MediaCritica

2006-06-29T09:56:00.000-04:00

Woo-hoo! I am DONE!! Entered my grades at noon, packed up a box of books to mail back to Boston, and returned my office key. And boy, do I need a vacation! Teaching for 10 months is no fun. Well, it is some fun, but I'm looking forward to the time off.

As you may well know, Spain lost to France on Wednesday night. The whole city felt down on Thursday. On the local broadcast channel, La Sexta, they aired a montage within minutes after the game ended with the sad faces of players, coaches and fans, head in hands, some crying, and set to the Cyndi Lauper tune, Time After Time! It was heartbreaking. Much like my beloved Red Sox (until 2004), Spain always makes the World Cup quarter finals, but never progresses.

So dear friends, this will be my last blog until I arrive in Boston Sunday evening. I'm off Friday morning to have a weekend fling with London before I return. The agenda is modest, but fitting for my last few days in Europe. I have an early evening appointment with the London Eye on Friday (yes it is touristy, but what the hell), curry for dinner, Tate Modern Saturday morning and the museum cafe for lunch, Notting Hill shopping in the afternoon, maybe 1/2 price theater tix or some music Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon tea at The Dorchester if I can get a reservation this late. I'm excited to come home and see you all. Have a lovely weekend.

2006-06-27T06:51:00.000-04:00

My trip may be coming to an end, but the excitement just doesn't stop. On Sunday Lynn and I went to Segovia for the day. We arrived after a short bus ride at 10:00am to church bells ringing throughout the city. When you enter Segovia, it doesn't appear to be or have much, but if you follow the rest of the tourists, you soon come upon one of the city's most well-known landmarks, a giant Roman aqueduct. Constructed around 50 AD, the stone structure is over 100 feet tall with 166 arches, supported by 120 pillars, and NO mortar or clamps. It was used until about 60 years ago!

One end of the aqueduct leading up to town.
Segovia's second major tourist draw is an Alcazar castle, inhabited by Visigoths and Muslims, but like everything in Spain, eventually home to Christian kings and queens. Queen Isabel who paid the bill for Columbus' vacation to the New World, was crowned here. But who cares for history! Most people know the Alcazar of Segovia as Cinderella's castle! Yep, that's right. Disney modeled the home of the princess with glass slippers after this structure. As a result, you can buy very unfortunate Mickey Mouse souveneirs all over town.

Waiting for prince charming to bring me my missing glass shoe.
The best part of our day was spent outside of the city walls. We found a path leading from Segovia down to a valley that surrounds one side of the city, and back up a hill where we guessed photographers took the stunning views of Segovia we saw on all the postcards. I was feeling fabulous after a week of stomach badness, so we bought some bottled water and headed down the trail. What an unexpected treat! The path itself was obviously ancient. We walked by old walls, mini-aqueducts, and through still standing stone gates. The path was well-marked, but we hardly saw a soul. Tourists who chose not to explore the road less traveled were missing the best part of Segovia, but that was our gain! A lovely nature walk to a peak overlooking the city.

Segovia Cathedral
After a short rest at the top, we continued on the path and stumbled (literally) upon what appeared to be manmade caves. The openings were no more than 2 or 3 feet square. I had to peak in, despite the dark, damp and rotting smell coming from inside. Most just had water pooled on the floor, some with graffiti, and no discernable marks explaining their significance. Lynn and I speculated that perhaps Segovians kept food storage or artillery in these caves. As we walked around the bend I saw the stone formation pictured below. It was then I realized what we had found, the Jewish cemetery. Back in town I went inside a very small museum that explained the history of the Jewish population of Segovia. It is a very similar story throughout Spain:

For centuries, during Muslim rule of the land, Jews lived relatively harmoniously with Muslims, with thriving tradecrafts like metal work, leather making, etc. Then along came the Spanish Inquisition, which drove both Muslims and Jews out. Apparently this Jewish cemetery was used (obviously) to bury the relatives of Jewish families. In the early 1400s, the Segovian Jews were forced into a ghetto area and had to turn over most of their wealth to the Christian king after being falsely accused of trying to kill the local bishop. For a time, this seemed to satisfy those in power. But by mid-century, the Inquisition was in full swing, and all Jews and Muslims in Spain had to leave the country, convert or be killed. In 1492, as Columbus was discovering the New World financed by a queen crowned not a quarter a mile away from the Jewish ghetto, the Jews of Segovia fled to their cemetery, hiding in the tomb/caves of their ancestors, hoping to reason with the local inquisitor. To say the least, it didn't work and many died in those very caves where Lynn and I walked on Sunday. Both of us were disturbed as we realized what we were standing on, and equally upset that NOTHING marked the area or protected the rock coffins. As best I could remember, I said the Jewish Kaddish and we walked on.

I read online that in 1886 several full skeletons were found in rock grottoes like this one.
Lynn's Let's Go guide led us to a cute, out-of-the-way wine cellar/restaurant for dinner. I was thrilled to be able to eat, so I tried a local dish, sopa castellana — soup mixed with eggs, ham, garlic, and bread. It was yummy and no complaints from my tummy! After dinner we headed back to the bus station for our 7pm ride home.

For dinner last night Lynn and I decided to picnic in Retiro Park, Madrid's much smaller version of Central Park. With wine, cheese, bread and fruit we had quite a lovely spread for a late evening meal. All was well and peaceful until Lynn noticed a guy oddly hanging around nearby. He came closer and she said, "Oh my god, don't look up!" So I didn't, until he got too close to my safety zone (about 5 feet). I did look up and what did I see? A very short man wearing a pink and peach t-shirt and running shorts, with his willie swaying in the wind. He looked directly at me while swinging his thing, and calmly asked Que hora es?, Que hora es? (What time is it?). I shouted back, Get the fuck out of here. He did.

Soon after the peep show we picked up our park picnic, left the peeking pecker to his perversion and headed to Let's Go recommendation number two, a jazz bar. Another happy find! The bar was decorated with old instruments and pictures of the jazz greats. At 11pm the free live jazz show began; a quintet of sax, horn, keyboard, upright bass and trap set. They were unbelievable! No standards here, just fantastic Miles Davis and Charles Mingus style improv over tight arrangements. I could not believe we were hearing these talents for free. (Well, my tonic water did cost 4,50 euro.) Although the place was nearly empty when we arrived just before 11, by the end of the first set, the bar was packed.

Tonight's plans? Spain vs. France! That should be a good game. Go Espana!

2006-06-23T12:45:00.000-04:00

GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL ESPANA! Howdy folks from World Cup land. I'm feeling a little better today. Ate a full meal finally (salad) after three days of apple juice, and my local Madrid colleagues took me to the pharmacy for magic syrup (Primperan) which makes a hurt'n tummy feel better. Yesterday my friend Lynn flew in from Northampton (by way of Indiana!) for a week here before she starts a month-long trek across Europe. Go Lynn! Today we joined the throngs of young people at Plaza de Colon (a tribute to Christopher Columbus) to watch the Spain vs. Saudi Arabia game on the big screen, in 95F heat. It was a crazy, packed, hot, drunk affair, so TONS of fun! Spain scored just one goal, against a wicked good Saudi defense and goalie. The most amount of San Miguel beer sprayed our way in celebration of the first half goal. Below are pictures of adolescent national pride on display and one shot of Lynn (hand shielding eyes) stretched on her tippy-toes to see the big screen. Good times.

This is a *fraction* of the crowd at the plaza. I couldn't get high enough to take a full shot. Imagine Kenmore square, after a Red Sox game.

Lynn in Madrid watching futbol!
In other news, I'm coming home early. Classes end and grades are due next Friday, which will be 5 weeks since I left Boston. For various reasons, I've decided to make my way back to the States via a last weekend getaway in London. I'll be home in time to celebrate July 4th, leaving our former colonial ruler behind me! I'll probably post again before I leave. Looking forward to some hot and humid New Enlgand weather. YES!

2006-06-20T09:16:00.001-04:00

Granada was absolutely magical. My weekend away seems almost impossible, but I swear to you dear friends, it is all true. About the only thing that wasn't perfect about the trip was the flu (or something) I must have picked up along the way. I have been ill for the past 24 hours (fever, soar muscles, upset tummy), but starting to feel better after sleeping most of the day.

After class on Friday I got on the train to Granada from Madrid. The ride was serene. No cities or roads in sight. Just endless hills with cyprus trees and row upon row of olive groves. As we approached the Sierra Nevada mountains, the train curved through rocks and over canyons. It was a beautiful trip. I felt calm, with no where to be, just letting the train and time carry me.

The train arrived in Granada at 11pm. I grabbed a cab (so cheap) to my hotel, which was near the famous Alhambra palaces. We climbed up and up a narrow road to my hotel, which was so-so. The room wasn't particularly nice and I had no view, but I just needed to sleep. I went down to the bar and had a beer while watching a little World Cup soccer with the bartender and her boyfriend, then headed to bed around midnight.

In the morning I was picked up at my hotel for a guided tour of the Alhambra. The Alhambra (Arabic for red castle) was a fortress from the 9th century, turned into a palace from the 13-14th centuries by Nasrid emirs. After the Christian conquest in 1492, the palace and all the buildings were occupied by Charles V. In the 18th century the Alhambra was abandoned and left to fall to ruins until the mid 1800s, when it was slowly restored and is now visited by 8,000 people a day! It is truly magnificent, and reminds visitors that during the dark ages of Europe, Moorish culture thrived. I took well over 100 pictures. Here are the highlights:

The Alhambra fortress

The Palacio Nazaries

Detail from the Palacio Nazaries
While on the Alhambra tour I met a very sweet family from Bangor, Maine. A rabbi, his wife and two sons. Turns out the youngest son is starting college at Northeastern in the fall in media studies! The five of us ended up hanging out together during the tour and eating falafel for lunch in the "gypsy" quarter of the city. The rabbi also mentioned that they own a cabin on Bar Harbor available for rent...

A view from the Alhambra towards the gypsy quarter

One of the many Alhambra gates
After the tour and lunch, I went back to the hotel for my bags. For my second night I booked a hotel closer to the center of town. It was MUCH nicer than the first, with a sweet courtyard, terra cotta tile floors, big comfy bed and free Internet! I headed out to explore the city, which was walkable in about 40 minutes. A couple of highlights: free tapas with a beer purchase, lots of flowers everywhere, Turkish tea houses and very friendly people. At one point I stopped at a small square to listen to some young people playing and singing music. While there I was volunteered by two adorable girls, 4 and 8, to play hide-n-seek. We couldn't really say much to each other except my name is and I am __ years old, but some games are universal and I do know how to count to 10 in Spanish!

Music and hide-n-seek in Plaza San Gregorio
Saturday night I found a restaurant that actually served vegetables and had a TV outdoors showing with World Cup. I got a Ensalada Alhambra, which doesn't really mean anything, but was full of fresh fruits and veggies! I'd been starving for nonbread, nonmeat substance. This salad was strange - tuna, hard-boiled egg, kiwi, bananas on a bed of iceberg (of course) lettuce. But boy did it hit the spot!
After dinner I followed the sounds of live music to a square full of people - young and old - dancing! Everyone was dressed up, some with flamenco-style dresses, dancing in the street. It was so uplifting to see kids in strollers as well as senior citizens out on a Saturday night. Our fear of growing old is so depressing, we hide our old people away in America, which is inhumane. God forbid we should have to acknowledge the elderly.
After dancing, my hotel concierge recommended a jazz bar for cafe and a late night snack. The Bohemia Jazz Cafe was a small dessert, coffee and cocktail bar in the club area of Granada. The walls were decorated with all sorts of Americana, mostly pictures of Hollywood stars from the 1940s, and the jukebox played jazz standards. Having eaten all those vegtables for dinner, I splurged on a coffee ice cream sunday with hot fudge and whip cream. YUM!

Ensalada Alhambra!

Dancing in the streets!
I spent Sunday walking around, reading a book in the Federico Garcia Lorca park, giftshopping and eating breakfast with three Kansas State University students studying Spanish in Granada. The train ride back was just as beautiful, and I returned to Madrid relaxed and happy. I didn't feel sick until Monday afternoon. Only 10 more days left here, then on to Eastern Europe. I'm getting restless and am ready to move on.

Pretty Granada street

2006-06-12T12:46:00.000-04:00

Hello friends! Sorry for the long delay. I've been busy. Teaching is getting in the way of my vacation! This will be a long blog, with a week's worth of stories for you. I'm writing this while watching the first USA-Czech Republic soccer game - we are down 0-2. As you may well imagine, Spain is soccer crazy right now, and the team hasn't even played a game yet.

Last Tuesday Gloria and I took our two classes to a national television production company, Grupo Arbol. It also happens to be the channel with World Cup broadcast rights in Spain. It was a real treat to get access to one of the largest media companies in Spain. As it turns out, the owner is a Suffolk grad! But the best part of the trip was seeing Angel get star-struck during a rehearsal for one of the top-rated sit-coms, Aida, which looks a lot like Roseanne. Angel is a big fan of the show and lead star. We, of course, had no idea who this person was and most of us couldn't understand the dialogue. We also watched a rehearsal for a Spanish version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which was a UK show before the Drew Carey US version. Pictures below:

Aida rehearsal

Whose Line Is It Anyway stage

Our adorable students
Funny story of the week: This may defy blogging, but I have to try. We have a washer in our apartment, thankfully, but no dryer. Spaniards are very careful about energy conservation it would seem - no big SUVs here! As such, you hang your clothes out to dry. Every city apartment has a laundry line outside of a window. Ours is on the fourth floor, over the roof of an adjacent building. Perhaps you see where this is going...One of us (not me! Thanks for the confidence :-) decided to dry a pair of shoes on the line. Of course one of the shoes dropped onto the roof. The hilarious part is (and maybe you had to be there) was the 40+ minutes it took to explain what happened and recover the shoe. After looking up the Spanish words for shoe, drop, roof, next door, etc...we spoke to well over a dozen people in the neighborhood. Most thought we wanted to buy shoes. Some thought we need a laundry mat. Finally, a kind, English-speaking woman understood our quest and translated, between laughter, to a building supervisor what we required. He had to get a different super with keys to the roof. Super #2 went to the roof, came back and said he saw no T-shirt! Ugh. No no, zapato (shoe). Ah yes, there was a shoe! Hallelujah.

World Cup update: 0-3. OUCH!

This past weekend Suffolk took a weekend trip to Valencia, the third largest city in Spain on the Mediterranean Sea. The weather wasn't great, overcast and light rain, which is the first rain I've seen since arriving in Spain (sorry Boston). We had to be on the bus by 7:30am, which was hard enough for those of us who actually sleep at night. Our students, still thrilled with the legal drinking age of 18, decided why go to bed when they get home from the bars at 5am anyway? At least the 4 hour ride was very quiet. That's far more than I can say for where we slept that night, a hostel. As many of you know, I trekked across Europe two years ago with the lovely Tracy O. and we stayed in hostels at least 6 days a night of the 6 week trip. I, at age 33, was a real trooper! Well, something has happened since then. I turned 35? I cherish sleep all the more? I finally realized I've worked really hard to afford myself the "finer" things in life, like a bed with real sheets and a lock on the door? My first night was absolutely awful. I may have slept about one hour despite ear plugs and an eye mask. The next morning, the day of our beach trip, my head had that fuzzy reception feeling, my body was stiff and it was raining.

Valencia is an odd city. It doesn't quite know if it is Spanish or Italian. It is clearly both, with a mishmash of gothic, baroque, Arabic and Roman styles often in the same building! The most surprising, and disappointing aspect of Valencia is the coast. I expected the shoreline to be either built-up like most boardwalk areas on the Mediterranean or preserved. Instead, it looks abandoned. The Americas Cup is here in 2007, so there was some obvious construction, but not much considering. As a result, the beach wasn't a fun place to be on an overcast day. Not much to do. I had to leave and find a bed!

A park featuring Valencia oranges! Yes, the fresh squeezed was the best ever.

My favorite photo - tops of buildings!

The evil ones who kept me up all night!
But this story does have a brighter cloud ahead. Once I was moved along with the rest of the Suffolk Madrid staff to a hotel that afternoon (ah, the privileges of a PhD), I took a long nap, hot shower, watched some English-language news (I was so happy to hear Christiane Amanpour on CNN) and found a fabulous restaurant for paella! I have never eaten so much saffron in one sitting. Mmm, good! On my way to the restaurant, I stumbled upon an outdoor art exhibit by Igor Mitoraj. It consisted of 22 large bronze sculptures placed between the north and south bound lanes on The Gran Via Marques del Turia, a major road in the city that looks like Commonwealth Ave. with grass and trees down the middle.

Eros Bendato Screpolato by Igor Mitoraj
Sunday was the best day of the trip. We went to the oceanographic park, which makes the New England Aquarium look like a mud puddle. The park has 10 buildings, each with a different climate. I took so many pictures of fish! Don't worry, I spare you most. Just a few really special ones below.

Tunnel of Fish

Silhouette of me with the fish

This picture captures my own restful sleep the night before.
The oceanographic park is part of a futuristic development designed by Santiago Calatrava, built in a river bed. For 10 months a year, Valencia's Turia river is completely dry. In September-October it rains so much, the river floods. Valencia has re-routed the water under the existing river bed, out to sea, and built Calatrava's Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences). These building are really neat!

I forgot to mention: Friday afternoon we visited a large newspaper chain in Spain, Levante. It wasn't all that thrilling, but they did take a picture of us and apparently we will be in the newspaper Monday. Oh boy! That's all for now. I give a midterm exam on Wednesday, which means my time in Madrid is nearly half over. Wow! Today I booked a weekend trip solo (Nina needs some alone time!) to Granada! Can't wait.

2006-06-05T11:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday may have been one of the best days of my life, so far at least. Gloria's local friend, Diego, picked us up at 10:00am and drove us to Toledo, an ancient city about 44 miles south of Madrid. It was once the capital of Spain, and today is a beautiful medieval, walled city with many of the original castles, walls, and religious buildings intact. Diego has two friends in Toledo who met us for the day. We got a private tour of the town and went to a local favorite restaurant and bar. What a special visit! Nothing beats having friendly, native tour guides.

For lunch we ate at a bar/restaurant where the Toledo couple (Maria and Pepe) are friends with the owner. We had yummy tapas like deer sandwiches, potatoes stuffed with wild boar and carcamusas (veal served with tomato and peas). Honestly, it was all so good. My favorite meal in Spain thus far.

Toledo is known for its food (from hunting), marzipan and steal. In fact, some sci-fi fantasy fans might like to know that many of the swords made for the Lord of the Rings movies came from Toledo, such as Aragorn's blade. Predictably, the tourist shops were FILLED with LOTR junk, armor and tons of swords. Hard to get that back on a plane. We also saw several El Greco paintings in the main Catedral.

I had such a hard time decided which of the 50+ pictures I took to put in my blog. Here are a handful with descriptions and commentary:

Welcome to Toledo!

The city is surrounded on three-sides by a river with only two bridges to cross over. The terrain around is very rocky - a perfect place for natural protection. But just to be extra safe, a wall was built to encompass the city.

Our first stop was the Museo Sefardi. Now a Museum of Jewish culture, it was the Synagogue of El Transito, built in the 14th century.

When we entered this building, Sinagoga Santa Maria La Blanca, my first thought was, "I have never seen a white Synagogue." Well, like many buildings in Spain, what once was a synagogue or a mosque often became a Catholic church. Santa Maria was built at the end of the 12th century (with a different name, no doubt!), and became a church in 1550.

After lunch we went to yet another religious building, but this one had quite a twist! After years of disrepair, it was bought by the same Spaniard who owned the restaurant where we had lunch. Now it is a cafe during the day and dance club/bar at night. The picture above shows the bar in what was probably one of the chapel areas. In another chapel - the DJ booth! Here we got the best damn cold coffee drinks I've ever had. Mine was served in a martini glass. Cold espresso on the bottom, with something between whipped cream and cold steamed milk floating on top, with a dash of cocoa. Unbelievable! And it kept me going for the rest of the day!

2006-06-03T14:39:00.000-04:00

A long day of sight-seeing just outside Madrid. We had to be at the school at 9:15am, and I overheard students saying they got one or two hours of sleep. Of course, many of them are getting sick...

Our first stop was Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen Soldiers) which is a large basilica on top of a hill with two tombs inside, one of which contains Francisco Franco, the fascist ruler of Spain from 1939 to 1975. It is one of the creepiest places I've ever seen. Of all the basilica's in Italy I saw two years ago (and I saw MANY), I never had a creepy feeling. Just awe, feeling small and recognizing the power of the Catholic Church. The Valle de los Caidos felt evil. The architecture, fascist style, reminded me of images from the Nazi propaganda film, Triumph of the Will. It is not an attractive building, and all the angels had menacing looks, giant swords and hoods over their heads. VERY dark. Every time I tried to take a picture of Franco's tombstone, it came out too dark. Figures.

One of the Dark Angel Statues

Inside the basilica

Outside the basilica
Once leaving Franco to rot in his tomb, we went to Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial (The Royal Monastery of Saint Lawrence), which is located in a quaint town with small, cobblestone streets. Our esteemed tour guide, Angel, told us several stories about the Monastery. My favorite is this: It was built by King Philip II as a summer house for the royal court when Madrid got too hot. The huge building, which is shaped like a grill, was dedicated to Saint Lawrence. Why a grill? Well, legend says that when Lawrence was tortured by burning by the Roman Empire, he refused to denounce his faith and said something like, "turn me over, I'm done on this side"! Now he is the patron saint of BBQ chefs. I found the grill symbol on an obelisk and all the town trash cans!

Arsty picture of the Royal Monastary

A flight of escaleras in El Escorial

San Lorenzo symbol on a trash can

The Royal Monastery through the trees
The day trip ended at a wildlife preserve, Canada Real (Royal Canyon), which is in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range. We saw lots of animals that had been wounded in some way by man or man-made things, and brought to Canada Real to be nurtured back to health. Many of the animals are not again set free because they become accustom to humans and unable to defend themselves in the wild. The best part of the LONG hike and tour was howling with the wolves. We actually made the wolves howl by howling ourselves for a minute. It was pretty cool. Tomorrow, day trip to Toledo, an ancient medieval city!

The Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range

Our guide, guiding us in the howling

The alpha male wolf, Luc, joining us in a bit of howling

2006-06-02T19:11:00.000-04:00

I ate at a very odd restaurant this evening called Nodo. When we arrived, I thought, "now this is going to be good." The decor was very modern, clean, chic style. Lots of pretty people there in Prada. The restaurant was described as Spanish-Asian fusion! Can you even imagine what that means? Well, let me tell you. First of all, there was a serious miscommunication between our table and the waiter. He looked at us funny after we ordered in Spanish, left for about five minutes, came back and said "big, big food". WTF? Apparently, we ordered too much food. One appetizer and one main dish each is big food? Okay, so we nixed one of our appetizers.

What came first was a salad I didn't order. I *thought* I ordered an ensalada verde con licchi y jamon (Lychee with ham. Don't ask. They put ham in everything). What I got, as did my dinner mates who didn't order any salad at all, was fried Brie on a small bed of traditional Asian salad. I think any Asian food chef would raise his or her sushi knife to a cook who put FRIED CHEESE on a bed of lettuce. Because no one at the table can speak Spanish well, we just ate what was put in front of us. The thought of trying to correct the mistake seemed worthless. Plus, we were hungry.

Next, two orders of a sushi appetizer arrived. We were told to cancel one because our order was "big, big food." Two came anyway, and now we know why the waiter insisted we cancel one. You know those boats of sushi you can get at Japanese restaurants, usually to share with 6 people? Well, this was practically a fleet of sushi. We did send one back. The sushi was good. A few odd pieces, like fish and pineapple, but it was basically sushi.

Second course was sashimi for me. Seared tuna slices, which they did correctly. But the slices were displayed on a think smear of saffron mayonnaise. Ugh. I did my best to clean the yummy tuna of mayo. My dinner mates got what they ordered, more or less. By the end of the meal we were certainly no longer hungry. I also have never felt so full of fat after eating ASIAN food. Bizarre.

One picture today, of my alarm clock. No, it isn't broken. It is midnight.

2006-05-31T12:58:00.000-04:00

First day of class at 9am. Ugh. Everything went well and only two of 13 students didn't show, which is a better ratio than at Suffolk-Boston for the first day. The technology in the classroom worked, including a flash movie with sound (which you should all view at http://www.miniature-earth.com/).

From what I have observed so far, a typical Spaniard work day is from 9am to 7pm with 2 1/2 hours for lunch between 2-4:30pm. No one really eats breakfast, just cafe con leche. The first meal of the day is lunch with dinner never before 10pm. I'm having a hard time adjusting to that schedule. I want to sleep after eating so much lunch (the biggest meal of the day) and during a traditional siesta one would sleep. But I'm worried about being able to fall asleep by midnight in order to get up for class. But if it works for an entire country, I suppose I should try it.

I have a MAID! How surprised I was to come home this evening and hear from my housemates that the house was spotless and the laundry was done! Unbelievable. I've got it so good here, how will I ever come home?

2006-05-30T18:59:00.000-04:00

My day started early with a 6:45am call from Melissa. Her son was born after 12+ hours of labor! Mom and baby are exhausted, but happy and healthy.

Today I took a walking tour of Madrid with the fabulous Suffolk guide, Angel. More funny stories and spitting remarks about ETA, the monarchy, capitalists and the his beloved Seville. Oh what fun! My feet are burning, but what a gorgeous day: 85F and breezy. If June stays like this, well I'm in heaven! Not much to report but lots of pictures.

One embarrassing story: Yesterday I bragged that perhaps my Spanish was improving. Well today at lunch I didn't understand the non-English speaking waitress correctly when she told me the price for lunch. I left about 7 euro too little. She ran after me down the block shouting "senorita, senorita" to which I did not respond. When she finally did catch up to me, I felt like a criminal! I turned red and tried to say sorry, but in my fluster could only remember how to say it in French. Imagine me fishing for my wallet as I chant "je suis desole, je suis desole!" Oh my, not my proudest moment. On to the pictures:

Angel, our guide.

The Captial City Post Office. When the building was completed, the locals said it was as beautiful as a cathedral and so it was nick-named "Our Lady of the Mail".

According to the Guinness Book of Records, this is the oldest still-operating restaurant in the world (1725)!

Very expensive housing on the Opera House Plaza.

A pretty street in Madrid. Most of the city has wide roads. This area near the Placio Real is the only "European-looking" area with small, winding streets.

The symbol of Madrid! Bear and Madrono tree.

2006-05-29T13:11:00.000-04:00

First full day in Madrid, which began with a phone call from my dearest Melissa at 6:30am. Her water broke! Some time today there may be a new baby boy in the world. No news yet, but I've heard it can take days before contractions begin. Keeping my cell phone on for the happy news.

The apartment is very comfortable. People in Spain know how to design a blind. No light sneaks past these window dressings, which keeps the house cool. Good thing because it was 98F today. I had to be at the Suffolk Madrid campus at 10am. It was an easy metro ride, with no transfers. Sort of like my commute on the red line in Boston. And yes, their metro puts the T to a shame in terms of cleanliness. The Suffolk campus here is quite nice and near a very large university so it feels like a college area. Everything is in one building which has THREE computer labs. The staff is wonderful, and my office is nice though a bit warm. No AC in most buildings in Europe. My body is slowly adjusting to the heat.

We (the students and faculty) took a bus tour of the city, which was fantastic because the bus WAS air conditioned. The history teacher here lead the tour. If only I could mimic his sense of humor. He goes off on tangents that usually involve him saying something like "but that is just my humble opinion" after trashing the monarchy or cursing people against bull fighting (he is from Seville). Great guy, and his name is Angel.

I am pleasantly surprised by my Spanish. In four weeks I just might not sound like a complete American idiot. I was able to ask directions and buy 1/4 kilo of Gouda! I am dying for some veggies. Lots of bread and meat here. Tonight I'm hunting down a vegetarian restaurant near the apartment that Lonely Planet tells me has "big salads". Remember the Seinfeld episode?

Pictures below: My bedroom; Plaza de Toros; and a billboard I couldn't resist.

2006-05-28T16:08:00.000-04:00

Back from dinner and ready to crash. My dreams did come true - tapas AND sangria. I made sure to drink a glass of water for every glass of sangria. Hung over and jet lagged = no fun. Gloria has a friend in the city who graduated from the Suffolk MA program a year ago. He, Diego, walked us around the area near the restaurant - Plaza Mayor and the Placio Real. I've already grabbed the pictures off my camera.

Our tour guide at the restaurant told us the building was part of old caves used by bandits when they came into the city from the hills. The local police were afraid to venture into the caves because few came back alive! Now the caves are funky bars and tapas places. You can sort of see the curved walls in the first picture. In the Plaza Mayor, touristy shops sell bandit masks and capes, ala Zoro. Very funny. The people in the picture are about half of the students attending various Suffolk classes this June.

The second picture is a Cathedral across from the Real Palace. I'm off to bed, even though at 10pm it is still light here! Buonas noches.

2006-05-28T07:43:00.000-04:00

I have arrived! As my boyfriend would say, I'm feeling a bit squirrel-y. It is 7:30am in Boston but 1:30pm in Madrid. I've slept maybe 3 hours, so forgive any nonsense. I'm blogging from the apartment I'm sharing with my colleague for the month. It is SO cute (read: small in that Euro way), clean, in an central area, and we've got wireless DSL! Yay for the worldwide Internet. I should have no problem keeping in touch. This evening all the Suffolk students and faculty (about 50 total) are meeting for a TAPAS dinner! Right now I plan to unpack - those who know me, know I can't wait to unpack) and then sleep for a couple of hours. I've jumped right into summer; it is hot, but dry here.

If you ever fly in to Madrid, you will arrive in Terminal 4. It is brand new and looks like something out of a Kubrik space movie. LONG corridors, lots of glass and strange objects that appear to have more form than function. We had to walk nearly a mile (no, really) to get from the gate, through customs to our bags. As we exited the terminal, a group of Suffolk-Madrid people were waiting for us holding Bienvenida Suffolk signs. It felt quite wonderful to receive a warm and familiar welcome. Well, as I said, I'm off to bed for a bit. More later...Did I say, I'm having TAPAS later! And, if my dreams really do come true, some sangria!

2006-05-17T10:46:00.000-04:00

The sun has emerged, the streets are drying and I'm 10 days from leaving for Madrid. I hope Prof. Higgins is right (The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!) because I'm sick of all the water.

2005-02-01T01:19:00.000-05:00

The "women who watch" project is morphing into looking at the whole Cyber-Athlete phenomenon. Making spectacle and sport out of gaming is fascinating me these days. I understand why people might compete. Some of the banks for these competitions are over $100,000! But why would people watch? Is it akin to watching sports? According to the history of the CPL, three times as many people are spectators as are competitors at these events. Just you wait, Clear Channel (which is slowly controlling all live shows in the US including music and sporting events) is going to start promoting the CPL. And I swore I'd never pay attention to Clear Channel again after defending my dissertation.

Here is a shout out to the friendly guys at Demiurge Studios who invited me to their gaming night a few weeks back. It was fabulous to meet the Clone Bandits team as well as some folks from Harmonix (who work one floor down). I am extremely grateful for their gracious attitude towards me because I sucked major ass at Battlefield 1942. Sorry guys. I usually play alone and haven't figured out squad-based games yet. Anyway, thanks for the pizza and sharing your thoughts about the industry.

2005-01-08T17:35:00.000-05:00

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt have officially separated. How sad and...unexpected! (Read with sarcasm, please). I wonder if the divorce rate among celebs is equivalent to the general population? It seems higher. Then again, the attention we pay to these types of things probably increases that perception. If it is higher, I wonder why celebs bother getting married in the first place? Good alimony payments for the 'fallen-off the A list' half of the couple? Seems to me divorce is a hazard of the profession. I think folks (celebs and plebs alike) should follow the example of the happily not-married to each other couple, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. They have been together now for like 16 years!

Went to a fantastic martini party last night hosted by the fabulous #8 Upton Street crowd. One of the guests is directing a documentary film about the Gen-X party scene in Boston. And here I thought no one cared about us Gen-X'ers since Molly moved to France and Winona swiped a hair clip from Saks. I wonder what the filmmaker will discover? I think we probably party like the millennium kids, but the alcohol is more expensive and we typically go home before dawn (or, like, before 2am).

Now that the dissertation hell is truly over, I can finally indulge my fascination with video games. New project idea that spawned from a conversation with my super cool friends Chris and Chris Q: Girls who like to watch. You are sick. I'm not thinking about that! I'm interested in girls who watch their boyfriends play video games for hours on end and don't play themselves. Why do they do this? Is this part of relationship quality time? Is it like watching your honey play sports? Are you like a cheerleader, or a witness to his greatness? The questions abound, and I can't wait to start the investigation. I'll be sending out a call for girls who watch in the coming weeks. If you 1) are a guy, 2) play video games for hours and 3) have a girlfriend - unlikely combination, I know - please contact me. I may need to borrow your girlfriend for a few hours. I'll give her back, I promise.

2004-07-30T10:49:00.000-04:00

Just finished Spain, so now all photos are up!

Something I learned while traveling: Pick up "extra" packets of sugar when ever possible. In the palm of your hand mix the sugar with liquid soap, like Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, for an excellent facial scrub. This saved my skin from the ickiness of sweat, sun screen and dirty urban air. Plus, it felt fantastic - I knew at least one part of my body was really CLEAN.

2004-07-26T23:45:00.000-04:00

Pictures are up. Greece and Italy now, France and Spain to follow soon.

One brief update: I got a padded envelop in the mail last Saturday from Barcelona. Yup! My passport was inside as was my WALLET! Some kind soul found my wallet at the Barcelona train station, turned it in to the police, who then sent it to the US consulate. Everything was intact - credit card, debit card, driver's license,etc, but no money. Of course I didn't expect I'd ever see the 130 euros that I had with me that day. HOWEVER, a letter was in the envelop explaining that my passport had been canceled and attached to the letter was a hand-written CHECK from the US consulate office for $160.59, the exchange rate for my lost 130 euro. Not only did someone turn in my wallet with the money inside, the consulate exchanged my money and mailed the whole thing back to me. Unbelievable!

2004-07-15T16:04:00.000-04:00

Well Tracy and I have been back a week now and I'm just about over jet lag. Whew! Knocked me out on the way back much more than it did when we landed in Greece. I guess driving 30 hours round trip to see Madonna at the United Center in Chicago on Monday probably didn't help us recover quickly. But what a show it was. If we all could look that good and move that well when we are 46!

So, I finally figured out my digital camera (bad software) and I should have pictures up soon. As usual, I took far too many shots of buildings and not enough of people. Tracy would rarely let me take a picture of her and taking pictures of myself just seemed weird. Anyway, those will come online shortly.

2004-07-06T07:26:00.000-04:00

Laying low is Sevilla is wonderful. Sunday we went to Cadiz on the Southern coast of Spain. Our last beach day. Technically we swam in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time on this trip. This coast is less than 100 miles from the Strait of Gibraltar which separates the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. As usual, the water was crystal clear and warm. Both of us paid bittersweet tribute to the coast as we said goodbye to the sea.

It is SO hot here. By 1pm you can't do much but sleep, so we do. Saturday night we did see a Flamenco show, which was fabulous. Sunday night after Cadiz we watched Greece kick Portugal in the pants for the Eurocup. We found a TexMex bar in Sevilla and ate Mexican food. You know it isn´t my favorite, but it felt comforting and familiar, so I didn´t mind.

Today, our last day, we are in Cordoba for a Hammam (Arabic bath house) visit. Spa and massage on our last day, not bad, huh? Gotto go, time running out. You probably won't hear from us again til we are state side. See you soon.

2004-07-03T14:26:00.000-04:00

(Tracy here, see below for Nina's post today.) So first of all, Happy 4th of July my friends! It has been a while since you last heard from me, so I will quickly backtrack. Paris. Lovely little city. It was great albeit too short of a stay. Nina told of our Turkish Tea House tale. It was incredible. When they brought out the huka I thought it was a giant bong. I took one look at Nina, apologized lovingly with my eyes as I figured I was about to get seriously messed up or I'd be charming snakes. Or maybe pretending to charm snakes. Who knows. Luckily it was some sort of spice infused tobacco. We were definately out of place, not helping any by performing our rendition of the salsa, country line dancing, and swing for our hosts. The next day we went to Notre Dame, Sacred Heart, walked around Montmarte, saw the Moulin Rouge, went to the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre. My favorite piece at the Louvre was a sculpture of Psyche and Cupid. I also loved the Venus de Milo. As I stared at this beautiful work, I thoughtfully declared, "Wow, she's beautiful" at which point I waited for Nina to come up with something professorly, scholarly, reflective even. Nope, she says to me, "Hmm she has small breasts" (looks at Venus's chest then at me and nudges me) Ouch. It doesn[t stop there. She goes on to comment on her wide hips (once again another stare down and a nudge) then she takes aim at the big nose. I think my slightly raised fist may have stopped the "joking." It was all good fun though.

Marseille blew, I'll leave it at that as well though Nina did get her foot slammed in the door by the bus driver which got a laugh from me. I was ignored for the rest of the evening.

We arrived in Nice not without a comical anecdote. Other travellers had advised us to make the most of our Eurail pass, more bang for the buck. So, we had been changing dates. For example, we{d change 06/23 to 06/28 so we'd have more days to travel on our pass. Nina (Miss Goody Goody) had completed yet another magical transformation. The best forgery, yet. Didn't we get caught? Oh yes we did. The conductor takes our pass. Shiiiiit. Comes back and says I can see you've changed the numbers. Shiiiit. She says we either pay 130 euros or go to the police. Shiiiit. Nina's attempting to explain (explain what who knows) as we have now gathered a crowd of conductors. She{s going on and on about the "rules" as Nina is saying yes, yes of course we'll pay...blah blah and this woman keeps going on and on saying and saying LOUDLY, pay or go to the police. No shit lady, we said we pay now get out of my face. It was so embarassing. And all this after Nina had just told me about confronting cheating students. Such a role model for America's youth, no? Nice rocked though! Went to Cannes and Monaco as you know.

I think Barcelona was pretty well covered and I managed to get myself covered in all sorts of liquids (I'm talking beverages, people.)The passport debacle was sort of frustrating and I feared for a few moments I may lose Nina to a panic attack but it all worked out in the end. I got to visit the US consulate and stare at pictures of Dick, Colon, and Bush.

Sevilla is unbelievable. A guidebook superbly sums up the Andulucian area. It says, "It is made up of Castilian pride, Arabic pleasure in life, the peaceful wisdom of the Jews and the passion of the Gypsies." I love the diversity here and if not able to be home for the holiday tomorrow, I can think of no better place to be! Right now we are off to see a Flamenco show! Adios!

2004-07-03T12:33:00.000-04:00

We have had a couple of rough days in Spain. This catch-up blog will probably leave out many of the unpleasant details. Our first night out in Barcelona was great fun. Perhaps too much. We decided to hitch a ride on a pub crawl - four bars, one night club, free drink at each place and about 100 fellow revilers. Good god! The crowd was loud, fun and quickly drunk. We found a few interesting folk (two California girls and, as always, Canadians! This time, Calgary.) to stick close to.

Try to imagine this drunken crowd strolling the streets of Barcelona on a TUESDAY night from 9:30pm until about 1am when we finally arrived at the dance club. On the way to the second pub we were doused with water by locals who (poor souls) have apartments above the bars. I really cant blame them. The Aussies were yelling (as usual) their Oiy! Oiy! Oiy! song. Unfortunately, Tracy got a full bucket. She was drenched. I laughed sympathetically, but it was damn funny.

The night club was like any other I have been too. Lots of duff-duff music and drunken men trying to do the grind, much like dogs in heat. Very unattractive. We left around 3:30am.

Much hung over the next day, we could only manage to ride a bus. Yes, along with the senior citizen crowd on vacation, Tracy and I bought a tourist bus ticket and road around Barcelona in a hangover stupor, watching the sites go by. I started to fall asleep until Tracy nudged me and reminded me I just paid 16 Euro to nap on a bus! We did see lots of Gaudi (local, famed architect) and went to parts of the city we certainly would have missed on foot. Back at the massive hostel, we tried to take showers and get ready for evening number two while bumping in to 30 other girls using the bathroom. Cramped quarters, and not very clean. Ugh, when will this end...

We decided to keep it low key and early, so we had dinner and went to a bar nearby called the Blue Margherita. Guess what their special drink was? The Lets Go guide book suggested the place for a Wednesday night drag show. As with many things in Lets Go, we got there on the wrong night. Instead, we saw a trapeze "artist". Literally, a trapeze hung from the ceiling of this hipster-filled bar. Some had to move out of the way before the show started. A hairy, bare-chested guy did his routine to Spanish-sounding music (Sergovia-like, classical guitar stuff). A VERY enthusiastic audience member was yelling stuff at him during the show. After his performance she (the fan/heckler) tried to climb on the trapeze. They cut the music, turned on the lights and some security guard guy tried to pull her away. She somehow got on to the trapeze and, of course, turned out to be part of the show. The two of them did a "I love you/I hate you routine" that was quite impressive. Well worth the 3 Euro, no cover drink. We were back at the hostel and in bed by 1:30am.

Tracy set the alarm for 6:30am. We wanted to get to the train station and book an overnight to Bilbao. The train system in Spain SUCKS ASS. You must reserve every train, no matter how short a distance, and the lines for making reservations get to be 3 hours long, no joke. Add to that, rail workers are on strike so some trains are not running at all! Of course, the Bilbao overnight was one of those trains. So, Tracy and I had to leave the queue and refigure our plans. Madrid. Lets get to Madrid and see from there. As we were about to book a train to Madrid leaving in one hour, I realized my wallet was gone. Yup. I freaking lost my wallet. As some of you will recall, I did this recently in Las Vegas, only to find it the next day after canceling all my cards.

Recalling that experience, I looked everywhere for it. No luck. Tracy, bless her heart, even took the metro back to our hostel to look for it. I cancelled my cards and called the US consulate. Of course, we missed the Madrid train.

So, I lost my wallet at 8:30am in Barcelona, Spain. My absolute travel nightmare, but, like any good Girl Scout, I was prepared. I had a back up credit card and a copy of my passport in my backpack. Thankfully the card worked and I got cash. We then trekked to the US consulate and, much to my surprise, I had a new, temporary passport by noon. ALWAYS bring a copy, my friends. It makes life easier. Although, it cost an arm and a leg and I felt sick to my stomach during the whole affair, I felt warm relief when the secretary at the consulate office talked to me in perfect, Southern drawl English. I have not felt more at home since we left! God bless the USA. But leave it to Tracy to make "I hate my president" jokes while we waited for my precious passport!

Back to the train station, where my eyes continued to scan for my wallet (hope never dies). We made an overnight train reservation for Madrid and then had 10 hours to kill in Barcelona. My spirit along with my body was breaking down so...back to the BEACH! We spent the late afternoon sleeping on the beach, had a lovely meal (on me and my new credit card) and made our way back to the train station. Side note: We detest the Barcelona train station.

Wee! An overnight train, first class with Eurail. No hostel, cozy bunk beds and a good nights sleep (for me. Tracy doesn't sleep so well on trains). At least, this is what I was looking forward to. As we boarded the train, which was 1 hour late, our spirits dropped again. SEATS. Our overnight train reservations were for seats. Good god! It was awful. I would take a smelly, crowded, moldy hostel with 200 drunk college students over upright train seats any day. With 8 hours ahead of us, we tried to find a comfortable position. The seats reclined (sort of), but this aint no lazy boy, let me tell ya. I leave Tracy to perhaps fill in some of the highlights. I cant think about it any more. Goodbye Barcelona.

So we pulled in to Madrid at 8am and had to decide what next. With only 5 nights to go, the trains expensive and unpredictable, we chose to get ourselves to Sevilla, the city we fly out of. Seemed the most sane and relaxing idea. I am sorry to skip Bilbao and miss the Guggenheim there, but just thinking about getting from Northern Spain to Southern Spain made my body ache.

We are now in Sevilla at an absolutely adorable hostel. More like a hotel with a shared bathroom, this place is a delight. We have a private room, blessed be! I am pleased to the core of my being to have this as our final European sleeping spot. And, only 18 euro a night! We are in the center of old town, one block from the 3rd largest cathedral in the world. The picture on the picture page of the Coastal Crush website is the tower of this cathedral. We have walked around a bit, had more sangria (takes away all my stress), ate yummy tapas and toured a bull fighting ring. With five nights here, we are taking it easy. A few day trips planned: Cadiz for more beach, maybe Cordoba and Malaga. It is hot here, so we have totally adopted the siesta for the hottest part of the day. To say the least, we will be happy to come home. This trip has been amazing, unforgettable, but both of us are about as spent as possible. It may take weeks just to recover.

2004-06-29T14:26:00.000-04:00

Spain! We arrived in Barcelona this morning and found a hostel via the very helpful tourist information office. This city seems to be an industrial center for hostels. We are staying in a 100+ bed one made of concrete. A hostel across the street houses 200+ guests. Backpackers everywhere!

So we have only been here a few hours, but so far we have managed to have a liter of Sangria (the best drink on earth) and seafood paella. Yum! I just woke from a three hour nap, resting up for the evening. The world-known clubbing scene here doesn´t get started until 1am! So far I´ve been mistaken for a twenty year old at nearly every hostel. We shall see if I have the same college kid energy in me to keep up tonight. One problem we face...no club clothes! Yup, forgot to pack that little black dress. Didn´t see how I could justify taking up precious space in my backpack when most nights we have been sleeping in our clothes in tents and overnight trains. Guess we´ll have to go shopping!!!

Internet is free at this colossal hostel, but the line is long and I can feel the impatient stares boring holes in my back as I respond to email and type this blog. Having said that, better get off. More later (much later, depending on how rough the night goes...).

2004-06-27T13:24:00.000-04:00

Paris was wonderful. Marseille was a mistake and Nice is fantastic. Okay...some details. Marseille was unfortunate because our hostel was far from town, the bus and metro stopped running at 9pm, and the town shut down by 10 or so. Not much to see any way. Just a port town. We did take a day trip to Aix en Provence (pronounced EX, who knew?), which was lovely. Busy street markets and windy roads to get lost in, and of course the scent of lavender everywhere. I ate the best strawberries of my life.

We arrived in Nice Friday morning and hit the beach ASAP. Nice rocks, literally. The beaches are all rocks. Getting comfy with a beach blanket was a challenged. We just pretended we were getting rock messages at some fancy Riviera spa. The water was divine - warm and crystal clear. Apparently the coast guard tests the ocean water near the beaches everyday.

Besides the beaches, this town is for people watching, and there are plenty of "beautiful people" once you look past the tourists. Yesterday we went to Cannes, strolled the promenade (more people watching), gawked at the MASSIVE yachts parked along the dock, and checked out the famous convention center where the film festival is held every May. This town loves its film festival. As you might expect, tons of cheesy star-related souvenirs to buy. I did one very touristy thing. I put my hands into the hand prints of some famous film folks. Sharon Stone has small hands but long finger nails and David Lynch has very large hands and a handspan about a long as my foot.

Today we went back to Italy to see Ventimagilia based on several recommendations. It was cute but we were slightly bored. Like the Renaissance art in Rome and Florence, just how many cute, seaside towns can you behold before it gets a bit tired. I know, it sounds so ungrateful...much like the bored, rich folks who inhabit Monte Carlo, our second stop today. If you ever want to know what WAY too much money looks like, visit Monaco. A tax haven for the rich. Even bigger yachts in the harbor, and more Ferraris in one parking lot than I've seen in my life. We went in to the one casino that makes this place so well known. As plebes, we were unable to move past the very small slot room. Just as well. This town is beautiful, but kinda creepy. Nothing is out of place. No trash on the street, every garden is perfectly pruned, and even the public toilets clean themselves (not kidding. Call me in two weeks if you want an explanation). It was, as my guidebook said, very Disney-esque.

One more night in Nice, and we will spend tomorrow on the beach and at the Matisse museum. Tomorrow night we take an overnight train to Barcelona. On to Spain, our last country.

2004-06-23T03:58:00.000-04:00

Two hip chics from the US walk into a Turkish tea salon, escorted by an Albanian, Moroccan and an Algerian... Yup, that would begin to describe our first night in Paris. Tracy and I befriended they guy who runs the Internet cafe across from our hostel. After 20 minutes in his shop, he invited us out for the evening. As luck would have it, June 21st was a huge music festival in Paris where bands played for free all over the city. We, with the entourage describe above, went to the tea salon, smoked hookah (the non-drug kind), drank sweet mint tea and danced to North African synth pop. I know, it sounds a unreal, but this is no movie script :-) It was fantastic. To be droll, last night we saw Harry Potter (in English with French subtitles). The French laughed first at all the "jokes" before we heard the actors deliver their lines. Very funny. And, at the end the whole audience sat through ALL the credits!

I've enjoyed seeing Paris again with someone who has never been here. I am amazed at how familiar the city layout is and at my ability to read French. I'm also horribly embarrassed at how awful my accent is. Mon dieu! We are about to board the superfast TGV train to Marseille (3 hours!) and trek around the South of France for a few days. Hope the weather is better. Paris has been overcast with occasional rain. But we should hardly complain. First bad weather in four weeks! Au revoir.

2004-06-21T13:39:00.000-04:00

Hey folks, Tracy here reporting from Paris! (The keyboards are funny here so please excuse any grammatical errors.) It's been a while so I'll try to fill you in on the past few days. Levanto. Nina stole a towel from the hotel. I know, I know. I, too went through the same range of emotions- a mixture of shock, disdain, hurt, then finally- acceptance. She is a klepto. Free Winona? Free Nina. Our friendship teetered for about 30 seconds then it was okay and I secretly wished I had stolen mine, too. It did make for some bad karma, though. Our first train to Genoa was late, making us miss our connection. We then had to sit in a dirty, pigeon infested plaza in the sweltering heat with all of our stuff. After staring at a Christopher Columbus statue for 2 hours, we headed to Milan where we then got on the wrong train. All because of that effing towel. The only logical thing to do to calm our nerves and perhaps save our friendship was to drink Heinekens and eat chips on the platform of the train station whilst counting our mosquito bites. To date, Nina had 19, I had 14. A new low.

After a brief stint on Lake Como, we arrived in Venice. Such a cool city! Nina talked about it a bit so I'll leave that alone. A side note to Doug T: Venice didn't "smell like piss and diesel." The piss part maybe but that was due to the fact that some drunk camper (because we were camping-to get the full effect please just visualize Chunk in Goonies-"Nature, I hate nature" and you've nailed it) pissed outside of our tent one night. Nina woke to the lullying sound of drizzle but not I. I was passed out after a bender of a night in which Nina relived her babysitting years in taking care of her 23 year old charge. I was a hurting unit. Red wine now replaces the red blood that was once flowing through my veins. I swore off alcohol forever. That meant 48 hours of course as we could not resist consuming some beer in Zurich. How could I resist trying something called Schutzengarten Lagerbier Hell? And Ms. Huntemann went with your Urweizen Muller Brau Bugel. You know, your everyday beer. Good stuff. Better than our meals which essentially consisted of hot dogs and American Chop Suey. Substitute apple sauce for tomato sauce and you've got German Chop Suey!

And how did we get to Paris one might inquire? Paris was part of my master plan unbeknownst to my darling travel companion. I had just reached over to twist her arm when she reluctantly agreed :) This woman and Paris go hand in hand. I am quite impressed by her grasp on the language and culture. Anyways, here is Nina to add some of her thoughts....

Nina here: Two overnight trains and I haven't showered since Saturday, but I'm in Paris! We "did" Switzerland in a day via train yesterday. Lausanne, Geneva, Bern, Luzern and Zurich. We jumped off trains, saw a bit, very little in fact, and jumped back on. Bern was my favorite. They love fountains there. We saw one of a bear, the city mascot, and a tribute to the Muskateers. As Tracy mentioned, I had a strange version of my Mom's famed torture food - sorry Mom. Oddly, it was comforting. Okay, I'm way too frustrated with the keyboard and I need to bathe. Ahhh, hosteling. I amaze myself everyday with the new lows to which I stoop. Bon nuit.

2004-06-19T07:57:00.000-04:00

Oh my god, we are in Venice!

We're back...Various reasons, mainly traveling and cost of the Internet, have kept us from blogging and emailing. Here's an update:

We left Levanto on a gorgeous day that would have been perfect for laying on the beach. Although it nearly broke my heart to leave, I know I'll return and stay longer next time. We made our way from the Cinque Terre to the Lake Como region of northern Italy. We had not considered this part of Italy, but many fellow backpackers raved about it. So, off we were early Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, in Milan we boarded the wrong train and had to double back after being yelled at and kicked off the train by a conductor. He didn't speak English, but we did understand "No ticket. Go Milan. Go." Gulp. Following 10 hours of train travel that should have been 5, we landed in Varenna a small town on Lake Como. We had no accommodations and really no sense of what to expect.

The lake, which is one of three large lakes in northern Italy, is flanked by the Swiss Alps on the northern side. Absolutely stunning to look up the lake on a warm sunny day and see gigantic mountains with snow on top. The towns on the lake are very small, some more touristy than others. Varenna's population is 800, so our presence before the July-August onslaught of Italians on holiday was fairly obvious. We walked through town (which took 5 minutes) and found a reasonable hotel. We decided to stay two night are rearrange our Swiss train plans. The only thing to do on Lake Como is ride the ferry between towns on the lake and relax. My blood pressure dropped and I caught up on sleep. It was lovely.

We left Varenna for Venice on Thursday and found a cheap hostel outside the city. It was a bit of a hike in to town (two buses and about 40 minutes) but accommodations in Venice were either booked or 150 euro. Our hostel, or I should say, campground had a pool, bar, crappy restaurant and about 100 or more backpackers. We actually stayed in a tent this time, not a prison cell like on Mykonos. I would have preferred the cell. The "house tent" was a canvas green tent with a hard floor and two cots. Our section of the campground looked like a very neatly organized tent city. Row after row of these tents, and lots of bugs to keep us company.

But Venice more than makes up for any roughing it back at camp. What a lovely, grungy, maze-like city. We have enjoyed getting lost from the train station to San Marco, took a water taxi down the Grand Canal and gawked at the gondilers. Seems being an Italian hunk is a requirement for the job.

Our first night we ate dinner near a tourist area. Mistake food-wise. It wasn't that great, but we made friends with the waitstaff and got free glasses of Limoncello as well as good conversation from waiter Moritzo. Last night we enjoyed a pub crawl through the smaller streets, seeking out bars popular with the locals. It was easy, we just looked for bars with televisions tuned to the Euro Cup. Since we have been in Italy, we have often watched games at bars with the locals. A great way to watch soccer. I'm totally in to it now, and with Tracy's (former fabulous soccer player) help, actually understand the game. Who cares about Beckem. That Totti..oooh yeah!

Tonight we board an overnight train through Switzerland and will train hop tomorrow to see the Alps. Tomorrow night we will stay one more night in Italy then head to the Cote d'Azur. Tracy has easily talked me into a quick trip up to Paris (only 3 hours by train from the south of France) before we head to Bilboa in Spain. Hope all is well in the States. Again, sorry for not returning your emails. As soon as we can find cheap Internet, you will hear from us personally. xoxo Nina

2004-06-14T10:16:00.000-04:00

Nina and Tracy blogging together because Internet is really expensive here. Here is Levanto. Nina has fallen in love with this place. It is a seaside town just north of the Cinque Terre. We didn't intend to stay here, but all the cheap hostels in CT were booked. Good 'ole Rick Steeves suggested Levanto as a backup, and I (Nina) think it is the best place we have been so far. I have a new long-term plan. Learn Italian, rent an apartment here during my summers off, and eventually buy a villa overlooking the sea, retire here and open a yarn shop. Blessed!

Nina hasn't tripped, fell or flipped anything in the past few days, much to my disappointment. Though I did manage to make her look like a DAA when I insisted she pose alongside the other dozen or so tourists at the leaning tower of Pisa, making like she was holding the freakin thing up. (Nina: Pisa was a 15 minute pit stop on the way to Levanto. A must do, but overall dull. And it was raining.)

In Florence, Tracy slept in a room with 6 guys and a prostitute/drug dealer. She hung her well-worn black panties on the window above Tracy's bed, drank beer and noshed chips at 4am in Tracy's ear, and smoked a butt that Tracy had to tap out as the "lady of the night" nodded off. We are NOT kidding.

Where was Nina, you ask. She paid 5 more euro to sleep sans hookers in a brighter, cleaner room next door. She feels deeply guilty for leaving Tracy in such an environment. Makes for good blog, though.

Tracy has requested we find a large kid's harness for her to strap in to. Nina promises to hold on for dear life.

Today we went for a two hour, semi-difficult hike from Levanto to Monterossa, the most northern Cinque Terre town. The trail was steep in places, but stunning. Wild flowers colored the terrain, a breath-taking and VERY high view of the ocean and cliff side made the walk exhilarating, and old castles with Secret Garden-like doors surprised us along the way.

We are off to Lake Como in northern Italy tomorrow, then we are taking a scenic train through Switzerland, then an overnight to Venice. Next time we blog, it will be from the city of canals. Arrivederci!

2004-06-12T14:11:00.000-04:00

We traveled into Tuscany by train today. Tracy and I took a day trip from Florence to Siena, a small city/big town that still has many of its medieval buildings. We meandered through tight, curving streets, gazing up at crenellated rooftops and pointing out funky doors, windows and "secret" passageways. The best part of the trip, actually, was the train ride through Tuscan towns. We had a train car nearly to ourselves, warm air blowing through open windows as the sun was starting to set (about 6pm). The light made the orange-tiled homes even more brilliant against green rolling hills. Every now and again we would spot an old castle atop a hill. I'm reading Under the Tuscan Sun (a book trade with another traveler on the boat from Greece), so the real life visuals made the book come alive today.

We leave Florence tomorrow for Levanto, a coastal town north of the Cinque Terre. It was the only place that had available hostel space, but my Italy guide says it is "graced with a long, sandy beach." We are looking forward to it. On the way, we plan to stop in Pisa to see some tower that leans. Very poor construction, if you ask me.

2004-06-11T13:55:00.000-04:00

Quick blog: There is nothing like seeing Michelangelo's David in person. I was ready to be either disappointed or not necessarily impressed given 33 years of hype. But no, it is truly amazing - huge (of course) and just so PERFECT. I guess raiding morgues and opening up dead bodies paid off. No other sculpture we've seen on this trip has the same muscular detail. Not too mention, David is gorgeous! Yum!!

My sympathies to Mrs. Reagan and to all you for having to put up with the news coverage. It is easy to ignore whatever is happening in the States. Sometimes I miss it, but most of the time it is refreshing to see front page coverage of the rest of the world's goings-on.

2004-06-10T17:29:00.000-04:00

Tracy and I saved the Sistine Chapel for Thursday morning, thinking we would see it right before we left for Firenze (Florence). Up early, dressed, packed and ready to be at the gates for the 8:45am opening. Turns out to be some random Catholic holiday, Tracy (a Catholic) didn't know what it was, so the Chapel was closed. Yup, that's right, we went to Rome and MISSED Michelangelo's famed ceiling. Guess I'll have to come back some day. On to Florence...

A mere 90 minute train ride later and we arrived in lovely Florence with no where to stay and hostels booking fast. We were solicited in the train station (a common way to find a hotel), made our way over what might have been sketchy accommodations and were interrupted by a young English-speaking student. We were re-directed to a hostel right in downtown Florence close to the Duomo. Despite her awful directions, we found the place. A bit damp and dark, but cheap. I stayed one night (last night) and decided to pay 5 more euro to stay in a brighter and cleaner hostel the next building over. I've been fairly surprised by my tolerance of moldy showers and well-worn mattresses. Those of you who know me may be surprised as well by how much dirt and messiness I've endured. It has been hard to resist the urge to clean-up after fellow hostel guests :-) But every now and again, I need a clean, well-lit place.

As usual, lots of young travelers at the hostel. We bought bottles of wine and hung out at one of Florence's many piazzas with a group of French-speaking Canadians. While we were people-watching some random Catholic ritual proceeded through the piazza - robes, candles, singing nuns and priests, etc, paraded by us and around the Duomo. We have no idea what it was, and why it was taking place at 10:30pm!

The weather gets hot during the day (with no beach near by), but the evenings are lovely. Short-sleeves and shorts are okay well into the night. No humidity either. I've heard about the Boston weather. Sorry friends. If it is any consolation, there are mosquitoes in Italy, and I've got a few bites from Rome and Florence.

I went to the Uffizi gallery today and saw more Renaissance art in two hours than I think I have in all my museum visits and art history classes. In an hour Tracy and I have tickets to see David. I think we are done with museums for a while. We plan to go to Siena tomorrow for the day, then leave Florence on Sunday, stop at Pisa and head to the Cinque Terre (Italian Riviera - beaches!). I'm looking forward to getting away from cities.

2004-06-09T05:14:00.000-04:00

Buongiorno! As it seems, Ms. Nina does in fact have a travel companion. Tracy here, making my first appearance on the blog. Forgive me, I've been on a bit of a technology holiday and it was fab. But I'm back so lets cut to the chase--an adendum or testimonial shall we say to stories previousaly told. 1) Nina is in fact my comic relief. I could probably muster a chuckle from my deathbed were I to picture her flipping the knife off of the table in Santorini. I can see it slow mo. So embarassing. 2)I purposely find high things so that I may watch Nina attempt to climb them and even better, to watch the descent. I couldn't have explained that story better myself. 3)Watching her try to keep her distance from the nasty Greek men trying to gyrate with her was another source of amusement. As for me, I gave in after some shots of ouzo (sort of like sambuca). I ended up dancing on the table as per request of a guy whose name sounded like Kale (the garnish) and dancing some sort of dance that I can best describe as the windmill. I tried to show Kale some classic moves of my own such as the lawnmower and the sprinkler but some things just can't (or won't) cross cultures. 4)The ride home. I don't know what this business was about a taxi that my friend here described because it certainly was not. Some dude who actually went by the name "Dude" (shoulda been a clue there) who came equipped with dreadlocks and a tiny ass yellow 1973 VW buggie,drove us home. Ride of a lifetime I tell ya. 5)Sorrento was in fact, beautiful. We did feel a bit out of place though because no one told us to pack our white linens (think Jude Law in Talented Mr. Ripley yum). Also, some kid threw up on my foot on the bus ride over. Apparently Nina didn't think that was worth enough for her blog :)

And that brings us to Roma. See Nina's entry for that. One thing she didn't mention though...after the Spanish steps we walked to the Piazza del Popolo. Huge space with no cars, lovely at night. Some guy on a bicycle was doing laps around the piazza. He smiled in that I may be a homicidal maniac way. Of course he stopped to talk to us. We got a half hour history of Rome and Italy from this 40+ war veteran. It was interesting until he asked where we were staying and if we had a phone...we left soon thereafter.

2004-06-09T05:07:00.000-04:00

Roma, Eternal City...of a thousand steps! Woo boy, our calves and will be rock hard by the time we leave Seville. For the hundreds of churches here there must be a million steps. On Monday we left Sorrento for Rome, stopping at Pompeii on the way. Pompeii (destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79*) was fascinating. The most popular spot at the site was, of course, the ancient red light district with a gambling hall, flop house and brothel. Some how the brothel frescos survived the volcano and you can see a menu of sorts for customers to point to, "I want that". Pretty vanilla stuff, if you ask me ;-)

We arrived via train in Rome at rush hour. That was fun! Figuring out the metro and navigating the streets to find our hostel was a fast introduction to what Rome is like. Crowded, busy, crazy drivers, homicidal scooter drivers and noisy. The first night we crossed the Tiber River and walked to the Spanish steps (more steps!). We were told it was a quick stroll. Oh, not so. Forty-five minutes later we reached to famed steps, which seem to be a popular evening hang out with the tourists and Italian teenagers. It reminded me of the parking lot outside my hometown roller skating rink, circa 1982. Lots of kids, clusters in packs, smoking and drinking way past their bed time. Apparently a very lavish McDonald's is right around the corner. We decided to skip that.

Yesterday, our first full day in Rome, we spent 10 hours seeing some major hotspots. In this order, the Foro Romano (Roman Forum), Colosseum (really is gigantic, but sadly no Russell Crowe in sight), the Palatine Hill, Trevi fountain where I tossed in the obligatory coin and made a wish (that my butt shrinks from all the stair climbing), the Pantheon, and the Borghese (that's, Bor-GAY-zay, FYI) Gallery Villa where we saw a few works by some bloke named Bernini. Popular guy - his stuff is all over Rome. Pretty good too ;-). Seriously, I was awe struck by his Apollo Chasing Daphne. The leaves of Daphne's transformation into a tree look so delicate, despite the stone medium.

Today we are just strolling around from church to church, piazza to piazza. Everywhere you look there is an old something or other to gaze at. We are starting to feel somewhat numb from all the beauty around us. I want to appreciate every thing I cast my eyes upon, but at some point you are just overwhelmed.

We are going to see the Vatican tomorrow before we head out to Florence. Tracy will be adding her voice to this blog, so look out for T-dogs take on our travels. Ciao!

2004-06-06T12:54:00.000-04:00

After two boats, two trains and a metro we arrived in Sorrento Saturday afternoon. And what a place to start our travels through Italy! Molto bello!! The people here are super nice and laid back. Things may not happen on time, but they happen. It is a wonderful pace of life, if you can just let go of time tables and expectations.

We checked in to a reasonable hostel (6 girls to a room), dropped our bags and headed into town. The best way to see Sorrento is by foot. We came across a lemon grove (lemon trees are everywhere here). As we strolled through the air was filled with a citrus scent - oranges and lemons. At the end of the park a woman and her daughter were selling lemon products, in particular, limoncello, a local lemon liquor specialty. We got a free taste (divine) while we sat under towering lemon trees. We decided to buy one fresh lemon to mix with water or other libations :-) but the woman insisted we take it as a gift. She gave of three free lemons, Welcome to Sorrento! she said.

This precious spot of the world is on a cliffside near the Amalfi coast. Europeans seems to love building towns on cliffsides. Like the Greek islands, roads twist along sharp cliff drops. The drive is frightening but breathtaking. We took a bus (how these bus drivers manage it is beyond me) to Positano (where the Talented Mr. Ripley was filmed, FYI) and just a bit beyond to Amalfi town. The beaches were unimpressive following Mykonos, but the towns are adorable. A bit too crowded with tourists buying lots of local stuff (lemon adorned plates, ashtrays, linens, shirts, keychains, etc. etc.), but we managed to find lovely spots to stare at the sea and get away from the DAAs. By the way, we have amended DAAs to include Aussies. They are everywhere and are equally loud and obnoxious!

So far we have had pizza and gelato. The pizza really is amazing. I'll never eat Domino's again (yuck!). I liked the gelato, but I must say, after all the build up, I expected orgasms. Sadly, I just enjoyed it quietly. On to Pompeii tomorrow morning and then Rome.

2004-06-03T06:32:00.000-04:00

Tracy and I are about to leave Mykonos to start our LONG haul to Italy. Since I last blogged we stayed a night on Naxos. It was a vacation from our vacation - much needed rest from too many very late nights and interrupted sleep on Santorini. Without reservations we arrived in Naxos Monday afternoon and found a very comfy and cheap hotel in town. We spent the day by the pool relaxing. Very nice. We then went back down to the port and watched a spectacular sunset from the Portara, an ancient arch way erected in praise of Apollo. Had dinner on the waterfront and then went to bed early (10pm!) and slept until 9am. It was absolute bliss and necessary rest for our next island stop - Mykonos!

All the travel books said Mykonos is a party island, particularly popular with the gay community. So we were ready to "party" til dawn. We arrived Tuesday morning, checked in to our "tent" - a 7x6 room with two tiny cots. The place is called Paradise Beach Camping. We renamed it Paradise prison because the bungalows sort of look like prison cells. Lots of young travelers around and 24/7 house music blaring from the beach bars. What fun is ahead, we wondered. After sunbathing and a siesta, we had dinner and then dressed up (first time either of us put on lipstick in over a week) and headed down to the beach. It was about 10:00pm, early for party-goers we figured, but some people were probably down there. Nope. Not a soul! We chatted with the bartender and he wondered why we decided to visit Mykonos is June. No one is here in June, he said. July and August is when the place starts pumping. Leave it to Tracy and I to be a month early!

So we went back to our cell, met some fellow travelers - two Aussies guys and two California gals. We shared a bottle of very cheap wine and Ukrainian vodka (mixed with pineapple juice - ick!) until 3am. Yesterday we sunbathed all day. I've never been so tan in all my life. The beaches on Mykonos are nude (optional) so that was interesting. Tracy and I figured it best not to expose precious parts of our body to the Mediterranean sun and risk sun burn in uncomfortable places. Tan lines are fine by me!

The Paradise Beach near our campsite was nice, but just a short boat ride away was Elia Beach, absolutely the most beautiful beach I have every seen. The sand was soft and golden yellow, the water perfectly clear and warm. The two California gals we met came with us and we had dinner on a cliffside restaurant overlooking Elia. I find myself running out of adjectives to describe how beautiful the land and seascape is. To say the least, you must see this for yourself.

After beach going, we slept for several hours in order to rest up for a night in Mykonos town. Since nothing was happening at the beach, might as well check out the "city" nightlife. The four of us arrived in town at about 10pm, found our way to the Scandinavian bar (suggested by Let's Go) for 3 euro beers and techno music. It was busy with travelers, SO MANY AUSSIES! To be honest, it was a bore listening to American music and watching tourists let loose on Mykonos. We left after an hour and headed to a "Greek" bar. This is where Tracy and I tried Ouzo for the first time. Oh boy! The bar had about 20 people there, all locals, dancing to Greek music, yelling "Oh Pah" and drinking shots of Ouzo. A couple of locals brought the four of us shots of Ouzo and persuaded us to dance as they were dancing. Best I could gather, the traditional Greek dance move involves shaking your hips (just your hips) while yelling "Oh Pah" and downing Ouzo. Takes some coordination, especially after several shots.

It was fun for a while, then the Greek men we were dancing with got a bit too aggressive, so we left. The taxi ride back to our prison cell at 4am was frightening. All the roads here are essentially one-car wide and are flanked by walls. The walls make it impossible to see what is around the corner, so the drivers flash their lights and honk at every turn. Problem is, the entire island is like a roller coaster of up-down, hard left-right turns. I thought we were going to die. But, we made it back safely and fell asleep with our party clothes on. We are now awaiting our ferry back to Athens, where we catch a train to Patras and then a boat to Bari, Italy. It will be a long trip, so you won't hear from us for a few days.

Thanks for the emails. Keep 'em coming! Love to everyone!

2004-05-30T14:15:00.000-04:00

Tracy and I were nearly arrested last night. When we returned from our day trip to Fira, we hung out on the porch with our fellow hostel guests (about 30, 20-somethings). This is a nightly ritual, during which many get drunk, some hook up and other try unsuccessfully to sleep.

Two of the leaders of the pack got it in their heads to build a bonfire down on the beach. So, we dragged about 2 trees worth of dead wood to the seaside and lit it up. About 10 minutes later a guy walked down to us claiming to be a cop, but yielding nothing more than a very official looking flashlight. The young ones in among us instinctively hid their beers. But he wasn't there for the beer. He told us "no more" and we had to let the current fire burn out.

Five minutes after he left, a few bold (read: drunk) ones threw more timber on to the pile. The fire grew. About 15 minutes later the cop returned, this time in a car with a siren - a bit more believable. So the eldest of the group (myself and a 27-year old botany PhD from UT-Austin, Nico) went up to talk to the guy. He said "no more" again, and explained that if he had to come back, he would take 2 or 3 of us away to the station. Okay, we said, we are very sorry. Thank you, we said. Which we tried to say in Greek, but I think that made him only more pissed.

We reported back to the group, but to no avail. They wanted a fire on the beach! The cop never came back, and the night ended with piss drunk Aussies and Brits walking barefoor over the embers!

We did the Donkey and volcano thing, which was lovely and strange. Perhaps I'll tell that story later. Tomorrow we leave magical Santorini for Naxos, the biggest of the Cyclades islands. We might be out of email/blog touch for a while. Let us know how you are and what is happening in the States. Despite our 24/7 fun, we miss you!

2004-05-29T14:15:00.000-04:00

Apparently my role on this trip is as comic relief for Tracy and anyone else within eye sight of my lack of grace. It started on the plane ride with the cup of water (see below for details), then on Thursday I slid down the Acropolis on my ass. Lemme explain: In order to reach one particular area of the ruins, we had to climb VERY steep and VERY slippery steps. The stairs and site are made of rock that has been smoothed to a polish by decades of visitors. Everyone was treading carefully. EVERYONE. Anyway, coming down was a bit frightening (I have a tad vertigo), so I descended on my butt (keep the center of gravity low, I hear my father advising). Tracy, who took her flip-flops off to "grab the rock with my toes" couldn't stop laughing at me. When I nearly reached the bottom a beautiful, French (of course!) woman sauntered past my crouching body, practically skipping down the stairs in her sandals (bitch). I was utterly embarrassed. But not to be topped by today's antics...

Tracy and I spent the day in Fira, the main town on Santorini. Every view was breath-taking. After a long day of walking, we had dinner at a cafe over looking the cliffs, facing the sunset - stunning! We were on the second floor of the terrace, with the first floor extending beyond the second, roof visible through wooden beams. I fumbled my knife (you see what's coming) and in a feeble attempt to catch it, bounced it off my hand, into the air and through the first floor roof, where it landed, attracting EVERYONE'S attention. I was mortified, imagining I had just slain a fellow tourist with a butter knife. Laughter exploded and I turned even redder than my mild sun burn. A few seconds later the waiter came over with a new knife and said, "You just killed a guy down there" (haha). I appreciated the joke, but felt like an ass. Tracy, inspired by my comedy routine, has coined a new term for the trip: DAA (dumb ass American). We've seen plenty of DAAs. This evening, I was that guy. Ugh.

Wonder what tomorrow brings, when Tracy and I will be climbing the volcano that formed Santorini via donkeys! Stay tuned...

2004-05-28T12:26:00.000-04:00

A few more words about Athens: It is dirty and crowded - just what we were told to expect. It looks as if the entire city is under construction, which it may be, with the Olympic Games around the corner. As Tracy said, "Athens is in ruins and I don't mean the ancient kind." Good thing we had a ferry ticket to Santorini at 7:25am.

Had an okay sleep, interrupted by late arrivals at 1:30am. Fell back asleep soon, but woke up 1 minute before the alarm was set for 6am. We were just a wee bit excited. The 7.5 hour ferry trip from Athens to Santorini was relaxing. We sat on the deck, looking out the back of the boat, trying to get some much-needed sun on our bodies. I'm happy to report, no sea sickness. We were seated near a group of Greek guys in their 20s, I'm guessing, who brought a HUGE boom box. Like the kind we begged our parents for back in 1984! Good dance music (most of it American) serenaded us through each stop. The boat docked at Paros, Naxos and Ios before we arrived at Santorini.

We were met at the port by a van from our next hostel (what service for 5 euro a night) and then driven up, up, up the side of the island, which is a dead volcano. The ride was gorgeous. Picture a winding, steep, switch-back road overlooking the sea. What a way to meet the island!

Our hostel is in Parissa, a 10 minute bus ride from the main island city, Fira. We met a few fellow hostel guests (all college kids) from England and Australia. Everyone is so tan. Tracy and I could blind the island with our white skin. So, we hit the beach. The sand is black - volcanic ash and rocks. The water is warm and beautiful. We just left the beach to walk the "strip" and found this Internet cafe. The sun is setting, casting a pink glow on the white houses set in to the island. Santorini really does look like its postcards.

It is about 7:30pm local time. We are headed back to the hostel to shower and head to Fira for Coronas and Soulvaki! Yum.

Side note (this one's for Mark): Capris are very popular with the Greeks. However, I've only seen MEN wearing them. Hot hot hot! One might want to rethink their stance on capri pants...

2004-05-27T12:21:00.000-04:00

We made it! I'm blogging from a hostel in Athens near Victoria Square. The flights over were fairly uneventful and relaxing. We were fed REAL food TWICE by very nice British Airwaves folks. At Logan Tracy was pulled over by security for a randon check, completely disrupting her pre-boarding rituals, which include kissing the plane and boarding on my right side. Don't ask...Well, we arrived safely never-the-less. I had a minor accident on the first leg of the flight - I dumped a half cup of water on my lap. That was fun. So I was sitting in a puddle of water for about 2 hours. Learned something important though: The seat cushions that double as floatation devices don't absorb water. Good thing :)

We arrived at 4am Athens time. After we went through customs, passport check and got our luggage it was 4:30am. We were hoping to waste more time at the airport - no such luck. So, we boarded a bus for our hostel. Despite the 24-hour checkin policy, we had to wait until nearly 9am to get a bed. We sat in a basement that looked like your worse frat bar memory. The bathroom and shower didn't look promising either. I fell asleep briefly with my head on my arm (neck pain, yes!) and starting feeling "funny" in my body when we finally got a room. The beds are bunk style - four in a room - and the bathroom was clean and private. Still, since the rest of the hostel was just waking up as we were trying to sleep, it wasn't very restful.

At 1pm we decided to face Athens not quite rested. Perhaps not the best choice, we tackled the Acropolis today. For those who haven't been, it is up on a hill, with MANY steps. I can't believe we made it. At one point I got severe vertigo, helped no doubt by lack of sleep. I felt my head was swimming. But we trekked on. Well worth the trip, you can imagine. As we got closer I exclaimed, from a foggy mind, "Tracy, look! Old stuff." Yeah, I was tired. We dregged our tired butts around the ruins, went to the Athens port to get our ferry tickets to Santorini (7:25am tomorrow!) and bought sandwiches for 1 euro each. So far we have managed to live on less than 5 euro a day!

Still exhausted and suffering jet lag, we are headed to bed early tonight, fully expecting to be woken by hostel guest dragging in at 4am as we did. Early day tomorrow as we head to the island. Weather is beautiful. Haven't figured out the Celcius conversion yet, but it is shorts and tank-top weather. Hope to put on the bathing suit soon!

Side note: On the bus ride from the airport, I noticed several billboards "welcoming" us to Greece: "Nescafe - the taste of Greece" (wah?) and ads for Noika and Heinikein (sp?) beer. So much for culture shock. These billboards were, of course (!) owned by Clear Channel. Can't escape my dissertation, it would seem.

That's all for now (Internet at 1 euro for 10 minutes). More later!

2004-05-20T19:22:00.000-04:00

Less than a week before we leave and Tracy and I couldn't be more excited, or more busy. Why is it always the case that in the days preceding a trip, one becomes increasingly occupied? I'm frantically writing chapters of my dissertation (with breaks, apparently, to write this blog) and Tracy left for DC today. Yeah, guess she thought 6 weeks in Europe needed an appetizer. She also packed her life up and moved it all to Daddy-O's. Over a month of hostel stays follow a week of couch surfing. What a trooper!

We went to Target today and nearly got sucked in by the travel-size aisle. Something comes over me when I see my daily creams, foams, sprays and what not in reduced size. They are so *cute* I want to take them all home. The dimensions (and weight!) of my backpack will force me to leave a few behind (sigh), but how could I possible trek from Athens to Seville without 30 individually-wrapped moist towelettes and a .01 ounce bottle of nail polish?!

2004-05-10T22:24:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I moved this blog off my own website because it wasn't working properly. Hopefully BlogSpot will work. If you want to see the Coastal Crush web page, point your browser to: www.mediacritica.net/europe