The one with a Roman New Year's

We woke up on New Year's Eve day ready to actually start seeing some sites in Rome.  Katie was still a little freaked out that something else was going to happen and we wouldn't have a hotel, so we went to check out our hotel location and store our luggage for the day, just to make sure.  Hotel Laura was just where it was supposed to be, and we had a reservation!  With that set, we headed off to ancient Rome for the day.

We purchased Roma passes, which allow you to enter two attractions for free, have three days of free transportation, give discounts to other museums, and skip the lines at many places.  Many cities offer some sort of card like this; you just have to decide if you will be able to get your money out of it.  Ours proved particularly useful, even when only considering that it meant we didn't have to wait in line at the ever popular Coliseum.

First thing, we took the Metro over to the Roman Circus.  I knew from my experience in Merida that these tend to not be very impressive.  It isn't to say that originally the Circus wasn't breath-takingly awesome, but thousands of years has this way of wearing away what was there.  It is the size of at least two football fields and is where the chariot races used to take place.  It is estimated that there were stands to hold as many as 150,000 people, but basically today it looks like a giant sunken field.  The actual level of the track is several meters underground currently.

Next we made our way to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum.  Rome is made up of seven hills on which the majority of Rome was built.  The Romans had a habit of building over the ruins of earlier emperors, so many times only one layer is visible, but either on top or below, there are additional ruins.  Furthermore, during the reign of Mussolini and the fascists, there was a big push to change history and revise the reputation of the ancient Romans, inspiring feelings of native-superiority and encouraging the idea that foreigners/immigrants were "ruining" Rome/Italy.  In some cases, parts of the Roman ruins were destroyed to better support this story.  To this day, this revised history of ancient Rome is still widely believed and spread.  The parts of Rome that didn't support this, such as the emperor who declared that all of those conquered and part of the empire were citizens, weren't emphasized.  Obviously, I found this really interesting, and the exhibit showing and explaining the propaganda on this was one of my favorite things.

After walking like one hundred miles, we headed to the Coliseum.  It is a site to behold, but it is also hard to exactly picture what it was like, being that the stands no longer exist and even the floor of the coliseum where the gladiators fought is conspicuously absent.  There is also a surprising lack of signs explaining the various parts of the Coliseum, probably to prevent too much crowd congestion and to encourage people to buy the audio guides.  Katie and I pulled up information online about the other sites we saw, but I hadn't read up on the Coliseum specifically.  I think all of that probably contributed to me not enjoying it as much as I could of.  Not to mention, I was already sooooo tired from walking around extensively.

We grabbed some panini and attempted to hop on the metro to go back to the hotel for a rest, but it was so crowded. After like 15 minutes, the train showed up, but only like a fourth of the people could fit.  We decided to walk to Termini to catch the other line to our hotel.  Sadface, especially because this meant more walking for my tired legs.  The nap was a lifesaver, but I woke up with the worst pain in my knee.  We needed to find something for dinner, but walking around, I pretty much wanted to cry it hurt so bad.  After grabbing some stromboli to go, we popped into a pharmacy where they gave me some useless gel to put on it.  Luckily, it felt better on its own after a hot shower!

At the Christmas Tree

Attempting to eat the grapes with seeds

We headed back out to celebrate in one of the big Piazzas.  I was under the impression that we were going to see live music but not so much.  We brought our champagne in water bottles and our grapes for midnight, so at least we were prepared.  It was pretty walking around and seeing the lights, but we were both really tired.  Finally midnight arrived! Spain has a tradition where you try to eat 12 grapes within a minute or with each toll of some bell (no bell in Italy).  We started out strong, but I hadn't thought to consider that our grapes might have seeds...so overall it was a fail.  I didn't finish my 12 grapes and had a seed stuck in my teeth for like two days.  No good luck for me!  At least I was wearing my red underwear, another good luck thing that many people in Spain/Italy seem to partake in.  There were some fireworks set off by various people, but we were tired so we rushed home to bed!

The one with the missing hotel (Rome)

How we felt about our missing hotel

The journey to Rome was a fairly easy one. We only had to take one train, but it was too good to last. I had already looked up the directions from the train station to the hotel, so we headed straight there. We found the address with little difficulty; the only problem is there was no hotel there. We went to the hotel next door to ask, but they didn't know anything. I wondered if maybe it was one of those things where it was actually around the corner, so we walked around the surrounding blocks to see if we were just missing it. When that search turned up no results, we decided to return to the train station to see if the information desk could find anything about it online. The woman there tried to be helpful, but she couldn't find a phone number and suggested that we go back and ring all the doorbells to see if it was an apartment that we had missed. We lugged our suitcases back, and I tried out a mix of Spanish/Italian to try to ask the residents to no avail.

At that point, we decided to give up. We headed to a cafe with Internet to try to find somewhere to stay for at least the night, frustrating as it was. We drank some cappuccinos and contemplated our doom, trying to find a hotel. It was especially difficult because many of the hotels were booked or had increased their prices because of New Year's. Finally we found a promising hotel but were reluctant to book online again. It wasn't too far, so we decided to walk over and investigate. Thank goodness we did, because we got to the hotel, and they said that they were booked! Thoroughly dejected at this point, we stopped in at another hotel in the same building to see if they at least had something for the night. By some miracle, they had an availability for that night only, but we gladly accepted and settled in, using the Internet to try and find something for the rest of our time in Rome.

After much effort, we found a place that was along a metro line and acceptable, hotel Laura. We had site-seeing plans for the day, but the whole ordeal had left us exhausted and out of time. We decided to hang out in our room until dinner and regroup. For dinner we split a pizza and picked up some fruit at the market. It had been a long day, but at least, I feel secure in the knowledge that we handled the situation calmly and capably. After this year, I'll be ready for anything!!

The one with all the art (Florence)

This may come as a surprise to you, but seeing art for the sake of seeing art. I like to go to famous places and see famous things, like the Louvre, but I get tired. It is enough for me that someone tells me that the painting, sculpture, drawing is awesome and revolutionary etc. I need to be able to see it or else I feel like it might as well be art of any old person. Certain exceptions to this exist; we will call them my favorite artists, like Dali, Gaudily, Monet. Anyways, now that you know that, you can better understand our time in Italy.

On day 2 of Florence, I decided that we would go to one art gallery/museum for the experience. I selected the Uffizi Gallery for its size and popularity. Unfortunately, because we didn't have access to a printer, I wasn't able to book us tickets in advance. This meant that we spent the entire morning or more than 2 hours waiting in line. This is what I will remember most about the Gallery. And since we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, All i can say is that there were a few works by the Italian greats, Michelangelo, Raphael, da Vinci, and they were relatively impressive. I think that I would enjoy it more if I was actually familiar with the artists and art I saw.

Next we headed to the San Lorenzo market to look around and to Market Centrale to find something to eat. The market had tons of stalls selling leather goods, which was pretty neat. Katie bought a belt, which was an experience. At first we thought it was too big, but then the vendor took off the buckle and cut it down to the right size, just like that. For lunch we had more panini, and I'll admit that Katie's sausage and veggie panino was much better than my spicy salami, which was cold. After picking up some postcards, we were ready for a break.

 Post-break, we headed to Piazza de Santa Croce to check out the leather goods and see the Basilica. I was a fan of the statue next to it. Katie wanted to go back to Ponte Vecchio to take a closer look at the jewelry, so we trudged back over there. Some of it, was really pretty, but Katie liked her new ring better! Finally we walked along the river, enjoying the sunset and our aching feet. We had had our eyes on some fantastic looking pastries near our hotel, so we picked up some more cheap, hot panini to fill our bellies first. Side note: singular sandwich in Italian= panino and plural= panini because that is how they form the plural, with an "I". The pastries were to die for and were probably the best thing I ate on the whole trip. I finally understand the many people with a love affair for tiramisu! It was an excellent end to the day!!

The one with Brunelleschi's Dome (Florence)

The next morning we caught a train (actually three again) to Florence, arriving after lunch, making us hungry enough to be blind to all but food. We checked into the Hotel Romagna, which was very centrally located and nice, and ran back out for food. We literally only made it to our door because there were some panini/pitta thingies calling our names. Katie made a good point: it is surprising how good these relatively cheap panini, pizzas, etc are. For that price, it should be worse lol! Being fed and satisfied, we were ready to sightsee.

Being that I figured that we would be tired from traveling and I knew we were staying for longer, I didn't plan anything too strenuous for day one in Florence. First we walked over to Santa Maria del Fiore, otherwise known as Brunelleschi's Dome! It was very impressive, as it should be. I can never believe the vision that it must have taken these architects, or really artists, to think up and then help to create these buildings. I was struck by how empty the inside felt, but it also let the dome stand for itself. Another must see is the Baptistry doors. They were quite beautiful and intricate. I have this fascination with doors. They serve a vital purpose but are also much more about an artistic image than their purpose alone. It is neat :)

Inside Brunelleschi's Dome

Next we headed over to the Piazza Della Signoria which has a sort of outside sculpture garden that is interesting to look at. I love plazas. I know that it is basically a town square, but they are often so pretty and integral to city life. There is a replica statue of Michelangelo's David too. I hope that no one strikes me dead for this, but I honestly didn't see what the big deal was. I saw hundreds of statues throughout Italy, and David was interesting, but not necessarily earth-shattering. I was really just struck by how big his hands were. I was more impressed with the nearby fountain, which had a giant man, which smaller men around his legs, and for some reason they seemed to be crushing several horses with their weight.

Ponte Nuovo 

Next we headed over to the Ponte Nuovo area to check out the streets and see the nearby palace (outside). We had our first Venetian gelato at a rip-off price, and picked up some fruit for later. Finally we went back to the hotel for a rest before dinner. For dinner we went to a nearby restaurant and both ordered pizza. Mine had artichokes and olives on it, I think.  I also tried espresso for the first time. Even with the sugar, I wasn't crazy about it.  Then we crashed, which seemed to be a trend on this trip because a girl can only do so much before hitting exhaustion.

MMmmm, I obviously like it!

The one where we got lost in Venice

Phase Italy began at 4:30 on the morning of December 27th. Originally we were supposed to take an overnight train, but the train schedules changed at the beginning of December, so we headed out first thing instead. Also, there are no direct trains from Innsbruck to Venice, so we had to go to Brenner and some P-town first. Also from Innsbruck we couldn't purchase the Brenner train tickets, and there were only 6 minutes between the two trains. Luckily it seemed that everyone on our train was in the same position, so we just followed them onto the next train, wading through the snow across the train tracks. Then we just bought tickets on the train. So we finally make it to Venice, but the line for tourist information is super long. We decide to just wing it and wander in the general direction of our hotel. Wrong decision. We didn't make it too far over the cobblestone before our feet/bodies protested, and we went into the bus information center for help. After that, we smoothly checked into our hotel and were even able to access our room which was nice.

Lunch and sites drew us back out. we stopped at a cafe for cappuccinos and panini, which were quite good. Unfortunately , I hadn't quite got myself oriented to the map, so we did just as much circling around as progressing towards St Mark's Square and basilica. We were okay with it, seeing as number one for each of us was walking the streets of Venice, and we definitely did that! The square was neat to see, and we also enjoyed walking through the music museum. My favorite thing about going to a new place is trying to get a feel for a city, by walking through it, eating in local-y restaurants, shopping in their grocery stores. We walked FORVER! And we were so wiped out by the time we took a pre-dinner break.

For dinner, we found a restaurant in a nearby piazza (Italian for plaza or square). We both ordered from the menu of the day, which lets you get several courses at a reasonable price. I had spaghetti, chicken, and French fries, and Katie had lasagna bolognese, a salad, and fish. We both also had a glass of wine. It was really good, but not going to lie, I was stressing about how expensive it was going to be. It did end up being our most expensive meal in Italy, but that is Venice for you. It was a good first real meal anyways! On the way back we stopped and picked up some little pastries, which were delicious. To end the night, as we did every night, we browsed the Internet and planned the next day's events.

The one with the Sledding (2x)

Though we started the day with opening our stockings, Christmas Day didn't feel much like that either. The plan was to try to go ice-skating in the morning, but we didn't have much luck. First the buses didn't really seem to go in any semi-direct routes to where we wanted to go. We eventually decided to walk, but with Jenny, it was tough. We finally arrived, but it was definitely closed. Mom left to go get gloves for Jenny and see where Dad had gone (he was going to meet us later).

The rest of us waited for another bus, this time to take us up the mountain to go bobsledding on the Olympic track! We grabbed some lunch, and then Dad, Mags, Katie, Bobby, and I walked up the hill to come down the track. Man, you forget what the altitude does to you until you are huffing and puffing up a measly hill. Anyways, we waited our turn, and then it was 44 seconds of awesomeness! It was like a roller coaster but real life. I can't believe there are people who get to do that as their sport. It was AWESOME!! I highly recommend it for anyone who ever has the chance to go. Basically just checked that off my bucket list, not that I wouldn't mind going again! The only downside is that we spent five hours of the day for 44 seconds of awesome. It could have been more time effective for sure. Despite the shortness, we were wiped out, so we headed back for a nap before dinner.

Because we knew that everything would be closed for Christmas, we decided to make that our fancy dinner and ate at the nice Steakhouse in the Hilton. It was really good, and probably included the best vegetables I had in Austria. The only issue was that it took Forever! Maggie was feeling so bad that she gave up and went upstairs to sleep and Jenny was not feeling so happy herself. I had a juicy, perfectly cooked steak, slightly salty sweet potato fries, and spinach with shallots. It was so satisfying! After we went upstairs to eat some of the Turron, a Spanish chocolate that is popular at Christmas, that I had brought with me. It was dark chocolate and very good!

December 26th was our last day in Austria, so I wanted to cross one final thing off my wish list: I wanted to to tobogganing. Unfortunately, fate was against me :/ We found a place to go and figured out how to get there. We had returned our ski stuff, and Mom, Jenny, Katie, and I were waiting when suddenly it was apparent that Jenny was very sick. So Mom and Jenny were out and Katie and I decided to make our own way up. We get there and go inside to make sure that they have toboggans to rent. They do, so we go upstairs to see about lift tickets of some sort, and they tell us IT IS CLOSED!! I was pretty upset. The bus wasn't coming for another hour, so we went for a little walk up the slope. This is what it turned into...

Did I mention that it was raining? Because it was. By the time we finally got on a bus (we somehow missed the first one), we were soaked and not willing to take another bus up to another mountain to try again. Sadface. It happens.

The afternoon was spent by packing up all of our scattered belongings and going to buy some souvenirs. I bought some postcards to keep. I have realized that I am just not a souvenir person. I like my photos and a cute little postcard is nice, but I don't have room in my life or my suitcase for knickknacks. Dad and Bobby had gone skiing for the day in some male-bonding ritual, and they came back for dinner. Except that Bobby was leaking a lot more blood than should be okay from a gash below his knee that he had given himself with his ski. We added him to the sick and injured list, and Dad, Mom, Katie, and I headed back to the pizza place for another dinner. Katie and I split a salad and an awesome chicken spaghetti of sorts, but my real highlight was called a vodka bull. Now anyone who knows about me and vodka, knows that we DO NOT mix well, meaning I absolutely hate it. But in Austria, they make this sloe berry vodka that makes all your dreams come true. My drink tasted like blue raspberry cotton candy, and I, the girl who can taste a drop of vodka in a pool, couldn't even taste it! If you ever get the chance, TRY IT AND LOVE IT!!

Then came the goodbyes :/ I said good-bye to Mom, Dad, and Jenny that night and Maggie and Bobby the next morning, as they were headed back to the States. Maggie was supposed to continue on to Italy with Katie and me, but she was too sick. Since she has gone to the doctor, who confirmed mono, and we've thought a thousand times that she would have been miserable with us, but we missed her! It was a fabulous trip, and if that had been all for my vacation, it would have been enough, but lucky for you, it was only phase 1!!

The one with the Austrian adventures

The next day, December 23rd, we decided to buy Innsbruck cards so that we could do some sight-seeing. We got the 72 hour ones, which let us use all the transportation and see as many sites as we wanted. After buying them, we sought some more Internet at a cafe called The Breakfast Club. It was a cute local place with lots of character. I went adventurous and ordered some random plate (listed in German). It ended up being breads with cheeses, spreads, cucumbers, and tomatoes. It was a little different, but yummy!

After breakfast we headed to a new mountain to get an awesome view by taking the cable car all the way to the top. It took a little tram and two cable cars, but it was soooo cool to see! That alone was probably worth the whole trip. It is impossible to comprehend the height, the majesty of those mountains. Unfortunately it was also very windy, blowing snow everywhere, so we didn't stay long because we weren't dressed for the snow. Next we headed over to the Olympic ski jump, though on the way we took a detour to the Innsbruck panorama museum. It was about a war/battle between the Tyroleans and the Bavarians, in which the Tyroleans were eventually victorious. The panorama was really neat to see. Then on to the original plan. The ski jump was really cool to see. I can't imagine leaping off of that, hoping that the landing goes well and then having to go straight down that huge steep hill! Katie and I enjoyed checking out the Olympic Rings. There is just something so hopeful, powerful, inspiring about that symbol :)

We had left Mags and jenny at the hotel for the day since Mags still wasn't feeling well, but we had to get back because we had signed up for a "Tyrolean evening" for dinner that night. The dinner was a actually good, including a soup, salad, chicken with potatoes, and an apple strudel dessert. Afterwards the show consisted of performances of traditional Austrian dances and songs, using traditional instruments. It also included yodeling, which was pretty awesome, but I liked the traditional dances the best.

Christmas Eve day we decided to go skiing again, this time at a different area. Mom stayed back at the hotel with Jenny to run errands. This was Bobby's first day on the slopes, so it seems that he was feeling a little rusty too. The first slope we went on was really groomed and icy, making it not so fun. we were beginning to question our choice of mountains, when we found another area in the sun that had more powder and was much more fun to ski. we spent most of our time there. By this time, it was apparent that poor Mags was really sick, so our almost doctor(Bobby) took a look and figured that she has mono, poor thing. Though probably not a good idea, she wanted to ski one more day. She was too tired to do full days, so I was her buddy and we left around 1.

For me, the most important of this trip was the opportunity to spend time with everyone in my family, so that afternoon Mom and I talked Jenny into coming with us to the Alpine Zoo while Mags napped. It was definitely an ALPINE zoo; it had all the required animals. It was cute to see Jenny identify the animals based on which movie they were in: the brown bear and the elk (Brother bear), the wolves (Narnia), the lynx (simba from Lion King), fish (finding Nemo). Not completely unexpected, I liked the farm animal exhibit the best, but I thought the otter was pretty cute too. Jenny didn't want to get very close to any of them , but I think she had fun and she made me laugh :)

One of the unfortunate/good things about Europe is it seems that everything closes for holidays. In a lot of ways that is good. Holidays should be for family, and everyone should get to celebrate, but it does make it tough for traveling. Even by Christmas Eve everything was closed. Luckily we found a little pizza place where I got a delicious ham, artichoke, mushroom, and olive pizza! YUMMMM!! And I ate every bit :). It didn't really feel like Christmas Eve, but that's okay. It was about family and that is what holidays should be about!

The one with the Proposal!!

Let me start with some background that makes this story that much better... Over the summer, Bobby (Katie's boyfriend) approached the parents about proposing to Katie. He ultimately asked if he could come on our trip to Austria and surprise her. Of course we agreed, but this also meant that we knew months in advance. It is a MIRACLE that no one spilled the beans during the millions of opportunities.

Second of all, Bobby had been supposed to arrive the same night as Katie, shortly afterward. So we waited...we didn't go to dinner for hours, hoping he would show up, then he didn't. We looked for Internet to see if he had contacted us. He had, but his flight had been delayed and now he would arrive the next morning around ten in the morning. We went to breakfast, got our ski equipment, and still he had not arrived. So we waited around, all the while stalling to keep Katie in the dark. We would t let her answer the door of go to my parents' room because we were terrified she would see him too soon. Then we went skiing, nothing. Same story with waiting for dinner. It was getting to the point of real worries, not helped by the fact that we had no way to contact. Keeping all this in mind, let's head back to the winter market where Mom, Katie, and I are walking around.

Katie and I were looking in a window display, while Mom walked ahead to find a trash can. We caught up, and suddenly Mom wants to go back towards the Christmas tree that we already walked by. We start walking, and then Dad shows up, saying he decided to join us and that Mags is around looking for us. We stop in front of the Christmas tree, and Dad tells Katie to close her eyes. She does and then Bobby comes up and whispers into her ear. Katie starts shrieking, in shock that he is even there (we had all been doing a pretty good job of covering up, if I do say so myself). Then of course he tells her to take off her glove and pulls out this gorgeous ring. Finally he gets around to asking her to marry him and it is adorable!

Sisters celebrating!

 The rest of the night was spent discussing the details of how this grand surprise came to be and toasting with Champagne. I moved my stuff into mags and Jenny's room, and we were finally able to proceed on with our vacation, knowing Bobby had finally made it.

The one where Katie comes and the fun begins!

Day 2 we made our way by train to Innsbruck, Austria where we would be staying for the Christmas part of my trip. The train was fast, and I enjoyed watching the landscape change from flat farmland to the impressive, domineering Alps. We kept going through all these tunnels, and I kept saying "The mines of Moria" to Mags (LoTR fans get that I hope!). In Innsbruck, we headed to the hotel to check-in and find something fun to do for the afternoon. We ended up checking out this cute Christmas market that wound its way through the streets of the old part of the city.

After a while, we made our way back to make sure we would be there when Katie arrived. I was lying down, finishing Jane Eyre when Katie finally got there. She was travel worn and happy to be sure! She got settled, and we spent some time catching up before dinner. Traditional Austrian fare was on the menu tonight. I shared Katie's goulash soup, which was kind of spicy and scrumptious. Then I had some Spinach dumplings, which were like meatballs made of Spinach, which were soooo good and surprisingly filling. After dinner, we went in search of some Internet, which unfortunately we did not have at the hotel. Everyone else was still a bit jet-lagged of sorts, so we went to bed fairly early to be ready for fun the next day.

Day 3 began with some much loved Internet, cafe, and pastry from a chain called Baguette. We ate several breakfasts and lunches here throughout the trip, and it was affordable and delicious! We went and got our skis, poles, boots, and helmets to prepare for skiing in the afternoon. After a quick lunch all together, Dad, Mags, Katie, and I headed for the slopes. Because of the timeframe of when we were staying there, we got a hotel in town instead of at a ski resort. This probably worked better for food and sightseeing, but for skiing, it meant a 45 minute bus ride to any of the mountains in the area plus a walk to the correct bus stop. It was hot tiring work, carrying all of our equipment in our snow gear, but ultimately worth the effort.

The mountains were absolutely stunning. As far as the skiing went, I was a bit rusty, seeing how as the last seven years I have been trying out snowboarding. Lets just say that I am a little more risk aversive than I used to be. Mags was feeling tired and sick, so eventually Dad and Katie left us for the afternoon so that we could go our own pace. Mags and I had a great time catching up, lying in the snow, and doing a bit of skiing, I was really glad for my helmet, especially when I slid probably fifty feet down the mountain head first on top of it. I was definitely styling! The lift closed at four, so we caught the bus back to get ready for dinner.

Me, enjoying a little break :)

This dinner was also amazing. In case you hadn't picked up on it, I really enjoyed the food I had on my trip. Sometimes I ordered something and it wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was usually delicious nonetheless. I love that it is so easy in Europe to to to a city and find restaurants that serve the foods that are generally traditional to their culture. Anyways, Mom, Dad, Jenny, and I split a giant collection of porks, sausages, potatoes, green beans, sauerkraut, dumplings, and love! It was sooo good! We forgot to snap a picture because it looked so amazing and we were so hungry, but trust me, this is simple food at its finest :) Funny story from dinner: out of the blue, Jenny turns to Dad and says, "Dad, do you miss Bobby?" She had no idea how timely and adorable this was!

After dinner, Mom, Katie, and I decided to walk around the Christmas market, while the others went back to the hotel. It was so beautiful with all the Christmas lights and pretty things for sale. We shared three desserts: a weird, yucky chocolate-covered thing, a sort of mini fondue with banana in melted chocolate in a waffle bowl, and a cotton candy! YUM! Then the real fun began... ;)

The one with the awesome beginning

As I already told you, my winter break adventures involved lots of methods of transportation and traveling right from the beginning. I was very fortunate and had no problems making it to Sevilla airport, though I did forget my chorizo y pan sandwich at home, which was very sad. I tried to get some sleep on the flight, but there were two men behind me talking extensively about their jobs in the airline industry, not to mention the lights were absurdly bright. I made it to London Stansted safely, but I had to wait until nearly four in the morning for my transport over to London Heathrow to meet the family. I know it happens, I was doing it after all, but I was very surprised at the number of people sleeping in Stansted for the night.

Despite the drizzling rain and miserable weather (yes, I got to experience typical London weather), I managed to find my bus and sleep an hour or so over to LHR. I was worried I was going to miss my family because the first tram to the correct terminal wasn't until 5:30 and our plane was before seven. Terminal five was huge, and I had no idea how to find the fam with no phones or Internet, so I walked back and forth until I spotted them. It was absolutely fabulous seeing them after so long!! Yay for family coming to Europe to spend Christmas with me :D

We had some issues figuring out how stand-by works with British Airways, but finally we realized you have to enter this obscure door and wait in this lounge for your name to be called. Luckily, our names were called and we headed off to Munich! I slept through most of the flight, waking towards the end to eat the special British breakfast, which was this egg mayo with tomato on a croissant. I don't know if I can say that it was good, but it was an experience!

In Munich, we took a train into the city. I think I have decided that I really like trains. They tend to be comfortable, reasonably fast, and let you see some of the landscape. We arrived at our hotel and struggled between two competing needs: sleep and hunger! In the end hunger won out, and we headed out to find something. In our one true American moment of the trip, we ended up at McDonald's because everyone was too tired and apathetic to make a decision. I am slightly sad to say that we spent the rest of the day sleeping and relaxing in our rooms. I liked what I saw of Munich, but traveling is tiring!!!

Dinner was definitely the highlight of the day. We went to this traditional German restaurant that was fabulous! We started with a German lager and an appetizer of a plate of cold sausage varieties, which were neat to try. For dinner, I had a pork cutlet that was out of this world! It was so juicy and awesome that I definitely felt like a winner. For desert we got an ice cream medley and apple fritters which reminded me of the apple cider doughnuts that they sell at Carter's Mountain in Charlottesville. After, we went back to the hotel to sleep because we had more traveling to do the next day.

My delicious dinner

P.S. For those of you who are wondering, we did finally get paid.  First a payment that included the first two months owed, and then a second payment around the 22nd for December.  Hopefully from this point onward, it will be smooth sailing!

The one with 3-month Reflections

It has now been three months since I left the United States and moved to Spain.  I thought I would take a moment to reflect on some of the things I have learned and the experiences I have had.  So here goes the list:

1) Money is important, even more so when you don't have it.  Ok, so I already knew this, but you definitely realize this when you are nearly three months into the year and haven't been paid yet. Also, I like having the security of knowing that more money is going into my bank account than out; I miss that feeling.  I can live a simple life and be happy with it, so long as I am earning enough to cover basic expenses.

2) The state of the government of a country is rarely a reflection on its day-to-day people.  Spain's government, economy, practically everything is in crisis, but this doesn't stop people from reaching out and trying to help when they can.  My mentor asked me numerous times if she could lend me money when we hadn't been paid.  The director at Marissa's school offered to let us come over to take warm showers, eat, or enjoy heating.  Not that we were so bad off that we needed to take either of them up on their offers, but these are the people the help make this experience great.  

3) Seeing students once a week for fifty minutes is not enough time to make a substantial impact.  But that doesn't stop me from loving my students and wanting them to improve.  Where I really see a difference is my private lessons.  I have such a good time playing games, teaching culture, and watching them grow.  

4) The internet age is a beautiful thing.  I do not know if I would have made it this far without the support of my friends and family, which luckily have been able to make use of fairly often, thanks to skype, facetime, and messaging.  Nothing replaces those face-to-face chats, hugs, and snuggles, but it certainly helps.  

5) Snail mail should not be left to die.  As much as I love my technology, the best things I have received here, all the letters and packages that have come across the ocean and ended up in my mailbox.  Letter-writing may be dead for many people, but it is an awesome feeling to see a friend's hand-writing, knowing they touched the same paper a short week before.  

6) Spain is different.  Obviously I knew this before I came here, but it is the differences that you don't think about that make Spain, Spain.  For example, at the post office, instead of one line, you take a number and stand wherever until you are called, assuming the machine giving out or calling the numbers don't break while you are waiting.  I buy my bread from a small bakery (and am not looking forward to the end of this habit) and I hang all my clothes on a line.  The day-to-day experiences, troublesome as some of them are, that are making this year what it is. 

7) Anyone that tells you that Spain, particularly southern Spain does not get cold is full of it or selling something.  If people would just admit that it does get cold, then maybe there would be mechanisms, like insulation, rugs, and window sealant, designed to keep flats from getting as cold as it is outside.  Also, there is something about the air here that leads to being able to see your breath inside as often as out; I think it makes it feel even colder than it is.  

8) It is hard to make friends and even more so when there is a cultural and/or language barrier.  I want Spanish friends, I do, but my teachers are a good bit older than me because of how long it takes to become a teacher here, and I don't spend enough time with anyone else.  As much as I wish I had made some Spanish friends by now, there is still hope.  Besides, I have made three new American friends that are pretty great.  

That is all for now.  My time here in Spain is 3/8 of the way done, and I am super excited to see what the next 5 months bring.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  

P.S. Get psyched to see all the blogs that will be coming at you from my AMAZING winter break travels.  I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere!!

The one with the 19-day trip

Today is the day! I am leaving this afternoon for a long, long, long, long trip in celebration of Christmas, New Year's and Three King's Day, possibly with a couple other celebrations thrown in for good measure.  I have been waiting for this trip for literally months now, and I am sure that it is going to be well worth the wait.

Here is the plan: Bus to Sevilla this afternoon to catch a 10:00 PM flight to London.  I will get into London Stansted airport around midnight and will slowly make my way to London Heathrow, where I will meet up with Mom, Dad, Maggie, and Jenny, assuming they have successfully made it to London at this point (fingers and toes crossed!).  Together we will all fly to Munich, where we will spend the day sight-seeing.  On Friday, we will take the train to Innsbruck, where Katie will meet us at our hotel in the afternoon.  The next 5 will consist of skiing, Christmas, sleigh-rides, ice-skating, tobogganing, and other shenanigans.  On the 27th, Maggie, Katie and I will depart for Venice, Florence, and then finally Rome for New Year's Eve.  On January 3rd, I will head to Madrid alone, to catch a bus to Barcelona, where I will meet Marissa.  We will site-see and enjoy the festivities of the night before Three King's Day.  FINALLY, on January 6th, we will catch a flight and then a bus to end up back here in Zafra.

It is going to be the adventure of the month, if not the year, and you get to have it with me!  I may do some previews from my Ipod while I am gone, but the "real" posts won't begin until I return in January.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The one with no subtitles

Marissa and I are finally starting to feel poor, so instead of going on some awesome adventure this weekend, we decided to make an adventure for ourselves right here in Zafra.  We finally checked out the local movie theater or as the Brits call it, the cinema.  Our choices were not very thrilling, but such is life in a small town.  There was Amanecer (Breaking Dawn), Un Golpe de Efecto (The Trouble with the Curve), Un Buen Partido (Playing for Keeps), La Vida de Pi (The Life of Pi) or some kid's movies.  We wanted something that would be interesting, but not too complicated.  The main reason for this is that unlike a lot of countries, Spain dubs their movies instead of adding subtitles.

In the end, we selected Un Golpe de Efecto, and for the most part, we weren't disappointed.  Overall, my comprehension was fairly good, despite the difficult accent of old Spanish men.  It is very strange indeed to watch people's mouths clearly speaking English words, only to have Spanish come out.  Let me just say Clint Eastwood, Justin Timberlake, and Amy Adams did not sound at all like I remembered ;)  All in all, it was a good experience, one that we are likely to repeat in January, considering how warm and toasty it was in the movie theater!

The one with Collin Tarnos

Spanglish has become a normal part of my everyday life.  Nearly every conversation involves at least some Spanish phrases: tan frío, no me importa, me molesta, muchas gracias, hasta luego, hazlo, etc.  This is what happens when we don't switch together...

Marissa: And then we can go to the cafe to Collin Tarnos?
Sandy: What?
Marissa: Collin Tarnos
Sandy: Who's that?
Marissa: What? You know, warm up, calentarnos.
Both: BAHAHAHAHAHA!

I was totally convinced he was some movie star that I just didn't know about.  In case you were wondering, we did go to the cafe to Collin Tarnos and it has been very nice indeed.

The one with the football match

Our team is in the blue!

This morning I went with my mentor, Chus, and her family to her eldest son's (Antonio) football match.  Two of my other students, Nacho and Pablo also play for the same team.  Unfortunately, Nacho got a red card and was expelled from the match for talking back to the ref.  During one of the private lessons that I do with Antonio (son) and Antonio (father), I had them teach me about football, the rules, etc., so it was nice to see him play and watch it all in action.  Chus also has two other children, Celia (10) and Mario (7), who are soooooo adorable.  Mario just talks and talks and talks, and I tried to understand, but it isn't exactly easy with the little kids.  Celia is autistic, and I just love her.  She and I spent most of the morning smiling at each other until she came up to me, gave me a side hug, and then plopped down into my lap and held both my hands.  It was AWESOME! I just love kids, and it was the best.  

The one of the Eiffel tower at night

So I am EXTREMELY PROUD of this picture, all the more so because I took it with a $70 camera on night mode without a tripod.  I can only imagine how legit it would be with a legit camera :)  The trip was pretty  much worth it for this picture alone.  How awesome am I?!?! Ok, brag-fest is officially over.  Besides, if I was really that awesome, I would have pictures like this all the time.

The one where my legs almost fell off (Paris)

Paris Day 2 was pretty much as full as it possibly could have been.  Ok, I’m lying, if we had gone back out to see more sites after dinner, it could have been fuller, but we did our best.  We started the day in the same manner as Saturday, with our croissants and nutella, coffee, and orange juice, once again smuggling our bread into our bags.  We headed straight over to Notre Dame to get in line for the towers before they even opened around 9:45AM.  We wanted to make sure that we got to the top with as little wait as possible.  We climbed the nearly 450 steps and saw some of the best views Paris has to offer.  One of the great things about city center is how nearly all the buildings stay true to Paris’s architectural style.  It really gives the place a definite feeling of “Paris,” rather than the placelessness that seems to permeate so many cities today.  After we went up to the bell towers, we went inside, which was really fascinating, as a church service in French was going on.  The perimeter inside was separated so that people could walk around and see all the various altars and stained glass.  If you happen to be reading this, Memere, I lit a candle and said a prayer especially for you and Pepere J 

Next we headed off to the Pantheon, which I am pretty sure is the old government building.  Whatever it used to be, it is quite impressive with classical architecture, all columns, domes and such.  The crypt was really neat as well, with the tombs of well-known French people, like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Madame Curie.  That would be awesome to be so important as to warrant a special tomb that people from all over the world come to visit you at.  After we tried to go to Pompidou center, which is another art museum, and currently has a large Salvador Dali exhibit going on (one of my favorite artists), but there was like an hour wait to get into the museum and another 90 minutes for the Dali exhibit, so we moved on.  The outside of Pompidou was cool too though, it looked like it had one of those hamster tunnels attached to the side ;)

Next on the list was the Arc du Triomphe.  Marissa had kept saying how small it was, but her memory obviously deceived her because it was extremely tall and had excellent views.  By this point, my legs can attest to its height because they burned more and more with each passing step.  It was windy and worth it J 

We made our way over to the Louvre, taking our time to enjoy our light lunch along with way.  Masha had plans to go out salsa-dancing that night, so we took the obligatory outside pictures and she headed back to the hotel to rest her worn-out legs while Marissa and I tackled the Louvre.  When people say that you could spend days, weeks, months even in the Louvre, they aren’t kidding, but we managed to see the biggest things for us in less than 90 minutes.  We made our way through the French statues, the Renaissance tapestries, and the Egyptian art to see Hammurabi’s code, which was pretty cool and definitely steeped in history.  Next we rushed over to Venus de Milo, followed by the Wedding Feast and the Mona Lisa.  We didn’t stay any one place very long, but I was impressed by the ancient greek sculptures the most.  My favorite was probably the Wedding Feast; I just love the style of painting from that period (Renaissance I think).  We tripped the light fantastic toe (supposedly our Spanish/English dictionary thinks this is a suitable translation for saltar, which is really to dance or leap) through the Spanish paintings and headed out. 

The Wedding Feast

Our day was finally winding down as we headed to L’Orangerie, the home of Monet’s water lilies.  Our Museum pass let us bypass the long line, and we were in within minutes.  As expected, they were breathtaking.  Monet always makes me think of this painting Mom & Dad had hanging above their bed when I was little, pretty sure it was Monet and some variation of water lilies.  Anyways, I digress. I could have sat in there listening to classical music and reading one of the classics for hours, but on we continued. Last official stop of the day, and pretty much the trip, was Musee Rodin home of the ‘The Kiss,’ ‘The Thinker,’ and ‘Gates of Hell.’ I am glad we went, but honestly I was so tired that I would have sat down on a bench and fallen asleep if it wasn’t so gosh darn cold.  We contemplated one more stop, but we were sooooo done, so back to the hotel we went. 

It is amazing how an hour of lying down can rejuvenate you, as was the case with us.  We interneted it up and then decided to seek out some more of those mouth-watering crepes.  On the way, we made a detour down the street to take a gander at the infamous Moulin Rouge.  As we walked the street, I couldn’t help but think of another trip not too long ago to Las Vegas and to a certain friend (Alyssa) who would have thought this the best place on earth.  Sometimes you go so far away to realize what you have right there at home…We got our crepes, the exact same as Saturday (what can I say, I am a creature of habit), and returned to the warmth of our hotel room. 

And what was the best part of our trip?  I never feel like I can pick just one part, but the highlights.  Laughs and jokes with friends, French crepes straight out of the pan, going to bed and waking up warm, FaceTiming with Katie and Chelsea, and experiencing a place that is different from anywhere I have ever been before.  All in all, it was worth every penny.