Barcelona

Ciao Tutti,

A week or so ago, my ISC (Italian Student Companion), Silvio, had about ten of his friends over for dinner.  I am happy to report that I was actually able to carry a conversation with them and understand the general ideas of what they were talking to each other about.  We even played the Italian version of the game, Mafia.  This was quite a challenge, but a great and fun experience!

Changing topics completely, last weekend I went to Barcelona.  I arrived late on a Thursday night and took a train from the airport into the city center.  By the time I got into the city center, the metro had stopped running (after midnight) so I had to take a taxi to my hostel.  My hostel had a 91% review on HostelWorld.com, but I was immensely disappointed.  I did not realize that the hostel only had a common bathroom in the hallway of every floor.  I am so used to staying in hostels that have a bathroom in each room that this took a bit of getting used to.

On Friday, I took a free walking tour to see the architecture of one of Barcelona's most famous architects - Gaudi.  His buildings made me feel like I was in Whoville and a world of Dr. Seuss, but they were really cool from the outside.  It cost upwards of 18 euros to go in, so I decided that the views from the outside were good enough for me.  We also saw a church that he designed over around 85 years ago that is still being built.  It is a very complex church and they say it will not be done for at least another 25-30 years!  That one complex building!

One of the houses Gaudi desgined

Another one of the houses Gaudi desgined

One of the three facades of Gaudi's church - the Sagrada Famiglia.  Only two are finished.  This is the Nativity Facade.

The Passion Facade.  The Glory Facade just started construction.

After my walking tour, I took a hop on-hop off bus tour to see all of Barcelona.  Barcelona is such a spread out city that the bus company had two different lines.  It took me 6 hours to complete both lines, but I was happy I did it.

On Saturday, it poured the whole day.  By this point, I had become a pro on navigating Barcelona's metro and decided to go to the Picasso Museum.  The Picasso Museum was a homage to Picasso's older, lesser known works.  All I knew about Picasso before this was that he painted "Scream," but was very intrigued by his life story.  He moved around a lot and changed his artistic style about once or twice a year. 

After the Picasso Museum, I decided to go to a restaurant to have typical Catalonian food - tapas.  They are basically a bunch of small samples, so you order two or three and try a bit of everything.  I had ham & cheese croquets and something very similar to sesame chicken.  It was really, really good.

Then, even though it was raining, I embarked on my voyage to find Barceloneta Beach.  By this point my map was useless because it was raining so hard, so I decided to follow the signs to the beach - big mistake.  I wound up 3 kilometers out of my way and had to backtrack to see it.  I was happy when I finally got there, though.  It looked like a scene out of 2012, the waves were about four feet high (pretty high for the Mediterranean Sea and I saw the cliché surfboarder walking away from the sea.  It was a beautiful beach, though. 

The Beach

After this, I decided to walk and catch a metro back to my hostel.  After an hour rest, I went to the only bar in Barcelona that was showing the Penn State v. Michigan State game for the Big Ten Semifinals.  I think I managed to find the only empty bar in Barcelona, but a combination of a Penn State win and some nostalgic food like quesadillas and chicken tenders was enough to make my day.

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day.  I loved it!  I woke up early in the morning to walk the "La Rambla", a very famous tourist promenade where artists and cafes line the streets.  I decided to grab a seat and order "Churros and Chocolate" and people watch.  They were so good.

La Rambla

Chocolate & Churros

After that, I took another walking tour of Barcelona.  This one was a tour of Barcelona's historical center.  It was beautiful and reminded me a lot of Rome.  I gained some insight into the history of Barcelona that was absolutely fascinating like the fact that Barcelona used to be occupied by the Romans when it was a walled city (hence why it reminded me of historical Rome).  Also, I learned that the people of Barcelona actually consider themselves to be Catalonian, not Spanish.  They speak Catalonian and Spanish and are constantly protesting the Spanish government for their independence.  I also got to see where the King of Catalonia greeted Christopher Columbus after discovering the New World.  The final piece of trivia I learned was that Barcelona could have built the Eifel Tower instead of Paris, but the government thought it was too weird looking and built an arch instead - big mistake!

The steps that Christopher Columbus was welcomed back on

After the walking tour, I took the metro to Park Gϋell - another one of Gaudi's projects.  It was declared a World Heritage Site a few years ago, so I figured a trip to Barcelona would not be complete without seeing it.  Getting there was a difficult task.  After taking the metro, it was a kilometer walk to a series of eight escalators to take you to the top of a mountain.  At the top of this mountain, you had to walk down hill about a half of a kilometer to get to the park.  By this point, I was exhausted.  It was so worth it, though.  I saw the longest bench I have ever seen and a bunch of other cool looking houses, sculptures, and architecture! 

View from the Park

I think Dr. Seuss used to live here.....

An overhang at the park.

The other park entrance.

On my way back to the hostel to grab my bag, I found a Dunkin Coffee (they don't call them Dunkin Donuts over there) and splurged on the biggest ice coffee I have ever had.  In Italy, I can only get an espresso - they really do not have American coffee.  It was probably the best cup of coffee I've ever had (probably because I haven't had one in so long).  I topped it off with a ham & cheese panini and a chocolate frosted donut with sprinkles - the icing on the cake.

After grabbing my bag at my hostel, I went to the airport and came back to Rome.  In my next blog post (very soon, probably later today), I'll bring you up to date with everything I did this week and weekend, post a few pictures from the past month, and post the bucket list I made of things I need to do while I'm in Rome.

Ciao,

Mike

Rome as a Tourist!

Ciao Tutti,
I am currently on a plane to Barcelona, Spain & can't wait to get there!  I've heard great things about it and many people have told me that it cannot be described in words.  We will see if I can do that in my next blog post, but I wanted to update you on what I've been up to over the past week.
I spent all of last weekend doing "Rome as a Tourist" and got a lot accomplished.  I downloaded a few audio tours from Rick Steves on iTunes for free.  I put them on my iPod and listened to them as I navigated some of Rome's most famous attractions.
On Saturday, I went to Vatican City - namely St. Peters Square and St. Peters Basilica.  I was there when I was 12, but was completely taken aback by the grandeur of the Basilica.  I walked inside and felt like I was an ant compared to everything else.  The church itself was huge - 400 meters long, but what struck me even more was the size of the sculptures inside of it.  The statues that were "babies" were taller than 6 feet!  Everything about the church was amazing, my jaw hung open the whole time I was inside!  Rick Steves even joked about the size of St. Peters Basilica by saying that birds don't even realize they're inside when they fly around.  I may not understand anything about art, but I could definitely appreciate the beauty of everything inside of St. Peters.  It was certainly a great experience!
After St. Peters I went to the Trevi Fountain and did the typical tourist stuff.  After taking what seemed like 100 pictures, I ventured down the steps to throw a coin in the fountain.  They say that if you put your back to the fountain and throw a coin over your shoulder you are guaranteed to return to Rome one day.  I did it when I was 12 and now I'm studying there.  Coincidence? I think not.  After I finished with the Trevi Fountain, everything was closed so I headed back to my apartment to rest up for Sunday.
On Sunday, my first stop was the Pantheon - another building that made my jaw drop.  It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once you get inside your eyes immediately gravitate to the  huge hole in the ceiling.  It is amazing that the Romans built it almost 2000 years ago without any machinery.  I had another audio tour by Rick Steves for this which was nice as I was able to gain insight into the history of the building.  It was once a place to worship Pagan gods, but was converted to a Catholic church after Catholicism became the official religion of the Roman Empire.  Another fun fact I learned is that Victor Emmanuale (the person who united Italy & the first king of Italy) and his son have their tombs inside the Pantheon.  It is also Rapheal's final resting place.
After the Pantheon, I went to a place called the Capuchin Crypt.  It was an eerie place.  Located beneath a church, it is the bones of 300 Friars arranged in a way that makes it a work of art.  It was very, very weird.  At the end of the crypt, there was a sign that said "What you are now, we once were.  What we are now, you will be."
My final stop was the Spanish Steps.  I honestly have no idea why they are famous, but felt like I had to at least climb them once as a student in Rome - what a workout!  I was exhausted when I got to the top and dreaded going down.  Now, I can check that of of my bucket list.
I decided to get organized on Sunday night and make a list of everything I want to do before I leave Rome in May.  Now I have a list of things to do over a page long - I will post it when I get back to Rome.
I had a relatively normal week of classes.  We went on a field study for my architecture class to see a piazza designed by Michelangelo.  My time in Rome has definitely taught me to look at art in a different way.  I'm beginning to appreciate the small details of everything.
In Italian, we had to give two oral presentations.  The first was during a field study around Roma Storico (Historical Rome) where we had to present two different places of interest.  Afterwards, our teacher rewarded us by buying the class Ciocolato Caldo (thick hot chocolate) - it was amazing!  Our second presentation was on anything we wanted.  My group talked about a film we saw the first week of class, La Finestra di Fronte.  It went pretty well - we think.
Before I conclude my blog, I would like to reflect on something I have noticed from a lot of Italian people - specifically older ones.  They are highly critical of their country and their people in general.  My Italian teacher said the quality of life in Spain is much higher than in Italy because Italians are never organized and nothing ever gets done.  Coming from America where I bleed red, white, and blue, I am not used to this type of criticism from people about their home country.  I personally love Italy and would love to work over here at some point in the future - I have only been here for 6 weeks though.
I will update soon about my experiences in Barcelona as well as a few pictures from my "Rome as a Tourist" weekend.
Ciao,
Mike