I just like this pic a lot... looking down a hill outside the Stibbert Museum in Florence... you can see the dome of the Duomo in the distance. (of course under construction like a lot of the things we wanted to see)
You
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Another faux-David outside the Piazza Vecchio... i mean we saw two fake Davids was there really any need to see the real one? we thought not... plus we kind of didn't have time too... on my next trip I will have to go to the Academia and see the real one... next time.
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I was trying to do a serious face in this picture but i ended up laughing cause i felt stupid... but that's florence behind me. yay!
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Bethany and I taking another terrible tourist pic... but it was fun i have to admit. we had some hot (but really dumb) australian rugby players take it for us. but they did a better job than the other dude infront of the fountain in Rome... we have found the secret to getting the best pics taken by other tourists... the secret is to ask the one carrying the largest camera... you know the guys with the four inch telephoto lens. yeah ask him to take your pic cause chance are he probably knows what he is doing... just hope that he speaks english.
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Me leaning on the tower... I know this pic is total CHEESE but you know I HAD to take it... Besides there isn't much else in Pisa... can you say Tourist Trap?
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The monument to Vittorio Emmanule II... this Monument is GINORMOUS... and we passed it like 4 to 5 times a day... it looks like a huge wedding cake.
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The Galleria Borghese in Rome, home of the most amazing Bernini Sculptures. am really learning to appricate sculpture more now after seeing these.
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Bethany and I outside St. Peter's Basillica... with all the chairs and such left over from Easter.
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The pulpit in St. Peter's Bascillica... in the Pope's church... totally trumps every church i have seen in France and then some.
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The Capitoline Piazza designed by Michealangelo in Rome... i love the brickwork... that's Bethany and Natalie in the middle of the pic... you can see Bethany's distincitve pink boots....
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Bethany and I in front of that fountain... they guy who took this pic was supposed to get the fountain in the picture... thanks anyway dude, A for effort on that one.
You
Monday, April 24, 2006
Retourner a Paris.
So I am finally back in Paris after one long ass day of traveling... and i have to say that in this one day I have traveled by every mode of transport except boat and car... wow, yeah its been a long day... 3 hours in a train, 1 and a half on the bus 2 hours by airplane (sitting next to the dude with ants in his pants... lets just say it was a long annoying flight... just SIT STILL dude... seriously!) and then another 45 mins by Metro. I actually think I am Happy to be back in Paris because I am semi-done with being a Tourist.
I am NEVER waiting in line for anything again...
So here are some highlights/memorable moments of my trip to Italy:
-The Brush with Fate we had with a Butter Knife - Walking down the narrow streets of Florence when all the sudden a butter knife comes flying out of one of the windows above and almost killed some lady walkign in front of us... wow that was close...
- The Nun talking on a Cell phone in the Uffizi Museum - I know it sound ignorant but I didn't know they could have cell phones... was she on a direct call from God or something?
- Gelato - think i can eat my own body weight in Gelato... or die trying.
- Staying in my first 'real hostel' experience - The hostel we stayed at looked like a Nunnery... (you theatre people out there keep the Obvious Puns to yourself... I had a hard time with that one), but there was a lot of stained glass around depicting jesus and stuff it was kind of strange actually... but you get used to it... then there was this woman staying in our room who literally slept in the Nude, a buffo, without clothes... and of course she snored... Why? Why me? it wasn't so bad exept for she had the nerve to SHHHush us when we were talking as she was trying to fall asleep when she kept us up all night with her extremely loud snoring... but other than that met some cool people... and it was interesting experiance... minus the naked woman.
Going to bed now... posting Beaucoup pictures tommorrow just for you. ttfn.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Bella Italia
Was in Pisa today... a total tourist trap, but whatevs it was cool to see the Leaning Tower got some good pictures (high quality pics of bethany and I pushing pulling and leaning on the tower... i know we are total nerds but it was fun) and got on the train to Florance and here we are...
Let me tell you I am so much more impressed with Florance than Pisa. I feel like I have stepped into Medival italy... love it. Can't wait to explore the city tommorrow... spending the night in a hostel... my first true hostel experience... i am sleeping in a room with 5 other people, including three baptist girls from the states whom Bethany overheard talking about 'recruiting' new baptists... definatly not me, hope they don't waste their time... he he he
Gelato count of the day: Three, Best Flavor of the day: Mousse Maringue (with chocolate) the BEST one I have had yet. God I love Gelato. I think that's why the french are so bitter... they have no gelato... too bad for them.
I am off to bed, i am exhausted!! (sorry i can't post any of my pics the computer at this hostel is really slow and i don't think it could even cope with the size of the files... you will just have to wait till i get back... sorry y'all... Miss you!)
Roman Holiday: Day Three
Today was our last day here in Rome, and today we started out at the Borghese Gardens and we even got into the Galleria Borghese to see all the Bernini sculptures, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am really learning to appreciate sculpture here… I think that’s because I actually get to see it and not just see a picture of it in my art history text… you really need to see the sculpture in person to really appreciate it I think.
Actually I had a very Bernini filled day…
After the Borghese we walked down the glamorous Via Veneto (the upscale neighborhood featured in ‘La Dolce Vita’) to the Piazza Barbarini to see the two fountains there by Bernini, then continuing on to the church where the ‘Ecstasy of Saint Teresa’ is also by guess who… Bernini. This statue was defiantly my favorite of the day. I just love the way that he portrays movement in his statues… they really look like a picture of a specific moment in time frozen forever. They really are masterpieces.
After that Bethany and I were walking back and we passed by this interesting looking church that was made out of what looked like ruins and we decided just to go in and have a quick look see…
And it turns out to be an amazing church… HUGE church originally designed by Michelangelo over the ancient roman baths… and what was even better was that when we got there the man who plays the GIANT organ was practicing playing a few songs. So we basically got to hear a free organ concert, which was amazing. I love organ music its so hauntingly beautiful. And this little man who was playing this GIANT organ was so good. It was so fun to watch him play cause he was not only playing the melody with both hands and he was also playing with his feet AND pulling out these knobs to change the tone of the music. It was just incredible.
After that we met up with our friend Natalie, our amazing hostess with the mostess… we have had such fun staying with her this week… she rocks!, and she took us to the best little pizza shop near her school, where I was introduced to the most amazing new food ever Supli… tomato sauce and rice and mozzarella fried and breaded… soooo tasty! And then we went up to a park on a hill where you could over look all of the city. It was really beautiful… and then tomorrow it is off to Florence…for more fun and well you know stuff… can’t wait!
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Roman Holiday: Day three
Today was an amazing day! It was Raining in Rome but it was fine cause we were in the Vatican Museum ALL DAY...
LET ME TELL YOU... the Vatican Museum IS the WORST WORST labeled Museum ever in the history of museums... ridiculously badly labeled!
Which wouldn’t be so bad if we hadn’t already waited at least two hours to get into the freaking museum… and we all know how much I love to wait in line…
But seriously we were completely lost more often in this museum then we knew where we were going. We decided that we wanted to see the Sistine Chapel first. So we have to walk through the entire museum to get there... and then wait in line for a while to get into the actual chapel and once inside we were not allowed to talk... complete with Guards who kept saying, 'Silenco!' and large with high celings but it was very crowded but with patience and perserverance I saw all of this amazing chapel. It was one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen in my life and i am so glad that we got to see it. We literally spend an hour in the chapel just looking at each different fresco and it is awe inspiring. The best part is definatly the Last Judgement Fresco alterpiece... I could stare at it for hours there is so much to look at... and the ceiling is also nice but the Last Judgement is way more exciting in my opinion.
When we finally decided we were ready to leave we followed the crowd like sheep (BAAAAh) and somehow we ended up outside the museum scratching our heads saying 'where is the Rest of the museum?' Luckily we also were right infront of St Peter's Basilica and we got into see it without waiting in the long ass line that curves around the piazza, YES! This was by far one of the highlights of the day. St. Peter's is the largest, most orante and amazing church I have ever seen in my life, and in the last few months I have seen a lot of churches. This one church blows everything that I have seen in France out of the water. Every single surface is covered with decoration. It is just breathtaking. (and it has the pieta, which was cool)
Them after we visit the Basilica we backtrack back to the entrance we came out of and we ask the nearest man in uniform where we can go to get back into the vatican museum. and in extremely broken english he tells us to come back at 5 pm and meet him in his office... he couldn't really tell us why and we were so confused. What did that have to do with our question? so confused. So we say thank you and go over to the next man in a suit who kind of seemed to be controling who was going in and out and we revert back to simpicity and hold up our ticket with a confused look on our face and say 'Museum'??? and he lets us in and motions us to go back through the exit for the Sistine Chapel... and so we got to visit the chapel twice...
Then the next thing that i really wanted to see was the Raphael Rooms and we went in the direction that we thought was right and somehow we ended up back at the entrance of the Vactican Musuem by following our crappy ass map in our guide book (the same one that got us completely lost on Palentine hill PS) and so we give up completely on following said map and ask several guards where we want to go and we finally find the Raphael Rooms... and on the way we found a tour guide giving a tour and talking just loudly enough that we can hear what she is saying and she was really really interesting. So we follow her throughout the four rooms (only 2 of which were actually painted by Raphael ironically enough) but the most interesting room was the 'Signature Room', painted entirely by Raphael which houses the School of Athens... on e of my fave paintings from Dr. Sweeny's art history class... and it was so nice because even though it was crowded and people were super pushy... i got to hear a lot of interesting facts about the room and the paintings and Raphael that Dr. Sweeny (Bless his heart) left out... i am definatly interested in doing more research on this room...
Anyway so, the last thing that Bethany and I saw was the Modern art collection on the way out... This was THE best part of the ENTIRE museum for me because it was nearly entirely deserted. Bethany and I were the ONLY people in all of the galleries and we could literally do cartwheels in them... it was the best. not to mention that there was also works by more contemporary masters that I recognize and love and a few that were new to me which was exciting...
but anyway... then we went to the Pantheon, since it was closed yesterday... and that was cool... its kind of a brief visit cause compared to St. Peter's there's not much to see. you kind of walk around in a circle and you are done. we also did a little bit of shopping got to love itlaian fashion. Natalie also took us to the Piazza Navona tonight to get some gelato and saw the piazza by night and it is my fave piazza so far, definatly want to stop by tommorrow and see it in the day time...
Gelato count today = 2. Best Flavor of the day... Cannoli Siciliani or Sicillian Cannoli... yummmm.
Something else I have noticed about Italians is that they use the word 'Prego' for everything! it's like hello, goodbye, can i help you, can i take your order, and it is used in a whole host of different situations that i think its just so over used that it has no meaning anymore... kind of funny. Also the whole italian language seems like a mix of Spanish and French... (which makes sense geographically) which is cool cause i almost speak french and I barely understand spanish cause of living in the southwest so i almost understnad italian... not by much mind you but i really love the laanguage and if I ever master french (HA!) then i might be interested in learning Italian.
Also another thing I have noticed about Rome, and this could be true for italy as well, is that you kinda have to get lost in the mix and mach of the ancient streets and you kind of just run into something really interesting and you don't even know it... like hoe Bethany and I stumbled upon the Pantheon... It's like everything is so rife with history that you really don't have to go in search of it. its definatly not hiding from you its just left out for the inquisitive to research and discover... love that.
Got some amazing pictures but I will have to post them tommorrow... I am definatly too tired to do it tonight... Ciao Ciao
Monday, April 17, 2006
Thumbs up to Gelato... that we got because the Pantheon was closed (sad times) and ate under the cover of the entrance becuase it was raining... i LOVE gelato and i eat it like a five year old, that's me... 
OK, this was an amazing moment... PLEASE tell me that you see the little boy's face in the corner of the window on the left... sooooo funny.
the view up the spanish steps... would have been prettier if it wasn't raining and the church wasn't being restored... but whatevs.... i still climed all the steps to the top and back down TYVM...
Thumbs down to the crowds at the Trevi fountain that prevented us from even getting close to it... but it was nice from a distance...
Thumbs down to the annoying south jersey family that was on our tour today... nothing wrong with jersey but seriously can they wait to argue until they are at home PLEASE??? god.
Thumbs up to Euro trash family pictures... Bethany after taking this picture, 'Oh I totally got the colosseum in the background and everything. its so cute...' aka: he he he we got the Eurotrash in the picture... sometimes diversionary tactics are neccessary
A roman bathing goddess moment... just call her Losec... at least that's what it says on the stone...?
Thumbs up to Pythagoras.... a2+b2=c2 (its the best i can type it out on the italian keyboard OK?) now for the question of the day... was Pythagoras Greek or Roman? (Wikipedia says he's Greek... PS)
Thumbs down to no climbing... Why not? Its not like you can damage it any more than it already is people.
Thumbs down to Crowds of tourist groups blocking the view for short people like me... literally wall of backs... just what I came to see in Rome. honestly!
First Thumbs Up of the day was to the TINY radios that we got on our guided tour of the Colosseum... how cute are they?
a view of the masses of Tourists waiting to get into the Colosseum from the Colosseum... he he he losers...gotts get here early like us!
All Thumbs
Today was a long long tiring day…
It started out Early… at the Colosseum. And granted there is not much left at the Colosseum to see but I enjoyed it… then in the spirit of the Colosseum Bethany and I had a ‘Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down’ kind of day… we decided in honor of all the obnoxious tourists that we were surrounded by in one of the most popular sights in Rome, that we would take pictures of them. Cause let me tell you these people are totally annoying… and I know I know I know I am the pot calling the kettle black because I know I am a tourist as well, and I admit as much… but dude, I swear sometimes you can just spot them coming miles away. I swear they stick out like a sore thumb... and when you are waiting a hours in line with pushy pushy people crowding you when you are already tired and cranky the man and his family from south jersey standing behind you fighting really starts to grate on your nerves… not to mention the fanny packs… sooooooooooooo not ok.
So here is our day in Rome ‘Thumbs up and Thumbs down’…
Observations in Italy...
So... we made it to the colosseum... and it was after the last guied tour of the day so we decided to just come back tommorrow instead cause we didn't want to be rushed and all that jazz... you know take our sweet ass time being really obnoxious tourists and all... but tommorrow we shall conquer you colosseum...
Then we walked around not really knowing where we were going... and wanted to go into the Roman Forum but it was closing (how do they close? its basically a park...) and so we walked up this big hill and went into a chapel which was nice... but yeah it was kinda like well this is 'great... but yeah we have no idea where we are...' we walk back down the hill and we decide to sit down and rest a while before we went back home and we sat on some ruins in front of the colosseum... which was nice. we people watched a little and rested our tired feets.
and as we are sitting there I pull out the guidebook... cause we are sitting in front of this giant ornate arch and we are wondering what the heck it is... and i start reading looking for the arch in the guidebook and the story behind it and all that... so i am reading through the book and I read about several interesting arches and then i see that neither of them is where we are on the map until I find out exactly where we are located and I discover that this particular arch is called the arch of Constantine... and that it has the most boring story out of any of the numerous arches i read about in my guidebook... it was named after the Emperor Constantine... wow.
and yes i am that girl carrying around a guidebook and a camera... i am that much of a tourist thank you.
and then we got back to my friend Natalie's apartment, and we had the most amazing dinner that she cooked for us to celebrate Easter and to welcome us to Italy! Natalie is Amazingly sweet! i am so excitied that she was in town this week and that she let us stay with her and crash in her pad (PS - one of her three roomates rushed Pi Phi at ASU... and knows my freshman year roommate... what a freaking small world eh?)... She's the best tour guide. Bethany and i have our day all planned out for tommorrow already! lots of walking and shopping hope my feets are up to doing more walking tommorrow...
A few things that I have noticed so far... after being italy for exactly a day...
A) OK Italian drivers are worse than Arizona drivers... its like they were never taught the rules of the rode... yesterday on the shuttle bus from the airport i swear the driver was doing 60 mph on the highway into Rome... with a bus?? are crazy dude? I swear he was racing other cars on the road...
B) Italian drivers do NOT break for pedestrians crossing the street... I have surmised that the best way to cross the street is to wait for an old lady or a nun to cross the street and walk along with them... cause they only break for old ladies and nuns... screw everyone else.
C) Rome has a lot of history... Overwhelming is an understatement. I thought I had a pretty good grasp on history and the Roman Empire and all that (Hey I've watched ROME its amazing) but i walk around and see these ruins and i am like what the heck is that? How old is that? I feel so dumb... but don't worry I came, I saw, I will conquer.
D) All the streets of Rome are real ancient cobblestones... not so fun to walk on people. they are really uneven and they are much harder on my knees and feet... i will get used to it I guess...
E) There are ruins everywhere... It really is true in Rome that when some ancient ruins fall down they just kind of do leave them there for a few thousand years or so... its like a ancient junkyard... Did you know that after the colosseum was not used anymore the people kind of took it apart brick by brick for thousands of years and re-used the bricks to build other monuments in Rome? how cool is that?
I am off to bed I am exhausted... Gelato count for today = 0, kinda sad, but tommorrow will be a different story.... Bonne Noche mi amour.
hey that's the colosseum... and we didn't have enough time to go in and look around but tommorrow will be another day...
the three of us again... this picture was suppossed to have the dome of St. Peter's in the background but the person we asked to take it did not take it right... oh well... that's what happens when you don't speak the language.
Natalie, our amazing hostess with the mostess, Bethany and moi amoung the throngs of people in St. Peter's Bascillica... Holy Crap! I have never felt sooo uncatholic as I did today (not that I am complaining...) but the music was good...
ok this is the best shot I could get of the Pope from where i was standing... can you spot him??? its like where's waldo... sort of...
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Easter with the Pope?
So I am finally here in Italy...
I almost missed the bus to Beauvais... I felt like I was running an obsticale course getting to Porte Malliot and i got there just in time cause there was one last seat on the shuttle when i got there and it was for me... what are the chances of that? next time I will try to be there on time... he he he he
But I am here in Beautiful Italy... its really warm... like high 60s and sunny... amazing... i am wearing a tank top and i feel at home like I am back in Arizona or something. but anyway....
So as you might know today is Easter Sunday... and well this is a big holy day here in Rome as you can imagine being the capital of the Catholic world and all... Even though I consider myslef a non-believer, (and am currently without religion, and am definatly not a Catholic...) I went to Easter Mass in Saint Peter's Bascillica here in Rome. Natalie took us super early this morning and showed us how to get there and all and actually when we got there it was not that crowded at all and then after the mass started lots more people showed up and started pushing... whatever... lik eyou could actualyl see anything anyway people. We did stand next to some marine corps soliders from south carolina on their way back home from Iraq, and it was nice to talk to some Americans for a while.
Let me tell you this place was Packed with People! pushy pushy pushy people I might add... and I being short didn't see much but I did get to see the pope... on the big screen TV\Jumbtron that was nearby, which kind of gave it a rock concert-football game atmosphere, which i know is a weird comaprison but i guess it was like a rock concert for Jesus... but seriously people I was 150 yards away from the Pope! and he blessed me. yay for fun! It was kind of exciting just to be there. Everyone who was there was just excitied and genuinely happy to be there as well. There were some readings, some beautiful choirs singing, the pope, some amazingly dresses swiss guards and all that Catholic jazz.
After, we walked down the Tevere River to the largest most exciting flea market ever and did some fun haggleing and jewelry shopping... (aka: buying fleas as my dad would say) and now you know i am feeling up to doing some more sightseeing!
Kinda cool. I hope everyone is having a great Easter and that you are spending it with some special family and all that. Pictures of Rome are on their way...
off to the Colosseum... (I Love italy!)
Friday, April 14, 2006
and Chambord... inspired by the Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks... by far the most interesting and my fave of the day.
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Another view of Chenonceux... it is actually built over a river by Catherine Medici... those crazy Italians.
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Chateaux Chenonceux in the Loire Valley... the 'rents and I went there today on a day trip... Very Beautiful but a very long day!
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Tuesday, April 11, 2006
End of CPE
Oh... and PS... Yesterday in an unprecedented move by the French president Jacques Chirac… THE new labor law that has caused so much rioting and violence in Paris over the last few weeks was retracted. Ending the weeks of protests and rioting by students of the nearby Sorbonne.
OK… so the truth is that the 'manifs' (aka: Transit strikes) and protests really only affected 30% of the city. Which in the long run is NOTHING… 70% of a large city like Paris was still running completely unaffected by demonstrations or protestors. I mean I live in the 5th… near the heart of the ‘civil unrest', and my life was minimally affected… I think that is pretty self evident as to the real extent of the so-called riots here in Paris.
For those of you back home whom saw the riots on CNN… I have to tell you that knowing the American media they made it seems 100 times worse than it really was… yes there was violence but half of the time in a situation like this some types of people just go looking for a fight…
I saw a few protest marches in my neighborhood… and half of the time there was maybe 30 % of the crowd was actually informed and intelligent students there to make a statement to the government… the other 70% were just rowdy teenagers, skipping classes, following the leader, just waiting for the opportunity to start a fight and get all scrappy… and more then likely were “against” the law just be “against” something… it is this 70% that I am frustrated with. Like the ones who spray paint “fuck capitalisme” onto the sides of buildings… I mean do they really even know what the heck they are talking about? Why do I feel like they are just spitting rhetoric that they have heard because they think it sounds good? I think that this type of behavior taints these demonstrations and undermines the goal of the demonstrators in the first place.
The only real thing I noticed was an increase in groups of young adolescent kids riding the public transport without tickets and getting caught… saw a large group of them get arrested by the police for riding the Metro without paying last week... I also saw a rise in the number of Metro security officers on the public transport systems (even on the buses) checking people’s tickets… (OH YEAH, that makes me feel safer… they can’t even carry guns…) but no wonder the French call these protestors “casseurs” (or ‘smashers’ in English…) they only really succeed in smashing the credibility and meaning behind the demonstrations.
And now these kids will go back to class where they might actually learn what capitalism is… and how it actually might help their country…
Maybe.
Notre Dame form the outside... We went to see the church during a service and we got the chance to hear the Amazing organ played during the service. It was really beautiful... such clear sound and such amazing acoustics... I am so glad that we went. I was in awe.
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A really good pic of the Arc D'Triomphe... I took this while standing in the middle of the street... kinda dangerous, don't reccomend it... those cars may me small but they could still put you in the hospital if they were to hit ya... they don't call 'em Smart cars for nothing.
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The same pic with my dad's eyes open... just to be fair... look how long my hair is! Its only been a month since I cut it...
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Dad and I also in the Louvre... He he hee... my dad has a habit of ALWAYS closing his eyes in pictures... he he hee and I think he makes the funniest faces smiling with his eyes closed... tee hee hee... Love ya Daddy!
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The Parental Units while visiting the Louvre... I had never been to this part of the museum before its the Napoleon III apartments... Gawd. Seriously you could spend weeks in this museum and never see all of it! its amazing.
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Spring Break, The 'Rents and a dash of Calvados = Good friends, fun and meals...
YAY! my spring break has officially started…
And to celebrate my parents are here to visit this week. So we have done a little bit of sightseeing, a lot of art museums and a little bit of shopping and all that jazz… (and its so nice not to have to come up with excuses not to go to class…) Gosh. Vacation is amazing…
Anyway… I have been eating out for a lot more meals since my parents are visiting. And tonight we had quite possibly the best meal I have had had yet in France. For true.
We went to several cafes in my neighborhood before we saw this very colorful little café called the ‘Coffee Shop’… even though that name brings to mind more of a Starbucks type atmosphere it was definitely a regular café… a very colorful café at that. But I liked it… I have always been a fan of color actually…
So anyway, the man who waited on us, who I am pretty sure also owned the place, was very very nice for a French waiter (for the record these two words, “waiter” and “nice” don’t usually belong in the same sentence!) But between my “terrible” French and his decent English we managed to order a really fabulous meal. I had quiche and salad and amazingly light red wine… a dash of kir… some amazing dessert… and a really friendly waiter?? What more can you ask for?
And we got to talking to the waiter, whom regrettably we never got his name, and we told him we were from the United States, from Texas and he asked us if we were from Dallas, like JR Ewing… (from the AMAZING TV series in case you are unaware of the beauty that is cheesy eighties soaps) and we laughed cause we lived only 10 – 15 mins from Southfork Ranch in Dallas… (and my Dad used to work in the gold skyscraper buildings that Cliff Barnes’ office was supposed to be in… if you have ever seen the show you know what I am talking about… He would sometimes look down from his office and see them filming the show outside… *sigh* oh how I miss the mother country…) and anyway, it was just overall a very good meal… and it is fun to see my parents and spend time with them (even though I know I am such an undeserving brat PS…)
But the best part of the meal was after our desserts, which were delicious, Mmmmmm…. the waiter was telling us that he was from Normandy and he brought out his decanter of Calvados, more info on what is Calvados which is a French Apple Brandy, supposedly the best in the world, that come from ‘his country’ as he put it and of course he insisted that we take a few shots of it with him… which in the French culture signifies friendship and welcome. I think it was the first time I have ever seen my mother do a shot… (he he hee) and it was kind of fun. But yeah… it was actually really not a bad shot… I am not ashamed to admit I had two small shots (it will never replace my Pucker obsession but you know I like to think of it as a filler for things that would never meet basic French standards for alcohol… but what can you do? Nothing beats a Caramel Apple shot the French just don’t understand! *sigh* Right Mollie?)
But anyway… Lots of tourists in Paris this week… long lines for things, which we all know how very patient I am and how much I love to wait in line… but whatevs… At least it is Finally BEAUTIFUL sunny weather during the day. Still a little bit cold but at least its sunny. And speaking of warmth… This time next week ROMA! Bella Italiano! *insert your own cheesy Italian folk song played on the accordion here* Can’t wait!
Sunday, April 09, 2006
fran-mex? tex-usine?
Yesterday, after attending a performance of Vietnamese Water Puppets... I went to a restaurant here in Paris, not quite sure the name, but the menu was defiantly supposed to be Mexican food... which I got really excited about thinking I was going to have some good old fashioned Mexican food, granted I wasn’t expecting you know the wonderful Northern New Mexican I get in Santa Fe or the TexMex I grew up eating but you know what can you do?
So, I decide to get a fajita… how can they really go wrong with a fajita?
Well mistake one was for me to order a (repeat after me) “FA-Heeee-ta”, which is the way that the dish is supposed to be pronounced… right? But the waiter kind of blinked and stared at me for a moment until I pointed to it on the menu and he said, “oh the farijta” pronounced “FAR-gee-ta”…. WTF? Are we in the Middle East now? Where IS my camel?
Anyway… then when my dish actually came… I swear to god it was a burrito… the tortilla wasn’t bad, a little more like a crepe than a tortilla but it was close. The filling was more like a stewed shredded chicken mixed with whole kernel corn and some fancy French cheese flavored with some sort of soup-like spices all wrapped in one tortilla like a burrito. Now I maybe wrong but the single thing that classifies the difference between a fajita and a burrito is the way it is wrapped… am I right? But anyway… it actually wasn’t bad. It tasted pretty good… it just wasn’t a fajita.
It was like the French were trying to combine French cuisine with Mexican food… Isn’t that an paradox? The fanciest chicest hardest to prepare food genre in the world mixed with Mexican food which by definition is a little bit sloppy and greasy (and amazing…) what a strange mixture… but in case anyone is confused… _click here_
Monday, April 03, 2006
Lazy Paris Sundays are Amazing
All the sights of Paris
Pale inside your Iris
Tip the Eiffel Tower with one glance
Stained glass cathedrals with one glint
So this weekend was really nice. Much better than last weekend... and the weather was really nice (despite random rain showers). I feel like the beautiful spring time in Paris that I have been waiting for is just around the corner...
Fave moments of the weekend:
- Going to see Patrick's gallery display of his amazing watercolors of Venice.
- Finally finding an Amazing figure drawing class (with out a fascist as a teacher)
- Finding Amazing turquoise boots that look like they should be straight out of western... and other misc. vintage finds...
- spending half the day in a cafe on Mouffetard... doing nothing but having good conversation friends.
- Dinner at Chantal's... It’s so amazing to see her doing so well...
- Having some drunk French dude try to hit on me at the bus stop, but slurring his words so much his bad English was indecipherable... (He was saying "Airline" and it defiantly sounded more like "Arabian"... or maybe it was just his English was lacking. either way, that's pretty bad...) and somehow 'the Stroomphs' came up and he and his friend proceeded to sing me the Stroomps theme song (AKA: the Smurfs... you know La la la la la la...) at a bus stop... it was such a random experience...
- Seeing 'Monte la Dessus', an awesome silent movie from the twenties at an independent movie house... so cute.
- Finally booking tickets to ROME!! (and possibly Florence and Pisa as well) YAY!! I'm going back to ITALY! YAY FOR FUN!
So, yeah, right now life is pretty busy other than that... busy trying to get together my collection... and I kind of refused to sew it 'Haute Couture' (AKA: lots of pain in the ass steps that make everything take three times as long as it should to make everything... *sigh* I have not the patience) which really annoys my sewing teacher, because I think she wants me to take advantage of the opportunity to learn how to sew that way... and I realize that I am passing up a great opportunity to learn how to sew couture... but honestly I am never going to use it and I already HATE to sew so... yes I am going to be a sewing Maverick (unrelated side notes: I miss Top Gun ... best movie ever, right Mollie?) because I refuse to sew her way... But its just not going to happen. Especially since we have two/three weeks to put together my entire collection...J'ai pas des temps pour le haute couture.
Anyway... currently listening to ‘Rufus Wainwright’, ‘People in Planes’ and ‘Rouge Wave’ all worth downloading if you are looking for new music... I know I always am... any suggestions? What are YOU listening to right now?
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