NovaNovaLand: August 2009

Venice.

I don't know how I managed to do so much in just 2 days and with very little sleep.
I arrived around 10am. Got my luggage, went to the ticket counter to figure out which bus to take, bought a ticket and boarded the bus without any further trouble. At Piazzale Roma, the main bus terminal, I got off and headed in the direction of the hostel I had booked a room at. I had written down instructions and was surprised (and relieved) at how easily I found it. I can tell you, I wouldn't want to run around Venice in the heat, dragging a suitcase up and down the stairs for all the little bridges that link the city together.
I checked in, went to my room, took a shower, took a few deep breaths and headed out to explore the city. I walked, and walked, and walked. Now, I'm a New Yorker and I know I can walk a lot. But boy was I exhausted at the end of the day. I must have walked by Rialto 4 times, at the least. I went to Piazza San Marco, spent several hours in Palazzo Ducale, and miandered along countless canals and side streets. What a gorgeous city!
It's amazing. So different from what I'm used to. Do you realize that there is no trafic in Venice? At all. Not even a single bicycle. You walk or take a boat. Simple as that. It's incredible!

Day two: Murano. Saw them blow glass. Even managed to flirt my way into using their bathroom so I wouldn't have to pay. Bought a pair of beautiful earrings on sale. One of the very few purchases I've made on this trip. Walked around Murano for a while, sat by the main canal and ate some gelato. Went to the Glass Museum and to two churches before returning to the city. I got off about half-way along the ride home and went into yet another church before pointing my feet in the direction the th Bienale. I thought I would manage to see both of the main exhibit sites in one day, but it was impossible. By the time I had walked through the entire first building, I could hardly feel my legs anymore. I had to go home.
Back at the hostel, I chilled out for a while, sat on the windowsill, my newfound favorite spot to look out over the bustling streets below. After a while, I worked up the energy to go to a pizzeria a few minutes away. I had to eat something. I bought a slice and sat down by one of the small canals nearby with Jack in hand (the title of the book I was reading, not the whiskey). There was a group of people sitting at the bar across the canal, and I felt like they were looking at me, but as I've learned, I ignored them, like the New Yorker I've grown up to be. But after a while, one of the women came over and started talking to me. She was super friendly and eventually asked me to join her and her friends for a drink. I greatfully accepted and went over to introduce myself. Eventually, they told me about a jazz concert they were going to attend that evening and asked if I would like to join them. They pointed to the boat tied up where I had been sitting with my pizza and explained that was their way of transportation. At first I hesitated, but once they agreed to return me to my hostel before the cerfew, I accepted and ran back home to change out of my sweat pants.
This is why traveling by yourself is so much fun! I had a wonderful time, we got in the boat and headed down the canal in the growing darkness. We passed by (or I should say under) Point di Rialto and eventually docked by a little bar/restaurant directly across the Canal Grande from the jazz concert. We sat on the dock, chatting the night away. As promised, I got a ride back home along the canals. What a wonderful end to my short stay in Venice!

Verona.
I checked out of the hostel and took the 10am train to Verona. Cosette came to meet me at the train station. A new chapter in my European Travels! Now I'm no longer on my own!
We took the bus to Grezzana, a small town just outside the city. We were going to stay with Jacopo, a friend of Cosette's, who apparently was having a bunch of friends over. It was like a dream. The house is over 300 years old. And huge. Full of old family treasures and relics. Like a whole cabinet full of old skeleton keys. Swords on the walls. Old photographs lining the walls of the giant stone staircase. Even a beautiful, very old wedding gown saved from years of decay in a small box. They have a vineyard a few minutes away where we helped to trim the vines in the boiling sun. Hammocks hanging under a covering of leaves. The garden full of zucchini and tomatoes and all sorts of herbs. And the most incredible treehouse I think I've ever seen in my life. Lastabella.
We were originally only supposed to stay for the weekend, but Cosette and I couldn't bring ourselves to leave this place. Or even more importantly, this incredible group of people. I think this may have been the best part of my whole trip. Now, I don't want to play favorites, I've loved every place and all the people I've met along the way have been wonerful and I've left each new place with a longing to return, but something about Italy as a whole, Verona and Grezzana more specifically, have a very special place in my heart.
Several of our friends worked in the Arena di Verona, where they perform opera... so we got to see Il Barbiere di Seville. For free. It was so beautiful. I promise to post pictures very soon.
At the house, we all lived in such wonderful harmony. Cosette described it to me as somewhat of a commune, but in every possible positive sense. We ate meals together, spent hours preparing food. One day everyone stood around in the kitchen making gnocchi. I have pictures of that as well =) One of the few rules in the house: the first person to wake up was respondsible for making coffee for everyone. We were 8 people with the occasional guest. And there was room for us all.
So we ended up staying for over a week.

Rome.

My flight back to Sweden was from Rome, and I couldn't NOT see the city. So I left early in the morning on Sunday, the 9th. My flight was the next evening. I had very little time to see the city, but I think I did pretty well. Similar to my experience in Venice, I squeezed as much in as I could untill I could hardly stand. Chiara, another connection from HB, was home for the summer, so I had a definite place to crash. The only problem was that I had no money left on my cell phone. I called from a pay phone, but we got cut off before we could make any definite plans. But no matter, we said we would talk later.
I packed the few necessities in my backpack and left my suitcase at the train station. I was going to take the train to the airport the next day anyway, so why bother dragging it around with me? Chiara wasn't going to be back in town until later. She was at the beach. I got a map and made my way to the Colosium. The line was so long, I gave up the idea of seeing the inside. I did not want to spend the little time I had standing in line. I can do that at the airport, thank you very much. But then I started talking to a young guy with a slight accent (was it Irish or Scottish? or South African? Couldn't really pinpoint it) and, the only time this whole trip, I signed up for a tour. I figured, I had so little time, it was worth a few extra euro to see both the Coluseum and the Ancient City, without waiting in line, following someone who actually knew what to look at. I really enjoyed the tour! The first guide, who showed us the Coluseum, was very funny, although slightly humiliating... he pulled me out of the group and used me as the example when he was talking virgins. And kept refering to me as such along the tour. The second guide was impressed that I was still around when we got to the Ancient City.
Just before we entered the Coluseum, Mike, the guy who had talked me into taking the tour (and who surprised me with a few words in Swedish) came up to me and gave me his number.
After the tour, I wandered around for a while, taking pictures. Eventually, I happened upon an internet/telephone spot and decided to try to give Chiara a call. I wasn't able to reach her, but I did get to talk to my mom. For the first time in about 3 weeks... I almost burst in to tears at the sound of her voice. I didn't even know I missed her that much!
After talking to my mom and Cosette, who was on her way to Paris by then, I decided to give Mike a call. I akwardly introduced myself and he gladly suggested we meet by the cat sanctuary and from there go get a bite to eat. Once we met up, I made it very clear I was only looking to make friends. I wanted to stave off any unwelcome advances as soon as possible. Not that he wasn't an attractive guy, but that's not the point. So we ate some delicious pizza, drank some wine and had a really nice time. After dinner we walked around for a while, ate some amazing gelato, and saw some of Rome's famous places and monuments. He was the perfect person to show me around, since he had worked as a tourguide before. He let me use his cell phone to call Chiara and eventually we met her at a restaurant with two others. Mike went his way and we continued the night with Mohitos in a very cool part of town. By 2am, I was so tired, I felt like I was going crosseyed. So we went back to Chiara's place where I slept like a baby.
I woke up much later than I had anticipated, not leaving much time to see the Vatican. But luckily, Chiara decided to hang with me and show me around, which also meant we would be getting around by car, thus saving us a lot of time. I had a great time, we didn't know each other very well, just been in class together, but we hit it off and after wandering Vatican City we bought some pizza and sat in a beautiful park eating and chatting away. When we got to the train station we had some extra time to spare before I had to catch the train. Time for gelato.
She dropped me off at the train station, I picked up my bag and got on the train. Everything went pretty smoothly, besides the incredibly long check-in line of tall, blond, blue-eyed Swedes.
Ciao Italia!

Wow, there is so much to tell, I don't know how I'm going to manage to recap everything, but I will try my best.

Barcelona.
My first impression when I got off the bus and stood outside the Hard Rock Cafe waiting for Veronica: Tourists. Everywhere. And hot. Sizzling with life. Strange, I could use all those same words to describe Paris (maybe I wouldn't say sizzling, but something similar with a more metropolitan clang to it) yet it was completely different.
Once again, I was incredibly lucky to have such wonderful people to stay with. Two super sweet, very welcoming Swedish girls =). I slept really well on the couch.
6 days was definitely not enough time to see everything nor really find my way into the groove of the life and culture of the city. I did not want to leave.
The best part, by far, was when we got out of the city. I was able to take two day trips up the coast, one to a beach near Sant Pol de Mar, the other to Costa Brava. So incredibly beautiful. Pictures to come!
My first day I went to the Picasso Museum with Tienne, the girl I met on the bus from the airport. We hit it off and hung out a few times before she flew back home. She lives in NY, so we will probably meet up at some point back home. It won't be the same as tanning on the beautiful Barcelona beaches together, but hey, New York has it's perks, right?
The first trip up the coast, I went with Lina and two of her friends. It took us about 2 hours to find where we were going, but it was SO worth it. The most beautiful beaches! I mean, besides all the nude old folks, but even that aspect adds something to the experience. We were there for hours, alternating beween soaking up the sun and diving in the crystal clear blue waves. There were big rocks in the water and clifs all around. You'll see when I post the pictures, even though I wasn't fully able to capture it's full beauty.
The second trip I took with Jordi, I guy I know from HB Studio. We've been in a few classes together, and it was actually his suggestion that inspired me to add Barcelona to my itinerary in the first place. He is originally from Barcelona with so much pride in his Catalan identity. We drove up to Costa Brava, with once again, the most beautiful beaches and little fisherman villages imaginable. Another highlight from my trip was eating Black Rice. It's not black rice you normally get, which is a form of wild rice. This stuff is black because of the squid ink they cook it with. It's like a Pallella but with even more liquid, and it's completely black. With seafood in it. Including whole crayfish, so by the time I was done, my fingers were completely black, not to mention the ink around my mouth. But it was sooooo good!!! Definitely my culinary hightlight from Spain. Or Catalunya. I think it may have been a typical Catalan dish. Not sure. But it was glorious.
I left at 5am on the 29th after barely 3 hours of sleep, groggy, but very tan and with the California-beach-girl side of me very satisfied. I think there may be some salt water in my veins.

NovaNovaLand

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Ah, Italia.

Barcelona

I'm still here!

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