we headed over to the Hofburg Palace complex, where we saw the National Library (lots of very old books; very pretty), Church of the Augustines, Imperial Treasury (baby linens, jewelery, and literally tons of dishes and kitchenware), the Imperial Apartments and the Sissi Museum (about Empress Elisabeth, who was a depressed anorexic woman who never wanted to be Queen in the first place....we even got to see her personal 18th century "gym", which was cool). The whole palace was very pretty, and extremely huge. On our way out we walked past the Spanish Riding School, but we didn't go watch because my guidebook said the tickets aren't worth it except for a trick where "the horse bounds around on its hindlegs like a demented kangaroo." That night I had wiener schnitzel for dinner. On Sunday we woke up early and saw the Vienna Boys Choir, which was very good. In the afternoon we went to Schonbrunn Palace, which was the summer residence of the Habsburgs. The palace was very cool because they kept all the original furniture, including beds, toilets, and exercise equipment. It was huge-- 1440 rooms! The gardens include the world's first zoo, where supposedly Marie Antoinette played with the koala before she was shipped off to France to be beheaded. On Monday we went to the Haus der Musik, which was very cool. It's an interactive museum about music. One of the "exhibits" was to roll dice and create your own waltz, which was then printed out for you (for a small fee of course). My favorite was a screen where you could conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. They don't listen to the baton though, because they definitely weren't following my tempo. Anyway, then Tia and I went shopping. I got new jeans to replace my ripped ones! Good thing, because my second pair of good jeans are on their way out too; they're even older than the ones that ripped. The next day we flew back to Venice, and I had class for two days but stayed with Tia at night. Glorious air conditioning! And real food! The Londra Palace is quite a nice place to stay, although it's not as high-tech as the one in Vienna.
On Friday we took the train to Lake Como, where it was cold and rainy almost the whole time we were there. The lake area was very beautiful anyway, though. After we lugged our bags up and down the stairs at the train station, we arrived at the Palace Hotel, which was right across the street from the lake. We walked around for a bit, saw the Duomo, and by 6:30 we were starving, and I ate a rather yummy seafood pasta and fried calamari. The next morning we took the funicular up the mountain to get some pretty scenery pictures, and then we went to an open-air market, where I got a cute cheap day dress. Then we went back to the Duomo and then we took an hour long cruise on the lake. The cruise would've been really fun except for a whole bunch of rowdy Italian teenagers who were sitting with us...and it was cold. It was pretty though. I think Como would be a great place to spend summers. For dinner we ate at a small restaurant called Lo Storico, where we ate the most delicious shrimp appetizer thing EVER. Tia has to write to her cooking magazine and make them get this recipe. Dessert was cool too-- gelati in weird flavors, like walnut and chestnut, stuck into the shells of the respective flavor. On Sunday we took the train back, and Tia got off at Mestre (the stop before Venice). I helped her get the bags to a taxi, and then we said goodbye and I went back to my bleak reality of perverted Italian professors and mystery meat. But not for long! Massimo is DONE on Thursday, and I don't think I could be happier. I kept trying to wipe the smile off my face during class...I'm hoping Massimo just thought I was obsurdly obsessed with Italian opera music, because I was finding it hard to sit still.
Here are the pictures from Lake Como:
http://williams.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016080&l=ea9f1&id=3901306
Okay well I'm off to sample the mystery meat for the night...tomorrow night I'm cooking dessert for a dinner at Professor Chafe's house (the professor from Duke). That should be fun. Let's hope my creations don't come alive like they did last time I was home!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Note about the pictures
For some reason the link isn't coming up as being highlighted on the screen, so you can't just click on it. Hopefully this is only on my computer and it still works for you, but in case it doesn't, all you have to do is drag your mouse over the link to highlight it, press Ctrl and C at the same time, then click in the address box at the top of the screen, and press Ctrl and V at the same time. Then press Enter. Hopefully that'll work for you. If not, ask Dad or Veronica for help (since this post is mainly for Mom and Lelo).
Strudel and Sachertorte
I will post all about Vienna sometime soon, but in the meantime, here are the pictures:
http://williams.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015885&l=6680e&id=3901306
I also have two short videos, one from the zoo and one of Tia dissecting her sushi, and I'll try to get them up on YouTube soon and put the links on here.
Tia and I have been busy this week! But I must say, sleeping in her room at the Londra Palace has been so much better than sleeping here at San Servolo. Too bad it poured and thundered and lightninged (that looks funnier spelled out than it sounds...) all day yesterday, but at least today promises to be dry, even if it's cloudy and chilly. Tomorrow morning we're leaving for Lake Como, and then sometime next week I'll have a "chorizo" of a post describing all the fun we've had while she's been here.
In the meantime though, I've got classes, homework, and summer jobs to search for. I applied to work part-time at the Williams College Childcare Center next year, so hopefully I'll get that. Williams pays their students a whole lot better than anywhere else does.
Okay well, I've got to run off to lunch, then my last class, and then I'm off for the weekend with Tia. I'll be reachable again on Monday. Ciao!
http://williams.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015885&l=6680e&id=3901306
I also have two short videos, one from the zoo and one of Tia dissecting her sushi, and I'll try to get them up on YouTube soon and put the links on here.
Tia and I have been busy this week! But I must say, sleeping in her room at the Londra Palace has been so much better than sleeping here at San Servolo. Too bad it poured and thundered and lightninged (that looks funnier spelled out than it sounds...) all day yesterday, but at least today promises to be dry, even if it's cloudy and chilly. Tomorrow morning we're leaving for Lake Como, and then sometime next week I'll have a "chorizo" of a post describing all the fun we've had while she's been here.
In the meantime though, I've got classes, homework, and summer jobs to search for. I applied to work part-time at the Williams College Childcare Center next year, so hopefully I'll get that. Williams pays their students a whole lot better than anywhere else does.
Okay well, I've got to run off to lunch, then my last class, and then I'm off for the weekend with Tia. I'll be reachable again on Monday. Ciao!
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