Category: Europe

Rome Day 1

I got here no problem, praise God! TBH I really was worried about finding my hostel but it was like 4 blocks from the train station. Easily located on the free map I got at the airport. Almost forgot to take a photo of airport number 5, but I remembered at the last second and snapped one from the train. The French people I was sharing the compartment with looked at me like I was wierd, so I explained to them what I was doing (in French, yes I am a rockstar) and I they still thought I was weird Im pretty sure. Oh well!

So, it was still broad daylight when I got to my hostel so I set out for the Colosseum at once. Partly because it is the closest historic monument to my hostel, and partly because its the whole reason I chose Rome as a destination in the first place. The sun was setting, which was helpful because the Colosseum is pretty much due west from my hostel, so I just followed that, checking streets with my map every couple blocks. I probably looked really touristy. Anyway I reached this park area and i was about to get my map out, but something made me glance up and… THERE IT WAS, looming just past the park. I picked up the pace and made it over there quickly. Once I got up next to it… it was just amazing. It is SO HUGE. It took my breath away in a way that no monument ever has before, natural or manmade. I took about a bazillion pictures because it was so beautiful in the sun-going-down light (not quite sunset yet) and took a lap all the way around it. Then I wandered around the area for a while and took inventory of what to do tomorrow, and mentally planned out my next two days.

Tomorrow I am doing a walking tour as outlined in my Frommers book in the morning, then in the afternoon going up to the area by the Trevi fountain. Then on Monday I will pay a visit to the Pope and give him my due respects.

Since I am at an internet cafe, not using my laptop, there wont be any pictures (or apostrophes, if youd noticed) until I get a) home or b) find a wi-fi place in Paris. Well, now you know I am safe and sound! Hopefully I will update again tomorrow. Love you all!

Europe, Here I Come!

Tomorrow begins my week-long Euro travels! I wasn’t getting very worked up about it until it hit me today that this is my first trip like, alone alone. Before I was with a group or had someone waiting to meet me/pick me up but this time it’s all me. And my gigantic luggage. Getting from place to place is NOT going to be fun, but hopefully I find my way from the airport to the hostel without incident. Cross your fingers. And be thinking of and praying for me tomorrow at 9am CST/ 7am PST, because (if I did my math correctly) that’s when I’m going to be finding my place in Rome.

The plan is as follows: tomorrow, flight from Casa to Rome. Rome for three days.  21st, flight from Rome to Paris. I’m coming back to the states on the 24th.

Internet may be quite intermittent so keep checking here for updates but also don’t be surprised if LRL goes through a little dry spell. Love you all! Talk to you soon!

Paella. Believe the Hype.

Spain was, in short, glorious.

After a morning of Arabic (I was the only one who had class Friday which made it even lamer) and a four-hour, sweaty bus ride to Tangiers (a place that would merit its own weekend excursion, actually), we got a taxi to the port and took a ferry across to Tarifa. The orginal plan was to continue on to a city called Algeceiras but by that time it was 8:45 and the last bus to Algecerias was leaving at 9. (There is a weird time zone change from Morocco to Spain).

So, throwing out the idea of Algeciras, we asked the people working in the cafe for a hotel (not hostel) recommendation and they gave us some directions. Upon arriving we found the hotel clean and adorable. And only 100 Euro for all three of us for two nights! I’m not sure if that’s a good rate but sounded reasonable to me–a little over 15, each, per night. After putting our stuff down (I love that I packed the lightest out of us three–even lighter than the guy in our group) we went out and got dinner in a cafe. Brynn and Pete took every opportunity to drink something alcoholic–drinking in public (even at a cafe) is severely looked down on in Morocco. Those two sure can put it away.

The next day we slept in until “ten” (really nine, Morocco time) and went to the beach until around one or two. I had to buy a towel since I completely forgot to bring one with me… across the Atlantic… at all! Haha. Now I have a cheapo towel to remember Spain by. Its pretty at least. I was very careful not to get sun burned and it was delightful. Even though its seperated from Morocco by only a little bit of water (one could actually see Morocco from the beach) it was so much less humid and several degrees cooler. When we’d had enough sun we went back to town to do some shopping but realized that all the stores were totally closed until like 5pm for the siesta. So that was a bust. We went back to the hotel and napped. After our nap we ate at a pretty nice restaurant, then did some window shopping and finished up the evening with dinner.

To your left, a handsome young man. To your right, um... not so much.
To your left, a handsome young man. To your right, um... not so much.

Since we were in Spain but we weren’t really going to any historic sites or anything we took the opportunity to delight our tastebuds in hyped Spanish foods–namely, tapas and paella. First off, tapas. OVERRATED. Don’t bother. They give you what looks like potato salad and put it on  bread and expect that to be your meal. First off they totally skimped on the bread so half of our tapas went uneaten. Secondly, the stuff we chose didn’t really taste that good. After the disappointement of the tapas, we were delighted when the paella was brought out and it was ~delectable~ even though it contained all manner of questionable seafood. Steering clear of anything that wasn’t chicken, fish, or those small shrimp I’ve had before, I scarfed my portion of paella in no time. I am determined to learn how to cook it when I get home.

Yummmmmmm.....
Yummmmmmm.....

The weekend ended far too quickly. Being in Europe reminded me what its like to eat with a knife and fork, and how lovely it is when people follow traffic laws.

Other notable moments included a crazy Spanish bachelorette party at a club we went to, Pete being convinced the flamenco dancer outside the restaurant we ate at was a tranny, and wearing a tank top the entire time I was there.