viva forever! LONDON

So much has happened during my first ten day break that I feel like I have already forgotten everything. But have no fear! I will use my pictures and my bank statement to help me set the scenes... I am now realizing how important this blog is for my own memory.

First stop: London! 

We did not have class Friday, so we were able to use that morning to finish measuring, weighing and stuffing our backpacks before our train for Milan left around 10:30. Getting to the airport is no small feat- first we had to take a train to a station in Milan, then take a metro to Milan Centrale, then board a bus and ride for an hour to Bergamo, an airport on the outskirts of the city. We arrived to Bergamo with plenty of time to check in, get through the foreign security and grab some lunch.

My first experience with RyanAir was very pleasant, although the overcrowded bright yellow seats and overhead bins were slightly stress inducing. Seats on Ryan Air are basically a free-for-all, so we quickly learned that if we wanted to all sit together, we needed to hold our ground and not let the seasoned budget travelers run us over.

After landing (and applauding our survival), we got tickets for another hour long bus ride into London and grabbed Burger King as our dinner for the ride. As we are walking up to the bus, a stern-faced bus driver (british accent and all) informed us that food on the bus was not permitted and scoffingly told us that they were leaving, with or without us, in four minutes. Slightly annoyed with his rudeness, I smiled at him, peeled back the wrapper on my cheeseburger and replied "that's alright sir, we are American!" Suddenly, a smile! He bent over in laughter, repeated my self-stabbing joke to his fellow bus driver friends and they cheered us on as we stuffed our faces and boarded the bus with a full minute to spare. The people here thought I was funny? I was going to like this place. 

An hour later, we were in the middle of London with no idea how to get to our hostel near King's Cross. We found a tube station, got tickets and realized how easy it was to navigate London underground. Our hostel was called Clink 78, which was once a courthouse and jail...so yes... our room was an old jail cell. We checked in, changed clothes and headed to the basement to check out the hostel bar. Like most other bars attached to hostels, it was filled with an eclectic mix of people and the speakers blasted  american pop hits circa 2005 (always our favorite). We checked out a club down the road and then decided to head back and get some rest for our walking tour in the morning.

We woke up, took full advantage of our free breakfast (nutella and toast, cereal and coffee) to load up before our free three hour walking tour. Were were picked up by an unfriendly, silent guy with a bright red tour jacket on. Worried about how our tour would go, we were extremely relieved when we found out that this introvert's job was simply to take us to our tour's meeting spot and that he was not actually our tour guide. Our REAL tour guide was named Rowan and he was the exact opposite. A true Londoner and an ex-theatre/history major, he was incredibly informative and we had a blast following around his pink umbrella (named Mr. Pink) while picking fun at guards and visiting the royal sights.

We ended at a pub where we order fish and chips and purchased tickets for a pub crawl that night with the same company that led the tour. We sat with Rowan and a few of his friends for quite a while, discussing politics and comparing cultures. A wide eyed british woman even told me that I was the first Republican she has ever met! Needless to say, our political conversations with locals are without a doubt some of the most interesting moments on these trips.

That night we went on pub crawl to five different pubs and clubs in the Leiscester Sqaure area of London. The worst part about pub crawls is that as soon as you warm up to a place and begin meeting people, you are torn away to head to the next place. We were especially sad to leave the second pub,  where we had a blast dancing and singing along to the live music (see video we took as we were leaving). We wrote down the name determined to return another night. The pub crawl ended at a giant club called Zoo Bar, where we made friends with a group of guys from northern England and a very contagiously happy Asian man. Overall, the night was a success! We took a series of night buses back to the King's Cross area to get home. We probably only needed to take one bus, but.. a) we were getting 100% of our directions from strangers on the street b) we had been given a wide variety of free shots for the past three hours and c) we were actually having fun with our double-decker bus adventure around London.

We woke up the next morning after our long night and decided to pick an area and explore the markets. Rowan advised us to visit the less-touristy markets in the Camden area and I'm glad he did. We made the most of the rainy, gloomy day and walked through Camden marveling at the nifty crafts and eclectic people behind the stands. The area is known for its punk rock history, which was evidenced by the numerous alternative art, pubs and music shops. These markets were also the source of some of the best food I have ever eaten. Usually I am annoyed by people who try to sell me something by shoving it in my face. Not here. We graciously accepted free sample after free sample after free sample. Every snack was a sort of innovation of things. Dutch pancakes, beef mixed with veggies in odd rolls, yellow rice-stuff with shrimp and peppers and other ingredients. I finally chose this odd cornbread pancake with beef, shredded cheese and beans inside as the lucky winner. I cannot imagine living anywhere near those markets because I can assure you that I would double my weight in a matter of weeks. (Wait a second.. didn't Amy Winehouse live in the Camden area? Now I'm REALLY baffled.)

From there we took the tube back to the Leicester Square area. That's when mass chaos occurred. Stern announcements, flashing red lights and alarms signaled that the station was overcrowded and everyone needed to evacuate immediately. Not fun if your claustrophobic, but overall an interesting experience. It took about 15 minutes to get out and I managed to snap a picture of the emergency sign although I was yelled at by an 80 year old British woman in the process ("PICTURES? AT A TIME LIKE THIS?! YOU'RE MAD!")

When we finally escaped, we took off determined to find tickets for a show. Apparently my wish from a stray eyelash that morning failed miserably because the Spice Girls show "Viva Forever" didn't run on Sundays (I wanted to cry every time I walked by an advertisement). We ended up getting fairly cheap tickets to Jersey Boys and went to grab drinks at a nearby pub beforehand. 

The pub was around the corner from the theatre, and although it looked tiny when we walked in, we soon realized that it opened up into a giant loft styled restaurant-- the equivalent to Buffalo Wild Wings back home-- with TVs and projectors in every direction. (I am really trying to cut down on comparing everything in Europe to Harry Potter, but I couldn't help but it was exactly like the Weasley's tent at the Quiddich World Cup). The pub was packed and everyone around us seemed very excited about the match that was on. Turns out, it was Ireland vs. England playing in a 6 Nations Rugby league game. We began to think of it as a UVA vs. VT football game, picked a team, grabbed a beer and cheered on with our new friends.

Soon enough it was time for our show. Our seats weren't bad with the exception of Taylor's (sorry Tay...) and the show was great even with the sometimes half Jersey half English accents. After the show, we went back to our favorite pub around the corner, grabbed a bite to eat and headed off with no  direction.

We walked by a pub called Molly Moggs and remembered that we had seen a sign earlier advertising a drag queen show. We HAD to check it out. We looked a little silly when we walked in, (just picture 8 American girls in matching black North Face puffy coats and bean boots squeezing through a sea of gay English men) and the wonderful drag queen noticed us right away. He ended his song, walked toward us with the microphone and asked us our names, where we were from, and used us as the butt of his next ten jokes. "Well if you're going to be here you better at least get a drink! What do you like? Champagne??" We looked around at each other nodding our heads. "That will be 80 pounds!" We stood there, half laughing, half wanted to die inside as when he went on. "Just kidding! I own this f****** bar! Someone get these girls a bottle of champagne!!!" Sure enough, the bartender arrived 30 seconds later with a bottle of champagne and a glass for each of us. The drag queen went back to the show and we drank, sang and danced for the rest of his set. We found out later that he actually WAS the owner of the pub and it was clear by the way he sang and danced around (even out in the streets for a brief portion of It's Raining Men). We stayed much longer than expected (aka until the pub closed) and after turning down offers of attending the gay clubs with our new friends, made our way home.

The next morning we woke up ready to finish off the London bucket list. First stop? Platform 9 and 3/4! Basically, they have a guy there to give you a scarf and manage the line. If you want to know what happened next, you will have to consult other girls' blogs. ...............Ok fine, I'll say it. I was taking my picture, smiling ear to ear when I let go a little too excitedly and tore the cart right off of the wall. My jaw dropped and the attendant told us to scram. Looking back at him trying to fix it and the faces of the dismayed middle aged asian women still in line behind me is a sight I will unfortunately never forget. I couldn't say for sure (because I ran like hell out of that place) but I like to think that the attendant man fixed it just fine.

Next stop: British Museum! We knew that this one would take a little while, so we arranged to meet on the stairs after a couple of hours and took off in different directions. My favorite exhibit included the Parthenon sculptures and pieces, which made the news last June when a controversy involving the return of the pieces to Greece arose (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18373312). The Rosetta Stone was pretty amazing too!

We met up right on time, and took off to find lunch. We were praying to find the infamous London Chipotle that our friends have said so much about (providing the mexican food we once knew and loved to our deprived diets), so we were happy when, after a minute of walking, we landed upon "Tortilla"... which was essentially an English Chipotle. It did the job.

From there, we ventured to Trafalgar Square to check out the National Gallery. Monet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Raphael, Michelangelo-- the gang was all there! I could have stayed there all day, but time tore me away and soon enough we were off to continue the sight seeing. Basically it went like this: St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge... it started to get dark but that didn't stop us! ...Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Big Ben, the London Eye, and last (and probably least), a London telephone booth. The pictures don't do these places justice. If you are reading this and have not seen these places at night, do yourself a favor and get to London! Buttttttt maybe wait until its warmer.

Exhausted, we grabbed our bags from the luggage room at the hostel and caught our 10:30pm Megabus to our next destination. That's right. An overnight, 10 hour bus ride to Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a little rough, but thanks to the movies on my iPhone and Advil PM, I made it out alive. Look. When you're traveling on a budget, ya just do what ya gotta do!

carnevale di venezia 2013

We had an extremely busy week filled with midterms, quizzes, papers and speaking tests and yet we still found time to go out for Kerry’s 21^st birthday. Once again, the week flew by and before we knew it, it was Friday again. We went to class to take our Italian midterms, which included a five minute speaking portion during which we needed to be able to introduce ourselves, tell the date and time, etc.—everything you would expect for your first Italian test. HOWEVER, because our course is a mere four weeks long and we already halfway through, the tested material didn’t stop there. We also needed to know how to describe our daily routine, our family, how we act and look, how we order at a restaurant, THE LAYOUT OF THE ROOMS IN OUR HOUSES and more. We thought we were doomed, but luckily Magda, our darling Italian professor, did a lot of the talking and nodding and I somehow pulled out an A minus.

Kerry's Birthday celebration at Coyote Ugly 

Throwing our definite and indefinite article grammar study sheets in the air, we rejoiced at the culmination of our midterm and headed back to the Montarina to -- you guessed it -- grab our pre-packed backpacks and head for the train station. We arrived in Venice about four hours later and met our landlord for the weekend on the stairs of the church across from the train station. She arrived a few minutes later, shook our hands, and told us to follow her. We had no idea what to expect but we did as we were told and lined up behind her like kindergarteners, giant backpacks and all, as she led us through the tight Venetian alleyways. To our surprise, we were at our apartment building in less than four minutes. She showed us the light switches, the buzz-in intercom keypad, the bathroom (bidet included!) handed us the keys, and left us on our own. We couldn’t believe how well we scored, considering the dark wood floors, granite countertops, and the fact that most of the others in our group were stuck in dingy one-roomed hostels for nearly the same price.

 

Without even changing clothes, we dropped our bags and headed back out in search for a place to grab dinner. Walking through the alleyways and marveling at the kiosks filled with carnival masks, we were suddenly ushered into a restaurant by an eager Italian manager that wanted our business. We were skeptical, but our hunger did our decision-making and we ended up enjoying free drinks and a wonderful meal. Turns out that if you order pasta in Italy, you really can’t go wrong. After dinner, we perused the shops, bought some wine, and headed back to our apartment to get ready for the night.

After finally refreshing and changing clothes, we all pulled out our handy dandy travel handbooks and flipped to the Venice nightlife pages. There was only one club mentioned. so our decision was made quickly and soon enough we took to the streets to find it. Thanks to Bryce, our human GPS, we got to the club, paid our covers, checked our coats and wandered in. Inside, we found the dingiest hole in the wall dance bar that I have ever been in. Living and learning, we shrugged it off, got a drink and stuck to our own group, dancing and making the most of the lowly lit location and trying not to make eye contact with the scary monsters around us. (OK… that description may have been a little exaggerated, but I’m trying to tell a story here!)

Getting home wasn’t as easy. Apparently, while we were in the club, there was a high flood warning alarm and the tight pathways were flooded with nearly a foot of fishy smelling gross canal water. We did our best tip-toeing and hopping through puddles, but it is safe to say that many pairs of shoes were ruined. We were a little annoyed until Carter fell into the canal in an attempt to avoid a massive puddle, providing us all with enough laughter for the entire weekend.  We finally got home safe, rinsed off the fishy water and tried to get some rest.

The next morning, we woke up excited for the free walking tour that Rachel set up through Trip Advisor. That is, until we looked outside and saw that it was pouring rain and freezing cold. Determined to captivate the rich history of Venice, we layered up and headed out in search of our meeting place. As you may have heard before, navigating Venice is a lot like trying to find your way out of a corn maze, so when we finally met our tour guide we were an hour late, sopping wet, shivering and starving. We knew that it wouldn’t be fair to cancel, so took a deep breath and tried our best to remind ourselves that we were in one of the most beautiful and unique cities in the world. The tour was informative, but extremely pale in comparison to our free walking tour in Munich, so we were all relieved when the tour ended and we could head home.

Walking into our apartment, we were surprised to find that the number of Virginia Tec students hanging out in the living room had nearly tripled. We heard horror stories of scary, far away hostels and welcomed our classmates hoping that the place wouldn’t get completely trashed. After all, what is family for?

After venturing out a few more times in small doses throughout the day, it was finally time for our three course feast at a nearby restaurant. Jordan met Connor and Sean at the train station (or should I say “surprised” them thanks to his new mask) right in time to join us for dinner and we walked in our massive group through the pouring rain to the restaurant. We had a nice lengthy meal, eating like the Italians do—slowly and with a lot of wine. After dinner, we stopped at a small bar where, in no time, 3 of the girls in our group were recruited as bartenders (semi-dangerous considering our drinks were suddenly free). Then we decided to check out one of the Carnivale events that our waiter suggested which was only a block away. Another large European dance party type thing, we hung out until we had had enough fist pumping, gathered everyone, and went home.

When we finally got back to the apartment, we realized that both of the keys went home with the first group an hour earlier. With no way of reaching them, we needed to find a way to break into our apartment or we would be sleeping with the stray alley cats. Luckily, we made enough racket that another couple who lived in the building buzzed us in but not enough for them to call the police on us. We thanked them as best we could, went inside, and tried to find space to sleep in our now overcrowded apartment.

I have never been so happy as I was when I woke up the next morning to a sun-lit window. We jumped up in excitement, cleaned our apartment spotless and checkout out by ten. It was finally time to experience the Venice Carnivale; but first, we went to the train station to store our backpacks. We got there right in time, because as soon as we received our luggage tickets from the nice uniformed Italian men, the length of the line multiplied by ten (leaving those who showed up a little bit later with the choice to carry their backpacks around all day).

We grabbed calzones, strapped on our masks and took to the streets. For hours we walked around the tight alleys, spending the majority of the time around the areas of St. Mark’s square and the Rialto Bridge admiring the parades, live music, stunning costumes and detailed masked figurines all around us. There isn’t much I can say about the day in words, so you will have to flip through my pictures to get an idea of what it was all like. We wandered to the back streets where we found a little family owned quaint Italian restaurant to relax in and grab yet another plate of pasta. The owner was a bit overwhelmed with the sudden onset of nearly twenty masked American students, but obviously still delighted to have us.

We arrived home around midnight that night after our late train rides right in time for the Super Bowl to start! Unfortunately, most of us ended up passing out somewhere around halftime and looking back, I was so delirious watching that I don’t think I could tell you about a single play let alone which team was which.

All in all, we had a great weekend. I do wish that we could have absorbed more of the city’s culture and explored some of the surrounding islands, but due to the over-crowdedness of Carnivale, the stress of traveling with a big group and the soul-sucking weather conditions, those excursions will just have to happen another time!

We now face yet another work-packed week filled with group projects and quizzes, but the 8-hour days are totally worth it.  Next week, I will travel with seven other girls on our first ten-day break to London, Edinburgh and Dublin. I cannot express how excited I am to travel with a small group and explore the three cities I have most looked forward to visiting.

Until then!

Linds