Le Natale a Firenze!

Florence is looking very nice with all of the streets lit up and the Christmas tree at the Duomo. Very nice.

Europeans aren't the cleanest...

I hate saying this, but I am so fed up with cleanliness here. Look at this tiny stick of deodorant I just bought at the Pharmacy.



That's right. 10.50 EURO! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!?!? That's 13.9360 United States dollars at 7:37am EST December 13th, 2010. Who pays that much for a tiny thing of deodorant. Oh and there were other cheaper options, but they were all sprays. How old am I 12? I can't even remember the last time I used a spray on deodorant. Sorry for the rant, but I just got ripped off. If I was staying longer than I week I would ask someone to send me some good ole American toiletries.

More of Barcelona

One other thing about the city: the market. The place had everything and when I say everything I mean EVERYTHING. Also, since pickpocketing and petty theft is such a big deal in the city even the illegal bag selling people are extra cautious. They have ropes tied to each side of their tarp for a quick getaway. Just see below.







By the way, this was a bad example of the food in Barcelona. The seafood paella was one of the best dishes I have ever had. Everyone should try it at least once.

Barcelona!

For my last trip during my time over here in Europe I went with the Bentley crew to visit my buddies Joe and Stach. Barcelona had by far the fewest sites of all the places I went, but it made up for it in the categories of food and people. The Spanish, who have a long history of riding the world of Native American empires, were actually very pleasant. They weren't assuming and they were patient with a group of Americans who didn't speak Spanish. (Parisians could learn from this example). The big places to see were the incomplete Sagrada Família which is this massive chapel that looks like stylized mud. It still isn't complete because the artist believed that God's work takes time and that construction shouldn't be rushed. Describing it as "Stylized mud" might be a bit of a disservice, but let's face it, the Spanish don't have much on St. Peter's Basilica.

Park Güell was another place that was designed by the same artist and it too had a bunch of wacky designs that looked like they came straight from the Disney classic "The Little Mermaid". However, despite the sometimes goofy looking architecture it was overall a very neat place to visit.

Now, on to the exciting stuff. All of the discoteques went right out onto the beaches which makes me want to come back during the summer on vacation. The Mediterranean was just as beautiful as I remembered it and I want to go swimming when the weather isn't in the 50's. Just type in Barcelona beaches into Google images and you will see what I mean.

Here you go:

More pictures from Mom and Karen's Visit

HO HO Classic picture! Pushing the tower over.





Christmas Time in Firenze!!!

Mom and Karen come to visit!

For Thanksgiving, my mom and cousin Karen came to visit me in Florence! I toured them around my stomping grounds of Firenze and we went to Perugia and Pisa. I have to admit it was really nice being able to travel comfortably as all of my other trips have been on a pretty tight budget. We went to the small Italian town of Assisi that is just like many of the other small Italian towns that are sprawled across Umbria and Tuscany. We also saw the leaning tower and pretty much got to relax for the week. It was nice having at least part of the family here to celebrate Thanksgiving with me!

Here are some pictures from the visit. Most of them are from the hotel room or from the castle in Assisi.




How much do I look like a Caravaggio masterpiece???

Rome for the weekend!

I don't have any pictures from Rome since most of the places we went didn't allow them (The Vatican Museum, Scavi Tour, etc.); however, it was a nice weekend for Alex and I to celebrate our two year anniversary woo!! Who has two thumbs and loves commitment? THIS GUY! Anyway, as you might expect we saw most of the major sites in Rome like the museums and Spanish steps. This really isn't all that interesting, but what is interesting is the short period in which I saw a bunch of these sites. Let me map this out:

Saturday: Paris, go to the Louvre.
Sunday: Paris, go to the Palace of Versailles.
Monday: Florence, school :(
Tuesday: Florence, the Uffizi Gallery.
Wednesday: Florence, the Bargello Museum.
Thursday: Florence, school :(
Friday: Rome, the Vatican Museum.

How is that for some culture absorption? Not only did I go to the top three museums in the world in one week, but I squeezed in Versailles and the Bargello as well. The only thing holding me back from seeing more, you guessed it, school!

Some more pictures!

The Arc de Triomphe with fewer German Stormtroopers than in my last post.



The Monna Lisa in the Louvre.



What nice pictures of Alex and I!!!

PARIS!

A couple of weekends ago I strapped on my beret, put on some skinny jeans, and flew up to Paris for the weekend. To put it bluntly, I loved Paris itself, but the people left little to be desired. Parisians are due for a solid zombie Apocalypse. In fact, if Paris looked like a cleaner version of the first 1:30 of that video that would have been just dandy. Seriously people, how can you be so smug and pretentious when you have sewer rats the size of my sister-in-law's dog, Effie, running around your streets at night? Gross. Anyway, enough of the bad and more of the good. The food was delicious! Escargot, fois gras, and about a million other hard-to-spell dishes were what I ate the entire weekend. The French might have one of the best noses for food on the face of the earth second only to the fine people from Louisiana.

The sites were comparable to the food. The Eiffel Tower, The Arc de Triomphe, Versailles, and the Louvre were all beautiful. Once again, the only thing that degraded these awesome places were the nocturnal Effie's that were running around everywhere.

Alex's friend Megan was nice enough to give us a tour of the whole city since she lived in Paris for most of her life. She is VERY proud of her home. In fact, when we were at the Arc de Triomphe she enthusiastically explained to the group how French soldiers would march under the arch after a victory in war (this may have happened a total of like 2 times). I was quick to point out that the French weren't the only people marching in victoriously. Good call on that Maginot Line, that was a real winner of a plan. Well, thank God for America because we show up, start busting heads together, and introduce Hitler to the People's Elbow. (In case you didn't pick up on it, America is the Rock and Germany was Hulk Hogan.) Sorry for the long aside, but I just need to make sure people understand world history. Anywho, on to the pictures.




And yes, the Eiffel Tower sparkles...every hour on the hour for ten minutes. I felt like I was watching a movie trailer for Sex and the City. Spare me.





The famous gate to the Palace of Versailles with a much less famous guy standing in the picture.



The Hall of Mirrors!

Leicester Part II

Here are some more pictures from the visit. While riding through one of the parks we saw some very tame deer that resembled a mule deer except they had antlers like a moose or caribou. (Even the animals have things confused over here.) Good bye England! I loved the visit!

Sojourning to Leicestershire!

Following a short stint in the North of England at Manchester I made my way down to Leicester to see fellow Bike and Builder Anthony Lazarus. When I get to his house he mentions in a rather matter of fact fashion, "Hey my dad likes to brag that this house is older than your country!" (It was something like 300 years old. That's just straight ridonkolous) Which leads me to my next point: Anthony's parents were straight out of Harry Potter. The accents, the friendliness, everything and I only got to see them for one night since they were gone for the weekend! (Risky Business anyone) ANYWAY, after sliding around Anthony's house in our socks and underwear we decided to throw on some spandex and do some cycling around the English countryside.

This is where the fun dissolves into sheer terror for me. As you might have heard people on the other side of the pond have an odd propensity to drive ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! So during our 20 mile ride I followed Anthony as close as possible. To be honest, it wasn't all that bad in the beginning, but then we reached those infamous "roundabouts" which really threw the ride into massive confusion. Now they were not only on the wrong side of the road, but now they are coming in ALL DIRECTIONS. Long story short, Anthony has a knack for confusing the hell out of me on bike rides whether this involves going 10 miles off track in Connecticut or cruising all over England.

All kidding aside, England's countryside is BEAUTIFUL! Anthony's house is probably on about 30 different postcards that I just haven't seen yet. Did I mention that Anthony is also an incredible cook? In addition to entertaining me throughout my visit he cooked me a couple delicious meals one of which is pictured below.

The last event of the visit: watching the Leicester Soccer Club drop the hammer on every other opponent across England. Unstoppable.

Admire:

WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!







WRONG SIDE OF THE CAR!!

London Part II

Sweet ferris wheel and view!


The British speak funny.




The Prime Minister's House!!! The White House looks better...

OYE!! Are you from London?

Next stop on Fall Break. London. First and foremost, I love this city. The culture, the people, the architecture, you name it, I love it. Fish and chips? Pass the tartar sauce. Care to sojourn to Fortnum and Mason to purchase some local novelties? Sign me up, Winston. Honestly, is it possible for me to live in this city full time?

Anyway, this is also the first time I have ever stayed in a hostel. The entire time I was walking there I kept thinking about getting put in a box while a slept to be swept away to some Eastern European bloc to be dismembered by some rich, masochistic guy who eats salad with his fingers. (See "Hostel" and you'll understand). Well, contrary to popular belief some hostels are quite nice. Especially this one in particular. The first night I didn't talk to anyone in my room of eight except an Italian couple who helped me find my way back from the Underground station. However, the second night I met a guy from Nigeria who was one of the nicest people I have ever met. Furthermore, the facilities were actually comfortable. I thought I would be under a dripping pipe the whole night and when I get there I not only had a bed, but sheets too! WOO!

Long story short, the hostel experience didn't end up involving any physical mutilation and I learned a lot about Nigeria a long the way.

As far as the rest of London: Harrod's was awesome, I'll go back when I have a couple million to blow on sushi and go-karts for my kids. I also did the London Eye (the biggest ferris wheel in the world!) and did all of the usual sites like Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Big Ben, Parliament, Big Ben, Parliament...(Get it?)

Pictures yay!

Vienna Part III

Is it just me or are all the pictures in this post screaming at you,"THIS IS AWESOME!!!"?