Pascuas/ Semana Santa

For those who have not found out 'through the grapevine' i took a little trip during my vacation. We had a 2 week (almost) break at the way end of april for easter (i know.... we only get 2 days.... i live in a very religious country) and i decided to take advantage of the time and the continent that i have/live in. I do not regret a single thing, except for a few small mistakes i made in the rode. That is only to be expected when traveling alone and having no way of communication. That being said, the communication problems i have and will have in the future are no longer 'problems'.... they are just normal things that i have figured about to get my way around. My communication problems are comparable to vision problems, you just have to try a little hard and pay a little more attention to the little hints around you and you're just fine. I've learned to read facial and hand expressions so well that it's scary. That is a warning. If you want to try to talk about me behind my back, I WILL KNOW. Anyway, my trip went something like this:
First i went to italy. It sounds like a simple concept, but it turned out to be a little more difficult and annoying than i thought. The plane was fine except it was really small and it was really weird because you go to pick your seats.... that had never happened to me before, but whatever. i decided to sit next to a nice looking lady, but it turns out she was cranky and didn't appreciate the amount i was moving. But it was all worth it when i saw Ambra. That was an awwww moment if i've ever seen one. Very hollywood in the airport hugging and everything. It was really easy to just go back with her.... we get along very well.

On the way home, her family took me to a pizza place to eat, and even though there was a language barrier, it didn't seem to get in the way much. Their house and neighborhood is wonderful. Their house has a certain charm to it. Everything flows together quite nicely. Their kitchen has an interesting ceiling that slopes down really low, so i hit me head quite a number of times getting snacks and things from the kitchen. I actually hit a lot of things in their house..... Ambra had a really annoying light in her room right above my bed to every morning i stood up and hit my head. It was always right in my blind spot so i would also just run into it if i was walking across the room or getting dressed or something. You could always hear when i hit my head on that lamp. Whenever it happened i could hear people in the other room giggling. The other time i ran into the bathroom door. i was a little disoriented from sleepiness and it was early in the morning and everything was dark, so i though the darkness of the door what just the darkness of the bathroom, so i kinda just walked right into it. That one kind of hurt. I'm sure there were more times, but it might be best not to share everything.
Anyway, i went to rome with their family for 2 days. It was amazing.... i love how when i think of rome, i always think of mary kate and ashely but really it's so much more. The Olson twins really ruined the whole historial aspect rome's got going on. I saw columns from ancient Egypt apparently brought over my Caesar. And the coliseum where actual gladiators fought adn famous sites like the fountain and saint peters church which was supposedly the first catholic church WHICH CONTAINS MICHAELANGELO'S PAINTING which i didnt actually get to see, but just the knowledge that i was near it impresses me. Literally around every corner there's something at least 800 years old, and it was just really impressive. Having commented ont the historical aspect, theres actually a lot of new stuff going on as well. Theres a lot of street artists and new little cool hipster neighborhood s going on as well. There was this really cool and funny and awesome artist there who did a bunch or street art. Not like graffiti, but just little clever things. I think he was crazy, but thats ok.

column from egypt





cool street artist

cool street artist

Returning from rome, we went by florence just for the day. (it's really cool to say i 'stopped by florence on the way home') THAT was an artsy city. i guess it was only to be expected since a bunch of really famous artist were born there. I think my favorite part was all the really expensive shops on the bridge. That would be a very expensive bridge collapse.... I don't really know how to sum this all up. Italy is amazing and old and historical and has yummy food. It's way more than pizza, pasta, the mafia and super mario. I promise.

expensive stores on a bridge

Back at the house, we didn't really do so many super exciting things, although i had just as good of a time there as i did exploring rome. That says something about good company. One night, we went to go see a group of gypsys play music. It was amazing. That was probably one of the best live concerts ive seen in a while. His name was Goran Bregović, and i'm pretty sure he sings in his own language, although i am ignorant to what he is actually speaking. Anyway, here's a link:

Good Music

The last night there, i spent trying to figure out my train tickets (not an easy or fun task having to speak to a german train company) and making friends with their cat manon. He was cute.
THEN I WENT TO AUSTRIA. The train ride there was a little more than notable. I feel like i could write an entire book about my train ride there. Well it all started when i got to the train platform. I was saying goodbye to ambra, and there was an older man watching us and giggling to himself. I was at first annoyed because he was kind of a mood killer, but i tolerated it and continued saying my goodbyes. When i finally go on the train, this man offered to help me with my suitcase which i readily accepted since the first time i tried to put it up on the rack, it almost fell and killed someone. So once that was all said and done, i awkwardly looked of a seat seeing as the only one left was next to the older man that had helped me. He seemed a little more than content to have me sit next to him, which was annoying and kind of creepy. Anyway, staying away from all little details, and avoiding freaking you all out, he decided to do his little flirting thing which i obviously ignored, trying ot do everything in my power to seem unattractive and annoying (listen to music really loud while air drumming, sniffing and blowing nose loudly, reading a philosophy book, calling people on the phone, coughing on him, moving around a lot...) which didn't quite work out. turns out you need to be very direct with the italian grandpas. So after a while when i thought he had given up, he asked if i was married and if he could have my number. I dont know exactly what he was thinking considering the fact i was reading a high school philosophy text book, dont look any older than 18 or 19, and obviously a lot younger than him, but i decided to be as clear as i could just saying 'no' like they teach us in kindergarten, but even then he persisted by asking why, and when i didn't answer, he offered a few posible reasons as to why i wouldn't give him my number. The best one was: if i were dating 'that girl i was hugging' (asking if i were a lesbian) as if that was the only reasonable explanation as to why i wouldn't want to date a man 50 years my senior. Anyway, after a firm 'no please leave me alone' he left. Just as a side note, i was sitting next to a young mother and her child, 2 grandmas and a group of bicyclists so no harm could have been done. Please dont worry about me.
Anyway, once he got off, a middle age African woman came one. She was traditionally dressed from nigeria, very pleasant and spoke english. She was very interested in my travels, and shortly after all of my plans had been told and we had made friends, she took her opportunity to slip me a Christianity pamphlet. Somehow i knew deep down that it would end in a religious discussion. Anyway, after she thought she had converted me to the catholic church and pushing me to get reconciled, she had to leave as well, leaving me awkwardly with the grandmas and the young mother and her child. Teh young mom and i ended up bonding a little as she had though that the old guy was my boyfriend or something, but when i told her what had actaully happened, she seemed very relived by telling me that she would have 'kicked his ass' (her words, not mine) if i had said something to her about him bothering me. I liked her. She spoke 4 or 5 languages and traveled around Asia half her life. Crossing the italy-austria border was gorgeous which all the mountains and houses and stuff.

The sound of music is actually what it looks like there. Almost everyone got off before my stop so i had the place to myself for a while until an older man came on. He didn't talk to me for a while until the very end when he started blabbing in german. Apparently hes an english teacher, so he had a nice conversation. He was going home from a hiking trip in the mountains, has 4 kids and lives in the german speaking part of italy. He asked me, 'if i were to go to minnesota, what would i find?' i honestly had no idea how to answer that question to i just said 'lakes and trees'. Apparently he liked that i told me quite happily 'i really like flowers. What kind of flowers are there in minnesota?' I don't know how to answer that either so i just said The lady slipper because thats the state flower, but i don't really know if that's so common or not. Anyway, all in all, after 7 hours, i got to Innsbruck just fine.
Innsbruck is amazingly beautiful. It's like a little old city thats being hugged by mountains. And the mountains are TALL. they're not like the little lame ones you see in Spain, they are for real. And the air is so fresh and it smells wonderful and there quite an agreeable chilliness about it. It was fun to have a week of mental relaxation (in the language sense) and sort of reconect with my minnesota roots. I hadn't seen the Thene family in quite a while, but it wasn't that hard to kind of fall back into it with them. We had some fun dinner discussions about my awkward past and did a little reflecting on my spanish year. Their house is amazing as well. They have a gasp worthy sauna in which i go rid of my hacking cough, a fun swing and a few interesting details here and there (if you guys are reading this, i like your door handles, your glass doors and the automatic lights) One day i went biking with the mom (lilli) adn let me tell you, i was the hardest bike ride ive ever had to do. I dont understand the concept of mountain biking, and i don't think i ever want to. Just to touch on the language theme.... German is nothing like english. Do not believe anyone if they tell you is similar because its not. I understood nothing.

The train ride back was calmer. I got everywhere on time which no problems, delays or creepy men. My common sense was tested when i had to get myself from the train station to the airport, but what i bus that said 'airport' came around the corner, i decided to just try that one out. The only problem i had was at the airport. i don't know if this lady was just having a bad day or just decided to mess with the tall american, but she definitely got my on my nerves. i though i was fine with a backpack and a small carry on bag, but apparently that was unacceptable and i had to try to go fit everything in one bag. so i had to leave the extremely long line, go back out side and unpack my things. fitting everything in my backpack was unquestionable so i decided to try to be tricky and but my laptop, books, sweatshirt and things like my ipod and phone in a small purse type thing that i had, but after waiting in line AGAIN she didn't like that idea either. So i was sent out again to try again, so i had no choice but to over dress. Before everything fit i was wearing 2 pairs of pants, 2 or 3 sweaters (one sweater type thing and 2 zip ups) and 2 scarves with a 'decorative scarf' on my backpack all on a 90 degree day. It was not pleasant, and i had to do all of this in the open public. My self esteem went down, crankiness when up and my body temperature skyrocketed. After finally getting her ok, i had to undo everything to pass through security. There was a 20+ person line behind me waiting because of the immense amount of things i had to take out of my backpack and off my body. That just about tipped me over the edge so it's a good thing that the thing didn't beep because i think i probably would have lost it. The first thing i did was unpack everything, put it back in my original 2 bags, and go wash my face in the bathroom. That was not a pleasant day. But i got home in one piece. :)
Happy easter to all!