Venezia

We left Milan on Sunday, October 28th and headed to Venice. We had intended to stop in Verona (as in, "Two households, both alike in dignity / In fair Verona, where we lay our scene"),* but as the train was already running late and it was cold and rainy, we decided time was of the essence and we continued on to Venice. We were greeted in Venice by pouring rain, strong winds, and cold temperatures (about 40° Fahrenheit) - grazie, Venezia. We found our hostel and decided to brave the cold and take a bus (about 20 minutes with traffic) from the mainland (terraferma) to the island. It.was.worth it. Since we'd had an unexpectedly long train ride with no lunch break in Verona, we were extremely hungry, so we randomly and quickly chose a restaurant (in order to get out of the elements). We had the BEST pasta of the trip; I didn't take a picture because it was a fancier place and I didn't want to be particularly embarrassing. Also, we were RIGHT on one of the canals, so we saw watertaxis passing by, and lots of people fighting with their umbrellas.

victims of the War on Umbrellas 2012

Grand Canal by night

This is Santa Maria de Nazareth, a church right on the canal

where we sought sanctuary from the elements and found ourselves

attending a service. I learned a little Italian that night...

"Santa Maria, madre di Dio, prega per noi peccatori..."

our trusty (real? fake?) bus ticket that our hostel owner sold us for a euro... It didn't fit in the composting machines, there were too many people to be able to talk to the bus driver, and no one ever checked it, so we just used the same one all weekend. Sorry Venice!

The next morning, we got up early and headed into the city for a walk 

with no map. Which was fantastic. It was cold, but not rainy. 

And it was SUNNY!

Seriously - it was a gorgeous day.

acqua alta - high tide

The water runs over some of the sidewalks!

garbage truck boat (also spotted later that day: delivery truck boat)

Venice's idea of a gated community: gate the bridge. That'll do.

tons of rain the day before + high tide = flooding

People just wear boots!

Hey look, I changed scarves and lost the umbrella!

If you've been searching for a strange figurine of the Queen, 

look no further.

What if this was how you entered your school?

Sometimes, while exploring Venice without a map, you reach a dead end.

Sometimes, that dead end is made of water.

This worries me.

These men (inside the workshop) are making gondolas!

more acqua alta issues, along the Basino di San Marco

Grand Canal and the Santa Maria della Salute

I mean, really. Grand Canal. So beautiful.

We randomly stumbled upon a (free!) music museum, where we also got (reduced price!) tickets to a classical concert which was going to take place that night. (The lady allowed me a student price without really checking my ID... definitely a sign we should go to the concert!)

rockin' the elevated sidewalk

gondola  + gondolier!

Somebody was representing.

Piazza San Marco

(left: Basilica San Marco, right: Palazzo Ducale - Doge's Palace)

Here's a video of the flooded Piazza San Marco

(or, as I say in the video, the "Place San Marco" -

that's my Fritalian (French + Italian) for you).

Also, apparently the water levels in Venice were a big deal - 

two people (one from Sicily, one from Athens) 

have told us they saw it on the news!

gondolas and the Basino San Marco seen from the Piazza San Marco

Kimberly being cute in front of the Basilica San Marco

first Italian gelato!

(My all-time fave combo: fragola (strawberry) and cioccolato!)

fancy gondolas

Carnival is very important in Venice, so masks are an emblem of the city.

Grand Canal

Ponte di Rialto

just a random canal

our pre-concert dinner, featuring Bellinis, Venice's specialty drink

(sparkling wine and peach purée)

our concert - Interpreti Veneziani

the program: four Vivaldi pieces,** one Mozart, and a von Weber

It was a small venue (Chiesa San Vidal), and the musicians

indulged us with two encores!

Venice was absolutely beautiful, very unique among cities I've visited. It's an island city actually composed of over 100 tiny islands divided by canals and connected by bridges. It's very easy to get lost in (even for me, despite the fact that I have a bit of an internal compass!), and it's actually very enjoyable to get lost in.*** I thought its atmosphere was very beautiful, romantic, and artistic. Venice has always been a center for music and art, and it's evident everywhere you turn. I would absolutely love to return to Venice to spend more time. Arrivederci for now, bella Venezia!

*Shakespeare had a bit of a thing for Italy, it seems.

**Vivaldi, born in Venice!

***Yup, I realize I just ended that sentence with a preposition.

Fun. times in Barcelona!

This past weekend, I headed down to Barcelona for the weekend with a few girls from my program. We had planned the weekend back in July when Alexandra posted in our Facebook group that there would be a concert for the band Fun. on October 20th. A few of us decided to go, and it was amazing! Not only was it a chance to see Fun., but it was also an opportunity to visit a new city (and a new country, as Spain is the first new country for me during this trip - I had already been to Germany, Austria, and France before this year) and to meet some new friends!

I went with Natalie (from Minnesota), Natalie (from Chicago), and Alexandra (also from Chicago). The adventure began as both Natalies and I arrived Friday night, took the metro to our hostel, only to be greeted with a woman who rapidly and repeatedly told us (in Spanish or Catalan*)... well, something. As I don't speak Catalan or Spanish, you can understand how I don't know what she told us. Despite three blank stares and my repeated confession/supplication of "no entiendo," she refused to slow down. All I got was "todo completo," which is NOT great news. Moral of the story is that apparently our reservation did no good, and they had called another hostel where we could stay in separate rooms. Gracias?

Obviously that wouldn't work for us. I had spotted another hostel up the road, and after much effort (imagine me speaking Spanish through an intercom on the street in a bit of rain at night), we secured a hostel for a little more than we were originally going to pay, but we had a private room and the owner was awesome. So sweet, and allowed me to use my broken Spanish to communicate (she went slowly and made efforts to understand).

We headed out to get a very late dinner (at 12:40 am), and almost weren't allowed to eat (the restaurant closes at 1), but I assured the server that "puedo comer rápido."

macaroni with Catalan cheeses and sausage... delish

The next morning, I had to sort some things out with the lovely hostel lady. That went something like this: 

"Nosotros libre habitación a los doce, pero no dormir aquí esta noche. Puedo dejar (gesture for bags) aquí?"

("We free habitation at noon, but no to sleep here tonight. I can leave (gesture for bags) here?")

As you can see... my "Spanish skills" aren't great, but hey, it works.

Plaça Catalunya

more Plaça Catalunya

Then we headed down La Rambla...

which is a long street with shops and restaurants

...and a market!

(here begins a series of awesome super colorful market photos)

Natalie bought some of the candied walnuts, and they were delish.

action shot

dragon fruit... didn't even know that was a thing

las golosinas (candy!)

something about the arts... I dunno, it's pretty.

You know you're not in the Estados Unidos anymore when a

drinking fountain looks this pretty.

near the port

me and Natalie (Minnesota), just chillin' with this león

Check out Columbus, pointing to the sea.

(Also check out how GLOOMY it was Saturday in Barça!

But much better than rainy.)

port

ridiculousness, part 1

ridiculousness, part 2

This statue is called the "Cap de Barcelona," and it was designed by 

the American artist Roy Lichtenstein for the 1992 Summer Olympics.

our lunch spot - notice the Pizza Texana? I love how many "Texan" 

foods there are in Europe... which very rarely resemble anything Texan.

sangria

paella carne

all four of us post-lunch**

Obviously I need to live on this street, because this is where the party's at.

action shot! Minnesota Natalie took this picture while walking backwards.**

me gusta

We thought maybe we could go into this building...

we couldn't.

 "I'm not hungry at all." "Me neither." "Me neither!"

2 minutes later... gelato happened.**

Barcelona Cathedral

(There are apparently 13 geese kept in the cloister, which is

pretty legit. If only the line hadn't been forever long, we could've

visited our feathered friends.)

I really like old fortifications, and that's what I'm

guessing this might be?

People in Catalonia are very proud to be Catalonian...

you can see the flags (red and yellow stripes) everywhere.

It looks gloomy and cold, but it was actually pretty 

muggy and 23° (~73°).

On our way to Fun., I was clearly VIP as I had my own row of metro seats.**

After some confusion, rain, and a line, we found ourselves

(hot and sweaty) inside the Sala Bikini, which was a pretty sweet venue!

Walk the Moon, the opening act

(I'd never heard of them, but the couple songs we got to hear were

pretty good, especially this song.) (Soon I'll put up a video I took.)

And then... FUN.

Ta-DAAAA!

Because it was a small venue, we were so close!

See?

They were great live, and I loved getting to sing as loudly as I could to something familiar. I love and connect to music and it serves as a kind of escape for me (though right now, I don't need an escape, because if you haven't noticed, my life is pretty fantastic). Basically, it was so.much.Fun. (See what I did there?) Also, the lead singer (Nate)'s parents were there, and he played a song he wrote for them ("The Gambler"), and it was precious.

Here are some clips that I took during the concert. I apologize for the following:

     1) None of them are complete songs.

     2) They're shaky.

     3) You can probably hear my hoarse/loud/out-of-tune concert singing voice sometimes. (I have several more videos I'm not posting as to not assail your ears with my bad tired singing.)

"Carry On" (cont'd)

"Why am I the One?"

"All the Pretty Girls"

"We are Young"

"Some Nights"

Afterward, we were EXHAUSTED (twelve hours of walking followed by three hours of standing at a concert will make you tired) so we headed home to the hostel like the old ladies we apparently are.

The next day we got up and constructed our own little Gaudí tour of Barcelona. Gaudí was a famous architect whose style is very unique... as you'll see! His designs have a dream-like, whimsical quality.

 Casa Batlló (Gaudí)

close up

Casa Milà, aka La Pedrera (Gaudí)

Not Gaudí... but... CAROLINA HERRERA!

I got a little distracted.

Check it, the sun came out!

Palau Güell (Gaudí)

Plaça Reial

the Sagrada Família, Gaudí's magnum opus

construction started in 1882 and is set to be finished around 2026

Honestly, the one non-Fun. thing I definitely wanted to see this

weekend was the Sagrada Família (I wanted to go inside!), but

unfortunately the line was incredibly long and we couldn't go in.

I'm still pretty sad. Guess who'll have to come back to Barça!

more construction, and a statue showing the date 

when construction began

My feet hurt sooo badly at this point, you have no idea

how difficult it was to get up after this.

And just like that, way too quickly, our weekend in Barcelona was over. I would have loved to have been able to do more, but there just wasn't enough time. Fun. was awesome, and totally worth it. It was my first taste of Spain, though I'm told Barcelona is very different from the rest of Spain. I know that I really want to come back. Oh, and another thing, my feet hurt REALLY badly. I made a mistake (as a somewhat seasoned traveler, I should have known better) and made poor shoe choices. Don't.ever.do.that. (Thunderstorms were predicted all weekend, so I prepped with rain boots. Which, as it turns out, are incredibly uncomfortable.) Anyway, I will definitely be coming back sometime, hopefully this year. On the to-do list: inside Sagrada Família and a picnic in Parc Güell. It's gonna happen, people!

*Catalan is the language spoken in the region of Catalonia in Spain (and in France, too). It is kind of a mixture of Spanish and French. For instance, in French, exit is sortie, in Spanish, it's salida, in Catalan, it's sortida. However, not all words are that easy to figure out.

**These pictures stolen from Minnesota Natalie. Thank you! :)