Exhausted, Excited
I haven't been very good to my readers. I'll throw some more love your way.
Things have been crazy at times, and quiet at others. Life happens at the extremes. Here's the short version.
Things haven't gone to plan, but thats not a bad thing either. After Zurich, my buds Jean-Noel and Antoine drove me to Lugano, but couldn't host me for the night. I decided to hop on a train to Florence, got in around nine, and checked into my amazing hostel, complete with indoor pool and jacuzzi. Unfortunately, I spent the first two hours trying to get my room changed due to the less than thrilled girl who was afraid of having a guy stay in the same room. I of course respected that, and appreciated that it would be uncomfortable for both of us, but the lady at the front desk insisted I stay there. After a back and forth that lasted an hour, I finally had a new room, and the wrong key. When I finally got to my room it was around eleven, so I immediately dashed out for a bite.
The recommendation from the lady at the front desk was a typical Tuscan eatery. When I arrived, it was just closing. I stepped out to see a guy looking rather disappointed, so I said "What do we do now?" I introduced myself, and Pierpaolo and I found another spot to eat. Pier was visiting from Torino, and in Florence for an interview, a job in tourism. Over dinner, and subsequently drinks, we discussed our lives, travel, movies, philosophies, school, and the bromance had quickly been forged. Conversation at the pub was politely interrupted by a Norwegian orchestra, made more confident by the liquid gold being consumed, and they were determined to practice their english on the two of us. We spoke about our respective countries, how expensive everything in Norway is, my similar experience with Zurich, and more drinks were had. After a while the bar closed, and the newly formed team of the Norwegians, Italian, and American went to explore Florence in the early morning.
The next days I spent walking around Florence, seeing the amazing architecture, churches, bridges, and food that the city has to offer. I was thrilled to eat my way around, stopping wherever and whenever I pleased to grab a slice or a sandwich or a steak typical of the region.
I have to mention my camera died, and in my room was a particularly strange (and rude) French boy. Max, we'll call him, had something plugged into every outlet in the room, and didn't leave all day. One of the things he had connected to the wall was his computer, on which he played League of Legends (a somewhat popular online game) the entirety of the time I was in the room. He was also just mean, and said some pretty vulgar stuff, probably not realizing I understood more than half of what he said.
Well, I didn't let it get me down, and my phone has a couple of decent photos on it from the trip. Florence overall was really amazing, I loved it, and after I took a train to Venice.
In Venice I met up with Yeliz whom I met in Amsterdam. We walked around the city, took pictures frequently, saw a bunch of people in costume for Carnevale, and ate more amazing food. At some point I decided to drop my stuff off at the hostel, which I later realized was on an island only reachable by boat. Cool.
I spent the seven euro (two trips) to get there and back, and we continued to walk around, and listen to the music in Piazza San Marco. I had a great night of music, costumes, and drink, then took the ferry again to my hostel.
The next day I explored my secluded paradise, the Island of Giudecca, with its beautiful homes, canals, ocean view, and food. I found a swanky seafood place which ended up being splendid. The menu was simple, but I loved the clams with spaghetti, and prawns over grilled artichokes, accompanied by a half liter of their house wine. I think its safe to say I found heaven for an hour or so.
Later that day I met some travelers from the US, and one Aussie at the hostel bar. Dakota is studying abroad from Rutgers, and we talked about travel, music, and science. He introduced me to Shane and Heidi, and the four of us bonded over a shared love of acoustic music, made better by Shane's guitar and a chance for me to play for the first time in a month or so.
Little did I know Dakota has actually been working on an album, and while it was his turn he entertained us with some songs from the project which were quite amazing. We took turns playing until we were tired, and returned to the hostel.
The next morning I left the hostel, and grabbed a train to Padova. There I met up with Yeliz again, and she took me around the city with some other friends whom I had met in Venice. We toured the University of Padova, an amazing school founded in 1222, where they dissected bodies to teach and learn about anatomy.
After a while we went out for food and drink, and eventually to a party in the Piazzo Prato della Valle. We didn't stay out late, and opted for sleep as we had plans to ride bikes to a nearby town.
The next day, we prepared food for the ride, and proceeded to the bike path along the river. The scenery was magnificent, with farms on the our side of the river, and businesses and otherwise on the other side. We stopped in a little town for lunch where we found a secluded park in the shade. It was warm, and after returning to Padova we were exhausted, and I planned for my trip to France.
I left in the morning, determined to make it to Torino by 10:30AM for a bus to Lyon, then a train to Clermont Ferrand to see the De La Roques, some friends we visited on a family trip to France three years ago. I got into Torino at 10:02AM, and proceeded to the bus station as fast as I could. At the "bus station," I looked around to see nothing that even resembled a bus, or station. At 10:30AM, I gave up, and went to a cafe to get internet access, and a bite to eat. Turns out the station wasn't anywhere near the location the website had given me, so I found the proper place and booked the next bus, a 10:00PM overnight to Lyon. I emailed Pierpaolo, who came to my rescue by bringing me to his apartment and showing me the city. We ate, walked, ate more, and saw a bunch of Torino I hadn't expected to. He had soccer practice at eight o'clock, so he let me stay at his apartment where I showered and cleaned up a little. Thanks Pier.
After a long, harrowing bus ride, I got to the Lyon station and took the train to Clermont, watching the sunrise on the French countryside. Upon my arrival, Charles and Christine were waiting for me, and took me to the apartment. We spent the morning catching up, and at noon Pierre joined us and we went to a crêperie. I spent a lot of time in Clermont just relaxing, as travel has been so exhausting. After eating I napped until dinner, and then we watched Aristocats (in French). The parents went to bed rather early, and Charles and I chatted about the state of global affairs til pretty early in the morning.
The next day we got a late start, hung out for a while before going to lunch at an amazing restaurant, La Bergerie. The food was not only exquisite, but was prepared and served as a piece of art. I felt guilty eating it.
The appetizers and main course were amazing, and there was a round of cheese sampling before dessert. But the part of dinner I liked most was the chocolate sphere, with gold dust on the top, which was then drizzled in fudge sauce until the dome collapsed under the heat and weight. This revealed the sorbet inside, as well as the frozen slice of orange that were perfect to compliment the heat. While I was enjoying this gift handed down from the angels, Charles was doing the same, when a look of shock took over his face. He smiled a bit, and when he opened his mouth, we heard little popping noises. I grabbed a spoonful of the chocolate covered sugar bits in the bottom of my sphere, and did the same. The pop-rock-esque sounds were a welcomed surprise, and we had a lot of fun eating, and playing with them until none were left.
We stopped on our way back home to see Montpeyroux, a rustic village atop a small mountain. The quaint town doesn't allow motorists to drive through, so we walked through the tiny streets and enjoyed beautiful views of the countryside.
We played cards before dinner, I explained the intricacies of how Gin Rummy and Rummy 500 differ, and taught the whole family the basics of riffle shuffling. For dinner we had raclette, a traditional french dinner of melting cheese as you go, and adding it to a plate of meats. Really wonderful stuff, and perfect for a cheese lover like myself.
Charles's AMERICAN football game on Friday night, which was great. The stadium, or bleachers next to the field, is what you might expect in the states at a high-school game. But don't let that fool you; Charles played WR on the national team, runs a 4.5 40 meter, and dreams to play professionally. We arrived late in the second quarter, and the Clermont Cervals had possession. Not soon after, Charles made a forty yard touchdown reception. The Cervals went on to win, 30-16.
To celebrate the victory, Charles and I went to a little get together at a teammates flat, and then to BBox, which Charles told me is France's largest club. It was definitely impressive, and a good time as I got to see a seventy year old man dancing, two Daft Punk looking performers on stilts and covered in LEDs, as well as crazy lights shows and some stellar dancing.
We left at around five, and slept like babies until noon when we had to leave for the Grandma's day celebration. I got to see Charles's sister Julie who visited us last summer, and had the pleasure of meeting her boyfriend Roman, and Charles's grandmother.
When our fun get together came to a close, we drove Charles to the train station for his return to University where he's almost finished his degree in kinesiology. After teary (HA) goodbyes, we returned to the apartment and I slept even more.
The next day was my time to depart, and I was sad our time had to end. I am so thankful for everything the De La Roques provided me, they are such loving and wonderful people, it was nice to "be home" in a sense. They even reserved my train ticket, bus ticket, and flight to get to Barcelona, as well as my hotel when I arrived. Really guys, thanks again for everything!
In Barca I took a self guided tour of the city, and at night a tour of tapas bars. With the ten euros I spent for the ticket, I had a free drink and tapas at all four stops on our path. I spent the night hanging out with our guide, Roger, and then with some Israelis and Canadians on the tour as well.
The next day I took a free tour of the city, followed by a tour of Gaudy and Gaudy inspired architecture. His style and insight are truly brilliant, and each of his wonderful creations expresses a story or an idea perfectly. We ended the tour at La Sagrada Familia, Gaudy's unfinished but remarkable church. I can safely say I have never had the same reaction to seeing a building as when I stood and ran my eyes over it for more than ten minutes, but I could have continued for longer.
The next day I got on a bus to Madrid, where I am writing you from now. I arrived at the hostel around ten at night, where there was a group of people playing drinking games in the hostel bar. I joined them for karaoke and sang, no shouted, And We Danced by Macklemore. The guide at the hostel brought us around to some bars and clubs, and I came back to sleep after a late-night kebab.
Today I have been walking around the city with Vincent, a Chilean visiting Spain for a week or so. After having a calamari sandwich, we walked the city for a few hours, saw the Palace, the Almudena Cathedral, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, and a few other sites further away before deciding to take it easy on our feet and came back to rest a little. I took the time to write THIS MONSTER which you haven't read all of, I'm sure of it, but at least it won't take as long to read as it did to write.
Plan tonight is for dinner and maybe go out, but I'm going to take it easy considering all of this vacation is wearing me out.
Shoutout to my girl Hillary for getting mad about me taking a hiatus. Here's more than you'd ever want to read. You're welcome.
And that should do it. Hope you are all out there making an impact and saving the world. Keep it up, I see it working.
Much Love,
David