Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
I'm in Berlin
I'm in Berlin. This is day 27 of my backpacking through Europe and I'm still having an amazing time. In the past 27 days I've been in seven different countries. I've been traveling everywhere by train and the countryside is gorgeous. Slovenia was probably my favorite country I rode through. Such natural beauty. The Alps around Salzburg were pretty impressive as well. There is far too much to fit into a blog post to describe my last twenty days, but I'll at least put a picture from each of the countries I've been traveling through.
Pizza in Napoli
Napoli is the birthplace of pizza. Being the birthplace of pizza, Napoli is often referred to as the best place in the world to eat pizza. This pizza is at Da Michele in Napoli. Da Michele was rated as the best pizza in Napoli on a few different review sites that I looked up. Ipso facto, I've eaten the best pizza in the world.
Zadar, Croatia
Gorgeous town. Right on The Adriatic sea.
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Easily one of my favorite cities in Europe.
Bratislava, Slovakia
Cheap beer, lots of history, Eastern Europe definitely a worthwhile traveling experience.
Vienna, Austria
Berlin, Germany
Friday, May 18, 2012
Days 1-7 - Sardegna and Sicilia
I'm on day 7 of backpacking through Europe. The first few days were absolutely exhausting because we were traveling every day while at the same time getting used to traveling without having a home base. It's a very different feeling traveling now that I know I'm not going "Home" at the end of the weekend. In fact, I won't be "Home" for another two months. And in two months I'll be returning to my "Home" that I won't have seen for 188 days.
The first five nights of my travels I slept in five different beds. Alghero, Olbia, Cagliari, Trapani, Palermo. Started in the north of the Italian island of Sardegna and made my way south to Sicilia, where I am now. I'm currently spending my third night in Palermo, and couldn't be happier about it. It has been so good just to stay put for a little bit. The first five days took a lot out of us. From now on, we'll be spending two nights in most places. Tomorrow night I'll be sleeping on a night train from Palermo to Napoli. We'll have two nights there, checking out Capri and Pompei. Then I'll spend the next night sleeping on a ferry from Ancona, Italy to Zadar, Croatia. Pretty excited about that part of the plan. But enough of the probable future, how about what I've already done.
Sardegna was amazing. Although first day we were there was a bit of a bust. We wanted to get to the beautiful beaches of Stintino via bus, but it was Sunday in Italy. If you don't know what that means, it means it's nearly impossible to do anything or get anywhere. We spent most of the day waiting for buses until finally we took a taxi to the next town over so we could take a train to Olbia where we were sleeping that night.
My favorite part about traveling is being open to new experiences. Once we finally made it to our B&B in Olbia, we met with the owner Edoardo and got settled in. He told us that there was a festival going on in the city that evening for the patron saint of the town. He explained to us how to get there and introduced us to the only one other guy staying at our B&B. Chris from Hamburg, Germany. We went out to dinner and made our way over to the local festival. To break it down, it was basically just an open market next to a big open concert next to a traveling carnival. To put it simply, it was awesome. We rode a haunted house ride and another ride that I'm absolutely certain would never pass safety regulations in the States. Easily the most fun I've had on a carnival ride since I was a wee lad. Felt like I was going to fly off.
Yesterday in Palermo we were planning on taking a ferry ride to the island of Ustica, the source of my Italian heritage. It was a bust. There was too much wind out on the water and the ferries weren't running. Then we tried to catch a train to Agrigento to check out some ancient temple ruins but that failed too. Italian train strike. However, the day wasn't a total failure. We walked around the city and explored.We stumbled into the local opera house to check it out and realized we could see the opera that was playing that night for 20 Euro. It was so amazing. The opera was Der König Kandaules. I looked up the synopsis beforehand because I knew there was no way I was going to be able to understand an opera sung in German. However, during the show there was a screen that offered a translation to Italian that I was able to understand most of.
Today I made it to the island of Ustica. It was amazing. Such a beautiful place. I found the cemetery and saw some old tombstones with "Mancuso" written on them. It was a very moving experience to see where some of my ancestors came from. After passing through the cemetery we proceeded to walk around the entire island. It took about two and a half hours to walk around the entire thing.
I'm so excited for the next few weeks of my travels. I can't wait to go to Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria. Em Parker will be meeting up with me in Vienna, we're going to have so much fun. Partypartyparty.
Shout out to my amazing friend Cecilia Fernandez! I love you Ceci, stay strong and get well soon!
The first five nights of my travels I slept in five different beds. Alghero, Olbia, Cagliari, Trapani, Palermo. Started in the north of the Italian island of Sardegna and made my way south to Sicilia, where I am now. I'm currently spending my third night in Palermo, and couldn't be happier about it. It has been so good just to stay put for a little bit. The first five days took a lot out of us. From now on, we'll be spending two nights in most places. Tomorrow night I'll be sleeping on a night train from Palermo to Napoli. We'll have two nights there, checking out Capri and Pompei. Then I'll spend the next night sleeping on a ferry from Ancona, Italy to Zadar, Croatia. Pretty excited about that part of the plan. But enough of the probable future, how about what I've already done.
Sardegna was amazing. Although first day we were there was a bit of a bust. We wanted to get to the beautiful beaches of Stintino via bus, but it was Sunday in Italy. If you don't know what that means, it means it's nearly impossible to do anything or get anywhere. We spent most of the day waiting for buses until finally we took a taxi to the next town over so we could take a train to Olbia where we were sleeping that night.
My favorite part about traveling is being open to new experiences. Once we finally made it to our B&B in Olbia, we met with the owner Edoardo and got settled in. He told us that there was a festival going on in the city that evening for the patron saint of the town. He explained to us how to get there and introduced us to the only one other guy staying at our B&B. Chris from Hamburg, Germany. We went out to dinner and made our way over to the local festival. To break it down, it was basically just an open market next to a big open concert next to a traveling carnival. To put it simply, it was awesome. We rode a haunted house ride and another ride that I'm absolutely certain would never pass safety regulations in the States. Easily the most fun I've had on a carnival ride since I was a wee lad. Felt like I was going to fly off.
Yesterday in Palermo we were planning on taking a ferry ride to the island of Ustica, the source of my Italian heritage. It was a bust. There was too much wind out on the water and the ferries weren't running. Then we tried to catch a train to Agrigento to check out some ancient temple ruins but that failed too. Italian train strike. However, the day wasn't a total failure. We walked around the city and explored.We stumbled into the local opera house to check it out and realized we could see the opera that was playing that night for 20 Euro. It was so amazing. The opera was Der König Kandaules. I looked up the synopsis beforehand because I knew there was no way I was going to be able to understand an opera sung in German. However, during the show there was a screen that offered a translation to Italian that I was able to understand most of.
Today I made it to the island of Ustica. It was amazing. Such a beautiful place. I found the cemetery and saw some old tombstones with "Mancuso" written on them. It was a very moving experience to see where some of my ancestors came from. After passing through the cemetery we proceeded to walk around the entire island. It took about two and a half hours to walk around the entire thing.
I'm so excited for the next few weeks of my travels. I can't wait to go to Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria. Em Parker will be meeting up with me in Vienna, we're going to have so much fun. Partypartyparty.
Shout out to my amazing friend Cecilia Fernandez! I love you Ceci, stay strong and get well soon!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
The Final Torino Chronicle
I'm sitting here in my Torino apartment, ready to go, and counting the minutes until I go to catch the train to make my way to Sardegna. I've got everything I'll need (hopefully) packed into my large backpacking backpack and my smaller Dakine school backpack. This day came faster than I would have ever expected, and it is a quite bittersweet moment. I've had such an amazing time over the past four months. Seeing places I had only dreamed of seeing. Making new friends and meeting people from all different places and backgrounds. Learning a new language in one semester better than I had ever thought possible. The last four months are so indescribable that it is almost frustrating. I wish I could explain it. I've learned so much, about myself and about the world that I live in.
Last night was my final night in Torino. I couldn't have asked for a better send off. I started the night with a few of my best friends, and we went out for aperitivo. Aperitivo is similar to the Spanish "Tapas" but different. Aperitivo is a relatively new piece of Northern Italian culture. The way it works is you go to an Aperitivo restaurant, walk up to the bar, buy a drink, then help yourself to a buffet of appetizers. It is a very social event and is very different from traditional Italian dinners. So, last night I went out to my favorite Aperitivo place and hung out there for about an hour and a half and stuffed my face with DELICIOUS Italian food. I'm a little disappointed actually, because I was only introduced to this particular Aperitivo place just this last week. I went there for the first time on Wednesday night and knew that I needed to go back for my last meal in Torino (Mom this is where I'll be taking you to dinner when we're back in Torino in 2 months.) We were four people sitting at an 8 person table, and it was crowded last night, so we ended up sharing a table with a group of three Italian women. We sat at that table for about an hour just talking about the city, where we're from, the wine they were drinking, the White Russians we were drinking, and about Juventus (the local Torino soccer team that recently won the league title). The cool thing about it was that the conversation was entirely in Italian. I could have never imagined that I would have been able to do something like that four months ago. It's amazes me how much one can learn in 4 months.
After Aperitivo I met up with some more friends over in Piazza San Carlo. There were probably around fifteen of us. We sipped on wine, reminisced about the semester, played charades, and just enjoyed each other's company. Some of our Italian friends that own the local Panino place on our street came and joined us as well. Ohhh man they make the BEST panini. My older brother can attest to that. I'm going to miss the food on Via Mazzini so much.
After hanging out in Piazza San Carlo until about 12:30 or so, we headed over to a pub called Texas Rangers. Nearly everyone from my program was there. It was a really fun time. Had to say goodbye to some of my best friends. It was really sad and there were plenty of tears. I hope to see many of them again someday.
Right now I'm looking at hostels and places to stay in Sardegna and Sicilia, the first two stops on my expedition. I've had such a sensational time living here and getting to spend time with the people that I did. But now, my life in Torino is behind me. My bags are packed and I'm ready for the next chapter of my life.
Last night was my final night in Torino. I couldn't have asked for a better send off. I started the night with a few of my best friends, and we went out for aperitivo. Aperitivo is similar to the Spanish "Tapas" but different. Aperitivo is a relatively new piece of Northern Italian culture. The way it works is you go to an Aperitivo restaurant, walk up to the bar, buy a drink, then help yourself to a buffet of appetizers. It is a very social event and is very different from traditional Italian dinners. So, last night I went out to my favorite Aperitivo place and hung out there for about an hour and a half and stuffed my face with DELICIOUS Italian food. I'm a little disappointed actually, because I was only introduced to this particular Aperitivo place just this last week. I went there for the first time on Wednesday night and knew that I needed to go back for my last meal in Torino (Mom this is where I'll be taking you to dinner when we're back in Torino in 2 months.) We were four people sitting at an 8 person table, and it was crowded last night, so we ended up sharing a table with a group of three Italian women. We sat at that table for about an hour just talking about the city, where we're from, the wine they were drinking, the White Russians we were drinking, and about Juventus (the local Torino soccer team that recently won the league title). The cool thing about it was that the conversation was entirely in Italian. I could have never imagined that I would have been able to do something like that four months ago. It's amazes me how much one can learn in 4 months.
After Aperitivo I met up with some more friends over in Piazza San Carlo. There were probably around fifteen of us. We sipped on wine, reminisced about the semester, played charades, and just enjoyed each other's company. Some of our Italian friends that own the local Panino place on our street came and joined us as well. Ohhh man they make the BEST panini. My older brother can attest to that. I'm going to miss the food on Via Mazzini so much.
After hanging out in Piazza San Carlo until about 12:30 or so, we headed over to a pub called Texas Rangers. Nearly everyone from my program was there. It was a really fun time. Had to say goodbye to some of my best friends. It was really sad and there were plenty of tears. I hope to see many of them again someday.
Right now I'm looking at hostels and places to stay in Sardegna and Sicilia, the first two stops on my expedition. I've had such a sensational time living here and getting to spend time with the people that I did. But now, my life in Torino is behind me. My bags are packed and I'm ready for the next chapter of my life.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Don't Close Your Eyes
Before I start this, take a look at the trailer for the video project I'm working on. The title is the same as that of my blog. I'm spending a lot of time on it and I think it is going to be really cool once I'm finished.
Time has gone by quite fast over here. I think the days are shorter in Europe. I think they're only 22 or so hours and there are only 6 days in a week. That's the only way I can explain how it is already April 25th. It really surprised me how fast my 21st birthday came. It's tomorrow already.
In my attempt to blog and keep people updated on my life, I have failed. And I don't really plan on changing that. This could be my final post, but I suppose it's possible that I'll write another before I move out of my apartment in Torino. After I move out of my apartment I think that I won't have any time to write anything up, nor consistent or predictable access to internet.
I'm about two months behind on staying up to date and there is absolutely no way for me to write an exciting detailed account of what I've been up to. So, I'm just going to do it in list form.
Spring Break:
After I got back from Spring Break I stayed in Torino for a much needed relaxing weekend. The weekend after that, I wrote my most recent blog post as I was taking the train to Aosta. 2 hour train ride from Torino. Went with my roommate Nate. It's absolutely beautiful there. Stayed with my friend Silvia. So much fun. Amazing valley at the base of the Alps. Roman Ruins. Old stuff. Ate Gelato. Saw Mont Blanc, tallest mountain in the alps.
The day after getting back from Aosta, my older brother arrived. We had so much fun together. His arrival coincided (but not coincidentally) with my Easter break. I planned it so that I could skip one class (YES ONLY ONE!) and take 8 days to travel with him.
Time has gone by quite fast over here. I think the days are shorter in Europe. I think they're only 22 or so hours and there are only 6 days in a week. That's the only way I can explain how it is already April 25th. It really surprised me how fast my 21st birthday came. It's tomorrow already.
In my attempt to blog and keep people updated on my life, I have failed. And I don't really plan on changing that. This could be my final post, but I suppose it's possible that I'll write another before I move out of my apartment in Torino. After I move out of my apartment I think that I won't have any time to write anything up, nor consistent or predictable access to internet.
I'm about two months behind on staying up to date and there is absolutely no way for me to write an exciting detailed account of what I've been up to. So, I'm just going to do it in list form.
Spring Break:
- Florence for two days. Saw The David, Ponte Vecchio, Marchese Taylor, Piazzale Michelangelo. It was awesome.
- Alicante for four days. Stayed with Brett Gutierrez. Hung out on the beach. It was gorgeous. Played in a 64-team beer pong tournament. Won the whole thing. 1st prize was a cruise to Ibiza. We were so excited. (I couldn't go because the cruise left from Alicante and it would have been too expensive for me to get back there.)
- Ireland for three days. Visited Galway and Cliffs of Moher. It's so green. Beautiful Country. St. Patricks day in Dublin. "Visited" Temple Bar and Guinness Brewery. Drank plenty of Guinness. Delicious.
The day after getting back from Aosta, my older brother arrived. We had so much fun together. His arrival coincided (but not coincidentally) with my Easter break. I planned it so that I could skip one class (YES ONLY ONE!) and take 8 days to travel with him.
- Munich for two days. Went to Hofbrauhaus, day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, visited Dachau concentration camp, ate sausage, drank Bavarian beers.
- Zurich for one day. sleepy little town on Good Friday. Not my favorite city in Europe. Wouldn't have minded skipping it for someplace else in Switzerland. Stayed in a great hostel with a terrace roof.
- Next day we took the train to Bern. Cool town. Capitol of Switzerland. Then took the train to Thun or Spiez. Can't remember. Took a boat from there to Interlaken. Stayed the night there. Beautiful.
- Next day went up in the mountains to Murren. It was dumping snow. After Murren we made our way to Zermatt. Stayed in Zermatt that night. Zermatt is at the base of the Matterhorn.
- Next day, Mike snowboarded in the morning. I worked on homework. Around noon we went up to the top of the Klein Matterhorn. 12,533 ft. Mike and I both got light headed at that altitude. Amazing view. Also went to the top of the Gornergrat. 10,269 Ft. If you have a beer at over 10,000 feet you don't have to worry about it getting warm.
- Next day we headed to Lugano. Really cool city. Breathtaking, right on an amazingly blue lake. Unfortunately it was overcast. The next morning we made our way back to Torino.
A day after I got back I had two midterms. Ruh roh! I was so nervous. Studied a lot for them in the time I had. After taking my Italian test, I thought I probably earned a B. For Modern Design I was hoping for a D. I got both tests back the week after that and I got A-'s on both of them. Solid!
I'm already almost up to date! Last weekend I went to Crete, Greece. I think it is probably the most naturally beautiful and diverse island I have ever seen. You can be standing on one of it's breathtaking sandy beaches (in 80 degree gorgeous sunny weather) and look out across the Mediterranean, then turn around and see snow-covered peaks towering 8,000 feet above the sea level. The island itself is a little bit larger than the heel of the boot of Italy. If Crete were a State in the US, it would only be larger than Rhode Island and Deleware. It's tiny, but it is the closest thing I've seen to paradise.
I went with 7 great friends. We stayed in a hotel about a 5 minute walk from three different sun kissed beaches for about $15 a night. The Greek people are the nicest I've encountered anywhere. It was easily one of the most pleasant, relaxing, and fun trips I've ever had. The food was also amazing. We rented bikes for two days and rode into town and around the island. I wish I was a good enough photographer to truly capture the beauty of the island.
That brings us to now. Today is the day before my 21st birthday and I'm going out to a local pub to celebrate with all my friends here. I've made so many amazing friends over the time that I've spent here. I can't wait to see all my friends back home that I won't be celebrating with tonight. To those of you who would've had a beer with me tonight or tomorrow night, have one anyways, I'm there in spirit. I'll be back in the States before I know it. I'm so thankful for the experience that I've had. I owe it all to my parents for the opportunities they've given me. It's hard not to feel spoiled doing what I've done and what I'm still going to do, but I hope that if I am thankful enough and gracious enough it will somehow make up for the debt that I owe to all the chances, experiences, and opportunities that have been provided for me in my life. It will never be enough, but I'm not going to feel guilty enjoying myself as long as I can. These 188 days are without a doubt an artificial utopia that will expire July 17th. I know that the world is full of challenges. And while I'm not facing them right now, I think that I will be ready to face them when the time comes.
"Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god you say "YES!""
The next chapter of my European adventure starts in 16 days when I move out of my apartment and start my two and a half months of travels. I'm traveling with my friend's Sage and Cory for the first three or four weeks, and after that I'll be on my own for a while. I may be traveling with my roommate from Chico, Brett, for some of that time, but that guy is hard to get a hold of. During the last two and a half months I'll be traveling by train through the south of Italy over to Croatia, then up into Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, and possibly Poland. Then I'll make my way over to Germany, France, Spain, and England. I think a good way to describe my approach is a quote that I liked from a film I saw recently, My Week with Marilyn.
"When my only talent was not to close my eyes"
Stay classy friends.
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