Rules of making a travel-themed Christmas tree

I had the bright idea of trying to do a travel-themed Christmas tree this year.  An Atlanta Olympic ornament  found a place on the tree because I went with Mom to Atlanta when I was a kid.  An Empire State Building ornament is there as a reminder of the trip I took to NYC in spring of 2010.  A Hallmark ornament representing my trip to Vegas in 2009 made it onto the tree.  There are some ornaments from local places, too, such as the National Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial in DC and George Washington's home, Mount Vernon.  (I love the Mount Vernon one because it's a globe--how fitting for a travel-themed tree.  The ornament is modeled after the globe George Washington had.)  Some ornaments are on the tree purely because they were bought on vacations and may or may not actually represent the places they came from:  Jacques from Cinderella is on the tree because Mom and I got him when we were at Disney World in Florida when I was too young to really remember; Belle from Beauty and the Beast is there because I apparently got her during a trip to the Outer Banks in 1992 (I only know this because Mom wrote it on the back).

Needless to say, it wasn't long before I was making up far-fetched reasons for putting some of the ornaments on the tree.  Various Snoopy figurines are snowboarding/sledding/skating--if it's a mode of transportation, it counts (right?).  Detective Snoopy must be searching out great travel deals online while Woodstock takes notes.  Snoopy and Woodstock ride WWII Flying Ace Snoopy's Sopwith Camel, clearly a great way to fly (I bet he wouldn't charge checked bag fees!).  No fewer than three Snoopy ornaments possess typewriters because clearly Snoopy would write books about his adventures.  (Side note:  Why are there so many Hallmark Snoopy ornaments with typewriters?  Have an original idea already!)  Snoopy and Woodstock play guitars for another ornament, which I could rationalize as representing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a place I hope to visit one day (I went to the short-lived branch of it in NYC, so I guess that counts).  I could say I put all these Snoopy ornaments on the tree because last year I went to Charles Schulz's longtime home of Santa Rosa, California, although none of the ornaments actually came from the Charles Schulz Museum.  But how could I explain Wall-E's presence on the tree other than to say that he's traveled farther than almost anyone else--from Earth to space and back again?  Yeah, it's a stretch.

I have an ornament that I believe was a party favor at the wedding anniversary party for a couple who are friends of my parents.  It's from Holland and features windmills.  I won't put it on my tree because I haven't actually been there, nor do I have any real desire to go to Holland.

Clearly the answer to my dilemma is that I have to travel more and collect more ornaments.  I pull out the ones I have and fondly remember my time in the place where I got the ornament and who I was with while there.  I figure it's better than getting tchotchkes that sit around my apartment all the time that only take up space and collect dust--I don't have room for things like that.  I can take hundreds of pictures while traveling, but how likely am I to look at them again?  Not very, unfortunately.

I am a bit sad to think that there were places I've been that I didn't get ornaments from.  It's not that I wasn't trying in Utah, but I wanted an ornament that represented one of the locations I went, such as Red Butte Garden, not an ornament that simply came from its gift shop.  (I really wish I'd hit up that Christmas store in Park City.)  I don't think I got an ornament in Italy, so instead I have a Hallmark ornament representing Italy on my tree.  I don't remember getting one in Yellowstone either.  I know I bought ornaments from Asheville, NC, where I was just two weeks ago, and Natural Bridge, VA, where I went back in September with some friends, and even though I just relocated them the other day, I can't remember where to.

Hopefully by this time next year I'll have collected more ornaments.  In the meantime, merry Christmas and happy holidays, and a happy new year to you.

Flying Solo in Asheville, NC - 11.19.11-11.21.11

It was a short trip designed around the fact that I wanted to see Lykke Li and had missed her DC show because it was sold out.  Also, I wanted to see the Biltmore in all its Christmas glory. I couldn't talk anyone into going with me, so I just said, screw it, I'll go it alone.  It was my first trip alone, and Asheville proved to be a good place for such adventures--a very manageable, small, walkable city, albeit with a lot of hippies.

I flew US Airways from Reagan National to Asheville via Charlotte.  I remembered having been through Charlotte very briefly (literally running from one terminal to another) and thinking that it looked really nice, and it lived up to that memory.  There are rocking chairs, real trees, a piano, and a giant mobile sprouting from a sushi joint in the main area between the concourses.  There's some decent shopping to be done if you have time, some good restaurants, and even a spa.

I got into Asheville about 5 hours before the concert Saturday night, so I got my rental car, pulled out my GPS and was on my way.  I got my car through Enterprise (hurrah for work discounts) and although I had asked for a compact car, I got a Chrysler 200.  As soon as I sat in it, I decided I liked it.

My GPS, although it has outdated maps, led me to the Asheville Hostel and Guest House, a place I had very serendipitously found on Google Maps while plotting out potential things to do in the city.  It's downtown, walking distance from a bunch of cool stores and restaurants (Asheville has at least three chocolate shops, although I only visited one, as well as a champagne bar/used bookstore, Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar (is there a greater concept?  I think not)).  I met up with the hostel's proprietor, BJ, who suggested a bunch of great places to eat, such as Asheville Brewing Company, literally one block over, within sight of the hostel.  I'm not much of a beer drinker, but occasionally I do venture into that realm, so I did a flight of five beers along with my delicious and very garlicky Greek pizza.  I did manage to finish three of the small glasses of beer.  I walked back to the house, glad to have leftover pizza for breakfast the next morning, then walked a few blocks over to the Orange Peel for the show.

A number of venues, such as DC's 9:30 Club and Richmond's The National, seem to have adopted the "standing room only" idea, and the Orange Peel is yet another.  I felt a bit out of place with all the hipsters at the show, and since some of them were even taller than me, I did have a little difficulty seeing the stage well at times.  The show was enjoyable and the venue seemed all right, despite reviews I'd seen online stating that staff were at best apathetic to concertgoers' needs and wants.

I was up early the next morning so I could be at the Biltmore as soon as it opened.  My parents visited the Biltmore last year and had really nice things to say about it, which had spurred me to want to visit.  My mother recommended the audio tour, so I paid the additional $10 and was glad that I had; the provided booklets are interesting but not nearly as detailed and in-depth as the audio tour.  The sheer size of the building is itself a shock; it's the largest residence in America.  Not only is the mansion big, but the whole Biltmore premises is spread out; the Antler Hill Village, where the winery is, is a four-mile drive from the parking lot for the house, which is itself a few minutes' walk or shuttle ride from the parking lot.  The house was indeed gorgeous, all dolled up for Christmas.  To give you an idea of how big the house is, the library is enormous but doesn't hold all of the 23,000 books contained within the house.  I was told that it would mean reading six books a week for 80 years to finish them all.

After I finished my tour of the house, I perused the garden and the conservatory.  I had seen a weather report stating that it was supposed to be in the upper 60s and sunny on Sunday, but when I had set out that morning, it had been overcast and I worried that it wouldn't be very warm.  Fortunately, the clouds did dissipate after a little while and the weather did warm up--after all the walking/hiking I did (there is much walking to be done, and proper hiking if you so choose), I was sorry I had worn long sleeves.  The flowers in the conservatory were lovely, and I am a sucker for orchids, of which they have a number of different and wonderful plants.

I required lunch before I endeavored any further onto the Biltmore grounds.  I had wanted to have brunch at a restaurant at the Inn at Biltmore Estate, but when I realized it was four miles away and had a dress code--nice pants and blouse for women, something I wouldn't want to wear all day--I figured I would eat somewhere near the mansion itself.  I ate at the Stable Cafe, literally situated in the old stables (you can tell by looking at the inside).  I enjoyed the Carolina barbecue (it would be wrong to go to NC and not have barbecue), but enjoyed the chocolate cake even more.  The chocolate cake was in celebration of the Tiffany exhibition (also at the Antler Hill Village) that goes through the end of January 2012.  The cake was delicious and came with a piece of white chocolate decorated with a Tiffany-style dragonfly.  I hope this cake becomes a permanent addition to the Biltmore menu and doesn't leave with the Tiffany exhibit.

After lunch, having already visited the gift shop by the mansion, I was curious to see the statue of Diana at the top of the hill in front of the house.  The hill is a tiny bit of a hike (well, it is if you're in less-than-wonderful shape, as I seem to be), but it is so worth the view.  The hill would be splendid for rolling down or sledding in the winter, and the mountains behind the house and the trees surrounding frame the mansion so perfectly.

I drove over to Antler Hill Village, the location of the winery and more shops and restaurants.  A wine tasting is included with your ticket to the Biltmore (by the way, if you go to the Biltmore, buy your ticket online at least seven days before you plan to visit--you'll save $10), and you can taste as many wines as you want from the ones on the extensive menu.  The store at the winery sells the wines, hats, cookbooks, food, and various other Biltmore- and non-Biltmore-related tchotchkes.  I bought a cookbook for the sale price of about $18, having envied the one my mother bought last year (many of the recipes were quite tantalizing).  The lines were incredibly long because tour buses had dropped off visitors--the lines were so long that they didn't get to leave on time.

Originally, I had planned to do the Red Wine and Chocolate tasting as well as the Biltmore Bubbles tasting, but I decided I'd had enough to drink and had spent enough time on the premises.  My tickets couldn't be refunded, but I was given a gift card for the value of the tickets, which I promptly blew at the confectioners' shop back at the mansion.  (Not all of the chocolate was for me, thank you very much.)

I was eager to get back into Asheville, and even though I knew the hostel was walking distance from downtown, I didn't feel like walking anymore.  I finally found public parking for $3 across from French Broad Chocolate Lounge, one of the places in Asheville I'd wanted to visit.  (FYI:  French Broad is a river near Asheville, not a derogatory slang term for a woman from France.)  The line was long, so I figured I'd come back later since they're open until at least 11 p.m., even on Sundays.  I had seen a used music store nearby and wanted to see what it had to offer, and realizing it was mostly records, I moved on and found another one just a couple doors down, again with not much of a CD collection though (I am not cool enough to own a record player, and it's not like I could have fit any vinyl in my already over-stuffed carryon bag).  I wanted a burger, and when I spied the menu at Boca, it sounded promising, as all the burgers I saw were about $8 and sounded delicious.  I stepped inside, not realizing that it was just before the restaurant actually opened at 5:30, but a waitress was nice enough to seat me and get me a menu before finishing up the staff meeting I'd interrupted.  Unfortunately, burgers were not on the dinner menu, but I was intrigued by some of the things I saw there.  The waitress was kind enough to bring me some complimentary jalapeño-cheddar cornbread, something I had spied on the appetizer menu but hadn't ordered; I was glad I had received it free, as I felt it was lacking the jalapeño heat I was expecting, although it wasn't bad.  I enjoyed the blueberry-braised pork shoulder taquitos I ordered--I figured I would branch out and get something a bit different.  My waitress boxed up the remainder of my dinner and I wandered over to Downtown Books and News across the street.  It's kind of a hole-in-the-wall that hipsters would love, and had a great selection of books on any topic you would hope to find in a proper bookstore.  I picked out a current magazine to read while in the airport/on the plane the next day before heading back to French Broad Chocolate Lounge to pick out a few pieces of chocolate, all of which I found enjoyable.

I had planned to spend Monday morning walking around downtown Asheville, but many of the places I wanted to visit didn't open until 11 a.m., and since I'd seen a bit of downtown Sunday evening, I decided to throw the plan out the window.  After heating up the leftover taquito in the microwave in the hostel's kitchen (there are also free supplies for making coffee and pancakes), I drove aimlessly for a bit, winding up at the Starbucks by the Biltmore entrance, then I drove over to the enormous Western North Carolina farmer's market, thinking it was just something like the ones in Northern Virginia, where I could walk through in half an hour or less.  Not so.  There were several large aisles of stalls, aisles big enough to drive cars through, with oodles of fruits, vegetables, and other standard market fare.  I drove on to the North Carolina Arboretum, which serendipitously happened to be right by the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I'd decided that I liked my Chrysler 200 rental so much that I wanted to take it for a proper drive, not just commuting around town, and I'd passed under the Parkway going to the hostel from the airport.  Parking for the Arboretum was $8 and I could come and go as I pleased.  Being that it's November, there wasn't a whole lot to see, although the Bonsai exhibit was unexpectedly very cool.  It's outdoors, and fortunately the weather wasn't too cool.  I explored both buildings of the Arboretum and the path between them in about an hour, so I drove onward to the Parkway.  I drove south for about an hour, stopping frequently to take pictures of the view.  Many of my pictures probably look the same, and I tried to discipline myself not to take so many and just to see the view for what it was, not through a lens, something Lykke Li had chastised some concertgoers for at her show Saturday night.

As I drove back from the Parkway toward the highway (I forget which one), I saw a mall and decided to stop in search of food.  Note well:  Don't ever go to Biltmore Square Mall.  It is a sad, depressing place and there is no joy to be found there, especially not in their awful Christmas music.  I drove further, bypassing a probably local place calling itself a tavern in favor of a Wendy's that may or may not have been out of my way.  There was also a Dairy Queen at the local gas station, so I decided to have a mini Blizzard as a celebration of not accidentally filling up the Chrysler with diesel.  (Because I hadn't already had enough junk food to eat that weekend.)  Fun fact:  The Dairy Queen had the highest cleanliness/sanitation score of the restaurants at which I observed the scores; all received As, but the Dairy Queen had gotten a 99.5 (I'll assume out of 100) and was actually rather nice for a DQ.

I arrived at the airport shortly before 2 p.m., two hours before my flight.  I was somewhat sad to return the car.  I got through security after having my bag scanned at least twice (I'd forgotten about the unopened canister of hot chocolate mix) and bought some bottled water, as I'd planned to settle in a bit while waiting for my flight.  Fun facts:  There are only seven gates at the Asheville airport, which is a half-hour flight from Charlotte.  I got to my gate just in time to have a woman working for US Airways offer to let me get on the flight that was literally leaving any minute, and I very happily boarded.  With my original flight schedule, I worried that my one-hour layover in Charlotte might not be sufficient to get to my connection to Reagan National if my flight from Asheville was late, so this worked perfectly for me.  I could wander around the Charlotte airport a little more, having gotten to know it rather well from traversing the whole thing during my two-hour layover two days before, and get a meal before boarding.  Oddly, there was an earlier flight to Reagan, leaving about an hour or so before mine, and when I asked if I could board it, I was told it would probably cost me $50.  I was surprised and ultimately decided to just camp out at Charlotte--besides, a friend had already committed to picking me up from the airport around 7 p.m. anyway.  I hunkered down in Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, which was adjacent to my gate.  I had a delicious turkey "burger" with brie and bacon and probably the best sweet potato fries I've ever had (complete with chipotle ranch dressing) as well as a couple drinks (the large glass of wine is nine ounces, which doesn't sound like that much...).  The only reason I held back from getting a spiked milkshake was because I'd had Dairy Queen earlier in the day.  There are two Bad Daddy's locations outside the airport, both in Charlotte.

More notes about the hostel:  It was great, rather clean and in great proximity to downtown; bathrooms are communal, but I had no problems with availability or anything.  There's a communal computer as well as free WiFi.  The hostel was certainly more economical and much closer to town than the hotels I was looking at.  It's a bit bare and maybe the tv doesn't work, but you're probably not going to be there all that much anyway, right?

The trip was good, and while there were plenty of places I wanted to go in Asheville that I didn't get to, I'm not quite in a hurry to go back, although I would love to see the Biltmore and the Arboretum in the spring/early summer.  Hopefully I'll do that in the coming years, since Asheville is relatively close by and inexpensive.

Lykke Li:  http://lykkeli.com
Asheville Hostel and Guest House:  http://avlhostel.com/
Asheville Brewing Company:  http://ashevillebrewing.com/
The Orange Peel:  http://theorangepeel.net/
The Biltmore:  http://biltmore.com
French Broad Chocolates:  http://frenchbroadchocolates.com/
Boca:  http://bocaasheville.com/
Downtown Books and News:  http://www.downtownbooksandnews.com/
Bad Daddy's Burger Bar:  http://baddaddysburgerbar.com/Home/

Utah, 7/6-7/11

Earlier this year, a good friend of mine moved back to Utah, his long-time home, and the more he'd talked about Salt Lake City, the more I wanted to visit.  I was long overdue for a vacation anyway, and his moving back gave me an excuse to get away for a few days.

I got in Wednesday night about 9 p.m. and had the most amazing view of the mountains.  Normally I opt for an aisle seat, but this time I'd made sure to get a window seat.  I would have killed to have had my camera out for this view.  I did take some video on my iPod.  I'll admit, I was rather taken from my first glance.  My friend met me at the airport and on the way out of the parking lot, I asked him to stop the car so I could get a picture of the sunset.  It was breathtaking.

We drove to the Great Salt Lake, not far from the airport, and were staggered by the fantastic views there at sunset (I believe it's Antelope Island that can be seen in the picture).  It should be noted that it was here that we encountered more mosquitoes than I have ever seen in my life, but the view was worth it.

We drove downtown from there, walking around the Utah State Capitol and through several parks nearby, including City Creek Park (none of those photos turned out as well as I'd hoped, sadly).  We saw the Mormon Temple, which looks like a somewhat sinister version of Cinderella's castle, but it's still an attractive building.

Thursday we woke up late and had an enjoyable breakfast at Finn's (the chocolate croissant was a meal in itself).  Afterward, we decided to visit Sugar House Park, which was really nice.  A number of families had decided to visit for the afternoon.  We saw a number of joggers as well.  It's a great place to just read or have a picnic with the family...or roll down a hill, as we did.
That afternoon we did some hiking in Mill Creek Canyon.  It had rained some as we drove up, but we decided to make a go of it anyway.  The path we took was a bit slick, but we had no real problems.  The forest was lush and green and the hike was a little challenging but still good--I think we got above 9000 feet here.  We saw snow, which I thought was an odd sight to see in July.

I had seen a sign for a farmers market right next door to my friend's house and asked if we could check it out, and we were both glad we did.  It was the first day of the market, and we found several great food carts that had cupcakes and curry, someone selling many varieties of olive oil, people selling jewelry, another stand featuring vegan chocolate and cashew-based vegan chocolate ice cream (our sample of it was good).  There was even a section specifically for kids.  I began to get a bit jealous that my friend had such a cool market right next to his house; I live in Northern Virginia, where there are oodles of farmers markets, and I haven't found one I like as much as his, and certainly none are as close to my apartment.
My friend had gotten tickets to see Goldilocks Capone and the Three Amigos at the Desert Star Theater in Murray.  Mashups of different pop culture touchstones are apparently a specialty here.  We enjoyed the show, and afterward an emcee who was part of the cast pointed out couples celebrating anniversaries and people celebrating birthdays.  Then the whole cast performed several patriotic songs and had some good skits in between parodying politicians like Sarah Palin and the Mormon presidential candidates Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney, as well as celebrities like Lebron James.
After the play, we decided to go to a club downtown called Area 51, which has '80s night every Thursday (they also had some great-sounding parties over the weekend, such as a glow stick party Friday night and another celebrating the turn to Cancer zodiac sign, which would feature tarot readings and other New Age-sounding stuff that has little more interest to me than fun kitsch value).  Upstairs was the 18-and-up party, which was fun and got pretty crowded with people of a wide range of ages, featuring music from David Bowie, New Order, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Def Leppard, Depeche Mode and countless others; downstairs was a far-less-populated but no less enjoyable darker '80s mix (The Smiths, Depeche Mode, etc.).  We were there for a very fun four hours, and kept saying around 1 a.m. that we were going to leave after whatever song was on, but then good songs kept playing and we couldn't bring ourselves to leave.

Friday we again woke up late and went out for pancakes.  In the afternoon, we went to Red Butte Garden, quite possibly one of the most beautiful places I've seen.  Probably half the pictures of the roughly 350 I took on vacation were taken here.  A fire had broken out in the mountains above the gardens a couple of weeks prior to our visit, but it had been contained fairly quickly; however, we could still clearly see where it had been and how close to the building it had gotten.  The gardens sit up on a mountain, so you get a great view of the city below.  There's also an amphitheater there, and some great national acts like Sheryl Crow were performing there this summer, as well as buzzed-about acts Fleet Foxes and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.  I couldn't believe how great the venue was--not only was it beautiful, but it hosted great concerts too!  A wedding and its reception were also taking place there that evening--easy to see why someone would want to get married there.  The gardens are huge (I'm not sure my friend and I traversed them all), full of beautiful, colorful flowers and trees, and also feature a great kid's area with a fountain and a giant flower pot that has a tree growing from it (my friend egged me into trying to climb it).  This was only the second full day of my trip, and my camera battery gave out while at the gardens--I thought it was fully charged beforehand, so maybe I had taken so many pictures that the camera just wouldn't hold a charge anymore.  I was disappointed, but at least my cell phone takes good pictures.

That night, we met some of my friend's friends at a Nepalese/Indian restaurant named Kathmandu, which made a particularly good chicken tikka masala.

Saturday we went to the Utah Museum of Fine Art on the University of Utah campus, also up in the mountains a couple of miles from Red Butte Garden.  I particularly enjoyed the Egyptian pieces in the African gallery, but I liked the European gallery as well.  My friend and I had a good time trying to interpret Don Olsen's modern pieces, which were displayed in a huge gallery with a high ceiling that also housed a piano--clearly a room meant for events.  I think we walked through the entire museum in about three hours, then took off outside to venture across the University of Utah campus, eventually making our way back up by the University's Rice-Eccles Stadium, home to many events from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.  We drove out to Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch National Forest that evening, which was a great drive a little ways from my friend's house (we made sure to eat at In-N-Out Burger on the way).  We encountered more snow that actually covered part of the trail around a lake (not sure which one).  It had rained on us a little driving up, and I'd wondered aloud if we'd see a rainbow.  Not only did we see a rainbow, but we saw the most vibrant one I'd ever seen, and it had a double!

I must have taken about 20 pictures just of the rainbow.  It was rather awe-inspiring.  We drove back down the canyon only to encounter a sunset that made me gasp aloud and again ask to stop the car.

Sunday we got an even later start than before and drove to Diva's in Salt Lake City to get a drive-through lunch and cupcakes.  My friend enjoyed his caramel macchiato (I forget what he had for lunch) and I munched on a good chicken salad sandwich before I tore through the chocolate chocolate cupcake (sadly, they were out of chocolate peanut butter).  We wished we'd been able to partake of brunch, as they had $3 mimosas and live music, but time didn't allow.  We were heading to Park City that afternoon to take on the alpine slide.  I had had some reservations about being on a slide that was going down a mountain--how steep is it?  how fast?--but they were all absolutely unfounded fears.  The slide is a lot of fun.  We'd talked about ziplining too, but there were thunderstorms only about 20 minutes away, so we would barely have time to get down the slide.  We had only just gotten off the ski lift before we heard thunder, and originally we were told we wouldn't be able to go down the slide because it was raining at the bottom of the mountain, and sled brakes on the slide won't work in the rain.  We were told we'd have to wait for a suburban to come fetch us, then shortly after we were told they could let some people down the slide, so there was a mad dash to get sleds and run back to the slide.  There are four slides, and one is marked for people who prefer to go a bit more slowly, so being a first-timer, I took that one.  Needless to say, my friend quickly disappeared from my view and was waiting for me at the bottom.  Scary though it is to be on a mountain during a thunderstorm, it was also pretty cool and I wish I had been able to get pictures.
It did start raining not long after we got off the slide, so we decided it was time for dinner and went into town to Adolph's Restaurant.  The bartender, Sweet Jonny D, was rather personable and gave great recommendations for dinner.  I was glad I'd taken his advice and gotten the shrimp linguini--it was so good.  My friend also enjoyed his chicken francese and even had leftovers for the next day (I managed to eat my entire dinner).  We shared a brownie sundae, which was also delicious.  This restaurant is clearly a favorite of locals, as several of the patrons who came in struck up conversations with Jonny about mutual acquaintances and such.  Dinner was pricey, but my friend and I really loved it.
That night we went back into Salt Lake City to catch a movie and got chai lattes afterward.  The first coffeehouse we went to was full of obnoxious hipper-than-thou types loudly cheering at an open mic night.  We stood in line for a couple of minutes before leaving, as the line hadn't moved since we'd gotten there and the crowded, loud atmosphere was a turnoff.  I forget the name of the place where we ended up, but the chai lattes were good and we ran into one of my friend's friends, who had been camping out there for a while reading and dining at one of the many tables.  My friend maintains that coffees and teas are done better west of the Mississippi, and I might be inclined to agree.

The next day was Monday, which meant it was time for me to go.  I was sad not only to leave my friend, as we'd had a fantastic time seeing what we'd seen, but I had also gotten used to the mountain views and the crisp, dry air in Salt Lake City.  Every morning I'd sat on the back porch at my friend's house and read, enjoying the lovely weather and the sounds of the creek that runs through his backyard.  It was great to enjoy a definite change of pace and attitude for a few days and to see things that I don't see on an everyday basis.  Even if I saw the mountains every day, I don't think the view would get old.

http://redbuttegarden.org/
http://umfa.utah.edu/pageview.aspx?id=25861

San Francisco, January 2010

My mother and I decided that as a birthday present to ourselves, we would take a long weekend in San Francisco. It didn't take much prodding or convincing, as it's a place we've both wanted to go for a long time. I had a coworker who had just been with his wife, so he was giving me recommendations about where to go--Alcatraz, Lands' End, Coit Tower. He let me borrow his guidebooks as well, although most of the stuff in them was stuff my mom and I may not have been most interested in, or was stuff that could have appealed to me but not her.

I was appreciative of his recommendation to go to Alcatraz, though. I didn't expect to enjoy it so much--the historical value of certain things and places can be lost on me. You don't have to be a big history buff to enjoy your visit here though, although the history is much more interesting than you'd think, as my coworker had told me. There is also a surprising amount of greenery and plant life here--a garden that was tended by families of the prison guards who lived on the island, maybe even tended by prisoners themselves (I don't remember if that was the case or not). Beautiful and enormous white calla lilies could be found all over (I'll be honest, that was the only flower I really recognized). Of course, it was overcast/foggy that day, so my pictures of San Francisco from the island didn't really turn out well, but I can only imagine seeing the city from Alcatraz at night. They say in the audio tour of the island (which is a national park) that that was one of the things about Alcatraz--it was so close you could hear the sounds of the city coming from across the bay. I can imagine what torture that would be--so close to civilization, and yet so far. My coworker also told me about a walking path around the island, but my mom and I opted not to go that route. We got enough exercise wandering up and down the island.

That was the same day we traversed several blocks and large hills to climb up to Coit Tower in Pioneer Park. It also affords decent views of the city, although again it was a bit cloudy when we were up there. I was almost disappointed that we didn't have to climb the stairs up the tower--we had climbed up hills already, so I was primed to do more climbing.

We made our way over to the Ferry building to check out what was more or less an indoor farmer's market. I love farmer's markets, so this was a great experience. I definitely recommend the chocolate sorbet from Ciao Bella (very rich and deliciously dark) and the fish taco at Mijita. Best fish taco I've ever had. Granted, I haven't had that many, but this one blew the others out of the park. We also had cupcakes from the Kara's Cupcakes Kara-van stationed at another market-type place outside across the street. My mother raved about the carrot cake one. My coconut cupcake was pretty good. Kara's Cupcakes is located in Ghirardelli Square (where we had been the previous day) next to Wattle Creek Winery's tasting room.

While on that subject of wine, I will say that I found the red wines I tasted at Wattle Creek's tasting room to be difficult to distinguish from one another. They were also so dry that I felt the moisture being sucked out of my mouth and so strong that I had to drink water between each sip to cleanse my palate. I did enjoy the sparkling wine and of the reds, I found the petite syrah to be enjoyable, so I bought two bottles. The muscat was also good.

While in San Francisco, Mom and I stayed literally across the street from Fisherman's Wharf. I had been pressing to stay somewhere not touristy or a slightly niceish hotel chain if possible (my mom made fun of me, saying I wanted to stay at the Ritz-Carlton--not true. I would have settled for Sofitel, although that is a bit out of our price range, maybe Hyatt or Hilton), but the hotel we stayed at was decent and there were a lot of restaurants within close walking distance. We had a tasty chicken salad sandwich for dinner at Boudin and breakfast there the next morning--sourdough French toast and a ham and gruyere croissant, both delicious. We of course did a bit of souvenir shopping in the area, and the Wharf is not a far drive from any of the places we went in SF. From that standpoint, I was sad to not see any of the funkier neighborhoods of SF, and I felt maybe we had deprived ourselves of seeing some of the real character of the city because we didn't really venture out beyond the touristy stuff. I did thoroughly enjoy what we did see though.

Saturday we drove up to Santa Rosa, about an hour north of San Francisco. It was a much bigger "town" than I realized. It was the adopted home of Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, for much of his adult life, which was why I wanted to visit. I found the Schulz Museum to be just that--a museum about his life, so if you are anticipating a Peanuts Museum, you'll be disappointed. For those of you not familiar with his life and background, I would recommend it. He wasn't perhaps the happiest of people, but it's interesting to know the story behind him and the influences on the comic. I think my mom and I walked through it in about an hour, to our surprise. We wandered over to the Redwood Empire Ice Arena across the street, which was owned by Schulz. They still had the Christmas decorations up, which was nice--it was neat to see the ice rink surrounded by the lights and decorations. We ordered chili dogs at the Warm Puppy, the on-site cafe where Schulz would get breakfast and lunch--I didn't realize that they were $6.50 until I paid, but when we got them, we understood why. These aren't some wimpy hot dogs with a scant amount of chili on top served on styrofoam plates. These were served in actual dishes with knives and forks (very useful), the hot dogs themselves served in a bowl, covered in so much chili you could barely see the bun. Very good. I would also recommend the Peppermint Patty (peppermint hot chocolate).

My mother isn't a wine drinker, but I dragged her to Rosso Pizzeria and Wine Bar in Santa Rosa anyway. She seemed less than thrilled about the idea, but I was pretty keen on it so she acquiesced. I had read about it in Budget Travel magazine a couple of months ago and thought, "Hey, if I ever actually get to Santa Rosa, this could come in handy." We waited about 30 or 40 minutes for a table. This place seems pretty popular with the locals--Mom noted that a number of the people there seemed to be familiar with the managers and staff. I was surprised to see the number of families there with children--this is not a typical pizza joint. They were pouring syrahs at the bar (I have a particular weakness for syrah, but I didn't give in this time), so the hostess recommended that we try them while we waited. There was no room to sit at the bar, so Mom and I stood and looked at the menu. She didn't seem too enthused about any of the choices, but said that whatever I chose she could probably deal with. We decided to split a salad and a pizza, which turned out to be a good decision. We got a Tuscan wedge salad with bleu cheese, gorgonzola dressing, pancetta and roasted tomatoes and a Beppo pizza with red sauce, housemade mozzarella (!), black olives, pepperoni and red onion on it. I asked the waiter what a good wine would be to go with this odd pairing of salad and pizza, and he suggested a tempranillo, which turned out to be a good choice, and at $6 a glass, I was pleased with the price as well. Dinner came down to about $16 each, not including tip (I paid since I dragged Mom there). The pizza was really good--the crust is really thin, not really thick enough to support the toppings, but it still has a crackle and crisp to it. My mom and I aren't really thin crust devotees but we both enjoyed this.

We flew jetBlue in and out of Oakland from Dulles because my mother found it to be less expensive than flying in and out of SFO. JetBlue gets major points for having DirecTV and Sirius XM satellite radio on board, although movies are $6 and they don't serve real food (you do get a selection of free snacks). They scored even bigger by getting us to Oakland 40 minutes early and leaving Oakland for Dulles 10 minutes early. The flight attendants are also super cool. I was personally a bit scared of the idea of being in Oakland, much less staying a night there as we did (our flight in got in around 10 pm), but the airport was pretty nice and had an interesting exhibit on ukeleles and guitars and how they're made. I wish I'd been more attentive to that and taken some pictures. The part of Oakland we stayed in seemed nice enough and the hotel we stayed in was decent as well.

All that being said, I definitely enjoyed my trip but I intend to go back to San Francisco one day to see and experience more of the city.

http://www.rossopizzeria.com/

http://www.karascupcakes.com

Oz, Day 2

1.20.07

Today we went to Manly Beach, which was nice, except the water was much colder than we expected (and hoped) it would be. Some of the girls were sunning themselves despite the fact that they were pretty burned after yesterday.

Right now I feel like I’m on a ship that’s swaying side to side. I can’t pinpoint a reason for this. We are spending a good amount of time on ferries and such, but most of them don’t rock back and forth. I think the sun does extraordinary things to mess with your head. Yesterday, I felt drained once we finally got back from our excursions. Even though I don’t think I slept that much on the plane, I was still ready to go—but after we got back I was wiped, aside from the fact that I was very sunburned (hopefully it didn’t get any worse today—I wore my hat and put on sunscreen).

We really enjoyed the place we went to lunch. Five of us ate there while another friend took surfing lessons at Manly Surf School. It was only $55 for two hours, and she really enjoyed it—in fact, she said she thought she enjoyed it more because she was so bad at it than she would have had she been decent. The food was good, and the wine we had was good too, although the quality wasn’t on par with what we’d been drinking in this winemaking class that we’re here for. I drank two glasses of wine but I ate the entire chicken sandwich and all the fries (known here in Oz as “chips,” much like in England), so to me there was no reason why I should have felt like I had been drinking much more. I told this to one of the guys with us and he said it was probably the sun. There are few times in my life where I have been so cognizant of how exposure to the sun for long periods of time drains you. While we were waiting for our table at dinner last night, I could feel myself nodding off every so often. The other girls asked me if I was all right, but I was just so tired. Other than that, I was okay, even though I hadn’t eaten real food all day. I could easily have skipped the post-dinner bar visit, although we weren’t there that long either, fortunately.

The weather is really good despite the cold water at Manly Beach and the sun beating us into submission. I think the hotel where we stay in Melbourne has a rooftop pool, and I am rather excited about this.

Another thing that excites me is that Sydney seems to have an abundance of places that sell gelato. It’s not the same as it is eating it in Italy, but seeing as there are so few places outside Italy that seem to have the real thing, this excites me greatly.

Australia, Day 1

1.19.07

So far, I seem to be doing rather well, unsure of how long I actually slept on the ages-long flight last night (which was Wednesday, because for us Thursday never existed).

I am beginning to recall why I fell in love with Sydney when I was here the first time. It’s European almost, but still is its own place, with some American touches (3 McDonald’s in one block).

But the water taxis and cruises are amazing and I highly recommend them. However, sunscreen should be worn at all times. I really think someone could have informed us all beforehand that the Ozone layer was thinner at this time of year and thus within hours we would all be burned to a crisp. Well, that’s a slight exaggeration. But it does hurt. I was hoping to get my legs tanned because they’re so pale, but of course that’s the only part of me that didn’t change color. I’m glad they didn’t burn too though—my arms and face look bad enough.

So far, among my purchases I have bought $15 sunglasses with a lot of bling on them (they were the only ones I liked that I thought looked good on me), some $5.50 ice cream (very tasty—it was $5 for one scoop, so I figured I would splurge for 50 cents more and get the second), and a $2.20 bottle of water. I have yet to eat real food since I’ve been here (I’m not counting what little of the breakfast I ate on the plane this morning). I forgot to declare the cookies Mom sent with me from home when I went through customs, and since they have nuts and such in them, I doubt the Aussies would like that too much. What they don’t know won’t hurt them I hope, and anyway all the evidence has been destroyed, save for a ton of crumbs at the bottom of the bag. I also snuck a bag of peanuts from one of yesterday’s flights. Oops. The Aussies I think are very touchy about that kind of thing; they don’t want you bringing any potentially harmful non-native thing into the country. I can understand, I guess.

I saw a painting of the harbor that I really liked, but it was $385. And how would I have gotten it home? I guess I could have shipped it. I like it, but that is a lot for one painting, and it wasn’t even that big.

I have yet to decide whether or not I will go on the Bridge Climb. The people who went last time I was here loved it, but one girl on this trip who did it said she would not do it again. It sounds really cool, but at the same time, it sounds like it could be Duomo redux--I practically had a panic attack climbing up to the dome of that in Florence, so do I really need to be climbing 400 feet above the water in Sydney? Plus, it costs a lot of money and you can’t even take your own pictures or anything.

So, so far we have learned that:

• Food is ridiculously expensive
• January in Australia is AWESOME, except you need gallons of sunscreen per week
• My rechargeable batteries aren’t worth crap
• Bring lots of conditioner for when your hair gets tangled from standing outside on the harbor cruises/water taxis (which are amazing, by the way)

Some things you can expect of me while I’m here: visit at least one Italian restaurant (there are quite a number of them here, surprisingly) and the Hard Rock Café. I would also like to visit the Lindt Chocolate Café. Also, to market tomorrow morning. It’s right down the street, as is the monorail, which I fully intend to take advantage of. I really like this hotel; it’s pretty close to all the action, and it’s nice for a Holiday Inn. The internet is not free like I thought it was going to be though. Grr.

On the list of things you must see while you are here: Take the harbor ferry to Watsons Bay. It doesn’t look all that great at first. But I was really glad the announcer guy said it had great views. He wasn’t kidding. They’re stellar.

There are so many cool things to do here, and I seem to be accidentally stumbling upon some of them. I wish all cities were this amazing.

1/26/2005: Closing remarks

It's almost like I expected time to stop for me when I left and for it to resume normally when I returned. I should have known better. I returned to find that time had in fact gone on without me, and to see that January was almost over. However, despite the fact that time flies whether or not you're having fun (which I was, just to clarify), there are some things that last forever. Take Rome for example -- it's not called The Eternal City for nothing. It's been around for a while. Consider the history there -- the Colosseum, the Forum. Pompeii as well -- it's been nearly 2,000 years since Vesuvius exploded, and it is still the subject of archeological digs and seemingly endless History Channel and Discovery Channel documentaries and movies (see Pompeii: The Last Day on the Discovery Channel on January 30). We are still in the process of learning about these places and what went on in them. Just last week, previously unknown Da Vinci drawings were uncovered in Florence. How cool to have been there just before the discovery, although I wish we could have actually been there for it. There are still so many things to see and know about this world, and so many things that we don't even realize that we don't know about them because they have been hidden away for so long. Perhaps discovery is half the journey of life -- self-discovery, achieved maybe through discovery of other things that before one could not have even imagined or even tried to comprehend. Maybe they are two separate, unrelated things. At any rate, both are important. Traveling can be an extremely rewarding, if tiring and at times difficult, experience. You will learn and realize a lot that you never knew, and a lot that will interest you that you never thought you could possibly care about. I would encourage you to travel as much as possible. Who knows what you might find in that great big world out there?

1/24/2005: Home Sweet Home!

Sorry I haven't been here since Thursday, but haven't had any Internet access. Suffering withdrawal...just kidding. Kind of.
Anyway, Friday morning we left Rome for Venice, which is an extremely beautiful place, if a bit smelly (if you get past the occasional whiff of something resembling rotten eggs, you'll be fine--I've heard it's a ton worse in the summer though). However, I guess you could say I am a bit of a germophobe, so Venice is not the ideal place for people like that, what with the probably polluted water (it's so pretty though--a very nice bluish-green) and the pigeons everywhere, especially in St. Mark's Square. If you don't want to feel threatened by pigeons flying at you from all directions, then avoid walking through the middle of it if at all possible. Oh, and because it's on water, the wind can be kind of cold, and the weather was cold enough already, although I think from what I heard the weather was much colder and in general worse at home. We were lucky that it never rained on us while we were there. I can only imagine how much more beautiful and pleasant it must be in the summer there (minus the tons and tons of people and the smell).
We didn't stay in St. Mark's very long, but the church itself is beautiful. I've heard it's even better when it's lit up on the inside, but they only do that for a certain number of hours during the week or something, and I didn''t get to see that.
Saturday we went to Murano, where they make the famous Venetian glass, and let me tell you, that stuff is absolutely, incredibly amazing (amazingly expensive too, but we''ll get to that in a minute). One of the workers made a vase and a horse figurine in the ten minutes that we sat there and watched, and it was so awesome. My mouth was just gaping open in awe of what he was doing. That was probably one of my other favorite parts of the trip. Of course, they have to let it cool for a certain period of time, and then it gets gilded (they put 24 karat gold on it) and enameled. The end result is breathtaking. (I know I've used all these adjectives already, and although I'm a creative writer and I should have more of them in my vocabulary, no others are coming to mind right now, so please forgive the repetitiveness.) The showrooms there are filled with colorful glass creations--shot glasses, vases, sculptures (including a really big, really cool sculpture of some turtles swimming--only 87,000+ Euros (yes, you did read that right), jewelry...there was just so much to take in. The glass is harder to break because of the way they make it (I think that's right, but I could be wrong). When our tour guide was showing us some of the pieces, he was just kind of throwing them around, and we were all pretty nervous about that. Even though they may not be as easily broken as regular glass, we were all still very wary of breaking anything, because as I mentioned, things are very expensive there. A small shot-glass sized chalice that I wanted was 96 Euros. I kind of wish I had bought it because it was so pretty, but it was so pretty that I think I would have been afraid to use it--after all, how do you wash this stuff? It's not like you can probably just use dishwashing detergent on it--at least I don''t think you can. We were all terrified that we would break something, so the "Look, but don't touch" rule was very much in effect. We were also informed that things were so expensive because lots of pieces break while they are being cooled, so only a small number of pieces exist compared with all the ones they've made. I wish I could have taken pictures of some of the stuff in the showroom, but they didn't allow it sadly. Oh well, you'll just have to go see it for yourself--I highly recommend it.
We had a long, long day yesterday. I woke up about 5:10 a.m. Italy time and didn't go to sleep until 2:30 this morning EST time, so I had a nice 27-hour day. Don't know how I'm awake right now, actually--I think the trip screwed up my sleep schedule or something. I just hope I'm not going to become an insomniac. Yikes! Anyway, a lot of the group split off from us at the airport--some went straight home from Dulles, others left with friends or family who had met them there. At any rate, I have never known a group of people so glad to see home again when we got back at 10 p.m. EST last night (so weird dealing with two different time zones--much less two different continents--in one day). So weird, but I have to admit, I was more than hyped about returning to normal life. I love traveling, but I could never make a life of it as I once thought I could. Too much time spent in strange situations, or being cramped on a plane (especially during turbulence--we experienced some nasty stuff on the way home yesterday) or bus can make you a bit crazy, to say the least, so returning home was very very wonderful. Also, the abundance of English spoken and the overflowing amounts of free water available in all restaurants is very very welcome too. Let me explain: the tap water in Italy isn''t great (well, it's not really great anywhere), so you end up buying bottled water, and that gets pricey after a while (make sure that you get "acqua naturale," and not water "with gas," a.k.a. carbonated water--that stuff is SO NASTY). The strange thing was how much more it cost some places than others. I asked one of the guys in the group what he missed most about home, and his answer was "English, free water and rap." I have to admit, I am just now realizing how wonderful and glorious free Internet is. I am ashamed of how much I spent on Internet in Italy.

1/20/2005: Our last day in Rome...

Today we explored the vast Vatican Museum, which includes the Sistine Chapel, which was not nearly as huge as I expected it to be, but it was still cool to see it in person.

Went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch (and after dinner last night--more about that later). The group I was with had never been so happy to have American food--one of the girls consumed nearly an entire bottle of Heinz ketchup with her fries and burger.

Needless to say, we're all ready to go home at least to some extent. We've gotten word of bad weather there, and hope that there won't be any more to keep us from getting home on time Sunday night, because we are all looking forward to resting up and chilling out, and more importantly seeing friends and family again, after two weeks of seemingly non-stop going.

Dinner last night was the best dinner we've had since we've been here--we went to a tavern, and that was really really fun. There was a band (kind of reminded me of the mariachi bands they have at Mexican restaurants) and they played some Italian music and played their versions of some American songs--Frank Sinatra's "My Way," Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You," and Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender." Oh, and it wouldn't have been right if they hadn't played "That's Amore" too--we sang what words we knew with them. That was lots of fun. There were four courses to the meal, so no one was hungry afterwards--it was so much food, but it was so good.

I think that's all for now, except to warn you that phone cards are evil, verging on becoming the bane of my existence, but that's another story for another place. Ciao!

1/19/2005: Two countries in two weeks

I say that because the Vatican City and Italy are actually two separate countries. We spent most of today in the Vatican City and will go there again tomorrow to see the Vatican museums, which includes the Sistine Chapel.

Today we had an audience with the Pope. I felt the crowd's enthusiasm would have been better if they hadn't acted like they were at a football game -- it was rude and irreverent it seemed to me. We could understand most of what the Pope said in English, but not all of it. It is really sad to see him in such a condition; he did not walk at all today, I don't know if he ever leaves his rolling seat.

We also saw St. Peter's Basilica today, which is the most impressive thing by far that I've seen since the Duomo in Florence. It is absolutely magnificent on the inside, not that the outside isn't worth seeing as well. We hung out with a young American tour guide who started out with two people in his group, then ended up with like 30. He was really knowledgeable, saying that all he knew about the subjects came from reading a lot. I think going on his tour helped me to appreciate things there much, much more. He pointed out on Pope Alexander's monument that Charity's clothes are actually the same material as every other part of the statue (with the exception of the Sicilian jasper covering, which looks like fabric spread out just the right way), while Truth's clothes are of steel and are rotting away--her clothes are steel because they felt that she should not be nude, but they didn't use the same material (which I would guess was marble, since it is everywhere in these basilicas, churches, etc.) for some reason. Charity's clothes look real too--they don't look like marble. This statue was Bernini's last work, and was actually completed after his death; he also designed St. Peter's Square, which contains four rows of columns--however, if you stand in just the right spot in the square, all four rows line up to look like one. Michelangelo designed the inside of the dome, and it was his last work, completed after his death, and while you can't see it very well, apparently it is evident that he himself did not paint it. The tour guide also told us that the Statue of Liberty could easily fit inside the dome, with 20+ meters left over. The Pieta was much smaller than I expected, but was still amazing to see. I know I've said this before, but Michelangelo was truly a master of his art. When we saw David last week, we were informed that his arms and head are out of proportion, but when you stand far away from the statue, they don't appear that way--Michelangelo intentionally did that.

A couple more travel tips:

• Buy extra batteries, film, memory cards, etc. at home. If you can find what you need here, you may pay a lot more for it.

• X-ray scanners WILL mess up your electronics; my digital camera has not been right since we left the airports last week. I would suggest that if possible you carry small electronics like that through the metal detectors with you (although I would suspect that those aren't exactly good for your electronics either).

I think that's all for now folks. Ciao, and I will probably talk to you tomorrow afternoon.

1/17/2005: Rome!!!

I am so ecstatic to have an American keyboard again. I love this hotel where we are in Rome--another four star. I love it, even if the internet is 5.25 Euros for 15 minutes. Insane, but totally worth it.

What little we have seen of Rome so far reminds me of a much bigger, dirtier version of Florence. We are not eating dinner in the restaurant tonight--hopefully we're going to the Hard Rock Cafe (joking--anyone who knows me well will get it).

I am absolutely hyped up right now and I'm not entirely sure why. But anyway, we saw Pompeii today. We were there I think less than an hour. A lot of it was closed for restorations, including the legendary brothels--our tour guide told us it was under restoration because there had been too many guests there.

I should go now. Ciao for now, and expect more from me tomorrow.

1/18/2005: Roaming around Rome

Today we've seen the Forum, Colosseum (I got some great pictures of the city from there), St. Paul's Basilica (basilica or cathedral or what? I can't keep them straight), and some of the catacombs. There is clearly a lot to see and do around Rome, and we did a lot of it today. Tomorrow we're going to the Vatican City to have an audience with the Pope, so I am looking forward to that. I think tomorrow is also the day that we go to see the Sistine Chapel, although that may be on Thursday.

Well, I think that is all for today. Ciao!

1/15/2005: In awe of Assisi

The scenery we have seen today is nothing short of astounding. The weather finally cleared up, and the view of the valley from Assisi is beautiful. Around Sorrento, the water is just so blue -- almost like sapphires. I have taken so many pictures today--I just hope that the colors show through. One thing I have learned over the past couple days--digital and film are not created equal. The hotel is four stars so that is really great, too.

However, as much of a good time as I am having here, nothing can equal what home is like. Not homesick all the time, but for a little while at least each day -- the food, the people, the familiarity...just home in general.

All right, I think that is all for now. Ciao!

1/13/2005: In Siena

So we got to Siena today and a group of us went to lunch. The place looked fine and the waiter seemed cool (I think he may have been the only person there). So we sit down and order. We tell the guy what we want and he pretends not to know what we’re saying although we’re clearly telling him what we want. So he brings us what we order and we discover that what we ordered is more or less a TV dinner straight out of the microwave. Then it comes time to pay. There’s a sign on the door saying that they take credit cards. He tells us they won’t accept credit cards or travelers checks and he won’t split the bill or give one of the girls in the group bills in smaller denominations. So after bickering with him for a few minutes, we were all rather irritated -- we paid and left. Everyone ended up owing somebody else in the group some money because we didn’t have change or the right amount and he wouldn’t take a credit card. Morals of the story are be picky about where you eat; if it seems too good to be true, it probably is; and avoid the Cafe Tea Room American Bar in Siena like the plague. But -- good news -- we left there and got some gelato, which made us feel somewhat better because it is so good

Then we met up with the whole group to go see Siena’s Duomo. The Duomo as it stands is impressive, with rich details--it is very embellished both inside and out. It is not exactly small either, but it would have been much bigger if the plans to enlarge it had been carried out in the 1200s. Unfortunately, the Black Death came and wiped out 2/3 of the population here and the addition to the building was never finished. I myself prefer the one in Florence, but this one is worth seeing

The drive from Florence to Siena was not very long at all. I think it would have been more enjoyable scenery wise though if the weather had not been so overcast and if it weren't winter here.

I think that’s all for today. Ciao, and I hope to be back here tomorrow, if internet availability allows.

1/12/2005: One last day in Florence

So today we went to Santa Croce, which was absolutely amazing. I know I've used that word a lot already, but it's true--a lot of what we have seen has been incredible. Then a group of us went to the Boboli Gardens (which reminded me a bit of Maymont back home) and the Piazza del Michelangelo, which involved a lot of climbing, but the view overlooking the city was awesome. Then a couple of us went to climb to the top of the Duomo, which terrified me--I'm not claustrophobic or afraid of heights, but that was not a fun experience. The view again was absolutely breathtaking, but the climb was my own personal hell because there was no place to stop and breathe or move to let other people by. There were 463 steps, and we did that in about 10 minutes. I cannot remember the last time I was so glad to be back on land. But as I said, the view was fantastic. Then we went to the Ponte Vecchio for a little shopping before getting lost on the way back to the hotel. Fortunately, some extremely nice Italians graciously gave us good directions and we were soon back after a long, tiring day.

Tomorrow morning we leave Florence for Siena. I don't know the availability of Internet access there or in Assisi, so it may be about three more days before you hear from me again (but I hope not). At any rate, ciao!

1/11/2005: Can I not wear shoes to dinner?

Okay, that may sound like an odd question, but after a long day of walking, when you take your shoes off, you value the time that they are not on.

I walked through the Uffizi in roughly an hour. I think I skipped a lot of stuff. I was very confused when suddenly I was in the gift shop and no one in my group had gotten there yet. Another thing I learned today--once you get in the gift shop, there is no going back.

I have never been a big fan of art, but I think today maybe my appreciation of it was slightly heightened. The rich, magnificent colors were astounding; I appreciated the great detail; and Michelangelo's David, which celebrated its 500th anniversary in September, was absolutely amazing, awesome and breathtaking. It was so lifelike I swear I saw the hand move. Some of the paintings I saw today were also gargantuan, as was David himself--I think his leg may be taller than I am, and I am 5 feet 9 inches tall. Amazing. Michelangelo was no less than a master at what he did. His work is absolutely magnificent in every way. I really would have expected David to have been in a much bigger, grander museum in a bigger city, like Rome, but since Michelangelo was from Florence it is fitting that David resides here.

The language barrier has not been such an issue here, fortunately--that was one of my biggest issues with this trip before I got here. The people speak usually speak at least enough English to know what you are telling them or enough to tell you something. If not, they can motion to you what they are trying to tell you.

I have been desperately trying to avoid looking like a tourist (which I know is unavoidable), so I have only taken 30 pictures so far (although if my pictures of the Duomo had come out better and it was not so big, I would surely have taken more of it). I finally broke down and made my first purchase today though--a leather jacket for myself. Not much of a deal at $110, and since I was at the market I should have haggled with the guy I bought it from, but oh well.

Okay, I think that is all for today. Ciao!

1/10/2005: Things I've learned so far

• You will feel threatened at all times--if not by cars, then by speeding Vespas or bikes.
• If you do not get run over from the side, you will be run over from behind or head-on.
• It is okay to walk down the middle of the street.
• Mini Coopers can appear very large when next to Smart cars and similar miniscule vehicles.

So today we took a long walking tour through Florence. We saw the Duomo, which, as I mentioned yesterday, is absolutely monstrous in size. I took very few pictures of it because pictures and words are completely inadequate when trying to describe it. You simply have to see it in person because it is breathtaking. All the detail and the color on the outside is just outstanding. The inside is much simpler. Apparently, the façade on the outside was only put up in the 1880s, which surprised me a lot -- before, the outside was covered in just rough stonework. Another thing that surprised me was that the Medici chapel was not more elaborate on the outside, especially since that family was all about showing its wealth and power. The inside is rather nice though.

Oh, and just to give you some bearing on how far money goes here -- my lunch today was $9.50 Euro, which equates to $12.56 American. I had lasagna (the portion size was good, so that kind of made up for the fact that it cost 7 Euros) and hot chocolate (so rich, it was like drinking Hershey's syrup, but it was really really good).

I think that is all for now. Ciao!

1/9/2005: Finally!

What I'm about to publish here are a series of entries I wrote for a trip I took with a class to Italy in January 2005. Here is the first:

We arrived in Florence this afternoon. All are happy to have showered and brushed their teeth. The hotel (Hotel Capital, a Best Western) is nice and has internet access, which makes things a lot easier for me. Things are going well so far--the flight from D.C. to Paris seemed to last forever, but we made it. I think everyone agreed that about one hour was the standard amount of sleep we got, so we are trying as hard as we can to stay awake.

We took a short drive through the city today, and everywhere reminded me of somewhere I'd been before, until we got to the Duomo. It is absolutely massive as well as very elaborate and breathtaking.

The Italian keyboards are throwing me off quite a bit, so if there are typos that could very well have something to do with it (although the lack of sleep may also account for it).

I think that may have to be all for now. Ciao!