Monday, September 21, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Generosity
Generosity...
In every country thus far (Spain, Italy, Switzerland) we have experienced significant generosity. Yesterday, while in Bern, Switzerland topped it all.
Generosity in the flesh, Example 1a
Madrid: a city that loves itself and loves its ham.
As two tourists in search of the most Madrid-ian dinner we could find, we waltzed into the Rick Steves' recommended local joint, "The Museum of Ham" (disregarding the fact that neither of us really even like ham). We stepped inside the bar-type, standing-only restaurant, bustling with locals and decorated with pig thighs and beer steins. There was no place to stand. We rounded to corner looking for even 6 inches of space to squeeze an arm in and order our cerveza and ham sandwich and finally a space right in between generous citizens 1, 2, and 3: "Stalin," "Washington," and "Edgar"... or so they called themselves. Trying to yell over them to the bartender, Washington stepped in (probably sensing our inexperience) and asked us "what do you want" in Espanol, of course. Luckily, since I speak Spanish, we were able to tell him two beers and whatever that is, pointing to one of the only somewhat normal looking food item on the photo menu, and within seconds they were in our hands. We cheers-ed (is that even a word?) them and started some small-talk and before we knew it, they were buying us more beers, had secretly already paid for our first order, and even took us to try a Madrid speciality: Clara... beer and lemonade mixed. Unexpected generosity. (And don,t worry, they weren't creepy, they were just really Madrianos telling us about their country over food and drinks... and paying for them).
1b
Toledo: a walled town of old men and marzipan.
Toledo is considered the most holy city in all of Spain (by the locals at least) and from our experience, also houses some of the cutest, oldest, most generous people in all of Spain. We arrived late in the afternoon and after hiking 2 miles straight up hill to a hostel with no occupancy, finally found a room at another place, unloaded our heavy bags, and went to the grocery
to get our budget picnic dinner and people watch in the piazza. That,s where it happened. It started with asking Andres Sanchez Sanchez to take a picture of us sipping our wine from McDonalds cups and munching on our picnic, and turned into him hobbling over to the best Marzipan shop in town (Toledo invented Marzipan, supposedly) and coming back to us with two treats each. He loved us.
Generosity, Example 2a:
Florence, Italy
Italy is the country of romance. There is no way to avoid the violinists and dim lighting and people selling roses and PDA. Also, if you are two girls walking amongst this ambiance but not a part, you somehow stand out to the locals. #4: Luca. We were walking around town after a scrumptious Italian dinner and Luca comes up to Amy (Swenson) and just flat-out says to her "wow, you are beautiful." She laughs but then, being the safe woman travelers that we are, we attempted to escape as quick as possible. Now that is not really an option when one of the rose-sellers spots two woman and a man together and thinks to himself... perfect business opportunity. That,s what happened to us. Rose-seller forces roses into our hands and we say no and we wont grab them and all the while, somehow, Luca had given him a Euro or two and bam... the roses were ours. So, there in Florence, us two single girls were swept up for a second into the Italian romance scene. I repeat, for a second. But nevertheless, we were given something unexpected by someone we didn't know. Generosity.
Now... this is where it gets really good...
Example 2b:
Rome, Italy
Christian is my sister,s boyfriend, and he is studying in Rome for the semester. So, of course, we had to hang out for at least an evening. But no... Christian, so generous, spent his entire day off from school and the weekend to tour us around Rome, walking for hours to show us the sights, taking us to the best (and totally legit) pizzaria and gelotto places in town (where the Obama girls even paid a visit), letting us use his computer, and sharing with us the most delicious Italian cuisine and wine we have ever had. He went above and beyond. We saw Rome like we would never have been able. If you are in Rome, forget about Rick Steves. Christian is the best guide around. Plus, he,s fun. Generosity in the flesh.
Example 3:
Bern, Switzerland
Night train from Rome dropped us in Bern at 6am the other day. The city was dead, no one awake yet. No one, that is, except for Markus. We were tourists... map in hand... confused and tired looks on our faces... oversized backpacks weighing us down... and Markus noticed. Being the friendly Swiss that he is, he asked us if we needed some directions. Then he offered to take us to our hostel. Then he helped us talk to the lady at the hostel because we dont speak German. Then (and this is going to sound bad but it wasn,t... and plus we had another friend with us, Rosemarie, who we met on the train) he proceeded to take us on a walking tour of the entire city, sharing with us all the history nestled between buildings and in fountains. It was great. We learned so much. THEN, (and this is where it gets kinda cool and trippy at the same time) the conversation went like this: he mention he is going to church that night, we all find out eachother are Christians, we tell him we want to go to church with him, he makes a phone call and says he knows someones house we can stay at, we go to church and meet them, we go get our stuff from the hostel so we can stay at the house instead (anything but the ground outside of a train station is better than a hostel at this point... and saves money), and we go to church. Turns out we are staying at the pastor,s house, a "community house," in which him (Marius), his wife (Caroline), and 5 other people live. They were so nice and generous and interesting. After church (a Vineyard church in German) we stayed up for hours talking about everything... from tennis (US Open was on) to God to Switzerland (and its chocolate and cheese) to politics to health care to facebook (we are friends now) to our lives and goals and passions. Wow. They made us beds and gave us food and loved on us so well. It was perfect timing for this point in the trip as well. We were so thankful and so blown away. Generosity in the flesh.
In every country thus far (Spain, Italy, Switzerland) we have experienced significant generosity. Yesterday, while in Bern, Switzerland topped it all.
Generosity in the flesh, Example 1a
Madrid: a city that loves itself and loves its ham.
As two tourists in search of the most Madrid-ian dinner we could find, we waltzed into the Rick Steves' recommended local joint, "The Museum of Ham" (disregarding the fact that neither of us really even like ham). We stepped inside the bar-type, standing-only restaurant, bustling with locals and decorated with pig thighs and beer steins. There was no place to stand. We rounded to corner looking for even 6 inches of space to squeeze an arm in and order our cerveza and ham sandwich and finally a space right in between generous citizens 1, 2, and 3: "Stalin," "Washington," and "Edgar"... or so they called themselves. Trying to yell over them to the bartender, Washington stepped in (probably sensing our inexperience) and asked us "what do you want" in Espanol, of course. Luckily, since I speak Spanish, we were able to tell him two beers and whatever that is, pointing to one of the only somewhat normal looking food item on the photo menu, and within seconds they were in our hands. We cheers-ed (is that even a word?) them and started some small-talk and before we knew it, they were buying us more beers, had secretly already paid for our first order, and even took us to try a Madrid speciality: Clara... beer and lemonade mixed. Unexpected generosity. (And don,t worry, they weren't creepy, they were just really Madrianos telling us about their country over food and drinks... and paying for them).
1b
Toledo: a walled town of old men and marzipan.
Toledo is considered the most holy city in all of Spain (by the locals at least) and from our experience, also houses some of the cutest, oldest, most generous people in all of Spain. We arrived late in the afternoon and after hiking 2 miles straight up hill to a hostel with no occupancy, finally found a room at another place, unloaded our heavy bags, and went to the grocery
to get our budget picnic dinner and people watch in the piazza. That,s where it happened. It started with asking Andres Sanchez Sanchez to take a picture of us sipping our wine from McDonalds cups and munching on our picnic, and turned into him hobbling over to the best Marzipan shop in town (Toledo invented Marzipan, supposedly) and coming back to us with two treats each. He loved us.
Generosity, Example 2a:
Florence, Italy
Italy is the country of romance. There is no way to avoid the violinists and dim lighting and people selling roses and PDA. Also, if you are two girls walking amongst this ambiance but not a part, you somehow stand out to the locals. #4: Luca. We were walking around town after a scrumptious Italian dinner and Luca comes up to Amy (Swenson) and just flat-out says to her "wow, you are beautiful." She laughs but then, being the safe woman travelers that we are, we attempted to escape as quick as possible. Now that is not really an option when one of the rose-sellers spots two woman and a man together and thinks to himself... perfect business opportunity. That,s what happened to us. Rose-seller forces roses into our hands and we say no and we wont grab them and all the while, somehow, Luca had given him a Euro or two and bam... the roses were ours. So, there in Florence, us two single girls were swept up for a second into the Italian romance scene. I repeat, for a second. But nevertheless, we were given something unexpected by someone we didn't know. Generosity.
Now... this is where it gets really good...
Example 2b:
Rome, Italy
Christian is my sister,s boyfriend, and he is studying in Rome for the semester. So, of course, we had to hang out for at least an evening. But no... Christian, so generous, spent his entire day off from school and the weekend to tour us around Rome, walking for hours to show us the sights, taking us to the best (and totally legit) pizzaria and gelotto places in town (where the Obama girls even paid a visit), letting us use his computer, and sharing with us the most delicious Italian cuisine and wine we have ever had. He went above and beyond. We saw Rome like we would never have been able. If you are in Rome, forget about Rick Steves. Christian is the best guide around. Plus, he,s fun. Generosity in the flesh.
Example 3:
Bern, Switzerland
Night train from Rome dropped us in Bern at 6am the other day. The city was dead, no one awake yet. No one, that is, except for Markus. We were tourists... map in hand... confused and tired looks on our faces... oversized backpacks weighing us down... and Markus noticed. Being the friendly Swiss that he is, he asked us if we needed some directions. Then he offered to take us to our hostel. Then he helped us talk to the lady at the hostel because we dont speak German. Then (and this is going to sound bad but it wasn,t... and plus we had another friend with us, Rosemarie, who we met on the train) he proceeded to take us on a walking tour of the entire city, sharing with us all the history nestled between buildings and in fountains. It was great. We learned so much. THEN, (and this is where it gets kinda cool and trippy at the same time) the conversation went like this: he mention he is going to church that night, we all find out eachother are Christians, we tell him we want to go to church with him, he makes a phone call and says he knows someones house we can stay at, we go to church and meet them, we go get our stuff from the hostel so we can stay at the house instead (anything but the ground outside of a train station is better than a hostel at this point... and saves money), and we go to church. Turns out we are staying at the pastor,s house, a "community house," in which him (Marius), his wife (Caroline), and 5 other people live. They were so nice and generous and interesting. After church (a Vineyard church in German) we stayed up for hours talking about everything... from tennis (US Open was on) to God to Switzerland (and its chocolate and cheese) to politics to health care to facebook (we are friends now) to our lives and goals and passions. Wow. They made us beds and gave us food and loved on us so well. It was perfect timing for this point in the trip as well. We were so thankful and so blown away. Generosity in the flesh.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Algeria and the 24 hour train rides
Algeria won their futbol match the other day. We knew as soon as it happened. How, might you ask? Let us explain...
There is no way to get to Italy from Spain unless we make several stops on the train throughout France. These stops, however, do NOT conveniently arrive and depart within minutes of each other, which would have been so nice for our sake. But, we needed to get to Italy anyway, so when the Eurail info lady offered a trip with 5 different trains and one of the layovers being 5 hours long in the middle of the night, we decided to go for it. This trip is about adventure and experience. It is not about comfort and looking cute while we do it.
The first of our 5 train rides ended up having these two Amercian guys taking most of our same route so we were all in it together. Amy and I were extra thankful because they 1) spoke English and French and 2) they were guys. So, after two trains we get to Marselle, France, where we have our layover from 12pm to 5am. We go upstairs in the not-so-bad train station and settle down... buckling our bags to our bodies just in case someone comes to steal when we are sleeping and get ready for a short night sleep on hardwood floors in our clothes. Plus there is a huge security guard walking around the station with a pitbull. About 10 minutes later, however, another security guard comes up to us and tells us the station is closing and we have to get out. So outside it is. Sleep isn't an option anymore.
The outside of the train station is dirty and cold and smelly. There is only the ground to sit and the sketchy drive-bys to observe. We were not the only ones taking up residence on the side of the street, though. Seven others had the same idea (or plan-gone-wrong). So we all huddled in our own corner of the wall and sit. We try to read and shift our bodies 1000 directions trying to get comfortable on the smelly cement with with a hard backpack to lean on and the wind blowing. Then, just as position number 906 is feeling bearable and our eyes start to close, we were informed, very loudly, about Algeria's futbol victory. The honking and yelling and dancing and flag waving lasted about an hour. At least it kept our minds off our soar butts and goose-bumped, tired bodies for a while. But the normalcy of the uncomfortable night came back (well, not so normal for 2 SoCal white girls) and we counted down the minutes. No one was in the mood to talk or play games or do anything but sulk in our own misery- so we just sat. For 5 hours. In Marselle.
Finally our train left 5am and we out. Slightly reclining, un-padded train chairs never provided such rest and relief.
There is no way to get to Italy from Spain unless we make several stops on the train throughout France. These stops, however, do NOT conveniently arrive and depart within minutes of each other, which would have been so nice for our sake. But, we needed to get to Italy anyway, so when the Eurail info lady offered a trip with 5 different trains and one of the layovers being 5 hours long in the middle of the night, we decided to go for it. This trip is about adventure and experience. It is not about comfort and looking cute while we do it.
The first of our 5 train rides ended up having these two Amercian guys taking most of our same route so we were all in it together. Amy and I were extra thankful because they 1) spoke English and French and 2) they were guys. So, after two trains we get to Marselle, France, where we have our layover from 12pm to 5am. We go upstairs in the not-so-bad train station and settle down... buckling our bags to our bodies just in case someone comes to steal when we are sleeping and get ready for a short night sleep on hardwood floors in our clothes. Plus there is a huge security guard walking around the station with a pitbull. About 10 minutes later, however, another security guard comes up to us and tells us the station is closing and we have to get out. So outside it is. Sleep isn't an option anymore.
The outside of the train station is dirty and cold and smelly. There is only the ground to sit and the sketchy drive-bys to observe. We were not the only ones taking up residence on the side of the street, though. Seven others had the same idea (or plan-gone-wrong). So we all huddled in our own corner of the wall and sit. We try to read and shift our bodies 1000 directions trying to get comfortable on the smelly cement with with a hard backpack to lean on and the wind blowing. Then, just as position number 906 is feeling bearable and our eyes start to close, we were informed, very loudly, about Algeria's futbol victory. The honking and yelling and dancing and flag waving lasted about an hour. At least it kept our minds off our soar butts and goose-bumped, tired bodies for a while. But the normalcy of the uncomfortable night came back (well, not so normal for 2 SoCal white girls) and we counted down the minutes. No one was in the mood to talk or play games or do anything but sulk in our own misery- so we just sat. For 5 hours. In Marselle.
Finally our train left 5am and we out. Slightly reclining, un-padded train chairs never provided such rest and relief.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Madrid
Madrid. Land of history, beauty, wealth, modernity, and fashionistas. Let us explain...
History.
Madrid is the center of all (literally) of Spain´s past and continues to lead the country in its progress. Home of the Royal Palace, Prado Museum, Plaza de Toros (bullfighting), and lots of cathedrals.
Beauty.
Madrid is full of tons of huge parks, green trees, and historical buildings and monuments. People are constantly cleaning the streets and the metro system is the best we´ve ever experienced. Fast, color-coded, cheap.
Wealth.
Things are expensive here, but they are nice too. For example, because the trains are so great here, ends up we have to pay 10 extra Euros just to make a reservation to ride it... even though we have a Eurail pass, which is supposed to get us anywhere, anytime, unlimited usage, and "free." Ha. Also, the people really look the "wealth" part here- always dressed to impress. This is no third-world barrio, we can even drink the water out of the tap!
Modernity.
Madrid is, as some say, "always connected." Everyone has an iPhone and is talking or texting on it constantly. They are an intelligent too. They read on the Metro, have an awesome museum of modern art (Reyna Sophia) and take a siesta every afternoon. Finally, inside all the history and old buildings are the hippest trends from fashion to my favorite, wine and tapas bars.
Fashionista(o)s
All the girls are wearing what we have come to call L.C.s (pronounced Elsie's), which look like the "Hammer pants" or "Parachute pants" of the `90s (it all comes back :) yet of course, at a whole new level. These pants are tight around the hips, then baloon out in the legs and have the longest crotch you´ve ever seen. We found this one chica whose crotch was down to her ankles!
The guys, as has been custom in Europe for some time, are all wearing Chants (male extra-long capris but not quite pants). Chants here come in the form of jean, khaki, and even overalls (termed: chantalls). Usually topped with a cutoff tank.
Since Madrid is so mod, perhaps we are going to be wearing the LCs and chants soon? Oh gosh!
So we are having a blast, staying safe, and heading to Toledo now. Ciao!!!!
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