Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Liverpool, Home of the Beatles
In previous blog I forgot to mention how crazy/great it was to be in an English speaking country again! We kept catching ourselves saying si and grazie and forgetting that people could actually listen to our conversations when sitting on the metro or walking around. It was also a HUGE relief to know you could walk up to someone to ask for help or directions, something we are not used to here in Italy.
On to Liverpool..
Liverpool was one of my favorites just because the people were so nice!! Of course we never have any idea where we are going upon first arriving at our new destination, but the people in Liverpool were constantly helping us! After walking to about 5 different bus stops, we finally made it to our hotel. Thanks to Lizard, we stayed at the most amazing hotel(or it seemed like that after coming from the hostel)with the most comfortable beds, chocolates on our pillows, English tv, and a huge continental breakfast. I think this is also what made the Liverpool trip so good. Unfortunately, not the best weather in Liverpool, but that didn't stop us from our Magical Mystery Tour! We rode a crazy neon tour bus around Liverpool and got to the sights of the Beatles including, their homes, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, and much more. We got to hear tons of great stories from our tour guide who actually knows Paul McCartney! We were laughing the whole just because it was such a funny experience and because half-way through Tiff leans over and asks "how many people were in the Beatles?"
Another thing we loved about Liverpool was the accents..they were crazy and nothing like in London. It was really like another language, and most of the time we didn't even know what they were saying, but it was so fun to listen to.
Liverpool night we headed to the Cavern Pub where the Beatles used to play and listened to this guy do a lot of Beatles and oldies covers...i think one of the most fun nights on the trip. It was such a fun atmosphere in this small underground pub with all of these people just singing along and having a good time and dancing. We just sat in the corner, sang along, and took it all in.
I think that about covers Liverpool and London even though I'm sure I left things out, so I will have to have Mary Beth fill in...
Up next..Dublin!! (and pictures!)
On to Liverpool..
Liverpool was one of my favorites just because the people were so nice!! Of course we never have any idea where we are going upon first arriving at our new destination, but the people in Liverpool were constantly helping us! After walking to about 5 different bus stops, we finally made it to our hotel. Thanks to Lizard, we stayed at the most amazing hotel(or it seemed like that after coming from the hostel)with the most comfortable beds, chocolates on our pillows, English tv, and a huge continental breakfast. I think this is also what made the Liverpool trip so good. Unfortunately, not the best weather in Liverpool, but that didn't stop us from our Magical Mystery Tour! We rode a crazy neon tour bus around Liverpool and got to the sights of the Beatles including, their homes, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, and much more. We got to hear tons of great stories from our tour guide who actually knows Paul McCartney! We were laughing the whole just because it was such a funny experience and because half-way through Tiff leans over and asks "how many people were in the Beatles?"
Another thing we loved about Liverpool was the accents..they were crazy and nothing like in London. It was really like another language, and most of the time we didn't even know what they were saying, but it was so fun to listen to.
Liverpool night we headed to the Cavern Pub where the Beatles used to play and listened to this guy do a lot of Beatles and oldies covers...i think one of the most fun nights on the trip. It was such a fun atmosphere in this small underground pub with all of these people just singing along and having a good time and dancing. We just sat in the corner, sang along, and took it all in.
I think that about covers Liverpool and London even though I'm sure I left things out, so I will have to have Mary Beth fill in...
Up next..Dublin!! (and pictures!)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Our whirwind of a spring break...only a month late
There is so much to say about our spring break trip that I don't even know where to begin! It doesn't help either that we waited a month to post about it, so sorry if some details are spared or forgotten. Hopefully the pictures will do justice! So we visited 3 countries and 5 cities in 10 days!! It was a whirlwind but a very fun one! Surprisingly, there were only a couple mishaps and a few moments of frustration and we all survived each other..even Cole who was with 4 girls!!
Stress #1 (before the trip even began)- waiting in the check-in line at the airport not knowing if our bags were going to make it on board because they were almost definitely oversize and overweight. Apparently these discount airlines are very strict with carry-on luggage, but we chose to do it anyway. So while no one was looking we walked over to the little metal box you have to be able to fit you bag into to carry it on and of course none of ours came even close to fitting, even with shoving. After frantically worrying for an hour, the lady didn't even look at our bags because apparently we had already checked-in online. It was a close one...
First stop...LONDON
We arrived Friday evening and headed for the hostel. It might have taken an hour to get there, but I'll have to say we have become very skilled at grasping each city's transportation system (or maybe that is just Cole and I and everyone else just follows). For our first hostel experience, it was not a bad one. Quite the opposite of what I was expecting, we came in around 11pm to get ready for bed and found everyone in the room sound asleep with lights off. So we scrambled around in the dark and in our shared floor bathroom to get ready for bed. Oh and found someone sleeping in the bed Cole was planning on sleeping in, so we all re-arranged in the dark. Quite an experience! Hostel experience #2 eating our cereal with spoons that had just been used by someone else. Our first day we took a free tour of London that we had found an ad for in the hostel. Starting with the changing of the guard, we got to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Parliament...all the things you need to see while in London..and all for free! We then grabbed some lunch and had a picnic in Hyde Park, one of the most beautiful parks I have seen. We were lucky to have great weather, so we relaxed in the park along with everyone else! We wondered around some more, across London Bridge and by the Globe Theater and then called it a day. Sadly one of the highlights of London was eating that night at Texas Embassy... some good old Mexican food. After another night of getting ready in the dark and a morning of eating cereal out of bowls and spoons other people had just finished eating out of, we headed to the Tate Modern. (I'm not complaining, I loved the hostel!) The Tate Modern was great! MB will elaborate more because she absolutely loved it! We also found that if you don't plan, you get a really late start to your day. Cole and I found a really fun market that had tons of food and home-made goods, lots of hand-made bags and clothes..it was a lot of fun and we ate way too much food. We also went to Kensington Palace and got to see all of the Queen's dresses and Princess Diana's gowns. Kensington gardens were beautiful..there were people practicing archery in their back yards!! It was just like a movie, very peaceful and picturesque. While we were at Kensington, MB, Tiff, Lizard, and Colleen went to Hillsong which I know was quite an experience!
Stress #2- figuring out how to get to Liverpool the next day because of course we waited until the night before and all the ticket prices had gone up..so after going to 3 train stations, we finally got tickets and ended it with dinner at McDonalds (a frequent stop for us).
Next stop...Liverpool
Stress #1 (before the trip even began)- waiting in the check-in line at the airport not knowing if our bags were going to make it on board because they were almost definitely oversize and overweight. Apparently these discount airlines are very strict with carry-on luggage, but we chose to do it anyway. So while no one was looking we walked over to the little metal box you have to be able to fit you bag into to carry it on and of course none of ours came even close to fitting, even with shoving. After frantically worrying for an hour, the lady didn't even look at our bags because apparently we had already checked-in online. It was a close one...
First stop...LONDON
We arrived Friday evening and headed for the hostel. It might have taken an hour to get there, but I'll have to say we have become very skilled at grasping each city's transportation system (or maybe that is just Cole and I and everyone else just follows). For our first hostel experience, it was not a bad one. Quite the opposite of what I was expecting, we came in around 11pm to get ready for bed and found everyone in the room sound asleep with lights off. So we scrambled around in the dark and in our shared floor bathroom to get ready for bed. Oh and found someone sleeping in the bed Cole was planning on sleeping in, so we all re-arranged in the dark. Quite an experience! Hostel experience #2 eating our cereal with spoons that had just been used by someone else. Our first day we took a free tour of London that we had found an ad for in the hostel. Starting with the changing of the guard, we got to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Parliament...all the things you need to see while in London..and all for free! We then grabbed some lunch and had a picnic in Hyde Park, one of the most beautiful parks I have seen. We were lucky to have great weather, so we relaxed in the park along with everyone else! We wondered around some more, across London Bridge and by the Globe Theater and then called it a day. Sadly one of the highlights of London was eating that night at Texas Embassy... some good old Mexican food. After another night of getting ready in the dark and a morning of eating cereal out of bowls and spoons other people had just finished eating out of, we headed to the Tate Modern. (I'm not complaining, I loved the hostel!) The Tate Modern was great! MB will elaborate more because she absolutely loved it! We also found that if you don't plan, you get a really late start to your day. Cole and I found a really fun market that had tons of food and home-made goods, lots of hand-made bags and clothes..it was a lot of fun and we ate way too much food. We also went to Kensington Palace and got to see all of the Queen's dresses and Princess Diana's gowns. Kensington gardens were beautiful..there were people practicing archery in their back yards!! It was just like a movie, very peaceful and picturesque. While we were at Kensington, MB, Tiff, Lizard, and Colleen went to Hillsong which I know was quite an experience!
Stress #2- figuring out how to get to Liverpool the next day because of course we waited until the night before and all the ticket prices had gone up..so after going to 3 train stations, we finally got tickets and ended it with dinner at McDonalds (a frequent stop for us).
Next stop...Liverpool
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Yes, we did it. But really what else is there to do in Pisa?
We went on what we thought would be a casual, beautiful Sunday afternoon; however, in the typical March-Italy weather we got rain…and a lot of it. But that didn’t stop us! We walked from the station to the tower, took maybe too many pics in hope of creating some façade beyond the ordinary, and then grabbed some quick, cheap lunch. After lunch we started back to the train station when we passed by these funky bicycle carts that sat four people. As you would expect, we made our
-Mb
Monday, March 9, 2009
I love where I am!!
There are so many things to say about Florence, then Italy, and even in a larger scale Europe. I am going to be honest and say that I would be totally fine with never leaving! At least once a day I remind my roommates how much I love Florence, and how I just love being here. Here are a few things that make Florence "e il meglio che c'e!!"
1. Artisans. If you are an artist, you buy a shop and everyday, all day, you work in your shop painting, sculpting, hat-making, sewing...people pass by your shop and look in the window to watch you at work. What an amazing life- everyday you do what you love and are passionate about!
2. Window Shopping. Every store has elaborate displays with incredible clothing. Plus there are stores everywhere! Such incredible shopping, it is really ridiculous!
3. Every Italian has a beautiful dog. Every dog wears an ensemble. Every dog goes grocery shopping or clothes shopping with their owener -- taking a break in between by just popping a squat on the street to pee or poop.
4. Absolutely zero sterotypes. This is just one of the most incredible things. I love being here because you wake up every morning and put on whatever you're feeeling for the day. Clothes are an expression of personality, individual taste. There is no way to group people together, it's beautiful! Everyone is confident in their own expression. I have become a mood dresser for sure! Meg and I have been trying to figure out what our style is, and until just recently we came to a conclusion: we dress the way we feel-- it is so much less stressful not having to try to place yourself into this mold other people create for yourself!
5. Work out videos. Some of you may know that Meg and I brought several workout videos to 'do' to keep us fit here in Italia. Well the problem occureeed when the videos required weights and we thought that bringing more clothes was more important than packing ten pounds worth of weights. So...what did we do to resolve this? Only in Italy can you use wine bottles as weights in your work out videos! Please picture it: me holding a one legged squat position while I use two wine bottles as my free weights in a bicep curl. Only in Italy, right?!
6. Pastries. There is ALWAYS an amazing pastry shop around every corner. Meg and I are currently in the process of becoming freinds and regulars at this incredible pastry shop around the corner from our house. every day there are new pastries filled with nutella, mini chocolate pies, sfogli and so so so much more!!
7. Gelato. Meg and I are getting so nervous about coming back to the states and not having a delicous secret gelato shop to complete our lunch or dinner. Waco really needs to hop on the train with this Gelato business. If you are reading this and are an entrepreneur, I beg you to start a gelato shop out at Baylor. You would bank!!
8. Italian Food. OH MY GOODNESS. The food here is incomprable. I am able to eat parmesan with just about every meal (Amy I know you would feel like you were in Heaven just like I do when they bring a huge bowl of parmesean to you at every meal)! I really could not even begin to describe how _______ this food is. (You could fill that blank with just about every honorable word you could think of and it still would not suffice.)
9. Sunsets. Sunrises. Breathtaking, remarkable... it is insane! When I go running I run lungarno (along the Arno river) and by the end of the run I am crossing the bridge just in time to see the sun rising behind the Montagne di Italia! It is like nothing you have ever seen before!! And recently my roommates and I have started this tradition of going once a week to Piazza di Michelangelo (which overlooks the entire city of Florence). We bring a bottle of wine and some cheese as we watch the sun set over the city of Florence. It is indescribable. Literally the sky is scattered with an array of pastels......aammaazziinngg!
10. Chill. I have never been so relaxed in my entire life. I have not been stressed once since I have been here. I love love love it!! Every dinner we plan for at least a two hour session, there are no 'to go' coffees. If you want a cappuccino you go to a cafe and you sit while you drink your cappuccino, and then you leave. It is the way life is meant to be spent-- relaxed!
This is the first list of the many resons I have for loving Florence. There will be more to come..trust me! And I also want to apologize for the grammar, spelling, etc. Meg is not with me to check this over before I post! She is always the good writer...im just letting you know my thoughts which are a bit scattered (like me)! Ha well I hope you enjoy this little insight of our lives!
1. Artisans. If you are an artist, you buy a shop and everyday, all day, you work in your shop painting, sculpting, hat-making, sewing...people pass by your shop and look in the window to watch you at work. What an amazing life- everyday you do what you love and are passionate about!
2. Window Shopping. Every store has elaborate displays with incredible clothing. Plus there are stores everywhere! Such incredible shopping, it is really ridiculous!
3. Every Italian has a beautiful dog. Every dog wears an ensemble. Every dog goes grocery shopping or clothes shopping with their owener -- taking a break in between by just popping a squat on the street to pee or poop.
4. Absolutely zero sterotypes. This is just one of the most incredible things. I love being here because you wake up every morning and put on whatever you're feeeling for the day. Clothes are an expression of personality, individual taste. There is no way to group people together, it's beautiful! Everyone is confident in their own expression. I have become a mood dresser for sure! Meg and I have been trying to figure out what our style is, and until just recently we came to a conclusion: we dress the way we feel-- it is so much less stressful not having to try to place yourself into this mold other people create for yourself!
5. Work out videos. Some of you may know that Meg and I brought several workout videos to 'do' to keep us fit here in Italia. Well the problem occureeed when the videos required weights and we thought that bringing more clothes was more important than packing ten pounds worth of weights. So...what did we do to resolve this? Only in Italy can you use wine bottles as weights in your work out videos! Please picture it: me holding a one legged squat position while I use two wine bottles as my free weights in a bicep curl. Only in Italy, right?!
6. Pastries. There is ALWAYS an amazing pastry shop around every corner. Meg and I are currently in the process of becoming freinds and regulars at this incredible pastry shop around the corner from our house. every day there are new pastries filled with nutella, mini chocolate pies, sfogli and so so so much more!!
7. Gelato. Meg and I are getting so nervous about coming back to the states and not having a delicous secret gelato shop to complete our lunch or dinner. Waco really needs to hop on the train with this Gelato business. If you are reading this and are an entrepreneur, I beg you to start a gelato shop out at Baylor. You would bank!!
8. Italian Food. OH MY GOODNESS. The food here is incomprable. I am able to eat parmesan with just about every meal (Amy I know you would feel like you were in Heaven just like I do when they bring a huge bowl of parmesean to you at every meal)! I really could not even begin to describe how _______ this food is. (You could fill that blank with just about every honorable word you could think of and it still would not suffice.)
9. Sunsets. Sunrises. Breathtaking, remarkable... it is insane! When I go running I run lungarno (along the Arno river) and by the end of the run I am crossing the bridge just in time to see the sun rising behind the Montagne di Italia! It is like nothing you have ever seen before!! And recently my roommates and I have started this tradition of going once a week to Piazza di Michelangelo (which overlooks the entire city of Florence). We bring a bottle of wine and some cheese as we watch the sun set over the city of Florence. It is indescribable. Literally the sky is scattered with an array of pastels......aammaazziinngg!
10. Chill. I have never been so relaxed in my entire life. I have not been stressed once since I have been here. I love love love it!! Every dinner we plan for at least a two hour session, there are no 'to go' coffees. If you want a cappuccino you go to a cafe and you sit while you drink your cappuccino, and then you leave. It is the way life is meant to be spent-- relaxed!
This is the first list of the many resons I have for loving Florence. There will be more to come..trust me! And I also want to apologize for the grammar, spelling, etc. Meg is not with me to check this over before I post! She is always the good writer...im just letting you know my thoughts which are a bit scattered (like me)! Ha well I hope you enjoy this little insight of our lives!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Ode to Nutella
Ode to Nutella
Sweet, o so sweet,
Why no sooner did we meet?
The very presence your scent,
Chocolate-hazelnut, begins my descent.
More and more I desire,
The sweet taste of your attire.
When I dip into you,
Parts of me become anew.
Parts of you seem to remain,
In the crevasse of my domain.
On my lip you will stay,
Until, my saliva melts you away.
Why must your stay be short lived?
When there is so much more you could have gived.
I need no other to satisfy,
Please be replenished or I will die.
This is a poem my roommate wrote in the midst of a Nutella high. It is currently written out on a poster and hanging in our kitchen.
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